Tag Archives: Athy

Crowning Glory

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One of the doors on the north façade of the Market House in Athy, County Kildare. This building is often said to date from the 1730s or early 1740s but may be slightly later since it seems to have been one of the improvements to the town undertaken by its then-owner James FitzGerald, 20th Earl of Kildare (and created first Duke of Leinster in 1766) who only succeeded to his title and family estates, in 1744. Moreover the Market House occupies one end of Emily Square, named after his wife, Lady Emily Lennox, who he married in 1747. As was so often the case, the building had more than one purpose since it also served as courthouse, hence the carved plaque above the door which shows the British crown occupying a position between the scales of justice and resting on a base containing a pike and a sword. Its pair above another door on the same side of the building features a similar design but this time the centre is filled with the harp of Ireland and without any weaponry. Sold by the FitzGeralds to Kildare County Council in 1975 for £9,000, the old Market House is now Athy’s Heritage Centre and Museum.

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Reflections of the Past

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A view of White’s Castle in Athy, County Kildare originally built in 1419 by then-Viceroy of Ireland Sir John Talbot in order to protect passage across the adjacent bridge over the river Barrow. The castle then passed into the hands of the FitzGeralds, Earls of Kildare (and subsequently Dukes of Leinster) before being sold in the last century to its long-time tenants. Sold again at the height of the economic boom for some €1.3 million, three years ago it was included in an auction of distressed properties and fetched a more modest €195,000. Reports at the time indicated that the castle would be restored as a family residence but it remains in poor condition and needing remedial attention, a sad state for the most important building in this town.

Emigration Once Again

Athy Mace
The Ceremonial Mace of Athy, County Kildare made in Dublin by John Wilme in 1746. This splendid example of mid-18th century Irish silversmithery was presented to the town in the year of its production by James FitzGerald, twentieth Earl of Kildare (and later first Duke of Leinster). It remained in the town until c.1840 when reform of municipal government caused the abolition of the local borough. The mace eventually returned to the Leinsters before being auctioned by Sotheby’s in March 1982 after which it crossed the Atlantic. Today it is part of what is considered the finest collection of antique Irish silver in the world, in the San Antonio Museum of Art, Texas.
You can read more about this and many other Irish treasures now in the American collections in an article I have written for the March issue of Apollo magazine.