Historical journal about Tipperary village set to launch next week

A new parish history journal for Golden-Kilfeacle, will be launched on Friday, November 29, at 7pm in the Golden GAA centre.

The journal, which is jam packed with articles and photographs, will be on sale for €20.

The road towards the journal began in March this year when a meeting was called to gauge interest in the project.

The committee was blown away by the goodwill from across the parish and the clubs and societies of the parish were generous in their support, helping the committee to spread the word.

Soon after, a team of writers was assembled, who committed to write articles and provide materials.

The journal was edited by Mary Alice O’Connor, Martina O’Keeffe and Robert O’Keeffe, and deals with the extraordinary lives of the ordinary people of the parish.

Every road, boreen, building and home in the parish has a story to tell and the committee was interested in recording some of the stories and events that have contributed to the rich tapestry of life in the community.

The writers were drawn from across the parish, and includes contributors who grew up and live in the locality and some who settled elsewhere.

The youngest contributor was in his Leaving Cert year when he committed to provide an article and, despite the pressures of exams, produced a piece of history on the Battle for Golden.

One of the oldest contributors gave an interview which drew on her life, outlining what life was like in the parish from the 1930s to the modern times.

The committee says they were very privileged to get an article on the Leper hospital in Golden from the late Richard Williams, which was supplied by his wife Sinead.

Other topics include incidents which took place locally during the War of Independence and the Civil War.

Dr Noreen Higgins McHugh took time out from preparing her forthcoming book on Cumann na mBan, to provide an article on the Cumann na mBan movement, with a focus on Golden.

The journal has articles on local sporting heroes from across the last century and pictures of some of the teams from the 1950s and 1960s.

Several sporting clubs provided histories of their organisations.

There are articles on notable local incidents such as the Cloughaleigh Evictions, as well as drawing out the biographies of local people, such as Kendal O’Brien MP and Fr Theobald Mathew.

There is an article on the post office in Golden and another on one on the gardaí in Golden in the 1940s.

There are articles on folk history of the parish, as remembered in a group interview with the older people in Mantlehill, and another on place names along the River Suir in Golden.

The Queen of the Suir competition is also covered, with photographs of some of those involved over the years.

The journal is packed with photographs of local people, taken over the course of the last century.

The committee sends their thanks to all those people who provided photographs and who worked to identify the people in the photos.

They say there is something for everyone in the journal, and they look forward to welcoming everyone to attend the launch event.