offalyhistoryblog

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.
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December 30, 2024
The Offaly-born painter Robert James Enraght-Moony (1869-1946). By Gearoid O’Brien. No 1 in an intended series on artists from or associated with Co Offaly. Blog No 684, Dec 28th 2024

Robert James Enraght-Moony was a native of Doon, King’s County. His father owned a large estate and was a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for the county. The Moony family has enjoyed a continuous history, stretching back over a thousand years, in Doon.

According to a profile of the artist in The Westmeath Independent in 1909 the family went abroad when Robert was about five years old. They travelled on the Continent, firstly visiting Eisenach, in Thuringia, Germany, where they lived under the shadow of Wartburg Castle, where Martin Luther was imprisoned. They then went to Dresden and stayed for about a year, and from there they went to Lausanne where Robert first began to take an interest in art. His mother, Angelina (nee Maunsell) used to take him with her when she went out sketching, and it was at her side that he received his first art lessons.
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December 28, 2024
Clara and Tullamore’s very own ‘Bat Mobile’, the Jaguar XK120. By Maurice G Egan (with much appreciation to Chris Metcalfe, Brendan McCoy and Don Kissane). Blog No 683, 21st Dec 2024

In January 1953 Clara and Tullamore district was introduced to its very own ‘bat mobile’ the recently launched sports car, the Jaguar XK120. After the austerity years of WW II its sleek design and incredible speed was said to have inspired the creators of the fictitious ‘bat mobile’ in 1966. It was owned by Larry Egan of Gayfield, Clonminch Road. Larry was joint managing director (with his relation Paddy [P. V.] Egan, Cloncon and later Spollanstown) of the firm P. & H. Egan Limited headquartered on Tullamore’s Bridge Street. Their relation and good friend, Clara’s ace motorcar and motorcycle racer Charlie O’Hara raced it for them.
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December 21, 2024
25 The Big Freeze of 1947 on the Grand Canal in County Offaly. By J.J. Reilly. No 25 in the Offaly Anniversaries Series of 2024. Blog No 682, 18th Dec 2024

On January 19^th 1947 Ireland saw the beginning of a freak weather event. A ‘cold easterly regime set in’ as Kevin Kearns puts it in his 2011 book, Ireland’s Arctic siege.[i] Night frost and snowfalls began from the night of the 19^th and by the 24^th temperatures dropped to between -2⁰c and -6⁰c. With the reduction of the goods train service an increase in cargo haulage on the barges along the Grand Canal brought with it trouble for the canal workers. The owners of the barges were working to capacity.[ii] The Grand Canal froze at night making it difficult for barge traffic to move as the bargemen slowly broke through the ice in the early morning. A repetition of this continued for weeks into February and March.

Beginning around the 24^th January the canal began freezing over. For the next six weeks, every morning the bargemen made slow progress hacking and smashing their way through the ice.
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December 18, 2024
New books on Offaly History in 2024: another good crop. Blog No 681, 15th Dec 2024

The year 2024 was another good year for publications on Offaly history with overviews of County Offaly towns, books on Tullamore, Birr and a musician from Killeigh who acquired fame in the United States. We also had Cloneygowan, canals, peat, a Feehan bibliography and natural history.
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December 15, 2024
The changing face of Offaly and Kinnitty in the early 1900s: launch by John Clendennen T.D. of a new book featuring Kinnitty at Giltraps’s, Kinnitty on Thursday 19 Dec. at 8 30 p.m. Blog No 680, 14th Dec 2024

Kinnitty Parish can now celebrate having two TDs, not to mention so many of of its young men on the first Offaly team to win an All Ireland back in 1924. All part of recent celebrations. What was the village like a generation earlier in the 1890s and earlier 1900s? To find out more come to the launch of The Changing Face of Offaly towns in the early 1900s published by Offaly History and for which local woman Grace Clendennen contributed an essay. Please note the launch time of 8 30 p.m. (ed.)

