2013 Winter Solstice

From South Kilkenny Historical Society:

Winter Solstice at Knockroe
Saturday, December 21st
Meeting point and time - Owning Church at 2.30pm.
All welcome

In Pictures - WAHS Annual Lunch 2013

The Annual Lunch was held in Dooley's Hotel on the Quay, and members and friends enjoyed a lovely meal after the mulled wine reception.The guests of honour on the day were deputy County Mayor, Cllr Gerard Barron, and Heritage Officer, Bernadette Guest,who were both presented with the latest copy of Decies by Chairman Sonny Condon. 

Julian Walton who, with Frank O'Donoghue, had recently launched On This Day, spoke after the meal of memories associated with the recordings of the program in the studios of the local radio station  WLRfm over the year, much to everyone's delight. The book was also available for sale and Julian was quite a busy man as people queued to get their copies signed afterwards.

Bernadette Guest, Sonny Condon, Cllr Gerard Barron and his wife Kay.

Bernadette Guest, Sonny Condon, Julian Walton, Cllr Gerard Barron.

George Kavanagh and Fergus Dillon having a chat.

Dr Eugene Broderick and Dr Pat McCarthy.

Old friends meet again: Seamus Upton and Cllr Gerard Barron

Old friends reunited: the Uptons and the Barrons

Julian Walton 

Julian busy signing his book. 

Calendar of Lectures Spring 2014

EVENTS PROGRAMME 2014

SPRING LECTURES

Friday 24th January              Speaker:  Mr Frank O'Donoghue

                                                Topic: The 5-Minute Bell. History of the Tramore Train 1853 -                                            1960.

Friday 28th February              Speaker:  Mr. Kieran Cronin

                                                Topic: The Christ Church Cathedral Collection - A library by the                                                      people, for the people of Waterford.  

Friday 28th March                 Speaker:  Professor Pádraig Ó Macháin.

                                                Topic:  The Book of Lismore.

Thursday 10th April              AGM. (details beforehand)

Friday 25th April                    Speaker:  Dr. Eugene Broderick

                                                 Topic: Bishop Robert Daly of Waterford and Lismore 1843 - 1872                                                 (The 'Protestant Pope')

Friday 23rd May                    Speaker:  Mr. James Eogan

                                                Topic:  100 years a diggin'. A century or archaeological                                                      excavations in Waterford city and county.

All lectures are held at 8 pm in Edmund Rice Heritage Centre, Barrack Street, Waterford, unless otherwise stated. 

Upcoming Event: Annual Lunch 2013

Details of our Annual Lunch as follows: 

Date:               Sunday 1^st  December 2013

Venue:            Dooley’s Hotel, The Quay, Waterford

Time:              12.30 pm Mulled wine / soft drinks reception followed by lunch, 1.30 pm

Parking:         Ample parking available on the Quays

After-lunch entertainment: Mr Julian Walton will share his memories of

                                                The Adventures of ‘On This Day’, 1994 to 2013.

Price   €25.00 per person                    Choice of main course                        Private Bar

Friends welcome

 For bookings contact: 

Mr Tony Gunning Hon. Treas. WAHS 7 Ballinakill Vale Waterford Tel.: 051 87 34 20

or

Mr Michael Maher PRO WAHS 26 Kenure Park Waterford Tel.: 051 87 84 69

                                               

Your family crest... a Lecture by Mr Julian Walton

Despite the fact that it is a very specialized topic, the audience was kept entertained. Mr Julian Walton's unique approach, made it possible for everyone to grasp a little knowledge of heraldry. We learned about shields, helmets, mantles, supporters and motto, about the code of geometric patterns and colours. We discovered some lesser known creatures used as charges, and the vocabulary associated with their positions. And we were enlightened on canting coats and mottoes. 

The Cavendish coat-of-arms

Head of a man, body of a lion, wings, forked tail,
3 rows of teeth: meet the manticore

Coat of arms of Ireland

Modern heraldry: petroleum sailing on water 

The End!!!

Upcoming Lecture on Heraldry by Mr Julian Walton

The last lecture of 2013 will take place on Friday 22nd November 

Speaker: Mr. Julian Walton.

Topic: Your "family crest" what you may (and may not) like to know.

Venue/Time: Edmund Rice Heritage & Conference Centre, Barrack Street, Waterford at 8pm.

