The Visit of the Welsh Brythoniaid choir to Athy

My family’s belief that I am a Kilkenny man exiled in Kildare stems from my passionate interest in Kilkenny hurling.  If they went back in history perhaps they might well believe that I am a Welsh man living in exile in Ireland.  For you see the first warrior with the Taaffe name came from Wales with the Anglo Normans in the 12^th century, leaving behind the Taff river and the Taff valley, two notable landmarks in the Welsh landscape. 

 

I was reminded of the family’s historic past when Athy Lions Club announced a Welsh male voice choir performance in the Church of Ireland Church, Offaly Street on Saturday 8^th April.  The world famous Brythoniaid choir from the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog in North Wales are coming to Ireland to give a one night performance in Athy before passing on to Kilkenny.

 

Blaenau Ffestiniog, like Athy, is a town which has seen many changes over the years and indeed both the Welsh town and Athy are presently benefitting from town regeneration plans.  For the town, located in the mountains of Snowdonia with a current population of about five thousand, once had a thriving slate industry and a population of twelve thousand.  The slate industry has long disappeared, but there remains the Llechnwedd slate caverns which are a great tourist draw and reputed to be amongst the top five tourist attractions in Wales.

 

Blaenau Ffestiniog has other interests for the Irish for it was there that the Land League campaigner Michael Davitt spoke at a Land League meeting in 1885.  Not too far distant from the town is the tiny hamlet of Frongoch where hundreds of Irish men were interned following the Easter Rebellion of 1916.  A former distillery previously abandoned and used as an internment camp for captured German soldiers was vacated and made ready to receive the first Irish internees on 14^th June 1916. 

 

Amongst those internees was Athy man Mark Wilson who had fought under the command of Edward Daly in the Four Courts/Church St. area of Dublin during the Rising.  Another internee was Seamus Malone who was later a teacher in the Christian Brothers school in Athy.  Seamus, whose memoirs first published in Irish under the title ‘B’fhiú an Braon Fola’ and later in English as ‘Worth a drop of blood’, taught here in Athy in the 1920s and was actively involved in the local G.A.A. club.

 

Two other internees in Frangoch were James Corrigan and William Corrigan of Ballitore.  Were they I wonder brothers or father and son?  I don’t have any information on the Corrigans but would like to hear from anyone who can help me in that regard.  Also in Frongoch internment camp, but not as an internee but as Catholic chaplain to the prisoners, was Fr. Laurence Stafford who was later parish priest of Crookstown. 

 

I am told that Blaenau Ffestiniog is predominantly a Welsh speaking community and despite claims that it is known as the town with the highest rainfall in Wales, Welsh voices are still raised in song as they were by the Irish internees one hundred years ago.  Singing and performing was a part of the internee’s life in Frongoch, with concerts held every Sunday night and on special occasions such as the 118^th anniversary of Wolfe Tone’s death on 25^th June 1916. 

 

The Brythoniaid male voice choir was founded in 1964 and competed in the Welsh National Eisteddfed for the first time five years later.  Since then the choir has won Wales’ biggest choral competition ‘The National Eisteddfod’ eight times and was runner up on several occasions.  The choir has won many other awards over the years and has travelled far afield, including a memorable trip to Russia where the choir was awarded a diploma from the Russian Academy of Culture.  Several television appearances have been made by the choir, with some of the finest performers in the world including Shirley Bassey, Harry Secombe, Willard White and the great Welsh tenor Bryn Terfel.

 

The performance in St. Michael’s Church of Ireland church will commence at 8pm on Saturday 8^th April and promises to be a unique and memorable occasion.  Featuring with the Welsh choir on the night will be the Scoil Mhichil Naofa choir and our own music legend Brian Hughes.  Tickets at €10 each can be bought in The Gem, Winkles, from any member of the Lions Club and at the door on the night.  However, you would be advised to get tickets early as I expect a big attendance on the night.

