I can still vividly remember the first time I made an appearance as a Solicitor before a Judge in the local Courthouse. The avuncular sociable gentleman who presided over Athy District Court in those days was Judge Seamus Mahon who before his appointment to the Bench was a Solicitor in Tullamore. I was somewhat anxious despite the fact that I had spent my youth in Athy, perhaps because the setting was an unusual one for a local lad. I had spent twenty years out of Athy, the place where as a young fellow I had gone to school, played my football and did my courting, not necessarily in that order, before decamping for the inner regions of County Kildare, specifically Naas of the Kings.
For some people a Courtroom conjures up images of a world inhabited by Perry Mason and his ilk, complete with suave talk and witty repostes, which are so much a part of the American legal dramas. The reality of the Irish Court could not be further removed from the TV depiction of the American Courtroom scene. In the District Court the average Solicitor is burdened with nothing more lethal than a traffic violation or perhaps a public order offence. Not much scope in either for the devastating cross-examination or the telling aside with which TV legal dramas seem so handsomely endowed. Real life is always so much more mundane than anything ever subjected to the scrutiny of the camera, but nevertheless there is always the expectation and perhaps in some, the hope, that some scintilla of excitement might be instilled into the sparse legal proceedings of the Irish Courtroom.
To return to my first day in the Courtroom in Athy. I stood before Judge Seamus Mahon, who was an experienced and humane lawyer and the essence of kindness to the apologetic bumbling Solicitor who contrived on his debut to make his client not only feel guilty of the charge against him, but deserving also of the full measure of punishment which the law might impose. Judge Mahon however made allowances for the self conscious young Solicitor and contrived to save him and his bemused client from such an undeserving fate.
Seamus Mahon died recently, long after he had retired from the Bench. He was District Justice for Athy for approximately 14 years, during which time the Hole in the Wall gang and their younger compatriots the Crack in the Wall were alive and kicking in every sense of the word. The social problems posed by the members of these gangs were clearly identified, but somehow or other the authorities were not geared to dealing with them. It fell to the legal system to provide a deterrent against the continuation of anti social behaviour, and in the front line of that fight against crime was the local District Justice Seamus Mahon.
His understanding of the difficulties posed for victims of crime pre-dated the development of victim support groups, while those who stood charged with offences against persons or property were always assured of a fair hearing. This is as one would expect from a Judge of an Irish Court but somehow or other there always seemed to be an abundance of “fairness” when one argued or presented a case to the pleasant and even tempered man from the Midlands. Maybe it was his sociable qualities which made Seamus Mahon so willing to see the good in everyone, no matter in what circumstances they came before him. Such is the starkness of the Irish Legal System that those who appear before the Courts at the suit of the public prosecutor always seem stripped of their dignity and pride. Not so where those brought before Athy District Court were concerned for Judge Mahon had a convincingly pleasant manner which put litigants and witnesses alike at ease, thereby contributing hugely to the publics perception of the fairness and even handiness of the procedures at the local District Court.
Following Seamus Mahon’s recent passing fulsome and well deserved tributes were paid to his memory by Cyril Osborne on behalf of the local Solicitors, also by Superintendent Maurice Regan, the District Court Clerk and the presiding Judge Mary Martin. All acknowledged the generous spirit of the man whose demeanour on and off the bench endeared him to all with whom he came in contact.
I attended the removal of the remains to the Church of the Assumption in Tullamore and was charmed with the delightful interior features of the Church which was rebuilt following a fire some years ago. This was my first visit to Tullamore’s Parish Church and little did I know that within another few weeks I would return to it for yet another funeral. On the second occasion the funeral was for Peter Clancy Boyd, like Seamus Mahon a Tullamore man with links to the town of Athy. In Clancy’s case the connection went back forty years and first arose when his building company was employed to build a 36 house scheme for the local Urban District Council at Woodstock Street. This was the first of many building contracts which Clancy’s firm was to have with both Athy Urban District Council and Kildare County Council. The first contract was for the building of St. Dominic’s Park, one of the best housing schemes ever financed by the local Council. Peter Clancy or Clancy as he was known far and wide, was one of lifes gentlemen whose honesty and geniality belied a sharp business brain. He retired some years ago from the business he had founded and passed the reins of authority to his son Pat.
Mention of the Urban Council brings to mind that the centenary of the first meeting of the then newly constituted Urban District Council occurs on 2nd April next. The Chairman of the Council in 1900 was Matthew J. Minch M.P. who had occupied the same position on the Town Commissioners which preceded the Urban Council. One hundred years ago the town fathers were concerned with such “weighty” matters as the sale of unsalted butter in Athy’s butter market and the abatement of nuisances at the railway wall at the top of Leinster Street. The nature of the nuisance was not identified but the 15 members of the Council felt that the only solution was the removal of the wall with the two streets being brought to the same level. The wall remains in situ while the Councillors have long passed on. Over the next few weeks I will take a look back at the early years of the Urban Council and some of the controversies which engaged local politicians of a hundred years ago.
Thursday, February 10, 2000
Thursday, February 3, 2000
Jack L.
The past week has left its mark in so many different ways on the community of Athy. On Friday night we tuned into the Late Late Show on RTE to eye with the rest of Ireland the glamorous world of fashion as the supermodels paraded up and down the catwalk at The Point in Dublin. Amongst them was a local girl, Jane Bradbury, daughter of Jimmy and Kay Bradbury of Ardreigh. She has carved a niche for herself in the high-flying world of fashion. Good to see a local girl do so well.
On the following night quite a lot of Athy folk decamped to the same venue in the docklands of Dublin to attend a concert by the singer known as Jack L. The “L” hides the surname Loughman, Jack being the son of Sean and Rose Loughman of Bennetsbridge. Athy folk gave him great support for what was the biggest concert date of his career to date and how well he responded to the adulation and applause which greeted him as he came out on the stage. His was a virtuoso performance, at times teasing his audience while all the time holding them spellbound with the depth and range of his singing. I have to admit to feeling somewhat out of place when I encountered the first young feathered boa wearer in the foyer of The Point prior to the concert. Apparently, this was an artful take-off of the artist himself who, towards the end of his performance, brought his own feathered boa into use much to the delight of his audience.
I was seated about six rows from the front where apparently the really serious Jack L. aficionados were to be found. The serious looking female civil service type of indeterminate age who sat to my left was a model of discretion prior to Jack’s appearance on stage. Upon his arrival, her overcoat came off, her hands were thrust up in the air and kept there throughout the performance, clapping to the beat while her normally staid body swayed and bobbed to the music. To my right were two younger females, obviously from the northern part of the island, whose accents recognised no borders where good music was concerned. They too took to the restricted space between the seats with an abandon bordering on the reckless as they swayed this way and that, oblivious to the bemused look on the face of the “middle-aged” man who demurely kept his posterior on the seat he had secured for the night at no little expense.
No doubt about it, Jack L is good. The CDs released by him to date easily confirm that fact. What the CDs cannot however capture, is the verve and the gutsy performance which is all part of the live gig. He strutted, he grinned, he teased, he postured and then he exploded in a cacophony of sound with a performance which, from first to last, was a pleasure to see and later to remember. It was a truly great performance from the former Scoil Eoin student who, as far as I can recall, once filled the ranks of the chorus in a musical put on in the local school.
It was also great to see so many from Athy amongst the appreciative audience. Not many of us elder citizenry would normally have the opportunity to mingle among the hallowed portals of The Point and so the chance to cheer on Sean and Rose Loughman’s son on his big night out was not an opportunity to be missed.
A few days later, we had occasion as a local community to share again, this time in grief, the sad news which came to us from across the world. Four young men, who had earlier in the day, set off no doubt in good spirits to start a well earned break from peace-keeping duties in the Lebanon were to die tragically before the day was out. As the news filtered back, first to Dublin, and then to the local community in South Kildare there was a palpable sense of loss that ones so young should be cut down so tragically in their prime.
Not for the first time the entire area was plunged into sadness by the uncomprehending, yet fateful turn of events which left local families without loved ones. Athy, over the years has borne the scars of many unhappy such occurrences and only two weeks ago I recounted the dreadful accidents on the Monasterevin Road and Gallowshill which resulted in the loss of so many lives. To lose a family member is always a terrible experience but to lose a loved one unexpectedly and without warning is a particularly hard loss to bear. The entire community of Athy, so willing to share in the successes of others amongst them, share also in the sorrowful times when the strength of family and friends provide a buffer and comfort against the ravages of the unexpected.
The tragic deaths of Declan Deere, John Murphy, Mathew Lawlor and Brendan Fitzpatrick brought to mind the tradition of military service with which our town is long associated. It is a tradition which is continued to this day with so many local families having members serving in our National Army. The proximity of The Curragh Camp inevitably has played its part in promoting army recruitment in South Kildare but equally important is the tradition built over past generations which recognises Athy and South Kildare as important centres for army recruits. Sons and fathers have often taken the same career as did their grandfathers who during the 1914-1918 War enlisted in huge numbers. It is an honourable tradition which finds its full expression in the willingness of so many young men, and now women, from this area to dedicate their careers to military life.
As I wrote at the beginning of this piece, it has been a strange week for our community. From the dizzy heights of success on the fashion catwalk and the music stage at the start of the week, we soon descended into the depths of collective sorrow as the bodies of the four young soldiers were returned home for burial. Life goes on even if never quite as before but somehow as a community we move on with our lives tempered by the shared successes and the sorrows of community life.
On Thursday the 24th February, the South Kildare association of An Taisce will hold a meeting in the Community Services Centre, Stanhope Street, commencing at 8pm. An Taisce fulfils an important role in our community and anyone interested in protecting the environment and the building heritage of our area is welcome to attend.
On the following night quite a lot of Athy folk decamped to the same venue in the docklands of Dublin to attend a concert by the singer known as Jack L. The “L” hides the surname Loughman, Jack being the son of Sean and Rose Loughman of Bennetsbridge. Athy folk gave him great support for what was the biggest concert date of his career to date and how well he responded to the adulation and applause which greeted him as he came out on the stage. His was a virtuoso performance, at times teasing his audience while all the time holding them spellbound with the depth and range of his singing. I have to admit to feeling somewhat out of place when I encountered the first young feathered boa wearer in the foyer of The Point prior to the concert. Apparently, this was an artful take-off of the artist himself who, towards the end of his performance, brought his own feathered boa into use much to the delight of his audience.
I was seated about six rows from the front where apparently the really serious Jack L. aficionados were to be found. The serious looking female civil service type of indeterminate age who sat to my left was a model of discretion prior to Jack’s appearance on stage. Upon his arrival, her overcoat came off, her hands were thrust up in the air and kept there throughout the performance, clapping to the beat while her normally staid body swayed and bobbed to the music. To my right were two younger females, obviously from the northern part of the island, whose accents recognised no borders where good music was concerned. They too took to the restricted space between the seats with an abandon bordering on the reckless as they swayed this way and that, oblivious to the bemused look on the face of the “middle-aged” man who demurely kept his posterior on the seat he had secured for the night at no little expense.
No doubt about it, Jack L is good. The CDs released by him to date easily confirm that fact. What the CDs cannot however capture, is the verve and the gutsy performance which is all part of the live gig. He strutted, he grinned, he teased, he postured and then he exploded in a cacophony of sound with a performance which, from first to last, was a pleasure to see and later to remember. It was a truly great performance from the former Scoil Eoin student who, as far as I can recall, once filled the ranks of the chorus in a musical put on in the local school.
It was also great to see so many from Athy amongst the appreciative audience. Not many of us elder citizenry would normally have the opportunity to mingle among the hallowed portals of The Point and so the chance to cheer on Sean and Rose Loughman’s son on his big night out was not an opportunity to be missed.
A few days later, we had occasion as a local community to share again, this time in grief, the sad news which came to us from across the world. Four young men, who had earlier in the day, set off no doubt in good spirits to start a well earned break from peace-keeping duties in the Lebanon were to die tragically before the day was out. As the news filtered back, first to Dublin, and then to the local community in South Kildare there was a palpable sense of loss that ones so young should be cut down so tragically in their prime.
Not for the first time the entire area was plunged into sadness by the uncomprehending, yet fateful turn of events which left local families without loved ones. Athy, over the years has borne the scars of many unhappy such occurrences and only two weeks ago I recounted the dreadful accidents on the Monasterevin Road and Gallowshill which resulted in the loss of so many lives. To lose a family member is always a terrible experience but to lose a loved one unexpectedly and without warning is a particularly hard loss to bear. The entire community of Athy, so willing to share in the successes of others amongst them, share also in the sorrowful times when the strength of family and friends provide a buffer and comfort against the ravages of the unexpected.
The tragic deaths of Declan Deere, John Murphy, Mathew Lawlor and Brendan Fitzpatrick brought to mind the tradition of military service with which our town is long associated. It is a tradition which is continued to this day with so many local families having members serving in our National Army. The proximity of The Curragh Camp inevitably has played its part in promoting army recruitment in South Kildare but equally important is the tradition built over past generations which recognises Athy and South Kildare as important centres for army recruits. Sons and fathers have often taken the same career as did their grandfathers who during the 1914-1918 War enlisted in huge numbers. It is an honourable tradition which finds its full expression in the willingness of so many young men, and now women, from this area to dedicate their careers to military life.
As I wrote at the beginning of this piece, it has been a strange week for our community. From the dizzy heights of success on the fashion catwalk and the music stage at the start of the week, we soon descended into the depths of collective sorrow as the bodies of the four young soldiers were returned home for burial. Life goes on even if never quite as before but somehow as a community we move on with our lives tempered by the shared successes and the sorrows of community life.
On Thursday the 24th February, the South Kildare association of An Taisce will hold a meeting in the Community Services Centre, Stanhope Street, commencing at 8pm. An Taisce fulfils an important role in our community and anyone interested in protecting the environment and the building heritage of our area is welcome to attend.
Thursday, January 27, 2000
School pals from Athy C.B.S.
One of the greatest gifts enjoyed by anyone is that of friendships founded on shared experiences. For most of us our first friends were to be found among the ranks of our school mates, but where those friendships endure beyond the school gate and into adulthood the bond is all the more rewarding.
Looking back on my own classmates from the Christian Brothers old school in St. John’s Lane I find that the friendships which grew in youth act like an anchor in middle age, constantly bringing one back to the glorious days when the world was our oyster. Even yesterday as I got ready to leave my office I turned to the Athy on Line page on the Internet to read yet another piece from that computer wizard Mick Robinson, now living in Australia. Mick was a classmate of mine in the Christian Brothers and a star pupil who with lots of natural talent eschewed the slogging studious methods employed by untalented individuals like myself. His contribution to the Athy on Line page confirms his undoubted talents and belies Br. Keogh’s oft repeated claim:- “they’ll hang you yet Robinson”.
Mick was never overly concerned with the future prospect of such an event and lead a charmed and charming existence as a schoolboy full of devilment and good humour. I can recall an occasion at the height of winter in 1959 or thereabouts when Mick for a side bet of six old pence from each of his classmates went for a swim in the Canal lock. This was typical of the young Mike Robinson, clearly a budding entrepreneur whose horizons were not to be limited by the road signs leading out of Athy.
Another classmate and one I had the opportunity of meeting in 1998 in Beijing was Seamus Ryan, eldest son of Mrs. Noreen Ryan of Woodstock Street and the late Bill Ryan, school teacher extraordinaire. Seamus was called to teacher training on foot of his Leaving Certificate results, coming first in the class, and later qualified as a National Teacher. After a few years in the classroom Seamus returned to University and qualified as a Doctor. He is now head of the American Medical Centre in Beijing, China and thanks to the wizardry of the computers still keeps in touch with his classmates around the world.
Others with whom I shared the rough and tumble of life in the Christian Brothers school in the 1950’s included Kerry O’Sullivan, now a dentist in England. Pat Timpson, Lecturer, Sligo Regional College and Brendan McKenna, Managing Director of Abbott Laboratories also in Sligo are two of the class who did well in their own country. It wasn’t always easy for school leavers to find jobs in Ireland, especially in the late 1950’s or early 1960’s and the opportunity to attend University, now so common, was then restricted to a very few. Of my class only one person entered University as a day student following the Leaving Certificate. The rest like myself were not financially able to do so and the height of our ambition, assuming that you did not have enough honours to get teacher training, was to apply for a job in Guinness’, the County Council, the ESB or Bord na Mona. You might dream in those days of getting a job in the Banks but really for provincial “hicks” like ourselves, such exalted doors were not then opened. How times have changed!
Nowadays students finishing second level schooling can look to a more secure future than that which faced their counterparts of forty years ago. The secondary school is now but a step on the way to a further three years or so in University before taking up a job in Ireland. Forty years ago those of us who passed through the Christian Brothers School got jobs wherever and whenever they could be obtained. Our home town offered few job opportunities but amongst the lucky few were Teddy Kelly, Pat Flinter and Ted Wynne, all of whom then and still currently work within the Tegral Group of Companies. Of the Leaving Certificate Class of 1960 they were the only ones to get employment in their own home town at a time when travel was less easy than it is today. When I took up my first job with Kildare County Council in 1961 I stayed in digs in that town as the twenty-two mile journey to Naas was in those days regarded as too far a trip to undertake on a daily basis. Nowadays locals travel each day to Dublin and beyond to fill positions which are not available in Athy. How our horizons have broadened over the last forty years.
The common bond between the schoolmates of forty years ago was not just the town in which we lived, but rather the school which we attended. Our coming together each morning and the shared experiences of the classroom and the characters it spawned forged friendships which cannot ever be laid aside. Almost like prisoners of conscience incarcerated together for years on end we forged bonds which survived into adulthood [not that the school in St. John’s Lane was ever regarded by any of us as a penitentiary].
Just a few weeks ago one of my old classmates Hilary Drennan died, gone to join Fr. Jerry Byrne who passed away at a very young age, not long after we had left St. John’s for the last time. The surviving members of the class are to be found in Australia, China and America and throughout our own island in places as far apart as Cork and Sligo. The old school closed in 1984 with the opening of Scoil Eoin in Rathstewart and the last of the Christian Brothers who founded the school in 1861 left Athy in 1994. Nowadays the school, although still known as the Christian Brothers School is staffed by lay teachers and the increase in student numbers attending the school is matched by an academic record second to none.
