Editing Athy (section)

==Places of interest==
{{Further|Kilkea Castle}}
[[File:Athy Court House 020512.jpg|thumb|right|[[Athy Courthouse]]]]
*'''[[Athy Courthouse]]''': Athy's courthouse was designed by Frederick Darley and built in the 1850s; it was originally the town's corn exchange.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.courts.ie/Courts.ie/Library3.nsf/0/F289C30271956D9A80256FBF003C6A31?OpenDocument |title=Athy Courthouse : HERITAGE : Courts Service of Ireland |publisher=Courts.ie |date=21 June 2001 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201192544/http://www.courts.ie/Courts.ie/Library3.nsf/0/F289C30271956D9A80256FBF003C6A31?OpenDocument |archive-date=1 February 2014 }}</ref> 
*'''O'Brien's Bar''': One of the town's pubs, Frank O'Brien's Bar, is considered a tourist attraction and was voted one of the top ten Irish bars in the ''[[Sunday Tribune]]'' in 1999.<ref>Sunday Tribune 3 October 1999</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.obriensbar.com/ |title=O'Briens' |publisher=Obriensbar.com |access-date=11 December 2013 |archive-date=4 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104172117/http://obriensbar.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Hardware merchants Griffin Hawe now occupy the town's 6&nbsp;ft. wide and 12&nbsp;ft. high 18th-century [[cockpit]]. 
*'''Kilkea Castle''': [[Kilkea Castle]] is located just 5&nbsp;km (3.1&nbsp;mi) northwest of [[Castledermot]], near the village of [[Kilkea]]. It was a medieval stronghold of [[FitzGerald dynasty|the FitzGeralds]], [[Duke of Leinster|Earls of Kildare]].
*'''[[Woodstock Castle (Athy)|Woodstock Castle]]''': built in the early 13th century to protect the north end of the ford and its western approach. A stone cuboid.
[[File:Athy White Castle 2013 09 03.jpg|thumb|left|Whites Castle]]
*'''[[White's Castle]]''': White's Castle was built in 1417 by [[John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury|Sir John Talbot]], [[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland|Viceroy of Ireland]], to protect the bridge over the Barrow and the inhabitants of the Pale. Built into the wall on either side of the original entrance doorway are two sculptured slabs. On the right of the former doorway is the Earl of Kildare's coat of arms, signifying the earl's ownership of the castle in former days. The slab on the left bears the date 1573, and the name Richard Cossen, Sovereign of Athy.
*'''The Moat of Ardscull''': The Moat of Ardscull is the focal point of local legend about "little people". Assumed to have been built in the late 12th or 13th century, the first clear reference to the moat is in 1654 when the "Book of General Orders" noted a request from the inhabitants of County Kildare for the State to contribute £30 "towards the finishing of a Fort that they have built at the Moate of Ardscull".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kildare.ie/community/kilmead/moat.htm |title=Kilmead – Moat of Ardscull |publisher=Kildare.ie |access-date=29 January 2014 |archive-date=1 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001173533/http://kildare.ie/community/kilmead/moat.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
*'''Athy Workhouse''': [[St. Vincent's Hospital, Athy|St Vincent's Hospital]] was formerly the Athy Workhouse. The Athy Poor Law Union was formally declared on 16 January 1841 and covered an area of {{Convert|252|sqmi|abbr=on|}}. The new Athy Union workhouse was erected in 1842–43 on a {{Convert|6.5|acre|ha|abbr=on}} site half a mile (800 m) north-west of Athy. Designed by the Poor Law Commissioners' architect [[George Wilkinson (architect)|George Wilkinson]], the building was based on one of his standard plans to accommodate 600 inmates.<ref>{{cite web|author=Peter Higginbotham |url=http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Athy/ |title=The Workhouse in Athy, Co. Kildare |publisher=Workhouses.org.uk }}</ref>
[[File:Roman Catholic Church of St. Michael, Athy, Co. Kildare - geograph.org.uk - 594578.jpg|thumb|right|St Michael's Roman Catholic Church]]
*'''St Michael's Church''': Originally built in the 14th century. Some of the vestry and side walls have disappeared, but there is still some of the original church remaining. A small cross lies within the church grounds and it is said that a cross or font is buried in a grave, within the ruins. There was at one time an arch that stood in front of St. Michael's but during some renovations many years ago, this was taken down.
