A night not to be missed in Abbeyleix
The meeting will be held in Abbeyleix Heritage House at 7pm on Tuesday 30 June. File image
ABBEYLEIX will host a special meeting next Tuesday 30 June, as one of the most important chapters in the town’s heritage story unfolds.
The public meeting at 7pm in Heritage House, organised by Abbeyleix & District Historical Society, will highlight plans for the town’s Famine Commemoration next May.
While Ireland’s host town for the 2027 National Famine Commemoration will not be announced until early next year, Abbeyleix will stage its own commemoration of the devastating famine. It is hoped that the town will also be selected to host the national event, following a strong campaign that included a petition signed by more than 600 people.
The HSE has granted permission for the 2027 Commemoration to be held in the Abbeyleix CNU hospital grounds, once the site of the former workhouse where up to 2,000 men, women and children are buried.
Welcoming the HSE approval, local historian Noel Burke of Abbeyleix & District Historical Society said: “This is an extraordinary honour for our town and the work ahead will shape how Ireland and the world sees Abbeyleix in 2027. Families from Australia, UK and Canada have already declared they will travel to Abbeyleix to take part in the Famine Commemoration on the third Sunday in May.”
The meeting will outline plans to respectfully remember those buried at the rear of the CNU and at the Gate to Heaven burial ground next May, as well as to honour 28 Abbeyleix orphan girls who were shipped to Australia between 1848 and 1852 under the Earl Grey Scheme.
The Commemoration will include a re-enactment of the tragic scene, when the 28 girls walked behind the workhouse cart to Maryborough Train Station, before beginning their three-month journey to Australia.
Special guest Dolores Dempsey from Mountmellick Embroidery Museum will share the story of the embroidered bonnets given to the girls, a powerful symbol of identity, resilience and hope.
The meeting will include a proposal for 28 national school children from Abbeyleix, Mountmellick, Errill and Ballyroan to wear embroidered bonnets, bearing the children’s names and home places as well as the names of the ships they sailed on.
The girls will march behind a replica of the horse-drawn workhouse cart to the site of Abbeyleix workhouse, sending “a powerful message to the world that the people of Laois remember the sacrifices these young girls made, when they were shipped from our shores during the most catastrophic period of our history”.
Johnny Talbot of Abbeyleix Men’s Shed will share progress on the creation of a replica workhouse cart, which will be a centrepiece of the commemoration, while Elizabeth Moore of the High Nelly Club will give an update on expected numbers wearing period dress for the 2027 parade.
Tom Kennedy will outline a proposal to install a QR code in Abbeyleix that will link to local history, stories and folklore.
The meeting will also discuss plans to include the 2027 parade in the Abbeyleix famine documentary that is well underway, directed by film-maker Oliver Fallon and supported by Laois Heritage Office.
There will also be updates on the Shanahoe Baptismal Font, as well as the transfer of Society artefacts and local artist Paddy Carroll’s magnificent display models to Heritage House for public viewing.
Describing the event as "a night not to be missed", Noel said: “This meeting is so important and we’re inviting everyone to join us, whether long time members, new residents, curious neighbours or anyone with even a spark of interest in our local history.”
