Shackleton Autumn School 2024

A small contingent from Athy was among the 2,500 people at the Royal Festival Hall, South Bank, London on 12th October last. The occasion was the premiere, at the London Film Festival, of the film ‘Endurance’, a documentary produced by National Geographic telling the story of the discovery of Shackleton’s ship ‘Endurance’ on the 5th March 2022, 100 years to the day Shackleton was buried in Grytiken Cemetery, South Georgia. It was a significant moment for those who have worked assiduously over the last 25 years to raise the profile of the Kildare-born explorer Ernest Shackleton both nationally and internationally. It is testament to their commitment and drive, coupled with the significant support from Kildare County Council that Athy will have a world class museum devoted to Shackleton opening towards the end of 2025. A little later than previous years, the Shackleton Autumn School will run in Athy on the weekend of 8th to 10th November. It is the 24th successive year in which the Autumn School has been hosted in the town. During covid the Autumn School was hosted online by its indefatigable organisers. ‘Virtually Shackleton’, as the online version was titled, was an enormous success, bringing the Shackleton story to a global audience online in 2020 and 2021. For those of us who couldn’t attend the event in London last month I am delighted to report that there will be a showing of the ‘Endurance’ documentary film, in The Abbey, Athy at 8pm on Sunday, 10th November. The screening will be followed by a question-and-answer session with the producer, Ruth Johnson, who is originally from Donegal. Admission is free and as it is expected there will be quite a demand for tickets bookings should be made through the Shackleton Museum’s website, www.shackletonmuseum.com. The film is only one of many events featured in the Shackleton Autumn School weekend from 8th to 10th November. There is a full lecture programme on Saturday and Sunday. Jan Chojecki, the grandson of John Quiller Rowett, who financed Shackleton’s last expedition, will be delivering a talk about the colour photography of Shackleton’s last expedition. Coupled with the lecture there will be a small exhibition devoted to these unique coloured photographs which will be well worth viewing. Philip Curtis of the Map House, London, a specialist dealer in rare and antiquarian maps, will be delivering a lecture on the mapping of Antarctica and I also understand that Philip will be hosting a workshop for Leaving Certificate Geography students of Ardscoil na Tríonóide on Friday morning in The Abbey. From the United States the distinguished historian and writer Buddy Levy will be telling the story of the disastrous voyage of the Arctic expedition ship ‘Karluk’. The story is one he has told in his book ‘Empire of Ice and Stone’ which is an excellent read. Laura Kissel, the Director of Archives at the Byrd Polar Research Institute in Columbus, Ohio will be talking about George Hubert Wilkins, an Australian who served with Shackleton on his last expedition, who himself was a Polar pioneer and her lecture will focus on the voyage of the American submarine Nautilus to the North Pole. Closer to home Joe O’Farrell, a longtime member of the Shackleton Committee, will be looking at the reputations of many Polar explorers, including Shackleton and Scott, while the award-winning playwright and screenwriter Peter Straughan whose films include ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ will be speaking about his work on bringing a screen play on Shackleton’s life to the big screen. Other contributors from the U.S.A. will include Sabrina Waldron who will look at the life of Frank Worsley, Shackleton’s captain on the ‘Endurance’, while Allegra Rosenberg from New York will look at those aficionados drawn to Polar explorers over the last century. An important part of the Shackleton Autumn School is the variety of events on the afternoon of Sunday, 10th November, which will include a bus tour through Shackleton country led by Kilkea based historian Sharon Greene, while the ‘townees’ amongst us can enjoy a walking tour of medieval Athy with archaeologist Marc Guernon. Finally if you are of an active frame of mind Kildare Sports Partnership will be hosting a ‘Pole to Pole’ walk on the Athy Blueway from 2.30pm onwards.

Athy men's involvement in the Boer War

Last Tuesday night the Community Arts Centre in the Methodist Church, Athy hosted the second lecture in the Athy Historical Society’s Autumn series of lectures. Delivered by Naas historian Liam Kenny, the title of the lecture was ‘From ballot box to Council Chamber, Kildare’s First County Council Election 1899’. Over the course of an hour Liam delivered a fine lecture to a rapt audience which ranged over the political, cultural and economic context of the time in which the first County Council elections were held. What interested many of the attendees was the skilful way in which Liam contextualised the election in terms of Irish society and politics at that time. This was a society in which politics was dominated by the middle class and the Home Rule party. The successful county council candidate from Athy was Matthew Minch who at the time was the MP for South Kildare. However, with the outbreak of the second Boer War in October 1899 the war itself began to exert an interesting influence on Irish polities in society. Nascent militant republicanism began to develop inspired by the plucky and determined Boer fight against the British empire in South Africa. As this month marks the 125th anniversary of the breakout of the war it is interesting to reflect on how those events thousands of miles away impacted upon the people of Athy. The Leinster Leader reported on 6th January 1900, when the war was only three months old, that ‘Athy boys with their keen sense of humour raised a Boer flag over the Town Hall over the dead of night with the police unable to ascertain their purpose.’ The Nationalist and Leinster Times gave an amusing account of how the offending ‘Boer flag’ was removed from the Town Hall. ‘In the morning as soon as the first drinks of dawn appeared a grand green flag floated from the pinnacle which summands the Town Hall. William McCleary, the town hall caretaker, volunteered to remove the flag and at about three o’clock he ascended to the roof of the building. He had armed himself with a fishing rod, to the end of which he had tied a knife. He cut through the strands of rope which held the standard in position, and after some exertion the chords were cut and the emblem of Krugerdom collapsed’. The flag incident has occasioned a great deal of talk about Athy and there is much conjecture as to the individuality of the daring crew who seized on the principal building of the town in this way. Accounts brought by native runners from Dunbrinn direction disclosed the fact that after dispersion by the Police the band retired to a lonely kopje overhanging the Barrow and called Coneyboro. Here they made a bonfire and when it was in full blaze they threw in a shell in the shape of a gallon of paraffin. The fluid exploded with a report so loud that it awakened sleepers in distant Grangemellon.’ In addition to the newspapers letters home from Athy soldiers were an important source of information about the conflict. Paddy Connors who was then serving with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers wrote to his brother about the first major battle he was involved in in the war. He noted that three men from the town by the names of Murphy, Kenny and Flynn had been dangerously wounded. Connors went on to write: ‘I like being out here, except for seeing so many disabled for life. Thank God I am very lucky. My helmet was knocked off by a bit of shell when I was carrying a wounded Corporal and he got shot dead in my arms. When I was acting as an escort for the guns, a shell fell in front of me but did not burst.’ The dubious distinction of being the first British officer to be killed in the conflict lies with Captain George Anthony Weldon. Weldon was the grandson of Sir Anthony Weldon of Kilmoroney House in Athy. Weldon was an officer in the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers which was part of a force tasked with taking a hill called Talana which was occupied by Boer forces. In attempting to save the life of a Private Gorman who had been wounded by Boer marksmen, Weldon was killed. Later that evening Weldon’s pet terrier was found waiting patiently by his master’s lifeless body. Weldon was buried that same afternoon in a small cemetery facing the hill on which he met his death. For most of us the Boer War has little lasting impact on our collective memory but there are little resonances here and there. Those of an older generation will recall that one of the malting buildings of Minch Nortons was called Ladysmith due to the involvement of a number of employees of Minch’s at the battle of Ladysmith during the war.

Naas Hospital treatment 1966 and 2024

Many of my readers were aware that I was hospitalised in recent weeks. I was discharged last Monday from Beaumont Hospital where I received the latter six weeks of radiotherapy. The nursing staff in St. Ann’s Ward provided a most extraordinary service and one which prompts me to write this article and to draw comparison with my previous contact with hospital services, admittedly of another era. I was admitted to Naas Hospital in 1966 following an appendicitis diagnosis by Dr. Joe O’Neill. There I was operated on by the legendary South African Surgeon, Dr. Jack Gibson, who hypnotised me instead of using conventional anaesthesia. The operation was successful, but I wonder if Dr. Gibson would be allowed to practice his undoubted skills today. This was not so many years after issues were raised in Naas Hospital concerning the absence of basic medical equipment including a blood pressure machine. It required approval by Dr. Ward, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minster for Local Government and Public Health, before that most basic health equipment could be purchased. What I found extraordinary different between my Naas Hospital experiences was the high level of nursing care today compared to then. Numerous checks are today made on every patient every few hours for blood pressure, temperature, pulse rate, respiratory rate, blood sugar and other blood tests. It was a continuous medical examination which commenced as early as 6.00 a.m. The results were noted on one’s hospital charts which were constantly consulted throughout the day. The Naas operation occurred approximately one year after another Naas Hospital event which was irreplaceably fixed in my memory. My first ever job was as a Clerical Officer with Kildare County Council where I served in the Health Services Section under the Staff Officer Noel Finn. County Council staff were small in numbers in those days and may I say apparently much more efficient than Council officials today. Kildare County Council were responsible for the provision of health services in the County of Kildare under the guidance of the late Dr. Brendan O’Donnell. As part of my duties, I occasionally visited Naas Hospital and St. Vincent’s Hospital, Athy to check on some accounts. It was in Naas Hospital, then housed in what was the former Workhouse, a four-storey building with no lift that on one official visit I was committed to helping the lone porter carry a dead man down from the fourth floor. I can hardly imagine that happening in today’s hospitals and brings to mind the readily available porters in Beaumont Hospital. Medical science has made extraordinary advances in the intervening years and ward sisters and nurses taking responsibility for caring, treatment and diagnosing. I found the Beaumont experience quite extraordinary. From bed making early in the morning to monitoring patients’ meals, to carry out the numerous medical checkups during the day, the nurses displayed an empathy and care which was quite exceptional. The vast majority of the young nursing staff in the Beaumont ward were of Eastern European origin. Some born in Ireland, others having qualified in their home country came to Ireland. Others emigrated and are now attending the nearby DCU Nurse training course. The senior nursing staff were apparently all Irish but uniquely those who dealt with patients on an almost hour by hour basis were non-Irish. It reminded me of the UK Hospital regime of the 1950’s where Irish nurses played a major role in staffing hospital wards in the absence of UK nurses. Were you one of the many households contacted within the last few days by telephone by Bord na Mona to advise of a change in the refuse collection days? Apparently the multi-million profit making company will not issue any letters or send texts to advise of the new changes. This seems an extraordinary poor way to communicate with customers, and I wonder if the next price increase will be communicated in the same way. Thank you to the lady who sent me a photograph of the work being carried out by the ESB which resulted in blocking a major part of the Ernest Shackleton mural at the end of Meeting Lane. The work was carried out on a piece of ground owned by Kildare County Council and I must assume that both Kildare County Council and the ESB agreed on where the ESB box was to be erected. It surely would have been as easy for both to move the ESB box a few yards to the left where it would not obscure the Ernest Shackleton mural. The second lecture in our Autumn series of lectures organised by Athy’s Historical Society will take place tonight, Tuesday, 22nd October in The Community Arts Centre, Woodstock St., Athy at 8pm. The title of the lecture is ‘From ballot box to Council Chamber, Kildare’s First County Council Election 1899’ and the guest speaker is Liam Kenny. Admission is free.

