Month: November 2024

Probus, Wednesday 20th November 2024.
Speaker: Mr Kenneth Collins, Club Member and Local Historian

Kenneth’s talk could well have been entitled “ Collins to the Rescue” in that he stepped in at the last minute to fill in for a speaker who was unable to make it. Kenneth’s talk was about a fine old property known to many as Clanabogan House. Now a successful B&B, it is a home with history.

It was built in 1809 by Samuel Galbraith and called New Grove. At that time Clanabogan did not have a church and Mr Galbraith felt that the Bishop might be moved to establish one if there was a plot of land and a rectory.   In 1834 he extended New Grove to create a residence suitable for a new minister and set aside an acre of ground.   In 1873 a fine new church designed by Welland and Gillespie, Dublin, was opened.   In 1889 renowned architect Sir Thomas Drew, who designed St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast, remodelled the interior using marbles from Cork, Kilkenny, France and Italy.   A separate rectory was built in 1887 and is still in use.

The graveyard at Clanabogan is the final resting place of Dr. Edward Charles Thompson, FRCSI. who was the prime mover in the building of Tyrone County Hospital.   TCH opened in 1899 replacing the old Omagh Infirmary built in1796 on the site now occupied by the Danske Bank. Tyrone County Hospital closed in 2017 and was demolished in 2022 to make way for a private housing development. Kenneth regretted that no trace of the former hospital remained and hoped a “blue plaque” or some such, could be erected to mark the site.
He was warmly thanked for his talk by all present.

 

Omagh Probus Club, Wednesday 13 November 2024
Speaker: Mr Richard Scott, Topic: Remembrance

Each year on the Wednesday closest to Remembrance Sunday, Omagh Probus Club invites a speaker with a connection to those who served their county and who paid the ultimate sacrifice. The guest of Honour on Wednesday 13 November 2024 was Mr Richard Scott, MBE, one of the founders of MAPS [Military and Police Support] Omagh. As an ex-police officer in both the RUC and PSNI and former Chair of Omagh British Legion, Richard has a long association with families affected by conflicts recent and past.

His own experience of the being on duty on the day of the Omagh Bomb in August 1998 has shown him that traumatic memories are a constant presence in the minds of those who have had to deal with traumatic events.  Often such feelings are better expressed in poetry than prose and he recited some verses written by Club President Felim O’Neill to tellingly make the point.

MAPS is a voluntary organisation supported by some 30 volunteers who daily, lend a listening ear to those who drop in, because talking helps to quell the demons that disturb sleep and rob the innocent of peace of mind.  Maps has helped over 1000 persons since its formation and has won recognition and awards [MBE’s for its founders] and in 2017 The Queen’s Golden Jubilee Award, crowned this year by the NI Veterans Group of the Year Award 2024.

Richard was thanked for his memorable contribution to the Club on a day when members looked back at the service and losses of friends and family.

Wednesday 6 November 2024: Book Lunch

Pre-Covid Omagh Men’s Probus Club welcomed guests for Lisburn Probus Club to hear about a book which they had had produced.  It was a collection of memories and reminiscences recorded by club members and published with the title “Blue Remembered Hills”.  It was the inspiration for a similar undertaking by the Probus Clubs of Omagh with contributions from members of both the Ladies and Men’s Club.  The intervention of Covid-19 slowed down the best efforts of Probian Hugh Ward to bring it together, but after a long gestation it finally appeared in print on Wednesday, 6 November  smartly bound with the title “From a Distance.”

The launch took place in Omagh Golf Club when the Men’s Club played host to the Ladies Club, many of whom had contributed to the publication. Following refreshments and the President’s welcome, Mr Hugh Ward introduced the volume which he had edited and brought to publication. Sales were brisk since the book came to hand as lovely Christmas Gift for friends and family. The book is set to become a snapshot in time of memories dating from the end of World War II to the present, but with the mind’s eye focussed on what it was like to grow up in Tyrone during the 50’s and 60’s