The Old Athlone Society

Wednesday 15th April, 8pm, Wineport Lodge

– Talk by Dr Harman Murtagh

Church Street, Athlone, in the mid-Twentieth Century (Aidan Heavey Public Library, Athlone)

Summary – The 1960s was the era of the Beatles, the mini skirt, the Congo, Christine Keeler, the vernacular Mass and the proposal to demolish Athlone Castle. At the start of the decade, leaders like John F. Kennedy, Pope John XXIII and the then Taoiseach Sean Lemass offered society a fresh style, new hope and ideas which from 31 December 1961 were transmitted into Irish homes by RTE. Some conservative forces struggled to come to terms with these new concepts.Towards the end of the decade, the mood darkened with start of the long Northern agony, disappointment with Harold Wilson’s Labour government in Britain, Pope Paul VI’s Humanae vitae encyclical and the acceleration of the Vietnam War. This lecture will focus on the impact of the changing 1960s culture on Athlone and the local responses to it, as viewed through the pages of the Westmeath Independent and the excellent photographic archive of Athlone Library.

Speaker – Dr Harman Murtagh is a native of Athlone. He joined The Old Athlone Society on its foundation, later serving as president. He is currently president of the Military History Society of Ireland and a vice-president of the Group for the Study of Irish Historic Settlement. He is a visiting fellow at Athlone Institute of Technology. He is the author of numerous publications including the definitive Athlone History and Settlement to 1800.

The N.W. English Memorial Lecture – This memorial lecture is held every year to commemorate Norman William (Billy) English, a founder member and honorary secretary of The Old Athlone Society since its inception in 1965, until his sudden death at the age of 56 in February 1978. Billy was an auctioneer in Athlone. While not a professional historian and antiquarian, his endeavours for many years were connected with the history and development of Athlone and its hinterland. He demonstrated that he had a true historian’s instinct with which he developed a deep knowledge of, and affection for, his native region.

To The Athlone Society, he left a legacy of a thriving historical society, a museum that later became The Athlone Castle Museum and a journal often used for reference by historians. Highly regarded as a lecturer, he was in constant demand by historical societies in all parts of the country. Billy frequently contributed articles to many historical journals including: Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries in Ireland; The Irish Sword; and Journal of The Old Athlone Society. Living as he did near Goldsmith country and Lough Ree meant that he was an authority on Oliver Goldsmith, the inland waterways of Ireland and being a keen sailor wrote: Lough Ree Yacht Club 1770-1970 a memoir, to mark the bicentenary of the club.

The Old Athlone Society each year holds a lecture in his memory. It is therefore fitting, on the occasion of the society’s fiftieth anniversary, that the memorial lecture is being held for the first time in Wineport Lodge. This highly-regarded restaurant and hotel sits in a beautiful location on the shores of Lough Ree and is owned by Billy’s daughter, Jane, and her husband, Ray Byrne. The Society will be honoured by the presence of some members of the English family: Billy’s Widow Dorothy; sons, Richard, Robert, David; daughters, Jane, Sarah; many grandchildren; his brother Cecil; and Dorothy’s husband, Robin Baird.

Wednesday 4th March, 8pm, Lough Ree Yacht Club

– Talk by Garrett O’Neill

A view of the Castle Keep and Shannon River, Athlone (Aidan Heavey Public Library, Athlone)

Summary – Waterways Ireland was established as part of the Belfast or ‘Good Friday’ agreement with responsibility for the navigable inland waterways of the entire island. Part of its remit is a duty to safeguard both built and natural heritage of the waterways. Therefore in the summer of 2008 Waterways Ireland commissioned a survey of the historic structures located within 50 metres of the shorelines of the Shannon Navigation, from the north end of Lough Allen to Sarsfield Lock in Limerick.

Cathal O’Neill Architects were awarded the project and undertook the work from late September 2008 to April 2009. This talk will describe the scope of the work, the methodology adopted and an account of the fieldwork undertaken with particular reference to the compilation of the database presented to Waterways Ireland. The talk, which will be illustrated and cover the entire river, will be approximately 45 minutes long and followed by an open discussion.

