Pages Past; from commemorating IRA dead, to 'Goldsmith's home in ruins'

Westmeath Examiner, April 18, 1925

Commemorating the dead of the IRA

A commemoration had been held In Mullingar on Easter Sunday, at the grave of the late Mr Michael Horan, in Ballyglass Cemetery, of all the officers and men belonging to County Westmeath IRA who died since 1916.

A report in the Westmeath Examiner of April 18, 1925 stated that a procession had formed at the county council buildings and marched to the cemetery. The Multyfarnham Fife and Drum band with a banner played The Dead March.

The Rosary was recited in Irish beside the grave, the Last Post having been sounded, and an oration was delivered by Mr Joseph Brown, Dublin. Mr Brown said history was repeating and they could learn from the past that the freedom of Ireland was still safe in the hands of those who stood true to the Republic. He wished to remind them that it was not an assembly such as this – desirable though it might be – or words that would count: what would count was what each individual did as a unit of the nation that would bring them nearer to the goal.

Westmeath Examiner, April 20, 1935

Goldsmith’s home in ruins

An appeal had been made to President Cosgrave by Mr Edward Page Gaston, FRGS, of the Museum Galleries, London, to rescue the ruined early home of Oliver Goldsmith at Lissoy, County Westmeath, the Westmeath Examiner reported on April 20, 1935.

The item stated that Goldsmith’s home had degenerated from a rectory to a cattle shed, and the item stated that a portion of the building was in imminent danger of further collapse.

“Cows and other domestic animals now wander at will in and out of the desolated parsonage door where Goldsmith’s father, as the idealised original of the 18th century rural preacher in ‘The Deserted Village’, once dispensed simple and unaffected hospitality to all who crossed that threshold,” Mr Gaston said.

As an American of Irish ancestry, Mr Gaston expressed his astonishment that such a fate should be permitted to overtake the scenes described in that immortal poem and also in The Vicar of Wakefield.

He said he first visited the spot in 1923, when it was understood that the protection and possible restoration of the ruined abode were under consideration by some Irish archaeologists, by officials of Trinity College Dublin – Goldsmith’s alma mater – and by Westmeath County Council, but on revisiting the place the previous month, he had found that nothing had been done or was in prospect so far as he could learn. Meanwhile, large additional cracks had developed in the front wall.

Mr Gaston estimated that £5,000 would be ample for the purpose of restoring the home and he was of the opinion that the multitude of Goldsmith’s lovers in America and throughout the world might endow the property and other places of Goldsmith’s association in the neighbourhood as a memorial in perpetuity.

Westmeath Examiner, April 21, 1945

Overcharging in shops

Overcharging in shops seemed to be a common occurrence in 1945, for the Westmeath Examiner of April 21, 1945 had several accounts of prosecutions against shopkeepers for charging the wrong prices. A shopkeeper in the Kinnegad area was fined five shillings and 17 shillings in expenses for charging 2 shillings and 9 pence for a pound of butter, while the controlled price was 2 shillings and 4 pence.

Two Mullingar traders were prosecuted for overcharging for onions. Evidence against the two shopkeepers was given by “a lady inspector” from the Department of Supplies, who said she was charged 9 pence for a pound of onions in a shop at Pearse Street and a shilling for a pound of onions at a shop in Dominick Street, while the maximum price allowed was 8 pence per pound. The two shopkeepers were each fined 5 shillings and ordered to pay 8 shillings expenses.

Another shopkeeper, in Mount Street, was also fined 5 shillings and ordered to pay 8 shillings expenses when convicted of selling a half pound of Jacobs Square Meal Biscuits at 1 shilling, while the correct price was 8 pence.

Westmeath Examiner, April 16, 1955

‘The Geisha’ in Kinnegad

The first performance of Kinnegad Choral and Dramatic Society’s 1955 production ‘The Geisha’ had taken place over the weekend, before a capacity-filled hall, and the Westmeath Examiner said the production was a credit to the musical director, Very Rev Fr Crinion PP, and all concerned.

Those taking part were: The Misses N Buckley, Josie Darby, Deirdre Hughes, Mona Coyne, Brigid McNevin, Maureen Casserly, Eileen Leech, Margaret Wiley, Mary Boland, Margaret Maxwell, Peggy Coyne, Messrs Finian Donnelly, Gerard Kilmartin, Patrick Coleman, John O’Rafferty, Edward Costelloe, John Hanley, Michael J Herity, John Crowley, Kenneth Flynn.

