Library's in Athy

On 14th November, 1863 an unidentified correspondent writing from Athy referred to the “large swamp around the rooms of the lamented corn exchange building bounded on the West by the sweet Barrow, on the East by the dock and the Literary Mechanic’s reading room, on the South by that part of Emily Square familiarly known as Dirty Row and on the North by public houses and a public bridewell”.

The reading room mentioned in the letter was part of the Athy Mechanic’s Institute formed in 1853 from the nucleus of the Athy Literary and Scientific Institute which in turn was founded in Athy four years earlier. There all the Irish and English papers were available to the Institute members. A small lending library was another of the Institute’s facilities and this was possibly the first library of it’s kind in the town. It was not a public library as such as the facilities were confined to members of the Mechanics Institute of whom there were 21 in 1854 rising to 91 members three years later.

The first public library in the town appears to have opened in the Town Hall on 1st December, 1927. It was operated by Kildare County Council who in February of that year had agreed to extend the County Library service to Athy on the Urban Council relinquishing it’s powers under the Public Libraries Acts. I cannot find any reference to a public library operated before then by the Urban Council and can only assume that they had not exercised any of their powers under those Acts.

A local Library Committee was formed in June 1927 which was largely comprised of local clerics of all denominations in Athy. The local Parish Priest Canon Mackey and his three Curates Fr. J. Ryan, Fr. M. Browne and Fr. M. Kinnane were nominated to the Committee, as were Rev. K. Dunlop, Church of Ireland and Rev. D. Meek of the local Presbyterian Church. Lay members of the committee included Michael “Crutch” Malone, Sydney Minch, P.J. Murphy and James Foley, all members of the Athy Urban District Council, with James Lawler, Town Clerk as the Library Secretary. Controversy raised it’s head even before the Committee had it’s first meeting when Canon Mackey and his Curate Fr. Kinnane declined to accept their nominations “for reasons obvious to the Council”. Apparently the Canon had taken exception to a discussion in the local Council Chamber in February 1926 which prompted his resignation from the local technical instruction committee. I have been unable to find out what gave rise to this action, but perhaps some of my older readers can throw some light on the matter. Interestingly the two other local Curates remained on as members of the Library Committee despite the resignation of their Parish Priest. Later additions to the Library Committee included T.C. O’Gorman, F. Jackson, Dr. J. O’Neill, Dr. J. Kilbride and Fintan Brennan. The offer of a room in the Town Hall for the Mechanic’s Institute was declined by the Library Committee and instead the Committee agreed to store books in a room in the same building which was then being used by Fintan Brennan, the District Court Clerk. Fintan’s usual offices in the Courthouse were then out of commission due to the burning of the Courthouse some years previously. Fr. Brown was elected Chairman of the Library Committee which by now included Miss Bagot, Miss Lalor and Mr. J. Malone of Stanhope St. Mr. B. Bramley of Emily Square was appointed librarian, a position he was to retain even after he took up employment as Water and Sewage Inspector for Athy Urban District Council in September 1928.

The local Curate and Chairman of the Committee, Fr. M. Browne with T.C. O’Gorman who was manager of the Hibernian Bank and P.J. Murphy, draper of Emily Square were asked to look over books in the County Repository Newbridge to select “suitable titles for Athy folk.”

The newly appointed librarian was to report the receipt of the chosen books on 30th November which he described as “a very choice and varied selection and should be a boon to the book lovers of Athy and District”. The library opened on Thursday, 1st December, 1927 when 24 readers joined. Initially it opened one evening a week from 7.00pm to 9.00pm but before the end of the first month with 160 members enrolled the Committee extended the opening hours to two evenings a week. I wonder whether the Catholic Curate who chaired the Library Committee was Maurice Browne who in later years was himself to achieve a certain literary fame as a writer of such excellent works as “The Big Sycamore” and “In Monavella”. Certainly Maurice Browne, the writer, was a Curate in Athy in the mid-1930’s but I wonder whether he was also there in 1927 or was it a namesake of his who chaired the Library Committee. I would like to hear from anyone who can help me on this.

I have nothing but wonderful memories of the local library and Kevin Meaney who was the branch librarian in the late 1950’s. For how many years he acted as librarian I do not know, but Kevin’s love of books and knowledge of writers was always gladly shared with the library users. The magnificent library which now occupies part of the beautiful 18th century Town Hall building is a monument to Kevin Meaney and the many people who over the years worked in the library services in Athy. One of those people was Madge Cafferty who last month retired after 23 years service as branch librarian in Athy. Madge I understand was appointed after Kevin Meaney retired and she oversaw the transfer of the library from it’s original room in the Town Hall to a larger premises in the rear section of the Courthouse building. There the library was to remain for many years until the final move back to the Town Hall following it’s refurbishment under a FAS Scheme in 1992.

The present library occupies not only the small room which once housed Kevin Meaney’s library of the 1950’s, but also the ballroom which was the scene of so many soirees down the years. The quiet but cheerful ambiance of the graceful building provides a perfect backdrop to the library which the general public, both young and old, are now using in increasing numbers.

I have been a member of the library for many years and I am delighted to acknowledge that the courtesy and efficiency of the library staff continues to be as good as it was under the late Kevin Meaney. Madge Cafferty has played an important part in continuing that tradition of excellent public service. She has got to know many people during her period as branch librarian and many in turn have learned to respect the quiet helpful lady who has dealt with their queries and questions concerning books and authors over the last 23 years. We wish her every happiness in her retirement.

Athy's Heritage Centre and the Inner Relief Road

An interesting struggle is taking place at the moment. Unknown to most people its existence is perhaps not even realised by those closest to the issues involved. On one side is the Heritage Town Development which holds out so much promise for Athy’s participation in the National Programme for Tourism Development. In the opposing camps are the plans for the proposed Inner Relief Road for Athy.

Athy once a strategic Town on the Medieval Marches of County Kildare was chosen as one of the Heritage Towns of Ireland for a number of reasons. The richness of its 800 year old history was of course a pre-requisite for any initial consideration. What marked Athy out from the many other Historic Towns in Ireland which sought Heritage Status was its character, its layout and the wealth of its Architectural Heritage.

The sedentary pace of development in Athy over the years ensured that important elements of the building fabric and the layout of the Town had survived until now. Much the same can be said for Galway City where a tasteful and sympathetic development of its surviving building heritage is now taking place. The question posed for us by the Inner Relief Road proposal is whether the benefits claimed for this short to term traffic relieving measure justifies the loss of so many of the elements which gave Athy its Heritage Town Status.

The distinctiveness of the layout of Athy stems partly from medieval influences on the Towns Development. This has given us a linear type pattern of settlement with a Main Street running from one end of the Town to the other with various minor side streets. The dissection of that main street by three almost parallel corridors, a railway line, a river and a canal adds further to the distinctiveness of the towns layout.

Within the town itself, there are many important urban spaces. Emily Square both front and rear is a fine example and constitutes an important Architectural composition normally found only in planned towns of a much later vintage than twelfth century Athy.

The question we must ask ourselves is whether we are justified in changing the distinctive layout of Athy to facilitate the traffic relieving measures which admittedly might well be the most economic solution to our present traffic problems. There are a number of other matters apart from finance to be looked at when arriving at any decision. Will the Inner Relief Road provide those of us who work and live in the town with a safe and as good an environment as would follow the re-routing of through traffic on an outer Relief Road? I think not and those who support the Inner Relief Road should consider the effect on people and on the environment of creating a huge traffic island out the heart of the town.

There are of course financial reasons why the shortest and most direct route should be chosen to divert traffic from Leinster Street and Duke Street. If financial considerations alone were to decide the issue, the Inner Relief Road would proceed immediately. But even more important than money matters in this case are the environmental effects, the safety considerations and the future development possibilities for the centre of the town. Put a new traffic route through the centre of Athy and you will have of necessity restrict - the nature and scope of urban development that can thereafter take place there. If on the other hand you rid the town centre of the stifling influence of through traffic you are then free to develop the important shopping and living elements of provincial urban life in a manner which ensures us a healthy and attractive lifestyle.

I started off this article by referring to the covert struggle presently taking place. The struggle is a real one especially as the Heritage Centre which will be the flagship of Athy’s Heritage status will soon be opened in the Town Hall. It will form a focal point in the previously mentioned architectural composition we all know as Emily Square. That is of course unless the Inner Relief Road ploughs through the centre of Athy in which case the Heritage Centre will be a prime example of bureaucratic foolishness stuck in a traffic island between two parallel roadways. How else could one describe a monument to an Urban Heritage which will be destroyed and lost to us forever if the Inner Relief Road is built.

Incidentally, who is pushing this Inner Relief Road on the people of Athy and by doing so, apparently dis-regarding the feelings of the local people, not to mind the other issues which are raised. Is it the County Manager? or the County Engineer? or from whom does the impetus for the prolonged offensive in favour of the Inner Relief Road come from?

I mentioned the subject of the Heritage Centre today because the Heritage Company of which I am a Member is now seeking contributions from the local community and from local businesses towards the cost of completing work on the Centre. I would not suggest anyone give a penny towards the project unless I was confident that the road project which could destroy so much of our built heritage will not go ahead as planned. I am hopeful that common sense will prevail and that Athy will get an Outer Relief Road thereby ensuring the survival of the distinctiveness and individuality of the Town.

The Heritage Centre represents an opportunity for all of us to invest in the future of Athy. Corporate contributions of £5,000.00 are being received as well as individual contributions up to £1,000.00 or more if desired. While writing of Heritage matters and Athy’s importance and a distinctive and attractive Anglo Norman Irish Town, we should realise that people outside of Athy have perhaps a better appreciation of the towns status. Members of the Cork Historical Society and more recently members of Thomond Historical Society have visited Athy and have commented favourably on what they have seen.

On the 11th October, the Federation of Local History Societies of Ireland will hold its Annual General Meeting in Athy. This is an important annual get together of all local History Societies throughout the country and represents an enormous boost for Athy’s claim to be truly a Heritage Town.

China and Seamus Ryan

It is almost four decades since our younger and more agile legs raced up the iron staircase of the Christian Brothers Schools in St. John’s Lane. In the intervening years the former classmates have scattered throughout the world and have never since come together again as a group. Regretfully the premature passing of the late Gerry Byrne made that an impossibility from an early date.

