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HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
The town is named after a second century chieftain, Ae, who was killed on the river crossing thus giving the town its name the ford of AE or in Irish Baile Átha Í.
The town developed from a 12th century Anglo-Norman settlement to an important military outpost on the border of the Pale. The first town charter dates from the 16th century and the town hall was constructed in the early 18th century.
The completion of the Grand Canal in 1791 linking here with the River Barrow and arrival of the railway in 1846 illustrates the importance of the town as a commercial centre.
Of the many church ruins in Athy, St. Michael's is perhaps the most ancient. It was built in the fourteenth century. Some of the vestry and sidewalls have disappeared, but there is still some of the original church remaining. The dedication to St. Michael is derived from the St. Michael family who were lords of Athy and it is quite probable that it was this family who were the founders of the church.
White's Castle, a tower house built in 1417 by the Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare is now a private residence, and is said to be opening soon for public visits under its new owner.
Athy hosted the Gordon Bennet Cup race in 1903. This has also lead to the popular but unproven belief that it was the origin of British Racing Green colour for racecarsThe town is twinned since 2003 with French town of Grandvilliers (département Oise-Picardy).
GEOGRAPY
Athy, situated in the south of Co. Kildare, is a market town on the convergence of the River Barrow and Grand Canal.
The exact intersection of 7°00'00.00" west longtitude and 53°00'00.00" north latitude lies northwest of Athy near the Athy to Stradbally road.
TRANSPORT
Athy is connected to the Irish rail network via the Dublin–Waterford main line. Athy railway station opened on 4 August 1846 and closed for goods traffic on 6 September 1976. There is a disused siding to the Tegral Slate factory. This is all that is left of the former branch to Wolfhill colliery. The line was built by the United Kingdom Government in 1918 due to wartime shortage of coal in Ireland. The concrete bridge over the River Barrow on this branch is one of the earliest concrete railway under bridges in Ireland.
The town is located on the N78 national secondary road where is crosses the R417 regional road.
ATHY - HOME OF ENDURANCE
Athy contains the only permanent exhibition on Ernest Shackleton, who was born not far from Athy in Kilkea House. The exhibit is housed in the Athy Heritage Centre, which has a collection of artifacts from Athy's past as well as some interesting articles from Shackleton's expeditions.
Among the most impressive is a scale model of the Endurance. Each year the Center arranges and hosts the Shackleton Autumn School, with speakers from around the world to speak on different aspects of Antarctica and Shackleton's life in particular.
FAMOUS ATHY PEOPLE
Philip Crosthwaite (December 27, 1825–February 19, 1903) was an early settler of San Diego, California and Rosarito, Baja California. Fought and wounded in the Mexican War became the mayor of San Diego.
John Minihan who was Samuel Beckett's official photographer, and was originally from Athy, took a series of world famous photographs of the town. Beginning in the early sixties this body of work showed the changes in the town from that time.
Robert Redmond who is considered by many to be the great local photographer. Famed for his international portraits for Hello! and OK! magazines, Robert has become a prolific writer. His collections of photographs are published by Nonsuch Publishing.
Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh famously referred to Athy in his poem "Lines written on a Seat on the Grand Canal, Dublin", as a "far-flung town". The town is also recalled in the well-known folk songs "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye", "Lannigans Ball" and "We're on the Road to Sweet Athy". Among Athy's many famous inhabitants are Liam O'Flynn of Planxty, the award winning writer John MacKenna, the singer Jack L, You're A Star finalists The Sullivan Brothers and legendary musician Robbie Robinson .
World Champions Frances Dalton and Stephen Roche who both won gold medals for Ireland in gymnastics and equestrian also hail from Athy.
Newstalk 106 host Ger Gilroy is an Athy native.
