Toastmasters / Athy's Community College / Kildare Gaelic Football Team Photo

With a name conjuring up images of a breakfast toast maker I was somewhat surprised to find that Toastmasters is a convivial gathering of people, young and not so young, all eager to improve their communications and interpersonal skills.  The occasion for my enlightenment was an open night two weeks ago at the local Toastmasters meeting in the Carlton Abbey Hotel.  My invitation came courtesy of my youngest son’s paramour Amanda, whom I jokingly refer to as ‘the Essex girl’.  I was just one of several invitees that night and no doubt like me they all enjoyed the experience  of sharing in the delightful atmosphere which prevailed that night in what was once the refractory of the Sisters of Mercy convent.

The welcome greeting which met each of the visitors that night was just the start of a genuinely friendly encounter with a group of enthusiasts which more than anything else made for a memorable night.  The formality of the meeting belied the friendly and cheerful atmosphere.  The handing over of the gavel signifying the passing of control of the meeting was just one of the formalities of the night, while reference to the Sergeant at Arms conjured up images of military rather than verbal engagements.

I could see how the well organised Toastmasters meeting can and does help the members to build confidence and skill in public speaking and the overall impression I came away with is of a group engaged in a worthwhile project aimed at helping the individual within the community. 

Another open invitation extended to the general public last week was to view the new Community College building just beyond St. Joseph’s Terrace.  Constructed over a relatively short period of time the new college building is a wonderful facility containing in addition to the usual classrooms a quite enormous sports hall and a raked auditorium suitable for use for many community related purposes.  We have been most fortunate in Athy to have so many new schools provided over the last few years, the Community College being the third such facility to be located at the Tomard side of town in the space of just two years.  The Gael Scoil is going strong in its new building, while St. Patrick’s Boys School is soon expected to have, in addition to its recently opened school, a further building extension which will permit all its pupils to be brought together on the one site.

With the opening of the Community College I am reminded that the town got its first sports hall following the demolition of St. John’s Hall when the former Dreamland Ballroom was purchased by the Lions Club and the Parish of St. Michaels in the late 1970s.  Since then the local Gaelic Football Club opened its own sports hall in the mid 1980s, while Ardscoil na Tríonóide had a sports hall provided a few years ago.  The young people of the area are now literally spoiled for choice when it comes to indoor sports facilities.  Hopefully those in charge of these halls can agree on a user plan which will help maximise the benefits to the local people while ensuring that each sports hall is used to the best advantage of students, members and the local community at large. 

Paud O’Connor, whose photographic shop in what used to be Granny Evans house in Offaly Street, continues to display an ever changing array of interesting old photographs.  One such photograph is that of a Kildoon Gaelic Football team of the 1940s.  Five of the players have been identified and as numbered are:-  (1) Jack Nolan, (2) Mike Carroll, (3) Patsy Farrell, (4) Matty McCormack and (5) Jim Deering.  Patsy Farrell who died over 20 years ago was a grand uncle of Dessie Farrell, the former Dublin footballer who now leads the Gaelic Players Association.  Can anyone name the other members of the Kildoon team of 65 years or so ago?

Eye on the Past 743

BTo mark the coming together of Scoil Eoin and Scoil Mhuire as one school later in the year transition year students from the former Christian Brothers Secondary School have embarked on a publishing project. Their intention is to publish a book to mark the ending of almost 146 years of Scoil Eoin, formerly the Christian Brothers Secondary School as a boys school. They are looking for help from past pupils willing to write a remembrance piece of their days in the Athy school, or anyone with photographs or any form of memorabilia relating to the Secondary School, it's pupils or events connected with the school. If you can help in any way might I suggest you contact the Principal, Tony O'Rourke at Scoil Eoin, Rathstewart, Athy who will pass on your contributions to the transition year students in charge of the project.

It was a happy coincidence that within the past week I was given an old scrap book compiled between 1900 and 1906 with newspaper cuttings relating to happenings and events in Athy. One press cutting caught my eye. It was dated 21st April 1906 and under the headline “Athy Exiles Touching Tribute” it gave an account of a letter written by John J. Bealin, formerly of Athy, following the death of his former teacher, Brother John S. O'Flanagan. The newspaper spelt the name Bealen but I'm aware from school records that the correct spelling was Bealin.

I had previously came across John Bealin when I had access to some years ago the house annals of Athy's Christian Brothers Convent. Bealin was born in Athy in 1854, the son of Mark Bealin and Margaret Brewster who lived in the house at the corner of Leinster Street and Stanhope Street which is now the shop premises Xtravision. Mark Bealin had a successful bakery business at 2 William Street and the Bealin family included John's brothers William, Mark, Thomas and Francis and two sisters, Margaret and Mary. Their father died in 1866 and on the re-marriage of their mother the three older Bealin brothers William, John and Mark emigrated to America, arriving there in 1868. John Bealin was just 14 years of age at the time, while his brother Mark was a year younger and the eldest, William, 16 years of age.

Brother O'Flanagan was the first director or principal of the Christian Brothers School in Athy which opened in St. John's Lane in 1861. He died at North Richmond Street, Dublin in 1906, aged 76 years and his passing prompted John Bealin to write a letter which appeared in New York's “Daily News” from which the following is extracted.

