Athy, co Kildare

Wednesday 21 May.
Athy was the home of Alfred and Henrietta Haughton, my Haughton great-great-grandparents, where Alfred owned the mill at Ardreigh, just out of town.  I arrived here around midday after driving up from New Ross in the morning.

I am sitting in the late afternoon sunshine on the banks of the River Barrow in Athy, co. Kildare.  Today has been a beautiful sunny day.  The otherwise peaceful scene was a little spoiled by the group of yobs and their dogs further along the bank, clearly a bit worse the wear from alcohol.  But they've now moved on and I have the space to myself.

River Barrow, Athy

I went out for a trip to the Quaker museum at Ballitore when I first arrived.  The museum is housed in the old home of Mary Leadbeater, who wrote "The Annals of Ballitore", published in 1862.  The book is available as an e-book via this link, and provides a wealth of information about the Quakers and their lives.  Mary's father, Alfred Shackleton, conducted a boarding school at Ballitore, where several of the Pilkington and Keane sons attended.
The museum was interesting and provided a good snapshot back in time.  I thought I had read that there were tea-rooms there as well, but apparently not, so en route back to Athy I stopped at Birrtown House, where I enjoyed afternoon tea and a wander through the beautiful Birrtown gardens.

Mary Leadbeater's home,
now Quaker Museum & library,
Ballitore

Information from a Haughton document I had researched stated that Alfred and Henrietta are buried in "the Athy burial-ground".  There are three cemeteries in the surrounds of Athy, and I really had no idea which one it might be.  I found St. Michaels Old Cemetery just down the road from where I am staying, so that seemed like a good place to start. On the site is the ruins of an old medieval church.

I wandered in, only to be confronted by row after row of seriously weathered and unreadable headstones, with the occasional legible one dating to the early 20th century, much too late for what I was seeking.  After wandering a couple of rows, I had decided that, without anything else to go on, my task was fruitless and settled for just soaking up the atmosphere.  As I turned to leave I sent a silent message - "c'mon g-g-granny, give me some help here" - and there not 20 metres along the path, with a beam of the late afternoon sun shining directly on it, at the base of a large yew tree, I found it!   A substantial granite headstone with an iron railing surround, and quite well-preserved in that the inscription was quite readable looking from side on, so that the lettering was highlighted by shadow.

 

"TO DIE IS GAIN" Phil 1:21



IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE OF

 

ALFRED HAUGHTON

25th May 1858

 

"PRESENT WITH THE LORD" 2 Cor 5:8

"COMPLETE IN HIM" Col 2:10

 

AND OF HIS WIFE

 

HENRIETTA

18 July 1878

 

"I SHALL BE SATISFIED WHEN 

I AWAKE WITH THY LIKENESS" 

Ps 17:15

 

 

 



 

After yesterday's experience in New Ross, I truly believe that my ancestors are helping me out (well, some of them, anyway!)