Mr Brian McCabe will give a talk titled, Palmerstown House and its colourful owners.

It should be a very interesting talk.
All welcome!

Raising of the Welsh Flag – a ceremony at Naas Town Hall with Naas Local History Group committee members.

Naas Local History Group first raised the Welsh flag on St. David’s Day in 1992 following the twinning of Naas Town with St. David’s in Wales.

The ceremony has continued every year since to commemorate the “granting” to the Fitzgerald Family of the lands and town of Naas in the late twelfth century following the Norman invasion. Many of the Norman families had previously been settled in Pembroke, Wales, and when they rebuilt the local church in Naas they rededicated it to the Welsh patron saint, hence the long standing local connection to St. David.

The Annual Ger Kinchella Memorial Lecture and the presentation of the Naas Local History Group Heritage Cup

Naas Local History Group’s annual lecture to commemorate one of their founding members, Ger Kinchella, will take place in the Town House Hotel on the second of March.

This year the lecture will focus on ‘Trains thundering through Naas – the Naas-Tullow Railway.’ Liam Kenny will recreate the dismantled rail line in words and images, with the additional aid of 3D graphics by local graphic designer Eamon Synott.

Also on the night is the presentation of the Naas Local History Group Heritage Cup. Each year the Heritage Cup is awarded to a member of the community, a business, or a local community organisation, to acknowledge their long standing contribution to the community and its heritage through the continuation of a trade, service, business, or the maintenance of a shopfront, building, tradition, or sport.

This year the cup is being awarded to Swans on the Green and will be presented by P. C. Behan and Ger McCarthy.

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.

Brendan Cullen will give a talk on James Joyce and Clongowes Wood College.

At the age of six James Joyce was sent to board at one of Ireland’s most exclusive schools, Clongowes Wood College, located just outside Clane in Co. Kildare. It was envisaged that Joyce would continue his education there until entering university, however, while attending Clongowes Wood, the Joyce family fell into severe financial difficulties and were unable to afford the costs of his education there. James Joyce was removed from the college after just three years.

Despite his short time at Clongowes, the college provided Joyce with a number of episodes for his autobiographical novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916),  thereby, immortalising the college and winning it a place in world literary history.

Brendan Cullen is a retired Clongowes Wood College history teacher.

Managing your Family Archives

Archivist Róisín Berry will give an overview of the type of documents you might find in your own family papers and how to care for them. It will be as practical as possible.

The talk will be wide ranging with time for discussion afterwards.

Everyone is welcome.

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.

Ger McCarthy will give an illustrated talk on the Country Houses of Co. Kildare titled “From Balyna to Burton Hall”.

Kildare: the Irish Revolution 1912-1923, a talk by Seamus Cullen.

Everyone is welcome.