Whitechurch

Centuries of history were swept away in a few short hours when the remains of Whitechurch forming part of the mearin ditch between the townlands of Turnerstown and Foxhill were bulldozed some weeks ago. The small oblong building was visible only in the remains of walls which has stood on the site for century's past. In the Ballad "Oonah More the legend of Inch Castle", Oonah retreated to the Whitechurch having been slighted by Ulick O'Kelly the son of the Lord of Inch Castle. The Ballad composed in 1856 and which was the subject of Eye on the Past Number 150 relates how

"For Oonah, life lost happiness, and day by day she stray'd,
To the holy walls of White Church, where the saintly maidens pray'd,
In silent anguish pining, she asked that Heaven above
Forgetting Ulick's baseness, might assoil his guilty love".


White Church approximately half a mile south of Inch Castle adjoins the Athy/Ballytore road which skirts around the Church and the burial ground which once surrounded it. The last resting place of the dead had long been obliterated presumably through the efforts of a farmer of another day reluctant to allow the enriched soil to remain uncultivated. Now the ruins of the old church are gone.

The name White Church is quite a common one to be found as a place name in both Ireland and England. White in the context of White Church is very likely to mean a stone church in the same way as White's Castle was so called because it was built of stone. There is a townland of White Church near to Naas which in the 15th Century formed part of the Manor of White Church belonging to the Viscounts of Gormanstown. A priory of Carmelites was once located there. Counties Cork, Dublin, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford all have townlands called White Church but what we had near Athy up to recently was the ruins of a small building known as White Church. How and when the Church came to be built between the townlands of Foxhill and Turnerstown is open to conjecture. The small stone building was obviously of great antiquity as the Ballad of Oonah More refers to the "holy Walls of White Church" an apparent acknowledgement that the building was even then in ruins. As the events related in the Ballad occurred in 1439, it can be assumed that the Church was built long before then.

In an article published in the Kildare Archaeological Society Journal in 1906, there appeared a plan of White Church which showed an oblong building measuring twenty-four and a half feet long by fourteen feet wide with an entrance in the South wall. The walls themselves were two foot four inches thick. The simple building without any apparent division as between Nave and Chancel and oblong in shape is typical of early Irish Churches. An examination of the masonry in the walls of the church could help to determine the period in which it was built but we cannot now do this. From the evidence of the 1906 plan, White Church could possibly have been a 9th or 10th Century building.

It is sad to think that anyone could be so heedless of the history of the building as to destroy it without any thought for the consequences. It requires a quantum leap of generous proportions to forgive the mindless act which has deprived us of the White Church. But maybe its loss will encourage others to realise the importance of the ancient building Heritage of South Kildare. If it results in the saving of Inch Castle to which the White Church was linked in the legend of Oona More, the sacrifice no matter how unintentional might be rendered acceptable. Look around us in South Kildare and see the wealth of the built heritage amongst which we live. Woodstock Castle, White's Castle, St. Michael's Medieval Church, Rheban Castle, the list could go on and on.

An Taisce, the National Trust does what it can to raise peoples awareness of the value of the Heritage of the past. It is currently campaigning to save Woodstock Castle. This ancient keep is owned by Athy Urban District Council whose priorities determined by severe financial constraints do not include the protection or preservation of the Castle. It is quite possible that Woodstock Castle the first building in the future Town of Athy will be lost to future generations if we don't act quickly to counteract the failure of the Council.

A towns history can be measured in stone and our respect for that history can be gauged by how we treat the time soaked stones of another era. We have failed in so far as the White Church is concerned because one amongst us threw caution and respect to the wind and unleashed the hungry jaws of a J.C.B. against the "holy walls of White Church".

We must never forget the lesson which this has taught us. Never again should we impetuously or negligently tear down the helpless stones of history, for if we do, we will destroy ourselves.

Garda John McEvgoy, Paddy Joe Hughes, Gerry Stynes

On the 28th of September 1939 two young men with suitcases in hand arrived at the Railway Station in Athy to catch the 9.04 a.m. train to Dublin. That same week petrol rationing had been introduced by the Irish Government just three weeks after Germany had invaded Poland, thereby precipitating the Second World War. The train services had been curtailed due to the need to conserve coal stocks but the young men waiting on the platform gave little thought to the events unfolding in Europe. With their friend Gerry Stynes who was to join the train at Kildangan they were travelling to Dublin's Kings Bridge and from there to the Garda Depot in the Phoenix Park. They were the latest recruits for the Garda Siochana and all were former pupils of Athy Christian Brothers School.

Fifty seven years later they will retrace the journey they made as young men when on Saturday 28th September they catch the 11.30 a.m. train from Heuston Station to Athy. This time they will be accompanied by their wives and a lifetime of memories. Theirs will be a nostalgic journey, revisiting the town they once knew so well and renewing acquaintances with neighbours and friends of long ago.

Johnny McEvoy, Paddy Joe Hughes and Gerry Stynes are now long retired from the Garda Siochana and all three live in Dublin. Johnny, was born in 1915 in Woodstock Street and his father John and his brother Mick, now in St. Joseph's Terrace were both Postmen. Prior to joining the Gardai he had worked as a Despatch Clerk with the local asbestos factory and was one of the stars of the G.A.A. football team for many years, winning a Championship medal with Athy in 1937. Indeed Johnny holds the distinction of also having won a Dublin Championship medal in 1948 when playing with the Garda team. An Inter-County player, Johnny played for Co. Kildare for five years but of all his trophies the most prized are a minor Street League medal won with Barrack Street in 1930 and a Midland Schools Championship medal won when playing for Athy Christian Brothers School.

Johnny's football prowess was rivalled by that of Gerry Stynes, a native of Kildangan who played with Athy Christian Brothers School. Gerry played in the 1931 Leinster College Junior Championships when Athy achieved notable victories over Knockbeg, Ballyfin, O'Connell's School and Westland Row before losing to St. Mel's College, Longford in the Croke Park final. Playing for Westland Row in opposition to Gerry was the legendary Jackie Carey who later captained Manchester United to an English F.A. Cup victory as well as captaining Ireland at International level. After leaving school Gerry worked as a Barman for Michael Lalor who carried on a grocery and bar business in what is now Ryans but was then known as Reid Lalors in Leinster Street. His brother was the late Tommy Stynes who had a Hackney and Undertaking business at Leinster Street in what is now O'Sullivan's video shop.

Paddy Joe Hughes was born on the 28th of March 1917, the eldest son of Michael Hughes of Whitebog and Mary Darcy formerly of Woodstock Street. A pupil of the local Christian Brothers School, he sat his Leaving Certificate exam in 1935 when Brother Peter O'Farrell was Superior. While awaiting a call for the Gardai he took up employment in the local asbestos factory where Johnny McEvoy was already working as a Despatch Clerk. P.J. played gaelic football with Athy C.B.S. and Castlemitchell and recalls "big Joe Bermingham" as a team mate. While serving in Stores Street Garda Station he won Junior League and Junior Championship medals in 1940 and 1941 with the Dublin Club Ard Craobh. A team mate of his on that team was the great Tommy Banks, later a Dublin County and Leinster Inter-Provincial Gaelic football player.

The three young men from Athy accompanied by 300 other recruits completed their training in the Phoenix Park after six weeks and were sent to Stations in the Dublin Metropolitan Area. Johnny and Gerry were transferred after a few years to the Detective Branch in Dublin Castle. Paddy Joe spent some years in Sun Drive Garda Station and in the Superintendent's Office in Green Street before transferring to the Assistant Commissioner's Office in Dublin Castle.

On Saturday 28th of September commencing at 12.30 p.m. Athy Town Council is hosting a Reception in the Council Chambers at Rathstewart for the three local men who together left Athy so many years ago to join the Gardai. It was be a unique occasion for Johnny, Paddy Joe and Gerry and I am sure they are looking forward to meeting old friends and many of their relatives on the 57th anniversary of their departure from Athy. The Reception is open to everyone and it is hoped that as many as possible will turn out to meet them on Saturday.

Kevin Meany, Sr. Xavier, Kitty McLoughlin

I have often found over the years that the summer holidays are almost always a time of sudden unexpected deaths. So many times I have returned from a holiday to find that someone known to me has passed away unexpectedly, and almost always to find the funeral has taken place. This summer has been no different in that regard. Within the last few weeks three local people with whom I have had contact over the years have died and in each case while I was away from Athy.

Kevin Meany of St. Patrick's Avenue I had known since I was a young fellow eagerly perusing the shelves of the local library in search of the latest unread detective novel. In those days my voracious appetite for reading was easily satisfied and a weekly novel coupled with my daily diet of comics was the extent of my young aspirations for literary appreciation. The local library of the 1950's was a small affair compared to the information emporium it is today. It too was based in the Town Hall but in a small room which I must say to my young eyes seemed then more than adequate to meet the town's thirst for knowledge. After all it took me ages to decide what book to borrow from the packed shelves which were to be found at the top of the darkened stairs which led from the street directly opposite Mrs. Meehan's chemist shop. The staircase may not indeed have been dark at all but since the local Freemasons Lodge met in a room at the top of the same stairs you can appreciate how a young fellow fed on stories of the secret and "demonic" activities of the brotherhood might well feel that the stairs too was a dark and sinister place.

But not so the library room. On arrival you were greeted by Kevin Meany, the friendly and knowledgable man who delighted in talking and sharing his love and knowledge of books and bookmen. Maybe it was Kevin's interest in local history which was passed on to me. Certainly I can recall that it was Kevin who first brought to my attention the book, written in 1847 on the 1798 Rebellion by local man Patrick O'Kelly. Kevin's interest in Athy extended far beyond local history and it was he who restarted the Gaelic League in the late 1940's.

When I left Athy and "emigrated" to Naas to work for Kildare County Council I often met Kevin on his frequent visits to St. Mary's, the one time tubercular hospital but by then the headquarters of the Council. He was always an engaging conversationalist and my deep regret is that Kevin was one of many that I had not interviewed before he passed away.

Someone I had talked to was Sr. Xavier Cosgrave who died a few short weeks after I had written about her in Eye on the Past. As one of the "Galway nuns" she had been a frequent caller on my mother, who was also from the West of Ireland, and had expended much energy in attempting to teach my brother Tony how to play the piano. Neither I think benefited from the experience.

I remember the last time we met when St. Xavier, in good spirits, talked to me of her years in Athy. Indeed feeling that she may have unburdened herself of too much personal detail she spent a restless night before phoning me the following morning to urge caution. She need not have worried and was more than happy with the article when it appeared. Sr. Xavier died shortly after one of her former pupils, Kitty McLaughlin had herself passed away. Kitty had been a long time officer of Athy Urban District Council and former member of Athy Social Club and had helped me in many ways in preparing previous articles. She had been in the first ever class taken by St. Xavier in the Convent of Mercy in 1935 and had recalled for me her classmates of that time. Little did she know that she was to die shortly before her teacher, unexpectedly and much missed by her many friends in Athy.

