Heritage and History Group

Cloughjordan has an extraordinary amount of all kinds of heritage. Ancient sites, old buildings, the birthplace of an Irish patriot, the railway and extensive natural heritage all combine to make Cloughjordan the ideal place for heritage enthusiasts.

The Cloughjordan Heritage group was formed in 2006 and has held events concerning the history and heritage of the town regularly since. The group meets monthly to plan events and notice of events are sent out by text reminder. Keep an eye on the what's on section for our next event

In our first year a historical Treasure Hunt and historical Walk was held during National Heritage Week and the group has been an enthusiastic participant of the week since. This was followed later in the year by evening of folklore poetry, music and stories. The following year an event on emigration to Canada from the local area in the 1800's was followed up by a very interesting visit to a Passage Tomb and Ashley Park House. Later that year during National Heritage Week an event dealing with emigration to Australia was followed by a most interesting railway heritage evening attracted many people.

A talk on “Fairy Forts”, "A childhood in the Solomon Islands", "The Liberties of Dublin" was hosted by the group. At all these occasions audience participation is encouraged and adds greatly to the overall enjoyment, as do the refreshments served by the group. We have had a series of talks on Old Cloughjordan, illustrated with the old photographs of the town which had been compiled and collected when the local people brought their of family photographs for scanning and preserving for posterity.

The first MacDonagh Weekend, held to honour Cloughjordan’s most famous son, Thomas MacDonagh was held in 2009 an has become an annual event now - the MacDonagh weekend has a page of its own - click here. This three-day event is held in May covering the period of his anniversary. Guests of honour have included several members of MacDonagh’s family. Highlights included a lecture about a  MacDonagh-related topic, poetry readings and art workshops, a pipe band recital and a dramatisation by Cloughjordan Drama Group.

Each year, during National Heritage week, the group hosts an event or two and the old tradition of the ‘Rambling House’ has been recreated with evenings of songs and stories hosted in a 'traditional kitchen' recreated for the occasion in the Parochial Hall and hosted by Fear an Tí, Seamus Costello.

We are always trying to be imaginative in our approach and recently hosted a workshop on using the internet to research family histories.

The Cloughjordan History and Heritage Group meets every third Thursday of the month at 8pm in Maura Graces Bar, Main Street. Everyone is welcome.

Contact heritage@cloughjordan.ie

Coming up
click on an event for more details