October Lecture : Dr Pat McCarthy on Sedd el Bahr And Suvla Bay

Dr Pat McCarthy depicted with extremely vivid details the dreadful situation of the Waterford men who found themselves fighting in Gallipoli.

After answering many questions it was time for a well-deserved break and a chat, here with chairperson Erica Fay.

Outings of 2015 in Pictures

Juggling between sports fixtures and "organized bands of clouds" - some of our summer events had to be postponed, rescheduled, adapted to the circumstances.
The coach trip this year was first to Castletown House

and then to the Curragh with Dr Pat McCarthy.

Following that the first outing in June took us to Ballymacarbry where we met Michael Desmond who led us through the woods to discover two megalithic sites. Beyond the history, (from Bronze Age to the revolutionary years)  we also learned much about the plants growing wild and their dangers or benefits.

In July we met in St Patrick's Gateway Centre in the city, to be shown by Mr Julian Walton some of the remarkable headstones of the graveyard. Julian gave us a short talk beforehand (date on slide from a different lecture!)  and we went to the graveyard to identify some of the features, however the light was not the best due to the cloud cover and we adjourned to the church for a warming cup of tea!

 

 

 

The August outing to Tintern Abbey was cancelled and the outing to Seskinan Church -originally planned for July 12th - was rescheduled for August 16th.

On that day we met Dr Nora White (from the Ogham in 3D Project) and local historian Mr Brendan Coffey . We learned some of the history of the parish, and Dr Nora White showed us where the Ogham stones had been used in the building of the church, mostly as lintels. 

Upcoming Lecture: Waterford men & the Gallipoli Campaign

Our next lecture will be on Friday 30th October

Lecturer: Dr Pat McCarthy

Topic:  Sedd el Bahr And Suvla Bay, Waterford men and the Gallipoli campaign

Venue: St. Patricks Gateway Centre, Patrick Street, Waterford.

Time: 8pm.

Admission 5 Euro, members no charge

September Lecture : Holy Wells of County Waterford

The first lecture of the winter season proved very popular with Dr Eugene Broderick as speaker.

Not only did Dr Broderick give us a history of the Holy Wells, but also an insight of what it was like to be at patterns and how the events evolved over the centuries.

Upcoming Lecture: Holy Wells Of County Waterford

The winter lecture season will commence on Friday 25th September 

Lecturer : Dr. Eugene Broderick.

Topic: Holy Wells of County Waterford.

Venue: St. Patricks Gateway Centre, Patrick Street, Waterford.

Time: 8pm.

Admission 5 Euro, members no charge

Lecture Programm - Autumn 2015

Autumn 2015

Held in St Patrick's Gateway Centre,

Patrick Street, at 8pm

Friday 25th September

Speaker: Dr Eugene Broderick

Topic: Holy Wells of Co Waterford

Friday 30th October

Speaker: Dr Pat McCarthy

Topic: Sedd el Bahr And Suvla Bay

Waterford men and the Gallipoli campaign

Friday 27th November

Speaker:  Mr Ben Murtagh

Topic:  The Tower of Hook and Waterford

Sunday 29th November

Annual Lunch

Details to be confirmed closer to date

All details of lectures will be available from our website,

Facebook page, local and national papers.

Extra Event for Heritage Week

To coincide with Heritage week 2015, and the 40th anniversary of the publication of the society's journal - Decies, we have arranged an extra event as part of the summer season to take place on Friday 28th August.

Title: Looking back on 40 years of Decies

Presented by committee members, this will be a visual display and readings of extracts from articles published in past editions of Decies.

Copies of past editions of Decies will be on display on the night.

Venue/Time: The Parnell Room, The Granville Hotel, The Quay, Waterford at 8pm.

Free admission, all welcome.

Outing To Seskinan/Knockboy on 16th August

The summer outings for 2015 will continue on Sunday 16th August with a guided tour of Knockboy/Seskinan church site with guide Dr. Nora White. 

This trip is a follow up to a lecture given to the society by Dr. White last October entitled Ogham Stones of County Waterford. Some of the ancient Ogham Stones in the area were built into the fabric of the church by the medieval builders.

Directions:

 From Dungarvan turn off at the Master McGrath monument taking the R672 road for Ballymacarbry/Clonmel. Continue on this road for about 9km until you come to a shop at a cross roads. A very short distance further on take a right turn (L5111). 

After travelling 1.5km up this road turn right at sign for Knockboy Graveyard which leads down a narrow lane to the church.

Meet at the church at 3pm, or at the shop at the cross roads at 2.50pm.
Cost: €5. Members no charge.

Important Notice : Outing to Tintern Postponed

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Due to the clash with the All Ireland Semi Final, the planned summer outing to TINTERN Abbey scheduled to take place on Sunday 9th August has been POSTPONED..

The re-scheduled outing to KNOCKBOY/SESKINAN will now take place on Sunday 16th August, details and directions to the site will be published soon.

Outing to Seskinan Church: cancelled

Due to the involvement of Waterford and Tipperary in the Munster Final on Sunday 12th July, the outing to Seskinan has been cancelled. It will be rescheduled for another date this summer, and you will be notified as soon as we know it, via email and/or the usual media. 

Programme of Summer Outings 2015

Thursday June 25th

Toureen Bronze Age site 

Meet at Community Centre car park,Ballymacarbry, 7.00pm

Sunday July 12th

Ogham Stones of Knockboy/Seskinan with Dr Nora White

Meet at Knockboy church at 3.00pm

Thursday July 30th

Guided Tour of St Patrick's Gateway graveyard with Mr Julian Walton.

