Death of Thomas Dunne - Castledermot - 16 June 1922

On 26th April, 1922 the Irish Hierarchy issued the following statement, “The best and wisest course for Ireland is to accept the Treaty and make the most of the freedom it undoubtedly brings us”. Their reference was to the Treaty between Great Britain and Ireland approved by the Dáil in the previous January. The Civil War which resulted is generally considered to have begun when anti-treaty troops seized the Four Courts in June 1922. However, Civil War was a reality once those opposed to the Treaty landed German arms at Helvic Head in Co. Waterford on 2nd March. By then the country was inexorably moving towards war and it was a war which would not end until May of the following year. In the intervening period many young men would die, sometimes brutally and almost always needlessly. Michael Collins and Eamon de Valera, one time colleagues in the fight for Irish independence but on opposite sides of the Civil War factions, following the treaty debate of December 1921 entered into a pact in May 1982. They agreed on a Sinn Fein panel of candidates drawn from pro-treaty and anti-treaty sides to contest a general election which was scheduled for Friday, 16th June. On that day yet another young man was to die in South Kildare exactly thirteen months after a botched ambush had claimed the lives of Connor and Lacy in Barrowhouse. Thomas Dunne was a young man described by the doctor who attended at the scene of the shooting as “a hard working, decent, respectable, young fellow”. He was one of a party of four anti-treaty soldiers who on the evening before the General Election took over the Sinn Fein hall in Castledermot. The hall was commandeered in order to establish a Barracks in Castledermot which the anti-treaty troops intended to use as a base for patrolling the area. Both treaty and anti-treaty sides were anxious to extend their control throughout rural Ireland and those opposed to the Treaty sought to do this by providing a militarised police force in as many localities as possible. Particular concern had been expressed at the increased lawlessness in South Kildare during the early months of 1922 and a daring daylight robbery at Ballycullane in early June had prompted the anti-treaty side to establish a barracks in Castledermot. The Garda Siochana set up by the Government some months earlier had not yet arrived in the area and the IRA (both treaty and anti-treaty) were undertaking law enforcement duties in the locality. Mr. O’Gorman, Manager of the Hibernian Bank in Athy was held up at Ballycullane at about 2.00pm on a Monday afternoon as he was returning from the banks Ballitore branch office. Driving his newly acquired motor cycle and accompanied by the bank porter in the side car he had no option but to stop when ambushed near Ballycullane Wood by three masked men armed with revolvers. A sum of £170.00 was stolen on that occasion. On the evening before the 1922 general election polling day Sgt. John Dempsey of F. Company 5th Battalion Carlow Brigade IRA, accompanied by Volunteers Thomas Dunne, Peter Brien and William Kinsella, took over the Sinn Fein hall in Castledermot. They were ordered to do so by Captain P. Kavanagh of Castledermot who in turn had received his instructions from Commdt. Thomas O’Connell of the Carlow Brigade. On the following morning about 14 or 15 pro-treaty troops under the command of Brigadier Adjutant Lillis of Carlow arrived in the village of Castledermot. Statements made by Volunteers Peter Brien, William Kinsella and Sergeant John Dempsey indicated that the pro-treaty troops passed the Sinn Fein hall in a lorry travelling from the Carlow direction. The lorry travelled towards the chapel and stopped about 200 yards from the Sinn Fein hall. Captain A. Nolan got out of the lorry and walked back to the hall and on entering saw that it was occupied by anti-treaty soldiers. He returned to the lorry but almost immediately came back again to the hall when he was refused entry by Volunteer Peter Brien. Within minutes, according to the statement of the anti-treaty Volunteers, the lorry containing the soldiers returned and 14 or 15 men jumped down and rushed through the door of the Sinn Fein hall firing shots. The statements made by the pro-treaty soldiers those who entered the Sinn Fail hall gave a somewhat different version of events. Paddy Cosgrave, a resident of Castledermot, and Brigade Vice Commdt. of the treaty troops stated he entered the Sinn Fein hall with Lillis, Captain F. Lawler and another un-named officer who may have been the earlier mentioned Captain Nolan. Cosgrave was behind the other three officers as they went in, but was able to see four anti-treaty soldiers inside the building, two of whom he said were armed with shotguns in the “ready position”. After he entered the hall he heard three shots, the first of which he believed was fired by Captain Lawler. It was then, according to Paddy Cosgrave, that the soldiers in the lorry jumped down and rushed into the hall. Cosgrave saw Thomas Dunne turn away and stumble towards the back door. He had been mortally wounded and was to die within minutes. Captain F. Lawler who fired the fatal shot was an experienced soldier who had fought during the Easter Rising. He confirmed that he was the first to enter the Sinn Fein hall, accompanied by Lillis and Cosgrave. He had a revolver in his hand and was about to cock it when his thumb slipped and the revolver went off. He turned the revolver towards the ground and attempted to cock it again when “it slipped again and the second shot was discharged”. No explanation was offered for the third shot heard by his companion Paddy Cosgrave. Which of the shots allegedly accidentally fired by Lawler killed Thomas Dunne was never determined. What is known is that Adjutant J. Lillis, having been informed by a local man, Patrick Walsh, that the anti-treaty side had taken over the Sinn Fein hall, decided in consulting with Paddy Cosgrave to have them ejected. Dr. Francis Brannan was immediately called to the scene but the unfortunate young man Thomas Dunne was already dead. That night an inquest was held by Dr. M.F. Kenna, Coroner for South Kildare following which the jury chaired by William J. Dalton brought in the verdict of “death from shock and hemorrhage caused by the piercing of the aorta by a bullet accidentally discharged in a Sinn Fein hall.” On the following Sunday afternoon Thomas Dunne’s funeral procession left Castledermot for Carlow headed by the Clashganny Pipers and the Athy Fife and Drum bands. Volunteer Thomas Dunne was buried in the Republican plot at St. Mary’s cemetery, Carlow town. Less than three weeks after Thomas Dunne’s death another young man was killed in the village of Castledermot. The story of how Volunteer Lawrence Sweeney of Dundrum, Co. Dublin met his death on the same day as Sylvester Sheppard was shot in nearby Rosetown is a story for another day.

Photograph of Cast of second production of 'Dick Whittington' - 1950s

PHOTOGRAPH OF CAST OF SECOND PRODUCTION OF 'DICK WHITTINGTON' - 1950S

Another Athy Musical Show photograph this week.  Those pictured are members of what appears to be a second and later production of Dick Whittington, the show which was first put on in the Town Hall in 1947.  I recognise many of the faces in the photograph and guess that the show was put on sometime towards the end of the 1950’s.  Let me hear from you if you remember the show in question or if you can put names to those captured on film all those years ago.

Next week I plan to return to the photograph which featured in Eye on the Past No. 516.  It was of a school trip to Independent House Dublin in 1959 and I have got many replies to my offer of a book prize for the first person who correctly identified the 59 or so souls pictured on that day.  More about that next week.  In the meantime I have run out of photographs of Athy Musical Shows of the past and if there is anyone out there who has any other photographs of the shows of past years, I would welcome the opportunity of featuring them in future articles.

Harking back to the old ballads of Athy which I mentioned some weeks ago a former neighbour wrote to me about the legendary Barney Davis.  Barney it was who composed “Doctor Don Roderick de Vere” and also “The Girls from the Pea Factory”  and was one of the principals in many of the musicals of the 1940’s and earlier.  In the photograph shown two weeks ago of the 1947 Dick Whittington Show Barney was photographed fourth from the left in the front row holding his cat suit.  He was the cat in the 1947 show and I see that a well known present day resident of William Street played the same part in the later production which is the subject of this weeks photograph.  Barney Davis by all accounts was a most popular fellow and usually brought the house down with his ability to walk on his hands while playing the role of Dick Whittington’s cat.

My correspondent referred to a man whom he regarded as Athy’s rhymer supreme.  He was known to all and sundry in Athy as Archie Sullivan who although born in Dublin he lived in Athy from the early 1930’s.  A cobbler by trade Archie was the author of many local ballads composed to record events and individuals which for one reason or another caught the public imagination.  I rely entirely on my friend’s recall of Archie’s ballads as I have never previously come across them.  Who remembers “O’Hara’s Goose” which told the story of Barney O’Hara’s prize of a goose won at a card game which turned out to be a swan!  The bird still posing as a “goose” was offered as a prize in a series of card games which were played out in local pubs before it eventually passed to an unsuspecting winner.  Another ballad attributed to Archie Sullivan told of the characters working in the asbestos factory in the 1950’s.  It was called “The lads from the Asbestos”.   The affairs of the local Urban District Council in the aftermath of World War II provided Archie with background for another ballad in which a central role was played by the legendary Tom Carbery of St. Martin’s Terrace.

I don’t have the words of any of Archie Sullivan’s ballads, but hopefully some of my readers can recall them and so help record for evermore the work of a man described as the rhymer supreme of Athy.

Many thanks to those who contacted me in response to the request for information regarding the relations of Robert Foster and Stephen Leonard.  As a result of your help I have been able to answer in some considerable detail the queries which emanated from two English readers.

In the meantime keep sending in any information or material you might wish to share with other readers of this column regarding the musical shows of the 1940’s and 1950’s.

