Genealogical Society

of Ireland

Vol 13 Journal 2012

Cumann Geinealais na hÉireann

2012

1

JEAN REDDIN, FGSI

It was with great sadness that the Society learned of the death of Jean Reddin,

co-founder and Fellow of this Society, on June 15th 2011. Jean, whose

photograph appears on the cover, was the Society’s first Hon. Treasurer and an

excellent researcher – tenaciously never leaving a stone unturned in her quest.

Her enthusiasm for research was infectious and with her seemingly boundless

energy, Jean’s contribution to the early years of this Society undoubtedly

assured its successful development over the years.

Jane Mary Taaffe was born in 1939 at the National Maternity Hospital, Holles

Street, Dublin. She was named after her mother, but was called Jean throughout

her life. Jean was the eldest of five children and the family lived in Dún

Laoghaire until she was 15 whereupon they moved to Sallynoggin. But it was in

Dún Laoghaire where she met her future husband at the age of 12. Jean and

Billy Reddin hit it off immediately and started an on/off courtship, which

culminated in their marriage on her 21st birthday.

As a young girl Jean went to school in St. Joseph’s in Tivoli Terrace, Dún

Laoghaire. A bright student, she won a scholarship to the Vocational School on

Marine Road. However, she never got a chance to finish her studies. At the age

of 14 she got a summer job working in a china shop in Glasthule. Her mother

always had a strong work ethic and she insisted that while Jean had a job, she

would not return to school. And so, reluctantly, Jean gave up her studies. It

would be almost five decades before she would return to them and she did so in

spectacular fashion – In her 50s she went back to school and studied and passed

her Junior Cert and then her Leaving Cert. Not content with that, she then took

night classes in UCD and graduated with a Degree as a mature student.

Jean was a strong willed, independent woman who loved her life and grabbed

every second of her existence with a joy and an enthusiasm which was

something to behold. She never gave up on anything and she never gave up on

anybody. She was a mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She lived for

her family and they in turn adored her. Her interests were wide and varied. She

adored books, loved history and travel and was always the life and soul of a

party. A funny, smart and loving woman, she is greatly missed every day.

Ní beidh a leithéid ann arís.

2

Genealogical Society of Ireland

Cumann Geinealais na hÉireann

ISSN 1393-936X

Vol 13 Journal 2012

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Published by

Genealogical Society of Ireland Ltd., Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.

Price €7.50 GSI member €7 Postage €1.50 to Ireland - €3.00 elsewhere

3

Genealogical Society

of Ireland

Vol 13 Journal 2012

Contents Page

The Montgomery Orphans: Dundalk Workhouse 1842 Brendan Hall 4

Portumna & Gort Bridewell in 1851 12

Fr. John Smyth, O.M.I. Annette McDonnell 13

The Royal Hibernian Military School in Dublin Howard R. Clarke 16

Archdeacon James Tierney’s Carte De Visite Brendan Hall 30

Leechtown and the Medical Profession Patrick Lydon 31

Dublin Fire Fighters and the April 1941 Belfast Blitz James Scannell 33

The Society's Journal 1992-2012 Michael Merrigan 50

The Celtic Oratory Veronica Heywood 51

William Delany of Durrow, Queen’s County M J Delany 53

The Medieval Origins of the Surname Feeney Adrian James Martyn 61

Nineteenth Century Kilcavan, Co. Wicklow Joseph A. Kenny 74

Letters, Lives and Liberty at An Post Museum Stephen Ferguson 82

Burial Rights of Kingstown & Blackrock Inhabitants at ‘The

Old Burial Ground at the Kill Of The Grange’ in 1864

Liam Clare 91

Wicklow - Australia - England – Norway

Steven Johnson &

G.H. O’Reilly

95

The Castlebellingham War Memorial Donal Hall 105

Board of Directors 2011/2012 136

Cumann Geinealais na hÉireann 2012

4

THE MONTGOMERY ORPHANS: DUNDALK WORKHOUSE

1842

Brendan Hall

On Monday 04 April 1842 the following motion was agreed by the Board of

Guardians, Union Workhouse, Dundalk, County Louth:

“RESOLVED, That inasmuch as the children, Sarah and William Montgomery,

have expressed their wish to attend the Roman Catholic place of worship, they

shall now be entered on the register as Roman Catholics.”1

The Reverend Elias Thackeray was Vicar of the parishes of Dundalk and Louth

at the time. Before he was ordained he

was a Captain in the 3rd

Dragoon

Guards, and in that capacity, was

responsible for bringing Wolfe Tone to

Dublin after the latter’s arrest in

October 1798. He became Vicar of

Dundalk in 1803. He contributed to

Shaw-Mason’s Statistical Survey of

Ireland (1816). The position of Rector

of the Parish of Louth was added to his

clerical responsibilities in 1823. He

died on 29 April 1853.2 He was a

relative of the author William

Makepeace Thackeray, and played

host to him when he visited the town

of Dundalk in 1842.

W.M. Thackeray provides us with a

pen-picture of the Vicar: “I was so

lucky also to have an introduction to

the Vicar of Dundalk, which that

gentleman's kind and generous nature

interpreted into a claim for unlimited

hospitality; and he was good enough to

consider himself bound not only to receive me, but to give up precious

1 Unless otherwise stated, the information in this article is taken from “Dundalk Union” in

Parliamentary Papers 1842, Volume 36, pages 545/1-16, NLI Dublin 2 Biographical details from Rev. James B. Leslie, Armagh Clergy and Parishes, Dundalk

1911, p. 282.

5

engagements abroad in order to do so. I need not say that it afforded me sincere

pleasure to witness, for a couple of days, his labours among his people; and

indeed it was a delightful occupation to watch both flock and pastor. The world

is a wicked, selfish, abominable place as the parson tells us; but his reverence

comes out of his pulpit and gives the flattest contradiction to his doctrine:

busying himself with kind actions from morning till night, denying to himself,

generous to others, preaching the truth to young and old, clothing the naked,

feeding the hungry, consoling the wretched, and giving hope to the sick; - and I

do not mean to say that this sort of life is led by the Vicar of Dundalk merely,

but do firmly believe that it is the life of the great majority of the Protestant and

Roman Catholic clergy of the country.”3

However benevolent in nature the author may have found his Dundalk

namesake there was a more officious and less endearing side to the Vicar when

it came to upholding his rights, privileges and entitlements as a churchman in

the Established Church. On the 20th

of March 1830 Rev. Thackeray had a man

named Patrick Duffy confined to Dundalk Gaol. His crime was that he did not

pay his tithe of £2 5s to the reverend gentleman. Duffy was a debtor, “extremely

old and miserably poor4”. He was handed over to the custody of the Gaoler and

kept in close confinement in a damp, cold cell. His health immediately began to

deteriorate and within three weeks he was dead. By the time Thackeray heard

about the wretched state of the man it was too late. As the newspaper says:

“Forfeiture of life, the punishment of the murderer, was the penalty which this

son of affliction had to pay for not being able to contribute £2 5s to support the

minister of another creed”. The jury at the inquest found that Duffy “had died

by the visitation of God”. Thackeray appeared to learn little from the Duffy case

as the following quote shows. This concerns a tithe case being pursued by

Thackeray in 1838, this in the wake of the recent “Tithe Wars”:

“We are given to understand, by the advocates of the ministerial tithe bill, that,

if it were no otherwise useful, it would be invaluable, because of its putting an

end to the collisions between the law – church clergy and tithe payers. It would

appear, however, that some, at least, of their reverences have a taste for that sort

of thing; for we learn that Mr. McCann, a highly respectable farmer in the

County Louth, has been arrested at the suit of Rev. Elias Thackeray, and

committed to the careful guardianship of Mr. Gray, the gaoler of Dundalk. With

the motives of the rev. defendant we are, of course, unacquainted; but it strikes

us that it would be difficult to justify such proceedings under present

circumstances. In the course of a very short time Mr. Thackeray might have

given a receipt in full to all of his debtors – the legislature, in its bounty, and

3 W.M. Thackeray, The Irish Sketch Book, London, 1879 edition, pps. 271-272.

4 The Duffy inquest is taken from the Liverpool Mercury, 23/04/1830

6

ministers, in their utmost munificence, having ensured him the payment of the

uttermost farthing he had a right to claim, and far more that, perhaps, he ever

expected to receive. Mr. Thackeray may have objections to take drafts on the

exchequer, in lieu of arrears of tithes; and yet, if our memory serves us right, the

rector of Dundalk claimed and pocketed a fair share of the million loan, which

has since been converted into a gift. Perhaps, after all, his reverence was only

hard up for cash, and that “his poverty, not his will, consented” to this very

ungracious proceeding. If so, we can only say that his person would go to belie

the state of his pocket, for he looks the very personification of “good fat

living””.5

Dundalk Union Workhouse opened on Friday 11 March 1842.

Sarah Montgomery was born on the 16th of July 1830 and baptised two weeks

later in Mary’s Church of Ireland, Newry. She was aged twelve, and her brother

William was aged about ten when they were admitted to the Workhouse on 14

March 1842.

They were the children of John and Matilda Montgomery. Matilda (née

Hartford), hailed from the area of Tanderagee, County Armagh, as did her

husband, and married “below her station”6, according to her family, in

Ballymore Parish Church, in County Armagh. They were both Protestant and

descended from Protestant families. Indeed, in order to press home a point,

when controversy later broke out about the acknowledgment of the children as

Roman Catholic, Rev. Thomas Carter of Ballimore wrote to Rev. Thackeray: “If

there was wanting evidence to confirm Montgomery’s claim to be a Protestant,

there are fifty Orangemen in Tanderagee who saw him admitted, and frequently

attend with him at meetings of the lodge”.

The circumstances surrounding the children’s admittance to the workhouse

were particularly poignant, but probably no sadder, nor more unusual, than that

of many children at the time. A cholera epidemic, which had been sweeping

across Europe in 1826 (having originated in India in 1817), finally reached

Ireland in 1832, causing mortality rates of 76% in some places.7 One of the

early victims of the epidemic in Dundalk was Matilda Montgomery, mother of

Sarah and William. She died in the local Cholera Hospital and was buried in the

Church of Ireland churchyard, Dundalk. There is no record of her burial, though

there is, coincidentally, another record of the burial of a Susan Montgomery on

5 The Freeman’s Journal of 01 October 1838

6Letter from E.F. Livingston [Belfast] to Rev. Elias Thackeray, 15 April 1842. (Parliamentary

Papers 1942, p. 545/10) 7 Patricia Duffy, “Cholera in County Louth” in Co. Louth Archaeological and Historical

Journal, Vol. XX, No. 2, 1982, p.117.

7

01 August 1832, the same time as Matilda died and a few months after William

was born. It is probable that the Christian name entry in the register is incorrect.

There were four children in the Montgomery family. They must have moved to

the town of Dundalk sometime prior to 1831 and were well known to the local

Church of Ireland clergy, as they regularly attended church services. John

Montgomery, the children’s father, was a carpenter, a practising Episcopalian,

and was attended by his clergyman, Rev. John Hamilton Stubbs8, a curate of

Dundalk Parish, before and at the time of his death at the end of March 1836, in

Church-lane, Dundalk. He was buried with his wife in the local Church of

Ireland churchyard. Following the demise of their father, the children were

looked after in the family home by their elder sister Eliza and an elder brother,

though the bulk of the responsibility for their welfare, in the form of private

contributions, fell on the local Church of Ireland clergy. This also included their

religious wellbeing, and the children were brought up as Episcopalians, attended

Sunday school and regularly attended services.

On Saturday 23 July 1836, Eliza married William Shannon, a journeyman

carpenter, in a Church of Ireland ceremony in Dundalk. He was a Catholic. It

was at this point that the children’s elder brother, who had attended the wedding

of his sister, left the family home and joined the army. Nothing further is known

of him. Five months into the marriage Eliza approached a neighbour, Susan

McCabe, and told her that she wanted to speak to a Catholic curate, as she

wished to convert to Roman Catholicism. Rev. Matthew McCann9 advised her

that she should feel under no pressure to convert. She received instruction and

was, it seems, shortly afterwards baptised. There is no record of this baptism in

the Louth Roman Catholic registers. Eight months into the marriage Shannon

deserted Eliza and departed for Liverpool.

After her husband left, Eliza attempted to support herself by sewing and

knitting. Then she and the children took fever for a period of about four months

and were supported by a local Roman Catholic clergyman. On recovering, Eliza

went to England in search of her husband and returned alone two months later.

In her absence, she left the children in the charitable hands of their neighbours,

in particular a Mrs. Lynch who used Sarah as a childminder, to look after her

own children. William was sent off to the Free School every day. On her return

from England, Eliza went into the service of Mrs. Lynch and it was during this

time that she brought Sarah to the Rev. Mr. John Clarke10

, to be re-christened on

20 May 1837. Eliza and the Rev. Clarke acted as sponsors for the young girl.

8 Headmaster of Dundalk Grammar school – see Leslie

9 Parish Priest of Dundalk 1817-36.

10 Local Curate; later Curate in Louth Parish. [Thom’s Almanac 1848]

8

Sarah had not yet reached her seventh birthday at the time. In June 1839, Eliza

started working for a Mrs. Catherine Darcy of Park Street, Dundalk, again as a

domestic servant. She remained in service for only a month, when Mrs. Darcy

found out that Eliza was married and receiving money, through the local

Protestant clergy, for the upkeep of her two siblings. However, Mrs. Darcy

appears to have had a change of heart for, a few months later, she gave

permission for the children to sleep in her house, allowing Eliza to carry out her

duties to the full, though Mrs. Darcy herself now received the monies

previously given to the young woman. This amounted to three shillings per

week and was paid through the church Sexton, John Fitzpatrick. This

arrangement stayed in place for about fifteen months, at which time Eliza left

her job, in September 1841, and abandoned the children, in order to go to

England, once again, in search of her husband. Nothing more was heard from

her. Throughout their time living in Park Street, the children went to Mrs

Reilly’s Free School at 10.00 in the morning and returned to dinner at three. The

school catered for all denominations.

While in the service with both Mrs. Lynch and Mrs. Darcy, Eliza attended

Roman Catholic services and used to take Sarah along with her to Sunday

evening classes. In her statement to the Workhouse Board of Guardians, Mrs.

Darcy said that Eliza and the children would attend services and lectures twice a

week at the local Church of Ireland and that she had no idea Eliza was anything

but Protestant, until the controversy broke out in the Workhouse.

With Eliza now gone, the children were taken into the care of Mrs. McClelland.

William was sent to work for Cavanagh’s, but remained there only a short time

as he proved to be very disruptive. The children remained with Mrs.

McClelland, who was paid four shillings six pence per week for their upkeep,

for a period of about seven months, after which time the unfortunate youngsters

were despatched to the Workhouse (14 March 1842). On arrival, and on being

questioned on their religious affiliations, they were entered in the books as

being Protestant.

Cruel as this might appear, it was deemed that being admitted to the Workhouse

would be in the best interests of the children, as here they would be guaranteed

bed and board, an education of sorts, and preparation, in terms of training, for

when they left on reaching the age of fifteen. Rev. Thackeray had always taken

an interest in the plight of the children; it was thanks to him that payment for

their upkeep was arranged; and it was he who wrote the note of introduction that

the youngsters brought with them to the Workhouse. It may have been the

Catholic chaplain in the Workhouse who brought to the attention of the

Guardians that Sarah had, in fact, been baptised into the Roman Catholic faith.

Whatever way it happened, three weeks after their arrival at the Workhouse, the

9

following marginal note was entered in the registry, beside the original entry

that gave the children’s religion as Protestant: “R. Catholic, by order of the

Board of Guardians, dated April 4th

, 1842. – F. O’Reilly, master”.

On being made aware of it, Rev. Thackeray was less than happy about this

situation and on 15 April 1842, he wrote a long letter to the Poor Law

Commissioners, to whom the Board of Guardians reported, pointing out the

facts of the case. This included a brief history of the children’s upbringing. He

pointed out that unfortunately, unlike their Roman Catholic counterparts, there

was no Episcopalian minister appointed to the Workhouse when it opened, and

for a month afterwards. Had there been a minister there from the beginning, this

case would never have arisen. He also stated that the children’s parents were

Protestant and had they lived, their children would have been brought up

Protestant. He quite rightly questioned the competence of an eight-year-old

(actually six) child, as Sarah was at the time of her re-christening, in

determining what religion she should follow, and also stated his fears that this

case would set a precedent in the newly opened Workhouses throughout the

country, where the religion of inmates could be changed at the stroke of a pen –

“something that would endanger the harmony and peace of the union itself or of

the district around”.

A copy of the Rev. Thackeray’s letter was forwarded by the Poor Law

Commissioners to the Board of Guardians for their consideration and reply. At a

meeting of the latter on the 13 May 1842 it was agreed that the matter be

deferred until the next Board meeting on the 20th. In the meantime, Rev.

Thackeray, obviously frustrated by how slowly matters were being progressed,

wrote to the Poor Law Commissioners again urging them to expedite this case

quickly, and pointing out that on the previous Sunday his minister, Rev. George

Studdert11

, was not allowed access to the children for religious instruction. On

20 May the Board of Guardians met and resolved to hold an enquiry, requesting

evidence from the Roman Catholic and Episcopalian ministers. Four days later

Rev. Thackeray wrote again to the Commissioners, again pointing out the facts

of the case, but this time threatening Parliamentary action if no progress was

made and the children returned to the guardianship of the Established Church.

The Board of Enquiry was held on the 27 May. Susan McCabe, who was

present at the time, gave evidence that Eliza Montgomery was in no way forced

to become a Catholic and that Eliza stated at the time of her conversion that she

would have the children baptised as well. There does not appear to have been a

Catholic minister present at the enquiry and the Rev. Stoddert refused to give

any evidence without the presence of a Commissioner or deputy. Finally the

11

Curate, Dundalk 1842-54

10

children were called. Sarah stated that she believed that the Roman Catholic

Church was the true church; that “they were supported by their brother and

sister; were going to chapel before they came to the poor-house, and they

wished to come to the poor-house in order that they could go to the Catholic

Church”. The conclusion of the Board of Guardians was that the children were

sufficiently intelligent to choose their own religion and that they should remain

in the books of the poor-house as Roman Catholics.

On 01 June Rev. Thackeray again wrote to George Nicholls, Poor Law

Commissioner. His frustration was obvious. Again pointing out the background

to the problem, he also added that the case was causing much unrest in Dundalk

and the surrounding area.

Thomas Fostescue, gentleman, of Ravensdale, Dundalk, was Chairman of the

Board of Guardians. He was a Protestant, one of only a few on the Board,

which was overwhelmingly Catholic. He profoundly disagreed, along with his

fellow Protestant Board members, with the resolution agreed on the 27 May and

with the way the enquiry had been conducted. On 03 June, at a Board meeting,

he ordered that a letter from him be inserted in the minutes of the Workhouse. It

once again gave the history of the children as it was known, details of their

parents as known and pointed out that for all their lives, except for a brief period

after their parents died when they were under the care of their sister, the

children had been either members of, or under the guardianship of, the Church

of England. He added, “Lastly I protest against the resolution above referred to,

because, although it was my duty as chairman of the board to sign their

proceedings, I cannot allow it to be supposed that I do in any way concur in

their decision”. Five other Board members concurred with him. In a separate

letter to Mr. E. Gulson, Assistant Commissioner, in Rostrevor, Fortescue said

that only he and the other two Protestants in attendance at the meeting dissented

when the resolution was presented. There were ten or twelve “Ayes”, all from

Roman Catholics.

Edward Gulson, Esq., Assistant Poor Law Commissioner, entered the fray and

drew up a lengthy report, dated 11 June 1842 after interviewing many of those

involved in the case. Among his conclusions he stated that in the spirit of the

Poor Relief Act, the children should remain under the care of the Episcopalian

chaplain until they reached the age of fifteen, the age of discretion, at which

time the Act emancipated the child from the care of its parents. However he also

concluded that the Guardians could certainly resist the authority of the

Commissioners, in so far as the law would permit.

On 20 June, Rev. Thackeray again wrote to George Nicholls, Esq., Poor Law

Commissioner. Yet again he pointed out that there had been no change

11

concerning the children and threatening Parliamentary action if the matter was

not resolved by Sunday 26 June.

On 22 June Arthur Moore, Chief Clerk of the Poor Law Commissioners wrote a

long and legalistic letter to the Board of Guardians in Dundalk. This letter once

again gave a résumé of the case, but stated that the Guardians, in registering the

children as Roman Catholic and in proceeding to educate them as such, were in

violation of the 49th section of the Irish Poor Act. Furthermore, if the Guardians

continued in their action, proceedings would be brought against them and they

would become liable to the penalties provided by the 32nd and 102nd sections

of the same Act. At this point, the Commissioners wrote to Rev. Thackeray,

informing him of what action they had taken in the case. However, by now on a

visit to Cambridge, Rev. Thackeray was already lobbying Members of

Parliament. It is probably through this action that the documents relating to the

case ended up in the Parliamentary Papers. Rev. G. Studdert, Rev. Thackeray’s

nephew, wrote to his uncle on 26 June, to say that although the Commissioners

letter had been read to the Board of Guardians, they had not yet acted on it. Still

the Board of Governors refused to budge. Finally, on 20 July 1842, a letter was

sent to them under seal from the Poor Law Commissioners, with a copy to the

Clerk of the Board of Guardians and another to the Clerk to the Justices of Petty

Sessions, initiating legal proceedings.

And with that, the controversy ended. It is assumed that the Board of Guardians

capitulated and the children were returned to the Established Church. There is

no indication as to what became of the Montgomery children when they left the

Workhouse. There are no further records of them in the Church of Ireland

registers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

C.R. Cheney, Handbook of Dates, London 1970

Rev. James B. Leslie, Armagh Clergy and Parishes, Dundalk 1911.

Fr. Michael Murtagh, St. Patrick’s Dundalk, an Anniversary Account, Dundalk

1997

Patrick C. Power, The Courts Martial of 1798-99, Ireland 1997.

Rev. J.F. Stokes [Editor], Centenary Record, Saint Patrick’s Dundalk, Dublin

1947

W.M. Thackeray, The Irish Sketch Book, London 1879.

Co. Louth Archaeological and Historical Journal, Vol. XX, No. 2, 1982.

The Liverpool Mercury 1830

The Freeman’s Journal 1838

Parliamentary Papers 1842, Volume 36.

Parliamentary Papers 1843, Volume 46.

Thom’s Irish Almanac 1848

12

WEB SITES:

County Louth Genealogical Sources: www.jbhall.freeservers.com.

Enhanced British Parliamentary Papers on Ireland, 1801-1922 (EPPI):

http://www.southampton.ac.uk/library/bopcris/projects.html

British Newspapers 1800-1900: http://newspapers.bl.uk/blcs/

Irish Newspaper Archives: http://www.irishnewsarchive.com/

Slater's Commercial Directory of Ireland 1846:

http://www.failteromhat.com/slaterl.php

Louth County Genealogy Database (IFHF): http://louth.brsgenealogy.com/

-----oooOOOooo-----

PORTUMNA BRIDEWELL IN 1851: “No male prisoners at the time of my

visit; three young females, one of whom was committed for breaking the court-

house windows in order to be imprisoned; the other two are vagrants, and

threatening to break the windows of the constabulary barrack in order to be

committed. Pump out of order and water brought from nearly half a mile

distance, for which the keeper has to pay, and received no allowance for it. The

flagging in the female day-room and passage requires repair. The male yard is

very insecure; the water pipe, which is useless, affords facility for escape over

the wall to any one of ordinary activity. Petty sessions regularly held twice in

each month…”

GORT BRIDEWELL IN 1851: “Much out of order, badly arranged, and very

insecure. The female day-room is improperly used as a kitchen by the keeper; in

the cell adjoining I found one female, and on the door being opened the stench

was most offensive; the windows are fastened down so that they cannot be

opened. The day-room for males (in which there were four confined) is only

eleven feet long and eight wide. The insecure state of the yards renders it

dangerous to allow the prisoners access even to the privy. There were 43

prisoners confined here during the last quarter; 168 during the quarter ending

30th

September. There were two pumps, both out of order. The Local Inspector

never visits. The Keepers salary is £20 Irish currency.”

James Galwey, Thirtieth Report of the Inspectors-General of the General State

of the Prisons of Ireland, 1851, Dublin 1852

13

FR. JOHN SMYTH, O.M.I.

Annette McDonnell

In October 2007 my husband, Gerry, and I stood at Fr. John’s grave in

Fremantle Cemetery, Western Australia. It was an emotional and wonderful

moment and a great start to a memorable holiday in Australia and New Zealand.

Fr. John was my Grand-Uncle, my paternal Grandmother’s brother. Born on 8th

November 1872 at 19 Sandycove Road, Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire), John was

the eldest of eleven children of Daniel Smyth, a shoemaker, and his wife Ellen

Magee. He studied for the priesthood in London and in Liege where he was

ordained on 8 July 1899. Following a brief visit home and to the Oblate

community in Inchicore Father John was among a number of newly ordained

Irish priests who were assigned to Western Australia where he served for nearly

twenty years at St. Patrick’s in Fremantle and St. Anne’s in North Fremantle.

Research in the Melbourne State Library revealed that Fr. John arrived in

Australia on 21 November 1899, having travelled “Saloon Class” on board the

“SS BREMEN II (1897)” from Southampton.

The parish of St. Patrick in Fremantle was established around 1850 and since

1894 has been in the care of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate

(O.M.I.), their first foundation in Australia. The busy port of Fremantle was

the gateway to Australia during the shipping era. As St. Patrick’s was close to

the port, many new settlers walked the short distance to the church to attend

their first Mass on Australian soil.

After a few years Fr. John’s health began to deteriorate and in 1913 he was sent

home for a year to recuperate. Although the change obviously benefited him he

never fully recovered and suffered frequent bouts of illness over the next few

years. His ill-health, however, did not deter him and he continued to minister to

his beloved parishioners in Fremantle. In December 1918 he became one of

the earliest victims of the influenza pandemic. Already suffering from heart

disease, he had little strength with which to fight back. He died on 7 January

1919, aged 46 years.

His death was a double blow for the Smyth family. Another brother, Adam, a

Post Office Sorter on the ill-fated R.M.S. Leinster, had been tragically lost just

three months earlier, on 10 October 1918, when the vessel was destroyed by a

torpedo just outside Kingstown Harbour. The two eldest sons of the family had

died within three months.

14

Father John’s funeral was one of the

largest and most moving ever witnessed

in Fremantle attended by parishioners

and clergy from all over Australia. Two

years after his death a large Celtic Cross

in polished Albany granite was erected

by his former parishioners. The

inscription on the monument reads:

“Erected by a grateful people to the

saintly memory of Rev. Father John

Smyth O.M.I. who died at Fremantle, 7

January 1919, aged 46 years. Rest in

peace”

The grave was easy to find as the

memorial has become a marker to help

visitors find their way around the

Catholic Section of the cemetery. As of

October 2007 there were fourteen

members (seven priests and seven

brothers) of the Oblate community

buried in the same plot which is shown

on the cemetery map as the “Bishop’s Plot”. Their names are:

Fr. Hugh Goerke, O.M.I., Died 4 April 1985 Age 65yrs.

Fr. Patrick Lowry, O.M.I., Died 28 Dec 1993. Age 76yrs.

Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary

Fr. Leander Baron, O.M.I., Died 8 Nov. 1997. Age 84yrs.

Fr. John Ryan, O.M.I., Died 30 Nov. 1997. Age 96yrs.

Knocklong, Co. Limerick

Fr. Michael Keohane, O.M.I., Died 11 Dec. 1997. Age 84yrs.

Cork City

Fr. John O’Regan, O.M.I., Died 8 Oct. 1998. Age 74yrs.

Kilkenny

Fr. James Sullivan, O.M.I., Died 29 Nov. 2000. Age 97yrs.

Rossnagreena, Glengariff, Co. Kerry

15

Bro. John Molloy, O.M.I., Died 21 Dec. 1900. Age 25yrs.

Birr, Co. Offaly

Bro. Christopher Tuite, O.M.I., Died 18 Sept. 1901. Age 58yrs.

Co. Dublin

Bro. Daniel Howard, O.M.I., Died 7 July 1916 Age 60yrs.

Diocese of Killaloe, Co. Clare

Bro. Michael Lawlor. O.M.I., Died 16 Dec. 1920. Age 62yrs.

Co. Laois

Bro. Michael Boland, O.M.I., Died 29 June 1948. Age 91yrs.

Tipperary

Bro. Ignatius Hannick, O.M.I., Died 14 May 2005. Age 76yrs.

Ballina, Co. Mayo

Bro. Francis Thornton, O.M.I., Died 21 Feb 2007. Age 95yrs.

Before leaving for Australia we had contacted the Oblates and received

information about Fr. John and Fremantle Cemetery. The then Parish Priest, Fr.

John Sherman also invited us to visit them. At the Priests’ residence we were

warmly welcomed by an Irish priest, Fr. John Archbold, O.M.I., from

Monasterevan. It was a lovely surprise to see Fr. John’s photograph hanging on

the wall in the dining room.

The church, a magnificent limestone building, was built in 1900. In 1994 it was

granted the status of a Basilica and has since been heritage listed. On entering

the church our eyes were immediately drawn to a beautiful and very colourful

tapestry hanging behind the altar. It measures some fifty square metres and

weighs nearly one tonne. The design is of the ancient Celtic symbols of a

spiral, bird and cross which depict the Holy Trinity. It was designed by

Desmond Kyne and woven at the V’Soske Joyce Studios Ltd., near Oughterard,

Co. Galway. A little piece of Ireland on the other side of the world.

Sources: Fr Don Hughes, O.M.I., Australia

Fr. Austin Cooper, O.M.I., A Little by Ourselves - Oblates of Mary

Immaculate Australia - 1894-1994 (Victoria, Australia 1994)

West Australian Record - 18 Jan 1919 and 27 Nov 1920

A Tour Guide for the Fremantle Cemetery Historical Walk Trail

Western Australia Genealogical Society Inc.

The Parish of St. Patrick’s website - fremantlestpatricks.com.au

16

THE ROYAL HIBERNIAN MILITARY SCHOOL IN DUBLIN

Howard R. Clarke

The Hibernian School in Phoenix Park, Dublin was opened in March 1770 by

the Hibernian Society for Soldiers’ children, which had been incorporated by

royal charter in 1769. The Hibernian School had the distinction of being the

first publicly funded school for soldiers’ children in the British Isles. During

the eighteenth century it had operated as a typical Ascendancy charity school

and although admissions were not restricted to Protestants, all the children were

educated according to the principles of the established Protestant church in

Ireland with the objective of placing them as apprentices or servants with

Protestant tradesmen and families. During the nineteenth century the School

was gradually transformed into the Royal Hibernian Military School (RHMS)

with freedom of worship for Catholics and Protestants, but with admissions

restricted to the sons of soldiers, who were educated and trained at public

expense with the expectation that they would follow their fathers and enlist in

the British Army. The RHMS was evacuated to England in September 1922 by

which date the building had been the home to some 13,000 boys and girls, the

sons and daughters of soldiers, the majority of whom had some family in

Ireland. 1

Previous articles in the Society’s Journal have explained that the School’s Index

and Nominal Rolls for the boys, covering the years from around 1830 until 1922

can be consulted at the United Kingdom National Archives at Kew. Peter Goble

has assembled these into a database, which can be accessed at www.rma-

searcher.co.uk. Searching can be done by family names and also by the father’s

regiment and the regiment, which the boy enlisted into on leaving the RHMS. 2

Unfortunately, the index and nominal rolls for the boys and girls who were

admitted to Phoenix Park before 1830 have not been traced and there is little

information about the identity of these children. However, a number of

contemporary documents relating to the Hibernian Society have survived,

including two official reports on the Hibernian School: the 1809 Report of the

Board of Education in Ireland and the longer and more detailed 1826 Report of

the Commissioners of Irish Education Inquiry. Although these documents reveal

the names of very few of the Hibernian children and only the more senior

1 This article is based on: H.R.Clarke, A New History of the Royal Hibernian Military

School Phoenix Park, Dublin 1765-1924 (Yarm 2011), and includes material that was not

available when the Society published Irish Genealogical Sources No. 25 (History of the

Royal Hibernian Military School Dublin) in 2001. 2 A.W. Cockerill and P. Goble, Royal Hibernian School Extant Record,Journal of the

Genealogical Society of Ireland, Vol. 5. No. 1.

17

members of staff, they do contain a wealth of detail about the life of the children

at Phoenix Park, at a time the time when the institution was flourishing and was

being transformed from an Protestant Irish charity into a British Army military

school. These documents provide the sources for this article.

There was an enormous expansion of the British Army during the long wars

with Revolutionary and Napoleonic France (1793-1815) and Irishmen were

recruited in increasing numbers and formed a large proportion of enlistments.

As regiments were sent overseas and causalities mounted there were a growing

number of orphaned children and widespread destitution amongst soldiers’

families. The United Kingdom government in London was sympathetic to a

request from the Hibernian School governors to enlarge the School and during

the 1800s the Westminster parliament voted money to enlarge the buildings at

Phoenix Park. These extensions enabled the governors to double the number of

children and provided accommodation for around 600 boys and girls.

The large scale recruitment of Irishmen continued in the post war years and by

1830 there were 40,979 Irish NCOs and other ranks in the British Army. The

presence of a substantial army garrison in Ireland, which varied between fifteen

and twenty five thousand men, ensured that there was a steady flow of

applications for admission to the School.3 Applications were made on printed

forms of petitions, which had to be completed by child’s parents or in the case

of orphans, by family or friends. These forms included a certificate of

recommendation for completion by the soldier's commanding officer certifying

that the soldier was of good character and also a medical certificate signed by

the regimental surgeon or a qualified medical practitioner, confirming that the

child was free from infirmity and any infectious diseases and appeared to be

above seven and under twelve years of age - which were the lower and upper

ages for admission. The Hibernian Society’s forms of petition also required

copies of the soldier’s marriage certificate and the baptism certificate of the

child. In cases where these certificates could not be found, the reason for this

had to be “assigned” by the soldier’s commanding officer, who certified the

date and place of the marriage and the birth according to the best information he

could find. It is a great loss to family historians that these completed forms of

petition have not been found, but the forms did advise that “where a sufficient

reason for the non-production of the Minister’s Certificate is assigned, a

Certified Extract from the Regimental Register will be admitted”.4 This refers

to the register of the marriages, births and deaths for soldiers’ families that were

3 E.M.Spiers, Army organisation and society in the nineteenth century; V.Crossman, The

army and law and order in the nineteenth century, both, in A Military History of Ireland,

edited by T.Bartlett and K.Jeffrey (Cambridge1997), pp336-8; p358. 4 Sixth Report of the Commissioners of Irish Education Inquiry, (House of Commons

Papers) 1826/7, Appendix 12.

18

in general use in the British Army in the middle 1820s. From 1829 these

registers were ordered to be maintained in order for a soldier to establish the

eligibility of his “legitimate offspring” to gain admission to the Royal Military

Asylum at Chelsea in London and the Hibernian Military School in Dublin. A

certified extract from the regimental registers would most probably have

accompanied the very large number of petitions that the governors received on

behalf of children with Catholic parents during these years. Although not all

regimental registers have survived and there are none in the National Archives

at Kew, a number can be found in the archives at regimental museums in Great

Britain.5

Emblem of the Royal Hibernian School

An amended royal charter, which was granted to the Hibernian Society in 1808,

required the governors to give preference to complete and partial orphans and

then to those whose fathers were ordered on foreign service, or had other

children to support. When deciding on admissions, the governors paid particular

attention to the circumstances of the parents. When a regiment embarked for

garrison duty outside the United Kingdom, only twelve wives per hundred

soldiers were permitted to embark. This was reduced to six wives per hundred

soldiers when a regiment went abroad on active service.6 There was no poor

5 Details of the British Army regimental and Corps museums in the United Kingdom can be

found on www.armymuseums.org.uk - Researchers should contact the museum’s archivist

and ascertain whether the unit’s registers have survived. 6 Regulations and Orders for the Army (London 1816), pp 370-1.

19

law in Ireland until 1838 and the governors often gave preference to the

children of soldiers’ wives who had not been allowed to accompany their

husbands. Applications regularly increased at times when food prices were high

and during the winter months. In consequence, there were rarely less than one

hundred petitions per annum and possibly more than double that number in

some years.7

The Hibernian School was generously funded by the United Kingdom

Parliament in three decades following the Act of Union and between 1816 and

1830 and the governors were able to admit some sixteen hundred and forty two

children. According to the evidence given to the Commissioners of Education

Inquiry in November 1825, large numbers of these children had parents or

family in Ireland, with a significant number residing in the Dublin area. The

School, however, was always oversubscribed and doubtless, many deserving

children applicants were not admitted.8

The governors had a requested a revision to their charter in 1808 because they

wished to encourage boys to enlist in the Army and when the Commissioners of

the Board of Education visited the School in 1809 it was being reorganised on

military lines. The whole School was placed under the direction of a

commandant assisted by an adjutant, both of whom had been serving officers of

the British Army and wore military uniform when on duty in the school

buildings. The first commandant, Lt. Colonel Colville, died at the school on

14th April 1818 and was succeeded by Lt. Colonel Blackwell, who resigned in

May 1820. He was succeeded by Major George Spottiswoode who served

until November 1832 and was well served throughout his command by Captain

Martin Irving, who had been appointed adjutant in 1815.

The extensions to the building at Phoenix Park, which were completed in 1812,

were designed to provide to provide self contained accommodation for the boys

and the girls in different parts of the buildings. From 1771, the governors

maintained a policy of admitting substantially more boys than girls. This policy

reflected the difficulties in finding sufficient Protestant families to take girls as

apprentices and servants. Boys were easier to place and from 1808 opportunities

also existed to discharge boys, who volunteered, into regiments in the British

Army. The governors were determined to continue with this policy and the

extensions to the building provided accommodation for between 400 and 440

boys, but for only some 200 girls.

7 H.R. Clarke, A New History of the Royal Hibernian Military School Phoenix Park,

Dublin 1765-1924 (Yarm 2011) p,524. 8 Sixth Report of the Commissioners of Irish Education Inquiry, (House of Commons

Papers) 1826/7, Appendix 5.

