Athy's Parliamentary representatives

The upcoming parliamentary elections give every Irish citizen on the Register of Electors the opportunity to participate in the democratic appointment of representatives to Dáil Eireann.  It is a privilege which has been enjoyed by many for decades but for a time in our history the right to vote for our parliamentarians was restricted to very few.

When Athy was granted Borough status by Henry VIII it brought with it the right of the Borough Council to nominate two members of parliament.  Despite the intention of those who drafted the charter the nomination rights were exercised exclusively by the members of Athy Borough Council acting on the instructions of the Earl of Kildare, later the Duke of Leinster.  It was the same Earl or Duke who assumed to himself the exclusive right to nominate members of the Borough Council.  Those nominated generally knew little about the town but nevertheless they held their positions for life.

Athy’s parliamentary representation came long after the Irish Parliament had ceased to sit in Castledermot where up to the time of King Henry VII it had met on at least 16 occasions.  Naas and Kildare were other County Kildare venues in which 13^th, 14^th and 15^th century parliaments also met.

The earliest extant records of MP’s for Athy are for the 1559 parliament when the local Borough was represented by Richard Mothill and Roland Cussyn.  We know nothing of the first named but Cussyn was probably a relation of Richard Cussyn, Governor of Athy in 1575, whose name is inscribed on one of the sculptured stones set into the wall of Whites Castle.

A name once familiar to Athy people was that of the Weldon family of Kilmoroney.  The first member of that family to represent Athy borough in parliament was Walter Weldon who in 1624 resided in St. Johns and was High Sheriff of the county.  The Weldons had settled in Ireland at the end of the 16^th century and Walter who died in 1634 was married to Jane, daughter of Reverend John Ryder, Bishop of Kildare.  The Weldon family would again be represented in the list of parliamentarians for Athy Borough by William Weldon in 1661 and by 21 year old Walter Weldon in 1745.

The first Fitzgerald to represent Athy borough in parliament was William who lived in Athy and was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of the county by King James II.  The next Fitzgerald to accept the nomination of the Borough Council was James, son of the 19^th Earl of Kildare, who was only 19 years old when appointed in 1741.  He resigned three years later on succeeding to the Earldom of Kildare.  The Irish patriot, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, was the next member of the Duke of Leinster’s family to represent Athy borough.  He was just 20 years old when nominated in 1783.  He was followed 7 years later by Lord Henry Fitzgerald, son of James who was himself MP for Athy in 1741.

Another family whose members served on several occasions as MPs for Athy were the Burghs of Bert House and Oldtown, Naas.  Thomas Burgh was MP in 1776, as was his cousin Thomas of Oldtown, Naas.  Thomas served a second term as MP for Athy borough in the Parliament of 1783.

The last MPs for Athy were William Hare and his son Richard Hare, both from Cork.  They were nominated for the 1797 Parliament after the Duke of Leinster disposed of his parliamentary nomination rights to the Hare family.  Both of the Hares while representing Athy Borough supported the Act of Union, following which William Hare was granted the title of Baron of Ennismore.  The Duke of Leinster also received financial compensation following the passing of the Act of Union in respect of his long standing right to nominate Members of Parliament for Athy Borough Council.

With the passing of the Act of Union the Irish Parliament was abolished and a reduced number of MPs represented the Irish counties at Westminster, London.  For the next 26 years there was no parliamentary election in Kildare as only two nominations were received during that time for the two county seats.  The Duke of Leinster’s family members, together with Robert La Touche of Harristown, were deemed elected to the seven parliaments held between 1801 and 1826.

It was the introduction of the secret Ballot Act of 1872 which changed the face of parliamentary representation in Ireland.  The first Home Ruler, Charles Meldon, was elected for County Kildare in February 1874 and six years later James Leahy of Moate Lodge, Athy, another Home Ruler, joined him in parliament.  Leahy was replaced by Matthew Minch of Athy in 1892 who contested that election as an anti Parnellite.  Minch resigned in 1903 to be replaced by Denis Kilbride, formerly of Luggacurran who had previously sat as an MP for Kerry.  Kilbride was returned uncontested at each subsequent election until 1918 when he was defeated by the Sinn Fein candidate Arthur O’Connor.

