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Carlow County - Ireland Genealogical Projects (IGP TM)
County
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News Round-up, 1963 By Mary Smith. Source: Carloviana Dec. 1963. Vol. 1. No. 12.
page 18-20. Just over three
hundred years ago Cromwell’s men, under General Henry Ireton, succeeded
in breaching the walls of Carlow Castle. To the small population, the
roar of cannon and the din at tumbling walls must have seemed like the
death of their doomed town. The impregnable fortress, had fallen and a
ruthless enemy bestrode them – expectation of survival was dim. But among those forefathers of ours there must
have been strong and eager hearts and hands. With purpose and
dedication, and in spite of the tides of war and rebellion, Carlow was
gradually rebuilt, and now stands foremost among the provincial towns of
Ireland. Today, in 1963, there is still that same feeling of urgency and
progress in the town. It is a fast-growing entity, and an annual
survey such as this amazes one with the extent of its development. During the past year another fine school, this
time for secondary boy’s, has been opened by the Christian Brothers on
Station Road, thereby completing a kind of scholastic perimeter which
has Carlow Collage as its centre. With sorrow we saw the chestnut trees go, but
the cherry-blossom will ‘be a solace. Transformation A transformation has taken place in the former
Barrack Street School which, after reconstruction, has become the Carlow
head-quarters of the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union. The Dublin Road entrance to the town will soon
be enhanced by flower-topped walls and a. new gate to St. Dympna’s
Hospital. This region received a welcome shot in the arm with the
removal some months ago of what was surely Carlow’s ugliest derelicts -
the ruins at the Station Road junction. A new sewerage scheme is on foot to cater for
greater Carlow, from the Barrow Mills to Burrin Bridge, and on to
Hanover where over ninety houses are to be built. These, with the Henry
St buildings, the “Houses for Gardai“ scheme, and the Sugar Company’s
houses on Oak Park Road are expected to fulfil the needs for the
present. New houses need new roads, and the most
important of these is at the moment under construction. This £30,000 job
will link the Dublin and Athy Roads, and in volves the building of a new
bridge over the railway. The first stage was open in time to take peak
traffic to the Oak Park processing plant and proved a great relief to
many. It diverts some of the traffic from our crowded streets, and will,
we hope, do something to spare the celling’s of our Victorian house’s,
built for a quieter age! Incidentally, may one add here a word of
admiration for the Georgian type houses which C.S.E. has built on Oak
Park Read - so much in keeping with what the road once was, a quiet
backwater. By-Pass Road The by-pass road progresses. though slowly
-there is now through traffic to Potato Market, and at the imposing
Burrin Street end foundations are at last going down for our new Post
Office. Frustrated telephone subscribers took new heart on reading that
tenders were invited for the building of Carlow’s Automatic Telephone
Exchange, and that they will be sustained till 1965 by four additional
boards at our present G.P.O. Industries flourish vigorously. On the
Barrowside the new Bacon Factory is in full production. So too is the
Eagle Engineering Works in a new home on the Green Road. Erin Product
Foods from the Sugar Company seem to be as popular in London, Manchester
and Edinburgh as at home, and our sugar has reached, among other places,
the jam factories of Co. Armagh. Beer (I suppose) in its initial stage
is catered for in a miniature skyscraper on the Barrow track - Watson’s
new 10,000-barrel silo, and at the Sugar Factory biggest silo of them
all went up in November, capacity 20,000 tons. Small wonder that the
Secretary informed the Chamber of Commerce that Carlow had very little
labour left; for further industry. Eminent Visitor’s During the year Carlow welcomed some eminent
visitors. In November came the British Ambassador Sir Ian MacLennan, on
a visit to the Sugar Factory. (It is undoubtedly not the fault of Sir
Ian that his simplification of the recent agreement between Britain and
the Sugar Company ran viscous as syrup for one reader). The historic past was recalled by a visit in
the summer from Mrs. O’Reilly, sister of Michael O’Hanrahan, the patriot
and writer, executed in 1916. She visited the Workman’s Club of which
her brother was a co-founder, and presented a silver trophy to the
O’Hanrahan G.F.C. in his memory. Mr. McCloskey, the American Ambassador, toured
the Sugar Factory in April, enjoyed a tasty lunch of Erin foods and
received an address of welcome from the U.D.C. In return, we ourselves could have chosen no
better ambassador than Liam D. Bergin, an Hon. President of O.C.S., who
paid a lengthy visit to the States in the summer. He toured 4,000 miles
of America by bus, speaking with vision and insight to the most informed
of audiences, interviewing among others President Kennedy and Cardinal
Spellman. We reap the reward of his travels in The Nationalist’s
excellent and most aptly named series of articles, “A Long Day’s
Journey.” Highest Honour The highest honour of the profession was
bestowed on State Solicitor, Francis J. Lanigan, when he was elected
President of the Law Society in December. We offer him sincere if
belated congratulations from! the town of his adoption. Felicitations to Mr. W. H. Hadden on reaching
the 60th anniversary of his business life. Long may his benign
associations with Carlow continue. During the summer we had to bid farewell to our
Administrator, Fr. Coughlan, on his appointment as P.P. of Arles, and we
welcome Fr. Crowley, who succeeds him here. A warm welcome too to Fr.
