Please be advised that the AGM of Balbriggan & District Historical Society will take place at 8pm on Wednesday November 27th 2024 in the Bracken Court Hotel .
Refreshments will be served and all are very welcome to attend but only members can vote.
The evening will also feature short talks by students of Loreto Secondary School each focusing on the individual story of one young man who served in World War 1. It is poignant that the students speaking are not much younger than the young men who enlisted in this war, many of whom never came home.
Looking forward to seeing you there for these short talks and our AGM as we look back on another great year for our Society.
Sunday October 13, 2024 at 2pm To book your place email eventardgillan@fingal.ie
Were you ever curious to discover what the rest of the world heard and read about Balbriggan in the 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, British and American journals and newspapers. Hear also about what was reported about Ardgillan Castle, the Taylors, their staff and visitors. Social, political, industrial and religious events happening around 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 curious tale of the steward at Ardgillan Castle who fired a shot at an earthquake! The stocking industry at Balbriggan flourished during this time so we see lots of reporting about their success at the national and international exhibitions. The beginning of the 20th century was a time of revolution and there were frequent reports about how local citizens were involved in National events and of course the devastation of the Sack of Balbriggan was widely reported. Throughout the talk we will also learn about the horticultural and agricultural successes from Balbriggan especially the prizes won by the Ardgillan gardeners and the prizewinning Ayrshire heifer Twinkle belonging to the Taylors.
About the presenter: Dr. 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 from The Irish Georgian Society, the 2019 Kevin B Nowlan Bursary from 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.
We are delighted that our Pop Up Museum will return on October 12th and 13th as part of the Fingal Festival of History to display a small sample of the significant number of our historical Artefacts and photographs and videos which are of huge local and national interest. The exhibition will feature The People and Places of Balbriggan and topics featured will include the Linen & textile industry including Smyco, Harry Reynolds, The Sack of Balbriggan, Bremore Castle, and some of our extensive 1893 local Balbriggan photo collection.The exhibition will take place in the Pop Up Museum space on the corner of Clonard St and Bridge St, beside Central Pub from 12 to 5pm each day. All are welcome and admission is free.
We are delighted to be able to reschedule our postponed September talk on the History of O’Dwyers by Pauline O’Hare to this month on the 30th October.
Balbriggan & District Historical Society are delighted to welcome Pauline O’Hare for a talk on the History of O’Dwyers GAA – From Football on the Sand to New Beginnings Pauline has had a long association with our Society and has done extensive research on O’Dwyers GAA club which is such an integral part of our town. Join us in the Bracken Court Hotel at 8pm on Wednesday 25th September. Admission €5, Members free All Welcome Pauline O’Hare was born in Glenavy, Co Antrim and graduated in history at QUB 1973. Her career has included working as a Research Assistant BBC London 1974-5 and as a Teacher of History, English and French.and she is a published writer.
An accomplished local historian Pauline has been very active in the Balbriggan community, she served as Chairman and Secretary of Balbriggan & District Historical Society and Secretary of O’Dwyers GAA 1999-2001 and 2010-2012 and Chairperson of O’Dwyers 2001-04. She is also a long time member & Treasurer of St Patrick’s Brass & Reed Band. O’Dwyer’s GAA club has been an integral part of Balbriggan for 100 years and I am sure you all have memories of the Club down the years. They have over 700 registered members and field around 50 teams in football, hurling and camogie at both juvenile and adult levels. It is an exciting time for the club as the new development nears completion and Pauline’s talk will be of huge interest to anyone interested in the history of the club and the town.
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.
We are delighted to announce we will hold a Pop Up Museum on the two weekends 25th and 26th May and 1st & 2nd June during Summerfest to display a small sample of the significant number of our historical Artefacts and photographs and videos which are of huge local and national interest. The exhibition will feature The People, Places and Textile Industry of Balbriggan and topics featured will include the Linen & textile industry including Smyco, Harry Reynolds, The Sack of Balbriggan, Bremore Castle, and some of our extensive 1893 local Balbriggan photo collection.
The exhibition will take place in the Pop Up Museum space on the corner of Clonard St and Bridge St, beside Central Pub from 12 to 5pm each day. All are welcome and admission is free. HISTORICAL WALK & Bremore Castle Tours
On June 1st at 2pm we will lead our Historical Walk as part of Summerfest and we will also be arranging tours of Bremore Castle on Sunday 2nd (bookings made on the day).
