by Paul Gorry | Jul 6, 2020 | 1798, Baltinglass, Derrynamuck, George Smyth Sculptor, Glen of Imaal, Local History, Michael Dwyer, Sam McAllister, Stratford-on-Slaney, Wicklow |
At the age of 116, Sam McAllister is the oldest resident of Baltinglass. He has stood at the centre of Main Street since his unveiling on 8 May 1904. He has become a symbol of Baltinglass and even a minor place-name. People often meet ‘at McAllister’. Pop-up...
by Paul Gorry | Mar 22, 2020 | Carlow, Carrig Mountain, Farming, Finn McCool, Folklore, Keadeen, Killalesh, Lugnaquilla, Mountkelly, Seasons, Wicklow |
These photographs were taken at various times from more or less the same location between July 2018 and March 2020. The field in the foreground is at the very edge of Co. Carlow. It is in Mountkelly townland. Beyond the trees is Killalish (pronounced...
by Paul Gorry | Feb 19, 2020 | Accredited Genealogists Ireland, AGI, Back To Our Past, Coolattin, Credentials for Genealogists, Genealogy, Laura Whitmore, Professional Genealogists, WDYTYA? |
Supposedly evenings are when television programmes have their greatest impact. Really, with so many channels now, it’s just by chance that people see any programme, unless it’s the news or Nationwide or something spectacular like Line of Duty or something addictive...
by Paul Gorry | Jun 10, 2019 | 1798, Derrynamuck, Dominick Blake, Glen of Imaal, Hacketstown, Hollywood Stars, Hume Cronyn, Hume Family, Humewood, Irish Migration, Kiltegan, Michael Dwyer |
On a cold February night in the Glen of Imaal, Co. Wicklow, in 1799 it would have seemed unimaginable luxurious to those trying to stay warm that people in the future would swim in heated man-made pools. Rebels on the run hardly thought about such things. Telling...
by Paul Gorry | Apr 23, 2019 | Aldborough, Ancestral Lines, Baltinglass, Dennis Family, Descent, Fortgranite, Mountneill, Ralph Fiennes, Stratford Family, Stratford-on-Slaney, Winston Churchill |
A week ago I attended a marathon of an event. It lasted from 10.30am to sometime about 9pm, long after I had left. It was absorbing. It was full of surprises, good and bad. It was a glimpse into the past, and it said a lot about the present Irish economy. For...
by Paul Gorry | Jul 27, 2018 | Carrig Mountain, Charles Drury, Finn McCool, Folklore, Keadeen, National Folklore Commission, Talbotstown |
Earlier this month, on Facebook, I posted the first of two short pieces about the figures of Finn McCool and his wife on the side of Keadeen Mountain in West Wicklow. Actually the figures are on the western face of what is two mountains in one, Keadeen having the...