20

The boys were housed on three stories in the central block of the building and

the boys’ school was organised on military lines. The daily routine of the school

was “conducted in all its details on the plan of a military establishment.” There

was a timetable of scheduled activity for each hour of the day. The boys rose at

half past five in summer and half past six in winter to the beat of the drum and

this also was the signal for each change of session on the timetable during the

day. They were taught to march in order to ensure orderly and regular

movement between the various parts of the building.9

The four hundred or so boys were under the supervision of the sergeant major of

instruction who was in charge of five schoolmasters, or sergeants of instruction

as they were called at the Phoenix Park, all of whom had been serving soldiers

in the British Army. The boys were divided into companies each of which was

under the supervision of a uniformed sergeant who slept in a dormitory with his

company. He supervised the boys in making their beds and read morning

prayers and then marched them to the dressing and wash rooms. The latter were

designed with an upper and lower trough. The children washed their hands,

faces, necks and heads in the upper trough and the soapy water was then let

down into the lower trough where there washed their feet and legs thus

economising in the use of soap.10

The sergeant ensured that the boys were clean and that their hair was combed

and that they were properly dressed, before accompanying them to breakfast. A

full suit of clothing was provided each year. For the boys this comprised a lined

red uniform jacket, a pair of lined trousers, two shirts and two pairs of woollen

stockings, shoes and a woollen cap. Every morning each boy was examined by

the sergeant major to see that he was correctly attired and where this was not the

case, the boy was returned to his sergeant who was ordered to put his dress in

order. The sergeants were responsible for supervising their boys during

recreation and play times and sat with them in the dining hall at meal times. At

the end of the day, they ensured that the boys were in bed at the scheduled hour,

read prayers and in winter ensured that the dormitory fires were extinguished.11

9 Seventh Report from the Commissioners of the Board of Education in Ireland, House

of Commons Papers, 1809, pp2-6; Sixth Report of the Commissioners of Irish Education

Inquiry, (House of Commons Papers) 1826/7, pp 6-7. 10

Sixth Report of the Commissioners of Irish Education Inquiry, (House of Commons

Papers) 1826/7, Appendix 5. 11

“Duty of the Several Officers and Servants”, Regulations for the Establishment and

Government of the Royal Hibernian Military School for the Orphans and Children of

Soldiers (Dublin 1819).

21

The Hibernian School’s chaplain had overall responsibility for the education

and the academic progress of the children and for ensuring that they were

properly instructed in reading, writing and arithmetic in their respective schools.

He was also required to ensure that prayers were read to the children each day

and that they were taught the catechism of the established Protestant Church in

Ireland. It was the usual practice at that time for the scriptures and the

catechism to be used as a medium for teaching reading as well as for religious

instruction. The Rev. Thomas Philip Le Fanu was chaplain from 1814 to

1826, when he resigned following a dispute with the governors about his

occasional absences from the School to attend to his parishes in the country.

Thomas Le Fanu and his family had rooms with the other senior officers in the

East wing of the building and his son, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, the famous

writer of ghost stories, was born there and brought up at the Hibernian School.12

The sergeants followed Dr. Bell’s monitorial system of instruction and were

assisted in the classrooms by some of the older boys who acted as paid

monitors. The older boys were also instructed in rotation in the trades of

gardening, tailoring or shoemaking - the last two being especially useful for the

boys who enlisted in the Army. Classes were scheduled in the mornings for

three hours in summer and two and a half hours in winter and again in the

afternoons after dinner. In summer the afternoon session ran from half past two

until six in the evening and was followed by drill, with play and recreation

before supper, and then evening prayers before bed. The boys who were

employed in the garden and at tailoring were in school for two days followed by

one day at work, whilst those employed in shoemaking were in school and at

work on alternate days. This reduced the pressure on the space in the boys'

school rooms during the day, but when all the four hundred or so boys were in

three school rooms in the early evenings conditions would have been cramped

and very noisy.13

The governors retained the practice of appointing retired soldiers as

schoolmasters to teach the boys because they considered their military

background was particularly appropriate for maintaining discipline. The

governors were, however, aware that effective disciplinarians were not always

the most capable teachers and there was the danger that that old soldiers might

bring barracks room habits into the School to the detriment of the moral and

religious education of the children. Particular care was taken to select old

soldiers of good character and they served a period of probation before their

appointment was confirmed. The Hibernian Society’s regulations placed great

emphasis on the proper conduct of the staff and in particular cautioned the

12

H.R. Clarke, A New History of the Royal Hibernian Military School etc., pp165-7. 13

H.R. Clarke, A New History of the Royal Hibernian Military School etc.,pp170-1.

22

sergeants “to abstain from profane or indecent language and in all respect to

behave religiously and soberly”.14

In 1824 a committee of governors examined the teaching in the boys’ school

and on its recommendation a civilian head schoolmaster from Belfast was

appointed to instruct the senior classes. In common with most contemporary

charity schools, the Hibernian governors did not wish to take the children's

education beyond what was needed to make them useful citizens and prepare

them for their future stations in life, but the appointment of the head

schoolmaster appears have improved the education of the two senior classes and

any boys who showed particular abilities were instructed in geometry and more

advanced mathematics.15

The girls were accommodated in the west wing extension to the building and

were superintended by the matron assisted by three schoolmistresses. Mary

MacLean was the matron throughout the 1820s, but the surviving

documentation contains no information about her background or educational

qualifications, but like all the members of staff, she would have been a

Protestant. She superintended “the education of the girls in reading writing,

sewing, knitting, marking, washing and getting up linen; in the kitchen and

house-work, and in such other female employments “as may qualify them for

useful servants.”16

The schoolmistresses were appointed in the same way and

served the same probationary period as the sergeant instructors and had similar

responsibilities to ensure the girls’ cleanliness and good behaviour. They,

however, did not sleep in the girls' dormitories, but had their own apartments in

the girls' wing of the building. One of the three mistresses was designated as

the head schoolmistress and was in day-to-day charge of the instruction of the

girls in classrooms and workrooms. She presumably spent most of her time in

the girls’ school and taught the senior classes. She had the day-to-day

responsibility for the supervision of the other two schoolmistresses, one of

whom taught reading and writing and the other needlework and knitting. The

girls were taught very little arithmetic, but they were not left idle and soon as

they were able they spent much of their time in useful domestic employment

around the building.17

14

“Duty of the Several Officers and Servants”, Regulations for the Establishment and

Government of the Royal Hibernian Military School for the Orphans and Children of

Soldiers,1819. 15

Sixth Report of the Commissioners of Irish Education Inquiry, (House of Commons

Papers) 1826/7, Appendix 5. 16

“Duty of the Several Officers and Servants”, Regulations for the Establishment and

Government of the Royal Hibernian Military School for the Orphans and Children of

Soldiers, 1819. 17

H.R. Clarke, A New History of the Royal Hibernian Military School etc., pp173-4.

23

An unusual feature of the education of the boys and girls was that they received

instruction from a ‘master of gymnastics’. The master of gymnastics was

Monsieur J.A. Beaujeu, who was something of an early pioneer in physical

education and had decided to seek his fortune in Dublin. The governors’

decision to allow him to instruct the girls, albeit it chaperoned by one of the

mistresses, showed some advanced thinking. Beaujeu claimed to be the first

person to adapt the art of gymnastics to the female sex and in 1828 he published

a book entitled: “A Treatise on Gymnastics, Or Callisthenics for the Use of

Young Ladies- Introduced at the Royal Hibernian Military School.”18

The children were in the schoolrooms from Monday to Friday, but were not left

idle at the weekend. Saturdays was devoted to fatigues and cleaning and other

domestic business. Time was also spent in preparing for Sunday worship and

some of the children would have been given instruction in the psalms that

would be sung at the service. On Sundays the sergeants of instruction and the

matron would ensure that children were well washed and properly dressed and

they would be inspected before marching them to the Protestant chapel. The

children were accompanied by the officers and servants and their families and,

when they were residing at the Vice-regal Lodge in Phoenix Park, by the Lord

Lieutenant, his family and guests. After dinner the parents and relatives were

allowed to visit the children, but the children were not allowed to leave school

buildings in order to prevent Catholic relatives taking them to mass. The

children, however, were allowed out on a day pass during the week and at

Christmas and Easter parents or relatives could request that a child should be

allowed to spend a few days with them. A pass was granted to those children

who had a good record of behaviour, on the production of a certificate from the

father's commanding officer or, in the case of orphans, from the relatives'

minister and churchwarden, confirming the place of residence and also on

receipt of assurances that the child would be returned at the end of the pass. In

the mid-1820s some one hundred and fifty passes were issued on these

occasions and very few of these children were detained by their parents when

the pass had expired. This was, perhaps, because, although the parent or

relative agreed as a condition of admission that the child would remain at the

School until reaching the age for discharge, the governors invariably granted

any parental request that the boy or girl should return to their family. 19

The disciplinary regime at the Phoenix Park does not appear to have been

excessively harsh by the standards of the day and only two or three children

absconded each year. Some of the boys and girls who appointed as monitors

18

Ibid. 19

Ibid.,pp174-5. .

24

were designated as corporals and received extra pay to assist the staff in

maintaining orderly behaviour throughout the building. The sergeants and

schoolmistresses were not allowed to flog the children and were forbidden to

give them more than two pandies (a stroke upon the extended palm by a leather

strap or towse) for any one offence without reporting the child to the

commandant. Serious misbehaviour in the schoolrooms was punished by

“whipping” in the presence of the chaplain and for other serious offences such

as theft, by “birching” administered by the drummer in the presence of the

commandant or adjutant. The staff most probably reacted harshly to truculence

and minor misdemeanours around the building, but Thomas Philip Le Fanu

thought that they instilled “that degree of fear only which produces

subordination.”20

The diet for the children at the School was prescribed by the surgeon and

stipulated in a “Diet Table”, which formed part of the Regulations that were

published by the Society in 1819. The same “Diet Table” was presented to the

Commissioners of Education Inquiry in 1825. The meals were bland and

predictable, but the governors at least ensured that the children were fed three

times a day and that the prescribed diet included cabbages and seasonal greens,

together with bread and potatoes. There was meat for dinner (the mid-day meal)

three times per week; the amount served being allocated according to the age

and size of the children, with the boys involved in physical work receiving a

larger allocation. The children were also fortunate that School’s herd of cows,

which grazed in Phoenix Park , provided milk for breakfast and supper each day

and there was little mention of the distribution of “small beer” (a low alcohol

beverage), which commonly featured in the diets of residential charitable

institutions during this period. The “Diet Table” carefully prescribed the

quantities of the various provisions that were to be issued for each child and

warned against any attempt to reduce or tamper with the allocations. The

quartermaster, or the quartermaster sergeant, issued the provisions to the cook

in readiness for the preparation of the meals according to the published “Diet

Table”. Particular care was taken to ensure that in the case of the staff who

were issued with provisions, that their meat was delivered separately by the

butcher and that it was issued out of the quartermasters' store without being

mixed up with or taken from the meat for the children. In all of this the

governors were showing an awareness of the malpractices that were common in

residential institutions at that time. 21

20

Ibid. 21

Sixth Report of the Commissioners of Irish Education Inquiry, (House of Commons

Papers) 1826/7, Appendix 9.

25

The governors paid considerable attention to the health of the children and the

Commissioners of Education Inquiry concluded, that the general health of the

children “was a matter of satisfaction”.22

In addition to attending to the

children’s diet and their cleanliness James Macauley, the resident surgeon,

examined the children for any evidence of “the itch” or contagious diseases and

infections when they changed their shirts and shifts on Sundays and Thursday

each week.

Children who had anything the matter with them were sent

immediately to the infirmary and were not allowed back into the schoolrooms

until they had recovered and were in good health. Although the children’s bed

linen was changed every two or three weeks depending on the time of year,

most of the children slept in double beds in their respective dormitories in very

cramped conditions. Unsurprisingly, there were periodic outbreaks of disease.

In the early 19th

century “purulent ophthalmia”, a particularly virulent eye

infection was prevalent at Phoenix Park. This appears to have abated by the

middle 1820s, but milder eye infections, “coetaneous eruptions” and scrofulous

conditions regularly affected the children. The governors spent regularly on the

purchase of medicines and when the Commissioners of Education Inquiry

visited the School there were 22 boys and 13 girls in the infirmary out of an

establishment of 400 boys and 200 girls. This would have compared very

favourably with other similar charitable institutions in Dublin. Each year some

50 to 60 children with infectious or contagious illnesses were lodged at rented

premises at Clontarf on the shore of Dublin Bay for sea bathing, under the

supervision of a John Murray at a salary of £20 per annum. Major

Spottiswoode thought that this was of significant benefit to children with

“scrofulous” conditions and considered that many, “who probably never would

have been fit for anything, have returned, after being a few months by the sea

side, to all appearance cured”. Other children who were ill or had developed

disabilities were boarded in the country and the Society’s accounts record

regular payments to a John Cooper for maintaining these children.

The mortality amongst the children during these years was low with an average

of three deaths per annum amongst the boys and two per annum amongst the

girls. Because of the comparative isolation of the school buildings in Phoenix

Park the children seems to have avoided the worst of outbreaks of typhus and

other fevers that prevailed in Dublin during these years. Nevertheless the lack

of a proximate supply of drinking water at the School was always a matter of

concern and although this deficiency was to some degree remedied in 1820,

22

Sixth Report of the Commissioners of Irish Education Inquiry, ( House of Commons

Papers) 1826/7,p7.

26

when iron piping was laid to convey water from a reservoir the Park, this did

not prevent a number of outbreaks of cholera in 1833. 23

The daily routine at the Hibernian School was organised to encourage the boys

to volunteer for the Army when they reached fourteen years of age. They

exercised and marched in companies and from 1819 joined the Dublin garrison

in parading before the Lord Lieutenant at the King's Birthday Review in

Phoenix Park. Some of the boys were taught to play the fife and drums and

they formed a small band, used when the children marched to the chapel for the

Sunday service. The boys were not instructed in the use of firearms, but the

military discipline practised by the boys was intended to have a marked

influence on the boys’ character and outlook.24

Major Spottiswoode told the

Commissioners of Education Inquiry that - “the army is the best provision we

can possibly make for the boys; it is more consistent with the mode in which

they are brought up, in regard to being provided with food, clothes and other

necessaries, which children brought up together cannot have the habit of

seeking for themselves.” Captain Irving agreed and was convinced that:

“Nine-tenths of the boys (taking those that go to the army in the first instance

and those that volunteer afterwards) go there ultimately”. From January 1816 to

January 1831 five hundred and ninety one boys volunteered to enlist from the

School and it is possible that some of the 200 and more boys who became

apprentices and servants also decided to enlist after their indentures had expired.

This placed the Hibernian Military School Asylum as an institution of some

importance to the British Army.25

Regiments were very eager to accept boys from the Hibernian School and when

they had vacancies for boys they wrote in the first instance to the governors

inviting volunteers. The boys who enlisted often commenced as “drummers or

musicians”, but the governors’ objective was to provide an education that would

suit them for promotion to NCOs and which would also make them welcome in

the ranks of the Royal Artillery and the Corps of Sappers and Miners.

The Headquarters of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland was established in 1825,

in what had formerly been Mountjoy House in the Phoenix Park, a little over

one mile to the north-west of the School. In spring of that year the Corps of

Sappers and Miners recruited in Dublin for its 14th Company, which was the

second of two survey companies formed by the Corps specifically to undertake

the first ordnance survey of Ireland. The recruits for the survey companies were

23

H.R. Clarke, A New History of the Royal Hibernian Military School etc., pp 162-3. See

also the Accounts of the Hibernian Society for Soldiers’ Children, 1816-1831 in: AO 17,

The National Archives ,Kew. 24

H.R. Clarke, A New History of the Royal Hibernian Military School etc.,pp 152-3.

25 Ibid.

27

initially trained in computational technique at Chatham in England, where they

received practical instruction in surveying from the officers of the Royal

Engineers in charge of the Survey. The Hibernian Military School was

canvassed to secure boys for this initial training at Chatham. This idea may

have arisen because some of the governors, including Lt. General Sir George

Murray, the Commander of the Forces in Ireland and Hibernian Society’s Vice-

President, were high-ranking officers on the staff of the Ordnance Department.26

In July 1825 eleven Hibernian boys joined the Corps. A third survey company

was authorised by royal warrant in October 1825 and the establishments of all

three companies were increased in 1827 to expedite the work. The muster rolls

of these three companies identify the volunteers from the Hibernian School as:

Robert Barlow; Peter Christie; Daniel Connor; William Gaffney; James

Garland; William Gilland; Thomas Healy; James Lawson; William Scott;

Thomas Sullen and William Young.27

The recruitment of these boys, who

received some instruction from the head master in geometry and mathematics,

was a great success and William Young in particular had a very successful

career with the survey companies in Ireland. He subsequently became a

distinguished member of the British Ordnance Survey at Southampton, where

he was entrusted with duties never previously undertaken by an NCO and in

April 1853 he was appointed Quartermaster of the Royal Corps of Sappers and

Miners.28

There was a much greater difficulty in placing the Hibernian girls. A total of

482 were discharged or struck off between 1816 and 1831, but only 142 or 34%

were successfully placed in employment. In general they became servants,

although a few became milliners and dressmakers. The senior officers were

allowed one or two children as servants and Maria Walsh, who was the

children’s maid for Rev. Philip Le Fanu family remained with them after they

left the Phoenix Park in 1826. Other orphan girls remained at the School as

servants. Some remained on the roll into their late teens, although those who

were in poor health or had a disability were pensioned out to farms in County

Wicklow. 29

Although there are no surviving records about the religious affiliation of the

children when they were admitted to the School, the Commissioners of

Education Inquiry were told that a large proportion of the children had Catholic

parents. The governors were reluctant to relax the rule prohibiting the

apprenticing of children with Catholic families, but they were often prepared to

26

H.R. Clarke, A New History of the Royal Hibernian Military School etc.,p 154. 27

WO11/38, the National Archives Kew. 28

T.W.J. Connoly ‘The History of the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners’. London 1851,

Vol.1, pp244-54.

29 H.R. Clarke, A New History of the Royal Hibernian Military School etc., p151.

28

concede the point in order to dispose of the children. The officers testified that

when a respectable Catholic tradesman sought apprentices, the child was

released to the parents, who then proceeded to place the child in indentures or as

a servant. Doubtless many others were simply returned by the governors to

their families when they reached fourteen year of age. In total around 420 boys

(some thirty-five percent of the totals) and some 240 girls (around fifty-seven

percent of the totals) were discharged to their parents or friends during these

years. Given the sectarian divisions in Ireland it is reasonable to assume that

most of these children thereafter followed in the religious traditions of their

families.30

The Commissioners of the Board of Education in Ireland had reported very

favourably about the management of the School and the treatment and health

and condition of the children when they had visited Phoenix Park. The

Commissioners of Education Inquiry were similarly impressed and concluded in

their 1825 report that -

“The appearance of the children bore a very favourable testimony to the

general management and kind treatment which they experienced. We have in no

other school observed such decided appearances of health, activity and

animation amongst the children.”31

The Hibernian Society could not be easily accused of mismanaging public funds

or of neglecting and mistreating its children, but the Protestant character of the

charity was another matter. The political campaign for full Catholic

emancipation was approaching its climax in the late 1820s and the Hibernian

School could not escape charges of injustice and discrimination that were

levelled against other publicly funded Protestant charities in Ireland. Although

after 1829 there were Irish Catholic members in the United Kingdom

Parliament, it was not until 1841 that changes were made to the Society’s

charter removing the requirement for Protestant religious instruction. A revised

charter allowed the governors to appoint the first Roman Catholic chaplain in

1847 and a chapel for Catholic worship was opened at Phoenix Park in 1850,

but suspicion remained in Ireland that the governors favoured the admission of

the children of Protestant soldiers and accusations that the School proselytised

and discriminated against Catholics persisted until the early 1870s. By this time

girls were no longer admitted and the RHMS had been transformed into a

30

Ibid. ,pp 151-2. 31

Sixth Report of the Commissioners of Irish Education Inquiry, ( House of Commons

Papers) 1826/7p, 6.

.

29

school exclusively for the sons of soldiers with the objective of preparing them

for enlistment into the British Army.32

The RHMS had a high profile in Dublin in the years before the First World

War and the boys were present as part of the British Army at all important state

occasions including the royal reviews of troops in Phoenix Park. The School

band and a contingent of boys performed marching displays at the annual Irish

Military Tournament in the Royal Dublin Society’s premises at Ball’s Bridge

and in some years also field gun drill and gymnastic displays. The RHMS

gained a fine musical reputation during these years and many of the boys

became drummers and bandsmen in the British Army on leaving the school.

Permission was also frequently granted for the School band and choir to

perform at social functions and charitable events in the city. 33

The RHMS had become a part of the British Army in Ireland and it could not

continue at its home in Phoenix Park following Irish independence. On 20th

September 1922 the boys and staff departed for their new home at Folkestone in

Kent, following an unsuccessful attempt to relocate in Northern Ireland. The

RHMS was closed in July 1924 and the remaining boys were transferred to the

Duke of York’s Royal Military School at Dover. The old Hibernian School

buildings however have survived and stand today above the Chapelizod gate in

Phoenix Park and since 1948 have housed St Mary’s Hospital shown below.

32

At least 5171 boys enlisted in the British Army from 1835 to the closure of the RHMS.

There is evidence that other boys emigrated with their families and served in the armed

forces of their adopted countries. Some served in the Confederate and Union Armies

during the American Civil War and others may have enlisted in the Canadian, Australian

and New Zealand forces and have served in the South African and the Great War. 33

Irish Genealogical Sources No.25 contains details of the boys and staff and their families

who were resident at the RHMS as recorded in the Census for 1901 and 1911.

30

ARCHDEACON JAMES TIERNEY’S CARTE DE VISITE Brendan Hall

The carte de visite was introduced in the 1850s,

the credit going to Andre Disderi, a Parisian

photographer, for thinking up the idea. Prior to

this the cost of an ordinary photograph was

roughly equal to the weekly wage of the

average worker. Disderi’s idea was to divide up

the normal photographic plate in such a way so

as to allow a number of photographs to be taken

on the same plate. The idea proved very

popular, even if the resultant prints were only

about two inches by four inches. Despite the

name, they were never meant to be visiting

cards, but could be bought in bulk at reasonable

prices. Knowing my interest in all things to do

with County Louth, a friend recently sent me a

sepia-coloured carte de visite. On the reverse

side of the card is printed the name of the

photographer Charles Farley, 8 Laurence Street,

Drogheda. He worked in the profession in the 1860s and ‘70s1. Also hand-

written on the back is “PP of [Drogheda] 1867”.

From earliest times the Archbishops of Armagh resided in County Louth, either

in Termonfeckin or Drogheda. The last Archbishop to do so, Joseph Dixon, died

in 1866. He was followed by Michael Kieran who resided in Dundalk during his

short tenure of three years. With the departure of the Archbishopric from

Drogheda, James Tierney became the new Parish Priest of St. Peter’s Parish,

Drogheda, in 1867 with the title of Archdeacon of Armagh. Presumably the

cartes de visite of Rev. Tierney were produced to celebrate his elevation and

return to the town. He was born in Tullyallen, Co. Louth, in 1802. He was

ordained at Maynooth in 1836 and appointed curate in St. Peter’s Parish,

Drogheda. Two years later he went as curate to Ardee and later to Tallanstown,

Co. Louth, where he eventually became Parish Priest.2 As a bit of trivia, he was

a subscriber to Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary of 1837 (see the front of that

publication). Archdeacon Tierney died on the 28th of January 1873 and was

buried close to the Virgin Altar in St. Peter’s Church amid great pomp.

1 General information of photographs and photographers is taken from Edward Chandler,

Photography in Ireland: The Nineteenth Century, Dublin 2001 2 Biographical details are from a pamphlet, St. Peter’s Church, Drogheda 1881/1981,

Drogheda 1981, no author credited

31

LEECHTOWN AND THE MEDICAL PROFESSION

Patrick Lydon

On the 14th of July 1864, the most important discovery of the Vancouver Island

Exploratory Expedition was made on the Sooke River, some ten miles from the

sea. On that day, Lt. Peter Leech, second in Command of the Expedition,

together with some eight members of the party, found gold nuggets and flakes

on the banks of a tributary river that was subsequently named the Leech River.

The amount of gold was phenomenal and Lt. Leech had difficulty getting the

men to continue with their survey. Shortly after the discovery, Lt. Leech sent a

message, together with a small parcel of the gold, to the Lt. Governor, Sir

Arthur Kennedy, who had helped finance the expedition. Lt. Leech estimated

that the gold reserves were enough to employ four thousand men and that the

panning would yield up to one dollar per pan (this would be up to 40 dollars per

pan in 2009 terms.) The message gave details of the Leech river and the

surrounding district and it contained the immortal words –“The gold will speak

for itself”! Within a short time the gold rush was on, and miners flocked to the

area. Within the first year, 100 thousand dollars worth of gold was recorded,

and today, this would be equivalent to four million dollars! All this mining was

on placer claims and without the use of heavy machinery. The Government

surveyed the area and laid plans for the new town called Leechtown, and these

plans are available at the Provincial Archives.

Although most of the buildings were simple and primitive, a number of two

story structures were built as well. The Arrarat Hotel was a fine building with

accommodation for both ladies and gentlemen, and when Governor Kennedy

visited the miners in 1865 he stayed in this hotel. Dr. Robert Brown, the leader

of the expedition, who was absent from the area at the time of the discovery,

records staying in a very well appointed two story hotel and enjoying the most

cordial welcome the following year. It is estimated that some three thousand

miners were involved in panning the Leech river and at one point there was a

fear that the population of Victoria would gravitate to Leechtown. However,

after a few years the easy gold was removed and the mining became less

lucrative and gradually the mining declined. Leechtown became more involved

in the lumber industry and at one point there was a talc factory, based on the

ample soapstone in the area. The galloping goose train stopped at Leechtown

up until the 1930s and after that time it gradually became isolated. It can be

reached by the roadway from Sooke known as Butler Main and then Boneyard

Road, (Timber West property) and the last man to live at Sooke died in 1998.

Lt. Peter Leech was the son of Peter and Susanna Leech of 96, Cork Street,

Dublin and was baptised on 26th July 1826 in St. Catherine’s (Anglican)

32

Church. He joined the British Army as a young man and was assigned to the

Royal Engineer Regiment. His regiment was sent to the Crimea where he was

made an NCO. He was trained as a surveyor and “computer” and appeared to

have a great aptitude for this science. At the end of the hostilities with the

Russians, the Regiment was transferred to Fort Langley, near New

Westminister. (New Caledonia). In 1863, the Regiment was disbanded, and

members who choose to stay in Canada were awarded 100 acres of prime

Government land as an inducement. It appears that Peter Leech was given an

honorary title of “Lieutenant” at that time, as he is consistently referred to as

having that rank in all further correspondence. The following year, Lt. Leech

was appointed second in command of the long awaited Vancouver Island

Exploratory Expedition (VIEE), with Dr Robert Brown, a botanist from

Edinburgh, in charge. The discovery of gold on the Leech River was the

highlight of the VIEE. Lt. Leech was later involved in many adventures such as

trying to lay a telegraph cable through B.C., the Yukon and across the Bering

Straits and down through Russia to connect with Europe. However, the eventual

success of the trans-atlantic cable led to failure of the venture. He acted as

magistrate at Bella Bella and was a manager of the Esquimalt Hudson Bay

Store. He successfully applied for the post of Victoria City Surveyor and he

held this position until his retirement.

Lt. Leech was married to Ms. Mary McDonald, the organist at the Church of

our Lord in Victoria. Mary had arrived in Victoria with her Mother and three

younger sisters, on board the Brideship “Tynemouth”, following the early death

of her father in England. The marriage was a great success, and their child

Fanny was an accomplished musical artist.

Lt. Leech died in 1899 and is buried in Ross Bay Cemetery. He is less than 100

yards from the grave of Billy Barker of “Barkerville” fame, and I sometimes

like to think that their spirits meet in the cold dark hours of the early mornings,

as they both reminisce about their discovery of the gold! A small stone marker

from the Vancouver Island Placer Miners Association (VIPMA) helps to

identify the well-worn stone with the simple word “Leech” on it.

EDITOR’S NOTE

Dr. Patrick R. Lydon, is trying to trace any members of the Leech family in

Ireland and can be contacted at : perrylydon@hotmail.com

33

DUBLIN FIRE FIGHTERS AND THE APRIL 1941 BELFAST

BLITZ

James Scannell

During World War II although Eire/Ireland, as the modern day Republic of

Ireland was then called, was officially neutral for the duration of this conflict,

Northern Ireland, as part of the United Kingdom, was actively engaged in

playing its role in this conflict by harnessing its industrial resources to engage in

work vital to the Allied war effort. The port of Londonderry/Derry acted as a

naval base for escorts on Atlantic convoy duty in addition to providing

refuelling, maintenance, re-supply, and repair facilities for damaged merchant

ships. Belfast was a major industrial centre for the manufacture and repair of

ships, aircraft, and the production of a wide range of items for military use with

the surrounding area providing personnel and goods and services to support this

output. Erroneously, Northern Ireland government officials believed that Belfast

was beyond the range of German bombers so very little consideration was given

to air defences for the city while equally a low priority was devoted to air raid

precautions measures (A.R.P./civil defence) for its citizens. The German

occupation of France in June 1940 provided the Luftwaffe (German Air Force)

with air bases in northern France from which their aircraft could fly out deep

into the Atlantic or up and down the Irish Sea. This they did, attacking any

Allied shipping they encountered. According to Irish historian Eunan O'Halpin

these northern France Luftwaffe air bases exposed the major Irish ports of

Dublin on the east coast, and Cork, Limerick, and Galway on the south and west

Coasts to attack if Allied ships were allowed to use them, with major risks for

the civilian population living in and around them as aerial bombing was not an

exact science at that time. Additionally if the Germans destroyed the

Ardnacrusha generating stations, the country would have come to a halt as this

was the nation's principal electricity generating facility. On this basis O'Halpin

maintains the decision to close these ports to Allied shipping was the correct

one. These northern France bases also brought Belfast, Derry/Londonderry and

Glasgow within range of Luftwaffe bombers.

By March 1941 Belfast had only half its required anti-aircraft gun protection, no

night fighters, and only a small number of barrage balloons to deter low flying

aircraft. There was also an acute shortage of fire fighting equipment,

insufficient personnel and when additional equipment did arrive, little time to

train personnel properly in its use. Additionally Belfast was not considered by

authorities in London a priority location to supply with anti-aircraft guns and air

raid precautions (A.R.P./civil defence equipment), while equally the Northern

Ireland government falsely believed that the city would not be attacked by the

Germans.

34

But it was only a matter of time before the Germans mounted an attack on

Belfast. On the night of 7th/8th April 1941, six German aircraft detached

themselves from a major air raid on the Scottish Clydeside and mounted their

first attack against this city. This attack had a dual purpose - firstly as a

diversionary raid from the main one in Scotland and secondly as an exploratory

test of the city’s defences. The six Heinkel 111 bombers dropped a mixture of

incendiaries and parachute bombs on the designated target - the Docks area.

Those that landed on the Docks did considerable damage, in addition to

destroying and damaging a number of houses near this area. Although the anti-

aircraft defences lacked searchlights to direct them onto the attacking aircraft,

some eight hundred shells were fired at them, but none were brought down by

this gunfire, though one of them was later shot down by a Hurricane fighter

aircraft. The death toll from this attack was thirty-one killed and eighty-one

seriously injured. Belfast fire crews worked exceptionally hard with two

auxiliary fire fighters losing their lives. The day after the attack all the voluntary

services were inundated with new volunteers. New attacks came sooner than

anyone anticipated.

In 1941, prior to selecting targets in Britain for attack, it was normal practice for

the Luftwaffe to send a reconnaissance aircraft every two/three days from

northern France up the Irish Sea as far north as the Hebrides to take weather

measurements at different altitudes, monitor shipping movements en route, and

observe the level of shipping in Belfast Lough. On Easter Sunday (13 April)

1941 one of these flights was shot down by two R.A.F. (Royal Air Force)

Spitfires in St. George’s Channel shortly after take off, with the loss of all its

crew, before it could carry out its mission. A new flight was operated the

following day (Easter Monday) and at 12.28 p.m. Irish Defence Command in

Clondalkin, Co. Dublin, received a report of a belligerent aircraft entering Irish

air space at Fethard-on-Sea, Co. Wexford. This was subsequently observed

flying over Campile and Enniscorthy in a northerly direction. At 1.08 p.m. this

aircraft was logged flying over Drogheda still heading northwards and at 1.30

p.m. was observed over Belfast at a height of 22,500 feet. Four guns from an

anti-aircraft battery surrounding the city each fired one shell at it, but none hit it.

The aircraft turned about and was observed around 1.45 p.m. flying in a

southerly direction between Newry and Dundalk, later over Enniscorthy around

2.17 p.m. and exiting Irish air space at Forlorn Point at 2.26 p.m.

In Northern Ireland the Tuesday after Easter Sunday is a public holiday and for

that 1941 Easter Tuesday the population of Belfast made the most of this

traditional holiday, though some were still jittery following the previous week’s

air raid. Later that evening a force of up to two hundred German bombers

departed from their bases in northern France and Holland and flew up the Irish

35

Sea in waves towards Belfast. The aircrews had orders to use the Isle of Man as

a specific navigation identification reference point before proceeding to Belfast.

In the event of aircraft failing to locate it, Liverpool was designated as the

alternative target. Aircrews were given specific instructions not to enter Irish air

space but many may have flown up along the Irish coast just outside the 3-mile

limit to evade the Royal Air Force. One German aircraft, most likely due to

navigation problems, flew through Irish airspace to reach Belfast. As the first

wave approached Belfast, the air raid sirens were sounded and people began to

take cover or move to public air raid shelters, while members of the A.R.P.

services reported to the allotted posts. Around 10.40 p.m. the first German

aircraft arrived over the city and dropped flares to mark the aiming point,

followed over the next couple of hours by waves of aircraft dropping

incendiaries, high explosive bombs, and parachute mines intended to destroy the

pre-stressed concrete and steel structures protecting industrial targets. Some of

these were fitted with delayed action fuses and continued to explode at intervals

long after the raid was over. The original aiming point was Belfast Docks, but

in error the pathfinders mistook Belfast Water Works for Belfast Docks and

used it as their aiming point, with the result that their target indicator flares fell

on the wrong location. Instead of the full force of the attack falling on Belfast

Docks, it was concentrated on commercial and residential areas of the city with

bombs continuing to fall on the city until just after 3 a.m. It was not until after 5

a.m. that the “all clear” was sounded. By 4 a.m. the north side of the city was

ablaze and on the ground Belfast Fire Brigade fire fighters, aided by fire fighters

from the surrounding areas, were fighting a losing battle. It was later estimated

that about two hundred and three tons of bombs of varying sizes and types were

dropped on the city during this raid in which thirty businesses, seven motor

works, two hospitals, in addition to stores, factories, banks, schools, cinemas,

and tram depots were hit.

By the time the second wave of German aircraft arrived over the city, many

people had left their homes for communal or public shelters. Some stayed

outdoors to watch the unfolding events while the remainder opted to take shelter

within their own homes, in line with advice published in various A.R.P.

handbooks, i.e. under the stairs or a kitchen table. Roy McKay who lived off

the Antrim Road remembered this night as follows - “I was hustled with my 2

brothers and my mother under a kitchen cupboard that was suspended between

2 walls and about 3 feet above the ground. We lay flat out on the floor and the

kitchen table was placed to cover our legs and feet.”

Entire streets of residential houses in the York Street, Duncairn Gardens,

Antrim Road and Whitewell Road districts of the city were totally destroyed.

One hundred and twenty houses were destroyed and forty-six people were killed

in Veryan Gardens (including eight members of the Danby family at number

36

45), and the nearby Whitewell Road, by two parachute mines. Thirty-five

people were killed in Vere Street and Sussex Street when an exploding

parachute mine collapsed the front section of a flax-spinning mill in York Street

on top of forty-two houses. In Percy Street a bomb exploded fifteen feet away

from the middle of the sidewall of an air raid shelter, collapsed the walls, and

resulted in the death of thirty people sheltering inside.

At 1.45 a.m. communications between various parts of the city were severed

when telephone lines were destroyed, impeding or delaying the exchange of

information between the various emergency and defence services. Messages had

to be conveyed by motorcycle and pedal bicycles messengers through rubble

strewn streets, reducing the flow of communications to a crawl.

For the Belfast fire fighters it was a frustrating night because there were thirty-

two or more breaks in the water mains, hampering their efforts to contain and

extinguish the many raging fires, some of which were burning out of control. To

add to their difficulties, there was a shortage of suitable equipment to pump

water from the River Lagan to augment the available supplies. When a bomb

struck Belfast Water Works, the water pressure was further reduced and the

exhausted Belfast fire fighters now realised they were fighting a losing battle

and that further assistance was vitally needed. By 3 a.m. there were four major

conflagrations burning, nineteen serious fires, and one hundred and sixteen

smaller fires requiring attention. Although help from Britain was on the way by

ship or ferry in the form of thirty-two appliances (fire engines) with other

equipment and nearly 200 personnel from Glasgow Fire Brigade, ten appliances

and 100 men from Liverpool Fire Brigade, and five heavy pumps and 50

personnel from Preston, it would be some time before these badly needed

reinforcements arrived.

But in the early hours of Wednesday 16 April 1941, the decision was taken to

request assistance from the Irish government which readily approved. Who

within the Northern Ireland government took the decision to request aid from

Dublin is a mystery and one that may never be solved due to incomplete Irish

fire brigade records, the fact that these fire brigades were operating outside the

State, in addition to the wider political aspects associated with it. The standard

account published in a number of books states that R.U.C. (Royal Ulster

Constabulary) Chief Commissioner R. D. Harrison suggested to John

McDermott, Northern Ireland Minister for Home Security, that assistance

should be asked from Dublin. Once this suggestion received the approval of

Northern Ireland Deputy Prime Minister Sir Basil Brooke, a telegram was sent

at 4.30 a.m. on Wednesday 16 April 1941 to Dublin City Manager P. J. Hernon

formally requesting fire fighting assistance. This request was referred to

Taoiseach Eamon de Valera and once he approved it, a call for volunteers to go

37

to Belfast was made. Subsequently three fire tenders (fire engines) from Dublin

Fire Brigade, three fire tenders from the Auxiliary Fire Service (A.F.S.) plus

two pumps, staffed by regular fire fighters and members from the A.F.S. made

the journey to Belfast, as did one fire tender each from the Dun Laoghaire,

Drogheda and Dundalk fire brigades. Dundalk Fire Brigade also provided a

trailer pump and five fire fighters, and a car with ten A.F.S fire fighters, a total

of fourteen vehicles in all.

However there are contradictions in this account on the basis of research carried

out by Sean Redmond, who has produced a totally different sequence of events.

His research based on interviews with a number of Dublin and Dun Laoghaire

fire fighters and examination of the few vague and incomplete surviving records

produces the following time line of events.

