First Citizens of Athy

There has been a Town Council in Athy since at least 1515. In that year King Henry VIII granted a Charter to the town empowering the election of a town Provost "to guard and govern the said town". Unfortunately the municipal records of the 16th century are not available so little is known of the persons who held the position of Provost in Athy during that time. Only two are known to us - Richard Cossen who took up office on the Feast Day of St. Michael the Archangel in 1575 and Mr. Smith referred to as Sovereign of Athye in 1598.

The Provost elected annually was responsible for governing the town in addition to acting as Coroner, Justice of the Peace, Weights and Measure Inspector and Clerk of the Town Market. These were all important functions especially so when considered that the office holder exercised his authority in a developing market town.

In 1613 King James I created more Borough Councils throughout Ireland and in some instances as in Athy granted new Charters. The effect of his new Charter for Athy was to limit the right to elect the first citizen of the town to a small number of townspeople where before that right was exercised by the entire population. The holder of the office formerly referred to as the Town Provost was thereafter to be known as the Town Sovereign. The Town Sovereign was elected annually on the Feast of St. Michael by the twelve Burgesses of the town, all of whom had been nominated to their position by the Duke of Leinster. The office was an unpaid position and remained so until 1824 when salaries were fixed for all town officials in Athy.

The earliest municipal records relating to Athy go back to the middle of the 18th century and they show that many interesting people have held the rank of First Citizen. The Earl of Kildare was Sovereign in 1750 while his successor Frederick Augustus the Duke of Leinster was Sovereign on four occasions between 1814 and 1826. George Daker, the owner of an extensive tannery near the banks of the River Barrow and to the rear of the present Convent Lane, was Sovereign of Athy in 1778, 1783 and again in 1789. After his death the tannery closed down resulting in substantial loss of employment in Athy.

John Stoyte who was the Duke of Leinster's agent in Athy was Sovereign during the year of rebellion in 1798 and again in 1802. He had lived in Maynooth and his house there now forms part of the Maynooth College complex. Members of the Weldon family of St. John's and later of Kilmoroney House were Sovereigns of Athy during various periods in the 18th and last century. Arthur Weldon occupied the position in 1751 and Rev. Anthony Weldon was Sovereign on four occasions between 1781 and 1800. Indeed he died in office and was replaced by Lewis Mansergh for whom Riversdale House was built in 1780. This magnificent house was later acquired by the Dominican Order and remained an important part of the building heritage of the town until all but its ground floor was demolished in 1965 or thereabouts.

A man often mentioned in relation to Athy and the 1798 Rebellion was Sovereign of the town in 1807 and again in 1816. Glassealy resident Thomas James Rawson was once described by Thomas Fitzgerald of Geraldine House as "a man of the lowest order, the offal of a dunghill". Rawson was intensely disliked because of his involvement in the public floggings in Athy during the 1798 Rebellion in which he took a prominent part. Indeed Fitzgerald claimed that Rawson "would seat himself in a chair in the centre of a ring formed around the triangles, the miserable victims kneeling under the triangles until they would be spotted with the blood of the others". Rawson died while holding the office of Town Sovereign in 1816.

Rev. Frederick Trench was Sovereign of Athy when the office was abolished with the passing of the Municipal Corporation Act of 1840. Trench who was Rector of St. Michael's Church of Ireland, Athy served four terms in that position and is remembered by a handsome marble pulpit in St. Michael's Church erected after his death in 1860. Trench's death at Prestons Gate in Offaly Street, when he was thrown from his horse and trap, led to the immediately removal of the last portion of the medieval walls of Athy.

Following the abolition of the Borough of Athy established by King James I Charter of 1613 Town Commissioners were elected for the first time. Amongst those elected to the first Town Commissioners was the local Rector Rev. F.S. Trench and the local Parish Priest. Henry Hannon of the malting family was Chairman of the Commissioners as the first citizen was then known, firstly in the year of the Famine 1848 and for the fourth and last time in 1873. Alexander Duncan, draper of Duke Street and resident of Tonlegee House was Chairman on three occasions between 1852 and 1879. To commemorate his final term of office he donated a beautiful carved oak chair to the Town Council. It can be seen today in the Museum Room in the Town Hall. Interestingly enough his son John A. Duncan was Chairman in 1906, a feat also achieved by Dr. Jeremiah O'Neill, Chairman from 1912 to 1914 and his son P.J. O'Neill, Solicitor, who was Chairman in 1954.

Closer to our time the position of first citizen was held by men such as Patrick Dooley of Leinster Street from 1929 to 1936, M.G. Nolan of Duke Street and Paddy Dooley former T.D. for Co. Kildare. Mrs. Megan Maguire who was Chairperson in 1975 was the first woman to be elected to that office. Ms. Bridget Darby, Principal teacher in Churchtown National School and resident of Leinster Street held the honour of being the first woman elected to the local Urban District Council.

Chairing meetings of the Borough Council, Town Commissioners or Urban Councils seems to have been a relatively straightforward function in the years past. However times have changed and accounts of Thomas J. Rawson sitting amongst the triangle while Rebels were flogged bear more than a passing resemblance to the present debating forays experienced in Athy Urban District Council.

Quakers Records Relating to Famine Relief in County Kildare

I attended a very pleasant function last week in the Quaker Meeting House, Ballytore which now doubles as the Village Library. Hosted by the County Kildare Famine Commemoration Committee the occasion was the opening of an exhibition on Quaker Famine Relief in County Kildare and the publication of a very limited edition of a two volume work of the same title.

Rob Goodbody of the Rathmichael Historical Society did the honours on the night, officially opening the exhibition and giving his listeners an interesting insight into Quaker Relief in the County. With the name Goodbody it comes as no surprise that he himself is a member of the Society of Friends and is therefore well placed to deal with the Society's contribution during the famine years. Indeed he has published two booklets on the topic entitled "A Suitable Channel" and "On The Borders of the Pale". I had not met Rob Goodbody until that evening but I was familiar with his published works and knew of his involvement with the Rathmichael Historical Society. Married to a granddaughter of Rex Hannon, formerly of Ardreigh, Athy, you can well imagine my interest in his talk given that a Hannon once sat in the very room in which I am presently penning this piece.

The exhibition itself was a delightful if somewhat eclectic insight into the social life of the Quaker community in Ballytore in South Kildare with particular emphasis on their involvement in local famine relief work. The printed volumes prepared by FAS trainees under the direction of Mary Carroll and Karl Kiely contain all the County Kildare correspondence extracted from the Society of Friends Relief of Distress papers which are stored in the National Archives, Dublin. They have reproduced the originals of these letters and prepared transcripts for ease of use. The letters cover the entire County but of particular interest to us are the letters and returns relating to Athy and South Kildare. For instance on the 16th January 1847 the local Relief Committee for Athy forwarded an application for assistance addressed to the Central Relief Committee of the Society of Friends. Its signatories included Thomas Jameson, Clerk of the Workhouse, Rev. Thomas Greene, C.C., Hon. Sec. of the Relief Committee and Mark Cross described as Chairman of the Sub-Committee of whom I wrote recently as the builder of houses in Janeville and Connolly Lane in 1872. Other signatories were Sam Eves, Robert Molloy and Patrick Commins.

The application indicated that 2,000 persons in 450 families in the Athy area were in need of public relief. Only one third of the able bodied labourers in the area were employed at an average wage of one shilling per day. The other two thirds, or 5,000, men were employed on Public Works. Despite this all the men employed were barely able in most cases to provide one meal a day for their families. The lack of food gave rise to numerous cases of dysentery in the area as did the use of turnips for human consumption.

As at January 1847 the sum of £320 had been raised by way of private subscriptions towards relief of distress in the area. However no Government grants had been received nor had any relief agency offered help to the Athy people. Of the sum collected locally a total of £12 had been donated by absentee land owners from South Kildare. The monies collected had been used to purchase Indian cornmeal, rice and straw for bedding.

A soup kitchen was set up in the town on 6th June 1847 but just before that on the 28th of May, Fr. Thomas Greene, C.C., submitted another application to the Central Relief Committee of the Society of Friends on behalf of the Athy area. He confirmed that the Public Works which had given employment in the area had been suspended two weeks previously. The local Relief Committees weekly expenses had increased from £40 to £110 as a result. He also advised that the British Relief Association had opened a store in the town supplying Relief Committees within a twenty mile radius of the town with Indian meal at £17 per tonne. There was approximately 600 tonnes of meal available for sale with the price to Relief Committees pitched at about 6% below the normal market price. At the same time the price of rice had rocketed to £30 per tonne and had ceased to be supplied.

A meeting of all land owners was arranged for the beginning of June 1847 to encourage them to give employment to local men as by now it was estimated that almost 3,000 persons were in need of help from the Relief Committee. Fr. Greene referred to the lack of employment in the area and pointed out that the only work available was in the local brickyards. "The vast majority of the men are idle, wandering around in search of relief", he wrote.

Copies of the Volumes from which I have extracted the above information will be available in all Libraries in the County. They offer a rare insight into the misery and hardship of the famine times and offer a poignant reminder of a past which up to now had been lost to us.

Gaelic League Athy

I am often asked from where and how I get the information for the weekly Eye on the Past. Much of it I have to confess comes from years of accumulating apparently useless bits and pieces about Athy. On their own they gave little insight into the secrets of our past but occasionally the jig-saw falls into place and what were once individual scraps of information, mesh together to provide a chronological or thematic story.

Such happened this week when I was given a small black notebook, the inside cover of which bore in copperplate handwriting the words "Athy Branch of Gaelic League - Minutes of Meetings". In perusing the Minute Books of the local Urban District Council and reading back issues of local newspapers I have come across several references to the Gaelic League in Athy. With the Minute Book I could now hope to put some resemblance of order on the various pieces of information I had gleaned over the years. expect

The first meeting of the local branch was held on 31st January 1919 in the Technical School. Strictly speaking the Minute Book records that the meeting was called "to revive the local branch of the Gaelic League" clearly indicating that the League had an earlier existence in Athy. But when, I do not know. Incidentally the Technical School which was the venue of that meeting was located in Stanhope Place and had been built in 1907 next to the C.Y.M.S. building which occupied a former school building at the corner of Stanhope Street and Stanhope Place.

