Memoirs of Caroline Kelly Daughter of Thomas Kelly

One of the most remarkable men to come out of the history of Athy and district was the Reverend Thomas Kelly of Kellyville Ballintubbert. He was born in 1769 the son of Thomas Kelly a one time Catholic Barrister, who had become a member of the Church of England in order to obtain judicial preferment. Thomas Kelly the junior went to London in order to study law but instead changed his mind and took Holy Orders in 1792. Ordained to the Church of England he returned to Dublin where, despite his youth and relative inexperience, he proved a popular preacher. However, he soon fell out of favour with Archbishop Fowler of Dublin who prohibited him from preaching in any church in the Dublin archdiocese. Archbishop Fowler died in 1801 so the prohibition was probably some few years after Kellys ordination and just before the turn of the 19th Century.

Thomas Kelly still attracted a large following and in a period where different groups such as the Walkerites and the Brethern, later the Plymouth Brethern, established themselves outside the mainstream Anglican Church, Kelly founded the Kellyites.
A man of independent means, who had made a good marriage with Ms Tighe, of Rosanna, Co Wicklow, Kelly was able to establish a number of meeting houses in Dublin, Athy, Portarlginton, Wexford and Waterford.

I was reminded of Thomas Kelly when I recently came across a copy of his daughter’s memoirs published for private circulation in August 1902. Caroline Theodosia Kelly’s recollections were recorded during August and Sept. 1901 at No. 2 Eaton Square, Monkstown, just 5 years before she died at an advanced age. They are of interest for the insight they gave into the lives of the people of Ballintubbert around the time of the Great Famine and for that reason I give the following lengthy extract from them:-

“Amongst the poorest, there were several original characters, such as were to be met with only in the old-fashioned Irish country districts, before the day of railways and telegraphs.At the top of the “Quarry” field resided a very old man, Paddy Fennan, and his wife. He remembered as a boy helping when the modern part of Kellyville House was built by my grandfather, Judge Kelly. The wife remembered being a housemaid during his life time, and used to say that the guests always left a shilling for the housemaid between the sheets when they were leaving. They were a very clean and tidy old couple, and Mrs Fennan’s girdle cakes were much appreciated by the younger generation.

There were, the blacksmith’s family, the Murphys, and that of the carpenter, the
Carberys. Old Dan Carbery was an excellent skilled mechanic, and his sons and
grandsons still follow the trade, some of the latter in America. He dressed in the old-
fashioned style, with knee-breeches, knitted stockings, and blue cloth coat with brass
buttons.

There was a herdsman of the name of John Gorman, who was quite an authority. His
favourite manner of drawing attention to any person or thing was, “Look at that, now”.
He was a most warm-hearted man, but endowed with the coarsest brogue I think I ever
heard.

There was a little gamekeeper of the name of Tom Branigan, who was a good rabbit shot,
and had a very dry manner, and was generally more silent than Irishmen of his kind. He
married at an advanced age, and, in consequence, as is the custom in Ireland, had on his
wedding night to go through the ordeal of a great deal of what is called “booing”,
accompanied by the blowing of horns.

There were cottages belonging to families, such as the Whelans, Regans, etc., which,
though constructed with thick walls of stone and clay, and thatched with straw, and
having mud floors, were always clean and tidy, so that no one could object to visit or sit
down in them.

An old man of the name of Tom Cushion lived in a cottage on the road to Athy, whose
conversation we much enjoyed. One day I was improving the occasion, as I thought, by
talking to him on some instructive subject, when he remarked with a straight look, “It’s a
muthering pity”, Miss, that ye weren’t male born.” Once I asked him to let me have a
little gravel from his sand-pit for my garden; his answer, in the fullness of his heart,
when I wanted to pay for it, was “Ye shall have it sponta-a-neous as the leaves grow on
the trees. ”He was one of the very few Roman Catholics of his position who read through
his Bible continually, and talked freely about it.

I must not omit to describe a character that was well known in the whole countryside, and
who rarely passed a week without being seen and given food at our door. I mean Mary
Grady, who was an example of Irish county early life to be met nowhere else. She had
married and had a large family, but the poor thing had a disordered brain, brought on
through illness or disappointment. She lived with her husband, mother and six children,
in a cabin on the Ballyadams bog. The dwelling was of the poorest and most elementary
description; her husband was a day labourer, and, although she was rarely at home and
spent her days wandering over the country far and wide, the children all grew up well and
healthy. On one occasion when talking to Mary Grady she said how fond the poor girls
were of me.”Oh,” I said (in joke), “it was only for the money they get,” to which she
responded: “Die to-morrow, and see what a grand funeral ye’d have.”

Her restlessness of brain forced her from house to house, and from town to town, and her
life, passed in repartee and wild conversation or altercation with those who laughed at
her, or pitied or disliked her, produced a flow of vigorous language, and filled her with a
vast amount of local gossip, upon which she discoursed, or which she retailed, greatly to
the amusement of the young and old of all ranks who would listen to her.

Her genius for quaint saying and for coining quaint words and funny names was
wonderful. For fully 40 years she wandered over parts of Kildare and Queen’s County,
and there were few houses of any kind where she was not pretty sure to get something to
eat, and, if it was a dinner, she especially enjoyed what she called the “top finish”, which
in ordinary language is the “sweet thing”.

Reverend Thomas Kelly died on 15th May 1955 aged 86 years and was buried in the
Kelly family vault in the grounds of Ballintubbert church.

On Thursday I will be leading a history walk of Athy starting in Emily Square at 7pm as
part of the Seachtain na Gaeilge activities. Join me on my journey down the history of
Athy as seen through its buildings and the people who once walked the streets of our town.

Ribbon Men Activity 1820s

The Peace Preservation Force instituted by Robert Peel in September 1814 was the forerunner of the modern Garda Siochana. A heavily armed force drawn mainly from the ranks of the militia and ex soldiers, its operations sometimes gave cause for public complaint. On October 22nd 1817 Thomas Fitzgerald of Geraldine and magistrate for Athy forwarded to Dublin Castle the sworn affidavit of Thomas Noud of Kilmead concerning outrages committed by the new force. On the other hand the replacement by the Peace Preservation Force of the local yeomanry whose knowledge of their own locality was invaluable in combating crime, gave the locals greater scope for illegal nocturnal activities. Such activities were then gaining prominence and in August 1818 a number of outrages committed in and around Athy were the first indication of the resurgence of Ribbonmen activity in South Kildare. These outrages reported to Captain Mansergh of Athy included:
“Party of 5 men had entered the house of a farmer near Athy and shot him.

Another man shot by the same party on the Carlow Road and an attempt made to burn
his house.

Church windows of Athy broken and the piers of Dr. Johnstons gate demolished.”

Ribbonmen were mostly tenant farmers who because of high rents and inadequate prices for their farm produce found their tenancies at risk. Working men were in time to adopt Ribbonmen tactics in their attempt to improve the level of wages. On 1st December 1819 Robert Rawson writing from Glassealy, Athy informed the Dublin Castle authorities that:
“a few nights ago a soldier on duty at the Barracks of Athy having heard a shot looked from a rising situation over the wall and saw as he swears upwards of 12 men, but he has since in private admitted there were 30 running in the field and calling on each other to come on … since, it has been stated that an assembly of 30 persons were at the house of one Keating swearing on the Ribbon business”.

Rawsons distrust of his Catholic neighbours extended even to those occupying government positions for he went on to complain:-
“the investigation has fallen into the hands of Mr Bergin a Catholic magistrate who I fear will not be very jealous in developing the facts and the Sovereign of the Town being weak the loyal man may be easily imposed on …”.

Whether Rawson’s fears were well founded or not we do not now know. Whatever the result of Bergins investigation it did not serve to stop the Ribbonmen activity in the area. Early in 1822 an attempt was made to burn the Athy Goal for which a conviction was secured against a hapless individual the following March. Around this time the Peace Preservation Force was replaced by County Constabulary, a police force to which local magistrates retained the right of appointing Constables and sub Constables. James Tandy newly appointed Chief Magistrate of Police residing at Annfield Kilcullen was petitioned in October 1822 by some Kildare baronies to reduce the level of the police numbers in the county. The local land owners no doubt felt that their financial position did not permit them to finance a large public force whatever the consequences. Robert Rawson son of Thomas, having succeeded his father as owner of Glassealy warned Tandy:-
“that the emissaries of sedition are at work again as busy as ever …. I am assured there are regular meetings held now in this town (Athy)…. I have succeeded in dissuading the landholders of East Narragh from petitioning”.

Tandy no doubt wise to the Rawson scares of the past reported to the Castle that no outrages had been reported in East Narragh since he stationed the police there some months previously.

On 27 December 1822 Rawson ignoring Major Tandy wrote to Dublin Castle enclosing an anonymous letter which he had received from an Athy informant. The letter undated, unsigned and without an address read:
“….. there was a meeting in Murphy’s public house in Athy on Saturday 21st at which there was 12 men … it was agreed to take up arms from the gentlemen and farmers, your house is the first on the list Colonel Bagots next …. You will find the meetings at Murphy house once a week either Saturday or Sunday …. “

Rawson suggested that himself and Mr Butler the Town Sovereign of Athy attended by the yeomanry force raid Murphys on the following Saturday night. He asked the government authorities not to mention his name to Major Tandy.
“as he is imprudent in speaking of things I told him, only desire him to patrol more frequently and at different hours and I expect an attack on New Years night that his party should be in my vicinity on that night”.

The Castle official dealing with Rawsons correspondence wrote across the letter
“I would rather trust Tandy than Rawson, this is an idle letter”.

Two generations of Rawsons had cried wolf too many times, although subsequent events tended to prove the accuracy of the information concerning Murphys public house.

On 12th March 1823 N. McDonagh wrote from Ballitore to Major Tandy advising him of an attack on the night of the 11th on the farm house of Milo Farango within two miles of Athy, by about 15 men all of whom had their faces blackened. Mr. Farango who kept mills near Athy had previously received threatening letters. The writer continued:-
“… on being refused admittance by a man named Anthony Kavanagh who was lately sent there as a herd by Mr Farango the windows were all demolished. However Kavanagh having got alarmed he gave them admittance on which he was threatened in the severest manner to quit his masters employment. He was then knocked down and most inhumanly beaten his head cut severely in two places so much so that he was obliged to get medical assistance. He was also brought out of his house and stripped laid prostrate on the ground and flogged with furze brushes to that degree that his skin was torn off. I proceeded immediately after to the place and succeeded in apprehending the following persons who are sworn to and committed to Athy Goal:
Pat Moran Thomas Doyle
James Goode John Dunn
James Doyle Thomas Dunn”

The fate of the arrested men is not known.

