New book explores context of land agent's murder near Ferbane
The murder of a land agent near Ferbane more than 170 years ago is the starting point for a new book by Aidan Doyle, which was launched online yesterday (Thursday) evening.
'Blood, Cage & Gore', subtitled, 'Violence, Famine and Excess, from the Irish midlands to the American west and colonial Australia' is the Ferbane author's first book.
It looks at the shooting of Charles Cage in 1849, after he had notified tenants of his intention to eject them from the Gore estate at Endrim and Creggan.
Cage's killing would become part of local lore for generations to come, and in the book Aidan explores other aspects to the story, such as a colossal hunting expedition across the uncharted American west which was undertaken by Cage's employer, Sir St George Gore, in the 1850s.
A description of the book says it "centres on two townlands outside Ferbane, and the family which owned them for one hundred and fifty years."
The story "at different times finds itself situated on the Curragh of Kildare, the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, the Scottish Highlands, the Black Hills of Dakota and the grasslands of Queensland.
"It is in effect an attempt to understand not only Creggan and Endrim but also the world they exist in."
Aidan, who worked with Bord na Mona and then went back to education, studying history and geography in Maynooth, told the Offaly Independent that, although the book wasn't particularly long, it told a broad story.
"The assassination of Charles Cage in 1849 is a jumping-off point for the book, and it goes lots of places from that," he said.
"That (shooting) is a story that would be very well-known in this locality, and something that we would have talked about in national school."
He said that, in researching the book, he tried to build upon work carried out previously by Ciarán Reilly and others, and sought to put the local incident in a global context.
"There's a strand in history called micro-history, which is about asking large questions in small places. That's the best way you could put this," he explained.
"It's trying to take this small place, and the things that happened here, and maybe examine how that relates to what went on in the world outside as well."
Aidan's online video launch of the book on Thursday evening featured contributions from Padraig Boland, Aidan Keenaghen, Declan Kavanagh, Joe Foley, Ronan McGuire and singers Niamh Kenny, Sean Flynn, and Ciaran Guinan.
The author will be selling copies of the book, priced €12, at a pop-up book sale in Ferbane this Saturday, December 11. This will take place in the former Ryan's Drapery, between noon and 6pm.