No, it was not a blue raincoat but rather a Crombie of an unusual hue. Yet the wearing of it while dining in, not one but two Dublin hotels, was rejected by the headwaiters of such places. The set for this culinary tragedy was not the famous Restaurant Jammet, or the Royal Hibernian, but rather the Central Hotel and the Wicklow Hotel, both near enough to affluent Grafton Street but not haute cuisine for all that.
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In Memory of Sister Genevieve (Genny) Hassey. Offaly History Blog 822, 9 October 2026.
The following appreciation piece is based on an interview with Sr. Genny by Albert Fitzgerald on Midlands 103’s Life and Times programme recorded in 2007. You can listen to the full recording on Voices of Offaly which is accessible from the homepage of Offaly History website (www.offalyhistory.com)
On Saturday 3rd of October 2026, the community of Tullamore, County Offaly, and the wider Sisters of Mercy family bid a solemn and heartfelt farewell to Sister Genevieve Hassey—known affectionately to generations of students, parishioners, colleagues, and friends simply as Sr. Genny. Though born Philomena Hassey in Freshford, County Kilkenny, her life’s work, her warm smile, and her untiring spirit became inextricably woven into the fabric of Tullamore over more than seven decades. To write an appreciation of Sr. Genny is to recall a life marked by joy, resilience, dedicated service to youth and parish, an open-minded approach to education, and an enduring faith that touched countless lives.
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Tullamore and the Third World War: a hasty departure from Berlin in 1961. Blog no. 820 in the Offaly History Series, 1 October 2026. By Fergal MacCabe
As the 13th of August comes around, the present rising tensions between Russia and the West bring me back sixty-five years to the Summer of 1961 and my ringside seat at its most momentous event.
The Cold War was hotting up and the nuclear powers were preparing for a confrontation when myself and some classmates from the School of Architecture in UCD arrived in London hoping to make enough summer money to get us through the next year. Our skills were instantly snapped up by firms engaged in the delivery of priority defence projects.
For the next two months I worked night and day churning out drawings for the construction of a nuclear submarine base at Faslane in Scotland. By the end of July we were all exhausted but having saved enough money, we badly needed a break. One of us had bought a second-hand car so we decided to make an architectural pilgrimage to the Continent before returning to Ireland.
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In his second contribution to his Bulfin Bulletin Blog, Timothy Moloney previews his forthcoming lecture on William Bulfin at the Offaly History Society on 28 September. Offaly History Blog Series, Blog no. 818, 23 Sept. 2026.
A blog contribution had been planned closer to the envisaged eventual publication of the biography; however, following a request from Offaly History for an article prior to the lecture on 28 September, I have composed the following internet pages. I will return to the story of the biography from initial acceptance by my agent in 2022 in a separate blog.
[Monday 28 September 2026 at 7 30 p.m. Timothy Moloney on William Bulfin: his Life and Works at Offaly History Centre, Bury Quay, Tullamore (beside new Aldi). All are welcome.]
Timothy Moloney describes the life of William Bulfin using his works as a frame in which to set the biographical details. Drawing on his as yet unpublished biography, Timothy surveys his main works, Tales of the Pampas and Rambles in Eirinn, but he also pays attention to his lesser-known creations ̶ ‘Sketches of Buenos Aires’ and a novel A Man of the Pampas, as well as a series of articles he wrote on a trip to the Andes in 1905. He accompanies the lecture with interesting slides showing samples from Bulfin’s oeuvre and pictures from his time and of his family members.
