Local history books from Kildare Libraries

Two recently published books from the County Kildare Local Studies Collection are now available on the Kildare Library Service's Borrowbox, writes Brian Byrne. They offer unique historical insights into Kilcullen and Ballitore respectively. 

The Cluxtons of Kilcullen is the history of a local family from the eighteenth century to the 1920s, including the working life of John Bailey Cluxton, a relieving officer for the Athy Poor Law Union. It is written by Barry Kinnane, whose grandmother Julia O'Connor's father was Pat Cluxton from Calverstown. Barry researched the family further as part of pursuing a Local Studies Degree at Maynooth University, initially with the help of conversations he had taped with Julia O'Connor and further through contemporary newspaper accounts and with the help of an Australian cousin, Don Clugston, and another cousin, Leo Cluxton.

The Annals of Ballitore is a compilation of the original two editions of the Annals by Mary Leadbeater (1758-1826) with the addition of a description of the village of Ballitore in 1766, from the manuscript, never before published. The little-known recollection of Ballitore & Its Inhabitants Seventy Years Ago, by Betsy Shackelton (1783-1843), Mary Leadbeater’s niece, has been included together with the full list of over 1,800 pupils enrolled through the 110 years (1726-1836) of the famous school at Ballitore. The compilation was produced by Mario Corrigan, Karel Kiely, and Michael Kavanagh.

Both books are published by Kildare County Council Library Services, and for local history buffs are well worth an extended browse.

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