On 29th October 1824 Tandy reported to Dublin Castle the houghing of cows belonging to Hugh Shields who doubled as the Duke of Leinsters agent and Athy Pound keeper. A number of cows belonging to the local Church of Ireland curate Charles Bristow were similarly ill-treated. It was suspected that the arrest of Patrick Kirwan a local farmer for unpaid rent due to the Duke of Leinster was the cause of the unsavoury activities of the night of 28th. A number of local men were arrested shortly afterwards by a large party of police under the command of Mr Butler Town Sovereign and charged with the houghing offences.

'Why by fire'

The past week for me has been given over to the sometimes forgotten history of the people who suffered more than most during World War II. It was a coincidence that I was visiting Prague the same week as John MacKenna’s new work “Who by Fire” premiered in the local school hall while Zolton Zinn Collis was filmed revisiting Belsen for the first time since 1945.

I had previously written of Zolton who has lived in Athy for almost twenty years. That occasion was the publication of Mary Rose Doorley’s Book, “Hidden Memories” which dealt with the personal recollections of what were called the “Belsen Children” who came to Ireland with Dr. Robert Collis at the end of World War II. They were the unclaimed children who survived in the German concentration camp Bergen Belsen and who like Zolton Zinn and his sister Edith were orphans.

I can still recall the emotion I felt when interviewing Zolton Zinn Collis in 1995 as he recounted the experience of his distraught mother resisting a german soldiers attempts to wrest a dead child from her arms during a stop over on the train journey to Belsen.
“I can never forget”, he said “only the dead can forgive, we have no right to forgive on their behalf”. He had lost his mother and father, his eldest brother Aladar and a baby brother or sister, which he cannot say, in the horrible inhuman conditions created by the Germans during World War II. On Thursday night on Irish television, he relived the horrors of over 50 years ago when he was filmed revisiting Belsen for as he said “we should all learn from the past - we should not forget”. As the Albanian people evicted from Kosovo last week massed in refugee camps, we should remember the Zolton Zinn’s of this world who are left with memories of a time which should never again be repeated and of families which can never again be theirs.

The same night as Zolton Zinn Collis’s story was transmitted, I attended the second night of John MacKenna’s, “Who By Fire” - a play with songs by Leonard Cohen. For reasons which I will explain later, the performance was of special significance for me and evoked in me a response similar to that felt when I spoke to Zinn Collis some years ago. “Who by Fire” is a story of a young girl who was taken to the concentration camp of Auschwitz with her mother. She survived but her mother, her friends and neighbours all died and twenty years later, she revisits the former death camp where as the author explains, the sights, sounds and smell of her three years in Auschwitz bring the past back to life.

As the Members of Athy Musical and Dramatic Society brought the evenings performance to a conclusion, I felt that I had watched a most compelling and moving theatrical experience. The immediacy of the performance was for me heightened by the fact that on the day before, while on a journey from Prague to Dresden, I stopped to visit Terezin, a holding camp for Jews and Czechs who were destined for Auschwitz. Situated near the Czech border with Germany, the former camp has been established as the Memorial of National Suffering by the Czech Government and shows the fate of persons imprisoned there in the context of the overall picture of the persecution of the Czechs during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. I could not then but be moved by the Athy groups performance reawakening as it did, the visual experiences of the day before when I saw for the very first time, documents, artifacts and material from a terrible period in recent Czech history.

The number of Jews exterminated in Auschwitz concentration camp has never been accurately assessed and estimates range from one to four million. Amongst those were upwards of 75,000 Jews from Prague City which was once the location of a vibrant if somewhat overpopulated Ghetto Jewish Quarter. The death camps of the Second World War finished what the slum clearance programmes of Prague Municipal Authorities started at the beginning of the century. Nowadays the former Jewish quarter of Prague is a monument to the Jewish past. Its old Jewish Cemetery’s is the largest and best preserved Jewish Cemetery in Europe having been established in the fifteenth century. There are almost twelve thousand tombstones in the cemetery holding many more unmarked graves where centuries of burials resulted in the elevation of the ground so that it was thought that there are upwards of seven layers of burials there. These then were the ancestors of the Jews who suffered so much as a result of Hitler’s plans for the extermination of their race.

John MacKenna’s new work comes at a significant time when trouble has erupted in Yugoslavia and another ethnic group, this time Albanians face a situation so reminiscent of what occurred to the Jews just over 50 years ago. “Who by Fire” is a timely reminder of a history which for most of us has passed unnoticed or perhaps not understood.

I had hoped to meet Tommy English whom I believe is the only Athy man living in Prague. Unfortunately, my trip coincided with Tommy’s return to Athy and so I was left looking elsewhere for an Athy connection. The only previous Czech connection with Athy was Josef Ratusky who worked in the Wall Board Factory many years ago. As far as I can recall, he lived for a while with McHugh’s of Offaly Street. He first came to Carlow, as a fitter in the Sugar Company and later to Athy to join the Wall Board Company. Unfortunately, he passed away some years ago.

It was while passing over Charles Bridge in Prague built in the 14th Century that I made the Athy connection. Prague’s most familiar monument connects the old town with the Latin quarter and boasts no less than 28 statutes including that of St. Felix deValois and St. John deMatha who founded the Trinitarian Order. You may remember that the Monastery of St. John, Athy was a Trinitarian Foundation in the early part of the 13th Century. The Monastery closed down even prior to the Reformation but a window from the Monastery is to be placed in the Heritage Centre in the very near future.

I was saddened to hear of the death of Paddy Tierney, formerly of Emily Row when I returned to Athy. Paddy was a schoolmate of my brother Tony and his family lived in the house next door to the original Credit Union office which is now being incorporated into its new offices. Paddy who was Town Clerk of Dundalk spent his working life in Local Government and died at the relatively young age of 61 years. My sympathy goes to his family and sisters especially Noreen Noonan of Leinster Street.

Orford Baldwin families of Athy

Visiting Athy during the week was Margueritte Germaine of Florida, USA, who had last seen the town of her birth in 1939. Born Margueritte Orford, she was the eldest of two daughters of Joseph Orford of Foxhill House and Mary Baldwin formerly of 10 Woodstock Street. Her father came from a large family and in his time had studied for the Bar, emigrated to Australia, and on his return to Ireland carried on a car sales business in Dublin where he held the agency for Willis Automobiles.

Joseph’s wife Mary Baldwin was a sister of Carmel Baldwin and Jack & Jim Baldwin who lived in No. 10 Woodstock Street with their mother Margaret Baldwin, formerly Murphy. Both Jack & Jim Baldwin served as officers in World War 1 and while Jack suffered from gas poisoning both brothers survived and returned to Athy. Jim, who prior to the war, served as a British Army Officer in India, later enlisted in the Irish Free State Army and lived in Dublin until his death.

His brother Jack was a man of mystery. He was the engineer on the Barrow Drainage Scheme which had offices in the ground of St. John’s House which are now given over to car parking in the centre of the present town. He was one of the founders of the first soccer club in Athy but appears to have disappeared without trace sometime after 1939. Local folklore gives the impression that Jack Baldwin was lost during World War I but we now know that he returned safely from that European conflict. No one knows what happened to Jack. Not even his niece Margueritte who lost contact with him after her family emigrated to England in 1939.

Margueritte was born in 1922 in No. 10 Woodstock Street at the time when her parents were living in Foxhill House. Her mother planned her confinement for Dublin but apparently time was not on her side so a hasty retreat was beaten to her mother’s house in Woodstock Street where the first grandchild was born.

The Orford family continued to live in Foxhill House until 1929 when the house with 200 acres of land was sold to Jeremiah Maloney of Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick for the sum of £900. It was a strange coincidence that saw me bringing the former child of Foxhill House out to see the house and its present occupiers on the 31st March. For it was on the 1st April 1929, almost 70 years to the day, that the Maloney family of Abbeyfeale took possession of the house and farm from Margueritte’s parents. Before we called to Foxhill house, she remembered the two-storey house and the apple tree which she looked out on from her bedroom window over 70 years ago. Her childhood memories of Foxhill House were crystalised as she stood on the front lawn of the house pointing out the window of her one time bedroom and the ancient apple tree which still stands today. It was a lovely moment and one made all the more pleasant by the kindness of Letitia and Terry Maloney who showed the 77 year old woman throughout the house where as a young girl she played with her only sister Blathnaid. With her on this, her first visit to Ireland since she left in 1939, was her son Pat, his wife and her son’s mother in law.

Margueritte Germaine who married a U.S. officer during World War II and emigrated to Florida in 1945 recalled with uncanny accuracy the names of people and places familiar to her 70 years ago. Although she went to school as a boarder to the Sisters of Mercy in Arklow, she maintained friendships in Athy with members of the Doyle family of Woodstock Street, the Whelans of William Street and Fortbarrington House and the Hollands of Model Farm. She recalled playing tennis in the Tennis Club behind Geraldine Park and was able to point out its location to me as we passed on the way out to Foxhill. Having spent some time with her granny in No. 10 Woodstock Street, she readily and with apparent ease, recalled the names of her neighbours in that street. Special mention was made of Mrs Telford who lived next door to Granny Baldwin and whom she described as always wearing purple while having a consistent dislike for children of all ages! This was the same Mrs Telford, whose son Seargeant Alfred Telford was killed in World War I and who later gave her son’s army service knife to a young Leo Byrne. This World War I artefact is now to be found in the heritage centre.

In St. Michael’s Cemetery is the Orford grave stone commemorating Thomas Orford and his wife Margaret both of Foxhill who died in 1911 and 1906 respectively. They were the grandparents of Margueritte. With them is buried their daughter Eleanor who died in 1917 aged 28 years, their daughter Mary who died in 1937 and their son John who died in 1958. John, who was the owner of the Nags Head in Leinster Street was brother of Joseph Orford, father of Margueritte Germaine.

There is apparently no member of the Orford family living in Athy today although I believe that the Orford family of Kilcullen are descendants of the Foxhill House family of the same name. Coming to Athy after 70 years gave Margueritte Germaine, formerly Orford, a rare opportunity of revisiting her memories of a town which has changed significantly in the interim but in some important respects remains recognisable. Crom a Boo bridge and White’s Castle is the one constant which every onetime resident of Athy can recall. In Margueritte’s case, she remembered and recalled the location of the Tennis Club, Peter P Doyle’s House, her granny’s house and many other features of the town which have survived over the years.

