Interested in joining a book club? We have plenty of options for you in Westmeath with book clubs for Adults and Children in different libraries around the county. Athlone Library host a children's book club "A Novel Idea" meeting on the 1st Saturday of every month at 11.30am. This group is full at the moment […]
Left: Longford native and National Army soldier Patrick Columb, who was killed in violent pre-civil war incidents in Mullingar on 27 April 1922. Right: A headline from the front page of Cork’s Evening Echo, 22 April 1922. Ten days: the barracks, the standoff and the bloodshed Just over one hundred years ago, on Tuesday, 18 […]
George Adamson was shot dead in Athlone on 25 April 1922. His killing remains unsolved, but it foreshadowed the civil war over the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty that would break out two months later. Adamson was born on 3 April 1897, the fifth of seven children born to a shoemaker, Joseph Adamson, of Athlone […]
Diarmaid Ferriter’s new history of the Irish Civil War seeks to get at the human experience and day-to-day texture of the war and its aftermath. In Between Two Hells, combat itself is skimmed over quickly. Other books have dealt with the strictly military side of things, but Ferriter has other interests. He has delved into […]
Laurence Ginnell at his desk in Chicago, circa 1920 (George Grantham Bain Collection, United States Library of Congress) In the latest edition of our podcast series, Historian in Residence Ian Kenneally speaks with Dr Paul Hughes in the second of two episodes devoted to the remarkable political career of Westmeath’s Laurence Ginnell. The second episode […]
As part of the Westmeath County Council Decade of Centenaries programme, Ian Kenneally has been reappointed Historian in Residence for the period from August until December 2021. The residency is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media’s Decade of Centenaries Programme, in partnership with Westmeath County Council. The residency is […]
Fiona Egan shares a wonderful recipe with us this Christmas for something a little different. Ingredients: 600g (approx) pork fillet 220g pancetta 4 sprigs thyme Rapeseed oil & few knobs of butter For The Stuffing 65g breadcrumbs 4 ready to eat roughly chopped pitted dates 1 lemon/orange zest 2 teaspoons thyme finely chopped 4 tablespoons […]
It’s the week before Christmas, I have very little organized for the big day- there is shopping to be done, presents to be wrapped, and a house to make presentable. So, with one day’s leave left, I decided to do the sensible thing and ignore my responsibilities for another while and to head for the […]
An image from the Daily Sketch newspaper, showing Laurence Ginnell's arrest in November 1916. He served three weeks in London's Brixton Prison In the latest edition of our podcast series, Historian in Residence Ian Kenneally speaks with Dr Paul Hughes in the first of two episodes devoted to the remarkable political career of Westmeath’s Laurence […]