St. John's Cemetery located just a few yards away from the newly opened Ulster Bank in Edmund Rice Square is unknown to most people in Athy. I passed by it everyday of my school days which I spend in the Christian Brothers and its only within recent times that I have been able to acquaint myself with the history of this most ancient site. The Monastery of St. John's founded by the Order of the Holy Cross in the early Thirteenth Century gave its name to the locality where the Monastery was once located. Over 750 years have passed since the Monks first came to the West of the River Barrow where within sight and easy reach of the stout wall of Woodstock Castle, they founded a Monastery. They were to depart the area before the Reformation in 1540 leaving St. John's as the name of the Main Street on the West Side of Athy and the laneway which ran in a semi-circular route from one end of that street to the other. The Street is now called Duke Street but the laneway or more correctly what remains of it is to this day known as St. John's Lane.
The only possible remains of the Thirteenth Century Monastery is the Cemetery of St. John which from the raised ground which presents itself as you enter through the small gateway is clearly of great antiquity. The explanation is straight forward enough. The accumulation of burials over the Centuries in the confined space which is St. John's Cemetery resulted in an increase in the ground level. The same effect is to be noticed on the South side of the Medieval Church in St. Michael's Cemetery a place much favoured for burials because people associated the darkened North side of the Church with the devil.
The Cemetery of St. John's now in the control and ownership of Athy Urban District Council has been a burial ground for Members of the Protestant Faith since the Reformation. The oldest Memorial Stone was noted in the Kildare Archaeological Society Journal in 1891 as that of William Watson and it bore the date 1635. The last burial in St. John's Cemetery was in 1979 when Sir Anthony Weldon of Donegal, a Member of the Weldon Family of Kilmoroney was buried in the Weldon Family Vault.
Recent work in the Cemetery has seen the removal of years of overgrown grass and bushes and yew trees planted, as was traditional in Cemetery's of old have been trimmed back. The Ancient Cemetery has begun to reveal its secrets which years of neglect had contrived to hide from the General Public. A recent visit by me during the course of Youth Training Project has prompted this article.
Two headstones first noticed in the centre of the Cemetery mark the graves of soldiers, one of whom died in 1791. The second commemorates a sergeant of the 8th Light Dragoons who died in Athy in 1799. The Military Barracks where these soldiers were based was located off Barrack Street (Now Woodstock Street) in the area now occupied by part of the Greenhills Housing Estate. The Cavalry Sergeant who died in 1799 was probably one of Colonel Campbell's troops who were let loose in South Kildare on the 20th April 1798, after the locals had failed to respond to demands to hand up all arms and pikes. He may indeed have had charge of the soldiers who stripped the thatch off a number of cottages adjoining the army barracks in the early months of 1798 in case any difficulty was caused to the Garrison by Rebels setting fire to the straw.
Near to the soldiers headstones is the grave of Captain D.L. Lefroy of the Royal artillery who died in 1820. He must be the man referred to in the Affidavit of Patrick Brady which was forwarded by James Butler, Sovereign of Athy to Dublin Castle concerning the activities of the Ribbon men in Athy in 1820. Brady stated that William Murphy a Publican of Athy had Sworn James Hutchinson, Thomas Ging, Michael Ryder, James Anderson, Daniel Bryan and Terry Niel to murder Captain LeFroy and destroy his property. Lefroy's offence was apparently his refusal to allow pigs on the streets of Athy because they "annoyed the neighbourhood and destroyed the path". The men Sworn to do this dastardly later met in Murphy's Pub for the purposes of agreeing the plan to shoot Lefroy with a gun to be supplied by the Publican. The Records do not disclose if Lefroy was shot but he died in 1820 whether of natural causes or otherwise I have yet to determine.
