In October 1929 Athy Urban District Council under the Chairmanship of Patrick Dooley, Proprietor of a bakery in Leinster Street, sought to advance it’s plans for additional Council housing in the town with the appointment of Mr. D. Heaney of Thurles as it’s Architect. At the same time the Council’s Housing Committee consisting of Patrick Dooley, Francis Jackson, Tom Carbery and Brigid Darby were asked to carry out an inspection of the town and to report back to a full meeting of the Council with recommendations regarding suitable housing sites. They subsequently advised the Council to acquire what was known as the Gaol field on the Carlow Road consisting of approximately 2 acres and 26 perches then owned by Miss Kilbride. The site was subsequently purchased by the Council and in January 1930 Mr. Strahan, Housing Inspector with the Department of Local Government visited Athy and accompanied by the Town Clerk John W. Lawler did a house to house inspection of the town and found 316 houses unfit for habitation and 72 houses considerably below normal standards but which could be made fit.
Despite receiving a report that the towns water supply scheme was inadequate to meet the demands of businesses in Athy the Council pressed ahead with it’s housing Plans and on 2nd March passed a Motion proposed by Michael Malone, Publican of Woodstock Street, Athy and seconded by Tom Carbery, Carpenter of St. Martin’s Terrace :- “When advertising for the building of houses in Athy that local labour be employed and local housing labour wages be paid and also that all doors, windows and window frames and cement blocks be made in Athy.”
The following month Athy Urban District Council advertised for tenders to build 36 houses in the Gaol field and local firm D. & J. Carbery of St. John’s, Athy were employed. Work on what was the Council’s third housing scheme commenced on 30th June with Captain H.B. Foy of 7 Percy Place, Dublin employed as Clerk of Works at a salary of 5 guineas a week. In October 1930 the Council Minute Book recorded the Architect’s Report on the progress of the houses under construction in what was referred to as “St. Patrick’s Avenue, Carlow Road”. Strangely this was the first and only reference to the naming of the Gaol field housing site after the country’s patron saint and no record exists of the Councils decision to use that name. While the houses were still in the course of construction the Council agreed to have electricity and Liffey ranges installed. The local electrician J. Hutchinson of Leinster Street was employed to put electric lights in the 36 houses for which he was to receive £175.00. The possible installation of baths in 12 of the houses was also considered but deferred until tenants were appointed and their views canvassed on the issue. Subsequently the provision of “flush lavatories” in all of the new houses was agreed and this work was completed in September 1931 some months after the tenants had gone into occupation.
In January 1931 the Clerk of Works reported that 10 plasterers, 10 carpenters and 16 labourers were employed on the building works. The final cost for the 36 houses amounted to £11,366.10 or £315 per house. A.L. Spiers of Burtown was subsequently engaged by the Council to provide lime and plane trees for the Avenue, and at the same time similar trees were to be planted by him at Rathstewart, Woodstock Street and St. Michael’s Terrace.
The day before St. Patrick’s Day 1931 the Urban Councillors meeting in their Chamber in the Town Hall considered the Applications received for tenancies of the newly built houses in St. Patrick’s Avenue. Reviewing the names and addresses of those allocated houses on the Avenue it is noteworthy that 17 of the original tenants were not from Athy. One of the successful Applicants was from Blackpool, England, another from Enniskillen in Northern Ireland while no less than four Dublin residents were successful in their Applications to be re-housed in Athy. The geographical spread of the remaining non-Athy applicants showed addresses in Kildare Town, Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim, Leixlip, Newbridge, Portarlington, Clonmel, Cobh, Birr, Ballinasloe, Maryborough and Ballickmoyler, Co. Carlow.
It is little wonder that the following July the Department of Local Government was moved to write to Athy Urban District Council suggesting that :- “You should endeavour to let the Council houses in the best interests of the public health of the District as they do not seem to have been let to families living in unsanitary districts.” It must be said in defence of the local Council that the people of Athy living in what the Department described as “unsanitary conditions” did not apply for the vacant tenancies, presumably because they would not have been able to afford the rent. The Council had decided on the sum of 6/3 per week as the minimum rent necessary to repay the monies borrowed from the Local Loans Fund.
The Urban Council itself recognised the impoverished conditions of the time when on 30th November, 1931 it passed a Motion calling on the Government for “payment of a special Grant for Athy out of the £250,000 fund for the relief of unemployment, as there is no part of County Kildare suffering so much on account of the grave unemployment due to the beet collapse year and the serious agricultural depression prevailing”.
The Motion referred to local workers depending mainly on agriculture for employment and that “an abnormally large number of workers and their families are congregated in the Athy Urban District.” The unemployed Barrow workers of Athy sent a deputation to a Council meeting complaining that undue preference was given to Laois men for employment on the Barrow Drainage Scheme. Further deputations were later received from the unemployed of the town regarding the inadequacy of home help which was given in the form of tickets and vouchers rather than cash.
Just before the St. Patrick’s Avenue houses were completed two local men were believed to have died of starvation and the Local Council called upon the Minister for Local Government to hold a sworn enquiry “in the interests of the poor of the town” into the cause of their deaths and the manner in which home help was administered in the area. The events leading up to that enquiry and it’s outcome will be dealt with in a future Eye on the Past.
Whatever the difficulties of 70 years ago in Athy they have now passed out a memory and the future of the town is one of great expectation. The future development of Athy and an assessment of what lies ahead will be addressed in a lecture by Ian Lumley to be held in the Town Hall on Thursday, 27th April at 8.00pm. Mr. Lumley has made a study of Irish Towns for a forthcoming book and his illustrated talk will surely be of interest to everyone living in South Kildare.
The financial difficulties faced by many people at that time was reflected in the number of tenants who after a short time in the new houses gave up their tenancies.
Thursday, March 30, 2000
Thursday, March 23, 2000
Borough of Ardreigh
The century’s old roadway which runs through the cutting at Ardreigh bringing traffic to and from Carlow will soon be no more. Kildare County Council has announced that work will start in the Summer on the new roadway which will run at the rear of Ardreigh Cemetery.
Ardreigh is and remains an ancient place. At one time it was even more important than the medieval village of its near neighbour Athy. It was itself a village, the lands and area having being granted by Strongbow to Thomas Le Fleming, one of the many Norman adventurers who came to Ireland in 1169. The grantee Fleming was in all probability Thomas of Flanders for whom Hugh de Lacy built a Castle in1182 by the waters of the River Barrow. The Castle was probably a Motte located on the high ground at Ardreigh and more likely than not in the area now occupied by Ardreigh House. It was here that Thomas Le Fleming or perhaps his successor Milo de Stanton established a borough similar to that later established in Athy. It was the same de Stanton who in or about 1200 gave “the Church at Ardria” to St. Thomas’s Abbey, Dublin the advowson of which the Bishop of Glendalough later gave to the same Abbey. Very soon after the initial gift by de Stanton, Archbishop Henri de Loundres assigned Ardreigh Church to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin. The stones of the Church of Ardreigh just visible below the ground and lying within the cemetery of the same name are the only remains of the twelfth century Ardreigh settlement.
