Sr. Oliver's 90th Birthday
An entry in the annals of the Sisters of Mercy Convent for 1935 reads: “During the year the creation of a row of cottages facing the Convent on the borders of the Clonmullin Road and just beyond the...
View ArticleDes Murphy / Ber Cross
Last week Des Murphy formerly of St. Michael's Terrace died in his county Meath home. His remains were brought back to his home town for burial in St. Michael's cemetery to rest along side his parents...
View Article'Mossy' O'Reilly
He was at different times in his life a footballer, a balladeer, an actor, a public representative, a political activist and a guest of the nation. To the people of South Kildare George...
View ArticleHarland and Wolff Choir in Athy / Amalgamation of CBS and Convent School
The name Harland and Wolff conjures up many images. Tragedy hovers on the fringes of many of those images. It was in the sprawling shipyard of Harland and Wolff that the Titanic was built by Belfast...
View ArticlePaddy Walshe's Book of Poetry / Leinster Street Pubs - Floods and McLaughlins
A very pleasant function in Kane’s public house in Leinster Street during the week saw the launch of Paddy Walsh’s book of poetry. Published by Glor na nGael, the slim volume of Irish poems, I...
View ArticleFrank O'Brien's 85th Birthday / Aidan Higgins
Sunday 22nd April was the 85thbirthday of the evergreen Frank O’Brien. The doyen of Emily Square, Frank is one of Athy’s greatest ambassadors. O’Briens of The Square has been a landmark in the centre...
View ArticleEducation in Athy
This week I return to the amalgamation of the Christian Brothers Secondary School and Scoil Mhuire, both 19thcentury institutions which since their foundation have been an integral part of the...
View ArticlePhotographs F.C.A. Athy / Duthie Larges Workmen / Doyles Pub
This week the pen gives way to the camera. I am showing a number of photographs from Athy’s past. The first is the local F.C.A. group taken in St. John’s Lane, Athy. The pier on the left side of the...
View ArticleInfluenza 1918
As the end of the first World War approached a previously unknown form of influenza swept through Europe and America. The first reports of what would become the greatest threat to health, even greater...
View ArticleAnthony Prendergast / Published Histories of Aontas Ogra / Athy Dominicans
We sat three abreast in the Church pew in much the same order as we had sat on the school benches in our old alma mater in St. John’s Lane over 50 years ago. We were in Crecora in County Limerick, a...
View ArticleAthy Dominicans - 750 Years Old
Founded in 1215 by St. Dominic the Dominicans or Black Friars within a few years spread rapidly throughout the European continent. In England the Dominicans first settled at Oxford in 1221 and two...
View ArticleShackleton Autumn School - Two Books - Bridges on the River Barrow / Achill
With the October Bank Holiday looming it’s time to remind all and sundry of the SHACKLETON AUTUMN SCHOOL which starts on Friday, 26thOctober with the official opening by Kevin Myers. The controversial...
View ArticlePhotographs / Athy Fire Brigade
Fire fighting has always been a community shared responsibility. From the earliest times volunteer firemen (never women in those days) provided whatever was needed to save life and property from the...
View ArticleDr. Don Rodrique de Vere
The 1930's in Athy as elsewhere were hard times. "There was not a shilling about" is one common claim. The weekly markets in the town were a hive of activity to where the local farmers brought their...
View ArticleDaly Brothers Athy 1961 / Dreamland
1961 was an important milestone in my life. In January of that year I left Athy to work in Naas. Nowadays the county town is just up the road, a short car distance away, but back 47 years ago it...
View ArticlePhotograph of Minch Norton / Asbestos Factory Outing to Navan / Review of...
1961 was an important milestone in my life. In January of that year I left Athy to work in Naas. Nowadays the county town is just up the road, a short car distance away, but back 47 years ago it...
View ArticleAthy's Charters of 1515 and 1613
A recent letter to the Kildare Nationalist from the President of the local Chamber of Commerce regarding the Tuesday market in Athy came to mind when a few days ago I came across a translation of...
View ArticleJohn Crosthwaite Watch Maker, Philip Crosthwaite San Diego
In 1760 a 15 year old boy left his parents house at Shanraheen, just outside Athy, and walked the main road to the capital city of Dublin. John Crosthwaite was destined to become one of Ireland’s...
View ArticleCastlemitchell Community
The history of the 800 year old town of Athy is a story of a community growing from the close-knit village of yesteryear to the more loosely connected life of a modern day sprawling urban centre....
View ArticleAthy Association Football Club
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the refounding of Athy Association Football Club. The first soccer club in Athy was believed to have been formed when a Mr. Sanford, a supervisor on the Barrow...
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