Please note that the annual lunch will be held at Bridge House Hotel on Sunday the 8th of December at 1p.m. The cost is e20 euros and e12 euros for children. Our after dinner speaker is Mr. Joe Kenny who will be giving reminiscences of Tullamore over fifty years. Please book as soon as possible to avoid being disappointed by ringing 0506/21421.

Message from Stephen McNeill Chairman

As this is the last newsletter before the launch of our Journal, I would like to take the opportunity of appealing to members to come and support the launch and purchase a copy.

This is a great occasion for the Society, as we can now take our place, in the ranks of the other societies, that publish journals. The thanks of our members go to the editor Dr. Rory Masterson. I am sure of the trojan work and time spent by Rory, since he took on the job last spring and as your chairman I thank him on your behalf. The further good news is that Rory will continue to act as editor for the next journal.

In conclusion I wish all the members, a Happy Christmas and a prosperous 2003.

Heritage Seminar in November

The recent Heritage Seminar organised by the County Heritage Officer, Amanda Pedlow was a great success with upwards of seventy people attending. There were a number of presentations in the morning including one on thatched housing in Offaly. In the afternoon there was visit to Leamonaghan. Our congratulations to all concerned for an excellent day and also for the issue of the new attractive Offaly Heritage poster.

Annual Journal

Launch date 12th December at 8.p.m. Please attend at the launch of the first issue of the annual journal which will be held at our conference room at Bury Quay on Thursday 12th of December at 8p.m. The Journal will be launched by the County Manager Mr. Niall Sweeney. Wine and mince pies will be served immediately following. The cost of the journal is e10 and only 750 have been printed so please make sure of your copy. Our grateful thanks to all who have contributed and in particular to Dr. Rory Masterson the Editor. We expect that this will be the first of an annual journal and if you would like to consider contributing an article or book review for the next issue in 2003 please contact any of the committee or Dr. Masterson. You can order your copy by leaving e10 at the Society's office with your name and address. Postage is extra at e3. The journal in size is about circa 168 pages of double column.

Christmas Draw

Please do not forget to return your Christmas Draw tickets, if you haven't already, as soon as possible so as to be in for the draw which will take place on the 19th of December 2002 at 12 noon.

Books for sale for Christmas

Why not call to the Society's office during office hours between 10p.m. and 4p.m. Monday to Friday to buy an old picture or an attractive local history book.
Both items will make an ideal present and there is a good selection to choose from. We also have a number of handsomely framed large format pictures ranging in price from e40 to e150 euros. These would be a special present.

Lectures for 2003

If you have anything you would be interested in hearing about please submit your suggestion as regards a lecture or a tour as soon as possible.

He had a great interest in Local History and was instrumental in having the Society take an interest in the proposal to quarry Croghan Hill back in 1974. This ultimately resulted in then minister for Local Government (including planning) deciding against the proposal.

He was a great supporter of all the work of the Society and was a frequent attendee at the outings and lectures. He will be greatly missed. Our sympathy to his dear wife who is also an active participant in the Society’s activities and to all his family.

Lecture on the History of Charleville Demesne 1600 – 1950 at Bury Quay Tullamore at 8.15pm on 21 November 2002 by Michael Byrne
This lecture will be given by Michael Byrne and will be an illustrated presentation on the history of Charleville Demesne from the 1600s to the time of the auction of the Castle contents in 1948. It is an overview of the history of the Demesne and hopefully will be of interest to the members and the wider public. The lecture is open to all.

Offaly Heritage Seminar 23 November 2002
An important Seminar will be held at the OHAS Centre Bury Quay on 23rd November 2002 organised by the County Heritage Officer, Ms. Amanda Pedlow, You will probably have already received a brochure on the seminar and if you are interested in attending you should book immediately through Amanda Pedlow Offaly County Council. The day will consist of presentations on Leamonaghan, surveys of thatched premises in Offaly and the funding of the heritage projects. The afternoon is devoted to a trip to Leamonaghan and St. Manchan’s Shrine. It promises to be very enjoyable and useful day and your presence would be appreciated.

Chancery Inquisitions Offaly
The Chancery Inquisitions Offaly relate to grants of land from the time of Elizabeth’s reign in the 1570s to William of Orange in the 1690s. It is extremely valuable for the Local History in the seventeenth century. The Society bought copies of the two published volumes of circa 1830 in England last year. However we did a photocopy and it occurred to us that there may be members who would like to receive it. It consists of 27, A3 pages including the index. If you would be interested in acquiring a copy please let us know and forward us e13 to include postage.

Methodist History of the Midlands
Our thanks to Geoff Oakley and Reverend Irene Morrow who have looked at the Methodist History for proof reading purposes. We are now collecting photographs for the publication and if you are aware of any Methodists photographs of churches or groups of Midland interest you might let us know. We hope to publish it in the Spring of 2003. The author of the book is the Reverend Dudley Levistone Cooney.

The Journal
The Journal has now been sent to the printer and we hope to have it ready for the lunch on the 8th of December. Orders are now being accepted for the Journal and it will be available at e10 euros with postage extra of say e3 euros. Orders will be received on a first come, first served basis. The publications number is small at about 750 and we hope it will be a sell out. It is unlikely to be reprinted. If you would like to order would you please send on e10 euros or e13 euros to include postage in Ireland. If overseas this could be substantially more and we will make enquiries.

Christmas Lunch December the 8th
The Christmas Lunch will be held at the Bridge House at 1p.m. on Sunday December the 8th . The cost of the luncheon will be e20 for adults and e12 euros for children. Following on the meal we will have as a speaker Mr. Joe Kenny who has spent upwards of 50 years in Tullamore and will be giving his reminiscences of the town over that period. This promises to be a very enjoyable occasion and your attendance would be greatly appreciated. Bookings can be made through the Society’s offices at 0506-21421.

Lecture on Shinrone
Our thanks to Noel McMahon for his very interesting and enjoyable lecture on Shinrone which he did in the form of a travel guide around Shinrone district using the computerised projection facility and an overhead projector which his own eloquent commentary. The lecture was given on 17th October.

Report on annual general meeting held on 17th October 2002
Reports were read at the general meeting by Chairman Steve McNeill, Treasurer Peter Burke and Secretary Michael Byrne. A library report was given by Steve McNeill and a report on the FAS project by John Kearney. In his report Steve McNeill stated that we had acquired the 1911 census for three Midland Counties. Helpers are needed with the checking of the work that is ongoing in Family History and any one interested could contact Steve directly. The situation with microfilms had improved and during the last few months we have acquired four new readers at considerable cost. Details will be provided in the 2003 Journal. The committee for 2002 –2003 is as follows:-

Chairman – Steve McNeill
Secretary- Michael Byrne
Treasurer- Peter Burke
Manager – John Kearney

Committee Members
Fred Geoghegan
Owen Clyne
Noel Guerin
Helen Bracken
Breda Hoey
Matt Mooney
Anne Horan
James Kenny
Marie Neville
Dr. Rory Masterson
Jim Mathews

The sympathy of the Society was extended to Sean Hackett a member of the committee last year on the death of his wife.

Peter Burke gave the report on the Offaly Heritage Centre Ltd. Apart from the FAS Scheme total income for the year was e83,605.91 euros. While expenditure was of the order of e70,000. The excess of income over expenditure will help to defray of almost e14,000 euros is being put aside to help defray the cost of necessary work on the roof.

