We are delighted to announce that we have just produced the first ever issue of The Album.

The Album contains a selection of 100+ images collected since our inception in 2017.

It is divided into 5 chapters – Our River, Our Churches, Our Schools, Our Businesses, Our People in Places.

A great Christmas gift to yourself or another.

And all for only €12!

The Album will be available for sale from the following local shops: 

Ballina: Larkin’s Gala & T.J.’s Angling Centre

Killaloe: Heaney’s Costcutter & The Forge (John Daly’s)

You can also buy a copy of The Journal here and we can post it to you – just add an extra €4 for postage in Ireland and €7 for postage TO EUROPE, €10 TO USA AND €13 TO AUSTRALIA.

The Journal is full of local history, stories and poems from times past in our beautiful twin towns.

There are some fantastic articles contributed by Roy Benson; Ber McMahon (nee Cooney); Darlene Meskell; Mary Newnham; Darren O’Connell and Michael Ryan. 

If that’s not enough to tempt you, The Journal also includes lots of photos, in particular from Peter Lacey’s collection, some old documents and old newspaper adverts!
And all for only €20!

We would like to say a huge thank you to all those who helped us put this publication together – Fifth Gear Design, the Nenagh Guardian Print and all those who contributed stories, articles and photos.

The Journal will be available for sale from the following local shops: 

Ballina: Larkin’s Gala & T.J.’s Angling Centre

Killaloe: Heaney’s Costcutter & The Forge (John Daly’s)

You can also buy a copy of The Journal here and we can post it to you – just add an extra €4 for postage in Ireland and €6 for postage abroad.   

PLEASE NOTE: 

In line with COVID-19 restrictions, we are limited to direct sale through shops (as above) or by An Post (local, national and international post) 

Unfortunately we cannot arrange home delivery or collection.
However, if you have any queries, please drop us a line – killaloeballinalhs@gmail.com 

Dr. Niamh NicGhabhan, who has researched extensively on this little oratory, brought us through this fascinating journey, which began in 1925, when it was realised that Friar’s Island and the Oratory would be completely submerged because of the rising water levels due to Shannon Hydro-Electric Scheme.

Three options for the future of St. Lua’s Oratory were examined
1. Repair and strengthen the oratory and allow it to be submerged;
2. Erect an 18ft concrete circular plinth, which would be floodlit;
3. Move it stone by stone from the island to a new location.

Initially, Option 2 was the preferred option for all bodies involved. Even though it was due to cost a massive £1,700, it was felt that it would be a huge tourist attraction for the area.
However, Bishop Michael Fogarty, Killaloe, said that the oratory was a religious and historical icon for Roman Catholics in Killaloe and argued that it should be moved to a location where more than “the birds in the sky” could visit it!
Suffice to say, Bishop Michael Fogarty, won his argument and in 1928, St. Lua’s Oratory was taken down, each stone was marked individually and moved in a flat-bottomed barge called “St. Lua” to the mainland in Ballina where it was brought by donkey and cart to the current site where it still stands today!

Úna Kierse, daughter of the late Seán Kierse, read a recollection by Sr. Paul Byrne, Killaloe, from 1994, of attending the last mass held in St. Lua’s Oratory before it was moved from Friar’s Island – this highlighted how important this final mass was to the people of Killaloe and Ballina.

We would like to say a huge thanks to Niamh for a fantastic informative lecture which gave us all a further insight into the life of this little Oratory.

If you would like to find out more, we have provided Niamh’s recommendations for further reading below –
Medieval Ireland and the Shannon Hydro-Electric Scheme: reconstructing the past in independent Ireland by Niamh NicGhabhann;

Churches in Early Medieval Ireland by Tomás O Carragain;

A Dictionary of Irish Saints by Pádraig Ó’Riain

We would also like to say a huge thanks to the Lakeside Hotel and Leisure Centre for hosting our lectures.

This talk will examine the pillars of Irish family history research, and show how land and census records available can provide information on Irish ancestry. The tithe applotments, Griffiths Valuations, 1901 and 1911 census are the pillars of an ancestral investigation. This talk will provide examples and demonstrate how these sources work together to produce valuable information for those exploring their Irish heritage.

Lorna is a professional genealogist, and family historian. She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogist, and is the resident genealogist for Dromoland Castle in County Clare. Lorna worked as Project Genealogist for George Boole *200 genealogy project for University College Cork, and is an excellent researcher for Irish family histories. Lorna also produces and presents the successful show The Genealogy Radio Show aired each Thursday at 4pm from beautiful Kilkee, Co. Clare, at Raidio Corcabaiscinn. Podcasts are available here. Lorna has delivered conference papers at Oxford; Lincoln College: Exploration of the Medieval Gaelic Diet: (2012); seminar papers at the Moore Institute in NUI Galway, ‘The Gaelic Lordships in Thomond, c. 1400-c.1500’ and papers at Irish Conference of Medievalists on themes of Brian Boru and landscape of East Clare. Lorna has published on medieval themes and on maritime subjects. She received her Certificate for the Advancement of Forensic Genealogy (CAFG) in Dallas in March 2015 and is currently working on a book on the O’Brien and MacNamara Lordships of Thomond.

We will see you on the evening of FRIDAY 1ST MARCH at 7.30pm in the Oak Room of the Lakeside Hotel. The Lakeside Hotel are providing our Society with this venue for free, and we thank them for this sponsorship. If you want to thank them for this, why not pop in for your lunch or dinner!

Entry to this lecture is FREE as usual, and everyone of all ages and levels of interest is welcome.

Help us promote this event by clicking ‘Going’ on the Facebook event here, or sharing this blogpost, or even by putting up a poster for us – you can print out one from this link. See you there!

While researching in the Local Studies Centre in Ennis, our society secretary, Arlene White, discovered a treasure trove of cassette recordings made in the early 1990s. This was a community employment scheme which invited older people living in Killaloe and Ballina at this time to tell the stories of their lives lived here, and be taped doing so. These memories went back a long way, and are so detailed.

Arlene has been studying these tapes for the past six months, and has chosen a selection of recordings to play for us on the 22nd of August. With the help of Deborah Dudgeon, fellow committee member, she will pair these vignettes with a slideshow of relevant photographs or documents from the era being described. Her work with these tapes has won the society a Creative Ireland grant, to digitise them, and make them known in the local community with this event. Congratulations Arlene!

As well as being an incredible society secretary, Arlene is a heritage graduate of GMIT, and now manages Clare Walks Ltd. Clare Walks brings sensitive tourism to remote areas of Clare through two walking trails – the East Clare Way and the Mid Clare Way.

We will see you on the evening of Wednesday 22nd August at 7.30pm (new later starting time!) in the back room of our venue at Wood and Bell café. Wood and Bell continue to provide our Society with this venue for free, and we thank them for this sponsorship. If you want to thank them for this, why not try out their new wine bar on Friday and Saturday evenings? We have tried it, and can recommend it!

Entry to our August lecture is FREE as usual, and everyone of all ages and levels of interest is welcome.

Help us promote this event by clicking ‘Going’ on the Facebook event here, or sharing this blogpost, or even by putting up a poster for us – you can print out one from this link. See you at the lecture!

We started our free fortnightly Saturday morning informal research session in Killaloe Library last month, and are glad to report that it is going very well! Here are some photos from the Saturday just gone. We usually have around five to ten people. We read up on our own local history interests, seek help from each other when we need it, and generally enjoy a coffee and a bit of a chat!

Our next one is on the 24th March, and you can find all the details, and a list of dates for the rest of 2018, at this link. See you there!