You realise the years are mounting up when you find yourself attending the wedding of a son of friends whose own wedding you attended so many years ago. Such were my thoughts as I met up with old friends and former neighbours in St. Michael’s Parish Church last week to celebrate the wedding of Suzanne Fennin and Leo Kelly. The occasion has a particular resonance for me as I listened to Fr. Dennehy addressing the young groom. He bears the same name as his late uncle who was a friend of mine as we were growing up in Offaly Street. Leopold Kelly and his younger brother Teddy were part of the group from the street who every day met and played together. Willie Moore and Tom Webster were also part of the group as were Andrew and Basil White before their father, the late Tom White and his entire family, moved to Athgarvan in the early 1950’s. Being somewhat older than the rest of us Leopold Kelly was our leader, but irrespective of age differences his athleticism and the sheer qualities of his personality marked him apart from the rest of us.
As I heard the once so familiar name called from the altar of St. Michael’s Church I couldn’t but feel somewhat saddened as images and names of friends whose company I once enjoyed flashed across my mind. For Leopold Kelly died in 1967, just a short time after he was ordained for the priesthood. The group of young people of over 40 years ago with whom I shared so many experiences has been decimated with the deaths of Michael Moore, Andrew White, Basil White, Seamus Taaffe and Leopold Kelly. Nothing brings home the fragility of life and life’s experiences than the reflective moment which like an intruder imposes itself on the busy schedule of everyday life. St. Michael’s Church on the joyful occasion of the wedding of that young couple was one such moment for me last week.
Later that day I met John Kelly, eldest scion of the Kelly family, now 72 years of age and living in retirement in Enniscorthy. He left Athy in 1946 and his memories of the town at that time are of “desolation, depression and dimly lit streets”. The only form of entertainment was the local cinema in Offaly Street or as John explained it “a frolic with a member of the opposite sex against the wall of the Malt House in Stanhope Street”. John assured me that it was a much favoured location for such activity on account of the warmth provided by the malting activity on the far side of the wall. No doubt the heat generation was not confined to the malting process!
John, whose fresh face appearance belies his age, recalled his school pals of nearly 60 years ago. Jackie McCauley, Tommy Walsh and Maurice Kerrigan are now dead, Kerrigan having met his maker after an unfortunate accident on a viaduct in Wales. John McDonnell, Frank Flood and Benny Anderson are still to the good, and tales of evenings spent in Barringtons Pub on the Carlow Road re-awaken memories of old times which are very reminiscent of student activities of the present age. Young people of whatever age undoubtedly know how to enjoy themselves free from the rigorous scrutiny of parents or guardians.
Teachers in the old Christian Brothers School in St. John’s Lane were also remembered by John, some, but not all, with fondness. The lay teachers Bill Ryan and Paddy Spillane earned particular mention as did Brother Nelson whose interest in anything but the class subject in progress gave his pupils ample opportunity for daily diversion.
In the same week as the teachers of sixty years ago were remembered, three of that much underrated and sometimes maligned profession were retiring. Ann Smith, Vice-Principal of Churchtown National School, I knew since we both shared a caravan during the summer of 1957 or was it 1958 touring the countryside selling tickets for Athy Gaelic Football Clubs Fund-raising Draw. Ann and her good friend Eileen Kehoe were part of the team put together by Eileen’s father, John W. Kehoe, to travel the length and breadth of Ireland selling one shilling tickets for what was then the magnificent prize of a caravan and a Hillman car. Five months of the year was spent touring with that unique prize, the caravan, providing the nightly accommodation for the team of ticket sellers. Every village, hamlet and town in a line south of Dublin and Westport was visited as the car and caravan criss-crossed the country with Bridie Gallagher’s latest recording broadcast over a loud-speaker to give advance notice of our arrival. “The Boys from the County Armagh” is a song indelibly imprinted on my mind, even after the lapse of over forty years since the once-oft played single was last heard by me. Ann was a member of the ticket selling team for a few weeks in the first year of the Draw, while I was to see every nook and corner of Ireland over the four years of my involvement.
Coincidentally, Frank McNulty, the other School Principal who also retired this week, over thirty five years ago shared a common experience with me which threw us together for a few weeks. We both underwent appendicitis operations in Naas around the same time and Frank, who was then living in No. 7 Offaly Street and myself living two doors down, spent a lot of our recuperative time together. Frank goes down in the annals of our local history as the first lay person appointed to the principalship of the local Christian Brothers School.
The third School Principal to hand over the baton during the week is my neighbour and former colleague on the local Council, Mayo born Sean Cunnane. Sean was a friend of my late brother Seamus who died in a road traffic accident in 1965. I first met Sean around that time but got to know him better in recent years when we were both members of Athy Urban District Council. No doubt the extra time on his hands will allow him to devote more time to his role as a Town Councillor.
The job of a school teacher can at times seem a thankless one. It is certainly more stressful and frustrating, ever since the right of the teacher to chastise an unruly or disruptive pupil was removed. A good teacher is never forgotten as evidenced by John Kelly’s recall of some well loved teachers of sixty years ago. I know that Ann Smith, Frank McNulty and Sean Cunnane will have many happy memories of working lives devoted to the education of successive generations of young local people. We wish them well in their retirement.
Thursday, September 7, 2000
Monday, September 4, 2000
Theatres of Kilcullen and Longford and Jimmy Bennett
Last weekend I made my stage debut - well not quite, but near enough, if one ignores a brief and not to be remembered involvement with the County Council players in Naas and Prosperous over 35 years ago. This time however I did not have to contend with half remembered lines and the uncoordinated movements of would-be thespians frightened out of their wits end by the newness of the stage experience. Saturday morning saw me in the unexpectedly grand surroundings of Kilcullen Town Hall where the new theatre hosted a seminar on the Forgotten Soldiers of Kildare organised by the County Kildare Federation of Local History Societies. I have to say I was, and still am, envious of the splendid theatrical facilities available in Kilcullen. They surpass anything we have in Athy, even though we have a strong theatrical tradition going back many years which should justify us having our own purpose built theatre. I am told that the Kilcullen community benefited from the weekly draw which ran for many years under the aegis of the Kilcullen Development Association. The upshot of the Association’s financial husbandry is that many groups in Kilcullen benefited from their largesse when the funds accumulated over many years came to be distributed.
Without question the Town Hall in Kilcullen is a credit to everyone involved in their community and must surely act as an incentive to other groups seeking similar type facilities. If Kilcullen on Saturday morning created the first stirrings of envy in my ageing bones, my visit to Longford town on the following day whipped up an absolute frenzy of jealously on my part. And how it must have showed on my otherwise normally placid countenance as I took in the first class facilities enjoyed by members of the Longford Slashers Football Club. Situated just a short distance out of the town the new club boasts, in addition to the usual bar facilities, a restaurant with a plethora of meeting rooms and would you believe, a 200 seater theatre. All are part of the one complex with a theatre I believe under the management of a local theatrical group which shares common facilities with the GAA Club. If the Kilcullen Theatre is excellent, the Longford Slashers Theatre is superb. I have not seen, even in Dublin, a small theatre to match it in terms of seating, stage, lighting and audio facilities. It far surpasses the facilities of the famous Taibhreach Theatre in Galway which by comparison seems poky and outdated.
My Sunday in Longford was spent attending the Annual General Meeting of the Federation of Local History Societies of Ireland which was officially opened by the American Ambassador to Ireland, His Excellency Michael J. Sullivan. He is a former Governor of Wyoming in the Rocky Mountains West, a State which is about three times the size of Ireland, with about one tenth of it’s population. He arrived wearing a cowboy hat as was appropriate for a former Governor of what is called The Cowboy State. A lawyer by profession, Michael Sullivan is a descendent of Irish emigrants who left for America in the 1850’s. On his mother’s side his relations came from County Longford, although one of the females married a Birney from Myshall, County Carlow and both settled on a farm in Kansas which they call Myshall Farm. On his father’s side the Irish links are with the Sullivans of the Bere Peninsula.
In my many years both as a public representative and as a lawyer I have listened to many addresses but I have never experienced a more pleasant presentation than the twenty minute talk given by Ambassador Sullivan from the stage of Longford Slashers last Sunday. It was a remarkable tour de force in which he dealt with his Irish past in an easy, pleasant and interesting way holding his audience enthralled as they listened to his every word.
Immediately following my arrival in Longford early on Sunday morning I was approached by a man who held out his hand and said “You must be Sergeant Taaffe’s son”. He turned out to be Jimmy Bennett, now eighty years of age, who spent two years in Athy around 1953/54. He was a barber working with Gussy Mulhall in Leinster Street at a time when the barbers’ business was a flourishing one and needed three men, Gussy, his son Jimmy and New Ross man Jimmy Bennett to meet the daily demands for hair cutting and shaving. Jimmy Bennett stayed in digs with Mr. and Mrs. Tom Moore at No. 7 Offaly Street for a few months after he first arrived in Athy before moving to live with the Dargans in Ardreigh. He talked to me of local people he knew and remembered from 46 years ago. Kerrigan, the Bank Manager, came to him each morning for a shave and others he recalled were Charlie Chambers Snr., Fr. McLoughlin, the senior Catholic Curate and Tosh Doyle whose hackney car was employed to bring Jimmy and his friends to football and hurling matches. His local pub was Floods of Leinster Street - “Is it still there?” he asked, not knowing that the pub had changed hands several times since Tom Flood passed away. He recalled Brophy’s shop which was located in Offaly Street where the first Credit Union office was opened.
A member of the CYMS which was located at the corner of Stanhope Street and Stanhope Place, Jimmy remembered names of some of its members at that time. Tom Moore, Ned Cranny, Christy Dunne and “Sooty” Hayden, all long time members of Athy’s oldest society which like themselves is now no more. He made particular mention of Joe Carty, the Belmullet born Garda who like himself arrived in Athy in or about 1953. He asked to be remembered to all the Athy people he knew so many years ago, recalling that Athy was for him a happy place, full of wonderful memories.
Later on Sunday evening before leaving the luxurious surroundings of the local theatre I enquired as to the root of the name “Slasher”. I was informed that “Slasher” means a man of valour and its prominence is traced back to Myles “Slasher” O’Reilly, a Cavan man who fought bravely at the Bridge of Finea with the army of Owen Roe O’Neill. The footballers who play for the Longford Slashers may or may not be renowned for their bravery, but their club premises located to the front of Fay Memorial Park is a wonderful tribute, as is the Kilcullen Town Hall, to the foresight and hard work of many people over many years.
If we could only engender a little bit of that foresight into our own community dealings here in Athy maybe we could have a theatre which would ensure the survival of the town’s proud theatrical tradition.
Without question the Town Hall in Kilcullen is a credit to everyone involved in their community and must surely act as an incentive to other groups seeking similar type facilities. If Kilcullen on Saturday morning created the first stirrings of envy in my ageing bones, my visit to Longford town on the following day whipped up an absolute frenzy of jealously on my part. And how it must have showed on my otherwise normally placid countenance as I took in the first class facilities enjoyed by members of the Longford Slashers Football Club. Situated just a short distance out of the town the new club boasts, in addition to the usual bar facilities, a restaurant with a plethora of meeting rooms and would you believe, a 200 seater theatre. All are part of the one complex with a theatre I believe under the management of a local theatrical group which shares common facilities with the GAA Club. If the Kilcullen Theatre is excellent, the Longford Slashers Theatre is superb. I have not seen, even in Dublin, a small theatre to match it in terms of seating, stage, lighting and audio facilities. It far surpasses the facilities of the famous Taibhreach Theatre in Galway which by comparison seems poky and outdated.
My Sunday in Longford was spent attending the Annual General Meeting of the Federation of Local History Societies of Ireland which was officially opened by the American Ambassador to Ireland, His Excellency Michael J. Sullivan. He is a former Governor of Wyoming in the Rocky Mountains West, a State which is about three times the size of Ireland, with about one tenth of it’s population. He arrived wearing a cowboy hat as was appropriate for a former Governor of what is called The Cowboy State. A lawyer by profession, Michael Sullivan is a descendent of Irish emigrants who left for America in the 1850’s. On his mother’s side his relations came from County Longford, although one of the females married a Birney from Myshall, County Carlow and both settled on a farm in Kansas which they call Myshall Farm. On his father’s side the Irish links are with the Sullivans of the Bere Peninsula.
In my many years both as a public representative and as a lawyer I have listened to many addresses but I have never experienced a more pleasant presentation than the twenty minute talk given by Ambassador Sullivan from the stage of Longford Slashers last Sunday. It was a remarkable tour de force in which he dealt with his Irish past in an easy, pleasant and interesting way holding his audience enthralled as they listened to his every word.
Immediately following my arrival in Longford early on Sunday morning I was approached by a man who held out his hand and said “You must be Sergeant Taaffe’s son”. He turned out to be Jimmy Bennett, now eighty years of age, who spent two years in Athy around 1953/54. He was a barber working with Gussy Mulhall in Leinster Street at a time when the barbers’ business was a flourishing one and needed three men, Gussy, his son Jimmy and New Ross man Jimmy Bennett to meet the daily demands for hair cutting and shaving. Jimmy Bennett stayed in digs with Mr. and Mrs. Tom Moore at No. 7 Offaly Street for a few months after he first arrived in Athy before moving to live with the Dargans in Ardreigh. He talked to me of local people he knew and remembered from 46 years ago. Kerrigan, the Bank Manager, came to him each morning for a shave and others he recalled were Charlie Chambers Snr., Fr. McLoughlin, the senior Catholic Curate and Tosh Doyle whose hackney car was employed to bring Jimmy and his friends to football and hurling matches. His local pub was Floods of Leinster Street - “Is it still there?” he asked, not knowing that the pub had changed hands several times since Tom Flood passed away. He recalled Brophy’s shop which was located in Offaly Street where the first Credit Union office was opened.
A member of the CYMS which was located at the corner of Stanhope Street and Stanhope Place, Jimmy remembered names of some of its members at that time. Tom Moore, Ned Cranny, Christy Dunne and “Sooty” Hayden, all long time members of Athy’s oldest society which like themselves is now no more. He made particular mention of Joe Carty, the Belmullet born Garda who like himself arrived in Athy in or about 1953. He asked to be remembered to all the Athy people he knew so many years ago, recalling that Athy was for him a happy place, full of wonderful memories.
Later on Sunday evening before leaving the luxurious surroundings of the local theatre I enquired as to the root of the name “Slasher”. I was informed that “Slasher” means a man of valour and its prominence is traced back to Myles “Slasher” O’Reilly, a Cavan man who fought bravely at the Bridge of Finea with the army of Owen Roe O’Neill. The footballers who play for the Longford Slashers may or may not be renowned for their bravery, but their club premises located to the front of Fay Memorial Park is a wonderful tribute, as is the Kilcullen Town Hall, to the foresight and hard work of many people over many years.
If we could only engender a little bit of that foresight into our own community dealings here in Athy maybe we could have a theatre which would ensure the survival of the town’s proud theatrical tradition.
Thursday, August 31, 2000
Irish Soldiers in Battles Overseas
Enlistment in the English Army was for many young men a refuge from the pervasive poverty which was a feature of life in rural Ireland in the 19th century. Other reasons might well explain why Athy men Laurence Fitzsimons, Peter Brennan, James Little and William Knowles joined up in 1798 at a time when the United Irishmen were engaged in an unsuccessful attempt at a national uprising. For whatever reason Athy was for a long time a fruitful source of soldier material for the English army. A manuscript Memo Book dated to the end of the 17th century exhibited at a quarterly meeting of the Kilkenny and South East of Ireland Archaeological Society later the Royal Society of Antiquaries held at Kilkenny on 10th July, 1867 had the following insert.
“In Athy in Ireland lived at the time of Ye revolution Mrs. Munford who had nineteen sons riding at the same time in Captain Wolseley’s Troop not regimented. She lived to bury them all.”
This is one of the earliest records we have of Athy men soldiering in the services of England. Another early reference is that of John McGrath, aged 21 years, a Captain in the Regiment of Clare of the Irish Brigade who was captured at sea by British Forces in 1745. He was part of a French attempt to invade the English mainland, which was successfully repulsed and on his capture he was confined in prison at Hull. His ultimate fate is unknown.
Serving in the English Forces around the same time was another Athy man who like McGrath was also a captain. He was Captain Robert Pearson of the Royal Regiment of Foot who served in France and Flanders under the Duke of Marlborough. McGrath was a Catholic, Pearson was a Protestant and therein lies the explanation why two local Athy men found themselves in opposing Armies at the beginning of the 18th century. Pearson eventually returned to Athy at the end of his Army service and was buried in St. Michael’s Cemetery next to his parents Richard Pearson and Mary Jackson.
An interesting insight into the views held by the Irish American Peter Welsh on those who enlisted in the English Army can be readily gleaned from the letter he wrote on 1st June, 1863 to his father-in-law Patrick Prendergast of Athy.
“I consider an Irishman who voluntarily enlists in the British service merits the utter contempt of his countrymen.”
Contrast this with his views on service in the Army of the Union during the American Civil War.
“Here Irishmen and their descendants have a claim, a stake in the Nation and an interest in it’s prosperity. Irishmen helped to free it from the yoke of Britain and to build on this soil the best and most liberal government in the world ….. Irishmen have rushed by thousand to the call of their adopted country in the present unfortunate struggle. Their blood has stained every battlefield of this War.”
Writing from the camp the 28th Regiment near Falmouth just eleven months before he died Welsh proudly claimed
“I am a colour Sergeant of my Regiment. I carry the green flag of Erin, all the Irish Regiments carry the green flag as well as the National flag ….. I feel proud to bear the emblem of Ireland’s pride and glory and it shall never kiss the dust while I have the strength to hold it.”
In contrast Irishmen in the service of the British Empire were never allowed to show any emblems of their own national identity.
When the Boer War broke out in 1899 a considerable amount of sympathy in Nationalist Ireland lay with the Boers. The local newspaper of 6th January, 1900 reported that some Athy men had raised a Boer flag over the Town Hall much to the embarrassment of the Town Council. While several Athy men were fighting on the English side in the War, the Irish Transvaal Brigade chiefly organised by John McBride and consisting of upwards of 250 Irish and Irish Americans allied themselves with the Boers. Amongst the members of the Irish Brigade was James Crosby of Kildangan. Crosby with the other members of the Irish Brigade took part in the Boer attack on the town of Dundee during which the Irish Fusiliers with the Dublin Fusiliers sought to capture Talana Hill. It was during this military operation that local man Captain George Weldon of Kilmoroney was killed. The battle for the town of Dundee in which Irish on opposing sides fought against each other gave rise to a comical ballad, one verse of which read :-
“On the mountainside the battle raged there was no stop or stay,
Macklin captured Private Burke and ensign Michael Shea,
Fitzgerald got Fitzpatrick, Brannigan found O’Rourke,
Finnegan took a man named Fay and a couple of lads from Cork,
Sudden they heard McManus shout ‘hands up, I’ll run you through’,
He thought it was a Yorkshire Tyke - t’was Corporal Donoghue,
McGarry took O’Leary, O’Brien got McNamee,
That’s how the English fought the Dutch at the Battle of Dundee.”
The Irishman’s involvement in English Wars was not to end with the Boer War and the gathering storm of World War I was but twelve years away. It was however the Spanish Civil War of 1936 which like the Boer War provided the next battlefield where Irish men soldiering in different uniforms fought each other in War.
