Shannonbridge Links With Father Kieran Kilroe

The Midland Tribune of 13 / 7 / 1957 contains an article on Father Kilroe by E.I. that goes like this –

Living Tradition

Father Kieran Kilroe was Parish Priest of Saint Mary’s Athlone a century ago when the building of the magnificent Gothic Church was commenced. His birth at Shannonbridge, in the parish of Clonmacnois, dates back a hundred and fifty years, and when one sets out to trace his parentage and background one is in the 1950’s and 1760’s, the period of the Hearts of Steel in the North, the Whiteboys in Munster, and the disgracefully hanging of Father Sheehy of Clogheen in the neighbouring county of Tipperary.

But despite the passage of decades and centuries there is in West Offaly a living tradition that seems to bridge the wide gap without effort. Recollection of that faraway period is vivid and accurate and one can follow the footsteps of the little boy born in ancient Rachra to his first school nearby, to the more pretentious educational establishment at Clonfad across the Shannon, where a lay teacher of the old Hedge School tradition taught Latin, and finally to fuller scholarship and the more exalting rank of the Priesthood.

The surname Kilroe belongs to Connaught. It is found in the royal O’Connor family, close akin to the O’Clerys and the O’Shaughnessys. The Christian name was got from the patron saint of the parish where his people had settled, and was, in his time, spelled Kyrn or Kieran. The Gaelic rendering was Ciaran. So that in his personal name the future Athlone pastor represented both sides of the Shannon. It is a fact worth noting that his own experience of the lay primary and classical schools at Rachra and Clonfad led him later to introduce that same Hedge Schoolmaster type of education into St. Mary’s parish, Athlone, and it was, in fact, the presence of such educational facilities that enabled the future Dr. Kilduff, who became a great Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois, to commence his studies there.

Home and Relatives

It is important that facts regarding Father Kilroe’s home and relatives should be placed on record. The home in which he was born does not now stand at Shannonbridge. It was situated in the area covered by the school grounds. A brother of his, William, lived to the age of 90 in the house where Mrs Hubbie Darcy now resides. A grand-nephew, Mr. Kieran Joe Kilroe, and a grand-niece, Miss Katie Kilroe, live just opposite the Church and Parochial House. But neither of these houses was the birthplace of Kieran, the future Rev. K..Kilroe , P.P. of St. Mary’s, Athlone. Miss McGrane of Cloghan is also a grand-niece. Great grand-nephews are Messrs, William, James and Patrick Byrne of Leharrow, and a great-grand-niece is Miss Kitty Byrne. This is not an exhaustive list of relatives, but it is sufficient; to show that the family of the good priest; who proved such a benefactor to Athlone, still holds an honourable place in the Shannon Valley.

It is obvious that there was a tradition of scholarships and culture among the Kilroes. The brother William, already referred to, was known by people still living as a recognised classical authority and as a kindly and respected old gentleman, in whom all the best of both Gaelic and Continental learning were happily united. A typical example of his studious and progressive habits may be quoted: when the musical arrangement known as Tonic Solfa was introduced he made a point of mastering its intricacies although he would have been considered well past the age for such an undertaking. Knowledge and self improvement, for their own were his high-minded objectives.

A Transport System

The Kilroe family were for generations associated with a transport system that was organised and perfected before most of those we read about began. They maintained what was known as a Carman’s Stage, and the fact that they owned a breed of horses built for speed would seem to indicate that as some period they ran a Posting Stage as well.

At that time goods were transported overland to and from the coast by horse-drawn cart, and, of course, some portions of the Shannon itself were used for water-transport. A genius for organisation was a requisite quality for a family with a part in such complex commercial undertakings. It is not to be wondered at that it was the son of such a progressive people who faced and carried out the gigantic task of erecting a great Church in a land that had been recently raked by famine and disease.

Now the least of the tributes paid to the character and qualities of Father Kieran Kilroe was that, although St. Mary’s, Athlone, was a Bishop’s parish with an Administrator, both before and after his time, yet from 1845 to his death, two successive bishops, Dr O’Higgins and Dr. Kilduff surrendered their claim there to him, and so he is remembered as the only Parish Priest to be appointed to the Parish of St. Mary. Shannonbridge and West Offaly salute his memory. End.

Note that Kieran Joe and Katie had a brother William or Bill who seems to have been omitted in the article .They had a sister Mai who was married to a Byrnes and lived in England. Rachel married a Keogh and lived in Dublin. One or possibly two other girls went to Australia and for a time Katie went to live with her niece in Sydney