We were thrilled to get a mention from journalist Jim O Brien in yesterdays Farming Independent. He really captured the essence of the whole programme.
Weaving – An Offaly Nice Legacy
Traditional Skills featured in Farming Independent
Monthly Archives: August 2014
West Offaly Training Open Days
West Offaly training will be hosting a series of open days in their training rooms at Crank House on the weekend of the 22nd to the 24th of August. Anyone is welcome to come in and see the facilities and talk to the staff members about what they do in Crank house and around west and south Offaly, or just call in for a chat about courses and opportunities coming up in the future. These open days are running in conjunction with the traditional skills event being held in Crank House which itself should be a fun and interesting event.
Campers at the last summer camp with their tutor Mary Byrne
West Offaly Training is a community based training organisation, it’s aim is to have a local training centre providing affordable, quality training to the people of the midlands in particular West and South Offaly in order to help bring these areas in line with the rest of the country by targeting the traditionally forgotten and to help tackle the low levels of employment and educational uptake in the midlands and Offaly area.
They provide mostly ICT training from complete beginners with literacy problems to some of the more advanced subjects, such as advanced ECDL and level 5 QQI accredited subjects. We also deliver certain “soft skills” programmes as and when demand arises, these would include Communication Skills, Personal Effectiveness, Interview Skills, Literacy Assistance etc.; most of these programmes are targeted at people who are starting out or restarting on an educational path to self-improvement
West Offaly Training also provides an open/walk in service to the public at large and facilitates larger organisations for training and examination purposes e.g. SOLAS, Laois and Offaly ETB and ECDL.
They have delivered this service for the last fourteen years with great success and that is just in the immediate Offaly area.
West Offaly Training began teaching introduction to computers (QQI – FETAC level 3) and ECDL and over the years they have progressed onto teaching advanced subjects and a complete range of QQI qualifications from single subjects to full major awards
“HEADS UP” CYCLE TO VICTORIA LOCK
As the title suggests this is a leisurely cycle with frequent stops to view points of interest on the landscape culminating with a picnic at Victoria Lock in Clonahenogue in Lusmagh.
The cycle will start from the Crank House car park on Saturday next 23rd August, at 10.30 a.m. and will finish back there about 2.30 p.m. Stops along the route through the townlands of Kylebeg, Kilmeelchon, Cogran, Ballymacoolaghan, Gortachallow, Incherky, Corclogh and Clonahenogue will include Fort Eliza (The Sal Battery), Cogran House, the Clonahenogue Canal and associated bridges, Hamilton’s Lock, Thomas Omer’s lock house built in the 1755 and other aspects of the built and natural heritage.
The destination of the cycle is Victoria Lock, built 1841-44, where we hope to enjoy a picnic lunch and a short walkabout overlooking the River Shannon and its tributaries. The total length of the cycle is about 20 km. or 12 miles. There is no charge for this event and everybody is welcome to come along but to help better organisation you can book here or ring Aileen at 087 943 0489 or Kieran at 087 257 1058. Don’t forget to bring your picnic and your pump!
HERITAGE WALK TO GRAVEYARDS
As part of the Banagher Traditional Skills Festival this coming weekend two outdoor heritage events have been organised. On Friday evening next, 22nd August there will be a guided walk to Kilrynagh ,the old church and graveyard in Church Street and to St. Paul’s, Church of Ireland graveyard at the top of the town.
Source:Wikipedia
Source:Wikipedia
The walk will focus on the art and craft of the stonecutters whose work adorns many of the tombstones as well as highlighting the genealogical information available from reading inscriptions. The memorials date from the Sixteenth Century to recent decades and record details of many local families. Among these are the MacCoghlans, Armstrongs, Bells, Buckleys, Egans, Feigherys, Finneys, Flatterys, Hartons, Horans, McIntyres, Millers ,Molloys, Mulhares, Woods, Wyatts and many more.
Individual tombstones of note to be visited in Kilrynagh include the tombs of the Misses Anne and Mary Fox whose generosity facilitated the coming of the La Sainte Union nuns to Banagher in 1863; the wrought iron cross of Nicholas Andrews of Drogheda who died at Shannon Harbour in 1878; the World War 1 memorial to Corporal P.McLaughlin and the late sixteenth century tombstone of Sir John MacCoghlan. Hopefully the viewing of the Bell family headstones in St.Paul’s will generate discussion on the Bronte connection with Banagher. Among this group is the memorial to Arthur Bell Nicholls, husband of Charlotte Bronte, who retired to Banagher after her death and that of her father, in 1861 and lived on here until he died in 1906.
Source:Wikipedia
The walk will start from the front door of Crank House, Main Street at 6.30 p.m. and should finish there at 9p.m. In the event of very poor weather a visual presentation will be made at an indoor venue nearby. There is no charge for this event and everybody is welcome to come along but to help better organisation you can book at here or ring Aileen at 087 943 0489 or James at 085 710 7569