All history begins with the local, says Edenderry historian

One of the most famous quotes from a Jamaican political activist called Marcus Garvey is “a people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.”

One man who knows the value and importance of history more than most is Edenderry native and historian, Dr. Ciarán Reilly, who is currently putting the finishing touches to his latest book, “Capard, an Irish Country House & Estate,” which is due to the published on October 8 next.

Ciarán, who lives in Clane in Kildare with his wife, Tara, and their two young sons aged six and four, admits that his life may have taken a very different turn to the path he is on today had he not suffered a knee injury while playing football in the year 2000 which ultimately led to him having to permanently hang up his football boots.

“Sport completely dominated the first 25 years of my life” he says “and even thought I always loved history, sport was my first love and I absolutely lived for training and for playing with Offaly.”

An accomplished footballer, Ciarán Reilly played minor, U/21 and Seniors with his beloved Offaly, and could never envisage a day when he wouldn’t be donning his green, white and gold jersey.

The second youngest in a family of six from Blundell Wood in Edenderry town, he says he found it “very, very hard” to walk away from football, but he was left with no choice when he tore cruciate and medial ligaments in his right knee in 2009.

“At that stage I had two dodgy knees, so there was no way I could keep playing” he says “so I had to reluctantly hang up my boots, and I just had to withdraw from the whole football scene completely because there were so many aspects of it I missed.”

As well as playing for Offaly, Ciarán Reilly was also playing football for his College team in the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, where he

began his academic life in 2001 after completing his secondary school education in St. Mary’s in Edenderry.

After graduating from Maynooth with a Batchelor of Arts in History and Geography in 2004, the young Edenderry man decided to remain in the University to complete his HDip in Irish History, and then went on to complete his Masters and, more recently, his PhD.

At the tender age of 24, Ciarán Reilly became a published author when he was one of a small number of students from Maynooth whose theses were selected for inclusion in the University’s series on local history.

The resulting book, “Edenderry, county Offaly and the Downshire Estate” was the first of six books to be published by the prolific author and historian, who ironically now works as a full-time researcher at his old alma mater, in Maynooth University, having worked as a History Lecturer there from 2010 to 2016.

“Writing my first book just meant rewriting a few chapters for a general readership instead of an academic one, as I had done all the research for my thesis, but the rest of my books had to be researched and written from scratch” he explains, adding that it is “a painstaking process, but a very enjoyable one.”

Ciarán enjoys research and writing very much, and such is his encyclopaedic knowedge of Irish history that he has been asked to speak at many important public engagements around the world, including being asked in 2016 to brief the then-US Vice President, Joe Biden, about his Mayo ancestors who left Ireland during the Great Famine.

As well as collaborating on research projects with University colleagues across Ireland, Britain, Finland, South Africa and the USA, the Edenderry historian is also a founding member of the European Forum for the Study of County Houses and Landed Estates, as well being a member of the International Network of Irish Famine Studies, and the North American Irish Famine Network.

Despite his international travels, Ciarán Reilly firmly believes that the study of history should be firmly rooted in acquiring knowledge about local history first and foremost.

“My biggest bugbear is that the history being taught in schools today is all about international events and, while these are of course very important, I really feel that we need to start teaching local history and then work outwards” he says.

To that end, Ciarán devotes a lot of his time to visiting local schools to teach students about local history. “For example, to commemorate the 1916 Rising, I visited a number of primary and secondary schools in Offaly in 2016 and the students were amazed to hear stories of events connected to the Rising which happened in their own local area, and I believe that is where we should be starting with history.”

Ciarán Reilly is also a very active member of Edenderry Historical Society and for the past few years he has taken groups of locals and tourists on walking tours of Edenderry town to impart his forensic knowledge of local history, and he says these tours are always “very informative and enjoyable.”

While he admits to reading “a lot of local history” and is always “researching something or other” he also takes time out his busy schedule to follow the GAA Championship during the summer months.

The latest book to be published by Ciarán Reilly on the great country house of Capard in county Laois took him all across Ireland, England and Switzerland to conduct research into the Piggott family, who owned the estate.

“When I wrote my book on Strokestown House I had access to 500 documents, but finding out information about Capard House really was like detective work, and my research took me all the way to Switzerland where I unearthed a lot of documents and even found living descendants of the original owners of the House.

“Capard, an Irish Country House & Estate” will be launched on October 8 next in the Irish Georgian Society, 58. South William Street, Dublin, and local launches in both Laois and Offaly are planned for later this year.