       
|
Past Events
April '07 - The Big House
Feb 07 - Launch of The History of Cloran's
Bakery
November '06 - Railways in
Tuam; past and future
|
The Big House |
|
 Presents
the noted academic, Dr Terence Dooley, who will give a lecture, under
the auspices of the Old Tuam Society, entitled "The Big Houses". The
venue this month is in the Tuam Town Hall, on Thursday 19th of April,
at 8.30pm.He will deal with the land question, the land war and the
fate of "big houses", and their owners. during the revolutionary
period (with special emphases on the west of Ireland)) from 1917 to
1923. The Tuam Town council has graciously offered the Board Room
(accessible by lift) for this prestigious event.
Martin Tyrrell has kindly offered to sponsor this illustrated lecture.
Dr Dooley is coordinator of the Government funded Centre for the study
of Historic Irish Houses and Estates at the history Department, NUI,
Maynooth. His major works include "The decline of the Big House in
Ireland" (2001); The land question in Independent Ireland (2204); "the
Big Houses and landed Estates in Ireland": A research guide (2007). A
lecture not to be missed, all members and non-members are very
welcome. |
| |
|
Cloran's Bakery Video |
|
The launch of a video jointly produced
by the OTS with assistance from Galway County Council regarding the
history of Cloran's Bakery in the town. |
| |
Railways in Tuam; past and
future
Frank Dawson, Director of Services, Community and Development for
Galway delivered the November Talk on ‘Railways in Tuam; past and
future’. In a very interesting introduction Frank gave an account of
the coming of the railways to Galway in 1851 and to Tuam in 1860.
Frank was very impressed with the fact that the Athenry to Tuam line,
built by the famous 19th century railway contractor Dargan, has no
crossings on its route. In contrast the Tuam to Claremorris railway
built 30 years later and opened in 1894, has about 19 level crossings.
What a nightmare in terms of negotiating the line!
Most of Frank Dawson’s Talk concerned the future of the railways
through Tuam and the activities of the West-on-Track group, of which
Frank is a prominent spokesman for more than a decade. West-on-Track
has campaigned against much official opposition for the opening of the
railway from Sligo - through Limerick - to Rosslare as a Western
Corridor.
Finally their efforts have paid off with the government decision to
re-open the line. The proposed schedule is Ennis/Athenry by 2008,
Athenry/Tuam by 2011, followed by Tuam to Claremorris in 2013, and
northwards to Colooney to be considered after that.
A lively debate ensued with participants thanking Frank for his
tireless endeavours on behalf of the people of the West to open the
line to passenger and goods traffic. Some of the attendance expressed
the fear that they would be retired by the time the Tuam to Galway
line would be in operation, and in the meantime they would still have
to endure the delays in commuting to Galway by motor car. A well
deserved round of applause for our speaker ended the proceedings.
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
