Micheál Mac Gearailt interviewed by Marian Malone for Nationwide at Bunratty Graveyard
A SHANNON history group with Nationwide appeal will feature on RTE television at the end of May.
Shannon Archaeological & Historical Society (SAHS) kicked off a celebration of half a century of lectures, outings, and social events at the beginning of May with a blitz of three outdoor venues in one afternoon. On top of this, the group will also launch volume 50 of The Other Clare later this month in another iconic venue.
On hand to record phase one of the double celebration was an RTÉ Nationwide team, fronted by reporter, Marian Malone, filmmaker Matt Kelly and photographer Patrick Joy.
Meeting up with the committee at Treacy’s Oakwood Hotel, Marian interviewed John O’Brien, one of the society’s founding members who attended the first series of history lectures in St Patrick’s Comprehensive School in 1976. John went on to edit some of the earliest volumes of the Other Clare and has continued to play a leading role in the society.
Volume one of The Other Clare was published in 1977 and the Society has continued to publish the prestigious journal every year.
Dr Rosemary Power, author, historian, and editor of The Other Clare since 2022, currently lives in Scotland, but she explained to the Nationwide team that her connections to Shannon go back decades to when she led a pioneering ministry in the town.
Following the meeting, the members set off for nearby Tullyglass Hill where archaeologist, Olive Carey, spoke about the early days of the country’s new town and the people who were arriving from all over the globe to make a new life in Shannon.
The group then drove to Dromoland Castle where historian, Dr Jane O’Brien, revealed the history of the Lemenagh Gate in the castle’s walled garden, which was dismantled and brought from the ruined north Clare fortress at Lemenagh, the original O’Brien family castle, to the Newmarket demesne in 1902 by the 15th Baron Inchiquin Sir Lucius O’Brien and his wife, Lady Ethel.
In Bunratty, two of the society’s younger members, archaeologist Jake Justice, who works with TVAS Archaeological Consultants, outlined his work excavating a nearby site which has now been developed for housing and showed the members some of the artefacts, pottery and parts of mediaeval kilns, discovered in the area, while historian Micheál Mac Gearailt, who is completing a Masters Degree in the Netherlands, outlined the history of Bunratty graveyard and the beautiful Church of Ireland building and also spoke of his growing interest in history and the encouragement he received from the time he joined the society more than a decade earlier.
Following the outing, Marian Malone paid tribute to the expertise of the members they had filmed and interviewed while secretary, Jane O’Brien, said the trio of venues proved to be a great success and added that it was a very enjoyable day.
SAHS will appear on Nationwide on Friday May 29th at 7pm on RTÉ ONE and two days later will enjoy the launch of volume fifty of The Other Clare in Shannon Airport.