Last week however I caught up with one classmate whom I had not met since a celebration some years to honour the memory of his father and great teacher, Bill Ryan. The classmate was Seamus Ryan, now a medical doctor practising in the International Medical Center in Beijing, capital of China. I was on a visit to the Middle Kingdom as China was termed by the explorer Marco Polo, and of course used the opportunity to renew acquaintances with Seamus. Contact was first made through another classmate, Michael Robinson, formerly of McDonnell Drive, and now of Australia who keeps in regular contact with Athy.

Seamus has spent almost 12 months in China after a number of years in the Middle East. Originally following in the footsteps of his father Bill, Seamus qualified as a teacher, but embarked on a medical career after further studies in Dublin. Working amongst the people of the World’s oldest living civilisation provides Seamus with many fascinating contrasts.

Culturally and ideologically China is a world apart from Ireland. With the largest population of any country in the World, China, despite it’s efforts at population control still accounts for every fourth child born today. This puts tremendous demands on a country where the arable land accounts for only 15% of the entire country. The Chinese Government have imposed very strict regulations with regard to birth control. Married couples are allowed to have one child only. Exceptions are made in the country areas where there is a need for labour to work the land. For that reason rural couples whose first child is a girl can have a second child, but no more. Strict penalties are imposed against those breaking the Government Rules on birth control, including heavy fines and the loss of employment.

In a country which is slowly changing from a socialist to a market economy, the standard of living is improving, but understandably still lags far behind Western countries. The average yearly income for city dwellers is approx. £380, while in the country area the figure is closer to £180 a year.

The grand scale of the Chinese world can be imagined when locals refer to cities of one million population as being of moderate size. The larger cities have populations of approx. fourteen million or so and there are several cities of that proportion. Public transport is not yet up to Western standards, but this is of little consequence in a country where the bicycle is much in use. The bicycle rush hour in Beijing or Shanghai is something awesome to behold as thousands of cyclists travel along the designated bicycle lanes in a seemingly unbroken pattern of wheels. Traffic movement on the roads is another unusual element of Chinese life which almost seems to mirror the Chinese peoples attitude to life itself. For them, unnecessary confrontation is always to be avoided and as you watch the traffic weave in and out avoiding pedestrians, cyclists and motorists alike, you begin to understand how it is that so many people can live together in such harmony. Traffic moves purposely yet slowly as the people and machines untangle themselves without great difficulty and always with the greatest of grace and apparent ease. The traffic police manning the junctions are immaculately turned out, always standing to attention, never lounging, while directing the traffic with smart synchronised movements of both hands, reminiscent of the most carefully choreographed performance.

It’s the rural life of China which gives someone from the rich heartland of Ireland the greatest surprise. Every tiny piece of arable land is cultivated. Even in the most mountainous region bordering on the Yangstze River small patches of land have been carved out of the hills and brought into productions. These stepped areas confirm the industry and energy of the Chinese and the pressing need for food production in their country. Nowhere is left untilled. Small patches of soil clinging to a rockface bear the evidence of mans hand and natures bounty in a rich harvest of crops. People, whether toiling in the fields or on these mountainous patches of soil, for they are no more than that, do so without machinery, constantly bending and lifting. That their efforts produce sufficient food for the more than one billion Chinese on the mainland is a lesson for the more richly endowed countries of the world.

All farming land is owned by the State, but in contract to the communist communal system of a few years ago, individuals can now lease or rent arable land. With such a high population and so little land suitable for cultivation, it is not surprising to find that each farmer and his family works less than half an acre, depending on the number of able bodied persons in that family. In turn, the farmers have to sell a quota of their grain to the State, but are free to dispose of the rest of their crop as they see fit.

One aspect of Chinese life which is disturbing concerns the numbers executed each year for apparently minor crimes. More persons were executed in China last year than in the rest of the entire World. Upwards of 4,500 executions were logged, although many more deaths are suspected, although unproven. China has the highest number of capital offences than any other country and many persons are executed each year for offences as minor as theft and even hooliganism.

The Communist Party which governs the country through the Central Committee does not tolerate anything which might subvert the country’s interest. Recently two Tibetans who had merely compiled a list of Tibetan political prisoners were sentenced to long jail terms for alleged espionage. Similarly one of the student leaders of the 1987 Tianaman Square Rally who was originally sentenced to four years imprisonment was last year re-sentenced to another eleven years on other charges arising out of the same Rally. These are some of the disquitening features of life in China today where an Athy man works among the Beijing community.

On his days off Seamus Ryan can visit the Grand Canal which links the capital Beijing with outlying regions, no doubt thinking of the similarly named corridor of water which links his native Athy with Dublin. The name of the two canalways is their only similarity as the Chinese Grand Canal is of massive proportions, extending over 1,800 km. in length. It was built over 1,500 years ago, confirmation if such was required of the existence of a well developed society in early China.

The old Christian Brothers School in St. John’s Lane is represented in many parts of the World today, but surely Seamus Ryan’s posting in Beijing provides the most unusual contrast, socially and culturally with our own country.

Whites Castle

White’s castle has stood as a sentinel on the river Barrow at Athy for at least four centuries. In it’s time it has been a garrison for troops, a prison, a constabulary barracks and now a private residence. It easy to forget the significance of a such a building that is so much a part of our everyday lives. There may have been an structure on the site as early as 1297 when David Fitz le feure was held in the ‘ward of Athy’.

The castle as it presently stands was first built in 1417 by Sir John Talbot to protect the bridge at this important crossing point. In 1422 William Scryvener was appointed constable, a position he was to hold until at least 1426. Athy has always been a very important part of the early Anglo-Norman settlement of Leinster and its strategic role was enhanced by the addition of a fortified tower to the bridge. The government in Dublin noted in 1431 that it considered that Athy was the ‘greatest fortalice and a key town’. By 1505 the castle was beginning to show its age and the 8th Earl of Kildare set about its refurbishment along with that of his other castles at Rathvillly and Castledermot.

The primary purpose of the castle was to protect the bridge but it also served as part of a chain of defences along the Leix-Kildare border particularly from the 15th century onwards. Few doubted the strategic importance of the town. Patrick Finglas, Baron of the Exchequer for Ireland, writing in 1515 in ‘The Decay of Ireland’ believed it necessary that an English captain should have been given control of both White’s and Woodstock castle in order to form a bulwark against the predatory incursions of the native O’More’s of Leix into south Kildare. They had been responsible for the burning of the town of Athy at least four times in the 14th century.

It would appear that originally White’s was not the only tower on the bridge at Athy. In 1516 the Prior of the monastery of St Thomas the Martyr of Athy granted to the Gerald, the Earl of Kildare a castle on the western side of the bridge at Athy. This tower was still evident on the bridge in the late 16th century when Athy was represented on Mercator’s map of the Leix-Offaly plantation.

Maintenance and upkeep of the castle was always an consideration given the importance of the castle. Lord Leonard Grey wrote to Thomas Cromwell in 1536 informing him that materials and masons were being provided for the re-edification and fortification on the castle. The repairs continued through the summer months of June and July. The castle was still being referred to as the ‘new castle’ when Giles Cornewell leased land near the bridge in 1569.

In 1598 James FitzPiers was in charge of the garrison in the castle. The privy council was informed that FitzPiers, formerly a sheriff of County Kildare had broken into rebellion. He refused to surrender the castle and when finally he abandoned its command he broke down the bridge in his retreat.

The castle was to play a prominent role in the confederate wars where the competing Royalist and Confederate armies frequently vied for it’s and the town’s control. The era of the castles final great prominence came in the aftermath of the 1798 rebellion when it served as the prison for the captured rebels. A large extension was built onto the castle’s north face in 1802 to improve the town gaol as it then was. But conditions remained primitive. As a prison the castle had little to recommend it. An prison inspectors report for 1824 stated that White’s castle was ‘without exception the worst county jail I have met with, in point of accommodation having neither yards, pumps, hospital, chapel or proper day rooms’.

The old prison had nine cells and three small kitchens and the prisoners principal diet was bread and water. In the new gaol, built on the Carlow road in 1830,the prisoners were employed in stone breaking, mat making and oakum picking. The Governor was a Mr. Drill who had the assistance of three turnkeys to supervise the prisoners. He was later succeeded by Edward Carter who was governor when the prison closed in 1859.

After its closure as a prison the castle was used as a barracks for the Royal Irish Constabulary until the turn of the century. Today it serves a private residence.

Business Houses of 1937 Continued

Last week I started to list the various business houses in Athy which in 1937 advertised in the Ballylinan Carnival programme of that year. One of those was the publican and grocery Louis O’Mara who is still remembered in Athy even many years after he died.

Louis of 67 Leinster Street offered a wide range of services including tea, wine, spirit, hardware provisions and coal. His son Michael who was in Athy for a visit recently now runs a very successful public house in Drumcondra known as The Red Parrot.

The L & N Tea Company was in 1937 advertising its stamp collecting scheme which ensured future discounts for its customers. This mind you was in the days long before Green Shield stamps came on the scene. No address is given for the L & N as it was known locally, but most locals will remember it being next to Andersons on the corner of Leinster Street and Emily Square.

Michael Kelly of Leinster Street another grocer and spirit merchant had his premises at the corner of Meeting Lane and Leinster Street in what is now Murphys. He also had a timber and grain Stores and sold hardware seeds and manures. Who knew A.P. Nolan of Leinster Street buyer of corn, wool and most agricultural products who stocked the famous Lepit gas cartridges which he assured us was a safe, sure and cheap method of killing rabbits, rats etc. John J. Collins, Chemist of 15 Duke Street occupied what is now Blooms Flower Shop. 1937 was the year Collins assistant Tim O’Sullivan arrived in Athy from his native Kerry. Tim now retired is living in Church Road. Shaw & Sons Limited another advertiser of 60 years ago still retains its role as a leading supplier of household, drapery, shoes and hardware goods. Duthie Large & Company, main Ford dealers and agents for all leading makes of agricultural machinery are no more and their extensive shop and garage premises in Leinster Street is now given over to a number of different businesses. Their near neighbours Jackson Brothers Limited of Leinster Street advertised as “the best house for family” encouraged all to “get an iron horse and have your own electricity”. I wonder what sort of contraption was referred to there?

