The Devoy Gates Restoration Committee: Jim Brady, Michael Devereaux, Cllr Seamie Moore, Cllr Michael Coleman and John Sweeney pictured in front of the restored gates Click on the gallery above to see all the pictures from Martin Rowe Almost 2,000 young people walked through the gates of the army Apprentice School during its 42 years at Devoy Barracks, Naas. Now, after 24 years of sitting in storage, these iconic gates have been brought back to life and are installed at the grounds of Kildare County Council (where the barracks used to call home). Over 500 people turned out for the official hand over of this piece of history at Aras Chill Dara, on Wednesday, May 4 with people traveling from as far away as Canada, Switzerland, Coventry, and London. “It passed all our expectations,” said Jim Brady of the Devoy Gates Restoration Committee. “It was fantastic. We have been working on the project for four years and it was delayed with Covid but one of the mottos of the Defence Forces is ‘planning and preparation prevents poor performance’ and that worked out to be the case. We were over the moon.” The was organised by the Devoy Gates Restoration Committee, a group of former members of the Army Apprentice School and others who served within Devoy Barracks. The army Apprentice School opened in October 1956 and vacated Devoy Barracks in September 1998 before it was shut down permanently six weeks later. The building was knocked down. The civic offices were built and the gates were in storage at Kildare County Council. The committee employed Alan Donoghue to sandblast the gates and repair any weak spots in the structure. Mr Brady explained that Mr Donohoe also had to extend the gates with the same pattern to fit the opening. The gates’ crests, which were on display in the Curragh Museum, have been secured 0n permanent loan and been reattached to the bars, which are now painted the original traditional blue. The gates were formally handed over to the Mayor of Kildare, Naoise Ó Cearúil by Cllr Michael
Kildare barracks gates brought back to life to commemorate army apprentice school
