You might wonder what was Library Hall used for before being transformed into 15 apartments in about 1995 with a new block of ten to the rear (PD 2824). Yes, some will recall when it was the county library and the happy hours borrowing books and perhaps sitting in the large windows or close to its pot-bellied stove in winter. That was almost fifty years ago. From 1923 to 1927 the building served as the first garda station in Tullamore. And before that: yes, it was the county infirmary or county hospital from 1788 to 1921. How many beds? It had 50 and thirty were generally in use. Budget was £2000 per annum by 1920. That might get you ‘a procedure’ now or a very ‘short stay’.
(more…)Category: Local history
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Andrew Conway (1797–1860) and Eleanor Conway (1799–1844) of Ferbane and New South Wales. By Laura Price. Blog No 753, 4th October 2025
A chance find led me to the story of Andrew and Eleanor (Ellen) Conway born in Offaly in the late 1790s. Looking for local records in the National Archives of Ireland I found a letter written to Mrs Eleanor Conway of Ferbane, King’s County. It was from her husband, Andrew Conway, a transported convict in New South Wales, Australia. Andrew wrote to Eleanor telling her of his life in Australia and how she and their child might petition to join him there.[1] He gives a very interesting account of his life in the colony, the prices of goods there, and his hopes for the future. He ends with a request to be remembered to family and friends.
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Portavrolla not Portavolla Banagher. By Kieran Keenaghan. Blog No 752, 1st Oct 2025
The place name ‘Portavrolla’ in Banagher can be traced back at least 450 years. Just very recently one ‘r’ was dropped so we now have Portavolla. ‘Port an bhrollaigh’ means ‘the port or harbour at the breast’ (of the hill). Moiler McCoghlan, pardoned by Queen Elizabeth in 1571 was of Porteabroghla and Portwroly appears on a 400 year old map.
‘Logainm’ makes it clear that the correct name is ‘Portavrolla’.
Unfortunately when the Portav(r)olla housing estate development took place about 30 years ago an ‘r’ was dropped..
The sign above by Offaly County Council ‘Beats Banagher’! – ‘Port an bhrollaigh’ being correct and ‘Portavolla’ being incorrect. Regrettably the beautiful sign itself has recently disappeared.
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The leasing of plots or sites for building in Church Street, Tullamore from Lord Charleville to his tenants, 1786–1830s. Part 2. By Michael Byrne and Offaly History. In the Offaly History series on Church Street, Tullamore: houses, businesses and families, over 300 years. No 9 in the 2025 Living in towns series prepared with the support of the Heritage Council. Blog No 751, 27th Sept 2025
Table 1: Buildings erected in Church Street, Tullamore from 1726 to 1924
Here we present a summary of the discussion in the last blog on the leasing of Church Street. GV 1 was up to 2000 the old Hayes’ Hotel erected in 1785-6 and having a long garden as far as the Methodist church. Beyond the church is the terrace of 13 houses, the former infirmary and five smaller houses to the river.
On the north east side were two smaller leaseholds and the Charleville School.
To follow things see the 1838 map, that of 1890, the leaseholders map and the Griffith Valuation map. Enjoy!