Editor adds: Bulfin was an important figure in Irish Ireland of the early 1900s. His premature death in 1910 robbed Offaly and Ireland of a leader in cultural nationalism who might well have been a senator and perhaps a candidate for the presidency. The family have lived in County Offaly since at least the 1800s if not much earlier. Bulfin was buried in the Eglish churchyard. ]
The topic was to be a choice of my own, and after consideration, I chose ‘William Bulfin: his Life and Works’. It should have been easy to prepare, but since I had been working on other projects since completion of the biography ̶ a novel completed in 2023, and another historical work in 2023 and 2024, it proved more difficult than I expected. I had to review his life again, and had to distil it into manageable chunks for a sixty minute lecture. The life itself was one aspect, but then there were also the works: I planned to examine the genesis of his well-known works such as Tales of the Pampas and Rambles in Eirinn, but also wanted to draw attention to his lesser known literary or journalistic creations, such as his ‘Sketches of Buenos Aires’ under the nom-de-plume Che Buono, an unpublished novel he wrote called A Man of the Pampas, and also a lengthy series of articles he composed about a trip to the Lower Andes in 1905.
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Memories of life by the Grand Canal: the Cummins family at Ballycowan Lock as recorded in 1983. Blog no. 816 in the Offaly History Blog Series. 11 Sept. 2026
The Grand Canal, like all great waterways, has its own traditions. One of the most enduring of these customs is the tradition of loyal service given by those men and women who work on, or at the canal. In many cases, this tradition of service remains within a family, and is passed down from generation to generation. The Cummins family of Ballycowan Lock are such a family.
In the early years of the twentieth century when trade and commerce flourished, and the Grand Canal was still a thriving transport waterway with barges steaming up and down from Dublin to Shannon, Michael Cummins worked as a greaser in the Canal Basin T Shannon. In 1915 he was the victim of a tragic drowning accident in the place where he had spent his whole working life. He left behind a widow, Catherine, and a teenage boy, Joseph and to keep the wolf from the door, they had to find a new means of living. Thus began the long association between the Cummins family and Ballycowan Lock.
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Phil O’Reilly, Harbour Street, Tullamore – An Appreciation: He fought the good fight, both on the playing field and in civic life. A special article in the Offaly History Blog Series, no. 814, 1 Sept. 2026.
This appreciation piece is based on an interview by Aidan Barry and Shaun Wrafter (Offaly History members) with Phil O’Reilly Snr. at his home in Harbour St. Tullamore on 10th June 2024.
You can listen to the full interview here at Offaly History on SoundCloud. Go to Phil O’Reilly on SoundCloud or to Voices on the http://www.offalyhistory.com website. A lifetime spent in the quiet, noble service of a community leaves an indelible mark on the town that bred it. In the summer of 2024, when Shaun Wrafter, Offaly History sat down with Phil O’Reilly Snr in his beloved Harbour Street, the retired undertaker and former Offaly footballing legend looked back across his ninety years of life in Tullamore. With the news of his passing, Tullamore, County Offaly, and the wider GAA community mourn not just a giant of local history, but a man whose humble dedication, deep faith, and sporting courage touched generations.
From his earliest days kicking a ball along Harbour Street, Tullamore to the roaring, record-breaking crowds of Croke Park, and onward through over five decades of comforting grieving families as one of the town’s funeral directors, Phil O’Reilly Snr lived a life defined by decency, duty, and devotion.
Phil Reilly was born in 1993 and grew up in TullamoreBorn in 1933, Phil was a son of Tullamore and a true product of Harbour Street. His father, Phil, hailed from Tullamore, while his mother, Nora, came from Ballyhaunis, County Mayo. The couple had married in New York, where Phil’s eldest sister, Patsy, was born in 1932 before the family returned to Ireland and settled into the property on Harbour Street.
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An Exciting Start: Fergal MacCabe recalls his first day at the School of Architecture U.C.D. in late October 1957. Blog no. 813 in the Offaly History Blog Series, 27.08.2026
At eight o’clock in the morning, my mother burst into my bedroom waving a telegram.
‘You have got a County Scholarship! You have to go to Dublin straight away!’
It was late October 1957. I had applied for a scholarship from Offaly County Council to study architecture in UCD but when the new term opened at the beginning of the month and I had no word I presumed that my Leaving Cert results simply weren’t good enough and had given up hope. Being an unemployed widow there was no way my mother could have found the money for fees and digs. A scholarship – of which there were only six- was my only hope.
