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    Founded in 1938 and re-established in 1969, Offaly History (Offaly Historical and Archaeological Society) aims to preserve and promote the rich heritage of County Offaly. Since 1993, the Society has occupied premises at Bury Quay, Tullamore offering a Bookshop, library, reading room, and lecture hall for researcher and members of the public.  Offaly History Centre is beside the new Aldi Supermarket and Old Warehouse restaurant), and best approached from Kilbride Street via Patrick Street or Main Street.

    The main objective of the society is the collection and sharing of research and memories. We do this in an organised way; through exhibitions, the publication of local interest books, weekly blog posts, monthly lectures, and more. The bookshop and reading rooms at Bury Quay are open to the public Monday to Friday, 9am-4:30pm. Regular updates can also be found at our website, www.Offalyhistory.com and on our social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X.

    To promote Offaly History including community and family history

    What we do:

    • Promote all aspects of history in Co. Offaly.
    • Genealogy service for counties Laois and Offaly.
    • Photographic collections of County Offaly
    • Purchase and sale of Offaly interest books though the Society’s book store and website with over 3000 history books in our shop and up to 1000 online.
    • Publication of books under the Society’s publishing arm Esker Press.
    • The Society subscribes to almost all the premier historical journals in Ireland.
    • The Society manages the collections if Offaly Archives under the care of a professional archivist.

    Our Society covers a diverse range of Offaly Heritage:

    • Architectural heritage, historic monuments such as monastic and castle buildings.
    • Industrial and urban development of towns and villages.
    • Archaeological objects and artefacts.
    • Flora, fauna and bogs, wildlife habitats, geology and Natural History.
    • Landscapes, heritage gardens and parks, farming and inland waterways.
    • Local literary, social, economic, military, political, scientific and sports history.
    Offaly History is a non-profit community group with a growing membership of some 150 individuals. The Society focuses on enhancing educational opportunities, understanding and knowledge of the county heritage while fostering an inclusive approach and civic pride in local identity. We promote these objectives through:
    • The holding of monthly lectures, occasional seminars, exhibitions and social media. Organising tours during the summer months to places of shared historical interest.
    • The publication of an annual journal Offaly Heritage – to date twelve issues.
    • We play a unique role collecting and digitising original primary source materials, especially photographs and oral history recordings
    • Offaly History is the centre for Family History research in Counties Laois and Offaly.
    • The Society is linked to the renowned Irish Family Foundation website and Roots Ireland where some 1,000,000 records of Offaly/Laois interest can be accessed on a pay-per-view basis worldwide. Currently these websites have an estimated 20 million records of all Ireland interest.
    • A burgeoning library of books, CD-ROMs, videos, DVDs, oral and folklore recordings, manuscripts, newspapers and journals, maps, photographs and various artefacts (now over 25,000 items and a catalogue online)
    • OHAS Collections
    • OHAS Centre Facilities
    The financial activities of the Society are operated under the aegis of Offaly Heritage Centre c.l.g, a charitable company whose directors also serve on the Society’s elected committee. None of the Society’s directors receive remuneration or any kind. All the company’s assets are held in trust to promote the voluntary activities of the Society. Our facilities are largely free to the public or run purely on a costs-recovery basis.

    Acting as a policy advisory body –  Offaly History endeavors to ensure all government departments, local authorities, tourism agencies and key opinion formers prioritise heritage matters.

    Meet the current committee: Our Committee represents a broad range of backgrounds and interests. All share a common interest in collecting and promoting the heritage of the county and making it available to the wider community.

    2024 Committee
    • Helen Bracken (President)
    • Shaun Wrafter (Vice President)
    • Michael Byrne (Secretary)
    • Dorothee Bibby (Treasurer)
    • Charlie Finlay (Assistant Treasurer)
    • Niall Sweeney
    • Ciarán McCabe
    • Noel Guerin
    • Angela Kelly
    • Rory Masterson
    • Oliver Dunne
    • Frank Brennan
    • Pat Wynne
    • Laura Price
    Co-opted
    • Reneagh Bennett
    • Michael Scully
    • Jim Keating
    • Eamon Larkin
    If you would like to help with the work of the Society by coming on a sub-committee or in some other way please email us at [email protected] or let an existing member know.  
    +353-5793-21421 [email protected] Open 9am-4.30pm Mon-Fri

    Great War Memorials in the Church of Ireland churches of County Offaly – Stephen Callaghan.