Ladies chorus: The Misses A Glynn, N Shaw, M Corcoran, B Wiley, B Cassidy, J Reilly, D Clonan, M Clonan, M Stewart, A Stewart, A Coyne, S Stack, A Clancy, M Clancy, J Treacy, M Cooney and M Gibney.

Gents chorus: Messrs S Murray, JJ Flynn, J Flynn, F Flynn, J Flynn, F Carberry, R Carberry, M Leech, S Mooney, F McNevin, O McDermott, J Fleming, J Kilmartin, J McCarthy, B O’Rafferty, P Dardis, S Scally, B Flynn, D Coyne and JJ Farrell.

Orchestra: violins – Miss D Brophil, Miss S Kenny, Miss A Hanly, Miss MA Leavy, Miss B Coyne, Mr P Plunkett; viola – Vy Rev E Crinion; cello – Mrs F Langan, Miss K Egan; bass – Miss V Sheridan; trumpet – Mr J Delaney; drums – Mr S Bruton; piano – Miss S McCormack.

Stage managers: Messrs B Kilmartin, S Daly; wardrobe mistresses: Mrs J Hanly and Miss C Boyhan.

Westmeath Examiner, April 17, 1965

Marathon election count

What has since become known as ‘The Marathon Count’ had earned the Longford Westmeath constituency not just a place in the local headlines, but coverage in the national press as well. The ‘count’ was the counting of votes in the 1965 general election. For this constituency, the count began in the Temperance Hall in Longford on Thursday on Thursday April 8 – and did not end until 3.30am on Tuesday April 13.

Those eventually elected were: Frank Carter, Fianna Fáil; Joe Sheridan, Ind; Gerry L’Estrange, Fine Gael and Patrick Lenihan, Fianna Fáil.

Westmeath Examiner, April 19, 1975

Federation of Rural Workers

A number of Federation of Rural Workers annual general meetings had been held recently, and were attended by Senator Tim McAuliffe. The Mullingar Branch elected Gerald Boyhan as chairman, Jimmy Rhattigan as elected vice-chairman, and Michael Murtagh as secretary. The committee was: Sonny Logan, George Gordon, Matt Charles, Tom Cole, Pat McGovern, Liam Gavin, Peter Donovan and P. Mullen (Forestry).

At the Castlepollard branch AGM, the line-up was: chairman, Joe Newman; vice-chairman, Larry Masterson; secretary, John Mullen; committee, John Feagan, Martin Malone, P Corrigan, Jimmy Greene, and Kevin Smith.

A vote of sympathy was expressed with Senator McAuliffe on the death of his sister-in-law, Mrs Teresa McAuliffe, Castlejordan, a native of Castlepollard. The vote was proposed by John Melia and seconded by Larry Masterson.

Elected at the Moate AGM were: chairman, Kevin Bannon; vice-chairman, John Grouden; committee, Owen Murray, Dan Muldoon, Owen Mulvihill, P Tierney, P Cunningham, Thomas Halpin, Joe Kerrigan and William Oates.

Votes of sympathy were expressed with Mrs Kelly and family on the death of her husband, John Kelly, Clara Road and Senator McAuliffe on the death of his sister-in-law.

At the Multyfarnham branch, elected were: chairman, Frank O’Connor; vice-chairman, F Collins; secretary, L Finnegan; committee, Frank Mathews, Jimmy Connaughton and Tom Donnelly.

All present at the meeting were taken on a tour of the Franciscan Church which had been recently re-constructed.

In Kilbeggan, officers elected were: chairman, P Wyper; vice-chairman, Pat Maher; secretary, F Marshall; committee, P Rhatigan, Pat Egan, A Alexander, T Heeney, Ned Reddy, Tom Rhattigan and Joe Hoey. The Ballynacargy branch election saw the following elected: chairman, Ned McGuire; vice-chairman, John Nally; secretary, Joe Boyle; committee, C Maher, Robert Wilson, Richard Penrose and Jimmy Turner.