Late in 1936 two different groups of Irishmen set out for Spain - one headed by General Eoin O’Duffy, the former Garda Siochana Commissioner, was mostly comprised of members of the Blueshirt Movement. They were to fight on the side of General Franco while a smaller group of Irishmen referred to as the International Brigade under the leadership of Frank Ryan were to oppose them under the Banner of Spanish Republicanism. I have not succeeded in discovering the involvement of any Athy men in the Spanish Civil War but County Kildare was represented in Duffy’s Irish Brigade by B. Brogan, Pat Dunny, Peter Lawler and Michael O’Neill while the International Brigade had the services of Kildare man Frank Conroy who was killed at Cordova in December 1936. A total of 59 Irishmen were killed in Spain while serving as members of the International Brigade. Some commentators in reference to the involvement of the two opposing Irish Groups in the Spanish Civil War saw the conflict insofar as the Irish participants was concerned as a continuation of our own Civil War of twelve years previously. Mercifully while the opposing Irish combatants were stationed in relatively close proximity to each other during part of the Spanish War, unlike their soldiering ancestors of the 17th and 18th century they never had to engage each other in battle. Even in death the former leaders of the two competing Irish Brigades cannot be separated. Frank Ryan and Eoin O’Duffy lie only a few yards from each other in the section of Glasnevin Cemetery set aside for those involved in the fight for Irish Independence.
“In Athy in Ireland lived at the time of Ye revolution Mrs. Munford who had nineteen sons riding at the same time in Captain Wolseley’s Troop not regimented. She lived to bury them all.”
This is one of the earliest records we have of Athy men soldiering in the services of England. Another early reference is that of John McGrath, aged 21 years, a Captain in the Regiment of Clare of the Irish Brigade who was captured at sea by British Forces in 1745. He was part of a French attempt to invade the English mainland, which was successfully repulsed and on his capture he was confined in prison at Hull. His ultimate fate is unknown.
Serving in the English Forces around the same time was another Athy man who like McGrath was also a captain. He was Captain Robert Pearson of the Royal Regiment of Foot who served in France and Flanders under the Duke of Marlborough. McGrath was a Catholic, Pearson was a Protestant and therein lies the explanation why two local Athy men found themselves in opposing Armies at the beginning of the 18th century. Pearson eventually returned to Athy at the end of his Army service and was buried in St. Michael’s Cemetery next to his parents Richard Pearson and Mary Jackson.
An interesting insight into the views held by the Irish American Peter Welsh on those who enlisted in the English Army can be readily gleaned from the letter he wrote on 1st June, 1863 to his father-in-law Patrick Prendergast of Athy.
“I consider an Irishman who voluntarily enlists in the British service merits the utter contempt of his countrymen.”
Contrast this with his views on service in the Army of the Union during the American Civil War.
“Here Irishmen and their descendants have a claim, a stake in the Nation and an interest in it’s prosperity. Irishmen helped to free it from the yoke of Britain and to build on this soil the best and most liberal government in the world ….. Irishmen have rushed by thousand to the call of their adopted country in the present unfortunate struggle. Their blood has stained every battlefield of this War.”
Writing from the camp the 28th Regiment near Falmouth just eleven months before he died Welsh proudly claimed
“I am a colour Sergeant of my Regiment. I carry the green flag of Erin, all the Irish Regiments carry the green flag as well as the National flag ….. I feel proud to bear the emblem of Ireland’s pride and glory and it shall never kiss the dust while I have the strength to hold it.”
In contrast Irishmen in the service of the British Empire were never allowed to show any emblems of their own national identity.
When the Boer War broke out in 1899 a considerable amount of sympathy in Nationalist Ireland lay with the Boers. The local newspaper of 6th January, 1900 reported that some Athy men had raised a Boer flag over the Town Hall much to the embarrassment of the Town Council. While several Athy men were fighting on the English side in the War, the Irish Transvaal Brigade chiefly organised by John McBride and consisting of upwards of 250 Irish and Irish Americans allied themselves with the Boers. Amongst the members of the Irish Brigade was James Crosby of Kildangan. Crosby with the other members of the Irish Brigade took part in the Boer attack on the town of Dundee during which the Irish Fusiliers with the Dublin Fusiliers sought to capture Talana Hill. It was during this military operation that local man Captain George Weldon of Kilmoroney was killed. The battle for the town of Dundee in which Irish on opposing sides fought against each other gave rise to a comical ballad, one verse of which read :-
“On the mountainside the battle raged there was no stop or stay,
Macklin captured Private Burke and ensign Michael Shea,
Fitzgerald got Fitzpatrick, Brannigan found O’Rourke,
Finnegan took a man named Fay and a couple of lads from Cork,
Sudden they heard McManus shout ‘hands up, I’ll run you through’,
He thought it was a Yorkshire Tyke - t’was Corporal Donoghue,
McGarry took O’Leary, O’Brien got McNamee,
That’s how the English fought the Dutch at the Battle of Dundee.”
The Irishman’s involvement in English Wars was not to end with the Boer War and the gathering storm of World War I was but twelve years away. It was however the Spanish Civil War of 1936 which like the Boer War provided the next battlefield where Irish men soldiering in different uniforms fought each other in War.
Late in 1936 two different groups of Irishmen set out for Spain - one headed by General Eoin O’Duffy, the former Garda Siochana Commissioner, was mostly comprised of members of the Blueshirt Movement. They were to fight on the side of General Franco while a smaller group of Irishmen referred to as the International Brigade under the leadership of Frank Ryan were to oppose them under the Banner of Spanish Republicanism. I have not succeeded in discovering the involvement of any Athy men in the Spanish Civil War but County Kildare was represented in Duffy’s Irish Brigade by B. Brogan, Pat Dunny, Peter Lawler and Michael O’Neill while the International Brigade had the services of Kildare man Frank Conroy who was killed at Cordova in December 1936. A total of 59 Irishmen were killed in Spain while serving as members of the International Brigade. Some commentators in reference to the involvement of the two opposing Irish Groups in the Spanish Civil War saw the conflict insofar as the Irish participants was concerned as a continuation of our own Civil War of twelve years previously. Mercifully while the opposing Irish combatants were stationed in relatively close proximity to each other during part of the Spanish War, unlike their soldiering ancestors of the 17th and 18th century they never had to engage each other in battle. Even in death the former leaders of the two competing Irish Brigades cannot be separated. Frank Ryan and Eoin O’Duffy lie only a few yards from each other in the section of Glasnevin Cemetery set aside for those involved in the fight for Irish Independence.
Thursday, August 24, 2000
Thomas McGrath - Athy Soldier
Thomas McGrath born in the Parish of St. John’s, Athy was a 19 old labourer when he enlisted in the 43rd Regiment of Light Infantry in Dublin on the 21st January 1833. The Regiment first raised in 1741 and previously known as the Monmouthshire Light Infantry was based in Beggars Bush Barracks in Dublin during 1832 and 1833. The army surgeon who examined McGrath for the purposes of the customary Medical Examination certified that he found
“no rupture or mark of an old wound or ulcer adhering to the bone. He is free from varicose veins of the leg and has the full power and motion of the joints and limbs. He is well formed and has no Scrofulus Affection of the Glands, Scald Head or other inveterate Cutaneous Eruptions; and he is from any trace of Corporal Punishment. His respiration is easy, and his Lungs appear to be sound. He has the perfect use of his Eyes and Ears. His general appearance is Healthy, and he possesses strength sufficient to enable him to undergo the fatigue to which Soldiers are liable. I consider him fit for his Majesty’s Service”.
The Surgeon further recorded McGrath as a five foot nine inch man of fresh complexion with blue eyes and light brown hair with no distinctive marks.
The Articles of War were then read to the young Athy man. Article one enjoined any member of the forces “who being present at any mutiny or sedition shall use his utmost endeavour to supress the same”. The second Article of War read to McGrath by a Justice of the Peace declared “who shall dessert from our service (whether or not he shall re-enlist therein) shall suffer the death or such other punishment as by a General Court Marshal shall be awarded”. No doubt suitably awed by the seriousness of the occasion, McGrath then took the Oath of Allegiance and Fidelity finally receiving the Kings legendary “shilling” which by then amounted to a bounty of three pounds.
Now a fully fledged soldier of the 43rd Regiment, Thomas McGrath was next kitted out and began an army career which was not to end for 46 years. The regiment went to New Brunswick in 1835 and it was one of the Regiments dispatched from New Brunswick to Quebec on horse sleighs in the depth of the winter of 1838/39 on the occasion of the insurrection of Lower Canada. We know from McGrath’s discharge papers that he spent seven years and ten months in North America with his regiment and in all probability took part in that over land trip to Quebec.
McGrath remained in the 43rd Regiment until January 1854 and he was promoted to Corporal after four years and twenty six days service. Another four years and nineteen days as a Corporal saw his promotion to the rank of Sergeant at which he remained for the next thirteen years or so. His army career was not without its ups and downs as evidenced by the entry in his service record which shows that on the 13th November 1837, Corporal McGrath, was arrested tried and sentenced to be reduced to the rank of Private. Further promotion did not come his way until the 1st July 1839 when he regained his former rank of Corporal and two years later his promotion to Sergeant was recorded. He was appointed Colour Sergeant on the 17th February 1847.
McGrath’s discharge papers give an overall conduct rating of “very good” but an addendum relates that he was “once tried by a Court Marshal for being drunk at Tattoo when Orderly Sergeant for the Company”. No further details are given and I wonder whether this was a separate incident to the earlier mentioned one which resulted in him being reduced in the ranks.
The Athy man’s only overseas duty appears to have been spent in North America for even though the 43rd Regiment went to the Cape (South Africa) in 1851 and served in the Kaffir War of 1851-53, no mention of this is made in his discharge papers. McGrath was discharged from the 43rd Regiment in August 1853 on the grounds of “being unfit for further service due to chronic arthritis”. He was then aged just over 39 years of age and received a pension of 2 shillings a day.
The discharge papers show Chatham as the place where the Regimental Board held its proceedings to verify McGrath’s army services although by that stage he already moved closer to Ireland and took up residence in Chester. Chatham is the home of the Royal Engineers and is one of the largest Military bases in England. The Walled Town of Chester stands on the edge of the English border with Wales and in the path of anyone who like McGrath may well have set out on the journey from Chatham to Holyhead with the intention of returning to Ireland. This of course is only supposition, but for whatever reason McGrath found himself in Chester, he made the decision of remaining on the English mainland and retaining his links with the English army. In January 1854, he joined the 1st Cheshire Militia, a part time force which like all other militia corps was staffed by local men usually with the assistance of one or two full time professional soldiers. Within six months McGrath moved from Chester to Welshpool in Central Wales where he enlisted in the Royal Montgomery militia. He was to remain a member of that part time force until his final discharge in January 1879 after a period of 44 years military service. On his final discharge, he was described as a married man with three children and aged approximately sixty five years.
McGrath was but one of the many local men who from the 18th Century onwards enlisted to serve abroad in the English army. Included amongst them was Patrick Dowling of Athy who prior to his enlistment on the 14th December 1849 gave his occupation as “servant”. He joined the 17th Lancers, a Cavalry Regiment and fought in the Crimean War receiving recognition for his involvement in the battles of Alma, Balaklava and Sebastapol. He was killed in the charge of the Light Brigade on the 25th October 1854 and was posthumously awarded a Crimean medal. Interestingly enough, his Crimean medal will be auctioned in Dublin this weekend.
“no rupture or mark of an old wound or ulcer adhering to the bone. He is free from varicose veins of the leg and has the full power and motion of the joints and limbs. He is well formed and has no Scrofulus Affection of the Glands, Scald Head or other inveterate Cutaneous Eruptions; and he is from any trace of Corporal Punishment. His respiration is easy, and his Lungs appear to be sound. He has the perfect use of his Eyes and Ears. His general appearance is Healthy, and he possesses strength sufficient to enable him to undergo the fatigue to which Soldiers are liable. I consider him fit for his Majesty’s Service”.
The Surgeon further recorded McGrath as a five foot nine inch man of fresh complexion with blue eyes and light brown hair with no distinctive marks.
The Articles of War were then read to the young Athy man. Article one enjoined any member of the forces “who being present at any mutiny or sedition shall use his utmost endeavour to supress the same”. The second Article of War read to McGrath by a Justice of the Peace declared “who shall dessert from our service (whether or not he shall re-enlist therein) shall suffer the death or such other punishment as by a General Court Marshal shall be awarded”. No doubt suitably awed by the seriousness of the occasion, McGrath then took the Oath of Allegiance and Fidelity finally receiving the Kings legendary “shilling” which by then amounted to a bounty of three pounds.
Now a fully fledged soldier of the 43rd Regiment, Thomas McGrath was next kitted out and began an army career which was not to end for 46 years. The regiment went to New Brunswick in 1835 and it was one of the Regiments dispatched from New Brunswick to Quebec on horse sleighs in the depth of the winter of 1838/39 on the occasion of the insurrection of Lower Canada. We know from McGrath’s discharge papers that he spent seven years and ten months in North America with his regiment and in all probability took part in that over land trip to Quebec.
McGrath remained in the 43rd Regiment until January 1854 and he was promoted to Corporal after four years and twenty six days service. Another four years and nineteen days as a Corporal saw his promotion to the rank of Sergeant at which he remained for the next thirteen years or so. His army career was not without its ups and downs as evidenced by the entry in his service record which shows that on the 13th November 1837, Corporal McGrath, was arrested tried and sentenced to be reduced to the rank of Private. Further promotion did not come his way until the 1st July 1839 when he regained his former rank of Corporal and two years later his promotion to Sergeant was recorded. He was appointed Colour Sergeant on the 17th February 1847.
McGrath’s discharge papers give an overall conduct rating of “very good” but an addendum relates that he was “once tried by a Court Marshal for being drunk at Tattoo when Orderly Sergeant for the Company”. No further details are given and I wonder whether this was a separate incident to the earlier mentioned one which resulted in him being reduced in the ranks.
The Athy man’s only overseas duty appears to have been spent in North America for even though the 43rd Regiment went to the Cape (South Africa) in 1851 and served in the Kaffir War of 1851-53, no mention of this is made in his discharge papers. McGrath was discharged from the 43rd Regiment in August 1853 on the grounds of “being unfit for further service due to chronic arthritis”. He was then aged just over 39 years of age and received a pension of 2 shillings a day.
The discharge papers show Chatham as the place where the Regimental Board held its proceedings to verify McGrath’s army services although by that stage he already moved closer to Ireland and took up residence in Chester. Chatham is the home of the Royal Engineers and is one of the largest Military bases in England. The Walled Town of Chester stands on the edge of the English border with Wales and in the path of anyone who like McGrath may well have set out on the journey from Chatham to Holyhead with the intention of returning to Ireland. This of course is only supposition, but for whatever reason McGrath found himself in Chester, he made the decision of remaining on the English mainland and retaining his links with the English army. In January 1854, he joined the 1st Cheshire Militia, a part time force which like all other militia corps was staffed by local men usually with the assistance of one or two full time professional soldiers. Within six months McGrath moved from Chester to Welshpool in Central Wales where he enlisted in the Royal Montgomery militia. He was to remain a member of that part time force until his final discharge in January 1879 after a period of 44 years military service. On his final discharge, he was described as a married man with three children and aged approximately sixty five years.
McGrath was but one of the many local men who from the 18th Century onwards enlisted to serve abroad in the English army. Included amongst them was Patrick Dowling of Athy who prior to his enlistment on the 14th December 1849 gave his occupation as “servant”. He joined the 17th Lancers, a Cavalry Regiment and fought in the Crimean War receiving recognition for his involvement in the battles of Alma, Balaklava and Sebastapol. He was killed in the charge of the Light Brigade on the 25th October 1854 and was posthumously awarded a Crimean medal. Interestingly enough, his Crimean medal will be auctioned in Dublin this weekend.
Thursday, August 17, 2000
Athy's Religious Diversity (Contd.)
The Methodist revival ushered in a period of critical examination within the Church of England which many will claim culminated in the Oxford Movement of the 1830’s. During that period several small sects were formed such as the Walkerites, the followers of Rev John Walker of Dublin, the Kellyites, followers of Rev. Thomas Kelly of Athy and the Plymouth Brethren’ founded by a former Church of England Curate John Nelson Darby.
The Kellyites initially operated within the Church of England in much the same way as did the early Methodist Group and like them eventually broke away from the State Church to formalise their own structure. Rev. Thomas Kelly who often preached in the local Church then in Emily Square was an acquaintance of John Nelson Darby and at one time both discussed the possibility of coming together to form an evangelical movement. Darby subsequently left Dublin for Plymouth in England where his Sunday Prayer Group in time evolved into the Plymouth Brethren.
The Church of England Rector during part of Rev. Thomas Kelly’s leadership of the local Kellyites was Rev. Frederick Trench, son of the Dean of Kildare. He was married to Helena, daughter of Lord Arden and her brother John Perceval was an associate of John Henry Newman, John Keble and Edward Pusey of the Oxford Movement which sought to restore High Church Principles within the Church of England. Newman was later to become the first Cardinal of the English Catholic Church after his conversion to Catholicism in 1841, while Keble a poet and a divine was regarded as a brilliant intellect who shunned preferment and instead spent his latter years as a Rector in a country Parish in England.
The Oxford Movement was the Anglo Catholic wing of the Church of England which claimed historical connection with the Catholic Church and sought to revive ceremonial practices in the Church. Keble was a friend of the Trenches and spent a vacation with them in Kilmoroney House during which he officiated in the present St. Michael’s Church at the wedding of one of the Trench’s daughters. Frederick Trench supported the High Church movement and for a while sought to observe the Saints Days and Holy Days by holding services in St. Michael’s Church. This did not find favour with some of his parishioners and Michael Carey, a member of the local Church of England congregation in Athy noted in his diary for February 1851 :-
“The Reverend Trench has taken down all the emblems from his Popish windows and made an apology to his congregation. The Duke and the Bishop condemned them at once. He stated to the congregation that he had not the slightest notion of Puseyism or Popery. My publicly denouncing the pictures and windows before the congregation on that Sunday set them all going”.
Clearly religious diversity was not confined to the different strands of Christian Churches to be found in the town of Athy. Despite Trench’s difficulties with some of his congregation regarding what was viewed as his over zealous adherence to High Church practices, he nevertheless was highly regarded within the Athy Community. His death in November 1860 following an accident at Preston’s Gate at the bottom of Offaly Street was a great loss to his congregation and to the town in general. The following year a beautiful pulpit was erected in St. Michael’s Church in memory of Reverend Trench who had served as Curate and as Rector of the Parish of St. Michael’s for almost 40 years. As an interesting aside on the Trench Family connections, I should mention that Reverend Trench’s wife Helena was a niece of Spencer Perceval the British Prime Minister who was assassinated in the House of Commons on 11th May 1812.
The alignment of St. Michael’s Church is somewhat unusual in so far as the Chancel or Sanctuary is on the West side when traditionally it is to be found on the East of a Church. Presumably, the difficulty of getting access from the Carlow Road around the back of the Church fixed the location of the Sanctuary on the West side. In last week’s article I mentioned that local builder George Cross completed the Church Steeple almost sixteen years after the Church itself had been dedicated. Quite obviously the Architect, Frederick Darley had planned the Church and its steeple so as to give the very handsome grand avenue effect as one approaches St. Michael’s from Church Road. Internally the Church is of a very simple design and as usual in Church of Ireland Church’s in Ireland, due and proper recognition is given in a number of wall plaques to some of the dead of World War I. The four Hannon’s killed in that war are remembered as is another local man who has the unique distinction of being the first officer killed in the Boer War, Captain George Weldon of Kilmoroney.
