The following short reports were supplied by James Scannell….
BRAY IN OLD PHOTOGRAPHS
Arthur Flynn’s ‘Bray in Old Photographs‘, published by Gill and Macmillan was formally launched in September by Eamon de Buitlear at a reception in Du Bray Books, Bray. This book is a chronicle of social life in Bray, County Wicklow, from the 1890’s to the present time with photographs recapturing the town’s commercial, sporting and artistic life with nostalgia and affection. This title is a part of trio with the other 2 being ‘Clare GAA in Old Photographs‘ by Séamus O’Reilly and ‘Ennis in Old Photographs ‘ by Seán Spellissy.
ROYAL DUBLIN FUSILIERS
Liam Dodd, MGSI, is currently researching ex-members of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and is looking for any information on them when they returned home after the Great War 1914 –1918 . If any reader has information on the burial place of any ex Royal Dublin Fusiliers or any items (photo’s, certificates, medals or documents ) , please contact Liam Dodd at 5 Meadow Vale, Blackrock, Co. Dublin or phone 2895085 evenings.
PREVENTING THE FUTURE
Between the years of the 1930’s through to 1960, independent Ireland suffered from economic stagnation, and also went through a period of intense cultural and psychological repression. While external circumstances account for much of the stagnation – especially the depression of the 1930’s and World War 2 ‘Preventing the Future – Why was Ireland so
poor for so long?‘ by Tom Garvin, published by Gill and Macmillan, argues that the situation was aggravated by internal circumstances with
the key domestic factor being the failure of government to extend higher and technical education to larger sections of the community . This derived from political stalemates in a small country which derived in turn from the power of the Catholic Church, the strength of the small-farm community, the ideological wish to preserve an older society and later, gerontocratic tendencies in the political elite and in society as a whole. While economic growth did accelerate after 1960, the political stand-off over mass education resulted in large numbers of young people being denied preparation for life in the modern world and arguably, denied Ireland a sufficient supply of trained labour and educated citizens . Ireland’s
Celtic Tiger of the 1990’s was to a large part driven by a new and highly educated workforce and it can be argued that the political stalemates of the 1940’s and 1950’s delayed the initial, incomplete take-off until the 1960’s and resulted n the Celtic Tiger arriving nearly a generation later than it might have.
MEDAL SOCIETY OF IRELAND
Articles featured in issue 66 of the Journal of the Medal Society of Ireland (September 2004) include ‘Society Notes‘ -‘Tribute to a Carlow Soldier ‘ (Liam Dodd) , ‘ Irishmen Who Died in U.S. Armed Services’ (Liam Dodd ) , ‘ Major General Sir Luke O’Connor V.C., K.C.B.‘ (Oliver Breen), ‘ Irish Regiments at Tel-el-Kebir‘ ( J. .Morton ) , ‘ Just a Broken Group ? ‘ (Gordon Power ) , ‘ By Land and Air – Samuel Penrose. Welsted in World War 1‘ (Philip Lecane) , ‘ Clare Assizes’ (Liam Dodd), ‘ Memorial to the Fallen project‘ ‘Letter of Congratulation‘ (Liam Dodd ) ‘ The Late Captain D.O’Brien (Liam Dodd), ‘Monkstown Man Wounded (Liam Dodd), and ‘Deserted Offers to re-Enlist‘ (Liam Dodd). Copies of this journal and other Medal Society of Ireland journals, price €3 each, are available only from the Town Hall Book Shop, 23 Florence Road, Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland. Those wishing to join the Medal Society of Ireland or seeking information should write to
Patrick Casey, Membership Secretary, 1 The Hill, Stillorgan, Co. Dublin. SAE appreciated. Membership- Adults €20 & €10 U16’s.
“HISTORY IRELAND”
Articles featured in the Autumn issue of that excellent quarterly Irish history magazine ‘History Ireland‘ include ‘The longphort phenomenon in Early Christian and Viking Ireland‘ by Michael Gibbons , ‘Charles Villiers Stanford ( 1852-1924): brilliant Dublin boyhood, cantankerous London old age’ by Elgy Gillespie , ‘ The Irish road to Argentina : 19th century travel patterns from Ireland to the River Plate’ by Edmundo Murray, ‘The Clones affray, 1922 - massacre or invasion? by Robert Lynch. In Curriculum , Noel Kissane looks at ‘ Drink, Sunday School and the GAA - the use of documents in the teaching of history; in Sources , W. J. Lowe looks at ‘ Who were the Black and Tans ‘ while in Interview , Senator Martin Manseragh is interview by Tommy graham. This issue also includes the regular features ‘News and Shorts‘ ‘Letters‘, ‘TV Eye‘, ‘Museum Eye‘. ‘Bookworm ‘ and Book Reviews ‘ and comes with a super insert based on the Royal Irish Academy’s Irish Historic Towns Atlas. This magazine is excellent value for €5.00
FIRE DESTROYS HISTORIC BUILDING
In Letterkenny, Co. Donegal , the former Letterkenny Urban District Council offices at Murrac-a boo, Covehill were destroyed on August 10th despite the best efforts of 4 fire crews. Murrac-a-boo was presented to the Church of Ireland as used as Conwal rectory from 1917 up to the 1970’s when the building was purchased by the Letterkenny Urban District Council .
CANADIAN LINKS
In Waterford City plans have been unveiled for a new festival aimed at promoting cultural and economic links between communities along Ireland’s south-east coast and Canada. Called the Waterford Estuary-Newfoundland Festival of the Sea, it is intended that it will take place over 10 days in May 2005 and it is hoped that the event will become a biennial event rotating between Ireland and Canada celebrating links between the coastal communities along the Irish south eastern coast and the south coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is also intended to run some events in tandem with the staging of the Tall Ship’s Race in July 2005 by Waterford .
MEDIEVAL REMAINS
RE-INTERRED
In August the remains of 4 humans unearthed in the 1990’a in Mullingar, County Westmeath, on a building site, which were removed to the National Museum of Ireland at that time, were returned to Mullingar for re-interrment in the grounds of Mulliingar cathedral. Other remains found on the site have been retained by the National Museum of Ireland, a move which has been criticised by the Bishop of Meath, as during the course of the excavation he claims promises were made that the remains would be returned but a spokesperson said for the National Museum of Ireland says that it made no such promise to the and that this undertaking may have been given by a individual who was not authorised to give such an undertaking.
EDITOR’S NOTE
This issue of this newsletter was published later than scheduled due to holidays. The Editor also apologies for the delay in despatching this issue which was primarily due to the pressures of work since returning from vacation. The Editor is grateful to James Scannell for submitting his interesting and varied reports on heritage matters in Ireland and welcomes such items from readers at home and overseas.
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