Using the Technical School for the meeting was surprising given that on the 2nd of December 1918 the Urban District Council had passed a Motion which demonstrated that at least one member of the Technical Committee was not in agreement with the promotion of the Irish language. That Resolution condemned Mr. T. Hickey, J.P. a member of the Council's Technical Committee for imposing a fine at the local petty sessions on the Irish teacher in the local Technical School who signed his named in Irish.

That "revival" meeting of the Gaelic League was attended by Miss Bridget Darby, Miss O'Loughlin, Miss Kealy, Miss Timmons, Tadgh O'Shea, Michael Dooley, John Bradley, James Kealy and John Gibbons. Michael Dooley of Duke Street was elected President, Miss Darby Treasurer and James Kealy Secretary. Not at that meeting but appointed to a sub-committee were Brothers Hoctor and Egan of the local Christian Brothers Schools.

Subsequent meetings of the Gaelic League were attended by Joe May, Patrick McEvoy, William Mahon, J. Whelan, J.J. O'Byrne, Ed Nolan, J. Hickey, John Hayden, Dick Candy, P. Doyle and Mr. Scully. After a number of meetings held in the Technical School the League moved to the Ancient Order of Hibernian Rooms in Duke Street. The Branch members were greatly concerned with finances during the early months and a concert in the Town Hall on the 17th of March 1919 realised £60.00 profit while a flag day raised a further £9.00. An application from the newly formed Gaelic League branch in Barrowhouse for some funding from their Athy colleagues was rebuffed but later on it was agreed to share with them the proceeds of a Ceile in the Town Hall provided that it was well supported by the Barrowhouse people.

In early April 1919 the Gaelic League sent a deputation consisting of Rev. Fr. Sheridan C.C., Castledermot, Michael Dooley, Athy, and Mr. Price, Language Organiser, Carlow to a local Urban District Council meeting. Following this the Council agreed to have all Council cheques signed in the Irish language and all "printing on the official notepaper and bill heads and the names of the streets printed in the Irish language as well as in English". It is no surprise to find that the Gaelic League had to write to the Council one year later asking when the Irish notepaper and the name of the streets in Irish would be provided. The present Urban District Council has Irish headed notepaper but to my knowledge Athy has never had Irish street names.

Miss Darby, as Treasurer of the local branch, was consistently reminding the members of their impending bankruptcy. It seemed never to have happened but equally a shortage of funds restricted their activities in relation to the promotion of the Irish language. A Feis Committee was established in Athy early in 1919 in connection with a Feis or an aeriocht planned for the local football pitch on the Dublin Road in July. There were disturbances in the town during that Feis which were still talked about over 70 years later by men and women who knew of what had occurred. In its aftermath the local Urban District Council met on the 24th of July 1919 to consider what steps should be taken to preserve the peace and to protect property in the town. The District Inspector of the R.I.C. in a letter to the Council referred to the disgraceful conduct of the demobbed soldiers who during the Feis attacked a shop in Duke Street and destroyed stock without provocation.

The shop referred to was that of "Bapty" Maher who had a bicycle shop in Duke Street opposite the present O'Dohertys. "Bapty" was a member of the I.R.A. and was imprisoned during the Black and Tan period. Damage was also caused to the confectionary shop of Miss Darby's mother in Leinster Street. This was where Conroy's premises is now located. Apparently bunting and decoration erected by the Darbys on their premises for the Feis included the Sacred Heart emblem and its destruction with the rest of the bunting was regarded as sacrilegious and a source of great scandal at the time. The ex-British soldiers involved in the disturbance were all natives of Athy and I can recall an old resident of the town in 1984 recounting how each of the men named as being involved in that disturbance subsequently met horrible death. It is often difficult to distinguish history from myth and folklore.

To return to the Gaelic Leaguers they continued to meet in various locations throughout the town including the office of local Solicitor Mr. Tristan who had offices in Duke Street. Meetings were also held in the Urban Council offices in the Town Hall and in Miss Darby's sitting room in Leinster Street. Mr. Tristan also apparently made available a room for the Irish class provided by the Gaelic League on Thursdays between 7.00 p.m. and 9.00 p.m. I understand that Tristan with whom Mrs. Hester May, daughter of Michael Dooley worked for a while in 1919 had his offices in what was later the Garda Barracks in Duke Street. This was also the location of the A.O.H. Rooms. The room used for the Irish class was commonly known by the locals as the Gaelic League room.

The last entry in the Minute Book is dated the 13th of December 1921 when Mr. Tierney, Irish teacher, was let go and his Irish classes were discontinued. What happened to the Gaelic League in Athy thereafter I cannot yet say.

Mark Cross and the Building of Houses in Janeville and Connolly's Lanes

Dr. George Cross, Medical Doctor, Dental Surgeon and Gemmologist, accompanied by his wife recently travelled from his home in Christchurch, Dorset to visit Athy where his Cross ancestors lived during the last century. It was not his first visit to Athy but on this occasion he was able to positively identify properties in the town once associated with his family. His great grandfather was Mark Cross who in Slaters Directory for 1846 was described as a Civil Engineer and builder of Market Square. This of course is the present Emily Square and Dr. Cross, born in England over 80 years ago, was able to pinpoint Mark Cross's former house as the property where Dwyer and Cleary now carry on a dental practice.

Dr. Cross brought with him a map dated 1836 showing outlined in red a plot of ground lying to the south side of the then Church of England Church in Athy which ground had been originally let by the Duke of Leinster to Dr. Clayton. Clayton was a local G.P. living in The Abbey and the property on the map was that of the present corner shop and the two houses facing on to Emily Square occupied by Dwyer and Cleary and the Fennin family. I have previously come across references to that Church which stood in Market Square up to 1840's but never before had I seen a reference as in this map to Church Lane which ran from the corner of the Carlow Road towards the river as far as the entrance to Dr. Clayton's house. The road now referred to as Emily Row between the corner shop and the Credit Union Office on the map carried the notation "from the Market Square to Prestons Gate". Prestons Gate stood opposite Paddy Garrett's house in Offaly Street and if ever you are in St. Michael's old cemetery look for the tomb stone, in the corner of the medieval Church which gives Prestons Gate as the address of one James Kenna. The property outlined on the map which had been originally let by the Duke of Leinster to Dr. Clayton was apparently later transferred by Dr. Clayton to Mark Cross.

Two other maps brought from Dorset to Athy by Dr. Cross were of even greater interest. One marked "Plan of Janeville 1872" carried the additional notation "commenced 4th January 1872, finished 20th April 1872". Regrettably somebody had obliterated what would have surely been the building cost for this small scheme of houses leaving only the word "pounds" to be read.

The scaled drawings consisted of a plan and front elevation of the ten houses, five on either side of the laneway which was known as Janeville Lane. It is highly probably given that the drawings were in Dr. Cross's possession that the builder was Mark Cross, Civil Engineer and Building Contractor of Market Square. The Mark Cross of 1872 was son of Mark Cross mentioned in Slater’s Directory of 1846. Each single storey house consisted of two rooms with a floor area measuring 13 ft. by 18 ft. 6 ins. or 240 sq. ft. approximately. The tiny dwellings were bounded on the east side by Hogan's yard which is now the short private laneway at the rear of No.'s 4 to 6 Offaly Street. On the south side of the houses lay Duncan's Gardens now Lawlers and on the west side Dr. Clayton's now Mrs. McDermott-Donnellys and on the north side Hogan's Lane. In recent years we have tended to refer to the entire area to the rear of Offaly Street which is entranced between 3 and 4 Offaly Street as Janeville Lane when in fact Janeville was the name of the ten house scheme to the left of the main laneway which was officially called Barkers Row. It was that latter lane which in the 1872 map was referred to as Hogan's Lane. The name Janeville was also used in connection with the cul-de-sac leading to Janeville Cottage at the rear of the present St. Michael's Church in Offaly Street. Whey this name was so popular in this small area of Athy I have yet to find out. The Janeville Lane houses are now derelict and only a few of them remain standing in a sadly dilapidated condition.

The second drawing was noted on its reverse as "Plans of Cottages built at Meeting Lane 1872". Again Mark Cross is believed to have constructed these houses and indeed a handwritten note on the map indicates that work on them started two days after the completion of the Janeville Lane houses. Commenced on the 22nd of April 1872 the seven houses were completed on the 17th of July 1872. Tantalisingly these details were followed by the words "cost" but without any insertion to satisfy our curiosity.

But where on Meeting Lane were these houses built? The first clue lay in the map itself which showed that on either side of the row of houses was to be found Cross's garden and Connolly's garden. This raised the possibility of Connolly's Lane which late 19th century town maps showed as running off Meeting Lane at the rear of the houses facing Emily Square. Dr. and Mrs. Cross with me as their guide went to Meeting Lane and there before us in the blanked up wall extending the full length of the garden to the rear of Mrs Germaine's house we saw the outline of the houses built in 1872. We counted the five doors and ten windows of the small one storey houses which once stood on the left side of the lane. The two houses built at the end of the lane are now gone but it is clear from the map that they had been constructed out of an old barn which stood on the site.

I was delighted to have had the opportunity of showing Dr. Cross and his wife the small houses which his predecessor Mark Cross had built 124 years ago. Dr. Cross videoed what remained of Connolly's Lane and Janeville Lane ending a journey which started with the finding of the two old maps amongst family papers in Christchurch, Dorset. Dr. Cross later wrote to me generously donating the maps to the local Museum where they will soon be on display when suitably framed.

Dr. Cross's family had a long association with Athy and Mrs. Anne Cross listed in 1910 Post Office Directory as a resident of The Square was the last member of the Cross family. Of course we all remember Wattie Cross of Duke Street but I believe he was not a member of the same family.

It is amazing how far the strands of local history stretch. In this case from Athy to Christchurch in Dorset where a few small maps not otherwise identifiable as relating to Athy town provided another link in the town's hidden past.

Sr. Xavier

She came to Athy in the year of the Eucharistic Congress to take up the Principalship of Churchtown National School. Delia Cosgrave was but 25 years of age but the Galway girl having spent four years in University College Galway was well qualified to replace the previous Principal the formidable Bridget Darby. Delia obtained lodgings in the home of Mrs. Cox at 26 Duke Street where she soon made friends with the daughters of the house Rita, Mossie, Thelma and Millie. The last named was later to marry Newcombe Empey's son and their son is soon to become the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin.

