Category: Art and Artists

• George Brent:  Shannonbridge`s gunman or shadow of a gunman? By  Pádraig Turley. Part 1. Offaly History Blog, no. 826, 6 Nov. 2026

  Enigmatic is the most apt word to describe the subject of this blog. I am writing about Hollywood actor George Brent. For as long as I can remember, on all visits to Killeen’s public house in Shannonbridge one met the image of George Brent over the fireplace in the main bar.

  He was a film star from Shannonbridge who went off and made good in Hollywood. Was he really from Shannonbridge? About twenty years back this question began to surface. Another story that percolated was that he was involved with Michael Collins during the War of Independence, and had to leg it to the U.S.A with a price on his head from the British authorities. Was this true? Was there really a whiff of dynamite off him when he headed to the States? These two questions I shall attempt to answer with this blog. The first question I am happy to say I have the answer however the second question has proved more elusive, but I hope you enjoy the journey, and sure if you know something better feel free to make contact through Offaly History.

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  06.11.2026

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• A new study of Offaly’s two Great Houses at Birr and Charleville, Tullamore Blog no. 802 in the Offaly History Series, 18 June 2026.

  A new study of Offaly’s two Great Houses at Birr and Charleville, Tullamore just published

  Two of the great houses of Ireland, are here in County Offaly at Birr and Tullamore. Both regularly feature in articles and magazine stories. Birr Castle much more so as it has been the family home of the Parsons family, earls of Rosse, since the 1620s. The present earl and his wife from the death of the sixth earl in 1979, have worked for almost fifty years to promote the castle and gardens for the benefit for tourism and build on the enthusiasm of the sixth earl to create a science museum commemorating the work of the third and fourth earls and that of Charles Parsons, the engineer who helped win the First World War. Both earls worked tirelessly for the gardens at Birr Castle.

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  18.06.2026

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• Portarlington market house: a place of many uses and now restored. By John Stocks Powell. Blog no. 801 in the Offaly History Blog Series, 12 June 2026

  On Thursday 23^rd April 2026 the new, changed, developed, market house in Portarlington’s square was formally opened, following over a year’s work on the structure to commence a new chapter in its long history.  The new occupier is the Portarlington Community Development Association, and the building has become available, for gatherings, conferences, presentations.  There is no doubt this is a construction for specific purposes.

  And the building has two names: market house, though there is no longer a market; and tholsel, a name given to municipal buildings in Ireland where tolls and dues were collected.  Tholsels had an authority in a town, and usually hosted corporation bodies.  Notable examples of tholsels in Ireland may be found at Carlingford, Clonmel, Kilkenny and Youghal.  In other locations tholsels have been changed into other uses, or gone to demolition, such as that in Mountrath.

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  12.06.2026

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• The long and eventful life of the Book of Durrow. By Rachel Moss. Blog no. 799 in the Offaly History Series. 29 May 2026

  In the lead up to the feast day of Saint Colm Cille on 9 June we are glad to have this article thanks to Rachel Moss, Professor in the History of Art and Architecture, Trinity College, Dublin and author of The Book of Durrow, London, Thames and Hudson (2018), Blog Editor.

  The long and eventful life of the Book of Durrow. By Rachel Moss. Blog no. 799, http://www.offalyhistoryblog. The Book of Durrow, a 1,300-year-old manuscript of the four gospels associated with the ancient monastic site at Durrow Co. Offaly, is special for many reasons. It is the earliest surviving complete gospel book in northwest Europe; it contains exquisite full-pages of ornament that demonstrate knowledge of current art styles in Ireland, Britain, Roman Europe and Coptic Egypt; it is one of the earliest examples of perfectly executed ‘Insular’ script that was to become the hallmark of Irish art for the following centuries and it is thought to be the work of a single scribe. Most significant of all, is the fact that it has survived, in near perfect condition, for such a long time

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  29.05.2026

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• A Prima Donna in King’s County/ Offaly, Dame Nellie Melba 1861-1931. By Aidan Doyle. Blog no. 798 in Offaly History Blog Series, 22 May 2026

  A Prima Donna in King’s County/ Offaly, Dame Nellie Melba 1861-1931. By Aidan Doyle.

   Melbourne, February 26 1931-

  The usually busy streets of Melbourne were hushed today when Britain’s “Queen of Song” Dame Nellie Melba, was taken in a simple farm cart on her last journey to her beloved village of Lilydale, 20 miles from Melbourne not far from her own beautiful home, to be buried by the side of her father. Australia’s last respects were paid by thousands of people who reverently lined the route of the funeral cortege from the Presbyterian Church to the cemetery, and the world’s tributes were represented by a mountain of wreaths from mourners in every corner of the globe. Throughout the early part of the morning crowds filed past the coffin in the Presbyterian Church in which the famous singer lay in state, and in which as a girl she used to sing in the choir. When the memorial service began every pew was packed. The Federal and State Governments and the worlds of music and art were fully represented. Dr. Borland, State Moderator, conducted the service which was fully choral. “Our sorrow and sympathy” he said in a striking tribute to Melba” are shared by millions in every land who feel grateful that God raised up in our nation for the benefit of the whole world the gifted singer they mourn. 1

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  22.05.2026

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• Part 6 – The Jageurs Stonecutters: The limestone quarries of Ballyduff, Tullamore. By John Wrafter. No 796 in the Offaly History Blog Series. 15.5.2026

  This article is the sixth in a series on the stonecutters of Tullamore, particularly those associated with the limestone quarries of Ballyduff on the outskirts of the town.