 

Some Athy notes in the Nationalist newspaper July-September 1957

Local newspapers are papers of record insofar as local events and local personalities are concerned.  The minutiae of town and country life is to be found amongst the pages of the local papers and like the weekly newspaper is quickly discarded and sometimes disappears from public memory without trace.  I was reminded of this when reading notes extracted by me some years from the pages of the Nationalist and Leinster Times relating to Athy between July and September 1953.  The paper reported on 28^th July that the Kildare Men’s Association in Dublin was formed following a meeting in Mountjoy Square on the previous Tuesday evening.  Johnny McEvoy, Athy was elected chairman of the association, with Ned O’Neill, also of Athy, as vice chairman and R. Fleming of Ballitore as secretary.  I wonder if the Johnny McEvoy mentioned was the man originally from Woodstock Street whom I had the great pleasure of meeting many years ago.  Johnny of my acquaintance was a retired Garda who in his young days played for Athy Gaelic Football Club and the Kildare senior county team as an outstanding goalkeeper.

 

The same paper reported the death at 68 years of age of John ‘Skurt’ Doyle who passed away unexpectedly at his home on the previous Saturday.  ‘Skurt’ was a very popular and well known man in Athy.  He served in the British Army during World War I and was imprisoned for a time by the Germans.  On his retirement from the Army he worked for a number of years for C.I.E. and for three or four years prior to his death was caretaker of the C.Y.M.S. hall in Stanhope Street.  ‘Skurt’ was an all-around sportsman and played soccer, rugby, Gaelic football and hockey while in the British Army.  He played senior Gaelic football for Kildare county, as well as rugby for Athy Rugby Football Club.  He was survived by his widow and his step brother Issac who was a member of the postal staff in Tullow.

 

St. John’s Hall, formerly the Comrades Hall and in the 1950s known as the Social Club, was the venue for the Asbestos factory G.A.A. club first annual social on Friday 31^st July 1953.  Joe O’Neill and his ‘new electric organ’ with the Stardust band and vocalist Maureen were providing the music.  I wonder was that Maureen Ryan, formerly Maureen Clandillon?  An interesting report of 15^th August referred to a contingent of Athy ‘pikemen’, accompanied by Irish dancers and St. Joseph’s Boys band who were to participate in the unveiling of a memorial to Fr. Murphy of 1798 fame in Ferns on the following Sunday.  The memorial was to be unveiled by the President of Ireland, Sean T. O’Ceallaigh.  I have in recent years come across a photograph of St. Joseph’s Boys band attending what I believe was that particular event. 

 

The harsh economic times of the 1950s were reflected in the report that tradesmen and skilled workers ‘in large numbers have left Athy for employment in England during the last couple of weeks’.  Three who ventured further afield were Michael Purcell, son of Jacob Purcell, whom we were informed had emigrated to Canada, as had Tommy and Con O’Riordan, two brothers originally from Kildare town who worked as shop assistants for Michael Kelly of Leinster Street.  The paper also reported that May Sunderland of Offaly Street, a popular usherette in the Savoy cinema for the previous 22 years had left Athy to take up an appointment in England.

 

In September the Nationalist reported that an increasing number of young men and women were leaving Athy for work in England.  ‘This weeks departure included three whole families.  Unemployment is not the sole cause as several men have left good jobs to cross the waters.’  I wonder if that comment was accurate.  Two sisters who emigrated to America in September 1953 were Finola and Patsy McNamara, daughters of Joseph and the late Kathleen McNamara of Stanhope Street.  Finola had taken part in the pantomime presented by Athy Musical Society in the previous year.

 

Mick Gould of 21 Emily Square was proud to advertise his ‘modern electric chimney cleaning service’, claiming ‘no dust – no dirt’.  Apparently the Urban District Council were also keeping up with modern methods as it announced retirement of ‘Neddy’, the Council’s horse, which had pulled the scavenging cart for years.  The Parish Church building fund opened twenty months had accumulated £12,000 up to September 1953.  The fund raising would continue for another 20 years or so, long after the new church was built and consecrated in 1964. 

 

St. Joseph’s Welfare Club was granted a licence at Athy District Court to hold seven ‘long’ dances and three ‘short’ dances in a marquee during a carnival on the Carlow Road site between 25^th September and 11^th October.  The carnival site is now home to houses in Chanterlands.  The description of the dances as ‘long’ or ‘short’ is a quaint one, harking back no doubt to a time when church approval was required for any engagement after dark between male and female persons.  Do you have memories of 1953?

