Fascinating series of historical talks being hosted locally during January
FOLLOWING on from a successful 2017 for them, Cork County Council’s heritage department is set to start off 2018 by highlighting a number of fascinating events lined up for early January.
On Tuesday, January 9 at 8pm The Mallow Field Club will host a talk at the local Social, Services Centre focussing on the life and works of a man whose contribution to Irish society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries has largely been overlooked.
Entitled ‘ William O’Brien – Forgotten Son of Mallow’, the talk will be delivered by historian John O’Donovan.
Born in Mallow in 1852, O’Brien began his career as a journalist with The Cork Daily Herald and first gained notoriety for his ‘ Christmas in the Galtee’s’ series written in 1877-78, which portrayed the appalling conditions experienced by tenants and their families of the Kingston Estate.
Shortly after being appointed editor of ‘United Ireland’ in 1881 he was imprisoned for ‘ extreme editorship’ and following his release was elected a Member of Parliament.
Over his life he agitated to improve living conditions, including founding the United Irish League and was a prolific writer penning a number of books.
He died in 1928 and is buried in St Mary’s graveyard, Mallow.
On Wednesday, January 10 at 5pm historian Cal McCarthy will deliver an illustrated talk entitled ‘Remembering the Hougoumont, 150-years-ago’ in the council chamber at County Hall.
The Hougoumont, Australia’s last convict ship, arrived in Freemantle on January 10, 1868 with 62 Irish Fenians aboard. The talk will tie-in with the ‘Fenian’s, Freedom and Freemantle Festival’ taking place in Freemantle during January, which will celebrate, the influence of Irish culture in Australia.
The following night Scoil Mhuire Gan Smál in Blarney will host ‘Viking Silver Hoards from Cork’, an illustrated lecture organised by the local historical society at 8pm
Guest speaker. John Sheehan, senior lecturer in the UCC’s Department of Archaeology, will discuss what became of the priceless Viking treasure troves discovered in North and Mid- Cork during the 1840’s and offer an insight into Viking way of life in Ireland during the 9th and tenth centuries.
On Monday, January 15th at 8pm the Muskerry Local History Society will host a talk delivered by Tim Crowley entitled ‘ The Conscription Crisis in Cork – 1918’ at the Ballincollig Rugby Club.