Opening of historic Kells Printing Works following painstaking restoration

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Almost a decade of collaboration, creativity, conservation, restoration and renovation came to a successful conclusion this morning (Tuesday) as the Kells Printing Works project was officially opened.

The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Dara Calleary, joined the cathaoirleach of Meath County Council, Cllr Wayne Harding, for the event at the old sawmills building on Church Lane, a former studio space for local artists refurbished to house a historic printing collection which had remained undisturbed for over 30 years in a premises on Maudlin Street in the town.

The story behind the printworks is an extraordinary one going back almost 200 years, when the printed word was the main form of communication. At one stage, four different newspapers were coming off these presses - the Meath Herald, Meath Reporter, Meath Advertiser, and Meath Chronicle, whose life began in Kells in 1897.

In the mid-1960s, Annie Finnegan, a Kells native who had worked abroad on cruise ships, came home and bought the printworks as an investment, with her brother, Brian, taking on the work there.

One day in May 1983, having started work on a poster for a Carnaross GFC dance, Briany went home to his lunch, and died suddenly. The printworks remained closed, untouched, with everything left in position as it was the day Briany died, including the printing blocks on the machine he was working on. It was only after Annie's death in November 2015 that the building was opened again, when her nephew, Fr Sean Finnegan of Surrey in the UK, inherited her estate.

At this stage, it could have been lost to the town, as the clergyman had decided to donate some of the machinery to religious orders such as the Benedictines in Stamullen for printing, and it was only after local artist Mark Smith realised the extent of the collection that moves were made to keep it in the town. Smith had been involved in the Type Trail, celebrating the town's connection to the Book of Kells, and was part of a collective of artists and locals who had been promoting the town through the Hay and Hinterland Festivals.

Finnegan agreed to leave it with the people of Kells, but that involved Smith having to convince the Benedictines and others as well. With Loreto Guinan, Meath County Council's heritage officer, and Gerardette Bailey, the arts officer, on board, and with Smith and photographer, Carol Lee, appointed custodians of the project for the townsfolk, work began on sourcing expertise and funding to being the printworks back to life.

The National Print Museum regarded it as a very important national collection.

"It was a complete intact collection of machines in a jobbing house, from a period when printing was the method of mass communications, before the advent of modern technology." Guinan explains. "But there were so many stages involved in getting it to where we are today."

The equipment had to be taken out of the premises they were in as it was being sold, packed up, and stored. It was stored privately and in council buildings. Urgent conservation of the collection was needed, so funding sources were identified. Three master craftsmen recommended by the National Print Museum, Cyril Lee, printing engineer, John Judge, printing finishing engineer, and Freddie Snowe, master printer, took on the job of bringing the machines back to life, and they were moved to a premises where they could be restored.

"It was all done by hand," Smith explains. "Everything had to be stripped down and pared back. There were bits falling out where quick fix repairs had been done over the years to keep them working to deadlines. They all had to be re-engineered."

A star attraction is a Wharfedale printing press dating from the 1830s. It is identical to the Wharfedale press that was used in Liberty Hall, Dublin to print the Proclamation in 1916. The Wharfedale machine which is now fully working, is one of only two if its kind currently on the island of Ireland and will be the centre piece of a display which also includes five presses have been meticulously restored. Smith has his pet names on all the machines, some of which have the initials of their original operators (Frank Smith and Jack Skelly) carved into the woodwork- the Wharfedale is Penelope, there's Daisy, Jezebel, Brags, and Scamp, the guillotine!

Funding was channelled from the Department of Rural and Community Development through its Rural Regeneration and Development Fund and Town and Village Renewal Fund, the Heritage Council, Creative Ireland, the Arts Council, Bank of Ireland and Meath County Council.

While Covid slowed down things, restoration was able to continue on the machines and it also gave time for the council to acquire the sawmills building to house the collection.

The printing works project is an initiative under the Kells Creative Placemaking – the Bigger Picture Project, a long term ambitious collaborative project which aims to stimulate growth through heritage, arts and culture led regeneration, explains Gerardette Bailey. Led by Meath County Council and driven by a dedicated group of local artists, arts organisations and groups, community groups and volunteers; local festivals and business, it sets out to identify projects in the town which will have a long lasting, transformative effect. It also focuses on the regeneration and adaptive re-use of heritage buildings to develop a network of arts initiatives, cultural facilities and bespoke dedicated spaces for artists and the creatives, with roots in the selection of Kells as a 'Local Heroes' town for an RTE series following the economic collapse of 2008.

Also preserved are all the historic posters and other material produced at the printworks, undergoing paper conservation and cataloguing, while as a test, a poem by Francis Ledwidge was run through the presses. Wooden furniture and woodblock used in the printing process was treated by Letterfrack Conservation. Photographer Carol Lee and filmmaker Jass Foley recorded the whole process of restoring the equipment.

On the first floor level in the saw mills is a small studio where primary and secondary schools’ programmes, mid-term and summer camp programmes will be offered, along with tours, talks and demonstrations for local visitors and tourists, and an experiential tour where you can have a hands-on experience and print your own personalised tote bag or Cartaí Kells - Kells postcards. Engagement is also ongoing with third level institutions in the development of accredited print modules whereby students can visit the printing works, learn practical skills and experience the art and craft of letterpress print firsthand. Master printers and print artists will be invited on residency programmes.

Kells Printing Works will also have its own unique merchandise, postcards, cards, posters, bags for that special occasion.

In a nod to Briany Finnegan, some of his personal effects like his glasses, watches work tools have been placed on display on special shelving built in to the studio, where the spirit of the printer will live on.