December cinema in Kilcullen

Christmas cinema starts in Kilcullen on Sunday, December 7th, with the hugely popular Elf, writes Teresa Nurse of Kilcullen Lions. First released in 2003, Elf is a firm family favourite at Christmas. 

It was produced by Todd Komarnicki, who has local connections. He is married to Athy girl Jane Bradbury and is a regular visitor to Kilcullen. 

The film stars William Ferrell as Buddy, a human baby raised as an elf in a city where no one remembers the true meaning of Christmas. After wreaking havoc in the elf community due to his size, Buddy heads to New York City to find his place in the world and track down his father. But life in the big city is challenging, and it is up to Buddy and his simple elf ways to win over his family, realise his destiny, and ultimately save Christmas. A great movie guarantees a fun time at the cinema.

The much-loved Casablanca will be the feature film for our Christmas evening on Tuesday, December 16th. Doors open at 7.30pm with festive mulled wine served. Casablanca, released in 1942, has come to epitomise the classic Hollywood studio picture. Ironically, it had a turbulent production history, marked by constant rewrites and radical changes in casting, with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman replacing Ronald Reagan and Ann Sheridan. Fortunately, director Michael Curtiz was on hand to give fate a helping hand in making the film one of Hollywood's most memorable romantic melodramas.

The film's familiar narrative focuses on themes of lost love, honour, and self-sacrifice in an exotic wartime setting. Bogart is the cynical nightclub owner in Casablanca who has a fateful meeting with the lover he left behind in Paris. She is now married to a French Resistance fighter hunted by the Nazis, and Bogart has to decide whether or not to help the couple escape to freedom. Casablanca must have appeared romantic and nostalgic even in 1942, and today it is celebrated as a timeless classic about the triumph of civilised values in a cruel world.

Tickets for both films are selling fast. They are available in Woodbine Books, Kilcullen, and on Eventbrite.

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Old Kilcullen Christmas gathering

Old Kilcullen Area Community Association are hosting their annual Christmas event at the old post box in Old Kilcullen on Sunday, 30 November.

There will be carol singing, along with festive drinks and snacks, in Brennan's Car Park. The event starts at 3.30pm.

Children can post their Santa letters in the restored post box.

All welcome.

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Home safety meeting

A Safety Meeting with Kilcullen Gardai will be held in Kilcullen Parish Centre on Monday, 1 December. It will also be the opportunity to meet Kilcullen's new Community Garda.

Home safety and online fraud will be among the items discussed.

All are welcome to the event, which runs from 6pm to 7pm.

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The passing of Larry Mulryan

The Diary has learned of the death of Laurence (Larry) Mulryan, Calverstown, Kilcullen, peacefully at home in the company of his family, on 21 November 2025. 

Predeceased by his parents James and Annie, Larry will be sadly missed and always remembered with love by his wife Mary, sons Laurence, PJ and Shane, daughter Elaine, son-in-law Alan, daughters-in-law Violaine, Sorcha and Eilish, his adored grandchildren, Ben, Emma, Oisín, Lilly, Erin, Ruadhan, Aoibhinn, Ruairí and Bría, brothers-in-law, relatives and his wonderful neighbours and dear friends.

Funeral arrangements later.

Rest in peace.

Planning permission refused for 74-homes development

Planning permission has been refused to Rivermanor Developments Ltd for a proposed 74-home development adjacent to Riverside Crescent and Bentley's Lane, writes Brian Byrne. The reasons for refusal relate to the proposed use of underground attenuation tanks, street design, and the prior removal of existing hedgerows and trees.

According to Kildare County Council, the application, as submitted, would materially contravene objectives of the Kildare County Development Plan 2003-2029 and the Kilcullen Settlement Plan. The reasons for refusal noted, inter alia, an absence of clear permeability through the site for pedestrians and cyclists, an absence of quality and usable public space, and design without any consideration of the natural character and context within which the site is set, located in proximity to the River Liffey.  

The developer has four weeks to appeal the decision to An Coimisiún Pleanála.

