Local History: If ever an Irish parish deserved a dedicated written history, then Glencolmcille in Co Donegal must be near the top of any list.
The parish has all the ingredients needed for a colourful record - megaliths, saints, the Conollys (about which more later), famine, shipwrecks, wars, landlords, evictions and, of course, Father James McDyer.
This 300-page, detailed history on which the author worked for 30 years, chronicles them all in skilled manner, with abundant reference to source material and a choice of lovely colour and monochrome photographs. There is a lengthy bibliography and a collection of medieval maps of the Donegal area. Drawing on the usual sources such as the Annals, Griffith, Famine surveys, Ordnance Surveys and local newspapers, the author has commendably also delved into local written and oral lore to provide telling detail and original material.
The Conollys, incidentally, were landlords of the parish for about 150 years, "but they appear to have made remarkable little impression on the area". One of them, homever, William Speaker Conolly, left his mark elsewhere and, according to the author, "was not above indulging in fraud in the pursuit of property", a long way from his origin in Ballyshannon. This is a marvellous, if expensive, local history which, no doubt, will be on the bookshelves of every native of the parish.
WOULD-BE purchasers of this attractively produced book (printed and bound in Singapore!) should be aware that it does not purport to be a full, detailed history of the (former) villages mentioned in the title. It is, on the contrary, a series of short vignettes describing the castles, churches, "big houses", inns and cottages in the three areas, with sidelights on the people who lived in them. There is an introductory piece on the pre-history (to Viking times) of the region and, at the back, a final chapter on the later history of the southern part of Co Dublin.
The residents included some interesting characters - Richard Fitzwilliam (Dundrum Castle), the Misses Overend (Airfield), David La Touche (Marlay), William Conolly (Hellfire Club) and many others. No mention, however, of Robert Emmet's connections with Rathfarnham. But the text gives opportunity to artists Olivia Hayes, whose specially commissioned watercolours add immensely to the attraction of the book.
There are, unfortunately, some spelling errors and an inaccurate location given for the first Norman landings in 1169. The book will undoubtedly appeal to people living in the area who wish to acquire some interesting and colourful information about their neighbourhoods.
IT IS wise of Eithne Scallan to append the second part of the title of her little book, otherwise those unfamiliar with the Celtic Laudry might think it was the story of a certain soccer club. Yet this is more than a history of a Wexford family-run laundry. It also contains much local lore - changes in urban development, expansion of the small laundry into an international business (the Celtic trademark is found in hospitals and hotels in many places) and snippets of Wexford history, such as the fact that part of the laundry's workhouse once stood on the site of a leper hospital founded in 1170. The book is simply and smoothly written, there are many illustrations (historical and business-linked) and it is printed on high quality paper with generous margins. Proceeds from the sales of this gem appropriately go to St Brigid's Centre, Wexford
THE story told in this well-researched book is but one small event in the Land War of the 1880s, but it still resonates in south Wexford where it has become part of local folklore. My own father knew Nicholas O'Hanlon Walshe, brother of the '"troublesome priest'" David who organised and led the tenants of Totttenham, the landlord, in Ballymitty, in protest against inceased rents.
As a result the (O'Hanlon) Walsh family were evicted, the first to suffer in the early days of the land agitation in the parish. They took up residence in a barn on the property, and Father David became the leading figure in the campaign that followed. Although only a country curate, he obviously had leadership qualities, and soon made himself hateful to the authorities. He addressed huge meetings of the Land League in south Wexford, and the Walshes became the most famous family in the country.
His brother Nicholas was jailed, and his sister Mary Anne, took a leading role in the League. He was moved to another parish (The Hook) where he also organised the tenants of the Ely estate. When he was again moved, his followers nailed up the door of the parish church and thus defied their bishop.
There were many more turns and twists in the tenents' struggle. Eventually, landlords and tenants reached a compromise. Nicholas O'Hanlon Walsh regained possession of the family farm in 1898. His brother David died prematurely in 1899. Margaret Urwin richly deserves the MA in local history awarded to her for this cogent, illuminating account of a small but significant episode in the Land War in Co Wexford.
The Celtic Story - 75 Years of Celtic Linen.
By Eithne Scallan. Carraig Mór House, Wexford. €15
Richard Roche is an author, local historian and critic