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INDEX TO VOLUME 11
OF THE
JOUBNAL
OF THE
COUNTY KILDAKE AUCHJiOLOGlGAL SOCIETY.
4
I
i
S
V
I
k
JOURNAL
CO. KILDARE ARCHilOLOGICAL SOCIETY
SUBBOUNDING DISTBICTS.
JOUENAL
CO. KILDARE ARCHilOLOGICAL SOCIETY
AN1>
SURROUNDING DISTRICTS.
The Council of the County Kildabe Arghaolooical
Society do not liuld themselves answerable for statements
put forward in this Journal ; the responsibility rests entirely
with the writers of the papers.
THE NEW TORt
PUBLIC LIBRARY
{^FrontUpieee .
]M KMOT U. W. BOURRE, SEVENTH EaRL OF MaYO,
.._ , ;,i^..«. ,.♦ *\.i^ n«n«tir Kildaro ArchaoloL'ical Society.
JOUEN AL
CO. KILDARE ARCH^OLOGICAL SOCIETY
SURROUNDING DISTRICTS.
VOL. II.
1896-1899.
DUBLIN :
EDWARD PONSONBY, 116 GRAFTON STREET.
1899.
y p] b ^' t '.V ^ '■'•['^\
M WO I L
OUBLIir:
PBIHTID BT C. W. OIBBd AVD 80If,
WIOKLOW STBXn.
* *»t
CONTENTS.
VOLUME II. 1896-1899 (Jaxoabt Numbbe).
Pbocxbdinos, and Bepobts or Counciu 68, 219, 331
List of Honobart Officbbs and MBmiBRs, and Bulbs, . 75, 227, 341
Excursion Mrbtimgs: —
1895. Great Connell and Kildare 71
1896. Celbridge, Leizlip, and Castletown, 223
1897. Killeen Cormac, Timolin, Moone, and Orange Con, . 336
The Hon. Trrasurrr's Account: —
Up to 31st December, 1895, 74
1896, 226
1897, 340
Bbtxbw or Books: —
" Pagan Ireland," by Col. W. O. Wood-Martin 66
•* The High Crosses of Ireland,*' by Miss Stokes 454
Obitqabt !—
The Most Bev. Michael Comerford, d.d., Coadjutor Bishop of
Kildare and Leighlin, Vice-President, 1
The Bev. Denis Morphy, s.j., Vice-President, .... 81
BbPORT or TBB COKMITTBE APPOINTBO TO 00N8IDBR THB rUTUBB PRINTING
or TBB Journal, 838
Pafbbs:^
Kilkea Castle. By Lord Walter FitzOerald 3
Notes on the Family of Sherlock. By the Bev. J. F. M. ffrench, . 33
The Pale. By the Bev. Denis Murphy, b.j., .... 48
Notes on the Southern Boundary of the Ancient Kingdom of
Meath, where it passed through North Kildare. By the Bev.
E. 0*LefU7, p.p., 59
Carbury and the Berminghams* Country. By the Bev. M. Devitt, h.j., 85
Bathmore. By the Earl of Mayo 112
Incidents ia the Life of Garrett More, 8th Earl of Kildare. By
Lord Walter FitzOerald, 117
Vlll CONTENTS.
Papbbs — continued : pj^^^^
John Lye of Glonaugh (Part i.). By the Rev. E. O'Leary, p.p., 133
(Partn.). „ „ „ . 354
Irish Place Names and Looal Folk-lore. By M. Darby, m.d., . 151
St. Laurence OToole. By the Rev. Denis Murphy, 8.j., . . 159
Castle Bheban. By Lord Walter FitzGerald, .... 167
Early Land-holders in Kill, Co. Kildare. By the Rev. Canon
Sherlock, 179
The Moat of Ardscull. By *» Omurethi," 186
Celbridge: some Notes on its past History. By the Rev Charles L
Graham, b.d., 198
St. Brigid and the Cathedral Church of Kildare. By the Dean of
Kildare, 235
The High Sheriffs of the Co. Kildare. By J. R. Garstin, m.b.la.. . 253
Donacomper Church. By W. T. Kirkpatrick 277
St. Wolstan's Abbey. By W. T. Kirkpatrick 283
Kildare: its History and Antiquities. By the Rev. Denis Murphy, s.j., 289
Great Council Abbey. By Lord Walter FitzGerald, ... 304
Ancient Naas : Outposts and Longstones. By T. .J. De Burgh, . 315
An Account of the Arrest of Lord Edward FitzGerald. . 349
Castletown and its Owners. By Lord Walter FitzGerald, . 361
Leixlip Castle. By Lord Walter FitzGerald, .... 393
The O'Connor-Henchy Family. By V. Hussey- Walsh, 407
Timolin. By Lord Walter FitzGerald, 413
Notes on a Book of Hours of the Blessed Virgin Mary. By the
Hon. Mrs. Swinton, 426
Old Kilcullen. By Miss Margaret Stokes, 431
MlBCBLLANEA AKD NOTKB :—
The Baltinglass Title 64
St, Dermott of Castledermot, 65
The Hills Eire and Alba, 155
Lord Edward FitzGerald's Bag-pipes 155
The Churchyard of Donoughmore (Grange William), ... 156
The Knight's Effigy in the Abbey of Clane 157
Monecronock near Sherlockstown, 157
Pagan Sepulchral Monuments, Moats, 157
Killelan Church and Inch Castle, 158
Pipers' Stones, 158
Sunday's WeUs 158 .
The Lost Ogham Stone at Killeen Cormac, 206 U
Trades Tokens of the County Kildare 208
Cawlcannon 214
The Ancient Bridges at Kilcullen and St. Wolstan's, ... 214
Calverstown, 214
The Tipper Monumental Cross 215
Pictures of the Salmonleap and Leixlip Castle, . ' . . 216
CONTENTS. ix
BfiBCELLAMBA AND NoTEs — cotUimied : P^OX.
The FitzGeralds and MacKenzies, 268
Sir Thomas Eustace, let Viscount Baltinglass, .... 268
The Celtic Brooch of Castledermot, 269
Iron Implements dug up at Athy, 270
The Lattin Alms-house Stones at Naas, 270
The Deer-park of Maynooth Castle, 270
Tea-lane, Celbridge, 272
ArehsBological Jottings, 272
St. Mo-chua of Celbridge, 324
Knockpatrick, near Castledermot, 324
The two Cloncurrys in the County Kildare, 325
Gilltown, 325
Kilshanroe, 325
The Burial Urn and Bronze Skillet at Kilkea Castle ... 327
Notes on an Archiepiscopal Cross, and on a Beliquary, . 829
A Sheelah-na-gig, 330
The Skeleton Tomb in the Franciscan Abbey at Castledermot, . 379
Portraits of Lord and Lady Bdward FitzGerald, .... 382
The Race of the Black Pig, a Curragh road, 383
The Hovenden Coat-of-Arms Stone in the Rosetown Churchyard, . 385
Taylor's Map of the County Kildare, 1783, 386
The Building of Jigginstown, the Wells of Tipper, and the Bells of
Blessington, 387
Ndtes on a Hornbook, 388
Poul-gyleen, 389
Athgoe Castle Mural Tablet, 390
The Conflict between the English and Irish Peers as to supreme
jurisdiction, 447
The O'Kelly Slab in the Cadamstown Churchyard, ... 448
On a Stained-glass Window in Fumess House 452
Camalway and its objects of antiquarian interest, . 453
QVKBIES AND ANSWERS TO QUERIES : —
As to the meaning of " Bochfalyaght," " Fealyghe,*' ** Herbidas,"
and '* Meirgeach,*" 65
Sunday's Well and Piper's Stones, 158
The Bace of the Black Pig on the Curragh, .... 158, 383
Cawlcahnon, . ' 214, 272
The Leap of Allen 216, 273
O'Connor's Map of Ireland 218
Journal of the Memorials of the Dead, Ireland ; and Church Plate 218
Tee-lane or Tea- lane? 272
St. Boyiana of Gilltown, . . . ' . ' . . .325
Kilshanchoe; or Kilshanroe ? 325
COBRIOSNPA AND InDEX, .... 457
• • • ^
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGX.
Portrait of the Earl of Mayo, President (from a block lent by the Editor
of The Irish Tourist) {Frontispiece).
Portrait of the Most Bev. Michael Comerford, d.d., Coadjutor Bishop
of Eildare and Leighlin, Vice-President, 1
Kllkea Castle, from an oil-painting by Ashford, 1784 3
n „ Drawing by Austin Cooper, 1782, .... 8
„ Coat-of-Arms Stones in the chimney-piece at, . . . 18
„ Drawings of, before and after the Restoration in 1849, 16, 17
„ From an unfinished water-colour drawing, circa 1830, . 24
The Evil Eye Stone at, 26
„ The Main Entrance of, 27
„ Sketch of the Monkey carved on the chimney of the
Haunted Wing, 28
„ From the Bawn, 30
„ Ground-plan of, 31
„ Demesne, Map of, 32
Butlerstown Castle, Co. Wexford, 33
Scurlogstown Castle, Co. Meath, 34
Sherlock Coats-of-Arms, 47
Portion of the Pale between Clane and Clongowes Wood College, . . 52
Map of the ancient southern boundary of the County Meath in Kildare, . 69
Portrait of the Bev. Denis Murphy, s.j., Vice-President, .... 81
Trinity Well, the source of the Boyne, 85
Castle Carbury (three plates), 84, 86, 87
The Boyne as it emerges from Trinity Well, 88
Castle Carbury and the Mortuary Chapel of the CoUey Family, . Ill
The Moat at Bathmore, drawn by the Hon. Gerald Ponsonby, .112
The 8th Earl of Eildare's Coat-of-Arms on his tomb — formerly at Christ
Church Cathedral, 116
A Groat of Edward IV, bearing on the obverse the FitzGterald Coat-of-Arms, 118
The 15th-century Chapter-house Door of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, 122
Pavement Tile from Bective Abbey, bearing the FitzGerald Coat-of-Arms, 124
Drawings of the 8th Earl of Eiidare's Tomb— formerly in Christ Church
Cathedral, Dublin 130, 131
Bird's-eye View of Clonaugh, County Kildare, 133
John Lye's Coat-of-Arms on a Stone— formerly in Clonaugh Castle . 136
Site of the Sculptured Stones from Clonaugh Castle, in Johnstown-bridge
ViUage ,...,... 137
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XI
PAOI.
A Wayside Cross at the village of Johnstown-bridge, . . 188
The Earl of Kildace*s Coat-of-Ainns on a Stone from Cionaagh Castle,
at Johnstown-bridge 189
John Lye's Tomb Slab at Kildare Cathedral 144
Sir Henry Sidney's Goat-of-Arms on a Stone from Clonaugh Castle, at
Johnstown-bridge, 148
A Tracing of Sir Henry Sidney's Coat-of-Arms, 149
Castle Rheban, interior view of, 167
„ exterior view of , 178
„ from an old Engraving, 169
„ An iron fack dag np at, 176
Inscription on a 16th-centary Slab in the charoh rains of Charchtown
(Rheban), 177
Sketch of the rained castle at Onghterard, 179
The Moat of Ardscall from an old engraving, ...... 189
„ „ Plan of the interior of, 190
„ „ Map of the .surroanding country at, . . .197
Ogham Inscription at Killeen Cormac, 207
Trade Tokens of the Goanty KUdare, 210,218
The Tipper Churchyard Gross, 216
St Brigid's Cathedral at Kildare, from a water-coloar by O'Neill, . . 284
„ from a drawing by Petrie, . 285
„ from the north-east (after its restora-
tion), 289
„ from the north-west (after its restora-
tion) 240
„ from an old. water-colour drawing, . 244
„ The Fire-house at, from a drawing by
Austin Cooper, .... 245
„ The ancient granite Cross at, . . 246
„ Before the restoration, . . . 252
A Celtic Bronae Brooch found near Castledermot, 269
Iron Implements dug up near Athy, 271
Donaghoomper Church, interior of, drawn by Miss Margaret Stokes, 276
„ » plan of 278
Sketchesof St. Wolstan's Abbey in 1782, by Austia Cooper, ... 284
View of the New Bridge at St. Wolstan's, 288
The Ruins of the Carmelite Friary at Kildare in 1790, from a drawing
by Austin Cooper, 298
The Ruins of the Franciscan Abbey at Kildare in 1784, from a drawing
by Austin Cooper, 800
Bishop Wellesley's Effigy at Great Gonnell Abbey, .... 803
The Ruins of Great Connell Abbey in 1781, from a drawing by Austin
Cooper, 304
Portion of a Bishop's Effigy in the Relioeen Churchyard near Great
Connell Abbey, 306
fi cross-inncribed Sli^b in ^he Reliceen Churchyard, 307
Xn LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
fAGK.
The nnfinished date on Bishop Wellesley's Tomb, Great Connell Abbey, . 310
A Stone bearing Bishop Weliesley's Coat-of -Arms, . . » . . 314
Map showing the Long Stones, Baths, and Castles in the Naas District, . 316
The Sepulchral Urn and ancient Bronze Skillet at Kilkea Castle, . . 326
An Archie^scopal Cross and an ancient Reliquary, from drawings by
Col. Vigors, 328
Lord Edward FitzGerald*s Portrait, from a water-colour by Hone, . 348
„ „ Signature 349
Lady Edward JPitzOerald's Signature, 353
Castletown House, 361
The Conoliy Monument. in the Tea-lane Churchyard, Celbridge, . 372
A Portrait of the Bight Hon. Thomas Conoliy, p.c, from a crayon by
Hamilton, . .. . .. 374
" The Wonderful Bam '*. near Castletown, 376
The Obelisk near Carton, 377
The Skeleton Tomb in the Fcanciaoan Abbey at Castledermot, . 381
A Sculptnred Stone bearing the Hovenden Coat-of-Arms, . . . 385
Leixlip Castle and Church, from Fisher^s *' Views of Ireland,'* . . 392 '
„ from the front,. 393
„ from the river,. 404
Inscription oa the Whyte Monument in Leixlip Church, . . 398
The Salmonleap 402
The Whyte and Moore Arms on the Whyte Monument in Leixlip Church, 406
The Kighow (or Kehoe) Slab in the Timolin Churchyard, . . 423
The Archbold Mural Tablet in the village of Timolin, .... 424
Old EilcuUen. Church and Bound. Tower, from Grose's "Antiquities of
Ireland," 430
„ „ from a drawing by Petrie, . .431
The Sculptured and Unsculptured Cross-shafts at Old Kilcullen, . . 441
The Sculptured Cross-shaft at Old Kilcullen, from a drawing by Petrie, . 442
Bubbinga of six of the panels on: the Old Kilcullen Cross-shaft, . 444
The first three lines of inscription on the O'Kelly Slab, in the Cadams-
town Churchyard, 448
The O'Kelly Coat-of-Arms on a Slab in the Cadamstown Churchyard, . 450
A Stained-glass Window in Fumess House, from a drawing by the Hon.
Gerald Ponsonby, . 452
\ y\
} ■ >
-'^' ' V]
'^^p. 4- v^
iSBKHT 1896.
f
VOLUKE n., Ho. 1
v^^-
JOURNAL
OF THE
COUNTY KILDARE ARCHMOBICAL SOCIETY.
CONTENTS.
ObltuazT.
PACB
1
■^jM^ma Castle. By Lord Walter
FitzGbjl4IJ>, S
Notes on the Family of Sherlock : Chiefly
gathered from the State Papen and
other Official Documents. By the Rev.
J . P. M. FVRBitCH, of Clonegal, m.r.iji., 83
Papre coniinued :— page
The Pale. By the Rev. Dknis Mdrpht,
S.J., M.R.I.A 48
Notes on the Southern Boundary of the
Ancient Kingdom of Meath where it
passed through North Kildare. (With
Map.) By the Rev. E. O'Lbary, p.p., . 69
Notes and Queriee 64
Beviow 68
♦♦♦♦♦««««♦««««««««««♦♦♦««••••««
E. PONSONBY, 116, GRAFTON STREET.
1896.
aa.^^^ fmmm,^ fiti»aiii.
•>»«■ filfw«mAM«
THE CODNCa OF THE CODNTT KUDARE ARCHAOLOGICU' SOCIETY.
THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF MAYO.
Wc«-Jf resident:
Thomas Cooks Trench, Esq., d.l.
George Mansfield, Esq., d.l.
The Rev. Canon Sherlock, m.a.
The RfeV. DEN»5-,M^RBtH¥, S.J., LL.D., M.R.I.A.
The Rev. Edward .0'LEARY,iPiP.
Thomas J. De Burgh, d.l.
Jjitm. Treaetrrer :
Hans Hendrick-Aylmer, Esq., Kerdiffstown, Naas.
fjitxtt. Sdcretariet:
Lord Walter Fitz Gerald, m.r.i. a., Kilkea Castle, Mageney.
Arthur Vicars, Esq., f.s.a., Ulster, Clyde-road, Dublin.
i^iro. Editor :
The Rev. Denis Murphy, s.j., ll.d.. University College,
St. Stephen's-green, Dublin.
THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRAKY
ASTOn, CBN«Z AV9
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^r^ ' ^^^^^^^T^^^^^^^^^^^^l
^^■^ ' ' ^4 ^H^^^E^ '^^^H '
Most Rev. Michael Cumkkkoicd, D.D
JOURNAL
OF THR
jBCrcJ^objinil jSffnetg d % Owtirtg Kilbaw
AND
jSMrr0ii«irin0 X>hinth<
OBITTTARY.
ON tlie l^th of August our Society lost its Vice-President
by the death of tlie Coadjutor-Bishop of Kildare and
Leighlin, the Most llev. Dr. Comekford. Beside the
higher qualities which fitted him for his ecclesiastical dignity,
and of which this is not the place to speak, he was a man of
refined tastes and most amiable and charitable disposition.-
While still a young curate he showed his devotion to literature
by translating from the Latin " The Three Tabernacles " — a
devout treatise attributed to Thomas k Kempis — and several
other works of devotion. But the most important work, and
the one which has the best right to be named here, was his
** Collections relating to the Dioceses of Kildare and Leighlin."
These three large volumes, the last of which was published ten
years ago by James Duffy & Co., contain the results of most
laborious researches cigrried on tlirough many years, and in the
midst of great difficulties and distractions, chiefiy during the
TOL. II., FT. 1. B
2 OBITUARY OF THE LATE MOST REV. DR. COMERFORD.
lime that lie was Parish Priest of Monasterevan, where one of
his curates was the Bev. Joseph Farrell, the gifted author of
" Tlie Lectures of a Certain Professor."
The Members of the County Kildare Archceological Society
can hear witness to the great interest which he took in its work.
He was one of its founders; he contributed several vahiahle
Papers to our Journal, and he attended at our Meefiiigs and
Excursions wlienever the duties of his office allowed him,
sliowing on every occasion the greatest readiness to impart
to others the benefit of his extensive and accurate knowledge
of the antiquities of our county.
Dk. Comerkord also has been taken from us at a com-
paratively early age, before the venerable Prelate whom he
had been appointed to relieve of some of tlie burden of the
episcopacy. Uis aoi^ewjbars^diteh and unexpected death took
place at Braganaf^ Hfl^sep^CarrQw, '
THE NEW YORIt
PUBUC LIBRARY
I
4
^ USE tC^ i£ JG71c« ^^^^</^&^^ I
ll^r*Hii a ^keub drawn by Au^iid Cuuimt in i^flj*)
f I
KILKE^i CASTLE.'
1^Y LORD WALTER FIT2GERALD.
[K^ttd at lUe September M<>'tiiijf of 1801, by iho Risir- C, Gam.y, Uoc*rw -
a'^Hift castle la situated at tLe foot of the ratli-capped Hill of
. ^^ Mul!achreelans ou tlio Wtik of (lie river Greeae, aud five
luilaafrom At by in tlie Custledermot directiou ; its situation is
peuuliar as it was Wilt just botwecu a pigud tuumlus (or burial
tooat) and the CbrisUau Ijurial-gnniudj tlie farmer being a few
perches away to the noitb-west, and tliti iiiUer somewhat closer
oa the eouth-east side of llie eustle.
The ancient di.strict in which tbuctislleslaiuls was, iu the I'ith
C€tilurj, known m Omnrethi, aud belonged to iht* 0' Toole sept,
to which the famous Wt. Ljiwrence 0'lunli.r hehuiged j tliie terri-
tory has already been desenhni ou p. 1 (>l, voh i,,of tljis JontVAi.,
' lo 1 W?t>the fourth Dukt? of LHnster hnd jirisatfly ininted a smull work
hf liini eallrd ** llasidejiaes uiid Cu^ttka of the Duke i^f l.nra.sttT^* ; onu st^t-tiuu
vf thiJs inHik is^ devoted to the lii&tory uf Kilkini Cnstlt-, auii has bceti re-
|*n)dm^d ht'tt' in a much fuller form.'
3 lib d lentil t^jok idttoe on tht? Hth ot No\i^nibi'i, \\m, nt tlie moniistt^ry
Qf K[t| in Ifommudy.
B2
v^
4 KILKEA CASTLE.
Kilkea Ciintle is so called from tlie cliurcbyAr«l lying beside
if, and from it the liarony takes its name. In old histories and
«l(»oiiments the spelling of the name varies greatly, the following
being the most usnal forms :— Kilca, Kylka, and Kilkaa, &c.,
all of which are a corruption of the Irish name " Gill Caoide,"
meaning St. (^aoide's (or Kay's) Church.
This saint is venerated on the 12th of December; he has
been identified by the late Father Shearman,' formerly parish
1 driest of Moone, with a St. Mokatoo, or Kat^in, who is said to
lave been buried at the famous *' Oghamed " burial-ground of
Killeen-Cormuc, near Colbinstown, in this county. Though
the names Kay and Mokatoo or Katan appear at first sight to
have no connection with one another, yet the tmnsformation is
easily explained. In the early Christian times it was a common
practice by way of endearment to use certain prefixes and affixes
to a saint's name, such as -awn or -an, i.e. little ; -oge or -oo,
i.e, young; Mo-, t,f. my. Thus "Kay" became "Katan" or
" Katoc," and so to Mokatoc. Another instance of this kind
of transformation in a saint's name is that of St. Mogue,
also known as St. Aidan, the patron saint of Co. Wexford ;
liis original name was Aedh (pronounced Ay), this became
"endeared" to "Ai-dan," and "Mo-ay-oge" or Mogue. St.
Kay was the son of Matan, son of Braccau, son of Caelbuidh,
who was for fifteen years king of Ulster, and for one year,
A.D. (^7, king of Ireland, lie was one of the seven disciples
whom St. PotYick left with St. Fiach at Sleaty, which is situated
on the Barrotv^ in the Queen's County, about seven miles to the
south of Kilkea. The chief scene olf St. Kay's nn'ssion was at
Inishbeg in the Wext'onl llaven, but lie wuh in all probability
the founder as well as patron of the original churcii of Donadea,
in the barony oF Ikeathy, in the north of the county Kildare«
the old foriji of the name of which was "Domhnach Caoide,"
also nieaniirgSt. Kay's Church ; his death took place so<m after
the close of the oih century.
After the Anglo-Noiman invasion of Ireland in 1169, this
southern end of the Co. Kildare was granted by Strougbow
10 Walter de Itidillesford, Baron of Bray, Co. Wicklow, as is
nieulioned in a ccmtemporary French poem on the Conquest of
Ireland, wherein it is stated that —
Twenty liefs in Omurethy,
The noble earl (i.e. Strongbow) in the same way
Olive to the warrior
WalterdeRiddlesford.s
» lufie •• Loca Piitriciana," p. 223, and tlie ** Martyrology of Donegal."
' Vide Orpeu s translation of an old French poem amon^ the Carew Mss.
KILKEA CASTLE. 5
De Uiddlesfdrd and his followers now evicts the owners of
tlie soil, i.e. the sept O'Toole, who retired into tiie mountains of
Wioklow, and in course of time dispossessed tlie O'Teige sept of
t)ieir territory in and round the Glen of Imiiile, whicli they
appropriated to themselves.
For the above-mentioned Walter de Xlid^iesfonl a oastle was
built at Kilkea, in 1180, hy Hugh de Laay,lheii cliief governor
of Ireland. De lliddlesford dii^d aliout I24l« leaving two
daughters, Etnelina and Eia. The former married f«)r ht^r
fleoond huslmnd Stephen de Longespee, and ha<I an only
flaughter also named Emelina, heiress through her mother nf
the Omurethi district; her liusbaiid was Miiurie^ Fit^Qenild,
third Baron of Offaly, and thuH the manors of Kilkea and
Castledemiot came into, and still remain, the posHesaion of the
Geraldines. Emelina, Bai-onens of Offaly, died in 1291.
Emelina had a niece, Christiana de Marisco, like herself a
grand-daughter of Walter de Uiddlesford, who had miirrie<l
Ebulo de Geneve by the King's command. Tliis Lady Christiana
]iad inherited lands in Kerry, called ** Surrys," which she soM
to Maurice Fitz Gerald, Emelina's husband, for 1000 marks
in exchange for the moiety of Tri^teIdermot, Garneiiagh, and
Kilkea, to hold to her for life, with reversion in fee to Sir
Maurice, Emelina his wife, and their heirs. These moieties,
top;ether with her possessions in the vule olf Dublin, in the Co.
"\Yexford, and in Connaught, Lady Christiana granted in fee
to King Edward 1. and Alienor, the Queen Consort, in con-
sideration of nn animity to be granted to her out of the King's
lands in England, in the year 1280. In the following year the
. Justiciary of Ireland, Itobert de Ufford, received the King's
order to take an inquisition relative to these lands, when, as
regards the moieties of the manors of Kilkea, Garnenagli, and
Tristelderniot, th>d jurors said that* : —
There are in dtfmeHne . . . and pasture, worth £18 a-year ; value of
<^eli acre 12//. . . . Moor, Worth 17«. a-year. The herbage* and pasture in
the wood there . . . iss worth 3x. a-year. There are theretif rents of assize
£7 9«. tW/. . . . of THsteldennod, Iiiid 26if. 9^. in a moiety of burgage of
Kilkea . . . 7«. a-year. Pleas and profits of courts und of Uie hundred in
the said moiety are' worth 20ff. ii-voHr. — Total, £'M oh. 5//.
The above 'lands are held of t)ie heirs of the Eurl Marshall, namely Sir
Koger de Mortimer, by the service of four knights' fees when the kin^^^s
fiervice is priN-hiiiiied, which often happens in ire hind ; and owe two suits at
the County Court of Kildure extended at 4 marks a-year.
in Lambeth Palaoe, wliich he has styled '* the Song of Dermot and the Eurl.**
Oxford, 1892.
1 ynie pp. :i69iind379of Sweetman's <' Calendar of Documents,** Ireland
(1252-1284).
C3
g
o
« »N :^
Pi
M
KILKEA CASTLE. 7
Three years later another inquisition was taken to ascertain
Ihe King'H rents and tenements which belonged to Lady Chris-
tiana; the entry, as far as this district is concerned, is as fol-
lows* : —
Tristeldermot, Kylka, and Gavenanc (Oomennj^h ?). From the burj^ages
of TriAteldermot, £4 12«. 4c/. ; stallage there 1 mark. The hurgli of Kylka
27«. 9|«/. and 2 g«^se ; autumnal service there, 7«. ; 2 lishing pools, 3«, ;
foreign service of the barony, £1 9«. Sd» There are there in demesne
3eo acres of aruhle land let to divers tenants, to wit, each acre for 16</.~
Total, £24.
Pannage of the park, 3«. ; herbage and pasture of the park, 40<., by
extent ; 16 acres of moor and pasture 16«. ; 20 acres of meadows, 40«.
From William of Spain for the tenement held by William de 8ully in
Kylka, namely 32 acres of arable land and 2^ acres of moor, 49<. lOc/.,
which wax not entered in the extent. Mem. oi a moor lying between
W*yteston and the Grange of the Hospital of St. John of Tristeldermot,
wlii«h Philip Coilan took, rendering yearly 40«. from Michaelmas.— Total,
£46 2s. 7R
In the year 1291 the King commanded William de Yescy,
Justiciary of Ireland, to cause to be delivered to Lady Christiana
the manor of Kilka and a moiety of the vill of Tristehlermot
leased hy her for life to Alienor, formerly Queen Consort, and
since deceased.'
A few years later Kilkea appears to liave changed hands
again, as in 1317 it was in the possession of tlie Wogan family.
This we learn from a Patent lioll dated the 11th year of Edward
ll/s reign, wherein it is stated that:— Rex concessit Johauni
Wogan omnes Terras in Kylka, Tristeldermot, Berton, Meon,
Carbry, Alwyne (Allen Pj, Combre and Ockethy (Ikeathy),
habendum sibi et heredibus una cum feodis militum, advoca-
cionibus eoclesiarnm, etc., per servicia antiqua, etc. Apud
Westminster, 4** NoverabriH.'
The next entry, from the same source, under the date the
24fh of August, 1390, records a poimission from the Eling, for
a fine, to Sir David Wogan to enfeoff the above-named manors
to '* Walter Touler, vicar of Balyrothery, Itichard Bonevyll,
vicar of Slane, John Tanner, vicar of Kylka, William Taillour,
vicar of Perestown-Laundey, and David Walshe, priest," for
himself and his heirs for ever.^ Sir David Wogan died some-
where about the year 1417, as in that year his widow Anastacia
was assigned her dowry ; that portion connected with Kilkeu
1 Vide p. 561 of Sweetman*8 '* Calendar of DocumenU/' Ireland (1252-
1284).
2 IhuL, p. 407.
' Vide p. 24, ** Kotulorum Cuncellarie Hibeniin Calendarium."
♦ Ibid., p. 143.
8 KILKEA CASTLE.
is here translated from the Latin as given on p. 222 of the
" Rot. Cane. Hih. Calendarium ;" it deals first with Rathcoffy
and its neighbourhood, and then refers to Kilkea Castle as
follows : —
'*Al8o in the Mnnor-honse of Eylka one room called the Knight'f*
Charaher, the larder fie botery), with two small rooms in the White Tower ;
a third part of the cellar there on the west side ; the new Orchard there ; a
third part of the slated bam on the north side there ; the kitchen •'coquina\
chapel, prison, the kiln (kyll), thebnkery (bakhous) with a bakery (pistrina)
there ; and the gates (zatys) of Kylka in ooinmon there ; also the Priest's
room there ; the Cow-house with a small room near the long stable there ;
the third part of one empty mexsua^e lately called the long stable on the
south side of that messuage there," etc.
The last entry that will be referred to from the same source
a^ tlie above, is on p. 256, wh^re it is stated that for a fine of
fi3». 4{L the King pardons Thomas Power, vicar of Kilkeii,
llioliard Avell, prient, and John Ashe, priest, for Iiaving,
without the royal licence, acquired for themselves and their
heirs two parts of the manors of Kilkn, Tristehlermot, Berton,
Moon, etc., from Sir Thonms, son and heir of Sir David
Woffan, knt.,^ the above manors being Iield from tlio Kinc; in
Capite; this was in the year 14'34. At wliat period tliey
evacuated Kilkea I am unable to say.
In July, 1356, Sir Tiiomas de Rokeby, Lord Justice of
Ireland, died in this castle ;* of liini Holinshed writes that he
was "ja Knight sincere and upright of conscience, who being
controlled for sufiPering liimselle to be served in treene (/.<?.
wooden) cups, answered: 'Those homelic cu|>s and dishes paie
trulie for that they conteine, I had mther drinke out of treene
cups & paie gold & silver, than drinke out of gold & make
woodden paiment.' "
In 1414 the O'Mores and O'Dempseys made an inroad into
Hhe Pale, devastating the country with fire and swoid, until
Thomas Cranly, Archbishop of Dublin, who had lately been
elected to the office of Lord Deputy, assumed in person the
command of the troops and marched agaiust them. Being
informed, however, that the Irish were at Kilkea, the prelate
remained at Castledermot, while his troops advanced against
the enemy. Holinslied's account of the conflict is as follows : —
''The Englishmen fought with the Irish neere to Kilka, & slue
au hundred of the enemies, whilest the Archbishop, being Lord
^ See an account of the Wogon family by Bev. Denis Murphv, s.j., in the
Jfpurnal of the R.S.A.I. for 1891 .
» TtV* p. 211 of Gilbert's ** Viceroys," and Cox's ** Hiberniu Anglicana/'
published 1689.
KILKEA CASTLK. Q
Justice, went in prooession witli bis cleargie in Tristeldermot,
praieing for the good speed of his men & other of the oountrie
that were gone foorth to fight with the adversaries." Tlie field
just to the south of tlie castle may have been the scene of tliis
battle, as many human bones have been turned up by tlie
plough there.
In 1421 the Irish under O'Dempwy and O'Diinne again
invaded the Pale, but were defeated at Kilkea by John
Fitz Oerald, 6th Earl of Kildare, nicknamed " Sliaun Cam," or
Hump-bai;ked John.
In 14*26 the lastle, which had probably been sacked by the
Irish* was restored and enlarged by this Earl. Its situation
made it a place of gr^at importance, as it was built in the
Marches, that is, the ground intervening between tlie temtoiies
of the native Irish, and the Pale or English land, and so
exposed, no doubt, to repeated attacks which are not mentioned
in our Annals.
In August, 1513, Gerald (Garrett More) Fitz Gerald, 8th
Earl of Kildare, and Lord Deputy of Ireland, started on a
hostile expedition against I^nniy vannan {i.e. O'Bannan Leap', a
rastle belonging to the O'CiirrolIs, near Itoscrea, in the King's
County, and now known as Leap Castle ; but as he was watering
his horse in the Greese near this castle he wtis fired at and
^woundetl by one of the O'Mores of Leix, though he was
attended by the Mayor of Dublin and a large force. In con-
sequence of his wound he moved slowly by Athy to Eildare,
where, after lingering for a few days, he died on the 3rd of
September. His body was carried to Dublin, and buried on
the 16th of October, before the high altar in his own chapel at
Christ Church ; where his arms within the garter, and those of
his wife, with the arms of many of his predecessors and
successors, were placed, until they were defaped by William
Moreton, Bishop of Kildare, and Dean of Christ Church, when
lie repaired the church between 1677 and 1705. The site of St.
Mary's Chapel is now occupied by buildings connected with
the Cathedral.*
In 1532, among other accusations brought against Gerald
(Garrett Oge) Fitz Gerald, 9lh Earl of Kildare, by Piers
liiitler. Earl of Ossory, was one to the effect that his friend Sir
Jioland Fitz Gerald, Baron of Burnt Church,' in the county
Kilkenny, when proceeding to the King's Parliament in Dublin,
was set upon and made prisoner of by the Earl of Kildarc^'s
» VidH p. 68 of ** The Earls of Kildare."
2 Anciently culled Kiltrany.
lO KILKEA CASTLE.
fosterbrotlier named Cahir M'Eiieorosse Mao Murroiigli, close
to the gates of Castlederiuot. Cahir then ro<le to the Earl and
consulted ivitli him, alter which "the Baron was conveyed
further into tlie heart of tlie county of Kildare to a castle
called Beerdy^ Castle, aiid irons were brought out of the
Earl's own mauor of Kylkaa to make fast the Barou, where he
was kept a long season, notwithstanding suudry requests and
injunctions of the Deputy to the said Earl ; and fiually the
Baron lost his horse, his money, and his apparel without restitu-
tion, which is a good encouraging to nudefactors to commit
spoils, liaviiig the advantage thereof without punishment."^
In a " Query " on p. 148 of the Journal, information was
osked as to the whereabouts of *' Beerd his Custle," mentioned
above. I have since identified it with Bert, which lies on the left
bank of the Barrow, three miles above Athy, for the following
reasons : —
(1) It does lie further into the heart of the county Kildare from Castle-
dermot.
(2) A castle formerly stood at Bert, which was captured in 1642 by a
detachment of Sir Charles Coote's force, and eight rebels found in it were
hanged. Vide Cox's ** Hibernia Anghcana."
CS) Beafforte, tilias Beardth, alitts Bearte, is mentioned in the county
Kildare Chancery Inquisitions as passing during the sixteenth century into
the hands of Humphrey Macworth, who was shiin in Irehind about 15N2, and
who had purchased it from Thomas Wolfe ; these lauds beiugheld from the
Karl of Kildare.
In 1535, during the Rebellion of the •* Silken Thomas,"
tenth Earl of Kildare, tlie Earl of Ossory invaded Kildare, but
" then Mc Morrowe, O'Moore, O'Connor, and O'Byrne in
September with the greatest parte of the gentilmen of the
Countie of Kildare were reteyued and set at Catherlaglie,
Castelldennot, Athye, Kilkaa, and thereabouts, with victailles
during three wikkes, to resist the Erie of Ossorie from envading
the county of Kildare. Soo that during that same tyme the
traitor (/. e. the Silken Thomas) beseidged Dublin." The Earl of
Ossory however for " three days contynually burnyd, spoyled, &
destroyed that cuntrey, so that thereby the- traicturs were put
from abode in that Marches, lacking both liousing and victaille
there .... Whereuppon the Capy taynes and I, the said Erie,
directid sundry letters to the Deputie to mete us in the countie
of Kildare at Kylkaa, bringing with him ordynance accordingly,
where the Deputie (Sir William Skeffington) appoynted with-
out faill to mete, bringing with him the aimie at which day and
place the said Erie with theannie lately arrived at Waterforde
> Vide the ♦*^tate Papers of Henry Vlll." (Ireland), vol. ii., p. 157.
KlLKEA CASTLE. IT
failed not to be, and there did abide a three days oontynually for
the deputie ; where he nor any of the arroye oame not, nor any
It'tter nor worde was had from him but oonly that Sir James
Fitz Geralde* told that he herd say he was seke."*
On the 21st of March, 1536, Sir Francis Harbart wrote from
Dublin, to the Chief Secretary^ Tliomas Cromwell : —
** My Lord Deputtey haythe spoken this last wyke with O'More & with
M*Morro, at a house of the Kynj^es, nnmyt Kylka, and I was one that was
with his Lotdsep (I^rd I..eunard Grey) ther, and I could not parsew hy them
but that they be dessyrous to have pes. Also ther came and met my Lord,
at the same house, my Lord Tressurer (Lord Butler) and my Lord his father,
and they teylt my Lord Deputtey and the Counsaylle that O'Bren entendis
to move ware ogaynce my Lord of Osre and his oontre."'
Lord Leonard Grey then went to Kilkenny, and, on his
return towards Dublin, " soujourned at Leglilyn {i.e. I^ighliu
in the county Carlow) &om where he sente Stephen ap Harry to
Kilkaa, to prepare his footemen, ordenaunce, and victuall, and
with all celeritie to repair to the Castell of Femes."*
On the 1st of May, 1536, the Act of Attainder against the
tenth Earl of Kildare was passed, which declared all his estates
forfeited to the Crown ; and it was not until the year 1552, that
the Castle and estate were restored by Edward the VI. to Qerald,
Silken Thomas's half-brother, who became the eleventh Earl of
Kildare.
In 15'i7, Lord (James) Butler, eldest son of the Earl of
Ossory, wrote as follows to the Lord Privy seal : — "And whereas
upon tlie exile of the traditore Thomas Fitz Geralde, I tooke
the charge of defence and garding of *Cetharlaghe (Carlow) and
Kilkaa, standing on the Marches next to the McMorroes,
Moores, and others of the L'ishrie, wherein I had some charges as
the Kinges Counsail knoweth"^ — asking for some compensation.
On the 4th of October he was allowed his expenses in guarding
the Castles, and was appointed Constable of the Castles of Carlow
and Kilkea. At this same time the Deputy, Lord Leonard
Grey, wrote also to Cromwell, the Lord Privy Seal, warning
him that though Lord Ossory and his son had done good
service to the King, yet an eye should be kept on them so as to
prevent their becoming too powerful; " the like whereof in
other noble men here, in tymes past, had so elevated their
myndes that they had forgotten their duties of allegiaunce,"
and he suggested that " they shall dely ver to the Kinges Officers
His Grace's Manors of Carlagh, Kylca, and Casteldermont, fop
> An uncle of the Silken Thomas.
' *«State Papers of Henry VIII.," vol. ii., p. 251.
» lb., p. 307. * //a, p. 346. * /&., p. 476.
12 KILKEA CASTLE.
if they have those pofssessioiis they will have the rule and obedi-
ence of those quarters, and not the King."
About this time mention is made in the documents of the
period of a Walter Peppard of Kylca, who appears to have
been granted the place previous to 154o. He is described nn
one of tlie gentlemen ushers of tlie King's chamber ; his wife
was Elizabeth Stukely, by whom he had several children, the
eldest son being Anthon v. His possessions, which he held on
lease, were 8t. Mary's Abbey beside Dublin, " the two Dallardi«
townes and the rectory of Tyniolingbegge in the oouiitie of
Kildare,"'the farms of SlieveMargy, i3allyroun,and Kilmokidn
(Ballyadams) in the Queen's County, and the Priory of Glasi"-
carrick, in the County Wexford. During Queen Mary's re\gu
Walter Peppiml leased from the crown the " ore and lead minen
at Clonmines, Boss, and other jnts" in the county Wexford.
]n 1562 John Eustnce and Patrick Sai-sfield went security for
him that he would offer to her Majesty the pre-emption of tho
gold at two shillings per ounce, and of the silver at fourpence
per ounce, lower than the market prices. The lease of these
mines, which was for 21 years, appears to have expired abont
1663. In 1565, Walter Peppard died.*
On the 26th of February, 1545, the Lord Deputy, Sir
Anthony St. Leger, wrote to the Lord Clianeellor of England
(Wrothesley) that the Earl of Ossory had oflPered to give up tc>
the King his Castles on the borders of the Kavanaq^h's country
in exchange for land in England, but '* his Lordship is now
fulli resolved that he will not depart with the principalles of them,
unless he may havelandes here ; yea and such hindes as it were
not mete for the Kinge's Majestic to depart with in no case ; for
lie desireth a lordshipp oallid Kilkey, which is the propercKt
house and the goodliest lordshipp the King hath in all this
realme. And when he moved thn same in the Couusaill here,
it seemed by their speech that they would have been glad that
he should have had it, till 1 said openly that I would assone
condiscende my hande be cutt of, as to give couusaill His
Majestic should depart with that Ijordshipp."*
Shaun O'Neill, chief of his natirni, shortly before his death
in 1567, visited the Earl of Kildare secretly at Kilkea. At this
time the Earl was suspected of being implicated with him and
the Earl of Desmond in a conspiracy against Queen Elizabeth.
In the month of June, 1572, the Earls of Kildare and
Oiinond, with th«ir respective forces, wi^re acting against liory
* For the above, vitle Morrin'q "Calendar of Patent and Close lUils,'*
Ireland, and H»milton*A ** Calendar of State Papers,*' Ireland.
- ** State Pai»ers of Henry VIII.," Ireliind, vol. iii., p. ^ns.
KILKEA CASTLE.
J3
Oge O'More, chief of Leix, then proving troublesome ; shortly
afterwards they were ordered to treat with him, and to do so,
** we sent our protection for lilm, but he refused to come over
the Berrowe ; till my Lord of Eildare went to meet him there,
with whom he came to Kylca," when he submitted himself.
TMB CABVKO STONBS IN TUB CMIHNBY-PIBCB OF TUB ** PUCKAWN " ROOM.
About the year 1573 the eleventh Earl repaired the castle,
and placed in the diuing-hall a limestone chimney-piece of which
thn^e sculptured stones remain. This chimney-piece was re-
moved in 1797 by the then tenant of the castle, Thomas
Beynolds, who replaced it by a handsome Italian one in white
1 6 KILKEA CASTLE.
shoulders and sent as a present to Queen Elizabeth, wlio in re-
turn granted tlie Earl allO'Kelly^slandsasa reward forthedeed."
Such is the tradition, but it is entirely false as far as Kilkea
and the Earl of Kildare are oonoerned ; for the real murderer
of O'Kelly was Gerald Fitz Gerald of Morett Castle, in the
Queen's County, who was slain and his oastle burned hy the
O'Mores in revenge for O'Kelly's mui-der. This Gerald was
an illegitimate son of Gerald, the eleventh Earl of Kildare, and
was ancestor of the Fitz Geralds of Morett and Timoge ; to him
the Earl demised the lands of Timoge, Ballyteskin, Morett,
Shanganaghmore, and others in the Queen's County, for a term
of 101 yean?, commencing 20th of February, 1584. These lands
were granted to the Earl by Queen Elizabeth previous to the
year 1565, as is proved by a Queen's County Chancery Inqui-
sition; and as *Hhere is no smoke without a fire," so the
tradition given above (though inaccurate as to persons and
place) contains a fair amount of truth.
In 1609 thp-tord-t^ttrieellQ^^^ Irehmd wrote from Dublin
to King Janj^s tlW-'^ifJtV^oBMplfiining of Christopher St.
liawrence, the]2^)|f4i>@^'^^^^^^^'^''Bf ungovernable temper
and outrageou^ conduct towards him. He apologises, to com-
mence with, fcf his style 9Jf.I^ijy[u^coni posit ion, which he had
disused for a fcpa€A^^^r*^lfeatl^^^ One instance he
gives of the lV^^''^^tfe*4tiVhent; of him is as follows:— One
Walter Weldoif, of^the 3£i3.nor ot-Woodstook, near Athy, a
tenant of Sir Ebbert Digby's, presented him with a petition
at Tallaght, complaining that two of the Earl of Kildare's
retainers, Wogan Caddell and one Farrell, had in a forcible
manner taken away some part of his corn at Woodstock, and
that Caddell had assaulted his wife as she was helping her
husband to rescue his corn. Whereupon the Chancellor ad*
dressed to the Earl, at his manor of " Kilkay," by a messenger
of sufficiently honourable condition, a letter requiring him to
restrain and correct his servants. When the messenger pre*
sented himself at Kilkea, where the Baron of Howth was at the
time, access was denied to him ; and when he, having intima-
tion of the Eurl's coming forth, awaited him upon the way and
respectfully tendered the letter. Lord Howth rode violently up,
seized and made away with the letter written in the King's
name, while the messenger was warned by the leader of the
Baron's men to take himself away before worse befell him.
The wife of Gerald, the I4th Earl of Kildare, was Elizabeth
Nugent, daughter of Christopher, 9th Lord Delvin, whom he
manied by dispensation of the Pope, as she was a Roman
Catholic. On his death, in 1612, she, having no jointure,
petitioned the King to grant her assistance, and she was assigned
THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOF, t,E2tOX AN»
TILOSN 7&UH»ATIONa
TuRBE Views op Kilkea Ca8tle,
Just before its restoration in 1849,
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3
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Three Views of Kilkba Gastlb,
Immediately after the restoration.
KILKEA CAIsTLE. 17
during the minority of George, tlie .16th Earl, known :aar"tlie
Fairy Earl '' (his cousin Gerald, the 15th Earl, son* of the
Countess, having died when nine years of age in 1620), the
manors of Kilkea and Grauey. This Countess is the one referred
to in the following extract taken from aMS. Latin history of the
Jesuits, now in the library of Clongowes College:— '^In the reign
of Charles I., 16*34, the good and ever to be honoured Countess
of Kildare ^ave the Castle of Kilkea and all its furniture to
Fatlier Eooert Nugent, Superior of the Jesuits of Kilkea.
Father Nugent was a near relative of the Earl of Inchiquin of
the noble house of Tliomoud. In the year 1646 Father Nugent
entertained for twenty days, sumptuously and magnificently,
the celebrated liinuecini, the Pope's Nunciio, and several com*
panies of soldiers on their way to besiege Dublin. The Nuncio
wanting pecuniary means, Father Nugent lent him four thousand
pieces of gold, which the Nuncio never repaid, and consequently
the Jesuit mission was much neglected as they had not sufficient
means to support it. pAtlieC^f"©®*^ lived to the age of 70 ;
he wrote the history of HiB^own orde^ and times; but through
fear of the P(iritans,'he Uici€^.dd^l!l^.'M^."
The Jesuits retained possession' 0^ the Castle till 1646. Th'e
Countess was concerned.ip, the llebe|lion of 1641, and was, the
year after, outlawed £Qr;rii^'*trAi80|i. Her death took place
in 1664. Archbishop PaiinSiWa Iwrote in 1859 that he had
met with an old MS. in>Bame,,in wldoh it is stated that on the
Itith of December, 1664, two striugS of pearls — one containing
106 and the other 110 pearls— were presente<l to the churbh of
Ijoretto by Elizabetli Nugent, Countess of Kildare. They were
brought to Italy by llichurd Archdekin, the author of a famous
treatise on theology, and sent by him to Loretto, where they
were presented by liobert Buckley, the English Penitentiary in
that town.
The civil war broke out in 1641, between the Irish and the
Catholic Anglo-Norman families on one side, and the Puritans
on the other ; later on it became a three-sided contest between
the native Iiish, the Catholic Boyalists, and the Puritans.
Though this castle itself does not seem to have taken much part
in the btruggle, yet the neighbourhood all round it was the
scene of conflicts and suflei*ed greatly from the miseries atten-
dant on civil war.
In a letter dated the 16th June, 1643, occurs the following
passage : —
"Lost Satniday, Sir Michael Ernely returned to Dublin with that army
which was 0mt foorili under his command. Some fewe ciutles they tooke,
but got little pillage or come ; the best was at Balle-Brittas, the I^rd of
Clanmalerye'tt nouae (Lewis O'Dempsy] in the Dempsies Country, Uallesfuioa
VOL. II., FT. I. C
,8 KILKEA CASTLE.
(t.#?. Ballyshaniion, near Calverstown), Ciibtledermot, and Kilkey, the oW
Countisse of Kildare'» Castle, being the three places that most annoyed our
convovs and garrisons ot Athy, &c., they were not to engage the army upon
till tliey were better stored with powder, and Ballisaiioii by s|>ecial worde»
th^y were inhibited to meddle with. But when they were uf>on their way
homeward, having not two days bread left, the souldiers surbated (foota^ire)
and tvred out with long lyeing out upon the gn»und in the onen aire, then
thev liad a newe commission sent them to goe where they pleased. That
Commission was signed on Thursdav, but matters were soe ordered thnt it
came not to Sir Michael's hands till ne was within a day's march of Dublin,
on his retume.*
In 1646 " My Lord Nunciq, Scararapo, and Supreame
Couiioell came to Kilka in tlie ooHptie of Kihlare, wlio next
moniingo adjorned to Athy to »a\iite his proper Generall
(Owen Itoe O'Neill^ who was very busy in biiildinge ovens
and t'oriiaoes there, and conferred on oertaine affaires couducible
to the conion good." '
In October of this year, the Marquis of Ormond, the I^)rd
Lientonant, corresponded with tl»e two generals of the Catholic
unny, Owen lioe O'Neill and Tiiomas Preston, brother of the
fifth Viscount Gornianston, who were then with the Nuncio at
"Kilka.""
in 1649, Sir Robert Talbot and Sir John Dungan are
mentioned as oustoiliaus " of Kilkae, a manor house of tlie
Earl of Kildare, in the same couutie, an invincible place which
was soone after yeldeil to the euemie " ; they were so ai»pointed
by the Mai-quis of Ormond/
In a diary kept by an officer of the Parliamentary forces in
1650, he says: —
Saturday, July 20th, I left D.iblin with a convoy of horse and foote, and
quartered neare kill, about two miles from the NaaK.
Sunday, 'luly 21st, we oame to Kilka, sideloii); of Castlederraott : we
were wiivlayd l»v Sir Walter Dun^^an, Scurlock, and others, who were neare
Kolton llill, drawiie up m 5 divisions of horse. But it pleased God to give
us the better of the engagement ; we killed one Cuptain Shartall, and others,
and tooke some pristmers, pursuing the rest some miles.
Monday, 22ud, we ciime to the army before Catherlogh (Carlow), where
Sir Hardresse Waller, Maj«»r-Oenerall of the Foote, commanded, Ac*
The castles of Kilkea, Castledermot, an<1 Athy, in 1650,
were retaken from the Catliolics under Lord Dillon, by Colonel
llewson. The Karl of Kihlare, George—" the Fairy Earl "—
now resided at Kilkea and in Dublin till his death in 1650. His
> Vide p. 61 of the Preface to Gilbert's '* History of the Confederation."
» ride p. 130, vol. i., of Gilbert's ** History of Affairs in Ireland."
a Vide Cox's '*Hib. Angl.," vol. ii., p. 171.
♦ Gilbert's ** History of Affairs in Ireland, 1641-1632," ii. 65.
*/6.,iii., 218.
KILKEA CASTLE.
19
son Weutwortk (so christened after the Earl of Strafford), the
17th Earl, also made this oastle his priuoipal residence, not
being able, in consequence of losses suffered during the late
rebellion, to restore Maynooth Castle, which had been seized
and pillaged by the Catholics in 1642, and finally dismantled
by General Preston in 1646. On the death of the 17th Earl
in 1664, his widow, Elisabeth, 2nd daughter of John Holies,
2nd Earl of Clare, resided in the castle till her death in 1666.
From this period the castle does not seem to have been lived in
by any members of the family for close on 200 years.
In 1668, the castle with 1200 acres was let for ten years to
William JiOrd Brabazon, son of the 2nd Earl of Meath, at a
rent of £160 for the first two years, £180 for the next four
years, and £200 for the last four years. The original lease is
uow preserved in the volume of M8S. at Carton.
About the year 1680, John Browne, Esq., eldest son of
Bobert Browne (who went over to Ireland in the Parliamentary
army attached to Colonel Henry Prittie's regiment during the
civil war in 1650, and settled soon after at Carlo w), married
Mary, daughter of llobert Jennings,^ Esq., of Kilkea Castle,
' In the churchyard of Castlederioot, louuiug againht the enclosing wall
on the north side, is a massive limestone slah which was some years ago
removed from the interior of tlie building ; judging by the inscription on it,
which was lightly incised and' is now almost iUegihle, it was erected to tlie
memory of this kobert Jennings ; the wording on it is as follows : —
HEHR LIETn THE
BODY OP KOBRKT I KIT
INOS WHO DECKA8KD
THIS LIFE IAN 17
ANNO DOM 1670
He, too, may be the one referred to in this extract from a volume called
*' A List of the Claims as they are Entered with the Trustees at Chichester
House," published in 1701, Dublin:—
1
The Estate or '
By what deed or
On what
Late Pro-
. Claimant.
interest claimed. ;
writing.
lands.
prietor.
Florence George,
Residue of 31
lly lease dated the
Uallyhubbert,
Private
widow, Exec'u-
years, tom-
meneing the
28th of March,
Hallyvass,
Estate.
trix of Kobert
1671, to Sir Hugh
etc. (near
I Jennings, her
lut of May,
Middieton, liiirt..
Kilkea).
late husband.
i
1670.
who, by deed dated
25ih NoveiiibtT,
167-2, assigned to
Rolieit Jennings,
the claimant' 8 ti US-
band and tesutor.
0 2
20 KILKEA CASTLE.
of the family of Jennings of Selden, in Yorkshire. He was
niicesior of the Browne -Clayton family, of Browne's Hill, near
Carlow.*
In 1683, a lease of the castle, town, mill, and 900 acres was
granted to William, George, and John Brown for their lives, at
a rent of £135.
In 1706, Robert Dixon, who then held the castle, sur-
rendered his lense, and Henry Dixon took it at £60 4«. 0<L
rent for three years.
In 1741, a lease of the castle and 350 acres of land was
prranted to Henry Dixon, Esq., who died in 1747. His son
Henry then became tenant of the castle, and after leading a
wild and dissipated life, he died unmarried in 1797. The
Dixon family, according to the Gastledermot parish register,
now kept in the llecord Office, Four Courts, Dublin, were all
buiiod in the Kilkea churchyard, though only a single head-
stone, lying flat, in the east end of tlie chancel, dated 1712,
marks the grave of one member of this family.
In 1797, the notorious '98 informer, as in after years he
proved to be, Thomas Reynolds, obtained a lease of the castle
and lands through the interest of Lord Edward FitzGerald,
when the castle appears to have been partially repaii'ed and
furnished. Reynolds having joined the United Irislimen in
the beginning of '98 was elected delegate to the county meet-
ing and treasurer for the barony of Kilkea and Moone ; soon
afterwards, on the resignation of Loi'd Etlward, he was appointed
colonel of the regiment of that barony in the rebel army. He
then cut down several young trees at Kilkea and employed
tmrpentors to make pike-handles out of them, and smiths to
form pike-heads, in order to induce the peasants to believe in
his sincerity, while he orgpanized meetings at night for drilling
the people in secluded fields close by.
A life of Reynolds was published by his son Thomas, in
1838, in which he attempts to vindicate his father's character;
t he following incidents in connection with the castle are extracted
from it : —
His father Thomas Reynolds, he says, was born on the
12th of March, 1771, in Dublin ; he was descended from Connor
Reynolds, of Rhynn Castle in the Co. Roscommon ; his mother
was a daughter of Thomas FitzGerald of Kilmeed, near Fonts-
town ; his wife was a Miss Harriet Witherington, whom he
Vitle Burke*s '* Landed Gentry/*
KILKEA CASTLE. 21
married in 1794, at which time lie had (to oontinue in the
biographer's worcte) —
•* a promise of the lense of Kilkea Castle and lands from the Duke of
L^tnster. It had been let on lease with about 350 acres of land to a family
named Dixon for three lives, one only of which now existed, an old bed-
ridden man, whose death was daily ex|>eoted. William, Duke of I^einster,
owed a considerable sum of mouey to my great-grandfather Fitz Gerald,
and on his application the Duke promised my father the reversion of Kilkea
for three lives, renewable for ever, at an easy rent. It was the if nest land
in the whole county, and delightfully situated, having the River Greese
b«iunding it on one side, a fine turnpike road on the other, and the park -like
Demesne of Belan, tiie seat of the Earl of Aldborough, adjoining. The
avenue up to Itelan House belonged to Kilkea, and was rented at a yearly
take from the holder of Kilkea. There was also a strip of laud of 70 acres
running along the far side of the turnpike road, which served for cottage
lands, so that all within the Demesne of Kilkea remained undisturbed.
" This residence was all the more desirable for my father, as it lay in
the verr centre of various places belonging to his family ; his maternal
grandfather at Kilmeed ; his uncle at Geraldine near Atliy ; his cousins
Thomas Dunne nt I^einster I/>dge, and Patrick Ihinne at a newly purchased
farm aiijoining I^inster Ix>dge (now called Dollardstown^ ; and his uncle
Walter Fitz Gerald at Gurteen. Mr. Dixon died in the beginning of the
year 1797.
"My father directly repaired to Ilathangan, the residence of Mr.
Spencer, the Duke's Af|;ent, when he put in his claim. The Barony of
Kilkea and Moone consisted of 1 5(X) Irish acres, exclusive of the gardens,
orchards and land o<K!upie<l by tlie castle and its appurteuuuceM. That part
called Moone was held on lease by a family of the name of Yeates, and
contained aliout KdO acres, including the old deerpark, adjoining to which
wos the ancient habitation of the Karl's huntsman, the Kennel, and other
sporting establishments; these buildings formed the retiidence of Mr.
\ eates's family. Kilkea was leased for three lives renewable for ever, which
constituted a freehold in Ireland. My father's agreement was to pay £1000
as a fine to the Duke, and to pay Mr. Shannon, the Duke's builder, for new
roofing, flooring, and ceiling tlie cantle, and for making such other improve-
ments as would put it into substantial repair ; upon this outlay and upon the
line he was to be allowed 10 per cent, of tlie rent, which was fixed at a
guinea (£1 *2s. 6//. Irish) per acre, and on 350 acres amounted to £398 2«. Qd.
Ir. Shannon's bill amounted to £2500 and some odd pounds ; 10 per cent.
on it and on the £1000 fine, amounted to £350, net rent remaining £-18 'i«. 6c/.
beveral ornamental repairs and decorations were made, which could not he
charged to the Duke, amounting to aUmt £3oO. Ilie Manor Mill, with two
or three acres of mill -pond, adjoined this pro|)erty and was then held by one
Oreen, a miller, on a leaeeof seven years ; this was to be <lelivered up to my
father at the end of the lease, at the rent Green paid, if he ch<»se to accept.
He also had an unlimited right of cutting turf on the great bog of Monavool-
lagh, which lay not far from Kilkea.
**The repairs of Kilkea being completed in December, 1797, my father
removed all his furniture by the canal which goes from Dublin to Athv, and
having completely furnished the castle and stocked the lands, he moved with
bis family into it. . . . Towards the end of February, 1798, the ccmntry,
which up to that period had been orderly, became the scene of riot, robbery,
and assassination, by night and day ; nor were the United Irishmen the only
actors in these disgraceful scenes ; the King's troops were too often guilty of
24 KIT.KEA CASTLK.-
few bth^r^ hj- good mnstevs, to nioVe'up a'littl^ coUection, llie whole of wliich
waa dc'stroved; ' ' - • " .' :*
' ** They broKe down, the sliiices of Hie lliver Grecse, which ran through
the p^aee; and 'so -let the '\vatei*' inundate about 7<> acres of meadow land,
rntning it for that season, and bv thus letting off the water they emptied
the great jKind' which supplied \\\B Manor Mill, to the great distress of all
the neighbourhood. The jiretenee for this act was to lower the bed of the
river and empty the mill-pond that they might see if pikes or other weapons
were Cimcenled there.' 'J'he StewaYd, Michael Byrne, was flogged and tor-
f un*d' to rndkehim point ont-fhe supposed depot of arms. Lieutenaut Love,
who liad ' relieved I'ornet'-Witherington, of the 9th Dragmms, son of the
Quarter-Mastet of the same regiment, being a tall man, tied his silk sash
round Byrne*M tieck and' hung him over his shoulders, while auother offieei'
flogged him until he beeame insensible ; similar acts acquired for Love the
name of '* the Walking Gftllows.'' The troops quitted Kilkea on the 29th,
but it was shortly afterwards again occupied by troops, and converted into
' a regular gvirrisoii.' It wa's attacked by the Insurgents during the ISebellion,-
biit they co^ld not make' any impression on it. The soldiers wives, a few of
the neighlkjuring p^Aty gentiy, and farmers* families, claimed protection,
and were ailowedto'remove into the castle with their families, and reside
tliered wring the trouWes.*' Thie castle was occupied by about 44^0 |>ersonB
during two months: ^ '
*' After the troubled had entirely ceased, an agent was sent from Dublin to
collect whatever* remafned on thelandsund in the castle, and to sell the whole
by auctitm. The Earl of Aldlwough was then at his seat at Helan, which
adinilied Kilkea ; he intended the sale in the hope of purchasing some of the
paintings, but none remained; as a^ magistrate he certified the fact of the
sale, &e., and fefter all the expenses were paid my father received for the
residue of the entire pro|)erty the sum of £27, Irish currency ; though in a
return of his losses sent in to the Secretary of State, under an act fur
indemnifying suffering Loyalists, the sum amounted to £12,760, which
even then would not htive been suQcient to replace all that had been
destroyed."
Thomas Reynolds's death took place in Paris, in August,
1836; he was buried in the vaults of Wilton Church, in York-
sliire; the only good word that can be said of Reynolds is that
be had no hand in tlie betrayal of Lord Edward. Cha[)ter xx.
of FitzPatriok's "Secret Service under Pitt," conclusively
proves that Tliomas Reynolds richly deserved the detestable
reputation of an "lufornier."
Captain Er^kine of tlie 9tli Dragoons, mentioned above, was
later on killed at the battle of Old Kilcullen, near the Curragh.
As he lay half stunned on the ground, an old woman who was
searching Ihe dead caine across him, and recognising him, in
i^venge for some former act of cruelty, put an end to him by
repeated thrusts of his own sword.
* The late Verx- Rev. Archdeacon Lawrence Dunne, who succeeded Father
Ijcnnon as Parish Priest of Castledermot, was bom in the castle at this
period ; he di.'d on the Idth of November, 1883, after having: been its Parish
Priest for 64 years. He was. buried in the Catholic church at Castle-,
dor mot.
i
6
U
M
^ S
us •:
e
tS4
THS NSV/ YORC
]^r^^L\Z LIBRARY
KILKEA CASTLE. 25
l)iiring the Rebellion the castle was attacked, hut without
succesSy by the Insurgents. When tranquillity was restored it
remained for some time uninhabited, until Iteyuolds sur-
rendered the castle and lands to the Duke of Leiuster, from
whom Mr. Daniel Gaulfield obtained a lease of them in 1799.
The castle was afterwards inhabited by his son, Mr. Peter
Gaulfield.
In 1817, Mary Shackleton, the authoress of the "Lead-
beater Papers,'^ in vol. i., p. «I55, of tluit work, thus describes
the condition of the custle as it then was: —
" About six miles from Ballitore stands the Castle of Eilkea, belonging
to the FitzOerald family. It in a noble )>ile and in good preservation. It
the windows and ohimueypiece* in the principal room were not so modem,
and the massy balustrades' of the great stairs had been left in the original
colour of ouk, and not disguised with white paint, it would have an effect
more appropriate to the dignity of the building. There are a great number
of rooms ; in the large one before-mentioned are two tablets, tme bears the
figure of an eagle, another a baboon, with this inscription, ISi Div plet,
Crt>m-a-lK>, 1573. The ancient kitchen, with its seven ovens, is in the
lower part of the building/ frofff Which the ascent to the chief rooms is by
stairs of solid oak. The enlns^ \p}.Uiitf,:piat is by a great door, studded
with huge iron nails, and here ^xe dark, and! dreary apartments, the whole
recalling the idea of the feudtd'timest"-* ' -^ •»* v- -. f
1
In 1849 the D)ike!oVtaiD?4>pc»aB§ci^ioii of the castle from
Mr. Peter Caulfield,<aix4T0LQinine|)^iiJti|Pri'^storat]on; but about
twenty years befoife (1.^., about 1829), imitrovenients had been
gradually carried oiit,tll«rprublicTroad8'W€/i-e altered, the Manor
Mill — known as the Black Mill — was taken down, and oak
woods were planted in what became the demef^ne. The castle
was at this time in a half minous state, there was no trace of
its former bawn, except the gateway into it, which still ptands,
nor of the circumventing fosse; and the otit-houses were
thatched and had mud walls. The battlements on the caslle
were all thrown down except one row on the low portion at the
south-east side; Mr. Cauljield is said to have increased the
ruinous state of the castle by pulling down portions in search
of hidden treasure. As a matter of fact, during the restoration
of the Castle nothing of interest was discovered hidden away,
except a dozen antique-shaped glass bottles containing a treacle-
like liquid, which were found in a built-up recess in the parti-
tion wall between *' the Puckawu room " and the ])re8ent
drawing-room (then the hall) : the bottles had long necks and
large round bodies ; the workmen at first were shy about tasting
' t.r. of the Puckawn Room, which is now at Carton.
- Also at Carton.
26
KILKEA CASTLE.
the liquor, but after one had taken " a sup " with no ill effects
there was 800!i great competition for the remainder.
A modern flight of steps on the south-east side of the
castle, which led externally up to the drawing-room window,
then a doorway into the then hall, were at once removed as
out of keeping with an old castle ; they were probably erected
by the Dixon family, as they appear in Grose's engraving of
the castle, in 1792, and not in a small hand sketch on Kogue's
map of Kilkea, drawn in 1760. The tall lancet-shaped windows
were probably th<^ work of Reynolds, as they do not appear in
Grose s engraving of 1792, though shown in the sketches of
1849.
IHK "EVIL KVIf STONE.
(Beside the Gateway into the Bawn of the Castle.)
Though externally very little alteration was made in the
appearance of the castle during its restoration, beyond adding
a story to its height all round, yet, internally it underwent a
great change ; windows were added or enlarged, the rooms in
each story were all brought to the one level, and the ground
floor which had been used as stables for horses and cows was
made inhabitable.
Three features of especial interest to be noted are : —
1. The Evil Eye Stone, which is built 17 feet above the
KILKEA CASTLK.
27
ground into the quoin of the "Guard-room," close to tlie
entrance gate into tlie bawn. Tlie idea of the ** Evil Eye " is
that -a person unknown to himself may possess it, so tliat by
admiring or looking at a human being, beast, or crop, &o., he
-would unintentionally cause it to sicken or be blighted by its
evil influence ; to preve9t that, at the present day, the peasants
THB HALL-DOOR.
(Showing the Portcullis Grooves, and Square Hole, for Meams.)
will add " God bless it " or " God bless you " when taking any
special notice of anything; while in tlie old times grotesquely
cut carvings were built into castles near the entrance in order
to attract the " Evil Eye," and so prevent its evil influence
from affecting the dwellers in them. Some forms of these
curious relics of the past, originating from Pagan sources, are
known as " Sheelah-na-gigs," and are generally found built
28
JKLILKEA CASTLK;
into the walls of iincient ohurolies ; a list of many of tliem is
to be found at pages 78 to 81 of the 1894 v(»lunie of the
Jonmal of tlje lloyal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland.
2. The hall-imk)r, which was the main entrance into the
castle. This entrance consists of a high outer arch, and an
inner pointed arched doorway. Formerly a portcullis hung in
the outer arch ; the grooves it slid down in can still be seen,
Sktcrh of
pmUUin helots
tAtmney
as well as two square holes
outside of them again that con-
tained beams of timber which,
as an extra precaution for
safety, could be drawn out
across the entnince and inserted
in like holes on the op^iosite
side, now, unfortunately, built
up ; an appliance inside the
castle prevented their being
shoved back from the outside.
At the time of the restomtion
old oak beams were in these
long holes, but were made away
with. The portcullis was also
hunging, but it too, through negligence, was taken away nnd
sold for old iron. From a description of it given by old Michael
O'Uhaiighnessy, who was employed as one of the masons during
the restoration, and who saw it in position, it was a frame-
work of iron to which were fastened stout oaken planks, and
the whole was worked on ])ulleys from a small high ai'ched
chamber above the door. Whether this was an ancient port-
THB CARVBU BRACKKT TO THK CHIMNEY OF THK
HAUNTLD WING.
KILKEA CASTLE.
29
cullig, or one put together owing to the trouhles of '98, is
now impossible to say. The stone vaulted ceiling of the hall
was removed at the restoration, in order to add to its height.
8. Thb haunted room, which is situated in the upper por-
tion of the wing projecting from the round flagstaff tower. It
is now much altered from what it used to be. Formerly it
consisted of a chamber, to which was attached a circular turret-
room ; this latter now forms a part of the circular stone stair-
case running from the ground floor up to tlie level of the
roof of the haunted wing in the flagstaff tower. The haunted
chamber opened into a narrow, rough stone, winding staircase,
built in the thickness of the wall, which led from the old roof
level and continued up to the roof of the .haunted wing. The
little fireplace to tliis room has a projecting chimney in the
south-west wall; one of the stone brackets it rises from on the
outside consists of a monkey clinging to the stone, having a
collar round the neck to which is attached a chain running
down its back.
' Here it is said Gerald, the 11 th Earl of Kildare, practised
the *^ Black Art," which earned for him. the name of *^ the
Wizard Earl." His portrait, in armour, hat^gs in the drawing-
room at Carton, and over his head is written in Irish characters
" Grum-a-buadh" (Crom-a-boo), the family war cry. His death
trK)k place in the year 1585. In connection with him is related
the following legend, which has been put into verse, in the
old ballad style, by one of our Society's members, Mr.
Thomas Greene of Millbrook: —
THE WIZARD EARL,
A Lkoend of Kix^kka Castle.
If sentle life and high degree
And beauty could avail
To shield from iU, it were not mine
To tell so sad a tale.
If knightly valour, noble birth,
Minortune could repel,
Or i^nsdiim save, it were not mine
So sad a tale to tell.
Ten mighty Earls from sire to son
Of Gerald*s noble name
Maintained their own, or fought for
more,
Or merely fought It fame.
13ut he the next contended hard,
With fierce resolve and stem.
To wrest fn»m Powers below their
power
And all their wisdom learn.
Till so for ways of wilchery.
And aits of darkness famed
In all I he land, that he at last
*' The Wizard Earl " was named.
And oft and oft was he besought
By his lady good and true,
To show her all his power, and be
Transformed witbiu her view.
30
KITXEA CASTLE.
But ever he fo*%warned her
That if her gentle heart
Gave any sign of fear, he must
From her for ever part ;
Till overpressed by loving words
He set her tiials three,
That if she gave no sign of fear
He would ti-atisf»iiucd be.
At first the river Greesc, that near
Where Kilkca Castle stood
Ran gently by, n«»w ciuickly rose •
In wild and sweeping flood,
And whirled around the Ciistle wall
And through the doorway llowed ;
But soon again it fell away,
F»»r she no terror showed,"
And then, when out tlie wutein went,
A fish-like creature wound
Its body tlii-ough, in serpent form,
And wriggled 'ori thcf ground, •
'••
And M wined abotit thcjlady^s feet.
But soon to disappolir
It slurtk aWay, for M^vely still
She showed not any feir. .
But thii-d and lost, a shadowy f()rm
Moved ftilent through the room,'
The loJTO of one jong/y^ars ago
Low laid within tbe tunib ;
And now it ilittdd ftiither.off, .
And now it flitted near,
But still the lady, gazing, gave
Not any sign of fear.
Then he who never bent to man>
Or fuiled in deadly strife,
By soft enti-eaty was overcome, .
And yielded to his wife.
Though gre;it in aims, and greatly
skilled
In ejich intiicaie art,
The Earl was lost, not knowing well
To try a woman's heart ;
For, changed into a small black bird
And on her shoulder lit,
The l.'idy scaice had laised her hnnd
To stroke and cheiish it
When, crouching from beneath a chest
UpHprang a cruel cat.
The e\il one, with ill design
To seijse it where it sat.
Then she who feared not for herself,
Outstretched her lifted arm
In terror lest her well -beloved
Should suffer any harm.
But Powers Dark no pity know,
For, when her swoon was o'er,
The Earl und all his knights were gone,
She saw them nevermore.
Enchanted n«)w, 'tis said they sleep,
Until the spell is piist,
FuU-armonred by their steeds, within
The Rath of Mulhighmast,;
And every seven years, to where
The Curragh's plain lies vide,
Tliey stait, ii^n their chargers all,
And round its borders ride,
And then to Kilkea Castle,
Unto the haunted room,
And back again to MulUighmafltf-^
For flo it is their doom ;
But, though at dead of night they ride,
The Earl you well may know, '
• W hen eounde of horse and armotir
•By his charger white aa snow ;
That charger, too, is silver shod.
And when those shoes are worn,
The spell oiit'Spent, the Earl aguin
Will gloriously i-eturn ;
And- when he comes, oh, then let all
. True men and women pray,
That his good w^ife may meist him at
The CasUe of Kilkea.
There is an ancient pn>phecy
That when this Earl shall come«
Victoriously, as I ijave said,
Unto his custle homei
He there will reign till seven years
Are seven times told o'er,
And yet will do a greater deed
Than e'er he did before ;
Even the ancient enemies
Of Erin to withstand,
And nortli and south, and e^ist and westf
To drive them from the land.
Then Heaven send those silver ahoes
May wear awny full fast.
If so thei-eby our* native land
May rest in peace at lust.
lTo/acep(uilgZ2,
I
Map op the Eilkea Castle Dkmehne,
Showing the alteration of public roads.
Circa 1822.
A I
\'<
•THS-WBW'yORC
\_To face page 33.
BUTLBRSTOWN CaSTLE, CoUNTY WeXFORD.
(Formerly belonging to the Sherlock Family.)
( 33 )
NOTES ON THE FAMILY OF SHERLOCK:
CHIEFLY GATHERED FROM THE
STATE PAPERS AND OTHER OFFICIAL
DOCUMENTS.
By the rev. J. F. VL. FFRENCH, of CLoiijioit, M.R.I.A.
THR anoient family of Sherlock is said to derive its name from
the Castle of Scurlag or Soiirloke in Wales. Although not
one of the great families suoh as the Fitz Geralds, the
Butlers, and the de Burghs, or Boufkes,it represents an important
and rapidly decreasing class of county families, the descendants
of the old Normans, who in course of time became " more Irish
than the Irish themselves," and who, notwithstanding the
changes and convulsions, social iand political, to which this
country has been subjected, still hold on to their broad acres,
and for century after century have filled many and important
offices in Church and State. Thus the Sherlooks can boast of
having supplied the Lind of their adoption and .their birth
with venerable ecclesiastics, stout soldiers, keen lawyers, and
skilled physicians. This ancient family i9 said to have been
founded by one of the companions in arms of Henry II., who
accompanied him into Ireland, and there is some reason to
believe that its senior branch is that which was seated in that
nursery of so many Anglo-Norman houses, the county Wex-
ford. Thomas Shyrlock of Baldwinstown was resident there
in the time of King John, and his great-grandson John Shyrlock
resided there in 1306. At subsequent periods they acquired other
lands in that county, notably the Manor of Roslare, to which
reference will be made further on in this paper. Although
judging from their coat of arms, the county Wexford famuy
seems to be the senior branch, yet the Meath and Kildare
families appear to be of equal antiquity ; possibly the three
families were founded by brothers, for they all seem to have
been in existence shortly after the coming of Henry II. In
1180, William de Scurlog built the Castle of Scurlogstown in
the bazony of Lower Deece in the county Meath, and this same
TOL. U., PT. 1. I)
V
34
NOTES ON THE FAMILY OF SHERLOCK :
William de Scurlog granted the church and tithes of Sonrlogfi-
town and five other parishes to St. Thomas's Abbey, Dublin,
** for the salvation of himself, of his wife, of his ancestors, and
successors." The Castle of Sclirlogsto wn was situated one and
a-half miles from Trim, on an estate granted to the family by Sir
Hugh de Lacy. It has been described as *' one of the strongest
built watch-towers of the Pale — its massive and gloomy walls.
SCURLOGSTOWN CASTLE, NBAR TRIM, CO. MKATH.
its tall towers, and unbroken battlements give it such a stem
appearance that in passing it one still expects to hear the warders
challenge from its gate.''^
At the early date of 1299, the family of Sherlock had been
loug enough resident in Kildareto give their name to the town-
land which is still known as Sherlockstown, and from that
* Sir William Wilde's ** fiojne and Blackwater." We regret to hear
that this castle has now been entirely demolished.
FROM STATE PAPERS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 35
time forward there are traces of them to be found in most of the
southern counties, such as Limerick and Kilkenny, and notably
in the county Waterford, where they are represented to the
present day.
The earliest mention of them in the State Papers is the
presence of Richard Scurlage as one of the jurors on a sworn
inquisition held on the 4th of June, 1251, relating to half a
carucate of land which the Abbot of Tracton lost by default
against the king. Subsequently we find from an account
rendered at Michaelmas 1279, that Maurice Scorlagge held the
▼ery important post of Constable of the Castle of Dublin, and
that payments were made to him for supplying food for John,
Robert, and William O'Conor, who were held as hostages
there for nine weeks, and that in 1281 this same Maurice
Scorlagge, accompanied by Henry de Rochford and Benedict
de TJflford, were employed by the government to convey what
was then a great sum in treasure (one thousand pounds) from
Dublin to the justiciary who was in Roscommon, and that a
sum of money was paid for ** three pair of wallets " (doubtless
saddle-bags) to be used by them in conveying the treasure. In
1284, Maurice *^ Scurlac '' was still in the service of the king
and probably Constable of Dublin Castle, for there is in existence
an account rendered at Michaelmas in that year of the purchase
of two hogsheads of wine for the king's use, for the sum of
seven marks, from Domaion le Gascon; which wine was
delivered to Maurice Scurlac by order of Stephen, Bishop
of Waterford, Justiciary of Ireland, ^nd it is further speci-
ally mentioned that the wine was tested by the bishop
himself.
In 1282 we find that the king's writ of " venire facias "
was issued to the sheriff of Cork,^ commanding him to cause a
jury of knights and free tenants to come before Stephen, Bishop
of Waterford, Justiciary of Ireland, or his deputy, at Kilmal-
lock, on Saturday next after the feast of St. Peter ad Yinoula,
to take the inquisition ordered in the above second writ to the
Justiciary, and on the panel the name of John Scurlag (junior)
occurs. We find him also on the panel of a jury called together
on the same year to estimate the extent of the lands of William
^ The late John O'Daly, of Anglesea-street, Dublin, who was so well known
among Irish antiquarians, called the attention of a gentleman, interested in
the family of Sherlock, to a Gaelic poem in which the Sherlocks, as a clan
under the name of Skirlogs, are mentioned as mustering with other clans in
the county Cork for the purpose of engaging in battle. It was not nnusual
for Anglo-Norman families to develop into semi-Celtic clans.
D2
36 NOTES ON THE FAMILY OF SHERLOCK :
de Mohun, whioh fell into the king's hands hy William's death
at Ottery, Devon, on Tuesday before the Deoollation of St.
John the Baptist, 25th of August, 1282.
We now turn to the ecclesiastics of the family who arrived
at distinction at that early period. In 1364 Thomas Scurlock
was prior of Newtown, near Trim, and from thence was pro-
moted to be abbot of the great house of St. Thomas, near
Dublin, whioh our readers will remember had been enriched
by the liberality of his ancestor ; and, while there, he arrived
at the highest offices in the State, being appointed Deputy
Lord Chancellor in 1366, and Lord High Chancellor of Ireland
on the 1st of July, 1375. The ecclesiastical influence of the
family must have been very considerable in the priory of St.
Peter's, for in 1423 William Scurlock was prior there, and in
1427 Thomas Scurlog filled the same office. In 1429 he was
appointed Lord High Treasurer of Ireland, and on the death
of Bishop Edward Dantsey he was elected Bishop of Meath.
After his election he went to Rome to solicit the Pope's confir-
mation, but either he was not consecrated, or he survived only
a short time. Ware does not include him among the bishops
of Meath.
The nearest approach to the present spelling of the name at
a very early period is in the Roluhrum Patentium et Clamorum
CancellariiB Hibemicey vol. i., part 1, Henry II, to Hen. VII.'
In this calendar there are no less than twenty-four notices of
this family, and among them, in the reign of Henry VI., the
name of Walto Shirlok, of the county Eildare, occurs. In the
Patent and Close Bolls of Henry VTII. this family is mentioned
several times. In the twentieth year of that reign there is a
grant from the king to Barnabas Scorloke of Nail, gent., son
and heir of Thomas Scorloke, late of Athboy, deceased (Meath
Co.] ; livery and seisin as to the town of Tullagharde. Subse-
quently there is a grant of general livery of seisin and pardon
of intrusion for Barnabas Scorloke of Nail, gent., son aud heir
of Thomas Scorloke, late of Athboy, deceased, who had held of
the Crown the town of Tullagharde, in the Co. Meath. On
the 15th of June, 1555, Bamaby Scorlock of Bective was
appointed attorney-general to Queen Mary, and in 1558 this
Bamaby Scorlock was appointed attorney-general to Queen
Elizabeth, who also appointed him to act as temporary chief
justice in Ireland, in the room of Sir Robert Dillon, and until
she sent an Englishman over to occupy the post. Doubtless
the sense of injustice he felt at being deprived of the office of
In 1422 John Shurlag was Coroner of Meath,
PROM STATE PAPERS AND OFFiaAL DOCUMENTS. 57
chief juBtioe, merely because of his Irish birth, drove him iuto
Spofiitioii ; for in 1577 he accompanied Richard Nettervyll and
enry Burnell to England, as a deputation from the Viscount
Baltinglass and other barons and gentlemen to Queen Elizabetii,
to complain of the intolerable burdens laid on them by the Lord
Deputy and Council, with the result that when they arrived at
the other side of the Channel the Queen imprisoned them, for
maintaining that cess was contrary to the law and ancient cus-
toms of Ireland, and she further ordered the Lord Deputy to
oommit to ward the chief people who had combined to send
them to her.
Queen Elizabeth was of a frugal mind, and it was a sore
grief to her that she could not make Ireland pay ; for her great
nobles, however willing they were to receive pay, had the
strongest possible objection to be made pay for a government
which was often distinguished by a lack of all governing
power. Imprisonment had a wonderful effect in clearing the
mind of Barnaby Sourlock from all the legal difficulties that
stood in the way of his consenting to the English G-ovemment
levying cess in Ireland ; so much so, that shortly after he and
his two companions humbly submitted to the better judgment
of the Crown, and petitioned. to be discharged. In 1584 we
find a letter from Lord Justice Wallop to Walsingham against
the suit of Barnaby Sourlock, who had sent his son without
lioense to obtain a confirmation or re-grant of Scurlockston
and Ifemack (Scurlogstowu liad passed away from the family
to the bishops of Meath, but had been bought back by
him}. Notwithstanding the opposition of Lord Justice Wallop,
Barnaby Sourlock seems to have been successful in passing on
his large estates to his eldest son, for doubtless that son was the
Oliver Sourlock of the Manor of Sourlockstown, whose large
possessions are mentioned in the Inquisitions of 1623 as situated
in the county Meath. In 1601, Walter, son of Barnaby
ISourlook, was appointed an attorney-at-law in the province of
Gonuaught.
This family, like so many other Norman families, took side
with the Confederate Catholics, and lost their property in
1641.
In 1560, and for many years after, Patrick Sherlock,
sometimes styled of Burnt Cliurch, Co. Kilkenny, was very
much in evidence, both in that county and in the counties of
Tipperary and Waterford; from 1560 to 1576 he was
constantly in commission as sheriff of those counties. He is
described by Bagwell in his Riatory of the Tudots^ as a ^^ stout
old campaigner, who had served the Emperor and the King of
38 NOTES ON THE FAMILY OF SHERLOCK:
France." In 1564 his commission ran to ''make war on the
Graces and Booroks and their adherents in rehellion/' and in
carrying on the war he often doubtless exceeded his powers,
for, in those old days, the rough old soldiers who had work to
do were by no means particular as to the manner of doing it.
Consequently, we find that in 1574 a pardon was issued to
Patrick Sherlock, of St. Katheriiie's Priory, sheriff of the Co.
Waterford, and to divers others, in consideration of their good
Bervice.
In 1577 there is to be found among the State Papers an
agreement signed by Patrick Scurlocke and others, on behalf
of the county Kilkenny, by which they agree to accept the
terms of a composition for cess, subscribed by the lords and
gentlemen in England; and we find that this family gave their
name to several localities or denominations of land in that
county. Another notable Sherlock of those days was Pierce or
Peter Sherlock, who was sheriff of the Cross of Tipperary in
1578, with commission to execute martial law. In recompense
for his services, he and his sons obtained grants of lands in
Tipperary, Limerick, and Cork. Probably from him descended
Sir G-eorge Sherlock, of Cahir, who was knighted by Sir A.
Chichester, Lord Deputy of Ireland, in 1606.
We now return to the Wexford branch of the family,
which we have already seen seated at Baldwinstown, in the
county Wexford, in the reign of King John, and from time to
time we find, in the State Papers, glimpses of its history. It is
not quite clear how the Sherlocks came into possession of Bald-
winstown Castle, as there seems reason to believe that it was
built by a cadet of the great house of Montgomery, who
settled in Ireland. That family possessed a castle bearing the
same name in Wales, and it was their chief seat. One of the
Montgomerys received the cognomen of Le Gogh (the red-
haired) from the Welsh, and his descendants have kept it as a
surname. This castle and manor of Baldwinstown at one
time fell into the hands of a junior branch of the house
of Keating of Kilcowan, and it is now held by the Swan
family. The castle itself has a keep about 30 feet square, with
walls 13 feet thick at the base.
But to return to our State Papers ; we find in the Patent
and Close EoUs of Henry VIII. (28th, 29th, and 30th
year), a grant of the offices of Treasurer, Ileceiver-GFeneral,
and Bailiff of the lordship of Wexford to James Sherlock,
gentleman. This James Sherlock, in 1539, presented a survey
of that county to Secretary " Crumwell," for the use of the
Government, and in a letter he shows that the King's revenue
FROM STATE PAPERS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 39
there amounted to £220 yearly; he, at the same time,
complains bitterly of one Jerberd, the deputy-seneschal of the
county, and of the bad conduct of the soldiers under the
senesehars command. It seems probable that he was the
founder of the Sherlooks of Bolgaureigh, Co. Wexford, who
are mentioned in the '' Inquisitionum Uancellariae Hibemiae
liepertorium," where we find that, in 1625, Thomas Sourlock
was seised of the town and lands of Bolgaureigh, and a
hamlet called Curraghgost, also Ballynechae, Ballymullin, and
Ballymeiler.
In 1542 Henry YIII. granted a pardon to Roland Sourlock,
of Wexford and Dublin, Bachelor of Physic, for heresies pub-
lished about six years previously. This Roland Scurlock and
others were, in the years 1622-1623, seized of the town and
lands of Ballyboygh, otherwise Ballybough ; he must have
been in high favour with the ruling powers, for he was ap-
pointed physician to Queen Mary, and subsequently he was
made physician to her strong-minded sister Queen Eliza-
beth ; from her he obtained a grant of the manor of Boslare.
Consequently it is stated in The luqumtions that in 1625
Rowland '^Scurlocke of Rosclare" was seized of the manor
of Rosclare and Ballinmore, and of the advowson of the
rectory of Rosclare. The Sherlocks seem to have lost their
Wexford estates in consequence of the 1641 troubles, for in
1667 Edward Shurlock, of Bolganreagh, in the barony of
Bantry, forfeited. When the manor of Roslare was confis-
cated, it passed into the possession of John Uigate, and from
him to his cousin Higate Boyd. The Boyd family still hold
this estate, or rather what remains of it, as a considerable por-
tion of it has been encroached on and now lies under the sea.
There are some curious particulars about this manor of
Roslare to be found in the Southwell Fapef*8. After the
surrender of Wexford to the Normans, the Ostmen of Wexford
were placed under the care of the seneschal of the liberties of
Wexford, and he seems to have transplanted them to the
parishes of Roslare and Ballymore in Forth, which were
manors attached to his office. In the Charter House at West-
minster there is a curious document giving the result of an
inquest held by Lord William de Y alence, as to the rents,
services, and customs of the foreign Eastmen of the counties of
Wexford. It is worthy of observation that at that time they
were not called Danes. These tenants of the manors of Roslare
and Ballymore, under the Sherlocks, held as copyholders, a
tenure common enough in England, but we believe unique in
Ireland. Under this tenure, in Roslare, the tenant was obliged
40 NOTES ON THE FAMILY OF SHERLOCK:
to do homage to the lord of the manor, none oonld marry in
his lordship without his permission, nor build a house, nor
suffer it to be demolished, or fall, or decay. If a oopy holder
married a maid, a certain fine was payable to his lord ; if a
widow, double as much ; if a woman whose chastity had been
violated, more. These fines were called ^^ Lotherwite ; " all
tenants were liable to *' heriotts," i.e, the best beast on the
farm, or the best piece of furniture in the house, was due to the
lord on the death of a tenant. A transgressor of the laws of
the manor forfeited his copyhold. The marriage laws were
probably intended to prevent marriage with the so-called
" Wild Irish," and the duty of the tenant to pay fines and
heriotts was in existence among copyholders in England quite
lately, and probably is so still. The writer of these notes, when
he resided in England, knew of an arrangement that was then
made between the copyholders and the lord of a manor, by
which the copyholders gave up their rights in a common to the
lord, and he, in return, relinquished his rights to fines and
heriotts from them. The name of Sherlock has now, it is
believed, quite died out of the county Wexford, but a few years
since it was in existence.
In the year 1618 Sir Daniel Molyneux, Ulster King-at*
Arms, visited Wexford while the judge of assize was holding
his court. He came for the purpose of inquiring into and
registering the descent, arms, and pedigrees of the principal
gentlemen of the shire. The result of his labonra is to be
found in the College of Arms in the Bermingham Tower, and
there the coats of arms of the different fanulies liiay be seen
beautifully emblazoned ; among them will be found the Scur-
lockes of Boslare, who registered six generations. We must
now return to an earlier period.
The Four Masters tell us that in 1599 Bichard Scurlock
was the Queen's sheriff of the county Clare, and we may feel
well assured that he was a stout soldier to undertake that office.
Even in 1894, the acting sheriff of Clare had not a happy life,
but what must it have been in 1599 P The Waterford family
which was an offshoot of the Wexford branch, we find seated
at Grace Dieu, Pembrokestown, Island Bridge, and other
places. The Waterford Sherlocks seem to have adopted the
modem spelling of the name at an earlier date than the
members of the family elsewhere, so that we find them called
Sherlock at a very early period. From the year 1462 to the
year 1690, when the city of Waterford was surrendered to
King William III., the offices of mayor and sheriff of Water*
ford were served on thirty-three occasions by gentlemen of the
FROM STATE PAPERS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 41
name of Sherlock. Four htmdred and thirty-one years ago a
member of that family named John Sherlock was mayor of
Waterford, and in those days the position of mayor of a city
was one of great dignity and importance. We are still enabled
to form some idea of the manner in which merchant princes
and gentlemen lived from the old mansions of the Bothes in
Kilkenny, and similar buildings. The Eothe family were at a
▼ery early period connected by marriage with the family of
Sherlock, David Bothe, whose father, John Bothe, served as
sovereign of Kilkenny in 1440, having married Catherine
daughter of Sir Paul Sherlock, knight, of Qrace Dieu, county
Waterford.
These gentlemen merchants placed great store on theijr
armorial bearings, and it was their custom to have their arms
cut in stone and inserted over the doors or in the front walls of
their houses, and sometimes on their appointment to the ofSees
of mayor or sovereign they had their arms beautifully emblaz-
oned in the corporation books, instances of which are still to
be found in the books of the more ancient cities and towns. If
the barons dominated the country, the guild merchants domi*
nated the towns. '* No one could come into the town and sell his
wares to anyone except to a member of the said society, and this
at the pleasure of the buyer. Foreign merchants could only vend
tlieir merchandise wholesale, and then only to one of the
brethren. By reason of the guild merchant, no foreign
merohant could buy wholesale, wine, wool, woolfells, leather
or lead from any foreigner, except from members of the same
guild." In some towns custom made the rule of the guild more
oppressive; for instance, ''if anyone brought neat's leather, wool,
or woolfells into Derby to sell, and one of the guild placed his
foot on the thing to be bought, no one but a member of the
society would dare to buy it, nor would the merchant dare to
sell it, save to a member, nor for a higher price than that which
the member of the society offered." - These old guild merdiants
were recruited from some of the best families in the land, and
readily passed back again into the ranks of the nobles, but if
the guild merchant occupied a privileged position, how much
more so the mayor. Let us take Galway for instance, and we find
in 1564, one Nicholas Blake fined the great sum (considering
the value of money then and now) of £40 for daring to issue
the Queen's writ against the Warden without first suing before
the mayor and council; and no matter how rich a guild
merchant was, he was not to allow his wife to vie with the
mayor's wife in matters of dress, for it was straightly ordered :
** That no woman shall weare no gorgiouse aparell, but as
42 NOTES ON THE FAMILY OF SHERLOCK:
beoometh them to do aocordingto ther oallinge, and upon th^oi
they shall weare no oogtlie hatt bands or cap bauds of gold
treede, the mayorases only excepted."^ Our merchant of
those days must not only be an expert in the counting-house,
but he must also be a good soldier, and the mayor should be
ready at a moment's notice to put himself at the head of the
trained hands, to repel the enemies of his city. Many were
tlie battles the good citizens of Waterford fought against their
enemies the Powers, who were lords paramount of the county,
and the O'Drisoolls of Baltimore, in the county Cork, who seem
to have been very much like a band of pirates, uutil in 15^7,
exasperated by the plunder of one of their merchantmen, the
mayor assembled a little fleet, consisting of the great galley of
the city and two other ships well appointed with artillery and
400 men under the command of bailiff Woolock as chief
captain, James Sherlock and others, and with this little force the
Wuterford men destroyed the castles, burned the galleys and pin-
naces and pluudered the territory of this sept. We do not hear
that the O'DriscoUs ever molested Waterford after that defeat.
When in 1544 Henry VIII. engaged in a war with the
£ing of France, and passing over into that kingdom besieged
Bologne, he was accompanied by a considerable body of Irish
soldiers, who we are told distinguished themselves by their
undaunted spirit, and astonished the enemy by the rapidity
with which they traversed the country, and by their ferocity.
8even huudred of these soldiers were Waterlord men, com*
mauded by the Lord Poer (or Power) and Captain Sherlock.
Lord Poer was killed at this siege, as appears from a Qrueeu's
letter dated the Slst May, 158b, ordering a grant of laud iu
fee-farm to Richard Poer, ^' his grandfather having been slain
in service against the rebels, and his uncle having been slain at
Bulloigne in the service of our late father, of hap[)y memory."
These soldiers plundered all the adjacent country, and we are
told that '' their manner of collecting cattle was by tying a bull
to a stake, and scorchiug him with faggots in order to force
him to bellow, which gathered all the neighbouring cows about
him, by which artifice they were taken and carried to the camp ;
and whenever they met with a Freuchman, they always cut ofiF
his head, refusing him both quarter and ransom. The French
being astonished by this strange kind of making war, sent a
trumpet to King Henry to learn whether he had brought with
him men or devils that could neither be won with rewards or
^ The oharters and oustoms of corporate towns at both sides of the
Channel were much the same.
FROM STATE PAPERS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 43
oompassion, which the king turniog to a jest, seyeral of the
Irish who straggled from their companions and fell in the
enemy*s hands, were afterwards used very cruelly, and put to
great tortures before they were slain. At this siege a French-
man challenged to fight any of the English, hand to hand, in
single combat, and came to the opposite side of the bay for this
purpose, being encouraged thereto by the depth of the water
and the nearness of his own men. One Nicholas Walsh, an
Irishman, accepted the challenge, swam across the bay, fought
the Frenchman, despatched him before any of his countrymen
could assist him, and returned across the water, swimming with
Monsieur's head in his mouth, for which exploit he was well
rewarded." Bat not only were the Irish soldiers in those days
accustomed to catch their cows in a strange manner, but they
had an equally strange manner of cooking them. They in fact
boiled them in their skins ; having skinned a cow, they formed
a bag or trough by lashing the skin firmly at the four corners
to trees or stakes, and then having poured water into the
trough, they kindled a large fire at one «ide, and they boiled
the water and cooked the meat by heating stones to a ffreat heat
and throwing them into the trough. This seems to have been
an adaptation of the manner of cooking adopted in the old Irish
cooking places, called '' the Boiling-places or Fire-places of the
Deer." So that between the catching and the cooking, we can-
not be surprised that the French were not a little astonished.
In 15tj5 James Sherlock (Fitz Thomas), who is styled of
Butlerstown, Co. Waterford, was granted a certificate exempting
his lands there from the payment of a subsidy, and in 1570 he
was sheriff of the county, and had a commission empowering
him to execute martial law. In the same year he and others
were appointed Commissioners to survey and divide the lands
of "the White Knight.]'
All through the reign of Queen Elizabeth the Waterford
Sherlocks seem to have been staunch loyalists, and, as they con-
stantly served the offices of sheriif and mayor, we find them
in continual communication with the Government officials,
and supplying them with valuable information, obtained from
sailors and others, as to proposed invasions of the country from
abroad. In the reign of James I., a.d. 1603, we find Walter
Sherlock and five others stated to be the only people in the city
who refused to take a seditious oath. The family seem to
have remained steadily loyal to the Crown ; yet, notwithstand-
ing that loyalty, Sir Thomas Sherlock, who was mayor of
Waterford in 1632, very nearly lost all lus estates.
There is a strange account of the vicissitudes of fortune
44 NOTES ON THE FAMILY OF SHERLOCK:
that befel him, in an Act of Parliament passed in the 17th and
18th years of Charles II., oalled ^* an Act for the explaining of
some doubts arising upon an Act intitled an Act for the bettw
execution of his Majesties gracious declaration for the settle-
ment of his Kingdom of Ireland," &c. (see page 74). This Act
was not passed until after Sir Thomas Slierlock's death, and
from it we learn that '' Sir Thomas Sherlock, £night, deceased,
was in his life time a very dutifuU and loyal subject, and from
the first breaking out of the said rebellion (1641) and war unto
the last end thereof behaved himself with great courage and
dilligence in his Majesties service and suffered great hardships
and extremities from the said Irish rebells — until at last being
taken prisoner by them, he was forced for fear of his life t^
subscribe their oath of association, and having so gained his
liberty did immediately fly uuto Dublin and there submitted
himself to the now Lord Duke, then Lord Marquess of Ormond,
his Majesties Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and continued there
ever after serving his Majestic and his authority to the
utmost of his power, the consideration whereof inclined his
Majestic to mention the said Sir Thomas Sherlock in his late
gracious declaration amongst the names of those few persons
whom his Majestic was pleased to appoint to be restored to their
former estate without any further proof of their innocency —
which said Sir Thomas Sherlock was afterwards by the Com-
missioners for the execution of the said former Act adjudged a
nocent person upon no other ground or evidence thaa the
enforced subscription of the oath of association as aforesaid.
Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid : That the Commis-
sioners for the execution of this Act shall forthwith and without
any previous reprisall, restore unto Paul Sherlock Esq., son and
heir of the said Sir Thomas Sherlock, and his heii's the posses-
sion of the principal and capital messuage or seat and also one
third part of all and singular the messuages, manors, lands,
tenements, and hereditaments, whereof the said Sir Thomas
Sherlock was possessed upon the 22nd of October, 1641.'* The
foregoing is a slightly contracted extract from the Act of Par-
liament, and it seems to show that King Charles II. was often
unjustly blamed for not restoring confiscated estates to his
followers.
In this case it required not only the whole power of the
King but two Acts of Parliament to wrest one-third of Sir
Thomas Sherlock's lands from the Adventurers, and even this
could not be accomplished until after his death ; so that notwith*
standing his great services to the Crown, he must have passed
away from the world in a state of uncertainty as to whether
FROM STATE PAPERS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 45
his family would have been left in a state of poverty or not.
The lands that were restored to Paul Sherlook will be found in
the Aots of Settlement, and we believe that they are still in the
hands of his descendants. The Sherlooks were among the
numerous Irish families who, during the unceasing troubles
that kept their native land in a state of unrest, found a home
in Spain, consequently we find in the middle of the 18th
century a Don Pedro Sherlock to have been Colonel of the
XJltonia Begiment. He died at Madrid, leaving as his heir his
son, Don Juan Sherlock, captain in the same regiment, who
in proving his father's will is described as of Waterford.
Numerous members of this family are to be found among
the officers in King James II.'s Irish Army List, such as
Captain Christopher Sherlook, in the Lord Grand Prior's regi-
ment. Captain Thomas Sherlook and Ensign Maurice Sherlook,
in Sir Maurice Eustace's regiment, and Captain Sherlock, in
O'Moore's regiment.
In King James's Irish Parliament held on the 7th day of
May, 1689, we find that Edward Sherlock, of Dublin, was
member for the borough of Cloghmyne or Clonmines, Co.
Wexford, and during that reign Thomas Sherlock was deputy-
lieutenant for the city of Waterford.
We have already mentioned the Kildare branch of the
family of Sherlock as seated there at a very early period, at so
early a date that in 1299 they had given their own name to the
lands on which they resided. The representative of the family
was fined in that year for not attending the inquisitions of the
coroner, held at Kildare in the months of May and November.
In 1389 Walter Sherlook held 60 acres of land in Sherlocks-
town. Doubtless, some of our readers may be surprised at the
small portions of land mentioned as being held by men of
considerable social importance, at that early period, but thoy
should always bear iu mind that very often it was only the
arable or profitable lands that are mentioned, and in addition
to the lord's lands there was always the lord's waste, which was
often of very great extent. In 1413-22 Walter Sherlock was
chief-sergeant of Kildare.
In 1432 Nicholas Sherlock was dean of Kildare.
In 1549 we find it recorded that Robert Sherloke was
seated at Sherlockston.
In 1556 Philip Sherlock was seated at Little Bath and Deny.
In 1608 Sherlocke of Sherlockstowne was Constable of
Kildare.
In 1627 Christopher Sherlook was seated at Sherlockstown.
After that date this estate passed out of the hands of the family
46 NOTES ON THE FAMILY OF SHERLOCK:
until the year 1704, when William Sherlook purchased itvbaok,
and it remains up to the present day in the hands of his
descendants.
We have already mentioned that the Sherlocks were located
at Little Rath, in the county Kildare, in the year 1556. In
1646, Sir John Sherlock, knight of Little Rath, was, like many
of his relatives, an officer in the service of King Charles I.,
and was governor of Naas under Lord Ormond. In his will,
dated 1652, he gives a vivid picture of the discords and unhap-
piness of the times he lived in. He says — " In rep^rd to the
trouble of these times, and the general devastation of this
county, my whole estate is likely, in all probability, to be of
small benefit to me or to my wife, during our natural lives, and
it hath pleased God (the wise disposer of all things) to bereave
of my children and posterity of my own loyns; and those that
are my brothers by ray father (a second mother) are utterly
incapable to inherit, in respect of their wicked adhering to the
Irish, in the horrid rebellion of this nation." Sir John
Sherlock was buried at St. Michan's, Dublin. His stepbrother
Philip, who married Elizabeth, daughter of the Right Honour-
able Sir John Eustace, knight, of Harristown, had his
property sequestered as a Papist, and was among the few
proprietors who were restored in 1662 by the Court of Claims.
He was buried at Bodenstown. Several of his sons followed
the fortunes of Kine James II., and among them Christo-
pher, the eldest, wno forfeited Little Rath, Derry, and
bodenstown in 170iS, which townlands were bought back by
Richard Sherlock, and united with Sherlockstown in 1741.
So that the representation of both branches of the Eildare
Sherlocks now devolves on the present proprietor of Sherlocks-
town. The Sherlocks of Rahan, King's County, are lineal
descendants of the Little Rath family.
An intimate connection existed for many years between the
family of Sherlock and the borough of Naas. John Sherlock
was M.P. for that borough in 1560, and his son James Sherlock
was member for *^le ]Naase" in 1585. In May, 1586, his
name appears among those of the knights and burgesses of
Parliament who protested against the attainder of Desmond.
And when he died in 1595, he was seized in fee of 2 castles,
1 stone house, 35 messuages, 132 acres of arable land, 1 garden,
and 1 water mill, all in Naas. In 1613 Christopher Sherlock
was M.P. for Naas ; in 1634 Christopher Sherlock was M.P. for
Naas; in 1639 Charles Sherlock was M.P. for Naas. This
same Charles Sherlock was expelled for non-attendance in
1642 ; he was probably a recusant, and afraid to attend. In
FROM STATE PAPERS AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 47
1609 Ohristopher Sherlook was soyereign of Naas, and in 1636
Biofaard Sherlock was sovereira of Naas.
Note. — I have to thank the Rev. Canon Sherlook for per-
mission to make use of his notes when ooUeotiug materials for
the foregoing Paper.
^HIKLD I.— ARMS OF SHBRLOCKS OF BALDWINSTOWN AND ROSLARR, CO. WEXFORD.
(From a Pedigree in Ulater King- of- Arms' Office.)
SHIBLD a.— ARMS OF SHKRLOCKS OF SHRRLOCKSTOWN AND LITTLK RATH, CO. KILDARB.
(From an old stone found at Sberlockstown in x88o, with Arms of Christopher
Sherlock and Anne Fitz Gerald, bis wife.)
SHIKLO J.—AMMS OF SHBRLOCKS OF GRACB DIBU, CO. WATBRFORI>.
(From a Pedigree in Ulster King-of-Arms' Office.)
( 48 )
^ ''THE PALEr
Bx THE EEV. DENIS MURPHY, S.J., M.R.I.A.
THE word Pale is oue of very frequent occurrence in the
later medisBYal portion of Irish history. The word is
derived from the Latin, paluBy a stake, which is pointed
to be thrust into the ground[for supporting a hedge or vines,
to which a criminal would be tied when he was about to be
scourged, or on which his body would be put when left to be
devoured by the birds of the air. The English derivatives are
a pale, paling, impaled, a heraldic term, and so forth.
Boate, an Englishman who came to Ireland in 1645, and
wrote a work bearing the title of the " Natural History of
Ireland," speaking of the various divisions of Ireland says : —
" There is yet another division of Ireland whereby the whole
land is divided into two parts, tlie English Pale and the land
of the mere Irish ; the original of which division is this : — The
English af the first conquest, under the reign of Henry II.,
having within a little time conquered great parts of Ireland,
did afterwards in the space of not very many years, make
themselves masters of almost all the rest, having expelled the
natives (called the Wild Irish because that in all manner of
wildness they may be compared with the most barbarous
nations of the earth) into the desert, woods, and mountains ;
but afterwards having fallen on odds among themselves, and
making several great wars, t)ie one upon the other, the Irish
thereby got the opportunity to recover now this, and then that
part of the land, whereby and through the degenerating of a
great many, from time to time, wlio, joining themselves with
the Irish, took upon them their wilcl fashions and their language,
the EnffUsh, in length of time, came to be so much weakened,
that at last nothing remained to them of the whole kingdom
worth the speaking of but the great cities and four counties ;
to whom the name of Pale was given, because that the authority
and greatness of the kings of England, and the English colonies
or plantations, which before had been spread over the whole
land, now were reduced to so small a compass, and as it were
empaled within the same. And, although, since the beginning
of the present age, and since King James' coming to the Crown
of England, the whole island was reduced under the obedience
THE PALE. 49
and government of the English laws, and replenished with
English and Scotch colonies, nevertheless, the name of English
Pale, which in the old signification was now out of reason,
remained in use, and is so still, even since this last hloody
rebellion, wherein the inhabitants of almost all the Pale,
although all of them of English descent, have conspired with
the native Irish/'
Campion, who wrote his "History of Ireland" in 1571, gives
a slightly different meaning for the name : — " An old distinc-
tion," he says, " there is of Ireland into Irish and English
pales ; for wlien the Irish had raised continued tumults against
the English planted here with the conquest, at last they coursed
them into a narrow circuit of certain shires in Leinster, which
the English did choose as the fattest soyle, most defensible,
their proper right, and most open to receive help from Eng-
land. Hereupon it was determined ^ their Pale,' as whereout
they durst not peepe. But now, within this Pale, uncivil Irish
and some rebels do dwell, and without countries and cities are
well governed."
Sir John Davis too states that when the English Pale was
first planted, " all the natives were clearly expelled ; not so
much as one Irish family had so much as an acre of freehold
in all the Pale." If he means thereby that at an early date,
soon after the coming of the Anglo-Normans, the territory,
afterwards called the rale, was entirely cleared of the natives,
he is quite wrong.
We must bear in mind that many of the original Anglo-
Normans separated themselves in a great measure from their
oompanions in arms, and settling down in various parts of the
country, assumed the position and authority of the Irish chiefs,
whom in part or wholly they dispossessed. So it was with the
Fitzgeralds of Desmond, the De Burgos of Connaught, the
D'Exeters, the Birminghams, of some of whom it was said that
they were ^^ Hibernis ipsis Hibemiores," more Irish than the
Irish themselves ; but at no time and nowhere was any great
part of the country so cleared of its original inhabitants, for
the very good reason that the settlers could not do without
them, even if they wished to be rid of them.
The English who lived up and down throughout the country
without being incorporated with the people, as those whom I
have mentioned, seem to have withdrawn into the portion of
Leinster nearest to the metropolis, towards the end of the reign
of Edward I. ; that is, about the year 1300, no doubt because
this district was '* most open to receive help from England."
This was called ^' The English land," and those who dwelt
▼OL. II., PT. I. £
50 THE PALE.
outside were said to be '* inter HibemicoB," dwelling among the
Irish. About a century later, and only then, tne name of
" Pale " was given to it. In the " State Papers," relating to
the beginning of the reign of Henry YIII., under the date
1515, we find it limited to four counties, viz. : Dublin, Kildare,
Meath, and Uriel, now Louth. It is sometimes said to contain
five counties ; but then we must remember that it was only in
the 34th of Henry YIII., i.«., in 1543, Meath was divided into
East Meath, which we now call Meath, and Westmeath, and
that both were included within the Pale. Its exact limits are
set down there : " The English Pale doth stretche and extend
from the town of Dundalk to the town of Derver (4 miles
N.W. of Castle Bellingham), to the town of Ardee, always on
the left side leaving the march on the right side, and so to the
town of Sydan (4 miles 8. W. of Nobber), to the town of
Kenlis (Kells>, to. the town of Dengle (Dangan), to Kilcocke,
to the town 6i Clane, to the town of Naas, to the bridge of
Kilcullen, to the town of Ballimore (Eustace), and so backward
to the town of Bamore (Eatlimore), and to the town of Bath-
ooule, to the town of Tallaght, and to the town of Dalkey,
leaving always the marche on the right hand from the saide
Dundalk, following the said course to the said town of Dalkye."
From this enumeration it is clear that considerable districts of
these four counties were not included in the Pale. Within this
territory, and only within it, did the justices and judges hold
assize, and the sheriff enforce English law. These may be
considered the limits of the Pale in a general way ; but at times
it seems to have extended further ; thus we read in the Beoords
for the 37th of Edward III. (1364) : "To such a height had
the power of the Kavanaghs and others arisen that the more
distant districts of the Pale were then relinquished and the rest
retained, for the barrier from Carlow to Dublin was ordered
to be removed.'' It was a common saying all this time that
** they dwelt beyond the law that dwelt west of the Barrow."
The Eavanaghs were paid an annual rent called " black rent,"
to protect the King's subjects when crossing the Barrow at
Leighlin Bridge. So too the O'Neills, O'Connors, and others
received a sort of tribute from the Crown or from the English
settled on the borders of the Pale, and the practise seems to nave
lasted till the 24th of Henry YIII. (1533), when it was for-
bidden by Act of Parliament to pay such tax further to the
Irish. Yet, eyen in 1599, the Irish Council complained to
Elizabeth that the English subjects still paid most oppressive
black rents.
In 1494, a parliament was held at Drogheda, by Sir Edward
THE PALE. 51
Poynings, the same in which the famous Foynings' Act was
passed ; in this parliament an Act was passed for the protection
of those who dwelt within the Pale. It runs as follows : —
''As the marches of four shires lie open and not fensible in
fastness of ditches and castles, by which Irishmen do great hurt
in preying the same ; it is enacted that every inhabitant, earth-
tiller, and occupier in said marches, t. e. in the county of Dublin,
from the water of Anliffy to the mountain in Kildare, from the
water AnlifTey to Trim, and so forth to Meath and XJriell, as
said marches are made and limited by the Act of Parliament
held by William, Bishop of Meath, do build and make a double
ditch of six feet high aoove ground at one side or part which
meaieth next unto Irishmen, l^twizt this and the next Lammas,
the said ditches to be kept up and repaired as long as they shall
occupy said land, under pain of 40s. ; the lord of said lands to
allow the old rent of said lands to the builder for one year,
under said penalty. The Archbishop of Dublin, and the sheriff
of the county of Dublin, the Bishop of Kildare, and the sheriff
of the county of Kildare, the Bishop of Meath, and the sheriff
of the county of Meath, the Primate of Armagh and the sheriff
of the county of Uriel, be commissioners within their respective
shires, with full power to call the inhabitants of said four shires
to make ditches in the waste or Fasagh land without the said
marches."
There are still several portions of this double ditch six feet
high remaining, one part between Ckne and Clongowes, close
to the south-western angle of the garden wall of the colle^,
another part from the college farmyard to the nearer end of the
by-road that leads to Rathcoffy ; both are locally known as
" the Bampart," and are still of the original height, as some of
our fox-hunting friends must know to their cost, and almost wide
enough at the top for a cart to go along on them. There is a
third portion near Kilcock, I have been told, and perhaps more
in other parts along the line of division given above. Perhaps
some of our members who reside in that part of the country may
look them up and give us some information about them. This
ditch would not be any great hindrance for an active person to
cross it, such as an English writer who accompanied King
Bichard II., in his expedition to Ireland against Art
M'Morrogh, describes the Irish to be, '' so nimble and swift of
foot that like unto stags, they ran over mountains and valleys,''
and oould mount a horse going at full speed. But if we bear
in mind that cattle constituted the great wealth of the English
colonists, and that the lifting, or 'reeving' of them was the
principal way in which their Irish neighbours could do them
E2
25
THE PALE.
harm and benefit themselves, we shall readily see what a pro-
tection such a barrier afforded. We find something of the kind
done in other parts for the protection of the Pale. Thus in 1478,
in the parliament held at Drogheda, an Act was passed empower-
ing Andrew Tuite to make a trench a mile in length between
Bathconyll and Queylan, in Meath, '^ where there is a common
road for the Irish enemies of the king to come and enter," and
he was allowed to raise a tax of one penny for every cow, and
bullock, and every horsepack of merchandize and victuals coming
Tim RAMPART (NORTH VIBW), BKIWKKN CLANK AXD CLONGOWES C OLLBGK.