Another soldiers grave is that of Sir Anthony Weldon of Kilmoroney House whose remains with that of all the Weldon's are buried in the Family Vault. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission have erected a gravestone over the vault honouring the man who as Lieutenant Colonel of the Prince of Wales Regiment served for a brief period in France during World War 1. He returned from there to a Dublin Hospital where he died on the 29th June 1917. The local Sinn Feiners attempted to put a Nationalist Banner across the main Street of Athy on the night before Weldon's Funeral but failed in their attempt. The next morning the Coffin of Sr. Anthony who had commanded the British Troops in Limerick during 1916 was brought by train from Dublin and then on a gun carriage from the railway station to St. Michael's Church. It was preceeded by the Band of the Lancers and 120 men of the Leinster Regiment. Offaly Street was lined by the 4th Leinsters and after the service in St. Michael's the cortege moved to St. John's Cemetery where the coffin was placed in the Family Vault as the Firing party fired three Volleys and the last post was sounded on the bugles.
The Cemetery of St. John's has many interesting reminders of Athys past and those I have mentioned reflect but a few of its Military connections. St. John's is a subject I hope to return to again.
Thursday, April 24, 1997
Thursday, April 17, 1997
Jimmy Roycroft & Charlie Moore
Two deaths last weekend reawakened memories for a lot of local people. Jimmy Roycroft, doyen of the Roycroft family passed away at the age of 85 years, just 8 years after the death of his wife Teresa. Charlie Moore died at 75 years of age, less than a year after his wife had passed away.
The quiet self effacing man who carried on business as a Chemist in Duke Street gave little hint of the sporting successes in which he shared almost 50 years ago. Charlie was a very good table tennis player and a member of the Social Club team which won the Kildare and District League on four or five occasions in the early 1940's. Others on that team included his brother Eddie, Frank O'Brien, Kevin and Stephen Timmons, Finbar Purcell and Brendan O'Flaherty. The ladies were ably represented by May and Dympna Ward, Betty May, Jo Lawler and Kay O'Brien.
It was Charlie Moore and Frank O'Brien who teamed up to win the Wicklow Open Doubles table tennis tournament around the same time. Badminton was another sport in which the young "blades" of the time participated. They played in the same hall in St. John's Lane where 20 years previously World War I veterans from Athy had socialised. Fifty years ago participation in sport was the norm for every young person, and the crackling sounds of
2 RN coming over the Athlone wavelength did not divert attention as does television today.
It was young men like Charlie Moore, joining the various societies and clubs in native towns who ensured a vibrant social life in rural Ireland in the '40s and '50s. When we look back over 50 years of our local social history we cannot but notice the multiplicity of organisations operating in the town, all geared to providing social outlets for the talents and sporting skills of its members. Who can forget the Tennis Club at Chanterlands with it's eight grass courts all carefully tended by Jack Mitchell of Ardreigh. Everyone will recall the Social Club in St. John's Lane where the billiard tables, the badminton court, the table tennis tables and the card games provided a variety of outlets for young and old, male and female. There was also of course the drama section of the same Club where the members provided a veritable feast of the latest stage offerings for local audiences. This was also the time when a hurling revival was witnessed in Athy following the arrival of Brother Farrell to the local Christian Brothers School. Charlie Moore was a member of the school team which played in College Hurling Championships and with his brother Eddie, shared in the Town's victory in the Junior Hurling Championship of 1945.
The quiet man who set up his chemist business in the former bookies office operated by his father in Duke Street, later moved into the premises which once housed the drapery business of the legendry M.G. Nolan.
Jimmy Roycroft was a link with another and perhaps different element of the towns past. He was from Sligo and while stationed at the Curragh Camp as a member of the Irish Army, met and married Teresa Cummins of Athy. The young married couple went to Sligo where Jimmy worked as a member of the local Fire Brigade before returning to Athy in or around 1954. Living firstly in Shrewleen Lane the Roycroft family next moved to Janeville Lane, then a lane of small two roomed houses which had been built 80 years previously by Mark Cross, builder of Emily Square. I was then living in Offaly Street and recall some of the families who live in the back lane. The Doody family were a large family whose numbers were exceeded only by the Roycrofts whose final family count was an impressive twenty-one. Sadly, only eleven of those children are today alive, nine of whom are living in Athy and two in Carlow. Teresa Roycroft, the mother of the family, was an exceptionally good singer of local balads and I must acknowledge my regret that I never had the opportunity of recording her singing some of those ballads before she passed away.
Jimmy worked for some time with the local Council, and the family moved from Janeville to St. Joseph's Terrace long before I had left Offaly Street. Coincidentally Jimmy's sister Dotty, also from Sligo, married an Athy man and she is now living in the town where last week her brother died.
