Day to remember in Athy for famous Sanders visit
Clifford Reid gives a little history lesson of Athy to Bernie and Jane Sanders Photos: Aisling Hyland
“I feel like I am at home”.
Athy played host to a very special visit today of Jane O’Meara Sanders and US Senator Bernie Sanders.
It was a personal trip for Jane O’Meara Sanders who was following the footsteps of her ancestors and also unveiling the Made in Athy plaque commemorating the anti-war song , a song she recounted singing at home and at rallies during the Vietnam War.
Ms O’Meara Sanders met her Coyle cousins in Nicholstown today while local historian Clem Roche shed some extra light for her on some new family connections.
“(Ireland) always feels welcoming. It’s very touching. It really does feel like home. You feel like a family, always welcoming to everybody, and have the same values and principles that we have in our family,” she said.
Speaking as she unveiled the plaque in St Michael’s cemetery at the war memorial, Ms O’Meara Sanders appealed in hope for the powers to be to take the words of the song to heart and not send “any more of our sons and daughters to war”.
US Senator Bernie Sanders was happy to take a step back in proceedings. It was his wife’s day, he said at the Athy Library function, while he also played the role of the proud family photographer, taking a snap of his wife on his phone receiving a beautiful ceramic piece by Ciara O’Keeffe.
He said: “It’s very meaningful for her today; she really had a day today that I know she will never forget. The opportunity to meet her extended family and the community her family came from is very important to her.”
Athy played a blinder today. From the work of Colm Walsh, the council, library service, gardaí, civil defenc to local artists and musicians and locals themselves, it was a great showcase of the town.
The Sanders were given a little tour of Athy, popping into O’Brien’s Bar, stopping for photos with locals and venturing onto Clifford Reid’s Freedom of the Water boat where the Vermont state flag was unfolded on deck.
At Athy Library, Jack L and Joe Byrne did the occasion justice performing the , and Lenoard Cohen’s .
At St Michael’s cemetery, Makayla Farrell of local band I.F… performed a beautiful version of a cappella and Ciara Fitzharris from Maynooth closed proceedings with a stunning Sean nós performance.