Kevin, Kitty and Sr. Xavier all died in recent weeks when the summer heat was energising the land and reinvigorating spent limbs recovering from the cold and rain of last winter. Their passing saddened me.

May they rest in peace.

'Shadows from the Pale' - John Minahan's Book

"This Book is dedicated to the people of Athy, County Kildare, both living and dead". The book in question is "Shadows from the Pale" subtitled "Portrait of an Irish Town", a book of photographs of Athy and it's people compiled by John Minahan and published this month by Secker and Warborg of London. The cover footnote claims that for the past 35 years John Minahan has been photographing his home town of Athy and it's people. "It is an ordinary Irish country town which is gradually feeling the incursion of industry, comparative wealth and modernity." Whatever the accuracy of this latter claim, there is no doubting the importance of Minahan's photographs and the wonderfully intimate insight they give us into our town and it's people.

The children of Plewman's Terrace figure prominently in many fine studies executed in 1973, or is it 1963 as one of the photographs would lead us to believe. The timing however is immaterial as one observes in the faces of the children that timeless sense of innocence which might prove all too difficult to recapture today.
The Christian Brothers schoolyard in St. John's photographed in 1965 stands alongside a beautifully evocative snap of the roadside pump leading on to St. Joseph's Terrace. Both scenes are now changed, never more to be recaptured. The same applies to Julia Mahon pictured lifting her bicycle off the footpath at Leinster Street in 1970. Looking at Minahan's fine photograph of Julia who passed away over 3 years ago, it is easy to see why she was one of the best loved characters of our town.

The older generation are well represented in the monochrome studies which have made John Minahan one of the finest photographic artists today. Memories were triggered when I saw Sarah Power's image captured for all time and that of Jack Dalton of Foxhill, a former engine man in Hannon's Mill whose photograph was taken in 1967.

I have often seen Minahan's 1972 study of Mary Byrne holding a photograph of herself as a young girl. It has previously featured in a poster for one of the photographic exhibitions held by John Minahan in Dublin some years ago. Another photograph shows Mary in the County Home four years later and there follows a number of photographs taken in the 1960's in what is now St. Vincent's Hospital. We are not felt to be intruding as we look at photographs of the elderly patients lying in their beds, rather does Minahan's superb camera work create an intimacy between the onlooker and those photographed which is re-assuring. It dispels any discomfort which might otherwise be felt and raises Minahan's work to the level of an art form in which he has few peers.

Peter Boland's photograph in Bertie Doyle's pub in 1963 is on the front cover of the book as well as on the inside pages and the clientele of that famous drinking establishment feature in many of the photographs. Mrs. Maggie Allen of Meeting Lane is to be seen in three photographs evoking memories of times seemingly long gone, but in reality only a few short years ago. It is not only the local people such as "Rexie" Rowan portrayed here who have passed on. A different way of life captured in the picture of John Hickey and Damien Moloney collection refuse in Duke Street in an open lorry in 1969 seems more than a generation ago.
Coffin making in the early 1960's with Martin Rigney speak of a time before mass production put an end to the exercise of that local skill. Cuddy Chanders, so sensationally overlooked by the Kildare selectors for the goal keeping role when County Kildare last played in an All Ireland final 61 years ago, is shown in 1974 checking the runners and riders in the local betting office. Brendan O'Flaherty and Gerry O'Sullivan, two stalwards of the local soccer club are photographed together and further on there are two fine studies of Gerry who, like Brendan, has since passed away. Everywhere in the book are to be seen faces long gone from our streets. Here is local history captured for all time, motionless, yet able to prompt and stir memories. Joe O'Neill, musician extrodinaire, playing side by side with Michael Dunne, a schoolmate of mine who died long before his time. Munsie Purcell in his bar in William Street in 1970. Bapty Maher, publican and undertaker, captured in both roles, the latter at the funeral of another great Athy man Paddy Prendergast, one of Ireland's greatest horse trainers.

From every page there appears faces and places that were once familiar and in some cases still are. "Wexford" Foley, Christy Rochford and Pat Rochford are shown as young men, while the smiling cavalier of a local grave digger, my friend Paddy, provides a happy study of a man with his spade at the ready. This is a lovely book. No doubt it will be bought by those who appreciate good photography, but nowhere else in Ireland should it find a more appreciative readership than here in Athy.

No where else will we have an opportunity to look again at the Dominican Lane as it was in 1973 with "E. Johnston - dressmaker", over the doorway of the first small house on the left. The good dressmaker herself, Eileen Johnston, is featured, by then an elderly woman and her neighbour Miss. Burley is captured in the Dominican Church, bent over peering at the Dominican publications. Paddy Hubbock, another face from the past looks directly and with a whimsical smile at Minahan's camera, while two young nuns walk self consciously across the Barrow Bridge, mindful of the photographer's all seeing lens. It was thirty three years ago that Sister Teresa and Sister Dympna caught Minahan's eye as they passed Mulhall's Public House.

Eugene McCabe, Monaghan playwright, has written the introduction to John Minahan's Book of Photographs of Athy. Before he did he visited Athy "to walk and talk and read." Coming across local place names which spoke of Gaelic and Anglo Norman origins, he did not dare to say which "conjures up the most poetry". Clonmullion, Shanrath, Ballybough, Tonlegee, Woodstock, Chanterlands, all offered images giving a sense of the Anglo Norman town.

Like John Minahan's photographs, the images are a timeless and moving reminder of a town's past and the photographer who spent his youth in Athy has done us proud.

Joe Bermingham

Joe Bermingham, the politician, has been buried with statesman-like pomp and ceremony. A Castlemitchell man born in May 1919, Joe was not a statesman, and had no aspirations to be one. He was a man of the people, a term now in popular currency, but one not always accurately applied as it has been in Joe’s case. Conscious of his being at the heart of events in Castlemitchell stretching back over many years, I had often urged Joe to write his memoirs. I don’t think in the end that he did, and so his death deprives us of the opportunity to gain an invaluable insight into the social history of his area and of his time. Joe was a priceless repository of knowledge concerning the events and people of Castlemitchell, and he was uniquely placed to accurately record and interpret the happenings of many decades past.

It was Joe Bermingham who, on his return from the O’Brien Institute in Marino, Dublin in 1936, arranged with Jim Connor the meeting which led to the formation of Castlemitchell Gaelic Football Club. Joe had played football in Dublin, while Jim Connor who attended the Christian Brothers School in Athy, won two county minor championship medals with Athy in 1937 and 1938. The most popular field sport in Castlemitchell at that time was cricket, with teams representing local farmers, Anderson’s and Young’s. Indeed cricket was possibly the most popular sport in South Kildare during the 1930’s, as cricket teams were also to be found in Kilcrow, Ardreigh, Taylor’s of the Moate and Lefroy’s in Cardenton.

That first meeting of Castlemitchell Gaelic Football Club was held on the side of the road under the beech tree near Comerford’s gate. In attendance with Joe and Jim were Jack Corcoran, Bill Phair, a Wexford man who sold timber blocks around the Castlemitchell area, James Byrne, John Fennin, Mickie Myles and Paddy Myles. The first club chairman was Joe Bermingham, with Jim Connor as club secretary. Fintan Brennan, District Court Clerk in Athy and a member of Athy Gaelic Football Club and Kildare County Board, invited the new club to join a street league competition in the town. The Castlemitchell Club was to play in Athy’s street league competition for three years up to 1938, and the interest developed in Gaelic football in the area led to the speedy demise of cricket-playing in the area.

Following the street league the Castlemitchell club was invited, again by Fintan Brennan, to affiliate with the Kildare County Board G.A.A. Castlemitchell G.F.C. played its first competitive game, as a registered club, at junior level. Joe Bermingham played at full-back in those early years in front of Jim Connor who was the goal keeper. The teams colours were initially all white, but following affiliation to the county board, the club was obliged to change to green and white, to avoid a clash with the Clane Club which played in the lilywhite strip.

Joe’s mother had a shop in the old RIC barracks in Castlemitchell, supporting herself and her three sons, Pa, John and Joe. Pa, who later worked in the IVI, died many years ago, while John, better known by his Irish name Sean Mac Fheorais, subsequently qualified as a school teacher. Joe who sold insurance and worked as a rate collector before entering politics, was justifiably proud of his brother Sean’s literary success. Sean, who died in 1984, had published two books of Irish poetry “Gearrcoigh Na hOíche” and “Léargas - Dánta Fada”, both of which were well received.

The young men of Castlemitchell gathered each evening outside Mrs. Bermingham’s shop, sitting on the row of large stones, in the area known as Barracks Cross. It was there in or about 1948, that Joe Bermingham, Jim Connors and others decided that Castlemitchell needed a Community Hall. Joe with Jim Fennin and Jim Connor were the first trustees of the hall which was built by voluntary labour in the early 1950’s.

Castlemitchell Hall is still a focal point for community activity in the area. Joe Bermingham’s record of achievement in Castlemitchell is impressive, and his legacy, shared with others, of a Community Hall and a Gaelic Football Club, is a fitting reminder of the contributions he made to one of the most vibrant rural communities in South Kildare.

Diary of Thomas Henry Cross 2

The extracts from the Diary of Thomas Henry Cross concluded last week with his School Master, Mr. Flynne, absconding leaving considerable debts in Athy, and his pupils including our diarist without a school. Cross noted that with Flynne's sudden departure his education at school ended "for as to the subsequent two I wish I had never known them. The first of these was a Mr. Wintour an Oxford student who came highly recommended from Ballitore early in 1847. I remained with him literally and substantially idling until he became insolvent in October 1848 and on his release from prison he left the town. I then was nine months idle entirely, nine months of my life at a time when above all others I could worst have spared it. A time when habits and prejudices just began to be formed, habits of inattention carelessness and negligence which to this very day hang to me and weigh me to the ground. However, about August 1849 my father took the notion that I should enter College. I call it a notion for I was just beginning to settle myself down in contented idleness and ignorance. I then went for an hour in the evening for about six weeks to Mr. Forde where I learned but very little and it was only on the 20th September that I set about preparing for the entrance examination which took place on 16th October following. I worked hard but I had left too much undone - all my knowledge had been dissipated and my mind was left an empty storehouse which I had set about filling as best I might or could. Accordingly every word in Greek or Latin had to be searched for not only in the dictionary but in the Grammar and I found that I had to begin with the very definitions of the Euclid. The entrance day arrived, the Rev. Mr. Jameson (Curate of Athy Parish) came to Dublin with me and introduced me to the Rev. Mr. Haughton whom I selected as my Tutor. We had the usual entrance breakfast and I made my debut in the Examination Hall of Trinity College Dublin at 10 O'Clock on the morning of the 16th October, 1849. I can't remember now my examiners but the great fact remains on record that out of the 84 who entered that day there were 38 better that I was and 45 worse. My father and Mr. Jameson were rather pleased at my doings so in the afternoon after dinner at Mrs. Moore's of Dame Street my health was drank and an "issue suitable to the beginning" wished for".

