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2025 Journals

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The publication of local journals is a key activity for many of our member societies. These record local stories and make them accessible to the general public and they are also of huge value to anyone studying history. Happily 2025 was another bumper year for local journals in West Cork. These included; Skibbereen Historical Journal Vol.21, Bantry Historical Journal Vol.5, Pictorial Past of Dunmanway Vol.X, Bandon Historical Journal No.42, Castlehaven & Myross History Journal Vol.6 and Macroom History Journal Vol.1.

Volume 21 of the Skibbereen & District Historical Society Journal continues in its rich tradition of publishing a diverse range of articles of local and wider interest. This year’s articles include:

– The ruined church at Schull, Co. Cork, and its ship graffiti,
– Skibbereen Post Office,
– Twenty-five years of the Skibbereen Heritage Centre,
– ‘Get Slate or Go Home’ – The Benduff Slate Quarry Disaster 1892,
– 1925 The Irish Free State – the border, society and the economy,
– The First Mizen Bridge,
– The Wood Wolfe Family, Skibbereen,

2025 is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Daniel O’Connell and William Thompson. There are a series of articles in this year’s Journal commemorate this.

Back after a break of three years, Volume V of the Bantry Historical & Archaeological Society Journal contains eight articles. These are:

– William O’Sullivan Esq., Carriganass Castle, Kealkill by Patrick Crowley
– Garryvurcha Church, Church Road, Bantry by Hazel Vickery
– A Mealagh Man by Seamus O’Shea
– Growing up in Bantry by Margaret Connolly
– The Vice-Guardians of Bantry Union by Geraldine Powell
– The Shooting of William Simms Bird by Sean Fitzgerald
– What makes a great Irish street? by Kevin Hourihan
– The life of Edith Newman Devlin Woman of Letters by Sean Kelly

The tenth edition of the Pictorial Past of Dunmanway contains 152 pages of images that evoke memories of times past. The pictures cover diverse topics such as sport, school events, social gatherings and images of the town of Dunmanway.

The longest running Journal in West Cork, No 42 of the Bandon Historical Journal continues in the tradition of previous volumes with eight new articles. These are:

  • The England family of Cork and Bandon
  • A Forgotten Eminent Bandonian – Rev James Long of Bengal (1814-1887)
  • General Michael Collins: his last journey to Cork
  • Bandon Credit Union – A Social History Perspective
  • Don Athair Dónall Ó Súilleabháin i nDroichead Banndan
  • In the walls of that toune: Bandon, women and refugees in the 1641 Irish Rebellion
  • Bandon workhouse during the famine
  • Bandon commemorating the Great War 1914-1918

Volume 6 of the Castlehaven & Myross History Society Journal contains 28 articles that offers readers a richly-varied selection of times past, fond reminiscences and gentle evocations of time past from the coastal parishes of Gleann Bhearcháin agus Mírois. These include contributions from the pupils of Castletownshend NS and articles on the mapping of Castlehaven, the Great Famine in Myross, the wreck of the MV Kowloon Bridge, nineteenth century evictions, the Battle of Jutland and much more.

The first volume of the Macroom History Journal sets a high standard. This hardback publication contains 31 articles and a photographic gallery. The contents, many of which are based on the talks given to the society, include articles on Art Ó Laoghaire (Art O’Leary), the Battle of Keimaneigh, the Cork to Macroom Railway, the Kilmichael Ambush, Professor John A. Murphy, the roots of the Irish Civil War, 60 years of the Kilmurry Independence Museum and much more.

Conference Images

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A big thank you to everyone who attended and took part in our one day conference on Emigration, which was held in the Independence Museum Kilmurry on Saturday, 5 April 2025. A special thanks to our speakers, our sponsors, the organising committee and the Independence Museum Kilmurry. It was a very successful day and here are a few images to recall it.