It is seldom that I meet visitors to Athy who have carried for so long and with such clarity childhood memories of the town in which they once lived. Margueritte Orford had an uncanny recall of times past in Athy stretching back over 70 years remembering families who are no longer part of our community. I hope that her visit to Athy gave her as much pleasure as I derived from meeting her. If any of my readers can give me any further information on the Orford or Baldwin families I would like to hear from them.

Athy Town Commissioners (3)

While the Town Commissioners incorporated under the Town improvement (Ireland) Act 1854 were more active than their Town Borough predecessors any increased benefit to the townspeople was a matter of dispute. The lighting of the town was one of their more tangible achievements. On 21st January 1858 the town was lit for the first time. The public lamps which were only lit during the winter months were extinguished at 12.30 each night. In later years this was to be brought forward to 10.30 each night. Local businesses were encouraged to sponsor and pay for public lamps but without much success. A notable exception was the Local Loans Fund operating out of Emily Square which paid for six gas lamps in addition to making a substantial donation each year to the town Commissioners to provide work for the poor men of the town.

The Town Commissioners were less successful in providing the townspeople with a wholesome supply of drinking water. Indeed between 1848 and 1900 the Commissioners provided only one additional public pump in the town to bring their total number to six. There was also a number of private wells in use, but in common with the public pumps the water supplied was generally acknowledged to be unfit for human consumption, and the cause of much illness amongst the townspeople. Despite this the Town fathers did not provide a piped water supply until 1907.

Fire fighting was for a long time a communal activity with townspeople using every available means to preserve life and property. In the early part of the 19th century the Military Barracks housed the only fire engine in Athy. Primarily intended for military use it was made available as required for fire fighting in the town. In June 1846 the Town Commissioners sought permission for the local constabulary to use the fire engine in the absence of the military. The Commissioners later became owners of a fire engine which remained in use until replaced in 1895. In 1881 the Commissioners appointed a committee to form a volunteer Fire Brigade in the town for whom 12 zinc buckets and a barrel and tub were to be provided ‘for the better working of the engine’.

The fire engine purchased from Merryweathers of London in 1895 at a cost of £149=12=8 required 22 men to work its engine and man its pumps. No doubt conscious of the fire hazards posed by the overcrowded hovels of the town there was no shortage of volunteers for this work. In 1907 the secretary of the Athy Voluntary Fire Brigade James Duthie reported a membership of 27 with plans to increase the numbers by an additional 10 men. Following the purchase of the Merryweathers engine Athy’s first fire engine was sold to Duthie Large Limited for £15.

In 1894 the Town Commissioners began a long and unsuccessful campaign to have the local constabulary relocated in the centre of the town. This followed the constabulary’s removal to the Military Barracks in Woodstock Street following a report on the unsanitary condition of the accommodation provided for them in Whites Castle. The military barracks which had been vacant for almost 15 years was renovated at a cost of nearly £500 to accommodate the seven married men and the four single men who were members of the local constabulary. The Police authorities in refusing the Town Commissioners requests were supported by the local Inspector who reported that despite the move to Woodstock Street the peace of the town was well maintained with no inconvenience to the public. Undaunted the Commissioners pressed ahead by calling on the South Kildare members of Parliament the raise the matter in the House of Commons in 1895. Their campaign was unsuccessful but memories in Athy were obviously long as on 3rd June 1907 the Urban Council resolved
‘that a letter be written to Mr Denis Kilbride M.P. requesting him to ask a question in the House of Commons relative to the removal of the Police from the centre of the town to their present out of the way position and to ask the Inspector-General be directed to hold an inquiry in the Town into the matter’.

The Constabulary were to remain in the Military Barracks until the emergence of the Irish Free State.

On 15 September 1890 a special meeting of the Town Commissioners was held at which it was agreed to appoint a committee to consider the submission of an application to the Local Government Board to have the Town Commission constituted the Urban Sanitary Authority for Athy. The Committees report was adopted on 2 February 1891 but nothing further was done about the matter until 14 November 1898 when a resolution was adopted asking the Local Government Board to constitute the Commissioners as an Urban Sanitary Authority. A public inquiry was held in the Town Clerks office on 10 April 1899 presided over by Arthur Bourke Local Government Inspector. Following his report the Local Government Board made an order declaring Athy an Urban District with effect from 1 April 1900.

King Henry VIII had first granted corporate status to the inhabitants of Athy in 1515 when the charter of that year provided for the setting up of a Borough Council and the election of a Provost. A later charter of 1613 confirmed the Town’s Borough status but replaced the Provost with an annually elected Town Sovereign. Athy Borough Council was finally abolished in 1840 and the last Town Sovereign was the Rev Frederick Trench of Kilmoroney, Rector of St Michael’s Athy. It is of interest to note that the first election to a town council in Athy took place on the 5th of July 1847 when both the Parish Priest Rev John Lawler and the local Vicar Rev Henry Bristow stood as candidates. Both were elected.

With the declaration of Athy as an Urban District from the first of April 1900 the Town was about to enter upon its most effective period of municipal government after almost 400 years of local rule.

Athy Town Commissioners (2)

August 1870 witnessed something of an upheaval in the smooth functioning of Athy’s Town Commissioners with the resignation of the Town Clerk Henry Sheill and of the Inspector of Nuisances John Roberts. Both resignations apparently arose because of a proposal to amalgamate the offices of Town Clerk, Inspector of Nuisances and Town Scavenger. This motion was eventually not proceeded with, no doubt to the regret of those who warmed to the prospect of a Town Clerk toiling with brush and shovel on the local streets. With the retirement of Henry Sheill, the position of Town Clerk passed through many hands, including one man who defaulted with some of the Towns Finances. In 1890 Joseph Lawler was appointed Town Clerk which position he was to hold for many years.

On 5 September 1873 the Town Commissioners held a special meeting to consider the report of Dr. Ferris - Medical Officer of the Athy Dispensary. The report stated;
“In a sanitary point of view the dwellings of the labouring population of this town and still more the yards attached to them are for the most part in a very bad state. The Local Authorities here whose business it is to have this state of things rectified are very inactive and remiss, they need some pressure from the local Government Board to induce them to act in time. There are a couple of public pumps much resorted to by the inhabitants (the poorer especially) which are of a very unfit description. I could give evidence of this from the prevalence of the localization of enteric fever in the immediate vicinity of one of them and otherwise. By the reason of the inactivity of the sanitary and nuisance Authorities here there is a complete want of prearrangements as to action to be taken in the event of an epidemic breaking. We have some cases of enteric fever in town at present. By reason of extensive good traffic to this town by boat on the Grand Canal there is an exceptional liability to importation of contagious disease by the boatmen. In the event such accruing there is a complete want of any settled legal plan of action to prevent the spread of it. The want of such plan was much felt when last year a case of small pox was imported in the person of a boatman.

The spread of the epidemic was prevented only by the voluntary and as I believe illegal action of a few inhabitants who joined to reimburse the owner for the burying of body clothes and bed clothes and forcing of the man into the Fever Hospital”.

No action was taken by the Commissioners following the Doctors report.

In 1877 Athy Town Commissioners convened a meeting in the Hibernian Hotel, Dublin of all Commissioners of towns under 6,000 inhabitants in the country. The purpose of the meeting was to prepare representations for submission to the Chief Secretary on the advisability of such towns obtaining jurisdiction for sanitary services. At that meeting held on 19 January representatives from Athy, Killiney, Wicklow, Fethard, Cashel, Newbridge, Tuam and Trim passed a number of resolutions including one expressing the opinion that the Public Health (Ireland) Act 1874 would be more satisfactorily administered for towns by Town Commissioners rather than by Boards of Guardians. Messrs M. Lawler, J. Leahy, E. Lord and A. Duncan of Athy together with Patrick Doyle of Newbridge were appointed to wait on the Chief Secretary of Ireland to present the resolutions. The deputation met the Chief Secretary on 10th April 1877 and its Secretary, local shopkeeper, Alexander Duncan was later to report:
“it appears that the Chief Secretary would allow towns below 6,000 population to become the Sanitary Authority, if so disposed, with the consent of the Local Government Board”.

Athy Town Commissioners in August 1879 passed a resolution that they become the Urban Sanitary Authority. The matter was quickly dropped when it was pointed out to the Commissioners that the entire Sanitary rate would thereupon fall on the occupiers of houses in the town of Athy.

In the 1880’s Athy Town Commissioners became politically active in sympathy with the national mood of the day. In January 1881 they passed a resolution urging the “creation of a peasant proprietory” and laws “to protect the tenant cultivators of the soil” to be followed in June by a resolution “that the provisions of the Land Bill be extended to lease-holders as well as yearly tenants”. In March 1885 a motion “that all former resolutions, compacts or agreements relative to the election of Chairman of Commissioners be rescinded and that in future the Chairman be elected on his merits by a majority of the Board” was dropped on the grounds that there was no need for its adoption. The significance of the motion can be understood on reading a letter written by Michael Lawler of Athy Town Commissioners to the Leinster Express in October 1854. Lawler wrote:

“(Athy Town Commissioners) then entered into a mutual agreement to keep all political feeling out of our meetings and to have as near as possible half Roman Catholic and half Protestant, also to select the Chairman alternatively from each side”.

Clearly the increasing desire of some of the Town Commissioners to support political movements of the day heralded a change in the composition and political independence of the Town Commission. Within four months the Athy Commissioners were to present an address of welcome to Michael Davitt Founder of the Land League on the occasion of this visit to Athy on Sunday 5 July 1885. Towards the end of the year the Duke of Leinster’s agent wrote to the Commissioners drawing their attention;
“to the fact that his Grace gave a room in the Town Hall for the purpose of transacting Municipal business but not for holding Political meetings”.

Clearly the long standing cordiality between the Duke and his submissive subjects was coming to an end! During the remaining years of its life the Athy Town Commissioners showed its political leanings in condemning the Luggacurran Evictions of 1887/1889 and by passing a resolution on 6 January 1890 confirming its “most implicit confidence” in Charles Stewart Parnell.

Athy Town Commissioners (1)

As this is the centenary year of the passing of the Local Government Act which created County Councils and Urban District Councils it is appropriate to take a look back at the workings of Athy Town Commissioners which held it’s first meeting in Athy on 16th June, 1856. The Town Commissioners were the predecessors of the Urban District Council and it’s first Chairman was Mark Kavanagh, while Henry Sheill was appointed Town Clerk at the salary of ten pounds a year. John Roberts was appointed Inspector of Nuisances at a yearly salary of twelve pounds. John Hayden obtained the lucrative position of weigh master and adjuster of weights and measures for which he was to receive thirty five pounds a year. Patrick Byrne, the public bellman, received a paltry two guineas for his efforts. While the weekly meetings of the Commissioners were held in the Grand Jury room of the Courthouse the Town Clerk’s office was in Mr. Sheill’s house in Leinster Street with hours of attendance from 11.00am to 12noon each day, excluding Sunday. One of the first Acts of the new Town Commissioners was to order a load of lime for distribution “to the poor people for white washing their houses.”

