Tipperariana Book Fair to be held on Sunday in Fethard

Tipperariana Book of the Year Award goes to Dr. Willie Nolan

The Fethard Historical Society hosted the presentation of the Tipperariana Book of the Year Award for 2023, on Thursday last, February 2, 2024. The recipient was Dr. Willie Nolan, for his two-volume history: Vol 1 ‘Remember ‘48: Young Ireland and the Rising’ and Vol 2 ‘‘Remember ‘48: Young Irelanders Beyond The Rising.’

Dr. Nolan is a well-known Tipperary historian, hailing originally from Coalbrook, Ballingarry, a former Associate Professor of Geography at University College Dublin, and the founder of Geography Publications. Local history buffs will be pleased to learn that Dr. Willie Nolan will be present at the upcoming Tipperariana Book Fair in the Ballroom, Fethard, from 12 noon until 4.30pm next Sunday, February 11, 2024. There will be ample opportunity to meet the author, peruse the volumes and purchase a wonderful addition to one’s collection of Tipperary books. 

Michael Mallon, Chairperson, Fethard Historical Society, began by welcoming those present. “On this very special occasion of the awarding of the Tipperariana Book of the Year 2023, it gives me great pleasure to welcome Dr. Willie Nolan, and his wife Theresa. It is an honour to be graced by such an accomplished author, publisher, historian and academic”. 

Present also among Dr. Willie Nolan’s friends and supporters were Mary Guinan Darmody and Mary McCormack, Tipperary Studies, Tipperary County Library; senior historian Paddy O'Connell, Ballingarry ‘48 Commemorative Committee; Dr. Tom McGrath, Ballingarry; and Dr. Proinsias Ó Drisceoil, NUIM, Kilkenny.  

Terry Cunningham then took the floor to explain how the Tipperariana Book of the Year Award came about. “Our committee had been exploring the possibility of acknowledging the calibre of books produced each year in County Tipperary and the publication of the three-volume Moyne-Templetuohy Parish History was the spur we needed to found the Award in 2002. Willie Nolan’s comprehensive study of the 1848 Rising, is in fact the twenty second publication to receive this award”. Congratulating Dr. Nolan on the superb production of such a scholarly history of the 1848 Rising, Terry commended him for the breadth of knowledge and the range of detail therein.

The Tipperariana Book of the Year Award takes a different form each year. When the committee has made their selection the Society commissions local ceramicist Dóirín Saurus to create a customised piece that pays tribute to the chosen book. As always, Dóirín rose to this year’s challenge with her own unique flair and creativity. The inscribed ceramic piece was surmounted with a miniature replica of the Widow McCormack’s cottage.

In accepting the Tipperariana Book of the Year Award from Dóirín, Dr. Willie Nolan commended her attention to detail and said the piece will have pride of place among his possessions.

It was then the author’s turn to talk, and he charted his own personal journey from youth in Slieveardagh, working in Dublin and Birmingham, studying in Dublin before forging a career in academia. He held fast, throughout, to his love of history and his fascination with the story of 1848, a story he felt was much overlooked and long neglected. It is fair to say that his book ‘Remember 48: Young Ireland and the Rising’ successfully redresses that omission, giving a comprehensive account of the Rising, those involved and the aftermath. It is a valuable addition to the local, county and, indeed, national historical archive.

In her concluding remarks, Mary Hanrahan, P.R.O., Fethard Historical Society, thanked Dr. Willie Nolan for his most illuminating talk. She also thanked Olga Chernabrodskaya, Manager, the Fethard Horse Country Experience, for facilitating the event, stating that the historic former Town Hall is a wonderful venue for such occasions. 

The evening closed with light refreshments and the opportunity to engage with the author.