John Kearney gave a report on the FAS Scheme which is scheduled to run until May of 2003 and there are twenty people on a Community Employment programme involved in training projects and research work. Our thanks to all in FAS for their assistance and to the staff for their excellent work.

Under any other business it was reported that a sheela na gig from Rahan can be located with difficulty in the Athlone Heritage Centre and should be brought back to Offaly and put on display in the Tullamore Centre.

Books for Christmas presents
Please do not forget to support the centre’s book shop and pictures for sale so why not and make a selection of suitable books for Christmas presents. We have a range from as a little as e1 to circa e60 euros in books and from e10 to e150 euros in pictures.

Oliver Dunne
Congratulations to our member Oliver Dunne on his graduation with flying colours from Maynooth. Oliver has completed research on his own area of Croghan which we hope we will see a sample of in the next journal.

The History of Ferbane by Brendan Ryan
This handsome book was launched recently at Ferbane and copies are available at the Society’s premises for e25 euros. The book is in hardback and numbers circa 340 pages. Our congratulations to Brendan Ryan on a handsome and informative publication which takes the history of Ferbane from the seventeenth century to the twentieth and provides in the appendices a number of valuable sources on the history of town.

Christmas Draw
Enclosed with the newsletter (postal) is your card for the Christmas Draw. Thanks for participating in other years. Members receiving the newsletter by email are requested to call to the office for a card or they can purchase tickets by sending in the money c/o the treasurer and tickets will be set aside for them.

Mr. Noel McMahon will give an illustrated Lecture on the pictorial history of Shinrone on Thursday the 17th of October at OHAS Centre at Bury Quay at 8.30p.m. Mr. Noel McMahon has published a book on the history of Shinrone and is now publishing a photographic record. He has been working on this book for the past year and the lecture will be of great interest for a wide variety of reasons - the number of big houses in that part of the country, the orange tradition of Shinrone, the Nationalists tradition and so forth.

Notice of Annual General Meeting of Offaly Historical and Archaeological Society 17th October 2002

Please note that the annual general meeting of the Society will be held at 7.30p.m. at OHAS Bury Quay on 17th October 2002 that is one hour before the lecture on Shinrone. Your presence is requested and the Agenda is as follows:-

1. Chairman's report - Steve McNeill
2. Secretary's report - Michael Byrne
3. Treasure's report - Peter Burke
4. FAS Scheme Report - John Kearney
5. Election of Committee for 2003 (see list of committee on separate sheet)
6. Report of Honorary Editor Mr. Rory Masterson.

If you would be interested in working on behalf of the Society on the Committee would you please come forward at the meeting or before that. The Society are always keen to have new blood on the committee and are anxious that everybody on the committee would have a specific job to do in promoting the Society.

The Society was re -established in 1969 after failing during the war years and this is the thirty third annual general meeting.
Our thanks to the outgoing committee for all their work during the year in putting the Society into such a strong position to carry out its objectives.

Thursday 21 November
The Story of the History of Charleville Demesne from the 1600s to the 1950s is the subject of an illustrated lecture by Michael Byrne on Thursday the 21s of November at 8.30p.m.

Annual Lunch 8th December
Mr. Joe Kenny will be giving his reminiscences of fifty years in Tullamore after the annual lunch at the Bridge House at 1p.m. on 8th December. Tickets will be available shortly.

Meeting with Teachers from Primary and Second Level Schools
This meeting took place on Thursday last the 10th of October and was a useful exchange of ideas. It was agreed to meet in three months time. Two immediate proposals which emerged from the meeting were :-

1. The preparation of a power point CD on the Story of Archaeology in Offaly
as known to date in a simple format with pictures and stories.
2. The possibility of putting James Scully's Looking Around on a CD on power
point with the text available on the same CD

The website
offalyhistory.com and irishmidlandancestry.com Work has been almost completed on the re-development of these sites. While the current sites are very useful the new site will have more information and will be better laid out in terms of the volume of the data which is now available.

Publications available
Jipcat Pigs, Pigs Head, Petticoats and
Combinations - €10
Michael Dalton, History of Tullamore
& District Gardai - €15
Offaly History and Society - €57

Library and Microfilm
As we advised in the last newsletter we now have the 1911 census for the counties of Laois Offaly and Westmeath. We have also improved the position in relation to readers and we now have four or five readers all in working order. We have ordered the Leinster Leader for the period from 1965 to 1985 and we are looking at purchasing other newspapers at present which have a bearing on Offaly History.

Roscrea Autumn Conference 2002
This conference the 31st to be organised by George Cunningham has as its theme Preaching in Medieval Ireland and will be held at Mount St. Joseph Abbey Co. Tipperary commencing on the 1st of November and finishing on Sunday the 3rd of November. Details of the conference are available from Reverend Fr. Nivard Kinsella Guest Master Mount St. Joseph Abbey Roscrea, 0505/21711. A copy of the conference brochure can be seen at the OHAS Centre.

Durrow High Cross
There are no developments on this in relation to any improvements to the site save that Duchas are considering cutting some of the trees in the vicinity. Currently the County Council are in process of considering an amendment to the County Development Plan so as to facilitate the development of a hotel and housing at the Durrow Abbey Estate. There is as yet no planning application for this but it is expected that in the event of an application it may succeed because of the re-zoning of the land.

2003 Programme of outings and lectures etc
If you have any suggestions to make on the 2003 programme would you let Steve McNeill or the Secretary know as soon as possible.

Reunion of Clontarf Road Residence and Historical Project
Any members having photographs or recollections of Clontarf Road which they would like to make available for a presentation on 22 of November at a reunion in the Court Hotel might leave in the material to Anne Horan at the Centre.

New Publications
Dr. Michael P. Flynn has published a memoir which is available in local bookshops. Dr. Flynn is based in Mullingar and his book will add to the medical history of the Midlands.

Brother Linus H. Walker
Brother Linus H. Walker has published a history of Doonane in the Parish of Kildare and Loughlin and Co. Laois, entitled beneath Slieve Margy's Brow.

A third book issued recently was on the History of Abbeyleix called Time and Tide reflections of rural life and times past by Sadie Venett.

Brendan Ryan's new book on Ferbane is expected out in the next few weeks and copies of it will be available for purchase at the Society.

Patrick Fagan's The Diocese of Meath in the 18th Century is a very interesting book on the Diocese and the first of its kind for Meath of a type that offers analysis of the history of the diocese as distinct from detailing each parish. Of particular Offaly interest will be the chapter on Steven McEgan who was appointed bishop of Clonmacnois in 1725 and Bishop of Meath in 1729.

Outgoing Committee 2002

Chairman - Steve McNeill
Secretary- Michael Byrne
Treasurer- Peter Burke
Manager - John Kearney

Committee Members
Fred Geoghegan
Owen Clyne
Noel Guerin
Helen Bracken
Breda Hoey
Mary McGuinness
Matt Mooney
Anne Horan
James Kenny
Shap Mangan
Ted Maxwell
Marie Neville
Sean Hackett
Dr. Rory Masterson

Please note a meeting in Durrow Community Hall on Sunday the 15th September at 12.15p.m. This is an important opportunity to avail of the up date information on the position at Durrow relative to the proposed variation of the County Development Plan and the protection of the archaeological remains of the site. We have communicated on several occasions with Mr. Dave Fadden of Duchas in connection with the condition of Durrow High Cross who is promising safety works for the church and high cross.

