Deaths - Jack Mitchell / Marjorie Lehane Smith / John Higgins / Mick Corr / Billy Darling / Willie Doyle / Reggie Rowan

The grim reaper gleaned a rich harvest from amongst the local community last week. Last Sunday we prayed for seven men and women who had died, not all of whom I knew personally or at all well. Jack Mitchell from Coneyboro whom I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing both in his own house and in more recent times in St. Vincent’s Hospital was an exception. He was a man who took pride in his South Kildare roots. He had lived all of his hard working life in and around the Ardreigh area. His memories of times past and of the people now gone who filled his memories of youthful days were a treasure trove for an inquisitive researcher like myself. Jack shared his experiences and his knowledge of the days when life was sometimes cruel, work was always hard and pleasures were simple and seldom encountered. Jack Mitchell who was 88 years old last May first went to work as a fourteen and a half year old lad in Bergin’s Bar in Duke Street. He was under age for such work and Garda Johnny McMahon brought his bar tending career to a close following which he worked for A.L. Spiers of Burtown and later still for Mickey O’Meara of Ardree House. A spell as an Insurance man followed before Jack joined the South Kildare Tennis Club, later Geraldine Tennis Club on the Carlow Road where he worked for eleven years. Jack eventually joined the I.V.I. in 1952 as a pattern maker and he retired from there after 30 years. He spoke unhesitantly of those years which are often referred to as the “good old days”. No matter how hard or impoverished life then might appear to somebody looking backwards through a prism created in more affluent times, Jack never faltered in his admiration for those far off days. Strangely in the same week as Jack Mitchell died, two others who had lived in or around the ancient Borough of Ardreigh also passed away. Marjorie Lehane Smith lived with her husband and family at the bottom of Ardreigh Hill from the 1970’s before moving in more recent years to Tramore in Co. Waterford. He husband William Smith, a Vet, died some time before I returned to Athy in 1982. Marjorie’s mother Christine Lehane died two years ago while her brother Ollie died a short time previously. The Lehane family came to Athy in the early 1950’s when Benny Lehane opened a chip shop at William Street. The business prospered and later transferred to Andy Smith’s former premises in Leinster Street and expanded into the adjoining premises once occupied by the Athy Agricultural Co-op Society. Both premises were sold following Mrs. Lehane’s death and are now undergoing major reconstruction. John Higgins of Ardreigh also died last week. He had lived a full and long life after spending most of his adult life working in the local cement factory. By strange coincidence his good friend and former work colleague, Mick Corr also died that same week. Both had outlived so many of their old workmates who either died during their working lives or passed way soon after they had reached retirement age. Mick Corr was a former neighbour when during the 1950’s he lived with his wife and sons Francis and Plunkett in Butler’s Row. I remember the shock of Mrs. Corr’s early death nearly 44 years ago which left Mick a widower with two young children to rear on his own. He continued to live in Butler’s Row after his sons grew to manhood, left Athy to work elsewhere. Mick subsequently transferred to a new house in Nelson Street when the terraced houses of Butler’s Row were vacated prior to their demolition. Both Mick Corr and John Higgins enjoyed a long friendship first forged as work colleagues in the local cement factory. Even in death, they were not to be separated for as news of John Higgins death was being transmitted to Mick Corr’s sons, word was received of Mick’s death. At the same time Billy Darling, late of Leinster Street died in Manchester. If you remember Athy in the 1940’s and 1950’s you will remember Darling’s Barber Shop in what is now Redmond’s Dry Cleaners. Barber shops were then a common feature of Irish provincial towns and the names Darling and Mulhall were long associated with the profession of hair cutting and shaving in the town of Athy. I have written on previous occasions of the Mulhall family and its connection with the Barber shops of Athy. The Darling family like the Mulhall’s had a long history of involvement with the profession which was not confined to Athy but extended to the Curragh and beyond. Billy Darling died in Manchester where so many young Athy men and women had made their homes over the years and where just weeks previously another Athy man, Willie Doyle, passed away. He was a brother of Paddy Doyle and son of the legendary “Barracks” Doyle who came from a family extending back many generations in Athy. I met Willie Doyle in Manchester some years ago and again more recently when he visited his home town. He was a man who was justifiably proud of Athy and of its people. Another man with a long family history in Athy who died last week was Reggie Rowan. Reggie was a family friend and a close friend of my brother George with whom he shared many escapades during their young and single days. Indeed, legion are the stories I have heard over the years of the young red haired teacher with the unquenchable thirst and his friend, the lorry driver, both of whom had the time, the energy and apparently the wherewithall to get up to all sorts of devilment in their younger days. This despite the watchful gaze of a certain local Garda Sergeant who it is said once stopped a motor car on the railway bridge to find a somewhat inebriated young teacher slumped over the steering wheel while his front seat companion was in no better state. I’m sure it never happened but equally, I know that the same two young men worked hard while finding the time to enjoy the fruits of their labour. They certainly lived life to the full before taking any family responsibilities and it was understandable that tears flowed as the friend of a lifetime was laid to rest in St. Michael’s cemetery. Reggie Rowan died the day before the Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy turned the first sod on the new Business Park for Athy. A major stakeholder, in that development will be the business firm which Reggie helped to develop. Reggie and his father before him Mick (Rexie) Rowan were in the haulage business and a generation back the Rowans were involved in the transportation of goods by Canal Boats. Reggie worked long and hard over many years developing and extending the haulage business which for so long was dependent on contract work with Bord Na Mona. When the time came for Reggie to hand over the business to his sons, he had laid the foundation for further expansion and development on what is now an International Transport Business. The passing of so many links with Athy’s past in such a short space of time is a great loss to the town. To their immediate families, the loss of loved ones is more keenly felt and our sympathies go out to all of them.

