Moate Library officially opened ten years ago today

Today (Wednesday) marks the tenth anniversary of the official opening of Moate Library at the town's former courthouse.

The building, which is now 194 years old, underwent a €500,000 restoration and refurbishment, carried out by local firm T Murray & Son Ltd, to prepare it for its new use as a library.

It was packed to capacity for the official opening on Friday, June 17, 2016, with the then-Cathaoirleach of Westmeath County Council, Cllr Frankie Keena, cutting the ribbon in the company of the council's then-chief executive Pat Gallagher, senior executive librarian Paula O'Dornan, elected representatives, and others.

"This is now a civic space, in the heart of the town, to be proud of," said Cllr Keena.

The event remembered in a special way Colm Murray, the former RTÉ sports broadcaster from Moate who died in 2013 following a courageous battle with Motor Neurone Disease.

An RTÉ Archive honouring Colm's work as a broadcaster went on display at the new library and his wife Ann, and daughters Patricia and Kate, were in attendance at the official opening.

Attendees were informed that more than 5,000 new items of stock had been purchased for the library and more than 2,000 people had visited the facility in the two months since its doors first opened to the public in May 2016.

Construction of the courthouse building was completed by 1832 and a jail, to the rear, was finished two years later. Court sittings were held there for 150 years, while the building had also doubled as a town hall.

Historian Gearoid O'Brien explained that, over the years, it hosted "a variety of entertainments including dances, socials, badminton, indoor tennis and boxing," while it had also been used as a rate collection office for Westmeath County Council.

Teresa Mannion reported on the official opening of the library for RTÉ News, and her report can be seen on the RTÉ Archives website here.