‘All history is local’
New book sheds light on the past
A major new work of local history, ‘Out on Our Own: A History of the People and Places of Annaly and Breifne’ was launched at Johnston Central Library last week.
Written by Benny Reid, this sweeping 500-page folk history traces the deep roots and evolving stories of pivotal people, periods and places that shaped Cavan, Longford and Leitrim.
A native of north Longford, a “stone’s throw” from where the three counties meet, Benny is a familiar figure as a former teacher, retired mortgage broker, and community leader. But above all, Benny is highly regarded as a passionate chronicler of local history.
This, his first book, represents nearly a decade’s worth of research and writing. The motivation, he says, stems from a desire to “do justice” to a regional heritage often ignored in national narratives.
Benny’s book unapologetically spans a vast timeline - from ancient prehistory to the 20th century - covering the arrival of Christianity, the influence of the Vikings and Normans, English and Scottish colonisation, and the devastation of the Cromwellian campaigns.
He asserts that this region, once part of Connaught and bounded by the Erne, Shannon and Inny rivers, once stood proudly as the last Gaelic stronghold in Ireland. Its final fall in 1653, with the loss at Clough Oughter by the Clanmahon O’Reillys, marked a turning point in trajectory.
Benny is aware that the retelling of history is “subjective rather than objective”. Yet his detailed analysis of post-Cromwellian settlement patterns is remarkably telling.
The Down Survey recorded few, if any, O’Reillys left in north Longford and south Leitrim. But by the 1821 Census- with Cavan one of the few places where the data has survived- and Griffith’s Valuation of 1848-64, hundreds of O’Reillys had re-emerged, along with dozens of other familiar local surnames- Kiernan, Brady, Mulligan, and Donohoe among them.
“It shows that if they couldn’t prove their innocence after 1641, they were shown the road,” says Benny, referring to the harsh measures imposed after the rebellion. “I counted 28 townlands in the parish of Denn that didn’t have a single O’Reilly in them.”
Equally compelling are sections where Benny explores the effects of the 1798 Rebellion and the Irish War of Independence.
‘Out on Our Own’ includes over 30 maps, historic photographs, and biographies of major figures, such as blind harpist Turlough O’Carolan and academic and Gaelic League activist Agnes O’Farrelly from Virginia.
Benny also pays close attention to the diaspora’s reach, tracing the contributions of over 2,000 emigrant clerics and educators from this region who left for the U.S., Canada, Australia, South Africa, and Argentina during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Among his inspirations is Father Frank Gray’s research on Fr Edward O’Reilly, a missionary priest from Rossduff who served in Perth, Australia. Wounded under mysterious circumstances during a return to Ireland after the 1916 Rising, Fr O’Reilly died quietly in Fostra in August 1916. His death, Benny says, went largely unrecorded due to the political sensitivities of the time.
“We know little of him until he arrived to his cousin’s house in Fostra. He died on August 29. His death was not reported anywhere.”
One striking example as if to emphasise the Irish impact abroad is that by 1906, six archbishops in Australia were of Irish descent.
Benny’s book also traces the political influence of Irish communities on U.S. foreign policy, including the 1921 defeat of President Woodrow Wilson’s chosen successor, a result he suggests was shaped by the Irish-American vote and its stance on Irish independence.
“This book is to remind our people they have an illustrious past,” says Benny. “Even if it was interrupted for two centuries between the Battle of the Boyne and the Famine.”
In another poignant chapter, Benny recounts the loss of 18 local lives in the Titanic disaster—14 from Longford, three from Cavan, and one from Leitrim; not to mention Cavan’s role in the birth of Ireland’s cooperative movement. Here Benny is anxious to highlight the work of Horace Plunkett and Fr Tom Finlay of Belturbet, whose efforts were strongly supported by the O’Hanlon family and reported in The Anglo-Celt.
As an aside, Benny’s research lifts the historical lid on the rich linguistic heritage and etymology across Cavan, Longford, and Leitrim. He’s quick to argue at this juncture that lesser-known early saints deserve just as much recognition as figures such as Saint Patrick, especially given that over 60 local place names are tied closely to their legacies.
Still Benny admits his book “only scratches the surface”.
He hopes others might be inspired to take up specific topics and expand on them with time.
“All history is local,” says Benny, who is married to fellow former teacher Catherine Keavney, a native of Butlersbridge. The couple have five children and 10 grandchildren. “I’ve managed to answer a lot of questions I had myself. We have to know our past before we can look at our future. This book, I hope, will stand as a reminder to anyone who reads it that we still have so much more to learn.”