Between 1849 and 1867 a nationwide network of almost thirty Model Schools was established by the Board of National Education. These schools were under the exclusive control of the Board and it was expected that attendance would be drawn from the various denominations to be found in the area of each school’s location. The primary

According to the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) there are no airships currently registered in Ireland. However, this was not always the case when as far back as 740 AD there were reported sightings of airships over County Offaly and for the duration of World War 1 these hydrogen-filled lighter than air (LTA) craft were a

The Changing face of Birr in the 1900 to 1920 period will be the focus of a talk arranged by the Birr Historical Society for Monday 10 March at 8 p.m. in the County Arms Hotel. The illustrated lecture will focus on change in that period and the record of it provided by the early

The origin of Lynally as a religious centre can be traced to Colmán who founded a monastery here in the seventh century.  His death is recorded in 611.  Colmán himself was from Connor in modern day county Antrim.  His family were of the Dál Sailni clan who ruled the area around Connor.  According to an

The first indication that Birr/ Parsonstown (as often called in the 19th cent.) had used gas to illuminate the town during the dark winter months was an editorial comment that appeared in the King’s County Chronicle of January 9 1850[1] that extolled how the use of portable gas had made the town safer to move

The current success of the Irish rugby side owes much in the opinion of many people to the success of our four provincial sides in the various competitions that are open to them. Yet when one thinks of Inter Provincial competitions, it is the GAA Railway Cups that most older followers of sport remember with

The recently announced  sale on 11 March 2025 by Noonans of Mayfair of the Jutland medals of Tullamore man Arthur Craig (assumed Waller in 1920 on inheritance) is a reminder of the fact that despite being an inland county Offaly (King’s County up to 1920) has a significant association with the Royal Navy through the

There are more than sixty Holy Wells in County Offaly along with springs, mineral spas and local wells. Their setting varies from directly on the roadside such as St Finan’s at Cumber East, to the middle of a field (St Molua’s Well, Roscomroe). They can be associated with a neighbouring church (St Lugna’s Well, Letter),

There is a long history dating back to the Middle Ages of lay confraternities seeking to bring together Christians for prayer and charitable actions and during the 19th century several such organisations came into being. In 1844, a Dutch born, Belgian army captain Henri Belletable established the Holy Family Archconfraternity in an effort to promoted

News of a temporary exhibition at NLI Kildare Street, Dublin for February only A new temporary exhibition at the National Library of Ireland explores the history of the Irish Bogs Commission and how its 19th-century maps are now shaping the future of Ireland’s peatlands. Peatlands are among the world’s most vital carbon stores and play

In the history of the GAA, Inter Provincial competitions have had three distinct phases. The first was known as the Railway Shield and began in 1905 when the Great South and Western Railway Company provided two shields for the winners of the competition. A rather strange rule included in the competition was that the first

On Thursday July 24th 1958 the following article appeared in the Irish Press.   Dancing in Ireland’s Biggest marquee at Killeigh Carnival The Irish Press Thursday, 24th July 1958 Killeigh Macra na Feirme Branch Back L-R: Tommy Clavin, Peter Phelan, Jim Plunkett, Jim O’Rourke, Senchell Gallagher or ? O’Brien, Phil Deering, Dick White, Jack Bracken, Mick

Can town planning make Tullamore a better place? Fergal MacCabe:  Can town planning make Tullamore a better place? An opening debate on the upcoming ten year-Local Area Plan. The talk is at 8 p.m. on Monday 27 Jan. and will be held after the AGM which commences at 7 p.m. An illustrated presentation by Fergal

Sometimes researching history is like trying to make a jigsaw that’s missing too many pieces. Sometimes, someone throws a few pieces from a different jigsaw in, just to complicate matters even more. This one such story. New Arrivals in the neat little town In May 1896 the Midland Tribune reported… ‘Tuesday last was celebrated by

The year 2024 saw the local and general elections held and, of course, voting was by secret ballot. The polling centres of 2024 were remarkably quiet as if one were attending confession in a quiet corner of a church. Long gone were the days when a glass of Birr or Banagher or Bernie Daly’s Tullamore

This blog post will trace the decline of the canal as a means of transport and critical element in the economic development of Edenderry and the surrounding area. The transition of the canal and harbour as a tourist and leisure amenity will be discussed further on. The introduction of the railways in the mid-nineteenth century

Much has been written about the changing face of Offaly towns in the 1900-23 period and the same can be said for the period from the mid-1990s to 2007. For towns such as Tullamore the recession lasted up to about 2017 and since then building has improved. The former Tea/ ‘Tay’ Lane, later called O’Connell

Robert James Enraght-Moony was a native of Doon, King’s County.  His father owned a large estate and was a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for the county.   The Moony family has enjoyed a continuous history, stretching back over a thousand years, in Doon.  According to a profile of the artist in The Westmeath