Thomas Cross continued his Diary on and off until June 1856 and the entry for the 21st of July 1853 gives an interesting insight into political happenings in Athy at that time. "I was engaged on the Friday and Saturday in the Tally Room for Sir Edward Kennedy the Conservative Candidate. W.H. Cogan and O'Connor Henchy were his opponents. It was a pitch battle between Landlordism and Priestism and indeed I cannot say whether the spiritual anathematisings of the latter or the temporal crushings and threats of the former were the more reprehensible. As to "Freedom of Election" it was a monster farce. If the unfortunate elector did not vote as the Priest wished he was cursed from the altar and if he did not bow before a tyrant Landlord's fiat he was exterminated out of the Land. Henchy and Cogan were the successful candidates, the former is little better than a fool but the latter is a man of some intelligence. Either are better (except so far as Principles go) than Sir Edward Kennedy whose sole virtue consists of keeping up a pack of foxhounds for the gratification of the sickly sprouts and scions of Kildare's Landocracy for the indoctrination of habits of idleness, drunkenness and vice in the too genial soil of the squireens heart."

On the 7th of August 1853 Cross wrote "On account of my permanent removal to Dublin I found it necessary to send in my resignation to the Committee of Athy Mechanics Institute, the Society which I was mainly instrumental in founding and of which I had been the Secretary from the very first. The members wishing to pay me some compliment in leaving them signified their wish that I should go down and receive at their hands at a public meeting a Writing Desk as a mark of their appreciation of my services. I accordingly went. They had the room beautifully decorated, hung around with flowers and mottos. Over the chair where I was to sit was "Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot" and in other parts of the room "Knowledge is Power", "Success to our Institute" etc. The chair was taken at 8.00 o'clock by A. O'Keeffe, Esq., the Manager of the National Bank who in a highly flattering speech opened the meeting by reading the address which was to accompany the desk. The Rev. Thomas Jameson, Curate of Athy Parish, proposed and Dr. Edward Ferris seconded its adoption and both particularly Mr.Jameson spoke of me in most complimentary terms. I afterwards spoke for about an hour briefly sketching the past history of the Society and exhorting members to unity and to perseverance in the most noble cause of mental amelioration. There were many other speeches delivered and afterwards we had a very elegant soiree, fruit, wine, cakes, almonds, raisins etc. There was the greatest good feeling manifested by all. Indeed I felt not a little proud at seeing myself thus made much of and seeing old and young, rich and poor, Protestant and Dissenter and Catholic all coming forward to testify as I have said that "wherever industry, perseverance and talent are employed in the promotion of useful purposes and directed to the attainment of noble ends that industry, perseverance and talent would be recognised, appreciated and rewarded".

The Diary of the young Athy man first written over 150 years ago gives us an interesting insight into life in provincial Ireland both before and after the Great Famine. A most remarkable absence of any reference in the Diary to the famine which affected the country between 1845 and 1849 is puzzling. I have elsewhere made reference to a similar lack of reference in the Contemporary Minute Books of Athy Town Commissioners. Wherein lies the explanation for these omissions given that over 2,500 men women and children died in the town and in the local Poor House during the four years of the worst of the many famines experienced in 18th and 19th century Ireland? Despite this omission Thomas Henry Cross's Diary is an important social document enabling us to look backwards to a time which the faded pages of a young man's Diary can only now reveal.

Diary of Thomas Henry Cross 1

Some weeks ago I wrote of Mark Cross who in 1872 was involved in the building of houses at Connolly's Lane and Janeville Lane, Athy. Initially I believed that he had built those houses but further research confirming his occupation as a Surveyor leads me to believe that he possibly prepared the housing plans which were recently presented by his great grand-nephew to Athy Museum. Following that article I received in the post from Dr. George Cross of Christ Church, Dorset photocopies of a Diary commenced by Thomas Henry Cross, a brother of Mark Cross of Athy in February 1852. Both were sons of Mark Cross, a former Chairman of Athy Town Commissioners, who lived in Market Square (now Emily Square). Described in Slaters Directory of 1846 as a Civil Engineer and Builder Mark Cross died in 1866. Thomas Cross who was born in 1834 obtained an appointment in the Census Commission Office in Dublin in April 1852 following which he became tenant of a small cottage at 14 Dalymount Terrace, Phibsboro. On the 26th of April of the same year he started his studies in Trinity College and in his Diary noted "It occurs to me that I may appropriately here record the earlier portions of my educational and collegiate career." What follows is an extremely interesting account of his early schooling in Athy from which the following extracts have been taken.

"The first school I ever went to was Mrs. Whites in Barrack Street, Athy, she was a most kind old woman and I always was her especial favourite. Edmund Butler, Abraham Fitzpatrick, Thomas Guest and Thomas Bailey were my chief playmates, my time with her extending from the year 1838 to 1842. I then went to a Mr. MacCrone who lived in the house next Mr. Connollys opposite the Court House. The education I received here was bad both as regarded quantity and quality he being an extremely dissipated character his whole time was spent either asleep or in the Public House. I remained only about six months with him as his school was broken up owing to his Landlord old Henry Handstock distraining for rent. I then went in the early part of 1843 to a Mr. Hill who lived in John Duncans house at the foot of the bridge now occupied by Eliza Graham." (Note: This I believe to be the father of Alexander Duncan subsequently of Fortbarrington House who later had a thriving draper business in what is now Shaws) "This was a great improvement on the previous one but unfortunately the discipline and subordination was very bad amounting very often to beating or otherwise maltreating by the Master. I myself was unfortunately borne down with the current as I remember getting a sound thrashing from him for having sent him to a nameless place. John and William O'Melia Philip Owen and Thomas Waters were here my school fellows as also George & John Judge and Joe Carrol. We fancied ourselves the aristocratic school and so treated contemptuously another school kept by a Mr. Forde in Stanhope Street." (Note: This is believed to have been the Athy Poor School carried on in rooms at the corner of Stanhope Place before the Sisters of Mercy came to Athy). "So high used the party spirit run that often on leaving the respective schools we used to range ourselves on opposite banks of the river we in a plot of ground now attached to the Police Barrack but then merely enclosed by a low wall and they on the bank of the river at Garter Lane behind Michael Lawless Stores." (Note: The Police Barracks was located in Whites Castle. It would therefore suggest that in the years prior to the Great Famine the Mill Race still separated Whites Castle from the premises adjoining Garter Lane). "Many an hour we spent "pelting stones" at each other and on one occasion I had to be carried off the field "severely wounded". I left this school about October 1843 owing to Hills having made a demand on my father for money for firing for the winter which however my father considered degrading his school to the level of a "hedge seminary". I then had a Mr. Jackson attending me in the evenings for a short time when I had William Plewman learning with me, and on alternate evenings I used to go to his house and after school played a game "of hide and seek". His three sisters were then quite little girls though they are since married, one to Henry Hannon another to a Wesleyan Methodist Clergyman of the name of Kernahan and the third to a man named Whelan". (Note: Henry Hannon, son of the Mill owner John Hannon of Prumplestown House married Deborah Plewman and it was their son John Alexander Duncan who lived in Ardreigh House. Comfort Plewman married Rev. James Kernaghan and their son Coulson Kernaghan was a well known writer and renowned as a brilliant orator. The third Plewman daughter Hannah eloped with Myles Whelan and they had a large family the youngest of whom Myles married Jessie Anderson and lived in Fortbarrington House). "In the close of this year 1843 a Mr. Flynne a Bachelor of Arts at Trinity College, Dublin who had been previously Tutor at Mr. Evan's of Farmhill issued prospectuses of an Academy of a description and on a scale far superior to any hitherto known in the town. This school opened on the 2nd January 1844 and from that day I may date the commencement of my education. There was a system in his school that did more to educate his pupils than all the drilling in Classics or Science could do, there was regularity everywhere and in everything. Soon there became developed here those faculties which now profit me so much. I became head of the first class which place I held until I left school in July, 1847. My school fellows here were as best I can remember Edmund Butler, Ben Lefroy, (now a Midshipman Royal Navy) Richard Lefroy (now in United States) Robert Lefroy , George Judge (now in America) John, Tom and Sam Judge, John William and Fred O'Melia Richard Hampden and Eyre Evans (now in Australia) Jo George and Edwin Ennis, Edward Waters and George Archdale (now in America). The school was very select. I remember that I was particularly good in Euclid Greek and Latin and English Grammar but I could never master either History or Geography. We had halfyearly examinations at the first of these held on Monday, December 23rd 1844 I was examined by George Bagot (now a Captain) and obtained first premiums in Sallust Virgil Lucian and Euclid. Fred O'Melia on that occasion getting first in History. At the next examination on 7 July 1845 I obtained first in Virgil and Sallust and English Grammar and second for Recitation. Fred Kynsey obtaining first on this occasion. George Gatot and W.B. Clayton and Capt. Gaisford were my examiners. In the December of that year I obtained four prizes in books and on the 10th July 1846 Captain Groves being my examiner I obtained firsts for Lucian and Horace besides three book prizes. In August Mr. Flynne being involved in pecuniary difficulties absconded leaving debts to a considerable amount unpaid in the town. With his departure was my education at School ended".

Mark Cross

Twelve years ago Laurence Athy of Ohio, U.S.A. visited the South Kildare town of the same name seeking to unravel the mystery of which came first - the place name or the family surname. Ten years later Michael Athy and his family of Illinois, U.S.A. made the same journey. Michael, who had himself emigrated from the West of Ireland over 40 years ago was less interested in the historical minutiae of 12th century Ireland and was content to show his American family the Irish town which bore his name. Two weeks ago we had a visitor from Auckland, New Zealand. Ted Athy and his wife stayed a few days in the town where he could reasonably assume his forbearers held sway 800 years ago. All these visitors were understandably intrigued by the possible link between the town and their ancient family.

It was Michael Athy who in 1984 put forward the thesis that the surname Athy originated in France in the late 12th century when a Norman military leader named Gerard adapted as his surname Athee from the name of the village of his birth - Athee Sur Cher in the province of Touraine. Michael claimed that while in England Gerard de Athee became at different times Athies, Athyes and eventually Athy. He was satisfied that the town named Athy in Ireland was not derived from the Anglo Norman surname.

