The last WWHS event of 2022 was our own Cora Crampton’s lecture on Mullaghmast and the complex background to Daniel O’Connell’s ‘Monster Meeting’ on the rath in south Kildare on 1 October 1843. This was an engrossing talk which threw light on how Mullaghmast’s traumatic sixteenth-century history was repurposed by O’Connell and the Young Irelanders to invoke a powerful sense of grievance in the service of nation-building. An inestimable number of people converged on the rath in an impressive display of political strength, discipline and organisational skill. We learned how nationalist iconography and popular slogans also helped in the politicization of the masses and the formation of a sense of group identity and belonging, the significance of which was not lost on the authorities. This lecture, which was held at the Lalor Centre, Baltinglass was well attended and well received.
Photo by John Hughes
In January we hope to launch our new website, but more on that anon. In the meantime, Happy Christmas!