Jimmy Roycroft and Charlie Moore were part of a local community where history reaches out to us from the very stones of the buildings we pass every day. The men and women who people those buildings do so for a time which in the order of things is extremely short. However short the time, it is those local men and women who give an immediacy and a vitality to local history. Both Charlie Moore and Jimmy Roycroft were part of the rich tapestry of life here in Athy and each in their own way left a mark on the community in which they lived.
The quiet self effacing man who carried on business as a Chemist in Duke Street gave little hint of the sporting successes in which he shared almost 50 years ago. Charlie was a very good table tennis player and a member of the Social Club team which won the Kildare and District League on four or five occasions in the early 1940's. Others on that team included his brother Eddie, Frank O'Brien, Kevin and Stephen Timmons, Finbar Purcell and Brendan O'Flaherty. The ladies were ably represented by May and Dympna Ward, Betty May, Jo Lawler and Kay O'Brien.
It was Charlie Moore and Frank O'Brien who teamed up to win the Wicklow Open Doubles table tennis tournament around the same time. Badminton was another sport in which the young "blades" of the time participated. They played in the same hall in St. John's Lane where 20 years previously World War I veterans from Athy had socialised. Fifty years ago participation in sport was the norm for every young person, and the crackling sounds of
2 RN coming over the Athlone wavelength did not divert attention as does television today.
It was young men like Charlie Moore, joining the various societies and clubs in native towns who ensured a vibrant social life in rural Ireland in the '40s and '50s. When we look back over 50 years of our local social history we cannot but notice the multiplicity of organisations operating in the town, all geared to providing social outlets for the talents and sporting skills of its members. Who can forget the Tennis Club at Chanterlands with it's eight grass courts all carefully tended by Jack Mitchell of Ardreigh. Everyone will recall the Social Club in St. John's Lane where the billiard tables, the badminton court, the table tennis tables and the card games provided a variety of outlets for young and old, male and female. There was also of course the drama section of the same Club where the members provided a veritable feast of the latest stage offerings for local audiences. This was also the time when a hurling revival was witnessed in Athy following the arrival of Brother Farrell to the local Christian Brothers School. Charlie Moore was a member of the school team which played in College Hurling Championships and with his brother Eddie, shared in the Town's victory in the Junior Hurling Championship of 1945.
The quiet man who set up his chemist business in the former bookies office operated by his father in Duke Street, later moved into the premises which once housed the drapery business of the legendry M.G. Nolan.
Jimmy Roycroft was a link with another and perhaps different element of the towns past. He was from Sligo and while stationed at the Curragh Camp as a member of the Irish Army, met and married Teresa Cummins of Athy. The young married couple went to Sligo where Jimmy worked as a member of the local Fire Brigade before returning to Athy in or around 1954. Living firstly in Shrewleen Lane the Roycroft family next moved to Janeville Lane, then a lane of small two roomed houses which had been built 80 years previously by Mark Cross, builder of Emily Square. I was then living in Offaly Street and recall some of the families who live in the back lane. The Doody family were a large family whose numbers were exceeded only by the Roycrofts whose final family count was an impressive twenty-one. Sadly, only eleven of those children are today alive, nine of whom are living in Athy and two in Carlow. Teresa Roycroft, the mother of the family, was an exceptionally good singer of local balads and I must acknowledge my regret that I never had the opportunity of recording her singing some of those ballads before she passed away.
Jimmy worked for some time with the local Council, and the family moved from Janeville to St. Joseph's Terrace long before I had left Offaly Street. Coincidentally Jimmy's sister Dotty, also from Sligo, married an Athy man and she is now living in the town where last week her brother died.
Jimmy Roycroft and Charlie Moore were part of a local community where history reaches out to us from the very stones of the buildings we pass every day. The men and women who people those buildings do so for a time which in the order of things is extremely short. However short the time, it is those local men and women who give an immediacy and a vitality to local history. Both Charlie Moore and Jimmy Roycroft were part of the rich tapestry of life here in Athy and each in their own way left a mark on the community in which they lived.