Speaker – Garrett O’Neill graduated in Architecture in 1984.He is a principal in Cathal O’Neill Architects, established in 1961 by Professor Cathal O’Neill. Garrett holds a master’s degree in Urban and Building Conservation and is a member of council and current Hon Treasurer of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland. From the age of seven he has spent most of his free time on, in, or around Lough Ree. He is an accomplished Shannon One Design sailor.

Wednesday 4th February, 8pm, The Little Theatre, St Mary’s Place, Athlone

 – Talk by Senator Fiach MacConghail, Director of the Abbey Theatre

Summary – Senator Fiach Mac Conghail is marking his 10th anniversary as Director of the Abbey Theatre in 2015 and will present his personal reflections on the history of the Abbey Theatre and its role as Ireland’s national theatre.

The Abbey Theatre, Dublin

Speaker – Senator Fiach Mac Conghail has been Director/CEO of the Abbey Theatre since May 2005. The Abbey Theatre is Ireland’s national theatre and Fiach is responsible for its artistic programming and strategic management. He has produced over 100 productions for the Abbey Theatre, at home and abroad, including plays by Brian Friel, Tom Murphy, Frank McGuinness, Marina Carr, Paul Mercier, Mark O’Rowe, Sebastian Barry, Owen McCafferty, Carmel Winters and Sam Shepard, including 28 world premieres.

Fiach was Arts Adviser to the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism (2002-2005). He has worked on many cultural projects and festivals on behalf of the state including, Ireland’s Presidency of the EU (2004), Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris (2001-2003), EXPO (2000), Venice and Sao Paulo Biennales of Visual Arts (1996-7). He was Artistic Director of Project Arts Centre from 1992 – 1999. He is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin and was awarded the prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship in 2004. He is a founding member of the National Campaign for the Arts. Fiach Mac Conghail is an Independent Senator having been nominated by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny in 2011. He was honoured by the French Government with a Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2013.

Wednesday, 3rd December 2014, 8pm, The Prince of Wales Hotel

– talk by Dr. Mark Phelan

Summary – During the revolutionary period, the Irish College Rome effectively acted as an interface between Sinn Féin and the Vatican. Keen political strategists, the College authorities also provided republican diplomats with an expert reading of secular affairs in Italy, and involved themselves in a wide variety of propaganda initiatives designed to elicit support for the Dáil government. Addressing each of these topics in turn, this paper will highlight the important role played by expatriate Irish clergy during the crisis period of the Anglo-Irish conflict.

Speaker – Dr Mark Phelan. A graduate of the National University of Ireland, Dr Mark Phelan is an early career historian. His work to date has focused on the Irish experience of the First World War, and on the Irish Revolution and its aftermath in an international context.

Tuesday 18th November 2014, 8pm, The Officers’ Mess, Custume Barracks, Athlone

– talk by Prof. Jeff Kildea

University College Dublin & University of New South Wales

H.E. Dr. Ruth Adler, Australian Ambassador and Mr. Zeki Guler, Counsellor at the Turkish Embassy in Dublin, will be attending.

Dr. John Keane and H.E. Dr. Ruth Adler (The Old Athlone Society)

Summary – Prof Kildea will outline the history of this military adventure that resulted in the death of many Irish soldiers alongside their Australian comrades at Gallipoli, in 1915, which is a relatively forgotten aspect of our military history. Stalemate on the Western front led to Winston Churchill’s ill-conceived initiative to bring about the end of the World War One. This involved the Allied forces attempting to gain control of the strategic sea route to Constantinople (Istanbul) through the narrow straits of the Dardanelles (Canakkale Bogazi) in Turkey.

Until April 1915, few Irish or Australians had been aware of the Turkish area of Gallipoli. However, by December 1915, Gallipoli would become synonymous with slaughter. The Turks also lost thousands of men defending their country under the command of Mustafa Kemal who, in 1934, as president of the new Turkey in recognition of the bravery and sacrifice of the Australian and New Zealand forces had the following inscribed on the Anzac memorial:

Those heroes that shed their blood
and lost their lives…
You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.
Therefore rest in peace.
There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets
to us where they lie side by side now
here in this country of ours…
you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries
wipe away your tears;
your sons are now lying in our bosom
and are in peace.
After having lost their lives on this land
they have become our sons as well.

ATATURK, 1934