History

In 1971 Fr. Finian O’Connor put forward the idea of setting up a Credit Union in Kilcloon Parish. A number of meetings were held to explain what a Credit Union was and what type of administration was involved. Finally, in late 1971 a Credit Union study group commenced its work, meeting weekly to study rules and procedures under the guidance of Michael McGuinness and Kathleen Matthews of Navan Road Credit Union. The Kilcloon Parish & District Credit Union (“Kilcloon Credit Union”) was formally registered on 17th February 1972. There were collection points in Kilcloon, Batterstown and Kilcock. The common bond was the Parish of Kilcloon and only extended into Kildare to cover the town of Kilcock, to the Spin and Courtown Bridges and as far as the Maws on the Maynooth Road. Growth was steady and by 1982, there were over 1,000 members.

In 1983, a derelict building in Kilcock was purchased and in 1985, the Credit Union moved to its first new office, which was situated beside the Meath Bridge and close to The Square. Shortly afterwards our first employee was hired to manage the office and the accounts. Opening hours were soon increased and our common bond was extended to cover the entire Kilcloon Parish, Kilcock and the townlands of Ferns and Garadice. With the additional opening hours growth increased and by January 1990 there were over 1,500 members.

In 1990, a sub-office was opened in Kilcloon and a part-time staff member was employed to maintain the service and to take some pressure off the volunteers who were putting in many hours of work each week. In 1992, Batterstown Hall was purchased and work commenced to convert it to offices. With the growth in transactions, manual bookkeeping was becoming more and more difficult to manage, so by 1993 computer hardware and software was introduced and members accounts were computerised. Our members now had excellent facilities and access to the many financial services provided. Both the Kilcloon and Batterstown offices have since closed, primarily due to the developments in the way in which many of our members had begun to move to carry out online transactions in keeping with the digital technology that is now so widespread.

In 1996, the Board made a decision to seek a larger property and eventually the office we now occupy today in The Square, Kilcock became available. After carrying out significant renovation works Kilcloon Credit Union had its new home and continues to operate from these premises. Membership has continued to steadily grow since the turn of the century and we now offer a full suite of online transaction facilities.

Kilcoon Credit Union Common Bond