I was reminded of the power and universality of music when attending Mass in Leighton Buzzard, an English town in Bedfordshire last weekend. Rev. Thomas Kelly, a native of Ballintubbert, Athy, who died in 1855 left us a huge number of Church hymns, one of which broke pleasantly into life as the small congregation sang Kelly’s “The head that once was crowned with thorns”. The Little Church of the Sacred Heart, tucked neatly and unobtrusively behind a row of terraced houses in the small English town, echoed to words and music which no doubt were often heard in the Kellyite Meeting House in Duke Street during Kelly’s lifetime.
The beautiful narrow boats, moored on the Grand Union Canal, which cuts through Leighton Buzzard and neighbouring Linslade, were another reminder of my home town where the Grand Canal, like its English counterpart, helped to transform a once quiet country town. I have no reason to believe that Rev. Thomas Kelly ever set foot in this small town in Bedfordshire, where last Sunday, some of the locals were offering up their Sabbath tribute using the words of the man who often preached from the pulpit of St. Michael’s Anglican Church in Athy.
Later that day, I stopped off at a local country pub a few miles outside Aylesbury, another town on the Grand Union Canal, immortalised as the home of the “Aylesbury Duck”. The “Wool Pack” was the name of the Inn, which, in the best English Landlord tradition, offered a good substantial meal, as well as liquid refreshment, for the weary traveller. The name Wool Pack is of course a reference to the wool trade, which for centuries was the mainstay of English rural prosperity. The process of converting the wool from fleece into cloth varied little over the centuries. Fleece was graded and packed into wool sacks which were of a regulated size. Each wool sack was suspended from a roof beam and two wool packers were employed to stand into the huge wool sack using their feet to tread down each layer of fleece. When filled, the packers stepped out backwards, sewing up the sacks which was then marked ready to be carted away. The name Wool Pack generally referred to the barn where this activity was carried out. I am reminded that in Wolfhill there is a pub with the name “The Wolf Pack”, perhaps a corruption of the better known Wool Pack, but maybe also a reference to the placename Wolfhill, once a woodland countryside where wolves proliferated in the early middle ages.
Later that day I met an interesting man fast approaching his 82nd year whose late brother was the first Australian Ambassador to Ireland. John Roberthaun, a book publisher now retired, travelled on bicycle from what he referred to as “Londonderry” to Cork in the Summer of 1936. He passed through the Irish midlands on undulating roads with little or no motorised traffic. The colourful scenery made a lasting impression on the young man, who almost 60 years later still recalls the green swarth which cloaked the countryside and the abundant hedgerows which traversed the countryside in what Dick Warner would refer to as “corridors of wilderness”.
Approaching Athy from the Dublin direction he cycled over the railway bridge, where the steam train passed under as it travelled twice daily to and from Dublin with its multi-class passengers. This was the age of the second and third class passengers who shared nothing in common with the first class passengers but the engine which pulled their carriages. A foreign visitor on bicycle was an unusual sight in Athy of the 1930’s and no doubt he aroused the curiosity of the locals as he dismounted at McGrath’s Tea Rooms in Leinster Street, to partake of dinner consisting of bacon, cabbage and potatoes.
Whites Castle in the centre of the town “at the foot of the bridge” and the Town Hall in Emily Square, are the only local buildings John Roberthaun recalled from that short visit so many years ago. The Irish countryside made an indelible impression on the young visitor which the intervening years have not tended to dull. He regrets never having the opportunity to retrace his youthful journey.
Earlier that morning in the same Church where I heard Thomas Kelly’s hymn, the Parish Priest conducted a Mass service which was a rare treat. He communicated with his small congregation in a way which was endearing and captivating, embracing visitors and locals alike in the camaraderie and warmth of a service which was uplifting and appealing. When I spoke to him later to discover that he was an Anglican-born convert or revert to Catholicism, I could not help drawing comparisons with Thomas Kelly, the Anglican, who left the Church of England to found his own religious sect.
I wondered did he ever imagine that 140 years after his own death, his hymns would continue to find a place in Catholic as well as Anglican worship throughout the English speaking world? Last Sunday I recalled an earlier visit to Kelly’s last resting place in Ballintubbert, Co. Laois and acknowledged that no matter where we may travel there is always someone, some place or something to remind us of our own place. Such was my experience last weekend in Leighton Buzzard.
Friday, October 27, 1995
Friday, October 20, 1995
Guide Books on Athy and their Advertisements
Old guide books on Athy give a wealth of information on past business life in the town, and comparisons show how much the town has changed in the intervening years. The Annals of Athy compiled by Michael Malone, a former Chairman of the Urban Council, which appeared in the early 1930’s was the first guide book produced for the town. In it, the Leinster Arms Hotel Company Limited took a full page advertisement which extolled its qualities as a “First Class Family and Commercial Hotel, fully licensed with free garage”. Another full-page advertisement accompanied by a photograph was for Murphy’s Commercial House, a general drapery and boot and shoe warehouse, where furniture, bedding, Irish tweeds and linens were sold. Murphy’s is long gone, as is J. Hutchinson, Electrical Contractor of Leinster Street who advised his customers that he was “an expert in wiring business houses and private dwellings for electric light”. He gave his address in Leinster Street as the “Central Hotel”, which is now the location of Bradbury’s restaurant.
Industrial Vehicles (Ireland) Limited, manufacturers of the “Universal” Tractor Trailer and main Fordson Tractor Dealers, promised service and satisfaction and a guarantee that “repairs to tractors, trailers, lorries and cars would be expeditiously carried out by qualified mechanics.” Further on in the Annals we find the Hibernian Hotel of Leinster Street, owned by Mrs. Lawlor, advertising moderate terms for its centrally situated accommodation “Close to Railway Station, Buses pass the door”. Michael Lawlor of the same family advertised as a Family Grocer, Tea, Wine and Provision Merchant.
All are now gone, as is W.S. Cross, Plumber and Domestic Engineer of Duke Street whose advertisement was next to that of F.J. Darling’s Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Hairdressing Saloons of 28 Leinster Street, and Jackson Bros. General Merchants and Automobile and Electrical Engineers of 58 Leinster Street. St. John Jeweller, Athy, advertised a full range of wedding and birthday gifts with watches, artistic jewellery, silver broaches and fountain pens while Duthie Large & Co. Ltd. were automobile and agricultural engineers with a Ford Motor Company agency. Others who advertised in the Annals included Thomas L. Flood, a Family Grocer, Spirit and Provision Merchant in the Railway Hotel, Leinster Street who specialised in fifteen-year old whiskey and Purcell Bros. who carried on business in William Street, as well as Market Square, Maryboro. D. & J. Carbery Building Contractors paid particular attention to house repairs and sanitary alterations and had Joinery Works in Athy and Carlow.
These businesses are no longer to be found in Athy and of the advertisers in the Annals over 60 years ago only two businesses survive, Shaw & Sons and McHugh’s Pharmacy.
Many years later, “Athy Official Guide” was published with the approval of Athy Urban District Council. I can only hazard a guess that it was printed in the mid-1950’s, as unfortunately there is no publication date on the booklet itself. Of the businesses which advertised in the Annals 25 years previously only D.P. McHugh, Dispensing Chemist, Duthie Large Ltd. and Shaw & Sons Ltd. were again to be found. Those advertising for the first time included Carlow Kildare Livestock Ltd. which held monthly sales in Athy, Carlow and Bagenalstown, and Michael Cunningham of William Street a Tea, Wine, Spirit and Provision Merchant. W. T. Duthie, Watchmaker and Jeweller offered guaranteed repairs, gramophone records, musical instruments, engagement and wedding rings, crest of Athy souvenir goods and fishing tackle. Located at 30 Leinster Street, the business was established in 1905 and happily is still occupying a commanding position on the principal street of the town. The Kildare County Show was advertised as the event of the year scheduled for the second week of July with the largest Industrial Exhibition outside Dublin and Cork Shows.
O’Rourke-Glynn Stores offered souvenirs of Athy and urged all to “make a habit of visiting our Gents Hairdressing Saloon”. M. O’Connor of Leinster Street advertised Helena Rubinstein Real Silk Face Powder with the claim, “You’ll never be lovelier”. Maxwells Garage Duke Street, Athy, was the simple message of the advertisement which marked the entry of one of the few businesses still operating in the town. Nolan’s General Drapers of Duke Street, specialists in Ladies and Gents outfitting, is now long gone as are Doyle Brothers Ltd., Hardwaremen, Fuel Merchants and Electrical Contractors. The biggest loss to the town was undoubtedly that of the final advertiser in the Guide Book of 40 years ago. Bowaters Irish Wallboard Mills Ltd. informed the readers :
“New plant and machinery at the Mills have sent production figures up and up. Soon the output will reach 50 million square feet of hardboard per year. For house, factory, or farm, Bowater Board has 101 uses and is available from your local stockists.”
Many of us will recall the advertisers of yesteryear, who are no longer part of the business life of Athy. That there has been so many changes in the years since the publication of the Annals of Athy and the later publication of the Official Guide to Athy is not unexpected. The constant movement of people in and out of the town is a perennial experience and the changing names over local businesses must be a reminder to us of the importance of the written record in preserving the history of our own place.
Industrial Vehicles (Ireland) Limited, manufacturers of the “Universal” Tractor Trailer and main Fordson Tractor Dealers, promised service and satisfaction and a guarantee that “repairs to tractors, trailers, lorries and cars would be expeditiously carried out by qualified mechanics.” Further on in the Annals we find the Hibernian Hotel of Leinster Street, owned by Mrs. Lawlor, advertising moderate terms for its centrally situated accommodation “Close to Railway Station, Buses pass the door”. Michael Lawlor of the same family advertised as a Family Grocer, Tea, Wine and Provision Merchant.
All are now gone, as is W.S. Cross, Plumber and Domestic Engineer of Duke Street whose advertisement was next to that of F.J. Darling’s Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Hairdressing Saloons of 28 Leinster Street, and Jackson Bros. General Merchants and Automobile and Electrical Engineers of 58 Leinster Street. St. John Jeweller, Athy, advertised a full range of wedding and birthday gifts with watches, artistic jewellery, silver broaches and fountain pens while Duthie Large & Co. Ltd. were automobile and agricultural engineers with a Ford Motor Company agency. Others who advertised in the Annals included Thomas L. Flood, a Family Grocer, Spirit and Provision Merchant in the Railway Hotel, Leinster Street who specialised in fifteen-year old whiskey and Purcell Bros. who carried on business in William Street, as well as Market Square, Maryboro. D. & J. Carbery Building Contractors paid particular attention to house repairs and sanitary alterations and had Joinery Works in Athy and Carlow.
These businesses are no longer to be found in Athy and of the advertisers in the Annals over 60 years ago only two businesses survive, Shaw & Sons and McHugh’s Pharmacy.
Many years later, “Athy Official Guide” was published with the approval of Athy Urban District Council. I can only hazard a guess that it was printed in the mid-1950’s, as unfortunately there is no publication date on the booklet itself. Of the businesses which advertised in the Annals 25 years previously only D.P. McHugh, Dispensing Chemist, Duthie Large Ltd. and Shaw & Sons Ltd. were again to be found. Those advertising for the first time included Carlow Kildare Livestock Ltd. which held monthly sales in Athy, Carlow and Bagenalstown, and Michael Cunningham of William Street a Tea, Wine, Spirit and Provision Merchant. W. T. Duthie, Watchmaker and Jeweller offered guaranteed repairs, gramophone records, musical instruments, engagement and wedding rings, crest of Athy souvenir goods and fishing tackle. Located at 30 Leinster Street, the business was established in 1905 and happily is still occupying a commanding position on the principal street of the town. The Kildare County Show was advertised as the event of the year scheduled for the second week of July with the largest Industrial Exhibition outside Dublin and Cork Shows.
O’Rourke-Glynn Stores offered souvenirs of Athy and urged all to “make a habit of visiting our Gents Hairdressing Saloon”. M. O’Connor of Leinster Street advertised Helena Rubinstein Real Silk Face Powder with the claim, “You’ll never be lovelier”. Maxwells Garage Duke Street, Athy, was the simple message of the advertisement which marked the entry of one of the few businesses still operating in the town. Nolan’s General Drapers of Duke Street, specialists in Ladies and Gents outfitting, is now long gone as are Doyle Brothers Ltd., Hardwaremen, Fuel Merchants and Electrical Contractors. The biggest loss to the town was undoubtedly that of the final advertiser in the Guide Book of 40 years ago. Bowaters Irish Wallboard Mills Ltd. informed the readers :
“New plant and machinery at the Mills have sent production figures up and up. Soon the output will reach 50 million square feet of hardboard per year. For house, factory, or farm, Bowater Board has 101 uses and is available from your local stockists.”
Many of us will recall the advertisers of yesteryear, who are no longer part of the business life of Athy. That there has been so many changes in the years since the publication of the Annals of Athy and the later publication of the Official Guide to Athy is not unexpected. The constant movement of people in and out of the town is a perennial experience and the changing names over local businesses must be a reminder to us of the importance of the written record in preserving the history of our own place.
Friday, October 13, 1995
Famine
The Great Famine Exhibition continues in the local Town Hall, showing a number of interesting artefacts relating to that terrible time in our history. The mock-up Soup Kitchen has a huge famine pot, which I understand is on loan from the Lullymore Heritage Centre, and is a direct link with the famine of 150 years ago. It prompted me to question my own knowledge and understanding of the hardships endured by the Irish following the arrival of the potato blight from North America in 1845.
Living today in the rich heartland of County Kildare, it is difficult to appreciate the suffering and deprivation endured by those unfortunate people whose main source of food was the potato. One searches in vain through the history books for any reference to famine in Athy and South Kildare. When I attended the local Christian Brothers School my knowledge of the Great Famine was confined to the dreadful happenings in Skibbereen, Schull and West Cork and in the region of Bangor Erris, Co. Mayo. Thousands of men, women and children died of starvation, disease or fever in the West of Ireland and our history books recounted in a detached but factual way the awful tragedies which visited those far-flung corners of our island.
The famine details and descriptions I read in my school days failed to arouse any deep-seated response largely because they related to people who were so far removed from my own area. My reaction, or lack or it, was no doubt typical of what occurs today when one reads of famine on another Continent. The horror of the moment eludes us and prompts no more than a temporary blimp on our conscience.
What a surprise therefore awaited me when I was asked to write a piece for a forthcoming publication on the Great Famine in County Kildare. My research produced results which prompted an immediate re-assessment of the effects of the Famine of 150 years ago on Athy and the surrounding countryside.
I was previously aware, as we all had been, of the opening of a Workhouse in the town of Athy in 1844. It has always been presumed that the Workhouse had met the demands of the poor and hungry of the locality, thereby minimising local distress and hardship during the famine. Nothing had come down to us in folk memory which would give us any idea of the nature and extent of the famine relief measures in South Kildare.
To find that 1,205 poor persons died in the local Workhouse during the Famine years and another 1,250 or so either died or left Athy in the same period, was unwelcome confirmation that our townspeople had suffered great hardships during the famine. However, the loss of life was considerably less in South Kildare than in the rural areas on the Western seaboard where there was a greater dependency on the potato crop.
Another famine fact gleaned from my research, showed that in the Athy Electoral Area, over 3,000 people received food each day from the local Soup Kitchen. The television images of Famine Relief work in Rwanda and elsewhere can help us to visualise the scenes on the streets of Athy as people gathered for the daily ration of bread and soup. How sad it is to relate that in the Ballyadams area, almost 100% of the population had recourse to the local Soup Kitchen for their daily sustenance.
Why had so much local hardship endured during the years of the Great Famine escaped our notice when we studied that period of Irish history? Why did we not know that the inmates in the local Workhouse increased at such a rate that two auxiliary Workhouses had to be opened in Barrack Street and Canal Side to accommodate the starving, helpless poor of the area? Why did we not know of the young girls from our area sent from Athy Workhouse to Australia in 1849 in a futile attempt to reduce the number of children in the local Workhouse?
The Great Famine is part of our troubled past as much as it is of those towns in the west of Ireland, where the human losses were numerically far greater than ours. The legacy of the Famine was overlooked and pushed from the collective memory in South Kildare, almost as if there was a hurried rush to bury an unpleasant experience. The full facts surrounding those dreadful times may never be fully known, but we have a responsibility to acknowledge our past, no matter how unpleasant it may be.
Perhaps it is now time for us to remember those who faced into the famine of 1845 and the succeeding years without hope, and who succumbed before the dreaded potato blight had departed. It would be an appropriate act of remembrance to commemorate in stone our famine dead with a suitable memorial in the graveyard attached to the former Workhouse. I wonder if the Eastern Health Board and the Town Council might take up the suggestion so that our once hidden past may not be entirely forgotten.
Living today in the rich heartland of County Kildare, it is difficult to appreciate the suffering and deprivation endured by those unfortunate people whose main source of food was the potato. One searches in vain through the history books for any reference to famine in Athy and South Kildare. When I attended the local Christian Brothers School my knowledge of the Great Famine was confined to the dreadful happenings in Skibbereen, Schull and West Cork and in the region of Bangor Erris, Co. Mayo. Thousands of men, women and children died of starvation, disease or fever in the West of Ireland and our history books recounted in a detached but factual way the awful tragedies which visited those far-flung corners of our island.
The famine details and descriptions I read in my school days failed to arouse any deep-seated response largely because they related to people who were so far removed from my own area. My reaction, or lack or it, was no doubt typical of what occurs today when one reads of famine on another Continent. The horror of the moment eludes us and prompts no more than a temporary blimp on our conscience.
What a surprise therefore awaited me when I was asked to write a piece for a forthcoming publication on the Great Famine in County Kildare. My research produced results which prompted an immediate re-assessment of the effects of the Famine of 150 years ago on Athy and the surrounding countryside.
I was previously aware, as we all had been, of the opening of a Workhouse in the town of Athy in 1844. It has always been presumed that the Workhouse had met the demands of the poor and hungry of the locality, thereby minimising local distress and hardship during the famine. Nothing had come down to us in folk memory which would give us any idea of the nature and extent of the famine relief measures in South Kildare.
To find that 1,205 poor persons died in the local Workhouse during the Famine years and another 1,250 or so either died or left Athy in the same period, was unwelcome confirmation that our townspeople had suffered great hardships during the famine. However, the loss of life was considerably less in South Kildare than in the rural areas on the Western seaboard where there was a greater dependency on the potato crop.
Another famine fact gleaned from my research, showed that in the Athy Electoral Area, over 3,000 people received food each day from the local Soup Kitchen. The television images of Famine Relief work in Rwanda and elsewhere can help us to visualise the scenes on the streets of Athy as people gathered for the daily ration of bread and soup. How sad it is to relate that in the Ballyadams area, almost 100% of the population had recourse to the local Soup Kitchen for their daily sustenance.
Why had so much local hardship endured during the years of the Great Famine escaped our notice when we studied that period of Irish history? Why did we not know that the inmates in the local Workhouse increased at such a rate that two auxiliary Workhouses had to be opened in Barrack Street and Canal Side to accommodate the starving, helpless poor of the area? Why did we not know of the young girls from our area sent from Athy Workhouse to Australia in 1849 in a futile attempt to reduce the number of children in the local Workhouse?
The Great Famine is part of our troubled past as much as it is of those towns in the west of Ireland, where the human losses were numerically far greater than ours. The legacy of the Famine was overlooked and pushed from the collective memory in South Kildare, almost as if there was a hurried rush to bury an unpleasant experience. The full facts surrounding those dreadful times may never be fully known, but we have a responsibility to acknowledge our past, no matter how unpleasant it may be.