The leading authority in Irish family names and their origins was the late Dr. Edward Lysaght, former Chief Herald of Ireland who published his authoritative book on the subject in 1972. In his opinion the surname Athy is of a type which is common in most countries but very rare in Ireland being formed from a placename. The Athys he states were of Norman stock, settled in Athy, Co. Kildare whence they soon migrated to Galway.

Rev. Patrick Wolfe of Kilmallock, Co. Limerick in his book "Irish Names and Placenames" wrote "at the time of the Norman invasion surnames were still far from universal in England and many of the first settlers came to this country with only first names. Some of them took surnames on Irish soil after the Norman fashion from the places where they settled."

So here we have two leading Irish authorities for the proposition that the Athy family name derives from the South Kildare town where the Irish branch of the family were some of its earliest settlers. But of course when the French speaking Anglo Normans came to Ireland they knew nothing of the Gaelic language of the native Irish who had already named the Ford on the River where Woodstock Castle was to be built. It had been known as Ath Ae ever since the second century when Ae the son of a Munster Chieftain had fallen there in battle. It is reasonable to assume that the Gaelic placename soon became Athey, Athay, Athie and eventually Athy as it came down to us firstly as a French speakers interpretation, and latterly the Anglicised form of the ancient placename.

The Anglo Norman settlers who had adopted their surname from the South Kildare placename were soon to leave the area and migrated to Galway. There they were destined to become one of the fourteen tribes of that city and had the distinction of erecting the first ever stone building in Galway.

The Athy family name is no longer to be found in Galway and indeed I have not come across the surname anywhere else in Ireland. America is home to a vast network of Athy families most of whom spell their surname Athey. Dr. Charles Athey of Ohio published in 1932 his "Genealogy of the Athey Family in America 1642 - 1932" which was followed in 1972 by "The Descendants of Henry Athey of Maryland, South Carolina and Alabama" published by Thomas Whitfield Athey III. In more recent years the "History of the John and Frances Rue Athey (Athy) family 1637 - 1980" was published in America.

Ted Athy of Auckland, New Zealand, our most recent visitor is a descendant of the Athys of Co. Galway, his great-grandfather having emigrated from there in the 1860's. A genial semi-retired building contracter, he pronounced his name in the New Zealand fashion Ath Ee which on reading is so reminiscent of the original Gaelic place name Ath Ae. He expressed great interest in the town and cast an expert eye on Whites Castle which might have been his home today had his Anglo Norman ancestors not made a quick exit to Galway. Looking at the Athy family crest I was intrigued to find that their motto is "Ductus Non Coactus" - "May Be Led, Not To Be Driven". You know it accurately summarises so much of our attitudes in matters affecting the town of Athy. Maybe we should adopt the motto and renew the link which once existed between the town of Athy and the Anglo Norman settlers of 800 years ago.

Ardreigh Mills

Last week's Newspaper recorded the closure of a local factory in Athy. Sherwood Medical which had been in operation in the town for 22 years announced its impending closure some months ago with the loss of 45 jobs. This is a great loss to the area where last month over 1,200 potential workers were already unemployed. Athy has witnessed several factory and business closures over the years and the departure of Sherwood Medical adds one more to the list which includes such well remembered factory closures as the Wallboard Factory and the I.V.I. Foundry. Just over 70 years another business closure saw the end of Hannon's Mills which had operated at Ardreigh and at the Barrow Bridge in Athy.

There are few today who remember the Ardreigh Mill where the famous Lilywhite flour was produced. Even fewer still will recall the men who worked in the Mill in the years before its closure in 1925. The fine four storey building which straddled the Mill Race at Ardreigh is no more and the drawbridge which led directly into the heart of the building now gives access to Lords Island only.

When the Mill closed it had a devastating effect on the economy of the town. This was understandable given the scarcity of Industrial employment in Athy where the only work was to be found in Minch Nortons or the local brick yards. But the brick yards for so long, valuable providers of employment for local men and women were even then well passed their prime and were destined to close down soon afterwards. If the loss of Hannon's Mill had serious reprecussions for many families in Athy, its closure was felt even more keenly in the Ardreigh area from where so many of the Mill workers were drawn.

Towards the end of World War 1, the head Miller at Hannon's Mill was John Healy who lived in the Mill cottage which is still standing at Ardreigh. His daughter Mrs. Mary Carr was the subject of an Eye on the Past some years ago in which she recalled her young days spent in the Mill cottage and also for a short while in the Gate Lodge attached to Ardreigh House. The Assistant Miller was Tom Nolan who lived in the middle house of three houses on the left hand side of the road between Ardreigh Cemetery and Gray's Lane as the lane to Spring Lodge was then called. His son John also worked in the Mill.

The Mill workers included Patrick Mitchell who lived in a thatched house on the left side of Gray's Lane just before the point where the Railway line crosses what is locally called "The Gullet". Patrick was in charge of the Mill Stores and his son Jack is now living in the Coneyboro. William Brown whose sister was married to Patrick Mitchell was in charge of flour packing. He was a son of Pat Brown who was coachman to the Hannon's and father and son lived in a house now long demolished which stood on the left side of Grey's lane on what was Hannon's farm. Another Mill worker was Dan Dargan, son of Jim Dargan, land steward for the Hannon's who lived in the last of the three houses on the main Carlow Road next to Grey's lane. Paddy Kealy lived in the Lane with his father Dan Kealy in the house now owned by Jimmy Byrne and both father and son were Hannon Mill workers. Two brothers Leo and Martin Nolan who also worked there lived in a thatched house in Grays lane just beyond Loughman's house. Martin was later to work with Athy Gas works after the closure of Hannons Mill and before he emigrated to America. The Nolan house is now demolished.

Jack Howard another mill worker lived in Grays lane in what was recently Reddys. His daughter Kitty married a Kearney and I recall their sons attending the Christian Brothers schools before the entire family emigrated to England in the mid 1950's. A co-worker of Jack Howards was Bill Jenkins who lived in Meeting Lane, Athy and whose daughter Kathleen Sunderland is now living in Church Road. They were but a few "Townies" on the mill staff and apart from Bill Jenkins there was Jack Hayes of Convent Lane, "Gurcock" Murphy and Luke Kelly both from Athy. Other workers not from Ardreigh included Jack Dalton of Foxhill who was the engine man. The mill wheel was water controlled but when the river was toO low tO power the big wheel, engine power was brought into operation under the guidance of Jack Dalton. Another Foxhill man on the staff was Larry Cullen who was employed as a Carpenter.

Flour delivery in the South Kildare area was by horse and dray and a number of men were involved in this work. Pat Keeffe lived in Ardreigh as did Mick Gleeson whose house was in what was locally referred to as the back road but which we know as Bray Road. Peter Behan of Rathstewart was another dray man employed in the Ardreigh Mills. There were also a number of lorries employed in transporting flour and collecting grain and these were in the charge of the Davis brothers and the Knowles brothers about whom regretfully I know nothing.

Reading the names of the men who worked in Hannons Flour Mills it is clear that the local Ardreigh area benefited most in terms of jobs. All the greater then was the areas loss when Hannons closed down in 1925. The reason for the closure cannot now be positively identified given the passage of time. Maybe it was a combination of many factors such as the deaths of the Mill owners sons Ian and Leslie killed while fighting in France during World War 1. Maybe it was the sudden death of the Mill owner John A. Hannon in Ardreigh House on 3rd April, 1923 which heralded the end of the Flour Mill. He was found shot in his bedroom, and the subsequent Inquest finding was one of accidental death. Locals still talk of unexplained movements heard by a servant in the house that morning which raised the possibility of a third parties involvement in his death.

The opening of a modern mill in Limerick just when the Ardreigh Mill was under severe financial strain possibly offers the most plausible explanation for the subsequent demise of what was a long standing Industry in Athy. Whatever the reason, Ardreigh Mills closed in 1925 leaving a trail of desolation in its wake equalled only by that experienced when Athys famous brick yards were closed. The names of the men who worked in the Mill over 70 years ago are all but forgotten. Indeed, time has erased not only their names from memory but has seen the demolition of the Mill and the very houses in which some of the Mill workers lived with their families.

Athy's Hurling Champions 1959/1960

Eoghan Corry's Centennial History of the G.A.A. in County Kildare has all the statistics that one could ever require in relation to football and hurling in the short grass County. Behind the figures however are the stories which cannot always be unlocked. Dealing with the Senior Hurling Championship for 1959 which was played on the 23rd August 1960 in Geraldine Park, Athy, Corry gives a scoreline McDonagh 5-8, Athy 3-3. A footnote gives the startling information "Athy won title on objection". This was the last Senior Hurling title won by the Athy Club although it played in the finals of 1961 and 1964. The "victory" in the 1959 Championship gave the town its second Senior Hurling title following an earlier victory achieved in 1936 on the field of play when Athy beat Broadford on the score of 3-3 to 3-1. The objection which gave the County Championship to Athy stemmed from the McDonagh Barracks team including a Tipperary player named Costello who had played Club Hurling Championship in Tipperary that same year. The merits of Athy's case was readily accepted by the County Board and the game and the Kildare Senior Championship was awarded to the South Kildare Club.

Athy Hurling Club had been re-organised in 1958 largely due to the efforts of John Dooley Snr. of St. Patrick's Avenue who was a Foreman in Jacksons Grocery Dept. in Leinster Street. Other Club Officials were Mick Hogan, a P. & T. linesman of Leinster Street and Tommy Doolan who was employed as a farm steward by Minches. Thomas O'Connor Snr., a Limerick man then living in Kilkea and whose two sons played on the Senior Hurling team in the 1959 final was also an important member of the club management team. Minor and Junior teams were initially organised and many young fellows with no previous experience of the sliothar and caman enthusiastically embraced what is generally believed to be the fastest team game in the world. However speed was noticeably absent from our youthful efforts to propel the sliothar around the playing field and in the end not all of us graduated to the Senior ranks. The initial enthusiasm waned somewhat for this writer at least when blood was drawn in a practice match in Chanterlands in the days before that housing estate was built. The clash of the ash gave way to the sound of the caman smashing into my forehead resulting in a hasty retreat to Dr. Cowhey's room for stitches with a resulting scar which remains to this day. That ended my embryonic hurling career as thereafter I confined myself to football where the only danger was that likely to be experienced when Athy and Castlemitchell clashed in competition.