(From Th€ ChngowHt'an, with the Editor^s kind permission.)
or going by or near that road. In 1553, tlie Inst year of the
reign of Edward VI., a commission was issued to John Parker,
Master of the Rolls, bidding him raise of every townland in
Moyfenrath, Luue, Bermingham's country, tlie Bishop's and
Lenagh's lands, Ferbill, and FertuUagh, six men for six days to
repair a ditch that reacheth from the castle of Secrorghan
(Tecroghan near Trim), to the Boyne which at times past was
made for the defence of the country. At intervals above the
THE PALE. 53
border line there were castles and '^ fenced houses," the constable
of each of which should be an Englishman, for an Irishman
" would by nature discover the secrets of the English." So we
find an Act passed in the seventh year of Henry YI. (1429),
ordering several castles to be built, as in county Louth, *^ that
county Doing destroyed by default of castles and towers." In
a parliament held at Naas in 1472, a castle was ordered to be
built at Windgates, county Kildare, and a levy of £10 was
ordered to be made in the county for the purpose ; at the request
of the Abbot of Baltinglas the same permission was given to
Bowland Eustace, Lord Fortlester, to build a castle at Bala-
blaght, county Kildare ; and so forth. Bound each of these castles
there was a bawn (bodun, a cow enclosure) into which the
cattle were driven at the approach of the Irish on their raids.
But this was not all. It was desirable that all inter-
course, so far as was possible, should be prevented between
the English settlers and their Irish neighbours. ^' Lord," says
Spenser, '^ how quickly doth that country alter m^n's natures ! "
and the same writer — remember he wrote at th^ end of Elizabeth's
reign — ^in his " View of the State of Ireland," which in the form
of a colloquy between Eudoxus and Ireneaus, makes Eudoxus ask :
" What ! are not they that were once English, English still ? "
and Irenffius answers. " No, for some of them are degenerated
and grown mere Irish, yea, and more malicious to the English;
than the Irish themselves." ..... '*The English Pale/' he
says elsewhere, ^* hath preserved itself through nearness of the
state in reasonable civility ; but the rest that dwelt in Con-
naught and Munster, which is the sweetest soil in Ireland, and
some in Leinster and Ulster, are degenerate ; yea, and some of
them have quite shaken off their English names and put on Irish,
that they might be altogether Irish The like is reported
of the old followers of the Earl of Desmond ; who for some
ofEence by the Queen against him conceived was brought to his
death most injustly at Brogheda in 1467, notwithstanding
that he was a very good subject to the king. Thereupon all
his kinsmen of the Qeraldines, which was then a mighty family
in Munster, in revenge of that huge wrong, rose into arms
against the king, and utterly renoimced and forsook all obedi-
ence to the Crown of England. . . . And with them all the
people of Munster went out, and many other of them that were
mere English thenceforth joined with the Irish against the
king, and turned themselves very Irish, taking on them Irish
habits and customs, which could never be clean wiped away."
The reference here is to Thomas, eighth Earl of Desmond, who
was attainted of treason in a parliament held at Drogheda in
54 THE PALE.
1467, for alliance^ fosterage, and alterage with the Irish^ and
executed. This was but a pretext; his real crime was his
having spoken disparagingly of the Queen.
And elsewhere the same writer says : '' There were Irish
customs which the English colonies did embrace and use after
they had rejected the civil and honourable laws and customs of
England, whereby theybecame degenerate and metamorphosed
like Nebuchadnezzar, who, though he had the face of a man,
had the heart of a beast : in so much that within less time than
the age of a man, they had no marks or differences left among
them of that noble nation from which they were descended ;
for as they did not only forget the English language, and
soome the use thereof, but grew to be ashamed of their very
English names, and took Irish surnames and nicknames.
Namely, the two most potent families of the Burkes in
Connaught, called their chie f s M*" William Eighter and M*" William
Oughter. In the samejprovince Bermingham, Baron of Athenry,
called himself Mac Yoris. Dexeter was called Mac Jordan,
Nangle, or de Angulo, took the name of Mac Gostello, and so
forth/' Let me give one example of many, a domestic one,
which will show you how these English settlers degenerated,
or improved rather, as many think.
In 1331 William de Burgo, known as the Dun Earl, 5th
in descent from WiUiam Fitzadelm, who came to Ireland witli
Henry II., and grandson and heir of Bichard, the 2nd Earl,
known as the Red Earl, who became Earl of Ulster by his
marriage with the heiress of De Lacy, and Lord of Connaught
by the grant of Henry II. to his ancestor, was killed by Robert
de Mandeville and other English settlers, near Carrickfergus,
at the instigation of Qyle de Burgo, wife of Sir Richard
Mandeville, in revenea for his having imprisoned her brother
Walter. There are those who think tnat it was only the Irish
that quarelled among themselves in those times. Here is what
the author of the '* Annals of Glonmacnoise " remarks on this
subject : '* There reigned more discentions, strifes, warres, and
debates between the Englishmen themselves in the beginning
of the Conquest of this kingdom than between the Irishmen, as
by perusing the warres between the Lasies of Meath, John
Goursey, Earl of Ulster, William Marshal, and the English of
Meath and Munster, Mac Gerald, the Burkes, Butlers, and
Cogann may appear." Be that as it may, Earl William's wife,
after her husband was slain, fled to England, taking with her
their only daughter Maud, then only a year old. The De
Bmrgos of Connaught, descended from William, second son of
Richard, son of William Fitzadelm, fearing that the lands
THE PALE. 55
which they held would be transferred to some royal favourite,
to whom the king would give this wealthy heiress in mairiage^-
for the tastes and affections of young ladies were not consulted
then so much as now, especially if they were wealthy heiresses —
declared themselves independent of English law, renouncing at
the same time the English language and costume. Sir William,-
eldest son of Sir William Liagh, who died in 1324, ancestor of
the Earls of Clanricarde, took the title of M*" William Oughter
or Upper, and Sir Edward Albanagh, his second son, ancestor
of the Earls of Mayo, took that of M' William Eighter, or the
Lower, the lands of the former b^ng in the south of Galway,
those of the latter in Mayo, and we find that the two chiefs
were for the three centuries following duly chosen and in-
augurated chiefs of their respective *' nations " after the Irish
fadiion. I may remark that Lionel, Duke of Clarence, third
son of Edward III., got the young lady in marriage, and
though he came over with the authority of Viceroy three
several times to take possession of his lands in Connaught, he
returned home to Ensland none the richer.
The De Burgos aid not agree among themselves about the
division of the spoil, for we read in the '* Annals of the Four
Masters" under the date 1366 : ^' A great war broke out between
the English of Connaught ; Mao Moris was banished from his
territory by Mac William, and fled for protection to the Clan
Bickard. Mac William, Hugh O'Connor, King of Connaught,
and O'Kelly, lord of Hymany, marched with an army to
Upper Connaught against the Clan Bickard, and remained
there nearly three months engaged in hostilities, until at the
last M*" William subdued the Clan Bickard ; whereupon the
hostages of these latter were delivered up to him, and he
returned to his country in triumph." Lionel hoped to come
by his estates, owing to the wranglings of the present possessors.
But however much they might quarrel among themselves, they
were always ready to unite and present a firm and undivided
firont against him.
In 1367 Lionel called together a parliament at Kilkenny,
and had passed there the famous statute known as the Statute
of Kilkenny. ** It was," says a writer on constitutional law,
" nothing more than a peevish and revengeful expression of the
Duke's resentment for the opposition he had met with, and the
loss of the lands to which he laid a claim. It was not to have
any obedience paid to it outside the English Pale. It was in
reality a declaration of perpetual war against those of the
EngliiBh race who were settled up and down the country, and
had been, more or less, necessitated to adopt the Irish customs
58 THE PALE.
of Pilltown, Co. Eakenny, in 1462, between the two Earls, in
which the Earl of Ormond was defeated.
Elsewhere I have spoken of the Fraternity of St. G-eorge,
established in 1472 for the defence of the Pale, a poor defence
at best, showing the inability of the State to procure an
adequate protection for the settlers.
The Wars of the Boses weakened still more the English
power in Ireland, by withdrawing the chief men and the
soldiers to support the rival combatants in England. These
and the other subsequent events in connexion with this subject
I need not dwell on. Those who care to pursue the subject
further will find it treated of at length in Sir John Davis's
*' True Discovery of the Ganses why Ireland was not entirely
subdued."
I must not, however, omit to mention the attempt to
transform into Englishmen the intruders into the Pale. By an
Act passed in the fifth year of Edward lY., it was ordained
that '* Every Irishman dwelling amongst the Euglish in the
counties of publin^ Meath, Uriel, or iCildare, shall go like
an Engli8hiz|fin1ia>apparelf and shaving of liis beard above the
mouth, and tHiaU^wiCIun o%e year take to him an English name
of one towi^, W>^^on,*Cmster, ^Trym, Cork, ICinsale, or
colour, as T^hite, black, brown, or 'art or science, as smith,
carpenter, otofiKoe,.a«7vCOok,.butI|)r, ^nd he and his issue shall
use this nam^ .un^e^^naUy of forfeiting his goods yearly till
the aforesaid be done, to be levied .two times by the year for
the King's warsr" - .... -.,..,
In the 24th of Henry VIII., the Irish Privy Council wrote
to Allen, Master of the KoUs, to instruct the king of the great
decay of this land, that neither the English language, or order
or habit hath been used, nor the king's laws obeyed within
twenty miles in compass. This legislation was not successful
then, and whether it produced the desired effects in later times,
and whether tliese have extended to our own times, and if they
have, how far, are matters of which you are capable of judging
quite as well as I.
THs Mw row
POBUC LIBRARY
TILOSM rct;.-<»i*TIC-N£
« ^
( 59 )
NOTES ON THE SOUTHERN BOUNDARY OF
THE ANCIENT KINGDOM OF MEATH
WHERE IT PASSED THROUGH NORTH
KILDARE. (With Map.)
BY THE REV. E. O'LEAEY, P.P.
ANY information which throws light on the pages of our
ancient history is always welcome, and is important, if it
helps us to trace the limits and boundaries of the territories
and kingdoms of ancient Erin. Our own county of Kildare was
mapped out in its present form nearly 700 years ago, and its
northern boundary fairly defines what at that period was the
fioutbem boundary of ancient Meath. But did the kingdom of
Meath previously include any portion of the present Co. Kildare,
if so, what portion, and where are the existing landmarks of tbe
ancient boundary lineP The answer to this question shall
form the subject of the present Paper.
Keating, describing the southern boundary of ancient
Meath, tells us '* that it ran from Dublin to the Abhain Bighe
(now the Rye water, which runs east through Kilcock, May-
nooth, Carton, and flows into the liffey at Leixlip), from the
Abhainn Bighe the boundary runs westward to Cluain Conrach
(Clonourryj, from Cluain Conrach to the Ford of the French
Mill, thence to the confluence of Clonard, thence to the Tocher
of Carbury, and from the Tocher of Carbury to Crannach
Oeishille (G-easbillJ, thence to Drumcullen, thence to Birr and
the river called Abhainn Cara, and thence to the Shannon."
O'Donovan says that this description is very correct and
valuable, and throws a flood of light on ancient topography,
and dears up an important point, viz: that the Carbrie
O'Siery of the ancient nistorians is no other than the present
Barony of Carbury in the county Kildare, and that the old
historians — M'Firbisse, Colgan, and Lanigan — ^were at fault,
some placing it in Sligo, and others in Longford. O'Donovan
identified all the places mentioned by Keating except two — the
ford of the French Mill and the Tocher or causeway of Carbury.
From the information and traditions which I have gathered
from the old people, and which I will now lay before you, I
hope to satisfy you as to the identification of these two places.
6o SOUTHERN BOUNDARY OF THE KINGDOM OF MEATH
Clonard, mentioned on the boundary line, is a name in Irish
history familiar to everyone. The two missing landmarks we
are in search of come at each side of Clonard — the Ford of the
French Mill comes before, and, at the Dublin side, the Tocher
of Carbury comes next to and after Clonard. Let us therefore
take Clonard as the point to start from in our search, and go
back towards Dublin to find tlie Ford of the French MUl.
Here there is a long esker or ridge of sand-hills running east
and west. This is no other than the Eiscir Kiada which crosses
Ireland from Dublin to Galway. There is a tradition that at
this point the Esker was called the long boundary. This name
has fallen into disuse^ and is now but a faint tradition amongst
the very old. I asked them why it was called the long boun-
dary, and they answered, because it was the old boundary line
between Meath and Kildare. Here, at once, we stumble on a
bit of the ancient boundary line. Let us trace it back towards
Oloncurry to find the Ford of the French Mill. The Eisoir
Biada runs east through the townlands of Ballyonan, Ballina-
drimna, and Koyal Oak, till it meets a tract of bog called the
Balyna Bog. Crossing this bog, which of course continued the
boundary, we meet the demesne of Mr. More O'Ferrall, and
crossing the demesne to the east or Dublin side, we come upon
the site of the ancient village of Balyna, not a vestige of which
now remains. We are now at a point half way between
Clonard and Cloncurry, and the landmark we are seeking
cannot be far away.
The name Balyna may be interpreted to mean the mouth of
the ford with Dr. Comerford, or the town on the ford with other
interpreters, but either meaning will describe the little village
of Balyna. There was a mill-stream crossing the road at the
village, and there was a mill a little lower down the stream.
Both the village and the mill must have been places of some
importance in the old times ; for, when roads were few in this
part of the country, we see from the old maps that three roads
met at the mill. A bit of the masonry of the mill still existing
shows it to have been grouted in the ancient style, and strongly
built. So far, we have found a ford and a mill, and if this be
the Frendi mill our search is complete. O'Donovan, in one of
the Ordnance Survey letters, after mentioning the Ford of the
French Mill, asks who was this Frenchman Y The history of
the Balyna property gives us the answer.
About the year 1555 Bory O'More of Leix fell in battle
against the O'Connors and his brother Patrick. He left two
sons, Kedagh and Charles. Kedagh died young, and Charles
was transplanted to Balyna in the county Kildare to the
WHERE IT PASSED THROUGH NORTH KILDARE. 6 1
forfeited property of Delahbide. Mr. Delahoide was a man of
hif^h character, good educatioo, and varied acquirements, and I
refer you to Dr. Comerford's work for more particulars about
him. But he was evidently Mr. O'Donovan's Frenchman, and
we may take it, therefore, that the village of Balyna, the mouth
of the ford, or the town on the ford, was the Ford of the French
Mill, and one of the landmarks defining the boundary of
ancient Meath. From Clonard back to Balyna is about five
miles, and from Balyna to Cloncurry about five miles also. A
straight valley runs the whole way back, the Midland Railway
and Boyal Canal are carried through it, and such a feature in
the landscape would be naturally fixed upon for a boundary.
Before leaving Balyna I may mention that there are but few
vestiges now remaining of either village, mill, or stream. After
the famine of '47 and the exodus which followed, the village
soon disappeared ; extensive drainage works carried out by the
late Mr. O'Ferrall about the same time diverted the course of the
stream ; even the three old roads were blotted out to enlarge
the demesne, and new roads constructed outside its enclosure.
And all that now remains to point out the ford of the French
Mill, with its village, roads, and stream, is a dried-up water-
cotnrse, deep and wide, and running along inside the boundary
of the demesne, where formerly the milUstrenm flowed down to
the mill. And a little lower down, peeping out through a bank
under the trees, is a solid block of grouted masonry which was
once the comer of the mill.
Having now, I hope, given satisfactory evidence to identify
the ford of the French Mill, and defined the boundary line of
ancient Meath from Dublin to Clonard, let us see if we can
identify the other missing landmark — the Toclier of Carbury.
There is no road or place at present in the Barony of Carbnry
known by such a name ; but in the beginning of the present
century there was such a causeway, called the Tocher of Car-
bury. Its site is now occupied by a well-constructed county
road. This high road runs north from Carbury through a
large tract of bog called the bog of Enockcur. It was con-
structed in the beginning of the present century ; but before
its existence, there was always a passage or causeway over the
bog, chiefly for foot people. It was evidently the approach
from the north to the castle of Carbury, and the tradition is,
that this passage or causeway through the bog of Knockcur
was called the Tocher of Carbury. We have no choice but to
take it as the tocher mentioned by Keating. This being so,
we have now the boundary taking a new direction, and running
south to the bog of Enockcur, which is immediately to the north
62 SOUTHERN BOUNDARY OF THE KINGDOM OF MEATH
of Garbuiy. A stream rises in this bog, flows northward to
the sandhills above-mentioned, and then into the Boyne at
Olonard. This is the oonfluenoe of Clonard, mentioned
by Keating. The boundary follows this stream south from
Clonard to the bog and the tooher. The bog of Knock-
cur is only separated by about two miles of low flat country
from the great bog of Allen, which runs uninterruptedly from
Edenderry across the King's County to the south of Philips-
town and on to Geashill. And though it must be fifteen miles
from the tocher of Carbury to Geashill, Keating gives no land-
marks the wliole way, for the good reason that he had no land-
marks to give, as the boundary ran through the bog of Allen
for the fifteen miles.
Let us now see how the old boundary stood in reference to
the present boundary, that we may know how much of the
present county Kildare belonged to ancient Meath. The *^ long
boundary " referred to already, lies one mile south of the pre-
sent boundary line. The continuation of this line back to the
ford of the French Mill, dips one and a half miles south of the
present line. Soon after passing Baljma it runs out on the
present boundary line, and continues alonff it (with a small
deviation at Cloncurry) back to Kilcock, Maynooth, and
Leixlip. So that it cuts off a mile or more in width, and
about four in length, from the present county Kildare from
Clonard to Balyna.
The boundary line running south from Clonard to the
Tocher of Carbury cuts off a broad piece of the present county
Kildare, five miles long, and varying from three to four miles
wide, and leaving the old parishes of Kilraney, Carrick,
Numey, and Kilmore in ancient Meath. From the Tocher of
Carbury the boundary line took a south-westerly direction
througn the bog of Allen to Geashill.
That the boundary line of Meath ran south from Clonard
towards Carbury receives confirmation from the following facts.
The great Monastery of Clonard was situated north of the river
Boyne, and certainly in the kingdom of Meath. But we know
from the ^* Monast. Hib." that the Monks of Clonard held several
townlands south of the Boyne, which they lost in the reign of
Henry VIII. Now it is very interesting to know the precise
locality of these townlands in the present county Kildare.
Taking the line already indicated from Clonard to the Tocher
of Carbury, this line will out off every one of the townlands
above-mentioned from Kildare, and leave them in the territory
of ancient Meath. That the monks of Olonard should cross the
Boyne and acquire lands in a territory often hostile, is not easy
WHERE IT PASSED THROUGH NORTH KILDARE. 63
to explain ; but when we oonolude that these monks held their
lands in their own kingdom, the difficulty is solved.
In conclusion, we may observe that our ancestors made the
bog their boundary wherever they found it. They first met it
near Balyna, and utilised it for this purpose. Then, after
turning south at Glouard, they met it again at the Tocher of
Carbwy, and made it their boundary. And two miles to the
south-west they met the great bog of Allen, and made it their
boundary to Geashill.
All which goes to prove the sagacity of our pagan ancestors ;
for the bog of Allen is an excellent boundary to place between
either warlike pagans or pugnacious Christians.
(64 )
0ott$ antv <atter(e$4
On page 127 of vol. i. of our Joubkal there is a mistake which I heg
leave to correct here. It is there stated that in Dr. Arthur's " Fee
Book '* there is mention of a Lady Baltinglass, who, I thought, might
he the wife of the Lord Baltinglass. When I wrote that, I was not
aware that this statement referred to a person in no way connected
with the Eustace family. I have since found that the title of
Baltinglass was revived in favour of a certain Thomas B.oper, who was
Constahle of Castlemaine, Co. Kerry, from 1 605 to 1 637, and estiih-
lished an "English " plantation '* at Crookhaven, Co. Cork. His con-
nection with Baltinglass arose in this way. In 1588 a grant was
made to Sir Henry Harrington, knight, of the Cistercian Ahhey of ,
Baltinglass, with all its ))Ossessions, to hold in capite for ever at an
annual rent of £11 19«., Irish money. Thomas Roper married Ann,
daughter of Sir Henry Harrington, and had a grant conferred to him
of the monastery and lordship of Baltinglass hy Charles I. in 1626,
** in regard of the many acceptable services done unto his father and
the late Queen Elizabeth." In the following year he was made a
Baronet, and Baron of Bantry, and Viscount Baltinglass. He died in
1637, and was succeded by his son Thomas. Thomas' name is
frequently mentioned in the Journals of the House of Lords. He bore
the Swoi-d of State at the opening of the fii-st Parliament held in the
reign of Charles II., in 1661. He died in 1665, and was succeeded by
Carey Roper, 3rd Viscount Baltinglass, who died in 1676. The title
became extinct then.
The title was again revived in 1685 hy James II. in favour of
the famous Richard Talbot, who, in that year, was created Baron of
Talbot's Court, Viscount Baltinglass, and Earl of Tirconnell, and, in
1689, Duke of Tirconnell.
I find that ^ petition was presented to the Crown by Charles
Eustace, of Kilmayne, Co. Kildare, Lieutenant-General Henry Eustace,
of Corbally, Queen's County, Lieutenant-General Sir William Eustace,
of Sandford Hall, Essex, and Colonel Sir John Rowland Eustace, of
Baltrasney, Co. Kildare, sons of the late Lieutenant-General Eustace,
Colonel of the 68th Regiment, and for many years Member of the Irish
Parliament, in which they pray ** that her Majesty, taking unto her
gracious consideration the injustice of the attainder of James Viscount
Baltinglass, as well as the Act of Oblivion and Indemnity issued by
the Lord Deputy Mountjoy, and confiiined in 1614 in the Parliament
held by King James I., would direct the reversal of the Act of Attainder
still pressing on the Eustace family, and restore them to their former
position in Ireland so far as the peerage alone is concerned (for they
disclaim all wish to disturb any settlement of property made under the
said Act)."
NOTES AND^ QUERIES. 65
No date is affixed to this petition, but reference is made in it to
another, presented in 1839, on which it was reported "that the
Petitioner, Rev. Charles Eustace, had shown sufficient evidence of his
right to the said dignity of Viscount Baltinglass, in case the attainder
of James, the third Viscount, was reversed." — B, If.
St. Bermott of Castladermot— On page 361, of voL i. of the
JouuiTAL, it is stated that St. Biarmaid founded his hermitage, called
after him ** Bisert Diarmada," about the year 500. This statement
is an error, probably copied from Archdall's Mmasticon Rihernicum^
as in the Annah of the Ftmr MiiuUrs^ under the year 823, the death is
recorded of Diarmaid, grandson of Aedh Eoin, who was an anchorite
and a distinguished doctor.
Acdh Roin was Xing of Ulidia, or Eastern Ulster, and lost his
life in a battle against Aedh Allan, King of Ireland, in the year
732, when he was decapitated on the " Cloch-an-choramaigh (or
Stone of the Breaking), in the doorway of the church at Faughard,
county Louth. Consequently O'Donovan, in the Addenda at the
end of the second volume of the Annttls, says Castledermot was
founded about 800, and Archdall is incorrect in stating it was founded
about the year 600.— W. Fm G.
Can any of our Members, with a knowledge of Irish, explain the
following names : —
1. *' EoehfdlyMy^ which seems to have been a nickname, and
was applied to Gerald fitz Maurice Fitz Gerald, 4th Baron of Offaly,
who was drowned between Ireland and England in 1277.
2. *' Fealyghe,^^ alias Eussellstown, a townland lying near and to
the north-east of Athy, in the county Eildare.
3. *' Berhidoiy^^ or '* IWhettasj^* now the townland of Jerusalem,
in the south-eastern comer of the county Eildare. It appears as
the former name in a Patent Roll of 1552, as the second name in an
Inquisition of 1621, and in its present name on a hand-painted map
of 1760.
4. ** MeirgeaehV — In the Annah of the Four Masters, under the
year 1535, James, one of the uncles of the Silken Thomas, is styled
Shemus "Meirgeach," and O'Donovan does not explain its mean-
ing—W. Fitz O.
In reply to No. 4, 1 should say that this is the same word as
mergach, which Windisch, in his " Irish Dictionary," translates by
the Latin rugatus, i.e. wrinkled. This word is akin to, if not iden-
tical in meaning with, meirgeach, which O'Donovan translates by
rusty.— T^. M.
VOL. U., FT. I. F
( 66 )
Pagan Ireland: An Arehaohgiedl Sketch, A Handbook of Irish.
Fre-Christdan Antiquities, with numeroas Illustrations. By
W. G. Wood-Maktik, X.B.I.A. (pp. xzviii., 689. Price 15«.)
The author of this work set before himself an extensive programme,
as may be seen by the titles of a few out of the fifteen chapters which
make up the book : Ancient Fauna and Primitive Man ; Authenticity
of the early Irish Becords ; The Disposal of the Dead ; Traces of the
Elder Paiths; Flint, Stone, Wooden, and Bronze Implements;
Weapons and Musical Instruments; Personal Ornaments; Bock
Sculptures, &c. &c. It is in fact a sort of encyclopaedia of early
Irish Antiquities. In such a book one will look for the latest con-
clusions of specialists in each of the above branches. It would be
unreasonable to suppose that the opinions of any one man on all these
subjects, each of which is vast enough to take up an ordinaij life-
time, are of very much value, on the principle : '* qui trop etreint
mal embrasse." Hence the author, while deserving every credit for
bis diligence, will allow some of his readers to dissent from several
of his conclusions and assertions, such as that 'Hhe ancient Irish
warriors were addicted to habitual savagery " — very probably they
were no worse than their neighbours. *' The early monkish chro-
niclers" were not the only persons '' who sought to place the past <^
ancient Erin on an eminence"; others were guilty of the same crime,
and, indeed, but for these ^' monkish chroniclers " we should have
very little left of the history of Ireland in ancient times. The author
has entirely missed the signification of '' the rounds " made by our
people to the holy wells, when he looks on them as '' a survival of
the olden heathen adoration of water-wells." Such an opinion as that
expressed at p. 543 is, to put it mildly, out of place there : *' smith-
craft, witchcraft, priestcraft, alike attempt to constitute themselves a
distinct and separate caste . . . charlatanism is the same, whether prac-
tised in the boginning of man's existence on the earth, or in the nine-
teenth century ; in the East, or in the West." So, too, the note at p. 129
might well be omitted; it adds little to our knowledge of Irish antiquities.
We beg leave to dissent from the statement that '' the modern usage
of partaking of food, &c., in presence of the dead, was a fragmentary
relic of the savage feast when the real body of the deceased was con*
Bumed," in other words, of cannibalism.
The illustrations, over 400 in number, are, with very few excep-
tions, a really valuable portion of the book. With most of them
students of Irish antiquities are already familiar. Here the reader
will find them gathered together in a narrow compass, so as to have
them readily at hand for purposes of reference. The '* Bibliography,"
too, supplies a want.
;ESSI0H 1896.
VOLTTHE n., Ho. 2.
JOURNAI^
OF THE
X/
COUNTY KILDARE ARCH^OLOBICAL SOCIEtlr.
CONTENTS.
ProcMdincs : —
\nnual General Meeting, 1896,
Report of Council for 1895,
Excunion Meeting, 1895, .
Hon. Treasarer's Account,
List of Officers and Members, .
Rules,
PAGE
. 67
. e9
. 71
. 74
. 76
. 80
Obituary of the late Rev. Denis Murphy,
S.J., M.R.I.A., Vice-President. With
Portrait 81
Papers : —
Carbury and the Binninghams' Country.
Hy Rev. Matthew Dbvitt, s.j. With
lUustrations, 86
Rathmore (the Big Rath). By The Earl
o* MxYOt President. With an Illustra-
tion lU
'29.y^r%— continued .•— 1
Incidents in the Life of Garrett More,
Eighth Earl of Kildare. By Lord
Walter Fitz Gerald. With Illus-
trations, '
John Lye, of Clonaugh, Co. Kildare. By
Rev. E. O'Leary, p.p. With Illustra-
tions,
Irish Place-names and Local Folk-lore.
By M. Darby, Esq., m.d.,
Xiioallanea :—
The Hills, Eire and Alba, . . '.
Lord Edward Fitz Gerald's Bag-pipes, .
Notes:—
Stone Effi^es in the County, . . 167
Crannogs m Co. Kildare, .... 1^
Queries, 168
117
IBS
161
166
166
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦»»♦♦♦♦♦♦»»»♦♦••♦♦»»♦♦♦♦<
PONSONBY, 116, GRAFTON STREET.
1896.
I*rl«»i». VwA iililllln«i and iilvBi»ni»A.
THE COBHCn. OF THE CODNTT KILDARE ARCHAOLOGICiL SOCIETY.
]f rBsidaat :
THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF MAYO.
lyjce-Jf resident :
The Rev. Denis Murphy, s.j., ll.d., m.r.i.a.
gotmcil :
Thomas Cooke Trench, Esq., d.l.
George Mansfield, Esq., d.l.
The Rev. Canon Sherlock, m.a.
The Rev. Edward O'Leary, p.p.
Thomas J. De Burgh, Esq., d.l.
The Rev. Mathew Devitt, s.j.
]^xro. Traasurer :
Hans Hendrick-Aylmer, Esq., Kerdiffstown, Naas.
]^tm. Sdcretaries:
Lord Walter Fitz Gerald, m. r.i. a. , Kilkea Castle, Mageney .
Arthur Vicars, Esq., f.s.a., Ulster, 44, Wellington-road,
Dublin.
TSf^tm. EditDi* :
The Rev. Denis Murphy, s.j., ll.d., University College,
St. Stephen's-green, Dublin.
JOURNAL
OF THE
AND
The Annual GFeneral Meeting of the Sooiety was held on
Wednesday, the 6th of February, 1896, in the Court-House,
Naas, kindly lent by the High Sheriff.
The Earl of Mayo, President^ in the Chair.
The following Members of the Gounoil were present: —
Mr. Thomas Cooke Trench ; Mr. George Mansfield ; the Bev.
E. O'Leary ; Mr. Thomas J. De Burgh ; Mr. Hans Hendriok-
Ay Imer, Hon, Treasurer ; Lord Walter FitzGerald, m.r.i.a. ;
and Mr. Arthur Vicars, Ulster, f.s.a., Hon, Secretaries^ and
the Bev. Denis Murphy, s.j., m.r.i.a., Hon. Editor,
In addition the following Members and Visitors were
present : —
ReT. W. 8. Large; Mr. Algernon Aylmer; Hon. Gerald Fonsonby;
The (^unless of Mayo ; Rey. Thomas Carberry ; Mr. T. J. Brooke ; Mr.
and Mrs. • Edmund Sweetman ; ' The Very Key. The Dean of Eildare ;
General and Mrs. M'Mahon ; Rey. H. B. Kennedy ; Mr. and Mrs. J. R.
Sutcliffe ; Mr. J. Loch, c.i.R.i.c. ; Mrs. and Miss Loch ; Rey. Thomas
Morrin; Very Rey. T. Tynan; Very Rey. E. W. Burke; Rey. Thomas
Doyle; Major G. Wolfe; Rey. R. D. Skuse; Mr. W. G. White; Rey, M.
Deyitt; General, Mrs. and the Misses Weldon; Mr. William Staples;
Miss Aylmer (Donadea) ; Rey. James Adams ; Mr. P. A. Maguire ; Rey.
William Elliott; Mrs. Elliott; Rey. J. T. Bird; The Misses Sherlock;
Mrs. and Miss Brown; Rey. M. Cloyer ; Rey. Thomas Doyle; Rey. J.
(Tonnery; Mr. T. R. Gibson; Rey. M. Deyine.
yoL. n.y PT. u. G
68 ^PROCEEDINGS OF THE
The Minutes of the previous Meeting having been read
and signed by the Chairman, Mr. Arthur Vicars (tJlster),
as Hon. Secvetaryy read the Report of Council for the year
1895, which was adopted.
The following Resolution, which was proposed by the Earl
of Mayo, and passed in respectful silence at the Excursion
Meeting in 1895, was brought up for confirmation and
ordered to be inserted on the Minutes : —
** The Members of the County Eildare Archaeological Society desire to
express their deep sense of the loss the Society has experienced by the death
of their Vice-President, The Most Rev. Dr. Comerford, whose interest in
their work was shown by the learned and interesting Papers that he read at
their meetings."
The Hon. Treasurer then read his Report for the year
1895, which was also adopted.
Tlie Earl of Mayo proposed, and Rev. E. O'Leary,
seconded the following resolution, which was passed unani-
mously : —
** That the thanks of the Society are hereby tendered to Mr. J. R.
Satcliffe, for kindly having audited the accounts of the Society."
The Rev. E. O'Leary and Mr. Thomas Cooke Trench,
being the Members of Council retiring by rotation, were re-
elected.
The office of Vice-President being vacant by the lamentable
death of the most Rev. Dr. Comerford, the Rev. Dr. Denis
Murpliy was unanimously elected to fill tliat office. The
Rev. Dr. Murphy, s.j., in acknowledging the compliment,
signified his willingness to continue to act as Hon. Editor of
the Society's publications.
The Rev. Mathew Devitt, s.j., was elected Member of
the Council in the place of the Rev. Denis Murphy, s.j.
The following new members were elected: — The Rev.
Thomas Doyle ; Mr. William Staples, Mr. A. A. Warraington,
Hon. Mrs. Barton (Life Member), 1-iord Henry FitzQerald,
and Lady Mabel FitzQerald.
The following new Rule was proposed and passed : —
'' That the names of ladies and gentlemen desiring to become Members
of the Society shall be submitted, together with the names of their proposera
and seconders, to the Council, and, if approved of by them, shall then be
submitted to the next Meeting of the Society for Election. That the above
Rule be inserted after Rule III. or Rule lY., and that the numeration
of the succeeding Rules be altered accordingly."
It was decided that the Excursion Meeting for the ensuing
Session of the Society should take place at Celbridge and
district in September.
COUNTY KH-DAKE ARCH^OLOGICAL SOCIETY. 69
The following Papers were then read : —
1. "The Moat of Rathmore," by the Earl of Mayo,
President.
2. "John Lye of Olonagh, Co. Kildare," by the Rev.
E. O'Leary.
3. "Early Landowners in Kill," by the Rev. Canon
Sherlock. [Read in the author's absence by Mr. T. C. Trench.]
4. " Castle Carbury, and the Birmingham's Country," by
the Rev. M. Devitt.
5. " On the Lost Ogham, Deccedda Stone, once at Killeen
Oormao, Co. Kildare," by the Rev. W. FitzGerald. [Read in
the author's absence by Mr. Arthur Vicars (Ulster), Hon,
Secretary.']
6. " The Burial Place of St. Laurence O'Toole," by the
Rev. Denis Murphy, Vice-President,
Thanks were returned to the several authors of these
Papers* which were referred to the Hon. Editor for publication
in the Journal.
It being tliought necessary to curtail the length of Papers
read at the January meetings, owing to the time being limited,
the following Resolution was proposed by the Earl of Mayo,
seconded by Mr. Thomas Cooke Trench, and passed : —
"That the papers read at the January Meetings do not exceed a
quarter of an hour each."
By the kind permission of the owner, Mr. Telford, some
iron implements recently discovered near Athy, were shown
and described by Lord Walter FitzGerald. Other objects of
antiquarian interest were also exhibited.
The proceedings concluded with a vote of thauks to those
who kindly contributed Papers and Exhibits, to the Higli
Sheriff for the use of the Court House, and to the Chairman
for presiding.
Report of Council for 1895.
At the first Meeting of the Society in each year, it is the
custom for the Council to submit a Report, reviewing shortly .
the progress of the Society's work during the past year.
The Kildare Archaeological Society has now been in exis-
tence for five years, and during that period has steadily
increased its numbers, and done much good work, both in a
practical form, in the restoration and preservation of ancient
G2
70 PROCEEDINGS OF THE
monuments in its distriot, and in encouraging, by its publica-
tions, an interest amongst the people in the antiquities and
history of the county and its neighbourhood.
Allowing for losses by death and other causes, the Society
now starts with 135 members on the roll, which shows that we
have not merely not lost ground, but slightly improved the
position of last year.
The Society met with a heavy loss during the past year by
the death of its Vice-President, the Most Rev. Dr. Comerford,
who was not only known to us as an archsBologist of the first
order, but recognized as a prominent antiquary and historian
throughout the country. His place will indeed be hard to fill.
The Most Rev. Dr. Comerford, from the very first, took the
keenest interest in the Kildare Archsdological Society, and was
one of its most active supporters. The Hon. Secretaries, who
have much to do regarding the inner working of the Society,
can willingly testify to the great assistance they at all times
received from the late courteous Vice-President.
You will be called upon to elect a Vice-President to fill the
vacancy thus caused.
The first Meeting of the year 1895 was held in the Court-
House, Naas, kindly lent by the High-Sheriflf (Mr. Thomas
Greene, of Millbrook), at which several interesting Papers
were read, some of which have already appeared in the
JOUKNAI..
The town of Kildare was selected as the rendezvous for the
Excursion Meeting held on the 17th September, when the
Society spent a most interesting day in visiting Eildare
Cathedral and other antiquities in the town, and paid a visit to
Great Council Abbey and the Curragh.
A special account of this Meeting is given below.
The Council wish, however, in passing, to express their
tlianks to tlie Dean of Kildare and the Very Rev. Michael
Murphy for the kind assistance they gave towards making the
Excursion a success, and also to iJord Walter Fitz Gerald for
his indefatigable efforts in the same direction.
During the past year, through the exertions of the Society,
the Round Tower of Oughterard has been added to the list of
National Monuments^ and, under Sir Thomas Deane's able
supervision, has been carefully re-pointed and saved from
further injury.
The Council also beg to report that arrangements have been
completed for adding the Abbey at Castledermot to the list of
National Monuments, the necessary papers having been signed
by the owner (Major Farrell) within the last month.
COUNTY KILDARE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 7 1
The Hon. Treasurer will present his report, which shows
the financial condition of the Society to he satisfactory.
Two Members of the Council, the Rev. E. O'Leary and
Mr. Thomas Cooke Trench, retire by rotation, and, being
eligible, offer themselves for re-election.
In conclusion, the Council venture to offer a mild rebuke to
some of the Members for not making a greater effort to aid in
the Society's work by contributing more frequently than they
do to the pages of the Journal. Surely there must be many
Members who could, from their family archives, produce
interesting papers on family history, local traditions, and
folk-lore.
The Council would wish the Members to realize more fully
their obligation to further the good work of the Society ; and
those who do not lay claim to any literary abilities, can mate-
rially help by inducing more of their friends to join, recollect-
ing that the larger the Society becomes, the more extended can
be its sphere of operations.
Signed on behalf of the Council,
Mato, President
Walter FitzGkrald, \ Hon.
Arthur Vicars, Ulster^ ] Seereiaries,
Dated this bth day of Fehimry, 1896.
Excursion Meeting, 1895.
The Fifth Annual Excursion Meeting took place on Tuesday
the 17th September, at Ghreat Council, Eildare, and district.
Most of the company assembled by tlie various morning
trains at Newbridge Station, the Society having arranged for
a special train from Sallins to Newbridge in order to further
convenience Members. On the arrival of the trains, brakes and
oars were ready to convey the Members and their friends to
Ghreat Connell, a distance of two miles. A halt was made at the
old church called " the Reliceen," where the recumbent effigy
of a Bishop was inspected in the churchyard ; also several other
monuments of the 17th and 18th centuries, and Great Connell
being but a short distance off, those present walked down the
road to the Abbey ruins.
72 PROCEEDINGS OF THE
Here the Earl of Mayo, President of the Society, addressing
the assemblage, alluded to the 8a<l loss the Society had sustained
in the deatli of the Vice-President, the Most Rev. Dr. Comer-
ford, and took this, the first opportunity, of moving a resolu-
tion expressing the feelings of the Society, which was passed in
respectful silence.
Lord Walter Fitz Gerald then proceeded with the reading of
his Paper on the history of the abbey, which will appear in the
pages of the Journal.
The company tlien betook themselves to the vehicles and
proceeded to Kildare, entering the Curragh at the Athgarvan
end and driving along its entire length to Kildare. Here
luncheon had feen provided in the Court House (kindly lent
by the High Sheriff J for those who had previously sent in their
names.
The next move was for the Cathedral, where the Dean of
Baldare read a most interesting and exhaustive Paper on the
whole history of the building; tliose present ranging them-
selves in the seats in the nave, the main portion of the recently
restored edifice not being yet opened for worship.
The Dean of Kildare exhibited several armorial tiles and
other objects of interest found when the restoration works were
in progress, and also the Cathedral Communion Plate, some of
which dates from the 17th century.
On the conclusion of the Dean's Paper tlie Rev. Denis
Murphy read at the foot of the Bound Tower a paper of much
research on " the Antiquities of Kildare," including the Grey
Abbey and the Preceptory of TuUy . The day being somewhat
advanced, the company adjourned to the Court-House and par-
took of tea — a considerable section of those present first paying
a visit to the old Castle, and afterwards wending their way
back on foot to the Railway Station.
The weather throughout was ideal for an archaeological
excursion.
The arrangements of the day were in charge of Lord Walter
Fitz Gerald and Mr. Arthur Vicars ( Ulster), Hon. Secretaries,
who had provided for the comfort of the Members and their
visitors to the entire satisfaction of every one.
The following Members and Visitors took part in the Ex-
cursion : — The Countess of Mayo ; Lady Eva Fitz Gerald ; Miss
A. F. Long ; Dr., Mrs., and Miss Woolcombe ; Mr. and Mrs.
Cooke Trench ; Mr. J. B. CuUen ; Mr. M. P. and Miss Cullen ;
Bev. R. D. Skuse and Mrs. Skuse ; Mr. and Mrs. R. M.Wilson ;
Miss Dupr^ Wilson ; Lady and Miss Weldon ; Mr. A, A,
Weldon ; Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Sweetman ; Mr. H. Hendrick-
COUNTY KILDARE ARCILEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 73
Aylmer, Hon, Treasurer; Mr. D. G. Jameson; Surgeon-Major
J. R. Keogh ; Col. Vigors ; Miss Johnson ; Mr. William JJ.
MoUoy ; The Dean of Kildare ; Mr. W. J. Kirkpatrick ; Mr.
Thomas Greene (High Sheriff), and Miss Greene; Bey. William
Fitzgerald ; llev. James Jesspn ; Xiord Walter Fitz Gerald and
Mr. Arthur Vicars, Ulster King of Arms, Hon. Secretmies ;
Bey. Canon Slierlock, and the Misses Sherlock ; Mr. F. M.
Carroll ; Mrs. and Miss Carroll ; Miss Archbold ; Bey. James
Adams ; Mr. B. B. Kennedy, r.m. ; the Earl of Mayo, Pre-
sident ; Mr. J. C. O'Meagher, m.r.i.a. ; Dr. Darby; Bey. T.
Morrin ; Very Bey. Thomas Tynan ; Mr. T. J. Hannon ;
Bey. Denis Murphy, ll.d., m.r.la., Hon. Editor; General and
Mrs, M*Mahon ; Mr. J. Loch, c.i., r.i.c. ; Bey. M. Devitt ;
Bey. J. Dunne; Very Bey. M; J. Murphy; Bey. William
Elliott ; Bey. John T. Bird ; Mr. K. Supple, n.i., r.i.c. ; Mr.
H. Thynne, c.b., Dep.-Inspector-General, n.i.c. ; Misses Med-
Uoott; Mr. and Miss Armstrong; Miss Hopkins; Colonel
Sheryington ; Mr. A. Leigh ; Bey. A. and Bey. E. Kirkpatrick ;
Miss Kirkpatrick ; Mr. B. Long ; Miss Moody ; Mr. and Mrs,
Vipond Barry ; Miss Stack ; Mr. F, J. Conlan, (&o.
[Balanck Shekt
74
PROCEEDINGS OF THE
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COUNTY KILDARE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 75
LIST OF HONORARY OFFICERS AND MEMBERS.
{CORRECTED TO FEBRUARY 5. 2S96.)
THE EARL OF MAYO.
THE REV. DENIS MURPHY, 8.J.
(in o&dbb op BLIOnON.)
THOMAS COOKE TRENCH, ESQ., D.L.
GEOROE MANSFIELD, ESQ., D.L.
THE REV. CANON SHERLOCK, M.A.
THE REV. EDWARD O'LEARY, P.P.
THOMAS J. DE BURGH, ESQ., D.L.
THE REV. MATHEW DEVITT, S.J.
y^aru ^xtztTxtni
HANS HENDRICK-AYLMER, ESQ., Kebdiffstown, Naab.
LORD WALTER FITZGERALD, M.R.LA., Kilxba Castlb, Maobnbt.
ARTHUR VICARS, ESQ., F.S.A., mster, 44, Wblunoton-road, Dublxic.
yjon* €Mt0f ;
THE REV. DENIS MURPHY, S.J.
76 PROCEEDINGS OF THE
[Officeri are indicated by heavy type ; Life Members by an asterisk (*).]
Adams, Bot. James, Kill Rectoiy, Straffan.
Archbold, Miss, Davidstown, Castledermot.
Aylmer, Miss, Donadea Castle, Co. Kildare.
Aylmer, Algernon, Rathmore, Naas.
ATLXEB, H. EEHDBIGK-, Hon. Treaiurer, Eerdiffstown, Naas.
*Barton, Hon. Mrs., Straffan House, Straffan.
*Barton, Major H. L., d.l., Straffan House, Straffan.
Bonham, Colonel J., Ballintaggart, Colbinstown, Co. Kildare.
Bird, Bey. John T., Curragh Camp.
Brooke, J. T., Dungannon, Co. Tyrone.
Brown, Stephen J., Naas.
Browne, Rev. Hawtrey, Victoria Cottage, Permoy.
Burke, Very Rev. E., p.p., Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow.
Burtchaell, G. D., m.a., 7i St. Stephen*s-green, Dublin.
Cane, Major Claude, St. Wolstan's, Celbridge.
Carberry, Bev. Thomas, p.p., The Presbytery, Ballitore.
Carroll, Frederick, Moone Abbey, Moone.
Carroll, Bev. James, c.c, Howth, Co. Dublin.
^Clements, Colonel, Killadoon, Celbridge.
Clements, Mrs., Killadoon, Celbridge.
^Clements, Henry J. B., d.l., Killadoon, Celbridge.
Coady, D. P., m.d., Johnstown, Straffan.
Cochrane, Robert, f.s.a., m.r.i.a., Hon. Secretary b.s.a.i., 17, Highfield-road,
Rathgar.
Cole, Rev. J. F., The Rectory, Portarlington.
Conmee, Rev. J. F., s.j., St. Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner-street, Dublin.
Cooper, Austin Damer, Drumnigh House, Baldoyle, Co. Dublin.
Coote, Stanley, The Orchard House, Wargrave, Berks.
Cowell, Very Rev. G. T., Dean of Kildare, The Deanery, Kildare.
Crosby, Rav. £. Lewis, 36, Rutland-square, Dublin.
Cullen, J. B., 40, Kenil worth-square, Rathgar, Dublin.
Dames, R. S. Longworth, 21, Herbert-street, Dublin.
Dane, J. Whiteside, Osberstown Hill, Naas.
Darby, M., m.d., Monasterevan.
Day, Robert, p.b.a., x.b.la., 3, Sydney-place, Cork,
COUNTY KILDARE ARCH^OLOGICAL SOCIETY. ^^
Dease, Colonel 6., Celbridge Abbey, Celbridge.
DB BUBeH, THOMAS J,, d.l., Oldtown, Naas.
DBVUT, Bey. MATHBW, S J., ClongoweB Wood College, SalliiiB.
Dojle, Rev. J. J., Derrycappagh, Mountmellick, Queen's County.
Doyle, Rev. Thomas, Caragh, Naas.
Drew, Thomas, r.h.a,, m.r.i.a.., p.b.s.a.i., Gortnadrew, Monkstown.
Duncan, J. A., Athy.
Dunne, Rev. John, C.C., Clane.
Dunne, Laurence, j.p., Dollardstown House, Athy.
Elliott, Rev. William, The Manse, Naas.
Falkiner, F. J., m.d., Spring Gardens, Naas.
Ffreneh, Rev. J. F. M., m.k.i.a., Bally redmond House, Clonegal.
*Fitz Gerald, Lady Eva, Kilkea Castle, Mageney, Co. Eildare.
Fitz Gerald, Lady Mabel, Kilkea Castle, Mageney, Co. Eildare.
*Fitz Gerald, Lady Nesta, Kilkea Castle, Mageney, Co. Kildare.
*Fitz Gerald, JiOrd Frederick, Carton, Maynooth, Co. Kildare.
*Fitz Gerald, TiOrd George, King's House, Kingston, Jamaica.
«FITZeEBALD, LOBD WALTBB, M.B.LA., Eon. Secretary, Kilkea Castle,
Mageney, Co. Kildare.
Fitz Gerald, Lord Henry, Kilkea Castle, Mageney, Co. Kildare.
Fitz Gerald, Rev. W., Castletown Rectory, Portroe, Killaloe.
Fogarty, Rev. M., Professor, Maynooth College.
Follis, Rev. C. W., Emily-square, Athy.
Ganly, Rev. C. W., The Rectory, Castledermot, Co. Kildare.
Garrett, Rev. George, Kilmeague, Co. Kildare.
Garstin, J. Ribton, d.l., f.s.a., m.r.i.a., Braganstown, Castlebellingham,
Co. Louth.
Glover, Edward, 19, Prince Patrick-terrace, North Circular-road, Dublin.
Greene, Thomas, ll.d., MiUbrook, Mageney.
Hade, Arthur, c.b., Carlow.
Hannon, Thomas J., Millview House, Athy.
Higginson, Lady, Connellmore, Newbridge.
Hoguet, Madame Henry L., 48, West Twenty-eighth-street, New York.
Houston, Rey. B. C. Davidson, St. John's Vicarage, Sydney Parade, Dublin.
Jameson, Miss Sophia, Glenmona, Moone.
Jessen, Rev. J. L., The Rectory, Eilkea, Co. Kildare.
Johnson, Miss, Prumplestown House, Castledermot, Co. Kildare.
Joyce, Patrick Weston, Lyre na Grena, Leinster-road, Rathmines, Dublin.
8o COUNTY KILDARE ARCILSOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
RULES.
I. That this Society he called '< The County Eildare ArchsBological
Society."
II. That the purpose of the Society he the proinotion of the study and
knowledge of the antiquities and ohjects of interest in the county and
surrounding districts.
III. That the Society consist of a President, Vice-President, Council,
Hon. Treasurer, two Hon. Secretaries, and Members. Ladies are eligible
for Membership.
lY. That the Names of ladies and gentlemen desiring to become
Members of the Society shall be submitted, together with the names of
their proposers and seconders, to the Council, and, if approved by them,
shall then be submitted to the next Meeting of the Society for Election.
y. That the affairs of the Society be managed by the President, Vice-
President, Hon. Treasurer, and Hon. Secretaries, together with a Council
of six Members. That for ordinary business two shall form a quorum ; but
any matter upon which a difference of opinion arises shall be reserved for
another meeting, in which three shall form a quorum.
VI. That two Members of the Council shall retire by rotation each
year, but shall be eligible for re-election.
YII. That Members pay an Annual Subscription of Ten Shillings (due
on the 1st of January), and that the payment of £o shall constitute
a Life Member.
VIII. That Meetings of the Society be held not less than twice in each
year, one Meeting being an excursion to some place of archeeological
interest in the district.
IX. That at the first Meeting of the Society in each year the Hon.
Treasurer shall furnish a balance-sheet.
X. That a Journal of the Society be published annually, containing
the Proceedings and a column for local Notes and Queries, which shall be
submitted to the Council for their approval.
XI. That the Meetings of the year be fixed by the Council, due notice
of the dates of the Meetings being given to Members.
XII. That Members be at liberty to introduce visitors at the Meetings
of the Society*
XIII. No Member shall receive the Jouenal if his Subscription for
the previous year be not paid.
THE LATE REV. DENIS MURPHY. S.J„ LL.D-, M.HA.A,
joiim. AmcH. ««■. KtLtj, [Tnl. iL^ p. It.]
{ 8i )
OBITUAET.
THE Eev. Denis MuiirHY, S.J., was born at Newmarket,
in the ooimty of Cork, on the 12th of January, 1833.
He acquired the first rudiments of his education at a
dame's school in Kanturk. Quickly learning all that was to
be taught therein, he was placed at a classical school in the
same town, where he acquired a sound elementary knowledge
of Greek and Latin. From this school at Kanturk he proceeded
to Clongowes, where he studied rhetoric with some distinction.
He was gifted with an excellent memory, and early in life
acquired a power of mastering the details of a subject.
In October, 1848, he entered the Society of Jesus, making
his noTiciate at Toulouse. After the noviciate he spent three
years in the study of philosophy, when, returning to Clongowes,
he commenced the teaching of grammar and the humanities.
His theological studies were for the most part carried on in
Germany and Spain. He acquired an excellent knowledge of
French, Spanish, and German. From his youth he knew the
modem Irish. On his final settling down in Ireland, he
devoted himself to mission work and preaching. His was a
iamiliar face throughout most of Ireland as a conductor of
Betreats, and few surpassed him in the labours of a missionary
priest.
Deeply interested in all that concerned his native country,
he eommeneed to investigate its past history in the hopes that,'
by an appeal to facts, and an avoidance of fiction, he might
make manifest how matters really stood. His first attempt
82 OBITUARY OF THE REV. DENIS MURPHY, SJ.
was in his ** Cromwell in Ireland." Great clouds of fiction
circled about the few solid facts of the visit of Oliver Cromwell
to Ireland. Stories of his deeds in parts of Ireland which he
never visited, were not onlj numerous, but were believed in.
By a patient investigation of authentic records, our author fol-
lowed Cromwell from his landing in Ireland in August, 1649,
to his departure on the 29th May, 1650. This interesting
volume was published in 1883, and was soon out of print. The
study of the various towns and castles visited by Cromwell led
to a further investigation of the antiquities of Ireland, and this
soon took up all the time not devoted to his sacred duties. In
1891 he privately printed ^* Triumplialia Chronologica Monas-
terii Sanctee Crucis in Hibernia," and '^De Cisterciensium
Hibemorum Yiris lUustribus." These were edited, with a
translation from the manuscript then in the possession of the
Most Bev. Dr. Croke. Apart from the interest of this work as
descriptive of Holy Cross Abbey, the account of the forty-
four illustrious Irish Cistercians, beginning with St. Malachy
O'Morgair, who died 1148, to Patrick Everard, the Abbot of
Dunbrody, who died 1650, makes it a peculiarly valuable
volume.
His next work was the translation of Cucogry O'Clery's
Irish manuscript of Lughaidh O'Clery's life of Hugh Boe
O'Donnell, Prince of Tirconnell (1586-1602). The Iiish text
is given, with an historical introduction, notes, and illustra-
tions (1893). This was speedily followed by a " Short History
of Ireland " (1894), in which he endeavoured, without note or
comment, " to give all the leading facts of Irish history in a
manner which might interest the young reader."
Early in 1896 appeared " The Annals of Clonmacnoise,"
being annals of Ireland from the earliest period to a.d. 1408.
This had been translated into English, a.d. 1627, by Conell
Mageoghagan. It was now for the first time printed, being
edited by Dr. Murphy for the Boyal Society of Antiquaries
of Ireland, and issued as their extra volume for 1893-95.
The text was printed from the copy made in 1684 by Tadhg
OBITUARY OF THE REV. DENIS MURPHY, S.J. 83
O'Daly, now in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. It
has a carefully made index.
The last work he was engaged on has for its title " Our
Martyrs," and g^ves an account of those who had suffered
during the religious persecutions in Ireland, and who had
belonged to the author's Churcli.
Besides making a study of Irish manuscripts, he for many
years made Irish antiquities an object of special investigation,
and he })as published very many contributions in the Journals
of our Antiquarian Societies. With the history of most of the
Irish stone crosses he was particularly familiar, and he never
refused a request to give a lecture on these, generally illustrated
by photographs, many taken by himself. He was always
ready to assist other investigators, many of whom will for long
miss his generous help.
On the morning of the 18th of May, 1896, not making his
appearance as usual, he was found dead in his bed, with a
peaceful expression on his features. Proofs of his " Martyrs
of Ireland " were on a table by his bedside. By his decease
many of the Members of the Kildare Archaeological Society
have lost a genial, kindly friend.
The Royal University of Ireland conferred on him the
Hon. Degree of LL.D., of which University he was an
Kxaminer in Spanish. He was Professor of the Language
and Literature of France in University College, St. Stephen's
Green. He was a Vice-President of the Royal Society of
Antiquaries of Ireland, and of the County Kildare ArchsBO-
logical Society, a Member of the Council of the Royal Irish
Academy, and an Hon- Member of the Waterford and South-
East of Ireland Archaeological Society. Father Murphy was
also the Hon. Editor of our Journal, a duty which he kindly
undertook on the resignation of that office by the Rev. Canon
Sherlock in 1894.— E. P. W.
VOL. II., PABT II. H
o
TRINITY WELL.— TUB SOURCE OF THE BOYNB.
CARBURY AND THE BIRMINGHAMS* ^
COUNTRY,
By rev. MATTHEW DEVITT. S.J.
[liead at Naas, February 5, 1896.]
rilHKKB aro few districts in the Co. Kildare more attractive to
X the archaeologist than the area, roughly speaking, covered
by the present barony of Carbury, in the north-western
corner of the county. On almost every hill, at every ford and
point of vantage, in that interesting region, we find the remains
of feudal keeps or castles, rising gaunt and grim from the rich
grassjr sward, like the ghosts of the old mail-clad warriors who
raised them to guard the lands they had won by the sword,
and held by the sword. But high above them all, like the son
of Telamon among the Greeks, towers the famous Castle of
Carbury, situated on the northern spur of the hill of Carbury,
even in its decay impressing us with its rugged magnificence,
and tempting us to conjecture how still more imposing it must
have appeared in the days of its glory when it was sometimes
H2
"'<<)
86
CARBURY AND THE BIRMINGHAMS' COUNTRY.
the terror and sometimes the protection of the plains on which
it frowned.
" The length of the line of the southern wall," writes Sir
William Wilde, " is alone 100 feet; and the general view of the
castle upon our first approach, with its chimneys, narrow pointed
gables, and large stone-sashed windows, is that of one of the
Best specimens of the castellated mansions of about the time of
James I. . . . The eastern front, which measures sixty feet, still
remains with several of its mullioned windows, even yet quite
perfect ; and upon a gentle slope leading down from its walls on
CASTLE CARBURY.
this side may yet be traced the vestiges of a garden, with a
few of its flowers now wild and neglected. ... In fact every-
thing about this ruin bears evidence of ladies fair as well as
valiant knights having inhabited it, . . . but on a closer inspec-
tion and an internal examination, we perceive from the charac-
ter of the masonry, the massive walls, the deep stone-roofed
donjons, the principal of which runs for 85 feet under the
great keep, from south to north, the manifest antiquity of the
entire western end, and the general arrangement of the whole,
that the present ruin consists of the remains of structures, very
much older than the early part or middle of the sixteenth
CARBURY AND THE BIRMINGHAMS' COUNTRY. 87
century ; indeed some of them appear to be as old ba the twelfth
century, and there are remains of walls of great thickness, buUt
with rubble masonry and grouted, extending even beyond the
confines of the present ruin to the north-west. The modern
additions all exist on the opposite side, and their later date is at
once manifest. Four of the chimneys, three of which are in the
eastern front, have sixteen sides, and are like some of the
chimneys of English castles built about the year 1530, being
beautifully wrought and moulded at the top."
So far Sir W. Wilde.
CASTLB CARBURY.— PART OF INTKRIOR.
If we ascend to the summit of the hill, which rises 471 feet
above the sea, we shall be repaid by the prospect of a landscape
replete with historical associations. On the south we see the
infant Boyne as it emerges from Trinity Well, for the legend of
which I must refer you to Sir William Wilde's book on " The
Boyne and the Blackwater." Beyond it is an immense stretch
of bog, once covered with forests, the name of which alone
survives in the Fews (Jidh^ being the Irish for woods). This
tract was considered one of the strong passes of Ireland, and
was called the *' door" of the English Pale.
go CARBURY AND THE BIRMINGHAMS* COUNTRY.
" Martyrology " was writteu by the learned Michael O'Clery,
one of the Four Masters, in the seventeenth century, we may
be sure that Kilcock was recognized to be a permanent portion
of Carbury.
Again, in O'Heeriu's "Topographical Poem,'* written in
the fifteenth century, we read : —
'* Over Carbury, of Leinster of the plains,
Rules O'Keary, of the red-handed swords,
The scion of Almhain, without scarcity to the east,
By whom battles were kindled round Croghan."
From the expression the "scion of Allen," O'Donovan
concludes that Carbury O'Keary extended south as far as
Allen."
The O'Kearys were a very powerful and noble family in
ancient Erin. O'Duggan, in his " Topographical Poem" com-
posed in the fourteenth century, says : —
* * 0 Ciardha over Carbury of poets
Of the tribes of nine-hostaged Niall,
They are but themselves over to the east
Of the clans of Niall in I^einster.''
They alone of all the Leinster families .w.ere descended from
Niall of the Nine Hostages, and thus were of the noblest blood
in Ireland.
Tlie deaths of their princes are frequently recorded in the
"Annals of the Four Masters," and, as usual with Irish princes,
were violent deaths. The following extracts relate to this
family: —
A.D. 952. "A great slaughter was made of the people of
Carbury and Teathbha (Teffia was a district in Longford and
Westmeath) by O'Buairc, on which occasion T7a Ciardha, lord
of Cairbr^, was slain."
A.D. 992. " Maelruaneadh Ua Ciardha, lord of Carbury,
was slain by the men of Teathblid."
A.D. 999. " Aedh Ua Ciardha was blinded by his brother,
i.e. Ualgharg Ua Ciardha."
As we frequently read in the Irish annals of this horrible
form of mutilation inflicted by some member of the victim's
family, it may be well to observe that the object in view was to
disqualify the unfortunate relative for the chieftainship. In
Ireland the succession was determined by election, but was
limited to the members of one family, and any deformity or
personal blemish disqualified a candidate.
We now come to a very important event in Irish history —
CARBURY AND THE BIRMINGHAMS* COUNTRY. 89
wife was Boan, from whom the River Boyne is supposed to
have got its name.
The celebrated Laeghaire, who was Ard-righ of Ireland in
the time of St. Patrick, having been forced by the men of
Leinster to swear by the elements that he would never exact
the Boru tribute, broke his oath, and, advancing into Leinster,
made a raid on Sidh-Nechtain. For this he was struck down
by a thunderbolt from heaven, or, according to anotlier account,
as lie had sworn by the elements, the elements wreaked their
vengeance on him ; that is, the air forsook him, the sun burned
him, and the earth swallowed him, a.d. 458. The exact spot
on which he fell has not, I believe, been identified. It was
called Oraillach Daphilly near Liffe, according to Keating.^ The
^^ Four Masters " say it was situated between the hills Eire and
Albha. F. Shearman' tells us that Graillach Daphill means
the swamp or miry place of Daphil, the lap dog of Boan above
referred to, who, with his mistress, was borne on the waves of
the Boyne to the sea. This would place the scene of his death
near Trinity Well. Alblia may be the hill of Allen, but Eire
cannot yet be identified. In one of the so-called prophecies of
St. Patrick, quoted by O'Curry,' we read that Laeghaire shall
be slain on the banks of the rivor Caisd ; and the Four Masters
tell us that he died by its side.^ About two miles south of
Carbury, near Drummond House, a small river called the
Cwshuling crosses the road from Carbury to Allen ; and I
strongly suspect this is the river referred to by the prophecy
and by tlie Four Masters. The name of Sidli-Nechtain after
the above date does not appear in our Annals, and we find the
Cce henceforth called Carbury. This name is said to liave
u taken from Cairbrd, one of the sons of Niall of the
Nine Hostages, and brother of Laeghaird. Though Cairbre
died without issue, he seems to have conquered this territory, and
to have acquired it from some of his race. They were after-
wards called the O'Keareys, and their territory is always spoken
of as " Carbury of the O'Kearys," Cairhri na Ciardha.
That this territory was much more extensive than the
present barony of Carbury is evident from the " Martyrology
of Donegal," which makes it extend eastward as far as Eilcock.
St. Coca, from whom Kilcock derives its name, is thus
calendared in that ** Martyrology," on 8th January : — " Cuaigh,
virgin of Cil Cuaigh in Cairbre na Ciardha." As this
• ___^
' Book II., p. 12, Dermod O'Connor's translation.
' ** Looa Patrioiana," p. 67, note.
' Lectures on MS., p. 388. « Sub ans., p. 4d8.
92 CARBURY AND THE BIRMINGHAMS' COUNTRY.
Glontarf, and that when Brian asked him what news he
brought, he told him that Aedh, son of TJalgharg Ua Ciardha,
king of Garbury, refused to accompany him to battle in defenoe
of Brian. Thereupon Brian cursed the O'Kearys and the men
of Carbury.
At the period of the English invasion, Carbury was given
to Meiler Fitz Henry. In the old Anglo-Norman poem, gene-
rally spoken of as the composition of Maurice liegan, interpre-
ter to Eang Dermot Mac Murrogh, we read : " Carbry he
(Strongbow) gave to the good Meiler who was such a noble
Lord." Giraldus Cambrensis^ says that *^he gave in fee to
Meiler as Lord Marcher the remoter cantred of Ophelan."
Carbury was outside Ophelan, but we need not trouble
ourselves with the geography of Qiraldus Cambrensis, which
was as loose as his tongue. He tells us, later on, that in
1181, ^^Kildare, and the adjacent country granted by the
Earl (Strongbow), was taken from Meiler by John Constable
of Chester, and Kichard Le Pec, Governors of Ireland at that
time, and that Meiler received Leix in exchange. This again
would show that Giraldus considered Kildare to be in Ophelan,
while in reality it was in Ophaly. Most likely he confused
Ophelan with OfEaly.
Into whose hands did Carbury fall when it was taken from
Meiler Fitzlienry P
There seems to be a general impression that it was acquired
by the Birminghams. Sir W. Wilde' thought that the Castle
of Carbury was built by the Birminghams; and even Dr.
Gilbert ' implies that they were planted there by Strongbow.
I hope to prove that this view is untenable. Carbury, as
portion of Dermod's kingdom of Leinster, was held by Meiler
from Strongbow, and when taken from Meiler would naturally
revert to the heirs of Strongbow, unless we have evidence of
another grant. As there is no trace of such a grant at this
period, we may take the reversion for granted. On the death
of Strongbow in 1176, his only child Isabel, the granddaughter
of Dermod M'Murrough, was the heir to his vast estates. lu
llb9, she was given by the crown in marriage to William Earl
Marshal, head of the great Baronial family which held the
hereditary office of Marshal to the King of England. By this
marriage he became Lord of ancient Ossory, and of the three
counties of Wexford, Carlow, and Kildare, and Earl of Fem-
^ Vol. V. Rolls Series, p. 314.
s «Bojne and Blaokwater," 2nd edition, p. 30.
» *• Hist, of Viceroys,'' p. 144.
CARBURY AND THE BIRMINGHAMS' COUNTRY. 93
broke aud of Strigoil. In 1191, he was appointed Chief
Gk>Yemor or Justiciary of Ireland;^ and from the official
documents which I now proceed to quote, it will be made dear
that he was the next owner of Garbury after the great Meiler
Fitz Henry.
Under the date 1216, we find : ' ** The king commands the
justiciary to cause Earl William Marshal, to have, according
to the King's charter, all his fees in the lands held by Meilex
Fitz Henry " ; and again : '' commands that if Meiler Fitz Henry
depart this life or take tlie religious habit, the justioiaiy shall
cause Earl William to have all the fees which Meiler held of
the Earl within the justiciary's Bailiwick."
This William Earl Marshal had by Isabel, daughter of
Strongbow, five sons and five daughters. The five sons enjoyed
the earldom in succession.'
The eldest William was appointed Viceroy of Ireland in
1224. He united his forces with Cahal O'Connor King of
Connaught, and defeated the DeLacys of Meath, who liad
made incursions on his Leinster estates. The Irish chroniclers
record that this Earl William, '* by the help of his sword and the
strength of his hand, rescued Cahal O'Connor from the Anglo-
Normans, who had enticed him to Dublin and unjustly tried to
detain him. He died in 1231, and his brother liichard suc-
ceeded to his Irish estates. Maurice Fitz Gerald, the Viceroy,
instigated by the foreign favourites of Henry III., joined in a
huge conspiracy to seize the lands and castles of Richard. He
was joined by Hugh De Lacy, Richard De Burgh, and others.
They procured a chai-ter marking out the partition of his lands
among them, and proceeded to invade his territories. But
Richard, wlio is described as a learned and valiant knight, aud
so beautiful in person that nature seemed to have vied with
virtue in his composition,^ took the field against them, and
defeated them in several engagements. A truce was solicited
and granted, and Richard, with a few retainers, met them
in conference on the Curragh of Elildare. There he was
treacherously attacked, but with only fifteen retainers faced
the army of the Viceroy, prostrated six of his opponents,
struck olf the armoured hands of a gigantic knight who
endeavoured to tear off his helmet, and clove another to the
middle. After some hours had been passed in this unequal
* Gilbert, *• Viceroys," pp. 56-56.
' State Doouments, Ireland, vol. i., Nos. 689-691.
» Carew M8S., •* Book of Howth," pp. 122-123.
* GUbert, " Viceroys," p. 94.
94 CARBURY AND THE BIRMINGHAMS' COUNTRY.
ooutest, the soldiery, urged forward in a crowd by the Barons,
closed upon the Earl with lances, halberds, and axes, and,
having hewn off the feet of his wounded but still spirited
steed, at length succeeded in bringing his rider to the ground,
where through the joinings of his armour a long knife was
plunged to the haft in his back."^ ^'This occurred on the
first of April, 1234 ; and a few days after, he died of his wounds
at Kilkenan" (Kilkenny).' " Henry III. expressed deep grief
at his death, denied that he had authorised the warrant against
him, invested his brother Gilbert as Earl Marshal of England,
with all the privileges enjoyed by his predecessors in that
high office," ' and ordered Maurice Fitz Gerald, the Justiciary,
to restore to Gilbert all his brother's lands and castles in Ireland.
He also sent, on September 26th, 1234, a ^' mandate to Hugh
de Lacy, Earl of ulster, to give the messenger of Gilbert,
Earl of Pembroke, seisin of the Castle of Cabry {m) in his
custody, owing to the war between the King and Kichard,
Earl of Pembroke."*
This is the first mention of the castle that I can find on record,
and completely disposes of the assertion that the castle was
built by the Birminghams, or that they came into possession of
the place on the removal of Meiler Fitz Henry. Gilbert,
Earl Marshal, died in 1241 ; and his estates and titles passed to
his brother Walter, who died in 1245.
The last of the brothers Anselme survived him, but eighteen
days, and as he, like his brothers, died without issue, the name of
this great family died with him. According to Mathew of
Westminster,^ Isabel, their mother, the daughter of Strongbow
and granddaughter of Dermod Mac Murrough, had prophesied
that all her sons should enjoy the Earldom in succession;
but all die without heirs, ''and so he says the shield of the
Marshals, terrible to so many and mighty foes of England, was
no more."
Their Estates in Leinster were divided among their five
sisters. Provision, however, was made for their surviving widows ;
aud we find under the date of 30th April, 1249, a mandate from
tlie king, reciting that Margaret Countess of Lincoln, widow of
Walter, Earl Marshal, having been granted one-third of Walter's
estates in Ireland as her dower, had received from the justiciary
the whole Co. Kildare, the manor of Fothered (Barony of
1 GUbert, " Viceroys," p. 97. « '* Book of Howth," p. 123.
» GUbert, '* Viceroys," p. 98.
* •* Col. of State Documents, Ireland," vol. i., No. 2175*
» ** Flores Hist.,'* 1670, 204.
CARBURY AND THE BIRMINGHAMS' COUNTRY. 95
Fortli, Co. Carlow), and £62 17«. 4d. in the manor of Abo^.
'^ But, as the Justiciary had not given the countess seisin
of her castles in Eildare, because there was no mention
of them in the king's letters, the king now commands the Jus-
ticiary, to cause the countess to have seisin of the castles of
Kildare and Carbury, in that county."*
On her death, these lands and castles would revert to the
direct heirs. One of the five daughters of William Marshall,
named Sybil, had married the Ean of Derby, and was entitled
to a great part of the Co. Eoldare. On her death she left four
daugnters, Agnes, Isabel, Matilda, and Sibil, among whom the
county was divided. Agnes, the eldest, married William de
Vesci. Accordingly we find a state document of a.d. 1272,'
giving the division of William Earl Marshall's lands among
his heirs, and assigning to William de Yescy, among other
lots, ''Karbereye worth £60 195. 8e/."
In 1276, we have three payments to Iter de Bloun, constable
of the Castle of Karbri, for horses bought of him or lost by him
in the king's service, and for other expenses.'
In 1282, William De Mohun, who had married another
heiress of Marshall, is returned as having died seised of Carbury.
This document is instructive, as it shows us the nominal value of
land at that time in Ireland, and how much it was actually
worth to its English proprietors. I quote it, therefore, at greater
length : — " Carbury, there are 3^ carucates (= 430 acres, temp.
Ed. II.) of land in demesne name Fychbow, Gfilcaskyn, and
Clonken (Clonkeen), whereof 2^ lie uncultivated on account of
the war with the Irish. In time of peace they were worth £10,
but they are now worth nothing. Henry, son of Riry, holds
Clonken, with a mill there, for 100«. a-year."
In 1284, an inquisition, held in Kildare, reports ''that
William De Mohun held 6^ cantreds, as well in demesne as in
seignory in Carbury. . . . The land in Carbury is worth in
peace £17 3«. 4r/., in all issues, and now nothing, because the
land is destroyed by the Irish of Offaly."
Again, an inquisition, held in Kildare in 1284, reports '^ that
William De Mohun died holding 6^ cantreds as well in de-
mesne as in seignory in Carbury," and adds: '' the land in Car-
bury is worth in peace £17 3^. \d. in all issues, and now nothings
because the land is destroyed by the Irish of Ophaly."^
1 Cal. State Doo., 2989.
> Cal. State Doo. Ireland, vol. ii., No. 933.
> State Doo., vol. ii., pp. 236-7. * Ibid., No. 2324.
96 CARBURY AND THE BIRMINGHAMS* COUNTRY.
Nevertlieless, I believe the castle to have remained in the
possession of the De Vesoy family.
From a state document of 1272,^ we learn that on the
death of Margaret Countess of Lincoln, who had been
assigned the Co. Kildare as her dower, Agnes De Vescy had
taken possession of it, and of all the profits arising from
pleas, and of tlie seal and appointment of bailiffs. Tiiis act
was contested by the other heiresses. But, in 1278, the
king directed full possession to be given to Agnes;' and, in
1283, again wrote directing the Treasurer of Ireland to carry
out his writ in favour of her. In 1290, William de Vescy,
the grandson of Agnes, was Viceroy of Ireland, and held his
Cliancery in Kildare, of which he was lord. John FitzThomas
Fitz Gerald of Offally accused liim of treason, and offered to
maintain his charge by wager of battle. Edward i . summoned
botli to Westminster, and De Vescy came mounted and fully
aimed for the combat. Fitz Tlionias did not appear, but was
exonerated, and a compromise effected. De Vescy surrendered his
Irish estates to the king, having secured his Northimiberland
Property for his illegitimate son, '^ the Master of Kildare." His
rish estates were divided between William de Wellesly and
FitzThomas, who soon after was created Earl of Kildare, a.d.
1316.' Another version, much more popular in Ireland, makes
De Vescy shirk the combat and fly into France, whereupon the
king declared Fitz Thomas innocent, and, saying, " Aloeit De
Vescy conveyed his person into France, he left his lands behind
him in Ireland," granted them to the baron of Offaly.*
On the death of De Vescy an inquisition of his lands was
taken with a view to granting Isabella, his widow, " her dower
thereout, according to that extent, and according to the law
and custom of Ireland."* In 1297, the jurors report that,
among other places he held, "at Alwyn (Allen), 51 acres of
arable land in the March of Offaly, which were wont to be
worth 34«. a year, but now lie uncultivated, owing to the
war of the men of Offaly, and render nothing ; at Thurgeg (P)
in Carbury, in the same March, four score acres which were
wont to be worth 53«. id. a year, but now lie uncultivated,
owing to the same war, and render nothing."* This not very
profitable property was, however, assigned to De Vescy's deso-
late widow.'
1 Cal, Stat. Doc., vol. ii., 936. » Ibid., 1603.
» GUbert, ** Viceroys," pp. Ill, 112, 136.
* " Earls of Kildare," p. 24. » Cal. State Doc., vol. iii., p. 481.
6 llnd. ' Ibid.f p. 226.
CARBURY AND THE BTRMINGHAMS' COUNTRY. 97
The next great family we find connected with this district
is that of the fie Birminghams. They came from the town of
Binningham in England, and two of the name joined Strong-
how in his invasion of Ireland.^ Their names were Robert and
William. William, according to Lodge,' was the founder of
the Athenry branch of the family. Robert alone is mentioned
in the cotemporary Anglo-Norman poem on the Conquest,
and was the first of the Leinster Birminghams. The poet
says —
''To Robert de Benniofifham (Strongbow gave)
Offaly to tbe west of Oflfelan."
The country of Offaly was the territory of the O'Connors
Faly, and comprised the baronies of E. and W. Offaly in the
Co. Kildare, the baronies of Portnahinch and Tinnehinch in
the Queen's County, and that portion of the King's County
now in tlie diocese of Kildare.'
The portion of the King's County comprised the present
baronies of Warrenstown and Coolestown, Philipstown and
Geashill.
But we must here note that the Birminghams had never
possession of such an immense territory. With the exception
of four baronies, the O'Connors retained their territory until
the reign of Philip and Mary.
Again we find tliat the Geraldines were granted Ophaly by
Strongbow,^ and that as early as 1205 Gerald sat in parliament
as Baron of Offaly.
These grants of Ophaly to different lords have been a
puzzle to many writers. Mr. Orpen, who has reoently edited
the poem on the Conquest with very accurate and valuable
notes, says : " The Earls of Kildare afterwards supplanted the
Birminghams in the English Offaly, while the barony of
Carbury became the property of the Birmingliams of the Pale,"*
and in a previous note suggests that the Birminghams may
have exchanged their territory witli Meiler Fitz Henry, who
originally had Carbury.^ As a matter of fact tliere is no record
of any such exchange or of any connection of the Birminghams
with Carbury before the fourteenth century. Nor does the
Anglo-Norman poet create any difficulty, if we weigh his words.
He does not say that Strongbow gave to Birmingham Offaly
» Lodge's ** Peerage," vol. iv., p. 2. ' ** Peerage," vol. iv.
' O'Donovan on '^ Topographical Poem," n. 486.
* " Earls of Kildare,'^ pp. 8, 9.
« •* Song of Dermot and the Earl," p. 306, note. • IbiiL, pp. 304, 305.
98 CARBURY AND THE BIRMINGHAMS' COUNTRY.
whole and entire, but " Offaly to the tcest of Offelan " (viz. that
part of OfPaly lying west of Offelan).
The territory of Offelan comprised the baronies of Ikeathy
and Oughteranny, Clane, N. and 8. Salt, N. Naas, and the
northern part of Conall.* The portion of Ophaly lying west of
this district would he the original Birminghams' country.
The only portion of Offelan bordering on Offaly is that
now represented by the northern half of the barony of Gonnall.
The southern half of that barony is part of the ancient
territory of Omurethu A line drawn west from the hill of
Allen would be the southern limit of Offaly to the west of Offelan?
South of this line would lie Bathangan and the baronies of east
and west Offaly. This latter district, according to Holinshed,
was the part of Offaly granted to Maurice Fitz Gerald by
Strongbow in 1176. He was granted, Holinshed tells us,
Offaly in which is Bathangan, but not the town of Kildare.'
This southern limit corresponds with tlie boundary of the present
barony of Coolestown in King's County, and with the southern
boundary of the ancient territory of Tuath da Muighe^ anglicised
Thetmoy, **thecantred of the two plains."* Its western boiind-
ary is indicated in a State paper written by Alen in the reign of
Henry VIII., a.d. 1537, when the Birminghams were established
in Carbury. This paper suggests that " the hither {i.e. eastern)
part of that country (Offaly) until Tower Trowan, ichich of old
time teas inhabited hy the Brymminiames, shall be restored unto
them again."*
If we can identify Tower Trowan^ we shall easily strike the
line of their western border. But it is not easy to do so. The
name, as it is written in the publislied volume of the State
papers, is not to be found, as far as I know, on any map or in
any State document, or in any of the Irish annals. I have
consulted, among many others, the parish priests of Carbury
and Ballyna, and they can find no trace of any name corre-
sponding to it in that country. I conclude, therefore, that it
is a corruption. The nearest resemblance to it would be Tower ^
or Toghery Croghan, It is easy to conceive an English clerk
unequal to the expression of the Irish guttural ; and a slip of
pen would give us IVowan for (^rowan. Just at tlie western
border of ancient Thetmoy is a townland called now Togher^
that derives its name from a togher, or pass, through the bog,
1 " Song of Dermot and the Earl," p. 324.
* O'Donovan's note, " Book of Rights," p. 210.
3 •* Earls of Kildare," p. 9. * ** Top. Poems," Lr, 413.
« *' State Papers, Hen. VlII.," vol iii., p. 446.
CARBURY AND THE BIRMINGHAMS* COUNTRY. 99
near Croghan hill. In an old map of Leix and Offaly, a fao-
simile of which is published in tlie " Transactions of the
Kilkenny AroheBological Society."^ This togher is traced with a
tower built on it to guard it, and the tower is on the very
boundary line separating Thetmoy from the western division of
Offaly.
Again, as far back as 1234, that is about sixty years after
Strongbow's grant to Robert de Birmingham, we have the
following mandate from the King to the Justiciary : " Being
informed tliat homicides and other grievous crimes arise from
disputes concerning boundaries between the laud of Peter de
Birmingham in Totemoy^ and the land of Maurice Comyn in
Kaniedkediwhy the King commands the Justiciary that if either
party bring a plea before him he administer justice according
to the King's writ, de dicisu fnciendis^ and according to the
custom of England.'" Now Karnaked^tch has been identified
with the present parish of Castlejordan.'
We have already seen that in that very year 1234 the
castle of Carbury was held by Gilbert, Earl Marshall, and
we have thus found that the original country of the Birming-
hams was west of Carbury, south of Castlejordan, north of
Bathangan, and west of the Togher of Croghan ; in short, that
it was practically the present baronies of Warrenstown and
Coolestown in the King's County.
In 1289, John de Saundford, Archbishop of Dublin, and
keeper of Ireland, "ordered that Sir Geoffrey de Geneville
should guard the marches of Athlone, as far as Totemayy for a
sum to be received out of liis service due to the king, Sir Peter
de Bermingham junior, the marches from Totemoy to Rathan-
gan, and John FitzMaurice the marches of Itathangan to
Ballymadan," now Maddenstown, two miles south-east of
Kildare.*
In 1295, Peter Baron of Thetmoy is eighth on the Parliament
roll of Barons. In the next century, we find the Birminghams
in the barony of Carbury. In 1306, Sir Piers de Birmingham
held the castle, not of Carbury but of Carrick, or Carrick-Oris —
Oris being the Irish for Piers. He is known to history as the
" treacherous Baron." In that year he invited some of the
O'Connors of Offaly to dine with him on Trinity Sunday, which,
on account of Trinity Well, has always been a great festival in
that district, and, just when they rose from table, had them
» Vol. iv., N.8., p. 344. « «' Cal. State Doc.," No. 2232.
' O'Donovan'a note on ** Top. Poems," p. iii.
* " CaL State Doc.," vol. iii., p. 268.
VOL. II., PA&T II* I
loo CAR6URV AND THE BIRMlNGttAMS* COUNTRY.
murdered to the number of twenty-six. The Irish ohieftains
mention this act of treachery in their remonstrance addressed
to Pope John XXII. in 1315, and add that, when complaint was
made to the En&;lish King, no redress could be found. It is also
mentioned by the " Four Masters," the " Book of Howth," and
most of the Irish Annalists. Thady Dowling, the Protestant
Chancellor of the Diocese of Leighfin, in his " Annals of Ire-
land," writes :—*' a.d. 1^04. Murtagh O'Connor, King of Off aly,
and Calcaghi his brother, were killed in the Court of Peter
Bremyngham at Carrig in Carbery, by Jordan Comyn, son of
Archbishop Comyn, vide supra. Bishops did not then marry,
yet had children." As Archbishop Comyn died in 1212,*
the assassin of the O'Connors, if his son, must have been nearly
100 years old when tliis terrible deed was done by him.
This 'treacherous baron" had served with the King in
Scotland. One of the earliest specimens of Anglo-Irish poetry
is a lament for his death, and is printed by Dr. Gilbert in his
" National MSS."* In it he is described as an intrepid and un-
relenting foe of the Irisli, whom he hunted out ''as hunter hunteth
hare." Their hostility to him was not less fierce, and he had to
obtain 400 men at arms from the goveinment to defend his
frontiers.^ He died in 1 308./ His son Sir John de Bermingham
is well known in history as the conqueror of Edward Bruce, at
the battle of Faughard, near Dundalk, in 1318. Thoueli Bruce
had been then three years in Ireland, it seems that Sir John had
never seen him, and, on the day before the battle, wlien both
armies were encamped near Dundalk, determined at any risk to
get a look at him. No doubt he wished to recognize him in the
shock of battle, and to have the glory of meeting him in single
combat. The " Book of Howth " (p. 144) describes nis
dangerous adventure in these words:— "The day before the
battle. Lord John Bremyngham, cliief tain of the English battle,
was desirous to see Bruce, the Scots' captain, and apparelled
himself in a friar's weed and came to Bruce, being upon his
knees at Mass, and his book of devotion before him, and asked
his alms. Bruce, being occupied with his book, did not make
answer, nor did not hold up his head; the other, being desirous
of his desired purpose, never gave over of craving, Bruce looked
up, and said to those that stood by, 'Serve this saucy and
importunate friar with somewhat ; he doth disturb me in ray
service.' ' And even so doth I mean, unless I have my desired
i Harris and Dalton. ' Vol. iii., No. 4.
» Gilbert, " Viceroys,'* p. 144.
CARBURY AND THE BIRMINGHAMS' COUNTRY. lOl
purpose/ said Sir J. Bermingham, and so departed. After
Mass was done, said Bruce, * I pray you, sirs, where is tlus
bold friar that hath thus disturbed me, for, I assure you, since I
saw his face my heart was not in quiet.' This friar was sought for,
and ooidd not be found. * No ? ' said Bruce ; * cannot be had P
My heart tells me that this friar is Bremyngham.' When
tlie battle was set, and ready on both sides to have fought. Lord
John Bremyngham said these words: *My fellows and
friends, all you shall understand that, in this hope of battle,
this is necessary to be remembered : first, the cause of battle
which, in our side, is right for us to defend our country, for so,
saith the Bible, we may. The second is, we arc fresh and lusty
soldiers, not wearied in the wars with travail and pesterous spoil,
coveting notliing but that that is our lands, goods, and friends,
not desirous of uo man's else ; we are to serve a worthy prince,
our king and master, which if we do well .... we shall so
receive such reward that all our friends shall rejoice thereat.
Nowy valiant stomachs, set forward in the name of God and our king J
In that desperate battle, iu which Bruce engaged against the best
advice and against fearful odds. Lord Allen Steward acted as
General of the Scots, and, according to the English account, was
as active and intrepid as Birmingham. Birmingham saw this, and
met him on the field, and after a desperate hand-to-hand combat
at length slew the Scottish Lord. But he failed to meet the
Bruce. The latter was charged by Sir John De Maupas of
Drogheda, who slew him, but whose dead body *' was found
lying on the said body of Bruce." ^ Birmingliam had the dead
body of Bruce cut into quarters, which were set up as trophies
in the chief towns of the English Pale, and sent the head
salted in a chest to London, to be laid before Edward II. The
English King conferred on him the Earldom of Louth in
i-eward of his services.
In 1325, he founded the Franciscan Monastery of Thetmoy,
known as Monaster Phaoris, the monastery of Pheorais, or Piers,
so-called from the patronymic of the founder, the sou of Piers,
Mac Pheorais.
He was now deservedly the foremost man among the Anglo-
Norman settlers in Ireland, whom the victory of Faughard had
saved from annihilation. But the sins of his father seem to
have been visited on him.
In 1329, he made a successful foray on the M'Mahons of
Uriel, and, as they were dangerous neighbours to the English of
1 " Book of Howth," p. 145.
12
102 CARBURY AND THE BIRMINGHAMS' COUNTRY.
Louth, proposed that the captains of their country should
abandon it, and receive lands in England in exchange. A day
was given to tliem to come into the English Pale, and make
final arrangements with Birmingham. But in the meantime
the English families of the district, especially the Yerdons and
G-ernons, had grown jealous of him, and determined to
exterminate his family. They invited him and several of his
kinsfolk to a banquet at Bragganstown, near Drogheda, while
he awaited the approach of the M'Mahons. In the cellars of
the castle, they had placed men fully armed, and at a given
signal tlie assassins entered the banquet-hall, and slew the
conqueror of Bruce with his brothers kinsfolk and retainers, to
the number of 160. But one of the Birminghams present
escaped. This was a child whom his nurse wrapped up in
a mantle, and passed out by the porter of the castle to some
friends. He was brought up in the barony of Balrothery,
county Dublin, and ''both he and his proved men of great
worship" *
' ^ Ireland, in the fourteenth century, was in a more disturbed
state than probably at any other period, either since or before.
The settlers who seized on Irish lands now turned on one
another, and resisted any effort of the English government to
restore order and law in the land.
After the murder of Lord Louth, the English of Meath,
under Sir Simon Geneville, marched into Carbury, but were
driven back by the Birminghams, and left seventy-six men
dead on the field.' The published BroUs give evidence of the
tumult that raged around Carbury.
In 1312 there is a grant of £6 16«. to David Le Mazener,
Vicar of Kildare, which sum he had paid to John Fitz Thomas
''for his expenses in crushing the malice of the felons of
Carbury."' In 1325, among others appointed custodians of the
peace in Co. Kildare was " Richard de Berminghara of Bally-
coghlan for the district of Carbury.*'* In 1326 we have a
grant of £10 to Simon de Qeneville, to help him to repair the
Castle of Carmecanestown in the march of Carbury, recently
besieged, taken, and burned by the king's felons* of the said
march."
In 1333, " The Breminghams of Carbre did take a great
prey of 2000 kine or more of O'Conogher."'
1 " Book of Howth," pp. 152-3. Mao Geoghegan's ** History of Ireland,**
p. 322. 3 Mac Geoghegan, p. 322.
' Close Roll, 5 Ed. II. 19. * Pat. RoU, 19 Ed. II. 80. 82.
» Close RoU, 20 Ed. II. 23. • ** Book of Howth," p. 159.
CARBURY AND THE BIRMINGHAMS' COUNTRY. 103
About the middle of this oentury there came a turning
point in the history of this warlike family. Hitherto sturdy
champions of the Anglo-Norman supremacy^ they now become
ffradually transformed into "enemies and rebels." In 1361
Walter Birmingham of Castleoarbury died, leaving his pro-
perty to his sisters. One of the latter had been married to
Hobert Preston, Chief Baron of the Exchequer, and to her had
been left the castle of Carbury. She died, however, in the
same year as her brother, and Preston proceeded to occupy
the castle. Thereupon the Birmingliams rose against him,
ravaged his lands in Meath, united with their old enemies the
O'Connors, and began to wage a deadly and destructive war
on the English of the Pale. Preston, however, " kept a great
ward in Carbre, and bestowed much thereon, and defended the
right of his wife."*
In 1368, Thomas Borley, Chancellor of Ireland and Prior of
Ealmainham, with a large force, proceeded against the Birming-
hams. After a parley between the two sides the Birminghams
took the Chancellor prisoner, and with him John Fitz Roger,
Sheriff of Meath, Bobert Tyrrell, Baron of Castleknock, and
many others. The Chancellor was released in exchange for
James Birmingham, then a prisoner in the Castle of Trim.
The other captives were ransomed.'
In 1374 a grant of 40m. was given to " Edward Berle for
his laudable service in the reformation of the peace in Meath in
company of Friar Thos. Burley, late Chancellor of Ireland,
where he was taken wounded and imprisoned by the men of
Carbury."* Another grant gives to Richard Crenys & Nicholas
Waffre 20 m., " because of their exertions in company of Thos,
Burley . . . then, for the good of the peace in Carbury, where by
the Birminghams, enemies and rebels, they were taken
wounded and detained in prison until they paid a fine of 10 m.,
1 hauberk, and 1 palet worth 5m."*
Bobei-t Tyrrell, the Baron of Castleknock, we are told, had
to **' pay a ransom both in pence and in horses and armour to
tothe value of £100."*
The castle seems, however, to have been held for the
English. In 1380 Cornelius de Cloim was ^' Constable of the
king's Castle of Carbury."*
in 1381, " the King appoints William Wellesly custodian
1 •' Book of Howth/' pp. 167, 168, » Ibid., p. 168.
» Close Roll, 48 Ed. III. 6. * Ibid., No. 16.
» Ibid., 48 Ed. III. 76. • Close EoU, 4 Rich. II.
I04 CARBURY AND THE BIRMINGHAMS' COUNTRY.
and governor of the oastle, lands, and demesnes of Carbury and
of the lands and demesnes of Totemoy and Kernegedaoh " ;^ and
in 1384 he was allowed a salary of 200m.*
In 1384 Maurice Fitz Eustace was appointed in his place ;'
and in 1386 he was replaced by Walter, son of James
Delahide.^ From the published Bolls, therefore, it seems that
the Castle of Carbury, either by the feudal right of wai-dship
or by confiscation, had now reverted to the king.
But the war of the Birminghams and O'Connors against
the English still went on. A patent Boll of tlie year 1421
recites that Bichard Nugent, Baron of Delvin,* and others of
tlie Co. Meath, " considering the ruin and final destruction of
the Co. Meath, wrought by O'Connor of Ophaly and Meiler
Birmingham, brought James Earl of Desmond from Munster
with a great multitude of horse and foot, to the number of 5000,
into the said district of Carbury, where they burned and destroyed
the standing corn of the said Meiler, and remained thirteen days
in the said county of Meath for the protection of the whole
people."*
In the meantime some of the Birminghams seem to have
been bought over by the English. There is a grant of the
year 1424 in which the "king in consideration of the service
rendered by William, son of John Birmingham, in the wars
against the rebels and marauders, called Bermynghames, gives
him four messuages, and 80 acres of arable land, 8 acres of
meadow, and 20 of pasture, and 20 of wood, in Beynoldstown,
alias, Paynescastell, hard by the Castle of Carbury in the Co.
Kildare. To be held from the king at Soccage, to the value of
om. per annum, by him and the heira male of his body. . . .
Bnt if he die without heirs male, they are then to revert to
John Bermyuham, brotlier of the said William and to his heirs
male."*
In 1443, however, the whole family were once more in
revolt. In that year the son of the cliief Birmingham entered
the town of Trim under a safe conduct of the Earl of Ormonde.
One of the Bamewalls, Treasurer of Trim, contemptuously
gave him a stroke of his finger on tlie nose. Thereupon young
Birmingham left the town, and went straiglit to O'Connor of
Offaly. The two families once more united, and war against
the Pale was again declared. This war was called by the
1 Pat. Roll, 5 Rich. II. 69. > Close Roll, 8 Rich. II. 16.
' Pat. Roll, 8 Rich. II. 69. * Pat. Roll, 10 Rich. II, 147.
» Pat. RoU, 1 Hen. VI. 118. « Pat. Roll, 3 Hen. VI. 14.
CARBURY AND THE BIKMINGHAMS' COUNTRY. 1 03
Irish Oogadh an Caimifiy or tlie war of Caimin^ Oaimin being
traoBlated a '^ filip in the nose."^
The Birminghams now dropped their English name, called
themselves Mac Pheorais [i.e. son of Pierce, their ancestor), and
became more Irish than the Irish themselves.
About this time the Castle of Carbury was dismantled, no
doubt by the Birminghams and their allies, the O'Connors.
For when the great John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, well-
known to readers of Shakespeare as the " scourge of France "
" and terror of the French," who met Joan of Arc in single
combat/ was in the 73rd year of his age appointed Viceroy of
Ireland, he brought over a company of English troops, and
rebuilt tlie Castle of Cnrhury to defend his estates in the county of
Meath against the Birminghams and O'Connors.'
In 1466, Teigiie O'Connor of Offaly defeated the Earl of
Desmond, then Deputy Oovernor of Ireland, and imprisoned
him in the Castle of Carbury, together with several of the
English nobles and ecclesiastics.
In 1475, Meath was laid waste, by Red Hugh O'Donnell,
who ''demolished and burned Castle Carbury and Ballymeiler"
(Mylerstown).* As he made this foray at the invitation of
O'Connor, then at war withthegoveniment, we must presume that,
at this period, the castle was in the possession of the English. But
tlie Birminghams still gave trouble, and further measures were
deemed necessary to overawe them. An Act of the Parliament
held at Naas in 1480 recites that " it is very necessary, beneficial,
and expedient that a tower or pile of the new fashion should be
built at Eesshbaigne (Kishawanny), on the extreme frontier of
the old march^ not only in resistance of O'Conchir (O'Connor),
but also for the chastisement of the Birmingliams "; and enacts
that forty pence be assessed on every plough land in the Co.
Meath for that purpose.'^
In 1537, King Henry VIII. sent Commissioners to Ireland,
*' for the reducing of the said land to civilitie and obedience
and the advancement of the publique weal of the same." The
commissioners proceeded to the county of Eildare ; and among
many other reports presented to them was that of Oliver Sutton of
Bichardstown. In this he complains of the oppression of the
English landholders by William Brmycham of Carbery. This
1 Dudly Mao Firbis, " Annals,*' and Wilde's ** Boyne and Blaokwater,'*
36. * Fir»t Hen, VI,, Act i., sc. v.
» Gilbert's " Viceroys," p. 348, a.d. 1447.
• An. Four Masters, an. 1475.
* Hardimon, ♦• Statute of Kilkenny," p. 83, note
I06 CARBURY AND THE BIRMINGHAMS* COUNTRY.
William, living like an Irish chieftain, had exacted coyne and
livery (free quarters for man and horse), as well upon the king's
lands as upon other gentlemen's lands, and all manner of works
upon the tenants upon their own charges, bad made his tenants
five him sixteen quarts to the gallon, whether it be of ale or
utter, and liad a gallon of butter upon every cow in his lord-
ship. This curious document proceeds: ''Item, he giveth
commandment and maketh it for a lawe throweout the barony
of Carbre, called the B/ymycham country, that no man shall
[bring] any manner of thinge that they have to any market,
but onely to his wif, and she to make the price."
'' Item, William Brymycham taketh theves, and letteth them
goo at his pleasure, so as they fyne with him {i,e. they paid
fines for their release) . Item, nowe of late there was two stronge
theves taken by the king's tenants in harvest, of which one of
them is nowe with my Lord Deputie, and the other, the
strongest thief and a gentylman borne, which William Brymy-
cham sent for him and let him goo, because he was Gayre
Occoner's servant.
'' Item, the said William keepeth of the Connors with hym,
which be better spies in this countrey {i,e. the English Pale)
than they that be borne here."*
However, other advisers of the king and of his com-
missioners thought it more politic to gain over Birmingham
to their side. In the year 1537, Robert Cowley wrote to
Cromwell suggestions for the commissioners. He points out the
absolutely defenceless and devastated condition of the English
borderlands, and urges that such lands should be given only to
such as are '' marchers, men of war, having good retinues."
Having given details of various castles then abandoned or
captured by the Irish, he writes : ^^ Tliere are likewise certain
piles bordering on O'Connor's country, which were the Earl of
Kildare's and Delahide's, and are likewise a great defence to
the marches of the English Pale, and now for the more part
waste. The Butlers, the Baron of Delvyn and his sons, and
William Brymeghame are most worthy, for their truth, power,
and ability of any in that land, to be put in such places and
marches of danger." '
Again in the same year, 1537, John Allen, wrote to St.
Leger, the head of the king's commissioners, as follows' : —
"Item, whereas the country of Offaly, called O'Connor's country,
^ See Annuaiy of the Royal Hist, and Aroh. Association of Ireland for
the years 1868 and 1869.
» State Papers, Hen. VIII., vol. ii. p. 3. » Ibid., p. 485.
CARBURY AND THE BIRMINGHAMS' COUNTRY. 107
hath of long time been the door whereby much war and
misohief hath entered among the king's subjects; it shall be
necessary now that we have it at the king's commandment, to
take such an order therewith, that hereafter it shall no more so
grieve us. Wherefore, if seemeth it were expedient that the
hither part of that country until Tower Trowan, which of old
time was inhabited by the Brymminiames shall be restored to
them again, and William Brymmiame, because of his activity, to be
Lord tnereof and have the same for him and his heirs for ever,
giving some chief [rent] yearly out of it, as shall seem to your
discretions ; and the rest of Off aly to be given wholly to Kayre
O'Connor for him, and his heirs for ever, he to be named Baron
of Offaly, paying likewise some chief rent to our Sovereign
Lord, and both the said Brymminiame, and he to be made Lord^
of the Parliament."
For more than 200 years the Birminghams and the
O'Connors had been in alliance against the English colony,
and now we find the shrewdest and wisest counsellors of the
strongest monarch of the Tudor line advising him to buy
them over to his side, to bestow on them lands and titles, and
to confide to these desperate and dauntless chieftains the safe
keeping of his Irish frontiers.
The advice was only partially adopted. The Birminghams
were detached from the O'Connors, and the latter had now to
face a combination of the English Qovernment with their old
allies. In the following year (1538), LordD. Gray writes to
King Henry VIII. : — " Pleaseth your Grace to be advertised
that since my last letter sent unto your Grace, I have cut three
pacys (passes) in the county of Kildare adjoining to the
borders of Offaly, two in Brymingham's country, whereof
some of the said passes be a mile in length cut, and so broad
cut, that 4 or 5 carts one by another may easily pass."* . . .
These passes were necessary, to enable the English troops to
penetrate the woods that were a natural defence to the frontiers
of Offaly. In 1540, we find the O'Connors devastating the
lands of the Birminghams, now their enemies.
The event is thus described by Brereton, writing from
Dublin in that year: — "O'Connor, with a great number of
horsemen, gallowglasses, and kerne, burned the Bremyngham's
country." The Lord Chancellor and the Treasurer were then
in the county of Kildare raising the county afi^ainst the
O'Tooles, Kavanaghs, and O'Connors, " and they then seeing
' State Papers, Henry VIII., vol. iii., p. 3.
Ip8 CARBURY AND THE BIRMINGHAMS' COUNTRY.
the said Brymingham's country afire went with as many men
as they had then with them into O'Connor's country^ and there
burned diverse towns and brought with tliem certain kine and
other cattle, which burning caused the said O'Connor to turn
backy so that it is thought that if the said burning had not
been he had done more harm to the English pale than he
did/'*
The frontiers of Carbury were still a cause of grave anxiety
to the Government. In this same year the Council of Ireland
writes to King Henry VIII. : — " Having further aid of £200
from your Majesty, we intend to erect and build one tower
at Kynnafad, another at Castell Jourdan, which in this war
was prostrated by the said O'Connor, and to reedify Kyshevan
(Ki8hawanny)and Ballanower(Ballynure), being tlie frontiersof
tlie said O'Connor and the only passages where he must enter
within your pale, which places being so builded, shall not
only be a preparation to banish the said O'Connor, if he be
set to upon his next breach, but also be a stop to keep him
and all the Irishmen behind him from invading your pale
with any horsemen, as my Lord of Norfolk doth right well
know.'"
In 1542 Henry VIII. granted to Sir William Birmingham
and the heirs male of his body the title of Baron of Carbury,
with a grant of the site of the late priory of Ballyboggan and
the late abbey of Clonard, with all the messuages adjacent.'
But this title had already been conferred on him by the Irish
Depiity, and by his summons to the celebrated Parliament held
in Dublin in the previous year.*
Sir William went to that Parliament as Baron of Carbury,
assisted with the other magnates at solemn High Mass on
Corpus Christi Day, rode in the procession to the Parliament
House, and voted, with the others for the abolition of the
Papal jurisdiction within these realms, and for the transfer
of thai jurisdiction to King Henry VIII.* There were great
rejoicings in Dublin on this occasion. Bonfires and illumi-
nations blazed through the city ; wine was freely distributed
to the people, and a general amnesty granted by the King
gave freedom to all persons confined in gaol.
The Baron of Carbury was now appointed arbitrator
between Bernard O'Connor, chief of his nation, and Cahir
O'Connor, his brother ; and with him were associated David
* State Papers, Henry VIII., vol. iii., p. 205. « Ibid,, p. 241.
> Pat. Roll, 33 Hen. VlII., June 17th, 1542.
« Stote Papers, Henry VIII., vol. iii., p. 295. * iWrf., p. 804.
CARBURY AND THE BIRMINGHAMS' COUNTRY. 109
Sattouy of GonnaU, and James FitzQerald, of Osbardstown.^
He was also one of the arbitrators in a dispute between the
O'Neills of Ulster.'
He was married (I) to Rose, daughter of Gerald Fitz-
Gbrald of Blackwood, by whom he liad no issue, and (2) to
Anne, daughter of Sir «fohn Plunket, of Beaulieu. He died
at Dunfiertli in 1548, leaving one son, Edward, then but
two years old.
As Edward died without issue the lands granted by patent
reverted to the Crown. Elizabeth granted Castle Carbery to
Sir Henry CoUey in 1562. Sir William Birmingham, Baron
of Carbury, was buried in the Mortuary Chapel of his family
at Dunfierth, where his reoumbent effigy may still be seen.
The chapel and the tombstone have been fully described by
Lord Walter FitzGerald in the " Journal of the Society for
the Preservation of Memorials of the dead in Ireland " (1895),
and I must refer you to it for further details.
The otiier members of the family do not appear to have
been so loyal as William. We find Elizabeth writing thus to
the Council in 1699 : •* What will be the answer of the traitor
(O'Neill} for the last treason of the bridge where Esmond's
company was defeated, and what reason will he yield for
usurping so unjustly in the time of the cessation to place
Bermingham in the county of KildareP" ' When the last of
the Barons passed away, the Manor of Dunfierth devolved
on Walter Birmingliam, of Meilerstown, nephew of Baron
William, and tlie Birminghams continued for many years to
hold a high position in the county. In 1608, " the Jurors
of our Lo^ the King," in the Barony of Carbury, were all
Birminghams : — John Birmingham, of Dun port (Dunfierth),
Richard of Muclane (Mucklands), Piers of Gavisker (Qtirrisker),
Thomas of Longwood, liichard of Russelswood/
During the reign of James I. and the early part of the
reign of Charles I., Ireland was in a state of comparative
tranquillity, and there were no wars or border forays in which
the Birminghams could distinguish themselves. But when
the trumpet sounded in 1641, they '^ knew the battle's din
afar, and joyed to hear it swell." In the attainders of the
following year we find prescribed : " William Birmingham of
Ballinamallough, John Birmingham of Baheen (Rahin) and
Muckland, Piers and Gerald Birmingham of Ballinakill, Luke
of Parsonstown, and Gerald of Dunfierth, Clerk."
" State Papers, Henry VIII., vol. iii., p. 216, note. « Carew MS8.
» Hogan'a " Ireland," p. 45, note. * Carew MSS., p. 25.
no CARBURY AND THE BIRMINGHAMS' COUNTRY.
Again, in the Jacobite wars, they appear fighting for
James II., and seem to have lost everything.
The attainders of 1691 present the names of Piers
Birmingham of Donadea, Andrew of Carrisborough, and
Garret of Oarriek, in the county Kildare.
Of all these branches the Birminghams of Dunfierth seem
to have been the most important, and the nearest in blood to
William, Baron of Carbury.
In 1638, Walter Birmingham of Dunfierth died, leaving two
sons, John and Thomas, and two daughters, Mary and Anne.
The sons died without issue, and thus the male line of this family
became extinct. Mary was married to John, the first Loni
Bellew ; • and Anne, to Maximilian O'Dempsey, the last
Viscount Clanmftliere. These two ladies were coheiresses to a
property worth £1500 a year. Mary lies buried with her
husband in the south isles of Duleek Church, interred in a
large tomb, with the following inscription : —
This tomb hath been repaired and the vault made by
Dame Mary Bermingham of Dunfert, wife to John Lord
Bellew, who was shot in the belly in Aughrim fight
The 12th of July, 1691. As soon as he found himself
able to undertake a journey, he went with his Lady to
London, where he died, the 12th of January, 1692. He
was laid in a Tault in Westminster, till the April follow-
ing, his corpse was brought hither.
I regret that this quaint inscription is the last quotation I
can find throwing any light on the history of this remarkable
Anglo -Irish sept. We can trace their story no further, and
their name is no longer found in the pages of our Annals.
They were eminently " men of war," and for 500 years held
their ground against all comers in the County of Kildare and
its borders, but in the terrible confiscations of the 17th century
tliey lost all they had, and the places that once knew them
know them now no more.
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TUB MOAT AT RATHMORK, CO. KILDARB.
RATH MO RE {THE BIG RATH).
Br THE EARL OF MAYO, Pkesident.
[Read at Naas, February 5, 1896,]
THIS rath is situated in the barony of North Naas, in a
townland of the same name. It stands a few perolies
north-east of the present Protestant church.
Before giving an account of Rathmore, I shall draw atten-
tion to what is known of Irish raths in general. My authority
is Dr. Petrie. He says, in "An Essay on Military Architec-
ture in Ireland previous to the English Invasion," rath and
lios are synonymous, and are applied to designate an earthen
mound or flat enclosure, with one or more fosses or ramparts.
The word signifies " security." A volume of authorities might
be adduced to prove that this class of fortress was raised by the
Irish previous to the Norwegian and Danish invasion.
The "Annals of the Four Masters" gives a list of twenty-
eight raths which existed in Ireland anterior to that time.
Kinfala, called the learned, of Derryloran, in Tyrone, a poet
of the seventh century, states, in a poem describing tlie coming
of the Milesians from Spain into Ireland, that Kath Eighbaird
was dug. The situation of this fort can be learned from a
passage in Tirechan's " Life of St. Patrick."
RATHMORE. I13
It is now called Rath Righy and is situated on the northern
extremity of Knocknavea, in the county of Sligo. Dr. Petrie
also states a curious fact. In one of the ^'Lives'' of St.
Patrick, in the Book of Armagh, an undoubted MS. of the
seventh century, it is stated that St. Patrick, as he was resting
one Sunday, at a place not far from Drumboe^ to the north,
heard tlie immoderate noise of the pagans making a rath.
There is every reason to believe these raths are of Milesian
origin. The Milesians appeared in Ireland • o/rm B.C. 100 ;
therefore the approximate age of the first Irish raths is
nearly two thousand years.
Baths had often within them galleries of stone and hiding-
places constructed without cement. They were originally sur-
rounded with wooden pallisades, enclosing houses of the same
material. They occasionally present walls of stone.
As to Bathmore, the subject of my Paper : in consequence
of the road-contractors having for many years made use of the
gravel composing the mound for mending the adjacent high-
ways, nearly half of this fine rath has been removed. The
gravel being taken from the base, a face has been created on
the rath, which is ever slipping down. Some three years ago,
at the north end of this face, a number of human skeletons —
some full-grown, others of children — were found. These re-
mains were buried inside a ring of roundish undressed lime-
stones.
The most interesting discovery, however, as yet made came
to light by the slipping of the upper part of the south face of
the rath. This occuiTed after heavy rains during the summer
of 1894. A chamber lined, roofed, and floored with naturally
flat-shaped green limestone was exposed. In this chamber
rested a large skeleton. I did not see the chamber till the
autumn of that year. Some of the bones were still there.
This cist, or kistvaen, measured 18 inches in width and 18
inches in depth, and was over 5 feet long. Mr. Sargeant, a
farmer who grazes his cattle on the rath, saw the skeleton when
first exposed. He told me the skull was sunk into the gravel
under the stone that formed the end of the kistvaen. The
skeleton lay with its feet to the east. The floor of the kistvaen
was exactly 20 feet below the present grass-grown surface of
the rath, and is nearly in the centre of the exposed gravel face.
I may mention that the stones lining the kistvaen had been
made more suitable to their purpose by rough chipping. I could
^ Drumboe, Upper and Lower, in Co. DonegaL
114 RATHMORE.
liear of nothing being found in the kistvaeu but the skeleton.
Those who saw the remains seemed struck with the size of the
bones. Ferguson, in his " Eude Stone Monuments," chap. II.,
p. 43, says : " We have no diflSculty in beginning our history
of megalithio remains with rude stone cists, generally called
kistvaens, or stone-boxes. These kistvaeus are found in sepul-
cliral tumuli, and consist of only four, but generally of six or
more, stones, set edgeways, and covered by a capstone, to pro-
tect the body from being crushed." In our case at Rathmore
several stones were used as the cover, or cap. The exposed
face of the ratli, on close inspection, shows some interesting
features.
On the north end of the face, at the same level as the kist-
vaen, i.e. 20 feet below the existing top of the rath, there can
be distinctly seen a black stratum or line, which has been
created by an accumulation of wood ashes ; most likely from
the fires by which food was cooked. I also found in this part
of the rath, in a bluish sort of clay, which, in wet weather,
smelt nasty, the broken horns of deer, the bones of oxen, sheep,
and pigs. This clay is fire-dried mud, and is so distinct from
the limestone gravel the rath is made of, that it is readily noticed.
This was most probably the kitchen-midden of the rath. It
lies in broken, irregular lumps, as it fell from the rain-washed
face of the big rath, bits of bones of all sorts showing on the
lumps. A little above this there seems to he another stratum
or floor, which contains wood-ashes and bones, as if a later
generation had lived, eaten, and warmed themselves at their
fires on the rath. What years have rolled by ! Yet the ashes
of the fires remain as if extinguished but yesterday. What
generations must have come and gone while the traces of the
ancient rath-dwellers were being obliterated, little by little,
under the green grass which clothes the summit of Kathmore.
In these lumps of clay or mud, and indeed lying loose
amongst the fallen gravel, I found many pieces of white quartz,
which gives out sparks when struck with a steel. This quartz
does not, as a rule, occur in limestone gravel or sand formation,
and must have been brought from the Wicklow hills close by.
Mr. Wood-Martin, in his " llude Stone Monuments of Ire-
land," says : " It is remarkable that fragments of quartz
accompanied almost every interment in Carrowmore, &c." In
short, quartz was found in almost every interment, more espe-
cially in those which appear to have been but little disturbed.
These quartz-stones serve to identify the human remains as
belonging to a veiy ancient period of interment. A consider-
able number of similar pebbles of white quartz have recently
RATHMORE. 1 15
been found in various old British tombs in the Isle of Man.
These pebbles were also found in most of the old tombs re-
cently excavated in the neighbourhood of Dundee.
The white stones were probably to the ancient pagan mind
emblematic of some religious idea, at present a mystery to the
antiquary. It will be remembered it was at this part of the
rath that a number of skeletons were found.
The road-contractors will no doubt, as long as material re-
mains, continue using Rathmore as their quarry ; and I have
brought these few notes before the Society because it is so
seldom that a rath is, so to speak, sliced in half, the supersti-
tion of the country people making it difficult to explore these
dwellings of the prehistoric Iiish.
VOL II., PART n.
I
Gerald thb 8th Eaiil of Kildarb's Arms,
Oa his Tomb, formerly in St. Mary's Chapel, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.
The Dcxtrr Shield bears the Fitz Gerald and Eustace Arms impaled.
Hie Sinister Shield the Fits Gerald and St. John Anns.
( 117 ) ^<
INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF GARRETT MORE,
EIGHTH EARL OF KILDARE.
By LORD WALTER FITZ GERALD.
[Read at Naas, January 24, 1895.]
GKKALD FitzGkrald, Oil tliG death of Ills father Thomas, in
the year 1477, became the eighth Earl of Kildare. He
was known among the Irish as "Garrett More," or
Gerald the Great, being " of tall stature and goodlie presence,"
oud, according to the "Annals of the Four Masters/' "he was
a Knight in valour, and princely and religious in his words
and judgments.''
In 1478y in consequence of tlie feuds between the Geraldines
and the Butlers, the Bishop of Meath^ was deputed by the
Parliament to inform King Edward IV. as to the state of the
country. As the Bishop was an enemy of the Geraldines, the
Earl sent some of his friends to explain his case to the King,
and this they did so successfully that he was appointed in this
year Lord Deputy. Shortly afterwards the King wishing to
set aside both these rival factions, cancelled the appointment,
and sent over Henry Lord Grey, of Codnor, as Lord Deputy.
Tlie Earl refused to accept his /dismissal from office, and
eventually the King summoned both him and Lord Grey to
appear before him, when the latter, tired of these proceedings,
resigned his office, and the Earl was re-appointed Lord Deputy
to Kichard, Duke of Gloucester.
