Athy's G.F.C. Victory in 2025 Senior County Championship Final and Memories of past victories

What a wonderful victory Athy Senior footballers achieved over the footballers of Naas in the Kildare Senior Championship Final of 2025. The Naas champions had won the County Final for the previous four years and were understandably firm favourites to add a fifth consecutive championship title to their record. Athy last played Naas in a Senior County Championship final which was played on the 4th May 1924 in Newbridge. Naas won on that occasion scoring 2:5 against the Athy teams’ failure to raise a green or white flag during the game. I was puzzled when I first saw the scoreline knowing that Athy had won the Junior Championship in 1907 and lost the junior title final in 1913 to Naas by four points. My puzzlement was understandable when one considers the good footballers who played for Athy in that 1923 Senior Final. Players such as Eddie ‘Sapper’ O’Neill who later captained a New York team which defeated All Ireland Champions Kerry. ‘Sapper’, it was claimed, was also a sub on the County Kildare Senior team defeated in the 1919 All Ireland. He continued to play for the County until April 1923. Myra Grant, Jim Clancy, Tom Forrestal and the Moore brothers Tom and John, all good players, were also members of the Athy team in 1924. Michael Mahon who also played that day is believed to have been a sub on the 1919 All Ireland winning Kildare County team. The 1923 County Final defeat remains a mystery, and it is perhaps explained in a subsequent press report which read ‘The performance of the Athy Jazz Band who paraded in fancy dress before the match was more memorable than that of the injury hit football team.’ That defeat of almost 100 years ago is now laid to rest with Athy’s wonderful victory in Newbridge last week. I have not so far been able to confirm Michael Mahon’s All Ireland medal which I’m told was given to a relation who lived in Kilcullen after he emigrated to America. If Michael’s All Ireland medal is confirmed, he was one of only two Athy Club players to have possibly won Senior All Ireland medals prior to last Sunday. This year’s Athy Championship winning team included an All-Ireland winner in Cathal McCarron who played for Tyrone in the successful All Ireland Championship win of 2008. Cathal, who was a defender on the Athy team on Sunday, played a hugely important part in Athy’s victory scoring two points from play. Another All-Ireland medal holder was Brian Smith, a member of the Louth All Ireland Winning Team of 1957 who lived and worked in Athy for a number of years. However, he played his local football with Castlemitchell. Unfortunately, we don’t have any local All Ireland medal holders except possibly the earlier mentioned Eddie ‘Sapper’ O’Neill and Michael Mahon. We do, however, have wonderful footballers, many of whom have family links with previous generations who also played with Athy. In my article which appeared a week or so before this year’s final, I referred to those family connections. Amongst those I mentioned was Pat Dunne, a member of the Athy management team. Pat’s grand uncle Barney Dunne was the winner of four Senior County Championship medals while playing for Athy in the 1930’s. His teammate Paul Matthews was also the winner of four Championship medals although I was not aware of this until quite recently. Both men, now deceased, were important leaders of the Athy Senior teams during the club’s goldens age of the 1930s which saw Athy win Senior Championship Finals in 1933, 1934, 1937 and 1942. The Athy club subsequently went through lean years which saw Athy defeated in the opening rounds of the Senior County Championships every year between 1947 and 1953. The club lost it’s senior status soon afterwards and would play at junior and intermediate level for some years. The club would wait for 45 years to win another Senior Championship with a win in the 1987 final when the team led by Mick Fennelly beat Johnstown Bridge on the score 2:9 to 0:9. The next time we saw success was in 2011 when the Athy team was captained by Michael Foley, an All Star player, followed by a welcome victory in 2020 when the team Captain was David Hyland who also captained this year’s team. The family links between the members of this year’s winning team and past teams is well defined and recognised. One such link is that of young Colm Moran whose father also called Colm played for Athy and County Kildare for many years. I mention Colm Junior because of his extraordinary scoring record in the quarter finals of this year’s Championship when he scored an incredible three goals and eight points. Congratulations to all the players on the Athy football panel, whether you played in the final or not. You were all an important part of the team throughout the Championship and during training. Congratulations also to the team’s management of Conor Ronan, Paddy Dunne, Ross Bell and James Eaton.

Provision of escalator at Athy Railway Station reminds us of fatal accident at the Station on 5 February, 1884

Work on the escalator to facilitate rail passengers changing platforms at Athy Railway Station seems to be complete. It is the latest improvement to the railway station which was first opened in 1846 with the arrival of a through train on its journey from Dublin to Carlow. For some time in the latter part of the 19th century the local railway station had considerable trouble with newsboys, amongst whom there was great rivalry and who were constantly attempting to cross the railway lines on the arrival of newspaper trains from Dublin. On 5th February 1884 tragedy struck at Athy Railway Station when a young news vendor was killed while attempting to cross the tracks. At that time the station had no footbridge, forcing persons to climb down onto the railway lines to reach the opposite platform. Local newspapers reported the accident and noted that local outrage reached Westminster Parliament where the matter was raised on 4th March 1886. The President of the Board of Trade confirmed to his fellow Parliamentarians that a footbridge was already being erected at the Athy Station. It came too late for 20-year-old John Hamilton who was killed by the Kilkenny train within 20 yards of the railway bridge at approximately 5 minutes to 9 on the morning of Friday, 5th February 1884. He suffered serious injuries and was immediately brought to the station’s first-class waiting room where he was attended by the two local doctors, Dr. Patrick O’Neill, Dr. Kilbride and F.J. Minchin, a local chemist. The injured man’s right arm was amputated while in the waiting room, following which he was transferred to the local workhouse infirmary that evening. He died on Saturday night and the inquest into his death was held in the Workhouse Master’s Office the following Monday afternoon. Dr. Patrick O’Neill, who was Coroner for South Kildare, and also physician and surgeon to the workhouse, was legally incapacitated from acting as Coroner on this occasion and Dr. Smith, Coroner for North Kildare, sas appointed in his place. The Coroners Court heard that as the Dublin train arrived with newspapers, John Hamilton attempted to cross the railway lines as the train was entering the station. Hamilton was seemingly unaware of the approach of the Kilkenny train which struck him. Sergeant Griffin of the local R.I.C. gave evidence of being at the railway station on Friday morning. He was standing on the steps leading to the platform and the station master, Mr. J. O’Connor, was near him. As the train from Dublin was coming into the station the deceased was standing on the steps a few feet in front of him. When the train arrived Hamilton ran to get behind it after one or two of the carriages had passed. Hamilton was obliged to go down to the platform to get behind the train. As the Kilkenny train arrived Sergeant Griffin saw Hamilton wavering on the edge of the platform and stooping forward as if he could not recover himself. He fell forward and the train buffer struck Hamilton before he got on the rail tracks. The Coroner said he understood the deceased was a poor lad and the only support of his mother. It was a wonder to him that more deaths did not occur. It seemed strange, he said, that a very important and a prosperous town like Athy should not be treated in a more liberal way by the railway company. The jury, the foreman of which was T. Byrne, Town Commissioner, gave as its verdict ‘that the deceased John Hamilton died from paralysis caused by a blow from the buffer of the railway engine at Athy station on Friday, 5th February. We consider that the railway company have not at present provided proper provision for the protection of life at Athy station and that therefore a bridge crossing should be erected without delay.’ The proposal to build a foot bridge at Athy station was apparently before the Directors of the Railway Company for a considerable period and we are told that soon following the accident a contract was entered into for the erection of a foot bridge. The bridge was constructed in Germiston, Glasgow by the Arrol Brothers Iron Works and installed at Athy station sometime in 1886. Another Arrol link with Athy is the Arrol Johnson motor car of 1903 vintage which is on display in the Shackleton Museum. John Hamilton, having died in the local workhouse, was more than likely buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery where he rests in an unmarked grave amongst hundreds of deceased workhouse inmates and a lesser number of deceased patients from St. Vincent’s Hospital.