History informs us that the Parliamentary elections, whether to the Dáil or Westminster, gave the Irish people a limited say in the running of the country’s affairs, but nevertheless the right to vote is a precious part of our democracy and one which every right thinking person should exercise on election day.

Sr. Carmel Fallon and Athy's Irish Wheelchair Association

In this the centenary of the 1916 Rising it is a privilege to celebrate another centenary, that of Sr. Carmel Fallon who on 5^th February became a centenarian.  I have written previously of the gracious lady, small of stature but big of heart who for the past 81 years has been part of our lives here in South County Kildare.

The future Sr. Carmel was born Carmel Fallon in the parish of Kilchrist, Co. Galway a few miles south west of the town of Loughrea.  She entered the Convent of Mercy here in Athy in August 1935, as did many others from the west of Ireland from the time the Convent opened in 1852.   Sr. Carmel took her triennial vows on 16^th February 1938 and three years later her final vows.  Following the completion of her training as a teacher in Carysfort College, Dublin she returned to Athy to teach in Scoil Mhichil Naofa.  Her subsequent teaching career was spent between the girls primary school and St. Joseph’s Boys School. 

Before Sr. Carmel retired from teaching in 1980 she had secured a remedial class and the services of a psychologist for Scoil Mhichil Naofa.  Outside of school hours Sr. Carmel founded a youth club for local girls with the assistance of Sr. Dolores and Sr. Alphonsus.  However it was following her retirement that Sr. Carmel fulfilled perhaps her most important role outside her religious life with the development of the Irish Wheelchair Association here in Athy. 

The Irish Wheelchair Association was founded in 1960 by a small group of wheelchair users who had participated in the first Paralympic Games held in Rome.  In September of that year the inaugural meeting of the Irish Wheelchair Association took place in the Pillar Room of the Mater Hospital Dublin, attended by several members of the Irish Paralympic Games team as well as a number of interested individuals.  It is noteworthy that the founding meeting was held in the Dublin Hospital established by Mother Mary Vincent Whitty, who came to Athy in 1852 to take charge of the new Convent of Mercy and the nearby convent schools. 

The Irish Wheelchair Association was founded primarily to improve the lives of people with physical disabilities by securing equality and access for wheelchair users.  Providing employment and housing for wheelchair users as well as encouraging social interaction were also further aims of the Association. 

The Athy branch of the Wheelchair Association was founded in 1969 when Sr. Carmel and the late Sr. Alphonsus came together with a number of local people.  The local branch provided a range of activities for wheelchair users with socials in Mount St. Marys and summer holidays spent in boarding schools operated by the Sisters of Mercy.  None of this could have been done without the help of volunteers, both male and female, who from the very start devoted their spare time and energies in helping Sr. Carmel in her determined effort to provide services for the disabled.  Amongst those who were involved in the early days of the Wheelchair Association in Athy were Leo Byrne, Lily Murphy, Mary Malone, Mary Prior, Michael Kelly, Bridget Brennan, John Morrin, Tommy Page, Paddy Timoney, Dinny Donoghue, Phoebe Murphy, Caroline Webb, Peadar Doogue, Fr. Lorcan O’Brien and Fr. Denis Lavery. 

The Athy branch of the Wheelchair Association under the leadership of Sr. Carmel was the first branch of the provinces to provide a Day Centre.  The only other such facility in the country was in the Association Headquarters in Clontarf, Dublin.  Teach Emmanuel was developed within the grounds of St. Vincent’s Hospital and represented a partnership between the Irish Wheelchair Association and the Health Board.

In 1992 Sr. Carmel was appointed President of the National Organisation of the Irish Wheelchair Association and she held that position for 10 years.  Her appointment as National President of the prestigious organisation was a recognition of her pioneering role in the successful development of services for the disabled in County Kildare.  Sr. Carmel retired as National President in 2002.

