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7th of May 2008 |
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Well, it's sunshine in West Cork this week -
temperatures hitting 20C. So bring the
sunscreen if you're on your way... and the
jacket as it might not last.....
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De La Salle Past Pupils'
Union launch 2nd edition of 'And Time Stood
Still' |
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Skibbereen has been waiting for the second
edition of the excellent book 'And Time
Stood Still' and we're happy to say
that it was launched last night and is now
available for sale. About twice the size of
the first, it is very good value retailing at
40 euro and, like the first edition, will soon
sell out. We stock it here in the shop but,
for overseas readers, you can buy online from
the website www.southernstar.ie
and they will ship it to anywhere in the
world.
This invaluable pictorial history book has
several chapters as follows:
1. A Trip Down Memory Lane 2. Times
Past for Leap, Glandore, Union Hall,
Castletownshend, Skibbereen- Lough Ine,
Tragumna, Baltimore, The Islands, Oldcourt,
Ballydehob, Schull, Caheragh, Castlefreke. 3.
Rural Life 4. A Time to Remember
covering Trams, West Cork Railways, Cork
County Council Machinery Yard Skibbereen,
Official Visit of H.E. Erskine Childers, Over
Half a Century of Flooding, Moving the Maid of
Erin, 'War of the Buttons', Building Bridges
in Skibbereen, The Post Office and Telephone
Exchange. 5. Happy School Days and
Occasions to Remember 6. Entertainment 7.
Outings 8. Achievements 9. Social
Functions 10. G.A.A 11. Sport 12.
Religious Matters 13. People in
Uniform 14. Local Politics 15. Local
History 16. Moments in Time
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Skibbereen and District
Historical Society upcoming events. |
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Skibbereen and District
Historical Society have announced details of
their summer programme as follows:
April 30th at 8.30pm in the West Cork
Hotel; final talk of the winter programme
'Katherine, Wife of Charles Stewart Parnell'
given by Historical Society member Kevin
O'Byrne.
May 18th; trip to the Fastnet Rock
departing from Baltimore at 12 noon. If
weather is inclement, the alternative is a
trip around the islands. Cost of 17euro -
please contact Brendan McCarthy 028-21094 to
reserve a place.
June 28th; bus departs Skibbereen at
9am to visit Cork City Goal with a break for
lunch in Blarney and then returning to the
Radio Museum Experience. Cost 30 euro max
(dependant on numbers may be less) which will
include both admissions. Contact Liz
Threapleton 028-23530 to reserve a place.
June/July the 4th Journal will be
launced - further details to follow.
July evening trip to Barlogue and Lough
Hyne with Michael Burke; further details to
follow.
September Trip to Abbeymahon and
Timoleague with Chairman Jim Byrne and Fr. Pat
Hickey as speakers. Further details to follow.
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04/04/08 Summer is coming! |
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Well, it's earlier than last year
but we've just seen our first swallow drinking
from the River Ilen this morning. Other signs
of upcoming summer are all around and the
bluebells are out at Lough Hyne already
too.....
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Historical Society Talk
26th of March |
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Skibbereen and District
Historical Society's next Talk will be on
Wednesday 26th. March at 8.30pm in the West
Cork Hotel. The subject will be Weather
Forecasting and its History. We are fortunate
to have as our Speaker Vincent O 'Shea the
well known MET Eireann Meteorologist whose
voice is familiar to us all. Vincent is a
local man from Ballyalla near skibbereen where
his parents still live. All are welcome to
what promises to be a very informative Talk. A
small subscription will be asked of
non-members
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St. Patrick's Day Parade |
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Participants are congregating on
the bypass at 2.15pm and the parade will make
its way via Ilen Street and Bridge Street to
the viewing stand on Main Street, expected to
arrive there at 3pm. There are many floats and
fun is guaranteed on the day (weather
permitting!). Come along and enjoy the
fun........... but bring the umbrella just in
case!