The provision and maintenance of water pumps, the inspection and registration of lodging houses, the paving of footpaths, street cleaning and the provision of a public scales were the principle functions of the Town Commissioners. No evidence can be produced to indicate that Athy had public lighting prior to the lighting of the town by gas in 1858. On 20th October, 1856 a rate of eight pence in the pound was levied on the town to raise a revenue of £120. This enabled the Commissioners to appoint William Langan, Pat Hyland, Michael Moore and James McDonald as porters to attend at the public crane in Emily Square and to assist at all the markets in the town.

Public dissatisfaction with the Town Commissioners may be surmised from an attempt made on 15th October, 1857 to contest five vacancies on the Commission caused by retirements under an agreed rota system. The five outgoing Commissioners were opposed by Luke O’Neal, Patrick Whelan, John P. Meredith, John Diven, Pat Grace and James Lawler who however only received five votes each compared to the 20 cast for the outgoing Commissioners. A poll demanded by Matt Minch was agreed to be fixed for October 22nd. This was subsequently rescinded on a technicality and the five outgoing Commissioners were deemed re-elected. The decision was the cause of frustration for many unhappy ratepayers and was in time to result in a concerted effort to break the existing Town Commissioners’ monopoly of the elected positions in the town.

On 21st January, 1858 the town of Athy was lit by gas for the first time. The public lamps were lit during the winter months only and were extinguished at 12.30 each night. Local businesses were encouraged to sponsor and pay for public lamps but without much success. A notable exception was the Local Loans Fund operating out of premises at Emily Square which paid for six gas lamps in addition to making a substantial donation each year to the Town Commissioners to provide work for the poor men of the town.

On 5th August, 1861 the Town Commissioners had copies of the following Notice printed and posted throughout the town.

REWARD

“Whereas the public lamps and public pumps of Athy are damaged from time to time by some person or persons the Athy Town Commissioners hereby offer a reward of 2/6 to any person who will give information on any such offence.
JAMES LEAHY
CHAIRMAN”

Cleary youthful exuberance was not unknown, even in the hungry days immediately following the famine.

In July 1860 the Town Commissioners had the bell removed from the Church of Ireland in Emily Square and put up in the Town Hall. Apparently the Church bell was to replace another bell from the Town Hall which in accordance with the Town Commissioners’ instructions was to be sold. Prior to this a bell had been sited at the Canal Bridge and used as a fire bell, one William Howard being employed to ring it whenever notice of a fire was received. In December 1861 the Commissioners ordered that the ringing of the Canal Bridge bell be discontinued. Instead the former Church bell which still hangs on the Town Hall was to be used to signal the outbreak of a fire in the Town.

As late as the 1920’s successive Town Councils saw fit to obtain the views and recommendations of the Duke of Leinster on many matters of municipal concern. In March 1862 the Town Commissioners wished to re-arrange the monthly fares to accommodate dealers sending cattle to the Dublin markets. Only when the Duke of Leinster gave his approval for the proposal did the elective representatives of the town proceed to change the fair days for pigs, horses and cattle to the first Tuesday and Wednesday of each month respectively.

Between 1862 and 1864 the Town Commissioners were engaged in negotiations with the Electric and International Telegraph Company and the British and Magnetic Telegraph Company regarding the opening of a telegraph office in Athy. The Town Commissioners’ reluctance to guarantee either company against future losses caused a delay in the opening of a telegraph office in the town. Eventually agreement was reached in October 1864 with the British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company and Athy’s first Telegraph Office was opened on 19th November, 1864.

In 1862 the Town Commissioners approached the Duke of Leinster to obtain the use of the Record Court previously leased to the County Kildare Grand Jury. This ground floor room located on the East wing of the Town Hall adjoining the junction of Meeting Lane and Emily Row was renovated at the Duke of Leinster’s expense during 1865/1866 and leased to the Town Commissioners for use as their Assembly Rooms. The Commissioners were to remain in this room until 1887 when by agreement with the Athy Mechanics Institute they took over the room which continued to be the Urban Council Offices until the mid-1980’s. This allowed the Mechanics Institute to have use of the larger room adjoining Emily Row which was used as a Billiard Room up to the 1940’s. Both rooms are now incorporated into the Town’s Heritage Centre.

Athy Land League

The Athy Land League had Dr. Patrick O’Neill as Vice President, Timothy Byrne as Treasurer and John Cantwell as Secretary. It had its own flag made of green silky material which was held aloft at the head of each Land League march and which stood over each Land League platform in Athy. A portrait of Parnell was on one side with the inscription “United we stand. Divided we fall” on the reverse. The flag was last known to have been in the possession of Peter P. Doyle of Woodstock Street, Athy in or about 1948.

On 8th January 1881 The Kildare Observer reported a Land League meeting in the Market Square Athy during which Michael Boyton burnt a copy of the Leinster Lease. However, within a few weeks local public support for the Land League was seriously undermined by a clerical instigated tenants’ agreement to accept a 20% rent reduction offered by the Duke of Leinster. The Land League was not mentioned at the meeting chaired by Rev. Dr. Kavanagh which accepted the new rents and Dr. Patrick O’Neill, the League’s Vice President, resigned because “the acceptance of the Duke’s offer had broken the backbone of the local Land League”.

During the period of the Tenants’ Defence Association and the Land League one finds no evidence in the Minutes of Athy Town Commissioners of support for the tenant farmers. The Commissioners silence probably owed much to the servile attitude adopted by successive Commissioners over many years to the town’s landlord - the Duke of Leinster. The first indication of a change from the subservience of their predecessors was the passing of a resolution on 6 June 1881, requesting the extension of the provisions of the Land Bill to Leaseholders as well as yearly tenants. The innocuous enough request was to be followed on 2 January, 1882 by support for Charles Stewart Parnell in a resolution which called on the Government to release Parnell “and the other prisoners confined under the Coercion Act”. Further evidence of the more independent and nationalistic line adopted by Athy Town Commissioners was given on Sunday, 5th July 1885 with the presentation to Michael Davitt of an address by the Commissioners Chairman Michael Doyle, on the occasion of Davitt’s visit to Athy. This address is now housed in the Davitt Museum at Straide, Co. Mayo which I had occasion to visit same some years ago as Chairman of Athy U.D.C. in the Company of Councillor Frank English.

While Land League activity throughout the country went on a pace throughout the 1880’s, Athy, which in 1872 had given Ireland the first of the new wave Tenants’ Defence Association, was little concerned with the nation’s struggle. All was to change with the advent of land problems in the little village of Luggacurran in 1886.

The Luggacurran evictions had their origin in the refusal of Lord Landsdowne to grant his Laois tenants rent reduction similar to those he had given tenants on his Kerry estates in 1886. As a result of his refusal almost 70% of the tenants adopted the Plan of Campaign which brought them into sharp conflict with Landsdowne’s local agent, Mr. Townsend Trench. The leaders of the campaign were Fr. John Maher C.C. Luggacurran, Denis Kilbride and John W. Dunne, two local tenants of Lord Landsdowne who had large tracts of land sublet to local tenant farmers. Dunne held almost 1,200 acres while Kilbride had over 850 acres.

In November 1886 the Luggacurran tenants decided to withhold Lord Landsdownes rents. The half year rents due that month were collected in Kavanaghs Hotel, Athy by Fr. Maher, John W. Dunne, Denis Kilbride and Patrick Kelly. Kavanaghs is now the Leinster Arms Hotel Evictions soon followed, the first tenant chosen was Denis Kilbride who was evicted on 23 March, 1887. The evictions were to continue throughout the following year and into 1889. A number of those evicted came to live in Athy including John W. Dunne, the Carberys, the Crannys and the Rigneys. Over the three year period 1887 to 1889 nearly seventy families were evicted from their homes. Some of these families were allowed to return to the Luggacurran area following a settlement of the dispute in 1903.

James Dempsey who lived at No. 3 Emily Row, Athy and was the last weighmaster of the town scales, located at the rear of the Town Hall recalled in 1948 a land League Meeting held in Luggacurran on 24th July 1887 at which the legendary William O’Brien spoke.

“Every cart, brake and vehicle capable of carrying people left Athy for Luggacurran that day, he says. ‘The Procession, headed by Athy Fife and Drum Band, extended from Ballylinan to Athy.’ When they reached Luggacurran thousands of people from several counties were assembled there. He recalled how the crowd opened its ranks to let the Athy band march past.”

William O’Brien had arrived at Athy Railway Station at 10.30 a.m. on the morning of the meeting where he was met by the Athy Fife and Drum Band. He had breakfast at the home of Mr. Kilbride Solicitor at Athy Lodge before proceeding to the meeting place in Luggacurran. As the evictions continued throughout 1888 and 1889 collections were taken up throughout the country to finance the League’s opposition to Lord Landsdowne. Once again a local branch of the Land League was formed in Athy and the ladies of the town also formed themselves into a womens branch of the Land League. Local ladies prominent in the League included Mrs. Ann Doyle, Woodstock Street, Ms. Kinneen, Stanhope Street, Mrs. Maher and Mrs. Anthony. Extra police were drafted into the Athy area and the Town Hall was used to billet these men. A regular early morning and late evening scene around Athy was the police marching with rifles to and from the scene of the agrarian troubles in Luggacurran. Boycotted by the evicted tenants and local sympathisers Lord Landsdowne’s agent was forced to call upon the services of the Land Corporation, the organised arm of Irish Landlordism, to cultivate the Luggacurran lands. Those men who were mostly of Ulster stock continued to work on the Luggacurran estate up to 1903. From 1890 onwards new tenants arrived to take the place of those evicted. This, understandably, created much bitterness amongst the former tenants, the legacy of which is never far from the surface, even to this day.

Athy Tenants Defence Association

The Passing of the Land Act in 1870 was the first success of the Irish tenant farmers in their long struggle against Irish landlordism. This Gladstonian enactment gave the tenant farmers the right to be compensated in the event of eviction and for improvements carried out during their tenancy. However it did not secure for these hard pressed people the security of tenure which they had so long sought. Moreover the much heralded Land Act enabled Landlords to contract out of its provisions, thereby leaving their tenants without even the limited benefits of Gladstones measure.