Fingleton, our new curate, and to Fr. Waldron who has returned after a
period of ill-health. The year has taken its toll of well-known
friends. With Godfrey McDonald’s passing in May a sense of very real
regret came to us all. Apart from his other interests, he was to many
of us the personification of the Savoy Opera: much lore of the old
Gilbert and Sullivan days died with him. Gone too are such well-known personalities as
Mr. Hayden of Killeshin whose research on Laois and its history gave us
such wonderful papers at Old Carlow meetings; Mick Snoddy, Jerry Nolan
and George McCarney, stalwarts of the Christian Brothers’ P.P.U., and
John O’Brien, lover and judge of the antique in furniture. Major Changes Places are no more impervious to alteration
than are their occupants, but it is sad to record two major changes on
the Quay. The old Flyboat Hotel has fallen before the bulldozer, and a
new house is now rising on its site. We have lost a craftsman down there
too by the departure of Paddy Brophy, Carlow's last cooper, a gentle
quiet man who 'fashioned the white wood into churns and firkins and
surprisingly delicate troughs for pigs. Progress has caused a notable hiatus on the
Kilkenny Road. The old Union is down, another victim of the bulldozer.
Within a few years there should rise there the proud walls of Ireland
first provincial Technical College. Erindale in its beautiful setting on the river
has become a guest house for anglers since its purchase by Scotsman last
year, The 150 years old house and its environs has had £20,000 spent on
it and is said to be a paradise for fishermen. Traces of older: times sometimes came to light:
Over an archway in Burrin Street, Michael Kelly recently discovered the
sign of the 200-year-old inn, “The Yellow Lion.” The finding of packets;
of century-old pawn tickets in a house in Castle Street and the
supplementary book-keeping engraved with candle flame on the rafters
causes me to wonder. This was surely an abnormal filing system, even in
1841! Outstanding
Talks Some outstanding talks were given in the O.C.S
in the last session. It was a crowded house for Most Rev, Dr. Simms
lecture on the Book of Kells, a revelation of medieval beauty.
Incidentally, the function brought in £25 which was donated to the
Freedom from Hunger Campaign. In January, Lt. Col. Eugene gave a talk on Dr.
Quinlan, the doner of the Quinlan Burse in Carlow College. It was a
fascinating story, ranging as it did from Ireland to Paris and Czarist
Russia, and it was inimitably told. Brendan Kealy lectured on pre-Christian Carlow
to a large and interested audience in April, and Harry Fennell’s
illustrated paper on the history of Carlow Rugby Club brought together a
host of enthusiasts and many additional reminiscences from the
listeners. Carlow’s musical treats this year was the
production of “The Merry Widow" by the Operatic Society. Romantic
settings, wonderful costumes and beautiful girls-but this year, I think,
the men’s chorus stole the show with their energetic and outrageous
“Giris, Giris, Girls!" It was worth every penny of the £100 voted to the
Society from the Shaw Trust! Festival Cup The Little Theatre Society had a major success
at New Ross Drama Festival with their production “The Little Faxes.”
They won the Festival Cup, and members; of the cast received special
awards for their excellence in a. very challenging play November brought us Charles Lynch and James
Furst in a recital arranged by the Arts Council. What a feast of music -
we do not realise our luck in being able to hear in our own town,
artists of international repute. The competition for the McCullough Cup,
under the same auspices, was held on the same day. Congratulations to
the talented winner, Oliver McDermott. A record of the town would not be complete
without a mention of the three familiar figures who this year retired
from public life and are now enjoying an autumn of relaxation. In
November, Tom O’NeiIl, former Circuit Court Clerk, took big final bow
after 40 years’ service to the Court. In the same month Paddy Dillon,
Staff Officer of the County Council, retired, as did Dick Ellis, a
valued member of The Nationalist staff. Our good wishes to all of them -
may the years ahead; be as rewarding as those gone by. Status Symbol A private swimming-pool is an exclusive status
symbol today, even if it is a do-it-yourself job, so we may be pardoned
for feeling rather proud of the advances made towards our own civic
pool. An energetic committee is promoting all kinds of money-making
activities, and thanks in these and the extreme generosity of many local
traders and professional people and of the townspeople in general, the
financial target will probably be reached next year. Already an architect is being consulted as to
the suitability of the site in the Park. Perhaps by 1965, given good
weather, we may all be in the swim. In the meantime, however, what about joining a
Judo Club? Believe it or not, your town boasts just that, and let me add
that in the first week it had more students than it could deal with and
had overflowed to larger quarters. The energy of the young is an amazing
and powerful potential. My round-up ends on a note of subdued triumph. Though we are sorry that the town is to lose such a noble show-piece as the Brownes Hill entrance gates, we must feel justly proud at the thought that they are to stand from now on at the entrance to the National University of Ireland. There is dramatic irony in the thought that the great gates, which in I756 closed the public highway to the ordinary wayfarer, should now swing wide open to provide, in the words of Newman, “the great ordinary means to a great but ordinary end” Author: MARY SMYTH, 1963. Source: Carloviana Dec. 1963. Vol. 1. No. 12.
page 18-20. |
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