Athy Workhouse - The Early Years

In September 1833 a Commission was established under the Chairmanship of Dr. Whately, Archbishop of Dublin, to report on appropriate measures to alleviate the conditions of the Irish poor. In its report in 1836 the Commission estimated the number of destitute persons in Ireland at not less than 2,385,000. It advised against the application in Ireland of the English Workhouse system which had been introduced there in 1834. The recommendations were not acceptable to the Government and on 22 August 1836 George Nicholls, an English Poor Law Commissioner, was requested to go to Ireland and report on the feasibility of applying the English Poor Law System to Ireland. The Government, acting quickly on Nicholls’ report and recommendations, introduced the Irish Poor Relief Act of 1838 which became law in July of that year. With the assistance of four English Poor Law Commissioners, Nicholls was now entrusted with the task of implementing the legislation. Dividing the country into 130 Poor Law Union Areas, arrangements were made for the appointment and election of Boards of Guardians. George Wilkinson, an English Architect, was appointed to prepare plans and drawings for the Workhouses and he was also given the responsibility of acquiring sites for the new Workhouses and supervising their erection. Nicholls, in his report, had recommended four separate buildings within each Workhouse complex to separately house the aged, children, males and females. However, the general mixed Workhouse was planned and built in all Union areas in Ireland within which separation of the different ages and sexes was to be enforced. The Poor Rate, introduced under the 1838 Act to finance the Workhouses, was levied in equal parts on the owners and occupiers of land within each Union Area. In 1843 occupiers of property under £4 valuation were exempted and their rates became payable by the owners. Under the 1838 Act, it was provided that 75% of the Board of Guardians would be elected by the ratepayers of the Unions with the balance appointed from amongst the Justices of the Peace in the Union Area. This was later changed to equal numbers of elected Guardians and nominated Justices of the Peace under amending legislation in 1847. The first meeting of Athy Board of Guardians was held in the Courthouse, Town Hall, Athy, on Thursday, 29 April 1841. Mr. R.M. Muggeridge, an Assistant Poor Law Commissioner, was elected Chairman, William Caulfield, Vice-Chairman, and Gerald Dunne, Deputy Vice-Chairman. Patrick Dunne was appointed Clerk to the Board at the yearly salary of £40. The Athy Workhouse opened on 9 January 1844. Before the opening, the Board of Guardians met and decided on the meal times and the diet for the inmates. Adults were to have breakfast at 9.30am and dinner at 4pm. Children would eat at 9am and 2pm and would have an additional meal at 7pm. The Board of Guardians then proceeded to admit the first paupers to the local Workhouse and, on 9 January 1844, twenty-five were admitted comprising five men, four women, ten boys, five girls and one infant. On entry the paupers, as they were classified, were bathed, had their clothes removed from them and were supplied with the Workhouse uniform. Men and women were segregated as the separation of the sexes was seen as a fundamental requirement to maintaining discipline in the Workhouse. The Guardians met each week thereafter to approve admissions to the Workhouse. On 16 January, forty-one more paupers were admitted and on 23 January fifty-two luckless individuals including twenty-seven children were to don the Workhouse uniform. Admissions ran at an average of fifty a week until the end of February. On 15 February, George Carmichael and his wife Elizabeth were appointed Schoolmaster and Schoolmistress to the Workhouse children on the strict understanding that their own children would not be brought into the House. In the same month, Michael Byrne was employed as a Shoemaker with an allowance of 6d per day and shoemaking fees for instructing Workhouse boys in the trade. Also employed was a Master Weaver at a salary of £45 per annum to teach handweaving to the children. In 1857 the Board of Guardians agreed to do away with the Master Weaver’s position, deeming it to be a useless trade for boys at a time when loom weaving was superseded by machinery. The local Clockmaker, James Plewman, supplied a clock for the sum of £5.10.0. while the Guardians, obviously surprised at the number of children being admitted, ordered one hundred tablet boards for use in the schoolrooms. At 22 February there were one hundred and fifteen adults in the Workhouse and one hundred and seventeen children Michael Lawler was appointed Tailor to the Workhouse in March 1844 at a salary of £12 per annum. Part of his duties included instructing the young boys in tailoring. On 21 March the Guardians urgently sought quotations for coffins and the contract was awarded to Thomas Peppard to supply large deal coffins at 5/- each and smaller sizes at 4/- each. In 1844 there were several changes made in the Workhouse personnel. The returns for that year showed J.B. Pilsworth as Clerk of the Union and Richard Ivers as Workhouse Master, Elizabeth Quinn was still Matron, a position she held until she retired on age grounds on 26 March 1853. Built to accommodate 360 adults and 240 children the Workhouse had 300 inmates on 2 January 1845. Over the next few years Athy Workhouse was to be home to hundreds of impoverished Irish men and women for whom the Workhouse offered the only hope of survival. Their generation would never know happiness or fulfillment. Their lives would be spent in an endless round of misery and hunger until death brought the only possible relief.

