Carbery Family of St. Patrick's Avenue

The River Liffey Reservoir Scheme, popularly known as the Poulaphouca Scheme, saw the E.S.B. and Dublin Corporation coming together in 1937 in a venture which would give the Electricity Board an enormous new source of power generation and the Corporation a fresh source of water for the city of Dublin.  Work on the scheme commenced in November of that year and before the civil engineering work was completed some years later two young men from Athy had died in tragic accidents on the site.  Both men were carpenters.  Jim Lawler of the well known Lawler family of Woodstock Street was only a short time married when tragedy struck, leaving a young widow who was expecting their first child.  He was just 29 years of age when he died in 1940.  By an extraordinary but tragic coincidence his brother John would die in similar circumstances 13 years later while working for the same employer on the Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal Hydro Electric Scheme. 

Bill Carbery was 41 years old when he fell from a crane on the Poulaphouca site and died from his injuries on 14^th June 1941.  He was the son of Joe and Brigid Carbery who once lived in Ballintubbert but who later farmed land at Ballyadams before opening a small shop at the Bleach, Athy.  Another son was Tom Carbery, the legendary local politician who had a remarkable long career as a member of Athy Urban District Council and Kildare County Council and who has given his name to a housing estate in the Woodstock Castle area. 

Bill Carbery emigrated to America at 22 years of age, as had so many of his generation.  He worked in the construction industry in New York and like many other hundreds of his fellow Irishmen he was employed on the building of the Empire State building.  Built during the American Depression it was to be the highest building in the world.  Construction work commenced on St. Patrick’s Day 1930 with at times upwards of 3000 men employed and in quite an extraordinary feat of engineering the 103 storey building was completed and opened by President Hoover on 1^st May 1931. 

Four years after he had arrived in New York Bill met and married Anna Hegarty whom I understand came from Co. Kerry.  They had two children, Eileen and Joe, who were born in New York.  Like so many Irishmen and women who had emigrated to America during and in the immediate aftermath of the Irish Civil War, the young Carbery family found the American depression years very difficult.  The hope and optimism of the early years of America’s laissez faire economy turned sour with the Wall Street crash of 1929.  It would take almost another 10 years before the American economy recovered.  In the meantime many of the young Irish emigrants of the 1920s returned to their home country and amongst them was Bill and Anna Carbery with their two American born children.

In time the Carbery family settled at No. 20 St. Patrick’s Avenue where three more Carbery children, Liam, Anna and David were to be born.  The children grew up in the small housing estate which had been opened by Athy Urban District Council in March 1931, having been built on land acquired from Miss Kilbride and Dr. Jeremiah O’Neill.  The Council documents relating to the St. Patrick’s Avenue Housing Scheme referred to the “Jail Field” as it formed part of the local penitentiary complex opened up on the Carlow Road in 1830.

Youthful friends remembered by Joe Carbery, his brothers Liam and David and his sister Anna from the 1940s include Alfie Rafferty who tragically died in a road traffic accident in London, Brian O’Hara, Cecil Carroll, Mary Keogh, Mary Noonan, Vinnie and Paul Smith, Andy and Peter Smith.  The Carbery boys and girls attended the Christian Brothers School and the local Convent and Joe also attended Athy’s Technical School where T.C. Walsh was headmaster.  They all have fond memories of their school days and of St. Patrick’s Avenue and of Athy town.  Indeed Anna who now lives in America has corresponded for many years with one of her teachers, Sr. Carmel.

In 1948 the Carbery family moved to Co. Kerry when their mother married widower Roger O’Donoghue who was a hotelier based in Killarney town.  Joe, like his father before him, emigrated to America a year later and it was Joe I first contacted when with other family members he attended a Carbery clan re-union in Athy Golf Club earlier this year.  Now 77 years of age he lives in Pomona New York.  Located in Rockland County, New York,  Ponoma is one of New York State’s newest urban settlements, having been established in February 1967.  Joe served as the fourth Mayor of Ponoma following municipal elections in 1980 and he held that position for the following six years. 

His brother Liam who now lives in retirement in North Wembley, London was a member of the Kerry football squad in the days when the legendary John Culloty and Tadghie Lyne were players.  He was a sub on the Kerry senior team in 1957 and also played minor county hurling.  In London he featured on the Round Towers team, where a playing colleague was the future Kildare County Board Secretary, Seamus Aldridge.  Employed by British Rail, he was chief steward on the Royal Train for 7 years.  His son Peter is Deputy Editor of the UK National newspaper, the Daily Star on Sunday.

The youngest member of the Carbery family, David, is also retired, but unlike his siblings he still lives in the country of his birth.  North County Kildare and more specifically Donadea is home to David who retired some time ago as Director of Catering in Maynooth College. 

Their sister Eileen is married and living in America and she recalled for me when we met earlier this year friends from her school days.  They included Mary Smith, now also living in America, and former neighbours Noreen Dooley and Pauline Rowan, both of whom sadly have since passed on but who were remembered with fondness.

