Newgrange and the Bend of Boyne by Geraldine Stout - Thursday 10th April
Geraldine Stout, a leading Irish archaeologist, and the author of the recent best seller Newgrange and the Bend of the Boyne, will give an illustrated lecture on Newgrange and the Boyne Valley at the OHAS at Bury Quay Tullamore on Thursday, 10th of April '03 at 8.15p.m. The lecture is a public one and all are welcome.
In her lecture, Geraldine Stout will trace the origin of the evolution of the area from geological origins to the Neolithic tomb builders and the Roman pilgrims visiting Newgrange, to St. Patrick who "began his Christian mission in Ireland", the arrival of the Cistercians; the impact of Cromwell, the drama of the battle of the Boyne, and the transformation of the landscape by the eighteenth century stage.

Annual subs
A lot of members have renewed for 2003. If you haven't, please do so at your earliest convenience. The sub is still only €25.

2004 Journal
Articles for the 2004 issue are now urgently required. If you have something you would like to see in print, now's your chance. Ideally text should be in Word format and on computer disk.

Launch of Shinrone Photos Book postponed
Noel MacMahon regrets that the launch of his book has to be delayed until further notice due to a family concern.

Some work on the Research Project
Much valuable work continues to be done on the FAS Community Employment programme.

Family History
The number of family history enquiries continues to grow from year to year. In 2000, for example we dealt with 728 requests and that number increased to 903 in 2002. In fact the level of enquiries has doubled since 1998. The highest percentage of queries, as you would expect, come from the USA with Australia and Britain following.

Databases
To provide the research we need sources and these continue to be added to on a daily basis. Currently we are engaged in computerizing the civil records of births and deaths for Offaly from 1864 to 1900 and to date just over 50,000 entries have been entered in the past ten months.

Web sites
Our two web sites offalyhistory.com and irishmidlandsancestry.com are continually updated and members and the general public are encouraged to use them for the information they contain. A list of material is included in this newsletter.

Photo scanning
Large numbers of the Society's photo collection are being scanned and stored on CD ROMs which makes locating a particular image easy.

Articles
Text for articles published by local newspapers are prepared on a weekly basis.

Articles on offalyhistory.com:

Tullamore
20th Century Chronology of Tullamore
Arthur Young's Account of Tullamore in 1776
Battle in Tullamore
Historical and Industrial Tullamore
Places of worship in Tullamore in 1915
The King's County Infirmary, Tullamore
The Famine in Tullamore
Industry and Business in Tullamore
Balloon Fire in Tullamore -- 1785
Tanyard Lane: Its place in the economic history of Tullamore
Tullamore Gas Company
A Short History of Tullamore Agricultural Show
Tullamore Workhouse
When Tullamore had a Tobacco Industry
Tullamore Dew
Tullamore in travel guides of 150 years ago
Tullamore Distillery
The Grand Canal and Tullamore
Tullamore and its Environs
A Walk Through Tullamore
Thomas Davis Lecture on Irish Towns No. 11 - Tullamore
Great Tullamore Houses
The History of Tullamore Gaol
A History of Sragh Castle
Fairs & Markets in the 1850's
A Gross Violation of the Public Peace: -The Tullamore Incident, 1806
Memoirs of Nuala Holland

Archaeology
Ordnance Survey Letters for Offaly in 1838
A History of Offaly through its Monuments (written by Caimin O'Brien and published in the 'Tullamore Tribune' 2002)
The Dowris Treasure by Michael Byrne
Sacred Site of Dowris Hoard yields amazing insights
Castle Sites in Offaly (1997)
Cadamstown Archaeology
Notes on the Sculptured Slabs at Gallen Priory, by R. A. S MacAlister, M.A., F.S.A.
Forest Glass Furnaces in County Offaly, by Caimin O'Brien and Jean Farrelly
Excavations at Clonmacnois, by Heather King
Revealing a Private Inscription, by Conleth Manning
The Earliest Plan of Clonmacnois, by Conleth Mannning
The very earliest plan of Clonmacnois, by Conleth Manning