October November December

October the 17th illustrated presentation on the Story of Shinrone by Noel McMahon

Noel is currently compiling a photographic record of Shinrone. It should be great benefit to the County because it will be a detailed work with an ample selection of pictures on all aspects of the social history of the area.

November Lecture

November Lecture is an illustrated lecture on the History of Charleville Demesne from the 1600s to 1950s. It will be held at the OHAS Bury on 21 November at 8.30p.m.

Meeting for History at Primary and Second Level

Please note that a presentation of the work of the Society with special reference to the internet and to the historical database will be made available to history teachers both primary and secondary on Thursday the 10th of October at 8 p.m. Please feel free to invite teachers along to the meeting and in addition the Society will be sending invitations and publishing details of the meeting in the local press.

On Sunday the 8th of December

By way of our after dinner speaker, Mr. Joe Kenny will give an illustrated talk on his reminiscences of Tullamore over fifty years. This should be of great interest and follows on lunch at the Bridge House at 1p.m. on Sunday the 8th of December. Bookings can be made for that lunch any time from now on by ringing 0506/21421.

Committee meeting on 19th September

Please note that a committee meeting will be held at 7.30p.m. at the OHAS on 19th September and a meeting with the committee of Meath Archaeological Society at 6.30p.m. on 3 October.

Website

Currently work is underway on making improvements and additions to the websites offalyhistory.com & irishmidlandsancestry.com.

History of Midland Methodists

This publication by the Reverend Dudley Levistone Cooney is now at an advanced stage and we have invited assistance from local Methodists in making available or taking pictures of churches in the Midlands to include in the publication. It has been read now on one occasion by way of proofing and further readers are required. If you would like help please contact Michael Byrne.

Publications Available
P.J. Goode, History of Cloneygown €26 ,
Sr. B. Brennan, Mother Mary Anne DoyleThe Founders of Tullamore Convent - €20.
Jipcat Pigs, Pigs Head, Petticoats and Combinations - €10
Michael Dalton, History of Tullamore & District Gardai - €15
Offaly History and Society - €57

Library

We have now obtained microfilm of the 1911 Census for the Counties of Laois, Offaly and Westmeath. Microfilm copies of the Leinster Leader from the period 1965 to 1985 are currently an order.

Journal 2002 First Volume

The Journal work is now almost complete and amounts to circa 200 pages. Proof reading is currently in progress and it is intended to have the journal published in mid November 2002. Our thanks to Rory Masterson for his help on this.

Biddulphs of Birr - My life - the first thirty years by Ann Fitzgerald (nee Biddulph born 19th July 1875) We wish to thank Dr. Peter Colquhoun for giving us a transcript of the diary of his grandmother which is informative on the social history of Birr in the 1880s to the 1900s.

Alfie Lambe

We want to thank Mr. Larry Dunne for presenting the Society with a copy of the lately produced video on Alfie Lambe the well known Legion of Mary Envoy to Argentina.

Census 2002

We now have in the library extracts from the preliminary report in the census of 2002 which is interesting material for the County of Offaly.

Newsletters received

Military History of Ireland re Autumn on 29th September to Faughart.

Galway Archaeological Society

Lecture programme for Autumn of 2002.

Royal Society of Antiquaries

Visit to Carlingford on 21 Sept 2002.

Curriculum for Diploma Course on Family History and Local History;

A training course for Genealogy Researchers. This programme which is Maynooth Accredited is to commence at Tullamore with the support of the Irish Family Histroy Foundation, Dr. Chris O'Mahony is the principal instructor shortly. The first session will be held at the OHAS Bury Quay on 24th September. Information regarding the course can be had from Dr. Chris O'Mahony of Limerick. One member of our family history staff will participate.

Heritage Week

The recent heritage week proved reasonably successful for the Society. Attendance was low at some of the events due to insufficient publicity but overall we would have had about 150 participants in the various events which is satisfactory. Our thanks to all who supported the programme and who assisted with lectures walks etc.

Tullamore Balloon Festival and Heritage Week

Our thanks to Steve McNeill for his work on the Radio Programmes which the Society members participated in and also to John Butterfield who organise the number of programmes which were of interest in recording members of Tullamore People. Some of these have been taped for the Historical Society Library.

Tullamore Dew Mirror

Our thanks for our member Declan O'Connor for sourcing our Tullamore Dew Mirror which we have presented to the Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre.

Heritage Officer for County Offaly

We wish to express our thanks and congratulations to the Offaly County Council on the decision to employ a fulltime Heritage Officer solely for the County of Offaly. Up to now Amanda Pedlow has been working with both Counties Offaly and Laois. It is our understanding that this arrangement is to terminate at the year end and that thereafter Amanda will be solely devoted to our own county. This is good news for Offaly Heritage and will mean continued hands on approach for heritage in Offaly.

This tour will take place on Saturday the 29th of June departing from The Exhibition and Research Centre at 1 p.m. for Mullingar. The two places to visit are the Diocesan Museum at Mullingar for 2p.m followed by Belvedere House and Park at 3.30p.m. The visit is by car and it is expected that seats will be available for those who do not have transport and wish to travel by sharing with others. The entry fees are only whatever is charged at Belvedere and at the Diocesan Museum. The visit to the Museum is a follow up on Fr. Paul Connell's lecture on Bishop Cantwell sometime ago. That to Belvedere is a long over due. As many members will know this house was owned by Colonel Howard Bury of Charleville for many years until his death in the early 1960s. The County Council in Westmeath spent about five million pounds on Belvedere - substantially more than was spent on any similar heritage project in County Offaly. The gardens are well worth seeing and it should be a pleasant afternoon. Please bring a picnic tea if you wish.

The Slievebloom walking club

The Slievebloom walking club walks continue again this year and there were walks each Sunday in July.

For details you should contact info@slievebloom.ie or ring Gerry during the day time 0509/37299.

OHAS Journal

Rory Masterson is receiving copy for the Journal up to end of June and you should send it to him c/o OHAS Bury Quay or to his home address at Screggan, Tullamore. Ideally it can be handed in hard copy together with a disc or it can be sent by email. We would like to have as many contributions as possible to make this first issue as interesting and
as useful as possible.

Visit of Meath Archaeological Society Irish Family History and Irish Genealogical Research Society 22 June

About seventy persons in all visited the Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre and the OHAS on Saturday the 22nd of June. Our sincere thanks to Steve McNeill who notwithstanding his Saturday morning arrival home from Rome was able to meet all groups. Our thanks to Peter Burke, Anne Horan and Margaret White and Noel Guerin who met the groups in the afternoon and presented an outline of our Family History services.

Durrow High Cross and Holy Well

Our thanks to the Tullamore Tribune and in particular to Tadgh Carey for highlighting our concerns about Durrow in the Tullamore Tribune for the weeks ending the 15th and 22nd June. A further piece on the site is expected for the week ending 29 June. As soon as it is clearly established who is the minister responsible for Duchas - The Heritage Service we should make strong representations to try and have the legal action recommenced to establish state ownership conclusively of the cemetery together with a public right of way and restoration works for the site.

