JULY
July started on a very sad note for the community and the family of
Bernard Berney, who finally passed away after an illness. His philosophy on helping people he called the 'Simon of Cyrene experience'. "It is a beautiful thing to sometimes be able to relieve pain or sorrow in some small way ... you can just help to carry their cross for a little while, then they go on. They're still carrying the cross, but they know there was somebody prepared to help them with it on a little part of their journey."
The 2019
Dawn Walk for Pieta House was again a big success, taking the now-traditional walk through New Abbey Stud. Marie Peelo, Deputy Director of Funding and Advocacy at Pieta House, spoke by the Liffeyside in the middle of the event, and members of the Kilcullen Gospel Choir sang.
The
Kilcullen in Bloom project had grown into magnificent displays of colour all through Main Street. It proved once again that the effort by volunteers from Kilcullen Community Action is well worthwhile and makes for a quite beautiful summer Kilcullen.
Saoirse Behan, who works in Woodbine Books, was announced as one of the winners of the inaugural
James Patterson Young Bookseller Special Achievement Award, one of only two in Ireland.
Pat Lynch of Logstown, longtime supporter of Kilcullen GAA and the Kilcullen Boxing Club, celebrated his 94th birthday with some younger residents of the area.
The annual
Cycle for Crumlin organised by Murphy Surveys and Kilcullen Cycling Club raised €21,000. More than 300 cyclists took part, bringing the total raised for CMRF Crumlin to date €87,000.
Kilcullen GAA signed the contracts and leases to acquire eight acres of land from Kildare County Council. The deal provides the Club with the opportunity to further expand while allowing the Council to progress the long planned Link Road.
AUGUST
The first
Old Kilcullen Area Community Association's residents picnic was held on the Common below the hill and was an outstanding success. As local history buff Gerry O'Donoghue quipped, "There hasn't been as many people here since 1798." Committee chairman Christy Howard spoke briefly, thanking all who had helped to organise the event, and also those who had come along. "Now, get in there and enjoy yourselves," he commanded in conclusion. And they did.
The 17th
Mac and Norman Vintage Run rumbled and roared through Kilcullen in another very successful fundraiser for the Irish Cancer Society. The trucks in the convoy alone took a full nine minutes to pass through. The eventual amount raised was €26,850.
A capacity crowd turned out in Kilcullen Library for a heritage week event about
emigration since the Famine. The matter was recalled in song, story, and poetry by Joe Kelly, Jeremy Burke, Maurice O’Mahony, Gerry O’Donoghue, Francie O'Brien, Niamh Murray and Dave Touhy.
There was a very special Kilcullen interest in the 2019 Rose of Tralee Festival when Kilgowan's
Emer Fogarty participated as the Kildare Rose. Though she wasn't the eventual winner, she brought the Dome to a pin-drop silence when she sang 'The Parting Glass' in tribute to her late father, who passed away in 2018.
Four winning displays in the
Kilcullen 700/Heritage Week competition sponsored by Bank of Ireland were presented with €250 each. They were Sharon's Perfect Image, Armelle's Kitchen, Ger's Fruit and Veg, and Kilcullen Drama Group.
SEPTEMBER
In this month's talk on heritage matters as part of Kilcullen 700, historian
Brian McCabe spoke in fascinating detail about Ireland's first toll road, which was from Dublin to Kilcullen. Among the nuggets in his presentation, tolls were substantial revenue sources for those collecting them, but nevertheless incurred major debt.
It was a landmark moment when the new
Kildare Steiner Secondary School opened its doors to the first class. Nikki Eilis, Class Guardian, cut the ribbon for the occasion. As a very down to earth system, the School's first students immediately got down and dirty to help complete a community project at the local Grangebeg Camphill, with willow work, gardening and the annual potato harvest.
A makeover of
Kilcullen Post Office was an eventual follow on from the acquisition of the franchise by Eurospar Kilcullen owner Derek Walsh. New and lower counters and a more customer friendly style included access to all teller spaces for wheelchair users.
The annual
Culture Night presentation in Kilcullen Community Library this year concentrated on the works of local writer and theatre director John Martin. With more than four decades of wordsmithing gone through his keyboards, John was aided in the event by his longtime friends in the Kilcullen Drama Group. Another one of Kilcullen's special nights.
A
rollover of a load of hay on the turn onto the bridge fortunately didn't result in any injuries, but it did cause a significant traffic disruption in Kilcullen until it was removed.
Kilcullen significantly improved its marks in the National Tidy Towns Competition 2019, coming third in its category. The Tidy Towns Group were the
winners of an Endeavour Award in the competition for being the most improved community in the county.
OCTOBER
Woodbine Books hosted the launch of the
10th Kildare Readers Festival in a stimulating event which included readings by Annemarie Ní Chuirreáin and Sue Rainsford, the county's latest Readers in Residence.
The historian of the
Limerick Soviet strike in 1919, Liam Cahill — a former RTE colleague of the
Diary's editor — spoke at the annual seminar of the County Kildare Federation of Local History Groups in Kilcullen Heritage Centre. He later visited Woodbine Books where his book 'Forgotten Revolution' was on sale.