The OS six-inch 1838 map of Church St 
The Griffith valuation map for most of Church Street of 1854. It can be viewed on Ask About Ireland site. A handy summary of the Valuation of 1854 with notes by MB
Griffith val. 1854 No. Street Date of construction Lessee Immediate lessor in GV 1854 Lease details GV 1 Church Street GV 1 to 5a 1785, or may be a reconstruction in that year– Reps John Tydd in respect of GV 1 to 5a, for ever John Towers Lease for ever of frontage from Bridge Street to Methodist church of the hotel site on Church Street SW GV 2 Church St House on hotel plot Sublease to Henry Mulholland as in GV George Ridley Ridley succeeded Tydd, Towers and Doherty GV 3 do do Sublease to Michael Delaney as in GV do part of hotel lands GV 4 Sublease to John Lynam as in GV John Tidd part of hotel lands GV 5 Sublease to Mary Lynam as in GV John Tidd part of hotel lands GV 6 Pt of garden of Cuddihy below May predate Cuddihy lease of 1805 Henry Manly of Charleville Sq The haggard garden carved from the Cuddehy plots south of Methodist church GV 7 Church Street GV 6 and 7 1788 Methodist church site in place of destroyed preaching house in Bride’s (Swaddling) Lane. GV 6 is garden behind preaching house and haggard in Tarletons no 6 Charleville Sq No lease sighted for church, 33 ft in front. The haggard was part of Charleville Square House up to late 1930s GV 8 Church Street GV 1805 plus Lease to Michael Cuddehy, Lord Charleville’s mapping surveyor, 1805 of three plots 96 ft in front by 248 sq ft containing 0.1.15 , plot 1 Lyddon. House with two front doors. Let from Revd R.T. Tracey Copy lease with map in OA. Yard at no. 6 part of Cuddehy leasehold and sublet to Manly of GV 6 O’Connor Square GV 9 Church St GV do Cuddehy plot 1 Revd William Molloy House with two front doors. Let from Revd R.T. Tracey GV 10 Church St do Cuddehy plot 2 Sublease to Thomas Stanley (Book Stanley, antiquarian) features in RSAI jn GV11 Church St do Cuddehy plot 3 Miss Catherine Cuddy immediate lessor Christopher Woods, distiller GV 12 Church St do Plot 4 in the terrace to Charles Warren, 32 ft in front. Richard Warren immediate lessor GV let to Miss Turpin GV 13 Church Street do Plot to Darby Hyland, 32 ft in front Abigal McDonnell Let to Revd R. F. Tracey GV 1854 GV 14 Church Street Plot to Daniel Warren, 32 ft in front Mrs Daly Let to Mrs Anne McDonnell GV 1854 GV15 Church Street 3 Plots, 1 to George Slator 96 ft Reps Revd Nath. Slater GV 1854 Thomas Briscoe GV 16 Church Street 3 Plots, 2 to George Slator 96 ft do Francis Dorman GV 17 Church Street 3 Plots,3 to George Slator 96 ft do James H. Marshall GV 18 Church Street 3 Plots,3 to George Slator 96 ft do William W. Philips GV 19 Church Street 2 plot 1 plots to Robert Belton, Wm K. Fawcett GV Vacant, related to Michael Molloy d. 1846, the distiller and Anthony M. died 1851. GV 20 Church St 2 plots 2 to Robert Belton, temporary barrack do GV Vacant GV 21 Church Street 1788 3 plots 2 to Robert Belton, temporary barrack do The third house on two plots GV James Reilly GV 22 Church Street 1788 No lease King’s County infirmary 86 ft in front Held from head landlord the earl of Charleville GV 23 Church Street Mrs Jordan original lessee Held from Thomas Duggan Occupier GV John Pilkington GV 24 Church Street Samuel Woods Held from earl of Charleville Occupier GV Christopher Woods GV 25 Church Street Held from Elizabeth Woods do Occupier GV Christopher Woods GV 26 Church Street do do Occupier GV George Whitten GV 27 Church Street Pound and House see pic with this blog Held from earl of Charleville Occupier GV Christopher Woods GV 28 Church Street 1869 vacant and later Feehan fowl store, now part of a new 2025 terrace in yard do Occupier GV Thomas Clooney GV 29 Church Street Mary Lynam Occupier GV Charles Crowley GV 30 Church Street Mary Lynam Occupier GV Maurice Summers GV 31 Church Street GV School house and yard, opened 1811 Held from earl of Charleville. The female school was in Henry/O’Carroll Street Charleville Schol boys, on the former Fair Green plots fronting Henry St GV 32-49 and Market Lane 1-12 Late Robert Belton George Slater for ever 398 ft in front in 1854 Thomas F. Slater 17 houses, and one office building let to Sterling. This holding included the 12 cabins in Market Lane or Church Lane (Pike’s Lane) valued each in the range of 10s to 15s. From Sterling to Henry Street incl Market