Tadgh Brennan (1)

So far as I can find out Tadhg Brennan holds the distinction of being the longest qualified Solicitor in County Kildare. It was October 1944 that Tadhg, until then apprenticed to another local Solicitor Paddy O'Neill, qualified as a Solicitor. Legal work in those days was scarce, and the leisurely pace of life and litigation allowed Solicitors offices to operate without Secretaries or staff qualified to churn out the letters which are the trademark of today's lawyers. Indeed Tadhg's first task and on his first day as an apprentice Solicitor was to type out, with two fingers, a couple of letters for his master on an old fashioned manual typewriter.

Paddy O'Neill, brother of Dr. Joe O'Neill, then had offices on the first floor of Michael Anthony's Auctioneers in Emily Square where Tadhg as a young apprentice had Jack Lawler as a work colleague. Tadhg, who was 76 last month, was born in Canal House in Monasterevin where his father Fintan was the canal agent. The Brennan family moved to Athy in 1924 when Fintan was appointed Magistrates Clerk in place of T.J. Bodley. Coincidentally, the Brennan family initially resided in No. 5 Offaly Street where 21 years later another family whose son was also to embark on a legal career also lived. That same house was the offices of the District Court for a few short years after Fintan Brennan's arrival before being relocated in the Town Hall.

It was his father's suggestion, obviously based on his experience as a Magistrate Clerk and later a District Court Clerk which led Tadhg to undertake legal studies and an eventual apprenticeship with Paddy O'Neill. When the time came in March 1945 for Tadhg to set up his own Solicitors practice his aunt Kitty Heffernan, then living in Emily Row, offered her front room as an office. "Tadhg R. O'Braoinan", Solicitor, remains as the name of the practice to this day although Tadhg has long gone from it. The entire house has now been taken over by the practice which the young man started in the front room over 50 years ago.

Business was slow for quite a while and the opening of a branch office in Monasterevin and later in Rathangan helped to pass the hours even if sometimes it did not always increase the fee income. In those leisurely days Tadhg occasionally cycled to his branch offices with a small bundle of files on the bicycle carrier. As he admits himself he often made the same journey the following week, without having taken the tape off the carefully preserved files in the interim. This was a routine he maintained until about 1955 when his own apprentice Aidan O'Donnell qualified as a Solicitor. Judge O'Donnell as he is now, established a legal practice in Portarlington taking with Tadhg's blessing the Monasterevin branch practice which Tadhg had earlier developed.

All the time Tadhg was fulfilling his love for Gaelic games and as a boarder in Knockbeg College he played with the legendary Tommy Murphy in two Leinster Colleges Finals. Unfortunately Knockbeg lost on both occasions to St. Mel's College. Minor football for Athy G.F.C. was soon followed by Senior football for the same Club. With Athy Tadhg played in three Senior County Finals winning his only Championship medal in 1942. He recalls with a chuckle how as a young man of 21 years playing in his first final in 1941 as centre half back he was, to use his own words, "demolished by my opponent, Mick Keating a Garda Sergeant, who was an old man". The following years the same teams contested the County Final and this time Athy won following a replay. It may have been purely a coincidence that the same "old man, Mick Keating" was injured only after five minutes play although Tadhg hastens to add, he was not marking him that day.

In 1943 he played for U.C.D. and was honoured by the County selectors on two occasions playing against Offaly in October 1943 and Wexford in April 1944. On both occasions he joined two other local players Tommy Mulhall and Dinny Fox who were also County players. Tadhg's involvement with the local G.A.A. Club was not confined to playing football and he served in various Officer positions over the years. Recalling the great players who played with Athy he mentions Mick Mannion, a Galway man who taught in the local C.B.S., Paul Matthews, Joe Gibbons, Jack Dunne, George Comerford a Clare Garda stationed in Athy, Jim Malone, Jim Clancy, Stephen Whelan, Barney Dunne, Tommy Mulhall, 'Bird' Rochford and Joe Byrne. The heyday of the Athy football Club according to Tadhg was the years 1931 to 1937 when the Club won three Senior County Championships.

To be concluded next week.
Last week Jim Connor died in England where he had lived since leaving Castlemitchell in the 1950's. Jim and I had corresponded in the past and during the hot summer of 1995 he called on me while on his last holidays in his beloved south Kildare. I later had a great night of chat in Mary Prendergast's house with Jim and John Fennin as they recalled the "old days" in Castlemitchell. Jim's love for his native place was obvious as he brought me around Churchtown Graveyard that same evening, pointing out its many important features and passing on the local lore. He was particularly proud of the water fount which he had rescued on an earlier visit and had preserved on the site. Jim was later the subject of an Eye on the Past which I know gave him immense pleasure. Like so many of the missing generations from our area he had to live out his adult life far from the townlands he loved. His passing follows not so long after that of his friend Joe Bermingham with whom he was involved in the founding of Castlemitchell G.F.C. and the provision of the local Community Hall. Jim will be sadly missed.

The Bridge of Athy

Crom a Boo, known to Historians as the war cry of the Fitzgeralds but to every Athy person it means just one thing - the graceful humped-back bridge which spans the River Barrow in the centre of the town. This week we celebrate its Bi-Centenary. On the 23rd May, 1796 the first stone of the new bridge was laid by Robert Duke of Leinster.

The river Barrow was a natural frontier which in early times was forded and eventually bridged. The river crossing which was located in the vicinity was a place of trade which quite naturally gave way to a settlement in the 12th Century. The inevitable transition to a fortress town was to be expected given the need to protect this important river crossing.

A ford or crossing point on the Barrow would have been located at the point where the river water had spread itself to a shallow depth over hard ground such as rock or gravel. The next development was likely to be stepping stones placed on the river bed which in time would have been planked to give a Clapper Bridge. This was effectively the mere joining up of the stepping stones by placing oak planks across them and allowing pack horses and individuals to walk across without stepping into the water.

Strange to relate that the first bridges other than those of the Clapper Bridge type may have been provided by the Religious Monks. Bridge building was a recognised form of charity and indulgences were granted to those who donated funds, material or labour for that purpose.

Did the monks of the Holy Cross who built the first Monastery on the river bank alongside Woodstock Castle, in the area now known as St. John's, build the first bridge in Athy? We know that there was a Hospital attached to the Monastery which catered for the needs of travellers and given the designation of bridge building as a work of charity it is quite likely that the Monks built a bridge across the river near to their Monastery.

The first reference we can find to a bridge in Athy was in 1417 when Sir Richard Talbot, Viceroy of Ireland, built the bridge and a castle to defend it which he garrisoned with soldiers. This type of fortified bridge was a typical development in medieval years and in Athy's case was to give the town a description it has never lost "a garrisoned town". This early bridge was in all probability a typical medieval narrow humped-backed bridge with deep embrasures over the piers into which persons could stand to avoid oncoming carriages.

Whites Castle which is still in use after almost 600 years remained occupied by a garrison until about 1720 or thereabouts. It was then turned into a town jail as the military took over the purpose built barracks at the end of what became known as Barrack Lane, off Barrack Street. The castle remained as a jail until 1830 after which it was used as a local Police Barracks until the 1890's.

Crom a Boo Bridge, built in 1796 was likely to have replaced an earlier structure but not necessarily Talbot's bridge of 1417. The Confederate Wars of the 1640's were played out in many arenas throughout Ireland and Athy was for a period of eight years was one of the centres of war involving the Royalist, the Parliamentarians and the Confederates. The town was bombarded by cannon fire many times and the Dominican Monastery, the local castles and the bridge all succumbed to the destructive forces of the cannon ball. It was for this reason that the 1417 Bridge is unlikely to have survived until he existing Bridge was built in 1796 by the contractor Sir James Delahunty, Knight of the Trowel.

The late medieval period witnessed the development of water driven power and the construction of water mills. At either end of the Bridge of Athy mills were located and mill races channelled the water to the wheels which drove the mill machinery. A mill operated on the west side of the Crom a Boo Bridge up to 1924 and the ruins of the mill building were still standing until the late 1960's. Between Whites Castle and the present Castle Inn once flowed the mill race for the mill of O'Kelly which stood on the site. A tablet inset into the south wall of Whites Castle bears the date 1575 and refers to the O'Kelly mill.

Crom a Boo Bridge while still in its infancy was to witness many cruel acts. Trial by Court Martial was a common occurrence in Athy during the months of May and June 1798. Seven men were tried, convicted and hanged in the town in the early days of June. Six of those men were from Narraghmore and had been arrested following the killing of John Jeffries of Narraghmore whose widow Mary together with a number of other local residents had fled to Athy for protection. The seventh man hanged was named Bell, a graduate of Trinity College who lived in the Curragh. One of the Narraghmore men was Daniel Walsh a steward of Col. Keatings of Narraghmore and a member of the Narraghmore Yeomanry. On the day that Walsh and his companions were hanged, members of the Loyal Athy Infantry erected a triumphal arch across Crom a Boo Bridge under which the convicted men had to pass on their way from the jail in Whites Castle to the place of execution. The prisoners were accompanied by Fr. Patrick Kelly, a local curate, who enraged by what he saw rushed and knocked down a Yeoman named Molloy. Grabbing at the orange flag which was hoisted on the spot he pulled it down and trampled on it. It is believed that the yeomen who were present did not react as one might have expected because the prisoners were escorted by members of the Waterford Militia whose rank and file members were co-religionist of the prisoners. The hangings took place at the basin of the Grand Canal. Two of the seven were beheaded and their heads were placed on Crom a Boo Bridge to serve as warnings to the local people of Athy. Following Lord Edward Fitzgerald's arrest the local yeomen defaced with sledges the coat of arms of the Geraldine family which had been placed in the wall of Whites Castle when Crom a Boo Bridge was built in 1796.

Last week candles for peace in Ireland flowed on the water under Crom a Boo Bridge where once the blood of 2nd century warriors from Munster and Leinster had mingled with the "dumb waters". The locals stood on the River Bank watching the fading lights drift from view in a scene which must have been reminiscent of 200 years ago when the Duke of Leinster laid the first stone of Crom a Boo Bridge.

Happy Anniversary Crom a Boo.