Just after midnight Wednesday 16 April 1941 Belfast was well and truly ablaze

with the Belfast fire fighters losing the battle against the numerous fires raging

out of control and gaining intensity. Redmond suggests that it is most likely

that Northern Ireland Home Security Minister McDermott contacted Cardinal

McRory in Armagh and asked him to convey his request for assistance from

Dublin to Taoiseach de Valera. His Eminence relayed this request to de

Valera who in turn contacted Dublin City Manager P. J. Hernon and told him

to get ready to send aid to Belfast. Hernon contacted Major James Comerford,

Chief Fire Officer of Dublin Fire Brigade, and told him to get ready to send aid

to Belfast. Over the next two hours the phone lines between various parties were

busy as the necessary arrangements were put in place to send volunteer crews to

Belfast with Major Comerford being observed in Dublin Fire Brigade’s Tara

Street headquarters by 2.30 a.m.

But a slightly different time line contradicting Redmond’s one and supporting

the standard version, emerged recently, based on a document unearthed by Eoin

Bairéad in Dublin City Archives while researching The Bombing of Dolphin’s

Barn, Dublin, 1941. This document, also described as a memo, was cited by

Tom Geraghty and Trevor Whitehead in their 2004 book, The Dublin Fire

Brigade - a history of the fire brigade and the emergencies. Bairéad found a

double sheet of foolscap covered in hand written pencil notes by Hernon in a

file held by Dublin City Library and Archives dealing with the January 1941

Dolphin’s Barn incident. Hernon recorded on it that he received a telephone

call from Belfast at 5.10 a.m. requesting urgent fire brigade assistance from

Dublin to fight fires in Belfast. Hernon contacted his fire chiefs Major

Comerford, Dublin Fire Brigade, and Major Sean O’Sullivan, A.R.P., and then

the Taoiseach, advising him that it was serious matter. At 5.50 a.m. Hernon

received a telephone call from de Valera telling him to give any assistance

possible and in turn conveyed this authorisation to Major Comerford. Then

38

Hernon received a second call from de Valera requesting that he should verify

that the request for assistance was of importance and obtain confirmation of

who made the call. Hernon called the Belfast public telephone exchange

manager who advised him that the call had originated from the Commissioner

of Police (Harrison) who had made it on behalf of the Home Security Minister

(McDermott), who had consulted with Deputy Prime Minister Sir Basil

Brooke.

Seán McMahon, author Bombs over Dublin believes that McDermott, who

was acutely aware of the political sensitivities in dealing with a regime that they

considered unacceptable and a politician they disliked, opted to call “the Town

Clerk” of Dublin by virtue of his position rather than his reputation.

Hernon noted at 7.30 a.m. that three pumps (two fire brigade and one AFS) had

departed and that a further two were getting ready, a total of three Dublin Fire

Brigade and three A.F.S. as well as one in Dun Laoghaire and the other in

Dundalk. Drogheda is also noted in pencil.

The document(s) used by both Geraghty & Whitehead and Bairéad appear to

be a more correct version of events and one of the few surviving official

documents containing a timeline, but if Seán Redmond’s claim that Major

Comerford was observed in Dublin Fire Brigade’s Tara Street headquarters by

2.30 a.m. is correct, then one may speculate that he may have received an “off

the record” or “outside official channels” telephone call from Belfast advising

him of the situation there and that he went to Tara Street in the anticipation that

a formal request for assistance would be received at some stage shortly

thereafter.

The first Dublin Fire Brigade tender on the way to Belfast was from Dorset

Street station under Station Officer Edward Blake and Third Officer Richard

Gorman. District Officer Rodgers recalled years later that “Balbriggan,

Drogheda and Dundalk slept peacefully as we sped northwards and that they

were greeted at the Border by customs men who waved them through”. During

their day in Belfast air raid sirens were sounded but this alarm subsequently

turned out to be a false one and Rodgers recalled that he “Would never forget

that wailing sound and that from the roof where he was standing the city

beneath looked so scarred and vulnerable.”

According to Dublin fire fighter Paddy Finlay, who was on duty that night in

Rathmines fire station, he and his crew were summoned to Tara Street fire

station where Major Comerford, after outlining the situation in Belfast, asked

for volunteers to go there and assured them that their families would be looked

39

after if anything happened to them. (Dublin Fire Brigade fire fighters did not

have “death in service” benefit until the mid 1970s).

Around 3 a.m. (this time is extremely questionable in light of Hernon’s notes)

Finlay’s crew left Dublin for Belfast, taking some three hours to reach the

outskirts of the city. As far away as Newry they could a glow in the distant sky,

which he recalled as “Something you’d see with a forest fire. The closer we got

you could see the red and yellow flames well up into the sky.” Twenty miles

outside Belfast they encountered streams of people fleeing the city. “They were

using everything and anything that could be used as a form of transport,

bicycles, cars, horses, carts. It reminded me of what I’d seen of the refugees in

other countries trying to keep ahead of the Germans.” As they neared the city

they could hear rumbling sounds and explosions and once they arrived at the

outskirts, he started coughing badly due to the choking smoke enveloping them

from the many raging fires. A despatch rider then led them to Belfast Fire

Brigade headquarters where they were assigned their tasks with extinguishing

the raging fires their priority rather than tending to the dead and injured. He was

totally unprepared for the scenes of devastation he subsequently saw – “I’d

never seen anything like it - it was unbelievable. I’d seen pictures of bombings

but it’s inconceivable in real life. What distressed me most was the number of

dead bodies everywhere. You couldn’t touch them or they’d disintegrate.”

Paddy Finlay recalled one narrow escape from serious injury - “I climbed a

Belfast fire engine ladder placed against a wall to remove a hose from a burning

building. In the nick of time I noticed that the ladder was the sole support for

the wall and quickly climbed down before the entire building collapsed.”

Another Dublin fire fighter, John Kelly, remembered the scene in Belfast as one

of “human bodies and dead animals lying all over the place” while Tom

Colman remembered fighting a fire in a rope work thus - “We were belting at it

because the fire had to be put out before the blackout as the authorities were

afraid that the Luftwaffe would return again that night and that any fires still

burning would act as beacons in finding their targets.”

Fighting fires on this scale was a whole new experience not only for the Belfast

fire fighters but also for their Southern colleagues who were particularly struck

by the lack of oxygen due to a combination of the fires and the heat generated

by them.

As with any disaster on this scale, certain elements of the population availed of

the occasion to engage in looting. Jim Dowing remembered one such incident -

“We were fighting a fire in a public house on the corner of Chichester Street

when we encountered some local entrepreneurs engaged in looting. Far from

40

departing when we arrived, they asked us to oblige them by cooling down a pub

safe stashed in the corner – a request which was refused.”

In addition to Dublin Fire Brigade, which covered Dublin City and County from

various fire stations around the city, one other independent fire brigade

operating in south county Dublin was Dun Laoghaire Fire Brigade. In 1930 Dun

Laoghaire Urban District Council, which maintained its own fire service, was

amalgamated as part of local government reorganisation in the Dublin Area,

with the neighbouring urban district councils of Blackrock, Dalkey, and

Killiney/Ballybrack, each of which had its own local government

administration, to form Dun Laoghaire Corporation. The former Dun Laoghaire

Urban District Council Town Hall in Marine Road, now became the

administrative headquarters for the new municipal authority. (Since 1993, this

building, now renamed County Hall, serves as administrative headquarters for

Dun Laoghaire - Rathdown County Council.) The former Dun Laoghaire Urban

District Council fire brigade based in Dun Laoghaire fire station in George’s

Place behind St. Michael’s Hospital, under Captain Martin, formerly of Dublin

Fire Brigade, now became the Dun Laoghaire Corporation’s fire brigade and

ambulance service station for the new municipal area and in 1940 was equipped

with two Dennis pump ladders tenders (fire engines) and three ambulances.

The late Paddy White of Dalkey who was a member of Dun Laoghaire Fire

Brigade in 1941, provided me, in Easter 1997, with his memories of their

participation in this event.

Paddy White joined Dun Laoghaire Fire Brigade in 1940 after his second

application to join was accepted, as his application the previous year (1939) had

been refused. After acceptance he underwent training in the fire station, there

being no national fire fighter training centre in existence at that time. Dun

Laoghaire Fire Brigade was divided into A and B Watches with each watch

undertaking a full 24-hour tour of duty from 10 a.m. in the morning until 10

a.m. the following day. The daily station routine was 10 a.m. roll call and

inspection of the watch going on duty by the sub-officer in charge after which

watch members were detailed to their duties. Those assigned ambulance duty

were required to ensure that these were filled with petrol and in good working

mechanical order, with the duty crews being permitted to drive them around the

adjacent streets if there were doubts about their serviceability. A crew of five

manned each of the two fire tenders and likewise their crews were required to

ensure that these were ready for use and in working order. Vehicle tests were

carried out in the station yard with the sub-officer if there were doubts about

their serviceability. Thereafter for the remainder of their spell of duty, watch

members attended to station duties, received training and took it in turns

answering the telephone. No in-house catering facilities were provided so each

41

fire fighter brought in his own meals and often these were eaten cold if a crew

was called out during mealtimes. Lights out was at 11 p.m. when the watch

retired to bed until 6 a.m. when they rose, made up their beds and stowed away

their own individual sets of bedding, breakfasted at 8 a.m. and then cleaned the

station before handing over to the watch coming on duty at 10 a.m.

On the night of Tuesday 15 April 1941, many people along the East Coast heard

the unique characteristic drone of German aircraft heading northwards, unaware

that their intended target was Belfast. Paddy White was on duty that night in

Dun Laoghaire fire station and like thousands of other Irish people had no idea

that the city of Belfast, some 130 miles away to the north, was about to undergo

an ordeal of fire and destruction.

During the early hours of Wednesday 16 April, Dun Laoghaire Fire Brigade

received a phone call, possibly from Major Comerford in Dublin Fire Brigade

headquarters, asking them to assist in the planned operation to Belfast, though it

is likely that Major Comerford may have spoken to Mr. O’Mahony, Dun

Laoghaire Corporation Borough Manager, to obtain clearance in advance of this

call to request volunteers from Dun Laoghaire Fire Brigade personnel.

In my Easter 1997 interview with Paddy White in Dalkey, his recollection of

that night’s events was as follows – “After Dublin Fire Brigade Headquarters

telephoned Dun Laoghaire fire station, the watch was roused and paraded at

6.30 a.m. when the request for volunteers to go to Belfast was made. Sub

Officer Wheelan, --- Breen, ------ Kelly, Christy Kane, Matt Crean, Paddy

Reilly, and myself volunteered to go to Belfast with the added assurance that we

would be covered by insurance if injured or killed. To ensure that Dun

Laoghaire had fire cover, the off duty watch was called in as were members of

the Dun Laoghaire Auxiliary Fire Service to man the remaining tender.”

Five Dun Laoghaire Fire Brigade members and two A.F.S. members

volunteered to go to Belfast, seven names as cited by Paddy White but an eight

individual named Edward Lennon claimed that he went on the trip according to

a published interview in 1990. (A request to the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown

County Council inquiring about the location of the Station Log Book for

Tuesday 16 April 1941 and for the names of those who booked on duty that day

is still awaited, though it is possible that this book may be held by Dublin Fire

Brigade Museum and a reply from them is also awaited.)

Within an hour of receiving the call for assistance, the solitary Dun Laoghaire

fire tender, driven by Breen, set out on the 130 mile road journey to Belfast. It

was a bit of an ordeal of endurance as Paddy White pointed out – “We had to

hold on to the sides as it was an open sided vehicle with no seating other than

42

for the driver and the sub-officer beside him.” These appliances had been

designed for operation within suburban areas and had minimum crew comforts,

as they were not expected or intended to travel long distances. “At the (Killeen)

border post the customs waved us through and as we neared Belfast we could

see the pall of smoke hanging over the city from the countless fires raging

there.” As they entered the suburbs of the city, they encountered countless

people trying to escape into the countryside, carrying belongings on their backs

or using small carts or wheelbarrows to carry them. To him “it was like a scene

from the movie San Francisco.” (This film is about the 1906 earthquake which

struck that city.)

“On arrival at an Army check point, we were taken in charge by military

personnel and brought to a hotel where we were provided with a meal after

which we were sent to the Crumlin Road area of the city to tackle the many fires

in progress there.” On their way to a factory they passed a burning house and

had to ignore the pleas of a man outside asking them to stop and save it. “It was

a matter of priorities so we were unable to assist him,” he said. Assigned to

fight a major fire in a large factory, the Dun Laoghaire crew were working on

the top storey when they had a narrow escape. “We heard the sound of the floor

starting to groan and evacuated the area quickly and had just cleared it when the

entire floor collapsed with heavy machine crashing through the floors below.”

Directed to another fire, it was so badly out of control that the Dun Laoghaire

crew ceased fighting it and let it burn itself out, moving on to the next location

where they were most needed. Most of the serious fires were caused by the

numerous incendiary bombs dropped by the Luftwaffe and at one fire, the Dun

Laoghaire crew, by now soaked to the skin, tired, and suffering from a

combination of cold and exhaustion, were given an eagerly received and

reviving cup of tea from a mobile canteen - “The milk was sour but we didn't

mind or care as it was so welcoming.” Throughout the day and until nightfall,

the Dun Laoghaire crew, along with crews from the Dublin, Drogheda, and

Dundalk fire brigades, continued to attend to all the fires they were directed to.

Their efforts meant that the hard pressed and exhausted Belfast fire fighters

were able to snatch a few hours of welcome rest before resuming the work of

damping down those fires still raging and assisting with rescue operations.

Lennon recalled in his interview - “I’ll tell you what I thought was very sad

going into Belfast that morning. There were lorries going in and out of the St.

George’s Market filled with dead after which they were laid out for

identification.” Due to the large number of casualties, the city’s mortuary

services were overwhelmed with the result that the Fall’s Road public baths and

one at Peter’s Hill and the large St. George’s fruit market were converted into

temporary morgues. Emma Duffin, who had served as a nurse on the Western

Front during World War 1 and had encountered various types of casualties, was

43

unprepared for what she saw - “In World War 1 I had seen soldiers die with

dignity in hospitals and was unprepared for the badly mutilated and contorted

bodies laid out in the fruit market which filled me with outrage and feelings of

revulsion and disgust.”

Lennon said that one of the other fires the Dun Laoghaire crew attended “was a

place called London Bridge Road. One of the biggest rope factories in Europe

was hit and London Bridge Road fire station was just beside it. The factory was

gone but the fire station was still standing.” Lennon said that one of the

greatest difficulties that the Irish fire fighters experienced was their lack of

essential fire fighting equipment. Many were forced to work without

waterproof clothing and when their existing heavy woollen clothing became

wet, this resulted in the loss of body heat which considerably reduced the

effectiveness of their fire fighting skills.

From 6 p.m. onwards on Wednesday 16 April 1941, the fire crews from the

South began finishing off what they were doing and then started packing up

their equipment prior to embarking on the long trek home, back to their

respective fire stations. Belfast was considered too dangerous for them to

remain in due to fears that another air raid might take place that night. Also

serious political repercussions could arise for the Irish government if any of

them were to be killed or injured. As it was, all the major fires were under

control and British fire fighters were now arriving in the city to render

assistance to their Belfast colleagues. No air raid took place that night.

At around midnight the Dun Laoghaire Fire Brigade tender, driven by Tom

Reilly, set out on the return journey home. At one they stage passed out a

Dublin Fire Brigade tender which had broken down. According to Paddy White

“We attached a tow rope to it and began towing it back to Dublin. Despite the

blackout in force in Northern Ireland, we drove southwards with our headlights

on to see the way ahead with the Dublin Fire Brigade appliance in tow behind.”

At that time headlights on Irish fire brigade engines were not fitted with

blackout cowls as in the case of the Northern Ireland and British ones. Paddy

White continued - “In Newry, on the northern side of Border, we were invited

into a house (some sources state that this may have been the local A.O.H. Hall)

and were provided with cups of tea which were most welcome before we

resumed our journey to Dublin where we dropped off the Dublin Fire Brigade

appliance in Tara Street Station before returning to Dun Laoghaire Fire Station

at 7 a.m. and booked off. (The long travel time was due to towing the broken

down Dublin Fire Brigade tender). We were then sent home for a change of

clothing as we were cold, tired and dirty and needed sleep before we returned to

duty at 2 p.m. on Thursday 17 April 1941 in Dun Laoghaire fire station.”

44

Shortly afterwards Paddy White and his fellow crewmembers each received a

5/- postal order from the Northern Ireland Government as payment for their

services which they donated to the Irish Red Cross Society.

The Northern Ireland government formally thanked the Republic for coming to

their aid. The official death toll for this air raid was put at seven hundred and

forty five but unofficially it is believed that the true figure was nearer to nine

hundred.

Belfast newspapers commented on the assistance rendered by the Irish fire

fighters with the Belfast Telegraph commenting - “The magnificent spirit which

prompted fire brigades from Eire to rush to the assistance of the comrades in the

North. This is the good neighbour spirit in action and is worth months of

speeches and assurances. Suffering can be a great leveller, cutting clear through

all petty prejudices.”

The Northern Whig reported - “News that fire brigades from Eire helped at

certain places to deal with conflagrations started by the bombers deserves the

fullest publicity. Without reserve, our thanks are due for this assistance, not

only because of its real usefulness, but also because of the neighbourly spirit

that it signifies. Northern Ireland is grateful and appreciative.”

A visitor to Belfast from Dublin on Wednesday 16 April was an A.R.P.

observer, Major Sean O’Sullivan who produced a detailed report on this

incident for the Irish government, in which he stated the warden service

“functioned efficiently” and that in the two most affected areas, on the strength

of the number of incident reports submitted as they occurred, it had to be

concluded that the wardens remained at their posts and had reported damage

promptly but that in his opinion the whole civil defence system was totally

overwhelmed by the night’s events. He specifically stated that the (A.R.P.)

rescue service felt the want of heavy jacks and cited one case where the leg of a

child had to be amputated at the incident site before he could be extricated. The

volume of casualties to be treated led to bottlenecks at one hospital with

ambulances waiting to set down casualties. The principal injuries sustained by

casualties were shock and those caused by blast and secondary missiles such as

glass, stones, and pieces of piping. In the aftermath of the air raid, debris falling

from buildings caused further casualties. As the Irish A.R.P. system was based

on the British one used in Belfast, understandably the government in Dublin had

a specific interest in knowing how the Belfast A.R.P. service functioned so that

any shortcomings identified or lessons learned could be incorporated into the

Irish system with training modified where necessary.

45

In Dublin, where strict censorship was maintained over the press and radio, the

bombing of Belfast received extensive coverage but the involvement of the fire

brigades from the Republic was only mentioned briefly thus - “Units of fire

fighting and ambulance services from some of the towns in the Twenty Six

counties assisted in putting out fires resulting from the raids.” This scant

coverage was necessary due to Ireland’s official policy of neutrality.

Hundreds of refugees who had been made homeless from Belfast arrived in

Dublin by train and it fell to the Irish Red Cross Society to find short-term

accommodation for them. My mother, Jessie Coughlan, was one of the

countless Irish Red Cross volunteers who took part in this operation. Her

recollection was that - “Volunteers involved in evacuee reception were

mobilised whenever trains from Belfast were due to arrive in Westland Row

station (Dublin Pearse) and after arrival the evacuees were then brought to

accommodation centres where they were able to recover from their ordeal

before returning to Belfast a few days later.” She was also called out for the

North Strand bombing of 31 May 1941 and worked in that incident area for

nearly 48 hours non-stop but rarely spoke afterwards of what she experienced or

witnessed that night.

In April 2001, to mark the 60th

anniversary of the Belfast Blitz, a number of

special events were held including the screening by BBC television of a number

of documentaries recalling this momentous event in the history of this city.

In the television programmes, viewers were reminded that behind the scenes the

Northern Ireland government was totally unprepared for such an eventuality.

There was a great scarcity of military items to defend the city in the way of anti-

air craft defences and searchlights, virtually no aircraft capable of operating at

night and a civil defence organisation at only half strength. Some members of

the Northern Ireland cabinet believed that money spent on civil defence was

money wasted and to this end, orders placed for fire fighting equipment were in

the process of being cancelled. Yet despite all these shortcomings, publicly the

Northern Ireland government portrayed the image that it would be able to cope

with any air raid even through some cabinet members believed that the city was

beyond the reach of German bombers, even though it had extensive

shipbuilding and repair yards, aircraft manufacturing facilities and other war

industries.

Eileen Wilkinson recalled that when the air raid sirens went off, a dog normally

kept in an outside yard was brought into the kitchen. During the air raid her

father came in to fetch a stirrup pump to help extinguish a nearby incendiary

device and left the door open. The dog ran outside, refused to come in, and

46

spent the night barking at the bombers. The following day she learned that five

of her cousins had been killed in another part of the city.

Air Raid Precautions Warden Jimmy Doherty recalled hearing the aircraft

approaching the city that night and knew from the sound of their engines that

they were German and that the city was the intended target. While on night

patrol he was used to being followed by young children in his assigned area and

used to let them play with his steel helmet sometimes. That night, when the air

raid sirens had sounded, he and a policeman colleague were standing at the

corner of North Queen Street and Clifton Street when they heard voices of some

people in high spirits approaching them. They turned out to be A.R.P. workers

who had been attending a concert by Delia Murphy in the Ulster Hall and left

once they heard the sirens going off to report to their post. Shortly afterwards

his policeman colleague spotted a device floating down from the sky which they

recognised as a parachute mine intended to detonate above street level and

cause a great amount of blast damage. These devices were former German naval

magnetic mines rendered obsolete as the result of counter measures developed

by the British Admiralty and were now used by the Luftwaffe in a new role as

parachute air burst blast bombs. The two men hit the ground and seconds later

felt the effects of an intense blast wave pass over their prone bodies as this

device exploded, destroying the Trinity Street Church of Ireland, causing great

damage to surrounding buildings and killing the A.R.P. workers who had passed

them moments earlier. Jimmy Doherty recalled identifying many of the dead

that lay in the street including a number of children who used to meet him on

his rounds and the death and destruction that was all around them. The emphasis

he recalled on their work - “Was to help the living and to say a prayer for the

dead.”

R.A.F. pilot Bert Smith at home on leave received several cutting remarks from

people who said that he should be up in the sky tackling the Germans, though

most people appreciated that there was little he could do. When he saw the scale

of destruction and devastation the next day, it made him more determined to pay

the enemy back whenever he could and hardened his resolve to inflict damage

on the enemy and to try and hasten the end of the war.

Jimmy Kelly was on the way home up the Glen Road when the air raid sirens

sounded, followed by the sound of the approaching German aircraft. Very

quickly target indication flares, which turned night into day, illuminated the sky

above the city. Joe McCann also remembered the illumination given off by

these flares and the urge to try and put them out as he felt at the time that they

were targeting him.

47

James Ellis, famous Belfast born actor, remembered people in his street going

into an air raid shelter, but in his house they improvised an indoor air raid

shelter by pulling out a large table into the middle of the kitchen floor and then

getting underneath it while his father placed blankets and pillows on top and

around it as his mother was not prepared to go into a public air raid shelter.

Jimmy Penson recalled going to a public air raid shelter with his family that

soon became overcrowded with the people packed inside like sardines. He went

to the door and spent the whole night watching the progress of the air raid.

Bryce Miller’s memory was that of an air raid shelter where those inside were a

mixture of nationalists and loyalists. During a lull, one individual sang a loyalist

song only to be matched with a nationalist song and this musical duel continued

for part of the evening until the air raid outside increased in intensity when both

groups began to sing hymns common to both religious traditions in the city.

Policeman Donald Fleck was on duty outside his police station when he

suddenly saw a parachute mine fall to the ground nearby and had only seconds

to run inside and tell those people there to take cover before the device

exploded, causing massive damage to the area all round it, including the exterior

of the police station where he had been standing seconds before.

Author Brian Moore, who included his memories of the air raid in his best

selling book The Emperor of Ice Cream, recalled seeing rats emerge from the

sewers and move in an orderly group along the gutters of the street while on his

way to Carlisle Circus. He also recalled that many of those who died were killed

by blast waves rather than by explosions or damage from falling buildings. In

some cases small streets, which surrounded the mills, were badly affected and in

Burke Street everyone was killed.

Other survivors remembered the structural weaknesses of air raid shelters,

which although built with a reinforced roof, had only 4-inch block walls, and

when these blew out, the roof collapsed on those inside. Once the raid was over,

the work of rescuing those trapped in buildings and recovering bodies got

underway in earnest and as the number of the dead continued to rise, the pools

in the Falls Road Public Baths were drained and used as a temporary morgue.

Initially bodies of deceased arrived in hearses but furniture vans were also used

for this purpose, as was a refuse cart. As the remains arrived, these were placed

in coffins pending identification. They also received a large number of body

parts and efforts were made to make up complete bodies. The Mater Hospital

morgue normally could only accommodate twelve remains but was packed with

bodies and parts of bodies. Many of those engaged in this work were provided

with liberal amounts of alcohol to help numb the scenes they were witnessing

48

from their minds. For several days Belfast was a city of funerals while

thousands of people moved out nightly to stay in the countryside and then

returned to work by day. Know as “trekkies”, they brought it home to the

government the total lack of confidence they had in them and it was some time

before the nightly trek into the countryside stopped.

Sixty years later, the memory of the April 1941 air raid and the three other air

raids was still clear in the minds of those who were interviewed, though some

found it still hard to recall the events of that night without a tear in their eye as

they remembered people who were killed, often in tragic circumstances.

Of all the German attacks made on Ireland during World War 2, both on

Northern Ireland and what is now the modern day Republic of Ireland, Belfast

received the worst of these with over one thousand people in all being killed in

the four air raids and millions of pounds in damage being done.

Finally one remarkable survivor of the Belfast Blitz now housed in the Belfast

Folk and Transport Museum is fire engine CZ 501. Jimmy Mackey

remembered the narrow escape they had during the Easter Tuesday air raid.

While on the way to Lower Donegal Street, a parachute mine exploded near

them and the fire engine was lifted off the ground and sailed through the air for

about fifty yards while the crew held on for dear life before it landed on the road

surface and they continued on their way to the next call. “It was a close call”, is

how Jimmy remembered that incident.

The Belfast Fire Brigade did not forget the assistance given by their Dublin

colleagues in their own hours of need. When Dublin was bombed by the

Luftwaffe on 31 May 1941 it offered assistance if required, an offer, gratefully

declined by Dublin Fire Brigade as the fires in Dublin were under control. It has

been suggested by some writers that the bombing of Dublin by the Luftwaffe on

the night of 31 May 1941 was in reprisal for the aid given by the Republic in

fighting the Belfast Blitz fires. Local folklore in the area says that the fire

station in the North Strand was the intended target as a reprisal for giving aid to

Belfast and a warning not to repeat the gesture. As yet no precise reason has

emerged for the bombing of Dublin, though it is now generally accepted that a

German bomber flying over the city was fired on by anti-aircraft guns, and

therefore assuming it was over a British city, dropped its bombs, which landed

mainly on the North Stand area of Dublin.

Paddy White retired from the Dun Laoghaire Fire Brigade in the 1970s with the

rank of Sub-Officer. In 1993, Dun Laoghaire Fire Brigade became part of

Dublin Fire Brigade which now provides fire and ambulances cover for the

whole of Dublin City and county.

49

On 7 April 2011 Belfast’s Linen Hall Library, in partnership with the Northern

Ireland War Memorial, launched an exhibition “City in Flames” to mark the 70th

anniversary of the April and May 1941 Belfast Blitzes by the Luftwaffe, which

ran until 30 June, featuring rarely seen photographs of the aftermath, Air Raid

Patrol reports, video footage and other ephemera, which captured some of the

city’s darkest days. In conjunction with the exhibition there were a number of

talks and film screening including footage by Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital

Film Archive on 20 April of the Ulster Home Guard, the precautions the public

took before, during, and after the Blitz, American troops arriving in Northern

Ireland and the devastation caused by the Luftwaffe. This footage was

rescreened on Wednesday 15 June.

Talks included “The Blitz on Belfast” on Wednesday 27 April by Ian

Montgomery, Senior Officer responsible for private records at the Public

Records Office of Northern Ireland, and one by Major John Potter on

Wednesday 4 May in which he spoke of his teenage recollections of Belfast

immediately after the Blitz and his assessment of its impact on the city. BBC

TV Northern Ireland screened a documentary on the 1941 April Blitz while

BBC Radio Ulster broadcast a number of radio documentaries on this subject.

On Sunday 15 May 2011 Alderman Paul Bell, the mayor of Drogheda, unveiled

a commemorative plaque and planted a tree at Drogheda fire station to mark the

60th anniversary of the participation of County Louth fire fighters in this event.

The attendance includes representatives from the Dublin and Belfast fire

brigades, families of the Drogheda fighters who took part in the operation, and

John Gray from Dundalk, said to be the oldest survivor of the crews who

assisted Belfast that night.

Sources

Interview with Paddy White, Dalkey - Easter 1997.

Books and Pamphlets

Allen, Trevor, The Storm Passed By, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, 1996.

Bairéad, Eoin C., The Bombing of Dolpin’s Barn, Dublin, 1941, Dublin, 2010.

The Belfast Telegraph, Bombs on Belfast – The Blitz 1941, Belfast 1988.

Broadhurst, William and Welsh, Henry, The Flaming Truth – A History of

Belfast Fire Brigade, Belfast, 2001

Geraghty Tom and Whitehead, Trevor, The Dublin Fire Brigade, Dublin 2004.

Fisk, Robert, In Time of War, London, 1985.

Kearns, Kevin, C., The Bombing of Dublin’s North Strand, 1941 – The Untold

Story, Dublin, 2009.

McMahon. Sean, Bombs Over Dublin, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, 2009.

50

Redmond, Sean, Belfast is Burning 1941, Dublin 2002.

Whitehead, Trevor, Dublin Fire Fighters, Dublin 1970.

Articles

Barton, Brian, ‘The Belfast Blitz’ in History Ireland, Vol.5, No.3, Autumn

1997.

Davidson, Robson S., ‘The Belfast Blitz’ in The Irish Sword, Vol. XVI,

No.63,1985.

C.N., ‘Dun Laoghaire Firemen Help Out in Belfast’ in In the Mind’s Eye, Dun

Laoghaire, 1990.

Falon, Donal, ‘When Dublin Responded to Blitzed Belfast’ in History Ireland,

May/June 2011.

Shiels, Joe, ‘Drogheda Fire Service and the Belfast Blitz’ in History Ireland,

July/August 2011.

Smyth, Anne Marie, ‘Don’t worry men, we’ll look after your families if you’re

killed’ in The Sunday Press, 14 April 1991.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the publication of our first Journal in 1992

under the editorship of Liam Mac Alasdair. Since 1992 the Journal has carried a

wealth of genealogical and heraldic articles, research and miscellaneous records

from all over Ireland and from overseas. It is hoped to have most of this very

interesting material uploaded to the Society's Digital Archive which is currently

under construction. This new facility will enable the Society to share this wealth of

published material with our members and others throughout the world through the

Sociey's website. On behalf of the Board, may I take this opportunity to thank each

of the many authors and researchers that have ensured that the Society's Journal

continues to play its important part in the promotion of an awareness, appreciation

and knowledge of our genealogical and heraldic heritage.

Michael Merrigan, MA, FGSI

General Secretary & Director of Publications

The Society's Journal 1992-2012

51

THE CELTIC ORATORY

Veronica Heywood

In a quiet corner of Dún Laoghaire in what used to be the grounds of the

Dominican Convent, now Bloomfield Shopping Centre stands the little oratory.

In Sister Frances Lally, OP’s words: "The Statue of Christ of the Sacred Heart

was brought from Flanders to commemorate the lads from Dún Laoghaire who

were killed in the First World War. The little Oratory was built for the statue

and Sister Concepta was asked to paint the Niche. When she had finished, her

cousins came to view and their response was that it looked like a Connemara

stable and would she paint the rest?"

Sister Concepta did just that,

resulting in one of the masterpieces

of the Celtic revival.

I found the legend about the Statue

of Christ intriguing. I wanted to find

out if there was any truth in it. I’ll

follow with the story:

The lads from Dún Laoghaire, many

of whom had attended the

Dominican Kindergarten, were

billeted, on joining up, in a village in

Flanders. They attended Mass in the

local Roman Catholic Church where

the local community worshiped. The

villagers became quite attached to

the Irish members of their

congregation.

The Irish lads went out one day and

never returned. As the battle

rampaged on, the villagers took the statue of Christ out to the trenches and

placed it where the Irish lads had perished.

When the war was over the villagers offered the statue to the Parish Church in

Dún Laoghaire. The Church authorities politely declined the offer as it was not

politically correct, at the time, to have anything to do with the World War. The

statue was then offered to the Christian Brothers School who did not accept it

either. Finally, the sisters of the Dominican Convent took it in, built the little

52

Oratory to house it and sister Concepta began her life’s work painting the

glorious murals.

When I first moved into Dún Laoghaire one of my elderly neighbours, Mrs

Kelly, had been widowed ever since the First World War. The only thing she

had to remember her husband by was a cigar case with his gun carriage

embossed on the lid.

Kelly is rather a common surname amongst the Dún Laoghaire families, so it

was a long time before I was able to learn this particular Mr Kelly’s war record.

I met Pól Ó Duibhir through Niall O’Donohue; he had been helping Niall with

historical research into the Killiney Martello Tower restoration project. Pól very

kindly, and speedily, sent me an email with Thomas Kelly’s details of

Parentage, Regiment, date of his death and where he was buried:

Surname: Kelly Regiment: 1Bn. Irish Guards

First Names: Thomas Died: 09/11/194

Regt. Number: 1889 Age: 32

Rank: Private

Other Information: Son of Peter and Mary Kelly, of 34, Convent

Rd., Dún Laoghaire; husband of Mary A. Kelly,

of 18, Cross Avenue, Dún Laoghaire, Co.

Dublin.

Thomas's brother James, two years his junior, No. 5 Coy, 1st Bn. Irish Guards

also perished in the war, on the 14th of September 1914. He is commemorated

at La Ferté-sous-Jouarre Memorial, Seine-et-Marne, France.

I searched for details of Thomas's regiment’s service in the First World War and

discovered that a huge proportion of the soldiers had lost their lives during the

battle of Ypres. The date of the Battle coincided with Thomas Kelly’s death: 9th

November 1914. Private Thomas Kelly’s grave and memorial is in Poperinghe

Old Military Cemetery, near the small town of Poperinghe in Belgium where

his battalion was billeted.

I Googled Poperinghe and a tourist site came up on my screen. There must be

some truth in the story told to me, as there was a photograph of the Parish

Church showing the altar and nave; but there was not any trace of the statue of

Christ.

(Photograph of Statue of Christ of the Sacred Heart, the Celtic Oratory, Dún

Laoghaire by Edward Sweeny).

53

WILLIAM DELANY (1832-1895) OF DURROW,

QUEEN’S COUNTY

M. J. Delany

William Delany was the elder son of Michael and Anne (nee Cane) who were

married at Attanagh, Durrow in 18271. His father farmed a smallholding of 12

acres at Capponellan, Durrow while his widowed grandmother Jane farmed a

further ten acres. Michael died while William was a boy sometime between

1836 when his younger sister Jane was born2 and 1850 when Anne Delany was

listed as a widow in Griffith’s Valuation.

William must have emigrated to Manchester when he was presumably about 19

or 20, as he married there in February 18543 at the age of 21. What prompted

him to go is not known. This was soon after the potato famine, although in

letters4 to him from his grandmother and mother it is evident the family was not

dependent on the potato, as their lands produced other crops and supported a

cow and a horse. More likely he saw little future in Durrow and decided there

would be greater opportunity in England for an ambitious young man.

He settled in Hulme, a poor suburb of Manchester with a large Irish community.

His marriage to Isabella Mills (nee McCadam) (1826-1875) was at Manchester

Cathedral. She was seven years his senior and widowed with a 7 year old

daughter, Sarah, having lost her husband and two children in the previous three

years5. They lived in York Street, Hulme.

Isabella appears to have made a good wife as in August 1856, his grandmother

Jane wrote, “...Dear William I think from the good account your mother gave

me of your choice I think you took my advice to pray to God for any one that

does is not disappointed [sic] always draw loving [sic] together and God will

give his blessing which is my sincere wish with fond love to yo [sic] your wife

and twenty kisses to the children”.

William must have had some difficulty knowing his precise age. While the

births of his siblings were recorded in the Church registers, his was not. He

must have asked his grandmother about this as she replied in February 1855

1 Church of Ireland Parish Registers, Durrow.

2 Church of Ireland Parish Registers, Durrow..

3 General Register Office England. Marriage Certificate February 7th, 1854.

4 Letters to William Delany from Jayne Delany (grandmother) dated February 20th 1855,

August 30th 1856 and undated probably 1855 and Anne Delany (mother) dated May 13th

1864. 5 John Mills and family in England Census 1851.

54

“...Dear William you were born October 1st in the year 1832 which makes 23

years old next October please God you are spared till then”. Fortunately, he had

got his age correct on his marriage certificate.

William and Isabella had seven children, six of them boys. As she had three

children by her previous marriage this meant she had ten in all. Isabella died at

49 predeceasing her husband by 20 years.

On his marriage certificate William gave his occupation as packer. This

involved the specialist packing of cotton cloth for export. Manchester was then

the centre of the cotton trade and William’s arrival coincided with its enormous

expansion over the rest of the century and beyond. At the age of 39 he founded

his own company and by 1881 styled himself Master Packer employing eleven

men and a boy.

By 1884 when William drew his will he demonstrated his knowledge of stock

market investment. Here he was advising on fixed interest stocks such as

railways (particularly Indian railways), gilts and leasehold securities. William

was now a highly successful and sophisticated business man. With the

improvement in his circumstances the family had moved out of Hulme to Moss

Side by 1871 and then to the more affluent Chorlton-on-Medlock by 1881.

As his burgeoning family grew up he took into his employ all but one of his

sons. However, the first three, George (1855-?1907), William (1859-1926) and

John Mansfied (1862-1953) obviously did not make the grade as their tenure

was short-lasted. Maybe this reflected intolerance to anyone who did not share

his drive and competence. James (1864-1927) and David Thomas (1866-1941)

were subsequently employed by him and were still in the firm at the time of his

death. Even so, they had other employment prior to working for their father. At

16, James was a clerk to a commission agent and David at 15 was a draper’s

apprentice. The youngest son, Thomas Alti (1868-1947) emigrated to the

United States when he was 19.