On 18th March next Scoil Eoin will organise a Dinner Dance in the Dolmen Hotel, Carlow featuring a four course dinner and music by Marble City Sound. The event which is being billed as a Millennium Reunion Dinner Dance has been arranged by the Parents Council of Scoil Eoin in the hope of attracting those past pupils living abroad who may be returning for the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. The School Principal, Tony O’Rourke, would like to hear from any past pupil who would like to attend and he can be contacted at (0507) 38223. I don’t suppose my school mates from Australia or Beijing will be able to attend at such short notice but hopefully the class of 1960 might yet get together later this year to celebrate the 40th anniversary of our graduating from the St. John’s Lane Academy of Excellence.
Looking back on my own classmates from the Christian Brothers old school in St. John’s Lane I find that the friendships which grew in youth act like an anchor in middle age, constantly bringing one back to the glorious days when the world was our oyster. Even yesterday as I got ready to leave my office I turned to the Athy on Line page on the Internet to read yet another piece from that computer wizard Mick Robinson, now living in Australia. Mick was a classmate of mine in the Christian Brothers and a star pupil who with lots of natural talent eschewed the slogging studious methods employed by untalented individuals like myself. His contribution to the Athy on Line page confirms his undoubted talents and belies Br. Keogh’s oft repeated claim:- “they’ll hang you yet Robinson”.
Mick was never overly concerned with the future prospect of such an event and lead a charmed and charming existence as a schoolboy full of devilment and good humour. I can recall an occasion at the height of winter in 1959 or thereabouts when Mick for a side bet of six old pence from each of his classmates went for a swim in the Canal lock. This was typical of the young Mike Robinson, clearly a budding entrepreneur whose horizons were not to be limited by the road signs leading out of Athy.
Another classmate and one I had the opportunity of meeting in 1998 in Beijing was Seamus Ryan, eldest son of Mrs. Noreen Ryan of Woodstock Street and the late Bill Ryan, school teacher extraordinaire. Seamus was called to teacher training on foot of his Leaving Certificate results, coming first in the class, and later qualified as a National Teacher. After a few years in the classroom Seamus returned to University and qualified as a Doctor. He is now head of the American Medical Centre in Beijing, China and thanks to the wizardry of the computers still keeps in touch with his classmates around the world.
Others with whom I shared the rough and tumble of life in the Christian Brothers school in the 1950’s included Kerry O’Sullivan, now a dentist in England. Pat Timpson, Lecturer, Sligo Regional College and Brendan McKenna, Managing Director of Abbott Laboratories also in Sligo are two of the class who did well in their own country. It wasn’t always easy for school leavers to find jobs in Ireland, especially in the late 1950’s or early 1960’s and the opportunity to attend University, now so common, was then restricted to a very few. Of my class only one person entered University as a day student following the Leaving Certificate. The rest like myself were not financially able to do so and the height of our ambition, assuming that you did not have enough honours to get teacher training, was to apply for a job in Guinness’, the County Council, the ESB or Bord na Mona. You might dream in those days of getting a job in the Banks but really for provincial “hicks” like ourselves, such exalted doors were not then opened. How times have changed!
Nowadays students finishing second level schooling can look to a more secure future than that which faced their counterparts of forty years ago. The secondary school is now but a step on the way to a further three years or so in University before taking up a job in Ireland. Forty years ago those of us who passed through the Christian Brothers School got jobs wherever and whenever they could be obtained. Our home town offered few job opportunities but amongst the lucky few were Teddy Kelly, Pat Flinter and Ted Wynne, all of whom then and still currently work within the Tegral Group of Companies. Of the Leaving Certificate Class of 1960 they were the only ones to get employment in their own home town at a time when travel was less easy than it is today. When I took up my first job with Kildare County Council in 1961 I stayed in digs in that town as the twenty-two mile journey to Naas was in those days regarded as too far a trip to undertake on a daily basis. Nowadays locals travel each day to Dublin and beyond to fill positions which are not available in Athy. How our horizons have broadened over the last forty years.
The common bond between the schoolmates of forty years ago was not just the town in which we lived, but rather the school which we attended. Our coming together each morning and the shared experiences of the classroom and the characters it spawned forged friendships which cannot ever be laid aside. Almost like prisoners of conscience incarcerated together for years on end we forged bonds which survived into adulthood [not that the school in St. John’s Lane was ever regarded by any of us as a penitentiary].
Just a few weeks ago one of my old classmates Hilary Drennan died, gone to join Fr. Jerry Byrne who passed away at a very young age, not long after we had left St. John’s for the last time. The surviving members of the class are to be found in Australia, China and America and throughout our own island in places as far apart as Cork and Sligo. The old school closed in 1984 with the opening of Scoil Eoin in Rathstewart and the last of the Christian Brothers who founded the school in 1861 left Athy in 1994. Nowadays the school, although still known as the Christian Brothers School is staffed by lay teachers and the increase in student numbers attending the school is matched by an academic record second to none.
On 18th March next Scoil Eoin will organise a Dinner Dance in the Dolmen Hotel, Carlow featuring a four course dinner and music by Marble City Sound. The event which is being billed as a Millennium Reunion Dinner Dance has been arranged by the Parents Council of Scoil Eoin in the hope of attracting those past pupils living abroad who may be returning for the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. The School Principal, Tony O’Rourke, would like to hear from any past pupil who would like to attend and he can be contacted at (0507) 38223. I don’t suppose my school mates from Australia or Beijing will be able to attend at such short notice but hopefully the class of 1960 might yet get together later this year to celebrate the 40th anniversary of our graduating from the St. John’s Lane Academy of Excellence.
Thursday, January 20, 2000
Martin Joe Rigney
In a most eloquent eulogy spoken after he had received the remains of Martin Joe Rigney into the Parish Church of St. Michael’s, our Parish Priest, Fr. Philip Dennehy, referred to Martin Joe as a man woven into the fabric of the lives of the local people. As the funeral undertaker for Athy Martin Joe had dealt with thousands of funerals in a quiet and efficient manner, ensuring that the bereaved could mourn and grieve without the added burden that such occasions thrust upon families.
It was his father Joseph Rigney who started the undertaking business in 1919 at a time when the only other undertaker in the town was John Maher of Leinster Street. John’s mother is believed to have been the first undertaker in the town, having commenced business in or around 1872. Martin Joe began working with his father when he left the local Christian Brothers School in 1941 at 14 years of age. By then the undertaking business first started by Mrs. Maher from premises on the corner of Kirwan’s Lane had moved to 23 Leinster Street. It was to there that her son John, having married into Quigleys bar and shop had transferred the undertaking business. In 1941 that undertaking business was then being operated by John’s son, “Bapty” Maher.
In the early days the local undertaker made up coffins or had them made locally. For a long time this work was carried out in Blanchfields sawmills of Leinster Street. Other local carpenters involved from time to time were Tom Breen of Offaly St. and old Jim Fleming of Chapel Lane. Martin Joe Rigney who served his time to coffin making, continued to make coffins at his Blackparks premises up to some years ago. However, the manufacture of coffins in Dublin factories made it impractical and unnecessary to continue at local level with this part of the traditional undertaking business.
It is believed that the first funeral undertaken by Joseph Rigney in 1919 was that of a Mrs. Leonard of Blackparks. Martin Joe recalled with certainty that his first funeral in 1941 was that of old Dan Chambers whose remains were brought to Churchtown Cemetery. Martin Joe drove the hearse pulled by horses along the country road which in war time was completely devoid of vehicular traffic. He recalled for me some years ago that the first motorised hearse brought to Athy by the Rigney family was in 1936 but how during World War II, petrol rationing caused a revival of the use of the horse hearse. The horse pulled hearses were to remain a feature of funerals in Athy until 1950.
The horse hearse was an awesome sight as the horses strode out ahead of the mourners, each of the horses bearing funeral plumes. Black plumes were used for an adult deceased, while white plumes were reserved for young people and single ladies. Martin Joe recounted for me many stories about a popular local curate Fr. Ryan who could not understand how a lady from Shrewleen with four children but no husband could still merit white plumes on the funeral horses as her funeral wound its way through the town to St. Michael’s Cemetery. Fr. Ryan spent much energy and no little of his money in encouraging unmarried mothers to enter into the married state. The lack of money proffered by many as an excuse for staying single was invariably overcome by Fr. Ryan’s generosity, always accompanied by the plea, “You won’t forget me when you get work”. One local wag finding himself propelled somewhat quicker than he wished into marrying the mother of his child replied, “I won’t forget you Father, and I won’t forgive you either”.
Up to about 1950 funerals started at the house of the deceased and invariably went directly to the local cemetery. If you could pay 30 shillings to the priest then the coffin was allowed to be brought to the Church where it was placed inside the Church door. If you had enough money to pay for a sung Mass the coffin was allowed to rest before the altar. The majority of funerals went from the house directly to the cemetery accompanied by neighbours and friends with the local Sacristan James McNally in attendance to say the De Profundis at every cross roads on the way. This is believed to be the origin of today’s traditional stoppage at the town centre cross roads for funerals on the route to St. Michael’s Cemetery.
Funerals are for the Irish people an important part of local community interaction as evidenced by the large numbers which accompany remains to our local graveyard. The largest funeral ever in Athy was in 1986 following the tragic death of Marian Byrne, Martina Leonard, Declan Roche and Martin Flynn in a road traffic accident on the Monasterevin road. This was a particularly sad occasion reviving memories of another tragic accident at Gallowshill on St. Patrick’s Day in 1970 when Matt McHugh, his wife and child, together with Stan Mullery and his girlfriend were killed. No funeral was perhaps more poignant than that of the married couple from Woodstock Street who died within a day of each other in January 1946. Margaret Cassidy died on 11th January, 1946 aged 45 years and her husband William who was a local postman died the following day, aged 47 years. Both were brought for burial on the same day to St. Michael’s Cemetery. Another double funeral recalled by Martin Joe was that of National Bank Manager Patrick Foley who died on 15th February, 1945, the same day as his mother-in-law Eleanor Fitzgerald who had lived with him and his family in the Emily Square Bank premises.
One of the most difficult tasks to fall to a local undertaker is the removal of bodies taken from the local river or canal. The stretch of River Barrow from Vicarstown to Carlow has claimed many lives over the years, the last of which occurred only two weeks ago. Ambulance personnel are not used for such occasions and the duty falls on the local undertaker to convey the remains to Naas for post mortem.
The name “Martin Joe” identifies for everyone the man who was our local undertaker for almost 59 years. It is perhaps strange to relate that he intensely disliked the double appellation, preferring to be known as Martin or Joe, but never as “Martin Joe”. To locals, Martin was known as “red” Martin to distinguish him from his first cousin of the same name who was known locally as “black” Martin. The third generation of the Rigney family, Martin’s son Joe now carries on the undertaking business which his grand-father Joseph who died in 1952 started in Blackparks, one year after the ending of World War I.
On Wednesday, 9th February the Urban Development Group which has canvassed opposition to the Inner Relief Road will hold a meeting in the Town Hall at 8.00pm. The recent debate concerning the Dublin/Waterford road link has brought into sharp focus the merit of the Outer Relief Road Plans for Athy. Everyone is welcome to attend.
It was his father Joseph Rigney who started the undertaking business in 1919 at a time when the only other undertaker in the town was John Maher of Leinster Street. John’s mother is believed to have been the first undertaker in the town, having commenced business in or around 1872. Martin Joe began working with his father when he left the local Christian Brothers School in 1941 at 14 years of age. By then the undertaking business first started by Mrs. Maher from premises on the corner of Kirwan’s Lane had moved to 23 Leinster Street. It was to there that her son John, having married into Quigleys bar and shop had transferred the undertaking business. In 1941 that undertaking business was then being operated by John’s son, “Bapty” Maher.
In the early days the local undertaker made up coffins or had them made locally. For a long time this work was carried out in Blanchfields sawmills of Leinster Street. Other local carpenters involved from time to time were Tom Breen of Offaly St. and old Jim Fleming of Chapel Lane. Martin Joe Rigney who served his time to coffin making, continued to make coffins at his Blackparks premises up to some years ago. However, the manufacture of coffins in Dublin factories made it impractical and unnecessary to continue at local level with this part of the traditional undertaking business.
It is believed that the first funeral undertaken by Joseph Rigney in 1919 was that of a Mrs. Leonard of Blackparks. Martin Joe recalled with certainty that his first funeral in 1941 was that of old Dan Chambers whose remains were brought to Churchtown Cemetery. Martin Joe drove the hearse pulled by horses along the country road which in war time was completely devoid of vehicular traffic. He recalled for me some years ago that the first motorised hearse brought to Athy by the Rigney family was in 1936 but how during World War II, petrol rationing caused a revival of the use of the horse hearse. The horse pulled hearses were to remain a feature of funerals in Athy until 1950.
The horse hearse was an awesome sight as the horses strode out ahead of the mourners, each of the horses bearing funeral plumes. Black plumes were used for an adult deceased, while white plumes were reserved for young people and single ladies. Martin Joe recounted for me many stories about a popular local curate Fr. Ryan who could not understand how a lady from Shrewleen with four children but no husband could still merit white plumes on the funeral horses as her funeral wound its way through the town to St. Michael’s Cemetery. Fr. Ryan spent much energy and no little of his money in encouraging unmarried mothers to enter into the married state. The lack of money proffered by many as an excuse for staying single was invariably overcome by Fr. Ryan’s generosity, always accompanied by the plea, “You won’t forget me when you get work”. One local wag finding himself propelled somewhat quicker than he wished into marrying the mother of his child replied, “I won’t forget you Father, and I won’t forgive you either”.
Up to about 1950 funerals started at the house of the deceased and invariably went directly to the local cemetery. If you could pay 30 shillings to the priest then the coffin was allowed to be brought to the Church where it was placed inside the Church door. If you had enough money to pay for a sung Mass the coffin was allowed to rest before the altar. The majority of funerals went from the house directly to the cemetery accompanied by neighbours and friends with the local Sacristan James McNally in attendance to say the De Profundis at every cross roads on the way. This is believed to be the origin of today’s traditional stoppage at the town centre cross roads for funerals on the route to St. Michael’s Cemetery.
Funerals are for the Irish people an important part of local community interaction as evidenced by the large numbers which accompany remains to our local graveyard. The largest funeral ever in Athy was in 1986 following the tragic death of Marian Byrne, Martina Leonard, Declan Roche and Martin Flynn in a road traffic accident on the Monasterevin road. This was a particularly sad occasion reviving memories of another tragic accident at Gallowshill on St. Patrick’s Day in 1970 when Matt McHugh, his wife and child, together with Stan Mullery and his girlfriend were killed. No funeral was perhaps more poignant than that of the married couple from Woodstock Street who died within a day of each other in January 1946. Margaret Cassidy died on 11th January, 1946 aged 45 years and her husband William who was a local postman died the following day, aged 47 years. Both were brought for burial on the same day to St. Michael’s Cemetery. Another double funeral recalled by Martin Joe was that of National Bank Manager Patrick Foley who died on 15th February, 1945, the same day as his mother-in-law Eleanor Fitzgerald who had lived with him and his family in the Emily Square Bank premises.
One of the most difficult tasks to fall to a local undertaker is the removal of bodies taken from the local river or canal. The stretch of River Barrow from Vicarstown to Carlow has claimed many lives over the years, the last of which occurred only two weeks ago. Ambulance personnel are not used for such occasions and the duty falls on the local undertaker to convey the remains to Naas for post mortem.
The name “Martin Joe” identifies for everyone the man who was our local undertaker for almost 59 years. It is perhaps strange to relate that he intensely disliked the double appellation, preferring to be known as Martin or Joe, but never as “Martin Joe”. To locals, Martin was known as “red” Martin to distinguish him from his first cousin of the same name who was known locally as “black” Martin. The third generation of the Rigney family, Martin’s son Joe now carries on the undertaking business which his grand-father Joseph who died in 1952 started in Blackparks, one year after the ending of World War I.
On Wednesday, 9th February the Urban Development Group which has canvassed opposition to the Inner Relief Road will hold a meeting in the Town Hall at 8.00pm. The recent debate concerning the Dublin/Waterford road link has brought into sharp focus the merit of the Outer Relief Road Plans for Athy. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Thursday, January 13, 2000
Athy Courthouse
Two years ago the Irish Times carried a letter from a Dublin man who chastised those responsible for the neglected state of Athy Courthouse. The fine Jacobean style building was indeed in a sad state, and remains so to this day but not for much longer. The Department of Justice is now about to loosen the purse strings to rescue what is an important part of the architectural heritage of our town.
The building now known as the Courthouse was originally the towns Corn Exchange. The first reference I found to it was in the Leinster Express of 25th April, 1857 when that newspaper then published in Naas and Maryboro carried a report of a banquet in the Leinster Arms Hotel. The occasion was a celebration for the newly elected Member of Parliament, W.H.F. Cogan and the following weeks headlines noted that one guest refused to stand for the customary toast to the Duke of Leinster. As Landlord for the town of Athy the Duke was accustomed to receiving unsolicited and uncritical allegiance from the subservient townsfolk and the action of the unnamed man was the first occasion such a public act of defiance was noted. The reason was the Dukes family’s involvement in the proposed closure of the town jail on the Carlow Road. It eventually closed in 1859 when all the prisoners were transferred to the new jail in Naas.
At the same time the Duke of Leinster received the gratitude of all those assembled in the Leinster Arms Hotel for the new Corn Exchange, then under construction in the Square of Athy. Newspaper reports claimed that the Duke was providing for the town of Athy “as pretty a building as any in Ireland” to be used as a Corn Exchange. It was opened for business on Tuesday, 6th October 1857 but before long the same newspapers carried reports that “the ventilation of the building was very defective and the manner in which it is lighted was also objected to”.
The criticism was surprising given that the Architect employed by the Duke of Leinster was none other than Frederick Darley, one of Ireland’s foremost Architects. Darley is best known for designing the Kings Inn Library in Henrietta Street, Dublin as well as a number of buildings in Trinity College and the wrought iron conservatories in the Botanical Gardens, Glasnevin. He was at different times Ecclesiastical Commissioners Architect for the Archdioceses of Dublin, and Architect to the Board of National Education. While Architect for the Archdioceses he designed St. Michael’s Church which was built on the Carlow Road and dedicated in September 1841. It is highly likely that Athy’s Model School on the Dublin Road opened in 1850 was also the work of Darley who was Architect to the National Board of Education at the time.
