Books « Thurles Information

Tom Noone – Premier Short Story Competition Winner 2008

Thurles man Tom Noone is the 2008 winner of the Tipp Reads/Premier Short Story Competition and was presented recently with his prize by best selling author Frank Delaney.

His short story entitled ‘The Boy Who Knew Things‘ draws its readers, possibly, back to the late 1950 or early sixties in rural Ireland.

In this remarkable story, Tom demonstrates his ability, using few words, to paint detailed pictures, worthy of Ruisdael, Gainsborough and Turner, using the inward eye as his canvas. Each movement in his story is recorded with the accuracy of a video camera. Using his eyes as a lenses and his brain as some sort of electronic capturing device, Tom has managed to capture more than the normal 120 frames per second, to bring us a high definition video, using only words, each carefully chosen to emanate maximum emotion.

Tom, a former training manager, admits to an intense interest in people and places. He gains enormous expression by his involvements in numerous local social and community organisations.

Many people will recognise Tom, from his days as project leader, for the indexation of church registers in many Cashel and Emly parishes. This latter excellent work now forms an invaluable database, as those involved in any form of genealogical research will attest.

Tom in the past has published local history papers, a number of selected poems and is a regular contributor to our Thurles local newspaper ‘The Tipperary Star’. He is probably best known through his strong links with Thurles Credit Union.

Those of you who would like to read this fine piece of writing can do so by linking to www.tipperarylibraries.ie

Can we expect a small anthology of short stories from Tom in the near future? I can not answer this question, but this I forecast, that much will be lost to the world of imaginary tale, should he neglects this, his very rare story telling ability.

Slates Up – Making History Come Alive For Primary Students

‘Slates Up!” (ISBN: 9780950928944) enables pupils to discover what life was like in a nineteenth century primary school. It is a publication designed to support the 1999 Primary History Curriculum. It aims is to better equip teachers with true primary sources relating to schools in early nineteenth century Ireland.

A primary source is a piece of historical evidence that was created at the time to which it relates. The primary sources in ‘Slates Up!’ are from the little known archives of the famous Kildare Place Society, Rathmines, Dublin.

The Kildare Place Society (Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in Ireland) was a pioneering charitable institution involved in early Irish education. It was founded in 1811 by a group or philanthropic men in Dublin, including Samuel Bewley of the Quaker (Society of Friends) merchant family and J.D. La Touche of the Huguenot banking family.

Reviews:

Dr Christopher Stray, Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Wales, Swansea wrote: “This book is an admirable and well-conceived teaching tool. The space taken up by questions to be answered by (modern) pupils, make it both more and less than a straightforward compilation of historical evidence. But anyone interested in the crucial detail of curriculum and teaching in the past would enjoy reading ‘Slates Up!’. To quote again from one of the posters it shows us: Oh! How pretty! Ah! How wise!’ “. (review in Paradigm: Journal of the Textbook Colloquium, Volume 3 Issue 2 July 2007)

In his review of ‘Slates Up’, Dr. Kenneth Milne the eminent Church of Ireland Historiographer wrote: “Good history teachers have long understood that we need to bring the subject to life for pupils if they are to engage with it. The Primary School Curriculum advocates an approach to the teaching of history that reflects the nature of history itself, in which documents play a vital part. But when educationalists encourage the use of documentary evidence in the classroom, teachers are sometimes at a loss to find suitable material for the purpose. Here it is, splendidly presented, and full of suggestions”.

John Fahy of Inis wrote: “This well-produced book enables pupils of today to act as real investigative historians as they explore the everyday educational experience of pupils at the beginning of the 19th century. This is how history should be experienced, as exciting discovery of a past which has something to say to our present” (review in Inis No 15, Spring 2006).

Contents Overview:

‘Slates Up!’ includes a wealth of resources for teachers and pupils. The topics explored include:

An examination of a typical nineteenth century schoolhouse.
Lessons 19th century children experienced: spellings, mathematics, poetry, grammar and more!
Investigations explore rewards and punishments for 19th century primary pupils.
Guidelines and resources to assist the re-enactment of a typical 19th century school day.
Teachers’ guidelines and a wealth of pupils’ activity sheets.

This excellent publication is compiled by Thurles born Karen Willoughby B. Ed. and former pupil of the Ursuline Convent ,Thurles, Co.Tipperary, with consultant editors Valerie Coghlan, Geraldine O’Connor and Susan Parkes all lecturers at CICE and Trinity College Dublin

Slates Up! is well worth investing in, because all of the publication’s contents can be photocopied. Thus one copy can cater to the needs of multiple classes.

Where to Buy:

To purchase ‘Slates Up!’ go to www.cice.ie/AboutCICE/CICEPublications.aspx or www.readireland.ie

Book of the Month – “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne

The Secret, by authoress Rhonda Byrne is a book that the world is talking about, from Oprah Winfrey to to the inhabitants of Thurles town.

Why do some people always get what they want? Why are some of us millionaires? How can you get that dream job? Why are some of us happy? Rhonda Byrne claims to have discovered how anyone can make their desires a reality. The answer is the secret. In essence her information is nothing new. Byrne makes no secret of the fact that history’s greatest leaders, philosophers, thinkers and scientists knew about it.

The secret has been harnessed for centuries by those who understood its rationale and as a consequence have used it to achieve their goals, make dreams a reality and make the most of what life has to offer. The Secret explains, with simplicity, the law that is governing all our lives, and offers the knowledge of how to create,intentionally and effortlessly a joyful life. At a time of economic downturn, recession and repossession, the secrets contained in ‘The Secret‘ may be worthy of some scrutiny and serious contemplation.

Our Review: Interesting, thought provoking and an easy read. Contents cannot be easily dismissed and are guaranteed to generate interesting discussion amongst its readers.