Photograph of Cast of 'White Bread and Apple Sauce' - 1945

As promised I have another photograph of a 1940’s musical gracing this weeks Eye on the Past. It is a photograph of the cast of “White Bread and Apple Sauce” put on in the Town Hall in 1945. The producer was Stanley Ilsley who is pictured in the front row 3rd from the left. Ilsley was one half of the famous theatrical partnership of Ilsley and McCabe which for decades played a prominent role in the Olympia Theatre in Dublin. Again this week I am looking for readers help in naming those pictured on the Town Hall stage of 57 years ago. There are several faces in the photograph which I can recognise and it is amazing how some of them show so little changes over the years. One can’t say the same about Irish society during the last half of the century. I was reminded of this last week as I listened to a discussion on the radio about women having to give up their jobs on marrying. We always think of teachers and civil servants in that context but I was reminded of an interview I had a few years ago with an Athy woman living in England who emigrated over 40 years ago. She got married in Athy in 1950 and at the time worked in the pea factory in Rathstewart. She told me that she was required to give up her job the day before she got married. Whether this was at the behest of the unions or of the employers I cannot say but it does seem in hindsight an extraordinary harsh rule. But of course working society in 1950 was so different than today. Can you imagine a factory worker nowadays asking his boss as a favour for a half day or a full day off work so that he or she could get married. That is what a prospective groom had to do 50 years ago. My informant recounted for me how her boyfriend who worked in the Asbestos factory got one day off for his wedding on the strict injunction “to be back here on Thursday morning”. For you see Wednesday was the day set aside in St. Michael’s Parish Church for working men and women to marry. The weddings took place early in the morning, some as early as 7.30am. There was no such thing as an afternoon Church ceremony and the simple ceremony was followed, if you were lucky, by a reception in the bride’s home. With the World War not long over and rationings still something to be contended with, lucky was the family which had boiled ham for family and friends invited to the wedding reception. Miss Mape’s shop in Duke Street was always a popular venue for the local girls when they wanted to get a new coat or hat for a wedding. Her dress shop’s popularity owed much to Ms. Mape’s willingness to “keep a book” and mark off the payments made each week long before the wedding came off. Who remembers “Footie” O’Gorman, supplier of hams for local weddings and funerals. His shop was in Duke Street where Kane’s are now located and while I don’t recall him his name is forever associated in my mind with the advice he gave to a young man about to be married, “make sure you get off at Naas” [work it out for yourself!]. Writing of the old days [and not so old days] in Athy I am reminded that Mary Browne, the famous fish seller who graced Emily Square every Friday for many years died in 1996, aged 98 years. No doubt many of you will remember Mary. Does anyone have a photograph of Mary and her famous fish stall which I could copy? Walking up Church Road last week I saw that the unusual bungalow built by Dr. John Kilbride when he married in 1926 has been demolished and replaced by a block of apartments. Dr. John was son of Dr. James Kilbride who lived in Athy Lodge where Dr. Joe and Mrs. O’Neill now live. The bungalow was built by Jim Lawler’s grandfather, Edward Lawler, and was unusual as it was built of asbestos sheets imported from England. The bungalow which Dr. John and his wife lived until they moved into Athy Lodge was called “Athmore” comprised of the first letters of Athy and the last letters of Tramore. Dr. John was a native of Athy, while his wife was from Tramore and it was to Tramore that both returned when Dr. John Kilbride retired. The unexpected passing of Thomas “Tanner” Bracken last week severed another link with Athy’s past. “Tanner” was a member of an old Athy family and for nearly 50 years he worked in the Asbestos factory with his late brother Willie. Both were members of the C.Y.M.S. in the days when it had its premises in Stanhope Street and later still in St. John’s Hall. “Tanner” and his brother Willie were part of the fabric of my memories of youth and his death deprives us of an Athy man, gentle in his ways who in his own quite way left his mark on the local community.

PHOTOGRAPH OF CAST OF 'WHITE BREAD AND APPLE SAUCE' - 1945

As promised I have another photograph of a 1940’s musical gracing this weeks Eye on the Past.  It is a photograph of the cast of “White Bread and Apple Sauce” put on in the Town Hall in 1945.  The producer was Stanley Ilsley who is pictured in the front row 3^rd from the left.  Ilsley was one half of the famous theatrical partnership of Ilsley and McCabe which for decades played a prominent role in the Olympia Theatre in Dublin.  Again this week I am looking for readers help in naming those pictured on the Town Hall stage of 57 years ago.  There are several faces in the photograph which I can recognise and it is amazing how some of them show so little changes over the years.  One can’t say the same about Irish society during the last half of the century.  I was reminded of this last week as I listened to a discussion on the radio about women having to give up their jobs on marrying.  We always think of teachers and civil servants in that context but I was reminded of an interview I had a few years ago with an Athy woman living in England who emigrated over 40 years ago.  She got married in Athy in 1950 and at the time worked in the pea factory in Rathstewart.  She told me that she was required to give up her job the day before she got married.  Whether this was at the behest of the unions or of the employers I cannot say but it does seem in hindsight an extraordinary harsh rule.  But of course working society in 1950 was so different than today.  Can you imagine a factory worker nowadays asking his boss as a favour for a half day or a full day off work so that he or she could get married.  That is what a prospective groom had to do 50 years ago.  My informant recounted for me how her boyfriend who worked in the Asbestos factory got one day off for his wedding on the strict injunction “to be back here on Thursday morning”.  For you see Wednesday was the day set aside in St. Michael’s Parish Church for working men and women to marry.  The weddings took place early in the morning, some as early as 7.30am.  There was no such thing as an afternoon Church ceremony and the simple ceremony was followed, if you were lucky, by a reception in the bride’s home.  With the World War not long over and rationings still something to be contended with, lucky was the family which had boiled ham for family and friends invited to the wedding reception. 

Miss Mape’s shop in Duke Street was always a popular venue for the local girls when they wanted to get a new coat or hat for a wedding.  Her dress shop’s popularity owed much to Ms. Mape’s willingness to “keep a book” and mark off the payments made each week long before the wedding came off.  Who remembers “Footie” O’Gorman, supplier of hams for local weddings and funerals.  His shop was in Duke Street where Kane’s are now located and while I don’t recall him his name is forever associated in my mind with the advice he gave to a young man about to be married, “make sure you get off at Naas” [work it out for yourself!].

Writing of the old days [and not so old days] in Athy I am reminded that Mary Browne, the famous fish seller who graced Emily Square every Friday for many years died in 1996, aged 98 years.  No doubt many of you will remember Mary.  Does anyone have a photograph of Mary and her famous fish stall which I could copy?

Walking up Church Road last week I saw that the unusual bungalow built by Dr. John Kilbride when he married in 1926 has been demolished and replaced by a block of apartments.  Dr. John was son of Dr. James Kilbride who lived in Athy Lodge where Dr. Joe and Mrs. O’Neill now live.  The bungalow was built by Jim Lawler’s grandfather, Edward Lawler, and was unusual as it was built of asbestos sheets imported from England.  The bungalow which Dr. John and his wife lived until they moved into Athy Lodge was called “Athmore” comprised of the first letters of Athy and the last letters of Tramore.  Dr. John was a native of Athy, while his wife was from Tramore and it was to Tramore that both returned when Dr. John Kilbride retired. 

The unexpected passing of Thomas “Tanner” Bracken last week severed another link with Athy’s past.  “Tanner” was a member of an old Athy family and for nearly 50 years he worked in the Asbestos factory with his late brother Willie.  Both were members of the C.Y.M.S. in the days when it had its premises in Stanhope Street and later still in St. John’s Hall.  “Tanner” and his brother Willie were part of the fabric of my memories of youth and his death deprives us of an Athy man, gentle in his ways who in his own quite way left his mark on the local community.

PHOTOGRAPH OF CAST OF 'DICK WHITTINGTON' - 1947

I have been aware for sometime of my neglect of the great musical shows which graced the stage of the Town Hall in the mid 1940’s.  May Bachelor has been my informant in relation to this part of the musical history of Athy with which I have been unfamiliar.  Over the years I have come across photos taken on the occasion of one or other of those shows.  Whenever I did I always tried to get the names of those, sometimes now forgotten, troubadours who provided entertainment for their neighbours and community over 50 years ago. 

The first musical was I believe put on in 1945.  It was “White Bread and Apple Sauce” and was followed in succeeding years by “Easter Parade”, “Dick Whittington” and “Orchids and Onions” .  I have not seen a programme for any of these shows and indeed cannot be sure that programmes were printed, although it would be unusual if such was the case.

I intend to include as part of the Eye on the Past series over the next few weeks, photographs of the different musicals put on in the Town Hall in the 1940’s.  This is being done so that I can get your help in identifying the people involved in those shows, many of whom, have sadly gone to their external reward.

The photograph to accompany this weeks article is I believe of the cast of “Dick Whittington” in which I’m told was performed in 1947.  I’m open to correction on that date, but in any event I would welcome hearing from anyone who can help identify some or all of those happy people of 55 years ago or so. 

Over the Christmas holidays I received a number of e-mails and postal queries from abroad seeking to trace past links with Athy.  Just two of these queries I will mention this week.

A Southport based lady whose father Robert Foster emigrated from Athy is seeking to trace and make contact with surviving members of his family.  Can you help?

The other query relates to Stephen Leonard who emigrated from Athy in 1955 and who died in London in 1969.  His son is anxious to make contact with any of Stephen’s relations still living in Athy.  Contact me please if you can help in any way with these inquiries and also with the identification of those who appeared in the 1947 photograph of the cast of the musical “Dick Whittington”.