Balbriggan & District Historical Society presents ‘800 years of the Barnewall family ( with particular emphasis on their association with Bremore Castle) May 29th at 8pm Bracken Court Hotel. €5 Members free.
The story of Barnewalls is a long, complicated and often tangled web, spanning Irish history for 800 years. They held vast tracts of land in Ireland, built castles and great houses, including Bremore Castle in Balbriggan and Turvey House near Swords. The Round Tower in Lusk is home to Sir Christopher Barnewall’s 1589 ancestral tomb. This talk based on Aidan Arnold’s book recounts the important but almost forgotten history of this Catholic Norman family dynasty.
Speaker: Aidan Arnold grew up on his family farm in Corduff, Lusk. He has been chairman of Lusk Heritage Group since it’s establishment 35 years ago in 1989. Books written by Aidan include Lusk through the Ages, The life and times of Rover McCann, Lusk School, the Schools Collection (part of the National Folklore Collection,)Barnewall de Berneval, 800 years a Norman-Irish family, and Forgotten Evidence on the Sack of Balbriggan.
Title: A Balbriggan Tragedy, 1930, Speaker: Jim Walsh
Thanks to our own Jim Walsh for a really interesting and moving talk on A Balbriggan Tragedy – the Bolingbroke children earlier this month. The huge crowd was a reflection of Jim’s standing in the town where everyone knows his talks are not to be missed. Thank you all for attending – and thanks to Brian Kavanagh for his assistance with the presentation.
His talk told the story of the tragedy of the Bolingbroke children in 1930, their death in a fire in Balbriggan, and the impact on the Bolingbroke family and the community of a tragedy remembered in Balbriggan almost a century later.
Bio – Jim Walsh is a local historian and retired librarian. He is a current committee member, former chairman and founder member of Balbriggan & District Historical Society since 1981. Jim has given numerous talks on a range of Balbriggan topics and is an expert on the history of Balbriggan. You can access some of his talks, most notably on the Sack of Balbriggan on our Youtube channel.
All our talks take place in the Bracken Court Hotel at 8pm on the last Wednesday of the month, and all are welcome. Membership is €15 individual, €20 family or €10 for seniors or you can pay €5 for any individual talk.
Balbriggan & District Historical Society is looking forward to a new year of activities and we would be delighted if you can join us. For our first talk on March 27th at 8pm in the Bracken Court Hotel we welcome Skerries native Gerard Shannon for a talk on Liam Lynch titled – To Declare a Republic: The life of Liam Lynch, IRA Chief of Staff, 1892-1923.
General Liam Lynch was one of the most important republican leaders of the Irish revolutionary period. Hailing from rural Limerick, Lynch proved himself an accomplished guerrilla commander of the IRA’s Cork No. 2 Brigade in north Cork, masterminding important operations against British forces during the War of Independence. Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, Lynch soon established him as a chief opponent to the settlement, seeing it as a betrayal of the Irish republican cause. On becoming leader of the anti-Treaty IRA at the outset of the Irish Civil War, Lynch was a major driving of republican resistance to the emerging Irish Free State, with his death in April 1923 ultimately signalling an end to the military fighting of the conflict. This talk from Gerard Shannon, author of the most recent biography of Lynch, explores the life of this fascinating figure.
Bio – Gerard Shannon is a public historian of the Irish revolutionary period from Skerries and has a MA in History from the DCU School of History and Geography. His first book, ‘Liam Lynch: To Declare a Republic’, was published in March 2023 from Merrion Press and featured on the non-fiction best seller lists. He is currently developing a biography of IRA leader Rory O’Connor, to see publication in early 2025.
For our April talk on the 24th we welcome local historian and Committee member our own Jim Walsh for a talk on the tragedy of the Bolingbroke children in 1930. His talk will focus on their death in a fire in Balbriggan, and the impact on the Bolingbroke family and the community of a tragedy remembered in Balbriggan almost a century later.
On May 29th we welcome Aiden Arnold for a talk based on his recent book Barnewall de Berneval – 800 years of a Norman Irish family. As we all know the Barnewall family were associated with Bremore Castle in Balbriggan so this will be of huge interest.
All our talks take place in the Bracken Court Hotel at 8pm on the last Wednesday of the month, and all are welcome. Membership is €15, €20 family or €10 for seniors or you can pay €5 for any individual talk.
