Paul Gorry, genealogist and chairperson of West Wicklow Historical Society provided a very interesting lecture on the ‘Battle of Baltinglass’ on Tuesday evening, 20 August 2024 at Baltinglass Library. This was a Heritage Week 2024 collaboration between Wicklow Library Service and our society. The ‘Battle of Baltinglass’ was the name given to a controversy which erupted in Baltinglass for a period during December 1950 concerning the appointment of new a sub-postmaster. For various reasons, the dispute caught the attention of the national and even international media. This short and uncharacteristic whirlwind of protest and counter-protest in the town lasted 27 days. It involved public meetings, pickets and public ‘sit-ins’, the arrival of 50 garda reinforcements on one occasion, and the boycotting of local businesses. For a short time, enthusiasm got the better of an otherwise neighbourly community, as tensions ran high.
One of the highlights of Paul’s talk was the collection of Irish Press photographs covering the climactic day, Monday 11 December 1950. These photographs are held in the WWHS photographic archives and were given to the society after that newspaper ceased business. In addition, the Q&A session afforded an opportunity for two or three of the 49 people present at the lecture to share their childhood memories of this famous (some might say infamous) incident in the history of the town.
Photo credit: John Hughes Photography