Meet at the church at 7pm

Sunday August 9th

Guided tour of Tintern Abbey, Co Wexford

Meet at the Abbey at 3.00 pm

Thursday August27th

Heritage Week - Details to be confirmed

Upcoming Lecture: The Life of Miroslav Havel, by Mr Brian Havel

The last lecture of the season will  take place on Friday 22nd May

A lecture that should prove popular and revive many memories for the people of Waterford. 

Speaker: Mr Brian Havel 

Topic: The life of Miroslav Havel, 

the first employee and chief designer of Waterford Crystal.

Time: 8 pm

Venue: St Patrick's Gateway Centre, Patrick Street

Admission: €5.00 non-members (members free)

Upcoming Lecture: The Making of Barry Lyndon, when Hollywood Came to Waterford

Our next lecture on Friday 24th April will be The making of ‘Barry Lyndon’

 A look back at the making of the film Barry Lyndon directed by the maverick Stanley Kubrick and starring Ryan O’Neal, when Hollywood came to Waterford.

by Mr David Robson.
                             

Time: 8 pm

Venue: St Patrick's Gateway Centre, Patrick Street

Admission: € 5.00 (members free)

WAHS AGM & New Committee for 2015-2016

WAHS Committee 2014-2015

The election of the new committee for 2015-2016 took place at the AGM on Thursday 9 April 2015.

The following officers were elected:

Chair:  Erica Fay
Vice-chair:  Pat Deegan
Hon. Secretary: Béatrice Payet
Hon. Treasurer: Tony Gunning
PRO: Michael Maher
Hon. Editor:   Donnchadh Ó Ceallacháin

Committee:

Fergus Dillon
Sonny Condon
Cian Manning
Bill Walsh
Anne Cusack
Adrian Larkin
Claire Walsh

Following the AGM, Mr Noel Dalton gave a short talk on the Clyde Shipping Company in Waterford.

Upcoming Lecture: The S.S. Portláirge

A look back over the 75 years’ service of The SS Portláirge to the port of Waterford.

Built in 1907 in Dublin, the steam vessel dredged  the port of Waterford for over 70 years,

Lecturer: Sonny Condon

Date: Friday 27th February 2015

Time: 8 pm

Venue: St Patrick's Gateway Centre, St Patrick Church (Patrick Street)

Entrance €5.00 (members free) 

NEW! Tea and biscuits will be served after the lecture

16 Dead Men, a Lecture by Ms Anne-Marie Ryan

A talented stone carver, a student of the Irish language, a silk weaver, a clerk born in the tenements in Dublin,  a newspaper editor... young men who didn't seem to have much in common, yet they all died for the same cause, executed in the aftermath of the Easter Rising of 1916.
Anne-Marie Ryan's lecture focused on lesser known leaders of the events, on their personal circumstances and how they became involved.

Anne-Marie Ryan's book is published by Mercier Press

Winter / Spring Programme 2015

WATERFORD ARCHAEOLOGICAL & HISTORICAL SOCIETY

WINTER/SPRING LECTURE PROGRAMME 2015

All talks will take place in St Patrick's Gateway Centre, Patrick Street 

Friday 30^th January      Speaker: Ms Anne-Marie Ryan.

                                      Topic: 16 Dead Men, The Easter Rising Executions.

                                      This lecture will look at the lives of the executed leaders of the 1916 rising.

Friday 27^th February    Speaker: Mr Sonny Condon

                                      Topic: The SS Portláirge

                                      A look back over the 75 years’ service of The SS Portláirge to the port of Waterford.

Friday 27^th March        Speaker: Mr Cian Manning.

                                      Topic: A Gentle Borough? – A History of the MP’s of Waterford City, 1801 - 1922

                                      This lecture will take a look at some of the notable figures and characters to have represented Waterford City at Westminster.

Thursday 9^th April       Annual General Meeting – Details beforehand.

Friday 24^th April           Speaker: Mr David Robson.

                                      Topic: The making of ‘Barry Lyndon’

                                      A look back at the making of the film Barry Lyndon directed by the maverick Stanley Kubrick and starring Ryan O’Neal, when Hollywood came to Waterford.

Friday 22^nd May           Speaker: Mr Brian Havel.

                                      Topic: The life of Miroslav Havel, the first employee and chief designer of Waterford Crystal.

                                     

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Looking back to 2014, and the last events of the year, starting with Julian Walton's lecture Walking into War, on Friday 28th November 2014.

The society's annual lunch on Sunday 30th of December 2014 in The Granville Hotel was well attended, with a short lecture afterwards by committee member Bill Walsh on That Amazing  Woman's Flying Machine. 

Waterford City & County Manager Michael Walsh, being presented a copy of Decies
 by Chairperson Erica Fay, and Hon Editor Donnchadh Ó Ceallachain.

Chairperson Erica Fay with a bell donated by PRO Michael Maher,
The bell was originally offered by the late Seamus Reale, cousin of Micheal's,
following a request for a Chairman's Bell by the late Kevin P Hall when he was elected last April,
The bell will be engraved with both their names.
l to r: Michael Maher, Erica Fay, Simon Hall

Sharing memories, Simon Hall and Ann Cusack

Members of the Condon family

The Upton family

Catherine & Tom Pettit, Ann Gunning

Oliver Manning, Cian Manning, Raymond Murphy.

Erica Fay, WAHS  and Pat Nolan from the Kilkenny Archaeological Sociaty

Bill Walsh during his lecture 

We are now looking forward to a whole new year of activities!