As most people are aware Banksy is an pseudonymous England-based street artist; a political activist and possibly a film director, whose satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humour with graffiti executed using a distinctive stencilling technique. His real name and identity continue to remain unconfirmed and indeed the subject of huge speculation.
Here in Thurles, as you can see, most certainly Banksy can’t be accused of spraying his graffiti images on College Lane, east of our town.
Local Municipal Districts councillors would like people to believe that they have now created a new walkway for locals people and tourists. But of course College Lane, as we know, has been there for centuries and the walkway we know today as ‘College Lane’ was originally known as ‘Bohereen Keagh’, long before the Monakeeba housing estate was built.
With nationalist fervour, following on from Irish independence back in the 1920s, many Thurles streets were renamed to honour our Irish heroes and patriots; hence we have Parnell Street, Croke Street, Kickham Street, O’Donovan Rossa Street, Mitchel Street, Cuchulainn Road, etc.
College Lane was, back then, officially renamed “Eliogarty Road”, but the name didn’t catch with local people failing use the name, whereas some older people today still used the older name, pronouncing it ‘Boreenkay’ or ‘Bosheenkay’, just as other boreens used to be known as ‘bosheens’.
The area now is viewed sadly as a ‘no go’ area in Thurles, particularly in the late evening and after dark, with elected councillors and municipal district officials failing miserably to act in controlling anti-social behaviour and angry dogs, the latter permitted to roam about uncontrolled, often we learn attacking local residents.
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