Kilbarron Terryglass Historical Society reviews the year gone by
As the date of their AGM nears on Friday October 12th, in The Pavilion, Ballinderry, Kilbarron Terryglass Historical Society this week takes time to reflect on the last 12 months.
It was a busy, enjoyable and educational year, made possible by the work and support of the members and the wider community both home and away. The monthly talks have proven very successful and we thank our many guest speakers who share their research with us.
In November we enjoyed a talk given by Sean Hogan on ‘The Life and Times of Seamus Burke’, followed by John Flannery in February who delivered his talk ‘The Woodlands of Loughglynn and the story of Sean Bergin and the Coolbawn connection’. March is always busy as we prepare for the launch of our Annual Journal, 'The Bridge', but we found time to hold a talk by David Broderick entitled ‘Bringing Matters to a Head: The ultimate fall of a Tipperary Anglo Irish Family during the War of Independence’.
In April, Dr Tom Clonan was our guest speaker and his topic ‘Sisters in Arms: The Status and Role of Women in War and Conflict - An Irish Perspective’ brought another fine audience. To finish what was an interesting and enjoyable year we co-hosted the return visit by Alf Monaghan to talk about ‘A Sacred Island before Christianity’.
While our monthly talks are something we look forward to, we try to have at least one monthly gathering ‘off site’, so in May we had a very interesting walk in Roscrea organised by Eamon Horan and led by Dick Conroy, and a guided tour of Damer House followed.
In August for Heritage Week, the society went for a walk in Carney Commons and it was hard to imagine that in one part when the springs rise in the winter and the turlough fills, we could have been standing under 15 feet of water. It is a very special place and holds many rare flowers but it also holds the memories of a time past as shared with us from the people of the area.
In view of the new laws, we ran a successful data protection day in May and invited local groups, organisations and businesses to attend. Data Protection Fundamentals Training by Anita Murphy was informative and a great help to all who attended.
Since the formation of the society five years ago, one of the most successful events we have hosted are 'The Nights of the Round Table'. Here we choose a local location, a local topic and invite the people of the area to attend, chat and remember through story and photos. Hannigan’s, Kilbarron, played host to this in December.
In June, NUI Maynooth, School of Celtic Studies held their summer school in Terryglass once again and a Talk by Rob O’Hara, archaeologist, on the use of drones in archaeology.
Since our formation, we try to have some project that the society can work on during the year and this year we decide to ‘Relive Our Bog Heritage’. In preparation for this, in June we hosted Isabella Mulhall, Assistant Keeper, Irish Antiquities Division, National Museum of Ireland. Isabella’s topic was ‘Secrets of the Bog Revealed’ and was enjoyed by all.
This was followed by a visit to Cloughjordan and Scohaboy Bog where we met Kate Flood, who delivered the talk there. Michael Guilfoyle had an excellent display of the tools used on the bog for cutting the turf by hand. With Basil Leenane and Michael Cahalan showing us how it should be done, what looked easy was very different when we had to try it ourselves!
This was a great success with people from the locality and visitors in the village from different parts of Ireland joining us, along with visitors from England and the Czech Republic. This project was supported by Tipperary Co Council.
We had a very successful visit to Cobh and Spike Island in July and in 2019 we hope to visit the Western Front, visiting the battle fields but especially the graves and memorials of those from our parish who died in the war. More anon.
We have a number of on-going projects like the recording the field names and recording and scanning photographs in association with Mike Molamphy and Coolbawn Photography.
The year was busy but enjoyable and we are grateful to all who make it possible and those who help publicise our activities. We are grateful to all those who allow us to use their premises and especially the committee of Ballinderry Soprtsfield and Pavilion. All are welcome to the AGM on October 12th. New members are always welcome.