Offaly History Blog

Some died by the glenside, some died ‘mid the stranger, The wise men have told us their cause was a failure; But they stood by old Ireland an’ never feared danger, Glory O! glory O to the Bold Fenian Men” Peadar O’ Cearnaigh Ferbane is a little place of about three hundred inhabitants. They often … Continue reading Johnny Gorman the tailor of Ferbane. The Story of a Fenian. By Tomas O Cleirigh M.A. and Offaly History

This episode in my life dates from the early 1950s. I was about nine year old at the time. I lived with my mother, grand-parents and uncle on a farm in the townland of Clerhane, near the village of Shannonbridge. My father worked in Dublin. Our house was what was then called a rambling house, … Continue reading Going in on the Altar or an altar boy`s apprenticeship in West Offaly in the 1950s. By Pádraig Turley

‘At Ballinagar a large and handsome R.C. chapel was in the course of erection in the ancient English style of architecture’. Samuel Lewis in 1837 remarks that ‘at Ballinagar a large and handsome R.C. chapel was in the course of erection in the ancient English style of architecture’. This church replaced an earlier thatched building … Continue reading Stories and traditions from the historic ruins in Ballinagar. Specially Contributed by John Malone

Surviving diaries and accounts of activities in Offaly (King’s County) in the nineteenth century are uncommon and because of this all need to be catalogued and evaluated. Diaries of travel writers, correspondence and memoirs can all throw light on activities of that time. One such source recently acquired by the Offaly Historical and Archaeological Society … Continue reading ROBERT BALL, ASTRONOMER AND TEACHER AT BIRR 1865-1867, DESCRIBES HIS TIME AT BIRR CASTLE. Presented by Michael Byrne