In 1318 King Edward II allowed a weekly market to be held at Ardreigh which was then in the ownership of Milo de Poer. In 1303, an Inquisition was held to value the property of Ralph de Manton late Treasurer of Scotland who had died some time previously. It found that amongst other property, de Manton held a farm at Ardreigh, Athy but that his Steward John Tonjours sold most of the stock on it and converted the sale proceeds to his own use.
The borough of Ardreigh continued into the fourteenth Century as the register of the Hospital of St. John the Baptist, Dublin makes reference to Nicholas Fitz Austin Provost of Ardreigh borough. The earliest extant reference to a Provost in Athy followed the chartering of the village of Athy by King Henry V111 in 1515 over a century after the earlier mentioned reference to the Ardreigh Provost. Does this perhaps indicate that the early medieval Settlement in Ardreigh was more substantial and of greater importance that that at Athy?
When the borough of Ardreigh went into decline one cannot say with certainty. Clearly the adjoining settlement of Athy continued to grow and the granting of Athy’s charter in 1515 might indicate the earlier demise of the borough of Ardreigh.
Following the rebellion of Silken Thomas in 1534, the Earl of Kildare’s property was attained and not restored until 1554 when Queen Mary granted to Gerald 11th Earl of Kildare his ancestors honours and estates. The Earls allegiance was perhaps unnecessarily subjected to continual examination and in 1575, he was arrested on a charge of treason. Amongst the allegations against him were that he colluded with the O’Connors, O’Mores and the Keatings who were then in revolt and allowed them to attack and destroy castles in Co. Kildare including that of William FitzGerald of Ardreigh. The Earl who was imprisoned for two years was eventually released after it was found that the allegations against him were exaggerated.
Before long, the castle of Ardreigh was again in the limelight when reports reached Dublin Castle of its destruction following an unexpected attack. Walter FitzGerald who was married to a daughter of Feagh MacHugh O’Byrne of Wicklow was banned by Sir Piers FitzGerald the high sheriff of the County from entering County Kildare. Some claim that the ban was imposed because of his marriage to a daughter of an Irish Rebel while others give the cause as the outlaw activity of Walter who was otherwise known as “the swarthy” FitzGerald. Although a son of Maurice FitzGerald of Glassealy and a relative of the Earl of Kildare who in turn was related to Sir Pier’s FitzGerald, Walter “the swarthy” exacted a terrible revenge on his distant cousin.
On St. Patrick’s day 1593, Sir Pier’s and his wife Elinor a daughter of Sir Maurice FitzGerald of Lackagh whose effigy lies in St. Brigid’s Cathedral, Kildare were living in Ardreigh Castle with two of their daughters, Ann and Catherine. The castle in contemporary records was described as being “a little castle that was but thatched with straw or sedge”. Walter “the swarthy” accompanied by his brothers in law, Felim and Redmond sons of Fiach MacHugh O’Byrne with their followers attacked Ardreigh Castle and set it alight. We are told that all the occupants of the small castle perished in the flames including Sir Pier’s, his wife Elinor and their two daughters.
The FitzGerald’s were survived by their son, James who was married and aged 30 years when Ardreigh Castle was destroyed. He was later appointed High Sheriff of County Kildare and Sheriff of County Carlow in which latter capacity in 1597 he accompanied the Lord Deputy on an expedition against the O’Byrne’s. James FitzGerald later rebelled against the crown and when on the 12th May 1599 the Earl’s of Essex and Ormonde met at Athy with their armies ready to pass into Laois, FitzGerald pulled down the Bridge of Athy and garrisoned White’s Castle in order to hinder the Earl’s horsemen. He later however, capitulated and surrendered to the Earl of Essex.
Ardreigh Castle was not rebuilt after the fire of 1593 and a Report of a Commission established in 1626 to enquire into the Estate of Philip Bushen, late of Grangemellon made no reference to Ardreigh Castle but rather to Ardreigh Mill and Weir, clear evidence of the changing face of Medieval Ireland.
The Urban Archaeology survey carried out some years ago in County Kildare by John Bradley, Andrew Halpin and Heather King noted that “Archaeology is concerned with the past of ordinary people --- with the life and death of communities ancestral to our own”. It would be appropriate if during the roadworks to be carried out at Ardreigh later this year, some elements of the hidden past of the borough and the Church of Ardreigh which existed on this ancient site over 800 years ago were revealed.
Ardreigh is and remains an ancient place. At one time it was even more important than the medieval village of its near neighbour Athy. It was itself a village, the lands and area having being granted by Strongbow to Thomas Le Fleming, one of the many Norman adventurers who came to Ireland in 1169. The grantee Fleming was in all probability Thomas of Flanders for whom Hugh de Lacy built a Castle in1182 by the waters of the River Barrow. The Castle was probably a Motte located on the high ground at Ardreigh and more likely than not in the area now occupied by Ardreigh House. It was here that Thomas Le Fleming or perhaps his successor Milo de Stanton established a borough similar to that later established in Athy. It was the same de Stanton who in or about 1200 gave “the Church at Ardria” to St. Thomas’s Abbey, Dublin the advowson of which the Bishop of Glendalough later gave to the same Abbey. Very soon after the initial gift by de Stanton, Archbishop Henri de Loundres assigned Ardreigh Church to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin. The stones of the Church of Ardreigh just visible below the ground and lying within the cemetery of the same name are the only remains of the twelfth century Ardreigh settlement.
In 1318 King Edward II allowed a weekly market to be held at Ardreigh which was then in the ownership of Milo de Poer. In 1303, an Inquisition was held to value the property of Ralph de Manton late Treasurer of Scotland who had died some time previously. It found that amongst other property, de Manton held a farm at Ardreigh, Athy but that his Steward John Tonjours sold most of the stock on it and converted the sale proceeds to his own use.
The borough of Ardreigh continued into the fourteenth Century as the register of the Hospital of St. John the Baptist, Dublin makes reference to Nicholas Fitz Austin Provost of Ardreigh borough. The earliest extant reference to a Provost in Athy followed the chartering of the village of Athy by King Henry V111 in 1515 over a century after the earlier mentioned reference to the Ardreigh Provost. Does this perhaps indicate that the early medieval Settlement in Ardreigh was more substantial and of greater importance that that at Athy?
When the borough of Ardreigh went into decline one cannot say with certainty. Clearly the adjoining settlement of Athy continued to grow and the granting of Athy’s charter in 1515 might indicate the earlier demise of the borough of Ardreigh.