  • The scones are buttered, the cups are out and we are ready for the day. Tim Feen and Marian O’Leary of the WCHSA committee with Mary O’Mahony of the Independence Museum Kilmurry.
  • We were delighted that the Cork County Mayor, Councillor Joe Carroll, was able to attend, here Councillor Carroll is welcomed to the venue by William Casey of the WCHSA and Mary O’Mahony of the Independence Museum Kilmurry.
  • Everyone is seated, it is a full house and we are ready to start.
  • West Cork History Societies Association’s chairperson, William Casey, starts the day by welcoming everyone and thanking our mains sponsors, Cork County Council Commemoration Committee and the Cork Historical & Archaeological Society.
  • Cork County Mayor, Councillor Joe Carroll, delivers a speech to the conference.
  • The conference proper was opened by an address from Terri Kearney of the Skibbereen Heritage Centre. Terri shared her experiences of dealing with members of the diaspora who have visited the centre over the past 25 years.
  • Our first full lecture of the day was delivered by Ultan Cowley. Ultan’s talk, Taking the Boat: Some First Impressions…, recalled the stories of Irish emigrants who left for Britain by boat in the middle decades of the last century.
  • Our next speaker Jarlath McNamara is in full flow here while talking about his experience of Finding our Diaspora
  • Behind the scenes work continues preparing for the lunch break, here Mary O’Mahony of the Kilmurry Museum get a helping hand from the Cork County Heritage Officer, Conor Nelligan.
  • Lunch time was a chance to get a few more formal photos, here the WSCHA committee pose with the morning speakers. In the back row are: Tim Feen, WCHSA committee; Colum Cronin, WCHSA Treasurer; Jarlath McNamara, Speaker; Tony McCarthy, WCHSA committee. In the front row are: Con Kelleher, WCHSA Secretary; Marian O’Leary, WCHSA committee; Ultan Cowley, Speaker; William Casey, WCHSA Chairperson and Terri Kearney, Speaker.
  • Our first speaker after lunch was Dr Miriam Nyhan Grey, who shared with us the stories of a number of Irish Emigrants that she captured in interviews with those who had left Ireland in the 20th century.
  • One of the highlights of the day were the musical interludes provided by Colum Cronin, who entertained us with a selection of music associated with emigration.
  • Relief as the Zoom connection worked and we were able to contact Dr James Walsh in Colorado for the day’s final talk, on the those, including many Irish emigrants, who were buried in a 19th century paupers’ grave in the mining town of Leadville, Colorado.
  • WSCHA chair, William Casey, delivers the thanks you to all of those who made the day so successful, before the final event of the day – a panel discussion and Q&A session with the speakers.

Conference Timetable

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The timetable for our upcoming Emigration Conference of Saturday 5th April in the independence Museum Kilmurry is as follows:

10.00 – 10.30

Registration and Welcome

10.30 – 11.00

Introduction with Terri Kearney

11.00 – 12.00

Taking the Boat: Some First Impressions… with Ultan Cowley

12.00 – 13.00

Finding our Diaspora with Jarlath McNamara

13.00 – 14.15

Lunch

14.15 – 15.15

Migration in Irish History: Reflections on a Century  with Dr Miriam Nyhan Grey

15.15 – 16.15

Lessons From the Pauper Graves:  The Leadville Irish and the Struggle to Memorialize 19th Century immigrant Paupers Buried at 10,000 Feet. with Dr James Walsh

16.15 – 17.00

Question and Answer Session

The admission fee is €25 per person.
This includes entrance to all the lectures and a light lunch.
For full details on the speakers visit our Emigration Conference page.
To purchase tickets online please click here

Conference Speakers Confirmed

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The speaker line up for our Emigration Conference in the Independence Museum Kilmurry on 5 April 2025 is now complete. See the list below. For more information about the conference and to purchase tickets go the Emigration Conference page.

Conference Speakers:

· Terri Kearney
Historian, author and manager of the Skibbereen Heritage Centre will give the opening remarks

· Ultan Cowley
Independent historian, author and former emigrant will speak on Taking the Boat: Some First Impressions..

· Jarlath McNamara
Retired Engineer, historian and expert on 19th century musician and bandleader Patrick S. Gilmore, will speak on Finding our Diaspora.

· Dr Miriam Nyhan Grey
Assistant Professor at Mary Immaculate, College Limerick and a founding member of the African American Irish Diaspora Network will speak on Migration in Irish History: Reflections on a Century

· Dr James Walsh
Associate Professor in the Political Science Dept. at the University of Colorado Denver will join via Zoom to speak on Lessons From the Pauper Graves:  The Leadville Irish and the Struggle to Memorialize 19th Century immigrant Paupers Buried at 10,000 Feet.

Conference Announcement

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Following on from the meeting of the West Cork History societies last June, where the holding of a one-day conference was agreed, the committee has moved forward with this project and subject to funding from Cork County Council, we have decided to hold the conference on Saturday 5th April in the Independence Museum Kilmurry. The theme of the conference will be ‘Emigration’, which is a subject which has had an impact on all families and should be of universal interest. The format will be an introductory talk followed by two lectures before lunch, with two more lectures after lunch and a concluding discussion. We expect to charge €25 per person for the complete day, which will include lunch on the premises.

We have applied to Cork County Council for funding and have met with Conor Nelligan for advice on this.  We are now in the process of finalising details with speakers and it promises to be a very interesting and varied day, with diverse topics such as West Cork miners emigration to Colorado, 1950s emigration to Britain etc. More details will follow in due course but for now please save the date.