“It was my good fortune to meet Brother O'Flanagan when I was but a boy. In the early sixties the Brothers opened their schools in my native town Athy. The Reverend Brother O'Flanagan was the Director. Associated with him were Brothers Holland and Clarke. Brother Clarke was the first of that great trio to go to his reward. He died many years since and sleeps the peace of the just in the neighbouring town of Carlow.

Brother Holland after spending many years in Athy was sent on a mission to St. John's, Newfoundland to lay a foundation of the Institute there. He was recalled from St. John's to Ireland where for years he served as assistant to the Brother General. He died at the Novitiate Marino, County Dublin on 5th January 1900 ... ... ... I remember the day well when my father brought me and introduced me to Brother O'Flanagan. The good Brother was then in the prime of his life. He was a tall man, pleasing to the eye, one to whom we would naturally take ... ... ... he knew how to gain the children's' confidence and respect. During recreation hours he joined in their sports. He showed us how to spin our tops, started and umpired our foot races, settled all disputes occurring in our games. Even now in my minds eye I can see him standing at our school door pitching a ball into the air to have us romp after it and return it to him. Our school was divided into two sections, one being known as the “Greeks” and the other as the “Romans”. The boys who earned the greater number of merit marks were rewarded the keeping of the school banner at the end of the week. Brother O'Flanagan would walk down to the end of the room, make his hands into a telescope, view the results of the merit marks indicated on the blackboard on either side of the room and in the manner, peculiarly his own, would jest the losing side and give the banner to the care taking of the victors ... ... ... He was an educator of the first order, eager and anxious to know the latest and the best methods of imparted knowledge. He was on the mailing list of nearly all the educational institutions of America.

I left Ireland in the fall of 1868 and since then I have kept up a correspondence with the good Brothers. Why is this so? Simply because like begets like and love begets love. His first letter reached me during the Christmas holidays after I had arrived here. It contained a Christmas remembrance consisting of a religious picture and a miraculous medal. In the letter he told me how he had missed me and how I was missed in the class by my school mates. He advised me to keep on saying my prayers and that he himself would pray for me every day. His last letter to me was dated February 6th 1906 and in it he said – “My Dearest John, I pray for you twice or trice a day”.

John Bealin then concluded his letter by asking the question. “Who could not help loving such a kindly nature?”

John Bealin enrolled in the Christian Brothers School in Athy in November 1862 when he was seven years old. He was the 168th pupil to register in the school which opened on 19th August the previous year. Also enrolled with John Bealin in November were John Sherlock of Moate Road, Michael Moore of Ballylinan, Laurence Murphy of Leinster Street, Thomas Watts of Barrack Street, James Murphy of Cardenton and Edward Myles of Barrack Street.

Incidentally the first student to enroll in the newly opened Christian Brothers School was 9 year old John Anderson of Rathstewart whose father was a boatman. 52 other youngsters also joined Anderson on that first day in August 1861, including four from an address which the Christian Brother who compiled the school roll noted as “Shrew Lane”. Presumably this referred to Shrewleen Lane. Another interesting feature of the first days student intake in the Christian Brothers School was the occupations noted for some of the parents of the students. A tin plate worker from Leinster Street, a sawyer from “Shrew Lane” and a nailor from St. John's Lane were some of the more unusual occupations to be found side by side with boatmen, millers, malsters, masons and shoe makers. The sawyer of course was a wood shed worker involved in sawing wood, while the nailor was a nail maker and the tin plate worker made metal items from tin plate. One parent living in Stanhope Street gave his occupation as a bootbinder which indicated that he was a worker employed in binding soles to the uppers of shoes and boots.

No doubt there are many more former pupils of the secondary school in Athy with happy or perhaps not so happy memories of their school days. If you would like to share those memories of school days in Athy why not put pen to paper and write to the Principal of Scoil Eoin who will pass any material received to the transition year students for possible inclusion in the book planned for May of this year. They would like to hear from you.

Eye on the Past 744

Eddie Delahunt and Barney Dunne died during the past week. Their passing is a sad loss to a local community which was enriched by their contributions over many decades.

Eddie was a native of Athy, the son of Patsy Delahunt, a postman, and Kathleen Wright of neighbouring Castledermot. Barney was a Cavan man who came to Athy 75 years ago to work for Mrs. O'Meara in the family pub in Leinster Street. The Breffni man was a talented footballer and it was in the sporting sphere that Barney first made an impact when playing for Athy Gaelic Football Club. Barney was the sole survivor of the Athy senior teams which successfully contested the Kildare County Championship Finals in 1933, 1934, 1937 and 1942. He shared with the late Paul Matthews the distinction of being the only players to have contested all four county finals and both were the only Athy football players to have won four Kildare Senior Championship medals.

Eddie Delahunt was, like Barney Dunne, a member in his younger days of Athy Gaelic Football Club and played in the Kildare County Minor Championship finals of 1942 and 1943. Uniquely both finals were replayed following drawn matches and unfortunately Eddie and his teammates lost out on both occasions by two points. However, success marked Eddie's involvement at the Athy street league competitions in the early 1940's when playing for St. Josephs. His team reached the finals every year for the four years of the competition and victory was achieved twice, losing out in the other years to teams representing Barrack Street and the Starlights.