Following the rebellion of Silken Thomas in 1534, the Earl of Kildare’s property was attained and not restored until 1554 when Queen Mary granted to Gerald 11th Earl of Kildare his ancestors honours and estates. The Earls allegiance was perhaps unnecessarily subjected to continual examination and in 1575, he was arrested on a charge of treason. Amongst the allegations against him were that he colluded with the O’Connors, O’Mores and the Keatings who were then in revolt and allowed them to attack and destroy castles in Co. Kildare including that of William FitzGerald of Ardreigh. The Earl who was imprisoned for two years was eventually released after it was found that the allegations against him were exaggerated.
Before long, the castle of Ardreigh was again in the limelight when reports reached Dublin Castle of its destruction following an unexpected attack. Walter FitzGerald who was married to a daughter of Feagh MacHugh O’Byrne of Wicklow was banned by Sir Piers FitzGerald the high sheriff of the County from entering County Kildare. Some claim that the ban was imposed because of his marriage to a daughter of an Irish Rebel while others give the cause as the outlaw activity of Walter who was otherwise known as “the swarthy” FitzGerald. Although a son of Maurice FitzGerald of Glassealy and a relative of the Earl of Kildare who in turn was related to Sir Pier’s FitzGerald, Walter “the swarthy” exacted a terrible revenge on his distant cousin.
On St. Patrick’s day 1593, Sir Pier’s and his wife Elinor a daughter of Sir Maurice FitzGerald of Lackagh whose effigy lies in St. Brigid’s Cathedral, Kildare were living in Ardreigh Castle with two of their daughters, Ann and Catherine. The castle in contemporary records was described as being “a little castle that was but thatched with straw or sedge”. Walter “the swarthy” accompanied by his brothers in law, Felim and Redmond sons of Fiach MacHugh O’Byrne with their followers attacked Ardreigh Castle and set it alight. We are told that all the occupants of the small castle perished in the flames including Sir Pier’s, his wife Elinor and their two daughters.
The FitzGerald’s were survived by their son, James who was married and aged 30 years when Ardreigh Castle was destroyed. He was later appointed High Sheriff of County Kildare and Sheriff of County Carlow in which latter capacity in 1597 he accompanied the Lord Deputy on an expedition against the O’Byrne’s. James FitzGerald later rebelled against the crown and when on the 12th May 1599 the Earl’s of Essex and Ormonde met at Athy with their armies ready to pass into Laois, FitzGerald pulled down the Bridge of Athy and garrisoned White’s Castle in order to hinder the Earl’s horsemen. He later however, capitulated and surrendered to the Earl of Essex.
Ardreigh Castle was not rebuilt after the fire of 1593 and a Report of a Commission established in 1626 to enquire into the Estate of Philip Bushen, late of Grangemellon made no reference to Ardreigh Castle but rather to Ardreigh Mill and Weir, clear evidence of the changing face of Medieval Ireland.
The Urban Archaeology survey carried out some years ago in County Kildare by John Bradley, Andrew Halpin and Heather King noted that “Archaeology is concerned with the past of ordinary people --- with the life and death of communities ancestral to our own”. It would be appropriate if during the roadworks to be carried out at Ardreigh later this year, some elements of the hidden past of the borough and the Church of Ardreigh which existed on this ancient site over 800 years ago were revealed.
Thursday, March 16, 2000
U.D.C. Centenary Celebrations
Athy Urban District Council had a splendid celebration of its Centenary last weekend to coincide with its first ever meeting of the Council on the 2nd April 1900. The current Council Chairman and First Citizen of the town, Frank English did an excellent job of hosting the gathering, firstly in the Council’s Chamber and later in the Leinster Arms Hotel which had witnessed many previous events associated not only with the Urban Council but also with its predecessors Athy Town Commissioners and Athy Borough Council. I have to admit to some disappointment however with the performance of some elected representatives who, when their turn came to speak in the Council Chamber on this historic occasion, prefaced their perfunctory remarks with an apologetic disclaimer “I have nothing prepared.” This, despite having being told well in advance that each of the Councillors who were elected last year to represent their constituents would be asked to make a contribution on the occasion of the special meeting arranged for the Council’s Centenary Celebration.
You know nothing seems to change when it comes to the business of the local Council. That is your business and mine - our business which we entrust to the Councillor’s to deal with in our best interests. Little or no preparation is seemingly ever given by some Councillor’s to the matters they have to deal with at Council meetings. However, this does not deter them from saying their tuppence worth but as you can expect, its never likely to make any worthwhile contribution to the business in hand.
Really I should not cast aspersions on the good men whose job it is to guide the town’s destiny over the next five years or so but, their performance last weekend, with some exceptions, left me saddened. Even more so when I consider the shambles which has developed around the local demand for a plebiscite on the new road plans for the town. “No, you can’t have a plebiscite” So spoke the Council official who gave dire warning of surcharges to be imposed on any Councillors who had the temerity to stand up for the rights of the local people. We who live in Athy and whose future and indeed, whose past, are rooted in the bricks and mortar of this place, can only wonder at the power that officials can exercise over the rights of the natives. We may live in Athy, we may regard this historic town as our place but, our voices are silenced by the words of officials who, to paraphrase Robin Day’s famous description during John Knott’s interview some years ago “Are transient officials, here today, gone tomorrow”. Makes you wonder about the state of democracy in this little island of ours.
My support for the right of the local people to have a say in the future road development plans for the town by way of a plebiscite or referendum received a welcome boost when I recently perused the Urban District Council’s own records. The first Urban District Council under the Chairmanship of Matthew P. Minch of Rockfield House, held a referendum of the local people of Athy when plans were first mooted for the development of a water supply scheme for the town. One would have thought that the town people, whose only supply of water came from a number of contaminated public wells, would have eagerly seized the opportunity to ensure access to a healthy and wholesome water supply. Amongst the Urban Council of the day there was disagreement on this very important issue and the most vociferous opponent of the proposal was local publican and future author of “The Annals of Athy” Michael or “Crutch” Malone of Woodstock Street. His objection to the scheme would appear to have been based on the likely rates increase which would have resulted. The Council of the day in their wisdom, decided to have a referendum of the local rate payers and ballot papers were distributed on a Friday and collected the following Monday in which two questions were asked.
“1. Are you in favour of a water supply for the town of Athy?
2. If you are do you approve of Mr. Reades Modubeagh Water Scheme?”
The ballot papers, when collected and counted, showed that an overwhelming majority of the rate payers were not in favour of the Scheme. The result reviewed in hindsight was surprising but at least it was democratic and it recognised the right of the local people to participate in local government.
