New book on the struggles of West Offaly people set for official launch

The High Street Community Hall in Belmont will be the venue this Friday for the launch of a new historical book 'Land Wars to Civil War – Turmoil in the Midlands'.

The book is written by Padraig Heavin and tells the story of the struggles of the people from West Offaly to become land owners and citizens of a free country.

It is based on interviews with participants made in the 1960s and 1970s, the main sources of material being the provincial and national newspapers of the time. The online resources such as the Military Archives, the Census of 1901 and 1911, and Genealogy.ie were also used in the writing of the book. Photographs and drawings never previously published are also included.

The main timeline is from 1904 to 1925 and demonstrates that the progress was achieved inch by painful inch for long periods.

The sacrifices and losses in human and property terms are shown and nobody had a monopoly in those. In geographic terms, it covers the country south of Athlone to Nenagh and from Banagher eastwards to Clara. The main focus is on the area from Shannonbridge to Ferbane, from Ballinahown to Belmont and Cloghan. The area is microscopic in national terms but reflects what happened right around the country.

Padraig said that the motivation behind the publication 'is to record the names of the ordinary people, living ordinary lives and then having to perform duties large or small to achieve an extraordinary outcome. This nation owes them an eternal debt'. The launch of the book will take place at 8pm on Friday, May 15.