 

Whites Castle and its recent owners

Last week’s article was written before I received an email from America telling me that Whites Castle was about to be put on the market for sale.  You will recall that under the headline, ‘Athy Awakes from Slumber’.  I had advanced the case that Athy was about to reposition itself in the drive for tourist development on the basis of several projects currently planned for the town.  The announcement that for the third time in twelve years Whites Castle is for sale presents the local community and Kildare County Council with a huge challenge.  When the castle first went on the market in 2005 half-hearted attempts by Athy Town Council to acquire the property were quickly dashed by the successful bid at auction of Gabriel Dooley.  Gabriel’s ownership of the castle saw the 15^th century fortress opened to the public for the very first time.  As a native of Athy but with business interests in County Wicklow and elsewhere Gabriel went to great lengths to bring the story of the castle and its involvement in our national and local history to a wider audience.  He expended substantial funds in replacing the roof of the castle and in carrying out remedial works under the supervision of an archaeologist and with the agreement of Kildare County Council.

Gabriel Dooley’s ownership of the castle gave Athy locals the first ever opportunity to see the interior of the building which with the adjoining Crom a Boo bridge provides the iconic image which is commonly associated with the town of Athy.  Sadly Gabriel, who had wonderful creative plans for community engagement and participation in the use of the castle, had to release his ownership of the property.  This resulted in the sale of the castle in 2012 when it was purchased for a much smaller figure than that realized some years previously.  Again, to the dismay of many locals the then Town Council failed to step up to the plate and buy the castle, even though the price achieved was less than the price of an average four bedroomed semi-detached house.

Athy Town Council has since been dissolved and our local authority is now Kildare County Council.  That Council has brought forward many worthwhile schemes and projects, some of which I alluded to in last week’s Eye on the Past.  As a former Council official I am acutely aware of the many demands which are continuously made on public funds at local and national level.  Those demands need to be prioritised and it is that process which can sometimes push particular projects to the end of the line, never again to be resurrected. 

Is the purchase of Whites Castle such a project?  I suggest not, since the iconic building is for Athy people, a part of what we are.  It is our history and so we should ensure that we preserve for the future the building, which in itself is important, but which can be developed and used as a part of the tourist regeneration drive about which I wrote last week.

With the recent departure of the Dominicans from Athy we have lost a link with our history stretching back 760 years or so.  Whites Castle, built perhaps 150 years after the Dominicans arrived in Athy is with Woodstock Castle the most visible reminders we have of our past history.  That history can also be noted in Athy’s street names which record the connection going back hundreds of years between successive generations of the Fitzgerald families and the town of Athy founded by the Anglo Normans soon after their arrival in Ireland in 1169.  The development of Whites Castle as a Fitzgerald Museum would be a meaningful attraction in this area and would represent an appropriate use of a former Fitzgerald stronghold.

Many years ago during the late Joe Bermingham’s time as the Minister for State for responsibility for the Office of Public Works I wrote to Joe asking if he would have Whites Castle designated as a national monument.  Joe unfortunately was either unwilling or unable to accede to the request and so a great opportunity was missed then by a local government minister to protect Whites Castle.  Another opportunity now arises to put the castle into public ownership and so ensure its preservation and further utilisation by and on behalf of the local community.  Could I suggest that Kildare Co. Co. and the local community here in Athy come together to see what can be done in that regard?

The future for Athy

Athy has been slumbering for a decade or more.  The town which over the centuries has gone through many cyclical booms and depressions is, I believe, on the cusp of a major revival as it repositions itself in the ever-expanding Irish tourist market.  As the County Kildare town with the most attractive town centre it is about to witness a makeover courtesy of the ongoing Emily Square Redevelopment Scheme.  This comes in advance of a major restructuring of the local Heritage Centre which last year was granted full museum status by the Irish Heritage Council.

The foresight shown by Kildare County Council in acquiring the Dominican church for redevelopment as a town library releases the entire early 18^th century Town Hall for use as a museum of national, if not international importance.  The latter status will in time accrue as the Shackleton exhibits added to over the years bring the story of the Kilkea-born polar explorer to a wider audience.  The rejuvenated town square will add enormously to the attractiveness of the Shackleton Museum in much the same way as the recently erected Shackleton statue has done. 

Athy in the past was never developed or promoted as a tourist destination but with the development of the museum and the plans for the Barrow Blueway along the canal towpath the time has come to look anew at tourism as a key addition to the revival of the town’s fortunes.  The tourist boat for hire, berthed at the former town harbour, is a welcome tourist related initiative under the recent Town Regeneration Plan.