Gordon Bennett Road Race 1903

Gordon Bennett! The name of an eccentric American millionaire, or if you like that of an international road race for motor cars. But not only that. It was also an expression of disbelief which was particularly popular during World War I with those who felt that the more common expressions were either blasphemous or vulgar. James Gordon Bennett, the man, was a colourful American born in 1841 in New York City. His father, also called James Gordon Bennett, founded the New York Herald and the wealth generated by the Bennett publishing empire enabled Gordon Bennett Junior to lead an interesting and varied life. He financed Stanley’s famous expedition into Africa in search of Livingstone, as well as a polar expedition and a transatlantic yacht race. It was however his involvement with motor racing that Gordon Bennett’s name is recalled today. Bennett donated a silver cup as a prize for a road race between cars at a time when the motor industry was still in its infancy. Originally known as the Coupe Internationale, the prized silver cup was everywhere called after its owner, “The Gordon Bennett Trophy”. The first Gordon Bennett Motor Race took place in 1900, starting in Paris and ending in Lyons and the following year the race was from Paris to Bordeaux. In 1902 the winner of the Paris to Innsbruck race was an English man, Selwyn Francis Edge, and as a result the 1903 race was required to be held in England. However, as motor racing was illegal on public roads in that country it was agreed to hold the race in Ireland. Legislation had to be passed in the House of Commons to exempt those taking part in the 1903 Gordon Bennett Race from the speed limits of the day. The speed limit on Irish roads at that time was 12mph but by March 1903 it had been raised to 14mph. The Light Locomotive (Ireland) Act, 1903 passed in March 1903 and which was to remain in force until 31st December of that year provided that “the Council of any administrative county may on the application of any private persons or club by order declare that any public roads within the county may be used for races with light locomotives during the whole or part of any days specified in the order not exceeding three days in the year”. Kildare, Leix and Carlow County Councils received applications from the Irish Automobile Club to stage the 1903 Gordon Bennett Race on a circuit of public roads in those counties. The circuit commenced in county Kildare and extended into Leix and Carlow in a figure of eight, centered on the town of Athy, taking in Kilcullen, Castledermot, Carlow and Athy on one circuit, with Kilcullen, Kildare, Monasterevin, Stradbally, Ballylinan and Athy forming the second circuit. The race which was to start and finish at Ballyshannon consisted of three circuits of the figure of eight, with an additional circuit of the Kilcullen / Monasterevin / Athy circuit. The total distance to be covered was measured at 307.75 miles. The race which was run off on 2nd July 1903 included twelve international competitors representing England, America, France and Germany. The English drivers who drove Napier cars painted green for the occasion stayed with Harry Large at Castle Rheban just outside of Athy. His son Willie Large writing 70 years later claimed that his father had come into contact with Selwyn Edge while he, Harry, had been cycle racing in England for Dunlops. Edge and his fellow driver, J.W. Stocks, were originally cyclists of note before they got involved in motor racing. Charles Jarrott was the third English driver and staying with them in Castle Rheban in the weeks leading up to the race were the car manufacturer Mr. Napier and his mechanic Cecil Bianchi. Willie Large who died some years ago once told me that the legendary Percy French visited Castle Rheban during the week of the Gordon Bennett Race and entertained the English visitors with a number of his famous songs accompanied on the piano by Mrs. Large. The American drivers, Alexander Winton and Percy Owen stayed in the Timolin Rectory in Ballitore while their colleague Louis Moens stayed with the Cole family in Moone. The American cars were a Peerless and two Wintons which were painted red for the race, the Wintons having been designed by Alexander Winton. The German team of Baron de Caters, Foxhall Keene and Camille Jenatzy, all of whom drove white coloured Mercedes cars booked into the Leinster Arms Hotel. Their cars were garaged in the hotel yard directly opposite the hotel itself in Leinster Street. Ferdnand Gabiel of the French team stayed in Loughbrown Lodge on the Curragh, while his colleagues Rene de Kynff and Henry Farman stayed in Bardons Hotel, Kilcullen. Their cars were two Panhards and a Mors which were coloured blue. On 2nd July 1903 the competing drivers gathered at Ballyshannon with the first driver off at 7.00am. That was Selwyn Edge, the previous years winner, driving a Napier, accompanied by his cousin who travelled as his mechanic. The starter was Major F. Lynsey Lloyd and he let the remaining eleven drivers off at intervals of seven minutes. The last man away was the American driver Alexander Winton whose car developed carburetor trouble at the start. When Major Lloyd gave him the order to go he had to push his car over the starting line and then spent the following 40 minutes in carrying out repairs before he could drive away. He did not finish the course, a fate which also was to befall his two American colleagues, as well as two of the German drivers and two of the English competitors. Only five of the twelve competitors finished the race. The race was won by Jenatzy driving a Mercedes for Germany at an average speed of 49.25mph. Jenatzy described as a small man with red hair earned for himself the nick name “The Red Devil”. A recently published book called “Triumph of the Red Devil” by Brenda Lynch tells the story of the Gordon Bennett Race of 1903. Its a magnificent read and hopefully will be the subject of a book launch in Athy during the new year. This year we celebrate the centenary of the Gordon Bennett Race and Lynch’s book is an excellent record of what was Ireland’s biggest ever sporting event up to then. I understand that various events will be held during the year to celebrate the Gordon Bennett Centenary. Indeed it has been the subject of commemoration rallies for many years and in 1967 a plaque was unveiled at the Moate of Ardscull at the end of the Veteran and Vintage Car Rally of that year. I can recall the 1953 commemoration which was organised by the Leinster Motor Company. The local papers of the day reported that “over 3,000 people gathered at Emily Square on Saturday, to see the 39 “old crocks” that halted in the town for a lunch interval during the 80 miles run over part of the old circuit to mark the golden jubilee of the Gordon Bennett Race of 1903. Present in the crowd were several persons who witnessed the famous race won by Jenatzy fifty years ago. The period costumes worn by drivers and passengers were a source of wonder to the younger generation present. Parked under a row of beautiful trees by the banks of the Barrow the veteran cars and their occupants made a delightful picture. Among the cars which attracted greatest interest was the 1903 Benz owned and driven by Mr. Charlie Taylor, Forest, Athy. The marshalling carried out by the men from the district were excellent. Athy Fire Brigade under Mr. John Creed, County Fire Brigade Officer and Mr. Robert Webster, Athy rendered very valuable assistance in erecting a barrier along the square and in controlling the crowd. Other helpers included Athy FCA Members, Athy Knights of Malta under Mr. Eamon McAuley and representatives and employees of the motor trade in the town.” As to the origin of the expletive “Gordon Bennett” with which I opened this piece it is believed to have originated around the time of the 1903 race. Some locals saw the Gordon Bennett Race as an opportunity to make a lot of money in the shortest time possible and apparently had no compunction whatsoever in asking extraordinary prices for services required by those attending the races. “Gordon Bennett” came to be a favoured expression of disbelief, recalling the days of 1903 when an American mans name became forever associated with an Irish motor car race.

Athy Ballads and Balladeers (Part Two)

Continuing in the ballad theme this week I reproduce two ballads, one of which is well known, even if it is not often heard to as good effect as one might hope when it is sung. The ballad “Tuberara” which opens with the lines :- “How oft have I stood on the Bridge of Athy And gazed on those waters that flow gently by” is an emigrant’s lament for his home town of Athy. Significantly the recurring reference throughout the ballad is to Tuberara Well, an indication perhaps of the importance of this ancient holy well in the lives of the people of south Kildare. Tuberara Pattern Day was celebrated each year on 24th June, the feast of St. John the Baptist. We are told that people came from far and near on that day to the holy well at Tuberara to drink the water, to pray and to dance. Quite obviously dancing in time became more important than the praying as the local Parish Priest found it necessary to put an end to the Tuberara Pattern day. This happened just before the Great Famine and the Pattern day was only recently revived and is now again part of the folk calendar of this area. In any event the emigrant who penned the lines of the ballad “Tuberara” gave pride of place to the holy well in his remembrances of Athy. Here is the ballad which Athy people of many generations have long regarded as the anthem of our town. “How oft have I stood on the Bridge of Athy and gazed on those waters, that flow gently by Oh! how sweetly, how neatly, how gently they go And it’s into the Barrow Tuberara’s well flows How oft have I drank out of Tuberara’s well They say in its water there is a great spell Where the sick and afflicted can cure all their woe And it’s into the Barrow Tuberara’s well flows How oft have I swam in the Barrow sweet tide And walked with my thoughts down by Lord’s island side And gazed at the waters so easy and slow And it’s into the Barrow Tuberara’s well flows So here’s to my home and my exquisite joy Once again will I stand on the Bridge of Athy and gaze at those waters so gentle below And it’s into the Barrow Tuberara’s well flows For my heart’s in old Ireland across the blue wave My heart’s in old Ireland the home of the brave ‘tis the home of the brave where the wild shamrock’s grow And it’s into the Barrow Tuberara’s well flows.” The second ballad is one which I have never heard being sung but the words of which I got from an old resident of the town many years ago. I believe it was composed by the late Paddy Behan of St. Joseph’s Terrace whose sons Peter, Michael, Paddy and John all attended the Christian Brothers School in Athy. Co-incidentally I got a letter during the past week from Paddy Behan who is now Professor of clinical neurology at the University of Glasgow. The ballad composed by Professor Paddy Behan’s father was called “The Crickeen”, the name used by the older generation of Athy people when referring to the remains of the 14th century stone church in St. Michael’s Cemetery. Here then is the late Paddy Behan’s ballad, Dear St. Michael’s what a lot you’ve seen of sorrow and of strive Tis many a sad tale you could tell If you could speak of life Within your walls the Mass was said For the people of the town While a peasant with a gun in hand Watched for the yeomens of the crown. He heard the horses coming And he dashed up to the door And warned the congregation Who fled onto the moors It was Cromwell and his henchmen The coward and evil swine That burned your roof St. Michael’s And smashed your altar shrine. And many a soul has gazed on you At the rising of the sun And many a soul was judged by God Before the suns task was done.” As this is the last Eye on the Past for 2002 I will take the opportunity of thanking all of those good and kind people who contacted me over the past year to share their experiences, their stories and their reminiscences of times past. I am always delighted to get your letters and phone calls. A special word of thanks to Thomas Hendy, now living in Kilmeague who originally came from Spring Lodge on the Carlow Road. Thomas has been a reader of this column since it started eleven years ago and he has written to me on several occasions, most recently last week with lots of information which I hope to utilise in the near future. Several people contacted me following last week’s question as to where you would find “the asses gallop”. Well its the short stretch below the dividing wall leading to the railway bridge which during the fairs of long ago was used for the purpose of “galloping” asses. I must say, I never saw an ass gallop, except perhaps the Spanish ass which regularly won the races run off in the field next to the Technical School in the 1950’s. Do you remember that? Happy Christmas to everyone.

