Book Launch - Troubled Times:War and Rebellion in North Galway, 1913-23 by Jarlath Deignan

A new book has just been published that chronicles the revolutionary decade in North Galway. Troubled Times: War and Rebellion in North Galway, 1913-23 is written by local GP Dr. Jarlath Deignan who is a member of the Old Tuam Society. The book discusses the various episodes that occurred during the pursuit of Irish freedom from a local perspective, including the Great War, Easter 1916, the War of Independence, the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the Civil War.  The region of North Galway witnessed significant events in all phases of the revolutionary period and is described by the author as a microcosm of the country as a whole.

Major events that occurred in the region are explored in detail. These include the Gallagh ambush in July 1920 when two RIC constables were killed and the subsequent sack of Tuam, the ambush at Kilroe near Headford in January 1921 and the summary execution of four men by Crown forces in retaliation, and the execution of six republican prisoners in Tuam by the Free State in 1923. Other events, including the experience of local men fighting the Great War, the arrest of Sean MacDiarmada at an anti-recruitment rally in Tuam in 1915, and the participation of Volunteers from North Galway in the 1916 Rising, are also detailed. Lesser known events too are chronicled; among them the boycott against Belfast goods initiated by Tuam traders and the evacuation of Crown forces from barracks in the region following ratification of the Treaty.

Troubled Times: War and Rebellion in North Galway, 1913-23 provides a fascinating insight into a tumultuous decade and allows it to be understood in its entirety. The Old Tuam Society is delighted to support the book launch at the Ard Rí House Hotel, Tuam, on Friday 8 November 2019 at 8 pm. Dr. Martin O’Donoghue, lecturer in Irish and British History at Northumbria University, is the guest speaker. All are welcome.

Venue: Ard Rí House Hotel, Tuam

Date: Friday November 8th at 8 pm

All welcome

September lecture - Tuam ICA Guild – a link in a global chain

The Old Tuam Society is delighted to welcome Mary Ryan for our first lecture of the 2019-20 season. Mary's talk is entitled ‘Tuam ICA Guild – a link in a global chain'.

The Tuam Guild of the Irish Countrywomen’s Association was founded in 1950 and is part of the national Irish Countrywomen’s Association founded in 1911. It is the largest women's association in Ireland with almost 10,000 members in over 500 guilds countrywide. It is also part of the Associated Country Women of the World which is the largest international organization for both rural and urban women.  It has a membership of nine million in over 70 countries. Its objective is to provide both educational and social opportunities for women.

Our lecturer is Mary Alacoque Ryan is a native of Galway city and a former second-level teacher. She has always had a deep interest in women’s issues, both historic and current. Currently she works as a correspondent for the Tuam Herald and also on two longitudinal studies: Growing Up in Ireland with the Economic Social and Research Institute and Children’s School Lives with University College Dublin.

Date: 12 September

Time: 8 pm

Venue: Tuam Library

All Welcome

June Lecture - The Connaught Rangers - The Battle for Hearts and Minds

The Old Tuam Society is delighted to welcome back historian Damien Quinn for our final lecture of the 2018-19 season. Damien's talk centres on the famed Connaught Rangers regiment. Damien will uncover the how this famed regiment was depicted in fiction, art and music and how this has added to their legend as “The Devil’s Own”.

Damien's area of specialist research is Irishmen who served in the British Army and he previously delivered excellent and thought-provoking lectures to the Society. Damien's M. Litt, entitled 'The Connaught Rangers and the Wars of Empire 1793-1922' is a survey of one Irish regiment's experience and involvement in imperial conflicts. In addition, Damien  curated ‘Galway and The Wars of Empire’ for the Galway City Museum which examined the involvement of Galway men and women in the Wars of Empire between 1796 and 1922. Damien is currently editing "The Connaught Rangers and the Wars of Empire 1793-1922" for publication. His previous publications include "Galway War Dead 1914 – 1918" (2015) and he founded Military History Ireland – A research resource on the men and women of Ireland who served in national and international conflicts.

