Augustus Bridge Athy

When it was officially opened in 1792 by the Duke of Leinster it was named Augustus Bridge in honour of one of the Duke’s sons. The keystone from that bridge was discovered in a ditch at Foxhill some years ago and was later removed and placed in the local Heritage Centre. I was aware that the bridge on the Kilkenny Road next to the Auld Shebeen public house was reconstructed during 1896/’97 when the keystone was removed. This was necessary because the high bridge arch originally constructed to accommodate boat traffic on the Canal proved difficult for horse drawn traffic on the road. The following report carried in the Kildare Observer on 11th September 1897 provided interesting details in relation to the bridge. ‘Last Tuesday night Mr. Thomas Plewman, the popular chairman of Athy Town Commissioners entertained a number of his colleagues and the leading people of Athy and district to supper at Woodstock in commemoration of the reconstruction of the Canal bridge. Formerly this bridge was so steep that it proved a great impediment to traffic and was the means of diverting a large amount of trade from the town. The work which has just been completed consisted in the lowering of the arch so that vehicles could now pass over it with ease ….. on Tuesday night Athy was the scene of enthusiasm. Two bands followed by vast crowds paraded the streets and a huge gathering of people assembled at the bridge where Mr. Plewman delivered an address. It was announced that it had been decided to call the bridge “Plewman’s Bridge” ….. Mr. Edward Glover, the county surveyor, was the engineer during the reconstruction and the contractors were D. & J. Carbery Athy.’ I wasn’t aware of D. & J. Carbery’s involvement in the alteration of the Canal Bridge, although there is an indecipherable plaque on the bridge with that information. That local building firm were involved for almost a century with most of the public building projects in and around Athy. I wonder what archival material of D. & J. Carbery have survived to this day. Now that a county archivist has been appointed by Kildare County Council I hope she will be able to collect private records created by local organisations and businesses such as Carburys. I am unaware of the Council’s collection policy but I hope it is to preserve collections of archives relating to the history and development of the county. Reading past issues of the Kildare Observer reminded me of how little is known of local events of the past. The appearance of Charles Stewart Parnell on a platform in Emily Square, Athy on Easter Monday 1880 was recorded but has long since been forgotten. This was shortly after Parnell’s return from America when he was greeted enthusiastically by a huge crowd in the town’s main square. At the height of the Parnell split in December 1890 a meeting of the Athy branch of the Irish National League was held in the Town Hall. The large attendance passed a resolution proposed by T.J. Brennan and seconded by Denis Reeves, ‘that we the members of Athy National League renew our confidence in Mr. Parnell as leader of the Irish party.’ Three months later an anti-Parnell meeting was held in Athy. What the newspaper referred to as ‘a meeting of the McCarthyites’ was held in the Town Hall on a Monday night in March 1891 for the purpose of establishing a branch of the Irish National Federation. The name McCarthyites belonged to those opposed to Parnell who were led by Justin McCarthy following his appointment as chairman of the parliamentary members who had deserted Parnell. The meeting attracted an attendance of ‘only about a score’ with the local curate, Fr. J. Staples presiding. His fellow curates Fr. J. Carroll and Fr. Rowan were also in attendance, confirming the Catholic church’s opposition to the former leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party following the divorce case involving Katherine O’Shea. Amongst those attending were Denis Kilbride M.P., Stephen O’Brien, Dan Carbery and M.J. Minch. A large crowd of Parnell supporters gathered outside the Town Hall cheering for Parnell and abusing the few persons going to the meeting. Those gathered outside were addressed by John Coleman who was a Parnell supporter and a long-standing member of the Land League in Athy. Some attempts were made to force the doors of the Town Hall and stones were thrown, smashing one of the Town Hall windows. A further meeting of the Irish National Federation branch was held the following May and attracted a much larger attendance. Parnell’s death on Tuesday 6th October 1891 occurred as the Irish National Federation branches throughout Ireland were growing in numbers. However, membership began to fall after Parnell’s death and the Athy branch seems to have disappeared without trace soon thereafter. Local memory of past events is seldom passed on to later generations. I have never heard of the Canal Bridge being referred to as Plewman’s Bridge but equally the original name of Augustus Bridge has been largely replaced by ‘the Canal Bridge’. The Minute Books of Athy Town Commissioners does not record any decision by the Commissioners to name the bridge after their Chairman so perhaps the announcement of September 1897 was wishful thinking on someone’s part.