A glimpse of Athy over 100 years ago

As this is the last eye for 2024 I will take the opportunity to rest my pen for two weeks but the eye will continue to appear and will feature some lesser-known photographs of Athy and its people.

The first image this week is taken of Emily Square, Athy in or around 1900 and certainly before 1913 when the front elevation of the Town Hall was extended with the addition of another storey.

The spire or bell tower was replaced by the pediment which we see today incorporating the 17th-century bell from St Michael’s church formerly of the back square which was demolished in 1842.

Oddly enough the square looks much as it does today, denuded as it is of all it’s previous clutter, as part of the ongoing renovation works The second image is undated but is probably from the period 1910-1918. It is a team picture of the Geraldine football club.

I understand that boy second from left in the middle row is Dan Carbery while the photo also features Sapper O’Neill and Paddy Farrell who would both go on to play inter-county for Kildare.

The legendary Eddie ‘Sapper’ O’Neill later emigrated to New York where he captained the New York team which defeated the 1926 All-Ireland champions Kerry in the first-ever international Gaelic football match.

I would appreciate readers’ assistance in identifying all the members of the team and possibly the year the photograph was taken.