The Athy and County Kildare landlord The Duke of Leinster was amongst the first of the Irish landlords to attempt to defeat his tenants’ rights under the 1870 Act. The Leinster Lease, as it became known, a model of legal ingenuity was presented by the Duke’s agents to his various tenants. Prepared with the Duke’s interest in mind, it totally and cruelly side-stepped the 1870 Act which the tenant farmers had so recently welcomed. Local opposition to the terms of the Leinster Lease saw the foundation of the Tenants’ Defence Association in Athy. This was the first such association formed in Ireland after the decline following the passing of the 1870 Land Act of Isaac Butt’s Tenant League of 1868.

The Athy Tenants’ Association held its first meeting on Tuesday, 19 November 1872 with Captain Morgan of Rahinderry in the chair. Local man Thomas P. Kynsey J.P. acted as Secretary to the meeting which passed the following resolutions.

“Moved by MR. THOMAS ROBERTSON, Narraghmore -
Seconded by MR. THOS. P. KYNSEY, J.P. Athy -

I - That, a Tenants’ Defence Association be established, consisting of a Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, and Committee of Twelve Members. The Subscription of each Member to be FIVE SHILLINGS, per annum.’
______________

Moved by the VERY REVEREND CANON QUINN, D.D., P.P. -
Seconded by MR. ROBERT ANDERSON, Castlemitchell -

II - `That, the objects of the Association be to unite the Tenants against any encroachment on their rights, and to promote by every legal and Constitutional means, the social interests and Independence of the Tenant Class.’
_______________

Moved by MR. WILLIAM DAVIDSON, Esker -
Seconded by P. CAHILL, ESQ., L.L.D. -
III - `That, as an attempt has been made on the LEINSTER ESTATES to deprive the Tenants of all the advantages conferred on them by the `LAND ACT’, the attempt in question should receive the instant and most determined opposition from the Association.”
______________

In the years immediately following the foundation of the Tenants’ Defence Association in Athy, the Duke of Leinster succeeded in overcoming local opposition to the terms of the Leinster Lease. Some of the Association’s leaders were themselves to accept the terms of the lease, undoubtedly under the threat of eviction. One such signatory was James Leahy, Chairman of Athy Town Commissioners, who admitted signing the Leinster Lease for his farm at Ardscull. In 1878 the Duke submitted the lease to Athy Board of Guardians in respect of some land held by them as tenants of the Leinster Estate. At a special Board meeting on 1 January 1879, the Guardians declined to execute the Lease indicating “that this Board, as the representatives of the people decline to give their signatories to a document directly opposed to the provisions of the Land Act of 1870.”

The 1880 Parliamentary Elections brought Charles Stewart Parnell to Athy for perhaps the first time. Andrew Kettle in his memoirs “Material for Victory” wrote of the nomination convention held in the Town Hall, Athy which he attended with Parnell.

“We went to Kildare on a midday train, and had a rare scene with Alderman Harris in the carriage going down. The Alderman was one of the candidates for Kildare, and he begged and prayed Mr. Parnell to get him adopted with a fanatical fervour I shall never forget. When we got to Athy, which was the nomination place, we found that Father Farrelly and young Kavanagh had a candidate ready in the person of Mr. James Leahy who represented it for years afterwards. Mr. Parnell turned to me and said: `This fat man will be no use. He will fall asleep in the House. I must propose you.’ I never meant to go to Parliament if I could help it, and said: `He will do very well. You may want me somewhere else.` He was not half satisfied, and he cross-examined Mr. Leahy as to how he would be able to attend and sit up at night, but the candidate said `Yes’ to everything. So, as his friends were insistent, he had to take him. Father Nolan of Kildare Town was holding a Harris Meldon meeting at the Market House when he came out, but Mike Boyton moved somebody else to another chair and started a Leahy meeting on the same platform, so after a little Father Nolan said he would not play second fiddle to anyone, so he bid us good-bye and left.”

This was the same James Leahy who had served as Chairman of Athy Town Commissioners and who was to represent South Kildare in the House of Commons until 1895.

Opposition to the Leinster Lease was maintained at a low key throughout 1879 and 1880 but evictions in September 1880 of tenants of the Verschoyle Estate prompted the formation of a local branch of the Land League. Public agitation in Athy took on a new and more fervent pitch under the guidance of local land league organiser Michael Boyton. On Sunday, 10 October 1880, the first Land League meeting was held in Athy. Addressed by Michael Boyton, the assembled crowd was told that he had come to Athy “commissioned by Charles Stewart Parnell to establish the Athy branch of the Land League.”

….. TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK …..

Athy and Urban Renewal

An announcement made by Mr. Bobby Molloy, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government is one which will impact greatly on the development of the town of Athy over the next few years. Athy, together with Kildare, has been designated for urban renewal. The scheme as proposed will provide generous tax incentives to refurbish and build anew in particular areas of the town. From the 1st of march 1999 the scheme will be open to developments of residential properties. The commercial and industrial elements of the scheme have yet to be finalised. At present it unclear as to which areas within the town will benefit from the designation but what is apparent is that the town as we know it will undergo significant change as we head into the new millennium.
As we stand on the threshold of large scale re-development of our town it is important that we carefully consider the impact that this development will have not only the urban fabric but upon the lives of those who live and work in Athy. It has been a common refrain down through the years in the street and in the Council chambers that Athy is the forgotten town of Kildare. Athy is a town which does not seem to have benefitted from the affluence generated by the ‘Celtic Tiger’ economy. Now it seems that all this is about to change. The series of tax incentives which are now available for building and construction in town should be a incentive to attract investment into the town. Without doubt Athy has been a forgotten centre in Kildare for many years. Under the aegis of the urban renewals schemes we have been presented with the opportunity to develop our town on an unprecedented level then heretofore. Therefore we must be careful to ensure that the town retains the character and personality of which we are so justly proud. Every development that is carried out should be sympathetic to not only the needs of the people of the town but also to the character of the streetscape which has developed over many centuries. Although much of the town’s buildings appear to be of nineteenth century date many of their fascades hide earlier structures.
All development should respect the character of these buildings, which currently flank the town’s streets.
Too often in the past urban areas which have benefited from such urban renewal schemes have rushed head long into re-development projects giving little or no consideration to the pre-existing buildings in the streets which have defined their towns for many centuries. The quays of Dublin are testament to the destruction that can be wrought on historic properties in a short space of time.
We must of course welcome the opportunity to rejuvenate the town but never at the cost of its unique character. At this stage it is too early to ascertain what the nature and form of development shall be but we shall await the proposals for Athy’s re-development with interest.
While it’s welcome to watch the reclamation of many sites from dereliction around the town it is still sad to reflect that probably the earliest building in the town remains neglected, unwanted, and uncared for. I have written many times in the past on Woodstock Castle, sometimes of its history and many times of its neglect. Having visited it quite recently I was appalled at its continuing vandalism and neglect. It is a terrible indictment of a local authority when a building of such national importance is left to decay in such a public fashion. At a time when towns and cities across Ireland are formulating their plans and activities for the coming millennium, would it not be most appropriate that Woodstock Castle, which has stood for eight centuries, be restored to its former glory.
It’s restoration would be an appropriate gesture to mark the dawn of a new century and reaffirm our commitment to preserving important elements of the towns history.
There are those who believe that conservation and the protection of our heritage are objects incompatible with development and progress. This is misleading. Many years ago the Town Hall faced demolition, a fate from which it was saved, thanks to the vigorous efforts of many different people and groups such as an Taisce. Today the Town Hall is home to the local Library and the heritage centre and also it’s a frequent venue for exhibitions and lectures. Its vitality is a great tribute to those who fought for its preservation and to the enlightenment of the County Council officials who oversaw its restoration. Over the next few months Athy Museum Society in Conjunction with South Kildare An Taisce will be holding a series of lectures in the Town Hall. Tonight at 8.00pm Mary Deevy, a consultant archaeologist will give a talk entitled ‘Dress and Jewellery in Medieval Ireland’.

Gravestone inscriptions - St. Michaels (2)

Some weeks ago I wrote of the gravestones and grave slabs which fill the cemetery of Old St. Michael’s on the Dublin Road. I was struck as I walked around the cemetery by the paucity of pre-1800 memorials. The reason for this is of course easily understandable. Memorials in stone today as in the past are expensive. In the years gone by few of the town’s inhabitants could have afforded the cost of erecting memorials in stone to their dead. The earliest reference I have found to a headstone in any of the local cemeteries was that of William Watson who was buried in St. John’s in November 1635. Unfortunately the headstone which was noted in the Kildare Archaeological Society Journal at the turn of the century has since disappeared and the earliest dated inscription surviving today in St. John’s is from 1721. The oldest dated memorial in St. Michael’s Cemetery would appear to be that of Mary Pearson who died at the age of 71 on 24th January, 1717. Her grave is one of only a handful of marked graves from the 18th century.

Wealth or the lack of it was not always the only deterrent when it came to the marking of the burial places of the dead. The Quaker Community which had a following in Athy from 1765 onwards did not mark the burial places of their deceased members. The writer Mary Leadbetter, the Quaker Diarist, a resident of the village of Ballytore recorded an incident where this Quaker practice was misunderstood. Abel Strettel died in the village in 1784 and his relatives erected a gravestone to his memory. A visiting Quaker who was a zealous adherent to the traditional practice took great offence and had the gravestone buried. This action greatly offended the grandson of the dead man. Mary Leadbetter described how he scaled the walls of the cemetery in Ballytore “armed with guns and attended by men with digging implements uncovered the stone and replaced it in it’s original position.” One wonders if any other local burials since then were attended by so much controversy.

Perhaps the saddest aspect of any old cemetery is the frequency of headstones to the young. Sometimes a visitors’ melancholy can be leavened by the unconscious humour of some of the inscriptions. I was drawn to an early 19th century headstone to the memory of a young man of 20 whose inscription recalled that he was a youth “of exemplary virtues and transcendent genius”. One wonders as to the nature of his genius! Another headstone recording a young death was that of the quaintly named Agnes Minnis Frame. Agnes was the young headmistress of a Model School in Ballymoney, Co. Antrim. She died at her father’s residence at the Model School, Athy on 15th January, 1892 at the age of 28. The Model School was also the place of death of 20 year old Maggie Harvey, the eldest daughter of Mary Harvey, the headmistress of the Model School, Athy in June 1886.

