CAN WE WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE FOXROCK LOCAL HISTORY CLUB

THE NEXT HISTORY CLUB MEETING WILL BE ON TUESDAY JANUARY 21st 2025 IN THE FOXROCK PARISH PASTORAL CENTRE AT 20:00

1) SHORT TALK – Death of a Servant – The Blackrock Tragedy

SPEAKER – Peadar McGing

Peadar has looked at the life and death of a servant in Blackrock in 1905 and her story is a tale of tragedy which has not been heard before, ‘The Blackrock Tragedy – Shocking Evidence at the Inquest’ was the headline above the Belfast Telegraph’s report on the inquest which took place on the Saturday afternoon, December 16th 1905 at the Londonbridge Morgue. The Irish Times carried a detailed report. The first witness , the main one, was E.J. McWeeney.
‘I made a post mortem examination of the body of the deceased, Kate Mangan, today. The general nourishment was poor. Fat had disappeared from round the heart, intestines, and kidneys, and there was very little under the skin. There was evidence of great neglect and filthy surroundings during life. … The body bore evidence of severe violence inflicted during life. The left ear was split by a wound seven eighths of an inch in length [2.2 cm], which had caused an abscess in the ear itself. The wound, which was gaping, showed no evidence of having been treated, and was in a foul septic condition….

Was she murdered or die of neglect! Hear her sad story.

1) MAIN TALK – Prisoner 1082: Escape from Crumlin Road, Europe’s Alcatraz

SPEAKER – Donal Donnelly

On St Stephen’s Day 1960 Dónal Donnelly made his dramatic escape from the prison known as ‘Europe’s Alcatraz’. Three years earlier, the teenage Dónal had been convicted of membership of the IRA in the first year of ‘Operation Harvest’. He was sentenced to ten years. Here he reflects on why he came to be on top of a prison wall risking his life. This is the story of a man who overcame the hurdles of his early years to live a successful, happy life. Donal will tell of his life story that makes a most interesting tale of survival.

THE FEBRUARY HISTORY CLUB TALKS WILL BE ON TUESDAY 18th FEBRUARY 2025

1) SHORT TALK -The Lindsay Family and their connection with Deansgrange

SPEAKER – Martin McCarthy

The lands at Dean’s Grange were held in the name of “The Dean of Christ Church”. They provided him with an income, and from time to time with renewal fees as leases came to term. The position of dean was held by the Bishop of Kildare from 1682 until 1846 ‘in commendam’. (that is, a benefice placed in trust). Reference is constantly made to ‘the bishop’ in connection with Dean’s Grange lands. Charles Dalrymple Lindsay served as Bishop of Kildare and also, Dean of the Grange, from 1804 until his death in 1846. Martin’s talk centres on Lindsay, the man, his family, and their degree of involvement in the transfer of Grange lands in the nineteenth century

1) MAIN TALK – Herbert Simms – An Architect for the People

SPEAKER – Lindie Naughton

Lindie Naughton has studied and written about George Herbert Simms who between 1932 and 1948 built 17,000 homes in Dublin for the new emerging state. In 1914 a local government committee tasked with investigating the living conditions of Dublin’s lowest income families found private rented homes which were severely overcrowded, unsanitary, unsafe for children, and generally “unfit for human habitation”. A building programme needed to be undertaken by the State because the private sector had not stepped up to the plate to “any appreciable degree sufficient to grapple with the present needs of the city”, the committee said. It was a prime moment in the 1930s when Simms started his work in Dublin Corporation, there was a real political will to do something about housing.

Today’s housing situation seems to echo this periods housing crisis!

THE MARCH HISTORY CLUB TALKS WILL BE ON TUESDAY 18th MARCH 2025

1) MAIN TALK – NEW THOUGHTS ON SAINT KEVIN AND GLENDALOUGH

SPEAKER – Christiaan Corlett

THE FOLKLORE THAT SURROUNDS ST KEVIN IS VERY COLOURFUL AND OFTEN QUITE ANCIENT. UNFORTUNATELY, WHEN IT COMES TO FIRM HISTORY THE FACTS ARE THIN ON THE GROUND. WE DON’T KNOW WHEN KEVIN WAS BORN OR WHEN HE FOUNDED THE MONASTERY AT GLENDALOUGH, EXCEPT THAT IT WAS MOST LIKELY TOWARDS THE END OF THE 6TH CENTURY. THE ANCIENT ANNALS TELL US THAT HE DIED BETWEEN 618 AND 622.

