A new book on Kildare Town, entitled Kildare Footprints, will be launched in Kildare Education Centre on Wednesday night, 11 July, at 7.15 p.m. by James Cannon, Chairman of the Centre. All are welcome.
KILDARE FOOTPRINTS by MARIO CORRIGAN
It has been written very much as a follow-up to the popular The Hundred Acres which was originally published in 2006 to promote the Slí na Sláinte routes but at the same time to discover the rich and varied heritage the town has to offer.
Essentially, this book, Kildare Footprints, is the textual basis for the town walking tours which were developed through Kildare Town Heritage Centre. We want to encourage people to become guides or to use it as a basis for entertaining visitors and friends. We want our schools to have the knowledge to develop tours and projects for their students and to preserve the tours for the future. It is a dangerous thing to rely on one or two people and the knowledge that they have gathered. The book includes all the information used to develop the tours in 2006.
This guide is for everybody, whether it is the first time visitor, the returning pilgrim or the resident interested in finding out a little more about where they live. It encourages us all to take time to walk around the town and spend some time there, to allow ourselves time to relax or get fit, to understand a little more about the heritage of the town or to simply find a good place for a cup of coffee, a pint or place to shop or to try them all.
Kildare Footprints is not just a heritage trail or guide book, it is a local history book in its own right and a practical manual for tour guides or would-be tour guides in the town or indeed elsewhere. The book is well illustrated throughout while a colour photo section captures some key events in the recent history of the town, including the inaugural Giraldus lecture of Cill Dara Historical Society in 2011, on the late Senator Michael Smith of Cooleen, which was delivered by none other than Michael D. Higgins before he was elected President of Ireland.
As a keepsake or a working guidebook, Kildare Footprints has something for everyone and will be available at the launch at a specially reduced price of €5 per copy. The launch at 7.15 p.m. in Kildare Education Centre will be followed by the eagerly anticipated Giraldus lecture, A Thread in the Tapestry, Talbots in Kildare, by A.C. Talbot.
All are welcome.
Not only is the new book by Mario Corrigan a walking tour guide and heritage trail for Kildare Town it is a practical guide for would be tour guides on how to arrange and give a walking tour.