D. Meehan was another chemist practising in Emily Square in what is now Mulhalls while A.B. Finn was a butcher in Leinster Street. His premises is now a betting shop. It must have been encouraging for his customers to read that “scarlet ox tongue was always in stock”. Other businesses noted in the carnival programme but now gone was that of publican Michael Hughes of 5 William Street and M. Wall, Ladies and Gents Hairdresser of 17 Duke Street. The latter claimed his as the “most hygienic and smartest saloon in the district”. The Leinster Arms Hotel managed by Miss K Darcy was then a high class family and commercial hotel while Joseph Rigney undertakers was one of the few enterprises which has survived over the years.

James Reid & Son of Market Square, Athy grocery and wines has long changed hands as has Mansfields of Duke Street and Purcells Bros. Butchers of Duke Street. Mansfields was the place for hats, coats, costumes, and ladies apparel occupying the substantial premises now known as Griffin Hawes. McHughs Medical Hall and Loughmans Bennettsbridge are still operating but not so Athy Co-Operative Agricultural Society or Morris Brothers the Satisfaction House described as drapers and shoe warehousemen. Does anyone remember the Morris Brothers whose boast was “Morris sells it for less”.?

Another name not familiar to me is that of Thomas O’Gorman, grocer and publican of Duke Street. Next door to the post office was E. Carroll wine and spirit merchant while Martin Brophy was at the canal side. Names familiar even today included Doyle Brothers established in 1883, Michael Conroy grocery of 70 Leinster Street, EP Mulhall, Publican Hardware and Arms Dealer of Barrow Bridge House and Purcell Brothers, grocers and publicans of William Street.

While the names are familiar none of the businesses have survived.

Newcome Empey 10 Leinster Street, house sign and ornamental painter, HJ Prole 35 Leinster Street, tailor and outfitter, boot and shoe warehouse, David Walsh, Leinster Street, Grocer, Publican and hardware are like their near neighbours P O’Brien, the Railway Bar no longer part of the business life of Athy as we near the second millennium.

It is amazing what changes have occurred over the last 60 years and less. The names over the shop doors are changing with alarming regularity and the younger generation cannot hope to know the men women who were an important part of the business life of the town such short years ago.

Ballylinan Carnival 1937 and Athy Business Houses of that Year

Do your remember the Carnival held in Ballylinan from August 15th to 29th in 1937. As best I can find out it was the third annual carnival held to raise funds for the primary school opened in the village in 1935. The school which cost £5,600.00 was built on a site provided by John Hovenden and for a number of years the local PP Reverend J. Killian had encouraged the carnival committee in its efforts to reduce the parish debt.

In 1937 McDonalds Amusements occupied the carnival grounds where the most popular attractions were the dodgems, the chairoplanes, the swing boats and the hobby horses. On the first Sunday the No. 3 Army Band gave an outdoor recital while a drilling and gymnastics display featured soldiers from the Curragh Camp. A miniature nine hold golf course was specially laid out for the duration of the carnival while for most people the chief attraction of the fortnight was the nightly carnival dance. This surprisingly enough was held in the new primary school
where each night the Adelaide Melody Band under the directorship of Vincent Rogers held sway from 9 to midnight. The nightly ceili featuring the Ballylinan Ceili Band was held in what was described as the Ballylinan Club. A whist drive and a children’s sports were other notable features during the carnival fortnight.

The Ceili band members who performed every night from 9 to 12 included Joseph Byrne, James Daly, James Brennan, Pat Kaye, J. Loveday, D. Murphy, Joseph Kelly and Thomas Kirwan. John Farrell was responsible for what was described as a touring troupe of more than twenty men and women who performed exactly what I cannot say. The Chairman of the carnival committee was John Murphy with Laurence Dunne, as secretary and Thomas Roche and Mary Bambrick as treasurers. Unusual for events of this kind a very comprehensive programme was issued which as you can imagine was well supported by local businesses through advertising.

Looking through the advertisements 60 years later is like making a tour of the pre war town of Athy which is largely un-recognisable to the present generation. One of the most eye catching advertisements was that inserted by John Farrell, Licensed Carrier, Ballylinan and Athy who exorted his readers to “send it by Farrell”. John apparently made daily trips to Dublin where he had a depot at 10 and 12 Mary’s Abbey.

Cunninghams of William Street advertised their lounge/bar as well as their groceries, provision and hardware. The proprietor was Michael Cunningham later a County Councillor and an Urban Councillor whose premises are now known as the “Canal Bar”. M.A. James of Duke Street had stationery, fancy goods, pipes and cigarettes for sale in a shop which is now no more. Nolans of 6 Duke Street and 27 Leinster Street were drapers offering gents and ladies clothing in addition to furniture and radios. Most of us will recall M.G. Nolan’s premises in Duke Street which is now Moores Chemist shop. I had not realised that Nolans either M.G. or his Mountrath based brother had another shop in Leinster Street in what is now Tom Manley’s.

John Anderson of Market House, family grocer, tea, wine and spirit merchant is one of the businesses sixty years ago still going strong. Andersons, however no longer boast a grocery section while William Crawley’s grocery and bakery in William Street another advertiser in 1937 is long gone. Such is also the fate of D & J Carbery Limited Building Contractors of the Joinery Works, St. John’s and A. J. Mape of Duke Street who had a millinery, mantels and drapery warehouse with dressmaking as a specialty.

Thomas Flood another family grocery, tea, wine and spirit merchant owned the Railway Hotel in Leinster Street. The beautiful brick building is now owned by Margaret Kane. Those attending the Ballylinan Carnival were exorted to visit Thomas Dowling, tea, wine and spirit merchant of Offaly Street “for courtesy, civility, value and attention”. Tom also supplied coal at keenest prices from the premises which remains the only licensed premises in Offaly Street. Tom a Naas man returned to his native town in the 1950’s when he sold his business to the legendary John W. Kehoe. The Commercial House recently revamped and now Supermacs was in 1937 owned by Murphys who had traded as general drapers for over sixty years. Their advertisement referred to the range of goods which were available there including boots and shoes, furniture and bedding, Irish tweeds and linen.

An interesting advertisement which I had not seen elsewhere before was for castings in cast iron, brass and aluminum. Matt McHugh & Sons of Meeting Lane also offered to repair all classes of machinery with hay bogies, ring rollers and plough fittings being a specialty. McHughs foundry has been silent for many years as has that of Tom McHugh his brother which was located in Janeville Lane.

Next week I shall continue my perusal of the advertisements of 60 years ago in the Ballylinan Carnival programme.

Select Vestry - Glebe House

The select vestry of St. Michael’s Athy met on Tuesday 24th October 1824 for the purpose of appointing overseers to inspect the public houses of the parish. The same meeting decided to adjourn until Tuesday 2nd November consideration of the need to enlarge the parish Church which was then located in Market Square. The Minutes of the meeting recorded that in consequence of the great increase in parishioners and the want of seats in the church it was imperative that the Church wardens plan and estimate the cost of extending the existing church but so as to “respect the rights of the present occupiers of pews”.

The adjourned meeting on 2nd November 1824 decided to borrow the sum of £300 from the Board of First Fruits to be repaid by tithes levied on the parish to finance an extension of the church and the provision of new pews. Strangely enough it was also decided to put the new pews up for auction to the highest bidder with the proceeds thereof being applied to liquidating the church debt. A subsequent select vestry minute entry for 1830 showed that the Parish of St. Michael’s was required to borrow the sum of £500 for the Church extension and new pews. Despite their efforts a further select vestry meeting on the 30th July 1833 considered the necessity of erecting a new parish church and a deputation consisting of Reverend Frederick Trench, James Goodwin, Robert Molloy, Reverend Charles Bristow and Dr. George Barker was appointed to meet the Duke of Leinster to seek a suitable site.

In 1835 a petition was submitted to the Duke of Leinster seeking to change the site of the proposed new church to Janeville. There is no record of where the original site was to be located. At the same time a vote of thanks was passed with the Duke of Leinster for his “princely and significant contribution towards the building of the new church in Athy and also for his liberal present of a most eligible site”. The church was opened in 1840.

In 1859 Reverend Trench the one time Curate of Athy but promoted to the Rectorship in 1848 decided to build a Glebe House or Rectory and applied to the Duke of Leinster for a site near the church. The Rectory was designed by Deane and Woodword a well known firm of architects based in Dublin. While Trench as the Rector of Athy was required under the Appropriate Act to finance the provision of a Glebe house he pleaded inability to do so and sought to take out a mortgage to finance the building works.

The building contractor of the Glebe house on what was later known as Church Road was Mark Cross of Emily Square a man about whom I have previously written in connection with the building of small terraced houses in Janeville Lane and Connolly’s Lane. As Reverend Trench’s plans for the Glebe house were being approved the town Jail erected just thirty years previously on the Carlow Road was being vacated. The prisoners and staff were transferred to the County Jail in Naas. Sections of the relatively new jail building in Athy were demolished during the building of the glebe house and the cut stone from the jail was used in its building.

Before the glebe house was completed Frederick Trench the last sovereign of the Borough Council of Athy which had been abolished in 1840 died. On Tuesday the 16th October 1860 as Reverend Trench who resided at Kilmoroney drove in his gig to Athy accompanied by a servant the horse took fright and careered down Offaly Street in the direction of Emily Square. The horse and gig crashed into the medieval gateway known as Preston’s gate situated at the end of Offaly Street. Both Trench and his man servant were thrown from the gig and received serious injuries and on Friday 23rd November the Rector died aged 74 years.

The Leinster Express named Preston’s gate as the cause of many previous accidents involving eleven deaths and lead a campaign to have the gate removed. On the 10th November 1860 the editor of that paper reported to its readers “Preston’s Gate, Athy - this relic of ancient times is about to be numbered amongst the things that were. On last Monday several workmen were employed in throwing it down and ere another week runs round its removal will have taken place. Had it been removed years gone by it would have prevented the many accidents which its obstruction in the way of entrance to the town by the Carlow Road had so often taken place and none so much to be deplored as the late one which occasioned the upset to the Reverend Mr. Trench and his servant the lives of whom are greatly endangered. Its removal will give general satisfaction to the townspeople”.