History Articles
in albhabetical order of location:
A General Census of Ballyboy & Killoughy, taken in October 1826 by Rev. W. Lynch
Ballycumber -- The Strange Story of The Glassy Pond, by Jim Kenny
Banagher Co. Offaly
Banagher was founded Fourteen Centuries Ago
Banagher's Famous Residents, by Gearóid Ó Broin
Banagher as a corporate town
Banagher Distillery, by Michael Byrne
Banagher Royal School, by Michael Byrne
Banagher Literary Associations
Rape Mills
Fire at Messrs. Perrys' Mills, Belmont, (King's County Chronicle)
Messrs. Perrys' Mills Belmont, (King's County Chronicle)
A History of Birr
Birr Distillery
Birr or Parsonstown, (extract from John Wright - Offaly One Hundred Years Ago, - Reprint of King's County Directory, 1890)
Birr and the 1834 Poverty Inquiry, by Micahel Byrne
Reminiscences and Letters of Sir Robert Ball, Parsonstown, (edited by W. Valentine Ball, 1915)
Parsonstown (Birr) Bridewell and Courthouse, (extract from John Wright - Offaly One Hundred Years Ago, - reprint of King's County Directory, 1890)
Thomas Lacy visits Birr -- 1863
Macregol's Gospels - The Book of Birr, by Margaret Hogan, in Irelands Own Summer Annual 1988
Childhood glimpses at Birr Castle, by Sally Shaw
Birr Parish and Church, (Offaly Historical round-up), by Michael Byrne
Birr--The making of a model town, (Offaly Historical round-up), by Michael Byrne
Sources for the history of the Town of Birr
Dedication of St. Manchan's Church Boher, 1939
St. Manchan's Church, Boher, 1939
Broughall Castle, County Offaly
Clara: The Armstrongs and Ambrose Cox, (Offaly Historical round-up), by Michael Byrne
Clara Parish, taken from Cogan -- Diocese of Meath, ancient and modern
Goodbody's Jute Works (Clara), by Michael Byrne
Memoir of Robert Goodbody, of Mountmellick, Clara and Tullamore, 1781-1860
Cloghan Castle
The Parish of Clonbullogue - from Historic Records
Caesar Otway and Patron Day at Clonmacnoise, by Michael Byrne
Clonmacnois - Seven Churches
Clononey Castle
Arthur O'Connor, M.P. for Philipstown (Daingean), 1763 - 1852
From Philipstown to Daingean - Down Through the Years, (Offaly Independant, 10th August 2001)
Daingean - Some Unfriendly Reports (1724 - 1846)
Daingean Reformatory described, by Michael Byrne
Sean Bourke's description of Daingean Reformatory, (published in the Old Limerick Journal, 1982)
Durrow, by Vincent Abbott
A Monastery at Durrow 550-1550, (extract from Tullamore Catholic Parish - A Historical Survey by Michael Byrne)
Who Killed Lord Norbury (Durrow)
The Old Church at Drumcullen, near Kinnity, by the Rev. John Healy - 1883
Monasteroris Parish, 1778-1978, by Charles W. Finney
Dean Digby and Geashill in 1798, by Michael Byrne
Historic Barony of Geashill in Old Offaly
Bloomville House, Geashill, by Michael Byrne
The Earl of Kildare's Manor of Geashill, by Lord Walter Fitzgerald (in Kildare Archaeological Society Journal)
Edenderry through the ages (compiled by Mairead Evans and Noel Whelan) - an Edenderry Historical Society Publication
The Story of Gallen Priory
Gallen and Kilreehan, two ancient Ferbane cemeteries, (Midland Tribune Article 23/3/1929)
Frankfort Castle, (extract from John Wright - Offaly One Hundred Years Ago, - reprint of King's County Chronicle, 1890)
The Kilcormac Missal
The Kilcormac Pieta, by Tom Daly, in Ireland's Own Summer Annual 1988
The Shooting of Roger North, September 1850 (Kilclonfort), researched by the late Fr John Moorhead SMA, a native of Rossbeg Rahugh, Kilbeggan
Killeigh Abbey
Killeigh Parish, from Rev. M. Comerford's Collections relating to the Dioceses of Kildare and Leighlin
Killyon and Thomastown, (extract from John Wright - Offaly One Hundred Years Ago, - reprint of King's County Chronicle, 1890)
Kinnitty Castle and the Bernards, by Michael Byrne
Castle Bernard (extract from John Wright - Offaly One Hundred Years Ago, - reprint of King's County Chronicle, 1890)
Lemanaghan - St. Manchan, by Thomas O'Cleirigh, M.A., National Museum
Lemanaghan - extract from Cooke's History of Birr
The Burning of Leap Castle, by Noel Guerin, 1999
Tullabeg (Rahan), 1818-1968, by Francis Finegan, in Jesuit Year Book 1969
The Churches of Rahan and Lynally, by Fr. Gerard Rice, in Rite of Dedication of new Church of St. Colman, Mucklagh 1979
Shannonharbour
Shinrone Incident, taken from John Wright -Offaly one hundred years ago
Mount St. Joseph Monastery, Shinrone - it's Early History
Slieve Bloom - The Hills at the Heart of Ireland, taken from Ireland of the Welcomes, May-June 1992
Charleville Demense & the Bury's 1600-1900 (Tullamore), by Michael Byrne