St. Michael’s Cemetery is replete not only with the names of the dead but also placenames in our town which have now passed from memory. I stopped awhile at the headstone of James Kenna, an Octogenarian and resident of Preston’s Gate, Athy who died on 28th May, 1839. Preston’s Gate, the last surviving remains of Athy’s mediaeval town walls, was demolished in 1860. It was located where Offaly Street narrows before entering into Emily Row at the Credit Union Offices. The medieval gate was removed by the Town Commissioners after the Rev. Frederick Trench’s carriage crashed into it resulting in the Rectors death. Rev. Trench himself lies in St. Michael’s Cemetery.

On the majority of the headstones there are few clues to the lives lived by those departed but here and there the occasional headstone give us some additional insight. In a quiet corner of the graveyard lies Mary Ann Manders who died on 28th September, 1911. Her simple epitaph reads “the faithful servant of the Sherlock family”. Not far from Mary Ann Manders lies Rev. John Kennelly, a Dominican Friar who died on Christmas Day 1842 at the age of 78 years. His was a colourful life. As his headstone records he took the habit of his Order at Louvain in Flanders, Belgium at a time when the Catholic Church sent it’s young men abroad to be trained for the Priesthood. As the Penal Laws of the late 18th century relaxed he returned to Ireland where in 1787 he was elected Provincial of the Order. His character and example must have been profound as his tombstone solemnly records how five of his relatives followed him into the Orders including his brother and four of his nephews.

As I journeyed through the forgotten past of Athy my eye alighted upon the simple headstone of Concrad Peterson. I’m sure many of the townspeople recall Peterson, a civil engineer who worked for many years as Manager in Bord na Mona, Kilberry. A native of Riga the capital of Latvia he died in Athy on 16th January, 1981 at the advanced age of 93. A long life brought him from the Port of Riga on the Baltic Sea to a medieval cemetery in the town of Athy .

Emigration is something familiar to most Irish families and several headstones in St. Michael’s Cemetery reflect the strong family ties which can never be sundered, no matter how many miles separate family members. John O’Neill of Chicago had a headstone erected to the memory of his mother Ann O’Neill who died on 29th January, 1892 aged 76 years. James Hyland who also emigrated to America similarly honoured the memory of his father James who died on 17th June, 1937 aged 82 years and his mother Ellen. The Slater family were remembered by Edward Slater of Brooklyn, New York. His parents John and Elizabeth died in 1884 and 1868, while his sister Catherine passed away some years earlier.

Two clergymen who gave long service to the people of Athy are buried in St. Michael’s. Archdeacon McDonnell, P.P. of Athy for 28 years died on 1 March, 1950 aged 84 years. A year later a new housing scheme built on Hollands lands at Geraldine was named in his honour, McDonnell Drive. Not too afar away is the grave of Rev. Henry Francis McDonald, Curate of St. Michael’s from 1848 to 1860 and Rector following Rev. Trench’s death in 1860 until he himself died on 9 May, 1891. His must be the longest ever record of service in the Church in Athy.

The mediaeval Church of St. Michael’s stands sentinel like over the crowded graves in the cemetery. As I passed by it’s crumbling walls I wondered for how long more it will remain standing. The ruined Church is in need of urgent restoration work to protect and preserve what remains of this 13th century structure.

Inner Relief Road and Patrick Shaffrey

Patrick Shaffrey is an eminent man in the architectural world and one who has written well and with some eloquence on the Irish town. Writing some years ago on the subject he advised that “a town’s distinctive appearance, charm and quality should be retained despite the demands of modern development”. In this sentence he was clearly recognising and acknowledging that modern development should not destroy the character and quality of our towns.

He was even more direct in his criticism of the then prevailing attitude among road planners and town planners alike when he posed the question
“are towns to be planned for the motor car or for people?” He answered his own question when he wrote in his well received book “The Irish Town” “streets become highways. The very size and weight of the huge lorries rumbling through our streets cause structural problems as well as pollution from fumes, noise and vibration. In theory the only traffic that should be allowed into a residential street is that which may have business there”. Continuing his arguments against the demands of vehicular traffic he claimed that “it is not possible to meet the demands of modern traffic and retain any semblance of character and quality in our towns. Large transport lorries present a threat to the quality of life in towns. The increase in traffic and the tremendous problems caused by them may be a blessing in disguise. It should force local authorities to tackle traffic problems in a more comprehensive way. By far the most satisfactory way to resolve the problem is to provide a by pass”.

I have quoted Patrick Shaffrey at some length because his views on the vexed question facing the people of Athy in relation to the relief road issue are particularly relevant. Even more so when it is realised that the man who wrote some years ago “in the smaller towns the need for a by pass is equally pressing not so much from the economic but from the environmental point of view” is the same man now retained by Kildare County Council to make the inner relief road plans more palatable for the locals of Athy.

Patrick might not wish his brief from the County Council to be stated in those stark simplistic terms and would perhaps prefer to have it noted as the challenge of incorporating the inner relief road into the structures of the town while protecting the character of Athy. What was once referred to as the inner relief road is no longer termed as such. The most recent references to the traffic highway which if built would run parallel to Leinster Street and Duke Street terms this development as “a new street”. Certainly matters have moved on from the original 1975 proposal which would have had an inner relief road running through the centre of Athy with six foot high walls on either side. Now the great selling point for the inner relief road as perceived by the County Council officials who are pushing the project is the opportunity such a roadway will create for the opening of new businesses in the town. That was until last week however, when Patrick Shaffrey reported back to the County Council and the Urban Council on his perceptions of how the new roadway could be “knitted in” to the existing town fabric.

One of the most extraordinary bombshells which was dropped in the Council chamber by Patrick Shaffrey went off unnoticed by the protagonist of the new street theory. In presenting his ideas on the opportunities for development on the new street Shaffrey pointed out that the intention is to maintain the existing Leinster Street and Duke Street as the main shopping area. Businesses on the new street will not be allowed to compromise existing businesses in the town. This necessitates limiting development on the new street which I am told will be one kilometre long (if not longer) to what the officials termed “secondary retail development”. I asked what this meant and the only explanation given was that “shoe repair business” was what was in mind. Our last remaining shoemaker/shoe repairer had better look to his last if the town Council succeeds in its plan to turn the town into the shoe repair centre of Europe!

Emily Square from where a modern single span bridge would stretch across the river Barrow bringing traffic alongside the elegant St. Dominic’s Church would lose its car parking capacity under Mr. Shaffrey’s proposals. The Square would be pedestrianised and the road through the back Square linking the Barrow bridge and Offaly Street would be closed. In addition the proposed roadway/street will create particular difficulties for pedestrians coming to St. Dominic’s Church from Convent Lane with the severance of the Church from its natural approach route.

Of particular interest to cinema goers is the suggestion of Mr. Shaffrey that a new cinema be constructed on a site to the right of proposed roadway/street as one exists from St. Dominic’s Church car park. Of course a considerable portion of the car park will be lost to the new roadway adding further parking difficulties to those posed by the loss of the Emily Square parking. The new cinema would be sited on an East/West axis stretching across properties presently owned by two local business firms. How Griffin Hawes and Perrys Supermarket are to overcome the loss of their car parks and yards to facilitate the possible construction of the new cinema is something that even I did not have the temerity to ask Mr. Shaffrey.

Another highlight of the night’s proceedings was the suggestion that the inner relief road would travel by way of another new bridge over the Grand Canal straight across through Tegral’s premises exiting on the Kilkenny Road through the existing factory entrance. This plan was devised to get over the apparently insurmountable difficulties posed by having the inner relief road going up by the canal side and coming out the at the canal bridge. You may recall that Acer
McCarthy the traffic experts engaged by Kildare County Council a year and a half ago confirmed that such an approach would require the demolition of the canal side houses and a number of properties on William Street to give lorries sufficient room to turn at the canal bridge. The alternative now is to knock down part of Tegral’s factory and re-locate it elsewhere.

As I listened to Mr. Shaffrey and his team exposing for us the opportunities which could be created if the inner relief road or street as he now calls it went ahead I felt somewhat bemused and not a little concerned for the Athy Five who continue to support the inner relief road. How could they bring themselves to push the new road/street theory which now apparently hangs so perilously on an ill defined type of development described by the officials as “secondary retail”. Cobblers I hear you say!

Gravestone inscriptions of St. Michael's (1)

History is everywhere around us and local history is to be found amongst the gravestones and slabs of the town cemeteries. For instance I have often wondered how the name Gray’s Lane came to be applied to the laneway which leads to Spring Lodge. The answer invariably pointed to a previous owner of the farm which lies at the end of the land but it was somewhat satisfying to find amongst the gravestones of St. Michael’s more information on Mr. Gray.

James Alexander of Spring Lodge died on 2nd October, 1871 aged 47 years leaving his widow Euphemia who as the widow of the late Robert Gray of Corrie, Edinburgh had married Alexander. Euphemia, having survived two husbands, herself died at Spring Lodge on 23rd January, 1878 at the young age of 38 years. Her daughter Augusta married R. Gray and both lived at Spring Lodge where Mrs. Gray died in 1905 and her husband in 1915 aged 76 years. Over 80 years later the laneway to Spring Lodge is known by some as Gray’s Lane while to others it is still called “The Gullet”.

Not too far away from Alexander’s grave in St. Michael’s Cemetery is that of John Alexander Hannon of Ardreigh House who according to his tombstone “entered higher service” on 3rd April, 1923, joining his sons Ian and Leslie who had died in the Great War. His wife Martha died on 22nd March, 1934. It would seem that even in the early 1920’s St. John’s Cemetery where the Hannons of previous generations were buried could not accommodate any more burials.

The Scottish Presbyterian settlers who arrived in South Kildare after the Great Famine must have included a young Robert Anderson who died at Castlemitchell on 5th February, 1884 aged 47 years. I wonder what was the story of his son David who died a year later in Winnipeg, America aged 27 years and whose death is commemorated on the Anderson gravestone in St. Michael’s Cemetery.

I was puzzled by the tombstone for the Carey family which shows that John died on 8th July, 1925 aged 75 years having an address at St. Dominic’s Park, Athy. As the present St. Dominic’s Park did not exist then I am wondering where the St. Dominic’s Park listed on the tombstone was located. Luke Carroll of Purcellstown erected a monument to his mother who died in 1825 and his 19 year old daughter who died in 1819. I have never previously come across a reference to Purcellstown in this area.

A poignant reminder of the short lives allowed to those who went before us is found on the Roberts’ gravestone where in it is recorded the passing of Jane Cobbe “who died in the bloom of her womanhood on 6th January, 1875 at 28 years”. Erected by her husband John Roberts it also recorded the death of “our dear little girl Lizzie who died on 23rd August, 1873 aged 4 years and Stanley who died an infant on 26th August, 1873.” John Roberts was himself to die in October 1880 aged 39 years.

