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| Genealogy Research Service Ireland by Bruce Chandler |
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| Profile of Charles Coghlan, Librarian at Bray | |||||
| THE INDEXES BELOW LEAD TO COGHLAN'S AND BREATHNACH'S WORK | |||||
| Bray Category Index |
Freeman's Journal Dates Index 1763/1884 |
Charles Coghlan Profile by Kevin Murray, former Bray Librarian |
Wicklow Newsletter Dates Index 1885/1914 |
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This world has many workers, that word serving to describe those people who, by the intelligence granted to them, serve their fellow-creatures, and for the latter make life the more tolerable and even pleasant. Such workers need not and often are not conspicuous in their times, but they deserve to be remembered, if only by the happy recipients of goodwill and the sharing of help and knowledge.
An increasingly few recall Charles J. Coghlan of Bray. Here was a man who, never choosing a basking-place in limelight, could and did cultivate a handsome total of friends, with whom he shared interests and information. The ones who knew Coghlan will remember him with gratitude and with recollection of their loss by his sudden decease, now thirty years ago. My few words in this place may serve to remind the many who never knew him, of the possibilities there are of friendship and regard which an eager and vigorous mind may call on and enjoy.
My first contact, in 1926, was through a letter from him, care of the Railway Magazine, to which we had both been contributing items of transport history. He asked for some details, which I was glad to furnish, and was also pleased to call on him for more. So my letters, and more especially after we met and over many meetings, we exchanged knowledge relating to our common hobby.
I discovered, too, that Coghlan had sought and found a vast amount of information on a surprising number of subjects, and pursued a wide correspondence. Be it marked, that he never used a typewriter. Everything he sent out was holograph, in his distinct and distinctive script. It was a marvel, how he could (as I never could, I confess) keep his handwriting so legible, and yet write with considerable speed.
Saying all this, I may be permitted to add that Coghlan's only fault appeared to me to be a sad lack of ambition. He never claimed to be highly educated; I fancy that, for reasons of early health, his schooling had been somewhat less than what most of us enjoy. But an educated man he was; he knew the value of knowledge, and turned his attention with success to whatever subjects he and his friends looked upon as worth notice. Such odd matters as the Royal Navy's steam vessels; the barracks of the Royal Irish Constabulary; shipping on the Irish Sea; all such things came within his scope, for his mind viewed, justly, every kind of human activity to have an historical aspect, and so worthy of study.
His work, as the second-in-charge of the Public Library of Bray, gave him an eminently suitable task. He cherished books as books, and it seemed to me that he must have at least glanced through every volume in his care, while he could be of great help to even the most casual of enquirers; the citizens of Bray can form for themselves the favourable opinion due to him.
Of Bray, and of the County of Wicklow, Coghlan preserved a vast knowledge, and we should be grateful to those who, after his passing, took care of the numerous pieces of paper, varied in size and colour, on which he had noted so many facts. As the years progress, we are going to be the more grateful for the safe keeping of those fugitive scraps.
No need to say more than that I, and others I am sure, will always think it is a tragedy that Charles Coghlan did not seek the publication of his work, despite our urging. As I have said, his leanings were not in the ambitious line; he only wished to be helpful and useful, and that he was, as many can testify. The pity of it was, that not a few were willing to make use of Charles Coghlan, to their personal benefit, while unwilling to give credit, at least, to a good friend.
He was, indeed, a friend, difficult to replace. Happily, not a little of the body of facts he gathered has been saved to us, and I have often felt that he himself might well be vastly surprised to discover that there are numbers as willing as he was to labour, quietly and devotedly, in the cause of Irish History. They will worthily follow him, as the real patriots of Ireland.
Charles Coghlan systematically compiled references to Bray and Co. Wicklow in the Freeman's Journal from 1763 to 1914. This manuscript, available on microfiche in Bray Public Library, is an important source for the local historian. Additional Coghlan papers, presented by Kevin Murray to the O1d Bray Society, are now in the care of Bray Library. | |||||
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