Roundwood & District Historical & Folklore Society

Launch of the 34th Roundwood & District Historical Folklore & Archaeological Society

Saturday 22nd of November at 8 pm

All articles in the journal have been researched and written by local people with stories to tell of times past in Roundwood and the surrounding Vartry area.

This year's articles cover topics extending from the 8th to the 20th centuries. There are stories as diverse as local men who served on the U.N. Missions abroad, a scalded crow, a grannie's memories of the ordinance survey mapping project and why there are so many ringforts within walking distance of the village of Roundwood.

To find out more and get your copy of the 2025 edition, come along to the launch of the Journal in Roundwood Parish Hall at 8 pm

Thank you for your support and look forward to seeing you there

We are delighted to host our next talk by Rob Goodbody on the theme of 'Stone Bridges of Co. Wicklow, on Tuesday next,

20th May at 8.00 pm in Roundwood Parish Hall.

Local historian Rob Goodbody is a founder member of the Industrial Heritage Association of Ireland and has lectured widely and written many books and papers on antiquarian topics. His classic book, Irish Stone Bridges – history and heritage (Irish Academic Press 1991), covers the period from AD 1000 to 1830. In this illustrated talk, Rob will trace the history of the bridges of Co. Wicklow, some of high architectural quality, others very simple, but all with great character.

Admission is just €3 for members and €5 for non-members. Existing and new members are very welcome!

Roundwood Historical Society - Summer Outing Sunday 11 Aug 2024

We would like to invite you to join us on our RHS Summer Outing for 2024

This year we are visiting the Maguire family farm in Glencullen. Our plan is to meet in the overflow car park adjacent to Johnnie Fox's pub at 11am. Our walk of the farm will take approximately 1.30 hrs and we plan to be back in the car park by 1pm at the latest.

See below for further details of what we will be visiting in terms of the various archaeological features on the Maguire farm. For comfort, bring your walking shoes, a fleece and maybe a rain jacket depending on the weather. Please also note that the land is hilly in parts so bring a walking stick if it will make things easier for you.

Carpooling from Roundwood Parish Hall can be arranged depending on numbers so if all those intending to join us can:

confirm attendance on trip by Friday 02nd Aug (by email)
advise if a lift is required from Roundwood Parish Hall

Looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible on our summer outing!

Regards

RHS Committee

Background Information

5000 years of life and farming in the Dublin Uplands.

The land above Newtown Glencullen has been farmed by generations of the Maguire family. Though they follow in the footsteps of countless generations before them who have lived, worked and died on these lands, going all the way back to the very first farmers during the Neolithic Period. Each of these generations have left their mark. The careful management of this land over the centuries has preserved many of these traces, creating a truly remarkable landscape that has echoes of 5,000 years of farming families. Prehistoric tombs, Bronze Age enclosures, ringforts and the houses of those who dwelt here a thousand years ago, and well preserved historic field systems, are all beautifully preserved.

This unique tour will provide insights by landowner Philip Maguire and his son Daniel, currently studying Archaeology. As we venture through this special and deeply historic landscape, you’ll discover that the stories of the past are written clearly on the land, and tell tales of the interconnected web of time and place, change and continuity.

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We would like to invite you to our March talk on Tuesday 19th of March at 8pm at Roundwood Parish Hall.

Dr Emma Lyons will give a talk about the horse in Co Wicklow – work and play.

Dr Emma Lyons is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Department of History at Trinity College, Dublin. Her research interests are focused on Catholic land ownership, inheritance and education in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Ireland.

Dr Lyons has lectured in UCD, worked in the National Library of Ireland and worked on the Army Barracks of 18th-century Ireland project.

We look forward to seeing you there

We would like to invite you to our outing on the 29th July. It is a guided walk in Glenmalure with Carmel O’Toole.

Carmel O’Toole is a local historian and author – Glenmalure - The Wild Heart of the Mountains

We plan to meet at Glenmalure Lodge car park at 4pm sharp. You can expect the walk to take just over an hour.

Car pool – if any member can assist in taking other people, we are proposing to meet at Roundwood Parish Hall just after 3pm so that we are leaving at 3:30pm at the latest. This will reduce the number of cars at the Glenmalure car park.

Refreshments – please make your own arrangements with Glenmalure Lodge directly.

If you could send RSVP by the 21st July that would be much appreciated.

We look forward to seeing you there

Annual General Meeting, 28th February 2023 @ 8 p.m.

The vibrancy of the Society is due to changes/turnover of the people on the Committee.

The upcoming AGM is important as there are important vacancies.

The Society’s constitution is clear on the length of the term of office. Due to Covid, there were some deviations from the norm. Members are eligible for re-election

Please send your nominations to the Hon Secretary @ secretary@roundwoodhistoricalsociety.ie

Elections

2022 Committee:

Chair: Claire Chambers (served term

Vice Chair: John Pearson

Editor: John Pearson

Treasurer: Vacant (interim John Pearson)

Hon Secretary: Jane Pierce (served t3 years)

Member : Marcelo Pacheco

Member: John Medlycott

Member: Therese Hicks (served 1 year)l

Member: Margaret Malone (served 1 year)

Co-opted: Pauline Heatley (during 2022)

Editor: John Pearson but with a co-editor to train in!

