Major new volume on the urban history of Tullamore to be launched this evening
'Modest Prosperity' is penned by the acclaimed architect and town planner, Fergal MacCabe
“MODEST Prosperity' describes the extraordinary growth over three hundred years of an inconsequential settlement of ‘ a castle, two watermills and ten cottages’ into a dynamic town driving the economy of County Offaly. The story concludes in 1960 as it enters a new and transformative phase of rapid expansion.
While much has been written about the evolution and morphology of Irish towns generally, this is the first in-depth dissection of one individual mid-sized provincial town and will be of interest to urban planners.
The book explores the influence of Enlightenment values in the rapid economic expansion of the little village following the Great Fire of 1785 and the arrival of the Grand Canal in 1798, the noblesse oblige of the merchant families, the churches and the religious orders who delivered sophisticated architecture and the ambition of the new Free State in providing excellent social housing and a Modernist hospital.
Tullamore born artist, architect and town planner Fergal MacCabe has been depicting its art and architecture for many years and has illustrated Michael Byrne’s ‘Tullamore a Portrait’, the first comprehensive history of the town.
His interest in the Midland villages of Bord na Mona led to ‘Ambition and Achievement’, a biography of their architect Frank Gibney ( who went on to propose an imaginative Beaux Arts plan for Tullamore in the 1950s) and he and photographer Paul Moore have recently collaborated to produce ‘Faithful Images’ revealing the quality of public art in Offaly
Lavishly illustrated with almost a hundred original drawings of the streets, buildings and art of Tullamore , ‘Modest Prosperity’ is a handsome volume and a fitting companion to ‘Tullamore a Portrait’. Together they combine to celebrate the history and the aesthetic qualities of the streets and squares of the county town and are essential reading for those with an interest in its past and indeed, its future.
As Tullamore prepares to make the first ever comprehensive plan for its historic centre, this book is a well timed contribution to the upcoming debate.
‘Modest Prosperity’ will be launched in the ‘Brewery Tap’ , O’Connor Square, Tullamore by Michael Byrne at 5pm this evening (Wednesday, April 15). A limited number of mounted original drawings will be available for sale at Euro 90 each on the night,
Modest Prosperity : Essays on in the Urban Heritage of Tullamore 1600-1960
by Fergal MacCabe
Esker Press, €22.99. pp 168