Danny Dowling (1927-2021): One Year Anniversary
It is difficult to believe that St. Patrick’s Day (March 17th) will mark the first anniversary of our founder Danny’s death. Much over the past year remained the same, yet at the same time much has changed. The last year witnessed the continued scourge of COVID and over the last few weeks the invasion of Ukraine has brought death and misery to millions. Locally, Danny’s death left a void with more than one person expressing that they wished they had spoken to him just one more time. Luckily, Danny left a huge corpus of information that he collected over 7 decades regarding Glenmore and the South-East of Ireland. Although Danny is no longer at the helm, providing advice, information and sending messages to readers, thanks to his son Pat, most posts continue to draw upon the interviews Danny recorded or the voluminous files he kept on the research he conducted in newspapers and libraries.
A memorial Mass for Danny will be held in St. James’ Church, Glenmore at 11 a.m. on March 17th. The website for Glenmore Parish is https://www.glenmoreparish.ie/.
For anyone who did not have the pleasure of meeting Danny, the blog in addition to the posts contains static pages where family information is found as well as Irish words and field names Danny recorded are listed. Below is a list of selected information available online regarding the man and his work:
[1] Introducing Glenmore Historian: Danny Dowling, our first post. https://glenmore-history.com/introducing-the-glenmore-historian-danny-dowling/
[2] Happy Birthday Danny: Danny’s 93rd Birthday published 15 Feb. 2020. https://glenmore-history.com/happy-birthday-danny/
[3] First Anniversary of Blog: Message from Danny, published 3 Nov. 2020. https://glenmore-history.com/first-anniversary/
[4] Some Interesting Events in 1927: The Year Danny Dowling Was Born, published 12 Feb. 2021. https://glenmore-history.com/some-interesting-events-in-1927/
[5] The Sad Farewell, published on 20 March 2021. https://glenmore-history.com/the-sad-farewell/
[6] Month’s Mind, published 17 April 2021, containing several photos of Danny,
https://glenmore-history.com/months-mind/
[7] Danny Dowling’s Appearance in Land and Sea: Talamn An Eisc, posted on 22 October 2021. https://glenmore-history.com/some-interesting-events-in-1927/
[8] The Waterford Library has put Danny Dowling’s (1998) Waterford Streets Past and Present on line. https://www.waterfordcouncil.ie/departments/library/local-history-books.htm
[9] Old Waterford Society: Decies–this journal is available on line via the Waterford Library and contains several articles written by Danny including:
- Daniel Dowling (1976) “Eviction of James Holden” (vol. 2, p. 24);
- Daniel Dowling (1983) “South Kilkenny in 1798 and the Role of William Gaffney,” (vol. 24, p. 14);
- Daniel Dowling (1983) “New Geneva,” (vol. 29, p. 32);
- Daniel Dowling (1986) “Piltown: Kildalton and its Past,” (vol. 32, p. 28);
- Dan Dowling (1990) “Tory, Rapparee & Highwaymen: Social Unrest in the 17th & 18th Century,” (vol. 43, p. 25).
Decies is available on-line at https://www.waterfordcouncil.ie/departments/library/ejournals/decies.htm .
Lastly, after Glenmore History volunteers recorded the inscription on headstones in the cemetery adjacent to St. James’ Church in Glenmore Village during the summer of 2020, Danny reviewed the information and remarked on how his friend Nicky “the Miller” and his father died on the 17th and the 18th of March. Danny then noticed that there were a number of Glenmore men who died on St. Patrick’s Day. A computer search of all the inscriptions revealed that Danny was correct. Up to 2021, five inscriptions revealed that five men died on St. Patrick’s Day; no women were found with this date of death.
Michael Ribby died 17th March 1891, aged 84.
Patrick “the Miller” Forristal, died 17th March 1931, aged 82.
Nicholas “the Miller” Forristal, died 18 March 1979, aged 91.
Laurence Patrick Forristal, died 17th March 1994, aged 77.
John Downey, died 17th March 1995, interred in England.
Peter Kennedy, died 17th March 1962, aged 83.
Daniel “Danny” Dowling, died 17th March 2021, aged 94.
Please send any corrections or additional information to glenmore.history@gmail.com.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
Such as shame that COVID prevented me from visiting Ireland whilst Danny was still alive; I would have loved to have met him.
The 17th of March is also the date my Pap died in 2003 (my Maternal grandfather). This is of no relevance to Glenmore, Pap had only a dash of Irish blood and its unlikely that was from County Kilkenny. But I was very close to him and have not celebrated St Patricks day since he died.
I can only imagine how hard such a memoriam is for actual Irish relatives; all of whom have my condolences especially those of Danny and Nicky the Miller whose work illuminated so much of my Irish family history