Eileen, the eldest member of the Carbery family, died some years ago in America.  During the 1940s she was a member of the local musical society and participated in many of the shows which were put on in the Town Hall.  The photograph reproduced with this article comes from the Carbery family album and shows young locals dressed as fairy tale characters for a Town Hall show.  They have been identified as Una McHugh, Mrs. Crampton, Vera Cross in the front row, Mona Farrell, Eileen Carbery, May Fenlon in the middle row and at the back Maura Blanchfield and Frank Prendergast.  I have not been able to identify the show or when it was put on but no doubt many of you can help me in that regard.

The extended Carbery family has had at least two reunions in Athy in recent years, organised by amongst others Jerry Carbery, formerly of St. Johns and now of Farmhill.  The members of Bill and Anna Carberys family travelled from America, England and nearby Donadea to attend the most recent gathering held in Athy Golf Club and I was privileged to meet them and hear of their high regard for the town where they spent many happy years in the 1940s and 50s.

Photographs Offaly Street Group - St. Patrick's Avenue Group C. 1943

Thanks to everyone who took part in the recent photographic survey of Athy.  Cataloguing of the photos handed in will commence shortly but in the meantime there is an opportunity for anyone who still has photos to give them into the Heritage Centre.

Photographic images provide an exciting and accurate record of moments in time!  As old photographs become available they give a rare insight into often long forgotten times.  Images of Athy in the past can be expected to be found in almost every corner of the world, in any place where Athy men and women have settled.  Such a place is America, from where a number of photographs of Athy and Athy folk in the 1940s and early 1950s came back to the town, courtesy of Joseph Carbery.  Now living in Stoneypoint, New York, Joe, whose family lived at No. 20 St. Patrick’s Avenue, emigrated to America in 1949. 

This week I am reproducing two of these photographs.  One shows John W. Kehoe’s public house in Offaly Street with five men standing outside.  Second from left is the proprietor John W. himself who during the 1950s was chairman of the Geraldine Park Committee.  He spearheaded many of the improvements which were made to Athy’s Gaelic football venue during his chairmanship of that committee.  I cannot identify the other men in the photograph but perhaps readers of this weeks Eye will be able to do so.

The other photograph was taken in 1943 and shows a number of youngsters who were then living in St. Patrick’s Avenue.  From left at the back are Vinny Smyth, Joe Carroll, M. Keogh, Paddy Kelly, Vera Rafferty and Niall Smyth.  In front are Joe Carroll, Liam Carroll, Mary Noonan, Frank McCarthy and C. Carroll.

In next weeks Eye on the Past I will tell the story of the Carroll family who once lived in St. Patricks Avenue.

Photos St. Patrick's Avenue group / Athy Trade Tokens

This week as I celebrated a birthday shared with my school friend Billy Browne I received from Diarmuid MacCarthy, formerly of St. Patrick’s Avenue and now of Dublin, a photograph of young boys and girls taken in that avenue in the early to mid 1950s.  Many of the young faces I recognise, but not all.  The photograph was obviously taken on a bright sunny summers day and looking at the young Pat Timpson I think it could date from the summer of 1953 or 1954.  Cast your memory back 55 years or more and see how many of the youngsters you can recognise.  I would like to hear from you if you can put names on the happy faces.

My thanks are due to the two readers who contacted me about a trade token which was recently advertised for sale on eBay.  It was an Athy token, once used in place of coins and issued by an Athy businessman in the 17^th century.  Tokens were small coins made of copper, tin or lead, generally bearing the name of a merchant and usually, but not always, the date of issue and the place of issue.  They were commonly issued in the 17^th century by traders and merchants who affected by the shortage of small denomination coins resorted to issuing trade tokens in various denominations.

Trade tokens have been identified for 17^th century merchants in Athy, Castledermot, Maynooth, Kildare, Monasterevin and Naas.  The Athy tokens identified to date were issued by William Addis, James Swanton and James Walsh.  The token which I acquired was issued by Addis and shows on the obverse his name ‘William Addis’ and the denomination D1 and on the reverse ‘of Athy 1659’, with a swan in the centre of the round token.  I have not seen a Swanton token but I believe it bore his name and on the reverse the words ‘Excise Offices in Athy’, the year of issue is not known.

Walsh issued his one penny denomination token 7 years after Addis.  It had a double headed eagle displayed on the obverse, which in all probability was his shop sign.  Such signs were a common form of identifying shops in the 17^th century. 

William Addis was a witness to the Will of Thomas Rushworth, a Quaker merchant of Athy, which was made on 26^th August 1675.  It was quite likely that Addis was himself a Quaker and obviously a merchant whose shop sign of a swan was probably hung over the door of his shop in Athy’s High Street 350 years ago.

Nowadays the main streets of the town are beginning to display the ugly side of 21^st century technology, with TV dishes appearing on the front of buildings.  It is a development which is very unwelcome and one wonders if the local Town Council can do anything to stop the spread of this ugliness.