Athy Workhouse - The Early Years

In September 1833 a Commission was established under the Chairmanship of Dr. Whately, Archbishop of Dublin, to report on appropriate measures to alleviate the conditions of the Irish poor. In its report in 1836 the Commission estimated the number of destitute persons in Ireland at not less than 2,385,000. It advised against the application in Ireland of the English Workhouse system which had been introduced there in 1834. The recommendations were not acceptable to the Government and on 22 August 1836 George Nicholls, an English Poor Law Commissioner, was requested to go to Ireland and report on the feasibility of applying the English Poor Law System to Ireland. The Government, acting quickly on Nicholls’ report and recommendations, introduced the Irish Poor Relief Act of 1838 which became law in July of that year. With the assistance of four English Poor Law Commissioners, Nicholls was now entrusted with the task of implementing the legislation. Dividing the country into 130 Poor Law Union Areas, arrangements were made for the appointment and election of Boards of Guardians. George Wilkinson, an English Architect, was appointed to prepare plans and drawings for the Workhouses and he was also given the responsibility of acquiring sites for the new Workhouses and supervising their erection. Nicholls, in his report, had recommended four separate buildings within each Workhouse complex to separately house the aged, children, males and females. However, the general mixed Workhouse was planned and built in all Union areas in Ireland within which separation of the different ages and sexes was to be enforced. The Poor Rate, introduced under the 1838 Act to finance the Workhouses, was levied in equal parts on the owners and occupiers of land within each Union Area. In 1843 occupiers of property under £4 valuation were exempted and their rates became payable by the owners. Under the 1838 Act, it was provided that 75% of the Board of Guardians would be elected by the ratepayers of the Unions with the balance appointed from amongst the Justices of the Peace in the Union Area. This was later changed to equal numbers of elected Guardians and nominated Justices of the Peace under amending legislation in 1847. The first meeting of Athy Board of Guardians was held in the Courthouse, Town Hall, Athy, on Thursday, 29 April 1841. Mr. R.M. Muggeridge, an Assistant Poor Law Commissioner, was elected Chairman, William Caulfield, Vice-Chairman, and Gerald Dunne, Deputy Vice-Chairman. Patrick Dunne was appointed Clerk to the Board at the yearly salary of £40. The Athy Workhouse opened on 9 January 1844. Before the opening, the Board of Guardians met and decided on the meal times and the diet for the inmates. Adults were to have breakfast at 9.30am and dinner at 4pm. Children would eat at 9am and 2pm and would have an additional meal at 7pm. The Board of Guardians then proceeded to admit the first paupers to the local Workhouse and, on 9 January 1844, twenty-five were admitted comprising five men, four women, ten boys, five girls and one infant. On entry the paupers, as they were classified, were bathed, had their clothes removed from them and were supplied with the Workhouse uniform. Men and women were segregated as the separation of the sexes was seen as a fundamental requirement to maintaining discipline in the Workhouse. The Guardians met each week thereafter to approve admissions to the Workhouse. On 16 January, forty-one more paupers were admitted and on 23 January fifty-two luckless individuals including twenty-seven children were to don the Workhouse uniform. Admissions ran at an average of fifty a week until the end of February. On 15 February, George Carmichael and his wife Elizabeth were appointed Schoolmaster and Schoolmistress to the Workhouse children on the strict understanding that their own children would not be brought into the House. In the same month, Michael Byrne was employed as a Shoemaker with an allowance of 6d per day and shoemaking fees for instructing Workhouse boys in the trade. Also employed was a Master Weaver at a salary of £45 per annum to teach handweaving to the children. In 1857 the Board of Guardians agreed to do away with the Master Weaver’s position, deeming it to be a useless trade for boys at a time when loom weaving was superseded by machinery. The local Clockmaker, James Plewman, supplied a clock for the sum of £5.10.0. while the Guardians, obviously surprised at the number of children being admitted, ordered one hundred tablet boards for use in the schoolrooms. At 22 February there were one hundred and fifteen adults in the Workhouse and one hundred and seventeen children Michael Lawler was appointed Tailor to the Workhouse in March 1844 at a salary of £12 per annum. Part of his duties included instructing the young boys in tailoring. On 21 March the Guardians urgently sought quotations for coffins and the contract was awarded to Thomas Peppard to supply large deal coffins at 5/- each and smaller sizes at 4/- each. In 1844 there were several changes made in the Workhouse personnel. The returns for that year showed J.B. Pilsworth as Clerk of the Union and Richard Ivers as Workhouse Master, Elizabeth Quinn was still Matron, a position she held until she retired on age grounds on 26 March 1853. Built to accommodate 360 adults and 240 children the Workhouse had 300 inmates on 2 January 1845. Over the next few years Athy Workhouse was to be home to hundreds of impoverished Irish men and women for whom the Workhouse offered the only hope of survival. Their generation would never know happiness or fulfillment. Their lives would be spent in an endless round of misery and hunger until death brought the only possible relief.

