| Naas Local History Group was founded in 1984 with a
mission; to record and present the rich and colourful
story of our town. We are determined to make its history
available and accessible to everybody. For, ultimately,
our history is not a dry collection of facts and details
but the warm, lively and essentially human story of the
personalities and events from which the fabric of our
town is woven.
Each year we arrange a programme of history talks at
8pm, on the first Monday of each month, from September
to April in Naas Library. (by Kind Permission of Kildare
Co Librarian). During the Summer the group organises
local Naas town walks and outings to places of historical
interest throughout the island of Ireland.
Naas Local History Group is very proud of the fact
that it compiled and published Nas na Riogh, From Poorhouse
Road to the Fairyflax
an illustrated history
of Naas, the first ever book to be devoted exclusively
to the history of Naas, which puts our commitment to
making history accessible into permanent form. First
published in 1990, the book has been revised and republished,
(with an additional chapter on the history of Naas Urban
District Council) in 2001.
Since it foundation, the group has mounted a number
of Historical Exhibitions, and instigated a number of
projects. The Leinster Leader Indexation Project, the
Famine Graveyard Memorial Park at St Mary's, The Famine
Memorial in Naas General Hospital. And the publication
in November 1998 of the group's second book A History
of Naas Hospital
from Workhouse to Hospital, which
charts the progression of the Workhouse from an institution
built in the nineteenth century to house the destitute
to a modern General Hospital of the twenty first century.
During 1998 the group undertook a project to photograph
Naas and its people at the end of the century and the
millennium. The project included just about everything
that caught the attention of Stan Hickey and his camera
during the period from mid 1998 to 2000. The results
went on display in Naas library in February 2000, and
later in book form under the title Nas na Riogh Da Mhile-
Sin mar a bhi
Naas 2000
the way we were;
a snapshot of Naas and its people at the end of the
Millennium. All three books are available in Naas Bookshops.
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