We have come a long way since but in some ways we have fossilised as today the elected representatives of our town spurn the request of the local people for a referendum on whether the Inner Relief Road proposal should go ahead. Their failure to accede to the legitimate and reasonable request clearly demonstrates that local government in Ireland, hyped by successive governments and ministers as based on democracy and partnership is nothing but a sham. The present Minister spoke last week of the need to strengthen the link between local government and local communities but, truly Athy stands as living proof that local government does not always serve the local community and that democracy and local government do not co-exist in our midst.
The Urban Council will have met to discuss yet again, the Town Development Plan with its Inner Relief Road proposal before this appears and may well have decided the issue in the same way as it was decided nine years and sixteen years ago. For you see the much vaunted hype about the Development Plan and the Inner Relief Road is an issue which comes up for review every five years or so and there is nothing to suggest that a decision by the Council to include the Inner Relief Road in the Development yet again will bring that particular piece of tarmacadamed lunacy any closer than it has been for the last twenty years.
The by-pass road for Athy has a better prospect of being put in place and much more quickly than the Inner Relief Road if only the town fathers would read the signs and follow the common sense route for the future development of the town. If some of them haven’t the time to prepare a few suitable words to celebrate the Centenary of local government in our town, then its hardly likely that they will have the foresight to look to the future and assess what needs to be done now to enable the commercial and residential elements of our town develop in a complementary and harmonious way.
You know nothing seems to change when it comes to the business of the local Council. That is your business and mine - our business which we entrust to the Councillor’s to deal with in our best interests. Little or no preparation is seemingly ever given by some Councillor’s to the matters they have to deal with at Council meetings. However, this does not deter them from saying their tuppence worth but as you can expect, its never likely to make any worthwhile contribution to the business in hand.
Really I should not cast aspersions on the good men whose job it is to guide the town’s destiny over the next five years or so but, their performance last weekend, with some exceptions, left me saddened. Even more so when I consider the shambles which has developed around the local demand for a plebiscite on the new road plans for the town. “No, you can’t have a plebiscite” So spoke the Council official who gave dire warning of surcharges to be imposed on any Councillors who had the temerity to stand up for the rights of the local people. We who live in Athy and whose future and indeed, whose past, are rooted in the bricks and mortar of this place, can only wonder at the power that officials can exercise over the rights of the natives. We may live in Athy, we may regard this historic town as our place but, our voices are silenced by the words of officials who, to paraphrase Robin Day’s famous description during John Knott’s interview some years ago “Are transient officials, here today, gone tomorrow”. Makes you wonder about the state of democracy in this little island of ours.
My support for the right of the local people to have a say in the future road development plans for the town by way of a plebiscite or referendum received a welcome boost when I recently perused the Urban District Council’s own records. The first Urban District Council under the Chairmanship of Matthew P. Minch of Rockfield House, held a referendum of the local people of Athy when plans were first mooted for the development of a water supply scheme for the town. One would have thought that the town people, whose only supply of water came from a number of contaminated public wells, would have eagerly seized the opportunity to ensure access to a healthy and wholesome water supply. Amongst the Urban Council of the day there was disagreement on this very important issue and the most vociferous opponent of the proposal was local publican and future author of “The Annals of Athy” Michael or “Crutch” Malone of Woodstock Street. His objection to the scheme would appear to have been based on the likely rates increase which would have resulted. The Council of the day in their wisdom, decided to have a referendum of the local rate payers and ballot papers were distributed on a Friday and collected the following Monday in which two questions were asked.
“1. Are you in favour of a water supply for the town of Athy?
2. If you are do you approve of Mr. Reades Modubeagh Water Scheme?”
The ballot papers, when collected and counted, showed that an overwhelming majority of the rate payers were not in favour of the Scheme. The result reviewed in hindsight was surprising but at least it was democratic and it recognised the right of the local people to participate in local government.
We have come a long way since but in some ways we have fossilised as today the elected representatives of our town spurn the request of the local people for a referendum on whether the Inner Relief Road proposal should go ahead. Their failure to accede to the legitimate and reasonable request clearly demonstrates that local government in Ireland, hyped by successive governments and ministers as based on democracy and partnership is nothing but a sham. The present Minister spoke last week of the need to strengthen the link between local government and local communities but, truly Athy stands as living proof that local government does not always serve the local community and that democracy and local government do not co-exist in our midst.
The Urban Council will have met to discuss yet again, the Town Development Plan with its Inner Relief Road proposal before this appears and may well have decided the issue in the same way as it was decided nine years and sixteen years ago. For you see the much vaunted hype about the Development Plan and the Inner Relief Road is an issue which comes up for review every five years or so and there is nothing to suggest that a decision by the Council to include the Inner Relief Road in the Development yet again will bring that particular piece of tarmacadamed lunacy any closer than it has been for the last twenty years.
The by-pass road for Athy has a better prospect of being put in place and much more quickly than the Inner Relief Road if only the town fathers would read the signs and follow the common sense route for the future development of the town. If some of them haven’t the time to prepare a few suitable words to celebrate the Centenary of local government in our town, then its hardly likely that they will have the foresight to look to the future and assess what needs to be done now to enable the commercial and residential elements of our town develop in a complementary and harmonious way.
Thursday, March 9, 2000
April/May 1915 - World War I
This week the people of Dublin have as their greatest worry the sorry state of public transport in the Capital, while their neighbours in County Kildare share worries and concerns of even more mundane nature. Eighty five years ago both shared a common cause of concern as the Great War which had been confidently expected to end before Christmas 1914 rumbled on, with no sign of any early conclusion. In the town of Athy which had seen so many young men succumb to the blandishments of the local recruiting officer, concern was deeply felt amongst the families living in the lanes and alleyways of the ancient town. That concern was not misplaced.
Between 21st April and 31st May, 1915 twenty-seven men from the town of Athy were killed on the battlefields of the First World War. In the same period approximately 108 men from the town were wounded.
It is a startling figure when you consider that they died over a 35 day period. Some days were worse than others. Four were killed on 26th April. Three men lost their lives on both 30th April and 25th April. The remainders of those who died did so during the month of May 1915, the bloodiest month for Athy in all the four years of the Great War.
War had raged in Europe since August 1914 but the opposing armies entrenched and facing each other across the battle lines of France and Belgium were stalemated. The Allies planned to break the deadlock with an attack on Turkey by means of an assault at Gallipoli in the South-West of the country. On 25th April the steam collier the River Clyde stood off the shores of Gallipoli. Within its hold among many regiments was the 1st Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, whose home barracks was at Naas. The regiments consisted mainly of men drawn from Dublin City and the County of Kildare.
That same morning, its sister Battalion, the 2nd Royal Dublin Fusiliers, was formed up in the trenches near the town of Ypres in Belgium. Both battalions were to attack enemy positions later that same day.
