Today we mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of that hugely popular politician Garret FitzGerald. An intellectual in politics he was greatly respected in Ireland, Britain and Europe. Recent estimates such as that of Eoin O’Malley’s Charlie vs Garrett (2025) have not been so flattering to his handling of the economy in the 1980s. And yet his achievements and those of John Bruton have underestimated their roles in bringing peace to Northern Ireland.
FitzGerald, according to the DIB life by Patrick Maume (summarised here) was one of the most influential Irish political figures of the late twentieth century, known for his intellectualism, his commitment to European integration, and his efforts to modernise Irish society. Born in Dublin to the prominent revolutionary and cabinet minister Desmond FitzGerald and his wife Mabel McConnell, Garret grew up in a household steeped in politics, culture, and international connections. His parents’ mixed religious backgrounds—his father Catholic, his mother Protestant—shaped his lifelong interest in reconciling Irish identities and overcoming sectarian divides.
The DIB (above in green binding) runs to eleven printed volumes and is now online and free to use – a wonderful resource.Pic from Offaly History Centre.(more…)
As mentioned earlier there are many histories of hurling in recent times, particularly county and local club histories. A major and broad history of hurling, Scéal na hIomána was produced by Brother Liam Ó Caithnia in Irish and was published in 1980, but was left largely unappreciated for decades. Ó Caithnia’s history was an exhaustive work, the definitive historical account, written initially as an academic thesis, 826 pages long, written in dense Irish with a small print font and included references and appendixes. Over a dozen mentions of Co. Offaly are to be found in the Scéal.
Tullamore is situated in the civil parish of Kildbride with 28 townlands and so too is the town of Clara with 19 townlands. Both parishes have a connection with the churches dedicated to Saint Brigid. Now Ireland mark the saint’s day on 1st of February with a public holiday, the beginning of spring and the celebration of Lá Fhéile Bríde, St Brigid’s Day.
These are the only townlands in Offaly dedicated by name to a church associated with Saint Brigid.
Kilbride (Cill Bhríde) , Kilbride Civil Parish, Barony of Ballycowan, Co. Offaly 193 A, 3 R, 20 P
Kilbride (Cill Bhríde) , Kilbride Civil Parish, Barony of Kilcoursey, Co. Offaly 146 A, 2 R, 30 P
The proximity of the two parishes often leads to confusion especially when tracing soldiers of the First World War who gave their place of birth as the civil parish of Kilbride without distinguishing wherether it was Clara or Tullamore.
To the east of both towns is Croghan Hill associated by some scholars with the birthplace of St Brigid. John O’Donovan was well aware of the association of the hill with the legend and cult of St Brigid and wrote of it in the Ordnance Survey letters. The Ordnance Survey Letters for County Offaly form part of a countrywide series, are commonly known as O’Donovan’s Ordnance Survey Letters.
The Ordnance Survey Letters for Offaly of 1837-1838 represent the first attempt on a systematic basis to collect material on Offaly’s historical and archaeological remains. The pioneering effort of the Ordnance Survey and of its topographical department, in particular, was not emulated until the publication some 150 years later of the Archaeological Inventory of County Offaly by Caimin O’Brien and P. David Sweetman. O’Donovan’s Ordnance Survey Letters are in manuscript form in the Royal Irish Academy and were published in a typescript by Fr. Michael Flanagan in 1933. The late Professor Michael Herity edited the volume of letters for Offaly and this book is available from the Society and can be ordered online at our shop at www.offalyhistory, or consulted at Offaly History Centre.
Civil parish of Kilbride, Tullamore from Townlands.ieCivil parish of Kilbride, Clara from Townlands.ie
The Offaly material consists of fifty-one letters of John O’Donovan and of Thomas O’Conor. O’Conor, a native of Carrickmacross, was assistant to O’Donovan. Both men had spent September, October and November of 1837 in County Westmeath and in late December of 1837 their attentions turned to Offaly, then and until 1920 called King’s County. The letters concern local antiquities, placenames, early Irish history and the genealogy of the native families
It should be noted that in the Westmeath letters volume are one of John O’Donovan’s from Tullamore and another from Edenderry. That from Tullamore is dated 1st January 1838 and could properly be in the King’s County volume. A list of the fifty-one letters concerning King’s County written over the period from 18 December 1837 to 11 February 1838 with the inclusion of two letters about Durrow, that of October 1837 and the second written on 1 January 1838.