2023 Committee

Chair: vacant

Vice Chair: vacant

PRO: vacant

Treasurer: vacant

Hon Secretary: vacant

Member: Marcelo Pacheco (served 2 year)

Member: John Medlycott (served 2 year)

Editor: John Pearson but with a co-editor to train in!

Membership fee remains €10 It is due at the AGM. To encourage you to pay on the night, cash only please, you will automatically be in the raffle for a hamper!

The launch of our 2022 annual journal

Roundwood and District Historical, Folklore and Archaeological Society are please to announce the launch of our 2022 annual journal on 12th November in the Parish Hall at 8pm.

The journal will be launched by Callista Brien , Communications Manager of Irish Water. Join us for tea and coffee afterwards and to buy your copy of the 2022 journal priced at 10 euro.

This years journal has a wide variety of interesting articles with local interest. We look forward to seeing members and non members

‘Delighted to announce the return of the 32nd La Touche Legacy Weekend -7th Festival of History in association with Greystones Archaeological and Historical Society after our long absence due to Covid.

We will once more return to the beautiful surroundings of Greystones Golf Club , Whitshed Road, Greystones on

Friday 9th -Saturday 10th September 2022.

Starting at 16.00.on Friday 9th September , 10.00 Saturday 10th Dinner 20.00 September 10th

The Theme of the weekend “Ireland Through the 40’s …..and Before”

Among the lecturers are Professor Mary Daly, Dr Michael Kennedy, Dr Jennifer Redmond, Clodagh Finn, Professor Emeritus Michael Laffan, Dr David McCullagh.

Further details can be found on:

the website at www.latouchelegacy.com or

see https://heritage.wicklowheritage.org/new-contributions/la-touche-legacy-weekend-returns-9th-10th-sept-2022

Heritage Week Event – Castlekevin - Tuesday 16th August at 8pm in Roundwood Parish Hall

Hosted by Fin Dwyer of Irish History Podcast to cover not just the history but also some new ‘lost’ features and secrets as a result of non-invasive lidar, geophysical and ecological surveys. These professional surveys, just completed and now being analysed, so the findings will be intriguing. These were made possible by the Society being awarded Community Monument Funding this year.

URGENT

Visit to Dun Laoghaire Harbour Saturday 20th August 2.30-4.30pm

Numbers are low at the moment so please let us know by replying to info@roundwoodhistoricalsociety.ie by return if you are coming as otherwise if a critical number is not reached we will have to cancel the tour.

Rob Goodbody, knowledgeable and entertaining, is leading the tour on ‘The history of the harbour and the railway’, starting at the Coal Harbour

Another local Heritage Week event - Sunday 14th August, leaving Moneystown at 6 pm

The annual Pattern Day Walk from Moneystown Community Centre to Lady’s Well Ballymanus Upper on Carrick Mountain will take place Sunday, 14th August, leaving Moneystown at 6 pm. Lady’s well is an ancient holy well that is marked on the Neville Maps of 1760 as an important site.

See you there

Summer Outings Notice 2022

Dear Member,

We would like to invite you to the following events:-

Moneystown walk and talk evening with Jack Byrne Monday 25th July 7.30pm

Continuing exploring the environs of Moneystown that we never finished last year!

Please assemble at Moneystown school at 7.15pm. Please where high visibility jackets and walking shoes.

Visit to Dun Laoghaire Harbour Saturday August 20th 2.30-4.30

Rob Goodbody will lead a tour on ‘The history of the harbour and the railway’, starting at the Coal Harbour. Car share or public transport is advised as parking maybe limited at weekends. Numbers for this tour are limited to 20 to avoid congestion on busy pavements.

If you are interested in attending this event please email:secretary@ roundwoodhistoricalsociety.ie by 13th August .

Society Christmas Dinner - Friday 2nd December

After a two year break we will be returning to the Roundwood Inn for a three course Christmas dinner, so save the date to your diary.

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Roundwood and District Historical & Folklore Society

2022 AGM

An AGM with a difference!

8PM

Tuesday 1st March

Roundwood Parish Hall-all welcome, you don’t have to be a member to attend.

As well as the formal proceedings of the AGM we will have a display of memorabilia belonging to the Late Pat Roche of Knockraheen.

The Society’s drone footage of Castle Kevin that was made for Heritage Week 2021 commentary will also be shown.

Copies of the 2021 journal will be on sale as well as copies of ‘Roundwood Pictorial History’.

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The Roundwood Historical Society is delighted to announce the first meeting of 2022

Dear Member

The Roundwood Historical Society is delighted to announce that the first meeting of 2022 is ‘Enchanting Wicklow: how the artist Norah McGuinness became beguiled’.

It will be in Roundwood Parish Hall on Tuesday 1st February at 8 pm.

Claire Chambers, the artist’s niece, will describe how Norah was drawn to Wicklow and immersed herself in everything Wicklow had to offer.

This shows in her paintings, with a few skilful strokes and colour, captured the essence of Wicklow’s verve and life, whatever it was, nature, gardens, mining or grand houses. Life was for living.

