The material which follows was extracted from an article on Athy and its industries which appeared in the Leinster Leader in March 1898. The references to the Mills and the Brickworks are of historical interest given that both industries have long disappeared.
“The industries of Athy, as they exist today are not numerous, but they are fairly flourishing. The flour, Indian meal and oatmeal mills of Messrs H. Hannon and Sons constitute by far the most important industry of the district. There are three mills-the Ardreigh (Athy) mills, in which flour alone is manufactured; the Plumperstown mills, also used for the manufacture of flour, and the Athy mills devoted solely to the manufacture of Indian meal.
The Ardreigh Mills were purchased from the Messrs Haughton in 1895, and since then they have been gradually growing in popular esteem, so that their present proprietors have been able to look back upon over two years of continued prosperity. During last year over 8,500 barrels of wheat were manufactured into flour of every quality-Acme, Champion, Rollo Firsts, X L and Prime Foreign for bakers, and Extra Firsts, Prime Irish Retailers (patents) Households, Seconds, Thirds, and Wholemeal for retailers. Practically all the wheat consumed in Athy comes from the flour mills of Ardreigh of the Messrs. Hannon, whilst an extensive trade is also carried on with Athy, Stradbally, Castlecomer, Monasterevan, Kildare, Portarlington, and Edenderry.
Of the total quantity of wheat manufactured in the mills last year 1,000 were native-grown. This has given such an impetus to the wheat growing industry in the district that it is calculated that the acreage under this cereal has been trebled this year. The farmers are well satisfied with the price they obtained, and have resolved to devote a larger area to the cultivation of this grain in future. No wheat produces such a white flour as the native, and the best results are obtained mixing it in small proportions with the foreign article. The Messrs. Hannon find that they not alone are able to compete with, but that they are able to beat foreign producers and manufacturers in fair competition in the open market. This is saying something for Irish enterprise, and covers an idea of the era of prosperity, which might be established, did the example of the Messrs. Hannon meet with a more general emulation. Certainly we would be considered the richer did less bags bearing the well-known brand "San Francisco, U.S.A.," enter the country. The mills were fitted up with the most modern machinery by Henry Simon, of Manchester. I got my information with regard to them from Mr. H. Hannon who waxed enthusiastic over the great benefits, which would accrue to the country from the establishment of industries on a large scale. The manager of the mills, Mr. Price, explained to me the process of manufacture in a most lucid and intelligent manner. Writing towards the end of the last century a celebrated doctor and litterateur gave expression to the statement-"The bread of Nice is very indifferent, and, I am persuaded, very unwholesome. The flour is generally musty and not quite free of sand. This is either owing to the particles of millstone rubbed in grinding, or to what adheres to the corn itself on being threshed on the common ground." Well, as regards the Ardreigh Mills there’s no danger of sand entering the composition of flour manufactured therein, as, the wheat goes through a most elaborate cleaning process, whilst as to mill-stones-none exist-they have been long since discarded. The wheat arrives by barge on the Grand Canal, and Mr. Price explained how it is then placed in elevators, thence to the receiving separator, where the dirt is removed by a preliminary cleaning. The separator is known as the Ureka Dustless Receiving Separator, and can treat 100 barrels of grain in an hour. It is then placed on the various lofts for storage, and subsequently drawn off and mixed to produce the different qualities of flour required. It is then again drawn off and cleaned by a "Dustless Milling Separator," is transferred thence to a divider, next to the cockle and barley cylinders of which there are eight, after which it is thoroughly washed by a scourer. It then goes to a whizzer, where it receives a partial drying. The damp in completely expelled by a Simon Dryer-a patent which is to be found in very few Irish mills, and which dispenses with the old tedious system of kiln drying. The dryer is about 50 feet long, and extending from the bottom of the building upwards, and whilst the wheat which is conveyed from the whizzer by means of an elevator, falls gradually through an opening in which it is played upon by hot currents of air. It falls from the dryer into bins, where it is allowed to remain for a few hours, after which it receives a final cleaning by a brush machine. The final stages in process of manufacture are quickly got through. The corn goes successively through brakes, scalpers, and purifiers, when finally the flour and semolina are separated from each other by a centripetal dressing machine. In the mills the most perfect cleanliness was observed. Mention must be made of the courtesy and business tact of the managing clerk, Mr. Dobbin, to whose energy and resource not a little of the success which has attended the firm is owing. About twenty men are constantly employed in the mills.
The Plumperstown Mills
During last year 9,338 barrels of wheat were manufactured into flour in the above mills. The principal markets are Carlow, Tullow, Baltinglass, and Castledermot. The price paid for wheat in this and in the Ardreigh mills last year was £1 0s 6d per barrel. With this the farmers were well pleased, and the result is that the stimulus afforded through purchasing has induced them to treble the area under the growth this year. Four hundred tons of Indian corn were manufactured into meal last year.
The Athy Mills
In Athy Mills [located in what is now Edmund Rice Square] 400 tons of Indian corn were treated last year, whilst a large quantity of oats was also manufactured into meal. There are, of course, separate mill wheels for the manufacture of Indian Meal. The best patent oat meal, flaked meal, and mixed meal are manufactured and the flaked is packed neatly and conveniently in cotton bags in weights of a stone, a half stone, and a quarter stone.
