History Books of Drogheda
The Annals of St. Mary's School
St. Mary’s School decided to mark the Millennium by compiling a history of their school which has been in existence since 1865. The project mushroomed until a 3 volume hardback set in a presentation slip case was produced which covers historical aspects of the south side community from 1865 to 2000. This publication also lists & gives details of all pupils who attended St. Mary’s since its foundation in 1865.
There are 130 pages dealing with historical events in Drogheda between 1865 and 2000. In the region of 400 pages are devoted to a database giving details of every pupil who attended the school since its inception in 1865. There are 400 pages of articles covering memories, anecdotes, personalities, club histories and various parochial events now sadly only a dim and distant memory. Also included are around 200 pages covering assorted class groups dating back to 1906. There are some 20 historical illustrations specially created by a well- known local artist.
This publication is available to purchase.
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The Story of Newtownstalaban
In October 2002 local historian & teacher Richard Gerrard compiled a book entitled “The Story of Newtownstalaban” a townland on the eastern side of Drogheda on the road to Termonfeckin. It contains many family photographs from the area & also memories of people who have lived there.
Topics covered in the book include: a general history of the place; the industries based in the townland because Newtownstalaban encroaches on Drogheda; The Census of Ireland for 1901 for the Townland of Newtownstalaban; The Blacksmith’s Forge; 3 Schools in the Townland; Newtown Blues G.F.C.; Newtown Graveyard 1743-1980; People, Places, Friends, Neighbours & Community; Morgan Pub Memories1896-2003; Memories of Newtownstalaban & its People; Newtown House built c.1785; Official opening of Pairc Naomh Feichin 30th August 2003; Appendix1; Photographs from R.T.E.’s Nationwide Programme; Appendix11: Miscellaneous Memories of Newtownstalaban; Picture Gallery.
This is a remarkable reference study of the Newtownstalaban townland and was featured on R.T.E.’s Nationwide Programme in December 2002.
This publication is available to purchase.
“The Naomh Mhuire Story”
This is the story of a very unique Gaelic Football Club that is no longer in existence. They came from the area in St. Mary’s Parish, Drogheda known as “The Mount”. What is remarkable about the beginnings of this club is that the players came from a handful of local “Mount” families….Tuites, Donaghs, Gavins, Kellys, Connors, Shortts, Tiernans, Conlons, McGowans, Monks, Grogans & Faulkners.
This book has 650 pages and is hardback bound. It is made up of accounts of games, memories of people & many photographs. In their short life they won every Championship title in County Louth. They had two players from the club on the 1957 All-Ireland Louth winning team, Alfie Monks & Jim “Red” Meehan. They never had a pitch of their own or a club-house and that as well as other factors led to the club going out of existence in 1994 having started in 1946.
This publication is temporarily out of print.
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The Gerrard Family Story
This book is an attempt at tracing my roots. This family story starts in 1867 & 1870 when both sets of great grandparents were married in St. Mary’s Church, James Street, in the parish of St Mary’s, Drogheda. When exactly they were born is unknown but it had to be around the years of the Great Famine….so they were survivors of that national disaster that took place in 1845.
The Gerrard surname is found mainly in the eastern coastal counties of Dublin, Meath & Louth. The family motto is “In God is my trust”. When our last uncle was celebrating his 90th birthday this project was undertaken. It was then that we realised it was time to chronicle what we knew about the family. Lots of photographs were collected & they were interspersed with the text.
This publication is available to purchase.
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The Marsh Road / Scotch Hall Story
This publication is an extensive history of the area and was compiled over a period of years. It contains Articles, Photographs, Maps & memories of people and workers who lived and worked in the area as interviewed by the author. Basically it is a history of Drogheda’s Boyne-side Industrial Street presented in a 2 Volume boxed set with over 800 pages. It also contains over 300 photographs & maps with hundreds of personal memories.
The topics covered in this publication include: Irish Oil & Cake Mills, Drogheda Port, McDonnell’s Margarine Factory, South Quay, Drogheda Gas-Works, Oatmeal Milling Company, Woodingtons Shoe Factory, St. Mary’s Spinning Mill, Scotch Hall Houses, Boylan’s Print Group, Fresh Meat Plant, Drogheda Sawmills, Grendon’s Foundry, Cairnes Brewery, Drogheda Chemical Manure Co., Edible Oils, Ship Street Memories, Marsh Road Memories, Drogheda Ironworks, South Bank Story, What Lies Beneath, Tommy Smith, Artist, Moran & Halpin, Rowing Club, Railway Viaduct, Larry Grogan, The “Hallow”, The Dale, Ancient Canoe, St. Mary’s Laundry, Parnells G.F.C., Watering Holes, Oliver Mullen, Michael McGowan, Parish Nights, Marsh Celtic F.C., Medieval Boat, St. Mary’s Parochial House, Stagreenan Graveyard, and Miscellaneous Memories.
