New tourist office for Nenagh

As much an attraction for local folk as it will be for visitors to the town, Nenagh's new tourist office is almost ready to open.

Based in the old town hall at Banba Square, this new facility will provide Nenagh with a year-round dedicated tourist office. A redevelopment project overseen by Nenagh Municipal District and involving Corcon Construction and Healy Partners Architects has now come to fruition.

The imaginative and tasteful project represents the vision of design consultant Ann Scroope of Nenagh, and it features contributions from many well-known people of the town and its hinterland, highlighting many aspects of local life past and present.

Spread between two rooms, the new tourist office is presented like a museum with a range of artistic creations, photographs and memorabilia on display. The reception room has an old school desk from Nenagh CBS, one of several loving restorations worked on by John Quinn of Riverlane upholstery and furniture repair. A doorway in this room features a glass panel inscribed with words specially written by award-winning author Donal Ryan, in which he talks of his love of Nenagh, a train of thought captured in a neon logo that greets arrivals.

Also in this room begins a theme of natural heritage with a bog oak sculpture of a swooping rook by Lynn Kirkham of Killea, continuing with a pine martin provided by Nenagh Heritage Centre.

A centrepiece TV shows a short film of Nenagh events produced by local cinematographer Robin Wallace. There's also a blackboard listing information about upcoming events in the locality.

Other features include an old typewriter brought back to its former glory by John Quinn; a collection of Philip Ryan prints of historic Nenagh buildings, and a framed stamp of Nenagh Castle, designed for Nenagh 800 by local photographer Pádraig Ó Flannabhra.

Another engaging addition to the tourist office is a map of Lough Derg, based on an old map and incorporating a number of themes, depicted by Nenagh artist Josephine Geaney. Further artistic intrigue abounds in a wicker lamp created by Gerardine Wisdom of Terryglass, while hanging from the ceiling is an imagining of the molecular structure of water by Paul Finch of Dromineer.

PEOPLE OF THE TOWN

This latter piece nods to Nenagh's contribution to science, namely in the work of JD Bernal and EJ Conway, two hugely influential men of the town honoured in framed photographs in the tourist office. Among the others are the Collison brothers, reporter William Heaney, North Tipp IFA Chairperson Imelda Walsh, Thomas MacDonagh and Monsignor Michael Courtney. Many of the photographs came from the collection of local archivist Brendan Treacy, who himself features in one picture alongside Fr Alec Reid.

There is furthermore a collection of books about Nenagh, and some written by prominent authors of the area, including Donal Ryan and Julian Gough. Also on view is the mayoral chain of office used by Nenagh Town Council up to 2014, each link containing the name of the mayor by year.

The uniquely commissioned wallpaper in the tourist office conveys scenes from Nenagh's fairs of old. The salvaging of an old town hall fireplace that had been hidden behind plaster – again involving John Quinn with Celtic Copper and Brass – lends a homely, welcoming atmosphere to the room.

ARTS, CULTURE and SPORT

The second room treats visitors to several more photographic displays, one of which celebrates Nenagh arts and culture. Ryan, Gough and Ó Flannabhra appear here again, along with Joanna and Nicholas Ryan-Purcell, Eleanor Hooker (with a handwritten poem), Brendan Graham, the Nenagh Players, and members of Musical Theatre Academy Nenagh with one of their international gold medals on display. Local historians Donal and Nancy Murphy also feature in this collage, along with events from the Spleodar and Dromineer Nenagh Literary festivals.

There's a photo of Nenagh character Jack Day, and of the town's Indian community celebrating the festival of Kerala.

Musical memories of Nenagh are cherished in an original drum (which probably dates to pre-1900) of Nenagh Brass Band on show along with photos of Ned Kelly, Keelan McGrath, Shane MacGowan, Bubba Shakespeare, Nora Butler, Paddy, Dinny and Eileen Minogue, and Bernadette Flynn, the latter of whom contributed a pair of her dancing shoes to the exhibtion.

Sporting achievements are celebrated through an Ireland rugby jersey worn by Donnacha Ryan, along with pictures of him, softball champion Joe Bergin, Special Olympian Rachel Ryan, wheelchair champion Cillian Dunne, members of Nenagh Olympic Athletic Club, World Transplant Games medallist Sheila Gregan, handball champion Sinead Maher, and the award-winning photo of athlete Pat Naughton training in his living room during pandemic lockdown.

Michael Cleary's 1990 All-Star award is on display as part of a celebration of local hurling greats like Mick Burns, Len Gaynor and Donie Nealon, and Tipp camogie star Deirdre Hughes. The Olympic trio of John Hayes, Matt McGrath and Bob Tisdall are immortalised in a statuette replica of the display outside Nenagh Courthouse, while prolific young sports stars of the present Barry Coffey (soccer), Jake Morris (hurling) and Ben Healy (rugby) also feature in photo.

A short film plays on activities in the Lough Derg area, and our link with the lake is underscored in art with a ‘Lough Derg Monster’ presented by Paul Finch, and a Shannon One boat modelled by Reggie Goodbody.

Elsewhere, a dragonfly woven from natural materials by Lynn Kirkham hangs from the ceiling; a Killoran ‘Friendship Quilt’ tapestried by the Irish Countrywomen's Association hangs from one wall, and Gerardine Wisdom's wicker chrysalis symbolises our emergence from pandemic cocooning, and also the opening of the mind to new ideas and culture. But, perhaps the most eye-catching aspect of this room is the ‘Throne of Hurls’, a chair fashioned on the Iron Throne from ‘Game of Thrones’.

OPENING

It is intended that the tourist office will be open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10am to 5pm. The exhibition is to be added to, and temporary exhibitions may be arranged. An official opening is planned for mid-November.