Athy appeared a depressing place to the spirited West of Ireland girl who had spent her early years on a dairy farm in Dangan on the outskirts of Galway city. However her friendship with Maureen Lawless, the first lay teacher in the Convent Secondary School in Athy and Sheila Hickey of Kilberry who was the newly appointed Principal of Barrowhouse National School ensured a happy social scene. Late night dances n the Town Hall were then grand affairs unlike the cheerless, colourless events of today. Musical evenings in Cox's with Mrs. Cox on piano accompanying Mr. Gill, a local Post Office worker and fellow lodger, and Mossie Cox, two vocalists of quality are remembered with nostalgia.

For the good friends, Delia Cosgrave and Sheila Hickey both Principals of local schools, the religious life beckoned and so it was that in 1935 encouraged by their friend Maureen Lawless they both decided to enter the local Convent of Mercy. One last trip awaited them this time to Twickenham for the annual international rugby game. So it was that Delia Cosgrave, Sheila Hickey and their companions Tess Morrin, a local V.E.C. teacher and Paddy Broderick N.T. in Wolfhill travelled by boat to London in February 1935. A last dance in the Irish Club in London before the return trip was followed by what must have been a most unusual sight as Delia Cosgrave distributed her jewellery and money amongst her friends as the train pulled into Athy Station. Awaiting her was Paddy Murphy's hackney car to bring her straight away to the door of the Convent of Mercy. So it was that Delia Cosgrave on the 11th February 1935 started her postulancy which was to end with her final profession as Sr. Xavier six and a half years later.

Having retired as Principal of Churchtown she was replaced by Paddy Dooley, later our local T.D. Pupils remembered from the rural school over 60 years ago include Jim Connors and his sisters Ellen and Mary and Pat Fennin. Also remembered are Lily and Nellie Dillon whose mother was the school caretaker. As a qualified teacher Sr. Xavier was immediately deployed in teaching the sixth class in St. Michael's National School and as her class passed on into St. Mary's Secondary School she also transferred with them. She was to remain as their class teacher until they sat their Leaving Cert. five years later.

Amongst the pupils in her first Convent class were Kitty McLaughlin, Kay and Nan O'Brien, Sheila May and Anna Fennin, Mary O'Brien, Maureen Walsh, Sydney Gannon, Jo Mulhall, Jo Lawler, Vera Cross, Essie Slator, Vera Bellew, Mary Jo Coogan and Brid Bergin. Her friend Sheila Hickey was to enter the Athy Convent in June 1935 taking Sr. Michael as her name in religion. Sr. Xavier was soon to be joined in the Convent by her own sisters Margaret who took the name Sr. Rose and Agnes whom we all know as Sr. Paul. Margaret had been a teacher in Galway V.E.C. before entering the Convent and while in U.C.G. had captained the College Camogie team. Agnes was a Clerk in the General Post Office in Dublin for a number of years before answering the call to the religious life.

St. Mary's School which had been a private Secondary School from 1922 and whose pupils did not sit the State exams became a grant aided secondary school in 1934. In fact it was an all Irish School until 1948 or thereabouts and it was there that the Cosgrave sisters from Galway taught until the 1960's.

Sr. Rose passed away some years ago but Sr. Xavier now in her 89th year retains an absorbing interest in the town where she has lived for the last 64 years. Sr. Paul, also retired, is still very much involved in her art work and especially with Athy Art Group with whom she is travelling to the Burren in Co. Clare on a painting expedition next weekend.

It is sometimes difficult to unravel the paths which led so many young women to join the Sisters of Mercy Convent in Athy in the years before the Second World War. Even more so when those paths started in Counties on the Western seaboard as in the case of the Cosgrave sisters or for the late Sr. Brendan in Co. Kerry. The advertisement placed by the local Parish Priest Fr. McDonnell in the national newspapers in 1932 seeking a Principal for the two teacher school in Churchtown brought Delia Cosgrave to a town about which she knew nothing. She could not then have envisaged that the rest of her life was to be spent in Athy which her late father felt was too far away from her home in Dangan, Galway. Three of the Cosgrave sisters were to come to the "far away" place, seldom heard of in Galway where they devoted their lives to the people of Athy. We are grateful for the work done in Athy by Sr. Xavier, Sr. Rose and Sr. Paul and for what the Sisters of Mercy have achieved in our town since they first arrived in 1852.

Eaton family / Paddy Eaton

The Eaton and Ellard families have long associations with the town of Athy. Many will remember Pat Ellard who lived in a small house next door to the shop now owned by Bertie McDermott in Leinster Street. Pat drove the mail van for the Post Office and also had a side car for hire. His wife Beatrice Causer, an English woman first met Pat while on holidays in Athy. Pat died in 1959 and his wife in 1962. Their daughter Ellen married local painter Martin Eaton in the early 1930's bringing together two of the oldest families in the area. Martin Eaton worked with Newcombe Empey, House, Sign and Ornamental Painter and Gilder of Leinster Street whose grandson who is soon to be raised to the Archbishopric of Dublin. For the first few years of their married life Martin and Ellen Eaton lived in New Row, off Mount Hawkins before being appointed the first tenants of No. 19 Convent View. Their eldest son Paddy was born in New Row and now lives in Clonmullin within a stones throw of his old home.

Martin Eaton's half-brothers Lar, Pat, Mick and Charlie all served in France and Flanders during World War I and returned home unscathed in 1919 to their father Mick Eaton who lived in Meeting Lane. He worked in a brick yard in Castlecomer and every Saturday after finishing his weeks work he walked the 19 miles home to Athy. The return journey was made on Sunday nights again on foot, a trip he made for many years.

It was his son the earlier mentioned Martin Eaton who was the first family member to be apprenticed to the painting trade and he in turn passed on his skill and knowledge to his own son Paddy Eaton. Paddy who was born in 1934 started his apprenticeship in 1948 earning 7/6 per week. He served three and a half years before being recognised as "an improver" with a modest increase in his wages. Another four years were to pass before he became a qualified tradesman earning £3=5=0 per week.

Even before he had embarked on a career in painting and decorating Paddy had spent some time in Tom McHugh's foundry. He was then only 13 years of age but the illness of his father who was the only wage earner in the family necessitated Paddy's early entry into the workforce. He spent almost a year in the Janeville Lane foundry owned and operated by Tom McHugh, a resident of Offaly Street. He recalls working with Robbie Lynch of Shrewleen, Frankie Aldridge, Des Donaldson, Mannix Thompson, Pat Roche and Jim Carter both of Ballylinan. Tom McHugh he described as the best floor moulder in Ireland working with his "clearer", "boss lickers" and "harp and square", all moulders tools to help him shape in the sand boxes the intricate design he required. The red sand used in the Foundry came from Dan Neill's field on the Carlow Road which is now given over to Graysland and Kingsgrove housing estates. Paddy recalls with amusement and with no little awe the occasion a local Janeville Lane man called to Tom McHugh's foundry to have a tooth extracted which was troubling him. With a minimum of fuss and expertly using a pliers or pinchers, Tom soon had the offending tooth pulled.

Paddy Eaton's time in the foundry was generally spent breaking scrap metal or lining the furnace with bricks or clay prior to it being fired with coke. He also shovelled the sand and moved the sand boxes into place ready for the molten metal to be poured into the carefully prepared moulds. All of this was being done at a time when young Paddy should have been at school. Inevitably the long arm of the law caught up with him and he recalls Sergeant Taaffe calling to his home and gently encouraging his mother to get young Paddy into school "for a day now and then".

Paddy left the foundry to join his father in the painting trade and in 1956 after finishing his apprenticeship he emigrated to England. It was to Kettering, Northamptonshire, near the home town of his grandmother Beatrice that Paddy went to work for Wimpeys Building Contractors. Three years later Paddy returned to Ireland accepting for the second time in his young life responsibility for his family's welfare. His father had suffered serious injuries after falling from the roof of St. Vincent's Hospital while working for Kildare County Council. Paddy was to take up employment with the same Council for the next three years but when his father died in 1962 he returned to England, this time settling in Birmingham. He was soon followed by his younger brothers and sisters Frank, Tony, Christy, Martin and Nancy and his mother Ellen.

Recalling his young days in Athy in the early 1940's Paddy remembers with affection the efforts of "Skurt" Doyle, a legend in his own lifetime who trained the local young men in athletics and football. "Skurt" who had an illustrious career in the British Army, firstly in India and later during World War I lived in 18 Convent View. He was a noted athlete and sportsman who on retiring from the British Army became involved in training local teams of all codes including Gaelic football, soccer and rugby. He was one of the organisers of the football street leagues of the 1940's in which most of the young boys of Athy played. For Paddy Eaton there was the additional involvement in distance running again tutored by "Skurt" Doyle in what was known locally as Lawlers field in Clonmullin. Times were hard and two of Paddy's abiding memories of the 1940's was the weak cocoa made by Fran Lawler for the schoolboys lunch break in the local C.B. School and his daily chore of collecting sticks in Sawyerswood for the family fire.

Retired on health grounds Paddy is married to Mary Logan, formerly of Dublin and their two children Shirley and Patrick are living in Birmingham. The wheel of emigration has come full circle for this member of an old Athy family.

Tadgh Brennan (2)

Tadhg Brennan's involvement in the social life of Athy in the post-War years was wholehearted and as befits the man he left his mark in the many areas in which he was involved. But not even he could regard his L.D.F. days during the Second World War as being particularly noteworthy. As a Private he soldiered under the local officers who included John Stafford, Matt McHugh, Paddy Dooley of Levitstown and Norman Plewman. He recalls attending Army Camps in Tramore on two occasions but missed the year when his friend and army colleague Pat Mulhall was accidentally shot while attending a lecture in the camp. Rumour has it that this was the only shot fired by the L.D.F. for the duration of the second World War. The L.D.F. recruits met each week marching from Emily Square to Geraldine Football Park where further marching routines were a major part of their training. Gun practice without ammunition live or otherwise was another part of the Geraldine field training. He remembers patrolling at night armed with a rifle, but again without ammunition spending four hour stints sometimes cycling between Athy and Cloney Bridge other times manning the bridges leading into the town. In his own words "nothing of interest ever happened unless one is to disregard the occasional use of an L.D.F. ground sheet by courting couples in the Peoples Park." The prospect of a Court Martial for misuse of L.D.F. equipment was very much a possibility on one night when the local Garda Sergeant came on a scene in the People's Park which by the light of his torch he could see was adorned by one of his own daughters. The L.D.F. lads as you can imagine were always popular and patrolling without ammunition in your rifle was a cheerless unexciting chore where a "lark in the Park" offered some diversion. I know the feeling of the luckless L.D.F. man on that occasion as a generation later the same scene was played out again. This time it was a different Garda Sergeant whose son was caught in similar circumstances in the same Park. The young man on being caught in the beam of his father's flashlamp bore more than a passing resemblance to a frightened rabbit caught in a lampers spotlight.

