My Kildare Life interview with musician Darren Brereton

Darren Brereton is a Prosperous native and  musician. He is heavily involved in both the music festival and the heritage festival in Prosperous.

WHAT IS YOUR FIRST KILDARE MEMORY? 

I have a few stand-out memories from my childhood that I feel made me who I am today. My first and earliest Kildare memories are playing in the snow in my grandfather’s (Paddy Price) garden at Christmas time around all his Christmas display, or the many musicians who frequented our family home that played music with my father. People such as Dinny Moran from Robertstown or Séan Holt (RIP) from Sallins.

Pulling straw for the thatch or summers spent in the bog with my other grandfather (Christy Brereton) was always another stand-out memory from my childhood. I developed a special bond with both of my grandfathers when I was very young.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT KILDARE? 

I love that it’s still a very rural county in many ways, considering the rise in population in the past 20 years and our close proximity to Dublin. I love that Kildare has a very specific identity as not just the Lillywhite county, but also from an arts and historical point of view. Our patron saint Bridget is celebrated all over the country and we all learned to make the crosses in school. The standard of drama groups in Kildare is evident.

The 1798 Rebellion, the most bloody rebellion on Irish land, started in Kildare and the county is finally getting its much deserved recognition for that. Also the music identity is very important. Christy Moore, Damien Rice, Donal Lunny, Liam O’Flynn, and Jack L are a huge influence on today’s Irish music scene... Motorsport and horse racing is also there on our back door. 

WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE RESTAURANT AND/OR PUB IN KILDARE? 

My favourite place to eat in Kildare is the Japanese restaurant Fujiyama in Newbridge next to the Whitewater Shopping Centre. The sushi is outstanding as is everything else on the menu. I have no favourite pubs in Kildare. I enjoy a little pub crawl around Prosperous from time to time taking in a few pints in Dowling’s, Christy’s and Larry’s. 

WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO GET INVOLVED IN THE PROSPEROUS HERITAGE FESTIVALS? 

Joe Murphy! Well, maybe a little origin first. When I first read the book Prosperous — A Village of Vision as a child, I was taken in by the stories of how the village came to be established in 1780 as a cotton manufacturing industry by Robert Brooke and then the 1798 stories of how it started here and the revenge that the rebels took on Captain Swayne and his Militia. It was so well planned. It was the first win in what was the biggest and bloodiest uprising ever seen in Ireland. Since that book was published, much more information has been found. So much that we are able to paint a very clear picture of the days leading up to the battle itself. 

It is documented all over the country in writings of the time, that the Battle of Prosperous and subsequent victory, inspired the rebels of the United Irishmen to rise and fight for what they believed in. What I noticed locally was the lack of knowledge of all of this, considering the information that was collected. 

It is quite a legacy for such a small village. When I was approached by Joe Murphy who came up with the idea of the heritage festival and the idea of commemorating the 220th anniversary of the rebellion, I was in without question. The village was reduced to rubble after 1798 and look at where we are now. What a journey! From there the local heritage awareness has grown and we have a very successful and active Facebook page, just celebrated the local roles in the Irish War of Independence with our second festival, we have a website being launched in October and plans to celebrate the 240th anniversary of the village next year. Local history is extremely interesting and every bit of new information we find or get is like treasure to us.

WHAT’S YOUR IDEAL DAY IN KILDARE? 

Fishing! Peace and quiet, and fishing. Turn the phone off, surround yourself with nature, cast out into the Grand Canal, let the world pass by for the day and clear your mind. It is one of the most therapeutic things you can do, and it’s free!