OTHER EARLY HISTORICAL SOURCES IMPLY THAT HIS FATHER CAEMLUG WAS CONNECTED TO THE DAL MESSIN CORB, WHO WERE A COLLECTION OF FAMILIES THAT RULED MUCH OF LEINSTER DURING THE 5TH AND 6TH CENTURIES. WHILE GLENDALOUGH IS FREQUENTLY REFERRED TO AS A MONASTERY, IT IS NOT TRUE TO SAY THAT IT SERVED AS A MONASTERY IN THE SAME WAY AS LATER MEDIEVAL OR MODERN EXAMPLES. DURING THE EARLIEST CENTURIES OF CHRISTIANITY IN IRELAND, THERE WERE NO FORMAL PARISHES OR DIOCESES; THESE ONLY DEVELOPED DURING THE 11TH AND 12TH CENTURIES. PRIOR TO THIS, CHURCHES SUCH AS GLENDALOUGH SERVED A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT ECCLESIASTICAL ROLES. IN THE CENTURIES AFTER ST KEVIN THE NAMES OF MANY OF THE EARLY ABBOTS AND EARLY BISHOPS OF GLENDALOUGH ARE RECORDED IN THE ANNALS. THERE SEEMS LITTLE DOUBT THAT GLENDALOUGH HAD MULTIPLE ECCLESIASTICAL FUNCTIONS.

CHRISTIANN IS A PROLIFIC AUTHOR AND HAS WRITTEN, COMPILED AND EDITED MANY BOOKS WITH SUBJECT MATTERS RANGING FROM ARCHAEOLOGY, HISTORY, FOLKLORE AND EARLY PHOTOGRAPHY. HE IS ALSO A VERY FREQUENT CONTRIBUTOR TO THE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE ARCHAEOLOGY IRELAND AS WELL AS A VARIETY OF NATIONAL AND LOCAL JOURNALS, SUCH AS THE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND, THE IRISH ARTS REVIEW, THE JOURNAL OF THE GALWAY ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, AS WELL AS MANY MORE. HE IS KNOWN FOR WRITING IN A LIVELY AND ACCESSIBLE STYLE THAT BRINGS HIS SUBJECTS TO A WIDER AUDIENCE.

Admission for members is Free.

Admission for Non- Members is EUR 5.00

Annual Membership Fee

The annual membership covers from September 2024 to July 2025 and is €20. This entitles you to 8 talks, free to our two short summer outings and preference for places on our full day summer outings. Please renew this as soon as possible to help us manage the club’s running expenses.

See the “Annual Membership Subscription” page for details on how to pay.

Our email is: info@foxrocklocalhistory.ie

**********************************************************

TALKS – OUTINGS PLANNED FROM SEPTEMBER – MAY 2024

( The talks are on the third Tuesdays of the month in the Foxrock Parish Pastoral Centre Hall )

2025 Season	SHORT TALK (Occasional)	FULL TALK
^{Apr 15th}	Wicklow Gaol SPEAKER: Carmel Kelly	A Forgotten Irish Author: Cornelius Ryan, ‘The longest Day’ and ‘A Bridge Too Far’ SPEAKER: Philip Lecane
^{May 20th}	Iveagh Trust Dublin Baths and Bathhouses SPEAKER: Padraig Laffan	To be announced
^May	Short Outing	To be announced
^May	Short Outing	To be announced
^June	All Day Outing	To be announced

All our meetings are held in the Foxrock Pastoral Centre, which is at the junction of the N11 and Kill Lane. We meet on the third Tuesday of every month between September and May. The meetings start at 20:00 with an introduction, this is then followed by the main talk. After the talk there is an opportunity for questions and answers. Then after, the vote of thanks, tea and biscuits are served and you can get a chance to meet the speakers and ask questions you may have.