Whether the ventilation and lighting problems was the cause of the subsequent closure of the Corn Exchange we cannot say but certainly within five years the building was lying idle. A letter in the Leinster Express of 14th November, 1863 referred to the “large swamp around the ruins of the lamented Exchange”. To add to the woes of the locals the Summer Assizes hitherto held alternatively between Athy and Naas were transferred on a permanent basis out of Athy in the summer of 1858. Up to then the Court was located on the first floor of the Town Hall which had been built by the County Kildare Grand Jury in the early part of the 18th century. The Courts held there included the quarterly Assizes, the Petty Sessions which dealt with minor crimes and the Town Commissioners Court at which matters arising under the Town Improvement Act were heard.
When the former Corn Exchange was adopted for use as the Towns Courthouse I cannot yet confirm, but it would seem to have been utilised for that purpose before the end of the 19th century. The Assizes eventually returned to Athy but during the War of Independence the fine stone building with its flamboyant curved gables, dramatic tall granite chimney stacks and elliptical arched colonnades was burnt to the ground. The local IRA who were attached to the Carlow/Kildare brigade were believed to be responsible. It was felt to be an act of reprisal for the death of John Byrne of Gracefield, Ballylinan who died during the burning of the Luggacurran RIC Barracks. However, the truth which was known to a few was perhaps less heroic. One of the local volunteers acting on his own initiative and without the approval of his superiors torched the Court building on 15th July, 1921. The man responsible was Bill Nolan of St. Michael’s Terrace and he was subsequently court martialled by the IRA for his youthful indiscretion. The Court Martial Report prepared by John Hayden and Michael Dunne recommended his suspension from the Brigade. The suspension was soon thereafter lifted and Bill returned as an active member of the local volunteers.
The Duke of Leinster subsequently lodged a claim for compensation with the Urban Council and was awarded £1,455. The Clerk of the Petty Sessions Thomas J. Bodley lodged a similar claim for the loss of books, stationery and office furniture and received the sum of £30. Kildare County Council also applied for compensation indicating on 7th January, 1924 that the delay in paying the award made to it in Court was holding up the rebuilding of the Courthouse. The Urban District Councillors at their monthly meetings made regular reference to what they described as “the unsanitary state of the ruined interior of the Courthouse” and at one such meeting directed the town surveyor to “have a proper barbed wire fence erected to enclose the ruins”. The earlier arrival in the town of the first contingent of the newly established Garda Station prompted the same Councillors to request Kildare County Council to erect a Barracks for the Civic Guards in the vicinity of the Courthouse when it was being reinstated. The request obviously fell on deaf ears!
The rebuilding of the Courthouse was apparently completed sometime in 1928 under the supervision of Foley and O’Sullivan Architects. For whatever reason the building contractor delayed in handing over the building to Kildare County Council, a matter regarded by the local Urban Council as “a cause of inconsiderable inconvenience”. When the Courthouse was eventually reopened it continued to house the District Court and the quarterly sessions of the Circuit Courts. The offices of the District Court Office were located on the first floor and the last person to hold that office in Athy was Fintan Brennan. Rather strangely the local Garda Sergeant acted as the District Court Officer during the occasional absence of Fintan Brennan and I recall my own father doing short stints of duty in the District Court Office. The Irish penchant for centralisation resulted in the loss of the local District Court Office and for a while threatened the very future of Circuit Court sittings in Athy. Circuit Court Criminal Trials are no longer held in Athy, locals being required to travel to Naas for such hearings. Maybe with the refurbishment of the Courthouse we can look forward to the return of many of the lost elements of Court life in Athy.
Last week in what could have been the last Court sitting in the old building a fine tribute was paid to Bill Delahunty, Courthouse Caretaker who died recently. Billy, a member of an old Athy family will be sadly missed. Another recent death which was that of Michael Drennan, with whom I shared many happy schooldays in the local Christian Brothers. Hilary, as he was known, died just a few days after his mother passed away. May they rest in peace.
The building now known as the Courthouse was originally the towns Corn Exchange. The first reference I found to it was in the Leinster Express of 25th April, 1857 when that newspaper then published in Naas and Maryboro carried a report of a banquet in the Leinster Arms Hotel. The occasion was a celebration for the newly elected Member of Parliament, W.H.F. Cogan and the following weeks headlines noted that one guest refused to stand for the customary toast to the Duke of Leinster. As Landlord for the town of Athy the Duke was accustomed to receiving unsolicited and uncritical allegiance from the subservient townsfolk and the action of the unnamed man was the first occasion such a public act of defiance was noted. The reason was the Dukes family’s involvement in the proposed closure of the town jail on the Carlow Road. It eventually closed in 1859 when all the prisoners were transferred to the new jail in Naas.
At the same time the Duke of Leinster received the gratitude of all those assembled in the Leinster Arms Hotel for the new Corn Exchange, then under construction in the Square of Athy. Newspaper reports claimed that the Duke was providing for the town of Athy “as pretty a building as any in Ireland” to be used as a Corn Exchange. It was opened for business on Tuesday, 6th October 1857 but before long the same newspapers carried reports that “the ventilation of the building was very defective and the manner in which it is lighted was also objected to”.
The criticism was surprising given that the Architect employed by the Duke of Leinster was none other than Frederick Darley, one of Ireland’s foremost Architects. Darley is best known for designing the Kings Inn Library in Henrietta Street, Dublin as well as a number of buildings in Trinity College and the wrought iron conservatories in the Botanical Gardens, Glasnevin. He was at different times Ecclesiastical Commissioners Architect for the Archdioceses of Dublin, and Architect to the Board of National Education. While Architect for the Archdioceses he designed St. Michael’s Church which was built on the Carlow Road and dedicated in September 1841. It is highly likely that Athy’s Model School on the Dublin Road opened in 1850 was also the work of Darley who was Architect to the National Board of Education at the time.
Whether the ventilation and lighting problems was the cause of the subsequent closure of the Corn Exchange we cannot say but certainly within five years the building was lying idle. A letter in the Leinster Express of 14th November, 1863 referred to the “large swamp around the ruins of the lamented Exchange”. To add to the woes of the locals the Summer Assizes hitherto held alternatively between Athy and Naas were transferred on a permanent basis out of Athy in the summer of 1858. Up to then the Court was located on the first floor of the Town Hall which had been built by the County Kildare Grand Jury in the early part of the 18th century. The Courts held there included the quarterly Assizes, the Petty Sessions which dealt with minor crimes and the Town Commissioners Court at which matters arising under the Town Improvement Act were heard.
When the former Corn Exchange was adopted for use as the Towns Courthouse I cannot yet confirm, but it would seem to have been utilised for that purpose before the end of the 19th century. The Assizes eventually returned to Athy but during the War of Independence the fine stone building with its flamboyant curved gables, dramatic tall granite chimney stacks and elliptical arched colonnades was burnt to the ground. The local IRA who were attached to the Carlow/Kildare brigade were believed to be responsible. It was felt to be an act of reprisal for the death of John Byrne of Gracefield, Ballylinan who died during the burning of the Luggacurran RIC Barracks. However, the truth which was known to a few was perhaps less heroic. One of the local volunteers acting on his own initiative and without the approval of his superiors torched the Court building on 15th July, 1921. The man responsible was Bill Nolan of St. Michael’s Terrace and he was subsequently court martialled by the IRA for his youthful indiscretion. The Court Martial Report prepared by John Hayden and Michael Dunne recommended his suspension from the Brigade. The suspension was soon thereafter lifted and Bill returned as an active member of the local volunteers.
The Duke of Leinster subsequently lodged a claim for compensation with the Urban Council and was awarded £1,455. The Clerk of the Petty Sessions Thomas J. Bodley lodged a similar claim for the loss of books, stationery and office furniture and received the sum of £30. Kildare County Council also applied for compensation indicating on 7th January, 1924 that the delay in paying the award made to it in Court was holding up the rebuilding of the Courthouse. The Urban District Councillors at their monthly meetings made regular reference to what they described as “the unsanitary state of the ruined interior of the Courthouse” and at one such meeting directed the town surveyor to “have a proper barbed wire fence erected to enclose the ruins”. The earlier arrival in the town of the first contingent of the newly established Garda Station prompted the same Councillors to request Kildare County Council to erect a Barracks for the Civic Guards in the vicinity of the Courthouse when it was being reinstated. The request obviously fell on deaf ears!
The rebuilding of the Courthouse was apparently completed sometime in 1928 under the supervision of Foley and O’Sullivan Architects. For whatever reason the building contractor delayed in handing over the building to Kildare County Council, a matter regarded by the local Urban Council as “a cause of inconsiderable inconvenience”. When the Courthouse was eventually reopened it continued to house the District Court and the quarterly sessions of the Circuit Courts. The offices of the District Court Office were located on the first floor and the last person to hold that office in Athy was Fintan Brennan. Rather strangely the local Garda Sergeant acted as the District Court Officer during the occasional absence of Fintan Brennan and I recall my own father doing short stints of duty in the District Court Office. The Irish penchant for centralisation resulted in the loss of the local District Court Office and for a while threatened the very future of Circuit Court sittings in Athy. Circuit Court Criminal Trials are no longer held in Athy, locals being required to travel to Naas for such hearings. Maybe with the refurbishment of the Courthouse we can look forward to the return of many of the lost elements of Court life in Athy.
Last week in what could have been the last Court sitting in the old building a fine tribute was paid to Bill Delahunty, Courthouse Caretaker who died recently. Billy, a member of an old Athy family will be sadly missed. Another recent death which was that of Michael Drennan, with whom I shared many happy schooldays in the local Christian Brothers. Hilary, as he was known, died just a few days after his mother passed away. May they rest in peace.
Thursday, January 6, 2000
'Daney' Walsh and the Leinster Street Public House
A lot of changes in the commercial life of Athy have been noticed during the past few years. Chief amongst them is the change in personnel owning and manning the various local public houses in the town. As I passed down Leinster Street last night I saw that the sign over one of the those establishments has changed yet again. Now known as “Next Door”, it houses an off-licence where in years past there was a grocery and public house.
The first reference to this premises I have so far come across relates to the pre-Famine days of 1843 when the Duke of Leinster granted a lease in favour of William Fogarty. The shop was described as being formally in the possession of Denis Fogarty, in all probability, the father of William. The next occupier was Michael Keating whom I have reason to believe was the owner of Clonmullin Mills which was destroyed in the mid 1860’s. In November of 1865 the Keating shop in Leinster Street was sold to Michael Rourke of Castlecomer for the sum of £560. Keating, unable to meet his debts was declared bankrupt and the shop premises was auctioned off. The lease was subsequently assigned to Edward Rourke, presumably the son of the aforementioned Michael Rourke. When mortgaging the property in 1880, Edward was described as a grocer but, when selling on in 1884 to James Nugent, the property itself was described as a licensed house and included 13 other houses. These were the small two-roomed one-storey houses which once stood at the side of Chapel Lane immediately behind the public house. Some of those houses were still occupied up to the early 1960’s and I can remember the Fleming Brothers Saw Mills located in the middle of the terrace in the late 1950’s.
On the 2nd September 1902, James Nugent sold on his interest in the licensed premises, stores, stabling and yard to David Walsh. Walsh had already been in possession of the property for some years a matter which was confirmed in the lease from Nugent. David Walsh, son of James Walsh, farmer and Margaret Devoy of Graiguenamahona, Abbeyleix, was born in 1860 and married Mary Lalor in 1888. His younger brother Edward Walsh was later to achieve sporting fame as a rugby international being capped for Ireland 7 times between 1887 and 1893. David’s wife, Mary Lalor, was a kinswoman of James Fintan Lalor the County Laois political essayist and his brother Peter Lalor, Trade Unionist and Speaker of the House of Parliament in Victoria, Australia. David and Elizabeth had a thriving business in Leinster Street. The youngest of their 5 children also named David was born in Athy in 1898. Their eldest son James joined the Civil Service becoming a senior auditor in Dublin where he died in 1962. Their second son Joseph died unmarried aged 40 years in the year of the Eucharistic Congress 1932. That same year Margaret Walsh, at the age of 38 years married Joseph Hickey from Narraghmore who had been working in Walsh’s public house cum grocery for many years. A younger sister died in infancy while the youngest member of the family, known locally as “Daney”, married Florence Darcy in 1924. Florence was from Roscommon and at the time of her marriage was working as was two of her sisters in the Leinster Arms Hotel, Athy.
Following the death of Margaret Walsh in 1948 her husband Joseph Hickey continued on the business in Leinster Street until his own death in 1964. There were no children of the marriage and the business which had been the Walsh family for over 70 years then passed into other hands. I remember Joseph Hickey, an old man, or so I thought, in the late 1950’s, and my memory is of his acknowledged expertise as a locksmith. He was the person to whom you referred if you needed a lock repaired or a key replaced. His stock of old locks and keys were kept in drawers around the shop which had once been the grocery part of the country pub cum grocery.
Dave or “Daney” Walsh, born in the centenary year of the ’98 Rebellion worked for a while in the family business and at other times for Minch Nortons. Following his marriage to Florence Darcy he lived in St. Patrick’s Avenue and the couple had 2 children, Mary born 1925 who died 4 years ago, and Tommy born 1927, who died last year. “Daney” and his son Tommy were members of Athy Social Club and “Daney” or “D.S.” as he was known on some occasions, was one of the leading men in the Social Club Players of the 1940’s. A photograph of the cast of “Cupboard Love” put on in the Town Hall in April 1943 shows D. S. Walsh amongst the Players. Another photograph of the Social Club Players five years later includes D. S. Walsh as one of the actors in “The Far Off Hills” together with his 20 year old son Tommy. By then “Daney” who was 49 years of age sadly had but two years to live. He died on the 26th November 1949 and is buried in St. Michael’s Cemetery with his wife Florence who died 20 years later.
The Walsh family involvement in amateur theatrics was continued on by “Daney’s” son Tommy who participated in almost all of the plays put on by the Social Club Players until their disbandment in the 1950’s. Tommy’s own son David has featured prominently in stage plays in South Kildare over the last 17 years and he is currently Chairman of Athy Musical and Dramatic Society. The third generation Walsh family member to be so involved, David is currently organising the staging of another play from the pen of local writer John MacKenna. I gather auditions are still being held so if there are any budding thespians out there willing to thread the boards, why not contact David Walsh at the offices of K.A.R.E.
I received a letter during the week from James Fitzpatrick of Kildare who spent an enjoyable 4 years as a postman in Athy from 1946 to 1950. James remember his colleagues in the post office including Patsy Delahunt who trained him on the town post, Tom Langton, Tom Donoghue, Mick McEvoy, Jim Kelly, Jim Keyes, Bill Corr, Danny O’Brien, Paddy Keenan and Harry Hegarty. He lodged with Mrs Keogh of St. Patrick’s Avenue and quenched his thirst in Jim Nelson’s of Leinster Street where he enjoyed the company of Mick O’Shea, Kevin Watchorn and Jim Dargan. James wrote to me following the recent piece on the late Frank Whelan to whom he was grateful for many lifts back to Athy in the mail lorry following weekends at his home in Kildare town. Now 75 years of age, James certainly seems to have enjoyed his years in Athy and as he wrote himself, “It’s lovely to recall the old days”.
The first reference to this premises I have so far come across relates to the pre-Famine days of 1843 when the Duke of Leinster granted a lease in favour of William Fogarty. The shop was described as being formally in the possession of Denis Fogarty, in all probability, the father of William. The next occupier was Michael Keating whom I have reason to believe was the owner of Clonmullin Mills which was destroyed in the mid 1860’s. In November of 1865 the Keating shop in Leinster Street was sold to Michael Rourke of Castlecomer for the sum of £560. Keating, unable to meet his debts was declared bankrupt and the shop premises was auctioned off. The lease was subsequently assigned to Edward Rourke, presumably the son of the aforementioned Michael Rourke. When mortgaging the property in 1880, Edward was described as a grocer but, when selling on in 1884 to James Nugent, the property itself was described as a licensed house and included 13 other houses. These were the small two-roomed one-storey houses which once stood at the side of Chapel Lane immediately behind the public house. Some of those houses were still occupied up to the early 1960’s and I can remember the Fleming Brothers Saw Mills located in the middle of the terrace in the late 1950’s.
On the 2nd September 1902, James Nugent sold on his interest in the licensed premises, stores, stabling and yard to David Walsh. Walsh had already been in possession of the property for some years a matter which was confirmed in the lease from Nugent. David Walsh, son of James Walsh, farmer and Margaret Devoy of Graiguenamahona, Abbeyleix, was born in 1860 and married Mary Lalor in 1888. His younger brother Edward Walsh was later to achieve sporting fame as a rugby international being capped for Ireland 7 times between 1887 and 1893. David’s wife, Mary Lalor, was a kinswoman of James Fintan Lalor the County Laois political essayist and his brother Peter Lalor, Trade Unionist and Speaker of the House of Parliament in Victoria, Australia. David and Elizabeth had a thriving business in Leinster Street. The youngest of their 5 children also named David was born in Athy in 1898. Their eldest son James joined the Civil Service becoming a senior auditor in Dublin where he died in 1962. Their second son Joseph died unmarried aged 40 years in the year of the Eucharistic Congress 1932. That same year Margaret Walsh, at the age of 38 years married Joseph Hickey from Narraghmore who had been working in Walsh’s public house cum grocery for many years. A younger sister died in infancy while the youngest member of the family, known locally as “Daney”, married Florence Darcy in 1924. Florence was from Roscommon and at the time of her marriage was working as was two of her sisters in the Leinster Arms Hotel, Athy.
Following the death of Margaret Walsh in 1948 her husband Joseph Hickey continued on the business in Leinster Street until his own death in 1964. There were no children of the marriage and the business which had been the Walsh family for over 70 years then passed into other hands. I remember Joseph Hickey, an old man, or so I thought, in the late 1950’s, and my memory is of his acknowledged expertise as a locksmith. He was the person to whom you referred if you needed a lock repaired or a key replaced. His stock of old locks and keys were kept in drawers around the shop which had once been the grocery part of the country pub cum grocery.
Dave or “Daney” Walsh, born in the centenary year of the ’98 Rebellion worked for a while in the family business and at other times for Minch Nortons. Following his marriage to Florence Darcy he lived in St. Patrick’s Avenue and the couple had 2 children, Mary born 1925 who died 4 years ago, and Tommy born 1927, who died last year. “Daney” and his son Tommy were members of Athy Social Club and “Daney” or “D.S.” as he was known on some occasions, was one of the leading men in the Social Club Players of the 1940’s. A photograph of the cast of “Cupboard Love” put on in the Town Hall in April 1943 shows D. S. Walsh amongst the Players. Another photograph of the Social Club Players five years later includes D. S. Walsh as one of the actors in “The Far Off Hills” together with his 20 year old son Tommy. By then “Daney” who was 49 years of age sadly had but two years to live. He died on the 26th November 1949 and is buried in St. Michael’s Cemetery with his wife Florence who died 20 years later.