Basilio Angeli v. Joseph Galbraith / Athy Summer Assizes July 1856

The most famous court case in literature is Jarndyce v Jarndyce, immortalised in Charles Dickens Bleak House, published in 1853. It features a large inheritance whose heirs cannot be clearly determined and the narrative is driven by the interconnectedness of the novel’s protagonists. I don’t think there is any equivalent in Irish literature or in Irish legal history but I was intrigued to read about the case of Angeli v Galbraith which was first heard at the Kildare Summer Assizes sitting in Athy on Friday, 26th July 1856. The Assizes are somewhat equivalent to our current day Circuit Court. On this Summer’s day the Lord Chief Justice himself, Thomas Lefroy, presided sitting in the Courtroom in Athy, at that time located on the first floor of the Town Hall. While it might seem incongruous for the most senior Judge in the country to be sitting in a small Courtroom in Athy, Lefroy was no stranger to Athy. He had attended boarding school in Athy in 1791, as did his brother Ben, born in 1782 who later settled in Cardenton, Athy which property remained in the Lefroy family until 1956. Thomas Lefroy entered Trinity College in 1792 from where he graduated with a BA degree in 1795. That same year he spent the summer months in Hampshire, England and became friendly with Jane Austen, daughter of the Reverend John Austen. It was the same time that Jane began writing a manuscript which she completed in 1797 under the title “First Impression”. It was later published as Pride and Prejudice and Thomas Lefroy is sometimes credited as being the inspiration for the famous Mr. Darcy in the self same novel. The case before him that day in Athy was an action for slander brought by Basilio Angeli against Joseph Galbraith. The case revolved around the suitability of Angeli for a teaching position in Trinity College, Dublin and Galbraith’s alleged slander in questioning Mr. Angeli’s qualifications and suitability for a post. The minutiae of the case is of little interest today. What is of interest are those parties present at the Court in Athy. Acting on behalf of the defendant, Galbraith, was Edmund Hayes QC who would be replaced at a later appeal hearing by Isacc Butt. The Donegal born barrister Butt himself taught in Trinity and would be prominent in the instigation of the Home Rule Movement. Isaac Butt and Galbraith were both friends and colleagues and Galbraith played an important role in the Home Rule movement and is credited with coming up with the term “Home Ruler”. An important witness in the case was another close colleague and friend of Galbraith’s, the Reverend Samuel Haughton. The Carlow born Haughton was a distinguished scientist lecturing in Trinity who had close connections in Athy through the Haughton family who had built the Mills at Ardreigh and in the town. Haughton and Galbraith would enjoy a lifelong friendship where they jointly wrote a series of financially lucrative textbooks on aspects of Mathematics and Physics which remained in print well until the 1900’s. This close association and friendship was cemented by the marriage of one of Galbraith’s daughters to one of Haughton’s sons. The surviving Court Report records the twelve men who formed the Jury for the case and I was instantly drawn to the name Mark Cross. Cross was one of the fifteen qualified rate payers elected as the First Town Commissioners on the 10th June 1856, a mere two weeks before the Court case where he was described as an “Architect”. Slaters directory for 1846 records Mark Cross as Civil Engineer/Builder living at Market Square, which we now know as Emily Square. Among the buildings in the town which we can attribute to his activities is the construction of the “New Courthouse” which began as a corn market in 1857. In about 1859, he commenced the Glebe House or Rectory of the Church of Ireland on a site provided by the Duke of Leinster near the Church in Church Road. Another interesting connection is that Thomas Henry Cross, a son of Mark Cross’s recorded in his diary attending a school in Athy from 1844 to 1847 run by a Mr. Flynne. Among his classmates were Ben Lefroy, Richard Lefroy, Robert Lefroy, presumably relations of Chief Justice Lefroy. Thomas Henry Cross would proceed to study at Trinity College, Dublin in 1848 and the Tutor he was allocated in Trinity College was the Reverend Samuel Haughton. Difficult though it is at this distance to disentangle the interconnectedness of the various parties in the case, one would have to presume that there was an element of prejudice suffered by the unfortunate Mr. Angeli giving the links between the participants in the case, the Jurors and the Judge himself. Mr. Angeli was ultimately unsuccessful in his case and again in his appeal to the Court of Exchequer in front of the Lord Chief Baron. Galbraith, Haughton and Butt would have long distinguished careers in public life, Samuel Haughton’s legacy is perhaps the more complicated in that applying his scientific rigour to public executions, he devised, in 1866, a more humane method of hanging.

Launch of publication 'Woodstock' by Athy West Urban Community Group

The vibrancy of an area can be measured by the activities of its residents and their engagement with their community as a whole. This was very evident at the launch in Athy Library last Tuesday night of the publication of ‘Woodstock’. It was a lovely evening which began with music from talented local musicians Carmel Day and Rob Chanders. Rose Doyle, Chairperson of the Athy West Urban Community Group, spoke of how Woodstock is squeezed in between the Barrow and the Grand Canal and clearly this sense of intimacy has created a community that is both close and loyal to its residents. The focus of the night was the launch of ‘Woodstock’, a book both by, about and created by the community nestled between the Barrow and the Grand Canal. This colourful and attractive publication draws strongly on the spirit of the community at Woodstock and has chapters on sport, music, heritage, river, games, birds and community life. The book was the brainchild of the Woodstock Castle Press, a non-profit community publishing initiative established by artists Mark Durkan and Mary-Jo Gilligan in collaboration with communities in Woodstock. Over the last number of months four editions of the magazine ‘Woodstock’ have been published, both digitally and in print, celebrating the heritage, landscape and social life of the Woodstock area. The communities of St Dominic’s Park, Carbery Park, Greenhills, Townparks and Castle Park received copies of the publications and with the publication of the book it will now be available to a wider community in the town. As I understand it the publication can be ordered online from woodstockcastlepress.ie, but hopefully copies will find their way into our local shops, an ideal gift for Christmas. Like many prominent buildings in Athy we have become so used to the existence of Woodstock that we forget how important it is to our town’s history. The early elements of the Castle are likely to date back to the 12th century and it is quite possible, as articulated by Marc Guernon, archaeologist, at the launch last Tuesday, that the original town may have grown up around the Castle. The Barrow as we know it today would have presented a quite different sight in the early 12th century and the Castle when it was first constructed in stone was probably built very close, if not on the banks of the River Barrow. Much of the area of Woodstock now would probably have been under water or consisting of a series of islands. It was clear at the launch of the book that the community is very proud of it’s history and particularly of the Castle and there was an eloquent plea made that the Castle be integrated more closely into the community, giving it some particular function or role. That is something perhaps that the newly established Athy Civic Trust can turn it’s mind to over the next number of months. The work of the Athy West Urban Community Group builds on the work started by the Athy Community Council well over 20 years ago and we shouldn’t forget the work of people such as the late Sheila Chanders, whose input and those of her neighbours was vital to the success of the early years of the Woodstock Community Project. I sometimes worry over the fact that so much work falls upon the same people in our community decade after decade but once there is a core of dedicated volunteers and enthusiasts from the town I have no doubt that initiatives such as the Woodstock Castle Press will always lift the social and cultural life of the town. The book is rich in images of the Woodstock area and particularly images of the Castle in it’s various iterations since the early 18th century. One illustration which was lacking, probably because I have only recently come across it myself, is the picture here with the article which was published in or around 1809 in the Irish Magazine. The title is ‘View of the White Castle and Bridge of Athy from Woodstock’. As an example of the illustrator’s craft it is not particularly good, although it does show the basic elements of the town including the White Castle, the bridge and Woodstock Castle, although the Castle portrayed in the image is not one I would recognise. The importance of the illustration is that it preserves the only surviving image of the Athy Barracks in Woodstock Street. If you take a closer look at Woodstock Castle to the right of the image you will see just behind it a wall over which some roofs appear and to the far right you can see smoke curling from the chimney of the gable end. This is the only known image of the 18th century Athy Barracks, the last vestige of which is an arch which stands forlorn in Woodstock Street. For me, writing about Athy for over forty years, is an exciting discovery and a reminder that the quest for historical knowledge is a never-ending search.

