Recent deaths of Athy folks

The holiday period saw so many of our local community members pass to the other side. The sadness of their passing was heightened when contrasted with the happiness and good will which marked the holiday season. The slow funeral processions to the local cemeteries took on an even more sombre appearance than usual as the coffined remains passed by shops festooned with Christmas decorations. It was a time for reflection and a time to honour the memory of loved ones, colleagues, friends, neighbours and acquaintances whose lives on this earth had come to an end. Adam Coyle was a young man whose life was cut short of the biblical three score and ten. The turn out for his funeral was perhaps one of the largest seen in St. Michael’s Church of Ireland for some years past. May Neill, formerly May Breen of Offaly Street, lived a long-cherished life, dying just a few short years after her older sister Nan O’Rourke. Both were part of the wonderful Offaly Street neighbourhood community which provided the background to my youthful days in the street once known as Preston’s Gate. Martin Phillips passed away the week before Christmas, having fought an unsuccessful battle against a debilitating illness. I last met Martin at the official opening of the Outer Relief Road. As always Martin, despite knowing that the end was near, spoke with good cheer, exchanging laughter and good-humoured comments with myself and others. His was a courage which spoke volumes for the good life he led with an involvement in the Parish Church, the local G.A.A. Club, Irish traditional music and many other community based activities. The eulogy delivered from the church lectern by his son Martin was particularly moving and exceptional in its content and composition. Martin’s passing was soon followed by the deaths of Frank Breen and John Bracken. I first got to know Frank many years ago at a time when he worked in Peerless Rugs. He came to Athy from the northern part of Ireland and his good humour endeared him to everyone with whom he came in contact. John Bracken, whose brother Richard has done so much to revive the pipe band tradition in south Kildare, was a quiet man whose life was marked by courtesy and kindness. Just a week before Christmas day I was shocked to learn of the sudden death of Paddy Hayden, formerly of St. Patrick’s Avenue. I hadn’t met Paddy following his retirement from Tegral until approximately six months ago when on meeting in Duke Street Paddy told me of his interest in finding out why Éamon de Valera arrived in Athy to visit Ushers who then lived in Aughaboura. He said he witnessed de Valera making that visit on two occasions in the 1960s when Paddy was a young fellow living in nearby St. Patrick’s Avenue. I last met Paddy two days before he died when we discussed again the unexplained de Valera visits to Athy. Paddy’s father, after whom he was named, was a member of the local branch of the Irish Volunteers during the War of Independence. I have previously written of Paddy senior and his brother John who was also a member of the Volunteers and who was imprisoned in Portlaoise Prison following his arrest by the R.I.C. at his home in Offaly Street. Others who died during the pre and post-Christmas period included Kathleen Fenner, James Quigley, Paddy Kelly, Joe Delaney, James Fitzpatrick, Frank Gregory, Mary Mannion and Philip Maher. All were members of our local community whose passing brought sadness to many homes over the Christmas season. As I began to write this week’s Eye I learned of the death of Emma Carbery, daughter of my school mate Jerry Carbery. Emma was a young wife and mother who was actively involved in the community and her popularity was evidenced by the large numbers who attended her funeral Mass. Within days of Emma’s passing she was joined in death by Anthony Lynch, Donal Chambers and Mary O’Rourke. Mary supported her husband Dom over many years to achieve great success for the local St. Michael’s Boxing Club and was by his side when he was elected President of the Irish Amateur Boxing Association some years ago. The incomprehensibly complex relationships within a community cast their threads wide, and it is only as those threads unravel that we begin to value and appreciate the importance of the links which bring us together as a community. The passing of so many members of our local community in the weeks before and after the festive season of Christmas brought sorrowful loss not only to families and family relations but to the wider community. My sympathies to the families and relations of those who have gone from us in those past few weeks.

Launch of 'Pictorial History of Catholic Education in Athy'

Long forgotten memories of my school days in the Christian Brothers School off St. John’s Lane were recalled when I attended the launch in Ardscoil na Tríonóide of a pictorial history of Catholic secondary education in Athy on Thursday evening last. I attended school at a time when unemployment was rife, wages were low and free secondary education was unknown. The three roomed secondary school off St. John’s Lane was more than sufficiently large to accommodate the pupils who walked up the iron staircase for the daily classes. We had to make that journey six days a week as school attendance at secondary level in the 1950s required a half day in the classroom on Saturdays. Those Saturday morning classes were somewhat offset by sporting activities on Wednesday afternoons when we played Gaelic football in Geraldine Park. Gaelic football was the only sporting activity facilitated and encouraged by the Christian Brothers. How different from the present-day secondary school, Ardscoil na Tríonóide, a combination of the former Christian Brothers boys’ school and the Sisters of Mercy girls school. Today the sporting activities offered by Ardscoil na Tríonóide include soccer, rugby, camogie, basketball, badminton, athletics and of course Gaelic football and hurling. I was quite astonished by the breadth of extra-curricular activities available to today’s secondary students. The size of the educational campus at the Ardscoil is related to the announcement made in 1967 by the then Minister for Education, Donagh O’Malley of free education for all. Up to then the small three roomed secondary school in Athy was more than adequate to cater for the number of boys undergoing secondary education. Similar facilities for girls were provided by the Sisters of Mercy at Mount St. Marys. The amalgamation of the boys’ and girls’ secondary schools and the growth and demand for secondary education in Athy and district has created student numbers of approximately 850 in the present-day classrooms with staff numbers of approximately 80. These figures are a far cry from the numbers in both the boys’ and girls’ secondary school when I sat my Leaving Certificate Examination in 1960. The Christian Brothers school had four teachers – two Christian Brothers and two lay teachers, one of whom was the much-admired Liam Ryan, a teacher who encouraged and inspired his pupils. I recall how proud we young students were in 1958 when under the leadership of our classmate, Mick O’Neill, we founded our own new club, Cara, later re-named Aontas Ogra. It was for several years our only club activity during our school years and pales into insignificance in comparison to the school club activities of present-day students. Book club, craft club, computer club, chess club, cinealtas club and social justice club are just a few of the school club activities involving today’s students of Ardscoil na Tríonóide. The pictorial history of Ardscoil na Tríonóide is quite a magnificent publication recording in photographs and in words elements of the stories from two secondary schools which came together in 2007 as Ardscoil na Tríonóide. The editors of the book, teachers Sean Ryan and Andrew Behan have done a fine job in producing the book, ‘Through the Lens of Learning’. I was particularly moved by the contribution of a former pupil, Jamie Merrin, who started his secondary schooling in August 2011. As he explained it was a major step for him as he has Down Syndrome, but as his older brother was in Ardscoil na Tríonóide he wanted to attend there. He described his time in the secondary school as the ‘best years of my life. The help and support I received was outstanding. I always felt I was part of the team and class and this is something which was very important to me.’ No better tribute can be paid to the teachers and the staff at Ardscoil na Tríonóide than Jamie Merrin’s claim that ‘every member of the school community is cherished and respected.’ On the launch night we heard from a number of speakers, including the present principal Imelda Whelan. The Sisters of Mercy were represented by Sr. Concepta accompanied by her colleague, Sister Colette King and it was particularly relevant that Sr. Concepta addressed the audience and spoke of the contribution of the Sisters of Mercy to education in Athy. Sadly, there was no representative from the Christian Brothers at the launch but those of us who benefitted from the work of the Sisters of Mercy or the Christian Brothers as educationalists will never forget how in difficult times they afforded us the opportunities to better ourselves. The book will be available for sale in local shops and would be an ideal Christmas present for the thousands of past pupils who passed through the doors of the school.