Just about this time the coins, groats and half-groals, issued
from the mint bore the Earl's arms (a saltire) on a little shield
placed on either side of the shield bearing the royal arms. In
volume XIX. of the " Transactions of the lioyal Irish Academy "
is a paper, read in November, 1839, by Aquilla Smith, m.d.,
on the Irish coins of Edward IV. Describing the coins issued
duriug the last five years of this King's reign, he says the
groats, &c., were of two varieties : —
(1) One has on the obveise a shield bearing the Arms of England and
France, quartered bv a cross ; the extremities of which are terminated each
by three pellets, and the shield is within a circle of pellets. On the reverse
' William Shirwood.
K2
v^
1 18 INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF GARRETT MORE,
are three crowns in pale, on a similar cross ; while the mint marks are a
trefoil, rose, and fleur-de-lis.
(2) The other Tariety has a like shield quartered by a cross whose arms
are terminated each by three annulets ; at each side of the shield is a
smaller one hearing a sal tire, the arms of Gerald Fitz Gerald, Earl of
Kildare and Lord Justice of Ireland in 1479, all within a plain circle. The
crowns on the reverse are closer and of a more regular form than those of
the first variety, and are within a double tressure of eight, or more,
generally nine, arches ; they invariably have a fleur-de-lis on one or both
sides, in some part of the legend, which is rarely found on the pieces of the
first variety.
The legend on the groats, bearing the FitzGerald arms as
a rule, runs thus (with slight diflEerenoes on others) : —
Obverse,
Groats, . . REX AN LIE FRA
(i.e. King of England and France).
Half Groats, . DOMINOS.
jReverte.
DOMINOS YBERNIE
{i.e. Lord of Ireland).
DOMINOS.
These ooins, Dr. Smith considers, were struck in the mint in
the Castle of Trim, in the year 1479. The three crowns on
the reverse, he came to the conclusion, were the old arms of
Ireland before the harp was adopted in Henry VIII.'s reign,
as that King, after the Reformation, considered the thJee
crowns resembled too closely the Papal tiara, hence the harp,
which was still in use on William IV. 's coinage.
In 1486 a report reached Ireland that Edward, Earl of
Warwick, son of George, Duke of Clarence, and the last male
Plantagenet, had made his escape from imprisonment in the
Tower of London ; and in the following year the famous
impostor Lambert Simnel, who represented himself to be the
young Prince, at the instigation of Margaret, widow of Charles,
Duke of Burgundy, and sister of King Edward IV., landed in
Ireland with a large force, and was acknowledged by the Earl.
His example was followed by the rest of the nobles of the
Pale, and they proclaimed him King in Christ Church Cajthedral,
EIGHTH EARL OF KILDARE. 1 1 9
crowning him with a orown borrowed from the statue of the
Blessed Virgin in St. Mary's Church.
In June, 1478, the invasion of England was decided on,
and on the 6th of the month the impostor's fate was decided
by the battle of Stoke in Nottinghamshire, in which he was
taken prisoner; the Earl of Lincoln, Lord Lovell, and Sir
Thomas FitzGerald of Lackagh, Lord Chancellor of Ireland,
and the Earl's brother, being among the slain. The Earl and
the other lords of the Pale, acknowledging their crime, implored
the King's pardon, which was granted, and not only that, but
the Earl was actually retained in office owing to his great
influence over the Irish Chiefs. In the following year Sir
Richard Edgecomb was sent over to Ireland by the King to
receive the oaths of allegiance from the lords of the Pale.
This, he with some difficulty and delay accomplished on
the 21st of July in "the Kings' Chamber" of St. Thomas'
Abbey, commonly called Thomas Court, the Lord Deputy's
residence.
Under the year 1488, the "Annals of the Four Masters"
notify the destruction of the Castle of Balrath, Co. Westmeath,
belonging to the sons of Murtagh MacGeoghegan, by a plunder-
ing army under the Earl, who brought ordnance to bear against
it. This is the first allusion to the use of cannon in the Annals.
About this time, too, a present of six hand-guns was sent to
tlie Earl from Germany, and as this weapon was all but
unknown in Ireland, the sentries over the Earl's residence at
Thomas Court armed with them caused much astonishment to
the passers-by.
In 1489, the Earl's enemies in Ireland petitioned the King
to grant them preferment in order to counterbalance his
influence. The King in consequence summoned all the lords
of Ireland to his Court at Greenwich and gave the Earl prece-
dence ; he received them all graciously, but among other things
remarked of those who had supported Simnel, that " they would
at last orown apes, should he be long absent." Afterwards he
entertained them at a splendid banquet, where he caused
Simnel to wait upon them as butler.^
In the year 1492, the " Annals of the Four Masters" record
the death of Con, the son of Art, the son of Con O'Conor, who
was slain by the Earl's people for having in jest thrown a pole
at him, they apparently mistaking his action.
The Earl was at this time removed from the office of Lord
Deputy being suspected of plotting against the King.
* Ware's Annals.
1 20 INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF GARRETT MORE,
In thia same year (1492) a curious incident took place in
St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, whicli arose out of the feud
between the Geraldines and Butlers. It is related by Staui-
hurst, and is to be found on pages 82 and 83 of the 2nd vol. of
llolinshed's "Chronicles" of the edition published in black
letter in 1586 ; the story there given is as follows : —
" The plot of the mutuall grudge was grounded upon the factious dissen-
tion that was raised in England betweene the houses of Yorke and Lancaster,
Kildare cleaving to Yorke, and Ormond relieing to Lancaster. To the
upholding of which discord, both these noblemen laboured with tooth and
naile to overcrow and consequentlie to overthrow one the other. And for
so much as they were in honour peeres, they wrought by hooke and by
crooke to be in authoritie superiours. The Government therefore in the
reigne of Henrie the seventh, being cast on the house of Kildare, James
Earle of Ormond a deepe and farre reaching man, giving backe like a
butting ram to strike the harder push, devised to inveigle his adversarie by
submission and courtesie, being not then able to overmatch him with stout-
nesse or prehiminence. Whereupon Ormond addressed his letters to the
deputie, speciiieing a slander raised on him and his, that he purposed to
deface his government and to withstand his authoritie. And for tlie cleering
of himselfe and his adherents, so it stood with the deputie liis pleasure, he
would make his speedie repuire to Dublin, and there in an open audience
would purge himselfe of all such odious crimes of which he was wrongfully
suspected.
'* To this reasonable request had the lord deputie no sooner condescended,
than Ormond with a puisant armie marched towards Dublin, encamping in
an abbie in the suburbs of the citie, named Saint Thomas Court. The
approaching of so great an armie of the citizens suspected, and also of
Kildare's councillors greatlie disliked, lastlie the extortion that the lawlesse
souldiers used in the pale by severall complaints detected : these three
points, with diverse other suspicious circumstances laid and put together,
did minister occasion rather of further discord, than of anie present agree-
ment.
** Ormond persisting still in his humble sute, sent his messenger to the
lord deputie, aeclaring that he was prest and readie to accomplish the
tenour of his letters, and there did attend (as become him) his lordship his
pleasure. And as for the companie he brought with him from Mounster,
ableit suspicious braines did rather of a malicious oraftinesse surmise
the worst, than of charitable wisdome did judge the best ; yet notwith-
standing, upon conference had with his lordship, he would not doubt to
satisHe him at full in all points, wherewith he could be with anie colour
charged, and so to stop up the spring from whense all the envious suspicions
gushed.
** Kildare, with this mild message intreated, appointed the meeting to
be at St. Patricke his church : where they were ripping up one to another
their mutuall quarrels, rather recounting the damages they susteiued than
acknowledging the injuries they offered ; the citizens and Ormond his ai*mie
fell at some jar, for the oppression and exaction with which the souldiers
surcharged them. With whom as part of the citizens bickered, so a round
knot of archers rushed into the church, meaning to have murthered Ormond,
as the capteine and belwedder of all these lawlesse rabble.
** The Earle of Ormond suspecting that he had beene betraied, fled to
the Chapiter House, put to the doore, sparring it with might and manie.
EIGHTH EARL OF KILDARE. 1 2 1
The citizens in their Rage imagining that evrie post in the chnrch had
beene one of the soldiers, shot hab or nab at random up to the roodloft and
to the chancellf leaving some of their arrowes sticking in the imnges.
** Kildare pursuing Ormond to the Chapiter House doore, undertooke on
his honour that he should receive no viUanie. Whereupon the recluse
craving his lordship's hand to assure him his life, there was a clift in the
chapiter house doore pearsed at a trise, to the end both the Earles should
have shaken hands and be reconciled. But Ormond surmising that this
drift was intended for some further treacherie, that if lie would stretch out
his hand, it had beene percase chopt off, refused that proffer ; untill
Eildare stretched in his hand to him, and so the doore was opened, they
both imbraced, the storme appeased, and all their quarrels for that present
ended.
" In this garboile one of the citizens sumamed Blanchfield was slaine.
"Ormond bearing in mind the treacherie of the Dublinians procured
such as were the gravest prelates of his dergie to intimate to the Court of
Rome the heathenish riot of the citizens of Dublin, in rushing into the
church armed, polluting with slaughter the consecrated place, defacing the
images, prostrating the reliks, rasing down altars, with oarbarous outcries,
moie like miscreant Saracens than Christian Catholicks. Whereupon a
legat was posted to Ireland bending his course to Dublin where, soone after
bee was solemnelie received by Walter Fitz Simons,* Archbishop of Dublin.
Tlie Legat upon his arrival! indicted the citie for his execrable offense ; but
at length, by the procurement as well of the Archbishop as of all the
clearp^ie, he was weighed to gpve the citizens absolution with this caveat,
that in detestation of so horrible a fact, and * Ad perpetuam rei memoriam,'
the major of Dublin should go barefooted thoroughout the citie in open
procession before the Sacrament on Corpus Christie daie : which penitent
satisfaction was after in everie such procession duly accomplished."
Tlie Chapter House door, referred to in the above adven-
ture, is still in existence, and can be seen at any time leaning
against the wall of the north aisle in the Cathedral; it is
covered with a coat of red-brown paint, and at various times
has been strengthened with boards laid on horizontally at the
back, as shown in the section to the sketch. The aperture in it
is now a regular oblong : this was probably done in order to
neatly repair the cleft hacked through it at the time of the
" ruction." Until about twenty years ago the piece of board
with which it was repaired was in its place ; but it was then
removed and is now lying with odds and ends in a recess of the
baptistery. When comparing the sketch with the original
door in June last the verger, Mr. Lambert, very obligingly
showed me this piece, and related how he remembered seeing it
fixed in the aperture. The sketch given on next page is a
faithful representation of the old door, and was carefully drawn
to scale by Mr. W. F. Wakeman, whose pen has done so much
' He succeeded John Walton in the Archbishopric of Dublin in 1484,
anddied 14th May, 1511.
EIGHTH EARL OF KILD ARE. 1 2 3
to illustrate the " Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries
of Ireland."
In 1493, it having been reported that the Earls of Kildare
and Desmond were in correspondence with Perkin Warbeck,
another impostor whom the Duchess of Burgundy was again
trying to bring forward as Richard, Duke of York, the second
son of Edward IV., and so heir to the throne, the former Earl
hastened to England to rebut the charge; but Henry VII.,
not being satisfied, informed him that Sir Edward Foynings
would be sent over as Lord Deputy. In September of the
following year Sir Edward arrived in Dublin and proceeded
against the northern Irish, accompanied by the Earl, who was
anxious to remove any suspicion against himself. However, it
came to Sir Edward's ears that the Earl and O'Hanlon, in
whose country they were, had formed a conspiracy to assassinate
him, and at the same time news was brought to him that the
Earl's brother, James Fitz Gerald, had risen in rebellion and
had seized Carlow Castle ; the Deputy, therefore, turued south-
wards, laid siege to Carlow Castle, and captured it in ten days.
He then determined to act vigorously against the Qeral-
dines, and summoned a parliament at Drogheda in 1495, in
which was passed an Act for attainting the Earl and his ad-
herents, and another to abolish his war-cry of " Crom-a-boo,"
with those of other great families.
The origin of this war-cry dates from about the thirteenth
oentury, when Maurice Fitz Gerald, the ancestor of the Irish
Geraldines, was granted the district of Cromadh, Crom, or
Groom, which lies in the county Limerick. As the surrounding
territory belonged to the O'Briens of Thomond, the castle
erected by the Fitz Geralds there was frequently attacked by
them, and on these occasions the defenders would shout " Crom-
a-boo," or " Crom for ever," in opposition to the war-cry of
the O'Briens, which was " Lamh laidher-a-boo," or " The strong
hand for ever." " Crom-a-boo " afterwards became, and still
is, the family motto. A portion of the Act abolishing these
war-cries, owing to the disturbance created by the gathering
of the factions on the cry or slogan being raised, is thus
worded : —
'* Therefore be it enacted and established by the Commons in the present
Parliament assembled, that no person nor persons of whatsoever estate,
condition, or degree he or they may be of, take part with any lord or gentle-
man, or uphold any such variances or comparisons in word or deed, as in
using these words : Crom-a-bo and Butler-a-bo, or any words like or con-
trary to the King's Laws, his crown and dignity and peace, but to call only
on St. Georp^e, or the name of his Sovereign Lord the King of England for
the time bemg, &c."
124 INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF GARRETT MORE,
The punishment was imprisonment and fine. In spite of
the above Act the war-cry was still made use of ; and, when
carved on stone or tile of this period, the following prefix in
old Norman French was defiantly added : " Si Dieu Plot " —
Grom-abo; and as such it appears (1) on some encaustic pavement
tiles from Bective Abbey, county Meath, dating from the
latter end of the fifteenth to the commencement of the six-
teenth century ; (2) on a stone table which formerly stood in " the
PAVEMENT TILE FROM BECTIVE ABBEY, CO. MBATH,
Bearing Gerald the 8th Earl of Kildaro's Arms and Motto (circa 1500).
Council House " of Maynooth Castle, and is now at Carton,
dated 15315; and (3) on a stone chimney-piece in Kilkea Castle
bearing the date 1573. Strange to say, the Act abolishing the
war-cry was revoked only within the last few years.
After his attainder the Earl lost much of his power and
many of his followers. Being at feud with Plunket of Rath-
more, he was defeated by him in several skirmishes, and at
last hardly dared show himself in the county Meath, nor could
EIGHTH EARL OF KILDARE. 1 25
he with safety remain three nights running in the same honse
in his own county. At length, while travelling with twelve
horsemen near Trim, he encountered Plunket with an escort of
twenty, and, so furious was the charge he made on them, that
Plunket and most of his men fell.
The Earl also had a quarrel with his former friend John
Pain, Bishop of Meath, and one day pursued him into a church
where he had fled for sanctuary. The Earl ordered him to
come out, and on his refusal entered, sword in hand, and
going to where the fiishop was kneeling in the chancel, swore :
" By St. Bride ! were it not he knew his Prince would be
o£Fended with him, he could find it in his heart to lay his
sword on his shaven crown." The Earl then dragged him
from the church and kept him prisoner until the Lord Deputy
demanded his release.
There was another ecclesiastic with whom the Earl was on
bad terms, and that was David Creagh, Bishop of Oashel, whose
cathedral church on the Bock of Oashel he burnt on one
occasion. But he restored it in or about the year 1496.
Having been promised a pardon for these and other offences,
the Earl went to Dublin, but was arrested in the evening, and
sent in a bark, which had been kept in readiness, to England,
the Deputy not wishing to pass judgment on him himself. For
two years he was kept prisoner in the Tower of London. His
wife, Alison, daughter of Sir Rowland Eustace of Harristown,
Baron of Portlester, died of fi;rief in consequence on the 22n(l
of November, 1494, and was buried in the New Abbey at Kil-
ouUen Bridge, which her father had founded. By his marriage
the Earl acquired the Manors of Ardglass and Strangford in
the county Down, as his wife was co-heiress of her mother,
Margaret Lady Portlester, who was co-heiress of Janico
D'Artois, Lord of Ardglass. This property is still in the pos-
session of a branch of the FitzQerald family which has assumed
the name of De Bos, from Lord Henry FitzG-erald's marriage
with Charlotte, Baronesse De Bos, in 1791.
The Earl was at length brought for trial before King
Henry VII. and his Council. He found confronting him the
Bishops of Meath and Cashel and a host of hostile witnesses.
An account of this trial is given at length in a ms. of the
sixteenth century in the Lambeth Library, known as "The
Book of Howth," as well as in Holinshed's "Chronicles of
Ireland"; from these sources the following details have been
extracted : —
The Bishop of Meath commenced by accusing the Earl of
sundry ofienoes, and amongst others of forcing him from the
128 INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF GARRETT MORE,
laud, by Pliilip Flattesbury, of JohnstowOy near Naas, a.d.
1517, and in the ninth year of King Henry Vlllth."
These chronicles are quoted by Stanihurst and Campion in
their Histories of Ireland.
In 1504, XJlick M'William Burke, Lord of Clanricarde,
who had married Lady Eustaoia, daughter of the Earl, formed
a confederacy with several Irish Chiefs to oppose the authority
of the King. The Earl in consequence assembled a large force,
and in August marched into Connauglit. With Clanricarde
were the following native chiefs : — O'Brien of Thomond,
MacNamara, O'Connor of Coniiaught, and O'Carroll. On the
Earl's side were several of the Lords of the Pale, besides
O'Neill, M*Dermott of Moylurg, Mugennis of Iveagh,
O'Farrell, M'Mahon, O'Haulon, O'Reilly, O'Kelly, O'Conor
Faly, and the Burkes of Mayo. The two armies met on the
19th at Cnock Tungh, i.e., the Hill of the Battleaxes, now
Knockdoe, about seven miles from Galway, and a fierce and
hard fought conflict ensued in which both sides suffered heavy
losses till at last the Connatight army broke and fled. The
Annals say that since the time of the Conquest in 1170 no
such battle had been fought in Ireland, as regards the
numbers engaged or the multitudes slain. The result of this
battle had the effect of breaking the strength of the western
septs, and it was considered of such importance by the King,
that when the news of the victory was brought to him by
Walter' FitzSimon, Archbishop of Dublin, he created the Earl
a Knighi of the Garter. The Earl was installed at Windsor,
on the 4th of May, 1505, by his proxy, Sir John Williams.
About this period the Earl rebuilt several castles to
strengthen the possessions of the Crown, and among others the
White Castle of Athy, and those of Castledermot, and Bath-
villy, the latter in the Co. Carlow.
In the year 1507, the Earl wrote a remarkable letter from
his Castle in Castledermot, to Florence, in which he makes
inquiries as to the family of Gherardini (here, from whom his
ancestor " Domiuus Otho," the first of the family to reside in
England, and great-grandfather to Maurice FitzGerald, the first
of the Irish Geraldines, was sprung, close on five hundred years
before. This letter is amongst the Gherardini papers, and was
worded thus : —
To be given to all the family of Gherardini, noble in fame and virtue,
dwelling in Florence, our beloved brethern in Florence, Gerald, Eurl of
Kildare, Lord Deputy of the Kingdom of Ireland, sends greeting to all the
Family of Gherafdini dwelling in Florence. Most grateful to uh have been
your letters to us, most illustrious men. From them we have learned to
EIGHTH EARL OF KILDARE. 129
know the favour of the fraternal love that you bare to your own blood. But
in order to increase your joy still more, I will briefly inform you of the state
of your relations in these parts. Enow, then, that my predecessors and
ancestors passed from France into England, and having remained there for
some time, tbey, in the year 1140,^ arrived in this island of Ireland, and by
their swords obtained great possessions, and achieved great feats of arms ;
and up to the present day have increased and multiplied into manv branches
and families, insomuch that I, by the Grace of God, possess by Iiereditary
right the Earldom, and am Earl of Kildare, holding diverse castles and
manors, and by the liberality of our most serene Lord the King of England,
I am now his Deputy in the whole of Ireland, during the pleasure of his
majesty, an honour frequently obtained heretofore by my father and my
predecessors. There is also a relation of ours in these parts called the Karl
of Desmond,* under whose lordship there are 100 miles, in length of country.
Our house has increased beyond measure, in a multitude of barons, knight^,
and noble persons, holding many possessions, and having under their
command many persons. We are most desirous to know the deeds of your
anoe!»tors, so that if you have in your possession any history, werecjuest you
to communicate it to us. We wish to know the origin of our house, and
their numbers, and the names of our ancestors ; whether there are any of
them settled in France, and who of our family inhabit the Roman territory.
I also wish to know the transactions of the present time, for it gives me
great joy always to hear news of our house. If there is anything we can
procure tor you through our labour and industry, or anything that you have
not got, such as hawks, falcons, horses, or dogs for the chnse, I beg you will
inforiu me of it, us I shall, in every possible way, endeavour to obey your
wishes. God be with you, and do you love us in return. From our Castle
of Caatledermot, 27th day of May, 1507.
GERALD,
Chief in Ireland of the family of the
Geraldines, Karl of Kildare, I»rd
Deputy of the Most Serene King of
England in Ireland.
On tlie succession of Henry VIII. in April, 1509, the Earl
was reappointed Lord Justice, and in the following year Lord
Deputy. In this and the next two years he again made expe-
ditions to the north and in the south, as related in the
"Annals of the Four Masters."
In 1513 the Earl was on his way to the (present) King's
County to reduce a castle of the O'CarroU's called Lemy vannau,
i.e. O'Banan's Leap, but now known under the translated name
of "Leap Castle." He had got as far as Kilkea, and was
watering his horse in the river Greese, when he was fired at by
a party of the O'Mores and was badly wounded. By slow
iRecte, 1170.
^The Earldom of Kildare was created in 1316, and that of Desmond in
1329 ; The former was given to John, third in descent from Gerald, the
eldest son of Maurice FitsOerald who died in 1177 ; the latter was given to
Maurice, fourth in descent from Thomas, the third son of the ahove Maurice
FitzGerald* The latter title became extinct in the year 1608.
Gbkald thk 8tu Earl of Kildaii£*8 Tomb,
Erected in St. Mary's Chapel, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, about the year^rsoj :
destroyed about the'end of the 17th century.
Taken from " Mooumenta Eblanx," a MS. volume of Sketches of Dublin Tombs, in Ulster's Office.
Gerald thb 8th Ea&l of Eildaub's Tomb,
Erected in St. Mary's Cbapcl, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, about the year 1503 :
destroyed about the end of the 17th century.
Taken from " Monumenta Eblanx," a ms. volume of Sketches of Dublin Tombs,
in Ulster's OflBce.
VOL. II., PT. II. L
132 INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF GARRETT MORE.
stages he was moved to Athy and thence to Kildare, where,
after lingering for a few days more, he died on the «3rd of
September. His body was taken to Dublin, and on the 16tli
of October bnried with great pomp before the high altar of
..St. Mary's Chapel which he had himself built in 1503, in the
choir of Christ Church. The interior of this chapel was richly
ornamented with the Earl's arms within the Garter, and those
of his wife, with the arms of many of his predecessors and suc-
cessor, but they were all defaced by William Moreton, Bishop
of Kildare and Dean of Christ Church, when he repaired the
church between the years 1677 and 1705. The site of St.
Mary's Chapel is now occupied by buildings connected with
the Cathedral.
The Earl's character is thus described by Stanihurst : —
'* Kildare was open and plaine, hardlie able to rule himselfe
when he were moved to anger, not so sharpe as short, being
easily displeased and sooner appeased. Being in a rage with
certeine of his servants for faults they committed, one of his
horsemen offered Master Boice (a gentleman that reteined to
him) an Irish hobbie, on condition that lie would plucke an
haire from the Earle his beard. Boice taking the proffer at
rebound, stept to the Earle (with whose good nature he was
thoroughlie acquainted) parching in the heat of his choler, and
said : * So it is, and if it like your lordship, one of your horse-
men promised me a choice horse if I snip one haire from your
beard.' * Well,' quoth the Earle, * I agree thereto, but if thou
plucke anie more than one, I promise thee to bring my fist
from thine eare.' "
The Master Boice mentioned in the above anecdote was
Governor of Maynooth Castle in the year 1535, but resigned
the post on the breaking out of the Silken Thomas's Rebellion,
and was succeeded by Christopher Pares, the latter's foster-
brother. His Christian name was James. It was he who,
standing by, made the remark in Irish, ** Antrah " {i,e. too
late), on Pares saying to the Lord Deputy, Sir William
Skeffigton, that he would not have betrayed the Castle if he
had known that he was to be paid the blood-money and hanged
afterwards; hence arose what became a proverb in Irish of
" Too late quoth Boice,'' which is equivalent to the English one
of " You've arrived a day late for the fair."
AT CLOHAUGH, CO. KILDARB.
. JOHN LYE, OF CLONAUGH, CO. KILDAR%.
By rev. E. O^^LEART, P.P.
[Read at Naas, February 5, 1896.]
JOHN Lye himself and Clonaugb, where his castle stood, are
subjects of interest to the students of the history of our
county; and in the following Paper I shall endeavour
f o give what information I could obtain about them from the
sources within my reach.
John Lye played a deep and important part in the political
history of Ireland during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and at
a time when the Government of the Pale was trembling in the
balance. The Irish chieftains of the north were surrounding
the Pale with a ring of fire, and the Anglo-Norman Barons
were becoming almost as hostile. It was in these troubled
times that John Lye appeared in the political arena. His
duty was to go as envoy between the Government and the
great native chiefs and princes, to attend at Dublin Castle on
all occasions when an interpreter was needed, and even to
attend the State trials in London, and interpret between the
Court and the prisoners. "John Lye, as Interpreter to the
State, an important functionary during the disturbed reign of
Elizabeth, is frequently noticed in our public records, and
correspondence, and his services obtained rewards, conjointly
with services afterwards loyally rendered by one of his descen-
dants to* Charles II., which placed his posterity high among
our landed gentry."^ His father was Francis Lasighsigh,
Francis Mac Laoighsigh, Mac Lysach, or I^e, who married a
daughter of John O'Carroll, of Killeigh, ^ng's County. He
vy
* In TransaotioDs of Kilkenny Arch. Society — H. F. Hoare, Esq.
L2 133
134 JOHN LYE, OF CLONAUGH.
had issue, John the Interpreter, Emery, Arthur, mentioned in
John's will, Francis in the array, and Henry. These facts we
learn from Burke's "Landed Gentry," which tells us that
Francis MacLysach, of Killeagh, petitioned in 1551 for a lease
of the dissolved monastery, town, and lands of the Holy Cross,
Killeagh, and obtained a lease of them next year. Two
months later, Nov. 30, 1582, he obtained a grant of English
liberty to enable him to hold lands. He was dead in 1573,
and his lands were in possession of his eldest son, John Lye
the Interpreter.
In Brewer's " Calendar of Carew Manuscripts," under date
17th Feb., 1579, there is mention of a feofment made by Sir
William O'CarroU, of Lemyvannon, in Elye, to John Aley
(Lye), of Clonaglie, Co. Kildare, and to Arthur Aley, of the
same, of all his lands and possessions in Ireland, for the use of
Sir William, and for his sons Shawn and Callough."*
John Lye or Ly had a perfect knowledge of the English
language as well as the Irish, was appointed Interpreter to the
State, and was granted for his services as Interpreter, by patent
dated 9th May, 1584, the fee of the Monastery of Killeagh,
which he then held under the lease made to his father, and
obtained a grant of Bathbride, Co. Kildare, dated 1st June,
1591. He married Amy, daughter of George Fitzgerald of
Tecroghan, Co. Meath, and sister of Sir Edward Fitzgerald,
knt., of the same place, and had issue, John, his heir, Andrew,
a minor in 1612, Katherine, m. James Fitzgerald of Osbalds-
town, or Osbertstown, Co. Kildare, Mabel, Mary, Margaret,
Bridget, Amy, and Ellinor.
In 1571, John Lye received Clonaugh as a reward for his
services, as appears from a State paper, which contains the
entry : " at the suit of John Alee, a messenger to ye dangerous
places." Clonaugh is a townland in the extreme north of the
Co. Kildare, about one mile from the borders of Co. Meath,
and is in the old pre-Beformation parish of Cadamstown.
There is an entry in the Council Book of a freedom of
40 marks to John I^ye, the Interpreter, in respect of maintaining
a bridge upon the Blackwater, Co. Kildare. This Blackwater
bridge is only a mile . from Clonaugh, and its mention here
tempts me to make a digression.
The old coach-road from Dublin to Galway crosses the
Blackwater at this spot. There are two Blackwaters flowing
into the Boyne. But with the larger and more famous, which
» Brewer 8 "Calendar of Carew MSS.," vol. for 1575-78, p. 485, 17th
Feb., 1579.
JOHN LYE, OF CLONAUGH. 1^5
flows south, and joins the fioyue at Navan, we are not oon-
cemed. The Co. Kildare Blaokwater flows north from the
bog of Allen, through Johnstownbridge, by Longwood, and
joins the fioyne at Castleriokard. At the point on the Black-
water, where John Lye was paid to keep the bridge, a very
peculiar and famous race-meeting used to be held one hundred
years ago. In those days this river was undrained, as the
upper reaches of the Barrow are at present, with the result that
the country was flooded in rainy seasons. A great crowd
gathered on the day of the races, with music and dancing, and
booths ou the green ; but the races had come off at an early
hour in the morning, for the proper and becoming reason, that
the races were swimmiug contests of the horses down the flood,
guided by scantily clad jockeys. A great multitude assembled,
during the day, to celebrate the victories of the morning.
There is now, and has been for at least two hundred years, a
good stone bridge in the place. These horse-swimming races,
or contests, must have lapsed a century ago, for their memory
is a mere tradition, but what must have been their origin P
The following is a probable explanation. The times we speak
of were but a century removed from the rebellion of 1641, and
the Blackwater bridge is but half a mile from Balyna, the
castle of Koger O'More, " the great rebel," who, after Owen
Boe O'Neill, was the ablest of the Irish leaders. Tlie clearing
is still pointed out in the woods at Balyna, where O'More
drilled his soldiers. But a most important detail of military
drill must have been to train iiis horse-soldiers to cross the
swollen floods in a country where there were not yet either
roads or bridges. What more likely, than that a military
leader of genius, like O'More, should have established these
swimming contests, and have given prizes for skill in this
important item of militaxy drill?
And now to return to Joim Lye. In the townland of
Clonaugh, say the Ordnance Survey papers, is a piece of
ground, containing an acre, which is surrounded by a ditch.
At the time of the general suppression, there was here a
religious house, or chapel, dedicated to St. Fynian, with the
townlands adjoining. This was a burial-place of note, and in
war-time the circumadjacent inliabitants were exempt from all
the customary burdens of the country. In the centre of the
circle was a stone cross and two yew trees, from one of which
hung a bell. Adjacent to the east side of the chapel was a
smaU close appertaining thereto, all of the annual value, besides
reprises, of &i. {vide^ Chief Remembrancer). In an Inquisition,
held at Naas in the reign of James I., 1608, we find that John
136
JOHN LYE, OF CLONAUGH.
Lye of Batlibride, gent., being seized of divers lands in the
said townland of Clonaugh, levelled the tenements, bounds, and
limits of the said religious house, threw down and destroyed
the cross and trees, and erected a tower, or small castle, with
other buildings. All these said premises were, for a long
time, concealed from the king.^ The reason for concealing this
"--Ti ^
i
I 'If \%
JOHN LYK's arms,
On a stone from Clonaugb Castle, Co. Kildare, now built into the porch of a
farm-bouse in that neighbourhood. (20 in. x zi in.)
Clonaugh property from the king will appear further on. By
an Inquisition taken at Naas, 1612, it appears that John Lye
was seized of certain tenements and J300 acres of land in
Tichnevin, Ballybrack, Ballinakill, Kilpatrick, Kilcaskin, and
Kilmorebranagh. And the said John Lye was also seized of
^ Inquisiition held at Naas, 1608.
JOHN LYE, OF CLONAUGH.
137
20 acres, along with common pasturage in the townland of
Clonaugh, held by Thomas Birmingham, and a chapel called
the chapel of St. Finnan, in the townland of Clonaugh,
together with 9 messuages, 2 enclosures, and an orchard
belonging to the said chapel.^
From the '^ Monast. Hib.," we learn that the priests of
Clonaugh had procured for themselves and their successors
certain lands in perpetuitywithout having obtained the king's
consent, contrary to the Statute of Mortmain. A vague tra-
dition still lin&^ers in the neighbourhood of the priests who
taught school there, but whether they were religious or secular
is not known. There is scarcely a stone at present to point out
the site of Clonaugh, but a few hundred yards away there is an
amphitheatre of low green sandhills which stand mute sentinels
round the spot, and carry the imagination back to other times
and other scenes, when crowds of students flocked to the sunny
slopes of these green sandhills to be taught by the priests under
the blue vault of heaven.
SSSJ*** if •'Si?*£lin*3!'3^^»-^"** |- -. . . tm^ti*^^^
AT JOHNSTOWNBRIDCK, CU. KiLDARK.
John Lye had his castle built at Clonaugh in 1578, for a
sculptured stone, with his coat of arms, attests it. This stone
is there to the present day, built into the porch of the thatched
dwelling-house of Mary Ennis hard by. A few inches of the
right side of the stone are cut off, and in its present state it
measures 20 inches high, and 11 inches wide. Below the arms
on the dexter side is the date 1578, and below this again a
broken inscription, by reason of the stone being cut away, from
which the following words can be read : — •
" IHON. LY BILDED THIS T . . ."
Above the shield is a crest now indistinguishable ; but Burke
* Chanoery Inquisition taken »t Naas, 1612.
^ — . . tmu
"^i-* ^nii je*-"aine )f :iie -nine ir:?s -viiicii Jjim Ljre threw
-^ •> i r itr5rrn^<^t- t ^'^^ ^"^ ^ ^*^7 portioa remaining ?
- -ifsp 3. Ai ne •▼'^^ li --♦^ Tuio^re or Johostownbridge
^ 3Bniaiiabie jbeiiaK 'ir pier b«iilc on the roadie of
nawmg: 3 Jffl^ zivm. P^e large atone is rery like
ff 1 imm It » • »-^ ^1^ ^^ iuclies long at top, and
JOHN LYE, OF CLONAUGH.
139
2 feet at the base. There is a socket in the upper surface, 14
inches loDg, and 8 inches wide. The present cross is only 4
inches wide ; it is 16 inches high, and though it widens out to
a base of 8 inches as shown in the sketch, it does not half fill
the socket, and is wedged in there with other bits of stone ; so
that this base and this cross were never intended for each other.
The history of this cross and base is buried in obscurity. The
common tradition is that they belonged to a religious house
which formerly existed at Johnstown bridge, but there is no
GKRALD THB XITH EARL OP KILDARB's ARMS,
On a stone from Clonaugh Castle, now in the village of Johnstownbridge, Co. Kildare.
(About ao inches square.)
record of any such religious house in the " Monast. Hib." or
any other authority that I could find. There is no record of
how long they are up in their present position, but tradition
gives it that they were so placed by one of the ancestors of Mr.
More O'Ferrally the landlord of the place. But I think there
140 JOHN LYE, OF CLONAUGH.
can be little doubt but that they both came from Glonaugh, and
are the remains of John Lye's iconoclasm.
There are two other sculptured stones in the village of
Johnstownbridge which certainly came from Glonaugh, and
one of which Mr. Arthur Vicars has kindly undertaken to
describe, at the end of this Paper.
John Lye, the Interpreter, was evidently a man to make the
most of his opportunities, and to get the best value he could for
his services. In 1 682, we find John and his brother Emery in
the rdle of what at the present day would be called land-
grabbers. O'More was transplanted from Leix to Balyna
about this time, and soon we find John and Emery casting
covetous eyes on Balyna, for in 1692, in the State Papers,* we
find the petition of Emery Lee and John Lee, his brother, to
the Privy Council, for further interest in the castle of Ballyna,
&c., and that Calagh O'More shall be made to choose other
lands, or that they may have others of like value. But the
lands of Balyna are neither rich or productive, and so the Lees
soon found out, and turned their eyes to search for good land
in some other direction.
" Gerald Sutton, of Castletown, in the Co. of Kildare, gent.,
closed his last day on the 18th February, 1674." At the time
of his death, he was seized in fee of the town of Castletown, in
the said county, containing a castle with 200 acres of land,
also of the town of Ilathbride, in the said county, containing
200 acres of land ; also the town of Ballycrotan containing 40
acres &c. ; his son and heir is Gerald Sutton, of full age
in 1574. The wife of Gerald Sutton was Jennetta Eustace,
(and after Gerald's death) she was married to Maurice Fitz James
(Fitz Gerald), of Osberstown in the Co. Kildare.* David Sutton
was attainted of high treason in 20th November, 1680.' Here
was land worth looking for. So, in 1686, we have the Queen
writing to Sir John Perrott, Lord Deputy, and the Council of
Ireland, directing that John Lye, of Clonaugh in the Co.
Kildare, should have a lease of the lauds of Hathbride, Morris-
town-biller, Croatanstown, for sixty years without a fine, in
reversion or possession, *' on consideration of the general testi-
mony delivered by the deputy under the hands of the council,
and by a particular letter from the lord deputy to the secretary
Walshingham, in commendation of the said John Lye, both for
» Hamilton's " Calendar of State Papers," vol. for 1574-86, 11th May,
1682.
• •* Exchequer Inquisitions," ^'o. 8 of Elizabeth.
3 " Ihid.;' No. 23 of Elizabeth.
JOHN LYE, OF CLONAUGH. 141
his own servioe, and for that of bis ancestors, and the charges
he sustained in building a castle and bawn upon the farm called
Clonaugh, but which farm he was about to surrender in conse-
quence of a grant in reversion of it being passed away to one
Callagh O'More.^
Thus he got a lease of the coveted lands, and next year he
wants the fee-farm of them : " The petition of John Lye
of Clonaugh to Queen Elizabeth. His farm of Clonaugh
passes away in fee- farm to Calagh O'More, prays for the fee-
farm of Rathbride, &c. Lye being an Englishman is very
perfect in the Irish tongue."' Here we have Lye saying
the thing that was not. He did not give up Clonaugii to
O'More, but held it himself, and kept the transaction con-
cealed from the king, for in tlie inquisition taken twenty years
after, and already referred to, ^' John Lye was seized of divers
lands in the townland of Clonaugh, levelled the tenements,
bounds and limits of said religious house, threw down and
destroyed the cross and trees, and erected a tower or small
castle with other buildings. AH these said premises were for
a long time concealed from the king. His descendants held
Clonaugh for 100 years afterwards, but finally lost them in
the Williamite wars."
Lye has not yet got the fee-farm of llathbride^ and so,
next year, 1587, we find him applying for an increase of
wages. John Lye, junior, prays enrollment of the following : —
^* For as much as it is verie requisite and necessarie to the State
of this realme, in consideration of the day lie resorte of the Irishe
gentlemen and others of this realme for their severale affayres
to the same, to have and use an iuterpretere for the better
understandinge of their greves, and redresses of their causes :
and for that we have had a long tryall and experience of our
servant, John Alio, whom we have used in tiiat service, and
he being a person most meeke and convenyent for sondrye
respects and good consideration to serve the Lordes Justices
iu our absence. We, the Lord Deputie and Counsell^ have
condescended and agreed that he and the said John Alie, as
interpretere to the State of this realme, shall have and receave
the fee of twelve pence Inshe per diem, and require you the
Threasoreror Vice-Threasorer f or the tyme being, upon sight or
registere of these our letters to be made paye unto him the said
^ Morrill's '* Calendar of Patent and Close Rolls of Chancery, Ireland,"
vol. ii., 24th July, 1586, p. 117.
* Hamilton's «' Calendar of State Papers, Ireland," vol. for 1586-8, Jan.
6th, 1587, p. 244.
142 JOHN LYE, OF CLONAUGH.
fee of xii(/. Irisbe per diem as the same shall termlie grow
unto him, taking his bill testifying the receipt thereof shall be
yeure sufficient warrant in that behalfe. Griven at Garlingford,
the xiii d. of September, 1687.
•* Hknky Sydney.
" Robert Weston, &c., &o.
" To our trustie, &o., Sir Wm. Fitzwilliam, Kut.,
" Vioe-Threas., &c., at Wars, &c."»
We learn from Stowe that, in 1591, John Lye acted as
interpreter in London at one of the most noted State trials of
the time — that of Sir Bryan O'Eoarke, of Lough Gill, for high
treason. Dr. O'Donovan refers to a manuscript in the Boyal
Irish Academy, which gives an accouut of this trial, and, at
p. 462, narrates : — •* Bryan O'Roarke, the Irish potentate, being
thus by the King of the Scots sent into England, was arraigued
at Westminster Uall. His indictments were, that he had
stirred Alexander McDonnell and others; had scornfully
dragged the Queen's picture at a horse taiie, and disgracefully
cut the same in pieces ; giving the Spaniards entertainment
against a proclamation ; tier'd many houses, &c. This being
told by an interpreter (John Lye)^ for he understood noe
English, he said he would not submit himself to a tryall of
twelue men, nor make answer, except the Queen satt in person
to judge him. The Lord Chief Justice made answer againe,
by an interpreter, that whethet he would submit himself or not
to a tryall by a jury of twelve men, he should be judged by
law, according to the particulars alleged, whereto he replied
nothiug, byt 4f it must be soe let it be soe.' Being con-
demned to die he was shortly after carried into Tyburn, to be
executed as a traitor, whereat he seemed to be nothing moved,
scorning the Archbishop of Caishill (Miler Magrath), who was
there to counsel him for his soul's health, because he had broken
his vow from a Franciscan, changing his religion." In the
life of Charles O'Connor, of Balanagare, we have the following
reference to this trial, at p. 112: — "The only crime which
O'lioarke could be accused of was his having received under
his roof some shipwrecked Spaniards, men whom the most
hardened barbarity would scarcely consider as enemies." A
little before his execution Miler Magrath, appointed Arch-
bishop of Cashel, was sent to him to prevail on him to con-
form. " No," said O'Eoarke, " but do you remember the
1 *< Memorandum Koll of the £xchequer," 9 Elizabeth.
JOHN LYK, OF CLONAUGH. 1 43
dignity from which you have fallen P Return into the
bosom of the ancient church, and learn from my fortitude
that lesson which you ought to have been the last on earth to
disavow.' "
In 1591, we hear of John Lye in a new r61e — that of Land
Leaguer — complaining that the rent is too high. At this date
the Queen again writes to the Ijord Deputy and Council of
Ireland. She refers to her letter of 1686, granting John Lye,
^* our good and faithful subject, a lease for 60 years, without
fine, of Itathbride, Morristownbiller, and Croatanstown," and
she says : — *' Lye complains that the rent charged for them is
too high, so that he can't live on them, much less defend them
against evil disposed persons, which, he says, are in that part
very numerous."^ The Queen now, therefore, orders that these
lands be resurveyed, so that the same may be reasonably
rented ; and that he may reap the benefit she graciously means
to him, in order to make up the full value of £50 sterling,
such other lands that may come to the Crown by attainder,
escheat, ontrusion, or concealment, whereof he shall give notice,
are to be set to him and to his assigns for 60 years, without
fine. This was a most important document for John Lye.
He is the State servant, and he is promised all the forfeited
lands of his unfortunate neighbours, of which he shall give
notice. Mark the result. A few miles to the south of
Clonaugh, and on the road to Bathbride, we find a whole
colony of Ketons, or Eeatings. Ticknevin belonged to Qerald
FitzQ-erald Eeaton, Kilpatrick to Qerald FitzEdmond Keton,
and Ballinakill Ballybrack to Edmund FitzMyler Keton, and
Ballinakill to Thomas Eeton. All these unfortunate people
are attainted of high treason, and lose their lands, which at
once slip quietly into the possession of John Lye.' There is
an old laneway, blotted out in many places, but still quite
traceable, which passes Clonaugh, and goes its winding way
south to Kilpatrick, Ticknevin, then via Lullymore, across the
bog of Allen, and on to the open country towards Itathbride.
Most likely this laneway was constructed by John Lye.
Another windfall comes to John at this time also — Ealmore-
branagh. It is only half a mile north-east from Clonaugh,
and belonged to James Walshe, brother and heir to Jonn
FitzPhilip Walshe. This James Walshe was attainted of high
treason, and Kilmorebranagh is enfeoffed to John Lye, of
1 Morrin's '* Calendar of Patent and Close Rolls of Chanoery, Ireland/'
vol. ii., 2l8t Feb., 1591, p. 228.
' ** £xcheqaer Inquisitions," No. 2 Elizabeth,
144
JOHN LYE, OF CLONAUGH.
Clonaugh, gent.^ There are many respected descendants of
this old Irish family still living in the same neighbourhood,
the present representative being the Rev. Edward Walshe,
P.P., ClonbuUogue, King's Co.
In 1692, John Lye, an in-
terpreter of the Irish tongue,
was recommended from the
Lord Deputy and Council for
his good service.'
1596. In the list of the
principal inhabitants of the
English Pale, given by coun-
ties, in this year, the name
appears of John Alee, of Eath-
bride, Co. Kildare.'
In 1600, John Lye was
made a pensioner. In Eussell's
State Papers,* giving a list of
such pensioners as are payable
out of His Highness's Trea-
sury coming out of England.
Amongst the names occurs that
of John Lye, entered by war-
rant of the Lord Deputy (the
Earl of Essex), dated the 22nd
December, 1600, by direction
out of England at 2s. 6rf. per
day ; and per annum, £50
After the death of Queen
Elizabeth, we find John Lye
looking for a new lease of his
lands immediately after James
I. came to the throne.* He
got it, too, and additional lands
as well. In the State Papers
we find a letter from James I.
to the Lord Deputy of Ireland, granting a lease, in reversion
for sixty years, to John Lye and his son, of the castle, town,
* ** Exchequer Inquisitions," No. 29 Elizabeth.
2 Hamilton's << Calendar of State Papers, Ireland, 1588-92," p. 456;
25th Jan., 1592.
» Brewer's ** Calendar of Carew M88.," p. 191.
* Russell's " Calendar of State Papers, Ireland, 1603-6," p. 128.
* Ibid., p. 184,
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TOMB OP JOHN LYB,
In the grounds of St. Brigid's CatbedmL
Kildare.
JOHN LYE, OF CLONAUGH 1 45
and lands of Rathbride, Relockstowne, Momstownbiller, Croat-
enstowne, and Little Morristowne, in the County Kildare, and
the moiety of the village of Kilraorey, in the County Meath,
now in the tenure of the said John Lye, dated 19th July, 1604.
John Lye died on the 7th May, 1612, and was buried at
the Cathedral of Kildare, where his tombstone still remains,
and bears the following inscription : —
OBATE + PBO + ANIHABUS + lOHANNIS + LY + DE + BABBm +
ABKIOEBO + ET + AMY + FITZGEBALD + VXOBIS + EIVS 4 C0MMENDAMV8 +
ANUfAS + N08TBA8 + IN + MANVS + SALVATOBIS + DOMINI + N08TBI +
lESV + CHBISTI + NIGOIX + HELI + DATVM + VH + DIB + MAY 4 1612 +
lOHANNIS + U + INBI.
The tomb is in good preservation, and the inscription is
very legible. It lies one foot above the surface of the grave-
yard, and is incased in a frame of granite slabs, which are
secured at the comers by iron straps leaded into the granite.
The tomb, which is of limestone, is 7 ft. 6 in. long, and 2 ft.
7 in. across the head, but tapers to 1 ft. 9 in. at the foot. The
only carvings on the tomb are the inscription, which runs round
the margin in raised letters, and an incised cross which occupies
the centre, and is 5 ft. 4 in. long, by 6 in. wide. (See sketch.)
Extracts from John Lye's Will.
{Original in the Record Office^ Dublin.)
It commences : —
" In the name of God, Amen, I, John Lye of Rathbryde, in tlie
Countye of Kildare, Gent., being in goode and perfect memory and
unterstanding, thanks be given to Q(A, do ordaine and make this my
laste will and testament, in manner and forme following : I comment
my soule into the hands of my Lorde and Savioar Jesus Christe, and
my body to be buried in y« Lady Chappell in the Church of Kildare."
His possessions are enumerated as consisting of : —
In the King*8 Co, — Killigh, ffentyor, and Downaffiegh.
„ Co. JTiVr/rtrtf.— Teknivan, Bally bracke, Kilpatrick, Ballyna-
killigh, Kilcaskin, and KilmoreBranagh.
,, Co. Meath. — Kilmory.
These possessions he willed in remainder as follows : —
1. To the nse and behoofe of my eldest son John Lye, and the heirs males
of his bodye lawfully begotten ; and
for want of such issue —
2. ,, „ ,, second son Andrew Lye, and the heirs
males of his bodye lawfully begotten ;
and for want of such issue — ^
3. ^, ,, ,» wife Amy fitz Geralde for and during the
terme of her naturall Lyffe.
146 JOHN LYE, OF CLONAUOH.
4. And after to the use of the said Mabell Lye my daughter, and the
heires of her boddye lawfully begotten ; and for want of such issue —
5. To the use of the said Mary Lye, my daughter, and the heires of her
boddye lawfully begotten ; and for want
of such issue —
6. „ „ „ Margaret Lye, my daughter, and the heires of
her boddye lawfully begotten ; and for
want of such issue —
7. „ ,, ,, Bridget Lye, ray daughter, and the heires of her
boddye lawfSly begotten ; and for want
of such issue —
8. „ ,, „ Amy Lye, my daughter, and the heires of her
boddye lawfully begotten ; and for want
of such issue —
9. ,, ,, ,, EUinor Lye. ray daughter, and the heires of her
boddye lawfully begotten ; and for want
of such issue —
10. „ ,, of my reputed son Edward Lye and the heires males of his
boddye lawfully begotten ; and for want
of such issue —
11. ,, ,, of my brother Arthur Lye and the heires males of his
boddye lawfully begotten ; and for want
of such issue —
12. „ „ of my brother Henry Lye and the heires males of his
boddye lawfully begotten ; and for want
of such issue —
13. ,, „ of my daughter Eatlierin Lye and the heires males of her
boddye lawfully begotten ; and for want
of such issue —
14. ,, „ of my welbeloved brother-in-law Sr. Edward fitzGerralde,
Knight, and his heires for ever.
His Executors are —
His wife and his unmarried children.
The overseers to the will are —
His welbeloved brother-in-law, Sr. Edward fitz Gerralde, of
Tecroegan, in the County of Meath, Ent.
His welbeloved sister-in-law Mabell fitz Gerralde (sister of Sir
Edward's, and of Amy his wife).
His Goshipp Christopher Lynce, of Croboy, in the County of Meath,
gent.
" My fPather " Owein Doyne.^
His son-in-law James fitz Gerralde of Obsbaldstowne in the County
of Eildare. gent., and
Katherin Lye his wife.
The will ends thus : —
" In witness whereof I, the said John Lye, have hereunto putt
my hande and scale, the fifth daye of July in the yeare of the
Raigne of our most gratious Soveraigne Lord King James of
England fironoe and Lreland the Eigth, and of Scotland the
forteeth three. •* John Ltk."
^ His chaplain or his foster-father.
JOHN LYE, OF CLONAUGH. 1 47
In preparing this paper, I have to thankfully acknowledge
the valuable help received from Lord Walter Fitz Gerald, who
supplied me with copious and valuable notes; and also from
Mr. M. Brophy, of Carlow, who has published all the informa-
tion he could glean about John Lye, including the reproduction
of Mr. Hoare^s paper.
In discussing the nationality of John Lye, both Mr. Hoare
and Mr. Brophy incline to the belief that he was an Irishman,
and dei^cended from the MacLaighids, or O'Lees, who were
hereditary physicians in West Connaught. Mr. Brophy gives
the following evidence to corroborate his opinion, and states
that, in the possession of Sir Thomas Echlin, Bart., B..I.G.
Depot, Phoenix Park, tliere are amongst the records of the
family property of the Echlins, documents which show that
Sir Henry Echlin, a remote ancestor of the present Sergeant
Baronet, purchased Glonaugh Castle, its appurtenances and
lands, part of which lay in Galway, from the trustees of the
forfeited estates. And he argues that, as the lands of Glonaugh
were part of a Galway estate, we may infer a connection
between the Lyes of Clonaugh, and the O'Lees, or MacLaighids
of Galway, and that John Lye was most probably descended
from the MacLaighids of Galway, and of course an Irishman.
But I submit that the connection between Clonaugh and
Galway arises from another source. In the inquisition already
mentioned, taken at Naas in 1612, which recounts the various
properties in land held by John Lye, it states of Clonaugh,
that these lauds came into his hands from Thomas Bir-
mingham— " qui tenentur de Tho. Birmingham." Now,
when it is remembered that the Birminghams of Kildare
were a branch of the great Anglo-Norman family of the De
Birminghams of Galway, we see at once that the connection
between Clonaugh and Galway is due to the Birminghams,
and therefore can prove nothing as regards the Lees.
Other competent authorities, having duly considered the
matter, incline to the opposite opinion, that the Lees were
English, or of English descent, for the following reasons : —
First, their Christian names are English, and none of them
Irish ; second, the coat-of-arms is the same as that of one or two
of the English Leghs ; third, in one of his petitions, John Lye
calls himself dn Englishman very perfect in the Irish tongue.
In the troubled times which followed the death of John
Lye, his descendants remained faithful followers of the
Stuarts ; and Clonaugh, with the other Kildare property,
continued in their possession till the fall of James II., when
they lost everything. Clonaugh at that time passed into the
VOL. U., PT. II. M
14^
JOHN LYE, OF CLONAUGH.
hands of the Echlins, as we have seea ; and I hope in a
future paper to conclude the history of Clonaugh, and of its
owners, both the Lees and the Echlins.
The following description is contributed by Arthur Vicars,
Ulster :—
This is the atcliievement of Sir Henry Sidney, K.G.
SIR HENRY Sidney's coat of arms,
On a stone from Clonaugh Castle, now in the village of Johnstownbridge, Co. Kildare.
(About 20 inches square.)
From a rubbing taken by Lord Walter Fitz Gerald in 1894.
The Arras on the slab might be heraldically blazoned as
follows : — Quarterly of Eight.
Ist Or, a pheon azure (Sidney).
2nd Argent, two bars and in chief three escocheons sable (Clumford).
3rd Argent, three chevronels gules, a label of three points azure
(Barrington).
4th Argent, on a bend gules, three lozenges of the field (Mercye).
5th Quarterly or and gules, an escarbuncle sable (Mandeville}.
6th Azure, a chevron between 3 mullets or (Chetwynd).
7th Argent, three lions rampant gules, armed azure (Bellowse).
8th Barry of ten argent ana gules, a lion rampant or, ducally crowned
per pale of the 2nd and 1st (Brandon).
JOHN LYE, OF CLONAUGH.
Tlie Shield encircled with the Garter.
149
Crest, — On a wreath of the Coloars a Porcupine azure, quills or, collared
and chained of the last.
Supporters, — Dexter, a Porcupine azure, quills or, collared and chained
of the last.
Sinister, a Lion rampant (?).
A TRACING ("in* TRICK ") OF SIR HENRY SIDNEY'S COAT OF ARMS,
From a 16th-century MS. in Ulster's Office.
Sir Henry's great-great-great-grandmother being a Clum-
ford heiress, those aims are quartered by the descendants.
His great-grandfather, William Sidney, married Thomasine,
daughter and heir of John Barington, and this marriage thus
brings in the Barrington Arms, along with the 4th, 5th, 6th,
and 7th quarterings, which tlie Barringtons were entitled to.
Sir Henry's grandfather, Nicholas Sidney, having married
Ann, daughter and co-heir of Sir William Brandon, Kt., the
Brandon Coat thus comes into the Sidney atchievement, and is
the 8th and last quartering on the stone slab.
ISO JOHN LYE, OF CLONAUGH.
The representation "in trick" of Sir Henry Sidney's arms is
here given from a MS. in Ulster's OflBoe, entitled : —
''This is an Heraldic Collection of the Arms of Sovereigns, Princes,
Kingdoms, and states in Europe ; together with the Arms of English Peers,
Knights of the Garter, and the chief of the old Historic English families ;
together with a sketch of a Glassory and a List of all Dukes, Marquises,
Earls, Viscounts, and Barons created from the Conquest down to 1574,
collected hv William Jenyns or Jennings, Lancaster Herald temp. Henry
VIIL»' [rect§ to Elizaheth.]
Tills sketch will show how very wide of the mark the Irish
stone-carvers were in their endeavours to represent Heraldry.
Their inaccuracy is quite extraordinary at times, and I would
warn all Antiquaries not to put too much reliance on the
correctness of Arms so depicted on Monuments in Ireland. For
instance, the supporters here given do not agree with those as
represented in the MS, mentioned above, as the Porcupine
should be to the sinister, and also collared and chained, and the
Lion rampant should be the dexter supporter, and be collared
and chained too.
( 151 )
IRISH PLACE-NAMES AND LOCAL FOLK-
LORE.
By M. DARBY, Esq., M.D.
IF Monasterevan had not a better name of its own it might
with justice be called the town of bridges as there are
twenty-six of them within a quarter mile radius. The oldest
and most interesting of those is Ballagh, or Pass Bridge, very
narrow, with recesses on one side to enable pedestrians to evade
vehicular traffic. It spans the river Barrow where the Earl of
Essex crossed in 1599, in his march northwards, after escaping
destruction by the O'Moores in the Pass of Plumes. Tradition
says that, for the assistance rendered him by the inhabitants
on that occasion, he granted them a ^^ right of way " of ten
yards in width along either bank for a considerable distance,
presumably for tlie purpose of fishing. Here also Cromwell's
army crossed before battering down the fine old castle of Lioa,
the principal stronghold of Silken Thomas. Some of Crom-
well's admirers here had the bridge photographed* under the
erroneous impression that it was built by him, when there was
question of its removal for the Barrow drainage. An old man
named Whelan, who lived close by, and who died a few years
ago aged 98, was told by his father that he, the latter, often saw
as many as thirty members of the old Irish Houses of Commons
and Lords stop at a hotel beside the bridge, all riding on their
way to or from a Parliamentary Session. They travelled together
for obvious reasons. The hotel was kept by an ancestor of the
late Dr. Dudley White, city coroner. On one side of this bridge
lies the townland of Goolnafera (the men's comer; it may
also mean the "grassy corner") ornamented with the inevitable
cock-pit. Here the natives assembled for athletic exercises,
&c. In the bog close by were found some years ago a quantity
of butter and a long earthenware jar, full of fluid, which to
the disgust of the finders, was as tasteless as the bog-water.
All trace of the jar has been lost as the discoverers have long
since emigrated.
Passing up the Black river, formed by the confluence of
the Slate, Figile, and Cushina, we meet the fine old dun of
152 IRISH PLACE-NAMES
Goul-na-Graigue, " the fork of the village," where, acccordiug
to many of the neighbours, little men are acoustomed to play
at hurley, but they will not allow of close inspection.
A short distance up the eastern bank, we come on the
Tew-tree grave-yard. Here was a branch of St. Evan's
Monastery, whose first monks were, like himself, Munster
men, and hence the place was called Ologheen na Monia, the
stony place or little stone fort of the Munster men, or Clocain
na Monia, " the bell of the Munster men." The latter, I
believe, to be the proper name, as there exists no remnant of
a stone fort, nor is it a stony place. Moreover, there is another
clogheen further down on the opposite side of the river. Here
was kept St. Evan's bell as a swearing relic for the surround-
ing tribes — notably the O'Dempseys and O'Connors. It now
lies in a particular spot in the adjacent river called the *' Bell
Hole." The story that the bell of its own accord rolled
down to the river, on a false oath having been taken on it,
may be passed over, as it is not likely that this was the first
false oath taken on it during several centuries. The more pro-
bable tradition is, that in one of the Danish incursions the
person in charge of the bell threw it into the river for safety,
and was either killed or unable to find it afterwards. How-
ever there it lies in ten centuries of mud awaiting its resurrec-
tion (apparently as far off as the general one) at the hands of
the BaiTOW Drainage. The bog adjoining is known as Derry-
managh, " the oak wood of the monks." It was here that a
young man named Connor found about two years ago a large
cylinder of butter about ten feet below the surface, placed
there for security or to preserve it from rancidity. It was
covered with leaves and the remains of a firkin, and is now at
Braganza House, Carlow. It would not be possible to tell,
with any degree of certainty, when it was placed there, as it
would sink by its own weight, and this bog is subject to frequent
moyements owing to the swelling of the soomaiies or under-
ground waters.
This locality was the nursery and hotbed of the Whitefeet.
On the opposite or Queen's county side of the river is
Inchacooly, " the river meadow in the angle or corner." Here
one summer's day, nearly seventy years ago, a local farmer, F.,
was engaged in mowing, and was in the act of eating his
dinner just brought him by his wife, when a man from a
neighbouring village presented a pistol at him. His wife tried
to dodge between them, but the would-be assassin succeeded
in putting a bullet through F.'s chest. He was brought into
Monasterevan in a boat ; recovered, and died only last year at
AND LOCAL FOLK-LORE. 1 53
the age of 92. He was more fortunate than his neighbour,
Eilmurrj, who had his tongue cut out to prevent further
blabbing, and died from the injury. His supposed mutilator,
Farrelly after many hair-breadth escapes, got away to Dublin,
as part of a load of bog deal, and n>om thence to America.
Some of their savagery, however, was tinged with a little fun
as follows : — A servant man, near Bathangan, ran away with,
and married, the daughter of a '' strong " farmer who refused
his son-in-law any fortune. The latter applied to the " boys "
for redress. Accordingly, they visited the farmer one night,
and, after two sittings on a hot griddle, succeeded in extorting
the fortune from him. They must have pocketed some of
the booty, as, on their way home, they put up at a cabin in
Ummeras Bog, owned by a man, named Peyton, sent into
Monasterevan for a barrel of whiskey, got very drunk and
set fire to the hut. The least intoxicated of the party dragged
out the others, but forgot the whiskey, ammunition, and loaded
firearms, when, to use the words of an eye-witness, a review
ou a small scale took place in the bog. One of the head-
centres of this society still lives in good health, but blind.
Around this locality, on the borders of .the Eang's County,
there liyed about this time several families, named M^Qrogh-
than, anglice Grnttan, who were men of almost superhuman
strength. One of them, with a comrade named Connor, stole
a vicious bull from a neighbouring farmer in the King's
County named M*Evoy, for the purpose of fip^hting him
against an equally pugnacious one in Kildare. When they
got him as far as the bridge over the Slate, they found to
their dismay that it had been carried away by the flood.
Unwilling to be deprived of their sport they took the bull, not
by the horns, but on their shoulders, carried him through the
flood oyer a plank across the broken bridge, only to be killed
on the other side by his Kildare antagonist. The racial
characteristic appears to have taken a mental tendency in the
celebrated Henry of that ilk.
A little farther on in the King's County, just oflP the road
leading from Brackna to llathangan, are the ruins of an old
chapel called Ballinoulart, " the town of the orchard." This,
like many others of its time, was thatched. About one hundred
and sixty years ago two brothers, named Cordugan lived in
the neighbourhood, one a Protestant, the other a Catholic. The
former, according to the law and custom of the time, seized on
the property belonging equally to both. Still not feeling
secure as long as the brother lived, he procured a company of
soldiers, went to the chapel on Sunday during Mass time,
154 IRISH PLACE-NAMES AND LOCAL FOLK-LORE.
demanded his brother from the congregation, and was refused.
He then had the doors fastened on the outside, set fire to the
thatoh, and burned all the worshippers, except one, Shawn
Kelly, who, escaped somehow, and ran for his life. The first stop
he made to look back was at a cross roads in the Bathangau
direction, which is called, in consequence, Ballyshawn, ^* the
town of Jack," to this day. On the opposite side of the road is
a farm-house, called Ballinrahau, ^Ulie town of the ferns."
Here lived a substantial farmer, in the early years of the
present century, named Morrin. Having sold one market day
in Edeuderry ('' the hill brow of the oak wood ") some of the
produce of the farm, he was informed by the innkeeper where
he put up that he was being watched by a highwayman.
Availing himself of the tip, he mounted his horse and galloped
home, closely followed by the robber also well mounted. Com-
ing opposite his house he jumped off, ran to it by a short cut,
and let the horse find his way home by the usual route, the
noise of whose hoofs guided his pursuer. By the time the
robber aiiived, Morrin had the lower part of the house
barricaded, so the former got a ladder, put it up to a window
in the gable, and was about to effect an entrance when the
latter shot him dead, buried him in the garden, and took
possession of his horse. I am quite aware that the above
stories are very commonplace, and, to many, uninteresting,
but they faithfully reflect the dark side of the habits and
customs of the times of which they treat. The evil men do
lives after them — the good is often buried with their bones:
a strange commentary on that oft-repeated precept, ^^ Nihil de
mortuis nisi bouumJ^
( 155 )
The HillB, Eire and Alba. — In reference to the identification of
two liills, Eire and Alha, somewhere in the Co. Eildure (mentioDed
on p. 343, vol. i., of the Journal), Dr. P. W. Joyce contribntes the
following additional piece of information relating to this subject. He
writes : — •* The account of Laegbaire's death given in the * Book of
Leinster ' is this : — ' At the end of two and a half years [after he had
been taken prisoner and released by the Leinstermen] he came [in
violation of his oath] and took a prey of kine at Sfd Nccbtain,
Whereupon tbe elements [by which lie had sworn] dealt out death to
Laeghaire by the side of Cass, that is, the earth swallowed him, the
sun scorched him, and the wind {i.e. his breath) forsook him' {vide
'Book of Leinster,' p. 299, at the bottom of the second column).
This shows that Laeghaire was killed near the hill of Carbury, of
which the old name was Sid Nechtain — Nechtain's Shee, or fairy
hill. I now think that * Cass ' (which means crooked, or winding)
was the name of a riyer."
Lord Edward Titz Gerald's Bag-pipe8.^The following extract
from the Register, vol. i., of the Museum of the Koyal Irish Academy
is contributed by Mr. J. Casimir O'Meagher : — ** These Bag-pipes,
consisting of a leather bag with bellows attached, three ivory Drones
mounted in silver, a Trumpet of the same metal, a ' Begulator ' with
fire silver keys, and a box-wood brass bound Chanter with ivory
circlets (said by the Vendor to have been portion of the instrument).
On the ivory band portion of the stock is engraved — Egait, and on
the silver band is the following Coat-of-Arms^ :—
** Quarterly, Ist and 4th, Gules, a tower argent between two
men in armour, each holding a halbert, proper.
2nd and 3rd. Or, on a bend azure, three plates.
Crest — ^A tower surmounted by a demi man in armour
grasping in the dexter hand a halbert, proper.
Motto — Fortitude et Pradentia.
The inscription, ' Lord Edward Eitz Gerald, 1768,' is also engraved
on the silver band.
" The Bellows are of mahogany with marquetery border, and a
shell ornament in an oyal green ground. On the upper side in the
latter there are two iyory perforations.
'* Purchased from George Tuke, of 5, Merrion-place, for £6, on
tbe 27th March, 1876, who stated that these Pipes were given to his
1 This Coat-of-Arms has not been identified.
TOL. n., PT. IX. N
156 MISCELLANEA.
mother by a member of the Duke of Leinster's family in which she
lived for many years as a domestic. Tuke, foimerly a hackney-car
driver, is now in his 80th year. His mother died at an advanced
age ; and he asserts that since her death this instrument has always
been in his possession.
'' Manufactured by Egan of Dublin, a well-known maker of Bag-
pipes, father of the late eminent Harp-maker of Dawson-strcet in the
same City."
The ChTUcliyard of Donoughmore lies close to the railway between
Leixlip and Maynooth, and opposite to the demesne of Carton. It is
locally called the *' Grange William " churchyard, after the farm it
stands on. Father Shearman, in his '^Loca Patriciana," says that this
Donoughmore (t.^. Domhnach-more, the great church) was a founda-
tion of St. Patrick's, with which, in subsequent times, an Ossorian
saint. Bishop Ere, was connected, and that its full ancient name was
'^ Domhnach mor Magh Luadhat." The present remains of the
church, which consisted of nave and chancel, are of a mnch later
period, dating probably from the fourteenth century. The rude
chancel arch is still standing, and in the west gable end (which is
topped by tbe remains of a little double belfry) is a narrow spike-
hole window with an internal splay ; it is square- headed, and has
no cut stone-work about it, though in the graveyard are portions of
cut limestone jambs belonging to the doorway.
On the north side of the ruins is a flat slab on which is inscribed —
Here lies old Joe
an honest Man,
Say more of Mortal
if you can.
Some years ago the fourth Duke of Leinster had added to the
inscription —
Joseph Foster
died 1781
and, at tbe same time, had the slab, which was in several pieces,
cemented together. At Carton there is a crayon (28 inches by 20),
by Hamilton, of this Joe Foster, who was an employ^ there. He
is represented as an old man dressed in a big skirted blue coat, long
red waistcoat, white cravat, conluroy knee-breeches, blue stockings,
and big buckled brogues ; a stick is in his hand, and he is looking
up at an old clock standing on the floor. — W. Fitz G.
The attention of our readers is called to " the Treasure Trove "
notice on last page of cover of this number of the Journal. By making
known throughout their districts the information contained therein
they may be the means of saving the valuable contents of a crock
from the melting-pot.
( '57 )
0OU^
There is one addition to be made to the List of Stone Efllgies in
the County (continued from page 343 of voL i.) : — In a recess in the
south wall of the Abbey at Clane lies a portion of a knight's effigy.
All that remains of it is from the waist to the knees, which are
crossed one oyer the other. This is the only instance remaining in
the county of a cross-legged effigy. If a guess might be made as to
who it represents, I would say it was Gerald fitz Maurice Fitz Gerald,
4th Baron of Offaly, who founded this Abbey in the year 1271
(Lodge).— W.FiTzG.
CrannogB in Co. Kildare. — In 1616 a grant was made from King
James I. to Walter Dongan of yaiiotis lands. Among these is men-
tioned land in Sherlockstown, '* with common of pasture in Mone-
cronock/' held by payment of a red rose yearly. This Monecronock
is marked on the Oi'dnance Map as Sherlockstown Common. And
before tlie riyer MorroU was taken to supply the Grand Canal, a
considerable portion of the low -lying land there must have been a
marsh during great part of the year. The formation of the canal and
subsequent drainage have of course altered the character of the
ground ; but the old name Monecronock seems equivalent to Mona-
cronoge, or the Bog of the Crannog. — W. Sherlock.
Pagan Sepulchral Monnments, Xoates.— The undermentioned
sepulchral moats are an addition to the list given in vol. i. p. 405 of
the Journal : —
At Naas, the "North Moat," so called to distinguish it from the
South Moat not now existing.
At Old Connellf close to the churchyard.
At Birtown, also near a churchyard ; it is now greatly reduced in
size. A tradition exists that three kings were buried here,
and that three ** Skeochs" were planted in commemoration.
Only one ancient white-thorn bush now survives.
At Ktlkea Lower townland, close to the river Greese, in a field
called " Ballvlynan," and not far from the site of a chapel called
" Kilcro," of which no trace is now left.
At Firmount^ near Clane.
At Hbrtland, near Kilcock. W. FnzG.
( 158 )
Two ancient Btructnres in the southern end of the county have
Buffered severely from the "weather during the last two winters.
During the hard Fehruary of 1895 a large poiiion of the church ruins
of Killelan, near Moone, fell to the ground; and during the wet
season at the commencement of this year tlie eastern comer of Inch
Castle, near Athy, collapsed, destroying the original entrance, with
its internal ** murder-hole," a large poition of the staircase huilt in
the thickness of the wall, hesidcs the chomhers overhead.
Sunday's Well. — In the county Kildare there are anyhow three
wells, if not more, known as ** Sunday's Well " ; one of Ihcm is near the
village of Clane, another near Naos, and the third is in the townland
of Eichordstown, and parish of Kildangan. The last one mentioned is
the only one which hears the Irish form of the name, viz. Toherreen-
downey" which is a contraction for "Toher-righ-an-domhnaigh,"
meaning the Well of the King of Sunday (t.«. Ood).^ Can any of our
readers inform me on what day the Patterns weio formerly held at
these wells ? Just over the mearin of the countj Kildare, and in the
county Carlow, is a Sunday's Well at a place called Einneagh, which
lies ahoutfour miles to the south-east of Castledermot; according to the
Ordnance Survey letters the Pattern was held here on Whit Sunday.
Piper's Stones. — On the summit of Brewel hill, 1^ miles to the
north of Colhinstown station, and in this county, encircled hy a wide
douhle entrenchment (now much levelled, and not marked on the six
inch Ordnance Survey map) is a group of four large houlders, of which
two are granite, another of white quartz, and the fourth of red
** pudding-stone " ; they are known as the " Piper's Stones/' though
the people in the locality do not know why ; I would he glad to know
if any one can explain the name, and relate the legend which must he
attached to them, as other places in Ireland have also groups of stones
hearing the same name; one, for instance, near Bally more-Eustace, also
in the county Kildare.
" The Bace of the Blaek Fig " on the Curragh.— An ancient road
of this name crosses the western end of the Currogh ; roughly speaking
it lies hetween the racecourse and Kildare, ond is so shown on the six
inch Ordnance Survey map. What is the origin of the name ? — W. FitzQ.
^ Vide p. 452, Second Series, of Dr. Joyce's ** Irish Names of Places
Explained."
SESSION 1897.
YOLTTHE II., Ho. 3.
^ JOURNAL
.-^
OF THE
COUNTY KILDARE ARCHAOLOaiCAL SOCIETY.
CONTENTS.
Papers »— PACK
St. Laurence OToole. By the late Rbv.
Dbmis Murphy, S.J., .... 169
Castle Rheban. By Lord Waltsr
FitzObrald. With niustratiqns, . 167
Early Landowners in Kill, Co. Kildare.
By the Rbv. Canon Shbrlock. With
am IIlttStrattoB .179
The Moat of Ardscnll. By" Omurbthi."
With lUnstrations, 186
Celbridge : Some Notes on its Past His-
tory. By Rbv. Crarlbs I. Graham,
B.Di, Incombent of Celbridge, . . 196
On the Lost Ogham " Deccedda " Stone,
once at Killeien Connac, near Colbins-
town, Co. Kildare, 806
SUaceUanea-^^w/iMMA/ .—
Co. Kildare "Trade Tokens," Seven-
teenth Century. With Illustrations, .
NotaB:—
808
814
Cawlcannoq,
The building of two Bridges in the Co,
Kildare, in the Fourteenth Century, . 814
Calverstown, Co. Kildare, . .814
The Tipper Cross, ..... 814
"The Leap of Allen," .... 816
The Franciscan Abbey, Castledermot. . 816
List of Pictures and Engravings of the
Salmon Leap and Castle at Leizlip, . 816
Kildare Cathedral, 817
Map of Ireland, 818
Church Plate, 818
♦♦«♦«»♦♦••♦♦«
PONSONBY, 116, GRAFTON STREET.
1807.
Price, Two ShilUnss and Sixpence.
THE COONGIL OF THE CODNTT DLDiRE iRGH£0L06I€AL SOCIETY.
THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF MAYO.
l?tee-:?rB8id6ttt:
Thomas Cooke Trench, Esq., d.l.
George Mansfield, Esq., d.l.
The Rev. Canon Sherlock, m.a.
The Rev. Edward O'Leary, p.p.
Thomas J. De Burgh, Esq., d.l.
The Rev. Mathew Devitt, s.j.
]^Dtt. Treasurer :
Hans Hendrick-Aylmer, Esq., Kerdiffstown, Naas.
'Sjiim. Secretaries:
Lord Walter Fitz Gerald, m.r.i.a., Kilkea Castle, Mageney .
Sir Arthur Vicars, f.s.a., Ulster, 44, Wellington-road,
Dublin.
^txxi. Editor :
JOURNAL
OF THE
AND
jSttrr0iiM]triM0 Districts*
ST. LAC/HENCE O'TOOLE.
By thb latj? rev. DENIS MURPHY, 8 J.
[Read at Naas, Febraarj 5, 1896.]
UGAiNE MoR, 27th in descent from Milesius, and Ardrigh
(head king) of Ireland for 40 years, the common ances-
tor of the Leinster tribes, died 570 years b.c, and was
buried in the royal relig or cemetery of Cruachan, in the present
Oo. fiosoommon. He had a numerous issue, twenty-two sons
and three daughters. An old Irish poem tells us that he divided
his kingdom into equal parts between his five-and-twenty
children. He survived all his sons but two— Laoghaire Lore
and Cobhtach Galmbreagh, who, in turn, succeeded him, dwell-
ing at Dinrigh, near old Leighlin, on the Barrow. This rath
is still in existence.
To his grandson, Labrah Lonseagh (t.<?. Lavra the mariner),
we owe the name of Leinster — Laighen — which was substituted
for the earlier name of Gailean, he having introduced the
long, green spear, called '' laighen," from foreign countries.
About the beginning of the Christian era lived TuathalTeach-
mar, twenty-sixth in descent from Ugaine. He was monarch
of Ireland a.d. 76 to a.d. 106. He it was that made Tara the
fixed residence of '^ the Ardrigh," which it continued to be for
six centuries. He it was, too, that first laid the tribute called
the Borua, or cow tax, on Leinster, which was exacted for five
centuries, giving rise to many contentions, until it was remitted
VOL. n., PT. ni. 0
l6o ST. LAURENCE 0*TOOLE.
to the Leinster men by Finnaohta Fleadach, at the request of
St. Moling, of Hy Einseallagh/ a.d. 693. It was reimposed
by Xing Brian Boru, i.e. of the cow tax, on the people of
Leinster, to punish them for calling to their aid the Danes
ngainst him.
Fifth in descent from Tuathal was Cathaoir Mor, from
whom descended nearly all the kings of Leinster till the Anglo-
Norman invasion. We have still remaining his will. It can
be found in the old Irish manuscript called the Book of Lecan,
and a copy of it will be found in the Book of Eights edited by
O'Donovan. In that will, we find that he left to Fiacha, the
youngest of his ten sons, the country about Wexford.
This Fiacha, Keating tells us, though the youngest, is
placed in many books of genealogy before his brothers, perhaps
for this reason — that the province of Leinster was governed by
more kings of his posterity than of any of the other brothers^
From him are descended the princely families of M'Morrough.
Cavanagh, O'Toole, O'Byme, and others.
lUann, the first Christian king of North Leinster, who was
baptized by St. Patrick, was seventh in direct descent from
Fiacha. His brother Oillioll, who succeeded him, was baptized
in Naas by St. Patrick.
Fourth in descent from Oillioll was Colman, who gave
Glendalough to St. Kevin to found a monastery there.
Murchadh Mor, fourth in descent from Colman, divided his
kingdom between his three sons — (1) Mureadagh, to whom he
gave the territory in later times known as Hy-Muireadhaigh,.
the southern half of the county Kildare, and ImaaP (in the
present county of Wicklow) ; to his second son (2) Dunchadh.
be gave all the territory east of the Liffey, i.e. a great part of
the present county Dublin ; and to his third son (3) Faelan he
gave the territory in later times known as Hy Faelan, includ-
ing the northern end of the county Kildare. His descendants
in later times called themselves TJi Bruin, or O'Brins, and
lastly O'Bymes, from Faelan's grandfather Bran, king of
Leinster, who died about the year 687.
The seventh in descent from Murchadh Mor was Tuathal ;.
his father Ugaire was slain at the battle of Gonfey, near
Leixlip, in 915, fought against the Danes under the leadership
of their chief, Sitric, grandson of Imar. Frequent mention is
1 This district iooluded the \vhole of the County Wexford ^ the barony
of Shillelagh, in the County Wicklow, and the northern extremity of the
County Carlow.
' Corresponding, in extent of territory, with the diocese of Olendalough^
.ST. LAURENCE O'TOOI-E. i6i
made of this Tuathal in our Annals. He is said to have made
war on the Hy Ceansallagh, on the O'Mores of Leix, and on
O'Conor Faly ; but whether these wars were offensive or
defensive, history saith not. From him his descendants took
the name of Ui Tuatlial, or O'Toolo.
At the battle of Clontarf we find Boetan, sou of Dunlang,
king of Western Liffe, and Dunlang, son of Tuathal, holding
commands under Maelmordha, king of Leinster, aiding the
Danes. The Annals of the Four Masters say (anno lOlcJ) : —
"MacTuathal {i.e. Dunlang), son of Ugaire, royal heir of
Leinster, and a countless host of Leinstermen were slain with
him."
It was in the time of Brian Boru that surnames came into
u^e in Ireland, as we learn from Seating. '^ It was Brian,"
he says, "that appointed surnames of distinction to all the
several branches of the Milesian race, and to the other principal
families of Ireland, in order to avoid confusion, and that the
genealogies might be preserved with more regularity."
The first who bore the name was Dunouan, who was made
king of Leinster by King Malachy II. He was slain by
Mac Oilla Patrick, at Leighlin, in 1015. The tribes of the
O'TooIes and the Mac Gilla Patricks seem to have been inces-
santly at war with each other at this time. Under date 1141
we read in the Annals of the Four Masters : — " Dermot
McMorrough practised great tyranny and cruelty upon the
I-einster nobility. He killed Donnell, lord of Hy Faelan, and
Morrough O'Toole, with others." ThisMorrough had a brother
Muircheartach, who was elected king of Hy Muiroadhaigli in
1138 ; he died in 1164, and is thus noted in the Annals of the
Four Masters : — " Muircheartach Ua Tuathail, lord of Ui-
Muireadhaigh,and chief of Leinster in hospitality and prowess,
died after penance." He lived at Garbh Tameach/ near
Castledermot, and at Brittas in Imaile.
This Muircheartach (or Murtagh) was the father of St.
Laurence. The saint's mother was the daughter of Bran
O'Byme of Hy Faelan.
Our saint was born in 1127, very probably at Garbh Tam-
each. He was the youngest of eight children, seven sons and
one daughter. This daughter, named Mor, married Dermpt
McMurrough, king of Leinster. He was baptized in the
church of St. Bridget, at Eildare, no doubt, through special
reverence for that great saint. When he was ten years old he
was given as a hostage to Dermot, who, having wrested Hy
A place anidentified.
02
1 62 ST. LAURENCE 0*TOOLE.
Muireadhaigh, would not be satisfied unless he received hostages
to prevent any sort of retaliation on the part of those whom he
had injured.
For two years the youngboy dwelt at Brittas, treated with
great cruelty by Dermot. He was only restored to his father
at the end of that time, who, learning the miserable condition
of his son, seized on twelve of Dermot's kinsmen and threatened
to put them to death unless his son was returned to him un-
harmed. He was then sent to the bishop of Glendalough, to
be instructed. There, after a time, he took the religious habit,
and became a monk.
In 1157, in his thirtieth year, on the death of the Abbot
Gilla-da-Naomh, Laurence was chosen to take his place. On
the death of Gregory, Archbishop of Dublin, four years later,
Laurence, whose holiness and prudence had alreculy become
well knpwn, was chosen unanimously to succeed him. He was
consecrated in Christ Church in 1162, by Q-illa MacDe, better
known as GJ-elasius the Primate, and the following year he
introduced into the Church the Canons of St. Victor, called
Aroasians, from Aroase. He became a member of their com-
munity, observing most strictly all tliat the rule prescribed.
Of his many virtues the most remarkable was his love of
the poor, thirty of whom he used to supply with food at his own
table every day, while he had sometimes as many as three
hundred orphans and w^£s to provide for.
Soon after the arrival of the Anglo-Normans, Dermot
McMurrough, aided by them, laid siege to Dublin. The people
of this city had slain his father and treated his dead body with
ignominy, burying a dog in the same grave with him. Know-
ing the cruel disposition of Dermot, they took counsel together
as to the means to avert the storm that was impending. It
was unanimously agreed to send their Archbishop to treat with
Dermot, and ask him to spare the helpless citizens, who offered
to make all amends in their power for the past. But while
he was interceding for the people, Milo de Cogan and Raymond
le Gtos, who were posted at the other side of the town, made a
breach in the walls, and forcibly entered the city. They put
to the sword whomsoever they met.
Taught by such sad experience, Laurence went round to
the Irish kings and chiefs to exhort them to unite against the
common enemy. The result was that an army 60,000 strong
assembled under the walls of Dublin. However, their want of
discipline and their jealousies allowed the enemy, though few
in numbers, to make their escape and join their friends 4n
Wexford, and later to overrun a great part of the country.
gX. LAURENCE O'XQOLE. l6J
In .1175 St. Laurence went with Cathal, Archbishop of
Armagh, and the Abbot of St. Brendan, as ambassadors of
Roderio O'Connor, to make a treaty between him and
Henry II. This treaty is known in history as the Treaty of
Windsor.
In 1179, with five other Irish bishops, Laurence assisted at
the Council of Laterain, held at Bome. Pope Alexander III.
tr^^ated him with special favour, confirming the rights and
privileges of the Archiepiscopal See of Dublin, and appointing
him Legate of the Holy See for Ireland.
The sons of lioderio O'Connor having rebelled against him,
ftnd- having been aided in their rebellion by the troops of the
Lord Deputy, Laurence was deputed by O'Connor to go to
and ask King Henry to enforce the treaty made five years
before.
On his arrival he found the king deaf to his appeals for
peace. Duiiug his stay in England he made a pilgrimage to
the tomb of St. Thomas d Becket. As he was standing at the
foot of the altar, before beginning Mass, he was felled to the
ground by a violent blow on the head, struck by a maniac.
After a while he became conscious, and was able to proceed
with the Mass.
Henry meantime had set out for Normandy. The arch-
bishop determined to follow him, and try whether another
appeal would not soften him. Taking ship at Dover, he landed
on the coast of Normandy, near Eu. As he was descending a
hill, he met a shepherd, of whom he demanded the name of the
town in the valley beneath, and of the church which rose up
from the centre of it. Being told that the place was Eu, and the
church the priory church of St. Victor, he replied in the words
of the 131st Psalm :—
*' This is my resting-place for ever ; in this place will 1 dwell, for 1
have chosen it."
He went to the priory, where he was received most kindly
by Osbert the Prior.
There he fell ill, and feeling that his end was drawing near,
he sent one of his companions to Henry, asking him, as a dying
lequest, to prevent further shedding of blood in Ireland. The
mission was successful, and the messenger returned with the
consoling news that the king would carry out his wishes.
On November 14th, 1180, at the age of forty -three, the
saint passed away calmly. His last words were words of com-
pahsion for his countrymen : — "Ah, foolish people ! What v^ill
now become of you P Who will relieve you when I am gone P"
]64 ST. LAURENCE O'TOOLE.
Five years after liU death the grave vas opeaed, aad the
body was found as fresh as oa the day of his burial. It was
then buried before an altar in the Ohuroh of our Blessed liidy.
In 1225, fifty-five years after the saint's death, Pope
Honorius III. published the Bull of his oanonization, to the gre it
joy of the people of Eu and tlie surrounding country. Tue
following year his remains were again exhumed, and transferred
to a shrine, which was carried in' procession through the town,
accompanied by a vast multitude ; the A.rchbishop of Rouen,
the Bishop of Amiens, the Prior of St. Victor's, and many other
ecclesiastics were present. The shrine was placed before the
high altar ; it is now immediately over the high altar of the
church.
Some years since, this shrine containing the relics was opened
in the presence of the Archbishop of Rouen, several other
ecclesiastics, and some medical men. These drew up a formal
document, stating that the bones were in the shrine, and, more-
over, that on the skull there was an indentation such as would
have been made by a blow from some blunt instrument. We
have already spoken of the blow which he received from a
maniac. This I was assured of by a medical man, who was one
of those present at the opening of the shrine.
The photograplis^ which I will now show you are^
(1) The Memorial Cliapel of St. Laureuce, built on the side
of the hill overlookiugEu, from which he first caught
sight of the town. This chapel was rebuilt in 1876,
on the site of an older one built there in 1626 by
M. Pierre Prevost, priest of the parish of the Holy
Trinity of Eu. In 1810, this chapel was replaced by
another and a better one by M. L'Abb^ Ghandeloup,
cur^ of Eu.
(2) I show four photographs of the Church of Notre Dame
et St. Laurent, the parish church of Eu ; two views of
the east end, showing it is one of the finest specimens
of Gothic of the very best type in existence ; a third
photo of the interior, showing the beautifully vaulted
roof of the western doorway, of much inferior style.
The fact is, the western half of the church was
burnt down in 1500, and rebuilt soon after, ncoording
to the style of the time, and very inferior to that of
the older portion.
' These photographs would have been used for illustrating this Paper
had not the iameuted death of Father Murphy prevented it.
ST. LAURENCE O'TOOLE. 1 65
(3) A reliquary of gilt wood, in which there was formerly a
relic of ot. Laurence, which is not in it now.
(4) A picture of St. Laurence, which is hanging in his
chapel, just behind the high altar of the church.
Some few years ago there was found among the rubbish in
Taults of Christ Church, Dublin, a sort of vessel of the shape of
a heart. It has been surmised that the heart of St. Laurence
is or was contained therein. There is a tradition among the
people of Eu that St. Laurence's heart, immediately after his
death, was taken to his native country. We know that it was
not uncommon for people to leave in their wills, or when dying
to ask their friends to take their heart and deposit it in some
church or shrine to which they had a special devotion. The
Bruce, when dying, entreated Sir James Douglas, his trusty
friend, to carry his heart to Jerusalem. O'Connell ordered his
heart should be taken to Rome.
I show three photographs : one, of the vessel, on a table,
showing its size ; another, hanging from the roof ; and a third,
on the capital of a pillar.
We know that very valuable relics were kept at Christ
Church, such as the Baculus Jesu (St. Patrick's crozier), trans-
ferred there from Armagh by William Fitz Aldelm. Two lists
of them are given in '^ The Book of Obits and Marty rology of
Christ Church," published by the Irish Archaeological Society
in 1844. In these we find the entry — '* Item. Plures reliquse
sti Laurencii."
We know that many of these relics were lost by the falling
in of a portion of the roof in the beginning of the fifteenth
century, and that many more, as the crozier above men-
tioned, were oast away in the first year of the Reformation.
Whether this one survived by being hidden away, and then
forgotten, to again come to light accidentally in the nine-
teenth century, is a matter of conjecture.
[/br Pedigree of St. Laurence G* Toole ^ tee next page.
1 66 ST, LAURENCE O'XOOLE.
O'DONOVAN'S PEDIGREE OF ST. LAURENCE OTOOLE.
(From the ''^Annah of the Four Masters,^^ und^r the year 1690).
Tuathal,* King of Leinster, di«d 956, from whom, the surname of O'Toole
has been deriyed.
Ugaire, King of Leinster, slain at Belan, Co. Eildare, by the Danes, in 976.
Dualang, died in 1013.
Doncuan Ua Tuathal, King of Leinster, slain 1015.
Gilla-Comhghaill Ua Tnatbal.
Gilla-Eevin Ua Tuathal.
Duncuan Ua Tuathal.
Gilla-Comhghaill Ua Tuathal.
I I
Gilla-Kevin Ua Tuathal. Muirchenrtaoh (or Murtagh), Chief of Hy
I Muireadhaigh, died 1164.
Walter O'Toole. St. Lorcan (or Laurence) O'Toole.
I Ob. 14 Nov., 1180.
Gilla-Kevin O'Toole.
I
Faelan O'Toole, liord of Hy- Muireadhaigh (or Hy Murray), died in 1260.
He was the anoestor of the O'Tooles of Ferracullen, Fertry,
Castlekevin, Powerscourt, etc., all in the County Wicklow.
* For the ancestors of Tuathal, see the pedigree opposite to p. 168 of the
first volume of the Journal.
INTUKIOR VIEW OF CASTLK RHKBAN, 1892.
CASTLE RHEBAN.
Br LOKD WALTER FITZ GERALD.
J
[Read at the Atuy Excursion Meeting, September, 1892.]
THE name Eheban (pronounced Ribbon) is supposed to be
made up of two Irisli words, signifying " the habitation
of the king."
The Egyptian geographer, Ptolemy, who lived in the second
century, on his thinly-named map of Ireland, has two inland
towns marked near one another, named "Dunum" and
**llhaiba." These places have been identified respectively
with Dunamase^ and Kheban.
Though Eheban is now a part of the County Kildare, it
was formerly a portion of the ancient territory of Leix,' over
wliich the Clan O'More held sway.
* Written Dunmasf? (i.«. Masg's Fort) in the Irish Annals. It is 'a huge,
precipitous- sided, isolated ruck, now crowned with the ruins of an Anglo-
Nornian cattle, and lies between the towns of Stradballv and Maryborough,
in the Queen's County.
' The territory of Leix, or 0*More*s country, comprised the present
baronies of Maryborough. Cullinagh, Ballyadnms, Stradbally, part of Port-
nahinch, in the Queen's County, and that portion of the County Kildare
which lies to the west of the Barrow in the Athy neighbourhood.
1 68 CASTLE RHEBAN.
The Moat of Bheban stands about half an English mile to
the south of Castle Bhebau. This earthwork is of great anti-
quity. It consists of an artificial moat or mound 38 feet in
height, attached to the north-east side of which is a triangular
enclosure, surrounded by a deep, broad dyke, which gives the
place the appearance of a rath. This enclosure is said to have
an entrance on the north side, closed by an iron door, leading
into a cave or underground chamber. The moat itself for many
years past has been used as a gravel-pit, and already about two-
thirds of it have been carted away. Some seventy-five years ago
M^Evoy's cottage, between it and the road, was at the edge of
the moat, but now a potato-garden is laid out on the excavated
portion. In the next field to the moat there was, some twenty
years ago,- a small moat, which was levelled by a Mr. Joseph
fiutler, who then lived at Castle Eheban. Under the mound
was discovered a kistvaen, or dry-walled chamber, full of
human bones. This field is called ** the Bridge Field." One
corner of it, near the moat, is never tilled, as many human
bones lie close to the surface ; in consequence, it is known as
" the Churchyard." The field on the opposite side of the road
is called '^ the Baheen."
In the latter end of the twelfth century most of the province
of Leinster jpassed into the possession of iiichard de Clare, Earl
of Pembroke, nicknamed ** Strongbow," by his marriage with
Eva, daughter and heiress of Dermot M'Murrough, the last of
the native kings of Leinster. The result of this marriage was
an only daughter, Isabel, who married William Marshall, Earl
of Pembroke (called, in Hanmer's History of Ireland^ William
Maxfield, Earl Marshall of England), who thus succeeded to
the lordship of Leinster. Their children consisted of five sons
and five daughters ; the sons all died childless, and so Leinster
WHS divided by King John amongst the five daughters, to the
youngest of whom, Eva, was portioned off the Manor of
Duuamase, in Leix. She married William de Broase (or
Breouse), Lord of Brecknock, in Wales, and by him the pre-
sent ruins of Castle, on the Rock of Dunamase, were built,
about the year 1250. Their daughter Matilda married Lord
Boger de Mortimer, who eventually succeeded to the above
manor.
In the year 1225, the king issued a mandate to Earl
William Marshall, justiciary of Ireland, to cause Richard
de St. Michael to have, during pleasure, out of the king's
escheats in Ireland, £20 worth of land, to maintain him in the
king's service (April 22). In the following year (1226) the
king issued another mandate to Qeoffrey de Mariscis, lord
I70 CASTLE RHEBAN.
justiciary of Ireland, to cause to be restored to Boger Waspail
the chattels taken during the disseisin caused by Biohard de
St. Michael, son and heir of Margaret, Roger's wife, in the
land in Eyban, which Boger held, of the inheritance of the
said Margaret.*
From William Marshall, lord palatine of Leinster, Bheban
and its neighbourhood were granted in fee to Bichard de
St. Michael, created Baron of Bheban, who, during the reign
of King John, founded the Crouched Friary in Athy, and built
the two castles of Woodstock and Bheban, which are both on
the west bank of the Barrow,* tliree English miles apart.
Both of them were for the defence of the fords at those places,
and the one at Bheban probably took the place of the Bath
mentioned above, which must have been erected for the defence
of the ford in ancient times. Since the arrival of the Normans
in Ireland, castles were erected at all the principal fords on the
borders or marches of the " English land," or Pale, as it was
afterwards called, so as to prevent "the Irish enemie" from
making hostile incursions among the new settlers.
Bohesia, daughter of the above Bichard de St. Michael,
married Thomas Fitz Gerald, Baron of Offaly, whose death
took place in 1260. Her marriage portion was the Manors of
Woodstock and Athy, which still belong to their descendants.
They were the parents of John, afterwards first Earl of Kildare,
who was so miraculously Saved from being burnt to death, on
one occasion when Woodstock Castle caught fire, by a tame
monkey, which became and still is the family crest owing to
that event.
In the year 1282 a writ was issued, commanding John de
Sauniord, Ksclieator of Ireland, to take into the king's hands
all the lands and tenements in Irehmd whereof Boger de
Mortimer, senior, was seized in fee at his death. In the list
attached, under the heading of " Knight's Fees," appears the
following : —
Bobert de St. Michael, 2 knights' fees in "Landa"^ de
lUban, for two knights' services when royal service is sum-
moned.'
* Sweetman's ** Calendar of Documents/* Ireland.
* Anciently written ** Beorbha," i.«r. the dumb water, meaning the
silent, flowing river.
3 This is w^ritten ** in leiado de Rhebau" in the Calendar of Carew MSS.
under the heading of — Extent of lands of the late Lord Roger de Mortimer
in Ireland, made at the new town of Leys (Leix), Co. Kildare, 10th March,
11 Edw.L
* Vide ** Calendar of Documents,'* Ireland.
CASTLE RHEBAN. 171
la the year 1316 Robert Bnioe's victory over the English
at Bannockbura was the signal for a rising in his favour in
Ulster, and he sent over his brother Edward to head them. In
May, Edward Bruce lauded at Carrickfergus with 6000 Soots,
and, proceeding to Dundalk, had himself crowned King of
Ireland there. He then proceeded victoriously through Meath,
and, to quote from Richard Cox's History o/Jr^feufl? (published
in 1689), " from Loghseudy, where he had spent Christmas,
Edward Bruce marched through the County of Kildare unto
Rathangan, Kildare, Castle Dermond, Athy, Raban, and
Sketheris,^ where the Lord Justice (Sir Edmond Butler) ac-
companied by Lord Johu Fitz Thomas (afterwards first Earl of
Kildare), and many others, encountered him on the 26th of
January, and were defeated by reason of some unhappy feuds
and misunderstandings in the English army. Hereupon the
Irish of Munster and Leinster rose in rebellion, and the Birns,
Tools, and Moors, burnt the country from Arclow to Leix.
It was not until three years afterwards that Edward Bruce was
defeated near Dundalk by Sir John de Bermingham. In this
conflict he was killed, and the Scottish invasion came to an end.
In 1325 Lysagh O'More, being entrusted by Lord Morti-
mer, who had married Matilda, heiress of Lord Brecknock,
with the care and protection of his estates in Leix, assumed
independence and destroyed Dunamase, capturing in one
evening eight castles, including Rheban.
In the second volume of the State Papers of Henry VIII.
relating to Ireland, Rheban Castle is now and again mentioned
as being either uninhabited or out of repair. In the year
1537 Robert Cowley, Master of the Rolls, wrote to Thomas
Crumwell, the Lord Privy Seal, as follows : —
'* The holdes & garisons ia the Marches, whereof many are now desolate,
ia ruyne, i^v lak inhahitacion, shalbe mete therefor to be departed to suohe
as are marchers, men of warre, having good retynnes, yelding the King
convenyent reservacion of anuell rent, & to have estate of inheritaunce
therein ; for inhabiting & repayring after such manner, & to be in places
of daungier, it shalhe mete for them to have suche estate. The Fassaghe
Rebane, Wodstock, & other piles in the 0'More*s cuntrey, whereof part are
in possession of the Irishrie & the residue is waste ; soo as if the same be
not gevyn to suche as may buylde & inhabite the same, having some
abilitie to here the charges thereof, there it would remaine waste, & be both
agayne, succor, & refuge to the Irishrie ; whereas being inhabited strongly,
it shonld be the fortiiioation of the Englishrie, increase of the Kind's,
revenues & obedyencye, impoverishing & enfebling of the King's dis*
obeysauntes."
1 Now Skerries, which lies below the Sioat of Ardscull {t,e, the ** height
of the Shouts "), to the N.W. The name means '' Rocks/'
172 CASTLE RHEBAN,
In the following year (1538) Sir Piers Butler, eighth Earl
of Ormond, wrote to Sir Anthony Saint Leger, one of the
OommijBsioners of Ireland , as follows : —
*' If this thing (1.0. the rednction of the Knvunaghs) be further delaied
for eny other considerucions, that then this homer, for asmoche as the
Mores in Leys be in division, therfore to repaire Woodstok, & to enhabite
& recontynue to the Kings Magestyes lordship of Fassagh Rebane with
other Castles & landes in Leys ; & to goo aboute that the Irishry in that
partes as McGilpatrik,^ O'Karroll, O'Meagher,^ & others, be bond to a
lurther subjeccion to the Kinge, with a knowlege to his Grace of an
annuall protite, which, with power <& poiesy, we shall, God willing, enforce
them to agree unto.**
According to an old map of Leix and surrounding districts
of the sixteenth century, now in the British Museum, reproduced
in the 7th volume of the Kilkenny ArchcBological Jotimal (for
the years 1862-3), the district of " Fasagh Reban " extends
along the west bank of the Barrow, from the Bauteogue river
on the north to where Kilmorony is on the south side. This
district is narrow, and shown full of forests and bogs. The
word " Fasagh " signifies a wilderness, or uncultivated land.
In Morrin's List of Patent and Close Bolls, Ireland, in the
year 1581, is given the following: —
** Livery of Seisin of the possessions of Walter Saint Michael,
Baron of Keban, son and heir of Christopher Saint Michael,,
late of Castleton of Reban, for a fine of £6 Irish. Dublin,
May 5th."
In 1585, the Calendar of State Papers, Ireland, notifies the
contents of three letters written by a Captain Thomas Lee
("of Castle Martin, Gent.") to the Lord Deputy, they were
dated from "Castle Reban," and "Castleton Reban," in the
months of August and September. At this time Captain Lee
was commissioned to pursue and capture a noted rebel named
Cahir Owre Eavanagh. Two years previously he liad offered
his services to the State, in order that he might obtain a lease
of lands in the frontier of the Co. Kildare, confiscated by Lord
Baltinglass (Eustace). This may be the "Captain Ley"
afterwards mentioned in the year 1608, and again in 1611.
In the year 1607 King James wrote to Sir Arthur
Chichester, in April, that no lease or custodian was to be
granted of any part of the castle and lauds of Reban, the king
having special purposes to serve in the disposal of them. In
the following month (May), Sir Arthur Chichester received
instructions from the king to pass the Manor of Reban (besides
1 The old name of the FitzPatricks. ' The O'Mores.
CASTLE RHEBA^. 1 75.
some lands in Munster) to the king's servant, Robert Carre,
reserving to the king such rents and service as by office found
(after the death of Christopher St. Michael, late Baron of the
said Heban, slain in rebellion) to be fit to be paid for the same,
to be held of the Crown under such clauses and covenants as in
like grants have been accustomed.^
In 1608 Sir Arthur Chichester, the lord deputy, wrote to
the Earl of Salisbury, that " this gentleman, Mr. Ley, brought
over with him letters from the council table, requesting the-
delivery of the possession of the house of Eebban and the
lands, formerly enjoyed by his father. Captain Ley, before his
attainder, into his hands. Performance thereof has been made^
accordingly. Dublin Castle, 19 May, 1608."*
In December of the year 1611 Sir Arthur Chichester again
wrote to the Earl of Salisbury, strongly recommending to his
notice Sir Arthur Savage, who had distinguished himself
greatly in the Irish wars. He writes that he '* has served
under the command of Sir Arthur Savage, a worthy gentleman,.
and his noble friend, and therefore puts his lordship in mind of
a letter in his recommendation when he came over to sit down
upon Keban, by which he (Chichester) gathered that he was to
give him such employment and entertainment as the time&
might afford. So far Sir Arthur has had no benefit of his
lordship's letters, albeit he (Chichester) knows the place he
lives in to be a border, where a company has been lodged ever
since the house was first erected by Thomas Ley.*'
During the rebellion of 1641-f50 this castle repeatedly
changed hands. The two principal causes of the rebellion
were the wholesale confiscations of property from the native
owners, and the growth of Puritanism, which aimed at tlie
suppression of the Boman Catholic religion. In it both the
native Irish and the old Anglo-Norman families fought side
by side, under the name of the Confederate Catholics. The
following extracts in connexion with this period are taken from
various sources : —
" On the 6th of April, 1642, the Castle of Ballilanan was
relieved by a party under Sir Charles Coote, and the Castle of
Bheban by another detachment, which also took the Castle of
Bert and in it eight rebels, who were hanged."'
"Next morning all the army marched from Disert O'Lalor
to Bheban, in the County of Kildare, where Captain Flower
was commanding, which, upon summons, yielded to Sir Phelim
1 *' Calendar of State Papers/' Ireland.
» '^Calendar of Carew M8S." • Cox's "History of Ireland."
174 .CASTLE RHEBAI^,
,0'Neill, Q-eneral of the Horse. Next, they went to Athy, ami
did summon Captain Weldon, Governor thereof, who presentlj'
yielded. Whereupon the body of the army marched home, and
Captain G-erald Crone {t\€. swarthy) Fitz Gerald was com-
manded, with summons, to Grange Mellon, which, within two
days after, was surrendered."*
" When Captain Tirlagh O'Neill and Lieutenant Neale
O'Quin, residing in Castle Reban with their company, were
informed of the surrender of Maryborough, they, by the assent
of Captain John Hagan, Governor of Athy, burned the Castle
of Eebat, and carried their garrison, ammunition, and pro-
visions to Athy, choosing rather, for their safety and honour,
to make good one place against the enemy than to hazard the
whole by division and distraction."*
" The army under the Lord of Inchiquin rendezvoused at
Oashel on tlie 3rd of May, from whence Castlehaven was
detached, with a party which took Bheban, Maryborough, and
Athy from Owen Boe's soldiers with considerable slaughter,
and that being done, it met at Cloghgrennan on the 26th of
May."'
Since this time Eheban Castle has been a ruin.
By an inquisition taken in Kildare on the 20th of April,
1640, the manor and lands of Bheban were then in the posses-
sion of Thomas, the son of Sir Arthur Savage, knight, who suc-
ceeded his father in March, 1632. A list of the townlauds
comprising the manor is given below, as many of the old Irish
names are not now to be found on the Ordnance Survey maps :
Keban, alias Castle Beban,* alias Castleton Beban ; Moates-
towne,^ Prieston, Garrankancellott, alias Garrycanclott ; Mil-
towne,* Brounston,* Terrelston,* Counston, Ballinrue,* Shaen,*
BallinescoUock,^ Comitestowne, Ballinedryna, Bathnoran, alias
Bathnerane ; Ballniddyn, Churchtowne,* Courtestowne, Bath-
negon, alias Bathinegoune ; Bathenreny, Bathinkeagh, Brack-
aragh, alias Brackanagh ; Cardinstowne,^ and some premises in
Athy.
The above contained 1 castle, 80 farmhouses, 80 gardens,
2490 acres, and three weirs on the Barrow, besides water-mills
and pigeon-houses ; all of which were held from the king
If* capile for a knight's service. The rectory of Fasagh Beban
wds held from the king in free and common '^ soccage," and
the premises in Athy were held from the Earl of Kildare.
» Gilbert's " History ot Affiiirs in Ireland, 1641-52." » Ibid.
> Cox's " History of Ireland."
* Present names of townlands on the Ordnance Survey maps.
CASTLE KHEBAN. 175
From the Ordnance Survey Letters of about 1837, bound up
by counties, and now in the library of the Royal Irish Academy,
the following extract is taken. It is a translation by O'Donovun
from the Irish of a portion of a poem by the bard Ferganain
McKeogh, describing the predatory excursions of Hugh mao
Shaun O'Byme, of Glenmalnre, in the 16th century : —
** Baile-atha Dhathi * he likewise brought,
And Rathdubh,^ under the sway of an enemy ;
He left Ros Brinniudh' without kine.
This Hugh had luck of Cattle.
Master Davy he captured
And Master Harney in one Conflict.
The Royal town of Caislean He bain*
He sacked, A gained much treasure
Which spread his fame.
From Diorin Ruadh* he drove his cattle," etc.
In the Annals of the Four Masters Hugh O'Byrne's death
is recorded in the year 1579.
From the above odds and ends we learn that Rhebau was
originally in the possession of the O' Mores, in whose territory
of Leix it then was. It then passed through King Dermot
McMurrough's daughter, Eva, to Strongbow ; through Strong-
bow's daughter, Isabel, to William Marshall, Lord ralatine of
Leinster; through his daughter, Eva, to William de Breouse;
then into the family of Bichard de St. Michael, who is said to
have built the castle. The second Baron of Bheban appears to
have been Robert de St. Michael, and until the sixteenth century
there seems to be no record of the succeeding Barons of
Rheban.
In the year 1650 Mathew de St. Michael, Baron of Rheban,
died, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Christopher, who
married Eleanor Fitz G-erald (afterwards wife of Walter Arch-
bold, of "Kylmelyn," in the County Dublin). Christopher
was killed in Baltinglass's rebellion, in the year 1582, and was
succeeded by his son and heir Walter. Walter died, leaving a
brother Nicholas, who, having entered into possession by inden-
ture, dated 20th May, 1606, in consideration of 21«. of " ould
silver," conveyed all the premises to John Toppe, in as ample
manner as they had been devised to him by Christopher,
^ This is intended for Bally-ath-ae, ur Athy, i.e. the ford of Ae.
' i.e. the Black Kort, unidentified. ^ Now liosbran. ^ Castle lihebiin.
* Now Kelly ville, which was formerly named Derryroe, i.e. the Red
Oak Wood.
TOL. 11., PT. XII. P
176 CASTLE RHEBAN.
his father, at a rent of £10 and half the fish taken at th&
weir.
Subsequently the castle and manor came into the posseanon
of Sir Henry Lee, Lambrick Nottingham, and Jane his wife^
who conveyed all their interest therein to Sir Arthur Savage,
who, by an inquisition taken at Naas on the 20th of October,.
1612, was in possession in fee of that manor.
Sir Arthur died on the 13th of Marcli, 1632, leaving a son,
Thomas, who succeeded him, and was found in possession of
the castle and manor by an inquisition taken at Kildare on the
20th of April, 1640.
Thomas Savage died, leaving a son William, who was
drowned in the mouth of August, 1658, and was succeeded by
his brother Francis, who left a daughter (?) named Douglas
Savage, wlio was five years old in 1661, the year an inquisition
was taken in the month of November in Atliy.*
In vol. viii., p. 249, of Archdall's Lodged Peerage^ it is
stated that Arthur Loftus, 3rd Viscount Ely, married to his
first wife Douglas, daughter and heir to William Savage, of
Castle Eheban, but had no issue by her, who died and was
interred in his family vault in the chancel of the church at
Monasterevan. Her death took place before 1676, as in that
year Lord Ely married again.
A view of Kheban Castle as it was before 1793 is given in
the Anthologia Hibernica Magaziney vol. ii. ; this view is re-
produced in No. 44 of the Dublin Saturday Magazine^ vol. i.,
and also at p. 245, vol. iii., of the Dublin Penny Joutmal
(1834).
'^U^^ ^4^a* -C iL'^M^^ fc»?^^«^
The present ruins show the castle to have been a square
building, ^of which only the south side remains standing,
together with the.vaulted chambers on the ground floor. Until
a few years ago tlie ruins were very much as they are shown in
the print in the Magazine ; but the present tenant of the place,
Mr. Large, took down the north side of the castle, which, he
naid was an unsightly wall with no windows, for the sake of the
material. Some stone celts, and an instrument like a fack,*
but all of iron, found by the present tenant when ploughing a
1 Vide •* Chancery Inquisitions."
* The country spade, having the footpiece on one side only.
.CASTLE RHEBAN.
177
piece of ground near the castle which had never been known to
have been broken before, were discovered in recent times. The
large windows on the south side of the castle were square-
headed, and divided by mullions into eight divisions, four
above and four below ; a square eyebrow was over each
window. On the quoins of the castle walls is imitation cut-
stone work, placed there probably when the Savages occupied
the castle.
Sir Jonah Barrington, in his "Personal Recollections,"
refers to this castle in an improbable story about Elizabeth
Fitz Gerald of Morett, which is not worth repeating.
A mile and a-half away to the south-west of the moat are the
ruins of an old churcli, of which large portions of the north and
south walls still stand ; but they are featureless, as the cut-
stone work has been torn out, to be used as headstones at the
graves. This place is called ** Churchtown "; its former name
is now forgotten, though it was probably Fassagh Eheban*
church long ago.
Lying, deep sm>b in the giound, in ivlmt wa&
the rbancel, ovc ^^liflt1cmTd by a whitetlirtrii tree,
is a elab, measiinng Oft. 4 in. in leiigtlu uiid 2 U,
Uius in brea^ 1 f 1 1 ; ruii nin g down 1 1 > e eeir t re i s a
lightly -iiKtiM^d liluiii omsn, lerniinating in three
stt»p» ; at the upper f^nd, riiiming along tlie edge
and partly down one Bide, is I he date, followed
by letters in relief. It is not known what they
Bland for. ( FiV/<? flDeoin]>aiiyhig illustriition.)
\^'.
Vk
s?^?«^^;
The half of a square head, with rounded corners, of a
granite font lies near ; the perforation is in the centre ; it is
quite plain.
' This was the old name of this district.
II ess or uncultivated place. (Joyce.)
P2
** Fassagh " means a wilder-
178
CASTLE RHEBAN.
Ou another slab raised above the ground level, also in the
ruins of the chanoel, is the following inscription, with the letters
in relief : —
"A'
Here lyeth j* Body of Bryan m«
Manus late of Castle Uebban
who departed this life y* 9^ of
Dec^' 17*29 Aged 47 years & of
his mother in law (>'athrin Coffie
who departed this life in y* 73"*
year of her age & also of his
Daughter Cathrine rn'Mauus
Who departed this life in 1729
and in y* 20*^ year of her age
Memento W'^^^^l mori
EXTEKIOH VIEW OF CASTI.K RMKRAN, 1896.
a W£#P
OLD CASTLK AT OUOHTKRAHD, CO. KILDARK.
EARLY LANDOWNERS IN KILL, COUNTY \J
KILDARE.
By THK REV. CANON SHERLOCK.
[Read at the Januaut Meettno of 1896.]
I KNOW a lady, who shall he nameless, whose firm persuasion
is that an archaeologist is simply a Sir Walter Scott or a
Shakespeare spoiled. She has the highest respect for oiir
imagination, hut not the least faith in our facts. She thinks
that the active members of our Society, when they are about to
compose a Paper on any subject, set their imagination to work,
and when that faculty is red-hot, they sally forth, and finding
in their walk a grassy mound, or an old boulder, or a fragment
of a wall, they proceed to invent an appropriate history, sad to
say, more or less dull, and certainly not at all true, with which
they beguile the other members of the Association, and perhaps,
if the editor be propitious, acquire a niche in the temple of fame
by means of our Journal. If any such incredulous person be
present to-day, let me assure her that she gives our imagina-
tion far too much credit. For myself, I can only say that
those who doubt me may go to the Record Office, or to the
Library of the Royal Irish Academy, and they will find my
statements all in print, though scattered in fragments, which I
have had to piece together.
l8o EARLY LANDOWNERS IN KILL, CO. KILDARE.
My subject is connected with the neighbourhood of Kill ;
and I propose to show how the Anglo-Norman settlement was
carried out there, as it may help us to understand the process
generally.
Before Strongbow's invasion and conquest, all this part of
Leinster was occupied by the Irish tribe of 0' Byrne. What
the Conquest did was to deprive the Irish of their territories,
and drive a large number of them up into the mountains of
Wicklow on the one side, and the desolate fastnesses of the
bogs on the other. The conquerors took possession of the fertile
plain. But it would be a mistake to suppose that all the old
inhabitants were driven away, or that what we call private pro-
perty was destroyed. In fact, there was little or no private
property, except the wattled Imts, the rude clothes, weapons,
implements, and vessels. Nobody in those days owned any
land. It belonged to the tribe, and was parcelled out by lot to
the different members of the tribe, who did not own it, and
were not even what we call permanent tenants, being obliged
to surrender it again, and to take whatever other lot fell to
tliem at the division. It is most likely that when the chiefs
and their families were driven into the mountains and bo^s, a
large number of the other members of the tribe remained to do
the work on the lands taken by the new proprietors, to plough
in some rude way, to cut the woods, and to herd the cattle.
The condition of the natives who remained was probably not
altered for the worse, perhaps rather for the better. But their
relations with society were totally changed. Before, they had
belonged to a tribe ; they were attached to the chief, not to the
land. If the chief moved into anotlier district, and the tribe
moved with him, all the machinery, so to speak, of life went on
working as usual. But the Anglo-Norman conquerors brought
in witli them the feudal system, and the history of their settle-
ment in the country is for centuries the history of an attempt
to substitute the feudal system for the tribal system. Tiie
attempt, in large measure, failed, because so large a number of
the lower Irish population remained, and they were willing
enough to regard their new superiors as chiefs, particularly if
they had married Irish wives ; but they did not take kindly tu
the relation of a feudal lord and his dependents.
