Visit From Abbeyside National School

Today we had a visit from a group of children from Abbeyside National School.  They are currently learning about The Moresby, a ship that went aground in Dungarvan harbour on Christmas Eve 1895 with the loss of many lives, the youngest being the daughter of the Captain, Ivy Neesham Coomber who was just two years old.

The children were able to look at the Bible belonging to the youngest crew member aboard, apprentice Eugene J. Sibert who was only fifteen when he perished, and also The Moresby bucket, which are among many artefacts relating to The Moresby here in the Museum.

The story was brought to life with the children viewing "Tragóid an Moresby",  which our President, Níoclás ó Grífáín contributed to greatly.

Waterford County Museum are delighted to be able to assist in the teaching of local history and we welcome teachers and students alike to visit us.

  

 Abbeyside National School Teachers & Students Learning About The Moresby Tragedy

Entertaining Talk By Líam Suipéil On Ardo House

Líam Suipéil principal at Cólaiste na Rinne gave a fascinating presentation to a captive audience on the history of  Ardo House, Ardmore and the Coghlan family who occupied it in the 18th century.

The house lies in ruin on the road to Goat Island.  The history of the house begins in the 17th century.  It passed through the Fitzgeralds and Prendergasts eventually coming into the possession of the Coghlan family in 1718.  The Coghlans were descendants from an ancient Irish family, Ó'Cochlain.  There are many early 18th century references to the Coghlans in relation to trade with Bristol, Waterford and Newfoundland.

Jeremiah Coghlan occupied Ardo House c 1790-1824.

Two of the Coghlan daughters married well.  One to the Duc de Castries and the other to the Earl of Barrymore.  In the 19th century Ardo was occupied by the Lawlor family who added further towers to the building.  The next owner was Sir Joseph Neale McKenna who is buried along side his wife in a mausoleum by the entrance gate.  By the end of the 19th century Ardo was passed to Marshal McMahon, first President of the Third French Republic. It was sold by him and eventually fell into ruin in the 1920's.

Researching Your Family Tree In Co. Waterford

Download:
Beginners Guide To Researching Your Ancestors In Waterford
244 Kbytes .pdf file

As part of the family afternoon in the museum on the 6th of December 2009. The museum ran a workshop on  on tracing your ancestors in County Waterford. We produced a document on 'Researching Your Genealogy In Waterford' that covers topics such as useful contacts in Waterford and Ireland, military ancestors, archives, useful web sites and mailing lists. It is aimed at beginners and hopefully will be of some use to them as they attempt to discover their ancestors. We welcome any comments or suggestions for improving the document from experienced family history researchers so feel free to email any amendments or suggestions to william@deisedesign.com or history@waterfordmuseum.ie

Christmas Family Day At The Museum

 St Mary's School Choir

On Sunday, 6 December 2009 we held our first Christmas family day here at the museum. The event brought a crowd of 120 parents and children into our museum for an afternoon of songs, stories, artwork and games. 

The children of St.Mary's Primary School under the guidance of Dina Walshe entertained us  with some beautiful carol singing and then joined in the fun of the day.

The children had great fun making Christmas cards and decorating the Christmas tree with their hand made decorations under the watchful eye of Niamh Power, Emma Walsh and Aibhe Power.

No event at this time of the year would be complete without a visit from the man himself, Santa, and the children made sure to get their requests in.

Our President, Níoclás ó Griofáin told stories of Christmas of by gone days and the adults were given instruction on how to research their family history, assisted by committee members, Willie and Martin Whelan.

Willie Whelan Assisting A Visitor With His Family History

The event was organised by our Educational Officer and Vice President Helen Moynihan, assisted on the day by Darren Moynihan and Karen Cottier.  We would also like to thank all the committee members and museum staff who helped make this day the success it was.

 Stories From Christmas Long Ago With Níoclás ó Griofáin.

First Museum News Letter Out This Week:

This week sees the issue of our first News Letter. This booklet will be sent out to museum members 3 times a year and will help to keep them in touch with events and happenings within the museum. A calender of events will be printed in each issue therefore members will be aware of all important dates.

In this issue we have included the events for the first 4 months of 2010 and also  

The Museums Plan for 2010.