Athy Workhouse - The Early Years

In September 1833 a Commission was established under the Chairmanship of Dr. Whately, Archbishop of Dublin, to report on appropriate measures to alleviate the conditions of the Irish poor. In its report in 1836 the Commission estimated the number of destitute persons in Ireland at not less than 2,385,000. It advised against the application in Ireland of the English Workhouse system which had been introduced there in 1834. The recommendations were not acceptable to the Government and on 22 August 1836 George Nicholls, an English Poor Law Commissioner, was requested to go to Ireland and report on the feasibility of applying the English Poor Law System to Ireland. The Government, acting quickly on Nicholls’ report and recommendations, introduced the Irish Poor Relief Act of 1838 which became law in July of that year. With the assistance of four English Poor Law Commissioners, Nicholls was now entrusted with the task of implementing the legislation. Dividing the country into 130 Poor Law Union Areas, arrangements were made for the appointment and election of Boards of Guardians. George Wilkinson, an English Architect, was appointed to prepare plans and drawings for the Workhouses and he was also given the responsibility of acquiring sites for the new Workhouses and supervising their erection. Nicholls, in his report, had recommended four separate buildings within each Workhouse complex to separately house the aged, children, males and females. However, the general mixed Workhouse was planned and built in all Union areas in Ireland within which separation of the different ages and sexes was to be enforced. The Poor Rate, introduced under the 1838 Act to finance the Workhouses, was levied in equal parts on the owners and occupiers of land within each Union Area. In 1843 occupiers of property under £4 valuation were exempted and their rates became payable by the owners. Under the 1838 Act, it was provided that 75% of the Board of Guardians would be elected by the ratepayers of the Unions with the balance appointed from amongst the Justices of the Peace in the Union Area. This was later changed to equal numbers of elected Guardians and nominated Justices of the Peace under amending legislation in 1847. The first meeting of Athy Board of Guardians was held in the Courthouse, Town Hall, Athy, on Thursday, 29 April 1841. Mr. R.M. Muggeridge, an Assistant Poor Law Commissioner, was elected Chairman, William Caulfield, Vice-Chairman, and Gerald Dunne, Deputy Vice-Chairman. Patrick Dunne was appointed Clerk to the Board at the yearly salary of £40. The Athy Workhouse opened on 9 January 1844. Before the opening, the Board of Guardians met and decided on the meal times and the diet for the inmates. Adults were to have breakfast at 9.30am and dinner at 4pm. Children would eat at 9am and 2pm and would have an additional meal at 7pm. The Board of Guardians then proceeded to admit the first paupers to the local Workhouse and, on 9 January 1844, twenty-five were admitted comprising five men, four women, ten boys, five girls and one infant. On entry the paupers, as they were classified, were bathed, had their clothes removed from them and were supplied with the Workhouse uniform. Men and women were segregated as the separation of the sexes was seen as a fundamental requirement to maintaining discipline in the Workhouse. The Guardians met each week thereafter to approve admissions to the Workhouse. On 16 January, forty-one more paupers were admitted and on 23 January fifty-two luckless individuals including twenty-seven children were to don the Workhouse uniform. Admissions ran at an average of fifty a week until the end of February. On 15 February, George Carmichael and his wife Elizabeth were appointed Schoolmaster and Schoolmistress to the Workhouse children on the strict understanding that their own children would not be brought into the House. In the same month, Michael Byrne was employed as a Shoemaker with an allowance of 6d per day and shoemaking fees for instructing Workhouse boys in the trade. Also employed was a Master Weaver at a salary of £45 per annum to teach handweaving to the children. In 1857 the Board of Guardians agreed to do away with the Master Weaver’s position, deeming it to be a useless trade for boys at a time when loom weaving was superseded by machinery. The local Clockmaker, James Plewman, supplied a clock for the sum of £5.10.0. while the Guardians, obviously surprised at the number of children being admitted, ordered one hundred tablet boards for use in the schoolrooms. At 22 February there were one hundred and fifteen adults in the Workhouse and one hundred and seventeen children Michael Lawler was appointed Tailor to the Workhouse in March 1844 at a salary of £12 per annum. Part of his duties included instructing the young boys in tailoring. On 21 March the Guardians urgently sought quotations for coffins and the contract was awarded to Thomas Peppard to supply large deal coffins at 5/- each and smaller sizes at 4/- each. In 1844 there were several changes made in the Workhouse personnel. The returns for that year showed J.B. Pilsworth as Clerk of the Union and Richard Ivers as Workhouse Master, Elizabeth Quinn was still Matron, a position she held until she retired on age grounds on 26 March 1853. Built to accommodate 360 adults and 240 children the Workhouse had 300 inmates on 2 January 1845. Over the next few years Athy Workhouse was to be home to hundreds of impoverished Irish men and women for whom the Workhouse offered the only hope of survival. Their generation would never know happiness or fulfillment. Their lives would be spent in an endless round of misery and hunger until death brought the only possible relief.