Looking back over the work of the Sisters of Mercy here in Athy and elsewhere over the years I am struck by the enormous debt we a community and as individuals owe the religious sisters.  Apart from their role in education and their charitable works amongst the needy the inspiring work of Mercy nuns such as Sr. Carmel, Sr. Consilio, the late Sr. Dominic, Sr. Joseph and so many others must surely ensure that the legacy of the Sisters of Mercy will never be forgotten.  Best wishes to Sr. Carmel from a grateful community on the occasion of her 100^th birthday.

Athy's 1916 commemoration lectures

Kildare County Council has produced the third edition of the commemorative programme for this year’s centenary ceremonies in connection with the 1916 Rising.  The programme is built on seven strands which taken together reflect the themes of remembering, reconciling, presenting, imaging and celebrating.

The first strand of State and local ceremonial events focuses on remembering and honouring those who took part in the Easter Rising.  Historical reflection designed to deepen our knowledge and understanding of what happened in 1916 is the second strand.  The Irish language, which had a central place in the ideals of Pearse and many of his colleagues, is intended to be celebrated as another strand of the planned programme for 2016. 

Involving the current young generation in a range of imaginative activities to stimulate historical exploration is another strand of the 2016 programme.  In a sense, this complements the cultural expression theme of the commemoration events which seeks to encourage all community and art organisations to reflect on the events of 1916 and to visualise how those events impacted on the Ireland of the past and how they will impact on the Ireland of the future.

Those last two strands neatly merge into the penultimate strand which under the heading of community participation seeks to encourage the broadest possible community and voluntary involvement in every town and village in the county.  Those who for one reason or another left Ireland to live and work abroad are not forgotten and they are invited to join us in remembering and commemorating the events of 1916.  The programme of events organised throughout the county is quite impressive and copies of the County Council’s programme can be obtained from the local Council offices.

Here in Athy a small group came together some months ago to organise a number of commemorative events for the 1916 centenary.  Between the 22^nd March and the 17^th April we will see a diverse range of activities starting with a lecture series in Athy’s Art Centre on Tuesday, 22^nd March at 8.00 p.m.  This will be the first of four lectures to be held each Tuesday up to the 12^th April, all in the Arts Centre and all starting at 8.00 p.m. In keeping with all other events organised for the 1916 commemoration, admission to the lectures is free.

The lecture series is as follow:-

                        22^nd March      James Durney, Author and Historian

                                                ‘Foremost and Ready – County Kildare in 1916’

                        29^th March       Dr. Des Marnane, Historian and Author

                                                ‘Saving the Honour of Tip – Tipperary in 1916’

                        5^th April           Padraig Yates, Author and Historian

                                                ‘Looters , dissenters and crime in Dublin during 1916’

12^th April         Francis Devine, Author, Historian and currently editing a special 1916 issue of the Journal of the Irish Labour History Society

‘From Lockout to Rising – The ITGWU, ICA, Liberty Hall and the 1916 Rising’

The lecture on the 5^th April will feature an extra unique element.  Eamon Ceannt’s uilleann pipes will be played by Tos Quinn at the start of that lecture.

The other 1916 events include an ‘Athy in 1916’ exhibition in the Heritage Centre and a theatrical presentation in the Arts Centre by Athy Musical and Dramatic Society exploring the lives of the 1916 leaders through music, song and poetry.  Other events are planned and will be listed on the programme which will issue shortly. 

The final event will take place in Emily Square on Sunday, 17^th April with the reading of the proclamation, the unveiling of a plaque and the raising of the Tricolour.  Local clubs, groups and individuals will be invited to parade behind pipers from the four main approach roads leading into Athy and gather in Emily Square for the final solemn ceremony.  This final ceremony will be attended by Mark Wilson, a member of the 1955 winning Dublin football team whose father, a native of Russellstown was a member of the Four Courts Garrison in 1916.  Mark Wilson is the only Athy man whom I have been able to identify as a participant in the Easter Rebellion on the side of the Irish Volunteers.  It is quite possible given Athy’s history of military enlistment that some Athy natives bore arms as members of the British armed forces in Dublin during the Easter rising.

All will be remembered during this centenary year.             