The remaining four Churches in the town are Catholic Churches. The Church attached to the Convent of Mercy and that attached to St. Vincent’s Hospital are part of the story of Catholic Church building in the town which commenced with the foundation of the Monastery of the Crouched Friars in the first half of the 13th Century. The one link we have with the Medieval village of Athy is the Dominican Order whose ultra modern Church opened in 1965 provides a welcome contrast to the traditional style adopted in the Parish Church built a year previously. These two Churches serve the needs of the Catholic Parishioners of St. Michael’s even though the Dominican Church is not part of the Parish infrastructure. Its passive role in the Parish is one which has evolved over the years and is one which meets the needs of Church goers who align themselves with the Dominican rather than with the Parish Church. This does not of course, indicate any division within the ranks of Catholicism in the town but rather a long standing practise founded on the dividing effect of the River Barrow. It was that same river which saw the town develop on opposite river banks in different ways and at contrasting paces over the centuries.
The Religious Diversity reflected in the different Churches to be found in Athy provides an appropriate back drop for the social diversity of the local community. The once rural town is becoming more and more cosmopolitan as each week goes by, and the expected influx from the overgrown metropolis of Dublin will in time give new life to the local churches which are now somewhat in decline.
The Kellyites initially operated within the Church of England in much the same way as did the early Methodist Group and like them eventually broke away from the State Church to formalise their own structure. Rev. Thomas Kelly who often preached in the local Church then in Emily Square was an acquaintance of John Nelson Darby and at one time both discussed the possibility of coming together to form an evangelical movement. Darby subsequently left Dublin for Plymouth in England where his Sunday Prayer Group in time evolved into the Plymouth Brethren.
The Church of England Rector during part of Rev. Thomas Kelly’s leadership of the local Kellyites was Rev. Frederick Trench, son of the Dean of Kildare. He was married to Helena, daughter of Lord Arden and her brother John Perceval was an associate of John Henry Newman, John Keble and Edward Pusey of the Oxford Movement which sought to restore High Church Principles within the Church of England. Newman was later to become the first Cardinal of the English Catholic Church after his conversion to Catholicism in 1841, while Keble a poet and a divine was regarded as a brilliant intellect who shunned preferment and instead spent his latter years as a Rector in a country Parish in England.
The Oxford Movement was the Anglo Catholic wing of the Church of England which claimed historical connection with the Catholic Church and sought to revive ceremonial practices in the Church. Keble was a friend of the Trenches and spent a vacation with them in Kilmoroney House during which he officiated in the present St. Michael’s Church at the wedding of one of the Trench’s daughters. Frederick Trench supported the High Church movement and for a while sought to observe the Saints Days and Holy Days by holding services in St. Michael’s Church. This did not find favour with some of his parishioners and Michael Carey, a member of the local Church of England congregation in Athy noted in his diary for February 1851 :-
“The Reverend Trench has taken down all the emblems from his Popish windows and made an apology to his congregation. The Duke and the Bishop condemned them at once. He stated to the congregation that he had not the slightest notion of Puseyism or Popery. My publicly denouncing the pictures and windows before the congregation on that Sunday set them all going”.
Clearly religious diversity was not confined to the different strands of Christian Churches to be found in the town of Athy. Despite Trench’s difficulties with some of his congregation regarding what was viewed as his over zealous adherence to High Church practices, he nevertheless was highly regarded within the Athy Community. His death in November 1860 following an accident at Preston’s Gate at the bottom of Offaly Street was a great loss to his congregation and to the town in general. The following year a beautiful pulpit was erected in St. Michael’s Church in memory of Reverend Trench who had served as Curate and as Rector of the Parish of St. Michael’s for almost 40 years. As an interesting aside on the Trench Family connections, I should mention that Reverend Trench’s wife Helena was a niece of Spencer Perceval the British Prime Minister who was assassinated in the House of Commons on 11th May 1812.
The alignment of St. Michael’s Church is somewhat unusual in so far as the Chancel or Sanctuary is on the West side when traditionally it is to be found on the East of a Church. Presumably, the difficulty of getting access from the Carlow Road around the back of the Church fixed the location of the Sanctuary on the West side. In last week’s article I mentioned that local builder George Cross completed the Church Steeple almost sixteen years after the Church itself had been dedicated. Quite obviously the Architect, Frederick Darley had planned the Church and its steeple so as to give the very handsome grand avenue effect as one approaches St. Michael’s from Church Road. Internally the Church is of a very simple design and as usual in Church of Ireland Church’s in Ireland, due and proper recognition is given in a number of wall plaques to some of the dead of World War I. The four Hannon’s killed in that war are remembered as is another local man who has the unique distinction of being the first officer killed in the Boer War, Captain George Weldon of Kilmoroney.
The remaining four Churches in the town are Catholic Churches. The Church attached to the Convent of Mercy and that attached to St. Vincent’s Hospital are part of the story of Catholic Church building in the town which commenced with the foundation of the Monastery of the Crouched Friars in the first half of the 13th Century. The one link we have with the Medieval village of Athy is the Dominican Order whose ultra modern Church opened in 1965 provides a welcome contrast to the traditional style adopted in the Parish Church built a year previously. These two Churches serve the needs of the Catholic Parishioners of St. Michael’s even though the Dominican Church is not part of the Parish infrastructure. Its passive role in the Parish is one which has evolved over the years and is one which meets the needs of Church goers who align themselves with the Dominican rather than with the Parish Church. This does not of course, indicate any division within the ranks of Catholicism in the town but rather a long standing practise founded on the dividing effect of the River Barrow. It was that same river which saw the town develop on opposite river banks in different ways and at contrasting paces over the centuries.
The Religious Diversity reflected in the different Churches to be found in Athy provides an appropriate back drop for the social diversity of the local community. The once rural town is becoming more and more cosmopolitan as each week goes by, and the expected influx from the overgrown metropolis of Dublin will in time give new life to the local churches which are now somewhat in decline.
Thursday, August 10, 2000
Athy Religious Diversity
The Churches of Athy was the topic chosen for my walkabout on Heritage Sunday. Not many braved the sunshine that afternoon so I feel it appropriate to put on paper the reason why so many Churches are to be found in our small country town. To do so I must unravel the religious diversity which has formed an important element of life in Athy over the last 500 years or so.
That religious diversity is in itself an overlay on the social diversity which existed from the very foundation of the village in the latter part of the 12th century. The original Anglo Norman settlement was founded by French speaking settlers who were Catholics as were the Irish speaking natives of the area. As part of their self sufficiency regime the settlers encouraged the establishment of monasteries in the village to cater for their own needs. Like the Anglo Normans the Monks within the Monasteries of St. John of the Crouched Friars and the Friars Preachers were French speakers. The native Irish who gradually began to converge on the developing village were initially at least not catered for by the local monasteries. The social diversity which resulted may explain why a secular Church was built outside the walls of the village to cater for the native Irish. The remains of that small Church are to be found today in the grounds of St. Michael’s cemetery.
In time the social diversity as between Anglo Normans and Irish became somewhat blurred and the descendants of the original settlers became more Irish that the Irish themselves. This was to change with the Reformation of 1540. The Catholic Institutions were suppressed at that time and in Athy the Dominicans had to leave the town where they had ministered for almost 300 years. The Monastery of St. John’s which had been founded before the Dominicans arrived in Athy in 1253 had gone out of existence sometime prior to the Reformation. With the Reformation started the religious diversity which became a hallmark of life in Athy and the town, perhaps more than many other towns still bears witness to that diversity in the different Churches to be found here.
On the four approach roads to Athy can be found Churches representing the four main Christian Churches in Ireland today. On the Dublin Road is sited the Presbyterian Church, on the Carlow Road the Church of Ireland, the Monasterevin Road has the Catholic Church while a little licence allows us to point to the Methodist Church on our left and the Dominican Church on our right as we enter Athy from the Kilkenny Road.
St. Michael’s Church of Ireland on the Carlow Road was designed by Frederick Darley who was Ecclesiastical Commissioners Architect for the Archdioceses of Dublin for ten years up to 1843, as well as Architect to Trinity College and Architect to the Board of National Education. Some of the buildings designed by him include The Kings Inn Library at Henrietta Street, Dublin, The Great Southern Hotel in Killarney, Barrington’s Hospital in Limerick and a number of Model Schools throughout Ireland including Athy’s Model School. The Church which is one of simple design replaced an earlier Church in Emily Square and fund raising for it’s construction started in November 1833. Dedicated on 15th September, 1841 the Church has a handsome Church steeple which was added on at a later date and completed in time to allow the new Church bell to be rung for divine service for the first time on 22nd March, 1857.
The early forms of the religious diversity which evolved after the Reformation centred on the reformed Church represented by the Church of England and the so called unreformed or Catholic Church. Soon however further fragmentation occurred within the Church of England with the formation of the Society of Friends or Quakers and the development of Presbyterianism. Both these dissenting groups had a presence in Athy, the Quakers from 1671 and the Presbyterians from 1717 at least. The Quakers had a Meeting house built at the corner of Meeting House Lane in 1780 many years after a Quaker meeting had first been established in the town. Their strict code of conduct which forbade the bearing of arms, attendance at races, the payment of tithes, the taking of oaths, the removal of hats in Court and marriage outside the sect marked the Quakers apart from the other Christian groups in the local society. While the nearby Ballitore Quaker Community prospered and continued well into the 19th century the Athy Quakers appeared to have disappeared as a group as early as 1812.
The other early dissenting Group, the Presbyterians, had a Minister in Athy in 1717 and for some years thereafter but nothing is known of them after 1725 until the revival of Presbyterianism in South Kildare from 1851 onwards. In the first six months of that year 17 Scottish Presbyterian families settled in the area on the invitation of the local landlord, the Duke of Leinster. A Presbyterian Minister Rev. John Hall was appointed to Athy the following year and in 1855 work started on the building of the Presbyterian Church on the Dublin Road. The Architect was David Taylor and by the 1870’s the Athy Presbyterian congregation was the second largest in Ireland outside of the Northern counties.
Another group to break away from the Church of England were the Methodists, originally an evangelising group within the State Church. A Methodist Minister was first appointed to Athy one year after John Wesley passed through the town on the 25th of April, 1789. It was the death of Wesley in 1791 which prompted the Methodists to withdraw from the Church of England and call themselves “The Society of People called Methodists”. Itinerant Methodist preachers including Gideon Ousley and Charles Graham visited Athy early in the 19th century and preached in the Square on several occasions prompting Graham to note in his diary “multitudes of Catholics as well as others attended our Ministry in the streets and markets of Athy.” In 1832 Moses Rowe of Wexford reported a high level of participation in Methodist services in Athy and fifteen years later itinerant Preachers Henderson and Huston noted “fifteen conversions and seventeen back sliders restored in Athy”.
Quite obviously Methodism continued to develop as a warrant of approval for the building of a Methodist Chapel in Athy issued in 1813. However, instead of erecting a new building the local Methodists took a lease on the former Quaker Meeting House in Meeting Lane which they continued to use until their own purpose built Church was opened in Woodstock Street in 1872. That Church was built at the cost of £2,200 on a site purchased sometime earlier by Alexander Duncan, a Merchant of Duke Street, Athy. Like the Presbyterian Church on the Dublin Road the Methodist Chapel in Woodstock Street now caters for a much smaller congregation than in former years.
That religious diversity is in itself an overlay on the social diversity which existed from the very foundation of the village in the latter part of the 12th century. The original Anglo Norman settlement was founded by French speaking settlers who were Catholics as were the Irish speaking natives of the area. As part of their self sufficiency regime the settlers encouraged the establishment of monasteries in the village to cater for their own needs. Like the Anglo Normans the Monks within the Monasteries of St. John of the Crouched Friars and the Friars Preachers were French speakers. The native Irish who gradually began to converge on the developing village were initially at least not catered for by the local monasteries. The social diversity which resulted may explain why a secular Church was built outside the walls of the village to cater for the native Irish. The remains of that small Church are to be found today in the grounds of St. Michael’s cemetery.
In time the social diversity as between Anglo Normans and Irish became somewhat blurred and the descendants of the original settlers became more Irish that the Irish themselves. This was to change with the Reformation of 1540. The Catholic Institutions were suppressed at that time and in Athy the Dominicans had to leave the town where they had ministered for almost 300 years. The Monastery of St. John’s which had been founded before the Dominicans arrived in Athy in 1253 had gone out of existence sometime prior to the Reformation. With the Reformation started the religious diversity which became a hallmark of life in Athy and the town, perhaps more than many other towns still bears witness to that diversity in the different Churches to be found here.
On the four approach roads to Athy can be found Churches representing the four main Christian Churches in Ireland today. On the Dublin Road is sited the Presbyterian Church, on the Carlow Road the Church of Ireland, the Monasterevin Road has the Catholic Church while a little licence allows us to point to the Methodist Church on our left and the Dominican Church on our right as we enter Athy from the Kilkenny Road.
St. Michael’s Church of Ireland on the Carlow Road was designed by Frederick Darley who was Ecclesiastical Commissioners Architect for the Archdioceses of Dublin for ten years up to 1843, as well as Architect to Trinity College and Architect to the Board of National Education. Some of the buildings designed by him include The Kings Inn Library at Henrietta Street, Dublin, The Great Southern Hotel in Killarney, Barrington’s Hospital in Limerick and a number of Model Schools throughout Ireland including Athy’s Model School. The Church which is one of simple design replaced an earlier Church in Emily Square and fund raising for it’s construction started in November 1833. Dedicated on 15th September, 1841 the Church has a handsome Church steeple which was added on at a later date and completed in time to allow the new Church bell to be rung for divine service for the first time on 22nd March, 1857.
The early forms of the religious diversity which evolved after the Reformation centred on the reformed Church represented by the Church of England and the so called unreformed or Catholic Church. Soon however further fragmentation occurred within the Church of England with the formation of the Society of Friends or Quakers and the development of Presbyterianism. Both these dissenting groups had a presence in Athy, the Quakers from 1671 and the Presbyterians from 1717 at least. The Quakers had a Meeting house built at the corner of Meeting House Lane in 1780 many years after a Quaker meeting had first been established in the town. Their strict code of conduct which forbade the bearing of arms, attendance at races, the payment of tithes, the taking of oaths, the removal of hats in Court and marriage outside the sect marked the Quakers apart from the other Christian groups in the local society. While the nearby Ballitore Quaker Community prospered and continued well into the 19th century the Athy Quakers appeared to have disappeared as a group as early as 1812.
The other early dissenting Group, the Presbyterians, had a Minister in Athy in 1717 and for some years thereafter but nothing is known of them after 1725 until the revival of Presbyterianism in South Kildare from 1851 onwards. In the first six months of that year 17 Scottish Presbyterian families settled in the area on the invitation of the local landlord, the Duke of Leinster. A Presbyterian Minister Rev. John Hall was appointed to Athy the following year and in 1855 work started on the building of the Presbyterian Church on the Dublin Road. The Architect was David Taylor and by the 1870’s the Athy Presbyterian congregation was the second largest in Ireland outside of the Northern counties.
Another group to break away from the Church of England were the Methodists, originally an evangelising group within the State Church. A Methodist Minister was first appointed to Athy one year after John Wesley passed through the town on the 25th of April, 1789. It was the death of Wesley in 1791 which prompted the Methodists to withdraw from the Church of England and call themselves “The Society of People called Methodists”. Itinerant Methodist preachers including Gideon Ousley and Charles Graham visited Athy early in the 19th century and preached in the Square on several occasions prompting Graham to note in his diary “multitudes of Catholics as well as others attended our Ministry in the streets and markets of Athy.” In 1832 Moses Rowe of Wexford reported a high level of participation in Methodist services in Athy and fifteen years later itinerant Preachers Henderson and Huston noted “fifteen conversions and seventeen back sliders restored in Athy”.
Quite obviously Methodism continued to develop as a warrant of approval for the building of a Methodist Chapel in Athy issued in 1813. However, instead of erecting a new building the local Methodists took a lease on the former Quaker Meeting House in Meeting Lane which they continued to use until their own purpose built Church was opened in Woodstock Street in 1872. That Church was built at the cost of £2,200 on a site purchased sometime earlier by Alexander Duncan, a Merchant of Duke Street, Athy. Like the Presbyterian Church on the Dublin Road the Methodist Chapel in Woodstock Street now caters for a much smaller congregation than in former years.
Thursday, August 3, 2000
Public Records Office and Some Athy References
The English certainly do things in style. They have always done so, even if as Colonial Masters they beggared many countries in the process. I was reminded of this during the past week, much of which I spent in the English Public Records Office at Kew Gardens, London. There you will find all of the records so carefully prepared and retained by successive administrations stretching back through the centuries and all now readily available to anyone with the time, patience and interest to flesh out the bones of history. Naturally enough I was interested in checking out certain aspects of Athy’s history but my searches took me into hitherto unknown archival material with some surprising results.
The resources which successive Governments have put into the preservation and maintenance of Public Records in England is in mark contrast to our own miserly efforts in that regard. I have often felt ashamed at the niggardly response of successive Irish Governments including the present incumbents to the financial and staffing needs of such important institutions as our very own National Library and Public Records Office. Ireland has a long and honourable history but the resources we make available to these institutions is minimal and probably eclipsed by the amounts spent on special Ministerial Assistants and Advisers as well as on Public Relations’ Spin Doctors.
The Kew Gardens Archives are readily accessible and a readers ticket is to be had with the minimum of fuss or delay. Armed with a little plastic card I was able to access, if I had the time to do so, any of the millions of historical records retained within the English Archives, many of which relate to our own country. Indeed many of them specifically relate to Athy as for example the 1841 plan of Athy Barracks surveyed and prepared by Captain Tucker and Lieutenant Remington on 31st March, 1841. Described as an Army Barracks occupied alternatively by Cavalry and Infantry it had an Officers Quarters separated by stables and Barrack Rooms from the Soldiers Quarters.
Opposite the stables were to be found Bedding Stores, Barrack Master Stores, Guard Room, Cells, the Cooking Room and the Barracks Sergeant Quarters. A further plan prepared following a survey in 1865 under the direction of a Captain Wilkinson was amended in 1883. It showed the same buildings as in 1841 but with the addition of a Coal Yard and a Forage Barn. The previous Bedding Store had been converted into a Hospital to accommodate 514 patients and some additions had been made to both the Officers and the Soldiers Quarters. The Barracks was still lit internally by candles and externally by oil and in 1883 accommodated three Officers, a Staff Sergeant and 27 non-commissioned Officers and Privates with stabling for 34 horses.
With the closure of the Army Barracks the vacant building was used as a local Police Station, the previous Police accommodation in Whites Castle having been condemned in a report prepared in 1889. The Army Barracks was renovated at a cost of almost £500 prior to the transfer of the local Police and on completion of the work it provided accommodation for 7 married Policemen and their families and 4 single Policemen. Athy’s Town Commissioners were upset at the removal of the Constabulary from their previous central location and began a long and ultimately unsuccessful campaign to have them removed back to White’s Castle from the Barracks in Barrack Lane. The Policy Authorities rejected the Town Commissioners request and in this were supported by the Local Police Inspector who claimed that despite the move to Barrack Lane “the peace of the town was well maintained with no inconvenience to the public”.