Athy is defined by its built heritage

There was a good turnout at the AGM of the Athy Historical Society held at the Arts Centre in Woodstock Street last Tuesday night, 24th of September. The AGM was followed by a meeting to discuss the establishment of a Civic Trust for Athy of which I have written recently in this very column. While there were many seasoned campaigners amongst the audience it was good to see a number of new faces which is a testament to the enduring power of the culture and heritage of the town which the Civic Trust seek to preserve, enhance and promote over the next number of years. While discussions ranged about the possible uses of White Castle it made me reflect on those monuments that have been lost to the town and district over the centuries. Our town is very much defined, not only by its people, but also by its built heritage and there are many buildings which we pass on a daily basis without a second thought such as Woodstock Castle, White Castle, the Town Hall, the Dominican Church and the Model School. These are the relics or remnants of many centuries of building by our predecessors but it is interesting to pick through the archives and to find out about those structures which are long lost to the town and even to memory. In 1540 in the townland of Glassealy, Narraghmore was recorded a strong “castrum” (castle) or ‘fortilgaum’ strong house. This said castle was still standing by 1655 but thereafter seems to be lost to time. Also in Narraghmore an earlier castle was granted to Robert Fitzgerald in 1182 and the castle seems to have survived the ravages of many centuries when by 1485 a grant of £10 was made to Edmond Wellesley to help him raise a castle for the defence of the area because it stood in the frontier of the march and as the write recorded ‘had no help, save the Lord’ but by 1654 the castle was described as ruinous. There was a castle recorded at Nicholastown, Kilkea in 1441 where it has been described as being held by William Scryvner. The self same Scryvner was the constable of the castle of Athy from 1422 to 1426. His appointment followed on from the repairs on the bridge and castle in Athy in around 1417 under the supervision of Sir John Talbot and in 1431 it was described as the ‘greatest fortress’ in a key town in the region. By 1515 the castle was in such poor state of repair that Patrick Finglas writing in The Decay of Ireland suggested that the castle bridge in Athy should have been given to an Englishman! Like many of us in the town I have found myself gazing in admiration at the ongoing restoration works of the Town Hall and like many of us I am also eager to see the results when the works are completed. While the focus of much of the building works on the museum itself is on what will be the Shackleton story the museum will also contain a significant display devoted to the town’s history. More importantly while the Shackleton museum will be a paid experience the displays in relation to Athy will be free to all visitors. I have no doubt that the visitors will be impressed by the many artifacts which will tell the history of the town over the last eight centuries. Perhaps the most important artifact will be the rent table from Kilkea. The rent table has a chequered history and many of us will remember it located in the Rose Garden in Kilkea Castle up until the 1980’s. It has been the subject of a meticulous restoration by Conservation Letterfrack, which is also responsible for the restoration of Shackleton’s cabin from his ship, Quest. The rent table will be a key exhibit in the Athy display. It is a spectacular example of renaissance sculpture which is believed to date from about 1533 and in terms of sophistication and artistry it rivals any sculpture you will find in a medieval Italian town. It is one of the many gems we can look forward to seeing in the new museum opening next summer. Writing in Eye on the Past No 617 published in August 2004 I welcomed into my family our first grandchild, Rachel. I am amused to note at the time that I even went as far as recording her weight as being 7lb 15 ounces! I wrote at the time “the birth of a baby is a wonderous miracle, no matter how frequently it occurs. A birth touches everyone in some form or other. We are either fathers or mothers, aunts or uncles, grandfathers or grandmothers, the last category tending to have an -elevated position in the hierarchy of affection for young children”. Twenty years later Rachel embarks on a new adventure this week as a student in the University of Warsaw studying veterinary medicine. It is hard to believe that so much time has passed but to her and to all students going to third level education for the first time, far from home, I say “Go n-eìri an bòthar leat”.

White's Castle and the setting up of a Civic Trust

This evening, 24th September at 8.00 p.m. the Annual General Meeting of Athy Historical Society will take place in the Community Arts Centre. It will be followed immediately by a second meeting, open to all, to learn of the setting up of the Athy Civic Trust. The purpose of the Trust is to make advance preparations for the possibility of public ownership of the endangered built heritage of the town. That built heritage includes the White Castle, Woodstock Castle, the medieval church in St. Michael’s Cemetery, the Courthouse and several other important buildings. The White Castle is in private ownership, and we must respect the owner’s rights, while at the same time not losing sight of our ambitions to have this historic building held in public ownership. Woodstock Castle is presently in the ownership of Kildare County Council, but regrettably the Council has displayed little interest in protecting and preserving what is our oldest building dating back to the early medieval times. The County Council Executives have shown a remarkable lack of initiative and foresight over the years in response to the many opportunities presented to acquire the White Castle. It’s interesting to recall that in the 1950s the then owner of the White Castle, Miss Norman, offered to give the Castle to the Town Council in return for a Council house. The offer was the subject of several meetings which were attended by representatives from Bord Failte, but the offer came to nought. Since then, within the past 20 years, the Castle has come on the market on three occasions. Pressed to purchase it, Athy Urban District Council and later Kildare County Council, did nothing to procure the Castle for public ownership. The present owner has good intentions as regards the protection and preservation of the Castle, but the cost involved is maybe far greater than anticipated. My hope is that the Castle may eventually be transferred into public ownership, which is why Athy Historical Society is establishing the Athy Civic Trust so if needs be it can be in a position financially and otherwise to be one of three possible public ownership bodies, i.e. Civic Trust, Kildare County Council or Office of Public Works. Public ownership would allow the Castle to be developed as a town museum, highlighting its links with the Earls of Kildare and the Dukes of Leinster. It would be a great addition to the town’s attraction and with the Shackleton Museum could make Athy a tourist destination. The Civic Trust Memorandum of Association states that the main objectives for which the Trust is to be established are:- 1. To promote public awareness and appreciation of the architectural, cultural and historical heritage of Athy for the benefit of the public. 2. To encourage the conservation and use of the architectural, cultural and historical heritage of Athy. 3. To manage properties of architectural, cultural and historical heritage in Athy. 4. To participate with organisations active in the development of tourism in Athy. Seven persons will sign as subscribers the Articles of Association of the Civic Trust and these are:- Clem Roche, Chairman of Athy Historical Society; Seamus Taaffe, Solicitor and the five municipal councillors for Athy Municipal Council. The Trust will be a company limited by guarantee, limiting the subscribers’ liability in the event of liquidation of the Civic Trust to a payment of €1.00 each. Following the registration of the Civic Trust an application will be made to have it granted charitable status. It is also intended to set up a ‘Go Fund Me’ page in the name of the Athy Civic Trust. The setting up of the Trust will be discussed following the A.G.M. on Tuesday night and any questions in relation to the Trust will be dealt with by Seamus Taaffe, Solicitor as unfortunately due to illness I am not in a position to attend. The Civic Trust meeting is open to the general public. On October 1st John Alcock’s ashes will arrive in St. Michael’s Church for a memorial Mass at 1.00 p.m. His daughter Margaret Pugh will have travelled from the North Island of New Zealand where John had lived for many many years, having left Athy for London in 1949 and responding to a New Zealand government advertisement he took up employment in that country in 1955. His brother George and sister Sheila also emigrated to New Zealand. I met John for the first time a few years ago. He was then 90 years of age and had returned to his home town to recall treasured memories of his young years in the local Christian Brothers School and four years spent in the moulding department of the Asbestos Factory. His parents, George and Mary Alcock, lived in No. 1 Dooley’s Terrace. John had eight brothers and sisters but two of his sisters, Brid and Margaret, died young. His journey to Athy was a pilgrimage of remembrance and John recalled those young men and women he shared life experiences with, but who were no longer alive to meet the visitor from New Zealand. He recalled in particular his uncles, Frank and Thomas Alcock, who joined the Royal Dublin Fusiliers during World War I and who died as young men in that War. Two years after that first visit John returned for what was his last visited to his beloved home town. He died some months ago and in accordance with his wishes, his ashes will be returned to his beloved home town to be buried with his parents and one of his brothers. I was saddened by the recent passing of Rainsford Hendy and Martin Mullins, both of whom made substantial contributions to the business and community life in South Kildare. Rainsford and I shared a common interest in the yearly Daffodil Day collection which he organised in Athy. His death at a time when I am availing of the services he and I supported is a reminder of the importance of involvement and supports for volunteerism within our community.

Athy Community Arts Centre

Just over 16 years ago John MacKenna, having earlier founded the theatrical group, ‘Mend and Makedo’, sought to have a small theatre in Athy. He was joined in that mission by Brid Brophy and myself and approaches were first made to Athy Urban District Council with regard to the possible use of the then vacant dispensary premises in Meeting Lane. First built as a Quaker meeting house in 1780, it was surprisingly vacated by the second decade of the next century and subsequently taken over for use by the local Methodist community. They remained in possession until the opening of the Methodist church at Woodstock Street in 1870. Subsequently used as a medical dispensary I am uncertain what changes, if any, were made to the original Quaker meeting house structure to give us the building we know today. Before approaching the Town Council Vivian Cummins, architect, generously offered his professional services in preparing drawings of work which we intended to carry out to the building for use as a theatre. Regrettably the Council did not accept our proposals and so our search continued. It was then that a fellow Athy Lions Club member, Trevor Shaw, approached me regarding the possibility of using the Methodist Church as a town theatre. Following discussions agreement was reached, which were hugely facilitated by the then Town Director Joe Boland who served to be a dynamic supporter of Athy’s cultural development. He sourced funding to enable a stage to be built in the church and to have some essential repairs carried out to the church building. Under the arrangement between the Methodist church body, Kildare County Council and the management committee which was established, the Council took a five year lease of the building subject to a nominal rent and they then licensed the voluntary management committee to operate the newly named ‘Athy Community Arts Centre.’ That original committee involved John, Brid and myself and over the years we have been joined by several other volunteers who have given freely of their time and expertise to provide a theatre for the town which had a strong theatrical history stretching back as far as the 1930s and perhaps earlier. Who can recall the Athy Musical Societies of the 1930s and the 1940s, the Social Club Players of the 1940s and the 1950s and the Athy Drama Group, of whom there was two? The earlier groups had use of the former Comrades Hall in St. John’s Lane and the Town Hall as theatres. Fifteen years ago none of those venues were available, hence the importance of developing a facility now available in the Community Arts Centre. Yesterday I read on Facebook a heartfelt plea from Carmel Day, urging greater support for events in the Community Arts Centre. I was deeply moved by her call which follows:- ‘Let me tell you what’s on my mind. We have a town full of creative minds ….. exceptional musicians, singers and song writers, especially our youth ….. but where are their supports? I mean no disrespect to anyone but it is easy to be a keyboard supporter and yes ….. and all that is good ….. but what would be great and more beneficial to these wonderfully talented artists would be to see bums on seats, a round of applause, a standing ovation, a physical face to face “well done”, a sense of pride for those young artists and a feeling that their hard work and passion for what they are doing is paying off, enough to inspire them to keep going. They are exceptional at what they do. Yes it is sometimes hard, we are all living busy lives, etc., but think about it folks ….. get up, throw the phones and laptops down and get out and physically support your own. It will be too late if and when we have one or more successful artist once again emerge from the unbelievably talented town ….. because they will remember when you weren’t there. You can’t take pride in someone or something that you didn’t support. Now is the time they need it more.’ Carmel was appointed some months ago under the C.E. Scheme to work 29 hours a week for the Community Arts Centre. She arranges many events, including the superb ‘Waiting Room Sessions’ for young musicians. It is disappointing to read of the need to remind anyone of how such an important cultural facility as the Community Arts Centre should be supported more fully than it is presently. My responsibility as a committee member is to arrange the Autumn and Spring Lecture series which first started two years ago. They have proved reasonably successful with attendance figures which ranged from almost full house to disappointing small attendances. I realise it takes time to build a sustainable audience, but one would have expected that after 16 years that substantial audiences would attend events in the town’s Arts Centre. I would be interested in hearing your views as to why audience figures are not as large as one might expect.

