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Ré an Ghuail – When Coal was King is the title of a bilingual Gaelic League exhibition which will open at the Gaeláras, 6b Upper Chapel Street Newry on Friday 7th February at 8.00 pm.
The event is being organised in conjunction with Newry Maritime Association.
The exhibition will look at the importance of the native Irish coal industry to the initial development of Newry’s Inland Canal; the official opening of the sea canal with its busy Albert Basin; and the importance of the coal importing business to the new Northern Ireland State and to the survival of Newry Port through most of the twentieth century. The ‘coal’ theme serves to link the last coal yards at the Albert Basin (Fishers/Cawoods and O’Rourke’s) with the whole history of Newry shipping, the waterways and rail network and the work of Newry’s merchant seamen and casual/full-time dockers.
Central to the exhibition will be a number of original documents pertaining to Fishers and their subsidiary companies, notably the Antrim Iron Ore Company. The Fisher family traded locally and their own network of Newry-based suppliers will be well represented in a fine range of billheads and papers of long forgotten Newry commercial interests. The materials for the exhibition have been culled from local history enthusiasts who worked in the coal yards or who have shipping history interests. Newry Maritime Association will provide models of some of the Fisher colliers and a couple of local experts will be on hand to explain the workings of these iconic coastal ships. An original Fishers’ flag will be on display as well as several facsimiles of rarely seen Newry Navigation Company charts and diagrams, some ships’ trading logs, maps, and coal yard shovels.
A previously lost locally made short film (Kick Any Stone), which portrays in the main the rich cultural traditions of South Armagh, but which also boasts footage of the last trading ship to enter the Albert Basin, will also be shown on Friday night and again on Saturday (the exhibition will run from 11.00 am to 3.00 pm on Saturday). The original film reel was found by chance a local teacher on top of a skip in Newry some years ago and was given to local studies enthusiast Gabriel Curran who successfully contacted the BBC to have the film converted to a modern DVD format. Some video footage taken just before the Fishers/Cawoods coal yard closed will also feature.
The event is free and anyone who wishes to supplement the exhibition is welcome to do so.
