The Descendents of a Rebel.
The story of the Doyle family of Teelough, Carbury, Co. Kildare

by Jim O'Callaghan.

Among the Wexford men who fled north after Vinegar Hill in 1798 were a young couple of brothers named Doyle. They had to be on the lookout for the pursuing yeomen who were showing no mercy. On one occasion when they were spotted by their enemies, they fled into the middle of a field of potatoes and lay down under the luxuriant foliage then in full growth.
Twice the yeomen passed by the rebels who lay perfectly still. However, one brother was killed but the other managed to escape. His position was critical and having reached a wild area at Aughamore, near Kinnegad, he decided to risk calling at a house hoping to find food and shelter.
Young James Doyle was lucky. A family called White received him well and he laid aside his pike and stayed there. His hosts were small farmers and what the struck the visitor was that they did not seem to have some farming skills that were common in his native Wexford. He soon started to show them how they might use different techniques to grow better crops and breed better animals.
In time, the young rebel became a member of the family that sheltered him by marrying the daughter of the White household. They had at least three sons, two of whom died in the 1840's and are buried at Hardwood Cemetery near Kinnegad.
About 1850, a son of the '98 insurgent named Peter Doyle took a lease of a farm at Cloncrave near Kinnegad and there later married a Miss Dixon of Clonard. Much of the land needed reclamation and Peter Doyle carried out this using mainly hand implements. He became the father of three boys and one girl. One son went to America, another son Richard settled near Trim where his descendents still survive, while the third son, William, stayed to help his father on the farm.
This son William married a Miss Ellen Glennon in 1894, a sister of Fr. Glennon who had been educated at All Hallows College and who then travelled to St. Louis, Missouri to minister there.
William and Ellen became the parents of no fewer than eleven children, two of whom died young from ailments that are now cured easily. William was a thrifty and imaginative farmer. As well as having cattle, sheep and pigs, he kept about ten hives of bees and was very successful at managing them. He found the bees very profitable and each year he took the honey to Bewley's in Dublin. In exchange he took all sorts of provisions and returned home with chests of tea, bags of sugar, together with such necessities as soap, candles, currants and raisins.
After the time of the First World War, the nine Doyle children, four boys and five girls, were being prepared for their future roles in life with the assistance of their mother, Ellen. Jim was at Dalgan Park being educated to be a Columban Priest, Peter was at Maynooth, Bill was at secondary school and Jack was being trained as a ship's radio engineer (was to spend much of his life crossing to and fro on the Atlantic on the Queen Mary).
Kathleen (later Sr. Mary Loyola) was determined to be a nun, while Josephine (my Mother) was soon to become a governess to Paul Cocteau, brother of the famous Jean Cocteau, writer and artist in Paris. Mary was to become the proprietor of a hotel in Dun Laoghaire; Bridget had been to school in England and later became a teacher, but sadly died in 1929. Nell remained on the farm helping her over-worked mother and father.
Unfortunately, the father, William Doyle hurt his knee and after a long painful illness, died in 1919. Young Bill was taken from secondary school and brought home to take the place of his father on the farm. He remembered being thrown in at the deep end. After a neighbour took him to a field, with his plough and a pair of horses. He showed him how to mark out the headlands and raised for him a "middle" in the field. Showing him where to open the other "middles," he left the youngster to his own devices. Surprisingly, the novice did not remember meeting any problem on the farm afterwards that he could not overcome.
In 1921 Mrs. Doyle decided to leave her home in Cloncrave and move to a better farm in the Carbury area. She bought a farm of 80 acres of good land at Windmill Hill, Carbury, from the Mathers family. The dwelling house called "Teelough" had been built about 1800, and had attached long low buildings suitable for housing either cows or dry cattle. Young Bill started work on the new farm and kept cows and reared calves. He also had 50 ewes and fed store sheep over the winter time. He grew crops of oats and roots, and saved about 25 acres of hay each year. He usually at this period employed 2 or 3 men at a wage of 10/- per week.
In 1929, he purchased 60 acres on nearby Carrick Hill. He also bought a small threshing mill, powered by an engine at an auction of the family of Palmers of Rahan. It was probably one of the first threshing mills in the area and it had spikes on the drum rather than beater blades that had been used for the previous century.
In 1930, Bill Doyle rigged up a device using a Crossley Paraffin engine to drive a dynamo that supplied Teelough with electricity long before the surrounding area got a power supply. However, the 1930's were to bring the Doyle family a series of setbacks.
The primary source of income collapsed because of the impact of the economic war on the cattle trade. Bill Doyle remembers standing long hours in Edenderry and eventually having to sell good quality two-year-old Hereford Bullocks for £5 each. With one avenue closed, he began to explore the possibilities of new ones.
In 1932 he erected a glasshouse as a lean-to alongside his large cattle sheds. Here he started to grow tomatoes and found a good market for them locally and in Edenderry. As the Eucharistic Congress neared, he thought of supplying the multitudes that were expected to attend the Congress.
He decided to grow potatoes for the hungry visitors. He purchased a few tons of seed, Epicures and British Queens, and put them in sprouting boxes. He sowed the crop in early April, but they did not mature until the end of June, thus missing the Congress by about a week, because of the cold clay soil of the area which did not favour the early potatoes.
He then decided to try his luck in selling them on the Dublin market. High standards were required, which meant they had to be dug for no longer than 24 hours before being offered for sale. So Bill Doyle employed men to start to dig the potatoes at about six o'clock in the evening. They worked until dark and returned at dawn and had two tons of potatoes ready to go by lorry at 6 o'clock in the morning. The cost of transport was 16 shillings per load and the price of the potatoes was 4 shillings per cwt.
Unfortunately, Bill contracted T.B. and was given little chance of survival. However, he was persuaded by his sister, Josephine, to go to Leysin in Switzerland for his health. He was pleasantly surprised by the conditions he found there. It was 5,000 ft. above sea level and although the winter snow lay several feet deep, the air temperature when the sun arose was as high as it would be in Ireland on a summer's day. After a year there, the doctors operated, but regretfully informed him that the operation was not successful. He returned to Teelough for a year and then went to Switzerland again - this time for a very high risk operation - which luckily was extremely successful.
Back in Carbury at the start of WWII, the clergy preached sermons stating that those who did not grow their own food would surely starve. Suddenly, everyone wanted seeds and plants and Bill had produced an abundance of tomato plants. He advertised these and was flooded with orders from all over Ireland, being complimented by the horticultural instructor on the excellence of the plants.
Whatever hardships Bill suffered as a result of the war, they were small when compared to those suffered by his brother Jim, the Columban Father.

