One of my earliest memories is of walking with my older brothers to the huge fire which broke out at the Wallboard factory in April 1949. I...

It is close on 29 years ago that I penned my first Eye on the Past. This week the 1500th article is printed and I want to take the opportun...

In 1841 Athy had the largest population of any town in County Kildare. With 4,980 persons living within the town boundaries, it exceeded th...

The worst effects of the famine which had ravaged Ireland following the failure of the potato crop in 1845 had abated by the time 1853 arriv...

Two important books arrived on my desk in the last week, both of them with listings of men who served our neighbouring country at a time whe...

During twelve months of lockdown we have witnessed a catastrophic change in the commercial life of our town and district. Local businesses h...

Last week’s Kildare Nationalist carried a news item concerning White’s Castle and an announcement of the forthcoming auction of what was des...

Fr. Philip is dead. The news of the passing of the Pastor Emeritus passed quickly through St. Michael’s parish. There was sadness at the p...

Members of Kildare Archaeological Society visited Athy on Saturday last for a guided tour of the medieval and post medieval built heritage o...

One of the pleasures of writing a weekly newspaper column, which is made available on the internet, is the many queries one receives from ar...

Many of you, like myself, got a letter from the HSE a week or so ago informing us of the retirement of Dr. Giles O’Neill from 11th June. Me...

Four generations of the O’Neill family have provided medical care for the people of Athy and South Kildare, as well as patients in the insti...

Patrick Whelan, Ned Gleeson, Liam Langton, John Langton, Keith Langton, Martin Langton, Pascal Lacey, Ger Gibson and Nessa O’Meara Cardiff. ...

One of the interesting magazines published in Ireland in the aftermath of the Act of Union was the Irish Magazine. Edited by the notorious ...

In December 1797 a man who would be responsible for betraying the society of the United Irishmen in south Kildare and Leinster and the impri...

One of the interesting magazines published in Ireland in the aftermath of the Act of Union was the Irish Magazine. Edited by the notorious ...

In Eye on the Past No. 1513 I wrote of the Peoples Park and suggested that the Park provided for the people of Athy by Augustus Frederick Fi...

The Nationalist and Leinster Times of December 17th 1955 under the headline ‘Bord Failte foots the Bill’ reported on that week’s Athy Urban ...

We are about to celebrate the centenary of the founding of our police force, a celebration which would throw up memories good and bad for ev...

Started in 2008 the National Famine Commemoration Day gives the Irish people one dedicated day each year to reflect on one of the most signi...

We are told that history is written by the victors. Not always it seems, as evidenced by the recent publicity surrounding the “tossing of t...