“At last more or less free. Am writing this two days after we were informed of the Armistice and we ceased our work in slavery, as it might have been called.” These were the opening words in a letter my Uncle Barney began to his aunts in Kilcullen, Peg and Nora, on the 17th of August 1945. The context was the surrender of Japan after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings in WW2. Produced by Brian Byrne.

It was in the building at the back of the yard in the family pub, over which was the 'loft' where coffins were stored, and the Boxing Club had space for training and a ring to spar in. But to us children the 'factory' was the most curious and interesting place when it was in action. Produced by Brian Byrne.

On 15 August 1998, a man with a child on his shoulders posed for a photograph in Omagh, Co Tyrone. Shortly afterwards the car beside them exploded, killing 29 people and wounding hundreds. The man and child survived, the photographer did not. Produced by Brian Byrne.

Cllr Rob Power of the Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District discusses how progress is being made, and might be further improved, on facilities for cycling in mid-Kildare. Produced by Brian Byrne.

The internet, social media, the now almost old fashioned newspapers, and ever-present TV chat shows, make becoming a celebrity, or instantly promoting a business, available to everybody. But back at the turn into the 1950s that wasn't at all the case. Produced by Brian Byrne.

An eight-minute film produced by three college friends and premiered recently on Youtube highlights the harassment regularly experienced by young women in Ireland's nightclub and dance scene. 'Guy' was produced by the Luna Collective, which comprises Rachel O'Sullivan from Kilcullen and her friends Ryan O'Donnell and Graham Butler Breen. In this episode they tell how the film was made. Podcast produced by Brian Byrne.

'Guy' can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/xtIzDwXdIlA

When Jim Collins gave me a printout of the 'Irish Motor Directory and Motor Annual 1914-1915', I remembered a red Indian. Nope, not a native American. Nor even a person from the sub-continent. It was a motorbike. I never saw it, but my grandad often talked about it. When I saw the registration number IO 91 in front of James J Byrne's name in the IMD, it kind of came to life. Produced by Brian Byrne.

(Photo by Lars-Göran Lindgren Sweden, used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License.)

On this day in 1975, an attack in County Down by members of the UVF paramilitaries left three members of the Miami Showband dead and two injured. Produced by Brian Byrne.

Photograph of Parnell Street memorial by UtDicitur, from Wikipedia via Creative Commons licence.

Writer Hazel Gaynor's latest book launches in Ireland on 6 August 2020, in advance of launches in the UK and America. Hazel's books have made it to the Best Seller lists of publications such as The New York Times, USA Today, and the Irish Times. Her latest, published by HarperCollins, is The Bird in The Bamboo Cage, based on the true story of a group of English and American schoolchildren and their teachers interned in China by the Japanese during World War II. She talks to the Diary about it. Produced by Brian Byrne.

That Was The Week, a reminder of some of the main news stories on Kilcullen Diary to the week ending Sunday 26 July 2020. Produced by Brian Byrne.