JAPANESE PRISONERS

At the outbreak of the War, Father Doyle was a Missionary in Korea. Soon he was rounded up and put under house arrest. He found himself sharing a small house with nine other missionaries and was confined there until the end of the war. They suffered considerably.
The Japanese guards usually gave them a quantity of food that was supposed to last them ten days, but no matter what economics that they practiced, the food did not last more than five days. They were on starvation diet. To add insult to injury, one of the Japanese captors would regularly visit them, politely enquire if they needed anything and took careful particulars of their wants. He invariably told them that the deficiencies would be speedily remedied, but of course nothing happened.
Thus, the years dragged on slowly with no news reaching the captives of the outside world. Two of the missionaries died and two others were very near death when the Japanese finally surrendered to the Americans. Jim Doyle was given clothes and provisions by the generous Americans and he interpreted in negotiations at the surrender of the local units of the Japanese Army in Korea.
It was at this time that he met Fr. White, a chaplain in the American Army who was distantly descended from the family who had sheltered his rebel ancestor from Wexford and who was thus his relative.

CARDINAL GLENNON

Meanwhile, in America, Fr. John Glennon, brother of Ellen Doyle of Teelough, who had been sent from Ireland to the diocese of St. Louis at the start of the century, had been rising rapidly there in the ranks of the clergy. He became the youngest Archbishop ever in the U.S. and was one of the best orators of his era and also a great fund-raiser, getting the magnificent St. Louis Cathedral built.
During his lifetime, he often returned to Ireland to visit his brothers and sisters, and of course to see his sister Ellen at Teelough and to sit up late at night swapping stories of his family's history.
Eventually, in 1946 at the age of 84 years, he was appointed a Cardinal and this caused great rejoicing in Ireland and he visited all his relations on his way to Rome to receive the "Red Hat".
Only a short time previously, his nephew Peter Doyle, brother of Bill, had been appointed Parish Priest of Johnstown near Navan. He was a great traveller and wrote fascinating accounts of his journeys around Europe and the U.S.A. On one of his crossings of the Atlantic, he addressed the emigrants with a very moving speech and also christened a baby who was born on board.
Peter Doyle had also compiled a well-researched family tree when he was young and put it in a bottle in a wall at the family home of Cloncrave, Kinnegad. To this day it has not come to light, but this item would be very highly treasured by this writer if it is found.
Although he was not then in good health, Peter Doyle decided to accompany his illustrious old uncle to the ceremonies in Rome. When Cardinal John Glennon arrived back in Ireland on his way from Rome to America, he was very ill and feeble, as was his nephew Peter. The latter was brought to a Dublin hospital where he was visited by his relatives from Carbury. They found him on the point of death and decided afterwards to go to Áras an Uactarán where the Cardinal was also extremely ill. They found him unconscious. He died the following morning, aged 84, and Peter Doyle died two days later, aged 49. The Cardinal was buried in St. Louis, U.S.A.
He had a brother, William, who also lived in St. Louis and was a renowned surgeon who performed over 40,000 operations in his lifetime. People in St. Louis used to say William would look after their bodies, and Cardinal John after their souls!
Mrs. Ellen Doyle, the Cardinal's sister, had lived at Teelough from 1921 until her death in 1952. She was 84 and her husband had died in 1919. She had bravely battled through many a crisis, rearing all her children by herself, many of whom had very serious illnesses during their lives.
Bill Doyle, her son, continued to farm Teelough until the mid-seventies. As well as his farming expertise, he was a gardener par excellence. Many will remember his wonderful garden, bursting with exotic fruits such as grapes, peaches, apricots and even oranges. Visitors always left after a visit, laden down with ripe fruit and colourful flowers.
His sister Nell ran the house for many years. Teelough was a lovely old house, set well back from the main road, with a tall avenue of beech trees leading up to the house. The splendid gardens had to be seen to be believed and must have been among the best in the country. Nell always had a good-humoured welcome for all guests from near or far and in no time the cup of tea was ready for the visitors. She was the last of the family to leave Teelough. She lived in Edenderry then up to the time of her death.
The last of the nine children to die was Sr. Mary Loyola, who went to her maker earlier this year. She was in her 90's and had lived a long life of hard work as a teacher who was always good-humoured. She suffered enormously because of ill-health, but never lost her love of nature or her skill as an artist, especially in the field of illuminated manuscripts. She was a member of the Sainte Union Nuns, and worked at Killashee (near Naas), Banagher and Athlone.
So, the nine Doyle children have all lived their very different lives and passed on to the next life. They encountered and overcame more troubles than one would usually find in an ordinary family and they met it all with good-humour and tolerance.

Jim O’Callaghan is the son of Josephine Doyle and the only off-spring of the Doyle family. He is married and has three children and lives in Dublin.

DAN DONNELLY v GEORGE COOPER – 13th December 1815 – OR NOT?

Follow Up Investigations

By Chris Holzgräwe

In my recent article, published on e-history on 25 October 2013, I reported on my research into the actual date on which the famous fight between Dan Donnelly and George Cooper took place on the Curragh in 1815.
As stated, prior to my research, all previously referenced sources specified that the date of the fight was the 13th December 1815. As I was able to show through my discovery of previously overlooked newspaper articles from the Freeman’s Journal of the time, the fight actually took place one whole month earlier, on 13th November 1815.
In light of my findings, I proposed that the date in December had been “handed down” over the years, and had come from an original incorrect source. This source, I suggested, could well have come from the publications of Pierce Egan entitled “Boxiana; or, Sketches of Modern Pugilism”, which date from the first quarter of the 19th century.
In all, Egan published four volumes of his collected articles on the sport of boxing. I have found in volume two, published in 1824 and sub-titled “From the Championship of Cribb to the Present Time”, the following lines, which appear in his section concerning “Dan Donnelly, The Champion of Ireland” starting on page 388 – “On Monday, the 13th December, 1815, they met in the ring, on the Curragh of Kildare, at a few minutes after ten o’clock in the morning.”
As if to point to the incorrect nature of this statement from Egan, and to reinforce the accuracy of the Freeman’s Journal reports which I had discovered, the 13th of December 1815 did not fall on a Monday, as he writes, it was a Wednesday. However, the 13th of November 1815 indeed fell on a Monday.
As the “Boxiana” volumes are collections of Egan’s previous writings, I am assuming that the section in volume two, about Donnelly and his fights, formed the basis of one of these earlier articles. Whether he wrote this particular article using accounts of Donnelly’s fights written by others, or he was actually present at the events, which seems unlikely, is at present unknown, but it must be assumed that the incorrect date of 13th December stems from this article.
Egan’s dedication at the start of volume two is dated April 5th 1818. Although the title page gives a printing date of 1824, it would appear the articles were written well before 1824, as Egan refers to “the present day” as 1818, and in his section on Dan Donnelly he makes no reference to Donnelly’s fight against Oliver which took place in July 1819.