O’Donovan wrote of the legends associated with St Brigid as follows:
St. Briget was consecrated a Bishop.
(Father Bollandus complains of the silliness of the writers of the lives of the Celtic Saints; and the Benedictines complain of the folly even of St. Jerome and Augustin!.)
“Bridget was desirous that a degree of Penance (gradh Aithrighe) should be conferred upon her. Hearing that Bishop Mel was at Bri Éle (Croghan old Church) she repaired thither, accompanied by seven nuns. But on their arrival the Bishop was not there, but had gone into the Country of the Hy Niall “terra nepotum Neill” (Meath). On the morrow she passed in search of him in company with Mac Caille (the Bishop of Brig-Ele) who guided her over the bog of Monaidh Fathing, which she converted into a flowery plain. When they had come close to the Town (baile) where Bishop Mel was, Briget told Mac Caille (Macaleus) to put (place) a veil on her head, that she did not wish to appear unveiled before the clergy. Upon her arrival a pillar (column, a glory?) of fire sprung rose, shot out) from her head, reaching even to the roof of the church. When Bishop Mel had seen this, he asked: “Who are the Nuns”? Mac Caille answered: “This is Briget, the celebrated Nun of Leinster.”
“My affection to her, said Bishop Mel, it was I who predicted her greatness, even while she was in her mother’s womb, and it is I who will confer orders on her.”
“This (gloss) alludes to one occasion that Bishop Mel came to the house of her father, Dubhthach; he saw the wife of Dubhthach grieved and sorrowful, and he asked whence the cause of her sorrow. I have cause of sorrow, said she, for Dubhthach admires (loves) the handmaid who attends. This is just (meet, dethbhir) said Bishop Mel, for thy seed shall serve (obey) the seed of this handmaid, alluding to Bridget.” (Bridget was illegitimate, but not the worse Bishop for that, and —-).
“Then Mac Caille placed a veil (caille, cowl) on the head of Briget. Wherefore, from that day to this, the Coarb (successor) of St. Briget (Abbess of Kildare) is entitled to receive the grade (dignity, orders) of a Bishop.”
“Wherefore have the Nuns come? said Bishop Mel. To have orders of Penance conferred on Bridget, said Mac Caille. Then he conferred orders on Briget, and it was the orders of (gradha eps.) a Bishop, that Bishop Mel conferred upon her!”
(Columbkille intended to get himself made a Bishop, but the Consecrator made him only a Priest by mistake. The authorities of the Irish Bulls Begins with Brian Boru).
“While St. Briget was being ordained, she held the foot of the altar (the altar was like a little table) in her hand; and (since that time) seven churches were burned down, in which this altar was, but it received no injury from the fire: Sed servata est per gratiam (favor) Brigidae. Dicunt alii, that this Church, to which Bishop Mel had gone, is in Feratullach. Ita ut alii putant.” (Fartullagh is near Bri Ele). – Liber Maculatus, Leabhar Breac, Fol. 31.
Colgan was ashamed of this. Cogitosus has not a word about it, or if he has, Colgan has suppressed it. I don’t laugh at these stories, for I think they are very nice if they were well told.[1]
For more on the Saint Brigid story see the Noel Kissane Life in the online Dictionary of Irish Biography. Some extracts below
The Brigit story Brigit was the daughter of Dubthach son of Deimre, a nobleman or military leader. He was of the Uí Bressail (Rawl. B. 502, 126a 28), a sept of the Fothairt, a subject people located in the present Co. Offaly, but with branches elsewhere. Brigit’s mother was named Broicsech; she is presented in alternative accounts as Dubthach’s wife (Cogitosus) or slave. When Broicsech becomes pregnant by Dubthach, in the scenario where she is a slave he sells her to a poet but retains ownership of the unborn child. The poet later sells Broicsech to a druid (magus) in whose house Broicsech gives birth to Brigit, who is born with the status of a slave. The location is not stated; claims for Faughart, Co. Louth are based on late medieval tradition. The druid kindly allows Brigit to live with her father Dubthach whose house was seemingly located in the area east of Cruachan Breg Éile (Croghan Hill, Co. Offaly). She is particularly involved with dairying and looking after the cattle, activities commonly represented in her iconography. She is especially kind to the poor and performs various miracles on their behalf. Her father and brothers want her to marry a suitor, but she refuses as she is committed to a celibate life in the service of God. Her father eventually allows her to take the veil. The ceremony is performed, according to different accounts, by one or other of the bishops Mel (qv) (d. 487) or Mac-Caille (qv) (d. c.489), the location probably being in Mag Tulach (the present barony of Fartullagh, Co. Westmeath).