Westmeath Independent, April 19, 1985

Youth emigration concerns

An editorial comment column in the Westmeath Independent of 1985 discussed the problem of youth emigration from this country. It noted that the Irish Episcopal Commission for Emigrants, which had met in Dublin in the previous week, had warned that emigration was beginning to spiral again and that would continue unless new economic policies were devised to meet it.

The meeting was informed that between 1983 and 1984, the number of new arrivals at the London Irish Centre increased from 1,000 to 1,800.

Increasingly those people were finding it difficult to obtain employment in Britain, which itself had three million people unemployed.

The director of the Irish Chaplaincy in Britain, Reverend Bobby Gilmore, spoke of the drawbacks facing the Irish immigrants to that country at that time. He stated that they tended to be in the 18 to 25-year age bracket and were generally unprepared for the challenge facing them in that they were unskilled.

The result was that few worthwhile jobs were available to them.

“One of the problems is that many young people opt out of the educational system here at too early an age,” said the comment writer, suggesting that the school leaving age should be raised to help with that issue.

The writer continued by stating that the system should be geared more towards provision of the sort of new skills required to meet the challenge of the technological age: “The days of the spade and shovel coupled with physical strength, the hallmark of previous generations of immigrants are gone. The traditional industrial areas where migrant workers found an outlet are also now passed. More career guidance in our schools would be an advantage in lessening the handicaps on young people taking the boat to England.”

The writer went on to say that we had a duty to take a greater interest in our young unemployed: “If we cannot cater for them at home, on the jobs front, and it must be admitted this is a remote possibility for the great majority, then at least we must provide them with the skills and backup resources they will need when they go abroad.”

Westmeath Examiner, April 22, 1995

Golf club milestone

Mullingar Golf Club, which just one year earlier had celebrated its centenary, registered another milestone in April 1995 when it bought out the lands on which it had been operating since 1937. The lands were part of the Belvedere Demesne, which was acquired by Westmeath County Council in the 1980s, and after negotiations between golf club president, Matt Talbot, and the county council, a deal was agreed. The report stated that over the 58 years that the golf club had been occupying the lands, an enormous amount of time, resources and expertise had been applied to both the course and the clubhouse. The clubhouse, indeed, had just recently been upgraded “to the highest standard” at a cost of over £0.5m, and now offered “the finest facilities” to members and visitors alike.

“On the course itself, the priority of work in bringing it to a standard to be playable all year round was the proper drainage,” stated the writer, adding that in the 1930s, the lands on which the golf course now stood was known locally as ‘The Swamp’.

Westmeath Examiner, April 16, 2005

Dreams to dust…

A lot of things being talked about in the columns of the Westmeath Examiner of April 16, 2005 never came to fruition. Journalist Ronan Casey reported that “active negotiations” were under way in a bid to secure a site in Mullingar for the Department of Education to locate its decentralised offices, while Eilís Ryan reported that the VEC – the forerunner to the LWETB – was keen to provide an Irish language secondary school to cater for the children coming through the Gaelscoil system in the town.

Another item that didn’t come to fruition was the provision of more state-run childcare and crèche facilities, despite a call from Mullingar Town Council to that effect. Journalist Deirdre Flynn reported that council members were concerned at the lack of affordable childcare in Mullingar, where costs were running at from €130 to €150 per child per week.

Westmeath Examiner, April 18, 2015

UNESCO bid

A public meeting was held at Foxes’ of Loughnavalley to discuss the bid to have the Hill of Uisneach, together with the rest of Ireland’s ‘Royal Sites’, designated as World Heritage Centres by UNESCO. The effort was likely to take some years – but if successful, would put the hill in an exclusive club, Westmeath’s conservation architect, Bernadette Solon told the meeting, revealing that across the world, just 1,000 locations had achieved the recognition.

The Royal Sites of Ireland take in Cashel, Dún Ailinne, Rathcroghan Complex, Tara Complex and Eamhain Macha as well as the Hill of Uisneach.

Council director of services, Barry Kehoe, spoke too, stressing the prestige that the inclusion of Uisneach on the UNESCO list would mean: “How many communities can boast of having a World Heritage Site in their areas?”, he asked.

Ms Solon said that UNESCO had a 167-page book of operational guidelines, which made clear that sites nominated for inclusion must be of what is termed ‘Outstanding Universal Value’ (OUV). Three Irish sites were currently among those approved by UNESCO – Brú na Bóinne, Skellig Michael and the Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast.