Bridge Street in Callan, County Kilkenny, Ireland is a part of history that succumbed to the changing times. New highways diverted traffic. People moved away. Big box shops opened up. The Celtic Tiger came through and pretty much finished it off.

Or did it? Fortunately, there are still folks around with a sense of community and history who want to revitalize the once forgotten street.

One of those people is Etaoin Holahan, a cousin-in-law of mine. Yeah, easy post this morning. I picked it up from her mom’s Facebook share. Etaoin is bringing Fennellys, a well preservered old storefront, into this century. It’s now an event venue and gathering space with film/dinner nights and music gigs. People are coming back to the street thanks to the efforts of a group of people who are reviving the properties.

If you’re thinking these old forgotten towns in Ireland are like areas of The Catskills, you would be correct. The same thing happens all over, of course. It’s nice to see that some people are interested in something other than building casinos.

Check out the video @ Irish Times. It won’t let me embed it here.