• Launch our revamped website
• Improve and expand our schools programme
• Introduce information packs for schools
• Commence using twitter, facebook and Web 2.0 technologies to promote the museum.
• Translate the contents we have into other languages
• Install conservation standard lighting within the museum
• Initiate a purchases fund for historic objects we wish to buy
• Contribute to the Museum and Web-International Conference 
• Expand our handling object area
• Mount 2 temporary exhibitions in Spring and Autumn
• Participate in European Nights of the Museum (May)
• Participate in Heritage Week (August)
• Participate in Féile na nDéise (April)
• Participate in Waterford Festival of Food (April)
• Continue with the ongoing survey of visitors in a bid to improve our service to visitors
  

 We welcome feedback from our members and the public and any comments will be taken on board.

Waterford Adult Education Centre Visit The Museum

Some Of The Group From The Adult Education Centre

Last Monday we had a group of 28 students along with their teachers from the Adult Education Centre in Waterford. The students from many different parts of the world were very impressed with our museum. A number took a great interest in the history of industry in the area, and Ernest Walton was a popular topic with some more of the students.
Even though a lot of these  students don't have a great understanding of our language, they found the  photographs and artifacts very interesting and they thoroughly enjoyed their visit.

Family Afternoon At The Museum: Children's Activities & Family History

Sunday 6th December 2009 - 2pm to 4pm

Helen Moynihan, the museum education officer (ably assisted by Karen Cottier) is putting a great effort into organising a family afternoon in Waterford County Museum on the 6th December 2009. As well as a range of activities for children we will also be laying on some tables where adults (and children) can find out about how they can trace their family tree.

The event will run between 2pm and 4pm. As ever admission is free and all are welcome :)

Children's Events

• Colouring In
• Quizzes
• Craftmaking
• Special Children's Exhibition
• Storytelling with Nicholas Graves
• Possible appearance of Santa Claus
  

Family History
Find out who your ancestors were and how they lived. Martin, Eddie and Willie will be providing advice on:

• IRA Records
• The 1911 Census
• Researching Military And Naval Ancestors
• Waterford County Archives
• Griffiths Valuation
• Local Parish Registers
• Family History Software
• Family History Research Online (Thanks to Janet of the Waterford Genealogy Mailing List for the handout.)

The above programme is only a preliminary one and is subject to change. As we arrive closer to the date we will publishing the final programme in the museum newspaper notes and on this blog.

For more details contact the museum
Email: history@waterfordmuseum.ie
Phone: 058 45960

Waterford County Museum Wins Heritage And Environment Award

The WLRfm sponsored Community and Voluntary awards attracted over hundred different groups / entries this year. Waterford County Museum was honoured for its efforts to preserve the history of Dungarvan and County Waterford and took the Heritage and Environment Award.

We are delighted to win the award, it is a real recognition of all the hard work that our committee, members, staff and sponsors have invested in the organisation. Our thanks to all of the many local voluntary and business organisations that assisted us with projects over the course of the year. A particular thanks to the Waterford Community Forum for organising such a great night. You can download our competion entry (5 Mbyte .pdf file) online. It gives a great idea of the work we are currently doing and our future plans. Any organisations interested in sponsoring our future work can contact us at the museum. We also accept donations through our paypal account.

Congratulations To Abbeyside Scouts
We would also like to congratulate another local group, The 4th Waterford, Abbeyside Scout Group, one of Ireland oldest Scout groups, they won the Children and Youth Award. Three of the current museum committee are still involved with the scout group and it is great that the scouts got this long overdue recognition.

A Photo From Past - The Perfect Christmas Present

Children Playing In The Snow, Abbeyside

Stuck for ideas this Christmas. Visit our image archive at http://www.waterfordcountyimages.org/ and pick out a great present at a very low price.We have over 1200 images available for sale covering people, places and sporting events in the Waterford area. This would be an ideal gift for a family member at home or abroad. The proceeds of all sales go towards the upkeep of the museum.

Museum Curator Willie Fraher Speaks At Waterford Heritage Seminar

On Thursday, November 5th a Seminar on the Heritage of County Waterford took place in The Park Hotel, Dungarvan.  A large crowd was present to hear the Welcome Address by Dungarvan Town Council Mayor, Damien Geoghan and Opening Address by Waterford County Council Mayor, Nora Flynn.

