ST. MICHAEL'S

In 1868, the parish of St Michaels contained the following places:

"ST. MICHAEL'S, a parish in the baronies of Kilkea and West Narragh, county Kildare, Ireland. It is situated on the Grand Canal and river Barrow, and contains part of the town of Athy, which see.

"DUNBREA, a parish, in the barony of KILKEA and MOONE, county of KILDARE, and province of LEINSTER."

"ATHY, a post and market town, and decayed borough in the several parishes of St. Michael, St. John, and Church-town, in the barony of West Narragh, in the county of Kildare, and province of Leinster, Ireland, 12 miles to the S. of Kildare, and 32 from Dublin by road, or 45 by the Carlow branch of the Great Southern and Western railway. It is situated in an open country on the river Barrow, at the junction with it of the Grand canal. The town had a monastic origin; two monasteries, one of the Dominican order, the other for Crutched Friars, being founded here in the 13th century. The Irish burnt the town in 1308. In 1315 it was taken and plundered by Edward Bruce and the Scots. Early in the 15th century a military governor was placed here, and in 1506 the Earl of Kildare erected the castle, since called White's Castle after a proprietor of that name who extended it about 70 years later. The Irish under O'Nial got possession of it in 1648, but it was soon retaken for the parliament. The town consists chiefly of two streets on the cast side of the river. The principal business of the place is the corn trade, which is carried on to a large extent. There is a court-house in the market square. The county gaol is near the town on the Carlow road. Part of the ancient castle is converted into barracks for cavalry. A fever hospital and a dispensary have been established, and there are two banks. Athy was incorporated by a charter of James I., in 1613, the style of the corporation being "the sovereign, bailiffs, free burgesses, and commonalty of the borough of Athy." The government of the town is by, a modern Act vested in commissioners. Till the Union, Athy returned two members to the Irish parliament. It was then disfranchised. The summer assizes and the quarter sessions at Christmas and Midsummer are held here. Petty sessions are held weekly. The town is a chief police station. It is the seat of a Poor-law Union and contains the Union workhouse. The living is a union, comprising the five parishes of St. Michael, St. John, Ardrie, Churchtown, and Tankardstown. The first four form the vicarage of St. Nicholas, which is joined to the rectory and vicarage of Tankardstown. The value of the living, which is in the diocese of Dublin, Glendalagh, and Kildare, is £473, and it is in the patronage of the crown and the archbishop alternately. There are two Roman Catholic chapels, and chapels belonging to the Wesleyans and the Calvinists. Scarcely any traces are left of the old monasteries. Of White's Castle there is the square tower. Extensive ruins of Woodstock Castle, erected about 1290, and of Rheban Castle, probably founded in the same century, stand on the west bank of the river. The moat of Ardskull, an ancient earthwork of rude construction, is on elevated ground about 3 miles from Athy. Tuesday and Saturday are the market days. Fairs are held on the 17th March, the 25th April, the 9th June, the 25th July, the 10th October, and the 11th December."

[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868   Copyright Colin Hinson ©2018]