Recent Publications

Congratulations to Sr. Bonaventure Brennan on the launching of her book on the foundress of the Mercy Convent Tullamore, Mother Mary Anne Doyle. The book is available from the Research Centre and was launched by the Bishop of Meath the Most Revd. Dr. Michael Smith on the 29th of May last.

Secondly our congratulations to the Tullamore Active Retirement Group (TARA) on their publication entitled Jipcat, Pigs Head, Petticoats and Combinations which is available for the very reasonable sum of €10 from the Centre.

Also still available at the Society's office are copies of Paddy Heaney's book on Cadamstown (now out of print elsewhere) together with Sergeant Dalton's illustrated History of Tullamore and District Gardai. The stock of this book is also reducing and if you want a copy you should buy it immediately at €15. Mr. P.J. Goode has sent us copies of his History of Cloneygowan which is a very attractive and substantial book and is available at €26 from the Centre.

For holiday reading why not buy a copy of Offaly History and Society this is available at the sum of €57 (£45)

www.offalyhistory.com

Our website has been further up graded over the last month and new articles have been included of great interest. Please have a look at it and let us have your comments and suggestions for further improvements.

Place names of County Offaly

Three articles have now appeared on Offaly Place names in the Offaly Independent and you should watch our for this series which will pull together the material collected by John O'Donovan many years ago for the Ordnance Survey.

O'Donovan Ordnance Survey Letters for County Offaly

We have made contact with a publisher of four or five of these volumes for other counties and we are hopeful that the County Offaly volume will be published next year. We have offered to make available our type script which can then be edited and corrected by reference to the original letters in the Royal Irish Academy. Dr. Michael Herity has edited the other volumes and we are hopeful that he will be involved in the County Offaly volume. We have also agreed to pre-purchase a number of copies by way of supporting the publication.

Visit to Clonmacnois 6th July 2002

Please note that our next tour will be to Clonmacnois and hopefully will be a pleasant afternoon to take place on Saturday afternoon on the 6th of July leaving the centre at about 2 p.m. to visit the site. 3.30 pm is the only time available into the Heritage Centre and the entrance fee there is €3.10c

We will return via Killeen's of Shannonbridge for refreshments. Again the trip is by car and seats will be available courtesy of other members.

Additions to our Library

Calendar of State Ireland Tudor Period 1571-1575

This is a new edition of the State papers for a short period but a turbulent one in the history of Laois and Offaly and will be of interest to students of the Leix Offaly Plantation.

Irish Innovators in Science and Technology

This brings together short biographies on people across the country who contributed to this subject including Mary Ward, the Third and Fourth Earls of Rosse, Daniel Chenevix and the Joly family - all with Offaly conncections.

Other books purchased include:

Ireland in the Crimean War
Pre census sources for Irish Demography
Medieval Records Sources
Songs of Irish Rebellion
The Irish Hedge School and its book
The Irish Sword numbers, 87 and 88
Statute Rolls of the Irish Parliament
History and Memory in Modern Ireland
A History of Irish Theatre 1601- 2000
Ordnance Survey Letters Dublin
Ordnance Survey Letters Down
A Paper Landscape
Diocese of Meath in the eighteenth century.

This book by Sr. Bonaventure Brennan and of importance to the history of Tullamore will be launch at the Offaly Exhibition and Research Centre at Bury Quay on Wednesday the 29th of May at 8p.m by Bishop Michael Smith.

1st June 2002 Saturday Canal Walk to Lock House

On Saturday 1 June at about 10.30a.m. we meet at the Canal Harbour for a walk to the restored 26th Lock House on the Canal. Our walk is to coincide with a boat rally in Tullamore. There will be a short talk on the history of the Canal from the harbour as far as the Lock House and taking in the old Canal Hotel and the building of the canal line itself to Shannon Harbour.

There may be an opportunity for some to travel by boat if there are sufficient boats available and owners willing to accommodate us.

History of Cloneygowan by P.J. Goode

We have received some copies of a newly produced book on Cloneygowan at a price of e26 each. This is handsome publication of which only a small number have been run off using a colour computer printer.

Local Heritage Societies Seminar

We had a very successful meeting on the 9th of May with other Societies from County Offaly, Moate and Laois and a separate report on this will be sent to members shortly. Our thanks to all who attended and in particular to the Heritage Officer Amanda Pedlow.

Events May/June to December 2002

9th June Tour of Tullamore

On Sunday the 9th of June Mr. Steve McNeill will lead a walk through Tullamore to commence at Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre at 2.30p.m.

Development of offalyhistory.com Web site

Work is ongoing on the development of our two web sites www.irishmidlandsancestry,com and www.offalyhistory.com. The two sites have now been freshened up with a new design. We are now in a position to commence putting on further information on the sites and your suggestions would be welcome. Our thanks to Nuala Holland living in England and formerly from Charleville Road Tullamore who has given us a piece on her recollections on Tullamore which will be put up on the website shortly.

Birr Castle 2 - 3 June National Country Fair

You may have received notice of a Country Fair at Birr Castle on the 2nd and 3rd of June including Carriage Driving, Gundog Trials, Hunt racing, Falconry and Tug -O -War Championships.

Call from Rolf Loeber

Rolf Loeber has sent us an email enquiring if anybody has written about the Dissenters in South Offaly or North Tipperary in the 1730s. He is intrigued that there are so many King's County subscribers to a book of poems by Samuel Boyse. He thinks the likely answer is that they were friends of Samuel's father, Joseph who was a dissenting minister. Joseph visited Leap to do an ordination which may suggest that Leap was a centre of some dissenting souls!

Laois Heritage Society

There will be a talk organised by Laois Heritage Centre on the History of Portarlington and Cloneygowan and surrounding areas on Tuesday the 4th of June at 8.30p.m. The speakers are Ronnie Matthews and P.J. Goode and the lecture will be held at the East End Hotel, Portarlington at 8.30p.m. sharp.

8th June 2002

The Clontarf Historical Society will be visiting Tullamore.

9th June Pattern Day of Durrow

As many members as possible are requested to attend the mass at 12 noon and to walk from the Church to the old cemetery and High Cross.

Visit of Meath Archaeological and Historical Society

This will be held to Tullamore on the 22nd of June 2002. The Society arrives at 10.45a.m. at the Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre. Members are requested to attend if they can at all to welcome the Society. In the afternoon at 3p.m. In the afternoon at 3p.m. the Irish Genealogical Research Society and the Irish Family History Society will be visiting the Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre and the Offaly Historical and Research Centre.

New FÁS Scheme

A new training scheme commenced at the Offaly Exhibition and Research Centre on Monday the 27th of May. We want to wish all the new participants well in the work. There will be opportunities for a substantial amount of training and historical research to be done. Included in the research will be the indexing of the Civil Registers of births, marriages and deaths for Laois and Offaly commencing in 1864.

OHAS Journal

Please note that articles should be sent to Rory Masterson at Screggan, Tullamore Co. Offaly or c/o OHAS Centre and should be completed by the 30th of June. We hope to publish in the autumn. Articles can be sent by email or on A4 preferably with a disk.

TARA Book Launch

24th June. Launch of a book of reminiscences of Tullamore and District published by TARA Group in Tullamore DEW Heritage Centre. Society members are cordially invited. See separate article below.

OHAS trip to Mullingar

On 29th June we will be visiting Mullingar including Belvedere and Mullingar Diocesan Museum, departing from the Offaly Exhibition and Research Centre at 2p.m.

