Press release Press release
Press release
Enniscorthy: a history
book launch on 25th November 2010,
in Riverside Park Hotel at 8:00pm by
Enniscorthy Town Council CHAIRMAN,
Cllr. Paddy Kavanagh
“Enniscorthy: a history”, the publication of the town’s 1500 celebrations, was launched
by Cllr. Paddy Kavanagh, Chairman, Enniscorthy Town Council in the Riverside Park
Hotel on Thursday, 25th November 2010 at 8:00 pm.
Lavishly illustrated in full colour, the book sells for €30.00 and is available from the
Town Council offices in Market Square, the public library and local bookshops. A
limited edition of 1,200 copies has been produced.
“Enniscorthy: a history” was the brain-child of Enniscorthy Town Manager, Tony
Larkin. An initiative of the Town Council as part of its 1500 celebrations, it was edited
and is introduced by Colm Toibin. 'This has been not only of labour of love, but a
voyage of discovery’, said Colm Toibin addressing a packed Riverside Park Hotel on
Thursday night. ‘The book is a real sign of the great changes that have happened in
Ireland in the recent past as a new generation of historians has emerged who take nothing
for granted. They realise that history is how ordinary people lived in the past as much as
it is battles or changes in government; they know that an understanding of the local is the
key to everything else; and they are ready to do serious and trojan research. We are lucky
to have these people, and we are lucky also to have our library, with its dedicated staff,
and an enlightened local authority. More than anything, we are lucky to have this
beautifully illustrated book.'
The book is a celebration of the Enniscorthy community. It evokes shared memory, a
sense of history and of commemoration. It dramatises the complex web of intimacies
that make up a town. Most importantly, it writes ordinary people into history and this is a
feature of every chapter without exception.
Jacinta Prunty makes a journey through the streets of Enniscorthy in the middle of the
nineteenth century. She names the tenants of almost every premises on every street, and
their occupations. We read the stories of ordinary people caught up in the institutions of
the workhouse and nineteenth-century health systems as they struggled to cope with the
Great Famine and its aftermath. Their stories are to be found in the essays of Eva Ó
Cathaoir, Virginia Crossman and Catherine Cox.
Achievement is recognised also. Industry and business is investigated by Dan Walsh; and
the setting up of our schools and educational facilities by Henry Goff. Eithne Scallan &
Peter Pearson examine architectural heritage. Sporting prowess is researched by Paul
Rouse and the town’s excellent literary and arts output is covered by Eamonn Wall.
Enniscorthy’s origins and development are investigated in essays by Isabel Bennett, Billy
Colfer and Ben Murtagh. Gorey man, Aidan Breen throws light on the life of St Senan,
the man whose monastery gave rise to the town and who gave his name to
Templeshannon. The town's more recent development and expansion as part of the Earl
of Portsmouth's estate is outlined by Brownswood woman Rita Edwards.
Enniscorthy became famous for its involvement in two national events, the 1798
Rebellion and the 1916 Rising. With what Daniel Gahan refers to as 'the weapons of the
historian' - patient archival research, sympathetic engagement and balanced judgement both he and William Murphy provide another perspective of those two events, again
naming names of ordinary people caught up in them, writing ordinary people into history.
For most of the 1500 years Enniscorthy has celebrated all year, there were no
photographers to record the people and events that shaped our town's story. But in a
lavishly illustrated essay, Seán Whelan pays tribute to those who turned their camera
lenses on Enniscorthy. In this he was supported by local photographers and their
collections. Ger and Ibar Carty and Paddy Murphy were generous with their advice and
expertise. They offered suitable illustrations across the complete publication and granted
permission to publish images from the PA Crane collection and the Sean Carty
collection; as well as their own atmospheric studies of contemporary events, people and
places that continue the vital job of illustrating the Enniscorthy story. Donald McDonald
took most of the contemporary, colour images of buildings, monuments and streetscapes
in the book. Donald's eye caught details of the town that perhaps local people have come
to take for granted - doorways, date stones, shopfronts, the magnificent architecture of
buildings such as the Cathedral, the Athenaeum, St Senan's, and some of the 'big' houses
in the area.
In bringing together this collection of illustrated essays, Colm Toibin has given a
wonderful gift to his native town. He was supported ably by Celestine Rafferty from the
County Council’s public library service who was Assistant Editor. The book is published
by the Wexford County Council’s library service.
END