Dail Elections of the past and Paddy Dooley T.D.

In three days time we go to the polls in a General Election to elect the members to the 34th Dáil. It is an important part of the democratic process and the electors of Kildare South will return four TD’s to the Dáil. The first election in which I was able to vote in was the 1961 General Election which was held on a Wednesday, 4th October 1961. 1961 was an important year for me as that January I had left Athy to work in Naas in Kildare County Council. I stayed in digs in Naas but every weekend I returned to Athy for the comforts of hearth and home in 5 Offaly Street to my mother, Kathleen Taaffe and my father, John Taaffe, who was still serving as a Sergeant in the Garda Siochana in Athy. I invariably thumbed a lift from Naas to Athy as it was very much an accepted part of life for young people at the time. On many occasions I got a lift home from Naas from the late Paddy Dooley who was then a TD for Kildare. He was quiet and gentlemanly, to the point of shyness, who had been first elected to the Dáil for Fianna Fail in 1957. He was the son of Michael Dooley of Duke Street who played a significant role in the Republican Movement in Athy during the War of Independence and who later had the 1930’s housing scheme Michael Dooley’s Terrace named after him. Paddy Dooley first became involved in politics with his election to Athy Urban District Council in 1945 and remained on the Council up to and including 1974. One of my classmates in the Christian Brothers secondary school was his son, Enda Dooley and I can recall the superior of the Christian Brothers, Brother J. Brett, at the start of the morning classes extending congratulations to Enda Dooley on his father’s first election to the Dáil in 1957. I have always been fascinated by the minutiae and workings of elections both nationally and locally and my first experience of being involved in the election process, in a formal sense, was in Kells County Meath in 1967. It was a year in which my late friend, Frank English was standing for Athy Urban District Council while I had been newly appointed as a Town Clerk for Kells, County Meath just four weeks prior to the holding of the local elections. It was a daunting task for one such as myself, young and inexperienced but perhaps not so daunting as the role which Frank faced in his home town in putting his name before the electorate for the first time. Suffice to say that Frank was successful and went on to serve Athy on the Town Council for 42 years. It was the same Frank English who approached this uncommitted friend to join the Fianna Fail party. I did so without having a great ideological draw to the party of the Anti-treaty side while my natural allegiance was to Michael Collins and the men who supported the Anglo-Irish treaty. I cannot explain how my best friend exercised such an important influence in my choice of political party! The General Election of 1961 saw a changing of the guard to some extent. Fianna Fail was led by Sean Lemass, a veteran of the struggle for independence who took over from Eamon de Valera who had stepped back from the role as leader in 1959 to become President. Other members of the revolutionary generation departed from the Dáil prior to election including veterans of the 1916 Easter Rising such as Oscar Traynor and Richard Mulcahy. The county was then a single constituency and returned four successful candidates, Brendan Crinnion and Paddy Dooley for Fianna Fail, William Norton for Labour and Gerard Sweetman for Fine Gael. There was a later by-election in the county in 1964 occasioned by the death of William Norton who was succeeded by Terence Boylan for Fianna Fail. As a young man of 19 I wasn’t hugely focused or interested in politics in 1961 and I have stronger memories of the opening of the Dreamland Ballroom on the Kilkenny road, Athy in the Summer of 1961 and I recall travelling from Naas to the opening night of the Dreamland Ballroom courtesy of Carmel Fitzpatrick’s trusted Ford Prefect accompanied by several girls from the County Council offices. But whatever our concerns, young or old, participation in the democratic process is an important part of life and two of my grandchildren will be voting on Friday in the General Election for the first time, an important milestone for them both as adults and as citizens of this nation.

Athy - a very prosperous and flourishing town

The weekend of 8th November was a busy few days for Athy. The 24th Shackleton Autumn School welcomed visitors from all over the world, including such countries as Brazil, Germany, France, United States, Britain, New Zealand and Norway. Visitors to the town were effusive about the town and its people. All were universal in their praise for the town and the welcoming nature of it’s people. These qualities are something that we as townspeople should be capitalizing on. Next year will see the 25th year of the Autumn School and also the opening of the new Shackleton Museum. It is an ideal opportunity to consider expanding the Autumn School to a townwide festival. Places, such as Kilkenny, have maximised the opportunities these events provide, such as the Kilkenny Cat Laughs Festival and Kilkenomics over the last number of decades and it is something that we in Athy need to give serious consideration to. We as a community need to be innovative with the opportunities presented by events such as the Shackleton Autumn School. Why not curate an outdoor exhibition throughout the town telling the story of Shackleton’s life? Why not host activities focused on the river, a nod to Shackleton’s early career as a merchant mariner. The Autumn School itself is not solely focused on delivering lectures on polar history to polar aficionados. This year, at its venue, in The Abbey, 6th year history students of Ardscoil na Tríonóide were treated to a presentation by Philip Curtis of the Map House from London of the mapping of Antarctica. As in previous years the distinguished sculptor, Mark Richards, the creator of the Shackleton statue, delivered a master class on art to Leaving Certificate art students from Ardscoil na Tríonóide also. Third-class students from Scoil Mhichil Naofa enjoyed talks on Antarctic wildlife and polar explorers. The highlight for many was an immersive experience in a cold room set to minus 30 degrees to give them an experience of Antarctic temperatures. It was lovely to see the joy and delight on the faces of those young children coming out of the minus 30 degrees environment to the more ambient temperature of a November morning in Athy. Other weekend events included a walk around Medieval Athy guided by Marc Guernon while further afield Kilkea native, Sharon Greene, brought visitors to Ballitore and Kilkea. Others enjoyed or endured a swim in the River Griese with Jonathan Shackleton, while the Kildare Partnership organised a ‘Pole to Pole’ walk on the Barrow Blueway. Of course, visitors have been coming to the town for centuries. Thomas Lacy of Wexford, who published in 1863 his impressions of his journey around Ireland in the years immediately following the Great Famine, came to Athy in the autumn of 1855 by railway from Carlow. He found Athy to be a handsome regular town for its size and a very prosperous and flourishing one. Much of what he observed has little changed. He noted Market Square, which is now named Emily Square, as being surrounded with ‘good houses and handsome shops.’ He noted the construction of a new corn exchange (now the Courthouse) and that the principal market was held in the town on Saturdays, and he noted that it was ‘well supplied and very well attended.’ Many of my generation will remember the weighing scales at the rear of the Town Hall. Lacy was impressed by the arrangements in the market way and described ‘a weighing machine has been established where corn, potatoes and other articles are weighed at one half penny per sack and sworn weighing masters are in attendance by whom printed tickets of the weights are given to those who may require them.’ This system was to ensure fairness for both market sellers and market buyers so that nobody could adulterate their products by lying about the weight of a product being sold. He also visited the Model School which was only opened in 1850, writing that ‘the walls were furnished and appropriately decorated with all the newest and best maps of various sizes and with wonderous illustrations of animals, beasts, birds and fish.’ The weekend of the Autumn School also saw the bi-annual Lions Club Book Fair in A.R.C.H. which I am told went off very well and the book sellers will return with more rarities for us all in March next year, the date of which will be confirmed later.