Croghan Hill, County Offaly, associated with the Life of St Brigid
Brigit is said to have established a convent at Kildare, but the Lives are silent regarding the date and the circumstances. ….
The hagiography of St Brigit is typically Christian and it echoes the Old and New Testaments, the Apocrypha and the early Fathers. It presents her as wise, humane, charitable to a fault, and concerned with the welfare of the common people. She is in constant communion with the Lord and is a prolific worker of miracles, which are almost invariably attributed to divine intervention and often have precedents in the New Testament. Many of the miracles and other aspects of the Lives, however, seem to reflect pagan religion or superstition; for example, the story of Brigit’s origin features a poet and a druid, both from classes with important functions in pre-Christian society; her suitor is the fictional poet Dubthach (qv) of the moccu Lugair, who is represented in seventh-century literature as a pagan who converts to Christianity; the only milk she can tolerate as a child is that of a white red-eared cow; and she resolves an unwanted pregnancy as if by magic. A notable feature of the Lives is a preoccupation with fire and light: a column of light rises from Brigit’s head; she hangs her cloak on a sunbeam to dry; the house in which she is asleep catches fire but remains intact. .
Folklore Echoes of pre-Christian religion and superstition are also intrinsic features of the folklore associated with St Brigit. Her feast-day (Lá Fhéile Bríde) on 1 February coincides with the pagan festival of Imbolc, one of the four quarter days of the pagan year, which marked the beginning of spring, lambing, and lactation in cattle. The feast of a saint was normally celebrated on the anniversary of the death, but there is no evidence that Brigit died on 1 February. Cogitosus states that she did, but the context suggests that his only evidence was her feast-day. In any case, the celebration of St Brigit’s feast-day retained various features of the pagan festival, including probably the straw or rush crosses, believed to bring luck to the home and the byre, and the strips of cloth representing Brat Bhríde (St Brigit’s mantle) which were claimed to protect virginity, cure barrenness, and relieve women in labour. The ceremonial often included visits to Brigit’s wells, some of which were thought to cure sterility. While much of the imagery relating to Imbolc was probably censored or Christianised at an early date, some of the folk customs associated with St Brigit’s Day retained explicit references to sexuality and fertility. Séamas Ó Catháin has identified parallels in the international folklore of northern Europe, especially that of Scandinavia, which suggests that the cult of the goddess was widespread and tenacious.
See also the Dictionary of Irish Saints by Pádraig Ó Riain below from the 2011 edition:
This is part two of a three-part blog on the 1835 Poor Law Inquiry into the baronies of Philipstown Upper and Lower. The respondents to the questionnaires for Philipstown were Rev P. Rigney and Roger North. Roger North was a landowner in King’s County. He inherited the Kilduff estate upon the death of his father, Roger North, in 1830. He was involved in estate management, including raising rents, which made him unpopular with local farmers and other landlords.[i] Roger North was shot dead in September 1850.
Offaly History Lecture at Offaly History Centre, Bury Quay, Tullamore, R35 Y5V0 On Monday 26th January 2026 at 7. 30 p.m. following the AGM at 7 p.m. Offaly History presents a lecture about the recently launched “Voices of Offaly” resource available from http://www.offalyistory.com. The collection now comprises over 300 recordings of Offaly People captured over the past 30-40 years. Presented by Aidan Barry and Shaun Wrafter.
The illustrated lecture with voices will include: 1. An overview of the resources available on the new “Voices of Offaly” website. 2. A chance to listen to short audio clips which will give a flavour of the recordings available on the website.
1. Overview of the Website The website is organized into several key sections:
The story of people hitting a ball with a stick is a story which is told everywhere, from Iceland to Ethiopia to the Far East and across to the Aztecs. Look at lacrosse played by the American Indians, the stick and ball games played by the Mongols, the Berber stick and ball game played on the sands of the desert. The Irish game of hurling is a modern variant of a theme which is written through history, across millennia.
Players with two sticks and ball. Greek National Museum, Athens.
There are plenty of books that cover the history of hurling in Ireland. The public library system has most of them. Along with a general history of hurling that are also many histories that are specific to individual counties, particularly parishes and clubs.
