Thank you to our February speaker, Brian J. Goggin, who delivered a really incredible lecture last night on the departure of the steamer fleet from Killaloe, and how some ended up in very far flung and unexpected places. Our own Lady Lansdowne was mentioned, as well as the RMS Leinster. Brian detailed the building and maintenance of the roads by the Bourne family in the eighteenth-century, and showed us how many of the spots we are familiar with along the old N7 were actually mail stops, turnpikes, or stables for changing horses. He went through the competition the railway offered the canal system, and what role the steamer vessels and Irish waterways played during the Famine in transporting Irish people abroad.
We were thrilled and amazed at the turnout on such a freezing night! Killaloe might have been blanketed with snow, and Main Street closed to traffic, but inside Wood and Bell café were nearly fifty committed local history aficionados! The engagement in the questions after the talk was mighty, and continued well into the night as we enjoyed the delicious snacks, beer, wine, and hot drinks that Wood and Bell provided. Thank you to Wood and Bell for sponsoring our venue, and thank you to Brian J. Goggin for delivering such a brilliant lecture.
Brian’s book is available to purchase here. His blog on everything to do with Irish waterways history is here. You can read about the building that Wood and Bell Café currently occupies in our last blogpost here – including the photograph of the Cunard Steam Line ticket.
Details of the March lecture coming soon!
Killaloe-Ballina