The Curator of Waterford County Museum, William Fraher was in attendance and he spoke on The Work of  Waterford County Museum.  Included in his speech William spoke of the past achievements of the Museum which include:-

• Heritage Council Publication Of The Year Award 2002
• Museum And The Web 2002 - Shortlisted Best Research Website
• County Waterford Community And Voluntary Awards - Winner Of The Heritage Section 2006
• Museums And The Web, Albuquerque 2006 - Best Small Museum Website
• 45 Major Exhibitions
• 140 Public Lectures 
• Published 4 Books

 He also spoke of the plans made for the coming year, including:-

• Launch Our Revamped Website (February 2010)
• Improve And Expand Our Schools Programme
• Construct A Version Of Our Website For Mobile Phones And PDA's (Summer 2010)
• Install Conservation Standard Lighting Within The Museum
• Initiate A Purcases Fund For Historic Objects We Wish To Buy
• Contribute To The Museums And The Web - International Conference (April 13 - 17, 2010 in Denver, Colorado, USA)
• Expand Our Handling Objects Area
• Mount 2 Temporary Exhibitions In Spring And Autumn
• Participate In European Night Of The Museums, Heritage Week, Feile na nDeise and Waterford Festival Of Food

The Curator concluded his speech by welcoming everyone to visit the Museum to see for themselves the great work that is being done.  A request for donations was also made, with an assurance that any donation would be handled with the utmost care and to conservation standards.

Dungarvan Swimming Pool Memorabilia

The Swimming Pool In Dungarvan C.1950

We recently received a donation of items in respect of the local swimming pool, which was a big part of the social life in the town for many years. The donation was received from Jim Lawn whose father Tony was Secretary of the club.

Items Donated Included:

• 2 Cash Receipt Books.
• Booklet on the Rules & Regulations of the Munster Branch of the I.A.S.A.
• Printed Envelope of the Dungarvan Swimming Club for coaching subscriptions.
• Application Forms for the I.A.S.A  Munster Championship.
• Records of Expenditure for the club.
• Letters in regard to a Gala being held by the club.

Pictures of the building of the pool can be viewed on our photographic image archive. Unfortunately by the mid 1970's the pool was described as beyond repair, and it was closed.

Museum A.G.M.

The Museum held their A.G.M. on Thursday the 29th October. The following people were elected for the coming year.

President: Nioclás O Griofáin
Vice-President: Helen Moynihan
Secretary: Martin Whelan
Treasurer: Mary Giblin

Committee Members:
William Fraher, Eddie Cantwell, Jim Shine, William Whelan, John Daly, Josephine McCarthy, David Hourigan, Roberta Whelan.

The newly elected President thanked out going President  Eddie Cantwell for his work and time during the last 3 years.

Membership for the coming year  was set at €15. We will be issuing the first of our newsletters in the near future, which will be sent to all fully paid up members, keeping them up to date on  exhibitions, talks, and any other events  happening within the museum.

Museum Website Praised By Author Of New Book On G.A.A

Erin's Hope Football Team, Dungarvan C. 1898

On Tuesday 20th October members of The Museum Society attended the launch of "The G.A.A. - A Peoples History", at the Nemo Rangers clubhouse in Cork. The book, by Mike Cronin, Mark Duncan and Paul Rouse has been produced to mark the 125th anniversary of the foundation of the G.A.A.

A number of photographs from our archive are beautifully reproduced in the book including a double page spread of the Fraher Field by R. E. Brenan. Another photograph is of Grattan Square, Dungarvan, filled with people and cars on the day of the 1924 Munster Championship. An action shot by Brenan of a game being played at Fraher Field is an extremely rare image according to the book authors. Mike Cronin spoke on behalf of the authors and thanked a number of archives,  including Waterford County Museum, for the use of their images. It is a great example of how our image archive at www.waterfordcountyimages.org is bringing rare historical photos into the public domain. More early hurling and football photos can be found on the web site.

The book is available from amazon.co.uk and amazon.com and from all Irish bookstores. It is a fantastic book, with very high production values. It is worth the purchase price for the photographs alone. An ideal gift for any GAA enthusiast.

If you have any old G.A.A. or sports photographs that you would like to see in our image archive please contact us at history@waterfordmuseum.ie All images are returned once we have scanned them for posterity.