Perhaps it is now time for us to remember those who faced into the famine of 1845 and the succeeding years without hope, and who succumbed before the dreaded potato blight had departed. It would be an appropriate act of remembrance to commemorate in stone our famine dead with a suitable memorial in the graveyard attached to the former Workhouse. I wonder if the Eastern Health Board and the Town Council might take up the suggestion so that our once hidden past may not be entirely forgotten.
Friday, October 6, 1995
Rheban Castle
A poem by the Bard Ferganin McKeogh celebrates the predatory excursion of Shaun O’Byrne, of Glenmalure in the 16th century when he attacked the “royal town of Caislean Rheban and gained much treasure which spread his fame”. Today, all that remains of this once important town are the fragmentary remains of Rheban Castle guarding the Ford on the Barrow near Athy as it has for many centuries. The ford was an important route not only in the medieval period but also in prehistoric times as is shown by the quantity and variety of stone axes and other prehistoric objects recovered from this crossing point during the Barrow drainage scheme in the 1920’s. From the 13th century onwards the town and castle of Rheban formed an important link in the defence of the developing county of Kildare. In 1288, the Justiciar who was the King’s representative in Ireland, spent four days in Rheban supervising the construction of defences in this dangerous and volatile border area of the country.
The castle was an important element of this defence and the earliest reference to it is from 1297 when the unfortunate Geoffrey Tauel was taken from his home near the castle and killed by three of the O’Mores of Leix.
This incident is an indication of the lawlessness prevalent in the area in the year in which Kildare was established as a county by King Edward I. Incidentally I hope that Kildare County Council will ensure that the 700th anniversary of the Lilywhite county will be suitably commemorated in two years’ time.
In 1325 Lysagh O’More captured eight castles in the area of Kildare and Laois, including Dunamaise and Rheban. Thereafter little is know of Rheban town or the castle until the 16th century when it was again subject to violent attacks by the O’Mores.
A letter to Thomas Cromwell, the Lord Privy Seal, in 1536, described both the castles of Rheban and Woodstock as “laid waste” and recommended their re-occupation and repair.
From the 13th century until the early 17th century, the castle was in the possession of the de St. Michael family, who are credited with the construction of Woodstock Castle in Athy and also the Priory of the Crouched Friars in the St. John’s area of the town.
The fortunes of the de St. Michael family waned as those of the powerful Fitzgerald family increased. Their sole property by the middle of the 16th century was the castle at Rheban.
In the 16th century, it was leased by Walter de St. Michael to Captain Thomas Lee, an English settler, for a period of 21 years. Lee was executed in 1598 for co-operating with the O’Mores of Leix in opposing the English King.
Walter de St. Michael sought the return of the lands and castle which had been confiscated by the Crown while Sir Robert Lee, the brother of Thomas Lee, petitioned to have them kept within his family. His petition was successful and in 1612 his relation, Sir Henry Lee, was in possession of Rheban Castle.
The numerous references to the castle in the 13th century do not appear to refer to the structure surviving at the site today.
The earlier castle was probably constructed from timber, a common material in use for the building of castles at the beginning of the 13th century. The earliest extant structure dates from the 15th century and consists of a pair of barrel vaults which probably supported two storeys which are now destroyed. The base of the walls of this structure were protected by a battered face and by a series of arrow loops.
The destruction and damage to the castle by the O’Mores in 1537 was made good and a large impressive three-storey structure with mullioned windows was added to the south of the then existing building. It represented the transformation of the castle from a purely defensive structure to a more comfortable residence, akin to an early country house.
However, measures for defence were still taken with the addition of a small but lofty courtyard with special loops to allow the occupants to defend the castle. After 1600 the Rheban area enjoyed an era of relative calm until the unrest caused by the competing Royalist and Cromwellian armies in the 1640’s.
During that conflict Rheban Castle, like Athy town, was garrisoned by Government troops to protect the passes into Leix. Sir Arthur Savage, a distinguished commander in Queen Elizabeth’s time and Governor of Connacht had charge of the garrison in Rheban Castle.
Despite his best efforts, the castle was burnt by the Irish Rebels in 1641. Repaired, it was garrisoned again this time under Captain Flowers who was no more successful in protecting it against the Confederates to whom he surrendered Rheban in 1646.
By the time the English Parliamentary Forces had gained control over the country in the summer
of 1652, Rheban Castle and Woodstock Castle in Athy were in ruins and were never again to be occupied. Since that time the castle has fallen into ruin. The town of Rheban itself has long disappeared and the castle is the only remains of the flourishing settlement which once existed on the banks of the River Barrow.
The castle was an important element of this defence and the earliest reference to it is from 1297 when the unfortunate Geoffrey Tauel was taken from his home near the castle and killed by three of the O’Mores of Leix.
This incident is an indication of the lawlessness prevalent in the area in the year in which Kildare was established as a county by King Edward I. Incidentally I hope that Kildare County Council will ensure that the 700th anniversary of the Lilywhite county will be suitably commemorated in two years’ time.
In 1325 Lysagh O’More captured eight castles in the area of Kildare and Laois, including Dunamaise and Rheban. Thereafter little is know of Rheban town or the castle until the 16th century when it was again subject to violent attacks by the O’Mores.
A letter to Thomas Cromwell, the Lord Privy Seal, in 1536, described both the castles of Rheban and Woodstock as “laid waste” and recommended their re-occupation and repair.
From the 13th century until the early 17th century, the castle was in the possession of the de St. Michael family, who are credited with the construction of Woodstock Castle in Athy and also the Priory of the Crouched Friars in the St. John’s area of the town.
The fortunes of the de St. Michael family waned as those of the powerful Fitzgerald family increased. Their sole property by the middle of the 16th century was the castle at Rheban.
In the 16th century, it was leased by Walter de St. Michael to Captain Thomas Lee, an English settler, for a period of 21 years. Lee was executed in 1598 for co-operating with the O’Mores of Leix in opposing the English King.
Walter de St. Michael sought the return of the lands and castle which had been confiscated by the Crown while Sir Robert Lee, the brother of Thomas Lee, petitioned to have them kept within his family. His petition was successful and in 1612 his relation, Sir Henry Lee, was in possession of Rheban Castle.
The numerous references to the castle in the 13th century do not appear to refer to the structure surviving at the site today.
The earlier castle was probably constructed from timber, a common material in use for the building of castles at the beginning of the 13th century. The earliest extant structure dates from the 15th century and consists of a pair of barrel vaults which probably supported two storeys which are now destroyed. The base of the walls of this structure were protected by a battered face and by a series of arrow loops.
The destruction and damage to the castle by the O’Mores in 1537 was made good and a large impressive three-storey structure with mullioned windows was added to the south of the then existing building. It represented the transformation of the castle from a purely defensive structure to a more comfortable residence, akin to an early country house.
However, measures for defence were still taken with the addition of a small but lofty courtyard with special loops to allow the occupants to defend the castle. After 1600 the Rheban area enjoyed an era of relative calm until the unrest caused by the competing Royalist and Cromwellian armies in the 1640’s.
During that conflict Rheban Castle, like Athy town, was garrisoned by Government troops to protect the passes into Leix. Sir Arthur Savage, a distinguished commander in Queen Elizabeth’s time and Governor of Connacht had charge of the garrison in Rheban Castle.
Despite his best efforts, the castle was burnt by the Irish Rebels in 1641. Repaired, it was garrisoned again this time under Captain Flowers who was no more successful in protecting it against the Confederates to whom he surrendered Rheban in 1646.
By the time the English Parliamentary Forces had gained control over the country in the summer
of 1652, Rheban Castle and Woodstock Castle in Athy were in ruins and were never again to be occupied. Since that time the castle has fallen into ruin. The town of Rheban itself has long disappeared and the castle is the only remains of the flourishing settlement which once existed on the banks of the River Barrow.
Friday, September 29, 1995
Local Advertisements of 1939
I came across four torn pages of the Nationalist and Leinster Times for the 11th of March 1939 last week. Fifty six years have passed since they came off the press but still they managed to inform and delight with the minutiae of Irish provincial life which unfolded as I perused the now yellowing pages.
Advertisements in those days had none of the glitzy glamour of today and relied on straight- forward appeals to the public, as in the following advertisement which appeared for Shaw’s of Athy, Maryborough and Mountmellick :
“TO MEN WHO KNOW HOW MUCH APPEARANCE MATTERS -
A TAILORED SUIT IS THE ONLY ANSWER”
The advertisement continued:
“This may sound a sweeping assertion but our wide experience
of dressing men correctly has led us to the conclusion
that only through hand craftsmanship and careful measuring
can real smartness be achieved.”
Suits to measure were to be had from 50 shillings and the men planning to attend the Cinderella Dance in the local Town Hall advertised for Thursday 16th March would have been well advised to wear Shaws’ latest pattern. Admission to the dance was 2/6, tax 3d, with music by Alex Kelly and his Revellers Band.
If the suit was not up to cavorting around the Town Hall, then you had the option of going to the local cinema. Athy Picture Palace in Offaly Street had three shows on Sundays, a matinee at 3.00 o’clock and further shows at 6.15 p.m. and 8.45 p.m. The double feature programme advertised for the following Sunday was “St. Martin’s Lane” starring Charles Laughton and “Oh Boy” featuring Albert Burdon and Mary Lawson. The main feature film was described as “a romantic comedy with pathos set against the hurrying and scurrying background of the world’s greatest city, London’s Theatre Land with all its music, spectacle, hopes and heartbreaks.” The programme was repeated at 8.30 p.m. on Monday with a change of programme for Tuesday and Wednesday nights when “Break The News” with James Knight was on offer. On Thursday and Friday “The Emperor’s Candle Stick” came to town with a matinee on Friday afternoon. There was no mention of any programme for Saturday night, which might indicate the public’s preference for a more liquid form of pleasure on that night.
In case the local Picture Palace was not to your liking, you could always cycle out to Castledermot where the Castle Cinema was scheduled to open on St. Patrick’s Day 1939 with Raymond Navarro in “The Sheik Steps Out”. The Abbey Pavilion, we were told in a separate news item, had been enlarged and remodelled as a cinema in which there was comfortable seating for about 500. Admission prices for Athy’s Picture Palace were not stated, but in Castledermot they ranged from 1/4 to 1/8, with childrens Matinee prices at 4d. and 8d.
The election of Pope Pius XII was the subject of the papers Editorial, in which reference was made to the new breed of absolute nationalism then prevalent in Germany. The unfortunate Editor then unburdened himself of the following :
“Most of the howling about the treatment of German Jews is dishonest propaganda and those nations that now shriek loudest for papal denunciation of all Herr Hitler’s works and pomps were those same nations that rigidly excluded the Pope and his representatives from the infamous Peace Conference of Versailles.”
“Robert O’Neil” was the title of a play billed for the Town Hall, Athy on St. Patrick’s Night. The cast was to include Ernie and Nicholas Glynn, May Glynn, Jack Kelly of William Street, John Murphy of Russelstown, John Watchorn of Fortbarrington, Mary Ward of Duke Street and some local children.
The same paper announced that Athy man Patrick O’Rourke, saddler and harness maker, Stanhope Street, had been favoured with an order from the Land Commission for the supply of all harness and saddlery equipment for the new colonies set up in North Kildare and Westmeath for migrants from the Donegal Gaeltacht.
Confirmation outfits for boys and girls were advertised by Nolans of Mountrath, Athy and Maryborough, with boys suits ranging in price from 8/11d for a tweed suit in brown herring bone cloth to 13/6d for a heavy navy suit with fancy stripe. Boys shirts were to be had for 1/3d each while a pair of rubber-soled shoes were 8/11d with heavy leather shoes priced at 13/11d.
The local Urban Council agreed to send to the Gardai a letter of complaint received from Mrs. Meehan, Chemist of Emily Square, in which she brought to their attention “the vandalism that goes on here in the Square. On two occasions quite recently I had very serious damage done to my premises. The windows were smashed by stones and the actual woodwork outside kicked down through sheer hooliganism.”
The pages of the local newspaper just before the outbreak of World War II clearly demonstrates, how, in some ways at least, some things never change in Athy.
Advertisements in those days had none of the glitzy glamour of today and relied on straight- forward appeals to the public, as in the following advertisement which appeared for Shaw’s of Athy, Maryborough and Mountmellick :
“TO MEN WHO KNOW HOW MUCH APPEARANCE MATTERS -
A TAILORED SUIT IS THE ONLY ANSWER”
The advertisement continued:
“This may sound a sweeping assertion but our wide experience
of dressing men correctly has led us to the conclusion
that only through hand craftsmanship and careful measuring
can real smartness be achieved.”
Suits to measure were to be had from 50 shillings and the men planning to attend the Cinderella Dance in the local Town Hall advertised for Thursday 16th March would have been well advised to wear Shaws’ latest pattern. Admission to the dance was 2/6, tax 3d, with music by Alex Kelly and his Revellers Band.
If the suit was not up to cavorting around the Town Hall, then you had the option of going to the local cinema. Athy Picture Palace in Offaly Street had three shows on Sundays, a matinee at 3.00 o’clock and further shows at 6.15 p.m. and 8.45 p.m. The double feature programme advertised for the following Sunday was “St. Martin’s Lane” starring Charles Laughton and “Oh Boy” featuring Albert Burdon and Mary Lawson. The main feature film was described as “a romantic comedy with pathos set against the hurrying and scurrying background of the world’s greatest city, London’s Theatre Land with all its music, spectacle, hopes and heartbreaks.” The programme was repeated at 8.30 p.m. on Monday with a change of programme for Tuesday and Wednesday nights when “Break The News” with James Knight was on offer. On Thursday and Friday “The Emperor’s Candle Stick” came to town with a matinee on Friday afternoon. There was no mention of any programme for Saturday night, which might indicate the public’s preference for a more liquid form of pleasure on that night.
In case the local Picture Palace was not to your liking, you could always cycle out to Castledermot where the Castle Cinema was scheduled to open on St. Patrick’s Day 1939 with Raymond Navarro in “The Sheik Steps Out”. The Abbey Pavilion, we were told in a separate news item, had been enlarged and remodelled as a cinema in which there was comfortable seating for about 500. Admission prices for Athy’s Picture Palace were not stated, but in Castledermot they ranged from 1/4 to 1/8, with childrens Matinee prices at 4d. and 8d.
The election of Pope Pius XII was the subject of the papers Editorial, in which reference was made to the new breed of absolute nationalism then prevalent in Germany. The unfortunate Editor then unburdened himself of the following :
“Most of the howling about the treatment of German Jews is dishonest propaganda and those nations that now shriek loudest for papal denunciation of all Herr Hitler’s works and pomps were those same nations that rigidly excluded the Pope and his representatives from the infamous Peace Conference of Versailles.”
“Robert O’Neil” was the title of a play billed for the Town Hall, Athy on St. Patrick’s Night. The cast was to include Ernie and Nicholas Glynn, May Glynn, Jack Kelly of William Street, John Murphy of Russelstown, John Watchorn of Fortbarrington, Mary Ward of Duke Street and some local children.
The same paper announced that Athy man Patrick O’Rourke, saddler and harness maker, Stanhope Street, had been favoured with an order from the Land Commission for the supply of all harness and saddlery equipment for the new colonies set up in North Kildare and Westmeath for migrants from the Donegal Gaeltacht.
Confirmation outfits for boys and girls were advertised by Nolans of Mountrath, Athy and Maryborough, with boys suits ranging in price from 8/11d for a tweed suit in brown herring bone cloth to 13/6d for a heavy navy suit with fancy stripe. Boys shirts were to be had for 1/3d each while a pair of rubber-soled shoes were 8/11d with heavy leather shoes priced at 13/11d.
The local Urban Council agreed to send to the Gardai a letter of complaint received from Mrs. Meehan, Chemist of Emily Square, in which she brought to their attention “the vandalism that goes on here in the Square. On two occasions quite recently I had very serious damage done to my premises. The windows were smashed by stones and the actual woodwork outside kicked down through sheer hooliganism.”
The pages of the local newspaper just before the outbreak of World War II clearly demonstrates, how, in some ways at least, some things never change in Athy.
Friday, September 22, 1995
Viking Battle Plans and Gaelic Football!
An improbable juxtaposition of medieval battles and contemporary contests of a less warlike nature crowd in on my mind this week. I am reminded that down through the generations, men, and to a lesser extent women, have sought to impose their will and might on their opponents, and not always in a friendly or cordial manner.
What reminded me of this was, firstly, a meeting in the Town Hall last week when I listened to James Cavanagh, Chairman of the Clans of Ireland, eloquently put the case for a Viking battle reenactment in Athy next year. James apparently has been involved in this form of pageantry for a number of years and lives in Cloney.
Later in the week, I attended another form of sometimes blood-curdling physical activity, which for want of a better name, we commonly refer to as Gaelic Football. In my younger days I played football for many years, but somehow it never seemed then to have taken on the barely-controlled frenzy which marks the game today. The rushed ebb and flow of the game always accompanied by hard physical contact speaks volumes for the toughened nature of those who participate today. In Sunday’s football game between Athy and Clane each player’s eyes and face reflected the fearful tension which must have marked the faces of the ancient warriors engaged in one or other of the battles which James Cavanagh hopes to recreate in South Kildare.
I suppose in a way the comparison is far fetched, but really it is difficult not to make connections between the warring troops of an earlier age and the highly-trained sportsmen of today involved in a battle to overcome a determined and well-prepared opponent.
Athy’s team on Sunday afternoon in Newbridge savoured for a short time the glory which is the prize for those who strive to succeed. The pleasure of anticipation does not always result in the reality of success, but, as in Athy’s case, is grasped with the belief that past success has brought. The glory was in reaching the final, the ultimate prize was not to be, and in failing, the dream was shattered and pride was dented.
The young players on the team, of which there were many, can be justifiably proud of their success this year. Remember, it is eight years since Athy last reached the final and to do so with players who are yet to mature and who are still far from their full potential, was an achievement worthy of celebration.
If one left Newbridge on Sunday heavy hearted after the events of the afternoon, the same could not be said for those who attended the Town Hall earlier in the week. There we heard of a Viking battle using the as yet uncategorised Dunrally Fort as a staging point for an attack on Athy. A weekend of revelry will no doubt enliven a summer weekend next year and the opportunity of participating is open everyone.
I thought that a Viking battle might be inappropriate for Athy, given the absence of a Viking influence in the area, notwithstanding the recent claims in relation to Dunrally Fort. However, such considerations are mere triflings when viewed against the magnificent and dramatic backdrop which would be provided by a Viking ship slipping into Athy to disembark its marauding hordes on the unsuspecting natives. Almost like the Clane forwards on Sunday as they plundered score after score, the Viking raiders could be expected to pillage the settlers’ town on the River Barrow on a grand scale.
It would not be the first time that such happenings took place here. Was it not a common enough occurrence in the 13th century for the O’Mores of Leix to attack the new village of Athy, and did they not succeed in burning the village on at least four occasions during those early years? Further back in time, the Ford on the River Barrow was the scene of a famous battle between the Munster men and the Leinster men when Ae, the son of a Munster Chieftain, was killed, giving to the Ford a name which is recalled in the Anglicised placename, Athy, and in the language of the Gael, Ath Í, meaning the Ford of Ae.
We are rich in battle lore here in Athy, for we can read of an 11th century encounter just a few years before the Anglo Normans founded the town, when the Dalcassions returning from the Battle of Clontarf faced up to the Tribe of Fiacha. You know, there is a wealth of historical material to chose from, if one wanted to recreate a battle anchored in our local history.
James Cavanagh’s idea is an excellent one and worthy of support from anyone who has either an interest in physical exercise, local history or dreams of the chance of putting his next-door-neighbour to the sword.
As for the footballers, they will have other opportunities to prove their worth, and I am confident that with a little more experience and benefiting from the rewards of commitment and dedication to their sport, they will achieve the ultimate prize of a County Championship before too many years have passed.
Battles and contests are fought to be won and lost. It is the losing which sharpens our focus for the future and serves to replenish our desire to achieve that which we have lost. Athy should not be disheartened by the lack of success on the football field, and in the same way, James Cavanagh should not be deflected from putting into operation his plans for next year, no matter what difficulties might be presented.
What reminded me of this was, firstly, a meeting in the Town Hall last week when I listened to James Cavanagh, Chairman of the Clans of Ireland, eloquently put the case for a Viking battle reenactment in Athy next year. James apparently has been involved in this form of pageantry for a number of years and lives in Cloney.
Later in the week, I attended another form of sometimes blood-curdling physical activity, which for want of a better name, we commonly refer to as Gaelic Football. In my younger days I played football for many years, but somehow it never seemed then to have taken on the barely-controlled frenzy which marks the game today. The rushed ebb and flow of the game always accompanied by hard physical contact speaks volumes for the toughened nature of those who participate today. In Sunday’s football game between Athy and Clane each player’s eyes and face reflected the fearful tension which must have marked the faces of the ancient warriors engaged in one or other of the battles which James Cavanagh hopes to recreate in South Kildare.
I suppose in a way the comparison is far fetched, but really it is difficult not to make connections between the warring troops of an earlier age and the highly-trained sportsmen of today involved in a battle to overcome a determined and well-prepared opponent.
Athy’s team on Sunday afternoon in Newbridge savoured for a short time the glory which is the prize for those who strive to succeed. The pleasure of anticipation does not always result in the reality of success, but, as in Athy’s case, is grasped with the belief that past success has brought. The glory was in reaching the final, the ultimate prize was not to be, and in failing, the dream was shattered and pride was dented.
The young players on the team, of which there were many, can be justifiably proud of their success this year. Remember, it is eight years since Athy last reached the final and to do so with players who are yet to mature and who are still far from their full potential, was an achievement worthy of celebration.
If one left Newbridge on Sunday heavy hearted after the events of the afternoon, the same could not be said for those who attended the Town Hall earlier in the week. There we heard of a Viking battle using the as yet uncategorised Dunrally Fort as a staging point for an attack on Athy. A weekend of revelry will no doubt enliven a summer weekend next year and the opportunity of participating is open everyone.
I thought that a Viking battle might be inappropriate for Athy, given the absence of a Viking influence in the area, notwithstanding the recent claims in relation to Dunrally Fort. However, such considerations are mere triflings when viewed against the magnificent and dramatic backdrop which would be provided by a Viking ship slipping into Athy to disembark its marauding hordes on the unsuspecting natives. Almost like the Clane forwards on Sunday as they plundered score after score, the Viking raiders could be expected to pillage the settlers’ town on the River Barrow on a grand scale.
It would not be the first time that such happenings took place here. Was it not a common enough occurrence in the 13th century for the O’Mores of Leix to attack the new village of Athy, and did they not succeed in burning the village on at least four occasions during those early years? Further back in time, the Ford on the River Barrow was the scene of a famous battle between the Munster men and the Leinster men when Ae, the son of a Munster Chieftain, was killed, giving to the Ford a name which is recalled in the Anglicised placename, Athy, and in the language of the Gael, Ath Í, meaning the Ford of Ae.
We are rich in battle lore here in Athy, for we can read of an 11th century encounter just a few years before the Anglo Normans founded the town, when the Dalcassions returning from the Battle of Clontarf faced up to the Tribe of Fiacha. You know, there is a wealth of historical material to chose from, if one wanted to recreate a battle anchored in our local history.
James Cavanagh’s idea is an excellent one and worthy of support from anyone who has either an interest in physical exercise, local history or dreams of the chance of putting his next-door-neighbour to the sword.
As for the footballers, they will have other opportunities to prove their worth, and I am confident that with a little more experience and benefiting from the rewards of commitment and dedication to their sport, they will achieve the ultimate prize of a County Championship before too many years have passed.
Battles and contests are fought to be won and lost. It is the losing which sharpens our focus for the future and serves to replenish our desire to achieve that which we have lost. Athy should not be disheartened by the lack of success on the football field, and in the same way, James Cavanagh should not be deflected from putting into operation his plans for next year, no matter what difficulties might be presented.
Friday, September 15, 1995
St. Brigid's Pipe Band Athy
A mystery, which despite my best efforts until now remained unresolved, was unravelled following a recent telephone call. It relayed the message that an English visitor wanted to present a photograph to the local Museum Society. The generous donor called on me, but he was not English. Jim Moran, now 88 years of age, but with the memory and agility of a 50 year old, lives in Luton, England, far from Athy where he was born and grew up.
The photograph he brought to me was one which I had previously seen and indeed a copy of which had been on display in the Museum Room some years ago. It showed the members of a pipe band with two young girls in Celtic costumes which I had previously believed was an early photograph of Kilberry Pipe Band. That identification was made on the basis that the musicians included Willie Hutchinson, who had played for some years with the Kilberry Band. However, the welcome visitor of a few weeks ago was to provide the evidence which would finally identify not only the band, but also its entire membership.
The photograph was of St. Brigid’s Pipe Band, Athy, taken in 1919 in the field at the rear of the Malt House in Rathstewart, to mark the band’s success at a feis in Maryborough, now Portlaoise. Jim Moran was a member of that band and with Willie Hutchinson, they are today the only survivors of the men and women captured on film that day.
St. Brigid’s Pipe Band was formed in Athy some time before World War I. It was in existence before the Churchtown Pipe Band and long before the Kilberry Pipe Band which I gather was only formed with the break up of the local L.S.F. Band following World War II. However, Kilberry can lay claim to an earlier musical heritage with a Fife and Drum Band which was based in the Coke in the 1880’s.
In its early years, St. Brigid’s Pipe Band had its band room in the premises of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, then located in Duke Street. When the Garda Siochana Barracks was opened in the same premises the bandroom had to be vacated, and St. Brigid’s Pipe Band moved out to the “Foxhole”, a small thatched-house at Killart, then owned by band member John Tierney of Belview. When this thatched house was mysteriously burnt down, the band practised for a time in Salisbury House, owned by Pat Tierney a brother of John’s. The band members also had use of a field at the rear of the Malt House in Rathstewart, now Bachelor’s factory, where the 1919 photograph was taken.
Jim Moran joined the band in 1917 and took pipe lessons from the Pipe Major William Spittal of Kilcrow. Other young fellows who joined the band around the same time included Willie Hutchinson of Bert, Bill Carbery of Athy, a brother of the legendary Tom Carbery, and John McEvoy of Duke Street. Bill Carbery later emigrated to America and on his return to Ireland was tragically killed during building works at Poulaphoca.
Other members of the band included George Bailey of Oldcourt who later emigrated to Canada, John Dobbyn of Cloney Castle who joined the Gardai and his brother Dan who emigrated to London where he was a caretaker in Richmond Park. Ber Kane of Kilberry worked as a ganger for many years with Kildare County Council and Peter Sexton, also of Kilberry, later went to work in Carlow. John Tierney of Belview played the big drums, while the organiser of the band was John Bailey, publican of Stanhope Street. John had spent many years in America and had returned to Athy and to the public house which is now owned by Michael Noonan. John Spittal of Kilcrow was Pipe Major and leader of the band and he also emigrated to America. Another member was John Farrell of Tomard who later joined the Irish Army.
Jim Moran was the youngest member of St. Brigid’s Pipe Band and recalls with remarkable clarity the various feiseanna in which the band participated during the summer piping season. Hannon’s Mills were then operating at Ardreigh and Duke Street, and the company’s lorry was always made available to transport the band members around the midlands. John Davis of Blackparks was the driver of the solid wheeled truck which delivered flour on weekdays and on Sundays transported St. Brigid’s Pipe Band to the various Feis venues. The photograph of the band in 1919 includes two young girls, one of whom has been identified as the late Nora Dooley. The second young girl Jim remembers as Baby Daughn, whose father had a bicycle shop in Duke Street. The band was active up to 1924 or thereabouts, and went out of existence when many of its members emigrated. The loss of the Pipe Major John Spittal who emigrated to America was a particularly telling blow for the young band and his departure hastened the end of the Athy pipers.
Today only Willie Hutchinson and Jim Moran, now both well advanced in years, are the sole survivors of that group of men who 76 years ago were photographed standing proudly with bagpipes in hand in the field at the rear of Rathstewart Malt House.
The photograph he brought to me was one which I had previously seen and indeed a copy of which had been on display in the Museum Room some years ago. It showed the members of a pipe band with two young girls in Celtic costumes which I had previously believed was an early photograph of Kilberry Pipe Band. That identification was made on the basis that the musicians included Willie Hutchinson, who had played for some years with the Kilberry Band. However, the welcome visitor of a few weeks ago was to provide the evidence which would finally identify not only the band, but also its entire membership.
The photograph was of St. Brigid’s Pipe Band, Athy, taken in 1919 in the field at the rear of the Malt House in Rathstewart, to mark the band’s success at a feis in Maryborough, now Portlaoise. Jim Moran was a member of that band and with Willie Hutchinson, they are today the only survivors of the men and women captured on film that day.
St. Brigid’s Pipe Band was formed in Athy some time before World War I. It was in existence before the Churchtown Pipe Band and long before the Kilberry Pipe Band which I gather was only formed with the break up of the local L.S.F. Band following World War II. However, Kilberry can lay claim to an earlier musical heritage with a Fife and Drum Band which was based in the Coke in the 1880’s.
In its early years, St. Brigid’s Pipe Band had its band room in the premises of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, then located in Duke Street. When the Garda Siochana Barracks was opened in the same premises the bandroom had to be vacated, and St. Brigid’s Pipe Band moved out to the “Foxhole”, a small thatched-house at Killart, then owned by band member John Tierney of Belview. When this thatched house was mysteriously burnt down, the band practised for a time in Salisbury House, owned by Pat Tierney a brother of John’s. The band members also had use of a field at the rear of the Malt House in Rathstewart, now Bachelor’s factory, where the 1919 photograph was taken.
Jim Moran joined the band in 1917 and took pipe lessons from the Pipe Major William Spittal of Kilcrow. Other young fellows who joined the band around the same time included Willie Hutchinson of Bert, Bill Carbery of Athy, a brother of the legendary Tom Carbery, and John McEvoy of Duke Street. Bill Carbery later emigrated to America and on his return to Ireland was tragically killed during building works at Poulaphoca.
Other members of the band included George Bailey of Oldcourt who later emigrated to Canada, John Dobbyn of Cloney Castle who joined the Gardai and his brother Dan who emigrated to London where he was a caretaker in Richmond Park. Ber Kane of Kilberry worked as a ganger for many years with Kildare County Council and Peter Sexton, also of Kilberry, later went to work in Carlow. John Tierney of Belview played the big drums, while the organiser of the band was John Bailey, publican of Stanhope Street. John had spent many years in America and had returned to Athy and to the public house which is now owned by Michael Noonan. John Spittal of Kilcrow was Pipe Major and leader of the band and he also emigrated to America. Another member was John Farrell of Tomard who later joined the Irish Army.
Jim Moran was the youngest member of St. Brigid’s Pipe Band and recalls with remarkable clarity the various feiseanna in which the band participated during the summer piping season. Hannon’s Mills were then operating at Ardreigh and Duke Street, and the company’s lorry was always made available to transport the band members around the midlands. John Davis of Blackparks was the driver of the solid wheeled truck which delivered flour on weekdays and on Sundays transported St. Brigid’s Pipe Band to the various Feis venues. The photograph of the band in 1919 includes two young girls, one of whom has been identified as the late Nora Dooley. The second young girl Jim remembers as Baby Daughn, whose father had a bicycle shop in Duke Street. The band was active up to 1924 or thereabouts, and went out of existence when many of its members emigrated. The loss of the Pipe Major John Spittal who emigrated to America was a particularly telling blow for the young band and his departure hastened the end of the Athy pipers.
Today only Willie Hutchinson and Jim Moran, now both well advanced in years, are the sole survivors of that group of men who 76 years ago were photographed standing proudly with bagpipes in hand in the field at the rear of Rathstewart Malt House.
Friday, September 8, 1995
Lower St. Josephs Terrace 1935
The Slum Clearance Schemes of the early 1930’s enabled Athy Urban District Council to rid the town of many of the unhealthy lanes and courts which had been home to local families for generations past. New houses were erected in St. Joseph’s Terrace to accommodate families from Mount Hawkins and The Gulch and before long those families bonded together to form the strong close-knit community which still exists today.
Let us look at the families who lived in Lower St. Joseph’s Terrace in 1935.
No. 1 - Mick Keogh and family. Mick worked for the Duke of Leinster’s Agent who had an office in what is now the Old Folks House in Leinster Street.
No. 2 - Mrs. Leonard and family.
No. 3 - Annie “Ba” Alcock and her brother Tommy “Tut” Alcock.
No. 4 - Jim “Scallop” O’Neill, his wife, daughter Gertie and son Joe. “Scallop” was a fine exponent of the art of basket making.
No. 5 - Paddy O’Neill, son of Scallop, and family. Paddy worked in Carbery’s Builders and at one stage had a small shop in his house. Paddy died in Manchester last week.
No. 6 - Jenny Kavanagh and her two brothers. All later emigrated to England.
No. 7 - Johnny and Dora Johnson and family. Johnny worked in the sandpit at Gallowshill with his two sons. Two daughters, Sheila and Irene are married and living in Athy.
No. 8 - The Kavanagh family, including John and Maggie, both of whom died in recent times. Their father was batman to John Vincent Holland, who won the Victoria Cross in World War I. His son Isaac joined the Irish Guards.
No. 9 - Johnny and Mag Davis and family. Johnny, who was in the English Army, had four sons and two daughters.
No. 10 - Mrs. Pender and her children Peg, Molly and Tom.
No. 11 - “Jacksie” and Mary Kelly and family, then consisting of Jim, later a postman, Paddy, Mick and Christy. The Kellys suffered the loss of three sons in World War I.
No. 12 - Patsy and Kathleen Delahunt and family. Patsy, a postman, served in World War I as did his brother Jack and both were fortunate to survive. Their young son Paddy died at 13 years of age. The other six members of the family are alive and well today.
No. 13 - Mrs. Kavanagh and her two daughters. One daughter married a Navy man while Mary died two years ago in England.
No. 14 - Nell Keogh with Chevit and Johnny Doyle. Johnny later emigrated to England and Chevit, a former Urban Councillor and a good footballer in his day, died some years ago.
No. 15 - Neddy and Kate Rainsford. Their son, Michael, is now living in Ballylinan having returned from abroad.
No. 16 - Johnny Rainsford, his wife and family. Their daughter Mag is still in the house while another daughter was married to “Hocker” Mulhall, their next door neighbour. The Rainsford brothers, Neddy and Johnny, worked on the bog harvesting turf, which they sold in Athy and surrounding area.
No. 17 - Hocker Mulhall, a barber in Leinster Street and his family. Interestingly enough, their son Jim, who worked for years in Athy, has again returned to South Kildare, as has his sister Mary who had lived in England for many years. Their sister Eileen is married to Eddie Doyle, who lives in the Churchtown area.
No. 18 - “Messcock” Kelly, a cheerful man noted for whistling to his own accompaniment as he beat his fingers on the bottom of a milk can while walking to the dairy. The widow of his son Christy now lives in the house.
No. 19 - The Chanders brothers.
No. 20 - “Brudge” Dunne, her husband and family. Their children included Jim, Jack, later of Meeting Lane, Christy, fondly known as “Bluebeard”, and two daughters one of whom, Nan, married Jim Kelly, postman. The only one of the Dunne lads still alive is Dick who lives in Dublin.
Recording the names of persons who lived in an area 60 years previously is always a hazardous venture, and inaccuracies or omissions can be expected for any such inaccuracies or omissions in the above list, I can only ask my readers indulgence.
Let us look at the families who lived in Lower St. Joseph’s Terrace in 1935.
No. 1 - Mick Keogh and family. Mick worked for the Duke of Leinster’s Agent who had an office in what is now the Old Folks House in Leinster Street.
No. 2 - Mrs. Leonard and family.
No. 3 - Annie “Ba” Alcock and her brother Tommy “Tut” Alcock.
No. 4 - Jim “Scallop” O’Neill, his wife, daughter Gertie and son Joe. “Scallop” was a fine exponent of the art of basket making.
No. 5 - Paddy O’Neill, son of Scallop, and family. Paddy worked in Carbery’s Builders and at one stage had a small shop in his house. Paddy died in Manchester last week.
No. 6 - Jenny Kavanagh and her two brothers. All later emigrated to England.
No. 7 - Johnny and Dora Johnson and family. Johnny worked in the sandpit at Gallowshill with his two sons. Two daughters, Sheila and Irene are married and living in Athy.
No. 8 - The Kavanagh family, including John and Maggie, both of whom died in recent times. Their father was batman to John Vincent Holland, who won the Victoria Cross in World War I. His son Isaac joined the Irish Guards.
No. 9 - Johnny and Mag Davis and family. Johnny, who was in the English Army, had four sons and two daughters.
No. 10 - Mrs. Pender and her children Peg, Molly and Tom.
No. 11 - “Jacksie” and Mary Kelly and family, then consisting of Jim, later a postman, Paddy, Mick and Christy. The Kellys suffered the loss of three sons in World War I.
No. 12 - Patsy and Kathleen Delahunt and family. Patsy, a postman, served in World War I as did his brother Jack and both were fortunate to survive. Their young son Paddy died at 13 years of age. The other six members of the family are alive and well today.
No. 13 - Mrs. Kavanagh and her two daughters. One daughter married a Navy man while Mary died two years ago in England.
No. 14 - Nell Keogh with Chevit and Johnny Doyle. Johnny later emigrated to England and Chevit, a former Urban Councillor and a good footballer in his day, died some years ago.
No. 15 - Neddy and Kate Rainsford. Their son, Michael, is now living in Ballylinan having returned from abroad.
No. 16 - Johnny Rainsford, his wife and family. Their daughter Mag is still in the house while another daughter was married to “Hocker” Mulhall, their next door neighbour. The Rainsford brothers, Neddy and Johnny, worked on the bog harvesting turf, which they sold in Athy and surrounding area.
No. 17 - Hocker Mulhall, a barber in Leinster Street and his family. Interestingly enough, their son Jim, who worked for years in Athy, has again returned to South Kildare, as has his sister Mary who had lived in England for many years. Their sister Eileen is married to Eddie Doyle, who lives in the Churchtown area.
No. 18 - “Messcock” Kelly, a cheerful man noted for whistling to his own accompaniment as he beat his fingers on the bottom of a milk can while walking to the dairy. The widow of his son Christy now lives in the house.
No. 19 - The Chanders brothers.
No. 20 - “Brudge” Dunne, her husband and family. Their children included Jim, Jack, later of Meeting Lane, Christy, fondly known as “Bluebeard”, and two daughters one of whom, Nan, married Jim Kelly, postman. The only one of the Dunne lads still alive is Dick who lives in Dublin.
Recording the names of persons who lived in an area 60 years previously is always a hazardous venture, and inaccuracies or omissions can be expected for any such inaccuracies or omissions in the above list, I can only ask my readers indulgence.
