Offaly History who we are

    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.

    Our Mission

    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

    Maps & texts: exploring the Irish Historic Towns Atlas

    €25.00

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    Description

    This book emerges from the 25 Irish Historic Towns Atlases published to date. It brings together their authors’ expertise and insights under the guidance of the editor, medieval historian H.B Clarke. With an attractive and highly readable design it explores what is unique about Irish towns and what is generic. Through comparisons it considers various categories of Irish urban life, how Ireland’s major towns and cities interacted and changed over time and why that might be so. It considers town morphology as a social process in the making of urban Ireland and its distinct personality.

    The book comprises 20 individual essays that offer new perspectives on urban life in Ireland. In the first section, pairs of comparable towns, and in one case three towns, are explored – Armagh and Kells, Kilkenny and Limerick, Kildare and Tuam, Ennis and Longford, Belfast and Derry~Londonderry, Athlone, Longford and Mullingar. The second section focuses on aspects of urban life such as religion, manufacturing and education. In the final section, three critiques open further ground, suggesting various approaches and tools for understanding towns and their history, shape and diversity.

    Maps and Texts broadens the ways in which atlases might be used, making it suitable for second level students as well as for more focused scholars. The book is in full colour and illustrated with over 90 maps, reconstructions, views and photographs.

    Editors: H.B. Clarke, Sarah Gearty

    Series editors: Anngret Simms, H.B. Clarke, Raymond Gillespie, Jacinta Prunty

    Consultant editor: J.H. Andrews

    Cartographic editor: Sarah Gearty

    Editorial assistants: Angela Murphy, Jennifer Moore.

    Contributors: J.H. Andrews, Angela Byrne, Patrick J. Duffy, Raymond Gillespie, Paul Gosling, Brian Graham, Mark Hennessy, Arnold Horner, Colm Lennon, Keith Lilley, Jennifer Moore, Harman Murtagh, Brian Ó Dálaigh, Eamon O’Flaherty, Fergus O’Ferrall, Tadhg O’Keeffe, Jacinta Prunty, Stephen A. Royle, Anngret Simms.

    The Irish Historic Towns Atlas is a research project of the Royal Irish Academy and is part of a wider European scheme. www.ihta.ie.

    Additional information

    Weight 1.054 kg
    Dimensions 26 × 21 × 2 cm
    Author

    ,

    Hard Or Paper Back

    Place of Publication

    Year

    2013

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