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St. Patrick's Weekend and
Easter |
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Skibbereen Heritage Centre will
go back to its normal off-peak hours of
Tuesday to Saturday inclusive 9.30am to 6pm from
Tuesday the 11th of March. It will open all
over Saint Patrick's and Easter weekends
9.30am
to 6pm. Come along and welcome!
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Skibb Dug Up! |
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Well, the good news is that the
water scheme has finally got underway in
Skibbereen but the bad news is that some of
the roads are being dug up or closed. Upper
Bridge Street is currently closed but it's
open as far as the Heritage Centre car park.
Access is also available from Ilen Street by
foot across Roycroft's yard. No excuse not to
visit!
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Skibbreeen and District
Historial Society |
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Skibbereen and District
Historical Society holds its Annual General
Meeting on Wednesday, 27th of February at 8.30
at the West Cork Hotel. Past and future
activities are on the agenda and all members
are asked to attend.
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Winter Opening Hours |
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Skibbereen Heritage Centre will
be open to visitors from Monday to Friday
inclusive from the 28th of January 2008.
Please see the Information page for opening
hours from March onwards. We look forward to
welcoming you.
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Winter Programme
Skibbereen and District Historical Society |
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Skibbereen and District
Historical Society's winter programme is as
follows:
*January 30th at 8.30pm West Cork Hotel - 'Serving a City - The History
of the English Market in Cork' by Diarmuid
O'Drischeóil. Diarmaid will tell of the
growth of Cork City through to the 18th
century of other markets which existed before
the English Market and how they developed.
When telling us of the English Market, he will
elaborate on its genesis, the characters who
operated there,the traditions of its foods and
how it adapted through time to the
cosmopolitan marketplace it now is.
*February 28th Annual General Meeting
*March 26th 'The History of Weather
Forecasting' by Vincent O'Shea
*April 30th 'Catherine Parnell' by Kevin Byrne
Articles for the 2008 journal are welcome from
members - deadline for submission is January
2008
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November 30th 2007 |
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Very sad news for all Lough Hyne lovers. One of its most famous
inhabitants, Mr John Bohane of Dromadoon,
passed away today. John lived by the
lake for all of his life and his knowledge and
love of the area was well known. As a
caretaker at the Reserve, he met and
befriended many of the marine biologists over
the years and the Bohane Laboratory was named
in his honour. We offer our deepest sympathies
to the Bohane family and wish John well on his
journey. Slán go foill....
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December |
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Winter Wonderland is running in
Skibbereen between 1-23rd of December! Come
and visit Santa in Skibb - for further details
see www.skibbereen.ie/winterwonderland/
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28th of November |
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Skibbereen and District Historical
Society’s next talk is on Wednesday 28th
November in the
West Cork
Hotel
at 8.30pm. "The History of Rathbarry and
Castle Freke" will be presented by
Michael Collins. Covering the period from the
arrival of the Barry's with the
Normans
c.1250, to the present day ownership by the
Carbery family.
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November 2007 |
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Skibbereen Heritage Centre is delighted to
be now add the R.C. Church baptismal records
of the parishes of Drinagh and
Drimolegue to its genealogy section.
The marriage records should follow
subsequently. The database project for the
Skibbereen, Rath and the Islands parish
records is ongoing. In addition, the Centre
has expanded its database of the Tithe
Applotment books to cover additional parishes.
Please see the genealogy page for the list of
parishes.
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28th of September 2007 |
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Decedents of O'Donovan Rossa visited the
Centre today and we were very pleased to
welcome them! Ann Brennan, the great
grand-daughter of Rossa and Beth Whelpley, his
great, great grand-daughter. They visited the
sites relevant to their ancestor and in
exchange, gave a lot of information on
O'Donovan Rossa's life in the
US
. They are descendants of his third marriage.
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31st of August 2007 |
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Heritage Week events kicked off on a
beautiful sunny day at Lough Hyne, near
Skibbereen, with a series of well attended,
fun events organised by Skibbereen Heritage
Centre.