*'''Quaker Meeting House''': Built in 1780 and standing on Meeting Lane. The first Quakers in Athy may have been Thomas Weston and his wife who in 1657 "received the truth" from Thomas Loe, an English preacher, who was visiting some friends in [[County Carlow]] (and who later influenced [[William Penn]]).<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/346007/Thomas-Loe |title=Thomas Loe (British minister) |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=29 January 2014 |archive-date=2 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202095343/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/346007/Thomas-Loe |url-status=live }}</ref> They were soon joined by the Bonnett family, the first Quaker family to settle in Carlow. A Quaker meeting was settled in Athy by 1671, the year in which Athy was included in the list of towns where the Leinster Province Meeting was held. The local Quakers met for worship once a week on Wednesdays, and every month a district meeting was held in Carlow to transact church business. Athy, as part of the Carlow district, also sent delegates to the Province's quarterly meetings.
*'''The Dominican Church''': [[Dominican Order|The Dominicans]] arrived in Athy in 1253 or 1257.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dominicans.ie/2013-01-25-14-13-42/2013-01-14-15-54-58/athy |title=Dominicans Ireland – Athy |publisher=Dominicans.ie |date=17 March 1965 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203052230/http://www.dominicans.ie/2013-01-25-14-13-42/2013-01-14-15-54-58/athy |archive-date=3 February 2014 }}</ref> They settled on the eastern bank of the Barrow, first in thatched huts of wood and clay, later in a stone priory and church dedicated to [[Peter of Verona|St Peter Martyr]], one of the earliest saints of the Order. Today, it is the opposite bank of the river that is dominated by the Dominican Church. In November 2015 the Dominicans finally left Athy due to a lack of friars,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholicireland.net/dominicans-bid-emotional-farewell-athy-foundation/|title=Dominicans bid sad farewell to Athy foundation|publisher=Catholic Ireland|date=23 November 2015|access-date=15 May 2016|archive-date=4 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604025521/http://www.catholicireland.net/dominicans-bid-emotional-farewell-athy-foundation/|url-status=live}}</ref> and the church and lands have been bought by Kildare County Council.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kildare.ie/CountyCouncil/PressReleasesAdverts/PressRelease-AthyMultipurposeCommunityFacility.html|title=Press Release - Athy Multipurpose Community Facility|publisher=Kildare County Council|date=1 February 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611032413/http://www.kildare.ie/CountyCouncil/PressReleasesAdverts/PressRelease-AthyMultipurposeCommunityFacility.html|archive-date=11 June 2016}}</ref>  It now operates as the town's local library.
*'''Shackleton Museum''' (formerly Athy Heritage Centre): Athy contains the only permanent exhibition on [[Ernest Shackleton]], who was born at [[Kilkea|Kilkea House]]. The museum has a collection of artefacts from Athy's past as well as artefacts from Shackleton's expeditions. Among the most impressive is a scale model of the ''[[Endurance (1912 ship)|Endurance]]''. Each year the museum arranges and hosts the Shackleton Autumn School, with speakers from around the world discoursing on different aspects of [[Antarctica]] and Shackleton's life.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.athyheritagecentre-museum.ie/ |title=Athy Heritage Centre-Museum |publisher=Athyheritagecentre-museum.ie |date=17 April 2014 |access-date=1 July 2007 |archive-date=10 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810015411/http://www.athyheritagecentre-museum.ie/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In December 2022, the museum closed temporarily for upgrade works.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-09 |title=Museum closed due to preliminary redevelopment works |url=https://shackletonmuseum.com/3096-2/ |access-date=2023-01-14 |website=Shackleton Museum Athy}}</ref>
*[[File:Aontas Ogra.jpg|thumb|Aontas Ógra Logo]]'''Aontas Ógra''': The local youth club in Athy which was set up, originally, as an Irish-speaking revival in 1956. It soon developed into a youth club and was the first boy-girl youth club in Ireland. It is still well-established to this day as an independent youth club in Kildare and is located now, beside ARCH on the Ballylinan road.
*'''1798 Rebellion Memorial''': This landmark is located in Emily Square and is dedicated to Athy's role in the 1798 Rebellion, as well as a memorial to local people who died during the famine years.