Opening of Athy Picture Palace 20th October, 1924

In one of my earlier articles I wrote about the Athy Picture Palace, the first purpose built cinema opened in Offaly Street on the site of a former Malt House by Captain Hosie. I had always understood that the Picture Palace had opened in or around 1925 but I was pleased to find on the website www.earlyirishcinema.com that the Athy Picture Palace had a Grand Opening performance on Monday, 20th October 1924 where cinema goers, for the price of one shilling and six pence or nine pence, were treated to a film, ‘The Spoilers’. Set in the goldmines of Alaska, it was inspired by Rex Beach’s novel of the same name published in 1903. In tandem with the main feature, cinema goers could also enjoy the serial ‘Go Get Them Hutch’. The hero of the serial was Hutch who rescues a ship owning heroine from the clutches of a crooked lawyer who was the head of a crime syndicate. That serial was a little before my time but I can remember attending the Sunday afternoon offerings of the Hopalong Cassidy episodes featuring a rough talking cowboy hero played by the actor, William Boyd, who appeared in sixty six films as the character from 1935 to 1948. The 1924 U.S. Presidential Election followed a little over two weeks afterwards in which the Republican Candidate, Calvin Coolidge defeated the Democratic candidate John Davis. Coolidge had previously been the Vice President and had succeeded, the incumbent, Warren G. Harding on Harding’s death in 1923. I was amused to see an article in the Belfast Newsletter around the same time stating that “The Wireless and the Cinema had been employed to reach the voters, and never before has public interest been so greatly aroused”. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose’! A century on from the opening of the Picture Palace, I wonder what one would have found in Athy in that very year. Commercial life in the town was dominated by Athy’s Public houses. It might surprise readers to know that at the time Athy boasted no less than forty local hostelries all of which were open for business. As late as 2001, there were 26 public houses in the town. 1924 saw the closure of Hannon’s Mill on the Bridge at Duke Street, Athy while the oldest local industry, brick making, was under severe strain. From a time in which the town could boast of having twelve or so brickyards, there was only two left in 1924 being the Athy Tile and Brick Company at Barrowford and Hosie’s Brickyard in Coursetown. John Conlan, a farmers party TD for Kildare said in the Dail in January 1924, “In the Athy District, my constituency, several brick yards were in operation up to a comparatively short time ago……..These works turn out the very best brick. In fact some of the old squares in Dublin were built of Athy Brick and that will go to show their durability”. That speech was made by Deputy Conlan in his support of a Bill going through the Dail to compel contractors to use more Irish materials but whether such Bill was ever passed, I am unsure. Despite the rise of public interest in the cinema, cultural events of a more nationalist bent were still popular. The Tailteann Games was established in 1924 inspired by those held thousands of years ago in Tara, Co, Meath. The organisers of the event cleverly staged the sporting elements to coincide with the Paris 1924 Summer Olympics and some of the greatest stars of the Olympics competed at the games, including triple gold medallist Johnny Weissmuller, of Tarzan fame, who swam in the Phoenix Park. The only medallist I can find with an Athy connection is Richard Long, the portrait landscape painter. He was awarded a Bronze Medal for a fire screen which he designed and made depicting the death of Cu Chulainn. He would later find employment as a Woodwork Constructor at the Athy Technical School in 1929. He only remained there for two years and Theo Snoddy in his book, ‘Dictionary of Irish Artists’ published in 2002, notes that Long wrote “I left due to the fact that there was an awful unfairness between Protestants and Catholics. One sect occupied one side of a room, the other sect the other side. If I was giving instructions to a Protestant, a Catholic would call me and vice versa. No wonder I cleared out”. How reflective this was of the relations between the religions in the town at the time is hard to know but his comments surprised me. Richard Long departed Athy to take up a post as an Art Master in Clonmel Technical School playing a prominent role in the Art world in Tipperary until his death in 1960.

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.