Athy had won a Junior Hurling Championship in 1950 at a time when hurling was an integral part of the activities of the local Gaelic Football Club. Hurling subsequently went into decline and it was due to the sterling efforts of John Dooley Snr. that a separate Hurling Club was established in 1958. I that year Athy went on to win its second Junior Hurling Championship. As Junior Champions the Club won promotion to the Senior ranks and competed in the Senior Hurling Championship Final of 1959 which was played the following year. The members of the Athy team included many men who although not natives of the town had thrown in their lot with the South Kildare Club. The local area not being a stronghold of Gaelic hurling, it was no surprise to find that the Athy team had representatives from almost every hurling County in the country.

The locals on the team included John Dooley Jnr. and Jimmy Malone both of St. Patrick's Avenue who were subs that day. Paddy "Skinner" Foley of Kilberry, Mick Dempsey of Loughlass and Mick Wall of Castledermot, brother of the present County Board Chairman could justifiably lay claim to be described as local players. Jimmy Hickey, an employee of C.I.E. was from Freshford in Co. Kilkenny as was locally based Garda Mick Cullinane. Another Kilkenny man on the team was the Castlecomer born goalkeeper Paddy Lambe then working in Conroys Bar in Duke Street which he was later to own. Mick "Cactus" Brennan, also a native of Castlecomer was a linesman employed by the E.S.B. The nickname was apparently due to his crewcut hair style which was then very much in fashion. Dinny Curtin, originally from Rathkeale, Co. Limerick, a butcher by occupation, lived in St. Patrick's Avenue. Another Co. Limerick man was Mick Ahern from Abbeyfeale who was then employed in the Wallboard Factory. Other Limerick natives on the team were brothers Tommy and Liam O'Connor then living at Kilkea whose father Tom Snr. was a Club official. Claude Gough, Manager of Bachelors Pea Factory was a player who learned his hurling skills in the Kilkenny/Wexford border area.

Co. Galway was ably represented on that Athy Senior Hurling team by the Harte brothers. Their family had moved from Galway to Kilberry and the four brothers Mark, Paddy, Willie and Tom Harte brought with them an expertise in wielding the caman which helped in no small way to bring success to the Athy Club. Other Galway players included Paddy Morris, a native of Oranmore who worked in Shaws Hardware and Mick Melia, an E.S.B. employee.

Others to join the Club during the early 1960's included Tom O'Donnell, an official of the National Bank and a native of Co. Tipperary as was Willie Dooley , a vet employed with Michael Byrne. Co. Cork representation on the team was augmented with the arrival of Gus O'Shea a Bank Official and Tom Heskins then and still an employee of Minch Nortons. P.J. McConville of Pairc Bhride was one of the few local players who took the field in the 1964 Championship final which Athy lost.

The Club re-organised by John Dooley in 1958 is still going strong and still play in the maroon colours which Mark Harte purchased in his native Galway in 1959 for the Athy team.

First Citizens of Athy

There has been a Town Council in Athy since at least 1515. In that year King Henry VIII granted a Charter to the town empowering the election of a town Provost "to guard and govern the said town". Unfortunately the municipal records of the 16th century are not available so little is known of the persons who held the position of Provost in Athy during that time. Only two are known to us - Richard Cossen who took up office on the Feast Day of St. Michael the Archangel in 1575 and Mr. Smith referred to as Sovereign of Athye in 1598.

The Provost elected annually was responsible for governing the town in addition to acting as Coroner, Justice of the Peace, Weights and Measure Inspector and Clerk of the Town Market. These were all important functions especially so when considered that the office holder exercised his authority in a developing market town.

In 1613 King James I created more Borough Councils throughout Ireland and in some instances as in Athy granted new Charters. The effect of his new Charter for Athy was to limit the right to elect the first citizen of the town to a small number of townspeople where before that right was exercised by the entire population. The holder of the office formerly referred to as the Town Provost was thereafter to be known as the Town Sovereign. The Town Sovereign was elected annually on the Feast of St. Michael by the twelve Burgesses of the town, all of whom had been nominated to their position by the Duke of Leinster. The office was an unpaid position and remained so until 1824 when salaries were fixed for all town officials in Athy.

The earliest municipal records relating to Athy go back to the middle of the 18th century and they show that many interesting people have held the rank of First Citizen. The Earl of Kildare was Sovereign in 1750 while his successor Frederick Augustus the Duke of Leinster was Sovereign on four occasions between 1814 and 1826. George Daker, the owner of an extensive tannery near the banks of the River Barrow and to the rear of the present Convent Lane, was Sovereign of Athy in 1778, 1783 and again in 1789. After his death the tannery closed down resulting in substantial loss of employment in Athy.

John Stoyte who was the Duke of Leinster's agent in Athy was Sovereign during the year of rebellion in 1798 and again in 1802. He had lived in Maynooth and his house there now forms part of the Maynooth College complex. Members of the Weldon family of St. John's and later of Kilmoroney House were Sovereigns of Athy during various periods in the 18th and last century. Arthur Weldon occupied the position in 1751 and Rev. Anthony Weldon was Sovereign on four occasions between 1781 and 1800. Indeed he died in office and was replaced by Lewis Mansergh for whom Riversdale House was built in 1780. This magnificent house was later acquired by the Dominican Order and remained an important part of the building heritage of the town until all but its ground floor was demolished in 1965 or thereabouts.

A man often mentioned in relation to Athy and the 1798 Rebellion was Sovereign of the town in 1807 and again in 1816. Glassealy resident Thomas James Rawson was once described by Thomas Fitzgerald of Geraldine House as "a man of the lowest order, the offal of a dunghill". Rawson was intensely disliked because of his involvement in the public floggings in Athy during the 1798 Rebellion in which he took a prominent part. Indeed Fitzgerald claimed that Rawson "would seat himself in a chair in the centre of a ring formed around the triangles, the miserable victims kneeling under the triangles until they would be spotted with the blood of the others". Rawson died while holding the office of Town Sovereign in 1816.

Rev. Frederick Trench was Sovereign of Athy when the office was abolished with the passing of the Municipal Corporation Act of 1840. Trench who was Rector of St. Michael's Church of Ireland, Athy served four terms in that position and is remembered by a handsome marble pulpit in St. Michael's Church erected after his death in 1860. Trench's death at Prestons Gate in Offaly Street, when he was thrown from his horse and trap, led to the immediately removal of the last portion of the medieval walls of Athy.

Following the abolition of the Borough of Athy established by King James I Charter of 1613 Town Commissioners were elected for the first time. Amongst those elected to the first Town Commissioners was the local Rector Rev. F.S. Trench and the local Parish Priest. Henry Hannon of the malting family was Chairman of the Commissioners as the first citizen was then known, firstly in the year of the Famine 1848 and for the fourth and last time in 1873. Alexander Duncan, draper of Duke Street and resident of Tonlegee House was Chairman on three occasions between 1852 and 1879. To commemorate his final term of office he donated a beautiful carved oak chair to the Town Council. It can be seen today in the Museum Room in the Town Hall. Interestingly enough his son John A. Duncan was Chairman in 1906, a feat also achieved by Dr. Jeremiah O'Neill, Chairman from 1912 to 1914 and his son P.J. O'Neill, Solicitor, who was Chairman in 1954.

Closer to our time the position of first citizen was held by men such as Patrick Dooley of Leinster Street from 1929 to 1936, M.G. Nolan of Duke Street and Paddy Dooley former T.D. for Co. Kildare. Mrs. Megan Maguire who was Chairperson in 1975 was the first woman to be elected to that office. Ms. Bridget Darby, Principal teacher in Churchtown National School and resident of Leinster Street held the honour of being the first woman elected to the local Urban District Council.

Chairing meetings of the Borough Council, Town Commissioners or Urban Councils seems to have been a relatively straightforward function in the years past. However times have changed and accounts of Thomas J. Rawson sitting amongst the triangle while Rebels were flogged bear more than a passing resemblance to the present debating forays experienced in Athy Urban District Council.

Quakers Records Relating to Famine Relief in County Kildare

I attended a very pleasant function last week in the Quaker Meeting House, Ballytore which now doubles as the Village Library. Hosted by the County Kildare Famine Commemoration Committee the occasion was the opening of an exhibition on Quaker Famine Relief in County Kildare and the publication of a very limited edition of a two volume work of the same title.

Rob Goodbody of the Rathmichael Historical Society did the honours on the night, officially opening the exhibition and giving his listeners an interesting insight into Quaker Relief in the County. With the name Goodbody it comes as no surprise that he himself is a member of the Society of Friends and is therefore well placed to deal with the Society's contribution during the famine years. Indeed he has published two booklets on the topic entitled "A Suitable Channel" and "On The Borders of the Pale". I had not met Rob Goodbody until that evening but I was familiar with his published works and knew of his involvement with the Rathmichael Historical Society. Married to a granddaughter of Rex Hannon, formerly of Ardreigh, Athy, you can well imagine my interest in his talk given that a Hannon once sat in the very room in which I am presently penning this piece.

The exhibition itself was a delightful if somewhat eclectic insight into the social life of the Quaker community in Ballytore in South Kildare with particular emphasis on their involvement in local famine relief work. The printed volumes prepared by FAS trainees under the direction of Mary Carroll and Karl Kiely contain all the County Kildare correspondence extracted from the Society of Friends Relief of Distress papers which are stored in the National Archives, Dublin. They have reproduced the originals of these letters and prepared transcripts for ease of use. The letters cover the entire County but of particular interest to us are the letters and returns relating to Athy and South Kildare. For instance on the 16th January 1847 the local Relief Committee for Athy forwarded an application for assistance addressed to the Central Relief Committee of the Society of Friends. Its signatories included Thomas Jameson, Clerk of the Workhouse, Rev. Thomas Greene, C.C., Hon. Sec. of the Relief Committee and Mark Cross described as Chairman of the Sub-Committee of whom I wrote recently as the builder of houses in Janeville and Connolly Lane in 1872. Other signatories were Sam Eves, Robert Molloy and Patrick Commins.

The application indicated that 2,000 persons in 450 families in the Athy area were in need of public relief. Only one third of the able bodied labourers in the area were employed at an average wage of one shilling per day. The other two thirds, or 5,000, men were employed on Public Works. Despite this all the men employed were barely able in most cases to provide one meal a day for their families. The lack of food gave rise to numerous cases of dysentery in the area as did the use of turnips for human consumption.

As at January 1847 the sum of £320 had been raised by way of private subscriptions towards relief of distress in the area. However no Government grants had been received nor had any relief agency offered help to the Athy people. Of the sum collected locally a total of £12 had been donated by absentee land owners from South Kildare. The monies collected had been used to purchase Indian cornmeal, rice and straw for bedding.