Paddy Byrne - Castledermot

Our local sporting heroes of yesteryear are seldom if ever recalled at a time when unprecedented publicity is given in the Irish media to the English soccer league and its players. Have you ever wondered why it is that so much newsprint is given over to games involving English soccer clubs. Every young Irish lad and lassie is able to recount the deeds of Beckham and company. We no longer take pride in the sporting achievements of our own but instead seek vicarious pleasure in the activities of the soap opera which is now English premier league football. I was reminded of this while attending a function a few weeks ago when I was introduced to a lady who was originally from Castledermot. I normally associate places with famous people from the past and on that occasion I referred to Castledermot as the home of the great Paddy Byrne. Paddy was one of South Kildare’s most famous Gaelic footballers who plied his skills in the years leading up to the beginning of the Second World War. Paddy Byrne like all the other great sportsmen of his time is only remembered today in the record books of the GAA. In his day however Paddy was a remarkably skillful footballer who played not only for his native county but also for Leinster. To my surprise my mention of Paddy Byrne’s name brought a smile to my fellow guest’s face and the response “he was my father”. I have to say that I was delighted to meet her and to add to my store of knowledge of this once great sporting hero whose exploits brought pride and distinction to his village of Castledermot. Gaelic football in Castledermot has a history which stretches back to 1889 when a Gaelic Football Club was founded with the local curate, Fr. T. Ryan as the Club’s first President. This was just five years after the G.A.A. had been established following a meeting in Hayes’s Hotel, Thurles in November 1884. The onset of World War One had a debilitating affect on Gaelic games in South Kildare and both the Castledermot and Athy Clubs went into decline around that time. The Athy Club reformed as the Young Emmets and reached the 1923 Senior County Final with the assistance of at least one Castledermot player. That was Tom Forrestal whom I had the honour of meeting and interviewing in 1990. Naas trounced Athy on that occasion on the scoreline of 2 goals 5 points to no score. Maybe this hammering encouraged Tom and his Castledermot mates to reform the local club which had disbanded some years previously. In any event, 1925 was a significant year for Gaelic football in Castledermot for the new club enlisted as a member a 21 year old local man who had not played competitive football before. Paddy Byrne was destined to become Castledermot’s and indeed South Kildare’s most famous Gaelic footballer. Paddy was chosen for the County Junior team in 1927 and won a Leinster Junior medal when Kildare defeated Offaly in that year’s Leinster final. In the semi-final Kildare defeated their old opponents Kerry before succumbing to Cavan in the final. Cavan was to feature largely in Paddy Byrne’s sporting disappointments throughout his career. At club level Paddy won an Intermediate County final medal in 1928 when Castledermot overcame the might of Carbury. As a result the Club was promoted to senior level where it competed without success before being re-graded in 1931. The following year Paddy Byrne and his colleagues on the Castledermot team won their second Intermediate football final. Paddy was first selected to play on the County Senior team in 1929 where he joined Paddy Martin, an