A Sense of Community

Going through the daily grind we never think of the impact we might have on others.
It is very rare to have someone giving you feedback and saying 'Hey, you've inspired me'
or
'I got curious and wanted to know more after I heard / saw...'

We've been using St Patrick's Gateway Centre now for a while...

We've seen it being transformed over the months, we attended lectures on its history, on the lives
of people past. What about today's people?

Have we stopped to notice the changes or just rushed in and out of the doors?

The entrance hall has been decorated, volunteers working in the background have contributed in their own way.

Tables are moved, chairs set up, decorations hanged, refreshment served, and so many other things we are not aware of.

Sometimes we get a chance to chat to the volunteers that help set things up for our lectures.

Has anyone noticed a new frame on the right hand-side, as you go in the main hall?

Jay has taken time to find out about the history of the church, and discovered so much,  he put in his own words the importance of the church for communities throughout the centuries.

The last lines of his composition sum  up so well what the centre is about. (Click on picture to enlarge)

November Lecture: Red Hand on the Suir by Francis Devine

Our next lecture will be

Red hand on the Suir – 

the Irish Transport and General Workers Union 

in Waterford in the early 20th century

 by Francis Devine, retired ITGWU/SIPTU official, historian, writer, singer.

Date: Friday 29th November 2019 

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

Time: 8pm.

Admission 5 Euro,   members no charge

Waterford was a founding branch of the Irish Transport & General Workers' Union in 1909 but its early years were turbulent.
Re-established after 1918, the ITGWU presence was badly affected by the historic Farm Labourers' Dispute of 1923 – a dispute with national consequences and central to the Free State's attack on labour. 
Defeat for the ITGWU arguably had repercussions for the union in West Waterford which have lasted until the present day. In 1923, the ITGWU spent a huge amount – over £40,000 – in Strike Pay within county Waterford in an attempt to prevent wage cuts for their farm labourer members. 
However, by 1930, membership had fallen from over 4,700 in 1923 to a mere 300 with many branches wiped out. 
Thomas Dunne was the Waterford ITGWU Branch Secretary throughout the period, a lengthy tenure that did not conclude until the 1940s. The ITGWU's declining fortunes reflected those of organised labour nationally but the union survived and was to revive after 1945 to again become a significant force within the city.



Francis Devine is a retired ITGWU/SIPTU official, a historian, an author and an editor. He wrote Organising History: A Centenary of SIPTU, 1909-2009 (Gill & Macmillan, Dublin, 2009) and has also written histories of the Medical Laboratory Scientists' Association and the Communications Workers' Union. He co-edited two volumes of Left Lives in Twentieth Century Ireland with Jack McGinley, and a collection of essays on William Walker's Centenary with Patrick Smylie. He is a former editor of Saothar, the Journal of the Irish Labour History Society. 
He is a member of the Expert Advisory Group on Commemorations which was established by the Taoiseach in 2011 to advise the Government on historical matters relating to the Decade of Centenaries. Francis is an accomplished singer, he released the CD My Father Told Me in 2014, and has a second CD An Ownerless Corner of Earth due for release in February 2020.

Waterford City: A History - Book Launch 15th November

The launch of Waterford City: A History by Cian Manning published by The History Press will take place at The Book Centre on Friday 15th November at 6:30pm.

It will be launched by Donnchadh Ó Ceallacháin of Waterford Treasures and accompanied by music from Bogdan Chaus & Ailíse O'Neill of Deep Foxy Glow.

Wine and some light refreshments will be available

Waterford, Ireland’s oldest city, established by the Vikings, has been witness to many significant historical events.
From the marriage of Strongbow & Aoife, it became a vibrant location of religious devotion which earned it the nickname Parva Roma – Little Rome -  to the splendour of the Georgian period, Waterford City documents those momentous events but also the lesser known stories such as the first frog to be recorded in Ireland to the invention of the cream cracker.
This study looks at the social and economic history of the city from Vikings to Victorians covering its notable characters who impacted the local, national and sometimes international scene