The acquisition by Kildare County Council of the Dominican property on the west bank of the River Barrow affords a unique opportunity to use the Dominican riverside field as a facility in connection with the Barrow Blueway.  Walkers, cyclists, fishermen and boaters will undoubtedly make greater use than ever before of the River Barrow and the Grand Canal once the Blueway development is finished.  It is important therefore that here in Athy we are ready to provide for these visitors and what better way than to develop Blueway orientated facilities at or near the location where the only river and canal juncture in Ireland occurs.  Athy, to its advantage, could so easily be developed as an attractive and key stopover on the Barrow Blueway.

The southern bypass or outer relief road is planned to be in place within the next 4 or 5 years.  When it comes, it will make a huge difference in terms of town centre traffic.  The removal of through traffic especially HGVs and lorries will permit the creation of more pedestrian friendly shopping streets from Augustus bridge to the Railway bridge.  Many English towns are witnessing a revival of fortunes with the reopening of independent shops supported by customers who have become disenchanted with the sameness of multinational chain stores.  The future for provincial towns, whether in England or in Ireland lies, I believe, in a sensible mixture of independent shops and larger stores, each complimenting each other in town centre locations rather than in out of town shopping centres. 

Here in Athy we have an excellent range of parking facilities positioned around the town which if properly managed could support and promote an active retailing town centre.  While there is some concern regarding the proposal to remove car parking from the front of Emily Square, such car parking spaces that will be lost can be readily replaced.  Why not, I suggest, develop part of the derelict Abbey site as a car park facility, leaving that part of the site adjoining the River Barrow for retail or apartment development?  If we hope to develop the tourist potential of the town we must provide adequate car parking facilities which brings me to the contentious issues of car parking fees.  It is accepted that the revenue generated by parking fees is one of the many funding sources needed by Kildare County Council and must therefore be retained.  However I would hope for a more imaginative and shopping friendly system of parking fees.  Shopkeepers pay rates and their customers deserve some consideration in terms of parking facilities.  Why not allow the first hour parking to be free and while doing so encourage more people to shop in the town centre and by doing so support the independent shopkeepers.

Retailing is the heartbeat of a town centre.  It must be encouraged in much the same way as  tourists coming into or through Athy have to be encouraged to stop and share the local experiences.  The Barrow Blueway, the Shackleton Museum, and could I hope to dream, the development of a Fitzgerald Museum in the White Castle could catapult Athy into the forefront of the tourism industry in County Kildare.

Famine Orphan Emigration Scheme (Part 1)

Some years ago I visited the Hyde Park Barracks Museum in Sydney and viewed the Australian monument to the Irish Famine.  It was commissioned in 1999 by the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales on behalf of the Great Irish Famine Commemoration Committee.  The sculpture consists of a bronze table piercing the sandstone wall of the museum with the names of the orphan girls sent out from Irish Workhouses to Australia sandblasted onto glass panels.  It includes a shelf with a few potatoes, a shovel, some books and personal belongings with three bronze stools showing evidence of womens clothing and needlework.

The orphans commemorated in this monument were the more than 4,000 girls from Irish Workhouses who in the aftermath of the Great Famine were selected by government officials to be sent to Australia between October 1848 and August 1850.  The Orphan Emigration Scheme was devised by Earl Grey, the British Secretary of State, as a means of alleviating overcrowding in Ireland’s workhouses and in an attempt to lessen the imbalance of the sexes in Australia.

Criticism of the Orphan Emigration Scheme was led amongst others by the Anglican Bishop Goold of Melbourne and much of that criticism was based on fears that an influx of orphan females, the majority of whom were Catholics, would ‘Romanise the Australian colonies’.  The Orphan Immigration depot in Adelaide was described as a ‘government brothel’ and claims were made and reported that the orphans were not the ‘kind of people suited to Australia’s needs.’  In the face of increasing mounting criticism the Scheme was abandoned at the end of 1850, but not before more than 4,000 young orphan girls had landed at Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.  Amongst their numbers were two groups of girls from Athy’s Workhouse.  The first group of 18 girls travelled in the ship ‘Lady Peel’, arriving in Sydney on 3^rd July 1849.  The second and last group of girls comprising 16 former inmates of Athy’s Workhouse arrived in Sydney on the ship ‘Maria’ on 1^st August 1850.  The details of those who arrived in 1849 are:-