From Gaelic football to politics seemed an almost inevitable transition especially for someone like Tadhg involved from a very young age with the best traditions of Gaelic Ireland. In 1949 he joined the local Fianna Fail Cumann and successfully stood for the local Urban District Council in 1959. He remembers discussions even then concerning an Inner Relief Road and an Outer Relief Road for Athy which after 35 years are still being talked about as possibilities for the future. He remembers fondly those who were in the local Cumann at that time, all of whom have passed on. John W. Kehoe, M.G. Nolan, John Stafford, Liam Ryan, Tom Moore, Eddie Purcell, Joe Murphy, Christy "Bluebeard" Dunne, Mick McHugh and Paddy Dooley. Paddy was later to be elected to Dail Eireann as a Fianna Fail T.D. in 1959 following a campaign the success of which owed much to his Athy colleagues M.G. Nolan, Liam Ryan and Tadhg Brennan.

Sport and politics and the practice of law seemed more than enough for one man but he also found time to be involved in the Social Club and amateur dramatics with the Social Club players. He regards the Social Club started by Fr. Morgan Crowe with Joe Hickey, Tim Hickey, M.G. Nolan, Tim O'Sullivan, Liam Ryan, John Stafford and Pat Mulhall as the greatest social asset the town of Athy has had in the last 50 years. The Club commenced as the Geraldine Tennis Club on the Carlow Road and with the purchase of the British Legion Hall in St. John's Lane, added billiards and badminton to the range of Club activities. In 1941 or 1942 the Club started an amateur dramatic society which was a most successful adjunct to the Club for the following 21 years. Highlight of those years on the amateur stage was the Social Club players success in the Fr. Matthew Drama Festival in Dublin in 1949. Tadhg and his colleagues won the highest award then available for amateur dramatics in Ireland with Frank Carney's play "The Righteous Are Bold". Actors and actresses remembered from those days include Jo and Florrie Lawler, Ger Moriarty, Ken Reynolds, Dave Walsh, Tommy Walsh, May Fenelon, Liam Ryan, Kitty McLoughlin, Nellie Fox, Mollie Moore, Dermot Mullan, Patsy O'Neill, Mary Harrington and Joe Martin. The Social Club players worked with many famous dramatists and producers as they sought to scale the dramatic heights. Many still recall the involvement of Lennox Robinson of the Abbey Theatre, also P.J. O'Connor of Radio Eireann and Isley and McCabe of the Gaiety Theatre. They all travelled to Athy as guest Directors of productions put on by the Social Club players in the Town Hall or the Club premises in St. John's Lane. Tadhg was highly regarded as an actor, bringing to his roles an intensity of feeling and expression worthy of many performances on the Dublin stage.

All the time Tadhg continued to carry on a very successful legal practice in Athy and was appointed State Solicitor in 1963. He resigned from his practice in 1978 on taking up an appointment as County Registrar for County Kildare, a position he held until 1990. He moved to Naas on being appointed County Registrar but has returned to live in Athy and has brought with him the rich store of memories of his younger years spent in Athy.

In a legal career stretching back over 50 years Tadhg has witnessed many changes in the law from both sides of what I may call the legal divide. Firstly as a defender of those who stood charged before the Courts, like all good lawyers he brought to his task an extraordinary degree of detachment and an ability to suspend disbelief. In later years as State Solicitor his legal training and experience was put to work in the interest of the State in many successful prosecutions of those who infringed the Criminal Code. In whatever role he performed whether in Court, on stage or on the playing field in his younger days, Tadhg always brought to his task energy, skill and authority.

Tadgh Brennan (1)

So far as I can find out Tadhg Brennan holds the distinction of being the longest qualified Solicitor in County Kildare. It was October 1944 that Tadhg, until then apprenticed to another local Solicitor Paddy O'Neill, qualified as a Solicitor. Legal work in those days was scarce, and the leisurely pace of life and litigation allowed Solicitors offices to operate without Secretaries or staff qualified to churn out the letters which are the trademark of today's lawyers. Indeed Tadhg's first task and on his first day as an apprentice Solicitor was to type out, with two fingers, a couple of letters for his master on an old fashioned manual typewriter.

Paddy O'Neill, brother of Dr. Joe O'Neill, then had offices on the first floor of Michael Anthony's Auctioneers in Emily Square where Tadhg as a young apprentice had Jack Lawler as a work colleague. Tadhg, who was 76 last month, was born in Canal House in Monasterevin where his father Fintan was the canal agent. The Brennan family moved to Athy in 1924 when Fintan was appointed Magistrates Clerk in place of T.J. Bodley. Coincidentally, the Brennan family initially resided in No. 5 Offaly Street where 21 years later another family whose son was also to embark on a legal career also lived. That same house was the offices of the District Court for a few short years after Fintan Brennan's arrival before being relocated in the Town Hall.

It was his father's suggestion, obviously based on his experience as a Magistrate Clerk and later a District Court Clerk which led Tadhg to undertake legal studies and an eventual apprenticeship with Paddy O'Neill. When the time came in March 1945 for Tadhg to set up his own Solicitors practice his aunt Kitty Heffernan, then living in Emily Row, offered her front room as an office. "Tadhg R. O'Braoinan", Solicitor, remains as the name of the practice to this day although Tadhg has long gone from it. The entire house has now been taken over by the practice which the young man started in the front room over 50 years ago.

Business was slow for quite a while and the opening of a branch office in Monasterevin and later in Rathangan helped to pass the hours even if sometimes it did not always increase the fee income. In those leisurely days Tadhg occasionally cycled to his branch offices with a small bundle of files on the bicycle carrier. As he admits himself he often made the same journey the following week, without having taken the tape off the carefully preserved files in the interim. This was a routine he maintained until about 1955 when his own apprentice Aidan O'Donnell qualified as a Solicitor. Judge O'Donnell as he is now, established a legal practice in Portarlington taking with Tadhg's blessing the Monasterevin branch practice which Tadhg had earlier developed.

All the time Tadhg was fulfilling his love for Gaelic games and as a boarder in Knockbeg College he played with the legendary Tommy Murphy in two Leinster Colleges Finals. Unfortunately Knockbeg lost on both occasions to St. Mel's College. Minor football for Athy G.F.C. was soon followed by Senior football for the same Club. With Athy Tadhg played in three Senior County Finals winning his only Championship medal in 1942. He recalls with a chuckle how as a young man of 21 years playing in his first final in 1941 as centre half back he was, to use his own words, "demolished by my opponent, Mick Keating a Garda Sergeant, who was an old man". The following years the same teams contested the County Final and this time Athy won following a replay. It may have been purely a coincidence that the same "old man, Mick Keating" was injured only after five minutes play although Tadhg hastens to add, he was not marking him that day.

In 1943 he played for U.C.D. and was honoured by the County selectors on two occasions playing against Offaly in October 1943 and Wexford in April 1944. On both occasions he joined two other local players Tommy Mulhall and Dinny Fox who were also County players. Tadhg's involvement with the local G.A.A. Club was not confined to playing football and he served in various Officer positions over the years. Recalling the great players who played with Athy he mentions Mick Mannion, a Galway man who taught in the local C.B.S., Paul Matthews, Joe Gibbons, Jack Dunne, George Comerford a Clare Garda stationed in Athy, Jim Malone, Jim Clancy, Stephen Whelan, Barney Dunne, Tommy Mulhall, 'Bird' Rochford and Joe Byrne. The heyday of the Athy football Club according to Tadhg was the years 1931 to 1937 when the Club won three Senior County Championships.

To be concluded next week.
Last week Jim Connor died in England where he had lived since leaving Castlemitchell in the 1950's. Jim and I had corresponded in the past and during the hot summer of 1995 he called on me while on his last holidays in his beloved south Kildare. I later had a great night of chat in Mary Prendergast's house with Jim and John Fennin as they recalled the "old days" in Castlemitchell. Jim's love for his native place was obvious as he brought me around Churchtown Graveyard that same evening, pointing out its many important features and passing on the local lore. He was particularly proud of the water fount which he had rescued on an earlier visit and had preserved on the site. Jim was later the subject of an Eye on the Past which I know gave him immense pleasure. Like so many of the missing generations from our area he had to live out his adult life far from the townlands he loved. His passing follows not so long after that of his friend Joe Bermingham with whom he was involved in the founding of Castlemitchell G.F.C. and the provision of the local Community Hall. Jim will be sadly missed.

The Bridge of Athy

Crom a Boo, known to Historians as the war cry of the Fitzgeralds but to every Athy person it means just one thing - the graceful humped-back bridge which spans the River Barrow in the centre of the town. This week we celebrate its Bi-Centenary. On the 23rd May, 1796 the first stone of the new bridge was laid by Robert Duke of Leinster.

The river Barrow was a natural frontier which in early times was forded and eventually bridged. The river crossing which was located in the vicinity was a place of trade which quite naturally gave way to a settlement in the 12th Century. The inevitable transition to a fortress town was to be expected given the need to protect this important river crossing.

A ford or crossing point on the Barrow would have been located at the point where the river water had spread itself to a shallow depth over hard ground such as rock or gravel. The next development was likely to be stepping stones placed on the river bed which in time would have been planked to give a Clapper Bridge. This was effectively the mere joining up of the stepping stones by placing oak planks across them and allowing pack horses and individuals to walk across without stepping into the water.

Strange to relate that the first bridges other than those of the Clapper Bridge type may have been provided by the Religious Monks. Bridge building was a recognised form of charity and indulgences were granted to those who donated funds, material or labour for that purpose.

Did the monks of the Holy Cross who built the first Monastery on the river bank alongside Woodstock Castle, in the area now known as St. John's, build the first bridge in Athy? We know that there was a Hospital attached to the Monastery which catered for the needs of travellers and given the designation of bridge building as a work of charity it is quite likely that the Monks built a bridge across the river near to their Monastery.

