11/06/2026
As the dust settles on Athlone’s historic first ever Pride Parade, we wish to thank Irish Rail for their sponsorship and support. Not only did Irish Rail provide monetary sponsorship, but an Irish Rail train also brought a direct link to Stonewall to our town in the form of Stonewall Riots Survivor Jay Toole (right) and her partner Linda Battaglia (left), pictured here as the epitome of Q***r Joy during our Pride March, with our very own Síle bringing up the rear. The Stonewall Riots occurred in New York on June 28th 1969 and are widely regarded as initiating the LGBTQ+ Rights Movement. 🌈
This March was so much more than the sum of its parts, with Síle in this picture watching over these heroes of the Global LGBTQ+ Community as well as Linda’s Flower Crown (made by our Chairperson Christine O’Mahony at the Ciara Lawless flower crown workshop) underscoring the wonderful emergent activism at our Pride, with past and present uniting to create a beautiful vision of Hope, or, in the words of Síle, Misneach. 💐🌻🌸
Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail
