Thursday 17 December 2015
Irelands Ancient East
Wednesday 28 October 2015
Save The Barrow Line
Wednesday 21 October 2015
Save the Barrow line
Lets bring all the villages and towns along the Barrow to life with jobs for our children .lets embrace our tourists and our friends with all abilities
Save the Barrow line
Open The Barrow Way for all
It’s about Employment, Keeping rural Ireland alive,
Access for all.
We
are writing to you to express our support for the restoration of The Barrow line from Athy to St Mullins and the
creation of Jobs for the young people in towns along the river. Waterways
Ireland are submitting a plan for this restoration which has wide spread
support in the area .This development of the Barrow path which is a National
asset will be a life line to South County Carlow where tourism is in its infancy
.Employment has collapsed from Carlow to St Mullins , we need our river path
restored to provide Jobs for the area. We run a very busy Coffee shop on The
Barrow tow path and when we explain to our customers i.e. Walkers, Cyclists,
Canoeists, Tourists what is planned for the path they are overwhelming in
favour.
The Green Way in the West of Ireland has
shown that when you provide infrastructure a path off road with a good surface
that the tourists will come. Businesses will open Bike Hire Hostels, Hotels, B&B
and local shops will flourish. Ask any shop keeper in Westport, Mulranny Newport in the west how their business are going
and they will tell you the effect of the Green Way .Do nothing with the Barrow
line and this area is condemned to decay.
- Commercially The Blue Way is a fantastic opportunity
for the Counties of Carlow Kilkenny, Laois and Kildare and all the
villages along the line, it’s about jobs for the people that live in the area.
- There are large number of over 60’s who have hips,
knees, feet gone who will happily cycle or walk along a level surface and
experience the wonderful Barrow River. The elderly and not sure of foot
find the current surface difficult.
- People in Wheel chairs are currently unable to use the
Barrow line due to the surface yet it is the most ideal path for them in
that it has a very low gradient.
- Young mothers with Buggy’s are excluded from using the
path because of the surface.
- What is unique about the Barrow path is the low
gradient and man-made surface which would be suitable for all abilities to
walk by the river
- There wonderful walks in County Carlow ,Kilkenny however
none bar the Barrow track are suitable for people with any physical
disability.
- With a level surface families with children could cycle
off road and in safety .
- The History associated with the Barrow River is
enormous Churches Castles Bridges can now be seen by the visitor at their
leisure.
- Our small villages are dying, this development is a
unique opportunity to bring them back to life, and the restored Barrow Way
can provide Jobs for the next generation.
- Carlow town is 1hour from Dublin this development is an
opportunity to capture that market
- Now Failte Ireland will have a product to sell to
Europe as a quality Cycle and walking path by the river that is suitable
for those with disabilities as well as the robust and able-bodied.
- St Mullins is the most used section of the Barrow line
we would like to share this success from Athy to St Mullins .
Martin & Emer O’Brien
The Old Grain Store
Self-Catering Cottages and The Mullicháin Café, St Mullins
Friday 16 October 2015
Odlum's Mills St Mullins Closes 1966 Barrow Path
The
Nationalist and Leinster Times
September
9th 1966
Campaign to
get new industry / Face Emigration as Mill Closes
Eleven men
from St Mullins, Co Carlow are facing a crisis.
Employees of
Odlum’s flour Mills; they are under notice which expires on Friday, October 28th
–the day the Mill grinds to a halt for the last time. It has been in production
for 150 years, but is now uneconomic. There is only one other Industry in St
Mullins and this employs just over 20 men. The number of men indirectly affected
by the closure of the mills is 46.Only one has secured alternative employment
–and he has to travel eight miles to New Ross the nearest town. Twelve months
ago the mill employed 22 men. Last December twelve of these were left go, the
initial move towards final closure. The Future of the building is still in the
balance. On Friday night the local clergy,
Dail Deputies, the management and the workers met to exchange views. Although
nothing definite emerged the two Deputies Tom Nolan and Seamus Pattison
promised to contact The Industrial Development Association with the view to
attracting another industry, possibly on the site of the Mill. Mill Manager Mr
Vincent Baker told reporter that the reason for closure was that the Mill was
not up to the production standards required to keep it going as a paying
concern. This Mill he said has the capacity of five 20 stones of flour per
hour. The average mill produces at the rate of twenty four 20 Stones. At its
peak the mill employed up to fifty men and had four Lorries and two vans on the
road. Of the twelve men let off in December as well as three office workers
none found work in the village. Three went to England and now more are
considering the same course. Of the original dozen only Dick Gladney was unmarried.
He now works in the sugar factory in Carlow. Jim Higgins is the only man of the
eleven to go in October who has found another job. Jim Doyle who has worked in
the Mill for 30 years said “I feel very bad about this. I have worked in
England for years and now I suppose ill return there leaving my wife and family
at home” Ned Ryan, who has worked in the Mill for 15 years, summed it up this way;
“It is a tragedy and it will be the end of St Mullins”. Ned is the only single
man at the mill, others have up to eleven children and the majority are only
half way through school.
The century
and a half old Mill was originally built by a Mr Devereux from Wexford and he
transferred the ownership to Sutton & Howlett who in turn sold to Budds in 1833.In 1898 the Mill changed for the last time when Odlom’s took it over.
A
Magnificent house stands beside the Mill, built at the turn of the19th Century,
and this has been occupied by members of the Odlum family up to a month ago.
The house and mill overlook the River Barrow and it is one of the most
picturesque settings for any type of industrial concern in the country. St
Mullins has for years been the stronghold of hurling in the county. Through the
years it has produced the cream of the Carlow County team and of the twelve men
under notice no less than eleven of them have worn the county jersey at one
time or another.
Since
Christmas the Mill has only been engaged in in the production of Bakers flour
but prior to that, when things were better at the Mill, it had disturbed
wholesale flour throughout Leinster. On Friday last Dick Byrne took the last
load of twenty Tons of flour to Portarlington. A meeting will be held on
September 23 to see if there is a possibility of establishing another industry
in the area
Monday 5 October 2015
Councillors See The Light
COUNCILLORS CHANGE THEIR TACK ON ATTITUDE TO BARROW TRACK ‘BLUEWAY’
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 01, 2015
CONTROVERSIAL plans by Waterways Ireland to develop the River Barrow were once again before Carlow County Council, with yet another group lodging strenuous objections.
But despite being the second such delegation to come before the council, there was a distinct softening to Waterways Ireland’s plans among council members. It subsequently emerged that councillors had been approached in recent weeks by business owners and interested parties, and they expressed their support for the plan to replace the river’s towpath with a hard surface suitable as a cycle track.
The deputation from Carlow Barrow Users Group led by Rosalind Murray and Bert Mooney began by outlining the history of the Barrow, its importance in terms of trade and, more recently, tourism. Referring to the towpath, Mr Mooney was adamant that a 1.5m wide towpath was “never going to be wide enough to be a proper trail”. He also warned about the potential for erosion.
Ms Murray pointed out that Waterways Ireland had conducted a poll into its plans for the River Barrow and described the results as “overwhelmingly positive”. However, Ms Murray stated that under a freedom of information request, her group had discovered that 84% of those who responded had declared they were against the plans, with just 15% in favour.
Ms Murray asked why Waterways Ireland was just looking at a plan for a cycling track when the River Barrow had even greater untapped potential. She also suggested that any work on the river should be done from the river itself or its puddle.
Cllr Arthur McDonald remarked that the planned investment of between €5m and €7m was needed on the River Barrow. “We have to ensure this funding comes; we must make sure it does,” he warned.
Ms Murray accepted fully that the Barrow was in need of investment but added that the proposed plan was only looking at putting down a surface.
“We have established that €5m or €6m won’t be enough. Our worry is that this proposal is going against the wealth of history and will just end up doing damage to it,” she stated.
Cllr Michael Doran remarked that currently the track surface was in “an atrocious state”. “I would definitely say there should be resources used to improve on it and I believe we need to promote, maintain and get more money for the track … if not, it will fall into the river.”
Cllr Doran also stated that “we have to support Waterways Ireland and shouldn’t jeopardise funding”.
A notice of motion signed by 11 councillors calling for the Barrow’s towpath to be made a protected structure was subsequently deferred, showing a clear sign of a change of heart among the members.
Cllr Doran warned that such a notice of motion would “unilaterally halt development” and potentially be a “serious catastrophe for businesses and home owners”. He also spoke of “people trying to make the Barrow more elitist and not looking at a more holistic approach”.
Cllr Jennifer Murnane O’Connor remarked that “in the last few days, we have been approached by people telling us what this plan might do for tourism and how that would help jobs … everyone should be working together for the good of Carlow”.
“I’m not here to pick a side, I’m here to represent Carlow,” she said.
Both cllr Brian O’Donoghue and cllr John Cassin remarked that they had “signed the motion in good faith” but that further information had come to light since.
Thursday 17 September 2015
Ancient Fear !
Did You Know
?
The Viking
Raids on St Mullins
When the river Barrow falls
as the tide goes out, rocks appear at the bend just below the Mill, known
locally as the “Scar” a Viking name
for weir.
“Around the swelling
waters a graceful swallow glides
As the ever patient Herron
awaits the falling tides.
Shadows of raiding Viking
ships about the scar appear
The clash of swords, the
shouts men, the ancient smell of fear.”
