Congratulations, Chloe and Ross

Photo courtesy the Clarke family.

Congratulations to Chloe Kelly and Ross Clarke, who were recently married in Suncroft Parish Church. The wedding reception was held afterwards in Rathsallagh Country House.

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GAA club Lotto won again

Ber Clifford has scooped the Kilcullen GAA Lotto jackpot, taking the €1,200 top prize in the latest draw. The winning numbers were 4, 10, 13 and 20, with the lucky ticket sold by John Lambe.

A long-standing supporter of the club’s jackpot, Ber is the second jackpot winner in just three weeks.

The next Kilcullen GAA Lotto draw will take place on Monday, April 20th, with the jackpot reset to €1,000. Entries close at 7pm on the day of the draw. 

Supporters can play via the Clubforce Connect app or through the link on www.kilcullengaa.ie, with auto-renewal available for those who don’t want to miss a draw.

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Cnoc na Gréine AGM

The Cnoc na Greine Residents Association will hold its Annual General Meeting on Monday, 27 April 2026, at 8pm in the Carter room at the Community Centre. 

The meeting is open to all residents to voice their opinions and share their ideas for the estate. 

Residents interested in joining the committee or contributing suggestions are invited to participate in the meeting or contact the association via message. 

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Financial foundations for food entrepreneurs

Food entrepreneurs in Kildare are being offered a practical opportunity to strengthen the financial foundations of their businesses at an upcoming event hosted by the Local Enterprise Office (LEO) Kildare. The location will be the Athy Food, Drinks and AgriTech Hub, on 21 April.

The session, aimed at both start-ups and growing food businesses, will focus on helping owners to build clear financial strategies, understand funding options, and plan for sustainable growth.

The meet-up is open to entrepreneurs launching new food products, opening cafés, or expanding catering and food service operations. Participants will be guided through key financial decisions that can determine the long-term success and viability of their ventures.

Speakers include John Nugent of Bord Bia, Ellen Ní Cleirigh, Senior Development Advisor at Enterprise Ireland, and members of the LEO Kildare Grant Team. They will outline the range of funding supports available, eligibility criteria, and the application process for business owners seeking to invest in growth.

The event is designed to give food entrepreneurs a clearer picture of their financial position and the external supports that can help them scale.

Registration is now open at this link. 

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Warm hearted film in Kilcullen, Tuesday

The next film showing is TOMORROW, Tuesday, April 14th at Kilcullen Bridge Cinema is The Kitchen Brigade, writes Teresa Nurse of Kilcullen Lions Club. French stars Audrey Lamy and François Cluzet lead a fantastic cast in this big-hearted feel-good comedy from Louis-Julien Petit.

Disgruntled sous-chef Cathy Marie leaves her job at a high-end gourmet restaurant to pursue her dreams of becoming a head chef at her own restaurant. But when her plans don’t quite work out, she finds herself strapped for cash and with a new job running the cafeteria at the local migrant shelter. 

In charge of a run-down kitchen and needing to make food for hungry young men, Cathy hates her job, but it’s not long before she realises that she can provide valuable life skills – and maybe learn something herself too!

Charming and brilliantly performed by a talented ensemble cast, The Kitchen Brigade packs mouth-watering food, big laughs and a valuable message into its runtime.

Tickets on sale in Woodbine Books, Kilcullen, and on Eventbrite. Tickets bought for the February screening are still valid and will be accepted. 

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Kilcullen's new Librarian: Ita Casey

Activities for children, including craft workshops, story times, and a young readers festival, are high on the list of initiatives planned for Kilcullen Community Library, writes Brian Byrne. But adults won’t be left out, new Librarian Ita Casey promises, noting plans for themed exhibitions and local studies events, among others.

“My predecessor, the wonderful Julie, will be a hard act to follow,” she told the Diary. “But I hope to follow up on her great work.”

Ita, who took over the Kilcullen role at the end of February after Julie’s retirement, has five years’ experience in library service, but her career background was in marine science. “I qualified in UCG, and I really enjoyed it for many years. But it’s all contract work here. It’s hard to get permanent posts without going abroad.” She says she always had an interest in library work, and decided to go for it when her children were older. 

A Dubliner, she has lived in Galway and Cork, but these days is settled in Newbridge, which she finds really convenient for Kilcullen. Her most recent library post was in Celbridge, and prior to that, she served in Wicklow, Blessington and Bray.

Ita loves the fact of the Kilcullen premises being formerly the Boys School, and has already noticed the number of men who have come in and mentioned that they went to school in the Kilcullen building. She appreciates the level of investment that Kildare is putting into the service. “It’s great, too, that they turn older buildings into libraries, like the church in Athy, and here.” 

With Ita’s arrival in Kilcullen has come extended library opening hours, and she says people have already welcomed this — the library is now open six hours a day Tuesday through Saturday, with a half-day on Wednesday and late opening on Thursday. The extra time will facilitate Kilcullen’s now larger population, with the full day on Saturday being especially useful for people working during the week. 

A special exhibition is planned for Biodiversity Week, which runs from 15-24 May. “A set of wildlife drawings, which I think will be of great interest to many people.” Another idea which Ita is working on is to have daily papers available in the Library, something which could be of particular interest to people living on their own, offering an opportunity and a neutral, non-commercial space in which to socialise.

Libraries today are much more than places of books and hush. They offer an increasing variety of reasons to visit them. Kilcullen is no exception. Watch this space.

