Kildare village marks bicentenary of Mary Leadbeater 

THE Annals of Ballitore, written by Mary Leadbeater and originally published in 1862, were described last week as a "document from the heart of somebody who was at the heart of her community", at the launch of a revised version of the book. The event in the south Kildare Quaker village was part of an honouring of Leadbeater's life on the 200th anniversary of her death.

Writer John MacKenna, officially marking the new publication, said the Annals were her personal diaries, not written for publication, but are a celebration of her community.

"It's the things that happened, the people who were here, and their interaction with their society," he said. "It was a small community, and she names names, and by the time you finish reading the Annals, you almost know them. It's a bit like reading the local notes in today's Nationalist or Leader — you actually feel that you get to know the people."

Born Mary Shackleton in Ballitore in 1758, Leadbeater was a poet, correspondent, and chronicler of local life whose works included Poems, Cottage Dialogues among the Irish Peasantry, and Cottage Biography.

The Annals were edited from her personal observations and recording of local events between 1766 and 1823. They were first published in 1862 as two volumes under the title The Leadbeater Papers. The new edition includes a foreword by John MacKenna.

Also present was Cllr Ivan Keatley, cathaoirleach of the Athy Municipal District, who noted particularly her accounts of the lead-up to and the local happenings surrounding the 1798 Rebellion.

"How lucky we are to have her completely impartial account of what actually happened, not taking one side or another. It includes stuff that is not ordinarily written down and probably is still skirted around in times of war."

Mario Corrigan, senior executive librarian with Kildare County Council, thanked everyone involved with the celebration, recalling the fortunate happenstance in the 1970s of the preservation of the old Quaker Meeting House that allows it to be the village Library and Museum today.

He remarked that the statue of Mary Leadbeater on the site had been created by a young artist, Eamon Keenan, who today works in Kildare Library Service.

The afternoon included a walk, In the Footsteps of Mary Leadbeater, conducted by John MacKenna, as well as an exhibition hosted by The Thread Shed, in the Meeting House, ‘Reflections on the Life of Mary Leadbeater through Contemporary Art and Craft’.

Afternoon tea was served, and many of those present wore vintage dress from the era described in the Annals.