NAME	AGE	ADDRESS	PARENTS		RELIGION
Carroll, Ann	17	Athy	Martin and Biddy	Father in America	R.C.
Clare, Ann	17	Athy	Patrick and Ann	Mother living in Athy	R.C.
Connor, Lucy	19	Athy	James and Eliza	Both dead	R.C.
Croak, Bridget	19	Stradbally	John and Ann	Mother living in Hyde, Kildare	R.C.
Dobson, Margaret	17	Athy	Joseph and Julia	Both dead	R.C.
Egan, Bridget	18	Athy	John and Jane	Mother living in Athy	R.C.
Fitzpatrick, Eliza	19	Monasterevin	Stephen and Elizabeth	Both dead	R.C.
Flemming, Catherine	18	Athy	Barney and Catherine	Mother living in Athy	R.C.
Flemming, Rose	19	Ballyadams	Patrick and Mary	Mother lives in Ballyadams	R.C.
Green, Mary	18	Athy	John and Catherine	Both dead	R.C.
Hayes, Mary	18	Athy	John and Mary	Both dead	R.C.
Hayes, Elizabeth	18	Athy	John and Mary	Both dead	R.C.
Ivory, Bridget	17	Athy	James and Margaret	Both dead	R.C.
Moore, Bridget	18	Athy	James and Mary	Father in America Mother living in Athy	R.C.
Murray, Ellen	18	Athy	Hugh and Jane	Mother living in Athy	C. of E.
Neill, Margaret	18	Athy	Michael and Catherine	Both dead	R.C.
Sinclair, Ann	17	Àthy	Patrick and Mary	Living in Athy	R.C.
Sullivan, Ellen	18	Athy	John and Ellen	Mother living in Athy	R.C.

......................... TO BE CONTINUED ...............................

Christy Dunne - Musician

Music has always been an important part of the social life of Athy people.  Examining records going back as far as the 19^th century one comes across many references to fife and drum bands, pipe bands and brass bands associated with different parts of the town and sometimes associated with local associations such as the C.Y.M.S.  That musical tradition found expression in the 1940s and later in the orchestras and show bands fronted by Athy men and women.  After the Stardust and the Sorrento dance bands of the 1940s and 1950s there followed a bewildering array of groups and musical combinations, not all of whom I have been able to document. 

My near neighbour Christy Dunne was for many years a stalwart on the music scene.  He was just 15 years of age when he joined Alex Kelly and his Aces as bass guitarist.  He would remain active in music making for upwards of 50 years, combining a busy music career with a full time job in the local Asbestos factory, later renamed Tegral.  He retired from Tegral at 60 years of age, following 41 years of service.  If this was not enough Christy was also a volunteer fireman who served for 31 years in that capacity.  Coincidentally his father Christy also worked in the Asbestos factory and served for many years in the local fire brigade. 

Recounting his music playing career Christy recalls nine years spent with Alex and his Aces where his fellow musicians included Alex’s brother Tom Kelly on keyboard and Brian O’Neill on drums.  Alex’s Aces played relief band for the annual military ball which was one of the major local social events held in Dreamland Ballroom during the 1960s. 

Christy married Kathleen Foley in September 1968 and that same year with other local musicians formed the Adelaide Showband.  The line up included John Kelly, John Lawler, John Scully, Christy Leigh, Robert Eston, Denis Chanders and Pat Keeffe.  With the decline of the show band scene Christy formed a beat group with David Craig and John Kelly.  Under the name ‘The Reeds of Innocence’ the trio played the provincial club scene including what I am told was a local club venue in St. John’s Hall.  The country music scene next attracted Christy’s attention and with John Joe Brennan and their respective wives formed the group ‘Big Country’.  It proved to be a very successful music combination during the seven years of its existence and they were joined towards the latter part of that period by Denis Chanders.

The final musical combination with which Christy was involved was the Spotlights.  This three piece combination originally featured Christy, his wife Kathleen and Denis Chanders, later to be augmented with the addition of Eamon Walsh and for a time were joined by Pat Kelly and Andy Murphy.  The Spotlights played on a regular basis in Jurys Hotel Dublin and held a weekly residency for almost five years in Lumville House, The Curragh.  Towards the end the Spotlights consisted of Christy and Kathleen Dunne and Eamon Walsh who continued to enjoy huge success, not only locally but particularly with Dublin bookings.  The band was on the road six nights a week, only keeping Tuesday as the one day free of engagements.  After almost 50 years playing music Christy retired about three years ago and the Spotlights disbanded.

