Christmas Lunch

This year's Christmas Lunch will be held at the Millennium Room of Bridge House Hotel at 1p.m. on Sunday the 9th of December. The luncheon price is £15 and for children's menu £7.50p. The format is much the same as last year's but this year's guest speaker is Mr. Niall Sweeney, the Offaly County Manager. We look forward to seeing you and hope that you will be in a position to book early through the centre at 21421 or by email.

History on the Net

The above is the subject of a presentation on Thursday night the 29th of November at 8p.m. in our Conference Room at OHAS Bury Quay. All are welcome to attend. It is intended to have members of the Society and guests to make presentations on Offaly History and Irish History on the internet. The launch of our two web sites www.offalyhistory.com and irishmidlandsancestry.com will take place on the 29th of November 01 at our centre at Bury Quay Tullamore. Both web sites will be by launch by Mr. Sean Halligan of FAS.

Our guest speakers will include Mr. Noel Guerin, Ms. Sandra Dunne, Mr. John Kearney and Mr. Sean Hackett.
This is your opportunity to keep up to date with a fast growing area which has tremendous potential for historical studies.

Books for Christmas

Please remember that we have some beautiful photographs both framed and unframed which would be ideal for Christmas presents and you should call to the centre during office hours to take a look. We also have some wonderful books as per the attached list which will be of interest to you and to your friends. Why not give a present of a distinctive and lasting item this Christmas

John Killaly Commemorative Plaque

We have arranged with the Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre and Professor Ron Cox of Trinity College to have a plaque erected at the Heritage Centre to commemorate the memory of John Killaly who was a surveyor and canal engineer and came to Ireland in 1794 joining the Grand Canal Company at an annual salary of £150. He married a lady from Tullamore by the name of Alicia Hamilton. One of his sons Hamilton Hartly Killaly later become the first president of the Canadian Society of Engineers. More details of Killaly's career are flagged on our website at offalyhistory.com and will be sent also to members having email. The note was compiled by Professor Cox and we are grateful to him for his co-operation.


Lecture on Eskers

Thanks to John Feehan for his wonderful lecture on Eskers on the 25th of October. As usual he gave a distinguished performance and we would hope that his message is not lost on the substantial attendance.

Durrow High Cross

There have been no developments here of note. No planning application has been made for development and as far as we know the County Council has not yet amended the Development Plan to allow for the proposed variation.
On a more pessimistic note the owners of the Estate (excluding the cemetery) - together with the right of way, have not as far as we know concluded any agreement with Duchas to allow access to the monument to carry out necessary remedial works. The matter will be coming up at the next meeting of the Society Committee.

Battle of Kinsale

The four hundreth anniversary of the Battle of Kinsale is the subject of the Kinsale Winter School to be held on the 6th of January 2002 and we have now received the details of the provisional programme.


Frank McGovern RIP

Our sincere sympathy is extended to the family of Frank McGovern and also to the company he worked for many years, Cantrell and Cochrane on his recent sudden death. Mr. McGovern was a member of the board of Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre and was a key player in the promotion of the idea of the centre and its subsequent development from 1995 onwards. His advice was always to the point and his contribution to the Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre will be greatly missed.

Jim Cullen Lecture

We want to express our sincere thanks to Jim Cullen of New York who is a member of the Society and who gave a very interesting talk on his career to Brigadier General in the American army. He is now a lawyer practising on Wall Street and with a deep interest in human rights issues in Northern Ireland. The text of his lecture is now available on our web site courtesy of our member, Sean Hackett.

James Dillon coroner

Information is sought on James Dillon in connection with an inquest held in the 1840s and his swearing of a deaf and dumb man named John Pearson at Lusmagh to give evidence. Any information about this can be passed on to the Secretary for the benefit of Ms. Rachel Pollard who is preparing an article for the Journal of the British Deaf History Society.

Offaly Heritage Journal

We will shortly be writing to all those who might be interested in presenting an article to the journal to remind them of publication dates and if you have not already responded or have not indicated your interest in preparing an article would you please do so as soon as possible, to Rory Masterson, Screggan, Tullamore.

Additions to Library

We lately acquired further books for our library including the following:-

  1. Two volumes on the inquisitions in relation to Irish land held in the first half of the seventeenth century and which were published by the Irish Records Commission in the 1820s. These are rare items and were purchased in England.
  2. A bibliographical guide to diaries of English and Irish interests published over the last 300 years and also with reference to manuscripts diaries.
  3. The most recent six volumes in the local history study series bringing the total we now have in the library to 40.

The library catalogue is now available at reception on computer and can be checked for items that may be of interest to people. We also have available a local history data base which can be looked at for research purposes.

Emma Lucy Costello, Tullamore

Would anybody having information on Emma Lucy Costello who worked as a teacher in the intermediate school Tullamore in 1926 contact us. Apparently she was interested in the design of the Irish Coinage and information has been requested about her by Colm Gallagher who is preparing a book on the Irish Coinage of 1928. This writer recalls hearing that the Costello sisters ran a school possibly in Church Street known as Tullamore Select Academy (Tullamore Silly Asses) and perhaps this is the same school. Some of our older members may be able to help.

Cloneygowan History

Mr. Patrick Goode has contacted us in connection with his proposed book on the History and Heritage of Cloneygowan, A Midlands Village - Cloneygowan. The book is ready and is about 150 pages in size. He hopes to publish it soon and if you would be interested in subscribing in due course you might let us know.

Additional Historical material for web sites

Lately we have been provided with an article on Offaly emigration to Queensland by Jennifer Harrison who sent us her work by email attachment. Likewise we have been provided with the text of Jim Cullen's lecture in early November to the Society. Both of these documents are now available on the web and if you are interested in doing research on Offaly and would like to email it to us or send us the disc we would be happy to review it with a view to placing it on our web site. Likewise if you are interested in working on a research project from a distance perhaps you would call us by email and we could suggest certain work that you might like to do and which you can do quite easily from your own home sending on the finished product in due course for publication on the web site. Your contribution will of course be acknowledged in the website.