This note might be of interest to both senior residents of Templeogue and newly-arrived residents to in that area. The target area for our soon-to-be-resurrected Templeogue Telegraph newsletter will be, as before, to serve residents living between our two rivers, the Dodder and the Poddle, and between the Dublin City boundary and the M50 motorway. In olden times this area was a rural part of County Dublin, next became a suburb of the city of Dublin, and some decades ago came under a new local authority named South Dublin County Council.
In late 1969 the Templeogue Telegraph appeared as a newsletter set up as a project of the Templeogue Youth Club, under the presidency of the late resident Terry Gogan. It operated from a room provided by the parish of St Pius X. The early content comprised mainly news of the Youth Club’s activities, but on the demise of the Club the newsletter became a true community newspaper.
When, sadly,Terry Gogan died and the Youth Club was discontinued, many community individuals and organisations readily agreed to keep the newsletter alive. Here one must make special mention of community organisations like the Templeogue Parents’ Association and the Ladies’ Club for stepping in to keep the Telegraph alive. During the 1970s, 80s and 90s the circulation reached upward of 1,000 copies. The newsletter was personally delivered by a team of young people who received a modest percentage from the proceeds as a gratuity for their work. The discontinuation of the Telegraph in 2005 was due, not so much to a lack of general interest in the local news, as to the gradual decline of energy on the part of the by-now-aging members of the production team, and to the difficulty of finding new teenagers for the door-to-door deliveries.
After that many requests arose from former customers and from researchers for copies of certain Telegraph articles, and these enquiries were dealt with locally by referring the enquirers to the Central County Library in Tallaght which for a period kindly made available on their shelves bound copies of the newspaper. The material had been presented to the library by Roddy Kernan (late resident in Templeville Drive) in the form of his carefully preserved back numbers of the Telegraph. This material was for a time on open display in the Tallaght library, but has recently been withdrawn from the shelves to make room for copies of the local Tallaght newspaper, The Echo.
There is, however, good news. A local survey of Templeogue has revealed that there is still interest in the content of the Telegraph which for over five decades recorded our past history. A group has accordingly been established with the object of seeking and reprinting former articles from the magazine. This will bring to light again a period when Templeogue was a developing part of suburban Dublin, buzzing with activity.
Some daunting tasks are currently being undertaken, including assembling the tools for digitalising and putting t\he newspaper on-line, and compiling an index of past contents. Once these preliminaries have been completed, much of the labour that was involved in producing the ‘old’ Telegraph in ‘hard copy’ will be eliminated. The Telegraph will soon be available on-line and without charge. Arrangements will be made on request for home deliveries to former senior citizens who do not have computers.
News of developments will be given will be given to former subscribers who wish to make contact by means of email addressed to:
In late 1969 the Templeogue Telegraph appeared as a newsletter set up as a project of the Templeogue Youth Club, under the presidency of the late resident Terry Gogan. It operated from a room provided by the parish of St Pius X. The early content comprised mainly news of the Youth Club’s activities, but on the demise of the Club the newsletter became a true community newspaper.
When, sadly,Terry Gogan died and the Youth Club was discontinued, many community individuals and organisations readily agreed to keep the newsletter alive. Here one must make special mention of community organisations like the Templeogue Parents’ Association and the Ladies’ Club for stepping in to keep the Telegraph alive. During the 1970s, 80s and 90s the circulation reached upward of 1,000 copies. The newsletter was personally delivered by a team of young people who received a modest percentage from the proceeds as a gratuity for their work. The discontinuation of the Telegraph in 2005 was due, not so much to a lack of general interest in the local news, as to the gradual decline of energy on the part of the by-now-aging members of the production team, and to the difficulty of finding new teenagers for the door-to-door deliveries.
After that many requests arose from former customers and from researchers for copies of certain Telegraph articles, and these enquiries were dealt with locally by referring the enquirers to the Central County Library in Tallaght which for a period kindly made available on their shelves bound copies of the newspaper. The material had been presented to the library by Roddy Kernan (late resident in Templeville Drive) in the form of his carefully preserved back numbers of the Telegraph. This material was for a time on open display in the Tallaght library, but has recently been withdrawn from the shelves to make room for copies of the local Tallaght newspaper, The Echo.
There is, however, good news. A local survey of Templeogue has revealed that there is still interest in the content of the Telegraph which for over five decades recorded our past history. A group has accordingly been established with the object of seeking and reprinting former articles from the magazine. This will bring to light again a period when Templeogue was a developing part of suburban Dublin, buzzing with activity.
Some daunting tasks are currently being undertaken, including assembling the tools for digitalising and putting t\he newspaper on-line, and compiling an index of past contents. Once these preliminaries have been completed, much of the labour that was involved in producing the ‘old’ Telegraph in ‘hard copy’ will be eliminated. The Telegraph will soon be available on-line and without charge. Arrangements will be made on request for home deliveries to former senior citizens who do not have computers.
News of developments will be given will be given to former subscribers who wish to make contact by means of email addressed to:
templeoguetelegraph@gmail.com
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