'The House in the Heart' by Elizabeth Coxhead

Memories of the past are cherished by all of us. For some of us it is scenes of childhood with nostalgic remembrances of people and places which pleasure our thoughts as we recall our past. For those fortunate enough to have happy memories of the past, the endless memory bank ensures a ceaseless flow of enrichment which over time however often misshapes and distorts the past.

There is always undoubtedly a little exaggeration and always a little self-deception which unconsciously acts on the mind to trim the edges of memory. Some memories are discarded and in their place there can develop others which are perhaps more acceptable to us even if they are not true or accurate. It was my reading of Elizabeth Coxhead's book "The House in the Heart" published in 1959 which triggered these thoughts. Coxhead, who is perhaps better known as the writer of a biography of Lady Gregory and a book on Irish Rebel women had a link with Athy of the past. Her grandfather was James Moses Kelly, a baker from Athy who married Margaret Duncan, daughter of Alexander Duncan of Tonlegee House. Elizabeth Coxhead, born in 1909 died 70 years later. In her novel "The House in the Heart", she incorporated details and data of her own family's visits to Athy and Tonlegee House but cloaked the people and places with fictitious names.

The Duncans are identified as Robertsons and Tonlegee House is Mount Anne located just outside the market town of Kilrannon. Visualise if you will the journey of the English visitors who on arrival at the local railway station were met by an "elegant brown trap to drive the grown ups", a farm cart for the luggage and a wagonette for the children. Together they "made their triumphal progress down the High Street, past the Square with its pink and dove coloured houses, across the Bridge and beneath the little Norman Keep that guarded it."

Athy is readily identifiable from that description. What Elizabeth Coxhead did not know was that Athy's main street was called High Street long before it was ever renamed after the Duke of Leinster. Later "the Mount Anne Woods loomed up" before the convoy turned in through the drive gates "and there it sat in its lap of beeches, the big white house, square and unpretentious."

Further on as the tale of the Robertsons unfolded we are given further clues as to the identity of the town at the centre of Elizabeth Coxhead's novel. She wrote "the rest of them walked sedately the mile into Kilrannon and filled the front pew in the neat little Wesleyan Methodist Church that Douglas Robertson's munificence had built. A tablet on the wall commemorated his virtues".

Alexander Duncan of Tonlegee House, grandfather of Elizabeth Coxhead was responsible for the building of the Methodist Church in Woodstock Street. He had purchased the site, presented it to the Methodist Community and led the way in financing the Church building which was dedicated on the 12th of June 1874. His generosity is commemorated on a tablet in the Church and indeed his wife, who in the novel was alive but bedridden, was similarly commemorated after her death.

Another clue as to the identification of Mount Anne as Tonlegee House was a reference to the Lodge Keeper's House where the main drive emerged. This being further beyond Kilrannon than the back drive it was never used. "The long suffering Honour" lived in that tiny white pavilion built in the style of the main house which Coxhead described as having "no plumbing of any kind" despite the elegance of "the Victorian - Classic formulae".

"The second Tuesday of the month was the pig market, Kilrannon being the principal centre of trade in this animal" wrote Coxhead who recounted that "for many years now a respected adjunct of the market had been the Roberstons Breakfast Stall". Continuing she claimed that "the benighted place was quite without the teashops and cafes of its English counterparts, it lacked even a decent hotel. In the old days, farmers who had driven ten or twenty miles with their squealing cartloads found nowhere to breakfast except in drinking dens and most of them would be fuddled before midday and a prey to the rapacity of the Dublin bacon buyers."

The Robertsons daughters had consequently set up a breakfast stall where a very strong sweet tea, pies, sausage rolls and sandwich bread was sold. This stall was always set up in the south-east corner of the Square "under the statue of the 16th Duke", a right not disputed "even by the old clothes woman with her brazen racy patter who was the next most important attraction, and who queened it beside the Fountain in the south-west." The proceeds of the stall went "not to Wesleyan funds - that would have antagonised the Catholic element - but to the local interdenominational Hospital."

It is wonderful to read descriptions of Athy over 80 years ago even if some of the details puzzles rather than illuminates. Where for instance was the statue of the 16th Duke? A figment of the writer's imagination or perhaps an illustration of the fragility of youthful memory. Memories are a source of pleasure and happiness and Elizabeth Coxhead's book of childhood memories of Athy and the Duncans of Tonlegee House evoke a nostalgic response prompting a desire for others to put their memories of times past in print.

Commercial House Athy

I was in the audience for the last night of Fiddler on the Roof, the latest offering from Athy Musical and Dramatic Society and thoroughly enjoyed myself. It was a very good production, highlighted by the excellent performances of Martin Hennessy and Paula Dempsey. Based in a Russian village the action centred around the difficulties of a couple when brought face to face with the rejection of traditional values and customs by their children.

I was reminded again today of the relevance of tradition in our everyday life as I passed Emily Square and witnessed the changing scene which greeted me. Bryan Brothers, well known to all and sundry is now no more and already the builders are hard at work on the building which was once known as Commercial House. Leslie Bryan was the last of the Bryan family to carry on business as a draper in the shop which has witnessed many changes over the years. Leslie's father Robert, or as he was known Bob and his uncle George Bryan bought the Commercial House in 1952. Athy was then a thriving market town with monthly cattle and horse fairs which brought the country folk and the town folk together and inspired the commercial life of the town to heights which has not since reached.

In latter years Bryan Brothers was famous for the overhead pulley system which transferred money from the counter staff to the cashier who oversaw all financial transactions in the store. It too has gone, even before the builders had arrived to create new facades and new interiors from the familiar counters and shelves of a provincial towns draper shop. A new business will open up on the site before long and the relentless march of commercial life will continue without pause, unmindful of the history of the building which has stood on this site for many generations.

George and Bob Bryan purchased the building from John J. Glendenning in 1952. A Killarney based commercial traveller, Glendenning bought the business then known as Commercial House at Public Auction in the Town Hall, Athy, on the 10th of February 1946. No doubt inspired by the commercial activity which was then the hallmark of Athy, Glendenning had outbid many others to secure the imposing property which had been offered for sale by Mrs. Eleanor Murphy, widow, and her son William, both of whom lived at Prospect House. Prospect House on the Carlow Road had been built in 1830 as the residence for the Governor of the local jail and is today occupied by the O'Carroll family. Glendenning's relatively short time in Athy might seem to indicate a less than successful venture into local business and indeed it is believed that when he sold the property he did so for considerably less than he had paid at Auction six years previously.

Mrs. Eleanor Murphy's husband Joseph had acquired the business in 1926 following the death of his father Michael Murphy. Joseph himself died on the 12th of March 1928 and the business then passed to his widow Eleanor and his son William who was born in 1922. The Murphys at that stage resided at Sunnyside, Athy and Michael Murphy who had bought the premises in 1905 was I believe the person who gave it the name "Commercial House". In speaking to older people in Athy, reference is always made to Murphy's Commercial House. I have never heard of any reference to John J. Glendenning who carried on business there for six years immediately following the World War II. Undoubtedly however there are many who remember him and some of you will surely tell me about the Co. Kerry man who later sold the draper business to George and Bob Bryan. The 1910 edition of Porter's Post Office Guide describes Michael Murphy of Commercial House, The Square, as a "General Draper, Clothier, Outfitter and Boot Factor". Quite unusually he did not take an advertisement in the same Guide which was copiously illustrated with local business advertisements.

As you can imagine there has been a business house or shop on the site for generations past. For 32 years between 1873 and 1905 the premises were owned by members of the Bailey or Bayley family. William Bayley had acquired the premises in 1890 from Samuel Bailey who in turn had purchased it in 1873 from Francis Keegan, a fishmonger from Baggot Street, Dublin. Whether the Baileys or Bayleys were ever in occupation I cannot say for Slaters Directory of 1881 does not list anyone of that name carrying on business in Athy.

Francis Keegan, the Baggot Street fishmonger, who sold the premises to Samuel Bailey in 1873 had acquired it through his father Peter Keegan, also a fishmonger, of Fitzwilliam market, Dublin who had himself bought it in 1843. The property at that time consisted of two shops which were in later years amalgamated to form the existing extensive premises. In all probability one of the premises was used in connection with the Keegan fishmongering business between 1843 and 1873.

Before the Keegans John O'Neill was the owner, having acquired the premises in 1836 from John Owen or Owens, a tallow chandler. O'Neill was himself a chandler and between himself and Owens carried on that business from the premises for 20 years. Chandlers made candles which were so important for home and workshop in the days before gas and electricity. Owens, described as a tallow chandler, was therefore identifiable as a person who used tallow from local slaughterhouses in making his candles. In Piggot's Directory for 1824 John Owens was listed as a soap boiler as was another local man George Youall. This was a particularly unpleasant trade or craft to carry on in the centre of the town but in the context of the early 19th century it was not unusual.

The traditions of past livelihoods such as soap boiler and candle maker are now long lost to us and all that remains are names once associated with a building which itself is soon to be transformed beyond recognition.

Athy's Architecture

There has been a veritable deluge of talks and lectures in Athy over the last few months. Attending them is a very invigorating experience while both enjoyable and enlightening. The latest talk was given by Denis Cogan, Kildare County Architect, who is shortly to take up another similar appointment with Dun Laoghaire Borough Council. His talk entitled “Athy, Architecturally - Yours” was a stimulating romp through the buildings and stones of Athy interspersed with revealing insights into the people who either commissioned or designed them. The use of slides added tremendously to the occasion and were enjoyed by the good sized audience who sat in the former court room of the Town Hall.

It was to the outskirts of Athy, if one presumes to stretch that geographical term somewhat, that Denis first brought us. Kilkea Castle, the most important Anglo-Norman building in South Kildare, was the focus of his attention as he showed in slides the twelfth century building which was first occupied by Sir Walter De Riddlesford. He was a young knight of Anglo-Saxon stock who was reputedly related to King Henry of England. The family lasted only three generations in Kilkea and it was through the marriage of a grand-daughter of the original owner to Maurice Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald, third Baron of Offaly, that Kilkea Castle came into the ownership of the Fitzgerald family. It was future Earls of Kildare and Dukes of Leinster, head of the Fitzgerald family, who down the years exercised manorial control over the village and the later town of Athy. Understandably many of the fine buildings in Athy were designed and built as a result of the patronage of the Fitzgerald family.

