Athlone Tidy Towns awards hears 'there’s a lot of beauty in our town'

By Rebekah O'Reilly

Local community groups were honoured on Tuesday last, November 11, by Athlone Tidy Towns committee at their annual Gardens and Estates Awards ceremony held in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel.

Tidy Towns Chairman Padraig Higgins acted as MC for the evening, welcoming guests and speakers Cllr Aengus O’Rourke and Erica O’Meara of the Connaught Street and Environs Community Group.

Opening the presentations, Athlone Tidy Towns Treasurer Willie Brady joked that he “won’t do a song and dance”, but hoped to take the audience on a journey from 'Dirty Old Town' by The Pogues to 'The Town I Love So Well' by The Dubliners.

Mr Brady outlined several areas for improvement in Athlone, including better signage on the cycleway at the White Gates to encourage visitors into the town centre. He also drew attention to vacant shop units on Church Street and the town’s high level of dereliction.

“That’s a challenge, and we need to look at the possibility of trying to address that in the near future. One example is the old Technical School, which is probably lying vacant there for 20 years or so. It’s a fantastic site, again waiting for enhancement development.”

He spoke, too, about the water quality of the River Shannon, saying it “had a very unappealing vision” during the high season. Mr Brady expressed hope that the “water treatment works project will contribute to addressing the quality of the river”.

Burgess Park, he said, had also suffered as a result of the wastewater treatment works and needs “significant investment and enhancement.”

“It’s not a very appealing place for people to go for a walk around. Despite a ‘no camping’ sign, there are probably five or six tents in the park, and a couple that are just thrown in the ditch.”

Mr Brady also highlighted the ongoing lack of public toilets in the town.

“On account of the size of Athlone, with a population of 25,000 people, and all the visitors we have, it’s a shame we don’t have any public toilet facility. Surely that’s something that needs to be addressed.”

In this year’s National Tidy Towns competition, Athlone received 391 points, just nine behind the overall winner, Carrick-on-Shannon. Mr Brady said the committee now aims to break into the Top 20 nationally.

“There’s a lot of beauty in the world, and just keep that in mind, there’s a lot of beauty in our town. In our next steps, we can think about moving on to the Premiership!”

Athlone Tidy Towns Garden and Estate Competition Results 2025

A total of 32 awards were presented on the night across 14 categories.

A Special Recognition Award was presented to Rosie Greene of Spectrum Signs for her contribution to beautifying the derelict buildings in Connaught Street ahead of the National Tidy Towns adjudication.

“Rosie runs a lovely company called Spectrum Signs down near Ranelagh Way. It's always pleasant to do business there," said Mr Higgins.

"She helped us out this year by covering some of the rundown buildings with some murals and historical information, and it was quite comprehensive. She did quite a lot of them and her staff erected those in prompt time for our adjudication this year and I think it contributed quite a bit to our performance. This is a token for your determination to get all this done and your assistance to us.”

A total of four Long Service Awards were also presented on the night. Delia Kilkenny received the award after serving as a prominent member of Athlone Tidy Towns since the 1990s.

Sean Feeney was honoured for over 20 years of service, with Mr Higgins adding: "One way to know Sean is if you drive down on a Sunday morning around the N6 Centre at Kilmartins. He has kept it in immaculate condition with extraordinary dedication in all weathers."

Pierce Murphy received a Long Service Award to mark his retirement from Athlone Tidy Towns, where he served with dedication and motivation. Pierce had a career as a structural engineer, working in Mullingar, where he was responsible for "quite a few large engineering and structural projects at great expense throughout his years".

Also honoured for Long Service was John Butler, who served in Athlone Town Council as an elected councillor, and served three terms as Mayor in 1991, 1994, and 2000.

"Besides being Chairperson of Athlone Tidy Towns for a good many years, John has had extraordinary careers, a number of careers running parallel. His professional career with the railway, where he rose to the rank of Station Master, and served with that appointment for several years. He worked in the community at St Kieran's Community Centre where he was heavily involved. Not to mention his political career, which he was elected to the council, and served as Mayor for three terms.

"Also perhaps a less well-known fact, because it is slightly divorced in the town, is his absolute vision in creating the amenity park for the scouts down at Portlick. It's an enormous mark to the man's vision that he created that from a green field."

In the Small Gardens category, 1st place went to Ray Gillispie of St Mary's Place; 2nd place to Peggy Henson of Willow Park Drive; and 3rd place to Maura Burke of Willow Green. Achievement awards were also presented to Frank Maher of Monksland, Michael Cookland of Meadowbrook, and Grazyna Ciarkowska of Old Willow Road.

Austin Bradley of St Mary's Place took home the 1st place prize in the Medium Gardens category, with Maeve Kelly of Church Hills Road coming in 2nd place, and 3rd place going to John and Mary Ruane pf Valleycourt. Achievement awards in this category went to David and Theresa Molloy of Valleycourt, Liam and Lisa Hanlon of Valleycourt, and Alice Gorman of Valleycourt.

In the Large Gardens category, 1st place went to Matthew Hough and Svetlana Irtiseva of Crannagh, and 2nd place to Michael and Mary McLoughlin of The Derries.

Next in the Small Estates category, Hillcourt came in 1st place,The Elms in 2nd place, and Talbot Avenue in 3rd place. Achievement awards also went to St Mary's Place and Arcadia Cresent.

Woodville Drive took home 1st place in the Large Estates category, followed by Ashdale/Woodlands Grove in 2nd place, and Coolevin Park in 3rd place. Achievement awards went to Willow Park, Valleycourt, and Church Hills.

Noel Gardener of Loughloe House was awarded Best Community Garden for Biodiversity, while the award for Best Private Garden for Biodiversity went to Ray Gillespie of St Mary's Place, and the Best Estate for Biodiversity award went to Coolevin Park.

Overall Garden Winner was awarded to Matthew Hough and Svetlana Irtiseva of Crannagh, and the Overall Estate Winner went to Shay Hamilton of Talbot Avenue.

Two Shop Front Awards were also presented on the night to Eddie Murphy Menswear on the east side of Athlone, and The Snug Bar on the west side.