Our pride plaqued

When Kilcullen was asked to participate in the island-wide 'Pride of Place' competition last year, the town's legendary community spirit came to the fore.

"Nobody was very clear what was involved at the time," John Martin recalled at the recent unveiling of a plaque in the Heritage Centre to mark Kilcullen's involvement in the Cooperation Ireland project.

"But eventually it transpired that we were to present the best elements of our community, both in the built environment and the community spirit of the town."

When a group of people got together to deal with this, the result was a booklet that detailed the various aspects of the town, its history and its people, as well as a brand new map of Kilcullen today.

"The judge for the competition arrived on what was the wettest day of last summer, and he was drenched from the time he stepped out of his car. But he stuck to his guns, and came on the tour of several parts of Kilcullen which were designed to illustrate the truth of what we had put in the presentation."

He must have been impressed, drenched as he was, because when the results were announced later in Ennis, Co Clare, our town had come shortlisted in the final eight.

"We didn't make the top three, but maybe we were fourth, or shared fourth," John Martin said, before asking Kildare Person of the Year winner James Nolan to unveil the plaque.



In his turn, James commended the people and organisations in the town for 'making Kilcullen what it is'.



"From my point of view, as someone born and reared in Kilcullen, and who makes a good living in Kilcullen, the fact that it has come from a small village to a thriving town is due to those people and clubs and other organisations. They deserve huge credit for developing what is a fantastic community spirit."

— Brian Byrne.