One building which did not come about in this way was Woodstock Castle which Denis Cogan told us was built in the thirteenth century by the St. Michael family of Rheban. He referred to the fine examples of medieval stone tracery still visible in the blocked up windows of Woodstock. Whites Castle with the bridge which it was intended to defend was described by him as forming “the strongest image which visitors have of Athy”. In that he was clearly correct and in drawing our attention to the fact the County Architect was singling out Athy’s most important building in terms of the future development of the town’s historical heritage. Whites Castle stands at the very centre of Athy, a readily recognisable focal point and one which must engage our concern and aspirations for the future.

The profusion of Churches in Athy prompted a comment that “religion is big in Athy”. Perhaps it might have been more accurate to say that past religious fervour as exemplified in the many fine Church buildings of the town is unlikely ever again to be repeated. The Dominican Church drew extremely favourable comment from Denis who told us that the architectural source for the unusual Church design was a Church at Ronchainp and the monastery of La Tourette together with the work of American architects of the 1950’s who used complex double curved roofs such as that found in Kennedy Airport, New York.

It was revealing to hear his comments concerning St. Michael’s Catholic Church which he described as “unnecessarily large” and giving rise to problems of scale. For directly opposite reasons he found the new civic offices of Athy Town Council lacking the height necessary to “proclaim its civic presence”. It certainly suffers in comparison with the eighteenth century Town Hall which presents an imposing and commanding backdrop to Emily Square. Very favourable praise was reserved for St. Michael’s Church of Ireland, located at the end of Church Road which he described as making for “a dramatic axial view of the Church and spire”.

The involvement of Frederick Darley, a nineteenth century Architect best known for designing the RDS and the Kings Inn buildings in Dublin, was noted in many of the fine buildings in Athy. Chief amongst these was the Presbyterian Church, the adjoining Manse, the Model School and the Courthouse. Darley had been engaged by the Duke of Leinster to re-model Kilkea Castle and it was through the Duke’s patronage that this important Architect was employed in designing so many buildings in Athy. We are fortunate to have so many fine examples of his work in the town, particularly so when the buildings he designed are still in use and in relatively good condition. The stone finials on the Courthouse puzzled the County Architect as they have many others who have examined the building over the years. Are they mesonic symbols or are they symbols linked with the building’s original use as a Corn Exchange? If you have any views on this I would like to hear from you.

The former workhouse designed by George Wilkinson, an Oxford-based Architect, was next shown on slides, to be followed by the railway station which mercifully has recently been repainted in colours which are pleasing to the eye. The Rectory and Mount Offaly were highlighted as very important examples of private houses. The former was the work of Dean and Woodworth while the latter was described as a fine example of an early Georgian townhouse. Later Georgian houses at Woodstock Street were also favourably commented upon.

It was very interesting to hear Denis’ view of what he described as “the greatest architectural achievement” by succeeding generations of Athy people. This accolate was reserved for the central piazza dominated by the Town Hall which we all know as Emily Square. As County Architect Denis Cogan did much to ensure that the Town Hall would be restored in the 1980’s. The initial move to save the building which was in danger of being lost to the town was made by the local branch of An Taisce. The then County Manager Gerry Ward thankfully recognised the merit of the case made by An Taisce and put in place an innovative scheme to restore the Town Hall at a time when the County Council’s finances were limited. The Town Hall will remain a monument to the combined efforts of An Taisce, Gerry Ward and Denis Cogan, Architect in charge of the restoration.

In concluding his talk Denis confirmed that Athy is well endowed with buildings of architectural merit designed by many of the leading Architects of their time. His audience no doubt realise that but perhaps the message needs to go out to everyone in Athy. I wish Denis every success in his new appointment knowing that he will bring to that position the same good taste in architectural design that marked his work in County Kildare and especially Athy which he rightly described as “architecturally the most interesting town in County Kildare”.

Emigration from Athy

Emigration has always been the safety valve for our country. Without it we would inevitably have succumbed to the terrifying depths of deprivation all too common in Third World countries. One of the earliest records of emigration is that found in the "Journal of the House of Commons of the Kingdom of Ireland" for 1796 which was published as a special report of the Commons Committee set up in 1743 to investigate abuses of enforced transportation during the previous seven years. The 2,000 or so transportees listed in the Report were convicted felons or vagabonds sent over seas between 1735 and 1743. Amongst them was Graham Bradford, a Freeman of Athy of whom it was recorded in the Borough Council Minute Book of the 16th of October 1738 "was convicted in his Majesty's Court of Kings Bench of wilful and corrupt perjury and that he was pilloried and is now transported into some of his Majesty's plantations in America". It is interesting to note that the Minute Book was signed by nine members of the local Borough Council including Alexander Bradford, George Bradford and William Bradford.

The millions who left Ireland to journey by sailing ship to America during and after the Famine are listed in the seven volume "The Famine Emigrants - Lists of Irish Emigrants arriving at the Port of New York 1846 - 1851". Included amongst them were many hundreds who left Athy and South Kildare during that time. Unfortunately the lists do not give the County of origin so that we cannot identify the local people who left Ireland to start a new life in America. The voyage from Liverpool to New York usually took three to four weeks, longer in winter months. The majority of the sailing ships carried between 200 and 300 passengers while some of the larger vessels were capable of accommodating up to 500 people. Those fleeing from the Irish Famine and its aftermath had the dubious distinction of being the last group to cross the Atlantic under sail. The accommodation provided in steerage for the poor Irish emigrants was a breeding ground for cholera and dysentery. Ship Fever grew to alarming proportions during the Famine years and in Black '47 the Irish who died at Grosse Isle, an Emigration depot 30 miles below Quebec on the St. Lawrence River, numbered in excess of 5,000. Subsequent changes in shipping law required ventilation of steerage quarters and other improvements which greatly enhanced the prospects of Irish emigrants safely arriving in America.

In 1868 John J. Bealin, whose late father Mark Bealin had a bakery in the premises at the corner of Leinster Street now owned by Mrs. Lehane, left Athy for America with his older brothers William and Mark. Born on the 28th of December 1854 John J. had attended the local Christian Brothers School but when his father died and his mother remarried the three sons went across to Liverpool to join one of the new fangled steam ships then plying their trade between there and New York. The journey which in the earlier sailing ships took weeks could now be completed in less than 15 days. Bealin and other Irish emigrants alighted at America's first immigration depot Castle Clinton, three hundred feet off the southern tip of Manhattan.

Emigration to America continued to increase throughout the 19th century leading to demands to regulate entry into that country. Immigration laws were passed denying entry to Chinese nationals and "any convict, lunatic, idiot or any person unable to take care of himself or herself without becoming a public charge". On the 1st of January 1892 Ellis Island was opened as an immigration depot and the first person through its doors was 15 year old Annie Moore of Co. Cork whose statue now graces the refurbished Ellis Island Immigration Museum which is a major tourist attraction for New York tourists.

Between 1891 and 1901 the town of Athy suffered a population decrease of 1,267, many of whom can be expected to have emigrated to America. Amongst those who left may have been Bridget Greene, a 26 year old spinster who sailed from Queenstown as a steerage passenger with two pieces of luggage on the White Star Line R.M.S. Teutonic arriving in New York on the 15th of April 1897. She is now immortalised in print as one of the 141 steerage passengers on that boat whose names are included on a display panel in the Ellis Island Immigration Museum in New York Harbour. Listed only as from Co. Kildare she was one of the thousands who daily went through the inspection process which one had to successfully undergo to gain entry to America.

On landing each immigrant had a number tag pinned to his or her clothing for identification purposes. Jostling three abreast they made their way up the steep flight of stairs to the great Registry Room. Public Health Doctors examined each person for any one of sixty diseases which would exclude a hapless emigrant from the mainland. The disease which resulted in most exclusions was trachoma, an infectious eye disease. Doctors used button hooks to lift up each persons eyelid for evidence of inflammation which would indicate the presence of trachoma. From there the frightened emigrant passed on to the next room where inspectors posed questions to ascertain each persons social, economic and moral fitness. It could take hours if not days to successfully circumvent the system of checks before one was permitted to take the ferry to Manhattan. If turned away for any reason the unfortunate person faced the sad, lonely boat journey back to Ireland.

Many of Athy's finest left the town for America in the early 1920's. The local G.A.A. Club suffered enormously at that time from the loss of young players who sought their future in the States. Sapper O'Neill and Michael Mahon, two County footballers were just two of the great footballers who left Athy for America in the 1920's. Mahon emigrated in October 1927 and on the night before the local G.A.A. Club, then called Young Emmets, held an "American Wake" for him in the Town Hall. Like so many others he was never to return to his home town.

The White Star Line which had boats travelling to New York and Boston from Liverpool, stopping at Cobh, operated through agents in Athy two of whom were T.J. Brennan of Duke Street and Edmund Mulhall of Barrow Bridge House. The price of a tourist cabin in 1928 for a single journey ranged from £22 to £25 depending on the time of year and the ship on which one travelled. This was a considerable sum at a time when a pint cost ten pennies, the equivalent of little more than 4p today.

One of the many interesting features of Ellis Island Immigration Museum is the American Immigrant Wall of Honour. Here are recorded some of the names of those 12 million immigrants from all lands who passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954. Virtually ever nationality is represented on the Wall of Honour, the largest wall of names in the world which will remain for posterity in the shadow of the nearby Statue of Liberty. The names of all those who left Athy since the Great Famine of 150 years ago can never hope to be recorded. Some are remembered but for the most part they are forgotten, a lost diaspora which sought tolerance, opportunity and freedom in a foreign country.