A soup kitchen was set up in the town on 6th June 1847 but just before that on the 28th of May, Fr. Thomas Greene, C.C., submitted another application to the Central Relief Committee of the Society of Friends on behalf of the Athy area. He confirmed that the Public Works which had given employment in the area had been suspended two weeks previously. The local Relief Committees weekly expenses had increased from £40 to £110 as a result. He also advised that the British Relief Association had opened a store in the town supplying Relief Committees within a twenty mile radius of the town with Indian meal at £17 per tonne. There was approximately 600 tonnes of meal available for sale with the price to Relief Committees pitched at about 6% below the normal market price. At the same time the price of rice had rocketed to £30 per tonne and had ceased to be supplied.

A meeting of all land owners was arranged for the beginning of June 1847 to encourage them to give employment to local men as by now it was estimated that almost 3,000 persons were in need of help from the Relief Committee. Fr. Greene referred to the lack of employment in the area and pointed out that the only work available was in the local brickyards. "The vast majority of the men are idle, wandering around in search of relief", he wrote.

Copies of the Volumes from which I have extracted the above information will be available in all Libraries in the County. They offer a rare insight into the misery and hardship of the famine times and offer a poignant reminder of a past which up to now had been lost to us.

Gaelic League Athy

I am often asked from where and how I get the information for the weekly Eye on the Past. Much of it I have to confess comes from years of accumulating apparently useless bits and pieces about Athy. On their own they gave little insight into the secrets of our past but occasionally the jig-saw falls into place and what were once individual scraps of information, mesh together to provide a chronological or thematic story.

Such happened this week when I was given a small black notebook, the inside cover of which bore in copperplate handwriting the words "Athy Branch of Gaelic League - Minutes of Meetings". In perusing the Minute Books of the local Urban District Council and reading back issues of local newspapers I have come across several references to the Gaelic League in Athy. With the Minute Book I could now hope to put some resemblance of order on the various pieces of information I had gleaned over the years. expect

The first meeting of the local branch was held on 31st January 1919 in the Technical School. Strictly speaking the Minute Book records that the meeting was called "to revive the local branch of the Gaelic League" clearly indicating that the League had an earlier existence in Athy. But when, I do not know. Incidentally the Technical School which was the venue of that meeting was located in Stanhope Place and had been built in 1907 next to the C.Y.M.S. building which occupied a former school building at the corner of Stanhope Street and Stanhope Place.

Using the Technical School for the meeting was surprising given that on the 2nd of December 1918 the Urban District Council had passed a Motion which demonstrated that at least one member of the Technical Committee was not in agreement with the promotion of the Irish language. That Resolution condemned Mr. T. Hickey, J.P. a member of the Council's Technical Committee for imposing a fine at the local petty sessions on the Irish teacher in the local Technical School who signed his named in Irish.

That "revival" meeting of the Gaelic League was attended by Miss Bridget Darby, Miss O'Loughlin, Miss Kealy, Miss Timmons, Tadgh O'Shea, Michael Dooley, John Bradley, James Kealy and John Gibbons. Michael Dooley of Duke Street was elected President, Miss Darby Treasurer and James Kealy Secretary. Not at that meeting but appointed to a sub-committee were Brothers Hoctor and Egan of the local Christian Brothers Schools.

Subsequent meetings of the Gaelic League were attended by Joe May, Patrick McEvoy, William Mahon, J. Whelan, J.J. O'Byrne, Ed Nolan, J. Hickey, John Hayden, Dick Candy, P. Doyle and Mr. Scully. After a number of meetings held in the Technical School the League moved to the Ancient Order of Hibernian Rooms in Duke Street. The Branch members were greatly concerned with finances during the early months and a concert in the Town Hall on the 17th of March 1919 realised £60.00 profit while a flag day raised a further £9.00. An application from the newly formed Gaelic League branch in Barrowhouse for some funding from their Athy colleagues was rebuffed but later on it was agreed to share with them the proceeds of a Ceile in the Town Hall provided that it was well supported by the Barrowhouse people.

In early April 1919 the Gaelic League sent a deputation consisting of Rev. Fr. Sheridan C.C., Castledermot, Michael Dooley, Athy, and Mr. Price, Language Organiser, Carlow to a local Urban District Council meeting. Following this the Council agreed to have all Council cheques signed in the Irish language and all "printing on the official notepaper and bill heads and the names of the streets printed in the Irish language as well as in English". It is no surprise to find that the Gaelic League had to write to the Council one year later asking when the Irish notepaper and the name of the streets in Irish would be provided. The present Urban District Council has Irish headed notepaper but to my knowledge Athy has never had Irish street names.

Miss Darby, as Treasurer of the local branch, was consistently reminding the members of their impending bankruptcy. It seemed never to have happened but equally a shortage of funds restricted their activities in relation to the promotion of the Irish language. A Feis Committee was established in Athy early in 1919 in connection with a Feis or an aeriocht planned for the local football pitch on the Dublin Road in July. There were disturbances in the town during that Feis which were still talked about over 70 years later by men and women who knew of what had occurred. In its aftermath the local Urban District Council met on the 24th of July 1919 to consider what steps should be taken to preserve the peace and to protect property in the town. The District Inspector of the R.I.C. in a letter to the Council referred to the disgraceful conduct of the demobbed soldiers who during the Feis attacked a shop in Duke Street and destroyed stock without provocation.

The shop referred to was that of "Bapty" Maher who had a bicycle shop in Duke Street opposite the present O'Dohertys. "Bapty" was a member of the I.R.A. and was imprisoned during the Black and Tan period. Damage was also caused to the confectionary shop of Miss Darby's mother in Leinster Street. This was where Conroy's premises is now located. Apparently bunting and decoration erected by the Darbys on their premises for the Feis included the Sacred Heart emblem and its destruction with the rest of the bunting was regarded as sacrilegious and a source of great scandal at the time. The ex-British soldiers involved in the disturbance were all natives of Athy and I can recall an old resident of the town in 1984 recounting how each of the men named as being involved in that disturbance subsequently met horrible death. It is often difficult to distinguish history from myth and folklore.

To return to the Gaelic Leaguers they continued to meet in various locations throughout the town including the office of local Solicitor Mr. Tristan who had offices in Duke Street. Meetings were also held in the Urban Council offices in the Town Hall and in Miss Darby's sitting room in Leinster Street. Mr. Tristan also apparently made available a room for the Irish class provided by the Gaelic League on Thursdays between 7.00 p.m. and 9.00 p.m. I understand that Tristan with whom Mrs. Hester May, daughter of Michael Dooley worked for a while in 1919 had his offices in what was later the Garda Barracks in Duke Street. This was also the location of the A.O.H. Rooms. The room used for the Irish class was commonly known by the locals as the Gaelic League room.

The last entry in the Minute Book is dated the 13th of December 1921 when Mr. Tierney, Irish teacher, was let go and his Irish classes were discontinued. What happened to the Gaelic League in Athy thereafter I cannot yet say.

Mark Cross and the Building of Houses in Janeville and Connolly's Lanes

Dr. George Cross, Medical Doctor, Dental Surgeon and Gemmologist, accompanied by his wife recently travelled from his home in Christchurch, Dorset to visit Athy where his Cross ancestors lived during the last century. It was not his first visit to Athy but on this occasion he was able to positively identify properties in the town once associated with his family. His great grandfather was Mark Cross who in Slaters Directory for 1846 was described as a Civil Engineer and builder of Market Square. This of course is the present Emily Square and Dr. Cross, born in England over 80 years ago, was able to pinpoint Mark Cross's former house as the property where Dwyer and Cleary now carry on a dental practice.

Dr. Cross brought with him a map dated 1836 showing outlined in red a plot of ground lying to the south side of the then Church of England Church in Athy which ground had been originally let by the Duke of Leinster to Dr. Clayton. Clayton was a local G.P. living in The Abbey and the property on the map was that of the present corner shop and the two houses facing on to Emily Square occupied by Dwyer and Cleary and the Fennin family. I have previously come across references to that Church which stood in Market Square up to 1840's but never before had I seen a reference as in this map to Church Lane which ran from the corner of the Carlow Road towards the river as far as the entrance to Dr. Clayton's house. The road now referred to as Emily Row between the corner shop and the Credit Union Office on the map carried the notation "from the Market Square to Prestons Gate". Prestons Gate stood opposite Paddy Garrett's house in Offaly Street and if ever you are in St. Michael's old cemetery look for the tomb stone, in the corner of the medieval Church which gives Prestons Gate as the address of one James Kenna. The property outlined on the map which had been originally let by the Duke of Leinster to Dr. Clayton was apparently later transferred by Dr. Clayton to Mark Cross.

Two other maps brought from Dorset to Athy by Dr. Cross were of even greater interest. One marked "Plan of Janeville 1872" carried the additional notation "commenced 4th January 1872, finished 20th April 1872". Regrettably somebody had obliterated what would have surely been the building cost for this small scheme of houses leaving only the word "pounds" to be read.

The scaled drawings consisted of a plan and front elevation of the ten houses, five on either side of the laneway which was known as Janeville Lane. It is highly probably given that the drawings were in Dr. Cross's possession that the builder was Mark Cross, Civil Engineer and Building Contractor of Market Square. The Mark Cross of 1872 was son of Mark Cross mentioned in Slater’s Directory of 1846. Each single storey house consisted of two rooms with a floor area measuring 13 ft. by 18 ft. 6 ins. or 240 sq. ft. approximately. The tiny dwellings were bounded on the east side by Hogan's yard which is now the short private laneway at the rear of No.'s 4 to 6 Offaly Street. On the south side of the houses lay Duncan's Gardens now Lawlers and on the west side Dr. Clayton's now Mrs. McDermott-Donnellys and on the north side Hogan's Lane. In recent years we have tended to refer to the entire area to the rear of Offaly Street which is entranced between 3 and 4 Offaly Street as Janeville Lane when in fact Janeville was the name of the ten house scheme to the left of the main laneway which was officially called Barkers Row. It was that latter lane which in the 1872 map was referred to as Hogan's Lane. The name Janeville was also used in connection with the cul-de-sac leading to Janeville Cottage at the rear of the present St. Michael's Church in Offaly Street. Whey this name was so popular in this small area of Athy I have yet to find out. The Janeville Lane houses are now derelict and only a few of them remain standing in a sadly dilapidated condition.

The second drawing was noted on its reverse as "Plans of Cottages built at Meeting Lane 1872". Again Mark Cross is believed to have constructed these houses and indeed a handwritten note on the map indicates that work on them started two days after the completion of the Janeville Lane houses. Commenced on the 22nd of April 1872 the seven houses were completed on the 17th of July 1872. Tantalisingly these details were followed by the words "cost" but without any insertion to satisfy our curiosity.