The Walsh family involvement in amateur theatrics was continued on by “Daney’s” son Tommy who participated in almost all of the plays put on by the Social Club Players until their disbandment in the 1950’s. Tommy’s own son David has featured prominently in stage plays in South Kildare over the last 17 years and he is currently Chairman of Athy Musical and Dramatic Society. The third generation Walsh family member to be so involved, David is currently organising the staging of another play from the pen of local writer John MacKenna. I gather auditions are still being held so if there are any budding thespians out there willing to thread the boards, why not contact David Walsh at the offices of K.A.R.E.
I received a letter during the week from James Fitzpatrick of Kildare who spent an enjoyable 4 years as a postman in Athy from 1946 to 1950. James remember his colleagues in the post office including Patsy Delahunt who trained him on the town post, Tom Langton, Tom Donoghue, Mick McEvoy, Jim Kelly, Jim Keyes, Bill Corr, Danny O’Brien, Paddy Keenan and Harry Hegarty. He lodged with Mrs Keogh of St. Patrick’s Avenue and quenched his thirst in Jim Nelson’s of Leinster Street where he enjoyed the company of Mick O’Shea, Kevin Watchorn and Jim Dargan. James wrote to me following the recent piece on the late Frank Whelan to whom he was grateful for many lifts back to Athy in the mail lorry following weekends at his home in Kildare town. Now 75 years of age, James certainly seems to have enjoyed his years in Athy and as he wrote himself, “It’s lovely to recall the old days”.
Thursday, December 30, 1999
Tommy Keegan
Some time ago I spent an enjoyable evening reminiscing with Tommy Keegan whose family has been in the South Kildare area for generations past. The wealth of historical material gleaned from Tommy filled many pages, the true value of which has only now become apparent as I check his many references against other sources, both written and oral. Tommy’s knowledge of the hidden past of this locality is quite extraordinary, but not surprising, given his interest in local history and the Keegan family connection which goes back centuries.
At least three generations of the Keegans stretching back to Tommy’s Great Grandfather are buried in Fontstown cemetery. This is one of the oldest cemeteries in the area and likely to remain so unless further research confirms the existence of cemeteries on two sites which have come to my notice. The medieval Dominican Priory of Athy which was sited in the area known as the Abbey at the back of Offaly Street had a community graveyard which may have been located at the rear of the two houses on the Carlow side of the Credit Union Office. This is yet to be authenticated but there is some evidence to support the claim that the Dominican Cemetery was in that area. The second as yet unconfirmed medieval cemetery location is the small piece of ground lying between St. John’s Lane and McHugh’s Chemist in Duke Street. However, more about both possibilities at a later date.
A sprightly 76 year old Tommy Keegan was born in Foxhill. His father Daniel was a farmer and carpenter, a craft which has now been passed on to Tommy’s own son Joe. Daniel Keegan’s father was a blacksmith in Blackwood while his Uncle Martin Keegan was the owner of Keegan’s brickyard in Churchtown. Tommy attended the Christian Brothers School in Athy during the superiorship of Brother Dolan and had as classmates Gerry and Dinny Moloney, Tim Dunne, Kevin and John Hyland and Eddie and Charlie Moore. Later apprenticed to his father Daniel he worked in the family sawmills in Foxhill making a variety of items including cartwheels, hay bogeys and trailers. He was a member of the Barrow Vale Athletic Club in the 1940’s, competing, he admits, not too successfully in marathon running. I understand the Chairman of the Club was Alfie Coyle, a butcher employed in Fingletons of Leinster Street. Tommy’s reference to Barrow Vale Athletic Club was the first and only reference I have ever come across of this Club of almost sixty years ago.
One of the old traditions passed down to Tommy was that the famous ballad Lanigan’s Ball was written by Alec Roberts, a signal man on the railways who lived in Leinster Street in the premises now occupied by Sunderlands Hardware Shop. Colm O’Lochlainn in his “Irish Street Ballads” published in 1939 mentions a full music sheet of the song published in the 1870’s where the words were ascribed to “Mr. Gavan, the celebrated Galway poet”. Sean McMahon in his more recently published Poolbeg book of Irish Ballads describes Lanigan’s Ball as an “Athy Ballad dating from the ‘60’s of the last century and taken to have been based on an actual rough evening near the town”. Whatever the right of Alec Roberts to lay claim to the authorship of this famous ballad there seems no argument about his responsibility for composing a song about the Publicans of Athy at the turn of the last century. It ran :-
I’ll describe to you in a verse or two
The Publicans of Athy
We’ll take them one by one
From Mrs. Silke of the Railway Bar
To James Brophy of the Grand Canal
The first we have is Mrs. Silke
Some say she’s nice and
Some say she’s very grand
But it looks so suspicious
The Pump is so close up to her hand
The next we have is poor Paddy Kelly
Whose fortune lies upon a hare
Then we have the two Christian Brothers
Master James and Master John
Who if they had their will
Would send poor Kelly back again.
It continues on in this vein listing the publicans of the town and remarkably not a single public house remains in the ownership of any of the family names mentioned in the ballad.
Tommy Keegan’s connections through his ancestors with some of the historical figures of the past brings to the fore names as diverse as Michael Dwyer, the 1798 Rebel and Dan Donnelly, Ireland’s most famous pugilist. The Bailey Family of Killart, Athy were noted pipers as was Tommy’s Uncle John Keegan who died in or about 1941. An elderly Mrs. Bailey presented Dan Donnelly’s pipes to John Keegan who later passed them on to his friend and fellow piper, the famous Leo Rowsome.
Tommy claims that his Great Grandmother Kate was a sister of Michael Dwyer of Camara in the Glen of Immal, the revolutionary leader of 1798 fame. She married Willie Keegan of Russellstown, a member of a coach building family which lived in the house now occupied by the O’Sullivan family on the Dublin road. The Keegan families in Russellstown, Geraldine, Churchtown and Springhill were all related and the family tradition notes that one member of the extended Keegan family had a distillery and a beer house in the Shambles at Market Square, Athy many generations ago. Talking to Tommy about the history and traditions of our locality was an invigorating trawl through a mixture of genealogical facts and long forgotten folklore, all of which deserved a home secured by pen and ink for future perusal.
Writing of such matters while a flu epidemic rages through the countryside prompts me to ask my readers for help in recording the cures of folk medicine practised in this area in the days before advances in medical science made us all so dependent on antibiotics. The subject came up recently when I shared the celebration of New Years Night with a few friends, nearly all of whom had personal experiences or knowledge of local cures for various ailments. Folk medicine has always played an important part in the lives of Irish people and even today in South Kildare it continues to play a not insignificant part in dealing with certain ailments. I would like to hear from anyone who has any information on the subject of cures and folk medicine in the locality.
At least three generations of the Keegans stretching back to Tommy’s Great Grandfather are buried in Fontstown cemetery. This is one of the oldest cemeteries in the area and likely to remain so unless further research confirms the existence of cemeteries on two sites which have come to my notice. The medieval Dominican Priory of Athy which was sited in the area known as the Abbey at the back of Offaly Street had a community graveyard which may have been located at the rear of the two houses on the Carlow side of the Credit Union Office. This is yet to be authenticated but there is some evidence to support the claim that the Dominican Cemetery was in that area. The second as yet unconfirmed medieval cemetery location is the small piece of ground lying between St. John’s Lane and McHugh’s Chemist in Duke Street. However, more about both possibilities at a later date.
A sprightly 76 year old Tommy Keegan was born in Foxhill. His father Daniel was a farmer and carpenter, a craft which has now been passed on to Tommy’s own son Joe. Daniel Keegan’s father was a blacksmith in Blackwood while his Uncle Martin Keegan was the owner of Keegan’s brickyard in Churchtown. Tommy attended the Christian Brothers School in Athy during the superiorship of Brother Dolan and had as classmates Gerry and Dinny Moloney, Tim Dunne, Kevin and John Hyland and Eddie and Charlie Moore. Later apprenticed to his father Daniel he worked in the family sawmills in Foxhill making a variety of items including cartwheels, hay bogeys and trailers. He was a member of the Barrow Vale Athletic Club in the 1940’s, competing, he admits, not too successfully in marathon running. I understand the Chairman of the Club was Alfie Coyle, a butcher employed in Fingletons of Leinster Street. Tommy’s reference to Barrow Vale Athletic Club was the first and only reference I have ever come across of this Club of almost sixty years ago.
One of the old traditions passed down to Tommy was that the famous ballad Lanigan’s Ball was written by Alec Roberts, a signal man on the railways who lived in Leinster Street in the premises now occupied by Sunderlands Hardware Shop. Colm O’Lochlainn in his “Irish Street Ballads” published in 1939 mentions a full music sheet of the song published in the 1870’s where the words were ascribed to “Mr. Gavan, the celebrated Galway poet”. Sean McMahon in his more recently published Poolbeg book of Irish Ballads describes Lanigan’s Ball as an “Athy Ballad dating from the ‘60’s of the last century and taken to have been based on an actual rough evening near the town”. Whatever the right of Alec Roberts to lay claim to the authorship of this famous ballad there seems no argument about his responsibility for composing a song about the Publicans of Athy at the turn of the last century. It ran :-
I’ll describe to you in a verse or two
The Publicans of Athy
We’ll take them one by one
From Mrs. Silke of the Railway Bar
To James Brophy of the Grand Canal
The first we have is Mrs. Silke
Some say she’s nice and
Some say she’s very grand
But it looks so suspicious
The Pump is so close up to her hand
The next we have is poor Paddy Kelly
Whose fortune lies upon a hare
Then we have the two Christian Brothers
Master James and Master John
Who if they had their will
Would send poor Kelly back again.
It continues on in this vein listing the publicans of the town and remarkably not a single public house remains in the ownership of any of the family names mentioned in the ballad.
Tommy Keegan’s connections through his ancestors with some of the historical figures of the past brings to the fore names as diverse as Michael Dwyer, the 1798 Rebel and Dan Donnelly, Ireland’s most famous pugilist. The Bailey Family of Killart, Athy were noted pipers as was Tommy’s Uncle John Keegan who died in or about 1941. An elderly Mrs. Bailey presented Dan Donnelly’s pipes to John Keegan who later passed them on to his friend and fellow piper, the famous Leo Rowsome.
Tommy claims that his Great Grandmother Kate was a sister of Michael Dwyer of Camara in the Glen of Immal, the revolutionary leader of 1798 fame. She married Willie Keegan of Russellstown, a member of a coach building family which lived in the house now occupied by the O’Sullivan family on the Dublin road. The Keegan families in Russellstown, Geraldine, Churchtown and Springhill were all related and the family tradition notes that one member of the extended Keegan family had a distillery and a beer house in the Shambles at Market Square, Athy many generations ago. Talking to Tommy about the history and traditions of our locality was an invigorating trawl through a mixture of genealogical facts and long forgotten folklore, all of which deserved a home secured by pen and ink for future perusal.
Writing of such matters while a flu epidemic rages through the countryside prompts me to ask my readers for help in recording the cures of folk medicine practised in this area in the days before advances in medical science made us all so dependent on antibiotics. The subject came up recently when I shared the celebration of New Years Night with a few friends, nearly all of whom had personal experiences or knowledge of local cures for various ailments. Folk medicine has always played an important part in the lives of Irish people and even today in South Kildare it continues to play a not insignificant part in dealing with certain ailments. I would like to hear from anyone who has any information on the subject of cures and folk medicine in the locality.
Thursday, December 23, 1999
Frank Whelan
Early last year Frank Whelan’s life long involvement as a member of the Fianna Fail Party was the occasion of a presentation to him in the Castle Inn. It was a time for reminiscing and I put together some rough notes which I hoped would form the basis of a future Eye on the Past. As luck would have it the hastily compiled notes disappeared amongst the mass of paper which over time engulfed my desk. I tackled the mess during the Christmas holidays and retrieved these notes and many more which I carefully put aside with a view to putting pen to paper at an early date.
Unfortunately time, which has no respect for the tardy, caused me to regret my inefficiency when I was told on New Years day of the passing of Frank Whelan. Indeed the period since Christmas has been a sad one with so many deaths amongst the older generation in Athy. Elsewhere I have referred to the passing of John Allen, while in todays Eye on the Past I take the opportunity of paying my respects to near neighbours Frank Whelan and Pat Eston.
Although known as “Frank”, he was christened John Francis Whelan. As a young man, born in Ballylinan, he worked as a blacksmith with his father, also named Frank, who had a forge in the village. Indeed the Whelan family had a long involvement with blacksmitting. Frank’s grandfather Edward, a one time Chairman of the Land League in Ballyadams, had a forge in Loughlass. His four sons took up the craft, and each of them worked their own forges. Paddy Whelan had a forge at Timahoe and his brother Jim, who was later to work with Tom Brogan in Green Alley, had his forge at the Heath. Another brother Willie worked with his father Edward Whelan in Timahoe while Frank’s father eventually took over his Uncle’s forge in Ballylinan. Frank (Senior) married Kathleen Whelan, a teacher in Athy who was a member of the Cumann na mBan branch established in Athy in July 1914.
After his early training in the Ballylinan forge Frank (Jnr.) joined the Irish Army in 1940 and spent the next 5 or 6 years with the 1st Field Engineers, putting up army huts around the country. Frank’s father died in 1946 and around that time he went to work in Tom Brogan’s Forge in Green Alley joining his Uncle Jim. He recalled one of his early jobs with Brogan as the casting of horizontal bars for the Barrow Bridge. In 1948 he took up employment with C.I.E. as a road freight driver where he was to remain until he retired. Amongst his colleagues on the railway were Joe Murphy of Offaly Street, Jack McKenna of Castledermot, Dennis Gunner Whelan, “Pokie” Flynn, Brothers Ned and Mick Loughman, Andy Conville and Paddy Flanagan. Mick Loughman would later establish a garage business on the Kilkenny Road.
Between 1948 and 1952 Frank worked on the Post Office mail run collecting mail in Kildare for delivery to Athy, Carlow, Bagnalstown, Kilkenny, Bennettsbridge and Thomastown. On the return journey outgoing mail was collected and brought to Portarlington to be put on the evening train.
Later on Frank was involved in local deliveries around Athy and particularly remembers the early 1950’s when waste paper was a much sought after commodity. The local children were organised at school to collect waste paper and the material was then delivered by horse and dray to the Railway Station for onward journey to the paper mills in Waterford. The horse and dray remained a familiar sight around the town until the early 1960’s when they were replaced by a tractor and trailer.
Frank married Rose Timpson of Bennetsbridge in 1956 and they had three children, Frank, Mary and Betty. Rose sadly died in 1996, some 9 years after Frank had retired from C.I.E.
At last year’s presentation to Frank, reference was made to his having joined Fianna Fail at an early age. He was a staunch supporter of De Valera and played an active part in every National and Local Election held over the last fifty years. At different times he was Secretary and Chairman of the local Cumann and was it’s Honorary President at the time of his death.
At all times he played a significant and thoughtful part in the political process. His experience was often relied upon and many a youthful political candidate had occasion to welcome his astute and often invigorating response to whatever situation arose.
It was however not only in the local political sphere that Frank Whelan made a valuable contribution. He was involved with Barrowhouse Gaelic Football Club since it’s early years and for twenty years was the Club’s Honorary Secretary. Following that he was elected Chairman of the Club and later still Club President. During his working life he was a staunch Trade Unionist and was elected Chairman of the National Association of Transport Employees which has since amalgamated with S.I.P.T.U.
Frank’s near neighbour in Pairc Bhride was Pat Eston who also died last week. I first came across reference to Pat when I was researching shows put on in the Town Hall 50 and 60 years ago. The Black and White Minstrel Shows of the late 1930’s and early ‘40’s showcased the talents of locals such as Pat Eston and “Thrush” Kelly. Pat was a gifted tenor while “Thrush” who is regularly mentioned with Pat when people speak of the old Minstrels, was a whistler. Pat always responded kindly to my requests for an interview, invariably asking it to be left for another day. To my regret his story was never recorded and perhaps we can never have the opportunity to appreciate the Town Hall Shows and those local men and women who trod the boards so many years ago.
May these two good men rest in peace.
Unfortunately time, which has no respect for the tardy, caused me to regret my inefficiency when I was told on New Years day of the passing of Frank Whelan. Indeed the period since Christmas has been a sad one with so many deaths amongst the older generation in Athy. Elsewhere I have referred to the passing of John Allen, while in todays Eye on the Past I take the opportunity of paying my respects to near neighbours Frank Whelan and Pat Eston.
Although known as “Frank”, he was christened John Francis Whelan. As a young man, born in Ballylinan, he worked as a blacksmith with his father, also named Frank, who had a forge in the village. Indeed the Whelan family had a long involvement with blacksmitting. Frank’s grandfather Edward, a one time Chairman of the Land League in Ballyadams, had a forge in Loughlass. His four sons took up the craft, and each of them worked their own forges. Paddy Whelan had a forge at Timahoe and his brother Jim, who was later to work with Tom Brogan in Green Alley, had his forge at the Heath. Another brother Willie worked with his father Edward Whelan in Timahoe while Frank’s father eventually took over his Uncle’s forge in Ballylinan. Frank (Senior) married Kathleen Whelan, a teacher in Athy who was a member of the Cumann na mBan branch established in Athy in July 1914.
After his early training in the Ballylinan forge Frank (Jnr.) joined the Irish Army in 1940 and spent the next 5 or 6 years with the 1st Field Engineers, putting up army huts around the country. Frank’s father died in 1946 and around that time he went to work in Tom Brogan’s Forge in Green Alley joining his Uncle Jim. He recalled one of his early jobs with Brogan as the casting of horizontal bars for the Barrow Bridge. In 1948 he took up employment with C.I.E. as a road freight driver where he was to remain until he retired. Amongst his colleagues on the railway were Joe Murphy of Offaly Street, Jack McKenna of Castledermot, Dennis Gunner Whelan, “Pokie” Flynn, Brothers Ned and Mick Loughman, Andy Conville and Paddy Flanagan. Mick Loughman would later establish a garage business on the Kilkenny Road.
