My Kilkenny Life: Alma Feeley
What's your idea of a perfect day, or perfect weekend out in Kilkenny?
Weekends are family time in our house. I love our family breakfasts at home on weekend mornings. My husband Sean cooks and it’s a lovely catch up time with good coffee before the activities begin. Like many families, we spend a lot of time going to and from activities so Stoneyford United, Kilkenny RFC Minis, Kilkenny School of Music, Kilkenny Junior Strings and Kilkenny Coderdojo are part and parcel of our weekend. We’re blessed to have such great clubs and amenities in Kilkenny. We might have lunch in Café le Coco or Left Bank between activities on Saturday or I might have a coffee in Butler House while waiting while my daughter Isabel is at Junior Strings. Some Saturdays we have a family meal at Lana or Aroi before movie night at home. Otherwise, if Sean and I are going out alone, or with friends, we might go to Campagne or Rive Gauche and have a drink in our local, Malzards, on the way home. Sundays, we will take our cockapoo Toffee for a nice walk around Stoneyford and perhaps a trip to the new cinema on Barrack Street. On Sunday evenings since January, we’re in front of the fire watching John Nolan and Aidan Fogarty on Dancing with the Stars. My daughter is a big fan of Johns.
Who has made the greatest contribution to Kilkenny in your lifetime - and why?
Walking around Kilkenny, I often think of the talented craftsmen – stone masons, carpenters, architects and archaeologists – who collectively have protected and preserved our medieval treasures. Their work has and will continue to endure when all of us have passed on. In the last ten years, the late Pat Moore chronicled everything that happened in Kilkenny through a lens. He went to everything. As a photographer, his work captured a decade of Kilkenny life and his passing leaves a big void. We worked very closely together; in fact, I called him my work husband. I miss him, personally and professionally.
What's your first Kilkenny memory?
There’s a few: the weekly visit after mass to Fitzmaurice’s newsagents (now The Book Centre) for my Twinkle comic and some sweets; rolling down the hill with cousins in Kilkenny Castle and the old playground that had a high slide and a rocket that shook when you pushed it back and forth; visiting Santa upstairs in Goods and realising afterwards I forgot to tell him what I wanted for Christmas. My Dad saved the day by promising to call in later and tell him; getting a pint of cream in the creamery. I also remember occasional family lunches in the Newpark Hotel. The late Bobby Kerr (senior) would greet everyone and give us lollipops.
What's your favourite part of the county - and why?
I grew up in St. John’s parish where my parents still live and I’ve been living in Stoneyford for the last 15 years with my own family. Both places have lots of happy memories for me, old and new. Stoneyford is a wonderfully active community. The current Operation Transformation Stoneyford is a great example of this. However, my favourite vista of Kilkenny always was, and is, Kilkenny Castle and the river Nore from John’s bridge. I have a Ramie Leahy painting of it at home.
What do you think gives Kilkenny its unique identity?
Our medieval legacy is the making of Kilkenny, no doubt about it. Kilkenny Castle, St. Canice’s Cathedral and round tower; the slips and old streets and more recently the Medieval Mile Museum are incredible assets for this city and, in the county, places like Dunmore Cave and Jerpoint Abbey. Transforming the Castle Yard and Dower House into Kilkenny Design and Butler House were great undertakings also. And there’s hurling. Anywhere you go, people know about the success of Kilkenny hurling. Having lived in Dublin for 15 years and endured commuting and gridlock on a daily basis, I also think the size of Kilkenny is just right. We have the best of everything in a compact size!
Do you have a favourite local writer or author?
My father, Louis Feeley, has written poetry for many years and I believe he is as one of the finest poets I’ve ever read. He is gifted with words and can make the ordinary extraordinary, in my opinion.
What's the biggest challenge facing the county today?
It’s awful to see so many empty shops in Kilkenny city. Rates and online shopping is killing retailers. I’d love to see opportunities for the creative and arts community to use these spaces.
If you had the power to change one thing in, or about Kilkenny, what would it be?
I don’t like our street signs. I think they’re too modern for a medieval city. And, impossible though it is, it would be lovely to ‘push’ Kilkenny out towards the coast. Imagine Kilkenny by the sea – wouldn’t that be fantastic!