Bertie launches ‘Tales of Westmeath’

It’s unlikely that reading fans will ever actually be able to borrow – or be prepared to lend – copies of the Shay Callaghan book, ‘Tales of Westmeath’, launched in Mullingar last Wednesday night.

That’s because the owners will never quite be finished reading it, for this is an absolute treasure of a book that one will dip into again and again, and refer back to over and over.

Former taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, who formally launched the book compared it to the classic ‘Give Up Yer Auld Sins’ recordings of children from his own area telling biblical stories and indeed, Tales of Westmeath is again the words of children, albeit in written form and not on tape.

Killucan man Shay Callaghan undertook the mammoth task of going through the 110 copybooks of stories, lore, legends and memories collected as parts of Westmeath’s contribution to the Irish Folklore Commission’s 1937-1939 Schools Collection project.

From that, he selected hundreds of the fascinating items that the participating schoolchildren collected when they were sent forth by their teachers to interview their parents, grandparents or other older people in their communities.

Shay commissioned local artist Tommy Bolger to create illustrations for the book, and while the words of the children are left intact, Shay has provided chapter introductions, explanations and commentary.

He has also done a masterful job in arranging the items by theme – including an entire section on ‘Buried Treasure’, of which, it appears, there may be lots in Westmeath!

At the event, master of ceremonies, Seamus O’Brien, said the methodology behind the Folklore Commission project had been "ingenious, innovative and entirely successful", and he described the Schools Collection, as being "one of the greatest success stories of our country" – all the more remarkable in that it had been undertaken in only the second decade of the Irish state’s independent existence".

The launch capped a busy day for ex-taoiseach and potential presidential candidate Bertie Ahern, who now works in conflict resolution: he had earlier been in Belfast, then back in Dublin before travelling to The Mullingar Park Hotel to launch ‘Tales of Westmeath’.

On that journey, Mr Ahern said, he mused about what material will be available to the historians of 30 years’ time, compared to the vastness of a resource that the Schools Collection represented.

"Because what would you do? You’d have to go to the phones and get a load of texts that say, you know: ‘Hello’; ‘I’ll see you in two hours’; ‘goodbye’; ‘see you tomorrow’; or ‘goodnight’. You wouldn’t get too many stories.

And then you’d have to go to the emails, which are even worse!"

By contrast, he said, the children who took part in the folklore project were interviewing people who had lived through the War of Independence; through 1916, the First World War, the economic war.

He hoped, he said, that other historians would follow Shay’s lead and produce works like Tales of Westmeath: "[Shay’s book] covers so much, such a wide range of topics and agendas – the kind of Ireland and to traditions and to the folklore that have shaped our country and shaped our identity as well."

At the launch, the audience learned that Shay Callaghan worked as a builder; he then opened an agri enterprise that employed 40 people; he was involved in a host of organisations in a voluntary capacity, and he was a member of Westmeath County Council.

Shay is married to Kathy and the couple are parents to seven children – Niall, Damien, Dermot (Saudi Arabia), Gabriel (Dallas), Grainne, Niamh, Yvonne (Holland) – and grandparents to 15.

Tales of Westmeath - History and Folklore from The Schools Collection is available locally and costs €20