Eucharistic Congress

At a recent Sunday Mass in the Parish Church I picked up a postcard addressed to the Taoiseach Enda Kenny, intended to be signed and posted to Government Buildings asking for an invitation to be extended to the Pope to visit Ireland for the forthcoming Eucharistic Congress.  My initial reaction was one of surprise and then of annoyance to think that an Irish Government would have to be petitioned to invite the Pope to our country.  Surely I thought our wounded Church has not plummeted to such depths as to render its leader unwelcome in the country which had withstood religious persecution over centuries.  The papal invitation, if it is to issue from the Government, is for the Pope to visit Ireland during the Eucharistic Congress which takes place between 10^th to 17^th June of this year.

The Eucharistic Congress will be the second Congress of its type ever to be held in Ireland.  The previous Congress was held from 21^st to 26^th June 1932 at a time when the country was recovering from the ravages of the War of Independence and the subsequent Civil War. 

Reading through newspaper reports for 1932 I could not but realise how the Irish people of 80 years ago rose to the great occasion which was the Eucharistic Congress in contrast to the rather muted preparations which are currently in place for this years event.  Even allowing for the wounded state of the Catholic Church it seems likely that Ireland’s second Eucharistic Congress will be an event of underwhelming proportions.  If it is, it will be in marked contrast to the events of 1932 when the entire country was gripped with Eucharistic Congress fever of enormous intensity.

While the main Congress events took place in Dublin every town and village in Ireland hosted religious events in local churches attended by those who could not make the journey to the capital city.  Public transport was augmented by private transport comprising private cars and hackney cars, as well as lorries which brought huge crowds of people from rural Ireland to Dublin city.  Here in Athy the local people entered into the Eucharistic Congress spirit with enthusiasm and energy.  The Kildare Observer reported on 16^th June 1932 that ‘decorations for the Eucharistic Congress in Athy are almost if not quite universal.  Flags, banners, buntings spanning every street have given the old town a very festive appearance – in fact the town has blossomed into a “perfect riot of colour”’.

Religious ceremonies in Athy started on the first Sunday of the Eucharistic Congress, with two Masses for women at 7.00 a.m. and 8.00 a.m.  This was followed by two Masses for the men of St. Michael’s Parish in the local Parish Church and all the local newspapers reported large attendances by both sexes.  On Tuesday morning a children’s Mass was arranged for 9 o’clock in the morning and at the same time on that day a special Mass was held in what was described as ‘the new hall’ in the Christian Brothers in St. John’s Lane, with the Parish Priest, Fr. McDonnell, as the celebrant.

Athy Urban District Council arranged for notices to be posted in the town calling on local traders to close their premises on Thursday, 23^rd June for the Congress celebrations.  A subsequent report indicated that all the local shopkeepers complied and over 500 Athy locals took advantage of the free day to travel to Dublin.  The Urban District Council also arranged for the decorating of the town and made special arrangements for the cleaning of the streets.  Shop fronts were painted with the encouragement of the Council and footpaths, long out of repair, were repaired, while all the public buildings in the town were decorated with bunting and flags.

The local newspapers reported the holding of midnight Mass in St. Michael’s Parish Church and also in the Dominican Church on the Wednesday night.  ‘Dusk fell, illuminations started everywhere – in almost every house.  Each window had its one lighted candle or lamp.  The shrines on the side streets and suburbs were also ablaze with light and the whole town presented a very brilliant appearance.’

It was also reported that owing chiefly to the energies of Joe May, Clerk of the Athy County Home, a wireless set had been installed to give the elderly people in the Home the opportunity of hearing the religious ceremonies during Congress week.  The wireless set, which cost £50, was paid for with the proceeds of a raffle which Joe May and a local committee had organised. 

Loudspeakers were also set up in the Peoples Park where immense crowds gathered and brought chairs which were placed around the trees as the commentary of the events in Dublin was broadcast.  It has recently been claimed to me that the loudspeakers were provided by the proprietor of the nearby I.V.I. Foundry, Colonel Hosie. 

Interestingly local papers reported that the floral decorations for the altar in the Phoenix Park Dublin were provided by A.L. Spiers of Burtown Nurseries, Athy.

The Eucharistic Congress of 1932

Last week I attended Mass in St. Michael’s new cemetery and in a scene reminiscent of the rock masses of penal days stood with hundreds more around the temporary altar. Thankfully the rain held off and everywhere I looked I saw familiar faces and some I had not seen for quite some time. This was a gathering of local people, many of whom had a family member or friends lying in the cemetery which in my young days was a lime tree lined field where youngsters played. The new cemetery was opened in 1964 or thereabouts and since then has been extended southwards into an adjoining field. The names on the gravestones are familiar ones and everywhere you look you find reminders of people once part of the wider community of south Kildare.