Ernest Shackleton

Since 2001 we have celebrated the life of the County Kildare born polar explorer, Ernest Shackleton, in the Autumn School which is held in Athy every October.  The School and the Athy Heritage Centre Museum have been instrumental in bringing to the county a wide variety of visitors from all over the world who are interested in polar exploration and particularly the exploits of Ernest Shackleton, the world’s greatest Polar explorer.

One hundred years on from the extraordinary feats of endurance and survival which marked Shackleton’s third trip to the Antarctic it is sometimes difficult to appreciate the harshness of the Antarctic environment and the rigours undergone by Shackleton and his men.  Although the Antarctic is now mapped and is home to a variety of permanent research stations it still has an irresistible lure for explorers.  This was brought home to me by the shocking news of the death of the British polar explorer, Henry Worsley, last week. He died within days of almost completing his goal to become the first person to cross the Antarctic on foot. For more than 70 days he walked over 900 miles pulling a man sledge across the snow clad Antarctic in an attempt to emulate the feat of his hero Ernest Shackleton.  The sledge weighing 150k, twice Worsley's own weight, carried his food, fuel and survival equipment. Over the course of his epic journey he lost 50 pounds in weight. Towards the end of his trek adverse weather conditions pinned him down in his tent for two days just 30 miles short of his ultimate goal. In a poignant final message by satellite phone Worsley, echoing his hero Shackleton's own diary entry of 1909 when Shackleton was  97 miles from the pole, said 'I too have shot my bolt. My journey is at an end. I have run out of time and physical endurance'

Of his own decision made on 9^th January 1909 to abandon the attempt to reach the South Pole Shackleton wrote:

'Our last day outwards. We have shot our bolt, and the tale is latitude 88° 23' South, longitude 162° East. The wind eased down at 1 a.m., and at 2 a.m. we were up and had breakfast. At 4 a.m. started south ..... at 9 a.m. we were in 88° 23' South, half running and half walking over a surface much hardened by the recent blizzard. It was strange for us to go along without the nightmare of a sledge dragging behind us ..... we looked south with our powerful glasses, but could see nothing but the dead white snow plain. There was no break in the plateau as it extended towards the Pole, and we feel sure that the goal we have failed to reach lies on this plain. We stayed only a few minutes, and then we hurried back and reached our camp about 3 p.m. We were so dead tired that we only did two hours' march in the afternoon and camped at 5.30 p.m. The temperature was minus 19° Fahr. Fortunately for us, our tracks were not obliterated by the blizzard; indeed, they stood up, making a trail easily followed. Homeward bound at last. Whatever regrets may be, we have done our best.'

Shackleton’s experience and now Worsley’s tragic death is a reminder to us that the Antarctic remains a challenging environment even for the most experienced explorer.  Worsley was an experienced adventurer and explorer who with a number of descendents of Shackleton’s original team walked to the South Pole in 2008.  On that occasion he carried Shackleton’s old compass in his pocket.  Henry Worsley was planned to be a speaker at next October’s Shackleton Autumn School and his death is a sad loss to the world of Polar exploration.

There is obvious sadness at the loss of a brave man on such a momentous journey.  It is a poignant reminder that in many ways the Antarctic remains as forbidding a place today as it was 100 years ago.  It also reminds us of the extraordinary determination, courage and fortitude of Ernest Shackleton and his men, including his fellow Irishmen Tom Crean and Timothy McCarthy, in surviving the harsh punishing environment of the Antarctic. 

In February of 1916 Shackleton and his men were trapped on an ice floe after their ship, aptly named ‘Endurance’, was crushed in the ice waiting for an opportunity to launch their boats into the open sea.  Less than two months later in April 1916 they began the epic journey which would result in the rescue of the entire crew of the Endurance.  This extraordinary feat will be remembered later this year in Shackleton’s home town of Athy.

Sr. Carmel Fallon and Athy's Irish Wheelchair Association

In this the centenary of the 1916 Rising it is a privilege to celebrate another centenary, that of Sr. Carmel Fallon who on 5^th February became a centenarian.  I have written previously of the gracious lady, small of stature but big of heart who for the past 81 years has been part of our lives here in South County Kildare.

