Kilcullen Diary

The second episode in The Accidental Pilgrim series, recalling my thoughts during a Kilcullen Parish pilgrimage to The Holy Land in 2007. Sitting at a table on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, it was a scruffy kind of place really. A lot of litter. I had to wonder what kind of litter there was when Jesus walked these shores, looking for a fisher of men? Produced by Brian Byrne.

This is the first episode in a series called The Accidental Pilgrim, recalling my thoughts during a Kilcullen Parish pilgrimage to The Holy Land, in 2007. Even though I'm not a religious person, the trip still resonates after a decade and a half, for lots of reasons.

When Kilcullen's almost derelict cinema building became a project of the newly-formed Kilcullen Community Development Committee in November 1989, they probably didn't realise they were embarking on an endeavour that would take many years, and many headaches, to complete. Produced by Brian Byrne.

In January thirty years ago in Kilcullen, the pressure for a link road to the north end of the town from the new bypass was ‘intensifying’, according to local newspaper reports of the time. For some local businesses, it represented a fight for survival. Produced by Brian Byrne.

When two public meetings in the autumn of 1989 discussed the future of Kilcullen, one of the main issues was the need for an upgrade to the town's sewerage system. It was an issue which had been 'on the books for a long time' one local businessman had complained. And it was still quite a way from being solved. Produced by Brian Byrne.

The work of two Kilcullen Third Year students for their BT Young Scientists project could become a template for the HSE in communicating details about Covid-19, or anything else. Because their presentation on vaccine information devised by Emma Cremin and Charlotte Darby of Cross and Passion College has proved far more effective and comprehensible than those provided by the state body. Produced by...

Much of the electricity used in our homes even in today’s age of renewable energy is produced with the help of an invention from 1884 by a County Offaly-educated engineer, Charles Parsons — a person of interest in the world’s ever-growing hunger for reliable energy. A Kilcullen Diary Podcast, produced by Brian Byrne.

The resurrection of a poem about Kilcullen published in the quarterly bulletin of Dominican College Newbridge in 1939 brought to light an eminent actor's connection with Kilcullen which most local people had never realised. The poem was written by a Third Year student in the college, Peter Dix. Produced by Brian Byrne.

The news business has become a vastly overcrowded sea where plankton just isn’t enough to feed the sharks, they continuously need something more substantial and juicy. Produced by Brian Byrne.

'Three Words for Goodbye' made me once again steal time from my other activities in order to keep reading it. At the same time not wanting to reach the end. Not because I knew there would be tears, rather that when you’re enjoying something, you don’t want it to finish. A review of the latest historical romance novel from Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb. Produced by Brian Byrne.

With the return of the Supervalu Tidy Towns Competition for 2021 following the event's cancellation last year because of the pandemic, the Kilcullen Tidy Towns effort is celebrating an 11-marks improvement over the 2019 performance. Podcast produced by Brian Byrne.

A Fifth Year student from Cross and Passion College, Kilcullen, Ireland, who recently addressed a high-powered European Commission group on the mental health of young people, says he was very pleased to be able to speak up for his generation on what is 'such a large problem'. Produced by Brian Byrne.

It's exactly two years since the community of Ballyshannon began their campaign against the proposal to open a sand and gravel extraction quarry at a local farm called Racefield, which had been acquired by sand and concrete products giant Kilsaran. Kildare County Council refused the company permission, but An Bord Pleanala overturned that refusal. The community is now waiting to see if their reque...

The annual Culture Night got back to some real live events this year and last evening in Kilcullen the sole contribution in town was organised by Dawn Behan of Woodbine Books. There was a small but very appreciative group in to hear Naas-based singer-songwriter Pete Kavanagh perform some of his songs, and talk about how they were brought to the recording studio and production. Produced by Brian By...

Fully open again to visitors after the pandemic intermission, a visit or re-visit to Russborough House in Co Wicklow is well worth making today. With a significant amount of updating undertaken during the covid closure, there's now a completely new reception and shop area, an enhanced restaurant and cafe service, and much more to learn about the history and culture of the 'Big House' era, going ba...

Kilcullen Community Action recently harvested its first honey from the two community hives which have been in operation over the last two years. The project by KCA's Pollinator and Biodiversity Group was initiated in 2019. Produced by Brian Byrne.

The Giant's Causeway in County Antrim is a geological fact that triggered the tale of two giants, Finn MacCool and a rival across the sea in Scotland, Benandonner. The unusually-shaped columns of basalt rock were formed many millions of years ago in a river valley when the now island of Ireland was a part of a larger continental mass. A Kilcullen Diary production by Brian Byrne, in association wit...

Located in the former Customs House of Limerick there's a compact gem of a museum that is the legacy of a family who loved art, archaeology, and design. John and Gertrude Hunt left their diverse and amazing personal collection in a trust so that it could be accessible to everyone in the generations which came after them. Produced by Brian Byrne.

In 1868, a Dublin businessman took over the lease on an acre of land and a mill at Mount Usher near Ashford, in Co Wicklow. Today the Mount Usher Gardens are spread over 20 acres and host some 5,000 species of plants and are a botanical treasure. A Kilcullen Diary production by Brian Byrne. (This podcast is also available on Youtube with visuals. https://youtu.be/1KFNAeJDwTQ)

Proposals by Kildare County Council to raise the speed limits on two country roads outside Kilcullen are 'ridiculous' and 'insane' according to local reaction, and people fear that it will take a traffic death before common sense is applied. A Viewpoint piece produced by Brian Byrne.

The reaction to proposals for speed limit increases on two country roads near Kilcullen has been strongly critical. Produced by Brian Byrne.

We are now a largely urban society in Ireland. But most of us are just a couple or so generations from forebears who made their living on the land, or who worked for them. At the Irish Agricultural & Folk Life Museum in Johnstown Castle, outside Wexford, this heritage is clear. Produced by Brian Byrne.

The Diary talks to Esther Reddy of Maintain Hope, at today's Coffee Morning fundraiser for the charity founded to help provide a better life for children and young people in Kenya. Produced by Brian Byrne.

The official launch of the revitalised Kilcullen Tennis Club, on 10 July 2021. Produced by Brian Byrne

Over the past seven years, Siobhan Murphy and her family have built up Kalbarri Cookery in Carnalway, near Kilcullen, starting as a school for cooking and evolving from there into an events location for families and their celebrations, for local corporate gigs and more. Then, on a Friday in March of last year, they had to change direction quickly when things came to a pandemic-induced stop. Produc...