Letters to William between 1855 and 1864 throw light on family relationships

and conditions back home. Soon after arriving in England he must have

contemplated going to Australia, upon which news his grandmother wrote, “ I

hope dear William if you have a mind to leave England that we will see you

before you go may God direct ye to the best is the sincere wish of your Gran

mother”. On hearing he had a cold, granny recommended “...if you get one

penny of hippo [?] and take half A grain of it twice a day it will free your chest

and do good half A grain is about the sise [sic] of a pinch of snuff you can take

it with A little sugar or any thing.” And another impromptu remedy, “... Dear

William castor oil and turpentine is very good but its [sic] hard to get children

55

to take it but Saven Rue wormwood and street fennel pounded and fried in

butter or lard and put on the belly will dislodge them three times will do.”

There is news of relatives and friends as well as reports on the farming. In

August 1856 Jane wrote , “...they are busy cuting [sic] the corn they have the

wheat and oats cut the barley is not ripe yet its [sic] all middling [sic] good ....

The weather is very wet so the men are 2s:6d per day and the women 1s6d and

asking 2 they have 10 to 14 in rough park .... they have not given me the field

yet but I think they soon will ...”

In May 1864 his mother writes, “Dear Wm if you come over this summer and

bring the family with you I think you and them would be much better for it.”

Jane probably died in 1863 and Anne in 18786.

Although there are no records of contacts between Manchester and Durrow over

the next thirty years there must have been some regularity of visits as in 1894

James married a local woman, Eliza Boate Gibson (1866-1940)7 at Woodview

House, Durrow.

On Williams’s death in 1895, at the now comparatively young age of 63, he left

a large, thriving and expanding business well known and respected in

Manchester circles. Such achievement was a tremendous tribute to William

with his modest rural background. William Delany and Company then owned 4

warehouses in the city. (This increased to a head office, six warehouses and a

case works by 19218 when the firm probably reached its zenith).

In his will William shared his estate between his children (including Sarah who

had by this time adopted the Delany surname), although he imposed

considerable restraints on his bequests to George and John. There was a whiff

of disapproval of these two sons, an opinion that subsequently proved to be

justified. There was now considerable wealth within the family.

It is now of interest to trace what became of William’s children. Unusually, for

children of an emigrant Irishman several of them returned to live in Ireland.

6 There is no record of the year of Jane’s death. It was mandatory to record all deaths from

1864 and as her name was not on the National Register then or subsequently it seems

probable that she died in1863 when she relinquished her agricultural tenancy. In 1855 she

claimed she was between 80 and 90. On this basis she was between 88 and 98. The death of

an Anne Delany, widow and farmer aged 75, is recorded in Castledown District, Abbeyleix in

1878. This could have been William’s mother. 7 Marriage certificate of James Delany and Eliza Boate Gibson, 16 August, 1894.

8 1871-1921 Fifty Years of Progress. Wm Delany & Co. Export Packers. Manchester

Guardian Commercial June 23rd 1921.

56

The eldest family member was Sarah. In 1897 she purchased and went to live in

a house in the Square in Durrow. In 1907 this was purchased by her half brother

James and in 1905 she took ownership of Woodview, a five bedroomed late

Georgian/early Victorian property with 72 acres of land. By 1911 a further 48

acres had been added. This she farmed until her death in 1915.

George’s employment record was unexceptional. Having first worked for his

father, he subsequently became a publican at the Bull’s Head, Mumps, Oldham.

By 1901 he was back in Manchester as a foreman carrier. One of James’s

daughters Eileen (1900-1999) saw him on a visit to Woodview when she

subsequently described him in a letter to her brother Denis (1905-1999) as

“...crippled and walked with two sticks..”. George probably died about 19079

then in his early fifties.

His domestic life was more complex. In 1873 he married Emily Burley

Buckton (1856-1926). They were both about 18. Seven years later their son

George (1880-1949) was born. By 1891 he was living with Alice Ann May

(1864-1914), who was erroneously listed in the Census as his wife, and their

two daughters Isabel Maud (1886-1966) and Annie Leonora (1887-1977). Son

George was also with them.

Leonora (Nora Delany) became a famous actress, music hall comedienne and

singer and pantomime principal boy with numerous performances at the London

Palladium10

between 1913 and 1927 as well as throughout Britain and overseas.

She married Benjamin Gilles Maclachlan (b.1883) a theatrical Manager and

widower in 1911. He died in 1916. In 1919 she was reported to be married to

Sir William Maxwell11

a war correspondent. They subsequently separated12

prior to his death in 1928. In 1932 she married the impresario Prince Littler

(1901-1973).

Isabella (1857-1934), like Sarah, never married. In 1901 she was living with

her brother James and in the England Census of 1901 described herself of

9 George’s death has not been traced in the National Registers of Deaths in England and

Ireland. Delany may have been misspelt (which was not uncommon) making identification

more difficult. As Alice Ann May his long time partner married in 1909 it is likely George

died before then. 10

London Palladium Archives. 11

Ashburton Guardian (New Zealand) vol.39 (1919) p.5.Marriage not traced in England

Register. 12

On the manifest of S.S. Homeric sailing from Southampton to New York in June 1925

Annie Leonora Maxwell gives her ‘near relative or friend’ as Mrs Mulaney of London, W.

This was her sister.

57

independent means. However she subsequently moved to live with Sarah at

Woodview which she continued to farm after Sarah’s death until she died.

After starting work as a packer, son William was a carrier at 31 and a retired

carrier at 41. In 1889 he married Harriet Wood (1862-1945). They had no

children and lived at Bucklow Hill, Cheshire where both of them died. One

wonders if he did not enjoy the best of health, as his early retirement and the

extra provision for him in his father’s will might suggest.

John Mansfield married Elizabeth Ann Buckton (1852-1926) (sister of George’s

wife Emily) at Whalley Range Parish Church, Manchester in March 1883. He

was 21 and she was 31. On his marriage certificate he described his profession

as Patentee and Inventor13

. He incorrectly described his father’s occupation as

shipper.

John and Elizabeth had two daughters (Lily Beatrice, (1883-1977); Minnie

Burley, (1886-1969) and a son Charles Mansfield (1885-1958). By 1886, John

had held five different jobs in Lancashire and Yorkshire.

In September 1889, as a U.S. immigrant, he took the Cunard line ship Servia

from Liverpool to New York. On arrival he made for Baltimore where

according to the U.S. census for 1900 he married Mary in 1892 – clearly an act

of bigamy. They had three sons. He seemed to be doing well as a garment

maker living in Philadelphia with a resident servant.

There were other falsehoods in the Census. The name was misspelt (Delaney).

This may have been a clerical error or an attempt to reidentify himself. His

family subsequently adopted this spelling. The statements that he entered the

States in 1884 and obtained naturalisation that year were not true. His mother

was not born in Ireland as he stated and his first son was born in Maryland and

not Pennsylvania.

Mary must have died, as in February 1919 John Mansfield, then a qualified

chiropractor, went through a marriage ceremony with Elizabeth Rees (1892-

1943) at St Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Philadelphia14

. He had seven

children by her, two of whom died in infancy and there were no male issue from

the children surviving to adulthood. As his wife Elizabeth was still alive in

England at the time of this ‘marriage’ he had once again married bigamously!

He died in Pensacola Florida at the age of 91 having fathered ten illegitimate

13

In 1883 he registered at the Patent Office (Patent No. GB 517 1883), The Construction of

Apparatus for Filing and Binding Letters etc. 14

My source is Valerie Lowe a g-granddaughter of JMD who corresponds with JMD’s 7th

child by his third ‘wife’.

58

children. Having ditched his wife in England and failing to support her and their

children and having subsequently proved himself a consummate liar, John

Mansfield was by a wide margin the least pleasant of William’s children.

A short distance down the lane from the modest stone house in which William

was brought up is Capponellan House. This is a well set, attractive moderate-

sized Georgian residence with excellent views over the surrounding countryside

and with 180 acres of agricultural land.

In 1905, James, now a Justice of the Peace, purchased this estate from Sealy S.

Swan who was born in the house in 1839. He developed the farm and

established a stud specialising in Clydesdales. His horses achieved a

widespread reputation winning prizes in Dublin, Belfast, Manchester and

London as well as other venues. He cultivated fruit and vegetable gardens and

laid out tennis and croquet courts. In addition to purchasing Capponellan House

he acquired land in Durrow Townparks and Clonageera as well as two houses in

Durrow town.

This was to be James’s main residence bringing over from Manchester his wife

and four children. He continued to work in the business in Manchester although

spending much time at Capponellan. Sometimes he would come over for the

weekend. The author’s father described how on Friday he would catch the

overnight sailing from Liverpool to Dublin and then the early morning train to

Attanagh, returning by the same route on Sunday evening.

James involved himself in local affairs becoming an active member of the

community. He was a major financial contributor to Durrow concert hall and

also provided practical help. This included transporting the bricks used in the

hall’s construction from Attanagh to Durrow. He was also involved with the

United Irish League which was part of the Irish Parliamentary Party. In 1913

they presented him with a silver salver, “...in recognition of his many valued

services”. The League opposed religious division, favoured Home Rule and

supported the British war effort. Possibly in anticipation of his workers being

involved in the war he held regular drills! He was a keen participant in field

sports, fishing and shooting on his own land as well as having a shoot some

distance away in Co Tipperary.

It is surprising he decided to sell the property in 191915

as he and his family

greatly enjoyed living there. It is now speculation as to the reasons for this. He

15

The present owner of Capponellan House is Donal Bowe. He has kindly provided

information on James. His maternal grandfather Dan Murphy was James Delany’s stud

manager and his paternal grandfather purchased the property in 1921 for about £6,000.

59

foresaw the decline of the cotton trade and in recognition of this he encouraged

his only son Denis (1905-1999) to take a degree in engineering. About this time

he also purchased the firm of Richard England in Manchester which

manufactured cotton spinning machinery for export. These were also troubled

times in Ireland. Latterly, he was not in the best of health with fairly constant

internal discomfort which could have been the forerunner of the cancer that

killed him in 1927. His eldest daughter Marjorie (1897-1982) married a local

doctor in 1926 and lived in Counties Laois and Cork for the rest of her life.

David Thomas Delany, a partner in William Delany & Co, spent his life in

north-west England. He married Sara Louisa Bridge (1867-1912), a telegraphist

in 1891. They had the one son (Vernon Bridge, 1892-1979). In 1917 David

married Dorothy Bena Monkhouse (1897-1971). She was 20 and he was 51.

They had two sons. He was a very good sportsman having been approached to

play cricket for Sussex as well as being a low handicap golfer.

He remained with William Delany’s into the 1930s until its incorporation into

Lloyds Packing Warehouses. He then retired to East Grinsted. David must have

had an extravagant life style as he was declared bankrupt about 1930. Although

he was the author’s grandfather, they never met, and the family spoke little of

him.

The youngest member of the family was Thomas Alti who emigrated to the

United States as a young man in 1887. In 1892 he married a local girl,

Margaret. They lived in Plymouth Pennsylvania where they had three girls and

two boys. They named their first son William. By 1900 Thomas was a foreman

in a hosiery mill and from 1920 to 1930 Clerk to the Courthouse. A letter from

son William to George (grandson of William) in 1942 mentions Thomas’s

failing health. He died in Florida in 1947.

Over time families come and go. Of William’s second, fourth and fifth sons all

Delany male lineage will die out with the author. This means that the only

extant male lineage in England comes from John Mansfield’s descendents. In

the United States there are believed to have been five sons and one grandson of

John Mansfield and Thomas Alti surviving into adulthood. Tracing the family

there is more difficult not helped by John changing the spelling of the family

name.

The second and subsequent generations of William’s descendents made their

way in the world through a wide range of careers and national service. Charles

Mansfield and Vernon Bridge gave long and distinguished service in the First

World War. In the Second World War, David’s third son (David Bernard, 1921-

2001) was a bomber pilot throughout the campaign (subsequently making his

60

career in the R.A.F. and retiring with the rank of Wing Commander), Denis was

a Captain in the Royal Engineers and Thomas’s grandson William was a

Corporal with the Field Artillery of the U.S. Army.

Among the families various occupations in England were architect, actress,

owner of car dealership, master printer, company secretary, university

professor, civil engineer and managers in export packing. Meanwhile, in the

States, there were managers in heating engineering and ice sales, squib maker

and coal miner.

(The author, Michael Delany, can be contacted at m.delany52@btinternet.com)

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61

THE MEDIEVAL ORIGINS OF THE SURNAME FEENEY

Adrian James Martyn

Feeney is the anglicised form now used by a number of unrelated families of

Gaelic-Irish origin. The surname is especially associated with Connacht, but is

found in all Irish provinces. Edward MacLysaght, one of the foremost

authorities on Irish surnames, wrote of the surname: "(O)FEENEY. Apart from

the quite definite fact that it is essentially a Connacht name it is difficult to be

precise in dealing with the surname Feeney. The reason for this is that in

Connacht there are two different septs - Ó Fiannaidhe in Sligo and Mayo and Ó

Fidhne in Galway and Roscommon; both of these anglicised their name as

Feeney so that, as all these counties are close together, it is hardly possible to

determine which sept present day Feeneys belong - the great majority of these

hail from the four counties mentioned above. There are two places named

Ballyfeeney, both in Co. Roscommon. The name was more numerous formerly

than at present and it appears very frequently in the Elizabethan Fiants and in

the census of 1659. Then as now the name was not unknown in Co. Derry - the

poet Patrick Feeney (d. 1900) was born there.1

The contemporary Irish genealogist, John Grenham, concurs with MacLysaght,

noting that the Primary Valuation of 1847-64 gives the following number of

Feeney households listed per county:

66 – Galway

28 - Mayo

28 - Roscommon

23 - Sligo

16 - Longford

15 - Westmeath

10 - Laois

7 - Offaly

4 - Derry and Monaghan

1 - Armagh, Kildare, Leitrim and Tipperary2

While the number of Feeney householders in counties adjacent to Sligo and

Roscommon can be attributed to migration from those counties, the presence of

the surname further away from those known homelands suggests the existence

of still more septs of the name, or a similar one, elsewhere in Gaelic Ireland.

1 Edward MacLysaght, Irish Families (4th edition), Irish Academic Press, 1985, p. 85

2 www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm?fuseaction=Go.&UserID=

62

My own view is that the Feeney septs of Sligo and Roscommon were merely

those notable enough to be recorded. Other Feeney families elsewhere in Ireland

probably arose from quite distinct and unrelated men, each of whom bore a

surname that is now anglicised as Feeney.

The Ó and the Mac

Surnames came into use in Ireland in the late 10th and early 11th centuries.

G.B. Adams wrote in 1979 that "The earliest surname of the ''O'' type, or ''Ua'' ...

went on being formed till about the middle of the twelfth century, to be

followed by a new type beginning with the prefix ''Mac'', son. These arose in

part from the break-up of many of the older families following the Anglo-

Norman invasion in the second half of the 12th century ..."3

Ó - rendered incorrectly as O' - derives from "the word ''ua'' (earlier ''aue'', in

Latin texts ''nepos'') meaning either 'grandson' or more remote descendant

[which] could lead to its adoption as a surname."4

The problem in determining cases in which 'ua' denotes a surname rather than a

stated descent is that "The modern distinction of employing upper case ''Mac''

and ''Ua'' or ''O'' is unknown to the medieval sources, which therefore remain

often ambiguous. Where clear genealogical information is unavailable it must

always remain uncertain whether a given individual is rightly referred to under a

surname, a papponymic or a patronymic."5

Given the frequency in which ua and mac, as opposed to Ua and Mac, are found

in Gaelic-Irish sources, "The only incontrovertible evidence of an ''ua'' form

being used either as a surname or to designate the leading member of a family is

when the person referred to is ''not'' a grandson of the eponymous ancestor."6

It must be noted that in the absence of a pedigree or annalistic material, a

definitive conclusion on an ''ua'' form as a surname prefix can remain uncertain.

This must be born in mind as some of the following examples demonstrate this

ambiguity.

Without further comment, I note that all the demonstrable cases in this article

follow the pre-12th century formation rule as outlined above by G.B. Adams.

3 G.B. Adams, "Prolegomena to a Study of Surnames in Ireland", Nomina, v. 3, p. 84, 1979.

4 Francis J. Byrne, Irish Kings and High Kings, 2001 (2nd edition), p.xxxiii

5 p.xxxii, op.cit.

6 ."Surnames", Aspects of Irish Personal Names, Brian Ó Cuív, DIAS, 1986, pp.31-36

63

"ua Fiachna"

The Annals of the Four Masters, sub anno 990 (recte 991) states: "Aodh Ua

Ruairc, ríoghdhamhna Connacht, & Dubh Darach ua Fiachna, do mharbhadh lá

Cenél Eoghain."/ "Aedh Ua Ruairc, royal heir of Connaught, and Dubhdarach,

Ua Fiachna, was slain by the Cinel-Eoghain."7

As can be seen, while the English translation has the form "Ua Fiachna", the

original text gives it as "ua Fiachna". Following Ó Cuiv's example - was

Dubhdarach's grandfather, or more remote ancestor, called Fiachna? - is

impossible as no pedigree for Dubhdarach is known to exist.

"Ua Fiachna" of Ceinél Feardhaigh

In his poem "Triallam timcheall na Fodla", Seán Mór Ó Dubhagáin (died 1372)

wrote "Ceinél Feardhaigh fleadhach/uasal gnáth a ngeinealach;/Uí Fhiachra ar

an leith teas tinn,/i ttreas cliachdha ní chaoinim."8

This at least indicates that a family bearing the surname Ua Fiachna were of the

Ceinél Feardhaigh (though by blood or political amalgamation is impossible to

say), and thus considered to be members of the Cenél nEógain branch of the

Northern Ui Neill.

"Teallach Fiacháin" of Ceinéal Binnigh of An Gleann

Another family, also located in and considered of, the Cenél nEógain, are listed

as follows at 141.4 (pp.334-35, LNG): Eochaidh Binneadh son of Eoghain mac

Niall.

"The genealogy of Ceinéal Binnigh of An Gleann." At 142.9 (pp.336-7) is

"Teallach Fiacháin", who are included among the "Ceinéal Binnigh of Tulach

Óg".9

At present, I cannot determine if Teallach Fiacháin is meant as a sept-name, or a

surname.

"O'Fedaigh" of Maigh Tullach

7See www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100005B/ and www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100005B/

8 James Carney, ed., Topographical Poems, Dublin 1943, verses 253-256, p. 10.

9 Leabhar Mor na nGenealach (hereafter LNG) pp.336-37. In a lament all-too familiar to

genealogists, Mac Fhirbhisigh writes at 143.2: "Our burden is so great and these [families]

are thought to matter so slightly that we will not set out their pedigrees any further;"

64

The Annals of Ulster contain a late reference, sub anno 1505, to the following:

"O'Fedaigh of the Plain of Tulach, namely, Aedh O'Fedaigh died this year."10

Maigh Tullach (the plain of Tulach) was located in the kingdom of Airgíalla,

now part of County Monaghan11

. The annalist's use of his surname to identify

him - "O'Fedaigh of the Plain of Tulach" - indicates that Aedh O'Fedaigh was

Chief of the Name at the time of his death. Feeney's of County Monaghan can

with some confidence be identified with this family.

"Uí Fhiacháin" of Síol Duibhthíre

Also located in Airgíalla was the following sept: "317.1 The genealogy of Síol

Duibhthíre. Cathal (s. Eochaidh s. Duibhthír, from whom are Síol Duibhthíre)

had seven sons: (1) Cumascach, k. Oirghialla (it was he who was slain in the

battle of Leath an Chaim by Niall Caillne), (2) Muireadhach, from whom are Uí

Leitéin, or Laitéin, (3) Conghalach, from whom are Uí Lorcáin, (4)

Flaitbheartach, from whom are Uí Fhiacháin, (5) Eochaidh ... (6) Fiachra ... (7)

Ceallach Dána ..."12

The battle of Leitir Caim took place in 827, the victor being Niall Caille, King

of The North. Among the dead on the losing side was Cumscach mac Cathal,

king of Airgíalla.13

The genealogy quoted records a nephew of Cumscach, Fiacháin mac

Flaithbheartach, from whom a family called the Uí Fhiacháin are said to

descend. The earliest member of the family to bear the name would have to be a

great-grandson of Fiacháin. Without further information, it is impossible to

ascertain if this became a surname.

"Uí Fhináin"/" Uí Fhíonáin" of Laighin

Among the Laighin (Leinster) genealogies recorded in LNG is the following:

"453.4 Uí Labhradha still. These are the seed of Cárthann, or Cáirtheann, s.

Labhraidh: Uí Mheic Cáirthinn, Uí Chumaín, Uí Bhrócáin (or Bhrógáin), Uí

Ghéadhgáin, or Uí Ghéagáin, or Gheódáin, Uí Fhianain, or Fhíonáin, Uí

Dhíoma, and Uí Lill, or Olill."14

10

William M. Hennessy, ed., The Annals of Ulster, Dublin 1996, vol. III, pp. 476-79 11

See note on the same page. 12

LNG, pp.40-41 13

For this battle, see Irish Kings and High Kings, p.117, pp.124-5, p.220. For Niall Caille,

see p.124, p.162, pp.220-1, pp.223-6, p.276, p.284, ibid. 14

LNG, pp.228-29.

65

Given that the Uí Fhianain/ Uí Fhíonáin existed in the early historic period, it

cannot be regarded as a surname.

"Ó Fiachrach" of Ui Einechlais

Another apparent family of the name occurs in "Triallam timcheall na Fodla":

"Rí Ó nEineachlais a-noir/Ó Fiachrach an fhuinn adhbhoil; do fhosdaigh tré ár

na nGall/ Ó Cosgraigh ar chlár Chualann."15

This seems to be the same family referred to by Giolla na Naomh Ó hUidhrín

(died 1420) in his continuation of "Triallam ..", called "Tuilleadh feasa ar Éirinn

óigh": "Forthuatha Laighean na learg/ ar Chairbre na sleagh slinndearg,/ an

fhóir ó Bhóinn Colla is Cuinn,/ as orra as cóir a ccomhroinn./ Ar Uíbh

Eineachlais uile/ Ó Fiachrach, flaith Almhuine;/ Ó hAodha ar Uíbh Deagha

dhamh/ dán geala craobha ar ccromadh."16

The Uí Enechglaiss were a dynasty that for much of the historic era were rulers

of the area around what is now the town of Arklow. Up till possibly as late as

second decade of the sixth century, the Uí Enechglaiss were kings of Leinster,

based in what is now County Kildare. They were expelled by the Uí Neill into

the Wicklow Mountains and ruled the area about the town of Arklow. In this

case, the surname is rendered as Feary, not Feeney.17

"O Finy" of Ciarraige Luchra/Uí Fearba

The "Calendar of Papal Registers" attestation of one "John O Finy"18

of Ardfert,

County Kerry, points to an unrecorded 'Feeney' family. They were located in

west Munster. I have yet to find any further medieval references. No Feeneys

are recorded in Kerry by the Primary Valuation, but the "Information Wanted"

section of the Boston "Pilot"19

concerns Feeney's from 19th-century Kerry.

The district around Ardfert was known as Ui Fearba. After settlement by the

Anglo-Normans in the late 12th century, it came to be known as Clanmaurice.

The inhabitants of Ui Fearba included such peoples as the Alltraighe (of whom

was Saint Brendan the Navigator), Ciarraige, Corco Duibne, Uí Cairpri Luachra

15

See Carney, 1943, op. cit., lines 869-872, p. 32. 16

Op. cit., lines 1061-68, p. 40. 17

Ken Hannigan & William Nolan, editors, "Leinster" in Wicklow: History and Society,

Dublin 1994. 18

"OFiny, John, Officail of Ard Fert, sub-delegate of John Hussey", Calendar of Papel

Registars, Papal Letters XV 1484-92, p. 581 19

Boston Pilot

66

and Éoganacht Locha Lein20

. Without further information, it is impossible to

determine from which, if any, of these O Finy descended.

"Uí Fhiachna" of Uí Briúin

The Uí Briúin was an early Irish dynasty that gave its name to a territory it ruled

in what is now northern County Roscommon, centred around the pre-historic

complex of Cruchan, the ancient capital of Connacht. A member of the dynasty,

Foghartach mac Cathal (fl. 789), is described as "king over Magh nAoi"21

,

Magh nAí being the Plains of Roscommon, from which this branch of the

dynasty took their name, the Uí Briuin Aí.

Foghartach was a member of the Síl Cathail branch of the Uí Briuin Aí. He was

the father of Máel Cothaid, King of Connacht (reigned 815-c.818), and

grandfather to Murchad mac Áed (reigned 839-40). Another grandson, Máel

Cothaid's son, Mugrón, reigned from 848 to 872, though the annals only term

him "leath rí", or "half-king", implying he was forced to share his rule with

another.22

Murchad and Mugrón are the last descendants of Foghartach mac Cathal

mentioned by name, but LNG say of his descendants: "212.11: The offspring of

Foghartach: Ui Chathalain, Ui Mhuireadhaigh, Ui Bhraonain, Ui Innreachtaigh,

and Ui Fhiachna."23

This implies that among the descendants of Foghartach was one Fiachna, from

whom descended a family that became known as the Ui Fhiachna. Whether this

became a surname is unresolved; it would seem to demonstrate the likelihood

that present-day Feeneys of Roscommon (and their descendants elsewhere in

the world) descend from the Ui Fhiachna of Sil Cathail of Ui Briuin Ai.

"Muintir Fhigne" of Ceinéal Dofa

Turning once again to Leabhar na nGenealach lists a "Muintir Fhighne":

"243.16: The fifteen principal households of Ceinéal Dofa: Muintir Eanaigh,

Clann Chaomhchon, Muintir Fhighne, Muintir Chorcráin, Muintir Ailmhic,

Muintir Fhionnagáin, Muintir Ainnlighe, Muintir Mhaol Bhrighde, Uí

Dhochartaigh, Síol Cuirre, i.e., Ó Bánáin, Ó Rachtagáin, Ó Maoil Chainnigh,

Muintir Mhaoil Dúin, Uí Ainnsin s. Curra s. [s.] Dofa."24

20

See pp. 165-201, Irish Kings and High Kings, op. cit. 21

LNG, 212.9 22

See http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100001A/index.html 23

LNG, p. 466-67. 24

LNG, p. 554-55.

67

The text does list surnames - "Ó Bánáin, Ó Rachtagáin, Ó Maoil Chainnigh" -

but refers to "Muintir Fhighne", not Ó Fhighne. However, the term "Muintir"

(family) is sometimes to denote a group who do bear a surname, so its use in

this context does not necessarily exclude the existence of a family surnamed Ó

Fhigne.

"Uí Fhidne of An Fiodh"

Elsewhere in the genealogies of the Ceinéal Dofa is a family called "Uí Fhidne

of An Fiodh". Their genealogy is given as "Fidhne, son of Comhchú (from

whom Clann Chaomhchon), son of Arannán, son of Maonach, son of Tathán,

son of An Dall, son of Fuínis, son of Dofa, son of Earc Dearg."25

Earc Dearg is

listed as one of the twenty-four sons of Brión, the epyonom of Uí Briuin.

However, there are too few generations between Earc Dearg (fl. early 500s?)

and Fidhne (fl. mid-late 800s?). The explanation here may be that the Ceinéal

Dofa were a people unrelated to the Uí Briuin, and were grafted onto the family

tree of the latter. This was probably as a result of the Ceinéal Dofa being

conquered or at least allied to the Uí Briuin who, during the 7th to 10th

centuries, successfully expanded beyond their original homeland of Magh nAí

to become kings of all Connacht. This was part and parcel of Gaelic medieval

propaganda, replicated all over Ireland, in which peoples unrelated to a rising

power successfully sought amalgamation with or were genealogically

assimilated by a rising political entity. This brought a share of the rewards, and

saved them from complete historical extinction,

That said, there is no good reason to doubt the descent of Fidhne from Dofa.

That Fidhne's genealogy ends with him, though, implies that the Uí Fhidne

never became a powerful sept in their own right. This is further evidenced by

the place they were associated with "An Fiodh", known in early modern times

as The Fews of Athlone, which remains to this day marginal-to-bad agricultural

land in the parishes of Kiltoom and Athlone on the west bank of the Shannon.

In short, I consider this family the most plausible ancestors of the Feeneys of

County Roscommon.

"O'Feinneadha" of Uí Fiachrach Muaidhe

Information concerning the Ó Feinneadha family of north Connacht is

somewhat meagre. No pedigree concerning them seems to be recorded in any of

25

LNG, p. 554-55.

68

the Gaelic genealogies. The only purely medieval reference to the family occurs

in a long poem quoted by John O'Donovan, which he translates as:

"I have brought, - brave the hero, - / O'Feinneadha, the soldier,/ To Finghid, the

plain of the battles,/ From which the bards depart not displeased./ After the

extermination of O'Feinneadha there/ O'Flannghaile obtained the land,/ A

smooth soil, not rugged for tillage,/ Like the smooth-mounded land of

Cruachain."26

Drawing upon medieval texts, O'Donovan includes them among the "Hereditary

Proprietors" of the kingdom of Uí Fiachrach Muaidhe. He quotes a text - this

time using the spelling O'Fenneadha - that states: "O'Fenneadha was proprietor

of Finnghid until the family of O'Flannghaile took it from him, after they had

been driven from their own estate from the lake downwards by the English."27

He further notes that Finghid was in his day "now Finned, a townland extending

northwards to the sea, in the parish of Easkey, in Tireragh, and lying westwards

of the river Finned."28

As for the Ó Feinneadha family, he remarks that the surname is "now anglicised

Feeny. There are a few poor families of this name still in the parish of Easkey,

but none on their own original townland."29

What little information can be gleaned from these references is as follows:

1 - The Ó Feinneadha family were proprietors of the townland of Finnghid, alias

Finned, in the parish of Easkey, County Sligo, till the first half of the 13th

century, i.e., 1200-1250.

2 - At some point after the invasion of Connacht in the 1230s, the Ó Flannghaile

(Flannelly) family were driven by the Anglo-Irish from their own homeland

near Lough Conn, County Mayo. They invaded Tireragh and seized Finnghid.

In the process this conquest, the Ó Flannghaile "exterminated" (the words of the

poem) the Ó Feinneadha. By "exterminated" I presume the poem means the

leading members of the family - the derbfhine in actual possession of Finnghid -

were killed, as bearers of the name do seem to have survived, albeit as

displaced, landless folk.

26

John O'Donovan, The Genealogies, Tribes and Customs of Hy-Fiachrach, commonly

called O’Dowda's Country, Dublin, Irish Archaeological Society, 1844, p. 257 27

Op. Cit., p.169. 28

Op. Cit., p.256 29

Op. Cit., p.256

69

3 - No Ó Feinneadha genealogy is known to exist. The lack of references to the

family both in the annals and genealogies must point to their being a very minor

family, even when proprietors of their own lands. This suggests that they were

not themselves members of the Uí Fiachrach dynasty, but were an unrelated

family, possibly descended from whatever people held the territory before the

rise to power of the Uí Fiachrach in the 6th-7th century. This may point to

descent from the likes of the Fir Domnand, Gamanrad, Grecraige, Corca Fhir

Trí, or other obscure peoples.

"O Fynnaghday" of County Galway?

There is yet one further puzzle to consider, namely, the overwhelming number

of Feeney/Feeny households recorded in County Galway by the Primary

Valuation of 1847-64, more than both known homelands of Sligo and

Roscommon combined. This leads me to believe that, in addition to Feeneys of

Sligo and Roscommon moving to Galway, there may have been yet another sept

already present within the confines of the county, and native to it.

Thus far, the earliest reference I have encountered which may be that of a

Feeney of County Galway occurs among documents relating to the Wardenship

of Galway. It places the person concerned not in rural Gaelic Ireland, but

squarely in the Anglo-Irish late medieval town of Galway: "1540. July 8. Lease

for ever. Thomas Frenshe, warden, and the vicars to John Ofynnaghday,

Galway, tailor, a tenement belonging to the church of St. Nicholas, situate

between the tenement belonging to the church of St. Nicholas, situate between

the tenement of the College in which Nicholas Oballayn lives, on the east, the

tenement of George Lynche on the west, the street on the north, and the town

wall on the south. Rent 5[shillings]."30

Prior to writing this article, I thought the surname might be a rendering of Ó

Fiannachta (Finnerty).31

Now I am less certain.

Despite Galway's late medieval/early modern reputation as an 'English' enclave,

several Gaelic-Irish families are attested as inhabitants; in fact at least two of

the fourteen tribal families - Darcy and Kirwan - were among the town's

premier merchant families, were certainly of Gaelic descent. There were

upwards of a dozen Gaelic-Irish families in Galway. In fact, all of the tribal

30

Martin Coen, Wardenship of Galway, 1984, p.9. 31

In a personal communication, Nollaig Ó Muraíle of NUI, Galway, stated that he believes it

to indeed be a rendering of Ó Fiannachta.

70

families, whatever their ethnic origins, can be demonstrated as originating from

the same social background, that of the working-class, not the aristocracy.32

Also intriguing is a much later reference from 1829, which lists one "Thomas

Feenerly" of Killorn, Mucknish, in the barony of Clare.33

. Could "Feenerly" be a

later rendering of "Ofynnaghday"? It seems doubtful. "Ofynnaghday" is

probably a rendering of Finnerty, and "Feenerly" is probably a mis-spelling of

the same surname. Yet the large numbers of Feeney households concentrated in

the disparate baronies of Moycullen, Killian, Clare and Ballymoe is suggestive

both of multiple origins for bearers of the surname, and perhaps an obscure

family of the bearing a variant of the surname.

The first unambiguous reference to a Feeney in County Galway occurs in the

Tudor 'Fiants', placing the person well in the east of the county: "4875 (4075.)

Pardon to Henry M'Hubbert, of Iserclern, ...Hugh M'Keagan, of Killewre,

Donogh O Fynye, of same, ...Provisions as in 4638. Fine as in 4874. - 6 June,

xxviii [6th June, 1586]."34

The Townlands Index names three places called Killure; Killure Beg, Killure

Castle, and Killure Mor, all townlands in the parish of Kilgerrill in mid-east

County Galway.35

Given the relative proximity of Kilgerrill to County

Roscommon, it is possible Donogh, or his ancestors, were from the latter

county.

I have yet to find any references to Feeney's in County Galway during the

1600s.

A tombstone located at Claregalway friary, dedicated to one Dominick Feeny,

who was born in 1641 and died on the 3rd January 1701. His sons, Patrick and

Stephen Feeny, are recorded on the tombstone as responsible for its erection.36

A hearth roll, dated 1724, lists one "Wid ffeny" (Widow Feeny) as a resident on

Galway's Mainguard Street, her house containing three chimneys or hearths.37

The old graveyard of An Spidéal contains a tombstones bearing the inscription

"...soul of Mary Feeny died in the 19 yr of her age + 1798".38

32

See my forthcoming work, The Tribes of Galway: The Fourteen Families That Ruled

Medieval Galway 33

"139 - Thomas Feenerly ... Mucknish ... barony of Clare, townland Killorn.", The

Connaught Journal, 4th June 1829. 34

Fiants, vol. 4 35

Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns of Ireland, Dublin 1861, p. 575. 36

Claregalway Friary Inscriptions, Fas, 1997. Island House, Galway. 37

Bernadette Cunningham, "A Galway Hearth Money Roll for 1724", JGHAS 56, 2004, p.70.

71

In the graveyard of the abbey of St. Francis, Galway, was once a tombstone

with the following inscription: "O Lord have mercy on the Soul of Patrick

Feeney who departed this Life 21st April 1817 Aged 64 years this is Erected by

his son Timothy Feeny for him and Posterity."39

With the dawn of the modern era, better records survive containing information

on the Feeney's of County Galway. This will be the subject of a follow-up

article.

APPENDIX I: SURNAMES IN DE BHULBH'S "SLIONNTE UILE

ÉIREANN"

The multiplicity of Irish surnames that may seem similar, identical, or variants,

can bewilder newcomers and old hands alike. With this in mind, I submit a list

of suspects for elucidation.

1 - Ó Féichín: Feehan. (p. 64)

2 - Ó Feinneadha: Feeney. (p. 64)

3 - Ó Fiacha: Hunt. (p.64). (Hunt is "An English name which may account for

many in Ulster and Leinster, but it is generally an Anglicisation of 'Ó Fiaich, Ó

Fiacha, Ó Fiachna, Ó Fiachra', because the resemblance to the Irish word

'fiach',meaning hunt (the chase). See Feheney, Feighery, Fee. MIF." p.282)

4 - Ó Fiacháin:Feehan. (p. 64).

5 - Ó Fiachna: Feighney. (p. 64)

6 - Ó Fiachra: Feighery, Feery. (p. 64)

7 - Mac Fhiachra: Keary, Mac Keefrey (p. 65)

8 - Ó Fiach: Fee (p. 65)

9 - Ó Fiannaí: Feeney (p. 65)

10 - Ó Fidhne: Feeney (p. 65)

11 - Ó Finghin: Fennin. (p. 65)

12 - Ó Finneadha: see Ó Feinneadha (p. 68)

13 - Ó Fionnáin:Finan, Finane. (p. 68)

14 - Mag Fhionnghaile: Mac Ginley, Ginnelly. (p. 68)

15 - Ó (or Mac) Fithcheallaigh: Feeley, Fehilly. (p. 68)

38

Transcribed by self on 3rd August 2011. The local librarian and parish priest informed me

that FAS had completed a survey of the graveyard. To the best of my knowledge it remains

unpublished. With at least one tombstone being on the day of my visit in the process of being

built over by a brick wall, publication seems all the more urgent! 39

I am grateful to Jim Higgins, Galway City Heritage Officer, who gave me a copy of his

unpublished transcriptions of the tombstones while we enjoyed a convivial couple of pints in

December 2001.

72

Of Feeney (page 229), de Bhulbh says "Feeney, -ny: numerous: all areas, least

in Munster. Ir. 'Ó Feinneadha', pron. 'Fiannaí' and meaning "soldier". A sept of

Uí Fiachrach (Sligo). There is also 'Ó Fidhne' in Galway which may be a

separate family. MIF."

Like Mac Lysaght, de Bhulbh notes that 'Ó Fidhne' is found in Galway. I

believe he merely reproduced Mac Lysaght's comment. I have yet to find the

source for Mac Lysaght's identification of 'Ó Fidhne' for County Galway.

I have seen the form 'Ó Feinneadha' used in the Connemara Gaeltacht. Reilig an

Cóilleach, a twenty minute walk east of An Spidéal, features a number of

gravestones with inscriptions for the likes of Phádraic Ó Feinneadha of Páirc

Iar ("A Fuair Bás 20ú Eanár 1993 aois 77 blian") and his family. But English

forms are also used, as in the case of Margaret Feeney (died 19th may 1943,

aged 57) and her family. Bilingual forms are used by "Búistéard Uí

Fheinneadha/Feeney Butchers" on Main Street, An Spidéal.

However, it must be noted that Irish-language gravestones mostly date from the

20th century. All Feeney gravestones I have seen prior to then are inscribed in

English, because most Irish people were illiterate in both Irish and English. 'Ó

Feinneadha' simply seems to have been adopted as An Caighdeán Oifigiúil

("The Official Standard"). The form medieval gaeilgeoirs would have used

remains unknown, as does Mac Lysaght's reason for identifying 'Ó Fidhne' with

County Galway.

APPENDIX II: FEENEY IN THE TUDOR 'FIANTS'.

The surname Feeney or Feeny is rendered a number of ways in the Fiants. The

spellings and fiant numbers are:

O'Feaghie - 6466, 6623, 6499.

O'Fyny - 2066, 4077, 4875, 5432, 5542, 5799, 5808.

O'Fynie - 1578.

O'Fyne – 4944

O'Fynee - 4022, 4741.

All references above occur in volume four (Elizabeth I, 1558-1603).

A problem concerning the O'Feaghie index is that of determining the region. No

placename seems to be listed in fiant 6466, though the other surnames

mentioned seem to be of both Sligo and Tipperary. Fiant 6499 appears to

pertain to people from what are now the counties of Cork and Kerry, while I

73

cannot determine any location in fiant 6623. What we may be seeing is evidence

of still more unrelated and unrecorded Feeney septs.

The spelling O'Fyny is used almost exclusively for Roscommon Feeneys.

BIBILOGRAPHY:

de Bhulbh, Seán, Slionte Uile Éireann/All Ireland Surnames, 2002.

Carney, James, ed., Topographical Poems by Seaán Mór Ó Dubhagáin and

Giolla-Na-Naomh Ó Huidhrín, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1943.

MacLysaght, Edward, ed., "Report on Documents Relating to the Wardenship

of Galway", Analecta Hibernica, no. 14, Dublin, December 1944.

O'Donovan, John, The Genealogies, Tribes and Customs of Hy-Fiachrach,

commonly called O’Dowda's Country, Dublin, Irish Archaeological Society,

1844.

Ó Muraíle, Nollaig, ed. and translated by, Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh,

Leabhar Mor na nGenealach/The Great Book of Irish Genealogies, De Burca

Books, Dublin, 2004-05.

The Irish Fiants of the Tudor sovereigns during the reigns of Henry VIII,

Edward VI, Philip & Mary, and Elizabeth I with a new introduction by Kenneth

Nicholls; and preface by Tomás G. Ó Canann, 1994, volume 4, Elizabeth I,

1586-1603.

Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns of Ireland, Dublin 1861

oooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Do you have a family or local history story to tell? Maybe you

are thinking of writing a biography of on outstanding

individual in your family tree or, indeed, any other item

relating to genealogy. The editors of the Journal of the

Genealogical Society of Ireland would like to hear from you.

Articles can be forwarded to jbhall@indigo.ie or forwarded by

post to Brendan Hall, 14 Foxrock Mount, Dublin 18, Ireland.

Readers are also invited to submit short reviews of books, CD-

ROMs and Web Sites, of Irish genealogical interest for

inclusion in the Journal or the Society's Monthly Gazette.

74

NINETEENTH CENTURY KILCAVAN, CO. WICKLOW

Joseph A. Kenny

Over the centuries, the land of Kilcavan attracted people from all around

because of its rolling hills, fertile soil and a slate quarry. The origin of Kilcavan

was first noted shortly after County Wicklow was established in 1606. The first

mention of Killkavane was made in 1608. The townland was referred to in

1636 as Kilkevine, in 1655 as Bearnkilkeavan, in 1660 as Killcavan, in 1668

Kilcavin and in 1760 as Killkevin. Bearnkilkeavan is a place now called

Kilcavan Gap.1

In the nineteenth century the area was in the control of Lord Fitzwilliam and

was originally leased only to Protestants. Below is a description that was given

around 1728 -

1- Mr. WATERHOUSE HOLDINGS 447 acres

On this land is a large stoned walled slated house and out houses with

orchard and garden and nursery of fine young ash not yet planted out &

some enclosures & plantations in the hedges. A slate quarry of use to the

estate.2

2- Mr. WRIGHTS HOLDING 138 acres

On Wrights part, a clay & stone walled slated house, small orchard, some

young trees in the garden not yet planted out & some few about the

house.

On the old maps that were viewed dating back to 1728, this whole area as

mentioned above, is referred to as Kilcavan and on these holdings, before 1790,

lived Nicholas Kempston and William Hume. Before the 1778 Gardiner Act,3

the Protestant landlords were given leases but the Catholics were still refused

leases under the Penal Laws that lasted from the time of WILLIAM of

ORANGE. So when Kempston and Hume died prior to 1808, this was a,

providently, good thing for the Catholics that were in this area because it gave

them a chance to get a lease from the Fitzwilliam holdings in Kilcavan.

On the road between the town of Carnew and Kilcavan Gap, lies an old field

with many granite stones. This land in Kilcavan Upper is privately owned

today, but this originally was the site of the ancient Kilcavan Church. Very

1 The Place-Names of Co. Wicklow” pg 346, by Liam Price

2 Fitzwilliam MS. 4944 dated c. 1728-33

3 Catholic Encyclopedia/Penal Laws/Ireland

75

little is known of this church, but it is believed to have been a circular shaped

church (according to the 1838 Ordinance Survey map), and the area was also

believed to be the site of the local cemetery. Today, many granite stones are

scattered in the field, some very much resembling grave stones, others probably

church building material. In the hedge, (fence row) one can still find an old

“hand hewed” cross made of stone, lost and hidden in ramble weeds. I was

fortunate to be the one who re-found this lost cross in 2007.4

It is believed that the ancient Kilcavan Church was named after Saint Cill

Chaoimhgin, who founded the monastery of Airdne Coemain, now Ardcavan,

County Wexford, in 549-9 and which presently has remains of eight different

religious buildings. Supposedly, Cill Chaoimhgin is the same person named

Caeman of Dairinis whom Saint Finnian of Clonard visited before he went to

nearby Aghowle. So the connection with Saint Finnegan makes it probable that

Cill Chaoimhgin is the correct form of this name, which translates to Kilcavan.5

Less than a kilometer away, the Slate Quarries of Kilcavan provided many

labour jobs and was a work place for many of the inhabitants of this area and

Wicklow generally. It provided steady work during the times of famine. This

slate was exported and also used locally and throughout Ireland. The Kilcavan

Slate quarry was in operation from around 1800 to 1941 when it officially

closed, but according to other reports, the quarries were producing slate as far

back as 1728. Slate was used for many types of building materials and also

produced a byproduct called "Inner Tight", which was a fine powder rock used

as a base for battleship paint, which was shipped to England.6 This quarry

produced a black/dark grey slate. In those days, builders were increasingly

using slate for roofing material.

The gentle rolling hills made Kilcavan perfect for agriculture, tilling, grazing

and farming in the nineteenth century and even today, in the twenty first

century. The climate brings year round crops and the dairy farms produce the

highest quality products.

In the Hearth Money Roll for County Wicklow dated 16697 we can see many

Irish families had residence in the surrounding area, possibly hundreds of years

before they finally got their own leases. Prior to the Luke Gardiner’s Act, the

Protestant Head Tenants in the Fitzwilliam Estate sub-divided their holdings

into plots amongst thousands of Irish Catholics. In other words, neither the

4 Pictures and information at www.kennytree.com .See Family Churches/ Ancient Kilcavan

Church 5 The Place-Names of Co. Wicklow” pg 345, by Liam Price

6 (Information from Joseph Dowse, of Carnew)

7 Ms.4909 National Archives , Bishop Street

76

Catholics nor Protestants owned the land but this was a way they were able to

get around the Penal Laws.8

One of the families already in this area before 1740 was the Kennys. They

were one of the fortunate Catholic families to get a lease in 1808 and lived in a

section of Kilcavan that became known as Kennystown, which was immediately

on the Wexford border. The earliest reference to the name “Kennystown” was

seen in 1808 and the earliest Kenny name recorded in manuscripts dated

between 1733-48 was Mogue Kenny with his family. Then later in 1808, James

Kenny with his family received an actual lease. During the late eighteenth

century and early nineteenth century other Irish Catholics settled into this area.

In 1827 the following people with Kenny connections are shown with these

plots in Kilcavan and Kennystown:

PLOT ONE9

BARTHOLOMEW KENNY aged 49 in 1827 with his wife Nancy Farrell aged

42 with 3 sons and 4 daughters with them in 1827. He was a farmer in 1827 on

19 acres 1 rod . He was called a Quarryman in 1839.

PATRICK MULLERY age 29 with wife aged 27, 3 daughters , Labourer

ELIZABETH KENNY (Widow) age 59 years, on 2 rods.

JOHN KENNY age 46 Years, Labourer .

JAMES CARNEY, age 26 with wife age 40, 1 son, 3 daughters, Labourer.

PLOT TWO10

JAMES KENNY age, bef.1745- and died bef.1827

BARTHOLOMEW KENNY aged 60 and his wife Anne Breen, aged 57, on 34

acres, 10 Perch with 3 sons and 3 daughters. He was called a Mason.

RICHARD KENNY aged 32 with his wife Mary Cahill, aged 20. On 11 acres.

A labourer and farmer.

THOMAS KENNY aged 58 and his wife aged 60, on 11 acres. They had 2

daughters with them in 1827. He was a farmer.

PHILIP KENNY aged 24 and his wife Ellen aged 22. They had 4 acres and 2

daughters lived with them in 1839. He was a LABOURER.

In 1839 PHILIP KENNY aged 34 and his wife Ellen aged 32 lived here on 5

acres 3 rod with THOMAS BALF aged 36 and his wife Sarah Kenny aged 28

on 11 acres 2 rod living beside him. They had 3 daughters with them in 1839

and he was called a LABOURER.

JAMES DOYLE age 36 with wife age 40, Labourer on 3 Acres 1 Rod

8 John O’Neill, Researcher/Dublin

9 Fitzwilliam Manuscripts, 8565 NLI, Dublin

10 Fitzwilliam Manuscripts, 8565 NLI, Dublin

77

PLOT THREE11

EDWARD KAVANGH AND JAMES MURPHY 26 acres 1 Rod , 22 Perch

EDWARD KAVANAGH age 50 with wife age 40, 4 sons, 3 daughters, on 12

acres 3 rods 10 perch.

MARGARET KAVANAGH AGED 80

BARTHOLOMEW KENNY ON 13 acres 12 perch, Farmer "DOES NOT

RESIDE IN THIS, ADJOINS"

PLOT FOUR12

PHILIP KENNY, son of Philip Sr. (Lease taken over before 1827 by Edw.

Balfe) 50 Acres

WIDOW KENNY aged 57 on 1 acre, with one daughter with her in 1827

EDWARD BALF age 54 with wife age 52, on 37 acres, 2 sons, Farmer.

MICHAEL HANDRICK age 36 with wife Margo Balfe age 30, on 12 acres, 3

daughters, Brogue maker (boot maker)

MARY BALF WIDOW, 50 years, 3 sons, 3 daughters.

JAMES SUMMERS, age 35 with wife age 27, labourer.

PLOT FIVE 13

PATRICK KENNY but taken over before 1827 by WILKINS? 13 Acres 1 rod

39 perch.

Also in Kennystown on other plots were:

JOHN LEE,- WIDOW BYRNE,- MAURICE DALTON,- HUGH BYRNE,-

GARRETT BYRNE,- WIDOW BOLGER,- DENIS KAVANGH, - MATHEW

HUNT, all with families.14

And finally a list of couples who had children in Kennystown and Kilcavan

between the years 1832 and 1855.15

Date of Surname Surname

Baptism Father Mother Address 1835 Sep 14 Balf Thomas Kenny Sally Kennystown

1840 Sep 23 Balfe Michael Kealy Catherine Kennystown

1842 Apr 3 Balfe Nick Kealy Kath Kennystown

1845 Feb 10 Balfe Thomas Kenny Sally Kennystown

1837 Apr 24 Birch Terry Doran Mary Kennystown

1846 Jan 23 Blake Thomas Nowlan Ellen Kennystown

11

Fitzwilliam Manuscripts, 8565 NLI, Dublin 12

Fitzwilliam Manuscripts, 8565 NLI, Dublin 13

Fitzwilliam Manuscripts, 8565 NLI, Dublin 14

Fitzwilliam Manuscripts, 8565 NLI, Dublin 15

Tomacork Baptisms 1832-1911

78

1843 Oct 25 Carton Denis Hickey Bes Kennystown

1833 Dec11 Doyle John Kenny Kitty Kennystown

1833 mar 24 Handrick Michael Balf Mary Kennystown

1855 Aug 29 Jacob ? Jacob Jane Kennystown

1844 Apr 24 Kehoe Denis Handrick Mary Kennystown

1840 Dec 14 Kenny Maurice Nolan Ellen Kennystown

1836 Mar 30 Kenny Phil Kenny Ellen Kennystown

1842 Aug 5 Kenny Richard Cahil May Kennystown

1834 Sep 13 Kilbride John Kenny Rose Kennystown

1838 Apr 10 Loughlin Phil Hickey Mary Kennystown

1856 Dec 30 Blake John Kavanagh Joanna Kilcavan

1854 Aug 9 Leveston William Nowlan Bridget Kilcavan

1840 Nov 7 Bennett Dick Doyle Biddy Kilcavan

1847 Jan 10 Brandy Patrick Trainery Ellen Kilcavan

1850 Mar 14 Brenity Thomas Byrne Lisa Kilcavan

1837 Jul 24 Brennan Jas Byrne Margo Kilcavan

1840 Jul 19 Brennan John Byrne Mary Kilcavan

1841 Aug 23 Byrne James Doyle Kitty Kilcavan

1841 May 24 Byrne Matt Murphy Rose Kilcavan

1833 Jan 1 Byrne Michael Kenny Mary Kilcavan

1841 SEp 21 Byrne Michael Conneran Anne Kilcavan

1852 Aug 30 Cahill Moses Kenny Elen Kilcavan

1854 Jan 26 Cahill Moses Nowlan Ellen Kilcavan

1859 Oct 16 Clare Farrell Walker Mary Kilcavan

1840 Jan 22 Clare John Hart Jenny Kilcavan

1834 Feb 26 Collins John Byrne Biddy Kilcavan

1862 May 16 Collins John Kinsella Anne Kilcavan

1853 May 29 Conway Thomas Neill Margaret Kilcavan

1854 Mar 19 Cuff James Roney Margaret Kilcavan

1840 May 20 Doyle James Kenny Catherine Kilcavan

1841 Jul 4 Doyle Justin Nowlan Ann Kilcavan

1855 Jan 28 Edwards Moses Cullen Mary Kilcavan

1852 Oct 30 Farden Michael Byrne Ann Kilcavan

1840 Jan 30 Farrell Peter English Anne Kilcavan

1845 Feb 2 Fitzpatrick William Doran Sarah Kilcavan

1841 Aug 4 Foster James Balfe Margo Kilcavan

1841 Aug 1 Jones Thomas Brien Margo Kilcavan

79

1848 Jul 12 Kavanagh Phelim Byrne Mary Kilcavan

1854 Jun 17 Keating Patrick Kehoe Margaret Kilcavan

1840 Sep 22 Kehoe Patrick Breen Biddy Kilcavan

1841 May ? Keho Denis Hanrick Mary Kilcavan

1841 May 7 Kelly Will Cousins Ellen Kilcavan

1839 Apr 7 Kenny John Byrne Mary Kilcavan

1864 Nov 6 Kenny Maurice Sinnott Ellen Kilcavan

1852 Mar 19 Kenny Patrick Byrne Mary Kilcavan

1849 Feb 26 Kenny Richard Cahill Mary Kilcavan

1853 Aug 10 Kenny Richard Hickey Mary Kilcavan

1845 Oct 26 Lacy Martin Foster M.A. Kilcavan

1851 May 17 Leveston William Nowlan Bridget Kilcavan

1841 Oct 12 Murphy Frank Hikey Anne Kilcavan

1841 Feb 14 Neil John Hegarty Betty Kilcavan

1838 Jun 23 Neill Sill Hogan Jane Kilcavan

1861 Apr 21 Nolan James Kennedy Mary Kilcavan

1853 Sep 21 Nowlan John Clare Margaret Kilcavan

1847 Feb 22 Poor Michael ?? Catherine Kilcavan

1852 Sep 30 Rourke Arthur Kenny Mary Kilcavan

1841 Jan 20 Sinnott James Kehoe Sally Kilcavan

1832 Dec 16 Somers James Kenny Alice Kilcavan

1857 May 17 Southern Larry Collins Eliza Kilcavan

1840 Dec 30 Tumpkin James Griffin Anne Kilcavan

1856 May 18 Cuff Martin Byrne Elizabeth Kilcaven

1841 Nov 16 Balance James Neil Judy Kilcavan

1845 Jan 3 Brennan James Byrne Mary Kilcavan

1834 Dec 15 Brennan John Byrne Mary Kilcavan

1837 Jun 25 Brien William Kavanagh Biddy Kilcavan

1833 Feb 23 Byrne James McCann Anne Kilcavan

1844 Aug 1 Byrne John Doyle Catherine Kilcavan

1846 Sep 5 Byrne John Behan Margo Kilcavan

1844 Jul 25 Byrne Matt Murphy Rose Kilcavan

1834 May 3 Byrne Michael Conran Anne Kilcavan

1835 Jan 10 Byrne Michael Kenny Mary Kilcavan

1835 Jan 29 Byrne Michael Kehoe Betty Kilcavan

1839 Mar 11 Byrne Sill Murphy Anne Kilcavan

80

1857 May 16 Cahill Moses Nolan Ellen Kilcavan

1849 Jan 17 Carney James Doyle Bridget Kilcavan

1855 Aug 31 Clare Farrell Walker Mary Kilcavan

1842 Apr 3 Clare John Kavanagh Johanna Kilcavan

1834 Jun 17 Collins Bill Byrne Mary Kilcavan

1850 Dec 9 Collins John Doyle Bes Kilcavan

1838 Jan 21 Cuff James Rooney Margaret Kilcavan

1833 Jun 6 Cuff John Neal Mary Kilcavan

1839 Mar 1 Cuff Thomas Dempsey Sally Kilcavan

1842 Feb 18 Cuffe James Roney Margo Kilcavan

1862 Jan 19 Cuffe Pat Ailmer Mary Kilcavan

1849 Jul 3 Cuffe Patrick Bolger Susan Kilcavan

1833 Jun 25 Doolin Thomas Leary Ellen Kilcavan

1842 Jul 31 Doyle John Kenny Cath Kilcavan

1835 Jan 11 Griffin George Carroll Mary Kilcavan

1844 Apr 22 Hagarty John Brien Betty Kilcavan

1842 Mar 29 Hickey Patrick Keane Dolly Kilcavan

1842 Jul 10 Hughes Henry Keogh Ann Kilcavan

1844 Oct 3 Kavanagh Phelim Hickey Mary Kilcavan

1852 Jan 20 Keating Patrick Kehoe Margaret Kilcavan

1850 Jun 10 Kehoe Edward Casidy Catherine Kilcavan

1835 Feb 11 Kehoe James Free Hana Kilcavan

1835 Nov 29 Kehoe John Rourke Bet Kilcavan

1842 Dec 5 Kehoe Patrick Breen Biddy Kilcavan

1842 Jul 11 Kenny John Byrne Mary Kilcavan

1851 Dec 11 Kenny Richard Hickey Mary Kilcavan

1833 Feb 11 Keogh ?? Rourke Betty Kilcavan

1838 May 10 Maher Thomas Kavana Betty Kilcavan

1834 May 25 McGuire Matt Doyle Mary Kilcavan

1834 Nov 10 McGuire Michael Trenary Anne Kilcavan

1840 May 24 Murphy Frank Hickey Nancy Kilcavan

1844 Sep 14 Murphy John Collins Ellen Kilcavan

1835 May 3 Murphy Martin Dunn Ally Kilcavan

1837 Dec 3 Murphy Patrick Dobbs Judy Kilcavan

1835 Mar 19 Nolan Lawrence Fox Cath Kilcavan

1851 Nov 11 Nowlan John Clare Margaret Kilcavan

81

1848 Jan 20 Nowlan Patrick Kinselagh Elizabeth Kilcavan

1844 Feb 22 Roark Art Kenny Mary Kilcavan

1841 Oct 12 Roark Arthur Kenny Sally Kilcavan

1833 Aug 10 Sinnot John Keogh Sally Kilcavan

1850 Nov 11 Southern Laurence Collins Bess Kilcavan

1842 Aug 14 Sutherland Larry Collins Eliza Kilcavan

1850 Sep 22 Synnott John Kehoe Lisa Kilcavan

1849 Jun 6 Tompkin James Griffin Anne Kilcavan

1834 Sep 15 Whelan Patrick Shannon Jane Kilcavan

1851 Feb 13 White Morgan Murphy Judy Kilcavan

1846 Nov 2 Carthy John Simpson Margo Kilcavan

Editor’s note : Joe Kenny lives in Omaha, Nebraska, in the USA, and his

website www.kennytree.com contains a vast amount of information on both the

Kenny name and this area of Wexford and Wicklow where his ancestors lived.

He has visited and studied these sections of County Wicklow/Wexford for over

30 years and has done extensive research of the land, cemeteries, churches,

inhabitants, and cultures.

ooooooooooooooooooooo

The Genealogical Society of Ireland is pleased to announce the forthcoming

publication of

At Anchorage in Dublin - The History of Bethel, the Welsh Chapel in

Talbot Street, Dublin by Huw Llewelyn Williams (1904-1979),

now translated by his son Dr. Meirion Llewelyn Williams from Cymraeg

(Welsh).

This book will be No. 32 in the Society's extensive Irish Genealogical

Sources series.

Coming Soon

82

LETTERS, LIVES AND LIBERTY AT

AN POST MUSEUM Stephen Ferguson

The destruction of the GPO in 1916 and the subsequent loss of the Public

Record Office, to which some postal records had been transferred for safe

keeping, means that a great deal of historical and genealogical material

concerning the operation of the Post Office in Ireland no longer exists. The

Post Office, however, has long been conscious of the unique place it holds in

Irish society and the opening last year of a small postal museum in Dublin’s

historic General Post Office is recognition of that fact.

The idea of creating a small postal museum is one that has been around for quite

some time. Indeed, as far back as February 1926, one of my predecessors in the

Secretary’s Office wrote to Head Postmasters to tell them that :

“We are endeavouring to get together material to form the nucleus of an

official museum” and asked for “examples of date-stamps, telegraph

instruments, uniforms, maps etc.” With an awareness of its particular role

in recent history, he went on to ask that “official mementos of the

troublous years, 1916-23, would also be appreciated”.

A few items were collected at that time but until recently it never proved

possible to overcome the challenges posed by finance and space. Letters, Lives

and Liberty, the exhibition which forms the core of the new museum is modest

in scale but is tribute to all those who, over nearly a century, looked forward to

the creation of a small Irish postal museum.

Housed in a purpose-designed space beside An Post’s Philatelic Shop and just

off the GPO’s busy Public Office, Letters, Lives and Liberty introduces the

story of the Post Office and how it has helped to shape the development of

modern Ireland. The space is small and the remit of the design team at Martello

Media was to make use of it in the most effective way. This is achieved by the

clever blend of digital technology, recently recognised by the Gold rosette at the

2011 Digital Media Awards, with elements of traditional museum display.

More perhaps than any other State organisation, the Post Office has had an

enduring and positive influence on Irish society. While it faces undoubted

challenges at present, the business continues to draw on the strength of its

connection with local communities throughout Ireland and to rely on the people

who are themselves a part of those communities – the local postman or

postmistress, the clerks on the counter, or in earlier days the telephonists and

engineering staff behind the scenes.

83

The role of the GPO as the headquarters of the 1916 insurgents and the place

where Irish liberty was declared in the words of the famous Proclamation of

independence is known to many. Less well known, perhaps, is the role of the

Post Office in providing and promoting other, less obvious but equally

important, liberties: liberties like cheap postage which encouraged literacy and

maintained ties amongst an emigrant people: liberties like the Post Office

Savings Bank which brought a degree of financial knowledge and independence

to people who would otherwise have had no access to the banking system: and

liberties like convenient access to a wide range of State services, made available

through the Post Office’s unrivalled network.

Of course, no postal museum dare forget about the postage stamp, that little

square of coloured paper which, over the generations, has done so much more

than indicate mere payment of postage. For the artist and engraver as well as for

the printer, it represented an exciting challenge ; for the letter writer and

recipient it stimulated an educated curiosity and for the stamp collector it

continues to hold a fascination that few other interests can challenge.

The Post in Ireland

The exhibition traces in outline the development of communications in Ireland.

This was linked to the Elizabethan conquest of the country and a basic postal

system, designed to get letters across the Irish sea, was established in 1561. The

following year Nicholas Fitzsymon was appointed postmaster in Dublin.

Subsequent development was slow and erratic: wars, weather, politics and

corruption hampered progress and it was Oliver Cromwell, remembered none

too kindly in Ireland, who reduced charges and introduced a degree of postal

reform in 1657.

Over the next century and a half the system became well established. Post-boys

carried the mail on foot or horseback. Post offices were established, inspectors

or “surveyors” - like the novelist Anthony Trollope - were appointed and cheap

“penny posts” approved for certain districts. The Post Office played its part in

improving roads too for it needed good roads for its coaches, the first mail

coach running from Dublin to Cork in 1789. Attacks on the mail were frequent

and guards, armed with a pistol or blunderbuss, were needed for the protection

of mail and passengers. Indeed, it was an attack on the mail coaches which was

the signal for the start of the great rebellion of 1798.

The development of the Irish Post Office mirrors, of course, that of the Royal

Mail in general. For most of the nineteenth century right up until independence

in 1922, the Irish Secretary, based in Dublin, reported to London and the service

provided was based on the system that obtained throughout the United

Kingdom. Periodically, there were complaints about this in Ireland and there

84

were aspects, like the Mail Boat service between Britain and Ireland, which

were of particular importance to the Irish Post Office. There were also

memories of the years between 1784 and 1831 when the Irish Post Office had

an independent existence and reported to its own Postmasters General. This

was a colourful period in Irish post office history when affairs were managed

through a family dynasty headed by Sir John and subsequently his son, Sir

Edward Lees. Monuments to the wider Lees family may be seen in Monkstown

parish church, not far from where the Rev. Sir Harcourt Lees lived in

Blackrock.

It was Sir Edward who was responsible for the building of Dublin’s GPO, one

of the last public buildings to adorn Dublin’s Georgian streetscape. Completed

at a cost of some £50,000 and opened for business on the 6th

January 1818,

contemporary reaction was very favourable and engravings dedicated to the

Postmasters General were being sold in Dublin and London not long after the

building’s completion. It is, by any standards, a very fine Post Office and

predated its London cousin, the GPO in St. Martin’s le Grand, by over a decade,

making it one of the oldest continuously functioning General Post Offices in the

world.

A cheap, efficient and confident Post Office gradually became a highly

respected institution and the postman, with his lamp and whistle, a symbol of

order in the universe. Slowly but surely the Post Office emerged as one of the

great departments of State and a business well able to take on new areas of

responsibility – savings, annuities, telegraphs, telephones, and pensions –

wherever they emerged. By 1916, in addition to its normal mails work, the Post

Office in Ireland managed 488,270 active savings bank accounts and 26,288

telephone accounts, forwarded 5,397,000 telegrams and paid out 10,169,477 old

age pension orders, a remarkable figure and almost 20% of what was paid in the

whole of the United Kingdom as it then was.

The years of unrest, from 1916 to 1923, were difficult ones for the Post Office

and after independence the new Department of Posts and Telegraphs faced

several lean years. It was given responsibility for broadcasting and opened a

Dublin wireless station in January 1926 and another in Cork the following year.

The mail boat from Dun Laoghaire continued to be the main channel for foreign

mails with an onward air mail service available via London. A direct air mail

service to Britain (via Liverpool) was introduced in 1946. At home, the

postman saw little significant change until the 1960s. A new sorting office was

opened in Dublin and the Department began a scheme of “motorising” rural

posts where a van would replace two or three bicycle duties.

85

On the telecommunications side, much money was invested in new telephone

exchanges but, as Ireland developed rapidly during the 1970s, the Department

struggled to keep pace and it was felt that the capital essential for a modern

telecommunications system might best be found by a fundamental restructuring.

In 1984, accordingly, the Department was split into two new state-owned

companies, An Post and Telecom Eireann. The latter in due course became a

private company, eircom. For its part, An Post continues to provide the core

postal, savings and retail services which have been the back-bone of the Post

Office for so many generations.

The Dun Laoghaire - Holyhead Mail Boat

Within the exhibition short AV productions highlight certain aspects of the Irish

Post Office story. One for instance, is on the mail boat service which was

always of particular interest to Irish people. From the sixteenth century

onwards a regular mail service became essential to English influence in Ireland

and contemporary documents refer to a “barque for transporting messengers

and letters from Holyhead” to Ireland. This barque was a frail little ship whose

captain might plot a course for Dublin but be glad to make landfall anywhere on

the east coast.

The packet ships braved the elements and occasional pirates to bring

passengers, mail and news between the two countries. The journey was a tough

one with many delays for weather, for loading horses and goods and

dismantling coaches for the journey. John Wesley, founder of Methodism and a

frequent visitor to Ireland noted in his diary for 1749:

“We took ship. The wind was small in the afternoon, but exceedingly high

toward night. About eight I laid me down on the quarterdeck. I was soon wet

from head to foot, but I took no cold at all.”

As sail gave way to steam, first to paddle and later turbine propulsion, the

regularity, comfort and speed of the crossing improved. Not many passengers,

however, could have matched the 1825 traveller who landed at Howth, headed

for Bilton’s Hotel in Sackville Street and tucked into a good lunch of “salmon,

soles, potatoes, sherry, white wine and champagne”.

During the later nineteenth century the contract to carry the mails became a

source of fierce rivalry between the companies which bid for it. The City of

Dublin Steam Packet Company was supported by Dublin merchants and the

Irish MPs who regularly travelled to parliament in Westminster. Ranged

against it was the might of the London and North Western Railway which was

strongly favoured by British mercantile and political interests. Caught in the

middle was the Post Office which tried, not always successfully, to steer clear

86

of political squabbling. Such, indeed, was the outcry in Ireland when the

LNWR got the mail contract in 1883, despite the long and loyal service of the

Dublin company, that its decision was reversed.

Passionate competition for the valuable mail contract on the Dublin Holyhead

route ensured that the ships which raced across the Irish sea were in a class of

their own. Built at dockyards in Birkenhead and at Harland and Wolff in

Belfast, their names – the Munster, Hibernia, Cambria – are fondly

remembered. Remembered, too, is the disaster that befell the Leinster a month

before the end of the First World War.

German U-boats had been active in the Irish sea from 1917 and, while the Post

Office had pressed for a naval escort, the Government argued that the ships

could rely on their speed to avoid trouble. On the 10th October 1918, the

Leinster left Kingstown as usual and, still within sight of the coast, was

torpedoed twice by a submarine. The loss of life was terrible: just over 500

people died including all but one of the 22 Dublin Post Office staff who worked

in the ship’s Sorting Office. A plaque in the Museum records their names. A

photograph of the mail boat staff, taken a few years before the disaster, is

something that survives today and, during the making of a recent RTE

genealogical series, I was able to identify the ancestor of one lady who was

tracing her family history.

Irish independence affected the nature of Post Office operations on the Dun

Laoghaire boats and sorting on the ships didn’t survive long. Mail was carried,

of course, for many years more but the glamour and importance of these ships

faded in the decades of economic depression as the mail boat took on another

meaning for those who left Ireland in the hope of work and a better life. Dun

Laoghaire today retains its charm and the spirit of the old mail boats lives on in

the bustle and colour of its harbour.

Easter Week – 1916

The GPO, quite apart from its postal and architectural significance, holds a

place of particular symbolic importance for many Irish people throughout the

world because of its role as the headquarters of the 1916 insurgents. That week

in April 1916 became the catalyst for a change of mood in Irish politics and in

the relationship between Britain and Ireland which led in 1922 to the partition

of the country. A new, essentially independent, Irish Free State was established

whilst a smaller Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom.

The unique perspective of the GPO staff, recreated in the exhibition’s Pepper’s

Ghost drama, is based on original and little-known eye-witness accounts of the

occupation of the building. This material, supplemented by the reports and

87

memoirs of A. H. Norway, Secretary of the Post Office in Ireland, helps to

provide a context for events which have had such a profound impact on Irish

history.

Easter Monday, 24th

April 1916 was a pleasant Spring day in Dublin. Outside

the GPO in Sackville Street people strolled enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of

the Bank Holiday whilst inside the Post Office a reduced staff was on duty. At

about 11.45 am A.H. Norway, the Secretary (and father of the novelist Nevil

Shute), was in his room on the first floor when he was summoned by telephone

to Dublin Castle. On his way to that meeting, he might, had he glanced down

Lower Abbey Street towards the old Liberty Hall, have seen a group of people

assembling in purposeful fashion and, had he delayed a few minutes longer, he

would have been alarmed to see them charge into the very building he had just

left.

Within the GPO’s public office, customers and staff were quickly turned out as

guns were brandished, windows smashed and barricades erected. Post Office

records, however, make clear that the building was not cleared nearly as quickly

as some accounts have claimed. While the rebels turned to the practical matters

of defence and, in the reading of the Proclamation, the declaration of their

purpose, GPO telegraph staff, under the Superintendent, Sam Guthrie, and the

courageously dutiful Miss Gordon, barricaded themselves in upstairs and

hurriedly contacted the authorities before all their lines were cut.

Realising they had neglected to clear the upper floors, a rebel party headed

upstairs and fired into the telegraph room. One unarmed soldier was injured and

there followed the remarkable incident, dramatised in the museum, of his being

escorted for attention to the local hospital and duly returned to the GPO,

according to her promise, by Miss Gordon, as a prisoner. What happened to the

redoubtable Miss Gordon, whether she stayed in Dublin or returned to her

native Scotland, is something I have not so far been able to trace but with others

I have had more success and been able to highlight the role of GPO staff –

Doak, Pemberton, Kenny, Heaney, Miss Brennan and others – in one of the

great events of Irish history. Where records were lost in Dublin, the Royal

Mail’s archive1 can sometimes be very useful and staff who served in the pre-

independence Post Office can sometimes be traced through London records.

Characters of Irish philately

One of the great stamp collectors was an Irishman, Gerald Fitzgerald, 5th Duke

of Leinster, whose collection at the end of the nineteenth century was one of the

1 http://postalheritage.org.uk/ - The British Postal Museum & Archive, Freeling House,

Phoenix Place, London WC1X 0DL

88

finest in the world. He left his collection to the Dublin Museum of Science and

Art and it is now in the care of the National Museum in Dublin. That collection

is not on public display in the National Museum and I am glad to be able to

have reproductions of a few of its choice items, like the famous inverted frame

of 1854-55 on the “Swan” of Western Australia, on display in our exhibition

panels in the GPO.

Worth mentioning, too, is Henry Archer whose name may be known to stamp

collecting specialists. Son of a Dublin Lord Mayor, it was Archer’s success

with experimental perforation techniques – perforations are the little holes

which allow you to separate a stamp without tearing it – which led to the

widespread introduction of perforated stamps. A shrewd businessman as well

as a practical inventor, he sold his idea and all rights to the Post Office for

£4000 in 1853 and the world’s first perforated stamps duly appeared in January

1854.

An Post’s own philatelic archives are made up principally of its Irish Collection,

starting with the George V overprints in 1922, and the Bern Collection. The

range and beauty of Irish stamps can best be appreciated, perhaps, by spending

some time exploring the computer data base in the exhibition. The Bern

Collection contains a representative selection of world stamps exchanged with

other countries through the medium of the Universal Postal Union, the

organisation which has governed international postal relations since 1874. An

Post welcomes donations of interesting philatelic material, especially

uncommon Irish philatelic and postal history items, which may not be

represented in its collection.

Rare stamps are valuable, of course, and for a short time, over fifty years ago,

Dublin was the centre of international philatelic interest through the efforts of

an Austrian entrepreneur, Dr. Paul Singer, who may be remembered still by

some. Arriving in Ireland after the failure of a business in England, he

established in 1954 a company called Shanahan’s Stamp Auctions in Dun

Laoghaire. He held out the prospect of quick and easy money for those

prepared to invest in stamps though his firm. Many people did.

A flamboyant and fascinating man, Singer in 1959 was in the midst of

purchasing one of the greatest stamp collections in the world when a robbery at

his firm’s premises precipitated the collapse of his empire. Confidence

evaporated and Singer’s business turned out to be nothing more than a pyramid

scheme, dependent entirely on a constant flow of new money. In the ensuing

High and Supreme Court cases, Singer represented himself with ability and

panache. He was acquitted in January 1962 but immediately vanished leaving

89

behind some 9000 Irish investors who learned the hard way that collecting

stamps is a hobby and not a way to get rich quick!

For the general visitor, as well as for students of history or philately, the An

Post museum offers a stimulating introduction into the workings of an

organisation that has, over many years, done the people some service. Its

presence is an indication of the rich story that can be told from a postal

perspective and there is, despite the loss of so much archival material, potential

for the genealogist to suggest, if not always pursue, lines of enquiry. In the

years ahead I would hope that An Post will be able to continue what it has

initiated in the museum and to develop other aspects of what is a wide-ranging

and fascinating heritage.

Letters, Lives and Liberty at the An Post Museum is open Monday to Friday

10.00-5.00 : Saturday 10.00-4.00 : Admission: €2

The model, based on contemporary drawings, shows the façade of the GPO

shortly after the building was completed in 1818.

Editor’s Note : Stephen Ferguson is An Post’s Assistant Secretary and Curator

of the new Museum. The following books of postal interest have been written

by him and are available at the General Post Office and also on-line from

www.AnPost.ie .

90

‘At the Heart of Events - Dublin's General Post Office' - While there are books which

mention the GPO in the context of the1916 Rising and books which consider its architectural

distinction, there is none which makes the building the focus of our attention and lets it, as it

were, tell the story of the events, great and small, which have happened in and around it over

the centuries. From sealing wax to the early days of broadcasting and from the Dead Letter

Office to the Proclamation, this book is a fascinating guide to the GPO. It is illustrated with

photographs of items drawn from An Post's own and other collections will be welcomed by

all who would like to know something of the history of the Post Office in Ireland, the story of

today's GPO and its predecessor in College Green and, of course, the events of 1916 which

gave to the building the unique status it holds today.

‘Robbery on the Road’ - is a catalogue of Post Office Reward Notices and gives details of

An Post's reward notice collection which are rare survivors of the pre-1916 General Post

Office.