But where on Meeting Lane were these houses built? The first clue lay in the map itself which showed that on either side of the row of houses was to be found Cross's garden and Connolly's garden. This raised the possibility of Connolly's Lane which late 19th century town maps showed as running off Meeting Lane at the rear of the houses facing Emily Square. Dr. and Mrs. Cross with me as their guide went to Meeting Lane and there before us in the blanked up wall extending the full length of the garden to the rear of Mrs Germaine's house we saw the outline of the houses built in 1872. We counted the five doors and ten windows of the small one storey houses which once stood on the left side of the lane. The two houses built at the end of the lane are now gone but it is clear from the map that they had been constructed out of an old barn which stood on the site.

I was delighted to have had the opportunity of showing Dr. Cross and his wife the small houses which his predecessor Mark Cross had built 124 years ago. Dr. Cross videoed what remained of Connolly's Lane and Janeville Lane ending a journey which started with the finding of the two old maps amongst family papers in Christchurch, Dorset. Dr. Cross later wrote to me generously donating the maps to the local Museum where they will soon be on display when suitably framed.

Dr. Cross's family had a long association with Athy and Mrs. Anne Cross listed in 1910 Post Office Directory as a resident of The Square was the last member of the Cross family. Of course we all remember Wattie Cross of Duke Street but I believe he was not a member of the same family.

It is amazing how far the strands of local history stretch. In this case from Athy to Christchurch in Dorset where a few small maps not otherwise identifiable as relating to Athy town provided another link in the town's hidden past.

Sr. Xavier

She came to Athy in the year of the Eucharistic Congress to take up the Principalship of Churchtown National School. Delia Cosgrave was but 25 years of age but the Galway girl having spent four years in University College Galway was well qualified to replace the previous Principal the formidable Bridget Darby. Delia obtained lodgings in the home of Mrs. Cox at 26 Duke Street where she soon made friends with the daughters of the house Rita, Mossie, Thelma and Millie. The last named was later to marry Newcombe Empey's son and their son is soon to become the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin.

Athy appeared a depressing place to the spirited West of Ireland girl who had spent her early years on a dairy farm in Dangan on the outskirts of Galway city. However her friendship with Maureen Lawless, the first lay teacher in the Convent Secondary School in Athy and Sheila Hickey of Kilberry who was the newly appointed Principal of Barrowhouse National School ensured a happy social scene. Late night dances n the Town Hall were then grand affairs unlike the cheerless, colourless events of today. Musical evenings in Cox's with Mrs. Cox on piano accompanying Mr. Gill, a local Post Office worker and fellow lodger, and Mossie Cox, two vocalists of quality are remembered with nostalgia.

For the good friends, Delia Cosgrave and Sheila Hickey both Principals of local schools, the religious life beckoned and so it was that in 1935 encouraged by their friend Maureen Lawless they both decided to enter the local Convent of Mercy. One last trip awaited them this time to Twickenham for the annual international rugby game. So it was that Delia Cosgrave, Sheila Hickey and their companions Tess Morrin, a local V.E.C. teacher and Paddy Broderick N.T. in Wolfhill travelled by boat to London in February 1935. A last dance in the Irish Club in London before the return trip was followed by what must have been a most unusual sight as Delia Cosgrave distributed her jewellery and money amongst her friends as the train pulled into Athy Station. Awaiting her was Paddy Murphy's hackney car to bring her straight away to the door of the Convent of Mercy. So it was that Delia Cosgrave on the 11th February 1935 started her postulancy which was to end with her final profession as Sr. Xavier six and a half years later.

Having retired as Principal of Churchtown she was replaced by Paddy Dooley, later our local T.D. Pupils remembered from the rural school over 60 years ago include Jim Connors and his sisters Ellen and Mary and Pat Fennin. Also remembered are Lily and Nellie Dillon whose mother was the school caretaker. As a qualified teacher Sr. Xavier was immediately deployed in teaching the sixth class in St. Michael's National School and as her class passed on into St. Mary's Secondary School she also transferred with them. She was to remain as their class teacher until they sat their Leaving Cert. five years later.

Amongst the pupils in her first Convent class were Kitty McLaughlin, Kay and Nan O'Brien, Sheila May and Anna Fennin, Mary O'Brien, Maureen Walsh, Sydney Gannon, Jo Mulhall, Jo Lawler, Vera Cross, Essie Slator, Vera Bellew, Mary Jo Coogan and Brid Bergin. Her friend Sheila Hickey was to enter the Athy Convent in June 1935 taking Sr. Michael as her name in religion. Sr. Xavier was soon to be joined in the Convent by her own sisters Margaret who took the name Sr. Rose and Agnes whom we all know as Sr. Paul. Margaret had been a teacher in Galway V.E.C. before entering the Convent and while in U.C.G. had captained the College Camogie team. Agnes was a Clerk in the General Post Office in Dublin for a number of years before answering the call to the religious life.

St. Mary's School which had been a private Secondary School from 1922 and whose pupils did not sit the State exams became a grant aided secondary school in 1934. In fact it was an all Irish School until 1948 or thereabouts and it was there that the Cosgrave sisters from Galway taught until the 1960's.

Sr. Rose passed away some years ago but Sr. Xavier now in her 89th year retains an absorbing interest in the town where she has lived for the last 64 years. Sr. Paul, also retired, is still very much involved in her art work and especially with Athy Art Group with whom she is travelling to the Burren in Co. Clare on a painting expedition next weekend.

It is sometimes difficult to unravel the paths which led so many young women to join the Sisters of Mercy Convent in Athy in the years before the Second World War. Even more so when those paths started in Counties on the Western seaboard as in the case of the Cosgrave sisters or for the late Sr. Brendan in Co. Kerry. The advertisement placed by the local Parish Priest Fr. McDonnell in the national newspapers in 1932 seeking a Principal for the two teacher school in Churchtown brought Delia Cosgrave to a town about which she knew nothing. She could not then have envisaged that the rest of her life was to be spent in Athy which her late father felt was too far away from her home in Dangan, Galway. Three of the Cosgrave sisters were to come to the "far away" place, seldom heard of in Galway where they devoted their lives to the people of Athy. We are grateful for the work done in Athy by Sr. Xavier, Sr. Rose and Sr. Paul and for what the Sisters of Mercy have achieved in our town since they first arrived in 1852.

Eaton family / Paddy Eaton

The Eaton and Ellard families have long associations with the town of Athy. Many will remember Pat Ellard who lived in a small house next door to the shop now owned by Bertie McDermott in Leinster Street. Pat drove the mail van for the Post Office and also had a side car for hire. His wife Beatrice Causer, an English woman first met Pat while on holidays in Athy. Pat died in 1959 and his wife in 1962. Their daughter Ellen married local painter Martin Eaton in the early 1930's bringing together two of the oldest families in the area. Martin Eaton worked with Newcombe Empey, House, Sign and Ornamental Painter and Gilder of Leinster Street whose grandson who is soon to be raised to the Archbishopric of Dublin. For the first few years of their married life Martin and Ellen Eaton lived in New Row, off Mount Hawkins before being appointed the first tenants of No. 19 Convent View. Their eldest son Paddy was born in New Row and now lives in Clonmullin within a stones throw of his old home.

Martin Eaton's half-brothers Lar, Pat, Mick and Charlie all served in France and Flanders during World War I and returned home unscathed in 1919 to their father Mick Eaton who lived in Meeting Lane. He worked in a brick yard in Castlecomer and every Saturday after finishing his weeks work he walked the 19 miles home to Athy. The return journey was made on Sunday nights again on foot, a trip he made for many years.

It was his son the earlier mentioned Martin Eaton who was the first family member to be apprenticed to the painting trade and he in turn passed on his skill and knowledge to his own son Paddy Eaton. Paddy who was born in 1934 started his apprenticeship in 1948 earning 7/6 per week. He served three and a half years before being recognised as "an improver" with a modest increase in his wages. Another four years were to pass before he became a qualified tradesman earning £3=5=0 per week.

Even before he had embarked on a career in painting and decorating Paddy had spent some time in Tom McHugh's foundry. He was then only 13 years of age but the illness of his father who was the only wage earner in the family necessitated Paddy's early entry into the workforce. He spent almost a year in the Janeville Lane foundry owned and operated by Tom McHugh, a resident of Offaly Street. He recalls working with Robbie Lynch of Shrewleen, Frankie Aldridge, Des Donaldson, Mannix Thompson, Pat Roche and Jim Carter both of Ballylinan. Tom McHugh he described as the best floor moulder in Ireland working with his "clearer", "boss lickers" and "harp and square", all moulders tools to help him shape in the sand boxes the intricate design he required. The red sand used in the Foundry came from Dan Neill's field on the Carlow Road which is now given over to Graysland and Kingsgrove housing estates. Paddy recalls with amusement and with no little awe the occasion a local Janeville Lane man called to Tom McHugh's foundry to have a tooth extracted which was troubling him. With a minimum of fuss and expertly using a pliers or pinchers, Tom soon had the offending tooth pulled.

Paddy Eaton's time in the foundry was generally spent breaking scrap metal or lining the furnace with bricks or clay prior to it being fired with coke. He also shovelled the sand and moved the sand boxes into place ready for the molten metal to be poured into the carefully prepared moulds. All of this was being done at a time when young Paddy should have been at school. Inevitably the long arm of the law caught up with him and he recalls Sergeant Taaffe calling to his home and gently encouraging his mother to get young Paddy into school "for a day now and then".

Paddy left the foundry to join his father in the painting trade and in 1956 after finishing his apprenticeship he emigrated to England. It was to Kettering, Northamptonshire, near the home town of his grandmother Beatrice that Paddy went to work for Wimpeys Building Contractors. Three years later Paddy returned to Ireland accepting for the second time in his young life responsibility for his family's welfare. His father had suffered serious injuries after falling from the roof of St. Vincent's Hospital while working for Kildare County Council. Paddy was to take up employment with the same Council for the next three years but when his father died in 1962 he returned to England, this time settling in Birmingham. He was soon followed by his younger brothers and sisters Frank, Tony, Christy, Martin and Nancy and his mother Ellen.

Recalling his young days in Athy in the early 1940's Paddy remembers with affection the efforts of "Skurt" Doyle, a legend in his own lifetime who trained the local young men in athletics and football. "Skurt" who had an illustrious career in the British Army, firstly in India and later during World War I lived in 18 Convent View. He was a noted athlete and sportsman who on retiring from the British Army became involved in training local teams of all codes including Gaelic football, soccer and rugby. He was one of the organisers of the football street leagues of the 1940's in which most of the young boys of Athy played. For Paddy Eaton there was the additional involvement in distance running again tutored by "Skurt" Doyle in what was known locally as Lawlers field in Clonmullin. Times were hard and two of Paddy's abiding memories of the 1940's was the weak cocoa made by Fran Lawler for the schoolboys lunch break in the local C.B. School and his daily chore of collecting sticks in Sawyerswood for the family fire.

