A free public lecture in the Harbour Hotel Galway, on next Monday, 9th January, at 8 pm will examine the history of agriculture and rural development in Co. Galway.
The lecturer is Dr Micheál Ó Fathartaigh, and his lecture is entitled, ‘Ploughing a Course for Prosperity: Developing Rural Galway in the Early Twentieth Century’. It is part the spring series organised by the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society
Rural Ireland was transformed during the twentieth century from an agricultural backwater in western European terms to playing host to one of the world’s leading agri-food sectors.
This transformation was the work chiefly of progressive farmers, but they were greatly assisted by the public agricultural advisory service (operated today by Teagasc ).
The joint approach to the development of rural Ireland was pursued for most of the twentieth century at a county level. For the first time, this lecture will bring to light the formative endeavours in agricultural development that were conducted in County Galway.
Dr Ó Fathartaigh lectures in history at the Dublin Business School, and is a Committee Member of the Social Sciences Research Centre at the University of Galway.