6th July 2002

It is proposed to visit Clonmacnois

August - free

1st September to 8th September is Heritage Week

We are proposing the following programme:-

1. Illustrated talk on the Hanly photographs of Tullamore and District.
2. A walk through Tullamore on the Saturday of that week.
3. An illustrated lecture on the Tullamore Gardai
4. A talk on the growth and development of P. & H. Egan which was founded 150 years ago this year. Currently Mr. Bill Jaffray is organising with the Tullamore Dew Heritage an Exhibition of material on this company.

17th October 2002

In October we hope to have an illustrated lecture on Shinrone.

21st November 2002

An illustrated talk on the development of Charleville Demesne and the family life of the Moores and the Burys of Charleville, 1740 -1948.

Sun 8th December 2002

Mr. Joe Kenny has agreed has agreed to speak at our annual Christmas lunch on his recollections of Tullamore.

Tullamore Garda History

Copies of this wonderful publication complied by Sergeant Michael Dalton (retired) are available from the Society for e20. It is a hardback A4 size book of circa 200 pages well illustrated and is very good value.

Membership to date

Please check if you have paid up your membership for 2002. A good response has been received to late request and we have about 130 paid up now. Please note that paid up members will be listed in the upcoming Journal.

Roof at OHAS

We have some difficulties with the roof for a variety of reasons and work has lately started under the management of Matt Kelly of Midwae and Dermot O'Keeffe.

Tullamore DEW Heritage Centre Visit

Come along with Steve McNeill and enjoy a guided tour of the exhibition at the DEW Heritage Cente followed by a walk through the town to learn more about the little known corners of Tullamore and walk through its streets. Fee €3 adults (€11 Family) includes exhibition and glass of Tullamore Dew or Irish Mist and walking tour. Meet at DEW Centre @ 2.30 pm.

TARA Book Launch (Submitted by Fearga Kenny of TARA

TARA, Tullamore Active Retirement Association, invites the members of OHAS to the launch of their book of reminiscences

"Jip-Cat, Pig's Head, Petticoats and Combinations
Our lives, our times in Tullamore and surrounding districts".

The book is a culmination of much work during which the members of TARA collected reminiscences, photographs and memorabilia from among themselves and older members of the community in Tullamore to build a picture of life in Tullamore and district since the 1900s. It is wide-ranging covering many aspects of every day life in the very different but not so distant past. Life with oil lamps, candles and horse transport not to mention the intermingling of religion and daily life through Confraternities and other practices seems remote but was the norm. The everyday moments of that life are documented in this book. This sort of history is slipping away and without initiatives like this to record it would be lost completely. As Michael Byrne, Secretary of Offaly Historical and Archaeological Society, wrote of the book

"This is an important book for all interested in Tullamore people and their history. The stories told here of the moments of peace and joy, hardship and sorrow will not be found in any textbook and are seldom recorded. The authors of these accounts of life in Tullamore and district since the 1900s have rendered good service and set a high standard for local history in the Midlands. Perhaps what is contained in these pages is a world we have lost but it is not forgotten."

TARA would also like to take this opportunity of thanking the OHAS for all their help and advice which has greatly assisted this project.

The launch, to which members of OHAS are invited, will take place on Friday June 14th 2002 at 8 p.m. in the Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre, Bury Quay. The book will cost €10 and will be available from Midland Books, Balcony Books, the OHAS and members of TARA.

Please note that a lecture on Bishop John Cantwell Bishop of Meath in the mid - 19th century and who was born at Rahan Co. Offaly will be held at OHAS Centre at Bury Quay at 8.30p.m. on the 25th of April. The lecture is open to the public and is free of charge and all are welcome to attend.

The speaker is Reverend Fr. Paul Connell President of St. Finian's College Mullingar and we are pleased that he was able to come and speak.

For Committee Members

There is a Committee Meeting on 25th April at 7p.m. please note that the committee meeting of the Society will take place prior to the lecture and will be held at 7p.m. and should be completed by 8.15p.m. All committee members please note.

Meeting of Local History Societies and other persons interested for County Offaly on 9 May 2002.

Last year on or about the 10th of May (the anniversary of the great fire in Tullamore) . We had a meeting with other representatives of Historical Societies in Offaly to compare notes on matters of mutual interest. This year we are repeating this process and we are inviting representatives of Historical Societies throughout the County to attend at the Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre at 6 p.m. for refreshments and to have our meeting at circa 7.15p.m. to about 9.15p.m. We hope to have representatives of Offaly County Council and others in attendance together with members of the Society to talk about projects of mutual interests on Offaly History.

Noel Whelan R.I.P.

We want to extend sincere sympathy to the family of Noel Whelan, the members of Edendery Historical Society and his colleagues in the Offaly County Library on the sudden death of Noel Whelan aged 48 recently. Noel was a very strong member of the Edenderry Historical Society and a constant supporter of all matters of local historical interest in County Offaly. Edenderry and indeed the rest of the County will greatly miss him. He was a person who was always read to help with any query and he will be sorely missed by all particularly his family.

P. & H. Egan Exhibition

Congratulations to all in the Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre particularly Ailson and Mr. Bill Jaffray for their work in putting together the exhibition on the firm of P.& H. Egan Ltd. to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the firm in 1852. This exhibition will be open for a couple of more weeks and you should make a big effort to attend it and to see it before it is taken down.

Slievebloom walking club

The programme of Slievebloom walks from May to October 2002 has now been printed and is now available and can be had at the Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre. It is also available on www.slievebloom.ie

The Federation of Local History Society Spring Seminar

The Federation of Local History Society Spring Seminar will be held on the 27th of April at the Esplanad Hotel in Bray .

Rolf Loebar

Our thanks to Rolf Loebar who has a great interest in Offaly History for recent donation of a copy pamphlet showing a subscription list with Offaly subscribers in 1731. He is currently composing a small article on it which will be of interest to us. He has also prepared a paper on Castletown near Ballymooney for the new journal.

OHAS Journal

Please note that articles should be sent to Rory Masterson at Screggan Tullamore Co. Offaly or c/o OHAS Centre and should be completed by the 30th of June. We hope to publish in the autumn. Articles can be sent by email or on A4 preferably with a disk.

Tourists to Offaly

A Local History group from Fingal will be visiting the Society on the 8th of June the Irish Genealogical Society will be combining with the Irish Family History Society to visit Birr and Tullamore on the 22nd of June, to arrive in Tullamore at circa 3p.m. On the same day probably in the morning members of the Meath Archaeological and Historical Society will be visiting Tullamore. A warm welcome to everybody and we hope that members of the committee and other members of the Society will be available on the 8th of the 22nd of June to assist.

Group for Study of Irish Historic Settlement

The subject of this year's 31st annual regional conference will be settlement history and urban development in East Clare and will be held over the period May 10 to May 12, 2002 at the Old Ground Hotel Ennis Co. Clare. Details are available from the Secretary.

Tullamore Garda History

Copies of this wonderful publication complied by Sergeant Michael Dalton (retired) are available from the Society for €20. It is a hardback A4 size book of circa 200 pages well illustrated and is very good value.

Offaly Thatched Houses

As part of implementing the Offaly Heritage Plan. The Heritage Officer in conjunction with her committee are undertaking a survey of all thatched premises in Offaly. If members can help would you send information to the Society or to Amanda Pedlow at apedlow@offalycoco.ie

Irish Labour History Society

We have material on this and the journal for any member who is interested. The A.G.M. will be held at Beggars Bush, Haddington Road, Dublin 4 on the 27th of April 2002.

