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Dromcollogher Cinema Fire 1926

The final resting place for the victims of the fire

On 5 September 1926 a cinema exhibition was held in the town of Dromcollogher County Limerick. The exhibition was held above a storeroom and lacked even the most basic of fire safety measures. Less than a hour into the show a fire broke out. In the ensuing panic forty-eight people died. It remains one of the worse disasters to occur in Ireland equalled only by the Star Dust fire of Valentine’s night 1981 in which forty-eight people also died.

Dromcollogher County Library site of the cinema fire

Thanks to funding from the Royal Irish Academy, I have been carrying out research on the event in the led-up to centenary of the fire. Using oral history testimonies from the descendants of those that died as well as other archival material, I am seeking to understand how the fire was remembered and memorialised over the last century. I am currently completely a book on this truly terrible tragedy to mark the centenary of the cinema fire. A link to a talk I give to the American Irish Historical Society on the fire can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5dbVws3VIw&t=26s

The University of Limerick Oral History Project

Since 2021 I have been working part-time as the Project Officer for the Oral History Project at the University of Limerick. For me, as an alumni of the University, it has been a privilege to record the memories of those who have work and studied at NIHE/UL & NCPE/Thomond College over the last fifty-years. Just over forty-five interviews are housed on the University of Limerick Digital Library web page. A link to the Project can be found herehttps://digitallibrary.ul.ie/university-limerick-oral-history-project-ulohp?search=oral%20history

Two of the key success of the project are the publication of ‘University of Limerick an oral history, 1972 – 2022 and an exhibition run in conjunction with the Women’s History Association of Ireland in 2022 called ‘Fifty years of ‘Pioneering Women’ at the University of Limerick: Past and Present’ . In 2023 I had the opportunity to present my work at the Royal Irish Academy ‘HER-ald: HER archives, literature, documents, Mná 100 Conference. a link to the talk can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc032rfKFb8

Friendships Highway: Migration and Irish Girls’ Friendly Society Members, 1885 – 1935

The Girls’ Friendly Society, established in Ireland in 1887 – two years after the English GFS had been formed, sought to look after the moral welfare of young, Protestant women. Its work included the running of lodging homes , sick and convalescent homes, clubs and so on. One of its main functions was the protection of women as they migrated from Ireland. Ledgers were kept that detail each part the women’s journey. At ports and railway stations they were meet by an associate member who looked after them thus ensuring their moral safety.

Using information from two ledgers I identified just over 700 women who were helped by the GFS and created a database (1885 – 1935) that provides a rich stream of information on this often overlooked group of women. In 2024 I was awarded a place on a pilot scheme devised and run by the Digital Repository of Ireland that allowed me to develop a fully searchable database using these two key resources. A link can be found here and his free for anyone to use https://repository.dri.ie/catalog/hh646r35d