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Earl & Countess of Rosse, 23 April 2007
The Parsons family of Birr is well documented in history but Lord and Lady Rosse, speaking alternately, concentrated on a few perhaps lesser known aspects. Sir Laurence Parsons who obtained 1,277 acres and the O'Carroll castle in Birr in the Plantation of Ely O'Carroll in 1620 came from Leicester or Norfolk but previously lived in Youghal where he may have been skating too close to the local traffic in piracy. The ordnances or rules and regulations he drew up for the conduct of his new town in Birr would seem quaint nowadays in how they dealt with cleanliness, prevention of fire and even the control of women! His wife Anne extended the property by judicious investment in land and was still alive in Birr during the sieges of 1641. The archives date back to the seventeenth century and amongst them is a fascinating cookbook kept by one Dorothy Parsons in 1666. Birr Castle with a medieval footprint has been much altered and extended but the magnificent ewe stairs admired in the eighteenth century still survives. There was a Parsons at the first performance of Handel's Messiah and the first Parsons in Birr to gain the title Second Earl of Rosse had previously been known as Sir Laurence Parsons, MP in the Irish Parliament, vehement opponent of the Act of Union. The Third Earl built the Leviathan telescope, his wife Mary Field Rosse was one of the earliest photographers and their son Charles invented the steam turbine.
Amanda Pedlow, 21 May 2007
Amanda, Offaly County Heritage Officer took as her topic 'Artifacts from Offaly in the National Museum of Ireland.) She told us that they number over 3,000 and include items from the later Bronze Age Dowris Hoard, the Derrinboy Hoard, Old Croghan Man, several sheela-na-gigs and many samples of bog butter. A new technology called 3D scanning facilitates the collection of three-dimensional images of an object or building which can then be viewed on a computer screen when the software is used to give the impression that it is being turned around and viewed from all angles. Hopefully, museums will record their artifacts using this technology and in future Offaly people will be able to access their 3,000 plus treasures at home and view them from all angles. Amanda replied to several queries about Offaly County Council plans and responsibilities with regard to local buildings and projects. She strongly urged us to make submissions to the County Development Plan before the end of May.
Gerard Murphy, 19 Mar. 2007
Gerard's subject was Crime in West Offaly, 1801-1838, using clear documentary evidence for the Barony of Garrycastle. The main parties in question were the magistrates, police authorities in Dublin Castle and the perpetrators. Most cases were judged by Resident Magistrates, part-time lawyers who were also the local landlords anxious to keep control in their own territories. Bodies responsible for maintaining law and order were the Constabulary, the Yeomanry, the Militia and the Military. Agrarian crime in Garrycastle was the subject of a Lord Lieutenant's inquiry: secret societies calling themselves 'Rockites' were in operation in the area about 1834-38. When disputes arose over land, leases, family disputes, evictions, etc., a small number of local families intimidated each other with threatening notices. As is often the case with modern gangland crime, police were aware but found it impossible to get evidence. When the local RMs lost control of this faction fighting, an appeal was sent to Dublin Castle for a Stipendiary Magistrate and Peace Preservation Force. Peace was restored - more or less - by 1839. It is now impossible to ascertain the outcome of prosecutions taken at the time because the court records were destroyed during the Irish Civil War. Interesting references to faction fights in Lusmagh, Banagher and Leamonaghan as well as the Crotty Schism in Birr emerged in the ensuing discussion.
Jan Bulfin-Winder & Anna McBride-White, 19 Feb. 2007
The topic was 'William Bulfin's life and times'. Jan and Anna related the results of their research into the author of Rambles in Eirinn (1907) and into his family which is their family also and extremely interesting in how it blends cosmopolitan and Irish national identities in a unique way.
William Bulfin emigrated to Argentina to work as a gaucho on the estancia of one Juan Dowling, no doubt a Wild Geese descendant. Moving to Buenos Aires, William became reporter and later editor of the Southern Cross newspaper. He married Annie O'Rourke from Westmeath - their love letters survive and Anna read us a selection - and they had five children in Argentina before returning to the Bulfin family home at Derrinlough, near Birr in 1901. William's observations as he travelled around Ireland on a bicycle were contributed to American emigrant papers and famously published in 1907 as Rambles in Eirinn.
In his will of 1906, he remarked that Ireland needed 'a complete separation from England'. He died in 1910 and is buried at Eglish, near Birr. His son Eamon Bulfin attended Padraig Pearse's school, Scoil Éanna and was active in the GPO in 1916. His Argentine birth saved him from execution but he was deported to Argentina where he campaigned for the Irish nationalist cause. In his absence, he was elected to King's County Council, made Chairman and the name of the county was then changed to Offaly. William's daughter Catalina married Seán McBride - they were Anna's parents.
William's brother Frank was elected to the Second Dáil in 1920 and represented Leix Offaly as TD until 1927.
There was a large attendance at the meeting and we were delighted to get this opportunity of hearing the personal reminiscences, stories and humorous comments of cousins Jan and Anna.
Padraig O Dufaigh, 15 Jan. 2007
A wonderful night's entertainment was provided when Padraig brought along three musicians to supplement his lecture.
Padraig has been a member of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann since 1956 and he summarised the history, aims and work of the organisation since it was founded in 1951. Traditional Irish music and dance were then often perceived as rural, incorrect, not trendy and morale was low but the scene has changed and it is 'cool' now and popular music in France & Spain. A few hundred enthusiasts attended the first Fleadh Ceoil in Mullingar in 1951 but the event soon gained in popularity and this year's Fleadh Ceoil in Tullamore 24-26 August is expected to attract hundreds of thousands from home and abroad.
Traditional Irish music survived thanks to the enthusiasm of emigrants, rural groups, Ceili Bands, the travelling community and those organising cross-roads dancing and private house dances.
About 600 teachers have now gained diplomas from CCE to teach Irish music and dance.
The traditional Irish instrument was the harp which declined in use with the loss of the old Gaelic aristrocratic patronage and was replaced by the uileann pipes. David Kinsella then demonstrated his uileann pipes to the meeting, tuned them and played a few tunes including one he composed in honour of Margaret O'Carroll's 15th century pilgrimage to Compostella. From the nineteenth century traditional music was played on the fiddle, accordeon, melodeon, concertina and tin whistle and there was gob music if all else failed. Aoife Corrigan played Irish dance music on the whistle and on a magnificent accordeon made for her by Martin Connolly. Traditional sean nos singing was solo and unaccompanied. Laura Deegan gave a moving rendering of several old Irish songs.
The combination of music and lecture was unexpected and most entertaining. |