Person of the Year Nico helps to clean up Talbot’s Leap in village
TALLAGHT Person of the Year Nico Crowley traded his gold ceremonial chains for a ladder and bin bags when he carried out a clean-up of Talbot’s Leap in Tallaght village last Friday.
Nico was ably assisted by Jobstown man Cory Dardis, with the duo cordoning off the site before descending into the slightly obscured space near the Dragon Inn pub.
They removed large amounts of rubbish that had been dumped in the space, and they plan to return to it again in the coming weeks to spruce up the spot following the rubbish removal.
Nico told The Echo: “I’ve been out a few times with Tallaght Tidy Towns, and we would pass by Talbot’s Leap and we were looking to clean it, but it had to be done safely.
“It was just left there, so I decided to take it on the chin, but then I wanted to do something about it.
“It was a bit of an eyesore with all the rubbish there.
Talbot’s Leap after the clean up
“I asked Cory if he had a lend of a ladder, then on Friday Cory brought the ladder and had [the site] secured, then we went down to get the rubbish from it.”
Nico added that Tallaght Tidy Towns holds clean-ups in the village at 12.30pm on Wednesdays and 11.30am on Sundays, however the clean-up of Talbot’s Leap was his and Cory’s own endeavour.
They removed a large amount of rubbish from it, and Nico estimated that the last time Talbot’s Leap was cleaned was probably six to 12 months ago.
“We decided to just go down and tidy it up,” he said.
Cory Dardis gives a thumbs up after a good days work with Tallaght Person of the Year Nico Crowley
“There were prams, cans of beer and teabags, it just didn’t look nice.
“People will probably still throw stuff down into it, but at least we can keep an eye on it now.”
The story behind the naming of the spot on Main Street as Talbot’s Leap dates back to Cromwell’s reign in Ireland in the 1600s and the pillaging of churches and large country homes by his ironsides.
In particular, it refers to the Talbot family who lived in Belgard Castle in the 1600s, and the tale goes that Talbot’s Leap formed part of a drawbridge that was raised, and Talbot’s men leapt over it to escape Cromwellian forces.