Athy Historical Society

On the 24th day of September the previously adjourned A.G.M. of Athy’s Historical Society will be held in the local Community Arts Centre at 8pm. The Society was formed last year in succession to the Athy Museum Society which had been formed in February 1983. The dissolution of the Museum Society followed on an agreement with Kildare County Council for the Council to finance and manage the Museum which the Society had opened in 1983 and which had evolved over the years to become the Shackleton Museum. On 24th September I hope that any of my readers interested in Athy’s history will come to the A.G.M. If you are not already a member of the Athy Historical Society you may join on the night on payment of an annual fee of €20. Following the A.G.M. a further short meeting will be called to discuss plans in connection with the protection of Athy’s built heritage and in particular the White Castle. Let me conclude by quoting some extracts from an Eye on the Past of many years ago in which I dealt with the early years of Athy’s Museum Society. ‘I returned to Athy in 1982 after a period of 21 years away from the town in which I had grown up. During those 21 years I developed an interest in the town’s local history. To start a local history group in Athy seemed an obvious extension to that interest and discussions with Pat Mulhall and Tadgh Brennan offered sufficient encouragement to proceed with the idea. I believed that a local museum would be the most tangible way of involving the greatest number of local people in local history. In January 1983 I wrote to a number of people whom I thought would be supportive of the idea of starting a museum in Athy. I mentioned that the matter had already been discussed with a number of local people and with local government officials and that initial response was encouraging. Contact was also made at that early stage with the Federation of Local History Societies of Ireland and with the museum section of the Old Carlow Society, both of whom were extremely helpful. A meeting was held in the jury room of the Courthouse, Athy on Monday, 31st January 1983. The small group in attendance agreed that Athy was rich in history and with many links to the great events in Irish history should have a museum. A further meeting was arranged for Monday, 14th February and the Athy Museum Society was formally established at the meeting. The Society’s first secretary was Mrs. Noreen Ryan, while Bertie Doyle, publican of Woodstock Street, was appointed treasurer. Within a few weeks the Kildare County Manager, Gerry Ward, met Pat Mulhall and myself and he agreed to provide space for a small museum in the Town Hall if and when other demands on the building so allowed. At that stage the Town Hall still housed the Urban District Council offices where the Town Clerk was Jimmy O’Higgins, who himself had attended the inaugural meeting of the society in 1983. In the meantime the Museum Society was able to use the former classroom in Mount Saint Marys, owing to the generosity of the local Sisters of Mercy. There Ken Sale and others worked on several weekends to install spotlights and to generally prepare the former classroom for use as a local museum. Shop display cabinets were kindly donated by Trevor Shaw of Shaws Department Store and the museum soon opened every Sunday afternoon between 2pm and 5pm. Following a major improvement project on the Town Hall the fire brigade which occupied the ground floor moved to new premises and the library services moved into the first floor of the building. Donegal born Gerry Ward, Kildare County Manager, was finally able to facilitate the Museum Society and in or about 1989 the ground floor room which had once been home to the Wright family was made available to the society. The Athy Museum Society played a major part in Athy Urban District Council’s successful application for Heritage Town status. The importance of the Museum Society to the development of our understanding of the town’s cultural and historical past cannot be overstated. Many people have helped in different ways to transform the dream of a local history museum into what is now the Shackleton Museum. I will mention just a few who have long passed away, but whose contribution shall not be forgotten. Pat Mulhall, Dick Norris, Patsy O’Neill, Mick Rowan, Tom Prendergast, Noreen Ryan and especially Bertie Doyle, the past treasurer of the Museum Society who shared the dream but did not live to see this day.’ People with an interest in local history have a sense of place, a sense of identity and a love for their own town or village. Local history is a subsidiary part of our country’s history, whose value lies in the vivid reminder of people and events of the past which helps us to better understand our country’s history.

Francis Taaffe, Film Art Director

There are many talented persons living amongst our local community here in South Kildare who are perhaps unknown to the general public. I was reminded of this within the last few weeks when the news media announced that “Kneecap” a self titled semi autobiographical film was chosen as Ireland’s entry in the best international feature film category in the 2025 Academy Awards. This was even before the film was released in Ireland. Made in Belfast, “Kneecap” is the fictionalised story of a west Belfast hip-hop trio rapping in Irish and English featuring guest appearances from Michael Fassbender and would you believe Gerry Adams. Art Director on the film was an Athy man or more accurately a Monaghan man who has lived in Athy for forty years. He works for the most part in Belfast returning to Athy each weekend. In the last 12 months he has wrapped series 2 of “Malpractice” for ITV having earlier completed work on series 3 of “Daigleish” for Channel 5. I understand he will shortly begin to work on series 3 of “Blue lights” for BBC. How you may ask does someone living in Athy end up working in Belfast in the film and TV industry. He attended secondary school in Ardscoil na Trionoide and from there attended the Dun Laoghaire College of Art and Design to study film. He worked on many short films during his four years in Dun Laoghaire and immediately on finishing college he worked as a video assist operator which gave rise to the opportunity to work on the floor of some big shoots such as “Space Truckers” , “Reign of Fire” and “King Arthur”. He eventually ended up in the art department of a well known studio where he trained as a trainee Art Director later as assistant Art Director before emerging as a fully qualified Art Director. He was Art Director for all three series of the multi award winning “Derry Girls” and coined the phrase “Protestants keep their toasters in cupboards” which featured on the famous blackboard in series two which is now on display in the Ulster Museum. The Athy man has worked on “Hope Street” for the BBC “Ice cream Girls” for ITV, “Living the Dream” for Sky and “The Secret” for ITV. Some of the films on which he worked include “Pixie” staring Alec Baldwin and Colm Meaney, “The Cured” staring Elliot Page and Tom Vaughan Lawler and “Song for a Raggy Boy” staring Aidan Quinn. His first brush with the Academy Awards was when he was production designer on the short film “New Boy” based on the story by Roddy Doyle which was nominated for best live action short film in 2008. Two weeks ago one of his most recent feature films “Fréwaka” premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland. That film will be released here in Ireland next year. Despite his commitment to film making in Belfast and Northern Ireland his talents are not completely lost to Athy. His skill as a graphic artist has been readily made available to me and the organisers of the Shackleton Autumn School for many years past. He designs the cover for the annual ‘Nimrod’ publication and has also designed the many imaginative Shackleton Autumn School posters which have appeared each year. The mystery man is my second son, Francis, who understandably is very much unknown in Athy. He is perhaps one of many talented individuals living amongst us who have interesting stories to tell. Much interest has been shown in my recent article regarding the White Castle and the need to put arrangements in place to ensure its protection and preservation. The officials of Kildare County Council have not shown any interest although the Councillors for Athy Municipal Authority have done so. I propose with public support to make the protection and preservation of the White Castle an important issue of public concern over the next few years. The establishing of a Civic Trust will proceed and charitable status will be sought for the trust while a “GoFundMe” will be set up to accumulate funds for the future. It is also hoped that a substantial portion of the local property tax collected here in Athy Municipality can be allocated to the White Castle fund. This is important in order to show the commitment of the people of Athy to the project and as a persuasive element in any future discussions with State or local authority agencies.

Betty O'Donnell's 100th birthday

Today we celebrate the 100th birthday of Betty O’Donnell, whose birthday occurs on 29th August. Betty, like myself and like so many others now living in Athy, is not a native of the South Kildare town. She has lived here for 76 years, having first arrived in Athy just a few years after the end of the 2nd World War to take over a business with her late husband Jimmy. Betty was always associated with ‘The Gem’, a readily identifiable news agency, stationery and book shop adjoining the Garda Siochana station which was located on Duke Street at that time. ‘The Gem’, under the management of Betty and her daughter Una, continued in business until it closed in March 2020. Betty, formerly Betty Prendergast, a native of Carlow, first arrived in Athy as the young bride of Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim native Jimmy O’Donnell. Her father, Thomas, some years previously had bought the premises for his widowed sister, Bridget (‘Biddy’) Gavin, when she returned from America. She operated a sweet shop and an ice cream parlour, which on fair days became tea rooms. Operating the business successfully for a number of years Bridget felt it was time to close up the shop when Tom Bradbury opened up his tea rooms in Leinster Street. It was then that Betty and her husband Jimmy were invited to take over the business, which they did, just as the important newspaper agency of Mrs. James at 12 Duke Street became available to them. The tea rooms were soon discontinued and ‘The Gem’ became a fulltime stationery and news agency so beloved of the people of Athy. Betty was sadly widowed in 1971 when her beloved husband Jimmy died suddenly at the young age of 52 years. With eight children to support, the youngest aged 5 years old, Betty continued to operate the business. Behind Betty’s cheerfulness there lay a resourcefulness and an innate strength which allowed her to make a success of the business. Always good natured, Betty managed over the decades to involve herself in the social and community life of the town. Elected Lady Captain and later Lady President of Athy Golf Club, she managed both honorary positions with distinction. Up until recent years she still retained an active involvement in bridge playing as a member of the Geraldine Bridge Club and the bridge club associated with Athy’s Golf Club. Her bridge partner for many years was her near neighbour in Chanterlands, Moya Wall, to whom belated birthday wishes are also sent, although Moya has quite a few years to wait for the President’s cheque to arrive! Betty, who was driving her car up to quite recently, has proved to be a great friend of this column over the years. Her interest in Athy’s history is matched by an extensive background knowledge of Athy people and Athy events of the past. She proved invaluable to me in suggesting persons, events and topics for previous Eyes on the Past. It was Betty who first drew my attention to the forgotten roadside memorial to Tommy O’Connell, former Commanding Officer of the Carlow/Kildare Brigade. Tommy was killed in a road traffic accident on the Carlow Road near Maganey on 31st August, 1924. He had worked in Betty’s father’s furniture manufacturing workshop prior to and during the War of Independence. The memorial, hidden from public view for many years, was rediscovered by myself, but unfortunately soon thereafter was damaged as a result of a road traffic accident. Due to the good work of Jerry O’Toole it has now been fully restored and continues to serve as a fitting tribute to a brave Irish republican. Betty O’Donnell’s name is synonymous with that of ‘The Gem’. Both are part of the living lore of a community which treasures not only those native to Athy, but the many who like Betty and myself came as strangers to live in the South Kildare town. Best wishes to Betty O’Donnell on her 100th birthday and very sincere thanks to the cheerful and chatty Betty whose presence enlivened every gathering of which she was a part.