Thursday, April 10, 1997
K.A.S. visit to Athy and Woodstock Castle
Members of Kildare Archaeological Society recently met in Athy at the start of a Sunday afternoon outing. They gathered in the shadows of Woodstock Castle just as another gathering of enthusiasts had done almost 105 years ago. It was on Thursday, 15th September, 1892 that the then newly formed Kildare Archaeological Society first held an outing to Athy. On that occasion the members travelled by train, arriving at Athy Railway Station from where they walked the short distance to St. Michael's Medieval Church. There the local curate, Fr. J. Carroll gave a talk on the history of the 13th century building, after which the Society members walked or were brought by carriage to White's Castle. Bishop Comerford's paper on the history of this most important building in the centre of the town was then read, after which the Society members inspected the interior of the Castle.
The most recent visit started with Woodstock Castle when the opportunity was taken to detail the significant features of the 13th century ruin. Now surrounded by local authority houses the Castle stands unprotected and somewhat sadly neglected, near to the banks of the River Barrow. As originally built, it was a rectangular keep of two stories, with a large hall on the first floor. The entrance door was on the first floor facing the river and was probably reached by a wooden stairway which could be readily removed in the event of an attack. Such a precaution was necessary at a time when the native Irish were at war with the Anglo Norman settlers. Indeed the Castle was attacked and the developing village of Athy was burnt on at least four occasions during the first one hundred years of their existence.
The stone Castle built with uncoursed limestone rubble has walls 1.3 metres thick. It was lit by round headed window slits, two of which, although blocked up, are still visible on the north facing wall. These are 13th century features and help to date the Castle which has been modified many times since it was first built. An interesting feature of the Castle once recorded in the journal of the Kildare Archaeological Society but no longer to be found there was an ancient chimney piece. It showed the sculptured arms of the Fitzgerald family supported by Lions Couchant and must be dated to before 1300 when the future Dukes of Leinster adopted the monkey as part of their Coat of Arms. This of course is another element in the detective work which goes to show the age of a building which in the case of Woodstock Castle we can reasonably satisfy ourselves is of 13th century origin.
The legend of the Fitzgerald monkey is probably well known to most readers, but for the sake of completeness I repeat the story. Apparently John FitzThomas, child of Thomas FitzMaurice and Rohesia de St. Michael was missing when Woodstock Castle went on fire. He was later found safe in the arms of the family's pet monkey whereupon the FitzGeralds adopted the animal as part of their Coat of Arms. Those of you who have an opportunity to do so should examine the sculptured FitzGerald Coat of Arms set into the South facing wall of Whites Castle. There you will see the monkey incorporated as part of the ancient arms of the Duke of Leinster's family.
Woodstock Castle was the first building in what was the future town of Athy, but because of the hostility of the native Irish the settlers eventually withdrew to the more easily defended East bank of the River Barrow. This may have coincided with the building of Whites Castle in 1417. This Castle was intended to defend the bridge at Athy and it afforded far greater protection for those living on the East bank of the River than Woodstock Castle did for those on the West bank. The subsequent development of the town of Athy was centred in the area now known as Emily Square and Leinster Street.
In the meantime Woodstock Castle continued to be a focal point for warring activities, especially during the Confederate wars of the mid-seventeenth century. Owen Roe O'Neill and the Marquis of Ormond at different times occupied Woodstock Castle while General Preston made an unsuccessful attempt to capture it. His failure to do so owed much to the courage of Catherine Sheil, wife of Dr. Eoin Sheil and a friend of Owen Roe O'Neill. Preston threatened to hang her nephew from an upturned cart in front of Woodstock unless she handed over the Castle. She refused and Preston's threat was not carried out, only because he was prevailed upon by some of his officers not to execute the young man who had been captured while carrying a flag of truce. General Preston and his men marched off to Carlow, passing under the town gate at Offaly Street which was thereafter known as Preston's Gate. This was the medieval town gate located opposite Paddy Garrett's house which was removed in 1860 following an accident in which Rev. F.S. Trench, the local Rector, was killed.