Leinster Leader 5 November 1898

“KILLING KILDARES.”
THE OPENING MEET

The opening meet of the “Killing Kildares” took place on last Tuesday. The rendezvous was the historic trysting place - Johnstown Cross. During the night a slight frost fell, with the result that Tuesday morning opened fresh and crisp. The weather was well indeed adapted for hunting purposes. The sun shone out with midsummer brightness, and a not too keen breeze was the only reminder of the approach of winter. The genial mildness of the morning attracted a large muster. During the early hours great activity was displayed in the stables of gentlemen of venatorial tastes, and all this bore fruit in the many excellent mounts and turnouts subsequently in evidence. From nine o’clock to eleven the gathering at the cross at Johnstown was being gradually augmented until it had developed into one of the largest opening meets seen for a number of years. Old sportsmen who viewed the scene with evident delight, said that it reminded them of the halcyon days, when such sights were a common occurrence. The road from Naas to Johnstown was crowded with horsemen and vehicles of all descriptions, the cyclist being in evidence as well as the equestrian. At eleven o’clock the village of Johnstown presented a very lively and animated appearance. Every class of conveyance was represented there, from the dazzling four-in-hand to the modest side-car. All the brawn and beauty of the country were there assembled, and the scene was picturesque and extremely striking. The bright hue of the gentlemen’s costumes formed a pleasing contrast to the more sober black of the lady’s attire. One of the most warmly greeted of those present was the Baron de Robeck, the veteran of the chase, who, despite his age, attended the meet with the same zest as of yore. The Master too was early at the rendezvous, and took matters in hand with his usual capability. Sharp to time Mr. Frank Goodall appeared with his “pack of beauties.” After a little delay a start was made through Palmerstown demesne, where the chase was commenced.

A special train was run from Kingsbridge during the morning, and conveyed a large number of ardent sportsmen, and a long string or horse boxes, from the metropolis to Sallins. The Railway Company gave very favourable opportunities to metropolitans of venatic tastes who longed for a spin with the “Killing Kildares” over as fine a patch of country as is anywhere to be found, and consequently it was not in the slightest degree surprising-indeed, quite the contrary-to see the generosity of the Company so well taken advantage of. The routes from Sallins and Naas to Johnstown were accordingly in a very heavy state during the early hours of the day. One member of the Viceregal House-the Hon. Gerald Cadogan - travelled down. Frank Goodall had the pack of 18 couples of bitches in choice condition at the appointed time, and never was huntsman and his hounds in more perfect trim. Colonel de Robeck was heartily congratulated on the splendid success of the opening meet. Frank Goodall was seated on a charming sort of brown mare, which was replaced in the evening by a bay gelding. The master was also splendidly mounted, and in fact the quality of the animals to be seen was of a superior character. Some nice animals were brought out by Messrs. O’Hanlon of Prosperous, while a brace of excellent breeding came from Athgarvan Lodge to carry Mr. and Mrs. Pallin. Mr. Ritchie and Mr. R. I. Love were mounted on steeds which would have kept up the longest day’s run. Mr. W. P. Cullen also sported a choice looking animal. A lot of nice young horses were also to be found, and Tom Mc Allister, a former hunts man of the Kildares, was the possessor of one which will turn out to be of the right sort. Craddockstown, a former winner at Punchestown, certainly looked as if fit for some more before being taken off the turf. From all sides it was learned that foxes were in abundance in Colonel de Robeck’s territory.

Amongst those in attendance were - The Master and Mrs. de Robeck, Baron and Baroness de Robeck, and Miss de Robeck, the Earl of Mayo, Hon. Gerald Cadogan, A.D.C.; Sir Kildare and Lady Burrowes, Sir John Kennedy, Colonel the Hon. C. Crichton, Miss Crichton, General Coombe, General and Mrs. Weldon, Col. Lindsay, Col. Legger, Col. and Mrs. Wilson, Col. Knox, Col. Bond and Miss Bond, Mr. J. L. Carew, M.P.; Mrs. Carew, and Sir Coleridge Kennard; Col. F. J. Tynte, Major and Mrs. Wm. Blacker, Major and Mrs. Rynd, Major St. Leger Moore, Major Mansfield, Captain Burns Lindow, Captain and Mrs. Loveband, Captain Towers Clarke, Mr. H. H. Aylmer, J. P., Kerdiffstown; Mr. T. J. and Mrs. De Burgh, Miss de Burgh, Hon. Charles Bourke, Lady Alfreda Bourke, Captain Colville, Mr. and Mrs. E. J. Burgh, Captain and Mrs. Steeds, Captain and Mrs. Hinkson, Captain and Mrs Maude, Mr. W. J. Goulding, Mr. David Mahony, the Misses O’Brien (Castletown); Mr. Peel, R.H.A.; Mr. R. J. Lone, Mr. E. B. Ashmore, Officers of the 14th Hussars, Newbridge; Mr. W. Pallin, Mr. and Mrs. Young, Mr. J. Lecky, Mrs. Drake, Miss Culshaw, Mr and Miss Stewart, Miss Edwards, Miss Kennedy, Mr. Lockett, Mr. and Mrs. Cramer Roberts, Mr. and Mrs. A. Aylmer, Mr. and Mrs. T. R. Gibson and party, Mr. and Mrs. Callaghan, Mr. R. J. and Miss Goff, the Misses Gough, Mr. and Mrs. W. K. Young, Mr. Loch, C. I., Mrs and Miss Loch, Mr. Rickard, R. D. F.; Rev. Fr. Devitt, S. J.; Canon Sherlock, Sallins; Mr. Carter, D. I.; Mr. R. West Manders, Mr. and Mrs. Lambert Carson, Mr. and Mrs. G. Mansfield, Mr. H. Fox Goodman, Dr. and Mrs. Falconer, Mr. Ussher Roberts, Mr. Stephen J. Brown, Mr. W. J. Dease, Mrs. Claude Cane, Mr. T. Ritchie, Mr. C. Black, Mrs. Jordan, Mrs. Hamilton and Miss Law, Mr. Dibley, R.D.F.; Mr. Penrhyn, Mr. W.P. Cullen, Mr. Kerry Supple, D.I.; Dr. Crean, the Misses O’Grady, Mr. Essie, Mr. Pack Boreford, Mr. England, Mrs. Carter, Miss Anderson, Miss M. Manders, Mr. and Mrs. Cantwell, Mr. and Mrs. John Gardener, Mr. and Mrs. Jackson, Mr. and Mrs. Kearney, Mr. F. Burke, Mr. and Mrs. G. Wolfe, Mr. J. D. White, Mr. J. R. Sutcliffe. Mr. E. Love, Mr. J. Simpson, Mr. Hickey, Mr. and Mrs. P. J. Doyle, Rev. H. Cullen, C.C.; Mr. J.H. Tracey, Mr. Hoystead, Mr. J. H. Dowling, the Misses Malone, Rev. Lionel and Mrs Fletcher, the Misses Tuthill, Mr. and Mrs. Rowantree, Mr. R. and Mrs. Coffey, Mrs. Moore, Mr. and Mrs. Maguire, Mr. W.P. Curran, Rev. W. Elliot, Mr. B. Reeves, Mr. R. and Mrs. Newcomen, Miss Walker-Leigh, Miss Eileen Hudson (Kinahan), Mr. and Mrs. R. S. Lambe, Mr. S. Donnelly, Mrs. Kenyon Slaney, Miss O’Farrell, Mr. R. and Mrs Hornidge, Mr. D. Lynch, Mr. C.P. Treacy, Mr. J.H. Tracey, Mr. R. and the Misses Cornwall, Dr. and Mrs. Kelly, Mrs. and Miss Moore, (Raheny); Miss Adams, Mrs. R. Rynd, Mr. Wright, Mr. Hanlon, Major Shadfoot, the Misses Sherlock, Mr. and Mrs. Tottenham, Mr. Sutcliffe, Mr. Maguire and party, Mr. O’Connor Morris, Mrs. Loch, Mr. Kirkpatrick, the Misses O’Brien, Mr. O’Mahony, the Misses Farrell, Mr. Joseph Healy, Mr. J. Kealy, Mr. M. Mc Guirke, &c.