Please be advised that the AGM of Balbriggan & District Historical Society will take place at 8pm on Wednesday November 29th 2023 in the Bracken Court Hotel . Refreshments will be served and all are very welcome to attend but only members can vote. A nomination paper will be circulated to members in the next few days. We are delighted to announce that tomorrow Saturday 11th November four students from Loreto Secondary School will lay a wreath at the Cenotaph remembrance service in Whitehall, London in honour of the Irish soldiers and particularly the soldiers from Balbriggan, who participated and lost their lives in World War I. This will be live streamed tomorrow morning at 10.20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f46ePA6Xs0U You will be aware that the students presented their talks on World War 1 to our Society last month and we were also involved in judging the early stages of the competition they were participating in. See full details below provided by Loreto Secondary school: Kind regardsBernie KellyPRO
Cenotaph Remembrance Service
This Saturday 11th Nov, 4 of our students (in Loreto Balbriggan) will lay a wreath at the Cenotaph remembrance service in Whitehall, London in honour of the Irish soldiers and particularly the soldiers from Balbriggan, who participated and lost their lives in World War I.
In 2014, the Irish Ambassador to Britain at that time, Dan Mulhall, was invited to the service to lay a wreath in memory of the Irish soldiers. This was the first time in over 60 years, since the Republic was declared, that an Irish person has laid a wreath to remember the Irish soldiers.
Our students will make history again, by becoming the first Irish students EVER to lay a wreath at the remembrance service. They were invited to do so because they won a competition in June called the Malcolm Doolin Award. By winning this very prestigious competition, they became the first Irish winners and also the first Irish students EVER to be invited to attend and participate in the wreath laying ceremony at the Cenotaph.
The event will be televised on the BBC and can be live streamed using the following information.
The service is live streamed on the day and is then available on YouTube. It can be can accessed in two ways:
1. Go to the YouTube channel of the Western Front Association
2. At the top you should see “armistice Day 2023”
3. Click notify me… Which should generate an email. It would probably help if they subscribe to the channel
We wish Alex Smyth, Lucy Rooney, Hannah Goode and Ruby Gilmurray the very best of luck for the event. We are so proud of you here in Loreto Balbriggan.
We would also like to thank Gerry White of the Irish Branch of the Western Front Association for all his help and support over the last year. He informed the school initially about the Malcolm Doolin competition and gave advice and assistance with regards to the projects the girls completed.
Thanks to Eve Wilson, the UK Education Trustee of the Western Front Association for her role in guiding us through the competition and the details of the Cenotaph remembrance service.
Thanks also to Bernie Kelly and Idé Ni Liathain of the Balbriggan and District Historical Society who judged the initial projects sent off to the Western Front Association for the competition.
A special thanks also goes to Christopher White of Three Gates Garden Centre and Florist for making the beautiful wreath that the students will bring to London to lay at the Cenotaph.
Join us next week for our Historical Society Talk on October 25th at 8pm in the Bracken Court Hotel when we will be focusing on World War 1. We are delighted to present short talks by students of Loreto Secondary School each focusing on the individual story of one young man from Balbriggan who served in World War 1. It is poignant that the students speaking are not much younger than the young men who enlisted in this great war, many of whom never came home. Along with these presentations Eithne MacDermott will speak about the social and political context of World War 1 in Ireland. Eithne has previously given a talk for the Society on the Interparty Government 1948-1951. Not to be miseed. Adm €5, Members free. All Welcome
The Local History Students were the winners of the Western Front Association Malcolm Doolin Award for their World War 1 Projects read more
Eithne MacDermott has taught Modern European History in TCD, and, earlier, Modern European and Irish History and Politics in NUIG, and is the author of Clann na Poblachta, (Cork University Press 1998). Moreover, she has served as an Interntional Election Observer, (nominated by Ireland), observing almost 30 elections across three continents since 1997, and has also worked as a Political Adviser with EU Missions in Georgia, Afghanistan and Somalia
Balbriggan & District Historical Society presents Cora Mc Donagh’s talk on ‘Balbriggan Stockings, Old Masters and the Bells of Howth: North County Dublin contributions to the nineteenth century Art & Industry Exhibitions.’ 27th September 2023 at 8pm Bracken Court Hotel. Admission €5, Members free. All Welcome
Cora is a local resident and PhD student at Maynooth University and her research involves some of the exhibitions and loans that she will be discussing at her talk. She will explore Balbriggan’s involvement with the exhibitions that took place in the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century. She will look at the contributions from the stocking manufacturers especially those at the 1853 Great Industrial Exhibition held in Dublin where Smyth & Co, Glennys, Appleyard and others had stands and over one million people visited this exhibition. Later exhibitions saw other industries at the exhibitions including The Balbriggan Salt Works Co. and the Drogheda Linen Company, Balbriggan.
