Can
you identify the people and place in this photograph? If so please let us know.
Stories from Old Newspapers
Rev James
Alcock Ring (1805-1893)
The following piece
was published in The Protestant Standard,
Sydney, on 27 May 1893.
Death of an Old Irish Clergyman
We regret to have
to announce the death at the advanced age of eighty-eight years, of the Rev.
James Alcock, A.M., Vicar of Ringagoona, near Dungarvan,
in the diocese of Lismore, with which parish he had been associated for sixty
years. The deceased was ordained in the
year 1831, and was appointed to the parish of Ringagoona in 1833, and
officiated up to within a few months of his death. During the Famine years the Rev. J Alcock
rendered valuable help to the starving people around Ring, having procured
funds for the purpose of buying food which was the means of saving many lives. A curious incident in connection with the
deceased and perhaps the only case of the kind in Ireland was that he resided
during the sixty years…in the house of a Roman Catholic gentleman (Mr. Fitzgerald
of Seaview). It appears at the time of
his appointment there was no Glebe house in the parish, or in fact, any house
procurable, and being invited to stay at Seaview he remained there until his
death.
Photo of the Week
Can you identify the people and place in this photograph? If so please let us know.
Stories from Old Newspapers
Dungarvan
- ‘the bathing here is execrable’
The following piece was published in the Clonmel Herald on
the 25th of July 1831. The
writer was underwhelmed by the charms of Dungarvan.
Dungarvan….the approach provides a delightful
promenade…it may be remarked that though it is one of the most considerable
fishing towns in the kingdom, there are times when like the present fish is
scarce and very dear; at the period of this excursion there was much scarcity
of hake, but a glut of sprats which were sold extremely cheap and on which the
poor people appear to live; these last fish if salted, dried in the air, and
smoked, afford, it is said, a delightful repast. The meat market was poorly supplied with
mutton and beef, vegetables were scarce and consequently dear; the old potatoes
which is of the old red apple kind, are very excellent and very superior to new
potatoes.
The bathing here is execrable in consequence of the
want of accommodation. Warm baths can be
had but they are on the most disgusting and confined plan. The same water is made to serve for several
persons, and the baths are of wood. It
is very extraordinary that the inhabitants who must be benefiting by the influx
of visitors that come here every season, would not exert themselves to have
proper baths erected. Were the Duke of
Devonshire applied to …we have no doubt, but he would bear the expense of
erecting baths.
Water Damage to Museum Exhibitions
Last Friday morning
our worst nightmare came true when museum staff arrived to discover that the
upstairs bathroom had overflowed sending large volumes of water crashing
through the ceiling onto museum exhibits beneath.
This area has only
been completed a few weeks ago and also contained the archaeology section of
our new Brenan exhibition, so it was a heartbreaking sight to behold.
The walls contained
some of our most important drawings and paintings by artists such as Sarah
Purser, Power O’Malley, Maud Power and rare 19th century sketches
and watercolours of Dungarvan. Part of
our new Brenan exhibition was beneath the deluge containing valuable
archaeological sketches, letters and pamphlets.
The curator and museum staff took immediate action to
move display cases and remove the pictures from the walls while the water was
still pouring down. The museum committee
cannot thank the staff enough for their tremendous efforts working in such an awful
mess of water and debris.
Thanks to Paulus, Miriam, Tony, Danny, Patricia and Barry. A big thank you to Joanne Rothwell, Waterford
City & County Archivist who came to our rescue and offered advice and practical
assistance. Our thanks to museum
committee members Paul McLoughlin and Chrissy Knight O’Connor who helped with
the clean up. Thanks also to Tara
McAndrew CE Supervisor, Conor Nolan, Waterford City Arts Officer, Gabriel Foley and the
council staff.
Photo of the Week
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Stories from Old Newspapers
Captain Patrick
Curran, Dungarvan, took Patrick McCue, Abbeyside, to court for abusing and
threatening language in October 1877. Their
case was reported in the Waterford News on the 9th of November 1877.
‘Captain Curran was
on board the brigantine Fairy…when the defendant came over from the quay,
called him a blackguard and pig boy, and said, in a threatening attitude ‘By
J…s you had better look out for yourself’.; about half past eight o’clock the
same night the complainant again saw the defendant and some other sailors
coming along Abbeyside; he went to the other side of the road to avoid them,
but when they saw him they called him a blackguard and scoundrel, and abused
him very badly’.