Returning to my Searches in the English Public Records Office I was intrigued to come across the file for the “Irish Sailor and Soldiers Land Trust Athy Urban District Scheme”. This file related to the building of the Soldiers houses at the Bleach about which I have previously written. Following the article I was roundly abused by a good lady of the area who took exception to my noting a letter from Major Lefroy of Cardenton in which he condemned the houses “as small and inferior”. Apparently Major Lefroy sought to have bigger and better class houses built for the former Soldiers of World War I. The file which I perused showed that the London Office of the Trust was not prepared to proceed with the Athy Housing Scheme unless Lefroy withdrew his comments. In the end the Irish Trustees expunged his comments from their records and the houses were completed in 1926. The houses described as “wet” houses with electric light were also provided with portable “larders” which were hung outside the houses on brackets.
While the building work was proceeding O’Brien Thomas & Co., Ironfounders of London received an Order for Ranges and Mantel registers from D. & J. Carbery, the Contractors. The London firm refused to supply the material unless payment was guaranteed by the Trust and eventually the Order was placed with them by the O.P.W. Apparently the London Ironfounders would not be satisfied as to the connection between the building firm and Brendan Carbery, Building Contractor, Athy who had sometime before made an arrangement with his creditors. This despite the unqualified reference given for D. & J. Carbery by the O.P.W. “as a firm we have no hesitation in recommending.” The Local Soldiers Trustees were also required to check out the matter and advised that the Contracting Firm was controlled by Daniel Carbery, a brother of Brendan Carbery who had no connection with the firm. The eight houses were built for the sum of £4,665 which included the site purchase, legal fees and the Clerk of Works’ Salary.
Another interesting document held in the London Public Records Office is a list of compensation claims lodged by the residents of County Kildare for damage caused to property during the War of Independence. Claims were lodged by private individuals as well as the Postmaster General in respect of damaged wires and poles, the Canal Company and the Great Southern and Western Railway Company. A reference to a fire in the Courthouse in Celbridge in September 1919 when equipment used in Domestic Economy classes was damaged disclosed that the County Kildare Technical Department was at that stage based in Athy. This of course was the predecessor of the County Kildare V.E.C. I propose to deal at length with the War of Independence Compensation Claims in a future Eye on the Past.
The resources which successive Governments have put into the preservation and maintenance of Public Records in England is in mark contrast to our own miserly efforts in that regard. I have often felt ashamed at the niggardly response of successive Irish Governments including the present incumbents to the financial and staffing needs of such important institutions as our very own National Library and Public Records Office. Ireland has a long and honourable history but the resources we make available to these institutions is minimal and probably eclipsed by the amounts spent on special Ministerial Assistants and Advisers as well as on Public Relations’ Spin Doctors.
The Kew Gardens Archives are readily accessible and a readers ticket is to be had with the minimum of fuss or delay. Armed with a little plastic card I was able to access, if I had the time to do so, any of the millions of historical records retained within the English Archives, many of which relate to our own country. Indeed many of them specifically relate to Athy as for example the 1841 plan of Athy Barracks surveyed and prepared by Captain Tucker and Lieutenant Remington on 31st March, 1841. Described as an Army Barracks occupied alternatively by Cavalry and Infantry it had an Officers Quarters separated by stables and Barrack Rooms from the Soldiers Quarters.
Opposite the stables were to be found Bedding Stores, Barrack Master Stores, Guard Room, Cells, the Cooking Room and the Barracks Sergeant Quarters. A further plan prepared following a survey in 1865 under the direction of a Captain Wilkinson was amended in 1883. It showed the same buildings as in 1841 but with the addition of a Coal Yard and a Forage Barn. The previous Bedding Store had been converted into a Hospital to accommodate 514 patients and some additions had been made to both the Officers and the Soldiers Quarters. The Barracks was still lit internally by candles and externally by oil and in 1883 accommodated three Officers, a Staff Sergeant and 27 non-commissioned Officers and Privates with stabling for 34 horses.
With the closure of the Army Barracks the vacant building was used as a local Police Station, the previous Police accommodation in Whites Castle having been condemned in a report prepared in 1889. The Army Barracks was renovated at a cost of almost £500 prior to the transfer of the local Police and on completion of the work it provided accommodation for 7 married Policemen and their families and 4 single Policemen. Athy’s Town Commissioners were upset at the removal of the Constabulary from their previous central location and began a long and ultimately unsuccessful campaign to have them removed back to White’s Castle from the Barracks in Barrack Lane. The Policy Authorities rejected the Town Commissioners request and in this were supported by the Local Police Inspector who claimed that despite the move to Barrack Lane “the peace of the town was well maintained with no inconvenience to the public”.
Returning to my Searches in the English Public Records Office I was intrigued to come across the file for the “Irish Sailor and Soldiers Land Trust Athy Urban District Scheme”. This file related to the building of the Soldiers houses at the Bleach about which I have previously written. Following the article I was roundly abused by a good lady of the area who took exception to my noting a letter from Major Lefroy of Cardenton in which he condemned the houses “as small and inferior”. Apparently Major Lefroy sought to have bigger and better class houses built for the former Soldiers of World War I. The file which I perused showed that the London Office of the Trust was not prepared to proceed with the Athy Housing Scheme unless Lefroy withdrew his comments. In the end the Irish Trustees expunged his comments from their records and the houses were completed in 1926. The houses described as “wet” houses with electric light were also provided with portable “larders” which were hung outside the houses on brackets.
While the building work was proceeding O’Brien Thomas & Co., Ironfounders of London received an Order for Ranges and Mantel registers from D. & J. Carbery, the Contractors. The London firm refused to supply the material unless payment was guaranteed by the Trust and eventually the Order was placed with them by the O.P.W. Apparently the London Ironfounders would not be satisfied as to the connection between the building firm and Brendan Carbery, Building Contractor, Athy who had sometime before made an arrangement with his creditors. This despite the unqualified reference given for D. & J. Carbery by the O.P.W. “as a firm we have no hesitation in recommending.” The Local Soldiers Trustees were also required to check out the matter and advised that the Contracting Firm was controlled by Daniel Carbery, a brother of Brendan Carbery who had no connection with the firm. The eight houses were built for the sum of £4,665 which included the site purchase, legal fees and the Clerk of Works’ Salary.
Another interesting document held in the London Public Records Office is a list of compensation claims lodged by the residents of County Kildare for damage caused to property during the War of Independence. Claims were lodged by private individuals as well as the Postmaster General in respect of damaged wires and poles, the Canal Company and the Great Southern and Western Railway Company. A reference to a fire in the Courthouse in Celbridge in September 1919 when equipment used in Domestic Economy classes was damaged disclosed that the County Kildare Technical Department was at that stage based in Athy. This of course was the predecessor of the County Kildare V.E.C. I propose to deal at length with the War of Independence Compensation Claims in a future Eye on the Past.
Thursday, July 27, 2000
'Gus Prendergast'
I first met the man from Mayo in the kitchen of my parents house in Offaly Street almost 30 years ago. He was visiting my mother, his one time neighbour from Cloonfad many years after she had arrived in Athy but soon after he himself had swapped his farm in Culnacleha, Claremorris for a more fertile holding in the heartland of South Kildare. Gus Prendergast who has not lost his Mayo accent had farmed for several frustrating years six divisions of land which made up his holding in County Mayo. It had been in the Prendergast family for four generations and like all land in the west of Ireland was not of the best quality. Fertilizer had little effect on the inhospitable Mayo fields while the heavy rainfall so typical of counties on the Western Seaboard created its own difficulties in the boggy fields which gave reluctant sustenance to grazing cattle.
In common with so many other in Mayo of the 40’s and 50’s, Gus’s brothers emigrated to England to work. His oldest brother John did so at thirteen years of age and lived abroad for seventy one years before passing away last year. His other brothers Pat and Tom also took the all too familiar route and when Gus’s time came, he travelled to Dun Laoghaire where he signed on for essential war work at the Pier side before embarking on the Holyhead mail boat. His first job on the English mainland was in Carlisle where he worked on the railways shunting railway stock before moving to Manchester to work on the building sites. When his father died in 1951, Gus returned home to County Mayo to take over the family farm.
The difficulties of farming a small holding split into six divisions each of which was separated by public roads and at some distance from one another are all too easily imaginable. Most farmers in County Mayo laboured under the same difficulties and the movement of cows from one division to another necessitated advance planning on a military scale as herds were prone to meet and mingle with each other on the public roadways.
Gus, an energetic young farmer with experience gained in the industrial cities of England purchased a Ferguson tractor in 1952. He could now supplement his income by doing hire work for farmers in the locality. However, the unrelenting struggle with the land continued and a recognition that something had to be done to alleviate the problems of the small farmers in the West prompted Gus to become involved with the Irish Farmers Association. The Association had its origins in Macra Na Feirme founded by Stephen Cullinane and others in Athy in 1946. The farming crisis of the 1960’s resulted in a Jarrow type march to the capital city by Irish farmers from all corners of Ireland. Gus joined a number of farming colleagues from County Mayo who walked the 140 miles to Dublin setting out on the second Tuesday of October 1966. They reached their destination at the Department of Agriculture in Dublin one week later. His involvement showed his commitment to farming despite his frustration at the perennial struggle to make a decent living and the lack of assistance from the Dublin based bureaucracy. He is immeasurably proud of his participation on that occasion and recalls with pride his introduction to an I.F.A. meeting in the Leinster Arms Hotel in October 1969 by the late Bill Diamond who was also actively involved in the 1966 campaign.
Athy and South Kildare has welcomed many migrants and immigrants over the centuries and Gus Prendergast was to join them when in 1969 the Land Commission offered him a farm in Ballytore, County Kildare in exchange for the Prendergast family farm in County Mayo. He visited Ballyroe and in his own words “admired the land which was so level and so good compared to anything to be found in County Mayo”. The farm he was shown that day was in his own words a bit run down and the hedges needed cutting but cutting hedges he felt would make a welcome change from the perennial drain cutting duties which were a feature of farming in the West of Ireland. The decision was made. Gus, his wife Mary and their three young sons would move to County Kildare and they arrived in Athy on the 29th April 1969 accompanied by two trucks and a trailer of furniture, machinery and equipment amassed over four generations of living in County Mayo. The Land Commission had already ploughed seven acres before Gus arrived and had arranged for Jim Lazenby and Johnny Neill to deliver twenty bales of hay and straw for the new arrivals. Barley was sown that year after Minch Norton’s gave Gus a quota for nine barrels.
The following year on a trip to Carlow Sugar Factory to get a beet quota, Gus had the good fortune to meet Dick Winters a Mayo man who held a unique Gaelic Football record of having played provincial football for Connacht, Munster and Leinster. The beet quota was secured and indeed increased the following year and from then on Gus reaped the benefits of hard work on land which unlike that in County Mayo gave a reasonable return. Looking back over 31 years spent farming in South Kildare, Gus still finds satisfaction at the opportunity to work his land and move his stock from one field to another without having to go onto the public road. This to a man who had once farmed land divided into six divisions all separated by neighbours lands and public road was a most welcome and obvious benefit of the move to the Midlands. “Having land altogether is a god send” is how he put it as he reflected on the yield one gets from land in Kildare compared to Mayo.
Gus still likes to return to Mayo as often as he can and on those trips he always renews acquaintances with his former neighbours and old friends in and around Cloonfad. On such trips, whether made for weddings, funerals or just weekend trips which he can now make more regularly since his family has grown up, Gus can share a pint with friends in one of the three local pubs in Cloonfad. When he does, he can recall past Sunday’s when his neighbours from Culnacleha quenched the thirst of a weeks’ hard work on the land under the Guise of bona fide travellers from Tulrahan. You see Tulrahan was three miles from Cloonfad entitling Gus and his neighbours to use the facilities of the local Public House on Sunday’s whereas their own townland was not the requisite three miles away. The local Gardai were not for a moment fooled but in those more carefree days common sense prevailed as I am sure it did when my own father as a young garda was stationed in Cloonfad many years previously.
Since he left Mayo, the one and only occasion Gus walked the former Prendergast lands was in the Spring of this year. He was astonished to find how small were the fields he once worked as a young man. He had remembered them over the years as bigger, indeed much much bigger than they actually were and the reality of what he saw on the ground reaffirmed his belief that he had made the right decision in coming to South County Kildare 31 years ago.
In common with so many other in Mayo of the 40’s and 50’s, Gus’s brothers emigrated to England to work. His oldest brother John did so at thirteen years of age and lived abroad for seventy one years before passing away last year. His other brothers Pat and Tom also took the all too familiar route and when Gus’s time came, he travelled to Dun Laoghaire where he signed on for essential war work at the Pier side before embarking on the Holyhead mail boat. His first job on the English mainland was in Carlisle where he worked on the railways shunting railway stock before moving to Manchester to work on the building sites. When his father died in 1951, Gus returned home to County Mayo to take over the family farm.
The difficulties of farming a small holding split into six divisions each of which was separated by public roads and at some distance from one another are all too easily imaginable. Most farmers in County Mayo laboured under the same difficulties and the movement of cows from one division to another necessitated advance planning on a military scale as herds were prone to meet and mingle with each other on the public roadways.
Gus, an energetic young farmer with experience gained in the industrial cities of England purchased a Ferguson tractor in 1952. He could now supplement his income by doing hire work for farmers in the locality. However, the unrelenting struggle with the land continued and a recognition that something had to be done to alleviate the problems of the small farmers in the West prompted Gus to become involved with the Irish Farmers Association. The Association had its origins in Macra Na Feirme founded by Stephen Cullinane and others in Athy in 1946. The farming crisis of the 1960’s resulted in a Jarrow type march to the capital city by Irish farmers from all corners of Ireland. Gus joined a number of farming colleagues from County Mayo who walked the 140 miles to Dublin setting out on the second Tuesday of October 1966. They reached their destination at the Department of Agriculture in Dublin one week later. His involvement showed his commitment to farming despite his frustration at the perennial struggle to make a decent living and the lack of assistance from the Dublin based bureaucracy. He is immeasurably proud of his participation on that occasion and recalls with pride his introduction to an I.F.A. meeting in the Leinster Arms Hotel in October 1969 by the late Bill Diamond who was also actively involved in the 1966 campaign.
Athy and South Kildare has welcomed many migrants and immigrants over the centuries and Gus Prendergast was to join them when in 1969 the Land Commission offered him a farm in Ballytore, County Kildare in exchange for the Prendergast family farm in County Mayo. He visited Ballyroe and in his own words “admired the land which was so level and so good compared to anything to be found in County Mayo”. The farm he was shown that day was in his own words a bit run down and the hedges needed cutting but cutting hedges he felt would make a welcome change from the perennial drain cutting duties which were a feature of farming in the West of Ireland. The decision was made. Gus, his wife Mary and their three young sons would move to County Kildare and they arrived in Athy on the 29th April 1969 accompanied by two trucks and a trailer of furniture, machinery and equipment amassed over four generations of living in County Mayo. The Land Commission had already ploughed seven acres before Gus arrived and had arranged for Jim Lazenby and Johnny Neill to deliver twenty bales of hay and straw for the new arrivals. Barley was sown that year after Minch Norton’s gave Gus a quota for nine barrels.
The following year on a trip to Carlow Sugar Factory to get a beet quota, Gus had the good fortune to meet Dick Winters a Mayo man who held a unique Gaelic Football record of having played provincial football for Connacht, Munster and Leinster. The beet quota was secured and indeed increased the following year and from then on Gus reaped the benefits of hard work on land which unlike that in County Mayo gave a reasonable return. Looking back over 31 years spent farming in South Kildare, Gus still finds satisfaction at the opportunity to work his land and move his stock from one field to another without having to go onto the public road. This to a man who had once farmed land divided into six divisions all separated by neighbours lands and public road was a most welcome and obvious benefit of the move to the Midlands. “Having land altogether is a god send” is how he put it as he reflected on the yield one gets from land in Kildare compared to Mayo.
Gus still likes to return to Mayo as often as he can and on those trips he always renews acquaintances with his former neighbours and old friends in and around Cloonfad. On such trips, whether made for weddings, funerals or just weekend trips which he can now make more regularly since his family has grown up, Gus can share a pint with friends in one of the three local pubs in Cloonfad. When he does, he can recall past Sunday’s when his neighbours from Culnacleha quenched the thirst of a weeks’ hard work on the land under the Guise of bona fide travellers from Tulrahan. You see Tulrahan was three miles from Cloonfad entitling Gus and his neighbours to use the facilities of the local Public House on Sunday’s whereas their own townland was not the requisite three miles away. The local Gardai were not for a moment fooled but in those more carefree days common sense prevailed as I am sure it did when my own father as a young garda was stationed in Cloonfad many years previously.
Since he left Mayo, the one and only occasion Gus walked the former Prendergast lands was in the Spring of this year. He was astonished to find how small were the fields he once worked as a young man. He had remembered them over the years as bigger, indeed much much bigger than they actually were and the reality of what he saw on the ground reaffirmed his belief that he had made the right decision in coming to South County Kildare 31 years ago.
Thursday, July 20, 2000
Bits and Pieces - The O'Rahilly, Jacksons, Cycling Bench Marks
A newspaper Report of the Dublin Insurrection of 1916 referred to The O’Rahilly who was killed while leading a charge against a British Barricade in Moore Street on Friday of Easter Week. It noted that the forty one year old Kerry man returned to Ireland after spending some time in America where he had gone for health reasons. He soon became active on both Sinn Fein and the Gaelic League and on the establishment of the Volunteers in November 1913, he was appointment Chairman of the Arms Sub-committee and helped to organise the Howth Gun Running. As an organiser for the Irish Volunteers, he visited Athy in 1914 when a Branch of the organisation was formed in the Town. He addressed a Volunteer meeting in the Town Hall on that occasion. Another speaker at a similar meeting in Athy later that year was Thomas McDonagh who was executed on May, 3rd 1916 for his part in the Easter Rebellion. McDonagh who was a founder member of the Irish Volunteers was a teacher who addressed what was described in the local papers as “A big Volunteer Meeting in Athy”.
Public meetings of Nationalist groups in Athy at that time invariably had the support of St. Patrick’s Band, Athy whose banner was always given pride of place on public platformers. Does anyone know anything of the band and what might have happened to the band instruments and the banners used in band parades?
I am sure that many of my readers will remember Jackson Brothers Limited of Leinster Street, Athy once one of the most prosperous businesses in County Kildare. The business premises included grocery, drapery, hardware and motor departments. In its later years the Grocery was managed by John Dooley of St. Patrick’s Avenue and Kevin Watchorn of Ardrew who had his own business in Duke Street up to some years ago. The Drapery was managed by Bob Bryan and Eric Taylor. Bob with his brother George later opened a drapery shop in the former Commercial House in Emily Square which is now Supermac’s. The Hardware Department was managed by Harold Bryan and Jake Glynn. Harold later moved to Tinahealy, Co. Wicklow where he opened up his own business. The motor department was managed by Ken Jackson and Jim Robertson. In the office were the Proprietor, Francis Jackson, John Harvey and Kathleen Watchorn, now Mrs. Lawler of St. Patrick’s Avenue.
Following the death of Francis Jackson, the business continued under the control of his sons Ken and Francis. They modernised the premises and ran a successful business for a number of years. However, in time the business went into decline and in 1963 a receiver was appointed and Jackson’s was eventually taken over by Quinn Brother’s of Mothill, Co. Leitrim. Quinns continued in business until recent years under the management of Pat Flood who is now retired and living on the Carlow Road. The one time Jackson Premises is now home to Telford’s Hardware Store and Perry’s Supermarket.