At daybreak the men of Kildare in the Dublin Fusiliers cooped up in the hold of the River Clyde launched themselves onto the Beach at Cape Helles in Gallipoli. They were met by the devastating fire power of the Turkish Army who, forewarned of the proposed landing, had brought up reinforcements. One Officer wrote :-
`The boats came in, they were met by a perfect tornado of fire, many men were killed and wounded in the boats, and wounded men were knocked over into the water and drowned, but they kept on, and the survivors jumped into the water in some cases up to their necks, and got ashore; but the slaughter was terrific’.
The men from Athy were lucky, although many were wounded, none would die that day. Five days later in defending the beachhead from a ferocious counter-attack by the Turks, John Farrell, Christopher Hanlon and Larry Kelly, all from Athy, were killed.
On that same day as the River Clyde steamed into Cape Helles the men of the first battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers marched in the early hours of the morning to the outskirts of the Belgian town of Ypres. The march by the heavily armed men was an extraordinary achievement. They struggled on the cobbled Belgian roads in the dark, burdened with all the trapping of an infantryman but still managed to march 30 miles to reach their intended positions. At 6.30am with the morning still shrouded in mist, the men of the Dublin Fusiliers left their trenches with the objective of capturing the town of St. Julien. Advancing in parade ground fashion towards the German trenches they were mowed down by the intense German machine gun fire. The Dublin Fusiliers suffered 510 casualties that morning.
Among the dead were Athy men William Supple, Moses Doyle, and Martin Halloran. Martin Halloran was a Sergeant with the Dublin Fusiliers. The Kildare Observer on the 10th July, 1915 published a description of the fighting at St. Julien by James Rogers, a soldier from Naas. Rogers who was severely wounded himself reported that Sergeant Halloran who had served in the regiment before the war had both his legs blown off by a shell during the German bombardment.
On the following day the German artillery went into action. In the ensuing bombardment Joseph Byrne, James Dillon, Christopher Power and Patrick Tierney, all from Athy were killed. Owen Kelly from Mount Hawkins, Athy was seriously wounded in this action and died of his wounds in a French Hospital on the 3rd May. His brother John Kelly serving with the Leinster Regiment in France would be killed in action almost three weeks later. The loss for the Kelly family at home in Athy would be compounded by the death in action of another of their sons, Denis Kelly of the Leinster Regiment. Denis died on 30th September, 1918, six weeks before the Great War came to an end.
It is difficult for us nowadays to imagine the devastation and loss felt at the time by parents and families in Athy as news of local mens’ deaths in April and May of 1915 filtered back to the town. What is certain is that the initial enthusiasm that had existed for enlisting in the Army quickly dissipated.
Frank Laird, an officer in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who was wounded in Gallipoli found himself on a recruiting drive in Kildare in 1916. Recruitment meetings were regularly held in Naas, Athy and Castledermot. He described the meetings as being large with imposing platforms of speakers. However, they met with little success. He did not feel aggrieved at this lack of success. As Laird put it :-
`To do Kildare justice it should be said that many parts, such as Naas and Athy in particular had already sent a noble proportion of volunteers to the front’.
The social and economic life of Athy did not easily recover from the losses suffered during the four years of the First World War. Indeed it might well be claimed with some justification that the consequences of the loss of so many local men effected successive generations to the extent that the social equilibrium of the town has never recovered. It’s an interesting thesis and one to which I propose to return at another time.
Between 21st April and 31st May, 1915 twenty-seven men from the town of Athy were killed on the battlefields of the First World War. In the same period approximately 108 men from the town were wounded.
It is a startling figure when you consider that they died over a 35 day period. Some days were worse than others. Four were killed on 26th April. Three men lost their lives on both 30th April and 25th April. The remainders of those who died did so during the month of May 1915, the bloodiest month for Athy in all the four years of the Great War.
War had raged in Europe since August 1914 but the opposing armies entrenched and facing each other across the battle lines of France and Belgium were stalemated. The Allies planned to break the deadlock with an attack on Turkey by means of an assault at Gallipoli in the South-West of the country. On 25th April the steam collier the River Clyde stood off the shores of Gallipoli. Within its hold among many regiments was the 1st Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, whose home barracks was at Naas. The regiments consisted mainly of men drawn from Dublin City and the County of Kildare.
That same morning, its sister Battalion, the 2nd Royal Dublin Fusiliers, was formed up in the trenches near the town of Ypres in Belgium. Both battalions were to attack enemy positions later that same day.
At daybreak the men of Kildare in the Dublin Fusiliers cooped up in the hold of the River Clyde launched themselves onto the Beach at Cape Helles in Gallipoli. They were met by the devastating fire power of the Turkish Army who, forewarned of the proposed landing, had brought up reinforcements. One Officer wrote :-
`The boats came in, they were met by a perfect tornado of fire, many men were killed and wounded in the boats, and wounded men were knocked over into the water and drowned, but they kept on, and the survivors jumped into the water in some cases up to their necks, and got ashore; but the slaughter was terrific’.
The men from Athy were lucky, although many were wounded, none would die that day. Five days later in defending the beachhead from a ferocious counter-attack by the Turks, John Farrell, Christopher Hanlon and Larry Kelly, all from Athy, were killed.
On that same day as the River Clyde steamed into Cape Helles the men of the first battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers marched in the early hours of the morning to the outskirts of the Belgian town of Ypres. The march by the heavily armed men was an extraordinary achievement. They struggled on the cobbled Belgian roads in the dark, burdened with all the trapping of an infantryman but still managed to march 30 miles to reach their intended positions. At 6.30am with the morning still shrouded in mist, the men of the Dublin Fusiliers left their trenches with the objective of capturing the town of St. Julien. Advancing in parade ground fashion towards the German trenches they were mowed down by the intense German machine gun fire. The Dublin Fusiliers suffered 510 casualties that morning.
Among the dead were Athy men William Supple, Moses Doyle, and Martin Halloran. Martin Halloran was a Sergeant with the Dublin Fusiliers. The Kildare Observer on the 10th July, 1915 published a description of the fighting at St. Julien by James Rogers, a soldier from Naas. Rogers who was severely wounded himself reported that Sergeant Halloran who had served in the regiment before the war had both his legs blown off by a shell during the German bombardment.
On the following day the German artillery went into action. In the ensuing bombardment Joseph Byrne, James Dillon, Christopher Power and Patrick Tierney, all from Athy were killed. Owen Kelly from Mount Hawkins, Athy was seriously wounded in this action and died of his wounds in a French Hospital on the 3rd May. His brother John Kelly serving with the Leinster Regiment in France would be killed in action almost three weeks later. The loss for the Kelly family at home in Athy would be compounded by the death in action of another of their sons, Denis Kelly of the Leinster Regiment. Denis died on 30th September, 1918, six weeks before the Great War came to an end.
It is difficult for us nowadays to imagine the devastation and loss felt at the time by parents and families in Athy as news of local mens’ deaths in April and May of 1915 filtered back to the town. What is certain is that the initial enthusiasm that had existed for enlisting in the Army quickly dissipated.