The Brickworks
The Brick-making industry in the district received an important impetus in the year ’93, prior to which it had become well nigh paralysed owing to the competition carried on by English firms under more advantageous circumstances. Before ’93 it was found that the sale of home made bricks in the district was gradually declining. This was owing to two causes. One was that the machine made bricks of England were larger and therefore more economical for building purposes, and the other that the new and improved process of manufacture by machinery gave the manufacturers or vendors an opportunity of placing on the market an article at the minimum price. In ’93, however, the thinking men of the district put their heads together, and with the co-operation of friends outside, formed a company to manufacture bricks on the newest and most improved methods, and a sum of £120,000 has since been expended on machinery and buildings on a site on the Monasterevan road at the northern side of the town. Mr. Maurice Dominick, J. P., Great George’s street, Cork, is Chairman of the Company; Mr. Joseph Doyle, Curragh Camp, V. C. , Mr. Thomas A. Seagrave, late manager of the Hibernian Bank, Athy, and Mr. Robert Anderson, Castlemitchell, being other directors. Mr. S. Telford, T.C., a gentleman who takes a deep interest in the fostering of local industries, is Managing Director. Mr. Anthony Reeves, the courteous secretary and general business manager, took me over the extensive premises and explained the process of manufacture from the time the clay is wheeled from the field in lorries until the bricks come forth burned and ready for the market. About forty men are in constant employment throughout the year, and an average of £50 weekly is paid in salaries and wages. The working men earn from 10s to 20s per week, and as the work is perfectly healthy it can easily be seen what a boon such an industry is in the district. Mr. Reeves spoke in the highest terms of the treatment his company received from the Great Southern and Western Railway. Prior to ’93 the rate was 15s; it is now only 6s, this concession being made by the railway people in order to assist in the development of the industry. The railway company are also going to run a siding from the railway up to the brickworks, a distance of 400 yards. With a preferential rate and an article than which no better can, in the opinion of experts, be placed on the market, it is no wonder that the industry is developing. Although the weekly output of bricks amounts to 80,000 Mr. Reeves assured me that the supply was quite unequal to the demand. The principal market is Dublin, where the products of the company are now used by all the leading builders. The National Bank, Rathmines, at present in course of construction, is being built by bricks manufactured by the company. Octagon, bull-nose, and every variety of moulded brick are made. The five huge tanks on the premises are capable of holding material sufficient to manufacture 400,000 bricks. Those to which we have referred are the principal industries of Athy. The good they do could only be thoroughly understood and appreciated should they but cease to exist for a month. Mr. Plewman is an active member of the Town Commission of which he is Chairman. He has taken a prominent part in organising the fairs and markets, and does much to add to the general weal.”
Showing posts with label Hannon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hannon. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Eye on the Past 728
In all the years I have lived in Athy I never, that is before Sunday last, spent any time boating or canoeing on the River Barrow or the Grand Canal. All that changed last week when in deference to my age I was invited to take part in a canoe trip on the river during Age Action Week. It's extraordinary to think that many of us reared within stone throwing distance of a river or a canal bank never took a boat trip up or down either waterway. It was as if we had turned our backs on the water corridors in much the same way as had the local house builders of the past who kept the dwellings of the local people as far away as possible from waters edge. Indeed the houses in Athy had their backs to the river and it was only the canal stores of the early 1800's which embraced the man made canal to form a pleasant and harmonious setting which survives to this day.
Last Sunday a couple of elderly and not quite so elderly males, each chaperoned by a young skilled canoeist, set out from the slip at Rathstewart to travel on the river to Levitstown. As we approached Crom A Boo Bridge we passed over the site of the weir which once ran across the Barrow almost opposite St. Michael's Parish Church. It had been put there to divert water into the millrace which powered the mill at the town centre bridge. The last owners of the mill were the Hannons of Ardreigh and the closure of the mill in or around 1924 gave the Barrow Drainage Board an opportunity to dredge the river and remove the weir. Many of you, I'm sure, will have seen photographs of the Barrow Drainage Scheme of the 1920's and particularly the photograph of the workmen standing in the river bed which had been drained while they removed the weir.
Crom A Boo Bridge which I passed under for the first time ever last Sunday presents an awesome sight when viewed from underneath one of its arches. The Duke of Leinster lay the first stone of that bridge in 1796 and how well it has endured the passage and weight of traffic for more than 200 years. That same bridge was defended by local loyalists under the command of Thomas J. Rawson during the 1798 Rebellion and for a few months of that year the heads of some hapless local rebels were displayed on Crom A Boo bridge as a grim warning to the disaffected locals.
Just after the bridge the river widens, or at least it once did, when the stone quay walls of the harbour were exposed and kept free of mud dredged from the river bed. Unfortunately the earlier mentioned Barrow Drainage Scheme resulted in the filling in of the harbour in the centre of the town with dredgings from the river bed and the planting of a tree or two on the heaped soil was thought a worthy replacement for what had been lost. The opening up of the harbour back to its original quay walls has been discussed for years but we still wait for those in authority to authorise the restoration work which when done will add greatly to the appearance of the river and the town itself.
The horse bridge and the railway bridge soon came into view as we journeyed downstream to meet the Grand Canal. The first pre-stressed concrete bridge in Ireland was built in Athy in 1919 as part of the Athy Wolfhill railway line which was opened to facilitate the movement of coal from the Wolfhill collieries. The difficulties posed by the First World War had prompted the building of the Wolfhill railway line but when the war ended and coal supplies again became plentiful, the local coal fields were closed. Train movement over the bridge was for decades thereafter limited to the carrying of cement to the Asbestos factory, but even that has now ceased. The railway bridge will in time carry motor traffic as part of the relief road measures planned for Athy.
We passed over the weir separating the Barrow River from the Grand Canal to paddle a course along the west bank of Lords Island, keeping clear of the canal cutting and instead keeping to the River Barrow as it meandered between banks handsomely endowed with ash and drooping willow trees. The site of Ardreigh Mills, closed like its town centre counterpart in and around 1924, was quickly passed as we struck out for Levitstown. Up ahead was Bunberrys Weir where nearly fifty years ago we youngsters from Offaly Street spent many an enjoyable afternoon in what was then a popular bathing place. I can't say I had as much enjoyment as Niall Smith or his friends had in their time in Bunberrys which included, if Niall is to be believed, the playful removal of a young maiden's swimming togs by a teenager who would later become a well known figure in footballing circles.
