How to record Field Monuments by Caimin O'Brien
Caimin O'Brien is very kindly coming back to us on Thursday the 5th of May at 8.15 p.m. instead of 28 April to present an illustrated talk on "How to record field monuments". This is a subject, which is important in the context of the work that has been done on the archaeological survey of the county from O'Donovan's time in the 1830s to the SMR survey of the 1970s and 1980s. Mr. O'Brien is co-author of the Archaeological survey of County Offaly and Offaly's Medieval Churches and is well qualified to give this presentation.

This is an important topic and coming as it is into the summer months it will give an opportunity to people to look intelligently at the landscape around them and see what they can add to our knowledge of the history of the county

21 April 2005 County Meeting
County Meeting of Representatives of Heritage Groups and Historical Societies. The Society hosted a meeting of representatives of historical societies and heritage groups from throughout Offaly on Wednesday 21st of April which commenced with refreshment at 6 p.m. in Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre and was followed by reports from representatives around the county on progress in relation to heritage and historical matters. Included in the talks were presentations from our own Society on (a) building up the historical databases (b) digital photographic archive (c) the journals to date and the forthcoming journal (d) other publications of interests. We want to thank all who attended from Birr, Kilcormac, Daingean, Croghan, Kinnitty and Eglish.

26th April Launch of Birr Atlas
Our congratulations to Lady Rosse and Dr. John Feehan on the publication of the Atlas of Birr which was launched in Birr on the 26th of April. Copies are available for sale from the Society at €45 each. This is a large format book and could well win Book of the Year for the authors and publishers

19th May 2005
Mr. Tony Dawson who lately published a book on James Meehan; a most excellent surveyor will be giving a talk to the Society and the public on May the 19th at 8.15p.m. at OHAS Bury Quay, Tullamore. Mr. James Meehan made an immense contribution to land development in early New South Wales and he was born in Co. Offaly in the Shinrone area in or about 1774. He was a member of the United Irishmen and was transported from Ireland in the wake of the failed 1798 rebellion. He arrived in Sidney in the early 1800s and was subsequently assigned to then Deputy Surveyor General, Charles Grimes. He subsequently spent more than two decades in government service, measuring land grants and making surveys in districts as far as part as Port Macquarie in Northern New South Wales and Hobart and Tasmania.

We are glad to be able to welcome Tony Dawson to the Society and he will be bringing along some copies of his book which will be available on the night for purchase.

Publications received
A new publications have again been added to our library in the last three or four weeks and we set out below recent publications received. The Library night continues on Thursday 7.30 p.m. to 10.30 p.m. and members and researchers are welcome on that evening to do research.

Indexing of Local Newspapers
The events we are compiling have now reached about 19,000 entries and our thanks to all our staff and in particular to Mr. Christy Lennon for his help with the indexing. If you would like to help with the indexing of local papers why not ring Michael Byrne or Steve McNeill and arrange a time during the day or evening to come in to help with this work.

Digital Photographic Record of Offaly
The Society has circa 30,000 images now of Offaly both historical and contemporary and we are building up this archive on a daily basis. We are now improving it all the time but there are great gaps. If you or anyone you know is interested in digital photography and would be prepared to take digital photographs of towns and villages and events around Offaly why not contact us. All that is needed is good quality images that are suitably titled and identified and dated so that they can be entered into the database under the appropriate headings. Our pictures are organised under place and subject.

Preserving your family history papers
Our family history services continue to be a viable operation here in that able we are able to recover our costs. The cost of our employee and some small contribution to overheads. What is clear from the emails and coming to us is that there is a growing interest in families compiling a book of their family history. To assist you in this work we are enclosing a copy of a text of a leaflet lately received from Wexford County Library in how to reserve your family history papers and the best conditions under which to preserve same. If at the some stage you would like the Society to carry out research to prepare a book of your family history which could include photographs of the family throughout the text why not contact us. This sort of book would make an ideal present for a twenty fifth or fiftieth anniversary where nine or ten copies of the book could be prepared at circa €100 each plus the cost of postage.

Records of Births, Marriages, and Deaths for Laois and Offaly
This is the major project currently under way and has been ongoing for the past three years. There are upwards of six members of staff on this task which involves the transfer of the records, dating back to 1864, from microfilm to an MS Access computer database. There are 51,000 Offaly births and 87,000 Laois and Offaly deaths computerised. The marriage records for both Laois and Offaly still remain to be commenced. The addition of these records to the overall sources data bank makes them very important for researching family history.

Other projects
We are also engaged in the preparation of material for publication in the local press. Articles of historical interest appear almost weekly accompanied by an appropriate historic photo. We are grateful for the positive feed back which we get resulting to articles and photos.
Also the scanning in of the hundreds of old slides which have been accumulated over the years. They are a valuable photographic record of historic places and events in the county.

Preserving Your Family Archives
By Wexford County Council Public Library service 2002.

How to preserve your family treasures

  • Store all items in the central area of your home rather than a damp basement or a warm attic
  • Handle Fragile materials carefully, particularly paper, documents and photographs
  • Remove metal fasteners, clips and staples from documents. Replace them with plastic paper clips
  • Ensure that hands and surfaces are clean when materials are in use
  • Check that materials are dry before cleaning and remove surface dust with a soft brush or cloth
  • Do not remove sellotape from documents, particularly if they are family heirlooms. Professional advice should he sought on this matter
  • Use soft lead pencils when annotating documents
  • Use a film marking pen on the back of the photo to record the origin of the item (available from your local art shop)
  • Always unfold documents, as creases can cause long-term marking
  • Do not store newspaper cuttings next to valuable items. Newsprint has a high acid content and should ideally be copied on to good quality paper

Storage of family archival collections

Proper storage is essential in protecting and maintaining your collections and should reduce any need for treatment work in the future.

  • Documents should be stored in folders or boxes which are preferably acid-free
  • Documents should be stored horizontally rather than vertically
  • Artefacts should be wrapped in tissue paper and stored in containers
  • Photographs should be placed in polyester pockets and store in the coolest, (driest part of the home
  • Storage boxes should have close-fitting lids to ensure a stable environment, keeping out dust, light, pests and fluctuations in temperature and humidity
  • Containers should be designed to fit the object and not the other way around
  • Boxes should not he packed to capacity allow for adequate ventilation
  • Large format material, such as maps or plans, should be stored flat and interleaved with tissue and stored in portfolio
  • if oversized maps or documents cannot be stored flat, they are best stored in large diameter tubes and clearly labelled
  • Prints and drawings should have a window mount to protect them from damage
  • Artwork should be hinged to a backboard. This will allow it to hang freely in the mount and react to changing atmospheric conditions
  • Vinyl records should he kept in their sleeves and cassettes should be kept in their cases to safeguard against dust.