Kilcullen Diary

A special recording by the singers of the Big C Choir, which includes a number of Kilcullen members, has turned out to be a fundraising success for cancer support far in excess of their expectations. Produced by Brian Byrne.

This was to be a podcast with our panel on our The Question series. Unfortunately, the recording of our conversation last evening failed, and I'm left only with my own recollections. I'll try and reconstruct some takeaways for you, so that it wasn't a total waste of our panellists' time. The question was, Where could Kilcullen be in five years' time? Produced by Brian Byrne.

Today is International Women's Day, and among the various local individual and groups events to mark this, students and teachers in Cross and Passion College are doing it in their own way, choosing to challenge stereotypical attitudes to women. Produced by Brian Byrne.

In this episode of 'The Question' series on Kilcullen Diary Podcasts, the panel gets together on Zoom to discusses the question, Is Social Media Polarising Society? Produced by Brian Byrne.

When I heard of the death of former RTE journalist and editor Mike Burns over the weekend, it brought back memories. In fact, I had only been thinking of him recently, wondering how he was. Now I know, at the age of 84, he has doorstepped his way into that great newsroom in the sky. Produced by Brian Byrne. Photo: RTE.

A new Kilcullen Diary Podcast series begins tonight, The Question. And the first questions we considered were all related to Lockdown and its effects. Some personal views from the presenter and a local panel — Gerry O'Donoghue, Evelyn O'Sullivan, Cliona Kelliher, and Roy Thompson. Produced by Brian Byrne.

Good Friday was always a special day in the family pub, The Hideout. Being one of just two days in the year when the pubs in Ireland closed, it was when there was a chance to get things done that couldn't easily be managed during the rest of the year. While there were no customers, the place was always abuzz with activity. Produced by Brian Byrne.

What kind of will power does it take to decide to eliminate your tribe? To collectively cease to have children, and if one happens to be born that it be thrown from a cliff to its death? That's part of the tragedy of a tribe, the Diaguita, which lived in what is today northwestern Argentina in the 15th century. Produced by Brian Byrne.

The Buonomini were established by a Dominican friar, Antonio Pierozzi, later St Anthony of Florence. 'Twelve Good Men' were chosen, two from each of Florence's administrative districts, to be the 'protectors of the shame-faced poor'. Their job, to collect from everyone who could afford to give, and to use the money to find and assist in secret those who needed it. Produced by Brian Byrne.

The Kings and Clowns Drama Studio near Kilcullen has developed a new direction, as an English language tutoring school for people overseas. Owner Rani Grennell is working with clients in Brazil, Korea, Japan, Thailand, India, Kuwait, Nigeria, The Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Produced by Brian Byrne.

The house was made of adobe mud, the land around it high altitude Bolivian desert. From all I'd seen in previous days, the owner likely eked out a very subsistence existence. But on a pole poking out of the roof I could see a photovoltaic solar panel. Produced by Brian Byrne.

I don't think I had ever met a concentration camp survivor before one day fourteen years ago, I got on a plane for a four-hour journey from Tel Aviv to Frankfurt. It didn't feel like four hours in the end, because my assigned seat happened to be beside a woman a decade or so older than I, one Sara Atzmon. We talked, and time just faded. Produced by Brian Byrne. Image by Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC...

My plan was that I'd rent a bike and take to Bilbao on wheels for the day. Instead, I ended up in a pub that Sunday afternoon. That wasn't as bad as it sounds. It was research, of course. On how the Bilbaoians spend their Sundays. Produced by Brian Byrne.

Tommy used to sell carpets. Then he opened a fastish-food place, concentrating on his ice-cream made on the premises. He called the place Tommy Two Scoops. The name stuck. On him as well as the business. He doesn’t mind. Tommy is good on marketing, and he knows good marketing happening when he sees it. Produced by Brian Byrne.

Bardon’s in my memory is a place where us Byrne kids’ best friends lived. Where we played together a lot, mostly whenever they weren’t playing at our house. It was the kind of scenario where the youngsters in families got to know each others’ homes intimately. Produced by Brian Byrne.

Staff and residents at Curragh Lawn Nursing Home are the first in this HSE region, if not the first nursing home in the country, to be vaccinated against Covid-19. Produced by Brian Byrne.

In these pandemic days, it's maybe a good time to recall some of my travels, to give people ideas of where to go when travelling once again becomes part of our normal life. In this short episode, I'm reminded of a very small business that doesn't cater for the big market tourists. Produced by Brian Byrne.

On this day in 1961 it was a New Year's Eve like none before. Ireland was celebrating with the launch of our own television service. Long before 7pm, the time scheduled for the opening, the front bar in The Hideout was full. Produced by Brian Byrne. Images from RTE Archives.

Bang! It didn't sound like a shotgun. Besides, people didn't use shotguns in the middle of villages. And fireworks were illegal. I looked at my dad. "Carbide bombs," he said with a grin. Produced by Brian Byrne.

Jack Dempsey, who became known in American boxing circles as 'The Nonpareil' because he was most of his career unbeatable, was born on 15 December 1862 in Athgarvan on the edge of The Curragh in Kildare. However, he is all but forgotten in his home county as one of the greatest boxers of his time. Produced by Brian Byrne.

It was Terry Prone who told me that she used to get her best writing ideas while ironing. And that at the time she used to scribble down those thoughts on the white worktop in her kitchen, using a washable magic marker. The image has always stuck with me. Produced by Brian Byrne.

I was talking with someone recently about Glasnevin in Dublin in the 1950s, when milk was delivered then by a farmer from a churn on his cart, residents in the new houses coming out to have jugs filled. Milk supply in Kilcullen wasn't as advanced then. We collected it in lidded tin cans with skinny wire handles. They cut welts into our small children's hands by the time we brought them home from T...

An episode in the Kilcullen Diary series In Those Days. This time remembering Norman Ross, a unique man and his business on the unique Valentia Island in Kerry. Produced by Brian Byrne.

In association with a Climate Action Event organised by the Kildare Public Participation Network for the weekend beginning Friday 27 November 2020, Kilcullen Diary has produced a short series of related podcasts. This episode features the Kilcullen-based Passive Housing company owned by Matt Dooley and Mark Cooper. They talk about how the unique system based on polystyrene structural components wa...

In association with a Climate Action Event organised by the Kildare Public Participation Network for the weekend beginning Friday 27 November 2020, Kilcullen Diary has produced a short series of related podcasts. This episode features Barry McMahon and Eamon Stack talking about their Narraghmore-based social enterprise, Range Therapy, which adds an extra battery to older short-range Nissan Leafs t...