The future Sr. Carmel was born Carmel Fallon in the parish of Kilchrist, Co. Galway a few miles south west of the town of Loughrea.  She entered the Convent of Mercy here in Athy in August 1935, as did many others from the west of Ireland from the time the Convent opened in 1852.   Sr. Carmel took her triennial vows on 16^th February 1938 and three years later her final vows.  Following the completion of her training as a teacher in Carysfort College, Dublin she returned to Athy to teach in Scoil Mhichil Naofa.  Her subsequent teaching career was spent between the girls primary school and St. Joseph’s Boys School. 

Before Sr. Carmel retired from teaching in 1980 she had secured a remedial class and the services of a psychologist for Scoil Mhichil Naofa.  Outside of school hours Sr. Carmel founded a youth club for local girls with the assistance of Sr. Dolores and Sr. Alphonsus.  However it was following her retirement that Sr. Carmel fulfilled perhaps her most important role outside her religious life with the development of the Irish Wheelchair Association here in Athy. 

The Irish Wheelchair Association was founded in 1960 by a small group of wheelchair users who had participated in the first Paralympic Games held in Rome.  In September of that year the inaugural meeting of the Irish Wheelchair Association took place in the Pillar Room of the Mater Hospital Dublin, attended by several members of the Irish Paralympic Games team as well as a number of interested individuals.  It is noteworthy that the founding meeting was held in the Dublin Hospital established by Mother Mary Vincent Whitty, who came to Athy in 1852 to take charge of the new Convent of Mercy and the nearby convent schools. 

The Irish Wheelchair Association was founded primarily to improve the lives of people with physical disabilities by securing equality and access for wheelchair users.  Providing employment and housing for wheelchair users as well as encouraging social interaction were also further aims of the Association. 

The Athy branch of the Wheelchair Association was founded in 1969 when Sr. Carmel and the late Sr. Alphonsus came together with a number of local people.  The local branch provided a range of activities for wheelchair users with socials in Mount St. Marys and summer holidays spent in boarding schools operated by the Sisters of Mercy.  None of this could have been done without the help of volunteers, both male and female, who from the very start devoted their spare time and energies in helping Sr. Carmel in her determined effort to provide services for the disabled.  Amongst those who were involved in the early days of the Wheelchair Association in Athy were Leo Byrne, Lily Murphy, Mary Malone, Mary Prior, Michael Kelly, Bridget Brennan, John Morrin, Tommy Page, Paddy Timoney, Dinny Donoghue, Phoebe Murphy, Caroline Webb, Peadar Doogue, Fr. Lorcan O’Brien and Fr. Denis Lavery. 

The Athy branch of the Wheelchair Association under the leadership of Sr. Carmel was the first branch of the provinces to provide a Day Centre.  The only other such facility in the country was in the Association Headquarters in Clontarf, Dublin.  Teach Emmanuel was developed within the grounds of St. Vincent’s Hospital and represented a partnership between the Irish Wheelchair Association and the Health Board.

In 1992 Sr. Carmel was appointed President of the National Organisation of the Irish Wheelchair Association and she held that position for 10 years.  Her appointment as National President of the prestigious organisation was a recognition of her pioneering role in the successful development of services for the disabled in County Kildare.  Sr. Carmel retired as National President in 2002.

Looking back over the work of the Sisters of Mercy here in Athy and elsewhere over the years I am struck by the enormous debt we a community and as individuals owe the religious sisters.  Apart from their role in education and their charitable works amongst the needy the inspiring work of Mercy nuns such as Sr. Carmel, Sr. Consilio, the late Sr. Dominic, Sr. Joseph and so many others must surely ensure that the legacy of the Sisters of Mercy will never be forgotten.  Best wishes to Sr. Carmel from a grateful community on the occasion of her 100^th birthday.

Sr. Mary Bernard, Paddy Kelly, Liz Prendergast

Sr. Carmel O’Leary died last week.  A native of Inchicore Dublin she came to Athy in 1945 to join the local Convent of Mercy where 4 years later she was joined by her sister Marie.  On receiving the Holy Habit the young Dublin girl took the name Sr. Mary Bernard.  Her sister Marie took the name Sr. Mary Joseph in March 1950. 

