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while we have achieved much already, we have even greater plans for the future!
We go to Drogheda to celebrate a community organisation ..
that was set up over 40 years ago to preserve the heritgae of that historic Co. Louth town.
We are here in the Martello Tower, part of the Millmount Museum, headquarters of the Old Drogheda Society.
The Society was founded in 1964 to preserve the archaeology and history of the town.
We have around 400 members, from around the country and around the world.
We have a huge programme of activities - lectures, trips and festivals ..
And most of the activities are carried out by dedicated voluntary work.
There was a tower on this hill from the Middle Ages but this Martello tower was constructed by the British in 1808,
supposedly to ward off Napoleon.
In 1922, during the Civil War, the last ever artillery siege of a fort in Irish history hapened here.
There was great damage but in 2000 we re-constructed the Martello Tower as you can see.
Drogheda is a very historical town and one of the most famous events in that history is the siege of Cromwell.
When he broke in he carried out a great slaughter of the people.
This is the death mask of John Boyle O'Reilly, a leader of the Fenians, who came from this area
and who died in America in 1890.
He was very famous internationally as a poet.
The Old Drogheda Society is very much part of the life of the town and we get huge support
not only from the Borough Council, but also from the population in general.
I'm sure that this support will continue on, for,
while we have achieved much already, we have even greater plans for the future!