Other districts in North County Dublin also provided generous loans to the exhibitions especially the Old Masters exhibitions and later the Art & Industry exhibitions. There were contributions from the Cobbes of Newbridge House, Donabate, the Lord Talbots de Malahide, the Viscount Gormanston (the address for Gormanston Castle during this time was given as Balbriggan, Co. Dublin) and many more. Cora will also explain how these loans were of benefit to the artists, the artisans and others during the nineteenth century.
During the final part of the talk Cora will have a brief look at the other exhibitions including the Flower Shows and Horticultural Exhibitions during the early twentieth century that took place at Balbriggan, Malahide, Skerries and Rush. Who knows, you might see the name of an ancestor listed amongst the prizewinners!
Cora Mc Donagh is a PhD candidate at Maynooth University under the supervision of Professor Terence Dooley and Dr Alison FitzGerald. Her thesis ‘Irish Country House art collections, display and dispersal: A social study of Irish loan exhibitions and auctions, 1798-1916’ combines both Irish social history with history of art. Cora has recently been appointed project researcher for the RDS Library & Archives for a stand-alone project in partnership with The Historical Studies Committee of the Royal Irish Academy to mark the 170th anniversary of the Dublin Great Industrial Exhibition of 1853.
On June 24th at 2pm we have an interesting talk by Renowned Author Rail Historian Jonathan Beaumont titled ‘The Dublin to Drogheda Railway’ in an exciting new venue for us, the beautiful setting of Ardgillan Castle.
You could combine the talk with a visit to the superb gardens of Ardgillan Demesne or a stroll in the grounds.
Wednesday May 31st at 8pm, Bracken Court Hotel Balbriggan & District Historical Society presents our own Jim Walsh with a talk titled ‘Balscadden Past and Present’ Jim Walsh has been a constant presence in Balbriggan & District Historical Society since our foundation in 1981 and is a fantastic resource on all things Balbriggan and District related. This talk promises to be really interesting for Balbriggan and District residents old and new. As always admission €5 Members free
For our talk on April 26th in the Bracken Court Hotel we were delighted to have a very special visiting speaker of note, Rory Golden, Diver, Speaker, Explorer with a talk titled ‘TITANIC – Search, Discovery and Diving to the world’s most famous shipwreck.’
On his website www.RoryGolden.com Rory states ‘I have memories to last a lifetime that I can share with many’ More people have been to outer space than to the depths of the ocean that Rory has dived to and he shared these memories with us in an unmissable talk. Rory spoke first of the story of the building of the Titanic and its ill fated maiden voyage and the story of some of the many who lost their lives on it. He then introduced us to fantastic images of his dives to the wreck
https://youtu.be/UCwg2h7i4Ac
Some further background:
Member International of the Explorers Club of New York, Vice Chair of the Great Britain and Ireland Chapter of the Explorers Club, and a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society Rory Golden became the first Irish diver to visit the site of RMS TITANIC, in August 2000. This expedition recovered 800 artifacts from nearly 4,000 metres deep. His dive was in a Russian submersible, and he left a memorial plaque on the wreck on behalf of the people of Ireland from Cobh. He also spotted the main ship’s wheel which was recovered on the dive. He returned in August 2005, leaving two more memorial plaques from Belfast on the ship. This expedition was broadcast as a documentary, “A Journey to Remember”, on BBC with Mike McKimm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGoJMc7hXDA. In July 2021 he was contracted by OceanGate Expeditions to be on the 2021 Titanic Survey Expedition as the on board content expert. Other duties included assisting in the surface support dive ops and preparation of the revolutionary 5 person carbon fibre TITAN submersible. In June and July 2022 he was again a team member for the second OceanGate expedition to the wreck site as a content expert and surface dive support co-ordinato – see link above. He made his third dive to the ship during this trip in the 5 person submersible TITAN. https://oceangateexpeditions.com/titanic
Please note that the A.G.M. of Balbriggan & District Historical Society will take place in the Bracken Court Hotel on Wednesday, 30th November at 8 p.m. sharp. Everyone is welcome to attend to hear about another busy year for the Society and we would welcome any imput or suggestions you may have on the night. However only members can vote and if you are a member you will have received a nomination paper earlier. Light refreshments will be available on the night. Looking forward to seeing you there.
