Donoughmore And All Around wends its way through 300 years of burial in Donoughmore. It highlights the intrinsic nature of a community that extends outward into Aghabullogue, Aghinagh, Blarney, Glantane, Grenagh and Inniscarra. Subtly, the reader is given an insight into the lives of people who protected that unique stronghold of ancestry we call home. The triumphs and tragedies of life are revealed in short, riveting biographies. Although graveyards are deemed places of sorrow and loss, this work reverses that view. It brings loved ones back to life by revealing treasured memories with fascinating anecdotes, and as far as variety - there is plenty. Where else would you find four weddings occuring in a single day, and the participants not marrying for the first time? Could you imagine the shock of the householder who discovered a horse's skull under the floor of the fireplace? And did you know that a Donoughmore lady is credited with helping Eamonn de Valera to escape from Lincoln Gaol? Such disclosure will inform you, educate you, amuse you, entertain you and become an indispensible record for those of local descent, while aiding the diaspora to seek and pursue their roots.

Donoughmore Remembers Vol.2; With titles such as Our Green Granny, The Legend of the moving Graveyard and Rabbits Bought Him a Farm, even the contents page of Donoughmore Remembers Vol.2 makes for an intriguing read. It has accounts of schooldays (Patricia Cronin recalls inventing 'skate' in Rathoola school, a game that involved sliding along a wet playground), the building of the Kerry Road (at a time when 'the idea of a straight road in Ireland was revolutionary', writes Christy Twomey) and even has the tale of the Ballykerwick Brigadier, told by Liam Helen. The appeal of the book is in its mix of features spanning a national and international context - such as Famine Times in Donoughmore, the Irish Volunteers in Donoughmore and Kilcullen Tragedy on the Titanic - and more local: Donoughmore Sports, as well as Death, Burial and Old Donoughmore Cemetery. Within individual stories, there are fascinating details, such as how small in stature were the three people transported to Australia for theft in 1827: Michael Griffin was five foot three inches, his wife Helen was four foot eleven and Mary Griffin was four foot eight. Donoughmore Remembers is full of photos and drawings and has reproductions of all kinds of documents - Jack Mullane's marriage and death certificates from Butte, Montana; a list issued by Fianna Fáil of the proposal equipment needed by Irish Volunteers on field service (it listed coloured handkerchiefs but nothing white or shiny was to be worn); and a postcard issued as an ad for electricity. Guaranteed to captivate and recalls an era forgotten by many.

DonoughmoreHistoricalSociety.com | contact@donoughmorehistoricalsociety.com