Books

Small towns in Ireland with big stories to tell

New books about Wexford, Tramore, Dingle, Killaloe, Sligo and Enniskillen are rich with period detail

Cars racing on the strand at Tramore.

Paul Clements
Sat Nov 4 2017 - 06:00

Town histories frequently produce fascinating stories reflecting the diversity of life and language, as well as defining the people who live there. In Lost Wexford: The Forgotten Heritage (History Press, €9.99) Nicky Rossiter explores old traditions, characters and nicknames associated with the town and its maritime past. The most sinister character was known as Black Lead. With his hat, bent like a sou'wester, long hair and beard, he spoke several languages but maintained a perpetual cloud of secrecy.

The language of Yola, also known as the Forth and Bargy dialect, was a feature of life in Wexford. A form of Middle English from Chaucer's time, many of its words and expressions have become linguistic curiosities. Angish means sickly, as in the phrase "she's very angish-looking". Bockety is a term for crooked, as in "it's a bockety table". Chrissnen is an odd corruption of crescent, and was used when referring to Crescent Quay.

Next door in Co Waterford, Tramore (History Press, €16.99) by Andy Kelly and Frank O'Donoghue, part of the series Ireland in Old Photographs, documents the town's life from small 19th-century fishing village to thriving 21st-century holiday spot. Sharp monochrome images capture the fun of water-based events such as regattas, swimming galas and water polo, and colourful activities on the strand including car and motorcycle races, and the not-to-be-missed donkey derby.

Merchants

Regarded as Waterford city’s main relaxation area, Tramore was home to many merchants. Two of the most desirable residences, Westcliffe (later Westpark) and Rockfield, were designed by Abraham Denny, second son of the butcher Henry Denny who established the well-known bacon company in the city in the 1820s and invented the rasher.

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The people of Dingle and the western end of the peninsula are defined not only by language, but also by culture and landscape. Dingle and its Hinterland: People, Places and Heritage (Collins Press, €14.99) by Felicity Hayes-McCoy and Wilf Judd, is brimful of practical information about the cultural life of this tourist town, as well as the many contrasts of this scenic southwestern region.

One of the book’s strengths is its unique insights into the lives of local people through lengthy conversations about their personal experiences. Their stories prove that this is a place with a rich oral heritage, especially amongst those living in the western end of the peninsula, known as “back west”.

Henry Murdoch takes an affectionate backward glance at the twin Shannonside towns of Killaloe and Ballina, near where he lived as a teenager in the 1950s. His memories in My Killaloe (The Liffey Press, €18.95) are recounted through the prism of a personal tour of 100 places. The result is a book that is part gazetteer, part guide and part nostalgic trip.

Sporting rivalry

Traditionally, there has been a friendly sporting rivalry between these Clare and Tipperary towns linked by a 13-arch bridge. The author writes of the industrial heritage of both towns, pointing out that, 80 years ago, the Benson Box factory, which made boxes for shoes, employed 145 people in Killaloe out of a population of 900. Historic photographs recreate the past through paddle-steamers, decayed petrol pumps, original shopfront lettering and a handball alley.

Down Harmony Hill – Sligo's Past Remembered (€20), by Padraic Feehily, looks at Sligo in sepia, accompanied by a wealth of detailed articles. Topics covered include the arrival of electricity, the last of the native Irish speakers, and the longevity of businesses such as Tighe's, tea-importers in the 1820s and later a bakery. The time-burnished Hargadon's bar, part of the town's social fabric for 150 years, is still thriving.

One of the most intriguing accounts relates to the Black Flu pandemic almost 100 years ago. Over a two-year period (1918-19) flu ravaged the countryside, closed schools and created havoc with the health system during a time of turbulent political upheaval. Co Sligo alone recorded 360 deaths, while more than 20,000 died throughout the country.

Across the border in Fermanagh, the fourth volume in a series of reminiscences, Enniskillen in the Rare Ould Times (£14.99), compiled by Mary Gordon, features tales of native Enniskilleners, ie those born between the west and east bridges. More than 120 contributors share historical fragments of growing up in the island town, with glimpses of the arrival of the circus, a trip to the pictures, or playing hide-and-seek in Magee's Yard.

Patsy Long, who worked in Thornton’s grocery shop, where a pulley system for payment operated, recalls that horses and carts delivering coal dominated the quiet 1940s atmosphere. One of the drivers was nicknamed “Yip Yip” because he shouted this as he rode through the streets. Alongside evocative images, a flood of memories is unleashed, reflecting not only what life was like two or three generations ago, but the humour and sense of community that the town engenders.

Paul Clements is the author of Wandering Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way, From Banba’s Crown to World’s End (Collins Press).