The Society meets on the first Thursday of each month (September – April) *(Except for the January meeting which, due to holidays, might be arranged for the second Thursday) at 8.00pm in the Meeting Place, Poyntzpass Community Centre, Church Street, Poyntzpass. New Members very welcome.
The Society welcomes correspondence and would be particularly glad to hear from anyone with old photographs or other documents relating to our area in the past.
During the summer the society organises monthly outings to places of interest and stages exhibitions from time to time.
Our Outings for the summer of 2018:
- Saturday APRIL 21st 2018 – Dawn Chorus walk, with Joe Devlin (5:30am at tow-path entry, Railway Street, Poyntzpass)
- Thursday MAY 3rd 2018 – Guided Tour of Caledon Village (6:30pm by coach)
- Saturday JUNE 16th 2018 – Day Outing to The Hill of O’Neill, Ranfurly House, Dungannon (9:30am by coach)
- Thursday JULY 5th 2018 – Picnic (bring your own) at the Windmill Stump and a performance of “The Ghost of The Winemill Stump” (6:30pm meet in the square, Poyntzpass)
- 6th – 9th JULY 2018 – Visit to Iron Acton, Bristol. Homeland of the Poyntz Family
- Thursday AUGUST 9th 2018 – Guided tour of Derrymore House and The Friends’ Meeting House, Bessbrook (6:30pm by car, meet in the Square, Poyntzpass)
Our Talks Programme for 2018-2019:
- SEPTEMBER 6th 2018 – The Misses Savage Memorial Talk – Famine and the Whyte Family, Loughbrickland, by David Griffin
- OCTOBER 4th 2018 – Local Superstitions and Beliefs in Animal Behaviour (Weasels’ funerals and blinking the cows!) by Frank Watters
- NOVEMBER 1st 2018 – The 1835 Ploughing Match (A fatal event) by Roy Copeland
- DECEMBER 6th 2018 – A.G.M and Photographic record of Iron Acton Trip by Hugh Daly
- JANUARY 10th 2019 – The 1901 and 1911 Censuses (Observations on our census returns) by Deirdre Graham
- FEBRUARY 7th 2019 – Local Irish Speakers (a language beyond race, region, class or creed) by Seán McClory Gaelic
- MARCH 7th 2019 – Construction of the Canal and its impact locally (A ground-breaking subject) by Helena Gamble
- APRIL 4th 2019 – Local involvement in the 1798 Rebellion (Revolution and upheaval) by Robert Morrow
New members and occasional visitors are always very welcome.
The Society has always prided itself on being reasonably self-sufficient in the provision of:
- Subjects for monthly talks September – April
- Persons to talk on such topics
- Ideas for summer outings- one full-day outing and three evening outings per summer.
Each year the committee has a challenge of coming up with fresh ideas for all the foregoing. Accordingly we are asking for your help by responding to all or any of the following points and returning your answers at your leisure to a member of the committee.
- Name or describe any topic or subject you would like to suggest for a talk.
Would you be willing to give a talk yourself on any such topic? - Name (in confidence) any other person who you think would be willing and able to give a talk to the Society; and also if you can, a topic to which they would be suited.
Name or describe any place which you would suggest as suitable for an outing, whether evening or full-day. - Make any other suggestion you wish for the improved running of the Society.
- Finally, would you like to become more actively involved in our History Society? If so, please specify subject(s), if any, of particular interest.
Please either send us a Facebook message with your ideas or Contact Us here.
Thank you.