On our right ahead of us appeared Kilmoroney House, even in the October morning sunlight a sad and almost ghostly sight on the headland, while just beyond on the left were the remains of what was once Grangemellon Castle. What stories could be told of “Handsome Jack” St. Leger who came to live here in 1766. A member of the Hellfire Club which is reported to have met occasionally in Grangemellon Castle, Jack was the founder of the English classic horse race which today bears his name. We had bypassed the Levitstown canal cut to stay on the River Barrow and in so doing missed out on the longest canal cutting on the Barrow navigation which runs to two miles or so. Tankardstown Bridge made its appearance as we approached Levitstown Mill which was to be our final destination. What I wondered was the connection, if any, with Christine Longford's play, “Tankardstown”, written perhaps fifty years ago and seldom, if ever, performed since. I had never before been up close to the mill at Levitstown which was burned down in 1943. It operated as a maltings up to then and the canal boats travelled up and down each day to and from Dublin with malt on the journey to the city and Guinness on the return journey. Here we got out, well satisfied with our journey, and pleased with ourselves at having experienced something which most of us had never before enjoyed. Jimmy Kelly, the oldest and freshest looking of the lot, was I believe a seasoned canoeist, but Niall Smith, Dave Henshaw, Noel Scully, Jack Wall and myself were first timers who needed all the help we got from our youthful minders that day. My thanks to rugby playing Ciaran English for seeing me safely on the journey. I gather Ciaran recently received a sports award for Gaelic football. In my time he would have been the recipient of a GAA ban if he had even looked at a rugby match, not to mind playing the oval ball game.
The River Barrow is a rich source of game and coarse fishing and on our journey downstream we came across mute swans and ducks, the first flying overhead while the ducks paid little attention to the water invaders whom they no doubt noticed at a quick glance were too enfeebled to pose a threat. At Levitstown I gather eel traps are still in use, a reminder of the rich harvest to be garned from the local river of a delicacy which I must admit I ate for the very first time only a few weeks ago in a London restaurant. In my younger days eels were always plentiful in the Barrow, but somehow or other they never seemed an attractive fish and so were avoided by many, including myself, until a few weeks ago. Having tasted eel for the first time I must profess a liking for the fish which in medieval times was a rich source of nourishment for those living in the village of Athy, including the Dominicans who had their own eel weir on the River Barrow.
Congratulations to Dave Henshaw and Mark Wall and everyone involved in the Age Action Week. This ould fellow enjoyed himself immensely. A special thanks to Aidan McHugh and his team of canoeists who gave up their Sunday morning to steer a few old codgers safely down the Barrow.
Finally, I came across a reference last week in Florence O'Donoghue's book “The I.R.B. in the 1916 Rising” to the Philo-Celtic Society of New York. In the book O'Donoghue, quoting from the diary of Diarmuid Lynch, referred to the appointment of Michael J. Doyle of Athy as president of the Philo-Celtic Society in New York. The society, founded in 1873 by Irish emigrants, sought to encourage the use of the Irish language by holding Irish classes in and around New York city. The society survives to this day. But whom I wonder was Michael J. Doyle, formerly of this town, who was president of the Philo-Celtic Society of New York? If you can help to identify him or his family connections I would be delighted to hear from you.
Last Sunday a couple of elderly and not quite so elderly males, each chaperoned by a young skilled canoeist, set out from the slip at Rathstewart to travel on the river to Levitstown. As we approached Crom A Boo Bridge we passed over the site of the weir which once ran across the Barrow almost opposite St. Michael's Parish Church. It had been put there to divert water into the millrace which powered the mill at the town centre bridge. The last owners of the mill were the Hannons of Ardreigh and the closure of the mill in or around 1924 gave the Barrow Drainage Board an opportunity to dredge the river and remove the weir. Many of you, I'm sure, will have seen photographs of the Barrow Drainage Scheme of the 1920's and particularly the photograph of the workmen standing in the river bed which had been drained while they removed the weir.
Crom A Boo Bridge which I passed under for the first time ever last Sunday presents an awesome sight when viewed from underneath one of its arches. The Duke of Leinster lay the first stone of that bridge in 1796 and how well it has endured the passage and weight of traffic for more than 200 years. That same bridge was defended by local loyalists under the command of Thomas J. Rawson during the 1798 Rebellion and for a few months of that year the heads of some hapless local rebels were displayed on Crom A Boo bridge as a grim warning to the disaffected locals.
Just after the bridge the river widens, or at least it once did, when the stone quay walls of the harbour were exposed and kept free of mud dredged from the river bed. Unfortunately the earlier mentioned Barrow Drainage Scheme resulted in the filling in of the harbour in the centre of the town with dredgings from the river bed and the planting of a tree or two on the heaped soil was thought a worthy replacement for what had been lost. The opening up of the harbour back to its original quay walls has been discussed for years but we still wait for those in authority to authorise the restoration work which when done will add greatly to the appearance of the river and the town itself.
The horse bridge and the railway bridge soon came into view as we journeyed downstream to meet the Grand Canal. The first pre-stressed concrete bridge in Ireland was built in Athy in 1919 as part of the Athy Wolfhill railway line which was opened to facilitate the movement of coal from the Wolfhill collieries. The difficulties posed by the First World War had prompted the building of the Wolfhill railway line but when the war ended and coal supplies again became plentiful, the local coal fields were closed. Train movement over the bridge was for decades thereafter limited to the carrying of cement to the Asbestos factory, but even that has now ceased. The railway bridge will in time carry motor traffic as part of the relief road measures planned for Athy.
We passed over the weir separating the Barrow River from the Grand Canal to paddle a course along the west bank of Lords Island, keeping clear of the canal cutting and instead keeping to the River Barrow as it meandered between banks handsomely endowed with ash and drooping willow trees. The site of Ardreigh Mills, closed like its town centre counterpart in and around 1924, was quickly passed as we struck out for Levitstown. Up ahead was Bunberrys Weir where nearly fifty years ago we youngsters from Offaly Street spent many an enjoyable afternoon in what was then a popular bathing place. I can't say I had as much enjoyment as Niall Smith or his friends had in their time in Bunberrys which included, if Niall is to be believed, the playful removal of a young maiden's swimming togs by a teenager who would later become a well known figure in footballing circles.