In January 1953 Clara and Tullamore district was introduced to its very own ‘bat mobile’ the recently launched sports car, the Jaguar XK120. After the austerity years of WW II its sleek design and incredible speed was said to have inspired the creators of the fictitious ‘bat mobile’ in 1966. It was owned by Larry

On January 19th 1947 Ireland saw the beginning of a freak weather event. A ‘cold easterly regime set in’ as Kevin Kearns puts it in his 2011 book, Ireland’s Arctic siege.[i] Night frost and snowfalls began from the night of the 19th and by the 24th temperatures dropped to between -20c and -60c. With the

The year 2024 was another good year for publications on Offaly history with overviews of County Offaly towns, books on Tullamore, Birr and a musician from Killeigh who acquired fame in the United States. We also had Cloneygowan, canals, peat, a Feehan bibliography and natural history. Some new Offaly interest publications in 2024 Michael Byrne

Kinnitty Parish can now celebrate having two TDs, not to mention so many of of its young men on the first Offaly team to win an All Ireland back in 1924. All part of recent celebrations. What was the village like a generation earlier in the 1890s and earlier 1900s? To find out more come

On the morning of Sunday October 12th 1924, two excursion trains from Birr and Tullamore bringing approximately 1000 Offaly supporters left the county for Croke Park in Dublin. As the Birr train pulled into Ballybrophy, a large train full of Cork supporters was seen in waiting. However, as the Offaly train was placed in front of

Tullamore in the Sixties was launched to great acclaim on 6 December. Most of the contributors living in Ireland participated in the proceedings with three to five minute talks. The book was launched by architect, town planner and artist Fergal MacCabe. A few of his own watercolours grace the contents of this 450 page book

AND WREATH LAYING THIS WEEKEND BOOK LAUNCH The Banagher Brontë Group will round off a great inaugural year with two events this coming weekend. On Saturday 7th December the group will launch Martina Devlin’s Charlotte at 2.30 p.m. in the Crank House, Banagher. The book will be launched by Nigel West whose ancestors lived in

One of the essays in the new book on Tullamore in the Sixties to be launched on Friday 6 December 2024 at 7.30 p.m. at Offaly History Centre (beside the new Aldi store in Tullamore, all welcome) is that by Terry Adams on his beloved Cormac Street, Tullamore where his family have been located for

As we wait the outcome of the General Election today (30 Nov. 2024) we could look back to 1969 when Offaly returned three TDs in the five-seater Laois Offaly Constituency.[1] How many  in Offaly did not vote yesterday? We should recall that between 1885 and 1922 there was no opportunity to vote in North Offaly

This volume of essays brings together the contributions of eighteen people who kept a keen eye on developments in Tullamore in the 1960s. Perhaps none more so than the late Joe Kenny who came to Tullamore in the 1950s as a vocational schoolteacher and was held in high esteem for his sound judgement and abilities

The recording of my mother Josephine was made in 2006 as part of my research on local history and my mother’s interpretation of it. At the time, little did I know the significance that it would have, not just from a local history record perspective but also in a deeply personal context. Our family connection here in

The 1824 Survey of Irish schools and the reason it was carried out must be put in context. That context probably can be traced back to the Gavelkind Act, enacted in the Protestant Irish Parliament 120 years earlier in 1704. This act brought into force what became known infamously as the Penal Laws. The Penal

At one time I didn’t think, but now I definitely do think, that the pleasantest way of seeing Ireland is from a seat in a bus. I do not mean one of those eight-day bus tours, conducted and excellent and comfortable as they may be, I mean the couple of hours spent bussing from one

It was a big day for Offaly at the Heritage Week Awards held in the wonderful Royal Hospital Kilmainham on Friday 15 November 2024. As Amanda Pedlow, the Offaly Council Heritage Officer noted: It was Offaly’s day at The Heritage Council Heritage Week Awards in Kilmainham today. James Scully is the well-deserved winner of the

Very soon now Tullamore will have a new Aldi Store at Tay Lane/O’Connell Street, Tullamore. This is the company’s second store in the town/The first was opened in 2000 at Cloncollog and preceded Tesco in 2004 (who once occupied the adjoining Tay Lane site and are near neighbours of Aldi at Cloncollog). Lidl and Dunnes

The changing face of Offaly towns in the early 1900s: An illustrated history edited by Michael Byrne with contributions from Paul Barber, Stephen Callaghan, Grace Clendennen, Kevin Corrigan, Michael Goodbody, Ger Murphy, John Powell, Laura Price, Ciarán Reilly and Brendan Ryan (Offaly History, Tullamore, 2024, 368 pp). Available from Offaly History Centre and Midland Books

                                   Memories of Offaly can best be described as opening a diary into life in Co Offaly, over the last 50 or 60 years. The author of the book is Aidan Grennan, from Killina, Rahan. Aidan is to be congratulated on his second book. Both books are available from Offaly History Centre and online at

