Athy's Building Heritage

Athy is home to many fine buildings, some more important than others because of their history and their links with the town’s story, stretching back in some cases for centuries. Understandably, we can all take pride in the best laid out square or plaza in the County of Kildare with the backdrop of the early 18th century Town Hall. That fine building has survived despite an attempt by some members of the local Urban Council in the 1970s to have it demolished in order to provide additional parking facilities in the town centre. Other buildings which once were important in the context of a developing medieval village are Woodstock Castle and the church built outside the town walls which we now know as the ‘Crickeen’. Both buildings have suffered from the ravages of time, with the castle at Woodstock mercifully fenced off in recent years to protect what remains of an important part of our medieval built heritage. The ‘Crickeen’, through the good offices of Kildare County Council using taxpayers money and business rates, was the subject of recent conservation work which will ensure the preservation of Athy’s first secular church for the immediate future. Woodstock Castle needs similar attention and hopefully the Heritage Office of Kildare Co. Co. in conjunction with the National Monuments Committee of that Council will give the conservation of Woodstock Castle some priority. The Town Hall, Woodstock Castle and the ‘Crickeen’ are important buildings in terms of Athy’s historical past, but none of them can equal the importance of Athy’s most iconic building – Whites Castle or the White Castle, depending on which authority you rely. The town’s trademark is the castle and the bridge, one standing on the east bank of the river Barrow, the other the only access way to the ‘wild Irish’ on the Laois side of the county. The bridge, built in 1796 by the master mason James Delehunt and his team of helpers, figured prominently, as did Whites Castle, during the 1798 rebellion. Seven young men who were jailed in Whites Castle at the start of the rebellion were marched over the newly built bridge and hanged at the basin of the Grand Canal. Two of them were beheaded and their heads put on the top of Whites Castle. The local militia during the summer of ’98 apparently amused themselves by firing at the two heads from the middle of the bridge. As you pass Whites Castle today take a look at the Earl of Kildare’s coat of arms carved on a large stone slab and placed there when the bridge was opened. The militia in 1798 smashed the flagstone bearing the coat of arms and the damage is still visible today. Five years later at the start of the Robert Emmet rebellion, Nicholas Grey, a Wexford man who was then living in nearby Rockfield House, was arrested and lodged in Whites Castle jail. He had been appointed by Robert Emmet to lead the County Kildare men to Dublin, but was arrested before he could do so. Whites Castle has been involved in so many other important events in Irish history. The Confederate War saw the Royalists, the Confederates and the Parliamentarians vying for control of Athy and the castle protecting the bridge over the river Barrow. This meant that Whites Castle and Woodstock Castle were under constant attack. That the castle survived is in itself a miracle, although Woodstock Castle was effectively abandoned following the Confederate War. Whites Castle was repaired after it was badly damaged during the same war and in or about 1800 was extended to provide additional accommodation including prison cells. Our castle on the bridge has stood for over 600 years, but sadly it is today looking neglected. It looks unsafe with early 19th century chimney stacks looking positively unstable. The building remains closed having been purchased in recent years. I was contacted by the purchaser soon after she bought the castle and given her previous involvement in the restoration of another important building in the south of the country, I was hopeful that the same would happen here. I have been disappointed on so many occasions when it comes to Whites Castle. I had hoped that when the castle first came on the market that the then Urban District Council would acquire it. The Council members publicly expressed interest, but regrettably the matter was not pursued. The castle came on the market again a few years later and despite a huge reduction in the asking price the Town Council again failed to act to ensure public ownership of Athy’s most important building. It was resold for the third time in recent years, with again no attempt this time by Kildare County Council to acquire Whites Castle. It is rather shameful that none of the local authorities acted on any of the three occasions to acquire Whites Castle and allow it to be developed as a local museum, cum Fitzgerald Museum. This iconic building must not be allowed to become a ruin. It lies idle while the possible development of the town centre castle as another element of the town’s tourist development remains unfulfilled.