Between 1948 and 1952 Frank worked on the Post Office mail run collecting mail in Kildare for delivery to Athy, Carlow, Bagnalstown, Kilkenny, Bennettsbridge and Thomastown. On the return journey outgoing mail was collected and brought to Portarlington to be put on the evening train.
Later on Frank was involved in local deliveries around Athy and particularly remembers the early 1950’s when waste paper was a much sought after commodity. The local children were organised at school to collect waste paper and the material was then delivered by horse and dray to the Railway Station for onward journey to the paper mills in Waterford. The horse and dray remained a familiar sight around the town until the early 1960’s when they were replaced by a tractor and trailer.
Frank married Rose Timpson of Bennetsbridge in 1956 and they had three children, Frank, Mary and Betty. Rose sadly died in 1996, some 9 years after Frank had retired from C.I.E.
At last year’s presentation to Frank, reference was made to his having joined Fianna Fail at an early age. He was a staunch supporter of De Valera and played an active part in every National and Local Election held over the last fifty years. At different times he was Secretary and Chairman of the local Cumann and was it’s Honorary President at the time of his death.
At all times he played a significant and thoughtful part in the political process. His experience was often relied upon and many a youthful political candidate had occasion to welcome his astute and often invigorating response to whatever situation arose.
It was however not only in the local political sphere that Frank Whelan made a valuable contribution. He was involved with Barrowhouse Gaelic Football Club since it’s early years and for twenty years was the Club’s Honorary Secretary. Following that he was elected Chairman of the Club and later still Club President. During his working life he was a staunch Trade Unionist and was elected Chairman of the National Association of Transport Employees which has since amalgamated with S.I.P.T.U.
Frank’s near neighbour in Pairc Bhride was Pat Eston who also died last week. I first came across reference to Pat when I was researching shows put on in the Town Hall 50 and 60 years ago. The Black and White Minstrel Shows of the late 1930’s and early ‘40’s showcased the talents of locals such as Pat Eston and “Thrush” Kelly. Pat was a gifted tenor while “Thrush” who is regularly mentioned with Pat when people speak of the old Minstrels, was a whistler. Pat always responded kindly to my requests for an interview, invariably asking it to be left for another day. To my regret his story was never recorded and perhaps we can never have the opportunity to appreciate the Town Hall Shows and those local men and women who trod the boards so many years ago.
May these two good men rest in peace.
Thursday, December 16, 1999
Athy at the Turn of the 20th Century
One hundred years ago Athy Town Commissioners, soon to give way to the newly established Urban District Council, passed a resolution protesting against “the unjustifiable war waged against the Boers” and tendered their sympathy to the Boer President Kruger. As the new century arrived the Boer flag was hoisted over the Town Hall in Athy, much to the annoyance of the towns’ Police. A local newspaper reporting the incident claimed that “the Athy Boys have not lost their originality and keen sense of humour”.
The winter of 1899/1900 showed up the unhealthy condition of the town and it’s unsanitary undrained state. Thomas Plewman, Chairman of the Town Commissioners, was moved to complain of the dirty streets of Athy during Christmas 1899. During the first week of the New Year there was a measles epidemic in the town. Doctors P.J. O’Neill and J. Kilbride were reported as having been run off their feet but despite their efforts there were a number of deaths amongst local children. At a subsequent meeting of Athy Board of Guardians Mr. Plewman again spoke of the measles epidemic in Athy, claiming that
“there are many houses where people have not a bed to lie in. It was a scandal in a Christian country that men and children should be found to lie like pigs in damp cottages. They would require the constitution of elephants to bring them through and from what he heard it was not the measles that were hitting the children but colds after the epidemic.”
The measles epidemic in the winter of 1899/1900 caused the postponement of the Christmas celebrations planned for the children of Athy by the local Catholic Young Mens Society. It was eventually held in the last week in January under the guidance of Mrs. Noud who was assisted by Agnes O’Brien, Millie O’Brien, Gipsy Murphy, Rose Heffernan, Miss McHugh, Miss Cantwell and many other ladies. A report of the delayed Christmas feast noted that the C.Y.M.S. rooms in Stanhope Place were “prettily decorated and appropriately draped and hung down with greenery”. Over 500 poor children of the town attended to partake of tea and sweet cake, followed by oranges and confectionery.
Dr. James Kilbride, local Medical Officer of Health, was happy to announce on 14th March that measles had practically disappeared from his District. His report continued:-
“Large numbers of children contracted the disease. The mortality was high among children. Croup and broncho pneumonia were the principal complications and were the cause of death in most cases. The deaths have not yet been registered in many cases and so the number of fatal cases cannot be given. The flooding condition of some of the houses, the weather been very wet during part of the epidemic, the damp or wet clay floors, the wretched dwellings with broken windows, doors and roofs and in many cases scanty bed and personal clothing, sometimes no beds, the children lie and huddle together on the floor and the general state of health of children caused partially by poverty and partially by the bad sanitary conditions of the houses and lanes account for the high mortality”.
Dr. Kilbride pointed out that the unsanitary conditions had been reported by him on several occasions and he concluded with the claim that “there has been no move ever made to remedy the defects of the public sewers or to procure a water supply for the town”.
Far away from the squalor of Athy were local men Paddy Connors and Patrick Kelly, both of whom were enlisted soldiers of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers fighting in the Boer War. In January 1900 Connors wrote to his brother in Athy of the heavy losses suffered by his battalion during the Battle of Colenso.
“Three companies got cut up and the Connaught Rangers lost a lot. Murphy, Flynn and Kenny got dangerously wounded. Poor Sergeant O’Flynn got killed with a shell through the head. Twenty-five Sergeants got killed and wounded with 250 of the rank and file ….. thank God I’m very lucky. My helmet was knocked off by a bit of shell when I was carrying a wounded Corporal and he got shot in my arms.” Connors finished with the plaintive request “Brother, mind the birds and feed them well. Don’t fret for me for God will save me now”.
Kelly in his letter also refers to the killing of local men Flynn and Murphy. “Murphy got five bullets and Flynn four. Campion is also dead. There must be someone praying for the Athy boys afterall, as we nearly all escaped.” Not all of the Athy boys were not to escape as many more were to die during the Boer War which continued on into the new century.
Back home in Athy the death of Brother Holland, one of the first Christian Brothers to come to Athy in 1862 was announced in Marino, Dublin. J.J. Byrne, Barrow Bridge, Athy placed a large advertisement in the local newspapers offering corn drills, seed ploughs, cultivators and harrows at cheap rates for cash. The same paper carried an advertisement for Mr. Davies, Dental Surgeon of Lower Sackville Street, Dublin who attended at Miss Molloy’s of Duke Street on the first and third Tuesday of each month. At the start of the twentieth century life in Athy went on as before.
The last century of the second Millennium was to bring many changes to the town which had first grown to prominence as an adjunct to the Manor of Woodstock. The public water supply suggested by Dr. Kilbride in his many reports to the local Council was eventually provided in 1907. The first Council houses built in Athy were let to tenants in March 1913 but these houses in Meeting Lane, St. Martin’s Terrace and St. Michael’s Terrace were to be occupied by families other than those who lived in the unsanitary hovels condemned by Dr. Kilbride. Families most in need of re-housing would have to wait for the slum clearance schemes of the 1930’s.
Some of those men who survived the Boer War were later to re-join the ranks of the Dublin Fusiliers during the First World War. Their colleagues at the front included young men who had survived the measles epidemic in Athy in January 1900 and who later endured deprivation and unsanitary conditions in their home town.
For them, the wet clay floors of houses in Athy were but a prelude to their final resting places in watery muddy graves of France and Flanders.
The winter of 1899/1900 showed up the unhealthy condition of the town and it’s unsanitary undrained state. Thomas Plewman, Chairman of the Town Commissioners, was moved to complain of the dirty streets of Athy during Christmas 1899. During the first week of the New Year there was a measles epidemic in the town. Doctors P.J. O’Neill and J. Kilbride were reported as having been run off their feet but despite their efforts there were a number of deaths amongst local children. At a subsequent meeting of Athy Board of Guardians Mr. Plewman again spoke of the measles epidemic in Athy, claiming that
“there are many houses where people have not a bed to lie in. It was a scandal in a Christian country that men and children should be found to lie like pigs in damp cottages. They would require the constitution of elephants to bring them through and from what he heard it was not the measles that were hitting the children but colds after the epidemic.”
The measles epidemic in the winter of 1899/1900 caused the postponement of the Christmas celebrations planned for the children of Athy by the local Catholic Young Mens Society. It was eventually held in the last week in January under the guidance of Mrs. Noud who was assisted by Agnes O’Brien, Millie O’Brien, Gipsy Murphy, Rose Heffernan, Miss McHugh, Miss Cantwell and many other ladies. A report of the delayed Christmas feast noted that the C.Y.M.S. rooms in Stanhope Place were “prettily decorated and appropriately draped and hung down with greenery”. Over 500 poor children of the town attended to partake of tea and sweet cake, followed by oranges and confectionery.
Dr. James Kilbride, local Medical Officer of Health, was happy to announce on 14th March that measles had practically disappeared from his District. His report continued:-
“Large numbers of children contracted the disease. The mortality was high among children. Croup and broncho pneumonia were the principal complications and were the cause of death in most cases. The deaths have not yet been registered in many cases and so the number of fatal cases cannot be given. The flooding condition of some of the houses, the weather been very wet during part of the epidemic, the damp or wet clay floors, the wretched dwellings with broken windows, doors and roofs and in many cases scanty bed and personal clothing, sometimes no beds, the children lie and huddle together on the floor and the general state of health of children caused partially by poverty and partially by the bad sanitary conditions of the houses and lanes account for the high mortality”.
Dr. Kilbride pointed out that the unsanitary conditions had been reported by him on several occasions and he concluded with the claim that “there has been no move ever made to remedy the defects of the public sewers or to procure a water supply for the town”.
Far away from the squalor of Athy were local men Paddy Connors and Patrick Kelly, both of whom were enlisted soldiers of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers fighting in the Boer War. In January 1900 Connors wrote to his brother in Athy of the heavy losses suffered by his battalion during the Battle of Colenso.
“Three companies got cut up and the Connaught Rangers lost a lot. Murphy, Flynn and Kenny got dangerously wounded. Poor Sergeant O’Flynn got killed with a shell through the head. Twenty-five Sergeants got killed and wounded with 250 of the rank and file ….. thank God I’m very lucky. My helmet was knocked off by a bit of shell when I was carrying a wounded Corporal and he got shot in my arms.” Connors finished with the plaintive request “Brother, mind the birds and feed them well. Don’t fret for me for God will save me now”.
Kelly in his letter also refers to the killing of local men Flynn and Murphy. “Murphy got five bullets and Flynn four. Campion is also dead. There must be someone praying for the Athy boys afterall, as we nearly all escaped.” Not all of the Athy boys were not to escape as many more were to die during the Boer War which continued on into the new century.
Back home in Athy the death of Brother Holland, one of the first Christian Brothers to come to Athy in 1862 was announced in Marino, Dublin. J.J. Byrne, Barrow Bridge, Athy placed a large advertisement in the local newspapers offering corn drills, seed ploughs, cultivators and harrows at cheap rates for cash. The same paper carried an advertisement for Mr. Davies, Dental Surgeon of Lower Sackville Street, Dublin who attended at Miss Molloy’s of Duke Street on the first and third Tuesday of each month. At the start of the twentieth century life in Athy went on as before.
The last century of the second Millennium was to bring many changes to the town which had first grown to prominence as an adjunct to the Manor of Woodstock. The public water supply suggested by Dr. Kilbride in his many reports to the local Council was eventually provided in 1907. The first Council houses built in Athy were let to tenants in March 1913 but these houses in Meeting Lane, St. Martin’s Terrace and St. Michael’s Terrace were to be occupied by families other than those who lived in the unsanitary hovels condemned by Dr. Kilbride. Families most in need of re-housing would have to wait for the slum clearance schemes of the 1930’s.
Some of those men who survived the Boer War were later to re-join the ranks of the Dublin Fusiliers during the First World War. Their colleagues at the front included young men who had survived the measles epidemic in Athy in January 1900 and who later endured deprivation and unsanitary conditions in their home town.
For them, the wet clay floors of houses in Athy were but a prelude to their final resting places in watery muddy graves of France and Flanders.
Thursday, December 9, 1999
Review of the Year
Indulging myself for the second week in succession [some might claim I do so every week] I take a quick look back over the last six months of the second Millennium as seen through the Eye on the Past. In July I wrote of the conflict and turmoil as witnessed in the career of Patrick O’Kelly, United Irishman of Coolroe and of events in Luggacurran during the evictions at the end of the last century. O’Kelly remains an interesting individual for today’s readers, not least because of his role as a Colonel in the United Irishmen during the rising in South Kildare in 1798. He left a personal record of those difficult times in this locality in a book which was published some forty years afterwards. Interest in Kelly extends far beyond his rebellious activities or lack of them depending on how one views his ’98 record. The man once described by the local Parish Priest Fr. John Lalor as “a member of one of the most respectable families in the Parish of St. Michael’s, Athy” lives on in the books he wrote following his return to Ireland after exile in America and later France. Fittingly he is remembered in the local Heritage Centre in Athy.
The Luggacurran Evictions were recalled by me when writing of Rev. John Maher, the one time curate of Luggacurran and the man who spearheaded the Plan of Campaign in the County Laois village. By co-incidence the earlier mentioned Heritage Centre located in the ground floor of the Town Hall occupies a space which was once a dormitory for policeman brought in from outlying areas during the Luggacurran Evictions of 1887 and 1889. Fr. Maher addressed Land League meetings in Athy and he was supported by the people of Athy including the Catholic Clergy of the town. Maher was imprisoned in Kilkenny in May 1889 following a speech delivered by him during a public meeting in Luggacurran. On his release after one months incarceration he found the local’s attitude to the Plan of Campaign had changed and he himself was soon to feel the wrath of disillusioned campaigners. It is remarkable to note how active were the Clergy of the last century in supporting and in some cases leading their congregations in matters which would not now be considered inappropriate for their calling. A parallel could be drawn with the activities of the Free Presbyterian Church Ministers in Northern Ireland today.
During the summer a book of fiction was published by Picador Press with a story which had as it’s background Athy and the countryside of South Kildare. Inevitably it’s author was John MacKenna who has done much to make the South Kildare landscape as familiar to today’s readers as the Wessex of Thomas Hardy. “The Haunted Heart” had a particular interest for me as it’s narrator wrote her story and that of the White Quakers from No. 5 Offaly Street where I had lived for many years. That same house featured in an Eye on the Past I wrote later in the year when I dealt with my father’s involvement in the Garda Siochana. I was pleasantly surprised by the unusually large response I had to that piece, not only from persons who remembered by father but many who did not know him. Clearly it struck a cord with many people, some of whom passed on stories about their brushes with the Law. Indeed once such story concerning my father has reached me from Australia via the Internet.
It’s twenty-one years since my father died and during the past year many whom he knew have also passed on. Brother Joseph Quinn, the last Superior of the Christian Brothers in Athy died in Dublin and his funeral brought together past pupils from Athy, Tuam and elsewhere to remember a gentle giant of a man whose love for Gaelic football endeared him to everyone he came in contact with. Another man whose advice and friendship I valued was Tadgh Brennan. He passed away during the summer and in his passing Athy lost another link with the Social Club players of the 1940’s and the great local football team of 1942. Unfortunately the Eye on the Past which I had penned to reflect my admiration and respect for Tadgh was rather sadly strangulated in the printing by an excessive amount of typographical errors. Such problems I’m sure you’re glad to hear are now in the past as my copy can now reach the Editor’s desk and presumably the printed page exactly as it leaves my computer.
The past summer also witnessed the final stages in the towns remembrance of James McNally who had served the community as Sacristan in St. Michael’s Church for over sixty years from 1897. Some years ago I drew attention to the absence of a gravestone over the last resting place of this fine man who died over thirty years ago. Last August a group of sixty or seventy huddled together under umbrellas as the incessant rain beat down on the hollowed ground of St. Michael’s mediaeval cemetery. I had joined former neighbours of James McNally and members of his extended family as Fr. Tommy Tuohy, formerly of Offaly Street blessed a recently erected gravestone commemorating James. Fr. Tommy like myself served Mass in St. Michael’s Church when James McNally was Sacristan. Strangely the man who received the Papal Medal “Bene Meretti” in 1953 for services to the Catholic Church was not privileged to have any member of the local Clergy at his graveside during the blessing by Fr. Tommy.
A review of the last six months articles would not be possible without reference to the Inner Relief Road controversy which conspired to fill many Eyes in the Past during the year. Following the local elections I noted that the road plans for Athy had obviously determined the outcome of the summer elections. Like many others I was very happy after the election results were announced, particularly as the issue which the locals had before them was in danger of being side lined two weeks previously. Then the Local Government officials who in the past had shown little stomach for public debate on the issue sought to have the Town Development Plan adopted by the outgoing Council. Indeed you may remember that despite the changes brought about in the composition of the Urban Council following the election, those same officials arranged for the outgoing Councillors to meet three days after the election to adopt the Development Plan and of course the plans for the Inner Relief Road. The High Court saw fit to put an end to these shenanigans and I was prompted to note “democracy has prevailed ….. the people of Athy have spoken with a clarity which deserves to be listened to.”
Unfortunately events since have shown how fickle is human nature and how vulnerable is the human condition which relies on honour. Public accountability is one of the by words of the 19900’s but I’m afraid that in Athy we have yet to reap the fruits of the open society which cherishes and nurtures the twin aspirations of transparency and accountability.
Take heart, the New Year may bring a welcome change. Happy New Year to everyone.
The Luggacurran Evictions were recalled by me when writing of Rev. John Maher, the one time curate of Luggacurran and the man who spearheaded the Plan of Campaign in the County Laois village. By co-incidence the earlier mentioned Heritage Centre located in the ground floor of the Town Hall occupies a space which was once a dormitory for policeman brought in from outlying areas during the Luggacurran Evictions of 1887 and 1889. Fr. Maher addressed Land League meetings in Athy and he was supported by the people of Athy including the Catholic Clergy of the town. Maher was imprisoned in Kilkenny in May 1889 following a speech delivered by him during a public meeting in Luggacurran. On his release after one months incarceration he found the local’s attitude to the Plan of Campaign had changed and he himself was soon to feel the wrath of disillusioned campaigners. It is remarkable to note how active were the Clergy of the last century in supporting and in some cases leading their congregations in matters which would not now be considered inappropriate for their calling. A parallel could be drawn with the activities of the Free Presbyterian Church Ministers in Northern Ireland today.