It is believed that the first bicycle seen in Athy was a Penny farthing ridden by Gerald Dunne, son of John William Dunne of Raheenahown, Luggacurran, Co . Laois. John William Dunne was a sub-tenant of Lord Landsdowne who with Denis Kilbride was evicted from his holding during the Luggacurran evictions. Another Penny Farthing seen on the streets of Athy in the 1880’s was ridden by A. J. Bergin of Maybrook. The Large’s of Rheban Castle were also noted for their enjoyment of the earliest models of bicycles. The most notable sporting cyclists of the last decade of the 19th Century was the earlier mentioned A. J. Bergin who known locally as Andy. He was a noted cyclist on track and roads in the 1890’s. Incidentally, his younger brother J. J. Bergin who in later years founded the Irish National Ploughing Association was also a good sporting cyclist in the first decade of the 20th Century. J. J. Bergin was an extraordinary man whose achievements were many and varied and whose life story is worthy of a biography. Apart from the setting up of the Ploughing Association, he was very involved with Canon John Hayes and Macra Na Tuaith. As I write this, I have before me a copy of “The Farmer’s Guide”, described as a “Bi-monthly publication with a private circulation in every county”. It is the fourth issue of a four page journal dated the 15th January 1924 which cost one and a half pence, post free. It was printed by M.C. Carey of Athy and published by its owner and Editor, J. J. Bergin of Maybrook, Athy. Containing all the news and prices for farming produce and stock, it also had a small number of short articles on agricultural matters. Of particular interest to locals who will recall the famous ballad penned over fifty years ago concerning the stealing of Bergin’s pig is an advertisement for “Bergin’s Automatic Pig Feeder”. I have only seen one issue of this journal and wonder if any of my readers can tell me for how long “The Farmers Guide” remained in circulation.
Some years ago I set out to identify the bench marks around Athy but stopped after I had recorded five of the marks used by Surveyor’s of the Ordnance Survey. The marks were intended to provide a “bench” or support for a levelling staff in order to determine altitudes above mean sea level. Below the horizontal notch is the broad arrow head used since the middle ages to mark the kings property. Bench marks are to be found on Ordinance Survey Trigonometrical pillars and on prominent buildings. In Athy bench marks are located on a number of buildings. The lower right hand corner of the Town Hall facing the front square and the doorway to what until recently was the ladies toilet at the Courthouse have bench marks. There is also a bench mark on the north side of the Crom a Boo Bridge and on the left pier at the entrance to St. Vincent’s Hospital. St. Vincent’s is also the location of the fifth bench mark which is to be found on the right hand side of the Hospital’s main door. Have a look out for these very distinctive bench marks and if you see any more in and around Athy, perhaps you would let me know.
I will finish this weeks article by asking for your help in compiling background information on six O’Rourke Brother’s who lived in the packing stables alongside the Grand Canal in the early 1900’s. Some members of the O’Rourke family played a very prominent part in the War of Independence but so far I have been unable to get any information other than sketchy details of their involvement. Can you help? The brothers were Mick, Jim, Joe, Tom, Dinny and Fran O’Rourke.
Public meetings of Nationalist groups in Athy at that time invariably had the support of St. Patrick’s Band, Athy whose banner was always given pride of place on public platformers. Does anyone know anything of the band and what might have happened to the band instruments and the banners used in band parades?
I am sure that many of my readers will remember Jackson Brothers Limited of Leinster Street, Athy once one of the most prosperous businesses in County Kildare. The business premises included grocery, drapery, hardware and motor departments. In its later years the Grocery was managed by John Dooley of St. Patrick’s Avenue and Kevin Watchorn of Ardrew who had his own business in Duke Street up to some years ago. The Drapery was managed by Bob Bryan and Eric Taylor. Bob with his brother George later opened a drapery shop in the former Commercial House in Emily Square which is now Supermac’s. The Hardware Department was managed by Harold Bryan and Jake Glynn. Harold later moved to Tinahealy, Co. Wicklow where he opened up his own business. The motor department was managed by Ken Jackson and Jim Robertson. In the office were the Proprietor, Francis Jackson, John Harvey and Kathleen Watchorn, now Mrs. Lawler of St. Patrick’s Avenue.
Following the death of Francis Jackson, the business continued under the control of his sons Ken and Francis. They modernised the premises and ran a successful business for a number of years. However, in time the business went into decline and in 1963 a receiver was appointed and Jackson’s was eventually taken over by Quinn Brother’s of Mothill, Co. Leitrim. Quinns continued in business until recent years under the management of Pat Flood who is now retired and living on the Carlow Road. The one time Jackson Premises is now home to Telford’s Hardware Store and Perry’s Supermarket.
It is believed that the first bicycle seen in Athy was a Penny farthing ridden by Gerald Dunne, son of John William Dunne of Raheenahown, Luggacurran, Co . Laois. John William Dunne was a sub-tenant of Lord Landsdowne who with Denis Kilbride was evicted from his holding during the Luggacurran evictions. Another Penny Farthing seen on the streets of Athy in the 1880’s was ridden by A. J. Bergin of Maybrook. The Large’s of Rheban Castle were also noted for their enjoyment of the earliest models of bicycles. The most notable sporting cyclists of the last decade of the 19th Century was the earlier mentioned A. J. Bergin who known locally as Andy. He was a noted cyclist on track and roads in the 1890’s. Incidentally, his younger brother J. J. Bergin who in later years founded the Irish National Ploughing Association was also a good sporting cyclist in the first decade of the 20th Century. J. J. Bergin was an extraordinary man whose achievements were many and varied and whose life story is worthy of a biography. Apart from the setting up of the Ploughing Association, he was very involved with Canon John Hayes and Macra Na Tuaith. As I write this, I have before me a copy of “The Farmer’s Guide”, described as a “Bi-monthly publication with a private circulation in every county”. It is the fourth issue of a four page journal dated the 15th January 1924 which cost one and a half pence, post free. It was printed by M.C. Carey of Athy and published by its owner and Editor, J. J. Bergin of Maybrook, Athy. Containing all the news and prices for farming produce and stock, it also had a small number of short articles on agricultural matters. Of particular interest to locals who will recall the famous ballad penned over fifty years ago concerning the stealing of Bergin’s pig is an advertisement for “Bergin’s Automatic Pig Feeder”. I have only seen one issue of this journal and wonder if any of my readers can tell me for how long “The Farmers Guide” remained in circulation.
Some years ago I set out to identify the bench marks around Athy but stopped after I had recorded five of the marks used by Surveyor’s of the Ordnance Survey. The marks were intended to provide a “bench” or support for a levelling staff in order to determine altitudes above mean sea level. Below the horizontal notch is the broad arrow head used since the middle ages to mark the kings property. Bench marks are to be found on Ordinance Survey Trigonometrical pillars and on prominent buildings. In Athy bench marks are located on a number of buildings. The lower right hand corner of the Town Hall facing the front square and the doorway to what until recently was the ladies toilet at the Courthouse have bench marks. There is also a bench mark on the north side of the Crom a Boo Bridge and on the left pier at the entrance to St. Vincent’s Hospital. St. Vincent’s is also the location of the fifth bench mark which is to be found on the right hand side of the Hospital’s main door. Have a look out for these very distinctive bench marks and if you see any more in and around Athy, perhaps you would let me know.
I will finish this weeks article by asking for your help in compiling background information on six O’Rourke Brother’s who lived in the packing stables alongside the Grand Canal in the early 1900’s. Some members of the O’Rourke family played a very prominent part in the War of Independence but so far I have been unable to get any information other than sketchy details of their involvement. Can you help? The brothers were Mick, Jim, Joe, Tom, Dinny and Fran O’Rourke.
Thursday, July 13, 2000
Peter Corcoran, Terence Rattigan, Anthony Tormey and Matty Cross
This week I want to bring together a few notes from my scrap book of local history culled from many sources over the years. These bits and pieces have an interest which merit their inclusion in the Eye on the Past column and I hope you will agree after you have read what follows.
Did you know that an Athy man once held the British Heavyweight Boxing Title. That man was Peter Corcoran born in our home town in 1740. He was the son of a local farm worker and Peter as a teenager also worked on local farms. At twenty years of age he got into trouble when it is believed he was involved in a drunken brawl which resulted in the death of another local man. Peter Corcoran immediately left Athy and travelled to England, first settling in Bermingham where he was employed as a Coal worker. He later moved to the harbour Town of Portsmouth where he worked as a sailor. At the same time he became involved in prize fighting and after some initial success moved to London to further his boxing career. He took up the tenancy of “The Black Horse Inn” in London’s East End while continuing his boxing activities under the management of Colonel Denis Kelly, then a well known racehorse owner and gambler.
At 29 years of age Corcoran secured his first major boxing success when he defeated one of England’s leading boxers, Bill Turner in Hyde Park. He then went on to meet and beat a number of leading contenders including Tom Dalton, Joe Davis and Bob Smiler. As a result Corcoran got a chance to fight for the British title and he took on the British Champion, Bill Davis at Epsom Downs racecourse on the 18th May 1771. Corcoran won easily knocking out his opponent within one minute of the first round thereby becoming the undisputed British Heavyweight Champion.
Peter Corcoran defended his title on several occasions over the next five years but was to lose in controversial circumstances on the 16th October 1776. The Athy born champion and Harry Sellars boxed for the title outside “The Crown Inn” in Middlesex in a contest which lasted for 32 rounds. At the end Corcoran was defeated in a fight which he was expected to win. It is believed that Corcoran who was heavily in debt prior to the fight won substantial amounts of money by betting on his opponent in what was to be the Irishman’s last fight. He passed out of public notice thereafter and it is not known if he ever returned to his home town of Athy.
Did you know that Terence Rattigan, English playwright and author of “The Winslow Boy” was a great grandson of Bartholomew Rattigan who was born in Athy in 1812. Bartholomew married an English lady, Sarah Abbott and joined the East India Company. The Rattigan’s remained in India and it was their son William who returned to England in 1900. William married twice and by his second wife Evelyn Higgins he had three sons, the first of whom Frank Rattigan was the father of the future playwright. Terence Rattigan, born in London in 1911 was one of England’s leading authors with over thirty plays to his name. I have been unable to locate where in Athy his great grandfather Bartholomew Rattigan was born in 1812 or where he lived before he emigrated to India.
The next story also has an East Indian connection and concerns Anthony Toomey a Catholic who married Martha Cross, a Protestant of Rathconnell, County Kildare in or about 1780. Anthony secured a post in India and went overseas while his young wife stayed behind to await the birth of their first child. Shortly after the birth she received notice of the death of her husband in Bombay. Estranged from her family on account of her marrying a Roman Catholic, Martha became housekeeper to a local Athy Merchant by the name of Purcell. Some fifteen years or so later, Purcell who was quite a wealthy man and accustomed to entertaining officers from the local Military Barracks invited to dinner some officers who had recently arrived in Athy with their regiment from India. During the course of after dinner conversation, Mrs. Toomey’s name was mentioned prompting a reference by one of the officers to his old friend based in India General Toomey. Further enquiries elicited the information that the General’s wife and child had died in England soon after he had arrived in India. Mrs. Toomey, housekeeper to the Purcell’s instinctively knew that the General referred to was her husband who like her had received notification of the others death. Matters were eventually put to right and contact renewed between Martha and her husband Anthony who made arrangements to return to Ireland. Sadly he died a short time before embarking for his native country. Mrs. Toomey received the proceeds of her late husband’s substantial estate and was able to live in comfort for the rest of her days. Mrs. Toomey’s grandson, Mark Toomey was a Solicitor whom I believed established a legal practise in Athy.
I wonder if there is any connections between the former Martha Cross of Rathconnell and Walter Cross whom many of my readers will recall was a Master Plumber who once lived in a little house at the bottom of the Barrow Bridge. Walter or Watty as he was better known locally was a Dublin man who came to Athy in 1925 and who moved to number 23 Duke Street fourteen years later. The little house used in later years by Tom McStay as a Butcher’s Shop was Watty Cross’s Sweet Shop and Ice cream Parlour for many years. I received a lovely letter some time ago from Watty’s daughter Beta who now lives in Scarborough, England in which she gave me the words of a song often sung by her father who had served in the Dublin Fusiliers during World War 1. I will finish this week with the opening lines of “The Dublin Boys”.
“We are the Dublin Boys
We are the Dublin Boys
We know our manners
We earn our tanners
We are respected whereever we go
When we’re marching down O’Connell Street
Doors and windows open wide
With our packs on our backs
And Maxwell in the rack
Shouting left, right, left, right
We are the Dublin Boys”.
Did you know that an Athy man once held the British Heavyweight Boxing Title. That man was Peter Corcoran born in our home town in 1740. He was the son of a local farm worker and Peter as a teenager also worked on local farms. At twenty years of age he got into trouble when it is believed he was involved in a drunken brawl which resulted in the death of another local man. Peter Corcoran immediately left Athy and travelled to England, first settling in Bermingham where he was employed as a Coal worker. He later moved to the harbour Town of Portsmouth where he worked as a sailor. At the same time he became involved in prize fighting and after some initial success moved to London to further his boxing career. He took up the tenancy of “The Black Horse Inn” in London’s East End while continuing his boxing activities under the management of Colonel Denis Kelly, then a well known racehorse owner and gambler.
At 29 years of age Corcoran secured his first major boxing success when he defeated one of England’s leading boxers, Bill Turner in Hyde Park. He then went on to meet and beat a number of leading contenders including Tom Dalton, Joe Davis and Bob Smiler. As a result Corcoran got a chance to fight for the British title and he took on the British Champion, Bill Davis at Epsom Downs racecourse on the 18th May 1771. Corcoran won easily knocking out his opponent within one minute of the first round thereby becoming the undisputed British Heavyweight Champion.
Peter Corcoran defended his title on several occasions over the next five years but was to lose in controversial circumstances on the 16th October 1776. The Athy born champion and Harry Sellars boxed for the title outside “The Crown Inn” in Middlesex in a contest which lasted for 32 rounds. At the end Corcoran was defeated in a fight which he was expected to win. It is believed that Corcoran who was heavily in debt prior to the fight won substantial amounts of money by betting on his opponent in what was to be the Irishman’s last fight. He passed out of public notice thereafter and it is not known if he ever returned to his home town of Athy.
Did you know that Terence Rattigan, English playwright and author of “The Winslow Boy” was a great grandson of Bartholomew Rattigan who was born in Athy in 1812. Bartholomew married an English lady, Sarah Abbott and joined the East India Company. The Rattigan’s remained in India and it was their son William who returned to England in 1900. William married twice and by his second wife Evelyn Higgins he had three sons, the first of whom Frank Rattigan was the father of the future playwright. Terence Rattigan, born in London in 1911 was one of England’s leading authors with over thirty plays to his name. I have been unable to locate where in Athy his great grandfather Bartholomew Rattigan was born in 1812 or where he lived before he emigrated to India.
The next story also has an East Indian connection and concerns Anthony Toomey a Catholic who married Martha Cross, a Protestant of Rathconnell, County Kildare in or about 1780. Anthony secured a post in India and went overseas while his young wife stayed behind to await the birth of their first child. Shortly after the birth she received notice of the death of her husband in Bombay. Estranged from her family on account of her marrying a Roman Catholic, Martha became housekeeper to a local Athy Merchant by the name of Purcell. Some fifteen years or so later, Purcell who was quite a wealthy man and accustomed to entertaining officers from the local Military Barracks invited to dinner some officers who had recently arrived in Athy with their regiment from India. During the course of after dinner conversation, Mrs. Toomey’s name was mentioned prompting a reference by one of the officers to his old friend based in India General Toomey. Further enquiries elicited the information that the General’s wife and child had died in England soon after he had arrived in India. Mrs. Toomey, housekeeper to the Purcell’s instinctively knew that the General referred to was her husband who like her had received notification of the others death. Matters were eventually put to right and contact renewed between Martha and her husband Anthony who made arrangements to return to Ireland. Sadly he died a short time before embarking for his native country. Mrs. Toomey received the proceeds of her late husband’s substantial estate and was able to live in comfort for the rest of her days. Mrs. Toomey’s grandson, Mark Toomey was a Solicitor whom I believed established a legal practise in Athy.
I wonder if there is any connections between the former Martha Cross of Rathconnell and Walter Cross whom many of my readers will recall was a Master Plumber who once lived in a little house at the bottom of the Barrow Bridge. Walter or Watty as he was better known locally was a Dublin man who came to Athy in 1925 and who moved to number 23 Duke Street fourteen years later. The little house used in later years by Tom McStay as a Butcher’s Shop was Watty Cross’s Sweet Shop and Ice cream Parlour for many years. I received a lovely letter some time ago from Watty’s daughter Beta who now lives in Scarborough, England in which she gave me the words of a song often sung by her father who had served in the Dublin Fusiliers during World War 1. I will finish this week with the opening lines of “The Dublin Boys”.
“We are the Dublin Boys
We are the Dublin Boys
We know our manners
We earn our tanners
We are respected whereever we go
When we’re marching down O’Connell Street
Doors and windows open wide
With our packs on our backs
And Maxwell in the rack
Shouting left, right, left, right
We are the Dublin Boys”.
Thursday, July 6, 2000
Knights of Malta and the Evans Family
I was reminded of a forgotten Leinster Medal when I met the former Brigid Evans of Offaly Street during the week. Brigid married Anthony Dunne of St. Joseph’s Terrace in 1955 and it was around that same time that a Cadet unit was formed within the local Knights of Malta Corps and Anthony was appointed as Cadet Master.
I joined the Cadets soon afterwards and remember Saturday mornings spent on parade in the school yard in St. John’s Lane where we marched up and down under the watchful eye of Cadet Master Dunne. Anthony was a barber who worked in a back room saloon attached to O’Rourke-Glynns at the corner of Woodstock Street having spent some years in Cunningham’s Barber Shop of Dublin Street, Carlow. In addition to parade drill we learned as best we could about greenstick fractures, clavicles and scapulas before being examined by Dr. Joe O’Neill who certified us for membership of the Knights of Malta. Supplied with a bag of medical aids which generally consisted of a few bandages and some smelling salts and with the ever present water bottle we were suitably uniformed and ready for any disaster. Lucky for us and for all our potential clientele our endeavours were largely confined to Sunday games at Geraldine Park where we sat near the sidelines ready for the inevitable call for assistance. When it came we ran onto the pitch heading in the direction of the hapless victim but carefully timing our advance in the fervent hope that he would rise before our limited medical knowledge was exposed before the gaze of every onlooker.
If assistance was required it was generally confined to giving a drink from the ubiquitous water bottle or helping up the player and bending him over a few times in the hopeful expectation that he was only winded. As a Cadet I could always look to the senior volunteer to take charge of any situation and so the infield trips were not as worrying as one might expect for an inexperienced teenager.
First aid competitions between the Knights of Malta Corps throughout Ireland were held each year and Athy’s Cadet team won the provincial final in Navan in 1958 with a team comprised of Pat Flinter, Anthony Pender, Pat Timpson, Frank English and yours truly. We subsequently represented Leinster in the All Ireland Finals in Limerick but failed to repeat our earlier success.
Anthony Dunne who was our Cadet Master at the time later opened up his own Barbers Shop in what is now Ann’s Flower Shop opposite the Castle Inn. Tragically he died suddenly in 1968 aged 46 years leaving a widow and two young children Martina and Tony.
