Kilkea Castle and the Earls of Kildare

Kilkea Castle, much altered over the centuries, is believed to be Ireland’s oldest habitable castle. Built in the latter end of the 12th century by the Anglo Norman Hugh de Lacy in what was later described as the Marches of Kildare, it formed part of the fortresses which provided protection for that part of the countryside centred around Dublin which was controlled by the early Anglo-Norman settlers. The Castle is within 4 miles of the village of Castledermot where the first gathering in Irish history to be called a Parliament was held in 1264. Twenty-six knights came together for that first parliamentary session and ten more Irish parliaments would be held in the rural village of Castledermot between 1269 and 1404. That first Irish parliament was held just 27 years after King Henry III’s Great Council met in the Great Chamber of the medieval palace of Westminster. That is generally accepted as the first gathering in English history to be called a Parliament. The Castle of Kilkea was once one of the homes of the most powerful family in Ireland, the Fitzgeralds, later Earls of Kildare and from the latter part of the 18th Century Dukes of Leinster. Several Earls of Kildare served as Lord Deputy of Ireland, a role which involved placating the rebellious Irish tribes who did not accept the King’s rule in Ireland. Gearoid Mór, the 8th Earl of Kildare and Governor of Ireland for over 30 years was wounded while leading his men against the Irish Tribe of the O’Mores at Leap Castle and he succumbed to his wounds in the town of Athy. His son, Gearoid Óg the 9th Earl of Kildare, succeeded as Lord Deputy, but Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII chief advisor and Chancellor of the Exchequer concerned by the usurpation of Royal power by the Irish Lords had the Earl called to London for alleged treason. He would die in the Tower of London while his son Thomas, known in Irish history as Silken Thomas, rebelled and marched on Dublin. He too ended up in the Tower of London with five of his uncles where they were all beheaded. This so called Kildare Rebellion prompted the Crown to take the governorship of Ireland out of the hands of the Earls of Kildare to be replaced by direct rule by an English governor. The title Earl of Kildare was forfeited and the family’s estates including Kilkea Castle confiscated, but were restored 15 years later when Silken Thomas’s half-brother, also called Thomas, a self-proclaimed loyal subject of the King was recognised as Earl of Kildare. He made his principle residence in Kilkea Castle. However, following the Desmond rebellion of 1569 which involved a related Fitzgerald family in the south of the country, Thomas, the 11th Earl, was arrested and brought to London. This time unlike his predecessors, he was not confined to the Tower of London, but spent long periods in the 1570s and 1580s under house arrest. He died in London in 1585. Subsequent Earls of Kildare continued to live in Kilkea Castle and were resident here during the Civil War which broke out in 1641 between the native Irish and Catholic gentry on the one side and Puritans on the other. Later it became a three sided conflict between the native Irish, the Catholic Royalists and the Puritans. The Catholic Confederate leaders Owen Roe O’Neill and Thomas Preston stayed in Kilkea Castle for a time, as did the Papal Nuncio Scarampo during the Civil War, commonly referred to as the Confederate War. Apart from playing hosts for a short while to some of the Catholic leaders involved in the war, Kilkea Castle did not figure hugely in the terrible events of the Confederate Wars or Cromwell’s reign of terror. If the 16th century Earls of Kildare were regarded as unfaithful to the English Crown, a very real rebel was found in Lord Edward Fitzgerald, one time Member of Parliament for Athy and brother of the first Duke of Leinster. He led the United Irishmen in his native county of Kildare in preparation for the 1798 rebellion. Lord Edward had served in the British forces in America during the American Revolution and was later an admirer of the French Revolution and an associate of Thomas Paine. He joined the United Irishmen on returning from America but was captured before the rebellion started and died as a result of a stab wound inflicted while being arrested. He is still remembered today as one of the most passionate Irish Revolutionaries of the 18th Century. Lord Edward and his wife Pamela had three children and their daughter Pamela married Sir Guy Campbell, a distinguished Scottish soldier who had played an active part in suppressing the Irish rebels during the 1798 Rebellion and who was later Lieutenant Governor of Gibraltar during the critical years of the Peninsular War. Their daughter Madeline married Percy Wyndham, son of the Earl of Egremont and their son, the great grandson of the Irish rebel, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, would become the Secretary of State for Ireland under Arthur Balfour’s premiership. George Wyndham was described as a hardened Tory and an indefatigable defender of the Union. He is remembered for the Wyndham Land Act of 1903 which effectively brought an end to the Irish Land War campaigns of the 1880s while his great grandfather Lord Edward, the most famous son of Kilkea Castle, is remembered as one of the most admired Irish radical revolutionaries of the past.