On our right ahead of us appeared Kilmoroney House, even in the October morning sunlight a sad and almost ghostly sight on the headland, while just beyond on the left were the remains of what was once Grangemellon Castle. What stories could be told of “Handsome Jack” St. Leger who came to live here in 1766. A member of the Hellfire Club which is reported to have met occasionally in Grangemellon Castle, Jack was the founder of the English classic horse race which today bears his name. We had bypassed the Levitstown canal cut to stay on the River Barrow and in so doing missed out on the longest canal cutting on the Barrow navigation which runs to two miles or so. Tankardstown Bridge made its appearance as we approached Levitstown Mill which was to be our final destination. What I wondered was the connection, if any, with Christine Longford's play, “Tankardstown”, written perhaps fifty years ago and seldom, if ever, performed since. I had never before been up close to the mill at Levitstown which was burned down in 1943. It operated as a maltings up to then and the canal boats travelled up and down each day to and from Dublin with malt on the journey to the city and Guinness on the return journey. Here we got out, well satisfied with our journey, and pleased with ourselves at having experienced something which most of us had never before enjoyed. Jimmy Kelly, the oldest and freshest looking of the lot, was I believe a seasoned canoeist, but Niall Smith, Dave Henshaw, Noel Scully, Jack Wall and myself were first timers who needed all the help we got from our youthful minders that day. My thanks to rugby playing Ciaran English for seeing me safely on the journey. I gather Ciaran recently received a sports award for Gaelic football. In my time he would have been the recipient of a GAA ban if he had even looked at a rugby match, not to mind playing the oval ball game.
The River Barrow is a rich source of game and coarse fishing and on our journey downstream we came across mute swans and ducks, the first flying overhead while the ducks paid little attention to the water invaders whom they no doubt noticed at a quick glance were too enfeebled to pose a threat. At Levitstown I gather eel traps are still in use, a reminder of the rich harvest to be garned from the local river of a delicacy which I must admit I ate for the very first time only a few weeks ago in a London restaurant. In my younger days eels were always plentiful in the Barrow, but somehow or other they never seemed an attractive fish and so were avoided by many, including myself, until a few weeks ago. Having tasted eel for the first time I must profess a liking for the fish which in medieval times was a rich source of nourishment for those living in the village of Athy, including the Dominicans who had their own eel weir on the River Barrow.
Congratulations to Dave Henshaw and Mark Wall and everyone involved in the Age Action Week. This ould fellow enjoyed himself immensely. A special thanks to Aidan McHugh and his team of canoeists who gave up their Sunday morning to steer a few old codgers safely down the Barrow.
Finally, I came across a reference last week in Florence O'Donoghue's book “The I.R.B. in the 1916 Rising” to the Philo-Celtic Society of New York. In the book O'Donoghue, quoting from the diary of Diarmuid Lynch, referred to the appointment of Michael J. Doyle of Athy as president of the Philo-Celtic Society in New York. The society, founded in 1873 by Irish emigrants, sought to encourage the use of the Irish language by holding Irish classes in and around New York city. The society survives to this day. But whom I wonder was Michael J. Doyle, formerly of this town, who was president of the Philo-Celtic Society of New York? If you can help to identify him or his family connections I would be delighted to hear from you.
Eye on the Past 730
I missed the recent launch of the Sullivan Brothers CD and to make amends I went out
immediately and bought the disc. The first time listening to their songs and I listened to them all, I had mixed feelings, but their songs grew in appeal, at least that's what I found after I had played the CD for the third time. Its a wonderful achievement for a singer to put out a record in much the same way as it is for an aspiring writer to publish a book. The Sullivan Brothers have achieved great success over the last twelve months and who knows, the CD may bring them further and even greater success into the future.
The last months of 2006 promise to bring a veritable avalanche of books and CD launches, what with the Sullivan's musical contribution soon to be followed by a CD of songs and stories relating to South Kildare by Colm Walsh. Brian Hughes, I gather, is working on his second CD and while I have no knowledge of when it will appear, I would hope it will issue in time to catch the Christmas market. Of course, the recording daddy of them all, Jack L issued another CD a few months ago and like his previous releases, it proved to be the work of an extraordinary musical talent.
Local writers are also busy, what with Zoltan Zinn Collis' book hitting the book shelves in September followed soon afterwards by John MacKenna's latest contribution to the literary scene. In November, the local Golf Club will publish its centenary history while the long awaited book on County Kildare in the County History series will be launched before Christmas.
There are a lot of good things happening in and around South Kildare and the local Town Hall will host a number of events during October and November. The Shackleton Autumn School kicks off on Friday evening, 27th and goes on for the following three days with a variety of events including some extremely interesting exhibitions with lectures, drama and music. There is literally something for everyone and every age over the October Bank Holiday weekend in the Town Hall and the Heritage Centre.
And the following Wednesday, Zoltan Zinn Collis will give a talk in the Town Hall. This is an event not to be missed and comes soon after the launch of his book “Final Witness – My journeyfrom the Holocaust to Ireland”. Three days later, the Heritage Centre will be the venue for the official launch of John MacKenna's latest book, “Things you should know”. Derek Mooney of radio and TV fame will launch the book which has already been tipped for literary honours in 2007. John MacKenna is presently touring his play “My Fathers Son”with The Mend and Makedo Theatre Company which tour finishes in Mullingar this week. November is definitely MacKenna's month for on Sunday 12th hisOratorio, “Still and Distant Voices” which he wrote some years ago to commemorate the involvement of local working men in World War 1 will be performed in the Methodist Church in Woodstock Street. Music for the Oratorio was composed by Mairead O'Flynn when she was a teacher in Scoil Mhichil Naofa some years ago. She is now Principal of the National School in Ballymore Eustace. Interestingly, Jack L's father, Sean Loughman and the golden voiced Jacinta O'Donnell are the singing stars of the Oratorio, more details of which will be given in next weeks Eye on the Past.
I got a letter from one of my Athy readers concerning my piece on the River Barrow canoe trip with particular reference to the railway bridge. You may recall that I mentioned that the bridge built in 1919 as part of the railway extension to Wolfhill was the first prestressed concrete bridge in Ireland. My correspondent tells me that his father, who was a well known building Contractor, claimed that “Coy” Moore's father mixed all the concrete for the bridge using a hand turned mixer. Can any other local confirm that story for me.
Another letter received this week was from a woman in Fairview, Dublin whose mother worked for the Hannon's in Ardreigh House in 1920. Her mother, who was from Castledermot, started working for the Hannon's who previously lived at Prumplestown, Castledermot when she was a month short of her fourteenth birthday. The pay was one pound a month which Mrs. Hannon sent home to the young girl's mother in Castledermot. The charming letter gave an account of life in Ardreigh House eighty six years ago and I smiled at the following reference which brought back memories of summer evenings spent by me and my friends at Sunnyside in the late 1950's. “Entertainment for the girls who worked in Ardreigh House consisted of walking out to Bray or into Athy. They seemed to know every shop worker who ever worked there at the time and indeed, my mother bought her groceries for two decades in Dublin from a man whom she had known when he served his time at the grocery in Athy”.