Lane. Nos 48 and 49 let to Thomas Sterling by T F Slater and part sublet to James Byrne GV 50 Church St Mr Sterling A plot occupied by Thomas Sterling from earl of Charleville and probably formed part of the curtilage of the 1726 church Laneway not rated Garden [now Market Lane access to The Cornmarket Earl of Charleville In GV called Corn Market Lane GV 1 Church St but from Market Square Meat Market (Shambles) Do. Tolls of shambles and corn market let to Robert Willis by 1854. In 1843 with Sterling. Site with part of the Michael Byrne plot of the 1726-1815 church GV 51 Church St Michael Byrne plot 1 Immediate lessor John Perry GV occupier Thomas Magill, much later Morris drapery GV 52 Church St Michael Byrne plot 2 GV occupier John and A Warren GV 53-57 Church Street and 1 Columcille Street Church St 44’ 6 inch to William Street and 192 ft to Church St (180 ft by lease) Immediate lessor John Slater from earl of Charleville Five houses held by John Slator GV 1854 occupiers – Atkins, Duggan, Little, Irwin and Nugent, valued in range of £4. 10s. to £8. 10s. 
Church St on the five-foot scale, surveyed 1885-90. 
The Griffith map of 1854 – available on Ask about Ireland.com Thanks to the Heritage Council for support to Offaly History in preparing this article.
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Local Heritage and Family History Course: Sources and Methods, 24 September to 26 November 2025 (ten sessions of two hours each) at Offaly History Centre, Bury Quay, Tullamore. Blog No 747, 13th Sept 2025
What? The course will give an overview of the sources and methods for the study of the archaeology, community and family history of County Offaly, and how to do research on areas that may interest you in local and family history. Thematic sessions will be delivered by experienced local scholars, who will introduce participants both to physical sources and to online resources. Offaly is taken as the example, but most of the records will have application for the entire country.
When? All talks will be held on Wednesday nights, from 7.30 to 9.30 pm.
Where? Offaly History Centre, Bury Quay, Tullamore, Co. Offaly, R35 Y5V0
Fees? The course fee for all ten sessions is €50, payable to the Offaly Heritage Centre at the time of booking. Please provide your credit or debit card details when booking, or visit the shop Monday–Friday, 9:30 am–4:30 pm.
Alternatively, payment can be made by bank transfer: Best contact us first as only a few places are left.
This course is supported by the Heritage Council and Offaly County Council.
Places are limited to 25 participants, so early booking is strongly advised.Please call or email us to check availability and make your booking
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The firefighting Foley family of Ferbane and the supreme sacrifice at 9/11 New York. By Aidan Doyle. A contribution to the Commemorations Series 2025. Blog No 744, 6th Sept 2025
The 1920’s saw high levels emigration to the United States from Ireland. Among those crossing the Atlantic Ocean was James Foley from Endrim near Ferbane. James was 21 when he boarded the RMS Cedric at Cobh enroute to New York in March 1927.
His brother Peter had arrived in the Big Apple a year earlier. In 1929 the Wall Street Crash heralded the end of the Roaring Twenties and the beginning of the Great Depression. Offalians in the city found mutual support in the Offalyman’s Association, an organisation in which the Foley family were closely associated.
James was living on Milton Street in the Greenpoint district of Brooklyn when he applied for US citizenship in 1933. After his marriage to Mary Egan, the daughter of Mr & Mrs Lawerence Egan from Kilcormac, the couple lived at Inwood on Manhathan and later in the Bronx.
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Artist and art teacher Oliver Connolly, Tullamore. No 16 in a series on the paintings and drawings heritage of County Offaly, 1750-2000, explored through the works of artists from or associated with County Offaly. By Michael Byrne. Blog No. 743, 3 Sept. 2025
Oliver Connolly must be one of the best-known artists in the midlands given that he has taught art to thousands of children and adults largely drawn from the wider Tullamore area for over forty years. Practising very much as a topographical artist it is a pleasure to include his work in this series.