Retired on health grounds Paddy is married to Mary Logan, formerly of Dublin and their two children Shirley and Patrick are living in Birmingham. The wheel of emigration has come full circle for this member of an old Athy family.

Tadgh Brennan (2)

Tadhg Brennan's involvement in the social life of Athy in the post-War years was wholehearted and as befits the man he left his mark in the many areas in which he was involved. But not even he could regard his L.D.F. days during the Second World War as being particularly noteworthy. As a Private he soldiered under the local officers who included John Stafford, Matt McHugh, Paddy Dooley of Levitstown and Norman Plewman. He recalls attending Army Camps in Tramore on two occasions but missed the year when his friend and army colleague Pat Mulhall was accidentally shot while attending a lecture in the camp. Rumour has it that this was the only shot fired by the L.D.F. for the duration of the second World War. The L.D.F. recruits met each week marching from Emily Square to Geraldine Football Park where further marching routines were a major part of their training. Gun practice without ammunition live or otherwise was another part of the Geraldine field training. He remembers patrolling at night armed with a rifle, but again without ammunition spending four hour stints sometimes cycling between Athy and Cloney Bridge other times manning the bridges leading into the town. In his own words "nothing of interest ever happened unless one is to disregard the occasional use of an L.D.F. ground sheet by courting couples in the Peoples Park." The prospect of a Court Martial for misuse of L.D.F. equipment was very much a possibility on one night when the local Garda Sergeant came on a scene in the People's Park which by the light of his torch he could see was adorned by one of his own daughters. The L.D.F. lads as you can imagine were always popular and patrolling without ammunition in your rifle was a cheerless unexciting chore where a "lark in the Park" offered some diversion. I know the feeling of the luckless L.D.F. man on that occasion as a generation later the same scene was played out again. This time it was a different Garda Sergeant whose son was caught in similar circumstances in the same Park. The young man on being caught in the beam of his father's flashlamp bore more than a passing resemblance to a frightened rabbit caught in a lampers spotlight.

From Gaelic football to politics seemed an almost inevitable transition especially for someone like Tadhg involved from a very young age with the best traditions of Gaelic Ireland. In 1949 he joined the local Fianna Fail Cumann and successfully stood for the local Urban District Council in 1959. He remembers discussions even then concerning an Inner Relief Road and an Outer Relief Road for Athy which after 35 years are still being talked about as possibilities for the future. He remembers fondly those who were in the local Cumann at that time, all of whom have passed on. John W. Kehoe, M.G. Nolan, John Stafford, Liam Ryan, Tom Moore, Eddie Purcell, Joe Murphy, Christy "Bluebeard" Dunne, Mick McHugh and Paddy Dooley. Paddy was later to be elected to Dail Eireann as a Fianna Fail T.D. in 1959 following a campaign the success of which owed much to his Athy colleagues M.G. Nolan, Liam Ryan and Tadhg Brennan.

Sport and politics and the practice of law seemed more than enough for one man but he also found time to be involved in the Social Club and amateur dramatics with the Social Club players. He regards the Social Club started by Fr. Morgan Crowe with Joe Hickey, Tim Hickey, M.G. Nolan, Tim O'Sullivan, Liam Ryan, John Stafford and Pat Mulhall as the greatest social asset the town of Athy has had in the last 50 years. The Club commenced as the Geraldine Tennis Club on the Carlow Road and with the purchase of the British Legion Hall in St. John's Lane, added billiards and badminton to the range of Club activities. In 1941 or 1942 the Club started an amateur dramatic society which was a most successful adjunct to the Club for the following 21 years. Highlight of those years on the amateur stage was the Social Club players success in the Fr. Matthew Drama Festival in Dublin in 1949. Tadhg and his colleagues won the highest award then available for amateur dramatics in Ireland with Frank Carney's play "The Righteous Are Bold". Actors and actresses remembered from those days include Jo and Florrie Lawler, Ger Moriarty, Ken Reynolds, Dave Walsh, Tommy Walsh, May Fenelon, Liam Ryan, Kitty McLoughlin, Nellie Fox, Mollie Moore, Dermot Mullan, Patsy O'Neill, Mary Harrington and Joe Martin. The Social Club players worked with many famous dramatists and producers as they sought to scale the dramatic heights. Many still recall the involvement of Lennox Robinson of the Abbey Theatre, also P.J. O'Connor of Radio Eireann and Isley and McCabe of the Gaiety Theatre. They all travelled to Athy as guest Directors of productions put on by the Social Club players in the Town Hall or the Club premises in St. John's Lane. Tadhg was highly regarded as an actor, bringing to his roles an intensity of feeling and expression worthy of many performances on the Dublin stage.

All the time Tadhg continued to carry on a very successful legal practice in Athy and was appointed State Solicitor in 1963. He resigned from his practice in 1978 on taking up an appointment as County Registrar for County Kildare, a position he held until 1990. He moved to Naas on being appointed County Registrar but has returned to live in Athy and has brought with him the rich store of memories of his younger years spent in Athy.

In a legal career stretching back over 50 years Tadhg has witnessed many changes in the law from both sides of what I may call the legal divide. Firstly as a defender of those who stood charged before the Courts, like all good lawyers he brought to his task an extraordinary degree of detachment and an ability to suspend disbelief. In later years as State Solicitor his legal training and experience was put to work in the interest of the State in many successful prosecutions of those who infringed the Criminal Code. In whatever role he performed whether in Court, on stage or on the playing field in his younger days, Tadhg always brought to his task energy, skill and authority.

Tadgh Brennan (1)

So far as I can find out Tadhg Brennan holds the distinction of being the longest qualified Solicitor in County Kildare. It was October 1944 that Tadhg, until then apprenticed to another local Solicitor Paddy O'Neill, qualified as a Solicitor. Legal work in those days was scarce, and the leisurely pace of life and litigation allowed Solicitors offices to operate without Secretaries or staff qualified to churn out the letters which are the trademark of today's lawyers. Indeed Tadhg's first task and on his first day as an apprentice Solicitor was to type out, with two fingers, a couple of letters for his master on an old fashioned manual typewriter.

Paddy O'Neill, brother of Dr. Joe O'Neill, then had offices on the first floor of Michael Anthony's Auctioneers in Emily Square where Tadhg as a young apprentice had Jack Lawler as a work colleague. Tadhg, who was 76 last month, was born in Canal House in Monasterevin where his father Fintan was the canal agent. The Brennan family moved to Athy in 1924 when Fintan was appointed Magistrates Clerk in place of T.J. Bodley. Coincidentally, the Brennan family initially resided in No. 5 Offaly Street where 21 years later another family whose son was also to embark on a legal career also lived. That same house was the offices of the District Court for a few short years after Fintan Brennan's arrival before being relocated in the Town Hall.

It was his father's suggestion, obviously based on his experience as a Magistrate Clerk and later a District Court Clerk which led Tadhg to undertake legal studies and an eventual apprenticeship with Paddy O'Neill. When the time came in March 1945 for Tadhg to set up his own Solicitors practice his aunt Kitty Heffernan, then living in Emily Row, offered her front room as an office. "Tadhg R. O'Braoinan", Solicitor, remains as the name of the practice to this day although Tadhg has long gone from it. The entire house has now been taken over by the practice which the young man started in the front room over 50 years ago.

Business was slow for quite a while and the opening of a branch office in Monasterevin and later in Rathangan helped to pass the hours even if sometimes it did not always increase the fee income. In those leisurely days Tadhg occasionally cycled to his branch offices with a small bundle of files on the bicycle carrier. As he admits himself he often made the same journey the following week, without having taken the tape off the carefully preserved files in the interim. This was a routine he maintained until about 1955 when his own apprentice Aidan O'Donnell qualified as a Solicitor. Judge O'Donnell as he is now, established a legal practice in Portarlington taking with Tadhg's blessing the Monasterevin branch practice which Tadhg had earlier developed.

All the time Tadhg was fulfilling his love for Gaelic games and as a boarder in Knockbeg College he played with the legendary Tommy Murphy in two Leinster Colleges Finals. Unfortunately Knockbeg lost on both occasions to St. Mel's College. Minor football for Athy G.F.C. was soon followed by Senior football for the same Club. With Athy Tadhg played in three Senior County Finals winning his only Championship medal in 1942. He recalls with a chuckle how as a young man of 21 years playing in his first final in 1941 as centre half back he was, to use his own words, "demolished by my opponent, Mick Keating a Garda Sergeant, who was an old man". The following years the same teams contested the County Final and this time Athy won following a replay. It may have been purely a coincidence that the same "old man, Mick Keating" was injured only after five minutes play although Tadhg hastens to add, he was not marking him that day.

In 1943 he played for U.C.D. and was honoured by the County selectors on two occasions playing against Offaly in October 1943 and Wexford in April 1944. On both occasions he joined two other local players Tommy Mulhall and Dinny Fox who were also County players. Tadhg's involvement with the local G.A.A. Club was not confined to playing football and he served in various Officer positions over the years. Recalling the great players who played with Athy he mentions Mick Mannion, a Galway man who taught in the local C.B.S., Paul Matthews, Joe Gibbons, Jack Dunne, George Comerford a Clare Garda stationed in Athy, Jim Malone, Jim Clancy, Stephen Whelan, Barney Dunne, Tommy Mulhall, 'Bird' Rochford and Joe Byrne. The heyday of the Athy football Club according to Tadhg was the years 1931 to 1937 when the Club won three Senior County Championships.

To be concluded next week.
Last week Jim Connor died in England where he had lived since leaving Castlemitchell in the 1950's. Jim and I had corresponded in the past and during the hot summer of 1995 he called on me while on his last holidays in his beloved south Kildare. I later had a great night of chat in Mary Prendergast's house with Jim and John Fennin as they recalled the "old days" in Castlemitchell. Jim's love for his native place was obvious as he brought me around Churchtown Graveyard that same evening, pointing out its many important features and passing on the local lore. He was particularly proud of the water fount which he had rescued on an earlier visit and had preserved on the site. Jim was later the subject of an Eye on the Past which I know gave him immense pleasure. Like so many of the missing generations from our area he had to live out his adult life far from the townlands he loved. His passing follows not so long after that of his friend Joe Bermingham with whom he was involved in the founding of Castlemitchell G.F.C. and the provision of the local Community Hall. Jim will be sadly missed.