Seminar On the Heritage Of County Waterford

On the 5th of November from 9am to 5pm, in the Park Hotel, Dungarvan, a seminar on the Heritage of County Waterford is taking place.  This seminar will present projects carried out under the County Waterford Heritage Plan and covers archaeological, built, industrial and natural heritage.

At 10.50am Waterford County Museum's Curator, William Fraher will give a talk on the work of the Waterford County Museum.

All are welcome at this seminar which is free of charge.  For any further information contact bguest@waterfordcoco.ie.

Online Catalogue Of Museum Artifacts Almost Complete

We are well on our way in creating our database of the many documents and artifacts here in the museum.We are hoping to have this completed  during the early part of 2010. This will allow you to browse and search through the many objects and documentation from different sources that we have in our possession. The complete text of letters and documents will not be made available online but their content will be summarised. This online catalogue should be a valuable tool for researchers and genealogists. Objects in our collection include:

• Personal Letters
• Billheads
• Invoices
• Advertising Materials
• Posters
• Medals
• Coins
• Weapons
• Maps
• Books
• Tools
• Domestic Objects

In total our holdings comprise 5000+ objects of which we have catalogued 3500. Over time photographs of many of the items will be added to the catalogue. The work of cataloging our artifacts has been ongoing with 2 years.

Donation Of Images Of Tramore & Waterford/Tramore Railway Line

Thomas Jones Donating An Album To Willie Whelan, Museum Committee Member

Waterford County Museum recently had a visit from Thomas Jones who kindly presented us with part of his collection of postcards and photographs. The main theme of these 600 or so images are Tramore and the Waterford/Tramore Railway Line. The images are being published on our image archive waterfordcountyimages.org. The postcards and photos date from the late 1800's to the 1960's. Our thanks to Thomas for this most generous donation. If anyone has any images of County Waterford  that they would like to donate please contact us at history@waterfordmuseum.ie. Images can be returned to donors once they have been scanned.

Youghal Celebrates History - A Great Success!

The Youghal Conference "Youghal Celebrates History" took place last month from the 25th to the 27th of September.  On Saturday, 26th September, Waterford County Museum's Curator, William Fraher took to the floor with his talk  "County Waterford Houses on the River Blackwater". Included in  this talk was a letter written by Mary Louise Foley from BallyGally House.  This letter makes reference to famous author, Conan Doyle who often stayed at the house and wrote many of his first detective stories there, "they would sit before the fire in the evening while he would read to them what he had written that day".  Doyles mother was actually a Waterford lady named Mary Foley.  On Sunday, 27th September, our trustee Julian Walton spoke of "Dromana: The Lords of the Decies and the Villiers-Stuarts".

The Conference was voted the biggest success so far and Waterford County Museum look forward to contributing towards The Youghal Conference again next year. 

A Visit From Deise Day Care Centre

On Monday we had a group from the local Day Care Centre visiting. They enjoyed their time browsing the different exhibitions and were very impressed with the Museum. They were treated to a cup of tea by the staff, while they watched the film of the Moresby.

Abbeyside NS & The Ard Scoil Visit The Museum

We had a visit from 4th class students from Abbeyside National School today, 27 children came in to hear about the Moresby disaster. Their teacher, Ms Mary Harney and teaching assistant Ms Mary Gorman, had them well prepared!

Ard Scoil na Deise's 5th year students and their teacher Ms. Margaret Denehey also visited today, researching ideas for their history projects for the Leaving Certificate.

We would like to encourage schools to visit the museum. Far from being a dull, boring place, this museum is bright, full of interesting artefacts and handling objects. We also have a wide screen television that plays a variety of films and images. The museum is always prepared to help out with school projects. Children of all ages are welcome to the museum to learn about their County's past.

Donation of Easter 1916 Medal:

We recently received a donation of a rare 1916 medal from Tom Graves and Rita Currran, along with a War of Independece medal which are on display during our current exhibition. We are delighted to have received some very interesting images lately, these will be up on the website in the coming months. All items donated receive the utmost care as they are added to our growing collection. We try to vary our regular exhibits throughout the year so that as much of the collection as possible can be seen.