In his entertaining reminiscences last week, John Freyne laments the “Vanishing Knights” and incidentally recalls a Prince among them, the sightless Edward Holohan, better known over a great part of Ireland as “Rambling Jack.” Mr Freyne tells of the respect and affection, with which this famous wandering minstrel was held in Moate. It was only

Recently, I walked Clara’s Main Street and was again reminded of its relative short length and the relatively small size of its adjoining, almost hidden, Market Square. A square and street where much trade, barter and banter, laughter, disagreements, or agreements on family member marriages, and heated discussions on political reform, occurred on a regular

In early 1916 the Foresters accommodated a support dance for the war effort and a ceilidh organised by the new branch in Tullamore of Cumann na mBan. A report of the first Ceilidh Mhór of Tullamore branch of Cumann na mBan held in the Foresters in early January had over 100 couples in attendance. The

A rambler to Geashill in 1936 recorded his thoughts on the railway station, the village itself and the poems of Edward Egan who lived close by at the Meelaghans. The railway station closed about 1961, and Edward Egan better known as ‘The Poet’ Egan was in his last years when Rambler visited in 1936. For

The oral story of Offaly people in the Offaly History Centre sound archives collection. 21 October 2024, 8 p.m. Offaly History Centre, Bury Quay Tullamore, R35 Y5V. The presentation by Aidan Barry will consist of the following:– An overview of the oral history resources available at Offaly History and how to access them.– Commemorating the

Sean Robbins was born at Erry, Clara in 1892. After his father’s death he was raised by his mother Mary, a domestic servant. Robbins worked as a labourer in Clara’s main employer the Goodbody Jute factory. Involved in amateur dramatics, in 1911 he played the role of a United Irish General in a patriotic play

The Great Telescope at Birr Agenda for the Festival Friday 9am to 5pm – Discover Birr Castle Demesne by taking on the engineering trail through the gardens and science centre. Friday 7pm – Welcome reception with tea and sandwiches followed by opening lecture(1) – 8pm. Note: All lectures in Birr Theatre and Arts Centre Saturday

Violet Magan (aged 48), a sister of Shaen Magan, was acting as land agent to Colonel Biddulph of Rathrobin, Mountbolus, Tullamore and had continued to run the estate business of after the burning of Rathrobin House in April 1923. She was born in 1876 and was well known in the midlands as a volunteer worker

The new Foresters’ building, erected in 1902–3, worked well for four years but things went badly against the Forsters with a fire in the clubhouse in Harbour Street in July 1907. The Tullamore blaze which was detailed in the last blog article ‘has destroyed what was probably one of the finest Forester Halls in the

The railway line from Portarlington to Tullamore was opened on 2 October 1854. It was a quiet affair, but the commencement of the line was to mean significant growth in the years that followed. This was particularly so from 1857 when the extension to Athlone and Galway was completed. The act to enable the line

The registration of motor vehicles began in 1904 and the early registers are now in Offaly Archives. In the period from 1904 to 1923 about 820 motorised vehicles were registered in Offaly. This would include motorised bicycles and some registrations from other counties. In the first year 14 motor cars and 20 motor cycles were

In March 2024 we published two articles in this series by Aidan Doyle marking the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Tullamore branch of the Irish National Foresters (I.N.F) and the 100th anniversary of the opening of its new cinema in Market Square. As was noted in a Midland Tribune article forty years ago[1]

The political machinations surrounding the transfer of the assizes (since the 1920s the High Court on circuit) to Tullamore, involving as it did the passing of an Act of Parliament in 1832 declaring it to be the place of the assizes (read county town) in place of Daingean (Philipstown) is a story in itself that

Just 100 years ago the closure of Tullamore prison was announced effective twelve months later. That was a legal formality as the prison had been severely damaged in the burning of July 1922 and by the extensive looting that followed. The town was without an effective police force since December 1921 and the new Civic

Undoubtedly, the history of Tullamore jail would make a book in itself for besides the mundane occurrences there were a few extraordinary events such as the imprisonment of some of those involved in the Plan of Campaign including William O’Brien and John Mandeville in 1887-88, the women’s suffrage prisoners in 1913, the Tullamore Incident prisoners

Patrick Lopeman was born at Riverstown, Birr in 1893 (although army records sometimes list 1894). Over the next decade, his parents Patrick senior and Letitia (Sometimes listed as Alicia) moved with the family between several addresses in Kildare and Birr. Patrick Sr worked as a painter. In Lopeman’s youth his family suffered from economic hardship,

The new courts system established in 1923–24 saw the first sittings of the district court in Tullamore and Birr in January 1923 and the opening of barracks or stations for the new civic guard from the autumn of 1922. The circuit court system in Offaly was established in October 1924. The circuit court system had

