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”.