Frank Laird, an officer in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who was wounded in Gallipoli found himself on a recruiting drive in Kildare in 1916. Recruitment meetings were regularly held in Naas, Athy and Castledermot. He described the meetings as being large with imposing platforms of speakers. However, they met with little success. He did not feel aggrieved at this lack of success. As Laird put it :-
`To do Kildare justice it should be said that many parts, such as Naas and Athy in particular had already sent a noble proportion of volunteers to the front’.
The social and economic life of Athy did not easily recover from the losses suffered during the four years of the First World War. Indeed it might well be claimed with some justification that the consequences of the loss of so many local men effected successive generations to the extent that the social equilibrium of the town has never recovered. It’s an interesting thesis and one to which I propose to return at another time.
Thursday, March 2, 2000
Female Councillors and Athy U.D.C.
The first woman elected as a member of Athy Urban District Council was Miss Brigid Darby of Leinster Street, a National School teacher. Her name first appeared in the Minute Book of the Town Council when in November 1918 the Council passed a vote of thanks to Miss Darby and her colleague Miss Murphy “for their unselfish attention bestowed without hope of monetary reward and irrespective of class or creed on our afflicted townspeople during the present terrible influenza epidemic.” This was typical of the woman, of whom it was said when the unemployment money for Athy failed to arrive on one occasion and the poor of the town were left to face the following week without the means of buying food, went down to the office and paid in the amount required for the towns weekly dole payout.
Brigid Darby was an active secretary of the Gaelic League in Athy up to the mid-1920’s and almost inevitably found herself allied with the Fianna Fail party for whom she stood as a candidate in the Urban Council elections of 1928. She was duly elected and holds the distinction of being the first woman to sit on any of the corporate bodies having charge of the towns affairs since Athy was first chartered in 1515. She paid a very active part in the affairs of the town during her term of office as an Urban Councillor and she was re-elected for a further term of office in 1936. On that latter Council she was joined by Mrs. S. Doyle of The Bleach and when Miss Darby stood down at the August 1942 Election Mrs. Doyle was re-elected and also elected for the first time on that occasion was the third ever woman Councillor, Mrs. B. Whelan of Holmcroft.
Brigid Darby was also a member of Kildare County Council and many of it’s subsidiary bodies such as the County Board of Health, the Vocational Education Committee and the County Committee of Agriculture. She became a Director of the Tourist Development Association and was elected in the late 1930’s to the governing body of the National University of Ireland. She stood for the Dail in three occasions, each time failing to secure election. However, the 4,000 preference votes she obtained on her last attempt was sufficient to secure two Dail seats in County Kildare for the Fianna Fail party.
A firm believer in womens rights she was a prominent voice on the Urban Council during her period of office and the minutes of the Council meetings record her concern for the poor and underprivileged of Athy. Brigid Darby after her retirement as principal of Churchtown National School continued to live in Leinster Street until her death in April 1958.
The Urban Council elected in 1948 consisted of males only and so it remained in the elections of 1950, 1955, 1960 and 1967. It was not until 1974 that Mrs. Megan Maguire, wife of the local G.P., Dr. Brian Maguire was first elected to the Urban Council. Born in Manchester of Welsh parents, Megan a graduate of London University and a qualified social worker came to Athy with her husband in 1958. She was very involved in a number of community projects in the town and in 1966 she one of those responsible for the formation of the Care of the Elderly Committee. On the basis of her involvement in community matters Megan offered herself as an independent candidate in the local elections of 1974. She topped the poll and in June 1975 was elected by the members of the Urban Council as their Chairperson. To Megan Maguire fell the honour of being the first woman Chairperson of Athy Urban District Council and the first woman to be elected first citizen of the town since the town was incorporated by Henry VIII in 1515. Megan received the “Person of the Year Award” in 1976 for her voluntary services to Athy community and to the travelling people. Re-elected to the Council in 1979 she served from 1975 to 1985 and was joined for that second term by Mrs. Lenore O’Rourke-Glynn who was herself re-elected in 1985. Lenore served as Chairperson of the Urban District Council in 1986 but did not seek re-election in 1992. She is now an Assistant Secretary of the Irish Nursing Organisation and a Member of a number of important government agencies.
On Saturday 1st April, Athy Urban District Council will celebrate its centenary. The Urban Council was not of course the first Town Council but rather a refinement of what had gone before. The first Council for the town of Athy was established in 1515 by Henry VIII whose charter authorised the appointment of a Town Provost. Elected annually on the feast of St. Michael, the Arch angel, the Town Provost was to utilise the tolls collected on goods sold within the town boundaries for the purpose of building and maintaining the town walls. Incidentally, that same charter of 1515 gave to the townspeople the right to hold a town market every Tuesday, a right which is still exercised, but now by traders none of whom are residents of the town. A further Charter granted in 1613 by King James replaced the Provost with a Town Sovereign, although with somewhat similar powers. He was to head up a Borough Council consisting of twelve Burgesses all of whom were nominated for life by the town’s Landlord, the Duke of Leinster. It was not until the abolition of the Borough Council in 1840 and its replacement a few years later by a popularly elected Town Commissioner that Local Government as we know it today first emerged.
The function and role of the Town Commissioners were very limited and it was not until the setting up of the Urban District Council with extensive powers in 1900 that a potentially powerful tool of Local Government was first put in place. The Council’s affairs are managed by nine elected councillors with an executive headed up by the County Manager. The powers and functions of the councillors are reserved functions which only they can exercise while the County Manager has executive functions, the exercise of which is his perogative, by and large, free of the councillors control. The respective roles of the elected members and the County Manager can be broadly related to that of a Board of Directors and a Chief Executive. The elected Members determine policy and the level of funding while the County Manager deals with the day to day functions of the Council.
Local Government as an expression of the right of local people to have a say in how they are governed is only as good as those elected to safeguard the publics interest. Local Government in Athy has by and large being well served over the last 100 years even if the Council’s decisions or lack of them has at times created the illusion rather than the reality of Local Government.
Brigid Darby was an active secretary of the Gaelic League in Athy up to the mid-1920’s and almost inevitably found herself allied with the Fianna Fail party for whom she stood as a candidate in the Urban Council elections of 1928. She was duly elected and holds the distinction of being the first woman to sit on any of the corporate bodies having charge of the towns affairs since Athy was first chartered in 1515. She paid a very active part in the affairs of the town during her term of office as an Urban Councillor and she was re-elected for a further term of office in 1936. On that latter Council she was joined by Mrs. S. Doyle of The Bleach and when Miss Darby stood down at the August 1942 Election Mrs. Doyle was re-elected and also elected for the first time on that occasion was the third ever woman Councillor, Mrs. B. Whelan of Holmcroft.
