Speaker Cora McDonagh Title: ‘Read all about it: Parades, Perambulations and Pigeons.’ Balbriggan and District News in the National and International press 1779 to 1979 August 28th, 8pm Bracken Court Hotel
Were you ever curious to discover what the rest of the world heard and read about Balbriggan and the surrounding district in years gone by? Join us for this fascinating talk where you will hear about what was reported about Balbriggan from 1779 until 1979 in the Irish and British newspapers and also the American journals .Social, political, industrial and religious events happening in Balbriggan were reported on a regular basis and local historian Dr Cora Mc Donagh will illustrate these and will also discuss how they were connected to contemporary events. Hear about celebrations, fireworks and intoxicating liquor in the 18th century. During the 19th century we learn about repeal meetings, temperance pledges and the publican who took the police to court as he accused them of trespassing on his premises after closing time. The stocking industry flourished during this time with regular reports about their success at the national and international exhibitions.The beginning of the 20th century was a time of revolution and there were frequent newspaper articles about how the local citizens were involved in National events and of course the devastation of the Sack of Balbriggan was widely reported. From the 1930s, reports on the horticultural and flower shows held in Balbriggan (and countrywide), listed all the green fingered gardeners of Balbriggan and what they produced. Finally, from 1947 onwards we see regular updates in the press about the Balbriggan Racing Pigeon Club and we finish the evening with their racing results from the 1979 newspapers..
Bio: Cora Mc Donagh was recently awarded a PhD for her thesis ‘Irish country house collections, display and dispersal: A social study of Irish art loan exhibitions and auctions, 1798- 1916.’ at Maynooth University where she was under the supervision of Professor Terence Dooley and Dr Alison FitzGerald.
In 2019 she was awarded a four-year John and Pat Hume Doctoral scholarship. Her other scholarships and bursaries include the 2019 Desmond Guinness Scholarship (The Irish Georgian Society), the 2019 Kevin B Nowlan Bursary (The Castletown Foundation) and in 2021 the Sir Alfred Beit Research Bursary for research on the art collection at Russborough House. Last year she completed a post-doctoral research project for the RDS Library and Archives where she conducted research on the Great Industrial Exhibition of 1853. She co-curated two exhibitions on the role of the RDS in the organisation of the 1853 exhibition and these were on display at the RDS Library and the Royal Irish Academy Library from October to December 2023.
