The now online full census of 1926 is a great boon for family and local history. Already, most of us have looked up the manuscript returns for 1901 and 1911, now available online. Birr is fortunate in having the original returns for the barony of Ballybritt including the towns of Birr and Kinnitty for 1821. Nothing like this survives for the rest of Offaly – that is the other eleven baronies. However, the return of the number of people living in the lanes and streets of Tullamore was published in 1821 and provides an interesting insight into population and housing over 200 years ago. In a few weeks we take a closer look at the streets of Tullamore in new publications on the street names and its Bridge Street and High Street.
(more…)Category: Historic Towns
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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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Urban Regeneration in Tullamore. By Fergal MacCabe. Blog no. 808 in the Offaly History Series. 31.7.2026
PROJECT 2040
Many may find it hard to believe, but Ireland has a pretty good planning structure and system.
Some years ago we embarked on an exercise of estimating where as a nation- indeed as an island – we should be going. How many people would we need to cater for, where would they live, how would they get around and what about climate change?
The outcome was Project 2040 which set out a broad overall framework and most importantly had a dedicated budget to deliver it. Its national vision is now filtering down through regional planning, to county planning, then to more detailed statutory plans for the cities and finally for the more important towns.
As a ‘Key Town’, Tullamore has a particular role to play and, in anticipation of an additional population projection of 1 million persons in the State by 2040, is presently making its own contribution by upping its housing projections to provide for an additional c. 2,000 houses and identifying an ambitious new employment and enterprise zone with direct access to the national road network.
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Tullamore Town Park and its historic associations: a walk in the park on Saturday 18 July 2026, 10 30 a.m. to 12 noon. Blog no. 806 in the Offaly History Series, 16.7.2026. By Michael Byrne
The second guided town walk on 18 July 2026 is alongside Tullamore River to the town park and Cormac Street. We start from Bridge House Hotel on Distillery Lane at 10 30 a.m. on Saturday 18 July and make our way through a part of the old Water Lane (now Main Street) taking the path along the river to Lloyd Town Park while reflecting on its historical features and change in the landscape of the area and the town of Tullamore since the 1700s. All are welcome and the tour is free. Michael Byrne is your guide for the morning. Richard Jack will talk about the town park and its trees.
In the park close to what is now the filling station can be seen the remains of a corn mill of c. 1800 and where Daniel E. Williams of Tullamore DEW fame started work as a young man in the mid-1860s. He lived nearby in the miller’s house (now demolished) until Dew Park was completed in 1900. Beside the corn mill was a flour mill demolished in the early 1990s to facilitate the Bridge Centre and new apartments. It was known as Cooke’s Mill and was said to be haunted by ‘old Ned Cooke’.
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The Enduring Legacy and Future of County Offaly’s Industrial (Cultural) Heritage. No. 1 in a new series on Industrial Heritage. Blog no 790 in the Offaly History Series. By Anna Orman, Clara Heritage Society.
The noun ‘palimpsest’ derives from the Greek words pālin (again) and psēn (to scrape), and it relates to phenomena that have experienced temporal change and show clear evidence of such transformation.1In industrial heritage, the term ‘palimpsest’ is used to describe the ongoing spatial and social cycles involved in the reutilisation of industrial sites. It indicates multiple layers of activities and cultural practices that evolve within the same geographical space over time. Elements that endure across different periods can be either tangible, such as built heritage structures and redundant machinery, or intangible, like traditional craftsmanship, traditional knowledge systems, and cultural values.2It is important to recognise that the International Committee for the Conservation of Industrial Heritage (TICCIH), the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), and the Industrial Heritage Association of Ireland classify industrial heritage as a vital part of cultural heritage.3
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An opportunity to see the old Tullamore jail and hear of its turbulent history in the 1880s, 28 March, Saturday from 10.00 a.m. A welcome to all and meet local history enthusiasts for coffee at 10 and the book launch at 11 a.m. An Offaly History blog, no. 788, 27 March 2026.
28 March Saturday at 11.00 a.m. at the former Tullamore Prison/Kilcruttin Business Park, Cormac Street, Tullamore, for the Launch of a new edition of Prison Poems or Lays of Tullamore by T.D. Sullivan, edited by Terry Moylan and Padráig Turley. Sullivan like William O’Brien and John Mandeville were political prisoners who refused to wear the prison clothes.
See Cormac Street from a new perspective
Jacket of the new edition of Prison Poems Today we are reminded of the jail every time we stop at the lights at the junction with Cormac Street, Kilcruttin and Charleville Road and look to the magnificent limestone façade, memorial tablet, jail warders’ cottages and the very fine gates with their Roman fasces to remind us of the symbols of authority back to early times. Then who has not heard of the underground passage (now mostly closed off) that allowed the prisoners to be brought into one of the two semi-circular courts in the old pre-1922 courthouse.
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The new Birr Urban District Council 1899: women were included on the electorate for the first time and the end of the Birr Town Commissioners. Blog No 774, 10th Jan. 2026. By Martin Hoctor
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.
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The ‘Elite’ of Tullamore skating at Charleville Lake on St Stephen’s Day 1864. By Cosney Molloy. Blog no 770, 26 12. 2025
Skating on Charleville Lake, Tullamore was a popular pastime when I was a young lad. I remember the cold icy winters of 1962, 1982 and 2010. I can recall as a young man the Tullamore people skating on Charleville Lake in 1962. I am a long time now in D 4 but I got down a few weeks before Christmas of 2020 to the nice butchers in Tullamore – old Tormey’s was still going strong and then you had, Hanlon’s, Crossan’s of Main Street, Ray Dunne and Fergus Dunne, and a few more I would not know. I was sorry to see Grennan’s main shop closed for now in 2020. I miss Paddy Mac’s, Cleary’s and Joe ‘the Butch’ Kearney and not forgetting Dunne’s butchers off the Square. It was Treacy’s later. Liver we got a lot of and sheep’s hearts in that fine shop. Many old friends gone to the heavenly pastures. I always like to get my turkey in Tullamore and a nice ham even though I am out of the town now for over forty years. What with the bacon factory open until 1989, and now Tullamore Meats, the town has a long tradition in fine food. Come to think of it the bacon factory did a huge business in turkeys back in the 1940s and 1950s when my father was rearing same.
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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 and Ferbane 1950-2000 on 12 Dec. in Ferbane Blog No 766, 9th Dec 2025
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 13th 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.
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