Keeping track of the ‘Old Days, Old Ways’ in Longford

In the digital age the value of preserving culture has become even more pronounced. In his own way Paddy Egan has been conserving heritage for decades.

Over those years Paddy has engaged with local media as a local historian of some standing. He's also taken to more contemporary media platforms like YouTube to offer a window to the past.

His wealth of knowledge is impressive and to scratch the surface of that knowledge all you have to do is purchasing his latest publication, Old Days Old Ways. The book is a glimpse at life in the last century.

Paddy, a fountain of knowledge on the old ways, explained why he has bough the book to print: “This is my third book. It's a follow up books. During the lockdown I hand wrote over 500 A4 pages of observations on old ways. At the time we had noting else to do. The book is just a part of that.”
Another source of material is Paddy's contribution to local broadcasting: “I have also done three and half years on Shannonside on a Sunday night on folklore. A lot of the stories I told on that are now in this book.”

Flicking through the pages of the book Paddy points to a montage of old images : “Here is a photograph of a postcard published in Kenagh in 1900. That barracks was burned in 1920. The book features a lot of very rare old photographs and images. There is also a photograph of a fair in Ballymahon taken in 1910.”

The book contains information that is both specifically local and ultimately universal: “I cover a lot of topics in it. I wrote about the fairs and markets. At the time there were fairs in Longford, Edgeworthstown, Ballymahon.”

The chapters cover people and traditional farming, vernacular dwellings which covers living condition and farm customs, sounds of yesteryear, and holy wells and religious beliefs. The book also touches on old cures, house and farm crafts, killing the pig, weddings and matchmaking, funerals and wakes, and religious ceremonies like house stations and the visiting missions.

Paddy also delves into old religious practices, education, pisoegs, old Irish words still in everyday use. The final chapter explores ghost stories and weird beliefs.

Paddy has collected artefacts of the vernacular heritage he holds so dear. One of the images in the publication shows one of these objects, a lemon slicer: “That came from Dundalk. It's a rare thing, it's for making home made jam.”
Paddy is forgoing an official launch, instead the publication went on sale in shops in Longford, Ballymahon, Kenagh and Lanesboro.