Kildare Nationalist – The Stone Wall of Athy gets a new lease of life!

If you’ve driven or walked along the Dublin side of Athy recently, you’ll have noticed that the stone wall of the Presbyterian Church looks quite nice!

According to local councilor Mark Leigh, the wall was ready to topple onto the footpath due to stress from the growth of the adjacent tree.

Cutting down the tree was the easier option, but it didn’t sit well with him or the head of the parks department at Kildare Co Council. Cllr Leigh explained that luckily Corcorans Stoneworks was able to cut a bit of the tree without causing any damage and rebuilt the wall to its former glory. The work was completed in early January and looks great.

Addressing the Kildare Nationalist recently Cllr Leigh said it was the first thing he had been asked to do as an adviser, adding that the wall was hanging down several inches at the top.

The “general consensus” was that they should cut down the tree, but when Cllr Leigh was on Simon Wallace of the Parks Department he thought it might be the one the Earl of Leinster may have planted.

A local property tax (LPT) was put into the project and the Presbyterian Church provided the balance.

There are other projects to be done in the area – Cllr Leigh is keen to try to get the pillars of St Mary’s Cemetery redone (“they’re also collapsing now”), for example, while the wall leading to the bridge of Kilkea “needs a bit of work.”