It was a massive project - arguably the biggest ever undertaken by the Castlelyons community. Now, finally, after almost 12 months work, their book on the history of the houses of the parish has been compiled.

It's the work of a dedicated committee set up in early January to see the project through to completion. The idea was the brainchild of the community council as a Gathering project. It was intended to launch the book at the village's very successful Gathering weekend in August, however, because of the huge volume of data that was submitted by parishioners, the launch date was put back to November 30th.

Over the last four months the history of some 750 houses and their occupants in Castlelyons parish has been assembled and included in a book of nearly 500 pages. Recently built houses are featured alongside houses with a long history and even those dwellings that are derelict or no longer standing.

UNIQUE INSIGHT

The book contains over a thousand photographs from Ballydorgan to Barrafohona, Kilbarry to Kill-St-Anne and every townland in between. Articles detailng the history of houses in byegone times, to how modern houses developed intersperse the photographs, along with other features on the village and its residents and shops over the last century. Bridebridge in another era, stories from locals and much more have been added to give a unique insight into local history, heritage and the built environment.

Each household has contributed photographs to link in to their own page in the book, making it a uniquely personalised record.

A 50-strong committee was involved at the outset in the huge project, tasked with distributing and collecting hundreds of questionnaires. After that a team of ten worked on inputting the data onto computer and several more worked on scanning the photos and linking them to each page.

A LINK TO THE PAST

"Hopefully the end result will be a book that will be there for years to come, not only for people that have a connection to the parish but to thousands that have emigrated from the area and who might want to trace relatives and friends," Donal Sheehan of the organising committee said this week.

After its launch in the community centre in Castlelyons on Saturday, November 30th the book will go on sale. The organising committee say they are indebted to Blackwater Resources for their partial funding of the project. "The project could not have gone ahead without the help of Glanworth woman Eilish Hanrahan in Dublin, who was of considerable assistance to the committee over the last number of months," Donal explains.

Because demand is expected to be heavy for the book, which is priced at €25, the committee has organised a pre-order form which is available at the local post office in Centra, Castlelyons. Alternatively, people can telephone Brigid on 025 36005 or 087 1263840 or e-mail admin@castlelyonsparish.com to reserve a copy. The unique publication is expected to be a popular Christmas gift for family and friends at home and abroad.

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