Irish Midlands Ancestry Website

Our sincere thanks to Sandra Dunne and to our manager John Kearney in connection with the new version of the www.irishmidlandsancestry.com website. It looks very professional and carries all the information which the old site had. Please open it and let us have your comments. If you have material which you would like put on the website and it is already typed you could send us an email with this material or send us a disk and we will look to installing it.

We are currently engaged on upgrading the offalyhistory.com site. Our thanks to those who have been involved in this process to date.

Bogs Boats and Bows

The current issue of Archaeology Ireland (volume 16 number 1 Spring 2002 ) contains an article by Conor McDermott and Others who have been surveying the bogs in Offaly and Westmeath during the summer of 2001 and have a report on bog finds at Daingean, Clonad and Ballybeg. A copy of the article is available at the Society's Library.

Arts News

For any members interested we received the newsletter of the Arts Council each month and it will be no surprise to the Offaly public to know that the grants received in County Offaly from the Arts Council are among the lowest in Ireland. The Local Authority grant for Offaly appears to have been €57,000 euros with little or no other funds coming to the county that can be identified. There are no plans for a county museum in Offaly and as of now we do not even have a warehouse in which to collect artefacts or material objects which are associated with Offaly History.

Durrow Abbey Site

A recent letter from Duchas indicated that a sum of €20,000 was made available out of the €1.27million euros promised to do some insignificant works on the roof at Durrow. While the work commenced by Duchas is to be welcomed it does not greatly improve the situation and certainly does not provide for the High Cross which is now agreed by all to be suffering substantially due to weathering and erosion and to be in danger from the beech trees in the vicinity of the High Cross. We often get complaints from members of the public about the difficulties they have with Duchas in restoring listed houses and meeting their requirements even when the building (for example an old church) might fall into ruin if the intended purchase and restoration does not proceed. However when work is expected of Duchas it can take fifteen, twenty years and longer to get any action.

Purchase of freehold of the Bury Quay Centre

We have reached agreement on the purchase of the freehold of the premises at Bury Quay for an nominal sum thanks to Waterways Ireland now based at Enniskillen. It has taken thirteen years of correspondence and numerous letters to T.D.'s and ministers to get to this stage.

Programme May - December 2002

9th May 2002 - We intend to organise a meeting of all Local History Societies in County Offaly to a social evening in Tullamore and a review of the progress in Offaly History to date.

18th May 2002 - On Saturday 18th May we hope to visit Laois and are currently making arrangements.

8th June 2002 - The Clontarf Historical Society will be visiting Tullamore.

22 June 2002 - We hope to visit Mullingar including Belvedere.

22 June 2002 - The Irish Genealogical Research Society will be visiting Birr and Tullamore.

6th July 2002 - It is proposed to visit Clonmacois

August - free

1st September to 8th September is Heritage Week

We are proposing the following programme:-

1. Illustrated talk on the Hanly photographs of Tullamore and District.
2. A walk through Tullamore on the Saturday of that week.
3. An illustrated lecture on the Tullamore Gardai
4. A talk on the growth and development of P. & H. Egan which was founded 150 years ago this year. Currently Mr. Bill Jaffray is organising with the Tullamore Dew Heritage an Exhibition of material on this company.

October 2002 - In October we hope to have an illustrated lecture on Shinrone.

November 2002 - An illustrated talk on the development of Charleville Demesne and the family life of the Moore's and the Bury's of Charleville,1740 -1948.

December 2002 - Mr. Joe Kenny has agreed has agreed to speak at our annual Christmas lunch on his recollections of Tullamore.

Membership fees

There are still a small number of renewals for 2002 outstanding. An invoice is enclosed for those still due. Please remit as soon as possible.

Community Employment

Our current FAS scheme will finish on Friday 26th April. We would like to thank most sincerely all who participated for their very valuable work. It is a great contribution to the store of historical material for the area. Over the year five people have obtained permanent employment. We would hope to recommence within a few weeks time.

Aspects of Monastic History in the South Midlands

We are much obliged to Mr. Charles Doherty of the Combined Departments of History in University College Dublin for his being agreeable to come to Tullamore on the 14th of March to give a lecture on Aspects of Monastic History in the South Midlands

Mr. Doherty lectures in the Department of Early (including Medieval) Irish History in University College Dublin. Currently he is Acting Head of Department. He has lectured and published on hagiography, economics and settlement. Some of his publications include "The role of relics in Early Ireland", "The Basilica", "Settlement in Early Ireland - A Review", "The Viking in Early Ireland - A Review", "Trade and Exchange in Early Ireland", The Transmission of the cult of St. Maedhog", "Hagiography as a source of economic history" and " The Monastic town of Early Ireland".

This is a very important lecture and should be of great interest to members and the public and the lecture is open to all to attend free of charge. We look forward to seeing you not later than 8.30p.m. on Thursday next the 14th of March.

25 April Lecture on Bishop John Cantwell Bishop of Meath who was from Rahan Parish

This lecture is to be given by Reverend Paul Connell the President of St. Finian's College.

ESB Exhibition of Photographs

This Exhibition runs until the end of March and can be viewed from Monday to Friday from 10a.m. to 4p.m. and is free and open to the public.

22 March the Tullamore Gardai will be launching their history of Tullamore Garda Station and District complied by Sergeant Dalton

This is a very useful publication well illustrated and copies will be available for purchase from the Society after the 22nd of March.

9th May 2002

We intend to organise a meeting of all Local History Societies in County Offaly to a social evening in Tullamore and a review of the progress in Offaly History to date.

18th May 2002

On Saturday 18th May we hope to visit Laois and are currently making arrangements.

8th June 2002

The Clontarf Historical Society will be visiting Tullamore.

22 June 2002

We hope to visit Mullingar including Belvedere.

22 June 2002

The Irish Genealogical Research Society will be visiting Birr and Tullamore.

6th July 2002

It is proposed to visit Clonmacois

August - free

1st September to 8th September is Heritage Week

We are proposing the following programme:-

1. Illustrated talk on the Hanly photographs of Tullamore and District.
2. A walk through Tullamore on the Saturday of that week.
3. An illustrated lecture on the Tullamore Gardai
   
4. A talk on the growth and development of P. & H. Egan which was founded 150 years ago this year. Currently Mr. Bill Jaffray is organising with the Tullamore Dew Heritage an Exhibition of material on this company.

October 2002

In October we hope to an illustrated lecture on Shinrone.

November 2002

An illustrated talk on the development of Charleville Demesne and the family life of the Moores and the Burys of Charleville,1740 -1948.

December 2002

Mr. Joe Kenny has agreed has agreed to speak at our annual Christmas lunch on his recollections of Tullamore.

Annual Subscription

For all these reasons it is good to note that many members have renewed their subscription and we hope that those who have not recently answered the call will do so shortly. Please check to see if your subscription is due and if it is would you please forward it to us as soon as possible.

Committee meeting

Would members please note that the next Committee meeting of the Society will be held on Thursday the 21st of March at 7p.m.