Offaly Diarists
The Life of an Offaly Landowner in 1868 - Maxwell Fox of Annaghmore
Diary of Patrick Wrafter - 1921-1925
Memoirs of Robert Goodbody of Mountmellick, Clara and Tullamore, 1781-1860

Famous Offaly People
The Williams Family & Tullamore Distillery
Fr. Paddy Dunne, (extract from Dictionary of Australian Biography, Volume 3)
Rev. Dr. Michael MacAlroy, (extract from Dictionary of Australian Biography, volume 5)
Fr. Patrick Bermingham (extract from Dictionary of Australian Biography, volume 3)
Hugh Mahon, 1857-1931
Rev. Francis Sadleir, (extract from Dictionary of Australian Biography, volume 50)
Sir Herbert Holt, 1855-1941
Bishop William Quarter, 1806-1848, first Catholic Bishop of Chicago
William Bulfin, the Man from Pampas, (by Benedict Kiely from the Capuchin Annual 1948)
Cornelius Heeney, An Offaly Pioneer in New York, (taken from an account of Brooklyn: Past and Present - in the New York Irish Echo)
Admiral Sir Henry Darby
James Lynam Molloy, (by Desmond Moore)
William J. Casey, 1913-1987
Dick McRedmond, (taken from At the Foot of Slieve Bloom - History & Folklore of Cadamstown, by Paddy Heaney)
Charles Jervas, 1675-1739, (taken from In The Shadow Of The Fairy Hill: Shinrone and Ballingarry - A History by Noel Mac Mahon)
T.W. Rolleston, 1857-1910, (taken from In The Shadow Of The Fairy Hill: Shinrone and Ballingarry - A History by Noel Mac Mahon)
Rex Ingram, (by Declan McSweeney, in Ireland's Own Summer Annual 1988)
Rev. Dr. Timothy Corcoran, 1871-1943
Kate Shelly - Railway Heroine, 1863-1912
Joseph Stirling Coyne, (by Gearóid Ó Broin, in Ireland's Own Summer Annual 1988)
Macregol - Bishop of Birr, (by Margaret Hogan, in Ireland's Own Summer Annual 1988)
Earls of Rosse, Offaly's Scientific Tradition, (by Declan McSweeney, in Ireland's Own Summer Annual 1988)
James Meehan, 1774 - 1826, (taken from: In the Shadow of the Fairy Hill Shinrone and Ballingarry - A History by Noel MacMahon 1998.)
George Johnstone Stoney, 1826-1911, (taken from The Daily Express, Thursday, July 6, 1911)
The Literature of King's County, (by Matthew Russell S.J.)
Contribution of Offaly Writers to Irish Literature, (by Michael Byrne)
Edward Hand, 1742-1802
John Joly,1857-1933
Edward Redmond, 1766-1840, (extract from Dictionary of Austrailian Biography)
Francis & Mark Foy, (taken from the Daily Mirror, January 24, 1979)
Hovenden Hely, 1823-1872 (taken from Dictionary of Australian Biography, volume 4)
Peter Morgan Jageurs, 1862-1932 (taken from Dictionary of Australian Biography, volume 9)
Sir Thomas Naghten Fitzgerald, 1838-1908, (taken from Dictionary of Australian Biography, volume 3)
Thomas O'Grady, 1824-1890, (taken from Dictionary of Australian Biography, volume 5)
William Telford Webb, 1842-1911, (taken from Dictionary of Australian Biography, volume 6)
Robert Theophilus Garden, (extract from the Journal of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution)
Anthony Trollope, 1812-1882
Bartholomew Elliot George Warburton, 1810-1852
Mary Ward, 1827-1869
The Poet Edward Egan, (by Michael Byrne)
William O'Connor Morris, 1824-1904
A. M. Munster, 1835-1892
Matthew Pilkington 1700/01-1774
Thomas Tyquin, (taken from In the Shadow of the Fairy Hill, Shinrone and Ballingarry -A History, by Noel McMahon)
Charlotte Bronte, 1816-1855, and her association with Banagher
John Barrett, academic and eccentric 1753-1851

