COMMUNITY SAFETY MEETING

A Kilcullen Garda District Community Alert Meeting on Wednesday, 2 September, at 7:30 pm in Kilcullen GAA Hall will address community safety, crime prevention, and support for vulnerable residents. 

Topics include the introduction of the new Cairde App by Muintir na Tire, replacing the old Kilcullen Text Alert system. There will also be crime prevention discussions with local Gardaí and elected representatives. 

To propose local issues for the agenda, contact Elaine at 086 0751401.

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy

HOUSE KEY AND CARDS FOUND

A house key with assorted cards attached was found today on the New Abbey Road. They are now with Kilcullen Gardai. 

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy

ROCKIN' IT OUT AT THE ANVIL

Mark Smyth, Yvonne Ennis, Arlene Bailey, Pat Kelly, Lorraine Nolan, Canice Keane, John Kelly, and sound engineer Gordon Turner.

It was Kilcullen's own electric picnic, without the mud or the long queues to get in, writes Brian Byrne. The front garden at No. 1 Bishop Rogan Park had been transformed into a grand stage and covered audience area for the inaugural Anvil at Rest concert. 

There was overflow seating for those who preferred to enjoy things from the distance across the road. Messages came in through the afternoon from many Kilcullen people around the world watching on the live stream — Wickford in Essex, Connecticut and California, USA, Perth in Australia, were just a sample of the places from which the global Kilcullen diaspora were tuning in to support the concert in aid of Aware.

From the moment Martha Kelly hammered the final countdown note on a 99-year-old anvil, it was pretty well non-stop for more than two hours. After a brief introduction from Arlene Bailey about the work of Aware itself, Pat and John Kelly, and Pat's daughter Yvonne Ennis, took their turns to get the music well under way. Canice Keane, Kilkenny-born troubadour living in Kilcullen for the last two decades, added several rockin' contributions through the afternoon. A literary interlude from Mark Smyth was a short story that painted vivid word pictures from a different time in Derry. Arlene Bailey brought her own Nashville experience to Bishop Rogan Park in wonderful country style, and Lorraine Nolan, no stranger to Kilcullen, gave her all in a performance worthy of the Riverdance stage on which she has been lead vocalist.

All in all, and not least thanks to the sound system provided and managed by Gordon Turner, it was an afternoon of musical delight. And even if there was the occasional shower, well, that's why people brought umbrellas, and their enjoyment wasn't in any way diminished.

Another great Kilcullen event, for a great cause: if you missed it, either at the 'Park' or online, an edited version will be available on the net over the next ten days, and there's ongoing opportunity for further donations.

Some of the Diary's photos are posted here — all can be found at this link. 

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy

TODAY'S THE DAY: ANVIL AT REST CONCERT

Image: Emma Keane.

Anvil at Rest 2026 takes place TODAY, Sunday, 30 August, at Bishop Rogan Park. The free community concert will run from 3pm to 5pm, streaming live and bringing together live music, local performers, and a shared mission to support mental health.

Hosted in aid of Aware, the national charity supporting people affected by depression and bipolar disorder, the event invites contributions to the fundraising campaign, either at the concert or online via Aware’s official site. 

The performers will include Arlene Bailey, Lorraine Nolan, Canice Keane, Pat Kelly, Gordon Turner, Emma Kayaalp, Yvonne Ennis, and John and Joe Kelly.

Visitors are encouraged to bring their families and friends to enjoy a vibrant display of local talent. Anvil at Rest 2026 promises to be an uplifting event where music and community meet to forge hope.

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy

IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL, APRIL 25 1970: BIG MAGGIE WIN

Members of Kilcullen Drama Group cheer Loreto Ginnity (best actress) for the name part in J B Keane's Big Maggie and Paddy Melia, producer, after the group had won the Premier Award and the Whelehan Trophy at the All-Ireland Rural Drama Festival at Loughrea. With them in the picture is Mr T P Whelehan, who presented the trophy. (Clipping courtesy Joe Murray.)