‘The Irish Post Box - Silent Servant and Symbol of the State’ - tells the story of how a

cast-iron box grew to become such a vital part of Post Office. The post box, in its green

livery, is a familiar and comforting sight at street corner and cross roads throughout the

country. Since its introduction to Ireland by the novelist Anthony Trollope over one hundred

and fifty years ago it has continued, quietly and efficiently, to do its job through good times

and bad, through turmoil and tranquillity.

‘Self respect and a little extra leave’ - Drawing on previously unpublished Post Office

records this book opens up an entirely new perspective on the events of Easter Week, 1916.

The eye-witness accounts and official reports prepared by GPO staff within the days of the

Rising provide a fresh and fascinating account of events as they unfolded across the city.

The early days !!

An Post was established on the 1st January 1984 and the event was celebrated

by a special Penny Post.

91

BURIAL RIGHTS OF KINGSTOWN AND BLACKROCK

INHABITANTS AT ‘THE OLD BURIAL GROUND AT THE

KILL OF THE GRANGE’ IN 1864 Liam Clare

In 1860, the coastal area of South County Dublin was served by a number of

small local cemeteries huddled around the ruins of ancient churches. There was

Old Merrion beside the Tara Tower Hotel, Monkstown cemetery on

Carrickbrennan Road, Dalkey Churchyard, Killiney Hill, St Fintan’s (‘The

Kill’) at Kill of the Grange, and many others. These graveyards were described

as grossly overcrowded and a threat to public health with ‘hardly a vacant spot

remaining’. The ground level had been raised over the centuries by innumerable

burials.

One by one, the old cemeteries were closed to future burials on grounds of

public health, but exceptions were made for families who could claim burial

rights on the basis of long established custom and practice.

Each closure put extra pressure on the remaining burial grounds, and the closing

of Dalkey churchyard in 1861, brought the situation at ‘the Kill’ to a head. The

Kill of Clonkeen, was founded as a ‘wattle and thatched’ building some 1300

years ago; around the eleventh century it was replaced by the stone church now

seen in ruins; it fell into disuse after the Reformation; it remained the property

of the Church of Ireland but over the years its churchyard became effectively

the Catholic cemetery for Kingstown and Blackrock, unlike nearby

Carrickbrennan which remained predominantly Protestant.

Although it had from time immemorial been the last resting place for the

inhabitants of the locality, its time had come and it was formally closed within

days of the opening of the modern, sanitary and more upmarket cemetery of

Deansgrange in December 1864. As in other cases of burial ground closures, a

list of recognised claimants to burial rights for themselves, their spouses and

children was promulgated, and this list which is set out below, points to the

names of many long-established families then living in the area. [Similar lists

from other local burial grounds will be published in later issues of the Journal.]

SCHEDULE OF PERSONS WITH BURIAL RIGHTS AT THE ‘OLD GRAVE

YARD AT THE KILL OF THE GRANGE’.

1 Milligan, Peter, Kingstown. 2 Ratchford, James, Kingstown.

3 Roche, Edward, Sandycove, and his brother and sister, Bartholomew Roche

and Mary Ryan. 4 Goggin, Daniel, Kingstown.

92

5 Byrne, Thomas, Kingstown.

6 Murphy, Gregory, Williamstown, and his brothers, Timothy and Thomas.

7 Muldoon, William, Kingstown. 8 Monahan, Margaret, Monkstown.

9 Kevans, James, Monkstown. 10 Doyle, Patrick, Kingstown.

11 Kerns, Henry, Kingstown . 12 Neill, Thomas, Blackrock.

13 Byrne, Frank, Blackrock, and his mother, Margaret Byrne.

14 Griffin, Patrick, Kingstown, and his mother, Elizabeth Pugh.

15 Daly, Richard, Kingstown. 16 Byrne, Michael, Kingstown.

17 Lyons, Stephen, Glasthule.

18 Wilson, William, Kill of the Grange, and his brother and sisters, John and

Essy Wilson, Anne Hunter and Mary Claven.

19 Fannin, Michael, Blackrock.

20 Grennan James, Blackrock, and his brother, Michael Grennan.

21 Stanley, John, Blackrock, and his brothers, Christopher, Richard, and

James. 22 Connell, John, Blackrock.

23 Byrne, Catherine, Blackrock. 24 Stanley, Margaret, Blackrock.

25 Neill, Mrs. Jane, Blackrock, and her sister, Mary Grindley.

26 Mooney, James, Blackrock.

27 Harris, Patrick, Blackrock, and his brother and sisters, Peter, Sarah,

Mary, and Teresa.

28 Flynn, Joseph, Blackrock, and his sister, Catherine Murphy.

29 Kenny, Patrick, Blackrock, and his sister, Honer Mullen.

30 Fitzpatrick, Thomas, Blackrock, and his mother, Mrs. Fitzpatrick, and his

brother and sisters, Edward, Julia, and Mary.

31 Myhans, Patrick, Monkstown. 32 Lamie, Patrick, Blackrock.

33 Kinsella, Thomas, Blackrock. 34 Johnstone, Mary, Blackrock.

35 Merric, James, Blackrock. 36 Rickaby, Robert, Blackrock.

37 Hardy, Robert, Blackrock. 38 Deering, Mary, Blackrock.

39 Nowlan, Patrick, Blackrock.

40 Roc, William, Blackrock, and his sister, Catherine.

41 Kearney, Laurence, Blackrock. 42 Cunningham, Edward, Blackrock.

43 Fraughan, Patrick, Blackrock, 44 Staunton, Bridget, Blackrock.

45 Roche, Sarah, Blackrock. 46 Kirwan, Catherine, Blackrock,

47 Hughes, Michael, Blackrock, and his sister, Rebecca Kelly.

48 Sherlock, William, Glasthule. 49 Byrne, Mary, Perrin's-row.

50 Condren, Christopher, Newtown Park, and his sister, Catherine Condren.

51 Troy, Patrick, Newtown Park.

52 Mallon, Edward, Newtown Park, and his sister, Hannah Roe.

53 Mansfield, Catherine, Glenageary.54 Kelly, Morgan, Kingstown .

55 Butler, Harriet, Kingstown. 56 Byrne, George, Kingstown.

57 Meade, Michael, Kingstown.

58 Carroll, Ellen, Sackville-street, Dublin, and her brother, Thomas Timmins.

59 Cockburne, William, Kingstown. 60 Connor, Bridget, Corneill's court.

93

61 Walsh, James, Kingstown. 62 Mannion, Nicholas, Kingstown.

63 M'Donnell, Lochy, Kingstown.

64 Toole, Daniel, Cabinteely, and his brother and sister, John Toole and

Anne Miller.

65 Cavanagh, Luke, Cabinteely. 66 Hanvin, Patrick, Glasthule.

67 Dodd, Mary, Kingstown. 68 Walsh, Mark, Glasthule.

69 Cotter, Ellen, Kingstown.

70 Tracey, Alexander, Kill of the Grange, and his brother and sister, Francis

Tracey and Bridget Brien. 71 Gilligan, Bridget, Kingstown.

72 Clifford, Catherine, Kingstown, and her sister, Bridget.

73 Roche, Mary, Kingstown. 74 Forsythe, Honor, Monkstown.

75 Jordan, Albert, Kingstown. 76 Mullady, Pierce, Kingstown.

77 Byrne, Matthew, Kingstown, and his brother and sister, A. Byrne and Mrs.

Lalor. 78 Cooney, Bridget, Kingstown.

79 Whelan, Ellen, Kingstown, and her mother, Mrs. Whelan.

80 Stanley, Mary, Kingstown, and her sisters, Jane Clarke, Margaret Kelly,

and Vincentia Byrne.

81 Kavanagh, Martin, CabinteeIy, and his mother, Bridget Kavanagh, and his

brothers, Pat. and Luke, and sister, Bessy.

82 Curren, Edward, Kingstown. 83 Carty, Michael, Glasthule.

84 Gibson, William, Kingstown. 85 M'Cabe, Patrick, Kingstown.

86 Connolly, Catherine, Kingstown.

87 Tierney, John, Kingstown, and his sister, Mary.

88 Kelly, Patrick, Kingstown.

89 Ffennell, Henry, Kingstown, and his father, John Ffennell.

90 Kearns, Patrick, Kingstown. 91 Mahon, John, Blackrock.

92 Molloy, Michael, Newtown Park, and his sister, Margaret Neille.

93 Gascoyne, James, Stradbrook. 94 Quinlan, Michael, Kingstown.

95 Farrell, Christopher, Stradbrook.

96 Brady, James, Kill of the Grange, and his brothers, Thomas, Patrick, Roland,

and Joseph and his sisters, Kate Byrne, Mary Byrne, and Rose Fitzpatrick.

97 Lannen, James, Kill of the Grange, and his brother, Christopher Lannen.

98 Cavanagh, Laurence, Kill of the Grange, and his brother, Patrick Cavanagh.

99 Cavanagh, Teresa, Kill of the Grange.

100 Murphy, Mrs. Mary, Kill of the Grange.

101 Breen, Patrick, Kill of the Grange.

102 Brien, Patrick, Kill of the Grange.

103 Doyle, John, Blackrock. 104 Byrne, Patrick, Kingstown.

105 Farrell, Edward, Kingstown.

106 Connell, Denis, Kingstown, and his sister, Jane Miller.

107 Dunne, John, Kingstown. 108 Carroll, Esther, Sallynoggin.

109 Kennedy, William, Kingstown. 110 KeIly, Joseph, Kingstown.

111 Rogan, James, Kingstown. 112 Stephens, Eliza, Kingstown.

94

113 Doyle, Fanny, Kingstown.

114 Gainer, James, Kingstown, and his sister, Mrs. Crowe.

115 Cahill, Sarah, Kingstown.

116 Timmins, Mary, Monkstown, and her brother, John Kane.

117 Toole, Laurence, Kill of the Grange, and his brother, James.

118 Bambrick, William, Kingstown. .

119 Hanly, Joseph, Kingstown, and his brothers Michael and Mathew, and his

sister, Mary Hickey.

120 Hanly, Nicholas, Cabinteely, and his brother, M. Hanly.

121 Carroll, Anne, Kingstown. 122 Byrne, James, Kingstown.

123 Casey, Margaret, Sallynoggin. 124 Kelly, Ellen, Glasthule.

125 Keogh, Eliza, Kingstown. 126 Kennedy, Catherine, Kingstown.

127 Gallagher, Michael, Kill of the Grange, and his brother Thomas and sister,

Nancy Murphy. 128 Miller, Harriet, Kingstown.

129 Kelly, Patrick, Glasthule. 130 Stewart, Joseph, Kingstown.

131 Ryan, Julia, Kingstown. 132 White, Thomas, Blackrock.

133 Kelly, James, Kingstown.

134 Egan, Nicholas and Thomas, Kingstown.

135 Hickey, John, Kill of the Grange. 136 Smith, Madge, Kill of the Grange.

137 Rogers, Owen and James, Kill of the Grange.

138 Quinn, Mary, Kill of the Grange, and her sister, Mrs. Sarah Rorke, widow.

139 Doyle, Margaret, Blackrock. 140 Neille, Thomas, sen., Blackrock.

141 Crowe, John, Kingstown, and his sister, Mrs. Catherine Collins.

142 Carr, Honer, Newtownpark.

143 Scanlan, Mary, Newtownpark, and her brother and sister Winefred and

Patrick. 144 Byrne, Mary, Newtownpark.

145 Wilson, Margaret, Newtownpark. 146 Newenham, Anne, Newtown Park.

147 Cunnean, Patrick, Newtown Park, and his sisters, Ellen Cunnean and Etty

Magee. 148 Lawless, Judy, Newtown Park.

149 Jones, John, Newtown Park. 150 Mahony, Patrick, Mountown.

151 Murray, Michael, Glenageary.

152 Larkin, Patrick, Kill of the Grange, and his brother, John Larkin, and sister,

Bridget Deegan. 153 Parsons, Laurence.

Source : Order of the Lord Lieutenant and Council of Ireland, dated 15

December 1864, The Dublin Gazette, 24 February 1865.

Note : Irish Genealogical Sources No. 9 ‘Petitioners Against Closure of Kill O’ The Grange

Cemetery, County Dublin, 1864’ by Annette McDonnell was published by the Society in

1998. It lists over 2,000 names of those opposed to the closure of the Cemetery.

95

WICKLOW - AUSTRALIA - ENGLAND - NORWAY

Steven Johnson & G.H. O’Reilly

Like most other family researchers I have ended up with a lot of information

which does not, at this time, appear to have any connection with my family line.

But, of course, one does not throw anything away. However, how this

miscellaneous data is stored becomes important when you see a possible

connection but just can’t remember where that little piece of paper is now filed !

Not all of my many lists, bits of paper, etc., have been converted into a format

suitable for listing in a computer database but I have over 6,000 records filed in

one program at the moment. The real problem is in trying to find connections

so, in the case of Hilliards of Carnew and surrounding areas, I did make an

attempt to see if I could connect all the information on hands – no matter what

the format – and eventually produced a 4x4 feet sheet with all the various

entries thereon – in pencil ! In doing this I attempted to link the various births,

marriages, etc., by using occupation, address, sponsors, and so on, and from that

to show family lines. The end product of this exercise was that there seemed

to be about three or four main Hilliard families in and around Carnew circa

1800. Looking at the forenames it does seem to me that if I could get back to,

say 1750, I would probably find that there was only one Hilliard line.

The point of explaining my efforts above is that I watch the Internet genealogy

newsgroups, etc., and quite often find myself in a position to help further

someone’s research. This of itself is interesting and led to getting permission

to see parts of the Royal Hospital for a missing wallplate; getting great

assistance in Christ Church to find another memorial; spending two days

exploring a graveyard in Drumcondra, etc., and, while these bits of research did

not advance mine, they reflected the sort of help I had experienced from queries

I had placed on these newsgroups1. So when Michael Merrigan passed me a

query he had found seeking information on a Sarah Jane Hilliard born possibly

in Dublin or Wicklow the name rang a bell and I looked up my 4x4 ! An email

to Steven Johnson in Australia confirmed that ‘his’ Sarah Jane was born around

1838 and that her father’s name was James Hilliard (farmer) from Wicklow.

Sarah had left Ireland for Australia and, after a voyage of 120 days aboard the

‘Commodore Perry’ as an assisted passenger, arrived on August 24th 1859, at

Warrnambool, Victoria, approximately 220kms S/W of Melbourne. The ship

probably left from Liverpool but, unfortunately, no further information was

given in the relevant document which only showed that the fare had been paid

by an unnamed employer.

1 A very good example is in my article ‘Whatever Happened to Uncle Tom’ which appeared

in the Summer edition, 1997, of the GSI journal.

96

My record showed a Sarah Hilliard born2 on October 27

th, 1836 in Carnew, Co.

Wicklow. She was a twin – her sister was Susan.3 Their father was James

Hilliard with occupation ‘cooper’. However, another child (James) of James

Hilliard born on September 29th

, 1839 showed the occupation as ‘farmer’.

There was an earlier birth – that of Catherine on February 23rd

, 1834 – and in

this case the father was shown as James Hilliard and mother, as far as I could

read, was ‘Sandi’ which was rather unlikely and was probably ‘Sarah’. I also

found a James born in 1831 and a Joseph who died May 12th, 1839 aged one

week. Although these records are from the Church of Ireland records the latter

death is recorded in the Roman Catholic Register. The address for some

entries above is ‘Hot Pot Lane’ which was in the small townland of Croneyhorn

near Carnew. However, the former is not mentioned in Price4 and there are few

houses in Croneyhorn even now. But the above seemed to confirm that Sarah

Hilliard was the daughter of James and Sarah Hilliard.

The rest of what appears here comes from subsequent correspondence with

Steven Johnson in Australia and shows one of the most complicated bits of

genealogical research as is revealed in the following description.

Steven, as he states, ‘stumbled across her (Sarah) information by a fluke’. He

could find no birth record for his great grandfather Edmund Henry Perry and

had just about given up when he found his name in an orphanage record. It

stated that his mother Sarah Jane Carr was found dead in the street and that he

had two half-sisters. He checked for the birth of Sarah Carr and found her

maiden name was Hilliard. Then he found a birth record for Edmund5 Henry

Owen born November 25th 1867 which stated that the mother was Sarah Hilliard

and the father Henry Owen. Henry was 61, thereby being over 30 years older

than Sarah, whose age was given as 27. For some reason the Owen surname

was later changed to Perry, by whom it cannot now be ascertained, but possibly

because Henry had a history !

Henry Owens was born about 1808 and led a somewhat unusual life. On 22nd

August 1829 he was sentenced for housebreaking at Somerset in England and

subsequently was transported from London on 5 March 1830 on the convict

2 Unfortunately, I now can’t recall whether any of the dates given here were for birth or

baptism but I recorded them as ‘birth’ even though they were in the Church Register and so

are probably correct – it’s a pity that I didn’t copy both dates but I have learned since then ! 3 I noticed on the Net that a Susan Hilliard got married on September 26

th 1853 to Patrick

Cooney who died in the USA in 1902. Could this possibly be this Susan ? And Steven

received an email from Hawaii from a great granddaughter of a Susan Cooney (nee Hilliard) ! 4 ‘The Place-Names of Co. Wicklow’, Liam Price, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies,

1945. 5 Also referred to as Edward.

97

ship ‘Sir Charles Forbes’ and arrived in Hobart, Australia on 27 July 1830. In

1832 he is recorded as being in the service of Peter Rush, in Hobart - recorded

because he was found guilty of disobedience of an order. In 1837 on 22nd

August he was found guilty of ‘pilfering one goose’ and sentenced to three

years hard labour – two of which were to be served in chains. He got a ‘ticket

of leave’ on 20th July 1841 but in 1844 this was withdrawn for misconduct.

The records also show that he applied for permission to marry one Mary

Marshall on 8th

January 1836 and another application to marry Ann Morby in

December 1841 and again in 1844. But it was, in fact, Ann Corby that he

married in New Norfolk, Tasmania, on 19th

February 1844. In 1852 he

received a ‘conditional pardon’ and the following year he sailed on the steamer

‘Yarra Yarra’ from Launceston to Melbourne and, as the wife, Ann, is not

mentioned, it would appear that she had died before then. He must have led an

interesting life indicated by the following court case recorded in the Argus

newspaper6 on 28 October 1861–

Before Mr. Sturt, M.P

His worship took the Bench at 10 o'clock.

Henry Owens and Jane Owens were charged with being the keepers of a

common brothel, and Anne Connelly and Mary Anne Brooks, two quite

young girls, were charged with vagrancy. Constable Summerhayes

arrested the prisoners in a house situated in Little Latrobe Street, near

Elizabeth Street, Melbourne. The place bore an infamous character.

The constable stated that Brooks, the youngest girl, had not been in the

house above two days, having been abducted from her home by a man

named Nelson. The girl's mother said her daughter had borne an

excellent character at several situations, until Nelson obtained possession

of her. The old woman Owens, Summerhayes stated, would have turned

the girl naked into the street unless she had been prevented, because she

would not pay her 6s. for a bed. The girl Connelly then paid her for the

bed. Constable Eager deposed that he accompanied Summerhayes to the

house, and heard the female prisoner make the demand for money for an

immoral purpose. It was tendered, but not given. On their way to the

watch house, the woman Owens wanted witness to compromise the

matter. The male prisoner, who was blind, endeavoured to make his

escape, but was prevented. It appeared that the girl Brooks had been

recently brought under the notice of the police magistrate, who then

advised her to go home to her mother. Her demeanour in court was

characterised by great levity, and Mr. Sturt said he was much inclined to

6 The Argus (1848-1956) newspaper and many others are available for viewing on the

National Library of Australia site – trove.nla.gov.au

98

send her to prison. She stated that the women had sent a man named

Washington to tell her she had a room to let to herself and Connelly. Mr.

Sturt administered a severe rebuke to the prisoner Owens and her

husband, and sentenced them to three months imprisonment each.

Connelly, who, it was stated, led the other girl into crime, was discharged

with a caution. The girl Brooks was sent home with her mother.

Another court report also show that on July 20th

, 1869 Henry Owen, a blind old

man, and Sarah Hilliard, were charged with insulting behaviour. They were

cautioned and discharged. The next report on Henry is that from that Argus

newspaper for Wednesday 27th

August 1879 –

Dr. Youl held an inquest upon the body of Henry Owens, age 70 years, a

blind beggar, who lived in a house off Little Bourke Street. Yesterday

morning he was found dead in his bed. Dr. Neild made a post mortem

examination of the body, and disposed that death had resulted from acute

peritonitis. The jury returned a verdict in accordance with the medical

testimony.

Thus ended the life of Henry Owens while Sarah Hilliard, who had lived and

borne a child with Henry, went on in a completely different fashion.

However, the important issue for Steven is that the records clearly show that the

date of birth for both Edmund Henry Owen and for Edmund Henry Perry are the

same. As he says – ‘I think my heart stopped when I saw the name Edmund

Henry Perry coming across the microfiche of the Boys Home records’. Sarah

Hilliard did eventually get married to a Samuel Carr who was also a convict

from Tasmania and by whom she had three children - one girl before marriage

and two girls later. In the marriage certificate shown below it can be clearly

seen that Sarah came from Wicklow, Ireland. It is interesting to note that the

marriage ceremony was performed by an ‘accredited Minister’ at his house.

99

Samuel Carr was born in Birkenhead, England, around 1832, the son of

Silkweaver John Carr. Samuel also had a brother named William. Samuel

worked as a ‘piecer’ in a clothing factory as a young child. Times must have

been hard as Samuel regularly got in trouble with the Police and went before the

courts for Petty Crimes under the Juvenile Act charged with larceny, vagrancy

and other minor crimes. But his brushes with the law did not deter his light

fingers and his final arrest for Larceny changed his life forever.

At age seventeen, Samuel went before Manchester Court on the 23rd November

1849. This was his eighth time in prison and Samuel was sentenced to seven

years, spending time in Salford and Millbank Prisons. On the 26th of March

1850, he was transferred from Millbank Prison to Parkhurst Prison. Samuel

spent the next two years at Parkhurst Prison with other Juvenile Offenders, who

were educated and taught trades in the hope of rehabilitation. Children such as

these had earlier been transported to the Colonies of Australia and New

Zealand. But by 1852 the Australian Colonies were refusing to take any more

Convict Transportees from England. With Labour short in the new Colonies, it

was decided to send the Offenders who showed signs of rehabilitation to the

Colonies as "Exiles". This meant that the offenders were sent to Australia for

the term of their sentence, but were basically free people. Many were assigned

to certain employers. Samuel became one of these "Exiles".

On August 19th 1852 he boarded the Ship "Equestrian 3" for Van Diemens

Land. The ship arrived in Hobart, Australia, on December 16th

1852. Samuel

had just come half way around the World to a Colony he may never heard of !

On December 22nd

Samuel was taken to the Police Barracks in Hobart where he

was housed until employment was found with Mr. J. Clarke of Maquarie Plains

on February 6th

1853. Samuel was employed as a labourer and also resided on

the Clarke Property.

Samuel was given a Conditional Pardon on June 25th

1853 and his ticket of

leave on the October 18th

1853. He worked at labouring jobs around Hobart

but on September 8th 1863 he was sentenced to three months hard labour for

stealing a ‘Paling’. Records then show that he married Eliza Donavan on June

5th

1868 in Tasmania but she died on July 13th

1868 in Hobart.

Samuel must have decided it was time to leave Tasmania as he boarded a Ship,

making the journey across Bass Strait to the Colonies of Victoria. There he

worked as a labourer in the Geelong district where he met Sarah Jane Hilliard

and her son Edmund Perry. At Colac January 22nd

1872, Sarah gave birth to

Samuel’s daughter, Sarah Jane Carr. With their young daughter and son the

couple moved to Geelong, where Samuel married Sarah Jane Hilliard (now aged

37) on November 8th 1873 at Villa Manta, Geelong, while they resided at

100

Wellington Street, Geelong. The couple’s second daughter, Elizabeth Kate, was

born on the January 26th 1875, followed by a third daughter, Mary Ann, born in

1877.

Tragedy then struck. On November 13th

1877, while Samuel was away working

in the country (Wellington) he would have got word that Mary Ann (now aged 8

months) had died in her sleep. When the inquest into the death of Mary-Ann

Carr was held the autopsy showed her last meal as being boiled cabbage. Some

bleeding was also found in the brain. Young Edmund stated that Mary-Ann was

accidentally dropped by another lady. Sarah Carr claimed she fell asleep breast

feeding Mary-Ann and found her dead next to her in the early hours of the

morning. Many townsfolk protested that Sarah should be charged for her death.

The Coroner's finding was that Mary-Ann Carr died from ‘Accidental

Suffocation’. Sarah had a hard and miserable life with, it seems, her

misfortunes passed on to her children.

Finally, one night in 1878 Sarah did not return home and Samuel, suspecting

that she had been locked up in the local watch house for drunkenness, made her

a coffee and went to the Police Station to pick her up. Instead, the local

policeman informed him that his wife had been found dead near Geelong

Grammar School.

Sarah’s death was recorded in the "Geelong Advertiser" of October 16th 1878

from which the following is extracted –

‘An Awful Death in the Street’

Shortly after five o’clock yesterday morning the dead body of a woman

named Sarah Jane Carr, the wife of a labourer, residing in Chilwell, was

found by Constable McCracken lying close to a tree-guard at the

intersection of Maude-street with Yarra-street. The constable, thinking

that the woman was drunk, endeavoured to lift her up, but finding that the

body was cold and stiff, he ran down to South Geelong, a quarter-of-a-

mile away, and got Constable Casey to visit the spot. Casey carried the

woman on his back to the Rosemary Branch hotel, and there tried to

restore animation by using brandy and rubbing the body, but without

avail. It appears that the woman had been drinking on Monday night,

and had evidently fallen asleep at the spot where she was found and had

there died from exposure to the intense coldness of the weather.

At 8 o’clock last evening an inquest was held by Mr Heron, P.M. when

the following evidence was adduced : - Samuel Carr, labourer, residing at

Chilwell, deposed that his wife went away from home at six o’clock on

101

Monday evening. She had been suffering from palpitation of the heart

for a month. At the time she left home she showed signs of being

intoxicated. She asked witness to lend her sixpence, and on his refusing

to give the money she took her son’s trousers and waistcoat to pawn.

The clothes were new and belonged to a boy eleven years of age.

Deceased was never quarrelsome when intoxicated. Deceased was of

intemperate habits, and sometimes stopped out at night, but not to a very

late hour. Witness was quite sober on Monday night. When his wife

did not come home he did not think it very strange conduct. He thought

that his wife had been locked up on a charge of drunkenness, and he went

to the watchhouse on Tuesday morning with coffee for her. He then

ascertained that his wife was dead.

Catherine Gittings, wife of Thomas Gittings, landlord of the Criterion

Hotel, Ryrie-street, deposed that she had refused to serve the deceased.

Two men, names John Burns and Plunkett, were present. Witness and

her husband asked Plunkett to take deceased out of the hotel, and Plunkett

went outside with the woman. James Plunkett, a carrier, residing in

Clarendon-street, Athby, deposed that he left the deceased outside the

front door of the Hotel. Witness walked off towards his home. He did

not think that the deceased was capable of walking far.

The two constables then gave evidence and mentioned that they found 3½ pence

on the deceased.

The jury returned a verdict to the effect that the deceased had been found dead,

and that death arose from natural causes. Sarah was buried on October 16th

1878 in the Church of England Section of Geelong Cemetery where the record

shows her as born in Dublin. However, it would seem that there is no doubt

but the person buried was Sarah Hilliard from Carnew, Co. Wicklow.

Later that year Samuel was admitted to Geelong Hospital complaining of chest

pain and he later died from heart disease and was buried in Geelong Cemetery.

The three children were now orphans and were taken in by a lady named Mrs

Annie Barnach. On November 11th 1878 the children were taken before the

Police Court (Messrs. Connor (Mayor), Heron, P.M., and Convee, J.P.) and

charged as being ‘neglected children’. An extract from a newspaper report of

the time is as follows :-

ORPHANS – Edward Henry Perry, Sarah Jane Carr, and Elizabeth Kate

Carr, aged 11, 6, and 3 years respectively, were charged with being

neglected children. From the evidence of Mrs Annie Barnach, wife of

Wm. Barnach, an employee of the Albion Factory, it appeared that the

102

mother of these children was found dead in Yarra-street some time ago.

Their father, who was a labourer, was admitted to the Hospital on Friday

last, suffering from heart disease, and he died the same day. Neither of

the deceased parents had any relatives in the colony at the time of their

death, and were in very poor circumstances whilst alive. Witness took

them into her house after the father died. Constable Rice stated that he

visited their house after the death of the father, and found it in an

unfurnished and miserable condition. The boy, Perry was the son of

Mrs. Carr, by a former marriage. Perry was sent to the Industrial School,

at Sunbury, for three years ; while the girls were sent to the Royal Park

Industrial Schools, until each shall attain the age of 15 years. The police

magistrate referred in terms of approval to the conduct of Mrs Barnach, in

acting the part of the good Samaritan towards the unfortunate children.

There is no evidence regarding the first marriage mentioned above. Sarah Jane

and Kate Carr never saw their half brother again. The girls remained in the

Industrial School until they reached the age of fifteen. Both girls eventually

married.

Elizabeth Kate Carr married Charles Taylor in 1897. A son, Cyril Malcolm,

was born at South Yarra in 1897 and a daughter, Beryl Leonora, was born in

Hawthorn in 1901. She died in 1976 at Ferntree Gully. However there is a

record of a Jemina Mary Carr born in Northcote in 1889, with father

‘Unknown’, mother Elizabeth Carr. Jemina died, aged 5 months, in 1890 at

Northcote.

Young Edmund married Ellen Mahoney (parents Timothy and Margaret) on

March 3rd 1903 and they had four children – Edmund Howard Raymond born

Carlton in 1903 ; Oswald William Kew born in 1905 and died in Donvale in

1972 ; Grace born in 1908 in Balwyn and Alfred Albert on whose birth

Edmund's wife died shortly after from ‘inflammation’ in 1909. The family then

move to Boolarra, Victoria, where Edmund worked as a Bullock driver. The

baby survived but was fostered out to a family named Latters in Boolara while

his other three children were raised by his step-daughter (herself the illegitimate

daughter of his wife, Ellen) while Edmund went away working. Edmund lived

to the ripe age of 82 years and died December 19th 1949 and was buried in

Frankston Cemetery.

Sarah Jane Carr married Ernest Hall at Geelong in 1898. They had a son, John,

born 1899 in Clifton Hall who died aged only 2 days and a daughter, Elise, born

in 1900 also at Clifton Hall and who died in Fitzroy in 1902. Sarah Jane had

also given birth to an illegitimate daughter Alice Carr in Carlton 1897. Alice

Carr’s parents at time of birth has father as ‘unknown’ ; mother as Sarah Carr.

103

There is a record of an Alice Tucker who died in Mitcham in 1949, aged 52

years. At her time of death at 1949 her father is listed as Ernest George Hall

and mother as Sarah Jane Carr. There is a record of an Alice Hall who married

a Harold Tucker in 1923. These records suggest that the references are to the

one person.

The last child of Edmund and Ellen, Alfred, was 18 years old before he learned

of his other family members. (Alfred was, of course, the grandfather of the co-

writer, Steven Johnson, of this article.) He served in the 2/22nd

Battalion during

WW2. Most of his battalion was captured or executed during the Fall of

Rabaul. Alf was ‘missing in action’ for many months until he and others

escaped to New Guinea on a Catalina Flying boat. He died in 1987 in

Rosebud. He had married Jesse Wells in Frankston 1929. She was the

granddaughter of an early Victorian pioneer Henry Cadby Wells and Hannah

Wells (nee Hill) from Wiltshire, England, who went to Australia in 1841.

Alfred and Jesse had two children, Raymond and Beverly June, who are both

currently alive.

Below are photos of Alfred at 14 months in 1910 and the other is of Alfred

while serving in New Britain in 1942.

Beverley married Murray Chadwick Johnson who is a grandson of Halstein

Johanessen and Elizabeth Jones and who got married in 1876 at Bellarine near

Geelong, Victoria. It is interesting to note that Halstein"s body was removed

from a River in Tasmania in June 1903 with his occupation given as ‘rabbit

trapper’ at time of his death. Halstein was the son of Johannes Andersen and

Marta Olsdatter from Haesdal (valley of the horse) estate in Norway.

Beverly is, of course, the mother of the co-author of this article and he, Steven,

was born in Frankston Victoria in 1974.

104

And so the line from James, father of Sarah in Wicklow, to Steven in Australia

has travelled almost 200 years and many generations. Some time ago he visited

Sarah's grave, which has no headstone, the place she died and their house site in

Chilwell (now Newtown). Newtown is now a very classy suburb even though it

was a slum area when the family lived there in the 1870s. The research by

Steven has been tremendous but, while the certificates pile up and microfiche

continued to be scrutinised, the above is the essence of the information which he

has gathered so far. He continues to seek out any descendents of the people

mentioned above. The question now remains also as to what further

information I can find regarding the family of Sarah Jane Hilliard who left for

Australia so long ago. And so it goes on ………………..!

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105

THE CASTLEBELLINGHAM WAR MEMORIAL

Donal Hall, PhD.

BACKGROUND TO THE MEMORIAL

On 8 March 1919 a letter from Sir Henry Bellingham was published in the

Dundalk Democrat proposing the erection in Castlebellingham, County Louth,

of a memorial to those from that area who fell in the Great War, and invited

anyone who wished to submit a

name for inclusion to do so. The

key to the reason why the

memorial was built in

Castlebellingham lies in the fact

that Sir Henry Bellingham was

moved to commemorate his own

son, Roger Bellingham who had

died in 1915 and who is referred

to on the cross as 'Lt. R.

Bellingham, R.F. Artillery'. It is

apparent that Sir Henry

proceeded with energy with his

task as by the end of the year, he

had published three updated lists

of names, had secured a design

for the memorial and by

February 1920 the memorial

was ready to be dedicated.

The memorial in

Castlebellingham is in the shape

of a Celtic cross, with

ornamentation taken from the

Book of Kells. The design of the

cross, which was no accident, made an intentional and significant political

statement. In selecting a Celtic Cross for their war memorial, the committee

made a deliberate attempt to link those men commemorated on the plinth with

Gaelic antiquity. War memorials in the part of the country that became the Irish

Free state in 1922, tended to use Celtic or Gaelic iconography, whereas in

contrast, in Northern Ireland memorials tended to be cenotaph or statue type,

following the English example. All of this is quite deliberate and designed to

make a political point.1

1 Keith Jeffrey, Ireland and the Great War (Dublin, 2000), p. 131.

106

The Castlebellingham memorial cross was dedicated on 7 February 1920, in an

impressive ceremony officiated by Cardinal Logue, Roman Catholic Primate of

All Ireland. The unveiling of the memorial was preceded by a solemn requiem

mass in Kilsaran Church, about a mile from Castlebellingham. Two hundred

ex-servicemen under the command of General Edward Bellingham marched in

military formation from Kilsaran to the memorial, where a very large crowd met

them.2

Cardinal Logue in his address praised the honour and purity of nationalists'

motives for enlisting in the services. He said that the men had gone to fight so

that justice would reign supreme, for the sake of small and weak nations.

Ireland as a weak and small nation was before their minds when they

volunteered to fight. Despite the sacrifice of these men, Cardinal Logue said

that the Irish contribution to the victory had in many cases been downgraded or

ignored by the English military and political authorities, but in their own

country they would be remembered as brave men who had fought for a noble

cause.3

Cardinal Logue continued that Ireland, 'had received very little return … for all

their youth had suffered, for the deaths of so many brave men, and for the

sacrifices that the people had made'.4 The cardinal decried the fact that on the

previous day, a number of young men who were entitled to hold their own

political opinions had 'without law or reason' been arrested in Dundalk. He

pointed out that Louth was comparatively peaceful, but if these arrests

continued and 'people taken off to prisons and elsewhere, we will soon have as

much irritation here and as much exasperation and as terrible a state of things as

is to be found in any other part of Ireland.'5 He stated that the men

commemorated on the memorial were a reminder that whenever a just cause

was to be advocated, Irish youth would be ready to go forward as these young

men had and lay down their lives for the cause of justice, for the cause of peace

and for the sake of Ireland.

In this speech Cardinal Logue linked the young men of 1914 who joined the

British Army to further a political objective, with those who had been arrested

in Dundalk on the previous day. In his bitter reflections that the cause for which

the men who volunteered in 1914 had been betrayed, he mirrored opinions held

elsewhere. As early as July 1919 a meeting of 3,000 members of the Irish

2 Dundalk Democrat, 7 Feb. 1920.

3 Ibid.

4 Ibid.

5 Ibid.

107

Nationalist Veterans Association in the Mansion House in Dublin issued a

statement refusing to participate in peace celebrations 'in view of the failure of

the Government to satisfy the just aspirations for freedom of the Irish people for

which the Irish soldiers fought in the war, and of the methods now employed in

the administration of the country and of those threatened for the future.'6 It is

clear from Cardinal Logue's comments, and from the statement from nationalist

ex-servicemen that nationalists who supported Redmond in 1914 had enlisted in

the forces in expectation of a political return. It seemed clear by 1920 that the

British government was not going to honour its part of the bargain. In linking

the war dead with the surviving ex-servicemen, and the Sinn Féin activists who

were arrested on the previous day, Cardinal Logue was putting down a clear

marker of terrible consequences if the political aspirations of a new generation

of political activists in 1920 were ignored. The betrayal by the British

Government of the agreements made with the majority of the nationalists in

1914 had led to the present chaos. A new generation of politicians had a new

mandate and if their aspirations were ignored the consequences would be

terrible.

RECORDING THE MEMORIAL

I first examined this memorial in 2002 for the purposes of transcribing the

names engraved thereon for inclusion in my book "The Unreturned Army,

County Louth War Dead in the Great War". At the time I drew on available

records, such as the archives of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission,

the Irish Memorial Records, and local newspapers in an attempt to identify

those commemorated. I would have liked at the time to investigate these men

further by looking for their individual service records, however this would have

involved a physical search for each record in the National Archives in London,

the cost of which would have been prohibitive. I also briefly attempted to match

the men with the hardcopy or microfilmed 1901 and 1911 Census returns, but

was unable to do so in any meaningful way. In the intervening ten years, Irish

and UK archives have been opened up for online research particularly the Irish

Census of 1901 and 1911 which unlike its UK counterpart is free. UK military

service records have also been digitised, are available for download at a price,

from www.Ancestry.co.uk. Most army service records dating from World War

1 were destroyed as a result of bombing during World War 2. Medal Roll

records are available for online downloading from the UK National Archives

website, or from Ancestry.co.uk. Where I have found the medals records, I have

downloaded the information from the National Archives site, and the

appropriate file reference is given. Also downloaded from the UK National

Archives site were the records of those navy men who perished. There are two

cases, Clinton Binions and Thomas Fitzpatrick where I was able to obtain

6 Dundalk Democrat, 19 July 1919.

108

service records from the Canadian Archives, who run a very efficient and

reasonably priced copying service.

