For Sale

BACK ISSUES OF THE JOURNAL OF THE OLD TUAM SOCIETY

Past editions of JOTS are available for purchase via PayPal. Any enquires regarding back issues should be addressed to journalots@gmail.com

Sold Out: JOTS 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6

Available : 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

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"TUAM MEMORIES OF BOBBY BURKE" DVD SET

This twin DVD Set gives over two and a half hours of recollections of this extraordinary man by people who knew him. It is divided into his agricultural activities and his political career.  It was created by Maurice Laheen and John Hynes for the Old Tuam Society and funded in the main by RAPID (Tuam).

Sometimes there are people who make a deep impression on their community, by virtue of their lives and their values. Bobby Burke was such a person. In Maurice Laheen’s DVD set, a succession of people from the Toghermore and wider Tuam area, recount their contact with his agricultural (DVD1) and political (DVD2) activity.

This is the raw stuff of history, presented without comment. The first film gives very clear details from existing traces that still remain in the landscape of Toghermore of just how far reaching and before their time his agricultural ideas were. (He was a trained Agronomist.)  His political philosophy aligned itself effortlessly with his tireless efforts on behalf of the disadvantaged in his community.  But being a Christian Socialist with a utopian vision was not a comfortable place in the Ireland of the 1930s, '40s and '50s.  Words like Communist, Anti-catholic, and Proselytiser were used by his opponents. (Bobby Burke was a member of the Church of Ireland).

This set is a wonderful exposition: lovingly recalled, in the accents and idioms of North Galway people who knew and admired him. This amazing man (according to Rev. Dr.Tony Byrne CSSp.) was one of the last voluntary aid workers to board a doorless cargo plane leaving the collapsing Biafran Republic twenty years later in 1970. Truly he was one who heeded the gospel missive to “Go sell what thou hast, give to the poor and come and follow me”. Were he a Catholic I have no doubt we could have opened the beatification process by now.

This DVD set is as complete a record as Tuam has yet produced about his time amongst us. It is a wonderful social testament that reflects, after half a century, the warmth and esteem in which this good man is still held and captures this in a way that no lecture or book could. Anyone interested in the social history of Tuam owes a debt to Maurice and John. The set is available at €25, please email us (journalots@gmail.com) for more details.

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MEMORIES OF CLORAN'S BAKERY DVD

This DVD was compiled and directed by Old Tuam Society member Maurice Laheen. It not only chronicles the rise and decline of a major business in Tuam dating from the late 1830s, but also opens a vista into the business life and history of the town.

This fascinating DVD, giving a superb insight into one of Tuam's prominent business families, is available at a very reasonable €10 plus p&p. Please email (journalots@gmail.com) for details.

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The following previous publications from OTS members are available elsewhere occasionally (e.g. Eason's, Amazon, ebay etc.)

TUAM (IRISH HISTORIC OWNS ATLAS NO. 20)

This Royal Irish Academy publication (2009) was written by Old Tuam Society stalwart Dr. Tony Claffey. It is the first IHTA atlas to chart a town west of the Shannon, and indication of the depth of history attached to Tuam.

Tuam (Irish Historic Towns Atlas No. 20) By J.A. Claffey (2009) Including CD-ROM

ISBN: 978-1-904890-47-8

Price: approx. €30

The topographical section of the atlas documents over 700 features of Tuam, including the high crosses, churches, mills, schools and markets, from the town’s early monastic beginnings, through its rise to prominence under the O’Connor High Kings, right up to modern times. This impressive publication also includes a number of large format maps capturing Tuam in medieval times, and in the 18th and 19th centuries. Also included are many illustrations and photographs giving an insight into life in the town.

Maps

Maps included in loose page large format include: Brown 1591, Petty 1685, Morris 1720, Taylor and Skinner 1777, Larkin 1808, Jones 1812, Fair Plan 1838, and Bourke 1863.

Plates

A number of photographs are included which give a snapshot of life in the town: Reconstructions of the town c. 1900, Market Square c. 1900, Bishop Street, c. 1900, and Tuam from the air, 2004.

CD-Rom

This atlas also includes a CD-Rom which includes all text sections, maps and plates in pdf format. Text section is also searchable.

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GLIMPSES OF TUAM SINCE THE FAMINE

Edited by J.A. Claffey

Publisher: Old Tuam Society (1997)

Paperback: 254 pages

ISBN-10: 0953025004

Out of Print