Investing in Athy's cultural past

A recent report commissioned by Historic England, the public body which promotes and protects that country’s historic environment, confirmed that the best way to boost a town’s ailing economy is to invest in its cultural past. It found that wherever heritage and cultural history are linked to the works of new artistic communities, business growth is the result. In an interview with the Observer newspaper the chairman of the UK Government Culture and Heritage Capital Programme said: ‘The report demonstrates that the heritage which surrounds us has a positive significant effect on boosting local pride and it makes people feel good – 93% of people agree that local heritage raises their quality of life.’ I was struck by his words as I thought of two major elements of Athy’s built heritage. Woodstock Castle and the White Castle are Athy’s crowning features, with the White Castle being to the forefront because of its prominent location in the very centre of our town. Yet the local people and the local government agencies with responsibility for Athy have shown scant interest in the preservation, protection and future use of the castle. There is a long and disappointing history in relation to the castle ever since it was first put up for sale by the Doyle family. That was approximately 35 years ago and since then the castle has appeared on the property market for sale without any serious interest in acquiring the 15th century building being displayed by the State or local government agencies. The most disappointing aspect of this failure was the lack of appreciation of the importance of the White Castle in terms of the town’s-built heritage, but also in terms of its links with the important historical events of the past. The White Castle forms an important link with our historic past. For that reason alone it deserves to remain part of our community story. However, the case for its preservation is strengthened by its unique and prominent position in the town centre. Imagine if you will that a demolition crew started the removal of the White Castle from Athy’s townscape. It’s not a thought to be considered. For yet as a community if we do not act to protect to preserve this unique feature we will eventually arrive at a situation where it will be too late to save the White Castle. For those interested in working to save the White Castle I intend to register Athy’s Civic Trust Company for the purpose of taking ownership, in time, of the town’s-built heritage on behalf of the people of Athy. The Trust would also apply for charitable status and be in a position to try and obtain State grants allocated for the protection of our built heritage. All of this is preliminary work without any definite knowledge if the White Castle can be acquired or if funding from State agencies or local government agencies can be committed to the project. The expectation is that funding will be available at some time in the future, but less certain is how and when the possibility of acquiring the castle will arise. There is now an opportunity for the people of Athy to express their interest in maintaining the White Castle as a unique aspect of the town’s streetscape. Athy’s Historical Society will call a meeting for the local Community Arts Centre within the next few weeks to which anyone interested is invited to attend. Our community must give voice and support to the White Castle project for if we do not future generations will question why we failed to take up the torch.

Maisie Candy

The history of the 800-year-old town of Athy is the story of a community growing from the closeknit village of yesteryear to the more loosely connected life of a modern day sprawling urban centre. Where once both young and old alike knew everyone and every place within the town, nowadays there are limits to our local knowledge as the population increases and new housing estates are developed on the outskirts of the town. It has become more difficult to contain the unified community life which once characterised the town’s earlier existence and so almost inevitably we find communities emerging in areas which lack the cohesion and common purpose of a strong urban community. That was the opening paragraph to an Eye on the Past which I wrote in July 2008. I went on to praise the Castlemitchell and Churchtown community’s strength which developed and sustained over the years, had made it one of the premier rural communities in County Kildare. One of the community leaders in Castlemitchell and Churchtown during her time as Principal of Churchtown National School and later in retirement, was Maisie Candy whose death was announced last week. Maisie was an extraordinary, energetic and kind woman who more than anyone else personified the community spirit of Castlemitchell/Churchtown. She always highlighted the importance of community involvement and helped maintain by her leadership and involvement the community spirit which gave recognition to Castlemitchell/Churchtown as an active and vibrant community. That involvement saw Maisie initiating two important projects for the Castlemitchell area. The unveiling of the 1798 monument during the bicentenary of the 1798 Rebellion was one such initiative of hers. Another which I know was very close to her heart was the revival of the annual pilgrimage to the Holy Well at Toberara. In 1979 Maisie and the children of Churchtown National School compiled a detailed account of local brickyards in the south Kildare area and wrote a detailed description of the handmade brickmaking techniques of the late 19th century. That work was reproduced in the recently published book ‘Brickmaking in Ireland’, written by the retired conservation architect, Susan Rowantree and published by Wordwell. Another very important project initiated by Maisie and completed by the children of Churchtown National School was an investigation and listing of local field names in and around Castlemitchell. Local history and local folklore were the abiding interests of Maisie and as a native daughter of Castlemitchell she was always willing to share her knowledge with others. In that regard she was most generous. An Irish language enthusiast, she was a member of the committee set up by Athy’s Chamber of Commerce in 1994 to help restore interest in the everyday use of the Irish language. Athy’s ‘Glor na nGael’ was in its time one of the most successful organisations in the town. ‘Seachtain na nGailge’ was organised annually to encourage local shopkeepers to make use of the Irish language by advertising in Irish and speaking Irish during that one week in the year. All of this was a revival of the Gaelic League of ninety years or more earlier which had flourished for a few years under the guidance of Bridget Darby who like Maisie was principal of Churchtown National School and Michael Dooley, shopkeeper of Duke Street and one time president of Athy’s Sinn Féin Club. The later revived Gaelic League of the early 1960s was headed up by Paddy Walsh, a native speaker from Ring, with the help of Kevin Meaney, Mick Kelleher, Peadar O’Murchu, Maisie Candy and others. Athy’s Chamber of Commerce Irish language initiative led to the setting up of the first Gaelscoil in December 2004. The following November the Gaelscoil moved from the Aontas Ogra premises adjoining the former Dreamland Ballroom to Athy’s soccer clubhouse. There it remained until the Gaelscoil at Rathstewart was built. All of this stemmed from the work of many people, including Kathleen Robinson, David Murphy and Maisie Candy. Maisie was also to the forefront in promoting concerts and drama in the local Castlemitchell hall. She was a renaissance woman whose allegiance to Castlemitchell/Churchtown was forged by ties of birth but whose lifelong efforts to encourage a strong community spirit was the hallmark of a generous person who could truly be described as a passionate community activist. Our sympathies on Maisie’s passing go to her daughters Brid, Catherine, Eilis, her son Sean and her extended family and friends.

Letters from Athy and Athy natives

While browsing in a bookshop recently I came across a recent publication titled “Letters of note”. It is a compilation, by Sean Usher, as he describes it of the “World’s Most Entertaining, Inspiring and Unusual Letters”. Included was a letter by Patrick Hitler to US President Franklin Roosevelt on March, 3rd 1942 seeking permission to enlist in the US Navy. Patrick of course was the nephew of Aldolf Hitler and his mother Bridget was from the Athy area. This interesting collection made me reflect on the importance of the letters as repositories of our collective histories. Often these letters are written by townspeople who are far from our shores and sometimes at war. One such letter was published in the Leinster Leader on the 23rd of June 1900 from an unnamed correspondent from Athy who was fighting in the Boer War in South Africa. Described in the paper as “an Athy Yeoman” he was serving in the 74th Dublin Company of the Imperial Yeomanry, a mounted volunteer unit. Writing from Stellenbosch Camp on the 28th of May 1900 he described the town of Colesberg. The town comprised of about 6,000 inhabitants (which was a little bit bigger than Athy at the time) and of which “half of the people in it are rebels and the other half are loyalists”. Perhaps with the view to ingratiating themselves with the locals the troops hosted an ’entertainment’ one night. The Athy cavalryman was first up singing “The Heart Bowed Down” and then gave an encore with the song “Terence’s farewell to Kathleen”. In concluding the letter he wrote: ‘The officers brought our company on a mountain climbing expedition last week. We rode about 14 miles, and then left our horses at the base, where we proceeded on foot with our rifles. The mountains are full of buck, a sort of deer. We brought back four, from which we dined very well. I am rather pressed for time, so I must conclude with the hope that all home are well. Tell all the boys in Athy that I was enquiring for them, and also the girls. Your affectionate brother.’ Postal services and their provision have been a source of controversy in the past and I was intrigued to come across a debate in the Dail on the 15th of April 1975 between Dr. Conor Cruise O’Brien, the then Minister for Post and Telegraphs, and Paddy Power TD over the provision of a post box in Ballyroe, Athy. Power was bemoaning the lack of a post box in Ballyroe and was asking was “the Minister aware that the residents of the Ballyroe area have to travel three and a half miles to post a letter and does he not think that they deserve better facilities than that?”. The Minister replied “the facilities provided are equivalent to those provided generally and those which in the past have been provided for small rural districts and thinly populated areas like this. The exchange continued but Power was unsuccessful in his submissions to the Minister who when Patrick Power posed his final question “would the Minister not consider to have one postal official travel three miles a day rather than have a certain number of people from Ballyroe travelling three miles to Athy”. The Minister answered simply ‘no’ and there the exchange ended. Ballyroe to this day does not have a postbox. The cholera outbreak of 1832 might have escaped my notice had I not come across correspondence (held in the National Archives) regarding meetings held in the Athy Courthouse (at that time in the Town Hall) where the inhabitants had gathered to nominate a Board of Health to deal with the threat of cholera which had broken out in the town. The letter from the townspeople who had gathered also requested that the central Board of Health in Dublin would provide them with a medical practitioner. This request was supported by a letter from Thomas Fitzgerald, the High Sheriff of County Kildare who resided in Geraldine, Athy. It appeared from the correspondence that the outbreak was attributable to a man who died in the town having travelled over from Portarlington. I often think of the Irish scholar and antiquarian- John O’Donovan who visited Athy in November 1837 and remained in the town for a period of 10 days. His research into local place names and the collection of local historic material was detailed in a series of letters he sent back to the historical department of the ordinance survey of Ireland. Writing from Athy on the 22nd of November 1837 he described the weather as being “very unfavourable to our researchers”. But none the less he detailed the antiquarian remains in Athy which he found consisting of the old Parish Church of St. Michael’s and St. John’s, the Castle of Woodstock and the South East Gate (known as Preston’s Gate) which itself would be demolished by the Town Council of 1860 after an accident involving the Church of Ireland rector, Reverend Frederick Trench from Kilmoroney. There is no doubt that the modern reliance on emails and texts is to the detriment of historians, given the disposal nature of these communications. What letters, if any, from the 21st Century will survive for the historians of the future to peruse?

Athy's Market Rights 1515 and 1907

People on social media during the past week raised concerns about Athy’s Tuesday market. Their concerns were raised in the light of the planned redevelopment of Emily Square or as Kildare County Council would tell us “the improvement of the public realm”. Athy’s Tuesday market came into existence following the granting of a charter by King Henry VIII in 1515. The charter written in latin specified that the market was to be held every Tuesday in a place chosen by Gerald Earl of Kildare at whose request the charter was granted. The same charter granted borough status to the medieval village of Athy and provided for the annual election of a town provost whose modern day equivalent would be the mayor. The primary purpose of the charter was to fund the erection of walls around the medieval village and so provide greater security for the villagers whom we are told “lived in the frontiers of the Irish enemy”. The continuation of the market five hundred and twenty nine years later is wonderful to behold but the present market traders, many of whom have been coming to Athy for over forty years, are concerned as to how they will be catered for when Emily Square is closed during the redevelopment work. During the 18th century the market place was identified as the area immediately in front of the Town Hall which had been built in or around 1720. Immediately behind the Town Hall was St. Michael’s Church of Ireland Church which was demolished following the opening of the new St. Michael’s Church at the top of Offaly Street in 1840. The area between the old church and the nearby river barrow was marshland which would tend to indicate that the market place chosen by the Earl of Kildare was the area now known as Emily Square. Interestingly, Athy Urban District Council adopted market bye laws in July 1907 in which twelve market places in Athy were designated. These included markets for specific agricultural produce which were allocated to the market square, markets in the west and south side of the courthouse and the calf market on the east side of the courthouse. The market for second hand clothes was sited between the Barrow bridge and the south side of the chains on the Barrow Quay while the turf market was located opposite the chains on Barrow Quay. This would tend to show that the market right first established in 1515 by decision of the Urban District Council in 1907 had been extended beyond its original location in the market square. These bye laws were published in local newspapers on the 1st July 1907 and in addition to setting out regulations for the operation of the markets, they also reimposed market tolls on goods sold in the market and also reaffirmed Tuesday as the town market day. This latter declaration was probably deemed necessary because the Commissioners on Municipal Corporations in Ireland Report which followed a public enquiry in Athy on the 3rd and 4th October 1833 stated “Tuesday and Saturday in each week are the market days” . Strangely, Athy Town Commissioners at its meeting on the 2nd August 1852 agreed that “a second market be established in Athy on every Saturday to commence on the 1st September 1852”. The Tuesday market is a market right created by charter which cannot be extinguished by non mere use unlike the Saturday market where the right to hold same has long disappeared and cannot now be revived. The right to hold the Tuesday market under the 1515 charter was given to the Provost of Athy and he was succeeded in time by the heads of subsequent local authorities resulting in Kildare County Council having ownership of the market right and effectively control of the Tuesday Market. Under The Casual Trading Act 1995, Kildare County Council can extinguish the market but only for the purposes of relocating it to a different area. It is not suggested that this be done as the redeveloped Emily Square would be the ideal location for a revamped Tuesday Market. I have written on several occasions over the years calling on Athy U.D.C. and Kildare County Council to adopt casual trading bye laws, the purpose of which would be to improve the market and make it more attractive for locals and visitors alike. In providing even on a temporary basis a different location for the exercise of the market right, the County Council must ensure that the new location provides facilities reasonably corresponding in size etc. to those currently provided. The work on the Emily Square development is, I understand, to start next September. In the meantime, the traders entitled to benefit from the market rights of 1515 wonder what arrangements are to be made in terms of temporary market relocation when the “public realm” development is ongoing.

Prostitution in Athy in the mid-19th century

Despite the fact that over 1,200 inmates of the local Workhouse died during the Great Famine I have been unable to find any references to these deaths in the Minute Books of Athy Town Commissioners. Indeed, references to the Great Famine was not found anywhere in the Town Commissioners’ Minute Books. The recently elected Town Commissioners had busied themselves in attempts to remove the turnpike gate on the Castlecomer Road. At a meeting in Kennedy’s Hotel on 27th April 1846 the Town Commissioners and the local farmers agreed to the removal of the turnpike gate, resulting in the free passage of goods in and out of Athy. Seven years later Alexander Duncan in a speech at the inauguration dinner for the Commissioners new chairman, Michael Lawler, referred to the progress Athy had made in the previous 20 years. However, one area in which complaints were still raised by some members of the local society related to the presence on the streets of Athy of the world’s oldest profession. As a garrison town with a cavalry barracks at Woodstock it was inevitable that the issue would be a source of concern for the Town Fathers. The first mention of prostitution in the Minute Books of the Athy Commissioners was recorded on 11 August 1856 when the Commissioners appointed Mr. Cross and H. Hannon to wait on the local magistrates relative to the scandal of public prostituting in the town. On 2nd August 1858 the Commissioners had a public notice posted throughout the town. ‘Caution to persons keeping any place of public resort within the town for the sale of refreshments of any kind who knowingly supplies any common prostitute or resorting therein to assemble and continue in his premises after this notice will be prosecuted according to law. BY ORDER HENRY SHEILL TOWN CLERK.’ On 2nd May 1859 Thomas Roberts was appointed assistant to the Inspector of Nuisances for the purpose of prosecuting public prostitutes and street beggars for which he was to be paid four shillings per week with an additional two shillings and six pence for each conviction of a prostitute. Roberts brought a number of local prostitutes before the magistrates the following June, but all the cases were dismissed as the magistrate considered the method of paying Roberts two shillings and six pence for each conviction ‘injudicious.’ Thereafter Mr. Roberts efforts were largely confined to dealing with the vagrant beggars which the Town Commissioners on 1st September 1860 noted were to be found standing at doors or loitering about obstructing the public. The Town Commissioners’ attempt to rid the town of prostitutes was by all accounts less provocative, and certainly more law abiding than the measures adopted by Father Thomas Lawler, the local Parish Priest. On 1st August 1829 Fr. Lawler had three ‘bad women’ stripped and chained. Their offences were not stated, nor was the extent of the stripping or nature of their chaining detailed. However, it is reasonably safe to assume that the three ‘bad women’ were members of the profession which always proliferated in towns such as Athy where army barracks were located. Father Lawler, who had been ordained to the priesthood in 1816, was appointed P.P. of St. Michael’s Athy in 1825, a position he held until his death on 15th June 1835. He was only forty-four years of age when he died. On 8th January 1862 the Commissioners posted the following notice throughout Athy. ‘Whereas it had been brought under the notice of the Commissioners a nuisance existing within the township viz vagrants constantly begging on the public street and at private doors. I hereby direct that in all cases where the law is violated same vagrants be summoned before the Justice. ROBERT MOLLOY CHAIRMAN.’ Apparently the vagrants, beggars and prostitutes took little heed of such stern exhortations as we find the Town Commissioners on 6th July 1868 resolving ‘to appoint a man to take care that all vagrants and beggars be kept out of the town and all prostitutes shall be brought before a magistrate and at once be dealt with summarily.’ The level of prostitution in Athy in the middle of the last century can be appreciated on examining the records of the local magistrate’s court which during a three week period in 1856 recorded six convictions for prostitution in the town. The local people were not altogether happy with the situation as evidenced by a report in the Leinster Express of a hearing of the magistrate’s Court in Athy in June 1859. The evidence adduced in court indicated that upwards of 30 persons had followed ‘one of the frail sisterhood’ from 10.00 p.m. to 3.00 o’clock in the morning as a result of which Margaret McCann charged William Cullen, Robert McNally, John Brown, William Brennan and James Aldridge with throwing stones at her. Apparently the defendants had ordered her to leave town ‘or else they would throw her into the River Barrow.’ Even if there was little subsequent change in the habits of the ladies of the night, Athy was in 1857 to show progress in another aspect of town life which will be dealt with in a later Eye on the Past.