Admittance: €5.00 non-members

'Hanged on Ballybricken Hill' - by Pat McCarthy

On Friday 25th October a large audience gathered to hear Dr Pat McCarthy deliver his lecture on capital punishment in Waterford in the 19th century.

We learned that originally it was the custom to hang the convict at -or near- the scene of the crime, then later near the jail, and eventually within the walls of the jail. One had little chance of appeal, with the execution taking place within 24 or 48 hours after the judgement. It was a very hit-and-miss affair, since the executioner was usually a fellow convict.

No details-as gruesome as they might have been- were spared, and reactions from the public as Pat talked, proved that everybody was very much 'hanging onto his every word'...

Upcoming lecture on Capital Punishment in Waterford

Our next lecture will be on Friday 25th October

Speaker: Dr Pat Mc Carthy

Topic: 'Hanged on Ballybricken Hill' - A look at capital crime in Waterford in the 19th century

Venue: Edmund Rice Heritage Centre, Barrack Street, Waterford

Time: 8 pm

Entry: € 5.00 non members (members free)

John Aylward, A Waterford-born Merchant of the 17th Century - the Lecture

Lecturer Jimmy McCrohan meets present-day John Aylward (right)

On Thursday 5th September, on the second day of the Aylward Gathering, Mr Jimmy McCrohan gave a talk on a 17th century merchant, John Aylward, born c 1650 in Waterford. He emigrated very young, arriving in Málaga in the 1660s where he became an apprentice to the Wyse family. Málaga was then a military, not a commercial port, and Spain dominated the American trade. John Aylward proved to have shrewd business sense, good judgement, and the ability to built strong relationships with business partners in many cities. He moved to Saint-Malo, in France, where he married the widowed daughter of Matthew Porter, another Irish expatriate. His wife was as astute in business as he was, and he left matters to her while he was away. He became an aristocrat in France, yet later relocated to London in 1698. He had three daughters, one of them, Mary Alsen Aylward, married Charles Howard, of he Dukes of Norfolk family. John Aylward died in 1705.

A view of the attendance - many of them Aylwards! 

Kieran Walsh, editor, Munster Express, and Jimmy McCrohan
 have a chat after the lecture

(l. to r.)Eddie Sinnott, Donnchadh Ó Ceallacháin,
Jimmy McCrohan, John Aylward

Mrs Gemma McCrohan & Mr Jimmy McCrohan (lecturer)
at the Aylward gathering

Fist Lecture of the Season: John Aylward, a Waterford-born Merchant.

Our lecture season will start earlier than usual, this is to coincide with the Aylward gathering which will take place in Waterford from 4th to 6th of September 2013.

On Thursday 5th September Mr Jimmy McCrohan will give a lecture on Waterford born merchant John Alyward (c.1650 - 1705)

Venue: Dooleys Hotel, The Quay,Waterford

Time: 8pm.

In Pictures: WAHS Last Summer Outing of 2013 - The Quaker Burial Ground, Newtown Rd, Waterford.

The present-day Quaker Burial Ground is situated at the junction of Lower Newtown and Wilkins Street. On the evening of Thursday 22 august, we met Joan & Roger Johnston, who told us about the Society of Friends- or Quakers, as they are better known. 

They arrived in Ireland in the 17th century, and the settlement in Waterford was probably the first outside Dublin. The first burial ground in Waterford was in John's Lane, dating from 1689. After that a new plot was acquired in Parliament Street, in what is now Wyse Park. All those buried there would have been merchants of the city.

In 1798 Newtown school was established, and in 1826 the Quakers acquired the grounds where the present day burial ground is situated. 

The burial ground is very plain, with very neat rows of headstones, following a precise grid pattern. All headstones are the same, and carry the minimum information: the person's name, date of birth, and date of death.

We followed Mr & Mrs Johnston as they told us anecdotes about some of the more famous names of the city, Strangman, White, Jacob, Hill, Grubb, Bell.... We learned about the Friends relief efforts during the Great Famine, (soup kitchens, workhouses, straw beds...) and during WWII. 

   

Events for Heritage Week 2013

Heritage week is nearly upon us... No matter where you are there will be something to do, to see, to visit, near you. Plenty to do here in Waterford City, check out Waterford Treasures or for County Waterford Heritage Week in County Waterford.

Our own event will be a visit to the Quaker Burial Grounds, Newtown, Waterford City, led by Mrs Joan Johnston on Thursday 22nd August at 7.30 pm.