At the last moment a student brighter than I had pulled out and I was next on the list. However, the offer had to be taken up that very day or else would be withdrawn. My mother thrust the telegram and three pounds into my hands and I raced to the station and caught the train to Dublin.
At Kingsbridge I got a taxi to the offices of the National University of Ireland in Merrion Square. My telegram from the Council was carefully scrutinised and to my great relief I was told that I was accepted but would have to be interviewed by the Professor of the School of Architecture who would have the final say. A call was made and I was told to race across to Earlsfort Terrace where Professor Desmond FitzGerald would interview me at one o’clock.
It was plainly obvious from the moment I entered his office that the Professor was unenthusiastic about my joining the course. I had already missed two weeks of projects and lectures and would never catch up, he said. Might it not be better if I used my scholarship to do an Arts degree. Anyway, why did I want to study architecture?
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‘One of the most remarkable days Tullamore has seen for some time’: A Fashionable Marriage in Tullamore 135 years ago – Michael F. Gorry senior and Edith McGlynn. Blog no. 812, 21 Aug. 2026 by Michael Byrne.
Then, as now, fashionable weddings get a lot of press attention. Michael F. Gorry was the great grandfather of Francis (Francie) Gorry whose family had the famous newsagency shop in Harbour Street, Tullamore for over 100 years. Michael F. Gorry was the first person to be buried in the new Catholic cemetery in Clonminch in 1893. The report of a wedding on 31 July 1891 was published in the Midland Tribune on 8 August and no doubt created a stir in Tullamore. The style of the report was that of the kind carried in the Birr Protestant and unionist King’s County Chronicle, a then hated rival of the Midland Tribune, and might have been related to Gorry’s being the agent for the Birr Chronicle in Tullamore. One James Joyce also used this style to describe fashionable bourgeois occasions is his Ulysses (published in 1922).
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T. L. Cooke of Birr and the Great Industrial Exhibition in Dublin of 1853. By John Dolan. Blog no. 809, in the Offaly History Series,7.8.2026
The 1850s was the decade of the Great Exhibitions. The London Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851 was followed by Dublin and New York in 1853 and Paris in 1855. In Ireland there were regional/city exhibitions including in Cork (1852). It must be remembered that Ireland was still struggling to emerge from the disaster of the Great Famine.
The Great Industrial Exhibition of 1853 was the most ambitious exhibition ever held in Ireland up to that time. Staged in Dublin from 12 May to 31 October 1853, it was inspired by the famous Great Exhibition in London and was intended to showcase industry, technology, art, and manufacturing while encouraging economic development in Ireland. One of the developments of partcular interest was to copy the emergnce of Monster Houses (department stores) that began to appear in cities throughout Western Europe and the USA from the 1840s.
The exhibition aimed to move Ireland away from solely agricultural production towards industrialisation, promoting a shift toward Victorian consumer culture.
[Congratulations to Birr Historical Society on the reprint of Cooke’s first book on Birr published in 1826 and launched on 5 August 2026. Ed.]
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The Groome Family of Knockdrin and Garr in the Heart of Uíbh Fhailí. ByPadráig Groome. Blog no. 807, 24 July 2026.
The Groome Family of Knockdrin and Garr in the Heart of Uíbh Fhailí
Introduction
Nestled on the frontier of the ancient kingdom of Uíbh Fhailí, beneath the shadow of Croghan Hill, lies the historic townland of Knockdrin—a place long known as the “Hill of Conflict.” For centuries, this landscape formed part of the heartland of Gaelic Offaly, where kings ruled, battles were fought, and generations of ordinary families worked the land and built their lives.
Like many Irish families, the history of the Groomes was preserved through seanchas, the ancient Irish tradition of storytelling. Long before history was written in books, it was carried in memory. Stories of ancestors, local events, victories, hardships and family life were passed from one generation to the next around the warmth of the turf fire by the seanchaí (traditional storyteller), ensuring that the history of a family and its community would never be forgotten.
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