From the Midland Tribune of 5 Dec. 2024

Grace Clendennen writes of Kinnitty in 1901 and 1911

Like the 1901 census, the majority of Kinnitty residents in the 1911 were born in the King’s County. There were 225 people recorded in 49 houses[1]. Roman Catholic was the most common religion stated but a sizable number, 42 out 225, stated their religion to be other than Catholic[2]. Akin to the census of 1901, eight properties were listed as ‘first-class’. Two of the properties were listed as general shops. In 1901 Patrick Egan and his wife were recorded as shopkeepers. A shop assistant, a domestic servant and a yard man lived with the Egan family.
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December 14, 2024
Commemorating Offaly’s rocky road to its first All-Ireland success 100 years ago. A big day for the men of Kinnitty, Drumcullen, Coolderry and Birr. By Sean McEvoy. No 24 in the Anniversaries Series posted by Offaly History. Blog No 679, 11th Dec 2024

On the morning of Sunday October 12^th 1924, two excursion trains from Birr and Tullamore bringing approximately 1000 Offaly supporters left the county for Croke Park in Dublin. As the Birr train pulled into Ballybrophy, a large train full of Cork supporters was seen in waiting. However, as the Offaly train was placed in front of its Cork counterpart for departure, one excited Faithful supporter prophetically exclaimed, ‘Gosh we’re ahead of Cork, we’ll be that way all day’. His enthusiasm was greeted with the response ‘we hope so’, as the Midland Tribune (MT) reporter who witnessed the event noted the contrast in the Cork supporters who seemed unable for a moment to countenance ‘the idea of defeat’, while the Offaly supporters were travelling more ‘in hope’ of victory but with the knowledge that their team which had come through a long campaign ‘were determined to fight in every ounce of their strength’ to land the county’s first national title.
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December 11, 2024
Tullamore in the Sixties launch – pictures capturing the period. Blog No 678, 7th Dec 2024

Tullamore in the Sixties was launched to great acclaim on 6 December. Most of the contributors living in Ireland participated in the proceedings with three to five minute talks. The book was launched by architect, town planner and artist Fergal MacCabe. A few of his own watercolours grace the contents of this 450 page book with extensive essays (from 18 writers) and 350 pictures. The book is available from Offaly History Centre, Bury Quay, Tullamore and Midland Books and the pop up at Bridge Centre. It can also be ordered on line.

Some of the contributors to Tullamore in the Sixties

Some of the pictures capture the period:
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December 7, 2024
Banagher Brontë Group Book Launch, Blog No 677, 5th Dec 2024

AND WREATH LAYING THIS WEEKEND

BOOK LAUNCH

The Banagher Brontë Group will round off a great inaugural year with two events this coming weekend. On Saturday 7^th December the group will launch Martina Devlin’s Charlotte at 2.30 p.m. in the Crank House, Banagher. The book will be launched by Nigel West whose ancestors lived in Hill House, (now Charlotte’s Way, a well-appointed guesthouse), until 1959 when it was sold to the local Church of Ireland community.
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December 5, 2024
Kilcruttin’s Forgotten People. Recapturing memories of Tullamore in the Sixties by Terry Adams. Blog No 676, 3rd Dec 2024

One of the essays in the new book on Tullamore in the Sixties to be launched on Friday 6 December 2024 at 7.30 p.m. at Offaly History Centre (beside the new Aldi store in Tullamore, all welcome) is that by Terry Adams on his beloved Cormac Street, Tullamore where his family have been located for 150 years or thereabouts. Terry’s is an evocative piece and one of 29 essays in this new book on Tullamore with over 300 pictures.

I stood with my back to Lloyd’s field, surrounded by memories of childhood and family. On my left, back towards the town, my Grandmother Egan’s family home, The Hall, now the municipal council offices, nestles behind its railings and garden. Opposite, on the junction of Cormac Street and O’Moore Street, stands the building I was born in, now home to my brother Brian. My Adams grandparents’ house faces me across the street. Further along the imposing old courthouse and jail buildings sit in their solemn majesty.

The view from Kilcruttin Hill courtesy of Fergal MacCabe

Cormac Street, my street, even if I have not lived here since 1981. When I think of home it is to this street, to these buildings, my mind roams. It is a major part of me, of my identity, of who I am, of who I always will be. I look back towards the town centre, the street has changed little since my childhood. The house exteriors, excluding The Hall, have not been radically altered but most of their old occupants have left us: my father, also Terry, Frank and Carmel Egan, Ray and Sylvia Courtney, Ray and Emer McCann, Mr and Mrs McNeill, Mr and Mrs Brennan, Bridie Byrne, Jimmy and Marcella Byrne, Mrs Behan, Paddy and Mrs. Lloyd……
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December 3, 2024