Talking to his wife Brigid who subsequently remarried I was brought back not only to my Knights of Malta days but even earlier still to Offaly Street where I once lived and where I knew so many wonderful people. Brigid’s parents were Joseph and Mary Evans who lived in the small house at what is now the corner of Beechgrove. Joe whose own father was from Wales died in 1957, the year of the Asian Flu, while Mary died six years later. Their family of four girls and a son John were all brought up in Offaly Street from where Kathy, the eldest, left to take up a job in the famous Jammets Restaurant in Dublin. She later married Tom O’Donnell, a Mayo born Garda and they had seven children. Her sister Nan went to England in the 1940’s and eventually settled in Wolverhampton after marrying Pat Kiely, a Cork man. Eileen who was a neighbour of ours in Offaly Street married Tom Pender of Cardenton and they had two children Noel and Mary. Tom who once worked in the Asbestos factory and later still in the IVI was better known locally as “Tawney” Prendergast.
Brigid’s only brother John lived in the family home in Offaly Street after his parents passed away. John who spent his working life in the IVI apart from a short period with Bord na Mona never married and died six years ago aged 64 years.
Brigid Evans left full time education in 1943 after spending two years in the local Technical School. Like many other women of the time she got a job in the local Batchelor’s Pea Factory where she had as work mates Mary Ward, Ena Mullery, Biddy Bennett of Janeville Lane, the late Mary O’Rourke and her future husband’s sisters Esther, Dinah and Sheila Dunne. She worked there for three years under chargehand Peg Timpson before leaving to join her sister Nan in London. Brigid recalled that early trip to Holyhead sitting on the slatted outside seats of the mail boat before boarding the boat train for the long onward trip to Euston Station. She returned to Ireland after a few months and got back her job in Batchelor’s where she continued working until struck down by Tuberculosis in 1952.
Admitted to Peamount Sanatorium in December 1952 Brigid remained there until discharged in February 1954, completely cured of that most deadly disease by medication and rest alone. Brigid admits to having a great time in Peamount where she made many friends and recalled many happy days. When she married Anthony Dunne in July 1955 her bridesmaid was Vera O’Connor of Navan who had spent time with her in Peamount. Special guests on that day were two of her other good friends from her time in hospital, Anna Mitchell of Athboy and Marie Losty of Kilmessan. Her joyful memories of Peamount dispel the oft held belief that it was an institution full of gloom and misery. “They were fun days” she said, recalling times spent at the hospital cinema and visits by celebrities such as Pete Murray of Radio Luxembourg fame.
The connections made by marriage between the local families of Evans, Dunne and Prendergast bring into focus the widespread dispersal of people over the decades. The Evans family of Offaly Street now have family connections with Dublin, Wolverhampton and Athy while the Prendergast family members are to be found in Dublin, Kildangan and Athy, with the Dunnes, formerly of St. Joseph’s Terrace in London, Bristol, Tralee, Coill Dubh and Graiguecullen.
The economic rigours of the 1940’s and the 1950’s presented few options for young people and the journey to England was all too often the only alternative to unemployment in ones own town. Brigid Evans was one of the very few lucky individuals who got a job and later the chance to marry and settle down in the town where she was born and reared. That in the Ireland of fifty years ago was a rare privilege to be cherished.
I joined the Cadets soon afterwards and remember Saturday mornings spent on parade in the school yard in St. John’s Lane where we marched up and down under the watchful eye of Cadet Master Dunne. Anthony was a barber who worked in a back room saloon attached to O’Rourke-Glynns at the corner of Woodstock Street having spent some years in Cunningham’s Barber Shop of Dublin Street, Carlow. In addition to parade drill we learned as best we could about greenstick fractures, clavicles and scapulas before being examined by Dr. Joe O’Neill who certified us for membership of the Knights of Malta. Supplied with a bag of medical aids which generally consisted of a few bandages and some smelling salts and with the ever present water bottle we were suitably uniformed and ready for any disaster. Lucky for us and for all our potential clientele our endeavours were largely confined to Sunday games at Geraldine Park where we sat near the sidelines ready for the inevitable call for assistance. When it came we ran onto the pitch heading in the direction of the hapless victim but carefully timing our advance in the fervent hope that he would rise before our limited medical knowledge was exposed before the gaze of every onlooker.
If assistance was required it was generally confined to giving a drink from the ubiquitous water bottle or helping up the player and bending him over a few times in the hopeful expectation that he was only winded. As a Cadet I could always look to the senior volunteer to take charge of any situation and so the infield trips were not as worrying as one might expect for an inexperienced teenager.
First aid competitions between the Knights of Malta Corps throughout Ireland were held each year and Athy’s Cadet team won the provincial final in Navan in 1958 with a team comprised of Pat Flinter, Anthony Pender, Pat Timpson, Frank English and yours truly. We subsequently represented Leinster in the All Ireland Finals in Limerick but failed to repeat our earlier success.
Anthony Dunne who was our Cadet Master at the time later opened up his own Barbers Shop in what is now Ann’s Flower Shop opposite the Castle Inn. Tragically he died suddenly in 1968 aged 46 years leaving a widow and two young children Martina and Tony.
Talking to his wife Brigid who subsequently remarried I was brought back not only to my Knights of Malta days but even earlier still to Offaly Street where I once lived and where I knew so many wonderful people. Brigid’s parents were Joseph and Mary Evans who lived in the small house at what is now the corner of Beechgrove. Joe whose own father was from Wales died in 1957, the year of the Asian Flu, while Mary died six years later. Their family of four girls and a son John were all brought up in Offaly Street from where Kathy, the eldest, left to take up a job in the famous Jammets Restaurant in Dublin. She later married Tom O’Donnell, a Mayo born Garda and they had seven children. Her sister Nan went to England in the 1940’s and eventually settled in Wolverhampton after marrying Pat Kiely, a Cork man. Eileen who was a neighbour of ours in Offaly Street married Tom Pender of Cardenton and they had two children Noel and Mary. Tom who once worked in the Asbestos factory and later still in the IVI was better known locally as “Tawney” Prendergast.
Brigid’s only brother John lived in the family home in Offaly Street after his parents passed away. John who spent his working life in the IVI apart from a short period with Bord na Mona never married and died six years ago aged 64 years.
Brigid Evans left full time education in 1943 after spending two years in the local Technical School. Like many other women of the time she got a job in the local Batchelor’s Pea Factory where she had as work mates Mary Ward, Ena Mullery, Biddy Bennett of Janeville Lane, the late Mary O’Rourke and her future husband’s sisters Esther, Dinah and Sheila Dunne. She worked there for three years under chargehand Peg Timpson before leaving to join her sister Nan in London. Brigid recalled that early trip to Holyhead sitting on the slatted outside seats of the mail boat before boarding the boat train for the long onward trip to Euston Station. She returned to Ireland after a few months and got back her job in Batchelor’s where she continued working until struck down by Tuberculosis in 1952.
Admitted to Peamount Sanatorium in December 1952 Brigid remained there until discharged in February 1954, completely cured of that most deadly disease by medication and rest alone. Brigid admits to having a great time in Peamount where she made many friends and recalled many happy days. When she married Anthony Dunne in July 1955 her bridesmaid was Vera O’Connor of Navan who had spent time with her in Peamount. Special guests on that day were two of her other good friends from her time in hospital, Anna Mitchell of Athboy and Marie Losty of Kilmessan. Her joyful memories of Peamount dispel the oft held belief that it was an institution full of gloom and misery. “They were fun days” she said, recalling times spent at the hospital cinema and visits by celebrities such as Pete Murray of Radio Luxembourg fame.
The connections made by marriage between the local families of Evans, Dunne and Prendergast bring into focus the widespread dispersal of people over the decades. The Evans family of Offaly Street now have family connections with Dublin, Wolverhampton and Athy while the Prendergast family members are to be found in Dublin, Kildangan and Athy, with the Dunnes, formerly of St. Joseph’s Terrace in London, Bristol, Tralee, Coill Dubh and Graiguecullen.
The economic rigours of the 1940’s and the 1950’s presented few options for young people and the journey to England was all too often the only alternative to unemployment in ones own town. Brigid Evans was one of the very few lucky individuals who got a job and later the chance to marry and settle down in the town where she was born and reared. That in the Ireland of fifty years ago was a rare privilege to be cherished.
Thursday, June 29, 2000
Catholic Young Mens Society
The oldest society in Athy has closed its door, possibly for the last time. The Catholic Young Men’s Society is no more and the billiard and snooker table so beloved of young and not so young alike have been disassembled and put in storage.
My earliest memory of the CYMS is of the building which occupied a corner site next to the Parish Church in Stanhope Street. Originally built as a Parish School in the early part of the 19th century it was part of the Sisters of Mercy Convent School from 1851. The building was later adopted and used by the CYMS from 1892. With the introduction of technical instruction in 1900 part of the building was requisitioned for use as a Technical school and continued to be so used until the opening of St. Brigid’s School on the Carlow Road in 1940. Thereafter the “L” shaped three room building remained the centre of CYMS activity for another thirty years.
I can just about remember Patrick Webb of St. Patrick’s Avenue who was the Caretaker of the CYMS in the 1950’s. He had been appointed to that position in 1954 after a number of other local men had held the job for short periods. E. Keogh was Caretaker for four months after replacing Christopher Ward who held the job for an even shorter period. Before them Patrick Hayden was Caretaker for one year while Jack Doyle had taken on the role in May 1949 and remained for almost three and a half years. George Sharpe was Caretaker from December 1945 until he died in May 1949 and he had replaced Richard Connor who filled the position during the Second World War. Thomas Maher was for many years previously the CYMS Caretaker and during his term he served under at least three Honorary Secretaries including Anthony Reeves of Reevesmount, Fintan Brennan of Rathstewart and Jimmy O’Higgins of Woodstock Street. Jimmy was Honorary Secretary of the CYMS between 1935 and 1948 when the position was taken up by M. McEvoy who resigned five years later to be replaced by J. McEvoy.
The Minutes of the CYMS meetings held during the 1920’s and 1930’s invariably noted Canon McDonnell, P.P. as being in the Chair which he almost always vacated before the meeting ended resulting in the usual note by the Honorary Secretary, “at this stage Canon McDonnell left the meeting”. Usually at the AGM of the Society the Canon would speak of the evils of communism which was perennially condemned by the Bishops in their pastorals. The evils of anti-Christian periodicals was another source of concern for the Canon whose admonitions to the AGM’s were faithfully recorded. However, billiards and snooker, together with card playing and the throwing of rings were more favoured activities of Society Members in the pre War years. The Society’s Honorary Secretary on occasions had practical matters to report as when, for instance, in March 1932 he secured the Committee’s agreement that if “the Gallery” insisted on interfering during a game of cards the card players would have the right to have the offenders removed from the Club premises.
The high stakes at card games were always a source of concern for the spiritual director of the CYMS and invariably the concerns of the Catholic Curates who occupied that role were transmitted to the Lay Committee. This inevitably lead to numerous Committee decisions banning the playing of cards for high stakes. What constituted high stakes was not clarified until the 1942 Committee limited poker games to an opening stake of six pence, with the highest bet of ten shillings raising by a maximum of 2/6. A reference in the 1947 Minute Book to playing “on the bow” may be understood by some of my readers but I must confess to never having previously heard of the activity which was actively discouraged by the Committee. Inevitably the poker players came into conflict with the Committee as when the March 1950 Committee discussed a complaint by Fr. Carey C.C. regarding a “late” and “very high” poker game which went on until 1.30a.m. on Tuesday, 3rd January. The Committee which consisted of Tom Moore, J. Prendergast. J. McEvoy, Tosh Doyle, Michael McCabe and T. Purcell decided that if there was any reoccurrence the game of poker would “be stopped completely in the Club.”
The CYMS which had started in the town in 1862 or thereabouts affiliated to the Diocesan Council of the CYMS in January 1953. The local branch was now renamed “Our Lady of Fatima” and arrangements were made for a statue to be erected on the premises and for the Rosary to be said each night at 8.30p.m. For how long this lasted I cannot say but certainly I can’t remember any religious aspect to membership of the CYMS in the late 1950’s. That same year it was agreed to celebrate An Tostal, starting with the members marching to 10.15 a.m. Mass on Sunday, 12th April. On the following Tuesday a lecture was arranged with Fr. Kehoe C.C., Fintan Brennan and Liam Ryan as speakers. The Irish and Papal flags were flown during the An Tostal celebrations and it was agreed that the CYMS premises were to be decorated and cleaned for the same purpose.
In July 1952 the CYMS Committee consisting of J. McEvoy, J. Daly, Tom Moore, M. McCabe, Paul Matthews, J. Cardiff, John McEvoy, J. Jackson and Willie Bracken decided to hold what the Minutes described as “the first ever dance held ever by the Branch”. In point of fact a previous CYMS Dance had been held in 1936. Nevertheless the 1954 occasion was somewhat special as Athy CYMS had invited Howth CYMS to Athy where a football match was arranged to be followed by a Ceili and old time Dance in the Town Hall. Strangely the football game was played in Kilberry rather than Geraldine Park. Was this perhaps the time when the Geraldine pitch was undergoing development or did it merely reflect the fact that Tom Moore, Secretary of the Rheban Football Club was in charge of the sporting arrangements.
Looking back over the years of my membership of the CYMS I can recall some of the great characters who were once part and parcel of the Club. “Blue Beard” Dunne, “Sooty” Hayden, Ned Cranny, Willie Bracken and Tom Moore were just some of those men who were so involved in the running of the oldest Club in town. Sadly the CYMS left its premises at Stanhope Street after an occupancy of almost 70 years in 1960 to facilitate the building of St. Michael’s Church. Moving to the former Social Club in St. John’s Lane the Society seemed to lose something in the move and never quite garnered the enthusiasm and life it had enjoyed in it’s former premises. In 1984 the Society was on the move again, this time by agreement with the Parish Priest and the support of the Sisters of Mercy to Mount St. Mary’s in Stanhope Place. This signalled the death knell of the CYMS and with falling membership the uneven struggle was lost when the Club premises was closed for the last time.
Efforts are being made to bring together the Minute Books of the CYMS for some of these records are missing. If anyone knows where any material, record book or documents relating to the local branch of the CYMS are located I would welcome hearing from them.
My earliest memory of the CYMS is of the building which occupied a corner site next to the Parish Church in Stanhope Street. Originally built as a Parish School in the early part of the 19th century it was part of the Sisters of Mercy Convent School from 1851. The building was later adopted and used by the CYMS from 1892. With the introduction of technical instruction in 1900 part of the building was requisitioned for use as a Technical school and continued to be so used until the opening of St. Brigid’s School on the Carlow Road in 1940. Thereafter the “L” shaped three room building remained the centre of CYMS activity for another thirty years.
I can just about remember Patrick Webb of St. Patrick’s Avenue who was the Caretaker of the CYMS in the 1950’s. He had been appointed to that position in 1954 after a number of other local men had held the job for short periods. E. Keogh was Caretaker for four months after replacing Christopher Ward who held the job for an even shorter period. Before them Patrick Hayden was Caretaker for one year while Jack Doyle had taken on the role in May 1949 and remained for almost three and a half years. George Sharpe was Caretaker from December 1945 until he died in May 1949 and he had replaced Richard Connor who filled the position during the Second World War. Thomas Maher was for many years previously the CYMS Caretaker and during his term he served under at least three Honorary Secretaries including Anthony Reeves of Reevesmount, Fintan Brennan of Rathstewart and Jimmy O’Higgins of Woodstock Street. Jimmy was Honorary Secretary of the CYMS between 1935 and 1948 when the position was taken up by M. McEvoy who resigned five years later to be replaced by J. McEvoy.
The Minutes of the CYMS meetings held during the 1920’s and 1930’s invariably noted Canon McDonnell, P.P. as being in the Chair which he almost always vacated before the meeting ended resulting in the usual note by the Honorary Secretary, “at this stage Canon McDonnell left the meeting”. Usually at the AGM of the Society the Canon would speak of the evils of communism which was perennially condemned by the Bishops in their pastorals. The evils of anti-Christian periodicals was another source of concern for the Canon whose admonitions to the AGM’s were faithfully recorded. However, billiards and snooker, together with card playing and the throwing of rings were more favoured activities of Society Members in the pre War years. The Society’s Honorary Secretary on occasions had practical matters to report as when, for instance, in March 1932 he secured the Committee’s agreement that if “the Gallery” insisted on interfering during a game of cards the card players would have the right to have the offenders removed from the Club premises.
The high stakes at card games were always a source of concern for the spiritual director of the CYMS and invariably the concerns of the Catholic Curates who occupied that role were transmitted to the Lay Committee. This inevitably lead to numerous Committee decisions banning the playing of cards for high stakes. What constituted high stakes was not clarified until the 1942 Committee limited poker games to an opening stake of six pence, with the highest bet of ten shillings raising by a maximum of 2/6. A reference in the 1947 Minute Book to playing “on the bow” may be understood by some of my readers but I must confess to never having previously heard of the activity which was actively discouraged by the Committee. Inevitably the poker players came into conflict with the Committee as when the March 1950 Committee discussed a complaint by Fr. Carey C.C. regarding a “late” and “very high” poker game which went on until 1.30a.m. on Tuesday, 3rd January. The Committee which consisted of Tom Moore, J. Prendergast. J. McEvoy, Tosh Doyle, Michael McCabe and T. Purcell decided that if there was any reoccurrence the game of poker would “be stopped completely in the Club.”
The CYMS which had started in the town in 1862 or thereabouts affiliated to the Diocesan Council of the CYMS in January 1953. The local branch was now renamed “Our Lady of Fatima” and arrangements were made for a statue to be erected on the premises and for the Rosary to be said each night at 8.30p.m. For how long this lasted I cannot say but certainly I can’t remember any religious aspect to membership of the CYMS in the late 1950’s. That same year it was agreed to celebrate An Tostal, starting with the members marching to 10.15 a.m. Mass on Sunday, 12th April. On the following Tuesday a lecture was arranged with Fr. Kehoe C.C., Fintan Brennan and Liam Ryan as speakers. The Irish and Papal flags were flown during the An Tostal celebrations and it was agreed that the CYMS premises were to be decorated and cleaned for the same purpose.
In July 1952 the CYMS Committee consisting of J. McEvoy, J. Daly, Tom Moore, M. McCabe, Paul Matthews, J. Cardiff, John McEvoy, J. Jackson and Willie Bracken decided to hold what the Minutes described as “the first ever dance held ever by the Branch”. In point of fact a previous CYMS Dance had been held in 1936. Nevertheless the 1954 occasion was somewhat special as Athy CYMS had invited Howth CYMS to Athy where a football match was arranged to be followed by a Ceili and old time Dance in the Town Hall. Strangely the football game was played in Kilberry rather than Geraldine Park. Was this perhaps the time when the Geraldine pitch was undergoing development or did it merely reflect the fact that Tom Moore, Secretary of the Rheban Football Club was in charge of the sporting arrangements.
Looking back over the years of my membership of the CYMS I can recall some of the great characters who were once part and parcel of the Club. “Blue Beard” Dunne, “Sooty” Hayden, Ned Cranny, Willie Bracken and Tom Moore were just some of those men who were so involved in the running of the oldest Club in town. Sadly the CYMS left its premises at Stanhope Street after an occupancy of almost 70 years in 1960 to facilitate the building of St. Michael’s Church. Moving to the former Social Club in St. John’s Lane the Society seemed to lose something in the move and never quite garnered the enthusiasm and life it had enjoyed in it’s former premises. In 1984 the Society was on the move again, this time by agreement with the Parish Priest and the support of the Sisters of Mercy to Mount St. Mary’s in Stanhope Place. This signalled the death knell of the CYMS and with falling membership the uneven struggle was lost when the Club premises was closed for the last time.