It was not long after the appointed time when the order was given for Kerdiffstown, and as the huge assemblage passed through the demesne gate, a pretty and picturesque sight was witnessed. Eighteen and a half couples of a mixed lot of hounds formed the pack, and the horses were a team of bays. Sad to say, the covert and adjoining plantations were drawn with the verdict of blank. A very brief canter sufficed to reach Palmerstown, the beautiful seat of the Earl of Mayo. In a small gorse covert adjoining what is known as “Lord Mayo’s Sticks,” the welcome notes announcing the presence of Reynard were heard, and here the first fox was routed. After a small ring in the direction of Kill village, he turned into Palmerstown, and half-an-hour’s work from cover to cover sufficed to kill him. Another fox was also scented, but as in such close quarters it was not an easy to make a hand of two, pug in this instance was let go. Some very pretty woodland hunting was enjoyed prior to the killing of Reynard in the first instance. The field then jogged on to Bishopscourt, the residence of the Earl of Clonmel, where the laurels provided a brace. Neither however seemed inclined to leave their home, and no good result followed. Up to this time there was no diminution in the strength of the field, and at least 300 horsemen and 45 equestrians were in the wake of the pack when passing Bishopscourt demesne entrance. Boston also provided a fox but he was one of a cowardly sort, and after some running struck away to the old covert, where a weak scent left it impossible to do much. This concluded the sport for the day, which was not so bad for an opening day. The staff of the establishment remains the same as last season, and every available space in Jigginstown is tenanted by horse-flesh, while 55 couples of dogs occupy the benches. If foxes be only forthcoming, a good season’s sport may be anticipated.

Kildare Observer 9 April 1898

IMPROVEMENTS AT FURNESS

Messrs. Dunne and Sheridan, Painting and Decorating Contractors, Naas, have just completed a very extensive contract at Furness House, lately purchased from Mr. W. Osborne, who was declared the purchaser in the Courts some years back. It is unnecessary to go into a description of this once beautiful house and grounds as it has been so often repeated in these columns. Suffice it to say that since it has come into the hands of its present owner, the whole place has gone under great alteration, and no expense having been spared it is fast recovering its former grandeur. To go minutely into the work done by even the paint brush would indeed take up more space than would be at our disposal. We visited the place during the week, and on entering the hall the first thing to strike the eye is that it has been divided by an archway and the floor has been put down in parquet. The walls are papered in drab colour, with the figure of a dragon in dark terra cotta, with the wainscoting painted to match. On the righthand side stands a fireplace with a magnificent old white marble carved chimneypiece representing the vine. On the left, under the staircase, Mr. Synott has had a stove erected. Such a piece of wood and workmanship as is in the staircase it would, indeed, be hard to beat. It is, we believe, Spanish chestnut carved magnificently. When Mr. Synott saw it cleaned out he decided to leave it in that state, and we must agree with his taste as it would be sad to see a brush mar such work. A new study has been built looking out on the back lawn, and it is floored to match the hall. The anteroom is papered in green stripe, the painting work to match. The drawingroom is papered in plain tint of yellow, and the carved woodwork has been thoroughly cleaned and painted in white, showing off the fine workmanship. There is a beautiful ceiling in this room said to be put up many years ago by Italians. There is also a carved chimneypiece of great value. The spacious dining room is papered in terra cotta and has a new parquet floor. The chimneypiece of this room is of white Canea marble. The bedrooms are painted in blue terra cotta and cream; in each the woodwork is painted to match. Amongst the many improvements are a new laundry, linen rooms, with special heating apparatus; bath and schoolrooms, lavatories, telephone to servants’ hall, a water supply right through house, with a hose on each landing in case of fire. The kitchen, pantries and servants’ apartments have all been rebuilt and the woodwork painted in terra cotta. The woodwork of the sides and front is painted in olive green. Passing from the house into the stable-yard we find a new groom’s house, coach-house, harness and saddlerooms, and stabling for eleven horses. These are all fine airy boxes, fitted by Musgrave & Co, Belfast, with their patent fittings. They are splendidly paved and drained. The woodwork is stained and varnished, and the ironwork painted in brown. A new hay barn by Kennan & Sons has been erected. The garden has not been neglected and close on 1,000 fruit trees have been planted, and the greenhouses heated by one of Kennan & Sons’ heating apparatus.
Messrs Dunne and Sheridan are to be congratulated for the manner in which they have accomplished their big contract. Messrs. Good Bros, Brunswick street, had the contract for all work except the painting and decorating.