Developments at Durrow

At about the time we published the last newsletter it came to our attention that an agreement has been reached between Duchas and the owners of Durrow Abbey with a view to getting repairs and improvements done at the High Cross and Church. At this point we are not clear as to what improvements are to be made and what works are to be done and we hope to keep you posted on this. Suffice it to say that Duchas did not contact us and that the promised liaison with the High Cross Committee going back to 1996 was never acted upon. This year marks about the twentieth anniversary of letter writing and meetings in relation to the Durrow site. If politicians call to your doorstep in the next few months you might remind them of the importance of this site among others in County Offaly.

Offaly Heritage Plan

The Offaly Heritage Plan as gained wide acceptance and you will notice from the newspapers that there is to be lecture on the conservation and care of graveyards at OHAS on the 14th of March commencing at circa 2p.m. This lecture is open to the public and is free of charge. It should be useful to all those interested in graveyard conservation in their area.

The Heritage Plan is available from us by email and printed copies can be purchased from the Society for the cost of photocopying or directly from Ms. Amanda Pedlow at the Offaly Heritage Office at Offaly County Council, Courthouse, Tullamore.

Refurbishment of Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre

The refurbishment is now completed and we hope to have a social evening in April when members might think of visiting this centre to review the new exhibitions. In the meantime if you have an opportunity to go along yourself why not do so. Congratulations to all concerned in particular the manager and staff of the centre and the board headed by Mr. Bill Jaffray who has done trojan work to bring about the new exhibitions.

Roscrea Conference

The Conference on a twice yearly basis by George Cunningham will be held at the Mount St. Joseph's Abbey Roscrea from the 5th to 7th of April. Details as to booking etc is available from Reverend Fr. Nivard Kinsella Guest Master, Mount St. Joseph.

0505/21711 and the conference organiser is Mr. George Cunningham, Parkmore, Roscrea Co. Tipperary. The subject matter is Treasuer's from Lorrha Co. Tipperary, Bell, Book and Shrine.

Proof reading of articles on Offaly History for website

Readers are still needed for this work and if you are available on Thursday evenings the centre is opened from 7.30p.m. to 10.30p.m. and your contribution would be welcome.

A Lecture will be given on Thursday the 21st of February at 8.30p.m. by Herman Geissel who lives in Clane Co. Kildare and is an authority on the history of the Sli Mór. He is particularly interested in the Natural History of Ireland and in Eskers and has worked with TG4 in the making of a film on the Esker Riada. His lecture will be an interesting follow up to our Christmas talk on the roads of Offaly and we hope to see a good attendance.

Ballyfin Estate for sale

Members may have noticed the article on Ballyfin house which is now for sale at e9.52 million euros. A short history on the house may be on the Irish Times website from Saturday the 19th of January 2002 issue. Copies of the article are available from the Society for €1 including postage.

Financial Help Sought

We are now seeking voluntary subscriptions which meet with Section 45 of the Finance Act 2000 which allows a minimum donation of circa €254 to be converted into a greater amount for the benefit of the work of the Society because Offaly Heritage Centre Ltd. which owns our premises has charitable status. All subscriptions donated under this heading will be used to refurbish the centre, add to the library, promote publications and purchase additional microfilm facilities.

We could buy a new microfilm reader if we can get approximately 12 people to contribute the €254 euros each.

We have also invited members to consider a contribution to the Society to facilitate the development of our activity by way of purchase of additional library equipment.

Lecture on the Monastic Midlands
14th March 8.30p.m.

Mr. Charles Doherty of the Department of Early History at NUI Dublin will be Lecturer for March and he will speak about the history of the monasteries of the Midlands. Fuller details are to follow and in the meantime you might note that the lecture will be held on the 14th of March at 8.30p.m. at the Research Centre at Bury. This will be an important lecture which was adjourned from last year because of the FMD problem.

Bishop John Cantwell 25th April

The subject of our lecture in April will be Bishop John Cantwell who is a native of Rahan Co. Offaly. The lecture will be given by the president of St. Finian's College Mulingar, The Reverend Paul Connell. The exact title of the lecture is the early life and career of the Bishop Cantwell and the date is again the 25th of April at 8.30p.m. at the Research Centre at Bury Quay.

Offaly History Journal

A reminder has been lately sent out to all likely contributors to have their material in not later than the 30th of June so as to give an opportunity over the summer months to our editor Dr. Rory Masterson, to complete the editing of the journal and to have it available for the autumn. The contents are likely to include the following:-

1. Annual review of events relatedto Offaly History and Heritage
2. An article on the early Christian period by Rory Masterson.
3. Articles of Offaly interest on the medieval period and on the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
4. An up to date bibliography of material on the county published since 1999.
5. Book reviews
6. Report on Society activities
   
7. List of members
8. List of books for sale at the Research Centre.
   
9. Any other suggestions you may have in relation to the content would be greatly appreciated.

Books received/purchased

We have lately received the Meath Journal for 2001 which includes an article by our editor Rory Masterson. It also includes a programme for the Society for the year 2002.

We have received the most recent issue of the Antiquaries Journal (RSAI) together with a list of lectures which includes one on William Stuart Trench who was the land agent in Geashill and this lecture is to be given by Gerard Lyne on the 25th of April. The list of the lectures is available at the Society's Office.

Land ownership in England and Ireland

We have lately completed the index from the blue book of circa 1874 on the land ownership in Laois and Offaly and would hope to have it available for family history research shortly. Kevin Cahill who hails from County Laois has lately published a book Who owns Britain; hidden facts behind land ownership in the UK and Ireland. This book relates mainly to the return of owners of land compiled for England and Ireland in the 1870s and a copy has been acquired for the Society's library and will not doubt be of interest to members.

Development at Durrow

We have to report that there have been few developments at Durrow in recent times save as follows:-

1. The statement of cultural significance has now been completed by the committee involved and we believe will shortly be in the public domain. This in turn will probably lead to the Council proceeding with the
proposed application to vary the development plan in respect of Durrow.

In the meantime a letter was sent to Mr. Dave Fadden Director of Duchas on the 17th January impressing on him the importance of doing something about Durrow given that:-

(a) The High Cross is in danger and needs immediate attention

(b) That Duchas as the owners of the Monastic site have done little of nothing as far as we know to provide for active state ownership of the site and unfettered right of access.

(c) The monies made available in the sum of one million pounds have not been used and as far as the public is concerned little or no action has taken place in Durrow notwithstanding the promises of a plethora of ministers over the past ten years.

Duchas itself has accepted that the High Cross is in danger and needs attention. We fail to see why it can take so long for Duchas to act on its responsibilities in relation to this important site. We are aware that the sentiments expressed in our correspondence have been supported by both the officials and elected members of Offaly County Council.

The response of Mr. Fadden to date has been an email only to say that he hopes to be able to report on matters in the near future. Correspondence on Durrow stated in 1982 "It really is a scandal that the most hallowed site in Tullamore area and agreed to be of international significance is allowed to deteriorate so much and access denied as of right. "

Offaly Place names

We made an enquiry of the place names branch of Duchas now based at 17/19 Lower Hatch Street Dublin 2 in connection with the Offaly material complied by Liam Price and given to the place names branch by the School of Celtic Studies Dublin Institute for Advance Studies in the 1960s. This is an important archive and we have been advised that the Offaly material was used as evidence in compiling the list of place names for Chontae Uibh Fhaili. We will be ordering further copies of this useful slim publication. We were hoping that in the longer term a more detailed study would be made of Offaly Place Names similar to what the late Liam Price did for Co. Wicklow.