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Masterclasses in one-acts from Kilcullen Drama Group

One-act plays are the short stories of stage drama, writes Brian Byrne. Like in literature, there’s a special skill in revealing the complexities of human existence in the short form. Equally, there’s a particular craft in how actors interpret those stories and bring them successfully from the stage to the audience.

Both those skills were absolutely in evidence in the Kilcullen Drama Group’s presentation of three one-act plays this week.

In The Quiet Land, Malachy McKenna tells a very modern story against the background of the changing life and culture of rural Ireland. Any of us who have grown up in the country will understand the familiar that is fading as the time of the two characters runs down. Meeting at a gate linking their neighbouring farms has been their habit over the years, discussing issues of the day and memories from their boyhood. 

But this meeting will be different. McKenna’s script cleverly brings the threads of their far and recent pasts together towards a new future for each. The script is served by actors Gerry O’Donoghue and Maurice O’Mahony with the skill it deserves by two veterans of the Kilcullen stage, enhanced by the alchemy of Letitia Hanratty’s direction and design.

The language in a play written by a 19th-century writer could get in the way of becoming lost in the story told in a 21st-century theatre. But JM Synge's In the Shadow of the Glen does time travel surprisingly well in the capable hands of director Gerry O'Donoghue (he stepped away from the farm gate for this) and a stellar cast led by Dick Dunphy, back on the stage in Kilcullen 66 years on from when he first appeared there. 

The tale is messily eternal, set in rural Ireland, true to its time and yet still relevant. Fiona Kelly, as the scheming wife, brings her character and Synge's language to life superbly, while Fergus Ryan's man of the road seeking shelter is a masterclass in characterisation. Harry Murphy has grown into the quality actor one would expect from his family pedigree. All four mesh perfectly in this production, both foils and supports to each other.

Esther Reddy made her directorial debut with Baby Steps in this trio of presentations, and it's clear that she and her cast had a lot of fun with this thoroughly modern tale of tangled relationships on the verge of failure. Enda O'Neill and Katie Daffy, relative newcomers to the group, play characters trying to rebuild their marriage through the metaphor of assembling a flatpack baby's cot (spoiler alert: the cot does get assembled). 

On the other side of the stage is the chorus of Colette Fitzgerald, Colette Murran, Joan Murphy and Audrey Philipps, taking us through the pair's past in a string of one-liners, single words, and hilarious facial commentary. Lorraine Clarke makes a short but essential appearance. It's all a perfect counterpoint to the rurality of the other two plays. 

A tiny play ender, written by Dermot Bolger for the Fishamble Theatre, finishes the evening. Performed skilfully by Eilis Philips, Where Will We Go? asks us to think of the characters left behind when the curtain falls and the audience departs.

It has been some time since Kilcullen Drama Group, including the always great backstage crew, has given us the particular entertainment of the one-acts. They haven't lost their touch.

All the Diary's photos from the evening can be seen here.

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Hampers raffle for Maintain Hope

Please support the Christmas Raffle for Maintain Hope, writes Esther Reddy. Two gorgeous hampers, filled with Lindt chocolates and other lovely festive treats, are the prizes on offer. 

The hampers are displayed in Berney's Chemist and tickets can be purchased there for €5 each. 

Your contribution will help Maintain Hope to provide life-saving medication for our vulnerable children and their families in Kenya. 

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Mrs Book in Kilcullen Library tomorrow

The wonderful Mrs Book will be making an appearance in Kilcullen Library tomorrow,  Saturday morning. 

Storytime and entertainment for children of all ages.

Starting at 11am.

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Kilcullen News Update

An Tearmann celebrates a year ... Book launch on M9 archaeological finds ... Christmas Draw tickets for St Anne's Special School ... Trial of acute illness triage service in Kilcullen Family Practice ... Positions open at Halverstown NS ... AGM of Kildare Credit Union ...

Reporting since 2005 from a Village Grown Bigger. Produced by Brian Byrne for Kilcullen Diary.