Thrills and spills as Punchestown meeting takes its toll of man and horse

Punchestown 1913 was more like a battlefield than a racecourse with a litany of casualties and injuries to man and horse. And that was only on the racetrack – there were also accidents and episodes on the approach roads to the course as well as in neighbouring town of Naas.
But first to the drama on the track. The Kildare Observer’s Punchestown correspondent reported on a casualty – a Major McTaggart, who rode a horse named Rolling Pin in the Downshire Plate, and who had his collar bone broken and sustained other bruises when the horse fell. He was attended to by Dr D.P.Coady, surgeon to the meeting. Another entrant in the same race got no further than the first obstacle. Captain Stacpoole, through the falling of Kilnacross (a pure white horse) at the first fence in the Downshire, dislocated his shoulder. 
And another casualty was recorded in the Prince of Wales Plate on the opening day when a horse named Mountmills fell and its jockey J. Ward was reported to “unfortunately” have had his leg broken.
The casualty list multiplied. Mr. J. C. Kelly, who had his knee injured on the first day, got a bad shaking when his mount Roland Lee fell in the Conyngham Cup at the double bank in the Conyngham Cup.  A new form of transport was emerging at Punchestown in that a motor ambulance was available to convey the injured rider to a Dublin private hospital. A message came to Kildare Observer office before it went to print updating news on Mr Kelly’s injury: “Just before going to press we learned that Mr. J. C. Kelly had no bones broken, and was progressing quite well.”
The toll on the unfortunate horses was as heavy as that of their human riders. A horse with surely the most ironic name at the meeting “Happy Days” was killed on the first day.  Four more horses were killed on the second day. One named “The Miner” tried to do his own bit of mining by trying to jump a double bank in the one leap and instead fell on his head, breaking his neck. His jockey the celebrated G Brabazon had a “wonderful escape” despite his mount’s fatal fall.  Curiously two of the other horses to die on the course both carried the same number 37 in their respective races.
Some kind of context to the equine casualties can be given in the fact that a total of 191 horses ran at the meeting.
The equine death toll was not limited to the track with “one fine hackney horse” dying in harness on the approach road to Punchestown. This may be the same animal referred to in another report headed “Accidents on the Friary Road”. The item describes how a horse belonging to a Dublin jarvey dropped dead near Oakfield as it was being driven to the racecourse. Constable Wright was on the scene almost immediately and rendered all the assistance in his power. There were four people seated on the carriage but all escaped unhurt.
Equally fortunate were the passengers on another jarvey car where the wheel broke while it was clipping along but there were no serious consequences.  It seems as if travelling to Punchestown was only for the brave such was the number of “hair-breadth” escapes logged in the environs of the course. In one case a young horse attached to a hackney car took fright at the noise of a motor-cycle and bolted, doing some damage but “fortunately not serious”.
The meeting of 1913 marked something of a watershed in that the new-fangled motor car began to impact on the traffic converging on the east Kildare track. Where before Punchestown traffic had been confined to horsepower in the literal sense now horsepower in its mechanical form was beginning to encroach on the scene. The Kildare Observer reported that “The journey to and from the course was not without the unusual incident, and accident.” This was despite what were described as “the excellent arrangements” overseen by the RIC County Inspector, Mr. Kerry Supple, who was to become something of a legend in his own lifetime as a long serving RIC officer in Co Kildare.
The unreliability of the early motor cars – not to mention the crazed driving habits of their owners – led to many incidents. In one the breaking of an axle on a car near the course caused what must be the first pile-up in Kildare motoring history when five cars were involved in the subsequent collision. A lady passenger was thrown through a glass windscreen and sustained “ugly cuts” about the face and head. She was taken to the ambulance room in the stand enclosure where the busiest man in Punchestown – Dr Coady – stitched up her wounds.
The growing number of motor cars in the Ireland of 1913 was matched by the appearance on the scene of a new organisation – the Automobile Association or AA. This body came in for much praise from an Observer columnist who said its patrolmen had rendered useful service to a number of members in trouble. It was recorded that one member whose car was “actually lost” had it restored to him by an AA patrol who discovered it in a field.  Quite how the car got from its parking place to the field was not explained. As well as coming to the aid of motorists who had managed to lose their cars the AA men were also involved in the “regulation of traffic at dangerous points.” 
The involvement of the AA patrols in directing traffic was not for want of policemen on duty at the meeting. A force of six District Inspectors, 8 Head-constables, and no less than 186 Constables were deployed “for the preservation of the peace during Punchestown Races.”  This amounts to a quite enormous contingent of 200 policemen on duty for the two-day festival – a much higher deployment of police than ever required by the Garda Síochana in modern times. Series no: 327.

Forgotten fatality of the Rising … Naas officer killed on Easter Monday

Liam Kenny

A Naas man who had survived battle in South Africa and in Flanders was killed in the opening hours of the fighting on Easter Monday, 24 April 1916. And yet the fatality in question is hardly known in the town where he lived and where his father was at the centre of commercial life for over thirty years. The answer to this lack of awareness might be that Alfred Ernest Warmington was fighting not as an Irish Volunteer but as an officer of the British Army.
Alfred Ernest was the only son of the long-serving bank manager – also Alfred Warmington - of the Munster & Leinster Bank (now the Allied Irish Bank) in Naas. Alfred Ernest had lived in the Bank House with his parents for some time. Although not born in the town he was resident there with his parents at the time of the 1911 Census.
His father had moved to different parts of Ireland in his career as a bank official. He had worked in Cork, Kerry and Queen’s County (Laois) in the 1870/80s. It was in the latter that Alfred Ernest was born in the early 1870s. The family moved to Naas when his father became Manager of the Munster & Leinster bank in South Main Street in 1885.
Alfred Ernest was in his late teens when he left Ireland to seek his fortune in South Africa. He arrived as the tensions were building between the Dutch settlers (Boers) in South Africa and the British colonial administration. Young Warmington got into the fray immediately and in 1895 joined the Cape Mounted Rifles. When the tensions boiled over into all-out war in 1899 Warmington transferred to Thorneycroft’s Mounted Infantry, a militia brigade which was in the front line as the British attempted to dislodge the Boers.
Thorneycroft’s Infantry was involved in a mountain assault at the hill known as Spion Kop in January 1900. Like the other battles in the early months of the Boer War it turned into a humiliating defeat for the British and Warmington was fortunate to survive the withering fire poured down  by the canny Boers. Nonetheless his services here and at the relief of Ladysmith earned him King’s and Queen’s medals. His experience of war did not put him off South Africa and when the fighting stopped he enlisted in the Cape Police force in 1902.
However some time after that he returned to Ireland and the census of 1911 records him as living with his parents in the Munster & Leinster Bank House in  South Main Street.
His occupation at this time is uncertain but a strong clue is evident from a plaque at Heuston Station (formerly King’s Bridge) which lists him as one of the employees of the Great Southern & Western Railway Company who died in the period 1914-18. The plaque ostensibly commemorates those employees who died in the First World War battles and does not distinguish the fact that Alfred Warmington lost his life on home ground in the Rising.
When war drums again sounded in 1914 Warmington returned to the colours and, no doubt, based on his distinguished service in South Africa was given an officer rank as a Captain in the Royal Irish Regiment. He most likely saw some fighting as the initial fluid phase of the war gave way to the stalemate in the trenches. He was posted back to Ireland in early 1916 and was stationed at Richmond Barracks at Inchicore.
After the heat and dirty fighting of the Boer War and the mud and carnage of 1914/15, Alfred Warmington must surely have felt safe back in the capital city of his own country. However having survived two wars his luck was about to run out.
Close to noon on Easter Monday, 1916, a battalion of Irish Volunteers occupied the South Dublin Union (now the area of St. James’ Hospital) in parallel with the takeover of the GPO. The volunteers were under the command of Eamon Ceannt and W. T. Cosgrave.
The British troops in Richmond Barracks were on band parade that morning – the volunteers could hear the music from their positions in the South Dublin Union. Suddenly the music stopped. A message had been sent from British officials in Dublin Castle to say that the volunteers had taken over key positions in the city and reinforcements were needed.
A party from the Royal Irish Regiment set off from Richmond Barrack’s along James Street on the way to tackle the rebels in the city centre. But they were stopped in their tracks by fire from Ceannt’s men in position behind the high walls of the South Dublin Union. The Royal Irish commander, Lieut.-Colonel Owens decided to try and take the Union from another direction. He instructed Warmington to take a company around to the back gate of Union at the Rialto end of the boundary wall.  First through the gate was a Lieut. Ramsay (also Irish born) who was shot dead by Volunteers who had taken up position inside the gate. Warmington, most likely enraged by the death of his officer comrade, then rashly attempted to burst through but he met the same fate and was shot down.
Word of his death filtered back to his parents in the Munster & Leinster Bank house in South Main Street, Naas, where it no doubt caused great grief to his parents and sisters. And despite the shift in public opinion in support of the rebels there was still sympathy among the wider population for the Warmington family. At its meeting the following month the Naas Board of Guardians (local council) passed a vote of “deep sympathy” to the Warmington family. One of its members Mr. Gogarty summed up the irony of Warmington’s death when he said that it was “regrettable that having gone through the South African campaign he should meet his death in his own country.” 
Alfred Ernest Warmington, soldier and Naas resident, lies at rest beneath a simple stone cross in British military cemetery Grangegorman on  Dublin’s northside, a long forgotten casualty of the fierce fighting of Easter Monday, 24 April 1916. Series no: 328.
  