This publication is available to purchase.
“A History of St. Peter’s National School, Bolton Street, Drogheda ….including the wider Church of Ireland Community”.
This publication is an extensive history of the Church of Ireland Community, based on their National School. Included is a wide variety of articles on the educational, social & cultural history of both the school and the wider community. This is a compilation of material associated with an important aspect of Drogheda’s history.
The publication lists the names of all pupils that have attended the school since 1872. During our research wonderful old photographs were unearthed depicting the life & times of the school & parish community. The book is hard-back bound and has 440 pages of treasured personal memories and photographs of past pupils.
This publication is available to purchase.
“The Mill…..a History of Usher’s Linen Mill, Greenhills, Drogheda & The People who worked there…..1836-1993”
This publication is an extensive history of the weaving industry on the same site since 1836. It tells the story of the various owners of the factory down through the years. It also contains first hand memories from former employees covering the different aspects of the weaving industry.
There are hundreds of interesting photographs throughout the publication. This is a comprehensive study of one of the oldest industries of Drogheda’s past. Hundreds of Drogheda families found employment in Usher’s Mill and their descendants should find the contents of this project fascinating.
In the course of this project I interviewed 130 former workers of the factory and the book ended up with over 400 pages.
This publication is still available to purchase.
“Personalities…Characters…Sporting Greats & Politicians of all kinds from old and not-so-old Drogheda”.
My next publication was finished in 2015. My idea was to write about personalities from the wider Drogheda area that I consider should be remembered because of their contribution to the town by their achievements as they excelled in whatever “field” they were involved in. There is an interesting cross-section of such people in this collection.
Included are artists, politicians, poets, sports people, musicians, actors, historians, outlaws, campaigners, fishermen, republicans, business people, sea-captains & sailors, holy people etc. A summary of the lives of 210 people are included here.
This publication will be available to purchase very soon as a re-print is at the final stages of consideration.
Industries and Places of Employment of old and not-so-old Drogheda
My next publication was launched in the local Augustinian Church in December 2018. Included here is a summary of most of the manufacturing factories & places of employment in Drogheda & District. As the project progressed more and more information & photographs became available. In fact most of these work-places deserve a book of their own. This publication will be an important work of reference in the future.
Some of the establishments included are: Butlins / Mosney, The Railway, Woolworths, Cement, Spark Plug Factory, Coke, Hauni, Cairnes Brewery, Poclain, Bissell, Gina G, IFF, BD, Donaghy’s Shoe Factory, Chemical Manure….the list goes on & on & on.
The project ended up as a 3 Volume set of hard-backed books with a total page-count of almost 1,300. There is great interest in this publication & people are amazed at the number of industries that Drogheda had in the past and still have at the moment.
Being the latest publication there are still plenty of sets available to purchase.
Amateur Drama from Drogheda & District
In May 2021, Local History Author, Ricky Gerrard finished his latest history project on a new aspect of Drogheda’s past, called “Amateur Drama from Drogheda & District”. In this publication he writes about the different Drama Groups from the wider Drogheda area since c.1916. There are 310 pages in this book….all in colour and hard-back bound.
Also included is a section of old photographs with a strong Drogheda connection that the author has collected over the years. One does not have to have a big interest in Drama to enjoy this publication.
Poems, Prayers & Tales from the Far Side
This publication did not just come about by accident. I always had it in mind to compile a collection of poetry written by ordinary people who had an interest in written verse.
At first, I was thinking of pupils & past pupils from the school I had spent most of my life working in. As the idea developed, I found that I needed to broaden the requirements to be included in the project.
So then came the idea to include and invite pupils & past pupils from schools in St. Mary’s Parish Drogheda, including primary & secondary, boys & girls & mixed schools. I thought it could become too large a project if all schools in Drogheda were included. As the project progressed, I could see it was the correct decision and it had the semblance of being a success.
I know there are many more “poets” that could & would be pleased to be included but never heard about the planned project. Apologies to them as I did try to let it be known what the plan was. I hope the end result might inspire others to pursue their interest in written verse even if their pieces are lyrics for a song.
The Boyne Yacht Club
My main project since the publication of “Amateur Drama from Drogheda & District” published in 2021 has been a history of “The Boyne Yacht Club” based in Mornington since 1954. This publication has been co-written by Linda Patton and myself. It tells the story of the ups and downs of a young club through interviews with former members, family memories, photographs etc. After 18 months of hard work, it was ready for launching. The launch took place in the Monasterboice Inn, Monasterboice, Drogheda, on September 12th.The book was officially launch by Tom O’Reilly, a yachting enthusiast & former member of the Boyne Yacht Club.
© Ricky Gerrard 2023