Plans revealed for three-day Gilson celebration in Oldcastle

The May Bank Holiday weekend will see three days of activity in Oldcastle to commemorate the philantrophist, Laurence Gilson. A permanent tribute to Gilson will be unveiled on Sunday 1st May, in the form of a bronze statue, but the weekend's activities also will include an exhibition of memorabilia, historic tours of the town, talks, concerts and family entertainment. Events start on Friday 29th April with an ecumenical service in St Bride's Church, at The Square at 7pm. Myles Dungan of RTE will launch and introduce the weekend in the Gilson National School at 8pm and this will be followed by a talk on 'Laurence Gilson & Endowed Schools' by Christopher McCormack. The evening will be rounded off with a concert by local schoolchildren. On the Saturday, there will be a guided tour of the Loughcrew Cairns by Malachy Hand and a complimentary shuttle bus will be available from the Gilson School at 2pm. There will also be a historical tour of the town by local tourism company, Beyond the Blarney, which will start at 4pm from the Gilson School. At 7pm a commemorative Mass in St Brigid's Church, Church Street, will take place and at 8pm there will be a talk on 'The Architecture of the Gilson School and other buildings in the area' by Liam Tuite, followed by a talk on 'Laurence Gilson's family tree', given by Joe Mooney. There will be something for everyone on the Sunday, including tours of the Loughcrew Cairns and the town of Oldcastle at 2pm and 4pm, respectively. A vintage tractor run will take place in the afternoon and there will be a novelty football match in Gilson Park at 2.30pm. Family entertainment in the grounds of the Old School will take place from 3.30pm with music, face-painting, bouncy castles and more. The main event of the weekend will be at 5pm on Sunday evening when the statue will be jointly unveiled by the Bishop of Meath, Dr Michael Smith, and the Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath and Kildare, Dr Richard Clarke. This joint unveiling will fittingly commemorate Laurence Gilson's wish that Catholic and Protestant children be admitted equally to the school. The weekend of celebration and commemoration will end with light refreshments, music and dancing. As part of the weekend of celebration, the organising committee would especially like to hear from any past pupils of the Gilson Endowed School who would like to share their memories of their time at the school and if anyone has any photographs or memorabilia that they would be prepared to lend for an exhibition on the school's history for that weekend, the committee would be very grateful. These will be kept and returned safely. If anyone has anything they would like to share, contact Michael Mullen on (049) 854 1107 or Eddie O'Reilly on (049) 854 1294. Laurence Gilson was born in Boolies, Oldcastle, and it is recorded that "in his youth, Laurence neglected his farming business and applied himself to learning". It seems he sold the portion of land he had inherited and earned a living by teaching in the area until he departed for London. On his death in 1810, he directed that the money he possessed and the interest it would accrue should be used for the building and maintenance of a non-denominational school which would admit, with no fees, equal numbers of Catholics and Protestants from the parish, and from all creeds and social classes, too.