Ellistown man who also played with Castledermot. Martin had been a county player since 1923 and he continued to play for Kildare up to and including the 1936 Leinster Final which was lost to Laois. As far as I can find out Paddy Byrne’s first game with the County Senior team was the 1929 National Football League Final played in Croke Park and which Kerry won by 1-7 to 2-3. Paddy Byrne was a regular team player on the Kildare County Senior team for the following nine years. During that time he played in four Leinster Finals, winning medals in 1930, 1931 and 1935. The only Leinster Final in which Paddy Byrne played and lost was the 1936 Final when our neighbours Laois beat us on the score of 3-3 to 0-8. Paddy scored four points that day, but all to no avail as the Laois goal tally proved too much on the day. Following Kildare’s success in the 1930 Leinster Final Paddy and his colleagues played and lost the All-Ireland semi-final to Monaghan on 24th August of that year. The following year Kildare again came out of Leinster, beat Cavan in the semi-final and qualified to meet Kerry in the All-Ireland Final. Paddy Martin and Paddy Byrne, Castledermot players, were joined on the Kildare team for the All Ireland Final by a young player from Kilberry by the name of Paddy Myles. Myles had played brilliantly for Kildare juniors when winning the 1931 Leinster Junior title and the senior team mentors picked him to play his first senior County game in that years All Ireland Final. Kildare lost the final to Kerry by three points and while Paddy Byrne and Paddy Martin would continue with their County footballing careers, the All Ireland Final of 1931 was Paddy Myles’ one and only time to play with the Kildare senior team. The disappointment of the 1931 Final was forgotten by the time the Kildare County team blazed a successful trail through the early rounds of the 1935 championship. Again Paddy Byrne was in the Kildare forward line and contributed four points in the Leinster Final defeat of Louth. Cuddy Chanders, Paul Matthews and Tommy Mulhall of the Athy Gaelic Football Club were on the team that day, as they were when Kildare defeated Mayo in the All Ireland Semi-Final. Kildare was expected to win the All Ireland against the under-rated Cavan team and so travel as All Ireland champions to New York the following year. Cuddy Chanders, against whom no goal had been scored during the championship, was sensationally dropped for the final and the replacement goalie as might be expected in all the best melodramas let in three goals and Kildare lost the 1935 final by two points. Paddy Byrne had lost his second All Ireland. The lack of All Ireland success was in some way compensated for by Paddy’s success with the Leinster Provincial team on which he played from 1932 to 1937. He won Railway Cup medals in 1932, 1933 and again in 1935. No other Gaelic footballer from the South of the County has ever achieved such success. When Paddy retired as a player in 1938 he continued as an executive member of the Castledermot Club. Indeed he served several spells as Secretary of the Club and in later years as Vice President. Paddy Byrne, Gaelic footballer, described in the newspaper reports prior to the 1935 All Ireland Finals as “the most accurate forward in Ireland” died in 1990 aged 86 years. His feats on the football field are all but forgotten today but his achievements will live on in the record books of the Gaelic Athletic Association and whenever great players are mentioned the name of Paddy Byrne of Castledermot will always be recalled with pride.