Athy Ballads and Balladeers (Part One)

Nowadays we expect to be entertained rather than entertain ourselves. In that regard, we are so different from our parents in whose time entertainment was of the home made kind but no less enjoyable for all that. Now we can turn to the television or the radio at any time of the day or night and if dissatisfied with what we find there, put on a compact disc or a video tape. Wherever we look or listen while being entertained, invariably we take in the words and music of other people. Seldom if ever do we take the opportunity to create our own amusement unlike the folk of years gone by. I was minded of this when I came across a file of papers I had been collecting for some years under the heading “Athy Ballads”. Leafing through its contents made me realise what an important role the local balladeer of bygone days played in the local community. He recorded the key events of the time as well as honouring or sometimes lampooning local characters. The ballads of the days were seldom if ever recorded in print and those which have survived are but a fraction of the many hundreds which were once sung or recited in the hostelries and homes of Athy. One of the Athy balladeers of the 1930’s and 1940’s was Barney Davis of St. Joseph’s Terrace. His image is captured in some of the photographs of the musical shows which were held in the Town Hall before World War Two. Barney’s best known ballad which perhaps is more correctly described as a recitation piece was called “Doctor Don Roderick de Vere”. It ran to fourteen verses of which the opening lines were “He searched up and down, For a house in the town This darkie secured one quite near So resolved to win fame That he hung up the name Of Doctor Don Roderick de Vere”. With the arrival of the fourth verse, we knew how and why he was called Doctor de Vere. “For the weed he searched round And began to compound Medicines to him were so dear Consultations were free When you called in to see This Doctor Don Roderick de Vere. On some shelves he had laid Many bottles he made The cure for all your ailments was here Rodine, Brilliantine, Iodine, Quinnine Had Doctor Don Roderick de Vere. Some people who went for to try his treatment Spread the news out to folk far and near That they knew he could tell If you’d die or get well This Doctor Don Roderick de Vere. All stood still and gazed Every one was amazed They called him a prophet or seer On the lips of the rich And the tramp in the ditch Was Doctor Don Roderick de Vere”. Doctor Don Roderick de Vere came to an unfortunate end but he is still recalled by the older generation of Athy people as the man who had the cures for many ailments. “He has made the dumb talk And the cripples to walk He will cure the nose, throat or the ear He has taken his place With great men of our race This Doctor Don Roderick de Vere. De Vere died in tragic circumstances not long after his release from prison where he had been detained following a conviction for procuring an illegal abortion. Barney Davis also wrote another, perhaps less well known ballad which he called “The Girls who pick the Peas”. “You’ve heard about the factory, You’ve heard about the peas If you want to know the ins and outs I’ll put your mind at ease About the girls who work there I’ll have you all to know For I hear them and I see them As they daily come and go. The hours for starting work Is timed from nine to ten Some are no sooner on the job When their coming out again Its a bally good job I’m big and strong And fed on “Erinox”. For some faces that I see Would drive a badger from its box, The faces that they re-create Is enough to make me faint For some are out to advertise For “Robiallac” paint The finest bunch of glamour girls That I have ever seen Its a pity there’s no hanging For the wearing of the green. To see those “Garbos” passing by You’d be thinking just like me To a fancy dress ball they’re going And not to a factory You’ll meet the Queen of Sheba With the Princess Ballyroe The Duchess of Ballylinan And the Countess Timahoe. I have heard the thunders roaring And the clouds burst in the skies The L.D.F. in training They’re not bad at making noise I’ve heard a haggard of sparrows And a swarm of bumble bees But theres none can hold a candle To the girls who pick the peas. It was in sympathy with the women That made Bell invent the phone They were Edison’s inspiration When he made the gramophone A talking machine that science failed To give a constant run For women hold the secret of Perpetual motion of their tongue”. I’d wager that particular ballad did not get too many airings around Athy. I’ll have more local ballads next week. In the meantime, if you can add to the collection, let me know. Happy Christmas to everyone.

Christmas Shopping in Athy - 1900

Nowadays we expect to be entertained rather than entertain ourselves. In that regard, we are so different from our parents in whose time entertainment was of the home made kind but no less enjoyable for all that. Now we can turn to the television or the radio at any time of the day or night and if dissatisfied with what we find there, put on a compact disc or a video tape. Wherever we look or listen while being entertained, invariably we take in the words and music of other people. Seldom if ever do we take the opportunity to create our own amusement unlike the folk of years gone by.

I was minded of this when I came across a file of papers I had been collecting for some years under the heading “Athy Ballads”. Leafing through its contents made me realise what an important role the local balladeer of bygone days played in the local community. He recorded the key events of the time as well as honouring or sometimes lampooning local characters. The ballads of the days were seldom if ever recorded in print and those which have survived are but a fraction of the many hundreds which were once sung or recited in the hostelries and homes of Athy.

One of the Athy balladeers of the 1930’s and 1940’s was Barney Davis of St. Joseph’s Terrace. His image is captured in some of the photographs of the musical shows which were held in the Town Hall before World War Two. Barney’s best known ballad which perhaps is more correctly described as a recitation piece was called “Doctor Don Roderick de Vere”. It ran to fourteen verses of which the opening lines were

“He searched up and down,
For a house in the town
This darkie secured one quite near
So resolved to win fame
That he hung up the name
Of Doctor Don Roderick de Vere”.


With the arrival of the fourth verse, we knew how and why he was called Doctor de Vere.
“For the weed he searched round
And began to compound
Medicines to him were so dear
Consultations were free
When you called in to see
This Doctor Don Roderick de Vere.

On some shelves he had laid
Many bottles he made
The cure for all your ailments was here
Rodine, Brilliantine, Iodine, Quinnine
Had Doctor Don Roderick de Vere.

Some people who went
for to try his treatment
Spread the news out to folk far and near
That they knew he could tell
If you’d die or get well
This Doctor Don Roderick de Vere.

All stood still and gazed
Every one was amazed
They called him a prophet or seer
On the lips of the rich
And the tramp in the ditch
Was Doctor Don Roderick de Vere”.

Doctor Don Roderick de Vere came to an unfortunate end but he is still recalled by the older generation of Athy people as the man who had the cures for many ailments.

“He has made the dumb talk
And the cripples to walk
He will cure the nose, throat or the ear
He has taken his place
With great men of our race
This Doctor Don Roderick de Vere.

De Vere died in tragic circumstances not long after his release from prison where he had been detained following a conviction for procuring an illegal abortion.

Barney Davis also wrote another, perhaps less well known ballad which he called “The Girls who pick the Peas”.

“You’ve heard about the factory,
You’ve heard about the peas
If you want to know the ins and outs
I’ll put your mind at ease
About the girls who work there
I’ll have you all to know
For I hear them and I see them
As they daily come and go.

The hours for starting work
Is timed from nine to ten
Some are no sooner on the job
When their coming out again
Its a bally good job I’m big and strong
And fed on “Erinox”.
For some faces that I see
Would drive a badger from its box,

The faces that they re-create
Is enough to make me faint
For some are out to advertise
For “Robiallac” paint
The finest bunch of glamour girls
That I have ever seen
Its a pity there’s no hanging
For the wearing of the green.

To see those “Garbos” passing by
You’d be thinking just like me
To a fancy dress ball they’re going
And not to a factory
You’ll meet the Queen of Sheba
With the Princess Ballyroe
The Duchess of Ballylinan
And the Countess Timahoe.

I have heard the thunders roaring
And the clouds burst in the skies
The L.D.F. in training
They’re not bad at making noise
I’ve heard a haggard of sparrows
And a swarm of bumble bees
But theres none can hold a candle
To the girls who pick the peas.

It was in sympathy with the women
That made Bell invent the phone
They were Edison’s inspiration
When he made the gramophone
A talking machine that science failed
To give a constant run
For women hold the secret of
Perpetual motion of their tongue”.

I’d wager that particular ballad did not get too many airings around Athy. I’ll have more local ballads next week. In the meantime, if you can add to the collection, let me know.

Happy Christmas to everyone.

Christmas Shopping in Athy - 1900

I was going through some old papers during the past week and came across the following article which appeared in the Nationalist just before Christmas 1900. How many of the shopkeepers mentioned have you previously heard of or can you pinpoint where their businesses were located.

“CHRISTMAS SHOPPING IN ATHY
The question that has often been asked, whether the old customs, so closely associated with Christmastide, are visibly declining receives a forcible illustration in the affirmative by the want of decoration of the shop windows at the present time. Years ago it was considered an act almost of infidelity to neglect to tastefully arrange the windows of your business establishment, but with modern shopkeepers the question has resolved itself into the eminently practical one whether it pays or not to go to the trouble of giving a cheerful look to the establishment over which he presides. We have much to be thankful for in Athy that this vandalism has made so little progress, and that a good many of our business men have this Christmas given an appearance to their shop windows in consonance with the spirit of the joyful season. We propose to give a short account of the Christmas shopping in Athy which, though meagre in details, may not yet prove uninteresting as regards the capability of our local merchants to provide for their numerous clientele. First on the list comes the great furnishing and general drapery house of Messrs Duncan & Co. which maintains the position it has long upheld of being one of the finest provincial houses in the trade. Here can be seen a splendid display of stock of all kinds suitable for this season. The windows of the large establishments of this well-known firm are artistically decorated, one with all kinds of furniture necessary for modern comfort, another with every class of drapery, and a third with a splendid stock of foot gear. They would well repay a visit. Every class of person is adequately catered for, and the children particularly will be delighted with the splendid stock of Christmas toys, etc. Mr. Michael Murphy’s extensive and well managed establishment as usual makes a successful bid for the patronage it so highly deserves. Turning to the general grocery business, it is unnecessary to do anything further than to refer to such well known establishments as those of Messrs S.J. Glynn, J.P. Whelan, Myles Whelan, William Kealy, T.J. Whelan, Stephen O’Brien, etc., which are all well stocked with a splendid selection of suitable Christmas goods. Mr. Tom Hickey, as usual, caters for an extensive circle of customers. Messrs Duthie, Large, and Co., who are and have been doing a big business in the foundry and iron works trade, have on stock a great variety of every class of agricultural implements. We commend our readers to the advertisement which appears in this issue. Mr. J.J. Byrne has also on hands all classes of machinery and agricultural implements which would well repay inspection by the farming community. Mr. T. Murphy is showing a splendid selection of Christmas goods, and Mr. Coote’s establishment would also well be worthy of a visit from all who desire to purchase the best articles at the most economical cost. Mr. W.W. Baldwin has in stock a very fine selection, and maintains the high standard he has always reached for the supply of the best articles in the drapery line. Turning to the stationery, we notice that the following establishments are well stocked with Christmas goods: Mrs. Noud, Miss James, Miss Stafford, and Mrs. Watts. Mr. T. Murphy, who has recently opened, is doing an excellent business in the grocery line; and the same may be prospectively affirmed of Mr. E.T. Mulhall when he gets the fine old premises belonging to the late Mr. Michael Lawler into working order. Mr. T.J. Brennan’s establishment is also well stocked and would well repay a visit as customers may rely on getting good value from the enterprising proprietor.”

