offalyhistoryblog

The making of O’Connor Square, Tullamore: People, Houses and Business will be launched on Wednesday 10 December 5 p.m. at the Brewery Tap, Tullamore. The Brewery Tap is the longest established business in the square dating back to the 1830s as a pub and brewery. The lease of the site was dated to 1713 with the property in possession of the Brennan and Thornburgh families, later Deverell, Egan, Adams, Carragher and now Paul and Cathy Anne Bell.

We look forward to meeting you at the launch where savouries and tea/coffee will be served. Parking will be available at this time and should not cost more than 1 euro for an hour. Walkers and cyclists go free.

The making of O’Connor Square, Tullamore: People, Houses and Business (Offaly History, Tullamore, 2025), pp 440, p/b €23, h/b €29. ISBN978-1-909822-45-0 (hardcover) ISBN978-1-909822-46-7 (softcover). The book contains fifteen essays by Michael Byrne, Fergal MacCabe, Rachel McKenna and Timothy O’Neill. Publication is supported by the Heritage Council.

At the same event we launch Offaly Heritage 13. This the 13^th issue of the Offaly History Journal It’s another bumper issue with over 330 pages and well-illustrated, €19 soft and €25 hardback. The issue is dedicated to the late Christy Maye – a great friend to Offaly History.

The two books are now available from Offaly History Centre, Midland Books and at www.offalyhistory.com for online.

The making of O’Connor Square, Tullamore:

People, Houses and Business

Michael Byrne

With contributions from 

Fergal MacCabe and Timothy P. O’Neill and Rachel McKenna

Foreword by John Leahy Cathaoirleach Offaly County Council

As a public representative and Cathaoirleach of Offaly County Council I welcome this study of O’Connor Square, Tullamore since the 1700s with its focus on the history of the buildings, the open space, the architecture, fairs, business, shops and the families.  It is an in-depth record of this central place in Tullamore by Michael Byrne with contributions from Fergal MacCabe and Timothy P. O’Neill.

Living as I do in Kilcormac in the Birr Municipal District I am keenly aware of our local history and the importance of our heritage. A late parish priest of Kilcormac, Fr Shaw, was as informative as he was inspirational about our local history. So too was the priest and scholar, Fr Conor McGreevey, who was for many years our resident curate in Mountbolus. These men were followed by the members of the Kilcormac Historical Society and I am glad to say we have many fine books authored in the parish of Kilcormac and Killoughey on our local heritage. The same can be said of Birr and Banagher.

What attracted me to this new book on the main square in Tullamore is how much information can be gleaned from historical sources and the importance of the written and also the oral record. I am glad to see so much work being done in the county to preserve our heritage. I am thinking of the heritage office of the county council, the county library and now Offaly Archives has added a new dimension in securing and conserving our records. Voluntary effort on the part of Offaly Historical and Archaeological Society (Offaly History), the Birr Historical Society and work in Banagher and Kilcormac and Ballyboy are all contributing to our knowledge and appreciation of our past.

As Cathaoirleach of Offaly County Council, and representing the entire county, I want also to acknowledge the great work being done in Edenderry, Bracknagh, Walsh Island, Cloneygowan, Daingean, Clara, Kinnitty, Shinrone and Moneygall. I know that the council’s heritage officer, Amanda Pedlow, is fully supportive and keeps the members of the county council informed as to progress across the county and the support available to sustain voluntary initiative.

Offaly County Council works closely with the Heritage Council and I am pleased that this publication has been supported by the heritage programmes. So much will be lost unless we gather it up, do the research, provide interpretation and publish for the benefit of the public.

1. The making of Tullamore as a country town: an overview of the growth process, 1600–2000
2. The Architecture and Civic Design of O’Connor Square, Tullamore, Fergal MacCabe 
3. The building process and the open space in O’Connor Square, Tullamore, 1700–2025
4. Tullamore fairs and markets  
5. A Fair Day in Tullamore in the 1950s, Timothy P. O’Neill
6. The Market House or Town House, Tullamore: a building in public use since 1789
7. The Tullamore Charitable Loan Fund Society, Market House, 1821–1950s
8. An Tóstal: Art and Archaeology in Tullamore in the 1950s and the Market House, Fergal MacCabe 
9. The four post offices in O’Connor Square, Tullamore over 150 years
10. Banking in O’Connor Square Tullamore from 1864: from Hibernian Bank to Bank of Ireland
11. O’Connor Square, Tullamore and the pageantry of history 
12. The houses of O’Connor Square, Tullamore: a gazetteer
13. The lanes off O’Connor Square, Tullamore: Tanyard, Bridge (Dann’s), Molloy’s, Flanagan’s and Willis 
14. The population of O’Connor Square including O’Connor Square West (GV 1–4 High Street) from the censuses of 1901 and 1911 together with Bridge Lane and Tanyard Lane off the square
15. Echoes and Aspirations: the journeys of O’Connor Square, Tullamore, Rachel McKenna

I look forward to more publications of the calibre of this important work on O’Connor Square, Tullamore and I commend Offaly History, the author Michael Byrne and the contributors, Dr O’Nell, Fergal MacCabe and Rachel McKenna for their essays in this attractive book.

John Leahy

   Cathaoirleach Offaly County Council

The promotion of cycling in the late 1980s

The new book on O’Connor Square was supported by the Heritage Council and Offaly County Council as part of the Living in towns promotion.

The Light of Other Days

Ferbane: The Golden Years 1950-2000

A new book by Brendan Ryan

Launch takes place in the Gallen Community School, Ferbane, on Friday 12th Dec. 2025 at 8 p.m. Light Refreshments served. All Welcome.

The ending of the Second World War in 1945 saw a sea-change in life and living in Ireland and Ferbane was no exception. Ration books, which were necessary for the purchase of tea, butter, meat, clothes and many other items, became a thing of the past. Many hardened smokers suffered from the loss of their daily puff, and cigarettes, including the humble Woodbine, gradually found their way back onto shop shelves. The tipped cigarette was the new novelty. Petrol became more plentiful and extra cars were seen on the roads, and from 1950 the Volkswagen Beatle became a common sight. The Local Defence Forces (LDF) now became An Forsa Cosanta Áitiúla (FCA). Both men’s and women’s fashions changed, though slowly. Full employment came to Ferbane with the advent of Bord na Móna and the E.S.B. The dreary days of the 1930s and 40s faded into the past. A new era had begun.

Most of the local books in print are available from Offaly History Centre at Bury Quay, our shop in Bridge Centre, the online store at http://www.offalyhistory.com and at Midland Books. We do our best