Our October talk was by Grainne Maguire titled ‘Celebrating 75 years of Balbriggan Dramatic Society ‘ in the Bracken Court Hotel Balbriggan Wednesday October 26th. Grainne spoke about the fascinating history of Balbriggan Dramatic Society which is celebrating an amazing 75 years this year.
She began her presentation with a video recording of May McKeon chatting to founding member Eoghan O’Callaghan about the early years of the Society. It was fantastic to have members from the first production in 1947 joining us on the night and Grainne presented Eoghan O’Callaghan and Dermot Reynolds with framed programmes from the historic event. She also had an exhibition of old photographs. Grainne Maguire is very well known to you all in Balbriggan from her work as a Councillor and in the community particularly with the Balbriggan Summerfest and the Dramatic Society and she has been a familiar face in their productions for many years. We also enjoyed short presentations from the local history students from Loreto Secondary school who were winners in a competition the Society is proud to sponsor. We were delighted to welcome Noshien Aktar, Deborah Emeh and Rebecca Lawrence to share presentations on The Grand Palace Thailand and Balbriggan Harbour and Lighthouse
Balbriggan & District Historical Society presented our August talk by Colm Timmins on Genealogy and Balbriggan – how to trace your own family Wednesday August 24th Bracken Court Hotel, Balbriggan. Colm is a long time member of our Society and a local genealogist with years of experience. In this talk he spoke about Balbriggan and shared his extensive knowledge to help you begin the journey of tracing your own family.
Balbriggan & District Historical Society presented The Building of Balbriggan Harbour by Rory McKenna, Wednesday May 25th Bracken Court Hotel. With all the changes taking place at the Harbour these days it was appropriate to look back at its history. We were delighted to welcome someone well known for his many talks for the Society our own Rory McKenna to present this talk. There were lots of questions and we could’ve been there for hours. We were delighted to welcome back some more old friends to our live talks following the Covid restrictions.
We enjoyed an excellent presentation from Declan Brady on Frank Lawless, 1870-1922: Fingal’s Revolutionary Politician. We were delighted to see such a big crowd and welcome back some of our friends for the first time since 2019. It was particularly nice to welcome members of the Lawless family including Frank Lawless grandson as we heard all about his amazing life.
Frank Lawless is well known for his involvement with the Fingal Battalion and the Battle of Ashbourne in 1916, but he had a long and influential career in local politics, which reflected his journey from a supporter of Parnell to the revolutionary who fought in 1916 and in The War of Independence. Like his father he served as a poor law guardian in Balrothery, and his brothers and children were involved in the political and cultural movements that helped shape Irish Independence and the early years of the Irish Free State. This talk revisits Frank’s journey and the key role he played as a local political leader in Fingal.
Balbriggan and District Historical Society back live
After a difficult two years Balbriggan & District Historical Society were delighted to welcome back old friends to an in-person talk in the Bracken Court Hotel on Wednesday March 30th, 2022.
The talk Irish National Foresters – St Molaga Branch, No.315 (Balbriggan) 1897-1942 ” was presented by Jim Walsh who is very well known as a founding member of the Society and an expert on Balbriggan history who has given many talks on a variety of subjects.
The Irish National Foresters Benefit Society was founded in 1877 embracing the dictum of Unity, Benevolence and Nationality. Offering much needed financial and medical assistance to its members this social movement spread rapidly throughout the entire island of Ireland. When the Balbriggan branch was formed in 1897, there were already 300 branches already established in Ireland. In the year 1911, Balbriggan Branch numbered 111 members. A female branch named the Molly Bawn was founded in the following year 1912. Payments garnered from branch membership funds were disbursed to families for sickness, death, widows and orphans and sundry “distress”. Having met in the Balbriggan Band Rooms for the members erected their own edifice in Hampton Street in the year 1913.
The Foresters Hall on Hampton Street found a new role when it was purchased by Dan O’Shea. Dan bought the house from the Foresters in 1947 and ran his school, St. Brendan’s College there from his family home until he closed it in 1957 to take up a teaching role elsewhere. Dan helped the Society with research into the building and in appreciation a photo of Dan O’Shea was presented to Dan’s daughter, Marian Connolly née O’Shea and her daughter, Tara
Balbriggan & District Historical Society presented: “Voters and politicians – elections and local government in North Dublin during the lifetime of the Rural Balrothery District Council, 1898-1930.” By Declan Brady via Zoom at 8pm on Wednesday October 27th
This talk examined the progressive changes in voter franchise and local government representation from the Local Government Act in 1898, through the Irish Revolution, to the abolition of the RDC’s in 1930. The Home Rule and independence movements used these elections to harness support but also counted on the support of these local bodies as an integral part of the challenging of British rule in Ireland. The early years of independence brought new challenges in the relationship between local and national government which will also be explored.