Friday, August 25, 1995
Patrick Maher Kilrush
One of the prime movers in establishing a Convent of Mercy in Athy was Patrick Maher who lived at Kilrush House, a few miles on the Dublin side of Athy. Maher, with Miss Anna Goold of Stanhope Place, and the Fitzgerald family of Geraldine House, provided substantial financial backing to support the weekly collection made in the town for the proposed convent. Miss Goold was later to donate to the Diocese the house now occupied by the Parish Priest, while Colonel Fitzgerald of Geraldine at his own expense had built in 1824 a schoolhouse for the children of Athy at the north east corner of the present parish church.
Patrick Maher was the son of Patrick and Catherine Maher, who had moved to Kilrush, Co. Kildare from Donore, Co. Carlow in the last decade of the eighteenth century. As wealthy Catholic farmers, the Mahers were subjected, as were their neighbours, to harassment and threats during the period of the 1798 rebellion. When martial law was declared, little protection was afforded to local Catholic farmers against the excesses of the military and yeomanry, who under the pretext of searching for arms, looted whatever they could seize and carry away. On several occasions, the entire Maher family were obliged to leave their home at night and shelter in a nearby sand-pit, where they believed themselves safe from the marauding yeomanry.
Patrick Maher Senior died in 1808, following a horse riding accident while travelling to the fair in Kilcullen. That same year his son James, who had been attending the Quaker school in Ballytore, entered Carlow College. He later travelled to Rome, where he studied for a number of years. In a letter to his brother William, then living at Burtown, Co. Kildare, James, writing from London on the 1st of July 1817 recalled how he had called into a shop in London and “the shopkeeper civilly asked me how I was……. He made me dine with him, he is a son to Dan Moore of Athy”.
Fr. James Maher was later to return to Ireland, where he acted as secretary to that most famous of Irish Bishops, Dr. James Doyle, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, commonly known as J.K.L. Fr. Maher, who ended his days as Parish Priest of Carlow Graigue, was a popular orator, believed to be second only to the great Daniel O’Connell, and as a controversialist was said to have no equal in the Irish Church of his day. His sister married Hugh Cullen who lived in Prospect, Co. Kildare and their son Paul was destined to become the first Cardinal of the Irish Church. Like his cousins, the Mahers of Kilrush, Paul Cullen also attended the Quaker school in Ballytore, before embarking on his religious studies.
Patrick Maher succeeded his father and namesake as owner of the lands at Kilrush, and proved over the years to be a generous benefactor of the Catholic Church in South Kildare. Apart from his involvement in financing the construction of the Convent of Mercy, he also donated substantial sums of money, when in 1859, Greenhills House, Athy was handed over by the Sisters of Mercy for use as a monastery by the Christian Brothers. He remained throughout his lifetime, generous to both the Convent of Mercy and the Christian Brothers in Athy, and in 1861, he agreed to pay £30 annually for a period of two years towards the maintenance of a third teaching Christian Brother in the local school. As a result Hugh Francis Sweeney, a novice, joined the Monastery in Athy, some months after the school had opened on the 19th of August 1861, to augment the staff, which had difficulty in coping with the ever increasing pupil numbers.
The Convent of Mercy, which opened in Athy in 1851, was initially a branch house of Baggot Street Convent of Mercy, Dublin, which was the headquarters of the Sisters of Mercy. Some years later, Athy Convent became a branch house of Carlow, it being geographically more convenient for that purpose. As a result, Sr. Mary Zavier and Sr. Mary Teresa Maher who was a daughter of Patrick Maher of Kilrush were sent to Athy from Carlow Convent. On the 26th of July 1858 Athy Convent became a foundation in its own right, and the first Superioress appointed was Sr. Mary Teresa Maher, formerly of Kilrush, and first cousin of the then Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Paul Cullen. Sr. Mary Teresa had initially entered the Convent of Mercy in Carlow with two other members of her family, who when professed, took the name Sr. Cecilia and Sr. Michael. Sr. Cecilia remained in Carlow while Sr. Michael later transferred to the Sisters of Mercy Convent in Callan.
Patrick Maher and his brother Rev. James Maher, were bitterly opposed to the tithe system, which required all farming households to make an annual contribution to the upkeep of the Church of England. When examined before a Parliamentary Committee set up by the House of Commons, Rev. James Maher vigorously justified the cause of passive resistance which local farmers had resolved to pursue in opposition to the tithing system. Indeed Fr. Maher was one of the strongest voices raised in protest when the “Tithe War”, as it was known, first broke out in Graiguenamangh, following the seizure by tithe proctors of cattle owned by a local priest, Fr. Martin Doyle. Patrick Maher of Kilrush consistently refused to pay tithes, and consequently was thrown into prison on no less than four occasions for non-payment. On each occasion his property was seized by the local Sheriff and his goods and chattels auctioned off to ensure payment. The Tithe War eventually ended in 1838 with the passing of the Tithe Commutation Act which made the head landlord responsible for tithes, which then became a rent charge payable twice yearly.
A plaque testifying to the generosity of Patrick Maher of Kilrush House, who died in 1863, is to be found in the small chapel attached to the Convent of Mercy, Athy but apart from that, and the many references to his generosity noted in the Annals of the Sisters of Mercy, Patrick Maher and the Maher family of Kilrush, have been largely overlooked by history.
Patrick Maher was the son of Patrick and Catherine Maher, who had moved to Kilrush, Co. Kildare from Donore, Co. Carlow in the last decade of the eighteenth century. As wealthy Catholic farmers, the Mahers were subjected, as were their neighbours, to harassment and threats during the period of the 1798 rebellion. When martial law was declared, little protection was afforded to local Catholic farmers against the excesses of the military and yeomanry, who under the pretext of searching for arms, looted whatever they could seize and carry away. On several occasions, the entire Maher family were obliged to leave their home at night and shelter in a nearby sand-pit, where they believed themselves safe from the marauding yeomanry.
Patrick Maher Senior died in 1808, following a horse riding accident while travelling to the fair in Kilcullen. That same year his son James, who had been attending the Quaker school in Ballytore, entered Carlow College. He later travelled to Rome, where he studied for a number of years. In a letter to his brother William, then living at Burtown, Co. Kildare, James, writing from London on the 1st of July 1817 recalled how he had called into a shop in London and “the shopkeeper civilly asked me how I was……. He made me dine with him, he is a son to Dan Moore of Athy”.
Fr. James Maher was later to return to Ireland, where he acted as secretary to that most famous of Irish Bishops, Dr. James Doyle, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, commonly known as J.K.L. Fr. Maher, who ended his days as Parish Priest of Carlow Graigue, was a popular orator, believed to be second only to the great Daniel O’Connell, and as a controversialist was said to have no equal in the Irish Church of his day. His sister married Hugh Cullen who lived in Prospect, Co. Kildare and their son Paul was destined to become the first Cardinal of the Irish Church. Like his cousins, the Mahers of Kilrush, Paul Cullen also attended the Quaker school in Ballytore, before embarking on his religious studies.
Patrick Maher succeeded his father and namesake as owner of the lands at Kilrush, and proved over the years to be a generous benefactor of the Catholic Church in South Kildare. Apart from his involvement in financing the construction of the Convent of Mercy, he also donated substantial sums of money, when in 1859, Greenhills House, Athy was handed over by the Sisters of Mercy for use as a monastery by the Christian Brothers. He remained throughout his lifetime, generous to both the Convent of Mercy and the Christian Brothers in Athy, and in 1861, he agreed to pay £30 annually for a period of two years towards the maintenance of a third teaching Christian Brother in the local school. As a result Hugh Francis Sweeney, a novice, joined the Monastery in Athy, some months after the school had opened on the 19th of August 1861, to augment the staff, which had difficulty in coping with the ever increasing pupil numbers.
The Convent of Mercy, which opened in Athy in 1851, was initially a branch house of Baggot Street Convent of Mercy, Dublin, which was the headquarters of the Sisters of Mercy. Some years later, Athy Convent became a branch house of Carlow, it being geographically more convenient for that purpose. As a result, Sr. Mary Zavier and Sr. Mary Teresa Maher who was a daughter of Patrick Maher of Kilrush were sent to Athy from Carlow Convent. On the 26th of July 1858 Athy Convent became a foundation in its own right, and the first Superioress appointed was Sr. Mary Teresa Maher, formerly of Kilrush, and first cousin of the then Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Paul Cullen. Sr. Mary Teresa had initially entered the Convent of Mercy in Carlow with two other members of her family, who when professed, took the name Sr. Cecilia and Sr. Michael. Sr. Cecilia remained in Carlow while Sr. Michael later transferred to the Sisters of Mercy Convent in Callan.
Patrick Maher and his brother Rev. James Maher, were bitterly opposed to the tithe system, which required all farming households to make an annual contribution to the upkeep of the Church of England. When examined before a Parliamentary Committee set up by the House of Commons, Rev. James Maher vigorously justified the cause of passive resistance which local farmers had resolved to pursue in opposition to the tithing system. Indeed Fr. Maher was one of the strongest voices raised in protest when the “Tithe War”, as it was known, first broke out in Graiguenamangh, following the seizure by tithe proctors of cattle owned by a local priest, Fr. Martin Doyle. Patrick Maher of Kilrush consistently refused to pay tithes, and consequently was thrown into prison on no less than four occasions for non-payment. On each occasion his property was seized by the local Sheriff and his goods and chattels auctioned off to ensure payment. The Tithe War eventually ended in 1838 with the passing of the Tithe Commutation Act which made the head landlord responsible for tithes, which then became a rent charge payable twice yearly.
A plaque testifying to the generosity of Patrick Maher of Kilrush House, who died in 1863, is to be found in the small chapel attached to the Convent of Mercy, Athy but apart from that, and the many references to his generosity noted in the Annals of the Sisters of Mercy, Patrick Maher and the Maher family of Kilrush, have been largely overlooked by history.
Friday, August 18, 1995
John O'Donovan's Survey Letters from Athy
John O’Donovan, the Irish scholar and antiquarian, visited Athy in November 1837, and remained in the town for ten days from the 17th of the month. Employed in the historical department of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland, he was carrying out research into local placenames and collecting historical material. O’Donovan’s previous work on Irish manuscripts in the Irish Record Office gave him a particularly good insight into Irish history, genealogy and Irish topography and not surprisingly, the same ancient Irish manuscripts were used extensively by him as he sought to explain the meaning of local placenames. The results of his work for the Ordnance Survey between 1829 and 1842 were later published as the Ordnance Survey Letters. Fr. Michael O’Flanagan, the Republican Catholic Priest, edited and prepared the volumes for publication between 1924 and 1932. The two volumes relating to County Kildare printed as one, and entitled “Letters containing information relative to the Antiquities of the County of Kildare collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1837”, were published in 1930.
O’Donovan, who was to publish his translation of the Annals of the Four Masters between 1848 and 1851, delved into the early history of Athy during his stay in the town. Athy, he wrote, “was referred to in ancient times as the Ford on the River Barrow” and he proceeded to quote from Keating’s History of Ireland and the Annals of Clonmacnoise, of accounts of the second century battle at the Ford between the Munster men and the Leinster men. This was to give the name Áth Ae, translated as the Ford of Ae, to the battle site. The ancient “Leabhar Oiris of the Dal Cais” was also quoted by O’Donovan when explaining the early history of Athy. There he found references to a battle on the Ford of Ae between the Dalcassians and the men of Desmond as they journeyed home from the Battle of Clontarf in 1014.
Writing from Athy on the 26th of November 1837 John O’Donovan noted “this weather is very unfavourable to our researches”. Nevertheless he continued his work in the area writing on the 27th of November, “I could find no antiquarian remains in Athy but the two old Parish Churches of St. Michael’s and St. John’s, the Castle of Woodstock and the South East Gate”. The St. Michael’s Church referred to by O’Donovan is the medieval church located in the cemetery on the Dublin Road. It is believed to be of fourteenth century origin, and may represent the first parish church in the Anglo Norman town of Athy. When built, it was located outside the walls of the medieval village, while inside those walls were to be found the monasteries of St. Dominic and what O’Donovan referred to as the parish church of St. John’s. In fact St. John’s was the name of the Trinitarian monastery which was built in the early part of the thirteenth century in close proximity to Woodstock Castle. St. John’s cemetery may have been part of that monastery, but a detailed archaeological survey of the area is our only hope of ever determining the nature and extent of the monastery buildings which had fallen vacant even before the dissolution of the Irish monasteries in 1540.
The castle of Woodstock still stands, a stark lonely reminder of the years of neglect which have allowed many of its important features to be vandalised or removed from the site. Maybe the Town Council could show a little urgency in putting in place its plans for the preservation of what’s left of Woodstock Castle, so that future restoration workers will have something worthwhile to work on.
Already gone is the South East Gate which O’Donovan noted in 1837. It was to fall prey to the Town Council of 1860, which had the gate removed following an accident involving the local Church of England Rector, Rev. Frederick Trench of Kilmoroney. Commonly known as Preston’s Gate, it was located at the point where Offaly Street and Emily Row meet. The immediate area was called Preston’s Gate, and as an address it is noted on at least one headstone in St. Michael’s cemetery.
John O’Donovan was brother-in-law of Eugene O’Curry, himself an Irish scholar, famous for his translations of ancient Irish texts and the first Professor of Irish History and Archaeology in the Catholic University of Ireland. O’Donovan and O’Curry co-founded the Irish Archaeological Society in 1840.
O’Donovan, the greatest historical topographer that Ireland ever produced, died in Dublin on 9th December 1861. An unusual but as yet unverified claim relating to O’Donovan is to be found in “Three Hills” by Eoin Ua Modha published in 1920. The small booklet contains what the author in his introduction claimed “are the mere musings of an idler” who delved into local history as viewed from the top of three hills - Ossory, Leix and Lancashire. From the top of the hill of Laois, Moore described how “among those trees rises Heath House where John O’Donovan, the Irish scholar and topographer, then a young man of 24, spent several months in 1830 and was first induced to study the Irish Annals”.
Whatever the truth of this claim, students of Irish topography, history and genealogy owe an enormous debt to John O’Donovan whose works have become standard texts for the study of the history and language of the ancient Irish.
O’Donovan, who was to publish his translation of the Annals of the Four Masters between 1848 and 1851, delved into the early history of Athy during his stay in the town. Athy, he wrote, “was referred to in ancient times as the Ford on the River Barrow” and he proceeded to quote from Keating’s History of Ireland and the Annals of Clonmacnoise, of accounts of the second century battle at the Ford between the Munster men and the Leinster men. This was to give the name Áth Ae, translated as the Ford of Ae, to the battle site. The ancient “Leabhar Oiris of the Dal Cais” was also quoted by O’Donovan when explaining the early history of Athy. There he found references to a battle on the Ford of Ae between the Dalcassians and the men of Desmond as they journeyed home from the Battle of Clontarf in 1014.
Writing from Athy on the 26th of November 1837 John O’Donovan noted “this weather is very unfavourable to our researches”. Nevertheless he continued his work in the area writing on the 27th of November, “I could find no antiquarian remains in Athy but the two old Parish Churches of St. Michael’s and St. John’s, the Castle of Woodstock and the South East Gate”. The St. Michael’s Church referred to by O’Donovan is the medieval church located in the cemetery on the Dublin Road. It is believed to be of fourteenth century origin, and may represent the first parish church in the Anglo Norman town of Athy. When built, it was located outside the walls of the medieval village, while inside those walls were to be found the monasteries of St. Dominic and what O’Donovan referred to as the parish church of St. John’s. In fact St. John’s was the name of the Trinitarian monastery which was built in the early part of the thirteenth century in close proximity to Woodstock Castle. St. John’s cemetery may have been part of that monastery, but a detailed archaeological survey of the area is our only hope of ever determining the nature and extent of the monastery buildings which had fallen vacant even before the dissolution of the Irish monasteries in 1540.
The castle of Woodstock still stands, a stark lonely reminder of the years of neglect which have allowed many of its important features to be vandalised or removed from the site. Maybe the Town Council could show a little urgency in putting in place its plans for the preservation of what’s left of Woodstock Castle, so that future restoration workers will have something worthwhile to work on.
Already gone is the South East Gate which O’Donovan noted in 1837. It was to fall prey to the Town Council of 1860, which had the gate removed following an accident involving the local Church of England Rector, Rev. Frederick Trench of Kilmoroney. Commonly known as Preston’s Gate, it was located at the point where Offaly Street and Emily Row meet. The immediate area was called Preston’s Gate, and as an address it is noted on at least one headstone in St. Michael’s cemetery.
John O’Donovan was brother-in-law of Eugene O’Curry, himself an Irish scholar, famous for his translations of ancient Irish texts and the first Professor of Irish History and Archaeology in the Catholic University of Ireland. O’Donovan and O’Curry co-founded the Irish Archaeological Society in 1840.
O’Donovan, the greatest historical topographer that Ireland ever produced, died in Dublin on 9th December 1861. An unusual but as yet unverified claim relating to O’Donovan is to be found in “Three Hills” by Eoin Ua Modha published in 1920. The small booklet contains what the author in his introduction claimed “are the mere musings of an idler” who delved into local history as viewed from the top of three hills - Ossory, Leix and Lancashire. From the top of the hill of Laois, Moore described how “among those trees rises Heath House where John O’Donovan, the Irish scholar and topographer, then a young man of 24, spent several months in 1830 and was first induced to study the Irish Annals”.
Whatever the truth of this claim, students of Irish topography, history and genealogy owe an enormous debt to John O’Donovan whose works have become standard texts for the study of the history and language of the ancient Irish.
Friday, August 11, 1995
Hickey Family Higginsons Lane and Blackpool
Is it my imagination, or is there really a huge influx of overseas visitors in Athy at the present time? I have never before seen so many visitors/tourists in the town and wonder whether the combination of good weather and the breaking out of peace in Northern Ireland has led many to venture across the sea. Whatever the cause, it is a welcome development, and one which we should do everything in our power to encourage.
During the week I had a visit from four interesting persons from Blackpool in England. They are more correctly termed visitors, given their past links with Athy, as distinct from tourists who arrive in our town without any previous attachment to draw them here. Mike Hickey and his wife were on their way to Kenmare, Co. Kerry with his first cousin Eileen Bradshaw and her husband. It was his first time in Athy and he was looking for Higginson’s Lane where his grandparents John and Catherine Hickey lived many years ago.
Higginson’s Lane once ran between Woodstock Street and The Pavements which is now incorporated into Nelson Street, and remains today as a cul-de-sac approached only from Woodstock Street. The Nelson Street end has been closed off and there is only one house in the lane, erected some years ago for Norman and Patricia Glynn.
When John and Catherine Hickey lived in Higginson’s Lane with their young family it was home to a number of families and indeed the entire area was heavily populated with houses in Nelson Street, The Pavements, Shrewleen Lane and New Gardens. The houses which occupied those streets and laneways are now all gone, demolished during the slum clearance programme of the 1930’s and later. A row of recently-built two storey houses now occupies one side of Shrewleen Lane with the KARE building on the opposite side of the street. Mr. and Mrs. Hickey had six children, Patrick the eldest son born in 1896, Andrew, Michael, Joseph, William and Mary Ann. Mrs. Hickey died in 1915 of tuberculosis in what her grandson refers to as “the Workhouse”. “St. Vincent’s Hospital”, as it is now known, was called the Workhouse in those days, a throwback to the famine years of seventy years previously. However, it is more likely that his grandmother, who was Catherine Walsh before she married, died in the fever hospital, which was located immediately beyond the Workhouse.
When Britain declared War on Germany on 4th August, 1914 the regular soldiers were dispatched to France. Those in the Reserve Forces were also called up, and a drive for new recruits, spearheaded by Kitchener, swept throughout Ireland and England. Young Athy men caught up in the euphoria of the time and undoubtedly eager to see foreign lands enlisted in their hundreds. After all the pay was good and hadn’t everyone said the War would be over before Christmas. It was not to be, but before the two hundred and twenty nine-week long conflict ended on the 11th of November 1918, three of Patrick Hickey’s sons had joined up.
