Events in the diary are organised by affiliated groups. For non-member history related events see the news section.
Naas Local History Group – A.G.M.
Naas Local History Group’s A.G.M. will take place on the 20th of January 2020. All are welcome to attend and the floor will be open to invite new committee members.
For members who wish who renew their annual subscriptions, or if new members wish to join, subscriptions can be paid on the night. Subscriptions are €25 per person. A family rate is available.
The A.G.M will be followed by a slide presentation Welcome to your town – Naas. This will be a presentation of images, drawings, etchings, postcards, etc., of Naas in past times for new and long established residents of Naas to enjoy.
As always refreshments will follow the talk!
Annual General Meeting of Kill History Group in the Parish Meeting Room at 8pm.
Our first meeting of 2020 will be a Memories and Memorabilia Night with club members and will take place in the Curragh Local History Group Clubhouse.
If you have a story or memorabilia about the Curragh to share please join us on the night.
All welcome!
Fake News and Irish Freedom – the media, censorship, and propaganda 1919-1923 with Ian Kenneally, historian, author and broadcaster.
Come early from 7:30pm to enjoy some refreshments and a chat before the event.
The Incredible Untold Story of Mary Elmes – Ireland’s Oskar Schindler
Mary Elmes was an Irish woman who saved children from Nazi concentration camps. Clodagh Finn has written about Mary Elmes’s remarkable life, and she will give an illustrated talk based on her book, A Time to Risk All.
Come early from 7:30pm to enjoy some refreshments and a chat before the event.
Cromwell Was Framed – Ireland 1649 a talk by author Tom Reilly.
Come early from 7:30pm to enjoy some refreshments and a chat before the event.
The Earls of Castlehaven: Lord Audleys of Cork and Kildare – illustrated talk by Dr Michael Christopher Keane
Michael Christopher Keane is a retired lecturer from University College, Cork. This talk is based on his book ‘The Earls of Castlehaven’. There is a prominent County Kildare dimension to the story.
George Touchet, 11th Baron Audley and 1st Earl of Castlehaven was a leading English commander in the decisive Battle of Kinsale in which he was wounded. He later became one of Ireland’s largest landowners, possessing 200,000 acres stretching from the lands of the O’Driscolls and O’Mahonys in West Cork to that of the O’Neills of Tyrone. His successor, the 2nd Earl of Castlehaven, married royalty as his wife Anne, eldest daughter of Lord Derby and Alice Spencer of Althorp of more recent Lady Diana fame, was at one stage heir presumptive to the throne of Queen Elizabeth I. However the 2nd Earl was accused by Anne of extreme sexual depravity and, following a sensational trial, was executed in London. Remarkably his successor, the 3rd Earl of Castlehaven of Maddenstown, Co. Kildare, became a leading commander in the Catholic Confederacy uprising and led the resistance in Ireland to Protestant advancement and to Cromwell. In the 19th century three successive Lord Audleys were involved in copper mining on their estate in the Mizen peninsula near Ballydehob in West Cork, a venture which was riddled with fraud and corruption. Their estate later became a focal point in the catastrophe of the Great Famine in the region.
In overall terms the story of the lives of the Castlehavens/Audleys can help to illuminate the shifting sands of control and dominance of Irish affairs during many of the key centuries of Irish history.
Come early from 7:30pm to enjoy some refreshments and a chat before the event.
Irish Banknotes – An Inside Story with Louis O’Byrne former head of the Irish Banknote Printing Works and Mint.
Come early from 7:30pm to enjoy some refreshments and a chat before the event.
Wolfe Tone – family man – an illustrated talk by Larry Breen
The talk will outline the family life of the great Irish Republican and 1798 leader of the United Irishmen, Theobald Wolfe Tone, and explore his County Kildare connections.
Come early from 7:30pm to enjoy some refreshments and a chat before the event.
Lilywhite Country – Night One
A night of country music during Heritage Week – organised by Cill Dara Historical Society as part of Lilywhite Country – Kildare Town Country Music Festival 26th-28th August 2020 .
Artists:
Declan Nerney, Mick Flavin, Sina Theil, Gerry Guthrie, T.R. Dallas, Sabrina Fallon.
Hosted by Trudi Lalor and featuring The Ryan Turner Band.
Admission by ticket only.
Tickets available in Kildare town from:
Kildare Town Heritage Centre and Tourist Office, Market Square
Áras Bhride – Kildare Parish Centre, Bride Street
Cill Dara Historical Society (Joe Connelly)