Efforts are being made to bring together the Minute Books of the CYMS for some of these records are missing. If anyone knows where any material, record book or documents relating to the local branch of the CYMS are located I would welcome hearing from them.
Thursday, June 22, 2000
Athy in Modern Tourist Guides and 18th Century Toll Roads
I was amazed to find in a recent publication by Bord Failte a very unworthy reference to Athy. The Ireland Guide published this year is intended for visitors to this country, hence Bord Failte’s involvement. The entry reads :-
“Athy is a pretty though perhaps slightly run down town towards the Carlow end of the county. Earlier in this century it was a popular circuit for the Gordon Bennett car racing. Today it boasts sounds of motor cars slugging through viscous traffic.”
That’s all it had to say of Athy, the very same town to which Bord Failte saw fit to give substantial grant aid for the provision of a Heritage Centre. The Centre was officially opened in May of last year and yet it fails to get a mention in Bord Failte’s own publication.
Contrast that with the information on Athy to be found in another recent Publication, this time The Green Guide published by Michelin Travel Publications.
“Athy is a pleasant small town on the River Barrow, for many years the property of the Fitzgeralds, Dukes of Leinster. At the beginning of the middle ages it was the largest town in County Kildare, clustered ‘round a fortified crossing of the river. Athy marks the confluence of the River Barrow and the Barrow line, the southern branch of the Grand Canal. It provides pleasant riverside walks and good fishing for coarse and trout anglers. In 1944 Macra na Feirme, a cultural and social organisation for young farming people was founded in the Town Hall. The present bridge, known as Crom a Boo bridge from the war cry of the Geraldine family dates from 1796. Beside it stands Whites Castle which was built in the 16th century. The main square beside the river is graced by the Courthouse which was built in 1856 as the Corn Exchange. On the opposite side of the Square stands the Town Hall which dates from the mid 18th century and has housed a market, Council Chambers and Law Courts. The brick vaulted ground floor now houses the Heritage Centre. It’s displays evoke the history of the town and of the personalities and events associated with it such as the Antarctic Explorer Ernest Shackleton and the famous Gordon Bennett Motor Race. The fan shaped modern Dominican Church is furnished with stain glass windows and stations of the cross by George Campbell, a noted North of Ireland artist of the earlier 20th century.”
There then follows a page devoted to excursions which visitors can take to interesting sites in the Athy area including Ballytore, Moone High Cross, Castledermot High Cross, Baltinglass Abbey, Rock of Dunamase, etc.
If we are relying on Bord Failte as our National Tourism Organisation to encourage tourists into this area I’m afraid we can never hope to achieve much success. Their efforts as indicated by their references to Athy in The Ireland Guide are as about as effective as were the Trustees of the Kilkenny and Athy Turnpike Road in encouraging farmers and traders to attend the fairs and markets in Athy at the beginning of the 19th century.
Turnpike roads were an 18th century initiative which allowed private individuals to develop and maintain sections of the highway in return for the right to impose and collect tolls from those using the road. There was a toll gate at the Dublin road entrance to Athy and another approximately 700 yards from Whites Castle on the Kilkenny Road. These toll gates barred from entering into the town anyone with produce, animals or goods to sell unless and until an appropriate toll was paid. As a consequence thriving unofficial markets developed on both approach roads to the town but outside the toll gates. This of course resulted in a loss of business for the local traders and in 1849 they began to agitate to have the toll gates removed.
Some years earlier the Town Commissioners had begun a campaign to have the turnpike gate on the Kilkenny Road removed. On 2nd February, 1846 Mr. Lord, a local Solicitor, was requested to prepare a submission in support of the Town Commissioners’ demand and the Commissioners passed a resolution on 6th April of that year to undertake “the duty and obligation of paving, maintaining, keeping and repairing the street” from White’s Castle to the town boundary. In doing this the Commissioners were attempting to take those functions away from the Trustees of the Kilkenny and Athy turnpike road thereby undermining the main justification for the imposition of tolls at the various turnpike gates along the road.
At a meeting in Kennedy’s Hotel, Athy on Monday, 27th April, 1846 both parties agreed to the removal of the turnpike gate at the Kilkenny Road entrance to the town. Within four years Athy’s Town Commissioners were petitioning the House of Commons against the continuation of the Athy/Kilkenny Turnpike Act. Public subscriptions were taken up in the town to defray the cost of the campaign and a “Turnpike Committee” was appointed by the Town Commissioners to liase with Lord Naas who led the opposition in the House of Commons. The Turnpike Bill was eventually defeated in 1850 as a result of the combined efforts of the Athy Town Commissioners and tenant farmers from counties Kilkenny, Kildare and Leix.
It’s interesting to note that the 18th century Turnpike Legislation is again now in favour, what with the National Road Authority announcing plans for toll roads around Ireland. The Toll Road and the Turnpike Road are based on the same concept. Road users pay for private road development work by paying a toll or tax each time they use the road. It seems on paper a fairly logical idea, but closer examination discloses it’s unacceptable features.
Why is it necessary to raise more indirect taxes (which is what road tolls amount to) when the country is apparently awash with an excess of direct taxes collected from the same people who will be called upon to pay the road tolls? Athy’s Town Commissioners of 1846 were astute enough to realise that tolls on roads were an unreasonable imposition which had the effect of diverting business from the town. Is it not reasonable to believe that new toll roads designed to take traffic away from congested city and town areas will result in diverting that same traffic back to the areas which they were built to relieve?
It’s quite a coincidence that while a modern version of the Turnpike Road is now being canvassed by the National Roads Authority our own Community Council is doing its bit to revitalise another 18th century initiative - the Canal. The first stage of the Barge Project started by the Community Council five years or so ago will be concluded this August weekend with the launch of the newly named Aiseiri. The next stage of the Project could bring enormous benefits to the town in terms of tourism and visitors generally and I hope that the Committee Members involved receive the support of the local people for the funanza planned over the August Bank Holiday weekend to coincide with the launch of the Barge.
“Athy is a pretty though perhaps slightly run down town towards the Carlow end of the county. Earlier in this century it was a popular circuit for the Gordon Bennett car racing. Today it boasts sounds of motor cars slugging through viscous traffic.”
That’s all it had to say of Athy, the very same town to which Bord Failte saw fit to give substantial grant aid for the provision of a Heritage Centre. The Centre was officially opened in May of last year and yet it fails to get a mention in Bord Failte’s own publication.
Contrast that with the information on Athy to be found in another recent Publication, this time The Green Guide published by Michelin Travel Publications.
“Athy is a pleasant small town on the River Barrow, for many years the property of the Fitzgeralds, Dukes of Leinster. At the beginning of the middle ages it was the largest town in County Kildare, clustered ‘round a fortified crossing of the river. Athy marks the confluence of the River Barrow and the Barrow line, the southern branch of the Grand Canal. It provides pleasant riverside walks and good fishing for coarse and trout anglers. In 1944 Macra na Feirme, a cultural and social organisation for young farming people was founded in the Town Hall. The present bridge, known as Crom a Boo bridge from the war cry of the Geraldine family dates from 1796. Beside it stands Whites Castle which was built in the 16th century. The main square beside the river is graced by the Courthouse which was built in 1856 as the Corn Exchange. On the opposite side of the Square stands the Town Hall which dates from the mid 18th century and has housed a market, Council Chambers and Law Courts. The brick vaulted ground floor now houses the Heritage Centre. It’s displays evoke the history of the town and of the personalities and events associated with it such as the Antarctic Explorer Ernest Shackleton and the famous Gordon Bennett Motor Race. The fan shaped modern Dominican Church is furnished with stain glass windows and stations of the cross by George Campbell, a noted North of Ireland artist of the earlier 20th century.”
There then follows a page devoted to excursions which visitors can take to interesting sites in the Athy area including Ballytore, Moone High Cross, Castledermot High Cross, Baltinglass Abbey, Rock of Dunamase, etc.
If we are relying on Bord Failte as our National Tourism Organisation to encourage tourists into this area I’m afraid we can never hope to achieve much success. Their efforts as indicated by their references to Athy in The Ireland Guide are as about as effective as were the Trustees of the Kilkenny and Athy Turnpike Road in encouraging farmers and traders to attend the fairs and markets in Athy at the beginning of the 19th century.
Turnpike roads were an 18th century initiative which allowed private individuals to develop and maintain sections of the highway in return for the right to impose and collect tolls from those using the road. There was a toll gate at the Dublin road entrance to Athy and another approximately 700 yards from Whites Castle on the Kilkenny Road. These toll gates barred from entering into the town anyone with produce, animals or goods to sell unless and until an appropriate toll was paid. As a consequence thriving unofficial markets developed on both approach roads to the town but outside the toll gates. This of course resulted in a loss of business for the local traders and in 1849 they began to agitate to have the toll gates removed.
Some years earlier the Town Commissioners had begun a campaign to have the turnpike gate on the Kilkenny Road removed. On 2nd February, 1846 Mr. Lord, a local Solicitor, was requested to prepare a submission in support of the Town Commissioners’ demand and the Commissioners passed a resolution on 6th April of that year to undertake “the duty and obligation of paving, maintaining, keeping and repairing the street” from White’s Castle to the town boundary. In doing this the Commissioners were attempting to take those functions away from the Trustees of the Kilkenny and Athy turnpike road thereby undermining the main justification for the imposition of tolls at the various turnpike gates along the road.
At a meeting in Kennedy’s Hotel, Athy on Monday, 27th April, 1846 both parties agreed to the removal of the turnpike gate at the Kilkenny Road entrance to the town. Within four years Athy’s Town Commissioners were petitioning the House of Commons against the continuation of the Athy/Kilkenny Turnpike Act. Public subscriptions were taken up in the town to defray the cost of the campaign and a “Turnpike Committee” was appointed by the Town Commissioners to liase with Lord Naas who led the opposition in the House of Commons. The Turnpike Bill was eventually defeated in 1850 as a result of the combined efforts of the Athy Town Commissioners and tenant farmers from counties Kilkenny, Kildare and Leix.
It’s interesting to note that the 18th century Turnpike Legislation is again now in favour, what with the National Road Authority announcing plans for toll roads around Ireland. The Toll Road and the Turnpike Road are based on the same concept. Road users pay for private road development work by paying a toll or tax each time they use the road. It seems on paper a fairly logical idea, but closer examination discloses it’s unacceptable features.
Why is it necessary to raise more indirect taxes (which is what road tolls amount to) when the country is apparently awash with an excess of direct taxes collected from the same people who will be called upon to pay the road tolls? Athy’s Town Commissioners of 1846 were astute enough to realise that tolls on roads were an unreasonable imposition which had the effect of diverting business from the town. Is it not reasonable to believe that new toll roads designed to take traffic away from congested city and town areas will result in diverting that same traffic back to the areas which they were built to relieve?
It’s quite a coincidence that while a modern version of the Turnpike Road is now being canvassed by the National Roads Authority our own Community Council is doing its bit to revitalise another 18th century initiative - the Canal. The first stage of the Barge Project started by the Community Council five years or so ago will be concluded this August weekend with the launch of the newly named Aiseiri. The next stage of the Project could bring enormous benefits to the town in terms of tourism and visitors generally and I hope that the Committee Members involved receive the support of the local people for the funanza planned over the August Bank Holiday weekend to coincide with the launch of the Barge.
Thursday, June 8, 2000
Athy Borough Council in the 18th century
Athy of the 18th Century was a corporate town governed by an elected Sovereign and Burgesses, as it had been since 1613. The Borough records for 1738 which were transcribed by Sir John Gilbert the noted Historian who prepared the Dublin Corporation Records for publication give an interesting account of the following local cause celebre.
“At an assembly held in Athy in and for the Borough of Athy, on the 16th day of October 1738, before the Sovereign, bailiffs and free burgesses of each barony of said borough; whereas at the said assembly it appeared that Graham Bradford 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 for the said crime, it is therefore declared at the said assembly that the said Graham Bradford be and is hereby disfranchised and removed from the freedom and all other offices and employments of the said borough of Athy. In confirmation of which the said Sovereign and Burgesses have hereunto set their hands and affirmed the Corporation Seal this 16th day of October 1738.
A. Weldon , Sovereign Boyle Spencer George Bradford
J. St. Leger John Berry William Bradford
John Jackson Alexander Bradford Edward Harman”
One notes the use of the pillory in dealing with the perjurer and while transportation appears a somewhat harsh punishment for the offence, it must be viewed against the then contemporary sentence of death for offences which today would be unlikely to merit even a short term of imprisonment. For instance, on 16th August 1743, Luke Sherlock and his companion in crime, a young man named Donnelly, were hanged in Athy after being convicted of robbery. The Dublin Journal of 19th September 1756 reported that “Tuesday next John Cronin will be executed at Athy for Horse Stealing that fact he committed 4 years ago”. The place of hanging was probably Gallows Hill on the approach road to Athy from Dublin. In medieval times and into the 18th Century every town had its Gallows Hill, located on rising ground on the outskirts of the settlement. Athy’s Gallows Hill survives in name of the locality which witnessed many hangings over centuries of use. Indeed, a few years ago local man, Tommy Keegan drew my attention to the discovery of skeletal remains in a sand pit at Gallows Hill, no doubt those of some hapless individuals who suffered the ultimate penalty for some minor infraction.
In 1746, the normally calm proceedings of the Athy Borough were thrown into disarray by the removal from office as free burgesses of the town of Thomas Keatinge, Robert Percy and Nicholas Aylward. The last two named were removed from office on 25th June 1746 for attending a public meeting convened by Keatinge’s for the purpose of electing a burgess in place of John Jackson deceased. The meeting was called by public notice for a premises known as the Queen’s Head and by so doing, Keatinge was guilty of impersonating the Sovereign of the town.
The names of the Borough officials, Burgesses and Freemen of Athy in 1746 with one or two exceptions, clearly indicate Anglo Norman or English antecedents. It is fitting to note that again with those exceptions, the families which controlled Athy almost 250 years ago, are no longer represented amongst the present population. The names include:-
William Willock, Town Clerk Thomas Rutledge Bailiff
William Bradford, Town Sovereign William Hoysted Bailiff
Thomas Burgh , Burgess John Berry, Burgess
Robert Downes, Burgess Moore Disney, Burgess
George Bradford, Burgess John Browne, Burgess
Edward Harman, Burgess Joshua Johnston, Burgess
Walter Weldon, Freeman Edmund Lewis, Freeman
Edward Wale, Freeman James McRoberts, Freeman
Thomas Weldon, Freeman Robert Fitzgerald, Freeman
Jn. Hoysted, Freeman Richard Nelson, Freeman
It was these men who developed the commercial life of Athy and in some cases, provided the financial backing and expertise for the limited industrial growth which the town experienced after 1700. Michael Devoy who wrote a short history of Athy in Anthologica Hibernica tells us that Athy in the 18th Century had one of the best and most extensive tanyards in Ireland. Rocques map of Athy West of the Barrow prepared in 1768 shows two very large tanyards. Located at Beggar’s End was a 24 pit tannery owned and operated by Geo. King. At the rear of St. John’s Street, now Duke Street, in the area known to this day as the Tanyard, the Daker family had a 41 pit tannery. This latter tannery was to go into decline and eventually close around 1790 following the death of George Daker. King’s tanyard appears to have suffered a similar fate, as no trace of the one extensive tanyard is shown on a town map of 1831. Tanning was not lost completely to Athy, as a number of small tanyards were to be found in the town during the 19th century. In 1842 James Doyle had a small tanning business in St. John’s Lane while Stephen Wilson of William Street had a somewhat larger tanyard. These were the sole remnants of the once extensive industry which provided much needed employment to the men of Athy in the previous century.
My recent reference to J. J. O’Byrne the local School Teacher arrested and imprisoned during the War of Independence resulted in a lot of phone calls and letters. It now appears that his arrest followed an attempted to read the Easter Proclamation in the main street of Athy. More about him at a later date. In the meantime, my thanks to those who contacted me about Mr. O’Byrne.
“At an assembly held in Athy in and for the Borough of Athy, on the 16th day of October 1738, before the Sovereign, bailiffs and free burgesses of each barony of said borough; whereas at the said assembly it appeared that Graham Bradford 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 for the said crime, it is therefore declared at the said assembly that the said Graham Bradford be and is hereby disfranchised and removed from the freedom and all other offices and employments of the said borough of Athy. In confirmation of which the said Sovereign and Burgesses have hereunto set their hands and affirmed the Corporation Seal this 16th day of October 1738.
A. Weldon , Sovereign Boyle Spencer George Bradford
J. St. Leger John Berry William Bradford
John Jackson Alexander Bradford Edward Harman”
One notes the use of the pillory in dealing with the perjurer and while transportation appears a somewhat harsh punishment for the offence, it must be viewed against the then contemporary sentence of death for offences which today would be unlikely to merit even a short term of imprisonment. For instance, on 16th August 1743, Luke Sherlock and his companion in crime, a young man named Donnelly, were hanged in Athy after being convicted of robbery. The Dublin Journal of 19th September 1756 reported that “Tuesday next John Cronin will be executed at Athy for Horse Stealing that fact he committed 4 years ago”. The place of hanging was probably Gallows Hill on the approach road to Athy from Dublin. In medieval times and into the 18th Century every town had its Gallows Hill, located on rising ground on the outskirts of the settlement. Athy’s Gallows Hill survives in name of the locality which witnessed many hangings over centuries of use. Indeed, a few years ago local man, Tommy Keegan drew my attention to the discovery of skeletal remains in a sand pit at Gallows Hill, no doubt those of some hapless individuals who suffered the ultimate penalty for some minor infraction.
In 1746, the normally calm proceedings of the Athy Borough were thrown into disarray by the removal from office as free burgesses of the town of Thomas Keatinge, Robert Percy and Nicholas Aylward. The last two named were removed from office on 25th June 1746 for attending a public meeting convened by Keatinge’s for the purpose of electing a burgess in place of John Jackson deceased. The meeting was called by public notice for a premises known as the Queen’s Head and by so doing, Keatinge was guilty of impersonating the Sovereign of the town.
The names of the Borough officials, Burgesses and Freemen of Athy in 1746 with one or two exceptions, clearly indicate Anglo Norman or English antecedents. It is fitting to note that again with those exceptions, the families which controlled Athy almost 250 years ago, are no longer represented amongst the present population. The names include:-
William Willock, Town Clerk Thomas Rutledge Bailiff
William Bradford, Town Sovereign William Hoysted Bailiff
Thomas Burgh , Burgess John Berry, Burgess
Robert Downes, Burgess Moore Disney, Burgess
George Bradford, Burgess John Browne, Burgess
Edward Harman, Burgess Joshua Johnston, Burgess
Walter Weldon, Freeman Edmund Lewis, Freeman
Edward Wale, Freeman James McRoberts, Freeman
Thomas Weldon, Freeman Robert Fitzgerald, Freeman
Jn. Hoysted, Freeman Richard Nelson, Freeman
It was these men who developed the commercial life of Athy and in some cases, provided the financial backing and expertise for the limited industrial growth which the town experienced after 1700. Michael Devoy who wrote a short history of Athy in Anthologica Hibernica tells us that Athy in the 18th Century had one of the best and most extensive tanyards in Ireland. Rocques map of Athy West of the Barrow prepared in 1768 shows two very large tanyards. Located at Beggar’s End was a 24 pit tannery owned and operated by Geo. King. At the rear of St. John’s Street, now Duke Street, in the area known to this day as the Tanyard, the Daker family had a 41 pit tannery. This latter tannery was to go into decline and eventually close around 1790 following the death of George Daker. King’s tanyard appears to have suffered a similar fate, as no trace of the one extensive tanyard is shown on a town map of 1831. Tanning was not lost completely to Athy, as a number of small tanyards were to be found in the town during the 19th century. In 1842 James Doyle had a small tanning business in St. John’s Lane while Stephen Wilson of William Street had a somewhat larger tanyard. These were the sole remnants of the once extensive industry which provided much needed employment to the men of Athy in the previous century.