Our streets are slowly dying / Athy Brickyards

‘Brickmaking in Ireland’ written by Susan Roundtree and published recently by Wordwell, is a comprehensive record of where clay bricks were made in Ireland and how this locally made indigenous material shaped the character of Irish buildings for more than four centuries. Maisie Candy, who with her pupils in Churchtown National School, produced a short-written account of brick making in the Churchtown locality, identified thirteen brickyards in the Churchtown area at the beginning of the 20th century. These were Morrin’s of Ballyroe, Keegans of Ballyroe, Foley’s of Brownstone, Doyle’s of Churchtown, Donlon’s of Shean, two on Heydens’ farm at Brownstone, Lawler’s of Churchtown, Heyden’s of Churchtown, Hosies of Coursetown, Doyle’s, Maxwell’s and Harris’s of Malthouse. George Wilkinson, architect, in the first year of the Great Famine wrote of how bricks of good quality were being made in the Athy area and sent by canal boat to Dublin. Athy’s handmade bricks are today to be found in the Dublin suburbs, particularly Rathmines and Rathgar and in Guinness’s malthouse and hop stores. The earliest ordnance survey map of 1827 shows brickworks around Athy. These included three separate brickyards in Milltown and three brickyards in the adjoining townland of Cardington. George Kinahan, geologist, in his papers 1883-1889 refers to the first-class facing brick, 9inches x 4 ½ inches x 3 inches made by Webster Company of Athy. This is a name I have never previously met with in connection with brickmaking in South Kildare. The Geological Survey of Ireland database recorded the location of eight brickmaking factories in the Athy area. Courtown West, Blackford, Barrowford which was linked by tramway to the Athy Brickworks, three at Milltown and two at Cardington. Perhaps the best known brick factory was the Athy Brick and Tile factory which was opened at Barrowford on Thursday, 8th June 1893. Bricks stamped ‘Athy Brick and Tile Co.’ were produced by machinery initially for building works on the Curragh Army Camp and subsequently for the Dublin market. The factory had its own railway line siding from about 1900 which allowed the bricks to be brought by train using the Dublin Waterford line. The brickmaking industry faced severe competitive difficulties in the early decades of the 20th century. Concrete was increasingly used for building construction and bricks, more expensive to produce, were gradually confined to facing and decorative uses. The closure of the brickyards in South Kildare began as early as the 1890s, while Athy Brick & Tile Co., the last brickyard still operating, was experiencing difficulties in the 1920s, if not earlier. It had fallen into decline following the start of World War I and its railway siding was removed in the last year of the war. Its machine-made brick was still in demand but Athy’s Urban District Council’s building programme in 1932 was the subject of a request by the Council’s architect, Mr. Heaney, that Dolphin Barn brick be used instead of Athy brick which he indicated was not available in sufficient numbers. The Council understandably directed that only Athy brick was to be used. Five years later Councillor Tom Carbery failed to get his fellow Councillors to support his motion not to use Athy brick for any local housing schemes unless the brickyard proprietor P.P. O’Doyle paid union wages to his workers. Peter P. Doyle, as Secretary of Athy Tile & Brick Co., had attempted to revive the brickmaking industry in South Kildare in the 1920s and was helped in this by the local Council’s Slum Clearance Programme which saw the construction of houses at Dooley’s Terrace and St. Joseph’s Terrace. However, this was to change in the mid-1930s. On 20th January 1936 at a meeting of Athy Urban District Council the members considered a letter received from P.P. Doyle of Woodstock Street who was then the Managing Director of the Athy Tile & Brick Co. In that letter Mr. Doyle referred to an architect’s report regarding dry rot in the floors of houses recently built at St. Patrick’s Avenue. He pointed out that the boards laid in concrete was proof of the unsuitable of concrete for building purposes. He went on to claim that the houses erected in brick at the Bleach over ten years previously had given every satisfaction. He continued: ‘We have supplied Athy bricks to the Christian Brothers, Messrs Guinness’s, the Great Southern Railway branch in Athy which is a classic in architecture.’ He quoted the architect William H. Byrne who used Athy brick in the Hibernian Bank Athy and always found first quality bricks very satisfactory. Messrs Bradbury and Evans architects, also quoted by Doyle, claimed that ‘Athy bricks are harder and better burned than any other bricks used in Dublin and that their appearance in our opinion is vastly superior.’ Mr. Doyle’s letter was read by the Town Clerk without any comment being made by the Councillors who were present at the meeting. Clearly if the local brick factory could not get support from the town’s Urban District Councillors it's future was dim. And so it was. Athy Tile & Brick Co., the last surviving brick factory in South Kildare, closed soon afterwards. The brickmaking industry in South Kildare was for many men, women and young boys for decades in the 19th century and into the 20th century the only employment available in the area, apart from seasonal agricultural labouring. The brickmaking men and women and young boys who worked as bankers, middlers, sourers, upstrikers, off bearers, wheelers, catchers and burners are like their job titles long forgotten.

Cabin from R.Y.S. Quest in which Shackleton died

A significant milestone will be reached next week in the redevelopment of Athy’s eighteenth century Town Hall with the arrival of the most important artefact of the Shackleton Museum. That artefact is the ships cabin from R.Y.S Quest, the ship which carried Ernest Shackleton’s last expedition to the Antarctic and the very cabin in which he died on the 4th January 1922. The cabin was acquired by the Museum in 2016 following a tip off by Eugene Furlong of Cork who became aware of it’s existence in 2008 and first visited it in 2014. The cabin had been removed from the Quest in the early 1920’s and used as a garden shed by a Norwegian family who had it in their ownership for many years. Having been advised by Eugene Furlong of the cabin’s existence the Shackleton Museum Board made approaches, with Eugene’s assistance, to the owner to buy the cabin. Agreement was reached following lengthy negotiations on a price for which I must admit, the Museum did not have the funds. Kildare County Council came to their rescue and paid the full contract price following which we were able through the generous support of DFDS, a shipping company, to have the cabin brought to Letterfrack, Co. Galway for restoration. A benefactor from Naas also covered the cost of the pre-transport costs in Norway. Over the last number of years the cabin has been undergoing careful restoration and conservation under the guidance of Sven Habermann of Conservation Letterfrack, who also carry out work for many state institutions such as the National Museum, the National Gallery and the National Library. The story of its restoration featured in an excellent documentary made by Moondance Productions which first aired on RTE on the 4th January 2022 and later on the BBC. The focus of the documentary was Sven Habermann, the German born conservator who through the lens of the documentary film maker told the story of his meticulous research into the cabin’s history and careful restoration of the cabin over the last number of years. The results of this work was revealed at the very end of the documentary where a very emotional Alexandra Shackleton, granddaughter of the Explorer, saw the cabin for the first time, as it would have been on the night that Shackleton died. We are very fortunate that a number of recordings of interviews with members of the crew including Dr. Leonard Hussey and Dr. Alexander Macklin relation to the last hours of Shackleton’s life have survived. They describe a man struggling with ill health but still anxious to pursue the adventures of his youth. Very movingly Dr. Hussey, relates how Shackleton found it difficult to sleep on the night he died and sought the soothing sound of music, through Hussey’s banjo playing, of some traditional lullabies to help him to sleep. With Shackleton’s death, the heart went out of his expedition and many months later the crew on the ship returned to the United Kingdom and notably the ship Quest was sold to a Norwegian shipping company. The cabin itself was removed from the ship shortly thereafter as its location on the ships deck was not conducive to the whaling and sealing operations of it’s new owners. The ship would stay at sea for almost 40 more years. In 1928 it took party in the search for survivors of the airship Italia which was lost in the Arctic. She transported the members of the 1930 British Arctic Air Route expedition north when she was described as a ‘broad-beamed, tubby little ship, decks stacked with gear’. The ship was again in the cold regions in 1935 for the British Greenland expedition and this was followed by service in World War Two as a minesweeper and light cargo vessel. It's long life of service came to an end when the ship sank on the 5th May 1962 after being hold by ice. All the crew survived the sinking The ship has been back in the news recently with its re-discovery on the ocean floor off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The remains of the 38m long two masted schooner were located by a team led by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. It is mostly intact lying in 390m of water but if you want to a true relic of that noble little ship, it’s cabin, the place of Shackleton’s death with be a focal point of the new Shackleton Museum opening in Athy in June 2025.

Remembering Henry Howard / Paul Cunningham

This week saw the passing of two Athy men who were associated in my mind with Gaelic football. They died within a day of each other. Henry Howard was President of Athy Gaelic Football Club for many years past. Geraldine Park was his second home and for as long as I can remember Henry devoted his time and energy to the local G.A.A. Club. He was a wonderfully helpful man who met and greeted everyone with a cheerful word or two. He was especially helpful to me while I was organising the recent book fairs on behalf of Athy Lions Club. I got to know Henry and his wife Patricia during the long drawn out campaign to stop the Inner Relief Road planned for construction through the centre of our town. Both were very active members of the development group which consist of concerned residents of the town who worked tirelessly to get the Outer Relief Road built instead of the proposed Inner Relief Road. They were part of the several teams which went from door-to-door canvassing support for a plebiscite of the local people and attended public meetings held over a period of many years in various venues throughout the town. Henry Howard and his wife Patricia were unremitting in their support for what eventually turned out to be a wonderful addition to the road network serving the people of Athy. Henry’s wake was held in the Gaelic Football Club premises where he had spent many years of his long life volunteering on a daily basis. His was a labour of love for the Athy Gaelic Football Club was, as I wrote earlier, his second home. He was elected President of the club approximately 16 years ago and I must claim some indirect involvement in his presidential election. As a member of Athy Gaelic Football Club I attended Annul General Meetings for many years following my return to Athy in 1982. It was at an Annual General Meeting sometime in the mid to late 1980s that I questioned the appropriateness of electing year after year a member of the local Catholic clergy as the club President. It was, I explained, an unnecessary throwback to a time in our history when community leadership understandably came from the educated clergy, but the time had come for lay members to take charge. Looking back over the years since the founding of the Geraldine Club the only clergy man justifiably elected to the presidential position was the local curate and exceptional footballer, Fr. Frank Mitchell. In any event my intervention at that A.G.M. resulted in the election of Tim O’Sullivan as the Club President and in later years the election of Henry Howard. Henry’s passing is a great loss to the Geraldine Club which over the years has benefitted from his involvement and that of so many other men and latterly women. Paul Cunningham for several years was a classmate of mine in the local Christian Brothers School during the 1950s. He left school at an early age but I can still picture in my minds eye Paul’s excellence as a Gaelic footballer. I am reminded of the only time in my school days when the local Christian Brothers School participated in the Leinster Colleges championship. Brother Brett, the Superior, had visions of our Wednesday afternoon football practice in Geraldine Park, resulting in an appearance at Croke Park for the Leinster School Finals. The Athy school team played Moate College on their grounds and we were defeated very heavily. My memory of that day is of Paul Cunningham’s high fielding of the ball, ala Mick O’Connell of Kerry, but his brilliance was not sufficient to save Athy C.B.S. from a humiliating defeat. Paul was chosen for the Kildare County Minor panel and played for a time with Athy G.F.C. and later with Rheban. He emigrated at a young age to London and there he played with Round Towers and Dr. Crokes. I understand he played with Dr. Crokes in a tournament game in Croke Park and during his London playing days was awarded Player of the Year Award. Paul did not achieve the footballing success of his late father Jim ‘Tarman’ Cunningham who won county championship medals with the Athy senior team in 1933 and 1934. The 1930s was the most successful decade for Gaelic footballing in Athy and ‘Tarman’ had with him on the winning teams the likes of Barney Dunne, Paul Matthews and Tommy Mulhall. A further championship title success was achieved in 1937 but by then ‘Tarman’, like his son Paul decades later, had emigrated to England. Our sympathies go to the family and friends of Henry Howard and Paul Cunningham.

