Riverbrooke Cross Border Initiative

Review by – John Cunningham (J.B.C.)

The Brookeborough Story, Aghalun in Aghavea.
Edited by Jack Johnston. 304pp with index plus 100 illustrations and maps.

There are over 50 contributors to this beautifully produced book which is a companion volume to ‘The Riverstown Story’, Co. Sligo, again edited by Jack Johnston. It has 46 contributors, 100 maps and illustrations and has likewise 304 pages with an index. (Casebound edition of The Riverstown Story also available).

Four years ago the Brookeborough Historical Society came into being at the instigation of the Rev. Andrew Kingston. His enthusiasm and that of a steering group of helpers was the catalyst which enthused the recording of the local history of the district which culminating in this excellent volume. The Society’s members conducted their own research as well as attracting many of the best speakers on the local history circuit. The content of many of these lectures have been added to the volume.

Ten years ago the Riverstown Enterprise Development Group in Sligo set out on their cherished ambition to commit a history of the Riverstown area to print. Valuable collecting work was done but the project lay dormant until 2003 when an enthusiastic and dedicated group came together under the editorial guidance of Jack Johnston. Their research eventually resulted in an equally excellent production.

The Riverbrooke Initiative twinned the Brookeborough and Riverstown areas. Through the support of their funders, ADM/CPA, the Initiative has ensured that two landmark local history volumes were produced. These publications will be a touchstone for all local history in these areas in the future.

All of the traditional staples of local history are here. Pride of place at the beginning of both volumes goes to the townland placenames of each area. The contents also include the history of the respective villages as well as chapters on landlords, churches, schools, industry, farming, the Famine and emigration. There is a particularly detailed analysis on roads and bridges in the Riverstown Story, while its counterpart in Brookeborough has several good family and townland studies. Local societies, entertainment and sport are among other topics covered. Both books have dug wide and deep. They draw on the resources of repositories like Fermanagh County Library, the Public Record Office in Belfast, Sligo reference library in Bridge Street and Riverstown’s own excellent library at the Folk Park.

In many ways both books are a template by which others might set out to write their own local history. Providing that a good editor is available the co-operative method of compiling a local history works very well. Unless an individual is very experienced and has read widely it would be difficult for him or her to reach these standards of research and writing within any reasonable timescale. Skilled editing is imperative if deadlines are to be met and best balance struck with regard to length, tone and accuracy of fact. It requires good judgment so as to bring about an overall unity in works of this kind.

The valuable six page index is very important in two such extensive volumes. It makes these books very accessible for the general reader as well as a reference aid for the more serious inquirer. These two volumes are undoubtedly landmarks in the history of each area as important as any dolmen, stone circle or mighty castle.