In Pictures: WAHS Outing To Inistioge

It was a beautiful day in Inistioge for our visit of the village and nearby Woodstock Estate, led by Mr Ben Murtagh and Mr John Kirwan. We learned so much about the area from medieval times to this day...

Now a private house, the building with the three high windows
 was the former Methodist Church. 

The Alms House, built in the 18th century for the care
of the widows of the area. 

The 'Armillary Sphere' used to explain the seasons,
was in Woodstock gardens, and now stands on the site of the old R.I.C barracks

Plaque on the wall of the C of I Church.

Detail of the statue in Mary Tighe's mausoleum.

The end of the tour: members and friends
 in the walled gardens of Woodstock Estate. 

Upcoming Event: Inistioge & Woodstock Estate, Sunday 21st July

Join us on Sunday 21st July for our next outing, a guided tour of Inistioge and Woodstock estate, Co Kilkenny, with Mr Ben Murtagh and MrJohn Kirwan. Meet in the square, Inistiogue, at 2.30pm. €5.00 non-members. (members free)

In Pictures: WAHS Visit to Jerpoint Park

The visit to Jerpoint Park - the Lost Town & Country Experience - was just that, an experience!. We followed Joe and listened to the story of the town, and the pilgrims coming to see the tomb of St Nicholas, Bishop of Myra. We walked in their footsteps, trying to imagine the main street, the Market Square, the mills that 300 years ago, made Jerpoint such an important, thriving town. 

Near the the ruins of St Nicholas's Church

Inside the church

At the tomb of St Nicholas of Myra.

The ruins of one of the three mills on the river. 

The church in the sunset. 

From Celtic Horizon Tours : In the Footsteps of Diarmuid MacMurrough

A guided tour of Irish roots and connections to Normandy, Paris, the Loire Valley & Nantes. For detailed itinerary click here

Upcoming Event: Outing to Jerpoint Park

Our next outing will be a guided tour of Jerpoint Park, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny.
Date:  Thursday 27th June 
Meet at the Grotto beside the trout farm, just before Jerpoint Abbey at 7.30pm.
Wear suitable outdoor footwear.
Entrance Fee €5. (Society members no charge. )

Granny Castle and Coach Trip 2013

Members and friends had a busy agenda to kick off the start of the summer season, first with the outing  led by Ben Murtagh to Granny Castle where members of the South Kilkenny Historical Society joined us, on June 6th.

Then on June 9th the coach trip was to Wexford, first stop Johnstown Castle Grounds & Agricultural Museum, 

and in the afternoon we met guide Monica Crofton of Wexford Walking Tours, for a tailor made tour of the town, starting at the Franciscan Friary, down Mary Street (ex Keyser Street) on to the quays, up to Selskar Abbey. Back on the coach to Barntown to visit the Church of Saint Alphonsus , a church designed by famous architect Augustus Pugin.

The day ended with a lovely meal in White's Hotel.

Find out more about Wexford History on Wexford Hub

Upcoming event: Visit to Granny Castle

Our first outing of the summer 2013 is a visit to Granny (Grannagh) Castle on the banks of the River Suir, with Mr Ben Murtagh as our guide.

Date: Thursday 6th June 2013

Time: 7.30 pm

2013 AGM of the Federation of Local History Societies

The Federation of Local History Societies is holding its AGM this week-end 24th to 26th May 2013 in Waterford City.

Members of the FLHS in the Medieval Museum
prior to a guided tour of both the Medieval and the Bishop's Palace (Photo courtesy of Pat Deegan)

WAHS is honoured to be the hosting society and a program of activities has been organised to showcase some of the gems of the city. Having heard Julian Walton recounting 1000 years of history in under 1 hour on Friday evening, members of the visiting societies were able to discover the treasures held in the new museums today (Saturday)

Lecture: The Battle Of Le Pilly by Michael Desmond

Chairman Sonny Condon, PRO Michael Maher, Lecturer Michael Desmond

The Battle of Le Pilly was a short, but deadly battle in October 1914. Le Pilly is not even a village, it was the train stop near the village of Aubers. Michael Desmond brought to us the reality of the battle, the names of the men who fought it, and the tragedy with which the 2nd Battallion of the Royal Irish met. Communication was a major problem, and they were surrounded before the order to retreat reached them.

List of casualties. The Waterford names are in blue. 

WWI Memorabilia brought by a member of the audience

Many questions were raised and answered after the lecture