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy

INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS FOR CROOKETT HOUSE RESIDENCIES

Crookett House Art Centre in Maganey, south Kildare, opening in September, will host five international art residencies, showcasing the unique beauty of Ireland’s Ancient East, writes Brian Byrne. Each artist will create work inspired by the region and conclude their residency with a public exhibition at the centre’s gallery.

The artists include Bela Silva, known for her exhibitions at prestigious venues like the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris; Michal Cole, creator of the acclaimed 2017 Venice Biennale Pavilion of Humanity exhibition; Sasha Sykes, a Golden Fleece Award winner with works in numerous collections; Thilo Westermann, whose art has been displayed globally, including at the Kunsthalle Munich; and Ricardo Baptista Fernandes, who will inaugurate the centre with his show “Monument” in September.

Founded by Stephen Croncota and Ricardo Baptista Fernandes, Crookett House Art Centre is a restored 18th-century property supporting County Kildare’s tourism and architectural restoration goals. Croncota, a former executive at Versace and Warner Bros., and Fernandes, a graphic designer and artist, have transformed the site into a gallery, studios, and residence.

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy

FROM PARIS TO KILCULLEN: A VISIT BY AN ORGAN LEGEND

Felix Roth, Daniel Roth, Peter Moloney.

Last month, thanks to local organ enthusiast and musician, Peter Moloney, Kilcullen briefly hosted an international celebrity, a world-renowned musician, and an octogenarian of extraordinary distinction all in one person.

Travelling from Paris, Daniel Roth (84), one of the most celebrated organists of the modern era, stopped off to visit Peter while on his way to Tullamore to perform on the renowned Frobenius organ in the Church of the Assumption there. Accompanying him was his grandson, Felix Roth, principal horn player with the Chamber Orchestra of Paris. 

The elder Roth is Titular Organist Emeritus at the Church of St-Sulpice in Paris, where the celebrated Cavaillé-Coll/Clicquot organ attracts musicians and visitors from across the globe. Daniel Roth's artistry at its console has inspired generations of performers and audiences alike. During numerous visits to Saint-Sulpice, Peter had the opportunity to meet Roth and experience firsthand the unique musical culture of the famous church. Conversations that began in Paris led to an invitation to Ireland. 

Peter Moloney at the console of the organ at St Sulpice, Paris.

Born in Mulhouse, France, Daniel Roth has enjoyed an international career spanning more than six decades. His teachers included two towering figures of twentieth-century organ music, Maurice Duruflé and Marie-Claire Alain. From 1985 until his retirement in 2023, he served as Titular Organist of Saint-Sulpice, succeeding a distinguished line of musicians that included Charles-Marie Widor, Marcel Dupré, and Jean-Jacques Grunenwald.

The Tullamore organ he came to Ireland to play was built in 1965 by the renowned Danish firm Frobenius & Sønner for Copenhagen's Cathedral Church of Our Lady. It found a new home in Ireland three decades later when the Danish cathedral commissioned a larger instrument. Through the efforts of Professor Gerard Gillen, then the Titular Organist of St Mary's Pro-Cathedral, Dublin, and now Professor Emeritus in Music at Maynooth University, and others, the organ was gifted to Tullamore Parish. It was carefully dismantled, transported to Ireland, and rebuilt in its new setting. Inaugurated in 1995, it boasts 53 speaking stops, three manuals, and almost 4,000 pipes. It is the largest mechanical-action church organ in Ireland and the country's only Frobenius organ.

Daniel Roth's appearance in Tullamore was one of Europe's most distinguished organists performing on one of Ireland's most significant musical instruments. Before that, over the brief time of a dinner at the Moloney home, the road from Saint-Sulpice to Tullamore passed through Kilcullen.

Video above: Daniel Roth and Felix Roth perform an interpretation of Danny Boy in Tullamore.

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy

NEW YOUTH DRAMA GROUP

Base image: WGC.

A new youth theatre group is launching in Kilcullen in October, led by Eilis Philips and others. 

It is open to 12 to 17-year-olds interested in drama, with limited places available. 

For more information, contact Eilis at 087 4707652.

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy