Street Wise – The Quays

This series of articles for the Westmeath Independent is run in conjunction with the Street Wise Athlone series on Athlone Community Radio which is broadcast on Wednesdays during Athlone Today at 2.30pm and repeated on Thursday mornings at 10am on The Brekkie Show

Athlone Miscellany by Gearoid O'Brien

The term The Quay came into use in the early 1840s, roughly at the time of the Shannon Navigation Works. It describes that stretch of the river front from the town bridge to the Docks, while the term The Strand came into use about the same time to describe the opposite area of river frontage on the east bank of the Shannon. This year it was agreed to re-name it, Sr Bernard Quay, in honour of Sr Bernard Lynch, late of St Peter’s Convent who lived on the Quays in her retirement.

The definition of a quay is an artificial structure that projects into the water for the loading and unloading of ships. The fine quay walls that we see today, on either bank of the Shannon, were part of the Shannon Navigation works of the 1840s. Prior to that the banks of the river would have been far less clearly defined and flooding was more common.

For the purpose of this article, I am going to confine myself to the area on the west bank of the river, as that is what locals in Athlone usually refer to as The Quays. I will not venture as far as The Docks which was a hive of industry in 19th Century Athlone with a distillery, saw-mills and a bobbin-making factory.

The main point of access to The Quays is from Main Street but there is also access from The Shambles, a laneway that links Excise Street to The Quays and, in more recent years from St. Peter’s Port. The Shambles was the area in which much, if not all, of the butchering was done. It is now quite built up but it once had green fields on either side which were used, occasionally, for circuses and travelling shows but also for the stalls of over 20 butchers offering their wares for sale.

Sadly, over the year’s there have been many drownings in the vicinity of the quays. One sad case was the drowning of a young girl called Margaret Quinn whose case was reported in The Westmeath Independent in September 1848. Margaret was playing on The Quays with a couple of friends including her brother. They spotted a plank stretching out from the new quay wall to the base of the old bridge which was still standing – the plank was used by workmen involved in the removal of the remnants of the old bridge. Margaret attempted to cross the plank but as she turned to see if her brother was following her, she lost her footing and fell into the river. Her body was recovered later that evening. At her inquest a verdict of accidental drowning was recorded and a juror, Mr Mullen, stressed that such planks should be removed each evening once work finished for the day.

The Early Days of River Tourism

Prior to the Shannon Navigation Works the Shannon was not fully navigable through Athlone, as the natural ford had created a series of rapids and shallows just south of the town. By the Autumn of 1849 works were nearing completion and the Westmeath Independent of September 8, 1849 carried the following report:

“The appearance, on Thursday evening, of one of the City of Dublin’s Steam Company’s large vessels the Lady Landsdowne, on the Upper Shannon, was a novelty which came unexpectedly upon the inhabitants of Athlone; and as she steamed up our noble river a large number of spectators congregated on the bridge and Quays, who, by hearty cheers, welcomed this, the first attempt to open the navigation for vessels of any burden above Shannonbridge, from which the traffic has been heretofore carried on by means of the ordinary canal boats propelled

by a small tug-steamer. By the Lady Landsdowne, a number of visitors were conveyed from Limerick, who having inspected our extensive barracks and military outworks [The Batteries}, left next morning by the same conveyance for Clonmacnoise, to view the ancient and beautiful ruins of the seven churches and towers. We are happy to learn that, in future the Company’s steamers will ply regularly between Limerick and Athlone with passengers and freight.”

Just about a month later four of the Inland Navigation Company’s steamers arrived at the new Quay with a large number of passengers, and on the same evening a number of the directors of the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company and the Midland Great Western Railway Company dined at Haire’s Hotel. Although the railway had not yet reached Athlone the directors were already exploring the idea of becoming involved with the Steamer trips on the Shannon from Athlone. During the Victorian times such trips became very popular with potential passengers being brought to Athlone by train for trips both up and down river from the town.

Buildings on The Quays

People of a certain age (like myself) will well remember the Guinness store which was on the waterside in front of the Castle for much of the 20th century. It later served as a tyre depot and survived until the early 1990s. The old Office of Public Works shed which was on The Quays survived until more recent times and was removed because it was considered to be a hazard to traffic.

One of the most interesting buildings on The Quays was the Presbyterian (or Scotch) church, the building of which commenced in August 1858 when Lord Castlemaine laid the foundation stone. The church was opened for Divine Service from June 1860. Like many other Protestant churches in Athlone the early congregations were made up largely of officers and soldiers of the garrison and members of the merchant class and their families. When the British Army withdrew from Athlone in 1922 the Presbyterian church, in common with many of its sister churches, witnessed a severe decline in numbers.

The last Presbyterian minister resident in Athlone was Rev Robin Wilson who came in 1938. He was appointed as minister of Ballinasloe, Athlone and Roscommon. In 1943 he resigned to become an R.A.F. chaplain. The congregation was already in serious decline and unable to appoint a successor. Athlone became a ‘stated supply’ for the Rev A. Stanley Hill, who was Minister for Tullamore and Birr in the early 1960s. Services ceased to be held in the church in Athlone and were continued, for a time, in the Methodist Church, or at Clara. The Athlone congregation lapsed from assembly records in 1966.

The Presbyterian church built to the design of the architect, E.P. Gribbon, originally had a beautiful spire. Once the church was without a minister and unlikely to re-open the spire became a desirable asset. An enterprising and energetic curate from Ballymacormack church near Longford approached the Presbyterian community in the hopes of securing the spire to adorn his chapel. The stately spire which had graced this church for almost a century was dismantled stone by stone and brought to Ballymacormack Catholic church near Longford.

The spire was purchased by Fr Philip McGivney in the early 1950s. It took five years for it to be dismantled and re-erected. All the work was carried out by one man, Mr Joseph Lyons, a building contractor of Garvagh, Longford. Mr Lyons himself laid every stone of the 75-foot spire. The spire was topped with a five-foot bronze cross, and a new bell, weighing 8 cwt. was made in Dublin and fitted in the bell-tower. On June 30th 1957 the Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois, Dr McNamee, blessed the new spire and bell. It can still be seen today at Curry, on the approach to Longford town where the church serves as a chapel-of-ease for Longford parish.

Next week: The Left Bank and Bastion Street.

READ MORE: Previous articles in this series on other streets can be viewed HERE