Kilcullen Diary

Pisa in Italy is perhaps best known for its famous leaning tower, but it was also the birthplace of someone who leaned so far away from conventional wisdom in his day that he eventually was condemned by the Catholic Church to spend his last years under house arrest. A voice portrait of Galileo Galilei. Produced by Brian Byrne for Kilcullen Diary. Images: Justus Sustermans - Portrait of Galileo Gal...

When students of Drama Dynamics School of Speech & Drama in Kilcullen brought presents to the school's owner last week, it was something more than a Christmas present for teacher. After 17 years, it was the last Drama Dynamics class as Evelyn O'Sullivan brought the curtain down on an era during which she had helped many children in the area — and adults too — to 'find their voice'. Produced by Bri...

A passion for good food and a pharmacy background of advising people on nutrition over 25 years were the ingredients that prompted Kilcullen woman Michelle Reddy to cook up her own nutrition and health consultancy. Produced by Brian Byrne for Kilcullen Diary.

When several dozens of people joined in the recent inaugural Family Ramble organised by Two Mile House Biodiversity & Heritage Group, they were in very solid hands in terms of the speakers guiding them through their locality. Jesmond Harding of Butterfly Conservation Ireland provided an in-depth commentary of biodiversity in a landscape literally with its roots in the last Ice Age, and John O'Brie...

A sponsored climb up Lugnaquilla Mountain in Wicklow in November will help towards supporting more families and children to live and be educated in the community of Ngong in Kenya. The climb, on November 6th, is being organised by the Maintain Hope charity founded by Kilcullen resident Gerry O'Donoghue back in 2004. It's the inaugural of what he hopes will be a yearly event in the fundraising stra...

Billy Schwer, of Luton, England, was three times Irish Juvenile Boxing Champion when he was still a schoolboy in the mid 1950s. When he came over to the recent Picnic on the Green organised by the Old Kilcullen Area Community Association, it was special because the event was being held just beside where he had been born 80 years ago. Produced by Brian Byrne.

Some time ago I was given a tape of a radio programme produced and presented in 1994 by Majella Duane for CKR Radio. The programme was one of a series, Home Front, produced by Majella where she talked with people in towns and villages in Carlow and Kildare to give a flavour of their communities. For the programme, Majella talked with my brother Des, Simon Doyle, Miriam's father Matt Dunlea, my Unc...

One of the nature events in the Kilcullen area for National Heritage Week 2022 was a visit to Pollardstown Fen, a protected wetland area behind Newbridge in County Kildare. The event was hosted by the Kildare Branch of Birdwatch Ireland in association with the Irish Midlands Ringing Group. Produced by Brian Byrne.

An exhibition and heritage walk today in Ballyshannon was an eyeopener to many of the current residents of the village. Through photographs and words it traced back through a century and further the local happenings and places. One gem is a series of interviews with local people, on a short reel to reel tape made 40 years ago by the local branch of Macra na Thuaithe and kept by local woman Joan Do...

One of the early Kildare events for National Heritage Week 2022 was a presentation by conservation experts on the 15th century Tower House in the grounds of Moone Abbey House just outside the village of Moone. The Kilcullen Diary went along to find out more. Produced by Brian Byrne.

When the Covid lockdowns came, like many other catering-related businesses, Kalbarri Cookery School outside Kilcullen had to pivot to providing food for takeaway to keep things ticking over. They did this very successfully, working around a Saturday Bake Shop that operated every weekend. Now, founder and owner Siobhan Murphy is bringing the Kalbarri business back to school. Produced by Brian Byrne...

A new Cardiac Physiotherapy Clinic to be built at the Kilcullen Business Campus will allow owner Karen Cradock to increase staff and facilities for her existing operation there, and make services easier for clients to access from all over the country. Brian Byrne reports.

The inclusion of Dun Ailinne on the World Heritage Tentative List for Ireland is a step towards the ancient royal site gaining the world recognition it deserves, according to Dr Susan Johnston of George Washington University who has led archaeological investigations at Dun Ailinne since 2006. She has just returned to the US after the 2022 summer dig with archaeological students. Produced by Brian...