Be that as it may, over all the fertile plain of this county
the feudal system came in with the Conquest. The great lords
held from the king, the inferior lords from them, their vassals
again from them, always on certain terms of military service in
time of war. It was not a system of landlord and tenant, but
of feudal lords and their inferiors. Below these again were a
EARLY LANDOWNERS IN KILL, CO. KILDARE. l8l
number of followers who came with tliem from England as
attendants, tradesmen, artisans, common soldiers, and bow-men;
and below these again the Irish who reiuaiiied to do tlie rough
work of the land.
When an Anglo-Norman obtained from his feudal lord a
grant of land, probably the first thing he did was to set some
of his English followers to build a stone tower of some sort, as
a residence and place of defence. Round this would be erected
the huts or cottages of his men-at-arms and of the Irish who
remained. The little settlement was most frequently called ji
town, tliat is, an enclosed place of habitation, and it was mostly
named after the man who obtained the grant ; for those old
Anglo-Norman settlers seem to have been very fond of doing
what tlie Psalmist reproves: — They called the lands after their
own names. And so, all about this country, we have a series
of towns — Palmerstown, KerdiflPstown, Hainstown, Arthurs-
town, Bodenstown, Jigginstown, Sherlockstown, Johnstown;
and really, I am inclined to think that they did this, not out of
pride or conceit, but for sheer lack of imagination and inven-
tion. You have no idea how hard it is to invent a new name.
We see that in America, with its Rornes and Uticas. There-
fore, where there was a native name they did not change it ;
they kept Rathmore, Oughterard, Mainhiim, Clane, Clongowes,
Casam Soilse, and Derrindarragh. But where there were no
native names to hand, they gave it up as a bad job, and called
their lands after their own names. And thus, curiously enough,
when we think of all the changes that have taken place since,
and how the lands have passed through the hands of multi-
tudes of families, who have all disappeared and been swept into
oblivion, yet, by making out a list of these Anglo-Norman
townlands, we can see what families were friends and neigh-
bours here six or seven hundred years ago.
Wlien I talk of neighbours and friends, it is not to be
supposed that there could liave been much sociability in those
days. For one thing, the old natives from the hills and bogs
were so near and so fierce that there would be little possibility
of interchanging visits, unless they went in large parties, well
armed. For another thing, it was not easy to get about any-
where. There were no roads, no bridges, no drains. Every
little stream, when it came to the low land, formed a series of
morasses. If I had wanted to get from Sherlockstown to Kill
in those days, I must have waited for dry weather to get
through the marshes formed by the little Morrell river. I am
sure that about Kill the travelling was often very nasty ; and at
Johnstown and Kerdiffstowu gate there would be trouble in
1 82 EARLY LANDOWNERS IN KILL, CO. KILDARE.
rainy weather. To get beyond the LifiEey one had to cross by
fords at Castlesize or Clane. Besides this, great pait of the
country was covered with wild forest, hard to travel through,
and apt to shelter outlaws or the wild Irish. Derrindarragh,
or Daars as we call it now, was a thick oak wood.
It must be coufessed that if tlie old Irish tribal system had
continued, this state of things would not soon have been
mended. People who had no permanent interest in the land
would not make roads, bridges, make good fences or drains, or
reclaim bogs and forests, as tliose who succeeded them have
done. Yet history shows us a sort of rough poetical justice
administered. The tribes driven to the mountains were forced
by the change in their circumstances to change themselves.
And now fortune's wheel has turned, and we see the mountain
men coming down to the plains again, renting pastures and
buying farms, reaping the benefit of the roads, bridges, drains,
canals, railways, and reclamations, made by those who drove
their forefathers to the hills.
In very many cases the new proprietors did a very sen ible
and right act. They built a little church for themselves and
their followers ; and they either arranged with some monastery
to supply the clerical duty, or they endowed it with income
sufficient to keep a clergyman. Most of those townlands then
became parishes, and the churches were parish churches. In
other instances, where they found a native Irish church, they
retained it, or perhaps rebuilt and endowed it. At Kill,
where there was already a church dedicated to St. Brigid, they
seem to have added to the old dedication, and called it the
Church of St. Mary and St. Brigid ; and this church became
part of the possessions of the Abbey of St. Thomas.
In A.D. 1177, four years after the canonization of Thomas
a Becket, Archbishop of (Canterbury, a church, dedicated to
him, was founded in the western suburb of the city of Dublin,
on behalf of Henry 11. by William FitzAldelm, his represen-
tative in Ireland. The church was under the care of the
Augustinian Canons of the Order of St. Victor, and it became
the centre of an establishment called the Abbey of St. Thomas
the Martyr, near Dublin. Being of royal foundation its abbots
were appointed subject to tlie approval of the king, and became
members of his council in Ireland, peers of his parliament there,
and administered justice in the court of the abbey. It soon
became richly endowed, and had considerable possessions in the
County Kildare. Its endowments at Kill originated thus : —
One of the favourite companions-in-arms of Strongbow was
a young man named Adam of Hereford. To this Adam,.
EARLY LANDOWNERS IN KILL, CO. KILDARE. 1 83
Strongbow gave large territories, viz. the Salmon Leap, Clon-
curry, Kill, Oughterard, Downings, and otlier lands. To help
him to defend these lands Adam sent to England for his two
elder brothers, John nnd Bichard, and gave them a share of his
possessions.
To his brother John, Adam gave the lands of Kill, Ealdroch
(Celbridge), Clonshanbo, and Mainham, with Cokej (Rath-
ooffey) ; but he retained himself in this neighbourhood Ough-
terard, which was then strongly fortified. The church of
Wochtred (Ougliterard), with tithes of lands between it and
Castellnm Warin^ (Castle Warden) he bestowed on tlie Abbey
of St. Thomas. John of Hereford, Lord of Kill, endowed the
Abbey with seventeen and a-half acres of land, near Fourn
(Forenaghts), and also with a farm in Kill.
His son, Thomas of Hereford, confirmed these gifts, and
also bestowed on the Abbey his church of Kill (dedicated to
St. Mary and St. Brigid), with lands in the direction of the
possessions of Robert Arthur (Arthurstown), situated on the
stream which came down from liadmor (Rathmore).
Thomas also gave the canons of St. Thomas the right of
pasturing their animals of all kinds along with his own, and
the riglit of cutting wood in his forests for building, firing, and
fencing. The same Thomas endowed a cei^tain hospital in the
town of Kill, with twelve acres of land. It is possible that
tliis may not have been, strictly speaking, a hospital in the
modern sense, but rather a place of hospitality for strangers
and travellers, and for dispensing relief to the neighbouring
poor and infirm people, something after the nature of the old
Irish betaghs. In addition to other benefactions he gave to
the Abbey the whole townland of Ballykerdeval,' with all the
meadow adjacent to it, which grant was afterwards confirmed
by Eleanora, his daughter, and Milo de Rochfort, who had for
his portion Kill and ICildrought.*
A deed of another neighbouring liindowner, Robert Arthur
(of Arthurstown), witnessed by Dulianus and Walter, chap-
lains of Kill, gave the abbot and canons of bt. Thomas eighteen
acres of land in Shenebale (Old Town), near Kill. Another
Anglo-norman settler in the neighbourhood of Kill was
Kicardus de Lesse. He gave to the Abbey the church of
* There was one Warinus, Abbot of St. Thomas, a.d. 1268.
* Ballikerdeval = Ballakerdes = Kerdiff'stown.
' Thomus ot Hereford had no son. His daughter Eva married Walter
de Rochfort (de Kupe Porti), to whom she brought Mainham and Rath-
ctiUfey. The otlier daughter Kleanora married, as above, Milo de liochfort.
l84 EARLY LANDOWNERS IN KILL, CO. KILDARE.
Fornach, with tithes, &c., only stipulating that his son William,
a clergyman^ should hold it as long as he lived. In addition to
this, his son or his brother, John de Lesse, surrendered to them
all his rights over the Church of Fornachbeg (Fumess).
One thing that we come across in these old benefactions is
at first rather puzzling. You read in one document that such
a lord gave to a church or to a monastery certain lands, and
then, a few years later, you find his son or grandson granting
the same lands over again. I suppose the explanation is,
that the lord, holding from his feudal superior, was unable
to bestow more than his life-interest in the lands, as, under cer-
tain circumstances, they were liable to be resumed. Practically,
however, the gift was in perpetuity, because his representative
never ventured to reclaim it ; and assurance was made surer
by a deed of confirniation.
Among other landowners near Kill was one who is variously
called Willelmus le Hyrais, Hireys, Hibernicus, Ibernieusis, or
William the Irishman. On the land which he held (probably
from the Hereford family) there wjls a chapel. This was sub-
ordinate to the mother church of Kill ; and by deed witnessed
by Milo de Rochfort, William, the vicar of Naas, and Walter,
chaplain of Kill, and by his brother, Robertus le Hyrais, he be-
stowed the patronage of this chapel on the Abbey of St. Thomas,
and endowed it with an acre of land adjacent, together with
the right of pasture for the chaplain's horses and cattle over all
his lands. After his brother's death, Robert le Hyrais, although
he had been a witness of this deed of gift, disputed the right of
the Abbey to the patronage. He was in orders, and had pro-
bably been his brother's chaplain. The dispute was takea
to Rome, and there settled by judges appointu(l by the Pope in
1224-5. It resulted in a compromise. Robert was directed to
surrender all his claims to the chapel, an<l in return, the abbot
and canons surrendered the chapel and belongings to him for
his life, subject to a small payment thereout at Christmas.
Robert was to discharge the duties of the chapel, and to pay
all episcopal dues ; but to the mother church of Kill was re-
served the right of baptizing all infants, and the right of bury-
ing all parishioners. The parishioners attending the chapel
were also bound to attend the mother church, with the accus-
tomed oblations, on the feasts of Easter, Pentecost, Christmas,
and the feast of the mother church.
I have often wondered who this William the Irishman was.
Why was he called so ? Was he really Irish ? Or was he
only called so because he had adopted the native way of living?
If he was really Irish, how did lie come to be living as a
EARLY LANDOWNERS IN KILL, CO. KILDARE. 1 85
landed lord among tbe English invaders ? Was he an Irish
chief married to one of tlieir daughters ? Or had he thrown
over his own people, and joined the foreigner in plundering
themP Such are some of the questions always turniug up
when we dive into these old records, and strive to gather the
history beneath them. We get a hint now and then of some
mystery, a glimpse of some tragedy, and they haunt our
memories and drive us to vain guesses. They make us feel
that behind the old stained and mouldy parchments there were
men of flesh and blood like our own, animated by fierce pas-
sions and strong affections, by hopes of heaven and fears of hell.
How strange it all seems to us now. Adam of Hereford
Hummoning his brothers John and Richard over to help him to
take and keep this country ; and with them Robert Arthur, and
Richard and John de Lesse, and Kerdeval or Kardiif ; the Roch-
fort brothers, who married sister heiresses, Eva and Eleanora ;
William the Irishman and his brother Robert the clergyman ;
the monks of St. Thomas ; Dulianus and Walter, chaplains of
Kill ; and William the Vicar of Naas : all pass before us as
dim shadows — their battles, their conquests, their plots and
intrigues, their benefactions, and their petty quarrels, all over
hundreds of years ago. How one would like to look in on the
little iiospice in Kill, or to see the parishioners streaming in
witli their oblations on an Easter morning to the Church of
St. Mary and St. Brigid, or to be present when the Abbot of
St. Tiiomas visited the possessions of his abbey in the neigh-
bourhood !
/
( 186 )
THE MOAT OF ARDSCULL.
Br •• OMURETHI."
w
HAT is known as " the Moat " of Ardscull stands on the
summit of the high ground of that name, which rises
140 feet above, and 3 miles to the north-east, of the
town of Athy. In this instance the term " Moat " is mis-
applied, as in reality this earthwork is a rath or fort ; but in
Ireland all mounds, artificial or natural, are called " Moats,'*
though, as a rule, the name implies a Pagan sepulchral mound
or tumulus.
In tlie Ordnance Survey Letters (written about the year
1830), kept in tlie Library of the Royal Irish Academy,
O'Donovan, the great Irish scholar, thus explains the meaning
of the name : —
'* Ardscull = Ard and Sool, meaning ' the Hill of Shouts/
It is mentioned in the Book of Lecan as the site of a battle
between the Leinstermen and the Munstermen in the reign of
Felimy Beachtmar (t.e. *the Law-maker,' King of Ireland
from A.D. 111 to 119).''
The Moat (as it will be called in future) rises to a height of
66 feet above the ground level, and is artificial. It consists of
a steep high central mound, with a rampart round the top, and
II n opening on the west side (which may be of modem make),
while n trench inside a rahipart encircles the base. The Moat
is now covered with trees, which were planted early in tliis
century. The public road from Athy to Fontstown and
SkeiTies runs round about two-thirds of its base. It lay in the
district of Omurethi, belonging to the O'Toole sept ; and
though it must from its strength have been a stronghold of
great importance, yet, strange to say, the name is not men-
tioned in " The Annals of the Four Masters," nor does it
appear in nny of the old Irish histories until after the coming
of the Normans into Ireland in the latter end of the twelfth
century.
THE MOAT OF ARDSCULL. 1 87
The following three extracts are taken from Holinshed's
Chronicles of Ireland : —
(1) "The Norwath (i.e. Narraghmore) and ArdsooU, with other townes
and villages, were burnt by Philip Stanton, the sixteenth dale of November,
in the yeare 1286." ( Vide Cox, History of Ireland^ as well.)
(2) ** In the yeere 1309, on Candlemas day (2nd Feb.), the Lord John
Bonne vill was slaine ueere to the town of ArdscoU by the lorde Arnold
Powre and his accomplices ; his bodie was buried at Athie, in the Church
of the Friers preachers. In the yeere following, at a Parliament holden at
Kildare, the lorde Arnold Powre was acquit on that slaughter, for that it
was proved it was doone in his own defense.'* {Vide also Calendar of
Carew MSS,, p. 127.)
(3) ''In 1315 the Bruse* went through the Countrie unto Rathintigan
it.0. Kathangan) and Xildare, and to the partes about Tristeldermot
i.e. Castledermot) & Athie, then to Raban, Sketlier (recte Skerries), «&
neere to ArdskoUe in Leinster ; where the Lord Justice Butler,^ the Lord
John Fitz Thomas' (Fitz Oerald), the iMxd Arnold Powre, A other lords &
gentlemen of Leinster & Munster came to encounter the Bruse ; but through
discord that rose among them, they left the field unto the enemies ; Sir
William Prendergast, Knight, & Heimond le Grace, a right valiant Esquire,
were slaine there. And on the Scottish side Sir Fergus Andreasan, & Sir
Walter Murreie, with divers other that were buried m the church of the
friers preachers at Athie." (Vide Calendar of Carew MSS,^ p. 133, as
well.)
The Hamon (or Heimond) le (Jraee, mentioned above as one
of the killed, was a descendant of Raymond le (xros [t,e, the
stout), second son of William, who was brother of Maurice
FitzGerald, the first of the Irish (j-eraldines. Raymond le
Qtos came into Ireland with Strongbow in 1170, became
viceroy in 1176, and, marrying Basilia de Clare, Strongbow's
fiister, acquired the extensive district in the Co. Kilkenny,
which was known as " the Gbace country," owing to his descen-
dants assuming the surname of Grace, which originated in the
agnomen '4e Gros." The family is now seated at Mantua
(formerly Montagh) House, near Elphin, Co. Roscommon,
and at Qxacefield House (formerly Shanganagh), near Arless,
in the Queen's County.
In a well-illustrated Work by Sheffield Grace, called
" Memoirs of the Grace Family," is published a long poem
of twenty-five stanzas on the family, written at Jerpoint
^ Edward, brother of Robert Bruce, Xing of Scotland.
* Sir Edmond le Bottiler, Earl of Carrick.
3 John FitzGerald, afterwards Ist Earl of Kildare.
1 88 THE MOAT OF ARDSCULL.
Abbey, Co. Kilkennj'. Stnoza viii. thus alludes to the death
of Hamon : —
*' On Asciirs plain was heard the sound of woe,
And as the gentle Barrow glided by
All blood-stained were its waters in tneir flow,
Where heroes died, but not for victory.
There Hamoii perished in his flower of days,
While many a fresh wreath bloomed his temples round —
The warrior Luurel with the minstrel Bays
Entwined, and by the land he died for bound.
Oh ! sacred be the turf above his breast.
And hallowed be the spot, almost unknown.
Where fall the parting sunbeams of the West,
And gild the Earth, unmurked by tree or si one !
The grass grows wildly o'er his lowly bed,
And nought but common clay enwraps the brave ; .
While many, as they o'er his pillow tread,
Know not they trample o'er a hero's grave." ^
After this period I can find no allusions to Ardscull until
the year 1654. It is then referred to in a MS. book in the
Record OflBce of the Four Courts, called '* The Book of General
Orders for 1654."
It is as follows : —
The Inhabitants ) Upon reading the written peticion of the well affected
of Kildare. J Inhabitants of the Countie of Kildare, praying that the
state would contribute thirty pounds towards the finishing of a Fort y*
they have built at the Mote of Ardscull lying near the Barrow, & upon a
considerable road, & that the same may be a Oarrison.
It is ordered that it be referred to Coll. Hewson, Coll. Laurence, & the
Com'« Gen" of the Revenue, to consider of the allegacion, & of the necessity
of fortifying a place in Eildare, & of the convenieucy of the place within
mentioned, for such a forte ; and being satisfied therein to certify the same
to the Council, & the Com" Gen" to give order for a warrant to be prepared
lor contributing towards the finishing thereof out of y* publique Treasury
not exceeding twenty pounds.
(Signed) Thomas Heiibebt, Clerk of the Council.
Dublin, 12th March, 1654.
As far as can he now ascertained, no Cromwellian fort was
erected at or near the Moat, and I have come across no tradi-
tion of its existence; yet, according to the wording of the
petition, the fort was actually commenced, and they were
begging for £30 to he able to finish it!
^ Brewer, in his ** Beauties of Ireland," and Moore, in his ** Histor}* of
Ireland," quote the first five lines of the above stanza.
X
M
X
H
e
190
THE MOAT OF ARDSCULL.
Can it be that they selected a moat* (the one in question),
and converted it into a rath-like fort by raising tlie ramparts at
the summit ? Its commanding position and size would mark it
out as a most favourable earthwork to fortify. This idea is
carried out by the following description of the Moat as it was
over a hundred years ago, taken from Eichard Gough's edition
Plan of thb Intkrior of the Moat of Aroscull,
By W. Beaufort.
(From Gough's "Camden's Britannia," 1789.)
^ Father Shearman, in his **Loca Patriciana," favours the idea of its
being a moat, and also gives his version of the meaning of the name, whicli
is given below for what it is worth : —
Nuadha **Neacht" (i.e. the snow-white) slew Ederscel, son of Eoghan,
son of Oilioll, King of Ireland in a.m. 5089 (i.<;. according to the Annals of
the Four Masters, B.C. Ill), at Knookaulin, Co. Eildare, and became Kiue
of Ireland. **Ederscal,'* says Father Shearman, **was buried in Ard
Eterscel, now Ardscule, a remarkable tumulus near Athy.''
If it was formerly a moat, that fact would account for its not being
mentioned in early history along with Enockaulin, Allen, Naas, Mullagh>
mast, Mullachreelan, and other forts.
THE MOAT OF ARDSCULL. IQI
of William Camden's Britannia (originally published in 1607),
which he illustrated and enlarged in 1789 [vide vol. iii., p. 483j;
the account, probably from the pen of W. Beaufort, who also
drew the sketches here reproduced from the volume, is as
follows : —
Ardscul, about 3 miles from Athy, on the road to Dublia, in the barony
of Norragh, and county Eildare, is a very fine *' Don.'' See the plan and
-view, Plate XLn., figs. 2 and 3, in which —
£ is the mote or ditoh, 150 ft. long, 110 ft. wide, and 40 ft. above the
level of the country.
B, the rath, or cuirt, from 12 to 20 ft. wide.
G, the parapet, 20 ft. above the level of the country.
C, the ban, or rampart of earth, from 8 to 10 ft. wide.
A, the entrance from the west, 16 ft. above the platform of the fort, and
M ft. above the mote (E], being from 16 to 20 ft. wide at the top, and from
40 to 50 ft. at the bottom.
D, the amhairc, or radharc, that is, a speculum or watchtower, whereon
the habitation of the chief was generally situated, and whereon were con-
stantly placed the guards or watchmen. This is 120 ft. by 45, rises some-
what higher than the ban (G), and commands a most delightful and
extensive prospect. On this may be traced the foundations of a building
at (H).
H, consisting of two apartments, of which that marked 1 is 14 ft. by
10 ; No. 2 is 30 ft. by 23 ; No. 3 is 14 ft. by 20. In that marked 2 about
six years since Mr. Beaufort discovered, near two feet beneath the surface,
a iirehearth, consisting of four large stones, one for the hearth, one at the
back, and one at each side ; they were neatly hammered, but not chiselled,
and on the hearth were found some pieces of coal we now denominate
Kilkenny coal, and also pieces of wood burnt. There could also be traced
the foundations of other buildings which have since been dug up to make
room for a crop of potatoes.
L is an irregular apartment, 50 ft. by 15.
M was either a well or an entrance to a cave under the rath 10 ft.
square.
I and E were apartments in a recess of the parapet ; I La 30 It. by 12,
and K is 20 ft. by 12.
4, 5, 6, and 7. The foundations of the apartments, or barracks, marked
^08. 4, 5, 6, and 7, are situated without the ban, and are in the whole
100 feet by 20. No. 7 is 30 ft. square.
The Irish raths or duns, when situated on a plain, are generally circu-
lar ; but when on a natural hill, are of various forms, according to the
situation of the ground. This at Ardscul is irregular, and contrary to the
general method, opens to the west, and not to the east.
A new road has been made round it about twenty years ago, before
which the mote or rath was situated in a large field, and the country round
it was covered with an extensive forest, now for the greater part a bog.*
* Some of the neighbouring townlands bear names indicating the former
woody nature of the district, such as Forest, Sawyer's Wood, and Black-
wood.
VOL. U., FT. HI. Q
IQ2 THE MOAT OF ARDSCULL.
The above description, though the writer has put Geltio
names to portions of this earthwork, conveys more the idea of a
rath or moat converted to a modern use than that of a very
early native fortress; and so, the petition of 1654 and the
above account may, perhaps, satisfactorily explain each other.
The road mentioned iu the petition of 1654 ran more or
less parallel to, and on the east side of, the present road run-
ning from Athy to the Moat. Portions of it are shown on a
hand-painted map, drawn by Hoque in 1756 for James, Earl
of Kildare, where it is marked down as " the old road."
The earliest Norman possessor of property in and around
ArdscuU, according to Sweetman's Calendar of Documentu^ Ire*
land, appears to have been William de Moliun (Mowon), as, in
the year 1282, the escheator of Ireland (John de Saunford) was
ordered to take into the king's hands all the lands whereof
William de Mohun died seized in fee. William's death took
place at Ottery, in Devon, on the 25th of August, 1282. One
of the twelve jury on the sworn Inquisition, held on the 4th of
October in that year, to ascertain William's possessions, was a
Stephen de Molochmast. They found that he had in possession,
besides the Manor of Grange Mohun (Moone), property in
Bithelan (Belan), Carbery, Allen, and Arscol, all in the Co.
Kildare, besides property in the Co. Kilkenny. As to Arscol,
or ArdscuU, "they say that there are here 60^ acres in demesne,
which they extend at 6O5. 6d., namely, each acre at 12d. ;
8 acres held by William Hoper are extended to 8«. a-year,
namely, 12d. an acre: total, 68s. 6d. The burgesses of Arscol
hold 160 burgages, and render therefor 8/. a-year, one moiety
at Michaelmas, and the other at Easter, besides Ss. Hd. surplus
rent.
" Mill, etc. They extend a moiety of the mill of Arscol,
which William held at his death at 19«. a-year ; one moiety of
the wood there at 6s. 8d. ; prisage of beer there at 13s. Ad,
a-year, and pleas and perquisites of the hundred there at 20b.
a-year : total, 60«."
The Moat is on the Duke of Leinster's property. It pro-
bably came into the possession of the Fitz Geralds in the 13th
century, on the marriage of Thomas Fitz Gerald, 6th Baron of
Offaly (father of the first Earl of Kildare), with Bohesia,
daughter of Bichard de St. Michael, Baron of Eheban, who
was heiress of the Manors of Woodstock and Athy.
The Moat of ArdscuU is still believed by the old people to
be the abode of the little gentry, or good people, as they pro-
pitiatingly call the fairies. One story I lately heard in con-
nexion with it was to this effect : — Long ago there dwelt in the
THE MOAT OF ARDSCULL. 195
neiglibourhood a man named Murtagh Byrne, who was de-
formed by a humped back. When passing the Moat one
evening he heard bagpipe music and singing going on at the
summit. Wondering what party had assembled there, lie
climbed the steep sides, and peered over the ridge of the upper
rampart, and below in the hollow he saw a large company of
the good people. They were singing a monotonous chant, which
consisted of the often-repeated words, " Monday, Tuesday ;
Monday, Tuesday." Soon picking up the air, Murtagh joined
in, adding to the chant " and Wednesday." This was taken
up willingly by the good people, and, delighted at the addition
to their song, they surrounded Murtagh Byrne, and asked him
what favour they could do him. Murtagh answered that his
one wish was to have his back straightened. Immediately they
removed his hump, and placed it on the ground beside him.
With many expressions of gratitude Muiiagh left the Moat,
with his back as straight as the barrel of a firelock. The news
of Murtagh's adventure si)read far and near, and eventually
reached the ears of another humpbacked, but cross and cantan-
kerous fellow, called Myles M'Evoy, who at once proceeded to
the Moat, in hopes of a like cure. He also found the good
people assembled, and singing continually, '* Monday, Tuesday,
and Wednesday ; Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday." Myles,
without troubling to learn the time or air, shouted discordantly,
'* Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday." A yell of rage
greeted him, and before he could say " Brian Boru," Murtagh
Byrne's hump, which was still lying on the ground, was clapped
on the top of his, and he was hustled from the place amid
shouts of laughter.
The above tale is also told of other places in Ireland, with
local oolouring.
Formerly, at Green Hills, in the County Kildare, there
dwelt a famous bagpiper named Ned Dunne. He is said to
have been second to none as a player, and to have acquired the
gift also from " the good people " of ArdscuU in reward for
having entertained them with " The Hare in the Corn," "The
Geese on the Bog," "The Wind that Shakes the Barley," and
other jig airs, when returning one night from the pattern at
Toberara, near Athy. One of his performances, I was told,
was being able to play " Norah Creina " with twenty-three
variations.
Within half a-mile, and to the south-west, of the Moat
stood a small square rath, which was levelled by a man named
Christy Hickey, for top-dressing his holding, some six or seven
years ago. To the astonishment of his neighbours no ill effects
Q2
194 THE MOAT OF ARDSCULL.
to him or his have resulted. It was formerly oovered with
thorn bushes ; under one in particular on the south side of the
rath it was rumoured that a big lump of money was buried, but
no one would dare dig for it. However, a few years ago a big
wind blew down the bush, and Christy then attacked the place
with a faok; but after digging to a depth of three feet he
failed to find the treasure, and so desisted. When levelling the
rampart he came across a large number of animal bones and
teeth, a horse's and a cow's skull, as well as a sort of iron bill-hook,
about a foot in length, with teeth, and a socket for the inser-
tion of the handle. In the north-eastern corner of the rampart
he came across an unflagged chamber, full of black barley and
ashes, of which he drew away twenty-seven cartloads, and used
it as manure. Just outside this find, in the trench, in one
place was a very soft dry spot, down which his shovel went as
if through water ; the length of the shovel and his arm did not
reach the bottom. He did not examine it further.
In connexion with this square rath Christy Hickey tells a
story which he had heard from old men, while "colloguing " at
the fireside. In giving it here, I have adhered as near as pos-
sible to his own words : — After the Danes had been extermi-
nated out of the country a small remnant of them still existed in
the depths of the Black Wood, near the MonavuUagh Bog, in
the neighbourhood of the Moat. They had hairy skins, like
bullocks, and short tails, but were harmless and inoffensive to
the people round, with the exception of a white wolf they pos-
sessed. They were known by the name of " MacLochlans."
One day a man named Brian O'Toole hunted the white wolf,
but was pursued by the Danes, who chased him up a tree.
The white wolf was following after him, when he fired at it
with a bowarra, and wounded it in the eye. The Danes then
fled, and with the white wolf disappeared out of the country.
Some yeara afterwards Brian, in order to make up his rent,
went over to England to look for work, and from there passed
on into the Danes' country. In the heel of the evening of one
hot day he found himself tramping along the mail-coach road,
weak with fatigue. Presently he met with an old man who was
sitting on the top of the ditch crying bitterly. Beside him a
few head of cattle and a puckawn were grazing by the roadside.
On coming up with him Brian bid him the time of day, and
asked what ailed him. The old man replied, " My father is
after giving me a skelping for not driving the cows out to
graze sooner." "Is your father still alive?" says Brian,
" Faith, he must be a very old man entirely ; where does he
live P " " He lives in a house about ten perch further down
THE MOAT OF ARDSCULL. 1 95
the road," said the old man ; " but it 's tired you look. Won't
you go in and take the weight of? your feet, and you '11 find a
drink of buttermilk (m the dresser ? " Brian willingly accepted
this invitation, and was starting off when the old man ccdled
him back, and said, '^It's wanting to shake hands with you my
father will be, and though he is mighty old, yet he is powerful
strong ; so you had better take this with you, and give it to
him instead of your hand." And he gave Brian the leg-bone
of a horse.
On entering the Dane's house, with a " God save all here,"
Brian saw that the aged Dane was lying in a cradle slung from
the ridge-pole of the house. He went up, and commenced
rocking it, upon which the occupant opened one eye and looked
at him. " Give us your hand," says he. Brian held out the
leg-bone, which the Dane grasped, and crushed it to bruss.
" Now, sit down and take an air of the fire," said he, " while I
speak to you." Brian sat himself on the hob, and picking up
a live coal, lit his pipe with it. " I know you well," said the
Dane ; " it 's out of the county Eldare you are." " Faith, I
am," said Brian, in astonishment. " Did you ever hear tell of
the Moat of ArdsciiU ? " asked the Dane. " Wasn't I reared
within the bawl of an ass of it," replied Brian. " Well, it's
there I made my load," continued tlie Dane ; " and now, if
you will follow my instructions, I '11 make you as rich a* the
King of Spain." " Why are you going to treat me so hand-
somely ? " inquired Brian, suspiciously. " I'll tell you that,"
said the Dane ; ** do you mind some years ago coursing a white
W)lf, and wounding it in the eye with a bowarra ? " " Bedad,
I do," replied Brian. "Well," said the Dane, "myself was
the wolf, and that eye is dark in my head yet. By wounding
me you broke the enchantment that was on us, and we were then
able to return to our own country. But to return to tlie treasure.
Do you know the littlo square rath called * Arduacutch,' that
lies within a shout of the Moat of ArdscuU, to the south ? "
" Many are the cock-fights I 've seen in it," replied Brian.
" Did you ever remark a big skeoch-bush on the north side of
it ? " asked the Dane. " Begorra, I have," answered Brian ;
" shure, I destroyed a magpie s nest in it last year." " Well,"
continued the Dane, "on your return home, get a fack and dig
near the roots of the skeoch ; you '11 meet a fiight of steps, at
the bottom of which is a stone flag, with an iron ring in it ; on
raising that, you will find a cave containing the full of a car of
golden guineas. But you must take this handkercher and
woirum (which the Dane lifted out of a box he had pulled
from the thatch, and handed to Brian) " with you, because the
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196 THE MOAT OF ARDSCULL.
cave is guarded by an eagle, a dog, and a oat, which will
attack you ; but, by holding one in either liand, they will have
no power over you. Don't lose them, or your luck will fail.
And now I '11 take a shough of your doodeen before I go to
sleep, and good luck go with you." That night Brian slept in
the settle-bed in the Dane's kitchen, and early next morning
commenced his return journey to Ireland. In due course he
reached home, and witliout delay commenced to dig under the
big skeoch-bush on the north side of Ardnacutch. He dis-
covered the steps, unearthed them, and lay bare the stone flag
at their base. He then took the handkerchief in one hand and
the worm in the other, and commenced to raise the flag from
below, when a screeching and bawling commenced. As soon as
he had opened the mouth of the cave, out charged the eagle,
dog, and cat. Brian lost his head, and, dropping the handker-
chief and worm, seized the fack to protect himself. He was
immediately stunned by a blow from the eagle's wing; and
when he came to again he found himself lying, badly bruised,
in the middle of Ardnacutch, while the hole that he had dug
was freshly filled in again. Since then no one has discovered
the treasure.
To some it may seem childish to record "fairy tales " of the
above description ; but they are old-world stories that are hard
to collect now, as the old generation who used to recite them,
and who, to a great extent beliaved them to be true, are passing
away, and with them will go a very great deal tiiat was innocent
and instructive, never to return.
Q
g
CQ
I
O
I
( 198 )
CELBRIDGE: SOME NOTES ON ITS PAST
HISTORY.
Br REV. CHARLES I. GRAHAM, B.D., Incumbent of Cclbridge.
[Read at the Celbbidob Meeting, September, 1896.]
NOT every village in Ireland can boast itself the scene of a
famous historical romance. Yet Celbridge, some hundred
and seventy years ago, was for a short period, the scene of a
romance wliich will not be forgotten as long as the names of
Swift and Vanessa live in the pages of history. Eomanoe and
archaeology may not at first sight seem to be on the best of
terms. The truth is that romance is a much greater thing than
archaeology, and if archaeology can make the romances of the
past stand out before us as living realities to-day, archaeology
has deserved well even of those who can find in it nothing but
the driest of dry bones. The story of the love of Vanessa for
Swift, more than a century and a-half ago, can be realised to
tlie full by any who pay a visit to Vanessa's Bower at The
Abbey, Celbridge, and who have imagination enough when
there to throw themselves into the history of tlie past. But
what is this story of Swift and Vanessa P Briefly it is this.
Bartholomew Van Homrigh, a Dutch merchant who had been
Commissary of Stores for King William III. in the Irish Civil
Wars, purchased forfeited estates to the value of £12,000 in
Ireland. He became Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1697. And at
his death, about 1709, his widow (who was the daughter of
Mr. Stone, a Commissioner), witli her two sons and two
daughters settled in London. There Swift became acquainted
witli them. At that time, the eldest daughter, Esther Van
Homrigh was about twenty years of age. She was the Van-Essa
of S wilt's romance. She and the Dean read and studied
together in London, until the literary bond deepened into a
stronger and more powerful one, and Esther Van Homrigh
confessed her love for her master. This confession was made
just before Swift went to take possession of the Deanery of
St. Patrick's in 1713. Swift indeed expressed surprise that
Vanessa should have conceived such a passion. He writes : —
** Vanessa, not in years a score
Dreams of a gown of forty-four.
Imaginary charms oan iind
In eyes >\'ith reading almost blind."
CELBRIDGE : SOME NOTES ON ITS PAST HISTORY. 1 99
And, again, he tells us that,
<* His conduct might have made him styled
A father, and the nymph his child.
That innocent delignt he took
To see the virgin mind her hook,
Was but the master's secret joy
In school to hear the finest boy."
— Cadenus and Vanessa,
But there must have heen something more than this in the
matter. For in Swift's Letters to Miss Johnston (hotter known
as Stella) — another of the Dean's lady-loves, and another
Esther — though frequently speaking of Mrs. Van Homrigh, and
of his visits to her house in London he never mentions the
name of Yanessa. Indeed he refers to her only twice in all
tl^ese Letters, and then, quite coldly and indifferently, as " Mrs.
Yan Homrigh's eldest daughter." This, to say the least of
it, is suspicious. However, a year after the confession of her
love for the Dean, her mother died, and her two brothers
survived their mother hut a short time. Esther and her sister
Moll, or Molkin, then returned to Ireland to live on their
property at Celbridge, the demesne now known as The Abbey,
and at present the residence of Colonel Dease. The date of
Vanessa's residence at Celbridge is 1717. But Swift who had
Stella on his hands, and to whom, it has been said, he was
secretly married in 1716, never visited Vanessa at Celbridge
until the year 1720. So that the Celbridge part of the Swift
and Vanessa romance is confintd to three years, 1720-1723, for
in the latter year Vanessa died. Her death was indeed a
tragedy. Tormented with doubts created by rumours which
the had heard, she wrote to Stella to ask the nature of the
friendship which existed between her and the Dean. Her
letter was shown by Stella to Swift. The Dean was so
much irritated by the letter that, filled with rage, he rode
from Dublin to the Abbey, and throwing down Vanessa's
letter to Stella on the table in her presence, he nished from the
room in a paroxysm of passion, and rode back at once to
Dublin. Within three weeks of this occurrence Vanessa had
died of a broken heart, in the 37th year of her age. Such is
the story of Swift and Vanessa.' But how far can the laud-
Biarks of this romance be now traced?
* If any wish to read a full account of this romance they had better
purchase Mrs. Wood's ** Esther Van Homrigh.'* This book is a novel, not
a contribution to archscology, and some of its liistorical statements may not
bear tlie scrutiny of an archeeological investigation. Nevertheless it gives
a very fair picture of the times, and is quite worth reading.
200 CELBRIDGE : SOME NOTES ON ITS PAST HISTORY.
The village of Celbridge was called in Swift's day, Kildrohod^
or Kildrought. Kildrohod is said to mean " The Church of the
Bridge/' though where the church was, or the bridge which
originally gave a name to the village, no one seems as yet to
have discovered. The word " Celbridge " is clearly a hybrid
one — Kill softened into " CV/," and Drohod translated as
^^Bridge^^ The name Kildrought still exists as the ecclesiastical
name of the parish, while in the village there is a KildrougUt
House, and the present Rectory, acquired by the parish in 1892,
has been styled Kildrought Parsonage. So the past is not quite
forgotten. Swift refers to Kildrought in his letters to Vanessa.
^* Pray take care," he writes, " of your health in this Irish
air to which you are a stranger. Does not Dublin look very
dirty to you, and the country very miserable ? Is Kildrohod
as beautiful as Windsor, and as agreeable to you as the prebend's
lodgings there P Is there any walk about you, as pleasant as
the Avenue and Marlborough Lodge ? " Again he writes to
lier : — " I have asked, and am assured there is not one beech
in all your groves to carve a name on, nor purling stream, for
love or money, except a great river which sometimes roars, but
never murmurs, just like Governor Huff.'" Sir Walter Scott,
in his life of Dean Swift, mentions that Vanessa always
planted a laurel or two whenever the Dean was coming to
visit her. No traces of these laurels survive at the Abbey, but
there are yew-trees not far from the. house which may liave
been cotemporaries of the Dean. At the Hectory at New-
castle-Lyons, three miles from Celbridge, an old yew-tree is
shown under which it is said that Dean Swift many a time sat
and talked. But if we cannot trace the laurels which Vanessa
planted at the Abbey, we can identify the bower in which he
and Vanessa so often sat with their books, and their writing
materials on a table in front of them. There it still remains,
with the tiny island, and the little cascade, with its leafy roof,
and the river that " roars but never murmurs " ; and you have
only to stretch yourself on the mound above it, and close your
eyes, and you can live in the days of this sad romance, and
see it with the clearest of visions. The old foot-bridge over
which Swift and Vanessa had so often crossed, with its arched
entrance and iron gate, still remains. In Colonel Dease's
* That there must have been a bridj^e over the Liffey here from pretty
early times appears from tlie fact that in an Inquisition in the time of Henry
Vlli., quoted in Archdairs Afonasticon^ mention is made of " some pasture-
ground at the foot of the Brid<?e of Kildrought."
* Governor Huff, it is needless to add, was one of Swift's i»et names for
Vanessa.
CELBKIDGE : SOME NOTES ON ITS PAST HISTORY. 20i
liouae, there can still be seen the same book-room in which
Vanessa read and wrote, and in an out-building there are still
preserved some of the black and white tiles which formed the
flooring of the liall of Vanessa's house.
But where was Vanessa buried ? That is a problem which
antiquarians have not yet been able to solve. Shall it remain
for the Kildare Archaeological Society to discover the resting-
phice of her remains ? Having died at the Abbey, we would
naturally look for her grave in the old graveyard in Tee-lane^
in Celbridge. But no monument or inscription marks her
grave, if she is buried there. The parish registers can supply
no information. She died in 1723, and our registers only
commence in 1777. Parochial documents older than these are
said to have perished in the fire which destroyed the old church
in Tee-laue in the year of the great Irish Rebellion, 1798. I
have been in communication with relatives of Vanessa in
England, and with llev. W. Reynell, b.d., of Dublin, whose
sources of antiquarian information are most thorough and
exten^ive, but no trace can be found of her place of burial.
The registers of the city parishes in Dublin have been searched,
but all in vain. It is strange that her burial-place should have
so completely vanished out of sight. Dean Swift, wlien he
found Vanessa's affections centred so strongly on himself, tried
to get her married to someone else, as the best way out of his
difficulty. And two clergymen actually proposed for her hand.
Dean Winter and Dr. Price. But she would have none of them.
One of these clergymen, Dr. Price, is intimately connected
with Celbridge history : for he lived in the house opposite TJie
Abbey, now known as Oakly Park, and at present the residence
of Captain Mark Maunsell. His father, Samuel Price, was
made Vicar of Straffan, and Prebendary of Kildare in 1672,
and resigned the parish of Celbridge in 1705, when his son
Arthur Price succeeded him. Arthur Price was a graduate of
Trinity College, Dublin, and his first ecclesiastical appointment
was the curacy of St. Werburgh's, Dublin. His first promotion
was to the Vicarage of Celbridge, and then ecclesiastical
greatness was literally 'Uhrust upon him." He was made
Vicar of Feighculleu, and Bally braiue ; Prebendary of Donadea ;
Rector of Louth, in Co. Armagh, and of Clonfeacle, in Kildare;
Arclideacon and Canon of Kildare ; Dean of Ferns, and in
1724 (the year after Vanessa's death), he was appointed Bishoji
^ The word ** 7«;c," in yVe-laue, has, doubtless, no connexion with the
bevt'iiige known as Tea. It is probably an old Celtic word. Miiis Margaret
Stokes identities it, I believe, with a Celtic word **^c/4," meaning ** church."
Hence ** Tee-lane " is ** Church Lane."
202 CELBRIDGE : SOME NOTES ON ITS PAST HISTORY.
of Clonfert and Kilmacduagh. Indeed, there might have been
played upon Price, the joke which Sydney Smith says was once
played on a rich Canon of Christ Church, Oxford, who held no
less than eight benefices and dignities at the same time. One
day the Canon asked a friend of his to order dinner for him at
Hungerford. His friend went to the hotel, and there ordered
eight separate dinners. One was for the Canon of Christ
Church, another for the Rector of Staverton, another for the
Vicar of tliis, another for the Prebendary of that, so that when
the Canon of Christ Church arrived at Hungerford, he found
eight separate dinners ready for him, and had to pay the bill
accordingly.
But Price's ecclesiastical greatness did not stop short at the
Bishopric of Clonfert. In 1730 he was translated to the
Bishopric of Ferns; and in 1734 he was translated from that to
the Bishopric of Meath ; and remaining there ten yeara, in 1744
he was translated to the Archbishopric of Cashel. In 1746 he
was made Vicc-Chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin, and you
can see his portrait on the walls of the Dining Hall of tliat
University. He died on July 17th, 1752, at Celbridge, and
was buried in Leixlip on July 20tli. A monumental slab
recording his burial is placed in the floor of the nave of Leixlip
Church.
Archbisliop Price probably built the house now known as
Oukly Park, about the same time that Castletown House was
built, that is, in the year 1725, and tradition states that the
two houses had a common architect. When promoted to the
Bishopric of Mealh lie seems to have lived at Oakly Park, and
from thence to have superintended the building of an episcopal
residence for the Diocese of Meath at Ardbraccan, pureuant to
the designs of his predecessor in the see, Bishop Kvans. He
did not complete Ardbraccan House, for before it was finished
he was translated to the Archbishopric of Cashel. On which
eveut the author of some ms. notes to an edition of Ware's
AutiqnilieHy in the Library of Trinity College, makes the
following sarcastic remark : — '* It had been much to be wished
that he had never quitted Meath, and then the liouse at Ard-
braccan would have been completed, and the noble and venerable
Cathedral of Cashel would have escaped his destructive hand."
Tlie reference in tlio latter sentence is to the fact that, when
Archbishop of Cashel, he procured an Act of Council to remove
the Cathedral from the Itock of Cashel into the town, uniting
the same with St. John's Parish. '*By which means," adds the
writer 1 have just quoted, "that noble and venerable pile has
gone to ruins." However, no man is without his redeeming
CELBRIDGE : SOME NOTES ON ITS PAST HISTORY. 203
feature. Price did not forget the first parish of which he was
vicar. In 1734, when Bishop of Meath, he presented to Gel-
bridge Parish a very substantial set of Vessels for Holy Com-
munion. They are the ones now in use, they are inscribed with
his name, and the date of the gift ; and seem to be very little
the worse of the wear and tear of 162 years.*
Dr. Price was succeeded as Vicar of Celbridge by Georgfe
Marlay, who afterwards became Bishop of Dromore. He lived
at the Abbey, and for a considerable time in its history, it bore
the name of Marlay Abbey, after himself and his family. It
seems as if Archbishop Price held Oakly Park in his own posses-
sion until his death, for he died at Celbridge, and his successor in
the Vicarage in 1724 lived not at Oakly Park, but at The Abbey.
For thirty-three years after his death, we cannot say what
tenant may have occupied the house. But in 1785 there came
to live at Oakly Park, or Celbridge Hall as it was then called, a
family the memory of whose deeds sheds a glory on the village
of Celbridge. In that year Colonel and Lady Sarah Napier
took up their residence at Celbridge Hall, and all their sons were
born there except Sir Charles. In the Baptismal Register there
are entries made of the baptism of five of his children. Lady
Sarah Napier before her marriage was Lady Sarah Lennox,
seventli daughter of the second Duke of Richmond (who was
grandson of Charles II.), by Sarah, eldest daughter of Lord
Gadogan. Lady Sarah Napier, who was a celebrated beauty,
and to whom IQng George III. had offered his hand and heart,
had three sisters— one Caroline, married to the first Lord
Holland, and mother of Charles James Fox ; another, Emily,
married to the Duke of Leinster, and mother of Lord Edward
Fitz Gerald ; while a third, Louisa, was married to Colonel
ConoUy of Castletown. When the Napiers lived at Celbridge
Hall, the house soon became known in the neighbourhood by
the name of the '^ Eagle's Nest." It was so called either
because of the hooked noses possessed by the Napier boys, or
because of their high spirits.' In the Life of Sir William
' Some years ago a dispute arose as to whether the fi ishop of Meath
should be termed ** Most Itev.,** as being the bishop of the see next in
dignity to the two archbishoprics, or ** Hiffht Rev.** as an ordinary bishop.
On the Celbridge Communion Vessels the inscription is ** Miffht Rev,*' In
a Paper recently read before the Royal Irish Academy, Canon Olden has
called attention to the fact that two of the patens, presented by Archbishop
Price, are made to tit as chalice covers when reversed. {The Paten of
Oourdon iUustraUdfom the Book of Armagh, by Rev. T. Olden, Feb. 1896.)
' Punch once represented a meeting between the Duke of Wellington
and one of the Napiers, in which the greeting consisted of a fraternal
rubbing of noses.
204 CELBRIDGE : SOME NOTES ON ITS PAST HISTORY.
Napier, many a tale is told of the Celbridge of that day. It
seems that Charles and WilHana Napier went to a school in
the village, known by the name of the Academy, under the
mastership of a man named Bngnal. At this Academy the
boys were all Roman Catholics. A Protestant Boarding School
existed in St. Wolstan's at that time, and on one occasion
Charles Napier, when a little boy, having marched a band of
volunteers whom he had organised and drilled, past St. Wolstan's,
an attack was made on them by the boys of that Institution.
Serious consequences were only prevented by Charles Napier
riding on his little Arab pony between the belligerents, and
calling off his youthful troops.* The days of the rebellion
of 1798 were sad days for Celbridge. Wounded men were
constantly being brought into the village, and the village itself
was twice ordered to be burnt by the Government, and only
waved through the intervention of Colonel Napier. Celbridge
Hall was itself attacked, and on the knocker of Oakly Park
liall door can still be seen the mark of the blow of a sledge
hammer wielded by some of those who were trying to break in
the door.
Close to Oakly Park, in an enclosed graveyard, stand the
ruins of the old church burnt in the year 1798. Part of these
ruins have been roofed in to make burial-places for the Maunsell
and Conolly families. In the ConoUy vault is to be found a
large and handsome marble monument of the Bight Hoik
William Conolly, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, and
his wife. It represents the Speaker reclining in his robes, and
his wife bending over him. There is on it a long Latin in-
scription, stating that it was erected to his memory by Catherine
Conyngham his wife. And in front of it is a beautiful piece
of iron grill- work. An effort was made some years ago to have
it removed from its present position, and placed in the parish
church. But nothing came of it. I have reason to believe
that the present owner of Castletown is anxious that this statue
of his ancestor — so influential, so patriotic, and so good an
^ There is some dispute about the house in which this Academy was
held. 1 was led to believe that it was in Kildrought House, next the Couit
House. But the Kev. M. Hogan, a former Koman Catholic curat« in
Celbridge, informs me that it is also said to have been held in a house in
the village which has a date over it, or in a house lower down in the village
which stands in a place known as the Brewery Yard. Father Hogan, who has
very kindly placed his notes at my disposal for the purpose of this Paper,
states that in a book entitled *' A Short View of the History of the Christian
Church from its first Establishment to the Present Century," by Rev.
Joseph Reeve, published in 1^09, he found a list of subscribers to the book^
many of whom gave as their address *^ Celbridge Academy."
CELBRIDGE : SOME NOTES ON ITS PAST HISTORY. 205
Irishinan — should be removed into some position where it could
be seen by the public, and saved from its present condition of
obscurity and neglect. Certainly this would be an object which
patriotic Irishmen of all creeds might well unite to effect.
I have not been able to ascertain whether the old church in
Tee-flane was ever dedicated in the name of any saint, or what
was the date of its erection. There is a pump in the village
near tlie Mills, with a stone trough underneath, on one side of
which there is an inscription which reads as follows : — "Ancient —
Thobar Mochua— Ornamented to St. MochuAin 1783." Could
the dedication have been in the name of St. Mochua P There
are five Mochuas mentioned in Irish hagiologies. The Mochua
whose name is preserved in this inscription was doubtless the
Mochua known as the first Abbot of Clondalkin, by some called
**a holy bishop and confessor." Mochua's Irish name was
Cronan. He probably lived about the eighth century, and
was descended from Cathaeir Mor, monarch of Erin. Evidently
Mochua must have been an ecclesiastic of repute, as Clondalkin
M as a place of ecclesiastical importance. The fact of its possessing
a round tower 84 feet hich, and an antiphonary of its own,
which is preserved in the Library of Trinity College, would be
8u£Soient to show this.
^J
( 206 )
On the Lost Ogham ''Deccedda'* Stone, onoe at Killeen
Connao, near Colbinstown, Co. Kildare. — On an inlet at the
entrance of the great estuary of the Kenmare river stands a very
remarkable stone monument.* Under the lofty range of Slievc-
Miskish, rising almost from the edge of the Atlantic, and beside the
land-locked Bay of Ballycrovane, in a lonely, treeless land of moun-
tain, and rock, and ocean bay, watches, and has watched for centuries,
a rough, unhewn, clay-slate monolith, erect, though age-stooped, ami
score-inscribed with the mysterious Ogham script. This rude stone
is remarkable for one thing, as being the longest and loftiest of all
the inscribed monoliths yet found in Ireland, or, indeed, in the
British Isles. But it is remarkable, too, for facts connected with the
inscription, I need not (I suppose) minutely describe the nature of
the Ogham script for readers of the Kildare Arch^ologica.l Journal.
Everyone knows that it consists of straight, or slightly-curved scores
and nicks graven with a tool in the stone, almost always along an
edge, which forms (so to speak) the back-bone of the scores, these
latter spreading from it in parallel lines on either side, much as a
herring's ribs spread from its spine, while the nicks are indented
along the edge-spine itself. In the Book of Bally mote (fourteenth
century) is a tract on Ogham (or Ogam) alphabets, which gives a clue
to the deciphering of these mysterious scores and nicks. Suffice it to
say, that the scores (according to their number and length) represent
consonants, and the nicks (according to their number) represent
vowels. The language is (popularly speaking) Old Irish.
The inscription on the standing monolith of Ballycrovane, above-
mentioned, runs thus : —
**MAQI DECCEDDASAFITORANIAS ''
(according to Mr. Brash's reading of it, which is not substantially
disputed).
The remarkable letters here are those forming the word "decckdda."
This word, or name (for such it is), is well known to Oghamists. It
has been found (practically identical) on several Ogham-inscribed
pillar-stones, and invariably preceded by the word " maw," i.e, " son
of." At Ballintaggart, Dingle (Co. Cork), occurs thus — "maqi
DECCEDA." On a stone found at GortnaguUanach, in the Dingle
district— " MAQQi decedda." On one of the Dunbell stones in the
Museum at Kilkenny — " maqi deccedda."
In the " Archaeologica Cambrensis," vol. ni., 3rd series, p. 296,*
* Brash, •* The Ogam-insoribed Monuments of the Gaedhil," p. 127.
3 Shearman's '* Loca Patriciana," p. 39 ; Brash, p. 316.
MISCELLANEA. lo^
an Oghaxa-inscribed monument of the close of the sixth century is
described. It is at Penros Slygwy, in Anglcsea. It reads, "Hie
jacet maccu decetti."
Space, as well as knowledge, fails me to go into the conclusions
suggested by this remarkable extension of a name, thus found in such
widely-sundered districts. What is of importance to my present
purpose is, that a stone formerly existed (described and figured
by Brash, p. 316, fig. No. 2, KiUen Connac, on PL xt. ; and by
Shearman, p. 39) in the old graveyard at Killeen Cormac, near
Colbinstown, Co. Kildare, bearing the same name — ** ddecceda."
Killeen Cormac is famous among Irish archaeologists for its Ogham
stones, especially for its almost (in Ireland) unique specimen of a
bilingual Ugbam and Latin-inscribed stone, bearing the much-disputed
letters — **ivybbk (or ? iwkne) dewides," upon which Father Shear-
man founds a very elaborate and learned disquisition, perfectly satis-
factory in every respect, except that the reading of the Ogham which
he adopts is unfortunately absolutely impossible, for reasons into which
space forbids my entering now. Nor is this famous stone the one
now to engage our notice. It is another stone — ^the "decceda,"
"dbcbdda," or **ddecceda" stone, formerly existing, and standing
upright, in Killeen Cormac. The inscription ran —
^^Mi\ ...„iL iL „„ nil mi,.>444JJ-^./i iim Mii../-.-^^ ^^
MAQ IBBB C C SBAKAQ IMAK I K
i,e. ** (Stone of) the son op nnECCED son of hasin."
That this was a stone worth preserving few will be such Goths and
Vandals as to doubt. But it has 7wt been preserved. It is undoubtedly
gone, and has been gone now for a good many years, ^o one could
give any information as to its disappearance, further than that it was
gone, which was evident.
In August, 1892, Kobert Mitchell, of Ballynure, and the present
wiiter paid a visit to the Killeen. Mr. Mitchell found a fragment of
a stone near the spot marked on Eather Shearman's plan as the site of
the '' DDECCEDA " stouo. This fragment bore unmistakable Ogham
scores. We hunted for a couple of hours, till darkness set in, and
found about twelve fragments, some larger, some smaller — about four
bearing Ogham scores. Several fitted along the fractures (tolerably
recent fractures), plainly showing that they once formed part of a
pretty large inscribed Ogham stone. The letters plainly traceable on
the fragments (of which I have drawings) come into the inscription on
the lost '*Ddecceda" stone, as given by Brash and Shearman {locis
eitatis).
We left the fragments pieced and fitted together. On subsequent
visits I found these fragments scattered about, and left them in a
cavity in the mound of the Killeen, where I fondly fancied they would
be safe. But last November, when Sir Arthur Vicars (Ulster),
H. Blake, and myself visited the Killeen, we found that the boundary-
wall of the graveyard liad been lately repaired by the Board of
VOL. XI., PAHT III. R
208 MISCELLANEA.
Guardians, and that certainly one, and probably ally of the "|Ddecceda "
stone fragments had been very admirably and securely mortared-up
into this excellent wall.
I could not but be reminded, by this indiscnminating zeal of the
Fathers of the Poor, of a story I have heard concerning a country
gentleman of archseologiual tastes. He had on his property a venerable
and interesting ruin. He gave directions to his men that this ruin, in
order to preserve it, should be well fenced in with a good wall. On
coming some time after to see how his orders had been executed, he
was, no doubt, highly gratified to discover an admirably built wall sur-
rounding a vacant space, where the object of his care once stood. Every
remaining stone of the ruin had been utilized by his intelligent
workmen in constructing the wall of preservation. Moral, — Set some
one that knows something of archaeology to look after Kilieen
Cormac. — William FitzGerald, Clk.
County Kildare << Trade -Tokens," Seventeentli Century. —
Appended is given a list of all the Trade Tokens in connexion with
towns in the Go. Kildare that are at present known to exist : there is
a specimen of each one here given in the Carton collection of coins.
The following remarks on the origin and use of these Trade Tokens
has been kindly supplied to me by Dr. William Frazer, f.k.c.s.i.,
M.B.I.A., who is an expert on such matters : —
** Little pieces of copper coin, varying in size from that of a
shilling to even smaller than a threepenny piece, usually inscribed
with the name of the person by whom it was issued, and his trade or
occupation, possibly also bearing the date of its issue, and on the other
side, often having the town or village in which he lived, are called
* Trade Tokens,' for they were made principally by traders and
merchants, to assist their business transactions, affording change for
penny and halfpenny purchases. Some also were struck by town
corporations for the relief of the necessitous poor, and many by tavern-
keepers, to promote the return of their recipients to the shop where
they would be received in payments.
** The period when such little tokens became important in the
history of English numismatics was. the seventeenth century. Trade
at that time received a local development previously unknown, and
people living in England and Ireland commenced retail traffic in all
descriptions of goods, so extensive that the former monetary arrange-
ments failed to meet the requirements of the purchasers, for procuring
and paying small quantities. Silver as the sole medium was not
sufficient. So early as the reign of Queen Elizabeth there appeared
for Ireland a petty coinage of pennies and halfpence, struck in copper,
which did not suffice even for the limited wants of this country.
James I. endeavoured to supplement the deficiency with imperfect
success. The Catholic Contederution of Kilkenny struck coin also,
and so did Charles I. Yet all these efforts were of little influence in
the serious monetary trouble due to the want of suitable small pieces
of coin for trade.
MISCELLANEA. 20g
Some idea of the serions nature of this demand for small coins for
commercial tranRactions may be judc^edby the simple statement of the
numbers issued during^ the sixteenth century. In the latest publica-
tion on * Trade Tokens,' in England, Wales, and Ireland, struck at
this time by corporations, merchants, and traders, there are detailed
descriptions of no less than 20,000 such pieces, fillinfz: the pages of
two large volumes. The editor and author is Mr. George C.
Williamson, and this work is itself an improved and expanded treatise,
based on the celebrated work previously published by William Boyne.
I can refer all who require further information about tokens to its
pages. As the chief authority for our Irish tokens, I ought to name
the late Dr. Aquilla Smith, whose information was extensive and
accurate. Some few Papers were contributed by local writers
chiefly to the Kilkenny Archaeological Society's Journal. It is a
reasonable inquiry — What possible service can the history of such
tokens be to us ? A little consideration will show that they throw
much light upon the domestic history of our country, and that remark-
able extension of local traffic which influenced our prosperity, so that
Napoleon I. attempted to satirize it when he called Great Britain a
nation of shopkeepers. They tell us of local trades and occupations,
many of which have disappeared altogether, under altered circum-
stances and new discoveries, or have gone from the places where they
once flourished. They preserve the names and pursuits of a great
number of men long dead, but whose descendants still remain, and of
others whose successors have either emigrated to the United States, or
to distant Colonies. Frequently they represent armorial bearings, of
much importance in tracing family pedigrees, for amongst these early
traders were many persons of good birth and honourable descent, and
from their ranks, with augmented wealth, have sprung titles and
distinctions acquired by their representatives. On Irish soil this
peculiar extension of trade, previously limited to the boundaries of a
few large towns and to the English Pale, chiefly occurred under the
stem rule of Cromwell and the Commonwealth, the universal peace
he succeeded in establishing throughout the entire country, and the
complete check given to the feuds and plundering habits of petty
chieftains and their followers, was followed by the adoption of stated
industries and manufactures, not only in the larger towns, but like-
wise in small burghs and villages. Here the new settler put his
Trade Tokens into circulation. They aided in extending his little
ready-money trade, and we must not undervalue their importance in
supplying the place of those advertisements of his business for which
he now relies upon the newspaper, a power at that time unknown.
At their greatest, however, our Irish tokens are few in numbers when
compared with those struck in Great Britain. Still they afford to us
much useful and important information about the times and people
when and by whom they were used.
*' The accession of King Charles II. brought the circulation of
these tokens to an abrupt termination, and from his reign down to the
present time the striking of a copper coinage, as well as those made
in gold and silver, has remained the exclusive privilege of the Crown.
2IO
MISCELLANEA.
Several years since a deficiency was felt, or assumed, in the amount
of farthings requisite for the use of traders, such as mercers and
bakers, &c., and a limited coinage was made by private individuals,
to circulate in the larger cities, Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Waterford, and
Limerick. I believe they were used principally for supplying adver-
tisements of the establishments of those by whom they were issued
than for legitimate trade purposes, and after a few years they were
suppressed by Government. AH such private coinages, however inte-
resting to the numismatist, are open to grave objections. They do
not represent the monetary value of the circulating medium they
appear to stand for, and as their realization by their temporary owner
must depend on their being presented for redemption at the office, or
mart, of the issuer, who is alone responsible for them, and whose
bankruptcy renders their possession a loss to the community, or, at
least, to the individual who chances to hold them, they are properly
and reasonably prohibited from being issued and circulated.
** In this brief rimmi I have left out of consideration altogether
the series of copper tokens, principally pennios and half-pence, issued
in Great Britain and Ireland during the great Continental wars against
the French Republic and Napoleon I. This was the period when our
Camac half-pence and similar tokens in Ireland formed almost ex-
clusively our Irish copper medium for all trade purposes requiring
small change, owing to the culpable negligence of the Crown at this
period, in refusing to supply an adequate amount of copper coins.
The striking of tokens by traders became almost unavoidable, and
they preserve to us many import£mt features respecting the domestic
history of the times in which they appeared."
LIST OP ALL THE KNOWN COUNTY KILDARE «« TRADE-TOKENS
(17th CENTURY).
Atht.
Obverse, — ^*wrLLAM • addis : * ? *
Reverse, — ^op • k. • tht •1659. A swan.
Obverse, — *iames • swanton. A lion rampant.
Reverse, — excise offices • in-
. D .
ATHT
. I .
MISCELLANEA.
211
Ohverne, — iames • walsh • : • A double-headed eagle displayed.
Reverse, — op • ATHr • 1 666 • : • * ^ ♦
(This is said to be a unique specimen.)
Blackrath.
Obverse. — tho : cvsek : at : blackwroth * An upright sword
between two stars.
+ 0 +
Rererse. — in • the • cotnty : of kildare * t a
-F* +
Castledermot.
Obverse, — thomas • aderley : A six-nailed horshoe.
Reverie. — • smith • ca8t[klde]rmot *^*S2Sie"r"'*
Obverse. — thomas • clinton • of : A lion rampant.
Reverse. — castelldermont : * ? *
Obverse. — henery marrener • : • A glove.
Reverse. — : of castledermott + * ? ♦
212 MISCELLANEA.
EiLcuLLEN Bridge.
Obverse, — thomas • swan • : .
Rfverse. — killcvllin bridg • : . A lion rampant.
O p o
o ' o
KiLDAKE.
Obverse, — christoph= cvsack *
*i*
Reverse. — of • kildaue • march'^" . A bullock.
Obverse. — iames • 'money • of • * • A Maltese cross.
Reverse. — kildaee • march* , **' b (<»rBT)
Matnooth.
Obverse, — ralfh • bvllocz • of • A mounted postman.
Reverse, — matnooth'. postmaster' * *J *
Monasterevan.
Obverse, — tho • bvrrows : in * * ? *
Reverse, — monstereven • mr • A man in armour.
Obverse. — robert • hobson«
Reverse. — in • monstereven :
MAR
R •: H
MISCELLANEA.
2^3
Obverse. — nat + swaiue tanner- ^ i ^
1673
Reverse, — in + monstebeven + Three straps and buckles.
Naas.
Obverse, — bichard • evstas
Reverse, — makch^ * of
I 8
naase . A sheaf of com between two
rose-like ornaments.
Note.— All the above tokens are about the size of a threepenny-bit,
except those of EilcuUen Bridge and Maynooth, which are as big as a
sixpence, and the Blackrath and Swaine*s of Monasterevan, which are a
size larger still.
The devices, as described in the above list, which occupy the middle of
the coins, were probably the shop -sign of the owner, as in those days the
name-board was not in use as it is at present. In a few instances, where
three initials are given, the third may belong to the wife's Christian name.
W. FiTzG.
( "4 )
Notes;*
'* Cawlcannoil" (written as pronounced) is the name of a dish
eaten by the peasantry exclusively on AU-holland Eve or All-hallo ween,
i.e, the Slst of October. It is composed of potatoes, white cabbage,
onions, &c., pepper and salt; all boiled, pounded up, and mixed
together ; when poured out on u keeler, or plate, a hollow is made in
the centre of the mash, and pats of butter arc placed in it, and allowed
to melt.
The 1st of November, or All Saints' Day, was the date of a great
pagan festival called 'Hhe Samhain" (pronounced Saviu or 80 wan),
80 that, possibly, the eating of *^ Cawlcannon'' at this time, is a relic
of the pre-Christian feast.
Can anyone give the derivation and meaning of " Cawlcannon " ?
The building of two Bridges in the Co. Kildare, in the four-
teenth century. — Holinshed, in his '* Chronicles of Ireland,"' and in
" the Description " section, writes : —
(1) ** 1319. There hath bene a worthie prelate. Canon in the
Cathedrall Church of Kildare, named Maurice Jake (or Jakis), who
among the rest of his charitable deedes builded the bridge of Kilcoolienne,
and the next yeare followyug he builded in lyke maner the bridge of
Leighlinne, to the great and dailie commoditie of all such as are
occasioned to travaile in those quaiters.*
(2) " The Hygh Streete (of Dublin) bearing to the hygh Pype.
This pype was buylded in the yeare 1308, by a woorthie Citizen
named John Decer, being then Mayor of Dublyne. He buylded not
long before that ty me the bridge harde by 8. Woolstans that retcheth
over the Lyffie.*
Calverstown, Co. Kildare. — This place is a curious instance of
the changes a name undergoes in course of time. In 1627 it was
granted to Maurice Eustace of Harristown, Esq., and is styled in the
grant, " Calvertstowu, alias Calviestown, alias Callowstown, aliai
Ballinchaloe " (vide p. 263, vol. iii. of Morrin's ** Calendar of Kolls").
The Tipper Cross lies on the south side of the church ruins ; it is
in one piece ; the base it formerly stood on is not now visible ; pro-
bably it is buried under an accumulation of clay and fallen masonry.
1 Vide p. 19 of the 1677 edition ; and p. 33 of the 1586 edition.
3 Vide p. 11 of the 1677 edition ; and p. 23 of the 1686 edition.
NOTES.
215
As is shown in the accompanying sketch, on one face of the cross
there are two coats-of-arms (each bearing a ** crescent," denoting a
second son). Between them are the initials I D and M W (the W
2*1?-
THK TIPPER CROSS.
appears on one of the side faces). Sir Arthur Vicars informs me that the
initials and arms correspond with the Delahyde and Walsh coats, viz. : —
(1) "Barry of six argent and gules, a bend sable," for Delahyde.
(2) '' Azure, a lion rampant argent, debruised by a fess per
pale argent and gules," for Walsh.
I should be glad of information which will identify the individuals
owning the initials.
TOL. II , PT. III. S
2l6 NOTES.
'* The Leap of Allen " is a village lying three-quarters of a mile
to the north of the Hill of Allen : what is the origin of the name ?
I believe it has some connexion with Finn M^Cool, whose chief
residence, in the third century, was on the Kill of Allen.
The Franciscan Abbey, Castledermot. — Opposite to page 374,
vol. i., of the JoiTBir^L, is an illustration of the great window of the
Lady Chapel as it used to be, below which it. is stated that it was
maliciously destroyed in 1799 ; this is a mistakCi as an old man named
Mick Slavin, a tailor, still living in Castledermot, remembers its being
pulled down by a man named Billy Grimes some fifty years ago.
Billy Grimes had the grazing at the abbey, and said his cattle were in
danger from the unsafe condition of the window, to the upper portion of
which he fastened a rope, and so pulled this fine window to the ground,
an act which caused great indignation in the town at the time. Mick
Slavin remembers seeing glass in some of the tracery of the window.
On the next page (375) an epitaph in verse is quoted as being on
a stone formerly belonging to this abbey, and given in Grose's " Anti-
quities of Ireland." This is an error, as Grose writes of it as being
at the Gray Abbey of Eildare {vide p. 83 of vol. ii.).
Piotnres and Engravings of the Salmon Leap and Castle at
Leizlip: —
(1) A large square picture, quaintly painted in oils, includes the
castle, church- tower, and Salmon Leap. This is fixed in a panel over
the chimney-piece in the hall at Castletown.
(2) A small oil-painting by Roberts (17 in. x 25 in.) of the Salmon
Leap alone, is at Carton.
(3) An engraving of the Salmon Leap, called "Nymphs batheing";
five nude female figures are scattered about the rocks below the
fall (17 in. X 21 in.).
Below this picture is printed :— " Painted by F. Wheatley."
" The aquatints by T. Jukes." " Engraved by R. Pollard,"
« London, published April 10, 1785, by J. R. Smith, No. 88,
Oxford-street."
(4) In " Fisher's Views of Ireland " are two plates in brown tints
(11 in. X 8 in.).
(a) One is called " Leixlip Castle on the River Liffey," and indndes
the Castle, a tea-house on the river-bank, the chnrch*tower
and the weir.
Below is printed: — ''Dublin, published, ftc.» by I. Fisher,
April, 1792," plate vii.
NOTES. 217
{h) The other, is called "The Salmon Leap at Leixlip."
Below it ia printed : — '* Dublin, published by J. Fisher, Feb-
rhary, 1794," plate xxxi.
(5) Anengraving(12 x 1 Sin.) called the** Salmon Leap at Leixlip.''
This is a very incorrect and unnatural view of the place ; it introduces
two figures on the arch ; three more on the walk, and a bullock and
two figures on the opposite bank. The date is about 1745.
Below the eDgraviDg is printed: — " Fainted by Wm. Jones, Dublin,
and engraved by Giles King." ** London, printed for Eobert
Wilkinson, No. 58, Comhill."
(6") On Noble and Keeuan's Map of the Co. Kildare, 1752, is given
a small view of the castle and river, called ** A View of Leixlip from
the Bridge." It is a very poor attempt to represent the place, and has
no perspective.
(7) An illustration from the ** Universal Magazine " (17 — ) called
*' A Perspective View of Leixlip and the Salmon Leap." The castle,
church-tower, Salmon Leap, houses, bridge to Lucan, &c., are shown;
but the picture is unnatural though quaint.
Above it is printed : — " Engrav'd for the Universal Magazine, for
T. Hinton at the King Anns in St. Paul's Church Yard,
London." It measures nearly 9 by 7 inches.
(8) A small coloured print, in Dennis Sullivan's *' Picturesque
Tonr through Ireland," called ** Salmon Leap at Leixlip "(6x7).
This picture of the falls is inacurate, and it omits the arch on the
castle bank side ; a man is fishing below from the opposite side.
Beneath is printed : — ** London, Published by Tho'. M^'Lean, 26,
Haymarket, 1824."
Other small views of the Salmon Leap are to be found in —
Milton's "Select Views in Irehmd" (1821), plate xii., drawn by
Wheatley ; T. Cromwell's " Excursions through Ireknd " (1820), vol.
iL, p. 156, drawn by Petrie ; Bartlett's ** Scenery of Ireland "
(1841), vol. ii., p. 136, drawn by Bartlett.
Kildare Cathedral. — On Tuesday the 22nd of September, 1896, the
ancient Cathedrd of St. Brigid at Eildare (which had gradually under-
gone restoration since 1871) was reopened for divine service by the
Archbishop of Canterbury (the late Dr. Benson). In commemoration
of the events Canon Sherlock, one of our Council Members, has written
a very interesting little work entitled, " Some Account of St. Brigid,
and of the See of Kildare, with its Bishops, and of the Cathedral now
restored." It ia illustrated, too, with etchings from his pen.
W. FitzObbald.
2l8 NOTES.
Map of Ireland, showing the piincipul families, Irish, and
English, in the country at the commencement of the seventeenth ceo-
tary. Engraved hy S. Thompson, Dame-street, Duhlin. There is no
date, but an elaborate dedication (with coat-of-arms) to William, Duke
of Leinster (1773-1804) from his " most obedient servant, Charles
O'Connor, Esq." These last words (at the end of head-line 3) are
changed in another impression to " servants the Editors," and a line
is added at the foot —
** Published according to Act of Parliament, by Wogan, Bean, and
Pike, Old Bridge, No. 23, Dublin."
I should like to fix the date of these maps.
J. R. Gabstin.
The Journal of the Association for the Presenration of the
Memorials of the Dead, Ireland. — The request for information on
Iiish Church Plate, given below, is forwarded to us by one of our
Members, the Editor of the Journal of **The Association for the
Preservation of the Memorials of the Dead, Ireland." The principal
objects of this interesting and useful publication are —
1. To publish all inscriptions on sepulchral monuments in
town and country churchyards, so that when weather and time
have made the lettering illegible, there may still be a record of
them available.
2. As far as the funds of the Association will admit, to
collect, piece together, and restore ancient tombs, whose frag-
ments may lie scattered about the burial-ground.
The Journal of the Association, which has been in existence since
1888, is well illustrated, and carefully indexed. It is brought out
once a year, and should be in the hands of all our Members, as it is
an invaluable source of information for compiling a county history,
or a family pedigree.
Irish Church- Plate. — I am now engaged in collecting, for publi-
cation, particulars of the church-plate in use in this country, in the
churches of the various denominations, and I shall feel very mncli
obliged for any particulars that may be sent to me concerning the
same. Verhaiim copies of any inscription, and of *• Hall" and other
marks on the several articles, and information as to whether they are
silver, plated, brass, or pewter, with height and diameter, and, if
possible, the weight, as well as sketches or photographs of flagona
and chalices, will be thankfully received.
The constant sale of ancient church-plate, and its loss from one
cause and another, make it very desirable that such a list, as I pro«
pose making, should be prepared and published.
It is particularly requested that descriptions, &c., of any church-
plate in possession of families, may be sent to me. — Philip D. Vigoes,
Colonel, F.B.8.A.(., Holloden, Bagenalstown. Co, Carlow.
SESSION 1897.
YOLTTME II., No. 4.
^
JOURNAL
OF THE
COUNTY KILDARE ARCHAOLDaiCAL SOCIETY.
CONTENTS.
Procnedlnss:—
Annual General Meeting, x897>
Report of Council for 1896,
Excursion Meeting, 1896, .
Hon. Treasurer** Account,
PACE
. 219
. 828
. 223
. 226
List of Honorary Officers and Members, . 227
Rules, 288
Papers :—
St. Brigid and the Cathedral Church of
KLildare. By the Very Rev. Gborob
Young Cowxll, m.a.. Dean of Kildare.
With Illnstrations^ 235
rhe High Sheriffs of the County Kildare.
By John Kibton Garstin, m.r.i.a.,
F.S.A., 258
Miscellanea :— PACK
The Fitz Geralds and the Mac Kenzies, . 268
Sir Thomas Eustace, 268
Notes:—
Iron Implements found at Barrowford.
With Illustrations, 270
The Lattin Alms-house Inscribed Stones, 270
The Deer Park of Maynooth Castle, . 270
Answers to Queries :
'^ Cawlcannon," 272
Tee-, or Tea-, lane in Celbridge ? . . 272
Archaeological Jottings, .... 272
♦•##♦#♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦»»♦»<
E. PONSONBY, 116, GRAFTON STREET.
1897.
Price. Two Shillings and SIxDence.
THE GODNCIL OF THE COUNTY KILDARE ARGHAOLOGICAL SOGIETY.
THE EARL OF MAYO.
Thb Rev. Mathew Devitt, sj.
Thomas Cooke-Trench, Esq., d.l.
George Mansfield, Esq., d.l.
The Rev. C^non Sherlock, m.a.
The Rev. Edward OXeary, p.p.
Thomas J. De Burgh, Esq., d.l.
Ambrose More OTerrall, Esq., d.l.
^txu, Treffeurer :
Hans Hendrick-Aylmer, Esq., Kerdiffstown, Salliqs.
Lord Walter FitzGerald,m.r.i.a., Kilkea Castle, Mageney.
Sir Arthur Vicars, f.s.a., Ulster, 44, Wellington-rbad,
Dublin.
9on. Editor :
The Rev. Canon Sherlock, m.a., Sherlockstown, Sallint.
.zy'-'''RK',
JOURNAL
■•■■■« ii
AND
The Annual Gheneral Meeting of the Society was held on
Wednesday, the 24th of Fehruary, 1897, in the Court House,
Naas, kindly lent by the High Sheriff. Owing to the absence
of the President, the Earl of Mayo, through illness, the Senior
Member of Council,
Mr. Thomas Cookb-Tkench was called upon to take the Chair.
The following Members of the Council were present: —
Mr. George Mansfield ; Canon Sherlock ; the Rev. E. O'Leary,
p.p. ; Mr. Thos. J. De Burgh ; the Rev. Matthew Devitt, s.j. ;
Mr. Hans Hendrick-Aylmer, -Hon. Treasurer ; Lord Walter
JFitz Gerald and Sir Arthur Vicars, Ulster^ f.s.a., Hon, Secre-
taries.
In addition the following Members and Visitors were
present : —
Surgeon-Major Eeogh, High Sheriff of Kildare ; Rev. W. S. Large and
Mrs. Somerville Large ; Mrs. Cooke-Trench ; the Very Rev. the Dean of
Xildare ; Mr, George Wolfe ; Rev. Thomas Doyle, c.c. ; Rev. Thomas
Morrin, p.p. ; Mr. J. Loch, c.i., h.i.c. ; Mr. William Staples ; Mr. and Mrs.
Algernon Aylmer ; Miss Dennis ; Miss Weldon ; Dr. and Mrs. Falkiner ;
Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Sutcliffe ; Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Sweetman ; the
'Countess of Mayo ; Miss Sherlock ; Rev. H. CuUen, and others.
The Minutes of the previous Meeting of February, 1896,
having been read and confirmed, were signed by the Chairman.
Sir Arthur Vicars (Ulster), Hon, Secretary^ then read the
Report of Council for the year 1896, which was adopted.
VOL. II., PT. IV. T
220 PROCEEDINGS OF THE
The following ResolutioD, which was proposed by Mr.
George Mansfield, and passed in respectful silence at the
Excursion Meeting in September, 1896, was brought up for
confirmation, and ordered to be inserted on the Minutes : —
" That this bein^ the first Meeting of the Eildare Archaeological Society
since the death of the Rev. Denis Murphy, the Council and Members of the
Society desire to express their keen sense of the loss they have sustained in
the death of their Vice-President and Hon. Editor, whose active interest in
the working of the Society, and great ability as a writer on Antiquarian
and Archeeological matters, was evidenced from the foundation of the
Society."
The Hon. Treasurer then read his Report for the year
1896, which was adopted, and a vote of thanks passed to him
for the same.
Mr. Loch, C.I., proposed, and Sir Arthur Vicars (Ulster),
seconded the following resolution, which was unanimously
"That the thanks of the Society are hereby tendered to Mr. J. R.
SutclifFe, for kindly auditing the accounts of the Society for the past year,
and tlie Society hope that he will continue his services.*'
Some discussion ensued regarding the necessity for economy
in the general expenses of the Society, wlien Mr. George
Mansfield proposed, and Mr. Hendrick-Aylmer seconded the
following resolution, which was carried: —
" That a Sub-Committee, consisting of the Hon. Secretaries and Mr.
Cooke-Trench, be appointed to decide in what manner a reduction in the
expenditure of the Society can be made, and to carry it out."
The offices of Vice-President and Hon. Editor being vacant
by the regretted death of the Rev. Denis Murphy, the Society
proceeded to elect Officers to fill the vacancies.
The Eev. Matthew Devitt, Rector of Clongowes, was elected
Vice-President of the Society, who, in acknowledging the com-
pliment paid him, expressed his hope that he might carry out
the duties of the office in as successful a manner as his prede-
cessor had done.
Sir Arthur Vicars (Ulster), proposed, and Rev. Matthew
Devitt, Vice^ President f seconded the following resolution : —
** That the Rev. Canon Sherlock be earnestly requested to act as Hon.
Editor of the Kildare Archeeological Society, to e3it the Jottbkal and other
publications of the Society."
This motion was carried unanimously, the Chairman appeal-
ing to Canon Sherlock, who was present, to resume Ids old
duties, which he had previously carried out in such an able
manner, but had been obliged to relinquish owing to ill health :
they were all glad to see Canon Sherlock restored to health
COUNTY KILDARE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 221
again. Canon Sherlock signified his willingness to aot as Hon,
Editm\
Mr. George Mansfield and the Bev. Canon Sherlock, being
the Members of Council retiring by rotation, were re-elected.
Mr. Ambrose More O'Ferrall, d.l., was elected a Member
of the Council, in the place of the Eev. Matthew Devitt, Vice-
President,
The election of the following Members at the Excursion
Meeting, September, 1896, was confirmed : — The Earl of
Drogheda; the Countess of Drogheda; Mrs. Somers; Mr.
Charles Daly; Right Hon. Sir Peter O'Brien, Bart., Lord
Chief Justice ; Thomas E. J. O'Kelly, m.d. ; the Very Eev.
Thomas O'Dea, Yioe-President of Maynooth College ; the
Very Rev. Monsignor Gargan, d.d.. President of Maynooth
College ; Rev. C. J. Gh-aham, d.d. ; Mr. George P. A. CoUey ;
Dr. Norman ; Mrs. Clarke ; Mr. William Mooney ; and Mr.
W. A. Murphy.
The following were elected Members : — Mr. Thos. Beard ;
Rev. Mark Doyle, c.c. ; Mr. J. R. Blake ; Rev. Laurence
Doyle, c.c. ; Rev. Richard Quinn, c.c. ; Rev. Wm. Duggan, c.c. ;
Rev. Victor Lentnigne, s.j. ; and tlie Most Rev. Patrick Foley,
D.D., Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin.
It was decided that the Excursion Meeting for the ensuing
Session of the Society should take place at Gbange Con, Moone,
and district, in September.
Mr. George Mansfield proposed, and Mr. T. J. De Burgh
Keoonded the following resolution, which was passed unani-
mously : —
"That the thanks of the Kildare Archa?ological Society be hereby
tendered to Mrs. Eirkpatrick, for kindly having entertained the Members
and their friends to tea on the occasion of the Excursion Meeting, 1 896 ;
also to the following gentlemen, for having permitted the Society to inspect
their respective residences and demesnes : — Major Cane, Mr. Wm. Mooney,
Capt. Colthurst Vesey, and the Lord Chief Justice."
Owing to the regretted absence of the President, the reading
of the Papers standing in his name was postponed.
The following Papers were read : —
1. "On the Baths and Long Stones in the neighbourhood
of Naas," by Mr. T. J. De Burgh.
2. " Notes on the Curragh of Kildare,*' by Lord Walter
Fitz Gerald, m.k.i.a.
The Chairman exhibited, as an abject of historical interest;
Daniel O'Connell's hat, which bore his name written in hid
autograph inside. Apart from its historical interest, it caused
•T2
222 PROCEEDINGS OF THE
8f)me attention as a specimen of the curious fashion of former
days.
A vote of thanks having been passed to the gentlemen who
had read Papers and lent Exhibits, to the High Sheriff of Kil-
dare for the use of the Court House, and to the Chairman for
presiding, the Meeting was brought to a termination.
Report of Council for 1896.
At this the General Meeting of the Kildare Archaeological
Society for the year, it is usual for the Council to report on the
progress of the Society during the past year 1896.
The roll of Membership, after allowing for loss by resigna-
tion or death, now amounts to 147, of which number 14 are
Life Member^. This shows a healthy state of affairs.
The Council regret extremely to again have to report a
vacancy in the Vice-Presidency of the Society, by the sudden
death of their distinguished colleague and antiquary, the Rev.
Denis Murpliy, who was only elected to the office at the Greneral
Meeting last year to fill the vacancy caused by the death of
Bishop Comerford.
The Rev. Denis Murphy's services to the Society are so well
known to all, that they feel it unnecessary to expatiate on his
merits as an antiquary and his valuable assistance to the Kil-
dare ArchfiBological Society.
As he also filled the office of Hon. Editor, you will thus be
called upon to elect at this Meeting a Vice-President and an
Hon. Editor.
The first Meeting of the year 1896 was held on the 5th
February last, in the Court House, Naas, kindly lent by the
High Sheriff (Major John Aylmer), at which several Papers of
interest were read, many of which have since appeared in the
Journal.
The Excursion Meeting took place on 17th September —
Celbridge, Leixlip, and district being the places selected, and
the objects of interest then visited show that the Antiquities of
the County are so far by no means exhausted.
Apropos of the Excursion Meeting, the Council think that
the number of places to be visited in one day, and the length
of the Papers to be read, might be curtailed with advantage, as
crowding too much into one day's programme necessitates too
hurried an inspection of the places visited, not to mention the
inconvenience occasioned by too rapid a progress on such an
excursion.
A special account of this Meeting will as usual appear in
the next number of the Journal.
COUNTY KILDARE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 22 i
At this Meeting Mrs. Eirkpatrick kindly invited the Mem-
bers of the Society and their friends to tea at Donacomper.
The Hon. Treasurer will present his report, and in accord-
ance therewith the Council feel it incumbent upon them to
somewhat reduce the expenses attendant on the production of
tlie Journal, which, during the last year or two, has been pro-,
duced at an expense scarcely in accordance with the income of
the Society.
Our Hon. Treasurer reminds the Council that the composi-
tion of Life Members should form the nucleus of a reserve
fund for contingencies, and without any such fund the Society
cannot undertake any practical work in the nature of grants in
aid of restorations of ancient monuments in its district.
The Council are happy to report that during the past year
the Abbey at Castledermot, which, through the exertions of the
Society, was scheduled as a National Monument, was taken
charge of by Sir Thomas Deane, r.h.a., and prevented from
falling to further decay, thus making the fourth building in the
c< unty scheduled under the National Monuments Preservation
Act, the others being the Bound Towers of Taghadoe, Oughte*
rnrd, and Old KilcuUen.
Two Members of the Council, Mr. George Mansfield and
the Bev. Canon Sherlock, retire by rotation, and being eligible,
offer themselves for re-election.
Signed on behalf of the Council,
Thomas Cooke-Trench, Chairman.
Arthur Vicars, Ulster, \ Hon,
Walter Fitz Gerald, ) Secretaries.
Dated this 2ith ilay ofFcbruarf/, 1897,
Excursion Meeting, 1896.
The Sixth Excursion Meeting was fixed for Celbridge,
Leixlip, and that district, and took place on Thursday, Sep-
tember 17th.
The various morning trains brought the company to Hazel-
hntch Station, which was the starting point, although a few
living at the northern end of the County landed at Leixlip
Station, and joined the Meeting there.
A start was made from Hazelhatcli about half-past ten for
8. Wolstan's, a distance of one and a half miles, where, dis-
mounting at the gate-lodge, the company walked to the Abbey
224 PROCEEDINGS OF THE
ruins. Here Mr. William Kirkpatriok read a Paper on tlie
ruins, and gave a short history of the former owners of the
Abbey.
Prior to the readingof the Paper, Mr. Q-eorge Mansfield,
in the absence of the President of the Society (the Earl of
Mayo), moved a vote of condolence to the relatives of the Be v.
Denis Murphy, only recently elected Vice-President of the
Society, and whose death the Society deplored : the terms of
this resolution will be found in the Proceedings.
The Society then proceeded througli the demesne to tlie
other gate-lodge, where the carriages were in waiting to take
them on to Leixlip. On the way the river LiflFey was crossed
by the oldest bridge in this part of Ireland, still called New
BridgBy although built in 1308 by Jolm Decer, Mayor of Dublin,
and the curious cone-shaped tower, with external circular stair-
case, built by the Conolly family in 1743, was sighted from
the road.
On arrival at Leixlip the celebrated Salmon Leap was
inspected. Owing to the recent rains the volume of water
passing over tlie rocks heightened the effect.
Some of those present then entered Leixlip Castle, wliich
had been kindly thrown open for inspection by Mr. William
Mooney. The interior is now fitted up as a modern residence ;
but the room in which King John in f«aid to have slept is still
pointed out, and is known as the " King's room." Notes uii
the Castle were read by Lord Frederick FitzQ-erald, after
which Leixlip Parish Church was visited, and the many inte-
resting monuments it contains, and the registers and church
plate, attracted much attention.
A pleasant drive to Lucan, through the demesne of Lucaii
House, passing the famous Spa, brought the company to Luoaii
Spa Hotel, wliere lungheou was served.
Some delay in making a start after luncheon somewhat
shortened the time apportioned to the remaining places to be
visited, and it was already late when the Society arrived at
Castletown, where they were received by the Lord Chief Justice
and Lady O'Brien. The Members and their friends having
assembled in the hall, Lord Walter Fitz Gerald read an inte-
resting Paper on Castletown House and the Conollj' family,
and the Rev. C. Graliam followed with notes on the past history
of Celbridge ; after which, by tlie kind permission of the Loid
Chief Justice, the company were permitted to inject the in-
terior of the house.
It was late when Donacomper Churchyard, which w«s
the next place on the day's programme to be visited, wais
COUNTY KILDARE ARCHJEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 225
reaohed. Here some notes on the place were read by Mr.
W. L. Kirkpatrick^ after which the Members of the Society
and their visitors were received at Donacomper House by Mrs.
£irkpatrick, who had kindly invited everyone to tea. Owing
to tlie lateness of the hour, and many having to catch the
evening trains at Hazelhatch, but little opportunity was
afforded for a proper inspection of Donacomper, and the many
objects of antiquarian and artistic interest which it contains.
This brought the Meeting to a close, and the company dis-
persed, after having spent a most enjoyable day, in a district
full of interest. Unfortunately the weather at the commence-
ment was not altogether propitious, and this somewhat tended
to delay the programme set out for the day, but fortunately the
rain did not last.
The arrangements for the Meeting were under the personal
control of Lord Walter Fitz Gerald, and were excellently
43arried out, assisted by Mr. H. 0. Blake, as his co-Hon. Sec-
retary. Sir Arthur Vicars (Ulster), owing to indisposition,
was unable to be present.
The following Members and Visitors took part in the Ex-
cursion : — The Earl and Countess of Drogheda ; Mr. George
MansBeld ; Mr. W. Grove White ; Mr. N. J. Synnott ; Mr.
and MiSl. R. F. Rynd ; Mr. J. Loch, c.i., r.i.c. ; Miss Diipr^
Wilson ; Dr. R. L. Woollcombe, ll.d., m.r.i.a. ; Mrs. WooU-
combe ; Mr. Kerry Supple, d.i., r.i.c. ; the Right Rev. Mon-
signor Gargan, President of Maynooth College ; Mr. L. J.
Dunne ; Rev. P. O'Leary ; Mr. Thomas Greene, ll.b ; Mrs.
and Miss Ghreene ; Mr. and Mrs. Sweetman ; Rev. Thomas
O'Dea, D.D., Vice-President of Maynooth College ; Mr. Wm.
Mooney ; Rev. B. C. and Mrs. Davidson Houston ; Mr. Austin
Danier Cooper ; Mr. F. M. and Miss Carroll ; Mr. Wm. R. J.
Molloy ; Mr. W. A. Murphy ; Lord Walter Fitz Gerald, Hon.
Secretary ; Sir Peter O'Brien, Bart., Lord Chief Justice ; Lady
and the Misses O'Brien ; Lady Eva Fitz Gerald ; Lady Mabel
Fitz Gerald; Mr. H. C. Blake; Major and the Hon. Mrs*
Barton; Lord George Fitz Gerald; Lord and Lady Henry
Fitz Gerald; the Countess of Mayo; Mr. and Mrs. Vipond
Barry ; Mr. B. Cooper ; Miss Margaret Stokes, Hon. Member^
K.A.S. ; Lord Frederick Fitz Gerald ; the Duke of Leinster ;
Lord Desmond Fitz Gerald ; Mrs. Somers ; Mr. Chas. Daly ;
Dr. Thos. E. O'Kelly ; Rev. C. J. Graham ; Mr. George C. A.
CoUey ; Dr. Norman ; Mrs. Clarke ; Rev. M. Devitt, s.j. ;
Captain A. Weldon ; Mr. William Kirkpatrick ; Mrs. Cane ;
Mr. J. B. Hall ; Mr. A. P. Delany ; Rev. E. O'Leary, p.p. ;
Miss Aylmer.
226
PROCEEDINGS OF THE
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. COUNTY KILDARE ARCH^OLOGICAL SOCIETY. 227
LIST OF HONORARY OFFICERS AND MEMBERS.
(CORRECTED TO FEBRUARY 34, 18^7.)
THE EARL OF MAYO.
THE REV. MATTHEW DEVITT, S.J.
ft0unril:
(in ohdbk of blkction.]
THOMAS COOKE-TRENCH, ESQ., D.L.
GEORGE MANSFIELD, ESQ., D.L.
THE REV. CANON SHERLOCK, M.A.
THE REV. EDWARD O'LEARY, P.P.
THOMAS J. DE BURGH, ESQ., D.L.
AMBROSE MORE-O'FERRALL, ESQ., D.L.
|i0ff . a)rf asurtr :
HANS HENDRICK-AYLMER, ESQ., Kerdiifstown, Sallins.
II011. S^fjCTjetarijeg :
LORD WALTER FITZGERALD, M.R.I.A., Kilkba Castle, Maoeney.
SIR ARTHUR VICARS, F.S.A., C7,/e»-, 44, Wellinoton-road, Dihlin.
$0n. (Ebiiat :
THE REV. CANON SHERLOCK, M.A., Sheri.ojkstown, Sallins.
228 PROCEEDINGS OF THE
[Officers are indicated by heavy type ; Life Members by an asterisk (*).]
Adams, Rev. James, Kill Rectory, Straffan.
Archbold, Miss, Davidstown, Castledermot.
Aylmer, Miss, Donadea Castle, Co. Eildare.
Aylmer, Algernon, Rathmore, Naas.
ATLMEB, H. HENDRIGX-, Hon. Treunrer, KerdifPstown, Sallins.
♦Barton, Hon. Mrs., Straffan House, Straffan.
♦Barton, Major H. L., d.l., Straffan House, Straffan.
Beard, T., m.i)., Bungay, Norfolk, England.
Bird, Rev. John T., Curragh Camp, Newbridge.
Blake, J. R., 22, Moiehampton-road, Dublin.
Bonham, Colonel J., Ballintaggart, Colbinstown, Co. Kildnre.
Brooke, J. T., Dungannon, Co. Tyrone.
Brown, Stephen J., Naas.
Burke, Very Rev. E., p.p., Bagenalstown, Co. Carlo w.
♦Burtchaell, G. D., m.a., 7, St. Stephen's-green, Dublin.
Cane, Major Claude, St. Wolstan*s, Celbridge.
Carberry, Rev. Thomas, p.p., The Presbytery, Ballitore.
Carroll, Frederick, Moone Abbey, Moone.
Carroll, Rev. James, Howth, Co. Dublin.
Clarke, Mrs., Athgoe Park, Hazelhatch, Co. Dublin.
♦Clements, Colonel, Killadoon, Celbridge.
Clements, Mrs., Killadoon, Celbridge.
♦Clements, Henry J. B., d.l., Killadoon, Celbridge.
Coady, D. P., m.d., Naas.
Cochrane, Robert, f.s.a., m.r.i.a., Hon. Secretary r.s.a.i.,- 17, Highfield-r^ad,
Rath gar.
Cole, Rev. J. P., The Rectory, Portarlington.
CoUey, G. P. A., Mount Temple, Clontarf, Co. Dublin.
Conmee, Rev. J. F., b.j., St. Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner-8ti:«et, Dublin.
Cooper, Austin Damer, Drumnigh House, Baldoyle, Co. Dublin.
Coote, Stanley, The Orchai d House, Wargrave, Berks.
Co well. Very Rev. G. Y., Dean of Kildare, The Deanery, Kildare.
COUNTY KILDARE ARCH^OLOGICAL SOCIETY. 229
Daly, C, 25, Westmoreland-street, Dublin.
Dames, R. S. Longworth, 21, Herbert-street, Dublin.
Dane, J. Whiteside, Abbeyfield, Naas.
Darby, M., m.d., Monasterevin.
Davidson-Houston, Rev. B. C, St. John's Vicarage, Sidney Parade, Dublin.
Day, Robert, f.s.a., m.k.i.a., 3, Sydney-place, Cork.
Dease, Colonel G., Celbridge Abbey, Celbridge.
DE BITEOH, THOMAS J., d.l., Oldtown, Naas.
BEYITT, Bey. MATHEW, b.j., Yiee-Preiident, Rector of Clongowes Wood
College, Sallins.
Doyle, Rev. J. J., p.p., Derryoappagh, Mountmellick, Queen's County.
Doyle, Rev. liaurence, Moone.
Doyle, Rev. Mark, Woodstock Cottage, Athy.
Doyle, Rev. Thomas, Caragh, Naas.
Drogheda, The £arl of, Moore Abbey, Monasterevin.
Drogheda, The Countess of, Moore Abbey, Monasterevin.
Duggan, Rev. William, Athy.
Duncan, J. A., Athy.
Dunne, Rev. John, Clane.
Dunne, Laurence, j.p., DoUardstown House, Athy.
Elliott, Rev. William, The Manse, Nuas.
Falkiner, F. /., m.d., Spring (hardens, Naas.
Ffreneh, Rev. J. F. M., x.k.i.a., Bally redmond House, Clonegal, Co. Carlow.
♦Fitz Gerald, Lady Eva, Eilkea Castle, Mageney, Co. Kildare,
Fitz Gerald, Lady Mabel, Kilkea Castle, Mageney, Co. Kildare.
♦Fitz Gerald, Lady Nesta, Kilkea Castle, Mageney, Co. Kildare.
♦Fitz Gerald, Lord Frederick, Carton, Maynooth, Co. Kildare.
♦Fitz Gerald, Lord George, King's House, Kingston, Jamaica.
♦FITZGEEALB, LOEB WALTER, m.r.i.a., Hon. Secretary, Kilkea Castle,
Mageney, Co. Kildare.
Fitz Gerald, Lord Henry, 36, Ashley Gardens, Victoria-street, London, S.W.
Fogarty, Rev. M., Professor, The College, Maynooth.
Foley, Most Rev. Patrick, d.d., Braganza, Carlow.
Ganly, Rev. C. W., The Rectory, Castledeimot, Co. Kildare.
Gargan, Right Rev. Monsignor Denis, d.d., Pre^dent of St. Patrick's College,
Maynooth.
Garstin, J. Ribton, d.l-, f.s.a., m.r.i.a., Braganstown, Castlebellinghain ,
Co. Louth.
Glover, Edward, 19, Prince Patrick-terrace, North Circular-road, Dublin.
230 PROCEEDINGS OF THE
Graham, Rey. C. J., Kildrought Parsonage, Celbridge.
Greene, Thomas, ll.d., Millbrook, Mageney.
Hade, Arthur, c.b., Carlow.
Higginson, Ladj, Connellmore, Newbridge.
Hogiiet, Madame Henrj- L., 48, "West Twenty-eighth-street, New York.
Jameson, Miss Sophia, Glemnona, Moone.
Jesson, Rev. J. L., The Rectory, Kilkea, Co. Kildare.
Johnson, Miss, Prumplestown House, Castledeimot, Co. Kildare.
Joyce, Patrick Weston, Lyrena Greno, Leinster-road, Rathmines, Dublin.
Kennedy, Rev. H., St. David's Rectory, Naas.
Eeogh, Surgeon-Major T. R., Castleroe, Mageney, Co. Kildare.
Kirkpatrick, William, Donacomper, Celbridge.
La Touche, Mrs. John, Harristown, Brannoxtown.
Lentaigne, Rot. Victor, s.j., Clongowes Wood College, Sallins.
Loch, J., C.I.R.I.C., The Firs, Naas.
Long, Miss A. F., Woodfield, Kilcavan, Geashill, King^s County.
McS weeny, J. G., 18, Claremount-road, Sandymount, Dublin.
Maguire, Rev. E., d.d., Professor, The College, Maynooth.
Maguire, P. A., 2, Oldtown-terrace, Naas.
Mahony, David, d.l.. Grange Con, Co. Wicklow.
Mahony, George Gun, Grange Con, Co. Wicklow.
XAKSFIELD, GEORGE, d.l., Morristown Lattin, Naas.
Mayo, Dowager Countess of, 20, Eaton^square, London, S.W.
MATO, The EA£L OF, Preiident, Palmerstown, Straffan.
MoUoy, William R., m.r.i.a., 17, Brookfield-terrace, Donnybrook, Dublin.
Mooney, William, j.p., The Castle, Leixlip.
Moran, His Eminence Cardinal, Sydney, N.S. Wales, Australia.
Morrin, Rev. Thomas, p.p., Naas.
Murphy, Very Rev. Michael, p.p., St. Brigid*s, Kildare.
Murphy, W. A., Osberstown House, Naas.
Nolan, Rev. James, Ballitore, Co. Kildare.
Norman, George, 12, Brock-street, Bath, England.
O'Brien, Right Hon. Sir Peter, Lord Chief Justice, Castletown, Celbridge.
O'Bynie, Rev. Patrick, SS. Michael and John's, Exchange-st., Dublin.
O'Dea, Veiy Rev. Thomas, d.d., Vice-President, The College, Maynooth.
•O'FERRALL, AMBROSE MORE-, d.l., Ballyna, Moyvalley.
0*Hanlon, Very Rev. Canon John, p.p., 8, Leahy's-ter., Sandymount, Dublin-
COUNTY KILDARE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 23 1.
O'Kelly, T. E. T., m.d., Maynooth.
•(yLEARY, Bev. E., p.p., Ballyna, Moyvalley.
O'Leary, Rer. Patrick, The College, Maynooth.
0* Meagher, J. Casimir, h.ii.i.a., 46, Moimtjoy-square, S., Duhlin.
Owen, Arthur, Shanvaghey, Ballacolla, Queen^s Co.
Palmer, Charles Colley, d.l., Rahan, Edenderry.
Ponsonhy, Hon. Gerald, Palmerstown, Straffan.
Ponsonby, Lady Maria, Palmerstown, StraHan.
Pratt, Mrs., Glenheste, Manor-Eilbride, Co. Dublin.
Quinn, Bev. Richard, b.a., Eilmeade House, Athyj
Rynd, Major R. F., Blackball, Naas.
Saunders, Colonel R., d.l., Saunders* Grove, Stratford-on-Slaney, Co.Wicklow.
Seaton, Lord, Bert House, Athy.
8HEBL0CK, Bey. Canon, Hon. Editor, Sherlockstown, Sallins.
Skuse, Rev. Richard D., Ballykean Rectory, Portarlington.
Soiiiers, Mrs., The Rectory, Dunboyne, Co. Mcath.
Somerville-Large, Rev. W., Camalway Rectory, Kilcullen.
Staples, William, Naas.
Supple, K., D.i.u.i.c, Dunlavin, Co. Wicklow.
Sutcliffe, J. R., Hibernian Bank, Naas.
Sweetman, E., Longtown, Naas.
Sweetman, Mrs., Longtown, Naas.
Synnott, Nicholas, 14, Herbert-crescent, Hans-place, London, S.W.
Taylor, Mark, Golden Fort, Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow.
Thomhill, F. Evelyn, Rathangan House, Rathangan.
TBEHGH, THOMAS GOOKE-, d.l., Millicent, Sallins.
Trench, Mrs. Cooke-, Millicent, Sallins.
Tynan, Rev. Thomas, p.p., Newbridge.
YICABS, SIB ABTH17B, f. s. a., Ulster King -of -Arms, Hon. Secretary,
44, Wellington- road, Dublin.
Vigors, Colonel P. D., Holloden, Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow.
Wall, Colonel J., Enockareagh, Grange Con, Co. Wicklow.
Wall, Mrs., Knockareagh, Grange Con, Co. Wicklow.
Walsh, Rev. Martin, p.p., Castledermot, Co. Kildare.
Warmington, Alfred A., Munster and Leinster Bank, Naas.
Watt, David, Stackallan, Navan, Co. Meath.
232 PROCEEDINGS OF THE
Weldon, General, Forenaughts, Naas.
Weldon, Captain A. A., Eilmorony, Athy.
"Weldon, Lady, Kilmorony, Athy.
Wheeler, W, I., m.d., p.k.c.8.i., 32, Merrion-squai-e, 1^., Dublin.
"White, W. Grove, 13, dpper Ormond-quay, Dublin.
"Willis, G. de L., 4, Kildare- street, Dublin.
Wilson, Colonel W. F., The Vicarage, Clane.
Wilson, Bobert M., Coolcarrigan, Kilcock.
Wilson, Mi's. K. M., Coolcarrigan, Kilcock.
Wilson, Miss E. Dupre, Coolcarrigan, Kilcock.
Wolfe, George, Bishopsland, Ballymore-Eustace, Naas.
WooUcombe, Bobert L., ll.d., m.r.i.a., 14, Waterloo-road, Dublin.
♦Wright, Professor E. Perceval, m.d., Hon. Secretaiy k.i.a., 6, Trinity College,
Dublin.
'$on. JSS^tmin :
Miss Margaret Stokes, Carrig Breac, Howth, Co. Dublin.
COUNTY KILDARE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 233
RULES.
L That this Society he called '<The County Eildare Archceologioal
Society."
II. That the purpose of the Society he the promotion of the study and
knowledge of the antiquities and ohjects of interest in the county and
surrounding districts.
III. That the Society consist of a President, Vice-President, Council,
Hon. Treasurer, two Hon. Secretaries, and Memhers. Ladies are eligible
for Membership.
lY. That the Names of ladies and gentlemen desiring to become
Members of the Society shall be submitted, together with the names of
their proposers and seconders, to the Council, and, if approved by them,
shall then be submitted to the next Meeting of the Society for Election.
V. That the affairs of the Society be man aged by the President, Vice-
President, Hon. Treasurer, and Hon. Secretaries, together with a Council
of six Members. That for ordinary business two shall form a quorum ; but
any matter upon which a difference of opinion arises shall be reserved for
another meeting, in which three shall form a quorum.
VI. That two Members of the Council shall retire by rotation each
year, but shall be eligible for re-election.
VII. That Members pay an Annual Subscription of Ten Shillings (due
on the 1st of January), and that the payment of £5 shall constitute
a Life Member.
VIII. That Meetings of the Society be held not less than twice in each
year, one Meeting being an excursion to some place of archsBological
interest in the district.
IX. That at the lirst Meeting of the Society in each year the Hon.
Treasurer shall furnish a balance-sheet.
X. That a Journal of the Society be published annually, containing
the Proceedings and a column for local Notes and Queries, which shall be
submitted to the Council for their approval.
XI. That the Meetings of the year be fixed by the Council, due notice
of the dates of the Meetings being given to Members.
XII. That Members be at liberty to introduce visitors at the Meetings
of the Society*
Xin. No Member shall receive the Journal if his Subscription for
the previous year be not paid.
St. Brigid's Cathrdrai., Kij.dakr, ante 1820, and Bask of Granite Cross.
(From T. Cromwell's " Excursions through Ireland.")
The original Water-colour (10} X 7^) by George Petrie, is in the possession of
Miss Margaret Stokes.
ST. B RIGID AND THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH
OF KILDARE}
By thb very REV. GEORGE YOUNG COWELL, M.A.,
Dean of Kildare.
[Read, September, 1895.]
THE Cathedral Ciiurch of Kildare is built on one of the most
auoient and famous eoclesiastieal sites in Ireland, and is
second only to the Cathedral Church of Armagh in
historical and religious interest. If Armagh is indissolubly
associated with the work and memory of St. Patrick, Kildare
is equally bound up with the work and memory of St. Brigid ;
and so we may add are Derry and Durrow with the work of
> For the materials of this Paper, I wish to express generally my obliga-
tions to the following works : Arohdi^ll's ** Monastieon" ; Harris's ** Ware" ;
MS. notes and letters of Dr. O'Donovan, prdnance Survey R.I. A. ; Dr. Comer-
ford, *• Collections, Dioceses Kildare and Leighlin ** ; Dr. Olden, ** Church of
Ireland" ; Dr. Whitley Stokes's " Lives of Saints from Book of Lismore " ; Dr.
Healy's *' Ancient Schools and Scholars of Ireland"; the Rev. F. E.
Warren's "Ritual and Liturgy of the Celtic Church"; Dr. Fowler's
^'Adamnan's Life of S. Columba," &c.
VOL. 11., PT. IV. U
^J
236 ST. BRIGID AND THE
St. Columba, and these three form the ** Trias Thauroaturga/^
the wonder working triad, the three great patron Saints of
Ireland.
As Dr. Healy says : — " If St. Patrick was the father, St.
Brigid was the mother of all the Saints of Erin, both monks
and nuns."
In the Roman Missal, the Festival of St. Patrick is cele-
brated on the 17th of March, but St. Brigid and St. Columba
are passed over. I understand, however, that in the Roman
Breviary, in the supplement for Irish clergy, she receives a
restricted recognition.
In the Irisli Church, owing to the custom of only com-
memorating persons whose names occur in Holy Scripture, all
three are left out in the cold, unless when some individual
bishop authov^ea the use of a special collect, as was done this
year for St. Patrick, when the 17th of March fell on a Sunday.
This was a step in the right direction, which, it may be hoped,
will some day go further, and authorize a special collect for 1st
of February.
St. Brigid was born in 453, and was for some years a con-
temporary of St. Patrick.
She thus belongs to the period of t]ie first order of Saints
who are called most holy, of whom we are told by a writer in
the eighth century : — ** Then they were all bishops, famous and
holy, full of the Holy Ghost, 350 in number, founders of
churches; they had one Head, Christ; and one Chief, Patrick;
they observed one mass, one celebration, one tonsure from ear
to ear, they celebrated one Easter on the fourteenth moon after
the vernal equinox, and whosoever was excommunicated by one
churclj, all excommunicated ; they rejected not the services and
society of women, because, jfounded on the Bock Christ, they
feared not the blast of temptation. All these bishops were
sprung from the Romans,* Franks, Britons, and Scots." This
period terminated in 643 a.d.
St. Brigid has a sentimental advantage over St. Patrick,
not merely because she was a woman, but because she was an
Irish woman, one of pure Celtic descent, and the first woman
who was prominently engaged in Church work in Ireland.
She was the daughter of a famous Leinster Chieftain named
Duffach, who was descended from Felim Rectmar, the law
giver, a celebrated Monarch of Ireland, and from Eochad,
* Dr. Healy says, " The Romans were those who enjoyed the rights of
the Imperial oitizenshipi which at this time had come to be a badge of
slavery.** — ** Ireland's Ancient Schools," p. 160 n.
CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF KILDARE. 237*
brother of the redoubtable Con of the Hundred Battles, and was
tlius connected with St. Columba, the great presbyter abbot of
lona. Her mother was named Brocessa, of the tribe of the
Dftil Concobair of Meath, and is said in the Irish Life from
Book of Lismore, and in the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Lives of
St. Brigid, to have been a captive slave of DnflPaeh's, and sold
shortly before Brigid was born to a Druid, who lived near
Dundalk at Faughard, where the Saint was born in 453. '^ A
legend relates that her mother having gone out one day,
leaving the child covered up, the neighbours saw the house all
ablaze, so that the flame reached from earth to heaven, but
when they went to rescue the girl the fire appeared not."
This was regarded as an intimation of the glory which would
attach to the name of Brigid.
We have many Lives of St. Brigid, the earliest written
rather more than a century after her death.
They are unfortunately not " Lives " in the ordinary sense
of the term, they are rather stories of the wonders and miracles
wliich were said to have been wrought by her. " Hngiologies
rather than Histories." Some of the miracles are of a pecu-
liarly incredible kind, as, for instance, when it is recorded in
the Life by TJltan (chap. 92), that St. Brigid hung her clothes
to dry on a sunbeam ; this would have been a remarkable feat,
and a sunbeam a very unsubstantial line to hang clothes on, no
matter how airy and diaphanous they may have been, unless it
were a poetical way of saying, she wore none at all.
In other recorded miracles, however, it is different, and as
the late Bishop of Brechin said: — "In the legends there is no
little beauty, and, in almost all, we find an undercurrent of
true human feeling, and deep Christian discernment."
This statement is remarkably illustrated in some stories
about lepers.
" One day a woman brought her a present of apples ; while
they were talking some lepers came up asking alms ; Brigid
bade the woman divide the fruit among them. * Indeed, then,
I will not,' said the woman ; ' I brought these apples, not for
lepers, but for yourself and your nuns.' The Saint rebuked
her for the want of charity, and said, * Your trees shall never
bear fruit again,' a prediction which was fulfilled."
" Another time two lepers came to her, covered with their
frightful sores. The holy virgin blessed water, and bade one
of them wash the other. He did so, and behold ! the washed
one became sound and whole. * Now you wash your comrade,'
she said, to him who had been cured. He would not, and was
going away; but the Saint herself washed the second poor
U2
ST. BRIGID AND THE. CATHEDRAL CHURCH, KILDARE. 241
lier*' ; tit eccksiam in epitfcopalidignitaie cam ea gubernaret. This
was Coulaedth, f Hugh .the Wise," first Bishop of Kildare. Of
this religious bouse, it: is stated — ''that it is the first clear
iustuDce of one provided with a monastio bishop under the rule of
thehead of the institution, and also of a double monastery for men
and women^ a system which was subsequently imitated on the
Continent" ;* and I may add imitated in England, in the next
century, by St. Hilda, at Whitby. She was the great saint
of the Northumbrian Church, which had been founded by Irish
missionaries from lona.
The account of this growth and organization of Kildare is
g^iven by Cogitosus, wiio was himself a monk of this monastery,
in a very interasting passage, which I shall now read. I am
not responsible for the translation.
" This Virgin (he says), increasing with egregious virtue,
when through the fame of good acts, innumerable people of both
«exes flocked from all provinces to her, making voluntary vows,
raised upon the firm foundation of faith, in the plain of MagU
Liiffe, her monastery, the head almost of all the monasteries of
Ireland, and in honour surpassing all the monasteries of the
Scoti, the district attached to which (monastery), extending
through the whole of the land of Ireland, lay from sea to sea.
And procuring with prudent dispensation respecting their souls,
regularly in all things, and solicitous about the churches of many
provinces adhering to her, and considering with herself, that (it)
could not be without a high (or chief) priest, who would conse-
crate churches, and substitute ecclesiastical grades in them.
Galling an illustrious and solitary, adorned with all morals,
through whom Qod worked very many virtues, out from liis
desert (or hermitage) and solitary life, and going on to meet
him, sent for him, that he would rule the church in Episcopal
dignity together with her, and that nothing of the Sacerdotal
Order might be wanting in her churches. And afterwards, tlie
so annointed head and principal of all the bishops and the most
blessed ruler of the Nuns, by a felicitous association between
them and by the government of all virtues, erected their princi-
pal chui*cli ; and through the merits of both, their Cathedral,
like a fructiferous vine with branches spread in all directions,
increased throughout the whole Island of Ireland, in its
episcopal state, as also in its state in respect of the Abbess.
" Which (church) the Archbishop [or Ard-bishop] of all the
Irish Bishops, and the Abbess, whom all the Abbesses of the Scoti
venerate, always rule with happy succession a perpetual rite."
» Olden, p. 44.
242 ST. BRIGID AND THE
This Conlaedth was not a diocesan bishop in our modern
sense, as diocesan episcopacy was not at that time introduced
into Ireland. He was the bishop of the monastery and seems
in some degree at least to have been subject to St. Brigid's juris-
diction.
Two incidents illustrate this : " Conlaed had gone to Letha
(Rome or Brittany), and brought back some * transmarine and
foreign vestments.' But Brigid always sympathising with dis-
tress .... cut them up and made clothes of them for the poor.