Oliver Connolly was kind enough to make available a series of drawings of the buildings of Tullamore for the publication A walk through Tullamore issued in December 1979. Now long out of print it was the first historical study of an Offaly town to provide illustrations by an artist since Thomas Lalor Cooke issued his Picture of Parsonstown (Birr) in 1826. We have already featured that book in this series.
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Memories of Church St. Tullamore in the 1960s and 70s: living in flatland. By Imelda Higgins. From the Offaly History series on Church Street, Tullamore: houses, businesses and families, over 300 years. No 6 in the 2025 Living in towns series prepared with the support of the Heritage Council. Blog No. 742, 29th August 2025
I left Tullamore years ago but I enjoy reading the Offaly History blogs and delighted with the articles on Church Street. A friend of mine died there a few years ago and it brought back many memories of my time sharing in a flat in Church St, Tullamore. I was there in the late 1960s and 70s and it had certainly changed when I saw it lately. I came to work in the hospital from a small farm near the Mayo Sligo border and found the midlands a bit strange at first. I came to love Tullamore. I lived in hospital accommodation at first but eventually a friend and I branched out into a flat. There were lots of flats in Church St in those days. Nobody called them apartments! We were down near Merrigan’s furniture store in the terrace below the Methodist church. There were two of us. We had one bedroom and a living room. Our kitchen was actually little more than the passage between the two rooms with a two-ring cooker and oven, a sink and a little press. Ikea eat your heart out! We shared a bathroom and toilet with the girls across the corridor and it was fine .We took turns to clean it and we never fought! We also took turns to answer the phone in the hall and answer the front door. We all certainly knew each other’s business! There were lots of people living in similar flats right along Church St and we knew each other well to see. You could set you watch by one lad who used to drive his car around from Church St to Harbour St every morning to collect his paper from Francie Gorry ! I think he was one of the teachers from near the Manor.
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The first Protestant church in Tullamore town, Church Street, 1726–1815. In the new Offaly History series on Church Street, Tullamore: houses, businesses and families, over 300 years. By Michael Byrne and Offaly History. No 3 in the 2025 Living in towns series prepared with the support of the Heritage Council. Blog No 739, 16th August 2025
The young Arthur Fisher from Annagharvey was at the age of twelve in 1880 apprenticed to Archibald Warrren, the Church Street draper (where Salter’s shop was later located) and could recall many years later (c. 1949) coming into Tullamore that day with his mother to begin his five-year term. At the end of the fifth year he would receive £5 and in the meantime live over the shop with bed and board. The town he recalled was built on the river and Grand Canal. He went on to describe the entry to the town from the Geashill Road-Portarlington via Cloncollog.
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Church Street, Tullamore: houses, businesses and families, over 300 years: the well-known Hayes’ Hotel (Phoenix Arms), now Boots Pharmacy. By Michael Byrne and Offaly History. No 2 in the 2025 Living in Towns series prepared with the support of the Heritage Council. Blog No 738, 9th August 2025
It is strange that we should start with the most modern of buildings in Tullamore completed in 2001 and since 2015 Boots Pharmacy. Prior to that it was Menarys fashion and homeware and opened in 2001 as #1 Bar and Restaurant. It is the newest of the new buildings in the town and replaced one of the oldest – Hayes’ Hotel. The hotel was built in 1785 as a new hotel for Tullamore but was perhaps a refurbishment and not a new build.
The building is in a strategic location with four streets intersecting and was known for many years as Hayes’ Cross. The original building was L-plan in shape not unlike no 3 in O’Connor Square (the insurance brokers) and its neighbour south of the river Flynn’s bakery, also L-plan until street widening in 1938 removed the two front rooms to Bridge Street. The hotel was on the south-west corner of the narrow part of Church Street – the oldest part dating back to at least 1726 when the first Protestant church was built in what was later the Shambles and market south of the Foresters Hall, now as to the ground floor a Thai restaurant.
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