Last night we were blown away by a full house in attendance at our first public talk. Over forty people came out on a pretty wet and cold evening to hear Una Kierse give an illustration introduction to the history of Killaloe and Ballina. Enthusiastic attendees perched on windowsills and pouffes from the children’s corner, as we ran out of chairs!
Thank you to Una, who brought us on a magnificent journey through the ages. We heard about the two local saints of the area – St Flannan and St Lua, and their respective oratories. After a run through the life of Brian Boru and his family, Una explained why he was such a central figure to Killaloe-Ballina, and why Killaloe-Ballina was such an important place in medieval Ireland. And it remained an important place, as evidenced by a visit from the Duke of York in the late nineteenth century! We will all walk around our twin towns with a much more nuanced appreciation of our surroundings from now on, that’s for sure! Thanks to Una once again.
Una runs a business offering heritage walking tours of the local area, and we recommend that you book one with her! Check it out at this link here. Please enjoy some photographs from the evening below.
Save the date!
Our next talk is on the evening of Wednesday 25th October, in Killaloe Library, at 7pm. We will hear from Sandra Lefroy, who owns and maintains an 1872-vintage steam yacht (the ‘Phoenix’) which has been moored in Killaloe since 1903. This boat was forty years old when the Titanic sank! The story of the Phoenix encompasses the last hundred years and more of the history of our local area, taking in local figure Harry Lefroy, the mill where she was docked, the raising of the water levels, and how Sandra and her family care for and maintain this special craft today.
This talk will be entirely FREE to attend, and everyone is welcome.
If you would like to get involved with the ‘behind the scenes’ running of the Society, please come along half an hour earlier (at 6.30pm) when we have a coffee and a chat, and sort out who can help put up posters and things like that. We are always looking for people to get involved, and you would be very welcome in any capacity. See you there!
Don’t forget you can follow our Facebook page here, and sign up for our Mailing List here. If you want to follow up on any reading after the talk, why not drop into Killaloe Library where Mary or any of the staff will guide you to the brilliant local history section.
Killaloe-Ballina