The first reference we can find to a bridge in Athy was in 1417 when Sir Richard Talbot, Viceroy of Ireland, built the bridge and a castle to defend it which he garrisoned with soldiers. This type of fortified bridge was a typical development in medieval years and in Athy's case was to give the town a description it has never lost "a garrisoned town". This early bridge was in all probability a typical medieval narrow humped-backed bridge with deep embrasures over the piers into which persons could stand to avoid oncoming carriages.

Whites Castle which is still in use after almost 600 years remained occupied by a garrison until about 1720 or thereabouts. It was then turned into a town jail as the military took over the purpose built barracks at the end of what became known as Barrack Lane, off Barrack Street. The castle remained as a jail until 1830 after which it was used as a local Police Barracks until the 1890's.

Crom a Boo Bridge, built in 1796 was likely to have replaced an earlier structure but not necessarily Talbot's bridge of 1417. The Confederate Wars of the 1640's were played out in many arenas throughout Ireland and Athy was for a period of eight years was one of the centres of war involving the Royalist, the Parliamentarians and the Confederates. The town was bombarded by cannon fire many times and the Dominican Monastery, the local castles and the bridge all succumbed to the destructive forces of the cannon ball. It was for this reason that the 1417 Bridge is unlikely to have survived until he existing Bridge was built in 1796 by the contractor Sir James Delahunty, Knight of the Trowel.

The late medieval period witnessed the development of water driven power and the construction of water mills. At either end of the Bridge of Athy mills were located and mill races channelled the water to the wheels which drove the mill machinery. A mill operated on the west side of the Crom a Boo Bridge up to 1924 and the ruins of the mill building were still standing until the late 1960's. Between Whites Castle and the present Castle Inn once flowed the mill race for the mill of O'Kelly which stood on the site. A tablet inset into the south wall of Whites Castle bears the date 1575 and refers to the O'Kelly mill.

Crom a Boo Bridge while still in its infancy was to witness many cruel acts. Trial by Court Martial was a common occurrence in Athy during the months of May and June 1798. Seven men were tried, convicted and hanged in the town in the early days of June. Six of those men were from Narraghmore and had been arrested following the killing of John Jeffries of Narraghmore whose widow Mary together with a number of other local residents had fled to Athy for protection. The seventh man hanged was named Bell, a graduate of Trinity College who lived in the Curragh. One of the Narraghmore men was Daniel Walsh a steward of Col. Keatings of Narraghmore and a member of the Narraghmore Yeomanry. On the day that Walsh and his companions were hanged, members of the Loyal Athy Infantry erected a triumphal arch across Crom a Boo Bridge under which the convicted men had to pass on their way from the jail in Whites Castle to the place of execution. The prisoners were accompanied by Fr. Patrick Kelly, a local curate, who enraged by what he saw rushed and knocked down a Yeoman named Molloy. Grabbing at the orange flag which was hoisted on the spot he pulled it down and trampled on it. It is believed that the yeomen who were present did not react as one might have expected because the prisoners were escorted by members of the Waterford Militia whose rank and file members were co-religionist of the prisoners. The hangings took place at the basin of the Grand Canal. Two of the seven were beheaded and their heads were placed on Crom a Boo Bridge to serve as warnings to the local people of Athy. Following Lord Edward Fitzgerald's arrest the local yeomen defaced with sledges the coat of arms of the Geraldine family which had been placed in the wall of Whites Castle when Crom a Boo Bridge was built in 1796.

Last week candles for peace in Ireland flowed on the water under Crom a Boo Bridge where once the blood of 2nd century warriors from Munster and Leinster had mingled with the "dumb waters". The locals stood on the River Bank watching the fading lights drift from view in a scene which must have been reminiscent of 200 years ago when the Duke of Leinster laid the first stone of Crom a Boo Bridge.

Happy Anniversary Crom a Boo.

'The House in the Heart' by Elizabeth Coxhead

Memories of the past are cherished by all of us. For some of us it is scenes of childhood with nostalgic remembrances of people and places which pleasure our thoughts as we recall our past. For those fortunate enough to have happy memories of the past, the endless memory bank ensures a ceaseless flow of enrichment which over time however often misshapes and distorts the past.

There is always undoubtedly a little exaggeration and always a little self-deception which unconsciously acts on the mind to trim the edges of memory. Some memories are discarded and in their place there can develop others which are perhaps more acceptable to us even if they are not true or accurate. It was my reading of Elizabeth Coxhead's book "The House in the Heart" published in 1959 which triggered these thoughts. Coxhead, who is perhaps better known as the writer of a biography of Lady Gregory and a book on Irish Rebel women had a link with Athy of the past. Her grandfather was James Moses Kelly, a baker from Athy who married Margaret Duncan, daughter of Alexander Duncan of Tonlegee House. Elizabeth Coxhead, born in 1909 died 70 years later. In her novel "The House in the Heart", she incorporated details and data of her own family's visits to Athy and Tonlegee House but cloaked the people and places with fictitious names.

The Duncans are identified as Robertsons and Tonlegee House is Mount Anne located just outside the market town of Kilrannon. Visualise if you will the journey of the English visitors who on arrival at the local railway station were met by an "elegant brown trap to drive the grown ups", a farm cart for the luggage and a wagonette for the children. Together they "made their triumphal progress down the High Street, past the Square with its pink and dove coloured houses, across the Bridge and beneath the little Norman Keep that guarded it."

Athy is readily identifiable from that description. What Elizabeth Coxhead did not know was that Athy's main street was called High Street long before it was ever renamed after the Duke of Leinster. Later "the Mount Anne Woods loomed up" before the convoy turned in through the drive gates "and there it sat in its lap of beeches, the big white house, square and unpretentious."

Further on as the tale of the Robertsons unfolded we are given further clues as to the identity of the town at the centre of Elizabeth Coxhead's novel. She wrote "the rest of them walked sedately the mile into Kilrannon and filled the front pew in the neat little Wesleyan Methodist Church that Douglas Robertson's munificence had built. A tablet on the wall commemorated his virtues".

Alexander Duncan of Tonlegee House, grandfather of Elizabeth Coxhead was responsible for the building of the Methodist Church in Woodstock Street. He had purchased the site, presented it to the Methodist Community and led the way in financing the Church building which was dedicated on the 12th of June 1874. His generosity is commemorated on a tablet in the Church and indeed his wife, who in the novel was alive but bedridden, was similarly commemorated after her death.

Another clue as to the identification of Mount Anne as Tonlegee House was a reference to the Lodge Keeper's House where the main drive emerged. This being further beyond Kilrannon than the back drive it was never used. "The long suffering Honour" lived in that tiny white pavilion built in the style of the main house which Coxhead described as having "no plumbing of any kind" despite the elegance of "the Victorian - Classic formulae".

"The second Tuesday of the month was the pig market, Kilrannon being the principal centre of trade in this animal" wrote Coxhead who recounted that "for many years now a respected adjunct of the market had been the Roberstons Breakfast Stall". Continuing she claimed that "the benighted place was quite without the teashops and cafes of its English counterparts, it lacked even a decent hotel. In the old days, farmers who had driven ten or twenty miles with their squealing cartloads found nowhere to breakfast except in drinking dens and most of them would be fuddled before midday and a prey to the rapacity of the Dublin bacon buyers."

The Robertsons daughters had consequently set up a breakfast stall where a very strong sweet tea, pies, sausage rolls and sandwich bread was sold. This stall was always set up in the south-east corner of the Square "under the statue of the 16th Duke", a right not disputed "even by the old clothes woman with her brazen racy patter who was the next most important attraction, and who queened it beside the Fountain in the south-west." The proceeds of the stall went "not to Wesleyan funds - that would have antagonised the Catholic element - but to the local interdenominational Hospital."

It is wonderful to read descriptions of Athy over 80 years ago even if some of the details puzzles rather than illuminates. Where for instance was the statue of the 16th Duke? A figment of the writer's imagination or perhaps an illustration of the fragility of youthful memory. Memories are a source of pleasure and happiness and Elizabeth Coxhead's book of childhood memories of Athy and the Duncans of Tonlegee House evoke a nostalgic response prompting a desire for others to put their memories of times past in print.

Commercial House Athy

I was in the audience for the last night of Fiddler on the Roof, the latest offering from Athy Musical and Dramatic Society and thoroughly enjoyed myself. It was a very good production, highlighted by the excellent performances of Martin Hennessy and Paula Dempsey. Based in a Russian village the action centred around the difficulties of a couple when brought face to face with the rejection of traditional values and customs by their children.

I was reminded again today of the relevance of tradition in our everyday life as I passed Emily Square and witnessed the changing scene which greeted me. Bryan Brothers, well known to all and sundry is now no more and already the builders are hard at work on the building which was once known as Commercial House. Leslie Bryan was the last of the Bryan family to carry on business as a draper in the shop which has witnessed many changes over the years. Leslie's father Robert, or as he was known Bob and his uncle George Bryan bought the Commercial House in 1952. Athy was then a thriving market town with monthly cattle and horse fairs which brought the country folk and the town folk together and inspired the commercial life of the town to heights which has not since reached.

In latter years Bryan Brothers was famous for the overhead pulley system which transferred money from the counter staff to the cashier who oversaw all financial transactions in the store. It too has gone, even before the builders had arrived to create new facades and new interiors from the familiar counters and shelves of a provincial towns draper shop. A new business will open up on the site before long and the relentless march of commercial life will continue without pause, unmindful of the history of the building which has stood on this site for many generations.

George and Bob Bryan purchased the building from John J. Glendenning in 1952. A Killarney based commercial traveller, Glendenning bought the business then known as Commercial House at Public Auction in the Town Hall, Athy, on the 10th of February 1946. No doubt inspired by the commercial activity which was then the hallmark of Athy, Glendenning had outbid many others to secure the imposing property which had been offered for sale by Mrs. Eleanor Murphy, widow, and her son William, both of whom lived at Prospect House. Prospect House on the Carlow Road had been built in 1830 as the residence for the Governor of the local jail and is today occupied by the O'Carroll family. Glendenning's relatively short time in Athy might seem to indicate a less than successful venture into local business and indeed it is believed that when he sold the property he did so for considerably less than he had paid at Auction six years previously.

