Death marks our lives, whether as family members or members
of a community, by its inevitability and its regularity. As we grow older we cannot but realise the
sense of loss as relations, friends and acquaintances pass to the other side,
sometimes not having reached the biblical three score and ten. During the past week I attended the funerals
of several persons who as members of our local community have in their own way
contributed to the life of Athy and its people.
Maureen Kelly, formerly Maureen Moloney, died at 88 years of age and
shared with me and three of her siblings, the birth date of May 12th. Maureen came from an old Athy family with
connections by marriage to other old Athy families, the Perses, the Kellys and
the Phillips’. The eldest of 4 sons and
6 daughters of Richard Moloney and Mary Perse, her mother’s brother Edward (Ned)
Perse was the father of 21 children. Her
brother Brendan was a school mate of mine in the local Christian Brothers
School and her eldest son Richard is the past Captain of Athy Golf Club where
he has been one of the club’s most skilful golfers in recent years.
Maureen was a well-known and well-liked member of the local
community who was widowed 17 years ago following the death of her husband Dick
Kelly. Dick was the brother of Dolly
Phillips who died recently at 92 years of age.
The Moloney, Phillips, Kelly and Perse families are part of the community
fabric of the South Kildare area for decades past and the passing of another
member of that extended family group is a sad loss for us all.
Our community is ever changing, death not being the only factor
in that regard. As a settlement
extending back over 800 years the town of Athy has witnessed over the years the
arrival and the departure of families who settled here. I am reminded as I write these lines that I
am myself one such settler, the Taaffe family having arrived here in 1945. St. Michael’s Cemetery is the final resting
place of my father, mother and brother Seamus and it is the resting place, as
is St. John’s, Ardreigh and Geraldine cemeteries, of many of those native and non-natives
of Athy, who were part of our community in the past.
Albert Rotherham, a native son of Belfast, who arrived in Athy
almost forty years ago with his wife Mary, died last week. He was buried in St. Michael’s cemetery
alongside Paddy Begley, a former workmate of his in Borden, who also passed
away that same week. Both men were part
of that great life exchange which sees some young persons born and educated in
Athy migrate to other parts of the country or emigrate overseas while the town welcomes
strangers who in time become an integral part of our local community. Such were Albert and Paddy and my neighbour
in Ardreigh, the County Clare born Maureen Cunnane, who passed away
recently. The life blood of any
community is constantly being revived and renewed as the movement of persons
inspired by the the search for employment brings new faces to our town while other
once familiar faces disappear. Albert Rotherham and Paddy Begley worked
together in Borden and were members of the Borden basketball team in the
1980s. Albert played a prominent role
with Brother Joseph Quinn and Leon Kenny in the formation of Athy’s Basketball
Club. He was at different times
Secretary, Chairman and Treasurer of the club and was particularly proud of having
trained Athy’s under 16 basketball team which won a national title at the
Community Games held in Mosney.
Athy as an urban settlement owes its origins to French
speaking Anglo Normans of the 12th century. Over the succeeding centuries it has been
home to an ever-changing community of men, women and children, many of whom
were settlers from overseas. All of them
in their own way, good or bad, contributed to the sense of community and
wellbeing of a people who live together in what was a small provincial town.
The ever-changing pattern of life in Athy continues to be
reflected in the changing population which saw Albert Rotherham, Pat Begley and
Maureen Cunnane become members of a community where the Kelly, Perse, Moloney
and Phillips families have been ensconced for generations past. Our lives are entwined and no matter from
where we came, the place where we chose to pitch our last tent is home and it
is from there that we make our final journey.
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