During the summer a book of fiction was published by Picador Press with a story which had as it’s background Athy and the countryside of South Kildare. Inevitably it’s author was John MacKenna who has done much to make the South Kildare landscape as familiar to today’s readers as the Wessex of Thomas Hardy. “The Haunted Heart” had a particular interest for me as it’s narrator wrote her story and that of the White Quakers from No. 5 Offaly Street where I had lived for many years. That same house featured in an Eye on the Past I wrote later in the year when I dealt with my father’s involvement in the Garda Siochana. I was pleasantly surprised by the unusually large response I had to that piece, not only from persons who remembered by father but many who did not know him. Clearly it struck a cord with many people, some of whom passed on stories about their brushes with the Law. Indeed once such story concerning my father has reached me from Australia via the Internet.
It’s twenty-one years since my father died and during the past year many whom he knew have also passed on. Brother Joseph Quinn, the last Superior of the Christian Brothers in Athy died in Dublin and his funeral brought together past pupils from Athy, Tuam and elsewhere to remember a gentle giant of a man whose love for Gaelic football endeared him to everyone he came in contact with. Another man whose advice and friendship I valued was Tadgh Brennan. He passed away during the summer and in his passing Athy lost another link with the Social Club players of the 1940’s and the great local football team of 1942. Unfortunately the Eye on the Past which I had penned to reflect my admiration and respect for Tadgh was rather sadly strangulated in the printing by an excessive amount of typographical errors. Such problems I’m sure you’re glad to hear are now in the past as my copy can now reach the Editor’s desk and presumably the printed page exactly as it leaves my computer.
The past summer also witnessed the final stages in the towns remembrance of James McNally who had served the community as Sacristan in St. Michael’s Church for over sixty years from 1897. Some years ago I drew attention to the absence of a gravestone over the last resting place of this fine man who died over thirty years ago. Last August a group of sixty or seventy huddled together under umbrellas as the incessant rain beat down on the hollowed ground of St. Michael’s mediaeval cemetery. I had joined former neighbours of James McNally and members of his extended family as Fr. Tommy Tuohy, formerly of Offaly Street blessed a recently erected gravestone commemorating James. Fr. Tommy like myself served Mass in St. Michael’s Church when James McNally was Sacristan. Strangely the man who received the Papal Medal “Bene Meretti” in 1953 for services to the Catholic Church was not privileged to have any member of the local Clergy at his graveside during the blessing by Fr. Tommy.
A review of the last six months articles would not be possible without reference to the Inner Relief Road controversy which conspired to fill many Eyes in the Past during the year. Following the local elections I noted that the road plans for Athy had obviously determined the outcome of the summer elections. Like many others I was very happy after the election results were announced, particularly as the issue which the locals had before them was in danger of being side lined two weeks previously. Then the Local Government officials who in the past had shown little stomach for public debate on the issue sought to have the Town Development Plan adopted by the outgoing Council. Indeed you may remember that despite the changes brought about in the composition of the Urban Council following the election, those same officials arranged for the outgoing Councillors to meet three days after the election to adopt the Development Plan and of course the plans for the Inner Relief Road. The High Court saw fit to put an end to these shenanigans and I was prompted to note “democracy has prevailed ….. the people of Athy have spoken with a clarity which deserves to be listened to.”
Unfortunately events since have shown how fickle is human nature and how vulnerable is the human condition which relies on honour. Public accountability is one of the by words of the 19900’s but I’m afraid that in Athy we have yet to reap the fruits of the open society which cherishes and nurtures the twin aspirations of transparency and accountability.
Take heart, the New Year may bring a welcome change. Happy New Year to everyone.
Thursday, December 2, 1999
Review of the Year
As we career towards the end of the second Millennium I will take the opportunity of looking back over the past year as captured in the weekly Eye on the Past. The first week of the new year saw my pen take up, not for the first or last time, the subject which exercised many minds during the year. I refer of course to the controversy concerning the Inner Relief Road. Just twelve months ago I mentioned the Government Report on Local Government in Ireland which emphasised the need for local communities to be fully involved in influencing major decisions by public representatives. Strange to relate that only this week the much criticised Councillors on Athy Urban District Council agreed by a majority vote to disregard the locals’ call for a plebiscite on the issue ….. more about that again!
January 1999 saw the passing of an old IRA man, Jack MacKenna of Castledermot and as we witnessed possibly the last old IRA funeral in these parts I recalled the days of the Graney Ambush. “The volleys fired over the coffined remains of Jack MacKenna echoed across the countryside which had once resonated to the sound of ambush fire during the Irish Civil War. The date was October 24th, 1922 and the fratricidal war which gripped the Irish countryside was to have three more young martyrs before the evening shadows lengthened over the Graney countryside”. I expressed the hope that the older generation like Jack MacKenna whose lot was the hungry ‘30’s and ‘40’s would never be forgotten for the part they played in building the Ireland of today.
A February journey in two parts through St. Michael’s Graveyard was the focus for further forays into local history. The Scottish Presbyterian families who settled in South Kildare from the 1850’s onwards were mentioned for the cultural and religious diversity which they brought with them and with which they enriched this area. The tombstones in St. Michael’s Old Cemetery tell the stories of the different families involved in the migration from Pertshire in Scotland to this country. The second part of the St. Michael’s cemetery article was postponed for a week to facilitate an article on the then man of the moment Patrick Shaffrey, Architect. Shaffrey was and may still be employed by Kildare County Council to sweeten the “bitter pill” of the Inner Relief Road. His first attempts at this exercise early in the year were not so successful but having retreated, regrouped and recharged his batteries and his answers he came across somewhat better in some circles at least towards the end of the year. This was the same man who some years ago wrote a book on Irish towns which included such unforgettable passages as:- “By far the most satisfactory way to resolve traffic problems is to provide for a by-pass”. How about this for another Shaffeyian nugget:- “In the smaller towns the need for a by-pass is equally pressing from the environmental point of view”. No doubt Mr. Shaffrey we shall have reason to revisit again the views you once held with such passion.
The Luggacurran evictions were the subject of an article in March when I asked without success for the present whereabouts of the Athy Land League flag which was last known to have been in the possession of Peter P. Doyle of Woodstock Street in or about 1948. The flag had on once side a portrait of Charles Stewart Parnell and on the reverse the words “United we Stand, Divided we Fall”. Maybe second time around someone, somewhere might throw light on the subject.
A centenary noted in my Articles, even if not otherwise celebrated in Athy, was the setting up of the Urban District Council in 1899. It’s predecessors included a Town Commission which held it’s first meeting on 16th June, 1856. It’s functions were of a most rudimentary nature compared to those of the current Council. It provided lime for whitewashing the homes of the poor, maintained the towns water pumps and weighing scales and paved the footpaths. How different from the Local Authority today which presides over the towns affairs with a wide ranging and comprehensive list of functions all geared to improving the life of the local people.
One of the early overseas visitors to Athy in 1999 was Marguerita Germaine of Florida, formerly an Orford of Foxhill House and later still of 10 Woodstock Street, Athy. Then aged 77 years she travelled to Foxhill House to meet it’s present owners Mr. and Mrs. Gerry Moloney and there recalled her childhood which she did with remarkable clarity. There are no members of the Orford family now living in Athy, yet almost 70 years after her father sold the Foxhill farm Mrs. Germaine recalled with uncanny accuracy the names of people and places of her childhood.
“Who by Fire”, the remarkable new work by John MacKenna which opened to full houses in April was the theatrical highlight of the year in Athy. Just a week before the play opened I had visited Terezin, near the Czech border with Germany, which had been a holding camp for Jews during World War II. My subsequent viewing of “Who by Fire” dealing as it did with the horrors of Auschwitz Concentration Camp evoked in me a response similar to that experienced when I interviewed Zolton Zinn Collis some years ago. I shall never forget his description of how as a young boy he watched his distraught mother resisting a German soldier’s attempt to wrest her dead child from her arms during a stopover on a train journey to Belsen. John MacKenna’s play which he directed himself was a moving and compelling theatrical experience.
It was in mid-April also that I wrote of memoirs privately printed and penned by a daughter of Rev. Thomas Kelly of Ballintubbert which gave me a rare insight into the character of this most remarkable man. Remembered in our local Heritage Centre, Kelly who died in 1855, continues to excite interest in this narrator at least. Another man still very much alive and whom I and many others have had an interest for some time is Mick Carolan, a sporting hero of Gaelic Football in County Kildare. Mick was the subject of an article following his retirement from the Garda Siochana in May. Away from the football field he went on to make a huge impact in his job as a Garda and within the community of Clondalkin where he lived for many years. Sporting success was also noted when Frank Boyce and his team mates on Athy Badminton’s Team brought home the All Ireland Title following their success in Galway in mid-May. At the same time the local St. Michael’s Boxing Club recorded 17 Kildare titles, 9 Leinster title and a plethora of other Boxing titles at provincial and club level. The Club established under the leadership of Dom O’Rourke has had remarkable success over recent years and every year goes from strength to strength.
For the first time in over six years the Eye on the Past did not appear for two weeks leading up to the local elections in June. I knew nothing of it’s absence until on opening the Nationalist found that the space occupied by yours truly was instead playing host to the advertising charms of the local Labour candidates. Clever stroke I said to myself - get your ad. into the best position in the Newspaper while at the same time dislodging the incumbent in case he should give vent to further outbursts on the Inner Relief Road which might prove embarrassing to those whose features now grace the page instead. Perish the thought, such Machiavellian schemes would never penetrate the inner regions of a political mind!
Writing of Machiavellian plots, let me conclude this weeks roundup of the first six months of the year by mentioning last weeks shenanigans in the local Council Chambers. The call for a Plebiscite would seem to have come unstuck [for a while at least] on the strength of a recommendation by an official whose library of Local Government law does not appear to extend beyond 1990. What also are we to make of the other man who changed his mind not once, but twice, and by so doing turned his back on the poor sods who took him at his word and elected him on a Plebiscite platform only five months ago. You live and learn.
January 1999 saw the passing of an old IRA man, Jack MacKenna of Castledermot and as we witnessed possibly the last old IRA funeral in these parts I recalled the days of the Graney Ambush. “The volleys fired over the coffined remains of Jack MacKenna echoed across the countryside which had once resonated to the sound of ambush fire during the Irish Civil War. The date was October 24th, 1922 and the fratricidal war which gripped the Irish countryside was to have three more young martyrs before the evening shadows lengthened over the Graney countryside”. I expressed the hope that the older generation like Jack MacKenna whose lot was the hungry ‘30’s and ‘40’s would never be forgotten for the part they played in building the Ireland of today.
A February journey in two parts through St. Michael’s Graveyard was the focus for further forays into local history. The Scottish Presbyterian families who settled in South Kildare from the 1850’s onwards were mentioned for the cultural and religious diversity which they brought with them and with which they enriched this area. The tombstones in St. Michael’s Old Cemetery tell the stories of the different families involved in the migration from Pertshire in Scotland to this country. The second part of the St. Michael’s cemetery article was postponed for a week to facilitate an article on the then man of the moment Patrick Shaffrey, Architect. Shaffrey was and may still be employed by Kildare County Council to sweeten the “bitter pill” of the Inner Relief Road. His first attempts at this exercise early in the year were not so successful but having retreated, regrouped and recharged his batteries and his answers he came across somewhat better in some circles at least towards the end of the year. This was the same man who some years ago wrote a book on Irish towns which included such unforgettable passages as:- “By far the most satisfactory way to resolve traffic problems is to provide for a by-pass”. How about this for another Shaffeyian nugget:- “In the smaller towns the need for a by-pass is equally pressing from the environmental point of view”. No doubt Mr. Shaffrey we shall have reason to revisit again the views you once held with such passion.
The Luggacurran evictions were the subject of an article in March when I asked without success for the present whereabouts of the Athy Land League flag which was last known to have been in the possession of Peter P. Doyle of Woodstock Street in or about 1948. The flag had on once side a portrait of Charles Stewart Parnell and on the reverse the words “United we Stand, Divided we Fall”. Maybe second time around someone, somewhere might throw light on the subject.
A centenary noted in my Articles, even if not otherwise celebrated in Athy, was the setting up of the Urban District Council in 1899. It’s predecessors included a Town Commission which held it’s first meeting on 16th June, 1856. It’s functions were of a most rudimentary nature compared to those of the current Council. It provided lime for whitewashing the homes of the poor, maintained the towns water pumps and weighing scales and paved the footpaths. How different from the Local Authority today which presides over the towns affairs with a wide ranging and comprehensive list of functions all geared to improving the life of the local people.
One of the early overseas visitors to Athy in 1999 was Marguerita Germaine of Florida, formerly an Orford of Foxhill House and later still of 10 Woodstock Street, Athy. Then aged 77 years she travelled to Foxhill House to meet it’s present owners Mr. and Mrs. Gerry Moloney and there recalled her childhood which she did with remarkable clarity. There are no members of the Orford family now living in Athy, yet almost 70 years after her father sold the Foxhill farm Mrs. Germaine recalled with uncanny accuracy the names of people and places of her childhood.
“Who by Fire”, the remarkable new work by John MacKenna which opened to full houses in April was the theatrical highlight of the year in Athy. Just a week before the play opened I had visited Terezin, near the Czech border with Germany, which had been a holding camp for Jews during World War II. My subsequent viewing of “Who by Fire” dealing as it did with the horrors of Auschwitz Concentration Camp evoked in me a response similar to that experienced when I interviewed Zolton Zinn Collis some years ago. I shall never forget his description of how as a young boy he watched his distraught mother resisting a German soldier’s attempt to wrest her dead child from her arms during a stopover on a train journey to Belsen. John MacKenna’s play which he directed himself was a moving and compelling theatrical experience.
It was in mid-April also that I wrote of memoirs privately printed and penned by a daughter of Rev. Thomas Kelly of Ballintubbert which gave me a rare insight into the character of this most remarkable man. Remembered in our local Heritage Centre, Kelly who died in 1855, continues to excite interest in this narrator at least. Another man still very much alive and whom I and many others have had an interest for some time is Mick Carolan, a sporting hero of Gaelic Football in County Kildare. Mick was the subject of an article following his retirement from the Garda Siochana in May. Away from the football field he went on to make a huge impact in his job as a Garda and within the community of Clondalkin where he lived for many years. Sporting success was also noted when Frank Boyce and his team mates on Athy Badminton’s Team brought home the All Ireland Title following their success in Galway in mid-May. At the same time the local St. Michael’s Boxing Club recorded 17 Kildare titles, 9 Leinster title and a plethora of other Boxing titles at provincial and club level. The Club established under the leadership of Dom O’Rourke has had remarkable success over recent years and every year goes from strength to strength.
For the first time in over six years the Eye on the Past did not appear for two weeks leading up to the local elections in June. I knew nothing of it’s absence until on opening the Nationalist found that the space occupied by yours truly was instead playing host to the advertising charms of the local Labour candidates. Clever stroke I said to myself - get your ad. into the best position in the Newspaper while at the same time dislodging the incumbent in case he should give vent to further outbursts on the Inner Relief Road which might prove embarrassing to those whose features now grace the page instead. Perish the thought, such Machiavellian schemes would never penetrate the inner regions of a political mind!
Writing of Machiavellian plots, let me conclude this weeks roundup of the first six months of the year by mentioning last weeks shenanigans in the local Council Chambers. The call for a Plebiscite would seem to have come unstuck [for a while at least] on the strength of a recommendation by an official whose library of Local Government law does not appear to extend beyond 1990. What also are we to make of the other man who changed his mind not once, but twice, and by so doing turned his back on the poor sods who took him at his word and elected him on a Plebiscite platform only five months ago. You live and learn.
Thursday, November 25, 1999
Notable Kildare Persons of the Millennium
I was recently invited to join a small group of local historians from the County of Kildare in a Millennium venture initiated by Seamus Cullen of Donadea. It’s purpose was to identify the notable Kildare persons of the last 1000 years, a task which in truth will be extremely difficult to accomplish. If you have been in any of the Dublin book shops recently you could not have failed to notice the plethora of books recently produced dealing with the 20th century in photographs and news reports. The nostalgia factor has been well built into these books clearly designed to strike a cord of recognition in the minds of the readers who want to re-visit scenes of times which had slipped from memory. In a way I suppose the availability of these books serve to open up to the scrutiny of a wider public than is usual, times past which a column like this seeks to do each week. Even if the general readers’ attention span goes no further than the last 100 years that in itself may serve to kindle an interest in a life and a society which has passed on. What better compliment to pay to the books produced for the Millennium than to acknowledge their usefulness in possibly encouraging a reader or two to delve further into the past of their own area or country.
Having been invited to join those brave local historians from North Kildare and the County’s mid-regions I am prompted to turn my mind to the notable personalities of County Kildare over the past 1000 years. The problem with such a quest is one of definition. Does one consider only persons of Kildare birth or should those who spent parts of their lives in the County be included? For myself I feel one should be flexible in setting out the parameters of definition in relation to what constitutes a Kildare person. For instance one man who spent a very short period in the County would in my opinion be regarded for all the wrong reasons as a notable Kildare personage of the past. I refer to Thomas Reynolds, informer and traitor to the United Irishmen of 1798, who during a short sojourn in Kilkea Castle managed to deprive the Republican movement of many of it’s leaders. He was not born in the County. He lived here for less than 1 ½ years, yet the effect of his unscrupulous work was so far reaching as to justify his inclusion in any list of notable persons of the County.
The average person asked to name the most notable Kildare persons of the last 1000 years might be hard pressed to come up with more than three names. Lord Edward Fitzgerald would undoubtedly be on most peoples short list and as he was a former Member of Parliament for Athy we locals must take great satisfaction in his association with our town. St. Laurence O’Toole, another South Kildare man born at Mullaghacreelan, Castledermot would also immediately come to mind, as would Cardinal Cullen, the first Cardinal of the Irish Catholic Church.
The three I have named all have connections and links with South Kildare so perhaps I should confine myself to searching out only those men or women with similar links. Mary Leadbetter, Quaker and author would be included if only for the fact that her writings have survived and kept her name before the public 170 years following her death.