The opening up of Irish Census Returns for online researching was a great boon,

and confirms, if confirmation was needed, that the overwhelming majority of

the men on the memorial had close personal ties with the mid Louth area.

Examination of census records has also unfortunately shown up where I

erroneously matched certain men with memorial records, such as C. Bride and

A. Connolly. The identity of these men, as well as a number of others, despite

my best efforts, remains stubbornly unconfirmed. Examination of the census

records also shows that, despite the domination of the Roman Catholic Church

in the unveiling ceremonies, the memorial itself is a multi-denominational

artefact.

In the ten years which have elapsed since I first examined it, there has been a

marked deterioration in the engraving on the memorial. A substantial portion of

the names on the northern face of the memorial are now indecipherable. It has

to be hoped that remedial action will be taken to rectify this in time for the

centenary of outbreak of the Great War in 2014.

Notes

In most cases I have shown the religion of the head of family only. It can be

taken, except where shown, that the religion of the rest of the family is the same

as the head of family.

ABBREVIATIONS

Much of the military information originates on memorials, the source of which

is shown as follows:

AWM: Australian War Memorial

CWM: Castlebellingham War memorial

CWGC: Commonwealth War Graves Commission

De Ruvigny: De Ruvigny, Marquis, The Roll of Honour: a bibliographical

record of members of His Majesty's naval and military forces who fell in the

Great War, (London, reprinted 2000)

DWM: Drogheda War Memorial

IWM: Irish War memorial

SDGW: Soldiers Died in the Great War

109

PRAY FOR THOSE OF THE THREE PARISHES OF KILSARAN, DROMISKIN

AND TOGHER WHO DIED FOR IRELAND IN THE GREAT EUROPEAN WAR

OF

1914 - 1918

1. BINIONS, Private, C. Canadian Forces.

Binions, Private, Clinton Henry, 3109397, 1st Depot Battalion, 2

nd Central

Ontario Regiment. Born 13 June 1895, Charlestown, Co Wexford.

Occupation: Farmer. Next of kin: Ellen Binions, R.R. #1, Malton, Ontario,

Canada. Religion: Church of England. Enlisted Ontario Canada, 9 May, 1918.

Discharged 22 August 1918, 'Struck off strength on return to registrar'.

Medical Board shows Pte. Binions as being Category A-2, with 'no slight

defects'. Also noted that he had 'V(alvular)(mitral).D(isease).H(eart). Mitral'

(Library and Archives Canada, Q6-12226).

1901 Census: House 1, Willistown, Drumcar, Co Louth, Clinton Henry

Binions, age 35, Church of Ireland, occupation Farmer, born Co Wexford;

wife, Ellen age 35, Church of Ireland, born Co Monaghan; son Clinton Henry,

5 years of age, born Co Wexford; daughter Ellen, Church of Ireland, age 3,

born Co Louth.

1911 Census: Clinton Henry Binions jnr. does not appear. Rest of family is

shown in House 6 Rowross, Kilmacrenan, Milford, Co Donegal, landlord is

Lord Leitrim. Father's occupation is land steward. There is another sister,

Kathleen Margaret, age 8 born in Co Louth.

The Binions emigrated to Canada in 1911, where Clinton Henry Snr died in

1913. It is not known when Clinton Henry Jnr died.

2. BELLINGHAM, Captain, ROGER CHARLES NOEL, Mentioned in

Despatches (London Gazette, 22 June 1915, page 983), Royal Field Artillery.

Died at the front, 4 March 1915. Age 30. Son of Sir Henry Bellingham, 4th

Baronet and Lady Constance Bellingham, of White Mills, Castlebellingham,

Co. Louth. Kipling Mem.

Dickebusch Old Military Cemetery - Ieper, West-Vlaanderen Belgium.

(CWGC, CWM)

Census 1901: House 10, Castlebellingham, Lelgarde Bellingham, wife, age 31,

Catholic, born Scotland; daughter Augusta, age 20, born England; son Roger,

age 16, born England.

Census 1911: House 44, Castlebellingham, Henry Bellingham, age 64,

Catholic, Head of Family, occupation Baronet, born Co Louth; wife Lelgarde,

age 41, born Scotland.

Captain Roger Charles Noel Bellingham was the second son of Sir

Henry Bellingham, Bart., H.M.L. On leaving college he received a

commission in the Royal Field Artillery and served for some time in that

arm. He relinquished active military duty to take up the post of aide-de-

camp to the late Lord Lieutenant, the Marquess of Aberdeen… Warm

hearted and enthusiastic by nature, he took the keenest personal interest

110

in the multitudinous good works in which Lord and Lady Aberdeen

were interested during their second Viceroyalty… In these interests and

activities, also, he was warmly seconded by his wife, who prior to her

marriage, was Miss Alice Naish of Ballycullen, Co Limerick, and who

spent a part of her youth in this county... (Captain Bellingham) and his

wife and two children spent a considerable part of each year in Co Louth

either at Castlebellingham or at their pretty places at Dunany and White

Mills.

At the outbreak of the war Captain Bellingham applied to be relieved of

his duties as A.D.C. in order to rejoin his Brigade, which, as our readers

know, was then at Dundalk, and was one of the first to be ordered to

France for active service after the declaration of war. … For some time

before the outbreak of the war he had suffered from an affection of the

heart such as might cause little inconvenience to one leading a sheltered

life, but which must have made a vigorous campaign in mid-winter

almost certain death for him. … During the few weeks he spent in

garrison in Dundalk before the Brigade left for the front he made it his

personal business to see that every Catholic in it was prepared, as he

himself was, to face the call which was to come to many of them. He

made arrangements for their reception of the Sacraments, so that the few

days before the Brigade left Dundalk were for them not only days of

material preparation as well to face with fortitude and faith the risks

inseparable from war. No sight could be more edifying than that of these

men attending two special early Masses in St. Patrick's just before their

departure, when every man, with Captain Bellingham at their head,

approached the Altar and received Holy Communion.

The Brigade suffered sadly at the very outset of the campaign, losing

many of its officers and men, and what was left of it has been in the

thick of the fighting ever since. For the past four months Captain

Bellingham was almost continuously in the firing line, and the strain

upon his none too robust constitution must have been tremendous. …

Few details have reached us as to his last hours. We learn that he had

come from the battle line into one of the rest camps in charge of a

detachment of men, and that he appeared, as he always did, cheery and

in good spirits, but that on the morning following he was found to have

died during the night, possibly passing away in slumber…

We do not exaggerate when we say that the two most prominent

characteristics of Roger Bellingham were his devotion to the Catholic

Church and his love for his country. All his life he was a sincere and

practical Catholic whose greatest delight was in the observance of his

religious duties; and in the knowledge of this must be the highest

consolation for those he leaves behind. He was too, an ardent lover of

his native land and an outspoken advocate of her cause. Our readers will

remember that a couple of years ago he attended the great Home Rule

demonstration, taking his place upon the platform and afterwards at the

dinner given to Mr Davis and the other members of Parliament who

111

were present. He was an intimate friend of Mr Redmond, Mr Devlin and

other leading Irish members, and a warm admirer of their policy…

(Dundalk Democrat, 13 March 1915)

This fine young man who gave his life for his country was the second

son of Sir Henry Bellingham, H.M.L., of this County. He died on the

morning of the 4th March 1915, having spent the previous night and day

in the firing line of the trenches. He was born on the 28th April 1884,

and married in 1910 Miss Alice Naish, of Ballycullen, Co Limerick. He

was greatly beloved everywhere, his gentle and unassuming manner

endearing him to all with whom he came in contact. He was devoted to

his profession, displaying great military talent, and had he been spared

would have speedily made promotion. Universal sympathy was

extended to his young wife and child and his respected father.

(Tempest's Annual, 1916)

The Late Captain Bellingham

During the past week a handsome memorial was erected in St. Patrick's

Cathedral, Dundalk, to the memory of Captain Roger Bellingham,

whose death, near Ypres in March last caused such sincere regret

throughout the country. The memorial which consists of an ornamental

brass tablet resting on a back ground of black polished Kilkenny marble,

was erected by Sir Henry Bellingham and bears the following

inscription: "Of your charity pray for the repose of the soul of Roger

Charles Noel Bellingham, Lieut. Royal Field Artillery, who died near

Ypres, in Belgium, during the great war of the Allies against Germany

and Austria, March 4th, 1915, in his 31st year. RIP."

Messrs Earley and Co Dublin are responsible for the beautiful and

artistic work in marble, and the inscription was entrusted to a London

firm. The work was executed to the plan of Mr Coleman, Architect,

Dublin. The memorial is a beautiful addition to the chaste ornaments

which decorate the interior of St. Patrick's Cathedral. (Dundalk

Democrat, 20 November 1915)

(Note – this memorial was taken down during renovations in the1990s.

It has since disappeared. DH)

Sir Henry Bellingham has presented to the Louth County Council a

portrait of the late Captain Roger Bellingham to be placed in the Council

Chamber. (Dundalk Democrat, 22 April 1916)

3. BRIDE, C or G, King's Liverpool (Regiment).

Not identified.

4. CALLAN, Private, THOMAS J, 43004, 11 Battalion Royal Scots. Killed in

action, France, Sunday 22 October 1916. Born Dromiskin, Co. Louth.

Resident Castlebellingham, enlisted Hamilton, Lanarkshire.

112

Pier and Face 6 D and 7 D, Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. (IMR,

CWGC, CWM, DWM, SDGW)

Awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. (UK National

Archives WO/372/3)

1901 Census: House 29 Dromiskin, Mary Callan, age 48, Roman Catholic,

Head of Family, born Drogheda, Co Louth, widow; daughter Mary K, age 27,

born Dromiskin, Co Louth; daughter Lizzie age 25, born Dromiskin, Co Louth;

son Thomas J, age 21, born Dromiskin, Co Louth, occupation Letter Carrier;

daughter Josephine, age 19, born Dromiskin, Co Louth, occupation Scholar;

son Patrick, age 17, born Dromiskin, Co Louth, occupation Scholar; son Peter

Paul, age 12, born Dromiskin, Co Louth.

1911 Census: House 2 Dromiskin, Mary Callan, age 60, Head of Family, born

Co Louth, Roman Catholic, occupation Dressmaker, widow; daughter Mary

Kate, age 35, born Co Louth; son Peter, age 21, born Co Louth, occupation

Auxiliary Postman.

5. CARROLL, Private, C. R(oyal) M(unster) Fus(iliers). Not identified.

6. CARROLL, Petty Officer Stoker, JAMES, 283529, H.M.S. Defence Royal

Navy. Died on Wednesday 31 May 1916. Son of Patrick and Alice Carroll of

Dartmouth; husband of Janie Lewis (formerly Carroll) 23 Bridge Street,

Griffithstown, Mon. See also CARROLL, Able Seaman, W. 215432 , HMS

Defence, Royal Navy.

14 Plymouth Naval Memorial, Devon, UK. (CWGC, CWM)

Two Dunany men are reported to have been on H.M.S. Defence which

went down with all hands in the Battle of Jutland. They are James

Carroll and Wm. Carroll, brothers, the former a leading stoker, the latter

A.B., sons of the late Pat Carroll. They were men of the highest

character, and had an excellent record in the service, the former having

received special promotion as a reward for an act of signal bravery some

time ago.

(Dundalk Democrat, 10 June 1916)

James Carroll, born 19 December 1875, Togher Co Louth. Enlisted in the

Royal Navy on 12 September 1896 at Devonport, for 12 years. Height 5 feet 6

and three quarters inches. Occupation Farm Labourer. Re-enlisted 12

September 1908. Rose from rank of Stoker 2nd

Class to Petty Officer Stoker.

Posted to HMS Defence 2 September 1913. Killed in action 31 May 1916.

(UK National Archives ADM/188/377)

No trace on 1901 or 1911 Census of Ireland.

7. CARROLL, Able Seaman, W. 215432, HMS Defence, Royal Navy. Died on

Wednesday 31 May 1916. See also CARROLL, Petty Officer Stoker, JAMES.

283529, H.M.S. Defence Royal Navy.

11 Plymouth Naval Memorial. (CWGC, CWM ).

113

Two Dunany men are reported to have been on H.M.S. Defence which

went down with all hands in the Battle of Jutland. They are James

Carroll and Wm. Carroll, brothers, the former a leading stoker, the latter

A.B., sons of the late Pat Carroll. They were men of the highest

character, and had an excellent record in the service, the former having

received special promotion as a reward for an act of signal bravery some

time ago.

(Dundalk Democrat, 10 June 1916)

William Carroll born on 20 October 1885, Togher Co Louth. Occupation

"School". Enlisted in Royal Navy on 20 October 1903 for 12 years. Posted to

HMS Defence 3 September 1913. Killed in action 31 May 1916. (UK National

Archives ADM/188/454)

Unable to identify in 1901 or 1911 Census of Ireland.

8. CLIFF, Lieutenant-Colonel, HAROLD, Inniskilling Fusiliers/Royal Dublin

Fusiliers. Died Thursday 1 February 1917, of Fane Valley, Dundalk.

Husband of Marion Cliff.

118.6.45445 Kensal Green (All Souls' Cemetery, London. (IMR, CWGC,

CWM)

Awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. (UK National

Archives WO/372/4)

1901 Census at House 4 Kilcurley, Castletown, Dundalk, Marion Cliff , age

32, born in Australia, Church of England; son William McCulloch Cliff, age 9,

born in England; daughter Marion Cliff, age 8, born in England.

1911 Census, at House 8 Allardstown, Darver, Co Louth, Major Harold Martin

Cliff (retired) age 48 born in England, English Church; wife Marion Watt Cliff

age 43, born in Australia, English Church; daughter Anne daughter age 7, born

in Australia, English Church.

Information has been received in Dundalk that Colonel H.M. Cliff, 6th

Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, has been wounded in action. Colonel Cliff

resided at Fane Valley, Dundalk, and was master of the Louth Harriers.

He entered the Royal Irish Rifles on 10th March 1884, and was gazetted

Major in September 1902. On the 10th December in the same year he

retired. He was on the reserve of officers when the war broke out and

was then attached to the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. (Dundalk Herald,

21 August 1915)

Information has been received in Dundalk that Colonel H.M. Cliff, 6th

Royal Dublin Fusiliers, has been wounded in action. He resided at Fane

Valley, Dundalk, and was master of the Louth Harriers.

(Dundalk Democrat, 21 August 1915)

Colonel Cliff was educated at Clifton College and Sandhurst. He was

gazetted to 2 Batt. Royal Irish Rifles 10th March 1881. Served in

Bermuda, Halifax, Gibraltar and Egypt. He was appointed Adjutant

114

Louth Rifles and acted as such from 1897 to 1903, when he retired as

Major. He was appointed District Purchaser of Remounts and took up

duties on outbreak of war. On completion of those duties he became

recruiting Officer at Dundalk. In October 1914, he was appointed

second in command of the 7th Royal Irish Rifles at Fermoy; and on 11th

March 1915 was appointed to the command of the 6th Royal Inniskilling

Fusiliers in the 10th Division. On the 12th July last he proceeded to the

Mediterranean, landing at Suvla bay in the Dardanelles at daybreak on

the 7th August and was seriously wounded in the taking of Chocolate

Hill at 6 p.m. same day. After being treated in a London Hospital for

some months, he returned to his residence Fane Valley, where he is now

recuperating, Colonel Cliff is much respected and very popular. Owing

to his love for sport he has largely contributed to the success of the

meets of the Dundalk Harriers, of which he is master and which has

given much pleasure to the hunting men of the County and town; and is

popular with the farmers over the grounds where he hunts. (Tempest's

Annual, 1916)

The death of Colonel Cliff of Fane Valley, which took place a week or

two ago in London, removes a figure well known and popular in the

Louth hunting field and a man very highly esteemed by his neighbours

of every degree. Though past military age he volunteered for active

service when the war broke out and was appointed to the command of a

battalion that eventually found itself facing the Turks in Gallipoli where

he was severely wounded; and though he eventually got back to England

he was never able to pull through the effects of his terrible experience in

the ghastly peninsula where so many thousand gallant fellows found a

grave. (Dundalk Democrat, 17 February 1917)

Lieut-Col Harold Martin Cliff, Royal Dublin Fusiliers, of Fane Valley,

Dundalk, died on February 1st from illness contracted on active service,

aged 54 years. He was educated at Clifton College, and joined the Royal

Irish Rifles in 1882 and was at one time adjutant of the Louth Rifles.

When the present war started he rejoined his old regiment. He

commanded the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in the landing at Suvla Bay

in August 1915, was wounded, and was mentioned in despatches. On

returning to the front he commanded a battalion of the Royal Dublin

Fusiliers in July 1916, and contracted the illness which subsequently led

to his death. A thorough sportsman, he was Master of the Dundalk

Harriers for 15 years. He married in 1889 Marian, daughter of the late

Wm McCulloch, of Australia, and leaves a son and two daughters. The

funeral of Col Cliff took place in London. (Drogheda Argus, 10

February 1917)

The death of Colonel Cliff removes from our County a most popular

philanthropic soldier. Coming to Dundalk as Adjutant of the Louth

115

Rifles in the year 1898, he settled here on the expiration of his term of

service. An ardent sportsman, he took over Mastership of the Dundalk

Harriers and largely through his efforts and financial aid he afforded the

farmers and hunting men much enjoyment. He had been living at Fane

Valley for some years until the war broke out in 1914 when he rejoined

the army, and was put in command of the 6th Royal Inniskilling

Fusiliers. He was severely wounded on the landing of the troops at

Suvla Bay, and was invalided. On his recovery he again volunteered and

was re-employed in England at the time of his death. (Tempest's Annual,

1918)

9. CONNOLLY, A, Irish G(uar)ds

Previously, and probably erroneously identified as CONNOLLY, Private,

ALEXANDER, 5991, 2 Battalion Irish Guards. Died on Friday 3 November

1916. Age 26. Son of John and Jane Connolly.

I.366 Belfast City Cemetery, Country Antrim. (CWGC, CWM)

1901 Census shows Alexander Connolly, age 11 Church of Ireland, birthplace

Co Antrim, living at 46 Dagmar Street, Shankill, Belfast, Antrim Father John

Connolly, Church of Ireland, age 39, occupation car owner: mother Jane

Connolly, age 35. There are six siblings, one older. No connection with Louth

noted. No other 'A Connolly, Irish Guards' have been found in records.

10. DOYLE, Sailor, PATRICK, HM Hospital Ship, Llandovery Castle (London),

Merchantile Marine. Died on Thursday 27 June 1918. Age 18. Son of Patrick

and Bridget Doyle (nee Matthews), Strand Road, Annagassan.

Tower Hill Memorial, London, UK. (CWGC, CWM)

DOYLE – Lost through the torpedoing of the Hospital ship "Llandovey

Castle," (sic) on June 27, James, son of Patrick Doyle, Annagassan. –

R.I.P.

Readers of the shocking story of the torpedoing of the Hospital ship a

couple of weeks ago, and the unexplained disappearance of all save one

of the boats in which the survivors of the crew, doctors and nurses got

away, little thought that there was a Co. Louth man amongst the victims

of this savage outrage. A rumour reached Liverpool last week that some

of the crew had been picked up by an outward-bound ship, and it was

hoped by his friends that he might be amongst these. However, only one

additional survivor has been reported, and there is little doubt that James

Doyle is amongst those who were foully murdered. He was a fine young

Irishman, a good Catholic, and a dutiful son, and there is much grief

over this sad news in and around Annagassan.

(Dundalk Democrat, 13 July 1918)

Llandovery Castle. 11432 Gross tonnage. Built 1914. Torpedoed and

sunk 27 June 1918 in the Atlantic 116 miles west from Fastnet Rock by

the German submarine U 86 whilst on a voyage from Halifax, Nova

116

Scotia, to Liverpool. 234 lost. On Government service employed as a

Hospital Ship. (Tennent)

1901 Census: House 6 Charleville, Co Louth, Patrick Doyle, age 25 Head of

Family, Roman Catholic, occupation Groom; wife Bridget, age 22, occupation

Housekeeper; son James age 2, son Patrick age 1. All born Co Louth.

1911 Census: At House 20 Dillonstown, Drumcar, Co Louth, Patrick Doyle,

age 35, Head of Family, Roman Catholic, occupation General Labourer, born

Co Louth; wife Bridget, age 31; son James, age 12, occupation Scholar; son

Patrick age 10, occupation Scholar, daughter Mary age 8, occupation Scholar,

daughter Jane age 7, occupation Scholar; son Edward age 6; daughter Bridget

age 4. All born Co Louth.

11. FANNING, Private, W. US Marine Corps.

William Fanning was one of two Fanning brothers who served in the war. His

brother served in the British army. (Bryan Rodgers).

According to immigration records, William Fanning of Castlebellingham, age

19, landed in New York City on 12 December 1912, age 19, to live with his

mother Ann (sic) in the Bronx.

1901 Census: At house no 21 Castlebellingham, Nicholas Fanning, Head of

Family, age 27, Roman Catholic, occupation Labourer; wife Anne, age 25; son

Willie, age 6, son Pat age 5; son Nicholas age 2; daughter Helen , no age; Pat

Hand, age 30, Boarder. All born Co Louth.

1911 Census: At house no 59 Castlebellingham, John Hand, age 52, Roman

Catholic, occupation Farmer; wife Margaret, age 44; nephew William Fanning

age 16, occupation General Labourer; nephew Patrick Fanning, age 15 ,

occupation Scholar. Also resident were Fanny McDonald age 19 and Margaret

McDonald age 18, both nieces of John Hand. All born Co Louth.

12. FEEHAN, Private, Patrick, 1167, 1st Life Guards. Joined the army at the

outbreak of the war but was seriously injured by a kick from a horse. He was

discharged on health grounds in 1915. Died in1917 at home and was buried in

Kilsaran graveyard. (Source: Paddy Feehan, Braganstown, Castlebellingham,

nephew, January 2012)

1911 Census at house 19 Braganstown, Stabannon, Patrick Feehan, widower,

age 62, Catholic Church, occupation Farmer; son Stephen Feehan, age 19,

occupation Farmer's Son; son Patrick Feehan age 17, occupation Farmer's Son;

niece Lizzie Callan age 32; niece Josephine Callan, age 30. All born Co Louth.

13. FITZPATRICK, Private, THOMAS, 150387, 13 Battalion Canadian Infantry

(Quebec Regt.). Died on 8 October 1916. Age 32. Son of Patrick and Alice

Fitzpatrick, of Grangebellew, Dunleer, Co. Louth, Ireland.

Vimy Memorial - Pas de Calais France. (CWGC, CWM)

Attestation Papers of Thomas Fitzpatrick signed on 15 November 1915:

address Brandon, Vancouver, Canada; Next of kin, Patrick Fitzpatrick,

Grangebellew, Louth, Ireland; Trade: Labourer; Age 30 years and 4 months,

height 5 feet 9 inches, dark complexion, blue eyes dark brown hair. Roman

117

Catholic. (Library and Archives Canada, RG150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box

3124-4)

1901 Census: at house 6 Dysart, Grangebellew Patrick Fitzpatrick, Head of

Household, age 52, Roman Catholic, occupation Gardener; wife Alice age 43,

son Peter 24, occupation Baker; son Michael age 23, occupation Tailor; son

William, age 17 occupation Post Boy; son Thomas Fitzpatrick, age 15,

occupation Telegraph Messenger; daughter Cathrin (sic) age 12 occupation

Scholar; daughter Bridget, age 9, occupation Scholar; son Joseph age 7,

occupation Scholar; daughter Gane (sic) age 5 and Alice age 5; son Hugh age

3. All born Co Louth.

1911 Census: at house 7 Dysart, Grangebellew, Patrick Fitzpatrick, age 64,

Roman Catholic, occupation Gardener; wife Alice age 50; son Michael age 32

occupation Tailor; daughter Kate age 22; daughter Jane age 15 occupation

Scholar; daughter Alice age 15 occupation Scholar; son Hugh age 14,

occupation Scholar. There is a Thomas Fitzpatrick, age 32 occupation Postman

shown as a boarder in the house of Patrick Verdon, no 27 Dunleer town, who

may be the same person as Thomas Fitzpatrick above, bearing in mind his age

and his earlier occupation as a telegraph messenger.

14. FLANAGAN, Private, JAMES, 21675. "A" Company, 9 Battalion Royal

Dublin Fusiliers. Killed in action, France, 22 November 1916. Age 42. Born

Drogheda, Co. Louth, son of Patrick and Margaret Flanagan, of Drogheda;

husband of Edith Flanagan, of Drogheda Road, Ardee, Co. Louth. Resident

Ardee. Enlisted Dundalk.

N. 31. Kemmel Chateau Military Cemetery - Heuvelland, West-Vlaanderen

Belgium. (CWGC, CWM, DWM, SDGW)

Awarded a 1915 Star, on active service in France on 19.12.1915, also a Victory

Medal and British War Medal. (UK National Archives WO/372/7)

1911 Census: at house 15, Drogheda Road, Ardee James Flanagan Head of

Family, age 37, Roman Catholic, born Louth, occupation Hairdresser; wife

Edith Flanagan, age 37, born England; son Joseph, age 14 born England;

daughter Beatrice Mary age 12, born England, occupation Scholar; daughter

Margaret age 8, born England, occupation Scholar; son James age 5, born

England; son Ernest age 3, born England; son Christopher age 7months, born

Louth. All Roman Catholic.

15. FLYNN, J, Royal Navy, Coupled on the memorial with J Doyle and H.M.

Hospital Ship, Llandovery Castle, sunk on 27 June 1918. (CWM) This was

interpreted that J Flynn was also on the Llandovery Castle. However his name

does not appear on the crew lists or the list of casualties.

Now likely identified as FLYNN, Able-Seaman, J, 199688, Royal Navy, HM

Submarine E.12. Died on 25 September 1916

III.F.184 East Mudros Military Cemetery. (CWGC)

John Flynn, Able Seaman, 199688, bore Togher, Co Louth, 12 November

1882, occupation Labourer, who enlisted in the Royal Navy for 12 years on 12

118

November 1890, and re-enlisted 18 October 1911. Died on 25 September 1916

while serving on HMS Europa, 'Drowned in Mudros Harbour'

(UK National Archives ADM/188/346)

(It is interesting that A/S Flynn died while serving on a submarine, according to

the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records, but this posting does not

appear on his service record. DH)

Unable to identify family on 1901 or 1911 Census.

16. GARSTIN, Major, WILLIAM FORTESQUE COLBORNE, 5 Battalion Royal

Irish Fusiliers. Died on 9 August 1915. Age 40. Of Braganstowm, Dundalk.

Only son of John Ripton Garstin and Mary Martha Toone Garstin.

I.B. 13 Green Hill Cemetery, Turkey. (IMR, CWGC, CWM, Tempest's Annual

1916).

1901 Census: John Ribton Garstin, age 65, born Dublin City, resident at House

1 Braganstown, Stabannon. Occupation 'No Rank, Profession or Trade Live on

Income Derived from land (indecipherable) J.P. and D.L. Co Councillor M.A.,

LL. B., B.D. (lay) Dublin and Oxon, F.S.A., V.P.R.I.A.; V.P.R.S.A. (Ireland);

P.S.A. (Scot); V.P. Statistical Society; M.[R.] D.S. Governor of Armagh

Library and Observatory, Visitor of the Museum of Science and Art Dublin etc

etc, Church of Ireland Anglo Catholic; wife Mary Martha Toon Garstin, age 55

born Blackheath, Kent, Church of Ireland Anglo Catholic. Daughter Rosamund

Kathea Garstin age 23, Disunited Church of England and Ireland Anglo

Catholic. Born Co Dublin.

1911 Census: John Ribton Garstin, age 74, resident at House 1 Braganstown,

Stabannon. Occupation 'Of no Profession, trade or Calling but having many

Unpaid Public Duties J.P.,D.L.,F.S.H.M.R.IA; F.S.A. Scot; MA (Dub Oxon)

U. B., B. D.(Lay) etc etc etc, Deriving income Chiefly from land-rents,

Dividends and in fact what the French Call "Rentier" Retired Farmer'.Born

Dublin City, widower.

The following telegram has been received by Mr J R Garstin D L of

Braganstown, Castlebellingham. - "Deeply regret to inform you that

Major W.F.C. Garstin, Fifth Irish Fusiliers, was killed in action between

7 and 10 August. Lord Kitchener expresses his sympathy." No place is

named but the death probably took place in Gallipoli. Major Garstin

who was the only son of Mr J R Garstin was a magistrate for the County

Louth and served with the 2nd Royal Irish Rifles through the South

African campaign. (Dundalk Herald, 21 August 1915)

The following telegram from the War Office has been received at

Braganstown, Castlebellingham, on Tuesday, 17th: - "Deeply regret to

inform you that Major W.F.C. Garstin, Fifth Irish Fusiliers, was killed in

action between 7 and 10 August. Lord Kitchener expresses his

sympathy." No place is named but Gallipoli was probably the place.

GARSTIN - Killed in action between 7th and 10th August (no place

named - supposed Gallipoli, Turkey), Major William Fortescue

119

Colborne Garstin, Fifth Royal Irish Fusiliers, JP, of Braganstown. Co

Louth, only son of John Ribton Garstin, D.L. of same. (Dundalk

Democrat, 21 August 1915)

As no particulars of the sad fate of this officer have hitherto been

published, and as many residents in Louth await information about the

landing of the Irish troops at Suvla Bay, we willingly publish the

following extract from a letter just received at Braganstown from one of

the officers of the 5th Royal Irish Fusiliers, now at Kilmainham:-

"Major Garstin was my Company Commander since he came to the

battalion last October, and since then till the day I was wounded was a

great friend to me. The best of feeling always existed between the Major

and his officers. Indeed he was a father to us young officers and was

loved by all. The day before we went into action after landing (August

7th) our Sergeant Major remarked to me: 'One thing is, Sir, the men will

follow Major Garstin anywhere, because they all love him. He is an

officer of sound judgement.' In his treatment of the men he was always

fair and just, and the men knew that. Any punishment he awarded was

always taken cheerfully. Now that I am home and look at the regimental

photographs I feel that I should not be here when my poor major lies

dead on the battlefield. He was shot in the head by a sniper and died a

few minutes afterwards. I think his body lies in a plot set apart for

officers on the Plain of Anafarta, near the salt lake, Gallipoli. Our

company was rather unfortunate in losing its commander (Major

Garstin), and the second in command Captain Scot-Skirving. Mr

Chalmers and myself were wounded but are both doing well. A cutting

(enclosed) from the Dublin 'Evening Telegraph' of August 30, deals with

the work of our company.

The unnamed Major referred to in the very graphic account of the

glorious deeds of the Irish Brigade as being "the best in the world" was

Major Garstin, and the blank filled only with a dash should have given

the name of Captain Scot-Skirving.

The Rev. Canon William Garstin, sen., Rector of Conwall

(Letterkenny), where he has two curates and four churches, is now,

though distantly related to Mr Garstin, of Braganstown, his nearest male

relation of the name, and he has just paid a brief visit there, and

announced that he had just been appointed Archbishop of Raphoe. The

late Rev Anthony Garstin of Braganstown, was an uncle of his. He lately

lost his eldest son, but he has two sons now fighting against the Turks -

one in Egypt and another at Gallipoli.

(Dundalk Democrat, 4 September 1915)

Major William Fortescue Colborne Garstin, 5th Battalion Royal Irish

Fusiliers, was killed in action in the war against Turkey between the 7th

and 10th August 1915. It is reported he was shot by a 'sniper' after

landing at Suvla, N of the Dardanelles. Born at Glasthule House,

120

Kingstown, on the 1 Jan., 1875, deceased was the only son of Mr John

Ribton Garstin, D.L., of Braganstown, County Louth, his mother (who

died in 1910) having been the only daughter of Mr James A Durham, of

Elm Lodge, Hampton-on-Thames, sometime chairman of the London

and County Bank. Major Garstin formerly served in the 6th Battalion

Royal Irish Rifles - the old Louth Militia - and took part in the South

African war with the 2nd Battalion, obtaining the Queen's medal with

two clasps. He was Justice of the Peace for the Co of Louth, a Governor

of Dundalk Infirmary, M.R.D.S., etc. The family has been associated

with Ireland since the seventeenth century. Major James Garstin was in

this county before 1649. On 3 August 1660, he was appointed by

General Monk (The Commander-in-Chief under Charles II) Provost-

Marshal of the Forces in Ireland, and in consideration of his services and

money "adventured" by him, was granted lands in Counties Westmeath

and Braganstown, County Louth. These grants were confirmed by letters

patent of Charles II, dated 5th February 1666 the original of which is in

the possession of the present Mr Garstin, of Braganstown. The family

estate having become alienated for a short time was purchased in 1877

by Mr Garstin. His only son, the late Major Garstin, held, under his

father, the bulk of the Braganstown estate. He died unmarried in his 40th

year, leaving 3 sisters - Helena-Cordelia, of Canterbury, widow of the

Rev. J.H. Douglas, sometime Rector of Otterden, Kent (by whom she

has one son and four daughters, Miss (Adeline) Garstin, now in France,

and Miss R.A. Garstin.

Besides very numerous letters of condolence, Mr Garstin has received

votes of sympathy from the Louth County Council, Castlebellingham

bench of Magistrates, the Governors of Richmond Asylum, &c.

With the death of Major Garstin, his father is the only male member of

the name of this branch of a family seated for over two and a half

centuries in the County Louth, his nearest kinsman of the name being

the Rev. Wm. Garstin, lately made Archdeacon of Raphoe. (Tempest's

Annual, 1916)

17. GREENAN, Gunner, THOMAS JOSEPH, 6950, 22 Brigade Australian Field

Artillery. Died at Mametz, France, on Monday 31 July 1916. Age 25. Born

Omagh Co. Tyrone. Son of Peter and Ellen Greenan, 12 Loretto Terrace,

Springfield Road, Belfast. Occupation, book-keeper and musician. Educated at

Christian Brothers School, Dundalk. Emigrated to Australia aged 19, and lived

in Melbourne.

VII.G.5 Flatiron Copse Cemetery, Mametz, Somme, France. (AWM, CWGC,

CWM)

GREENAN – Killed in action July 31st 1916. Gunner T J Greenan,

Australian Imperial Forces, France, second dearly beloved son of the

late Peter Greenan, Lurgangreen, Dundalk, and Mrs Greenan, 18 Loretto

121

Terrace, Springfield Road, Belfast. Sacred Heart of Jesus have mercy on

him. R I P.

(Dundalk Democrat, 26 August 1916)

Thomas Joseph Greenan, Gunner, age 24, occupation Despatch Clerk,

single, address 88 Pickles Street, South Melbourne. Next-of-kin Mrs E

Greenan, mother, 12 Loretta Terrace, Springfield Road, Belfast, Ireland.

Embarked 18 November 2015. (Australian War Memorial, Embarkation

Rolls)

1901 Census: House 23 Mooretown, Dromiskin, Peter Greenan, age 59,

Roman Catholic, born Co Monaghan, occupation Pensioner RIC; wife Ellen,

age 38, born Co Louth; daughter Mary E, age 13, born Co Donegal, occupation

Scholar; son Edward, age 12, born Co Donegal, occupation Scholar; son

Thomas, age 10, born Co Tyrone, occupation Scholar; son John, age 8, born Co

Louth, occupation Scholar; son James, age 5, born Co Louth, occupation

Scholar; son Patrick, age 3, born Co Louth; daughter Annie, age 1, born Co

Louth.

1911 Census: House 23 Haggardstown, Dundalk. Ellen Greenan Head of

Family, Roman Catholic, widow; daughter Mary, age 23, born Co Donegal,

occupation Milliner; son Edward, age 22, born Co Donegal, occupation Motor

Mechanic; son John, age 17, born Co Louth, occupation Motor Mechanic; son

James, age 15, born Co Louth, occupation Scholar; son Patrick, age 13, born

Co Louth, occupation Scholar; daughter Annie, age 11, born Co Louth,

occupation Scholar; son Joseph, age 9, occupation Scholar; daughter Lillie, age

7, occupation Scholar; and son Vincent age 1year 10 months.

18. HARMON, Lance Corporal, PHILIP JOSEPH, 25344, 7 Battalion Royal Irish

Regiment (Formerly 1707 South Irish Horse). Died of wounds France, 1 April

1918. Age 23. Born Melbourne, Australia, son of Joseph S. and Mary Harmon,

of Salterstown, Co. Louth. Resident Dunleer. Enlisted Dublin.

P. IX. K. 14B. St. Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen - Seine-Maritime France.

(CWGC, CWM, SDGW)

HARMON -April 1st 1918 at Rouen Hospital. Of wounds received in

action, Lce-Cpl Philip J Harmon (22). South Irish Horse, eldest son of

Joseph G Harmon, JP, Salterstown, Co. Louth. RIP. Australian papers

please copy.

(Drogheda Argus, 13 April 1918)

The many friends of the Harmon Family will read this announcement

with sincere regret. The deceased was one of three brothers all fine

specimens of Irish Catholic youth who volunteered for war service. He

served first with the South Irish Horse and may be said to have been one

of the few who saw cavalry service in the old sense. That was during the

Somme campaign of 1916. Since then he was attached to the Irish

Fusiliers, as are a large number of the South Irish. He was home last

summer; and it is worth noting that there was no more devout attendant

at the Services of the Mission then being held in his home parish.

(Dundalk Democrat, 6 April 1918)

122

Awarded a British War Medal and Victory Medal. (UK National Archives,

WO/372/9. (Erroneously indexed on archive website as 'Harman')

1901 Census: House 18 Salterstown, Co Louth. Joseph Harmon, age 41, Head

of Family, Roman Catholic, born Co Louth, occupation Farmer; wife Mary

Harmon, age 28, Roman Catholic, born Australia; son Philip, age 6, born

Australia; son Thomas, age 3 born Co Louth; daughter Mary, age 2 born Co

Louth; son Leo no age shown, born Co Louth; uncle Joseph, age 73, occupation

Retired Draper

1911 Census: House 36 Salterstown, Co Louth. Joseph Harmon, age 53, Head

of Family, Roman Catholic, occupation Farmer, born Co Louth. Mary Harmon,

wife, age 42, Roman Catholic, born Australia; son Philip, age 16 born

Australia; son Thomas, age 13 born Co Louth; daughter Mary, age 11 born Co

Louth; son Leo age 10 born Co Louth; son Vincent age 8 born Co Louth; son

Patrick, age 6, born Co Louth; daughter Ellen age 3 born Co Louth.