The ESB Exhibition of nature Photography

The ESB Photography Exhibition is intended to open at the Research Centre shortly and will run for the month of March - see publicity in local papers.

Master Index for Family History Research

Mr. Noel Guerin continues to make progress with the development of a master index for Family History and there are now in the region of 1.5 million records in the computerised index. Our works in family history continues a pace and we have one person employed by the Society in connection with this work.

Draft Architectural Heritage Protection Guidelines for Planning Authorities: Public Consultation

A copy of this booklet has been received by the Society and the deadline for a receipt of submissions is 28th February 2002.

Trip to Inis Cealtra Lough Derg 5th of April

The Birr Historical Society intend to travel to Lough Derg on the 5th of April and if you would be interested you should contact members of the Birr Society including Margaret Hogan or the Reverend Irene Morrow.

Digby Papers

We refer those interested to www.hmc.gov.uk for reports on historical manuscripts including the Digby Papers. These include deeds and documents relating to County Offaly from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century and in particular relating to the estate of Lord Digby at Geashill.

New Publications

We currently have a stock of a new book on Birr by Oisin Deery, A compact history of Birr at €11.75 euro. This is an attractive publication of circa 100 pages giving a summary of the history of Birr and is a useful introduction of the history of the town.

Reverend Sr. Bonaventura Brennan

Reverend Sr. Bonoventura Brennan has lately published The story of Mary Anne Doyle; First Companion of Catherine McAuley. It commenced with two. There is a chapter on Tullamore from pages 54 to 128 which Offaly readers will find interesting together with further detail of the founding of the Tullamore Convent in an appendix. The book is also attractively illustrated.

The Irish Review (autumn winter 2001) contains articles on the writings of Sheila Wingfield and that of Marina Carr. Marina Carr is no stranger to Tullamore and also her plays would be well known here and the article by Clare Walsh will be of interest. In relation to the article on Sheila Wingfield it may be recalled that she published two volumes of memoirs and she was the daughter of Ethel Homan Mulock with whom she did not get on. In her early life she spent many winters in the Mulock family home at Bellair in County Offaly.

The current issue of the Kildare Journal (volume 19, part 1) has an interesting piece by the Reverend Brian McCuarta on the inventory of Sir John Moore of Croghan Co. Offaly. John Moore died in 1633 and at the time of his death held almost twelve hundred acres in the North West of County Offaly and as well as lands acquired in the plantation of the County in 1619 - 1620. In his will he gave instructions to be buried at Croghan Church beside his father Sir Thomas and he died on the 26th of April 1633 and his wife on the 8th of July in the same year.

The inventory bears witness to a comfortable interior at Croghan Castle (now a ruin) with a large household, fourteen separate rooms or outhouses were listed

Offaly Heritage Plan

The Offaly Heritage Plan is progressing and our Chairman, Stephen McNeill, is representing the Society on the Heritage Forum. With a view to helping the work of the Forum, he is appealing to members to contact him if they know of the location of thatched houses in the county and also the location of old graveyards and monuments as it is hoped to start work on these projects.

8 pm at the Research Centre
Our January Lecture is to be given by Dr. Rory Masterson who is a history teacher at the St. Columba's College Tullamore and who is also the Editor of our forthcoming Journal. Dr. Masterson's talk will be on St. Colman and his monastery at Lynally near Tullamore. The talk will centre on the life of Colman of Lynally, discussing, where he came from, why he founded the monastery at Lynally, his literary talents and his importance in the overall development of the Church organisation in the seventh century. The talk will also examine the subsequent history of his foundation atLynally and its links with Conor in Co. Antrim.

We are grateful to Dr. Masterson for undertaking this lecture and look forward to a good attendance.

Christmas Draw 2001

We want to express our sincere thanks to all the members and the general public who contributed to our Christmas Draw. It made a sum of £665 for the Society and will help to fund some our projects. The prize winners were as follows:-

1. Angela Flanagan, Lowertown, Rahugh
2. Peter Flynn, Leamore, Blueball
3. Marie Garland, Birr
4. Bill Jaffray, Spollanstown
5. Jim and Teresa Kenny, Clara Bridge, Tullamore
6. Carthage Flanagan, Cloonagh, Tullamore.

Burren Spring Conference

You might please note that a Burren weekend conference is being organised from the 1st of February to the 3rd of February 20002. Details are available from admin@burrencollege.com or from Ailsa Ellis, Burren College of Art, Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare.

Lecture on 21st February Herman Geissell

Herman Geissell will give an illustrated talk on the Slí Mór.

Lecture on 14th March - early Christian Ireland

To be confirmed.

Projects in progress at OHAS Research Centre

Your help in prove reading articles would be greatly appreciated and if you would like to come along on Thursday evening there is plenty of work to be done in the way of proof reading. Our thanks to Kathleen Geoghegan and Breda Hoey together with Jim Kenny and Steve McNeill who have been helping on this front.

Projects in progress or completed

• Typing Laois tombstone inscriptions - Killeshin, Sleaty, Graiguecullen, Mayo, Arles, Doonane, Castletown, Rathaspic, Shrule, Rathnure
• Laois and Offaly information/directory 1957 for web site
• Register of Trees Planted in Offaly 1793-1913
• 1911 Census of Birr
• 1911 Census of Tullamore
• Administrative divisions, Offaly for web site
• Armstrong Family account
• Broughal Castle
• Canon Guinan article
• Charleville Demesne 1600-1900
• Charleville Estate article
• Ciaran of Saigir article
• Disp Reg. Dists and Poor Law Unions, Offaly for web site
• Early History of Tullamore - Dr. Moran for web site
• Ferbane Collection 1830
• Gallen and Kilreehan article
• Gallen Priory article
• Geashill Ratepayers 1883
• Killeigh/Geashill Article
• Killenard Graveyard Inscriptions
• Land Owners Laois 1876
• Land Owners Offaly 1876
• Laois and Offaly Population stats
• Laois Biographies - numerous names
• Offaly Biographies for web site
• Laois/Offaly DMP personnel
• Lea Castle
• Mac Auley of Calry
• Midland Tribune extracts 1902
• Monasteroris 1778-1978
• Monasticon Hibernicum
• O'Dempsey article
• O'Dempseys from O S Letters
• Offaly Baronies - description
• Offaly Chronology
• Offaly Civil Parishes description
• Offaly History at risk
• Offaly Independent articles
• Official gleanings from 1787 for web
• Ordnance Survey Name Books for Offaly
• Plantation of Leix and Offaly
• Rahan Estate article
• Rahan and Lynally Churches
• Sources for Offaly History for web
• Tubber Parish article
• Tullabeg article
• Urban Archaeology Survey
• Warburton Family
• Rev Graham Craig diaries from 1870s

In addition to the computerization of the above in text or database format they have to be checked twice before they go to their appropriate slot.

Other tasks

Reorganising the photos collection
Updating our web sites
Family history research continues to be busy

Offaly Heritage Plan 2002-2006

Amanda Pedlow, Laois and Offaly Heritage Officer has asked that we send out the new Offaly Heritage Plan which was adopted by Offaly County Council in Dec 2001. This is the second county heritage plan to be adopted by a county council in Ireland, the first being Laois in November last. A printed copy of the document may be collected from the Research Centre during office hours.