Barney Dunne's success on the football field gave him winners medals in the Leinster Leader Cup competitions of 1932 and 1936 and honours with his adopted county of Kildare when winning a Leinster Senior Championship medal in 1935. Kildare went on to contest the All-Ireland of that year and their opponents were Barney's county men, Cavan. It was a final which Kildare were expected to win, but controversy raised its head when Athy man, Cuddy Chanders, the team's regular goalkeeper, was left on the sideline to be replaced by an outfield player who had lost his place. Barney joined Athy players Cuddy Chanders and Jim Fox on the subs bench for that final when Kildare was captained by Paul Matthews of the Athy Football Club. Playing with Paul in that All Ireland Final was Athy Club mate Tommy Mulhall.

Barney played senior football for County Kildare between 1935 and 1937, but never again had the opportunity of playing in another All Ireland final. He retired from football following the 1942 County Championship Final which was won by Athy. I interviewed Barney many years ago and I recall him telling me that for a while he served as secretary of Athy Gaelic Football Club. I assume it was after he had retired from playing but even the redoubtable Cavan man could not pinpoint the years he occupied that prestigious position.

Eddie Delahunt spent his working life in his native town, starting off in Flemings Sawmills in Chapel Lane where he spent eight years. The sawmills like that of Blanchfields at the top of Leinster Street are long gone and nothing remains to remind us of the bustling activity which surrounded the everyday life of the local sawmills. Eddie left Flemings and went to work in Duthie Larges which was located across the lane from the sawmills. This was when Duthie Larges was one of the most substantial employers of male workers in the town of Athy. Like Flemings Sawmills, Duthie Larges is no more. Eddie was later employed in the local Asbestos factory where he spent three years before he started work in the Wallboard factory and where he remained until it closed in the mid-1970's. His final work place was Canada Dry factory where he was employed for eight years before retiring at the age of 65 years. During this time Eddie was a member of Athy Fire Brigade, as was his father Patsy before him and during his almost 40 years fire service he served with men such as Tom Langton, Jack Webster, Christy Dunne, Matt McHugh and many more fine men whose names are not recorded here. All of these men and their colleagues were an important part of the community fabric of Athy during the 1940's and later, contributing to and participating in many activities in the town. Eddie was a member of the swimming pool committee which gave Athy its first swimming pool. He was also a member, and sadly the last of the original members, of the Marian Shrine Committee which in 1954 erected a shrine at the town end of St. Joseph's Terrace.

Barney Dunne spent a lifetime in the bar trade, firstly in O'Meara's and then moving to Kelly's of Leinster Street before he acquired Ned Carroll's pub in Duke Street in 1945. It was there that Barney was to be seen up to recent years standing occasionally in the doorway watching the passing traffic. When his footballing days were over Barney became involved in greyhound racing and I can remember him in the 1950's walking out the Carlow Road every morning with four or five greyhounds to be schooled in some field or other as I walked to the local secondary school.

On 5th April 1990 the Athy Gaelic Football Club held a celebratory dinner in the Geraldine Park Clubhouse to salute past players and officials. Honorary Club memberships were presented that night to Barney Dunne, Tom Forrestal, Johnny McEvoy, Mick Birney, Tom Wall, Joe Byrne, Ned Wynne, Matt Murray, Willie Chanders, Lal Murray, Danny O'Shaughnessy, Mick Murphy, Finbar Purcell, Tim O'Sullivan and Denis Wynne. I prepared a programme for that night which incorrectly described Barney as the only Athy player with four county senior championship medals. However, it was an honour Barney shared with his teammate Paul Matthews. It is unlikely that their record will ever be achieved.

Apart from his involvement as a worker and a community activist Eddie Delahunt was a staunch member of the Labour party. His father Patsy was for many years secretary of the local branch and inevitably Eddie joined the party when still a young man and remained a committed member for the rest of his life. I recall talking to him some years ago about the Labour party which for so long had been dominated at national level and in this constituency by the famous Bill Norton. Labour was always the smallest of the three main political parties, but some measure of success at local level was always assured when men such as Eddie took to canvassing the local voters. Eddie's son Christy was a Labour Councillor on Athy Urban District Council for at least two terms and other Councillors who Eddie helped to get elected over the years included Chevit Doyle, Jim Fleming, Mick Rowan, Tom Fleming, John Norman and the legendary Tom Carbery.

Eddie died in his 81st year and Barney in his 95th year. Both men were part of the recent history of our town, each having contributed in his own way to the social and sporting life of our community. In their passing we sympathise with their families and express gratitude for the memories they have left us.

Eye on the Past 745

Free elections are the bedrock of our democracy. Later this year the country will go to the polls and using the proportional representation system of voting will elect members of a new Dáil Eireann. The PR system of voting was designed to ensure that the composition of elected bodies reflected the political affiliations of those voting and to protect minority groupings. It originated in continental Europe in the 19th century and from it was developed a British model of the system which was used in Ireland for the first time in the Local Government elections of January 1920. Ireland was then immersed in the War of Independence and was still governed from Westminster. The General Election of November 1918 had seen the defeat of the Irish Parliamentary Party and the emergence of Sinn Fein as the political leaders of the Irish people. It seems likely that the PR system of voting was brought in by the British government in an attempt to restrict the electoral success of Sinn Fein candidates and help maintain non Sinn Fein candidates within the Irish Local Government system.

The local elections in Athy were held on the 15th of January 1920 under the supervision of Joseph A. Lawler, the long time serving Town Clerk, who would die on the 4th of June 1927 after almost forty years in the position. He was a brother of Michael Lawler of the Hibernian Hotel in Leinster Street and was an important figure in local G.A.A. circles. The town of Athy, which was previously governed by Town Commissioners, was created an Urban District under the 1899 Local Government Act and the first Urban District Council was elected in April 1900. Fifteen councillors comprised the local Council and of these six members represented the East Urban Electoral area and nine members the West Electoral area of Athy.

The new PR system of voting involved a lot of preparation and training on behalf of the Council staff and the Local Government Board organised model elections in the Town Hall, Naas on 22nd November 1919 which J.A. Lawler, the Athy Town Clerk, attended. Following that Lawler organised trial elections in the Town Hall Athy on 11th September, at which he was assisted by a member of the Dublin based PR society. Further trial elections were carried out by the Town Clerk and his assistants on the 9th, 11th, 12th and 13th January in preparation for the real event scheduled for the 15th of January 1920.

On election day there were four polling stations, all located within the area of Emily Square. The Town Clerk presided at the polling station in the Urban Council offices, while David Walsh took charge of the booth in the “Leinster Offices”. This was from where the Duke of Leinster’s estate were administered locally and while I cannot definitely identify the exact location of the office within the Town Hall, it certainly was located there from the information available to me. P.P. Timmons was presiding officer in the Courthouse, while F. Gibbons had control of the polling booth in the “Magistrate’s Room” which was also in the Courthouse.

The number of electors in Athy east urban was 790, of which 555 were entitled to vote in January 1920. I cannot explain the discrepancy between the two figures. However, in the “Leinster Offices” booth the electors to vote started with No. 1, Mrs. E.R. Deane of Clonmullin up to No. 372, Mary Wall of Garden Lane. The “Council Offices” booth catered for the voters from No. 373 Mary Cooper of Emily Row to No. 543 Ann Ryan of Rathstewart. The West urban voters of which there were 899, with 646 entitled to vote, voted in the Courthouse. In the Courtroom itself voters from No. 127 Daniel Malone of Ardrew to No. 167 Mary Youell of Duke Street went to the polling booths, while No. 1672 James Fitzpatrick of Green Alley to No. 1913 Lucy Nash of the Fever Hospital voted in the “Magistrate’s Room”.

Prior to the election the local bill poster James Mulhall posted notices throughout the town advertising the names of the candidates nominated to contest the election. On the day of the election and the subsequent count which started immediately the polls closed and went on through the night, both Mulhall and George Lamon were employed to man the doors of the Town Hall and the Courthouse.

The East Urban elections saw the election of William Mahon with 135 votes where the quota was 55 votes, followed by the election of John Joseph Bailey, Patrick Dooley, James Darrigan, Daniel Twomey and Francis Jackson. The two unsuccessful candidates were Joseph C. Reynolds and John Doyle. In the West Urban area Peter Paul Doyle, the outgoing chairman of the Council, got 149 votes where the quota was 52 votes and also elected were Michael Malone, Patrick Dooley, Thomas Corcoran, Thomas Plewman, Thomas J. Whelan, Thomas O’Rourke, Joseph O’Rourke and Patrick Keogh. The only unsuccessful candidate here was William Plewman St. John.

The Patrick Dooley elected for West Athy lived in the Bleach, while his namesake in East Athy lived in Leinster Street. The two O’Rourkes were, I believe, father and son but if anyone can give me any information about them or indeed any of the other candidates mentioned in this article I would be delighted to hear from them.

Seven of the outgoing Council were re-elected and the newly elected members of the Council were Patrick Dooley of the Bleach, Thomas Corcoran of Woodstock Street, Thomas O’Rourke of William Street, Patrick Keogh of Woodstock Street, Joseph O’Rourke of William Street, Francis Jackson of Leinster Street, James Darrigan or Dargan of Butler’s Row and Daniel Toomey of Meeting Lane.

Thomas Plewman resigned from the Council on the 3rd of May 1920 following almost 50 years service as a Town Commissioner and an Urban District Councillor. Apparently his decision to resign was prompted by the Councillors’ decision to change the time of the Council meeting to 7.00 p.m. from the traditional morning meeting time. John J. Bailey resigned in February 1925 when he was replaced by P.J. Murphy of Emily Square.

The new Council elected in January 1920 under the PR system reflected the growing Irish nationalism of the time and some of its early decisions confirm this. On the 1st of March it approved the movement to have St. Patrick’s Day declared a national holiday and requested all local shopkeepers to close their premises on that day. It also accepted a request from the local branch of the Gaelic League to have the Council’s notepaper printed in Irish and later agreed to set up a committee to change local street names to their Irish equivalent (however, nothing subsequently happened in that regard). In a final act of defiance towards the British authorities the Council in August 1920 passed a resolution “acknowledging the authority of Dáil Eireann as the duly elected government of the Irish people and undertake to give effect to all decrees duly promulgated by the said Dáil Eireann”.

As 1920 came to a close the Irish War of Independence was still ongoing and its first casualty in this area was John Byrne of Gracefield, Ballylinan who died when the Luggacurran R.I.C. Barracks was torched on 20th April 1920. The Barrowhouse ambush, the Graney ambush and the other killings of the War of Independence and the Civil War were still in the future. However, the majority of the members of Athy Urban District Council elected in January 1920 reflected the changing mood of the emerging Irish nation and Local Government in this area in terms of the Council’s composition and the members allegiances had changed forever.

Eye on the Past 900

On Thursday last the Athy branch of the Irish Wheelchair Association celebrated the 50th anniversary of the founding of the first branch of the National organisation. Teach Emmanuel was ‘en fete’ for the occasion as volunteers, past and present, returned to acknowledge the wonderful work undertaken by that most underrated of organisations.

The I.W.A. was founded in 1960 by a small group of wheelchair users who had participated in the first Paralympics Games held in Rome. In September of that year the inaugural meeting of the I.W.A. took place on 10th November 1960 in the Pillar Room of the Mater Hospital Dublin, attended by several members of the Irish Paralympics Games team, as well as a number of civic minded individuals. Given the later history of the Athy branch of the Association it is, I feel, significant that the founding meeting was held in the Dublin hospital established by Mother Mary Vincent Whitty. This was the same Sister of Mercy who came to Athy in 1852 to take charge of the new Convent of Mercy and the nearby Convent Schools.

The Irish Wheelchair Association was founded primarily to improve the lives of people with physical disabilities and today the organisation has a network of 20,000 members with over 2,000 staff and many dedicated voluntary workers supporting and encouraging independence for all. The I.W.A. seeks to improve equality and access for wheelchair users as well as providing employment and housing, while encouraging social interaction. A quarterly magazine ‘Spokeout’ is published and made available to members of the Association.

Pride of place at the 50th celebrations went to Sr. Carmel Fallon and Sr. Alphonsus Meagher, both Sisters of Mercy who were part of the small group who in 1968 established the local branch of the I.W.A. It was these two Mercy nuns who with their colleague, the late Sr. Dolores, formed a girls club in Athy in 1968. The young club members were encouraged to visit wheelchair users in their homes and very soon the possibility of establishing a branch of the I.W.A. in Athy became a reality.

The driving force in setting up the branch was the Co. Galway born Sr. Carmel Fallon who entered the convent in Athy in August 1935. The year was 1969 and very soon the local branch developed as socials for wheelchair users were held in Mount St. Mary’s, annual Christmas dinners were arranged and summer holidays were spent in boarding schools operated by the Sisters of Mercy. None of this could have been done without the help of volunteers, both male and female, who from the very start devoted their spare time and energies to helping Sr. Carmel in her determined effort to provide services for the disabled, while integrating them fully into the local community.

Amongst the early volunteers (and apologies if anyone has been overlooked) were Leo Byrne, Lily Murphy, Mary Malone, Mary Prior, Michael Kelly, Bridget Brennan, John Morrin, Tommy Page, Paddy Timoney, Dinny Donoghue, Phoebe Murphy, Caroline Webb, Peadar Doogue, Fr. Lorcan O’Brien and Fr. Denis Lavery.

The Athy branch was in time to provide a fulltime activity service for the disabled and the first Day Centre outside of the association’s facility in Clontarf, Dublin was opened in Athy. Teach Emmanuel was developed on a site in the grounds of St. Vincent’s Hospital and represented a partnership between the Health Board and the Irish Wheelchair Association. It also confirmed, if confirmation was needed, that the diminutive nun from the West of Ireland had an admirable record of achievement since arriving in the South Kildare town at the height of the economic war of the 1930s.

In 1992 Sr. Carmel was appointed president of the Irish Wheelchair Association National Organisation and held that position for 10 years. She is now retired from active involvement in the day to day work of the local association, but still retains a kindly watching brief over the work of Teach Emmanuel.

The 50th celebration was graced by the presence of many of the volunteers, past and present, without whose work and efforts over the years the local branch of the Wheelchair Association could never have been expected to survive. That it has survived and indeed prospered, despite depending so heavily on voluntary financial donations and voluntary workers, is a measure of the generosity, not only of the volunteers involved, but also of the Irish public who can always be counted upon to help those who need their help the most. The Athy branch of the Irish Wheelchair Association can be justifiably proud of its many achievements in helping the physically disabled to better integrate with the local community. At the same time the people of Athy and district can take pride in the continuing success of a local organisation whose presence is a welcome addition to the medico social facilities of south Kildare.

Last week I wrote of the new Traffic Management Plan for Athy and referred to an alternative plan proposed by a group which I understood was the Irish Farmers Association. In fact I am told the plan in question arises from discussions within the Athy Traffic Action Committee and has the support of a large section of the business community. I gather their plan has not yet received the backing of the Town Council but perhaps that support will come when the Council members sit down with members of Kildare County Council to consider the Traffic Management Plan prepared by the Council’s consultants.

Hugh Bolger of 6 Offaly Street passed away last week. A native of Ballylinan he worked for many years in the Wallboard factory and his funeral was marked by a Guard of Honour of members of Ballylinan Gaelic Football Club and by the attendance of many of his former work colleagues from the now long closed Barrowford complex. Hugh married Loy Hayden, now sadly deceased, whom I fondly remember as part of the Offaly Street family of the 1950s. She and her brother Seamus lived with their aunt Mrs. Kitty Murphy and her husband Joe at No. 3 Offaly Street before moving to No. 6 when the Taaffes vacated that latter address to move next door to No. 5.

I had departed Athy for ‘foreign parts’, i.e. Naas, before Hugh married Loy and moved into No. 6. I got to know him over the years and he became part of the familiar Offaly Street background at a time when several of the older families were still living there. It is now a street much changed from my young days and the community of which I was a member and of which Hugh was later a welcome part of, has disappeared. Hugh was one of the last links with that street community and his passing is much regretted. He is survived by his daughters Sinéad and Áine and his grandchildren to whom our sympathies are extended.