Memories of attending C.B.S. Athy in the 1950s

My class passed from the 6th class in primary school following our primary certificate examination into the C.B.S. secondary school in 1955. The primary school and the secondary school in St. John’s Lane shared the same yard with the secondary school occupying three classrooms over part of the primary school accessed by an outside iron stairway. The shortage of classroom space may have accounted for several pupils, including myself, skipping first year and beginning our secondary education in the second-year classroom. The entire secondary school teaching staff at that time consisted of two members of the Christian Brothers and two lay teachers. Around the time we started in secondary school, or perhaps just before that, the leaving certificate class consisted of only one student. By the time my class sat the Leaving Certificate examination in 1960 the class of eleven students had become the largest leaving certificate class in the school’s history. The 1950’s was a period when unemployment was rife, wages were low and free secondary education was unknown. The Christian Brothers had arrived in Athy in 1861 and in keeping with their mission opened schools for the young boys of the town. Education, both primary and secondary, was available to all who wanted it, but the Christian Brothers did seek a small payment from parents who could afford to contribute to school expenses. We attended school five and a half days a week, finishing our school week on Saturday midday. Wednesday afternoons were devoted to Gaelic football practice in Geraldine Park. No other sport was played, and the school’s only competitive team was the Gaelic football team which unfortunately had no success whatsoever during the 1950s. Our teachers were Brother J.D. Brett who arrived in 1955, the year I joined the secondary school. With him was Brother Sylvanus Keogh who had arrived in 1952. He was known to his many pupils as ‘Johnny Borris’. How or why no one appears to have known. Liam Ryan and Paddy Riordan were the lay teachers. Liam came to Athy from County Tipperary sometime in the 1930s and was a well-loved teacher who encouraged and inspired his pupils. As the class of 1955 progressed, many of my schoolmates left school. Some left at 14 years of age to take up jobs around Athy. I still remember how I envied a classmate who left school to become a telegram boy attached to Naas Post Office. Our collective ambitions were limited but were occasionally sharply focused when the Christian Brothers recruiting for the Order attended the school once a year. Many of us indicated a willingness to join the Christian Brothers, but either parents or common sense intervened in many cases to save us for the outside world. A yearly written religious examination was another feature of secondary school life in the 1950’s. It was, I believe, organised by the Diocesan authorities, and was regarded by us youngsters as a day off from the rigours of everyday school. We sat the Intermediate Certificate examination in 3rd year and some, like myself, repeated in 4th year. The 1960 Leaving Certificate examination was the first year of the oral Irish examination. Irish was my worst subject and following the inspector’s oral examination of the leaving certificate class students which took place in the nearby Christian Brothers monastery, Brother Keogh announced to us afterwards; ‘All of you but one did well’ – as he looked directly at me with a resigned look. None of us who sat the Leaving Certificate in 1960 had any thought of going to university. It was never mentioned as a possibility, but some of us did subsequently attend university and obtain degrees after attending night classes. My classmates of the 1950’s endured, rather than enjoyed, school. It was not unpleasant, but youthful enjoyment was measured by post school activities. However, sometimes school time and afterschool life combined to leave us with wonderful memories. One such was the intermediate class meeting addressed by fellow pupil Michael O’Neill, a Kerry lad, which lead to the founding of CARA, later renamed Aontas Ogra. This Irish language club brought together local boys and girls in a range of pleasant activities which we remember as part of our enjoyable school years. I and my classmates left school in 1960 to join the working world where so many of those who had started junior school with us approximately 14 years earlier were already committed to a working life. The Christian Brothers secondary school of the 1950’s is a distant early memory likely to be crowded out by the gathered memories of a long life. However, those school memories will always remain part of my treasured past.