Paddy Moran and Bloody Sunday - Patrick Moran killed Drogheda

On 19th March 1921 the Nationalist reported the execution in Mountjoy Jail of Patrick Moran from Crossna, Co. Roscommon. He was 33 years of age and had spent a number of years working as a shop assistant in Athy. Moran had earlier been found guilty by a courtmartial of complicity in the killing of a British Officer, Lieutenant Peter Aimes on what has now become known as “Bloody Sunday”. Aimes boarded at 38 Mount Street, Dublin, as did his colleague Lieutenant George Bennett. Early in the morning of Sunday, 21st November 1920 a number of men called to 38 Mount Street and on enquiring for Lieutenant Aimes were let in by the maid Katherine Farrell. The visitors who were armed with revolvers went upstairs and on entering Bennett’s room ordered him to get up. He was brought across the corridor into Aimes’ room where both men, believed to be members of the British Intelligence, were shot dead. That same morning a total of 14 British Officers were killed in Dublin. Patrick Moran with an address at Main Street, Blackrock and Joseph Rochford of Ranelagh were subsequently arrested and charged with the double killing. Both men were identified when put on an identity parade, although Rochford was subsequently acquitted when he proved that on the morning in question he was somewhere else. Moran was not so lucky as a number of witnesses came forward to identify him. These included a soldier held up by the raiders as they approached No. 38 Mount Street and who was brought into the house where he witnessed the shooting of Aimes and Bennett. Across the street from No. 38 lived another British Army Officer Major Carew who on being alerted by his servant watched the IRA men enter and later leave Aimes’ house. Although he was looking out from a fourth story window Carew was not prepared to accept any possibility of mistaken identity. Similar evidence was given by his servant. No less than 17 witnesses, not all of whom could be said to have Republican sympathies came forward to give evidence on Moran’s behalf. Many confirmed that in or around the time of the shooting they had seen him at Blackrock which was at least two miles distance from Mount Street. It was to no avail. When the trial concluded on 15th February 1921 Moran was found guilty and sentenced to death. He was returned to Mountjoy rather than Kilmainham Jail as just days previously a number of Republican Prisoners had escaped from the latter prison. Amongst them was Simon Donnelly who had been arrested on 10th February, Ernie O’Malley who had hidden his real identity from the Prison authorities and Frank Teeling who was captured on “Bloody Sunday”. It is claimed that Paddy Moran was to have been part of the escape party but that his place for some unexplained reason was taken by Simon Donnelly. Donnelly when writing in later years of the Kilmainham Jail escape claimed that Moran who was still awaiting trial was so sure of being acquitted that he felt his involvement in a prison escape would be an acknowledgment of his guilt. On 14th March 1921 Patrick Moran was one of six men hanged in Mountjoy Jail. The other men hanged were Thomas Whelan of Clifden, Thomas Bryan, Patrick Doyle, Frank Flood and Brendan Ryan, all of Dublin. Both Moran and Whelan were hanged for their involvement in the “Bloody Sunday” shootings of British Intelligence Officers while the remaining four men were hanged after treason convictions were secured. They had taken part in an unsuccessful ambush on crown forces at Tolka Bridge, Drumcondra on 21st January 1921. Patrick Moran was one of a family of eleven from Crossna in Co. Roscommon where he attended the local primary school. He served his time as grocers assistant in Boyle before moving to Dublin in 1910. Shortly