The abbey of Athenry, Co. of Gallway by Angelo Maria Bigari, July 1779. Cumann Staire agus Seandálaíochta Oirdheisceart na Gaillimhe Newsletter No. 18 Summer 2015 Events and Lectures, Spring / Summer 2015 Contents SEGAHS Lectures, 8.30pm in The Western Sack & Bag Co. by Ronan Killeen 2 The Irish Workhouse Centre, Portumna. A Ballinasloe Native and Australian by Declan Kelly 3 Meelick Cross by Christy Cunniffe 5 Tuesday, March 31st (Lecture) Éirí Amach na Cásca 7 Lecture by Damien Quinn entitled Rebranding Empire: Postcards: Glentane House by Shane Ruane 8 Memory and the Ownership of History. As Ireland The Reproductive Loan Fund by Steve Dolan 9 wades through the mire of remembrance, the story of Galway: At home and abroad by Liam Moloney 11 World War I is repackaged and redistributed like the What it says in the papers 12 shiny cigarette boxes given to British troops in the ______________________________________________ trenches of France in 1914. Bright shiny soldiers marching, flags unfurled, great speeches, never before Chairman’s Statement seen footage and local gatherings of the no-longer-silent I would like to express my thanks to everyone for the who stand to re-imagine those who were mutilated in support given to me since taking up my new role earlier the Imperial War 1914-1918. This lecture will examine this year. I would also like to acknowledge the Trojan how and why Ireland remembers World War I in the work done by out-going Chairperson, Christy Cunniffe. context of British Imperial remembrance. It will explore whether Ireland as a nation is complicit in the glorifica- For the next year, we have loads of lectures, events, and tion of Georgian Imperial values and if so, is it aware of other plans and we will be sure to keep you updated on the fact, or simply attaching itself to Sassoon’s “woeful same through this newsletter, via text and e-mail, and crimson of men slain”, oblivious to the consequences? indeed on-line. Thursday, April 30th (Lecture). Field Trip, May 9th Lecture by our own John Joe Conwell on the Bridges of Ann O’Riordan, Chairperson. Portumna marking the centenary of the new bridge. The Membership talk will highlight the significance of that area as a transport hub encompassing Connaught Harbour, Mun- SEGAHS welcomes all new members. As a member of our society you will learn a great deal about your heritage in an ster Harbour, Parsonstown and Portumna Bridge Rail- interactive way by having access to regular lectures and gath- way and the Hymany Way. The lecture will be followed erings. You do not need to have any qualifications or a high- by a field trip, albeit one at the bridge itself, on Satur- level knowledge as the wonderful thing about community and day 9th May at 11am with soup and sandwiches in local history is that anyone can get involved. The annual socie- O’Mearas afterwards. Booking in advance is essential. ty membership fee is only €20. Aughty Gathering, April 11th Articles The tenth Earth Day Aughty Gathering will take place on the 11th of April in the Lady Gregory Hotel, Gort (from 9:30am). If you have a heritage-related article or query that you would This year the gathering is being hosted by the Kiltartan Greg- like to share with the society, we would be happy to hear from ory Cultural Society and Slógadh Eachtaí. As always, every- you. You can contact us at [email protected], or by visiting one is most welcome and, following our own success hosting our facebook page at www.facebook.com/SEGAHS, by fol- the gathering last year, we look forward to seeing you there. lowing us on twitter @SEGAHSIreland, or by coming to one For more, see www.aughty.org. of our lectures or field trips. Athenry Western Sack and Bag Factory Ronan Killeen On Tuesday 28 May 1935 the Athenry Western Sack & Bag Factory was officially opened by Mr Gerald Boland TD who was Min- ister for Post and Telegraphs. The road that led to the building was decorated with bunting and a large crowd had come to see him, with the Gardaí giving him a guard of honour under Chief Superintendent Clenton, Ballinasloe, and Garda Kelly, Athenry. The Big Launch On the platform were Mr Weir, MD of the factory, TD’s Stephen Jordan and Sean Broderick; JJ Ruane; Haley B Murtagh and C Taylor; directors of the company, Dr C Foley; RM Burke; Tohermore, Tuam; R Collins Superintendent of the Agricultural College Athenry; Rev Mr North Bombfard, M Hession, Mayor F Carr, Newtown; Mr Bowes Daly of Dunsandle, and Dr Tom Powell. Mr Weir said he was proud and happy to see the fruits of their labour of the past eighteen months realised in the shape of a hand- some