Philip Harmon was one of four brothers who enlisted. Thomas joined the Royal

Garrison Artillery, Leo joined the South Irish Horse and Vincent joined the

Royal Flying Corps/RAF.

19. HODGERS, Private, A, R(oyal) D(ublin) Fus(iliers)

Cannot be identified.

20. HODGERS, Private, JAMES, 22411, 2 Battalion (20 Battalion - SDGW),

King's Liverpool Regiment. Killed in action, France, Sunday 30 July 1916.

Age 26. Born Dundalk, Co. Louth. Son of Patrick and Elizabeth Hodgers of 11

Vernon Street, Dale Street, Liverpool. Resident and enlisted Liverpool.

Pier and Face 1. D. 8. B and 8 C Thiepval Memorial Somme France. (IMR,

CWGC, CWM, SDGW)

Brother Edward, and half-brother Thomas Wallace, sisters Rose Ann, Ellen and

Elizabeth. Enlisted 12 November 1914, age 29 years and eleven months.

Previously served in the Royal Navy, discharged 1908.

Awarded the 1914-1915 Star, in service in France on 7 November 1915. Also

awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. (UK National

Archives, WO/372/9).

Cannot be identified on 1901 or 1911 Census of Ireland.

21. HODGERS, Lance-Corporal, JOHN, 20066, 8 Battalion Royal Dublin

Fusiliers. Killed in action, France, Thursday 7 September 1916. Born Kilsaran

Co. Louth. Enlisted in Dundalk, and resident in Castlebellingham, Co. Louth,

Pier and Face 16C Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France (IMR, CWGC, CWM,

SDGW, DWM)

Awarded the 1914-1915 Star, in service in France on 20 December 1915. Also

awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. (UK National

Archives, WO/372/9)

Cannot be identified on 1901 or 1911 Census of Ireland.

123

22. HODGERS, Bombardier, NICHOLAS, 49553, Military Medal, 226 Siege

Battery Royal Garrison Artillery. Died on Thursday 3 January 1918. Age 35.

Born Louth, Co. Louth. Enlisted Liverpool. Husband of Mary Hodgers, 37

Stockdale Street, Marybone, Liverpool.

XXVI.D.19. Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Poperinge, West-Vlaanderen,

Belgium (CWGC, CWM, SDGW).

Awarded the 1914-1915 Star, in service in France on 5 September 1915. Also

awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. (UK National

Archives, WO/372/9)

Military Medal Gazetted 29 August 1917. (UK National Archives WO 372/23

Cannot be identified on 1901 or 1911 Census of Ireland.

23. HOEY, Private, WILLIAM, 22863, 8 Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Killed

in action, France, Thursday 27 April 1916. Born and resident Newtowndarver,

Co. Louth. Enlisted Dundalk.

Panel 127 to 129 Loos Memorial Pas-de-Calais, France (IMR, CWGC, DWM,

CWM, DD 27 May, 1916, SDGW)

We were in action on the 27th and 29th April. My battalion bore the

brunt of the right attack, and behaved archly. The Commander-in-Chief

came down to see us and congratulate us. He shook hands with me, and

said very nice things. I am sending you some of the papers we received.

Poor George Myles and Lambe, of Castle Bellingham; W Hoey, of

Darver, P. Macken of Ardee; and J Murphy of Drogheda are among the

killed. Please express to their people my profound sympathy in their

losses. We had heavy casualties, but 50 per cent will return eventually.

Our men are furious with the Sinn Feiners, and asked to be allowed to

go and finish them up. We were defending the Empire with serious

losses the very day these people were trying to help the Germans that we

were fighting. It is all so sad. Colonel Bellingham. (Drogheda

Independent, 20 May 1916)

Awarded the 1914-1915 Star, being in service in France on 20 December 1915.

Also awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. (UK National

Archives, WO/ 372/9)

1901 Census: House 10 Newtowndarver, Darver, Co Louth, James Hoey, age

60, Head of Family, occupation Farm Labourer; wife Mary age 40; daughter

Mary age 20, son John, age 14 occupation Farm Labourer; daughter Julia age

12; son William age 8 occupation Scholar; son Vincent age 4. All born Co

Louth.

1911 Census: House 11 Newtowndarver, Darver, Co Louth. James Hoey, Head

of Family, age 74, Roman Catholic, occupation Agricultural Labourer; wife

Mary age 55; daughter Mary age 30, daughter Julia age 20; son William age 18

occupation Labourer; son Paul age14, occupation Agricultural Labourer. All

born Co Louth.

24. HUGHES, Gunner, EDWARD, 119710, "B" Battery, 56th Brigade. Royal

Field Artillery. Killed in action France, 10 September 1918. Age 22. Son of

124

Patrick and Anne Hughes, of 411 Fourth Street, Trafford Park, Manchester.

Born Togher, Co. Louth. Native of Dunany, Co. Louth. Enlisted Dundalk.

B. 8. Ecoust-St. Mein British Cemetery - Pas de Calais France. (CWGC,

CWM, SDGW)

Awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. (UK National

Archives WO/372/10)

Cannot be identified in 1901 or 1911 Census.

25. HUSSEY, Private, ROBERT, 19806. 9 Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.

Enlisted at Sixmilecross, Co Tyrone. Died of wounds, home, 13 August 1916.

Age 21. Son of Robert Hussey, of Charleville, Dunleer, Co. Louth.

North of Church. Drumcar (St. Fintan) Church Of Ireland Churchyard -

County Louth Ireland. (CWGC, CWM, SDGW)

Awarded the 1915 Star, being on active service in France on 5 October 1915,

the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal. (UK National Archives,

WO/372/10)

1901 Census: House 5 Charleville, Stabannan, Robert Hussey age 48, Head of

Family, Church of Ireland, born Co Meath, occupation Gardener-Domestic

servant; wife Rachel, age 46, born Co Cavan; son William, age 18, born Co

Meath, occupation Assistant Gardener; daughter Mary, age 16, born Co Meath;

daughter Annie age 13, born Co Meath, occupation Scholar; daughter Elizabeth

age 10,born Co Meath, occupation Scholar; son Robert age 6, born Co Louth.

1911 Census: Resident at house 10 Charleville, Stabannan. Robert Hussey age

60, Head of Family, Church of Ireland, occupation Gardener-Domestic servant.

Wife Rachel, age 56. Son William John, age 27, occupation Under- Gardener,

domestic servant; daughter Elizabeth age 19; son Robert age16, occupation

General Labourer.

26. KENNY, Private, PATRICK, 11468, 4 Battalion The King's (Liverpool

Regiment). Died on 21 December 1915. Age 29. Born Dundalk, Co. Louth,

son of Thomas and Mary Kenny (nee Branigan), of Annagassan, Dunleer, Co.

Louth. Resident Dunleer, enlisted Liverpool.

II. H. 5. St. Vaast Post Military Cemetery, Richebourg-L'avoue - Pas de Calais

France.

(CWGC, CWM, SDGW)

KENNY - Killed in action in France, on December 20th, 1915, Private

Patrick

Kenny, 4th Battalion Liverpool Regiment, late of Annagassan, Co.

Louth.

R.I.P.

(Dundalk Democrat, 1 January 1916)

Awarded the 1915 Star, being on active service in France on 1 May 1915, the

British War Medal, and the Victory Medal. (UK National Archives,

WO/372/11)

125

1901 Census: House 18 Annagassan Village, Thomas Kenny, Head of Family,

age 44, occupation Pilot, Roman Catholic; wife Mary age 42; son Thomas age

9, occupation scholar. All born Co Louth.

1911 Census: House 11 Linns, Castlebellingham, Mary Kenny, Head of

Family, age 52. Son Thomas age 19, occupation Fisherman.

27. KING, Sergeant, JOSEPH J, 48054, 1 Battalion or 10th Div. Battalion

Machine Gun Corps (Inf) (formerly 11710 Royal Irish Fusiliers). Died of

wounds received at Nablus, Mesopotamia, on 19 September (CWGC) or 4

October 1918(SDGW, De Ruvigny). Age 28. Born Togher, Co. Louth. Son of

Charles Dougherty King J.P, Corn and Coal Merchant of Annagassan Mills,

Annagassan, Dunleer, Co. Louth and Bridget King daughter of Thomas Bryan

of Collon Co. Louth.

M. I. Jerusalem War Cemetery – Israel. (CWGC, CWM, De Ruvigny, SDGW )

L. Cpl. J. King, 1st Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers (son of Mr C.D. King,

J.P. Annagassan), who is at present in the Military Barracks, Dundalk,

has received a letter from Major General Wilson, commanding the 4th

Division, that intimation has been received from his Brigade

Commander that he has distinguished himself by conspicuous bravery

on the field. This probably means that Lance Corporal King will one of

these days receive the D.C.M. Louth has reason to be proud of this

young soldier, as indeed of scores of the soldiers, young and old, who

have been doing their duty bravely and unobtrusively. We hear, by the

way, that one of them has been recommended for promotion of a very

remarkable kind - of which we shall have an opportunity of speaking

later.

(Dundalk Democrat, 17 July 1915)

KING - October 4, 1918, at Alexandria, of wounds received in the

liberation of the Holy Land, Joseph J King, 31st Machine Gun Corps,

only son of Charles D King, Annagassan Mills.

We very much regret to have to record the death of young Mr King. The

heir to a valuable property and already graduating in his father's

extensive business concern as a young man of great promise, he was one

of the thousands of brave and chivalrous young Irishmen who responded

to Mr Redmond's chivalrous definition of national duty at the outbreak

of the war. He took part in the early campaigns in France and was twice

honourably mentioned by the General commanding his division. He was

wounded in France and on his recovery was sent to Egypt. In all the

fighting that occurred in Allenby's brilliant campaign which resulted in

the delivery of the Holy Places of Palestine from the blighting grasp of

the Turk, he took part and in one of the later battles north of Jerusalem

he received the wounds which caused his death. In one of his last letters

home he described his visit to Jerusalem and spoke of the joy he felt in

having been an instrument in its delivery. We can believe he counted his

life well lost in that great achievement so worthy of an Irish Catholic.

126

We sympathise with his father, and with Annagassan which has lost one

who, had he been spared, would have done much to develop its latest

possibilities. RIP. (Dundalk Democrat, 25 October 1918)

Born Dublin 20 September 1890. Educated in St. Wilfred's College

Oakamore. Associated in business with his father,; volunteered for

active service on the outbreak of the war and enlisted in the 1st Royal

Irish Fusiliers in August 1914. Served in Expeditionary Force in France

and Flanders from January 1915; was wounded at St. Julien the

following April and invalided home. Transferring to the Machine Gun

Corps he served with the 10th Division in the retreat from Serbia to

Salonika and in Egypt to Palestine and died at No. 74 Casualty Clearing

Station, 4 October 1918 of wounds received in action at Nablus on 20th

of the previous month. Buried in Limber Hill Military Cemetery, 7 miles

North of Jerusalem., His officer commanding wrote "His section officer

tells me what a brave man and excellent soldier he always found him to

be:- Sgt. King was very popular with all ranks and was keen of his work

and games." He was awarded the parchment certificate by General

Wilson for conspicuous bravery in the field at Ypres in 1915 and was

unmarried. (de Ruvigny)

Of your charity, pray for the repose of the soul of Joseph J King of

Annagassan Mills who died at Nablus Palestine October 4th

1918 of

wounds received in action near Jerusalem. This way of the cross is

erected by his sorrowing parents to his memory. R.I.P. (Plaque,

Dillonstown R.C. Parish Church, Co. Louth)

Awarded the 1915 Star, being on active service on 3 January 1915, the British

War Medal, and the Victory Medal. (WO/372/11)

1901 Census: at 10 Addison Terrace, Glasnevin, Dublin, Charles King, age

35, born Co Louth, Roman Catholic, occupation Corn Merchant, Head of

Family; wife Bridget, wife, age 43, born Co Louth; stepson Thomas Byrne,

age 16, occupation Solicitor's clerk, born Co Louth; stepdaughter Margaret

Byrne, age 14, born Co Louth; son Joseph, age 10, born Dublin City; daughter

Mary age 5, born Dublin City; daughter Clare age 5, born Dublin City;

1911 Census: House 1 Annagassan Town, Charles D King, age 45, born Co

Louth, Roman Catholic, occupation Corn Merchant, Head of Family; wife

Bridget, age 52, born Co Louth; Mary age 15 born Dublin City; Clare age 15,

born Dublin City; stepson Thomas age 26, born Co Louth, occupation

Mercantile Clerk.

28. LELAND, Corporal, WILLIAM ROBERT ALFRED, 101459, 'B' Battery 277

Brigade Royal Field Artillery. Died on Friday 24 August 1917. Age 29. Born

Brewry [sic], Louth. Son of Robert J and Amelia E Leland of Drogheda.

Enlisted Dundalk.

XXX.E.1 New Irish Farm Cemetery, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium

(CWGC, CWM, DWM, SDGW)

127

LELAND – August 24, 1917, killed in action, Corp. W R Alfred Leland,

R F A, dearly loved third son of Robt J and Mrs Leland Drogheda, and

brother of Mrs Mary C Marks, Nutstone, Sandymount.

(Drogheda Argus, 22 September 1917) (E Leland on memorial).

Awarded the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal. (UK National

Archives, WO/372/12)

1901 Census: At No 1 Mary Street, Drogheda, Robert Leland, age 49, Head of

Family, Church of Ireland, occupation Brewer, born Drogheda Co Meath; wife

Amelia Leland, age 53, born Co Louth; daughter Letitia age 23, born Co

Meath; daughter Mary age 21, born Co Meath, occupation Scholar; Albert age

19, born Co Meath, occupation Brewer; Grace age 16, born Co Meath,

occupation Scholar; Alfred 13, born Co Meath, occupation Scholar; Charles

age 11, born Co Louth, occupation Scholar; Thomas age 9, Church of Ireland,

born Co Meath, occupation Scholar.

1911 Census: No 1 Mary Street, Drogheda, Robert J Leland, Head of Family,

age 59 Church of Ireland, occupation Brewer; wife Amelia Leland wife age 61;

daughter Letitia S age 33; son Albert F, age 29 ,occupation Brewer; son, Alfred

WR, age 23 occupation Book Keeper; son, Thomas P, age 19, occupation

Scholar. All now listed as born in County Louth.

29. LYNCH, Private, THOMAS JOSEPH, 29595, 8/9 Battalion Royal Dublin

Fusiliers. Killed in action, France, Tuesday 20 November 1917. Born

Knockbridge, Co. Louth. Resident Dundalk, enlisted Dublin.

Awarded the Victory Medal and the British War Medal. (UK Archives

WO/372/12)

II.C.20 Croisilles British Cemetery, Pas-de-Calais, France (IMR, CWGC,

CWM, SDGW)

Cannot be identified in 1901 or 1911 Census

30. MARLEY, Private, JOHN, 10763, 1 Battalion Irish Guards. Killed in action,

France, 2 August 1917. Born Kilsaran, Co. Louth. Enlisted Dundalk.

IV.A.18. Artillery Wood Cemetery, Ieper, West Vlaanderen, Belgium. (IMR,

CWM, CWGC, SDGW)

Awarded the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal. (UK Archives

WO/372/13)

Cannot be identified in 1901 or 1911 Census

31. McBRIDE, Private, NICHOLAS, 12074, 11 Battalion King's Liverpool

Regiment (Irish Guards on Castlebellingham memorial and on Medal Rolls).

Killed in action, Wednesday 28 March 1917. Born Stabannon, Co. Louth.

II.L.6. Faubourg D'Amiens Cemetery, Arras, Pas de Calais, France. (IMR,

CWGC, CWM)

Awarded the 1915 Star, being on active service in France on 19 May 1915, the

British War Medal and the Victory Medal. (UK National Archives WO/372/12)

Cannot be identified in 1901 or 1911 Census.

128

32. McCABE, Private, JOHN, 2832, 1/9 Battalion The King's (Liverpool

Regiment). Killed in action, France, 8 October 1915. Age 23. Born

Castlebellingham. Son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael McCabe, of Castlebellingham,

Co. Louth. Resident Louth. Enlisted Liverpool.

Panel 27 to 30 Loos Memorial - Pas de Calais France. (CWGC, CWM, SDGW)

Awarded the 1915 Star, being on active service in France on 12 March 1915,

the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.(UK National Archives

WO/372/12)

1901 Census: House 83, Castlebellingham, Michael McCabe, age 33, Head of

Family, Roman Catholic, occupation Labourer; wife Margaret, age 28; son

John, age 9, occupation Scholar; son Michael, age 7, occupation Scholar; son

Thomas, age 3. All born Castlebellingham, Co Louth.

1911 Census: House 21, Castlebellingham, Michael McCabe, age 44, Roman

Catholic, occupation General Labourer; wife Margaret, age 38, occupation

General Domestic Servant; son John, age 19, occupation General Labourer; son

Michael, age 17 General Labourer; son Thomas, age 13, occupation Scholar;

daughter Anne, age 9, occupation Scholar; Catherine age 6, occupation

Scholar; son Patrick, age 3. All born Co. Louth.

33. McFADDEN, Acting Bombardier, FRANCIS, 101512, "D" Battery, 69

Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. Died France, 20 October 1918. Age 21. Born

Kilsaran, Co. Louth. Son of Patrick and Mary McFadden, of Castlebellingham,

Co. Louth. Enlisted Athlone.

II. D. 16. Delsaux Farm Cemetery, Beugny - Pas de Calais France. (CWGC,

CWM, SDGW)

Awarded the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal. (UK Archives

WO/372/12)

1901 Census: House no 42 Castlebellingham, Patrick McFadden, age 38, Head

of Family, Roman Catholic, occupation Farmer; wife Marey (sic), age 39,

occupation Housekeeper; son John age 16, occupation Scholar; son Patrick age

12, occupation Scholar; son James J age 10, occupation Scholar; daughter

Roase A (sic) age 8, occupation Scholar; son Francis age 3; Grand-mother

Roase (sic) Kendlon age 89. All born Co Louth.

1911 Census: At house no 12 Castlebellingham, Patrick McFadden, age 48,

Head of Family, occupation Road Contractor; wife Mary, age 54; daughter

Rose A age 18; son Francis age 13, occupation Scholar.

34. McKENNA, Private, FREDRICK, G/47451. 2 Battalion Royal Fusiliers

(formerly 1 Battalion). Killed in action France, 2 October 1918. Age 24. Born

Dublin, son of Bernard McKenna, of Mount Doyle, Dunleer, Co. Louth.

XXI. H. 9. Hooge Crater Cemetery - Ieper, West-Vlaanderen Belgium.

(CWGC, CWM)

Awarded the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal. (UK National

Archives WO/372/13)

Cannot be identified in 1901 or 1911 Census of Ireland

129

35. MILLIGAN, Second Lieutenant, FREDRICK ALBERT, 7 Battalion Royal

Inniskilling Fusiliers. Died on 29 April 1916. Age 19. Son of the late William

George and Elizabeth Milligan, of Ballymascanlon, Co. Louth.

C. 27. Philosophe British Cemetery, Mazingarbe - Pas de Calais France.

(CWGC, DWM, CWM)

Awarded the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal. (UK National

Archives WO/372/14) (2nd

Lt. Milligan's service record is available from UK

National Archives, file no WO 339/42059)

1901 Census: At House 2 Culfore, Ballymascanlon, Co Louth, Jane

McKenney, age 50, Head of Family, Church of Ireland; William George

Milligan, nephew, age 34, born Canada, Church of Ireland, occupation clerk;

Bertha Alma Milligan, Grand-niece, age 9, scholar, Church of Ireland; Fred

Albert Woods Milligan, age 5, scholar, Church of Ireland.

1911 Census: At house 24, Drumcar Maria Louisa Armstrong age 59, Church

of Ireland; son George Armstrong, age 32, occupation Farmer's Son; daughter

Emily Anna age 22; boarder Frederick Albert Woods Milligan, age 15,

occupation Scholar,

Freddie Milligan lived with the Armstrong family at Drumcar and

attended the Church of Ireland School at Drumcar. (Bryan Rogers).

36. MULROY, Petty Officer, C, 196715. H.M.S. Cleethorpes, Royal Navy. Died

on 10 September 1919. Age 38. Son of Thomas and Mary Mulroy, of

Salterstown, Dunleer, Co. Louth.

I. G. 9. Haidar Pasha Cemetery – Turkey. (CWGC, CWM).

Enlisted 15 August 1899 for 12 years. Date of birth 15.08 1881 at

Togher. Co Louth. Occupation fishing. Re-enlisted 15 August 1911. 'AL

3411/20 reporting circumstances of this man's death occurred in the

French Hospital, Constantinople on 10 Sept, 1919.'(UK National

Archives, ADM/188/340)

1911 Census shows a Mary Mulroy at House 32, Salterstown, Co

Louth, Head of Family, age 67, Catholic, occupation Grocer; son

Thomas, age 40, occupation Agricultural Labourer; son John, age 28,

occupation Fisherman. No trace in the 1901 Census. All born Co Louth.

37. MURPHY, Second Lieutenant, EDWARD, Certificate for Gallantry, 8

Battalion attd. 1 Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Killed in action. 21 March

1918. Age 28. Husband of Rose Murphy, of Dromiskin, Castlebellingham, Co.

Louth.

Panel 79 and 80 Pozieres Memorial - Somme France. (CWGC, CWM,

SDGW).

Enlisted as Private in Irish Guards, no 6479. Commissioned Second Lieutenant

in Royal Dublin Fusiliers 26 June 1917.

Awarded the 1915 Star, being on active service in France on 21 November

1915, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. (UK National Archives,

WO/372/14)

Cannot be identified in 1901 or 1911 Census.

130

38. MURPHY, Petty Officer Stoker, JOHN, 149186, H.M.S. Orvieto, Royal

Navy. Killed in train accident, at Firsby (Lincolnshire), 22 December 1915.

Age 48. Son of Patrick and Anne Murphy, of Mayne, Clogher Head, Co.

Louth; husband of Mary Murphy (nee Doyle), of 25, Clowance St., Devonport.

Royal Fleet Reserve, Pensioner.

11103. Plymouth (Weston Mill) Cemetery – Devon. (CWGC, CWM).

John Murphy ,born 5 March 1869. Enlisted in the Royal Navy 29 July 1889 for

12 years. Re-enlisted 29 July 1901. Height 5 feet 8 and a half inches.

Occupation Labourer. 'Accidentally killed at Firsby Rly Station'. (UK National

Archives, ADM/188/213)

Census 1901: At house 6, Mayne, Clogher, Co Louth, Patrick Murphy, age 64,

Roman Catholic, occupation Shepherd; wife Annie, age 62; son Patrick, age

35, occupation Blacksmith; son Laurence, age 24, occupation Agricultural

Labourer; daughter Annie, age 30. All born Co Louth.

Census 1911: At house 6 Mayne, Clogherhead, Patrick Murphy age 78,

occupation Farm Servant; wife Anne, age 75; daughter Annie age 44.

39. MURTAGH, Private, JOHN, 18477, 1 Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers. Killed

in action, France, Thursday 12 October 1916. Born and resident Dromiskin,

Co. Louth. Enlisted Dundalk. Reported missing (Dundalk Democrat, 11

November 1916).

Awarded the 1915 Star, being on active service in France on 21 June 1915, the

British War Medal and the Victory Medal. (UK National Archives,

WO/372/14)

Pier and Face 15A Thiepval Memorial Some, France. (IMR, CWGC, CWM,

SDGW).

Cannot be identified with certainty in Census.

1901 Census: At house 26 Whiterath, Dromiskin, John Murtagh age 45, Head

of Family, Roman Catholic, occupation Labourer; wife Kate age 40; son

Nicholas, age 20, occupation Farm Labourer; son John, age 18, occupation

Carpenter; son Michael, age 16, occupation Farm Labourer; son Arthur, age 13,

occupation Scholar; son Patrick, age 10, occupation Scholar; son Joseph, age 6,

occupation Scholar; son James age 3. All born Co Louth.

1911 Census: At house 19 Whiterath, Dromiskin, Co Louth, John Murtagh age

28, Roman Catholic, occupation Carpenter; wife Annie, age 29, born Co Louth.

40. MYNES, Private, THOMAS, 18473. "D" Company 1 Battalion Royal Irish

Fusiliers. Killed in action 1 July 1916. Age 35. Born and resident Dromiskin,

Co. Louth, son of James and Catherine Mynes, of Moortown,

Castlebellingham, Co. Louth. Enlisted Dundalk

II. B. 18. Auchonvillers Military Cemetery - Somme France. (CWGC, CWM,

SDGW).

Awarded the 1915 Star, being on active service in France on 21 June 1915, the

British War Medal and the Victory Medal. (UK National Archives,

WO/372/14)

131

1901 Census: House 6 Johnstown, Drumcar, James Mynes, age 50, Roman

Catholic, occupation Agricultural Labourer; wife Catherine, age 40; daughter

Maggie, age 17, occupation House Work; daughter Annie, age 14, occupation

Scholar; son James, age 9, occupation Scholar; son Patrick, age 6, occupation

Scholar; son Henry, age 3. All born Co Louth

1911 Census: House 33 Mooretown, Dromiskin, James Mynes, age 70, Roman

Catholic, occupation Agricultural Labourer; wife Catherine, age 55; son

Thomas age 28, occupation Agricultural Labourer; son Patrick, age 16,

occupation Agricultural Labourer; son Henry, age 12, occupation Scholar.

41. NIXON, Lance Corporal, PATRICK, 15707. 1 Battalion Royal Irish Rifles.

Died of wounds Monday 14 October 1918. Born and enlisted Dundalk. Son of

Mrs. M. Nixon, of Williamstown, Castlebellingham, Co. Louth. Resident of

Castlebellingham.

VI, D. 32. Dadizeele New British Cemetery - Moorslede, West-Vlaanderen

Belgium. (CWGC, CWM, SDGW).

Awarded the 1915 Star, being on active service in France on 4 April 1915, the

British War Medal and the Victory Medal. (UK National Archives WO/372/14)

1901 Census: House 20 Williamstown, Castlebellingham, Co Louth, Peter

Nixon, Head of Family, age 42, Roman Catholic, born Co Meath, occupation

Steward; wife Mary, age 32, born Co Louth; son Tom age 19 (sic), occupation

Labourer; daughter Mary Anne, age 16; daughter Kate, age 11, occupation

Scholar; son Jim age 9, occupation Scholar; daughter Jane age 7, occupation

Scholar; son Patrick, age 5, occupation Scholar; son John age 3; daughter

Josephien (sic), age 9 months. All children born Co Louth.

1911 Census: House 5 Williamstown, Castlebellingham, Co Louth. Peter

Nixon, Head of Family, age 54, Roman Catholic, occupation Land Steward;

wife Mary, age 43, born Co Louth; son Thomas age 25, occupation Farm

Labourer; son James, age 20, occupation Farm Labourer; daughter Jane, age

17, occupation Seamstress; son Patrick, age 15, occupation Scholar; son John,

age 13, occupation Scholar; daughter Josephine, age 11, occupation Scholar;

son Joseph, age 6, occupation scholar; daughter Roseanne, age 2. All children

born Co Louth.

(The age of Thomas in not consistent with 1901 Census)

42. REYNOLDS, Chief Petty Officer, JOSEPH, 164729, H.M.S. Cressy, Royal

Navy. Killed in action with submarine in North Sea 22 September 1914. Age

39. Son of Thomas and Mary Reynolds, of Clonmore, Dunleer, Co. Louth.

Chatham Naval Memorial - Kent. (CWGC, CWM).

JOSEPH REYNOLDS, CLONMORE, TOGHER, Chief Petty Officer

H.M.S. "Cressy". Lost.

The Accountant General has written to the Rev Father John Woods, CC

Togher, that the above officer's name does not appear amongst the

survivors of the "Cressy" In the circumstances it is feared that in the

absence of any evidence to the contrary, he must be regarded as having

132

lost his life. Deceased was a universal favourite, and his position in the

Royal Navy is indicative of his ability and worth.

(Drogheda Independent, 10 October 1914)

Joseph Reynolds, born 2 July 1875, place of birth Clonmore, Co Louth.

Enlisted in Royal Navy 2 July 1893 for 12 years. Re-enlisted 20 July 1905. 22

December 1914 'Lost in North Sea when H.M.S. Cressy was sunk by German

submarine.' (UK National Archives ADM/188/199)

Cannot locate in 1901 or 1911 Census.

43. SCULLY, Private, WILLIAM, 1819, 7 Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers.

Killed in action Gallipoli, Sunday 15 August 1915. Born, resident and enlisted

Dundalk, Co. Louth.

Panel 185 to 190 Helles Memorial, Turkey. (IMR, CWGC, CWM, SDGW).

Awarded the 1915 Star, being on active service in the Balkans 9 July 1915, the

British War Medal and the Victory Medal. (UK National Archives

WO/372/17)

Mrs McGawley of New Road Ardee, has received the subjoined letter

from her son, a private in the Royal Munster Fusiliers, who is now in

hospital in England. It shows clearly the desperate character of the

fighting at Suvla in which he took part, and in which his comrade and

fellow Louthman of the same regiment, Private Wm. Scully of

Drumleck, was killed. Mrs McGawley attributes her son's escape from

the imminent perils of the campaign to the Masses she has had offered

for him once every week since he volunteered fro the front.

Private McGawley writes - "We had a hot time of it out there, especially

the first day of the landing (at the Dardanelles) We lost a lot of our lads.

There are only a hundred and ninety of our regiment left. The 15th of

August was a terrible day. We lost four hundred men in about seven

hours. I didn't take off my clothes for three weeks. You may guess the

state we were in…"

(Dundalk Democrat, 11 September 1915)

SCULLY - August 15, 1915. Killed in action at Dardanelles, Private

William Scully, Royal Munster Fusiliers, son of William A Scully,

Drumleck, Castlebellingham.- RIP.

We sincerely regret to record the death of Mr, Scully, who was as well

known in Dundalk as in Castlebellingham and district being a brother of

Mrs T. Goodman, Dundalk. Mr Scully volunteered for service at the

outbreak of the war, joining the 7th Battalion Royal Munster Fusiliers,

which was one of the battalions incorporated in the 10th Irish Division.

He landed with the Division at Suvla Bay and participated in the taking

of Dublin Hill – an action in which the Irish regiments covered

themselves with glory. No details have reached his relatives as yet,

beyond an intimation that he died on the 15th August, the Feast of Our

Lady. There is some consolation for his relatives in the fact. He was

133

only 26 years of age and a fine young Irishman. (Dundalk Democrat, 18

September 1915.)

1901 Census: House 19, Dromiskin, William Scully, age 56, Head of

Household, Roman Catholic, occupation Police Pensioner, widower, born

Waterford; daughter Maud, age 22, occupation House Keeper, born Louth; son

Joseph, age 18, born Louth, occupation Scholar; daughter Kate, age 15, born

Roscommon, occupation Scholar; son William, age 12, born Roscommon,

occupation Scholar; son Paul, age 10, born Roscommon, occupation Scholar.

1911 Census: At House 6, Dromiskin, William Scully, age 65, Head of

Household, Roman Catholic, occupation Ex-Sergt RIC, widower, born

Waterford; daughter Kathleen, age 25, born Westmeath; son Paul, age 19,

occupation Scholar, born Roscommon.

44. SULLIVAN, Gunner, G. Royal Garrison Artillery

45. THOMAS, Private, PATRICK, 21335, 8 Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers.

Killed in action, France, Thursday 27 April 1916. Born and resident

Castlebellingham, Co. Louth. Son of Patrick and Margaret Thomas. Enlisted

Dublin

Panel 127 to 129 Loos Memorial, Pas de Calais, France. (IMR, CWGC, CWM,

DD 27 April 1916, SDGW)

Awarded the 1915 Star, being on active service in France 20 December 1915,

the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. (UK National Archives

WO/372/19)

1901 Census: At house 32 Milestown, Castlebellingham. Patrick Thomas, age

52, Head of Family, Roman Catholic, occupation Farm Servant; wife Maggie,

age 40, Roman Catholic; son Patrick, age 22, occupation Groom; daughter

Mary, age 20, occupation Lace Maker; daughter Katie, age 18, occupation

General Domestic Servant; daughter Maggie, age 16, occupation Lace-Maker.

All born Co Louth

1911 Census: House 28 Milestown, Castlebellingham, Margaret Thomas, age

25, Head of Family; brother Patrick, age 31, occupation Coachman Domestic

Servant.

46. TUITE, Lance-Corporal, THOMAS, 23818, 1 Battalion Royal Dublin

Fusiliers. Killed in action, France, Monday 14 October 1918. Born Kilsaran,

Co. Louth. Resident Castlebellingham. Enlisted Dundalk.

B.15 Ledeghem Military Cemetery, Ledegem, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

(IMR, CWGC, CWM, SDGW)

Awarded the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal. (UK National

Archives, WO/372/20)

Cannot be identified in 1901 or 1911 Census.

47. WADE, Lance Sergeant, JOHN, 43777 (43727 – SDGW), 1 Battalion Royal

Berkshire Regiment, (formerly 10255Royal Irish Fusiliers, 0/22534

Hertfordshire Yeomanry, also 5763 Army Cycle Corps). Died of wounds 26

134

August 1918. Age 30. Son of William and Kate Wade, of Castlebellingham,

Co. Louth. Born in Canada.

L. 19. St. Hilaire Cemetery Extension, Frevent - Pas de Calais France, (CWGC,

CWM, SDGW).

Awarded the 1915 Star, being on active service in France 19 December 1914,

the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. (UK National Archives,

WO/372/20)

1901 Census: House 14, Collon, Co Louth, Kate Dundas, age 36, born Co

Louth, Head of Family, widow, Church of Ireland, occupation Farmer; Step-

daughter Isabella Dundas, age 15, born Co Fermanagh, attending school; son

William Wade, age 13, born Canada; son John Henry Wade, age 12, born

Canada; daughter Theresa Wade, born Canada; son George Wade age 8, born

Canada; daughter Eily Wade, age 6, born Canada; daughter Mary Beatrice, age

5, born Canada. All children are in the Church of Ireland.

1911 Census: House 8, Castlebellingham, Catherine Dundas, age 52, born Co

Louth, Head of Family, widow, Roman Catholic; son William Wade, age 23,

born Canada, occupation General Labourer, Roman Catholic; son George

Wade age 19, born Canada, occupation General Labourer, Roman Catholic;

son Francis age 7, born Co Louth, Roman Catholic, occupation Scholar; mother

Mary Toole, age 88, widow, born Co Louth, Roman Catholic.

48. WALSH, Rifleman, CECIL CHESTER, 315256. 1/5 Battalion London Regt

(London Rifle Brigade). Died on 16 August 1917. Age 19. Son of Richard

Chester Walsh, J.P. (formerly High Sheriff, Co. Louth), and Ismay Chester

Walsh, of Williamstown House, Castlebellingham, Co. Louth. Educated at

Stonyhurst College, England. His brother also fell.

Panel 52 and 54 Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial - Ieper, West-Vlaanderen

Belgium. (CWGC, CWM).

Awarded the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal. (UK National

Archives, WO/372/20)

1901 Census: House 18 Williamstown, Castlebellingham, Richard Walter

Walsh, age 52, Head of Family, Catholic, occupation Retired Civil Engineer

and J.P.; Wife Ismay, age 38, born Co Louth; son James Crispin age 13,

scholar, born Co Dublin, son Henry Francis age 9, born County Dublin,

occupation Scholar; son Cecil John, age 4, born Co Dublin, occupation

Scholar.

1911 Census: House 8 Williamstown, Castlebellingham, Richard Walter

Walsh, age 66, Head of Family, Roman Catholic, occupation Country

Gentleman, J.C.; Wife Ismay Chester, age 45, born Co Louth; son Henry

Chester age 19, born County Dublin, occupation Graduate of Oxford; relative,

Louisa Chester, age 30, occupation Spinster, born Co Louth.

49. WALSH, Private, WILLIAM, 5901, 1 Battalion Irish Guards, killed in action

15 September 1916, age 22. Born Glossop, Derbyshire. Son of the late Kieran

John Walsh and Ellen Cranston (formerly Walsh) of 38 Melford Ave,

Giffnock, Renfrewshire. Enlisted in Dundalk.

135

5.F.28 London Cemetery and Extension, Longueval. (CWGC, SDGW)

Awarded the 1915 Star, being on active service in France 25 May 1915, the

British War Medal and the Victory Medal. (UK National Archives,

WO/372/20).

1911 Census: at 44 Castlebellingham, Somerville Cranston, Head of Family,

Presbyterian, Steward and Gardener, born in Scotland; Nellie Cranston, wife,

Catholic, born in England; son William Walsh, age 17, Catholic, born in

England, occupation Gardener Domestic Servant; son Charles Cranston, age 5,

Presbyterian, born in Co Cork.

50. WHITE, Private, DAVID, 2262, 2 Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers. Killed in

action, France, Sunday 14 March 1915. Born and resident Castlebellingham,

Co. Louth. Enlisted Dundalk.

Panel 42 Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

(IMR, CWGC, CWM, SDGW)

Awarded the 1915 Star, being on active service in France 16 February 1915,

the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. (UK National Archives,

WO/372/21)

1901 Census: House 99, Castlebellingham, Co Louth, Bridget Cranney, age

55, Head of Family, widow, Roman Catholic; son Henry Cranney, age 30,

occupation Agricultural Labourer; daughter Agnes, age 25, occupation Servant;

daughter Bridget, age 23, occupation Servant; grand-son David White, age 12,

attending school; grand-daughter Bridget Cranney, age 1; grand-son Patrick

Cranney, age 1. All born Co Louth.

1911 Census: House 99, Castlebellingham, Co Louth, Henry Cranney, age 40,

occupation Agricultural Labourer, Head of Family; Bridget Cranney, age 72,

widow; sister Agnes Cranney, age 36; cousin David White, age 21, born

Canada, occupation General Labourer.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Among other books and articles, Donal Hall is the author of

The Unreturned Army: County Louth Dead in the Great War 1914-1918,

Dundalk 2005. Copies of this book are available from the County Louth

Archaeological and Historical Society web site at

http://www.clahs.com/index.html (click on "Publications") or contact the author

at Louthgreatwar@gmail.com. Donal also maintains a database of those County

Louth men and women who returned from the Great War. This database is

constantly being updated, but research to date can be seen at

http://www.jbhall.freeservers.com/the_returned_army_-_introduction.htm. Any

additions to this database would be gratefully received.

136

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