Kilcullen-based craft leather company
Carve On won a high prestige contract in the US to help commemorate the bi-centenary of one of America's oldest private banks. The Irish company produced a replica of a leather wallet/cheque book holder which Brown Brothers Harriman used to provide their customers with more than a century ago.
The
Brannockstown Community Group presented award certificates to local people who have contributed to the life of the locality. The event also marked the return of the community to the Supervalu National Tidy Towns 2019 competition, after not taking part for five years.
A public meeting in Kilcullen on the proposed sand and gravel extraction application by
Kilsaran in Ballyshannon highlighted road safety as the biggest issue for townspeople. Kilsaran had earlier committed to 'no extra trucks' going through Kilcullen as a result of the development.
The long-mooted
motorway services area at Halverstown finally opened, including McDonalds as an anchor restaurant tenant.
A public meeting that was well attended decided to re-form a
Community First Responders volunteer unit in Kilcullen. A committee was subsequently formed to organise the establishment and training of the unit.
The main event in the celebration of the 130 years since Kilcullen GAA was founded was a
Gala Ball held in Keadeen Hotel. More than 300 club members and friends attended a night of many memories.
A presentation of
'The Quare Land' on video of the 2016 production by Kilcullen Drama Group raised €2,400 for the acquisition and installation of a public access defibrillator for the north end of Kilcullen. The event was organised by Vivian Clarke, Eilis Phillips, Frank Mitchell, and Ronan Murphy. "People were extraordinarily generous," said Vivian. "It was much more successful than we ever thought it would be."
NOVEMBER
A showing of
videos about the River Liffey produced by Bailey and Blake Productions included a new one filmed earlier in the year about the Liffey in Kilcullen. Those present were treated to many stories about the history, geology, flora, fauna and the people associated with the river. Pictured ar Nessa Dunlea, chair of Kilcullen 700; Martin Blake, cinematographer; and Bridget Loughlin, County Kildare Heritage Officer.
The
Kilcullen Community and Tidy Towns Awards were presented, with the colourful yarn-bombing of the bridge during the summer garnering an award for the ladies of the Suas Knitting Group. A special award from KCA chairperson Ann Cashman was made to Celia Travers for all her work with the Tidy Towns group over decades.
A
Kilcullen 700 event organised by the Community Centre
honoured all Olympians from the town. With national gold medallists Ronnie Delaney and Michael Carruth on hand to hand out those honours, it was a wonderful night for our dozen competitors down the decades in Olympic Games, Special Olympics, and World Transplant Games.
After a shaky audience start, the stellar performances of the cast of
'The Seafarer' by Kilcullen Drama Group pulled in enough people to require extra nights scheduled. The Conor McPherson play was dark, funny, and very entertaining.
A long sought
bus shelter for Kilcullen came a step closer with an agreement in principle that land will be gifted by the CPC trustees for the purpose. Sr Maire O'Sullivan of the Cross and Passion Order and a former staff member from Kilcullen, has agreed to the idea subject to a suitable design.
The refurbishment of the old
Victorian-era postbox in Old Kilcullen was carried out as a project of the Old Kilcullen Area Community Association, and pictured are some of those involved, Christy Howard, Colm Feely and son, and Fergus Aspell.
A
Climate Action for Kilcullen group was formed under the auspices of Kilcullen Community Action. The group will take a long-term look at how the wider Kilcullen area can develop a range of climate-friendly practices. These will include the possibility of making the town more cyclist- and pedestrian-accessible.
Kilcullen Photography Club launched its second Calendar in Woodbine Books, following the sellout success of the club's inaugural publication in 2018. The calendar features members' photographs with subject matter that includes local heritage architecture, landscape, portraits of local people, recollections of
Kilcullen 700, and detail abstractions.
DECEMBER
The annual
Christmas Lights organised by Kilcullen Community Action was further extended through the town. New profiles and a wider set of locations further brightened up the community.
Kilcullen resident
Leo Mahon was awarded Volunteer of the Year by Water Safety Ireland. Over the last four years he has driven Water Safety Ireland's primary schools programme which has issued over 50,000 certificates over the last four years.
A proposal to provide a
Community Garden on the grounds of Kilcullen Community Library was agreed with Kildare County Council. Preparatory work on the KCA idea will begin in the new year.
The final event in the
Kilcullen 700 celebrations was a symbolic
lighting of the tower at the ancient monastic site of Old Kilcullen, followed by a similar lighting of the bridge which had helped to initiate the modern town. It was a very suitable and successful event which brought together the older and very new populations of Kilcullen today.
The
Kilcullen Community First Responders group moved closer to going live when it was presented with a portable defibrillator and other first response equipment by Kilcullen based company Provincial Security. Other equipment donated by Provincial included a vest to simulate how to use the Heimlich manoeuvre to save somebody who is choking. This procedure has also been practised by the group in their training.
The now annual display of Christmas lights set up by the
Shortts family once again lit up Old Kilcullen Common. Francis Shortt says it takes about two weeks to put the whole display together.
All that is a highlights look back at the year. Now we're ready to start all over again.
(The post with the January-June highlights is here.)
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