All welcome and masks still essential!

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Dear Member,

Thank- you to all of you that supported the journal launch; we were delighted to see so many people in attendance. Please contact us if anyone you know is looking for a copy of the journal. They are on sale at several local businesses in Roundwood, Laragh and Newtownmountkennedy. Journals can also be purchased via our website at www.roundhistoricalsociety.ie

A DATE FOR YOUR DIARY

Our next meeting, 'The Archaeology of the Baltinglass Hillforts' will be given by noted author and archaeologist, Chris Corlett on 30 November by Zoom. Please email info@roundwoodhistoricalsociety.ie for the link.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Unfortunately our Christmas Dinner planned for the 3rd of December at The Roundwood Inn has been cancelled. In view of the rise of COVID19 cases, the committee felt it unwise to go ahead with this event. We are hoping to re-arrange a social gathering perhaps in the Spring.

Kind regards

Jane Pierce ( Hon Sec)

Roundwood Historical Society

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The Roundwood Historical Society is delighted that our first post-pandemic meeting on ‘The Unsung Heroines of the Asgard’ by Colm J. Galligan will be in Roundwood Parish Hall on Tuesday 26th October at 8 p.m.

Colm‘s insight as an offshore sailor and his immense admiration of Mary Spring Rice and Molly Osgood Childers and their roles will throw new perspectives on the voyage.

All welcome but coming masked would be appreciated!

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PLEASE NOTE

VISIT TO WICKLOW ARCHIVES HAS BEEN POSTPONED FOR LATER IN THE YEAR DUE TO COVID CONCERNS

Merlin

VISIT TO WICKLOW ARCHIVES

It is planned for Thursday 30th September 2021 at 7 pm

Address:

Wicklow Library & Archives, The Mall, Wicklow Town, Co. Wicklow, A67 X504

For additional information, please contact: info@roundwoodhistoricalsociety.ie

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The Historical Society committee would like to invite you to a historical walking tour of Roundwood village on Monday 26th July. The tour will be hosted by Martin Timmons and starts at 8pm. Please meet at the parish hall at 7.50 for this very interesting insight into Roundwood's history. Could I ask you to confirm your interest so we have some idea of numbers.

Please wear a face mask.

Just a gentle reminder: any overdue subscriptions can be collected as we assemble for the tour. Alternatively, you can avail of payment facility on our website.

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Beyond 2022 Research Showcase Marking the Centenary of the Custom House Fire

People, Place and Power: Grand Jury Records and Local History
Presented in association with Local Government Archivists and Records Managers

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Grand Jury was ‘most important local body in rural Ireland’. Its records are a unique source for Irish local history, social change and genealogy. While many Grand Jury records were destroyed during the 1916–1923 period, vital collections still survive at local level across Ireland, where they are preserved by Local Archive services.

The showcase will reveal how the Grand Jury’s decisions impacted directly on daily life, enforcing the law at the local level, collecting taxation and deciding where it would be spent. Grand Juries did more than build roads, bridges, courthouses and prisons. They paid for orphaned children to be boarded-out, escorted convicts for transportation, and produced very early and highly detailed maps of their districts.

Professor Virginia Crossman, author of Local Government in Nineteenth-Century Ireland, will discuss the significance of the Grand Jury records for historical research. The showcase will also visit – virtually – the reading rooms of three Local Archive services across the country, in Counties Donegal, Offaly and Wicklow, bringing you into contact with these fascinating records.

Speakers:

Professor Virginia Crossman (Emerita, Oxford Brookes)
Niamh Brennan (Donegal Archives);
Lisa Shortall (Offaly Archives);
Catherine Wright (Wicklow County Archives & Genealogy Service)
Brian Gurrin and David Brown (Beyond 2022 Project)

This event forms part of a day-long research showcase from the Beyond 2022: Ireland's Virtual Record Treasury Research Project marking the centenary of The Custom House Fire, 25 May 2021, organized in association with the Local Government Archives and Record Managers and supported by the Government of Ireland, through the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, under Project Ireland 2040.

Time

May 25, 2021 02:30 PM in Dublin

The link for people to register is:

https://bit.ly/33DQ2f2

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May 10th 2021 8 pm

Eugene Costello - Farmers and the changing face of Ireland's uplands: historical insights from Wicklow and the West

Eugene delves into the lives of non-elite, ‘forgotten' members of society and the effect of the long-term marginalisation of the rural communities in Atlantic and Boreal Europe. His is a fascinating take on how the economics of these farmers have affected the wider world.

He is currently based in the Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies in Stockholm Univesity. He has gained recognition for his work gathering degrees and honours around Ireland, UK and USA.

Topic: Roundwood Historical's Zoom Meeting - Eugene Costello Farmers and the changing face of Ireland's uplands: historical insights from Wicklow and the WestTopic: Roundwood Historical's Zoom Meeting - Eugene Costello Farmers and the changing face of Ireland's uplands: historical insights from Wicklow and the WestStart Time : May 10, 2021 07:47 PM

Meeting Recording:

Please copy the link below on your browser and hit return and you will be able to play

http://lnnk.in/c8bK