Insofar as I can see the only business mentioned which is still trading is that of O’Brien’s of Emily Square. The present proprietor Frank O’Brien carries on a long family tradition and his is now the oldest continuously operated business house in the town of Athy.

I am intrigued and have been for some time about the possible connections between E.T. Mulhall and the man of the same name who established a Solicitors practice in Athy during the 19th century. Was the Solicitor I wonder the same man who with his brother Michael George Mulhall founded “The Standard” which was South America’s first daily newspaper in English. The year was 1861 and the Mulhall brothers had recently arrived in Argentina from Ireland. Edward had been a professor of English in Carlow College and Edward Thomas was I believe the man who had previously set up a legal practice in Athy. What connection had they with E.T. Mulhall who according to the Nationalist of 1900 was getting “the fine old premises belonging to the late Mr. Michael Lawler into working order.”

Another query this week centers around a disturbance at a Fine Gael meeting at Athy on 24th June 1934. This was during the Blueshirt period of Irish politics and I am anxious to get some information about what happened in Athy on that June day. The Blueshirts originated with the founding of the Army Comrades Association in February 1932 and within five months it was transformed into the National Guard with Eoin O’Duffy, the recently sacked Commissioner of the Garda Siochana, at its head. Within a month the De Valera led government had banned the National Guard and it was replaced by the Young Ireland Association, again led by Eoin O’Duffy. The new association was also banned but in its place was formed the League of Youth which continued under O’Duffy’s leadership until he was replaced by E.J. Cronin. These organisations were formed ostensibly to ensure free speech at political rallies throughout the country, although as events proved it was only at the Cumann na nGaedhall meetings that they assembled uniformed in blue shirts and in military style. It was an interesting period in our history and I have been researching for some time the activity of the Blueshirts in South Kildare. I would like to hear from anyone who can give me any information or who can share with me any photographs or documents relating to that period.

Finally I got a phone call during the week from a man who asked me if I had ever heard of a place in Athy called “the asses gallop”. As it so happens I had and was able to tell him where it was. It strikes me that not many people will have heard of “the asses gallop” and so I pose the question - where is it and how did it get its name?

Athy Newsletter 1988-1997

On Friday next at 8.00pm the official launch of a community newsletter for Athy will take place in the Leinster Arms Hotel. It will no doubt be a useful publication for a community which has been growing in recent years, largely due to an influx of people who have had no previous links with the town. Their presence gives a welcome boost to the local economy and the newsletter will help to keep them and everyone else in Athy up to date with what is happening in this area.

Over the years Athy has seen many new publications which originated in the south Kildare town. “The Athy Literary Magazine” was published by Thomas French from his printing offices in Market Square, now Emily Square, between 1837 and 1838. Each issue of the magazine consisted of eight pages and was published weekly with an unvarying mixture of articles of local interest, together with extracts from published literary works. Another eleven years was to pass before Athy experienced its next literary bonanza with the publishing and printing of two local newspapers. “The Irish Eastern Counties Herald” appeared on the streets of Athy for the first time on 13th February 1849. Within days it was followed by “The Kildare and Wicklow Chronicle”, another weekly newspaper which like its competitor was also printed in Athy. Unfortunately neither paper survived beyond March 1849. Within three years the first and only issue of “The Press”, a monthly magazine devoted to literature and the arts was published by Samuel Talbot of Athy. Intended as a monthly magazine it did not appear the following month.

The last in a long line of local publications was “Athy Newsletter”, the first issue of which was launched on an unsuspecting public on 2nd April 1988. Its Editor was Noreen Kelleher of Chanterlands. Noreen had been involved in community activities for many years previously and the newsletter which she was to edit and produce over the following nine years was a task undertaken as part of her involvement with the local Community Council. Comprising on average 28 pages per issue the newsletter was a kaleidoscope of news and information but without any comment pieces other than the weekly Editorial.

In that first issue the Editor found space to give an account of the activities of several clubs and associations, some of which are no longer functioning. Included in that category were Athy Junior Chamber, Athy Pitch and Putt Club and the Athy RFC Squash Club. The one page of advertisements for local shops included two that are now closed, Martin’s Newsagents of Duke Street and The Shamrock Stores of Geraldine Road. Other shops have changed hands including T. & B. Jacob’s of Leinster Street and T. & D. Cannings. All of the schools provided material for the monthly newsletter and in that first issue of April 1988 the Scoil Eoin report noted :-

“On March 19th many old friends of the late Liam Ryan gathered in Scoil Eoin to honour a man who taught for 47 years in the school. Mr. Ryan’s widow Noreen and her four sons attended. When Liam Ryan retired his past pupils raised a fund to commemorate in a fitting way his long years of dedicated service. This took the form of a small library of books and other educational material.”

I see in the third issue which came out on 3rd July 1988 a new feature called “Window on the Past”. Was that I wonder where “Eye on the Past” originated? The Parish Priest, Fr. Philip Dennehy, in a letter printed in the newsletter for August took the opportunity of thanking Tegral for providing free of charge slates to re-roof not only St. Michael’s Catholic Church but also the Church of Ireland Parish Church of St. Michael’s. At the same time the Editor wrote in her Editorial of the high level of participation in the publican’s fancy dress ‘Egg and Spoon Race’ which was run as part of the water funanza that summer.

Letters soon started to appear in the Athy Newsletter and in October 1988 one correspondent was vigorously defending the right to have slot machine arcades in Athy. Another letter writer questioned as to “why can’t we have a decent walk along the Barrow River from the town to Ardreigh” for a start. The following month the Editor in her editorial saluted the towns minor hurlers who not only won the County Championship but also the Minor Hurling League. Their success she wrote “is one we should strike to emulate no matter in what sporting, commercial or cultural field we seek success”. The Harvest Ball for December 1988 got a mention, while the newly formed Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with the town traders gave notice of a Christmas Bonanza with a £1,500.00 shopping giveaway.

My eye was caught by a piece in the April 1989 Newsletter which carried a report of the speech made by Jim Ryan, the outgoing chairman of the local Chamber of Commerce. “It is the aim of the Chamber of Commerce to improve the town’s image and to make a significant impact on the commercial and social life of Athy”. The Editor in her following months Editorial could not have envisaged, no more than could the outgoing chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, how little changes have occurred in the following 13 years. Then she wrote, “it is sad but true that the Garda of today does not commend the same respect as did his colleague a generation ago ….. it is claimed that there is an unspoken yet perceptible bias against those who are without influence, without property or without jobs”. Harsh words which however might find an echo in the proceedings presently ongoing in Donegal.

The Athy newsletter continued on for 96 issues, ending in July 1997, with an editorial which carried a sharp rebuke for the local men folk. “Despite the fact that not a single woman sits on the nine member local Council it is women who are spearheading the drive to protect the built heritage and the environment of Athy. It is the women of Athy who have been circulating a petition around Athy to stop the ghastly Inner Relief Road and it is women who have formed a committee for the same purpose …… the Inner Relief Road controversy has brought to the fore those local people whose views for so long were ignored. It is no wonder then that the voice of the people is now been heard through the women folk who for so long played a secondary role in community life.”

The Athy Newsletter produced every month from April 1998 to July 1997 through the dedicated work and energy of Noreen Kelleher was a very important link with the local community. It fulfilled an extremely important function for the people of Athy, disseminating information and news which might not otherwise be found in the pages of local newspapers. It is fascinating to read the back numbers of what was one woman’s unique contribution to our local community. Here’s wishing well to its successor which I understand will appear for the first time this weekend.

On Saturday 7th December the Town Hall will be the venue for a day long seminar by Kildare County Library and Geography Publication to publicise the following publication of a book on County Kildare. The lectures commence at 10.00 a.m. and from then until 4.00 p.m., a total of nine lectures will talk on a variety of topics of County Kildare interest. Admission is free, but because seating is limited to 80 places anyone wishing to attend should contact Mario Corrigan at 045/432690 to book a place.

Extracts from Kildare Observer 1886

Reading newspaper accounts of life in Athy in years gone by can be both informative and interesting. For instance the following extract from the Kildare Observer of Saturday, 20th February 1886 paints a different picture of Irish provincial life than that which we normally associate with the Land League years of the time.

“Athy Borough Court was held on Saturday by Mr. Michael Lawler J.P., the town magistrate. The cases on the books numbered 39 and were composed principally of charges involving drunkenness, amateur public musicians and snowballers. The courthouse was thronged by a select audience who seemed deeply impressed by the words of wisdom which poured from his worships lips. Sergeant Breslin charged Michael Keogh of snowballing on the public streets on the 25th of February, he was fined 1 penny and costs and Charlie Roberts was charged with snowballing on the 26th, he was also fined 1 penny and costs. Thomas Coleman was charged of being disorderly in the public street. It appeared that he with others followed another young man on the same day who was playing a melodeon through the streets between 9 and 10 on the night of the 7th varying the music by occasional shouting. He was fined 3 pence and costs. Michael Dandy was charged with snowballing throwing but the case against him was struck out when it was mentioned that his mother was seriously ill.”

