Family erect gravestone on unmarked Athy grave 

THE great-grandchildren of a Kildare woman gathered together to celebrate her life and legacy with a gravestone erected on her formerly unmarked grave in Athy.

The family of Mary Josephine Gibbons (née Courtney), who died in 1945, reunited on Sunday and the erection of the gravestone followed a search as the exact location of the plot had been unknown.

Rory Murphy, Mary’s great grandson, spoke about the initial search for her grave. 

“My uncle Tom, he’s a bit of a genealogist, and he was it looking up. So I went to Athy one day just to have a look.

“I met Clem Roche (local historian), and it all just snowballed from there and they're who confirmed who was in the grave."

Mary Josephine, who lived in Athy, had a connection to Ireland’s historic fight for independence and the civil war.

From family ties spanning back two generations on her husband Francis’s side to none other than James Fintan Lalor, Irish revolutionary journalist (1809-1849).

James Fintan Lalor is best known for being a leading member of the Irish Confederation, playing an active role in both the rebellion of July 1848, just a year before his death, and being involved in the attempted rising.

Mary and Francis had six children: Francis Anthony, Joseph Fintan, Benedict Patrick Joseph, Nicholas, Eileen and Athy journalist Mary Elizabeth Gibbons.

Her son Joseph was imprisoned in Portlaoise prison during the War of Independence and interned at the Curragh camp during the Civil War.

He shared a cell with Philip Murphy, a volunteer in the 1916 rising. The two were released on amnesty after a hunger strike that lasted 36 days.

After their release, Joseph introduced Philip to his sister Eileen and they eventually became married. Mary's grave is located in St Michael’s old cemetery in Athy.

Mary Josephine Gibbons lived in Woodstock Street, Athy. She is buried with her husband Francis Patrick Lalor Gibbons who died in 1923, and her son Nicholas Joseph Fintan Gibbons who died in 1928.