Irish interest - general
Ireland and the American Revolution, (by David Doyle) (51KB)
Wesley in Ireland 1748-1789, (by Michael Byrne) (148KB)

Neighbouring Counties
Dunamase Castle - the Acropolis of Ireland
The Battle of Tyrellspass
A Westmeath Rebellion - Kilbeggan in 1798
Brusna (Locke's) Distillery, Kilbeggan
Portarlington (Extract from King's County Directory, 1890)
Portarlington - French Town
A-Z of Laois (Queen' County) in 1837 by Samuel Lewis

Distilling Industry in Offaly
The distilling industry in Offaly 1780-1954 by Michael Byrne, 1980
The Williams Family & Tullamore Distillery
Banagher Distillery by Michael Byrne, 1979
Tullamore Dew 1954
Tullamore Distillery by Alfred Bernard, 1887
Locke's Distillery, Kilbeggan, Co. Westmeath by Alfred Bernard, 1887
Birr Distillery by Alfred Bernard, 1887

Offaly - General
The A-Z of Offaly in 1837
Sources for Offaly History by Michael Byrne
Victorian Architecture in Offaly
The Crooked Road from Rahan to Chief Judge, U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals
Families of the King's County
Reports on Historical Manuscripts by Anthony Smith
Pigot's Directory - Offaly Towns in 1824
The Kings County - from the King's County Directory, 1890
Sport in Offaly
Some Irish Victoria Cross Recipients
The origins and growth of Offaly towns and villages 1550 to 1841
Road Rail and Water
Grand Canal visitors to Offaly
Track by the Silver Water - a walk along the Grand Canal of Ireland
Local Government in Offaly - A Survey of Structures
How the Offaly County Council Began
Midland Tribune snippets from 1900
Offaly Bibliography by Subject
Milestones in Offaly History 1830-1980
Bernard Charles Molloy, M.P. for King's County
People and the Landscape in Offaly
Offaly and the 1834 Poverty Enquiry
Architectural History of Tullamore Courthouse
Religious Fervour in "Ely O'Carroll" in the 1830's
Some Social Customs in 1680's
Urban History Records as a source for Irish Family History
West Offaly in the 1800's
Monasticon Hibernicum, 1786, King's County
Ordnance Survey Letters for Offaly 1837-1838
Registration Districts
Plantation & Settlement
Townlands of Offaly
Churches & Houses of Architectural Interest in Offaly
Wellesley, Whiteboys & the Brampton Men by Dr. Jennifer Harrison, The University of Queensland
From King's County to "Quinnsland" by Dr. Jennifer Harrison, The University of Queensland


Midland Boroughs in the 1830's
Banagher
Philipstown
Kilbeggan

Visitors in Offaly (King's County) in 1800s
John Wesley in the Midlands, 1748 - 1789
Atkinson's travels in Offaly over 150 years ago
Thomas Lacy visits Birr -- 1863
Thomas Lacy visits Birr Castle -- 1863
Tullamore in travel guides of 150 years ago
Inglis visits Banagher -- 1834
Lacy visits Daingean (Philipstown) and Edenderry in 1855
An Oxford Professor, Nassau William Senior, visits Birr (1852, 1858 and 1862)
Thomas Lacy visits Tullamore and Charleville Castle -- 1863
Caesar Otway and Patron Day at Clonmacnoise


News from the Past
'Offaly Industry & Commerce' articles published in the Offaly Independent:

  • Tarleton's Malting Establishments in Tullamore in 1883
  • Messrs. P & H Egan, Tullamore, Brewers, Malsters, Wine and Spirit Bonders and General Merchants
  • A History of Banagher Distillery
  • Perry's Mills, Belmont
  • Goodbody's Jute Works
  • Distilling in Tullamore

Midland Tribune snippets from:

  • 1897
  • 1898
  • 1899
  • 1900
  • 1901
  • 1902

Motor Car in the King's County (1898)
St. Manchan - A Visit to a Historic Offaly Centre.

As stated above, this list is being added to on an ongoing basis. If anyone has anything further to add it would be a welcome addition.