Eye on the Past 901

This morning I started to write the Eye, intending to relate my experiences of the ‘Open Night’ arranged by the local Toastmasters to which I had been kindly invited. However, just after 7.30 a.m. I got a phone call from a friend advising of the destruction of the Model School and commenting ‘that’s your Eye for next week’. Indeed he was right. The destruction of a local building of architectural importance, being one of several such buildings which formed Athy’s historical character, is a great loss. The relatively slow pace of development in Athy over the years had ensured a good survival rate for the most important elements of the town’s building heritage. The Town Hall, the Courthouse and White’s Castle are just some of the more important urban buildings which have survived and by doing so added an important dimension to the urban fabric of the town.

The destruction of the fine Model School is a terrible loss as the 19th century tudor gothic style building was a fine example of the work of that great architect Frederick Darley. There are other fine examples of his work in Athy, all due no doubt to the patronage of the Duke of Leinster. St. Michael’s Church at the top of Offaly Street, the Presbyterian Church and Manse and the Courthouse were all buildings designed by Frederick Darley. Indeed if one looks at some of the other noteworthy buildings in the town designed by Deane and Woodward and George Wilkinson among others, it can be seen that Athy is well endowed with buildings of architectural merit designed by many of the leading architects of their time.

Model Schools were part of a countrywide scheme proposed by the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland in its report for 1835 which stated: ‘32 District Model Schools should be established, being a number equal to that of the counties of Ireland, that those Model Schools should be under the direction of teachers chosen for superior attainments, and receiving superior remuneration to those charged with the general or primary school.’

Little appears to have been done about the Model School proposal until 1846 when the Commissioners in that year’s report gave further details of the proposed new schools.

‘That in Model Schools, established in the smaller county towns, a male and a female school and an agricultural school should be established – that from all the national schools in the neighbourhood, a certain number of the most deserving pupils be selected and be admitted as free scholars into the District Model School to act as monitors therein and to receive for their services small weekly payments.’

Athy was chosen in 1848 as a site for a District Model School, no doubt due to the influence of the Marquis of Kildare who replaced his father, the Duke of Leinster, on the Board of Commissioners for National Education in 1841. The Duke offered to lease a site for the school on the outskirts of Athy and the Commissioners on accepting the offer allowed the Duke to decide whether to have an agricultural college in the town or a District Model School with an agricultural department. He chose the latter and the building designed by Frederick Darley was erected. It was considered by the Education Commission as ‘very ambitious and needlessly expansive’ but undoubtedly it added enormously to the building heritage of the town which otherwise had very little else to boast of at that time.

The school was officially opened on 12th August 1852 and the first report of the school Inspector Edward Butler described the Head Master’s house as follows:-

‘The house contains on the ground floor a good-sized hall, large dining room, store-room, kitchen, with larder and servants’ room, etc; and two apartments, one for the Head Master, the other for the use of the resident pupil teachers during study hours. The second story, which is reached from the hall by a large flight of stairs, consists of an infirmary, two bed-rooms for the use of the Head Master, a wash-room and a dormitory for the four pupil teachers and four agricultural boarders, who reside on the premises, under the superintendence of the Head Master’.

There were two playgrounds, one for boys, the other for girls. On the first day the school attendance was 13 boys and 1 girl and in school to greet them was John Walsh, the Headmaster and Agnes Reilly, Mistress of the girl’s school. Both were Catholics and indeed in the early years of the Model School the teaching staff comprised Catholics as well as members of the Established Church and Presbyterians. The school attendance increased rapidly so that by 1858 there were upwards of 582 on the school rolls.

The Irish Catholic hierarchy objected to the Model School system and Archbishop Cullen of Dublin encouraged the Sisters of Mercy to open a school in Athy. The Sisters of Mercy arrived here in 1852, although it must be acknowledged that as early as 1844 the local clergy had spearheaded a weekly collection in the town to finance the building of a convent and school for the Sisters of Mercy. The Ballitore-born Archbishop was also instrumental in inviting the Christian Brothers to set up a school for boys in Athy and their arrival in 1861, combined with the earlier established Convent school, soon resulted in the non denominational education system in the Model School giving way to a system catering almost exclusively for members of the non-Catholic community. It was a situation which in more recent years had begun to be reversed as the intake of pupils to the Model School came from many different religious backgrounds.

An infant school was added to the District Model School in 1860 and a Miss Craig was appointed mistress of that section. The agricultural department which catered for young trainees who boarded in the adjoining house ran into financial difficulties after what was a promising start which had seen the farm attached to the school extended to 64 acres in 1855. The agricultural department closed in 1880 and the land was sold at auction.

The loss of the Model School is a terrible blow for the local Church of Ireland community and the school’s pupils and I hope that the fine building which has stood at one of the principal entrances to Athy for more than 150 years will be fully restored at some time in the not too distant future.

