Preserving Local Authority Records
With the abolition of Athy’s Town Council looming on the horizon my thoughts have turned to the treasure trove of minute books, documents, maps and files which the local authority has accumulated over...
View ArticleChristy Dunne - Musician
Music has always been an important part of the social life of Athy people. Examining records going back as far as the 19th century one comes across many references to fife and drum bands, pipe bands...
View ArticleFamine Orphan Emigration Scheme (Part 1)
Some years ago I visited the Hyde Park Barracks Museum in Sydney and viewed the Australian monument to the Irish Famine. It was commissioned in 1999 by the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales on...
View ArticleErnest Shackleton
Since 2001 we have celebrated the life of the County Kildare born polar explorer, Ernest Shackleton, in the Autumn School which is held in Athy every October. The School and the Athy Heritage Centre...
View ArticleSr. Carmel Fallon and Athy's Irish Wheelchair Association
In this the centenary of the 1916 Rising it is a privilege to celebrate another centenary, that of Sr. Carmel Fallon who on 5thFebruary became a centenarian. I have written previously of the gracious...
View ArticleAthy's 1916 commemoration lectures
Kildare County Council has produced the third edition of the commemorative programme for this year’s centenary ceremonies in connection with the 1916 Rising. The programme is built on seven strands...
View ArticleAthy's Parliamentary representatives
The upcoming parliamentary elections give every Irish citizen on the Register of Electors the opportunity to participate in the democratic appointment of representatives to Dáil Eireann. It is a...
View ArticleSocial housing / local authority housing in Athy
The General Election has been contested on a number of issues and the one issue which had never previously received much national attention was that of social housing. Of course that issue has come to...
View ArticleAthy Heritage Centre and Positioning of Shackleton statue
Thirty three years ago a public meeting was held in the Courthouse, Athy to consider the setting up of a local museum. Following that meeting and subsequent meetings Athy Museum Society was founded....
View ArticleAthy and 1916 rebellion
On Tuesday, 22nd March, Athy’s contribution to the 1916 Centenary commemorations will commence with an opening lecture in the Arts Centre to be given by Kildare author and historian James Durney. His...
View ArticleAthy and the aftermath of the 1916 rebellion
Last week in anticipation of the 1916 commemoration lectures which start this Tuesday, 22nd March, in Athy Community Arts Centre I wrote of the activities in this area of Irish Volunteers from...
View ArticleMark Wilson and Francis Lawler's participation in 1916 rebellion
On Tuesday 29th March the second lecture in the 1916 series will be given by Dr. Des Marnane in the Community Arts Centre at 8.00 p.m. The subject ‘Saving the Honour of Tipp – Tipperary 1916’ promises...
View ArticleContinuing Athy's 1916 rebellion commemorations
The third lecture in the 1916 commemoration series takes place this Tuesday, 5th April at 8.00 p.m. in the Community Arts Centre, Woodstock Street. ‘Looters, Deserters and Crime in Dublin in 1916’ is...
View ArticleContinuing Athy's 1916 rebellion commemorations
On Tuesday nights over the past three weeks Athy’s Community Arts Centre has been a mecca for anyone interested in local events surrounding the Easter Rebellion of 1916. The series of lectures...
View ArticleErnest Shackleton and the rescue of the crew of the Endurance
On Easter Monday 24th April 1916 the Easter Rising erupted in Dublin. Contingents of men from the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizens Army quickly sought to seize sites in Dublin such as the GPO...
View ArticleAddress at concluding 1916 commemoration ceremony in Athy on 12 April 2016
Athy’s commemoration of the centenary of the 1916 Rising concluded on Sunday 17th April with a formal ceremony at Emily Square. The proceedings opened with the following address which I am reproducing...
View ArticleAthy Heritage Centre Museum granted full museum status
During the past week the Heritage Council announced that Athy Heritage Centre-Museum had been awarded full accreditation under the Museum Standards Programme for Ireland. This means that our local...
View ArticleThe official opening of Dooley's Terrace, April 1934
Mealys Auctioneers recently sold at auction a ceremonial key which had been presented to Sean T. O’Ceallaigh in 1934 when opening the housing scheme at Dooley’s Terrace. The silver key, inscribed with...
View ArticleAnti-partition movement 1949
‘It was decided in the interest of harmonious relations between all religions in the district that publication of the two letters from Northern Ireland be withheld.’ This entry in the minute book of...
View ArticleAlice Quinn, Esther Flynn and Sarah Cahill
Emigration has always been a central feature of Irish provincial town life but particularly so in Ireland of the post economic war years of the 1930s. I was reminded of this when talking recently to...
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