An Tearmann celebrates, one year on

A celebration yesterday marked a year since An Tearmann reopened after the cafe had been closed for several years due to Covid, writes Brian Byrne. The business was revived in 2024 by David Hogan and his wife, Salima, with the cooperation of Camphill Communities of Ireland. 

At the event, David introduced Simon Pallister as the man behind the revival of a cafe described as ‘the beating heart of Kilcullen’. Simon explained that, with his wife, Hilary, he had set up a petition in December 2023 that gathered 1,500 signatures. “This showed the enthusiasm of the people of Kicullen to see An Tearmann reopen. I contacted Camphill to inform them of the community's views, and then David and Salima arrived. Now we get the lovely aroma of coffee again as we walk down the street.” He presented David Hogan with the sheaf of petitions as a keepsake. 

Cllr Tracey O’Dwyer told those present that the An Tearmann situation had been of genuine concern to the people of Kilcullen. “We thought it might never open again. But I suppose Camphill wanted to find the right fit with their ethos, and I think they couldn’t have found better than David and Salima — what they have brought to An Tearmann is phenomenal.” Noting the cafe’s policy of employing Camphill service users under the My Dream Job initiative, she name-checked Stuart, Alan, Maggie and Christina. “You know when you come here you are made to feel very welcome,” she said, adding that David and Salima had reinvigorated An Tearmann. “This is a place to switch off the world outside, have your cup of tea or coffee, and relax and have a chat.”

Cafe manager Patsy Simion said it had been a really great year for the enterprise. “It was hard to know if we could capture the whole essence of Camphill, but we tried to do it to the best of our ability, and everything about it is extremely positive.” She thanked all the staff, both full and part-time, who had made it all possible.

For his part, David Hogan also thanked everybody involved. “When you talk to people, to find out how things are going, everybody comes back saying it’s all about the staff. For me, that’s a wonderful thing, to keep An Tearmann running with the people that we have.” He also thanked Salima and his family for their support in bringing it all together.

A message from Camphill Communities of Ireland congratulated the team on their successful first year, additionally thanking David and Salima for being excellent partners, ambassadors and advocates for Camphill. 

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M9 motorway archaeology book launch

A book detailing 9,000 years of archaeological heritage in south Kildare, uncovered along the M9 motorway during its construction, will be launched in Athy Library on Thursday, 4 December, writes Brian Byrne. Landscapes with Lineage, by Colm Moloney, Patricia Long and Ros Ó Maoldúin, is published by Wordwell Ltd for the Transport Infrastructure Ireland Heritage Series.

The launch will be at 6pm, with one of the authors introducing the book and reflecting on the discoveries that shaped it.

Old Kilcullen is mentioned several times in the book, primarily relating to Late Bronze Age-Iron Age finds, predating the ceremonial activities that occurred at nearby Dún Ailinne as detailed by Dr Susan Johnston and Prof Bernard Wailes in 2007. 

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Lunchtime in The Valley

A bit depressing, this. A reader sent in these pictures from lunchtime in The Valley yesterday. Debris from meal deals of some kind, just scattered around. It's not as if there aren't any bins around. A sad reflection on some people's attitudes towards their community.

 

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Support Saint Anne’s Special School Christmas Raffle

Tickets for a Christmas Draw fundraiser for St Anne's Special School on The Curragh will be on sale outside Nolan's Butchers in Kilcullen today, Friday 21 November. The school's Parents Association organises the Draw, which will be held on 27 November.

A fantastic range of prizes is on offer, led by an Art Commission by Kally Stefanazzi, a €250 Car Service from Finlay Motor Group, Naas and a €250 One4All Voucher from Amazon Developments. There are hampers, vouchers for restaurants and attractions, fuel, and more. Tickets are €2 each or three for €5. 

All proceeds go directly to supporting the school's pupils, providing vital resources and enhancing learning opportunities for the wonderful students.

If you’re in the area, pop down to Nolan’s Butchers and show your support.

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