Clonmullion A.F.C., Grangenolvin G.F.C. and Athy G.F.C. - Winners All

Sport wise it has been a remarkably good few weeks for clubs in south Kildare. Clonmullion A.F.C. are once again Lumsden Cup champions after a two goal to one goal victory over Kildare town. The club, founded in 1995, has brought professionalism to the playing of soccer which has attracted praise and excited supporters for quite some time. I recall writing an article some years ago on Clunmullion’s key player, Cody Mulhall, who continues to play and star with the club. He has been joined by many other excellent players who have combined to make the club one of the best provincial soccer clubs in the midlands. Our neighbours, Grangenolvin Gaelic Football Club, recently won the Junior Championship final. I visited the Grangenolvin club grounds recently to watch two of my granddaughters play in a Gaelic football match. I was impressed by the playing facilities in Grangenolvin, even if to my disappointment the local team were obliterated by a very skilful Leixlip team. I could not but recall three great Grangenolvin players of the past who are still remembered by older generations. Mick Carolan, whose first appearance on the Kildare senior team was in 1958 in the N.F.L. divisional final played in Carlow against Tipperary, was a Grangenolvin club member. Other superb footballers from the same club were the late Johnny Morrissey who sadly passed away at a relatively young age and the late Johnny Miller. An unusual aspect of this year’s Grangenolvin winning team was the number of brothers on the team and on the panel. The four Bergins, Oran, Cillian, Fionn and Conall, were joined by two Doyles, two Cullens, two Dooleys and two Bowens, making what I believe is a unique team combination. Indeed, I doubt if there is any Gaelic team in rural Ireland consisting of four brothers who have won a championship final. The man of the match award went to Conall Bergin. St. Laurence’s Gaelic Football Club clenched their first title since 2016 when the club’s ladies won the Kildare L.G.F.A. senior title. At the same time the club’s men’s footballers qualified for the intermediate final against Sallins. The club won it’s first Kildare senior football title in 2009 after losing four senior finals between 1982 and 2005. Athy Gaelic senior players’ success against Sarsfields in this year’s county championship semi-final was perhaps the story of the week, for an Athy ‘blow in’ at least. Athy faces Naas in the final, with the latter club chasing five in a row county titles, which undoubtedly puts Naas in the position of favourites to win out. Let’s hope the young Colm Moran who scored a whopping 3 goals and 8 points in the quarter final is at the top of his form. Colm’s father, also named Colm, played in the Kildare County team and was on the Athy team which won the championship in 1987. Also on the 1987 winning team was Sean McGovern, whose two sons, Shane and Liam, feature on this year’s panel, as do Niall, Barry and Brian Kelly, whose father Joe also won a championship medal alongside Sean McGovern. Ben Purcell is a son of Shane Purcell and Tony Gibbons’ father, of the same name as the player, completes the link between the winning team of 1987 and the finalists, hopefully the winners, of 2025. David Hyland, who captained the 2020 winning Athy team, and who captains this year’s team, is joined on the Athy senior team by his brother Mark. The team management consists of Ross Bell, Conor Ronan, James Eaton and Patrick Dunne, all of whom won senior champion medals in 2011. Patrick is the grand-nephew of the legendary Barney Dunne who was the only Athy player to win four senior championship medals while playing for Athy in the 1930s. Two of the most famous footballers who played for Athy were the late Danny Flood and Mick Carolan. Mick had started at juvenile level for Athy and was on the Athy team which won the minor championship in 1956 and the league in 1957. He was selected for the county senior team in 1957 and remained a county team member until 1974. He made 134 county appearances for Kildare seniors over 17 years and played alongside Athy players Danny Flood, Brendan Kehoe, Liam O’Shea and Mick Coughlan. He won two Railway Cup medals with Leinster, but sadly did not win a Leinster medal playing on the losing Kildare teams in 1966 and three subsequent Leinster finals. The Athy club was in the doldrums for much of Mick’s football career, but he assisted the club to regain club status in 1974. Mick also played for Grangenolvin for a short period and was perhaps the most famous footballer ever to don the Grangenolvin jersey. It's a remarkable sporting coincidence which sees four sporting clubs from South Kildare doing so well this year. The Clonmullion Soccer Club are well accustomed to winning trophies but for Athy G.F.C., St. Laurence’s G.F.C. and Grangenolvin G.F.C. it is not a regular feature. Let’s hope the Gods are kind to Athy on the day of the final as I write this article a few days before the match is played. Good luck to David Hyland and his team mates.