    Lost Lives: Men from Ferbane and Belmont who died in the Great War, 1914–18’ – P.J Dooley

    Women’s right to vote, 1918: the campaign – Margaret Hogan

    Lois, Countess of Rosse and the Birr Castle Prisoner of War Relief Scheme 1915–1916 – Lisa Shortall

    Birr – ‘‘A constitutional island in a sea of Sinn Fein’: the account of Wilfrid Ewart of his walking from Cork to Belfast via Birr and Tullamore in 1921 – Micheal Byrne

    Uncertain times: Some experiences of the Goodbody family in Clara 1919–1923Micheal Goodbody

    Short biographies of revolutionary figures in Offaly -Various

    Suffragettes in the Midlands and in Tullamore JailMargaret Hogan

    Kevin O’Higgins, the Tullamore Realm Trial and the ideas of a Complex Revolutionary – Richard Egan

    Jack Williams: Son of Tullamore, an Irish Artillery Officer in the First World War – Frank Fennell

    The Bulfins of Derrinlough, Co Offaly – Anna White

    Coolacrease – A Place With a Tragic History – Paddy Heaney

    Some early car registration numbers – Ronnie Matthews

    The Royal Irish Constabulary – Brendan Ryan

    Edenderry and the First World War – Ciarán Joseph Reilly

    Offaly and the Civil War executions – Philip McConway

    From Ballyduff to Langemarck and places in between – Joe Deverell

    Offaly 100 years ago: the year 1913 – Michael Byrne

    Haunted memories: Rex Ingram, Francis Hitchcock and World War One – Ruth Barton

    The scene in King’s County in 1914 – Michael Byrne

    The declining fortunes, strength, and influence of the Home Rule movement in Offaly, 1910 to 1916 – Sean McEvoy

    The by-elections in King’s County/Offaly in 1914 and 1918 – Michael Byrne

    Prelude to rebellion: the 1916 ‘Tullamore affray’ in context – Paul Hughes

    Eamonn Bulfin of Derrinlough – Brian Pey

    1916 and the politics of the Midland Tribune and Tullamore and King’s County Independent – Michael Byrne

    West Offaly and the 1916 Rising – Padraig Heavin

    The GAA and Nationalism in Offaly 1884–1918 – Sean McEvoy

    The Tullamore malt workers strike fiasco of 1916 and the malting industry in Tullamore – Michael Byrne

    The gallant old legion’: Cumann na mBan in county Offaly, 1915–1922 – Ciara Molloy

    Another Decade of Centenaries, 1913-1923’: The Biddulphs, the Great War and the decline of the big house in King’s County/Offaly – Michael Byrne

    A retrospective military analysis of the 1916 rising – James P. Cullen

    Sources for the study of the revolutionary period in King’s County/Offaly (1912–1923) – Lisa Shortall

    ‘A Mere Boy’ – Fergal MacCabe

    Simply a Tullamore Man: A Stonemason or a British Gaol Bird, or an Offaly/Irish Rebel Leader? – Fergus O’Bracken

    A Birr official in Dublin: Experiences of the fighting of Easter Week, 1916 – Michael Byrne

    Henry Brenan, the King’s County Crown Solicitor, 1916- 1921 – Micheal Byrne

    A tale of two Kerry men drinking after hours in Hayes’ Hotel, Tullamore in 1916 – Micheal Byrne

    The making of ‘Faithful Rising – Miriam Smyth

    The diary of Geraldine Fitzgerald, a Birr nurse working from Stephen’s Green during Easter Week 1916 – Michael Byrne

    John Joly (1857–1933): An Offaly man based in Trinity College in 1916 and defending the Union – John Joly

    Extracts from the Midland Tribune Easter Supplement 1966: the story of the Fourth Battalion and Joe Doolan; Banagher man Kieran Kenny in distillery battle; Seamus Kelly, Mucklagh veteran of Battle of Ashbourne.

    Mucklagh’s Seamus (Jimmy) Kelly – Breda Condron

    Lt. Joseph Wrafter – Breda Condron

    Just another cog in the Revolution machine? An Examination of the Dáil Éireann Courts of county Offaly, 1920-1922 – Steven T.M. Egan

    A Terrible Loss: 1919 – Maurice Egan and David F.M. Egan

    People, Place and Power. The Grand Jury System in Ireland – Brian Gurrin with David Brown, Peter Crooks and Ciarán Wallace

    Divergent political views – Maurice Egan and David F.M. Egan

    From King’s County to Offaly: Dáil Éireann and Local Government during the years of the Irish Revolution -Mary Daly

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