Captain Curran told
the court that the sailors were now on strike as a result of McCue’s
intimidation. He stated that Captains
Christopher and Halley were on board the ship Fairy and witnessed what McCue
said. Captain Curran admitted that he and McCue had called each other liars
previously.
The captain of the Fairy was Hally and he was also a witness to the confrontation between the two men. He said that McCue said to Captain Curran: ‘Did you say that the Dungarvan and Abbeyside sailors were a dirty hungry lot?’ Captain Curran said that he was afraid that McCue would do him an injury. The case concluded with McCue being bound over and had to pay two sureties of £10 each for 12 months, or in default to be imprisoned for two months with hard labour’.
National Heritage Awards
Waterford County Museum,
Dungarvan were delighted to be recognised for an award and to represent
Waterford at the National Heritage Awards on Wednesday the 6th of February
2019.
Pictured: Chrissy Knight O'Connor and Eddie
Cantwell (Waterford County Museum/Gallows Hill Project Coordinators).
Photo of the Week
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Stories from Old Newspapers
Knockbrack Slate Quarry
On the 30th
of September 1933 the Dungarvan Observer published an article about the
reopening of the Knockbrack Slate Quarry near Clashmore which had not been
worked for many years and had first opened in the 19th century. According to historian Canon Power,
Knockbrack slate was exhibited in the Cork International Exhibition of 1902.
The paper noted that
the promoters had just made the final arrangements about employing local
people. It was anticipated that initially
30 to 50 people would be employed. Much of the
work involved clearing out the old debris to enable them to dig deeper to find
the better quality slate. ‘It may be
interesting to note that the present machinery about to be erected…consists of
one giant crane by Butler Brothers, Engineers, Glasgow’. It was noted that the promoters had received
a government loan.
J McGrath CEIMCE was
appointed overseer, John Tynan, engineer, formerly of the Killaloe Slate
Quarry, was in charge of the machinery. The
company representatives also paid a visit to the P.P. of Clashmore, Father
Murphy, who wished them well.
It was explained that
the quality of the slate in the quarry was very good, ‘especially the green
seam, and this may be proved by the fact that many of the oldest houses in
Youghal, Clashmore, and other places are covered with Knockbrack slate, and are
there for over 100 years or more’.
In the Schools
Collection on www.duchas.ie there is a reference
to the quarry compiled by Ballycurrane School:
‘The old slate quarry
at Knockbrack supplied all the slate that was used in roofing here about a
hundred years ago. The slate on the
school came from there. It was rather
small and heavy and was not polished off like the English slate as they had not
the requisite machinery. It was owned by
the Coughlan family. Some years ago it
was acquired by the Killaloe Company and was worked for a while. Some fine slate was got but it was abandoned
again. A huge hole half filled with
water is all that remains of the last attempt’.
John F Boyle in his booklet - Waterford County: Its Lapsed and Possible Industries 1906 referred to the excellent quarry at Knockbrack situated on the lands of Mr Coughlan and its green and purple slates.
The Tragic Voyage of Paul and Aga Mueller - An Illustrated Talk by Brian Mulvihill
Brian’s talk deals with Aga Mueller and her father Paul and their
failed voyage from Germany to Argentina in a sixteen foot boat named
Berlin. The journey that they chose to
undertake was indeed an epic one and Brian will trace their journey to its end
and all that happened in between.
The story is a fantastic
one with twists and turns that people will not believe, it’s worthy of an
Agatha Christie novel, with a cliff hanger ending. The story does not end
with the ending of the voyage and goes right up to the modern day! Brian has spent many years researching this particular project, and it
most certainly is going to be a very interesting talk.
Brian worked for many years in Dungarvan Crystal prior to the
factory closure. He then returned to
college and retrained as a teacher. This
retraining included a yearlong work placement at a camp in America. Upon qualification, Brian secured work with
the Waterford Wexford ETB and he currently works as a tutor with Dungarvan Youthreach.
This talk takes place in the Town Hall Theatre, Dungarvan on Wednesday the 20th of February at 8pm. There is an admittance fee of €5, and as always, all are welcome.