Monday 2 July 2012

Major new resource for Co Kilkenny

A major genealogical resource for Kilkenny will be launched at Kilkenny Castle on Friday 13 July at 7:30pm.

Kilkenny Families in the Great War
is the result of the authors’ seventeen-year endeavour to locate and document the Kilkenny men and women, whether native born or long-term resident, who served in various uniforms during the Great, or First, World War.

The result is not a single woven story but a collection of the more than 2900 individual stories of those who served in the combatant branches of the armed services, not only of the United Kingdom, but also of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, S Africa, the United States of America and elsewhere.

Non-combatant auxiliaries – nurses, doctors, medical and Red Cross staff – are included, as are retired army and navy personnel who returned to the ranks for Home Service during the War, Merchant Marine, munitions and other essential workers, as well as those (including civilians) who organized fund raising activities to aid the war effort.

Finally, in a separate listing, are those military personnel who had definite, but short-lived, connections with Kilkenny during the War.

The people whose lives are portrayed here were drawn from all strands of local society – labourers, skilled workers and artisans, farmers and farm labourers, professionals, clergymen and members of the land-owning and gentry classes. The book is more comprehensive than others in the field in that it seeks to document all those who served, and not just those who died or were killed. It is a major new genealogical resource for the county and contains biographies of a great many people which are not to be found anywhere else.

More than 80 illustrations accompany the text, including images of many of the ordinary men and women who were involved.

The 600+ page book, written by cousins Niall Brannigan and John Kirwan, has been published by OLL Editions. Its price is 45 Euros plus postage and packing, but a special price of 40 Euros will be available at the launch event. The latter is being sponsored by The Heritage Council, The Butler Society, the OPW and Eamonn Langton of Langton's Hotel.

If you would like an invitation to the launch, contact John Kirwan.