The same newspaper carried a report of a difference of opinion at a meeting of Athy National League regarding an application for admission to the branch. Michael Kelly was proposed for membership but he was objected to on the grounds that he was a “land grabber”. Apparently Kelly had taken lands from the Duke of Leinster under the terms of the much disputed Leinster Lease and so upset his neighbours who were in dispute with the Duke. What is of perhaps the greater interest is that the land in question had up to 1878 been in the possession of Miss Goold. She was the lady who with Patrick Maher of Kilrush proved to be the most generous benefactors of the Catholic Church in Athy. I have tried for some considerable time to get some background information on Miss Goold or Gould as her name was sometimes spelt but so far without any success. Does anyone have any information on her?

During the year I had occasion to visit the remains of Kilmoroney House and passed on the way up to the former home of the Weldon family a large field which I was informed was “the race course”. Was this I wonder the site of the Dunbrin Races which were held for a number of years towards the latter end of the 19th century. The following report in the Kildare Observer of Saturday, 20th March 1886 gives an account of what I believe was the Dunbrin Races.

“Athy Steeple Chases Thursday - Very disagreeable weather was associated with Athy meeting on Thursday but despite the fact that the adverse atmospherical surroundings must have to some extent interfered with the prospects of the reunion taken on the whole it must be put down as a great success. The special which left the Kingsbridge at 10.30am was fairly well patronised and with country folk turning out in large numbers the attendance was up to a capital average and we must add to this that the sport proved quiet as interesting as the dimensions of the card suggested would be the case, it is unnecessary to say that nothing but fine weather was wanted to make the affair a thorough success. The change in the position of the stand etc. was voted and decided an improvement. Owning to the big field we were somewhat behind at the finish but this was no fault of Mr. Brindley’s who got through a heavy days work with all possible expedition. As usual Mr. James Dunne gave every satisfaction in the starting department so that no hitch tended to mar the pleasure of the sport. The races were a Pony plate of £21, Farmers race of £21, Athy plate of £45 Subscribers plate of £30, The Dunbrin plate of £25, the Railway plate of £21.”

A report in the same newspaper of Saturday, 4th September 1886 may be evidence of the formation of the first GAA Club in Athy. The reference is to an Amateur Athletic Association which could well be an athletic club rather than the football club so further research in the matter will be required. The report read :-

“The Athy Amateur Athletic Association is to be formed and the names of about 30 members were enrolled at a recent meeting, the annual subscription to be 2/6 each. Messrs. Long and Black were appointed honorary secretaries pro temp. Several gentlemen were appointed as a deputation to source subscriptions from the people of the town and neighbourhood in aid of the proposed sport and the meeting adjourned to Thursday night when the matter will be further discussed and the committee and officers appointed. On Thursday evening a further meeting was held at the Town Hall, Athy when it was decided that owing to the lateness of the season the proposed sport will not be held this year.”

There was quite a lot of sporting activity in Athy during the 1880’s. Apart from the Steeplechase Race and the newly formed Amateur Athletic Association the Kildare Observer carried reports of a meeting of Athy Football Club and the local Boat Club. The Football Club was Athy’s Rugby Club whose captain was Anthony Reeves. The Boat Club was a newly constituted Club of which R.T. Lefroy was captain and it had an initial membership of over 50 men. The Athy Rugby Club team which lined out against the Great Southern and Western Railway Team in 1886 was G.F. Black, A. Pennycook, A. Reeves, A. Beveridge, P. Lennon, J. Brown, T. Whelan, M. Whelan, J. Deevy, R. Clandillon, J. Long, H.M. Kan, E. Hinkley, M. Traylor and J. Doyle.

Handball was then a very popular sport in Athy and the Kildare Observer carried a report of a challenge match played at Athy Ballcourt between local player John Delaney and Thomas Cleary of Carlow. Apparently both players were to play games on a home and away basis and Delaney easily won all ten games on his home ground. The proprietor of the Carlow Ballcourt refused to allow Cleary to complete the match in Carlow owing to the heavy beating he got in Athy and consequently Delaney was declared the winner. Such handball matches were played for money and the players were heavily backed by their supporters who were prepared to wager on every aspect of the game. Handball was a gamblers mecca and occupied the part now played in todays society by horseracing.

A letter printed in the local newspapers of 20th November 1886 will strike a chord with those who today still trumpet despair more loudly than they should.

“Dear Sir,

What may I ask has become of the movement to promote Irish manufacture? I fear there is a great agitation for its encouragement about which we heard so much a few years ago has ended in nothing more substantial than smoke. At present you may see in most of the patriotic drapers shops in Athy made up suits of English shoddy which I regret to say is patronised while tailors (second to none) have not enough to do and while excellent tweeds etc. of Irish manufacture may have procured at the very lowest prices. No wonder indeed that this and other towns should be decaying swiftly while local artisans and labourers are thus ignored.”

I finish this week with an account of amateur theatricals in Athy in November 1886 which was reported under the heading “Athy Amateur Negro Minstrels”.

“This troop of amateurs appeared in the Town Hall on Monday and Tuesday last, were very well patronised. The performance on Monday night consisted of a choice selection of music, witty conundrums and Negro sayings in which Mr. Woods as “Tambo” and Roberts as “Bones” proved themselves amateurs of the first water. The performance of Mr. Gibney on the violin and glassettes was capital and received well merited applause, but the stump speech of Mr. John Coleman was the great event of the evening and convults the house with laughter. The dancing of Mr. Kelly was admirable. The performance concluded with the laughable farce of the “Vulcan Van or Black Justice” in which Messrs. McDonald, Woods, Campbell, Heart, Roberts and May acquitted themselves in the manner that evoked loud applause.”

Athy of the 1880’s seemed a very interesting place!

Kilkea Castle

Kilkea Castle, built in 1181, remains the oldest continuously inhabited castle on this island. It was built for Sir Walter de Riddlesford, a Norman knight who arrived in Ireland as part of the Anglo Norman invasion of 1169. In those early medieval days a castle such as Kilkea was primarily a fortress. Located in the middle of occupied territory it housed a garrison and as such was the focal point for military rule of the south Kildare area. The first building at Kilkea was probably of the motte and bailey type. The motte was an earthen mound, conical in shape and the bailey was a level area around the motte, both of which would have had a wooden stockade surrounding. The original occupiers of Kilkea Castle, the Riddlesford family, died out in the third generation and when a grand-daughter of Sir Walter married Maurice FitzMaurice Fitzgerald, third Baron of Offaly, Kilkea passed to the Fitzgerald family. The castle was leased during the final years of the 17th century and for the entirety of the following century but was otherwise occupied by the Fitzgerald family until it was sold at auction in 1958.

The castle consists of a group of buildings which over time were added to. Two drawings from the early nineteenth century suggest the jumble of buildings that existed at the site. The three central buildings are the large central block stretching from the south-east tower to the north-west tower, the paired barrel vaults at the south-west, and the main gatehouse to the north. These individual buildings are more apparent in the drawing of the castle before its restoration in 1849. The chronology of construction at the site is difficult to gauge. The ‘keep’ like structure at the south-west appears to have been a distinct structure before it was linked to the central block by a chamber placed at its northern end. The general wall thickness of the north wall would suggest that it was a free standing structure. The gatehouse may have been an independent structure such as the ‘keep’ and it is likely that it was only in the fifteenth century when the site underwent large scale alteration that the three buildings were integrated.

The earliest reference to the site was when the King was in possession of the manor and castle of Kilkea in 1373. The first detailed record of buildings at the site appears in the dower of Anastacia Wogan in 1417 which refers to a variety of structures at the site including the ‘white tower’ a kitchen, bakehouse, prison, chapel and the gates of Kilkea. Despite the fourteenth century reference there are no features visible at the present day Kilkea Castle which can be dated before the fifteenth century.

The paired vaults in the south-western side of the site probably date to the fifteenth century. Similar paired vaults are found at Rheban Castle. The cross bow loops in the south wall are similar to an example in the west wall of Whites Castle and may be dated to the fifteenth century. The gunports in the south and east walls of the structure adjoining the later gatehouse suggest a late fifteen century date. The inverted key hole form of gunport first appeared in England in the mid 1370’s at Southampton. The Kilkea examples have the inverted key hole with a cross shape on the vertical slit for the use of a crossbow. There is no secure dating scheme for gun ports due to the stagnation of ideas in the fifteenth century in England which meant that these forms of gunports persisted from the late fourteenth to the late fifteenth century.

The late Hayes-McCoy indicates that the Earl of Kildare received a present of six hand guns from Germany in 1487. The refurbishment of the Castle which is supposed to have taken place in 1426 may have included the insertion of the gunports but only a general date in the fifteenth century can be suggested for them.

The carving on the south wall of the gatehouse is a representation of a human figure being assailed by three different animal type figures. A twelfth century date has been suggested for the carving, but it is more likely to date to the fifteenth century.

The buildings at Kilkea while they might be of an earlier date can only be confidently assigned to the fifteenth century by virtue of the features that are visible. Kilkea Castle was a sizable building to be built in the fifteenth century when the tower house was becoming the accepted form in the Irish countryside. Like Cahir Castle it may be an unusual example of large scale construction in the fifteenth century or alternatively it could be the result of a large scale alteration and renovation of earlier buildings.

Some of the more interesting occupants of Kilkea Castle included the 11th Earl of Kildare, commonly known as the Wizard Earl. He was the son of Silken Thomas and as a result of being educated in Italy he came to be reognised as a dabbler in the occult arts. Stories and legends developed around the Earl who lived at Kilkea Castle. The most commonly heard legend relates to how the Wizard Earl lies in a deep sleep in Mullaghmast from where every seven years he makes a midnight horseride to Kilkea Castle. If ever you meet him it is said that the Earl will be recognised by the silver shoes his horse will be wearing!

