Two decades of community life in Longwood/Killyon go online

An online archive of the Longwood/Killyon community magazine, which was published for 19 years from 1984-2003 will be launched in the Longwood GAA Centre on Saturday 27th November at 9pm. All of the issues of this popular local magazine will be available to view on www.longwoodkillyon.com. The launch promises to be a great community event, and all are invited to attend at the GAA Centre on the night. The magazine was born when, at a meeting of Longwood Community Council in 1984, it was decided to investigate the feasibility of producing a parish magazine, and a sub-committee under the chairmanship of Tom Holton was elected. The other members were Fergal Giles, who was chosen as editor; Michael Leonard, Jean Regan, Una Ward, Michael Burke and Jimmy Cleary. From the first issue 'Longwood 84' until the final issue in 2003, a total of 17 publications were produced. Through the years, the magazine developed and changed in style and content. Changes were also made to the title. While the first two issues were 'Longwood 84' and 'Longwood 85', the following issues importantly included the name Killyon as well and, from 1992, the logo 'LK' was included. The magazine offered all local clubs, groups and organisations the opportunity to showcase their activities and achievements. This copy was always supported and complemented by items on local history, poetry, interviews with older residents and articles from local scribes. “This mix was popular with the readers and the magazine developed a following far and wide. The testimonials from Longwood people now living in America, Australia, Canada, Britain and other foreign lands, was encouragement to the committee to keep going. The more material that was contributed for inclusion, the bigger the magazine potentially became and therefore the higher the cost of publication,†said chairman, Michael Leonard. When the first committee was formed, Longwood Community Council gave a commitment to guarantee the costs incurred to the sum of £300. This guarantee was never called upon and Mr Leonard said it is a source of pride that the magazine had always funded itself. He said this was made possible through the work of Michael Burke, assisted by Jimmy Cleary and Paddy Cummins in the early days, and by PJ Ennis from 1989 on, in sourcing advertising both locally and further afield. Five members of the original committee still remain in situ - Michael Leonard, Fergal Giles, Jean Regan, Una Ward and Michael Burke - who were joined by Marjorie Gilsenan and Tony Wallace who brought new ideas and enthusiasm to that the magazine to the extent that the 2003 issue contained 120 pages and a full colour cover. This compared with the first issue of 44 pages. When the committee decided that it was no longer practicable to continue, discussions were held as to how to conclude and dissolve the committee in the best interest of the magazines. Mr Leonard said: “One idea mooted was the internet. Local man George Stagg was also very helpfully able to arrange through his association with Balyna Rural Enterprise Development Association (BREDA) to scan the magazines to disk. The committee appreciates the amount of work involved in this exercise and would like to thank Tessie Curry and her staff at BREDA for all their work for us. “We were also fortunate to have available to us the services of local man Trevor Ennis for designing the web page and putting the magazines on the web. This is a very specialist task and we thank Trevor for all his commitment and work. Advice was also given by Cyril Regan on how to go about this technical exercise.†Others who served on the magazine committee at one time or another were Vincent Smyth, Mary Murphy, Anna Wolff and the late Margaret Cleary.