Mrs. Eleanor Murphy's husband Joseph had acquired the business in 1926 following the death of his father Michael Murphy. Joseph himself died on the 12th of March 1928 and the business then passed to his widow Eleanor and his son William who was born in 1922. The Murphys at that stage resided at Sunnyside, Athy and Michael Murphy who had bought the premises in 1905 was I believe the person who gave it the name "Commercial House". In speaking to older people in Athy, reference is always made to Murphy's Commercial House. I have never heard of any reference to John J. Glendenning who carried on business there for six years immediately following the World War II. Undoubtedly however there are many who remember him and some of you will surely tell me about the Co. Kerry man who later sold the draper business to George and Bob Bryan. The 1910 edition of Porter's Post Office Guide describes Michael Murphy of Commercial House, The Square, as a "General Draper, Clothier, Outfitter and Boot Factor". Quite unusually he did not take an advertisement in the same Guide which was copiously illustrated with local business advertisements.

As you can imagine there has been a business house or shop on the site for generations past. For 32 years between 1873 and 1905 the premises were owned by members of the Bailey or Bayley family. William Bayley had acquired the premises in 1890 from Samuel Bailey who in turn had purchased it in 1873 from Francis Keegan, a fishmonger from Baggot Street, Dublin. Whether the Baileys or Bayleys were ever in occupation I cannot say for Slaters Directory of 1881 does not list anyone of that name carrying on business in Athy.

Francis Keegan, the Baggot Street fishmonger, who sold the premises to Samuel Bailey in 1873 had acquired it through his father Peter Keegan, also a fishmonger, of Fitzwilliam market, Dublin who had himself bought it in 1843. The property at that time consisted of two shops which were in later years amalgamated to form the existing extensive premises. In all probability one of the premises was used in connection with the Keegan fishmongering business between 1843 and 1873.

Before the Keegans John O'Neill was the owner, having acquired the premises in 1836 from John Owen or Owens, a tallow chandler. O'Neill was himself a chandler and between himself and Owens carried on that business from the premises for 20 years. Chandlers made candles which were so important for home and workshop in the days before gas and electricity. Owens, described as a tallow chandler, was therefore identifiable as a person who used tallow from local slaughterhouses in making his candles. In Piggot's Directory for 1824 John Owens was listed as a soap boiler as was another local man George Youall. This was a particularly unpleasant trade or craft to carry on in the centre of the town but in the context of the early 19th century it was not unusual.

The traditions of past livelihoods such as soap boiler and candle maker are now long lost to us and all that remains are names once associated with a building which itself is soon to be transformed beyond recognition.

Athy's Architecture

There has been a veritable deluge of talks and lectures in Athy over the last few months. Attending them is a very invigorating experience while both enjoyable and enlightening. The latest talk was given by Denis Cogan, Kildare County Architect, who is shortly to take up another similar appointment with Dun Laoghaire Borough Council. His talk entitled “Athy, Architecturally - Yours” was a stimulating romp through the buildings and stones of Athy interspersed with revealing insights into the people who either commissioned or designed them. The use of slides added tremendously to the occasion and were enjoyed by the good sized audience who sat in the former court room of the Town Hall.

It was to the outskirts of Athy, if one presumes to stretch that geographical term somewhat, that Denis first brought us. Kilkea Castle, the most important Anglo-Norman building in South Kildare, was the focus of his attention as he showed in slides the twelfth century building which was first occupied by Sir Walter De Riddlesford. He was a young knight of Anglo-Saxon stock who was reputedly related to King Henry of England. The family lasted only three generations in Kilkea and it was through the marriage of a grand-daughter of the original owner to Maurice Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald, third Baron of Offaly, that Kilkea Castle came into the ownership of the Fitzgerald family. It was future Earls of Kildare and Dukes of Leinster, head of the Fitzgerald family, who down the years exercised manorial control over the village and the later town of Athy. Understandably many of the fine buildings in Athy were designed and built as a result of the patronage of the Fitzgerald family.

One building which did not come about in this way was Woodstock Castle which Denis Cogan told us was built in the thirteenth century by the St. Michael family of Rheban. He referred to the fine examples of medieval stone tracery still visible in the blocked up windows of Woodstock. Whites Castle with the bridge which it was intended to defend was described by him as forming “the strongest image which visitors have of Athy”. In that he was clearly correct and in drawing our attention to the fact the County Architect was singling out Athy’s most important building in terms of the future development of the town’s historical heritage. Whites Castle stands at the very centre of Athy, a readily recognisable focal point and one which must engage our concern and aspirations for the future.

The profusion of Churches in Athy prompted a comment that “religion is big in Athy”. Perhaps it might have been more accurate to say that past religious fervour as exemplified in the many fine Church buildings of the town is unlikely ever again to be repeated. The Dominican Church drew extremely favourable comment from Denis who told us that the architectural source for the unusual Church design was a Church at Ronchainp and the monastery of La Tourette together with the work of American architects of the 1950’s who used complex double curved roofs such as that found in Kennedy Airport, New York.

It was revealing to hear his comments concerning St. Michael’s Catholic Church which he described as “unnecessarily large” and giving rise to problems of scale. For directly opposite reasons he found the new civic offices of Athy Town Council lacking the height necessary to “proclaim its civic presence”. It certainly suffers in comparison with the eighteenth century Town Hall which presents an imposing and commanding backdrop to Emily Square. Very favourable praise was reserved for St. Michael’s Church of Ireland, located at the end of Church Road which he described as making for “a dramatic axial view of the Church and spire”.

The involvement of Frederick Darley, a nineteenth century Architect best known for designing the RDS and the Kings Inn buildings in Dublin, was noted in many of the fine buildings in Athy. Chief amongst these was the Presbyterian Church, the adjoining Manse, the Model School and the Courthouse. Darley had been engaged by the Duke of Leinster to re-model Kilkea Castle and it was through the Duke’s patronage that this important Architect was employed in designing so many buildings in Athy. We are fortunate to have so many fine examples of his work in the town, particularly so when the buildings he designed are still in use and in relatively good condition. The stone finials on the Courthouse puzzled the County Architect as they have many others who have examined the building over the years. Are they mesonic symbols or are they symbols linked with the building’s original use as a Corn Exchange? If you have any views on this I would like to hear from you.

The former workhouse designed by George Wilkinson, an Oxford-based Architect, was next shown on slides, to be followed by the railway station which mercifully has recently been repainted in colours which are pleasing to the eye. The Rectory and Mount Offaly were highlighted as very important examples of private houses. The former was the work of Dean and Woodworth while the latter was described as a fine example of an early Georgian townhouse. Later Georgian houses at Woodstock Street were also favourably commented upon.

It was very interesting to hear Denis’ view of what he described as “the greatest architectural achievement” by succeeding generations of Athy people. This accolate was reserved for the central piazza dominated by the Town Hall which we all know as Emily Square. As County Architect Denis Cogan did much to ensure that the Town Hall would be restored in the 1980’s. The initial move to save the building which was in danger of being lost to the town was made by the local branch of An Taisce. The then County Manager Gerry Ward thankfully recognised the merit of the case made by An Taisce and put in place an innovative scheme to restore the Town Hall at a time when the County Council’s finances were limited. The Town Hall will remain a monument to the combined efforts of An Taisce, Gerry Ward and Denis Cogan, Architect in charge of the restoration.

In concluding his talk Denis confirmed that Athy is well endowed with buildings of architectural merit designed by many of the leading Architects of their time. His audience no doubt realise that but perhaps the message needs to go out to everyone in Athy. I wish Denis every success in his new appointment knowing that he will bring to that position the same good taste in architectural design that marked his work in County Kildare and especially Athy which he rightly described as “architecturally the most interesting town in County Kildare”.

Emigration from Athy

Emigration has always been the safety valve for our country. Without it we would inevitably have succumbed to the terrifying depths of deprivation all too common in Third World countries. One of the earliest records of emigration is that found in the "Journal of the House of Commons of the Kingdom of Ireland" for 1796 which was published as a special report of the Commons Committee set up in 1743 to investigate abuses of enforced transportation during the previous seven years. The 2,000 or so transportees listed in the Report were convicted felons or vagabonds sent over seas between 1735 and 1743. Amongst them was Graham Bradford, a Freeman of Athy of whom it was recorded in the Borough Council Minute Book of the 16th of October 1738 "was convicted in his Majesty's Court of Kings Bench of wilful and corrupt perjury and that he was pilloried and is now transported into some of his Majesty's plantations in America". It is interesting to note that the Minute Book was signed by nine members of the local Borough Council including Alexander Bradford, George Bradford and William Bradford.

The millions who left Ireland to journey by sailing ship to America during and after the Famine are listed in the seven volume "The Famine Emigrants - Lists of Irish Emigrants arriving at the Port of New York 1846 - 1851". Included amongst them were many hundreds who left Athy and South Kildare during that time. Unfortunately the lists do not give the County of origin so that we cannot identify the local people who left Ireland to start a new life in America. The voyage from Liverpool to New York usually took three to four weeks, longer in winter months. The majority of the sailing ships carried between 200 and 300 passengers while some of the larger vessels were capable of accommodating up to 500 people. Those fleeing from the Irish Famine and its aftermath had the dubious distinction of being the last group to cross the Atlantic under sail. The accommodation provided in steerage for the poor Irish emigrants was a breeding ground for cholera and dysentery. Ship Fever grew to alarming proportions during the Famine years and in Black '47 the Irish who died at Grosse Isle, an Emigration depot 30 miles below Quebec on the St. Lawrence River, numbered in excess of 5,000. Subsequent changes in shipping law required ventilation of steerage quarters and other improvements which greatly enhanced the prospects of Irish emigrants safely arriving in America.

In 1868 John J. Bealin, whose late father Mark Bealin had a bakery in the premises at the corner of Leinster Street now owned by Mrs. Lehane, left Athy for America with his older brothers William and Mark. Born on the 28th of December 1854 John J. had attended the local Christian Brothers School but when his father died and his mother remarried the three sons went across to Liverpool to join one of the new fangled steam ships then plying their trade between there and New York. The journey which in the earlier sailing ships took weeks could now be completed in less than 15 days. Bealin and other Irish emigrants alighted at America's first immigration depot Castle Clinton, three hundred feet off the southern tip of Manhattan.

Emigration to America continued to increase throughout the 19th century leading to demands to regulate entry into that country. Immigration laws were passed denying entry to Chinese nationals and "any convict, lunatic, idiot or any person unable to take care of himself or herself without becoming a public charge". On the 1st of January 1892 Ellis Island was opened as an immigration depot and the first person through its doors was 15 year old Annie Moore of Co. Cork whose statue now graces the refurbished Ellis Island Immigration Museum which is a major tourist attraction for New York tourists.