Less well known would be Peter Corcoran, born in Athy who won what was effectively the world heavy-weight boxing championship in 1771 at a time when the competition was confined to Ireland and Great Britain. Corcoran is believed to have fled Ireland after killing a man and his subsequent boxing career in London was dogged with controversy. He is reputed to have “thrown” a fight for betting purposes, thereby losing support and face before the boxing public. Nevertheless he has to be included in any list of County Kildare notables of the last 1000 years.
Another sporting hero from Athy and one whom I have yet to include in an Eye on the Past must be Paddy “Darkie” Prendergast. Regarded as Ireland’s greatest horse trainer in the 1950’s, “Darkie” achieved success in Ireland and in England which marked him apart as a master of his craft. His achievements including the winning of English and Irish Derby’s and St. Legers must justify his addition to the list of notable County Kildare personages.
My own personal favourite for inclusion must be Reverend Thomas Kelly who although a Ballintubbert, Co. Laois man served as a Minister in Athy and elsewhere for many years prior to his death in 1855. He was a noted composer of Church hymns and only recently and after a long search have I succeeded in acquiring a copy of his “Hymns on Various Passages of Scripture”. Some of his hymns are still included in Church hymnals today and for this and for his founding of the Kellyites puts him in the frame for inclusion.
Another local man who like Thomas Kelly is remembered in the Heritage Centre in Athy must also be included in the select band of notable people of the last Millennium. He is of course Ernest Shackleton, Antarctic Explorer, born in Kilkea. Two other local men whose achievements were so different yet worthy of comment were John Vincent Holland and Juan Greene. Holland won the Victoria Cross for Courage during the First World War and for that joined the most exclusive world-wide band of men and women. Juan Greene spent his early adult years as did Holland in Argentina and like him returned to Ireland. Holland returned to enlist in World War I while Greene, in a different era, returned to take up farming on the family estate in Kilkea. One of the most important leaders of Irish farming he founded the Beet Growers Association and was first President of the National Farmers Association. His place in the history of Irish farming is assured.
Another man, is there no woman?, for inclusion in the list of South Kildare notables surely must be Patrick O’Kelly of Coolroe. Leader of the United Irishmen in South Kildare in 1798 he later wrote of his experiences as well as producing a number of other historical tomes. What then of the men of freedom of later generations like Eamon Malone who although born in Cork spent much of his early life in and around Athy. Commandant of the Carlow/Kildare brigade during the War of Independence he was lodged in Mountjoy Jail, went on hunger strike and later died a relatively young man. Unlike Patrick O’Kelly he did not have the opportunity to write of his experiences but nevertheless his inclusion in the list of South Kildare notables is justified.
But where I hear you ask are the female representatives of a people who endured much in the 1000 years which commenced 14 years before Brian Boru went into battle with the Danes at Clontarf? Maybe the answer lies in the oft repeated and somewhat cliched saying :- “Our wives and sweethearts, are, all of them the best in the world”. The poor mothers of 1847 who saw their children die of starvation left no record of their sufferings. To them must go the enduring remembrance of a time and a place when poverty and hunger stalked the Irish countryside. That they suffered so much is a testament to the harshness of our history’s past and the reason why the unknown women of “Black ‘47” must forever be counted amongst the Kildare people of note.
To travel back in time is to visit the heroes and heroines which time has not forgotten. The imprint of ink upon paper preserves a past for future generations but many are the good and noteworthy who have passed on unnoticed. They are soon forgotten, their good deeds lost forever, never to be retraced. History can only touch on the fringes of society at any time and the search for notable Kildare people is less a review of distinction and honour than the cut and paste of a written past.
Nevertheless, who would you include in the list of notable Kildare people of the Millennium?
Having been invited to join those brave local historians from North Kildare and the County’s mid-regions I am prompted to turn my mind to the notable personalities of County Kildare over the past 1000 years. The problem with such a quest is one of definition. Does one consider only persons of Kildare birth or should those who spent parts of their lives in the County be included? For myself I feel one should be flexible in setting out the parameters of definition in relation to what constitutes a Kildare person. For instance one man who spent a very short period in the County would in my opinion be regarded for all the wrong reasons as a notable Kildare personage of the past. I refer to Thomas Reynolds, informer and traitor to the United Irishmen of 1798, who during a short sojourn in Kilkea Castle managed to deprive the Republican movement of many of it’s leaders. He was not born in the County. He lived here for less than 1 ½ years, yet the effect of his unscrupulous work was so far reaching as to justify his inclusion in any list of notable persons of the County.
The average person asked to name the most notable Kildare persons of the last 1000 years might be hard pressed to come up with more than three names. Lord Edward Fitzgerald would undoubtedly be on most peoples short list and as he was a former Member of Parliament for Athy we locals must take great satisfaction in his association with our town. St. Laurence O’Toole, another South Kildare man born at Mullaghacreelan, Castledermot would also immediately come to mind, as would Cardinal Cullen, the first Cardinal of the Irish Catholic Church.
The three I have named all have connections and links with South Kildare so perhaps I should confine myself to searching out only those men or women with similar links. Mary Leadbetter, Quaker and author would be included if only for the fact that her writings have survived and kept her name before the public 170 years following her death.
Less well known would be Peter Corcoran, born in Athy who won what was effectively the world heavy-weight boxing championship in 1771 at a time when the competition was confined to Ireland and Great Britain. Corcoran is believed to have fled Ireland after killing a man and his subsequent boxing career in London was dogged with controversy. He is reputed to have “thrown” a fight for betting purposes, thereby losing support and face before the boxing public. Nevertheless he has to be included in any list of County Kildare notables of the last 1000 years.
Another sporting hero from Athy and one whom I have yet to include in an Eye on the Past must be Paddy “Darkie” Prendergast. Regarded as Ireland’s greatest horse trainer in the 1950’s, “Darkie” achieved success in Ireland and in England which marked him apart as a master of his craft. His achievements including the winning of English and Irish Derby’s and St. Legers must justify his addition to the list of notable County Kildare personages.
My own personal favourite for inclusion must be Reverend Thomas Kelly who although a Ballintubbert, Co. Laois man served as a Minister in Athy and elsewhere for many years prior to his death in 1855. He was a noted composer of Church hymns and only recently and after a long search have I succeeded in acquiring a copy of his “Hymns on Various Passages of Scripture”. Some of his hymns are still included in Church hymnals today and for this and for his founding of the Kellyites puts him in the frame for inclusion.
Another local man who like Thomas Kelly is remembered in the Heritage Centre in Athy must also be included in the select band of notable people of the last Millennium. He is of course Ernest Shackleton, Antarctic Explorer, born in Kilkea. Two other local men whose achievements were so different yet worthy of comment were John Vincent Holland and Juan Greene. Holland won the Victoria Cross for Courage during the First World War and for that joined the most exclusive world-wide band of men and women. Juan Greene spent his early adult years as did Holland in Argentina and like him returned to Ireland. Holland returned to enlist in World War I while Greene, in a different era, returned to take up farming on the family estate in Kilkea. One of the most important leaders of Irish farming he founded the Beet Growers Association and was first President of the National Farmers Association. His place in the history of Irish farming is assured.
Another man, is there no woman?, for inclusion in the list of South Kildare notables surely must be Patrick O’Kelly of Coolroe. Leader of the United Irishmen in South Kildare in 1798 he later wrote of his experiences as well as producing a number of other historical tomes. What then of the men of freedom of later generations like Eamon Malone who although born in Cork spent much of his early life in and around Athy. Commandant of the Carlow/Kildare brigade during the War of Independence he was lodged in Mountjoy Jail, went on hunger strike and later died a relatively young man. Unlike Patrick O’Kelly he did not have the opportunity to write of his experiences but nevertheless his inclusion in the list of South Kildare notables is justified.
But where I hear you ask are the female representatives of a people who endured much in the 1000 years which commenced 14 years before Brian Boru went into battle with the Danes at Clontarf? Maybe the answer lies in the oft repeated and somewhat cliched saying :- “Our wives and sweethearts, are, all of them the best in the world”. The poor mothers of 1847 who saw their children die of starvation left no record of their sufferings. To them must go the enduring remembrance of a time and a place when poverty and hunger stalked the Irish countryside. That they suffered so much is a testament to the harshness of our history’s past and the reason why the unknown women of “Black ‘47” must forever be counted amongst the Kildare people of note.
To travel back in time is to visit the heroes and heroines which time has not forgotten. The imprint of ink upon paper preserves a past for future generations but many are the good and noteworthy who have passed on unnoticed. They are soon forgotten, their good deeds lost forever, never to be retraced. History can only touch on the fringes of society at any time and the search for notable Kildare people is less a review of distinction and honour than the cut and paste of a written past.
Nevertheless, who would you include in the list of notable Kildare people of the Millennium?
Thursday, November 18, 1999
Rheban Castle
One of the more interesting ruins in this locality is to be found in Rheban on the West Bank of the River Barrow. Rheban Castle was originally built at a fording point on the Barrow, as was Woodstock Castle, some three miles to it’s South. The Castle in Rheban appears to have been built in a number of different stages. The first stone structure on the site was a building consisting of a pair of barrell vaults placed side by side with a battered base. It probably rose to at least two stories about ground floor level. The substantial nature of the batter would suggest it was a large building. Battered walls served a dual purpose, both to protect the wall base from being breached and to widen the base of the wall so as to distribute the weight of the upper stories. The original entrance to the first castle was probably in the northern end of the Western wall.
The first addition to the original castle was a three story building at the South end. It was in essence a fortified house with a design typical of the mid-16th century. It has an unprotected window opening at ground level, and on the upper stories a series of large sized windows with hood mouldings were present. An engraving of Rheban in 1796 suggested the South wall of this fortified house incorporated the South wall of the original building.
The window opening at ground level in the South wall must have been too exposed because not long after the fortified house was built a small unroofed court was added on it’s South side. This was equipped with some defensive features, most notably an angle loop in the court’s South East corner and at least one further loop centrally placed in it’s South wall. At around the same time a pair of crudely constructed rooms were added to the North East corner of the original structure, possibly to protect an entrance at that point.
A series of references to the castle appear at the end of the 13th century. In 1297 a haggard at the castle is referred to, as is a slaying near the castle in the same year. However, the nature of the surviving structures at Rheban do not indicate any building earlier than the 15th century. It is possible that the 13th century references to the site refer to the nearby motte and bailey rather than the later stone built castle.
A reference to Rheban in 1297 stated that “Roger Cardegan and his fellows robbed Robert Cardigan of three sheep which they ate in the Castle of Ryban.” This might indicate that whatever structure was on the Rheban site at the time was not continuously occupied by the St. Michael Family. The St. Michael Family were credited with the construction of Rheban as well as Woodstock Castle in Athy. In those early days it was not uncommon for castle owners to spend time away from a particular area and it is quite possible that Rheban was a lesser site within the Estates held by the St. Michael Family and as such may not have been continuously occupied by them.
Apart from an isolated reference in 1327 when Rheban Castle was captured by Lysagh O’More the castle is absent from records until the 16th century. In 1537 it was described as being laid waste as were many other castles in the South Kildare area. A further reference in 1538 stated that provisions were being made for the reoccupation of Rheban Castle. The St. Michael Family appear to have had possession during this period but later lost the castle and failed to regain it. Indeed, Rheban Castle repeatedly changed hands in the succeeding years. It was deliberately destroyed by fire in 1642 following the withdrawal of Catholic Confederate troops to Woodstock Castle where the Confederate leaders planned to concentrate their troops ready to withstand an attack from the Royalists. Rheban Castle has since been a ruin for over 350 years.
Jonah Barrington in “Personal Sketches of His Own Time” relates a story concerning Elizabeth Fitzgerald of Moret Castle. She was a widow of substantial means who refused matrimonial offers from many quarters. Her suitors determined that one of them should succeed agreed to draw lots to decide which of them would carry off Elizabeth. Eleven or twelve of her suitors met at Rheban Castle where it was agreed that whosoever should be the lucky winner was to receive the help of the others in abducting the rich widow. Elizabeth Fitzgerald, hearing of their scheme from a young servant in Rheban Castle made her own plans to deal with the plotters. The night of the planned abduction was preceded by a feast in Rheban Castle to where Elizabeth’s own troops marched in the dead of night to catch the would-be abductors off guard. In the battle which followed Rheban Castle was over-run and one of the O’Mores who had drawn the long straw and the right to pursue Elizabeth Fitzgerald was left for dead in the adjoining farmyard. With him died many of the Rheban Castle garrison who were buried where they lay. Elizabeth Fitzgerald lived to an old age while Rheban, according to Barrington, “became one of the most civilised parts of the whole province.”
Music being one of the great traditions of the area which once formed part of “Fassnagh Rheban” it is only right I draw attention to the recently released works of two local musicians. Jack Lukeman’s latest CD, “Metropolis Blue” is a must for everybody who appreciates the young man’s distinctive interpretative style of singing. The second work I want to bring to your attention has been released by Gael Linn and is a compilation album spanning thirty years of Irish traditional music. Termed “The Golden Age of Traditional Irish Music and Song” it features such musical masters as Donal Lunny, Paddy Glacken, Sharon Shannon, De Danann and Sean O’Riada with Ceoltoir Cualann. Amongst this august body is to be found Athy’s own Brian Hughes whose fine traditional whistle playing can be heard to good effect. The inclusion of his work is a worthy acknowledgement of Brian Hughe’s accomplishments as one of the younger generation playing Irish traditional music today.
The first addition to the original castle was a three story building at the South end. It was in essence a fortified house with a design typical of the mid-16th century. It has an unprotected window opening at ground level, and on the upper stories a series of large sized windows with hood mouldings were present. An engraving of Rheban in 1796 suggested the South wall of this fortified house incorporated the South wall of the original building.
The window opening at ground level in the South wall must have been too exposed because not long after the fortified house was built a small unroofed court was added on it’s South side. This was equipped with some defensive features, most notably an angle loop in the court’s South East corner and at least one further loop centrally placed in it’s South wall. At around the same time a pair of crudely constructed rooms were added to the North East corner of the original structure, possibly to protect an entrance at that point.
A series of references to the castle appear at the end of the 13th century. In 1297 a haggard at the castle is referred to, as is a slaying near the castle in the same year. However, the nature of the surviving structures at Rheban do not indicate any building earlier than the 15th century. It is possible that the 13th century references to the site refer to the nearby motte and bailey rather than the later stone built castle.
A reference to Rheban in 1297 stated that “Roger Cardegan and his fellows robbed Robert Cardigan of three sheep which they ate in the Castle of Ryban.” This might indicate that whatever structure was on the Rheban site at the time was not continuously occupied by the St. Michael Family. The St. Michael Family were credited with the construction of Rheban as well as Woodstock Castle in Athy. In those early days it was not uncommon for castle owners to spend time away from a particular area and it is quite possible that Rheban was a lesser site within the Estates held by the St. Michael Family and as such may not have been continuously occupied by them.
Apart from an isolated reference in 1327 when Rheban Castle was captured by Lysagh O’More the castle is absent from records until the 16th century. In 1537 it was described as being laid waste as were many other castles in the South Kildare area. A further reference in 1538 stated that provisions were being made for the reoccupation of Rheban Castle. The St. Michael Family appear to have had possession during this period but later lost the castle and failed to regain it. Indeed, Rheban Castle repeatedly changed hands in the succeeding years. It was deliberately destroyed by fire in 1642 following the withdrawal of Catholic Confederate troops to Woodstock Castle where the Confederate leaders planned to concentrate their troops ready to withstand an attack from the Royalists. Rheban Castle has since been a ruin for over 350 years.
Jonah Barrington in “Personal Sketches of His Own Time” relates a story concerning Elizabeth Fitzgerald of Moret Castle. She was a widow of substantial means who refused matrimonial offers from many quarters. Her suitors determined that one of them should succeed agreed to draw lots to decide which of them would carry off Elizabeth. Eleven or twelve of her suitors met at Rheban Castle where it was agreed that whosoever should be the lucky winner was to receive the help of the others in abducting the rich widow. Elizabeth Fitzgerald, hearing of their scheme from a young servant in Rheban Castle made her own plans to deal with the plotters. The night of the planned abduction was preceded by a feast in Rheban Castle to where Elizabeth’s own troops marched in the dead of night to catch the would-be abductors off guard. In the battle which followed Rheban Castle was over-run and one of the O’Mores who had drawn the long straw and the right to pursue Elizabeth Fitzgerald was left for dead in the adjoining farmyard. With him died many of the Rheban Castle garrison who were buried where they lay. Elizabeth Fitzgerald lived to an old age while Rheban, according to Barrington, “became one of the most civilised parts of the whole province.”
Music being one of the great traditions of the area which once formed part of “Fassnagh Rheban” it is only right I draw attention to the recently released works of two local musicians. Jack Lukeman’s latest CD, “Metropolis Blue” is a must for everybody who appreciates the young man’s distinctive interpretative style of singing. The second work I want to bring to your attention has been released by Gael Linn and is a compilation album spanning thirty years of Irish traditional music. Termed “The Golden Age of Traditional Irish Music and Song” it features such musical masters as Donal Lunny, Paddy Glacken, Sharon Shannon, De Danann and Sean O’Riada with Ceoltoir Cualann. Amongst this august body is to be found Athy’s own Brian Hughes whose fine traditional whistle playing can be heard to good effect. The inclusion of his work is a worthy acknowledgement of Brian Hughe’s accomplishments as one of the younger generation playing Irish traditional music today.
Thursday, November 11, 1999
Inner Relief Road
Last week The Nationalist and Leinster Times under an eye-catching headline on page one “Time to Bite the Bullet” trumpeted the case for the Inner Relief Road for Athy. The author of the piece was not named but the claims made in the article (or was it an editorial ?) were familiar to everyone who has heard the official line on the Council’s long debated road plans. Publication came three days in advance of the public representatives’ crucial meeting thereby allowing the views expressed to go unchallenged before a decision on this important issue was made. Despite this I am moved to set the record straight even if events will have moved on before this appears in print.
The unnamed author called upon the Fianna Fail councillors who had canvassed on the basis of their opposition to the Inner Relief Road, to accept that the Inner Relief Road “is the best and indeed the only solution to the traffic problems in Athy”. Those same councillors were urged to admit to themselves and to the voters that “things have changed in relation to the road since June”. A similar point was made earlier in the article with the claim that “circumstances have changed since the election”.