When I read the letter, I was prompted to think yet again of the treasures of memory and the life experiences which all of us have garned for ourselves and which for the most part are destined never to be shared with others. I have at various times in the past raised the desirability of encouraging older people to record their reminiscences of times past. There are some extraordinary stories to be learned, many extraordinary people with tales to tell which, if not told will soon be lost forever. I know that the late Billy Kelly was engaged on behalf of the library services of Kildare County Council in recording the folk memories of people living in his area of South Kildare but how far that project progressed, I cannot say. I do know that last year Laois County Council through its Heritage Officer instituted an oral history project with the intention of recording the reminiscences and the experiences of the older generation. In the mid 1930's the Folk Commission in conjunction with the primary schools throughout Ireland organised a Folklore collection scheme, the results of which now form a major part of the holdings in the Department of Folklore in University College, Dublin. This was a scheme organised on a twenty six county basis through the Folklore Commission and points the way as to how an oral history project could be established nationally if we are ever to hope to reclaim the untapped fields of enquiry dealing with the social life and labours of ordinary men and women. Now that Heritage Officers have been appointed by some County Councils, perhaps the Minister for the Environment might consider ensuring that the Heritage function in each county is directed so that a national scheme for recording oral history can be set up under the aegis of the Department while using the Heritage Officers in each County as the County organisers for the project.
Writing of the Minister reminds me that the Relief Road Project for Athy has been the subject most often raised with me by locals during the past week or so. Everyone wants to know what is happening about a new road. It would seem that precious little information is being given out by either Kildare County Council or the Town Council. The latest information I have is that housing developers at Gallowshill are required to build sections of the outer relief road where it borders the lands being developed for housing. As a result, I am told that approximately 180 metres of the outer relief road has been laid down and that further development of that road as far as the railway crossing can be expected, but when I don't know. I welcome the current Town Council Chairperson's invitation to the local people to make known their views on the relief road measures.
It makes a huge change from the attitude of a previous Council which when presented with a petition signed by more than 2,500 local people ignored the views expressed. Indeed, the local people who attended the Council meeting to present the petition were rather discourteously treated by some public representatives on that Council. Democracy was not best served that day in the Council Chamber. However, that is all water under the bridge now, and given the current Town Council's continuing attempts to get Kildare County Council to move on the relief road, we must be hopeful that the County Council, which moved with amazing speed when dealing with the Inner Relief Road Project in the lead up to the An Bord Pleanala oral hearing can bring the same energy and commitment to putting an acceptable Relief Road in place for the town of Athy.
The Sullivan Brothers CD “Keep Holding On” which I mentioned at the top of this article was dedicated to the memory of Mark Browne, a young man who died last year after a long battle against illness. I did not know Mark personally but knew his parents and following his funeral, I wrote some lines of appreciation for a young life so sadly lost. A few weeks ago, his father Kieran gave me a copy of a number of poems which he was inspired to write following the loss of his only son who was dearly loved and greatly missed. Having read them and particularly one poem entitled “Without Him”, I have to admit that I have seldom been moved so much by words written on a page The poem written by Kieran Browne following the death of his only child is very evocative and a fine piece of writing and reads:
My past I have lost
My past and my future
My hoped for dreams gone forever
Gone are the days I would never say never
No shared enjoyment of Milligan and Co.
No shared appreciation of symphonies and riffs
Of images on celluloid
The past to be viewed during the twilight years
No man to man chats
No disagreements on which players were prats
No nuptials now
No “Grandad” called out
Memories of body and soul being tortured and broken
No explanation at my bedside when it's my turn to die.
immediately and bought the disc. The first time listening to their songs and I listened to them all, I had mixed feelings, but their songs grew in appeal, at least that's what I found after I had played the CD for the third time. Its a wonderful achievement for a singer to put out a record in much the same way as it is for an aspiring writer to publish a book. The Sullivan Brothers have achieved great success over the last twelve months and who knows, the CD may bring them further and even greater success into the future.
The last months of 2006 promise to bring a veritable avalanche of books and CD launches, what with the Sullivan's musical contribution soon to be followed by a CD of songs and stories relating to South Kildare by Colm Walsh. Brian Hughes, I gather, is working on his second CD and while I have no knowledge of when it will appear, I would hope it will issue in time to catch the Christmas market. Of course, the recording daddy of them all, Jack L issued another CD a few months ago and like his previous releases, it proved to be the work of an extraordinary musical talent.
Local writers are also busy, what with Zoltan Zinn Collis' book hitting the book shelves in September followed soon afterwards by John MacKenna's latest contribution to the literary scene. In November, the local Golf Club will publish its centenary history while the long awaited book on County Kildare in the County History series will be launched before Christmas.
There are a lot of good things happening in and around South Kildare and the local Town Hall will host a number of events during October and November. The Shackleton Autumn School kicks off on Friday evening, 27th and goes on for the following three days with a variety of events including some extremely interesting exhibitions with lectures, drama and music. There is literally something for everyone and every age over the October Bank Holiday weekend in the Town Hall and the Heritage Centre.
And the following Wednesday, Zoltan Zinn Collis will give a talk in the Town Hall. This is an event not to be missed and comes soon after the launch of his book “Final Witness – My journeyfrom the Holocaust to Ireland”. Three days later, the Heritage Centre will be the venue for the official launch of John MacKenna's latest book, “Things you should know”. Derek Mooney of radio and TV fame will launch the book which has already been tipped for literary honours in 2007. John MacKenna is presently touring his play “My Fathers Son”with The Mend and Makedo Theatre Company which tour finishes in Mullingar this week. November is definitely MacKenna's month for on Sunday 12th hisOratorio, “Still and Distant Voices” which he wrote some years ago to commemorate the involvement of local working men in World War 1 will be performed in the Methodist Church in Woodstock Street. Music for the Oratorio was composed by Mairead O'Flynn when she was a teacher in Scoil Mhichil Naofa some years ago. She is now Principal of the National School in Ballymore Eustace. Interestingly, Jack L's father, Sean Loughman and the golden voiced Jacinta O'Donnell are the singing stars of the Oratorio, more details of which will be given in next weeks Eye on the Past.