Leinster Street 1932 (2)

Continuing our survey of Leinster Street in 1932, we retrace our steps and start with the shop opposite the Leinster Arms Hotel. That first building bearing the name Athy Co-Operative and Agricultural Stores. It was known locally as the Co-Op Stores and its neighbour was a shop owned by Delaneys. The Leinster Arms Hotel yard lay between Delaneys and Miss Darby's house. The yard provided secure parking for the Hotel patrons and was watched over by the ever vigilant Paddy Webb of St. Patrick's Avenue, a ex-Army man who was later Caretaker of the C.Y.M.S. Hall in Stanhope Place. Miss Bridget Darby was a teacher in Churchtown and a member of Athy Urban District Council. Indeed she may well hold the distinction of being the first female member of that body. She was a member of the Fianna Fail party and very involved in the Irish Language Revival movement.

Next door was another private house before we met Hutchinson's Hibernian Hotel. Mr. Hutchinson was an electrician who carried on extensive electrical business for many years. He later lived in Church Road. The Hibernian Bank, the finest building in the street, is now occupied by the Hibernian Insurance Company. It was next door to the small two storey house of Dan Neill, a local Building Contractor. In the 1950's Dan owned the lands now occupied by the Kingsgrove housing estate on the Carlow Road and his only employee in those days so far as I can recall was Jim "Salty" Doyle of Butlers Row. Duthie Larges had extensive premises fronting on to Leinster Street as well as commodious buildings extending back up Chapel Lane. Once the largest garage and only foundry in Athy it continued in business until the early 1980's. Dooley's Bakery occupied a premises now owned by Mrs. Hughes. This was an extensive business with several bread delivery vans on the road. It was owned by Paddy Dooley, brother of Michael Dooley of Duke Street.

Across Chapel Lane was T.C. Walsh's pub, later Hickeys and now "Cheers" Bar. Doran's clothes shop was next door to Campbells harness maker while "Sapper" Neill was still carrying on his butchering business in the adjoining premises. It was later acquired by Willie McGrath who was in time to open McGrath's tearooms in the same premises. Hylands were next door to Jacksons and then a large emporium consisting of a grocery, hardware shop, drapery, shoe shop and garage. The business was put into receivership in the late 1950's given the now infamous Russell Murphy some early experience of Irish provincial business live. Part of the premises was sold in 1963 to a consortium which included Pat Flood who is now retired and living in Chanterlands.

Fran Doran's clothes shop was next with Johnny "Mockers" McMahon's sweet shop alongside Mick Egan's tailoring shop. What is now Sunderlands was believed to have been a small sweet shop and lodging house while Wynnes shoe repair shop was then a private house owned by Mick Howard who worked in Blanchfields Sawmills. Kellys lived next door followed by Miss Johnson's shop. This prompts me to ask if this was where Paddy Johnson lived after moving from Boher Bui when St. Michael's Cemetery was extended. He is believed to be the only man legally buried in his own back yard, lying as he is inside the front wall of St. Michael's Cemetery where his small house was once located.

The next house was occupied by a Mr. Langton whom I believe to have been an uncle of Tom Langton, well remembered and beloved Postman and Fireman now long deceased. Mrs. O'Meara's pub to where Barney Dunne first came to work in the 1930's is now called The Anglers Rest. There are still three public houses here and 64 years ago the last two were owned by Paddy Kelly and Jim McEvoy. Alex Kelly who died quite recently was a son of Paddy Kelly while Jim McEvoy present proprietor of the Railway Bar is a son of the late Jim McEvoy.

Conroys sweet and grocery shop was followed by a row of houses occupied by George Ellard's father, Mick Langton - a postman like his son Tom, Jack Roche, 'Locky' Murray, Mick Ellard, Miss Watts who worked in Jacksons and John Maher who was a Drayman for C.I.E.. Across Kirwan's Lane was to be found the Railway Bar, owned by Pat O'Brien whose brother Michael owned and operated the Nags Head also in Leinster Street. Next came three houses occupied by the Reilly family, the May family and Isaac Thompson and his family. Nellie Reilly, later had a sweet shop in the front room of the family home before she emigrated to England in the 1950's. The large house now known as the Care of the Elderly home was then occupied by Mr. Rogers, an Englishman, who was Caretaker of the Peoples Park and agent for the Duke of Leinster.

Looking back at the names of those who lived and worked in Leinster Street 64 years ago it is not surprising to find that many of those names are no longer there today. Some physical changes are also noted in the street, particularly in relation to the small row of houses which adjoined Conroys shop. These houses are now gone, the last occupied by Mrs. Ellard having been demolished last year. The three small houses adjoining Blanchfields in the square are now roofless shells. Elsewhere on the street businesses have changed and private houses have been converted to shops. I wonder what the future holds for the street in 1060 when another 64 years will have elapsed.

Leinster Street 1932 (1)

1932 - The Year of the Congress. Perhaps one of the most easily remembered dates in our recent history. Equalled only by the epoch making Easter Rebellion of 1916 but with this difference. There are not many whose memories can extend back 80 years to the time when Pearse and his colleagues set out to change the course of Irish history. The Eucharistic Congress is however another matter. There are many who can recall the pomp and ceremony which surrounded the biggest religious ceremony ever witnessed in this country. It was a year which was forever to be fixed in peoples memories.

Some of our elders can still recall the events in Dublin that year but it's to a man, then only 12 years of age, to whom I turn for his memories of Leinster Street in the year of the Congress. 'Robbie' Robinson of whom I wrote recently remembers the street which he walked through each morning and afternoon as he travelled to and from the local Christian Brothers School.

Starting at the junction of Emily Square 'Robbie' recalls Henry Sylvester's Public House which is now incorporated into the Leinster Arms Hotel. In more recent years it had been an off-licence and in my young days was the site of Miss Dallon's sweet shop. Henry was the father of Mona Sylvester who later owned a sweet shop in Emily Row. A first class musician she was leader of the Ivy Band which played at local dances in and around Athy in the 1940's and early 1950's. The Leinster Arms Hotel was next door managed then by Miss Darcy. An Inn or Hotel has been on this site since the 18th century and perhaps even longer.

Freddie Darling's barber shop and the Misses Dillon's sweet shop were next in line followed by the public house now owned by Des Noonan but then operated by Jim Nelson. Fred Darling was a superb tennis player whose brother Harry Darling, also a barber in Kildare Town, was perhaps the finest tennis player in County Kildare. The Dillon sisters premises was subsequently acquired by Charlie Prendergast who carried on an electrical business there for many years. Their brother was "Chopsie" Dillon who had a butchers shop further up the street. Blanchfields lived next door and when I had my offices in the same building I recall Eoin Blanchfield paying a visit to what was once his old home and telling the sad story surrounding the tragic death in the house of his young brother.

John Maher's Public House and Undertaking business was next door, today still carrying the name Baptys over the front door even though Bapty, son of John Maher is now long dead. John's father was the first funeral undertaker in Athy who started his business in the 1880's from premises at the corner of Kirwan's Lane which is now a Chinese Take-Away. Johnny Bollards Printing Works was next and I recall meeting some years ago Johnny's son who is now an official of the Bank of Ireland. Athy Tea Rooms and J.C. Reynolds, Dentist, came before 'Chopsie' Dillon's Butcher shop. 'Chopsie' is not to be confused with the man of the same name who had a pub in Barrow Quay. J.C. Reynolds and his son Ken were prominent members of the Social Club in St. John's Lane and Ken is included in many of the photographs of the Social Club drama players of the 1940's and 1950's. Archie Sullivan, a cobbler, and Mrs. Brennan's shop were under the same roof just before Meeting Lane. Archie died in England some years ago and his remains were brought home for burial in his beloved town of Athy.

Across the lane named after the Quaker Meeting House built on the site of the Dispensary in 1780 was Lawler's Hotel. Next door was a private house and then Mrs. Candy's sweet shop. Her son Denis Candy was County Manager in Meath when I took up my appointment as Town Clerk of Kells in the 1960's. James and Nell Mulhall, parents of "Hocker", "Smiler" and "Gussy" lived in No. 14 next to the Nags Head Public House owned by Michael O'Brien and further up the street was William Scully's public house now owned by Clancys. The Railway Hotel was the second of three Hotels on Leinster Street, this establishment being owned by Tom Flood, an old I.R.A. veteran who had been imprisoned in Mountjoy Jail during the War of Independence. Empeys, Painters and Decorators occupied what is now the video shop. Most Rev. Bishop Walton Empey, Bishop of Kildare and Meath, lived here while a young man next door to McLaughlins Public House which is today still operated by Bridie and Kitty McLoughlin. Their father James McLaughlin, born in Buncrana, came to Athy in the 1920's from Belfast. Mrs. Grimes sweet shop was next door followed by Mrs. Blanchfield's private house and Dillons private house. The two end houses were occupied by Matt Murray, Plumber, who was later succeeded by his son of the same name and Peter Hyland whose son Tom was one time Caretaker of St. Michael's Cemetery. In the small recessed square at the end of the street was to be found Blanchfields sawmills and their private house next door to the small houses occupied by "Compri" Nolan, "Golly" Germaine and Anthony Nolan. "Golly" was an ex-World War I veteran whom I recall as one of the great characters of Athy when I was growing up. To be continued.

Woodstock Castle

Last week the South Kildare Branch of An Taisce hosted a talk in the Town Hall dealing with Woodstock Castle. Concern has been expressed at the present state of disrepair of this important building which has stood on the site for over 700 years. The recent granting of heritage status to Athy was in part a recognition of the building heritage of the town. If we wish to maintain Athy's claim to that heritage status then we must show a willingness to save and protect those local buildings which are an important part of our heritage. Chief amongst those must be Woodstock Castle which stands some distance from the centre of the town. It was built in the 13th century by the St. Michael family of Rheban following the allocation to them of lands in the area by Strongbow. Following such land division it was customary to construct a fortified building at a place of strategic importance and so it was that Woodstock Castle was built on the western side of the Ford of Ae, a river crossing on the Barrow.
The first castle built on the site was probably of wood which was replaced in time by the stone building which still stands as a lonely sentinel guarding the west bank of the River Barrow. More properly referred to as a Hall Keep it was the Manor Castle of Woodstock and figured large in the developing history of Athy, especially in the medieval years. It was to Woodstock Castle that the Friars of the Holy Cross came in the early years of the 13th century to establish their monastery. The area in which that monastery was located was known as St. John's, a name still retained for the laneway which runs parallel to Duke Street. The future town, then a mere village, was taking shape on the west bank of the River and in 1253 the Dominican Order founded a second monastery in the area, now known as The Abbey at the rear of Emily Square.