The War of Independence and the Civil War were just a generation away and the strength of Irish Nationalism was in evidence when on the following Easter Sunday 1,000 old IRA volunteers marched to Mass in St. Michael’s Parish Church.  There the senior curate, Fr. John McLaughlin, himself an old IRA veteran, addressed the congregation.  The Annals of the Sisters of Mercy noted that ‘after a warm welcome to his former comrades Fr. McLaughlin upbraided them in no uncertain terms for not having handed onto their children the splendid tradition of faith and fatherland for which they had fought and in whose defence so much noble blood was shed.’

Sr. Bernard was professed on 4^th April 1951 and would spend the rest of her life teaching in the Sisters of Mercy Primary School.  The centenary of Athy Convent of Mercy was celebrated in 1952 and Sr. Bernard was actively involved, as were her colleagues in religion, in the ceremonies which marked the occasion.  The highlight was a pageant presented in St. Michael’s School on 20^th July 1952 involving a choir of 36 and 22 verse speakers.  The names of the young girls who were taught by Sr. Bernard in the Convent of Mercy Primary School and who participated in that pageant brings back memories of times past and of a generation many of us will remember.

‘The principal verse-speakers were Mary Webster (Offaly St.) and Eileen Mahon (Uppr. William St.).  The other speakers were Geraldine Stafford (Duke St.), Imelda Brennan (Ballitore), Sally Hughes (Leinster St.), Pam Brophy (Minch Tce.), Esther Hyland (Ballyadams), Mgt. Brennan (do.), and Maeve Stafford (Duke St.).  In the tableaux Our Lord was played by Sadie Corcoran (Stradbally), Our Lady by Kathleen Mahon (Uppr. William St.), St. Joseph by Helen Dallon (Ballitore), The Divine Child by Terry Bergin (Kildangan), St. Ann by Marie Kelly (Glasealy), St. Joacham by Peg Foley (Barrowhouse), Our Lady at the age of three by Maura Howard (Geraldine Rd.), the Three Shepherds by Sheila Cahill (Kilberry), Anne Hyland (Rosebran), and Susan Masterson (Boley); the Three Wise Kings by Moira McAnulty (Barrow Cottages), Frances Harris (Kilberry), and Pauline Rowan (St. Patrick’s Ave.); High Priest and Simeon by Anne Owens (Nicholastown), Prophetess Anna by Len Hayden (St. Patrick’s Ave.), Cherubs by Olive Keogh (Cardenton) and Gertrude Mullens (Leinster St.), Elizabeth by Collette Mulhare (Tankardstown), Angel Gabriel by Mary Townsend (Duke St.); the Four Doctors by Olive Smyth (Offaly St.), Sheila Millar (Larkfield), Rosie Byrne (Ballyadams) and Finola O’Flynn (Ballylinan); the Bride by Breda Pender (St. Patrick’s Ave.), and the ‘groom by Marie Kelly; St. John by Moira Kavanagh (Bleeding Horse), Mary Magdalen by Anna Ryan (Goulyduff); Two Guards by Angela Rowan (St. Patrick’s Ave.) and Margaret Foster (Kellyville);, Apostles by Betty Kelly (Cloney) Bridie Brennan (Kilcrow), Peg Curtis (do.), Joan Campbell (do.), Alice Finn (Ballindrum), May Bergin (Bray, Athy), Gretta Moore (Offaly St.), Carmel Brown (Ardreigh), Betty Moran (Cloney), and Mary Foster (Kellyville). 

Recalling these young girls of 64 years ago brings with it the memories of the young women who over the years entered the Convent in Athy and spent their lives serving the people of Athy as members of the Sisters of Mercy.  Sr. Bernard was part of that ministry for over 71 years and with her passing our local community loses another link with the religious order which came to Athy to establish a convent just four years after the end of the Great Famine.

Another death earlier in the week was that of Paddy Kelly, a relatively young married man whose funeral mass in St. Michael’s Parish Church was attended by perhaps the largest congregation I have seen for quite some time.  The attendance of neighbours and friends in such numbers bore testimony to the popularity of the deceased and of the wider Kelly family.

