News Archive

Pride of Place Awards 2007

At the 2007 Pride of Place Awards, Drum Heritage Group were honoured with a special award for heritage.

Heritage Week 2008

As part of Heritage Week 2008, Drum Heritage Group presented an Audiovisual about Curraghaleen Hedge School. The hedge school was extensively restored in recent times, and is one of the many highlights of Drum Heritage Group's excellent restoration work. The presentation was shown on Tuesday evening at 8.30pm, and light refreshments were served afterwards. It is hoped that the video can be shown in full at a later date, as technical difficulties on the night meant it was not possible to show the entire video. More details about Heritage Week can be found here

Celebrating 21 Years of Drum Heritage Group (1987-2008)

To mark the 21st anniversary of the founding of Drum Heritage Group, major celebrations were held in the parish. The ceremonies on Sunday 22nd June 2088 began with the launch of a special commemorative book highlighting 21 years of heritage initiatives in parish, followed by rosary procession at 3.45pm from St. Brigid's Well to the Old Cemetery and Monastic Site for the annual open-air Mass at 4pm. Large crowds were in attendance at the ceremony, which was followed by the unveiling of a memorial plaque bearing the names of all those who worked on various heritage projects in parish over the years, and remembering those who were no longer with us. Musical recital was by Band of the Western Brigade. The Booklet is on sale from the Heritage Centre. Congratulations to all involved.

Heritage Week 2009

As part of the national Heritage Week, a Heritage Walk will talk place along the path at Meehambee, Drum on Sunday 23rd August. Coach transport from Heritage Centre at 3pm sharp. This will be followed by an Audio Visual Presentation in Drum Parish Hall, with light refreshments. All in fee: €5.

Drum Residents Remember Ancient Athlone Burial

Celebrating Heritage Week on Sunday August 23rd residents in Drum and members of Drum Heritage Centre revisited an ancient Athlone burial ground dating back to 3500BC.

When it comes to looking at Athlone’s rich heritage, you could visit the stone bridge spanning Leinster and Connaught or King John’s stone fortification or you could go further back to a stone Dolmen in Drum estimated to be over 5000 years old.

Known locally as Giant Lobby’s Rock, a small megalithic dolmen which was possibly erected as a tomb for a person of great significance, presumably a chieftain and this final resting place surrounded by wild garlic is a rare example of a prehistoric settlement not normally found in the midlands.

Discovered over fifty years ago by two children who found stone axes by the megalithic Dolmen, the stone tomb along the old Bridal Path was not always easy to find and was only really appreciated by goats and rabbits sheltering from the elements. With the bridal path cleared and new signage erected to inform people of the ancient wonder, the prehistoric stone is now more accessible.

Visible along the Bridal Path are two ice houses used for preserving food. While not used for preserving prehistoric food, the ice houses would have been built in the last 200 years and were used to store meat from spoiling as the meat was packed in snow that fell during the winter months.

Along the route from the Drum Heritage Centre to the Bridal Path, a much wider path has taken shape and the N6 route has played an interesting part shaping our knowledge of heritage as two fulaght fias were discovered during road excavations.

Heating stones in a fire and placing them in a rectangular pond, ancient Athlonians would have cooked joints of meat in a time long before Sir Walter Raleigh planted the first potatoes here.

Standing almost two meters high and dating back to the pyramids and New Grange the dolmen is not on the same scale as the Egyptian and Meath monuments but it would have taken significant effort to position the 24 tonne cap stone into place and the rare stone find is certainly worth celebrating as part of our local surrounding heritage.

Heritage Week 2010

As part of Heritage Week 2010, Drum Heritage Group have organised a guided tour of Drum monastic site and St. Brigid's Well on Wednesday 25th August at 6pm. The tour will be conducted by heritage specialist Anton Lennon, a native of Drum and a voluntary member of Drum Heritage Group. The tour will include the Romanesque Abbey which contains windows and doorway that depict the style of architecture prevailing in Western Europe before the rise of Gothic style. The annex at the rear of the Abbey contains two apartments, one known as the refectory which formed part of the living quarters for the community. The abbey building contains all of the hallmarks attributable to a monastic building, the main area no doubt was used as a church where the Eucharist was celebrated and where the Patrician monks prayed in undisturbed reverence. Also included in the monastic site is the medieval church ruin where the open air mass is celebrated every year. The tour also includes St. Brigid's Well and Drum Heritage Centre.

Guided Tour of Drum Monastic Site, St. Bridgets Holy Well & Drum Heritage Centre
25 August 2010: 18:00 - 20:00
Admission: Donations Appreciated
Event Description: Guided tour of Drum Monastic Site, St. Bridgets Holy Well and Drum Heritage Centre. Lots of local information and knowledge!
Event Organiser/Organisation: Drum Heritage Group
Venue: Drum Heritage Centre, Drum, Athlone, Roscommon
Access Details
Suitable for Children: Yes
Wheelchair Access: Partial
Car parking Available: Yes
Any Other Details:
Event Category: Local History
Type:Indoors and Outdoors
Organiser Name: Edward Egan
Contact Address: Drum Heritage Centre Drum Athlone Co. Roscommon
Telephone: 086 1972323