" On another occasion, he expressed a desire to visit Rome.
.... On his applying to Brigid for permission, she refused to
grant it, on which he presumed to set out on his journey with-
out leave, but had only got as far asDiinlavin, in the county of
Wicklow, when he was devoured by wolves. This was inter-
preted as a judgment for his disobedience, because, as a native
authority tells us, * he tried to go to Rome in violation of an
order of Brigid ' " (Olden, p. 43). This tale is told by the author
of the Scholia on the Martyrology of ufEngus.
In the " Annals of the Four Masters," it is stated : —
619 A.D. Conlaedh, Bishop of Kildare, and artificer to
Brigid, died on the 3rd May.
And in the " Annals of Ulster " : —
799 A.D. The placing of the relics of Conleadh in a shrine
of gold and silver.
The arms of Kildare Bishopric are thus described by
Goodman : — Argent, a Saltire engrailed gules ; on a chief azure
an open book proper with the inscription, "The Law was given
by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."
These arms appear on a seal of Charles Cobbe, Bishop of
Kildare, dated 1731. Other arms on a seal of Edmund Lkne,
Bishop of Kildare, 1495, are shown in Ware, wliich I should
like to have properly described by Ulster King-at-Arms.
Among the Suffragan Bishops of Ireland, the Bishop of
Kildare claimed the second place next after the Bishop of
Meath, the rest taking their seats according to the dates of their
ordinations. A description of the church of Kildare ajs it
existed in his day is also given to us by Cogitosus, which is of
considerable interest, as it is said that we have no similax
account of any other church in Ireland at that age ; and soon
after it was written, the church and monastery were sacked and
burned by the Danes in 835 a.d.*
1 The Bishop of Limerick (Dr. Graves) gives very oonvinciDg reasons
for placing the date of Cogitosus' death about 670 a.d., and not about 800,
as stated by Dr. Petrie and others. (See his Paper, Proceedings of R.I.A.,
vol. viii., p. 26).
CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF KILDARE. 243
I give Dr. Petrie's translation of the passage : —
** Nor is the miracle that occurred in repairing the church, to he passed
over in silence, in which repose the bodies of both, that is Bishop Conlaeth
and tliis holy Virgin St. Bridget, on the right and the left of the decorated
altar, deposited in monuments adorned with various embellishments of gold
and silver and gems and precious stones, with crowns of gold and silver
<lependiiig from above. For the number of the faithful of both sexes increas-
ing, the church, occupying a spacious area and elevated to a menacing height,
and adorned with painted pictures, having within three oratories large, and
separated by partitions of planks under one roof of the greater house, where-
in one partition — decorated and painted with figures, and covered with
linen han^'^ings— extended along the breadth in the eastern part of the church,
from the one to the other party wall of the church, which partition has at
its extremities two doors, and through the one door, placed in the right side,
the chief prelate enters the Sanctuary (in Sanctuariura ad altare) accom-
panied by his regular school, and those who are deputed to the Sacred
ministry of offering Sacred and dominical Sacrifices ; through the other door,
placed in the left part of the partition above-mentioned and lying transversely
(a per ostium in sinistra parte porietis supradicti & transversi), [does not
this mean, the above-mentioned and transverse partition] none enter but the
Abbess with her virgins and widows, among the faithful, when going to
participate (fruantui) in the banquet (convivio) of the body and blood of
Jesus Christ. But another partition, dividing the pavement of the house
into two equal ports, extends from the eastern {rede western) side to the
transverse partition lying across the breadth. Moreover, the church has in
it manv windows (fenestras) and one adorned doorway (portam) on the
right side, through which the priests and the faithful of the male sex enter
the church, and another doorway on the left side through which the congre-
gation of virgins and women among the faithful are used to enter (intrare
solet). And thus in one very great temple (basilica), a multitude of people,
in different orders and ranks, and sex, and situation, separated by partitions,
in different orders, and (but) with one mind, worship the Omnipotent Lord.'*
— ^Petrie's "Round Towers,'* p. 197.
The Eev. F. E. Warren, author of " The Celtic Liturgies,"
in a letter wliieh he kindly sent me, states : — "According to the
more ancient rule, the right band meant the right hand of the
celelirant, or, the right hand looking east — i.e. the south side."
And, again : — **1 should say that, unless there was very clear
evidence to the contrary, the * riglit hand,' in any document
earlier than the fifteenth century, must be intei-preted to mean
the south side."
Consequently the men came in through the south door in
tlie nave; the women tlirough the north.
From this description, it would appear that the church of
that date was a simple rectangular building, probably of stone,
without any regularly constructed chancel, which was formed
by the wooden partition already mentioned, and which was
possibly latticed.
Whether the present building incorporates any portion of
the ancient church is exceedingly doubtful, especially as the
9t. BRIGID AND THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH, KILDARE. 245
o. ^ch was burned iind rebuilt more than once before. Balph of
Bristol, the first English bishop of Kildare (1223-1232), '' was
ki^ no small charge in repairing and adorning this Cathedral."
^ Here perhaps I should insert certain remarks of Dr. John
O'Donovan, made in 1837 from investigations in connection with
the Ordnance Survey. He says : — "I examined the ancient
remains of Kildare, but to my great disappointment I could not
iflisoover any church, cell feature, or ancient inscription which I
dould refer to the primitive ages, with the single exception of
Thk "Fire Housk," Kili'Ake, in 1784.
From a Drawing by Austin Cooper.
the Round Tower. Tiie natives pretend to be able to point out
the site of St. Brigid's House, Oak Tree, and Fire House ; but,
I fear, one cannot safely rely on their traditions. I am anxious
to hear Dr. Petrie's opinion on this subject. Is there extant
any ancient map of Kildare showing the relative situation of
its primitive churches before they were destroyed ? Does Ware
or any of our ecclesiastical writers mention their having seen
any of the ancient churches of St. Brigid of Kildare ? I think
they stood about the tower.
246
ST. BRIGID AND THE
%
According to the pres- jj
ent tradition their relative
position is here given.
On the Fire House we
have these remarks in
•'Holinshed's Chronicle":
" There was in Kildare an
antient monument named
the, ffire house, wherein
Cambrensissaith, was there
continuall fire kept day
and night, and yet the
a^hes never increased. I
travelled of set purpose to the Towne of Kildare to see this
place, where I did see such a monument like a vault, which to
this daie they call the ffire house."*
di^^^^i
Blm^k:
' J ^-m. '.4
U*rjr
Ancihnt Granite Cross, Kit.oarr Cathedral.
* Holinshed when writiiij< the above wms quoting Richard Stanihurst, and he
it wa8 who visited the Fire House about the tliird quarter of the 16th century.
In the year 1220, Henry de Loundres {i.e. Henry the Londoner), Archbishop
of Dublin, caused this Fire (which had been carefully preserved from a very early
time by St. Brigid*s nuns) to be extinguished ; but it was shortly after relighted,
and continued to bum until the suppression of the Monasteries in the 16th cen-
tury.— Archdall*8 **Monasticon.*'
CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF KILDARE. 247
Dr. O'Donovan, in placing the Fire House where he does,
differs from the present tradition, which places it to the north
of north door of nave, and inside the churchward wall.
He does not mention the very ancient cross, but, as accord-
ing to Ware, the shaft was used as a step to the Communion
Table, it may have escaped his notice. The shaft and mutilated
cross have been placed on the ancient base, some four or five
years ago, at the expense of the late Duke of Leinster. Quite
recently an ancient granite font of very rude and primitive
make has been discovered in the churchyard to the north of
north transept, and has been placed inside the nave. Dr.
O'Donovan also states, vol. ii., p. 232.: —
** I have no doubt that St. Bridget found the idea of her perpetual fire in
that part of Leviticus which commands that a perpetual fire be lighted in
the Tabernacle. . •
** Be this as it may, we have every authority for stating that St. Bridget
was never a Vestal Virgin^ and we have no proof, nor can we assume with*
out more evidence, that there were fire Druidesses, or Vestal Virgins, in
Ireland before the introduction of Christianity in the fifth century.
*' I could believe that this fire was kept lighting by the nuns in honqur
and memory of their Patron, St. Bridget, and, as there is no mention in her
lives of its having been lighted by herself, that it was perhaps an innovation
of modern times. In like manner St. Bridget's 'Oak, hawks, ili^c.,' would
have been rendered perpetual, if the principal ( ?) of their life and duration
could be continued or su])plied by any means ; and I could also believe that
there is very little reliance to be placed on these insulse (insipid) stories of
Cambrensis. . .
** Itis astonishing that Cogitosus^ who described the ecclesiastical establish-
ment at Eildare so minutely, takes no notice of this perpetual fire, &c.
*' It is curious that Cogitosus makes no mention of the tower or perpetual
fire of Kildare. However, we should be very cautious in venturing to assert
that he does not, without examining his work most carefully fp. 235.]
** He makes another reference to the Basilica of Kildare,. which I have not,
viz. that it was an inviolable sanctuary in which the Regalia of kings were
placed, and that it had an ornamented roof. The passage is extremely
obscure, and should be compared with all the editions of Cogitosus."
The Annals of Ireland have many references to Kildare
and its church during the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries,
principally burnings and plunderings by the foreigners, thus
we read:. —
836 A.D. " A Danish fleet of 30 sail arrived in the Liffey,
and another in the Boyne; they destroyed, amongst other
places, Kildare by fire and sword, and carried away the rich
shrines of St. Brigid and St. Conlaedh."
868 A.D. The Church of Kildare was rebuilt by Queen
Flanna, wife of Aedth Finliath, King. of Ireland.
962 A.D. Kildare rifled by the Gentiles, but O'Nerulo,
through merciful pitie, tooke pitty on them, and redeemed all the
248 ST. BRIGID AND THE
clergi almost for the name of the Lord, viz. the full of St. Brigid's
house, and the oratora-fuU ; he redeeilied all by his own monie.
1 050 A.D. Eildare, with its great stone ehuroh, burned, and
again in 1067 a.i>.
1132. A.D. St. Laurence O'Toole was baptized at Eildare.
1135 A.D. The Abbesse of Kildare was forced and taken
out of her cloisters by Dermot MaoMorrogh, King of Lynster,
and compelled to marrie one of Dermot's people.
1 176. The English Earl (Strongbow) died at Dublin, of an
ulcer which had broken out on his foot, through the miracles
of St. Brigid and Columbkille, and all the other saints, whose
churches had been destroyed, by him.
1223 A.D. Ralph of Bristol repaired and adorned the
cathedral, as already stated. [This was the building whose
ruins have now been restored once more.]
1482 A.D. Dr. Edmund Lane, Bishop of Kildare, repaired
and beautified the cathedral ; he also built a college in which
the Dean and Chapter should reside.
1600 A.D. The town of Kildare suffered so severely that
all the houses were in ruins and without a single inhabitant.
That the Cathedral shared in the general wreck is shown, firstly,
in the Bural Visitation Book of 1615, in wliich it is stated,
" The church of Kildare diocese, situated in the town of Kil-
dare, is now wholly ruinous," and again in the Report of
Dr. Pilsworfch, Bishop of Kildare, " The roof of the body of
the said church is altogether ruinous, being pulled down in
the late wars. The parishioners of the same are so poor that
they are unable to repair the same, unless his excellent majesty
vouchsafe, of bis wonted goodness, to grant some extraordinary
help and furtherance thereto."
1641 A.D. The cathedral suffered severely having had its
steeple beaten down by a cannonade.
This statement, from Ware, is constantly repeated. I am
inclined to think, it is mythical, as I have been assured by a
very intelligent resident in Kildare, who was constantly at the
cathedral during the work of restoration, that not a trace of
feuch battering nor a single cannon ball was discovered.
The sub-committee also reported, as follows : — " Curiously
enough, steps of the old turret and portions of the interior
mouldings of the windows were found lying on the corn gravel
(10 feet down), clearly showing that from some cause or other
the foundations of the piers and turret were turned up from
the very bottom." Again, it was found very diflSoult to
obtain a proper foundation for the north wall of tower.
It seems probable, therefore, that the north wall of the
CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF KILDARE. 249
tower fell, from a settlemeDt in the foundation, carrying with
it some portions of east and west walls, and wrecking the north
transept and ohanoel.
1642 A.T). Archdeacon Golborne and Mr. Lightbome
deposed that, "in the rebellion of 1641, the ornaments of the
cathedral of Kildare and the hooks belonging to the same, value
ten pounds, also the chapter chest containing all the evidences
and rescripts of the chapter, were in December, 1641, taken
away by Eosse MacQeoghegan, titular Bishop of Kildare,
Dempsey, his Vicar-General, William liorey, priest, and the
friars of the Grey Abbey there."
It does not seem that these books and chapter*deeds were
ever recovered.
Thus we see that the wars of the seventeenth century left
the cathedral in ruins.
1681 A.D. William Moreton, d.d., eldest son of Edward
Moreton, Prebendary of Chester, and born in that city, was
consecrated Bishop of Kildare. He had been Dean of Christ
Church, and was allowed to hold the Deanery in commendani,
on account of the poverty of the See, the manors and lands of
which had been alienated by Bishop Craik, in 1660.
Bishop Moreton built a kind of pro-cathedral or choir, on
the site of the ancient chancel. This building was probably
commenced in 1683, as a stone with his name and this date,
may still be seen amongst the monuments in the cathedral.
On this structure, Mr. George Edmund Street, r.a., reported
in 1871, as follows: — "The choir is the only part still roofed
and used for service ; it is fitted up for use as a Cathedral choir,
with seats for the parishioners in the centre. Its architectural
character is of the poorest description. . . . The roof is not in
good condition, but is concealed from view by an internal
flat and plastered ceiling."
It had, however, a glory of its own, for, on the day of
its re-consecration, St. Peter's day, 1686, Thomas Wilson,
the saintly Bishop of Sodor and Man, received deacon's orders.
The cathedral still possesses a paten which Bishop Wilson, in
conjunction with bis friend Michael Hewetson (afterwards
Archdeacon of Armagh), presented to the church in memory
of that event.
In speaking of the present work of restoration, I cannot
do better than follow a carefully compiled Paper, communi-
cated to the Ouardiany in December, last, by the Eev. C. I.
Graham, b.d., with a few alterations and omissions : —
"When the Irish Church Act of 1869 became law, the cathedral was
handed over to the parishioners of Kildare, for it serves both as the church
250 ST. BRIGID AND THE
of the parish of Eildare and the cathedral of the diocese. But the choir, in
which the services were held, was in a ruinous condition ; its walls cracked
in many places, and generally in so weak a condition that they were unable
to bear a new roof, which had then come to be badly needed. A deputation
of the parishioners accordingly waited on the Dean and Chapter to ask their
assistance in the work of restoration. But the Dean and Chapter could
Sromise no funds, and the deputation returned much depressed. One of the
eputation was the late Dr. Chaplin, of Eildare, ex-President of the Royal
College of Surgeons, Ireland, whose earnest zeal and constant labours in
connection with the work of restoration are now fitlj' commemorated in the
handsome east window of the present cathedral, erected by subscriptions of
his friends, and recently unveiled and dedicated by the Archbishop of
Dublin. On Dr. Chaplin mentioning to his family the apparent hopelessness
of effecting any restoration of the cathedral at that time, his little son of
seven years ola (now. a clergyman in the diocese) said that he would give
his bullock, value £0 towards the work. This offering of the little child
was literally the beginning of the present work of restoration, for it led to
other and large subscriptions being offered, and to the Archbishop (Dr.
Trench), and the Dean and Chapter, asking Mr. Street to inspect the ruins,
. and report as to what could be done. In October, 1871, Mr. Street issued
a report, of which I ijubjoin some extracts : —
*• • This ancient cathedral appears to have been built in the early part of
the thirteenth century. It was a simple cross church, without aisles, but
with, apparently, a chapel of some kind opening out of the eastern side of
the south transept. A tower rose above the intersection of the arms of the
cross, whilst a noble round tower stood, and still stands, not far from the
western end of the nave.'
*' With the exception of the choir^
' ** ' The rest of the church is in ruins. The south transept and the nave
have lost their roofs ; but almost all their other architectural features still
remain, either intact or in such a state as to make their restoration a matter
of no difficulty. The southern elevation of the south transept is one of great
simplicity, and of good character and proportion. Its window is a well-
designed triplet, simple externally, but with shafts and mouldings internally.
The side walls of the nave present a very remarkable design. The windows
are simple lancets, separated from each other by buttresses. Between these
buttresses bold arches .are formed, nearly on a face with the front of the
buttresses, and with a narrow space between them and the face of the wall.
The effect of this arrangement is to throw a very bold shadow over the
window, and to produce a most picturesque effect. But the reason of it is
not clear. It looks somewhat as though the men who were building had
more acquaintance with miHtary than with ecclesiastical architecture, and
as though the defence of the church from hostile attack was a chief motive
in this part of the design — a part which, to me at least, is novel. . . . The
central tower is a mere wreck. It is a work of fine design and proportion,
not very lofty, but in its complete state so large as to give a good deal of the
dignity of a cathedral to what might otherwise have looked somewhat too
much like a parish church. There are various other fragments of great
architectural and antiquarian interest in this building ; among them I may
notice some fine encaustic tiles, and several fine monuments, with sculpture
on the sides or slabs. Ample authority exists for the whole of this work, so
that it might really be a work of restoration in the best sense of the
word.
*< < Geobgb Edhuvb Street, R.A.
"« October 31st, 1871.*"
CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF KILDARE. 251
** The cost of this restoration Mr. Street estimated at £5000. When Mr.
Street's report was issued, subscriptions soon flowed in. Archbishop Trench
gave £350, the Duke of Leinster's family £2500, Mr. Thomas Cooke-Trench
£550 and £1500 (the interest on this latter sum going to form a repair
fund for use in the future) ; the Dean of Kildare £100, and £200 — collected
by himself personally. Amongst the subscribers at this time are to be found
the names of the Duke of Westminster, the Dowager Marchioness of Bath,
Sir William Heathcote, the Rev. R. F. Wilson, the Duchess of Marlborough,
and Mr. Gladstone. But the money came in largest measure from Church-
men in the diocese of Kildare.
*' The work was not actually commenced until 1875 ; but from that date
until 1882, it went on continuously. A visit of inspection from Mr. Street
in 1878 necessitated some alteration of the plans, in order to follow out the
old lines, and the walls of the chancel were now commenced, but left un-
completed. It was found at this time that the cost of the works would far
exceed the sum of £5000 mentioned at iirst by Mr. Street in his report. Mr.
Cookc-Trench at this crisis generously oifered £500 himself, and on behalf of
Lady Helena Trench, £200, if a sum of £1500 were collected before the
end of February in the next year. This was accomplished, and the year
18S2 saw the sum of £7072 expended on the restoration, leaving the
tower, nave, and two transepts of the cathedral completed. Then came the
agrarian war in Ireland, and the work of restoration ceased until 1890, when
a fresh appeal was made for funds, which resulted in £2700 being subscribed
again mainly by Churchmen in Kildare diocese
. . . ** This sum of £2700 was expended in the rebuilding of the chancel,
filling all the windows (except the east one) with cathedral glass, . • . point-
ing all the walls internally (it having been decided to leave the walla
unplastered), laying down a concrete floor with necessary steps to the
chancel, ana providing a heating chamber. All the work has been carried
out under the direction of the eminent diocesan architect, Mr. J. F. Fuller,
F.8.A., who has reproduced the character of the old masonry as far as possible.
A handsomely wrought Caen stone arcading covers portion of the north and
south faces of the chancel walls, and runs across the east end to the level of
the window sills. This arcading, for about half its height, is diapered, and
has a very rich effect. On the south side, the divisions form the sedilia,
-credence table, and piscina. The portion of the arcading immediatelv behind
the holy table has a greater projection from the face of tlie wall, and is
divided into spaces more richly treated than the remainder of the work. So
that now Kildare Cathedral stands complete, as far as its structure is con-
cerned, in the cruciform shape in which it existed prior to its demolition in
1641. But much still remains to be done.
Heating and lighting, the tiling of the entire floor, benches
or chairs for the nave and transept, a suitable organ— all these
things have yet to be provided, and would require the expen-
diture of about £1750 before the whole cathedral could be
thrown open for the worship of Qod.*
^ All the requisites here enumerated with the exception of tiling the tran
septs have been provided, and the Cathedral was dedicated anew, and
solemnly reopened with a magnilicent Service, and in tlie presence of a great
congregation of Bishops, Clergy and Laity, on Tuesday, 22nd September,
1896, the Sermon being preached by the late Archbishop ot Canterbury.
See "Archbishop Benson in Ireland," edited by Dr. Bernard (Maomillan
and Co.). ^
VOL. II., FT. IV. X
252 ST. BRIGID AND THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH, KILDARE.
And now a word in answer to an objection. It is sometimes
said " The work of restoration has spoiled a beautiful ruin."
Surely the report of Mr. Street is a sufficient answer. " A few
years more, and what now r^mains of this interesting church
may have become a thing of the past. Each winter's rain and
frost help to disintegrate the very fabric of the walls, and that
which is possible now may not be possible ere long"; and if
this is not sufficient, then surely, the dignity of God's house, the
needs of the diocese, the honour of the Church of Irelai^, the
very memory of St. Brigid herself, call on all who can lielp
to aid in the restoration of the great church of Kildare, so often
ruined — so often may I not now say — as often restored.
Let any further justification necessary be found in the words
of an unwilling witness, Mr. J. M. Fallow, f.s.a., in his notes on
" The Cathedrals of Ireland " : — " Antiquaries may be pardoned
for regretting that the attempt was ever made to rebuild tlie
cathedral from the old ruins ; but that having been done, it must
be confessed that the result has been to produce, as the reconstruo-
tion of the ancient church, one of the most picturesque of modem
ecclesiastical buildings in Ireland."
KiLUAKB Cathedral from tmk SoiriH-EAsx in 1870.
( 253 )
THE HIGH SHERIFFS OF THE COUNTY ^
KILDARE,
By JOHN RIBTON GARSTIN, m.k.i.a., p.s.a.
THE office of High Sheriff is one of great antiquity and
dignity, and it is still an open question whether the High
Sheriff or tlie more modem Lieutenant ranks first in his
own county. Pamphlets have heen wiitten on this knotty
point, which has never heen autlioritatively decided : perhaps
because only of local importance. Mr. Atkinson in his work on
Sheriffs (8^ Lond., 6th ed., 1878) lays it down that the Sheriff
** has right of precedence within his county of every nobleman
during the time he is in office." Blackstone was of the same
opinion. Sir J. Bernard Burke wrote: " Between the two the
higher position appertains, in my opinion, to H. M. Lieutenant
of a county." His successor as "Dlster, Sir Arthur Vicars, f.s. a.,
takes the opposite view, and, in his official Scale of Precedence
(issued By Authority, Dublin Castle, 1897, p. 18), assigns the
higher position to the Sheriff. The Lieutenant doubtless is,
even when not a peer, generally accorded the courtesy designa-
tion of Lord, and in right of the office of Custos Rotulot^m
(when he holds it, which was not always the case), he is head of
the magistracy, but his position is chiefly quasi-military. He is
appointed under the Militia Act and wears a military uniform.
On the other hand, the High Sheriff is head of the posse conii-
iatuSy and as such he is the proper convener of county meetings.
He administers the law, and represents the Sovereign in his
county.
In Ireland, as soon as it became divided into shire ground
and English law prevailed, the execution of the law was to a
great extent intrusted to Sheriffs, and accordingly mention of
them is found in connexion with the counties of the Pale from
a very early period.
Many Lists of Sheriffs have been published, and there is
probably no English county without some such list. Fuller's
Worthies of England contains Lists to his own time. Mr. Portal,
in bis " History of the Great Hall at Winchester," devotes
part iii. to an account of the High Sheriffs of Hampshire from
X2
254 HIGH SHERIFFS OF THE COUNTY KILDARE.
A.D. ]130. An Annotated List of Oxfordshire Slieriffs from
tlie Conquest was compiled by Mr. John M. Davenport ; and
Sir G. F. Duckett, Bart., published, in 1879, *' The Sheriffs of
Westmoreland, with the Early Sheriffs of Cumberland."
Blakeway published The Sherijfn of Shropshire, These are
mentioned merely as specimens.
In the case of Ireland no account of the Sheriffs of any
county had been published as a separate book, though some
treatises on the law affecting the ofBce and on its duties have
appeared. One was published by Matthew Dutton, 8vo, Dublin,
1721. The lists included in some Irish county histories are
neither numerous, nor full, nor accurate. One of the best is
that in Shirley's Monaghan ; perhaps the worst that in Stuart's
Armagh.
The County Sheriffs in Ireland are selected or " pricked" by
the Lord Lieuteuant from a list of three names, furnished to
the Crown Judge at the Summer Assizes by the Sheriff, so that
practically he usually appoints his successor. Amongst the
"Irish Rolls" in the Bodleian Library at Oxford I saw the
List of names nominated to James, Duke of Ormonde, the Lord
Lieutenant, 15th of Charles II., and in the muniment room at
Kilkenny Castle is a lioll with his prickings opposite the
selected names — often not the first. See Calendar of Carew
MSS., i., p. 174.
The Sheriffs were formerly obliged to pass a Patent of
appointment and were lieavily mulcted therefor. The fees were,
in 1725, regulated by an Act of the Irish Parliament (12 Gheo. I.,
o. 4), which is summarized in the Liber Munertim, vi., 37-8.
It enumerated about a dozen fees amounting to £7 Is. 6(1. ^ in-
cluding " King's silver," 10«., and " chaff-wax," 2«. The fees
on passing accounts amounted to £5 7^. Sec. 13 gives the
Oath. See also 3rd Geo. III., c. 9.
The Act 5 & 6 William IV., c. 55 (1835) further regulated
the appointments, and prescribed that they were not to be as
heretofore by Patent, but " by warrant under the hand of the
Chief Governor." It provides that Sheriffs are no longer to be
" apposed" in the Court of Exchequer, or to take the oath " to
account or be cast out of court."
The Becord OflBce in Dublin contains a vast number of
documents relating to High Sheriffs. In order to help any
persons disposed to inquire further I append references to the
principal ones.
Amongst the Chancery (Hanaper Office) records are the
Warrants for Appointment (or rather for the issue of Patent of
appointment) addressed by the Lord Lieutenant to the Lord
HIGH SHERIFFS OF THE COUNTY KILDARE. 255
Clianoellor. On each of these is endorsed the Chancellor's
direction to the Clerk of the Ilanaper and a receipt for fees.
The Kildareones run from 1644 to 1813, but many are wanting.
From 1741 they are on printed forms.
Amongst the Eecords of the Exchequer (Revenue) are : —
Names returned of fit persons, 1776-85.
List of Sheriffs, 1781-1809. I. K. 11. 94.
Names of Sheriffs, 1714-1823. I. K. 11, 99.
Sheriffs' accounts, 1639-1644.
Sheriffs who have not paid their "Tots,'' 1694-1720.
5E, 193,9.
Sheriffs "quieted," 1683-1833. 1. K. 11. 95-8.
Sheriffs' Kecognizances [1733-54], 1726-1832. Index,
p. 364.
Of these I have examined only some which seemed likely to
fill gaps in the Ulster's Office Lists presently to be described.
In that great but imperfect repertory of the Official History
of Ireland the Liber Munerum Publicorum Hibenim^ issued by
the Irish Beoord Commissioners, and for a time suppressed, two
Lists for limited periods are printed. In vol. i., part iv., 155-
60 is given a list of Sheriffs (as well as of " Commissioners " or
Justices of the Peace) during the reign of Charles II., 1663-83,
compiled from the llecords of the Hanaper Office in the
Chancery of Dublin. At p. 145 of tlie 3rd part of the same
volume there is a further imperfect list of the Irish High
Sheriffs in the reign of George III. It extends from 1761 to
1815, with the omission of 1777-84. The succession of Sheriffs
is given in the order of counties, arranged alphabetically, from
Antrim to Boscommon, with which the list unfortunately ter-
minates in the ordinary copies. In a unique copy, however,
now before me, which the late Bishop Beeves obtained from the
Treasury, several additional leaves in proof are added, including
tliose containing the lists of Sheriffs for the six counties from
Sligo to Wexford.
About the year 1858 correspondence took place in "Notes and
Queries" (2nd Series) as to the available materials for the compi-
lation of Lists of Irish Sheriffs, and it was stated (vol. iii., 76)
that the " most perfect known list " was to be found in
** Exchequer Notes" of the late James J. Ferguson, but
whether these were in print or MS. was not stated, nor was it
made clear where these were to be found. The Bev. James Graves
of Kilkenny, replying to an inquiry of mine, stated that the
Treasury paid £700 to the representatives of Mr. Ferguson
** with the condition that his MS. collections should be deposited
256 HIGH SHERIFFS OF THE COUMTY KILDARE.
ia the Exohequor for the publlo benefit." He expressed his
belief that the " Exchequer Notes " would be found " amongst
the mass of doouments in charge of Master Hitohoook." He
asked for information as to the state of the MSS. and inquired
whether thej had been bound and arranged so as to be available
for consultation. No reply however came, nor have I been
able to find amongst the Ferguson MSS. in the Record Office
any list of Irish Sheriffs such as is here referred to.
In Mr. Graves' communication last quoted he refers to tlie
Memoranda Bolls of the Exchequer and the Q-reat Bolls of the
Pipe as recording the names of Sheriffs at Easter and Michaelmas
every year. The latter are more particularly referred to in
the 2nd Beport of the Keeper of the Becords, pp. 125, 131, 14'i.
There is a Boll (" de comput. Vice-comitum,") of Sheriffs'
•*Tot8" from 40^ Eliz. to 21° Jacobi, and thence on from
1624, tolerably regularly, for all counties, possibly down to
1739.
The most accessible modern Lists of Irish High Sheriffs
were two in the Office of Ulster King of Arms, and these the
late Sir Bernard Burke, c.b., Ulster, kindly allowed me to
transcribe in 1880 — a work occupying the greater part of a
month.
One of these is in a Manuscript of 242 folio pages, lettered
on the back " High Sheriffs, Constables, &c." It is in tlio
beautifully clear writing of tliat great archivist, John Lodge,
Keeper of the Birmingham Tower Becords, &c. &c. The
MS. commences with 11 pp. of curious Miscellaneous Notes,
on ten subjects. It includes, in 32 pp. (which I copied).
Lists of the Governors and Custodes Botulorum, and o(
Constables, Gaolers, and Keepers of prisons in the several
Counties of Ireland. The bulk of the book (pp. 50 to 142) is
occupied with the Sheriffs, from the year 1600 down to 1772.
Subsequently are given particulars of entries anterior to 1600.
Lodge probably compiled these Lists with a view to completing
his sets of " Patentee Officers," which were subsequently printed
in the Liber Mitnerum. This list generally gives simply
(1) year, (2) surname, (3) Christian name, and (4) residence,
but in the case of early entries authorities are occasionally cited,
and particulars added.
The other List which was in Ulster's Office belonged to
Sir Bernard Burke. It was in the writing of a clerk of his
down to 1858-9: subsequent entries being in another hand —
occasionally Sir Bernard's own. It contains no indication as to
the source from which it was derived, but it was probably
founded on Lodge's List as far as 1772. It differs from it
HIGH SHERIFFS OF THE COUNTY KILDARE. 257
however in a good many partioulars, omits or curtails the early
references given hy Lodge, and places each Christian name before
the surname it belongs to.
A third List was lately found in Ulster s Office by the present
Ulster King of Arms, Sir Arthur Vicars, f.s.a.^ who obligingly
had a copy of it made for me, and asked me to compile a list of
Kildare Sheriffs for this Journal. The last named manuscript
only goes as far as Kilkenny, inclusive. It appears to be mainly
a transcript, but with trifling variations, of Sir B. Burke's
copy, like which it ends in 1870.
The following List is only intended as tentative. It probably
<;an never be completed, but it is capable of much improvement.
The entries may serve as pegs on which other inquirers can affiic
notes. The more they are corrected and amplified the better I
shall be pleased. A beginning has been made by Lord Walter
Fitz Qerald and Mr. Cooke-Trench who kindly supplied many
of the notes appended to the list. Tiiese notes might have been
greatly angmented by references to such books as Burke's
JLanded Gentry and Peerages, but I preferred to give only in-
formation from more out-of-the-way sources, and relating chiefly
to the earlier and more obscure entries
I have in the main followed Lodge's Manuscript as far as it
goes, and then the other Lists referred to, noting any variations
of importance. I have examined the Warrants still preserved
in the Record Ofiice which supplied a few additional particulars
— chiefly addresses — indicated by the sign " W." I have also
found mention of some Sheriffs who escaped Lodge's notice, in
the Fiauts of several reigns from Henry VIII. to Elizabeth,
published in tlie Appendices to the Irish Record Office Reports.
Others also occur in the Calendars of Documents relating to
Ireland, a.d. 1171 to 1307, in the Public Record Office,
London, edited by H. S. Sweetman (and Or. F. Handcock),
6 vols. (Rolls Series), 8°, Lond., 1875-86.
The Kildare List is tolerably complete from the year 1592,
but Lodge found about a dozen names of Sheriffs appointed
during the preceding 220 years, and the Calendars and Fiants
supply about another score during that time. As the notices
during this earlier period are so scanty, I have thought it well
to givd them in full, arranged chronologically, without attempt-
ing to exhibit the gaps. In the later period every year is
printed, those for which Sheriffs are as yet unknown being left
blank, and the notes being added at the end.
A large proportion of Elizabeth's Fiants relates to pardons
granted chiefly to native Irish, but the Sheriffs, strange to say,
are frequently included in these pardons. In fact it seems to
258 HIGH SHERIFFS OF THE COUNTY KILDARE.
have been the fashion then. So it would appear that the law-
keepers were often law-breakers at that period !
In the Fiants of Henry VIII. there is no mention of any
Sheriff of Ejldare, but William Higham, one of the yeomen of
the Crown, had a grant for life of the office of "serjeant or
Bailiff of the County Kildare." This fiant (which is exceptional
for being in English) is dated at Westminster, 20 June, 32*^,
and was delivered into Chancery, 9 Sep. following, 1540. Could
this be the official ancestor of the Sub-sheriff or of the ranger of
the Curragh P
The years entered in the lists are usually those which included
the greater part of the Sheriffs' term of office. That is an inde-
finite period, not exactly concurrent with the calendar year. The
time of appointment and swearing in has generally ranged from
November to February, but a Sheriff remains in office till his
successor is sworn in.
SHERIFFS OF KILDARE BEFORE lo92.
N.B.—The abbreviation ** S. of K." stands for Sheriff of KUdare,
IS'OTICES FBOM SwEETMAN's CALENDARS (aBOVE QUOTED) !
A.D.
1286. — ElCHARD DE PkNKKSTON.
1292. HeNUY DE ROCHEFOKT.
1293. — Th<ima8 Mavnsel.
1298. — GlLKEKT DE SoTTON.
1299. — William Alexander (elsewhere spelled " Alysaundre ").
1300. — David le Mazbne (elsewhere called David Mazeneu).
1301. — John de Coventry.
1302. — Albert de Kenlee (or, as in another place, ** Kknleyr ").
!N"0TICE8 DEKIVED MATNLY FROM LoDGE kSD THE FlANTS :
1312.— Sir John de Wellesley (Burke's Peerage, " Wellington *').
1373. — William Ballymoke. — He had a Liberate of 10 marks, 13 December, 1374,
as late Sheriff, for a vear or more in recompense of his services and charge
in the execution of that office (Rot. Claus. 48 Kd. III. doi-so, Roll 13).
1379.— William Wellesley, of Baronnith, MSS. Ulster's Office.
1385.— William Wellesley.— [Same again? see 1403.]
1386. — Sir Maurice Fitz-Eustacb, Knt., appointed during pleasure. Trym,
26 January, 1385 (9 Ric. II., facie Roll 10).
1402.— John Fitz-Mohicb [? Eustace], of Blakchull [Blackball ?], appointed
(19 Sept.) during pleasure. (3 Hen. IV., f., R. 20.)
1403. — William Wellesley. — [Again ^ see 1379 and '85.] During pleasure, Conall,
4 Feb., 1402 (4 Hen. IV^, l*i?./., R. 1) with a fee of £20 a yelir out of
the issues and profits of the County, in consideratioji of his great services.
(T. B. « Birmingham Tower, 4 Hen. IV., l^p.f. No. 123.)
1416. — Sir Richard de Wellesley, Knight. (Burke's Peerage, Wellington.)
1423. — Thomas Hatte [Halle f], Esqr«, June 18, during pleasure. (T. B.,
1 Hen. VI., 2^ p,f. No. 33.)
HIGH SHERIFFS OF THE COUNTY KILDARE. 259
A.D.
1424.— Sib Eichard Wbllbslbt, Knt., was succeeded (T. B. 3 Hen. VI., /, No.
113) by
1425.— 81R Edwaiid Eustace, Knt., appointed during pleasure, May 11, Drogheda.
(T. B., 3 Hen. VI., /. No. 66.) The Eustaces were formerly owners of
large estates in Eildare, and still have some property near Robertstown.
See this Journal, '92, 115.
1502-4.--S111 William Wooan, Knt., of Rathcoffey. (Pedigree by Sir W.
Betham.)
1556. — Njcholas Eurtacb. In tlie following year he was **(>f Cradcekiston, gent,"
and had a paitlon. [Fiants, Phil, and Mary.]
1557. — Patrick Sarsfixld, of Tisteldelan ["ow Castledillon, Co Kildare] gent.
Pardon to him and Katherine Fitz-Williams, his wife, and others.
[Fiants, Phil, and Mary.]
1558. — Redmund Fitzgerai.de, of Rathangan, Co. K., gent., alias Redmund oge,
late S. of K., hns a pardon (with another), 22 April, 1559. [Fiants,
1 Eli2., &c. See Index.]
1558-1560. — Francis Cohby, of Even [now Monasterevin], gent., appointed 24 Jan.,
lo5|, during pleasure (1 Eliz. /. 23). He is mentioned several times in
the Fiants, and appears to have continued in office in 1560. Later on he
was of Stradbally, Queen's Co.
1562. — Sir Maurice Fitz-Thomas [Fitz Gerald of Lacliagh, Co. Kildare], Knt.
(5 Eliz./. 6.) (See 1673.) Lord Walter Fitz Gerald has his pedigree.
]S'0TICE8 OF 16tH CeNTUBT SHERIFFS MAINLY FROM THE F1ANT8 OF
Elizabeth : —
1567. — John Eustace, of Castelmartin, Esq., S. of K., ha.s a pardon. He is again
mentioned as S. of K., 20 June, or July, 1568« See 1576 also.
156f.— John Davies, Eso. [? of Kill, ob. 1618], S. ol K., had a Commission ^o
execute Martial Law in the County, 30 Jan. He (M'ith others) had a
pardon as **of Harbartiston" [=HobbardstonorHerbeitston? Co. K.], late
S. of K., 26 June, 1570.
15?§. — "William Peppard, Esquire, S. of K., had a Commission to execute Martial
Law in the Co. K., Feb. 20. In 157^ he (and 13 of " his men ") as «* of
Levitstown," Co. K., late S. of K., had a pardon.
1671. — Robert Pypho [sic. ? Phtpo.], S. of K., and others, had a Commission to
execute Martial Law, 28 Sep.
1573. — Pyers Fitz-Gkmald, S. of K., with others, had a Commiftsion of muster. On
July 12, 1674, he was, as Peter or Pers F.-G., of Ballysoiian, Co. K.,
gent., late S. of K., in consideration of his services when Sheriff, with
Nich. Lysaghe of Conall, gent., and 29 of his men, granted a pardon.
The name recurs 4 times to 1681.
157i. — SirMorryb Fitz-Gerald, Knt., of Leycaghe [LackaghF], S. of K., has a
Commission to execute Martial I.aw, 27 Feb. See 1562. He d. 1575.
Sec engraving of his tomb and memoir of the family in this Journal^ '94,
245-64.
1574. — Piers Fitz- Garret, gent- (see 1673), has a Commission to execute Martial
Law in the County, Dec. 7. On Sep. 20, following, as Peter Fitz-
Gerald, of Grangemollyn, Co. K., E^q., late S. of K., he, with John
Stooks, of Hawestowne, gent., Sub-Sheriff [first so styled] and several
others, had a pardon.
1576. — John Eustace [of Castle Marten], Esq., S. of K. [named above and below ?],
had a Commission to execute Martial Law in tht' County, and in the
following year, April 17, he, with others, had a pardon.
1678. — Peter Fitz-Gerald [named above and 1681 !"], of Ballysonan, gent., late S.
of K., with JoHK Sherlock, of Naas, gent., Sub-Sheriff, and others had
a pardon, July 22.
1578. — Gerald Fitz-Philip Fitz Gerald, of Allon [now Allen, ob. 29, August 1611],
C<». K., Esq., S. of K., with 4 others, had a pardon, Sep. 11. Ix)rd
Walter Fitz Gerald has his pedigree.
26o
HIGH SHERIFFS OF THE COUNTY KILDARE.
1580. — John Eustace, of Castle Marten (see 1576), appears as S. of K. in a list
pricked 2o Nov., 1579, by Sir William Pelnam, Lord Justice. [Carew
MSS. i. 174.] But he died in 1579.
1581. — Pbris [au;] Fitz-Geuald [abovenamed 1573-8?], of Ballesonan, S. of E., had
a Commission to execute Maitial Law.
1583. — Redmond Brymoham [sie = Bbrminoham, of the Grange], S. of K., and
others had a Commission of Muster.
158f.— Thomas Fitz Gerald [ot Timahoe, Co. Kildare; ob. 10, June 1589], S. of K.,
had a Commission to execute Martial Law in the County, Feb. 1.
158^. — William Eustace, S. of K., and others had a commission of muster.
LIST FROM 1592, FOUNDED ON LODGE'S MS.
{^Addresses, Sfc.^ added in brackets are from other sources. An asterisk (*)
prefixed to a name refers to a note at end of the list,']
1592 Eustace, .
. Maurice, ....
[Clongowes Wood.]
1593 FitzGerald, .
. Sir Richard, Knt.
1594 Sarsfield,
. John.
. John [again ?]. / '
. Sir James [Fitz Pierce],
[Turnings, Co. K. (ob.
1595 Sarsfield,
24 Jan., 1615.J
[Ballyshannon, Co K.]
1596 ♦Fitz Gerald. .
„ Fitz Gerald, ,
. John.
1597 ♦Duke, .
. Sir Henry.
,, 'Aylmer, .
. Bartholomew,
[Lyons.]
1598 ['Fitz-Gerald,
. James. FianU : see 1606], .
1599
1600
1601 [♦Harbert,
. John,
Cotsland, = ? Cotlan-
ston,Co.E. Fiaiits.]
1602 Nangle, .
. Robert, ....
Ballysax.
1603
1604
1605 ♦Fitz Gerald, .
. Rowland.
1606 •Fitz GeraM, .
. Sir James, Ent. (again? vide
[Ballyshannon, Co. K.,
1598),
ob. 26 April, 1637.]
1607 Eustace,
. William, ....
Castle-Murtin.
1608 Butler, .
. Pierce.
1609 Price, .
. Lewis.
1610 Graham,
. Sir Richard, ....
[Grangebeg (ob. 7 Nov.,
1626)].
1611 Potts, .
. Thomas.
1612 ♦Cowley, .
. Gerald [see 1623],
[Castlecarbery.]
1613 Meares, .
. William.
1614 Stokes, .
. Thomas, ....
Madenstowne.
1615 Tighe, .
. Richard.
1616 Belyng, .
. Sir Henry [see 1618], .
[Killashee.]
1617 Pilsworth,
. Philip [see 1622], .
'Bert.]
1618 Beliiigs, .
. Sir Henry [again ?],
[Killashee.]
1619
1620 Palmes, .
. Stephen.
1621 Palmes, .
. Stephen [again ?] .
1622 Pilsworth,
. Philip [again ], . . .
;Bert.]
1623 ♦Colley, .
. Sir Henry, ....
'Costlecarbery.]
1624 Weldon, .
1625
1626
. Walter, ....
;Athy(ob.9Dec.l634.)]
HIGH SHERIFFS OF THE COUNTY KILDARE.
261
1627 ♦Archdall,
William.
1628
1629
1630
1631
1632
1633
1634 Fitz-Gerald,
1635
1636
•
Thomas, ....
[PofTimahoe, Co. K.]
1637
1638 Weldon,
Robert, ....
[Rahinderry, Queen's
Co.]
1639
1640 ♦Gay8ton[orGar8tin?]
John.
1641 Borrowes [or
Bur-
[Sir] Erasmus [afterwards
rowe«].
^*Bart."],
Grangemellon.
1642 Borrowes,
,
Sir Ei-asmus [again ?].
1643
1044 Weldon, .
•
Robert, ....
[Tullaghgorey].
1646
1647
1648
1649
1650
1651
1652 «Bellingham,
1653
1654
•
Henry.
1655 Ponsonby,
John,
[P Bishops Court].
1656 ♦HeweUon,
John.
1657 ♦Salte, .
John.
I608 Hunt, .
Raphael [see 1661].
1659 Preston, .
Robert.
1660
1661 Hunt, .
Raphael.
1662 Tighe. .
Richard.
1663 Daws, .
Edward.
1664 White, .
Walter, ....
[Uixlip.]
1665 ♦ CoUey [or Cooley],
Dudley, ....
rRathin& Castlecarbury]
1666 Hoey, .
•
William, ....
[Cotsland, CotUnds-
town?]
1667 Dixon, .
Richard, ....
[? Colverstown.]
1668 Sand«, .
William (8uper3eded)[seel67l]
„ Weldon, .
William.
1669 Loftus, .
Thomas.
1670 Meredith,
Robert [see 16791
William [again ?J.
[Shrowland&Greenhills]
1671 Sandes. .
1672 Wellesley [or
Weis-
ley], .
Garret [or Gerald],
Sir Walter, Bart.
[Dangan, Co. Meath.]
1673 Borrowes,
1674 Nevill, .
Richard [see 1692],
of Furnace.]
y Parsonstown.]
1675 Bermingham,
Walter, ....
1676 S wanton,
James.
1677 Carr,
Thomas.
1678 Baggott, .
Edward [or Edmond], .
[Wulterstown.]
1679 Meredith,
Robert [again ?].
John [see 1685], .
1680 Ayhner, .
[Ballykenan, or Bally-
cannon.]
262
HIGH SHERIFFS OF THE COUNTY KILDARE.
A.D.
1681 Cooley [or Cowley],
Henry,
[Castlecarbery.]
1682 Hewetson,
,
Thomas.
1683 Shophflrd [or
Shep.
hard], .
Arthur.
1684 Shepherd,
Arthur [a^ain P].
1685 Aylmer, .
John [again n.
Sir Arthur, Knt.
1686 Jones, .
1687 •Wogan, .
John.
)
1688 •Wogan, .
John [again? Lodge
blank].
Robert.
has aS-
[Rathcoffy.]
1689 Luttrell, .
1690 ♦Sherlock,
Edward.
1691 ♦Atkins, .
Sir Thomas, Knt.
1692 Neville, .
Richard [again?], .
, ,
[Furnace.]
1693 ♦Annesley,
Maurice.
1694 BaiTy, .
James.
1695 Medlicolt,
George,
Charles.
• •
[Dunmuny.]
1696 Kickaseys,
1697 Borrowes,
Sir Kildare, Bart, [see
1707]
1698 Brereton,
William.
1699 WTiite, .
James.
1700 Burke, .
Theobald, .
, ,
[Palmerstown.]
1701 ♦Annesley,
Francis.
1702 ♦ Annesley,
Francis [again ? Warrant says
1703^Keatinge,
(lUiIIi J.
Maurice,
, ,
Narraghmore.
1704 Jones,
Thomas,
.
Osberstown.
1705 Palfrey, .
Steplien-
1706 Pratt, .
John.
1 707 Borrowes,
Sir Kildare, Bart, [ag
ain?].
Gilltown.
1708 Paul, .
Jeffrey.
1709 Dixon, .
Robert,
•
[? Kilkea, or Colvere-
town.]
1710 Spring, .
Francis.
1711 Povey, .
1712 Burgh, .
Richard.
Thomas,
,
[Oldtown (Naas).]
1713 Ingoldsby,
Henry,
, ,
1714 Ponsonby,
Brabazon,
.
[Bishops Court.]
Grangebeg [or Graige-
beg.]
1716 Warren,
Richard,
•
1716 Borrowes [or
Bur-
rowes],
Sir Walter, Bart.,
, ,
Gilltown.]
^Boleybeg.]
1717 *Nuttall, .
Charles.
.
1718 Borrowes,
Alexander.
1719 Haynes [or H
oines,]
Major John.
1720 Stratford,
John, .
,
[Belan.]
1721 Armstrong,
Charles.
1722 White, .
Henry,
. ,
Pitohardstown. [W.]
r? Castlecarbery.]
Palmerstown.
1723 CoUey, .
1724 Burgh [or Boui
Henry,
,
ie,W*
]John, .
, ,
1725 Aylmer, .
Charles,
,
Ballvcnnnon.
1720 Meredith,
Richard,
, ^
[? Shi-owland.]
1727 Stratford,
John, .
.
;BelaT..]
1728 Harnian,
Robert,
, ,
Millicent, near Clane.3
1729 ♦Garstin, .
James,
, ,
iCilmore.
1730 Reddy, .
Daniel,
,
Branganstown.
1731 Armstrong,
Edmond [or Edward-
-W], .
Moiristown.
1732 ♦Digby, .
1733 Burgh, .
John, .
Landenstown.
Thomas,
, ,
Oldtown [* Naas,' W.]
1734 ♦Colley, .
Dudley,
.
Rahin
HIGH SHERIFFS OF THE COUNTY KILDARE.
263
1735 Burke [or
Bourke},
Theobald, .
,
, ,
Palmerstown.
1736 •Fish, .
•
Joseph,
•
Castle-Fish [of *Tub-
berogan,' W.]
[He died in office, and was
succeeded by] —
„ Bourke, .
, ,
John, .
. • •
Palmerstown.
1737 Bourke, .
John [again],
Henry, Jun.,
...
Palmeratown.
1738 Dixon .
, ,
. • •
Kilkea.
1739 Browne, .
, ,
John, .
• • ■
Dunany [* Dunamy,' W.]
1740 Jan.l7,[*Warburton,
George].
„ Feb. 19, Arehbold, .
William,
. • a
Davidstown.
1741 Ashe, .
Thomas,
.
Moone.
[He died in office, and was
succeeded by]—
„ July 4, M'Hanus, .
James [vice Ashe,
James [again],
deceased].
Maynooth.
1742 Dec. 7. M'Manus, .
.
Maynooth.
1743 Dalyell, .
Thomas,
Tincknevin.
1744 Steele, .
Laurence, Jan.,
Kilbride.
1745 Bagott, .
John, .
Numy.
1746 Jevers [or
levers], .
Augustin,
Mount-Rice.
1747 Browne, .
Francis,
Kildare.
1748 Walsh, .
Thomas,
,
Hallohoice.
1749 Medlicutt,
James,
ArdscuU.
1750 Rice,
Stephen,
Mount- Rice.
1751 Boirowes,
Sir Kildare Dixon
Bart
•» •
Gilton.
1752 Pomeroy,
Arthur,
Carberry.
1763 White, .
Thomas,
Pitcherstown.
1754 Fish,
Robert [see 1736],
Castle-Fish.
1755 •Wolfe, .
Philpot,
Furnace.
1766 Digby, .
1757 Hamilton.
Simon, Jun.,
? LandenstOM'n.]
' )lane.
James, .
1758 Hort,
Josiah,
,
Hortland.
1759 • St. Leger,
John, .
,
Grangemellon.
1760 Donneilan,
Jeremiah, Jun.,
, ,
Ravensdale.
1761 Aylmer .
Sir Fitz-Gerald, Bart.,
Donadea.
1762 Nevill, .
Arthur Jones,
Fornaghts.
1763 Carter, .
Henry Boyle,
Castle -Martin.
1764 Sherlock,
William,
Sherlockstown.
1765 Warburton
f ' •
Richard,
Firmount.
1766 'Spencer,
James,
Kathangan.
1767 'Burgh, .
Williagh [reeU WiUiam"
,
Bert.
1768 Eustace, .
WiUiam,
,
Cradockstown.
1769 Tyrrell, .
1770 AVolfe, .
George,
Dunt'ert.
Theobald, .
,
Castle warden.
1771 Henry, .
Joseph,
,
Straffan.
1772 Eildare, .
Marquis of ["William Fitz-
Gerald, commonly called'*].
[Cai-ton].
1773 Neville, .
Richard,
• .
Furnace.
1774 Keating, .
Maurice,
Narraghmore.
1776 Finlay, .
John, .
Corker.
1776 Steele, .
Laurence,
Rathbride.
1777 Bagot, .
Christopher, .
Numey.
1778 * Keating, .
Michael,
Millicent.
1779 Wolfe, .
John, .
Fumese.
1780 Carter, .
Thomas,
rCastlemartin, W.]
Killybeggs.
1781 Brooks, .
Robert,
1782 Power, .
Robert,
Powersgrove [now Bir-<
town House.]
1783 Aylmer, .
Michael, .
Grange.
1784 Mills, .
Samuel,
Fummys.
1785 Hendrick,
Edward,
Kerdiffstown.
264
HIGH SHERIFFS OF THE COUNTY KILDARE.
A.D.
1786
Tyrell, . .
1787
Coates, .
1788*
» Griffith, .
1789 «
^ Browne, .
1790
Keating,
[m
Mar. 6, Taylor,
1791
Burdett, .
1792
Sherlock,
1793
Keating,
1794
Powell, .
1796
Aylmer, .
1796
Avlmer, .
1797
li Touch,
1798
Tyrrell. . .
1799
Williams,
1800
Montgomery, .
1801
Green, .
1802
Tickell, .
1803
Henry, .
1804
Aylmer, .
Wolfe, .
1806
1806
Mills, .
1807
Rice,
1808
Aylmer, .
1809
Biirrowes,
1810
Cutchley,
1811
Finlay .
1812
1813
1814
1816
1816
1817
1818
1819
1820
1821
1822
1823
1824
1825
1826
1827
1828
1829
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834
1835
1836
1837
1838
1839
1840
John, .
William,
Richard,
Wogun,
Maurice Bagenal St
John, .
Aithur,
. William,
. Maurice Bagenal St. Leger
[again P], .
. Eyre, .
. Sir Fenton, Bart.,
. Michael,
. Robert,
. Thomas,
• Adam, .
. John, .
. John, .
. Thomas,
. John Joseph,
. Michuel,
. Peter, .
. William,
. Joshua,
. John, .
. Sir Erasmus D., Bart.,
. James [see 1813],
. Thomas,
[Blank in Lodge's List. No Warrant in
Cutchlej;ror**Critch-
ley," W.], . James [again P],
Tyrrell, . . . Adam, .
[Blank in Lodge's List. No Warrant in
Montgomery, . . Snmuel,
Carter, . . . William Heniy,
Hort, . . .Sir William, Bart.
Aylmer, . . . John,
Henry, . . . Arthur,
Mills, . . . Samuel,
Roberts, . . . M. C. C,
Moore, . . . Ponsonby,
Burdett, . . . Capt. George,
Leger,
ConoUy,
Digby, .
Aylmer, .
Bourke, .
Borrowes,
Archbold,
O'Reilly,
Fit z -Gerald,
Yates,
I)e Robeck,
Bonham,
Nangle, .
Cassidy, .
Lawless, .
Burgh, .
Barton, .
Edward,
John, .
George,
Thomas,
Sir Walter Dixon,
Robert,
Dominick,
Thomas,
Benedict Arthur,
Henry, Baron,
John. .
John Hyacinth,
Harvey,
Hon. Edward,
Walter Hussey,
Hugh, .
Bart.
Clonnrd.
Stapletown.
Millicent.
Cattle- Browne.
Narmgbmore [see 1793.1
Einnea,vice Keating,W.]
Bella Vista [Secte
**A'illa."]
Sherlockstown.
Narraghmore.
. Hillsborough.
. Donadea.
. Court -town.
. Hurristown.
. Kilreny.
. Williamstown.
. Oldtown.
. Kilkea.
. FLogstown, W.]
. 'Straffan, W.]
. 'Enortown, W.]
. 'Blackhall, W.T
. [Tullylost, W.J
. 'Mountrice, W.]
. Why lorn.
. GiltOM-n.
' . Grangebeg.
. Boleybay [or " beg.**]
Record Office.]
. Grangebeg.
. Grange Castle.
Record Office.]
. The Knocks.
. Castle Martin.
. Hortlands.
. Courto\ni.
. Lodge Park.
. Fumess.
. Sally mount.
. Moorefield House.
. Longhtown House [and
Bella-villa.]
. Castletown.
. Landenstown.
. Donadea Castle.
. Palmerstown, Naas.
. Davidstown.
. Kildangan Castle.
. Geraldine.
. Moone House.
. Killestni.
. Ballintaggart.
. Garrisker.
. Monasterevan.
. Lyons.
. Donore
. Straffan.
HIGH SHERIFFS OF THE COUNTY KILDARE.
265
A.D.
1841
1842
1843
1844
1845
Maunsell,
Kildare, .
La Touche,
Hent-hy,
Fitz-Gerald,
1846 Dobbs,
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
1857
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
Southwell,
Eustace, .
Beaunmn,
Barton, .
Mansfield,
Burrowes,
Colthurst,
Aylmer, .
Cane,
O'Ferrall,
Lewis, .
O'Kelly,
De Robeck,
Be Burgh,
Barton, .
Sweetman,
Henry, .
Gannon,
Moore, .
McDonnell,
Lawless,
Maunsell,
Archbold,
Ireland, .
Bichard, ....
Marquis of, .
John,
O'Connor, ....
Hon. William, commonly
called Lord William,
CouM-ay K., .
Hon. Col. Arthur.
Col. Sir Rowland.
Edward J., ....
Nathaniel, ....
George P. L., . . .
Robert H., ....
Charles, ....
[Here Lodge's List,
1871 Dobbs, .
1872 Rynd, .
1873 Borrowes,
1874 Mansfield,
1876 Palmer, .
1876 O'Ferrall,
1877 Kicolls, .
1878 Blacker, .
1879 O'Ferrall,
1880 Hartley,
1881 Eildare, .
1882 Trench, ,
1883 De Burgh,
1884 Henchy,
1885 Maunsell,
1886 Crichton,
Gerald G., .
Edward,
Edward M.,
Harvey,
Penthony, .
Baron.
Thomas,
Hugh Lynedoch, .
Patrick,
Frederick Hugh, .
N.J
Richard,
Francis Edwurd Joseph,
Hon. Valentine.
John, . . . .
Robert,
Samuel Gardiner, .
as continued, ends. The following are
. Montagu Wm. Edward,
• Christopher, . . . .
. Sir Erasmus Dixon, Bart., .
. George.
. Charles Colley,
. Ambrose More,
. George Archibald,
. William,
. Dominick More, •
. Major R. Wilson, .
. Marquess of,
. Thomas Frederick Cooke,
. Thomas John,
. Captain H. O'Connor,
. George Woods,
. Col. Hon. Chas. Frederick,
Oakley Park.
Carton.
Harristown.
Stone Brook.
Carton.
Castle-Dobbs, Carrick-
fergus [Co. Antrim].
[Baltrasney.]
Furnace.
Straffan.
Morristown-Lattin.
Giltown.
Lucan House [Co.
DubUn].
Donadea Castle.
St Wolstan's.
Kildangan.
Kilcullcn.
Borristown [? Barrilts-
town].
Oldtown.
Strnffan House.
Dmgtown.
Lodge Park.
Larah.
Eillashee.
Dunfieith.
Oakley Park.
Davidstown.
Robertstown [House,
Naas].
from Thorn's Directory.]
Castle- Dobbs, Carrick-
fergus [Co. Antrim].
Mount Armstrong,
Donadea.
Barretstown Castle,
Ballymore-Eustaee.
Mon istown-Lattin,
Naus.
Rahan House, Eden-
derry.
Ballyna, Moyvalley.
Garisker, Moyvalley.
Castlemartin, Kilcullen.
Kildangan Castle, Mon-
astereTan.
Beech Park, ClonsiUa
[Co. Dublin.]
Carton, Maynooth.
Millicent, Naas.
Oldtown, Naas.
Stonebrook, Ballymore-
Eustaee.
Oakley Park, Celbridge.
Mullaboden, Naas.
266
HIGH SHERIFFS OF THE COUNTY KILDARE.
A.D.
1887 Wilson, .
1888 Sweetman,
1889 RoberU, .
1890 Murphy,
1891 Maunsell,
1892 Wheeler,
1893 Cane,
1894 Aylmer,
1895 Greene,
1896 Aylmer,
1897 Keogh,
Robert Mackay, .
Edmund, ....
Murinaduke Wm. Coghill
Cramer.
John C, . . . .
Capt. Mark Synnott, . - .
Williain Ireland, .
Major Richard Claude, .
Hans Hendrick, .
Thomas, . . . .
Major John Algernon, .
Surgeon-Major J. R., .
NOTES.
Coolcarrigan, DonadeAy
Kiicock.
Longtown, Clane, Na&s.
Sallymount, Bmnnocks-
town.
Osberstown, Naas.
Oakley Pork, Cel bridge.
Annesborough Hoii«<>y
Robertatovrn.
St. "Wolstau's.Celbridge.
Kerdiifstown, Xaas.
Millbrook, Mageny.
Courtown, Kileoci.
Castleroe Lodge, Magen y .
1596. — Sir J. Fitzpibucb. So I*odge had the name, but Lord Walter Fitz Gerald
identifies him as Sir James fitz-pierce Fitz-Gbhald, of Ballyshannon,
Co. K., ob. 24 Jan. 1615.
1597. — Siu H. Dlkk. — From Morrin's Calendars of Patent and Close Rolls we find
that Livery of the possessions of Sir Ilenry Duke, late of '* Lecarrowlon-
byo^g,'* in the County Roscommon, was granted to Sir Joseph Jephson
and Mury Rush, alian Duke, daughter and heiress of the said Sir Henry.
Chas. I. 8" (1632).
1697.— Aylmer. See this Journal, '94, 295-307.
1598. — J. Fitzgerald, Esq., S. of K., had a commission to execute Martial law in the
County. [Fiants]. See again 1606.
1601 ? — J. Uaiibert of C, late S. of K., with many others had a pardon, 12th March,
1602-3. [Fiants]. Perhaps Herbertstown took name from this family.
1605.— Rowland Fitz Gbr.vld. — Query Rbumono Fitz Gerald, of Timahoe, Co.K. ?
— (W. Fitz G.)
1612-23. — CowLBY, or Collet. Sir Ileniy died 6 July, 1637. He was ancestor of
the Duke of Wellington. Their property (Castle Carbery) was divided
between the late Lord Harberton and his brother, Hon. G. F. Colley. St-e
1665.
1627. — W. Akchdall. Query William Arcubold, of Timolin? or Walter A., of
same ? See the Joumaly '93, 205-6.
1640. — Jambh Garstino, of Smithstown, barony of Salts, is said to have had his house
robbed, 6th December, 1641. He perhaps was the Major James Garstin
who was appointed Provost- Marsbull- General of the forces in Ireland by
the Commander-in-Chief, Si-d August, 1660, "served as Sheriff of Louth,
1668, and died Januaiy, 1G77. Could he be this " John Gayston " P See
1729 below.
1652. — Brllinoham. Perhaps this entry has been made here in mistake for Louth.
H. B. was M.P. for that county. He died 1676, and was buried at
Gemonstown, renamed Castle Bellingham. Will dated 1676, pr. 1677.
A descendant of his M'as created a Baronet in 1796.* I cannot find that the
family had property in Kildare.
1656. — John Hewetson. — In Kildare Cathedral is a monument to n John Hewetson,
Esq. (there buried), who was born at Settrington, in Yorkshire, and ditnl
on the 2nd February, 1668, Hged 45. One of this family who died in 1783
left the lands of Betughstown to endow a charity school in Clane Parish,
still existing.
1657. — J. Saltb. — He may have derived his name from the Barony, which in turn
derived its from the Salmon leap = d^ saltu Sahnotiis, whence Lach's-leap =
Leixlip.
1666. — Dudley Collby or Cowlby. (See 1612, 23). He was M.P. for Philipstown.
Had a grant of lands in Kildare in 1660. He mis buried in Carbury
where is an elaborate inscription in a chapel built by him. His son Henry,
and grandson Dudley, became S. of K., 1681 and 1734. See also 1723.
HIGH SHERIFFS OF THE COUNTY KILDARE. 267
A.B.
1687-8. — WooAN. — This family owned Clongowes, &c. There is an interesting
monument to them in the old churchyard at Clane. See memoir of the
family by Rev. 1). Murphy.
1690. — Shehlock of JShtrlockstown h See this Journal^ '96, 33-47. See 1764, '92.
1691. — Sir T. Atkins. — The warmni for his appointment heais at its heud the
autograph '* William II.," and bears marks of a red wax seal (about the
size of a florin), being tlie only one sealed. It was *' given at our camp, near
Carlow, 1st August, 1G90, in the second year of our reign." It is counter-
signed ** Robert South Mell," and endorsed ** The King's "Warrant." It is
addre:<«cd to the Commissioners of the Great Seal.
1693, 1701. — M. and F. Ankesley. — They Mere cadets of the house of the Rarons
Mountnorris and Viscounts Valentia. In the 17th century John Annesley,
2nd son of the Ist Viscount, was seated at RuUyshannon, Co. K.
1703. — Keatinoe. 2«aiTaghmore was sold, and purchased by John La Touche of
Hanistown.
1717. — C. NuTTALL died on the 11th February, 1772, aged 50, and was buried in the
Nairaghmoie Churchyard, where there is a tablet to his memory.
1729. — J. Gaustix. — An ancestor of the writer. See pedigree in Rurke^s " Landed
Gentry." I have the bond for £2000 given bini as indemnity during his
*'8heriifwick " by his sub-sheritF, "John Scott, of Dublin, gent," with
seal bearing his arms, also seuU of \\i^ sureties Chrii>tO])her Cnsack of
Rathaldron, Co. Meath, Esq., and Amy Swcetman of sanie, M'idow. This
J. G. was in the following year High Sheriff of Meath, and 1 found a letter
of his about the execution of a culprit at Trim. Kilmore, which is given
as his residence, is now called Woodlands, and is near Moy valley.
1732. — DiOBY of Landenstown. — The last of the family, Miss Eliza 1),, died in
1896, and the estate has now passed to Lady Henrietta Guinness. See
Peerage, &c.
1734. — Dudley Colley. — See 1665, &c. His portrait is at Rahan. As he and his
brothers left no issue, the Rabin estate passed to the Palmer family,
consequent on the mairiage of Charles Palmer to his sister.
1736. — J. F18H. — His grandfather, b. 1657, settled at Kilkea in the Co. Kildare, and
d. 1694. He hinl^elf appears to have changed the name of his seat
Tubberogan to Castle Fish. He died in othce. Will proved in Dublin.
My ancestor, James Garaiin, of liCragh Castle, Co. Westnieath, who
appears above as S. of K., 1729, and was S. of Meath 1730, m. his only
sister Maria. Robeit F., of Custle Fish, grandson of this Joseph F., was
S. of K. in 1754. Admiral F., of Castle Fish, died in France in 1834,
ajt. 77, and I think the family is now extinct. 1 have compiled a MS.
pedigree of this family and of some connected with it.
1740. — G. Wakbcrtox. — He either died soon after appointment or did not serve, as a
fresh Warrant was issued a month later. No address is given, but the
Warburtons — including the author of **The Crescent and the Cross" —
owned Firmount till about 1860.
1755, — Wolfe. — They formerly owned Blackball as well as Forenaglits (and Bishop-
land, under the See of Dublin).
1769. — St. Lboek. — Grangemellon is now a ruin. See tliis Journal ^ '92, '95, and
Peerage, **Doneraile." Of this family was the Colonel, known as
" Handsome Jack," the companion of George IV., who gave his name to
the famous race. He was M.P. for Okehampton. His picture, by
Gainsborough, is in the gallery at Hampton Court.
1766. — Spexcer. — Spencer Farm, near Rathangan, where the late Lord Harbcrton
resided most of his life, belonged to this family.
1767. — BuuoH. — Bert came to the 2nd Lord Seatonby his maniage with a daughter of
Lord Downes.
1778. — Kbatino of Millicent. — Representative of Cutts Harman (see 1728) on whom
it was bestowed when forfeited by the abdication of James II. to whom it
then t)elonged.
1788. — E. Grupith. — He was Lessee of Keating.
1789. — Browne, Wogan.— Should be Michael Wooan-Buowne. Castle Browne is
now called ClongOMCs-wood, and is the Roman Catholic College.
vol. II., FT. IV. Y
( 268 )
The Fitz Oeraldfl and the Mac Kenzies.— There is at Carton a
manuscrvpt history of the Clan MacKenzie, from the year a.d. 1000
to the y^ar 1720. It was written by Dr. George MacKenzie, m.d.,
Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and author
of "Lives of the Scottish Writers." Br. MacKenzie was the son of
Colin, 2nd son of George MacKenzie, 2nd Earl of Seaforth. In this
history of his clan he traces their origin to Gerald Fitz Gerald, son of
John Htz Thomas "more," Lord of O'Connelloe, county Limerick,
ancestor of the Earls of Desmond, and brother to the first Baron of
Offaly. In 1261 John fitz Thomas " more " Fitz Gerald and his three
sons, Maurice, John, and Gerald, engaged in a fierce battle with the
Mac Carthys, at Callan, in the county Keiry ; with the exception of
Gerald they were all slain. Gerald eventually fled to Scotland, and
took service under Alexander III., King of Scotland. He fought at
the battle of Largs against Haco, King of Norway, and in reward for
his services was granted the lands of Kintail in Koss-shire. Dr. Mac
Kenzie goes on to describe how this Gerald Fitz Gerald was known in
Scotland as " Gerald of Callan," or " Callan Gerald, a name corrupted
in a short time to Colin. He had the good fortune on one occasion to
save the King's life in a hunting match by slaying an infuriated stag
which had attacked the King; for this act he was granted a stag's
head for his coat-of-arms. Colin Gerald Fitz Gerald, the first Baron
of Kintail, married the Lady Margaret Stuart, daughter of Walter,
Lord High Chamberlain of Scotland, and dying in the year 1278, he
was succeeded by his son Kenneth, 2nd Baron of Kintail. The second
Baron mariied Morba MacDougall, daughter of Alexander, Lord of
Lorn; his death took place in 1304, when his son Kenneth became
3rd Baron of Kintail. This Kenneth, among the Highlanders, was
called Kenneth mac Kenneth (after his father), a name anglicised to
Mac Kenny or MacKenzie, and thus, from Gerald Fitz Gerald's grand-
son sprang the Mac Kenzies of Kintail, Gairloch, Hilltown, Ord,
Suddie, Achilty, F'airburn, Davochmaluach, Seaforth, Eledcastle,
Cromartie, etc.
W. FiTzG.
Sir Thomas Eustace, Kt., Ist Viscount Baltinglass.— As far as I
have discovered no peerage, and no pedigree or genealogical document
in Ulster's Office, gives the name of this Sir Thomas Eustace's father.
In the Petition of 1839, wherein the Rev. Charles Eustace, of
Robertstown, proved his descent and claimed the Viscounty of Baltin>
glass, this Sir Thomas is stated to be the nephew and heir of Sir
Roland Eustace, Kt., Baron of Portlester, who died on the 14th Dec.,
1496, leaving by his wife, Maud, daughter of Jenico Dartas (ob. 20th
MISCELLANEA. 269
Nov., 1426), five daughters. This Sir Roland was the son and heir of
Sir Edward Eustace, Kt., Lonl Chief Justice of Ireland, who died in
1454, descended (I believe) from the family long previously settled. at
Castlemartin.
Now in the Annals of the Four Masters, under the year 1579, the
following vague entry occurs : —
** Roland Eustace, the son of Thomas, son of Richard, died."
For the following two reasons I would suggest that theThomashere
mentioned is Sir Thomas Eustace, Kt., Ist Viscount Baltinglass : —
(a) Because the death of his son Roland (? 2nd Viscount Baltinglass)
being mentioned by the Four Masters, proves that he was a
person of importance.
{b) The Four Masters, when mentioning the Viscounts Baltinglass,
do not give them their title ; for instance, look under the
year 1580, where they mention the rebellion of James
Eustace, the 3rd Viscount.
Thus, if my argument is correct, Sir Thomas Eustace (created
Viscount Baltinglass on the 29th of June, 1542, and died on the 30th
July, 1549) was the son of Richard Eustace, brother of Sir Roland
Eustace, Baron of Portlester, who survived him, and whose heir con-
sequently was his nephew, the Sir Thomas Eustace in question.
W. FiTzG.
Celtic Bkonzr Brooch found nrau Cartlbdbrmot in 1860,
Now at Kilkea Castle.
The coils of spiral bands were (and are still) on it when discovered.
( 270 )
About the month of May, 1895, the Iron Implements, figured on the
opposite page, were dug up while excavating the hrick-heds in
connexion with the works of the Athy Brick Company. The field
they were found in is called ^^Mahcr's meadow," in the townland of
Barrowford, and one mile north of Athy. Besides the implements
many skeletons were unearthed and rehuried. Those iron implements
were, with the permission of the owner, Mr. Telford, of Athy, exhibited
at the January meeting in Naas, in 1 896.
On page 38, vol. i., of the Journal, the Lattin Alms-hoase Inscribed
Stones are mentioned,- and it is there stated that one of them "is not
decipherable." This is incorrect, as though the stone is in a very bad
state, yet I was just able to make out what was on it. These three
mural tablets are small in size and square in shape. They are placed
one above the other in a low slated cottage facing the Sallins road.
Tlie upper one is a light coloured sandstone, in very good preservation.
The middle stone is a red one, and in verj' bad condition ; while the
lower one is of limestone in fair condition, though the last line is all
but chipped away. The inscriptions read as follows : —
Gul: Latton de REBVILT IN WEALTH MAKETH
Morrislown Anna Y YEAR 1702 MANY FRIENDS
Luttrel de Lut BUT THE POOR IS
trelstown Me ^^ SEPERATED FROM
Fieri Fecerunt Patrick Latin HIS NEIGHBOUR
Anno MQXC Prouerbs.. .th-. .£••*
V
The Deer Park of Maynooth Castle.— On page 231, vol. i., of our
Journal, mention is made of this Deer Park in the year 1618. I have
lately come across an earlier mention of it in a MS. called " The
Calendar of Council Book, a.d. 1581-86," kept in the Record Office,
Duhlin, which mentions tlie —
** Recognizances of John Hillan of Straffan in the County Kildare,
yeoman ; George King of Clontarf in the county of Duhlin, Gent" ;
Nicholas Lee of Straffan, yeoman ; and Roh^rt Caddell of Duhlin,
merchant, in £20 each, that tliey do from henceforth continue to he of
honest and good behaviour, and do not lienceforth kill, or consent to
the killing of, any more of the Deare of Manoth Parke," etc.
This is dated the 22nd of June, 1585.
W. FiTzG.
* Proverbs, xix. 4,
Ibon Implbmenth duo up at Baruowfori), nkar Athy, in 1895.
( 272 )
^ttisi^erisi to ^t\ttie$*
''Cawlcannon." — In M'Leod and Dewar's Gaelic Dictionary, I
find, ** Cal-ceanann," derived from ** Cal " = kail, cabbage ; and
** Ceanainn " = ceannfhionn, i.e. white headed (cean = a head, and
fhionn = white). ^ Devitt, 8.j.
Tee-, or Tea-, lane in Celbridge? — On page 201, vol. ii. of the
JoxTENAL, there is a doubt expressed as to whether the lane leading to
the old (Kildrought) churchyard is " Tee-lane." or '' Tea-lane." The
following extract, from a letter written by Mrs. Thorold from Dona-
comper, sets the matter at rest. "The right name is Tea-lane," she
writes, ** and the origin of it is that when Mr. Shaw was starting the
mill, his partner, an Englishman named Haughton, brought over a lot
of English mill hands, for whom he built a row of superior cottages
still called * English-row.' The backs of these cottages came near to
* Tea-lane,' then called * Church -lane,' and the Irish inhabitants of
the latter were so astonished at the quantity of Tea that the well-to-
do English drank (as evidenced by the amount of tea leaves thrown
out at the back of ' English -row') that the lane soon became known
as Tea-lane.* I have always heard it so called, and the explanation of
the name has just been confirmed by Mrs. Barker, of Ardrass House,
near Straff an, who is old enough to remember my great-grandfather
(the Very Rev. Thomas Trench, Dean of Kildare, who died in 1834).
Our old coachman, who came to my grandfather, and has been here
for 64 years, remembers it too, and says Tea was a luxury unknown
to the Irish then ; he remembers being sent by his mother to buy one
ounce of tea, the price of which was then 6rf."
ArchsBological Jottings. — In answer to the question in the Second
Number, of vol. ii. of the Kildare Arch^ological Journal, as to the
date on which a Pattern used to be held at the well of Tohereendownagh
(the correct pronunciation as given by the natives) in the townland of
Ricardstown, I have to state that the well has been practically dry for
many years. Up to thirty years ago there was a good spring and a
full stream from it, but since then it contains nothing but the surface
water from an adjacent field which is on a higher level. This has
been attributed to the washing in it, by a neiglibouring woman, of
some dirty linen.
^Or "Tay-lane" as they call it. The peasantry always correctly pro-
nounce a word spelt with a double '* e '* or an " -ie," but a single **e" or
an "ea" and "ei" they pronounce "ay." This is, I believe, the same in
the Celtic language.
ANSWERS TO QUERIES. 273
A retired soldier named Hannigan, who lives beside it, on his
return from the wars was frustrated in his efforts to clean it out by a
hare, which, though repeatedly driven away, came back again and sat
on a green hillock watching him. He is still there to tell of it. This
well is situated in a lonely valley, through which runs a stream
separating the townlands of Eicardstown and Kildangan. Beside it
grows a large hawthorn which in old times was covered with rags, and
bead stones were found in the attempted cleanings. A stone with
the mark of a knee has disappeared from beside it.
The universal tradition is that there never was a pattern lield there,
but great numbers visited it for the cure of pains, white swellings,
and headaches. An old man, not many years dead, stated that when
a boy he recovered the lost use of his limbs there. There is another
well in tlie same townland called the Dhuch (drink) at which a weekly
dance used to be held, hut no pattern. A much liner well than either
is that of Fuaran (cold spring), in the adjacent townland of Mylers= —
town, where patterns were held every 15th of August and 29th of
September, at which several old people, still living, attended. The
last one terminated in a faction fight. This well has also been resorted
to for the cure of diseases— that of the skin in particular. It is a
curious fact that a large percentage of the pilgrims to these wells
came from south-east Wicklovv — many even from Wexford. It would
appear from this that the O'Tooles — on the border of whose principality
the wells lay — in their forced migration from south Kildare — carried
with them to their new home the belief in tlieir healing powers, and
this tradition has been handed down through their descendants for
seven hundred years. ** There are no rivera in Damascus like the
waters of Israel." There are many representatives of the clan O'Toole
around here still. Besides the two townlands mentioned, there are the
neighbouring ones of Harristown and Walterstown.
It is related that a certain man, probably one of the Fitz Geralds
of Numey Castle, owned all these lands, and when dying divided
them between his four sons, liichaiti, Myler, Harry, and Walter.
** llie race of the black pig " has some connexion probably with
** the valley of the black pig," the latter I believe being identical with
the ** murdering hollow" near the old Police Barrack. I heard the
story of it when a child, but have lost all recollection of the particulars.
The ** murdering hollow" was so called because of the great number
of highwaymen who from time to time plied their trade there,
conspicuous among them being one called the *' morning star." After
securing their booty they invariably fled to ** the concealments "
(hence the name), a low and swampy locality between Monasterevin
and llathangan. Once there, pursuit was useless as they could travel
through bogs, with short intervals, from thence to Philipstown.
Up to seventy years ago there was no direct road from Monasterevin
to llathangan. It is said that some, at least, of the inhabitants of
** the concealments" are the descendants of these highwaymen.
I have heard that " the leap of Allen " was so called because Finn
M^Coole used to exercise his hounds by jumping them over a chasm or
valley there.
274 ANSWERS TO QUERIES.
The mention of the aliases of Caherstown reminds me of a story I
heard more years ugo than I care to number. Somewhere in or near
it there existed long ago an inn called by the strange name of *' Ten
of the hundredy^ It was caUed so from the fact that of every hundred
who put up there, only ten escaped robbery or death. At length, a
man living some distance south of it was obliged to visit Dublin on
business, quite an event in those days, and spent some time in his
preparations. Before he started a very fine and intelligent mastiff
dog, to his owner's great regret, disappeared. On his arrival at the inn,
and when preparing to go to bed, the lost dog, to his owner's astonish-
ment and delight, came from under it, and by every means in his
power endeavoured to prevent his master from lying down. Suspect-
ing something wrong, the man sat up awaiting events, and sometime
after midnight saw to his horror the bed and the floor where it rested
gradually sink and disappear into a lower apartment. Stealing through
the window he got his horse, and defended by his faitlif ul dog, made
his escape. Next day a large quantity of human remains in various
stages of decomposition was found in a subterranean apartment.
Needless to add, the culprits were executed and tlie inn levelled.
1 read, with much pleasure, **Omurethi's" account of the Moat of
Ardscoll (the old people pronounced it so), in consequeme of my
family having had, some years ago, an interest in the lands on the
western side of it. These lands, as well as those on the other sides,
were let to a number of small tenants, so that the locality was formerly
very thickly inhabited. I remember there a boxing school, a ball-alley,
a dance-house with local piper, and of course a sheebeen. The men
were proficients in all athletic exercises, and were the finest lot of
fellows I ever saw.
I incline to Father Shearman's opinion as to its origin and use, and
to the idea that there are chambers of some sort in its interior.'
1 have a distinct recollection of a dog somewhat taller, but lighter,
than an ordinary harrier, following a fox into his earth in the moat,
where he remained four or five days, and eventually bored his way
out, quite emaciated, at a considerable distance from the point of
entry. He could be heard barking, biting roots, &c., and though his
owner dug for him at various places, the poor animal had to extricate
himself by his own exertions. I think it quite impossible for him to
do so if the mound was all solid earth.
In my opinion the most probable derivation of the name bears out
Father Shearman's theory, as I think it comes from Ard seal (scaul),
which is as near as possible to the pronunciation of the name as given
by the old natives there over fifty years ago. This means the hill or
height of the hero. Another possible derivation would be Ard scumhal
(bkool), the high precipice.
M. DABBr.
* In Noble and Keenan's map of the county of Kildare, 1752, it is marked
down as " Ten in y* hundred."
* A large boulder, sunk in the ground at the base of the Moat» on the
south-east side, is said to cover the entrance into a cave. — W. FlTzG.
VOL. n, PT. V.
5SIDN'
VOLUME if, NoT
-J O TT R N A L
rn riu
lOUNTY KIIOARE ARCHAOlOQtCAL SOCIETY.
r n ra T ^ N T <; .
Cio . i* ■ •! ;^K>i*H
r, ^oWskD> ^'
TOH STueeT,
TBI COUNGIl Of THE COUNTlf KILDABI ABCHAOlOeiCAL SOOIRV.
THE EARL OF MAYO.
'^ice-'^xesibcnl :
The Rev. Mathew Devitt, s.j.
Council :
Thomas Cooke-Trench, Esq., d.l.
George Mansfield, Esq., d.l.
The Rev. Canon Sherlock, m.a.
The Rev. Edward OXearv, p.p.
Thomas J. de Burgh, Esq., d.l.
Ambrose More O'Ferrall, Esq., d.l.
<l&on. %teasnvex:
Hans Hendrick-Avlmer, Esq., Kerdiffstown, Sallins.
Sson. Secretaries:
Lord Walter FitzGerald, m.r.i.a., Kilkea Castle, Mageney.
Sir Arthur Vicars, f.s.a., U/sfer, 44 Wellington Road, Dublin.
ibon. @5ifor:
The Rev. Canon Sherlock, m.a., Sherlockstown, Sallins.
f
/
JOURNAL
OF THE
AND
jS^urrounbing Distticts.
DONACOMPER CHURCH}
By W. T. KIRKPATRICK, J.P.
THE name of '' Donacomper " signifies "the church at the
confluence," or " the church at the meeting of the waters/'
from the Irish words " domnach/' a church, and " comar,"
confluence. The Ordnance Survey Letters in the Rojal Irish
Academy state that there is no confluence nearer than that of
the Biver Rye with the Liffey at Leixlip, two and a-half miles
from Donacomper ; but as there is a stream called the '' Shin-
keean/' which passes under the public road less than 100 yards
from the west end of the church, and runs through Donacomper
demesne and into the Liffey about three-quarters of a mile off,
there is no need to go to Leixlip in search of a confluence, and
there can be no doubt that it is this stream and the Liffey which
give the name to the place.
Father Hogan, in his Paper on St. Wolstan's, suggests, in
the absence, as he believed, of a neighbouring confluence, that
the meaning may be " domnach,*' a church, and " comphair-
tidhe " (pr. comfairee), a companion. But all the authorities
agree that, if there is a confluence, the other is the natural
meaning.
* For the ground plan of the old church, I am indebted to
Mr. A. Congreve, who was good enough to make it for me.
For the sketch of the interior of the ruin, I am indebted to Miss
Stokes, who has most kindly presented the block to the Society ; and
for the extracts from the wills and funeral entries, I have to thank
Lord Walter FitzGei-ald.
278
DONACOMPER CHURCH.
Father Hogan says that Donacomper mast have had a
history of its own, even prior to the establishment of
St. Wolstan's, becaase from the " Book of Armagh " we learn
that every church called "Domnach" was founded by St Patrick
himself, and there he spent a night. There is a tradition that
a market used to be held in old times in front of Donacomper
Church ; and Father Hogan states that the present town of Gel-
bridge only really commenced its existence with the advent of
the Dongan family to Castletown in 1616, and that whatever
little importance the place had for some hundreds years before
must have been due to its connection with St. Wolstan's and
Donacomper. Even so late as 1690, in one of the State papers,
James Warren is described as parish priest of Dennycomfert
** Donacomper " seems to have been spelt in a great number
of di£ferent ways. In the funeral entry of Mary Fleming,
daughter of William Baron of Slane, and wife of Sir Thomas
Alen, who died 8th November, 1622, and was buried in the
church of Donacomper, 8rd December, 1622, it is spelt ''Donna-
compare;" while in that of Sir Thomas Alen, who died 1626, it
is spelt " Donnacompar." *
The funeral entry of Jno. Alen, who died at Bishop's Court,
March, 1636, states that he was interred in ** the Parish churche
of Downecumper, '* where his wife also was buried ; while a
Chancery Inquisition of 1639 says that ''Robert Alen was seised
in fee-tail of St. Wolstan's and Donacomper ; " and the will
of *' Patrick Alen of St. Wolstan's, als. Alenscourt," dated July
5th, 1720, directed that he was '' to be buried in my ancestors'
tomb in the church of Donaghcomper."
' On the Ordnance Survey maps it is spelt Donaghcomper.
DONACOMPEK CHURCH. 279
The following description of the church of Donacomper was
written for me by the late M. H. Bloxam, f.s.a., in 1875, when
he was paying a visit to Ireland preparatory to the issue of the
-eleTenth and last edition of his well-known work on Gothic
architecture : —
" DONACOMPER.
**The old church, now in ruins, consists of a nave, chancel, and
chapel adjoining the church on the north side. The whole appears to
have been constructed in the twelfth century {circa a.d. 1160), but
windows of the fourteenth century (circa a.d. 1360) have been inserted.
A .semicircular arch divides the north chai)el from the chancel. This
springs from A plain abacus string course, with the under part chamfered.
In the east wall of this chapel is a Piscina, an insertion of the fourteenth
century, indicative of an altar. These ruins are overgrown with trees
and ivy, which probably conceal many details ; but in the chapel windows
of the fourteenth century have been inserted.
"Matt. H. Bloxa^,
** September 4th, 1875."
In a sketch which I have, on an old deed of the year 1770,
the church is represented as roofed in, and with a tower at the
west end ; but of this tower only one wall now remains. Beside
the door, on the north side, is a receptacle for holy water. Be-
neath the side chapel lies the vault of the Alen family. Until
about three years ago, the slab which covers it lay fallen in at
one comer, and made it possible to get into the vault, which is
full of the bones and skulls of the Alens. The top of the vault
shows the marks of the osier wattles, which were evidently used
to support it when it was being built. The slab, which is very
heavy, bears the following inscription, partly defaced : —
[This S]epulchre is The
Buri]al Place of The
Fa]mily of Alens of
Alenscourt.
The advowson of the church was made over to Sir John
Alen in 16B8, the same year in which he received the grant of
the lands of St. Wolstan's, Donacomper, and Kildrought ; and
Lewis's '' Topographical Dictionary of Ireland," published in
1837, states that up to a few years prior to that date there
was a monument to Sir John Alen, with his effigy, in Dona-
comper Church. It is very much to be regretted that this has
disappeared, as it would have been of great interest to us now.
Donacomper was the regular burying-place of the Alen family.
Sir John Alen's brother and successor, Thomas Alen, was buried
here ; and a second brother of his, William Alen of Castletown,
Kildrought (i.e., Celbridge), from whom were descended the
28o DONACOMPER CHURCH.
Alens of Palmerstown, Co. Dublin, was also buried here. His
will, dated October 16th, 1558, begins as follows : —
'* In the name of the Father, the Son & Holy Goste. I Willm Alen,
of Castleton of Kyldroght, in the Countie of Kyldare, hoole of mynde
& in pfecte memory the xvi day of October in the yere of ChristeB incar-
nacyon after our computacyon a thowsande fyve hundred with fiftie and
eight, doo make my wylle & testament as foloweth — * Ffyrste I comende
my sowle to almyghtee God the creator of me, & my body to be buryede
in the church e of Donaghcomper, where it shall plese my broder Sr John
Alen ; & to the reparacyon of the sayd churche I give ten shillings st«r-
linge after Irland rate, & to my paryshe churche of Kildroght other ten
shillings. And I ordeyne & constitute of this my last wylle & testament
my broder Sr John Alen, Knyght, late loi*d chancellor of Irland, & my
broder Thomas Alen, clerke of the naper [i.e., the *hanaper'], my
executoi*s," &c., &c.
John Alen of St. Wolstan's, who succeeded his father, Thomas
Alen, by his will, dated February 24th, 1609, says : — " I will my
body to be buried in the church of Donnacomper, where my
father was buried.*' His son, Sir Thomas Alen, married, first,
Mary Fleming, daughter of William Baron of Slane, and the fol-
lowing extract from the Funeral Entries relates to her funeral: —
** Mary daughter of Fleming Lorde of Slane (sister to Christofer
Lorde of Slane), & wife to Sir Thomas Allen, of S. Wolstan'a or Allen's
Court, Knight & Baronet, deceased the 8th of November, 1622, & was
buried in the chui-ch of Donacompare the 3rd of December, 1C22,
viz. : —
The poore.
Sir Thomas Allen's men.
The Penonne by Mr. Nicholas Allen.
Mr. Fleming of Glankey and his brother.
Mr. Fleming of Creavagh & Mr. Robt. Allen.
Mr. Allen of Palmerstou and Mr. Wm. Allen.
Albon Leveret, Athlone Pursuivant of Armes.
Daniel Molyneux, Ulster King of Annes.
Sir Wm. Hill Mr. Bamewall
supporting the The Corpes of Cryckston
paall. 8Uj)porting the
paall.
attending the chief e mourner
Tlie Lfml of I Mrs. Katherine I Mr. James
Slane. | Fleming. | Fleming.
Foure Gentlewomen 2 and 2 attending
the chiefe mourner
one of Sir Thomas Allen's men
other Gentlewomen 2 and 2
Waytinge Women."
When the present road from Celhridge to Dublin was made,
it was cut right through Donacomper churchyard. The old
DONACOMPER CHURCH. 28 1
high-road passed through Castletown along the river bank, and
it was probably changed about the time that Castletown House
VTBS built (i.e., in 1726).
In 1703 the rectory of Donacomper was, in pursuance of an
Act of 2 William III, assigned to augment the vicarage of Clon-
dalkin, and tithe rent-charge is now payable out of the lands of
Donacomper in respect of Clondalkin parish.
The oldest tombstone in churchyard, of those whose inscrip-
tion can be deciphered, bears the following inscription : —
"Here Lyeth the Body of Nicholas Walsh who dyed Feb. the 11th
1711 being brother to Peter Walsh of Dunaughcomper by whom this
Htoiie hath been laid for himself and his posterity. Hero also lyeth the
IxKly of the aforesade Peter Walsh, who dyed the 24 daye of Febry
1720 aged yeai*s."
Another tombstone bears the following inscription : —
" Erected by Stephen Coyle
To the memory of his posterity
Here lieth his Father
George Coyle who departed this life May the 18th 17JX)
aged 75 years
Also his brother Thomas Coyle
who deimrted May the 21st 1793
aged 36 years
Here lieth his Dear Mother Ann Coyle
who departed this life February the 15th 1797
aged 85 years
Stej)hen Coyle departed 30th January 1809
aged GO years
Js. Coyle departed 20th February 1818
aged 68 years
Geo. Coyle departed March 4th 1818
aged 64 years."
Another stone, which was *'* erected bj Mrs. Mary Johnson
of Celbridge in 1810," bears the following lines : —
** Though not in sight in memory dear
Two affectionate nephews lie liuried here.**
Another tombstone is inscribed thus : —
" Erected by Thomas Talbot
To the memory of his posterity.
Here lieth the remains of his
Father James Talbot departed
March the 20th 1793 aged 54 years.
Also his brother William Talbot " &c.
** Also his mother Catherine Talbot"
(& two of his children).
282 DONACOMPER CHURCH-
The inscription on another stone runs thus :—
** Memento Mori.
^^This stone was erected by Laughlin Dignam of Celbridge in
memory of hLs beloved son Mr. Michael Dignam Timber Merchant late
of Bii^efoot St in the City of Dublin who departed this life May the
10th eighteen hundred and twenty-three aged 30 years.
*^ Silence alas beneath this stone decayed
Virtue^s darling the poor man's friend is laid
His generous heart aJive to others' grief
Still urged his hand to minister relief
He who dried the orphan and widow's tears
Was snatched away by death in bloom of years
His parents and his loving friends that bear his names
In mourning strains yoiur earnest pity claims
Too good to stay in a fleeting world like this
Oh may his soul enjoy eternal bliss. Amen."
( 283 )
ST. IVOLSTAATS.^
By W. T. KIRKPATRICK, J.P.
THE priory of St. Wolstan's was founded in the year 1202
(or, according to Ware, 1205) for canons of the order of
St. Victor, by Richard, first prior of the place, and Adam de
Hereford, in memory of St. Wolstan, Bishop of Worcester, then
newly canonized by Pope Innocent III ; and the first part of
the building there was commonly called acala cali, the steps of
heaven. De Hereford granted to Richard, the first prior, the
lands on the River Lifiey and the church of Donacomper, which
existed before the foundation of the monastery. There is a
tradition that the church was connected with the monastery by
an underground passage, but there is no trace of it to be seen.
In 1271 William de Mandesham, or Kavesham, seneschal to
Fulk, Archbishop of Dublin, granted to the priory the lands of
Tristildelane, now Gastledillon, with the appurtenances thereto
belonging, in Franckalmoigne. He increased the number of the
canons, and obliged them to celebrate duly his and his wife's
anniversary, on which day they were to feed thirty poor men, or
to give them in lien thereof one penny each, under the penalty of
100 shillings, to be paid to the Archbishop on every such failure,
and a further penalty of 100 shillings to be expended on the
cathedral church of St Patrick. In 1810, when Stephen was
prior, Nicholas TaafFe gave for ever to this priory the manor of
Donacomper, which was valued at £3 6s. 8d. yearly. Having,
however, been granted without licence, it was subsequently
seized into the king's hands, but was restored to the priory in
1880.
In 1814 the churches of Stacumney and Donaghmore were
granted to the sole and separate use of the prior. The church
of Killadonnan, now known as Killadoon, also at one time
belonged to the priory.
* The materials on which thin Paper Ib based are chiefly drawn from
the " MonaHticum Hibemicum," Ware's "Antiquities of Ireland" (pub-
lished 1706), O'Flanagan^s ** Lives of the Lord Chancellors of Ireland,"
and an interesting Paper by the Bev. M. F. Hogan, formerly Roman
Catholic Curate of Celbridgc, published in The EccUsiaMical Record for
March, 1892.
I—
I £
u 5
^ <
a?
ST. WOLSTAN's. 285
In 1686 Henry VIU seized on the priory and all its belong-
ings, which are set forth in the inquisition, and appear to have
been very extensive. They included lands in Straffan, Irish-
town, Kildronght, Donacomper, Stacumney, Donaghmore, Killa-
doon, Castledillon, Tipperstown, Loughlinstown, Coolfitch,
Simmondstown, Ballymakelly, Ardres (or Ardrass), and
Kilmacreddock, Ballykorkeran, Backbieston (or Backweston),
InchebartoUy Coldreny, Lucan, &c. Bichard Weston was the
last prior in 1586, and by an Act of that year it was provided
that he should have and enjoy in the priory, for his life, a
decent chamber with a chimney, with wood and other neces-
saries for his firing, and proper diet, both as to eating and
drinking, all of which was valued at £4: annually; and that
Gerald Aylmer and Thomas Luttrell, by and with the authority
of the said Act, should reserve to themselves and their heirs,
during the life of the said Bichard, the annual sum of £4i out of
the lands aforesaid for the use of the said Bichard Weston.
The manor of Kildrought, now known as Castletown, which
was separated from the priory by the Biver Liflfey, was in the
fourteenth century in the possession of the Geraldines, and we
read that Maurice Earl of Kildare, who died in 1890, was a
munificent benefactor to the priory of St. Wolstan's.
With the dissolution of the monastery, the connection of
St. Wolstan's with the Alen family ^begins. John Alen, who
came from Coteshale, in Norfolk, went to practise at the Irish
Bar, and became Master of the Bolls in 1534. He was
appointed a clerk in Parliament from 1534 to 1586, with a
salary of 2s. per day during the Parliamentary session.
By letters patent, on December 1, 1538, he had a gi*ant of
the site, circuit, and lands of the late monastery of St. Wolstan's,
the manor of Donaghcumper, the manor of Kildronght, and
other denominations of land in Co. of Kildai*e for ever, by the
service of one knight's fee, rent £10.
On the death of Sir John Barnewall, Lord Trimleston, in
1538, John Alen was appointed Keeper of the Seal, and in 1539
Lord Chancellor of Ireland. By letters patent of 82 & 83
Henry YIII, he was appointed, with others, justice of the peace
for Co. Meath, from which it appears that the Lord Chancellor
was not ex officio a magistrate.
In 1539-40 a Boyal Commission issued to him and others,
appointing them to act as deputies to Thomas Cromwell, whom
the King had constituted his Vicar-General and Vice-Begent in
ecclesiastical matters ; and in April of the same year they were
entrusted with the suppression of the religious houses.
* "Lives of the Lord Chancellors of Ireland." — O'Flanagan.
286 ST. VVOLSTAN'S.
While Alen was Chancellor^ a step towards legal education
was taken, and the monastery of the Friar Preachers was turned
into an Inn of Chancery ancillary to the InnS' of Court in
England. He was deprived of the Great Seal through the new
Viceroy, St Leger, who was appointed in 1541; but by a letter
from the Lord Protector Somerset and the Lords of the Council
in England, when Kitog Edward ascended the throujB, addressed
to the Lord Deputy and Council in Ireland, ** Master Alan " was
to have the restoration of all his leases, offices, goods, and
chattels, notwithstanding the sun*ender of his office of Chan-
cellor, with liberty to convey his goods without search or seizure
into England ; '* also the constableship of Maynooth, with the
arrear of the fee, and the rest of his offices, the farm of Kyle,
and all his farms, leases, and things, notwithstanding his
absence."
Queen Mary appears to have held him in much esteem, and
in 1568 addressed a letter to the Lord Deputy and Chancellor,
refening to him in the following terms : —
" Having licensed our trusty servant, Sir John Allen, late Chancellor
of that our realm, to rei)air thither and demire or return at his pleasure,
and considering the trusty functions which he had for a great time there,
both under our father and brother, and his long experience and travail
in public affairs, we judge him worthy of such trust, as he is meet always
to remain one of the Privy Council, and in respect of his infirmities and
age, we mind not that he should be compelled to go to any hosting or
joumies but when he conveniently may."
He was of the same family as John Alen, Archbishop of
Dublin, who assisted Henry YIII in the suppression of the
religious houses, and who, when flying from Thomas FitzGerald,
then in rebellion against King Henry, took boat from Dublin,
but was driven on shore near Clontarf, sought shelter in Artane,
where he was discovered, dragged from his bed, and murdered.
When St. Wolstan's passed to the Alens, it became known
as Alen's Court. Sir John Alen died between 1688-91 without
issue, being succeeded by his brother Thomas Alen of Eilkeele
(or Eilteel), clerk of the Hanaper. They were followed by a long
line of Alens, who intermarried with (among others) the
families of Lord Gormanston, Lord Dunsany, the Luttrells, the
Sarsfields, &c.
The last of the Alens^ connected with St. Wolstan's spent a
good deal of his time in France, where he was called the Count
de St. Wolstan. He was an officer in the regiment of Berwick,
and fought with the Irish Brigade in the battle of Fontenoy in
^ Vide vol. i, p. 341, of the Journal.
ST. WOLSTAN'S. 287
1746. In consequence of the active part he had taken with the
French in their wars with the English, both in Europe and
India, he lost all rights to his Irish possessions, and they were
sold in 1752 by the Court of Exchequer to Dr. Robert Clayton,
Bishop of Glogher, who bequeathed them to his niece, Anne,
wife of Dr. Thomas Biemard, Bishop of Eillaloe. Father Hogan
states that the house of St. Wolstan's was built from the ruins
of the abbey, after the design of Mr. Joshua Allen, who was no
relation of the St. Wolstan Alens, but was well known for his
skill in architecture, and planned the unfinished house at
Jigginstown for the Earl of Strafford. ^During the rebellion, and
for about the drat twenty years of this century, St. Wolstan's
was a school kept by Mr. John Coyne, and it was purchased by
the grandfather of the present owner in 1822. Donacomper
was purchased in the same way by my grandfather, William
Kirkpatrick, in 1815, prior to which he had lived there for some
few years.
The remains of St. Wolstan's priory consist of two gateways,
a tower, and two fragments, and there are steps by which the
tower and gateways can be ascended.
By the river belbw the weir is a well called the " Scholar's
Well," and near it are what are said to be the longest stone, the
largest bone, and the deepest hole (in the LifFey) in all Ireland.
Close by is a monument to Bobert Clayton, Bishop of Clogher,
and his wife. It consists of an urn on a granite pedestal, which
bears the following inscriptions : —
On the front : —
•'P. M. S.
Roberti Clayton
GloghereiiBis Episcopi
&
CatherinsB Donnellan
Conjugis optimce."
On the back :
On one side : —
* Sursum Corda. "
" Renaacenteir ('/ renascentur)
Quae jam cecidere
Cadentque
Quaa nunc sunt."
On the other side : —
*'a8 dying
yet
we live.
May Ist, 1756."
288
ST. WOLSTAN'S.
St. Wolstan's was used as a summer residence by the Marquis
of Buckiugbam, wbo was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from
December 16th, 1787, to January 5th, 1790, having previously
as Earl Temple held the same ofiSce in 1782 ; and he built the
garden wall at St. Wolstan's, which is a remarkably fine one,
and was built with flues for the purpose of heating it.
Just below the demesne of St. Wolstan's the LifFey is spanned
by a bridge, consisting of three irregular arches, called New-
bridge, and which was built in 1308 by John le Decer, Mayor
of Dublin. There was a proposal in the early part of this cen-
tury to pull down this bridge, as being too narrow, and to build
another ; but it was strongly resisted by Mr. Richard Cane,
Major Cane's grandfather, who offered to build another bridge
lower down at his own expense, if he was allowed to divert the
road and enclose the old bridge in his demesne : but though the
Grand Jury would not consent to this, the matter dropped.
' The Newbridge" at St. Wolstan's.
I3uilt aftU 1308.
( 289 )
KILDARE: ITS HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES. ^
[Read at the Meeting of the Co. Kildare Archfeological Soc.,
Sept. 17th, 1896.]
By the ijltb REV. DENIS MURPHY, S.J., M.R.I.A.
THE history and antiqaities of Kildare naturally suggest a
division in the remarks which I shall make . on both, viz.,
ecclesiastical and civil ; and first of the ecclesiastical antiquities.
The name of Kildare is derived from two Irish words, kill, dara,
the church of the oak ; and though now applied to an extensive
district, by all our Irish annalists it is used exclusively of the
place where the ecclesiastical establishment stood, namely, the
town of Kildare. The surrounding territoiy was so called only
after it was reduced to shire ground by the English. The ancient
name of this was Drumcriath; it was comprised within the
district called Offaly. " The Life of St. Brigid," by Cogitosus
(which is the second of the six given by Colgan in bis lYiadis
Thaumaturgce Acta, the Acts of the Wonder-working Three,
namely, Patrick, Columba, and Brigid, the three Patrons of
Ireland), gives the origin of the name : —
*' The people of Leinater besought Brigid to stay among them. And
when the most glorious virgin came to her country, she was received with
great honour and joy by the whole province, and a cell was assigned to
her, in which this saint of God afterwards led a wonderful life. There
she built a monastery for many nuns, and there grew up a large city,
which is to-day the metropolis of Leinster. It is called in Irish Kildara,
which interpreted means the cell of the oak. For there was a very tall
oak there, which Brigid loved much, and she blessed it : the stock of it
remains still. And no one will dare to cut off any part of it ; and whoso-
ever can break off a little of it, he thinks it a great favour, hoping there-
from God's help, since many miracles have been wrought by that wood
through the blessing of St. Brigid."
This writer then goes on to speak of the founding of the
monastery : —
** The church," says Cogitosus, ** contains the glorious bodies of
Oonlaeth and Brigid, resting in monuments which are placed on the right
and left of the decorated altar, and which are adorned with various
ornaments of silver and gold, of gems and precious stones, with crosses
of ^old and silver hanging over them. When the number of the faithful
290 KILDARE: ITS HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES.
of both sexes had increased, the church was enlarged and raised to
'a menacing height,* and decorated with paintings. It had within it
three ample oratories, which were divided from one another by boarded
partitions under one roof of the larger house, in which one partition
was decorated and painted with images and covered with linen cloth,
extended the whole breadth of the church from wall to the other in the
eastern part of the church. The wall has at its two extremities two
doorways. By the door on the right-hand side the chief bishop, together
with his regular school, and with those who are deputed for the sacred
offices to immolate the holy sacrifice of the Lord ; and by the other
door, on the left of the aforesaid cross, will enter only the abbess, with
her nuns and faithful widows, to enjoy the banquet of the body and
blood of Christ; and then by another wall dividing the pavement of
the house into two equal paits, and extending from the east side as far
as the wall running across in breadth. And this church has many
windows, and one omamentiAl door on the right side, by which the priest
and the faithful of the male sex enter, and another door on the left side,
by which the congregation of virgins and of the faithful women are
accustomed to enter ; and thus in one very great basilica a great people,
different in order and degrees and sex, separated by walls, pray to the
Omnipotent Lord in different order, but with one mind."
The same author says it was a sanctaary in which the
regalia of kings were placed. A right of sanctaary was attached
to it also, giving to accused persons protection from immediate
punishment, which would be often inflicted with undue haste
and severity.
*' And worthy Brigid, solicitous about the churches in many provinces,
and resolving in her mind that nothing could be managed without a high
priest, who would consecrate churches and institute ecclesiastical grades
m them, called an illustrious solitary adorned with all virtues from her
lonely life in the desert, and having gone to meet him herself, brought
him that he mi^ht rule the church in episcopal dignity together with her.
And the so anointed head and principal of all the bishops and the most
blessed mother ruler of the nuns, by a happy association and by tlie
practice of all virtues, afterwards erected then* principal church. And
through the merits of both, their cathedral, like a fructifying vine, with
branches spread in all directions, extended its influence throughout the
whole land of Hibemia."
In the Telere of Eughey the Guldee, Brigid is styled " the
chaste head of the nuns of Eird." St. Columkille calls her the
maiden of everlasting goodness, the golden torch, the tree that
bears flowers, the pillar of the kingdom after Patrick, the
favourite of the royal Queen. Jean de Bruxelles says she was
superioress of thirteen thousand monks, and Porter adds that
the houses of canonesses, not only throughout all Ireland, but
even in England and Belgium, derive their origin from her.
And an ancient writer speaks of her as the abbess to whom all
the abbesses of Scotia pay veneration.
KILDARE: ITS HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES. 29I
From '' The Life of St. Brigid/' by Gogitosus, written aboat
the year 800, we learn that the church of Kildare contained
then her relics and those of St. Conlaeth, the first Bishop of
Kildare. In 885 the Danes plundered Kildare, and carried
away the shrines in which the relics were placed. The relics
were probably saved from desecration, and part, or perhaps the
whole, of them taken to Down, for it would seem that he^ was
anxious to make Down a place of great importance, the capital
of the northern part of Ireland ; and he supposed the transfer of
the relics of the three patron saints of Ireland would aid him
very much in his designs. Cardinal Vivian was sent from Rome
by Pope Urban III as Legate to assist at their transfer. The
day on which it took place, June 9bh, was celebrated as a festival,
and had a special office in the Breviary. The transfer was
looked on as the fulfilment of an ancient prophecy of St.
Columkille : —
'* My prosperity in guiltless Hy,
And my soul in Deny ;
And my body under the flag.
Beneath which are Patriok and Brigid."
A special privilege attaches to the church of Kildare, viz.,
that the bishop has precedence of all the other bishops of Ire-
land except the Bishop of Meath ; he ranks first because Tara,
the seat of the Ardrigb, was in his jurisdiction. I called the
attention of our late lamented Vice-President to this ancient
right, and he told me he was aware of it, and that in the Irish
Ecclesiastical Directory of that year he had the diocese of
Kildare inserted before that of any other diocese of the province
of Dublin.
De Burgo, author of " Hibernia Dominicana," a history of
the Dominican Order in Ireland, says that in 1770 he saw the
head of St. Brigid in a chapel dedicated to her in the Priory of
St. John the Baptist at Lumear, three miles from Lisbon. The
clergy of the church say the Office and Mass of the saint on
the 1st of February each year, at which the members of a
sodality erected in honour of St. Brigid assist. Cattle and sheep
are brought at that same time to the church to be blessed. A
stone set in the wall near the entrance to the church says that
near it are buried the three Irish knights who brought there the
head of the blessed St. Brigid, in memory of whom the
sodality of the saint erected this monument in the month of
January, 1288.
* The writer of the article gives no name. — Ed.
AA
292 KILDARE: ITS HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES.
There is in the Maseum of the Royal Irish Academy a brass
shoe or slipper, gilt and richly omamented, which was popularly
known as St. Brigid's Slipper, and, no doubt, encased a real
shoe. It bears an inscription showing the use to which it was
applied : —
HOC EST JURAMENTVM NATVRALE.
Another inscription on it shows that it was preser?ed in
Loughrea, Co. Galway, where there are still, at a short distance
from the Carmelite convent, the remains of a small church
dedicated to St. Brigid, in which, no doubt, it was preserved. It
runs thus:—
'* locb Feicb ANNO DOMINO 1410.
S. Brigida Virgo, Kildariensis, Hibemiae Patrona.
St. John Baptist."
At Glastonbury some relics of St. Brigid were preserved with
great veneration. " It is a common custom of the Irish," says
Spelman, ''to come and venerate the relics of their patron
Brigid, who left here some tokens [insignilas'], a necklace, a bag,
and some implements for weaving. They are still exhibited in
memory of her holiness, and they cure different diseases."
A good deal of what we know about Kildare in somewhat
later times comes down to us in the works of Giraldus Cam-
brensis, Gerald of Wales, a half-brother of Maurice FitzGerald,
who paid two visits to Ireland with Prince John, one in 1188,
the other with the same prince in 1185. His works have been
lately issued in the Rolls Series, in seven volumes, edited by
Dymock. He was a keen observer of men and things, though
as a historian he is not reckoned worthy of much credit " He
was," says Dymock, '' replete with the exact qualities the very
reverse of what are needed to form an impartial historian ; a man
of strong, impetuous feelings and violent prejudices, with a
marvellously elastic self-confidence that nothing could put down."
Of his relatives he is always the encomiast, while of those of the
Anglo-Normans who were not related to him he speaks invari*
ably ^ith a sneer or a gibe. Indeed, the main object of one
of his works seems to be the glorification of himself and his
relatives. He speaks here as an eye-witness, as is obvious from
the detailed account which he gives. Among the mirabilia or
wonders of Kildare he sets down the falcon which used to perch
on the top of the lofty tower, the Fire-house, and the Book of
Kildare : —
''In Kildare, which the glorious St. Brigid rendered illustrious, many
miracles are worthy of recoil. First, there is the inextinguishable fire ;
not because it cannot be put out, but because the nuns and holy women
KILDARE : ITS HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES. 293
supply materials to the fire so carefully and accurately that it has remained
without being quenched ever since the time of the holy virgin through
such a lapse of years. In the saint^s time there were here twenty nuns,
she being the twentieth. Never since has the number increased. And
when each one in her turn watches the fire for a night, when the
twentieth night comes, the nun, having laid on it the wood, says: 'Brigit,
take care of your fire.' And the wood is found to be consumed in
the morning, and the fire still lighting. And though so vast a quantity
of wood hath been in such a length of time consumed in it, yet the
ashes have never increased."
In 1226 it was extinguished by Henry de Loundres, Arch-
bishop of Dublin from 1218 to 1228. It has been charitably
suggested that perhaps the archUshop put out the fire because,
the custom not having been used in other places, it might seem
to have taken its origin from an imitation of the vestal virgins
instituted by Numa Pompilius for the preservation of a perpetual
fire. Be that as it will, without doubt this custom of preserving
a fire in that convent by the nuns of St. Brigid for the poor and
strangers was continued down afterwards to the suppression of
the monasteries in the time of Henry YIII. (MS. in R.I.A.)
Perhaps the practice was derived from that of the Old Law
as set down in the Book of Leviticus, v. 12 : '' The fire on the
altar of God shall be burning, and shall not be put out.''
I may remark that De Loundres was known by the name of
Scorch Villein, because he cast into the fire the leases of the
tenants of the See of Dublin, whom he had cited to appear in
his Court, and exhibit their titles to the lands which they held.
They forced him, however, by threatening to bum the house
over his head, to give them favourable teims.
Stanihurst, who wrote his "Description of Ireland'* in 1584,
says ** there was in Kildare an ancient monument named the
Firehouse, wherein Gambrensis says there was a continual fire
kept up night and day, and yet the ashes never increased. I
travelled of set purpose to the town of Kildare to see the place,
where I did see such a monument lyke a vaute, which to this
day they call the Firehouse." Brewer says, in his '' Beauties of
Ireland/' published in 1825 : '' A lateral part of the chapel of
St. Brigid, locally termed the Firehouse, in which this ceaseless
fire was maintained, is still standing near the pillar tower. It
was a low and narrow cell of stone." Edmund O'Dwyer, Bishop
of Limerick from 1646 to 1654, wrote a Latin poem on the fire
of Kildare ; and Moore alludes in one of the Irish Melodies to
''the bright lamp that shone in Kildare's holy fane." It is
strange that it is not mentioned by any writer of the Lives of
St. Brigid. Gambrensis is the firat who mentions it. In the
" Annals of Boyle," under the date 802, Kildare is called the
294 KILDARE: ITS HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES.
Church of the Fire ; and the monastery was sometimes called
the Monastery of the Fire.
This is the very vivid description which he gives of the
Book of Kildare : —
*' Among all the miraculous things at Kildare, nothing Ruq^rbed me
so much as that wonderful book, said to have been written from the dicta-
tion of an angel. The l)ook contains the four Gospels according to St.
