Author: balhistsoooc17

Join us for our May talk ‘Castles, Churches and Cobblestones – The built heritage of Balbriggan’ – by Dr Cora McDonagh 

Wednesday May 28th at 8pm Bracken Court Hotel Balbriggan. 

Admission €5, Members free All Welcome
‘Rev. Fee won a canary and Miss O’ Fibilley won a chest of tea’ What has this to do with the built heritage of Balbriggan? Both were prize winners at the much-anticipated and widely supported weeklong Balbriggan Bazaar and Fete held in August   1894.   This   had   been   organized   by   the   women   of   Balbriggan   as   a fundraiser for the new additions to St Peter & Paul’s church. Join us for this fascinating talk on the built heritage of Balbriggan where you will hear more about this bazaar and the history behind some of the most iconic buildings in Balbriggan, who built them, how they were funded and what stories they can tell us. Balbriggan is rich in its built heritage from the site of the 7th century church of St Molaga to the 21st century Lark Theatre and so much in between. Cora will also look at the medallions on the walls at Smyth & Co and explain their significance from Paris to Philadelphia.
Biography of Speaker:
In 2024 Dr Cora Mc Donagh was 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,   under   the supervision of Professor Terence Dooley and Dr Alison FitzGerald. She lectures in Irish Art & Architecture 1600-1900 at the International Summer School at Maynooth University. In 2019 she was awarded a four-year John and Pat Hume Doctoral   scholarship.   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 (Russborough House). In 2023 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 for the RDS Library and the Royal Irish Academy Library. In 2025 she was the recipient of the Thomas Damman Junior Memorial Trust award which will aid her research at the archives in Rome where she is examining the work of Sir John Lavery in Italy.

Balbriggan & District Historical Society presents a talk by renowned historian Joe Connell – ‘The Treatment of Women During the Rebellion Period and After the Free State.’
Wednesday April 30th 2025 at 8pm Bracken Court Hotel
Admission €5, Members free
During the early 20th Century women became more and more important in the pursuit of Irish independence and political and civil rights for all. Coming from every walk of life, they asserted their righteous claim to be part of the shaping of the nation and its future. This talk will highlight their story and sacrifice.

Speaker profile Joe Connell:
After serving in the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, Joe Connell graduated as a Juris Doctor Cum Laude from Pepperdine University School of Law, Malibu, CA in June 1979.
Joe’s interest in Ireland and particularly in its history reflects his Irish heritage, and his interest in Ireland and its people and history has deepened over the years.
In time he came to concentrate his research/ interest on early 20th Century Ireland – with a particular focus on the period prior to the Rising up to the founding and early days of the Irish nation.
Joe is a regular visitor to Ireland. This gives him the opportunity to maintain contact with 21st Century Ireland and also the many Irish friends and colleagues he has come to know through the years.
In 2006 Dublin City Council, in association with Four Courts Press, published Joe’s “Where’s Where in Dublin” as their official commemoration volume for the 90th anniversary of the Easter Rising.
His second book, the critically acclaimed “Dublin in Rebellion”, was published by Lilliput Press in 2009, and has become an essential reference source for all who study Dublin 1913-24.
Joe also has written several books for Kilmainham Tales, including the best-selling “Ministering to Republicans,” about the priests, mainly Capuchins, who ministered to the spiritual needs of the rebels during the Easter Rising, War of Independence and the Civil War,“Unequal Patriots,” about some of the women involved in the Irish freedom struggle, “Teaching Rebels,” which looks at the role of education, teachers and pupils in the early revolutionary years of the 20th century, and “Who Killed Michael Collins?”, examining one of the most controversial events in irish history.
Joe is a columnist in History Ireland.  His column “Countdown to 2016” appeared in each issue from 2009-2016.  Now the column is titled “100 Years ago”, and is a somewhat chronological march throughout the revolutionary period. The column is intended to give the reader a feeling for the continuity of events of the whole period.
Two further books on the Easter Rising were published by Wordwell Books – “Dublin Rising 1916” and “Who’s Who in the Dublin Rising 1916”, and “Michael Collins, Dublin 1916-1923” and was Number 1 on the bestseller list at Hodges and Figgis for four weeks.  His latest book is “The Shadow War”, on the Irish War of Independence, and published by Eastwood Books.  Eastwood will release his latest book, ‘The Terror War” in November 2021.
Joe has given lectures to many historical societies, the Irish Defence forces, and schools.  His talks are on the Rising, the War of Independence, the Civil War, and the guerrilla aspects of the whole period.

See link to interview with Joe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDM0SM_UKRQ

Plans for the year

We are busy planning our activities for the year which we hope will include a day trip and also our pop up museum and guided walk during Summerfest. We will let you know when plans are finalized. Our planned programme of talks for the rest of the year is below (subject to final confirmation)

May 28th, Cora Mc Donagh, ‘Castle, Churches and Cobblestones- the built heritage of Balbriggan.’       
August 27th Jim Walsh, ‘The life of John Henry Gaynor- local Republican activist’
September 24th, Caroline Mc Fadden, 150th Anniversary of Balbriggan RFC based on her book ‘From Rope Walk to Bowhill-  a history of rugby in Balbriggan’.