Brigid Darby was also a member of Kildare County Council and many of it’s subsidiary bodies such as the County Board of Health, the Vocational Education Committee and the County Committee of Agriculture. She became a Director of the Tourist Development Association and was elected in the late 1930’s to the governing body of the National University of Ireland. She stood for the Dail in three occasions, each time failing to secure election. However, the 4,000 preference votes she obtained on her last attempt was sufficient to secure two Dail seats in County Kildare for the Fianna Fail party.
A firm believer in womens rights she was a prominent voice on the Urban Council during her period of office and the minutes of the Council meetings record her concern for the poor and underprivileged of Athy. Brigid Darby after her retirement as principal of Churchtown National School continued to live in Leinster Street until her death in April 1958.
The Urban Council elected in 1948 consisted of males only and so it remained in the elections of 1950, 1955, 1960 and 1967. It was not until 1974 that Mrs. Megan Maguire, wife of the local G.P., Dr. Brian Maguire was first elected to the Urban Council. Born in Manchester of Welsh parents, Megan a graduate of London University and a qualified social worker came to Athy with her husband in 1958. She was very involved in a number of community projects in the town and in 1966 she one of those responsible for the formation of the Care of the Elderly Committee. On the basis of her involvement in community matters Megan offered herself as an independent candidate in the local elections of 1974. She topped the poll and in June 1975 was elected by the members of the Urban Council as their Chairperson. To Megan Maguire fell the honour of being the first woman Chairperson of Athy Urban District Council and the first woman to be elected first citizen of the town since the town was incorporated by Henry VIII in 1515. Megan received the “Person of the Year Award” in 1976 for her voluntary services to Athy community and to the travelling people. Re-elected to the Council in 1979 she served from 1975 to 1985 and was joined for that second term by Mrs. Lenore O’Rourke-Glynn who was herself re-elected in 1985. Lenore served as Chairperson of the Urban District Council in 1986 but did not seek re-election in 1992. She is now an Assistant Secretary of the Irish Nursing Organisation and a Member of a number of important government agencies.
On Saturday 1st April, Athy Urban District Council will celebrate its centenary. The Urban Council was not of course the first Town Council but rather a refinement of what had gone before. The first Council for the town of Athy was established in 1515 by Henry VIII whose charter authorised the appointment of a Town Provost. Elected annually on the feast of St. Michael, the Arch angel, the Town Provost was to utilise the tolls collected on goods sold within the town boundaries for the purpose of building and maintaining the town walls. Incidentally, that same charter of 1515 gave to the townspeople the right to hold a town market every Tuesday, a right which is still exercised, but now by traders none of whom are residents of the town. A further Charter granted in 1613 by King James replaced the Provost with a Town Sovereign, although with somewhat similar powers. He was to head up a Borough Council consisting of twelve Burgesses all of whom were nominated for life by the town’s Landlord, the Duke of Leinster. It was not until the abolition of the Borough Council in 1840 and its replacement a few years later by a popularly elected Town Commissioner that Local Government as we know it today first emerged.
The function and role of the Town Commissioners were very limited and it was not until the setting up of the Urban District Council with extensive powers in 1900 that a potentially powerful tool of Local Government was first put in place. The Council’s affairs are managed by nine elected councillors with an executive headed up by the County Manager. The powers and functions of the councillors are reserved functions which only they can exercise while the County Manager has executive functions, the exercise of which is his perogative, by and large, free of the councillors control. The respective roles of the elected members and the County Manager can be broadly related to that of a Board of Directors and a Chief Executive. The elected Members determine policy and the level of funding while the County Manager deals with the day to day functions of the Council.
Local Government as an expression of the right of local people to have a say in how they are governed is only as good as those elected to safeguard the publics interest. Local Government in Athy has by and large being well served over the last 100 years even if the Council’s decisions or lack of them has at times created the illusion rather than the reality of Local Government.
Female Councillors and Athy U.D.C.
The first woman elected as a member of Athy Urban District Council was Miss Brigid Darby of Leinster Street, a National School teacher. Her name first appeared in the Minute Book of the Town Council when in November 1918 the Council passed a vote of thanks to Miss Darby and her colleague Miss Murphy “for their unselfish attention bestowed without hope of monetary reward and irrespective of class or creed on our afflicted townspeople during the present terrible influenza epidemic.” This was typical of the woman, of whom it was said when the unemployment money for Athy failed to arrive on one occasion and the poor of the town were left to face the following week without the means of buying food, went down to the office and paid in the amount required for the towns weekly dole payout.
Brigid Darby was an active secretary of the Gaelic League in Athy up to the mid-1920’s and almost inevitably found herself allied with the Fianna Fail party for whom she stood as a candidate in the Urban Council elections of 1928. She was duly elected and holds the distinction of being the first woman to sit on any of the corporate bodies having charge of the towns affairs since Athy was first chartered in 1515. She paid a very active part in the affairs of the town during her term of office as an Urban Councillor and she was re-elected for a further term of office in 1936. On that latter Council she was joined by Mrs. S. Doyle of The Bleach and when Miss Darby stood down at the August 1942 Election Mrs. Doyle was re-elected and also elected for the first time on that occasion was the third ever woman Councillor, Mrs. B. Whelan of Holmcroft.
Brigid Darby was also a member of Kildare County Council and many of it’s subsidiary bodies such as the County Board of Health, the Vocational Education Committee and the County Committee of Agriculture. She became a Director of the Tourist Development Association and was elected in the late 1930’s to the governing body of the National University of Ireland. She stood for the Dail in three occasions, each time failing to secure election. However, the 4,000 preference votes she obtained on her last attempt was sufficient to secure two Dail seats in County Kildare for the Fianna Fail party.
A firm believer in womens rights she was a prominent voice on the Urban Council during her period of office and the minutes of the Council meetings record her concern for the poor and underprivileged of Athy. Brigid Darby after her retirement as principal of Churchtown National School continued to live in Leinster Street until her death in April 1958.
The Urban Council elected in 1948 consisted of males only and so it remained in the elections of 1950, 1955, 1960 and 1967. It was not until 1974 that Mrs. Megan Maguire, wife of the local G.P., Dr. Brian Maguire was first elected to the Urban Council. Born in Manchester of Welsh parents, Megan a graduate of London University and a qualified social worker came to Athy with her husband in 1958. She was very involved in a number of community projects in the town and in 1966 she one of those responsible for the formation of the Care of the Elderly Committee. On the basis of her involvement in community matters Megan offered herself as an independent candidate in the local elections of 1974. She topped the poll and in June 1975 was elected by the members of the Urban Council as their Chairperson. To Megan Maguire fell the honour of being the first woman Chairperson of Athy Urban District Council and the first woman to be elected first citizen of the town since the town was incorporated by Henry VIII in 1515. Megan received the “Person of the Year Award” in 1976 for her voluntary services to Athy community and to the travelling people. Re-elected to the Council in 1979 she served from 1975 to 1985 and was joined for that second term by Mrs. Lenore O’Rourke-Glynn who was herself re-elected in 1985. Lenore served as Chairperson of the Urban District Council in 1986 but did not seek re-election in 1992. She is now an Assistant Secretary of the Irish Nursing Organisation and a Member of a number of important government agencies.
