Positions open at Kilcullen Childcare

Kare has vacancies for a Childcare Assistant and a Kitchen Assistant on the Community Employment Childcare Scheme at KCCEC Kilcullen.

No experience necessary. Accredited childcare training will be provided, funded by DSP.

Applicants must be over 21 and in receipt of a qualifying Irish social welfare payment. Please contact your local Intreo office to check your eligibility.

Informal enquiries to Mairéad or Deirdre 045 448700. Vacancies are advertised on Jobs Ireland.

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'Christy' kicks off Kilcullen Bridge Cinema for 2026

A reminder that Kilcullen Bridge Cinema begins 2026 with the Irish film Christy, showing TONIGHT, Tuesday, 13 January, writes Teresa Nurse of Kilcullen Lions. Directed by Cork man Brendan Canty, it won the Best Irish Film award at the Galway Film Fleadh.

Set in Cork, it tells the story of 17-year-old Christy, who is thrown out of his foster home for attacking his foster brother. He is released to the care of his half-brother, Shane, and returns to his childhood community. Having tragically lost his mother at a very young age, he feels disconnected from the place and its people, and finds it hard to settle in. However, gradually, the local community begins to connect with Christy, helping him finally feel that he may have found a place to call home.

Christy is an ideal film for the New Year. Genuine and raw, it is an uplifting portrayal of community from the perspective of a teenager seeking his place within it.

Tickets €7 are now available at Woodbine Books, Kilcullen, and on Eventbrite.

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Dowling Property: 2-Bed Bungalow in Athy

24 Sli Bhearu. As per instructions of the Executors. Grant of Probate has been approved.

Welcome to No. 24, presented in excellent condition throughout with an extensive feature list that includes two double bedrooms, an upgraded gas heating system, an upgraded bathroom, and a large, private rear garden.

The accommodation extends to c.69 sq.mt. and the large rear garden provides for tremendous space if the new buyer requires an extension. The property is located in a small cul-de-sac with just three other properties, making it just the ideal position. 

The accommodation, which is well laid out, briefly consists of an entrance hallway, sitting room, kitchen/dining room, two double bedrooms, and a bathroom. All amenities are within a stone’s throw of your doorstep, which includes both primary and secondary schools, a creche, shopping in Lidl, Aldi, and Supervalu. The train station is just a short distance away, along with access to the M9/M7, just a 10-minute drive away.

AMV - €250,000. dowlingproperty.ie. Kildare Office 045 482189

If you are thinking of selling in 2026, then now is the best time of the year. We’d love to hear from you. Maybe one day it will be your property you’ll be reading about. 

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Kilcullen footpath works begin today

There are calls to support businesses affected by the significant traffic disruption, expected in downtown Kilcullen from today until the end of May, writes Brian Byrne, as a long-awaited improvement to footpaths and the street gets underway. The work was initially scheduled to begin before Christmas but was postponed to avoid disrupting shopping and traffic during the festive season.

The existing footpaths will be widened on the River Cafe side and extended down to the entrance to the Riverside housing estate at Firestop in the market square. In addition, a new junction will be created at the market square exit, eliminating the space's use as an ad hoc turning circle and also reducing traffic speeds entering the square. A new pedestrian crossing is also part of the plan. 

The layout of the footpaths and market square junction as proposed in the Part 8 documentation in March 2022.

Commenting on the first significant upgrade of the paths in about 30 years, Noel Clare of Kilcullen Community Action asked for patience as inevitable traffic disruption is expected. "It is also important that we all make an extra effort to support the businesses affected over the coming weeks," he added.

The River Cafe's Paul Treacy said the level of disruption will affect everyone but could be 'devastating' for small businesses in that part of town. "The cafe will remain open, and we hope that people are willing and able to come to us."

Although not officially part of the redevelopment of Market Square, first mooted in 2017 and subsequently approved through a Part 8 process in 2022, the design of the current works was included in the project plans produced by consultants Paul Hogarth, at the instigation of Kilcullen Community Development. The full plan for the square and downtown area is currently shelved because there are no funds available to progress the project, now costed at €1.4 million but expected to cost considerably more. The Part 8 process granting planning for the redevelopment was completed in 2024.

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Lions whist this week

The first Kilcullen Lions Whist Drive for 2026 is this Thursday, 15 January.

As usual, the venue is Scoil Bhride, with play starting at 8pm.

All whist players welcome.

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Listen Back: I Came to Knock

In the late 1970s, I was working for the Catholic Communications Centre in Dublin as a communications trainer and a journalist in its Network Tapes division, which produced recorded programmes for use in the religious curriculum in Ireland's schools. 

One of the tapes I worked on was about Knock Shrine in County Mayo. The parish priest at the time, the late Msgr James Horan, spoke with me about his experiences when he was first posted to Knock in 1963, and also offered his thoughts on reports of apparent miracles among often very ill people who visit Marian shrines.

Produced by Brian Byrne, from interviews I did for the I Came To Knock programme for Network in the CCC.

Women entrepreneurs event will hear about resilience from Newbridge author

A reminder that travel author Geraldine Osborne, originally from Newbridge, will give the keynote address at the launch of the She Succeeds 2026 calendar of events on 30 January in Kilkea Castle, writes Brian Byrne. The event is organised by the Local Enterprise Office Kildare and is described as an inspiring afternoon dedicated to female entrepreneurship, resilience, and creativity.

A retired medical doctor, Geraldine Osborne's first book was launched in October. Somewhere Cold is her account of a year in the 1990s spent living in an Inuit settlement above the Arctic Circle in Canada with her young family and her husband, artist Danny Osborne. That wasn't her only time travelling in extreme places—she has also crossed the uninhabited Chilean Altiplano without guides, and worked in active volcanic regions of Guatemala and Hawaii. She and Danny now live on the Beara Peninsula in West Cork.

The Kilkea Castle event, titled Saint Brigid's Legacy - One Woman’s Journey of Resilience, is the 3rd such annual gathering to celebrate St Brigid. It brings together women in business for networking, learning, and empowerment. Attendance costs €20 and includes lunch and a copy of Somewhere Cold. Registration can be made on the LEO Kildare website at this link. Spaces are limited. 

The event is delivered in collaboration with Enterprise Europe Network (EEN).

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