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A Westmeath Libraries podcast where we chat with a variety of local historians. We'll learn what started them on the path towards history and they'll share some gems of our local history collection
Edel : Today we're talking with Gretta. Gretta Connell was a member of staff with us here in Westmeath Libraries and is now a local historian in her own right. Gretta, thank you very much for joining us here today. And I suppose the big question, first of all, is what is it that got you interested in local history? Is it something you had from before you started working with the libraries, or did you gain your interest there when you started?
Gretta : Good morning, Edel. Well, I guess my interest in local history goes back a long way. My parents spoke frequently about past times, and my mother lived into her 93rd year and she had great memory for events As teenagers, when cycling and walking was our mode of transport we used to explore what was commonly known as the Abbey in Fore. And the Seven Wonders of Fore, and we climbed the Hill of Ben, but I suppose it was from when I came to the library service and was based in county library headquarters that it really took off.
They had an amazing amount of material in local studies and in Irish studies, and I was fortunate to be involved in replying to local queries or helping out with local history queries.
Edel : So when you had the interest there, but it was when you actually started in the libraries and realized what was out there. Is that what really sparked your interest?
Gretta : Yes. And every day was a school day and still is because local history, you build on it all the time you know, and as a result of helping out with local history queries, to help myself, I completed a diploma in local history in NUI Maynooth and then later the support Westmeath County Council. I completed the Diploma in Genealogy and Family History with UCD.
Edel : And is there any particular item that you used to use in your the local history that you still remember and still always find it as a good guide when you were had someone coming in asking about their history and the local history of the area? Was there any particular items that would just spring to mind straight away?
Gretta : Well, I suppose Griffiths Valuation and the Tithe Applotment books, they are the two now that spring to mind straight away. And of course the parish records are available online now. At that time they weren't, you know, it was amazing too because townlands were recorded officially, but there were people coming in with names of field names or place names, and they weren't recorded officially. And over the years, you build up your knowledge, and local knowledge was a great bonus. And then you went outside sometimes to people. I remember my sister was able to tell me exactly where at what crossroads the place was, and that wasn't in the official records. Another time I knew the men working in the butcher shop lived out in some direction, and he was able to tell me exactly where that spot was.
So local history is local knowledge as well as the official records.
Edel : So you build from there and in your own work now, as a local historian, you have retired, but you took on a full time job as local historian have you had the privilege of being able to work on many publications yourself or co-research?
Gretta : Yes. In well, prior to this, Seamus O'Brien encouraged me to contribute to Mullingar, a Town in Transition and Westmeath and the struggle for independence 1916 to 1922 was a result of that. And then when we were studying in UCD, our tutor Sean Murphy, encouraged us to get our work published. So I approached Jim Ryan and Flyleaf press and got his support in 2012. Tracing your Westmeath ancestors was published and then again, Seamus O’Brien encouraged me with Martin Morris's support. I contributed an essay on Westmeath Archives to Westmeath, History and Society. But you can still build on those things because there's always new sources coming available, you know, And Westmeath has a rich supply of archives and they need to be cared for, you know?
Edel : When you were here, did you find the local history room itself a huge help with your studies and with your education? Would you have been able to do it without it, do you think?
Gretta : Well, I'd have to go elsewhere. It was absolutely fantastic to have the sources at your fingertips. We have primary sources. We have they're here, the local papers, we have the Howard-Bury collection, the Meare's papers. They're our primary sources. And even if something is not here, there is such a selection of books on the shelves to tell you where you will find the information that you're looking for.
And if you can't find the book here, you will find it in the National Library. And now, with modern technology and the new system, you can request a book from anywhere. Any library. Now if it's reference, you won't get it. But this local history room is such an asset to the county and there’s one in Athlone as well.
And we need to keep telling the people out there, the sources that we have and the facility that's here.
Edel : And when you were the local history librarian before me was there any particular area that you really liked working with? Schools or the tourists or the family history or the local history, the local historians? Was there some part of the day that you just knew you were going to really enjoy?
Gretta : You see, I enjoyed them all because they were all at different levels. You know, the primary school child coming in and they wanted to know when their school was built. Now it might be only forty years ago, but that was a very long time if you are only ten, you know, and then you’d have third students coming in.
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And they’re so impressed to see that they can access the Meare’s papers, which go back so far and it's a primary source and they don't have to go to the National Library or anything. And then the people coming in from America and looking up their ancestors and they were so excited. I found it very rewarding to work in local history because even the smallest nugget of information and people were so thankful. Because they were coming from the other side of the world.
And I found great satisfaction. One time, well there was many a time, but people came from Australia and to be able to show them where their ancestors lived in the early 1800s before they went to Australia, I found it very rewarding, yeah.
Edel : So do you find that as a local historian, even though you're not a genealogist, so you're not building family trees, you found that you were able to help so many people find that little missing piece or even to give them the social history of where the family were from.
Edel : Yes. And people were so thankful to be given any pointer to anywhere they could go if they didn't find it here. And I often kept up correspondence with them for a long time that, you know, to come back to you one a little point and you'd be able to direct them, you know, to where they would find the information.
And they helped me, too. Oftentimes they'd be pointing out different sources, you know, and you build on it all the time.
Edel : So you're always learning, even on the job.
Gretta : Always learning and still am.
Edel : So your own publications Gretta, you've got quite a few I mean, you've got a very unique book, Discovering your Westmeath ancestors. Is that something you're very you're proud of being able to be able to do?
Gretta : I am. I'm proud that I have the ability to put that together and that I had access. Successive Counhty Librarians gave me access to records and it's great to be here and to know what was here and to be allowed to use them, which was brilliant. And then I could tie it in with what was in the National Library, the National Archives, and because it was such a rich source here, I knew what I was talking about when I went up to the major repositories. So I was fortunate that I worked here and that I knew so much from working here about the records.
Edel: Thank you for joining us today, Gretta. There's just one final question I want to ask you. What is the one item in this local history room that you would love to bring home with you? And you can only have one item, so what is the one?
Gretta : That’s very tough Edel. I suppose the 1837 maps published in 1838, the Townland survey of Ireland for Westmeath, those beautiful colored maps, the cloth back, binding in their cases now. Oh yeah, you can get them at the touch of a button on the computer if you want to, but these are the originals, but my on my they have to be minded they're almost 200 years old.
But the amount of information you can draw from those maps, the big houses, their surrounding area, all of the legend of Ireland, and it's priceless. I'd settle for the digital ones, you know I'd take a copy of that as well.
Edel : That's wonderful. Thank you very much for joining us today, Greatta and for adding to our series. Thank you.
Gretta : Thank you for having me.