Jerome's version, and is adorned with almost as many illuminated
figures as it has pages. Here you see the majesty of the Divine coun-
tenance, there the mystic figures of the Evangelists, together with other
designs without number, which, if carelessly surveyed, seem rather blots
than intertwined ornaments, and appeared to be plain work where
there was, in truth, nothing but intricacy. But on close examination
the secrets of the art were evident ; and so delicate and subtle, so
laboured and minute, so intertwined and knotted, so intricately and
brilliantly coloured did you j^erceive them, that you were ready to say
they were the work of an angel, and not of man. The more intently
I examined them, the more was I filled with fresh wonder and amaze-
ment. Neither could Apelles do the like. Indeed, mortal hand seemed
incapable of forming or painting them.*'
He goes on to tell of the manner in which the book was
written : —
'* The first night preceding the morning on which the writer was to
commence the book an angel stood by him in his sleep, showing him
a picture painted on a tablet, which he held in his hand, and said :
* Think you that you can depict this representation on the first page of
the lK)ok which you are about to write ? * The scribe, distrusting his
skill to complete a work so artistic and unusual, answered that he could
not. The angel then said : * On to-morrow morning ask your mistress
to offer prayers to the Lord for you, that He may assist you both in
mind and body, so that you may be able to see and apprehend the task
proposed to you, and be able to execute it.' After this the angel again
appeared to him on the next night, showing the same picture and also
many others, all of which the scribe, apprehending through the aid of
Divine grace, fixed faithfully in his memory, and carefully reproduced in
their proper places throughout the volume. In this way was the book
w^ritten, the angel showing the pattern, St. Brigid praying, and the
scribe copying."
Whether this book was, as some think, the Book of Kells,
now presei-ved in the Library of Trinity College, or some other,
we can't say. I should think it was one of the many books
then in the Irish monasteries, for it is highly probable that in
such a famous place as Kildare — famous not only for the
reverence paid to its patron saint, but also as a great school —
there would be such books, rivalling in beauty the Books of
Kells, St. Moling's, or of Dimma.
He then goes on to speak of *' the very beautiful plains which
^re called St. Brigid's pastures" — in these po one has ever dared
KILDARE: ITS HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES. 295
to set a ploagh — of the falcon, which from St. Brigid's time
used to fregnent this place, and perch on the top of the lofty
tower, and was called St. Brigid's hird. It was killed by a
peasant with a stick as it was eating a bird which it had
seized, and being so tame it did not take flight at the man's
approach. The references to Kildare will be found in chapters
xxxyii to xxxix of the 2nd Distinction, at pp. 120 to 124 of
volume y, Dymock's edition.
The Town of Eildabe.
It is not easy to say with certainty when and why the town
and district of Kildare came into the hands of the FitzGeralds.
The town was first the habitat of Richard Earl of Pembroke,
surnamed Strongbow, who married Eva, daughter of Dermot
M'Murrough. William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, married the
daughter and heiress of Strongbow, and, being lord of all Leinster,
bad jurisdiction throughout the whole province. He had five sons
and five daughters. His sons in succession held the seigniory, but
all died without issue. The daughters married into families of the
English nobility, and the lordship was divided between them.
William de Vesci, in right of his mother Agnes, one of the
daughters of Sibilla Countess of Ferrers, to whom, as one of the
sisters of William Marshall the younger, the County of Kildare
was assigned, was entitled to a part of Kildare. Now, this
William, then Justiciary, had a quarrel with John Fitz Thomas,
liOrd of Oflfaly, later first Earl of Kildare. Offelan was originally
Maurice FitzOerald's grant. So says Maurice Regan, Dermot
Murrough's Latemer: —
'* The same Richard (Strongbow) then gav<)
To Maurice FitzGerald
Naas gave the good Earl
To FitzGerald all the honour
That is the land of Offelan
Which belonged to McKelan the traitor."
Holinshed, or rather Stanihurst, thus describes the quarrel : —
''De Vesci was a stem man, and full of courage. He called John Earl
of Kildare before him, charging him with foul riots and misdemeanours ;
for that he ranged abroad, and sought revenge u|>on private displeasure
out of all order, and not for any advancement of the public wealth or ser-
vice of his sovereign. The Earl, impatient to have himself touched by the
Justice as to evil-doing, answered thus : ' By your honour and mine, my
lord, and by King Edward's hand [for that was considered no small oath
in those days among the Irish], you would, if you durst, impeach me in
plain terms • of treason felony, for where I have the titles you have the
deece of Kildare. I wot well how great an eyesore I am in your sight, so
296 KILDARE: ITS HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES.
that if I might be handsomely trussed up for a felon, then might my
master , your son, become a gentleman . ' 'A gentleman, ' quoth the J ustice,
*thou proud Earl. I tell thee the Vescies were gentlemen before Kildare
was an earldom, and before that Welsh bankrupt, thy cousin, feathered his
nest in Leinster. But seeing thou darest me, I will surely break thy
heart. ' And therewith he called the Earl a notorious thief and a murderer.
Then followed facing and bracing among the soldiers, and high words and
terrible swearing on both sides, until either part appeased his own. The
Lord Justice hotly, after leaving his deputy, William Howe, took the sea
and hasted over to the King. Kildare immediately followed, and as
heinously as the Lord Justice accused him of injustice, Kildare no less
appealed him of treason. For trial thereof the Earl asked the combat,
and Yescie refused not. But yet when the lists were provided, Yescie was
slipt away unto France, and so disherited of all his lands in the County of
Kildare, which were bestowed upon the Earl and his heirs for ever."
Another account says: —
^^In open court FitzGerald accused De Yesci of having solicited him to
enter into a treasonable conspiracy, and offered to maintain the charge by
wager of battle. The challenge was accepted by De Yesci ; but Edward I
interposed, and summoned both parties before him at Westminster. On
the appointed day De Yesci appeared in arms, and offered to engage
FitzGerald ; but the latter, though summoned, did not appear. The con-
troversy was by mutual consent submitted to the King. De Yesci trans-
ferred his lands to the King, by whom some of them were granted to
William de Wellesley for life, and subsequently to John FitzThomas, who
obtained the title of Earl of Kildare."
So Grace's Annals. On the other hand, Dowling, in his
Annah, says: —
*' Meyler FitzHenry exchanged Kildare for Leix to subdue the O'Mores,
whom Hervey could not bring to any manner of peace, because he was a
brutal and bloodthiraty man."
In 1247 William de Yesci surrendered the castle and manor
and County of Kildare to King Edward, and the King directed
his Justiciary, John Wogan, to take possession of them. In 1816
Edward II, by letters patent, declared that he had granted to
John FitzThomas the castle and town of Kildare, with its appur-
tenances, under the title of Earl of Kildare, and set him over it
as Earl thereof.
I have seen it stated that Kildare was given to John Fitz-
Thomas for his services to the English Crown during Bruce's
invasion of Ireland (1814 to 1816). Indeed, historians are not
at all agreed as to how OflFaly, the territory of the O'Connors, and
later of the De Berminghams, came into the possession of the
FitzGeralds. Offaly, so called from Bossa Failghe, eldest son of
Gathair Mor, supreme King of Ireland in the beginning of the
second century, included originally the present baronies of East
KILDARE: ITS HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES. 297
and West Offaly in Go. Eildare, those of Portnahinch and Tinne-
hinch in Qaeen's Co., and the portion of the King's Go. comprised
in the diocese of Eildare i^nd Leighlin.
Offelan incladed the baronies of Glane, Salt, and the greater
part of the baronies of Ikeathy and Ochteranney. The tribe
Offelan took later the name of O'Brain (O'Byrne), and after the
conquest were driven into the hills.
The Monastery of Eildare, being so near the seaboard, was
one of the first places attacked by the Danes. In 885 the
Oratory of Eildare was plundered by the foreigners of Inver De
(probably Wicklow). In 836 a Danish fleet arrived in the
Liffey ; and those who came on it destroyed Eildare by fire and
sword, and took away the shrines of St. Bridget and
St.Gonlaeth. Again in 848 it was plundered by the foreigners, and
in 888, 887, 895, 915, 916, 924, 926, 927, 928, 940, 962, 977,
981, 998. Some of the Irish chiefs, who seem to have learned the
lesson from the Danes, ravaged it too. Then, in 835, Teedleneedh,
Eing of Gashel, seized Forame, Abbot of Armagh, and all the
congregation of Patrick there. In 927 it was plundered by the
Danes of Dublin under Godfrey. And in 1155 the Abbess
of Eildare was forcibly taken from her cloister by Dermot
McMorrough, and compelled to marry one of her people, at whose
taking he killed 170 of the townsmen and house.
We read also that Eildare was burned several times. The
buildings being then usually of wood, fell easily; but they
were at least as readily re-erected.
Lists of the Abbots and Abbesses of Eildare, many of them
honoured publicly as saints, will be found in Dr. Gomerford's
history of the diocese.
Th2 Gastle.
It may have been built by William de Vesci. It was handed
over to John FitzThomas, with the lands about it, by John
Wogan, the Justiciary, in 1816. In 1310 William de Wellesley
was Gonstable. In the early part of the seventeenth century it
was a place of refuge for priests fleeing from persecution. They
always found protection there from the Gountess of Eildare,
Elizabeth, daughter of Lord Delvin, wife of Gerald, fourteenth
Earl of Eildare. In the war of 1641 it was taken by the
Gonfederates and Parliamentarians; and in February, 1650,
when Golonel Hewson was ordered to march from Dublin and
join him before Eilkenny, he took Eildare on his way. He
writes to the Speaker of the Parliament of England from Bally-
sonan, 8rd of March, 1650 : " After I had surprised the strong
298
KILDARE: ITS HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES.
fort upon the Bog of Allen and taken Castlemartin, and placing
a garrison therein, I marched with a party of 1,000 horse
and foot into the Island of Allen, and surrounded Kilmaog
therein ; hut, finding it not feasible to storm without guns, I
marched to Bathbride and Ponser*s Grange, and took them, and
placed two strong garrisons there, which did give me good
footing in the Co. Kildare. Then sent a party and took Kildare,
Hertwell, and CoUingstown/*
Then he goes on to describe the siege of Ballysonan. A copy
of a contemporaneous print will be found in the first volume
of the Kilkenny Archaeological Society's Journal. Lord Edward
FitzGerald and his wife Pamela lived here for some time.
The Carmblitb Convent at Kildare in 1790.
Drawn by Austin Cooper.
The Carmelite Convent was founded for Carmelite monks
in 1260 by William de Vesey.
One of the monks of this convent was David O'Bugey, who,
says Ware, " became eminent for an uncommon share of
learning, first at Oxford, and afterwards at Treves, in Germany.
KILDARE : ITS HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES. • 299
He was Provincial of his Order, and held chapters of the Order
at Ardee and Dublin. He was a philosopher, rhetorician, and
divine, and the most learned in all that country in both civil and
canon law» and as such was by many called the lamp, the
mirror, and the ornament of all the Irish nation. So Bale
out of John Bloxam's 'Epistles.' And Stanihurst, in bis
'Description of Ireland,' says 'that the nobility and states
in causes of weight would have recourse to him as to an oracle ;
that he was in. philosophy an Aristotle, in eloquence a TuUy,
in divinity an Augustin, and in canon law a Panormitan.
He wrote (1) ' Sermones ad Glerum,' (2) ' Epistolas 12
ad diversos,' (8) ' Propositiones disputates/ (4) ' Lectiones
Trarrenses,' (5) * Regulas quasdam Juris,' (6) * Intra Gerardum
Bonomensem,' and (7) ' Commentarios in Biblia Sacra.' He
lived in 1320, and afterwards died at a very advanced age at
Kildare, in the monastery of his Order, and was buried there."
Ralph Kelly later. Archbishop of Gashel from 1845 to 1861,
learned in Kildare a knowledge of the Latin tongue, and profited
in it so well that he was sent to Pope Clement YI as advocate
of his whole Order. At the dissolution of the monastery the
house was sold for £1, It included then a church and belfry, a
dormitory, hall, and two chambers, a messuage, a garden, and a
close of one acre.
There are certain figures here which are said to have been
brought from the Grey Abbey, to preserve them.
1. The upper portion of a figure under a Gothic canopy, with
a double or archiepiscopal cross.
2. Figure of our Lord crowned with thorns, with words
** Ecce Homo ^' at the side of the head, also under canopy.
3. The Crucifixion, On one side the B.V. On the other
St. John. Glories at their heads.
The Franciscan Convent, called at times the Grey Abbey,
was founded in 1260 by William de Vesci. The building was
completed by Gerald Fitzmaurice, first Lord Offaley.
A famous monk of this monastery was Brother Michael,
surnamed of Kildare, who lived about 1808. I cannot give you
any details about him, for neither Ware, in his " Writers," nor
O'Reilly makes mention of him. We have two works of his
extant, a satirical poem against the secular clergy, a small part
of which is given in facsimile in Mr. Gilbert's *' Facsimiles of
Irish National MSS.^' The original is in the British Museum.
Another work of his is '' De Factura Novae Yillae de Ross
Ponte,'' or the Welding of New Ross, the object being to pre-
serve the town and its contents from " the gi'eedy snatching of
the Irish enemies." Holinshed tells how this building was
300 KILDARE: ITS HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES.
brought about : — " One of the Irish came to the town, and
spying a piece of cloth on a merchant's stall, he and the
merchant stood dodging one with the other in cheapening the
ware ; the horseman made wise as though he would have drawn
to his purse to defray the money. The cloth in the meantime
being tucked up and placed before him, he gave spurs to his
horse and ranne away with it. The townsmen being pinched at
the heart that the rascal should in such scornful wise give them
the stampaigne, not so much weighing the slendemess of the
loss as the shamefulness of the foyle, put their heads together
and built the wall.'^
^-..--..v
^/ y:K: /,f..' r/GrcyAbbey , Kttfi^rv.
Thb Franciscan Adbby at Kildarb in X784.
Drawn by Austin Cooper.
It has been translated by L. £. L. (Letitia Landon), Mi*s.
MacLean, and it is given in Grofton Croker's ^^ Songs of
Ireland":—
** I have a whim to speak in verse,
If you will list what I reheiirse ;
For an unheeded talc, I wisse,
Not worth a clove of garlic is.
KILDARE: ITS HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES. 30I
Candlemas it was the day
They began to delve in clay,
Marking out afore to shew
Where the future wall should go.
Soon was traced, and there were hired
Workmen ; all the task desired.
Yet small advance these fellows made,
Though to labour they were paid.
So the council met again.
Such a law as they })assed then —
Vintners, drapers, merchants all
Were to labour at the wall
From the early morning time
Till the day was in its prime.
More than a thousand men, I say,
Went to the goodly work each day.
Monday they began their labours,
Gay with banners, flutes, and tambours.
The youths advanced in turn
With their banners proudly borne ;
And the priests, when Mass was chaute<l,
In the fo88 they dug and panted.
Tuesday came — coatmakers, tailors,
Fullers, cloth-dyers, and idlers,
Wednesday other hands down came.
Thursday came the fishermen.
And the hucksters followed them.
But on Saturday the stir
Of blacksmith, mason, carpenter.
Then on Sunday there came down
All the dames of that brave town.
On the rami^rts there were thrown
By their fair hands many a stone ;
Who had there a gazer been
Many a beiiuty might have seen,
Many a sau'let mantle too,
Or of green or russet hue.
When their gentle hands had done
Piling up the heaps of stone,
Then they walked the foss along.
Then they said a gate they'd make
Called the Ladies' for their sake." '
The following Earls were, I find, buried in the Franciscan
Convent of Eildare : —
1. Gerald, third Lord Offtily, who died at Rathmore in 1286.
2. John, first Earl of Kildare, who died at Laraghbryan in
1816.
8. Thomas, the second Earl, who died at Maynooth in 1328.
4. Richard, the third Earl, who died at Ratbangan in 1899.
' The original, in Norman-French, is in the British Museum.
302 KILDARE: ITS HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES.
5. Gerald, the. fifth Earl, who died in 1410.
6. Gerald, the elevekith Earl, who died at London in 1688.
7. Henry, the twelfth Earl, who died, at Drogheda in 1597.
8. Gerald, the fourteenth Earl, who died in 1611.
9. Gerald, the fifteenth Earl, who died at Maynooth in 1C20.
Henry, the last of the Earls of Eildare, who was buried in
the Franciscan Abbey.
Here, too, was buried in 1859 the Lady Joan de Burgh,
Countess of Kildare, and wife of Thomas FitzJohn, second
Earl of Kildare, and mother of Richard, the third Earl.
In 1808 Lord Peter de Benningham was buried here. One
writer says he was a victorious leader against the Irish, and
Holinshed speaks of him as " one that hath been no small
scourge to the Irish."
In 1810 a Provincial Chapter of the Order was held here.
In 1885 Friar Andrew Leynagh, guardian of this house of Friars
Minors at Eildare, was sent as the King's ambassador to the
islands of Scotland to treat with John Lord of the Isles about
various matters concerning his estate.
At the dissolution of the monasteries this house was given
to David Sutton, at an annual rent of 2s. 8d.
A plate at p. 88, vol. ii, of *' Grose's Antiquities " gives a
north-east view of the Grey Abbey very much as it is now ; wnd
the following epitaph on a gravestone in the churchyard : —
'* Here lies Jean Hay,
Who, night and day,
Was honest, good, and just.
Her hope and love
Was tinn above.
In which place was her trust.
Her spirit left her terrene part
With joy to God, where was her heai-t.
On the 4th day of January, 1706-7."
There is another print at page 25 of the first vol. of Grose,
said to be of the Grey Abbey ; but in reality it is a print of the
cathedral, the view being taken from the south side.
BiB^op Wellebj^ey's Effigy, 1639, at Great Connell Abbey,
^
Thb Ruins of Great Conneli. Ahuey in 1781.
Drawn by Austin Cooper.
GREAT CONNELL ABBEY, CO. KILDARE.
By lord WALTER FITZGERALD.
THE remains of this Abbey are situated 1^ mile to the north
of the town of Newbridge. According to Dr. Joyce the
name means " a habitation/' and was often applied to an
ecclesiastical establishment. The present name is an anglicized
form of the Irish word " Congalaith," or " Congbhail," which
in other parts of Ireland appears now as Conwal.
The Conneli district is now split np into several townlands ;
and amongst others may be mentioned Gonnellmore, Great
Conneli, Little Conneli, and Old Conneli, at which latter place
is an ancient churchyard, lying close to a finely preserved moat,
or pagan tumulus.
After the suppression of the O'Byme Sept, in whose territory
Conneli lay, the first Norman proprietor of the place was
Meiler FitzHenry, who was so named from his father having
been the illegitimate son of King Henry I of England ; he
GREAT CON NELL ABBEY, CO. KILDARE. 305
was short in stature, of dark complexion, with black eyes, and
remarkable for his impetuous but unreasoning military ardour/
Hugh De Lacy, the King's Viceroy in Ireland, had given him
Ardnurcher, in Meath, and from Strongbow he received Kildare,
with adjacent lands, which he subsequently exchanged for Leix
(a territory now comprising most of the Queen's County),
where a castle was erected for him at Timahoe by Hugh De
Lacy, his wife's unde.^ Through his grandmother, Nesta^
daughter of Rhys ap Gruffydh ap Tudor Mawr, Prince of
Southern Wales, mistress of Henry I, and afterwards wife of
Gerald Fitz Walter, Constable of Pembroke Castle, whose son
was Maurice FitzGerald (to whom Maynooth was granted by
Strongbow), Meiler FitzHenry and the latter were closely
related. After having been Viceroy of Ireland twice (from 1199
to 1203, and from 1204 to 1208), Meyler died in the year 1220,
and his body was buried in the Chapter House of Council, a
Monastery which he had founded in the year 1202, under the
invocation of the Blessed Virgin and St. David, and which he
had filled with Regular Canons from the Monastery of Llanthony,
in Monmouthshire. According to the Historian, Dr. Hanmer,
who compiled his " Chronicles of Ireland" in the year 1571, the
following inscription was cut on his tomb : —
'' Conduntur tumulo Meylcri nobilis ossa,
Indomitus domitor totius gentis Hibemiae."
That is—
'* Entombed are the bones of him they noble Meyler call,
Who was the tameless tamer of the Irish nation all.''
A year after the foundation of Great Connell Abbey, " The
Annals of the Four Masters" state that (in 1203) ''Faelan mac
Faelan/ Lord of Hy Faelain, died in the Monastery of Conga-
lath." In a note to this entry, Dr. O'Donovan remarks that it
is strange that the chief of the O'Byrnes should die in this
Monastery a year after its erection, and concludes that, after the
subjugation of his Sept, he consented to become a Monk in the
great Abbey erected in his territory by the Norman Knight.
In 1220 William Mareschal gi*anted a charter to this Priory,
and died the same year.
In 1252 Thomas, Prior of Conall, ^as chosen by the
Chapter, on the 22nd of April, Bishop of Leighlin. He died on
the 25th of April, 1275. At the present time there is lying
* Vide Giraldus Cambrensis. ' Gilbert's '* Irish Viceroys," p. 58.
*For an account of the Offelan district, see vol. i, p. 164, of the
Journal,
Portion of a Bishop's Effigy, in the Relioben Churchyard,
?«EAR Great Connell Abbey.
GREAT CONNELL ABBEV, CO. KILDARE. 307
near the mearing ditch on the west side of '' the Beliceen "
churchyard (which is opposite to the entrance gate of (^onnell-
more House, and a few perches to the east of Great Connell
Abbey) the Effigy of a Bishop. It is not improbable that this
may be the Thomas in question. The Effigy occupies the full
breadth of the stone, leaving no space for an inscription ; the
lower end is broken off and lost, and the remaining portion is
broken in two across the neck. The head reclines under a
canopy ornamented on the right front side with oak leaves and
acorns, and on the other with trefoils ; on either side of the
head is an angel bearing in both hands an incense-burner (like
the Bishop's Effigy in Kildare Cathedral) ; the sides of the
canopy are ornamented with a large, handsome foliage design.
The left hand holds a fleur-de-lys-headed crozier, and the right
rests on the chest in the benediction-giving posture. The
temporary platform on which the Effigy rests is partly built up
h.J-^^
with a slab, bearing an eight-armed floreated cross cut in low
relief. This, the Bishop's Effigy, and two portions of an altar
tomb (apparently belonging to the Wellesley Monument at Great
Connell Abbey), were probably brought here from the Abbey.
In 1880 this Priory was included in the number of Religious
Houses into which, by the Act of Richard II, it was forbidden
to admit any native Irishmen to profession. In 1324, Dean
Butler writes, Edward II complained to the Pope that the
Irish refused to admit Englishmen into their Monasteries;
and in 1837 Edward III says that his father had ordered that
no Irishmen should be admitted into any English Monastery,
but had afterwards revoked the order, and he now orders that
all loyal Irish be admitted in the same way as Englishmen.
In the famous Parliament of Kilkenny in 1366, the exclusion
of Irishmen from English Monasteries was again enacted ; and
in 1880 a writ was sent, among others, to the Abbots of Bal-
tinglass and Dowysk (now Graigue-na-managh) and the Priors
of Conall that the above order was to be strictly adhered to.^
* V'xdt thu Most Rov. Dr. Coiuerford's ** Dioceses of Kildare and Leighlin."
308 GREAT CONNELL ABBEY, CO. KILDARE.
In 1895 a Patent Boll, dated the 26th of May, mentions
Bobert Greves as Prior of the Abbey " Beatas Mariae de Gonale."
In 1406 the Prior of Connell is recorded in " Marlborough's
Chronicles ' as having " fought valiantly and vanquished 200 of
the Irish that were well armed, slaying some of them and
chasing others; and the Pryor had not with him but twenty
Englishmen." This occurred on the Gurragh.
In 1412 Philip Stoyll was elected Prior, and continued so
till 1418. (King and Ware.)
" The Annals of the Four Masters," under the year 1447,
record that —
" In the summer and autumn of this year there raged a great Plague,
of which the Prior of Bally boggan (Co. Meath), the Prior of Connala (i.e.
Great Connell), and a great number of others in M eath, Leinster, and
Munster, died."
This Plague, according to Duald Mac Firbis, followed a
terrible famine which took place in the previous spring.
In 1458 an enrolment of the thirty-sixth year of Henry VI*s
reign describes this Priory as entirely wasted by the Irish enemy,
and grants to the Prior the rectory and towns of Morristown and
Ladytown.
In 1476 this Priory was in a decree styled " one of the prin-
cipal keys of the County of Kildare ; *' and it sets forth that
several grants of the late Abbot to various of the Irishry had
impoverished the Priory. " These,'* it goes on to say, "con-
sidering the good, true heart of Esmond, the new Prior," are
accordingly made void, with the proviso that that act was not to
prejudice any man of the English nation.
In 1486 a Nicholas was Prior ; he was amongst those who
took part with Lambert Simnel, the false claimant to the throne.
Two years later he received the royal pardon.
In 1519 Walter Wellesley was Prior, and at this time the
King endeavoured unsuccessfully to have him promoted to the
See of Limerick ; in the following year the Earl of Surrey
recommended him for the See of Cork ; but the appointment did
not take place. In 1529 he was promoted to the Bishopric of
Kildare, still retaining by dispensation his Priory, which he con-
tinued to hold up to the period of his death. He was for some
time Master of the Rolls. The Act of Parliament in 1537,
which confiscated the Abbeys of the Pale, did not touch Con-
nell ; Bishop Wellesley, still Prior, by his influence warded off
the blow. Later on he wrote from Conall to the Duke of
Norfolk, on the 15th May, 1589, by the bearer, Canon Nimeas of
Conall, begging for the protection of his monastery, which he
now hears is to be suppressed after all. He goes on to say that
GREAT CONNELL ABBEY, CO. KILDARE. 309
^' the liberty which you obtained from the King for the Honse of
Conally when I was last with you in England, almost caused my
death, for when the Earl/ being at Gonall, in the hall at table
at which no fewer than 800 persons were seated, heard of that
liberty, he went into a great rage, and drew out a long Irish
knife, so that I could with difficulty escape from him, and as
long as he lived I durst not speak of it." ^ Again, nine days
later, the Bishop wrote to Thomas Cromwell, the Lord Privy
Seal, when he says : '' You will receive by the bearer, one of
the brethren of the Monastery of our Lady at Gonnall (which
Monastery the King made in commendam to my Bishopric of
Kildare) an hobby' of this land's breeding." He goes on to
beg him to use his influence for the protection of his posses-
sions here, '' which wholly lie in the wild Irish amongst the
King's rank rebellers ; and rather for that the said Monastery
is of foundation of the noble Meyler FitzHenry, son of King
Henry II, so that no brother is elected unless he be of a very
English nation, in consideration whereof the wild Irish rebellers
do daily do their utmost to impoverish the said Monastery.'' ^
On the receipt of the order for suppressing all the Monas-
teries and Abbeys in Ireland, the Lord Deputy (Lord Leonard
Gray) and the Council petitioned the King from Dublin on
the 21st of May, 1539, that—
*' Six houses should stand and continue, changing their clothing and
rule into suche sorte and ordre, as the King's grace shall will them :
which six houses are named — Saint Marie Abbey, adjoyning to Dublin, a
house of White Monks ; Christes Churche, a house of Chanons situate in
the middis of the Citie of Dublin ; The Nunrie of Grace Dieu, in the
Countie of Dublin ; Conrudl, in the Countie of Kildare ; and Kenlys
(Kells) and Grerepont in the Countie of Kilkenny. For in those houses
commenly, and other such like, in defaute of comen innes, which are not
in this land, the Kinge's Deputie, and all other his Grace's Counsaell and
Officers, also Irishmen, and others resorting to the Kinge's Deputie in
ther quarters, is and hath bene most comenlie loged at the costes of the
said houses. Also in them yonge men and childer, both gentlemen
childer and others, both man kynd and women kynd, be brought up in
vertue, lernyng, and in the English tongue and behavior, to the grete
charges of the said houses ; that is to say, the women k^Tid of the hole
Englishrie of this land, for the more part, in the said Nunrie and tlie
nmn kynd in the other said houses. Also at every hosting, rode, and
jomey, the said houses on ther propre costes fyndethe as many men of
warr, as they are apoynted by the Kinge's Deputie and Counsaill for the
same. And if they were suppressed the profite of them should scarslie
fynd so many men of waiT, according to the rate of the Kinge's wages, as
they now standing do fynde and hathe found ; over and besides the
* Not named. * Brewer's ** Calendar of State Papers, Ire."
^ I.e., horse. * Brewer's ** Calendfir of St*ite Papers, Ire."
310 (IREAT CONNELL ABHEY, CO. KILDARE.
yerelie payment both of subsidie, also the twentieth parte of ther smale
revenue, withe also ther first frutes at every change of hede rulers." *
In spite of this recommendation, this Monastery was sap-
pressed two years afterwards.
Bishop Wellesley's death took place in the year 1539, and
he was buried in his Monastery of Connell. His monument
took the form of an altar tomb, the sides of which are now badly
shattered, and many pieces are missing. On the covering slab
of the tomb lies the EfiSgy of the Bishop, well and boldly cat.
A Latin inscription, incised and in the black letter, runs down
the two longer sides ; it commences near the left side of the
bishop's head, and is continued from the top of the opposite
side downwards ; the date was never finished : the sculptor had
completed the M and one C ; then follow the outlines of two
other Cs ; and so it remains. The head of the Effigy rests under
a canopy, which is supported on either side by an angel, each
holding a shield bearing the Bishop's coat of arms, viz. — "Argent,
on a cross sable, five escallops of the first." The feet rest on* a
bracket, ornamented with a foliage design, and near the left foot
are two paws of some animal that is now chipped ofi*.
The inscription (which has the usual contractions, and is in
one or two places deficient of letters, owing to breaks in the
stone), when perfect, ran as follows : —
** Hie jacet frater Walterus Wellysley quondam episcopus Darensis ac
hujus douius Coineiulatiirius, cnjus animie propitietur Deus, Qui obiit
Anno Domini MCCC (ccxxxix)."
That is—
** Here lies Friar Walter Wellysley, formerly Bishop of Kildare and
Commendatory Prior of this House, on whose soul may GikI have mercy,
who died in the year of the I^ord 1539."
» " State Papers of Henry VIII, Ire.," vol. iii. p. 130.
GREAT CONNELL ABBEY, CO. KILDARE. 3II
The length of the slab is 6 feet 3 inches, and the breadth
8 feet 2 inches ; the material is limestone. Its present position
is on the left-hand side of the entrance gate to the burial-
ground ; other portions of the tomb are also built over and on
the other side of the gateway. The panel over the gate
represents the Crucifixion, with the Virgin Mary on our Lord's
right, and St. John on the left. Another large panel contains
the '' £cce Homo ; " our Lord, clothed in the purple robe and
crown of thorns, is shown seated, bound hand and foot, with a
hammer, pincers, and rope near him. Below the '' Ecce Homo "
a double panel is built into the wall, measuring 27^ inches in
height ; it contains two niches of different shapes, both elabo-
rately ornamented with birds and floral devices. In one niche
is a Bishop, and at his feet a toad and a snake, representing
St. Patrick ; in the other is a saint, holding in both hands a
chalice, representing St. John.
Small portions of other panels are built here and there into
the gateway on the inside and outside, and another piece is
serving as a headstone to a modern grave half-way down the
burial-ground ; while in the neighbouring burial-ground, called
" the Reliceen,"^ built into a low wall, are two portions of panels,
probably belonging to this tomb, as one bears a shield with the
Bishop's arms (described above), and the other represents a
saint with a battle-axe in his right hand, and a long carpenter's
saw in his left, the usual emblems of the brothers St. Simon and
St. Jude.
In the possession of Dr. J. M. Neale, of Newington House,
near Feighcullen, five miles off as the crow flies, is a panel
belonging to the Wellesley monument, which was several years
ago carried off, and is now used as an ornament in the garden.
In this case the panel contains a saint representing St. James
the Less, as the figure holds a long club.
' It is more than likely that other portions of this tomb are
scattered about the neighbourhood.
On the 28rd of April, 1541, Robert Wesley, the last Prior
of Connell, surrendered his Monastery to the Crown. "^ This
he did " voluntarily and with the consent of the commu-
nity,*' as the phrase ran ; because when the surrender was
voluntary, the Prior and the Friars could come to terms, and
get pensions; if they resisted, they were forcibly evicted;
consequently almost all the surrenders of the Monasteries in
Ireland were, so called, voluntary. Robert Wesley's yearly
pension was £18 6s. 8d.
* A Belick means a burial-ground, and ** reliceen," or ** religeen," is
a diminutive of it.
' Morrin's ** CalencUr of Patent and Close Rolls, Ireland."
312 GREAT CON NELL ABBEV, CO. KlLDARE.
The Priory and its possessions were now leased to Gerald
Satton, who is styled of Castleton of Kildronght, now Castle-
town beside Celbridge. On Angast the 16th, 1541, his name
appears as one of the arbitrators in a quarrel between Brian
O'Connor of Offaly, chief of his nation, and his brother Cahir.
The arbitrators' names in this case are given as — Sir William
Birmingham, Baron of Carbury, David Sutton of Connall,
Co. Eildare, Gent., James FitzGerald of Osberstown in the same
County, Gent., and Richard McKenegan.^
In 1551 a lease in reversion for twenty-one years was made
to Edward Bandolfe^ of the demesne and possessions of the
Abbey of Connall, then in the possession of Gerald Sutton.^ Ten
years later the Queen wrote to the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland
ordering a new grant of a lease in reversion for twenty-one
years to be made out for Edward Bandolfe,' who appears to
have been a colonel in the English army in Ireland at this
time.
About the year 1567 Sir Edmond Butler, Knt., of Clo-
grennan, obtained a lease for six years, to commence on the
expiration of Edward Bandolfe's lease, of this Abbey and its
possessions. He afterwards conveyed the same to Sir Nicholas
White of Leixlip, Master of the Bolls, who surrendered them
to the Crown, and was, in 1579, regranted them during his
interest therein. Ten years later the Privy Council recom-
mended to the Queen that Sir Nicholas should be granted the
fee-farm of the Priory of Connall, with other lands in the county,
as he had civilized the country thereabouts by his residence ;
and, they said, it was he who had caused Teige mac Gillapatrick
O'Connor and Connor mac Cormac O'Connor to do battle in the
inner court of Dublin Castle on the 12th of September, 1583,
whereby the former was slain.^ This was in consequence of
each accusing the other of treason. The historian Hooker
remarks ''that the combat was fought with such valour and
resolution on both sides (with sword and target) that the
spectators wished that it had fallen on the whole Sept of the
O'Connors than on those two gentlemen."*
According to an Inquisition taken at Kilmainham on the
20th December, 1606, the possessions of this Abbey in the Co.
Kildare were the townlands of Connall, Ballymone, Clonyngs,
Lowiston, Old Connall, Walsheston, Oldtown, Eildare, Bosberie,
Skavelston, Moreton, Bichardston, Ballisax, KilcuUen, Grange-
* Brewer's ** Calendar of State Papers, Ireland."
* Morrin's '* Calendars." * Hamilton's " Calendar."
* Hamilton's '* Calendar."
* Vide O'Connor-Morris's "Dublin Castle," p. 18.
GREAT CON NELL ABBEV, CO. KILDAKE. 313
clare, Roberteston, Ardkill, and Collenston ; the churches,
rectories^ chapels, and tithes of Roseberie, Skavelston, and
Moreton, Ricbardston, Cornelscourt, Ratheines, Kilmaege, Con-
nail, Ladiston, Lowthston, Harberston, Dowdingston, Bowdens-
ton, Carnalway, Eildingan, Lackagh, Bala^ Dubeston in the
parish of Kilhelam, Fecullen, Old Connall, Barreston, Morreston,
Biller, Kilrine, and Carbry, all in the County Kildare ; besides
large possessions in the Qaeen's County.
On the 14th of May, 1781, Austin Cooper, the antiquary,
visited these ruins, and drew a sketch of the then existing
remains ; he describes their condition in these words : —
"The Abbey of Great Conncll is so decayed that scarcely any descrip-
tive account can be given of its remaining ruins. One part, which I
Huppose to be both nave and choir, but between which no distinct seiwira-
tion can be made, measures about 200 feet long and 25 feet broad, in part
whereof are two entire Gothic windows, the only ones which have resisted
the ravages of time, &c,
" There are very extensive ruins adjoining, in which are some pillars,
&<:., with curious capitals. In the choir are the remains of some stalls,
»nd buried among the ruins is the tomb of a bishop (I suppose Wellesley)
in relievo, in his robes, with a canopy over his head ; it is broke across
the neck, and the lower part is scarcely to be seen.
"There's likewise here a large house with a mill, &c., in a decayed
state ; a parish church,' lately built and not finished ; and on an adjoin-
ing hill, a small H(iuare house, with pediment fronts, seemingly a turret
belonging to the Abbey.
"On the opix)site side of the high road is Old Connell, remarkable
only for a large circular mount, encom|jassed with a ditch."
The late Most Rev. Dr. Comerford, in his '' Dioceses of Eildare
and Leighlin " (from which I have made several extracts in this
Paper), at the end of his account of Great Connell, mentions
that nearly all the remains described by Austin Cooper were
thrown down at the beginning of the century, and the materials
used in the erection of the military barracks at Newbridge, and
at the same time the Castle of the Sarsfields at Rosbery, in this
parish, was also demolished.
Some distance away to the south-east of the ruins is a Holy
Well dedicated to St. Augustine, which name it probably derives
from the great doctor and Bishop of Hippo, to whom the fathers
who occupied this monastery trace their origin. In former times
this well was resorted to for cures — a practice to a certain
extent still existing. I have been told that some forty or fifty
years ago the proprietor of Connellmore, to prevent the people
from using this well, built a wall round it ; thereupon, right
beside the kitchen fire in his house, a flow of water sprang up^
' At the Reliceen.
314
GREAT CONNELL ABBEY, CO. KILDARE.
causing great inconveniencey and this lasted until the Holy Well
was again made free to the public.
The barracks of Newbridge, I have since heard, were not the
only buildings erected out of the material taken from the ruins
of the Abbey, as some thirty years ago a Colonel Grey, then
tenant of the place, rebuilt the old residence of the Powells, and
largely used stones drawn from the Abbey buildings, which were
thrown down for the purpose. In consequence, it is said, no
tenant of Connellmore remains for any length of time there.
Hisnor Wlllesley's Coat ok Arms
On a stone in the Rclicccn churchyard.
315 )
ANCIENT N A AS: OUTPOSTS AND LONGSTONES.
By T. J. DE BURGH, D.L.
Introduction.
IN my former articles on Ancient Naas I have refeiTed to the
castles, raths, walls^ &c., which formed the actual defences
of the town. Many of these have entirely disappeared, and of
the rest bat little remains to remind us that Naas in olden
times was one of the most formidable strongholds of Leinster,
and the scene of numerous sieges, battles, cruel outrages, and
sanguinary reprisals. During the sixteenth century it was the
main defence of the south-western frontier of the Pale, which
extended from old Kilcullen on the west, by Rathmore, Rath-
coole, and Tallaght, to the sea at Dalkey.
Lines of Outposts.
But we may probably go back to a much earlier period if we
wish to trace the origin of the line of castles and raths which,
commanding practically every southern slope from Old Kilcullen
to Fumess Hill, form a continuous line of military outposts,
erected apparently to guard the fortified towns, such as Bally-
sonnau and Naas, from sudden inroads of an enemy advancing
from the southward. Between Ballyshannon and Killashee
there were to be seen, 100 years ago, and probably are now,
remains of at least four castles and fourteen raths, besides the
small artificial mounds which may have been used for outlying
pickets, and the positions where the formation of the ground
made an artificial structure unnecessary. From Rathaskcr to
Furness Hill we can see to this day the remains of at least six
castles (Rathasker, Killashee, MuUacash, Black Hall, Athgarrett,
and Haynestown), and at least ten raths (two near the Watch
House cross-roads, two at Punchestown, one each at Blackball,
Tipper, Athgarrett, Wolfestown, Rathmore, and Furness).
Thus we have, on a line some nine miles in length, at least
thiity-four fairly defensible positions, and probably a careful
search would reveal many more.
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ANCIENT NAAS: OUTPOSTS AND LONGSTONES. 317
Desceiption of Castles.
Little remains of any of the above-mentioned castles ; but that
little shows that they were solidly built of stone and mortar,
with walls 8 to 4 feet thick, and well provided with loopholes.
Blackball Castle, which was formerly inhabited, I hear, by a
family named Behan, has its west end still standing some 80 feet
high, and some care has evidently been taken to preserve what
remains of it ; but most of the ancient fortresses appear to have
been demolished, and their material used for building farm-
houses.
Close to the eastern Punchestown rath are to be seen the
ruins of what is now called Punchestown House or Castle,
formerly the property of a Lord Alen, probably the then repre-
sentative of the family of Alens, who in 1685 received from
James II a grant of the manor of Typer, or Allenswood, which
included Haynestown, Pouthestown (Punchestown), Rathmore,
Craddockstown, &c. Most of these lands had been previously
(in 1540), by Patent Roll, conveyed from Sir Thomas Rawson,
Knight, Prior of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, to the
Alens, '* because,'' as was stated, ** the said preceptory was
situated in the marshes near the Irish enemies, the Tholes^
where resistance and defence are necessarily required."
A Rawson appears to have lived there as late as 1798, accord-
ing to local tradition ; for I am informed that at that time one
Rawson was shot at, but not killed, at the spot where the gate
leading on to the race-course now stands.
The sites of the old fishponds are still visible, and seem to
indicate that it was at one time in the possession of some
religious order.
Raths.
The raths are all much the same form — circular earthen
forts, varying from 30 to 350 yards interior diameter, according
to the nature of the ground, and surrounded by one or two lines
of ramparts separated by deep ditches. The object of such a
formation as the latter seems to have been to enable the defenders
of the outer rampart, when driven in by assault, to retire along
the ditch and enter the enceinte by the rear.
It may be well here to note the difiTerence between a rath and
a moat — terms often confused. A rath was a fortification, and
had always a rampart; while a moat was a burial-place, and was
flat at the top.
The rath at Furness is the only one I know of in this
neighbourhood of which the inside of the rampart is revetted
3l8 ANCIENT NAAS: OUTPOSTS AND LONGSTONES.
with stonework. Some few raths are square, like the one at
Tipper.
The shape of the raths, and the fact that few of them have
any apparent entrance-way, would suggest that these structures
were not merely intended as posts of observation or stations for
outlying pickets in the modern sense of the word, whose duty
would be to fall back on their supports in case of attack; but that
they were meant to offer a serious resistance to an advancing
enemy, so as, if it were not possible to repulse them, to delay
them sufficiently to enable the main body to muster and form in
their rear.
For we must remember that, in dealing with the ancient
tuaths or clansj and septs or families, no military leader
could absolutely command the presence for any length of time of
the component parts of his army. Even the septs, and much
more so the tuaths, which were gatherings of septs, had separate
responsibilities and powers, and could at any time, although they
had agreed upon a war, withdraw without dishonour from a battle
from pique or any other reason.
These raths are, as a rule, erected on the brow of a hill, with
steep slopes to the front, and command a good stretch of gi-ound
before them. For example, take the raths on the slope to the
northward of Punchestown stand-house. They command the
valley in which lies the race-course, and on the opposite hills we
see what were, perhaps, the raths '^of the Irish enemy, the
O'Tooles," now called the " Eing," and the Danish rath, which
are evidently only erected to resist attack from the north-westward.
Who knows what sanguinary scenes this now peaceful valley may
have witnessed, horseshoe-shaped, and commanded, as it was,
on three sides by raths and castles from Mullacash, on the west
by Watch House, Punchestown, and round to the Danish fort
above Silliott Bog ?
Even now, without turning a sod, it would be no child's play
to dislodge a small and determined party from some of these
raths. Look at the ''Ring," once a circular, but now only a semi-
circular, entrenchment, thrown up on the summit of a commanding
eminence, about half an L*ish mile north-east of Silliott Bog. Its
diameter is about 800 yards, and it has but one rampart and ditch.
It slopes steeply towards the north-west. About a quarter mile to
its south-west can be seen the high rath known as the Danish
fort. It occupies a commanding position, and its north-western
slope is almost precipitous. It is eminently calculated for defence,
and there is nothing to impede a retreat into the hills beyond —
hills probably covered in ancient days with dense wood. Even
now, were modern troops called upon to defend Naas from an
ANCIENT NAAS: OUTPOSTS AND LONGSTONES. 319
enemy advancing from the south, they woald assaredly select for
their first line of defence much the same positions where the old
castles and raths, extending from MuUacash to Furness Hill, bear
silent witness to the troubles and warlike proclivities of "the good
old times/' when we worked on the simple plan, that " he might
take who had the power, and he might keep who can."
Such was the continual warfare between the various tribes
among themselves, occasionally varied by joint action against
a common enemy, that it is hopeless to try to assign these raths
to any particular epoch in our national history. Most of them
could, in case of necessity, be thrown up by 100 men in a
day with proper intrenching tools ; but does not their shape,
their position, the fact of their having, as a rule, no entrance,
exclude the supposition that they have been erected since the
days of even the rudest artillery? Nor would comparatively
modem history have been absolutely silent on the subject,
which, so far as I know, is the case, if they only dated from the
fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Some of these raths
may, of course, date from the first Norwegian invasion, about
795 A.D., or from that of the Danes in 851. Some historians
attribute the north moat in Naas, and what is now called the
Danish rath, to the Danes, who held Dublin even after the
Battle of Clontarf, in 1014, until the Norman invasion.
LONOSTONES.
A peculiar feature of the raised plateau, which is partly
defended by what we may call the four Punchestown raths, is
the presence of those extraordinary relics of antiquity known as
the longstones or menhirs. Two of these are close to the
Watch House, Beggar's End Road ; a third is on Mrs. Melia's
farm at Newtown ; and another in the centre of the iFurness
rath.
The more westerly longstone is 15 feet high, and leans
westward at an angle of 15 degrees from the perpendicular.
At 2 feet from the ground the circumference is 10 feet 9 inches ;
the east and west faces are roughly 8 feet 8 inches, and the
north and south faces 2 feet 4 inches broad at the same level. It
tapers to a diameter of about 18 inches at top, and has the
appearance of having had originally four smooth sides, of which
the angles have been worn off by the action of the weather.
The more easterly Punchestown stone, 720 yards nearly due
east of the other, is 18^ feet above ground, and leans eastward
at an angle of 85 degrees from the perpendicular. At 2 feet above
ground level the circumference is 10 feet 7^ inches; and its
320 ANCIENT NAAS : OUTPOSTS AND LONGSTONES.
horizontal section would be a rough oblong 8 feet by 2 feet
9 inches. It tapers to a diameter of 2 feet about 1 foot from the
top, where it has evidently been broken off.
Owing to the fact of similar seams of some conglomerate
running through each of these stones in the same plane and
bearing the same marks, one would think that they had both i
been originally cut from or broken off the one rock. However,
the material of which the seam is composed is harder than
and protrudes beyond the granite in the west stone^ while in
the east stone the contrary is the case.
What is known as the Newtown Cross is evidently also a
longstone, of which the top has in modern times been shaped
into a rough cross. It is much smaller in every way than the
Punch estown longstones. It is shown on the 1783 maps as a
longstone, and as a cross on the Ordnance Survey map of 1837.
The longstone in the centre of Furness rath bears a great |
resemblance to the East Punchestown stone, stands 17 feet |
above ground, and is of the same breadth at 2 feet above ground
level, but is in a vertical position. I
At Kilgowan, Mullamast, and Harristown are also to be seen
smaller gi*anite stones, varying from 6 to 8 feet in height. I
propose, however, to direct your attention chiefly to the four
largest which I have described.
Now, what are these longstones, as they are generally called,
and why are they found on positions both suited for determined
defence and actually defended by raths ? They are all of
practically similar dimensions, in similar upright positions, and
of ponderous weight. They must extend a long way down into
the ground in order to retain their positions. There is a local
tradition that a Lord Alen, after undermining the east stone to
a considerable depth, unsuccessfully endeavoured to drag it down
by yoking to it a team of seventeen oxen.
Lastly, why are they all of granite, a stone foreign to the
neighbourhood, and not, as I understand, to be found nearer than
the Ballyknocken quarries in Co. Wicklow ?
It seems to me that they must have been either of religious
origin, or landmarks, or commemorative monuments.
But I think the two latter hypotheses are incompatible with
ancient local history. Where we find these longstones there
was no boundary that we know of, nor do we read of territorial
magnates adjusting their mearings at the cost of drawing huge
rocks weighing scores of tons from far distant hills. Nor was
there at hand any lack of the materials of which the ordinary
Irish cairns were formed over the gi*aves of their heroes, that
the populace should be impelled to honour their memory in
such an unaccountable way.
ANCIENT NAAS: OUTPOSTS AND LONGSTONES. 32I
I think the most plausible explanation is that they were
drawn and erected there from religious motives — drawn by
crowds of natives over hill and dale, either on account of some
religious value attributed to the granite stones themselves, or
drawn from some spot, sacred in the eyes of the people, to
another, where their presence would act upon the popular mind,
and induce the natives to defend to the uttermost a line which
the religious and military leaders had selected for their main
and most effective stand before final retreat within their walled
towns. There is a local tradition to the effect that on this spot
a sanguinary battle was fought between the O'Bourkes and the
O'Connors, in which the chief of the latter was slain.
The combined military and religious theory is supported by
ancient Irish history. We read that Tuathal Techmar, King of
Ireland, after successfully concluding his campaign against his
treacherous son-in-law, Eochy, King of Leinster (whose palace
was at Naas), about 160 a.d., secured his power by building
raths and duns about this ever-coveted region, the fertile plains
between the Liffey and the Boyne. His policy was to form a
chain of communication by means of raths, and to erect his
duns in the religious centres of the natives, thus using their
religious system in order to secure their allegiance by holding
all their principal shrines in his power.
Whatever truth there may be in such explanations, certain
it is that an intimate association existed between the defensible
positions and the sites to which have been attributed a religious
character by ancient legends ; and it is unlikely that such an
association should in so many cases be purely accidental.
These megalithic or stone structures have been ascribed
to the Celts, and were supposed to have been erected by their
priests, the Druids ; but that theory can have but little weight
when we consider that the ethnographical range of the Celtic
races does not correspond with the geographical distribution of
these rude stone monuments. For there is nothing peculiar to
Ireland in these longstones. They are found in all megalithic
countries. There are over 1,600 in France, of which a full half,
including all the large ones, are in Brittany. I have seen the
largest of these, which is at Locmariaquer ; it is now broken,
but its length is 67 feet, and its greatest diameter 14 feet. It is,
like our menhirs, of granite, a stone foreign to the neighbour-
hood, and it weighs about 842 tons. It is, like our longstones,
in the shape of a rude but smooth-sided obelisk.
Everywhere we find similar relics of the megalithic age. In
the oldest civilization, in the historical works of the Bible, are
traces of monoliths, or unhewn pillars, as records of events,
322 ANCIENT NAAS : OUTPOSTS AND LONGSTONES.
monumental memorials, and landmarks. There is the Tanist
stone^ or kingly memorial, like that set up in Shechem at the
coronation of Abimelech ; the Hoar, or boundary stone, like the
stone of Bohan, son of Reuben ; then we read of the stone set
up as evidence of a treaty, like Laban and Jacob's pillar of
witness in Galeed.
Then there were also the sepulchral monuments, such as
cromlechs, cairns, and chambered barrows.
The megalithic art attained its highest excellence in Egypt,
where the monoliths, or menhirs, became obelisks ; the cairns,
pyramids ; and the stone circles, as seen at Stonehenge, Camac,
&c.y became colonnaded avenues and temples.
A menhir (from maen, a stone, and liiTf long), or longstone,
or monolith, is a pillar of unhewn stone raised on end. When
a number of them are arranged in lines, we haVe what is called
an alignment; when grouped so as to form an enclosure, we
have a cromlech. A dolmen is foimed by two or more monoliths
placed near each other and covered by a cup stone.
On the introduction of Christianity, many menhirs were
used, as in France, to support crosses. We see that the Newtown
longstone has been cut into a rude semblance of a cross.
Occasionally menhirs seemed to have been used as landmarks,
though that was apparently only a secondary object. Sometimes
they overtop a tumulus, like the Bauta, or battlestones, of
Scandinavia.
As for dolmens. Professor Wilson's researches show that
they are to be found all over Western Europe as far as Saxony.
They reappear in the Crimea and Circassia, and have been
traced through Central Asia to India, where they are widely
distributed. They are to be found in Palestine, Arabia, Persia,
Australia, the Penryhn Islands, Madagascar, and other places.
There are more than 200 of these dolmens in Liineburg,
Osnabriick, and Stade, and over fifty in the province of Drenthe, in
Holland. In France there are 3,410 dolmens, and many in Spain
and Portugal, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunis. Their primary object
was, without doubt, sepulchral, and many appear to have been
originally surmounted by tumuli of earth, which has, in the
course of ages, crumbled away, leaving the stone exposed. But to
what form of worship are we to attribute the longstones ? It has
been suggested that they were erected by the worshippers of
Baal ; and I believe that is their true origin. The Baal of the
Phoenicians, Syrians, Tyrians, &c., was worshipped as the male
principle of life, and was represented by obelisks and pillars ;
while Ashera, who was worshipped as the female principle
of nature, was represented by groves and trees. She was com-
ANCIENT NAAS : OUTPOSTS AND LONGSTONES. 323
bined with the purer deity Astarte in inach the same manner as
Venus, when a morning star, was worshipped as a pure deity,
and as an evening star had quite different attributes. Astarte
came later to be looked upon as the moon-goddess, the Queen of
Heaven, as Baal had formerly been worshipped as the sun-god,
the central principle of most pagan adoration, the deity that
engendered all the fruitfnlness of the earth.
Now, according to Irish legendary history, the first invaders
of Ireland came, as the PhoDuicians might have come, from the
Levant. Parthalon and his followers came from Greece. The
last of their race, after 800 years' rule in Ireland, are said to have
died of the plague at Tamlecht Parthalon, which is Tallaght,
near Dublin. Next came, we are told, the Nemedians, from
Scythia. Then the Fomorians, from Northern Africa. These
were ousted by the northern invaders, the Firbolgs, who, in
their turn, gave place to the Tuatha de Danaan. Then came the
Milesians or Scots.
Whatever we may choose to believe of those ancient legends,
we have little or nothing else to work on, and we cannot afford
to ignore them contemptuously when we find them so often
corroborated.
However much the ancient historian may have had to draw
upon his imagination to fill in his blanks in minor matters, his
credibility among his contemporaries must have depended on
the probability of his naiTative and on its derivation from what was
at the time accepted tradition handed down from generation to
generation. Authentic history does not go back further than
the Iron Age; but these megalithic structures are in all countries
attributed to the Stone period, ages and ages before. Truly, in
such contemplations, we may well get lost in what Shakespeare
calls the " dark backward and abysm of time.'* To us these
relics of a forgotten age are but puzzles for the antiquary,
objects to which we barely give a thought, and pass on on our
way ; but who can fathom the power of a devotion which placed
them where they are ? Who can tell what hold these venerable
stones had upon the minds and affections of the old-time
barbarians who lived in the gloomy forests and swamps of
ancient Ireland ? Who knows what ghastly rites, what horrid
orgies, what reckless heroism, what awful sacrifices, what
religious, if misguided, zeal they may have looked down upon '?
^ One of their chief claims to great antiquity rests, to my mind,
on the fact, that though for fourteen centuries since St. Patrick's
time, whose mission ended in 409 a.d., there have been some
kinds of historical records or traditions, no explanation of the
origin of these longstones has been given us, and therefore
we may assume that even then it was clouded in oblivion.
CC
( 324 )
Miscellanea.
St. Mo-chua of Celbridge.— On page 206, vol. ii, of the
Journal, the Bev. C. Graham suggests that a St. Mo-chua of Clon-
dalkin, County Dublin, was the saint to whom the original church
of Kildrought was dedicated (and Father Shearman, in his " Loca
Patriciana," expresses the same opinion) ; this idea is, I think,
proved from the following two sources: —
First. — There is the stone trough, dated 1783, bearing this
saint's name, at the pump in the street beside Celbridge MiU. It
possibly stands over the very ** Tober Mo-chua,** or St. Mo-chua's
Well, which was used by the saint for baptizing his converts, and
which the growth of the town has encroached upon.
Second. — There is an entry in a County Kildare Chancery
Inquisition, which was taken at Kilcock on the 22nd of October,
1604, which, when translated, states that : — " There is one mes-
suage (or farmstead) with a close, and two cottages with their closes,
and eighteen acres of land in the townland of Kildrought called
St Magho his land, which were granted in mortmain to the church
of Kildrought without licence from the Crown, and for that reason
they are now in the king's hands."
In the seventh century two famous saints named Mo-chua died : —
First. — One was the patron saint of Timahoe, in the Queen's
County (Tech Mo-chua, i.e., St. Mo-chua*s house or church), whose
festival was held on the 24th of December. He died in the
year 657. Lonan was his father, and Tineacht ny Loichin his
mother.
Second. — The other St. Mo-chua was of Clondalkin (i.e., Dolean's
meadow), in the County Dublin ; another name for him was Cronan.
His festival was on the 6th of August. His father's name was
Lughaidh, and his mother's Cainer of Clondasallagh.
To this latter St. Mo-chua the foundation of the Kildrought
church, now known as the Tea-lane Churchyard, is attributed. He
is also probably the patron saint of the County Kildare Timahoe,
which lies twelve English miles as the crow flies due west of Cel-
bridge. Father O'Hanlon, in the eighth volume of his •* Lives of
the Irish Saints," under the 6th of August, gives all that is known
of St. Mo-chua of Celbridge and Clondalkin.
W. FiTzG.
Knockpatrick.-— Knockpatrick (i.e., St. Patrick's hill) is the
name of a round-topped hill, 560 feet m height, which stands in the
County Kildare, two miles to the east of Castledermot. On the
summit is a burial-ground, still in use, in which all trace of the
ancient church building has disappeared. Among the graves is a
large sunken granite rock, on which are the impressions of two feet
(near which a plain cross has been carved), and a little further off a
MISCELLANEA. 325
small round boUow. According to the local tradition, these impres-
sions were caused by the feet and the butt of the staff of St. Patrick
when he stood and preached here to the natives on his way from
Meath to the district of Hy-Kinselagh ; it is said that no feet have
fitted these marks, though many people, big and small, have tried
them.
On the south side of, and close to, the churchyard is a well
dedicated to St. Patrick, and close to it again is a rath ; neither of
these interesting objects is marked on the Ordnance Sur\'ey maps
of the 6 in. scale.
Many years ago a Pattern was held at this well on the saint's
festival ; but the then tenant of the place, a man named Haddaway,
objecting to the concourse of people on his land, desecrated the well
by choking it up with boulders and clay ; in consequence misfortune
overtook him, and the neighbours still relate how a tail grew out
of him, a deformity which worried him to the day of his death.
There is a field in Knockpatrick which goes by the name of
<' Glownshod," the scene, it is said, of a battle ages ago.
W. FiTzG.
Cloncurry is the name of two parishes in the County Kildare :
one is situated between Kilcock and Innfield, in the barony of
Ikeathy and Oughterany; and the other lies between Bathangan
and LuUymore, in the barony of East Oflfaly. The name means
** Conary's meadow." The ancient name of the former was ** Cluain-
Conaire-Toiman," or Maoinean, a saint whose festival was held on
the 16th of September. This place is mentioned in ** The Annals of
the Four Masters*' under the years 586, 887, 869, and 1171 ; and
from it Lord Cloncurry takes his title. The second Cloncurry was
dedicated to St. Maelduv, whose Pattern was held on the 18th of
December ; the Four Masters mention it in the year 778.
Cilltown.— Can ** St. Boyana of Gylton," County Kildare, be
identified ? The saint so appears in Fiant No. 8,146, of Elizabeth.
In the fourteenth century Gilltown is mentioned in Sweetman's
Calendar of Irish Documents as ** the Grange and chapel of
Inchbristelan (or Inchbrislon), alias Gilton, County of Kildare, in
the Deanery of Balymor."
Kilshanchoe is a churchyard in the parish of Dunfierth and
barony of Carbury. In a County Kildare Exchequer Inquisition of
1547, it is spelt " Kylshangho, alias Ballygylkur.'' The country
people at the place call it '* Kilshanroe (i.e., the old red church?),
laying the stress on the last syllable. Which is the correct name ?
On the following page are figured two antiquarian objects which
were dug up in the neighbourhood of Kilkea Castle, where they are
now preserved. One is an ancient pagan burial urn, and the other
a bronze akUlet or three-legged pot.
The Burial Urn was unearthed in January, 1861, on that por-
tion of MuUachreelan Hill, locally known as ** Bullock's Hill." At
t-
MISCELLANEA. 327
that time a gravel-pit was being worked od it by a man named Tom
Bryan, employed under a mason of the name of Michael O'Shaugh-
nessy, of Garryholden, near Moone. While Bryan was shovelling
out some sand, a portion of the gravel-pit slid down in front of him,
exposing to view the side of a burial urn. Being fearful of disturbing
a crock he thought belonged to the " good-people," or fairies, Bryan
went off to consult with O'Shaughnessy. Together they returned
to the spot, and brought the urn to the surface, but unfortunately
broke it in doing so. To their disappointment they found it con-
tained no treasure, but, resting on a flag-stone, it covered a heap of
human, burnt bones. These bones, when first removed, sparkled at
their ends like diamonds ; and Bryan was convinced that, if he had
only known the proper incantation to recite, it would have caused
the bones to again become the precious metal he expected to find
under the urn. The urn was about 2 feet under the surface of the
ground, and there was nothing overground to indicate its presence
below. It stands a little over 13 inches in height, is 89 inches in
external circumference, and 12 inches wide across the top. One
rather curious circumstance in connection with the locality it was
found in was related to me in 1889 by an old man named Patrick
Travers, of Ballynamona, near Belan. He said that he remembered,
when a gossoon, twice dreaming that at the very spot where the urn
was afterwards found a crock of gold was hid ; this he related to a
friend, who told him he should not have mentioned it until he had
had a third dream to the like effect ; and, as he did not dream about
it a third time, he never went to dig the place.
The Bronze Skillet was discovered in a strange way in
February, 1868. During that month a big wind blew down a large
elm in the cow-pasture at Kilkea Castle, where formerly the public
road to Moone ran. A poor man named Mick Byrne, the father of
a large family then living in Castledermot, was employed to dig up
the elm stump by the roots. One day shortly after, he came up to
the castle carrying the bronze skillet, which he said he had found
under the old elm, whose roots had grown completely round it. He
was rewarded with a guinea, and was asked what it had contained.
He replied that a stone flag covered its mouth, but there was nothing
in it but bones and rubbish. However, not long after, he went up
to Dublin for a few days, returned to Castledermot, and then
emigrated to America with his wife and children. There is not a
man, woman, or child in the district but wish that they were the
finders of the bronze pot. Though Mick Bynie never told a soul what
really was in the skillet, yet it is certain that it held something
worth hiding. The pot weighs 21 lb., and stands 10 inches in
height ; judging by the shape and material, it is between two and
three hundred years old. As in those days there were no banks,
when ** troubles " broke out, valuables were buried for safety; and in
this case the owner was probably killed, and so the secret died with
him.
W. FiTzG.
r"RoNT
B^CK
:^ AC K
7X0MT
Vo
^^^KCM i\»^7
Archi EPISCOPAL Cross and Ancient Reliquary.
Drawn by Colonel D. C. Vigors.
( 329 )
On an Archiepiscopal Cross and an Ancient Beliquary, by
Colonel P. D. Vigors.
The annexed drawings represent the silver ornaments formerly in
the possession of the late Most Rev. M. Comerford, d.d., Coadjutor-
Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, and now belonging to B. B.
Kennedy, Esq., r.m., Carlow, who kindly placed them at my
disposal for illustration. It is to be much regretted that, when
Dr. Comerford gave them to Mr. Kennedy, he did not mention
where or when they had been found, or, indeed, anything con-
nected with their history.
From Dr. Comerford's connection with the County Kildare, and
with the Archaeological Society thereof, I thought there could be
no more fitting place for their description and illustration than in
the Journal of the Society of which he was Vice-President, and in
which he had taken so much interest.
THE CROSS.
Its height is Sf inches ; width across the arms, 1^ inches ; weight,
a little more than 1} ounces avoirdupois. It is of silver, in two
plates, fastened together at the base, and formerly by four small
rivets on the sides. The rivets are gone, but the holes remain. A
piece of twisted wire at the head keeps that part together. No
doubt, this was a pendant cross. The late Bev. Denis Murphy was
of opinion that it was an archiepiscopal one, and belonged to one
of the predecessors of the present Most Bev. Dr. Walsh [Boman
Catholic Archbishop of Dublin].
The back plate of the cross is thicker than the front one. The
figures of our Saviour and of the Virgin Mary (?) are fastened to
the plates by small rivets, and were made separate from the cross
itself. Trefoil-shaped holes, and two oblong ones in the shaft,
are cut through the plates.
There does not appear to have been any enamel or precious
stones used in its ornamentation , and it is in all respects very plain.
Both figures are much worn.
Mr. Michael Buckley, to whom I sent a sketch of it, says: —
'* This cross has the characteristic bulbous or tulip-shaped ends so
much affected in Spain circa 1700. The widely extended arms of
the Christ show it is not of Flemish, French, or German origin of
this period. Its date is circa 1680. It contained, no doubt, a
* parcella ' of the wood which is touched or rubbed on the piece of
the real Holy Cross at St. Peter's, Bome, annuaUi/, for the purpose
of enclosure and distribution in such reliquary crosses,"
330 NOTES.
THE RELIQUARY.
This ornament is 8| inches in length by about 1| inches in
width. Its weight is about If ounces silver. Like the cross first
described, it is also made in two plates, secured by two rivets, one
at the top, and one at the bottom, as shown in the drawing.
The shaded parts, no doubt, held enamel and jewels where the
small circular holes are shown. The three black holes go through
the double plates, and may have held an ornament showing front
and back. Remains of '' chasing '' still exist in the silver edgings.
The only jewel remaining is an amethyst, near the centre of the
object.
The front is without ornamentation of any kind. The engraved
lines are very rudely cut. The coffin opens at the head by a hinge,
and closes at the foot by a stud. Within it is a rudely executed
figure in silver (?) of our Saviour, represented much as on the cross,
only the waist-cloth is more distinct. In the figure on the cross
the remains of it are to be seen at the proper left of the figure.
Of this reliquary Mr. Buckley writes :— " Looking at the shape
only, especially the back, it appears to belong to the same school of
design as the early golden ' buttoe,* or amulets, both of Prankish,
Slavonic, and Celtic origin. The peculiar setting of its jewels
(garnets and turquoises most probably), minus the * torsades * of
the Celtic period, show the trace of Iberian influence. It was made
either in Spain or Portugal, most probably in the latter country, in
Lisbon, circa 1675, and contained some dust or a bit of stone from
the Holy Sepulchre.
*' The coffin, which is of the ' debased ' form of the seventeenth
century, is not common, especially as it contains the figure of our
Saviour. It belongs to the sensational class of Spanish < objets de
piete,' such as the jewelled crucifixes, with the wounds of the body
of Christ enamelled in red ' paste,' and set with rubies and garnets
like drops of blood.
** This religious 'jewel * belonged, I have no doubt, to a Knight
Companion of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, or of * Christ ' of
Portugal."
** Sheelah-na-Glg." — This term is applied to those undraped
female figures grotesquely cut in stone, which are generally found
built into the walls of primitive church ruins, and sometimes in old
castles. Their meaning is still a mystery, though they are asso-
ciated with the belief in the Evil Eye. There is one in the old
FitzEustace castle of Blackball, near Calverstown (though not in
its original position). It is, I believe, the only Sheelah-na-Gig in the
County Kildare.
A list of them is given in the Jotinwl of the Iloyal Society of
Antifjiiaries, Ire., for the year 1894.
W. FiTzG.
ISSION 1898.
VOLUME II, Uo.,M^y.\
P •. '
V:^^
,<5>
, -XT-
JOURNAL
OF THE
COUNTY KILDARE ARCH^OLOGICAL SOCIETY.
CONTENTS.
Pr ooeedingi:— pagb
Annual General Meeting, 1898, . . 831
Report of Council for T897, . • . 333
Excursion Meeting, 1897 338
Report of Sab-Committee on Printing of
Journal, SSS
Hon. Treasurer's Account for 1807, . . 340
List of Honorary Officers and ftf embers, . 341
Rules, 347
Pap«P« :—
An Account of the Arrest of Lord Edward
FitzGerald. With Illustrations, . . 340
John Lye, of Clonaugh, Co. Kildare. Part
II. By Rev. £. O'Learv, p.p., . . 3&4
Castletown and its Owners. By T>ord
Walter FitzGerald. With Illustra-
tions 361
Misoellantta:—
The Skeleton Tombstone in the Franciscan
Abbey at CasUedbnnot, . . . .380
QuerlM :— PAGE
Portraits of Lord and Lady Edward Fitz-
Gerald 382
Answer to Qaeriea :—
The Race, or Road, of the Black Pig, across
theCurragh, 383
Notes :—
Rosetown Churchyard, Barony of Kilkea
and Moone, 386
Alexander Taylor's Map of Co. Kildare, . 386
Jigginstown 386
The Bells of Ble&slngton, . . . .
Notes on a Hornbook in possession of
Richard West Manders, of Castlesize,
Naas,
The Bulbys of the Co. Kildare,
Poul-gyleen in the Barrow, , .
Athgoe Castle, Co. Dublin,
387
387
388
DUBLIN:
E. PONSONBY, 116 GRAFTON STREET.
1898.
m COUNCIL OF TBI COUNTT KIIMSE ABCHilOLOIHCAl mm.
THE EARL OF MAYO.
The Rev. Matthew Devitt, s.j.
&ounci][ :
Thomas Cooke-Trench, Esq., d.l.
George Mansfield, Esq., d.l.
The Rev. Edward O'Leary, p.p.
Thomas J. de Burgh, Esq., d.l.
Ambrose More OTerrall, Esq., d.l.
The Earl of Drogheda.
Hans Hendrick-Avlmer, Esq., Kerdiffstown, Sallins.
c^on. Secretaries:
Lord Walter FitzGerald, m.r.i.a., Kilkea Castle, Maganey.
Sir Arthur Vicars, f.s.a., Ulster, 44 Wellington Road, Dublin.
c^on. @5tior:
The Rev. Canon Sherlock, m.a., Sherlockstown, Sallins,
JOURNAL
OF THE
jlwjafolojical jSotietg of \\t G^^k of FJiIbart
AND
jSttrrottnbing Dtstrids.
-+♦-
"proceedings.
Thb Annual General Meeting of the Society was held on
Monday, the 24th of January, 1898, in the Court House, Naas,
kindly lent by the High Sheriff of County Kildare.
The Hon. Secretary read a letter from the Earl of Mayo,
President, regretting his inability to attend owing to illness,
and the Chair was taken by the Vice-President of the Society,
the Bey. Matthew Devitt.
The following Members of the Council were present : —
Mr. George Mansfield, Canon Sherlock, Hon. Editor; Rev. £.
O'Leary, Mr. T. J. de Burgh, Mr. H. Hendrick-Aylmer, Hon.
Treasurer ; Sir Arthur Vicars, Ulster, f.s.a., and Lord Walter
FitzGerald, Hon, Secretaries.
In addition, the following Members and Visitors were
present : —
Mr. and Mrs. N. J. Synnott, the Dean of Kildare and Mrs. Cowell,
Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Sweetman, Miss D. S. Jameson, the Rt. Rev.
the President of Maynooth College, the Very Rev. Thomas O'Dea, d.d.,
the Rev. Patrick O'Leary, d.d.; the Rev. J. F. M. ffrench,v.p.R.8.A.,Ire. ;
Mr, P. A. Maguire, Mr. and Mrs. A. Aylmer, Rev. V. Lentaigne, Mr.
and Mrs. S. J. Browne, Rev. T. Morrin, Rev. J. Dunne, Mr. W. Staples,
Mr. J. R. Sutcliffe, Rev. Wm. Elliott, Miss Rynd, the Misses O'Brien,
Mrs. Biddulph, Rev. T. Ryan, &c.
The Minutes of the previous Meeting of February, 1897,
having been read and confirmed, were signed by the Chairman.
Sir Arthur Vicars, Ulster, Hon, Secretary, then read the
Report of Council for the year 1897, which was adopted.
VOL. n., PT. VI. D D
332 PROCEEDINGS OF THE
The Hon. Treasurer then read his Beport for the year
1897, which was also adopted, and a vote of thanks passed to
him.
The following Besolution, proposed hy Mr. N. Synnott, and
seconded hy Mr. A. Aylmer, was unanimously passed : —
** That the thanks of the Society are hereby tendered to Mr. J. R.
Sutcliffe for kindly auditing the accounts of the Society for the past-
year ; and the Society earnestly hope that he will continue his services.*'
The Report of the Sub-Committee, consisting of Mr. Thomas
Gooke-Trench and the Hon. Secretaries, appointed last year to
consider the best course to adopt with a view to reducing the
expenditure of the Society in the production of The Journal,
was then brought forward, and, after some discussion, its recom-
mendation to appoint Messrs. Charles Gibbs & Son printers
to the Society, was adopted on the motion of Mr. Edmund
Sweetman.
The following Resolution was proposed by Mr. T. J. de
Burgh, seconded by Mr. George Mansfield, and passed : —
*' That the Hon. Secretaries be requested to suggest to the Members
some subjects for Papers which would be of interest to the Society."
Monsignor Gargan proposed, and Sir Arthur Vicars seconded
the following Resolution :—
'*That the Earl of Drogheda be elected a member of the Council of
the Society" —
which was unanimously passed.
The Rev. E. O'Leary and Mr. T. J. de Burgh, being the
Members of Council retiring by rotation, were re-elected.
The election of the following Members at the Excursion
Meeting, September, 1897, was confirmed : — Rev. John Cnllen,
Mr. Garrett C. Tyrrell, Mr. Charles J. Engledow, m.p. ; Mrs.
Engledow, Mr. W. N. Strangeway, Mr. Thos. J. Westropp, c.E. ;
Mr. Charles E. A. Roper, b.l. ; Mr. Francis Cruise, m.d. ; Mr.
T. B. MacDonald, m.d. ; Mr. A. S. Manning, Mrs. Mark Taylor,
and Mrs. Hopkins.
The following were elected Members of the Society : — Mr.
Robert O'Kelly, m.d. ; Very Rev. W. J. Byrne, Rev. John C.
Ryan, Mr. John Kilkelly, ll.d. ; Hon. Algernon Bourke, Hon.
Mrs. Swinton, and Mr. John Robinson, m.d.
It was decided to hold the Excursion Meeting for the ensuing
session of the Society at Old KilcuUen and district, in Sep-
tember.
COUNTY KILDARE ARCH/KOLOCIICAL SOCIETY. 333
The following Kesolution was proposed by the Rev. M.
Devitt, and carried ananimonsly : —
"That the thanks of the Kildare Archaeological Society be hereby
tendered to Mr. D. Mahony for kindly having entertained the members
and their friends to tea at Grange Con on the occasion of the Excursion
Meeting, 1897 ; also to the following for their help in making the
arrangements for the Meeting such a success : — Colonel Bonham, Rev. T.
Twamley, Rev. S. Radcliffe, Mrs. F. M. Carroll, and also to the Com-
mittde of the Grange Con Club, for having kindly permitted the Society to
use the club premises for luncheon.^*
The following Papers were read : —
1. "John Lye's Descendants, and their Successors at Glonaagh,
County Kildare," Part II. By Rev. E. O'Leary.
2. " Castleroe." By Lord Walter FitzGerald, M.B.I.A., Hon.
Secretary.
Owing to the regretted absence of the President, the reading
of the Paper standing; in his name was postponed.
Sir Arthur Vicars, Ulster, exhibited a collection of old Irish
rush-light holders, in wrought-iron, which was supplemented by
a curious specimen from Rev. J. F. M. ifrench's collection.
Lord Walter FitzQerald exhibited some monumental rub-
bings from Kilkea Churchyard.
Votes of thanks having been passed to those who had read
Papers and lent Exhibits, to the High Sheriff of Kildare for
the use of the Court House, and to the Chairman for presiding,
the proceedings terminated.
Note. — The Hon. Editor wishes to apprise the Members
that Miss Margaret Stokes has been good enough to present the
block of her drawing of Donacomper Church (represented in
Vol. II, No. 5, of The Journal) to the Society, and he ventures
to take this opportunity of tendering the thanks of the Society
to the donor.
Report of Council for 1897.
The Council of the ArchsBological Society beg to report that
the Society has only lost one of its members by death since our
last General Meeting, viz., Mr. T. J. Hannon,^ of Athy, a
zealous supporter of the Society.
The Roll of Membership now amounts to 154, of which
number fourteen are Life Members.
The first Meeting of the past year was held on the 24th
' Mr. Hannon read a Paper on St. John's Friary, Athy, in September,
1892.
334 PROCEEDINGS OF THE
February, in the Conrt House, Naas, kindly lent by the High
Sheriff, Surgeon-Major Keogh, at which Papers were read, and
much important business in connection with the working of the
Society was transacted.
In deference to the wishes of the Hon. Treasurer, who
desired to see the expenses in connection with the publication
of Ths Journal reduced, and more in accordance with the in-
come of the Society, a Sub-Committee^ consisting of Mr. T.
Cooke-Trench and the Hon. Secretaries, was appointed, to report
as to the best means by which a reduction in the expenses of
the production of The Journal could be arrived at, and to take
all necessary steps to that end.
This Sub-Committee has gone into the question very fully,
and the principal result of its deliberations has been the change
of printers.
The Excursion Meeting was fixed this past year for Grange
Con, Moone, and district, it being thought desirable to explore
new ground as much as possible each year. Our last Excursion
meeting was in every way worthy of the Jubilee year, for our
Members mustered in strength, and the attendance was the
largest since the memorable one in 1893 ; the only cause for
regret being the absence of our leader the President.
Mr. D. Mahony kindly invited the Members of the Society
and their friends to tea at Grange Con.
As usual, a full account of this Meeting, and the Papers
read thereat, will appear in The Journal.
The Hon. Treasurer will present his Report, and he states in
conjunction with Mr. Sutcliffe, our Hon. Auditor, that the
finances of the Society have shown improvement since our
Meeting last February.
When Canon Sherlock, in response to the earnest request of
the Society, kindly undertook to resume the office of Hon.
Editor, the Members promised to support him by literary efforts
on their part, and in connection therewith the Council take this
opportunity to urge Members to assist the Editor by contri-
buting Papers at the Meetings or for publication in The Journal.
The mass of records in connection with the history of the
county is practically inexhaustible, and there are many subjects
and objects of interest as yet untouched and awaiting to be
dealt with.
In reference thereto many branches might be enumerated.
Genealogy and Heraldry have so far formed but a small portion
of our Journal, and we must not forget that in the history of
the older families of the county is really embodied the history of
the county itself.
COUNTY KILDARE ARCH.4!:0L0GICAL SOCIETY. 335
Papers such as that contributed by our Member, Mr. J.
Bibton GarstiD, f.s.a., on the Hi^h Sheriffs of Kildare, are of the
utmost importance in an historical point of view.
Then there is Lord Walter FitzGerald's forthcoming list of
the Bangers of the Curragh. In short, we would beg of all our
Members to second our efforts and endeavour to contribute Papers
to Thb Journal. Possibly they may possess family manuscript
diaries, and the like, the publication of which would give a great
insight into the social condition of the county in the past.
And we might also mention— for this is par excellence a hunting
county — that the Kildare Hunt is waiting for an historian ; for is
it not one of the oldest, if not the oldest Hunt in the United
Kingdom, records of which extend back well into the middle of
the last century ?
It has struck the Council to suggest that those of us who
have Baths and Tumuli on their property should make arrange-
ments, with the assistance of the Society, to carry put careful
excavations, with a view to learning more of their nature and
contents.
The assistance of those of us who have a knowledge of such
earth-mounds will be surely forthcoming to aid any who may be
willing to engage in such an exploration ; and in proper cases
financial assistance, to a limited extent, will be forthcoming from
the coffers of the Society when required.
Two Members of the Council, the Bev. Edward O'Leary and
Mr. Thomas J. De Burgh^ retire by rotation, and being eligible,
offer themselves for re-election.
As the Earl of Drogheda has taken an active interest in the
Society since he has come to live amongst us, the Council
would ask you to elect him to their number, feeling sure that
they will profit by his assistance and archaeological learning
gathered in extensive travel.
Signed on behalf of the Council,
M. Devitt, Vice-President.
Arthur Vicars, Ulster, ) Hon,
W. FiTzGeUALD, jSecretanes.
Dated this 24th day of January, 1898.
336 PUOCEEDIKGS OF THE
Excursion Meeting, 1897.
The Seventh Aonual Excursion Meeting took place on
Thursday, the 16th September, 1897, at Grange Con, Moone,
and district.
The greater number of the members and their friends
journejed to the meeting by the morning train, reaching
Colbinstown Station at 10 o'clock — though a considerable con-
tingent found their way to the rendezvous by road. By way of
further adding to the convenience of the members, the Society
had arninged to have the vehicles chartered for the conveyance
of members numbered and labelled, thereby avoiding much
confusion in finding carriages at the various stoppages.
A short drive brought the company to Killeen Gormac Burial
Ground, lying close to the road, where a brief Paper was read by
Lord Walter FitzGerald, dealing with the Ogham stones, which
form the chief feature of interest in the locality.
A drive of nearly five miles brought the company to Timolin,
where the sun shone out, and the weather, which had hitherto
looked doubtful, took a change for the better.
On the way, the picturesque village of Ballytore, the early
home of Edmund Burke, might be noticed in the valley beneath
the road.
At Timolin, Sir Arthur Vicars, Ulster, read a Paper by Mr.
A. Hartshorne, f.b.a., on the curious Becumbent Effigy,
dating from about the year 1180, and one of the earliest of its
kind in Ireland.
This Paper, by one of the first authorities on Becumbent
Effigies, read beside the monument itself, afforded great instruc-
tion and interest to those assembled.
Lord Walter FitzGerald then read a Paper dealing with
the history of the whole immediate district, embracing the
Church, Nunnery, and Castle, all except the former being now
non-existent, and of the church only those portions of the walls
remaining which are embodied in the present comparatively
modern structure. After an inspection of the church plate (which
bore an inscription recording that it had been recovered from the
rebels in 17.98), a move was made for Moone Abbey, a mile and
a half distant, where the Society was received by Mrs. Carroll, in
the absence of Mr. F. M. Carroll.
Here much of interest was found grouped in a limited area,
including the fine Celtic Cross, recently restored by the Society;
the ruins of an old abbey, with several curious monuments ; the
fine Tower of the old Castle in a good state of preservation ; and
/
COUNTY KILDAKE ARCILliO LOGICAL SOCIETY. 337
the present dwelling-bouse, which forms a good specimen of an
early Georgian house with extending wings. Mrs. Carroll read
a Paper on the Gross and the Abbey, and many members were
enabled for the first time to see a specimen of the practical work
of the Society in the excellent restoration of one of the finest
Celtic Crosses left in Ireland.
After a visit to the Tower of Moone Castle, many ascending
to the top to obtain a fine panoramic view of the district, the
carriages were brought into requisition, and the tour resumed.
Passing Killelan, where time did not permit of a stop, the pic-
turesque village of the Grange, formerly called Bumbo Hall, was
reached at 2 p.m., where luncheon was awaiting the party in the
Club Uoom.
By this time th6 numbers bad increased to nearly 200, and
the members and their friends proceeded to Grange Con, many
preferring to walk through the Deer Park. The first object of
interest inspected was the ruin of the old Castle in the grounds,
on which Sir Arthur Vicars, Ulster, read a paper, giving a short
history of the locality, fuller particulars of which will appear
in The Journal.
Mr. Roche here took an excellent photograph of all those
assembled.
The company then wended their way through the grounds
and gardens, inspecting two curious old sun-dials therein, and
were shown over the interior of the quaint house by Sir Arthur
Vicars, in the absence of Mr. D. Mahony.
At four o'clock tea was served in the Lower Gallery by the
invitation of Mr. Mahony. As the day was now advanced, and
it was necessary for those returning by train from Colbinstown
to start, the company dispersed, and what with most favourable
weather, and the many objects of interest visited, it was generally
agreed that one of the most successful excursion meetings of the
Society had been brought to a close.
Owing to the situation of the places visited, a considerable
strain was put on the resources of the Society to provide accom-
modation for those attending the Meeting ; but the arrangements
that had been made by Sir Arthur Vicars, Ulster, and Lord
Walter FitzGerald, the Hon. Secretaries, who had charge of the
Meeting, worked most satisfactorily.
Amongst the Members and Visitors present were : — The
Earl and Countess of Drogheda, Lord Walter FitzGerald
and Sir Arthur Vicars, Ulster, Hon. Secretaries; Mr. and
Mrs. Cooke-Trench, Dr. Robert Lloyd WooUcombe, ll.d.,
H.B.LA. ; Mrs. and Miss WooUcombe, Rev. R. Qainn, Rev. S. R.
and Mrs. McGee, Rev. James Adams, Mr. George Mansfield,
338 PROCEEDINGS OF THE
Mr. Wm. B. J. Molloy, Mr. and Mrs. Edmaud Sweetman,
SargeoD-Major J. R Keogh, High Sheriff of Kildare, and Mrs.
Keogh, Mr. W. Grove White, c.s.; MissDupre Wilson, Rev. M.
Devitt, Vice-President; Rev. V. Lentaigne, Dr. Francis J.
Cruise, Dr. John A. MacDonaid, Mr. J. R. Blake, Bev. James
Nolan, Miss E. H. Johnson, Mr. J. B. Garstin, f.s.a. ; Lord
Henry FitzGerald, Lady Mahel FitzGerald, Mrs. Wall, Bev. B. C.
and Mrs. Davidson-Houston, Mr. H. Hendrick-Aylmer, Hon,
Treasurer; Mrs. Mark Taylor, Mrs. Hopkins, Mr. and Mrs.
Engledow, Major and Mrs. Bynd, Mr. J Loch, ai., R.i.a ; Mr.
Thomas Greene, The Dean of Kildare, Mr. A. S. Manning,
Lord Frederick FitzGerald, Lord George FitzGerald, Bev.
J. F. M. ffrench, m.b.i.a. ; Mr. Bobert Cochrane, F.8.A., Hon.
Secretary R S. A., Ire. Mrs. and Miss Carroll, Sir Alex-
ander and Lady Taylor, Dr. and Mrs. W. B. Bice, Bev. J.
Nolan, Bev. Thomas Carberry, Canon Sherlock, Hon. Editor,
and the Misses Sherlock, Mrs. and Miss Greene, Miss Bobinson,
Mr. A. Saunders, Bev. T. Whitty, Miss A. Walsh, Mr. G. M.
Boche, Miss Greene, Miss Murphy, Miss M. Walsh, Mrs. George
Heathcote, Mr. and Mrs. Vipond Barry, Miss Hallowes, Mr.
A. G. Wolseley, the Misses Smith, Miss Owen, Miss Cornwall,
Miss Bynd, Miss Mansfield, Miss Bradshaw, Bev. T. Twamley,
Mr. Twamley, Bev. S. Badcliffe, the Misses Stacey, Mrs. and
Miss Hogel, &c.
Beport of Committee appointed to consider the best way to
bring the cost of printing The Journal within the means of
the Society, with power to act.
Your Committee started with an earnest desire to continue
the printing of The Journal in the same capable hands that
have hitherto produced it with so much satisfaction to the
Members and credit to themselves. It quickly became evident,
however, that this could only be done either by redncing
The Journal to one issue in the year, or by greatly curtailing
the size of the numbers. Your Committee, therefore, sought
tenders from various printing firms both in England and Ireland,
all based on the last number of The Journal and on identical
specifications ; and by a careful comparison of these they arrived
at the conclusion that the interests of the Society will be best
served by entrusting their work to Messrs. C. W. Gibbs & Son, of
Wicklow St., Dublin. From personal experience they feel satisfied
that this firm will be able satisfactorily to perform the work
COUNTY KILDARE ARCH.KOLOGICAL SCJCIETY. 339
required of them. MeBsrs. Gibbs preferred to have nothing to
do with supplying blocks for illustrations, but this gave rise
to no difficulty. On the contrary, Lord Walter FitzGerald, who
has hitherto kindly managed the illustrating department of
The Journal, also preferred this course. They have therefore
placed the printing of the Jannaiy number of Thb Journal in
the hands of Messrs. Gibbs, and trust that their action will meet
with the approval of the Society.
Thos. Cooke-Trench.
Arthur Vicars, Ulster,
W, FitzGebald.
2l3t Jamuiry, 1898.
340
PROCEEDINGS OF THE
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COUNTY KILDARE ARCILEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 34 1
LIST OF HONORARY OFFICERS AND MEMBERS.
(COBRECTED TO Uth JANUARY, 1808.)
^rcsibtnl :
THE EARL OF MAYO.
$kt-^rt6ibtnt :
THE REV. MATTHEW DEVITT, S.J.
Aonncil :
(in ordeb of election.)
THOMAS COOKE-TRENCH, ESQ., D.L.
GEORGE MANSFIELD, ESQ., D.L.
THE REV. EDWARD O'LEARY, P.P.
THOMAS J. DE BURGH, ESQ., D.L.
AMBROSE MORE-0'FERRALL, ESQ., D.L.
THE EARL OF DROGHEDA.
Jon. Sreasttru :
HANS HENDRICK-AYLMER, ESQ., Kekdiffstown, Sallinh.
Joir. Sccrdarus :
LORD WALTER FITZGERALD, M.RLA., Kilkea Castle, Maganey.
SIR ARTHUR VICARS, F.S.A., Uhter, 44 Wellington Road, Dublin.
Jon. (Ebitor :
THE REV. CANON SHERLOCK, M.A., Shbrlockstown, Sallins.
342 PROCEEDINGS OK THE
[Olttcers are iiidicaUxl by lieavy tyiic ; Life Mcmficni liy an ai»t«ribk(*). J
Adams, Rev. James, Kill Rectory, Straffan.
Archbold, Miss, Davidstown, Castledermot
Aylmer, Miss, Donadea Castle, Ck>. Kildare.
Aylmer, Algernon, Rathmore, Naas.
AYLMER, H. HENDRICK-, Hon. Treiuurer, Kerdiffstown, Saliins.
*Barton, Hon. Mrs., Straffan House, Straffan.
*Barton, Major H. L., d.u, Straffan lloase, Straffan.
Beard, T., m.d., Glebe Crescent, Stirling.
Bird, Rev. John T., Curragh Camp.
Blake, J. R, 22 Morehampton-road, Dublin.
Bonham, Colonel J., Ballintaggart, Colbinstown, Co. Kildare.
Bourke, The Hon. Algernon, White's Club, London, S.W.
Brooke, J. T., Dungannon, Co. Tyrone.
Brown, Stephen J., Naas.
Burke, Very Rev. E., p.p., Bagnalstown, Co. Carlow.
*Burtchaell, G. D., m.a., 7 St. Stephen*s-green, Dublin.
Byrne, Very Rev. M. J., o.p., College of St. Thomas of Aquin, Newbridge,
Co. Kildare.
Cane, Major Claude, St. Wolstan's, Celbridge.
Carberry, Rev. Thomas, p.p.. The Presbytery, Ballitore.
Carroll, Frederick, Moone Abbey, Moone.
Carroll, Rev. James, c.c, Howth, Co. Dublin.
Clarke, Mrs., Athgoe Park, Hazlehatch, Co. Dublin.
"^Clements, Colonel. Killadoon, Celbridge.
Clements, Mrs., Killadoon, Celbridge.
^Clements, Henry J. B., d.l., Killadoon, Celbridge.
Goady, D. P., m.d., Naas.
Cochrane, Robert, f.s.a., m.b.i.a., Hon. Secretary r.8.a.x., 17 Highfield-road.
Rathgar.
Cole, Rev. J. F., The Rectory, Portarlington.
CoUey, G. P. A., Mount Temple, Clontarf, Co. Dublin.
Conmee, Rev. J. F., s.j., St. Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner-street, Dublin.
Cooper, Austin Darner, Drumnigh House, Portmarnock, Co. Dublin.
Coote, Stanley, The Orchard House, Wargrave, Berks.
Cowell, Very Rev. G. Y., Dean of Kildare, The Deanery, Kildare.
Cruise, Francis, m.d., Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow.
Cullen, Rev. John, Adm., Carlow.
I
COUNTY KILDARE ARCH/KOLOCUCAL SOCIETY. 343
Daly, C, 26 Westmoreland-street, Dublin.
Dames, R. S. Long\*orth, 21 Herbert-street, Dublin.
Dane, J. Whiteside, Abbeyfield, Naas.
Darby, M., m.d., Monasterevan.
Davidson-Houston, Rev. B. C, St. John's Vicarage, Sydney-parade, Dublin.
Day, Robert, F.8.A., m.r.i.a., 3 Sydney-place, Cork.
Dease, Colonel Sir Gerald, Celbridge Abbey, Celbridge.
DE BURGH, THOMAS J., d.l., Oldtown, Naas.
DEVITT, Rev. MATTHEW, s.j., Vice-President, Rector of Clongowes Wood
College, Sallins.
Doyle, Rev. J. J., p.p., Derrycappagh, Mountmelliok, Queen's County.
Doyle, Rev. Laurence, c.c, Moone.
Doyle, Rev. Mark, c.c, Woodstock Cottage, Athy.
Doyle, Rev. Thomas, c.c, Caragh, Naas.
DROQHEDA, THE EARL OF, Moore Abbey, Monasterevin.
Drogheda, The Countess of, Moore Abbey, Monasterevin.
Duggan, Rev. William, c.c, Athy.
Dunne, Rev. John, c.c, Clane.
Dunne, Laurence, j.p., DoUardstown House, Athy.
Elliott, Rev. William, The Manse, Naas.
Engledow, Mrs., Burton Hall, Carlow.
Engledow, C. J., m.p., Burton Hall, Carlow.
Falkiner, F. J., m.d.. Spring* Gardens, Naas.
ffrench. Rev. J. F. M., m.b.i.a. , Ballyredmond House, Clonegal, Co. Carlow.
•FitzGerald, Lady Eva, Kilkea Castle, Maganey, Co. Kildare.
FitzGerald, Lady Mabel, Kilkea Castle, Maganey, Co. Kildare.
*FitzGerald, Lady Nesta, Kilkea Castle, Maganey, Co. Kildare.
•FitzGerald, Lord Frederick, Carton, Maynooth, Co. Kildare.
♦FitzGerald, Lord George, Kilkea Castle, Maganey, Co. Kildare.
FitzGerald. Lord Henry, 36 Ashley Gardens, Victoria-street, London, S.W.
♦FITZQERALD, LORD WALTER, m.r.i.a., Hon. Secretary^ Kilkea Cnstle, Maganey,
Co. Kildare.
Fogarty, Rev. M., Professor, The College, Maynooth.
Foley, Most Rev. Patrick, d.d., Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Braganza,
Carlow.
Ganly, Rev. C. W., The Rectory, Castledermot, Co. Kildare.
Gargan, Right Rev. Monsignor Denis, d.t>.. President of St. Patrick's College,
Maynooth.
Garstin, J. Ribton, d.l., f.s.a., m.r.i.a., Braganstown, Castlebellingham,
Co. Louth.
Glover, Edward, 19 Prince Patrick-terrace, North Circular-road, Dublin.
Graham, Rev. C. I., Kildrought Parsonage, Celbridge.
Greene, Thomas, ll.d., Millbrook, Maganey.
Pade, Arthur. c.e., Carlow,
344 PROCEEDINGS OF THE
Higginson, Lady, Ck>nnellinore, Newbridge.
Hoguet, Madame Henry L., 48 West Twenty-eighth-street, New York.
Hopkins, Mrs., Blackball Castle, KilcuUen, Co. Kildare.
Jameson, Miss Sophia, Glenmona, Moone.
Jesson, Rev. J. L., Tbe Rectory, Kilkea, Co. Kildare.
Johnson, Miss, Lancaster House, Ballinasloe.
Joyce, Patrick Weston, Lyre na Grena, Leinster-road, Rathmines, Dublin.
Kennedy, Rev. H., St. David's Rectory, Naas.
Keogh, Surgeon-Major T. R., Castleroe, Maganey. Co. Kildare.
Kilkelly, John, ll.d., 46 Upper Mount-street, Dublin.
Kirkpatrick, William, Donacomper, Celbridge.
La Touche, Mrs. John, Harristown, Brannoxtown.
Lentaigne, Rev. Victor, b..t., Clongowes Wood College, Sallins.
Loch, J., c.LR.LC, The Firs, Naas.
Long, Miss A. F., Woodfield, Kilcavan, Geashill, King's Coanty.
Longlield, Robert, 19 Harcourt-street, Dublin.
MacDonald, J. R, m.d., Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow.
M'Gee, Rev. S. R., The Rectory, Dunlavin.
M'Sweeny, J. G., 18 Claremount-road, Sandymount, Dublin.
Maguire, P. A., 2 Oldtown-terrace, Naas.
Mahony, David, d.l.. Grange Con, Co. Wicklow.
Mahony, George Gun. Grange Con, Co. Wicklow.
Manning, C. S., Bank House, Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow.
MANSFIELD, GEORGE, d.l.. Morristown Lattin, Naas.
Mayo, Dowager Countess of, 20 Eaton-square, London, S.W.
MAYO, The EARL OF, Preddent, Palmerstown, Straffan.
MoUoy, William R., m.r.i.a., 17 Brookfield- terrace, Donnybrook, Dublin.
Mooney, William, j.p., The Castle, Leixlip.
*Moran, His Eminence Cardinal, Sydney, N. S. Wales, Australia.
Morrin, Rev. Thomas. p.i»., Naas.
Murphy, The Right Rev. Monsignor Michael, p.p., St Brigid's, Kildare.
Murphy, W. A., Osberstown House, Naas.
Nolan, Rev. James, c.c, Kilmeade, Athy.
Norman, George, 12 Brock-street, Bath, England.
O'Brien, Right Hon. Sir Peter, Bart., Lord Chief Justice, Castletown, Celbridge.
O'Byrne, Rev. Patrick, c.c, SS. Michael and John's, Exchange-street, Dublin.
O'Dea, Very Rev. Thomas, d.d.. The College, Maynooth.
*OTERRALL, AMBROSE MORE-, d.l., Ballyna, Moyvally.
O'Hanlon, Very Rev. John Canon, p.p., 3 Leahy's-ter., Sandymount, Dublin.
O'Kelly, Robert, m.d., Landenstown, Sallins,
COUNTY KILDARE ARCH/KOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 345
O'Kelly, T. E. T., m.d., Maynooth.
♦O'LEARY, Rev. E., p.p., Ballyna, Moyvally.
O'Leary, Rev. Patrick, The College, Maynooth.
Owen, Arthur, Shanvaghey, Ballacolla, Queen's Co.
Palmer, Charles CoUey, d.l., Bahan, Edenderry.
Ponsonby, Hon. Gerald, Palmerstown, Straffan.
Ponsonby, Lady Maria, Palmerstown, Straflfan.
Pratt, Mrs., Glenheste, Manor-Kilbride, Co. Dublin.
Quinn, Rev. Bichard, b.a., c.c, Kilmeade House, Athy.
Bobinson, John, m.d., j.p., Johnstown-bridge, Co. Kildare.
Boper, C. E. A., b.l., 55 Leeson-park, Dublin.
Byan, Very Bev. John C, o.p., College of St. Thomas of Aquin, Newbridge.
Bynd, Major B. F., Blackball, Sallins.
Saunders, Colonel B., d.l., Saunders' Grove, Stratford-on-Slaney, Co. Wicklow.
SHERLOCK, Rev. Canon, Uon. Editor, Sherlockstown, Sallins.
Sknse, Bev. Bichard D., Ballykean Bectory, Portarlington.
Somers, Mrs., The Bectory, Dunboyne, Co. Meath.
Somerville-Large, Bev. W., Carnalway Bectory, Kilcullen.
Staples, William, Naas.
Strangeway, W. N., Breffni Villa, Eglinton-road, Donnybrook, Dublin.
Supple, K., D.I.R.I.C., Dunlavin, Co. Wicklow.
Sutclifife, J. B., Hibernian Bank, Naas.
Sweetman, E., Longtown, Sallins.
Sweetman, Mrs., Longtown, Sallins.
Swinton, The Hon. Mrs., 82 Cadogan-place, London, W.
Synnott, Nicholas, 14 Herbert-crescent, Hans-place, London, S.W.
Taylor, Mrs., Golden Fort, Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow.
Taylor, Mark, Golden Fort, Baltinglass, Go. Wicklow.
Thomhill, F. Evelyn, Bathangan House, Bathangan.
TRENCH, THOMAS COOKE-, d.l., Millicent, Sallins.
Trench, Mrs. Cooke-, Millicent, Sallins.
Tynan, The Bight Bev. Monsignor Thomas, p.p., Newbridge.
Tyrrell, Garrett C, Ballinderry House, Carbury, Co. Kildare.
VICARS, SIR ARTHUR, f.8.a., Ulster King-of-Arms, Hon. Secretary,
44 Wellington -road, Dublin.
Vigors, Colonel P. D., Holloden, Bagnalstown, Co. Carlow.
Wall, Colonel J., Knockareagh, Grange Con, Co. Wicklow.
Wall, Mrs., Knockareagh, Grange Con, Co. Wicklow.
Walsh, Bev. Martin, p.p., Castledennot, Co. Kildare.
Warmington, Alfred A., Munster c^nd Leinster Bank, Naas,
346 PROCEEDINGS OF THE
Weldon, General, Forenaughts, Kaas.
Weldon, Captain A. A., Kilmorony, Athy.
Weldon, Lady, Kilmorony, Athy.
Westropp, T. J., c.e., 77 Lower Leeson-street, Dublin.
Wheeler, W. I., m.i>., f.r.c.s.1., 32 Merrion-square, N., Dublin.
White, W. Grove, 13 Upper Ormond-quay, Dublin.
Willis, G. de L., 4 Kildare-street, Dublin.
Wilson, Colonel W. F., The Vicarage, Clane.
Wilson, Mrs. B. M., Coolcarrigan, Kilcock.
Wilson, Miss R. Dupr^, Coolcarrigan, Kilcock.
Wolfe, George, Bishopsland, Ballymore-Enstace, Naas.
Woollcombe, Bobert L., ll.d., m.b.i.a., 14 Waterloo-road, Dublin.
♦Wright, E. Percival, m.a., m.d.. Secretary r.i.a., 5 Trinity College, Dublin.
fom Ptmb«:
Miss Margaret Stokes, Carrig Breac, Howth, Co. Dublin.
/
COUNTY KILDARE ARCH/KOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 347
RULES.
I. That this Society be called " The County Eildare Archaeological Society."
II. That the purpose of the Society be the promotion of the study and
knowledge of the antiquities and objects of interest in the county and sur-
rounding districts.
III. That the Society consist of a President, Vice-President, Council,
Hon. Treasurer, two Hon. Secretaries, and Members. Ladies are eligible for
Membership.
lY. That the names of ladies and gentlemen desiring to become Members
of the Society shall be submitted, together with the names of their proposers
and seconders, to the Council, and, if approved by them, shall then be sub-
mitted to the next Meeting of the Society for Election.
V. That the affairs of the Society be managed by the President, Vice-
President, Hon. Treasurer, and Eon. Secretaries, together with a Council of
six Members. That for ordinary business two shall form a quorum ; but any
matter upon which a difference of opinion arises shall be reserved for another
meeting, in which three shall form a quorum.
YI. That two Members of the Council shall retire by rotation each year,
but shall be eligible for re-election.
YII. That Members pay an Annual Subscription of Ten Shillings (due
on the 1st of January), and that the payment of £5 shall constitute a Life
Member.
Vni. That Meetings of the Society be held not less than twice in each
year, one Meeting being an excursion to some place of archaeological interest
in the district.
IX. That at the first Meeting of the Society in each year the Hon. Trea-
surer shall furnish a balance-sheet.
X. That a Journal of the Society be published annually, containing the
Proceedings and a column for local Notes and Queries, which shall be sub-
mitted to the Council for their approval.
XL That the Meetings of the year be fixed by the Council, due notice of
the dates of the Meetings being given to Members.
XII. That Members be at liberty to introduce visitors at the Meetings of
the Society.
XIII. That no Member shall receive The Journal whose Subscription for
the previous year has not been paid.
E ^
Lord Edward FitzGerald
(b. 15th Oct., 1763; (1. 4th June. 179H).
From ft "Water-colour, 4j in. by 3J in., by Horace Hone, in the Duke of Leinater's
posijcssion at Carton.
litml Edwanl's Hi^atiire,
AN ACCOUNT OF THE
ARREST OF LORD EDWARD FITZGERALD.
[Contributed by LORD FREDERICK FITZGERALD.]
THIS extract is takeD from the original narrative written by
Mr. Nicholas Murphy, at whose house (now No. 151 Thomas
Street) Lord Edward FitzGerald was arrested. The narrative is
dated 29th November, 1881, and is now in the possession of the
Dake of Leinster, at Carton.
Murphy was confined in Newgate as a state prisoner, without
being brought to trial, for fifty-five weeks. During this time his
house was occupied as a barrack, and all his goods were looted
or destroyed.
F. FitzGerald.
"Arrest of the Late Lord Edward FitzGerald.
"On the night of Friday, the 18th of May, 1798, Lord Edward
FitzGerald came to my house. No. 153 Thomas Street, in com-
pany with a lady,^ about the hour of ten or eleven o'clock at
night. I did expect him the previous evening, and the reason
I state this is, that a friend of his came to me, and requested
that I would receive him, as he wished to move from where he
was at present. I was getting the house cleaned down and
scoured, and I brought his friend in, and he saw the persons
employed as I told him ; he mentioned that it was not intended
to remove him immediately, but said, ' I think a week or ten
' A Mrs. Moore, in whose husband's house, No. 119 Thomas Street,
I/>rd Edward had been previously concealed.
3 so AN ACCOUNT OF THE
days would answer.' I assented, and indeed with reluctance.
However, I made no mention of that. In a few days preyions
to Lord Edward's coming the Government had offered One
Thousand Pounds Howard for his apprehension. I certainly felt
very uneasy at this circumstance, and I wished very much to see
Lord Edward's friend, and where to see him I did not know.
As a man of honour I wished to keep my word, and I could not
think of refusing him admittance when he came. Unfortunately
for him and myself, I did so. I expected him on Thursday, but
he did not come till Friday, 18th May, '98. I perceived he looked
very bad from what he appeared when I saw him before. The
lady that came with him did not stay long, and I made a tender
of my services to go home with her as she lived in the neigh-
bourhood. There was a person we met on our way that I believe
was waiting for her. I had some knowledge of him myself, so
I retuined to the house with a troubled mind.
" Lord Edward told me he was very bad with a cold, and it was
easy to perceive it. I had procured for him some whey, and put
some sherry wine in it. At this time he appeared quite tranquil,
and went up to the room intended for him ; the back room in the
attic story. In the morning he came down to breakfast, and
appeared better than the night before. The friend that spoke
to me concerning him came, I believe, about eleven o'clock ;
then it came out for the first time an account of the rencontre
that took place the night before between Ldi^d Edward's party
and Major Sirr's.^ It *s perfectly clear in my numble judgment
that Major Sirr had known of his removal and the direction that
he intended to take; for his party and Lord Edward's party
came in contact in a place called Island Street, the lower end oif
Watling Street ; they there met, and a skirmish took place, and
in the confusion Lord Edward got off. However, one of the
party ^ was taken, but could not, I believe, be identified. I
found my situation now very painful, but nothing to what it was
afterwards.
" In the course of the day (Saturday, 19th) a guard of soldiers,
and I believe Major Swan, Major Sirr, a Mr. Medlicot, and
another, were making a search at a Mr. Moore, Yellow Lion, in
Thomas Street. A friend came and mentioned the circumstance
to me. I immediately mentioned it to Lord E., and had him
conveyed out of the house in a valley of one of the warehouses.
While I was doing this, Mr. N.* came and inquired of the
girl if I was at home. I believe she said not. * Bid him be
* The Town Major. ^ William M*Cabe. ' I.e., Samuel Neilson.
ARREST OK LORD EDWARD FITZGERALD. 35 1
cautious/ I think, was what she told me he said. I considered
that conduct very ill-timed ; however, I am led to believe it was
well-intended. On Saturday morning, the day of the arrest, there
came a single rap of the door. I opened it myself, and a woman
with a bundle appeared, and inquired if that was Mr. M.^
I said it was ; she informed me she came from Mrs. M.,^
and was desired to leave that bundle there. I knew not what it
contained, but to my surprise, when I opened it, I found it to be a
uniform of a very beautiful green colour, gimpt or braided down
the front, with crimson or rose-colour cuffs, and a cape. There
were two dresses — one a long-skirted coat, vest and pantaloons ;
the other a short jacket that came round quite close, and braided
in front; there was also a pair of overalls that buttoned from
the hip to the ankle, with, I think, black Spanish leather inside ;
I suppose they were intended for riding. The bundle contained
a cap of a very fanciful description, extremely attractive, formed
exactly like a sugar-loaf, or, as Mr. Moore says, conically ; that
part that went round the forehead green, the upper part crimson,
with a large silk tassel, and would incline one side or the other
occasionally when on the head. After placing Lord £. in the
valley of the warehouse, I came down in a little time, and stood
at the gate ; the soldiers still at Mr. M.* I perceived four persons
walking in the middle of the street, some of them in uniform ; I
believe Yeomen. I believe Major Swan, Captain Medlicot,*
4&C., was of the party. Toward four o'clock Lord E. came down
to dinner. Everything was supposed to be still now at this time.
S. N.' came to see us ; dinner nearly ready ; I asked S. N. to
stay and dine, which he accepted. Nothing particular occurred
except speaking on a variety of subjects, when Mr. N., as if
something struck him, immediately leaving us together. There
was very little wine taken ; Lord E. was very abstemious ; in a
short time I went out. Now the tragedy commenced. I wished
to leave Lord E. to himself. I was absent, I suppose, about an
hour ; I came to the room where we dined, being the back draw-
ing-room. He was not there. I went to the sleeping-room.
He was in bed. It was at this time about seven o clock. I asked
him to come down to tea. I was not in the room three minutes
when in came Major Swan and a person following him with a
soldier's jacket, and a sword in his hand ; he wore a round cap.
When I saw Major Swan, I was thunderstruck. I put myself
before him, and asked his business. He looked over me and saw
• Murphy. '^ Moore. * Moore's.
^ Of the City of Dublin Militia. '* Samuel Neilson.
35^2 AN ACCOUNT OF THE
Lord £. in the bed. He pushed by me qaickly, and Lord £.,
seeing him, sprang up instantly, and drew a dagger which he
carried about him, and wounded Major Swan slightly, I believe.
Major Swan had a pistol which he fired without effect ; he imme-
diately turned to me and gave me a severe thrust of the pistol
under the left eye, at the same time desiring the person that
came in with him to take me into custody. I was immediately
taken away to the yard ; there I saw Major Sin* and about six
soldiers of the Dumbarton Fencibles. Major Swan thought proper
to run as fast as he could to the street, and I think he never
looked behind him till he got out of danger, and he was then
parading the flags, exhibiting his linen, which was stained with
blood. Mr. Ryan supplied Major Swan's place, and came in
contact with Lord E., and was wounded seriously. Major Sirr
at that time came upstairs, and, keeping a respectful distance,
fired a pistol shot at Lord £. in a very deliberate manner, and
wounded him in the upper part of the shoulder. Beinforcements
coming in, Lord £. surrendered after a veiyhard struggle. Lord
Edward was imprisoned in Newgate.
** Two surgeons^ attended daily on Lord E. FitzGerald. It
was supposed, the evening of the day before he died, he was
delirious, as we could hear him with a very strong voice cry out.
' Come on ! come on ! damn you ! come on ! ' He spoke so loud
that the people in the street gathered to listen to him. He
died the next day early in the morning, on the 8rd of June.
The surgeon attended and opened the body. Then he was seen
for the first time by the prisoners. He had about his neck a gold
chain suspending a locket with hair in it. Thus died one of the
bravest of men, from a conviction, I believe, that he wished to
ameliorate the condition of his country. I shall endeavour to
describe his person. I believe he was about 5 feet 7 inches in
height, and a very interesting countenance ; beautiful arched
eyebrows, fine grey eyes, a beautiful nose and high forehead,
thick dark-coloured hair, brown, or inclining to black. I think
he was very like the late Lady Louisa Connolly about the nose
and eyes. Any person he addressed must admire his manner, it
was so candid, so good-natured, and so impregnated with good
feeling ; as playful and humble as a child, as mild and timid as
1 The attendants on Lord Edward were a Mr. Garnett, a Mr. Kinsley,
and Surgeon Leake.
AkREST OF LORD EDWARD FITZGERALD. 353
a lady, and when necessary as brave as a lion. He was altogether
a very nice and elegant formed man. Peace to his manes,'*
Note by Lord Walter FitzGerald.
The two iuforiuers implicated in the betrayal of Lord Edward were
Fi-ancis Higgins (proprietor of The Freeman's Journal, at that time a
paper in the interest of the Government), and Francis Magan, m.a.,
Barrister-at-Law. On the 20th of June, '98, Francis Higgins was paid
the Government reward of £1,000 for Lord Edward's capture.*
Lord Edward's remains were placed in a vault under the East End of
St. Werburgh's Church in Dublin ; and, owing to the then damp state of
these vaults, it became necessary to renew the coffin three times, viz. : —
In February, 1844, by the orders of Lord Edward's daughter, Lady
Campbell ; again, in 1874, by the 4th Duke of Leinster ; and lastly, in
May, 1896, by the Trustees of the Leinster Estates.
* Vide FitzPatrick's ** Secret Service under Pitt.'
lady EdwHrtl Fit^Gerald's Higuaturc.
( 354 )
JOHN LYE, OF CLONAUGH, CO. KILDARE.
By rev. E. O'LEARY, P.P., Balyna, Moyvally, Co. Kildaro.
Part II.^
[From t;he death of John Leigh in 1612, to Anno Domini 1691, when the
property was forfeited to the Crown.]
JOHN LEIGH, the Interpreter, died on the 7th May, 1612,
haying lived an eventful life. He was a clever, astute,
unscrupulous diplomatist, and he was successful. If he never
read Horace, he certainly followed his maxims in all his
schemes of aggrandizement : '' Becte si possis, si non, quo-
cunque modo, rem " — words which have been translated by Pope
as follows : —
** Get wealth and power, if possible, with grace.
If not, by any means get wealth and place."
In his will the Interpreter directed that he should be buried
in the Lady Chapel of the Cathedral, Eildare. At present his
tomb stands outside the restored building in the external angle
between the chancel and the north transept, i.e., to the left of
the chancel as you look towards it from the nave. The site of
the tomb, and the inscription thereon, present some knotty
problems for our consideration, and though we may not solve
them to our satisfaction, they are too interesting to pass over
unnoticed. It is worthy of remark that the late restorations at
the cathedral do not include the Lady Chapel, neither is
it recorded that any foundations of such a chapel were found in
the neighbourhood of the tomb. Probably, therefore, the Lady
Chapel at Kildare occupied the place which it usually did in the
old cathedrals, viz., behind the high altar, at the extremity of
the chancel, and under the eastern window. If so, were Leigh's
remains and tomb ever placed inside; and if they were, why
were they subsequently removed? These are questions for
which we have no satisfactory answer, and the inscription on the
tomb presents another problem. The epitaph contains no
eulogy, but only a prayer for the repose of the souls of himself
and his wife, and the date of his death. This date runs in
' For first Paper see vol. ii, jjage 133, of this Journal.
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JOHN LYE, OK CLONAUGH, CO. KILDARE. 355
a line up the centre of the tomb from foot to head, with the
name Nicholas Hely before, and John Ly after, the date :
" Nicol. Hell, datum die. May vii, 1612. Johannis Ly."
Why these names are there is not very apparent, unless they
were the persons intrusted to place the correct date of death on
the tomb after the event, and to testify to the same by their
names. John Ly was his son and heir, Nicholas Hely was,
perhaps, a clergyman. All the rest of the inscription runs
round the edge of the tomb. " Orate pro," &c. — " Pray for the
souls of John Lye of Rathbride, Esquire, and Amy FitzGerald,
his wife. We commend our souls into the hands of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ."
But now comes the amusing part of our inquiry. His wife
was not dead at all at this time, but very much alive indeed.
It is stated that Lye had this tomb prepared with its inscription
before his death, and that a sum of money was left yearly from
house property in the town of Eildare to keep the tomb in
repair.^ Why did he put his living wife's name on the tomb,
and ask a prayer for the repose of her soul ? This is the
problem, and the only solution I can offer is, that the wily old
diplomatist did it with the view of preventing her marrying
again. And if so, what a comedy does not John Leigh's tomb
hand down to posterity. She must have persuaded the dying
man that the thought of the second marriage would be an
abomination ; that when he was dead she would be dead to this
world, and when he was laid in the tomb, her heart would be
laid there beside him.
Imagination pictures her whispering to her dying spouse
such sentiments of heartfelt devotion as were afterwards clothed
in verse by the poet Moore — " That her heart in his grave was
lying," " Nor long will his love stay behind him." We can
imagine the old man thanking her for her love, and then
making the artful suggestion that if her heart was to lie in his
tomb, it would be no harm to put her name on the stone above
it. He evidently believed that the way to pin her to her word
was to put her name on the grave-stone along with his own,
and that common decency would keep her from a second
marriage, when a tomb had been already erected to her memory,
with a prayer for the repose of her soul.
