Heritage Exhibition 2003
Bernadette Forde
Heritage Exhibition 2003
In 2003, there was no Heritage Society in Killererin and the Young at Heart Committee had taken on the task of publishing our parish history. With the aim of launching the collating of information for this book, they decided to host a Heritage Exhibition in Killererin Community Centre on Tuesday September 9th which was during Heritage week.
Small idea, Big effort
What started as a small idea built into a community effort the likes of which was rarely seen before. People from all four corners of the parish came up with ideas and lent their skills to make it a truly magnificent event. I have vivid memories of rooting through people’s sheds and outhouses looking for anything that we thought would pique people’s interest. This was replicated all committee members in all corners of the parish. In my case, I was accompanied by Maureen Stephens, Togher who opened many doors for me. People were only too willing to give us their items which were discarded for the most part in sheds and outhouses.
Speakers for the event
The speakers were local amateur historian, Sylvester Cassidy, retired school principal who has an in-depth knowledge of the flora and fauna of the surrounding bogs and spoke on this subject.
He was followed by Marie Mannion, Heritage Officer for Galway Co. Council who has connections in the area. She used her own family history to demonstrate the amount of information we already have but are unaware of. She showed us the link between this information we have and the information that is already out there for all of us to obtain and showed us how to go about getting it. Marie obviously loves her subject and this came across in the casual but interesting way she delivered her speech.
Last but by no means least, we were honoured by the presence of Cllr. Tim Rabbitt, Mayor of Co. Galway, who officially opened the exhibition and spoke on the heritage of Killererin including the football tradition of the area and wished us well in the forthcoming County final.
Exhibition
Once the speeches were over, everybody enjoyed a cheese and wine reception or alternatively tea and sandwiches prior to the main event which was the examination of the exhibits. These were a source of great interest and much debate. The working phonograph demonstrated by Sylvester Cassidy was a source of great amusement to the younger members of the audience who are so used to mini-discs, CD Players and today ‘Alexa’ and streaming their music.
There were many items of delph on display which are now family treasures. A most unusual exhibit was the assortment of bottles which were provided by Pauline McWalter whose husband has been digging them up from the field for years and bringing them in to her house to be cleaned. I’m sure there were times when she wanted to throw them in the bin, but they are now a valuable collection and a link to our past. Some of them we could only guess as to their use.
David Joyner, a local publican also brought in a bottle which has been in his family for years, which contained a liquid with an unidentified object suspended inside. He was hoping that Marie Mannion could identify it but she referred him to Castlebar and the National Heritage Museum for further investigation.
Old Classroom
As the exhibition was held in the Community Centre which was an old school, we set up an old classroom along with slate and all the old pen and ink instruments were set up. We obtained from Bernard Keeley a set of four posters which were used before schoolbooks became available to teach subjects in schools and these were hung in the “classroom”. Indeed it was appropriate that items from Cahergal, Barnaderg and Brierfield Schools were used in the exhibition and we thank all three principals for their help.
An Old Kitchen
An old kitchen was set up also in a corner of the hall and this brought back memories to a lot of people. ‘Thank God the washboard and the carbolic soap are gone’ was a common refrain. However the exhibition also reminded us of the ingenuity of our forbears in using the materials they had available.
For instance the manual instrument for mincing meat and bread. The strange looking object for squeezing oranges etc.etc.
Farm Implements
Being a farming community, we were privileged to have a great agricultural display of farm implements etc. Mick Flaherty who had brought in a hay rope kindly consented to show us how it was done and both himself and Nora Williams who are members of the Young at Heart club made a great team and showed that they had not forgotten the skills learned many moons ago.
Thatching demonstration.
Master Thatcher, John Joe Duggan gave a great demonstration and a brilliant talk on the night. However, two older members of our audience one of whose father was a Thatcher were not above remonstrating with him on his methods “that’s not how it was done here” until he told them that time had moved on and this was the modern way. When he demonstrated the way he used to do it, then he obtained their seal of approval. It was a most informative and enjoyable demonstration.
Making St. Brigid’s Crosses
Mary Ellen Burke demonstrated how St. Brigid’s crosses were made and made a most unusual one on the night which she later presented to the community. Mrs. Dolan who was very shy about bringing out her crochet needles was eventually persuaded to, much to the interest of all those present. She is a lady who uses her talents still to make a lot of items for the local Apostolic Work society and some of her wonderful crochet jackets etc. were on display.
Well Worth the effort
All in all it was a most entertaining, interesting and informative night and a first for the parish of Killererin. It has done what it was meant to do and sparked an interest in our past and got people thinking about their heritage which is enormous as we live in a very historic area.
For the Young at Heart Committee, who put in a tremendous effort to bring this to fruition, it will hopefully lead to the provision of information and material for the parish history.
P. S. While this was a wonderful event for our parish, I was left feeling sad as a lot of the items we were told we could keep had to be returned due to a lack of a permanent home where we could display and store our items. Maybe some day in the future!!!!
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