Irish & Scottish Reads of the Week gathers original reporting and research about the places, people, and traditions that shape Irish and Scottish heritage. For September 25, 2026, four selections connect a Falkirk factory to industrial memory, a rescue in Australia to a new Irish memorial, a medieval Glasgow spire to the craft of conservation, and a national policy to the question of who gets to take part in heritage. Each link leads to the original source.
This week’s two Irish and two Scottish selections span local history, original reporting, conservation, and access to heritage. The dates below come from the original publishers.
Terry’s Pick of the Week: An Irn-Bru Factory’s Next Life
“From AG Barr to Heritage Skills: The history behind Falkirk’s new Centre of Excellence”
Meg Elliott · Historic Environment Scotland Blog · September 23, 2026
A building beside the Forth & Clyde Canal is being prepared to teach the skills needed to care for old buildings. Meg Elliott does more than announce its future use. She follows the Barr family’s soft-drink businesses from a cork-cutting enterprise through Falkirk and Glasgow factories, the launch of Iron Brew in 1901, wartime interruption, and the later Camelon plant at Lock Sixteen. Archive photographs, an advertisement, and an old map help put those changes on the ground. The article also recalls Carnera, the unusually large delivery horse associated with the earlier Falkirk works.
This is the standout because it shows what an industrial site can hold beyond a familiar brand name. Workplaces can tell family historians about local employment, transport, technological change, and the decisions that moved jobs across towns. Elliott connects those layers to the building’s planned new purpose without treating the former factory as an empty shell. If your family lived near a Scottish canal or worked in manufacturing, it may prompt a useful question: what happened to the workplace after its original trade ended? The historical photographs and map make it particularly rewarding to follow at the source.
The Catalpa Six Remembered in Ireland
“Catalpa Six get memorial in Ireland 150 years after escape from Western Australian prison”
Ronan McGreevy · The Irish Times · September 20, 2026
At Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin, a new memorial to the six Fenian prisoners rescued from Western Australia by the American whaler Catalpa in 1876 has been unveiled. Ronan McGreevy reports from the unveiling and names Thomas Darragh, Martin Hogan, Michael Harrington, Thomas Hassett, Robert Cranston, and James Wilson. He notes that about 40 relatives of people connected with the rescue attended. The report also points to the National Museum of Ireland’s anniversary display of the flag flown above the vessel.
The value of this short piece is the connection it makes between a dramatic episode and people who still seek a place to remember it. The rescue crossed Ireland, America, and Australia; the memorial brings those dispersed threads back into one cemetery. Readers tracing migration or political exile can use it as a starting point, then follow the named participants, the ship, the memorial group, and the museum display through independent records. A ceremony is not itself proof of every family relationship, but it can identify leads and living communities of memory. For a wider research framework, our Irish and Scottish migration guide follows how journeys can be reconstructed from records and places.
Read Ronan McGreevy’s report from Glasnevin.
Why Glasgow Cathedral’s Spire Is Coming Down
“Major conservation work begins at Glasgow Cathedral spire”
Historic Environment Scotland Communications Office · Historic Environment Scotland · September 24, 2026
Historic Environment Scotland explains a striking conservation decision: the head of Glasgow Cathedral’s medieval stone spire will be dismantled and rebuilt during a three-year program. The account identifies the problem inside the structure. A steel frame installed in 1970 has bolts that have corroded and pushed against the masonry, creating cracks and movement. Teams intend to keep and return as much medieval stone as possible while stonemasons carve replacements where needed. The spire is a fifteenth-century successor to an earlier wooden one lost to lightning in 1406.
This is an institutional press release, but it earns a place here for its clear explanation of the engineering and historical trade-off. A skyline change can look alarming until readers understand why the upper section must be taken apart and what material will be retained. It also makes a useful distinction between a medieval building and later structural interventions: even repairs made to protect a monument can require another generation to reassess them. Visitors should consult current access information before planning a stop, since conservation work and safety arrangements can change.
Read the original Glasgow Cathedral conservation account.
Who Can Take Part in Ireland’s Heritage?
“Heritage Council Launches New Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Policy”
The Heritage Council · September 17, 2026
The Heritage Council sets out a policy on access to Ireland’s heritage, with an action plan and a proposed national study of barriers to participation. Its announcement describes a Hunt Museum project developed with autistic visitors and people who are blind or visually impaired. It also says the Council intends to work with communities whose experiences have been underrepresented, including the Traveller community. The page links to the policy itself, so readers can move beyond the announcement to its fuller commitments.
This selection falls one day outside our usual seven-day window, and it is an institutional announcement rather than independent reporting. It is included because the linked policy and concrete museum example make the question useful for heritage travelers and family historians: whose stories are collected, whose access needs are anticipated, and who is invited to shape an exhibition or program? Read the announcement for the overview, then inspect the policy if you want to judge whether the promised actions are specific enough. The eventual access study is a lead for a future issue, not a completed finding today.
Read the Heritage Council announcement and linked policy.
Send a Read for Next Week
This week’s four choices move from a working factory to a burial ground, a cathedral, and the question of public access. They remind us that heritage is not confined to the oldest stone or the most famous castle. It also lives in former workplaces, acts of commemoration, repair decisions, and the people who can or cannot participate. If you have found or written a carefully sourced article on Irish or Scottish genealogy, history, archaeology, culture, or heritage travel, please send it to Irish Scottish Roots for consideration in a future issue.
About the Author
Terry Donlan is the founder of Irish Scottish Roots and has researched his Irish and Scottish family history since 1985. He has made six research trips to Ireland and Scotland. He writes about genealogy, heritage travel, historical records, and the people and places that shaped Irish and Scottish family stories.
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