History
The Historical information of Laois
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THE GAS MEN OF MARYBOROUGH
THE GAS MEN OF MARYBOROUGH by John Dunne On the evening of Thursday, January 21, 1858, the town of Maryborough, for the very first time, was lit by gas. But why did this landmark event in the town’s history come as a surprise to the very Company set up to bring gas to the town? Let’s go back a few years to when, so to speak, the first flame was lit… The first piped-gas street lamps appeared in Dublin in 1825. Almost thirty years later, in November 1854, solicitor Thomas Turpin proposed the setting up of a joint stock company for the erection of a gasometer. The cost, including pipes…
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Cashel Man. A recent discovery of a Bog Body in Co. Laois. By Sean Murray
Cashel Man-A recent discovery of a Bog Body in Co. Laois by Sean Murray Remarkable Find On Wednesday 10th of August 2011, a remarkable find was uncovered on a bog in Co. Laois. A bog body was unearthed during peat milling at Cashel bog between Portlaoise and Abbeyleix by Jason Phelan, a Bord Na Mona worker. After over two years of analysis, it was revealed that the body was in fact over 4000 years old dating to the Early Bronze Age Period in Ireland. The news made national and international headlines, as it was clear that the find on this Laois Bog was the oldest fleshed bog body ever found…
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St. Fiacc of Sleaty, Co. Laois
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Mountmellick Lace. By Bridie Dunne
Mountmellick Lace By Bridie Dunne Since its establishment the M.D.A. has been involved in promoting and conserving the local heritage. Having received a Millennium Recognition Award funded through Area Development Management it was decided to build a museum. Further funding from Laois LEADER Rural Development Co. Ltd. was received and the Mountmellick Museum is now complete. The main focus of Mountmellick museum is to conserve and display original pieces of Mountmellick Work and to protect the memory of Mountmellick’s rich Quaker industrial past. The white embroidery characteristic of Mountmellick Work is the only form of embroidery in the nineteenth century, which can claim to be entirely Irish in origin and design. Its importance in social history cannot be overlooked. Training…
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Anti-tithe meeting at the “Great Heath” 1838. By Jackie Hyland
Anti-tithe meeting at the “Great Heath” 1838. By Jackie Hyland The tithes were a church tax or levy on agricultural produce and livestock. From the middle ages, the church had received this levy, notionally one-tenth of earnings, for the support of the clergy. This tax sometimes collected in kind from agricultural produce had been converted into a cash payment calculated on the price of farm produce in different areas by the 19th century. The tithe applotment books, as they are called, exist for the civil parishes dating to the 1820s and 1830s. In fact, these books are a valuable genealogical research source. Following the Reformation in the 16th century, the…
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Col. James Fitzmaurice – Ireland’s Greatest Aviator
Col. James Fitzmaurice – Ireland’s Greatest Aviator by Teddy Fennelly World War One hastened the advancement of aircraft technology. From use as an experimental armament of war in 1914, its enhanced mobility, stability and speed had established the airplane as an essential weapon of warfare by the time hostilities ceased in 1918. When peace was restored aviators and aviation companies could set their sights on vastly more ambitious projects than had been harboured by pioneers in 1914. There was a worldwide public fascination in the post-war years in aviation and in breaking new barriers in speed, distance and endurance. Transoceanic flight was now seen as an achievable ambition and flying…