FINN'S LEINSTER JOURNAL

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1821.

THE KING
(Extract)

THE KING'S VISIT TO THE CURRAGH

At an early hour on Friday morning Dublin was in motion; it was gloomy, but still there were good prospects of a fine day. Every vehicle, and every animal was in motion. Before six o'clock, the roads leading to the Curragh were crowded.
The Gentlemen of the County Dublin began to assemble in considerable numbers, at an early hour, in the Phoenix Park, for the purpose of escorting his Majesty to the boundaries of Kildare. The High Sheriff, Colonel White, Mr. Thos. Wallace, Mr. James and Mr. Henry Grattan, Capt. Chap[man], Mr. W. S. Hart, &c. &c. were amongst the number of gentlemen who attended. Mr. Hart carried a very handsome banner. It was pink on one side and blue on the other; it was embroidered with shamrocks, and trimmed with silver ― the mottoes were "Geo. IV. Rex," on the reverse side "Erin's hope."
At half past eight o'clock his Majesty made his entrance; he was dressed in the Windsor uniform, and wore a star; there was a party of dragoons about the royal carriage. His Majesty was received by all present by every possible demonstration of loyalty and affection. His Majesty [ ? ] in a very simple style; he had but one carriage, (two others having preceded him, containing the greater part of his suite). The Marquis of Conyngham and Sir Benjamin Bloomfield, had the honour of travelling with the Sovereign.
The cavalcade set out from the Park, with surprising speed, so much so indeed, that a number of horsemen were quickly obliged to give up in despair of keeping pace with his Majesty.
Having arrived at Knockmaroon Hill, the dragoons put to the carriage, and having descended, the King took that beautiful drive, the low road to [ ? ] As he passed along, he was greeted by [ ? ] [ ? ], almost every house, even to the humblest dwelling, displayed some emblem of affection. The people showed the greatest enthusiasm; the King was everywhere received with loud cheers.
His Majesty's carriage drove up to Colonel Veysey's gate, at Lucan, precisely at 9 o'clock, attended by a guard of honour; the residing Magistrate, Colonel Vesey, Governor of the County, and Mr. Gandon, were in attendance; the fine Band of the County Dublin, stationed at Lucan, with the Staff, were also in readiness, and on his Majesty's arrival immediately struck up "God save the King," while the shouts and cheers of the assembled peasants added to the general enthusiasm displayed on this gratifying occasion. A beautiful triumphal arch was thrown between the fine Lombardy poplar, and the principal [ Inn? ], the whole covered with laurel, evergreen, with festoons of blue and pink silk, a beautiful gilt crown surmounting the centre, with banners of various colours. As this arch was constructed in a few hours it shews the enthusiasm of all classes, however humble, to welcome their beloved Monarch. It displayed the following motto ―

"George IV. Ireland's Glory."

Here His Majesty changed horses. An immense concourse of people assembled to greet him, and almost every window displayed a banner. It was curious to observe their construction ― shawls, handkerchiefs, pelisses, &c. seemed to be put in requisition. After a delay of a few minutes, his Majesty drove forward, taking the road to Celbridge. At Major Marley's there was a magnificent arch thrown across the rosd, opposite the gate leading into the Major's demesne. On the gate was superbly emblazoned, in gold letters,

"George IV. Rex: Erin go bragh."

About one mile further, at the bounds of the County, and at the extremity of the beautiful demesne of St. Wolstan's, was another Triumphal Arch, with the motto, "We hail with delight the auspicious visit of our gracious King." Here the High Sheriff of the County of Dublin, and several Gentlemen who accompanied his Majesty remained with Mr. Cobbe, while the High Sheriff and the Gentlemen of the County of Kildare received the King, who continued his journey accompanied by such of the County Dublin Gentlemen as were able, from the superior mettle of their horses, to keep pace with the rapidity of the Royal movements.
About a mile from the boundary where his Majesty entered the County of Kildare, is the Town of Celbridge, which [ ? ], as you enter it, on the left, a most extensive woollen manufactory ― A bridge here crosses the river Liffey; as his Majesty approached, a very splendid Arch presented itself, with the motto "Cead mile failte;" when he got on the bridge, another Arch of a very elegant structure at the other extremity, with the motto,

"The glorious 12th of Auguft.
"A Patriot King and a grateful People."

Struck his view. Celbridge is a handsome Town, delightfully situated on the Banks of the River Liffey, having one main street, terminated by the magnificent gate and demesne of Castletown, the seat of the late Mr. Connolly. The Woollen Manufactory before alluded to, is a particularly striking object on entering the Town, it is, perhaps, one of the largest in the Kingdom, and belongs to Mr. Haughton. There are a vast number of windows in the building, out of which were displayed pieces of Cloths of various texture and colours. This gave the Factory a very gay and fanciful appearance. The persons employed in it, amounting to several hundreds of Men, Women and Children lined the streets, dressed in Costume; they wore cloth sashes of blue and garnet, having emblematic devices expressive of their feelings of attachment to the King. His Majesty as he passed along took particular notice of this industrious and interesting People. Here, as indeed, throughout his progress, the People evinced their sincere and devoted attachment to Person of the Sovereign. The roads were thronged with persons who greeted him in every direction.
His Majesty stopped for a few moments in Celbridge, and, after admiring the arrangements made for his reception, and expressing the high gratification he felt at the enthusiasm of the People, and the delight which his presence seemed to inspire, continued his journey, taking the road to Straffan, where he again crossed the Liffey, over the beautiful Bridge nearly fronting the splendid mansion of Mr. Henry. Here his Majesty directed his course to Sallins; on passing through which town, he had another opportunity of witnessing the ardour of popular feeling. Crowds were assembled in the street, and received their King with cheers, that seemed to make the "welken ring."
His Majesty made no stop here, but rapidly advanced towards Newbridge, where there was a delay to change horses, which necessarily retarded the Royal progress for a short period. This furnished another testimony, if any were wanting, of popular enthusiasm. Here the King was met by an additional number of Gentlemen of the County Kildare, with the Duke of Leinster at their head, principally his Grace's Tenantry, all mounted, and decorated with scarves and ribbons of a ruby colour. The more humble part of the population were not backward in exhibiting their joy at the sight of their Monarch, whom they loudly cheered.
Everything being in readiness, the King set forward, escorted by a fresh party of Dragoons from the barracks at this place, and accompanied by the Gentlemen on horseback; he reached the borders of the Curragh at half-past eleven o'clock, where the Tenantry of the Noble Duke mentioned above were arrayed in immense numbers to receive their Monarch. Here only eight of the County Dublin Gentlemen could be numbered, who accompanied the King from the Park.