But '* the best-laid schemes o' mice and men gang aft
a-gley;" and so, for once, John Leigh's calculations went utterly
wrong, for — " tell it not in Gath " — she married again, sure
' Mr. Brophy'8 Paper on the Interpreter.
356 JOHN LYE, OF CLONAUGlI, CO. KILDARE.
euough, though she was the mother of iiiue children, iucluding
six unmarried daughters, most of them in their teens. Her
second husband was Philip Pilsworth, Gent., of Bert, Co.
Eildare, eldest son of William, Bishop of Kildare.
The comedy is complete when we imagine the bridegroom
bringing his ancient bride to the Cathedral of Eildare after their
marriage, to pay a visit to that tomb which was erected to her
and the Interpreter's memory. John Leigh made her one of
the executors of his will ; he gave her an ample annuity ; he
gave her a remainder in his property ; and for a home he gave
her a choice of any of the residences on his different estates ;
and she repaid him for all his trust and all his love by unlaw-
fully making away with some of the family property the very
year he died, and by inveigling his son and heir, who was still
a minor, to be an accomplice with her in this malfeasance.
How soon she went to work to make a pile for the second
marriage. We may draw our own conclusions whether it was
for love or money that Philip Pilsworth married the widow.
I think it likely that she changed her religion as readily as she
changed her name, and, therefore, very unlikely that her
remains were ever brought back from Bert to rest with her first
husband in Eildare.
As has been said, the Interpreter died May 7th, 1612, and
was succeeded by his son John Leigh. He was a minor at his
father's death, and we have seen how his mother used him as au
accomplice to lay violent hands on the family property, antece-
dent to her second marriage. For this alienation they were
both called to account, but received pardon the year following —
viz., December 14th, 1618. His wife's name was Dowdall, and
the issue of the marriage were two sons and one daughter —
Francis, the heir; Bobert, who gained property afterwards in
Co. Wexford, as shall be referred to further on; and Mabel,
who married James Barnwall in 1675,
Like their grandfather, the Intei*preter, these young men
lived in troubled times, and took part in the stormy politics of
the day. The career of one brought him wealth and position ;
the career of the other ended in ruin. The unlucky man was
Francis, the elder, who espoused the cause of James II; the
lucky fellow was Robert, the younger, who followed the fortunes
of Charles U. And we will direct our attention to the younger
first, as the events of his career come first in the order of time.
Both he and his father were ardent supporters of Charles I and
Charles II, and they had to fly to the Continent during the
protectorate of Cromwell, like so many other followers of Charles.
Mr. Hoare, to whom 1 have made reference in my former Paper,
JOHN LYE, OF CLONAUGH, CO. KILDARE. 357
quotes n document written by this young man after he hjid
gone to live in the Co. Wexford, which gives us interesting
information. It is headed ^' A Chronographical Account of the
Southern Part of the Co. Wexford, written anno 1684, by Robert
Leigh of Rosegarknd, Esq., in that Co." It runs as follows : —
** Rose Garlande, together withe moste parte of that peece, did
anciently belonge to David Nevill, commonly called Barron of Rose
Garlande (for in those dayes, ye cheefe loarde of this place, as well as
others of the same kinde in Englande and Irelande, were summoned to
Parliamonte by ye name of Barron). Ye said Nevill was executed in ye
reign of ye Queen Elizabeth e for treason, and those landes are now greate
parte of the inheritance of Robert Leigh, of Rose Garlande, 2nd son to
John Leigh, of Rathbride, in ye Countye of Kildare, Esq., who for his
loyaltye to his soveraigne, Kinge Charles ye 2nd, was banished into
f oraigne contries by the usurped powers, and there died leavinge ye saide
Robert (Being the only child he had abroad with him) very younge, and a
participant (as well as many more) of his Prince's calamities, till upon
his Majesty's happy Restoracon he returned into England, and in some
years after into this Kingdome againe with markes of his Majostye's
favour and sence of his services."
From this we see that John Leigh and his second son Robert
were banished during the protectorate of Cromwell, and that
John died in exile abroad.^ The following is an extract to the
point from Burke's " Landed Gentry " : —
** Robert, 2nd son of John Leigh, who was abroad with Charles II
during Cromwell's time, and after the Restoration, as a reward for his
faithful and loyal services, got a grant of the Manor of Rosgarland,
Co. Wexford, by general letters patent dated 18th May 1688, & Sept.
9th 1669 ; and by other letters patent, the Manor of Colpe, alias New-
bawn, Longraige, Garry Richard, 3,344 acres, and other lands in the
Counties of Wexford and Kildare."
Mr. Hoare gives a quotation from the above patent as
follows : —
*'The King, being very sensible of the many services performed to
him at all times by Robert Leigh, Esq., bothe in foreign countries in the
time of his exile, and at home since his restoration, in recompense whereof
bestowed on him," &c.
Thus he obtained the Co. Wexford property, which is in the
hands of his descendants to the present day.
Immediately he had settled there he looked about him for a
wife, and from Burke's ''Landed Gentry" we learn that in
October, 1673, he married Margaret, daughter of Caesar Col-
' The orthography of the above " Chronographical " is evidence that
the land of their exile was France.
358 JOHN LYE, OF CLONAUGH, CO. KILDARE.
clough, second Baronet, of Tintem Abbey, Co. Wexford, and
sister and heir of Sir Caesar Colclough, third and last Baronet.
There was no issue of this marriage, and by his will, dated 4th
of May, 1694, and proved the 11th of Jane, 1695, he bequeathed
his estates to his nephew Robert, who was then living in
Rathangan, and was the son of his unfortunate elder brother,
Francis Leigh, of Bathbride.
On the occasion of his marriage he assumed the additional
name and arms of Colclough, and he died on the 27th day of
May, 1695. He was buried at St. Brigid's Cathedral, Eildare,
and the following is the inscription on his tomb : —
HERE LYES THE BODY OF ROBERT LEIGH CX)LCLOVGH ESQE SECOND HON
OF lOHN LEIGH OF RATHBRIDE IN THE COVNTY OF KILDARE ESQE
HE WAH MARIED TO MARGARETT DAVGHTER AND HEIRES OF
SR CAESAR OOLCLOVGH OF TINTERN BARONETT IN THE
COUNTY OF WAXFORD HE DEPARTED THIS LIFE
THE 27 DAY OF MAY, 1695.
Thus disappeared from this mortal scene the second grand-
son of the Interpreter, and we now return to his elder brother.
As has been said, their father, John Leigh, son and heir of the
Interpreter, died in France during the Protectorate of Cromwell.
He died intestate ; and years afterwards, on the 5th May, 1680,
administration was granted to his eldest son Francis. Francis
had been living all along at Bathbride, and had married as early
as 1662. His wife was Judith, daughter of Henry Spenser, and
the issue of the marriage were four sons and one daughter.
Bobert died unmarried in 1724; John, of Dublin, died in 1700;
Arthur, of Friarstown, died unmarried in 1706; Francis became
heir to his uncle Bobert, of Co Wexford, as has been said ;
Judith died unmarried in 1700. During Cromwell's time Francis
Leigh seems to have escaped embroiling himself in the troubles
of the period, and even to have held an important office under
the Crown, being appointed Escheator-General of Leinster by
letters patent, dated 22nd July, 1663. He was also, during
some of these years, M.P. for Kildare. Thus his life sped on
till the Williamite wars broke out, when, taking up the cause of
James II, he was attainted of high treason in 1691, and all his
lands were forfeited to the Crown. By an inquisition, held at
Naas on the 2nd of May, 1692, it was found that Francis Leigh
was attainted of high treason on the 20th of April, 1691, at
which time he was in possession of the town and lands of
Bathbride— 744 acres in the barony of Oflfaly, of Morristown-
biller, Little Morristown, and Ballycrotan, alias Croatenstowne ;
265 acres in the barony of Connell ; of Tacknaven, 313 acres ;
JOHN LYE, OF CLONAUGH, CO. KILDARE. 359
Ballybrack, 281 acres; Kilcaskin, 140 acres; Kilpatrick, 98
acres ; Eilmorebrannagh, 847 acres ; the Castle of Glonaugh,
107 acres ; besides other parcels, all of which were forfeited to
the Crown.
Clonaugh was bought from the tmstees of the forfeited
estates by Sir Henry Echlin, Judge, and second Baron of the
Court of Exchequer. Sir Erasmus Bun*owes is quoted as
saying in the Ulster Journal of Archaology that Francis Leigh,
first burgess, was attainted, and the estates in the Co. Eildare
were purchased by Colonel Charles Yiguoles, a distinguished
refugee, of Portarlington. However this may be as to other
holdings in Eildare, we find Clonaugh in possession of Judge
Echlin in 1721, and bequeathed to his son by will, bearing
date the 29th of January of that year. Clonaugh remained in
possession of the Echlins till modern times, and I purpose to
finish its history in a future Paper.
A family of Lees, who were said to be descendants of the
Intei-preter, lived at Thomastown, half-way between Clonaugh
and Johnstown Bridge. I have heard it stated that it was a
member of this family who brought from Clonaugh to Johns-
town Bridge the cross and sculptured stones to which reference
has been made in my former Paper. This family emigrated to
America about the time of the famine.
In conclusion, I would say that if any member of the
Kildare Archseological Society should be gifted with a taste for
writing romance in either prose or verse, there is ample ground-
work for the same in the history of the troubled times we are
considering. There is fierce and abundant tragedy pourtrayed
in the ruin of so many of the old and respected families of
L*eland ; and for comedy there is the tombstone of the Inter-
preter, with his patent invention for consigning his afflicted
widow to a life of celibacy — an invention which turned out to
be a wretched and laughable failure.
( 36> )
V
CASTLETOWN AND ITS OWNERS.
By lord WALTER FITZGERALD.
AS most of our readers knov, the demesne of Castletown lies
at the northern end of the town of Gelbridge ; in former
times it was known as '' Castleton of Eildrought."
Ages ago, by whom is unknown, a castle was built, probably
near where the present house stands ; in time, the houses of the
retainers and tenants accumulated near it for the sake of the
protection it afforded in those wild times ; hence the " castle
town " arose, and was so called in distinction to the unprotected
*' street towns," or stradballies, as they were called in Irish. In
order to further distinguish it from other " castle towns," the
name of the religious establishment near it was attached, hence
'' Castletown of Kildrought ; " in the same way as at the present
time there are a Castletown Geoghegan, Castletown Moylagh,
Castletown Arra, and many others.^
When the necessity for the thick- walled, fortified " piles " or
castles no longer existed, a more spacious, healthier, and better
lighted mansion took the place of the damp, dark, and uncom-
fortable dwellings of former centuries ; and thus, about 173 years
ago, Castletown House was built by the Right Hon. William
ConoUy, p.c, and Speaker of the Irish House of Commons,
which retained in name alone its connection with the past.
The earliest mention of this place, so far as I have been able
to discover, occurs in a work published in 1828, entitled ** Botu-
lorum Patentium et Clausorum Cancellariae Hiberniae Calen-
darium,'' by which it appears that the Earls of Kildare were
in possession here in the fourteenth century. The following
extract is a translation from the contracted Latin : —
** The Sftnie Marquis [i.e , Robert de Vere, Earl of Bedford and
Marquis of Dublin], at the request of Maurice fitzThouias [FitssGerald,
' There are fifty to wnlands in Ireland chilled solely "Castletown,"
362 CASTLETOWN AND ITS OWNERS.
4th Earl of KildareJ, and for service, allows Richard Arbloster, vicar of
Laraghbrune, and John Ront, parson of the church of Cromith, that they
may enfeeoff the said Maurice and his heirs, of the manors of Kyl-
droght, Lieucan^ and Kylmacridoc, which they held of the said Marquis
in capite," &c.
Dated, Dunboyne, 6th May, 1386.
From this period, to the middle of the sixteenth century, very
little mention is made of Castletown in the State Papers. How-
ever, it still remained in the possession of the Earls of Eildare^
until it was forfeited to the Grown hy the rebellion of the Silken
Thomas (the 10th Earl of Eildare), along with his other estates,
in 1585.
By an (unpublished Exchequer) Inquisition,^ taken at Naas
in the year 1585, we are informed that a Sir John FitzOerald,
formerly of Castletown of Eildrought, died seised in fee of the
Manor of Kildrought, which on his death descended to his son
and heir Gerald, lately dead ; and that then Gerald's brother
and heir, Edward, inherited it ; but now the manor had reverted
to the Crown on account of Edward's joining in the rebellion of
the Silken Thomas, for which he was outlawed.
In a letter' dated the 12th of March, 1585, this same Edward
is thus mentioned among other items of news : —
** Edward FitzGerald, son and heire to Sir John FitzGerald, and
brother by the mother to that arrant traitor John Bumell of Ballygriffen
I in the Co. Dublin], is in prison, indicted for high treason." [For which
le was put to death.]
* Vide Exchequer Inquisition of the Co. Kildare, No. 3, of Henry
VIII, in the Record Office.
This Sir John FitzGerald, Knt., died about the commencement of the
sixteenth century ; he is styled of the Geraldines of Cloncurry, County
Kildare (in Morrin's Calendar of Rolls), and was married to Joan,
daughter of John Talbot of Dardestown, in the County Meath. She
afterwards married Robert Bumell of Balgriffin, Co. Dublin, whose son
(by her) John was implicated in the Silken Thomas Rebellion.
This Sir John must not be confused with another Sir John Fitz-
Gerald, also living about the same time ; the latter was unmarried, was a
Knight of St. John, an uncle of the Silken Thomas, and was hanged at
Tyburn on the 3rd of February, 1537.
Lodge makes out the former Sir John to have been an illegitimate
son of Thomas, the 7th Earl of Kildare, by Dorothy O'More, and to
have been the ancestor of several of the County Kildare families of Fitz-
Gerald outlawed in 1641.
* Vide p. 228, vol. iii, of the ** State Papers of Henry VIII,"
CASTLETOWN AND ITS OWNERS. 363
About this period there was residing at Castletown a William
Alen, brother to Sir John Alen, Chancellor of Ireland, who
had acquired the recently dissolved Abbey of St. Wolstans,
which lay on the opposite bank of the LifFey, and which he
re-named '' Alen's Court ; " another of his brothers was Thomas
Alen, Clerk of the Hanaper, of Eilheale (or Kilteel, as it is now
called) in this county, who by his wife, Mary Rawson, was
ancestor of the Alens of Bishop's Court. These brothers were
the first of their name in Ireland^ and were descended from the
Alens^ of Coteshall, in Norfolk. There is on record a letter
from five of the Alen family (all of whom were bitter enemies of
the Geraldines), which was addressed to their '' right worshipful
brother, Mr. Thomas Alen, Warden of the College of Youghyll"
(afterwards of Kilteel), which was *^ written in all haste at
Youghyll in Irland, the 17th of May, 1534, by your brethren "
(and signed by), Bichard Alen, John Alen (Master of the Rolls),
Robert Alen, Jasper Alen, and Mellsher Alen.
John Alen, Archbishop of Dublin, who was murdered on the
28th July, 153 i, by two yeomen of Dublin — John Teeling and
Nicholas Wafer — who were followers of the Silken Thomas, was
a cousin of the above-named brothers, and a brother of Thomas
Alen, of Rayleigh, in Essex.'
William Alen of '' Castleton of Kildroght" married Margaret
• . . and from him were descended the Alens of Palmers-
town, in the Co. Dublin. The date of his death is uncertain,
but it was probably in 1559. His will is preserved in the
Record Office in Dublin ; it is here given line for line and word
for word (except that the contractions are lengthened) as a
specimen of the class of wills in vogue in the middle of the
sixteenth century : —
In the Name of the father, the son, and the holy goste, I Wyll"
Alen of Caatelton of Kyldroght in the countie of Kyldare, hoole of
mynde and in perfecte memory the xvi day of October in the yere
of christes incamacyon after our computacyon a thousande fyve hun-
dreth fiftie and eight, doo make my wylle and testament as foloweth —
ffyrst. I commende my sowle to almighty god the creator of me, and
' These Alens had no connection with the Aliens, created Viscount
Allen in 1717 ; the latter were a Dublin family, and lived in a mansion
built by them at Mullinahack, called Allen's Court, too. The fourth
Viscount lived at Punchestown, Co. Kildarc.
* Vide ''Kilkenny Archujological Journal," vol. v (1858).
364 CASTLETOWN AND ITS OWNERS.
my body to be buryede in the churche of Donaghcompor where
it shall plese my broder S' John Alen, and to the reparacyon of
the sayd churche I give ten shillings stirlinge after Irland rate,
and to my paryshe churche of Kyldroght other ten shillings.
And I ordeyne and constitute of this my laste wyll and testament my
broder S' John Alen Knyght, late lord chancellor of Irland,
and my broder Thomas Alen clerke of thannaper my ex-
ecutors, and wyll that after my decesse my goodes and cattails
be by them dy vyd into three parts wherof won parte I wyll
that Margret my wyffe shall have as due to her for her
portyon. Annother parte to my chyldeme John Alen, Thomas
Alen, Mathewe Alen, Symone Alen, and Crystofer Alen, and
my doghters Kateryne and Anne Alen, And the thyrd parte
after my buryall aud funeral) doon, debtes, and legacyes payed, to
be dyvyd by my sayde bretherne in two partes wherof
won parte I do give to my sayd wyffe and thother parte to
my sayd chyldeme to be equally distribute amongst them
by my sayd executors. And I wyll if any of my sayd
chyldeme decesse befor manage that his or her por-
cyon. and legacy of my goods not spent before uiK>n
hym or her so dyenge or-as moche as shall remayne
then unspent, be by my sayd executors, or the longest
lyvd of them, or the executors or assigns of the . . .
lyvd of them, equally distributed amongs the . . .
And lyko order I wyll to be . . .
so shall dye before mariage . . .
thage of xviii or the wom . . .
[Page 2.]
I wylle that my sayd wyfe as longe as she kepe hersylf
soole and unmaryed upon securytye at my executors dyscratyon sh-
all have as well the custodye of my sayd chyldeme as thoccupy-
nge of theyr portyone of my goodes and ciittalls. And if she kei>e nott
herself soole, or as sone as she mary I wyll my sayd bredeme
my executors and the longer lyvd of them or ther tissignes shall ha-
ve the kepyng both of my sayd chyldem and ther portyons of my
goodes and cattails. I gyve my wyfe all my napery,' pewter,' and
candelstickes. I bequeth and gyve to M'. Meyler Hosey,* steward
to my lord of Kyldare my beste gowne. To my broder Tho-
mas my seconde gowne. The reste of my apjiarell I gyve to iny
Sonne John. I bequeth to my broder Thomas chyldern x . . . lams
to be dyvyd amonges them at ther fathers dyscretyone. I bequeth
*I.e., liousehold linen. *I.e., pewter plates, dishes, «S:c.
^ The following entry occurs in the Annals of Lough C^ : —
**A.D. 1582. The Earl of Cill-dara's Steward, MeilerHus^, died in the
beginning of this year." (Meyler Hussey was of Mulhussy, Co. Meath.)
i
CASTLETOWN AND ITS OWNERS. 365
allso to my broder S» John Alen Knyght my . . . and my
payre of Andyemes* with a chafynge dysh* . . . and to my
neeso his doghter Anne Alen an incalfe cowe. Item. I wyll that Anne
Artor, that noryshyth^ my sonn crystofer Alen ... an incalfe
cowe, the ecreese of the same to be reservyd from tyme to tyme
as she calveth to my sayd sonn crystofer. Item. I bequeth manys
Smythe of Lucan, that norysheth my sonn Symone Alen an incalfe
cowe and a heyfer, the increase of them reserved to my sayd sonn
Symone as before of thother. Item. I bequeth to davy browne that
norysheth my sonn mathewe Alen an incalfe cowe, the increase
therof lykewyse reserved to my sayd sonn mathewe. Item. I gyve
to belle* newell a sowe. Also I gyve the vicare of Kyldroght thre
shyllyngs that he owthe me. And to oldo Joharolde a peake of wh-
ete that he owthe me. And a fryese cote f urder I bequeth
to my base sonn Jacke Alen. Present at the de-
claratyon of this my laste wyll and testament S' Symone
han-y vicar of Kyldroght, Wyllyam Omulmoy, Geffry
Walshe and others.
. . . the inventorie of his goodes foloweth. ffyrste. in redy mo-
. . . ohn Shelton owth iiii li styrlynge. Item. Olyver
. . . sheen of S* Mary Abbaye vi li ii' viii*
. . . of Kylmacredoke xlv' x** ob' styrlynge
[Page 3.]
The chiefe rent of Kyldroght the same terme xvi* styrlynge
fFor the chiefe rent of the Moretcm the same terme viii'
X* styrlynge. Master Meyler Hosey oweth xxx fy ve li
styrlynge. Upon piers Wesly Ixvi* viii* styrlynge. Rychard
Cowlocke of Dublin iiii li v* styrlynge. Item. Wynter of Dublin
caatell oweth for x peckes of dreye malte Ix' sterlinge
Wyllyam ffyan of lexlyp oweth iiii peckes whete. Thomas
Relyke late myller of Kyldroght mylle in arere for the sayd
my lie in wheete xxxvi peckes, he allso in woote malte^ and
cruslagh' xl peckes. The corne in the hagarde by estymacyon
Ix cople whych wyth the haye pryced at clxxx li styrlynge.
wynter corne in grounde by estymacyon Ixx acres valued
at xl li styrlynge. flfowre score and ix kyne bulles oxen heyf-
ers and calves pryced won with annothcr at xvi' styr. Ixv li per hasten (?)
xxiii garrans* with an hakney pryced at IviZi str. tfoure score
and V swyne valued at xx li str. tfyften score and x shepe valu-
ed at xxx li str. Item, an broken hacbut of crocke^ xiii' iiii*
' I.e , dogs and other fire-irons. * I.e., a warming-pan.
'I.e., that fosters. * Isabel.
*I.e., obolus, a halfpenny. * I.e., oaten malt.
'Probably the Irish name for grain in some form of the malting
process.
" Cart-horses.
^ A hacbut was an arquebus, the fire-arm of the period ; what "of
crocko '* means is puzzling.
366 CASTLETOWN AND ITS OWNERS.
Brasse potts, pannes, barnesse tryppets' and kytchen stuffs valued
at xxii li str. A Panne in gage* for xl* str. Axtyllery and in-
struments to the plowe and husbandry estemed at vii li vi* str.
Cartes & carte whels with ther necessaryes worth cvi' styrlynge
A carpet and six quishens^ worth Ixvi' viii* cubbordes
and tables worth x li iii' iiii* ffowrmes and chayrs xxiii'
iiii*. The Beddys and beddynge cvi' viii* styrlynge. A sylver
cupe and fyve small sylver spones valued at iiii li str. hys apparell
was bequethed to his sonne and frends. hys naperye, pewter,
candelstycks bequethed to his wyffe. Deltes owynge by
hym. ffyrst for the rent of the manor of Kyldroght &
Castellton for the laste michelmas terme xviii li xv' iiii*
tfor the rent of Tyrells' freholde in Kyldr. . . .
Twelve shyles viii* ffor the rent
-olde the same fine x' iiii* It*
rent of S' John Alen's hou
xiii' iiii* styrlynge.
[Page 4 is a continuation of the above, and mostly illegible owing to stains
on the paper.]
The above will appears to be a very old copy of the orif^nal,
as the signatures are not on it. The writing is good, bat
faint, and some of the letters — such as the ** s's," "h*s/' *'r'8,"
" c's,'* &c., are of an obsolete form. The paper is of a bad
quality, written on both sides, much stained, and has the right
hand bottom corner of each page torn off; hence the dotted
portion in the copy given above. My thanks are due to Mr.
M. J. M'Enery, of the Record Office, for his assistance to me in
deciphering the writing.
In the year 1554, Queen Mary restored to Gerald, the 11th
Earl of Kildare, his titles and estates which had been forfeited
twenty years previously by the rebellion of his half-brother the
Silken Thomas. Writing from Maynooth, on the 7th of May,
1557, to the Lord Deputy, the 11th Earl requested a confirma-
tion by Parliament of '* an Assurance,^' which he had passed to
his servant Gerald Sutton, and his assigns for ever, of the Manor
of Castleton Kildrought, Braljsshan, Ballecrotan, Moristown-
* Barnesse = brandreth, a sort of gridiron. Tryppets = tripods. This
instrument was therefore probably some kitchen utensil consisting of an
iron grating supported on iron legs over the tire.
''I.e., in |)awn.
»I.e., cushions. My thanks are due to Mr. James Mills of the
Jlecord Oflice for the above explanations.
CASTLETOWN AND ITS OWNERS. 367
Bjllei% and certain other lands also iu the Co. Eildare/ A
little farther on it will be seen that the Earl was not justified
in what he did.
In 1587 a letter was written by Qaeen Elizabeth to the
Lord Depnty, directing the restoration of the Manor of Eil-
drought to Thomas FitzGerald of Lackagh ^ (son of Sir Maurice
FitzGerald, Knt., deceased in 1575), who claimed*' as lawful
heir thereunto, had not the Earl of Kildare, Gerald FitzGerald,
then Deputy of Ireland, who died iu the Tower of London (on
the 12th December, 1534), wrongfully disseised his grand-
father (i.e., Thomas FitzGerald of Lackagh, who died on the
14th August, 15S8), and Lord Thomas FitzGerald, son of the
Earl, having been attainted of treason, their possessions came to
the Crown, and so remained until restitution of the Earldom
was made (in 1554) to the father (Gerald, the 11th Earl) of the
present Earl (Henry, the 12th Earl), who sold the Manor to
Garrett Sutton. The latter dying (in 1574) left it to David
Sutton^ his son, which David, in the time of Lord Grey (Lord
Deputy of Ireland), was attainted of treason (having in 1580
joined in Ballinglass's rebellion), whereby the premises again
came into the possession of Her Majesty. Dated 14th August,
1586."^
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries a portion of the
lauds and tenements of the Manor of Kildrought were known
as " Sir Maurice fitzThomas his ffarme,"^ after that member
of the Lackagh family.
The Sutton family, mentioned in the above extract, was one of
the chief families in the county at this time ; one branch was
seated at Richardstown, and the other at Tipper ; from the latter
the Castletown Suttons w*ere sprung. As the arms of these
families are the same, they had a common ancestor ; and judging
by a will of a Tipper Sutton, in which the property is left in
remainder to the Suttons of " Ballykeroke '' in the County
Wexford, they originally belonged to the latter county.
The annexed pedigree shows the principal members of the
Suttons of Castletown, and their relationship with those of
Tipper.
1 »*Morriii'd Calendar," p. 50(>, vol. i.
' Vide pp. 245 to 264, vol. i, of The Journal for an account of this
family.
* Vide p. 154, vol. ii, of **Morrin'8 Calendar.'*
* lb., p. 627, vol. ii, and in Sir Walter Dougan's will, dated 14th
December, 1626.
i
\M) ITS OWNERS.
369
iirjt fntitt: 01 n f^ - :
ii i[k: ir. ail
Ie 15^ ft k:-' r -
Lord Depot;, diisr: 1
ironjfc to Iiia.^ : •-„
Fitzfieniii. L: la^-
beir thcram^.. L
UifiE iJewnrcirt.
the 12tL iW. .
iiiber u.. laa :
14thABgB::;v
W. lira: If _ ;._
lilt IrWL. E j^
uTig iBMt L ::
present L. jn-
Snttoi, i:. I.. n_
IleptR- '.'is^
joittn. r ^
of ur :jJ"
manor of Kildrought, Kilmacre-
I'-mill, as well as the castle, and
nd tenements, as well temporal
him, his heirs, and assigns for
I ward FitzGerald and Thomas
, on the 10th of November, 1587,
to Thomas Alen, of Alenscourt,
Lyons, and Edward Dongan, of
so of John Dongan, of Dublin,
0 his sons, Walter, William, and
John Dongan made his will, and
ist, 1592, his son and heir Walter
years and nine months.
ownership of Castletown to the
1 possession was John Dongan, of
Foster. By her be had four sons,
. r ; the second, William, Recorder
1. of Kiltaghan, near Bathangan ;
' iritVenrath, Co. Kildare.
>sseckstown, succeeded his father
lionet on the •23rd October, 1623,
In his will he styles himself of
tliorein expresses a wish to be
f Kildrought. By his wife Jane,
of Kilbride, in the Co. Meath, he
111 the eldest son was Sir John.
' owne, married Mary, daughter of
\ plains that this Edward FitzGerald
raid, K", of Lackagh, who died in
manor in consideration that those
rut right of Thomas FitzGerald, his
ity Kildare Chancery Inquisition, the
" cHstle, one courtyard {aula\ a mill
iai;es (or farm buildings), 230 acres,
ill Castletown of Kildroght ; two
'..t<nk; 00 mri'H calk-d Aybner'n
H tf Kildarc'K fsu'iii ill Kilvlmi^lit^ ?i
(wliitiU irt Ji townlnixil iioL iiMrt in
r*%rk in Cult on (Iriiutsnt), jhuI Lhi!
'iLiinr ut Castictiivi'i! of Kiklrtii^ht
368 CASTLETOWN AND ITS OWNERS.
For the next few years the history of Castletown is given in
an Exchequer Inquisition^^ taken in Naas in 1594 : it is to the
following effect : —
That Queen Elizabeth was, in right of her crown,
seised of the Manor of Kildrought, alias Castleton-Kil-
drought, Eilmacredock, and one water-mill in Kildrought,
all in the County Kildare.
That by letters patent, dated the 23rd August, 1582,
she granted to Edward Byrne, of Cloughran-Swords, in
the County Dublin, the aforesaid town of Castle ton,
near Kildrought, to hold to him and his assigns for a
term of thirty-one years.
That by other letters patent, dated the 5th July,
1583, she granted the said town of Castleton to Sir
Henry Warren and his assigns for a term of forty years,
to commence at the end of Edward Byrne's lease.'
(This Sir Henry Warren, Knt., was the son of Humfrey
Warynge, or Warren ; he married Alice, daughter of
Adam Loftus, the Lord Chancellor.)
That by other letters patent, dated 16th July, 1583,
she gi*anted to John Cusack, of Elistown-Bead, gent, the
water-mill, water-course, and other portions within the
Manor of Kildrought, for a terra of thirty years.
That by other letters patent dated 25th July, 1585,
she granted to Galfrey Fenton all the messuages, lands,
and tenements in the town of the aforesaid Kilmacre-
dock, for a term of twenty-one years.
That afterwards, by letters patent, dated at Dublin the
28th of June, 1587, the Queen gi-anted to Edward Fitz-
* Co. Kildare Exchecjuer Inquisition, No. 35 of Elizabeth.
^ Fiant No. 4181 of Elizabeth states that a lease in 1582 was granted to
Henry Warren, of Ballybritten, gent., of the Castle (the precinct con-
taining three acres, and including a hall built after the Irish or country
manner, covered with straw) and lands of Castleton of Kildroght, Sir
Moriah fitz Thomas's farm, parcel of the Manor of Kildroght, iM>s8es-
sions of David Sutt<m attainted. To hold for forty years, at a rent of
£17 6s. 8d., maintaining one English horseman. In consideration of him
and his father Humphry. Henry Wan^en's lease to commence on the
expiration of Eady Burne'a lease, which was for thirty years, and com-
menced in 1582 ; that he should not alien any portion, except to English-
men, and that he shall not charge coyne or liveiy, or other unlawful
impositions.
CASTLETOWN AND ITS OWNERS. 369
Gerald^ the aforesaid manor of Kildronght, Kilmacre-
dock, and the said water-mill, as well as the castle, and
all messaages, lands, and tenements, as well temporal
as spiritual, to hold to him, his heirs, and assigns for
ever.
That the said Edward FitzGerald and Thomas
FitzGerald of Lackagh, on the 10th of November, 1587,
enfeeoffed the premisses to Thomas Alen, of Alenscourt,
gent., John Davies, of Lyons, and Edward Dongan, of
Paynestown, for the nse of John Dongan, of Dublin,
gent., with remainder to his sons, Walter, William, and
Edward, and their heirs.
And that the said John Dongan made his will, and
died on the 8th of August, 1592, his son and heir Walter
being then aged twelve years and nine months.
We have now traced the ownership of Castletown to the
Dongan family in the year 1687."
The first of this family in possession was John Dongan, of
Dublin, who married Margaret Foster. By her he had four sons,
of whom the eldest was Walter ; the second, William, Recorder
of Dublin; the third, Edward, of Eiltaghan, near Rathangan ;
and the last was Thomas, of Griffenrath, Co. Kildare.
Sir Walter Dongan, of Posseckstown, succeeded his father
in 1592 ; he was created a baronet on the 23rd October, 1628,
and died in January, 1627. In his will he styles himself of
Castletown-Kildrought, and therein expresses a wish to be
buried in his parish church of Kildrought. By his wife Jane,
daughter of Robert Rochefort, of Kilbride, in the Co. Meath, he
had a numerous family, of whom the eldest son was Sir John.
Sir John Dongan, of Castletowne, married Mary, daughter of
' Fiant No. 5208 of Elizabeth explains that this Edward FitzGerald
was the son of Sir Maurice FitzGerald, K", of Lackagh, who died in
1575, and that he was granted the manor in consideration that those
premises were shown to be the ancient right of Thomas FitzGerald, his
eldest brother.
" At this time, according to a County Kilda]*e Chancery Inquisition, the
Manor of Castletown consisted of one castle, one courtyard (atUa), a mill
with its pond and mill-race, ten messuages (or farm buildings), 230 acres,
and a fish-weir on the Annii-liftey in Castletown of Kildroght ; two
messuages and 160 acres in Kilmacredock ; 60 acres called Aylmer's
farm, and 200 acres called the Earl of Kildare's farm in Kildroght, a
I>arcell of land in Coole-McThomas (which is a townland not now in
existence, as it is included in the mrk in Carton demesne), and the
Moortown, all of which form the Manor of Castletown of Kildroght
aforesaid.
370 CASTLETOWN AND ITS OWNERS.
Sir William Talbot, Bart., of Carton,^ which he had on lease
from the 14th Earl of Eildare, then living in Maynooth Castle.
Sir John's will was proved in 1663. His eldest son, Sir Walter,
was one of the Confederate Catholics of Kilkenny, but, dying
withoat issue, his brother Sir William became the 4th baronet.
On the 14th of February, 1661, Sir William Dongan was created
Viscount Dongan of Clane, and on the 2nd January, 1685,
Earl of Limerick.^ The Dongans were Jacobites, and at the
Battle of the Boyne, in 1690, the Earl of Limerick fought, as
well as his only son, Walter, who was killed in the battle.
After the treaty of Limerick, signed in October, 1691, the Earl
and his wife, Euphemia (a French lady), left Ireland and retired
to France, thereby forfeiting his great estates. His death took
place in 1698, when his brother. Colonel Thomas Dongan,
succeeded to the Earldom, which became extinct on his death,
on the 14th of December, 1715.
The successors of the Dongan family, about the end of the
seventeenth century, were the Couollys.
The first of the name in the place was the Right Honourable
William Conolly, who purchased the property, and built the
' Gerald, the 14th Earl of Kildare, about the beginning of the seventeenth
century, granted a lease of Carton to Sir William T»llx)t, son of Robert,
thii-d son of Sir Thomas Tall)ot of Malahide, Bart., by whom a house
was built at Carton, which is the nucleus of the present mansion. The
Funeral Entry (copied from vol. vi, p. 29) given below deals with this
Sir William :—
**S'. William Talbott of Cartoune, in the County of Kildare,
Baronet, deceased the xvi. of March, W3S ; he had to wife, Alsoii,
daughter of John Netterviell of Casteltoune, in the County of
Meath, Escjuire, by whom he left issue, Sir Robert Talbott,
Baronet, and hath to wife, Grace, daughter of y* right Ho**' 8'
George Calvert, K* Lord Calvert, Baron of Baltimore ; John
Talbott, Garret Talbott, who had to wife, Margaret, daugliter of
Henry Gaidon of Dublin, Gent. ; James Talbott, Thomas Talbott,
Peter Talbott, Gilbert Talbott, Richard Talbott (afterwards created
Duke of Tyrconnell) ; Mary, maried to Sir John Dongan, Baronet ;
Briget, maried to John Gaidon of Irishtowne, in the County of
Kildare, Esquire ; Margaret, married to Henry Talbot of Templeoge,
in the County of Dublin, Esquire ; Frances, Elizabeth, Jane,
Katherine, and Eleanor."
He was buried in the Church of Maynooth, in the Parish of Laragh-
brene, the 1st of April, 1633.
^ It is a curious coincidence that, at the time the Kildare ArchaH)logica]
Society visited Castletown in September, 1896, they passed a house
between ** the new Bridge " and Castletown demesne in which was
residing an Earl of Limerick, though in no way connected with the
Dongans — former Earls of Limerick.
CASTLETOWN AND ITS OWNERS. 37 1
present house in 1725.^ He was Speaker of the Irish House of
Commons from the year 1715 to 1729, when he resigned his
post through illness, and died on the 29th of October in that
year. He had been sworn in ten times as Lord Justice of
Ireland.
His wife was Catherine, eldest daughter of Sir Albert
Conyngham, a Williamite general of Ordnance in Ireland,
ancestor of the present Marquess Conyngham of Slane Castle,
in the Co. Meath. At his funeral, it is said, the custom of
wearing white linen scarves was first adopted, in order to
encourage the Irish Linen Manufacture.^
His wife, who survived him for twenty-three years, erected
a magnificent monument over his vault in the old churchyard of
Kildrought, which is situated at the southern end of the town
of Celbridge, and is locally known as *' the Tea-lane church-
yard."
This monument is of great size, and consists of a handsome
pediment supported on four pillars. Under it, on the base, recline
two life-size figures in the costume of the period ; they represent
William Conolly and Catherine Conyngham ; the sculpturing is
almost entirely in white marble. In the front of the pediment
is a coat of aims — the Conolly impaled with the Conyngham,
viz. : —
Argent, on a saltire engrailed sable, five escallops of
the field ; for Conolly.
Argent, a shake-fork, between three mullets, sable;
for Conyngham.
On the slab in the back of the monument is a long inscrip-
tion in Latin, of which the following is a translation^ : —
•' H. S. William Connolly, who attained as a reward of his merits
the highest honours, was for about twenty years a Commissioner of the
Revenue iu the reigns of Queen Anne and George I, and was a Privy
Councillor in the reign of George II. He was twice unanimously elected
Speaker of the House of Commons iu the Parliament of this Realm, and
ten times held the office of Lord Justice of Ireland, being the first to whom
both the sovereign and the people entrusted at the same time the pro-
tection of their privileges with the happiest result. As a subject he was
loyal ; as a citizen, patriotic.
**In perilous times he not once or twice proved that he served his
' This date is to be seen on the leaden heads of the gutter water
pipes on the S.-W. side of the house.
* " Archdall's Lodge's Peerage," vol. vii, p. 184.
* Vide **Col. Vigors's Report on the Memorials of the Dead, Ire.,"
vol. i, p. 415.
Thf Upper abd Lowku Poktioxs of thk ('oxoi.r.v Mo5rMF.Ni
IN' TUF. Tka-lake Chukchvakd, Ckkbkiuge.
From a Photoprr«i)h ])y W. FitzG.
CASTLETOWN AND ITS OWNERS. 373
country without forgetting his duty to his king, and served his king
without forgetting what was due to his country. Finn, resohite, just,
wise, formed by nature for the life of a statesman, his administraticm of
affairs was crowned with success to the great advantage of the Common-
wealth. He made a modest though splendid use of the great riches he
had honestly aci|uired, distin^ished as he was alike for the courtesy,
integrity, and munificence of his disposition. Kind-hearted towards all
men, he was loyal to his friends, whom he bound to himself in great
numbers, and retained their friendship when once he had gained it.
Wishing to do good even after his death, he gave directions by his will that
a building should be erected on the adjacent lands for the maintenance
and education of the children of the poor, and he endowetl it for ever with
large revenues. ' Having lived long enough to satisfy the claims of nature
and his fame, he died on the 29th of October, in the year of our Lord
1729, in the sixty-seventh year of his age .
'* Catherine, of the Conyngham family, has erected this monument
to her most worthy husband."
Thomas Carter (as is recorded on the marble) was the
sculptor of this fine piece of work ; at the present time this
monument, which would be an ornament to any cathedral, is
hid away in a plain windowless building close to the ruins of
Kildrought Church, the tower portion of which is now fitted up
as a vault, belonging to the Maunsell family of Oakley Park. A
small portion of the east end of the church is still standing ; it
contains the east window, which was round-headed and of three
lights ; a small portion of the tracery in the upper portion is
still in situ.
William Couolly having no children, his heir was his nephew
William Conolly, of Stratton Hall in Stafibrdshire, who married
Lady Anne Wentworth, daughter of Thomas, 3rd Earl of Straf-
ford ; on his death in 1754, he was succeeded at Castletown
by his son the Right Honourable Thomas Conolly, a Privy
Councillor in Ireland.
Thomas Conolly was Master of Foxhounds in the County
Kildare. In connection with Castletown there is a legend
describing how, on one occasion, after a hard day's hunting over
a stiff country. Squire Tom Conolly entertained a stranger at
dinner who had won his admiration by the way he had ridden
* In his will he entrusts his wife, his nephew William Conolly, the
Right Rev. Arthur (Price), Lord Bishop of Clonfert and Kimacduagh, the
Rt. Honble. Marmaduke Coghil, Thomas Marlay, Escj. , Attorney -General,
and the Rev. George Marlay, Vicar of Kildrought, with the sum of £500
sterling, for the erection of a building in or near the town of Cel bridge,
for the reception of forty orphans or other poor children ; and he leaves a
yearly sum of £250 (issuing from the manor, town, and lands of Rath-
famham, Co. Dublin) for theii* maintenance and education in the Linen
or Hempen Manufacture, or in Husbandry.
The Right Hon. Thomas Conolly,
d. 27th April, 1803.
From a crBVon, 9 in. by 7J, by Huirb Hamilton, in the Duke of liCiustcr'b
l)()sses«iic)n at Carton,
CASTLETOWN AND ITS OWNERS. 375
daring the run ; after dinner, when the punch was heing circu-
lated, Squire Tom had occasion to stoop down to pick up his
table-napkin, which had slipped under the table; he then per-
ceived to his amazement that his friend the stranger, who was in
a chair next to him, had one of his shoes ofif, and that a cloven
hoof was visible ; the eviction of the stranger was onlj carried
out after much time and trouble, when, as a last resource, the
FP. of Eildrought was sent for and put in an appearance,
^is tradition is introduced into a series of ballads by ** a broth
of a boy" (. . . Russell), called "the Kishogue Papers;"^
the one in question is called '' The Devil and Tom Conolly,"
and appeared at p. 677, vol. xxii, for the year 1843, of The
Dublin University Magazine.
Thomas ConoUy's wife was Lady Louisa Lennox, third
daughter of Charles, 2nd Duke of Richmond, by whom he had no
children. By a curious coincidence Lady Louisa had two sisters
married to men living close by ; the elder. Lady Emilia Maiy,
was living at Carton, having married James, Ist Duke of
Leinster, and the younger. Lady Sarah, resided at Oakley Park,
at the opposite end of the town of Celbridge, having in 1781
married (her second husband) Colonel the Hon. George Napier,
eldest son by his second wife of Francis, 5th Baron Napier, of
Merchistown, near Edinburgh.
Thomas Conolly died on the 27th of April, 1808 ; his will is
dated the 14th of June, 1802. By it Castletov\'n was left to his
wife during her life ; in it, too, he insists that his heir should
assume the name and arms of Conolly alone. His heir was his
gi-andnephew, Edward Michael Pakenham, son of Admiral the
Hon. Sir Thomas Pakenham, who had married Louisa Staples,
eldest daughter of Thomas Conolly's sister, Harriet, wife of the
Rt. Hon. John Staples, of Lissan, Co. Tyrone, a Privy Councillor.
This Edward Michael Conolly was the grandfather of the
present owner of Castletown.
One very sensible and sound piece of advice is contained in
Thomas ConoUy's will : — ** I hope and recommend,'* he writes,
** to the persons who will be entitled to my estate, that they will
be resident in Ireland, and will always prove steady friends to
Ireland, as their ancestor, Mr. Speaker Conolly, the original
and honest maker of my fortune, was.*'
A few years ago Castletown could boast of the biggest
cedar in Ireland, and the largest vino (with the exception of
* ** The Kishogue Papers " were republished in book form in 1877, by
Gill^ of Upper Sackville Street,
376
CASTLETOWN AND ITS OWNERS.
that in Hampton Court) in the United Kingdom. The cedar
was blown down in a gale, and the vine was maliciously de-
stroyed by an under-gardener under notice of dismissal.
There is a drive leading through the woods from Castletown
to Kilmacredock which is still called ''Dongan's Walk/' after
the family who last lived there over two hundred years ago.
Kilmacredock lies outside that portion of Castletown demesne
known as " the Deer Park ;'* it long ago contained a burial-ground,
but all traces of the old church and interments have entirely
disappeared. At the present time there are the ruins of a
modern building (much resembling a small dwelling-house)
standing on the site of the old church ; below it is an arched,
brick vault, used by the Bellingham family, late of Bavensdale
(near Carton), and now of Howth ; no monument of any sort is
erected here to their memory. Kilmacredock gives its name to
the parish.
•' The Wonderful Barn," built by the Conolly family in 1743.
From the windows on the north-east side of Castletown
House, at the end of an opening in the trecu^ is seen a mile off
an unsightly building, known as "the Wonderful Barn,*' which
was probably at one time the Home Farm, as it was built by the
Conolly family. A conical tower, similar to the one in the illus-
tration, stands at each comer of the haggard-epclosure wj^ll.
castlf:to\vn and its owners.
377
Over the doorway of the largo one is inserted a mural tablet, on
which is incised :—
1743
EXECUrD
BY : lOHN : GLIN
This tower is seventy-three feet in height, and ninety-four
steps winding round its exterior lead to the battlemented summit.
The townland it stands on is now called '' Barn Hall," though
formerly it and Parsonstown formed a part of the Rinawade
townland which extended to the river Liflfey. According to
Joyce's ** Irish Names of Places,'* Rinawade means " the point of
land of the boat," proving that in former times there was a ferry
here.
In another vista through the trees, at the back of the house,
is a remarkable building known as *' the Obelisk," which was
'Thk Obelisk," built by Mus. CoNor.LY ix 1740.
378 CASTLETOWN AND ITS OWNERS.
built in the year 1740 by Mrs. Conolly, widow of William
Conolly, the Speaker, who died in her ninetieth year in 1752.
*' The Obelisk '' stands on the townland of Barrogestown, and,
as the crow flies, it is two miles from Castletown House. It is
said Mrs. Conolly built it to give employment during a year of
great scarcity. In the month of March, 1740, Mrs. ConoUy's
sister, Mrs. Jones, wrote to another sister, a Mrs. Bound: —
'' My sister is building an obleix to answer a vistow from the
bake of Casteltown House ; it will cost her three or four
hundred pounds at least, but I believe more. I really wonder
how she can dow so much, and live as she duse."
The height of the obelisk, to the top of the central spire, is
140 feet ; the date 1740 appears on the keystones of the lower
arches ; a flight of steps enables one to reach the level above the
central arch, over which, and from other parts, all the cut-stone
balustrading has disappeared. If for no other purpose, this
unsightly structure acts as a good landmark to those out hunt-
ing. On Noble and Eeenan's map of the County Eildare, 1752^
there is a fairly accurate drawing of this building.
( 379 )
Miscellanea.
The Skeleton Tombstone in the Franciscan Abbey
at Castledermot. — Lying in one of the side chapels, off the
Lady Chapel attached to these abbey ruins, is a thick slab, 6 feet
4 inches in length, and 2 feet 5 inches in breadth, having on it,
cut in low relief, a handsome eight-armed cross ; while on one
side of the shaft is a male skeleton, and on the other the skeleton
of a woman in a shroud.
This slab is broken into four pieces, and (except for three por-
tions of different cross-inscribed flags belonging to ecclesiastics) it
is the only tombstone now visible in the precincts of this abbey.
As is shown in the accompanying illustration, there are traces
of an incised inscription, but it is very doubtful if they are contem-
porary with the sculpturing on the slab ; all that is legible are the
names iames tallon and ionae (i.e., Joan) skelton.
A curious feature in connection with the male skeleton is that
alongside of it is a four-legged reptile of the ** dartloocher'* (or
lizard) type, which has the skeleton's left foot in its mouth.
In the shrouded figure, a portion of the grave-clothes are open,
revealing the ribs of the skeleton within, intertwined between which
are apparently worms. The probable date of this slab is the first
half of the sixteenth century. The meaning of this ghastly piece of
carving is incomprehensible, unless it was cut with the same object
that tradition relates in connection with a very similar tomb in the
city of Waterford. It is to this effect : —
" In the year 1469, a certain James Rice was mayor of this city ; he, thirteen
years later, built on to the nave of the Church of the Holy Trinity, in Waterford,
a chapel dedicated to St. James and St. Catherine, and hence known as Bice's
chapel. This chapel contained two monuments, one the effigy of a man in
armour, and the other that of a skinny skeleton in a shroud, which is partially
open, and so discloses worms crawling about the body, on the top of which a
frog is seated. Both these effigies represent the one individual, James Bice,
who left instructions in his will that two monuments were to be erected to him,
representing him as he was in life, and also as he appeared a year after his
burial. In consequence, his body was carefully exhumed a year afterwards, and
the condition it then was in was faithfully copied in stone, even down to the
worms themselves, as well as a frog which apparently had flopped on to the
body during the exhuming operations. James Bice's object in having this done
was that it should act as a reminder to the vain or thoughtless of what they
would come to, and so bring them to a steady and respectable mode of life.
This tomb is to be seen at the present day in the Protestant Cathedral in
Waterford."
A Tomb Slab iv the Fbawciscaw Abmt at Cactledekmot,
MISCELLANEA. 38 1
There is St. Peter's Church, in Drogheda, a tomb of a similar
character to the Waterford one, except that it bears the effigies of
two persons, man and wife ; it, I believe, belongs to the Goulding
family. Colonel Vigors has also informed me that another of these
monuments is at Einsale, erected by the Galwey family, and dated
1627.
This idea of James Bice's, to remind one of the future, on
modem tombstones is carried out in words, as, for instance, on the
slab at Moone Abbey, erected to the memory of Dermot Brine and
More Cullon, who died in the year 1624, where it is requested : —
FOB . WHOSE . SOVLES . PBAY . YEE . IN . GHARITIE : FOR . AS . YOV . ARE .
80E . HAVE . THEY . BEEN : AND . AS . THEY . ARE . YOV . SHALL . BE . SEENE.
And in another instance, which occurs in the churchyard of
Esker, near Lucan, in the County Dublin, on a headstone erected
to the memory of Bichard Jacob, of Baheen, in the County Eildare
(who died on St. Patrick's Day, 1788), and of Catherine Sherlock,
his wife (who died on the 15th July, 1746), is inscribed : —
'* Bemember, man, as you pass by,
As yoa are now, so once was I ;
As I am now, so must you be ;
Prepare for death and follow me."
I have been informed that on a similar inscribed tombstone
some cautious wag added : —
" Before on following you I 'm bent
I would like to know which way you went/'
W. FiTzG.
( 382 )
Queries.
Portraits of Lord and Lady Edward FitzGerald.
I WOULD be much obliged to any of our Members if they could add
to the list of paintings, given below, of Lord Edward, or of his wife
"Pamela.*'
OU Paintings of Lord Edward (b. 1763, d. 1798).
1. A three-quarter length by Hugh Hamilton, in the National
Portrait Gallery, Dublin, to which it was presented by the
4th Duke of Leinster in 1884. Moore's Life of Lord Edward
is illustrated by an engraving of this picture.
2. A head and shoulders by Hugh Hamilton, in the possession of
Lord Cloncurry, at Lyons.
8. A head and shoulders by Hugh Hamilton, in the possession of
the Duke of Leinster, at Carton.
4. A head and shoulders by Hugh Hamilton, in the possession of
the Duke of Leinster, at Eilkea Castle.
5. A head and shoulders by Hugh Hamilton, belonging to Major
G. H. C. Hamilton, 14th Hussars. This picture is at present
hung in Ballintemple, County Carlow.
These last four pictures are replicas.
Crayons and Water Colours of Lord Edward,
(a) An oval crayon by Hugh Hamilton, belonging to the Duke of
Leinster, at Carton. (This is an incorrect likeness.)
(6) A small water colour, head and shoulders, by Dr. George
Petrie's father, in the possession of Miss Margaret Stokes, at
Carrig Breac, Howth.
(c) A small water colour, half-length, by Horace Hone, belonging
to the Duke of Leinster, at Carton.
(d) A small water colour, half-length, by Horace Hone, in the
National Portrait Gallery, Dublin, to which it was presented
by Colonel William FitzGerald.
These last two are very similar.
Oa Paintings of Lady Edward (b. 1772, d. 1881).
1. An oval of the head by George Romney, belonging to Sir Guy
Campbell, Bart. (A copy, by Slattery, of this picture is at
Carton.)
2. A seated full-length of Pamela, with two children, by Bomney.
ANSWER TO QUERIES. 383
8. A seated full-length of Pamela with one child, by Bomney.
This picture was last in the possession of Mrs. M^Corquodale,
of Richmond, in Surrey, who was a daughter of Pamela's,
by Mr. Pitcairn, her second husband. On Mrs. M'Corquo-
dale's death, on the 17th of April, 1890, aged 96, this
picture was sold by auction.
4. A head and shoulders, by Bomney, belonging to H. L.
Bischoffsheim, Esq. This picture was exhibited at the
Exhibition of Fair Women, at the Grafton Galleries, London,
in 1894.
6. In a picture by Mauzaise (after Giroust), called " La Le9on
d'Harpe," three full-length figures are introduced — (1) Pamela
(before she became engaged to Lord Edward) ; (2) her
guardian, Madame de Genlis ; (8) Mdlle. d'Orleans. The
latter two are seated playing on harps, while Pamela, stand-
ing, turns over the leaves of the music.
6. At a sale in Sotheby's in London, in March, 1898, a miniature
of Pamela changed hands. According to The Times it was
painted on ivory in a gold mount. On being ordered to
leave Ireland after her husband's death. Lady Edward was
escorted to Paris by the Bev. John Murphy, on parting with
whom Lady Edward presented to him this miniature of
herself as a token of her gratitude. Until its sale in March
last, it had never been out of the possession of the Bev. John
Murphy's descendants ; the price it then fetched was £75.
I am not aware who the purchaser was.
W. l^^TzG.
Jlttswcr to ©ucrics.
The race, or road, of the Black Pig, across the
Curragh. — On p. 158 of the 2nd volume of The Journal, infor-
mation was asked for as to the origin of the name of this ancient
track across the Curragh. An article in 2Vu} Ulster Jounial of
Arch(Bolo(jii,^ on " The Great Wall of Ulidia," perhaps gives a clue.
This great rampart formed the ancient mearin between the terri-
tories of Ulidia (which comprised the present counties of Antrim and
Down) and Oriel (Louth, Armagh, and Monaghan); it was some
twenty miles in length, and in some localities was known as '* the
Dane's Cast,*' and in others as " the Glen of the Black Pig.*' The
article goes on to relate a tradition given by O'Donovan in his
Ordnance Survey Letters, which is to this effect : —
" The tradition about ' Gleann na muice duibhe ' (le., * the Glen of the Black
Pig') is the wildest I ever heard. A schoolmaster lived in Drogheda a long time
ago, who used to work the magic art, and so turn his scholars into pigs. One
^ Videy Parts 1 and 2 of vol. iii, by the Rev. H. W. Lett.
384 ANSWER TO QUERIES.
day as they were playing in the field adjoining the schoolhouse, in this shape,
O'Neill, who was hunting in that neighbourhood with a pack of hounds,
observing the swine in the field, set the pack at them. The pigs immediately
fled in various directions through the country, and formed those dykes called
' glen na muck duv,' which are to be seen in various parts of the south of
Ulster. One pig made its way towards Lough Neagh, another faced west, and
a third, which was being very closely pursued, swam across Lough Mucshnamba
at Castle Blayney, and gave it name, and then proceeded in the direction of
Meath."
Not long ago, I myself heard from the lips of an aged man,
named John Lynch (a native of the County Wexford), who was
begging along the road, an ** enchanted story " very similar to the
one given by O'Donovan ; his version of it was as follows : —
"In the old ancient times there dwelt in a castle down in the north of
Lreland a king, who employed a schoolmaster for the education of liis two sons.
This same king was notorious for his knowledge in witchcraft, whereby he
possessed supernatural power. On one occasion, during the king's absence at a
hurling-match, the schoolmaster and his two pupils entered the king's private
room, though they had been forbidden to enter it on any pretext On a table
in it lay a great book : this the schoolmaster opened and commenced to read
aloud from its pages, though he could not understand the meaning of what he
read ; after a short time he happened to look up from the book, and was amazed
to see that, in place of his two pupils, two great shaggy hounds were present ;
in terror he fled from the room. On the king's return home in the evening, he
was met near the castle by two strange hounds, which fawned on him, and
bayed with delight at his arrival. In perplexity the king proceeded hot-foot
to his room, and on seeing the open book guessed what had occurred. In a
rage he sent for the schoolmaster, transformed him into a big black boar, and
driving him from the castle with the assistance of his camaun (or hurly), set
the two hounds at him. The boar fled for its life; crossing the Boyne it ran
through Meath to Maynooib, on past Kildare into the County Carlow, then
away through the country Iving between the Barrow and the Slaney, until it
reached Priests-haggard in tne County Wexford, where the two hounds even-
tually killed it. They then returned home the same way they came, and were
transformed by the king back again into their human form."
From this, or a similar legend in which the scene is localized
elsewhere, certain ancient dykes, roads, and vales in various parts
of Ireland are known as the race, walk, road, or glen of the Black
Pig.
W. FiTzG.
( 385 )
Rosetown Churchyard, Barony of Kilkea and Moone.
Forming a portion of the mearin-ditch between the townlands of Bose-
town ( •? recte, Roestown) and Snugbun'ow (formerly a part of
Dollardstown), is a small churchyard, now known as the ** Rosetown
Churchyard." It contains no remains of the old church, and only
SCll.PTl'RED SrOXK IN THE ROMETOWX CnrUCHTABD,
Co. KiLDARE.
seven lettered tombstones erected to the memory of families of the
name of Hovenden, Wolfenden, Burroughs, and Kenny. Before
the stone wall which now encircles the burial ground was built,
the ii&rmer on whose land the churchyard lay had encroached greatly
on it, and even at the present time the plough turns up human
386 NOTES.
bones outside tbe present limits. The oldest tomb is dated 1745 ;
it consists of a box- tomb with sides 8 feet in height, but what with
the sinking of the tomb and the accumulation of clay around it, the
top slab is now level with the ground. The inscription, which is
nearly illegible, runs : —
*'Here Lyeth the Body of
Bichard Hovenden who departed
This Life the First day of
May 1745, age 80 years.
Also the Bodv of John
Wolfenden who Departed
This Life 17th Day of August
1733, age 32 years."
The upper end side is formed of a single slab of limestone, 8 feet
in height, 2 feet in breadth, and 10 inches in thickness ; on it, in
bold relief, is carved the crest and coat of arms of the Hovenden
family.
The crest is— a dragon's head vert, issuing out of flames proper.
The arms are — chequy sable and argent, on a bend gules, three
lions' heads erased or.
On either side of the shield falls the ornamental accessory known
by the heraldic terms of " Lambrequin '' or ** Mantling."
On the lower part of the stone is the incised inscription : —
"The Hovendens Coat of Armes."
The Hovendens were a Queen's County family, who, in the
seventeenth century, owned the district about Killabban on the
opposite side of the Barrow.
W. FiTzG.
Alexander Taylor's Map of Co. Klldare.— Alexander
Taylor's Map of the County Kildare from an actual survey, 69i
miles (British) to a degree, engraved by Downes in six sheets, was
printed in London, 1788. There is a copy of it in the King's Inns'
Library, Dublin, in compartment, C.
John Canon O'Hanlon.
Jlgginstown. — There is an old County Kildare saying which
runs thus : " There is nothing to equal the building of Jigginstown,
the Wells of Tipper, and the Bells of Blessington."
At the first excursion this Society ever held, Mr. Arthur Vicars
(now Sir Arthur, and Ulster King-of-Arms) read a paper on Jig-
ginstown, Thursday, September 3rd, 1891. Lord Strafford, Lord
Deputy of Ireland, erected this building, now a ruin. In fact, we
NOTES. 387
have strong reason to believe this palace in Ireland was never
completed by Strafford. It is often mentioned in Strafford's corre-
spondence to Archbishop Laud and others.
Sir Arthur Vicars's paper (published in No. 1, vol. i, of our
Journal) deals so sufficiently with this subject that I need not enlarge
upon these buildings.
I must, however, quote a letter of Lord Strafford to his wife.
He writes from Naas, September 12th, 1687 : —
** Sweetheart, I shall desire you not to come hither at this time, for being
wrangling and busy with my workmen, I am extreme ill in women's company;
but when the house is ready to receive, I shall in no place see you more gladly.
My business here despatched, I will go with all speed to you."
Whoever has looked on Strafford's picture by Vandyke, which
now hangs at Wentworth, Yorkshire, will fully realize that the
Lord Deputy was a man who would brook no interruption in
business, even from a wife, whom, tyrant as he was, he dearly loved,
Jigginstown is a monument to Strafford's genius and Strafford's
organization, for, notwithstanding his strong measures in dealing
with Ireland, this country prospered under the hand of steel that
no velvet glove covered. A Parliament, servile to his wishes, carried
out without a murmur measures that were for the good of the
people and the country.
We can hardly realize now that in Strafford's time the Barbary
pirates used to ravage the coasts of Ireland. He, out of his own
private resources, fitted out a ship for the protection of Dublin
from these pirates.
Strafford was beheaded on Tower Hill.
The English people feared and hated him ; they rejoiced at his
downfall. ** His head is off, his head is off," were the cries that rang
out as messengers galloped far and wide with the news of his
execution.
THE BELLS OF BLESSINOTON.
They hang in the church at Blessington, a neat edifice with a
square tower. The church was erected by Michael Boyle, Arch-
bishop of Dublin and Chancellor of Ireland, in the reign of
Charles II.
Archbishop Boyle also built the town of Blessington, and gave
the ring of bells to the church. The date on these bells is 1682.
The church plate was also presented by Primate Boyle.
The inhabitants of Blessington were incorporated by charter of
Charles II, 1669.
A monument to the memory of the founder of the church records
his benefactions to the town, and the inscription concludes with the
motto, ** Abi et fac tu simihter."
THE WELLS OF TIPPER.
Through the kindness of our County Surveyor, Mr. Edward
Glover, m.a., m. inst. c.e., I am enabled to give an account of the
H H
388 NOTES.
springs of Tipper. I now quote from Mr. Glover's letter on this
subject : —
•'Dublin, February 17; 1897.
" The Tipper Springs, properly so called, are four in number. They an;
situate in Townland of Tipper South, about two miles from Naas, on the edge
of the Blessington road, and close to Beggar's End. In Ordnance 6", Sheet
No. 19, they are shown, and are called the Agheen Wells. The Ordnance
Map shows only three springs.
" The Grand Canal Company set great value on these springs, and success-
fully opposed their being diverted into Naas for a water supply.
** Yours, Ac,
** EnwAKO Olotsb.
*' Note. — Site occupied by the springs is about 3 roods statute."
Notes on a Hornbook in possession of Richard West Mandbbs,
OF Castlesize, Naas.
Hornbooks were very common in almost every household
where there were children during the last century and at the
beginning of this.
They were used by the children to learn their alphabet and
the Lord's Prayer from. There is not much archaeological interest
in this little Hornbook ; but it is one of those articles that entered
into the everyday life of our ancestors, the remembrance and uses
of which are soon lost amidst the rush and progress of modem life.
Hornbooks have been thought worthy of being fully written about
and illustrated. Mr. Tuer has published a voluminous work on
the subject, and they now command the very highest price amongst
collectors.
I might here mention that our County ArchaBological Society
would no doubt find in many houses in this part of Ireland small
objects long forgotten and neglected, which show more clearly, and
bring home to one the social life of those early days better, than
anything that can be written. If any of our members have
such objects, I hope they will treasure them, and bring them
before the notice of our Society. In less than two years the
century will have closed. Our conditions of life are changing
every day, and it is of the greatest interest for future historians
that these little side-lights on former social life in the past should
not be forgotten. ^^
The Bulbys, or MacBulbys, of the County Kildare. —
This family has been long extinct and long forgotten ; as very little
mention is made of them in the Irish Annals or history, they must
have been of small importance. **The Annals of the Four Masters,'*
under the year 1489, record the death of only one member of the
family, thus : —
'* MacBulby. L3rd of Crioch-Bhulbach, along the Barrow, died.*'
NOTES. 389
In a note, upder the year 1498, Dr. John O'Donovan states that
they were of Anglo-Irish origin, and that their territory of Criooh- .
Bhulbach (i.e., the country of the Bulbys) was situated on the east
side of the Barrow, between Monasterevin and Athy. He goes so
far as to identify the actual locality they were seated in by the
following extract from the ** Leabhar Branach " (or Book of the
O'Byrnes), a manuscript in Irish, containing an account of the pre-
datory excursions of Hugh macShaun O'Byme, of Ballinacor, in
Glenmalure, who died in 1679, by Ferganaim MacKeogh : —
** Kilberry after thee is veid of cattle,
And Bally-nua in which Bulby used to be,
Not softly didst thou pass from the two towns,
Glassealy and the Numey."
Prom this, O'Donovan proves that Bulby's seat at Bally-nua is the
present Newtown, in the parish of Kilberry and barony of Narragh
and Bheban West.
There was a castle in Crioch-Bhulbach, then called ** Bally-na-
bachiach" (or the town of the shepherds), in which Connell
macDavid 0*More, Chief of Leix, was slain by some of the Earl of
Kildare's men in 1498. — " Annals of the Four Masters."
W. FiTzG.
Poul-gyleen. — The course of the River Barrow, where it runs
between Kilmorony House and ** Sallinger's " (St Leger's) Castle
ruins at Grangemellon, is divided into two or three channels by
some sally-grown islands, just below which is a deep hole in the
river called ** Poul-gyleen/'^ a name which (according to Dr.
Joyce) appropriately means — the Hole of the River-fork. In con-
nection with this spot the following adventure is related : —More
than seventy years ago a party of men from Athy proceeded in a
boat to net the river ; on reaching Poul-gyleen the net stuck fast in
some obstruction below, and as none of the party were able to
swim, a guinea was offered to anyone who would dive down and
release the net. A noted swimmer named Maloney, a carpenter by
trade, then employed at Kilmorony House, accepted the offer, and
down he dived. Presently, when he came to the surface for want
of breath, he said he noticed that the net was caught round an
iron stump fixed into a large stone at the head of a flight of steps
leading downwards. A second time he dived down, and while
below the boat-party noticed the net to move violently, and then
suddenly give way; immediately afterwards Maloney reappeared
with a look of terror on his face. He was pulled into the boat, and
then he told them the cause of his fright. He said that, while
disengaging the net from round the iron stump, a fish-like monster,
with two great eyes and a head like a bullock's, made a charge at
him, got entangled in the net, but after a short struggle got free,
* The derivation of this name given on p. 99 of the 1st volume of The
Journal, is wrong.
390 NOTICE OF BOOKS.
and vanished into the depths below. In corroboration of Maloney's
account, the net was discovered to have a hole torn in it large
enough for a turf-kish to pass through. Maloney further stated
that the full of an ass*s car of gold would not tempt him to
again face what he considered to be the enchanted guardian of a
great treasure deposited at the foot of the flight of steps he had
stood on. Since that time the mystery has never been solved.
The above tale was told me by three different men, living far apart.
One was Larry Moore, of Moone, another Mathew Gaffhey, of
Castleroe, and the third was John Kelly, of Athy ; the former two
died recently at long ages. ^ FixzG.
Athgoe Castle, Co. Dublin. — Three miles to the south of
Hazelhatch Railway Station stands the ancient castle of Athgoe in
very good preservation. The modern house attached to it is occu-
pied by one of our members, Mrs. Clarke. Over the original
entrance to the castle is a small red sandstone tablet, 14 inches in
length, and 12 inches in height, in two pieces. On the upper
half is— I A S 1679
and on the lower half — W L K A
These letters and figures are in relief, though much worn. The
initials W L probably stand for a man's name, and the E A for his
wife's.
It is possible that the following extract from Daniel Molyneux's
** Visitation of the County Dublin in 1610** (a manuscript in Ulster's
Office) gives us the names of the owners of the initials : —
*' William Allen, second brother of Sir John Allen of Goteshall in
Norfolke« had issue three sonnes and two drs. John issales, thooghe
he had to his first wife Margt. sister to Christofer Linch of the Knocke,
and to his second Mary Garus now wife to James Janes of Dublin,
alderman; Mathew Allen of Palmerston (Co. Dublin) had to wife
Amable dr. of William Martin of Eaton by Windesore, now wife to
Patricke Browne of Irishtowne ; Christofer dead without issue ; Anne
wife to Theobald Walsh of Killencarge ; and Katherin wife to
William Locke of Colmanston."
As the townlands of Colmanstown and Athgoe adjoin one another,
it may be concluded that the W and L stand for William Locke,
and the K and A for Eatherine Allen. w F C
^oficc of iSoofes.
The Royal Irish Academy has just brought out the first part of
Miss Margaret Stokes's great work on the High Crosses of Ireland.
This part contains illustrations of the four sides of the two Castle-
dermot Crosses, and also the Durrow Abbey Cross in the King's
County. This magnificent work is being issued in folio size ; its
cost is a guinea, and it can be obtained from Hodges, Figgis, & Co.,
of Grafton Street, Dublin.
VOL, n., PT. v«.
m 1699
VOLUME II, No. 7.
JOITTINAL
in uit:
INTY KILOARE ARGHAOLOQICAl SOCIHY.
CONTENTS*
I n
O U Q L I N J
P- PONSONBY, lie OaAPTOW STREET.
THI OOUNCIl OF THE COUNTif KIIDAEB ASOHiMlOOICAl mm.
'^rcsi^enl :
THE EARL OF MAYO,
The Rev. Matthew Devitt, sj.
(Council :
Thomas Cooke-Trench, Esq., d.l.
George Mansfield, Esq., d.l.
The Rev. Edward 0*Learv, p.p.
Thomas J. de Burgh, Esq., d.l.
Ambrose More O'Ferrall, Esq., d.l.
The Earl of Drogheda.
Hans Hendrick-Avlmer, Esq., Kerdiffstown, Sallins.
S^on, §ecveiax\eB:
Lord Walter FitzGerald, m.r.i.a., Kilkea Castle, Maganey.
Sir Arthur Vicars, f.s.a., Ulster, 44 Wellington Road, Dublin.
c^on. $6ilor:
The; Rev. Canon Sherlock, m.a., Sherlockstown, Sallins.
JOUKNAIa
OF THE
Jlw^afologttal 0mtVi of % G^^k ^^ FJiliaw
AND
jSttnonnbing Distntts.
-H-
LEI X LIP CASTLE}
[Read by Lord Frederick FitzGerald at the Annual Excursion on the
17th September, 1896.]
ON the summit of the high ground overlooking the town of
Leixlip, at the junction of the Rye-water (or King's Kiver,
as the ancient name of it — Avon Righ — meant) with the Liffey,
stands the Black Castle of Leixlip.
^ The following notes on Leixlip are principally taken from a pamphlet
called ** Leixlip Castle," written by the late Very Rev. James Canon
0*Rourke, in 1885, when Parish Priest of Maynooth.
396 LEIXLIP CASTLE.
between the years 1485 and 1509 the manor, castle, and
lands of Leixlip were granted by Henry YII to Gerald, the
8th Earl of Kildare ; they remained in the possession of his
sons until the breaking ont of the rebellion of his grandson,
''the silken Thomas," 10th Earl of Kildare, in 1634, in
which the then possessor of Leixlip, Sir James " Meirgach ''
(i.e., the wrinkled) FitzGeitdd, was implicated. In conseqnence,
the following Act was passed in 1586, by which the manor
reverted to the King Henry VIII: —
"Whereas, King Henry VII, of most famous memory, Father to our
Sovereign Lonl the King that now is, in donsideration of a marriage had
betwixt Gerald FitzGerald, then (8th) Earl of Kildare, and Dame
Elizabeth Saint John, b^ his letters patent, did give and grant unto the
said Earl and Dame Elizabeth, and the heirs male of their bodies law-
fully to be begotten, the Manor and Lordship of Leixlip, with the
appurtenances, situate within the County of Kildare, in this the King's
land of Ireland ; by force of which grant the Earl and his wife were
thereof seized accordingly. After the Earl died (3rd Sept., 1513), and
the aforesaid Elizabeth survived, and was seized and di<Ki seized (28th
June, 1516) of the aforesaid manor and lordship in her demesne as of
fee tail. After whose death the same descended to one Uennj FitzOeraldj
son and heir to the said Elizabeth, by the said Earl begotten ; by force
whereof the said Henry was thereof seized ; after whose death (2nd July,
1516) the said manor and lordship descended to one Thomas titzG^emld,
as brother and heir male to the said Henry ; by force whereof the said
Thomas was thereof seized in his demesne as of fee tail by the eift afore-
said, after whose death (in 1530) the said manor and lordship descended
to one James Fitz(hrald, as brother and heir male to the said Thomas,
by the gift aforesaid, by virtue whereof the said James was and is
thereof seized in his demesne as of fee tail by the gift aforesaid. Foras-
much as the manor and lordship of Leixlip with the appurtenances, was
before the said gift of the King's antient inheritance, and for that the
blood of the Geraldines is corrupted towards the Crown of England : Be
it established and enacted by tne authority of this present Parliament,
that the said ^ift, grant, and the letters patent thereupon, and everything
therein contamed, from the first day of this session of this present Par-
liament, be revoked, repealed, annulled, and deemed void m law ; and
that our sovereign Lord, King Henry VIII, by the grace of Qod King
of England and of Fi-ance, and Lord of Ireland, shall, from this first day
of the session of this present Parliament, have and enjoy the same
manor and lordship, to him, his heirs and successors, in the risht of the
Crown of England for ever. The said letters patent, or anything con-
tained in the same, or any other Act or Acts had, made, or done, to the
contrary thereof notwithstanding ; saving to every person and persons,
their heirs and successors, other than the said Sir James, his heirs and
successors, and such person and persons as claim to any other uses, all
such right, title, interest, possession, leases, rents, offices, or other
profits, which they had at the said first day of the session of this present
Parliament, or at any time before, in as large and ample manner as if
this Act had never been had or made.
"May Ist, 28° Henry VIII (1536).'"
* Morrin's ** Calendar of Patent Rolls, Ireland."
LEIXLIP CASTLE. 397
a 1588 the Manor and Castle of Leixlip were surrendered
latthew King, of Dublin, on which John Alen, the Chan-
Y, obtained a lease of them for twenty-one years ; in 1561
passed to William Vernon, gent., for a like period ; and in
> they were granted to Sir Nicholas Whyte, Master of the
s, in whose family they remained till aboQ^t the beginning
le eighteenth century.
Sir Nicholas Whyte, Knt., was the son of James Whyte, of
^'s Meadows, in the County Waterford. He was in 1664
order of Waterford ; in 1569 he was appointed Seneschal of
County of Wexford and Constable of the Castle of Wexford ;
in 1572 he was made Master of the Bolls — an o£Sce which
held till his death on the 20th March, 1598. In 1569 he
granted the lands of St. Catherine's, on the opposite bank
he LifiFey, in the County Dublin, and in the following year
obtained a grant of the Manor of Leixlip, two castles, a
er-mill, a salmon-weir, two fishing-places, called the Salmon
ip, on the river Analiffey, Priortowu Meade, and other
aesne lands of the manor, 6d. rent for licence to have a right
way from Confey to Leixlip, the right of pasture on the great
nmon of Moncronock, and rents out of several townlands, to
id for ever in capite by the service of a fortieth part of a
ight's fee, at a rent of £86 18s. 4d. Irish (or £27 10s.
.rling).
Sir Nicholas's son and heir was Andrew Whyte, who married,
cording to a Funeral Entry, Margaret, daughter of Patrick
inglass, son of Thomas, " sonne to the Chief Baron ;^*
ter Andrew^s death, on the 31st July, 1599, she re-married
ith John Finglass, of Westpalstown, County Dublin. Strange
• say, Andrew Whyte, in his will, which is dated the 80th Oct,
')96, names as one of the overseers to it '' his father-in-law,
;icharde Neuterfilde, of Corballies, Esquier," and yet the will
as proved on the 10th August, 1599, by his widow "Margaret
inglas, als. Whit."
Andrew Whyte's son and heir was Sir Nicholas Whyte, Knt.,
/ho married Lady Ursula, daughter of Sir Garrett Moore, Ent.,
>f Mellifont, Co. Louth, created Viscount Drogheda in 1621.
>ir Nicholas died on the 24th of February, 1654, and, like his
ather, was buried at Leixlip ; his wife erected a mural monu-
nent to his memory, which is now inserted in the wall on the
lorth side of the chancel arch. This monument consists of two
.portions: the upper stone (24 in. high X 18 in. broad) bears two
•joats of arms impaled and in relief, viz. : —
On the dexter side, '' Argent, a chevron between three roses
gules, barbed and seeded or," for Whyte.
r 1 A
a
M
M
>-P S Of -
in
o
I
s
1-4
C/i"^
/
LElXLIl* CASTLE, 399
On the sinister side, ''Azure, on a chief indented or, throe
mallets pierced gnles," for Moore.
On the lower stone (86 in. long X 18 in. high) there is an
incised inscription, as shown in the illustration, taken from a
nibbing of the stone.
Lady Ursula's will^ is dated 1667 (she probably died soon
after). It is written partly in the fir^ and partly in the third
person ; apparently it was dictated by her to one of her children.
The following is a copy of it : —
** My mother leaves the silver cup shee drinkes in to Mrs. Fagan.'
Shee leaves her goulden bodkin to my Lady Strabane.
Shee leaves 10 yoes to Ellis, and 2 cowes to Peggy FitzGarrett, her ser-
vinge maide.
Shee leaves a paire of silke stockins to Mrs. Coply.
Shee leaves her cloathes and wearing linnen to my sisters Jane and Peggy.
All her silver plate shee leaves to mv brother Charles ; two silver tank-
ards, one gretA salt, two little salts, thr^ cups, and the rest.
My Lady Dungan owes 5 pounds by bond to my mother, and Mr. Luttrell
about five more, that is to pay wages debts and for poore.
Of the mony due from mv lord of Aron, my mother leaves one hundred
pounds to Charles Whyte, dwelling at Killinfaghny.
Another hundred she leaves to his brother Arthur Whyte, and another
hundred to little Mally.
I leave my silver chalice to my son Tomas Whyte, and my new ulbe.
If my mony cannot be had which is due to mee from my lord of Aron,
then I leave to little Mally one hundred pounds which is now in Mr.
Kenedv's custody in Dublin, and untill shee be married the interest
thereof shall be to pay the rent of the Capucin*s Chapell in Dublin ;
and if Mally dye before shee bee married, then shee leaves that
hundred pounds for the Order of Capucins, that they may pray for
her soule.
Shee leaves twentie iK>und8 of the mony due from my lord of Aron to my
sister Jane, and twentie more of the same mony to my sister Peggy.
My mother leaves two barrels of come to Ellis, and one cowe to Marsine
and hir mother.
My mother bid» me to receave hir Michaelmas rents now due, and out of
that to pay hir debts, and to dispose of the rest according to the orders
shee hath given to mee.
My mother bid mee give twentie pounds of these her Michaelmas rents
now due for St. Catherin's to my sister Peggy for the care shee had of
hir in sickness.
This is my will and testament, which I sign the second of October, 1667.
'Ursula Whyte.
't^Tj^r^\mtne^.'
' A Prerogative Will in the Record Office, Dublin.
•Her daughter, Ann Whyte.
4CX) LEIXLIP CASTLE.
Sir Nicholas Whyte's saccessor at Leixlip was his fonrth
son, Charles, who had served in Spain, and in 1689 was
Governor of the Goanty Eildare ; he died about the year 1697,
was buried at Leixlip, and was succeeded by his son John, from
whom, I believe, the GonoUys of Gastletown purchased Leixlip,
which remains at present in the possession of that family.
We must now hark back to the 1641 period.
After the breaking out of the Rebellion on the 28rd October,
1641, Sir Nicholas Whyte, of Leixlip, Lord Dunsany, Patrick
Barne^vall, of Eilbrew, Sir Andrew Aylmer, and several other
leading men in the Pale, in obedience to the king's proclamation,
surrendered themselves to the Lords Justices Parsons and
Borlace, in order to show they neither took part in the rising,
nor sympathized with it. These men, though their loyalty was
beyond doubt, were imprisoned in Dublin Gastle, without having
been granted so much as an interview with the Lords Justices.
They were examined by insolent subordinates, threatened, in-
sulted, and, in some instances, as in the case of Patrick Bame-
wall, put upon the rack. Without being permitted to call
witnesses, they were charged with high treason, and kept for a
long time in prison. It may seem passing strange that the
Lords Justices, who were the king's representatives in Lreland,
should treat his loyal subjects in such a manner ; but the ex-
planation is Parsons yearned to get hold of confiscated lands,
and as the lands of the Pale were far richer than those possessed
by the native Irish, his wish was to drive the men of the Pale
into rebellion, in order that their lands should be forfeited, in
which case he would be sure to get the lion's share.
A contemporaiy History of affairs^ in Ireland in 1641 states
that the authorities in Dublin appointed three captains in the
Gounty Eildare to raise forces and hold garrisons for the
Govemment on the breaking out of the Bebellion : one was
Maurice FitzGerald, of Allen, who was given the command in
Naas; the second was Pierce FitzGerald (also known as
MacThomas), of Ballyshannon, who had charge of Gastle-
dermot ; and the third was "yonge Nicholas Whyte," who was
responsible for Leixlip. The account goes on to describe how —
**One Oliver Dungan, then a yonge slippe, came by night with six or
seven in his companie to the courte of the guarde of this Captain White's
companie, takes the lieutenant, seized on the men and armes, did sweare
to putt them all to the sworde, unless they fourthwith march with him,
as with their captain, to the Catholicke campe (the Irish campe at
^Vide Sir J. Gilbert's **An Aphorismical Discovery of Treasonable
Faction," vol. i. p. 18.
LEIXLIP CASTLE. 4OI
Droheda was then soe called), whoe in a full bodie obeyed, and marched
with this new captain to Droheda aforesaid, where he was wellcome and
appointed captain of that companie.'^
The following extract is taken from a journal^ kept by Captain
William Tucker, an agent for English Adventurers for Irish
lands : —
** The 8th December, 1642. We set forward a jorney from Dublin for
the Nasse in company with the Lord Marquess of Ormonde. We had
about one hundred and sixty horse. The first nip^ht we lodged at Leix-
lip, a castle belonging to Sir Nicholas White, now a prisoner in the Castle
at Dublin ; this and many others the Lord Lisle hath in custodium to the
valew of two thousand pounds per annum. The next day we rode to the
Nasse, where we were entertained by Sir Arthur Loftus. We stayd there
one night, and so returned to Dublin ; in this jorney we mett with none
of the rebells, as we desired.**
In the month of November, 1646, the Confederate Catholics
marched npon Dablin, under two Generals, Preston^ and Owen
roe O'Neill.^ They took up their position in the neighbourhood
of Lucan and Leixlip on the Liffey. Unfortunately they were
on terms the reverse of friendly, so that any plan of operations
suggested by the one was sure to be opposed by the other
There was no commander-in-chief — a fatal error, but one which
could not be remedied, on account of the jealousies existing
between the generals. Some historians speak of the Nuncio as
commander-in-chief; but from a military point of view he was
nothing of the kind. Ormonde was in Dublin ; Digby, the
king's secretary and trusted minister, was with Preston in
Leixlip Castle, where that commander had fixed his head-
quai'ters ; and Clanrickarde was constantly passing and re-
passing between the two places, carrying on a correspondence,
of which the Nuncio and Owen roe. O'Neill were kept in almost
complete ignorance. Some proposals were made to the Con-
federates, whilst Digby endeavoured to detach Preston from
them altogether. To create division and promote delay were
the two great objects Ormonde had in view, as he was at the
same time in treaty with Commissioners from the English
Parliament about the surrender to them of Dublin, which he
very soon after carried into e£fect. A black treason it was to
*Ftrfe Gilbert's "History of the Confederation and War in Ireland,
1641-3," vol. ii. p. 176.
'General Thomas Preston was the second son of Christopher, 4th
Viscount Gormanston. In 1650 he was created Viscount Tara.
•Owen **roe" (the red) O'Neill was the second son of Art O'Neill,
brother to Hugh, 1st Earl of Tyrone. His death took place in 1649.
LEIXLIP CASTLE. 403
give up the capital of Ireland to the enemies of the king, his
master, who were in open rebellion against him, and who
beheaded him not long after. But he did it rather than grant
adequate concessions to the Catholics, who were always loyal
to the king, bat hateful to Ormonde, who had been a Catholic
himself for the first fifteen years of his life. O'Neill, feeling
that he was surroanded by enemies instead of friends, and
having reason to believe there was some deep plot being con-
cocted against him, broke up his camp, threw a temporary
bridge of such timber as he could find across the Liffey at
Leizlip (the permanent bridge having shortly before been swept
away by a great flood), and retired into Meath. And thus
ended, in complete failure, the once formidable design on
Dublin, which most probably would have succeeded, but for
the incurable dissensions of the Confederate Generals.
In the month of March, 1697, Leixlip Church was the
scene of the funeral and interment of Deborah Marsh, widow
of William Williams, a Scholar of Trinity College, Dublin, and
Archdeacon of Cashel from 1692 till his death in the follow-
ing year. She was a sister of the celebrated Dr. Narcissus
Marsh, d.d., who was born at Hannington, in Wiltshire, on
the 20th December, 1638; in 1682 he became Bishop of
Leighlin and Ferns ; in 1690, Archbishop of Cashel ; in 1694,
Archbishop of Dublin ; and in 1702, Archbishop of Armagh.
He died on the 2nd of November, 1718, and was buried in
St. Patrick's churchyard, Dublin, close to the building con-
taining the public Library which he founded and endowed,
and which at the present time exists, and is known as Marsh's
Library. The following incised inscription is copied from a
slab lying in the middle of the floor near the chancel rails of
Leizlip Church: —
DEPOSITV DEBOR^ RELICTS
L
GV WILLIAMS ARCHIDIAC CASSE SORORIS
NARCISSI AEPI DVB
6
QViE DEOESSIT 24 MAR 1697 ^T 66
The following extract, copied from a manuscript volume
called "The Receiver-Generars Payment and Receipt Book,"
in the Record Office, Dublin, refers to Leixlip Church : —
** Paid Thomas Hawley, a8 of his Majesties Ixjunty, to repair the
chancell of the church of Leixlip ; as by warrant dated the 28th of July,
17O8, and acquittance appears. £30. "
u
S3
O
<
ft
6
LEIXLIP CASTLE. 4OS
The years 1740 and 1741 were years of great distress in
Ireland. At this time William GonoUy, of Castletown, nephew
and heir of the Bight Hon. William ConoUy, Speaker of the
Irish House of Commons, occupied Leixlip Castle, which had
previously been purchased by his uncle, as Castletown House
had been left to his aunt for her lifetime (she died in 1752).
This may account for the quaint old oil-painting of Leixlip
Castle and its neighbourhood, which is inserted in a panel
over the fireplace in the hall at Castletown.
Lewis, in bis " Topographical Dictionary of Ireland," speak-
ing of Leixlip Castle, says: — " This venerable mansion was the
favourite retreat of several of the viceroys, of whom Lord
Townsend^ usually spent the summer here; it is at present
(1887) the residence of the Hon. George Cavendish, by whom it
has been modernized and greatly improved."
In the autumn of 1856, John Michael Henry, Baron de
Robeck, then a tenant of the Castle, was drowned in the Liffey
during a great flood. He was High Sheriff for the County
Eildare in 1884, for the County Dublin in 1888, and for the
County Wicklow in 1839. His remains were deposited in the
vault in the Maynooth Church tower.
In 1878 Captain the Honourable Cornwallis Maude, son and
heir to the Earl of Montalt, took up his residence in the Castle
after his marriage in this year. When the Boer war broke out,
he volunteered for service, and was numbered with the dead
after the disastrous Majuba Hill affair on the 27th February,
1881.
The present resident in the Castle is William Mooney,
Esq., J.P., who so kindly admitted the members of the County
Kildare Archaeological Society into his demesne to visit the
Salmon Leap, and showed them over the old Castle in 1896.
The date of the erection of Leixlip Castle is not recorded,
but the oldest portion is supposed to have been erected by the
de Hereford family at the end of the twelfth century. There is
one room in it called " King John's room,'* from the tradition
that that monarch occupied it occasionally during his short stay
in Ireland. '
The eastern end of the Castle front is flanked by a square
tower, and the western end by a circular one, in both of which,
for the sake of modern comfort, the old narrow loopholes and
arrow-slits have been replaced by large windows.
* He was Lord Lieutenant from 1767 to 1772. Primate Stone also
made use of Leixlip Castle as his country residence.
4o6
LEIXLIP CASTLE.
By the side of the canal, opposite to the Leixlip railway
station, is a spa well. It was first discovered by the workmen
employed in excavating the Grand Canal in 1798; the Canal
Company secured the flow of the spring by directing its course
to the neighbouring bank, under which it was conveyed into a
cut-stone basin. At the beginning of this century it was much
resorted to by Dubliners, and for a time rivalled the Spa in
Captain Yesey's demesne at Lucan. The following extract,
taken from The Irish Times of the 12th September, 1898, gives
an idea of the vast numbers who had faith in the curative power
of the Lucan Spa water. The Irish Times quotes as follows
from an Irish paper of 1794: —
** A gentleman confined to his room undertook last Sunday, for his
amusement, to make an estimate of the number of persons who on that
day passed through Leiidip on their way to the new Lucan Spa, for
which purpose he placed himself in his window at six o'clock in the
morning, with pen, ink, and paper ; and between that hour and five
o*clock in the afternoon he reckoned 55 coaches, '29 post-chaises, 25
noddies, 82 jaunting-cars, 20 gigs, 6 open landaus, 221 common cars,
with company, and 450 horsemen, in addition to pedestrians.'*
Thb Whyte and Moobe (Scats of Arus,
On the Whyte Monament in Lebdip Church*
( 407 )
THE O'CONNOR HENCHYS OF STONMROOK. \i^.,
By V. HUSSBY- WALSH, ESQ. \ >
THE Henchy family was originally connected with County
Clare. It has been alleged that one of the Mackenzies of
Cromarty emigrated to Ireland, and that his name became
Hibernicized into Henzey and Henchy. At all events no less
than three branches of the family were settled in County Clare at
the close of the seventeenth century — Peter Henchy, of Cappagh
Castle ; Florence Henchy, of Ballycumeen ; and James Henchy,
of Ballycaseybeg. The head of the main stem was Peter
Henchy, of Cappagh Castle, who also is described as of
Ardkill, Tallaght, Gortmagee, and Cahershanaghy. He married
a Miss O'Brien, and left at least two children — Peter Henchy, of
Cappagh Castle and Feenagh, and Margaret, who married one
of the Maclnemeys. His son, Peter Henchy, was not only
resident at Cappagh Castle, but became lessee of Feenagh in
1712. The laws against Catholics owning or leasing landed
property were then in full force, and Peter Henchy did all that
in him lay to get real or fictitious Protestant friends, on whom
be could rely, to claim his property as discoverers. Thus,
William Butler, of Rosroe, one of his greatest friends, was
asked to set up as a Protestant discoverer as early as 1707.
Nicholas Tubbs was induced to bring an ejectment in the
Court of Common Pleas in 1709 ; and a writ of habere facias
possessionem was issued in 1712. The main cause, however,
of the endless actions that arose between the Henchys and the
Hickies, culminating in Peter FitzGibbon Henchy's final action
in 1796, was an Exchequer Bill filed by John Hickie, Peter
Henchy's own nephew, against him in 1782. Not only was
Cappagh Castle adjudged to him by an Exchequer decree on
May 81st, 1738, but Feenagh was at the same time declai-ed to
be his property. By his yrill, dated 81st October, 1744, whilst
John Hickie devised Feenagh to John Sexton and William
Davis for 500 years in trust, to raise the sum of JB600 to pay
his debts, and then subject thereto in trust for his kinsman,
Peter Henchy, the younger grandson, and heir to his grand-
father, at the same time he left Cappagh Castle to his nephew,
John Hickie, with remainder to other members of his own
EK
408 THE O'CONNOR IIENCHYS OF STONEBROOK.
family. This will proved to be the subject of endless litigation;
for whilst the Henchys alleged that John Hickie was only
simulating Protestantism, and died a Catholic, the Hickies con-
tended that his conversion was genuine, and that he did not
claim as a trustee, but as legally entitled to the ownership of
the property under the provisions of the Act ** for the Preven-
tion of the Growth of Popery."
Peter Henchy, of Gappagh Castle and Feenagh, made a will
on the 4th August, 1782, which was proved on the 11th
December, 1736, by which it would seem that he had three
sons : his eldest son, Peter, who predeceased him ; his second
son, Loghler, who man*ied Mary Macnamara, and left three
children, George, Michael, and Mary; and Thomas Henchy,
who died in his father's lifetime, leaving Thomas, Michael,
and Elizabeth Henchy as his children ; and several daughters,
including Teresa^ who married John White, Esq. ; Elizabeth,
married Thomas Amory, Esq. ; Winifred, married to one of
the O'Briens; Sarah, married Quin; a daughter, married to
Hanraghan ; and another, who married Trant, Esq., and
had issue, Edward and Peter. Peter Henchy, the grandson
of Peter Henchy (b. 1706), never came into possession of
Gappagh Castle, which was left to the Hickies. He also pro-
fessed to become a Protestant ; he is indeed registered as a
convert on 22nd November, 1785. In a Chancery bill filed
against his grandfather he complains that having been edu-
cated in the Popish religion, he abjured it at fourteen years of
age ; that his grandfather had used every form of coercion to
induce him to return to the faith of his father, even to the
ex.tent of inducing him to marry, in 1729, his cousin, Margaret,
daughter of Florence Henchy or Hensey, of Ballycumeen. He
alleged that since then his grandfather had' threatened to
disinherit him, and he consequently appealed to the protection
of the Act " for the Prevention of the Growth of Popery." It
is, however, most probable that this action was fictitious, as it
never came into Court, and Peter Henchy was made his grand-
father's heir under his will.
Peter Henchy the younger got soon into diflSculties, and
on September 5th, 1763, sold his interest in the property
to his eldest son Donogh or Dennis. Peter Henchy had
also a j'ounger brother, John (b. 1709), the father of David
Henchy, of Kockfield, County Dublin, and the great-grand-
father of the present Captain Hugh O'Connor Henchy,
of Stonebrook, Co. Kildare. Peter Henchy had also a
younger son, John, and a daughter, Hannah, who married
three times ; first, one of the Yandeleurs ; then^ on the 20tb
THE O'CONNOR HENCHYS OF STONEBROOK. 409
October, 1763, Mr. St. John Dillon, of Carlow, and finally
Captain Michael O'Brien, b.n., by whom she left Donat Henchy
O'Brien, also in the Royal Navy. Donogh or Dennis Henchy,
of Feenagh, married, first, Mary, the eldest daughter of John
Hickie, Esq., of Gappagh Castle, nephew and heir to John
Hickie, the discoverer. In order to bring the family dispute to
an end, John Hickie suggested, it is alleged, in a fit of intoxica-
tion, a marriage between his daughter, then eleven years old,
and Dennis Henchy, on the understanding that they were not to
cohabit for throe years. On his death Anne Hickie's family
concealed her ; but she was discovered by Dennis Henchy, who
abducted her, and also took possession of her property. The
marriage was, however, finally dissolved by the Prerogative
Court, and Dennis Henchy married Dorothy, the daughter of
Patrick FitzGibbon, of Newcastle, Co. Limerick, an uncle of
the celebrated Lord Clare, Lord Chancellor of Ireland ; whilst
Anne Hickie married Henry Faircloth. Feenagh was already
heavily mortgaged. Peter Henchy had made a first mortgage
of the south moiety of Feenagh to Francis Dillon, on July
2nd, 1768. Dennis made a second mortgage to John FitzGibbon,
Lord Clare's father, on December 2nd, 1778. Dennis Henchy
died the 5th February, 1777, leaving throe sons : Peter FitzGibbon
Henchy, k.c., ll.d., his heir ; Donat Henchy, of Ballinvarassig,
County Cork, who married, first, Bose, daughter of Peter Carey,
of Black water, and had issue by her four daughters : Anne;
Eliza, married Bobert Scott, Esq. ; Bose, married ....
• • . . ; and Emily. Donogh Henchy then married, on his
first wife's death, Agnes, daughter of Bobert Cameron, Esq.,
of Edinburgh, and had issue, Donat, Bobert, and St. John.
Peter FitzGibbon Henchy, the eldest son, underwent many
vicissitudes. On July 14th, 1777, Mr. Francis Dillon and Mr.
John FitzGibbon, being anxious to foreclose their mortgages, and
to sell the Henchy property, thus proceeded to attain their end.
They feared that his title might yet be impeached by a Protes-
tant discoverer, so they consequently assigned their mortgage to
John Lindsay, of Lisburn, coachman, who was acting on their
behalf to obtain possession of the property as the first genuine
Protestant discoverer. The final result of these proceedings
was that John Lindsay obtained a decree on January 16th,
1786, on the allegation that John Hickie's discovery was fraudu-
lent, and was consequently adjudged to be entitled to the lands
in dispute, which were sold to satisfy the claims of Francis
Dillon and John FitzGibbon. Peter FitzGibbon Henchy, how-
ever, proved himself to be most successful as a Chancery bar-
rister. Bichard Lalor Sheil, in his " Sketches of the Irish Bar,"
4IO THE O'CONNOR HENCHYS OF STONEBROOK.
describes him in somewhat scathing terms. He married — firsts
Elinor Atkinson, by whom he had four children. His only son,
FitzGibbon, was bom in 1801 ; matriculated at Trinity College,
Dublin, May 8rd, 1819; b.a., 1822; was an invalid and de-
formed, and died at Moynoe, Go. Clare, in 1876, without issue.
His eldest daughter, Eleanor Mary, died unmarried. His second
daughter, Georgina Frederica, married, 12th January, 1885, the
2nd Viscount Frankfort de Montmorency, and died, 16th April,
1875, leaving, with other issue, Major-General Viscount Frank-
fort de Montmorency. His third daughter, Caroline, married
Major-General Edward Basil Brooke, the fifth son of Sir Edward
Brooke, of Colebrooke, Co. Fermanagh. Peter FitzGibbon
Henchy married, as his second wife, Clara, the daughter of
Benjamin Jones, Esq., and the widow of the 2nd Lord Ventry,
a lady who at the time was reputed to be in the enjoyment of
considerable wealth, but who, unfortunately, had nothing but
gambling and other debts. Mr. FitzGibbon Henchy consequently
became liable for her engagements to an enormous extent,
although he had not the remotest idea when he married her that
she was so heavily involved. He was, consequently, forced not
only to leave the countiy, but to throw up a profession in which
he was earning a substantial income. Lady Ventry died at her
Dublin lodgings on January 17th, 1887, and the matter is
alluded to in The Dublin Evening Mail of January 18th, in the
following words : —
'* The demise of this unfortunate lady will, we trust, enable a respect-
able citizen and a barrister of sreat standing and practice to resume
his station in society, and entitle him again to take his place in his
profession."
Mr. Henchy, however, settled at the Bower, near Epping, in
Essex, and died on January 11th, 1849, at St. Pierre-les-Calais,
in the department of the *^ Pas de Calais."
So much for the elder branch of the Henchy family.
We come now to the second and third branches.
James Henchy, of Ballycaseybeg, Co. Clare, left only one son,
Matthias, to whom we find no further reference beyond his will,
dated the 1st May, 1698.
Florence Henchy, of Ballycumeen, nephew to Peter Henchy,
of Cappagh Castle, was born in 1670, and died on the 17 th
January, 1757. His wife, Mary, was born in 1683, and died on
March 10th, 1748, leaving, with Donagh, who was born in 1703,
and drowned on June 6th, 1730, and Margaret, the wife of Peter
Henchy, of Feenagh, b. 1709, d. July 4th, 1760, Flagh or
Florence Henchy, or Henzey, b. 1714, m.d. of Leyden University.
Many particulars of his life may be gleaned from the " Genuine
THE O'CONNOR HENCHYS OF STONEBKOOK, 4II
Memoirs of Life and Treasonable Practices of Florence Henzey,
M.D.,'* &c.; London : Bailey & Co., 1758; from the " Trial of
Florence Henzey, m.d., for High Treason," London, 1758; from
the " Annual Register/' pp, 97-99; and from The Gentleman's
Magazine, 1758, pp. 240, 287-8, 337-8, and 1759, p. 433.
His crime was supplying the French Government with full in-
formation as to the capacity, numbers, and movements of the
British fleet — information which was supposed to have frustrated
the then projected attack on La Rochelle. The news was gleaned
by constant attendance at the coffee-houses, where he was con-
spicuous for his loud professions of loyalty to the king.
Suspicion was, however, excited by his daily presence at the
Popish mass-house in Soho Square, and his regular correspond-
ence with the Continent; his movements were watched, his
letters opened, and their treasonable character made manifest,
especially those directed to his brother, who was Chaplain and
Under-Secretary to the Spanish Minister at the Hague. He
was tried by Lord Mansfield, and sentenced to be executed at
Tyburn on the 12th July, 1758. He was, however, reprieved on
that very day, to the great disappointment of the crowd who had
assembled to witness his execution. A riot ensued, which, how-
ever, did not prevent his being pardoned on the 7th September,
1759. The last we hear of him is that in 1762 he caused a
monument to be erected at Feenagh to the memory of his father,
brother, mother, and sister — a monument generally known to the
country people as Dean Henzey's tomb, from which we may
presume that be took Holy Orders.
We are, however, mainly concerned with the descendants
of John Henchy, the brother of Peter Henchy the younger,
of Feenagh. His son, David Henchy, married Miss Margaret
May, the daughter of an Irish Protestant family, but a convert
to the Church of Bome. He was born in 1740, went into
business in Dublin, and finally became a prosperous distiller
and merchant. He left all his fortune on his death to his
only daughter, Mary, who married, 26th December, 1796,
Valentine O'Connor, of Dublin, the eldest son of Hugh
O'Connor, of London. They had several children. The eldest,
Hugh, married Elizabeth, daughter of Edmund Cashin, Esq.';
the second, David O'Connor Henchy, of Stonebrook, County
Kildare, m.p., m.f.h., married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John
Burke, Bart., of Marble Hill, and had two children, Captain
Hugh O'Connor Henchy, late I9th Hussars, now of Stonebrook,
County Kildare, mar. Maud, daughter of General Browne ; and
Elizabeth, mar. Sir George Morris, k.o.b., Vice-President of the
L-ish Local Government Board, by whom she has one daughter,
412 THE O'CONNOR HENCIIYS OK STONEBROOK.
Julia. Valentine O'Brien O'Connor, third son of Valentine
O'Connor and Mary Henchy, mar. Monica, daughter of William
Errington, of High Warden, Co. Northumberland, and had
issue — Valentine, b. December 12th, 1844, d. 7th February,
1865; John (twin), b. December 12th, 1844, d. 4th May, 1862;
David, b. January 13th, 1848, d. 6th July, 1848 ; William, b.
December 27th, 1850, d. April 5th, 1898, mar. Eose, daughter
of Edmund Lawless, q.c. ; Ellen, mar. Walter Hussey Walsh,
Esq., of Mulhussey, Co. Roscommon ; Mary, mar. Major Wm.
Blount, eldest son of Wm. Blount, Esq., of Osleton, Hereford-
shire ; Eliza, mar. John Browne, Esq. ; and Margaret, mar.
Sir Percy Grace, Bart. Valentine O'Connor also left several
daughters : Ellen, mar. Percy Magau, Esq., of Kildeagh, Go.
Carlo w ; Mary, mar. Baron de Curnien : Monica, mar. Peter
Purcell, of Halverstown, Co. Kildare; and Honoria, mar. Captain
Peter Slingsby FitzGerald,
( 413 )
TIMOLIN,
[Read at the Excursion Meeting on the I6th September, 1897.]
By lord WALTER FITZGERALD.
TIMOLIN {Teach'Moling, i.e., "Moling's^ house or church")
is a village lying between Moone and Ballitore, in the
Barony of Narragh and Rheban East.
This place came into existence in the seventh century, when
a religious establishment was founded here by St. Moling,
Bishop of Ferns, the patron saint of the Clan Kavanagh.
St. Moling was a native of Hy-Kinsellagh, a district which
included the present County Wexford, the Barony of Shillelagh,
in the County Wicklow, and the northern extremity of the
County Carlow. After the establishment of surnames the prin-
cipal family of this territory took the name of MacMorrough —
a name now obsolete, though the race still exists under the
adopted names of Kavanagh and Kinsella, which are both
numerous.
Si Moling's father was named Oilean, or Faolan, and his
mother, Nemhnat, " of Kerry.'* His first name was Dairkell.
In after-life he was known as '' Moling Luachra " (i.e., of
Luachair), because (according to the Martyrology of Donegal)
" it was he that sprang over Luachair Deadhaidh^ in three leaps,
when the spectres were in pursuit of him." '' Lingeadh " is the
L-ish for a leaping or bounding, and with the endearing prefix
"mo " (i.e., my) before it, the name became Moling.
It was during the reign of Finnachta the Festive, King of
Ireland from a.d. 674 to 694, through the intercession of
St. Moling, that the oppressive biennial Boromean tribute was
forgiven to the Leinstermen. This great tax was imposed on
Leinster iu the year a.d. 82, by Toole the Legitimate, King of
Ireland, in revenge for the death of his two daughters, Dairine
and Fithir. The former was married to Achy Ainkenn, King of
Leinster, who during her life gave out that she was dead, and
took King Toole's other daughter, Fithir, to wife. Not long
* Pronounced M61in.
'A place located by Father Shearman in his **Loca Patriciana "
(p. 94), on the river Burren, in the County Carlow.
414 TIMOLIN.
afterwards the two sisters accidentally met in the King of
Leinster's palace ; and, learning the truth, they were so oyer-
whelmed with grief and shame that they died in consequence.
King Toole, on hearing of this tragedy, invaded Achy's territory,
burned his strongholds, and imposed the heavy cow-tax, which,
according to Eeating*s History of Ireland,^ consisted of six score
hundred of cows, of swine, of sheep, of copper chaldrons, of
ounces of silver, and of embroidered mantles. The levying of
this tribute every second year was invariably opposed by the
Leinstermen, and led to great loss of life. Even its abolish-
ment is related to have been due to a verbal '* sleight of hand,"
as St. Moling obtained the remission of this tax by a singular
use of the Irish word *' luan,'' which means Monday, and also
Doomsday. The king understood it in the former sense ; but
when expostulated with by St. Moling, he gave way, not wishing
to offend the saint nor to appear to break his word.
St. Moling's most famous ecclesiastical foundation was at
St. MuUin's (at that time called Bos-broc^ or the wood of the
Badger), which is situated on the east bank of the Barrow, in
the southern extremity of the County Garlow ; the saint's
'' Pattern " is still celebrated there on the anniversary of his
death, the 17th of June, and on the 25th of July, the feast of
the dedication of his church.'
Both St Mullin's and Timolin were formerly called *' Teach
Moling;" so that, to distinguish them, the Irish Annals and
Histories mention the latter as " Teach-Moling-begg " (Timolin-
beg), or the lesser Timolin.
The death of St. Moling took place on the 17th of June, in
the year 696,' and he is said to have been buried at St. Mullin's.
From this early period nothing remarkable is recorded as
having occurred at Timolin until after the coming of the Anglo-
Normans into Ireland. Mention is then made of the foundation
of a nunnery, under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
for nuns of the order of Aroasia, about the year 1200, by Bobert
fitz Bichard^ De Yalle (al. Le Yeel, al. Calfe), who placed
therein his granddaughter Lacelina.^
Apropos of this Anglo-Norman knight's surname, the late
Bev. James Graves of Kilkenny wrote' : —
**The names of several families have undergone various transfonnations
in the lapse of centuries ; but there ia none that we are aware of which
' P. 220 of the 1723 edition. » " Loca Patriciana," p. 94, n.
• " Annals of the Four Masters." * Vide Harris's *' Ware."
» Vide ArchdaU's **Mona8ticon."
• P. 168 of Graves and Prim's " ffisi»ry of Kilkenny Cathedral."
TIMOLIN. 415
has Buffered bo many and so strange metamorphoses as that of the Wall
family. The Anglo-Norman progenitor of the family was designated De
VaUe, doubtless from the situation of his residence or property, and that
patronymic was carried down for a while by his descendants. But soon
the languaj^e introduced by the conquering Normans began to lose some
of its original characteristics, and the French De Voile became the English
VaU. Ijie orthography of the language was at the time, and for a con-
siderable period subsequently, in a most unsettled state, and this name
was spelled, as it suited the whim or pleasure of those who wrote it, VdU,
Vayl, Veel, and Veal.
**Now, veal was the French for the young of the cow, so that the trans-
lation of the name of Vale into Calfj by those who adhered to the Saxon
language, was easy and natural enough ; and thus throughout the four-
teenth century we find the members of a single familv indifferently called
and calling themselves De Valhy Vale, Vayly Veel, (hlf, and Calfe. But
in the next century the name presents itself to us in a new phase, as, by
slightly changing the initial letter, it became Wale ; whilst in the seven-
teenth century it underwent a new and final transformation by changing
the last letter, and took the form of Wall, There are numerous families
of the name still resident in the county, and did not the
public records of the county enable us to trace their patronymic in all its
phases, from the Anglo-Norman invasion to the present time, few indeed
would be likely to recognise the connection between the aristocratic
Norman name of De Valle and the plebeian cognomen of WiiU"
Robert fitz Richard De Valle was Lord of Norragh fnow
written Narragh), the barony in which Timolin is situated. His
descendants (under the names of Le Yeel, Calfe, &c.) continued
to be lords of the manor until about the end of the fourteenth
centurv, when Sir Robert Galfe's only child, Elizabeth/
married William Wellesley of Baronrath (high sheriff of the
County Eildare in 1897, 1899, and 1403), son of Sir William de
Wellesley, constable of the Castle of KUdare in 1367, and so
brought Norragh into that family. Their descendants were
feudal barons of Norragh until the rebellion of 1641, when
James Wellesley, Baron of Norragh, was outlawed for complicity
in it, and so forfeited all he possessed.'
Lying under a yew-tree on the north side of Timolin Church
is a twelfth-century or early thirteenth-century effigy of a knight,
supposed to be Robert De Valle, founder of the nunnery.
In 1687, to use the words of the Four Masters' —
** A heresy and a new error sprang up in England, through pride,
vain-glory, avarice, and lust, and through many strange sciences, so that
the men of England went in opposition to the Pope and to Rome.
* Vide p. 221, vol. xix, of Pedigrees in Ulster's Office.
» Vide Burke's '* Peerage " under ** Wellington."
' Viz., Michael, Conary, and Cucogry O'Clery, and Ferfeasa O'Mul-
coniy, who compiled that great Irish historical work, ** The Annals of the
Four Masters," m the monastery of Donegal, between the years 1632 and
1636.
4l6 TIMOLIN.
They at the same time adopted various opinions^ and, among others, the
old law of Moses, in imitation of the Jewish people, and they styled the
king the chief head of the Church of God in his own kingdom. New
laws and statutes were enacted by the king and council according to
their own will. They destroyed the orders to whom worldly possessions
were allowed, namely, the monks, canons, nuns, Brethren of the Cross
(Crouched Friars), and the four poor orders — ^the orders of the Minors,
Preachers, Carmelites, and Augustinians ; and the lordships and livings
of all these were taken up for the king. They broke down the monas-
teries, and sold their roofs and bells, so that from Arran of the Saints
(the islands off the mouth of Galway Bay) to the Iccian Sea (the
English Channel) there was not one monastery that was not broken and
shattered, with the exception of a few in Ireland,' of which the English
took no notice or heed. They afterwards burned the images, shrines,
and relics of the saints of Ireland and England."
Among the sufferers was the nunnery of Timolin.
According to an inquisition' held at Naas, in the year 1541,
it was found that the abbess of
" The monastery of Temolingbege, in the County of Kildare,
commonly called the Nunnery of Temolingbege, at the time of
its suppression, was seised, in right of the said monastery,
of the site and precincts of the abbey there, of the walls of a
church, a belfry, a dormitory, a courtyard {aula\ and three
rooms within the precincts there. Also of 9 messuages, 5 cot-
tages, 132 acres of large measui-e, and a water-mill in
Temolingbege ; 29 acres of large measure in InchmAcodder,'
called St. John's Land, and of 65 acres large measure in Old-
grange in the aforesaid county, which lie waste."
By other inquisitions it was found : —
''That the Prioress of Temolingbege, in right of her
monastery, was seised of the Bectory of Dollardston^ in the
County of Kildare, and a parcell of land in Grangemellon, called
' Drumgyrroke,' and of an acre of land in DoUardston, called
the 'Church land.'^ That she was also seised of the Rectory of
Norragh, which extends itself to the towns of Norragh, Olasshele,
Blackrath, Incheneguyer, Ballecross, MoUaghmast, Skerries,
Ballebrane, Eylmide, Ballegruge, Old Grange, Balledrummen,
and Ballenisprott.'^^
* It appears from various inquisitions tliat several of them were in the
out-of-the-way parts concealed for a lung time after this period, and con-
tinued to exist for many years.
« County Kildare Exchequer Inquisition, No. 24 of Heniy VIII.
' Now Inchaquire.
* Now known as the Rosetown Churchyard.
* County Kildare Exchequer Inquisition, No. 3 of Edward VI.
* County Kildare Exchequer Inquisition, No. 7 of Edward VI.
TIMOLIN. 417
After the dissolution of the religious houses, the site and
possessions of this nunnery passed through different hands,
generally for a lease of twenty-one years, at a rent of about £10
and a fine of £10, always on conditions that no alienation of the
lands should take place ; that in case of sub-letting the person
who took them must be of English parents ; and that there should
be no charge of coyne and livery.^
" In 1581 Sir Henry Harrington, Knt, was granted the site
of the house of nuns of Tymolynbegge, the mill there, the lands
of Tymolynbegge, Old Grange, 40 acres of land in Inchmacudder
(Inchaquire), called St. John's Lands, and the customs of all
the premises. Sir Henry died on the 1st of May, 1612, and was
succeeded by his son and heir, Sir John Harrington, Ent.^
In 1603, on the 23rd of May, a John Murphy, Surgeon, of
Dublin, died. He at that time was in possession of the Castle,
10 messuages (or farmsteads), and 60 acres of land in Tymolin ;
his heir was his nephew, John Seagerson (son of Thomas
Seagerson, of Ashtown, by his wife Joan, sister of the above*
mentioned John Murphy )b<
In 1628, William Archbold received from the Crown letters
patent of the site and possessions of the late Hospital of
St John of Tristledermott (now Castledermot), and of the
religious house of Timolinbegg, with all their lands, fishings,
rents, services, and other possessions, to be held in capite by
the twentieth pai-t of a Knight's fee. The lands were erected
into a manor to be called the Manor of Timolinbegg, with a
couii leet, court baron, and a fair to be held on the 17th of
June (the patron saint's day).^
Besides the Church of St. Moling and the nunnery, Timolin
at one period could boast of a castle; but the date of its
erection, and by whom it was built, I am unable to say. It was
probably a Norman castle, like many others whose remains are
dotted over the country, which as a rule were built at a very
early period.
As will be described further on, it was besieged in the
Rebellion of 1641, which left it in a dismantled and ruinous
condition. At the present time there is not a trace of the
foundations even of either the castle or nunnery, and it is more
than likely that the ruins of these buildings were thrown down,
^FiantB.
' Fiants of Elizabeth, and County Kildare Chancery Inquisition,
No. 36 of James I.
' County Kildare Chancery Inquisition, No. 23 of Charles I.
* "Morrin's Calendar," vol. iii. p. 354.
41 8 TIMOLIN.
and the material utilized for erecting the houses in the village
— a practice which, unfortunately for archaeology, has been of
too common occurrence in Ireland generally, even in recent
years.
There are two accounts of the siege of Timolin in 1648
given in contemporary documents ;^ one by an unknown Irish
royalist ; and the other by a Government Army Chaplain ; both,
for the sake of comparison, are given below word for word
(except that the spelling has been corrected to make the reading
easier).