The other interesting tenant of Kilkea Castle was Thomas Reynolds who was reputedly a cousin of the famous English painter Joshua Reynolds. Reynolds was a Dublin-based silk merchant who took a lease of Kilkea Castle in 1797. His wife was Anne Witherington, the daughter of a wool merchant, another of whose daughters was married to Wolfe Tone, leader of the United Irishmen. Reynolds joined the movement and no doubt on account of his family connections with Tone, was appointed Colonel of the Kildare men. He attended a number of meetings of the United Irishmen in South Kildare and in the town of Athy and indeed was a familiar figure in the town, even at the events of 1798 were unfolding. What the local United Irishmen did not know was that Thomas Reynolds was a Government informer who was passing information on to Dublin Castle. Inevitably the information proved fatal insofar as the plans for an insurrection in South Kildare was concerned. Reynolds was later the subject of a two volume biography written by his son who sought to show, successfully it must be said, that his father was not an informer.

An ongoing controversy is that relating to the large cut stone table referred to as the ‘rent table’ which up to fifteen or so years ago stood in the grounds of Kilkea Castle. The then owner prior to the sale of the Castle sought to remove the ‘rent table’ which would seem to have originally come from the grounds of Maynooth Castle where it was used when collecting rents from the tenants of the Fitzgerald estates. The table bears the date 1533 but its authenticity is however still subject to verification. In any event the attempt to remove the table from the grounds of Kilkea Castle resulted in Court action and the partly dismantled stone table was seized by the Gardai. Strange to relate it remains to this day in the basement of the Garda Station in Carlow, no doubt waiting for the Wizard Earl to reclaim it on behalf of the Fitzgerald family!

World War I and South Kildare

On Sunday, 10th November, a short ceremony will take place in St. Michael’s Cemetery at 3.00 o’clock in the afternoon. Its purpose will be to remember those local men who died in World War I on what will be the 84th anniversary of the end of that war.

There is no truly accurate account of the worldwide casualties suffered during the conflict which started in August 1914 and ended in November 1918. The number of men and women killed or injured will never be known as compiling records during warfare was understandably never easy. The best records available to us indicate that in excess of 8½ million men were killed in action or died of wounds or gas poisoning during the 52 months of the war. A staggering 21 million or so men were wounded. There was not a town or village in Ireland which did not contribute some measure of its youthful generation to the grim slaughter which was the Great War.

County Kildare suffered a loss of at least 567 men whose deaths are recorded, while the south Kildare area sustained proportionately greater losses than the rest of the county. Over the years I have often written of Athy men who died in the 1914/18 war, but it was not until this year when I visited Flanders that I came to realise the magnitude of the human slaughter which we rather oddly refer to as The Great War. There was nothing great about the war cemeteries which pitted the Flanders landscape with stone memorials to the dead. The regularity with which one came across war cemeteries was frankly upsetting, while the small Commonwealth grave markers over each grave bore testimony to the sad and awesome harvest of death reaped during the war.

Following the war, here and there throughout Ireland local committees compiled lists of soldiers from their area who had been killed. In Castledermot such a list was compiled, while I have in front of me a Roll in Honour of those from Longford town and county who fell in the Great War. I have mentioned in previous articles that the Urban District Council of the time agreed to compile a list of Athy men who fought in the War. The list if it was ever compiled was not published and indeed a record of the soldiers from this area who served in the War has not survived.

There were few Athy families unaffected by the War and while I have identified about 105 townsmen and a further 83 men from the Athy rural area who died in World War I, no doubt my list is incomplete. Who recalls Edward Conlon of Brackna, a private in the Leinster Regiment who died at sea on Sunday, 20th October 1918. William Corrigan, a Private in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers was another unlucky Athy man killed in the last days of the war on 14th October 1918. Alfred Coyle from Nicholastown was only 22 years old when he died from gas poisoning on 21st August, 1917. Was he any relation of Thomas Coyle of Nurney aged 28 years who was killed in action at St. Quintin in France on 25th August 1918?

The story of Andrew Delaney of Crookstown who died of gas poisoning in Netley Hospital on 31st May 1915 forms part of the World War I display in the local Heritage Centre. A married man, his body was brought home for burial in the local cemetery. He is the only World War I casualty in the Crookstown cemetery, although the former Parish Priest, Fr. Stafford, who was an army chaplain during the war is also buried there. I have been trying for a long time to get information on Fr. Stafford, and would welcome hearing from anyone who could help me. Was Andrew Delaney in any way related to William Delaney, also of Crookstown who was killed in France on 13th March 1916?

The list of names of Athy men killed in the war is like a role call of present day families in the area. Alcock, Bell, Byrne, Connell, Corcoran, Corrigan, Coyle, Cullen, Curtis, Delaney, Devoy, Dillon, Dooley. The list goes on and on, all the time recalling the local family names with which we are so well acquainted.

Earlier this year in company with teachers and students from Wellington College, New Zealand I visited war graves and battle sites in France and Flanders. On looking over the names of the war dead from Athy and district I was intrigued to find one man who had enlisted in the First Battalion of the Wellington Regiment from New Zealand. He was Gilbert Kelly known to his friends as Bertie who was killed in action on 25th September 1916. He was from Ballintubbert and being a Kelly was quite possibly a descendent of Rev. Thomas Kelly who founded the Kellyites in the early years of the 19th century. Bertie Kelly had emigrated to New Zealand but even there he could not avoid the conflict which was raging in Europe. The chances of war in all probability brought him into contact with other men from his hometown of Athy. It was the Battle of the Somme which ultimately claimed Kelly’s life as it did so many others whose early years had been spent in the fields around south Kildare.

Last week I mentioned the Memorial which hopefully will soon be erected by the Town Council to commemorate the townspeoples’ part in the 1798 Rebellion. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful gesture if the Council erected a Memorial to the generation of Athy men who over 80 years ago lost their lives in World War I. It would be a timely gesture and one which would go some way to redressing the awfully sad way in which mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters felt compelled to mourn in private their loved ones who were for so long written out of Irish history.

I can recall it was nine years ago that Athy Museum Society hosted a seminar in the Town Hall on World War I, with particular reference to its impact on County Kildare. It was probably the first time that an Irish provincial town had commemorated its World War dead in that way. Kevin Myers of the Irish Times said at the time “it does no disservice to our nation or what we believe in that we should remember the World War I dead here today”. How right he was and how right it is that we should not forget the men whose last view of Athy was from a train pulling out of the railway station on the first leg of a journey which would end in a foreign grave.

Next Sunday at 3.00pm some of us will gather in St. Michael’s cemetery to remember the young men who lost their lives in World War I. I hope you can join us.

Letters to Duke of Leinster concerning 1798 activities in Athy

Athy Urban District Council, as it was then called, commissioned a sculpture to be erected at Woodstock Street to commemorate the townspeople’s involvement in the 1798 Rebellion. I gather this sculpture has been completed but there is still no sign of it being displayed near to where a number of local men were hanged over 200 years ago.

During the 200th anniversary commemoration of the 1798 Rebellion many books were published in the North and South of this island, outlining the part played by local communities in the events of that period. The interest generated by these publications was gratifying and this has led to an amount of new information coming into the public domain for the first time.

An interesting cache of letters belonging to William the 2nd Duke of Leinster were acquired by the National Library about two years ago and amongst them were a number relating to Athy. Several local men wrote to the Duke at different times during 1798 and amongst them were Nicholas Ashe, Sovereign of Athy and the infamous Thomas J. Rawson of Glassealy, Athy.

Nicholas Ashe was an interesting character who operated a classical school for boarders in the town. By all accounts, he appears to have been a fair minded individual and a man who did his utmost to maintain peace in Athy. As the Sovereign he exercised some judicial functions but in doing so he fell foul of a number of his fellow loyalists as the following letter which he wrote to the Duke of Leinster on 17th April 1798 explains.

“The indictment of the solder against Conolon and Malone one of your Graces yeomen was quashed. This prevented the exposition of a wretch - who strove to take away the lives of two innocent men - for five guinea’s Blood Money.

I am sorry to add - a Clergyman - was averse to bailing them - tho’ every shadow of imputed guilt was cleared by the inconsistency and prevarication of the Soldiers’ testimony - the bills were thrown out by a shameful interference - had they been found I would have proved a perjury of a most dangerous and bloody tendency ……… I have since been very anxious to get the Soldiers off the town. An opportunity occurred on the Cork being removed by the Kings county. The Capt. expressed a wish to have his men in barracks - I immediately filled up the under part of the Session House - and in five days had an excellent barrack for one hundred men - which took off the town a tax of five hundred and brought in an advantage of three thousand expenditure. This A. Weldon himself cou’d not dispute the advantage, both to town and army - yet he and his party opposed it to the utmost and I with difficulty established it ……… The inhabitants offered to repay my expenses. To this I cou’d not submit to secure the barrack I offered to erect four large sheds and finished one - together with some paling to enclose a yard. But the interference of the party saved me the experience. One hundred and sixteen men are already accommodated. But have this instant received a note from Col. Campbell to provide Quarters for two hundred additional men to come in next Friday. Rawson has been addressed by a party calling themselves the Loyal Protestant Corporation of Athy to memorial Government for a Corps of Infantry. In consequence a number of Protestant boys came headed by Redshaw, to demand their freedom. They knew I refused Weldon Molony - therefore it was more impertinence. They were clamorous and your Grace may suppose I was resolute - Rawson wished to get my signature - and insinuated that it wou’d be dangerous to wait ‘til your Grace cou’d be consulted - It was extreme impudence to expect, I wou’d sign a Corporation Memorial without your advice or that I wou’d sanction the formation of a Corps to exclude our Catholic Brethern. I left them to themselves yesterday, Rawson show’d me the Memorial - it is sufficient to say, he drew it up himself - I saw a curious list of names annexed - I asked Capt. Thomas James Rawson who wou’d be Lieutenants. He cou’d not tell but I hear Ben Braddell first on the List. I hope the second contest shall be between Ben Willcock and Ben Redshaw. At my last Court I proved by testimony of both that Redshaw pointing at me, declared I was a papist at heart, and shou’d soon be counted out - I thought the expression deserved reprehension particularly as some people suspect an Orange Lodge in the town.”