So passed one of the last and most visible remains of the medieval town of Athy. Fortunately a French draftsman, George Victor De Noyer had recorded in water colour this ancient monument while he was engaged on ordnance survey work in Athy in 1844.

Reverend Trench’s successor Reverend Henry McDonald was responsible for completing the glebe house and was its first occupant. Described as being in the Victorian gothic style the glebe house as it was originally called and rectory as it is now known is an important part of Athy’s built heritage.

Betty May

Betty May returned to Athy in July for a few weeks holidays. It was her second trip home to the place of her birth since she emigrated to America in 1949. Betty’s parents, Michael and Julia May, lived in St. Martin’s Terrace and it was with D. & J. Carberys, Building Contractors of St. John’s Lane that Michael worked as a carpenter. He died a short time before Betty made her first return trip in 1969 and her mother, who was then ailing, was to pass away in 1972.

After 49 years in America the sights and sounds of Athy were surprisingly familiar to the woman who as a young girl attended the local Convent school before graduating to Molly Bradley’s shop in Duke Street. “The shops are the same” she declared. “Only the names over the doors have changed.” Names once familiar and now no more tripped off her tongue with speed and accuracy belying the years spent so far overseas. O’Rourke-Glynn, Bradley, Cross, Whelan, Willis, Mansfield, Glespen, Hepburn, Nolan, Farrell, Collins, Townsend, Deegan and Youell conjured up images of another
generation when Betty was a young woman.

The 1940’s was the heyday of the social club in St. John’s Lane and Betty remembered her then young colleagues in the Lawn Tennis, Table Tennis and Drama sections of the Club. Jo and Florrie Lawler, Teresa Corcoran, Freddie Moore, Vera Cross, May and Dympna Ward, Agnes Doyle, Kay O’Brien, May Fenelon and Kitty McLoughlin were just some of the many names she recalled.

She had heard in America of a photograph exhibited in the local Museum room of the Townhall showing the cast of the social club players in Lennox Robinson’s play, “The Far Off Hills.” Betty played the part of “Ducky” in that play which was put on in the Townhall in April 1947. Others in the cast included the father and son combination Dave and Tommy Walsh, Liam Ryan, Tadgh Brennan, Ken Reynolds, Cahill Kennedy, May Fenelon, Jo Lawler, Agnes Doyle and Kitty McLoughlin. The closure of the Museum room to facilitate the building of the Heritage Centre made it difficult to locate the photograph and unfortunately it was not found before Betty had left for America.

She was one of ten children, most of whom took the emigration trail to America. First to go was her eldest brother Jim, who in 1946 went out to his Uncle Bill Bradley in New York where he took up employment as a baker. Jim was a popular member of the Musical Society in Athy and is remembered for his portrayal of Carmen Marinda on the Townhall stage. The “Brazilian Bombshell”, as Marinda was popularly known, was readily recognised as the performer who went through her song and dance routine with outsized bananas on her head, garnished with other fruits. Jim remained in New York where he died almost five years ago.

His Uncle Bill Bradley was one of four brothers who left Athy in the 1920’s for America. Their brother Patsy Bradley owned a public house in Leinster Street, but was to end his days as a baker in the County Home. The Bradleys in turn had been brought out to America by their mother’s brother, Tom King and three of the Bradley brothers, Tom, Jim and Jack lived in St. Louis. Bill Bradley was Vice President of a store in New York City, while his brother Tom was the owner of the Shamrock Bar and Restaurant in St. Louis. Jack’s wife and children later returned to Athy where they lived with her sister Betty Mulhall who had a shop in Woodstock Street.

A year after the eldest May son emigrated to America the second son Sean also took the boat at Cobh for the New World. Sean had been a member of the local C.Y.M. Society and a shoemaker who worked with his cousin Tom May at No. 1 Woodstock Street. He married Irene MacNamara of Stanhope Street and both lived in St. Louis where Sean died earlier this year.

In 1948 it was Bettys turn to give up her job in Molly Bradley’s shop and head westward. As a young girl of 22 years she joined her brothers and uncles in St. Louis, knowing that she might never again see her family in Ireland. The employment situation in this country just three years after the end of the Second World War was quite hopeless. There was little new industrial development and virtually no worthwhile employment prospects for the younger generation. It is no wonder then that Betty and thousands more like her were part of the great exodus which started in the provincial towns of Ireland in the 1940’s and ended in the industrial towns of England or the seemingly more exotic cities of America. Betty was never again to see her father who died a year before she returned to Ireland in 1969.

Other members of the May family also emigrated to America, including Betty’s sisters Maureen, Joan and Judy, all of whom were to return to Ireland where they married and settled down. Her brother Christy who had worked as a carpenter with his father left for America in 1952 where he remained until he died three years ago. Of the remaining members of the May family, her brother Patrick is in Tomard, Ann is in Kingsgrove and Derry, the youngest of the family and the one I best remember is running the famous Chez Hans Restaurant in Cashel with her husband.

Betty, now a cheerful grandmother, married Don Muckerman and has two children and six grandchildren. Her husband Don served as a navigator on no less than 35 missions over Germany during World War II and luckily survived, despite being shot down. A near neighbour of hers in St. Louis is Kay Walsh, formerly of Athy, whose mother was Molly Walsh of Barrack Street. It was lovely to meet Betty May on this trip, one I hope of many more she will have the opportunity and energy to make in the years to come.

Athy's Workhouse

A few years ago attempts were made to retain part of St. Vincent’s Hospital as a Famine Museum. Despite the active cooperation of the Eastern Health Board, nothing came of the suggestion. Today the former workhouse remains a silent testimony to the many helpless people who passed through it’s doors since January 1844.

The poor who entered the Athy Workhouse were not allowed to succumb to idleness and all bodied inmates were put to work. Generally this consisted of stone breaking, although at Athy Workhouse paupers were also required to help on the Workhouse lands which in 1853 totalled 34 acres.

In October 1853 the Workhouse master summoned four paupers at Athy Petty Sessions for refusing to work and for disobeying his orders. They were sentenced by the local Magistrates to one months imprisonment with hard labour. Criminal prosecution of “vagrants” as the wandering poor were called was a common action taken by both Athy Town Commissioners and Athy Board of Guardians at different times during the second half of the 19th century.

Understandably the Workhouse contributed to the town’s problems in terms of unwanted vagrants and a local citizen was moved to write in a local newspaper in February 1862 “Athy’s rate payers have their doors constantly besieged by troops of beggars in every grade of wretchedness.” On 24th June, 1886 ten poor men and women admitted to the Workhouse on the previous evening were prosecuted at Athy Petty Sessions for vagrancy. Four of them were sentenced to two weeks imprisonment with hard labour.

In 1906 the Workhouse Clerk reported that a large number of vagrants were coming to the Workhouse. “Twenty five this week, forty five last week and forty seven the previous week”. Mr. Minch, a member of the Board of Guardians and a local resident in Athy, claimed that at one time upwards of 1,500 vagrants visited Athy Workhouse in one year but immediately the Board of Guardians instituted criminal prosecutions, the numbers fell to 500. It was also noted that a number of vagrants arrested in the locality of the Workhouse had notebooks containing the names and addresses of the good Workhouses and those which should be avoided, an early example of an Irish Tourist Guide perhaps! Clearly despite the efforts of the Board of Guardians the knights of the road were attracted to Athy Workhouse. Perhaps it was the meat dinners which the Board of Guardians first authorised for the Workhouse inmates Christmas Dinner in 1859 and for Easter Sundays from 1862 which were the big attraction.

Foundlings were another group cared for within the Workhouse and over the years many young babies abandoned at birth were to live out their early lives there. Names were generally attributed to these babies by reference to the Saints’ Day on which they were found and sometimes also the place where first seen. A child found wrapped in hay was names Hays, while another infant found in the Peoples’ Park was given the surname Parker. A boarding out system for children was introduced in 1862, thereby ensuring that as far as possible those youngsters would not spend all their formative years within the grim surroundings of the local Workhouse.

Schools were opened in Athy Workhouse in 1844. On the 16th of July, 1896 the Commissioners of National Instruction reported on Athy Workhouse School which by then was under the charge of the Sisters of Mercy. “The School is in a high state of efficiency and the course of instruction is carried out by the Sisters in charge with earnestness, zeal and ability. The girls of second and higher grade received instruction in shirt making, dressmaking, underclothing, knitting and darning and the use of the sewing machine”.

A further report on the Workhouse School in 1907 noted that “the pupils are making satisfactory progress. Oral English, Arithmetic and Drawing will require increased attention; kindergarten occupation for a large number of infants attending are urgently required.” The Workhouse Schools continued to operate until the 1940’s when the children then remaining in the Workhouse were sent to the local primary schools in the town.

Today the former Workhouse revamped and refurbished over the years is now a geriatric hospital. The wandering poor and abandoned children are no longer to be found there. To a generation which has lived in the shadow of a comprehensive health and welfare system it is sometimes difficult to realise the difficulties experienced in the early years of the workhouse system. Next year will see the winding down of the Great Famine Commemoration events and it is hoped that Athy will remember in an appropriate way the people of the South Kildare area who died so tragically 150 years ago.

The former Workhouse graveyard adjoining the Grand Canal is presently in a sadly neglected state. Perhaps we should show a measure of respect for the dead by having this sacred ground tided up. After all the poor people who died in the Workhouse so many years ago deserve to have the dignity denied to them in life restored even if only in death.

Iona

In company with about 70 other local history buffs for the most part from Northern Ireland I visited the Island of Iona last weekend. A small rocky island in the Inner Habrides off the Island of Mull, Iona is famous as the place chosen by Colmcille to found his monastery when he left Ireland. The occasion of our visit was the 1400th anniversary of the death of the Saint who was the earliest and possibly the greatest of Ireland’s missionaries.

