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
(more…)Category: Industry
-
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.
(more…)
-
James Lyle Stirling Mineral and Medicinal Water Manufacturing, Importer of Wines and Brandies, Athy and Church St., Tullamore. By Noel Guerin. Part of the Offaly History series on Church Street, Tullamore: houses, businesses and families, over 300 years. No 4 in the 2025 Living in towns series prepared with the support of the Heritage Council. Blog No 740, 20th August 2025
James Lyle Stirling was born 16 May 1858 to Thomas Lyle and Anne Stirling of Tullamore. He was a business man who ran several businesses in Tullamore, between the years of 1880 and 1888, and is best remembered for his mineral water manufacturing company.
You can find out more about Stirlings by visiting the exhibition on Saturday and Sunday at Offaly History Centre.
His father, Thomas Lyle Stirling, was a brewer and merchant in Kings County, who ran most of his business in Church St., Tullamore. He was also an active Tullamore town Commissioner and sometime acted as an agent for Mary Anne Locke of Locke’s Distillery Kilbeggan. Thomas Lyle Stirling married Anne Jane, daughter of William and Catherine Commins of Cappincur, Tullamore, they had six children, all born in Tullamore except the youngest, Thomas who was born in Dublin. The children were Margaret (born 1857), James Lyle (1858), William (1860), Catherine (1862), Isabella Elizabeth (1863) and Thomas (1866).
(more…)
-
The Beginning of the Gas Supply in Birr/Parsonstown. By Martin Hoctor. No. 8 in the Offaly History Anniversaries Series. Blog No 697, 1st March 2025
The first indication that Birr/ Parsonstown (as often called in the 19th cent.) had used gas to illuminate the town during the dark winter months was an editorial comment that appeared in the King’s County Chronicle of January 9 1850[1] that extolled how the use of portable gas had made the town safer to move around at night.
(more…)
-
The changing face of Tea (‘Tay’) Lane/O’Connell Street and Tullamore town centre shopping. Blog No 685, 30th Dec 2024
Much has been written about the changing face of Offaly towns in the 1900-23 period and the same can be said for the period from the mid-1990s to 2007. For towns such as Tullamore the recession lasted up to about 2017 and since then building has improved. The former Tea/ ‘Tay’ Lane, later called O’Connell St (from Stella Press to the canal bank), saw change in the 1950s with the demolition of the old Tea Lane houses. Next came the new wine warehouse for D.E. Williams (now Offaly History Centre, also in the early 1950s), followed by the new Irish Mist warehouses in the early 1970s and early 1980s. This was followed in 1982 by the opening of the Quinnsworth supermarket on part of the Williams ‘yard’ behind the head office of that company. Three years later, in 1985 the Irish Mist bottling facility was sold to C&C and the business transferred to Clonmel with the loss of up to 75 local jobs. Urban renewal tax relief in the late 1980s and early 1990s saw two blocks built close to the lane and off Kilbride Street by M/s Forrestal and Walsh for use as shops and apartments. (Chipland, florist etc).
In a departure from the Gibney plan the town council sold sites in nearby St Kyran Street for offices and apartments as part of the urban renewal scheme. About 1994 the large carpark was developed by the council from lands that had been set aside for the Kilbride park and playground. The year 1995 saw the conversion of the 1929 large Williams oats store to a department store by Tom McNamara. By 2007 the entire area was sold to an investment company for about €50 million with full planning for a supermarket and shops granted in 2009. Alas it was too late as the recession was developing and Ireland (outside of Dublin) did not recover for up to ten years. It was a case of ten years of plenty (the Tiger Years) followed by ten desperately lean years. Covid came next in 2020—21 and it was 2022–3 before the kettle was on the boil again in Tea Lane. Aldi demolished the Irish Mist warehouses and, at a cost of perhaps €1 million. the old 1929 store and former Texas shop that had been opened to great fanfare in 1995.
(more…)
-
STEA2M Engineering Heritage October Festival at Birr, 19th Century Pioneers to inspire 21st Century Engineers 18th to 20th October 2024. Blog No 660, 12th Oct 2024
The Great Telescope at Birr
Agenda for the Festival
Friday 9am to 5pm – Discover Birr Castle Demesne by taking on the engineering trail through the gardens and science centre.
Friday 7pm – Welcome reception with tea and sandwiches followed by opening lecture(1) – 8pm. Note: All lectures in Birr Theatre and Arts Centre
- 8.00pm Lady Alicia Clements – Introduction to the Engineering Weekend Festival
- 8.15pm John Burgess – The Parsons Families of the 19th Century
Saturday – 10.00am Lecture (2) – Power on Land
- Brian Leddin TD – Chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action – Welcome and Opening Remarks
- Geoff Horseman (Formerly Head of Turbine-Generator Engineering at Parsons and Chief Turbine Engineer at Siemens Newcastle-Upon-Tyne) – Evolution of the Parsons Land Steam Turbine
Saturday – 11.30am guided discovery tour in Birr Castle Gardens to visit (Please note to wear non-slip footwear and outdoor gear for walking on garden trails):
- The Leviathan and LOFAR Telescopes – Peter Gallagher or Joe McCauley
- The refurbished suspension bridge,
- Rejuvenated hydro-electric turbine, and
- The secret of the lake’s ingenious water level management system.
