Diverse array of articles in new ‘Annals’

Intriguing reading in Arra Historical and Archaeological Society’s fourth volume

Documenting the lives and experiences of past generations, the fourth volume of Arra Historical & Archaeological Society's ‘Annals of Arra’ series offers plenty of intriguing reading.

This volume opens with Fr Tim O'Brien's recollections of Irish emigrant workers building the M6 motorway through the Cumbrian hills in the 1960s. In his photo-illustrated ‘On England's Motorway’, Fr O'Brien tells of how he began serving as an emigrant chaplain to the workers in 1968.

Next up, the Society's chairman Derek Ryan appeals for reader assistance with recording some of the Arra area's lost monuments and artefacts. He seeks to learn more about local references made in the Irish Folklore Commission's study of the 1930s.

Among them is a reference to an inscribed flag stone near a cave at Hogan's Pass, rumoured to have gold hidden beneath it. Mr Ryan, who in 2015 discovered the only known rock art in Tipperary, wonders whether this flag stone could also display similar rock art.

In ‘The Wild Man from Borneo’, Jane Quinlan writes of the eponymous racehorse, one of the Arra area's most famous bloodstock. Bred by George Keyes of Newtown, the Wild Man won the Grand National at Aintree in 1895.

‘PAT THE WHALER’

There's local social history gold in John Gleeson's account of the old Whalers pub that once thrived in the slate quarries above Portroe. It was known as the Whalers after the nickname of his grandfather, Patrick O'Brien, or “Pat the Whaler”, though Mr Gleeson has never been able to establish how or why he acquired this nickname. Pat ran the pub from 1909 until he retired from the business in 1948. He witnessed a great deal of change in that time, from the War of Independence - during which the Whalers became known as “a friendly place for men on the run” - to Barney O'Driscoll's reopening of the slate quarries in 1923 and subsequent business boost for the pub; to the dances of the 1930s when Pat acquired the nearby Corbally national school and used it as an entertainment venue.

Moving matters to a much more sombre setting, Joe Ryan (Cooper) profiles Cranna Orphange from its opening in 1853 to apparent closure in 1888 following an inquest into the death of one child, which raised questions over the treatment of others. Presenting his account through newspaper extracts from the time, Mr Ryan also cites local tradition of a mass grave of Cranna orphans located at Kilmastulla Graveyard.

The Annal's focus then switches to emigration and the first of many generations of Seymours of Lackamore to seek new life in Australia. Malachi Seymour was among 52 passengers from County Tipperary to board the Thetis at Cobh in November 1841. He arrived at Port Philip the following February in a year of mass emigration, when around 12,000 Irish workers settled in New South Wales, almost 12% of whom came from Tipperary. Malachi's experience and legacy is brought to life in these pages by Bernadette Speirs.

WATER FOR NENAGH

Martin Kennedy looks at how Newtown River provided the town of Nenagh with drinking water for over 100 years. He traces the exploits of Robert Gill & Sons in securing a site for a new reservoir at Knocknamohilly in the 1890s; construction of a new reservoir at Clashabreeda in 1930, and how Jim Gill, Newtown - son and grandson of the original engineers - was involved in construction of Nenagh's water tower at Summerhill in the 1950s. Mr Kennedy also relates the tragic death in 1934 of John Barry, Curraghtemple, caretaker of the waterworks at Clashabreeda.

Derek Ryan returns to ponder some of the documented interpretations of local placenames. Ballina - ‘Béal an Átha’ - for example, means the approach or mouth of the ford. Among the other examples looked at is Newtown; Mr Ryan writes that it is not clear where the name comes from, though there was a large slate quarry within it and ‘An Baile Nua’ may be in reference to the habitation that grew around it. The author also looks at some of the interesting suggestions about how Tountinna - ‘Tonn Toine’ - got its name.

Eileen Power (née Kennedy) of Garranmore, shares reminisces of working as a maid in Lord Ashdown's House at Lansdown, Portroe, for seven years in the 1950s.

In ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’, Mike Gleeson invokes some whimsical stories of tricks played by people in the locality in the “simpler and more innocent time” of the 1940s. The stories were recounted to him by the late Brendan Murnane; they include the unforeseen results of a trick played by Brendan himself when he spread word that the time was an hour later than it actually was.

Further reminisces are shared by Brother Denis Conleth Hurley, who died in January of last year. Born into a small farming family at Boulagloss in 1933, Br Denis served as a Christian Brother for more than 70 years, during which time he was appointed to the position of Superior in Marino, Dublin.

The outbreak of war in Ukraine inspired Jane Quinlan to research the experience of local farms following the ‘Compulsory Tillage Order’ of the Second World War and ensuing years. Among its features are the memories of threshing, the dreaded tillage inspector, and of Youghalarra school closing for a week in 1946 so the children could help save the harvest.

Anthony Hughes of Newtown shares plenty of interesting and amusing anecdotes from his years of working as a cinema projectionist in Dublin.

Then Joe Ryan (Cooper) rejoins to convey the history of Kilmastulla's Church of Ireland church from its construction in the 1790s to demolition in 1950 after the congregation dropped to only three; its loss was recounted with sadness locally as it was believed that the old church could have been repurposed as a museum.

Susan Geary shares childhood memories of Christmas and of visiting Laurel Hill convent in Limerick, where her aunt was a nun, and where she tasted tomatoes for the first time.

Returning to the theme of water supply and another reservoir at Ballyhogan, Michael Nevin comprehensively profiles the Patrickswell Group Water Scheme from its inception in the 1970s through difficult formative years to the modern system of the present day.

Delving much further back in time, Ken Ó Donnchú endeavours to shed some light on literature and society in the barony of Owney and Arra in the seventeenth century.

BARGE TRAGEDY

There's a particularly poignant chapter towards the end of this volume where Frank Moran recalls the recent 75th anniversary commemoration of the sinking of 45M barge on Lough Derg in December 1946, with the loss of three lives. “Yes, it was a sad day, but it was also a nice day,” Mr Moran reflects on the commemoration.

Derek Ryan has researched the work of historian of Limerick - and founder of the Nenagh-based Tipperary Vindicator newspaper - Maurice Lenihan, who also studied the Arra area and its surrounds. Mr Ryan has gone to great lengths to reproduce the nineteenth century historian's Arra-related work, and has included a QR code to link Annals readers with that research.

Fittingly, the book concludes with a chapter on Killaloe Slate Quarries attributed to the late Michael Joy and featuring an interview with retired quarry manager Bill Fitzgerald.

The new ‘Annals of Arra’ volume is of course also punctuated with a rich variety of photographs of local people and places over the decades. Published last November, Volume 4 is still available in local shops for those yet to pick up a copy.