The account by the royalist is as follows : —
" Ormond* and my Lord Lyell* marched (in 1643 on their way to
New Ross from Dublin) as cautious as could be, so that they were not so
much as heard of until they arrived at Timolin in the County of Kildare,
belonging to William Archbold, though in ancient time a nunnery.
Several of the gentry and inhabitants of the neighbourhood retired thither
more for their own proper safety's defence than in any way to offend ;
on the enemy arriving thither, they did leaguer the same, and planting
their ordnance began to batter the same without intermission for twenty-
four hours. Meanwhile the Irish defendant sounded for parley from the
Castle, besides whom were others of the same party in an old almost
ruined steeple, standing in the ruins of the said nunneiy church. The
parley was for both these parties, and so understood by the enemy,
quarter agreed for, and signed by Ormoud and Lyell pursuant thereto.
''Those in the Castle, as chief, came forth first, and were all put to
the sword and slaughtered, without either mercy or observance of any law.
The steeple defendants, assured of their quarter as comprehended in that
of the Castle party, were ready to come forth, when, observing how
inhumanly their comrades were dealt with, they would not trust to the
former capitulation without further security, which being denied, the
enemy began their battery afresh against the said steeple.
** The defendants behaved themselves most courageous, but the work,
an ancient withered wall, was easily sunk down by the ordnance. All the
pitiful cries for quarter were of no avail ; the assault followed the breach ;
many of the enemy perished : but all the defendants, man, woman, and
child, not only such as were in the Castle and steeple, but also those in
all the town, were cruelly massacred. Thus from thenceforth it was a
common saying — * not to hope for better quarter at the English hands
other than that of Timolin.' "
The other account of the siege is from a journal kept by the
Bev. George Greichton, Chaplain to the Marquis of Ormonde's
regiment, which left Dublin on the 1st of March, 1648. On
the 2nd they reached Naas ; on the 8rd they crossed the Liffey
two miles below Gastlemartin, and lodged that night in Kildare ;
» Vide Sir John Gilbert's (a) " History of Affairs in Ireland, 1641-
1662;" (6) ** History of the Confederation and War in Ireland, 1641-1644."
• James Butler, Marquis of Ormonde.
* Philip Sydney, Viscount Lisle, son of Robert Earl of Leicester.
TIMOLIN. 419
on the 4th they passed by BallyshanDon to *' Donnarrowmore "
( ? Narraghmore). From here, to quote the journal : —
*' The Lord Marquis (of Ormonde) and most of the horse went (from
Dounarrovrmore) three miles further, and lodged in a village called Moon,
where a castle held by the rebels yielded upon quarter, and the rebels
were sent away without any harm. But not far from Moon some 400
stout rogues were got into a castle called Timolin, and in a steeple, and
stood upon their defence. The armie was brought hither, and one of the
culverins planted against the Castle. The rebels had taken great pains,
and made good works about this house. Some men were (kawn down to
the assault, and divers went of their own accord, hoping to get some
pillage, and this pillage hath cost many men their lives m Ireland. Here
were thirty men lost and hurt : one Lieutenant Oliver was from the steeple
first beaten down with a stone, and before he could be brought off was
shot in the head, and withal three or four more shot. The loss of this
Oliver did much hurt to the array, for he was an engineer, and of such
they had no more. Before it was twelve of the clock, they that were in
the Castle began to parley, and for so doing they that were in the steeple
shott at them, and cursed them. Before night they that were in the
Castle were all destroyed, except some women and children. Some fifty
men were in the steeple ; the culverin was removed from the Castle, and
planted against the steeple. A barrel of gunpowder was put into the
belfry, and being fired found some vent through the vault, and made some
boards fly in the air, and did no more hurt than was perceived. These
fifty were obstinate rogues ; we heard the friars had sworn them to stand
out to the uttermost, promising to send them relief, which they expected
to the last. Much powder and bullet were spent on this steeple. When
the culverin was discharged, at each shot they in the steeple discharged
one of their muskets, as it were in derision.
*' The next day (6th March) a great part of the steeple tumbled down.
Divers of them were killed with the fall. About noon they were all
destroyed, one only excepted, who, lying down under the battlement in
a comer of the steeple which did not fall, escaped many a shot that was
made at him. When the soldiers were all too weary to shoot at so small
a mark, there came a message from the rebels of Wicklow, praying if any
of the warders of Timolin were alive, they might be saved, and they would
release other prisonei's for them. * There be not many of them alive
now,* said Colonel Munk, who that day commanded the battery, * and
what there is take you with you.* He then left the Castle, and marched
after that part of the army that was gone before. The army passed
by the Castle of Kilkae and Castledermot, where they saw the rebels
bum a ffreat town, a church, and some com, fearing, it seemed, lest they
should be besieged ; but the soldiers thought not on any such matters, but
made haste to their quarters with some companies that came to them from
Athie under the command of Captain Burrows and Captain Treswell.
Their lodging was at Crompton (1), where many Irish were under the
protection of the English. From Crompton they marched to Carlow," &c.
In an extract from a contemporary letter, quoted by Sir John
Gilbert in his "History of the Confederation,'' vol. ii. p. 359, it is
stated that abont 600 men^ women, and children were slain at
Timolin, after quarter had been promised to them. This cor-
420 TIMOLIN.
roborates the account given by the royalist, though naturally it
is not mentioned by the army chaplain.
A few months later the Castle of Timolin, then in the hands
of the Parliamentarians, was summoned by the Confederate
Catholics under two noted leaders — ^a Captain Gerald " Crone "
(i.e., swarthy) FitzGerald, who had served in Flanders under Owen
Boe O'Neill: though a Kildare man, he spoke broken English,
owing to the length of his service abroad ; he was killed at the
battle of Lynch's Knock, County Meath, in 1647. The other
leader was known as McThomas, an assumed name, as his real
name was Pierce FitzQerald (the son of Garrett FitzGerald, by
his wife Cicely, daughter of James FitzGerald, of Drynanstown),
whose family had for ages been seated at Ballyshannon in the
County Kildare, but which was now forfeited, owing to Pierce
being outlawed for treason in 1641. The Parliamentary force in
Timolin surrendered without a blow, and was allowed to march
away with its arms and baggage. On its departure. Pierce Fitz-
Gerald restored the Castle to his brother-in-law, Christopher
Archbold, its rightful owner.^
From this period nothing worthy of note occurred at Timolin
till the Rebellion of '98, when it suffered greatly from both
parties.
In 1741 the great orator Edmund Burke was in this neigh-
bourhood, as he and his two brothers, Garrett and Bichard, were
all together at a school in Ballitore, kept by Abraham Shackleton,
a member of the Society of Friends. He remained here till he
entered Trinity College, Dublin, in 1744.
In the Timolin Churchyard there are two objects of anti-
quarian interest — (1) the Knight's Effigy; and (2) the Kehoe
Slab.
1 . The Knight's Effigy.
Its present position is under a yew-tree on the north side of
the church, whither it was probably removed when the church was
rebuilt or restored.
A description aud an illustration of this effigy are given at
page 132, vol. i, of Thb Journal. The former was written by Mr.
A. Hartshorne, and the latter drawn by the Rev. William Fitz-
Gerald. The date of the monument, judging by the details in
the armour, is stated to be the end of the twelfth century, and,
* P. 68, vol. i, of Gilbert's ** History of AflfairH iii Iroland." According to
a County Kildare Chancery Inquisition, this Christopher of Timolin, and
William Archbold, also of Timolin, were outlawed for high treason op
the 23rd of October, 1641.
TIMOLIN. 421
as far as it is at present known, it is the earliest eiSgy of a
knight now existing in Ireland. Though there are heraldic
devices on the shield — viz., a large crescent above a bar — ^yet at
this period family coats of arms had not been permanently
adopted, and so the knight^s shield affords no clue as to his
identity, though, as before stated, it is surmised that it repre-
sents Robert fitz Bichard Le Yalle, Lord of Norragh, the founder
of the Nunnery of Timolin, circa 1200. Judging by the shape
of the monument, which is broader at the head end than at the
foot,^ it originally formed the lid of a stone coffin, as at that early
period the custom of pavement burial was in use.
The following description of the armour in which the effigy
is clad may add to its interest : —
A complete suit consisted of a hauberk (including as well
the coif and gauntlets), the chausses, the surcoat, spurs, sword,
and shield, each of which in turn will be described.
The Hauberk was the tunic-like garment to which the metal
rings were stitched on edge, one row turning to the right, and the
next to the left ; beneath the hauberk was worn an under-garment
padded with wool, which was called a '^gaubeson,'^ or *' wambsais."
The sleeves of the hauberk fitted close to the arms, and the
gaimtlets or gloves, which were not divided at the fingers, were
attached to them. The hauberk reached down to the knees, and
was close-fitting. The coif or hood of the hauberk covered the
head completely, with, of course, the exception of the face, which
was left unprotected ; one edge of it descended along one cheek,
and the other edge, after doing the same along the other cheek,
projected so as to wrap over the throat, and then ran up the
former, to which it was secured by a leather strap. A padded
cap was worn under the coif, so as to deaden a blow.
The Chatisses wore the protective garment for the legs and
feet ; they were each in one piece, and were secured under the
soles with a strap ; in make they resembled the hauberk.
The Surcoat was a robe worn over the mail armour ; it was
a loose, sleeveless garment, which reached half-way down the
legs. It varied in colour, and on it the knight's arms were
emblazoned. The origin of the ** surcoat '' dates from the
Crusades, when it was worn to keep off the heat of the sun
from the armour, as well as to prevent it getting begrimed with
dust, or rusty from rain. The sword-belt round the waist kept
it closed in front. (On the Timolin monument the sword does
not appear.)
* The breadth at the head end is 2 feet, narrowing down to ] foot
i inches at the foot.
422 TIMOLIN.
The Spurs worn at this period were known as " the Piyck-
spar," which ended in a sharp point ; the '* rowelled " spar was
an invention of a later date. These spurs were fastened to the
feet by means of straps nailed to the shanks, and secnred with
buckles above the instep, after passing nnder the sole. In a
paper on a goad-spur found in the County Wicklow, written by
the Rev. J. F. M. ffrench/ the following reference to the pryck-
spurs on this effigy is made : —
" I think/' he writes, *' the most important evidence we can
obtain as to whether our Norman invaders wore the prick or
rowelled spur is that supplied by a recumbent monumental effigy
lately brought to notice in the churchyard of Timolin, in the
County Kildare, by that Archaeological Society's Journal.'
I think this Timolin effigy affords convincing proof that some, if
not all, the Norman knights who invaded Ireland wore prick-
spurs, although in this, as in countless other instances, the two
periods may have overlapped one another. The Timolin effigy
does more for us than even this, for it disproves a statement
which I quote from a good authority, who says that ' the ancient
equestrians wore the spur on one heel only. No instance appears
to be known of Norman spurs occurring in pairs;' and the
reason Hume gives for this habit is, that the Norman knights
felt quite satisfied that if one side of the horse went on, the
other was sure to follow. Now, the Timolin figure shows a
pair of prick-spurs, and that ought to provide a very conclusive
denial to that assertion."
The Shield was kite-shaped ; it was slung over the back, or
at the left hip when not required ; it was hung by a '' goige "
or belt, which passed over the right shoulder and under the left
arm ; it was curved, and on it were painted the armorial bearings
of the knight.
2. The Eehoe Slab.
This Slab lies sunk in the ground near the east end of the
church ; it measures 5 feet 4 inches in length, its breadth at
the top is 1 foot 7 inches, and at the bottom 1 foot 4 inches ;
in thickness it is 9 inches. A plain cross on a stepped base
runs down the centre; on either side of, and parallel to the
shaft is a narrow panel, while above and below the arms are two
small round and two almond-shaped objects — what they represent
» Vide p. 214, vol. xxv (for 1895), of The JcmnioZ of the Boyal Society of
Antiquaries, Ireland.
« Vol. i. p. 132.
EH
hh
424 TIMOLIN.
is hard to say. Bound the upper end, down one side, and along
a portion of the lower end, is the following inscription : —
DONAQH KIQHOW ALISONNB VRCHBOLD
PARREL KIGHOW
The date, 1633, is cut on the base of the cross. The lettering
and ornaments are all in relief, and much worn ; the slab is of
limestone.
On a modem pedestal, near the porch of the church, is the
bowl portion of a small old font ; it is shaped like a handleless
cup, quite plain, and with the aperture in the centre; the
material is sandstone.
Except one small mural slab (described on page 205, yoL i,
of The Journal), the village of Timolin contains nothing of
archaeological interest. For seventeen years this interesting
little slab was hid under a coat of dashing in the house now
occupied by Mr. Shannon. With the permission of the landlord,
Mr. Deane- Drake, a search was made for it in July, 1893, since
when it has been exposed to view. The shield at the top of
.^Mz
BEATVi^'OyH
jTELLiaiT'SVP.
I^EGENVM'ETfJ
PiWPEREl630
The Archbold Tablet in Timolin Village, 1630.
tbc stone bears the Archbold coat of arms, and the letters
W and A on either side of it stand for William Archbold of
Timolin, who was outlawed for complicity in the 1641 rebellion.
A small stream called '' the Bothoge *' runs past Timolin,
close Lo which it joins the Greese. Its name, according to Dr.
TIMOLIN. 425
Joyce, means the stream of ** the watery land/' being derived
from the Irish word " bawtha," signifying " drowned.''
Formerly Easter Monday was the great Pattern and Fair Day
in Timolin. It was notorious for its faction-fights between the
Timmons faction of Bumbo Hall (now the Grange, County
Wicklow), and the 0*Byme faction of Moone. This fight used
to be eagerly looked forward to, and not a man attended but had
a well-seasoned shillelagh. In those days there were no peelers
to spoil the sport, and no prosecutions followed any deaths that
resulted from the fights. The wake and funeral would be well
attended by both parties, who until the next Easter Monday
would meet as the best of friends, and discuss the merits of the
late fight. Times have changed sadly since, so my informant
(old William Whelan of Ballyvass) told me, as now-a-days if one
man hits another a box, as likely as not he will get summoned
for assault — an unheard-of proceeding in the good old times.
Before the chapel of Moone was built its predecessor stood in
a field close to the village of Timolin, on the opposite side of
the Bothoge. The field still goes by the name of " the Chapel
Field/' though no trace of either chapel or its burial-ground is
now to be seen ; the latter is said to have been levelled by a
farmer named Eavanagh.
( 426 )
NOTES ON A ''BOOK OF HOURS OF THE
BLESSED VIRGIN MARYr
By the HON. MRS. SWINTON.
I HAVE lately been fayonred by the sight of a very beaotifal
illuminated MS. Book of Hours of the B.Y.M., the property
of Mrs. Fetherstonhaugh Frampton, which was given to Lady
Harriet Frampton, her grandmother, about the year 1840, by
some one who picked it up in an old farm-house near Dorchester.
Its great interest, to me, was that it contains various
records of births and deaths of the FitzGerald family. The
entries occur principally in the calsndar, rather on the prin-
ciple of a modern " birthday book," but also on fly-leaves
and at the top or bottom of the pages. The book is bound in
boards of wood — the cover is now a rough calf, but evidently
there had been velvet over it. The clasps are gone. It
contains 256 pages in vellum, of 10|^ inches by 1^^ and seventy-
three miniatures, very beautifully painted, of various saints. The
initial letters are also very lovely. The entries are not all writ-
ten in the same hand. After one of them is written " Symon
Bamewall wrote theis.'' The first record appears on fly-leaf No. S,
but it is not the earliest in date which occurs in the calendar. I
give them in chronological order, beginning with "May 28, 1264,"
the death of " Maurice Alius Oeraldi, qui primus induxit frcs
ordinis predicatorum et mor (?) et edificavit cast" de Slygagh.'*
This evidently is Maurice, 2nd Baron of Ofialey, who in 1215
introduced into Ireland the order of the Franciscans, and the
next year that of the Dominicans; and who in 1248 built a castle
at Sligo. Here there is a slight discrepancy. What looks like
" 8 " may represent *' 0," and it is easy to mistake " 4 " and
'' 7 "—for in " The Earls of Kildare " it appears this Maurice
died May 20, 1257.
2. The next date is July 20, 1286 :— " Obiit Geraldus Alius
Maurice d"" de OfiiEiley apud Rathmore 20 Julii, 1286, et sepeletur
in mon mi or de Kyld." This must refer to Gerald FitzMaurice,
4th Baron of Ofialy (grandson of the last-mentioned baron),
who died at Bathmore, and was buried at Kildare in 1287.
This discrepancy is easily accounted for, being only one year
difierent.
NOTES ON A "BOOK OF HOURS," &a 42/
8. Then comes the date of the death of '' Johannes Alias
Thome primus comes de Eild : et sepelitur in eccl. cathed :
Daren, Sept. 10, 1316. This date agrees with that of the death
of John FitzThomas, who was created Earl of Kildare bj
Edward II, and who died at Maynooth, Sept. 10, 1316, and was
buried in the Orey Abbey at Kildare.
4. The next entry occurs on March 9, 1328: — "Obitus
Thome com. Eild. qui erat filius Joli** com Eild : dom. de Offaly
et Justic. Hiber: idem Thome edificavit capell b* IVP*® in
monasterio mar in Eild : ubi sepel. et dom. Johan de burgo
uxor ejus.'' Here I find a difference of a month, for the date of
Thomas, 2nd Earl of Eildare's, death is given in " The Earls of
Eildare " as 9th April. He was twice Lord Justice of Ireland.
He added the Chapel of St. Mary to the Church of the Fran-
ciscans at Castledermot, and was buried before the altar of our
Lady in the Grey Abbey of Eildare, where his wife, Lady Joan
de Burgh, was also buried.
5. In the next entry — " Obitus Maur : filii Thome quarti
Comitis Eyldar qui obiit Aug., 1380, et sepel : in cancell S^
Trinitat Dublin," the day of the month looks like 15th, but
as Maurice FitzThomas, 4th Earl of Eildare, died on 25th
August, 1390, probably part of the figure has become effaced,
and the "8" maybe in reality " 9," as the figares are very small,
faint, and difficult to decipher. The place of burial is correct,
being now Christ Church, Dublin.
6. There is a long interval before the next entry of nearly
eighty years, and then I come to — ''Annuuc° B. Marie obiit
Thomas, filius Johannes Septe Comes Eildarie et Justce d*" reg.
hiber, 1477, sepultus est in monasterii Om' S°^ Dublin." Thomas,
the 7th Earl of Eildare, son of John, 6th Earl, was Lord
Justice of Ireland in 1467, and died 25th March (Lady Day),
1477, and was buried in the Monastery of All Hallows (or All
Saints), Dublin.
7. The next notice is of the Great Earl, Geroit More, 8th
Earl of Eildare, son of the above : — *' Obitus Geraldi filii Thome,
octavi Comitis de Eyld : et deput regis in Hib : per trigenta
annos et Bepel. in mon. ^am J ^^^^^^j^^j^^^^p^^j^^^^^^,.
cullene 6ct. 6, 1517.'' Here there is some discrepancy, for
Gerald, Sth Earl, is said (in '* The Earls of Eildare ") to have
died Sept. 3, 1513, and to have been buried at Christ Church,
Dublin, in St. Mary's Chapel, Oct. 16, 1513 ; but EilcuUen was
the burial-place of bis first wife, Alison Eustace.
8. No date given : — ^' Obiit Domina Alisona fil Rolandi
Eustace militis : dom : de Portlest : prima uxor Geraldi Octavi
428 NOTES ON A " BOOK OF HOURS OF
Comitis de Kyld : fil : Thome : et sepnlitus in novo monasterio
jnxta pent: de Kilcnllene qaod dictus Rolandus edificavit et
fundavit." Alison, Countess of Eildare, was danghter and co-
heiress of Rowland Eustace, Baron of Portlester, County Meath.
She died 22nd November, 1495, and was buried in the new
Abbey of Eilcullen, which her father had founded.
9. The ninth entry is very puzzling : — " Obiit Geraldus
filius sexti Comitis de Kyld : et sepel in monast : omnium san.
de Dublin, Oct. 17, 1527/' According to "The Earls of Kildare'*
the 6th Earl had an only son, Thomas, 7th Earl, who
died 1477, and is buried in the Monastery of All Hallows,
Dublin ; and there is no mention of any Gerald to correspond
with this date.
I now come to the fly-leaf entries.
10. "Natus est Oeraldus filius Oeraldi Comitis Kildarie,
A"" D"* 1525." This would be Gerald, second son of Gerald, 9th
Earl, who afterwards became the 11th Earl, and was bom 25th
February, 1525.
11. This is followed bj — "Natus Edwardus filius Geraldi
Comitis Eildarie filii Geraldi. January 17, 1528." This agrees
with the date of birth of Edward, third son of the 9th Earl,
father of Gerald, 14th Earl.
12. The next entry is :— " The 13th day of September, 1566,
was Mary, dochter to Geralde, the restored Erl of Eyldare, borne
at Maynooth." Possibly the last figure may be a *' 6," as that
is the date (18th September) of the birth of Lady Mary Fitz-
Gerald, daughter of Gerald, the 11th Earl, and afterwards wife
of Christopher Lord Delvin.
The next is of the birth of her brother Gerald, Lord Ofialy,
who died before his father, and was buried at St. Aiban's Abbey,
Herts. He was married to Catherine, daughter of Sir Francis
Enollys, k.o., and left an only child, Lettice, wife of Sir Robert
Digby.
" The 28 day of December, 1559, was Geralde, son and
here .... at Maynooth."
There is also a very illegible entry of Elizabeth Zouche,
" uxor Eildare . . . sep : mon ..." This was the
wife of the 9th Earl, who died 1540, and was buried in the
Abbey of KilcuUen. c
There are other records in different parts of the book. A
motto on a scroll — " Aultre ne veul mes "—often occurs. Also
a shield bearing —
** Sable 3 bells argent, impaling Sable per bend sinister, a lion
rampant or, counterchanged " —
probably Norton and Francis, as I find in Papworth's Heraldry
THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 429
that three bells were on ^'Stephen Norton's'' seal, and the name
of Thomas Norton, of Norton, occurs in the book. The lion
cotinterchanged was borne by the Francis or Franncys family,
one of whom was Lord Mayor of London in the fonrteenth
century.
There is an entry as follows : —
*' Julii 13, 1469. Isto die natus erat Edwardus filius Juhis coinitis
VVigome circa horam tertiam post meridian. *'
After the Calendar^ with its lovely delicate borders, come the
hoars, illustrated by miniatures, and then the Litany and
Prayers for the Dead, with a quaint illustration of a burial,
where an angel and a demon are contesting for the soul ! The
Psalter of St. Jerome follows, with a miniature of that saint. In
the *' Memoria " of the saints there are several of Saxon names.
This is but a meagre description of this very beautiful and
curious book, but, such as it is, I hope it may interest some of
the readers of our Journal. One would like to know how it
happened that this book, after being so many years in Ireland —
probably in a monastery — should now be found in Dorsetshire.
f"-
2 't
O T
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From a Drawing by Petrie in Vol. Ill of Thomah Cromwell's
" Excursions through Ireland/' ante 1820.
J
OLD KILCULLEN.
By miss MARGARET STOKES.
OLD Kilcullen is situated in the Cou|ity of Kildare and the
barony and parish of Kilcullen. The ruins stand about
a mile to the south-west of the village of Kilcullen. From the
top of the hill on which the churchyard lies there is a fine view
of the hills of Dublin and Wicklow to the south and east, and .
the rich plain of the Liffey (Magh Liph^) to the north and west.^
The Irish form of the name of this place is Gella Cuilind,
signifying '' Church of the Holly." There are at least ten town-
lands in Ireland so called. The original name of this place
was Sliabh Cuilinn, i.e., ''The Holly Hill.''
The early history of the monastery founded at Kilcullen
by St. Patrick, is interesting as connected with the origins of
Christianity and Christian art in Ireland. One of the first
bishops of Kilcullen came from Auxerre, from the school of
* See ** Ordnance Survey Letters,*' vol. i. Kildare, p. 189.
432 OLD KILCULLEN.
Oermannsy where a remarkable group of men met in their
youth, and played no small part afterwards in the ecclesiastical
history of Ireland. This school at Auxerre was that of
SS. Patrick, Secnndinns, Auxilins, and the Bishop of Elilcnllen,
Isseminns, or Fith, as he was called in Ireland; and when
at Auxerre they appear to have met with St. Brioc/ Michomer,
and Lupus of Troyes.
St. Brioc is said to have been a native of Kerry, whose
mother was converted from paganism to Christianity by the
apparition of an angel, who prophesied the birth of her son
Brioc, and directed that the boy should be sent to Auxerre to a
blessed man named Germanus, Bishop of the same city, who
would educate him in liberal discipline, and inform him in
good morals and a holy life.
In after years, the mother, seeing her son's gifts, and
remembering her vision, sent the boy to the man of Ood
at Auxerre ; and, as he entered the schoolhouse where
Germanus abode, a little bird, in the form of a dove, '' flew
before him and fluttered down on his head." Then Brioc
bowed down humbly at the knee of the holy man ; and when
Germanus and his disciples beheld the youth filled with the
grace of God, they received him with honour and blessing
and great joy. But there were two others present — Patrick' and
Iltud— who embraced him with warm affection, and surpassed
the rest in their loving welcome.
It was with those two friends that Brioc afterwards was wont
to spend most of his time.
When he was twenty-five years of age, he was warned by an
angel to return to his native land, that he might convert his
people there from paganism ; and Germanus sent him forth in
obedience to this mandate, blessing him, and sending with him
one disciple, and the necessaries for the Mass, along with one
horse and one day's food. When he reached the sea-coast, he
gave his horse to a beggar, and sailed forth till he reached the
mouth of the Shannon. After labouring at home for some years
he returned to the Continent, leading with him 168 followers,
and they stopped at Ploqucrneau in Brittany. He ended his
days at St. Brieuc, near St. Malo.
The history of the other members of this group was as
follows : — Michomer, also of Irish birth, went to the South of
'See ''Life of St. Brieuc,^' from a hitherto unpublished MS. Latin.
Bibl. de Rouen, ed. by Dom. Francis Plaine. St. Brieuc. 1883.
' Patrick became the Apostle of Ireland. Iltud, Bishop of Bangor,
was said to have been at one time a soldier of King Arthur.
OLD KILCULLEN. 433
France. St. Lnpus, or St. Loup, is said to have first gone into
Wales, with .Germanus and Issernin^as (afterwards Bishop of
Eilcullen), and then to have returned to Gaul, and founded the
church at Troyes.
Sechnall was a nephew of St. Patrick ; he had come from
Lombard;, where he was styled '* Secundinus son of Bestitutus,"
and he was son of Darerca, Patrick's sister. We read of
him as present with the Apostle at Uisnech, Mucno's Well,
Loch Trena in Ulster. When St. Patrick returned to the
Continent, he left him in charge, and Sechnall is said to have
been the first Bishop that died in Ireland.
Auxilius, who with his companion Isserninus was con-
secrated with St. Patrick, followed the Apostle to L*eland in the
year 438, and was placed by him over the church of Eillashee (Cell
Auxille) in the County of Eildare, where the remains of an old
church and of a round tower attached to it may still be seen.
Isserninus, afterwards Bishop of Eilcullen, was first with the
Apostle at Auxerre and Ivrea, and came into Ireland in 488.
At first he appears to have objected to the mission to Ireland,
and would have chosen to be sent to any other country rather
than this, as the story is told in the additions to Tirechan'g
Collections in '' The Book of Armagh.^'
''.... Patrick and Isserninus, that is Bishop Fith,
were with Germanus in the city Olsiodra (Auxerre). But
Germanus said to Isserninus that he should come hither into
Ireland to preach. And he was ready to obey to whatsoever part he
should be sent except to Ireland. Germanus said to Patrick :
*' And thou, wilt thou be obedient ? " Patrick said: '' Be it so if
thou wishest." Germanus said : " This shall be between you^
and Isserninus will not be able to avoid passing into Ireland."
Patrick came into Ireland ; " howbeit Isserninus was sent into
another region; but a contrary wind brought him to the southern
part of Ireland."^
It is probable that Isserninus was driven ashore on the south-
eastern coast of Wexford, and he seems to have followed the
course of the River Slaney till he reached the south of Magh Fea.
'^ Thereafter he went to his province, a small tribe in Cliu, named
Catrige." This district lies on the northern slopes of Mount
Leinster. He then passed on to Toicuile and other places near
Clonmore, in the County of Carlow, where he made many con-
verts ; and here he was joined by St. Patrick, who finally estab-
lished him and his converts, the sons of Cathbad, at Aghade, or
• See ** Tripartite Life of St. Patrick," p. 343 (Rolls Series).
434 OLD KILCULLEN.
Ath Fithot, having first temporarily placed him oyer the church
at Eilcullen, in the County Kildare, as we read in the '' Tripartite
Life of St. Patrick," p. 187.
" Thereafter he went into Mag Liphi (the plain of the Liffey). He
founded churches and cloisters therein, and he left Auxilius in Cell Usaili,
and Isseminus and MaocTdil in Cella Culind, and other saints."
How long he remained in the Abhey of Eilcallen is unknown;
but he appears to have retired to die among his first converts in
Aghade about the year 469.
This Isserninus, or Fith, may be identified with Id, who is
commemorated on July 14th in the "Martyrology of Donegal" —
Id, Qishop of Ath-Fhadhat, in Leinster. And, again, in the
"Martyrology of Gorman " — July 14th— Bishop Id, whom I will
entreat, who was not puny, but a mighty man.^
When St. Patrick placed Id, or Fith — i.e., Isseminus — over
the church of Eilcullen, he associated MacTail with him. It
appears that when Isseminus returned to Aghade, MacTail
succeeded him in the government of the monastery, since he is
always styled MacTail of Gill-Cuilenn. His name occurs in the
list of Patrick's household given in the '' Tripartite Life," p. 251:
**The smiths making the bells ^namely, Macc-cecht and Cdana and
Macc-tdil."
In the ''Genealogy of Saints" in the Book of Lecan, fol. 196,
and in "M'Firbis," we find it stated that MacTail of Cillcullen
was ope of the saints of the HyBairrche, a tribe whose territories
were on the banks of the Barrow and Slaney. His father
was Eogan, a carpenter, and he was named " Son of Adze/' in
allusion to one of the symbols of his father's profession. The
daughter of the King of Leinster, Coningen, ** the fair pillar," of
whom many mythical stories are told, appears to have been first
his pupil and then his fellow-worker. She was the foundress of
the church of Gill Coagh, at Donard, and of some churches in
Leinster.
The death of MacTail is recorded in the ''Annals of Ulster,"
and of the " Four Masters," as occurring in the year 548, while
the "Annals of Clonmacnois" give it at a.d. 550. He seems to
have been regarded in the tenth century as patron saint of Kil-
cuUen, to the exclusion of Isseminus, from the following entry
in the "Genealogy of the Scandinavian Chieftains," '^ Wars
of the Gaidhel with the Gaill," App. D, p. 283, where the deliver-
' Bishop Id) from Ath Adat [leg. Fadhat i], in Leinster.
OLD KILCULLEN. 435
ance from the foreign yoke of Amiaff, son of Godfrey, of Dublin ,
is partly attributed to MacTail of EilcuUen : —
"The foreigners [Gaill] deserted A thcliath [i.e., Aralaoibh], son of
Godfrey, by the help of God and MacTAil."
O'Donovan says of MacTail : '' He was the patron saint of
EilcuUen, in the County of Eildare, and of St. Michael le Pole's
Church, near Ship Street, Dublin, as is highly probable from
this passage/' And Dr. Todd suggests that '* MacTail '* may
have been afterwards changed into " Michael" by the English,
so that the original name signified MacTail's church on the
Poddle.
Any further information we have been able to gather
concerning MacTail is contained in the following extracts : —
'*Mart. Oengus." June 11. The Feast of MacTdil, the Sainted at
Fortunatus* passion.
"Note from Lebar Brecc ofMacTdil" — i.e., of Cell Cuilinn, in Mag
Laigen. Eogan, the wright, son of Dergdn, or Eogan, son of Oengus,
was the father of MacTdil ; and because of his being the son of a wright
he is called Mac tdU, 'son of adze.* Or Eochaid, son of Barr, King of Leix,
may be MacTdil'a father.
'* MacTdil of Cell Cuilinn C^ir,
Son of Eochaid, son of vehement Dairchen.
And this is why he is MacTdil :
Because he took the wright's t6,\ [adze].
Oengus was his baptismal name at first
Until he took the .... (?)
* Son of Adze ' he [was called] thenceforward,
Though he was chaste [and] was a cleric."
In the " Marty rology of Donegal " we read : —
'* June 11. MacTail (i.e., Aengus) of Cill Cuilinn, in Leinster. He is
of the race of Core, son of Lughaidh, King of Af unster, and the brother of
Colnian, of Cill Cleitighe, a.d. 548."
And again, at April 29, we read : —
'*Coiningean. She was pupil to MacTail, of Cill Cuillinn, and it was
on account of her the clergy of Leinster denounced MacTdil (Oloss of
Aeiighus),"
In the Calendar of Aengus we read : " April 29. Goniugen,
a fair pillar, on one festival with Fiachna.^'
The gloss on this entry at page Ixxvii is as follows : —
" Conhvgen a fair pillar- i.e., a great nail there was upon her like a
wolf's nail ; i.e., she was daughter of a king of Leinster: sed^ &c. Con-
ingen— i.e., Condingen— was he of the family of Mochuda of Lismore ;
and in the Desies of Munster he is, and he was of the Coningig — i.e., a
tribe that is in the north of Sliabh Cua — and at Ard Finain he is ; but
this is truer, namely, Coningen, a girl which was by some chance with 9,
436 OLD KILCULLEN.
wolf, sucking with its cubs the milk from its dugs, and she is Conach, of
Cell Finnmaige, in Ui Enechlais in Forthuatha of Leinster, is she that is
mentioned here ; and it is she that was pupil to MacTiiil of Cell Cuilind,
and on account of her the clergy of Leinster reviled MacTiiil."
We have found no farther information as to the history of
Kilcnllen until we come down to the eighth century. Then we
read in the *' Annals of the Four Masters " : —
A.D. 780. ''Maeloctraigh, son of Conall, Abbot of Cill-
Cuilinn and Scribe of Gillnamanach/ died." The same eyent is
recorded in the year 782 ('' Annals of Glonmacnois ").
A.D. 898. '* Ailell, son of Aenghus, Abbot of Gill Guilinn,
died.''
A.D. 982. ** Kilcolyn was preyed by the Danes, who led
1,000 captives from thence ('Annals of Glonmacnois'). This was
probably when Godfrey was on bis way from Dublin to Ossory,
where the Limerick foreigners, to whom he was hostile, were
assembled." (See " Wars of the Gaill," p. 274.)
A.D. 985. '^Diarmaid, son of Ailell, Abbot of Gill-Guilinn,
died at an advanced age."
A.D. 936. " Amlaff, son of Godfrey, came to Dublin again,
and plundered Gill-Guilinn, and carried off ten hundred prisoners
from thence." Amlaff's return to Dublin after his defeat by
Athelstan and Edmund, his brother, at Brumby, is celebrated
in the following lines in the '' Anglo-Saxon Ghronicle " :^-
** The Northmen departed
In their nailed barics ;
Bloody relic of darts
On the roaring ocean.
O'er the deep water
Dublin to seek,
Again in Ireland,
Shamed in mind."
This Amlaff was Amlaff Lagman, son of Godfrey — Goffraith
— mentioned in " Wars of the Gaill," ch. xciv, p. 165, as one of
the four crown princes of the foreigners.
A.D. 937. The foreigners deserted Atholiath by the help of
God and MacTail.
A.D. 944. The plundering of Gill-Guilinn by the foreigners
— i.e., by Amlaff Guaran and his followers.
A.D. 948. Gormac Ua h-Ailella, airchinneach of Gill-
Guilinn, died.*
*Cillnamanach— i.e., Church of the Monks, now Kilnamanagh, in
Barony of Crannagh, County of Kilkenny.
*The same obit, is recorded in the *' Annals of Clonmacnoia," where
Cormac is styled Arch-Deane,
OLD KILCULLEN. 437
A.D. 962. Saibhne, son of Segonan, Bishop and Buler of
Cill Cuilinn, died.
A.D. 1080. Tuathal O'Garbhain, Bishop of Cill-Cuilinn,
died.
A.n. 1087. Baaidhri, son of Tadhg Ua Lorcain, Tanist of
Ui Cennsealaighy was taken prisoner in the stone church of
Kilcnllen by Donnchadh MacGillapatrick.
A.D. 1114. Gill-Chailinn was buraed white this year.
I have to thank Lord Walter PitzGerald for the following
notes on the mediaeval history of this place.
In 1819 a bridge was built over the Liffey at Kilcullen. It
is thus referred to in Holinshed's " Chronicles of Ireland " : —
*' There hath beene a worthie Prelat, Canon in the Cathedrall Church
of Kildare, named Maurice Jake,* who, among the rest of his charitable
deeds, builded the Church of KilcooUen, to the great and dailie commo-
ditie of all such as are occasioned to traviU in those parts."
In Thady Dowling's *' Short Annals of Ireland " it is particu-
larly stated that it was built at the canon's own proper cost.
The gradual decline of Old Kilcullen, so designated to dis-
tinguish it from EilcuUen Bridge, is attributed to the building
of this bridge. At the present time, judging from existing
remains, it is hard to imagine that Old Kilcullen was once
a town of importance, yet, according to Bev. Mervyn Archdall,
such was the case. He visited Old Kilcullen on the 10th
August, 1781, and describes it thus: —
'^Tradition tells us that Old Kilcullen was a large walled town with
seven gates ; one only now remains, which is about 10 feet wide, with a
handsome Roman arch, under which the present turnpike road runs.
Some small remains of a second gate appear to the south-west, and the
old sites of several of the others were pointed out to me. This town,
though placed so high, was well supplied with water by means of draw-
wells, all at present fiUed up save one In the churchyard,
leaning against the south-west comer of the church, is the top of a tomb
of a blackish limestone, there is carved on it in mezzo-relievo, a man at
full length in armour made like fish-scales ; it comes over the head like a
capuchin cloak, and reaches down near to the elbows, the right hand on
his breast, a sword girt to his side, with a remarkable narrow belt, and a
dog at his feet. Close to the top of his forehead is the figure of a stag
couchant, as well as we could make it out. To the south-west of the
church is an ancient Round Tower not exceeding 40 or 50 feet in heisht ;
from the four windows it never appears to have been higher. The door
looks towards the church door, and is about 7 feet from the ground ; it is
narrow and low, the jambs and arch are of freestone. The tower is in a
very ruinous state, and will probably be soon added to the prostrate
' A}so, in other sources, written Jack, Jackis,
438 OLD KILCULLEN.
ruins of KilcuUen— a pity, as it is a fine landmark. To the east of the
tower is the shaft of a cross of a single stone 10 feet high. In a garden
bounding the north of the churchya^rd is the. pedestal of another cross.
To the south-east and near the tower is a very ancient* bass-relievo of
coarse freestone, near 4 feet long and about 14 inches broad ; it is
divided into compartments (containing Scriptural Subjects). The present
church is rather modem, built in the beginning of this century [except
the chancel, which opens with a beautiful arch, finely ornamented with
the old crenellated cornice, and, what is worthy of observation, the
capitals of the side pilitsters are the very same as at Timahoe in the
Queen's County.]'"
Fortunately Mr. Archdall's prophecy about the Round
Tower was not fulfilled. In recent years it has become a
*' National monument," and was re-pointed by the Board of
Works to save it from further decay. This tower has been
illustrated and described in our Journal, on pages 81 to 83 of
the First Volume. The sculptured shaft of the High Gross was
at the same time set up on its ancient base, though a portion
had to be chiselled away to make it fit the socket, the lower
part apparently having been broken off and lost.
The efSgy of the knight in armour like fish-scales, is shown
as leaning against the exterior of the church (which was then
in use) in the illustration in Grose's *' Antiquities of Ireland,"
vol. ii, 1792. Some time previous to the year 1858 the late
Sir Erasmus Borrowes had this efSgy removed to his. residence,
Barretstown Castle, to preserve it from destruction, as at one
time it had been used as a flag under a pump, and, on another
occasion, it was being defaced with stones. There is an illustra-
tion of it at page 129, vol. i, of our Joubnal, taken after it had,
unfortunately, undergone some renovation. By the country
people the effigy was known as " Rowley Eustace ; *' but, in the
opinion of an expert, it represented Sir Oliver Eustace, who was
summoned to Parliament in 1874. It has been described by
Sir Samuel Meyrick in the following words :— '
*'In Old KilcuUen Church, is a specimen of the armour worn in
Ireland during the reign of Richard II. It is a monument of a knight
of the Eustace family. He wears a haubergeon, in shape like those worn
' Brewer in his '* Beauties of Ireland " published in 1826, says of Old
KilcuUen Church : '* Between the chancel and the nave there was untO
recently a very fine circular arch, but we regret to state that this curious
vestige of antiquity is now destroyed. In the church is still preserved
the efiigy of a knight in mail represented at full length, his right hand on
his heart, his left hand on the suard of his sword, and the helmet open.
» Vide p. 41, vol. v (1858-69), of The Journal of the KUkefmy ArchceoUh
gical Society,
OLD KILCULLEN. 439
in the time of William the Conqueror, but of chain mail. His legs and
arms, however, are protected by jambs and vambraces of plate ; his feet
by demi-sollerets ; his knees by genouilliers ; and his elbows by caps ;
his head is wrapped up in a cloth tied at the top, such as worn in the
reign of King John, and called Oargan, over which was placed his conical
visored basinet of the form of Edward I's time, and he wears by a cord,
or strap and buckle round his waist, a large sword at his left side."
Walker in his " Memoir on the Armour and Weapons of the
Irish " also describes this eiBgy. Sir Erasmus Borrowes, who
wrote an article on this monument in The Kilkenny Archao-
logical Journal remarks that '' Sir Samuel Meyrick has omitted
to state that the head of the figure rests on a pillow or flat
cushion ; his feet on a dog ; and some animal passant can be
distinctly traced on the front of his helmet over his forehead,
probably a stag with a crucifix between his horns — the crest of
the Eustace family — typical of the stag which pagan Eustace
was hunting, appearing suddenly with the sacred emblem, and
thus converting the heathen hunter to Christianity."
In 1541 Sir Thomas Eustace, nephew of Sir Koland Eustace,
Baron of Portlester, was created Baron of KilcuUen, and in
the following year Viscount Baltinglass; he died, without
surviving male issue, in 1549.
According to an Inquisition held in Naas in July, 1581, it
was found that James Eustace, Viscount Baltinglass, lately
attainted for high treason, was in possession of an ancient
walled enclosure containing buildings called the old Manor
House of Kilcullen.^
In 1606 a grant was made to William Eustace, Esq., of
Castlemartin, of a yearly Fair to be held on St. Barnabas's Day
and the day following.^ St. Barnabas's Day falls on the 11th
of June, which is also the Festival of St. Eoghan MacTail,
Bishop of Kilcullen.
On the 4th of April, 1642, the Marquis of Ormoud with the
Parliamentary forces, consisting of 3,000 foot and 500 horse,
with five field pieces, marched from Naas to Kilcullen, burning
on their march all the villages belonging to the Confederates
that came in their way. That night they encamped at Kilcullen.
In 1644 a French traveller named De la Boullaye le Gouz
visited Ireland for two months. In the month of May be left
Dublin, and, on the second day, passing through Naas, reached
Kilcullen Bridge. " We swam," he wrote, " over a little river
(the Lifiey) with much trouble, carrying our clothes on our
** County Kildare Chancery Inquisition/' No. 4 of Elizabeth.
' Page 106, *' Russeirs Calendar of SUite Papers, Ireland " (1600-1608).
M M
440 OLD KILCULLEN.
heads, the Irish having broken the bridge during the religions
wars. All this country was laid waste, and we found none but
poor unfortunates on the roads who sold buttermilk and a little
oaten bread. After having passed this river we came to sleep
at Castle Dairmon (Castledermot), a little village under the
dominion of the Catholics."^
On the 24th of May, 1798, the churchyard of Old KilcuUen
was the scene of a fierce encounter between a portion of General
Dundas's force and a large body of United Irishmen. The rebels
were entrenched behind a wall and a ditch which enclosed the
burial-ground. Their only arms were pikes. General Dundas
seems to have under-estimated their valour, as, instead of wait-
ing for his infantry to come up, he ordered some forty or fifty of
his cavalry, which consisted of the Romneys and 9th Dragoons,
to charge the place. This they pluckily did three times, but
were at last forced to retire before the determined pikemen,
leaving twenty-two of their number dead behind them. Among
the slain were two oflScers — a Captain Cooke and a Captain
Erskine. The latter belonged to the 9th Dragoons. His horse
stumbled over a headstone, throwing him and breaking his leg
in the fall, where he lay, half stunned, till an old woman,
who was searching the dead, recognised him, and, in reveng
for some former act of cruelty, put an end to him by repeated
thrusts of his own sword. The rebels followed up their
success along the Green of Old Kilcullen to Kilcullen Bridge,
but broke before the infantry fire, and lost large numbers
in the pui*suit. General Dundas at this time had his head-
quarters at Castlemartin, from whence a few days later he
issued his proclamation of a free pardon to those, who delivered
up their arms, and which resulted, though he himself was
blameless, in the terrible cold-blooded massacre of the rebels,
by the troops under Sir James Duff, at the Gibbet Rath on the
Curragh, on the 31st of May.
One of the objects of interest in the churchyard is the Round
Tower (already illustrated and described on pages 81-83 of the
first volume of the Journal), close beside which is a richly
sculptured High Cross-shaft, now erect on a plain base. It is
5 ft. 3 in. in height in its present condition, and with sides 18
inches in width. When placed on the base a few years ago by the
Board of Works, a portion of the panels at the sides was
chiselled away to enable it to fit into the socket, as the dowel was
jroiie.
*Page 8 of '* M. De la BouUaye le Gonz's Tour in Ireland," edited
by Crofton Croker.
■ESkijH^
■
^^^tvlJHH
BE
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442
OLD KILCULLEN.
A short distance to the east of the Round Tower, standing
on a base deep sunk in the ground, is the shaft of a rude granite
cross 9 J ft. in height, 1 ft. 10 in, in breadth, and 18 in. thick ;
a socket is visible at the top. The faces of this shaft are divided
into four panels, but contain no other sculpturing.
All trace of the ancient church has disappeared^ though it
was in existence in the beginning of this century. It contained
a beautiful Hiberno-Romanesque western doorway of four con-
centric arches, as is shown at p. 4, vol. iii, of Cromwell's
" Excursions through Ireland," from a drawing by Petrie. A
view of the Round Tower, and the church in a roofed condition,
is given at p. 27, vol. ii, of Grose^s " Antiquities of Ireland."
This illustration was sketched about the year 1790.
[After the foregoing historical notice by Lord Walter
FitzGerald, Miss Stokes resumes. — Ed.]
From Vol. Ill of Thomas CROirwELL'a "Excursions through Irelajo)."
Drawn by Petrie.
The cross, of which only a fragment now remains, appears
to have been a High Cross of the same type as those of Monaster-
boice. Nothing now remains but the plinth and a portion of the
shaft. The plinth is of one step and without ornament. The
cross is made of granite. The fragment of this monument now
remaining measures 5 ft. 3 in. in height, 18 in. in width, and
the same in thickness. There are four panels and a half on the
OLD KILCULLEN. 443
west face, three panels and a half on the east face, three
panels on the north and south sides respectively^ making in all
thirteen panels.
WEST FACE.
1. A row of five human heads in high relief. (The rest of
the panel is chiselled away.)
2. Balaam and his ass.
3. Samson and the lion.
4. A figure riding. (Subject not explained.)
EAST FACE.
1. Oroup of four Apostles.
2. Four Apostles.
8. Four Apostles.
NORTH SIDE.
1. David and the lion.
2. Interlacing.
3. Figure of Bishop.
a
SOUTH SIDE.
2. Y Interlaced designs, now indistinguishable.
8.
The subject of Balaam, which appears in panel 2, west face,
is of rare occurrence on Irish monuments. In the " Bjzantine
Painters' Ouide of Mount Athos/' the directions given as to
the treatment of this subject correspond with this relief: —
** Balaam goes to curse the Hebrews; he is prevented by an angel
**Two vines. Between the hedges of the vine, Balaam mounted on a
mule, which he strikes with a stiiff. The mule kneels and turns his head
towards Balaam. The Archangel Michael stiinds forward with an
unsheathed sword."
The subject of Balaam and the angel is given in the
'' Speculum HumanaB Salvationis '^ as a type of the Annuncia-
tion to Joachim of the birth of Marj. — Fol. xii, fig. 2.
" Balaam foretells Mary^s birth by a star.
** Promisit enim quod de Jacob oiretiu* stella
Per quam signiticabatur futura dei cella
Balaam populo israhelitico maledicero cogitabit
Sed Spiritus Sanctus maledictionem in benedictionem convertebat
Perquod eciam Spiritus Sanctus figuraliter ostendebat," &c., &c.
OLD KILCULLEN. 445
The subject is treated in much the same manner in this
panel on EilcuUen Cross as in the illastration given in the old
block book of the ** Speculum."
In panel 8^ on the west face, we have in Samson and the
lion another of the " Wonders of the Ancient Law," the treat-
ment of which is thus prescribed in the ''Byzantine Painters'
Oaide/' and which agrees with the bas-relief in question : —
** Samson kills a lion.
'^Samnon, standing up, tramples a lion at his feet. He turns its head
backwards and tears it open."
The subject of Samson slaying the lion is given in Mr.
Boxall's *' Speculum " as one of the types of Christ's descent
into hell.^
This subject is also given in the *' Biblia Pauperum " with
the inscription : —
'* The descent into hell. And as Samson's strength that destroyed the
lion's mouth, so the death of Christ destroyed the gates of hell.
*' Wo read in the first book of Judges, chapter xiv, concerning Samson,
that when a lion roared against him, he seized the lion and slew him.
Samson is a type of Christ, who slew the lion — that is, the devil —when he
freed man from his power."
In panel 1, on the north side, we have in the subject of David
and the lion, one of the types of the temptation of Christ, given
in the " Speculum." This subject is not introduced in the '* Biblia
Pauperum," nor is it included among the "Wonders of the
Ancient Law " in the " Byzantine Painters' Guide."
The text that accompanies the picture in the block book is as
follows : —
'* David autem pastor qui hunc superbum gigantem prostravit,
Christus est qui temptacionem superbie humiliter superavit."
In panel 3^ on the north side, we have, the figure of a bishop
robed, with his book, bell, and crosier, and his axe. The intro-
duction of the bell and the axe suggests that the subject is taken
* Lady Eastlake, in the ''History of our Lord in Art," p. 195, speaks of
this subject as a type of the Temptation of our Lord ; but this is an
oversight on her part. Tlie three types of the Descent into Hell are
Benaiah slaying the lion ; Samson also ; and Ehud slaying Eglon, King
of Moab.
446 OLD KILCULLEN.
from the life of the patron saint, MacTail, who, as we have seen,
was so named because he was the son of a carpenter, who took
one of his father's tools, and was one of St. Patrick's smiths, who
made his bells. The bishop lays his crosier on a prostrate
figure, and this is probably meant to illustrate a not uncommon
miracle in the ** Lives of the Saints'' — that of raising the dead
by the touch of the holy man's crosier. But as no legend of the
life of MacTail is extant, it is impossible to decide as to the
exact meaning of this bas-relief.
( 447
^Iscellanca.
The Conflict between the English and the Irish Peers
as to Supreme Jurisdiction.
Yeby few people know that the question of supreme jurisdiction
was fought between the Irish Peers and the English Peers over
a property in the County Kildare. The conflict arose in this
way. In 1684 Philip Sherlock, who owned Little Rath, Bodens-
town, and Derry or Daars, all situate between Sallins and
Straffan, left certain portions to each of his six younger children.
The elder son, Christopher, charged the estate with these portions.
Subsequently Christopher, who was an officer in the army of
King James II, was attainted and his property forfeited. In 1691
the Commissioners of the Revenue let the property at a yearly rent
to one Maurice Annesley. This Annesley became guardian to
Philip Sherlock's younger children, and from time to time pur-
chased from them or their representatives their respective portions
charged upon the estate. In 1705 one of them, Eustace Sherlock,
alleged that this purchase by Annesley was fraudulent, and claimed
the portions which had been sold. Shortly after he died, but his
widow, Hester, a lady of remarkable determination, took out letters
of administration and continued the suit. From that time out
Annesley's life must have been an unhappy one. The suit was
prosecuted, and seems to have gone against the lady ; for in 1715
she appealed to the Irish House of Lords. Her opponent met this
by an appeal to the Lords of England, which mightily offended the
Irish Peers, who, on September 2drd, 1717, met and indignantly
resolved that ** no appeal lay to the English Lords, and that this
House will support its honour, jurisdiction, and privileges by giving
Hester Sherlock effectual relief.*' This was a glad hearing for her,
and they were as good as their word. Within ten days (October 8,
1717) the Committee of the Irish Lords reported that £1,507 was
due to Hester Sherlock on account of principal and interest owing to
one of the brothers ; and it was ordered that the Sheriff of Kildare
should put her in possession until she was paid. The Sheriff
accordingly put her in possession, and this very resolute lady pro-
ceeded at once to receive the rents, and make the most of her
opportunity. She seems to have had a shrewd idea that her
victory would not be of long duration, for, as Annesley bitterly
complained, she neglected and allowed the estate to £all into ruin,
448
MISCELLANEA.
and, moreover, pulled down various improvements that he had
made. In fact, her period of occupation ended in the ruin of the
old mansion and offices, which stood in the level fields between the
present house of Little Bath and Blackball. Annesley was now in
a sad case. He had appealed to the English Lords; but Hester
Sherlock took no notice of their orders, and there was no authority
able or willing to enforce them. To add to his distress, his deeds
were in possession of the Irish Peers, who would not give them up.
National feeling ran so high against him that he had to leave the
country, for fear of arrest, and no Irish lawyer dared to take up his
case. But, as Hester had foreseen, the contest was an unequal one,
and though it was bravely fought, the final issue was l)ound to go
against her. It is to be hoped that while fortune favoured her she
was able to secure the substance of what she struggled for, and
could thus with some equanimity receive the fatal decree by which
the English Lords allowed the appeal made by Annesley, and
ordered possession to be restored to him.
Such in brief is the story of the great constitutional struggle
between the Peers of Ireland and the Peers of England.
The Editob.
The O'Kelly Slab in the Cadamstown Churchyard,
Co. Kildare.— Cadamstown, formerly called " Bally-mac-Adam,"
or the son of Adam's town, is situated in the Barony of Carbury ;
the churchyard lies by the side of the road a mile to the south of
Balyna (or Ballina) in the Meylerstown direction.
The slab in question is now built into the west end of the
church ruins, on the inside. It was placed there by the late
Richard More-0'Ferrall, after it had been dug up during the erec-
tion of the More O'Ferrall vault. It measures 4 ft. in height, and
2 ft. 2 in. in breadth. An incised inscription in Latin occupies
the upper portion of the slab ; then comes a coat of arms in low
rMSki&HfflfflR
rOiW N0^5 FKPIWAri?l OKTOy DOM^
jj^tf^iatfj^^flM^^
1
The first three lines on the O'Kelly Slar in Cadamstown Churchyard.
relief with a two-lined motto ; then follows a continuation of the
inscription, which finishes up with five lines in English. The
MISCELLANEA. 449
inscription is in rude small capitals, and many of the letters are
conjoined, particularly the " Is,'* which, when forming a limb of
another letter, can only be detected by a small stroke they have in
the middle.^
The wording of the inscription is : —
H2C.1ACET. BEi^NABAS.OKELLY. DE.CADAM
8TOWN NEPOS. FERDINANDI.OKELLY. DOMINI
ERREE.OKELLY.ET.KERRIGDVNEMAS.IN.LAGENIA
QVI . ELLEANORAM . FILIAM . ROGERI . OMORE . DE
BALLENA . ARMIGERI . IN VXOREM. DVXERAT
EX . QVA . SEX . NATOS . GENVIT. QVI . IN . BELLO
OCCISI . FVER VNT . GERR ALDO . OKELLY . LEGATO
AGMINIS . CORROLO . OMORE . EXCEPTO . QVI . ELI
ZABETHAM Crest. FILIAM . lA
Helmet,
GOBI . BAG ^ GOTT . ET .
of
CELIE O Arms. POOR O
f TVRRIS. ET. FORTITVDO . EST. MIHI . DbVS
(Motto) ]
^ c^ CVM . MANIBVS. ET . GLADIES ' -a
DE. RATHIORDAN . IN . COMITATV. LIME
RICI . DVXIT . NEPTIS . COMITIS . MVSGREF +
ET. GVELIELMI.POWER.de. KILBLAN EQVITIS
THE . ANTIENT. ATCHEIVMENTS . IN . IRELAND . OF
THE . FAMILY . IN . LEINSTER . OF . FERDIN ANDI . O
KELLY . BY . lOHN . SINGEORGE . KING . AT . ARMS.I603 .
ALL . WHO. PAS. BY . PRAY . FOR . BARNABY . O
br th
KELLY.WHO.HERE.DOTH.LIE.no 01 1684
The Latin portion of this inscription has been translated thus: —
** Here lies Barnaby (or Brian) O'Kelly, of Cadamstown, grandson of
Ferdinand O'Kelly, Lord of Irry-0'Kelly and Carrig-Dunamase, in Lein
ster, who led in marriage EUenor, daughter of Boger (or Kory) O'More
of Ballina, Esquire, by whom he had six sons, who were killed in battle,
except Gerald O'Kelly, a lieutenant of Charles O'More's regiment,
Gerald married Elizabeth, daughter of James Bagot, of Kathjordan, in
the CSounty Limerick, by his wife, Bheelah Poer ; she was the grand
daughter of the Earl of Muskerry, and of Sir William Power, of Kilbolan,
Knight."
' As, for instance, the words ** in," ** mihi," &c., appear on the stone as *' n
and " MH," «fec.
< ? Gladiis.
450
MISCELLANEA.
The annexed Pedigree^ explains the relationship of the persons
mentioned above.
The motto in English is : —
" God is to me a tower and strength with (? hands and swords).*'
The O'Kelly of Cadamstown Coat of Abms, 1608.
The 0 'Kelly crest and coat of arms sculptured on the stone
are : —
The crest — An Enfield vert.
The arms— Azure, a tower supported by two lions
rampant argent; as many chains descending from the
battlements between the lions' legs or.
As to the grant of arms to Ferdinand O'Kelly in 1603 by
** John Sin George," as quoted on the stone, Sir Arthur Vicars,
Ulster King of Arms, informs me that neither in his office nor in
the Herald's office in London, have they a record of this grant, and
he also tells me that there was no John St. George ever a King of
Arms, but that it may be a mistake for Sir Richard St. George,
• My thanks are due to Mr. G. D. Burtchaell, of Ulster's OHioe, for his
sistance to me in compiling the Pedigree.
assistance i
'^"f-
MISCELLANEA. 451
Knt., who was Clarenceux King of Arms from 1608 till his death
in 1686. . , ,
The coat of arms shown on the slab is the ancient coat belong-
ing to the Connaught sept of O'Kellys, who were chiefs of Hy-Many
(a district formerly partly in the County Galway and partly in the
County Koscommon). They were in no way connected with the
Leinster septs of O'Kelly, so that one would have expected to find
a different coat of arms in connection with the latter ; the English
office may, in ignorance, have granted this coat to the O'Kellys of
the Queen's County, thinking they were of Connaught descent.
The two place names — Irry and Carrig-Dunamase — mentioned
above are both in the Queen's County ; the former lay between the
0*Dunne territory of I Regan and the O'Dempsy territory of Clan-
maliere ; the latter, Carrig-Dunamase, is now called the Rock of
Dunamase, the well-known castellated rock which overlooks the
Heath of Maryborough.
There were three or four septs of 0*Kellys of Leinster : —
1. The O'Kellys of Breagh (in Meath), who were known as one
of the four tribes of Tara.
2. The O'Kellys of Lea (or Leghe), a territory which comprised
the northern part of the Barony of Portnahinch, in the Queen's
County, and the Barony of Western Offaly, in the County Kildare.
They were a sub-tribe of the O'Dempsys of Clanmaliere.
8. The O'Kellys of Magh Druchtain, Gailine (now Dysart-
Gallen), and Crioch O'Muighe, all districts in the ,aee. c County,
situated about Luggacurren, and collectively called " Ferau
O'Kelly " (or O'Kelly's land), in a map of Leix and Offaly drawn in
Queen Mary's reign *
4. The O'Kellys of Ibercon, County Kilkenny.
W. FiTzG.
* Vide vol. vii. p. 345, of the Kilkenny Archaological Journal.
( 452 )
On a Stained-Glass Window in Fubness House.
By the late Rev. Denis Mukphy, s.j.
There is in the house of Miss Beauman,^ at Furness, a pretty
piece of stained glass, to which I beg to call the attention of
our members. It is a fanlight over the door at the back of the
house. It represents the Blessed Virgin Mary holding in her hand
a piece of brown cloth, which she is handing to some one kneeling
at her feet. The inscription is : ** B : Francus Ord : Carm :"
The picture represents the Blessed Virgin giving the habit of the
Stained-Glass Window in Furness House.
' Now the property of Nicholas Synnott, Esq,
NOTES. 453
Carmelites to St. Francus, a saint of that Order. A few words about
his life may not be out of place here. Thej are taken from a
History of the Order : —
<* The blessed Francas (Lippi) was born at Grotti, near Siena, in 1211. His
parents were poor peasants. He neglected his trade of tanner, and became a
soldier. It is said that while playing one evening he staked his eyes, and was
suddenly struck blind. This was the occasion of his conversion. After some
time he recovered his sight He then made a pilgrimage to Compostella, and to
Loretto, and other shrines in Italy. After his return to Siena, he was exhorted
by the Blessed Virgin to become a hermit He lived many years in this state.
The Blessed Virgin again appeared to him, showing him the Carmelite habit,
and directed him to join that Order. He was received soon after in the Convent
of Siena. This was about the year 1281. He lived a very holy life in the
Order, and died December 17th, 1291. This day is kept as his feast. He was
beatified, and his office approved by Pope Clement V, in 1308."
There is an old church in ruins close to the house. It is
impossible to say what was the date of its erection. It must have
been built after the coming of the Anglo-Normans, as we may see
from the pointed doorway and windows. In the list of churches
given by the Most Rev. Dr. M*Geoghegan in 1624, it is mentioned
as belonging to the Deanery of Naas. See ** The Dioceses of Kildare
and Leighlin/' i. 259.
The stained glass mentioned above could not have belonged to
the church, for there is no window large enough to hold it ; and
the style of ornament on the glass is such as to show that it belongs
to a date later than any at which the church was in use, being late
seventeenth century work.
The Rev. W. Somerville-Large, Rector of Carnalway, sends the
following list of objects of antiquarian interest in his neighbour-
hood : —
1. The remains of the Castle of Harristown.
2. St. Michael's (?) Church ruins and Holy Well, with the portion
of the cross-shaft, inscribed, ** Eustace, Lord Portlester,*'
in the graveyard. They are situated on the townland of
Coghlanstown (in the Inquisitions called Cotlandstown, alias
Ballicutlane).
8. The wayside Cross in Stonebrook demesne.
4. Two small pillar stones in Harristown demesne.
5. The remains of either the Royalist, or Rebel, entrenchments
behind the Carnalway Rectory.
6. The monument in Carnalway Church, erected to the memory
of Captain Cooke, who was slain at the battle of Old
KilcuUen, in 1798.
The name Carnalway, according to Dr. Joyce, means, " the
Cam of Dalway," which is the proper name of some unknown
warrior.
( 454 )
^coictt).
Miss Stokes's ** High Crosses of Ibeland.''^
As our readers were informed in the last number of our Journal,
the First Fart of Miss Margaret Stokes's great work on the << High
Crosses of Ireland " was issued bj the Boyal Irish Academy in the
month of July last.
Since the Boyal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland published
George Fetrie's " Christian Inscriptions in the Irish Language '* —
one volume in 1872, and the other in 1878 — and the late Lord
Dunraven brought out his two large volumes of <* Notes on Irish
Architecture," in 1875 and 1877 (both of which works were edited
by Miss Stokes), no publication of higher importance to Ireland
than this has seen the light of day.
The Fart in question deals with the Cross of Durrow in the
King's County, and with our own two Crosses at Castledermot.
A separate illustration is given of each of the four sides of these
Crosses, and as the work is issued in folio size (17in. by 12in.) the
minutest existing details in each panel, most carefully drawn, are
clearly shown in the illustrations. The amount of labour expended
in making the drawings accurate must have been very great, as
Miss Stokes's method of setting to work was, first of all, to take
quarter-plate photographs of the sides of the Cross; these were
afterwards enlarged, and then, with the aid of a ^* rubbing " of each
panel, as well as a close personal inspection, the subjects and
interlaced patterns were filled in on the photographs, with touches
of white paint in the high lights and of black in the shadows, the
result being a faithful and clear likeness of the original
In the Introduction to this work, which is by no means the
least interesting part of it, Miss Stokes informs us that the High
Crosses are of a design <* which may be held to have originated in
Ireland, where the eastern form of the Cross within a circle was
changed to a Latin Cross tvith a circle, by lengthening the central
line so as to form a shaft or pillar, and by extending the arms and
head beyond the circle."
These High Crosses were not erected as sepulchral monuments,
but were dedicatory or commemorative ; others again were erected
as terminal Crosses, and marked out the limits of the sanctuary,
or the boundaries of the church land. On a few of them,
* Sold by Hodges, Figgis, A Co., Grafton Street, Dublin, price £1 Is. ; and to
Members of the Koyal Irish Aoademy for 14s., at No. 19 Dawson Street,
REVIEW. 45 S
such as those at Tuam, Glonmacnoise, Monasterboice, Darrow
(King's County), and one or two others, inscriptions in Irish are still
legible, in each case asking a prayer for the King of the district,
the Abbot of the place, and the sculptor of the Cross. By reference to
the ''Irish Annals" where some of the names of these individuals
occur, almost the exact date of the erection of these Crosses can be
ascertained. As a general rule their erection may be said to
extend from the ninth to the twelfth centuries.
The sculpture on the High Crosses is of two kinds: (1) intricate
interlaced work ; and (2) Scriptural scenes and events in the life
of the Patron Saint. Many of the subjects are still unexplained,
and, as Miss Stokes writes, they can only be unravelled by
comparison with the carvings in the catacombs, and with the
sculptures, frescoes, and mosaics in the foreign cathedrals. When
the subject of the panel is taken from the Old Testament, it was
prophetic of Christ ; and when from the New Testament, it was
symbolic. '* The grammar of this art language," she adds, '' can
only be learned by the study of such works as * The Byzantine
Painters* Guide,* * The Speculum Humanae Salvationis,* * The
BiWia Pauperum,* and the early * Bestiaries.* '*
The letterpress in connection with each Cross gives full infor-
mation of its material, size, situation, &c., as well as a description
of each panel and the subject it contains, so far as it can be
identified by Miss Stokes.
When this unique work is complete, it will be invaluable (so far
as the more elaborately carved Crosses go) for the study of the
arms, musical instruments, and dress of the ancient Irish in the pre-
Norman times.
We shall anxiously look forward to the next Part of this truly
national work.
** OlfURETHI."
C. W. GiBBK Si Sox, Printertt, 18 Wicklow Street, Dablin,
CORRIGENDA. 457
§orrtgcn5a.
Paragraphs on page 64 and page 216 refer to errors which
appeared in the First Volume.
On page 118, in the Paper on Bathmore, it is stated that the
Milesians appeared in Ireland circa b.c. 100 ; whereas, according to
''The Annals of the Four Masters/' they reached this country
anno mundi 8500, which is equivalent to b.c. 1700.
On pages 118 and 114 the great Moat of Bathmore is confused
with a Bath, whereas they are two very different kinds of earth-
works, both in appearance and object. The Bath consists of one,
two, or three entrenchments (formerly palisaded) encircling a level
space in which were grouped the dweUings of the rath-owner ;
others, again, were used as cattle-pens, into which the herd was
driven at night-time to protect them from the wolves ; these Baths
were used as fortifications before the introduction of the Norman
castles. The object of the Moat was entirely different : it was
purely sepulchral. It consisted of a high artificial mound, without
a parapet at the summit, and often without an entrenchment
encirclmg the base ; it was raised over a kist, or rough slab-lined
receptacle for the corpse, or burial urns containing burned bones.
Annual funeral rites took place at it in honour of the dead ; these
occasions were taken advantage of for the exchange and barter
of home products and foreign wares among the assembled multitude.
In our own day waking the dead and cattle fairs are survivals of
this ancient custom.
Page 91, line 10, for " O'Toole, King of Western Liff6," read
" O'Byme, King of Western Liffe.*'
Page 102, line 80, for '• Vicar of Kildare," read •* Sheriff of
Kildare."
Page 107, line 26, /or <* Lord D. Gray," read '' Lord L. Grey."
Page 119, line 8, /or ** 1487," read " 1478."
Page 288, line 8, /or <* the Liffey is spanned by a bridge consisting
of three irregular arches," read ** the Liffey is spanned
by a bridge consisting of four irregular arches."
Page 487, line 16, for " builded the church of Kilcoollen," read
*• builded the bridge of Kilcoollen."
Page 489, line 84, for ** the Marquis of Ormond with the Parlia-
mentary forces," read '' the Marquis of Ormond with
the Boyalist forces."
In Vol. I, pp. 25 and 26, it is stated that the meaning of Clane Ath
is <' the meadow of the Ford ; " this is a mistake, and the
meaning of the name is uncertain. The old form of the
name was " Claen-adh " or '* Claen-ath," which possibly
means **the sloping ford;" but the name has nothing to
do with the word " Cluain," which means a meadow.
INDEX.
Aghade, 488, 434.
Alba, Bin of, 89, 156.
Aldborough, Earl of, 21, 24.
Alee, Alei, Aley. See Lye.
Alen, of St. Wolstan's, family of : —
Anne, 364, 390; Christopher, 364,
390 ; Jasper, 363 ; John, 278, 279,
280, 285, 286, 363, 364, 890, 397;
Katherine, 364, 390 ; Matthew, 364,
390 ; Mellsher, 363 ; Nicholas, 280;
Patrick, 278 ; Richard, 363 ; Robert,
278, 280, 363 ; Symon, 364 ; Thomas,
278, 279, 280, 363, 364; William,
279, 280, 363, 390.
Alen's Court. See St. Wolstan's.
Allan, Bog of, 62, 298.
Hill of, 7, 90, 96, 98, 190, 192,
216.
Island of, 298, 400.
Allen, family of :— Sir Joshua, 287 ;
Viscount, 317, 320, 363;
Almhain. See Hill of Allen.
Almshouses, Naas, 270.
Timolin, 424.
Analiffey, 51, 369, 397.
Annesley, family of: — Francis, 262;
Maurice, 262. 447, 448.
** Antrah," a remark, 132.
Archbold, family of. {See High
Sheriffs) :— Alisonne, 424; Chris-
topher, 420 ; Walter, 175 ; William,
263, 417, 418, 424.
Ardglass, Manor of, 125.
Ardnacutch, 195.
Ardnurcher, 305.
ArdscuU, Moat of, 186-196, 274
Armour, description of, 421, 438.
Aroasian Order, the, 162, 414.
Artane, 286.
Athboy, 36.
Athenry, Baron of, 54.
Athgoe Castle, 390.
' Athy, 10, 14, 18, 128, 170, 187, 210,
270.
Avon Righ. See the Rye Water.
Aylmer, family of. {See High
Sheriffs) :~Sir Andrew, 400 ; Bar-
tholomew, 260 ; Charles, 262 ; Sir
Fenton, 264; Sir FitzGendd, 263;
Qeorge, 264; Gerald, 265; John,
261, 262, 264 ; Michael, 262, 264.
Baohal Jesu, a orozier, 165.
Bagpiper, 193.
Bagpipes, Lord Edward's, 155.
Balabbight, 58.
Baldwinstown, 33, 38, 47.
Balgriffin, 362.
Ballad on Eilkea Castle, 29.
New Boss, 300.
Ballagh, 151.
Ballicutlane. See Coghlanstown.
Ballinacor, 389.
Ballinoulart, 153.
Ballinrahin, 154.
Ballitore, 25, 420.
Ballyadams (Queen's Co.), 12.
Ballyboggan, 108.
Ballybough, 39.
BaUybrittas, 17.
Ballylinan, 173.
Ballylynan, Moat of, 157.
Ballymore Eustace, 50, 158.
Ballynabachlach, 389.
Ballynua, 389.
Ballyshannon (Co. Eildare), 18, 298;
406, 419, 420.
Ballyshavm, 154.
Ballysonan. See Ballyshannon.
Ballytore. See Ballitore.
Balrath, 119.
Balrothery, 7, 102.
Baltimore, Baron of, 370.
Baltinglass, Earls of [Eustace, Roper,
and Talbot], 64.
Abbey of, 64.
Balyna, 60, 135. 140.
Bamewall, John Ld., Trimleston, 285.
Barrow, river, 13, 151, 389.
Bauteogue, river, 172,
INDEX.
459
Bawn, a, 58.
Bective Abbev, 124, 126.
Beerdys GasUe. See Bert
Belan, 21, 192.
Bells, 484.
of Blessington, 386, 387.
St. Evin, 162.
Bellew, John, Lord, 110.
Berminghaxn, de, Baron of Carbury,
108, 109 ; Earl of Looth, 101, 102 ;
Andrew, 110 ; Anne, 110 ; Edward,
109 ; Gerald, 109, 110 ; Janies, 108 ;
John, 100, 101, 102, 104, 109, 110,
171 ; Luke, 109 ; Mary, 110 ; MeUer,
104 ; Pierce, 99, 100, 109, 110. 802 ;
Redmond, 260 ; Richard, 102, 109 ;
Robert, 97, 99; Thomas, 109, 110;
WaUer, 103, 109, 110, 261; WiUiam,
97, 104, 105, 106^ 107, 108, 109, 312;
family of:— 92, 97-110, 147. See
High Sheriffs.
Bert, 10, 173, 356.
Birtown, 7, 8, 157.
Bishop of Cashel, 125, 126.
of Clogher, 287.
of Kildare, 9, 132, 241-249.
291, 308, 310, 356.
of Leighlin, 305.
of Limerick, 293.
of Meath, 86, 117, 126, 126,
291.
of Waterford, 35.
Bishop's Court, 278.
Blackball Castle, near Calverstown,
830 ; near Naas, 317.
Blackrath, 211, 416.
Blaokwater, river (Co. Kildare), 134,
135.
Blessed Wells. See Wells.
Blessington, 386.
Boan, Queen, 89;
Bodenstown, 46, 447.
Bog-butter, 162.
Bohemash, old road, 32.
Boice, James, 132.
Bolton HiU. 18.
Book of Armagh, 278.
of Hours of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, 426429.
of Howth, 125.
of Kells, 294.
of Kildare, 292, 294.
of The O'Bymes, 176, 389.
of the Rental. Book, and the Bed
Book of the Earls of Kildare,
127.
Col. Wood-Biartin*s, Pagan Ire-
land, 66.
Miss Stokes's, High Crosses of
Ireland, 454.
Books — continued,
Canon Sherlock's, Si Brigid and
Kildare Cathedral, 217.
Col. Vigors's, Memorials of the
Dead, Ireland, 218.
Boru or Cow-tribute, the, 159, 414.
Bothoge Biver, the, 424.
Boundary between Meath and Kildare,
59-63.
Bourke. See Burke.
Boyne, the, 87, 89, 135, 370.
Brabazon, William, Lord, 19.
Bragganstown, 102.
Brefni, 91.
Brehon law, the, 5, 6.
Bremingham. See Bermingham.
Brewel Hill, 168.
Brian Boru, 91, 160, 161.
Bridges, Co. Kildare, 214, 288, 437.
Brittas, 161, 1G2.
Brooch, a C^tio, 269.
Browne, family of : — Sir Anthony, 14 ;
George, 20; John, 20; Mabel, 14;
Robert, 19 ; William, 20.
Bruce, Edward, 100, 101, 171. 187.
Robert, 171, 395.
Bumbo Hall, 425.
Burgh, de, family of. {See High
Sheriflfs) : —AdeUn, 54 ; Sir Edward,
56 ; Joan, 302 ; Maud, 54 ; William, 54.
Burial, Pagan, 113.
Burke, family of, 54, 55. {See High
Sheriffs) :— Edmund, 420 ; Ulick
McWilham, 128; Sir William
(McWilliam), 55.
Bumell, John, 362.
Robert, 362.
Burnt Church, 9, 37.
Butlers, family of, 106 ; Sir Edmond,
171, 312 ; Lord James, 11.
Earli of Ormonde — James,
1st Earl, 57; James, 5th
Earl, 120, 121.
EarU of Offsory ^Vierce, 8th
Earl, 9, 10, 172.
Butlerstown Castle, 33, 43.
Cadamstown, 124, 448.
Cahir mor. King, 296.
Cairbre, son of Niall of the Nine
Hostages, 89.
Caise or Cass, the river, 89, 166.
Calfe. See De Valle.
Calverstown, 214, 274.
Carbury, Baron of. See Bermingham.
Hill and Castle of, 7, 85-110,
166, 192.
Tocher of, 59, 61.
Carlow, 10, 11, 19, 123.
Carmecanstown, 102.
460
INDEX.
Carnalway, 453.
Garrick, or Carrig, 99, 100.
Carrick Oris, 100.
Carton, 14. 156, 370.
Cashel, Bock of, 125, 126, 202.
Gastledermot, 7, 8, 10, 11. 14, 18, 19,
65, 128, 129, 161, 187, 211, 216, 379,
400. 417, 419, 427, 440.
Castledillon, 259, 283.
Castlejordan, 99, 108.
Castlemartin, 14, 172, 299, 418, 440.
Castletown (Celbridge), 140, 202, 281,
361-378.
Cathaoir mor. King, 160, 205.
Gatherlagh. See Carlow.
Gawlcannon, 214, 272.
Celbridge, 198, 324. {See also Kil-
drought.)
Chapter-honse Door of St. Patrick's
Cathedral, 121.
Chimney-piece at Kilkea Castle, 13.
14, 124.
Christ Charch Cathedral, Dublin, 9,
132 427.
Church plate, 203, 218, 249, 387.
Churchtown (Rheban), 177.
Cill Cuaigh. See Kilcock.
Cill Coagh, 434.
Clane, 50, 51, 158, 370. Corrigenda.
Clanmaliere, district of, 17.
Clare, Bichard de. See Strongbow.
Clayton, Bishop Bobert, 237.
Clochain-na-Monia, 152.
Cloch-an-chommaigh, 65.
Clogrennan, 174, 312.
Clonard. 60, 62, 108.
Clonaugh, 133, 134. 136,137, 140, 141,
359.
Cloncurry, 183. 325.
Clondalkin, 205, 324.
Clongowes Wood, 51.
Clontarf, Battle of, 91, 92, 161.
Coats-of-Arms sculptured on stone: —
Archbold, 424 ; Bishop of Kildare.
241, 242 ; ConoUy, 371 ; Conyngham,
371; Delahyde, 215; FitzGerald,
13, 14, 47, 116, 118, 124, 139;
Hovenden, 3a5 ; Lye, 136, 138;
Moore, 399, 406; O'Kelly, 450;
Sherlock, 47; Sydney, 148, 149;
Walsh. 215; Wellesley, 314; Whyte,
397, 406.
Cogadh-an-caimin, 105.
Coghlanstown, 453.
Coins, 117,210.
Colclough, Sir Caesar, 357, 358.
Margaret, 357.
Colley or Cowley, family of. {See
High Sheriffs): -Dudley, 261, 262;
Gerald, 260 ; Sir Henry, 109, 260.
Colmanstown, 390.
Comerford, The Most Bev. Dt., 1.
Coinyn, Archbishop, 100.
Jordan, 100.
Conall. See Connell.
Confey, 160, 394.
Connell, Great, 238, 304-314.
Old, 157.
Connellmore, 313, 314.
ConoUy, family ol {See High
Sheriffs) :— Edward M., 264, 375;
Lady Louisa, 352. 375; Thomas,
203, 373, 375; William, 204.
Constables of Castles: — Athy, 174;
Carbury, 95, 103, 104 ; Carlow. 11 ;
Castlemaine, 64; Dublin, 35; Kil-
dare, 45, 297 ; Kilkea, 11 ; Leixlip,
396 ; Maynooth. 132, 286 ; Pem-
broke, 306; Wexford, 397.
Conyngh&m, Catherine, 371.
Sir Albert, 371.
Cooke, Captain, 440, 453.
Cooking-places, ancient, 43.
Coolestown, 98, 99.
Coolnafera, 61.
Cooper, Austin, antiquarian drawings
by, 3, 245. 284, 298, 300, 304, 313.
Cosby, Francis, 259.
Cotlandstown. See Coghlanstown.
Council House of Maynooth Castle,
124.
Coyne and Livery, t-ax of, 106.
Cranly, Archbishop Thomas, 8.
Crannoge, a, 167.
Crioch Bhulbach, 388, 389.
Croghan, 88.
Crosses, an ArchiepUcopcU, 328 ; High
Cross of Kilcullen, 441-446 ; of
Ireland, 454-456 ; Monumental,
Clonaugh, 138, 139, 141; Tipper,
215 ; Umculptured, Kilcullen, 441 ;
Kildare, 246 ; Coghlanstown, 453.
Cross-inscribed slabs, Castledermot,
.S80 ; the Beliceen (Connell), 307.
Cross-legged Effigy of a Knight, 157.
Curragh, the, 93, 158, 273, 294, 308,
383, 440.
Cushaling river, 89.
Daars 81 447
Danes, the, 39, 194, 242,247, 297, 436.
Daphill, a lap-dog, 89.
D'Artois or Dartas :— Jenico, 125, 268 ;
Margaret or Maud, 125, 268.
Dean of Kildare, a, 46.
Decer, John le. 214, 288.
Deer Park at Maynooth, 270.
Delahyde, family of. 61. 215 ; James,
104 ; Walter, 104.
Delvin, Paron of. See Nugent.
INDEX.
461
Derrymi^nagh, 152.
Pesmond, Earls of. See FitzGerald.
Dhuch WeU, the, 273.
l>igby, familyof . {See High Sheriffs): —
John, 262, 264; Sir Kobert, 16, 428 ;
Simon, 263.
Dinree, 159.
Dixon, familyof. (See High Sheriffs): —
Henry, 20, 263 ; Richard, 261 ;
Robert, 20.
DoUardstown, 12, 21, 385, 416.
Dolmens, 322.
Domnaoh, 278.
Domnach Gaoide. See Donadea.
Donacomper, 277-282.
Donadea, 4.
Dongan, family of. Earl of Limerick,
370; Edward, 369; John, 18, 369,
370 ; Oliver, 400 ; Sir Walter, 18,
369, 370 ; William, 369, 370.
Donoughmore (Grange William), 156.
Drogheda, Viscount, 397.
Dramcree, 238, 289.
Drumgyroke, 416.
Duleek, 110.
Dunamase, Rock of, 167, 168, 171, 450.
Dunfierth, 109.
Dungan. See Dongan.
Dunlavin, 241.
Echlin, Sir Henry, 147, 359.
Edenderry, 154.
Effigy, Monumental Stone:— Alen,
279; Bermingham, 109; Conolly,
871; Conyngham, 371; De Valle,
415, 421, 422 ; Eustace, 437, 438 ;
FitzGerald, 157; Wellesley, 310;
a Bishop of Kildare, 307.
Eire, hill of, 89, 155.
Erskine, Captain, 22, 23, 24, 440.
Esker Riada, the, 60.
Eu, town of, 163, 164, 165.
Eustace, family of. (See High
Sheriffs) : — Sir Edward
(father of Lord Portlester),
259, 269 ; John, 12 ; Maurice,
104,258; Richard (? father
of the 1st Lord Baltin-
glass), 269 ; Sir William of
Sandford Hall, Essex, 64.
Baron of Portlester : — Roland,
53, 125, 126, 268, 269, 428,
439 ; Alison, 125, 126, 427,
428.
Viscounts Baltinglnss : — 1st
Viscount, Sir Thomas, 268,
269, 439; Jennett, 140;
2nd Viscount, Roland, 269 ;
3rd Viscount, James, 64,
269, 439.
Eustace, family of — contintud,
of Baltrtutny^ Sir John Ro-
land, 64, 265.
of Blackhall, John, 258. 330.
of Ca«fZ«/wr«n(?) Sir Edward,
259, 269 ; John, 259, 260 ;
William, 260, 439.
of Clongowes Wood^ Maurice,
260.
of Confetfy James, 394 ; John,
394 ; Nicholas, 394.
of CorhaUy, Queen's County,
Col. Henry, 64.
of CradockstoKHf Nicholas,
259 ; WiUiam, 263.
of Harristown, Elizabeth, 46 ;
Sir John, 46 ; Sir Maurice,
45, 258.
of Kihnayne, Charles, 64.
of Robertstotcn, The Rev.
Charles, 65.
"Evil Eye" Stone at Kilkea Castle,
the, 26.
„ Superstition of the, 27, 330.
Faction fight, 425.
Fairies, the, 193.
Fassagh Rheban, 171, 172, 174.
Faughard, 65, 100, 237.
"Fealyghe,"65.
Fews, the, 87.
Fiacha, son of King Cahir mor, 160.
Finglass, family of, Margaret, 397 ;
Patrick, 397 ; Thomas, 397.
Finn McCoole, 273.
Fire House at Kildare, the, 245, 246,
292, 293.
Firmount, moat at, 157.
FitzEustace. See Eustace.
FitzGerald, family of. {See High
Sheriffs) :—
Barons o/Offaly, 2ndBaron,Maurice,
426; 3rd Baron, Maurice. 5; 4th
Baron, Gerald, 65, 157, 301, 426 ;
6th Baron, Thomas, 170, 192.
Earls of Kildare, let Earl, John, 57,
96, 102, 170, 171, 295, 296. 301.
427 ; 2nd Earl, Thomas, 301, 302.
427 ; 3rd Earl, Richard, 301 ;
4th Earl, Maurice, 285, 361, 427 ;
5th Earl, Gerald, 301 ; Gth Earl,
John, 9 ; 7th Earl, Thomas. 362,
427 ; 8th Earl. Gerald, 9, 117-132,
396, 427 ; 9th Earl. Gerald. 9, 367 ;
10th Earl. Thomas. 10, 11, 286,
367; 11th Earl, Gerald, 11, 14, 16,
29, 302, 366, 367, 428 ; 12th Earl,
Henry, 302, 367 ; 14th Earl. Ger-
aid. 16, 302; 15th Earl, Gerald.
17, 302 ; 16th Earl, George, 17, 18 ;
17th Earl, Wentworth, 19.
462
INDEX.
FitzGerald, family ot— -continued,
EarU of Desmond, Gerald of Callan,
268 ; John, 968 ; Maurice, 268 ;
Thomas More, 268; Ist Earl,
Maurice, 57; 7th Earl, James,
104 ; 8th Earl, Thomas, 53.
Amie, wife of Christopher Sherlock,
47 ; Edward, Lord, 20, 22, 298, 349-
353, 382; Edward, son of 9th Earl,
428; Eastacia, d. of 8th Earl, 128 ;
Gerald, father of Maarice of May-
nooth, 306; Gerald "Crone," 174,
420 ; Gerald, son of 11th Earl, 428 ;
James, son of 7th Earl, 128; Sir
James, son of 8th Earl, 11, 65, 396;
Sir John, son of 8th Earl, 362;
Lettice, Baroness of Offaly, 428;
Mary, d. of 11th Earl, 428; Maarice
of Maynooth, 98, 187, 295, 305;
Pamela, 358, 382, 383; William,
brother of Maarice of Maynooth, 187.
FitzGerald of AUen, Gerald, 259 ;
Maarice, 400.
of Ballyahannon, Sir James,
260 ; Pierce, 259, 260, 420.
of Blackwood, Gerald, 109 ;
Rose, 109.
of Burntchurch, Co. Kil-
kenny, Sir Roland, 9.
of Castletown Kildrought,
Edward, 862 ; Gerald,
362 ; Sir John, 362.
of Drinanstoumt Cicely, 420;
James, 420.
of Oeraldine, Thomas, 21,
264.
of KUmeed, Thomas, 20.
olLackagh, Edward, 369;
Sir Maarice, 259, 367,
869; Thomas, 119, 367,
369.
of Morett, Queen's County,
Elizabeth, 177; Gerald,
16.
of Osberstmrn, James, 109,
134, 146, 312 ; Katherine,
134 ; Maurice, 140.
of Tecroghan, Co. Meath,
Amy, 134, 145 ; Sir Ed-
ward, 134, 146; George,
134 ; Mabel, 146.
' of Timahoe, Redmond, 259 ;
Thomas, 260, 261.
FitzHenry, Meiler, 92, 93, 97, 296,
304, 305.
FitzPatrick. See MacGillapatrick.
Flattisbury, Philip, 127, 128.
Fleming, Baron of Slane •—
Mary, 278, 280.
William, 278, 280.
Footmarks of Saints, 273, 325.
Fore, 91.
Forenaughts, 183, 184.
Foster, Joe, 156.
Margaret, 369.
Four Masters, the, compilers of the
Annals of Ireland, 414.
French Mill, the ford of the, 59, 60, 61.
Fuaran Well, the, 273.
Funeral Entries, extracts from the,
280, 871.
Furness, 184, 317, 319, 320. 452, 453.
Gailean (Leinster), 159.
Garbh Tameach, 161.
Gamenagh, 5, 7.
Geraldine, townland of, 21.
Gherardini, the, 128.
Gibbet Rath, the, 440.
GUltown, 325.
Glendalough, 160.
Glenmalure, 15.
Glounshod, 325.
Goul na graigue, 152.
Grace, family of, 187 ; Hamon, 187 ;
Raymond le Gros, 187.
Graney, 17.
Grangemellon, 174, 389.
Grange William, 156.
Greese, the river, 9, 24, 129.
Grey, Lord Leonard, 11, 107.
Griffenrath, 369.
Guns, hand, 119.
Gurteen, 21.
Halverstown, 412.
Harrington, family of, Ann, 64; Sir
Henry, 64, 417 ; Sir John, 417.
Harristown, 320, 453.
Henchy, family of, 407-412.
Herbidas or Turbetas, 65.
Hereford, de, family of, Adam, 182,
283, 395 ; Eleanora, 183 ; Eva, 183 ;
John, 183 ; Richard, 183 ; Thomas,
183.
" Heriotts," a lord's due, 40.
High Crosses, sculpturing on ex-
plained, 443, 455.
High Sheriffs of the County Kildare.
253-267.
Holinshed's Chronicles quoted, 120.
Holy Wells. .See Wells.
Horn-book, a, 388.
Hortland, moat at, 157.
Hovenden, Richard, 386.
Howth, Baron of. See St. Lawrenoe.
Hurling, the game of, forbidden, 57.
Hussey, Meiler, 14, 15. 364.
Hy Faelan. See Off elan.
Hy Kinseallaigh, 160, 413.
Hy Muireadhaigh. See Omurethi.
INDEX.
463
ImAal, 5, 160.
Inch, 158.
Inchaoooly, 15S. .
Inohaquire, 416.
Insoriptions on : — a chimney-pieoe, 13,
124 ; mnral tablets, 137, 138, 270,
377, 390, 424 ; pavement tile, 124 ;
pedestal, 287 ; a relio, 292 ; stone
table, 124.
I Regan, territory of, 451.
Iron implements, ancient, 271.
Irry O'Kelly, district of, 449, 450.
Jacob, Richard, 381.
Jake or Jakis, Canon Maorice, 214,
437.
Jennings, Robert, 19.
Jesuits, the Order of, 17.
Jigginstown, 287, 386, 387.
Johnstown, 127.
Johnstown Bridge, 138, 139.
Kamekedaoh, 99, 104.
Kavanagh, family of, 50 ; Cahir
•*owre,"172.
Keating, family of, 38, 143. {See High
Sheriffs) :—£dmand, 143; Gerald,
143 ; Maurice, 262 ; Thomas, 143.
Kehoe, Donough, 424.
Farrell, 424.
Kerdilfstown, 183.
Kighow. See Kehoe.
Kilberry, 389.
Eilbolane. 449.
Eiloock, 50, 51, 89, 9a
Eilcro, 157.
KUcuUen Bridge, 60, 212, 214, 427,
428, 437.
Old, 14, 24, 431440.
Kildare, Earls of. See FitzGerald.
Town and Castle of, 95, 132,
212, 289-302.
Cathedral, 145, 161. 217, 236,
354, 427.
Kildrought, 183, 200, 279, 285. 312,
324, 361-375. (See Celbridge.)
Kilgowan, 320.
Eilkea Castle, 3-32, 419.
KiU, 181-185.
Killadoon, 283.
KUlashee, 433.
Killeen-cormao, 4, 206.
Killeigh, 133, 134, 145.
Killelan, 158.
Killeshin, 394.
Kihnacredock, 285, 368, 369, 376.
Kilmeage, 298.
Kilmokide. See Ballyadams.
Kilmorony, 172^
Kilnamanagh, 436.
Kilshanchoe, 325.
Kilshanroe, 325.
Kiltaghan, 369.
Kilteel, 286, 363.
Kinnafad, 108.
Kinneagh, Co. Carlow, 158.
Kishogue Papers, The, 875.
Eistvaen, a, 113, 114.
Knockaulin, 190.
Knockcur, 61.
Knockdoe, 128.
Knockpatrick, 324.
Lacy, Hugh de, 5, 34, 305.
Laeghaire, King, 89, 155.
Laighen, 159.
Laraghbryan, 362.
Lattin. family of:— Patrick, 270;
William, 270.
Lea Castle, 151.
Leadbeater Papers, The, 25.
Leap Castle, 9, 129.
Leap of Allen, 216, 273.
Lee, Captain Thomas, 172, 173.
Legends of Ardscull, 192, 194.
the Black Pig, 383.
Castletown, 373.
Eilkea. 29.
Poul-gyleen, 389.
Leigh. See Lye.
Leighlin, 11, 161, 214.
Leinster, 159, 451.
Lodge, 21, 22.
Leix, territory of, 9, 167, 171, 172, 451.
Leixlip, 183, 202, 393-406.
■ engravings of, 216.
Lemyvannan. See Leap Castle.
Lennox, family of : — ^Lady Emily, 203,
375 ; Lady Louisa, 203. 375 ; Lady
Sarah, 203, 375.
Lesse, le, John, 184.
Richard, 183.
William, 184.
Liffey, the River, 247, 403, 405, 431,
439.
Limerick, Earls of, 370.
Little Rath, 45, 46, 47, 447.
Lock, William, 390.
Longespe^, de, the family of, Emelina,
5 [iee pedigree at p. 6) ; Stephen, 5.
Longstones, 319-323, 453.
Loretto, 17.
** Lotherwite," a fine, 40.
Loughsewdy, 171.
Loundres, Archbishop Henry de, 246,
293.
Louth, Earl of. See Bermingham.
Lucan, Earl of. See Sarsfield.
Luggacurren^ 15.
464
INDEX.
Lattrell, Ann, 270.
Robert, 262.
Lye, family of. (See pedigrees,
p. 354) :~Amy, 134, 146 ; Andrew,
134, 145; Arthar, 134, 146; Bridget,
134, 146 ; EUenor, 134, 146; Emery,
134, 140; Francis, 133, 134, 356,
358; Henry, 134, 146; John, 133,
147, 354-359; Katharine, 134, 146;
Mabel, 134, 356; Margaret, 134,
146 ; Mary, 134, 146 ; Kobert, 356,
357, 368.
Lynch's Knock, Go. Meath, 420.
MacBulby, family of, 388, 389.
MacCostello, family of, 54.
MacFeorais or MacPheorais, family of,
54, 101, 105.
MacGeoghegan, Mnrtagh, 119.
Bishop Bosse, 249.
MacGillapatrick, the sept of, 161 ;
Donough, 437.
MacJordan, family of, 54.
MacKenzie, the clan, 268, 407.
MacKeogh, Ferganaim, 175, 389.
Mackworth, Humphrey, 10.
MacLysaoh, 133. See Lye.
MaoMahons, the sept of, 101, 102.
MacManus, Bryan, 178.
Catherine, 178.
MacMarroagh, the sept of, 10, 11 ;
Art, 51 ; Gahir mac Enecrosse, 10 ;
King Dermot, 92, 94, 161, 162, 168,
248, 295 ; Eva, 168. 176, 295.
MacThomas. See Pierce FitzGerald
of Ballyshannon.
Mac William. See De Bnrgh, Bonrke,
Burke.
Maddenstown, 99.
Magh Lif6 or Magh Liph6, 241, 431,
434.
Mainham, 183.
Maps of the Ancient Boundary between
Kildare and Meath, 59.
Ardscull Moat, 197.
Kilkea Castle demesne, 32.
Naas district, 316.
Marsh, Deborah, 403.
Dr. Narcissus, 403.
Marshal, the Earl :— Anselme, 94;
Gilbert. 94; Isabel, 94; Richard,
93, 94; Sybil, 95; Walter, 94;
William. 92, 93, 168, 170, 175, 295,
305.
Maupas, Sir John de, 101.
Maynooth, 19, 124, 132, 212, 270,370,
383, 427.
Mayo, Earls of. 55.
Mayor of Waterford, 41, 379, 380.
Meath, 59-63, 88.
Meilerstown, 105, 109. .
Memorials of the Dead, Col. Vigors's
Report on the, 2ia
Menhirs, 322.
Moats, or Pagan sepulchral mounds,
3,157,168,186,319,457. Corrigenda.
Molyneux, Sir Daniel 40, 280, 390.
Monasterevin, 151, 176, 212, 213.
Monaster Oris or Pheorais, 101.
MonavuUagh Bog, the, 21.
Monecronock Commons, the, 157,397.
Moone, 7,8, 191, 419.
Moore, Earl of Drogheda :— Sir
Garrett, 397 ; Lady Ursula, 397.
MP. of Clonmines, 45.
Kildare, 358.
Naas, 4a
Moreton, Bishop William, 9, 249.
Morett, 16.
Morrell river, the, 181.
Mottoes, family. See Coats-of-Arms.
Mullaghreelan, 3, 190, 325.
MuUaghmast, 190, 320, 416.
Mural tablets, 137, 270. 377, 390, 424.
Murphy, 8.J., the Rev. Denis, 81.
Muskerry, Earl of, 449.
Naas, 46, 47, 50, 157, 158, 160, 190,
212, 315, 319, 321, 400, 418, 439.
Napier, family of : — Charles, 204 ;
Col. the Hon. George, 203. 204,375;
Lady Sarah, 203; William, 204.
Narraghmore, 187, 416, 419.
Naul, 36.
Nechtain, King, 88.
Nettervill, family of:— Alson, 370;
John, 370 ; Richard, 37, 397.
Nevill, David, Baron of Rosegarland,
357.
Neville, family of. (See High
Sheriffs) :— Arthur, 263; Richard,
263.
New Abbey (Kiloullen-bridge). 125.
126.
New Bridge (St. Wolstan's). 214, 28a
New Ross, the walling of, 299.
Newtown (Kilberry), 389.
( 1 ipper), 319, 320.
Niall of the Nine Hostages, King, 89,
90.
Norragh, Baron of, 415.
Nugent, family of: — Elizabeth, 16,
17 ; Christopher, Baron Delvin, 16,
428 ; Robert, 17, 104.
Nuncio, the Pope*s, 17, 18, 401.
Nurney Castle, 273.
Oakley Park (Celbridge), 201, 202, 203,
375.
Obelisk, the, 377, 378,
INDEX.
46s
O'Brien, Conor, 56.
O'Bagey, David, 298.
O'Byrne, the sept of, 10, 15, 160, 180,
297, 304; Bran, 161; Faelan, 305;
Hugh, 175, 389 ; Shaon, 175, 389.
O'CarroU of Ely, the sept of, 9, 129 ;
Calloagh, 134 ; Shaan or John, 133,
134; Sir WUliam, 134.
O'Gonnell, Daniel, 165.
0*Connor of Connaught, the sept of,
King Gahal, 93 ; King Hagh, 55 ;
King Roderick, 163.
O'Connor of 0£faly, the sept of, 10, 50,
88, 97, 104, 105, 107. 152, 312 ;
Art, 119; Brian or Bernard, 108,
312 ; Cahir, 107, 108,312; Calcagh,
100; Con, 119; Connor, 312;
Mortagh, 100; Robert, 35; Shaan
or John, 35 ; Teigae, 105, 312 ;
Valentine, 411 ; William, 35.
O'Dempsey, the sept of, 8, 9, 17, 152;
Lewis, 2nd Viscoant Clanmaliere,
17 ; Maximilian, 3rd Viscount, 110.
O'Donnell, the sept of. Red Hagh,
105.
O'Driscoll, the sept of, 42.
O'Donne, the sept of, 9.
O'Dwyer, Bishop Edmand, 293.
Offaly, district of, 97, 98, 106, 107, 296.
Offelan, district of, 98, 160, 295, 297.
Ogham stones, 206.
O'Keary of Carbary, the sept of, 89,
90, 91, 92 ; Aedh, 92: Maebruaneadh,
90 ; Ualgharg, 90, 91.
O'Kelly of Connaught, the sept of, 55,
451.
O'Kelly of the Queen's County, the
sept of, 451. {See the pedigree, p.
450), Brian or Bernard, 488, 449;
Donough, 14 ; Ferdinand, 448, 449 ;
Fergus, 15; Gerald, 448 ; Melaghlin,
14.
O'More of Leiz, the sept of, 8, 9, 10,
11, 16, 129, 151, 175. (See the
O'Kelly pedigree, p. 450), Ellenor,
448 ; Calagh or Charles, 60, 140,
141; Dorothy, 362: Kedagh, 61;
Lysagh or Lewis, 171 ; Patrick,
60; Rory or Roger, 60. 135, 448;
Roryoge, 13.
Omurethi, the district of, 3, 5, 45, 160,
161, 186.
O'Neill, the sept of, 50; Flaherty, 91 ;
Owen roe, 18, 135, 174. 401 ; Sir
Phelim,174; Shaun.l2; Tirlagh,174.
Ormond, Earl of. See Butler.
O'Rourke of Brefni, the sept of, 90 ;
Sir Bryan, 142 ; King Ferghal, 91 ;
Niall, 91.
Ossory, Earl of. See Pierce Butler.
O'Teige, the sept of, 5.
O'Toole, the sept of, 3, 5, 91, 161, 318.
{See the pedigree of St. Laurence
O'Toole, p. 166); Duncuan, 161;
Murrough, 161 ; Muircheartach, 161.
. Oughterard, 179, 183, 395.
Pale, or English land, the, 34, 48-58,
87, 315.
Palmerstown (Co. Dublin), 280, 363.
Pares, Christopher, 132.
Pass Bridge, 151.
Pass of the Plumes, 151.
" Patterns," 99, 158, 273, 325, 425.
Pavement tile, 124, 127.
Pedigree of the family of : —
the Heiresses of the Omurethi
district, 6.
the Lyes of Clonaugh, 354.
the O'Kellys of Cadamstown,
450.
St. Laurence O'Toole, 166.
the Suttons of Castletown,
366.
the Whytes of Leixlip, 397.
Peppard, the family of, Anthony, 12 ;
Joan, 394 ; John, 395 ; Ralph, 395 ;
Walter, 12 : William, 259.
Pictures of Lord and Lady Edward,
382, 383.
Pig, the Race of the Black, 158, 273,
383.
PiUtown, Battle of, 58.
Pilsworth :—
Philip, 260, 356.
• Bishop William, 248, 356.
Pipers' Stones, 158.
Plan (ground) of Donacomper Church
ruins, 278.
Kilkea Castle, 31.
Kildare Cathedral
buildings, 246.
The Moat of ArdscuU,
190.
Plunket, the family of, 124; Ann, 109 ;
Edward, 56 ; John, 109.
Poddle river, the, 425.
Poer. See Power.
Portlester, Baron of. See Eustace.
Manor of, 126.
Posseckstown, 369.
Poul-gyleen, 389.
Power or Poer, the familv of, 42 ;
Lord Arnold, 187 ; Richard, 42 ;
Sheelah, 449 ; Thomas, 8 ; Sir
William, 449.
Poynings' Act, 51.
Preston, General Thomas, 401.
Price, Archbishop Arthur, 201, 202.
203.
O O
466
INDEX.
Proverbs, Jigginstown, 386.
. Maynooth, 132.
Timolin, 418.
Puncher's Grange, 298, 363.
Punchestown, 317, 319.
Pypard. See Peppard.
Race of the Black Pig. 158, 273, 383.
Rahan, 46.
Raheen, 381.
Rath or Forts, 112, 113, 317. 318, 457.
Rathangan, 21, 98, 99, 171, 187, 301,
358, 369.
Rathbride, 134, 140, 145, 298, 357,
358.
Rathcoffy, 51, 183.
Rathjordan, 449.
Rathmore (North Naas Barony), 50,
112-115, 301, 426, 457. Corrigenda.
Rath Righ, 113.
Rathvilly, 128.
Red Book, Earl of Eildare's, 127.
Reliceen (near Great Connell), the,
307, 311.
Relick, a, 311.
Relics, 165.
Reliquary, a, 330.
Rental Book. Earl of Kildare's, 127.
Review of Books : — Miss Stokes's
High Crosses of Ireland, 454 ; Col.
Wood-Martin's Pagan Ireland, 66.
Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 23.
Thomas, 13, 20, 24.
Rheban Castle, 167-178.
Rice, James, 379, 380.
Riddlesford, de, family of. {See the
pedigree, p. 6) ; Ela, 4, 5 ; Emelina,
5 ; Walter, 5.
Rinawade, 377.
"Ring, the," 318.
Rinuccini. the Pope's Nuncio, 17.
Robeck. the Baron de, 405. (See High
Sheriffs.)
*' Rochfalyaght," 65.
Rochford, de, Henry, 2.>8; Milo, 183 ;
Walter, 183.
Rokeby, Sir Thomas de, 8.
Roper, the family of. Viscounts Baltin-
glass :— Carey, 64 ; Thomas, 64.
Ros, the Baroness de, 125.
Rosbery. 313.
Rosegarland, Manor of. 357.
Baron of. See Nevill.
Rosetown churchyard, 385, 416.
Roslare, 33, 39, 47.
Rothe, David, 41.
John, 41.
Round Tower of Clondalkin, 205.
KilcuUen. 437.
Kildare, 295.
Russellstown, 65.
Rye-water river, the, 59, 393.
St. Aldan, 4.
St. Augustine's Well, 313.
St. Barnabas, 439.
St. Boyana (?) of Gilltown. 325.
St. Brigid, 88, 182, 236, 237, 289, 291.
her falcon, 295.
her fire, 293.
her oak, 238, 289.
her shrine, 243, 289, 291,
297.
her slipper, a relic, 292.
relics of, 392.
St. Brioc, 432.
St Caoide or Kay, of Eilkea and
Donadea, 4.
St. Catherine's, 397.
Si Coagh, 434.
Si Coca of Kiloock, 89.
Si Columbkill, 291.
his well, 395.
St. Coningen, als Coagh, 434, 435.
Si Conlaeth, 241, 242, 289, 291.
his shrine, 242, 289.
291 297.
St. Cuaigh. See St. Coca.
Si Dermott of Castledermot, 65.
St. Ere, 156.
Si Evin of Monasterevin, 152.
his bell, 152.
St. Fechin, 91.
St. Fiach, 4.
St. Fith. See St. Issernin.
St. Francus, 452, 453.
St. Fynian of Clonaugh, 135.
St. George, Fraternity of, 58.
St. Germanus, 432, 433.
Si Id. See St. Issernin.
Si Issernin of KilcuUen, 432, 433.
434.
St Katan. See St. Caoide.
St. Kay. See Si Caoide.
Si Kevin, 160.
St. Laurence O'Toole, 3, 159-166, 248.
his pedigree.
166.
' his shrine and
relics, 164,
165.
St. Lawrence, family of. Barons of
Howth :— Christopher, 22nd Baron,
16.
St. Leger, family of:— Sir Anthony,
12 ; John. 263.
Si MacCaille of Croghan, 88.
St. MacT&il of KilcuUen, 434, 435.
446.
St. Maelduw of Clonourry, 325.
INDEX.
467
St. Mary (The B.V.M.,) 452.
Book of Hours of,
426-429.
Monastery of, at
Leixlip, 395.
St. Michael, de, family of, Barons of
Rheban:— Christopher, 172, 173,
175; Matbew, 175; Nicholas, 175;
Richard, 168, 170, 175, 192 ; Robert,
170, 175; Rohesia, 170; Walter,
172, 175.
St. Michael le Pole, Church of, in
Dublin, 435.
St. Mocatoc. See St. Caoide.
St. Mochua of Celbridge, 205, 324.
his well, 324.
St. Mogue, 4.
St. Moling of Timolin, 160, 413,
414.
St. Patrick, 4, 113, 160, 236, 325, 431,
433.
his well and his footmarks
on Knockpatrick, 324,
his staff, the Bachal Jesu,
165.
St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, 120,
121.
St. Sechnall, als Secundinus, of Dun-
shaughlin. Co. Meath, 432, 433.
St Thomas k Becket, 163, 182.
St. Toiman als Maoinean, of Clon-
curry, 325.
St. Victor, Order of, 162, 164, 182,
283
St. Werburgh»s Church. Dublin, 353.
St. Wolstan's Abbey, 204, 214, 278,
283-288, 363.
Salmon Leap. See Leixlip.
Salt, the Baronies of, 394.
Sarsfield, the family of. Earls of
Lucan, 313. {See High Sheriffs) :—
John, 260, 394 ; Patrick, 12, 259.
Savage, the family of: — Sir Arthur,
173. 174, 176; Douglas, 176;
Francis, 176 ; Thomas, 176 ;
William, 176.
Scurlock. See Sherlock.
Scurlockstown, 34, 37.
Seix, Edmund, 14.
Sheelah-na-gig, 27, 330.
Sheriff of Clare, 40.
Kildare, 253-267, 405, 415.
Meath, 103.
— Tipperary. 37, 38.
Waterford, 37, 38, 40, 43.
Sherlock, the family of, 33-47 ;
Barnaby, 36, 37; Catherine, 41,
381 ; Charles, 46 ; Christopher, 45,
46, 447 ; Edward, 39, 45 ; Eustace,
Sherlock the family of — continued.
447; Sir George, 38; Hester, 447
448 ; James, 38, 42, 43, 46 ; John
33, 41, 45, 46 ; Maurice, 35, 45
Oliver, 37; Patrick, 37, 38; Paul,
41, 44, 45 ; Pierce or Peter, 38, 45
Philip, 45. 4G. 447 ; Richard. 35,
40, 46; Robert, 45; Roland, 39
Thomas. 33, 36, 39, 43, 44. 45
Walter, '36, 37, 43, 45; William,
33, 36, 46.
Sherlockstown, 45, 46, 47.
Shinkeean stream, the, 277.
Sidh Nechtain, 88, 89, 155.
Sidney. See Sydney.
Signatures,. Lord and Lady Edward's,
349, 353.
Simnel, Lambert, 118, 119, 30a
Sirr, Major, 350, 352.
Skeletons sculptured on tombslabs,
379 381.
Skerries (Co. Kildare), 171, 187, 416.
Skillet, ancient bronze, 327.
Sligo, 426.
Sovereign of Kilkenny, 41.
Naas, 47.
Stained-glass window, 452, 453.
Statute of Kilkenny, 56.
" Stella" fMiss Johnson), 199.
Stoke, Battle of, 119.
Stonebrook, 411, 453.
Strafford, Lord, 386. 387.
Strangford, manor 6f, 125.
Strongbow, Richard de Clare, Earl of
Pembroke, 4, 92, 168, 187,
248, 295, 395.
Isabel, his daughter, 92,
93, 175.
. — ■ Basilia. his sister, 187.
Sunday's Wells, 158.
Surnames, first adopted, 161.
Sutton, the family of. (See pedigree,
p. 36G) :— Garrett, 14 ;
Gilbert, 258.
of Castletown, Connell, and
Rathbride : — David, 109.
140, 302, 312. 367 ; Gerald,
140, 312, 366, 367.
of Richardstown : — Oliver, 105.
Swift, Dean, 198-201.
Sydney, Sir Henry, 148, 149.
Nicholas, 149.
William. 149.
Table, the Earl of Ili/dAre's stone, 124.
Talbot, the family of :— Henry, 370 ;
Joan» 362; John, li)5, 362; Mary,
370; Richard. 64; Sir Robert, 18,
370 ; Sir William, 370.
Tallon, Jame8« 379.
468
INDEX.
Tara, 159, 291.
Tea-lane ohurohyard, Celbridge, 201,
272, 324, 371.
Teoroghan, 52.
Teffia, 90.
" Ten in the Hundred," near Calvers-
town, 274.
Thetmoy, 98, 101. (See Totemoy.)
Thomas Ck>uft, Dablin, 119.
Timahoe, Ck>. Kildare, 324.
Queen*a Co.. 306, 324.
Timolin or Timolinbeg, 12, 413-425.
Tintem, 358.
Tipper, 214, 215, 817, 386, 388.
Toberara Well, 32.
Tobereendowney Well« 158, 272.
Tober-moohua Well, 324.
Tobershawn Well, 32.
Togher, a, 98.
Togher Croghan, 9a
Tomb, ConoUy, 371-373.
Earl of Kildare's, 130-132.
Tombstone inscriptions : — Cadams-
town, 448, 449 ; Castledermot, 19
Celbridge, 371 ; Connell, Great, 305,
310; Donaoomper, 279, 281, 282
Donoughmore (Orange William)
156; Daleek. 110; Kildare. 145,
302, 355, 358; Leixlip, 398, 403
Kheban, 177, 178 ; Rosetown, 386
Timolin, 423, 424.
Totemoy, 99, 104. {See Thetmoy.)
Tower Trowan, 98, 99, 107.
Trade tokens of the Co. Kildare, 17th
oentu^, 208-213.
Trinity Well, 87, 89, 99.
Tristledermot. See Castledermot.
Tuathal Teachnar, King, 159, 321, 413.
Tubber , See Tober
Tnllaghard, 36.
Tarbettas, 65.
Tymolinbeg. See Timolin.
Tyrrell, George, 263.
Robert; 103.
Ua Ciardha. See O'Keary.
Ufford, Robert de, 5.
Ugaire mor, King, 159.
Ulster, Earls of. See De Bargo.
Uriel, 50.
Urn, sepulchral clay, 325.
Valle, de, the family of, 414, 415;
Elizabeth, 415 ; Laoelena, 414 ;
Richard, 414; Robert, 414, 415, 421.
Vanessa, 198-201.
Van Homrigh, Bartholomew, 198.
Esther, 198-201.
Ve8(Sr, de, the family of, Agnes, 96,
295 ; WiUiam, 95, 96, 295, 296, 297,
298, 299, 395.
Wall, the family of. See De Valle.
Walsh, the family of. 143, 215; James,
143 ; John, 14 ; Nicholas, 43.
Warbeok, Perkin, 123.
War-cries, abolished by Act of Parlia-
ment, 123.
Butler, 123.
FitzGerald, 123.
O'Brien, 123.
Warrenstown, 99.
Waterford, 10.
Mayors of, 41, 379, 380.
Weldon, the family of. {See High
Sheriffs), Captain, 174; Robert, 261 ;
Walter, 16, 260; William. 261.
Wellesley, de, the family of. 415. (See
High Sheriffs), Garrett, 261 ; James,
415 ; Sir John, 258 ; Sir Richard,
258, 259 ; Robert, 311 ; Walter
(Bishop of Kildare), 303, 308-311 ;
William, 96, 103. 258, 296. 297, 415.
Wells. 32. 273, 287, 386, 388, 406.
Holy or Blessed, 32, 88, 158,
273, 813, 324, 325, 395, 453.
Spa, 406.
Weston, Richard, 285.
Whit Sunday, Pattern day at Sunday's
WeU, 158.
White Castle of Athy, the, 128.
Whyte of Leixlip, the family of. See
High Sheriffs and pedigree, p. 397 ;
Andrew, 397 ; Arthur, 399 ; Charles,
399,400; John, 400; Nicholas, 312,
397, 400, Lady Ursula, 397.
Wills, copies of, or extracts from : —
Al«n, 280 ; Conolly, 873, 375 ; Lye,
145 ; Whyte, 399,
Windgates (near Taghadoe) 53.
Windsor, the Treaty of, 163.
Wogan, the family of {See High
Sheriffs), Anastacia, 7 ; Sir David.
7, 8 ; John, 7, 262. 296, 897 ; Sir
Thomas, 8 ; Sir William, 259.
Wolfe, Thomas, 10.
Wonderful Barn, the. 376, 377.
Woodstock Castle, 16, 170.
END OF VOLUME IL
C. W. GijiBK & Sow, Printen*. Dublin.
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