A man whose name I have come across several times is recorded in stone in St. Michael’s Cemetery. Joseph Coleman Reynolds, Dental Surgeon of 21 Leinster Street died on 13th October, 1951 at the comparatively young age of 50 years, just a few years after his son Joseph Michael had died aged 21 years. I am sure there are many who remember the young man whose brother Ken was one of the Social Club Players of the 1950’s.

Ever true to the Gaelic language for which she did so much to encourage was Bridget Darby who died on 26th March, 1958. In one of the very few headstones on which Gaelic script is chiselled there appears her name with that of her mother and three married sisters, Mary Foley, Mary Masterson and Margaret McDonald. Bridget and her mother lived at Leinster Street and while head mistress of Churchtown National School and a Town Councillor she did much to encourage the development of Irish in Athy.

Dr. James Deegan died on 5th July, 1915 aged 55 years and was followed four years later by his wife Margaret. I wonder does anybody remember where Dr. Deegan lived and what of his daughter Teresa Josephine who died on 3rd January, 1972.

An interesting memorial can be found to Elizabeth Delaney who died in 1855. The interest arises from her husband Joseph’s position in life which he notes on her gravestone with undoubted pride as “an officer of Inland Revenue”.

A mother’s sad memorial to her son notes the death of Reverend Laurence Doyle CC, Athy on 1st August, 1902 at 34 years of age. Mrs. Doyle who lived at Annamoe, Co. Wicklow erected the memorial following her son’s tragic death. Strangely it rests alongside the grave of his namesake and fellow curate Rev. Mark Doyle who died on 16th January, 1900 at the age of 31 years. He had spent four years as a curate in Athy and his memory was commemorated by the people of Athy and neighbourhood. What a tragic coincidence that two curates in their early 30’s should die within two years of each other while serving in Athy Parish. Just a few steps away is the grave of another local priest, also called Doyle who died in 1892 aged 64 years. Fr. James Doyle had been Parish Priest of Athy for 13 years having spent the previous 17 years as a curate in the town.

Well liked in Athy was Dr. Edward Ferris to whom a memorial was erected “by his numerous admirers” following his death on 25th March, 1877 aged 65 years. Ferris was described as an able physician whose death caused the poor to lose “a King and a generous friend.”

Tom Flood, former Captain in the Dublin Brigade of the IRA 1917 and Commandant in the National Army 1922 died 8th October 1950 aged 50 years. At the time of his untimely death he was a town Councillor and publican in Leinster Street. Not too far from the old IRA grave lies Captain Robert Glynn Dedrickson, late Kingsown 3rd Hussars 9th Cavalry 1914-1915 who died on 30th June, 1945. His wife Frances died in 1973. Was he a native of this area or does anyone know of his involvement in World War 1?

I finish off this journey through St. Michael’s Cemetery at the grave of Myles Hickey of Emily Square who died on 15th April, 1894 aged 64 years. His wife Ann died aged 78 years on 23rd April, 1909. I wonder were Myles and Ann the parents of Tim Hickey, the butcher whom I remember carrying on business in Emily Square up to the early 1960’s.

Jack MacKenna and the Graney Ambush

We witnessed possibly the last old IRA funeral in the locality when we buried Jack MacKenna last weekend in Colestown Cemetery, Castledermot. Many times over the years the rural peace of South Kildare has been shattered by gun salutes accorded as a mark of respect to deceased members of the Defence Forces or deceased members of the old IRA. Throughout the 1950’s and later the gun salutes came courtesy of the old Enfield rifles which had seen service since the days of the first World War. But as I watched last week I saw that the guns raised and pointed to the sky were Steyr automatic rifles. The art of war has advanced and the weapons of destruction it spawned in it’s wake are sometimes raised as in Colestown Cemetery to honour the fighting men of a past generation.

I had interviewed Jack MacKenna a few years ago, ever mindful of his son’s warning that his father never let truth get in the way of a good story. The warning may well have been appropriate as Jack reminisced on unimportant tales and events culled from a busy life. However it was a different matter when he came to tell the story of the men and women who sacrificed their freedoms and sometimes their lives during the struggle for Irish independence.

Jack told me the story of those men and women as if he had a mission to rescue from obscurity those forgotten heroes who had once walked the streets of Athy and the villages of South Kildare. Time can be a great healer but can also be an avaricious shredder of reputations erasing from folk memory the people and events of times past.

When Jack revealed to me the hidden past of nearly 80 years ago he did so out of a sense of duty. It was important to him that future generations could understand and appreciate what made the young men of his day put their lives and livelihoods at risk. His own involvement in the National struggle was acknowledged by himself as of a peripheral nature. As a young boy in Athy he was a member of Fianna Eireann but in later years his contribution was recognised by the award of an old IRA medal and pension. In that regard he was luckier than another Athy man, now long dead, who was unable to achieve similar recognition although he had served over 12 months in Ballykinlar Prison Camp. Strange the ways of the then old IRA Pension Board and sad to think that someone who had done so much should have been denied what was his right.

The Volley’s fired last weekend over the coffined remains of Jack MacKenna echoed across a countryside which had once resonated to the sound of ambush fire during the Irish Civil War. The date was 24th October, 1922 and the fratricidal war which gripped the Irish countryside was to have three more young martyrs before the evening shadows had lengthened over the Graney countryside. On that occasion Irregular troops ambushed Free State troops as they returned in a crossley tender to Baltinglass following a planned trip to Athy. There were eight soldiers in the tender. In charge was Comdt. Kenny with Lieutenant Edward Nolan and the rest of the party consisted of five soldiers and a driver. They had originally left Baltinglass at about 12 noon to travel to Athy but ran out of petrol between Castledermot and the South Kildare market town. They abandoned their original trip and having refueled decided to return to Baltinglass. They spent upwards of 2½ hours on the roadway between Athy and Castledermot and their presence was undoubtedly noted by some members of the Anti Treaty Movement. When the Free State troops began their journey back to Baltinglass upwards of 20 Irregular troops were already in position in and around Graney Cross waiting to ambush the unsuspecting soldiers. When the crossley tender reached Castledermot it stopped at the Post Office where the eight men spent about five minutes. Close to 4 o’clock in the afternoon the motor lorry approached Graney Cross and as it took the bend a volley of shots rang out from a nearby cottage. The lorry crashed into the nearby ditch turning over on it’s side while the attackers pressed home their deadly advantage. It was all over in a few minutes and when the attackers left the scene taking with them the arms and ammunition of the Free State troops they left behind three dead and five seriously injured soldiers of the fledging Irish state. Those killed in the ambush were James Murphy of Baltinglass, Edward Byrne of Hacketstown and Patrick Allison of Carlow.

There is little doubt that the Irregulars who carried out the ambush were from the locality and that the ambush was planned after the Free State troops were first seen immobilised on the Athy/Castledermot road sometime between 12noon and 1.00pm. The ambushers had upwards of 2½ hours to put their men in place. Seventy-seven years later it is reasonable to assume that everyone involved on the day is now dead but equally certain is my belief that the full story of the Graney ambush remains to be told even if it can only be done from second hand sources.

At the outset I expressed belief that Jack MacKenna’s would be the last of the old IRA funerals in these parts. As a representative of an almost forgotten generation Jack got a great send off from his family, friends and neighbours. He had spent his working life on the railway in Athy and his involvement in public life saw him as a member of Kildare County Council and as a Councillor on Athy Urban District Council. He was of a generation which never shared in the economic boom which marks our own time. Their lot was best exemplified by the economic war of the 1930’s and the hungry ‘40’s and the ‘50’s.

As the mourners left the rain soaked graveyard of Colestown last week I glanced up the same road where 77 years earlier three young men had passed on their way to an unexpected and violent death. Those young soldiers and the old IRA man we had just buried were now united in death having shared in their own way in the development of the Irish Republic.

We owe it to the Jack MacKenna’s, the Patrick Allison’s, the James Murphy’s and the Edward Byrne’s of our past to ensure that their part in our history is never overlooked.

Athy in Maps

The Ordnance Survey which was to give the most complete and accurate mapping of Irish towns and countryside commenced in 1825. A map of Co. Kildare on a scale of 6 inches to 1 mile was published in 1837. While not sufficiently large scaled to allow comparison with the earlier manuscript town maps of Athy, the county maps which were revised in 1870 and 1908 were nevertheless a welcome addition to Athy cartography. In 1839 the Ordnance Survey produced its first town map of Athy. The manuscript map on a scale of 20 inches to 1 mile was not published, a matter of much regret now that Ordnance Survey officials are unable to locate the original map. The first printed town map of Athy was published by the Ordnance Survey in 1872 on a scale of 125 inches to 1 mile. This enlarged scale was never again to be used, but the detailed information it offers makes it an invaluable source document for any person interested in the town’s past. Revised town maps were published in 1908 and 1974 on a scale of 25 inches to 1 mile. Another cartographical source is the valuation Offices on whose behalf maps were prepared in connection with their valuation work in Athy. In the absence of the 1839 Manuscript Town Map of Athy we can turn to the name books compiled by those engaged in the Ordnance Survey work to obtain valuable contemporary information regarding the streets and lanes of the town. The entries made by the field workers give the approximate location of the smaller laneways in addition to which comments on the general standard of housing in each street or lane is given. The following extract from the name books gives a good insight into the social conditions of Athy in 1837 :- Ophaly Street Clean street occupied by merchants and small dealers. Mount Hawkins Poor cabins, occupied by journeymen, shoemakers, labourers and paupers. Convent Lane Only one or two cabins in this lane. Chapel Hill Only a few houses occupied by shoemakers and labourers. Chapel Lane Occupied by shoemakers and labourers. Duncan’s Lane Off Ophaly Street opposite Butler’s Lane. Few cabins occupied by shoemakers. Butler’s Lane Row of very poor cabins occupied by labourers. Reeve’s Lane Off south side of Leinster Street and near its east end, few poor cabins. Mathew’s Lane Few poor cabins. Devoy’s Lane Off south side of Leinster Street and near its each end, few poor cabins. Boher a boy Few poor cabins on east end of town. Green Alley Few poor cabins. Tea Lane Few poor cabins occupied by labourers and paupers. St. John’s Lane Mostly poor houses occupied by mechanics and labourers. When the 1872 Ordnance Survey Map of Athy was prepared many new laneways were added. Some of these have since disappeared including - Barker’s Row - formerly Duncan’s Lane Janeville Lane - off Barker’s Row Carr’s Court - off Mount Hawkins Kelly’s Lane - off Mount Hawkins Merins Lane - off Mount Hawkins Keating’s Lane - off Chapel Hill Higginsons Lane - off Woodstock Street Nelson Street - southern end of lane running parallel with Woodstock Street Woodstock Lane - northern end of the same lane Cooper’s Lane - off Turnpike Road as that part of the Castlecomer Road leading from Augustus Bridge was called. Even as late as the 1908 Ordnance Survey Revision, further lanes were included on the town map. The following is a list of these lanes built after 1872 which are no longer in existence. Connolly’s Lane - off Meeting Lane, 30 yards from Emily Square Garden Lane - off Meeting Lane, opposite present Dispensary New Row - off Mount Hawkins, about half way between Chapel Lane and Merin’s Lane which it replaced New Gardens - off Nelson Street between Shrewleen Lane and Higginson’s Lane James’s Lane - in the vicinity of Cooper’s Lane Porter’s Row - off Mount Hawkins, nearest lane to, and parallel with Kirwan’s Lane. The maps of Athy dating back to 1756 have faithfully recorded over the centuries the effects a rising population has had on the Anglo Norman town. The extensive ribbon development on the west side of the River Barrow and the more centralised development of East Athy which were a feature of the 18th century, gradually gave way to the uncontrolled and claustrophobic infill development of the 19th century. If laneways and small cabins were the extent of Athy’s development in that era, the 20th century gave hope for a better environment with the systematic eradication of the slums of Athy. Today’s map of Athy carries few reminders of the miserable slums of Victorian times. Addresses ending in Drive and Park which the latest Ordnance Survey Sheets show, tell a story of better days for Athy and its people.