In the same week it was announced that the Eucharistic Congress would be held in Ireland in 2012. The previous Congress held here was in 1932 at a time when the new Irish State was experiencing tough economic times. The difficulties of that time would be further exacerbated by the economic war which would follow Fianna Fáil’s victory in the General Election that same year. At the end of 1931 the local Urban District Council were lobbying the Minister for Local Government for a special grant for the relief of unemployment in the Athy area. The Councillors claimed that there was ‘no part of the county suffering so much on account of the grave unemployment due to the beet collapse year and a serious agricultural depression prevailing.’ Figures were cited which showed that at least 200 men were unemployed. The unemployment situation would not show any improvement until the end of the decade.’

Local plans for celebrating the Eucharistic Congress scheduled to take place from 22nd to 26th June were overshadowed by a tragic fire which took place in Athy on St. Stephens Day. The first local newspaper of the Eucharistic year carried the headline ‘Woman trapped in burning house – charred remains found in debris.’ Mrs. M. Cunningham, a widow who lived alone in her licensed premises in Duke Street died tragically in the blazing inferno which destroyed the entire premises. Her remains were brought to the house of her daughter in Leinster Street.

The following week initial arrangements for the Eucharistic Congress were announced in the local Parish Church. The Mens Sodality would travel as a unit by train to Dublin on Thursday for the mens’ mass. The following day would see the Womens Sodality members make the same journey, leaving Saturday free for the childrens mass in the Phoenix Park. The Papal Legates Mass with which the Congress would end would take place on Sunday.

Early in January the Parish Priest, Fr. P. McDonnell, unveiled the banner which was to be used by the Womens Sodality members as they took part in the Eucharistic Congress parade. The same day the banner to be carried at the front of the mens fraternity as they marched was shown to the local members of the Fraternity of the Sacred Heart by Fr. John O’Sullivan in the Dominican Church. Rather sadly the same edition of the newspaper carried a report of the sudden death of Fr. O’Sullivan while celebrating 11 o’clock mass on the feast of the Epiphany. He had ministered for almost 40 years in Athy and his memory would be commemorated a year later with the opening of a shrine in the grounds of the Dominican Priory.

Election fever was rampant throughout the country from January 1932 onwards and the three main political parties, Cumann na nGael, Fianna Fáil and Labour chose candidates to contest the General Election. Local man Sydney Minch who had fought with the 16th Irish Division in France during the 1914-18 war was chosen as one of the outgoing Government’s candidates and would succeed in taking a Dáil seat for Cumann na nGael.

Eamon de Valera campaigned in Athy in early February and the Leinster Leader reported:- ‘Little Kevin Maher, son of Mr. J.B. Maher of Sawyerswood and nephew of Kevin Barry was presented to De Valera by W. Mahon U.D.C. at the Fianna Fáil meeting on Wednesday. De Valera kindly took the little boy by the hand and chatted to him.’ Some of Kevin’s schoolmates were also making the newspaper that week with a report of a musical concert in the Christian Brothers School. Tommy Fox aged 8 conducted the boys choir ‘with all the aplomb and ease of a professional’ while Ivan Bergin, aged 9, who played the piano was described as ‘a cool collected kid.’ Boy soprano Paddy Breen of Offaly Street was credited with a beautiful voice, while another highly praised singer was Joe Reynolds, son of J.C. Reynolds, ‘himself a singer of no mean order.’

Notices appeared in newspapers in February of examinations to be held before Holy Week in local secondary schools for choir members wishing to be part of the special Congress choir. Only those subject to favourable reports by the examiner would be allowed to participate in the Dublin event. Tickets for the garden party to be held in Blackrock College Dublin as part of the Eucharistic celebrations were on sale at 5 shillings each. This incidentally represented a full days pay for a man working on the Kildare County Council scheme to relieve unemployment.

On the Sunday before the General Election all three parties held meetings in Emily Square. A torch lit procession preceded by six bands marked the Fianna Fáil meeting, while the Cumann na nGael meeting was remarkable for the use of ‘electric bulbs’ for its night-time meeting. No doubt Betty Brown of Meeting Lane who at 97 years of age was the oldest local voter would have been impressed by the electric light seeing as she claimed to have seen the first ‘railway train to come to Athy.’ She cast her vote in the Town Hall, telling all and sundry that she favoured the Fianna Fáil candidate ‘Tommy Harris’. Harris was elected at the head of the poll with Bill Norton and local man Sidney Minch.

Preparations for the Eucharistic Congress continued once the election was finished and by mid May Nurney National School was the first to erect a Congress flag. Mr. Loughman, the local carrier, was reported as the first lorry owner to have the Congress flag on his vehicle, but before long similar flags were everywhere to be seen. ‘Congress and Papal flags very much in evidence this week’ reported the Leinster Leader on 14th June, ‘motor lorries and push bikes were flying them.’