Ashe’s letter gives an interesting insight into the local politics of the time.

The prime mover in the formation of a Loyalist Militia in the town was Thomas Rawson who was himself apparently in a spot of bother as indicated in his letter to the Duke of Leinster of 13 April 1799. The letter written by Rawson when forwarding the Grand Jury Presentments mentioned that the Duke had expressed doubts of some of the town Burgesses and had called on Rawson to resign. This undoubtedly resulted from complaints from the likes of Thomas Fitzgerald of Geraldine, a relation of the Duke who referred to Rawson as the “offal of a dunghill”. Rawson in defending himself to the Duke against the charge of seeking Grand Jury funds to build a house on the bridge of Athy gave the following account.

“The history of any and every barrier in the town of Athy is simply this and the truth can be proved by thousands. When Campbell commanded this garrison he caused barriers of hogsheads, sods and earth to be made on the different approaches and on the centre of the bridge - he was ordered to evacuate the town and it was left for a long time to the sole protection of the yeomanry - weak and threatened as the town then was a large body of rebels having the next night approached within 100 perches of it, I considered it absolutely necessary to put up temporary gates and a paling, at an expense of upwards of £50 out of my pocket - the town was protected. In November last Capt. Nicholson and a company of the Cork City Militia were sent here, he saw the sod work going to decay, he applied to General Dundas, and by the Generals special directions [the inhabitants at large having subscribed a larger sum] strong walls of lime and stone were added to my gates - two large piers and a strong wall and platform were erected on the centre of the bridge under the direction of Capt. Nicholson. In the beginning of May last Gen. Dundas inspected the Athy Inf. New made pikes had been recently found in the back house of a rebel Capt. of the town, several new schemes of insurrection were discovered, for which many have been since convicted by Court Martial - the large house in the Market Square was occupied by a noted rebel from the county of Carlow, and it appearing to the General that the Barrier on the bridge could be commanded from the house, he was pleased to approve of the building a second wall to cover the men - I neglected it for some time - on the account arriving, that a French fleet was out, and destined for this country, I concluded that the town, would as before, be left to the yeomanry. In a hurry I had temporary walls ran up, merely doubling the former barrier, and recollecting that for four months last summer we had lain on the flag way on the bridge, in the open air with stones for our pillows - I covered the walls with a temporary skid of boards which are not even nailed on .

His detailed explanation gives us, for the first time, a sense of the danger and anxiety experienced by the townspeople during the 1798 Rebellion and the measures which were taken to protect the town.

I started off this article by referring to the 1798 memorial which remains to be erected in Athy, even though it has been ready for some years. Perhaps the Town Council will ensure that the Memorial is in place before the national commemoration for Emmet’s Rising of 1803 comes around.

Nicholas Grey 1798 Rebel / War of Independencde and Civil War Incidents in South Kildare

I attended a number of lectures organised by the County Kildare Federation of Local History Societies last weekend. One of the lectures dealt with the Emmet Rebellion of 1803 and the part played by men from our county in that debacle. Athy’s contribution to Emmet’s attempt to overthrow English rule in Ireland was minuscule, even if the man appointed by Emmet to be overall leader of the county’s rebels was based in the south of the county. He was Nicholas Gray, an attorney originally from county Wexford who in 1803 was living in Rockfield House on the outskirts of Athy. Gray played little or no part in the events of July 1803 and in that regard mirrored what may have been his contribution during the 1798 Rebellion. Richard Madden in his history of the United Irishmen writing of the Battle of Ross described how General Bagenal Harvey “and his aide de camp Mr. Gray, Protestant Attorney, remained upon a neighbouring hill, inactive spectators during ten hours incessant fighting”.

Gray, appointed as General in command of County Kildare by Robert Emmet was expected to march at the head of the Kildare rebels into Dublin when the rebellion broke out. He set out from Athy with his man servant and proceeded as far as Johnstown from where he turned around and came back to Athy. The failure of the Kildare men to respond in sufficient numbers to the call to arms might perhaps be excused on account of Emmet’s inadequate planning and the insufficiency of arms for those expected to participate. For whatever reason Gray felt it appropriate to abandon his responsibilities and the so called `Emmet Rebellion` petered out.

While listening to Seamus Cullen’s lecture I was prompted to think of the men and women from the county who played a part in the War of Independence and the subsequent Civil War. Some weeks ago I wrote briefly of some of the activities of the Carlow/Kildare Brigade in the south Kildare region. It is a topic I hope to return to again if for no better reason than to reduce to print whatever information on the events of those days is known to the generation which followed.

I have before me a sheet of headed notepaper printed “Oglaigh na h’Eireann” with the partly printed address “5th Battalion Head Quarters, Carlow Brigade, Military Barracks, Athy.” The sheet contains a manuscript letter signed by Thomas Finn Commandant and the date 8th July 1922 indicates that the letter was written three months after the anti-treaty forces under Rory O’Connor established their headquarters in the Four Courts, Dublin. Thomas Finn who was from Ballinabarna, Kilmead had been a captain in the Irish Republican Army during the War of Independence.

Another sheet of paper before me, this time a photocopy of a newspaper extract is headed “Court-martial results” and was taken from the Leinster Leader of 21st May 1921. It reads, “Michael Duffy, Poplar Hall, Inchaquire, Co. Kildare. On 25th October 1920 his premises were searched and in a stable a packet of seditious papers were found. These were :- copy of An Toglagh dated 15th August 1920; instructions from Brigade Adjutant IRA and letter from O.C. Carlow Brigade containing appointment of Mr. Duffy as O.C.E. company. In a trough 19 rounds of revolver ammunition and five 12 bore cartridges were found. Accused’s defence was that the trough in which the ammunition was found was outside Poplar Hall and was accessible from the outside. He was found not guilty of having ammunition but was sentenced to two years with hard labour.”

Michael Duffy was one of the small number of men chosen by Eamon de Valera to be officers in the National Army when Fianna Fail went into government for the first time in 1932. De Valera feared that the Army might not look too favorably on the defeat of the outgoing government and immediately sought to draft into the army a number of handpicked followers to bolster support for his government. Michael Duffy entered with the rank of Captain and so far as I can find out his army career was spent as a recruiting officer.

During the Civil War the area around Baltinglass was the centre of much activity and that activity spilled over into the Castledermot area with harrowing results. On 16th June 1922 Thomas Dunne of Carlow Gate, Castledermot, a member of the irregulars or anti-treaty side was killed. Less than three weeks later another two members of the irregulars were killed in action in Castledermot. They were Laurence Sweeney of Stillorgan, Co. Dublin and Sylvester Shepperd of Monasterevin, both of whom died on 5th July 1922. I have an extract from a newspaper which is undated but of some age with a photograph of volunteer Sylvester Shepperd over a report that “on Sunday at 3.00 o’clock a stone will be unveiled at Monasterevin to the memory of Sylvester Shepperd, IRA who was killed in action at Castledermot, Co. Kildare on July 4th 1922.” The best information available to me however indicates that Shepperd and his companion were killed on 5th July.

Another ambush which I have heard of, but as yet cannot get any information on, is reputed to have taken place on the Levitstown/Kilkea road. I am told that on the roadside there was a memorial erected to the memory of those involved but a recent inspection of the site shows no such memorial. There were clues that a memorial of some sort was there at one time, but to what or whom I cannot say. My informant told me that a number of IRA men raided a local big house for arms and afterwards walked along the railway track towards Levitstown. They were accosted on the Levitstown/Kilkea road, with what result I cannot say. I would welcome any information in relation to this incident.

Some years ago an interviewee referred to an ambush at Maganey but had no information as to when it occurred or who was involved. Was it by any chance the same event as believed to have occurred on the Levitstown to Kilkea road? Maganey did figure in a tragic accident involving an IRA officer but that was after peace had been restored to Ireland. Tommy O’Connell was Commandant of the IRA Brigade located in Carlow town and was responsible for organising the Carlow Brigade Flying Column. O’Connell died tragically in a road traffic accident at Maganey after his car had a tyre blowout causing his vehicle to overturn.

The O’Rahilly who died during the 1916 Insurrection visited Athy and delivered a splendid speech in the Town Hall on 9th May 1914 following which the Irish Volunteers were formed in the town. Thomas McDonagh, poet and author, another man to die following the 1916 Insurrection also addressed the Irish Volunteers in Athy. The Volunteers were formed in Ballitore on 7th August 1914, just days after the start of World War I and at a time when many men from that area and other parts of South Kildare were enlisting to fight in France and Flanders.

It would be wrong to presume that men who enlisted in the British Army and those who stayed behind and subsequently joined the National struggle for independence constituted two separate and distinct strands of Irish society. Despite the formation of the Volunteers in Athy and Ballitore in 1914 there was not then a clear consensus as to Ireland’s future whether as an independent state or as a member of the British empire. Those who fought for independence chose the path which differed initially at least from that of the majority of the population but in time the majority view changed. The Sinn Fein election successes of 1917 marked a watershed in the changing attitudes of Irish people. The likes of John Finn of Ballinabarna, Paddy Fleming of The Swan and Michael Duffy of Inchaquire made a major contribution to the course of Irish history but so did those unfortunate local men who died in foreign battles during World War I.

Our history is full of such contradictions but all of us who have benefited from the sacrifices made by men and women of an earlier generation have an obligation to acquaint ourselves with the lessons of the past. For that reason I would like to hear from anyone who can help me fill in the missing pieces regarding the Volunteer movement in South Kildare during the years 1914 - 1923.