Boherlahan-Dualla Historical Journal 'comes of age' with launch by John Gerard O'Dwyer

The Boherlahan-Dualla Historical Journal came of age on Friday night, October 26, with the launch of the 21st issue in the Parochial Hall, Boherlahan.

The much awaited publication was launched by John Gerard O’Dwyer, a native of the parish, who is a renowned hill walker, pilgrim path writer, media contributor and to the older generation the wonder boy with the answers to the most difficult of questions on TV’s ‘Cross Country Quiz’ programme.

With extraordinary enthusiasm, energy and passion, John reminisced on his own journey back to the village, recounting very positive memories. He emphasised the importance of heritage as a reminder of our past; it helps to identify who we are as a people and its preservation keeps our communities strong and vibrant. John viewed the journal as a wonderful means of contributing to this safeguarding and perpetuation of the heritage and history of Boherlahan-Dualla. He noted how a journal of this nature can capture the significance of small local events, which in turn influence national movements and how big national and international events affect the ordinary lives of people.

In this year’s journal, there are twenty articles, which take one to the antipodes, America, Europe and of course Boherlahan-Dualla. There is no shortage of photographs, which embellish the articles as well as maps wherever appropriate to enable the reader to navigate through the parish or elsewhere. Furthermore, there are independent photographs, which take the reader back to important moments in the lives of ordinary people.

In keeping with the centenary decade of commemorations, the heroic efforts of those men who participated in the Great War have been recounted in three articles. While they were fighting on the continent, the people back at home were having a very different experience through the growing influence of Sinn Féin in the post 1916 years.

By a strange coincident, two Sinn Féin TDs elected to the first Dáil in December 1918, Jack Clancy representing North Sligo and Pierse McCan East Tipperary, met at Gloucester gaol in 1918. Both returned to Ireland on the same steamer in very different circumstances on March 8, 1919. Strangely, Jack was buried in Ardmayle graveyard in 1932 and his story is unravelled in the journal. It was very fitting that on the night of the launch, four of Jack Clancy’s grand-daughters were present and linked up with the grand nephew of Pierse McCan.

In a rural parish, land is always an underlying issue. Fear of losing the only means of survival, the land, in the height of the Great Famine gave rise to an unsolved murder. The ongoing conflict on the Smith-Barry Cashel Estate, much publicised by Thomas Walsh, editor of the Cashel Sentinel, led to his incarceration, not just once but twice for the same alleged crime. Two articles dealing with the inhabitants of Kilballyherberry and a segment of the Furry Hill reveal the radical socio-economic changes experienced over a century. Yet families were resilient and some descendants continue to make a livelihood there today.

The fortunes of individual families are strongly featured. The Maher family who left Thurlesbeg in the 1820s ended up putting down roots on virgin colonial territory in the South Island, New Zealand, with the Maori as neighbours. In 1841, a branch of the Storman family from Nodstown settled in Australia. Descendants visited our parish in recent years to reconnect with their numerous cousins. The Dunne family of Ballykelly is typical of many families where most members emigrated to pursue a livelihood in another land. Their remarkable contribution to their adopted countries is phenomenal. Perseverance in research by a family on the Ardmayle Road led to a most fruitful outcome when their long lost cousins in America were located and a very happy reunion followed.

No journal is ever complete unless there is a reference to an element of sport. A well known GAA enthusiast and steeped in the Tubberadora tradition, Fr Joe Egan, never disappoints with his philosophical and reflective insights.

The smooth running of the events of the night was in the capable hands of Tom Ryan, chairman of the Journal Society.

See also main picture on page 23