___________

                                                                                      "Curragh, Friday Morning

"The hopes that were indulged from the fineness of the weather towards the evening of yesterday, were completely disappointed by the aspect of this morning, which set in to rain about seven o'clock, at which hour, a party consisting Forty Men and two Officers of the Enniskillen Dragoons arrived at the stand House, and were placed at the various situations pointed out by the Stewards, and the Royal Standard was immediately hoisted. About half-past eight o'clock, the Carriages, Cars, Gigs, Horsemen, &c. began to arrive, and as they came towards the Stand-house, were placed in the order agreed on by the Stewards, and the horses taken from under the Carriages, to enable them to afford accommodation to the greatest number possible; the rain at this time was coming down in such torrents, that the few workmen who were busy in making some necessary alterations, were obliged to desist from work ― indeed  this was the only occasion that the severity of the weather has driven the various persons employed from the work. At a little distance, and in front of the Stand-House are placed fifty barrels of J. Pim and Son's Ale, from Dublin to be distributed by the Course-Keepers to the Peasantry of the six neighbouring Parishes.

                                                                                            "Half-past Ten o'Clock.

"At this moment two of his Majesty's carriages and four have driven up to the Stand-House, with part of his suite, among whom I notice the Duke of Montrose, Sir W. Keppel, Lord Graves, Sir H. Turner, Sir A. Burnett, General Bayley, Colonel Quentin, and Lord Mount-Charles.

                                                                                        "A quarter to Twelve.

"His Majesty, accompanied by the Marquis of Conyngham and Sir B. Bloomfield, escorted by a party of the 7th Hussars, has just arrived. The King was received on alighting from his carriage, by the following Noblemen and Gentlemen of the Turf Club:― his Grace the Duke of Leinster, Earl Mayo, Lord Viscount Allen, his Excellency Earl Talbot, Mr. Secretary Grant, Mr. Prendergast, Captain Browne, M. Neville, &c. &c. &c.
"The rain continues with unabated violence, ― The arrivals at this moment are few, in consequence of the severity of the weather; and all those in open carriages and on foot are driven into the neighbouring tents and stables for shelter. His Majesty looks extremely well, and appears to be delighted with his reception. He addressed Mr. Prendergast in the Royal Room, and presented him with a whip (for a Jockey) to be run for and challenged every year, and to be hung up in the Club-room the week before the race ― The whip is of the most elegant workmanship, and is ornamented in the most tasteful and costly manner; the Handle is of solid Gold, surmounted by a Gold Crown; all the other ornaments are likewise of pure Gold. His Majesty appeared a little fatigued ― he called for some tea, which was immediately procured, and served to him by Captain Browne, the Ranger of the Curragh. He then appeared at the window, and was most enthusiastically cheered by those in front of the Stand-House. Several times the King was graciously pleased to express his satisfaction at the preparations that had been made for him. Lord Allen conducted Sir B. Bloomfield and the Marquis Conyngham to the platform to view the extent of the plain, but it was almost obscured by the thick mist which spread over the horizon, ― At this time I noticed the arrival of the Marchioness Conyngham, Lady Bloomfield, Sir David and Lady Baird, &c. &c.

                                                                                   "Twenty minutes past Twelve.

"Mr. Prendergast has just appeared in front of the Stand-House (the rain still continuing) to announce that the Horses were going to start for the Gold Cup and a Sweepstakes of 200 Guineas. The balconies of the Stand-House were immediately crowded with Ladies to witness the race ― In a few minutes the Horses were perceived in the distance, going the four-mile course. The tents poured forth their multitudes, and every one was eager to witness the coming-in of the Horses, ― They shortly appeared ― Mr. Denis Bowes Daly's Horse, Rob Roy, beating Mr. Prendergast's Ivanhoe and the Marquis of Sligo's Langar. Rob Roy was rode by Haslam. After the race his Majesty appeared three different times at the window, and was most loudly cheered.

                                                                                              "One O'Clock.

"The weather has begun to take up fair, and the rain has ceased ― orders have been given to clear the Course for the second Race, which was speedily done by Sir Wm. Hart, Mr. Prendergast, Sir W. Burrowes, assisted by the Course Keepers ― from the Stand-House the Horses appeared to have started at half-past one o'clock, but Mr. Prendergast rode up and announced to the Stewards that two false starts had taken place ― the Race was finally won by Mr. Blake's Maid of Castile.

                                                                                          "Two o'Clock, a fine day.

"About this time his Majesty came out on the Balcony, dressed in a blue frock coat with a single Star, that of St. Patrick, and surrounded by his numerous and brilliant Suite ― he was immediately recognised by the multitude who crowded under the Stand-House, and was received with a most deafening shout; his Majesty was pleased to recognise this welcome by several times taking off his hat and bowing to the people, at other times he kissed his hand and appeared to be highly delighted with the prospect before him; the shouts and huzzaing of the multitude lasted for several minutes; the Ladies Balcony was at this crowded to excess, as the now fineness of the day has induced all that were in the Stand-House to appear ― it adds not a little to the beauty of the scene, that they are all in full dress. Whilst his Majesty remained on the Balcony he conversed a good while with Denis Bowes Daly, Esq. whose horse, Rob Roy, had won the Gold Cup. The King several times pointed with his finger to objects that seemed to attract his attention, and appeared to make many and anxious inquiries of Mr. Daly; he seemed to be particularly struck with the beauty of one of the horses that had just come in from the last race, and was leading under the Balcony where the King was standing. After his Majesty had remained upon the Balcony for about ten minutes, we heard his Grace the Duke of Leinster announce to him that the Banquet was ready, when his Majesty again bowed to the multitude, and retired to take refreshment ― the cheering was again renewed. At the moment the King was about retiring, a Countryman loudly …?? "God bless you," which seemed to attract the notice of his Majesty.
"Upon entering the Banqueting room, the King, in a most affable manner, took her Grace the Duchess of Leinster by the hand and led her to the chair placed on his Majesty's right hand, and requested she would be seated. His Grace of Leinster and Lord Allen took their stations at the back of his Majesty's chair ― the repast was perhaps, one of the most splendid that can be conceived, and when it is recollected that Morrison had a Carte Blanche, it may be fairly presumed he could hardly be outdone in the splendour of his preparations, or in the profusion of delicacies of all kinds he provided for the occasion. At the head of the room sat his Majesty, in a superbly carved oak chair, on which was placed a scarlet cushion ― on each side of his Majesty's table, two other tables extended the entire length of the room, at which were placed the Nobility and Stewards. The King was graciously pleased to recognise Robert La Touche, Esq. of Harristown, who had the honour to kiss his Majesty's hand. During the repast, the Ladies present intimated to his Grace of Leinster, that they wished to give his Majesty's health. His Grace, in the name of the Ladies, instantly proposed the King's health, with four times four ― the cheering that followed this toast lasted for several minutes. His Majesty immediately rose, and said "He hoped they would not think him so ungallant as not to acknowledge the honour done him by their fair Countrywomen," and immediately proposed the health of "The Ladies," which was drank in a bumper. After this Toast his Majesty again rose, and proposed the health of the Noblemen and Gentlemen Stewards ― and that of the Gentlemen of the Company present, who had that day contributed so much to his amusement.