The Island itself is very small no more than 3 ½ miles long by 1 ½ miles wide and is difficult to access requiring three ferry crossings and lengthy road travel before it can be reached. Everywhere I go I always seek out the Athy connection but I am afraid that in Iona once the Christian centre of Europe I drew a blank. The bleak desolate place holds its secrets giving the visitor a mere sense of the monastic world where the manuscript known as the Book of Kells was started.

Iona is acknowledged to have a historical and religious importance out of proportion to its size and but for its inaccessibility it is likely have rivalled Rome as a place of pilgrimage. The whole Island of Iona is a monument to St. Colmcille as all visitors are enabled to identify places where the 7th Century Irish missionary Saint prayed and lived.

It was from Iona that monks travelled to the east coast of England to found that other famous monastic settlement of Lindisfarne. It is an extraordinary coincidence that following Viking attacks on both monasteries in the eighth and ninth centuries two world famous manuscripts ended up in Ireland. The Book of Kells now in Trinity College was begun in Iona and removed from there for safekeeping to the Monastery of Kells in Co. Meath where it was completed. Like it the Book of Durrow originated elsewhere and in its case in Lindisfarne from where it was brought to Ireland to escape the destructive forces of the Vikings.

The visit to Iona was remarkable for a number of reasons. Perhaps the composition of the group which made the long trip was especially significant on the weekend when Orangemen unfurled banners and nationalists prepared to resist. After all Protestants, Presbyterians, Methodists, Catholics and some of no professed religion at all came together to share in the experience of visiting what was once one of the greatest centres of the Irish Church. This was not a pilgrimage in the sense we normally use the word. There was no communal praying or mindless repetitive circling of rocks associated with the Saint mumbling quotas of Hail Marys before passing on to the next cairn. Instead there was quite reflective visits to the sites associated with St. Colmcille where differences of Church and creed melted away allowing everyone to reflect on a shared religious inheritance and of a time when the Irish Church re-christianed Europe. This was in sharp contrast with what was happening that weekend in the Northern part of the Irish mainland. The evangelizing spirit of the Irish has long gone to be replaced by bigotry and intolerance. Nowhere was this more sharply contradicted however, than within the group of “prods and tagues” who joined together on the trip to Iona. If such people can be brought together in a celebration of a shared history why is it that our neighbours cannot also do so remembering that we are all heirs to the wisdom of the past.

As my companions and I came of the ferry at Larne on Sunday night after returning from Iona our Northern Ireland friends concerned for our safety offered advice on how best to circumvent the troubled spots in Belfast and Newry. There we were five local history aficionados facing into the uncertain future much as did Colmcille when turning his back on Ireland to set out across the Irish sea. Instead of raging seas we faced enraged people who had scarred their own landscape in protest.

With a certain amount of trepidation we drove past Union Jacks hanging from first floor windows of Larne homes down the road to Belfast and Newry. The Northern capital was soon reached and passed without incident. Soldiers passed in armed vehicles and the empty streets gave only a hint of earlier trouble where rocks and glass littered the roadway especially at road junctions. The bypass at Newry was blocked by two burnt out articulated trucks. It was now almost nine o’clock at night but the streets were empty. It would not remain like that for long. The sloped side embankment offered a precarious route around the trucks but up ahead was a still blazing oil tanker mercifully not long enough to block the wide carriageway. A cautious but speedy exit over the crushed glass and stones permitted an early arrival at the border and the safety of the 26 counties.

What had started out as a reflective tour of Iona and its links with Ireland ended with a first hand experience of well known but little understood example of fractured community living in Northern Ireland. The experience of one was overshadowed by the other but somewhere within the weekend’s experience was preserved the hope that some time in the future we will all be able to join in the celebration of a common heritage and history. Maybe that is the secret of Scotland’s most historic site.

1798 Rebellion in Athy

On 17th March 1798 John Glennan a Protestant was murdered near the Moate of Ardscull and a few days later John Lucas the elderly Parish Clerk of Narraghmore met a similar fate. Alarmed at these atrocities and fearful of the resurgent spirit of rebellion amongst their Catholic neighbours the Loyalists of Athy invited Thomas Rawson of Glasseally House to form a yeomanry infantry Corps in the town. Applying on the 1st April to Dublin Castle for permission to take up the invitation Rawson referred to the “seventy loyal well affected men in the town of Athy for each of whom I would pledge myself, they are anxious to embody themselves as yeoman infantry or to be suffered to arm as free men of a Protestant corporation”. The loyal infantry when formed like all yeomanry forces of the period were badly trained and poorly disciplined. It was primarily to be a policing force intended to protect members of the established church from the radical elements among their Catholic neighbours. The infantry under Rawson numbered 140 men and this group was to play a significant part in local events during 1798.

The town of Athy already had a yeomanry cavalry corps numbering approximately 56 men formed in 1796 and comprised of the gentry and better off inhabitants of the area. It’s first captain was the Duke of Leinster who filled similar honorary positions on all such cavalry units in the County. The second Captain and effective commander of the Corps was Thomas Fitzgerald of Geraldine House, Athy. The first and second Lieutenants were William Sherlock and J. Lewis.

An indication of the rivalry which existed between the different yeomanry units in the area can be gleaned from a letter sent by an Athy resident to Dublin Castle on the 2nd July 1797. The writer informed the Castle authorities of the malicious burning of outhouses belonging to a Mr. Crostwaite about one mile from Athy. Apparently Mr. Crostwaite’s property although within the functional area of the Athy Corps was declared out of their protection because of his refusal to join the local yeomanry. Instead Mr. Crostwaite and three others had given their allegiance to the Weldons of Ballylinan who had formed their own yeomanry unit. The writer did not go so far as to claim that the firing of the outoffices was caused by anyone other than the disaffected Irish.

In December 1797 a man who was to be responsible for undermining the effectiveness of the Athy rebels and causing the imprisonment of many of the leaders of the Rebellion came to live at Kilkea Castle. He was Thomas Reynolds a distance relation of Lord Edward Fitzgerald and a nephew of Thomas Fitzgerald Captain of the Athy yeomanry cavalry. Reynolds was soon admitted into the Athy Cavalry Corps and as a frequent visitor to Athy befriended many of the local townspeople. He also became a member of the United Irishmen and was elected a Colonel of that organisation in Kilkea and Moone and been appointed a County delegate at a provincial meeting. Making use of the information which was then available to him Reynolds informed on his colleagues. As a result twelve members of the Leinster Directory were arrested on the 12th March at the house of Oliver Bond in Bridge Street in Dublin while attending a meeting. Despite being suspected of passing information to Dublin Castle Reynolds escaped the informer’s fate and convened a meeting of six or seven of the local Captains of the United Irishmen in Athy on the 20th March 1798. The meeting place was a room at the back of Peter Kelly’s shop in the Main Street. The unsuspecting rebels were later to pay the price for placing trust in Reynolds while Kelly was imprisoned and suffered a loss of his business for allowing the use of his premises for rebellion purposes.


Early in May 1798 the Athy yeomanry cavalry which was felt to have been less than diligent in search of those responsible for an armed raid at the Athy Docks in December 1797 and whose Captain was under arrest were assembled in the Market Square, Athy. In the centre of their own Athy and before the eyes of their less privileged townsmen they were confronted by Colonel Campbell local commander of the 9th Dragoons stationed in the army barracks who ordered them to dismount. Having done so they were next ordered to lay down their arms and strip their horses of saddles and bridles. This was an ignominious end to the Athy Cavalry Corps for its members who were for the most part members of the local gentry and a humiliating acknowledgment of their betrayal by the spy Thomas Reynolds.

In the meantime the 140 strong loyal Athy infantry commanded by Thomas Rawson of Glasseally was busy showing its loyalty. Constant searches for pikes and arms brought their unwelcome attention on the native Catholics at both ends of the social ladder. With the limited success of searches for pikes and arms floggings were introduced to obtain information from the uncooperative local people. Early in May 1798 a large wooden structure was erected opposite the military barracks in the town. The triangle so called because of their three sided construction was used to secure men undergoing flogging. The man mainly involved in this barbaric practice was a local town Burgess Thomas Rawson of Glasseally House. A contemporary account by William Farrell of Carlow states in relation the Athy floggings “the triangle was put up in the public street of Athy and the work began instantly. There was no ceremony in choosing victims, the first to hand done well enough ……………. The whole weight of the persecution fell on the unfortunate Catholics. They were stripped naked, tied to the triangle and their flesh cut without mercy though some men stood the torture to the last gash sooner than become informers others did not”.

The brutal and systematic suppression of the townspeople during 1798 ensured that thereafter Athy was never again to present any major problems for the Government Forces.

St. Michael's Boxing Club

Just over ten years ago I shared an unbounded enthusiasm with a good deal of other folk, lay and religious, young and not so young, who like me were concerned for the future of Athy. We came together without any hierarchical structure free from strictures of rules or obligations to talk out ideas and see how we could help challenge the social decline which gripped the town. The group, one of the most successful one I was ever associated with, established a number of projects all of which are still going strong. These included a play school in Castle Park, a monthly newsletter, a community council and a boxing club. I was reminded of that last week by Noel O’Mara on the occasion of the civic reception accorded by Athy Urban District Council for St. Michael’s Boxing Club. Noel who was also a member of that group was given the responsibility of restarting the Boxing Club which had lapsed some years previously. He claims that he was told rather than asked “get it up and running again”. To his credit he undertook the task with an enthusiasm and doggedness which could only lead to success.

He first sought out Dom O’Rourke who had boxed with the original club founded by Fr. Laverty in the 1960’s. Dom’s involvement was crucial as was that of Jimmy Walsh who with Pat Nolan were brought in by Noel at a very early stage to resurrect the Boxing Club. Mount St. Mary’s the former girls national school building opposite Perry’s supermarket was the Boxing Club’s premises for the first few years. Here with Jimmy Walsh as Chairman Noel O’Mara as secretary, Pat Nolan as Treasurer and Dom O’Rourke as trainer, St. Michael’s Boxing Club was reborn with what we now know were incredible results. Early successes for the Club were achieved through two very gifted boxers, Noel Johnson of Dooley’s Terrace and Pat Phelan of Clonmullin.