Patrick, the eldest son, was the first to enlist and he was joined by his younger brothers Andrew and Joseph. Another brother, Michael, mysteriously and without explanation, disappeared without trace, on his way to London. He was never seen or heard of again. Joseph, a Corporal in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, was killed in action in France on the 21st of April 1917. Only two of Patrick Hickey’s sons returned from the War and on demobilisation, Patrick and Andrew joined their youngest brother William in Blackpool. Before long their sister Mary Ann and their father Patrick emigrated from Athy, and the Hickey family settled down in the Lancashire seaside resort.
Andrew Hickey later left for America where he worked for the Ford motor company in Detroit. At the height of the Depression the obviously adventurous young man decided to try his luck in Russia. A few weeks spent there was sufficient to disabuse him of whatever notion of advancement he had hoped for in the Soviet Republic, and with some difficulty he returned to America. There he resumed his work with Ford’s of Detroit, the largest car company in the world. When he eventually retired, he spent the rest of his life travelling the world. He died in 1984, aged 85 years, having travelled extensively and could boast at never having owned a motor car, although he had spent most of his working life in an automobile factory.
Patrick Hickey Jnr. visited Athy in 1965 when he was 69 years of age and almost fifty years after he had left Higginson’s Lane to enlist in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. He spent a few days in the town and not a little money buying “rounds” for some of the locals, in what I understand, was an unsuccessful attempt to meet anyone who remembered his family in Higginson’s Lane. He returned to Blackpool a very disappointed man, but his son Mike has now come to Athy seeking to make contact with his family’s past.
On this trip he was accompanied by his cousin Eileen Bradshaw, daughter of Mary Ann Hickey, who had joined her brothers in Blackpool at the end of the Great War. Mary Ann, who died in 1991, married a South African, James Cromblehome, and was never again to see the town of her birth. Mary Ann’s father, John Hickey, who also emigrated to Blackpool died there in 1937.
The story of John and Catherine Hickey and their family is a familiar one of death and emigration. From a deprived background, their children obviously worked hard to make their way in life and by all accounts succeeded well in doing so. Mike Hickey, grandson of the unfortunate woman who died of TB in the Workhouse in 1915, is now a senior executive with the HP Food Company. His continuing search for his roots is one which all of us at some time or other contemplate for our own family past. After all the search for roots is the passion of this rootless age. We may not always act out our inquisitive impulses, but perhaps if we did, we too would learn of the hardships and sorrows endured with dignity by those who have gone before us.
To understand our past, is to appreciate the sacrifices others made at times when it was not always easy to do so. To ignore our roots is to miss out on important elements of our life story, and perhaps even, to overlook the lessons of history and the value of family ties extending over generations. For Mike Hickey and Eileen Bradshaw, I hope there will be a successful conclusion to the search for their hidden past.
During the week I had a visit from four interesting persons from Blackpool in England. They are more correctly termed visitors, given their past links with Athy, as distinct from tourists who arrive in our town without any previous attachment to draw them here. Mike Hickey and his wife were on their way to Kenmare, Co. Kerry with his first cousin Eileen Bradshaw and her husband. It was his first time in Athy and he was looking for Higginson’s Lane where his grandparents John and Catherine Hickey lived many years ago.
Higginson’s Lane once ran between Woodstock Street and The Pavements which is now incorporated into Nelson Street, and remains today as a cul-de-sac approached only from Woodstock Street. The Nelson Street end has been closed off and there is only one house in the lane, erected some years ago for Norman and Patricia Glynn.
When John and Catherine Hickey lived in Higginson’s Lane with their young family it was home to a number of families and indeed the entire area was heavily populated with houses in Nelson Street, The Pavements, Shrewleen Lane and New Gardens. The houses which occupied those streets and laneways are now all gone, demolished during the slum clearance programme of the 1930’s and later. A row of recently-built two storey houses now occupies one side of Shrewleen Lane with the KARE building on the opposite side of the street. Mr. and Mrs. Hickey had six children, Patrick the eldest son born in 1896, Andrew, Michael, Joseph, William and Mary Ann. Mrs. Hickey died in 1915 of tuberculosis in what her grandson refers to as “the Workhouse”. “St. Vincent’s Hospital”, as it is now known, was called the Workhouse in those days, a throwback to the famine years of seventy years previously. However, it is more likely that his grandmother, who was Catherine Walsh before she married, died in the fever hospital, which was located immediately beyond the Workhouse.
When Britain declared War on Germany on 4th August, 1914 the regular soldiers were dispatched to France. Those in the Reserve Forces were also called up, and a drive for new recruits, spearheaded by Kitchener, swept throughout Ireland and England. Young Athy men caught up in the euphoria of the time and undoubtedly eager to see foreign lands enlisted in their hundreds. After all the pay was good and hadn’t everyone said the War would be over before Christmas. It was not to be, but before the two hundred and twenty nine-week long conflict ended on the 11th of November 1918, three of Patrick Hickey’s sons had joined up.
Patrick, the eldest son, was the first to enlist and he was joined by his younger brothers Andrew and Joseph. Another brother, Michael, mysteriously and without explanation, disappeared without trace, on his way to London. He was never seen or heard of again. Joseph, a Corporal in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, was killed in action in France on the 21st of April 1917. Only two of Patrick Hickey’s sons returned from the War and on demobilisation, Patrick and Andrew joined their youngest brother William in Blackpool. Before long their sister Mary Ann and their father Patrick emigrated from Athy, and the Hickey family settled down in the Lancashire seaside resort.
Andrew Hickey later left for America where he worked for the Ford motor company in Detroit. At the height of the Depression the obviously adventurous young man decided to try his luck in Russia. A few weeks spent there was sufficient to disabuse him of whatever notion of advancement he had hoped for in the Soviet Republic, and with some difficulty he returned to America. There he resumed his work with Ford’s of Detroit, the largest car company in the world. When he eventually retired, he spent the rest of his life travelling the world. He died in 1984, aged 85 years, having travelled extensively and could boast at never having owned a motor car, although he had spent most of his working life in an automobile factory.
Patrick Hickey Jnr. visited Athy in 1965 when he was 69 years of age and almost fifty years after he had left Higginson’s Lane to enlist in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. He spent a few days in the town and not a little money buying “rounds” for some of the locals, in what I understand, was an unsuccessful attempt to meet anyone who remembered his family in Higginson’s Lane. He returned to Blackpool a very disappointed man, but his son Mike has now come to Athy seeking to make contact with his family’s past.
On this trip he was accompanied by his cousin Eileen Bradshaw, daughter of Mary Ann Hickey, who had joined her brothers in Blackpool at the end of the Great War. Mary Ann, who died in 1991, married a South African, James Cromblehome, and was never again to see the town of her birth. Mary Ann’s father, John Hickey, who also emigrated to Blackpool died there in 1937.
The story of John and Catherine Hickey and their family is a familiar one of death and emigration. From a deprived background, their children obviously worked hard to make their way in life and by all accounts succeeded well in doing so. Mike Hickey, grandson of the unfortunate woman who died of TB in the Workhouse in 1915, is now a senior executive with the HP Food Company. His continuing search for his roots is one which all of us at some time or other contemplate for our own family past. After all the search for roots is the passion of this rootless age. We may not always act out our inquisitive impulses, but perhaps if we did, we too would learn of the hardships and sorrows endured with dignity by those who have gone before us.
To understand our past, is to appreciate the sacrifices others made at times when it was not always easy to do so. To ignore our roots is to miss out on important elements of our life story, and perhaps even, to overlook the lessons of history and the value of family ties extending over generations. For Mike Hickey and Eileen Bradshaw, I hope there will be a successful conclusion to the search for their hidden past.
Friday, August 4, 1995
John Farrell
At six foot, three inches high and weighing twenty stone, he was clearly a man of considerable stature. Indeed, one of the Irish national newspapers stated such when headlining a story concerning his unsuccessful legal case arising out of the sale of Kilkea Castle in 1958. John Farrell was an entrepreneur at a time when Irish society was breaking free of the cocoon of latter day commercial feudalism, which was the hallmark of English and Irish relations up to the 1920’s.
In the early 1920’s, John Farrell went to train as a pig jobber with Nurney’s of Annaghknock. Before long, he had embarked on his first business venture, one of many over the succeeding years. A pony and cart was the usual mode of transport in those days, and trips as far afield as Athlone were not uncommon for John Farrell when selling pigs.
In 1924 John, now married, went to Ballylinan where he opened a butcher’s shop. The purchase of a Citroen car led to the start of a hackney business, but before long the butchering business came to an end, as the mining industry in the locality wound down.
John purchased a truck in 1926. A Federal truck, the first of its kind in Ballylinan, it plied its trade between Hannon’s Mills and the Barrow Drainage Scheme in the early years. The creamery in Aughaboura later provided more work for John Farrell’s truck before he embarked on the steady, and presumably more lucrative, business of delivering Guinness from Dublin to Athy.
Business opportunities presented themselves in many ways, and in 1928 it was the purchase of a wooden canteen hut from Thompson’s of Gracefield for £25, which opened the door to the world of show business, for John Farrell. The hut, erected where Whelan’s garage is now located in Ballylinan, was the venue for Sunday night dances and weekday variety shows. He subsequently sold the hut in 1934 to a local committee. In 1936, was held the first of the hugely popular carnivals in Ballylinan, and John Farrell’s lorry, suitably decorated, was an important part of the marketing and advertising campaign for the event. Live music was provided, as the truck went around the country, ferrying a galaxy of musicians including Jimmy Bachelor as vocalist, Joe Kelly of The Pike and the Hughes’ brothers of Rosebran on violins, “Thrush” Kelly on bones, Casey Dempsey on banjo and Pat Eston on mouth-organ.
Another of John Farrell’s business ventures was the growing of chicory on his land at Whitebog during World War II. J.J. Bergin of Maybrook had established a plant for cleaning and cutting the chicory, which was then sold on to Dublin merchants for the manufacture of coffee. Local farmers were encouraged to get involved in chicory farming, but the intensive labour involved in harvesting the purple root crop which resembled a large carrot, coupled with diminishing financial returns, soon led to the abandonment of chicory growing in the area.
The 1940’s was the heyday of fairs in Athy and in the Square fronting onto Blanchfields, “Golly” Germaines and Nolan’s at the top of Leinster Street, the cattle fair was officially sited, although it spilled over onto Leinster Street. The story of John Farrell’s cow being led by his son Freddie to the Leinster Street fair is still remembered by some of the old residents. Apparently young Fred was pulling the reluctant cow by a rope slung around its neck, and passing Dan Lynam’s harness-makers shop in Duke Street, the cow showed a remarkable reluctance to go any further. Despite Fred’s best efforts the cow retraced its steps pulling Fred along and when it encountered Ned Ward pushing a hand cart with meat destined for his shop in Stanhope Street, the cow in attempting to jump over the cart, scattering its contents around Duke Street. The youthful Fred, mortified by what had happened, thought it best to allow the cow its head, and home it returned without further mishap.
The spirit of entrepreneurship did not desert John Farrell, when one day drawing lump lime in his truck for John Behan of Ballylinan, his journey ended in Arklow. Finding himself on the quays as the fishing boats came in after a days fishing, he could not resist the urge to bid at the subsequent fish auction and ended up with a truck load of herrings. A quick wash of the truck removed all traces of the earlier lime cargo, and loading up he returned to Athy early the following morning. Setting up a stall in Emily Square, he sold his load of herrings before evening, providing for himself an unexpected financial bonanza, and for the locals, possibly the first fresh sea fish they ever had on their dinner table.
For every successful venture there was almost inevitably one where the financial rewards were less than adequate. Such was the case when John Farrell, in preparing for a trip to collect coal from Donnellys yard in John Rogerson’s Quay in Dublin, decided to bring up a load of berried holly from Athy for the Dublin Christmas market. An earlier than usual start to the day was required, when, with the help of Joe Kelly and Paddy Farrell, the holly was cut and loaded into the truck. A couple of balls of malt was called for to slake the thirst of the workers, before John set off for Dublin in high expectation of another financial killing. It was not however to be, as John ended up with the sum of 17/6 for his effort, barely enough to cover the cost of the drinks.
In 1958 John Farrell attended the auction of Kilkea Castle, then on the market with 200 acres and fishing rights on the River Greise. The property was knocked down for £58,000 and John, who believed he had made the final bid, subsequently went to law in an unsuccessful attempt to secure the property. John, who retired in 1961, died the following year. He was survived by his wife Mary Josephine, his son Freddie and daughter Mona. His story is a fascinating one, of a man with drive and initiative, not afraid of taking risks and always prepared to face the future with a confidence born of a strong belief in his own abilities.
In the early 1920’s, John Farrell went to train as a pig jobber with Nurney’s of Annaghknock. Before long, he had embarked on his first business venture, one of many over the succeeding years. A pony and cart was the usual mode of transport in those days, and trips as far afield as Athlone were not uncommon for John Farrell when selling pigs.
In 1924 John, now married, went to Ballylinan where he opened a butcher’s shop. The purchase of a Citroen car led to the start of a hackney business, but before long the butchering business came to an end, as the mining industry in the locality wound down.
John purchased a truck in 1926. A Federal truck, the first of its kind in Ballylinan, it plied its trade between Hannon’s Mills and the Barrow Drainage Scheme in the early years. The creamery in Aughaboura later provided more work for John Farrell’s truck before he embarked on the steady, and presumably more lucrative, business of delivering Guinness from Dublin to Athy.
Business opportunities presented themselves in many ways, and in 1928 it was the purchase of a wooden canteen hut from Thompson’s of Gracefield for £25, which opened the door to the world of show business, for John Farrell. The hut, erected where Whelan’s garage is now located in Ballylinan, was the venue for Sunday night dances and weekday variety shows. He subsequently sold the hut in 1934 to a local committee. In 1936, was held the first of the hugely popular carnivals in Ballylinan, and John Farrell’s lorry, suitably decorated, was an important part of the marketing and advertising campaign for the event. Live music was provided, as the truck went around the country, ferrying a galaxy of musicians including Jimmy Bachelor as vocalist, Joe Kelly of The Pike and the Hughes’ brothers of Rosebran on violins, “Thrush” Kelly on bones, Casey Dempsey on banjo and Pat Eston on mouth-organ.
Another of John Farrell’s business ventures was the growing of chicory on his land at Whitebog during World War II. J.J. Bergin of Maybrook had established a plant for cleaning and cutting the chicory, which was then sold on to Dublin merchants for the manufacture of coffee. Local farmers were encouraged to get involved in chicory farming, but the intensive labour involved in harvesting the purple root crop which resembled a large carrot, coupled with diminishing financial returns, soon led to the abandonment of chicory growing in the area.
The 1940’s was the heyday of fairs in Athy and in the Square fronting onto Blanchfields, “Golly” Germaines and Nolan’s at the top of Leinster Street, the cattle fair was officially sited, although it spilled over onto Leinster Street. The story of John Farrell’s cow being led by his son Freddie to the Leinster Street fair is still remembered by some of the old residents. Apparently young Fred was pulling the reluctant cow by a rope slung around its neck, and passing Dan Lynam’s harness-makers shop in Duke Street, the cow showed a remarkable reluctance to go any further. Despite Fred’s best efforts the cow retraced its steps pulling Fred along and when it encountered Ned Ward pushing a hand cart with meat destined for his shop in Stanhope Street, the cow in attempting to jump over the cart, scattering its contents around Duke Street. The youthful Fred, mortified by what had happened, thought it best to allow the cow its head, and home it returned without further mishap.
The spirit of entrepreneurship did not desert John Farrell, when one day drawing lump lime in his truck for John Behan of Ballylinan, his journey ended in Arklow. Finding himself on the quays as the fishing boats came in after a days fishing, he could not resist the urge to bid at the subsequent fish auction and ended up with a truck load of herrings. A quick wash of the truck removed all traces of the earlier lime cargo, and loading up he returned to Athy early the following morning. Setting up a stall in Emily Square, he sold his load of herrings before evening, providing for himself an unexpected financial bonanza, and for the locals, possibly the first fresh sea fish they ever had on their dinner table.
For every successful venture there was almost inevitably one where the financial rewards were less than adequate. Such was the case when John Farrell, in preparing for a trip to collect coal from Donnellys yard in John Rogerson’s Quay in Dublin, decided to bring up a load of berried holly from Athy for the Dublin Christmas market. An earlier than usual start to the day was required, when, with the help of Joe Kelly and Paddy Farrell, the holly was cut and loaded into the truck. A couple of balls of malt was called for to slake the thirst of the workers, before John set off for Dublin in high expectation of another financial killing. It was not however to be, as John ended up with the sum of 17/6 for his effort, barely enough to cover the cost of the drinks.
In 1958 John Farrell attended the auction of Kilkea Castle, then on the market with 200 acres and fishing rights on the River Greise. The property was knocked down for £58,000 and John, who believed he had made the final bid, subsequently went to law in an unsuccessful attempt to secure the property. John, who retired in 1961, died the following year. He was survived by his wife Mary Josephine, his son Freddie and daughter Mona. His story is a fascinating one, of a man with drive and initiative, not afraid of taking risks and always prepared to face the future with a confidence born of a strong belief in his own abilities.
Friday, July 28, 1995
Canon John Hyland P.P. Dunlavin
I received a letter during the week from Fr. Paddy Finn, Parish Priest of Donard, Dunlavin and Davidstown, Co. Wicklow enclosing a copy of his parish magazine “Parish Link”. It’s an excellent publication, which I see is produced by a number of lay people, but its interest for me lay in a short piece on a former Parish Priest of Dunlavin, Canon John Hyland.
Like Paddy Finn, Canon Hyland was an Athy man. He was born in 1793, two years after the Grand Canal was extended to Athy and in the same year that the United Irishmen embarked on the long road which would end in the 1798 Rebellion.
Hyland was a common enough name in Athy at the turn of the 18th century. A John Hyland had his house near the upper Turnpike gate of the town, as was mentioned in information sworn by a local man, who observed the comings and goings of the United Irishmen and reported on them to Dublin Castle. A Robert Hyland was conductor of the canal boat which was robbed of its cargo while berthed overnight at the canal harbour, Athy on the 7th of December 1797. The cargo included 50 stands of arms and 1,000 ball cartridges all intended for a corp of Yeomen Infantry in Leighlinbridge, Co. Carlow. The loss, at the hands of what was believed to be the local United Irishmen, prompted Captain Eskine of the local military barracks, with a party of dragoons, to search every house in Athy. As a result many local men were arrested and lodged in White's Castle jail.
What connection the future Canon Hyland had with any of the aforementioned Hylands I cannot say, but by the time he left Athy in 1813 to enter Maynooth College, he was undoubtedly familiar with the unrest among the workers and tenant farmers of South Kildare. This had led to several local people claiming in correspondence addressed to Dublin Castle that “Athy and its neighbourhood is full of arms” and that “Protestant minds in the vicinity are in great alarm in consequence of rumours of intended rebellion”. No such rebellion took place. Athy and District had already suffered enormously during the earlier 1798 period and to a lesser extent during the Robert Emmet Rebellion of 1803.