The village of Athy was home to French speaking Anglo Normans and understandably the native Irish, who lived in the wooded regions of the area now known as Laois and beyond, soon vented their displeasure by attacking the village. On at least four occasions during the 13th century the village of Athy, including Woodstock Castle and the monasteries, was attacked and badly damaged by the warring Irish.

The settlers were a resilient lot and on each occasions rebuilt their settlement. At this time another settlement was to be found near Rheban Castle which was also built by the St. Michael family again near a river crossing. Nothing now remains of that settlement other than the remains of Rheban Castle itself. The survival of the Athy settlement while neighbouring settlements were disappearing might have been due to nothing more than mere chance. Rheban, like Athy, was attacked on many occasions but unlike its neighbour Rheban was soon deserted and reverted to its original rural status as did the nearby medieval village of Ardscull. Another village settlement to disappear was Ardreigh on the Carlow side of Woodstock Castle.

It was Sir John Talbot, Viceroy of Ireland, recognising the strategic importance of Athy on the Marches of Kildare who built a bridge across the Barrow and a Fortress to protect it. In time Whites Castle became the focus of future development on the east bank of the river. The earlier village settlement on the west bank may have been abandoned at this stage given the difficulties of protecting it from the Irish. Whites Castle, then garrisoned and protecting the only bridge across the river afforded greater protection for the settlers who lived and worked in the village on the east bank. Woodstock Castle which was still occupied and remained so up to the 17th century was left virtually isolated. Nevertheless it continued to present itself as a formidable fortress while it was occupied.

As originally constructed Woodstock Castle was a rectangular keep which in architectural terms might be more correctly described as a "Hall Keep". It is a classical example of an Anglo Norman construction of the early 13th century and similar if larger examples can be found at Grennan, Co. Kilkenny and Greencastle, Co. Down. Woodstock has been subject to alterations especially in the 16th century. A tower at the southeast angle of the original Keep was added then as an additional defensive feature. On the west face of the tower at first and second storey level are a pair of circular gunports set within rectangular openings. This form of gunport first appeared in England in the 1520's. The gunports which are now blocked up served to defend the Castle on the only side which did not have an enclosing wall. They were used in connection with floor cannons and above each gunport are to be seen viewing slits to enable the gunner to look out while firing the cannon. These features are of national importance, being very fine examples of 16th century gunports, very few of which are to be found in Irish castles.

Other alterations made in the Castle in the 16th century including the raising of the walls to provide another storey and the insertion of large windows in the west, east and south walls. All these windows have hood mouldings with the finest example to be found at the northeast corner of the east wall. These features probably coincided with the leasing of the Castle to William Sheregolde in 1560 under a Lease which provided for improvements to be carried out by the Lessee.

Woodstock Castle has survived for over 700 years but it now needs urgent repair work to protect some of its more important features. It would be shameful if we were to allow the first building erected on the future town of Athy to be lost to future generations. It is a priceless if somewhat sadly neglected building which could and should be restored to enhance Athy's claim as a heritage town. Athy Urban District Council are the owners of Woodstock Castle and now that the area around the Castle is being landscaped perhaps it is now an opportune time to look at the possibility of saving this 13th century building.

Tourist Trail for Athy

I have been writing recently the first draft of the new Tourist Trail for Athy which will hopefully be printed in time for the summer season. While doing this I realised just how rich Athy is in relation to historical buildings. Living in the area for so long tends to dull ones appreciation of what is around us and the discipline of putting down on paper the local buildings and localities with historical connections only serves to reactivate a proper sense of appreciation.

The most visible reminder of our past is of course Whites Castle, a resplendent tower of stone, guarding the bridge over the River Barrow. Built in 1417 by Sir John Talbot, Viceroy of Ireland, its unique position in the centre of Athy makes it a focal point for all historical enquiry relating to the town. The Bridge over which it originally stood guard has long since been replaced and the existing bridge dates back to May 1796. Just imagine that's two years before the most harrowing Rebellion of 1798 which engulfed Ireland in bloodshed and grief. Athy and district was now spared in those dark days and Whites Castle, then a jail, held many locals in its dark cells. One of the most famous of those prisoners was Thomas Reynolds, one time resident of Kilkea Castle and notorious informer who somehow ended up here for a while before Dublin Castle authorities realised that they had jailed one of their own.

That same Castle and the Bridge witnessed the harrowing experience of seven Narraghmore men who were taken from the jail and frogmarched across the Bridge to the banks of the Canal to be hanged. Later beheaded their heads were stuck on the Bridge as a warning to others not to get involved in rebellious activity. Many who pass over that same Bridge today know nothing of those terrible times when fear stalked the streets of Athy.

Across the River near Greenhills stands the tall stone skeleton of what was once the proud Castle of Woodstock. This 13th century edifice altered in the 15th century replaced an earlier wooden castle on the site which was built by the Anglo Normans to defend the Ford or river crossing on the Barrow. So it is that two Castles stand on the banks of the Barrow River, separated not only by the "dumb waters" but also in time by almost two centuries. They represent the early and middle years of Anglo Norman influence in Athy and District and are priceless reminders of the heritage of those periods.

The later commercial life of the developing town of Athy is encapsulated in the fine building with the quite remarkable northern facade which acts as a distinctive backdrop to Emily Square. The Town Hall built in the early years of the 18th century marked Athy's transition from village to market town and the fine expanse of open space around it then known as Market Square was a hive of activity where local traders and townspeople mingled with the farmers and their produce. It is not always easy to visualise while standing amongst the parked cars in what is now a municipal car park that not so many years ago men and women worked here while children played among the stalls unburdened by any requirement to attend school. Indeed in a doorway of the Town Hall one local man carried on business as a cobbler for over 20 years, each morning setting up his tools providing a welcome service for the farmers who came to the town.
The building heritage of the town is graced by many fine Churches from the ultra-modern, at least in the context of the 1960's, of the Dominican Church to the earlier examples of ecclesiastical architecture such as the Presbyterian, Methodist and Church of Ireland Churches. The 14th or 15th century Church in the grounds of St. Michael's Cemetery is yet again an important element in the story of Athy. Built on a site outside the medieval walls of the town it served as the first secular Catholic Church in Athy and later in post-Reformation days as a Chapel for the Church of England.

Further out the Dublin Road in the direction of Gallowshill, where many unfortunates paid the ultimate penalty for breaches of the criminal code the fine cut stone building of the former Model School and Agricultural School is to be found. It is a very attractive building part of which would be ideal for recounting in display models and in the spoken and written words the story of the Model and Agricultural Schools of the last century and the Lancastrian system of education. Maybe the Office of Public Works in conjunction with the local Heritage Company might look at the possibility of doing this.

Another possible area of co-operation this time between the Heritage Company and the Eastern Health Board could be in recreating the Workhouse and the Famine experience in what remains of the original Athy Workhouse. The original part of the building to the front of St. Vincent's Hospital presents a fine panorama of what the Poor House was in the 1840's and it is here in part of that building that an opportunity exists for recreating what was an important part of our town's story.

Athy originally the Anglo Norman town later a garrisoned town has a proud history stretching back 800 years. The survival of so many important buildings in the town enables us to relive our past in a context which must enliven our understanding and appreciation of history. There is a marvellous opportunity awaiting Athy as a heritage town to develop its own distinctive historical past in a manner which can prove not only commercially beneficial but also personally satisfying to those who live in Athy.

Undertakers of Athy

Undertakers. Have you ever wondered how such an inappropriate name was first applied to a group whose job is to dispose of the dead. Nowadays they are known, not by the simple appellation but by the more stately sounding Funeral Directors. They perform a most trying job and one which up to not so long ago was performed by the community at large.

In the past friends and neighbours of the deceased carried the coffin, dug the grave and carried out the burial services without the assistance of an undertaker or Priest. This was the way of the countryside up to 100 years ago and with the dawn of this century formal funeral undertaking came to the fore. One of the earliest undertakers in Athy was Mrs. Maher, grandmother of Bapty Maher who in time carried on the business from the rear of his public house in Leinster Street. Many are the stories told of late night imbibers of liquid nourishment who sought to conceal themselves in the empty coffins at the back of Bapty's when the local Gardai were so inconsiderate as to make a late night call to the premises.

Joseph Rigney started up his undertakers business in Blackparks just after the ending of World War I. Today the business is being carried on by Joe Rigney, his grandson. In the early years coffins were made locally. Initially Blanchfields of Leinster Street met the requirements of all the local undertakers but in time Rigneys made their own until it was no longer an economic proposition to do so on a regular basis. However, Martin Joe Rigney, son of the founder of the firm who served his time as a coffin maker, still turns out an occasional coffin on request.

The cost of a funeral in 1919 understandably bears little comparison to today's cost. For a five pound note you could then have an oak coffin and a horse and hearse to bring you on your last journey. Ten shillings less gave you an elm coffin. Society funerals, as they were then called, justified the use of plumes on the horses, black for adults, white for young persons or single ladies. They continued in use until the early 1930's when to the undoubted relief of the horses the plumes were put away for the last time. Although they presented an imposing sight as the funeral cortege winded its way through the streets of the town the plumes were heavy and were consequently disliked by the horses.

A hearse pulled by horses was believed to have been first used in Athy by Mrs. Maher and the tradition continued up to 1936 when the first motorised hearse appeared on the streets. The petrol scarcity experienced during World War II limited the local undertakers to a twenty mile radius from their home basis and in 1940 led to the re-introduction of the horse drawn hearse. Indeed horses remained an important mode of transport for local funerals up to 1950. The difficulties of the War years can be gauged from the experience of Rigneys who used up three months petrol rations in journeying to Dublin for a local nun who died in Hospital. There was nothing to do but to garage the motor hearse until the petrol coupons again became available.

During the late 1930's there were three funeral undertakers in Athy. Mahers of Leinster Street, Rigneys of Blackparks and Tommy Stynes who had just started up business in Leinster Street. Today the only undertakers in Athy are Rigneys who have provided a funeral home in Bennetsbridge.