Declan Brady is a professional genealogist and historian based in Swords. He is currently completing a History PhD on the evolution of local politics in Fingal from 1870 to 1948, at Maynooth University, where he has been a John Hume scholar.
The Society are delighted to celebrate this significant milestone however all celebrations are restricted of course at this time. Brian Howley Chairperson recently sat down to reminisce with some of the founder members and how it came to be.
The idea was born in the Balbriggan Library as a result of the keen interest and demand for local history information from the general public. Jim Walsh Librarian at the time remembers fondly starting his own thesis in 1971 entitled “Contributions towards a Bibliography of North County Dublin” however he managed to finalise this ‘Labour of Love’ in 1978! In so doing he became aware of the vast amount of material available in various areas like the National Library of Ireland, Gilbert Library and other Dublin City resources and sought to ensure that a lot of this could be made more accessible by public presentations, local exhibitions and ultimately publications specific to the area of Balbriggan and surrounds.
Jim’s colleague Don Griffin worked closely with him and they were joined on the first committee by Michael Banim, Antonia Cassin, Pauline Corcoran, Marion Crane, Bernie Healy, Eileen McKenna and last but not least May and Pat McKeon.
Our society was inaugurated on Thursday 16th July 1981 with the name of Balbriggan Historical and Cultural Society – Cumann Stair agus Cultúir Bhaile Brigín and the main aims were to promote an interest in the local history of the area through lectures, publications and exhibitions and also to establish a Museum in the Balbriggan District.
The first ever presentation was ‘The Gaelic Placenames of Fingal’ by Brendan Scally and was followed by Bob Browne- The building of the Dublin-Drogheda Railway –1838-1844.
Next was Christy Geraghty with illustrated lecture of Local Shipwrecks with particular reference to Sarah of Runcorn (1873) and Bell Hill (1875).
In 1982 the Committee decided to hold an exhibition in the Grand Hotel and exceeded all expectations in terms of both participation and also attendance. We were delighted by the generosity of the populace who gladly donated many items of historical and familial interest. These included several items from Morgan’s forge –this was from Jim’s own family lineage. Further exhibitions were held in 1983 and 1984 and the kind people of Balbriggan produced several items of significant interest – not least among them was a signed photograph of Queen Victoria which had been presented to Thomas Mangan in 1898 for his many years of service to Smyth & Co and a small glass featuring the brand of Gladstone Inn which was taken from the rubble after the attack of the Sack of Balbriggan in 1920. Jim also looks forward to the day when Bremore Castle is fully completed and open – the society has been co-sponsor with Fingal County Council (previously Dublin County Council) since 1993 and are delighted to have helped provide youth employment through the various schemes.
May McKeon remembers with fondness some of the talks on the ‘Balbriggan flyer’ Harry Reynolds, Balbriggan’s daughter Sinéad Bean De Valera nee Flanagan and several talks covering the 1916 events in Fingal.
Of particular pride to May is also the event organised in 2017 to commemorate the hugely important Siege of Jadotville in the Congo in 1961 and the heroic efforts of Balbriggan native Pte Terence Joseph McMahon.
One particular source of pride to Chairperson Brian Howley is the enormous effort that the Committee undertook to ensure the Centenary of the Sack of Balbriggan last year 2020 would have a fitting and appropriately respectful commemoration despite all of the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and our Seminar was posted online on youtube for all to see and experience and there are still a small amount of the beautiful Commemorative Medals available.
Brian is very aware that the committee are Guardians of the history for the future generations and pays homage to the original founder members and all of the Committee members down through the years who have volunteered and worked tirelessly for the town of Balbriggan. He also thanked the entire community of Balbriggan – both originals and newcomers -who have been very supportive of our aims – we still hold out hope to find a Museum building to house our significant artefacts and historical items – who knows somewhere on Bremore Castle site may yet be an option?
To anyone who has attended our talks, and seminars, our historical walkabouts, our summer tours, our schools programmes Brian says that we thank you most sincerely for all of your support and we look forward to the next 40 years with great positivity and enthusiasm.
A Summer Craft and Food Market with local traders is taking place every weekend in August in the stunning surroundings of Bremore Castle. Come along to check out all the wonderful stalls and you can buy our Sack Of Balbriggan Commemorative Medal or some of our Books
we are there each Saturday and Sunday 11am to 5pm.
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