Cumann Seandalaiochta agus Staire Phort Lairge

Thursday, September 27, 2018

Lecture: 'Conflict & Consensus: Soldiers & Citizens in Waterford City 1820-1920

The Waterford Archaeological and Historical Society lecture season for 2018 and 2019 commences on Friday 28th September with a lecture at 8 pm in the St Patrick’s Gateway Centre, Patrick St. Waterford by Dr Aoife Bhreathnach titled ‘Conflict and Consensus: Soldiers and Citizens in Waterford City 1820-1920’.



Waterford City has been a garrison town since the first barracks were built in the eighteenth century. A 'garrison town' is not just a town with a barracks, but like 'mill town' or 'mining town', the term garrison town is verbal shorthand for an identifiably distinct town whose economic, social and cultural characteristics are defined by its barracks. Used in a derogatory way, it suggested that a town and its citizens were somehow beholden to, or contaminated by, the military forces stationed among them.

In her lecture Dr Aoife Bhreathnach will explore how military forces stationed in Waterford affected culture and society in the city and how its citizens reacted to this influence. The streets around the barracks were most directly affected by the presence of hundreds of young, single men with time and money to spare. However, married soldiers were also an important feature of garrison towns and Dr Bhreathnach will compare and contrast the different versions of military life lived in Waterford City. Although expressions of Irish nationalism were a commonplace part of civic life, people and politicians saw no contradiction between this and lobbying for more soldiers in the city. When a military barracks was empty, local politicians worked hard to ensure that soldiers were stationed there. A sophisticated electorate understood that the economic benefits of military barracks to the City were inarguable. The British Army was not the object of nationalist critique until republican propaganda began to single out soldiers for particular opprobrium in the twentieth century. Even as republicans attacked the red coats, relationships between civilians and the military continued much as before. Barracks were still supplied by local traders while soldiers drank in pubs surrounding the barracks. Nothing like the boycotting of the Royal Irish Constabulary was experienced by the military, suggesting that Irish nationalists could criticise the British state without protesting against the war machine that sustained local economies.

Dr Aoife Bhreatnach is an independent scholar researching the cultural history of Irish garrison towns. A graduate of University College Cork and DeMontfort University in the UK, her book Becoming Conspicuous: Irish Travellers, Society and the State was published in 2006. She held the Irish Government Senior Scholarship at Hertford College, Oxford. As an Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences Post-Doctoral Fellow, she worked in NUI Maynooth developing a theory of class in nineteenth-century Ireland. From this research emerged her interest in the role played by the British military in Irish social history. She blogs on irishgarrisontowns.com and tweets as @GarrisonTowns.

This lecture will appeal to anyone interested in the social, military and political history of 19th and early 20th century Waterford City. Admission to the lecture is €5 (students €2.50), but is free for members of the Waterford Archaeological and Historical Society.

Monday, September 17, 2018

Lectures & Events 2018-19



List of LECTURES and events 2018 – 2019
Please note all lectures are held at 8pm in St. Patricks Gateway Centre,
Patrick Street, Waterford, unless otherwise stated.
Lectures are free for members, non-members €5.00


Date
Title
Speaker(s)
28/09/2018
Conflict and Consensus: soldiers and citizens in Waterford city 1820-1920
Dr. Aoife Bhreatnach
19/10/2018
Here Comes the Sun – Solar Symbolism in Early Bronze Age Ireland
This lecture is being held in the Parnell Room, Granville Hotel
Mary Cahill
30/11/2018
1918 – Why Did Sinn Fein Win the Elections?
Dr Pat McCarthy
02/12/2018
Annual Lunch
Mulled wine reception and lunch, Tapestry Room, Granville Hotel.


Followed by an illustrated talk The History and Heritage of the Comeraghs
Mark Roper and Paddy Dwane
25/01/2019
Waterford's Archaeology From the Air
Simon Dowling
22/02/2019
Medieval Pilgrimage in Waterford
Dr Louise Nugent
29/03/2019
Waterford and New Ross: Piracy, Court Cases and the Theft of Silver – Medieval Economic Politics in Action
Dr Linda Doran
05/04/2019
Annual General meeting

26/04/2019
Dart: An Irish Family in the Azores and in the World
Dr Jorge Forjaz
24/05/2019
Survival and Revival: the Roman Catholic Clergy of Waterford and Lismore in the Aftermath of the Reformation
Dr Áine Hensey


Sunday, September 2, 2018

Aylward Family Gathering 2018


Aylward Family Gathering 2018

Programme of Events



Tuesday 4th September                     History of the Aylward Family, lecture by Julian Walton

                                                            8.00 pm, Dooley’s Hotel, €10 per person.

                                                            Tea / coffee and biscuits served after the lecture



Wednesday 5th September                Coach trip – places associated with the Aylward family. €20 per person.           

Wednesday evening                          A series of 2 lectures:

The Aylward Family and the Great Parchment Book of Waterford, lecture by Donnchadh O Ceallachain, Waterford Treasures Museums

                                                            Margaret Aylward, founder of the Holy Faith Order, lecture by the archivist of the order.

8.00 pm, Dooley’s Hotel, €10 per person.

                                                            Tea / coffee and biscuits served after the lecture



Thursday 6th September                   Coach trip to New Ross with a visit to the Dunbrody. €20 per person

Thursday evening                             Gala Dinner with music by the Alymen from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.



For further details, including information on Coach Trips and the Gala Dinner  



Contact John Aylward - (087) 2636760

The Waterford Archaeological and Historical Society, Ireland.
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