Affichage de 1289 résultats

Established probably at the turn of the 20th century, the committee of King’s County Farming and Agricultural Society organised agricultural shows in the county. From 1905 there were shows held in Edenderry, Daingean, Tullamore, Birr and Kilcormac. In 1913 a preliminary meeting was held to revive the old Tullamore show, which had first been held in 1840 under the patronage of the second earl of Charleville. The 1913 show was a success and was thereafter held annually until 1919. Due to the troubled state of the country, there were no shows held between 1920 and 1923. It was revived again in 1924 with the now renamed Offaly Farming and Industrial Society taking over the cricket grounds at Spollanstown, Tullamore, to be used as showgrounds. The show was in decline by the mid-1930s and a decision was taken in 1939 not to hold a show that year, a decision which was upheld for the duration of the Second World War. By the end of the war, the Society had decided to sell the show-grounds at Spollanstown to the combined soccer and rugby clubs, and the Tullamore Show was largely forgotten. It was revived in 1991 and continues with record attendances to the present day.

Gaelic games were introduced to the Ballinamere area in the late 1880s and an official club was established in the early years of the 20th century. In 1909, Ballinamere players amalgamated with Tullamore to field a team which won the first hurling championship for North Offaly. Following a decline in the participation of the sport in the area in the succeeding years, it underwent a revival in the 1930s and the club exists to the present day.

North Offaly GAA was a sub-committee of Offaly County Board consisting of delegates representing Ballinagar, Ballycommon, Ballycumber, Bracknagh, Clara, Cloghan, Clonmore, Cloneygowan, Edenderry, Durrow, Geashill, Gurteen, Killeigh, Knockballyboy, Philipstown (Daingean), Rahan, Raheen, Rhode, and Tullamore clubs.

Offaly GAA Southern Committee was a sub-committee of Offaly GAA consisting of delegates representing Banagher, Belmont, Birr, Clareen, Coolderry, Cloghan, Doon, Drumcullen, Eglish, Erin's Own, Ferbane, Kilcormac, Killoughey, Kinnitty, Lusmagh, Seir Kieran and Shinrone clubs.

Tullamore GAA Club was founded on 26 May 1888 and won its first title in 1890 when it defeated Banagher in the final of the Offaly Championships (football). Its club colours were initially red and green, but inspired by the 1916 Rising, the club changed its colours to green, white and gold in 1917. In the early 1920s, Tullamore gave the county team the right to wear the tricolour as the county colours and adopted the blue and white colours which are still used today.

Having played in rented fields at Church Road, and then Tinnycross, the club acquired land at Ballyduff Park in the 1910s. In 1932, it developed a site on the Arden Road and in 1934, O'Connor Park was opened. Following the decision in 2001 to let Offaly County Board lease O'Connor Park, O'Brien Park was developed for use by Tullamore GAA Club.

Founded probably in the winter of 1887/1888, King's County (Offaly) GAA County Committee, met in a hotel in Birr on 6 March 1888, to arrange for the holding of championships in hurling and football. The county committee became known as Offaly County Board over time, and is responsible for Gaelic games within the county and for selecting inter-county teams to play in the national championships.

The Tullamore Pipers' Band or St. Colmcille's Pipers' Band was founded in 1911 with the help of the Tullamore branch of The Gaelic League. Founder members included Alo O'Brennan and others active in the nationalist movement. The new Tullamore Pipers Band received additional encouragement from national figures such as F.J. Bigger (1863-1926) and Alice Stopford Green (1847-1929). The band first performed in public on St Patrick’s Day 1912 and was presented by Bigger with its fine banner at a feis in Tullamore in August 1912. The band played at the foundation of the Volunteers in April 1914 and the Geashill Cattle Drive in November of that year. In the aftermath of the affray or incident in 1916 the instruments of the band in the loft in Market Square were badly damaged and compensation awarded later that year. There appears to have been a split in the band along political lines in 1916-17. This was brought to a close at the same time as the split in the GAA and the two bands, St Colmcille’s and St Enda’s amalgamated with a combined strength of about forty. Judging by the financial supporters of St Enda’s band it appears to have been sponsored by Sinn Féin and the new organisation claimed the credit for bringing the split to an end.

Frank O’Brennan was born in Tullamore c.1985, the younger brother of Séamus and Alo O’Brennan. He was active in the Tullamore Volunteers from 1913 and is listed on the charge sheet of those present during the Tullamore Incident of March 1916, after which he was arrested and court-martialled in relation to the wounding of RIC Sergeant Ahearn. After his release in June 1916, he rejoined the Irish Volunteers and took part in the usual activities. In 1919 he watched the movement of British forces and carried dispatches. In June 1920 he was in charge of road blocking during attacks on Geashill and Clara Barracks, and was involved in an armed attack on British forces at Ballycommon Bridge in which a civilian was killed. He took part in three raids for mail. In the autumn of 1920 he brought Seán McGuinness and members of his Active Service Unit (Flying Column) from Kilbeggan to Geashill where they killed an RIC Head Constable, but O’Brennan took no part in the shooting. He died in 1964.

Peadar Bracken was born in Tullamore in 1887. A lifelong nationalist, he joined the Tullamore branch of the Gaelic League in 1902 and was recruited into the IRB in 1904 at the age of 17. A stone-cutter by trade, he emigrated in 1911 to Perth in Western Australia where he joined his brother Denis in the stone-cutting business there. On hearing of the formation of the Irish Volunteers in 1913, Peadar returned to Tullamore and was elected by the Tullamore Volunteers as their First Captain. In November 1914, he was arrested along with 45 others for his involvement in the Geashill Cattle Drive. Due to the fact that he had discharged a fireream during the melée, he was sentenced to six months imprisonment in Mountjoy Gaol but only served two.

In 1915 he was appointed First Commandant of the newly formed Athlone IV Brigade. In March 1916, he was a key figure in the Tullamore Incident and fired ‘the first shots’ in the affray. He and Seamus O’Brennan subsequently went on the run. During the 1916 Rising, he held key positions in the heart of the fighting, as OC O’Connell Bridge and holding the GPO until surrender. He was released from Kilmainham Gaol in June 1916 and immediately reorganised the Athlone IV Brigade. During the War of Independence he was appointed overall Commandant of No 1 and No 2 Offaly IRA Brigades and Staff Officer to IRA-HQ. He was interned in the Curragh Camp in 1921 but was released in October of that year. Following the establishment of the Free State, he was appointed first clerk of the courts for Tullamore and later to Daingean, Clara and Ferbane. In 1934 he was appointed commissioner for oaths and in the 1940s he served as staff officer with the Tullamore Local Defence Force. His military pension application was approved in 1940 and he was awarded medals for his involvement in the 1916 Rising and the War of Independence. He died in January 1916.