Michael Foot, the veteran British labour politician, died during the week aged 96 years. He was a remarkable man of great literary ability, a bibliophile, an erudite socialist and a most honourable politician. I first came across Michael Foot, the writer, when I read his biography of Dean Swift, ‘The Pen and the Sword’ which was published in 1957. He later wrote many more books including the two volume biography of another great British politician and socialist, Aneurin Bevan which confirmed his standing as a writer of exceptional ability. Michael Foot was harshly treated by the British electorate when he lead the Labour party in the 1970 General Election, but that most honest of politicians never deviated from the high principles for which he was noted. How I wish we had a few Michael Foots within the Irish political scene.

Road Alignment at Gallowshill and Ardreigh

I travelled on the new road leading from Gallowshill to the M9 motorway over the Easter weekend and marvelled at the previously unseen landscapes which the changing geography of the district has now opened up for us.  The previously circuitous route via Shanrath and Foxhill leading to the village of Ballitore has been replaced with a direct route which leaves what was once the meandering track way of medieval man and beast, like a modern day castaway.  Almost, but not quite superfluous, the ancient roadway now serves as a way of passage to dwelling houses which over the decades sprang up amidst the quietness of a rural setting. 

The geography of this part of South Kildare has been changed in much the same way as the original road from Athy to Dublin was changed two hundred years or so ago to give us the straight stretches of roadway on either side of the Moat of Ardscull two hundred years or so ago.  The old Dublin Road ran a few hundred yards to the east of the Moat but why it was changed I do not know.  As the old road approached Athy it passed through the lands of Gallowshill, as did its 18^th century replacement and as still does the new 21^st century roadway. 

Gallowshill was then a much more important part of the town’s geography than it is today.  As the name confirms it was the site of the town’s gallows which stood as a permanent reminder of the fate which awaited those who infringed the law.  Property rights in the 17^th and 18^th centuries and earlier were far more important than the right to life and the death penalty was applied rigorously for what might now appear to have been the most minor of offences.  The path to Gallowshill was a well trodden one as the unfortunate miscreants were brought to the public place of execution where afterwards their bodies were left on the gallows as a deterrent to others. 

A decade or so ago when excavations were being carried out on sandpits at Gallowshill a number of skeletal remains were found.  In all probability these were the remains of some unfortunates who breathed their last on the town gallows at Gallowshill.  Now as we approach the new Gallowshill roundabout we can be forgiven for overlooking the history of a place which in another age struck fear and loathing in the hearts of so many.  Its story may never be fully known. 

On another side of the town, this time out on the Carlow Road, there remains another new roadway awaiting completion.  The Ardreigh bypass, which was the subject of much comment after the costly rediscovery of the medieval village of Ardreigh, will hopefully be finished before the year is out.  In the meantime the archaeologists who spent so much time and money on excavating the Ardreigh site have provided a multi volume preliminary report on their findings. 

The findings indicated that the Ardreigh site was of regional and possibly national importance.  As in Gallowshill where the road alignment was changed over the centuries, it was clear that the medieval village of Ardreigh was served by a road which ran to the east of the present roadway.

A quite enormous amount of medieval material and artefacts was unearthed at Ardreigh during the archaeological excavations which commenced in 2000 and initially lasted for just over three years.  The site was not worked on again until 2007 and was finally completed approximately a year later.  In addition to medieval material the site also gave up evidence of prehistoric life, including a Neolithic stone axe head, as well as several sherids of prehistoric pottery and flint tools.  One of the most important finds on the excavated site was an intact late Bronze Age pot.  The findings all point to the Ardreigh site being a settlement dating from prehistoric through to medieval times.

The existing graveyard at Ardreigh was always assumed to have been the more modern successor of an ancient burial ground and the finding of nearly 1300 skeletal remains outside the eastern boundary wall of the graveyard confirms that the commonly held belief was indeed correct.  The ‘Lost’ graveyard would appear to have held an unusually large number of child skeletons, an obvious indication of the high mortality rate in medieval times. Where however was the explanation for the five skeletons found buried outside the medieval graveyard boundary?  Three skeletons were buried in the same grave which might indicate individuals executed for some criminal offence or other.  The traditional Christian practice of burying corpses on their backs with their heads to the west and their eyes to the east was practiced during the life of the Ardreigh settlement.  Incidentally it is a practice which was and is still followed in Old St. Michael’s cemetery but not in new St. Michaels where corpses are buried in a north south orientation.

The finding of the remains of large lime kilns, lime storage pots and industrial hearths, together with corn drying kilns, fragments of quern stones and the remains of some medieval structures points to Ardreigh having been the site of a substantial settlement.  Its importance in terms of Irish archaeology awaits the outcome of further studies including carbon dating and Ardreigh may well prove to have had an early Christian existence.  No matter what further findings are made Ardreigh has provided a unique collection of artefacts which adds enormously to the heritage resources of the area.  The concern must be that those artefacts can eventually be restored to this area to help us redefine and clarify our prehistoric and medieval past. 

The skeletal remains which were removed from the site for analysis will presumably be eventually returned to Ardreigh for re-internment.  Would it be too much to hope for the recreation on the ‘idle’ land between the old and new road of the Ardreigh medieval village as found by the archaeologists?

My thanks to the readers who contacted me about the cast of Mary Mullans’ play, ‘The Turn of the Wheel’.  Unfortunately no one has yet turned up a photograph of the cast, although I believe that such a photograph exists.  If you can help me in my quest I would be delighted to hear from you. 