I got a letter from one of my Athy readers concerning my piece on the River Barrow canoe trip with particular reference to the railway bridge. You may recall that I mentioned that the bridge built in 1919 as part of the railway extension to Wolfhill was the first prestressed concrete bridge in Ireland. My correspondent tells me that his father, who was a well known building Contractor, claimed that “Coy” Moore's father mixed all the concrete for the bridge using a hand turned mixer. Can any other local confirm that story for me.
Another letter received this week was from a woman in Fairview, Dublin whose mother worked for the Hannon's in Ardreigh House in 1920. Her mother, who was from Castledermot, started working for the Hannon's who previously lived at Prumplestown, Castledermot when she was a month short of her fourteenth birthday. The pay was one pound a month which Mrs. Hannon sent home to the young girl's mother in Castledermot. The charming letter gave an account of life in Ardreigh House eighty six years ago and I smiled at the following reference which brought back memories of summer evenings spent by me and my friends at Sunnyside in the late 1950's. “Entertainment for the girls who worked in Ardreigh House consisted of walking out to Bray or into Athy. They seemed to know every shop worker who ever worked there at the time and indeed, my mother bought her groceries for two decades in Dublin from a man whom she had known when he served his time at the grocery in Athy”.
When I read the letter, I was prompted to think yet again of the treasures of memory and the life experiences which all of us have garned for ourselves and which for the most part are destined never to be shared with others. I have at various times in the past raised the desirability of encouraging older people to record their reminiscences of times past. There are some extraordinary stories to be learned, many extraordinary people with tales to tell which, if not told will soon be lost forever. I know that the late Billy Kelly was engaged on behalf of the library services of Kildare County Council in recording the folk memories of people living in his area of South Kildare but how far that project progressed, I cannot say. I do know that last year Laois County Council through its Heritage Officer instituted an oral history project with the intention of recording the reminiscences and the experiences of the older generation. In the mid 1930's the Folk Commission in conjunction with the primary schools throughout Ireland organised a Folklore collection scheme, the results of which now form a major part of the holdings in the Department of Folklore in University College, Dublin. This was a scheme organised on a twenty six county basis through the Folklore Commission and points the way as to how an oral history project could be established nationally if we are ever to hope to reclaim the untapped fields of enquiry dealing with the social life and labours of ordinary men and women. Now that Heritage Officers have been appointed by some County Councils, perhaps the Minister for the Environment might consider ensuring that the Heritage function in each county is directed so that a national scheme for recording oral history can be set up under the aegis of the Department while using the Heritage Officers in each County as the County organisers for the project.
Writing of the Minister reminds me that the Relief Road Project for Athy has been the subject most often raised with me by locals during the past week or so. Everyone wants to know what is happening about a new road. It would seem that precious little information is being given out by either Kildare County Council or the Town Council. The latest information I have is that housing developers at Gallowshill are required to build sections of the outer relief road where it borders the lands being developed for housing. As a result, I am told that approximately 180 metres of the outer relief road has been laid down and that further development of that road as far as the railway crossing can be expected, but when I don't know. I welcome the current Town Council Chairperson's invitation to the local people to make known their views on the relief road measures.
It makes a huge change from the attitude of a previous Council which when presented with a petition signed by more than 2,500 local people ignored the views expressed. Indeed, the local people who attended the Council meeting to present the petition were rather discourteously treated by some public representatives on that Council. Democracy was not best served that day in the Council Chamber. However, that is all water under the bridge now, and given the current Town Council's continuing attempts to get Kildare County Council to move on the relief road, we must be hopeful that the County Council, which moved with amazing speed when dealing with the Inner Relief Road Project in the lead up to the An Bord Pleanala oral hearing can bring the same energy and commitment to putting an acceptable Relief Road in place for the town of Athy.
The Sullivan Brothers CD “Keep Holding On” which I mentioned at the top of this article was dedicated to the memory of Mark Browne, a young man who died last year after a long battle against illness. I did not know Mark personally but knew his parents and following his funeral, I wrote some lines of appreciation for a young life so sadly lost. A few weeks ago, his father Kieran gave me a copy of a number of poems which he was inspired to write following the loss of his only son who was dearly loved and greatly missed. Having read them and particularly one poem entitled “Without Him”, I have to admit that I have seldom been moved so much by words written on a page The poem written by Kieran Browne following the death of his only child is very evocative and a fine piece of writing and reads:
My past I have lost
My past and my future
My hoped for dreams gone forever
Gone are the days I would never say never
No shared enjoyment of Milligan and Co.
No shared appreciation of symphonies and riffs
Of images on celluloid
The past to be viewed during the twilight years
No man to man chats
No disagreements on which players were prats
No nuptials now
No “Grandad” called out
Memories of body and soul being tortured and broken
No explanation at my bedside when it's my turn to die.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Christopher Fingleton
As you journey on the road to Carlow and beyond you pass about four miles out from Athy the towering gaunt castellated remains of Levitstown Mill. Idle and vacant for almost 70 years the sturdy walls of the once busy mill bear testimony to the skills of the masons who built them nearly 200 years ago. Levitstown Mill for generations has been a landmark for those journeying on the Athy/Carlow Road, as well as boatmen passing by on the Barrow Line.
Imagine my surprise to find myself talking to the man, now long retired, who in the afternoon of Saturday, 14th March 1942 turned the key in the door of Levitstown Mill for the last time. He was the last person to do so as within hours the mill was ablaze. “Tunny” Fingleton was a young teenager at the time, having started work in the mill when he was 13 years old. I met “Tunny” just before the Christmas break and spent an enjoyable few hours in his company, as he re-lived a working life spent in or around the Levitstown area where he was born 80 years ago.