One of the endearing features of ceremonies surrounding the dead in the not too distant past was the Wake. No funeral homes then to receive the mortal remains. Instead the body was kept in the home overnight and an open house was kept while the neighbours and friends talked and comforted the relations throughout the long day and night before the removal to the Church. Much has been written of the Irish custom of waking the dead and Sean O'Suillabhain wrote an engaging book on the subject "Irish Wake Amusements" some years ago. In it he recounted the story telling, dancing, card playing and "horse playing" which was all part of Irish Wakes up to the last century. Clerical opposition to some of these practices resulted in Bishops forbidding unmarried men or women from attending wakes from sunset to sunrise under pain of mortal sin. As late as 1927 the Synod of Maynooth forbade the holding of unchristian and unseemly wakes "at which the corpse was present". Presumably if the corpse was put outside you could enjoy yourself without fear of clerical censure!

Bringing the dead to the local Catholic Church was not a straight-forward matter even up to 46 years ago. One had to pay thirty shillings to bring the dead person inside the door of the Church and if you had enough money to pay for a sung Mass the corpse was allowed to rest before the Altar. If you were unable to pay the appropriate fee then the corpse went directly from the house to the Graveyard without the benefit of clergy but with the local Sacristan James McNally who said the De Profunds at every crossroads on the way to St. Michael's. This was the origin of the custom whereby the hearses today stop at the corner of Emily Square on their way to the local cemetery.

It was Fr. John McLoughlin of fond memory who put an end to this practice and from 1950 onwards every dead person was brought to the Church. It took a little longer to effect a change in the practice whereby the poor dead of the County Home were buried without the attendance of clergy. Instead a box of clay blessed by a Priest was available and a handful of the clay was thrown onto the coffin after it was put into the grave. It was Tom Carbery, a local Councillor, then living in St. Martin's Terrace who at a local Council meeting raised this issue which so scandalised many that thereafter a Catholic curate was available for all burials.

Michael 'Robbie' Robinson

His father George Robinson enlisted in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers at the start of World War I. Home on leave he married his sweetheart Mary Nolan of Ballyshannon before returning to the trenches. He was one of the lucky ones, surviving a bullet wound in the leg. At the end of the War he returned to farm work as a ploughman eventually ending up head ploughman with Condells of Prusselstown.

Michael Robinson, one of his six children was born on the 8th of August 1920 at Thomastown, Kilcullen and has lived in Athy since 1928. Known to everybody as "Robbie" he has a remarkable recall of life in Athy since the early 1930's. After attending the local C.B.S. he got his first job from Captain Hosie, as he was then known in the local Foundry at the top of Leinster Street on the 25th April 1935. The I.V.I. Foundry was established by Hosie in what was previously the Pound Field adjoining St. Michael's Terrace. The field has been designated as a site for the proposed new Technical School for Athy to replace the old school building then in use in Stanhope Place. For whatever reason another site on the Carlow Road was later purchased and it was there that the new Technical School was opened in 1940.

Captain Hosie acquired the Pound Field after it was no longer required as school site and established the I.V.I. Foundry. He has previously worked in Duthie Larges of Leinster Street, an extensive business which had a Foundry Works in Chapel Lane. Hosie left Duthie Larges to open a garage in 1928 where Maxwells is now located and when McDonnell's Amusements left the Pound Field in 1934 for the last time John Blanchfield of Leinster Street began the levelling of the site for the new Foundry buildings.

The first casting was made in the Foundry on the 21st March 1935 and the following months saw Michael Robinson join the firm where he was to remain for 48 years. His nickname "Robbie" was given to him on his first day in the job by Captain Hosie and has remained with him ever since.

He recalled some of the people who worked in the I.V.I. in those early years. Hannah Hosie and Miss Large of Rheban were in the office while in the Foundry itself were men such as Mick Webster, Upper William Street, Tommy Pender of Mount Hawkins, "Compri" Nolan of Leinster Street, Hepburn of Duke Street, Paddy Donegan of Duke Street, Tom and Paddy Hickey of Bert and Sean Dooley of Levitstown. He recalls Malachan Campbell, a Scotsman, as the Foreman to whom he reported on his first morning at work. The working hours were from 7.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m and on Saturdays from 7.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., for which "Robbie" received 5/= each week.

Some weeks ago when writing of Meeting Lane where "Robbie" and his family lived for a short while, I mentioned the nickname "Black Sam" by which he was known to some people. Those who knew him by that name thought that it arose out of his involvement in the Black and White Minstrel shows in the Town Hall in the 1930's. "Robbie" who has a fine tenor voice did indeed take part in many concerts and shows in the Town Hall but as he explains the name "Black Sam" had a more romantic provenance. Apparently when he was interviewed for the job in the I.V.I. in 1935 it was confidently expected that another man known locally as "Black Sam" who was dating a Cunningham girl from Meeting Lane would get the job. Michael got the job and with it the name of the man whom many believed he had replaced in the I.V.I.

During his 48 years in the I.V.I. he saw the Foundry go through many good and bad times. In the early years manufacturing agricultural implements was the main stay of the business but the outbreak of World War II brought a downturn in demand. All pig iron and coke used in the Foundry were imported from England and during the years 1939 to 1945 pig iron could not be brought into the country. It was then that scrap metal was utilised whenever and wherever it could be obtained while a limited supply of English coke was supplemented by supplies from Irish coal mines. The Foundry closed down for short periods during the War when supplies of coke and iron were not available.

The end of the War saw a resurgence in the Irish building industry and the making of rainwater goods gave a new lease of life to the Foundry. At the height of its activity upwards of 150 men were working in the I.V.I. Hosie, who had enlisted for the duration of the Second World War returned as Colonel Hosie while sadly his only son who might have been expected to follow his father into the Foundry business was killed in action. Colonel Watson, an Englishman, was employed after the War as General Manager of the Foundry and later on George Hudson came from Wales to take over as Works Manager. Mr. Hudson is retired and living in McDonnell Drive and it is to him that Michael and others who worked in the Foundry gave credit as the man "who put the I.V.I. on his feet".

The post-War success was not to be sustained and the business was to close in 1986 having been taken over some years previously by Waterford Foundry.

"Robbie" over the years has involved himself in many aspects of community life in Athy and has used his talents as a singer to benefit many local charities. Indeed he spent a time in the late 1940's and early 1950's as lead singer with the Ivy Band lead by Mona Sylvester of Emily Row. But that is another story for another day.

"Robbie" is now living in retirement in Clonmullin with his wife Caroline whom he married in 1942. Caroline's family owned and ran the "Caledonian Amusements" which wintered in Athy in 1939 and subsequent years. The amusements were located in the area known as the Chapel Well where the car park is now located opposite St. Michael's Church. Caroline and her sister Nora married locally, Nora subsequently emigrating to England with her husband "Thrush" Kelly. Of "Robbie's" and Caroline's four children their son George known as "Bargy" and daughter Caroline are living in Athy while their eldest son Michael is in Australia and the youngest Victor in Wexford.

1935 All Ireland Final - Cavan v. Kildare

The Irish Press for Saturday the 21st of September 1935 had under a front page headline "Greatest Game This Year - Expectations for Final Tomorrow - Cavan -v- Kildare", the story of the second meeting between these two Counties in an All Ireland Final scheduled for the following day. The pundits expected the Final to go the way of the first meeting between the Counties when Kildare were victorious. "No Gaelic game for several years aroused so much interest" wrote the Press reporter who alerted his readers to "a minor sensation created when the Kildare selectors decided to drop the goal keeper who played in all their matches this year". The player dropped was Patrick "Cuddy" Chanders of Athy, the County team's regular goal keeper who had kept his goal intact throughout the Championship games leading up to the All Ireland Final. He was replaced by Jim Maguire of Naas who had played for some years on the County team but never as goal keeper. The G.A.A. Club in Athy were incensed at what they felt was unfair treatment of their Club member and sent a telegram of protest to the team's training quarters at Oakley Park, Celbridge. All to no avail, even though it was rumoured that the Kildare mentors were reconsidering the matter on the morning of the Final. Many of the team members including Paul Matthews, team Captain, and Tommy Mulhall both colleagues of Chanders in Athy, were unhappy with the Selectors decision as were Castledermot players Paddy Martin and Patrick Byrne.

Some persons have claimed that Chanders allegedly poor performance in a challenge game against Meath was the reason for his demotion. In that game he had conceded six goals but did so while playing behind defenders who were not regulars on the County team. Given his solid performances in the Kildare shirt since first being selected it does seem insufficient reason for dropping him on the eve of an All Ireland Final.

Kildare had beaten Cavan on their own home ground in a challenge game some months previously. They were expected to run out easy winners in Croke Park on All Ireland day. Maybe it was over confidence which led the Kildare mentors to pick Maguire instead of Chanders. The Athy man was seen as a "pick and shovel man" and might have been regarded as a less suitable ambassador for Kildare football than Maguire. This claim gained currency in the aftermath of Kildare's defeat given that as All Ireland Champions Kildare would be expected to travel to America the following May. As Paddy Chanders proved in his later life not least by his dignified acceptance of what was a very strange decision by the Kildare mentors he was as good an ambassador as any Club or County could ever hope to have.

The radio programme on Athlone wavelength that Saturday night included a short item immediately following the second news at 10.45 p.m. when the Captains of Cavan and Kildare spoke for a few minutes from the Dublin studio on their chances in the great match. Kildare Captain, 29 year old Paul Matthews from Athy said "I think we will win. We are better in fact than against Mayo and are by no means underestimating the strength of Cavan whom we know as great Championship fighters. There may not be a great deal in it but what little there is will I think be on the side of Kildare".

Another Athy Club player on the team was Tommy Mulhall described by the Press with Mickey Geraghty, Frank Dowling and Jimmy Dowling "as the smartest quartet of footballers seen out in the past ten years". Tommy at 24 years of age was playing in his first All Ireland Final at right half forward.