Woodstock Castle underwent extensive refurbishment in the 16th century. This turned what was an Anglo-Norman keep into a fortified house. Large windows were inserted into the walls of the Castle and we can still see on various sides of the Castle remains of those mullioned windows with hood mouldings. A tower was erected at the South side of Woodstock for defensive purposes and this has a number of 16th century gun ports which are of national importance. All of the features referred to have been blocked up for safety reasons, but are still readily identifiable and could be restored with relative ease.
The most recent visitors from the Archaeological Society passed on to Rheban Castle and Ballyadams Castle later that afternoon. They expressed surprise at the rather sad state in which Woodstock Castle has been left to deteriorate and wondered, as we must all do, why this most ancient of buildings has not been restored. It commands an imposing position on the banks of the Barrow and with neighbouring Whites Castle, form an important pair of medieval buildings worth preserving for the future.
The most recent visit started with Woodstock Castle when the opportunity was taken to detail the significant features of the 13th century ruin. Now surrounded by local authority houses the Castle stands unprotected and somewhat sadly neglected, near to the banks of the River Barrow. As originally built, it was a rectangular keep of two stories, with a large hall on the first floor. The entrance door was on the first floor facing the river and was probably reached by a wooden stairway which could be readily removed in the event of an attack. Such a precaution was necessary at a time when the native Irish were at war with the Anglo Norman settlers. Indeed the Castle was attacked and the developing village of Athy was burnt on at least four occasions during the first one hundred years of their existence.
The stone Castle built with uncoursed limestone rubble has walls 1.3 metres thick. It was lit by round headed window slits, two of which, although blocked up, are still visible on the north facing wall. These are 13th century features and help to date the Castle which has been modified many times since it was first built. An interesting feature of the Castle once recorded in the journal of the Kildare Archaeological Society but no longer to be found there was an ancient chimney piece. It showed the sculptured arms of the Fitzgerald family supported by Lions Couchant and must be dated to before 1300 when the future Dukes of Leinster adopted the monkey as part of their Coat of Arms. This of course is another element in the detective work which goes to show the age of a building which in the case of Woodstock Castle we can reasonably satisfy ourselves is of 13th century origin.
The legend of the Fitzgerald monkey is probably well known to most readers, but for the sake of completeness I repeat the story. Apparently John FitzThomas, child of Thomas FitzMaurice and Rohesia de St. Michael was missing when Woodstock Castle went on fire. He was later found safe in the arms of the family's pet monkey whereupon the FitzGeralds adopted the animal as part of their Coat of Arms. Those of you who have an opportunity to do so should examine the sculptured FitzGerald Coat of Arms set into the South facing wall of Whites Castle. There you will see the monkey incorporated as part of the ancient arms of the Duke of Leinster's family.
Woodstock Castle was the first building in what was the future town of Athy, but because of the hostility of the native Irish the settlers eventually withdrew to the more easily defended East bank of the River Barrow. This may have coincided with the building of Whites Castle in 1417. This Castle was intended to defend the bridge at Athy and it afforded far greater protection for those living on the East bank of the River than Woodstock Castle did for those on the West bank. The subsequent development of the town of Athy was centred in the area now known as Emily Square and Leinster Street.
In the meantime Woodstock Castle continued to be a focal point for warring activities, especially during the Confederate wars of the mid-seventeenth century. Owen Roe O'Neill and the Marquis of Ormond at different times occupied Woodstock Castle while General Preston made an unsuccessful attempt to capture it. His failure to do so owed much to the courage of Catherine Sheil, wife of Dr. Eoin Sheil and a friend of Owen Roe O'Neill. Preston threatened to hang her nephew from an upturned cart in front of Woodstock unless she handed over the Castle. She refused and Preston's threat was not carried out, only because he was prevailed upon by some of his officers not to execute the young man who had been captured while carrying a flag of truce. General Preston and his men marched off to Carlow, passing under the town gate at Offaly Street which was thereafter known as Preston's Gate. This was the medieval town gate located opposite Paddy Garrett's house which was removed in 1860 following an accident in which Rev. F.S. Trench, the local Rector, was killed.
Woodstock Castle underwent extensive refurbishment in the 16th century. This turned what was an Anglo-Norman keep into a fortified house. Large windows were inserted into the walls of the Castle and we can still see on various sides of the Castle remains of those mullioned windows with hood mouldings. A tower was erected at the South side of Woodstock for defensive purposes and this has a number of 16th century gun ports which are of national importance. All of the features referred to have been blocked up for safety reasons, but are still readily identifiable and could be restored with relative ease.