The story of Athy's Museum Society and the establishment of the Shackleton Museum

On Friday, 10th October at 11.00 a.m., the Shackleton Museum will officially be opened by the Minister for Rural Community Development and the Gaeltacht Dara Calleary T.D. whose Department provided substantial funding for the redevelopment of the Town Hall. It was in February 1983 that a public meeting, called for the courthouse, resulted in the setting up of Athy’s Museum Society. The vast majority of those who attended that meeting and who paid the membership fee of ten pounds each are no longer with us. It is important that the names of those original members of Athy Museum Society should be recorded and their contribution to the development of our understanding of Athy’s cultural and heritage past be acknowledged. Those persons who came together over forty years ago were Pat Mulhall, Ger Moriarty, Dick Norris, Patsy O’Neill, Mick Rowan, Megan Maguire, Frank English, Pat Doyle, Noreen Ryan, Denis Smyth, Joe May, Thomas Prendergast, Donal Murphy, Michael Wall and Jack Lawler. Following a lecture in the Leinster Arms Hotel on the 21st March 1983, further locals joined the Society including Tommy Keegan, Ken Sale, Dermot Murphy, John Mahon and his family, Claire Behan, Jens Priesler and his wife May. The above are the people who gave their support when it was most needed, for without their support there would have been no heritage town status, no museum in the various venues used over the years and certainly no Shackleton Museum. The contribution of Kildare County Council officials cannot be overlooked. It was Gerry Ward, Kildare County Manager, who in response to my letter replied on the 20th July 1983 confirming that he was prepared to recommend to the Council that a room in the Town Hall be made available to the Museum Society. He proved true to his word for some years later the Town Hall caretaker’s accommodation became free and the Society’s Museum, which up to then was located in a vacant classroom of Mount St. Mary’s, transferred to the Town Hall building. The kindness of the Sisters of Mercy in providing the Mount St. Mary’s room free of charge must be acknowledged. The Museum Society’s involvement in obtaining ‘Heritage Town’ status for Athy is well known, as was the use by the Society and Kildare County Council of the monies then awarded by the Department in the redevelopment of the ground floor of the Town Hall. It was at this stage of the Museum’s development that the Museum Society, a voluntary organisation, gave way to a company limited by guarantee, Athy Heritage Company Limited. It’s Directors were still volunteers. It was those volunteers, who in conjunction with the Shackleton Autumn School, embarked on the next stage of the Museum’s development as the Shackleton Museum. Going through my papers, I was interested to find reports from Patrick Shaffrey, Architect and Town Planner, and another report from Paul Kane, Consulting Engineer regarding Athy’s Town Hall. The Shaffrey Report dated September 1982 showed his concern that the building ‘now presents a rather sorry appearance’ and that ‘the demolition of such a fine building would be a sad and irreplaceable loss to the architectural heritage of Athy and would change radically the appearance of the centre of the town.’ The Kane Structural Report sought by the local branch of An Taisce noted that while the building had deteriorated while occupied by the fire brigade and Athy Urban District Council, it was generally structurally sound with minor problems, all related to the maintenance of the roof. It is quite possible that use of the Town Hall as a Heritage Centre and later on as a Museum saved the Town Hall because Athy Urban District Council had previously discussed its demolition to create more parking spaces in the town centre. Throughout this article, I have consistently referred to the Shackleton Museum, although Kildare County Council now reference the ‘Shackleton Experience’. To me it will always be the Shackleton Museum. Despite this, I must acknowledge the excellent work done by several heads of Kildare County Council in relation to the museum. First amongst those officials was the late Gerry Ward, County Manager, who believed in the Museums Society’s drive for a museum in Athy and who helped whenever he could. Peter Carey, whom I invited to open the Shackleton Autumn School soon after he took up the position of C.E.O. of Kildare County Council, was extremely helpful and facilitated the financing and erection of the Shackleton statue, the purchase of the ship cabin in which Shackleton died, and several other Shackleton artefacts which now form part of the museum’s display material. The current Chief Executive, Sonya Kavanagh, and her senior staff took the opportunity to take over responsibility of financing and running the Shackleton Museum from the volunteers who had held administrative control for over forty years. The journey which started in February 1983 continues today. Sadly, many of the men and women I have mentioned earlier who shared a dream did not live to see this day.