Paula Phelan had worked for 25 years in leadership and development with large organisations, but found that her career point had removed her from interaction with people. So she has established her own practice as a life coach. A People and Life podcast produced by Brian Byrne.

The song 'This Land is Your Land' was one of the anthems of the Civil Rights movement in the United States in the 1960s and is still today one of those compositions that never fails to lift the emotions. But the roots of the song, written and performed by musical legend Woody Guthrie, come from deep in the psyche and experiences of the composition's author, who through his life travelled the big h...

When Edward Flanagan was born in 1886 in Leabeg Co Roscommon — the eighth of eleven children — his parents John and Honoria would have had no idea that their new son would become known worldwide. But that's just what happened after his work as a priest with young troubled boys became an Oscar-winning movie, Boys Town, in 1938. Produced by Brian Byrne.

When National Bike Week came along recently it triggered some memories. Especially the bit about cycling to school. It reminded me of my first of many days cycling to school in Newbridge, from the tender age of eleven. For me, that first trip to the Patrician Brothers in Newbridge was freedom. Produced by Brian Byrne.

The Big C Choir in Newbridge, which is comprised of cancer survivors and friends, celebrates its 10th year of fundraising with a concert in the Killashee House Hotel on 12 June 2022. We talk to the founder, Christina O'Connell, and a number of the choir members, to find out what makes it sing. Produced by Brian Byrne for Kilcullen Diary. WATCH: The Big C Choir in rehearsal. https://youtu.be/5iHb0f...

This is an episode in my series Persons of Interest. In these days when the electronic keyboard is ubiquitous for writing, whether on a computer or a a tablet or a phone, it seems strange to recall the days of the humble typewriter. But I recall it well. Produced by Brian Byrne. Image: George Blickensderfer's patent design.

This is the eighth and final episode in a series called The Accidental Pilgrim, recalling my thoughts during a Kilcullen Parish pilgrimage to The Holy Land, in 2007, led by Kilcullen's Parish Priest of the time, Fr Michael Murphy. In this episode, we attend the last mass of the pilgrimage, which rounded out a hectic four days in the Jerusalem area. Produced by Brian Byrne.

This is the seventh episode in a series called The Accidental Pilgrim, recalling my thoughts during a Kilcullen Parish pilgrimage to The Holy Land, in 2007. In this episode, I remember how we were introduced to the Children of the Holocaust. Produced by Brian Byrne. Photo of Children's Memorial at Yad Vashem by Joshua Paquin, licensed by Creative Commons on Wikimedia.

Episode six in the Accidental Pilgrim series, recalling my thoughts during a Kilcullen Parish pilgrimage to The Holy Land in 2007, led by our then Parish Priest, Fr Michael Murphy. In this episode, how we do our best to get around the places in Jerusalem where Jesus spent the latter days of his life. Produced by Brian Byrne.

The fifth episode in the Accidental Pilgrim series, recalling a Kilcullen Parish pilgrimage to The Holy Land, in 2007. In this episode, we move on to Jerusalem, taking a detour on the way into the desert where the bushes grew that were fashioned into punishing crowns of thorns. Produced by Brian Byrne for Kilcullen Diary.

This is the fourth episode in a series called The Accidental Pilgrim, recalling a Kilcullen Parish pilgrimage to The Holy Land, in 2007. In this episode, we consider a couple of miraculous events as we journey through the Fifth Gospel, the name given to the land where the Christian Gospel stories originated. Produced by Brian Byrne.

This is the third episode in a series called The Accidental Pilgrim, recalling my thoughts during a Kilcullen Parish pilgrimage to The Holy Land, in 2007. In this episode, I muse on 'The Jordan Effect', and then we move on to Mount Tabor, the place of the Transfiguration where Jesus is said to have revealed himself in his true Divinity to Peter, James and John. Produced by Brian Byrne.