Please note our website is being updated at present so the links Talks, Events and News are not active. But don’t worry you can find all the information if you scroll to Recent Posts and Archives. 

Balbriggan & District Historical Society presents Brian Kavanagh with a talk titled ‘The Graveyard Shift – from Bremore to SS Peter & Paul’ Wednesday March 26th 8pm Bracken Court Hotel.
In this engaging talk, Brian will explore the fascinating history behind the closure of the old burial ground at Bremore and the long journey to finding a new cemetery for the town.
You will discover fascinating stories that bring the past to life, learning about the people and events that shaped the town’s burial history

This year marks the 150th anniversary of a great sea tragedy in Balbriggan with the sinking of the Belle Hill. You will all be familiar with the  cairn of stones near Newhaven Bay (Sailors Grave) which recalls these seamen who lost their lives in Balbriggan’s worst Maritime disaster. Read more about this in our History for the Millennium book article shared below.

On Sunday March 2nd we marked the anniversary firstly by handing over a wreath to Skerries RNLI who placed it at the location of the wreck. Thanks to Niall McGrotty, Operations Manager of Skerries RNLI, and his crew for kindly facilitating this.
We then laid a wreath at Balrothery Cemetery where 8 of those who perished are buried. Jim Walsh read the story of the sinking while Rory McKenna  added some insights and Denise Richardson laid the wreath. Thanks to Martin Fanning and Balrothery Heritage Group for maintaining the headstone. Particular thanks to Kilian Harford for pulling the event together. See some images below (more can be found on our Facebook page)

The Belle Hill

On 26.2.1875 the Belle Hill, an iron Barque owned by J. Walsmly of Liverpool, left her home dock bound for Valparaiso with a general cargo on board. She had a crew of sixteen and was under the command of a 35 year old, Master E. Edgar. The remainder of the crew were:
 R. B. Perren First Mate
 R. Rosewarne Second Mate
 William Grant Carpenter
 Charles Ward Steward
 John Flanders Cook
 Alex Nordstrom Sailmaker
 William Lavin Apprentice
 Thomas Mercer Apprentice
 George William Hill Apprentice
 J. Young Able Bodied Seaman
 William Merrick Able Bodied Seaman
 James McDonnell Able Bodied Seaman
 S. G. Gustafron Able Bodied Seaman
 J. Jeffries Able Bodied Seaman
 J. F. Harding Able Bodied Seaman
 The weather had been bad and the ship had been driven by ESE gales onto the coastline near Balbriggan. She had been spotted earlier in the day off the Skerries Islands, and by 9.00 a.m. she was drifting fast towards Balbriggan Lighthouse in a gale and snowstorm. The ship was out of control. She sent up a distress signal at 2.00 p.m. At a later inquest James McDonnell stated that the Captain gave orders to let go anchors as she approached Newhaven Bay but the ship did not hold. The Captain then summoned the crew to the quarterdeck and asked them to standby to await assistance. When the ship began to break he was overheard to cry that every man should try to save his own life.
 When the ship began breaking on the rocks she was watched by the Coastguard and many local people. The Coastguard attempted to get a rocket line on board the vessel and this they accomplished on the third attempt. This line however became entangled on rocks between the wreck and the shoreline. Three local fishermen John Carton, John Carvin and James Murphy manned a boat and, risking their own lives, managed to get to the snarled line. They succeeded in getting three survivors aboard their boat and they brought them ashore under the worst imaginable weather conditions. Only one of these, James McDonnell survived. The remainder on the stricken vessel perished. Six bodies were recovered immediately and these, together with their two companions, were buried in Balrothery Cemetery. The other bodies were later washed up on the coast of the Isle of Man and on the Cumberland coast.
 During this tragedy the new Skerries Lifeboat, Laura Platt, had been called and came by land pulled by seven horses. As she attempted to approach as near as possible to the north of Bremore where the wreck lay she became stuck under the railway arch at King’s Lane and played no further part in the rescue. This brought about the urgent establishment, within a few months, of Balbriggan Lifeboat with a £310 Boathouse. The Coxswain was Richard Tuite. In the 23 years of its existence the Balbriggan boat was only twice in service and saved no lives. She was de-commissioned in 1898. The establishment of this and the Rogerstown Lifeboat Station may have been a panic reaction by the R.N.L.I. to the serious safety problem with shipping that existed at this time on the East Coast of Ireland.
 After the ship had broken up, the coastline was strewn with wreckage. There are conflicting reports as to what happened to this. Lloyd’s report states that men were employed salvaging this until August 28th, but local history has it that the population helped themselves to salvage, thus coining the name “Belle Hill Robbers” which is imprinted in local lore.
 It has been suggested that there may have been a mutiny on board the Belle Hill, but at the later inquest, James McDonnell made no reference to this. The three local fishermen who assisted were commended by the coroner for their bravery in attempting to save the lives of the unfortunate seamen.
 Today a cairn of stones near Newhaven Bay recalls these seamen who lost their lives in Balbriggan’s worst Maritime disaster.