The
Vikings used the rivers to raid inland Ireland and were very fond of
monasteries as that was where the wealth of the country lay. Rape, pillage and
Plunder was their game and they struck fear into the natives as no mercy was
shown.
In
824 a large fleet of Vikings sailed up the Barrow from Waterford to St Mullins
and plundered the monastery of St Moling (Four Masters).
In
888 Riagan,son of Dunghal defeated the Vikings
at St Mullins after which 200 hundred heads were left behind.
In
915 The Chiefs of Liphe of “Broad Deeds” waged a battle with the Vikings leaving
500 heads in the valley over Tigh –Moling St Mullins. The Irish were no Angles
and great men for counting the heads of their enemies.
[Annals of the Four Masters, Vol 2. pp 590-1]
AD
951 Teach Moling was plundered by Laraic from Waterford the same fellow that
Waterford is named after Port –Lairge .
Wednesday 16 September 2015
The Barrow Challange
Be here before 10am for all the excitement !
Tuesday 15 September 2015
Blood and Terror on The Barrow
Did You Know
?
The Viking
Raids on St Mullins
When the river Barrow falls
as the tide goes out, rocks appear at the bend just below the Mill, known
locally as the “Scar” a Viking name
for weir.
“Around the swelling
waters a graceful swallow glides
As the ever patient Heron
awaits the falling tides.
Shadows of raiding Viking
ships about the scar appear
The clash of swords, the
shouts men, the ancient smell of fear.”
The
Vikings used the rivers to raid inland Ireland and were very fond of
monasteries as that was where the wealth of the country lay. Rape, pillage and
Plunder was their game and they struck fear into the natives as no mercy was
shown.
In
824 a large fleet of Vikings sailed up the Barrow from Waterford to St Mullins
and plundered the monastery of St Moling (Four Masters).
In
888 Riagan,son of Dunghal defeated the Vikings
at St Mullins after which 200 hundred heads were left behind.
In
915 The Chiefs of Liphe of “Broad Deeds” waged a battle with the Vikings leaving
500 heads in the valley over Tigh –Moling St Mullins. The Irish were no Angles
and great men for counting the heads of their enemies.
[Annals of the Four Masters, Vol 2. pp 590-1]
AD
951 Teach Moling was plundered by Laraic from Waterford the same fellow that
Waterford is named after Port –Lairge .
Sunday 13 September 2015
Ireland's Ancient East
Did You Know?
St Moling Turned
a farmer to Stone
Now, St Moling was a fair man for the curse
himself, didn’t he turn a crowd of locals into stone because he
caught them working on his holy day. Those stones are there to this day. Not a man, woman or child would dare touch them. It was a farmer called
Anthony who had his workers out in the field on St Molings day.His wife who was called the
“Ramshadh Rua” came along with the dinner at 12.30, as that’s dinner time in
the country. She had a churn of milk with her on the cart when she pulled
in beside the lads. They were all sitting around in a circle when suddenly out of
the blue who appears but the bauld Moling himself in a bit of a temper. He demanded to know why they were out working on his holy day after
he telling all the local pagans it was a holiday for the lads. A Christian thing these Holidays were, a new invention. Well Anthony took to his
heels and
made a bolt for it across the fields, the hair standing up on his head. He only made it as far as
Dranagh before the Monk’s curse caught up with him and he turned into stone. To this day it is
called “Stukan-na-Drana”. Anthony’s wife took to her heels too. She was a mighty runner but
only made it to the hill of Ramshagh,which is called after her to this day ” Ramshagh
Rua “. There she stands petrified (that’s turned into a lump of stone). Just ask Michael Boland,The stone is sitting in one
of his fields, and that poor creature locked inside it for all eternity. I bet he wouldn’t dare try
and shift it, just in case the wily saint is still around. The workers never made it
off the ground where they sat in a ring having the dinner
(probably a Druid’s ring as old habits die hard). They were turned to stone and so was the donkey and
the cart and even the churn of milk. Moling didn’t miss a thing. Those stones remained in that
place that was called
“Maol Oula”(The Bald place), until some Yahoo dug them up to
build houses in Marley.
Saturday 12 September 2015
Ireland's Ancient East
Did you Know
?
The Mad
Sweeney
Still Hides
in the Trees of St Mullins.