The most recent visitors from the Archaeological Society passed on to Rheban Castle and Ballyadams Castle later that afternoon. They expressed surprise at the rather sad state in which Woodstock Castle has been left to deteriorate and wondered, as we must all do, why this most ancient of buildings has not been restored. It commands an imposing position on the banks of the Barrow and with neighbouring Whites Castle, form an important pair of medieval buildings worth preserving for the future.
Thursday, April 3, 1997
Athy Musical Societies
Athy Musical and Dramatic Society now in it's 13th year will put on a performance of "Annie" in the Grove Theatre commencing on Wednesday, 23rd April. The Society's previous shows have been in the Secondary School Hall in Rathstewart and the move to the Grove represents a return to the Theatre in which the South Kildare Choral Society performed in the mid-1960's.
There is a strong musical tradition in Athy. The Shows in the 1940's performed in the Town Hall are remembered by the older generations as highlights in the entertainment calendar of the day. These were followed by the Social Club Players of the 1950's whose forte was the dramatic theatre. They blazed a trail of brilliance during the last pre-television decade which is still talked about to this day. Their performances were, in the early years, put on in the Town Hall and in the latter years in the Hall which was originally the old Comrades Hall in St. John's Lane.
The genesis for the start of the Athy Choral Society in the early 1960's was an unsuccessful Christmas concert arranged for Athy Golf Club. Some of the members came together afterwards and put in motion plans for the following years Christmas concert. They engaged Fr. Pat Crowe, Curate in the local Parish Church to train and conduct a choir comprised of Golf Club members such as Sean O'Connor, Bob Peacock, Joe Carbery, Kevin Timmins, Tommy O'Brien, Leonard Craig and Des McHugh. Their next Christmas concert was a resounding success and prompted another local Curate, Fr. Jim Corbett to consider running a series of concerts to raise funds for the new Parish Church then planned for Athy. Approaches were made to local firms and so was born the Inter Firm Variety Concert Competition which ran so successfully for a number of years. Some of those who competed in the Shows included the Golf Club, the Local Shopkeepers Group, Asbestos Factory, the I.V.I. and the Wallboard Factory. By this stage the Golf Club Society included not only the members mentioned previously, but also Ian Atwell, Paddy Dillon, Charlie Prendergast and Alec Kelly.
A programme from those days which I have is for the Shopkeepers Show on March 11th and 13th, 1964 as part of what is termed "Athy Parish Festival". The performers included Wag O'Keeffe who sang and performed "Phil the Fluters Ball", while Hazel Darling, Deirdre Hughes and Noeleen Murphy comprised the Irish Dancing Troupe. A one act comedy "Love and Acid Drops" was performed by John Hillard, Michael Dempsey, Dolly Hyland, Phyllis Coughlan, Ann Dooley and Brian O'Hara. Michael Noonan, Mary Conlan and Charlie Prendergast sang a selection from "Desert Song". The Merry Widow Soloist was Margot Higginson with Mary Tuohy as principal dancer, while Charlie Prendergast lent his vocal talents yet again to a rendition of "Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair". Others on stage that night included Maureen Ryan, Carmel Hickey, Ernest O'Rourke-Glynn, Ian Atwell while the ladies of the chorus were Helen Walsh, Esther Bannon, Kathleen Kelly, Carmel Hickey and Patricia Mahon. The mens chorus included Joe McNally, Billy Browne, Brendan Ward, John Byrne, P.J. Hyland, Sean Murphy and Ernest O'Rourke Glynn.
The Sunday Night Variety Shows in the Social Club in St. John's Lane proved such a success that minds soon turned to the possibility of harnessing the local talent in one Musical Society for the benefit of the town. A subsequent public meeting led to the formation of the South Kildare Choral Society. Originally it was intended to name the Society after the Town in which it was based, but the participation of Castledermot folk such as Kate Dunne and Frank McDonnell prompted the name "South Kildare".