How, I wondered, did Christopher Fingleton get the name “Tunny”, the name by which he has been known throughout his life. He was so named after the legendary Irish American boxer Gene Tunny who was in the news around the time of Chris's birth. The Fingletons came to the Levitstown area in the first year of the Great War when Jim Fingleton, Tunny's grandfather, arrived to take up work as a ploughman with local farmers by the name of Loudain. The Fingletons were originally from the Luggacurran area but were evicted in the late 1880's during the unsuccessful Plan of Campaign waged by the local tenants against Lord Landsdowne. Tunny's father Jack who was born in Ballylinan to where the Fingleton's moved after the Luggacurran evictions, worked with the Sisters of Mercy in Athy for a while but left them to become, like his father, a ploughman in Levitstown where his brother Mick was also already working. “Tunny” would become the third generation of the Fingletons to work on the land but not before he had spent the first three years of his long working life in the Mill at Levitstown.
Levitstown Mill is believed to have been built sometime in the early 19th century and was owned at different times by the Haughton family and the Hannon family who were millers with mills in Athy and Prumplestown, Castledermot. Colonel Magan was Mill manager up to the time it closed in the late 1920's or early 1930's and the mill lay vacant and unused for five or six years until it was taken over by Sidney Minch. It was in the Mill that the young Christopher Fingleton got work just as the clouds of the Second World War were sweeping over Europe. Three years later, despite the efforts of fire brigades from Athy, Carlow and The Curragh, the Mill was destroyed by fire. Listening to “Tunny” as he recalled the events of 14th March 1942 when Levitstown Mill came to the end of its working life was to feel a real sense of history. He remembered many of the men who worked there, men such as the Whelan brothers, Tommy, Stephen, Dan and John, Packie Deering, Mick Wynne, Jack Davis of Plewman's Terrace and Mick Hanley.
Four months later “Tunny” started to work for Johnny Greene where he would remain working on the Levitstown Farm for the next 50 years as tractor driver and in later years as a driver of a combine harvester. The lockout of 1947 comes alive as “Tunny”, possibly one of the last, if not the last, survivor of that historic labour conflict recalls the men who took part in what was at times a bitter labour dispute. Remarkably when it ended after a few months the men went back to work, with apparently no recriminations on either side and never again would farm labourers and their employers in this area come into conflict. One unfortunate man lost his job as a result of the Kilkea strike. Paddy Lambe who was a shop steward for the striking farm workers was not taken back to work when the strike was called off. He later got farm work with Fallons of Maganey. What happened to Paddy Lambe was and remains the unacceptable outcome of the 1947 labour dispute which has become known as the “Kilkea Lockout”.
I was interested to hear “Tunny” say that the Kilkea Lockout ballad was composed by Willie Reilly, the man, who having organised the workers on the bogs, later turned his attention to the unionisation of farm workers. Kevin Fingleton, “Tunny's” brother, is generally credited with having composed the ballad, but the honour says “Tunny” must go to Willie Reilly. Kevin sang the ballad at a strikers meeting in Emily Square in Athy and he became thereafter associated with the ballad which began :-
“Twas the year forty seven, I remember it well
The year of the Lockout, the story I'll tell
Of how the men from Castledermot, Levitstown and Kilkea
They stood out so bravely to win the half day.”
Whenever you talk of Levitstown invariably the conversation turns to two important elements of the townlands heritage. The “Park Wall” and Molly Cully's ceili band. The “Park Wall” was the local meeting place where on Sundays the pitch and toss school was located, where long ago handball was played and in the fine weather cards was the game of choice. Why the “Park Wall” I don't know, referring as it does to the row of houses on the main road at Levitstown. Molly Cully lived in the house nearest to Athy and according to “Tunny” was a virtuoso player on the violin and the button accordion. She was the acknowledged leader of the ceili band which at various times was known as “Cully's Ceili Band”, otherwise known as the “Levitstown Ceili Band”. “Tunny” recalled for me some of the musicians who over the years played with Molly Cully. His older brother Jim was one of the original members of the group before he emigrated in 1936 to England where he became a policeman. Another brother, Tom, was the drummer, while Johnny McEvoy of Woodstock Street played the violin with John Hickey of Kilberry on accordion and Maggie Whelan on piano. Many other musicians were linked at various times with the ceili band which started in or around 1933 and continued until 1948 or so. Levitstown School and Killeshin provided dance venues for the musicians and Tommy Stynes of Leinster Street brought the players in his hackney car to the sessions in Killeshin.
Reference to the “Barrack Field” brought the explanation that it is so called as it was the location of Grangemellon R.I.C. Barracks, no trace of which is to be found today. Mick Conneran who lived in the Lock House was an ex R.I.C. man and may well have been one of the group of policemen who was stationed in Grangemellon Barracks before it was burned down by the I.R.A. during the War of Independence.
Referring back to “Tunny's” long working life with the Greenes, the importance to the local economy of a vibrant farming community in the 1940's and later, is borne out by the number of men working fulltime on farms in those days. Within the Fingleton family three of their men folk worked for Dr. Juan Greene who took over from his father Johnny Greene after the 1947 Lockout. Jim Fingleton and his two sons, Kevin and “Tunny”, worked side by side for many years. “Tunny” continued working on the Levitstown farm until he retired after 50 years of service.
“Tunny” is extremely proud of Levitstown and its people and particularly so of the part he played in encouraging local lad Mick Carolan to become an exceptionally gifted footballer. Carolan's mother was Ann Fingleton, daughter of Mick Fingleton, the brother of “Tunny's” father and Mick Carolan in an interview in 1962 referred to his near neighbour and distant relation Christopher Fingleton as his guide and mentor who urged him and “who kept continually harping at me to keep going and persuaded me that I was a good footballer.” “Tunny's” one regret is that as the 7th son of his father Jack who had a cure for shingles, he did not get to receive from his father before he died the now long lost cure. Sadly Jack Fingleton who was well known for his successful treatment of the ailment was killed while walking on the roadway between Maganey and Levitstown in 1953.
Christy, otherwise “Tunny”, now in his 81st year has wonderful memories and I am delighted to be able to share some of them with the readers of the Eye on the Past this week.
Imagine my surprise to find myself talking to the man, now long retired, who in the afternoon of Saturday, 14th March 1942 turned the key in the door of Levitstown Mill for the last time. He was the last person to do so as within hours the mill was ablaze. “Tunny” Fingleton was a young teenager at the time, having started work in the mill when he was 13 years old. I met “Tunny” just before the Christmas break and spent an enjoyable few hours in his company, as he re-lived a working life spent in or around the Levitstown area where he was born 80 years ago.