My recent reference to J. J. O’Byrne the local School Teacher arrested and imprisoned during the War of Independence resulted in a lot of phone calls and letters. It now appears that his arrest followed an attempted to read the Easter Proclamation in the main street of Athy. More about him at a later date. In the meantime, my thanks to those who contacted me about Mr. O’Byrne.
Tolls and Charges and Athy Borough Council
Last week I wrote of the first Town Commissioners elected by the ratepayers of Athy who replaced the Borough Corporation abolished by the Municipal Corporations Act of 1840. The first Corporation members had been appointed following Henry VIII’s Charter of 1515 and those appointed held office for life. In it’s early years the borough of Athy was primarily concerned with fortifying the town and paving the streets. Finance was provided through the tolls and customs collected by borough officials at the Tuesday market and the five annual fairs held in the town. It would seem that in time these monies originally destined for public works in the town were appropriated by the Dukes of Leinster.
The Corporation which had extracted custom and tolls on fairs and market days since 1515 continued to do so throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. At the commencement of the 19th century the following rates of custom were collected.
ARTICLE MARKET DAY FAIR DAY
Covered Standings with soft goods 10d. 1/8
Flat Standings 6d. 1/=
Standings for hand won cutlery 3d. 6d.
Prize or cast cloths standings 1/1 1/1
Hatter standings 1/8 1/8
Breeches makers standings 10d. 10d.
Brogue makers standings 2d. 6d.
Hawkers 2d. 6d.
Each load of wooden Ware 4d. 6d.
Each car with pigs, calves or lambs 6d. 6d.
Each car with one pig, calf or lamb 1d. 1d.
Each car with coals or culm ½ d. ½ d.
Each carcase of Pork, Bacon or Mutton 1d. 1d.
A strange butchers car standing 4d. 4d.
Bacon or salt meat per tub or table 2d. 2d.
Earthen wares per load 4d. 4d.
Calves, sheep, pigs or lambs each 1½ d.
Horses, mares, mules or asses each
Black Cattle, half to buyer, half to seller
6d.
4d.
The customs were let each year to the highest tenderer, with the successful person having the sole right to collect them within the town on the Market and Fair days. In the last five years of the corporations existence the tolls were collected by toll collectors appointed and paid for by the Corporation. The toll and custom receipts were paid to the Duke of Leinster, on what authority it cannot now be ascertained.
Another source of finance were payments for cranage. A public weighing scales was located in the Market Square and to it came the farmers and dealers who bought and sold their produce by weight. The schedule of cranage charges for 1817 indicate that ½d. was charged for weighing corn, malt, flour, butter, wool hides, coals, culm under 100 lbs. weight, and 1d. over that weight. Potatoes were weighed free of charge while 1d. was paid for weighing meat carcasses.
Apart from the yearly election of officers and nominating the parliamentary representatives when called up to do so, the Borough Council was of little benefit to the people of Athy. Whatever tolls and customs were collected were transferred to the Duke of Leinster, thereby reducing the Boroughs capacity to carry out improvements to the town. Presumably the Sovereign and his officials adopted some rudimentary policy in relation to the cleaning of the town. Certainly no Borough staff were so employed but householders may have been required to keep pavements and streets in front of their premises in a tidy order. The Borough did accept responsibility for public lighting in the town at some stage during the 18th century and by 1820 it had 30 public lamps which were maintained and lit by the town lamp lighter at a cost in 1824 of £22.00 per annum. Water pumps were also provided throughout the town, four being available to the public by 1800. By 1824 the town had taken to itself further Fair rights exercisable on different dates throughout the year while to the Tuesday Market operated by Charter the town now added a market on Saturdays. The Markets were particularly handicapped by the imposition of tolls at the Toll Gate at the entrance to the town on the Athy Castlecomer road. The resulting fall off in business in the town no doubt prompted the then Duke of Leinster in 1824 to propose to the town corporation the abolition of customs and tolls hitherto collected on his behalf on the two weekly market days. The taxes were still to be imposed and collected on Fair days while on market days only coal and culm were to be subject to custom. The retention and indeed the doubling of the custom on coal and culm to 1d. was justified on the grounds that being a trade carried on between the collieries and Dublin, its payment would not interfere with the town of Athy or the Duke of Leinster’s Estate. The Dukes proposal provided for the retention of the Cranage charges from which he suggested a scale of payments for the various Corporation officials, while the extra ½d. custom on coal and culm was to fund a suitable salary for the town Sovereign. The salaries adopted by agreement of the Borough in 1824 were :-
Deputy Sovereign £30.0.0.
Town Clerk £11.7.6.
Billet Master £ 2.5.6.
3 Sergeants at Mace £6.16.6.
Bellman £ 2.5.6.
Weightmaster at Crane £15.0.0.
Weightmasters helpers £ 5.0.0.
Weight master (coal and culm) £10.0.0.
Receivers on Fair Days £1.10.0.
3 Assistants on Fair Days £1.10.0.
4 Collections at other Custom Gates £ 3.0.0.
4 Assistants £1.10.0.
Collector of Market Square £1.10.0.
Park of the Dukes proposal was the setting up of a Committee comprised of townspeople to advice the Sovereign on matters relating to the cleansing and lighting of the town. Although this was agreed the records do not indicate whether the Committee was ever established.
The Corporation which had extracted custom and tolls on fairs and market days since 1515 continued to do so throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. At the commencement of the 19th century the following rates of custom were collected.
ARTICLE MARKET DAY FAIR DAY
Covered Standings with soft goods 10d. 1/8
Flat Standings 6d. 1/=
Standings for hand won cutlery 3d. 6d.
Prize or cast cloths standings 1/1 1/1
Hatter standings 1/8 1/8
Breeches makers standings 10d. 10d.
Brogue makers standings 2d. 6d.
Hawkers 2d. 6d.
Each load of wooden Ware 4d. 6d.
Each car with pigs, calves or lambs 6d. 6d.
Each car with one pig, calf or lamb 1d. 1d.
Each car with coals or culm ½ d. ½ d.
Each carcase of Pork, Bacon or Mutton 1d. 1d.
A strange butchers car standing 4d. 4d.
Bacon or salt meat per tub or table 2d. 2d.
Earthen wares per load 4d. 4d.
Calves, sheep, pigs or lambs each 1½ d.
Horses, mares, mules or asses each
Black Cattle, half to buyer, half to seller
6d.
4d.
The customs were let each year to the highest tenderer, with the successful person having the sole right to collect them within the town on the Market and Fair days. In the last five years of the corporations existence the tolls were collected by toll collectors appointed and paid for by the Corporation. The toll and custom receipts were paid to the Duke of Leinster, on what authority it cannot now be ascertained.
Another source of finance were payments for cranage. A public weighing scales was located in the Market Square and to it came the farmers and dealers who bought and sold their produce by weight. The schedule of cranage charges for 1817 indicate that ½d. was charged for weighing corn, malt, flour, butter, wool hides, coals, culm under 100 lbs. weight, and 1d. over that weight. Potatoes were weighed free of charge while 1d. was paid for weighing meat carcasses.
Apart from the yearly election of officers and nominating the parliamentary representatives when called up to do so, the Borough Council was of little benefit to the people of Athy. Whatever tolls and customs were collected were transferred to the Duke of Leinster, thereby reducing the Boroughs capacity to carry out improvements to the town. Presumably the Sovereign and his officials adopted some rudimentary policy in relation to the cleaning of the town. Certainly no Borough staff were so employed but householders may have been required to keep pavements and streets in front of their premises in a tidy order. The Borough did accept responsibility for public lighting in the town at some stage during the 18th century and by 1820 it had 30 public lamps which were maintained and lit by the town lamp lighter at a cost in 1824 of £22.00 per annum. Water pumps were also provided throughout the town, four being available to the public by 1800. By 1824 the town had taken to itself further Fair rights exercisable on different dates throughout the year while to the Tuesday Market operated by Charter the town now added a market on Saturdays. The Markets were particularly handicapped by the imposition of tolls at the Toll Gate at the entrance to the town on the Athy Castlecomer road. The resulting fall off in business in the town no doubt prompted the then Duke of Leinster in 1824 to propose to the town corporation the abolition of customs and tolls hitherto collected on his behalf on the two weekly market days. The taxes were still to be imposed and collected on Fair days while on market days only coal and culm were to be subject to custom. The retention and indeed the doubling of the custom on coal and culm to 1d. was justified on the grounds that being a trade carried on between the collieries and Dublin, its payment would not interfere with the town of Athy or the Duke of Leinster’s Estate. The Dukes proposal provided for the retention of the Cranage charges from which he suggested a scale of payments for the various Corporation officials, while the extra ½d. custom on coal and culm was to fund a suitable salary for the town Sovereign. The salaries adopted by agreement of the Borough in 1824 were :-
Deputy Sovereign £30.0.0.
Town Clerk £11.7.6.
Billet Master £ 2.5.6.
3 Sergeants at Mace £6.16.6.
Bellman £ 2.5.6.
Weightmaster at Crane £15.0.0.
Weightmasters helpers £ 5.0.0.
Weight master (coal and culm) £10.0.0.
Receivers on Fair Days £1.10.0.
3 Assistants on Fair Days £1.10.0.
4 Collections at other Custom Gates £ 3.0.0.
4 Assistants £1.10.0.
Collector of Market Square £1.10.0.
Park of the Dukes proposal was the setting up of a Committee comprised of townspeople to advice the Sovereign on matters relating to the cleansing and lighting of the town. Although this was agreed the records do not indicate whether the Committee was ever established.
Thursday, June 1, 2000
Athy Town Commissioners 1842-1849
The last meeting of Athy Borough Corporation was held on 29th September, 1841 when the Reverend F.S. Trench of Kilmoroney was sworn in as the Town Sovereign. Within six months the Borough Corporation which had been in existence since 1515 was replaced by elected town commissioners. The new body had 21 members all of whom were elected for three year terms unlike their predecessors who as members of the Borough Corporation held office for life on the nomination of the Duke of Leinster.
The first Town Commissioners for Athy, elected just three years before the Great Famine, were :-
John Lawler, P.P. R.W. Maxwell
Thomas Ferris Thomas B. Kynsey
Rev. Frederick F.J. Trench A.G. Judge
John Peppard Mathew Lawler
Robert Molloy Henry Hannons
Thomas O’Connor Dan Grady
Thomas Peppard John D. Waters
Mark Cross Thomas Shiell
John Lord Michael Lawler
James Irving Thomas Plewman
Patrick Commins
Ferris, Kynsey and Matthew Lawler were local doctors. Rev. Trench was the local Church of Ireland Rector, while John Lawler was the Parish Priest of Athy. While Church of Ireland Ministers had sat on the former Corporation the Catholic clergy were present on the Town Council for the first time in 1842. The involvement of the Parish Priest is indicative of the prominent role played by the clergy in civic matters in the years immediately following the granting of Catholic Emancipation. Under the Lighting of Towns Act, 1828 candidates for the position of town commissioner had to be occupiers of houses rated at £20.00 or more. Only occupiers of property rated at £5 or upwards were entitled to vote at the triennial election for town commissioners. In 1842 and again in 1844 elections were unnecessary in Athy as the candidates nominated did not exceed the number of seats available on the Town Commission.
Its first Chairman was Doctor Thomas Kynsey and immediately the new Commissioners set to work with an energy unknown to the former Borough Corporation. The town bellman was retained at a wage of 2 guineas a year while Thomas Shiell, one of the newly elected commissioners, resigned on the 7th March to take up the position of Clerk to the Commissioners and Billet Master at the yearly salary of £10. An Ouncil was purchased for the weighing of hay and straw while at their second meeting on the 4th April, 1842 the Commissioners agreed to provide a bell for the new clock donated by Lord Downes for the Town Hall and to put up under the clock a marble tablet commemorating the fact.
The Town Commissioners immediately accepted a number of presentments under which public works were to be undertaken by private individuals at the expense of the Town Commissioners. Included amongst those presentments approved on 18th April, 1842 were the following :-
£. S. P.
To John O’Neill for making a pair of Scale Boards
and adjusting the Beams 2. 2. 0.
To Michael Hylahaw for making a proper footpath from
Baileys corner to Dr. Lawlers and widening it 6 inches 5. 0. 0.
To John McManus, 40 Tons Gravel on Mt. Hawkins 1. 17. 6.
To John McManus, 40 Tons Gravel on Meeting Lane
and breaking the high stones 2. 2. 2.
To John McManus for sinking a Castledermot stone
at Mr. Judge’s small gate 0. 7. 6.
At it’s meeting on 6th June, 1842 the Town Commissioners agreed valuations which were to be placed on local properties and which were to form the basis of the rates imposed and collected within the town area to finance the work of the Town Commissioners. The list of valuations showed that there 857 houses in the town, of which 380 were slated and 477 thatched.
It is interesting to note that between 1842 and 1851 the only rates struck by the Commissioners were £30.15.6 in the first year of its operation and £50 in 1851. A large portion of the Commissioners’ revenue came from payments at the public weighing scales in the Market Square. Since the time of the former Corporation a salaried weighmaster was in office but he was pensioned off in 1848. Subsequently the public scales was let on a yearly basis until in August 1852 it was again taken in charge by a full time official of the Town Commissioners. The weighmaster generally employed clerks whose job it was to note the weight registered on an official ticket. Free lance porters, supplied with a distinctive arm band by the Commissioners were available in the Market Square to assist in lifting and loading sacks for which they were paid ½d. per sack by each farmer or merchant availing of their services.
Another source of revenue was the monthly auction of manure collected from the streets of the town. The cleaning of the streets was of a most rudimentary kind, but most important, particularly in summer, was the use of a watering cart, designed to keep down the dust.
It wasn’t until December 1848 that the Commissioners gave active consideration to the need for street sweeping. In that month a committee of three was appointed to wait on the Board of Guardians to enquire on what terms the paupers in the poor house would sweep streets from 10 o’clock each day. The time was carefully chosen so as not to interfere with the right of householders to gather up the manure in front of their own doors - an important concession at a time when artificial fertilisers were unknown.
The Board of Guardians were less than sympathetic to the Town Commissioners’ delegation and on the 6th January, 1849 the Commissioners agreed “that two men be appointed as scavengers to keep the town clean and that two wheelbarrows be provided for them”.
In this the centenary year of the Urban District Council it’s heartening to remind ourselves of the many advances made by our Town Council since the appointment of the two men with wheelbarrows 150 years ago.
The first Town Commissioners for Athy, elected just three years before the Great Famine, were :-
John Lawler, P.P. R.W. Maxwell
Thomas Ferris Thomas B. Kynsey
Rev. Frederick F.J. Trench A.G. Judge
John Peppard Mathew Lawler
Robert Molloy Henry Hannons
Thomas O’Connor Dan Grady
Thomas Peppard John D. Waters
Mark Cross Thomas Shiell
John Lord Michael Lawler
James Irving Thomas Plewman
Patrick Commins
Ferris, Kynsey and Matthew Lawler were local doctors. Rev. Trench was the local Church of Ireland Rector, while John Lawler was the Parish Priest of Athy. While Church of Ireland Ministers had sat on the former Corporation the Catholic clergy were present on the Town Council for the first time in 1842. The involvement of the Parish Priest is indicative of the prominent role played by the clergy in civic matters in the years immediately following the granting of Catholic Emancipation. Under the Lighting of Towns Act, 1828 candidates for the position of town commissioner had to be occupiers of houses rated at £20.00 or more. Only occupiers of property rated at £5 or upwards were entitled to vote at the triennial election for town commissioners. In 1842 and again in 1844 elections were unnecessary in Athy as the candidates nominated did not exceed the number of seats available on the Town Commission.
Its first Chairman was Doctor Thomas Kynsey and immediately the new Commissioners set to work with an energy unknown to the former Borough Corporation. The town bellman was retained at a wage of 2 guineas a year while Thomas Shiell, one of the newly elected commissioners, resigned on the 7th March to take up the position of Clerk to the Commissioners and Billet Master at the yearly salary of £10. An Ouncil was purchased for the weighing of hay and straw while at their second meeting on the 4th April, 1842 the Commissioners agreed to provide a bell for the new clock donated by Lord Downes for the Town Hall and to put up under the clock a marble tablet commemorating the fact.
The Town Commissioners immediately accepted a number of presentments under which public works were to be undertaken by private individuals at the expense of the Town Commissioners. Included amongst those presentments approved on 18th April, 1842 were the following :-
£. S. P.
To John O’Neill for making a pair of Scale Boards
and adjusting the Beams 2. 2. 0.
To Michael Hylahaw for making a proper footpath from
Baileys corner to Dr. Lawlers and widening it 6 inches 5. 0. 0.
To John McManus, 40 Tons Gravel on Mt. Hawkins 1. 17. 6.
To John McManus, 40 Tons Gravel on Meeting Lane
and breaking the high stones 2. 2. 2.
To John McManus for sinking a Castledermot stone
at Mr. Judge’s small gate 0. 7. 6.
At it’s meeting on 6th June, 1842 the Town Commissioners agreed valuations which were to be placed on local properties and which were to form the basis of the rates imposed and collected within the town area to finance the work of the Town Commissioners. The list of valuations showed that there 857 houses in the town, of which 380 were slated and 477 thatched.
It is interesting to note that between 1842 and 1851 the only rates struck by the Commissioners were £30.15.6 in the first year of its operation and £50 in 1851. A large portion of the Commissioners’ revenue came from payments at the public weighing scales in the Market Square. Since the time of the former Corporation a salaried weighmaster was in office but he was pensioned off in 1848. Subsequently the public scales was let on a yearly basis until in August 1852 it was again taken in charge by a full time official of the Town Commissioners. The weighmaster generally employed clerks whose job it was to note the weight registered on an official ticket. Free lance porters, supplied with a distinctive arm band by the Commissioners were available in the Market Square to assist in lifting and loading sacks for which they were paid ½d. per sack by each farmer or merchant availing of their services.
Another source of revenue was the monthly auction of manure collected from the streets of the town. The cleaning of the streets was of a most rudimentary kind, but most important, particularly in summer, was the use of a watering cart, designed to keep down the dust.
It wasn’t until December 1848 that the Commissioners gave active consideration to the need for street sweeping. In that month a committee of three was appointed to wait on the Board of Guardians to enquire on what terms the paupers in the poor house would sweep streets from 10 o’clock each day. The time was carefully chosen so as not to interfere with the right of householders to gather up the manure in front of their own doors - an important concession at a time when artificial fertilisers were unknown.
The Board of Guardians were less than sympathetic to the Town Commissioners’ delegation and on the 6th January, 1849 the Commissioners agreed “that two men be appointed as scavengers to keep the town clean and that two wheelbarrows be provided for them”.
In this the centenary year of the Urban District Council it’s heartening to remind ourselves of the many advances made by our Town Council since the appointment of the two men with wheelbarrows 150 years ago.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