Liz Prendergast of St. Patrick’s Avenue died under tragic circumstances a few days after Paddy Kelly.  Her funeral mass and the graveside ceremonies at her burial in Old St. Michael’s Cemetery was marked by the beautiful uileann pipe playing of her son Joseph.  It was a moving tribute by a young man whose musical abilities have attracted the attention and the appreciation of those involved in the Irish music scene.

My sympathies are extended to the relatives of the late Sr. Carmel, the late Paddy Kelly and the late Liz Prendergast.

Ernest Shackleton

Since 2001 we have celebrated the life of the County Kildare born polar explorer, Ernest Shackleton, in the Autumn School which is held in Athy every October.  The School and the Athy Heritage Centre Museum have been instrumental in bringing to the county a wide variety of visitors from all over the world who are interested in polar exploration and particularly the exploits of Ernest Shackleton, the world’s greatest Polar explorer.

One hundred years on from the extraordinary feats of endurance and survival which marked Shackleton’s third trip to the Antarctic it is sometimes difficult to appreciate the harshness of the Antarctic environment and the rigours undergone by Shackleton and his men.  Although the Antarctic is now mapped and is home to a variety of permanent research stations it still has an irresistible lure for explorers.  This was brought home to me by the shocking news of the death of the British polar explorer, Henry Worsley, last week. He died within days of almost completing his goal to become the first person to cross the Antarctic on foot. For more than 70 days he walked over 900 miles pulling a man sledge across the snow clad Antarctic in an attempt to emulate the feat of his hero Ernest Shackleton.  The sledge weighing 150k, twice Worsley's own weight, carried his food, fuel and survival equipment. Over the course of his epic journey he lost 50 pounds in weight. Towards the end of his trek adverse weather conditions pinned him down in his tent for two days just 30 miles short of his ultimate goal. In a poignant final message by satellite phone Worsley, echoing his hero Shackleton's own diary entry of 1909 when Shackleton was  97 miles from the pole, said 'I too have shot my bolt. My journey is at an end. I have run out of time and physical endurance'

Of his own decision made on 9^th January 1909 to abandon the attempt to reach the South Pole Shackleton wrote:

'Our last day outwards. We have shot our bolt, and the tale is latitude 88° 23' South, longitude 162° East. The wind eased down at 1 a.m., and at 2 a.m. we were up and had breakfast. At 4 a.m. started south ..... at 9 a.m. we were in 88° 23' South, half running and half walking over a surface much hardened by the recent blizzard. It was strange for us to go along without the nightmare of a sledge dragging behind us ..... we looked south with our powerful glasses, but could see nothing but the dead white snow plain. There was no break in the plateau as it extended towards the Pole, and we feel sure that the goal we have failed to reach lies on this plain. We stayed only a few minutes, and then we hurried back and reached our camp about 3 p.m. We were so dead tired that we only did two hours' march in the afternoon and camped at 5.30 p.m. The temperature was minus 19° Fahr. Fortunately for us, our tracks were not obliterated by the blizzard; indeed, they stood up, making a trail easily followed. Homeward bound at last. Whatever regrets may be, we have done our best.'

Shackleton’s experience and now Worsley’s tragic death is a reminder to us that the Antarctic remains a challenging environment even for the most experienced explorer.  Worsley was an experienced adventurer and explorer who with a number of descendents of Shackleton’s original team walked to the South Pole in 2008.  On that occasion he carried Shackleton’s old compass in his pocket.  Henry Worsley was planned to be a speaker at next October’s Shackleton Autumn School and his death is a sad loss to the world of Polar exploration.

There is obvious sadness at the loss of a brave man on such a momentous journey.  It is a poignant reminder that in many ways the Antarctic remains as forbidding a place today as it was 100 years ago.  It also reminds us of the extraordinary determination, courage and fortitude of Ernest Shackleton and his men, including his fellow Irishmen Tom Crean and Timothy McCarthy, in surviving the harsh punishing environment of the Antarctic. 