Book Review: Rebel Heart - George Lennon: Flying Column Commander

Most books on the Irish War of Independence and subsequent Civil War are not exactly ideal holiday reading material.  It is to Terence O'Reillys credit that he has managed to write a massivly entertaining yet scholarly book on such a difficult and polarising subject matter, making it accessible to both those with a casual interest and substantial prior knowledge. O'Reillys manages to make all the main participants in the book human by placing their decision making in context. He is even handed to all of the protaganists, very few of whom come off as simply good or bad, heroic or cowardly. The book is primarily about George Lennon, the commander of the Flying Column in West Waterford but as Lennon was so deeply immersed in all things Republican that happened in Waterford between 1916 and 1923 it also serves as a fantastic history of the war itself.

O'Reillys great triumph is demonstrating how effective the IRA campaign was in tying up a vastly superior British force and how heroic many of the Flying Column members were. Popular perception has it that Waterford was a reasonably quite County during the War Of Independence. O'Reillys extensive research into Crown Forces troop deployments and numbers disproves this quite catagorically. The new material he has unearthed from all manner of sources including unpublished personal memoirs, taped interviews, UK National Archives, National Library and many other sources brings much that is fresh and new to a story that I thought I knew.

The second part of the book deals with the Civil War. Reading the book you get a sense of events spiralling out of control as the new nation plunges itself straight into a Civil War.

The final part of the book deals with the latter years of George Lennon. You get a sense from the book that George Lennon always tried to do what was right (as he saw it) no matter how difficult the path may have been for him personally, he never shirked a decision. Towards the end of his life he became a Buddhist and campaigned against American involvement in Vietnam. The publication of this book should ensure that his memory will live on his native county for many years to come.

I would be reluctant to say that any history book is 'definitive', new material is unearthed or a world view changes and a book can fall out of fashion. What I can say with certainty is that this book is as close to a definitive history on the War in Waterford that we are liable to get for some time. It is a fine biography of a fine man.

The book is available to buy online from Amazon, it can also be purchased from Waterford County Museum. All copies purchased from the museum result in 7 euros going towards the museum upkeep.

Opinion Piece: War Of Independence Lecture Series A Great Sucess

L to r: Eddie Cantwell - Museum President, Sean Murphy - Historian, Willie Fraher - Museum Curator, Ivan Lennon - son of George Lennon, Dr. Pat McCarthy - Historian, Terence O'Reilly - Author Of 'Rebel Heart'

Waterford County Museum's seminar / series of lectures on the War Of Independence and Civil War in Co. Waterford took place last Saturday 19th September 2009. The lectures were very well supported with almost 100 people attending them. The lectures themselves were very informative and did a very good job of reminding all present of why we should be proud of these men who fought to create the Irish nation. The only thing that could have improved the seminar was a better use of rest breaks. We were probably guilty of trying to fit too much into the one afternoon. As this was the first seminar that we have run we will just have to learn from our mistakes. In addition to the lectures, Terence O'Reilly signed his excellent new book 'Rebel Heart' and Willie Fraher unveiled the temporary exhibition the 'Road To Independence'. Many of the photos featured  in this exhibition can be found online on our image archive. As a result of this exhibition we were very fortunate to get a donation of a '1916 Medal'. It was awarded to those who saw active service in the Easter Rising 1916. The medal in our possession was one of only two awarded to Waterford men.

The exhibition 'The Road To Independence' will run in the museum on St. Augustine Street for the next two months. In addition to the medals we have many artifacts and pieces of IRA equipment donated by members of the public. Admission is free of charge.

A view of the audience at our recent lecture series in Dungarvan Town Hall Theatre.

Lectures: The War of Independence & Civil War in West Waterford 1916 - 1923.

Saturday 19th September

The full line up for our lecture series is now available. The Road to Independence: The War of Independence & Civil War in West Waterford 1916 - 1923.

A series of talks and an exhibition on the period will take place at the Town Hall Theatre and Waterford County Museum, Friary Street, Dungarvan on Saturday 19th September. Talks begin at 3pm. Admission €5. All are welcome.

Opening Remarks by Ivan Lennon
Ivan is a son of Eveline and George Lennon whose father was manager of Dungarvan Gasworks. George Lennon was the youngest commander of a Flying Column during the Irish War of Independence. Ivan has carried out extensive research on his parent's families and on his father's role in the War of Independence. He has just published a book based on his research - "Ulster to the Deise: Lennons in Time". He lives with his family in Rochester, New York.