120 years has passed since the motor vehicle and driver licences registrations had been introduced in the UK and Ireland. The King’s Co (Offaly) county council was responsible in the collecting and registering drivers’ details and collecting fees. There were motor vehicles on the county roads from the late 1890’s, although there was no administration

We have looked at the houses in Cormac Street and will soon follow up with the jail and courthouse reviews.  In this article we want to look at the families of Cormac Street in the early 1900s. In the c. 41 residences in the street in 1901 were about 326 people. About 250 were RC

In this article we are looking at the houses from the courthouse to the junction with O’Moore Street. The area was residential but with the two big public buildings – the jail and the courthouse, and across from the courthouse was low-lying land used for farming purposes and in the corner the old town graveyard.

What we construct and what we take down is often the most significant indicator of the nature and health of our society. Also, the choice of an aesthetic style for a new building tells us much about the values of its proposer. Government or religious institutions will seek to emphasise their role and power by

The Grand Canal was completed to the River Shannon in 1804, 220 years ago. By 1864 passenger traffic was finished and commercial by 1960. Cruise traffic was only in its infancy and when this article was written 45 years ago things were bleak. In looking at the building of the Grand Canal from Tullamore to

Acres Folly Wellington’s victories in the battles in the Peninsular War were celebrated by Thomas Acres by the erection of the folly or tower in the garden of his private house at Acres Hall. This is now the Tullamore Municipal Council building and the garden is in part used for parking. The entire Acres development

There are 20 houses in all from south of the town hall and as far as the junction with the road to Kilcruttin beside the railway station. Following the numbering of these houses in the first valuation of 1843 and the second published in 1854 can be confusing. The numbers in the 1843 survey inclusive

The James Francis Fuller-designed church was one of two new Church of Ireland churches in the Tullamore area completed in the 1880s. The other was at Lynally and was the gift of Lady Emily Bury (died 1931) to mark the recent death of her young husband Charles Kenneth Howard. That at Durrow was to replace

It is hard to believe that we are catching up on history. In seven years time we mark the 200th anniversary of the building of the Catholic church in Durrow. This year is the thirtieth anniversary of the major renovation. The catholic church now in use at Durrow dates back to 1831and was completed in

The Bismarck Connection: 1807 – Tullamore In 1803, Hanover was occupied by troops from Napoleon Bonaparte’s French Army. Up to that point the Electorate of Hanover had been governed by King George III of the United Kingdom. In response to the occupation and the disbandment of the Electorate’s army, thousands of Hanoverian exiles travelled to

The word duel supposedly has its origin in the Latin duellum, roughly translated as a war or battle between two. Ancient history, religious accounts and myth are all full of accounts of Champion Warfare as elite warriors battled for the glory of their respective peoples. When David slew Goliath, Achilles dispatched Hector outside the gates

Thomas Acres Pierce (sometimes written as Peirce) the eldest son of Dr Pierce (d. 1859) who succeeded his father and mother at Acres Hall died in 1879. Colonel Thomas Acres Pierce, (he was an officer in the King’s County Militia and in his early years the regular army) died suddenly in December 1879 of a

The image is that of a cancelled return rail excursion ticket from Edenderry to Dublin on the 17th of March 1963. The event was the Railway Cup inter Provincial Finals in Hurling and Football. Four Offaly Players were selected – Greg Hughes, Paddy McCormack, Charlie Wrenn and Sean Brereton. It was the last passenger or

This article is not about the fashionable ‘Chopped’ clean food eateries. Instead, it concerns what was fed to our horses, in particular, before World War 1. That was a time of increasing use of motorised transport and less of horse-drawn vehicles. It was in 1904 that Motor Registration was introduced in Ireland, the War began

This handsome house was built in 1786 by Thomas Acres and is set well in from the street. The valuer of 1843 wrote: ‘This has always been considered the best house in Tullamore – it is well situate – extensive pleasure grounds in front and rear, and well walled garden.’[1] Acres Hall, the town hall

Last week we set out reasons why Cormac Street can be considered so good. Anybody getting off the train, visiting the town park or the courthouse cannot but be impressed. The street is very largely intact since it was built and has been enhanced by the town park. The restoration of the full Kilcruttin Hill

My paternal great-great grandfather was James Corcoran (c. 1801 to c. 1848), a tenant farmer/freeholder who, in the mid-1820s, had dominion over approximately 44 acres (current measurement) in the townland of Crissard in County Laois.  At that time Crissard was often referred to as “Cropard,” with numerous variations on the name since.  “Crissard” appears to

Cormac Street is somewhat unique in the story of Tullamore Street development with its forty houses, two major institutional buildings, a folly and a town park. Rarely is a street preserved without blemish with so many elements over a two-hundred-year period. Cormac Street was also the home of the town’s major property developer and rentier