John Hyland distinguished himself as a student of theology while in Maynooth College, and following his ordination, he was appointed Chaplain to the Presentation Convent at George’s Hill, Dublin. He was politically active, as was not unusual for Catholic clergy, in those pre-Catholic Emancipation days. When the Catholic Association was re-established in 1823 by Daniel O’Connell and Richard Lalor Sheil, Fr. John Hyland became a member. Every Irish adult was encouraged to join the Catholic Association and to contribute one penny a month to fund the fight for Catholic emancipation. This money, collected at church gates throughout the country, earned for O’Connell the title “King of the Beggars” and was known as “the Catholic rent”. The funding, which priests like Fr. John Hyland helped to put into the coffers of the Catholic Association, secured its success and culminated in the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829.
Two years previously, Fr. Hyland was appointed Parish Priest of Dunlavin, where he was to remain until he died in September 1862. Archbishop Paul Cullen of Dublin, who was to be appointed the first Irish Cardinal in 1866, presided at his funeral obsequies in the Church of St. Nicholas, Dunlavin. Although the Athy-born Canon was ten years older than the Ballytore-born Archbishop, a common South Kildare background guaranteed a strong bond of friendship between both men. Canon Hyland was buried in the vault in the centre of the nave of St. Nicholas’ Church, Dunlavin where Paddy Finn, another native of Athy, is now the Parish Priest.
Canon John Hyland and Fr. Paddy Finn, while separated by over 130 years of Irish history, are linked by youthful years spent in the same South Kildare town, where the Grand Canal and River Barrow meet.
Like Paddy Finn, Canon Hyland was an Athy man. He was born in 1793, two years after the Grand Canal was extended to Athy and in the same year that the United Irishmen embarked on the long road which would end in the 1798 Rebellion.
Hyland was a common enough name in Athy at the turn of the 18th century. A John Hyland had his house near the upper Turnpike gate of the town, as was mentioned in information sworn by a local man, who observed the comings and goings of the United Irishmen and reported on them to Dublin Castle. A Robert Hyland was conductor of the canal boat which was robbed of its cargo while berthed overnight at the canal harbour, Athy on the 7th of December 1797. The cargo included 50 stands of arms and 1,000 ball cartridges all intended for a corp of Yeomen Infantry in Leighlinbridge, Co. Carlow. The loss, at the hands of what was believed to be the local United Irishmen, prompted Captain Eskine of the local military barracks, with a party of dragoons, to search every house in Athy. As a result many local men were arrested and lodged in White's Castle jail.
What connection the future Canon Hyland had with any of the aforementioned Hylands I cannot say, but by the time he left Athy in 1813 to enter Maynooth College, he was undoubtedly familiar with the unrest among the workers and tenant farmers of South Kildare. This had led to several local people claiming in correspondence addressed to Dublin Castle that “Athy and its neighbourhood is full of arms” and that “Protestant minds in the vicinity are in great alarm in consequence of rumours of intended rebellion”. No such rebellion took place. Athy and District had already suffered enormously during the earlier 1798 period and to a lesser extent during the Robert Emmet Rebellion of 1803.
John Hyland distinguished himself as a student of theology while in Maynooth College, and following his ordination, he was appointed Chaplain to the Presentation Convent at George’s Hill, Dublin. He was politically active, as was not unusual for Catholic clergy, in those pre-Catholic Emancipation days. When the Catholic Association was re-established in 1823 by Daniel O’Connell and Richard Lalor Sheil, Fr. John Hyland became a member. Every Irish adult was encouraged to join the Catholic Association and to contribute one penny a month to fund the fight for Catholic emancipation. This money, collected at church gates throughout the country, earned for O’Connell the title “King of the Beggars” and was known as “the Catholic rent”. The funding, which priests like Fr. John Hyland helped to put into the coffers of the Catholic Association, secured its success and culminated in the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829.
Two years previously, Fr. Hyland was appointed Parish Priest of Dunlavin, where he was to remain until he died in September 1862. Archbishop Paul Cullen of Dublin, who was to be appointed the first Irish Cardinal in 1866, presided at his funeral obsequies in the Church of St. Nicholas, Dunlavin. Although the Athy-born Canon was ten years older than the Ballytore-born Archbishop, a common South Kildare background guaranteed a strong bond of friendship between both men. Canon Hyland was buried in the vault in the centre of the nave of St. Nicholas’ Church, Dunlavin where Paddy Finn, another native of Athy, is now the Parish Priest.
Canon John Hyland and Fr. Paddy Finn, while separated by over 130 years of Irish history, are linked by youthful years spent in the same South Kildare town, where the Grand Canal and River Barrow meet.
Friday, July 21, 1995
The Legend of Oona More
“Oona More, a Legend of Kildare” was written for the February Session of Carlow College in 1865 by Rev. Patrick Fitzsimons, who had been ordained for the Kildare and Leighlin Diocese seven years previously. A member of Carlow College staff from his ordination until 1871, Fr. Fitzsimons was then appointed administrator of Tullow where he remained until his death on the 15th of January 1876. What connection, if any, he had with Inch or County Kildare, I have been unable to ascertain.
The ballad tells the story of Oona More, or more correctly Moore, who lived in Ballycullane, near Athy. In nearby Inch Castle lived the MacKellys or O’Kellys, either name is to be found in different versions of the ballad. In the best manner of Irish folk tradition, MacKelly was described as a tyrannical landlord, whose son Ulick had a brief relationship with the beautiful Oona More, a farm worker’s daughter. Later abandoned by her lover, Oona returned broken- hearted to live with her brothers in Ballycullane.
“Full many a hopeful promise to the maiden fair he gave,
He swore to be her guardian from that moment to the grave;
But his love tho’ warm was fleeting as an echo from the shore,
Not many a sun had risen ere he slighted Oona More.”
The plague commonly called the Black Death raged through Ireland and England in 1349, leaving over one million dead in its wake. It was to erupt periodically thereafter, and in 1439 made its appearance yet again amongst the Irish people. Ulick MacKelly from Inch Castle was struck down, and like all others similarly afflicted he was removed to a plague shed in the middle of the Kildare countryside. There he was to remain “so changed that those who shared his feast fled sickening at the sight.”
Not so, Oona, the girl he had spurned, who hearing of his plight hurried to the plague shed to be near her former lover.
“Three nights she vigil’d whilst the glow was fading from his cheek,
More soothing words than Oona’s were scarce angel-tongues might speak;
But all was vain, his hour was come, his eyes were closed in death,
And tended by that faithful one he sighed his parting breath.
That self-same hour died Oona, by the plague-shed’s cheerless door,
The carrion crow and raven o’er the lifeless bodies soar,
But yet they dare not enter, for since Oona pass’d away,
A snow white bird is resting there, and guards the door all day.
Next morn they burned the plague-shed, where the two lay side by side,
False Ulick and fair Oona, like a bridegroom and his bride;
And from the ashes of their bones which mingled with the clay,
Sprang seven fair trees of hawthorn, which are living there today.”
The legend of Oona More and Ulick MacKelly is in the best traditions of Irish folklore, and strikes a very responsive link with our hidden past. The remains of Inch Castle, which lie three miles to the north east of Athy, are those of a 15th century tower house. A substantial portion of the north east corner fell in 1896, carrying with it the original entrance and part of the staircase. The intervening years have not been kind to the old structure.
In the Dublin Penny Journal of 1835 the following lines appeared as representing part of a favourite wake song in the Ballycullane/Inch locality :
“On moonlight nights the shadow flits
across the furry moor,
And at the Moate in silence sits,
Until the midnight hour.
The bitterns only moan is heard
Along the boggy glade,
But the shadow still is feared
As Oona’s restless shade.”
The story of Oona More from Ballycullane is remembered even at the remove of over 500 years. Hers is a tale of love, betrayal and loyalty, so beloved of the folklorists and of the people from whom the story passed from generation to generation, until it found permanency in print with the pen of a Catholic priest in Carlow College 130 years ago.
The ballad tells the story of Oona More, or more correctly Moore, who lived in Ballycullane, near Athy. In nearby Inch Castle lived the MacKellys or O’Kellys, either name is to be found in different versions of the ballad. In the best manner of Irish folk tradition, MacKelly was described as a tyrannical landlord, whose son Ulick had a brief relationship with the beautiful Oona More, a farm worker’s daughter. Later abandoned by her lover, Oona returned broken- hearted to live with her brothers in Ballycullane.
“Full many a hopeful promise to the maiden fair he gave,
He swore to be her guardian from that moment to the grave;
But his love tho’ warm was fleeting as an echo from the shore,
Not many a sun had risen ere he slighted Oona More.”
The plague commonly called the Black Death raged through Ireland and England in 1349, leaving over one million dead in its wake. It was to erupt periodically thereafter, and in 1439 made its appearance yet again amongst the Irish people. Ulick MacKelly from Inch Castle was struck down, and like all others similarly afflicted he was removed to a plague shed in the middle of the Kildare countryside. There he was to remain “so changed that those who shared his feast fled sickening at the sight.”
Not so, Oona, the girl he had spurned, who hearing of his plight hurried to the plague shed to be near her former lover.
“Three nights she vigil’d whilst the glow was fading from his cheek,
More soothing words than Oona’s were scarce angel-tongues might speak;
But all was vain, his hour was come, his eyes were closed in death,
And tended by that faithful one he sighed his parting breath.
That self-same hour died Oona, by the plague-shed’s cheerless door,
The carrion crow and raven o’er the lifeless bodies soar,
But yet they dare not enter, for since Oona pass’d away,
A snow white bird is resting there, and guards the door all day.
Next morn they burned the plague-shed, where the two lay side by side,
False Ulick and fair Oona, like a bridegroom and his bride;
And from the ashes of their bones which mingled with the clay,
Sprang seven fair trees of hawthorn, which are living there today.”
The legend of Oona More and Ulick MacKelly is in the best traditions of Irish folklore, and strikes a very responsive link with our hidden past. The remains of Inch Castle, which lie three miles to the north east of Athy, are those of a 15th century tower house. A substantial portion of the north east corner fell in 1896, carrying with it the original entrance and part of the staircase. The intervening years have not been kind to the old structure.
In the Dublin Penny Journal of 1835 the following lines appeared as representing part of a favourite wake song in the Ballycullane/Inch locality :
“On moonlight nights the shadow flits
across the furry moor,
And at the Moate in silence sits,
Until the midnight hour.
The bitterns only moan is heard
Along the boggy glade,
But the shadow still is feared
As Oona’s restless shade.”
The story of Oona More from Ballycullane is remembered even at the remove of over 500 years. Hers is a tale of love, betrayal and loyalty, so beloved of the folklorists and of the people from whom the story passed from generation to generation, until it found permanency in print with the pen of a Catholic priest in Carlow College 130 years ago.
Friday, July 14, 1995
Jim Connor
One of the many enduring traditions of our town, is the yearly visit home by our emigrants. Throughout the summer months they are to be seen renewing old acquaintances and keeping in touch with what are for them, the sights and sounds of their youth.
One man who has made the annual pilgrimage since 1952 is Jim Connor, formerly of Castlemitchell, whom I had the enormous pleasure of meeting during the week. For Jim, Athy and especially Castlemitchell is still home, despite having spent 43 years in London, where he now resides with his wife, the former Mary Lawler of Athy.
His father was a member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police who joined the Irish Guards Regiment in 1905. Wounded in World War I, he was invalided out of the army in 1917 and returned to Castlemitchell. There he reared his family which included Jack and Eileen, both of whom died in recent years, Jim and his sisters, Mary Dempsey, still in Castlemitchell, and Kathleen Fay who now lives in America.
Jim attended Churchtown National School, and remembers many a trip down “Kangs” Lane, where Jack “Kang” Kearney and his wife Kate lived in a small mud cabin. Both cabin and lane have now disappeared, but the outline of the lane which ran from the site of the new National School exiting out beyond the Bleeding Horse, is still visible in parts. Jack joined the revived Churchtown Pipe Band after he started piping lessons with Jerry Byrne of Castlemitchell in 1932. Others who joined at that time included Joe Fennelly, Willie Pender and George Byrne, and many a night they spent sitting in the shadow of the paraffin oil lamp in Byrne’s house, learning the pipe scales, before progressing to their first tune, “The Minstrel Boy”. The band room was a shed at the back of Byrnes house, which doubled as a dance hall on Saturday nights. Known as the “Besonk”, it was there that the locals danced to “Byrnes Dance Band”, with John Byrne on piano accordion, Jerry on the banjo and his brother Christy on violin. The only non-Byrne family member of the quartet was the drummer Mick Sourke. Irish set dances were the rage and Marcella Donnelly, a dance teacher from the Newbridge/Kildare area, travelled over to Castlemitchell to teach the steps.
When the summer of 1934 arrived the pipers were sufficiently skilled to take to the road, and joined by Willie and Lar Hutchinson, former members of Kilberry Pipe Band, and Ned Hyland and John Luttrell, formerly of the New Inn Pipe Band, the Churchtown Pipe Band was re-activated. The band’s future was assured when it got a booking from the National Radio Station 2RN. The musicians travelled to Dublin in hackney cars, and performed so impressively that further radio bookings resulted. Churchtown Pipe Band was to broadcast on Radio 2RN, on average three times a year, between 1935 and 1941.
Jim got his secondary schooling in the Christian Brothers School Athy, where he remembers Master Walsh and Master Spillane, two lay teachers who taught with the legendary Liam Ryan. Brother Dolan was the Principal, and also on the teaching staff was Brother O’Farrell, who did so much to revive the skill of hurling in the Athy area.
In 1937 Jim started work in McHugh’s Pharmacy, Duke Street where he was employed for three or four years developing photographs. This job ended during the early part of the Second World War due to the shortage of photographic material. A spell on the building sites followed, with Jim taking up employment with Murray and McCartan, a county Meath firm which was responsible for building the County Council houses at Castlemitchell.
In 1942 he got a job in the local Asbestos factory where the redoubtable Mr. Cornish was works manager. Jim acknowledges with a wry smile that Cornish, a Welsh man, was a tough, no- nonsense man whose influence on the early development of the Asbestos factory was vital for its future success.
In 1948 Jim became an insurance agent with the Irish Assurance Company, covering the Ballylinan, Barrowhouse, Luggacurran and Castlemitchell areas. His local colleagues in the Assurance Company were Tom Moore, who had responsibility for the Rheban area, and Mick Doyle, who covered the area south of Athy. It was hard, demanding work at a time when jobs were scarce. Money was needed to put food on the table and little could be put aside for insurance policies. In 1952 Jim decided to go to England. By then, Churchtown Pipe Band had long ceased to operate, when its members joined the L.S.F. Band in Athy, which was formed by Garda Sergeant Hayes.
When Jim took the mail boat at Dun Laoghaire he was 32 years of age and embarking on a new phase of his life centred in London, where there were few opportunities to play the bagpipes. He enlisted in Brixton School of Building and later the Wandsworth School of Building before taking up employment with Tenson’s, for whom he worked for 15 years. A six-year stint with McAlpine’s followed, before he ended his working career with Higgs & Hill. Rising through the ranks from building worker to foreman he retired nine years ago as an area supervisor.
Jim has never forgotten his home place, and spends his annual summer holidays in Athy and Castlemitchell. There are so many more emigrants like Jim and Mary Connor who maintain strong links with Athy but there are also many living abroad who do not feel able, for whatever reason, to return to their “old haunts”.
One man who has made the annual pilgrimage since 1952 is Jim Connor, formerly of Castlemitchell, whom I had the enormous pleasure of meeting during the week. For Jim, Athy and especially Castlemitchell is still home, despite having spent 43 years in London, where he now resides with his wife, the former Mary Lawler of Athy.
His father was a member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police who joined the Irish Guards Regiment in 1905. Wounded in World War I, he was invalided out of the army in 1917 and returned to Castlemitchell. There he reared his family which included Jack and Eileen, both of whom died in recent years, Jim and his sisters, Mary Dempsey, still in Castlemitchell, and Kathleen Fay who now lives in America.
Jim attended Churchtown National School, and remembers many a trip down “Kangs” Lane, where Jack “Kang” Kearney and his wife Kate lived in a small mud cabin. Both cabin and lane have now disappeared, but the outline of the lane which ran from the site of the new National School exiting out beyond the Bleeding Horse, is still visible in parts. Jack joined the revived Churchtown Pipe Band after he started piping lessons with Jerry Byrne of Castlemitchell in 1932. Others who joined at that time included Joe Fennelly, Willie Pender and George Byrne, and many a night they spent sitting in the shadow of the paraffin oil lamp in Byrne’s house, learning the pipe scales, before progressing to their first tune, “The Minstrel Boy”. The band room was a shed at the back of Byrnes house, which doubled as a dance hall on Saturday nights. Known as the “Besonk”, it was there that the locals danced to “Byrnes Dance Band”, with John Byrne on piano accordion, Jerry on the banjo and his brother Christy on violin. The only non-Byrne family member of the quartet was the drummer Mick Sourke. Irish set dances were the rage and Marcella Donnelly, a dance teacher from the Newbridge/Kildare area, travelled over to Castlemitchell to teach the steps.
When the summer of 1934 arrived the pipers were sufficiently skilled to take to the road, and joined by Willie and Lar Hutchinson, former members of Kilberry Pipe Band, and Ned Hyland and John Luttrell, formerly of the New Inn Pipe Band, the Churchtown Pipe Band was re-activated. The band’s future was assured when it got a booking from the National Radio Station 2RN. The musicians travelled to Dublin in hackney cars, and performed so impressively that further radio bookings resulted. Churchtown Pipe Band was to broadcast on Radio 2RN, on average three times a year, between 1935 and 1941.
Jim got his secondary schooling in the Christian Brothers School Athy, where he remembers Master Walsh and Master Spillane, two lay teachers who taught with the legendary Liam Ryan. Brother Dolan was the Principal, and also on the teaching staff was Brother O’Farrell, who did so much to revive the skill of hurling in the Athy area.
In 1937 Jim started work in McHugh’s Pharmacy, Duke Street where he was employed for three or four years developing photographs. This job ended during the early part of the Second World War due to the shortage of photographic material. A spell on the building sites followed, with Jim taking up employment with Murray and McCartan, a county Meath firm which was responsible for building the County Council houses at Castlemitchell.
In 1942 he got a job in the local Asbestos factory where the redoubtable Mr. Cornish was works manager. Jim acknowledges with a wry smile that Cornish, a Welsh man, was a tough, no- nonsense man whose influence on the early development of the Asbestos factory was vital for its future success.
In 1948 Jim became an insurance agent with the Irish Assurance Company, covering the Ballylinan, Barrowhouse, Luggacurran and Castlemitchell areas. His local colleagues in the Assurance Company were Tom Moore, who had responsibility for the Rheban area, and Mick Doyle, who covered the area south of Athy. It was hard, demanding work at a time when jobs were scarce. Money was needed to put food on the table and little could be put aside for insurance policies. In 1952 Jim decided to go to England. By then, Churchtown Pipe Band had long ceased to operate, when its members joined the L.S.F. Band in Athy, which was formed by Garda Sergeant Hayes.
When Jim took the mail boat at Dun Laoghaire he was 32 years of age and embarking on a new phase of his life centred in London, where there were few opportunities to play the bagpipes. He enlisted in Brixton School of Building and later the Wandsworth School of Building before taking up employment with Tenson’s, for whom he worked for 15 years. A six-year stint with McAlpine’s followed, before he ended his working career with Higgs & Hill. Rising through the ranks from building worker to foreman he retired nine years ago as an area supervisor.
Jim has never forgotten his home place, and spends his annual summer holidays in Athy and Castlemitchell. There are so many more emigrants like Jim and Mary Connor who maintain strong links with Athy but there are also many living abroad who do not feel able, for whatever reason, to return to their “old haunts”.