Johanna Lyons Artist

The part played by the local Community Arts Centre in promoting the Arts and cultural awareness within our community may not be apparent to many. It was something which struck me as I reviewed the events and exhibitions planned for the Woodstock Street Centre during the month of June. I was particularly pleased to see notice of an exhibition by local girl Johanna Lyons which started in the Community Arts Centre on Thursday, 13th June and which continues to the end of the following week. I have known Johanna for many years and during the long period she has been practising and perfecting her skill as an artist. From a very rudimentary, in effect a very basic start to her artistic career she has by dint of commitment and hard work become an artist of merit whose work I am privileged to have in my own personal collection. Johanna who was born in the Curragh came to Athy over forty years ago and now lives in Castle Park. She first attended art classes under Pascal Fitzpatrick in VTOS at a time when the Training Centre was located in the original Model School on the Dublin Road. She later attended Ormond College in Kilkenny and the combination of the two courses set her on an artistic path which she has travelled ever since. She works mostly in oil and produces work which can be regarded as excellent. Her Exhibition in the Athy Community Arts Centre is I believe her second Exhibition and promises to give us a rare insight into the work of a genuinely talented artist whose work has improved immeasurably over the years. This Exhibition which opened last Thursday continues this week. The picture with this weeks Eye on the Past is one of Johanna’s paintings which is privately owned but will hopefully be included in the Exhibition. Johanna Lyons’s solo Exhibition will be followed on Thursday, 20th June by an Exhibition of work by well known female artist including Elizabeth Cope, Eileen McDonagh, Ciara O’Keeffe, Emily Rainsford and Cathy Callan. This is just one of several events which will be held in the Athy Community Arts Centre and the Town Library in the week of the Johnny Marr Concert which will take place in the former Dreamland Ballroom. All the events over a two week period are supported by Kildare County Council and the Athy Community Arts Centre in conjunction with Athy Photographic Society and promises to deliver a wonderful backdrop to the revival of dance hall days memories which will flow from the Johnny Marr concert in Athy’s former dancing mecca. An interesting addition to Athy’s written word is the Made of Athy Guide and map which will be launched in the Athy Community Arts Centre on Friday following the Marr Concert the previous day. A musical event which will form part of the guide launch will be a performance by Castledermot resident, Chris Swaine who is presently compiling an album of original songs. Chris whose musical genre has been described as somewhere between country and soft rock has previously performed in the Community Arts Centre. He will be joined by Athy’s own Carmel Day for a concert in the Centre before the end of the year. In the meantime, do visit the Johanna Lyons Exhibition in the Athy Community Arts Centre and show your support for a local artist who can justifiably be proud of her work.

Athy's Photographic Society

Athy Photographic Society, founded in the early 1980s, is one of the most active and successful societies in the town. Over the years it’s members have held annual photographic exhibitions, produced an annual calendar, while engaged in training to improve their photographic skills. The Society has grown through a number of rebirths in the forty or so years since it’s foundation. The early photographic pioneers were George Robinson, Gerry Lynch, Mary Cunningham and Pat O’Rourke and it is the last named who remains a committed member of the society to this day. Early meetings were held in Jim McEvoy’s pub and later in the Leinster Arms Hotel. The first photographic exhibition was held in the same hotel in or about 1985. It’s now an annual event which over the years has graced venues such as Smuggler’s pub in Duke Street, the Dominican Hall, Athy’s Vocational School, the town library and the Heritage Centre. John Minihan, Athy’s most famous photographer, was the subject of an exhibition early in the society’s life. A few years ago John returned to Athy to give a talk on his work to members of the society and their supporters in the Community College. Over the years the society was renewed and strengthened with the arrival of new members such as Tom Kirwan, Con Doyle, Denis O’Donovan, Jack Brogan, Brendan Hughes, Vincent O’Connor, P.J. Ryan and Peadar Doogue. Unfortunately, I do not have the names of all those who joined the society during the various revival periods of the society. The success of the annual exhibition encouraged the society members to produce an annual calendar, the first of which appeared in or about 2007. Sponsored and supported by local businesses the calendar has proved to be a wonderful keepsake for locals and especially for Athy folk living overseas. Today the photographic society is flourishing and it’s members have rooms in the community hub in the former Mount St. Marys secondary school building. Several members of the society have won national and international awards over the years. The first major success was achieved by James Mahon, current chairman of the society, who was awarded an Excellence in International Artistic Photography by the F.I.A.B. That award was also won by Ned Mahon, another Athy club member. The Jack Brogan Cup, in honour of one of the former members of the society, is awarded to the photographer of the year. Last year that prize went to Elena Doyle. Others who have achieved success at national events include Clodagh Doyle, Pat O’Rourke, Noel Kelly, Suzanne Behan and Brendan Hughes. The society’s most recent exhibition was in the town library during last year’s Culture Night. ‘The Prado on the Barrow’ exhibition featured works by the Athy Photographic Society members. The members borrowed an idea from the Spanish Art Museum in Madrid by recreating and photographing some of the classic paintings in the Prado collection. The paintings recreated and photographed for the exhibition included works by El Greco, William Leech, Leonardo da Vinci, Van Gogh and several other great masters. It proved to be a fascinating exhibition, combining fine photography, exceptional costume arrangement and design. The next exhibition by the society is scheduled for Wednesday, 19th June when again it will be held in the local community library. It will show the work of three international photographers with connections to Athy. These are award winning John Minihan and John Maher, whose pictures of the Outer Hebrides featured on BBC 1 recently. John’s parents emigrated from Athy in the 1950s and John is perhaps better known as a founder member of the Manchester band, ‘The Buzzcocks’. The third exhibitor is Kieran Tully, formerly of William Street and now based in New York where he has gained fame for his imaginative bold photographs of that city’s streetscapes. Past members of the Athy Photographic Society include P.J. Ryan and Peadar Doogue. P.J. is regarded as one of the foremost wildlife photographers and I am privileged to have in my collection a series of twelve wildlife photographs taken by P.J. which were exhibited in the Heritage Centre some years ago. P.J. is a superb photographer, as is Peadar Doogue whose photographic work features frequently on Facebook. The Athy Photographic Society is one of Athy’s most innovative and successful community organisations. It has achieved great success over the years and with an ever increasing membership the society’s work in recording the people and events of our time will provide a unique archive for future generations.

Ernest Shackleton was Irish

I have been marvelling at the restoration works being carried out by Kildare County Council on the Town Hall in Emily Square, Athy. For much of my life it has been a dark grey presence in the centre of Town. I have been pleasantly surprised by the lightness of colour of its stonework since it was cleaned and repointed over the last number of months. Is brings a lightness and airiness to the square which I could not have foreseen and the re-ordering of Emily Square over the next twelve months will give Athy a civic space to be proud of. When the Museum re-opens at the end of next summer it will be a draw for international visitors. I was reminded of this when two stalwarts of the Shackleton Museum, Kevin Kenny of Naas and Seamus Taaffe of this town were invited to lecture at the Royal Geographical Society in London this month. The occasion was the Shackleton 150th Anniversary conference. Kevin Kenny delivered the opening address on the evening of Friday, 17th May where he spoke to a rapt audience with a whistlestop tour of the life of Shackleton. The weekend was punctuated by a variety of interesting talks on all matters relating to Shackleton Antarctic Experience. The next contribution from Athy was from Seamus Taaffe who gave a lecture titled ‘Shackleton, the Irish perspective’. This was a useful corrective to the narrative often foisted on visitors that Shackleton was British or English. It often forgotten that the Shackleton family have been established in the South Kildare area since the early 18th Century. The first of the number to arrive here was Abraham Shackleton who came from Yorkshire as a private tutor in 1725. Such was his successes in education that he established his own school in the Quaker Village of Ballytore in 1726. Among its pupils was the renowned Parliamentarian Edmund Burke remembered for his writing and particularly for his pamphlet “Reflections of the Revolution of France”. Napper Tandy, the revolutionary founder of the United Irishman was also a pupil. It was he who inspired the famous ballad “The Wearing of the Green” and many of us will recall the wonderful rendition of that self same ballad by Jack L, of this town, at the unveiling of the Shackleton statute in Athy on the 31st August 2016. The significance of that date being that it marked the centenary to the day of the rescue of Shackleton’s men from Elephant Island where they had been stranded for many months after abandoning their ship Endurance on the Ice. While Shackleton himself would spend the first ten years of his life in Ireland, the first four years were spent in Kilkea area which surely had a formative influence on him. His Irish identity was important to him and his siblings to the point that his youngest sister Gladys who was born in London was often teased by the rest of the family as being a ‘Sassenach’ as the rest of them were all Irish born. When Shackleton rose to worldwide prominence in the advent of his expedition to the Antarctica in 1909, his Irishness was to the forefront in the ensuing public acclaim. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Home stories, whose mother was Irish, reflected on the tension between Ireland and the United Kingdom at that time. In his speech in 1909 he stated “Shackleton is an Irishman. As a fellow Irishman, I take pride in that thought. These are times when antagonism between the Islands, may even cause you to have hard thoughts on the gallant race who are our neighbours. When such a time comes, think of what you have on the other side. Think of that flag flapping yonder on the snowfield planted there by an Irishman.” It is interesting to note that whenever Shackleton was obliged to register his details as a crew member on a sailing ship or otherwise, he always recorded his nationality as Irish. In 1911 when he was residing in London, in completing the Census Form, he described his nationality as ‘Irish’ and his place of birth as ‘Athy, Co, Kildare, Ireland’. Their Irish heritage remained important to Shackleton’s siblings and at different stages of their lives, they all made their way back to Ireland. His sister Helen spent three months in Ireland in the Summer of 1908 visiting some of her old haunts in the Kilkea/Moone area. Shackleton’s eldest sister Kathleen also returned to Ireland in 1925 for a number of months where she toured the country and painted the portraits of many of the most significant members of Irish society including the poet W.B. Yeats and the President Douglas Hyde. Eleanor Hope Shackleton spent much of her life nursing in Canada and the UK and also served in the Great War in Salonica and France. She visited Ireland after her retirement as a nurse at the age of 78, in 1959. She was last of the Shackleton’s to return to Athy where she visited Kilkea House where she had been born. She would die a year later