Layers of county Clare’s history uncovered in newest volume of annual historical journal

THE 49th volume of Shannon Archaeological and Historical Society’s annual journal, The Other Clare, will be launched this Sunday in Carrygerry Country House in Newmarket on Fergus.

Editor Rosemary Power has woven together a bumper edition of 108 pages on Clare’s heritage and featured some of its leading historical figures, with contributions from local historians, archaeologists and researchers from the University of Limerick and staff of the National Folklore Collection the early Christian period to the War of Independence.

Saint Cannera, noblewoman Sláine Ní Bhriain and wise woman Biddy Early are among the interesting women featured in the journal, while an article on Edward Burton Gleeson, the ‘King of Clare’ charters his trials and tribulations and eventual success in mid-nineteenth century south Australia.

The daily life and medical practice of Dr Edward Heyns, a GP in Lisdoonvarna in the 1880s, is revealed in the journal thanks to old papers hidden in a wall press behind layers of ancient wallpaper.

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The Society is also celebrating the completion of the online index of The Other Clare, which includes summaries and keywords to every article published in its pages over the past 49 years.

This bilingual edition sees an Irish-language contribution from Críostóir Mac Carthaigh, who tells the forgotten story of Doolin folklore collector and native Irish speaker Seán Mac Mathúna; we are also treated to a translation of a late medieval poem dedicated to a West Clare MacMahon lord by Conchubhar Mac Cruitín.

The history of the Irish Revolution is also covered in detail, from the contemporary reports, drawings and photographs of the eviction of the McGrath family on the Vandeleur estate in Moyasta, 1888, to an article on Secret Service agents in Clare during the War of Independence by Edward Bourke, and a story of tragic execution at Spike Island internment camp by William Murphy. 

The journal is now available to buy in shops throughout Clare and Limerick city.