factory and he expressed the hope that the undertaking, though small, would help in the promotion and growth of other indus- tries. On behalf of the directors and shareholders of the company he welcomed the Minister. Larry Lardner then read a public ad- dress of welcome from the AIDPC (Athenry Industrial Development Promotional Committee). The sugar beet factories had required one million sacks for pulp and another million for sugar, and the Government could induce the companies to give orders for the sacks to the Athenry Western Sack & Bag Factory. Indeed Minister Boland was happy that the Minister for Industry and Commerce would do all he could to induce the directors of the sugar company to place their orders with the Athenry factory. Political Unity Both Mr RM Burke and Mr Broderick stated that they were glad to see support given by all political parties joined together and sup- porting industrial revival. Mr Jordan, said it was through Mr Weir’s technical knowledge, expert advice, and sound judgement that the factory had been established. They also had to thank the Government for helping them with the loan and the promptitude with which local capital was subscribed. Mr Ruane was confident that if the people of Athenry stood together, as they did in promoting the factory, and forget politics; they would have everything as a centre of distribution that a small town wants to make a success of any industry. After the public address the Minister and visitors were then shown inside the factory and saw about forty girls at work at different sewing machines in the cutting, make-up, and stitching of bags. The factory had a capacity of turning out a million bags each year and there was a genuine feeling that Athenry was finally getting some much needed and much deserved industry. Stagnation In reality, the factory never really reached the desired level of sustainability initially hoped for. It did however provide valuable em- ployment to the women of the time and the Irish Times on 18 October 1952 included a photograph of these women which was in- cluded in an article ‘Energy and enthusiasm to one man are helping to revive a forgotten town’. The names of those women, pic- tured below left, were N Higgins, Peggy Hanley, W Holian (forewoman), Annie Hanley and Kathleen O’Toole. Unable to compete on a sound footing as time went on, the factory had closed its doors for the last time by 1961. It was placed for sale in the classified section in Irish Times (below right) the following year. Sources: Connaught Tribune 1 June 1935, Irish Times 18 Oct 1952, Irish Times 21 July 1962. A Ballinasloe Native and Australian Missionary Declan Kelly Creagh Community Council`s recent careful restoration of an old headstone dedicated to one Elizabeth Rigney (pictured right) calls to mind the story of a forgotten son of Ballinasloe and a missionary pioneer, Archdeacon Rigney of Paramatta. John Rigney was born in a small cottage, now long gone, in Brackernagh, Ballinasloe on 18th January 1814. The best de- scription we have of the area in which he was reared comes from John O`Donovan`s field notes for the Ordnance Survey of 1838 in which he describes Brackernagh as ‘a long and neat range of houses which are in good repair’. Griffith`s Valuation of 1855 places Rigney`s dwelling on the lower part of Brack- ernagh, an area locally known as `Duck Street` on account of a cleft in the road and the resultant flooding during heavy rain- fall. We know little of his early life, but Fr Rigney would recall in 1872 that one of his childhood friends was John Derry (1811- 1870). Derry`s father Michael ran a small grocery and public house on Dunlo Street opposite Brutin`s coach-building yard (now the site of the Catholic Presbytery) and young John would go on to become Bishop of Clonfert in 1847 and attend the First Vatican Council. He was also presided over the most ex- tensive and confident programme of church-building in Clon- fert diocese since the Reformation. Rigney matriculated into Maynooth for Kilmacduagh diocese in September 1834 and like many of his time took the bold step of transferring to a distant diocese, emboldened by the image of carrying the Gospel message to foreign shores. He was obvi- ously a bright student as his course was completed in three years; just two days prior to his ordination, on 28th December 1837, he and 7 of his fellows were feted in the dining hall of Maynooth by 500 other students as they prepared for the ardu- ous journey to Australia. Nearly four months after setting sail, he arrived in Sydney on the migrant ship Cecilia in July of the following year.