BY JOHN FITZGERALD
You may have read about people who experienced “time slips.” This is when you visit a place with a past that tends to “visit” the present now and then… as with phantom air battles, the sound of shellfire at the Normandy beach or knights and damsels roaming about in a vivid image of yesteryear…until the vision melts away.
In Kilkenny you mightn’t experience a time-slip of the paranormal kind…but you can reconnect with the city’s medieval past at the Butter Slip, and the multitude of other winding old lanes and alleys that weave in and out of the City.
When you ascend, or descend, the steps of the Butter Slip that connects High Street with Kieran Street you’ll walk underneath two houses and below the arches of a passageway that dates to 1616.
For centuries it lived up to its name, serving as a focal point for the butter merchants on market days. Traders and customers converged on the narrow steps, and the darkened corridor echoed to the lively babble of commerce.
Today, the butter-sellers are gone, but the tastefully- fronted little shops on the slip preserve its old world ambience, blending seamlessly with an almost unchanged portal to a bygone age.
While the Butter Slip is one of the best known of the city’s old laneways, there are many others, all holding secrets; and some hosting architectural gems. Each winding path offers the walker an enchanting link with the past
But in the old days the lanes weren’t just there for recreation. They served the city day and night, enabling free and efficient movement of people and merchandise. They had the added advantage that their narrowness impeded enemies that sought to attack or occupy the city. Defenders had the upper hand as the invader struggled in unfamiliar territory.
The lanes witnessed many a courtship, secret or illegal assembly, and all the great heroes and villains of Kilkenny trod their well-smoothened cobblestones. They inspired artists and writers, and many a soul-stirring ballad.
In his book, Historic Kilkenny, Joseph O’ Carroll wrote of the lanes, recalling in verse what they meant to him.
Jacob’s Lane, Gooseberry Lane, and Old Quarry Lane, are, he said “within the sounding of St. Patrick’s Bell.”
He informs us that “Mary’s Lane is not far from Pennyfeather
Poyntz Lane with Collier’s Lane and Guard’s Lane all together.
Chapel Lane has cross lanes in between,
While Motty Lane leads on to James’s Green.
New Building Lane is further down… Evans Lane close by,
The Brewery Lane “is a cool spot when you’re dry.”
Only a few of the lanes that feature in the poem: You can personally walk in the footsteps of our ancestors by treading these and other ancient arteries of the City
Saving the lanes…
Given their illustrious and time-honored history, it’s little wonder that many tourists, whether or not encouraged by the official guides or brochures, make a point of exploring the lanes.
And who would blame them, after reading about all that Kilkenny has to offer? All the more reason to ensure that this part of our inheritance is retained for future generations and not let fall to either “progress” or neglect.
When I mentioned that I intended to write an article on this subject, I was contacted by a group concerned about Kilkenny’s image as a tourist attraction and the need to promote the preservation of as much of its medieval heritage as we possibly can.
I accompanied two members of the group to some of the lanes that Kilkenny folk know and love so well. But nostalgic feelings were tempered somewhat by the appearance of litter along the pathways…beer-cans; refuse bags, discarded plastic bags and containers, blocked drains, runaway weeds, and spillages of one kind or another. They showed me photos, one of which I include with this article, that demonstrate a clear need for action in their view.
The eco-conscious pair feared that if this unfortunate trend were not reversed we stood to lose part of our heritage…and unnecessarily, because tackling the problem, they believe, is straightforward enough.
Over the years, in fairness, valiant efforts have been made to keep the lanes clean and accessible to walkers. Civic initiatives to clean up Kilkenny, including its lanes, go back a very long way.
In 1336 Gilbert Fort, the Sovereign- or Mayor- of the City, enacted a decree that obliged every citizen to sweep the pavement outside his or her house.
This act of cleanliness was to be performed twice weekly: on Wednesday and Saturday. Anyone failing to sweep in accordance with this ruling was fined heavily.
Two years later a new Mayor adopted a more drastic “get tough” policy to keep Kilkenny clean. Sovereign John Cross was determined to punish litterlouts, and the Corporation agreed with his sentiments.
It especially clamped down on the washing of clothes or animal entrails in public fountains. Anyone breaching the new rules could be placed in a tumbrel or ducking stool. The tumbrel was a cart on wheels. The culprit would be strapped into it and rolled through the streets. The ducking stool was worse. You’d be bound to it and lowered into the River Nore, or a suitably-sized pond, to get a ducking- hence its name.
More recently, groups like Keep Kilkenny Beautiful have devised projects that sought to maintain the lanes in a variety of creative and life-enhancing ways. KKB fostered community awareness in the relevant parts of the city. Flowers were planted and hedges looked after to “keep up appearances” and KKB awarded marks to those who showed that they were “proud of their hidden shared lanes.”
The group I referred to that fears for the future of our old lanes is happy with some of them and not with others. They hope that the treasure beyond price that resides in these humble pathways of the past will not suffer the fate of the City Wall and all the other historic gems that are forever lost to us.
We mustn’t of course be too pessimistic. The old pride and joy, and the great community spirit of the city and county can prevail. Nobody doubts the dedication of those who work tirelessly to promote tourism, heritage, and to keep Kilkenny clean.
But I suppose, to quote the old political slogan, it’s a case of “a lot done, a lot more to do.”