Today the Club restarted almost ten years ago by Noel O’Mara is the most successful club in the long history of any sport in Athy. Out of the thirty or so active boxing members there are no less than four international boxers. Tommy Sheehan is back from representing Ireland in the European Junior Championships in Birmingham where he reached the Quarter Finals. Patrick Phelan and Jimmy Philips have also represented Ireland at junior level while Gary Sheehan is to travel to Macedonia on the 4th July as an Irish youth international boxer.

The range and number of titles won by boxers from St. Michael’s Club is quite astonishing. Tommy Sheehan has won no less than five All Ireland titles while Patrick Phelan and Gary Sheehan have each won three All Irelands. Roy Sheehan has already won two Irish titles at schoolboy level and Eric Donovan won his first schoolboy All Ireland title earlier this year. Provincial titles have been won by the Club members with an amazing regularity. John Donovan won six consecutive Leinster titles from schoolboy to youth level. James Philips has won five provincial titles and was defeated in four All Ireland finals.

This year has been the Club’s most successful year. No less than four All Ireland titles were won in 1977 by St. Michael’s Club members, Eric Donovan, Roy Sheehan, Gary Sheehan and Tommy Sheehan. The latter three are brothers from Clonmullin and their’s is a unique record in the annals of Irish amateur boxing. Sons of Gerry and Geraldine Sheehan , they have the inspiration of following in the footsteps of a grand uncle from Knocknagoshel in the County of Kerry who was famous as an exponent of bare fist fighting of another era. John Greaney was famed far and wide for his prowess as a County Kerry boxer and his nephew Gerry Sheehan from Millstreet, County Cork is now the proud father of no less than two Irish international boxers and his younger son Roy has already won two All Ireland schoolboy titles.

Dom O’Rourke and Jimmy Walsh are still involved in the Boxing Club and are today ably assisted by Jimmy Walsh, Johnny Fennell, Marie O’Rourke and many others who help out from time to time. The achievements of St. Michael’s Boxing Club have been recognised by the Irish Boxing Authorities who have sanctioned a full international boxing match between Ireland and Canada to be held in the Grove Theatre on the 13th July. I understand this will be the first Senior International boxing match held outside of Dublin and it is fitting that four local club members, James Philips, Tommy Sheehan, John Donovan and Vivien Carroll will box that night in the green singlet of Ireland.

We have been slow in recognising the successes of the men and boys who have brought such great honour to their Club and to their home town of Athy. The recent award of a civic reception by the local town Council for the members of St. Michael’s Boxing Club has been the first step in re-addressing this omission. For the rest of us there is the opportunity of supporting the boxers when they host the international match in the Grove Theatre on the 13th July next. See you there!

Some burials in St. Michael's Cemetery

Old St. Michael’s cemetery situated on the Dublin road has been the principal burial ground for the town since the thirteenth century. The two Anglo-Norman headstones of which I wrote of last year are the earliest evidence of burials at this site and probably commemorate members of the de St. Michael family who were patrons of the parish church established here by the Crouched Friars in the 13th century. Even in death a strict ordering of the social classes saw the rich and powerful separated from the poor as evidenced in the following epitaph.

‘Here lie I by the chancel door,
Here lie I because I’m poor,
The further in, the more you’ll pay,
Here lie I, as warm as they.’

The majority of headstones in St. Michael’s cemetery are from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. For the most part they mark the last resting places of men and women of our town who had long slipped from the community’s memory. Here and there can be found memorials to military men who fought in the wars which punctuated Europe’s history.
Scattered about the cemetery are six small headstones of the Commonwealth war graves commission marking the final resting place of Athy men Michael Byrne, James Dwyer, Thomas Flynn, Martin Hyland, John Lawler and Michael O’Brien, all of whom died in the Great War of 1914-1918. Elsewhere their fellow victims of the war are commemorated on family headstones such as Ion and Leslie Hannon of Ardreigh House, William Crampton of Emily Square who died of his wounds in 1927, Joseph Pender, Christopher Power, George Telford, and the brothers Edward and Thomas Stafford.

Men of the town who died in World War II are also commemorated in St Michael’s cemetery. They include two grandsons of John Holland of Model Farm. Major Niall Holland fighting with the 4/5th Maharatta Light infantry, Indian Army was killed in Burma in June 1944 at the age of 25 years. Sergeant William Holland, RAF, died in Italy in 1945 aged 19 years. Another Athy man Terence H.K. Hosie of the Royal Engineers was killed in action in Italy in 1943. He is also commemorated in the Presbyterian church on the Dublin road, opposite Old St. Michael’s.

Not all those who went to war failed to return. Captain Robert Pearson of the Royal Regiment of Foot served in France and Flanders under the Duke of Marlborough in the 1700’s and returned to Athy where he is buried in St Michael’s cemetery with his parents Richard Pearson and Mary Jackson.

In a quiet corner of the graveyard is a headstone to the memory of William Grattan Esq., Late Lieutenant of the 88th Regiment (The Connaught Rangers). A member of a well known Dublin family he was a first cousin of the novelist Thomas Colley Grattan, who was educated in Athy, and a distant kinsmen of Henry Grattan the statesman.

William joined the Connaught Rangers as an ensign on July 6 1809 and served continuously with the 88th Regiment until 1813 during which time he took part in many of the principal battles of the Peninsular war. This was the war fought in Spain between the British Army led by, another Irishman, Wellington and the French forces under Napoleon. Today Grattan is chiefly remembered for his reminiscences of the campaign in Spain under the title ‘Adventures with the Connaught Rangers’. Charles Oman a distinguished authority on the period wrote that ‘of the many memoirs that I have read, I think that his is on the whole the most graphic and picturesque in giving details of actual conflict’.

Grattan after the capture of the town of Ciudad Rodrigo in Spain wrote that ‘the smell from the still burning houses, the groups of dead and wounded, and the broken fragments of different weapons, marked strongly the character of the preceding nights dispute; and even at this late hour, there were many drunken marauders endeavouring to regain, by some fresh act of atrocity, an equivalent for the plunder their brutal state of intoxication had caused them to lose by the hands of their own companions, who robbed indiscriminately man, woman, or child, friend or foe, the dead or the dying!’

Wounded at both the battles of Badajoz and Salamanca in 1812 Grattan survived the war to publish his memoirs in 1847 followed by two supplementary volumes in 1853. The Irish novelist Charles Lever in his book ‘Charles O’ Malley’ drew heavily on Grattan’s writings.

Old St. Michael’s cemetery is an interesting repository of historical connections both Irish and European. Anyone interested in the history of Athy should visit the 13th century but if you would benefit from a more conventional information source why not consider the Rathmichael Summer School which will provide courses in local history in July and August. Details are available from June Barry, 45 Salthill, Monkstown, Co. Dublin, Tel. (01) 2844572.

Refuse collection in 19th century Athy

Much of life in Athy is carried on in a seamless and carefree manner. We have the amenities of modern society to thank for this, whether it be the water in our taps, the heat from our radiators or the weekly collection of rubbish from our doors. This was brought home to me most acutely while I perused notes I had taken many years ago from back issues of the Nationalist Newspapers dating as far back as the turn of the century. What struck me was the very same facilities that we take for granted were in their absence the source of many problems in the town. In an era before internal plumbing in houses was commonplace, the inhabitants of the town had to concern themselves with the disposal of all forms of domestic waste and refuse. This gave rise to a particular problem which was reported in the paper on the 13th February 1904.

“At the Athy Petty Session on Tuesday a larger number of parties were at the behest of the Urban Council fined for creating obstructions by allowing heaps of manure to accumulate outside the doors on the streets at their residences. At this time the occupants of small houses sell whatever manure is accumulating in their back premises to the local shopkeepers and farmers. The manure has of course to be transferred to the streets where it is sometimes allowed to remain for days constituting a source of danger and presenting a most unsightly appearance. It is a pity however that the real culprits, the purchasers, can apparently escape scot free. In one case disposed of on Tuesday the defendant, a delicate, sickly and indeed hungry looking old woman who was in receipt of 1 shilling and 6 pence a week out door relief was ordered to pay in fines and costs exactly what she received for the manure, 2 shillings. Yet in the case it was shown that the purchaser had bought the manure fully a week before it was transferred to the street. It’s failure to remove it resulted in the unfortunate woman who sold it being punished in a manner almost beyond bearing. Neglect of this description is certainly a crime.”

The principal complaint of the writer was what he perceived as the inequitable treatment of a poor, old woman. Of interest to the social historian is the detail the report provides regarding the living conditions of the period.

Towns varied in their tolerance towards the keeping of dunghills outside private houses. One writer noted - ‘Every house had a heap of refuse outside it, partly because many horses and pigs were kept in the towns, and partly because destruction of refuse by burning was not considered safe.’ In Cambridge in 1402 dung and filth was allowed to accumulate in heaps for up to seven days while in York in the late fourteenth century any accumulation that could be called a heap was prohibited.

Up to the last century Athy Council had a centre at Green Alley and another in the back Square for the accumulation of manure collected from the streets which was then auctioned off every few months to local farmers.

Refuse collection was as you would expect not a service provided in mediaeval towns. Squalor and filth was an integral part of street life of that time. Householders disposed of their rubbish by dumping it outside the town walls or into the river which ran through or around the town. An Act of 1388 prohibited the pollution of rivers and ordered that refuse be carted away. It was around this time that towns such as Athy began to formalise arrangements for disposal of refuse and designated specific areas as dumping sites. The modern system of refuse collection began with the Public Health Ireland Act 1875 which required local Councils to provide for the collection of refuse from private houses on appointed days during the week.

The writer, Theo Richmond, in his book ‘Konin’ dealing with his mothers home town in Poland noted the arrangements the townspeople had for the disposal of waste in the 1920’s -

‘We shared our toilet with two other families. When it came to cleaning, every family had to do it - wipe the wooden seat and so on. The seat was on top of a kind of wooden box. Underneath was a deep hole in the ground. Everything from the seven toilets went into the same hole. Late on Friday night a Polish peasant with a horse and cart came along. There was an opening in the ground outside the shed. They used a long pole with a bucket on the end to get everything out. They poured it into a tank on the back of the cart and took it to the farmers who used it as manure, so they took it away for nothing’.