after that he came to Athy where he spent a number of years working in the grocery shop of E.J. Glynn. Moran played Gaelic football for the local Geraldine Football Club, where one of his playing colleagues was the famous “Golly” Germaine. According to a report in the local newspaper Moran played an active part in local amateur theatricals as well as being a member of the local C.Y.M.S. On Sunday, 14th October 2001 the bodies of ten republicans who were executed in Mountjoy Jail and buried within the jail precincts were brought through the streets of Dublin for re-burial in Glasnevin Cemetery. Three of those ten men had links with the town of Athy. Apart from Patrick Moran who was well known in the town, Frank Flood’s brother Tom acquired a public house in Leinster Street where he lived until he died in October 1950. Kevin Barry’s sister married “Bapty” Maher of Athy and for many years the Maher family pub was at No. 23 Leinster Street. Just six days before Patrick Moran was sentenced to death another man with Athy connections was killed. John Moran of Church Street, Enniscorthy and his companion Sean Halpin of Drogheda were shot dead on 9th February 1921 by Black and Tans during a shoot-out near Drogheda. Moran was a son of William Moran and a nephew of Denis Moran, both of whom were natives of Athy. That same week Joseph Mullery of William Street, Athy was arrested in Cavan and lodged in Ballykinlar Camp. Back in his hometown of Athy the Crown forces were very active. An armoured car accompanied by a force of military arrived in the town causing some consternation and prompting the locals to stay indoors. The house of John Delaney, a brickmaker of Woodstock Street was raided and a number of what were described as “patriotic” pictures were removed from the wall, placed in the middle of the floor and stamped on by the raiders. Over the same weekend handwritten copies of a Military Order were posted up in the town of Athy. “PUBLIC NOTICE ROAD CUTTING AND DESTRUCTION OF BRIDGES The competent military authority has decided that in any area in which road cutting is indulged in the usual markets and fairs held in towns to which damaged roads lead will be stopped until roads are mended - By Order”. Executions, killings and the activities of the Crown forces during the early months of 1921 had a direct impact upon the people of Athy. Many more months would pass before the town, often described as a garrison town, would return to normality. The Republicans of Athy by then had regained for the south Kildare town some measure of the patriotic spirit which had remained submerged ever since the repressive activities of the military in the months leading up to the 1798 Rebellion.

Death of Thomas Dunne - Castledermot - 16 June 1922

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PHOTOGRAPH OF CAST OF 'DICK WHITTINGTON' - 1947

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gordon Bennett Road Race 1903

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

Athy Ballads and Balladeers (Part Two)

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

Athy Ballads and Balladeers (Part One)

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

Christmas Shopping in Athy - 1900

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Christmas to everyone.

Christmas Shopping in Athy - 1900

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

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

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

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

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

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

Athy Newsletter 1988-1997

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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