How, I wondered, did Christopher Fingleton get the name “Tunny”, the name by which he has been known throughout his life. He was so named after the legendary Irish American boxer Gene Tunny who was in the news around the time of Chris's birth. The Fingletons came to the Levitstown area in the first year of the Great War when Jim Fingleton, Tunny's grandfather, arrived to take up work as a ploughman with local farmers by the name of Loudain. The Fingletons were originally from the Luggacurran area but were evicted in the late 1880's during the unsuccessful Plan of Campaign waged by the local tenants against Lord Landsdowne. Tunny's father Jack who was born in Ballylinan to where the Fingleton's moved after the Luggacurran evictions, worked with the Sisters of Mercy in Athy for a while but left them to become, like his father, a ploughman in Levitstown where his brother Mick was also already working. “Tunny” would become the third generation of the Fingletons to work on the land but not before he had spent the first three years of his long working life in the Mill at Levitstown.
Levitstown Mill is believed to have been built sometime in the early 19th century and was owned at different times by the Haughton family and the Hannon family who were millers with mills in Athy and Prumplestown, Castledermot. Colonel Magan was Mill manager up to the time it closed in the late 1920's or early 1930's and the mill lay vacant and unused for five or six years until it was taken over by Sidney Minch. It was in the Mill that the young Christopher Fingleton got work just as the clouds of the Second World War were sweeping over Europe. Three years later, despite the efforts of fire brigades from Athy, Carlow and The Curragh, the Mill was destroyed by fire. Listening to “Tunny” as he recalled the events of 14th March 1942 when Levitstown Mill came to the end of its working life was to feel a real sense of history. He remembered many of the men who worked there, men such as the Whelan brothers, Tommy, Stephen, Dan and John, Packie Deering, Mick Wynne, Jack Davis of Plewman's Terrace and Mick Hanley.
Four months later “Tunny” started to work for Johnny Greene where he would remain working on the Levitstown Farm for the next 50 years as tractor driver and in later years as a driver of a combine harvester. The lockout of 1947 comes alive as “Tunny”, possibly one of the last, if not the last, survivor of that historic labour conflict recalls the men who took part in what was at times a bitter labour dispute. Remarkably when it ended after a few months the men went back to work, with apparently no recriminations on either side and never again would farm labourers and their employers in this area come into conflict. One unfortunate man lost his job as a result of the Kilkea strike. Paddy Lambe who was a shop steward for the striking farm workers was not taken back to work when the strike was called off. He later got farm work with Fallons of Maganey. What happened to Paddy Lambe was and remains the unacceptable outcome of the 1947 labour dispute which has become known as the “Kilkea Lockout”.
I was interested to hear “Tunny” say that the Kilkea Lockout ballad was composed by Willie Reilly, the man, who having organised the workers on the bogs, later turned his attention to the unionisation of farm workers. Kevin Fingleton, “Tunny's” brother, is generally credited with having composed the ballad, but the honour says “Tunny” must go to Willie Reilly. Kevin sang the ballad at a strikers meeting in Emily Square in Athy and he became thereafter associated with the ballad which began :-
“Twas the year forty seven, I remember it well
The year of the Lockout, the story I'll tell
Of how the men from Castledermot, Levitstown and Kilkea
They stood out so bravely to win the half day.”
Whenever you talk of Levitstown invariably the conversation turns to two important elements of the townlands heritage. The “Park Wall” and Molly Cully's ceili band. The “Park Wall” was the local meeting place where on Sundays the pitch and toss school was located, where long ago handball was played and in the fine weather cards was the game of choice. Why the “Park Wall” I don't know, referring as it does to the row of houses on the main road at Levitstown. Molly Cully lived in the house nearest to Athy and according to “Tunny” was a virtuoso player on the violin and the button accordion. She was the acknowledged leader of the ceili band which at various times was known as “Cully's Ceili Band”, otherwise known as the “Levitstown Ceili Band”. “Tunny” recalled for me some of the musicians who over the years played with Molly Cully. His older brother Jim was one of the original members of the group before he emigrated in 1936 to England where he became a policeman. Another brother, Tom, was the drummer, while Johnny McEvoy of Woodstock Street played the violin with John Hickey of Kilberry on accordion and Maggie Whelan on piano. Many other musicians were linked at various times with the ceili band which started in or around 1933 and continued until 1948 or so. Levitstown School and Killeshin provided dance venues for the musicians and Tommy Stynes of Leinster Street brought the players in his hackney car to the sessions in Killeshin.
Reference to the “Barrack Field” brought the explanation that it is so called as it was the location of Grangemellon R.I.C. Barracks, no trace of which is to be found today. Mick Conneran who lived in the Lock House was an ex R.I.C. man and may well have been one of the group of policemen who was stationed in Grangemellon Barracks before it was burned down by the I.R.A. during the War of Independence.
Referring back to “Tunny's” long working life with the Greenes, the importance to the local economy of a vibrant farming community in the 1940's and later, is borne out by the number of men working fulltime on farms in those days. Within the Fingleton family three of their men folk worked for Dr. Juan Greene who took over from his father Johnny Greene after the 1947 Lockout. Jim Fingleton and his two sons, Kevin and “Tunny”, worked side by side for many years. “Tunny” continued working on the Levitstown farm until he retired after 50 years of service.
“Tunny” is extremely proud of Levitstown and its people and particularly so of the part he played in encouraging local lad Mick Carolan to become an exceptionally gifted footballer. Carolan's mother was Ann Fingleton, daughter of Mick Fingleton, the brother of “Tunny's” father and Mick Carolan in an interview in 1962 referred to his near neighbour and distant relation Christopher Fingleton as his guide and mentor who urged him and “who kept continually harping at me to keep going and persuaded me that I was a good footballer.” “Tunny's” one regret is that as the 7th son of his father Jack who had a cure for shingles, he did not get to receive from his father before he died the now long lost cure. Sadly Jack Fingleton who was well known for his successful treatment of the ailment was killed while walking on the roadway between Maganey and Levitstown in 1953.
Christy, otherwise “Tunny”, now in his 81st year has wonderful memories and I am delighted to be able to share some of them with the readers of the Eye on the Past this week.
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