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Irish Life and Lore Series Kildare Collection First Series IRISH LIFE AND LORE SERIES KILDARE COLLECTION _____________ CATALOGUE OF 34 RECORDINGS www.irishlifeandlore.com Page: 1 / 22 Maurice O'Keeffe © 2009 Irish Life and Lore Series Kildare Collection First Series Irish Life and Lore Series Maurice and Jane O’Keeffe, Ballyroe, Tralee, County Kerry e-mail: [email protected] Website: www.irishlifeandlore.com Telephone: + 353 (66) 7121991/ + 353 87 2998167 Recordings compiled by : Maurice O’Keeffe Catalogue Editor : Jane O’Keeffe Secretarial work by : n.b.services, Tralee Recordings mastered by : Midland Duplication, Birr, Co. Offaly Privately published by : Maurice and Jane O’Keeffe, Tralee Commissioned by Kildare County Council Supported by: This work could not have been completed without the help of the County Kildare Federation of Local History Groups and its Chairman Larry Breen; the Local History Groups in County Kildare; the County Kildare Archaeological Society and numerous interested individuals. The support of the Chairman of the Federation of Local History Groups, Mr. Larry Breen, in providing contacts is very much appreciated. Page: 2 / 22 Maurice O'Keeffe © 2009 Irish Life and Lore Series Kildare Collection First Series Page: 3 / 22 Maurice O'Keeffe © 2009 Irish Life and Lore Series Kildare Collection First Series NAME: JACKIE BRACKEN, BORN 1932: NAAS, CO. KILDARE Title: Irish Life and Lore Kildare Collection, CD 1 Subject: Memories of Naas Recorded by: Maurice O’Keeffe Date: 2009 Time: 51:09 Description: This recording was compiled with Jackie Bracken as he strolled along the canal banks in Naas, and recalled the rich experiences of his life in the town. He still lives in the old canal house inhabited by his grandmother in 1904. Arriving at the old graveyard beside the canal, Jackie recalls many of the people who lie there. He has great memories of the horse drawn barge boats plying the canal, and their crews, whom he named. Their responsibilities and their cargos were described. Occasionally a jennet was used to pull the boats and it must have been a wonderful sight to watch the young lad who was paid to coax the jennet along with a handful of straw. Jackie’s first employment was with a slipper factory in Naas, and he later worked at the shoe factory. He also spent some time working in Whites Hardware Shop, as did his father. He has a real passion for Gaelic football and has served on the County Board. He discusses local and county players and the work undertaken by the Co. Board. He has a clear recall of the old businesses in the town, such as harness makers, blacksmiths, tailors and seamstresses, shoemakers, bakers and pub and grocery businesses, and also recalls the proprietors and their business achievements. Jackie concludes the recording by singing a local ballad which he learnt during his early years as a wrenboy out and about on long ago St Stephen’s Days. NAME: MARY COYLE, Née ROCHE, BORN 1944: KILL, CO. KILDARE Title: Irish Life and Lore Kildare Collection, CD 2 Subject: Growing up in Allenwood Recorded by: Maurice O’Keeffe Date: 2009 Time: 59:17 Description: Mary Coyle has spent the last 41 years in Kill, but her story in this recording relates to her early days growing up in Allenwood Middle. She was born into a large family that inhabited a thatched mud cabin. All of the children in the family were assigned their own tasks and Mary’s job was to bring the ass and cart along the old bog pathway where she would pile turf onto the cart and draw it home for fuel for the fire. She recalls the primitive living conditions of those days, without electricity or running water, and the real contentment achieved despite those hardships. Everything was kept brilliantly clean, and Mary describes the beesmon which was a bunch of tough heather tied to a stick for sweeping the floors. The storage of food for the winter was vital work, and one of her father’s tasks was to save the potatoes by placing them in a hollow in the Page: 4 / 22 Maurice O'Keeffe © 2009 Irish Life and Lore Series Kildare Collection First Series ground and covering them with thick straw. Mary’s mother was a great accordion player and would bring her young daughter along to the local house dances where she played. She recalls the wakes, the marriages and religious practices, nicknames for local people, fieldnames and pastimes. NAME: STEPHEN TALBOT, BORN 1943: KILDARE TOWN Title: Irish Life and Lore Kildare Collection, CD 3 Subject: A family business Recorded by: Maurice O’Keeffe Date: 2009 Time: 50:53 Description: The Talbot family has been strongly associated with Kildare town for several generations. Stephen Talbot’s father was a publican who ran a very successful business on the spot where ‘Silken Thomas’ stands today. Stephen’s two aunts were also businesswomen in the town, proprietresses of ‘The Railway Hotel’ and ‘The Vatican.’ Stephen has a clear recollection of the town as it was in the 1950s – the shops, the family businesses, the cinemas, and places of entertainment. He was always interested in music and in earlier years he formed a band, and later joined the Derby Showband which toured the country. He has many stories to relate about those exciting days. He worked in Dublin for some years, but returned to Kildare to assist his father who had become unwell. He became an assistant to veterinary surgeon, Stan Cosgrave, and came to recognise the absolute importance of the horse breeding industry to the county and beyond. He recalls the setting up of the Racing Apprentice School and the great benefits which accrued to young people involved in horse racing. He has a great love for his native place and discusses the factors which benefited the town over the years since the days of the garrison, the racing connections, the markets, and Bord na Mona. The loss of jobs and revenue when turf-cutting declined was keenly felt in the town and surrounding areas. Stephen Talbot’s passion for the motor trade and his keen interest in Gaelic football are clearly evident in this recording. Page: 5 / 22 Maurice O'Keeffe © 2009 Irish Life and Lore Series Kildare Collection First Series NAME: KATHLEEN DOHERTY, Née HUGHES, BORN 1938: TIMAHOE Title: Irish Life and Lore Kildare Collection, CD 4 Subject: Life in Coill Dubh Recorded by: Maurice O’Keeffe Date: 2009 Time: 43:52 Description: The Hughes family came from the area around Coolcarrigan, which was deeply set into the countryside. Kathleen Doherty’s father’s family lived there in a thatched cottage until they were rehoused close by the Land Commission, and given additional land at Timahoe East. Kathleen clearly recalls watching the Army cutting turf during the war years, and the later establishment of Bord na Mona. The Bord decided to have a village built for the migrant workers who came in their hundreds from all over the country. This village was named Coill Dubh and consisted of 160 houses. The traditions of each county were brought with the migrants, and Kathleen recalls watching GAA games being played between the various counties, and the fierce competition and rivalry which transpired. Some unrest also manifested itself between the local menfolk and the migrant workers, in the area of relationships with the native females. Each summer a festival atmosphere would prevail in the village when Bord na Mona organised a carnival, complete with a marquee, music and fine entertainment. Kathleen emigrated to London where she worked for a short time in the 1950s, but her heart was drawn home, and she settled in Timahoe where she married a Mayoman, and there she reared her family. NAME: LUKE DEMPSEY, BORN 1926: KILKEASKIN Title: Irish Life and Lore Kildare Collection, CD 5 Subject: A Kildare farmer reminisces Recorded by: Maurice O’Keeffe Date: 2009 Time: 61:23 Description: In the hours prior to this recording, Luke Dempsey, now in his 83rd year, had arisen at 6.00 a.m. and ploughed many acres of land. He is an agile and vibrant man who has many fine stories to relate. He explains how his present home and farm came to him, in a fascinating series of events. He recalls his maternal grandfather, Jim O’Keeffe who was a member of the IRB, who led a very interesting life. Luke’s father, who was also named Luke Dempsey, was a close friend of Frank Burke who was in the GPO at Easter 1916. Luke has a clear memory of Frank Burke calling to see his father, and the elderly men would sit and talk for hours about those stirring Easter days. Todd Andrews was a frequent visitor to the area to oversee the establishment of the briquette factory at Lullymore, and Luke remembers the huge sense of excitement and anticipation engendered by the opening of the factory He was also there to watch the factory being dismantled in more recent years. Page: 6 / 22 Maurice O'Keeffe © 2009 Irish Life and Lore Series Kildare Collection First Series Before the recording concludes he describes a vivid memory from his childhood. He would watch the inhabitants of the little thatched cottages which lined the banks of the canal close to his house, as they cut turf from the bog, stacked it and loaded it onto the canal boats, for transport to Dublin. NAME: PATRICK LYNCH, BORN 1925: KILCULLEN Title: Irish Life and Lore Kildare Collection, CD 6 Subject: Memories of Kilcullen and the Curragh Camp Recorded by: Maurice O’Keeffe Date: 2009 Time: 77:18 Description: Patrick Lynch was introduced on this recording by Nessa Dunlea, while sitting at his fireside at Kilcullen.

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