The papers on Monday the 23rd of September told the sad tale so far as Kildare followers were concerned. "All Whites had no answer to Brefni, bustle and dash" ran the headline in the Irish Press. In a game in which the older style of high-catching and long kicking of Cavan was matched against the skill and craft of Kildare, Cavan were victorious. The splendid fielding of the Cavan men was especially noted at midfield where Paul Matthews did not play as well as expected and where his colleague Kit Higgins was injured early in the first half. Cavan ran into an early lead and were 1-5 to 0-1 in front three minutes before the end of the first half. Tommy Mulhall then scored a goal after the ball had rebounded off the upright following a shot by Tom Keogh. The half time whistle blew with Cavan leading 2-5 to Kildare's 1-2.

On the resumption Cavan continued their scoring spree adding another goal and point before Kildare replied with a point by Paul Matthews. But the result was inevitable and despite Kildare's efforts to cut back on the Cavan lead, the final whistle went with Cavan running out relatively easy winners on the score line of 3-6 to 2-5.

Paul Matthews, a Louth man who had never played football before coming to Athy, in the post-match interview acknowledged that on the day Cavan were speedier and showed rare dash and opportunism. As the last Kildare team Captain in an All Ireland came off the field at Croke Park he wished Cavan every luck and promised that Kildare would soon be back. Paul was not to know that 61 years later the short grass County is still awaiting its opportunity to erase the memory of the All Ireland defeat of 1935.

Interestingly enough Jim Maguire who played in goal in such controversial circumstances "had not much of a chance of stopping the three shots which beat him", according to the Irish Press report of the match. Jim played three more matches in goal for County Kildare letting in nine goals, an average of three per match. Cuddy Chanders was recalled to the County team two months after the All Ireland final and continued to play as County goalkeeper until February 1936.

We will never know if his presence on the team on All Ireland day would have made the difference between defeat and victory. Certainly the Kildare defence did not play as well as expected. Were they unsettled by the controversy surrounding Chanders? We will never know. As Patrick Chanders sat on the substitutes bench on All Ireland day in company with Jim Fox and Barney Dunne, another Athy Club player, he may have wondered what part Athy's defeat by Castledermot in the first round of the Championship in Narraghmore on the 11th of August 1935 had played in his demotion. Castledermot represented by Paddy Martin and Patrick Byrne, fellow County players, put four goals past the County goalkeeper that day. Was it an ominous sign which first planted the seeds of doubt in the minds of the Kildare mentors?

Mulhall Barbers Athy - Alex Kelly, Matt Murray, Tosh Doyle

Mens barber shops have given way to unisex hair stylists who cater for all-comers no matter how long or short their tresses. Here in Athy we have retained two establishments which in another generation would be called barber shops but which given the advent of electric razors are now best called male hairdressers. Both Gerry Lynch and Peter Delaney carry on a craft which in my younger days in Athy was largely the preserve of the Mulhalls. Indeed Peter Delaney carries on business in what was “Smiler” Mulhall’s barber shop. The Mulhall brothers, Michael known as “Hocker”, Christy known as “Gus” and Jim known as “Smiler”, were amazingly the first generation of Mulhalls to carry on business as barbers. Their father James married Nell Mulroe, a girl from Spiddal, Co. Galway whose family had come to live in Athy at the end of the last century. Jim and Nell emigrated to New York where they lived for many years and where some of their six children were born. Returning to Athy James took up employment with the local Council collecting refuse with a horse and cart. This work he carried on for many years, all the time living at Leinster Street in the premises now occupied by Data Print. Their eldest son William entered the postal services in London in 1913 and like so many others enlisted to fight in World War I. He was gassed and succumbed to malaria, returning to recuperate in a soldiers home in England where he was traced by his family. Returning to Athy he was to join up again during World War II and was wounded on D-Day. After the war he remained in England where he later died while employed in London.

His brother Michael “Hocker” who was born in America married Ellen Rainsford of Rathstewart and in time set up business as a barber in his parents premises in Leinster Street. His own son Jim also became a barber, as did his grandson Shay, both of whom operate out of a premises in Finglas in Dublin. “Hocker” died in 1947 and his business in Leinster Street was taken over by his brother Christy “Gus” who had previously worked as a barber in Mackens of O’Connell Street, Dublin. Christy married Meg Neill, a butcher’s daughter from Leinster Street and their son Jimmy also followed his father into the barbers business working in Dublin. “Gus” died in the 1950’s and the premises now occupied by Data Print was in time acquired by Nortons.

The third brother Jim “Smiler” had his barber shop in Duke Street where Peter Delaney currently carries on his craft. “Smiler” spent twenty-one years in America and there met Bridie Hackett of Co. Tyrone whom he married. They had no family. Like some of his brothers and sisters “Smiler” had dual American and Irish citizenship. His barber’s business in Duke Street flourished until he died in the 1970’s when it was acquired by the present owner.

The daughters of the late James and Nell Mulhall married and lived in Dublin. Margaret married a Leonard of Rathstewart and lived in Cabra while Molly married a Bramley from where I cannot say and lived in Drimnagh.

The Mulhall family tradition as barbers first established with the three Athy brothers continues today with “Hocker’s” son Jim Mulhall sometimes resident of Grangemellon and “Hocker’s” grandson Shay. “Gus’s” son Jimmy is also a barber and like his cousins operates out of premises in Dublin.

As I prepared this Eye on the Past I was informed of the death of Tosh Doyle, late of St. Patrick’s Avenue. Following close on the passing of Matt Murray and Alex Kelly, the loss of this triumvirate of elders of Athy is a sad blow for our town. I had spoken to Matt in relation to his involvement in the GAA in Athy while Alex unfortunately was on a lenghtening list of people I had hoped to interview in the future. Sadly the opportunity has now gone and I can only now hope to recapture the music and story of this remarkable musician by reference to secondary sources.

I had the good fortune to interview Tosh Doyle in the company of his old friend Tim O’Sullivan on a long October evening in 1994. As I later wrote, listening to Tosh was to open the flood gates of memory. He was a man with a story to tell and in its telling Tosh reaffirmed my belief in the relevance of oral history. He recalled the past and the people who inhabited his memories with an accuracy which was uncanny for a man then nearing eighty years of age. He was a modest man who was liked by his neighbours in Athy, for everyone was Tosh’s neighbour. He was the man who was happiest in his own place. May Tosh, Alex and Matt rest in peace.

Archival Depository for Athy

I am put in mind today to write of the urgent need for an archival depository for Athy and South Kildare as a result of two telephone calls I received yesterday afternoon. The topic is one I first raised publicly when my booklet on the history of St. Vincent's Hospital was launched last year. One of the phone calls which prompts a return to that issue concerned a number of copies of World War II period newspapers, not in themselves of any great intrinsic value. What was important was the recognition by the caller of the importance of not discarding material which might be helpful to social historians. The second phone call concerned a Rate Collectors book issued by Athy Board of Guardians in the last century. This is an important record even if it relates only to a small part of the Poor Law Union which was the functional area of Athy Workhouse in the last century. The fact that the book had survived was in itself nothing short of a miracle given that the Board of Guardians Minute Books were destroyed some years ago. Their loss is immeasurable and presents great difficulties to any historian seeking to unravel the story of the administration of Poor Law in South Kildare in the 19th Century.

When Athy Museum Society was founded in 1983 it was specifically intended to act as a focal point for those people with material of historical interest, documents or otherwise who recognise the necessity of preserving same for future historical research. Some of the local sports clubs have gifted to the Society Minute Books which are now being held in safe keeping knowing that they will form the basis of a future historians quest for the minutiae of local history.

It is amazing how and where local historical material turns up. Some years ago a then resident of Naas passed on to me a Minute Book dated 1838 which commenced with the inaugural meeting of Athy Literary and Scientific Association. How it came into his possession he could not recall, nor could he throw any light on the nature or purpose of the Association. Fortunately in the course of my research some years previously I had learned of the group which within months of its formation was to become Athy Mechanics Institute. So it was that their first Minute Book came into the possession of Athy Museum Society. The whereabouts of the remaining Minute Books of the Mechanics Institute which existed up to about 60 years ago is still a mystery. Who knows, they may still be lying in somebodys attic awaiting recognition.
When one considers the large numbers of organisations and clubs which have flourished in Athy and South Kildare some times all too briefly in this and the last century, the wonder is that more documentary evidence of their existence is still not with us. There is of course the perennial problem with voluntary clubs. Minute Books tend to disappear with the arrival of a new Club Secretary. It is not malice or anything bordering on recklessness which results in the loss of these Minute Books, rather a lack of regard for historical records and a failure to realise their importance in a local context.

One period of the town's history which is well represented by memorabilia is that of the Great War and the Museum Room in the local Town Hall has a veritable Pandora's box of World War I material on display. All of it came from local people whose family members had fought and sometimes died in the terrible conditions of the battle fields stretching from the Dardenelles to France and Flanders.

The recent drainage work on the Grand Canal opposite St. Vincent's Hospital produced many interesting finds for the seemingly tireless "treasure hunters" who gathered there each day. The more interesting of these finds included bottles and buttons bearing the names of long forgotten Athy businesses. Some of these finds will shortly be displayed in the Museum Room adding another piece to the jigsaw of our local history.

The recent granting of £175,000.00 of public funds to finance the provision of a Heritage Centre in Athy is very welcome indeed. The higher profile which is now accorded to local history generally is a confirmation of its importance in assessing and validating current events and indeed proposals for the future. A knowledge of our past gives us a better insight into why and how things are as they are. This in turn permits us to ensure that decisions, especially those relating to the physical development of our town do not ignore the relevance and importance of what has been handed down to us by previous generations.

The piece this week can be read as an affirmation that local history is coming into its own. It might also be considered as a appeal to all local groups and associations to recognise the importance as source documents of club records and to ensure as far as possible that these records are preserved. All of us play a part, consciously or otherwise, in the continuing story of our local history. The most important unfulfilled need in this area is the provision of an archieval resource where local documents, whether old business records, club minute books or whatever can be gathered in and saved for future research. I wonder if the local Library might consider taking the initial steps by formulating and implementing an archival policy which will ensure the preservation of written records relevant to Athy and South Kildare.