Business houses and shops in Athy were cleaned up and many were painted in preparation of the Congress. Athy Urban District Council decided to paint all the Council houses and also to decorate the Town Hall. By the 18th of June flags, banners and bunting spanned every street in the town. All the local churches, schools, the Parish Priest’s house, the Dominican Priory, Town Hall, Courthouse, Post Office, Garda Station and the C.Y.M.S. premises were decorated. Soon thereafter it was reported that decorations were also put up by the local banks, the hotels, Shaws and the Railway Station. Drapers were sold out of flags as every house and what the local newspaper described as the ‘smaller streets’ of the town were decorated to make Athy ‘a riot of colour.’ The opening of the Congress on 23rd June led the Urban District Council to request local shopkeepers to close that day and the newspapers reported ‘a generous response’ to that request. By now most of the streets had decorative added arches, or notably Emily Square, but as the local newspapers reported ‘it is in the bye streets and the lanes and suburban areas of Athy that the real decorations are shown, the men, women and girls of Athy may feel proud, they are a credit to the old town, to their land and to their race.’

Visitors to Athy for the Congress included well known handballer Bill Aldridge who had returned home with a Congress party from America. Michael Mahon, Athy and Paddy Stynes, Kildare, both well known County Kildare footballers also returned from America prior to the Congress and it was reported that Stynes was expected to give an exhibition in Athy of the ‘American style of football’.

At the conclusion of the Eucharistic Congress the Nationalist was to claim:- ‘Everybody gave of his best, and the weather was a record for June. The celebrations were far from anything we had dreamed they might be. It was evident everywhere that Catholicity is as great in Ireland today as it was five hundred years ago, and that the man in the street cherishes his Faith in his secret heart just as zealously as any of his saintly forefathers.’

Jack Murphy

He must surely be one of the front runners for the unique claim of oldest man in Athy. I realise that is a dangerous suggestion to make particularly given the proximity of St. Vincent's Hospital but I do believe the honour belongs to Jack Murphy. Recently I had the privilege of meeting and talking with Jack, now well ensconced in his 10th decade and still happily married after 62 years. His wife Margaret, originally from Crookstown, has been a particularly kind friend of the local Museum Society and some years ago donated to the Museum original documents relating to her late father Andrew Delaney who died in the First World War.

Jack and Margaret married in 1933, a year after the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin. At that time Jack worked for Duthie Larges in Leinster Street where he had started as a bicycle mechanic in or about 1919. He worked alongside Paddy Mullery for eight and a half years before moving to Jackson Brothers when they started their garage and bicycle business in Leinster Street. He lost a finger as a result of an accident at work and to add insult to injury it also cost him his job. A move back to Duthie Larges saw him working alongside Joe Brophy, Dinny Bergin, Jim Eaton and Jim Kenny who is retired and living in McDonnell Drive.

In the 1920's and onwards the firm of Duthie Larges was an important employer in South Kildare at a time when the only alternative industrial employment was in the brick yards or Minch Nortons. Their busy workshops turned out machinery and farm equipment while the supply and repair of bicycles was an activity as busy even if not as lucrative as the modern day sale and repair of motor cars. A moulding department, carpentry shop, garage and bicycle shop were some of the main departments to be found in Duthie Larges in those days. Skills abounded with bicycle mechanics, garage mechanics, blacksmiths and pattern moulders working side by side in the huge Duthie Large complex.

It is difficult to imagine nowadays but petrol pumps were once sited on the footpaths of the main streets of the town in Duke Street and in Leinster Street. Duthie Larges and Jacksons had petrol pumps in Leinster Street as had Tommy Stynes while Maxwell had petrol pumps in Duke Street, opposite the old Garda Barracks. No need in those leisurely days for pedestrian crossings!

Jack remembers attending the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin with his good friend Paddy Kelly and he proudly wears a souvenir badge of that Eucharist. Coincidentally he lives in Convent View where the houses have on their facades a crest reminiscent, if not an actual replica, of the 1932 Congress medal. Sitting in the living room of his house in Convent View he recalls with remarkable clarity his young days when he lived with his parents in a small house, one of three at the end of the present Plewman's Terrace.

Jack's parents moved from the Kilkenny Road, or Blackparks as it was called, to Mount Hawkins then a wonderland of small laneways and alleys with names now forgotten - New Row, Kelly's Lane, Carrs Court and Porters Row.

Jack's grandfather Pat Dempsey lived in Chapel Hill and was gardener to the Sisters of Mercy. He still vividly remembers the day his Grandfather died in the Convent garden while in the company of his then 8 year old grandson. 84 years later the sadness and pain of that day still grips Jack as he recalls how he watched his grandfather die.

He moved to Chapel Hill into his late grandfather's house with his parents and brothers Paddy and Andy around 1912. Paddy and Andy were later to become hackney men having gained experience with a namesake but no relation Dick Murphy who had a hackney business at William Street. Paddy was to set up his own hackney business at Offaly Street along side Dowlings pub, later Kehoes and now McHughs before emigrating to England.

Jack never left Athy spending a lifetime in Duthie Larges from where he retired in 1979. By the time Jack left his workbench neither a Large nor a Duthie were involved in the business, even though the name has remained a familiar one in the commercial life of Athy.