Captain Dennis Mellerick, then based in the Curragh Camp, was engaged to direct the Society members and for a number of years at Christmas and Easter the Society put on shows in the Grove Cinema. The first show was Gilbert and Sullivans The Mikado followed by the Pirates of Penzance the following year and later by the Arcadians.
The Choral Society members rehearsed in a number of different venues through the town, including Bradburys Restaurant, the Methodist Church Hall and the Parochial Hall in Offaly Street. They also participated for a number of years in the Cork Choral Festival, attaining a very credible second place in its section on one occasion. The Society inevitably went into decline and it was the establishment of Athy's Musical and Dramatic Society 1984 which once again brought the talented singers and thespians of the locality together again. The Society which has performed since it's foundation in a number of different venues in Athy has now returned with its latest offering "Annie" to what was once the home of the South Kildare Choral Society.
There is a strong musical tradition in Athy. The Shows in the 1940's performed in the Town Hall are remembered by the older generations as highlights in the Entertainment Calendar of the Day. These were followed by the Social Club Players of the 1950's whose forte was the dramatic theatre.
The genesis for the start of the Athy Choral Society in the early 1960's was an unsuccessful Christmas concert arranged for Athy Golf Club. Some of the members came together afterwards and put in motion plans for the following years Christmas concert. They engaged Fr. Pat Crowe, Curate in the local Parish Church to train and conduct a choir comprised of Golf Club members such as Sean O'Connor, Bob Peacock, Joe Carbery, Kevin Timmins, Tommy O'Brien, Leonard Craig and Des McHugh. Their next Christmas concert was a resounding success and prompted another local Curate, Fr. Jim Corbett to consider a series of concerts to raise funds for the new Parish Church then planned for Athy. Approaches were made to local firms and so was born the Inter Firm Variety Concert Competition which ran so successfully for a number of years.
The Sunday Night Variety Shows in the Social Club in St. John's Lane proved such a success that mind soon turned to the possibility of harnessing the local talent in one Musical Society for the benefit of the town. A subsequent public meeting led to the formation of the South Kildare Choral Society.
Captain Dennis Mellerick, then based in the Curragh Camp, was engaged to direct the Society members and for a number of years at Christmas and Easter the Society put on shows in the Grove Cinema. The first show was Gilbert and Sullivans, The Mikado followed by the Pirates of Penzance the following year and later by the Arcadians.
The Society inevitably went into decline and it was the establishment of Athy's Musical and Dramatic Society in 1984 which once again brought the talented singers and thespians of the locality together again. The Society which has performed since it's foundation in a number of different venues in Athy has now returned with its latest offering "Annie" to what was once the home of the South Kildare Choral Society.
There is a strong musical tradition in Athy. The Shows in the 1940's performed in the Town Hall are remembered by the older generations as highlights in the entertainment calendar of the day. These were followed by the Social Club Players of the 1950's whose forte was the dramatic theatre. They blazed a trail of brilliance during the last pre-television decade which is still talked about to this day. Their performances were, in the early years, put on in the Town Hall and in the latter years in the Hall which was originally the old Comrades Hall in St. John's Lane.
The genesis for the start of the Athy Choral Society in the early 1960's was an unsuccessful Christmas concert arranged for Athy Golf Club. Some of the members came together afterwards and put in motion plans for the following years Christmas concert. They engaged Fr. Pat Crowe, Curate in the local Parish Church to train and conduct a choir comprised of Golf Club members such as Sean O'Connor, Bob Peacock, Joe Carbery, Kevin Timmins, Tommy O'Brien, Leonard Craig and Des McHugh. Their next Christmas concert was a resounding success and prompted another local Curate, Fr. Jim Corbett to consider running a series of concerts to raise funds for the new Parish Church then planned for Athy. Approaches were made to local firms and so was born the Inter Firm Variety Concert Competition which ran so successfully for a number of years. Some of those who competed in the Shows included the Golf Club, the Local Shopkeepers Group, Asbestos Factory, the I.V.I. and the Wallboard Factory. By this stage the Golf Club Society included not only the members mentioned previously, but also Ian Atwell, Paddy Dillon, Charlie Prendergast and Alec Kelly.
