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New Buildings & District Archaeological and Historical Society Annual Report –NDAHS AGM November 2025
It has been a very busy year for our small Society.
We worked with George McLaughlin, our Honorary President, for the Peck Event at the Everglades in April 2025. There was an excellent attendance. George, Ken McCormick and I were interviewed on the Mark Patterson show. It was an extremely interesting experience. I gave Mark two of our books as he was keen to have more information about our area and History group.
The same week we had the rededication of the “Sheelagh and David Todd Memorial Lecture” at the Everglades. Again, we had an excellent attendance. We had a great representation from the Todd Family who continue to be committed to NDAHS. Ken McCormack shared the work that he has been doing from David Todd’s papers. NDAHS had also carried out some of the work that Ken has been privy to, and I have asked that our group is recognised in his final output. I have been in contact with Marjorie to arrange this year’s talk which Dr William Roulston has agreed to speak for us.
This year talks included the following as collated by our outgoing Secretary. Thank you, Eleanor McDaid, for your support over the last few years.
Our last AGM was in September 2025 after which our Honorary President, Mr George McLaughlin shared a film on Prehen House in which he featured, and he talked about the history and significance of Prehen House. It was a very interesting talk.
October 2024. Mr John Thompson lecturer and historian told us the tale of Cecily Jackson, the last woman to be burnt at the stake for infanticide. Some members attended the FULS AGM in October at which our Chairman, Mrs Bridgeen Rutherford, welcomed historians from many counties in Ireland to our city. November 2024. Seamus Breslin gave a talk on Tales of the City Cemetery. December 2024. David Jenkins, author and genealogist, gave a very interesting
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lecture on ‘Captain Kokeritz, a Forgotten hero in the City Cemetery’.
Jan 2025. Bad weather no talk
Feb 2025. We had a local history talk on Magilligan and its hinterland by Robert Peacocke, NDAHS member and member of Binevenagh History Group.
March 2025. Mr Stephen Doherty, local historian, and member of Derry Tower Heritage Group, gave a talk on the tower at Lumen Christi, ‘A Tale of Two Cities’.
April 2025. Already documented above.
We had our annual day out starting at Old Glendermott Graveyard with Ken McCormack. Ken provided us with a map of the graveyard and gave us his usual indepth talk. We were joined by some members from West Sperrin Family History Group and the CARE project from Donemana. The CARE project shared half of the cost for the bus on that day. We had a sandwich lunch at Cullion with (man whose name I can never remember!). He has an amazing garden with trees, plants and structures. He takes donations for Charity. After this we had a leisurely bus run through the beautiful Sperrins with a stop at the Glenpark Estate. We were lucky to have Amanda as our extremely informative guide, Thank you Amanda. The weather was fantastic.
Some members joined me and Enagh Seniors Group on an outing to Hillsborough Castle. The bus was funded via the Lottery Community Fund with refreshments self-funded. This is such a beautiful place to visit. We were there the day before Princess Anne was due to attend for the garden party. No-one invited us to stay!
The final outing this year was to Ballykelly and Binevenagh. We went firstly to Tamlaghtfinlagan Church graveyard. Our guides for the day were Robert Guthrie and Robert Peacocke, both our Society members but also members of Binevenagh Historical Society. Following the tour at Ballykelly we had another picnic lunch at the Airfield at Magilligan. What a spot! We left a donation for use of their facilities. We then went to St Aidan’s Church where the blind harper
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Denis Hempson is buried. We did visit a couple of additional graveyards as far down as Downhill. The weather turned out better in the afternoon. By the time we were leaving Downhill the rain came on. I am sure the two gentlemen have more wonders for us to see at another time! Thank you to Robert and Robert.
Thank you to all members for your support over the last year. We are a small group and intend looking for funding this year. There seems to be a lot of possibilities, but none related to small history societies. I will keep looking and hopefully we will be able to apply for funding in the not-too-distant future. If you have any suggestions, please pass on the contact details.
The Society holds membership of the Federation for Ulster Local Studies, Federation of Local History Societies of Ireland and NICVA.
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