James Scully

James Scully is a retired primary school teacher and respected local historian from Banagher, County Offaly, who taught for decades at St Rynagh’s and has long been active in documenting the town’s heritage. A prolific researcher and writer on Banagher and Offaly history, he has produced work on subjects ranging from graveyards and local place-names to canal and waterways heritage, often in collaboration with local historical organizations.​

A gifted communicator, he has a fondness for writers with an eye to the topographical context such as Joyce, Flann O’Brien, Trollope and the Brontes.

He is coauthor with Kieran Keenaghan of the recent local history volume That Beats Banagher! a book on the people and stories of the town that has attracted coverage and review pieces in multiple Irish media outlets.