A programme from those days which I have is for the Shopkeepers Show on March 11th and 13th, 1964 as part of what is termed "Athy Parish Festival". The performers included Wag O'Keeffe who sang and performed "Phil the Fluters Ball", while Hazel Darling, Deirdre Hughes and Noeleen Murphy comprised the Irish Dancing Troupe. A one act comedy "Love and Acid Drops" was performed by John Hillard, Michael Dempsey, Dolly Hyland, Phyllis Coughlan, Ann Dooley and Brian O'Hara. Michael Noonan, Mary Conlan and Charlie Prendergast sang a selection from "Desert Song". The Merry Widow Soloist was Margot Higginson with Mary Tuohy as principal dancer, while Charlie Prendergast lent his vocal talents yet again to a rendition of "Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair". Others on stage that night included Maureen Ryan, Carmel Hickey, Ernest O'Rourke-Glynn, Ian Atwell while the ladies of the chorus were Helen Walsh, Esther Bannon, Kathleen Kelly, Carmel Hickey and Patricia Mahon. The mens chorus included Joe McNally, Billy Browne, Brendan Ward, John Byrne, P.J. Hyland, Sean Murphy and Ernest O'Rourke Glynn.
The Sunday Night Variety Shows in the Social Club in St. John's Lane proved such a success that minds soon turned to the possibility of harnessing the local talent in one Musical Society for the benefit of the town. A subsequent public meeting led to the formation of the South Kildare Choral Society. Originally it was intended to name the Society after the Town in which it was based, but the participation of Castledermot folk such as Kate Dunne and Frank McDonnell prompted the name "South Kildare".
Captain Dennis Mellerick, then based in the Curragh Camp, was engaged to direct the Society members and for a number of years at Christmas and Easter the Society put on shows in the Grove Cinema. The first show was Gilbert and Sullivans The Mikado followed by the Pirates of Penzance the following year and later by the Arcadians.
The Choral Society members rehearsed in a number of different venues through the town, including Bradburys Restaurant, the Methodist Church Hall and the Parochial Hall in Offaly Street. They also participated for a number of years in the Cork Choral Festival, attaining a very credible second place in its section on one occasion. The Society inevitably went into decline and it was the establishment of Athy's Musical and Dramatic Society 1984 which once again brought the talented singers and thespians of the locality together again. The Society which has performed since it's foundation in a number of different venues in Athy has now returned with its latest offering "Annie" to what was once the home of the South Kildare Choral Society.
There is a strong musical tradition in Athy. The Shows in the 1940's performed in the Town Hall are remembered by the older generations as highlights in the Entertainment Calendar of the Day. These were followed by the Social Club Players of the 1950's whose forte was the dramatic theatre.
The genesis for the start of the Athy Choral Society in the early 1960's was an unsuccessful Christmas concert arranged for Athy Golf Club. Some of the members came together afterwards and put in motion plans for the following years Christmas concert. They engaged Fr. Pat Crowe, Curate in the local Parish Church to train and conduct a choir comprised of Golf Club members such as Sean O'Connor, Bob Peacock, Joe Carbery, Kevin Timmins, Tommy O'Brien, Leonard Craig and Des McHugh. Their next Christmas concert was a resounding success and prompted another local Curate, Fr. Jim Corbett to consider a series of concerts to raise funds for the new Parish Church then planned for Athy. Approaches were made to local firms and so was born the Inter Firm Variety Concert Competition which ran so successfully for a number of years.
The Sunday Night Variety Shows in the Social Club in St. John's Lane proved such a success that mind soon turned to the possibility of harnessing the local talent in one Musical Society for the benefit of the town. A subsequent public meeting led to the formation of the South Kildare Choral Society.
Captain Dennis Mellerick, then based in the Curragh Camp, was engaged to direct the Society members and for a number of years at Christmas and Easter the Society put on shows in the Grove Cinema. The first show was Gilbert and Sullivans, The Mikado followed by the Pirates of Penzance the following year and later by the Arcadians.
The Society inevitably went into decline and it was the establishment of Athy's Musical and Dramatic Society in 1984 which once again brought the talented singers and thespians of the locality together again. The Society which has performed since it's foundation in a number of different venues in Athy has now returned with its latest offering "Annie" to what was once the home of the South Kildare Choral Society.
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