Town Commissions in Ireland were possible from 1847 after the introduction of the Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act that would allow the larger towns to introduce a series of measures starting with the appointment of commissioners to carry out works in a town like drainage, paving, and other improvements to the infrastructure. Unfortunately, this legislation was neglected in Ireland during the years of the Great Famine and it was not until the early 1850s when events slowly improved in terms of lesser number of deaths that several towns began to explore embracing this legislation for their districts. Parsonstown (Birr) Town Commissioners held their first meeting on August 4 1852 with Laurence Parsons elected as the first chairman and slowly began to implement the 1847 Act and its subsequent consolidation statute in 1854. Over the next 46 years Parsonstown/Birr Town Commissioners attempted to run the town from the rates received from the ratepayers and loans from the Local Government Board as they engaged in constant disputes with the King’s County Grand Jury and the County Surveyor for decades over which authority was responsible for the scavenging and cleaning of the streets and the expenses incurred.
We are glad to welcome the second of our Young Historians blogs this week and this year. If you have an article or an idea for an article do contact us at info@offalyhistory.com. Offaly History blogs now number 774 and reach 80,000 to 100,000 views each year. So do join the panel of authors of this treasure trove of easily accessed articles since 2016. Doing (or have done) a Leaving Cert History Project on local history -keep Offaly History in mind for your piece of research. We can help with editing and illustrations.
The Commission of Enquiry into the Poorer Classes in Ireland was the result of the United Kingdom government’s investigation of rapid increases in population living in extreme poverty. From their official reports in the post-Napoleonic period Ireland’s growth-rate had remained high. In the 1831 census Ireland returned a population of 7.8 million up from 6.8 million in 1821. In the year 1831 the population baronies of the Upper and Lower Philipstown was 17,311. The town of Daingean had a population of 1,454.[i] For King’s County in general please see our previous blog.[ii]
In the baronies of Philipstown Upper and Lower two commissioners were appointed: Jonathan Binns and James O’Hea. It should be noted, previous to the dissolution of the Parliament of Ireland in 1800, Philipstown returned two members to that legislature.[iii] In 1835 Tullamore became the county town and with that the assizes were moved there from Philipstown.[iv] As the Poor Law Commissioner Jonathan Binns reflected:
‘Its trade has disappeared – many of its houses are in ruins – its shops are falling into decay – and its population, as these signs sufficiently indicate, are poor and wretched.’[v]
The demesne of Charleville must rank as one of the last unspoilt areas of tranquillity in the vicinity of Tullamore and is much loved by the inhabitants of the town who are proud of the great oaks still surviving after hundreds of years and of the great Gothic mansion of Charleville Forest. The demesne is about one mile south of Tullamore on the Birr Road and encloses some 1,142 acres, most of which is planted with oaks, ash, elms and some conifers.
Charles William Bury, then Lord Tullamore and soon to be earl of Charleville (1806), commenced building his castle in 1801 and completed the work of fashioning the demesne in the gothic sturm und drang manner by 1812. It was then the romantic period in literature and still is for many who walk in the demesne today. The old pre 1740 name for Charleville was Redwood and the first mansion house of Redwood was erected in 1641. When Charles Moore, Lord Tullamore, purchased the house and demesne in 1740 he called it Charleville. The old house was close to the existing farmhouse with the grotto of 1741 to the rear of the reconfigured river Clodiagh flowing through the demesne.
The map of c. 1809 of the demesne with the original road direct from Tullamore to Mucklagh and before the new winding avenue was laid out by J. C. Loudon.No houses were permitted on Charleville Road until 1900 (save that for the agent. This house was called Elmfield, built in 1795 and demolished by OCC for the new Aras in 2000-02.
Perhaps in deference to the oak trees in the vicinity Charles William Bury called his new house ‘not Charleville Castle but Charleville Forest. Already there was one giant tree known as the “King Oak” dominating like a watch tower the carriage drive to the town’. Look at the span of its gigantic arms. One branch on the right of the photograph stretches 30 yards parallel to the ground. The Bury family believed that if a branch fell, one of the Burys would die, so they supported the great arms with wooden props. Of course there was nothing they could do to protect the trunk. In late 1963 a thunderbolt splintered the main trunk from top to bottom. The tree survived, but the head of the family, Colonel Charles Howard-Bury, then of Belvedere, Mullingar dropped dead a few weeks later.
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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