In February of 1916 Shackleton and his men were trapped on an ice floe after their ship, aptly named ‘Endurance’, was crushed in the ice waiting for an opportunity to launch their boats into the open sea.  Less than two months later in April 1916 they began the epic journey which would result in the rescue of the entire crew of the Endurance.  This extraordinary feat will be remembered later this year in Shackleton’s home town of Athy.

Athy's 1916 commemmoration events

The period 1914-1923 was a defining period in Irish history with a series of events which changed the course of our history and led to the foundation of the State.  The First World War, the 1916 Rising, the War of Independence and the Civil War were events marked by heroism and blood sacrifice.  We are now well into what is referred to as the decade of commemoration and in this the centenary year of the 1916 Rising events will be held throughout the country to commemorate that rising. 

Commemoration is a well established practice in Ireland ever since the centenary commemoration of the 1798 Rebellion.  Such commemorations while focusing on the events of the past act as an encouragement to historical research and inevitably lead to reinterpretation of our shared history.  This is particularly true insofar as the 1916 Rising is concerned given the high volume of material which is now being made available both digitally and otherwise to the general public.  Added to the records of the Bureau of Military History made available some years ago are the huge volume of military pension applications which enormously increase our understanding of past armed struggles. 

The National Commemoration Programme is understandably centred on Dublin, which programme will be inclusive and non partisan, inclusive in the sense of acknowledging the various traditions which are part of Ireland’s history.  This requires not only the Irish national story to be told but also the key events affecting Northern Ireland such as the Ulster Volunteers, the Larne gun running and the Somme, all of which are part of the Irish historical experience.

Commemorative events give us an opportunity to reflect on the past and to broaden our understanding of those events which we commemorate and so better our understanding of their historical context.  On this island of Ireland we have a shared history, even if our understanding and appreciation of that complex history as between Northern Ireland and the Republic at times reflects divergent traditions.  However when we commemorate our historical past, whether at national or local level, we must take account of those divergent traditions, thereby ensuring that the commemoration itself does not create further tension and disagreement. 

Here in Athy the 1916 Rebellion will be remembered in a number of events planned to take place next March and April.  The town’s only links with the events in Dublin in 1916 is through Mark Wilson, a young man born in Russellstown just outside the town in 1891.  At 25 years of age he was a member of the First Battalion Dublin Brigade which under the command of Ned Daly fought in the area of the Four Courts during the Easter Rebellion.  Wilson and his comrades were subsequently captured and in a statement made by Maynooth volunteer Patrick Colgan, Wilson was described as ‘a source of great encouragement’ to other volunteers who like Wilson were imprisoned following the Easter Rising.  Athy man Mark Wilson who died in Dublin in 1971 will be honoured during the 1916 commemorations. 

The Athy commemorations will commence on Tuesday 22^nd March with the first of four lectures, all of which will be delivered in the town’s Arts Centre at Woodstock Street.  The opening lecture will be given by James Durney who was appointed last year as historian in residence to Kildare County Council.  His talk ‘Foremost and Ready - Kildare in the 1916 Rising’ will examine in detail the part played by Kildare men and women in the Rebellion of 1916.  On 21^st March Dr. Des Marnane who has written extensively on the history of County Tipperary will give his lecture under the intriguing title ‘Saving the Honour of Tipperary!! Tipperary in 1916’.

The following Tuesday, April 5^th, Dublin author and historian Padraig Yeates who has written a number of well received books on different aspects of Dublin history will give a talk under the title ‘Looters, deserters and crime in Dublin during 1916’.  The final lecture in the series will be given on Tuesday 12^th April by Francis Devine, Trade Unionist and author.  The subject will be James Connolly.  All lectures start at 8.00 p.m. in the Arts Centre and admission is free. 

As part of the 1916 commemoration a series of events will start in Athy on Saturday 9^th April and end on Sunday 17^th April.  These will include an ‘Athy in 1916’ exhibition in the Heritage Centre, as well as a drama presentation and a performance by Athy’s Music and Dramatic Society.  Other events still in the planning stage will be announced later.  The commemoration events will finish on Sunday 17^th April with the reading of the Proclamation and the raising of the Tricolour symbolising the birth of the nation state.