Dr. Martin Walsh will discuss the tragic events of Sunday, 5th September 1926 in Dromcollogher when forty-eight men, women and children lost their lives when a terrible fire swept through the upstairs loft that served as a temporary cinema.

The funeral was presided over by Canon Begley with Bishop Keane of Limerick and over 50 other priests from Limerick and Cork serving, and was attended by President WT Cosgrave. The story was reported world wide and condolences came from far and wide including King George of England, other heads of state, church leaders, trades union and county councils. A relief fund was set up which made its last payments in 1958.

Dr. Walsh's current project is focused on the emotional trauma of the 1926 Dromcollogher Cinema Fire on the people of the town, the people of Ireland and the Irish Diaspora, and is funded by the Royal Irish Academy. Through this talk, he hopes to hear from Irish Americans whose ancestors might have received letters from home or kept diaries about the fire or had connection with the town.

Walsh is the current Project Officer for the Oral History Project at the University of Limerick. He is the author of two books: A Biography of Jesuit Richard Devane published in 2019, and an Oral History of the University of Limerick published in 2023. He is the Web Officer for the Women’s History Association of Ireland and Co-Treasurer of the Irish Association of Professional Historians. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.