On Saturday 1st April, Athy Urban District Council will celebrate its centenary. The Urban Council was not of course the first Town Council but rather a refinement of what had gone before. The first Council for the town of Athy was established in 1515 by Henry VIII whose charter authorised the appointment of a Town Provost. Elected annually on the feast of St. Michael, the Arch angel, the Town Provost was to utilise the tolls collected on goods sold within the town boundaries for the purpose of building and maintaining the town walls. Incidentally, that same charter of 1515 gave to the townspeople the right to hold a town market every Tuesday, a right which is still exercised, but now by traders none of whom are residents of the town. A further Charter granted in 1613 by King James replaced the Provost with a Town Sovereign, although with somewhat similar powers. He was to head up a Borough Council consisting of twelve Burgesses all of whom were nominated for life by the town’s Landlord, the Duke of Leinster. It was not until the abolition of the Borough Council in 1840 and its replacement a few years later by a popularly elected Town Commissioner that Local Government as we know it today first emerged.
The function and role of the Town Commissioners were very limited and it was not until the setting up of the Urban District Council with extensive powers in 1900 that a potentially powerful tool of Local Government was first put in place. The Council’s affairs are managed by nine elected councillors with an executive headed up by the County Manager. The powers and functions of the councillors are reserved functions which only they can exercise while the County Manager has executive functions, the exercise of which is his perogative, by and large, free of the councillors control. The respective roles of the elected members and the County Manager can be broadly related to that of a Board of Directors and a Chief Executive. The elected Members determine policy and the level of funding while the County Manager deals with the day to day functions of the Council.
Local Government as an expression of the right of local people to have a say in how they are governed is only as good as those elected to safeguard the publics interest. Local Government in Athy has by and large being well served over the last 100 years even if the Council’s decisions or lack of them has at times created the illusion rather than the reality of Local Government.
Brigid Darby was an active secretary of the Gaelic League in Athy up to the mid-1920’s and almost inevitably found herself allied with the Fianna Fail party for whom she stood as a candidate in the Urban Council elections of 1928. She was duly elected and holds the distinction of being the first woman to sit on any of the corporate bodies having charge of the towns affairs since Athy was first chartered in 1515. She paid a very active part in the affairs of the town during her term of office as an Urban Councillor and she was re-elected for a further term of office in 1936. On that latter Council she was joined by Mrs. S. Doyle of The Bleach and when Miss Darby stood down at the August 1942 Election Mrs. Doyle was re-elected and also elected for the first time on that occasion was the third ever woman Councillor, Mrs. B. Whelan of Holmcroft.
Brigid Darby was also a member of Kildare County Council and many of it’s subsidiary bodies such as the County Board of Health, the Vocational Education Committee and the County Committee of Agriculture. She became a Director of the Tourist Development Association and was elected in the late 1930’s to the governing body of the National University of Ireland. She stood for the Dail in three occasions, each time failing to secure election. However, the 4,000 preference votes she obtained on her last attempt was sufficient to secure two Dail seats in County Kildare for the Fianna Fail party.
A firm believer in womens rights she was a prominent voice on the Urban Council during her period of office and the minutes of the Council meetings record her concern for the poor and underprivileged of Athy. Brigid Darby after her retirement as principal of Churchtown National School continued to live in Leinster Street until her death in April 1958.
The Urban Council elected in 1948 consisted of males only and so it remained in the elections of 1950, 1955, 1960 and 1967. It was not until 1974 that Mrs. Megan Maguire, wife of the local G.P., Dr. Brian Maguire was first elected to the Urban Council. Born in Manchester of Welsh parents, Megan a graduate of London University and a qualified social worker came to Athy with her husband in 1958. She was very involved in a number of community projects in the town and in 1966 she one of those responsible for the formation of the Care of the Elderly Committee. On the basis of her involvement in community matters Megan offered herself as an independent candidate in the local elections of 1974. She topped the poll and in June 1975 was elected by the members of the Urban Council as their Chairperson. To Megan Maguire fell the honour of being the first woman Chairperson of Athy Urban District Council and the first woman to be elected first citizen of the town since the town was incorporated by Henry VIII in 1515. Megan received the “Person of the Year Award” in 1976 for her voluntary services to Athy community and to the travelling people. Re-elected to the Council in 1979 she served from 1975 to 1985 and was joined for that second term by Mrs. Lenore O’Rourke-Glynn who was herself re-elected in 1985. Lenore served as Chairperson of the Urban District Council in 1986 but did not seek re-election in 1992. She is now an Assistant Secretary of the Irish Nursing Organisation and a Member of a number of important government agencies.
On Saturday 1st April, Athy Urban District Council will celebrate its centenary. The Urban Council was not of course the first Town Council but rather a refinement of what had gone before. The first Council for the town of Athy was established in 1515 by Henry VIII whose charter authorised the appointment of a Town Provost. Elected annually on the feast of St. Michael, the Arch angel, the Town Provost was to utilise the tolls collected on goods sold within the town boundaries for the purpose of building and maintaining the town walls. Incidentally, that same charter of 1515 gave to the townspeople the right to hold a town market every Tuesday, a right which is still exercised, but now by traders none of whom are residents of the town. A further Charter granted in 1613 by King James replaced the Provost with a Town Sovereign, although with somewhat similar powers. He was to head up a Borough Council consisting of twelve Burgesses all of whom were nominated for life by the town’s Landlord, the Duke of Leinster. It was not until the abolition of the Borough Council in 1840 and its replacement a few years later by a popularly elected Town Commissioner that Local Government as we know it today first emerged.
The function and role of the Town Commissioners were very limited and it was not until the setting up of the Urban District Council with extensive powers in 1900 that a potentially powerful tool of Local Government was first put in place. The Council’s affairs are managed by nine elected councillors with an executive headed up by the County Manager. The powers and functions of the councillors are reserved functions which only they can exercise while the County Manager has executive functions, the exercise of which is his perogative, by and large, free of the councillors control. The respective roles of the elected members and the County Manager can be broadly related to that of a Board of Directors and a Chief Executive. The elected Members determine policy and the level of funding while the County Manager deals with the day to day functions of the Council.
Local Government as an expression of the right of local people to have a say in how they are governed is only as good as those elected to safeguard the publics interest. Local Government in Athy has by and large being well served over the last 100 years even if the Council’s decisions or lack of them has at times created the illusion rather than the reality of Local Government.
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