I was, and am still, puzzled by the changes claimed to have taken place since the local elections in June of this year. What were those changes? What happened in the last 5 months to justify the seismic shift in political thinking which The Nationalist urged the Fianna Fail councillors to undertake? What changed circumstances have occurred which would encourage local politicians to do a political somersault in relation to the views canvassed by them such a short time ago ?
I must admit to being somewhat concerned by the claims in the article lest the ageing process has affected my cognitive powers to the extent that I fail to see changes in my own town since the local election. I read the article/editorial several times to see if I could somehow identify those elements which could be recognised as changed circumstances. Was it the “impressive presentation by Shaffrey, Architect earlier this month” ? Hardly, since Mr Shaffrey’s report was first unveiled last January and has been the subject of a number of presentations in the interim period. Surely then, this was not the catalyst for the change adverted to in The Nationalist article.
Was it perhaps, “the result of traffic surveys revealing that the majority of traffic running through the town is internally generated”? Obviously not since only one traffic study was carried out on a Friday and Saturday during September 1996 over 3 years ago. We must look elsewhere to identify the changes noted by The Nationalist since the local election.
Maybe the answer lies in the “confirmation of funding for the Inner Relief Road by Kildare County Council,
and The National Road Authority”. What confirmation was referred to here ? Is it the same confirmation offered by the Deputy County Manager over 2 years ago to the then Urban Council and subsequently repeated by him to a meeting of Athy Chamber of Commerce. Interestingly, the Deputy County Manager never produced any letter or document which supported his claim of finance being available for the road. He was asked on several occasions to do so but to no avail. Could this then be the basis for The Nationalist and Leinster Times glad handling of the Inner Relief Road issue. ?
I have read and re-read the article in vain for any grounds which could plausibly support the writer’s contention that “things have changed in relation to the road since last June”. I have failed to unearth anything other than the references to the Shaffrey report, the traffic study, and the confirmation of funding, all of which have been available, or touted as available, long before the June election.
The Nationalist and Leinster Times has made what may be a decisive intervention 3 days before the local council meets to decide the future of the town. What I ask myself lies behind this unwelcome and disingenuous intervention on an issue of such importance to the people of Athy. No one questions the newspaper’s right to do so but to fan the flames of controversy by extolling the virtues of an Inner Relief Road on reasoning which is incredulous, renders a disservice to its Athy readers.
On several occasions in the past I have written on the road plans for Athy and the Editor of The Nationalist has always printed my copy despite claims from some quarters that I was somehow or other not entitled to air my personal views in the newspaper. The claim was and is of course nonsensical especially as I have always sought to ensure that the grounds of my opposition to the Inner Relief Road were stated with clarity and precision. I have avoided making claims which could not be substantiated unlike the article/editorial in last week’s Nationalist and Leinster Times. The newspaper with which I have been associated as a contributor for over 7 years has made a serious, and I fear, damaging incursion, into the affairs of Athy by failing to give adequately critical consideration to the claims touted by the proponents of the Inner Relief Road. I am reminded of a previous occasion The Nationalist committed journalistic hari kiri when the then Editor condemned the critics of Adolf Hitler before claiming that “most of the howling about the treatment of German Jews is dishonest propaganda”.
A different Editor and a different time of course but somehow I cannot but feel that on this occasion the fine people of Athy have been treated with less than adequate thought and consideration by a newspaper which has signally failed to be responsible in its comments on a major local issue.
The unnamed author called upon the Fianna Fail councillors who had canvassed on the basis of their opposition to the Inner Relief Road, to accept that the Inner Relief Road “is the best and indeed the only solution to the traffic problems in Athy”. Those same councillors were urged to admit to themselves and to the voters that “things have changed in relation to the road since June”. A similar point was made earlier in the article with the claim that “circumstances have changed since the election”.
I was, and am still, puzzled by the changes claimed to have taken place since the local elections in June of this year. What were those changes? What happened in the last 5 months to justify the seismic shift in political thinking which The Nationalist urged the Fianna Fail councillors to undertake? What changed circumstances have occurred which would encourage local politicians to do a political somersault in relation to the views canvassed by them such a short time ago ?
I must admit to being somewhat concerned by the claims in the article lest the ageing process has affected my cognitive powers to the extent that I fail to see changes in my own town since the local election. I read the article/editorial several times to see if I could somehow identify those elements which could be recognised as changed circumstances. Was it the “impressive presentation by Shaffrey, Architect earlier this month” ? Hardly, since Mr Shaffrey’s report was first unveiled last January and has been the subject of a number of presentations in the interim period. Surely then, this was not the catalyst for the change adverted to in The Nationalist article.
Was it perhaps, “the result of traffic surveys revealing that the majority of traffic running through the town is internally generated”? Obviously not since only one traffic study was carried out on a Friday and Saturday during September 1996 over 3 years ago. We must look elsewhere to identify the changes noted by The Nationalist since the local election.
Maybe the answer lies in the “confirmation of funding for the Inner Relief Road by Kildare County Council,
and The National Road Authority”. What confirmation was referred to here ? Is it the same confirmation offered by the Deputy County Manager over 2 years ago to the then Urban Council and subsequently repeated by him to a meeting of Athy Chamber of Commerce. Interestingly, the Deputy County Manager never produced any letter or document which supported his claim of finance being available for the road. He was asked on several occasions to do so but to no avail. Could this then be the basis for The Nationalist and Leinster Times glad handling of the Inner Relief Road issue. ?
I have read and re-read the article in vain for any grounds which could plausibly support the writer’s contention that “things have changed in relation to the road since last June”. I have failed to unearth anything other than the references to the Shaffrey report, the traffic study, and the confirmation of funding, all of which have been available, or touted as available, long before the June election.
The Nationalist and Leinster Times has made what may be a decisive intervention 3 days before the local council meets to decide the future of the town. What I ask myself lies behind this unwelcome and disingenuous intervention on an issue of such importance to the people of Athy. No one questions the newspaper’s right to do so but to fan the flames of controversy by extolling the virtues of an Inner Relief Road on reasoning which is incredulous, renders a disservice to its Athy readers.
On several occasions in the past I have written on the road plans for Athy and the Editor of The Nationalist has always printed my copy despite claims from some quarters that I was somehow or other not entitled to air my personal views in the newspaper. The claim was and is of course nonsensical especially as I have always sought to ensure that the grounds of my opposition to the Inner Relief Road were stated with clarity and precision. I have avoided making claims which could not be substantiated unlike the article/editorial in last week’s Nationalist and Leinster Times. The newspaper with which I have been associated as a contributor for over 7 years has made a serious, and I fear, damaging incursion, into the affairs of Athy by failing to give adequately critical consideration to the claims touted by the proponents of the Inner Relief Road. I am reminded of a previous occasion The Nationalist committed journalistic hari kiri when the then Editor condemned the critics of Adolf Hitler before claiming that “most of the howling about the treatment of German Jews is dishonest propaganda”.
A different Editor and a different time of course but somehow I cannot but feel that on this occasion the fine people of Athy have been treated with less than adequate thought and consideration by a newspaper which has signally failed to be responsible in its comments on a major local issue.
Thursday, November 4, 1999
Inner Relief Road
At one time towns such as Athy were destination centres rather than places for passing through on the journey to somewhere else. Roads led to the centre of the town where commercial and market activities were the life blood of urban life. Nowadays with the advances in travel provincial inland towns receive traffic which passes through from one end to the other on journeys elsewhere, bringing with them no commercial advantage whatsoever to towns passed through.
The need to protect towns from the worst excesses of passing traffic led to the creation of town planning criteria which included the construction of bypasses. This is a relatively new concept and one which for a long number of years was beyond the financial ability of successive Irish Governments to implement. The concept of diverting through traffic away from where people shopped and did their daily business is a meritorious one, but in the years before Ireland joined the EEC funding was not available for such projects.
County Councils charged with responsibility for improving roads within their areas recognising the financial constraints under which they operated once adopted the strategy now dismissively labelled “the straight line concept” of road construction. The easiest and cheapest way of connecting two points on a map was a straight line and so it was how in 1975 Kildare County Council first put forward the idea of an inner relief road for Athy. The road was to run parallel to the existing main street in a straight line from the Dublin Road to the Kilkenny Road. It was the cheapest option in terms of building costs when the environmental and social cost elements were ignored.
The improvement in the country’s finances in the meantime and the gradual realisation that road planning must not always take precedence over social and urban planning has led local authorities throughout Ireland to embrace the best town planning practices. Thus we find Kildare County Council in it’s current development plan stating :-
“The Council proposes in cooperation with the National Roads Authority and the Department of the Environment during the period of the plan to continue to design and construct major road systems which will in effect bypass all major towns.”
This road design intention has been clearly signalled in the County Development Plan, presumably because those responsible recognise that the destruction of our towns cannot be countenanced by implementing the cheap but destructive “straight line concept” road building ideas of twenty five years ago. We in Athy are still labouring away with a 1975 road plan which would put a traffic route through the heart of our town. On Saturday 27th November at 9.30am in the Urban District Council Chambers the nine public representatives elected at the recent local elections will commence a Planning Meeting which will end later that day with the adoption of either an inner relief road or a bypass road for the town of Athy. The meeting comes in the same week as the Government’s announcement to make available £40 billion for improving Irish towns in terms of roads and services. There has never been a better time for Athy to advance it’s plans for a bypass, thereby ensuring the development potential of the county’s best placed urban settlement.
Much toing and froing has been noticed in recent weeks with some of the newly elected Councillors being chauffeured around the town in a Mercedes while being briefed on the “benefits” which they are led to believe will flow from the building of an inner relief road. No such benefits, economic or otherwise, will flow from the building of a road which would be so destructive of the best elements of our town. Indeed, one major industrialist who has looked at Athy in terms of his company’s future plans succinctly put the issue in perspective when he said :- “Any Irish town which would countenance such an out-dated road scheme cannot hold out any hope of attracting overseas development.”
The Shaffrey Report which is a series of speculative drawings, has been touted as a plan for the future development of Athy. Not even Mr. Shaffrey who was hired by Kildare County Council to make the inner relief road concept as palatable as possible for the local people, does not make any such claim. He confirms in his report that his “proposals are indicative only.” They do not constitute development plans for the town and are merely conjectural drawings.
How then can one recently elected Urban Councillor who canvassed prior to the elections on the basis of the right of the local people to a plebiscite now magisterially announce in last weeks paper that :- “having looked at the plans I am now voting for the inner relief road.” What “plans” has he examined? - dare I say Mr. Shaffrey’s report. Does the public representative in question realise that the drawings for multiplex cinemas, civic centres, multi-story car parks, etc. are not based on any proposal or plan for their future development? The Shaffrey report might as well have been prepared by the local musical society which like Mr. Shaffrey has neither the finances or the mandate to implement any elements of the report. Behind the fancy design work included in Mr. Shaffrey’s report is a County Council anxious to build a traffic route through the centre of the town. The report is a smoke screen, designed to deflect attention from the reality of the County Council’s plans. It has apparently proved irresistible to a number of people who like our young public representative misguidingly believes Mr. Shaffrey’s thoughts and drawings to be a plan of action, sanctioned and ready to be financed by Kildare County Council. Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s a series of drawings designed to impress the impressionable and win support for the inner relief road project which in itself is contrary to the Council’s own development plan. Remember what is in the County Council Development Plan re the construction of road systems to bypass all major towns! Too many half truths have been spoken about Mr. Shaffrey’s plan. It does not predict, indicate, or otherwise suggest that development on any large scale will follow the building of the inner relief road. Neither does it suggest that the future development of Athy relies on such a road.
It is time for everyone concerned with the future of Athy, whether public representative or otherwise, to know the key question facing us on 27th November :-
“IS THE FUTURE OF OUR TOWN BEST SERVED BY BUILDING A ROAD TO FACILITATE THE PASSAGE OF TRAFFIC THROUGH THE CENTRE OF ATHY RATHER THAN BUILDING A BYPASS?”
That’s the question to be answered and it must be answered honestly by those public representatives elected to serve our interests.
During the recent local elections the inner relief road was the important issue on which many of the election hopefuls canvassed support for one side or the other. The results of that election were a revelation. Supporters of the inner relief road lost heavily, while those candidates who opposed the routing of traffic through the centre of Athy received an unprecedented high vote from the electors of Athy. The message was and still remains quite clear. The people of Athy unquestionably showed where they stood on the inner relief road issue and their trust must be reciprocated and honoured when it comes to the vote on 27th November.
Integrity and honesty is no less an attribute in politics than in any other walk of life. Sometimes the finger can be pointed at a national politician who fails to honour some minor pre-election promise or other. However I know of no politician, national or local, who has reneged on an issue as fundamental to the electorate as the inner relief road is to the people of Athy and still retain the respect and support of the electorate. “My word is my bond” is the proud boast of every man and woman who seeks to retain the respect of their colleagues in business or politics. Let’s hope that integrity and honesty wins out when the public representatives meet on Saturday, 27th November at 9.30am to decide the future of Athy.
The need to protect towns from the worst excesses of passing traffic led to the creation of town planning criteria which included the construction of bypasses. This is a relatively new concept and one which for a long number of years was beyond the financial ability of successive Irish Governments to implement. The concept of diverting through traffic away from where people shopped and did their daily business is a meritorious one, but in the years before Ireland joined the EEC funding was not available for such projects.
County Councils charged with responsibility for improving roads within their areas recognising the financial constraints under which they operated once adopted the strategy now dismissively labelled “the straight line concept” of road construction. The easiest and cheapest way of connecting two points on a map was a straight line and so it was how in 1975 Kildare County Council first put forward the idea of an inner relief road for Athy. The road was to run parallel to the existing main street in a straight line from the Dublin Road to the Kilkenny Road. It was the cheapest option in terms of building costs when the environmental and social cost elements were ignored.
The improvement in the country’s finances in the meantime and the gradual realisation that road planning must not always take precedence over social and urban planning has led local authorities throughout Ireland to embrace the best town planning practices. Thus we find Kildare County Council in it’s current development plan stating :-
“The Council proposes in cooperation with the National Roads Authority and the Department of the Environment during the period of the plan to continue to design and construct major road systems which will in effect bypass all major towns.”
This road design intention has been clearly signalled in the County Development Plan, presumably because those responsible recognise that the destruction of our towns cannot be countenanced by implementing the cheap but destructive “straight line concept” road building ideas of twenty five years ago. We in Athy are still labouring away with a 1975 road plan which would put a traffic route through the heart of our town. On Saturday 27th November at 9.30am in the Urban District Council Chambers the nine public representatives elected at the recent local elections will commence a Planning Meeting which will end later that day with the adoption of either an inner relief road or a bypass road for the town of Athy. The meeting comes in the same week as the Government’s announcement to make available £40 billion for improving Irish towns in terms of roads and services. There has never been a better time for Athy to advance it’s plans for a bypass, thereby ensuring the development potential of the county’s best placed urban settlement.
Much toing and froing has been noticed in recent weeks with some of the newly elected Councillors being chauffeured around the town in a Mercedes while being briefed on the “benefits” which they are led to believe will flow from the building of an inner relief road. No such benefits, economic or otherwise, will flow from the building of a road which would be so destructive of the best elements of our town. Indeed, one major industrialist who has looked at Athy in terms of his company’s future plans succinctly put the issue in perspective when he said :- “Any Irish town which would countenance such an out-dated road scheme cannot hold out any hope of attracting overseas development.”
The Shaffrey Report which is a series of speculative drawings, has been touted as a plan for the future development of Athy. Not even Mr. Shaffrey who was hired by Kildare County Council to make the inner relief road concept as palatable as possible for the local people, does not make any such claim. He confirms in his report that his “proposals are indicative only.” They do not constitute development plans for the town and are merely conjectural drawings.
How then can one recently elected Urban Councillor who canvassed prior to the elections on the basis of the right of the local people to a plebiscite now magisterially announce in last weeks paper that :- “having looked at the plans I am now voting for the inner relief road.” What “plans” has he examined? - dare I say Mr. Shaffrey’s report. Does the public representative in question realise that the drawings for multiplex cinemas, civic centres, multi-story car parks, etc. are not based on any proposal or plan for their future development? The Shaffrey report might as well have been prepared by the local musical society which like Mr. Shaffrey has neither the finances or the mandate to implement any elements of the report. Behind the fancy design work included in Mr. Shaffrey’s report is a County Council anxious to build a traffic route through the centre of the town. The report is a smoke screen, designed to deflect attention from the reality of the County Council’s plans. It has apparently proved irresistible to a number of people who like our young public representative misguidingly believes Mr. Shaffrey’s thoughts and drawings to be a plan of action, sanctioned and ready to be financed by Kildare County Council. Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s a series of drawings designed to impress the impressionable and win support for the inner relief road project which in itself is contrary to the Council’s own development plan. Remember what is in the County Council Development Plan re the construction of road systems to bypass all major towns! Too many half truths have been spoken about Mr. Shaffrey’s plan. It does not predict, indicate, or otherwise suggest that development on any large scale will follow the building of the inner relief road. Neither does it suggest that the future development of Athy relies on such a road.
It is time for everyone concerned with the future of Athy, whether public representative or otherwise, to know the key question facing us on 27th November :-
“IS THE FUTURE OF OUR TOWN BEST SERVED BY BUILDING A ROAD TO FACILITATE THE PASSAGE OF TRAFFIC THROUGH THE CENTRE OF ATHY RATHER THAN BUILDING A BYPASS?”
That’s the question to be answered and it must be answered honestly by those public representatives elected to serve our interests.
During the recent local elections the inner relief road was the important issue on which many of the election hopefuls canvassed support for one side or the other. The results of that election were a revelation. Supporters of the inner relief road lost heavily, while those candidates who opposed the routing of traffic through the centre of Athy received an unprecedented high vote from the electors of Athy. The message was and still remains quite clear. The people of Athy unquestionably showed where they stood on the inner relief road issue and their trust must be reciprocated and honoured when it comes to the vote on 27th November.
Integrity and honesty is no less an attribute in politics than in any other walk of life. Sometimes the finger can be pointed at a national politician who fails to honour some minor pre-election promise or other. However I know of no politician, national or local, who has reneged on an issue as fundamental to the electorate as the inner relief road is to the people of Athy and still retain the respect and support of the electorate. “My word is my bond” is the proud boast of every man and woman who seeks to retain the respect of their colleagues in business or politics. Let’s hope that integrity and honesty wins out when the public representatives meet on Saturday, 27th November at 9.30am to decide the future of Athy.
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