Athy in Maps (2)

The Ordnance Survey which was to give the most complete and accurate mapping of Irish towns and countryside commenced in 1825. A map of Co. Kildare on a scale of 6 inches to 1 mile was published in 1837. While not sufficiently large scaled to allow comparison with the earlier manuscript town maps of Athy, the county maps which were revised in 1870 and 1908 were nevertheless a welcome addition to Athy cartography.

In 1839 the Ordnance Survey produced its first town map of Athy. The manuscript map on a scale of 20 inches to 1 mile was not published, a matter of much regret now that Ordnance Survey officials are unable to locate the original map.

The first printed town map of Athy was published by the Ordnance Survey in 1872 on a scale of 125 inches to 1 mile. This enlarged scale was never again to be used, but the detailed information it offers makes it an invaluable source document for any person interested in the town’s past. Revised town maps were published in 1908 and 1974 on a scale of 25 inches to 1 mile. Another cartographical source is the valuation Offices on whose behalf maps were prepared in connection with their valuation work in Athy.

In the absence of the 1839 Manuscript Town Map of Athy we can turn to the name books compiled by those engaged in the Ordnance Survey work to obtain valuable contemporary information regarding the streets and lanes of the town. The entries made by the field workers give the approximate location of the smaller laneways in addition to which comments on the general standard of housing in each street or lane is given. The following extract from the name books gives a good insight into the social conditions of Athy in 1837 :-

Ophaly Street Clean street occupied by merchants and small dealers.
Mount Hawkins Poor cabins, occupied by journeymen, shoemakers, labourers and paupers.
Convent Lane Only one or two cabins in this lane.
Chapel Hill Only a few houses occupied by shoemakers and labourers.
Chapel Lane Occupied by shoemakers and labourers.
Duncan’s Lane Off Ophaly Street opposite Butler’s Lane. Few cabins occupied by shoemakers.
Butler’s Lane Row of very poor cabins occupied by labourers.
Reeve’s Lane Off south side of Leinster Street and near its east end, few poor cabins.
Mathew’s Lane Few poor cabins.
Devoy’s Lane Off south side of Leinster Street and near its each end, few poor cabins.
Boher a boy Few poor cabins on east end of town.
Green Alley Few poor cabins.
Tea Lane Few poor cabins occupied by labourers and paupers.
St. John’s Lane Mostly poor houses occupied by mechanics and labourers.

When the 1872 Ordnance Survey Map of Athy was prepared many new laneways were added. Some of these have since disappeared including -

Barker’s Row - formerly Duncan’s Lane
Janeville Lane - off Barker’s Row
Carr’s Court - off Mount Hawkins
Kelly’s Lane - off Mount Hawkins
Merins Lane - off Mount Hawkins
Keating’s Lane - off Chapel Hill
Higginsons Lane - off Woodstock Street
Nelson Street - southern end of lane running parallel with Woodstock Street
Woodstock Lane - northern end of the same lane
Cooper’s Lane - off Turnpike Road as that part of the Castlecomer Road leading from Augustus Bridge was called.

Even as late as the 1908 Ordnance Survey Revision, further lanes were included on the town map. The following is a list of these lanes built after 1872 which are no longer in existence.

Connolly’s Lane - off Meeting Lane, 30 yards from Emily Square
Garden Lane - off Meeting Lane, opposite present Dispensary
New Row - off Mount Hawkins, about half way between Chapel Lane and Merin’s Lane which it replaced
New Gardens - off Nelson Street between Shrewleen Lane and Higginson’s Lane
James’s Lane - in the vicinity of Cooper’s Lane
Porter’s Row - off Mount Hawkins, nearest lane to, and parallel with Kirwan’s Lane.

The maps of Athy dating back to 1756 have faithfully recorded over the centuries the effects a rising population has had on the Anglo Norman town. The extensive ribbon development on the west side of the River Barrow and the more centralised development of East Athy which were a feature of the 18th century, gradually gave way to the uncontrolled and claustrophobic infill development of the 19th century. If laneways and small cabins were the extent of Athy’s development in that era, the 20th century gave hope for a better environment with the systematic eradication of the slums of Athy. Today’s map of Athy carries few reminders of the miserable slums of Victorian times. Addresses ending in Drive and Park which the latest Ordnance Survey Sheets show, tell a story of better days for Athy and its people.

Athy in Maps (1)

Contrary to popular belief, which owes much to the mistaken claims of previous writers on Athy, our town was noted by PTOLEMY the Greek Astronomer. The reason for this is easily understandable when one appreciates the enormity of the task facing the second century astronomer in recognising a 12th Century settlement.

The earliest maps of Ireland tended to be crude in terms of accuracy and the data they supplied. Until the production by Gerard Mercator of his 1564 map of Ireland, Athy had not been previously represented on any map. In Mercator’s work, Athy is shown sited slightly east of the river Barrow, another local inclusion being BALIA DUM (Ballyadams). In subsequent maps of Ireland, Athy was to be included sometimes as Athigh or Athey, indicating more a lack of familiarity with Irish placenames than any change in the official name of the town.

It is in the 18th century estate maps prepared for the Duke of Leinster that one finds the first town map of Athy. John Rocque, a French artist, came to Ireland in 1754 and from his lodgings at the Golden Heart opposite Crane Lane, Dame Street, Dublin issued a prospectus for maps of Dublin. His talents found immediate recognition and he was commissioned to prepare maps of the Duke of Leinster’s extensive estates. Rocque surveyed Athy east of the river Barrow and produced his manuscript map in 1756. Prepared on a scale of 16 perches to one inch, it gives us the earliest known layout of part of Athy. The French cartographer followed it up with a survey and a map of Athy west of the River Barrow in 1768. Produced on a scale of 4 perches to one inch, the later manuscript map offered a more detailed view of that part of the town than was available with the 1756 map of East Athy. The National Library has Rocques’ Maps on microfilm while Trinity College, Dublin has the original manuscript maps of the 1756 Survey. The whereabouts of the original 1768 maps is not known.

The manuscript town maps prepared by Rocque indicate that the major road patterns of today were well established by the middle of the 18th Century. However some of the minor roads such as Church Road and the Stanhope Place/Mount Hawkins Road were not then laid down. Street names in 1756 and 1768 included St. John’s Street (Duke Street), Market Street (Emily Square), Prestons Gate (Offaly Street), High Street (Leinster Street) and Cotters Lane (Stanhope Street).

The east side of the town was better developed than the west side, where extensive ribbon development had taken place on the approach roads from Stradbally and Castlecomer. Across the river was found, with one single exception, all the public buildings usually associated with an urban settlement - the Town Hall which also served as Courthouse and Market House, the town gaol and the Church of Ireland and Catholic Churches. The only public building not located on the east side of Athy was the cavalry barracks erected in Barrack Street early in the 18th century.

It is likely that the river Barrow divided Athy into an Irish town and an English town which was a social division quite common in towns of the 18th century. John Rocque, is giving Beggars End as the name of the locality on the Castlecomer Road, gives us a clue as to the existence there of the low standard housing associated with the Irish of the time. This, coupled with the concentration of the public buildings on the east side of Athy, indicates a social division between the two parts of Athy which may have been formally or informally recognised in the descriptions - Irish town, English town.

The next map of Athy was prepared in 1827 for the Duke of Leinster by Clarges Greene of Dominick Street, Dublin. On a scale of 80 feet to one inch the manuscript map shows with great detail and clarity the entire town on a single sheet measuring 56” x 82.5”. Changes in local street names since Rocque’s Surveys of 1756 and 1768 noted in Greene’s manuscript map included :-

St. John’s Street to Duke Street
High Street and Bore Buoy to Leinster Street
Prestons Gate to Ophaly Street (present Offaly Street)
Cotters Lane to Kildare Street (present Stanhope Street).

Other changes reflected in the 1827 map included the removal of the Turnpike Gate and the Turnpike House at the junction of Green Alley and Duke Street with the subsequent realignment and widening of Duke Street from Green Alley to a point approximately opposite St. John’s Lane. Another road widening project, although not completed in 1827, was also noted by Greene. The realignment of the former Cotters Lane, now renamed Kildare Street, was to be completed before 1837, following which it was renamed Stanhope Street.

The major development in Athy since Rocques days was of course, the construction of the Grand Canal. Clearly intended in its approach to Athy to cause the least disruption to the town’s layout, the Canal skirted the town requiring the demolition of few houses, except where it traversed the Castlecomer Road. With the construction of the Canal and its numerous ancillary stores, the as yet unnamed Shrewleen and Nelson Street were laid down. Another laneway opened up since the Rocque period and noted on Greene’s map was the future Stanhope Place and Mount Hawkins. In 1827, the unnamed laneway connected Kildare Road with the lane (present Convent View) leading from Leinster Street to Moneen Commons. Names given in Greene’s manuscript map for previously unnamed thoroughfares included William Street, Meeting Lane and Chapel Lane (taking in the present lane of that name and Stanhope Place). The original 1827 manuscript map of Athy prepared with obvious care and skill by Clarges Green, was purchased in 1974 by the National Library.