News – Page 2 – Annaghdown Heritage Society

Newsletter 6, Summer 2020

Our Summer 2020 newsletter can be viewed or downloaded at the link below. We hope to return to printing and distributing paper copies for the next edition.
Items in this edition include:
Cambridge, MA to Glenrevagh: The Journey of my father, William Flanagan, July 1904, by Mary Flanagan Newell; Thomas Browne’s Applotment, 1847, by Paul Greaney; The Kingdom of Maigh Seóla, by Patrick O’Flaherty; Annaghdown’s Army – One Hundred Annaghdown Men ‘In Service’ by Steve Dolan; Secret Stones of Annaghdown; Cathair a’ Cillín: The Children’s Burial Ground at Cregduff, by Br. Conal Thomas; and from the archives: Another Tithe Campaign, from the Freeman’s Journal, January 28, 1834.
As always, we welcome articles, items of interest, other material and suggestions for future editions.

New Civil Records: 1919 Births / 1944 Marriages

Birth registrations for one hundred years ago (1919) and marriages for 75 years ago (1944) have recently been added to irishgenealogy.ie. Records from these years in Annaghdown parish are as follows…

Newsletter 5, Winter 2019

Our Summer 2019 newsletter was printed in December 2019 and distributed to local shops and Corrandulla Post Office. We welcome articles, items of interest, other material and suggestions for future editions. Articles include St. Cathaldus’s Church, Corrandrum by Joe McDermott and Travel to Galway from Cloonboo and the Annaghdown area before 1870 by Evelyn Stevens.

Newsletter 4, Summer 2019

Our Summer 2019 newsletter was printed in June 2018 and distributed at the Corrandulla Show on 23 June, and thereafter at local shops and Corrandulla Post Office. We welcome articles, items of interest, other material and suggestions for future editions. Articles in this edition: The 1918-19 Flu Epidemic in Annaghdown; The Coen Family, by Mary Margaret Burke; Land Agitation in Galway, 1920-23, by Johnny Burke; and from the archives: Visit to Old Irish Home – Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Cavanagh Will Go Back to Galway, from The Omaha Daily Bee, August 4, 1908.

Summer Outing

Annaghdown Heritage Society are delighted to announce details of our summer outing. Saturday, June 15th trip to Portumna Workhouse and Portumna Castle. Itinerary: 10am bus pick up from Corrandulla11.30 – arrival at Portumna Workhouse for a guided tour, tea and

Newsletter 3, Winter 2018

Our Winter 2018 newsletter was printed in December 2018 and distributed at local shops and Corrandulla Post Office. We welcome articles, items of interest, other material and suggestions for future editions. Articles in this edition: Was there a Famine in the West of Ireland in 1925? by Johnny Burke; Reflections on the Past, by Kathleen O’Shea; Big Deal, by Peter Newell; and Lectern, a poem by Joe McDermott.

Newsletter 2, Summer 2018

Our Summer 2018 newsletter was printed in June 2018 and distributed at the Corrandulla Show on 24 June, and thereafter at local shops and Corrandulla Post Office. We welcome articles, items of interest, other material and suggestions for future editions. Articles in this edition: DNA Testing for Family History Research – Science Bringing Genealogy to the Technological Generation, by Irene McGoldrick; Writing a Local History, by Johnny Burke; The Stone-Built Wells of Annaghdown, by Jessica Cooke; A 1927 Visitor to Annaghdown, a diary entry by William Ford; and The Annaghdown Letter of Arthur J. Braginton, from the 1908 book Letters of Arthur J.Braginton.

A 1927 Visitor to Annaghdown

Mr Thomas Walsh called to Elwood’s and accompanied by William Walsh drove through Annaghdown and to Walsh’s place where my mother and other Cavanagh’s were born and around the fields joining Mr Blake’s (Landlords) property of over 300 acres. There is one historic romance on Mr Walsh’s farm (formerly Cavanagh’s). An oval or round little plot of land-surrounded by a high stone wall about two acres said to have been roofed in the time the Danes occupied Ireland. Leaving the main road to the right, I followed a little boreen about 10 yards and going down an incline and several steps of stone is a well containing pure spring water. This wall is surrounded by rock and the spring is said to come through from a quarry on the hill above. This is the same well that my mother, Mary, in her youth drew water from for the use of the house etc.

Writing a Local History – Perspectives of a Student

Having recently completed a B.A. in History and English, I would like to outline my experiences in researching and writing an academic history essay. The degree course, completed online, consisted of six modules in both disciplines and was ideal for part-time study. The sixth history module was titled ‘Researching Local History: People, Place and Time’. I was required to write an extended essay (10,000 words) on a topic of local history of my own choosing. The topics of interest to me were The Great Hunger of 1845-50 in Galway and the Land Wars in Galway during the 1870s and 1880s, but both of these had recently been covered by local historians. It was during a conversation with Br. Conal that he proposed the idea of writing about the Tuam Sugar Factory that I decided this was worth doing, especially since little had been written on it. I chose the title ‘Tuam Sugar Factory: Its impact on the town and farming communities of North Galway 1933-1960’.

Newsletter 1, Winter 2017

Our first newsletter was printed and distributed locally in December 2017. Articles in this edition: Boreen Gort Dobe Buí, by Peter Newell; Early Annaghdown Settlers in New Zealand, by David L. Cavanagh; Annaghdown Heritage Society: The First 21 Years, by Br. Conal Thomas; Petty Sessions Records, by Paul Greaney; and from the archives: Quack Doctors, from The Tuam Herald of April 18, 1840.