Convent Lane in 1930s

Small as Athy is and was in the 1950’s a traditional awareness almost tribal in its origin maintained a barrier around the circumference of the area to which as young fellows we felt free to roam. I and the other youngsters in Offaly Street had security in our own street and the areas such as that part of the People’s Park nearest to the Rectory and “The Line” as far as the Railway Bridge. But no where else. There was nothing sinister in this, merely an unstated acknowledgement that we were comfortable in our own area and felt little or no need to wander into other parts of the town.

One area which was on the periphery of our youthful domain was Convent Lane leading from Duke Street to the Dominican Church. A trip down “the line” across the Horse Bridge would invariably mean an excursion through the Dominican field exiting through Convent Lane and back down Duke Street to Offaly Street. As a young fellow in the 1950’s I can recall some of the tenants of the houses still occupied in that lane. Miss Burley, the Malone sisters and Miss Johnson, dressmaker, were the last three occupiers of the small one storey houses now long demolished.

In the early 1930’s Convent Lane was a much narrower roadway than it is now. At the head of the lane facing into Duke Street was to be found John Farrell’s butcher shop in what is now Rachels. On the opposite side of the laneway and facing the Post Office was a stationers owned by two elderly ladies called the Miss Byrnes. Their shop was to be demolished in the 1960’s to widen the laneway. Immediately behind the shop as one went up the laneway was a high cut stone wall with a gateway. Beyond the gateway were three small houses with a long row of terraced houses on the opposite side of the laneway which started at the end of Farrell’s house. Between this row of terraced houses and Farrells stood the entrance gateway to the rear of the Garda Barracks.

Sixty five years ago the occupier of the first house in that terrace was James McNally, Sacristan in St. Michael’s Church. His daughter Maggie who later married in Dublin lived with him. They subsequently transferred to Convent View and in 1937 Jim and Mary Eaton were appointed tenants. Next door was Essie Johnson and her sister May. Essie for many years walked out with Paddy “Sooty” Hayden of Meeting Lane who was a delivery breadman for Dooley’s Bakery in Leinster Street. They never married but Essie did marry, her husband later drowning tragically in the River Barrow. She was a dressmaker and worked a lot for Shaws. Over the door of her small house was to be always seen a sign “E. Johnson Dressmaker” and there she continued to live as one of the last tenants in Convent Lane. Her sister May married Jim Maher of Barrowhouse and they lived in Geraldine.

In No. 3 lived Mrs. Katie Hogan, formerly Katie Wade who worked in Henry Grattan Donnelly’s house in The Abbey. She had no family. Her next door neighbour was Pat Quinn and his wife Mary. Pat worked in the I.V.I. in the later years. They had no family. Ned Timpson and his wife Bridget and their only daughter Mary were their next door neighbours. Mary was later to marry Athy’s most famous musician, the legendary Joe O’Neill and is now living in St. Joseph’s Terrace. Ned was a regular soldier in the English Army and had served in the 5th Royal Irish Lancers. Like his brother Jack Timpson who had served in the 8th Huzzars, both survived the First World War and Ned Timpson and his family were later to live in the Gate Lodge of Ardreigh House which was then occupied by Bob Osborne, Solicitor before the Timpson family moved on to The Bleach.

Mick Johnson and his family lived in the adjoining house for a while before transferring to Convent View where some of the family still live. The Malone sisters, two well-educated ladies from the Luggacurran area later lived in Johnson’s house and were one of the last people to live in the Lane. The O’Rourke family with their son Jackie and daughter May also lived in the Lane leading to what was once Riversdale House but by then the Dominican Monastery. Jackie married Nan Breen and now lives in Offaly Street while his sister May died some time ago while living in McDonnell Drive.

The last house was occupied by the Burleys. They had previously lived in St. John’s Lane and Miss Burley, a daughter of the family, occupied the old family home until her death. Those familiar with John Minihan’s photographic essay on Athy will be familiar with his picture of Miss Burley peering at a magazine wall rack in St. Dominic’s Church. She was a very quiet gentle lady who had suffered a horrific facial disfigurement in her early years.

There were three houses facing Miss Burley’s house at the entrance to the Dominican Church. The Hayes family lived in the first house. Jack Hayes worked on the Barrow Drainage while his wife Margaret sometimes worked part-time in the Parish Church. Of their four sons two are dead, Christy in America and Jack who died a young man in Convent Lane. He was a member of the L.D.F. and when he died of T.B. he was accorded a military funeral. His brothers Ned and Jim are now believed to be in England. I can remember visiting Mrs. Hayes in the early 1960’s and coming away with a lasting impression similar to that experienced when I visited an old lady in Kells in Co. Meath in 1967. Both were widows and lived alone. In Mrs. Hayes’ case I felt my social conscience gripped by the frustration of an economic system which forced young men to emigrate to find work and compelled old women to live out their final years alone without their family. I have never forgotten Mrs. Hayes and I am constantly reminded of the elderly woman living alone in a small house in Kells who told me of her young husband’s death in World War I. She had no children and remained throughout her life a widow, mourning not only the loss of her young love but the joys of family and companionship. Cruelty comes in many guises.

Next door to the Hayes’s lived Stephen and Mary Anne Shortall and family. Their children James, Richard, Ellen and Annie are now believed to be living in England. Stephen worked on the Grand Canal and had married Mary Anne who was originally from Edenderry.

I am uncertain as to who lived in the third and last house in the 1930’s but I understand that Paddy Howard and his family lived there before they moved on to Geraldine Road.

The terrace of houses were owned by John Farrell, the butcher who lived at the Duke Street end of the laneway. In the 1960’s the last of these houses were demolished. Today no trace remains of the small houses which had been built on Tanyard Lane following the closure of George Dakers Tanyard at the close of the 18th century. With the arrival of the Dominicans following their transfer from what is now Kirwans Lane the approach road was renamed Convent Lane. The shop units and apartments recently built in the area give us little hint of what Convent Lane was like even 35 years ago.

Passage of Time - Athy 1970

The passage of time was the theme of a project recently undertaken by the sixth formers of Scoil Mhichil Naofa. Their work unveiled to admiring parents in the Halla Mor last week dealt with life in Athy in 1970 and what they predicted it would be like in 25 years time. Time locked in a capsule until 2020 it will give a future generation of Athy schoolgirls, not yet born an opportunity to see through the eyes of a previous generation glimpses of past life in our town. The 2020 Project which I understand is a European nature conservation initiative not only requires the girls to record the present but also to look back and forward 25 years.

The changes in Athy over the past 25 years have been quite substantial. A generation ago the Wallboard Factory and the I.V.I., both centres of manufacturing activity, welcomed each morning the men who sweated and laboured for their hard-earned wages. These factories are now gone, spawning in their wake a number of smaller enterprises which happily continue today.

The loss of these two factories which in 1970 had been operating for 35 years and 25 years respectively was not the only dismal news on the industrial front in the intervening years. Minch Nortons, the famous malting business first started in 1847 had almost 78 men employed in its local malting works 25 years ago. Today mechanisation has caused that number to plummet to about six men. In every sphere of activity, especially industrial and farming the same story is revealed. Less men and women are required today to meet the production targets set for their parents 25 years ago.

Some things have not changed. Just a few years prior to 1970 Athy Urban District Council submitted to the Department of Local Government as the present Department of the Environment was then called, its proposals for meeting the new road requirements of traffic passing through Athy on the main Dublin/Kilkenny route. Traffic projections based on figures compiled in 1967 indicated the urgent need for a new road which would free Leinster Street and Duke Street of much of the traffic passing through Athy. Ever optimistic, the local Council chose two alternative routes for the proposed road. The Inner Relief Road and the Outer Relief Road were to remain as lines on the carefully prepared road Engineer's drawing ever since.

Butlers Row, Janeville Lane, Beggars End, Kirwans Lane and Chapel Lane were some of the places where families were still living in 1970. The various housing developments in the Woodstock area were prepared and planned, with insufficient thought it must now be said, to replace the older housing stock in Athy. In time Butlers Row and other old terraces in the town were vacated. Windows and doors were blocked up providing a visual backdrop of decay where previously home life had once been evident. The decay of 1970 was not confined to the older type of private houses, but was evident also in the public buildings of the town. The Town Hall housed the Urban District Council Offices and in the Ballroom on the first floor a shirt manufacturing unit. The latter is now housed in the recently re-opened factory on the Dublin Road and the local Council has managed in the intervening years to create its own piece of architectural history. The aptly called "Glass Taj Mahal" in Rathstewart unblushing stands a mute testament to the prolificacy of a local Council which prepared for the future by discarding its historical links with the most splendid building in Athy - The Town Hall.

Luckily that same Town Hall was saved by the timely intervention of An Taisce and ultimately by the co-operation of Kildare County Council and AnCO - The Industrial Training Authority, in a major rebuilding programme which went on for many years.

Twenty five years ago school boys still travelled the same route taken by their fathers and grandfathers on their way to the Christian Brothers School in St. John's Lane. On their way they passed at one end the Social Club while at the other end Ted Vernal's Forge and Carberys building yard were still going strong. The Christian Brothers have since left Athy while the Secondary School in St. John's Lane has closed down to be replaced by the ultra modern school building in Rathstewart. The builders yard, the forge and the Social Club are now no more.

Closed also is Dreamland Ballroom the mecca for dancers which first opened its doors in 1961. In 1970 it was still going strong but was to be sold within years by its owner, the irrepressible future politician and Taoiseach Albert Reynolds. Today the Dancehall which played host to the showband stars of the past is a sports hall but its future is uncertain and it may well go the way of the Social Club which once stood in St. John's Lane.

Our town which for a short period in the late 1950's boasted two cinemas has witnessed the recent closure of its last cinema, the relatively new Grove Cinema. Hopefully when the time capsule prepared by the schoolgirls in Scoil Mhichil Naofa is opened in 2020 the Grove Cinema will still be there as a popular centre of entertainment for the growing population of Athy.

My wish for Athy is that in 25 years time it will be home to many young families living in a friendly and healthy environment. Would it be too much to hope that the orderly development of the town on the twin waterways of Barrow and Canal will by then be facilitated by an Outer Relief Road which would take away from the heart of Athy the fumes, noise and danger of passing traffic.