  When I began researching the quarries and the men who worked there, I thought I might find enough material for one or two articles. Instead, a much wider story has come to light—one shaped not only by local industry, but also by migration and opportunity.

  One of the most striking features of that story is the number of stonecutters who, having learned their trade in Tullamore, chose to emigrate. This was not unusual in nineteenth-century Ireland, but what is interesting in this case is that many of these men were not driven by poverty. They had skills and could make a living at home. Even so, many chose to leave, drawn by the hope of a better future for themselves and their families.

  Unlike most Irish emigrants of the time, most of the Tullamore stonecutters went to Australia, where they helped to build a growing society. Among them were members of the Jageurs family, whose story gives a good insight into this wider pattern.

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  15.05.2026

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• ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’ How my hatred of the poem changed utterly. By Fergal MacCabe. Blog No 771, 27th Dec 2025

  Growing up in our house in Clonminch outside of Tullamore, I came to detest
  that mawkish dirge about the Lake Isle of Innisfree. My grandfather, who had
  once visited the island, was obsessed by the poem and insisted that I recite it
  at every party. He even named our house after it.
  Later, as a young town planner, I blamed the wretched verse for the rash of
  holiday homes that were beginning to appear in every beauty spot in Ireland
  and cursed Yeats who had provided the moral justification for this desecration.
  If a well known poet could simply arise and go and build in whatever idyllic
  place he chose, why shouldn’t everybody else?
  But – would Yeats get planning permission? I would put that to the test.

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  27.12.2025

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• The Silver River of Slieve Bloom. From John Feehan’s address at the launch in Kilcormac on 20.11.2025. Blog No 764, 3rd Dec 2025

  It’s almost exactly 50 years since I had the great privilege of studying the geology of Slieve Bloom as a postgraduate student in Trinity College. For over 4 years after that my job was to reach into every corner of the mountains where rock might have poked through to the surface, and then bring together the clues these pieces, of the jigsaw that told the story of the formation and subsequent history of the mountains, to form a more or less coherent picture.

  But I soon began to understand two things. First of all, that in looking at the rocks I was seeing less than half of the story; even if I included the flora and fauna they supported. The other half was the human story. Slieve Bloom is what its people have made it down all the centuries, and a parallel investigation is required to assemble all the pieces of this jigsaw together into a coherent story, and then place it over the first jigsaw. And then you begin to see how they are really two sides of the same coin. 

  And then, at the end of the four years, as some of you will know, I wrote a book about it.

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  03.12.2025

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• A hidden jewel: The Chapel of the County Hospital in Tullamore. By Fergal MacCabe. A contribution to our Anniversaries series No 20. Blog No 756, 18th October 2025

  The recent decision of the Health Services Executive to allocate funding for the renewal of the windows, doors and walls of the chapel of the original Offaly County Hospital, Tullamore is a welcome and well-timed architectural conservation initiative.

  Opened in 1964, the building, which is a Protected Structure of Regional Importance, is an interesting example of stylistic change in Irish church architecture in the mid-20th century.

  Though its exterior has been compromised by surrounding buildings, the serene and elegant interior is still totally intact.

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  18.10.2025

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• Banagher Ancient Cross is now on exhibit in the National Museum. By Kieran Keenaghan. Blog No 746, 12th Sept 2025

  

  

  MUSEUM CAPTION :‘In preparation for our major temporary exhibition Words on the Wave: Ireland and St. Gallen in Early Medieval Europe, opening in late May this year, we reveal the ongoing conservation and scanning work on the famous high cross shaft from Banagher, Co. Offaly (1929:1497). The cross helps tell the story of the connections between art, belief and society in the world which produced the manuscripts. 

  ‘The journey of a bishop, like Bishop Marcus and his nephew Moéngal’s journey from Ireland to St. Gallen, is shown on an iconic shaft of a high cross from Banagher, Co. Offaly. The sandstone carving shows a deer whose foot is caught in a trap, possibly symbolising Christ. Below this are four figures caught by their hair in a whirl of interlace in a similar way to the back-to-back figures on an Irish manuscript fragment from St. Gallen. The sides of the cross are decorated with C-shaped spirals, like those on the Gospel of St. John at St. Gallen. Banagher was a church site linked to St. Ríoghnach, who was said to be the sister of St. Finnian of Clonard or Movilla. Finnian, who was possibly of British origin, was associated with the earliest penitential, a book on a system of forgiveness by God for sins, which was also copied at St. Gallen.’

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  12.09.2025

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