Dr Rob McAllen, Dr John Davenport and Eoin
O’Gorman of the Department of Zoology in UCC
brought in species in touch tanks to the North
Pier and a large crowd gathered to see and
handle these creatures. Lough Hyne is
Europe
’s first statutory Marine Nature Reserve and
is the most studied site of its size in the
world so it was an appropriate setting for
this educational event. Dr McAllen sprayed
some of the unsuspecting audience with a sea
squirt raising laughs all around, while
explaining how this bizarre looking creature
was the closest relative to humans in the
tanks. Common and purple sea urchins, scallop,
common, bloody henry and brittle star fish
were handled by the observers while the
scientists explained their biological make up
and feeding habits. Risking the loss of his
finger while the audience dissolved in peals
of laughter, Dr McAllen explained how a velvet
swimming crab attacks its prey and showed how
to determine the sex of a crab using the more
docile edible crab as an example. Over the 2
hour period of the lecture, approximately 100
people were entertained and educated at this
event.
Following this, Skibbereen Tidy Towns members
gave of their time and energy to collect 22
bags in their Caring for Lough Hyne litter
pick. Local residents, the Crockett and Keena
families also lent a hand while kayakers, Seán
and Claire from Russagh Mill Adventure Centre,
scoured the shoreline. The bags were collected
by Cork County Council after this successful
event.
Skibbereen Historical Walks gave a free
escorted historical walking tour to 20 people
that evening. Covering the history of
Ireland
using the medium of Skibbereen’s streets,
Margaret Murphy also answered questions and
covered the famous historical figures from the
area.
The following week saw two further events at
Skibbereen Heritage Centre – Monday night an
illustrated talk ‘Invasive Aliens’ and
Thursday night a talk on Margaret ‘Tommy’
Warren.
‘Invasive Aliens’ covered the invasive
flora and fauna that are causing problems to
the habitats, flora and fauna of
West Cork
. Declan O’Donnell of the National Parks and
Wildlife Service covered such species as the
japanese knotweed, zebra mussels and american
mink, showing slides of these creatures and
the damage that they can do. Now the second
largest threat to biodiversity, these
introduced species can also impact the
economy, e.g. zebra mussel’s effects in the
US
estimated to cost $5 billion. Some of the
species, for example the giant hogweed
commonly found around
West Cork
, can also cause medical damage if handled.
The giant hogweed is highly irritating and can
result in hospitalisation and permanent
sensitivity to the sun. Other creatures, such
as the mitten crab and japanese knotweed, can
damage foundations of buildings causing
structural damage. Other potential financial
impacts include damage to farming when
new zealand
flatworms deplete indigenous earthworms,
damage to boats from zebra mussels and damage
to marine environments from japanese wireweed.
A lively question and answer session followed
and Declan got an appreciative round of
applause from the audience.
The final event of the week was a talk on
Margaret Warren given by Peter Murray of the
Crawford Gallery. A crowd of about 50 turned
up to hear and remember the story of this
fascinating woman’s life. Born in
Texas
, she was one of the first female pilots in
the
US
and was a pioneering figure in an era when
women were mostly excluded from such pursuits.
She went on to marry into a prominent
Boston
family and tales of her exploits had the
audience in break into laughter. She came to
live in Castletownhend later in life and
established the
Warren
Gallery
. Art was always very important to her and
here in
West Cork
, she fostered artistic talent while also
painting herself. Some of the audience also
recounted their memories of this dynamic woman
and it was obvious that she was much loved and
respected in the area. Peter Murray’s
admiration of his subject was obvious and
again, the audience showed its appreciation
with prolonged applause.
Skibbereen Heritage Centre would like to
sincerely thank all participants for giving
their time and efforts so freely to celebrate
Heritage Week.
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15 August 2007 |
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The launch of the upcoming Taste of West
Cork Festival was held tonight at
Skibbereen Heritage Centre with Darina Allen
officially opening the festival. There was a
lively crowd and much eating and drinking! The
food festival is on the 20th to the 23rd of
September and you can see details of events on
www.atasteofwestcork.com
If the food tonight was anything to go by,
we're in for a treat that
weekend...................