Friday, July 7, 1995
George Bermingham - Canon James Hannay and Caralway Kilcullen
Carnalway, near Kilcullen, is noted in “Monastican Hibernicum” as the site of a monastery founded in 1486 for Franciscans of the Strict Observance, by Sir Richard Eustace, son of Sir Edward Eustace of Harristown, Lord Chancellor and Treasurer of Ireland. In 1831 the population of Carnalway was 1,291 and ten years later it was 1181. The local parish church, built at the expense of John Latouche of Harristown, was described by its Rector in 1918 as “very tiny but very attractive and except for the Tower which is older, was built in the Hiberno Romanesque style, being a copy of the ancient Chapel of King Cormac in Cashel”.
The Rector was Canon James Owen Hannay, an Irish writer whose literary efforts, like those of his contemporary, the once famous Kerry playwright George Fitzmaurice, are largely neglected today. Canon Hannay, who wrote under the pseudonym George A. Bermingham, was born in Belfast on the 16th of July 1865, the son of a clergyman. Ordained for the Church of Ireland in 1889 he served as a curate in Delgany, Co. Wicklow before being appointed to Westport, Co. Mayo in 1892 where he served until 1913. A fluent Gaelic speaker, he became a member of the Gaelic League, and was later elected to the executive of that organisation. The publication of his first novel “The Seething Pot” in 1905, gave rise to the false claim that he had caricatured the Parish Priest of Westport, and as a consequence he was boycotted by the local people. The unpleasantness which resulted spilled over into the Gaelic League, and Canon Hannay, the Church of Ireland Rector, was expelled from the organisation.
He continued to write, and in 1913 his most famous play “General John Regan” was produced, by the legendary Charles Hawtrey, on the London stage, to much critical acclaim. When the same play was later put on in Westport by a touring company, it led to riots similar to those experienced during the Abbey Theatre presentation of Synge’s “The Playboy of the Western World” in 1907. In both instances, the audiences felt outraged at the perceived insult to pure-minded Irish nationalism by the realism of the playwright’s characters.
Hannay was a prolific writer, but the difficulties presented for him in his West of Ireland parish prompted him to enlist as an army chaplin in France during World War I. On his return from the War in 1918, he was appointed to the Parish of Carnalway just outside Kilcullen, where he remained for two years before finally leaving Ireland.
His biography “Pleasant Places” was published in 1934, and in it he recounts his time in Carnalway, a Parish “without a village and no shop of any kind”. Referring to Carnalway as “pleasant and interesting”, Canon Hannay recalls that “there was one pillar box into which we used to drop our letters. If we ran short of stamps we dropped the necessary pennies into the box along with our letters and the Postman who emptied the box stamped the letters”.
The idyllic lifestyle of another era ended when he left to take up an appointment as a Church of England Minister in France and later in England. Canon Hannay, who died in 1950, was writing up to the end and his last book, “Two Scamps”, was published just shortly before he died. In all, his published works amounted to over 70 novels, plays and works of non-fiction. His short sojourn in County Kildare coincided with the publication of “The Island Mystery” in 1918, “A Padre in France” in 1918, “An Irish Man Looks At His World” in 1919, “Our Casualty” in 1919, “Up The Rebels” in 1919 and “Inisheeny” in 1920.
As a novelist, playwright and humorist, George A. Bermingham, alias Canon James Hannay, was a better writer than many who have achieved greater literary fame. His books, which give an insight into Ireland of another time, deserve a wide readership amongst the present generation, and it is hoped that their re-issue will be taken up by some enterprising publisher.
The Rector was Canon James Owen Hannay, an Irish writer whose literary efforts, like those of his contemporary, the once famous Kerry playwright George Fitzmaurice, are largely neglected today. Canon Hannay, who wrote under the pseudonym George A. Bermingham, was born in Belfast on the 16th of July 1865, the son of a clergyman. Ordained for the Church of Ireland in 1889 he served as a curate in Delgany, Co. Wicklow before being appointed to Westport, Co. Mayo in 1892 where he served until 1913. A fluent Gaelic speaker, he became a member of the Gaelic League, and was later elected to the executive of that organisation. The publication of his first novel “The Seething Pot” in 1905, gave rise to the false claim that he had caricatured the Parish Priest of Westport, and as a consequence he was boycotted by the local people. The unpleasantness which resulted spilled over into the Gaelic League, and Canon Hannay, the Church of Ireland Rector, was expelled from the organisation.
He continued to write, and in 1913 his most famous play “General John Regan” was produced, by the legendary Charles Hawtrey, on the London stage, to much critical acclaim. When the same play was later put on in Westport by a touring company, it led to riots similar to those experienced during the Abbey Theatre presentation of Synge’s “The Playboy of the Western World” in 1907. In both instances, the audiences felt outraged at the perceived insult to pure-minded Irish nationalism by the realism of the playwright’s characters.
Hannay was a prolific writer, but the difficulties presented for him in his West of Ireland parish prompted him to enlist as an army chaplin in France during World War I. On his return from the War in 1918, he was appointed to the Parish of Carnalway just outside Kilcullen, where he remained for two years before finally leaving Ireland.
His biography “Pleasant Places” was published in 1934, and in it he recounts his time in Carnalway, a Parish “without a village and no shop of any kind”. Referring to Carnalway as “pleasant and interesting”, Canon Hannay recalls that “there was one pillar box into which we used to drop our letters. If we ran short of stamps we dropped the necessary pennies into the box along with our letters and the Postman who emptied the box stamped the letters”.
The idyllic lifestyle of another era ended when he left to take up an appointment as a Church of England Minister in France and later in England. Canon Hannay, who died in 1950, was writing up to the end and his last book, “Two Scamps”, was published just shortly before he died. In all, his published works amounted to over 70 novels, plays and works of non-fiction. His short sojourn in County Kildare coincided with the publication of “The Island Mystery” in 1918, “A Padre in France” in 1918, “An Irish Man Looks At His World” in 1919, “Our Casualty” in 1919, “Up The Rebels” in 1919 and “Inisheeny” in 1920.
As a novelist, playwright and humorist, George A. Bermingham, alias Canon James Hannay, was a better writer than many who have achieved greater literary fame. His books, which give an insight into Ireland of another time, deserve a wide readership amongst the present generation, and it is hoped that their re-issue will be taken up by some enterprising publisher.
George Bermingham - Canon James Hannay and Carnalway Kilcullen
Carnalway, near Kilcullen, is noted in “Monastican Hibernicum” as the site of a monastery founded in 1486 for Franciscans of the Strict Observance, by Sir Richard Eustace, son of Sir Edward Eustace of Harristown, Lord Chancellor and Treasurer of Ireland. In 1831 the population of Carnalway was 1,291 and ten years later it was 1181. The local parish church, built at the expense of John Latouche of Harristown, was described by its Rector in 1918 as “very tiny but very attractive and except for the Tower which is older, was built in the Hiberno Romanesque style, being a copy of the ancient Chapel of King Cormac in Cashel”.
The Rector was Canon James Owen Hannay, an Irish writer whose literary efforts, like those of his contemporary, the once famous Kerry playwright George Fitzmaurice, are largely neglected today. Canon Hannay, who wrote under the pseudonym George A. Bermingham, was born in Belfast on the 16th of July 1865, the son of a clergyman. Ordained for the Church of Ireland in 1889 he served as a curate in Delgany, Co. Wicklow before being appointed to Westport, Co. Mayo in 1892 where he served until 1913. A fluent Gaelic speaker, he became a member of the Gaelic League, and was later elected to the executive of that organisation. The publication of his first novel “The Seething Pot” in 1905, gave rise to the false claim that he had caricatured the Parish Priest of Westport, and as a consequence he was boycotted by the local people. The unpleasantness which resulted spilled over into the Gaelic League, and Canon Hannay, the Church of Ireland Rector, was expelled from the organisation.
He continued to write, and in 1913 his most famous play “General John Regan” was produced, by the legendary Charles Hawtrey, on the London stage, to much critical acclaim. When the same play was later put on in Westport by a touring company, it led to riots similar to those experienced during the Abbey Theatre presentation of Synge’s “The Playboy of the Western World” in 1907. In both instances, the audiences felt outraged at the perceived insult to pure-minded Irish nationalism by the realism of the playwright’s characters.
Hannay was a prolific writer, but the difficulties presented for him in his West of Ireland parish prompted him to enlist as an army chaplin in France during World War I. On his return from the War in 1918, he was appointed to the Parish of Carnalway just outside Kilcullen, where he remained for two years before finally leaving Ireland.
His biography “Pleasant Places” was published in 1934, and in it he recounts his time in Carnalway, a Parish “without a village and no shop of any kind”. Referring to Carnalway as “pleasant and interesting”, Canon Hannay recalls that “there was one pillar box into which we used to drop our letters. If we ran short of stamps we dropped the necessary pennies into the box along with our letters and the Postman who emptied the box stamped the letters”.
The idyllic lifestyle of another era ended when he left to take up an appointment as a Church of England Minister in France and later in England. Canon Hannay, who died in 1950, was writing up to the end and his last book, “Two Scamps”, was published just shortly before he died. In all, his published works amounted to over 70 novels, plays and works of non-fiction. His short sojourn in County Kildare coincided with the publication of “The Island Mystery” in 1918, “A Padre in France” in 1918, “An Irish Man Looks At His World” in 1919, “Our Casualty” in 1919, “Up The Rebels” in 1919 and “Inisheeny” in 1920.
As a novelist, playwright and humorist, George A. Bermingham, alias Canon James Hannay, was a better writer than many who have achieved greater literary fame. His books, which give an insight into Ireland of another time, deserve a wide readership amongst the present generation, and it is hoped that their re-issue will be taken up by some enterprising publisher.
The Rector was Canon James Owen Hannay, an Irish writer whose literary efforts, like those of his contemporary, the once famous Kerry playwright George Fitzmaurice, are largely neglected today. Canon Hannay, who wrote under the pseudonym George A. Bermingham, was born in Belfast on the 16th of July 1865, the son of a clergyman. Ordained for the Church of Ireland in 1889 he served as a curate in Delgany, Co. Wicklow before being appointed to Westport, Co. Mayo in 1892 where he served until 1913. A fluent Gaelic speaker, he became a member of the Gaelic League, and was later elected to the executive of that organisation. The publication of his first novel “The Seething Pot” in 1905, gave rise to the false claim that he had caricatured the Parish Priest of Westport, and as a consequence he was boycotted by the local people. The unpleasantness which resulted spilled over into the Gaelic League, and Canon Hannay, the Church of Ireland Rector, was expelled from the organisation.
He continued to write, and in 1913 his most famous play “General John Regan” was produced, by the legendary Charles Hawtrey, on the London stage, to much critical acclaim. When the same play was later put on in Westport by a touring company, it led to riots similar to those experienced during the Abbey Theatre presentation of Synge’s “The Playboy of the Western World” in 1907. In both instances, the audiences felt outraged at the perceived insult to pure-minded Irish nationalism by the realism of the playwright’s characters.
Hannay was a prolific writer, but the difficulties presented for him in his West of Ireland parish prompted him to enlist as an army chaplin in France during World War I. On his return from the War in 1918, he was appointed to the Parish of Carnalway just outside Kilcullen, where he remained for two years before finally leaving Ireland.
His biography “Pleasant Places” was published in 1934, and in it he recounts his time in Carnalway, a Parish “without a village and no shop of any kind”. Referring to Carnalway as “pleasant and interesting”, Canon Hannay recalls that “there was one pillar box into which we used to drop our letters. If we ran short of stamps we dropped the necessary pennies into the box along with our letters and the Postman who emptied the box stamped the letters”.
The idyllic lifestyle of another era ended when he left to take up an appointment as a Church of England Minister in France and later in England. Canon Hannay, who died in 1950, was writing up to the end and his last book, “Two Scamps”, was published just shortly before he died. In all, his published works amounted to over 70 novels, plays and works of non-fiction. His short sojourn in County Kildare coincided with the publication of “The Island Mystery” in 1918, “A Padre in France” in 1918, “An Irish Man Looks At His World” in 1919, “Our Casualty” in 1919, “Up The Rebels” in 1919 and “Inisheeny” in 1920.
As a novelist, playwright and humorist, George A. Bermingham, alias Canon James Hannay, was a better writer than many who have achieved greater literary fame. His books, which give an insight into Ireland of another time, deserve a wide readership amongst the present generation, and it is hoped that their re-issue will be taken up by some enterprising publisher.
Friday, June 30, 1995
Cultural Feast in Athy - Sifonia and 'On Hallowed Ground'
Athy had enjoyed a cultural feast in the last two weeks. It started with the Wexford Sinfonia which played a programme of classic pieces in St. Dominic's Church on Sunday the 11th of June. Fergus Sheil was the orchestra's conductor which was led by Theresa Doyle and soloist was Michael D'arcy, violin played of exceptional quality who is leader of the R.T.E. Concert Orchestra.
Athy's Lions Club in co-operation with the Friends of St. Vincent's Hospital were the promoters of the enjoyable concert which played to an almost full house. However it is to Bruce Yates of Grangemellon must go the accolades for organising the event. Bruce who is involved with other choral and orchestral groups first made contact with Wexford Sinfonia and almost single handedly organised what was a most pleasant evenings musical entertainment.
Six days later on Saturday 17th June Athy Writers Group organised what the programme described as a Literary Evening in St. Brigid's Church, Ballintubbert. Under the title of "On Hallowed Ground" the entertainment commemorated the life and works of C. Day Lewis, Poet Laureate.
Lewis was born in Ballintubbert House on the 27th of April 1904, the only child of Rev. Frank Day Lewis, Church of Ireland Minister and his wife Kathleen. He died in 1972 four years after being appointed Poet Laureate.
The evening commenced with a feast of renaissance music played by the Capriol Consort, a group of four young ladies from the Dublin area. Playing on what to my untutored eyes looked like mock medieval wind instruments the sound produced was cultivated to let ones mind slip back in time to the days of Manorial celebrations in Woodstock Castle.
Mary Thompson, a Dublin based educationalist, gave a resume of C. Day Lewis's life and work and highlighted his importance in the literary world. Others to contribute included John MacKenna, described in the programme as "a prolific writer" when surely he is more aptly named as one of Ireland's most promising young writers. James O'Keeffe who is making a name for himself with his writings gave us a number of short poems including one entitled "A Gardener of Sorts" which I heard him repeat on Sunday Miscellany the following morning.
A very talented writer whose work is surely deserving of publication in his own collection is Dom Brennan who gave us a reading which was well received. His poem on the bewigged gentlemen of the Law circling the Courthouse in Athy on Court day was a gem.
There were many other contributors both musical and literary but one which I thought was particularly good was Canon William Beere's rendition of a Thomas Moore ballad. I would have liked to have heard more from the Canon whose rich mellifluous voice easily filled the Church of St. Brigids.
During the break I paid a visit to the Kelly family vault which is in the Church grounds where Rev. Thomas Kelly is buried with his wife and some of his children. Founder of the Kellyites he is today remembered as Irelands foremost hymn writer. No less than seven editions of his Church Hymnal were published during his lifetime and the last edition included 765 of his hymns.
"We sing the praise of Him who died" and "The Head that once was crowned with thorns" are two of his many hymns which are still included in modern day Church hymnals. Three of his well known missionary hymns are "On the mountain top appearing", "Zions King Shall Reign Victorious" and "Speed Thy Servants, Saviour Speed Them".
In this year of commemoration for the victims of the Famine it is well to know what is written of him by Miller in "The Singer and Songs of the Church" published in 1869. There Kelly was described as "admirable alike for his zeal and his humility and his liberality found ample scope in Ireland especially during the years of the Famine". Tradition relates that his uncle who was the Catholic Archbishop of Tuam while on a visit to Judge Kelly's house in Kellyville lost a number of valuables following which the cleric rather unkindly is supposed to have claimed "The larks will not sing over Kellyville, Till the large oak falls against the wind".
Whether the oak ever fell I cannot say, but certainly Saturday night in St. Brigid's Church as the dusk fell around us was the place to be. Well done Athy Writers Group and well done Bruce Yates.
Athy's Lions Club in co-operation with the Friends of St. Vincent's Hospital were the promoters of the enjoyable concert which played to an almost full house. However it is to Bruce Yates of Grangemellon must go the accolades for organising the event. Bruce who is involved with other choral and orchestral groups first made contact with Wexford Sinfonia and almost single handedly organised what was a most pleasant evenings musical entertainment.
Six days later on Saturday 17th June Athy Writers Group organised what the programme described as a Literary Evening in St. Brigid's Church, Ballintubbert. Under the title of "On Hallowed Ground" the entertainment commemorated the life and works of C. Day Lewis, Poet Laureate.
Lewis was born in Ballintubbert House on the 27th of April 1904, the only child of Rev. Frank Day Lewis, Church of Ireland Minister and his wife Kathleen. He died in 1972 four years after being appointed Poet Laureate.
The evening commenced with a feast of renaissance music played by the Capriol Consort, a group of four young ladies from the Dublin area. Playing on what to my untutored eyes looked like mock medieval wind instruments the sound produced was cultivated to let ones mind slip back in time to the days of Manorial celebrations in Woodstock Castle.
Mary Thompson, a Dublin based educationalist, gave a resume of C. Day Lewis's life and work and highlighted his importance in the literary world. Others to contribute included John MacKenna, described in the programme as "a prolific writer" when surely he is more aptly named as one of Ireland's most promising young writers. James O'Keeffe who is making a name for himself with his writings gave us a number of short poems including one entitled "A Gardener of Sorts" which I heard him repeat on Sunday Miscellany the following morning.
A very talented writer whose work is surely deserving of publication in his own collection is Dom Brennan who gave us a reading which was well received. His poem on the bewigged gentlemen of the Law circling the Courthouse in Athy on Court day was a gem.
There were many other contributors both musical and literary but one which I thought was particularly good was Canon William Beere's rendition of a Thomas Moore ballad. I would have liked to have heard more from the Canon whose rich mellifluous voice easily filled the Church of St. Brigids.
During the break I paid a visit to the Kelly family vault which is in the Church grounds where Rev. Thomas Kelly is buried with his wife and some of his children. Founder of the Kellyites he is today remembered as Irelands foremost hymn writer. No less than seven editions of his Church Hymnal were published during his lifetime and the last edition included 765 of his hymns.
"We sing the praise of Him who died" and "The Head that once was crowned with thorns" are two of his many hymns which are still included in modern day Church hymnals. Three of his well known missionary hymns are "On the mountain top appearing", "Zions King Shall Reign Victorious" and "Speed Thy Servants, Saviour Speed Them".
In this year of commemoration for the victims of the Famine it is well to know what is written of him by Miller in "The Singer and Songs of the Church" published in 1869. There Kelly was described as "admirable alike for his zeal and his humility and his liberality found ample scope in Ireland especially during the years of the Famine". Tradition relates that his uncle who was the Catholic Archbishop of Tuam while on a visit to Judge Kelly's house in Kellyville lost a number of valuables following which the cleric rather unkindly is supposed to have claimed "The larks will not sing over Kellyville, Till the large oak falls against the wind".
Whether the oak ever fell I cannot say, but certainly Saturday night in St. Brigid's Church as the dusk fell around us was the place to be. Well done Athy Writers Group and well done Bruce Yates.
Friday, June 23, 1995
Henry Grattan Donnelly
Although of medium height, his distinctive appearance and bearing made him readily recognisable as he walked each day between his house in Emily Square and his office in Duke Street. He was always dressed on office days in the dark suit much favoured by the legal fraternity, and had a walking stick and a hat which covered a head of white hair. He was generally accompanied, even on this short trip through the town, by his wife Monica, because Henry Grattan Donnelly, bearer of a name famous in Irish history, was blind. Despite this disability, he successfully carried on a flourishing legal practice in Athy.
