Century of Kilbeggan households brought to life for Heritage Week

Shane King

The people who lived, worked and raised their families along the streets of Kilbeggan a century ago were brought back to life last weekend as part of a special Heritage Week event celebrating the town’s history.

‘Istigh sa Teach: 100 Years of Kilbeggan Households’ invited people to explore the town through the eyes of those who lived there on the night of the 1926 Census, and 29 houses on the main street and in the town squares featured specially created plaques documenting their history.

The event, organised by the Kilbeggan Town Team, was the culmination of months of research into the families and individuals who lived in the town 100 years ago.

The local community gathered in the square on Sunday evening, where organiser Aisling Twohill explained that while the buildings of Kilbeggan have a much longer history, the focus of the project was on the people who lived in them a century ago.

“Kilbeggan was actually a planned town,” she said, noting that house sites around the square and main street can be traced on maps as far back as 1608.

“We have no historical information at the moment about which or what parts of the current houses might date back that far. We think a lot of the houses around here are closer to 200 years old, but our focus today is not on the houses.”

Instead, the project examined “the people who were resident in all of the houses around the main street” on the night of the 1926 Census.

A plaque was placed on the various houses detailing the names of those living there, their occupations and relationships, alongside local stories and photographs gathered during the research.

Organiser Ciara Slammon said the response from the community was hugely encouraging, and information came from a variety of sources.

“We put a call to action out to the community, and in return we received numerous long and huge amounts of information back to us,” she said.

People contacted the organisers by phone, text, social media and email, while others simply approached them on the street to share their knowledge and memories.

The organisers also drew on the work of local historians Kitty Flynn and Stan McCormack during their research.

The final stage of the project involved the team going door-to-door throughout the town, seeking information and encouraging households to participate.

While 29 plaques were put up, Ciara said many more households agreed to become involved, but time and the need to verify information limited the number that could be included this year.

“We couldn’t verify some of the houses’ information, and we are a bit regretful we didn’t have more time to engage more houses and compile the rest of the data,” she said.

However, she suggested the project could continue into next year, allowing more Kilbeggan households to be documented.

The project also highlighted the importance of community knowledge in preserving local history, as stories passed down through generations helped to fill gaps in the historical record.

The organisers thanked the participating households, the Kilbeggan community and Westmeath County Council, who also supported the project.

“We want to thank the 29-plus households that agreed to take part, and we want to thank Westmeath County Council because they very kindly funded this project,” Ciara said.