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16 July 2007 |
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Skibbereen Heritage Centre featured on an
RTE television programme recently called
'Nationwide'. The show first visited the
Heritage Centre, then the Southern Star
newspaper and the West Cork Arts Centre. 2
local artists were also interviewed and
Skibbereen town was on national TV for 30
minutes prime time viewing. If you missed it,
there is an opportunity to see it online by
going to http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0715/nationwide.html
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26/06/07 Heritage Week
events 2007 |
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Skibbereen Heritage Centre is pleased to
organise the following events to commemorate
Heritage Week 2007 as follows:
Saturday the 25th of August 10am
to 6pm – half price admission at Skibbereen
Heritage Centre
Saturday the 25th of August from
11am to 1pm, touch tank at north pier Lough
Hyne with UCC scientists on hand to interpret
the species. Children may see and touch
creatures. Admission free.
Saturday the 25th of August 1-3pm
help Skibbereen Tidy Towns with its ‘Caring
for Lough Hyne’ litter pick. Please come and
help - all equipment will be provided.
Saturday the 25th of August 6.15pm
– Skibbereen Historical Walks offer a free
guided historical tour of the town of
Skibbereen
. Booking essential on 028 40900.
Monday the 27th of August at
8.30pm – Declan O’Donnell of The National
Parks and Wildlife Service will give an
illustrated talk on the invasive alien species
impacting the habitats, flora and fauna of
West Cork
.
Thursday the 30th of August at
8.30pm – illustrated talk on Margaret
‘Tommy’ Warren, the first and youngest
pilot in the
USA
who spent her final years in Castletownhend
and established the
Warren
Gallery
. The speaker is Peter Murray, Director of the
Crawford Gallery,
Cork
.
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14/06/07
Skibb Woman on The Moon |
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Skibbereen Credit
Union has kindly sponsored a panel on Agnes
Clerke (1842-1907), a facinating Skibbereen
woman, who has a crater on the moon named in
her honour, Clerke's Crater located
near the Sea of Serenity.
Her father, John W. Clerke, was manager
of the Skibbereen branch of the Provincial
Bank in Bridge Street and was one of the
founding members of the Relief Committee
during the time of the Famine. He was also a
keen astronomer and used a telescope with a
chronograph to supply a time service for the
town of Skibbereen. Agnes inherited her father's love
of astronomy and took it up seriously at the
age of 11.
She published several books on
astronomy and was highly regarded by her
peers. Skibbereen Heritage Centre is grateful
to the Credit Union for sponsoring this panel
to commemorate the anniversary of this
extraordinary woman.
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11/05/07 The Newly Weds |
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Well here they are, the newly weds - and
Margaret is the one in the white dress!
Congratulations again......
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21/04/07
Upcoming Nuptials! |
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Romance is in the air at Skibbereen Heritage
Centre at the moment - Margaret is due to 'tie
the knot' on Saturday the 28th of April.
Margaret has worked at the Centre since 2002
and has helped many people with genealogy
enquiries. Originally from Cork city, she has
decided to settle in West Cork and marry a
Drinagh man, Steve Murphy, and we're very
happy to have her here permanently!
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13/04/2007: Summer is
coming |
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Yes, summer is coming - it's official! The
first swallow of the year was seen drinking
from the river Ilen today and yes, the
Bluebells are out in Lough Hyne too.......
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11/04/2007: Historical
Talk |
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'Old Aghadown Church and Graveyard, A Unique
19th Century Church?'
A talk by Bernard O'Mahony at St. Matthews
Parish Hall Church Cross on Wednesday the 25th of April at 8pm.
Admission Free and all are welcome.
Bernard O'Mahony is from Cork and went to UCC as
a mature student in 2001. He obtained his MA degree in
Archaeology last year. His MA thesis topic was a study of 19th
century Church of Ireland churches in South West Cork; old
Aghadown church was included in his research area. He is curently
self-employed and is surveying ruined churches in graveyards for Cork
County Council's Historic Monuments Advisory Committee.
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31/03/2007:
Skibbereen and District Historical Society |
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Skibbereen and District Historical Society
please contact the Secretary Mr Adrian Healy at adrianhealytc@eircom.net for
informaton on the Society and its talks.
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