Large crowd turns out for Delvin Ginnell centenary
The forecast was ominous all week, but the Child of Prague worked wonders for Delvin on Sunday last, as a large crowd turned out at the Courtyard in the heart of the village to celebrate the life of one of its most famous sons.
Delvin native Laurence Ginnell (1852-1923) died 100 years ago after a long political career in which he served the people of Westmeath as an MP in the British House of Commons, and later as a TD in the revolutionary Dáil Éireann.
The sun shone, as a plaque to Ginnell’s memory was unveiled in the middle of the Courtyard in the centre of beautiful floral displays. For the occasion, Delvin welcomed members of the Ginnell family from both Dublin and Mullingar, and a special guest in the new ambassador of Argentina to Ireland, Her Excellency Ms Ana Laura Cachaza, who was joined by her Deputy Head of Mission, Mr Nicolas Francisco Vidal.
The Delvin unveiling was the first official outing for Ms Cachaza as ambassador, having presented her credentials to President Michael D Higgins on Thursday.
Her attendance for the Ginnell centenary was of significance in that Ginnell himself served as the Dáil envoy in Argentina from August 1921 to April 1922.
The plaque unveiling – part of an afternoon of centenary reflection organised by the Laurence Ginnell Commemoration Committee, Delvin Tidy Towns and Delvin Historical Society, supported by Westmeath County Council – brings to an end a long search for a final home for the memorial.
The plaque was produced by Gibney Monumental Works, Mullingar and funded under the Ireland 2016 programme. The unveiling, performed by Ms Cachaza and Michael Ginnell, a grandnephew of Laurence Ginnell, was followed by refreshments in St Patrick’s Hall, as well as a visual and material exhibition relevant to the lives of Ginnell and his wife Alice, and a lecture by historian, Dr Paul Hughes.
One of the striking features of the event was a performance by Dublin-based piper Sean Kelly, who played Amhrán na bhFiann and Fáinne Geal an Lae after the unveiling, before the piping at the head of a procession to the hall. Mick Kenny of Delvin Tidy Towns introduced the speakers, and Cllr Aoife Davitt, leas-cathaoirleach of Westmeath County Council, said she was delighted to be able to represent the local authority at the event.
Cllr Davitt referred to her own family’s participation in the War of Independence, and stressed the importance of keeping history alive. She referred to the strong bonds between Westmeath and Argentina, and remarked that Ginnell was sent to Buenos Aires in 1921 because of that link.
Dr Hughes, who is writing a biography of Ginnell, paid tribute to all those involved with planning the celebration and said that a monument to him in Delvin was “a long time coming”. Ginnell was an author, parliamentarian, propagandist, agrarian radical, orator, scholar and political organiser with an international profile and is the county’s best connection to the Irish revolutionary period.
He then introduced Ms Cachaza, and the ambassador said that she was delighted that her first official engagement was in a county with such a strong historic connection to Argentina.
The unveiling of the plaque – which features a photograph of Ginnell, taken in Waterford shortly before his arrest by British authorities in March 1918 – then took place.
Both the ambassador and Cllr Davitt were then presented with a bunch of flowers, while the ambassador was also presented with a Genesis Celtic cross and a copy of Westmeath: History and Society, the massive compendium of local history which was published last year.
In the hall, the exhibition featured a digital reel of photos and videos presented on a screen, while Melanie McQuade, Westmeath County Council heritage officer, assembled a collection of documents, displays and ephemera related to Ginnell’s life and career.
Among the items on display were Ginnell’s top hat, the trunk he used to transport luggage to and from London during his parliamentary career, an album of photographs from the final years of his career, and a first edition of his 1918 book DORA (Defence of the Realm Act) at Westminster.
In the reflection piece which followed refreshments prepared by the staff of Gaffney’s pub, Seamus O’Brien of Westmeath Archaeological and Historical Society introduced Ms McQuade and Dr Hughes, and the former spoke briefly about Westmeath County Council’s Decade of Centenaries Historian in Residence programme.
Dr Hughes gave an overview of Ginnell’s life in a 30-minute lecture, knitting together the local with the national and international features of his varied career.
Jane Ginnell, great-grandniece of Laurence and Alice Ginnell, then spoke briefly on behalf of the Ginnell family as the event came to a close.
Mullingar filmmaker Mark Bennett recorded the afternoon’s proceedings and will produce a short film about it for Westmeath County Council for release in the near future.