Athenaeum town’s GPO and Moore St combined
FOR the people in Enniscorthy, the Athenaeum is their GPO and Moore Street combined, Fianna Fáil Deputy James Browne told the Dáil. It was built, he said, as a town hall and theatre in 1892, and there is a proud tradition of theatre in his home town.
‘In March 1916, Patrick Pearse visited Enniscorthy for the commemoration of Robert Emmet and made a fine speech in the Athenaeum,’ he said. ‘ The 1916 rebellion began in Enniscorthy in the early morning on Thursday of Easter week, with the Athenaeum in the centre of the town as its headquarters.’ Speaking during a debate on the National Monuments Bill, he said the republican tricolour flew for a week over Enniscorthy in 1916. ‘My great-grandfather, Andy Putty Doyle, and the grandfather of Fianna Fáil councillor, Keith Doyle, also called Andy Doyle, marched together from the Shannon side of the town to Enniscorthy town centre,’ he said.
‘Fianna Fáil Councillor, Barbara Anne Murphy’s grandfather, Philip Murphy, was also involved in freeing the town that day. By Saturday morning, 1,000 insurgents had been mobilised in the town and surrounding areas.
‘I want particularly to mention the women of Enniscorthy in 1916. When a republican flag was hoisted over the Athenaeum when the rebellion began and was saluted with a bugler and a firing party, three women hoisted the flag who were members of Cumann na mBan. They were Greta Comerford, Una Brennan and Marion Stokes. Cumann na mBan set up an emergency hospital and kitchen. One member claimed 70 or 80 women were billeted in the Athenaeum during the Rising.’
Deputy Browne said he hoped Dublin’s Moore Street can be preserved with the same dignity and respect with which the Athenaeum in Enniscorthy was preserved.