Talking about Kilcullen

Nessa Dunlea, chair of the Kilcullen Heritage Group, and longtime Kilcullen resident Pat Lynch are the first Kilcullen people to be recorded for the 'Kildare Collection', a series of CDs produced by Maurice O'Keefe of 'Irish Life and Lore'.



Passionate about the history and heritage of her native town, Nessa talks on the CD about how her grandfather Michael O'Connell set up a bakery business in Kilcullen which grew until he had 10 horse drays delivering to the surrounding villages and towns.

She also talks about her own childhood growing up here, and how much the River Liffey was used as an amenity for swimming and boating by local people.

The 55-minute CD only touches on the wealth of memories which exist in Kilcullen, and indeed in every small town in Ireland.

"Maurice was a really good interviewer," she says. "I didn't know what to expect, but very quickly it was just like having a chat with a friend. When we finished, I brought him up to Pat Lynch in Logstown, who has much longer recollections than I have."

Pat's father, also Pat, used to drive Michael Collins around Dublin in the 'Sliabh na mBan' Rolls Royce armoured car, and on the CD he provides anecdotes of that dangerous time as told by his dad. He also recalls his own life, both as a motor mechanic in the Irish Army and his experiences growing up in Kilcullen. He is particularly proud of his involvement in the Kilcullen Boxing Club, of which he has been a part since 1941. His CD in the Kildare Collection has a wealth of anecdotes about now gone townspeople, how they entertained themselves, and how they spoke.

"It was very pleasant doing it," he says. "Maurice just came up to the house and we sat around the fireplace and talked of the old times."

Irish Life and Lore is based in Tralee in Co Kerry, and was commissioned by the Kildare Collections and Research Services of the County Library and Arts Service to do a series on Kildare.

Maurice and Jane O'Keefe have compiled an archive of over 1,500 such recordings since 1990. In addition to the current Kildare Series under way, they have developed similar projects for the local authorities of Kerry, Cork, Limerick, Clare, Galway, Tipperary, Laois, Offaly, Kilkenny, Mayo, Wexford, Carlow and Dublin.

Brian Byrne.