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Mallow Archaeological & Historical Society |
It is with great pleasure that we welcome readers new and old to this thirtieth volume of the Mallow Field Club Journal. As ever, thanks are due to the various contributors and to our many readers without whose continued support the project would long since have failed. Instead it has gone from strength to strength appealing both to popular and more academic interest. Again this year readers will find a wide selection of articles from different historical periods written in diverse styles which we hope you will find interesting.Local history deals with the origin and growth of local communities. It helps us understand both who we are and the forces which influence our lives, be these historically remote or more contemporary. It is a defence against bland and homogenised culture. Well researched, it contributes to the analysis of historical events at a national and indeed wider level. This is particularly important as we enter what has been called a Decade of Commemorations. We have already seen the centenary of the introduction of the third Home Rule Bill and the Ulster Covenant. In coming years the 1913 Lockout, the establishment of the Irish Volunteers, the First World War, the 1916 Rising and the independence of Ireland will be commemorated. Over thirty years, the Journal has contributed to our knowledge of some of these issues in the local context but much remains to be explored and understood.
In Mallow we have an additional cluster of celebrations. This year we remember the centenary of the birth of Joan Denise Moriarty, doyenne of Irish ballet (born 1912). Next year we commemorate the centenary of the death of Canon Sheehan, priest, author and political activist (born Mallow 1852) and in the following year the bicentenary of the birth of Thomas Davis author and patriot (born Mallow 1814). All three have a national and international significance of which we can be proud. This thirtieth volume of the Mallow Field Club Journal is perhaps also an occasion worthy of celebration and a source of justifiable pride to those, contributors and readers alike, who have sustained it over the years.
186 pages, 5" X 8", copyright © 2012 by Mallow Field Club