IRD Duhallow Progress Jun 21/22.qxp_Layout 1 21/07/2022 12:53 Page 21
IRD DUHALLOW | PROGRESS REPORT
2020 - 2021
Culture and Heritage Historic Grave Training:
Participants of the Historic Graves Programme with tutor John Tierney at a group meeting
IRD Duhallow has been long engaged in the process of surveying and publishing the inscriptions on historic grave yard monuments thanks to the efforts of dedicated community volunteers and groups in Duhallow.
Pat Fleming is a regular contributor with Discover Duhallow, writing articles on Sliabh Luachra musicians and their heritage. Pat launched his CD in the beautiful setting of the refurbished Culturlann Centre in Newmarket, which is a great addition to the culture and heritage facilities in the region.
Since 2013 the biographical details from 28 graveyards have been recorded and this has helped individuals from far flung places connect with their own particular graveyard plots.
is extremely innovative as they collectively record oral history, stories of the past, music, poetry and anecdotes. Their reputation precedes them due to the high quality of past journals and demands for these journals continuing to grow and copies being send aboard to the diaspora in America and Australia. The committee was dealt a blow in 2022 with the passing of their Chairperson Martin Murphy earlier this year. Martin was a great stalwart in the promotion the work of Cumann Luachra and always passionate about the work that they were involved in.
Participants of the Historic Graves Programme with tutor John Tierney at a group meeting
From all over the world genealogy tourists can log on to the online resource www.historicgraves.com and identify relevant burial places. Furthermore, in person people can also locate relevant headstones via their associated GPS coordinates which are published on the website with each headstone.
Currently underway in Duhallow is a dedicated LEADER funded initiative which is focused on training volunteers from local communities in simple systems for historical research and recording stories. This approach will ground participants in research fundamentals, establishing key facts, sharing stories, documenting sources along with making audio recordings. The project aims to train individuals and groups in Duhallow to record local stories using their smartphones and to publish them online as tourism heritage resources. The importance of noting these stories cannot be overstated, as each generation has their own memories and recollections of the people who went before them, which eventually fade with the passage of time. Through field work in the local graveyards and the recording of people’s stories, an expandable oral record of the locality will be created, showcasing Duhallow’s broad heritage with online multimedia resources available for all to access.
Sarah O’Keeffe of Ceoiltoiri Sliabh Luachra performing at the summer seisiuns in Bruach na Carraige Rockchapel.
Nollaig Murphy, Eileen Linehan and Maura Walsh all of IRD Duhallow with the Late Martin Murphy Chairperson of Cumann Luachra with their most recent publication
Cullen Pipe Band Cullen Pipe Band was established in 1941 and has encouraged the growth of Piping over the past 80 years in the region along with the other 2 pipe bands in the region. Under the current LEADER Programme the band were approved funding to engage a professional instructor to provide expert tuition to its members to help raise the standard of the band even further. Senior members of the group had dedicated tailored sessions which allowed them to learn new skills they could then impart to junior members of the band as part of the weekly practice sessions.
Culture & Heritage Centre Duhallow has a wealth of heritage and culture centres across the region in Laharn, Rochchapel, Freemount, Aubane, Tureencahill, Glash and Banteer, all of which act as vehicles for promoting and preserving culture and heritage in the region. With the Marion and Thomas Barrett enjoying an lifting of Covid restrictions it is great to evening of traditional Cross Roads Dancing in Laharn. see crossroad dancing back in Laharn cross, seisiuns in Rockchapel, community events in Tureencahill and other events being planned elsewhere for the remainder of the year. All of these centres have benefited greatly from the LEADER Programme over the years. The ever-popular Sliabh Luachra seisiuns recommenced this summer in Rockchapel along with the Sliabh Luachra Summer camps with local families eager for their children to learn music and dance in the Sliabh Luachra style.
Source of the Blackwater. The Source of the Blackwater continues to be an area of great interest locally as it is celebrated for providing a hiding place for Gearoid Iarla, the fugitive Earl of Desmond in 1558 after the collapse of the Desmond rebellion. The area is also associated with Fr Maurice McKenraghry, chaplain to the Earl of Desmond who was captured here by Lord Roche in Maura Walsh, IRD Duhallow with Fr the 1580’s and martyred. He was Tarrant of Ballydesmond who concelebrated the Dawn Mass at the beatified in 1992. Today the site is used annually by IRD Duhallow for the Source of the Blackwater. The Source of the Blackwater is a place of cultural Dawn Chorus Mass as part of significance in the region and was the site Bealtaine which is always well of the capture of Fr. McKenraghry who was a martyr in penal times. attended.
Sliabh Luachra Journals Cumann Luachra are champions in the conservation of the history of Sliabh Luachra with 19 historical journals produced to date. The latest 2 were once again LEADER funded with a 20th journal in the pipeline. These local historians have invested so much of their own time into the preservation of such information for future generations. The committee
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