A memoir of the mid-19th century recalls the individual known as the nightsoil man :-

‘There was the man who came, mysteriously, in the night, every month or so, to empty the earth closet, the little shed screened by bushes, which stood in the corner of the tiny yard by the side of the house. No one ever talked about him, the nightsoil man with his horse and creaking cart. He came when we were all supposed to be asleep and it was proper to behave as though he did not exist’.

Life today is made relatively easy by the public utilities available to us. The nightsoil man, the public lamp lighter and the “scavenger” are no more and in their place are the highly trained technicians who monitor gauges in specially equipped stations such as the modern filtration and pumping system recently installed by Athy UDC at Ardrew.

Athy Gaelic Football Club

On Sunday the 2nd October 1887 a General Meeting of the newly formed Athy Gaelic Football Club was held and Rev. James Carroll C.C. was elected President with David Walsh, Thomas Dignan and Edward O’Reilly as Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary respectively. The Committee included D. Foley, W. Doriss, N. Hoban, J. George and M. Scully. The meeting noted that Athy Brass Band had donated their musical instruments to the club and that a house had been procured for band practice and the use of Club members.

A report in the Kildare Observer of the 22nd of October 1887 gives a flavour of the almost genteel activities of the Club in these pre-competition days. “A practice came off on the Club grounds on Sunday last at 3.00 o’clock. A large number of people were present and the proceedings were most enjoyable. Mr. J.E. Nolan and Mr. A. Stynes having called sides the ball was set in motion by Mr. E. J. O’Reilly, the Referee, and there was an excellent evenings amusement. Another practice will be held on Sunday next”.

The report of the “second practice match of football” confirmed that “most of the players appeared for the first time in costume”. A meeting of the members was called on the following Sunday to elect a Captain and Vice-Captain for the first and second teams. Mr. P. Lawler of Farmhill was elected Captain with Mr. Scully Vice-Captain of the first team. The members of the Club totalled 150 in 1887 and according to the local newspaper “additional members are enroling every day”.

The first competitive match involving the new Athy Club was played on the 13th November 1887 against Knock, Co. Laois in Mr. Anthony’s field in Rathstewart. The visitors were declared the winners when the Athy team objected to the Knock team wearing heavy nail boots. Patrick Lawler and his team later withdrew their objection and although helped by team mates who included Ms. Bonfield, McConville, Dooley, Anthwell, Scully, Lawler had to concede defeat on the score of 3 goals and some points to nil for the home team. The visitors were later treated in Kavanaghs Hotel in Leinster Street.

Athy played its first Senior Championship match in 1889 when a draw was secured against a Suncroft Team in Monasterevin. Athy won the replay but lost to Sallins in the second round. Athy reached its first semi-final in 1904 when defeated 4-12 to 0-0 by Roseberry. This set back caused Athy to drop out of the Championship for the next two years and to re-enter at Junior level. In 1907 Athy had its first ever success winning the Junior Championship against Caragh following a re-play.

Further success was to elude Athy for many years. On the 4th of May 1924 at Newbridge the Athy team played its first Senior Championship final. The victory in what was the 1923 Championship final went to Naas on the score 2-6 to 0-0. In 1925 Athy beat Caragh in the semi-final but subsequently lost on an objection. Athy lost in two successive finals in 1926 and 1927 and doubts began to emerge as to the Club’s ability on the big day. Success eventually came when Athy won its first Senior Championship beating Rathangan in the 1933 final. In the following year Athy won its second Championship Final beating Raheens after a re-play. Successful again in 1937 when beating Sarsfields, Athy lost the 1941 final to Carbery before exacting revenge on the same team in the 1942 final following a re-play. Athy was not again to win the Championship until 1987 after losses in 1946 and 1978. The 1987 Championship win was at the expense of Johnstown Bridge on the score 2-9 to 0-9.

In 1905 the Club rented a field from the South Kildare Agricultural Society. The successful development of the playing pitch and spectator area resulted in the Athy Club hosting the All Ireland Football Final for 1906 and the Hurling Final for 1908 in what is now called Geraldine Park. Leinster Football Finals were played in Athy, in 1907, 1908, 1942 and 1944 and the Leinster Hurling Final in 1907. Over the years many men have contributed to the success of Geraldine Park as a venue for Gaelic Games. Frank O’Brien Snr., Christy Walsh and Martin Hayden contributed much in the early years and in 1926 Seamus Malone, a teacher in the Local Christain Brothers School spearheaded further improvements at Geraldine Park. Banking for spectators was first provided in 1937 and completed in 1950 using material cleared for an extension to the local Asbestos factory. A further major development in 1950 was the provision of seating, the building of dressing rooms and the levelling and enclosing of the playing pitch. Playing a leading part in this was local District Court Clerk Fintan Brennan who was Chairman of the Leinster Council between 1945 and 1947. John W. Kehoe a Publican in Offaly Street was Chairman of the Geraldine Park Grounds Committee when a boundary wall was built in the early 1960’s to be followed some years later by the provision of modern dressing rooms. The building of the Clubhouse in 1988 was the final act in the development of Geraldine Park which had commenced in 1905.

Athy Gaelic Football Club has given many stars to Gaelic Football over the years. Those who have achieved County or inter-provincial selection include Tommy Mulhall, a player of matchless artistry, Barney Dunne a Cavan man still happily with with us who was the only Athy player to win four Senior Club Championship medals. Johnny McEvoy, a goalkeeper of considerable skill and bravery later played with the great Larry Stanley on the Garda team and won a Dublin Senior Championship medal in 1948 to add to the Kildare Championship medal won with Athy in 1937. Danny Flood first played in Kildare in 1954 and occupied the full back position for many years, winning a Leinster Senior Championship medal in 1956. Mick Carolan started with the County team in 1958 and was still a regular on the team fourteen years later. In more recent years Footballing Stars in Athy and indeed in County Kildare have been somewhat scarce. Gaelic Football in the short grass county has been living for a long time on memories of past glories. Hopefully Clubs like Athy will herald the arrival of a successful County Football Team which will regain for us a pride which has lain dormant for so long.

Fitzgeralds - Dukes of Leinster

I recently attended a seminar in St. Werburgh Church in Dublin, a Church dating in part from the end of the 12th century. It also has many links with Athy and particularly with two members of Anglo-Norman families with connections to the town. In 1715-1719 the Church was rebuilt to the design of Colonel Thomas Burgh who also designed Bert House, Athy for his brother. Burgh also designed Trinity Library and Dr. Steven’s Hospital which can now be seen at its most splendid following its refurbishment as the headquarters of the Eastern Health Board.

In the vaults beneath the Church lie the remains of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, a member of the United Irishmen and for a period a member of Parliament for the Borough of Athy. By a strange coincidence the man who captured him, Major Sirr, lies in the Church Yard of St. Werburghs.

It was during the morning break in the Seminar that I was told of the recent tragic death of what was claimed to be the last direct descendent of the Dukes of Leinster. Thomas Fitzgerald who as Lord Offaly would have succeeded in time to the premier title in Ireland, died at the young age of 23 years in a car accident in the Midlands. He was the only son of the Marquis and Marchioness of Kildare and Grand-son of the present Duke and Duchess of Leinster.

The Fitzgerald family have lived in England for the last 40 years or so, following the sale of their ancient seat of Kilkea Castle. Their connection with the town of Athy lives on in the Street names of our town. William Street, Duke Street, Leinster Street, Offaly Street, Stanhope Street and Emily Square all commemorate members of the Leinster family. Strangely enough Lord Edward Fitzgerald fondly remembered as the Irish Patriot who took a leading part in the planning of the 1798 Rebellion has not given his name to any street in the town which he represented as a Member of Parliament. Maybe in the 1798 bicentenary which will be celebrated next year this omission can be corrected and due honour paid to the man whose family has such long links with Athy.

The family’s association with County Kildare began in 12th century. The Geraldine family of which the Kildare’s were a branch were prominent in the early stages of the Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland. Their kinsmen, the annalist and cleric, Gerald of Wales writing in the twelfth century eulogised the power and influence the family had in the settlement of Ireland. He noted that they were the most successful in subjugating the native Irish.

By the close of the 13th century the Kildare’s owned large tracts of County Kildare with important castles at Kildare, Maynooth and Woodstock in Athy. In 1316 John Fitzthomas, Lord of Offaly, was made Earl of Kildare as reward for service to the crown during the invasion of Bruce, the Scottish King’s brother. By the early 16th century the Fitzgeralds had consolidated their power to such an extent that they effectively were the most powerful family in Ireland.

The Kildare Rental book of 1518 shows that they held extensive lands in Kildare, Carlow, Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Kilkenny, Wexford and Dublin. Until the mid-sixteenth century they virtually monopolised the office of Lord Deputy, the Kings representative in Ireland. One Tudor official complained that the deputyship was regarded as the inheritance of the Earls of Kildare. The revolt of Silken Thomas, son of the 12th Earl saw the confiscation of much of their property. Although they never were to attain the same power they had before the revolt of 1534 their influence was still significant. In 1598 Sir Henry Yallop noted that there was “hardly a native of the Kingdom who is not dependent on either the Earl of Ormond or the Earl of Kildare”.

Thereafter the family although extensive landowners did not involve themselves to the same degree in intrigue for power, though within the county of Kildare they effectively controlled the nomination and election of MP’s from the Athy borough up to the early 19th century. As a the primary owners of property in the town their influence on its development in the 18th and 19th centuries was profound. Many of the principal public building are attributable to the interest of the various Duke’s in the town. The construction of the town hall is believed to have been financed by the Leinster family as was the corn exchange, now the courthouse. The layout of Emily square is also a product of their influence.

The market rights granted to Athy by King Henry VIII under the Charter of 1515 was for a Tuesday Market “in a place deputed or ordained therefor by Gerald, Earl of Kildare.” The Market Place chosen was the open ground near the River Barrow on it’s East Bank, now known as Emily Square. In 1669 the King of England was petitioned to grant leave to hold two additional Fairs in Athy. Up to then the town had only one Fair on Michaelmas Day and it was felt that “an ancient and loyal corporation seated in the heart of a plentiful country for both corn and cattle” should also have Fairs of three days duration in May and November. The petition supported by the Fitzgeralds as Landlords of Athy was successful.