Well
as the story goes there was this King up in the county Meath called Sweeney who
lost the plot when a Bishop Ronan started building a monastery on his land, how
dare he .Sweeney threw his spear missed the Bishop and killed one of his
servants .Ronan cursed Sweeney to fly through the trees for the rest of his
life, what a horrible man .No matter how hard his friends tried to get him back
to his kingdom he was so mad they couldn’t hold on to him. The witch of time
didn’t help either” Cailleach Na Dudain” The Hag of the Mill she challenged him
to a jumping contest and all around Ireland and off they went jumping form hill
to hill until poor auld Sweeney was exhausted. Well he ended up in St Mullins
eating water cress in St Moling’s stream when who came along but the saint
himself and he took pity on the wretched Man –Bird .He listened to Sweeneys
tale but wasn’t able to reverse the Bishops curse but he said he could sleep in
the trees around the Abbeys every night if he would tell the Saint the story of
his life. The pig herder for the Abbey was Mongan and his wife put milk in a
cow path so the Sweeney could fly down from the threes for a drink. But typical
auld gossipers the other women suggested he was getting more than the sup of
milk and let it slip to Mongan himself. Well the man had his pride so he stuck
his spear into poor auld Sweeney and he died ,some say he is buried above in
the grave yard others believe he is still up in the trees.
Seeneys
story is recalled by the following
Authors
“The Adventures of Suibhne Geilt “ JJO’Keeffe
“At Swim Two Birds” Brian O Nolan( Flan O’Brien)
“ Four Masters” Michael O’Cleary
“Stowe Collection
@ The Royal Irish Academy” Daniel O’Duigenan
“Sweeney Astray” Seamus Heaney
Friday 4 September 2015
Mullicháin Cafe Girls on the move
Tuesday 1 September 2015
Café by the river Ireland: Graduation from The Mullicháin Cafe School of Life...
Café by the river Ireland: Graduation from The Mullicháin Cafe School of Life...: Lorna 7 years, and Sarah (Joey) 5 Years, Graduate from The Mullicháin Cafe School of life, We Say a Big thank you for all your great work...
Graduation from The Mullicháin Cafe School of Life
Friday 28 August 2015
New Surface for Barrow Way, Athy to St Mullins to cater for Buggy's Wheel Chairs.Bicycles Walkers, To cater for us all
Saturday 22 August 2015
Restoration of The Barrow Line for all Wheel chairs, Prams, Walkers, Cyclists
Restore The Barrow Way
Wouldn’t it
be smashing to have an even surface on the barrow line for all?
Wouldn’t it
be smashing for all to enjoy barrow time
and really have a ball?
Wouldn’t it be
smashing with your wheelchair to whiz along whistling to nature’s song?
Wouldn’t it
be smashing for Mam’s and Dad’s to push the buggy all the way along?
Wouldn’t it
be smashing when the knee and hip are gone to sit into a buggy and get pushed along?
Wouldn’t it be
smashing when the ticker no longer has the power to still hear the Barrow song?
Wouldn’t it
be smashing if we could have the world look on as we give one another the
chance to come along?
Wouldn’t it
be smashing for us all to remember someday we will need that helping hand?
Wouldn’t it
be smashing to know the Barrow gang will include you in their band?
Wouldn’t it
be smashing if we could look out and see that some of our pals are not as lucky
as we?
Cycling on The Barrow Line To St Mullins
Thursday 30 July 2015
Monday 1 June 2015
Dining Alfresco in St Mullins Just Magic
Friday 29 May 2015
Barrow track in Top 5 places to spend a Day, Irish Times
Wednesday 20 May 2015
Pavlova to Die For down at The Mullicháin Cafe
Dining by The Rivewr Barrow
Friday 24 April 2015
Carlow Roses visit The Mullicháin Cafe St Mullins
Sunday 12 April 2015
Gone Fishing
Saturday 4 April 2015
Thursday 2 April 2015
Wednesday 1 April 2015
All roads in the South East Lead to St Mullins by The Barrow
Sunday 29 March 2015
River Barrow Walk to St Mullins
Wednesday 25 March 2015
Sunday 22 March 2015
Monday 9 March 2015
Saturday 7 March 2015
Friday 6 March 2015
Wednesday 4 March 2015
Thursday 26 February 2015
Friday 20 February 2015
Thursday 12 February 2015
Friday 6 February 2015
The Mullicháin Cafe reopens tomorrow 11-5 Sat Sun for February
Wednesday 4 February 2015
Access to The River Barrow for all,Not just the healthy and mobile.
There are great plans to develope the Barrow river path all the way from Monasterevin to St Mullins .This is a wonderful opportunity to provide access to the river for all ,prams ,buggys, bicycles, walkers and put The Barrow river on the Map for tourists. Support Watwerways Ireland in this great task https://lnkd.in/dYi7ReN
Monday 12 January 2015
The Mystic Valley of St Mullins
Tuesday 6 January 2015
Monday 5 January 2015
The Challenge is to find St Mullins Irelands premier 7th Century Monastic site
How Do you deal with the refusal by Carlow County Council and the NRA to put up sign posts directing tourists to this stunning attraction ?
The Magic of a smile
The Magic of a smile down at The Mullicháin Cafe St Mullins book your short break or holiday www.oldgrainstorecottages.ie
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