NEW OPENING HOURS

Monday: Closed

Tuesday: 10am-1pm and 2pm-5pm

Wednesday: 10am-1pm

Thursday: 1.30pm-5pm and 5.45pm-8pm

Friday: 10am-1pm and 2pm-5pm

Saturday: 10am-1pm and 2pm-5pm

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Lions April Whist

This month's Kilcullen Lions Whist Drive is this Thursday, 16 April.

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

All whist players welcome.

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Looking Back: Kilcullen Table Tennis Club, 1968

We're grateful to our regular correspondent Joe Murray, who trawls old newspaper archives for fun, for this photo of Kilcullen Table Tennis Club members.

Pictured in the Leinster Leader, receiving awards at their end-of-season function in Blessington's Downshire House Hotel, on 20 April 1968, there are many familiar faces. And sadly, many who are no longer with us.

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Shane Lawlor graduates Cadet School

Pictured are Joe and Suzanne Lawlor, with their son Shane (20), who graduated during the week with the 101st cadet class at the Curragh Camp.

Shane is a former Cross and Passion student and has been involved in the local boxing club and Kilcullen Soccer Club.  

"We are very proud of Shane as he went straight from school to a challenging 18 months of training," Suzanne told the Diary. "He will be based in Cathal Brugha Barracks in Rathmines, Dublin, as a second lieutenant." 

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Dog shelter looking for assistant

Kildare Dog Shelter is seeking a part-time kennel assistant to join their team, writes Brian Byrne. They are looking for a kind, reliable, and hardworking individual to provide daily care for dogs, clean and maintain kennels, monitor health, and offer love, enrichment, and exercise. 

The ideal candidate is passionate about animal welfare, dependable, comfortable with hard work, and eager to get involved. Experience is a plus, but not essential. The role involves working in a fast-paced, hands-on environment with dogs of all sizes and temperaments. 

Interested applicants should apply by emailing midlandanimalcare@gmail.com.

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Don't. Miss. The Walworth Farce

The Walworth Farce has four actors, but 14 characters played by them, writes Brian Byrne. Which makes the play presented by Kilcullen Drama Group this coming week arguably the most challenging one in its around 90-year history, according to director Eilis Phillips.

Written by Enda Walsh in 2006 and first performed by the Druid Theatre Company, it's a play within a play, about a highly dysfunctional family of father and two sons, living in London. Each day, the trio put on a play in their flat — the 'Farce' of the title — that purports to keep alive their story of how they came to leave their native Cork. In their own 'Groundhog Day', they are condemned to exist in a repetitive life, with just one son, Sean, allowed to leave each morning to buy exactly the same set of rations in a nearby Tesco. One day, he takes home the wrong bag. 

The father, Dinny, played by Maurice O'Mahony with terrifying intensity, has the sons in real fear about the dangers of London, supposedly lurking in the cracks of the footpaths and waiting to rise and consume them. 

Blake, the older son, is portrayed with extraordinary versatility by Allan Clarke, with the most roles, including all the female parts. Sean is played by Adam Treacy, and his daily excursions for groceries may be slowly making him aware that all is not evil in the world outside. Hayley, played by Sinead McKenna with a perfect sense of how to project dramatic emotion, is the Tesco cashier who thinks she’s doing a good deed by returning Sean’s shopping bag, but soon finds herself in the middle of the family's nightmare. 

This is a high-tension, high-energy, very physical production that requires the actors playing the sons to switch instantaneously between their parts, mostly while staying on stage. The challenge is not just for the Kilcullen Drama Group players and their director, but also for the audience, who will need to concentrate. For those who keep up, there will be a real, if unsettling, satisfaction.

The Walworth Farce runs in Kilcullen Town Hall from 15th to 18th April. I've seen the preview, and it's a production not to be missed. Tickets are on sale now from Woodbine Books and Eventbrite.   

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National Heritage Week will focus on risks to buildings, culture, nature

At risk: old ways, old places, old stories.

Heritage At Risk is the theme of the 2026 National Heritage Week that will run from 15 to 23 August, writes Brian Byrne. Participants are asked to consider the threats to heritage in terms of buildings, culture, and nature. 

The theme invites communities to reflect on how they can respond with care, creativity, and collective responsibility.

In 2025, there were over 2,500 heritage events across Ireland, a record year. 

According to the Heritage Council, over a quarter of all recorded heritage sites will be exposed to one or more climate hazards by 2100. Traditional buildings, often constructed with breathable materials and local techniques, need traditional craftspeople to maintain and restore them, skills that are becoming less common. National Heritage Week in 2026 will celebrate craftspeople like thatchers, stone masons, and blacksmiths through workshops, demonstrations, and events.

Cultural heritage includes traditions, languages, music, crafts, rituals, stories, and everyday practices passed down through generations. Much of this is at risk due to social change, migration, loss of intergenerational communication, and declining use of regional and minority languages. The week will highlight the importance of intergenerational knowledge, skills such as oral storytelling, and cultural expression in times of crisis. Traditional crafts, games, music, and arts can also be explored.

Natural heritage in our landscapes, habitats, ecosystems, and biodiversity is at risk from climate change, habitat loss, pollution, and land use. For 2026, event organisers and the public are encouraged to explore endangered habitats, landscapes, flora, and fauna with initiatives such as guided walks, animal surveys, habitat exploration, and workshops.

In addition to physical activities, digital initiatives like virtual tours, heritage mapping, and community archiving offer new ways to document and share endangered heritage, while hands-on family events, trails, and creative workshops engage younger audiences.

More information at this link. 

VISIT: Old Kilcullen Heritage

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