Between 1891 and 1901 the town of Athy suffered a population decrease of 1,267, many of whom can be expected to have emigrated to America. Amongst those who left may have been Bridget Greene, a 26 year old spinster who sailed from Queenstown as a steerage passenger with two pieces of luggage on the White Star Line R.M.S. Teutonic arriving in New York on the 15th of April 1897. She is now immortalised in print as one of the 141 steerage passengers on that boat whose names are included on a display panel in the Ellis Island Immigration Museum in New York Harbour. Listed only as from Co. Kildare she was one of the thousands who daily went through the inspection process which one had to successfully undergo to gain entry to America.

On landing each immigrant had a number tag pinned to his or her clothing for identification purposes. Jostling three abreast they made their way up the steep flight of stairs to the great Registry Room. Public Health Doctors examined each person for any one of sixty diseases which would exclude a hapless emigrant from the mainland. The disease which resulted in most exclusions was trachoma, an infectious eye disease. Doctors used button hooks to lift up each persons eyelid for evidence of inflammation which would indicate the presence of trachoma. From there the frightened emigrant passed on to the next room where inspectors posed questions to ascertain each persons social, economic and moral fitness. It could take hours if not days to successfully circumvent the system of checks before one was permitted to take the ferry to Manhattan. If turned away for any reason the unfortunate person faced the sad, lonely boat journey back to Ireland.

Many of Athy's finest left the town for America in the early 1920's. The local G.A.A. Club suffered enormously at that time from the loss of young players who sought their future in the States. Sapper O'Neill and Michael Mahon, two County footballers were just two of the great footballers who left Athy for America in the 1920's. Mahon emigrated in October 1927 and on the night before the local G.A.A. Club, then called Young Emmets, held an "American Wake" for him in the Town Hall. Like so many others he was never to return to his home town.

The White Star Line which had boats travelling to New York and Boston from Liverpool, stopping at Cobh, operated through agents in Athy two of whom were T.J. Brennan of Duke Street and Edmund Mulhall of Barrow Bridge House. The price of a tourist cabin in 1928 for a single journey ranged from £22 to £25 depending on the time of year and the ship on which one travelled. This was a considerable sum at a time when a pint cost ten pennies, the equivalent of little more than 4p today.

One of the many interesting features of Ellis Island Immigration Museum is the American Immigrant Wall of Honour. Here are recorded some of the names of those 12 million immigrants from all lands who passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954. Virtually ever nationality is represented on the Wall of Honour, the largest wall of names in the world which will remain for posterity in the shadow of the nearby Statue of Liberty. The names of all those who left Athy since the Great Famine of 150 years ago can never hope to be recorded. Some are remembered but for the most part they are forgotten, a lost diaspora which sought tolerance, opportunity and freedom in a foreign country.

Leinster Street 1932 (2)

Continuing our survey of Leinster Street in 1932, we retrace our steps and start with the shop opposite the Leinster Arms Hotel. That first building bearing the name Athy Co-Operative and Agricultural Stores. It was known locally as the Co-Op Stores and its neighbour was a shop owned by Delaneys. The Leinster Arms Hotel yard lay between Delaneys and Miss Darby's house. The yard provided secure parking for the Hotel patrons and was watched over by the ever vigilant Paddy Webb of St. Patrick's Avenue, a ex-Army man who was later Caretaker of the C.Y.M.S. Hall in Stanhope Place. Miss Bridget Darby was a teacher in Churchtown and a member of Athy Urban District Council. Indeed she may well hold the distinction of being the first female member of that body. She was a member of the Fianna Fail party and very involved in the Irish Language Revival movement.

Next door was another private house before we met Hutchinson's Hibernian Hotel. Mr. Hutchinson was an electrician who carried on extensive electrical business for many years. He later lived in Church Road. The Hibernian Bank, the finest building in the street, is now occupied by the Hibernian Insurance Company. It was next door to the small two storey house of Dan Neill, a local Building Contractor. In the 1950's Dan owned the lands now occupied by the Kingsgrove housing estate on the Carlow Road and his only employee in those days so far as I can recall was Jim "Salty" Doyle of Butlers Row. Duthie Larges had extensive premises fronting on to Leinster Street as well as commodious buildings extending back up Chapel Lane. Once the largest garage and only foundry in Athy it continued in business until the early 1980's. Dooley's Bakery occupied a premises now owned by Mrs. Hughes. This was an extensive business with several bread delivery vans on the road. It was owned by Paddy Dooley, brother of Michael Dooley of Duke Street.

Across Chapel Lane was T.C. Walsh's pub, later Hickeys and now "Cheers" Bar. Doran's clothes shop was next door to Campbells harness maker while "Sapper" Neill was still carrying on his butchering business in the adjoining premises. It was later acquired by Willie McGrath who was in time to open McGrath's tearooms in the same premises. Hylands were next door to Jacksons and then a large emporium consisting of a grocery, hardware shop, drapery, shoe shop and garage. The business was put into receivership in the late 1950's given the now infamous Russell Murphy some early experience of Irish provincial business live. Part of the premises was sold in 1963 to a consortium which included Pat Flood who is now retired and living in Chanterlands.

Fran Doran's clothes shop was next with Johnny "Mockers" McMahon's sweet shop alongside Mick Egan's tailoring shop. What is now Sunderlands was believed to have been a small sweet shop and lodging house while Wynnes shoe repair shop was then a private house owned by Mick Howard who worked in Blanchfields Sawmills. Kellys lived next door followed by Miss Johnson's shop. This prompts me to ask if this was where Paddy Johnson lived after moving from Boher Bui when St. Michael's Cemetery was extended. He is believed to be the only man legally buried in his own back yard, lying as he is inside the front wall of St. Michael's Cemetery where his small house was once located.

The next house was occupied by a Mr. Langton whom I believe to have been an uncle of Tom Langton, well remembered and beloved Postman and Fireman now long deceased. Mrs. O'Meara's pub to where Barney Dunne first came to work in the 1930's is now called The Anglers Rest. There are still three public houses here and 64 years ago the last two were owned by Paddy Kelly and Jim McEvoy. Alex Kelly who died quite recently was a son of Paddy Kelly while Jim McEvoy present proprietor of the Railway Bar is a son of the late Jim McEvoy.

Conroys sweet and grocery shop was followed by a row of houses occupied by George Ellard's father, Mick Langton - a postman like his son Tom, Jack Roche, 'Locky' Murray, Mick Ellard, Miss Watts who worked in Jacksons and John Maher who was a Drayman for C.I.E.. Across Kirwan's Lane was to be found the Railway Bar, owned by Pat O'Brien whose brother Michael owned and operated the Nags Head also in Leinster Street. Next came three houses occupied by the Reilly family, the May family and Isaac Thompson and his family. Nellie Reilly, later had a sweet shop in the front room of the family home before she emigrated to England in the 1950's. The large house now known as the Care of the Elderly home was then occupied by Mr. Rogers, an Englishman, who was Caretaker of the Peoples Park and agent for the Duke of Leinster.

Looking back at the names of those who lived and worked in Leinster Street 64 years ago it is not surprising to find that many of those names are no longer there today. Some physical changes are also noted in the street, particularly in relation to the small row of houses which adjoined Conroys shop. These houses are now gone, the last occupied by Mrs. Ellard having been demolished last year. The three small houses adjoining Blanchfields in the square are now roofless shells. Elsewhere on the street businesses have changed and private houses have been converted to shops. I wonder what the future holds for the street in 1060 when another 64 years will have elapsed.

Leinster Street 1932 (1)

1932 - The Year of the Congress. Perhaps one of the most easily remembered dates in our recent history. Equalled only by the epoch making Easter Rebellion of 1916 but with this difference. There are not many whose memories can extend back 80 years to the time when Pearse and his colleagues set out to change the course of Irish history. The Eucharistic Congress is however another matter. There are many who can recall the pomp and ceremony which surrounded the biggest religious ceremony ever witnessed in this country. It was a year which was forever to be fixed in peoples memories.

Some of our elders can still recall the events in Dublin that year but it's to a man, then only 12 years of age, to whom I turn for his memories of Leinster Street in the year of the Congress. 'Robbie' Robinson of whom I wrote recently remembers the street which he walked through each morning and afternoon as he travelled to and from the local Christian Brothers School.

Starting at the junction of Emily Square 'Robbie' recalls Henry Sylvester's Public House which is now incorporated into the Leinster Arms Hotel. In more recent years it had been an off-licence and in my young days was the site of Miss Dallon's sweet shop. Henry was the father of Mona Sylvester who later owned a sweet shop in Emily Row. A first class musician she was leader of the Ivy Band which played at local dances in and around Athy in the 1940's and early 1950's. The Leinster Arms Hotel was next door managed then by Miss Darcy. An Inn or Hotel has been on this site since the 18th century and perhaps even longer.

Freddie Darling's barber shop and the Misses Dillon's sweet shop were next in line followed by the public house now owned by Des Noonan but then operated by Jim Nelson. Fred Darling was a superb tennis player whose brother Harry Darling, also a barber in Kildare Town, was perhaps the finest tennis player in County Kildare. The Dillon sisters premises was subsequently acquired by Charlie Prendergast who carried on an electrical business there for many years. Their brother was "Chopsie" Dillon who had a butchers shop further up the street. Blanchfields lived next door and when I had my offices in the same building I recall Eoin Blanchfield paying a visit to what was once his old home and telling the sad story surrounding the tragic death in the house of his young brother.

John Maher's Public House and Undertaking business was next door, today still carrying the name Baptys over the front door even though Bapty, son of John Maher is now long dead. John's father was the first funeral undertaker in Athy who started his business in the 1880's from premises at the corner of Kirwan's Lane which is now a Chinese Take-Away. Johnny Bollards Printing Works was next and I recall meeting some years ago Johnny's son who is now an official of the Bank of Ireland. Athy Tea Rooms and J.C. Reynolds, Dentist, came before 'Chopsie' Dillon's Butcher shop. 'Chopsie' is not to be confused with the man of the same name who had a pub in Barrow Quay. J.C. Reynolds and his son Ken were prominent members of the Social Club in St. John's Lane and Ken is included in many of the photographs of the Social Club drama players of the 1940's and 1950's. Archie Sullivan, a cobbler, and Mrs. Brennan's shop were under the same roof just before Meeting Lane. Archie died in England some years ago and his remains were brought home for burial in his beloved town of Athy.

Across the lane named after the Quaker Meeting House built on the site of the Dispensary in 1780 was Lawler's Hotel. Next door was a private house and then Mrs. Candy's sweet shop. Her son Denis Candy was County Manager in Meath when I took up my appointment as Town Clerk of Kells in the 1960's. James and Nell Mulhall, parents of "Hocker", "Smiler" and "Gussy" lived in No. 14 next to the Nags Head Public House owned by Michael O'Brien and further up the street was William Scully's public house now owned by Clancys. The Railway Hotel was the second of three Hotels on Leinster Street, this establishment being owned by Tom Flood, an old I.R.A. veteran who had been imprisoned in Mountjoy Jail during the War of Independence. Empeys, Painters and Decorators occupied what is now the video shop. Most Rev. Bishop Walton Empey, Bishop of Kildare and Meath, lived here while a young man next door to McLaughlins Public House which is today still operated by Bridie and Kitty McLoughlin. Their father James McLaughlin, born in Buncrana, came to Athy in the 1920's from Belfast. Mrs. Grimes sweet shop was next door followed by Mrs. Blanchfield's private house and Dillons private house. The two end houses were occupied by Matt Murray, Plumber, who was later succeeded by his son of the same name and Peter Hyland whose son Tom was one time Caretaker of St. Michael's Cemetery. In the small recessed square at the end of the street was to be found Blanchfields sawmills and their private house next door to the small houses occupied by "Compri" Nolan, "Golly" Germaine and Anthony Nolan. "Golly" was an ex-World War I veteran whom I recall as one of the great characters of Athy when I was growing up. To be continued.

Woodstock Castle

Last week the South Kildare Branch of An Taisce hosted a talk in the Town Hall dealing with Woodstock Castle. Concern has been expressed at the present state of disrepair of this important building which has stood on the site for over 700 years. The recent granting of heritage status to Athy was in part a recognition of the building heritage of the town. If we wish to maintain Athy's claim to that heritage status then we must show a willingness to save and protect those local buildings which are an important part of our heritage. Chief amongst those must be Woodstock Castle which stands some distance from the centre of the town. It was built in the 13th century by the St. Michael family of Rheban following the allocation to them of lands in the area by Strongbow. Following such land division it was customary to construct a fortified building at a place of strategic importance and so it was that Woodstock Castle was built on the western side of the Ford of Ae, a river crossing on the Barrow.
The first castle built on the site was probably of wood which was replaced in time by the stone building which still stands as a lonely sentinel guarding the west bank of the River Barrow. More properly referred to as a Hall Keep it was the Manor Castle of Woodstock and figured large in the developing history of Athy, especially in the medieval years. It was to Woodstock Castle that the Friars of the Holy Cross came in the early years of the 13th century to establish their monastery. The area in which that monastery was located was known as St. John's, a name still retained for the laneway which runs parallel to Duke Street. The future town, then a mere village, was taking shape on the west bank of the River and in 1253 the Dominican Order founded a second monastery in the area, now known as The Abbey at the rear of Emily Square.

The village of Athy was home to French speaking Anglo Normans and understandably the native Irish, who lived in the wooded regions of the area now known as Laois and beyond, soon vented their displeasure by attacking the village. On at least four occasions during the 13th century the village of Athy, including Woodstock Castle and the monasteries, was attacked and badly damaged by the warring Irish.

The settlers were a resilient lot and on each occasions rebuilt their settlement. At this time another settlement was to be found near Rheban Castle which was also built by the St. Michael family again near a river crossing. Nothing now remains of that settlement other than the remains of Rheban Castle itself. The survival of the Athy settlement while neighbouring settlements were disappearing might have been due to nothing more than mere chance. Rheban, like Athy, was attacked on many occasions but unlike its neighbour Rheban was soon deserted and reverted to its original rural status as did the nearby medieval village of Ardscull. Another village settlement to disappear was Ardreigh on the Carlow side of Woodstock Castle.

It was Sir John Talbot, Viceroy of Ireland, recognising the strategic importance of Athy on the Marches of Kildare who built a bridge across the Barrow and a Fortress to protect it. In time Whites Castle became the focus of future development on the east bank of the river. The earlier village settlement on the west bank may have been abandoned at this stage given the difficulties of protecting it from the Irish. Whites Castle, then garrisoned and protecting the only bridge across the river afforded greater protection for the settlers who lived and worked in the village on the east bank. Woodstock Castle which was still occupied and remained so up to the 17th century was left virtually isolated. Nevertheless it continued to present itself as a formidable fortress while it was occupied.

As originally constructed Woodstock Castle was a rectangular keep which in architectural terms might be more correctly described as a "Hall Keep". It is a classical example of an Anglo Norman construction of the early 13th century and similar if larger examples can be found at Grennan, Co. Kilkenny and Greencastle, Co. Down. Woodstock has been subject to alterations especially in the 16th century. A tower at the southeast angle of the original Keep was added then as an additional defensive feature. On the west face of the tower at first and second storey level are a pair of circular gunports set within rectangular openings. This form of gunport first appeared in England in the 1520's. The gunports which are now blocked up served to defend the Castle on the only side which did not have an enclosing wall. They were used in connection with floor cannons and above each gunport are to be seen viewing slits to enable the gunner to look out while firing the cannon. These features are of national importance, being very fine examples of 16th century gunports, very few of which are to be found in Irish castles.

Other alterations made in the Castle in the 16th century including the raising of the walls to provide another storey and the insertion of large windows in the west, east and south walls. All these windows have hood mouldings with the finest example to be found at the northeast corner of the east wall. These features probably coincided with the leasing of the Castle to William Sheregolde in 1560 under a Lease which provided for improvements to be carried out by the Lessee.

Woodstock Castle has survived for over 700 years but it now needs urgent repair work to protect some of its more important features. It would be shameful if we were to allow the first building erected on the future town of Athy to be lost to future generations. It is a priceless if somewhat sadly neglected building which could and should be restored to enhance Athy's claim as a heritage town. Athy Urban District Council are the owners of Woodstock Castle and now that the area around the Castle is being landscaped perhaps it is now an opportune time to look at the possibility of saving this 13th century building.

Tourist Trail for Athy

I have been writing recently the first draft of the new Tourist Trail for Athy which will hopefully be printed in time for the summer season. While doing this I realised just how rich Athy is in relation to historical buildings. Living in the area for so long tends to dull ones appreciation of what is around us and the discipline of putting down on paper the local buildings and localities with historical connections only serves to reactivate a proper sense of appreciation.

The most visible reminder of our past is of course Whites Castle, a resplendent tower of stone, guarding the bridge over the River Barrow. Built in 1417 by Sir John Talbot, Viceroy of Ireland, its unique position in the centre of Athy makes it a focal point for all historical enquiry relating to the town. The Bridge over which it originally stood guard has long since been replaced and the existing bridge dates back to May 1796. Just imagine that's two years before the most harrowing Rebellion of 1798 which engulfed Ireland in bloodshed and grief. Athy and district was now spared in those dark days and Whites Castle, then a jail, held many locals in its dark cells. One of the most famous of those prisoners was Thomas Reynolds, one time resident of Kilkea Castle and notorious informer who somehow ended up here for a while before Dublin Castle authorities realised that they had jailed one of their own.

That same Castle and the Bridge witnessed the harrowing experience of seven Narraghmore men who were taken from the jail and frogmarched across the Bridge to the banks of the Canal to be hanged. Later beheaded their heads were stuck on the Bridge as a warning to others not to get involved in rebellious activity. Many who pass over that same Bridge today know nothing of those terrible times when fear stalked the streets of Athy.

Across the River near Greenhills stands the tall stone skeleton of what was once the proud Castle of Woodstock. This 13th century edifice altered in the 15th century replaced an earlier wooden castle on the site which was built by the Anglo Normans to defend the Ford or river crossing on the Barrow. So it is that two Castles stand on the banks of the Barrow River, separated not only by the "dumb waters" but also in time by almost two centuries. They represent the early and middle years of Anglo Norman influence in Athy and District and are priceless reminders of the heritage of those periods.

The later commercial life of the developing town of Athy is encapsulated in the fine building with the quite remarkable northern facade which acts as a distinctive backdrop to Emily Square. The Town Hall built in the early years of the 18th century marked Athy's transition from village to market town and the fine expanse of open space around it then known as Market Square was a hive of activity where local traders and townspeople mingled with the farmers and their produce. It is not always easy to visualise while standing amongst the parked cars in what is now a municipal car park that not so many years ago men and women worked here while children played among the stalls unburdened by any requirement to attend school. Indeed in a doorway of the Town Hall one local man carried on business as a cobbler for over 20 years, each morning setting up his tools providing a welcome service for the farmers who came to the town.
The building heritage of the town is graced by many fine Churches from the ultra-modern, at least in the context of the 1960's, of the Dominican Church to the earlier examples of ecclesiastical architecture such as the Presbyterian, Methodist and Church of Ireland Churches. The 14th or 15th century Church in the grounds of St. Michael's Cemetery is yet again an important element in the story of Athy. Built on a site outside the medieval walls of the town it served as the first secular Catholic Church in Athy and later in post-Reformation days as a Chapel for the Church of England.

Further out the Dublin Road in the direction of Gallowshill, where many unfortunates paid the ultimate penalty for breaches of the criminal code the fine cut stone building of the former Model School and Agricultural School is to be found. It is a very attractive building part of which would be ideal for recounting in display models and in the spoken and written words the story of the Model and Agricultural Schools of the last century and the Lancastrian system of education. Maybe the Office of Public Works in conjunction with the local Heritage Company might look at the possibility of doing this.

Another possible area of co-operation this time between the Heritage Company and the Eastern Health Board could be in recreating the Workhouse and the Famine experience in what remains of the original Athy Workhouse. The original part of the building to the front of St. Vincent's Hospital presents a fine panorama of what the Poor House was in the 1840's and it is here in part of that building that an opportunity exists for recreating what was an important part of our town's story.

Athy originally the Anglo Norman town later a garrisoned town has a proud history stretching back 800 years. The survival of so many important buildings in the town enables us to relive our past in a context which must enliven our understanding and appreciation of history. There is a marvellous opportunity awaiting Athy as a heritage town to develop its own distinctive historical past in a manner which can prove not only commercially beneficial but also personally satisfying to those who live in Athy.