Model School

This morning I started to write the Eye, intending to relate my experiences of the ‘Open Night’ arranged by the local Toastmasters to which I had been kindly invited.  However, just after 7.30 a.m. I got a phone call from a friend advising of the destruction of the Model School and commenting ‘that’s your Eye for next week’.  Indeed he was right.  The destruction of a local building of architectural importance, being one of several such buildings which formed Athy’s historical character, is a great loss.  The relatively slow pace of development in Athy over the years had ensured a good survival rate for the most important elements of the town’s building heritage.  The Town Hall, the Courthouse and White’s Castle are just some of the more important urban buildings which have survived and by doing so added an important dimension to the urban fabric of the town. 

The destruction of the fine Model School is a terrible loss as the 19^th century tudor gothic style building was a fine example of the work of that great architect Frederick Darley.  There are other fine examples of his work in Athy, all due no doubt to the patronage of the Duke of Leinster.  St. Michael’s Church at the top of Offaly Street, the Presbyterian Church and Manse and the Courthouse were all buildings designed by Frederick Darley.  Indeed if one looks at some of the other noteworthy buildings in the town designed by Deane and Woodward and George Wilkinson among others, it can be seen that Athy is well endowed with buildings of architectural merit designed by many of the leading architects of their time.

Model Schools were part of a countrywide scheme proposed by the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland in its report for 1835 which stated:  ‘32 District Model Schools should be established, being a number equal to that of the counties of Ireland, that those Model Schools should be under the direction of teachers chosen for superior attainments, and receiving superior remuneration to those charged with the general or primary school.’

Little appears to have been done about the Model School proposal until 1846 when the Commissioners in that year’s report gave further details of the proposed new schools.

            ‘That in Model Schools, established in the smaller county towns, a male and a female school and an agricultural school should be established – that from all the national schools in the neighbourhood, a certain number of the most deserving pupils be selected and be admitted as free scholars into the District Model School to act as monitors therein and to receive for their services small weekly payments.’

Athy was chosen in 1848 as a site for a District Model School, no doubt due to the influence of the Marquis of Kildare who replaced his father, the Duke of Leinster, on the Board of Commissioners for National Education in 1841.  The Duke offered to lease a site for the school on the outskirts of Athy and the Commissioners on accepting the offer allowed the Duke to decide whether to have an agricultural college in the town or a District Model School with an agricultural department.  He chose the latter and the building designed by Frederick Darley was erected.  It was considered by the Education Commission as ‘very ambitious and needlessly expansive’ but undoubtedly it added enormously to the building heritage of the town which otherwise had very little else to boast of at that time.

The school was officially opened on 12^th August 1852 and the first report of the school Inspector Edward Butler described the Head Master’s house as follows:-

‘The house contains on the ground floor a good-sized hall, large dining room, store-room, kitchen, with larder and servants’ room, etc; and two apartments, one for the Head Master, the other for the use of the resident pupil teachers during study hours.  The second story, which is reached from the hall by a large flight of stairs, consists of an infirmary, two bed-rooms for the use of the Head Master, a wash-room and a dormitory for the four pupil teachers and four agricultural boarders, who reside on the premises, under the superintendence of the Head Master’.

There were two playgrounds, one for boys, the other for girls.  On the first day the school attendance was 13 boys and 1 girl and in school to greet them was John Walsh, the Headmaster and Agnes Reilly, Mistress of the girl’s school.  Both were Catholics and indeed in the early years of the Model School the teaching staff comprised Catholics as well as members of the Established Church and Presbyterians.  The school attendance increased rapidly so that by 1858 there were upwards of 582 on the school rolls. 

The Irish Catholic hierarchy objected to the Model School system and Archbishop Cullen of Dublin encouraged the Sisters of Mercy to open a school in Athy.  The Sisters of Mercy arrived here in 1852, although it must be acknowledged that as early as 1844 the local clergy had spearheaded a weekly collection in the town to finance the building of a convent and school for the Sisters of Mercy.  The Ballitore-born Archbishop was also instrumental in inviting the Christian Brothers to set up a school for boys in Athy and their arrival in 1861, combined with the earlier established Convent school, soon resulted in the non denominational education system in the Model School giving way to a system catering almost exclusively for members of the non-Catholic community.  It was a situation which in more recent years had begun to be reversed as the intake of pupils to the Model School came from many different religious backgrounds.

An infant school was added to the District Model School in 1860 and a Miss Craig was appointed mistress of that section.  The agricultural department which catered for young trainees who boarded in the adjoining house ran into financial difficulties after what was a promising start which had seen the farm attached to the school extended to 64 acres in 1855.  The agricultural department closed in 1880 and the land was sold at auction.

The loss of the Model School is a terrible blow for the local Church of Ireland community and the school’s pupils and I hope that the fine building which has stood at one of the principal entrances to Athy for more than 150 years will be fully restored at some time in the not too distant future.

Michael Foot, the veteran British labour politician, died during the week aged 96 years. He was a remarkable man of great literary ability, a bibliophile, an erudite socialist and a most honourable politician.  I first came across Michael Foot, the writer, when I read his biography of Dean Swift, ‘The Pen and the Sword’ which was published in 1957.  He later wrote many more books including the two volume biography of another great British politician and socialist, Aneurin Bevan which confirmed his standing as a writer of exceptional ability.  Michael Foot was harshly treated by the British electorate when he lead the Labour party in the 1970 General Election, but that most honest of politicians never deviated from the high principles for which he was noted.  How I wish we had a few Michael Foots within the Irish political scene.