Lecture on ‘’Boss’’ Croker

‘’Boss’’ Croker of Tammany Hall

Lecture by

Fachtna McCarthy

Thursday March 30th at 8.30pm

Clonakilty GAA Pavilion, Ahamilla

Richard “Boss” Croker was born in Ballyva, Ardfield in 1841 and emigrated to the USA a few years later along with his family to escape the ravages of the Great Famine. This lecture will cover the story of his rise from the depths of poverty to vast wealth, as a result of his involvement in the infamous Tammany Hall organisation. His fall from grace and hasty exit from the USA, firstly to Britain, and thereafter to Ireland, will also be covered. The lecture will go on to recount the story of his involvement in horse racing and breeding, with particular emphasis on his astonishing achievement in winning the Epsom Derby in 1907 with his horse Orby. The excitement created throughout Ireland by that victory will be recounted, as will “Boss” Croker’s subsequent controversial involvement in horse racing and his many disputes with the authorities running the sport. The lecture will deal in detail with Croker’s later life in his splendid mansion in Glencairn and the controversy created by his last Will, leading to a celebrated law case following his death in 1922. The concluding part of the lecture will cover the unusual stories of Croker’s ghost roaming the grounds of Glencairn following the reinterment of his remains in a nearby cemetery, as well as the story of the subsequent history of his magnificent residence, which went on to become the official residence of the British Ambassador to Ireland.

Fachtna McCarthy is a keen local historian who has contributed over the years to various local history journals. He published a detailed history of Clonakilty Agricultural Show Society in 2020.

Clonakilty Journals on sale

Clonakilty Historical & Archaeological Journals are available from Coolim Books HERE

(Please note the Biblio website takes a little bit of time to load)

Dúchas AGM 2023

AGM Duchas Clonakilty Heritage

Lecture by Dr David Edwards

Lecture by 

Dr David Edwards

Thursday Feb 23 at 8pm

Clonakilty GAA Pavilion, Ahamilla

Richard Boyle (1566-1643), a notorious ‘New English’ adventurer, who first came to Ireland in 1588 was reputed to be the wealthiest man in the Kingdom of Britain and Ireland by the time of his death. His land-grabbing activities in Munster and parts of Connacht and Leinster helped to transform the social and economic life of early seventeenth-century Ireland. He re-peopled large parts of southern Ireland with English and Welsh settlers and artisans to create a supposedly model English colony.

The town of Clonakilty was formally founded by him in 1613 when he received a charter for the town from King James I of England. It was just one of a series of towns that he founded or acquired around this time which included Lismore, Youghal, Bandon, Midleton, Castlemartyr, Charleville and Doneraile. He was created first Earl of Cork in 1620.

He was the father of fifteen children, including Robert Boyle considered to be the father of modern chemistry, and was preoccupied in procuring estates for each son and dowries and suitable matches for each daughter.

 Dr David Edwards is a Senior Lecturer in the School of History, University College Cork. He has researched and published on a range of topics dealing with Irish history between 1350 and 1650. His principal area of research is power and society in Ireland, from the Gaelic resurgence of the fourteenth century to the wars of religion in the seventeenth century. His current principal project focuses on the career and estate of Richard Boyle. With Dr Colin Rynne he edited The colonial world of Richard Boyle, first Earl of Cork in 2018, in which Boyle’s reputation is re-assessed.

Recording of Dúchas Tribute to Dick Barrett and Sean Hales

The link to the recording of our Sean Hales and Dick Barrett commemorative event held on November 18:2022 is HERE