It is strange to recall the dance venues which were once available to the people of Athy, starting with St. John’s Hall and the Townhall ballroom, both of which were replaced by Dreamland ballroom.  Now the former Dreamland ballroom is a sports venue and bands deprived of dancing venues are few in number.  We can look back with nostalgia at the time when Alex and his Aces, the Adelaides and laterally the Spotlights played their part in continuing Athy’s extensive music tradition.

Preserving Local Authority Records

With the abolition of Athy’s Town Council looming on the horizon my thoughts have turned to the treasure trove of minute books, documents, maps and files which the local authority has accumulated over the years.  What I wonder is planned for those priceless records which document the infrastructural development of the town over many decades.  Preserving those records is an imperative and I hope that both Council officials and public representatives have agreed on a plan of action to archive the Council records of Athy Town Council once the Council is abolished. 

I had the privilege some years ago of examining in detail the minute books of Athy Urban District Council and its predecessors, Athy Town Commissioners and Athy Borough Council back as far as 1781.  Later on I had to visit the Public Records Office in Belfast to study the earliest extant minute books of the Borough Council covering the years 1738 to 1783.  That particular Minute Book was deposited in the Belfast Public Records Office with the Fitzgerald family papers some years ago.  The whereabouts of the minute books prior to 1738 are unknown and in all probability have been lost forever.  Those missing records should prompt local authority officials and representatives to value the records still held by the Council and to ensure their preservation and secure protection for the purpose of future historical research.

Looking through details extracted by me from the minute books of the Borough Council I find a reference to the town clock in 1780 which I had previously overlooked.  William Drill was paid a handsome fee of £6 for looking after the clock, the location of which was not indicated.  That same year is recorded the orders of the Court Leet presided over by the Town Sovereign, Rev. Anthony Weldon ‘that no huckster or forestaller is to buy any commodity or goods coming into the market of Athy until such commodity or goods be brought into the public market place under the penalty of five shillings to be levied and raised by sale of the offenders goods and paid to the informer.’  Obviously the selling of goods outside the town’s market place and the consequent loss of customs and tolls was not to the Borough Council’s liking.

Another interesting reference in the Sovereign’s court records for 1786 was a direction that ‘the meat shambles be removed, they being a great nuisance.’  The shambles was located in the alleyway which ran between Andersons pub and the adjoining premises.  I noted that the Court held five years previously was called the ‘Leet Court’ but that term was not used for the 1786 Court. 

An entry in the Borough records of 1792 referred to the water running from the house of William Cahill, Kildare Street, starch manufacturer ‘having a foul smell so as to be prejudicial to the health of the inhabitants’.  Incidentally Kildare Street in 1792 is today’s Stanhope Street. 

In a recent article I mentioned clock and watchmaker Thomas Plewman.  The borough records for 1800 detail a payment of £3 to Thomas Plewman, being one year’s salary for attending to the town clock.  A similar sum was payable to John Andrews for taking care of the town’s fire engine.  On 3^rd September 1808 the Town Sovereign and the Burgesses of Athy passed a bye law requiring every boat loaded with turf passing the weir to pay a toll of ten shillings to be applied by the Sovereign in the purchase of fuel for the relief of the poor of Athy.  The Sovereign in question was Thomas J. Rawson, originally from Glasshealy, who played a major part in putting down rebellious activity around Athy and South Kildare during the 1798 Rebellion. 

I was reminded of McHugh’s Foundry which was once located in Meeting Lane when reading the following entry in the Sovereign’s Court record book of the 27^th May, 1820.  ‘We present that a forge for working iron which has been erected by Edward Moore in a house in Meeting Lane is a nuisance and not only exposed the said house but also adjoining houses, all of which are covered with timber and straw to constant danger of being consumed by fire and therefore that business of said forge should be forthwith discontinued.’  So much for early 19^th century town planning!

The written record is always an important resource for historical researchers, whether it relates to local authorities or clubs, sporting or otherwise.  I have twice in recent years been tasked with writing the history of two Athy institutions but in each case found to my horror that the records once so carefully compiled over many decades had in one case been destroyed and the other lost and never found.  I sincerely hope that the records relating to Athy Town Council and its predecessors will not suffer the same fate.