A meeting took place in The Druid’s Chair on 3rd October 2023 to discuss ideas and options for the establishment of a Killiney Historical Society under the auspices of the KVRA. Following on from the success of the historical weekend which was held in the village earlier in the year it was felt that there would be broad support for setting up a more permanent arrangement to coordinate all aspects of historical relevance to the village and the wider area. Much work has already been done including the ‘Looking Back at Killiney’ project of 2015. This can be built upon and is a very important resource which is now held in Dun Laoghaire Library.
View photo album hereMany thanks to our photographer, Elaine O’Connor, for the the wonderful photographs.
Items which came up for discussion included:
Mission: To collect , archive and disseminate all forms of historical records pertaining to the Killiney area. Written , verbal, photographic etc. Interviews with some of the older residents have already taken place.
Scope: Define geographical extent of area to be covered. The wider Killiney/Ballybrack area, and possibly beyond, should come under the umbrella of the society. The opportunity exists to reach a worldwide audience. Harness the Diaspora. Arrange homecoming events.
Format of Society: Establish a list of names of those who are interested in helping out or taking part in activities. A number of people signed up to organise and help out at future events, to do guided walks, collect information, carry out interviews with older residents etc. Michael McShane is happy to act as coordinator at this juncture and welcomes ideas/input from as many people as possible.
Meetings: Programme of events, visits to buildings, houses of interest etc
Publications: Newsletter, website, books, possibly a calendar etc.
Workshops: deciphering deeds, reading maps, finding sources
Talks: Invited guests, programme of talks. Set up a schedule of speakers. Explore themes and topics. The history of the dairies of Killiney was raised as an interesting area to be explored.
Guided walks/Heritage trails: Explore possibilities re signage, information points etc. Themed walks, variety of walks to suit all ages and interests.
Junior groups: get young people involved
Support: Establish links with other societies and Local Authority/Library etc
We plan to have regular meetings commencing shortly. Initially we need to set out plans for the coming year and to assign tasks. Notice of this next meeting will be provided on the KVRA WhatsApp group and website. A provisional date of Tuesday 7th November is being suggested. We might go with the first Tuesday of each month as a regular date to meet.
Thanks to Louise O’Sheehan for providing us with a number of copies of The Journal of the Mining Heritage Trust of Ireland (December 2006) which were handed out at our meeting. One of the articles is of particular interest as it mentions the Mount Mapas, Killiney Hill mine known locally as Decco’s Cave. The article called ‘Quarries, Mines and Railways of Dalkey’ was written by the late John Barnett and contains excellent research on the topic. Another article of interest concerns the Ballycorus Leadworks by Paul Normoyle. If you would like a copy of this publication please contact Michael (details below) as we still have a few available.
In the meantime if you would like to comment on the above, make suggestions, express general interest or have any other thoughts please contact Michael through his website https://killineyhistory.ie/contact/.