Born in Belfast in 1884, he attended Clongowes Wood College in Clane and later King’s Inns in Dublin where he qualified as a barrister. He had a short spell practising at the Bar before his eyesight failed him, and at 26 years of age he was blind. He retired from the Bar in order to qualify as a solicitor, and in 1915, he established a solicitor’s practice in Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow.
Residing at Griesbank, Ballytore, the former home of Abraham Shackleton, the third master of Ballytore School, his expanding practice necessitated the opening of an additional office at Duke Street, Athy, in the early 1920’s. Branch offices were maintained in Baltinglass, which he attended once a week and in Dunlavin, where his attendance was once a fortnight. In his work he was greatly assisted by his wife Monica who read to him the statutes, the law books and the case law, a knowledge of which, is an essential requirement for the efficient operation of any law office.
In 1931 Henry Grattan Donnelly and his family moved to the Abbey in Emily Square, Athy which was vacated by Dr. Jeremiah O’Neill and his family when they went to live in Mount Offaly House on the Carlow Road. The Donnelly children included Deirdre and Mairead, both now married, Desmond who is a Queen’s Counsel in Hong Kong, Barry who is still practising in the firm founded by his father in Athy, and Michael a solicitor in his own law practice in Carlow. The Abbey is that part of the building nearest to the River Barrow, while adjoining it, and to its rear, is another house which in 1931 was occupied by Telford’s. Following Telford’s, it was to be home of Dr. Joe O’Neill and his young family, before he purchased Athy Lodge from Dr. Denis Kilbride.
As Henry Grattan Donnelly’s law practice developed, he was assisted by staff which included an apprentice solicitor, Donal Carbery, a cousin of the late Joe Carbery of St. John’s House. Johnny Watchorn, now a stalwart of Athy Lion’s Club and a director of Maxwell’s Garage, was his law clerk for six or seven years in the early 1940’s. Secretary in the office was Alice O’Rourke. Johnny Watchorn attended the local District Courts in Athy, Castledermot, Baltinglass and Monasterevin with Henry Grattan Donnelly, helping him with his various papers and taking notes. In the evening Johnny took on an entirely different role when he appeared in the Town Hall and other local venues as Magino, a ventriloquist act, which proved very popular during the 1940’s.
Just before the outbreak of World War II, Henry Grattan Donnelly, who up to then, always used a walking stick, went to Liverpool to receive training in the use of a guide dog. There he stayed for a few days, where with the help of Captain Liakhoff, a Russian expatriate, he became acquainted with the guide dog which was to be his constant companion for the rest of his life.
When he returned from Liverpool, Henry Grattan Donnelly was only the second blind person in Ireland to have a guide dog. The first was Stuart Browne of Oldtown, Nurney, who died quite recently. The alsatian dog, which Henry brought from Liverpool, accompanied him everywhere and it was a familiar sight in Athy, bringing his master to and from his offices in Duke Street.
Donal Carbery duly qualified as a solicitor, and left to practice elsewhere, but he returned following the death of Henry Grattan Donnelly at the age of 61 years in 1945. By then his son Barry Donnelly was an apprentice solicitor, but the services of a qualified solicitor were required to keep the practice operating until he qualified. On qualifying as a solicitor, Barry returned to Athy as the second generation of the Donnelly family in a law practice which continues today, still retaining the name of its founder, H.G. Donnelly.
Born in Belfast in 1884, he attended Clongowes Wood College in Clane and later King’s Inns in Dublin where he qualified as a barrister. He had a short spell practising at the Bar before his eyesight failed him, and at 26 years of age he was blind. He retired from the Bar in order to qualify as a solicitor, and in 1915, he established a solicitor’s practice in Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow.
Residing at Griesbank, Ballytore, the former home of Abraham Shackleton, the third master of Ballytore School, his expanding practice necessitated the opening of an additional office at Duke Street, Athy, in the early 1920’s. Branch offices were maintained in Baltinglass, which he attended once a week and in Dunlavin, where his attendance was once a fortnight. In his work he was greatly assisted by his wife Monica who read to him the statutes, the law books and the case law, a knowledge of which, is an essential requirement for the efficient operation of any law office.
In 1931 Henry Grattan Donnelly and his family moved to the Abbey in Emily Square, Athy which was vacated by Dr. Jeremiah O’Neill and his family when they went to live in Mount Offaly House on the Carlow Road. The Donnelly children included Deirdre and Mairead, both now married, Desmond who is a Queen’s Counsel in Hong Kong, Barry who is still practising in the firm founded by his father in Athy, and Michael a solicitor in his own law practice in Carlow. The Abbey is that part of the building nearest to the River Barrow, while adjoining it, and to its rear, is another house which in 1931 was occupied by Telford’s. Following Telford’s, it was to be home of Dr. Joe O’Neill and his young family, before he purchased Athy Lodge from Dr. Denis Kilbride.
As Henry Grattan Donnelly’s law practice developed, he was assisted by staff which included an apprentice solicitor, Donal Carbery, a cousin of the late Joe Carbery of St. John’s House. Johnny Watchorn, now a stalwart of Athy Lion’s Club and a director of Maxwell’s Garage, was his law clerk for six or seven years in the early 1940’s. Secretary in the office was Alice O’Rourke. Johnny Watchorn attended the local District Courts in Athy, Castledermot, Baltinglass and Monasterevin with Henry Grattan Donnelly, helping him with his various papers and taking notes. In the evening Johnny took on an entirely different role when he appeared in the Town Hall and other local venues as Magino, a ventriloquist act, which proved very popular during the 1940’s.
Just before the outbreak of World War II, Henry Grattan Donnelly, who up to then, always used a walking stick, went to Liverpool to receive training in the use of a guide dog. There he stayed for a few days, where with the help of Captain Liakhoff, a Russian expatriate, he became acquainted with the guide dog which was to be his constant companion for the rest of his life.
When he returned from Liverpool, Henry Grattan Donnelly was only the second blind person in Ireland to have a guide dog. The first was Stuart Browne of Oldtown, Nurney, who died quite recently. The alsatian dog, which Henry brought from Liverpool, accompanied him everywhere and it was a familiar sight in Athy, bringing his master to and from his offices in Duke Street.
Donal Carbery duly qualified as a solicitor, and left to practice elsewhere, but he returned following the death of Henry Grattan Donnelly at the age of 61 years in 1945. By then his son Barry Donnelly was an apprentice solicitor, but the services of a qualified solicitor were required to keep the practice operating until he qualified. On qualifying as a solicitor, Barry returned to Athy as the second generation of the Donnelly family in a law practice which continues today, still retaining the name of its founder, H.G. Donnelly.
Friday, June 16, 1995
Letters from the Front - Leslie and Ian Hannon
I received in the post quite recently, a small bundle of old letters neatly kept together in a box, which itself was evidently of great age. They were sent to me by David Hannon, brother of Bishop Hannon of Clogher, both of whom are sons of the late Archdeacon Gordan Hannon. It was the second time that some of these letters were delivered to Ardreigh House. On the last occasion their letters arrived in Athy, Leslie Hannon and his brother Ian Hannon were writing to their parents, John and Martha Hannon.
Mr. and Mrs. Hannon and their eight children moved to Ardreigh House Athy in 1910 from Prumplestown House, Castledermot when John took charge of the Ardreigh Mills, following the death of his brother Harry. Their four sons Reggie, Gordon, Ian and Leslie and their daughters Gladys, Marjorie, Eileen and Ethel spent many happy days in the idyllic surroundings of Ardreigh, an area immortalised in the poetry of Rev. J.J. Malone who was a native of Barrowhouse.
Gordon Hannon entered Trinity College Dublin and studied for the Church of Ireland. He later began his clerical career as a curate in Dublin. His brothers, Norman Leslie, commonly known as “Leslie”, and John Coulson known as “Ian”, enlisted in the British Army during the first year of the Great War, as did so many of their neighbours from Athy. Both were commissioned as Lieutenants in the 7th Kings Liverpool Regiment.
Leslie’s letters home to his parents and to his brother Gordon are full of the excitement of a young man barely out of his teens who found himself caught up in the comraderie and friendship known only to men who endure common hardship and deprivation. “More power to your elbow”, he wrote in pencil on a scrap of paper to his brother Gordon, not yet a Minister of the Church of Ireland, from somewhere in France just eight days before he died. The letter dated Saturday 8th May was enclosed in an envelope postmarked 9th May 1915, and it may have reached his brother Gordon before 20 year old Leslie was killed in action in Festubert on the 16th of May 1915. The line, “Remember me to all the lads”, written across the side of the one page letter, strikes a poignant note even now after the lapse of 80 years.
Another letter dated 18th August 1915 was sent to the Hannon family by a companion of their son Norman Leslie who relates how he went to Richborg and “settled up Leslie’s grave”. Reference was also made to a poem written by the Brigade Doctor, which had earlier been forwarded to Mrs. Hannon in Ardreigh House. The opening lines ran :
“Staunch comrade, brave soldier, too soon fallen out,
I think of you stretched near the German redoubt,
With your blue Irish eyes gazing far into space,
And the pallor of death on your fearless young face.
And I picture the night when our friendship was sworn,
When you stood up and sang us “The Mountains of Mourne.”
Many of the letters and field service postcards from Ian Hannon were sent to his brother Gordon and in a letter dated 2nd August 1916, just sixteen days before he was killed, he mentions having met “Tom Perse on one of my rambles.” Tom was an Athy man from the Ardreigh area who survived the War.
On the 27th of May of the same year, in a letter to his father, Ian wrote :
“there was a great festival on in the Square yesterday, about 20 French and 70 English heroes were decorated by an English and a French General. There was a Russian chap present also and I believe Conan Doyle was there.”
Later in the same letter, Ian referred to the good days fishing which his father had recently enjoyed. On the 18th of August 1916 Ian Hannon was killed in action aged 24 years.
The loss of his two sons proved a severe blow for John Hannon and he was to die tragically by his own hand at Ardreigh House, just ten days before his son Gordon’s wedding in April 1923. Within two years, the Hannon Mills at Ardreigh and at the bridge in the centre of Athy, were to close for the last time.
Mr. and Mrs. Hannon and their eight children moved to Ardreigh House Athy in 1910 from Prumplestown House, Castledermot when John took charge of the Ardreigh Mills, following the death of his brother Harry. Their four sons Reggie, Gordon, Ian and Leslie and their daughters Gladys, Marjorie, Eileen and Ethel spent many happy days in the idyllic surroundings of Ardreigh, an area immortalised in the poetry of Rev. J.J. Malone who was a native of Barrowhouse.
Gordon Hannon entered Trinity College Dublin and studied for the Church of Ireland. He later began his clerical career as a curate in Dublin. His brothers, Norman Leslie, commonly known as “Leslie”, and John Coulson known as “Ian”, enlisted in the British Army during the first year of the Great War, as did so many of their neighbours from Athy. Both were commissioned as Lieutenants in the 7th Kings Liverpool Regiment.
Leslie’s letters home to his parents and to his brother Gordon are full of the excitement of a young man barely out of his teens who found himself caught up in the comraderie and friendship known only to men who endure common hardship and deprivation. “More power to your elbow”, he wrote in pencil on a scrap of paper to his brother Gordon, not yet a Minister of the Church of Ireland, from somewhere in France just eight days before he died. The letter dated Saturday 8th May was enclosed in an envelope postmarked 9th May 1915, and it may have reached his brother Gordon before 20 year old Leslie was killed in action in Festubert on the 16th of May 1915. The line, “Remember me to all the lads”, written across the side of the one page letter, strikes a poignant note even now after the lapse of 80 years.
Another letter dated 18th August 1915 was sent to the Hannon family by a companion of their son Norman Leslie who relates how he went to Richborg and “settled up Leslie’s grave”. Reference was also made to a poem written by the Brigade Doctor, which had earlier been forwarded to Mrs. Hannon in Ardreigh House. The opening lines ran :
“Staunch comrade, brave soldier, too soon fallen out,
I think of you stretched near the German redoubt,
With your blue Irish eyes gazing far into space,
And the pallor of death on your fearless young face.
And I picture the night when our friendship was sworn,
When you stood up and sang us “The Mountains of Mourne.”
Many of the letters and field service postcards from Ian Hannon were sent to his brother Gordon and in a letter dated 2nd August 1916, just sixteen days before he was killed, he mentions having met “Tom Perse on one of my rambles.” Tom was an Athy man from the Ardreigh area who survived the War.
On the 27th of May of the same year, in a letter to his father, Ian wrote :
“there was a great festival on in the Square yesterday, about 20 French and 70 English heroes were decorated by an English and a French General. There was a Russian chap present also and I believe Conan Doyle was there.”
Later in the same letter, Ian referred to the good days fishing which his father had recently enjoyed. On the 18th of August 1916 Ian Hannon was killed in action aged 24 years.
The loss of his two sons proved a severe blow for John Hannon and he was to die tragically by his own hand at Ardreigh House, just ten days before his son Gordon’s wedding in April 1923. Within two years, the Hannon Mills at Ardreigh and at the bridge in the centre of Athy, were to close for the last time.
Friday, June 9, 1995
Minch Nortons
In the days before the licensing laws became all pervasive ale houses, taverns and inns were to be found everywhere. The ale house sold ale and beer only while the tavern in addition supplied wine. The inn not only provided drink but also food and shelter.
The production of alcohol, now very much a large scale operation centred in but a few locations in Ireland, was once a cottage industry. Every town and village, indeed every ale house and tavern produced its own alcoholic drink. Breweries and distilleries were few and far between but in time they were established in large towns where a good supply of water was to be had and where there was ready access to markets. Athy, long famous for its substantial number of public houses was the centre of small scale brewing and distilling industries in the 18th century.
An important element of the brewing and distilling process is malt which is germinated barley. The grains of barley are allowed to begin germinating in controlled conditions of humidity and temperature and then dried to arrest the conversion of starch to sugar. This was originally done by soaking the barley grains and leaving them to germinate on floors requiring extensive premises easily recognisable by their pyramidal roofs with capped vents.
The largest producer of malt in Ireland is Minch Nortons which was first established in Athy in 1847 by the Minch family. It was not until 1921 that M.J. Minch & Son amalgamated with P.R. Norton to form Minch Norton Limited.
The original Minch Maltings was believed to have been in Offaly Street on the site of the former Picture Palace and in Stanhope Street between the Parish Priest's house and a small house once occupied by the Wall family. Here floor malting was carried out on the large floor space provided for the soaked grain to begin to germinate. Men were employed to turn the barley and upwards of 130 men once formed the backbone of the Minch Norton Malting Works in Athy.
Nowadays with machine malting, first introduced to Ireland and to Athy in 1959 with the commissioning of the Wanderhaufen plant the numbers employed have dropped dramatically. Despite this additional new plants have increased the malting capacity of the Athy factory so that today it has become the largest producer of malt in Ireland.
Some of the older residents of Athy and certainly the Minch Norton workers will recall the names which were given to some of the malting buildings over 90 years ago. Immediately opposite the Duck Press Restaurant is "Ladysmith", so called because of the involvement of a number of employees of Minch & Son in the siege of Ladysmith during the Boer War. On the 2nd of November, 1899 the Boers laid siege troops to the English at Ladysmith and the entrapped garrison was not relieved until the 28th of February, 1900 in an action which marked a turning point in the Boer War. Unfortunately I have not been able to identify the Athy men who were involved. I also understand that the first batch of asbestos corrugated sheeting produced in Ireland at the then new Asbestos Factory in Athy was put on the Ladysmith building to replace the original timber roofing.
Directly opposite the small houses on Canal Side is another malting building which like its neighbour bears a name which recalls another long forgotten battle. "Port Arthur" was the name of the siege which took place during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904/1905. There can be no question of any Athy men participating in that conflict so presumably the siege, which lasted from May 1904 to January 1905, captured the publics imagination and being so reminiscent of the earlier Ladysmith Siege prompted the naming of the building.
Nowadays Minch Nortons, as it is still called by the locals despite the inter-Company amalgamations and take-overs which have occurred in recent years, continues to occupy an extremely important place in the economic life of Athy. The intake of barley in July and August leads to a year long activity centred around its drying, storing and malting, giving employment to upwards of 60 or so persons at managerial, staff and operative levels.
In two years time Minch Nortons will celebrate 150 years in Athy and perhaps it is now an appropriate time to consider the possibility of recording and displaying the history of malting in Athy in a manner and in a setting which will complement the Company's present operations and add to the heritage status of our town.
The production of alcohol, now very much a large scale operation centred in but a few locations in Ireland, was once a cottage industry. Every town and village, indeed every ale house and tavern produced its own alcoholic drink. Breweries and distilleries were few and far between but in time they were established in large towns where a good supply of water was to be had and where there was ready access to markets. Athy, long famous for its substantial number of public houses was the centre of small scale brewing and distilling industries in the 18th century.
An important element of the brewing and distilling process is malt which is germinated barley. The grains of barley are allowed to begin germinating in controlled conditions of humidity and temperature and then dried to arrest the conversion of starch to sugar. This was originally done by soaking the barley grains and leaving them to germinate on floors requiring extensive premises easily recognisable by their pyramidal roofs with capped vents.
The largest producer of malt in Ireland is Minch Nortons which was first established in Athy in 1847 by the Minch family. It was not until 1921 that M.J. Minch & Son amalgamated with P.R. Norton to form Minch Norton Limited.
The original Minch Maltings was believed to have been in Offaly Street on the site of the former Picture Palace and in Stanhope Street between the Parish Priest's house and a small house once occupied by the Wall family. Here floor malting was carried out on the large floor space provided for the soaked grain to begin to germinate. Men were employed to turn the barley and upwards of 130 men once formed the backbone of the Minch Norton Malting Works in Athy.
Nowadays with machine malting, first introduced to Ireland and to Athy in 1959 with the commissioning of the Wanderhaufen plant the numbers employed have dropped dramatically. Despite this additional new plants have increased the malting capacity of the Athy factory so that today it has become the largest producer of malt in Ireland.
Some of the older residents of Athy and certainly the Minch Norton workers will recall the names which were given to some of the malting buildings over 90 years ago. Immediately opposite the Duck Press Restaurant is "Ladysmith", so called because of the involvement of a number of employees of Minch & Son in the siege of Ladysmith during the Boer War. On the 2nd of November, 1899 the Boers laid siege troops to the English at Ladysmith and the entrapped garrison was not relieved until the 28th of February, 1900 in an action which marked a turning point in the Boer War. Unfortunately I have not been able to identify the Athy men who were involved. I also understand that the first batch of asbestos corrugated sheeting produced in Ireland at the then new Asbestos Factory in Athy was put on the Ladysmith building to replace the original timber roofing.
Directly opposite the small houses on Canal Side is another malting building which like its neighbour bears a name which recalls another long forgotten battle. "Port Arthur" was the name of the siege which took place during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904/1905. There can be no question of any Athy men participating in that conflict so presumably the siege, which lasted from May 1904 to January 1905, captured the publics imagination and being so reminiscent of the earlier Ladysmith Siege prompted the naming of the building.
Nowadays Minch Nortons, as it is still called by the locals despite the inter-Company amalgamations and take-overs which have occurred in recent years, continues to occupy an extremely important place in the economic life of Athy. The intake of barley in July and August leads to a year long activity centred around its drying, storing and malting, giving employment to upwards of 60 or so persons at managerial, staff and operative levels.
In two years time Minch Nortons will celebrate 150 years in Athy and perhaps it is now an appropriate time to consider the possibility of recording and displaying the history of malting in Athy in a manner and in a setting which will complement the Company's present operations and add to the heritage status of our town.
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