Former TD Eamonn Maloney holding his new book
Book examines the history of Tallaght 600 years ago
A new book from former TD Eamonn Maloney aims to highlight Tallaght’s long history, something that can be forgotten in an area so recently developed.
“Tallaght is seen as such a new and vibrant place, 100 years ago there was just of 4,000 people living here and today there’s 86,000 of us living here,” the former Labour TD for Dublin South West told The Echo.
His new book, ‘Tallaght – A history of Its Nobility and Gentry’ examines the history of Tallaght over 600 years ago, and the landowners who owned much of the county through that period.
Eamonn, who has previously authored another book called ‘Tallaght – A Place with History’, said he found much of the existing historical work on the area didn’t go back very far.
“There was very little history written in any great detail about Tallaght, most of it goes back 30 years, 50 years maybe 100 years ago,” he said.
“It never dealt with the individuals, those people of the nobility, or those people of the gentry who actually owned the place.
“That’s a gap that I set out to fill, and that’s what was the focus of my research.”
One of the most notable historical figures that Eamonn’s book covers is Henry Ireton, son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell and a leading figure in the Cromwellian wars in Ireland, who owned a significant amount of land around Tallaght.
The launch of the book, which took place on November 14 at Priory Market, was very well received and as a self-published author, Eamonn is pleased with sales so far.
“I’ve discovered in the past few weeks that the greatest promoter of a book is word of mouth, people who purchased the book in the first week seem to have talked to everyone else about it,” he said happily, though he expressed his disappointment that the book could not be sold in Eason’s or other bookstores in Tallaght.
You can buy ‘Tallaght – A history of Its Nobility and Gentry’ by Eamonn Maloney at Books Upstairs on D’Olier Street, or on their website.