Saturday – 1.15pm Lunch at the Kellys Bar
Saturday – 2.30pm Lecture (3) – Power at Sea
- 2.30pm Ian Whitehead – Turbinia – a daring venture in marine propulsion
- 3.00pm Geoff Horseman – Engines of the First Giant Turbine Passenger Liners
- 4.00pm Jody Power – Marine Propulsion Steam Turbines – A Personal Journey
A recess of 2 hours from 4.30pm to regroup at 6.30pm in John’s Hall
Saturday – 6.30 pm Exhibition in John’s Hall, Birr.
8.00 pm Dinner in Doolys Hotel
Sunday – 10am – Lecture (4) – Power to Change
- 10.00am – Benita Stoney – The Stoney family collaboration and achievements
- 10.45am – Una O’Grady – Renewable Energy in the Midlands – Wind, Water and Stars
- 11.30am – Stephen Grant – Engineering at a time of change – 21st to 19th Centuries parallels to inform a paradigm shift in addressing climate change
- 12.15pm – Lady Alicia Clements – Farewell notes
Sunday 1pm and 2pm – Guided tours of castle
(more…)
-
Remembering John Flanagan, the Tullamore builder and developer, who died on 9 May 2024. An obituary from Offaly History. Blog No 612, 11th May 2024
John Flanagan the well-known builder and advocate for Tullamore and County Offaly died on 9 May 2024. He was the modest man from the Meelaghans, Puttaghan and Bachelors Walk, Tullamore who invested his whole life in making Tullamore a better place for people to live, work, bank and even pray in. In 2018 he was awarded the Offaly Person of the Year Award. John Flanagan was a realist in the Lemass mode. His focus was on getting things done. At the time Lemass came to be Taoiseach in 1959 John Flanagan was just 28 years old. It was ten more years, in 1968-9, before he got his first major break with the purchase of the Tanyard Lane property in Tullamore from the P.&H. Egan liquidator. The Bridge House, also owned by the Egan firm, was bought soon after by Christy Maye, and thirty years on Tullamore had two fine hotels, developed by the new entrepreneurs of the 1960s and 1970s, on lands that had been part of Egan’s extensive portfolio.
(more…)
-
John Flanagan recalls his time with Irish Mist, Tullamore, Ireland, 1963–1985. An extract from the new book on Ireland’s legendary liqueur and the people who made it, published by Offaly History on 1 December 2023. Blog No 550, 2nd Dc 2023
In 1961 I joined B. Daly & Co Ltd and two years later SI was transferred to Irish Mist (another wholly owned Williams company) to supervise the production line in the Bond Store. I joined up with Joe Scally, and I was still with him until I finished in 1985 over 22 years later. Joe and I were always involved in Production. We overcame many difficulties in the area over the years due to expansion and increased demand for output, with changes in packaging and design etc. I started on the middle floor of the Bond Store. We shared the building with Tullamore Dew. We had a staff of about 12 at the time, with no machinery as the output was small. Within a short time later, in 1966 due to increased demand, we had to move to the top floor. We became much more mechanised and we saw a dramatic increase in output, and also a big increase in staff numbers. We also saw the introduction of the Figurine, Blue decanter, the pocket Flask, the Waterford Glass decanter, and many more display packs, introduced onto the market. In 1966 a new office block was built, along with a new laboratory and a compounding unit.
(more…)
-
Castle Street, Birr in 1901: households, families and businesses in the street over 120 years ago. A contribution to the Living in Towns series. By Michael Byrne. Blog No 540, 4th Nov 2023
The 1901 census noted twenty-seven buildings in Castle Street, Birr (five less than in 1821, see our recent blog) of which six were unoccupied commercial properties, eight were shops including two public houses, four were boarding and lodging houses, and ten were private dwellings. Women were ‘head’ of house in six of the twenty-one dwellings. There was only one ‘dwelling’ where there was no more than one occupant and the largest household was thirteen. Only one house was divided between two families. Almost all those with stated occupations in the head of house category were in shops and craft industries with the exception of a bank porter, a retired teacher, and an Ordnance Survey employee. The latter family was Anglican as was Mrs Ellen Morahan and all other residents on the street were Roman Catholic. In 1821 perhaps up to one-third of the residents were other than Roman Catholic. The other significant change was the almost entire absence of domestic servants in 1901 and in 1911. This is a longish blog to accommodate the 1901 census. Next week we look at the street in 1911. If you have material to pass on email us info@offalyhistory.com.
(more…)
-
The Irish Mist Figurine/ Soldier. By John Flanagan. Blog No 503, 8th
This week we provide an extract from the book to be published in November 2023 on Irish Mist Liqueur, a unique Tullamore-based product for almost forty years. Many homes have the Irish Mist Soldier in pride of place on a dresser so here is some more information about it from John Flanagan, the production manager with Irish Mist for twenty-five years. The book will be published in the autumn. You can email us to reserve a copy for you. No money now thanks. The book has support from Creative Ireland and Offaly County Council.
The Irish Mist ceramic figurine was made by Coronetti, Cunardo, Italy. Each one was individually hand-painted by different artists in the factory. The figurine is a replica of an Irish soldier (officer) in the Austrian army about 1756. The Austrian connection is associated with the founder of the recipe for Irish Mist Liqueur who was Austrian. Irish Mist was known as the Legendary Liqueur.
(more…)
offalyhistoryblog 