Street Wise Athlone - Grace Road/Elliott Road

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 road in question is, of course, the long straight road running parallel to the river, on the Connaught side of town, from the Luan Gallery down to the old railway station. You probably know it better as the Accommodation Road. The history of this road is itself an interesting story. In May 1850 a special meeting of the Athlone Town Commissioners was held to discuss the matter of a new road arrangement. Mr Philip Hay, the Chairman of the Town Commissioners, presided and read the following letter received from the Engineers Department of the Midland Great Western Railway. The letter was dated 27th April 1850 and read:

Sir,

I beg you will explain to the Town Commissioners that in order to carry out the plan, of the proposed new road along the barracks wall and Shannon bank to the Railway Station, it will be necessary to enclose what is called the Barrack Slip, in lieu of which the greater portion of the space belonging to the Board of Ordnance, now enclosed by a chain and stone posts, will be thrown open to the public.

Access to the River now enjoyed at the Barrack Slip will also be given off the new road.

On condition of the Town Commissioners ceding the Barrack Slip free of claim for compensation, I will undertake on the part of the railway company, to build a sewer leading down from Queen Street into the new main conduit, to be connected with the outflow below the Steamer Lock. I enclose a plan of the proposed works, and am,

Your most obediently

G. W. Hemans, Chief Engineer.

The Town Commissioners resolved to accept the offer but requested that the sewer be “carried as far as the Government house in King Street, a distance of about 25 yards farther than proposed”.

In all the early reports regarding the need for this new road it was described as a road to accommodate passengers from the Midland Great western Railway Station and so it became known as ‘The Accommodation Road’.

The Eglinton Road or Eglinton Parade

A report in The Westmeath Independent of 16th April 1853 stated: “Yesterday the barricades were removed from this road, and the approach to the Railway Station is now open to public traffic.

It was August before the road was officially opened and named. A report in The Westmeath Independent of 28th August 1852 stated: “Their Excellencies (the Earl and Countess of Eglinton) accompanied by a large party, next proceeded to view the town from the new road, which has just been completed by the Railway Company as an approach to their Station house. This road, which was now opened for the first time, will bear the appropriate title of The Eglinton Parade”.

The Earl of Eglinton was Archibald William Montgomerie (1812-1861). He was 13th Earl of Eglinton, 1st Earl of Winton, a British Conservative politician he was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1852 and again from 1858-59.

Despite its grandiose name the locals continued to call this road ‘The Accommodation Road’ and once the tree-lined promenade was constructed it was variously referred to as ‘The Accommodation Road’, The Promenade or simply ‘The Prom’.

Grace Road

At a meeting of Athlone UDC on 31st January 1912 a discussion took place about the re-naming of this road. The Chairman, Cllr M.J. Lennon announced that in accordance with notice, he moved that the name of the Accommodation Road be changed to “Richard Grace Road”. He had started to justify his reasons by saying “When Grace had full command here, he defeated the English, and it was only when the command went into other hands…” At this point he was interrupted by Cllr R. Baile who said “These things are silly”. The Chairman replied “Well, Mr Baile, they are not silly. I am astonished that a man in your position should not know who Richard Grace was. This road was once called the Eglington Road, and I never knew who he was.”

Cllr Baile responded “He was Lord Lieutenant here when it was made.” Cllr Burgess added: “It doesn’t sound very well.” To which the Chairman responded “You can call it Colonel Grace Road if you like.” Cllr Baile relied “You can call it anything you like”. The Motion was passed unanimously.

Elliott Road

In December 2016 it was announced that following a recommendation from a sub-committee set up to commemorate local people associated with the Easter Rising that it was proposed that a section of Grace Road, from the White Bridge would be renamed Elliott Road in honour of the Elliott sisters from Tonagh House in Glasson.

The matter went to public consultation in February and the proposal was accepted by the elected members of the Athlone Municipal District in April 2017. The formal ceremony to rename the road took place in April 2018. The Elliott sisters, Emily and Eilis, were early members of Cumann na mBan and both of them saw active service in Dublin during the Easter Rising in 1916. Happily, both sisters survived to tell the tale and both led active and long lives. Eilis who lived in Athlone, married Seamus O’Brien and was known local as “Mrs 1916 O’Brien”. She was very active on the committee formed to erect the Desmond Broe memorial to the Old I.R.A. members in Custume Place. Sadly, she died just prior to the 50th Anniversary commemorations of the 1916 Rising.

Her sister, Emily, married Peter Ledwith of Mount Temple, she died in 1983 and is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin. In 2016 the Elliott sisters were also deservedly honoured with a bronze plaque on the memorial wall at Athlone Civic Centre.

A Lesson to be Learned

I think there is a lesson to be learned about the futility of changing the names of existing roads. To my mind the Elliott sisters would have been more appropriately commemorated by having a new stretch of road named in their honour. The Earl of Eglington, once celebrated in this fine stretch of road is long forgotten, Colonel Richard Grace the aged Governor of Athlone during the famous sieges of Athlone who defended Athlone in the Siege of 1690 and was a casualty of the second Siege in 1691 has been side-lined and still the vast majority of people in Athlone continue to call the road ‘The Accommodation Road’ without ever realising the significance of the name. Even the changing of the names of two streets which had huge pro-British connotations (King Street and Queen Street) and which were changed to Pearse Street and Connolly Street respectively in a spirit of Irish nationalism took between 30 and 40 years to bed in. One wonders how many people will refer to Elliott Road thirty of forty years from now? Or will the people of Athlone persist in calling this road The Accommodation Road because it was wrestled from the military authorities to accommodate passengers arriving in Athlone at the old Midland and Great Western Railway Station?

Next article: Magazine Road.

To read previous articles in this series, follow the link here