The Architecture of Athy
Visitors to Athy, at least those I have met, are unanimous in their views that the south Kildare town is endowed with buildings of architectural merit. Some of those buildings are included on the...
View Article'Do You Remember Jim' - the writings of Joe O'Neill
Local history is all around us. It is in the buildings, the streets and the people who make up the local community. Interest in local history has grown considerably in recent years and has become one...
View Article'Virtually Shackleton' 2020
The week started with the ‘Virtually Shackleton’ event on Saturday streamed from the Town Hall, Athy with a 10.30am start and continued until late that same evening. The early 18th century building has...
View ArticleSt. Vincent de Paul Society Athy
The local conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society has been doing extraordinary work within our community for many decades past. This year the Society faces many new challenges as Covid 19...
View ArticleCumann na mBan, Athy
It’s one of my many regrets that I didn’t realise the elderly lady whom I met in the early 1980s was once the Officer Commander of Cumann na mBan in Athy during the War of Independence. She was Mrs....
View ArticleKilmichael Ambush
Much has been written in the past week about the Kilmichael ambush, so much so that I was contacted by a number of readers seeking clarification arising from statements made by politicians and...
View ArticleChristmas 2020
Christmas time holds special memories for all of us. Joyful memories for many, but for some it is a sad period for reflecting on the loss of loved ones and times past. Family and community are so...
View ArticleGeneral Election 1920 and South Kildare
Towards the end of November 1918 the local newspapers reported on the arrangements made in the Athy area with regard to the General Election scheduled for 14th December. At a meeting held in Athy,...
View ArticleWhites Castle and the early years of medieval Athy
Last week’s Kildare Nationalist carried a news item concerning White’s Castle and an announcement of the forthcoming auction of what was described as a 2.5 acre development site in the centre of Athy....
View ArticleMethodism in Athy
One of the many interesting exhibits in Athy’s Shackleton Museum refers to the town’s religious diversity. On its formation in the 12th century and for two centuries thereafter the inhabitants of the...
View ArticleIrish White Cross Committee Athy
The New Year brings us further into the decade of commemoration. The first day of 1921 saw the destruction of seven houses in Middleton, Co. Cork as an act of reprisal by crown forces. It followed the...
View ArticleTom Moore, long time Secretary of Rheban G.F.C.
He was born in 1901, the youngest of seven children, and grew up in Rheban on a small farm with the nearby Grand Canal as his youthful playground. His name will be forever linked with Rheban Gaelic...
View ArticleIrish Land League Branch Athy
The Irish National Land League, commonly called the Land League, was founded on 21 October 1879 at a meeting held in a Dublin hotel attended by Michael Davitt and Charles Stewart Parnell. It followed...
View ArticleTurf Development Board/Bord na Mona
The recent announcement of the cessation of peat extraction by Bord na Mona highlights the important part ancient boglands have played in creating jobs in south Kildare. As early as the final year of...
View ArticleFundraising for new Convent of Mercy in the 1840s
The Museum Standards Programme for Ireland was established by the Heritage Council some years ago to promote professional standards in the care of collections in Irish museums and galleries. Last week...
View ArticleAthy's protected structures
The public advertisement in the local newspapers last week of the proposed development of a Food, Drinks & Skills Innovation Hub at the former Model School on the Dublin Road is very welcome news...
View ArticleMother and Baby Homes Commission references to Athy's County Home
The recently-published Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation Report has been the subject of much comment and criticism. Running to 2865 pages, the report tells the story of Mother and Baby...
View ArticlePoverty in 19th century Athy and later
When I wrote some years ago of the influenza epidemic of 1918-19 and its deadly impact on the people of Athy and district, I had little thought that the world was soon to face into another pandemic....
View ArticleA Virtual Tour of Athy [1]
This week’s Eye is the first half of my script for a virtual tour of Athy, broadcast on local radio last Thursday. The second part of the tour will follow next week. We’re on the road to sweet Athy,...
View ArticleA Virtual Tour of Athy [2]
This week we continue our virtual tour of Athy, beginning at the town hall in Emily Square. Built 300 years ago as a market house, courthouse and borough offices, the building’s courtroom hosted many...
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