Seán Murphy: The Story of the Deise Brigade
Seán is a native of Kilmacthomas. He is a retired Social Welfare Officer. Seán and his wife Síle have written extensively on the history of the Comeraghs and surrounding areas. Their publications include "The Comeraghs - Fact and Fancy" (1974); "The Comeraghs - Famine Eviction and Revolution" (1996); "Waterford Heroes Poets and Villains" (1999); "The Comeraghs Gunfire & Civil War - The Story of the Deise Brigade IRA 1914 - 1924".

Dr. Pat McCarthy: Running Guns into Waterford 1921
Pat was born in Waterford and educated at Mount Sion CBS. He holds a PH.D in chemistry and an MBA from NUI Dublin. He is correspence secretary of the Military History Society of Ireland. He has contributed a number of articles to the Decies on the Fenians and the War of Independence.

Terence O'Reilly: "Rebel Heart" George Lennon Flying Column Commander
Terence O'Reilly is a former Irish Army artilleryman who has completed several tours of duty for the U.N. He presently works for the Defence Forces Library. He is the author of two books - "Hitler's Irishmen" (2008) and "The Struggle for Independence: Lessons from pages of "An Cosantoir" (2009)

Waterford County Museum Exhibition
Memorabilia on the War of Independence/Civil War documents, letters, photographs and artefacts. Exhibition will run until further notice.

For information email history@waterfordmuseum.ie

Opinion Piece: What The Museum Does Next

We created a document recently for an awards competition for community groups in Waterford. The document gives a pretty good snap shot of where the museum is at this moment in our development and where we will be going over the next year or so. There are also some photos of the museum interior. Anyone with an interest in the museum should give the document a read, I would be interested in hearing any comments you might have. The document can be downloaded at
www.dungarvanmuseum.org/pdfs/museumcommunityawards.pdf
It is 5 Mbytes in size and is in .pdf format.

Lectures: Season Line-Up

The Lecture season starts this September and is planned to run on the third Wednesday of each month, however, this may change occassionally if a speaker is unavailable. The following is a list of proposed speakers;

21st October - Michael Desmond - The Battle of Le Pilly.
18th November - Donal Brady - Waterford Scientists Project - Margaret Aylward, Educator, Philanthropist & Social Innovator.
December - Liam Suipeil - The Coughlan's of Ard House, Ardmore.
20th January - Áine Ui Fhoglú
17th February - Pádraig O Machain - Sermons of Fr. Patrick Wall 1778 - 1834
24th March - William Fraher - Power O'Malley (1877-1946) Artist.  His Life and Times.
21st April - Jimmy Lenihan - The Secrets of the Deep.

Title's will be added as we receive them, please watch this space.

Donations: World War I Militaria & Trade Union Card

Last Wednesday we accepted some very nice war memorabilia for addition to our growing artifact collection. Among the items were 3 medals, a soldiers paybook from 1918, belts, a stone cross and  a enrollment Certificate of Commemoration from the 1898. Other interesting items that came in this week were an odd little rock that has been embedded in, what seems to be, iron or perhaps lava, a membership card from the Operative Plasterers Trade Society and a printing block from O'Donnell's Model Dairy, Dungarvan.

Donations: IRA Memorabilia

We had a surprise visitor from the Bronx, last Tuesday - Mary O'Brien, and she brought with her some very nice additions for our collection, including an Emergency Service Medal complete with application forms. Also this week we received a donation of a pistol, holster, bayonet and dagger. The latter two items were seized during the IRA raid on Mine Head, Coastguard Station on the 14th of May 1919.

Lectures: The War Of Independence And Civil War In West Waterford

September 19th 2009
Our next exhibition 'The Road to Independence' starts with a series of talks on September 19th. The talks will begin at 3pm, in the Old Town Hall Theater. The exhibition covers the period 1916 - 1923: the War of Independence and Civil War in West Waterford. If you would like to donate any items of the period, for inclusion in this exhibition, please bring them into the Museum before September 14th, we would love to include them. More details on the lectures and a timetable of events will be posted on this blog shortly.

Exhibition: The Devil Is In The Detail

22nd August - 11th September 2009
A photographic exhibition on Dungarvan's Architectural Heritage featuring photographs of Ironwork, Stonework and Plasterwork. Free exhibition all are welcome. Runs in Waterford County Museum until the 11th of September 2009.