The presence of a Presbyterian Community in the town is the result of a migration scheme initiated by the Duke of Leinster following the Great Famine to introduce Scottish cottiers to his estates around Athy. Those who accepted the Duke’s offer of lands and houses in South Kildare mainly came from Perthshire and Eastern Scotland. As Scottish settlers they brought with them the industry and energy of the native Scot, together with their religion, Presbyterianism. Throughout the early months of 1851 the settlers arrived in Athy, a town which in centuries past had witnessed similar arrivals from across the Irish Sea. By June of that year 17 Presbyterian families had settled in the area. In February 1852 a site for a Presbyterian Church had been acquired from the Duke of Leinster on the Dublin Road. A foundation stone for the Church was laid in September 1855 and the Church, known locally as the Scotch Church was opened in 1856. Another member of the Fitzgerald Family who is still remembered today is Lord Walter Fitzgerald, historian and antiquarian who was responsible for the formation of Kildare Archaeological Society in the last decade of the 19th century. He was responsible for collecting an enormous amount of local history material and for encouraging an awareness and an appreciation of the wealth of local historical material and the built heritage of County Kildare.

If the death of Lord Offaly is in fact the end of the direct line of the Fitzgerald Family, it marks a sad end to what was once the most powerful family in this Island. The legacy of the Fitzgerald Family to the town of Athy is a proud one and is best exemplified in that important urban space, an architectural composition occupying a central position in Athy - Emily Square. How strange it is that the Fitzgerald Family should suffer such a tragic loss at a time when plans are afoot to put a new road through the centre of Athy and to deprive us of one of the most important elements which makes Athy such an attractive town.

Castlemitchell Meggars Club

Horse Shoe pitching or “Meggars” as it is locally called has been part of rural life in Ireland for as long as cast off horse shoes have been available. It is claimed to have originated in Roman Times when soldiers spent their leisure hours in camp throwing or pitching horse shoes in friendly competition. Today the sport has evolved as a skillful and well organised one using purpose made pitcher shoes manufactured to a standard size and weight.

In the Irish context, horse shoe pitching is not regarded as a particularly ancient sport. This may well have been because of the large number of small holdings in rural Ireland which did not justify the ownership of even a single horse. It was in the 1940’s that pitching became popular especially during the war years when other forms of sport and entertainment were difficult to organise. The equipment for the game was readily available in all rural areas and before long, weekend matches gained a popularity they have not since lost.

It was in County Wexford that the first Meggar Clubs were organised in Ireland. Counties Laois, Carlow and Kildare were soon to follow and in Ballykilcavan between Athy and Stradbally, meggars were played in the mid 1940’s. In the late 1960’s, meggars was a popular game played by workers in the Sugar Factory in Carlow during their lunch break. In time a club was formed in the factory and soon after the factory workers from Counties Kildare and Laois established Clubs in their own areas. In March 1974, the Midland Horse Shoe League was formed with Clubs affiliated from Cossets of Carlow, Erin Foods of Carlow, Maganey, Tollerton and Ballinabranagh. The first Club from this locality was Castlemitchell founded in 1976. The founder Members included the late Pat Pender and Luke Kinsella and Mick English who later went on to found a Meggars Club in Bray, Athy.

The Castlemitchell Club played on the local green using cast off Horse shoes which were pitched to a spike set in the ground a distance of 33 feet away. The numbers playing increased and as interest developed, a second team was formed in Castlemitchell. This was later to form the nucleus of the highly successful Gouleyduff Team which was founded in 1980. Founder Members included Denis Ryan, Martin Mulhall, Pat Ward, Jim Mulhall and Denis Prendergast. They played in the field next to P.J. Prendergast’s house in Gouleyduff.

Kilberry Meggars Club followed in 1981. Originally based in Mick Drea’s field, the Club Members now play on the green in Kilberry. Mick Drea, Joe McDermott, Mick Clinton and Jimmy Fitzpatrick were some of the original Members of the Kilberry Club. Some short time afterwards, a Club was formed in Churchtown with Billy Harris, Jim Kane, Stephen Lawler and the late Jack “Thatcher”-Carbery as Members. They practised and played on Billy Harris’s field.

When Mick English, one of the Founder Members of the Castlemitchell went to live in Bray, Athy, he was instrumental in forming the Bray Meggars Club with Mick Bolger, Charlie Sourke and Joe Martin.

Today the Gouleyduff, Bray, Churchtown and Kilberry Clubs play under what are described as the Wexford Rules and are Members of the County Kildare Horse Shoe Pitchers. These local clubs are amongst the most successful in the Country. Castlemitchell Club won the inaugural All Ireland Club Championship played in Fairyhouse in County Meath in 1978 with the team of Mick English, Paddy Byrne, John and Charlie Sourke, Pat Prendergast and Luke Kinsella. Since then the Gouleyduff Team has won the All Ireland Championship on three occasions. Victories in 1982, 1989 were followed by last years All Ireland win in Timahoe, Co. Laois. The winning team then comprised Joe Phillips Captain, Pat Ward, John Kelly, Paddy Byrne, Denis Ryan and James Hosy. As a result of that victory, the All Ireland Meggars Club Championship for 1997 will be held in Tegral’s Sport Field in Athy on the Whit Weekend.

Competitions will start on Saturday evening the 31st May and continue on Sunday afternoon. Athy has played host to a variety of All Ireland matches over the years including Hurling and Ploughing Championships. Now meggars is to be added to list given our local sporting activity a unique place in the annals of Irish sport.

Athy's Inner Relief Road - McCarthy Area Report

I have often wondered how the men of ’98 felt as they rose in the year of rebellion to tilt against the might and power of the English Crown. Their rage and perhaps frustration can only be imagined but must be comparable to that which I feel tonight as I find myself teethering on the brink of outrage at the contents of an innocuous brown envelope which has reached me. Outrage is a term normally applied to hideous and dastardly deeds perpetrated under cover of darkness on unsuspecting folk, but it may well describe what prompts my feelings tonight.

I have just received what is described as an executive summary of Athy’s Traffic Management Study which is dated 1997 and which was prepared for Kildare County Council by McCarthy Acer Consultants Ltd. of Dublin. The five page document was prepared by the Consultants following what they described as a “Comprehensive Traffic Management Study for Athy on behalf of Kildare County Council.” The requirements of the study as commissioned by the County Council interalia required the consultants “to validate the 1975 traffic plan for Athy”.

In case you had forgotten, that plan produced in the days before EEC largesse began to transform the road network in Ireland, suggested two new alternative roads for Athy - an Inner Relief Road and an Outer Relief Road. The far sighted Councillors of the day opted for the Inner Relief Road option, but sure wouldn’t they, bearing in mind the quality of Council decision making in those days which for instance failed to secure Whites Castle for the town when offered in exchange for a Council house.

So it was that in 1996 McCarthy and Associates rode into town to start their “Comprehensive Traffic Study”, the outcome of which could never be in doubt. After all, did not their clients Kildare County Council long ago pin their colours to the mast insofar as the Inner Relief Road was concerned. Did we really expect that McCarthy would make a recommendation which would not find favour with it’s clients. I am not of course in any way impugning their professional integrity. Not for one minute would I be so presumptuous, but I am open to persuasion. However, lets return to the traffic study itself. We find that a survey programme was undertaken on a Friday and a Saturday in September 1996 which disclosed that 15% - 20% of traffic on the Main Street was through traffic. The Report also claims that 50% - 60% of traffic entering Athy has either their origin or destination in the town. Into what black hole is the remaining 35% - 20% of the traffic disappearing ? Have I missed something Mr. McCarthy, or is there an explanation which is not apparent on a reading of the executive summary ?

Incidentally, for whom is the five page summary prepared for - hard of reading Councillors or hard pressed Council Officials with limited attention spans ? I have asked for a copy of the full report, but don’t hold your breath while I await a response. Once I got over the shock of reading of Rat Running in Mount Hawkins [I kid you not], I was ready to pass on to the Council’s, sorry Consultants, proposals for managing Athy’s traffic up to the year 2016. A number of proposals were assessed from the “do nothing” to “outer by-pass” to “inner roads with one-way system” to “inner relief two-way system”. McCarthy and Associates do not sit on the fence, especially if it is propped up by Kildare County Council and no doubt to your surprise and mine, they announced their preferred strategy as the Inner Relief Road for two-way traffic ! So there you are, Kildare County Council were right after all and the rest of us were wrong.

“But why an Inner Relief Road”, I hear you say. To the independent consultants who looked at this matter without any prior knowledge of the County Council’s preference I put the same question. The answer is worthy of a consultant. “It will enable existing roads in the town centre to be managed in a way that the environment and vitality of the town centre would be enhanced through the creation of partially pedestrianised areas within Duke Street and Leinster Street”. There you are - I couldn’t put it any better myself. Oh there’s more. “The aim of the Traffic Management Plan is to improve the attractiveness of Athy town centre and the completion of the Inner Relief Road will play a major part in achieving these aims. Facilities for vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists will be improved, as will environmental conditions. The civic amenity of Athy will be enhanced and the town centre will become a safer and more pleasant place to work, shop and visit”. Well it must be true, after all, these consultants are highly qualified men and if they say that running two roads through the center of the town and keeping all traffic within the town center will create a safer, pleasant place to shop, who are we to disagree ?

It is quite obvious that all the road engineers and consultants in England and Ireland who have favoured outer relief roads and an appropriate measure to make town centers safer and more attractive are wrong. Mr. McCarthy, how can I thank you for letting me see the errors of my ways. You are a genius with words, but incidentally, why did it take so long to produce the finished article ? Was there an awful lot of consultation involved ? You know how it is ! County Council Officials can be difficult when the Messiah approaches with a message which is not in accordance with the tablets of stone.

Where’s me pike ? I smell rebellion in the air ! The Americans had their McCarthy era. We’re about to start on our own. Maybe the 200th Anniversary of the 1798 rebellion can be suitably commemorated on the Square in Athy with more floggings at the triangle. Have we got any likely candidates you can suggest ?