The National Heritage Week celebrations hosted by Castleisland District Heritage on Saturday, August 17th were based in St. Brigid’s Hall, Castleisland by the kind permission of the Presentation Sisters Community based there.
Report by Project Manager Janet Murphy
Sisters Maureen and Margaret spoke about the Presentation Convent in Castleisland and the importance of preserving more than 175 years of its history which dates back to Famine times.
Sister Maureen gave a sketch of the origins of the order in the town and Sister Margaret remarked on the value of the digitisation of those records now undertaken by Castleisland District Heritage with the aid of a grant from the Heritage Council.
Chairman John Roche gave a brief history of Castleisland District Heritage which is now celebrating its tenth year – underlining the research of the late Michael O’Donohoe.
Initial Committee Recalled
Recalling how a committee composed of himself, Tomo Burke, the late Colm Kirwan and John Reidy was formed back in 2013 to preserve Michael’s research papers on the premise that ‘if we don’t do it ourselves, nobody will.’
John recalled how they had ‘not one iota what we’d do with it … we thought we had a few years work, little did we think that the workload would just increase with every passing year.
The harder we worked, the more work we seemed to have ahead of us. I think we can claim that as a measure of great success.’
Nothing Like It
Jimmy Deenihan, who as Minister for Heritage launched the project in 2014, addressed the audience on Saturday. He recalled how he explored some of the material in the O’Donohoe archive a decade ago, and said, ‘I don’t think there are many other archives like it in the country, that I’ve seen. Michael O’Donohoe was a meticulous researcher who relied on primary sources and compiled a huge collection … new technology has brought together something very special here in Castleisland.’ Mr Deenihan remarked on the contribution of the Presentation Order in Castleisland and in Lixnaw in North Kerry as a whole and hoped that the example set in Castleisland would motivate others to undertake similar work on available records.
Houlihan’s Fascinating Talk
John Houlihan gave a fascinating talk about the thirty year history behind the Poff and Barrett memorial. The talk, which formed part of the exhibition programme for National Heritage Week celebrations was accompanied by a 30-minute screening of the unveiling of the monument in 1998 filmed by Rose McAuliffe who also attended and kindly shared the film with us for the occasion.
After refreshments, Jerry Flynn, vice chairman of Castleisland District Heritage, updated those present on the status of the Posthumous Pardons of Sylvester Poff and James Barrett which was later followed by a screening of a documentary in which the murder of Thomas Browne and subsequent hangings of Poff and Barrett was explored by two UK barristers who concluded, as did the judge, that the convictions were unsafe.
Martin’s Eloquent Talk
Tommy Martin subsequently gave an eloquent talk on the inception of the Con Houlihan trail which he followed with a guided walk around the town and genealogist Martine was on hand to answer queries in her area of specialty.
The day wound up with a one-hour presentation by Rob Maguire, his subject ‘Castleisland Castle: The Physical Castle through Time.’
Rob has invested twenty years in researching the castle – from which the town takes its name – and the results are impressive.
His efforts have brought about recent restoration and conservation works on the remnants of the early thirteenth century castle.
Rob, who is fast becoming an authority on the castle and plans to launch a documentary about it, discussed in depth the multi-phased construction of the castle over the centuries in line with the reign of Desmond and later the Herbert’s
Documents Uncovered
His research has uncovered documents which reveal that the structure was once on the scale of Barryscourt.
A number of display boards designed by Noel Nash of Castleisland District Heritage will be installed in Castleisland Library from 20-24 August – provided an overview of some of the work carried out by the project since its inception and included Castleisland Presentation Order, John Twiss, Poff and Barrett, Moss Tommy Reidy, Bob Finn.
The Earls of Desmond and Pound Road. A portrait of Michael O’Donohoe by John Reidy was much admired, as were other exhibits such as Con Houlihan’s journalism award, a model of Rattoo Tower by the late artist Leo Suijkerbuijk, a Noble brick used in a commercial lime kiln at Ballymacadam donated by Davy O’Connor and perhaps the first Irish Land League membership card issued in Castleisland to its President, Father Arthur Murphy.
In Attendance Were…..
Members of the committee team who attended the event included: John Roche, chairman; Jerry Flynn, vice-chair; Micheál Ó Ciardubháin, secretary; Tommy Martin, Tom Brosnan, Rita McCarthy, Noel Nash and Janet Murphy. Former members Tomo Burke and John Galvin also came along.
Jerry Flynn, in thanking all those who joined in the celebrations, made special mention of Donie and Noreen Ring, Castleisland and Margaret O’Connor, Crageen Employment, whose support allows the invaluable work to progress.
You can contact The Maine Valley Post on… Anyone in The Maine Valley Post catchment area who would like to send us news and captioned photographs for inclusion can send them to: jreidy@mainevalleypost.com Queries about advertising and any other matters regarding The Maine Valley Post can also be sent to that address or just ring: 087 23 59 467.