8 pm

Thursday 27 June

Tuam Library

All Welcome

May Lecture - Tuam Orphan Girls Project

The OTS is delighted to announce details of our May lecture coming up next Thursday, 16 May in Tuam Library at 8 pm. Our guest lecturer Martin Curley has been very involved in genealogical research and local history since returning to Galway in 2013. A native of Guilka, Menough, he has lived in NYC and Liverpool and was involved for many years in emigrant groups. He is also the organiser of the Galway Genetic Genealogy Conference and administers several DNA Facebook groups including the Tuam, Mountbellew and Clonbern-Kilkerrin groups as well as Facebook groups for the Mannion and Donnellan clans. He also works with schools and community groups delivering workshops on Family History and Local Heritage as well as helping families and individuals trace their roots and relations through records and DNA.

The genesis of the Tuam Orphan Girls Project came about on discovering an 1849 Tuam Herald report of the Board of Guardians for the Tuam Union where the Australian authorities detailed the condition of girls who had been residents of Tuam Workhouse a year after leaving Tuam for a better life in Australia. Martin has worked in the very successful Mountbellew-Palestine Orphan Girls Project where descendants were invited to return to Mountbellew where their ancestors had left in 1852. This work meant that some descendants were able to meet their Irish cousins and Martin hopes a similar project would be helpful for Tuam. He is hoping that by pooling the resources and talents of people in Australia and Ireland to help that it would make this possible.

Venue: Tuam Library, High St.

Date: Thursday, 16 May

Time: 8 pm

February Lecture 2019: Ireland's Napoleon - John O'Connor Power

The Old Tuam Society's lecture series for the 2018-19 season resumes this February 21st and we are delighted to welcome author Jane Stanford who will be speaking about her ancestor John O’Connor Power. Jane's lecture entitled "Ireland's Napoleon" will detail Power's life as a Home Ruler, a Member for Mayo (1874-1885), a journalist and a Fenian through his prominent role in the Supreme Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. He was considered a formidable political strategist and made himself welcome in Westminster’s corridors of power and London society. Indeed, his cunning and intellect were such that he was an inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in creating Sherlock Holmes' nemesis Professor Moriarty; a seditious Irishman with ‘hereditary tendencies of the most diabolical kind'.

As the Supreme Council’s ‘accredited agent’, he advised successive British governments on land legislation, local government reform and electoral policy. He harnessed the influence of the diaspora, the Irish in England and the Empire and its ex-colonies and demanded justice for Ireland. Considered one of the outstanding orators of the time, he was ranked with Gladstone and John Bright.

Aged 25, he furthered his education at St. Jarlath's College, Tuam, with his fees and expenses paid by a combination of teaching and lectures in Britain and America. In his final year he was Professor of Humanities at St. Jarlaths.

Our speaker, Jane Stanford, is author of ‘Moriarty Unmasked: Conan Doyle and an Anglo-Irish Quarrel’, (Carrowmore, 2017) and ‘That Irishman: the life and times of John O’Connor Power’, (History Press Ireland, 2011).

We hope you will join us for what promises to be a fascinating lecture on the day that marks the centenary of his death, 21st February.

Tuam Library

8 pm, Thursday, 21 February

All Welcome

JOTS 15 launch

The Old Tuam Society has great pleasure in announcing the launch event for the 15th edition of the Journal of The Old Tuam Society. JOTS 15 will be officially launched by eminent historian Prof. Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh, Emeritus Professor of History at NUI Galway in the Corralea Court Hotel, The Square, Tuam at 8.00 p.m. on Thursday, 29th of November, 2018. This edition continues our traditional mix of articles and photos drawing on the wide history and heritage of the district. There is sure to be something to interest everyone! JOTS 15 includes articles on P.V. O’Brien, the driving force behind Tuam Theatre Guild’s success, a flavour of local life during the “Emergency”, the Ó hUiginn Bardic School at Kilclooney, Milltown, Eva O’Flaherty’s links to Kilcony-born Fenian Dr. Mark Ryan and Cumann na mBan, and the continuation of a fascinating study of the diverse history of Shop Street. We look forward to seeing you at our launch!

Time: 8 p.m.

Date: 29 November, 2018

Venue: Corralea Court Hotel,

The Square, Tuam

Conference Brochure "Pioneering Women in Irish History"

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