                                                                                               "Three o'Clock.

His Majesty's carriage was ordered about this time, and in a few moments drove up at the front of the steps leading to the Royal Room; his Majesty descended the stairs, accompanied by the several persons of his suite, with the Duke of Leinster on his right; as soon as he appeared on the steps, the cheering was renewed and continued until the King had finally quitted the Stand-House. Before the King entered his carriage, he turned round to the Duke of Leinster, and taking him most cordially by the hand, shook it several times, and expressed at the same time the pleasure he derived from his excursion, and was pleased again to say how much he approved of the arrangements that had been made. Upon his Majesty entering his carriage, it was surrounded by a vast number of Gentlemen mounted, to the no small amazement of the 7th Hussars, and who escorted his Majesty off the course, and many of them accompanied him a considerable way on his road to Dublin; those persons who were immediately about the coach say, the King appeared highly delighted with this mark of attention and respect from his people. I cannot help noticing an anecdote, which shows the condescension of his Majesty; One of the attendants happened to go into the room where the King was, to look for his Excellency Earl Talbot's hat, when the man incautiously took up that of the King, and was going away with it, when his Majesty perceiving him, in great good humour called out "stop, stop, my good friend, that is my hat, you must not take it."
"As I mentioned in my last Letter, the Duke of Leinster's Tenantry appeared on the ground, mounted and decorated with ruby coloured [ ? ] with the motto of "Crom a boo," when his Majesty arrived; they [moved] across the Curragh to show his Majesty how numerously they attended, and finally, took up their stations, extending in a line from where the tents were pitched to a considerable distance across the plain. The King's departure was a kind of signal to almost all the Nobility and Gentry, who immediately commenced the bustle of the preparations, notwithstanding the races were not finished."
His Majesty returned through Naas; and changed horses at Lord Mayo's, where refreshments were prepared, but his Majesty did not come out of his Carriage. He proceeded through Rathcoole, to Island Bridge, and thence to the Lodge in the Park, where he arrived at half-past five o'clock. Only one of the County of Dublin Gentlemen, Mr. Moran, of Castleknock, rode in with his Majesty, and was carried by the same Mare which he rode from the Park in the morning.
When his Majesty alighted out of his carriage, Sir Benj. Bloomfield came forward, and told Mr. Moran and another Gentleman, who rode from the Curragh, that it was his Majesty's wish that they would come in and take refreshment after their fatigue, and that he thanked them for their attention.
The Duke of Leinster quitted the Course about 4 o'clock. His Grace was accompanied, in his carriage, by the Marchioness Conyngham. As soon as it was perceived that his Grace was about to depart, an immense concourse of persons proceeded to the road leading from the Curragh, where they awaited his arrival, and cheered him most enthusiastically ― His Grace, who was seated in the dickey, took off his hat and saluted them as he passed. The King returned to Dublin through Naas, Rathcoole, &c. &c. and thus graced the People on that line of road by his presence.

Retyped by Chris Holzgräwe.

THE FREEMAN'S JOURNAL

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1821.

HIS MAJESTY'S VISIT
(Extract)

His Majesty presented a superb Whip to the Duke of Leinster, at the Curragh Royal Meeting. On handing the Whip to his Grace, his Majesty turned to Captain Browne, the Ranger, and was pleased to express himself in the following gracious manner:
"Mr. Browne I intend this Whip to be presented to the owner of the best Horse, in Ireland, weight for age, and I wish you to fix the weights, and draw up an article according to which it is to be run for, and in addition to this Whip, which is to be run for every year, I give a Stakes of One Hundred Guineas annually. As I wish to encourage the breed of Strong Horses in this Country, you will take care to make the weights very heavy, and that no Horse younger than four years shall be permitted to run for it."
In these few words, the Reader will recognise not only a very handsome compliment to the Gentlemen of the Turf, but an instance of his Majesty's earnest feelings to promote the interest of the country. For there is no doubt that the breed of such a noble animal as the horse, successfully and judiciously attended to, would serve very materially to advance that interest.
The Duke of Montrose, Master of the Horse, expressed his approbation at the manner in which the Course at the Curragh was kept, and observed, that he never witnessed a Course so well kept, nor one where so many Course-keepers were dressed in his Majesty's Livery. The dresses were all new. The Deputy Rangers were also mounted, and dressed in the King's Livery, and many persons conceived from the Stile in which they appeared that they were his Majesty's own Servants.
After his Majesty quitted the Banqueting room, the Stewards ordered the Tables to be again covered, to which almost every respectable Person on the Course was invited, and from the excellent arrangements made by them, the utmost harmony and regularity prevailed. For several weeks previous to the Meeting, all the Trades-people in and about Kildare, were kept in constant work. If his Excellency, Earl Talbot, would occasionally visit these Races, the good that would be done by the expenditure of Money is incalculable.
Retyped by Chris Holzgräwe.

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The Kildare Observer 5 June 1916

NEWBRIDGE MAN’S EXCITING TIME.

PLUCK AND FORETHOUGHT THAT WON THROUGH

AN INCIDENT OF THE REBELLION.

Mr. M. A. Coughlan, of Newbridge, returned from Dublin in the early part of the week, having spent an exciting time there since Easter Monday. He witnessed some of the fierce fighting in the region surrounding Wynne’s Hotel, where he was obliged to stay having failed to get to Newbridge after Fairyhouse races on Easter Monday.
He tells an interesting story of being called from his room after he had retired on Tuesday night of last week by the screams of the maids, who rushed along the corridor. On enquiring the cause of the commotion he was informed that two of the girls had been shot. On investigation he found that what had occurred was that a bullet passing into the hotel by one of the windows had struck the wall, knocking portion of the plaster in all directions. One of the maids was hit in the arm by the flying fragments and another rather badly cut in the neck, but it took same persuasion to induce them to believe that they had not been struck by bullets.
The maids having not been quieted, Mr. Coughlan returned to his room and tired to snatch a little sleep, but a bullet entering the room through an open window buried itself in the wall over the bed, and put sleep out of the question for that night.
UNDER THE WHITE FLAG
On Thursday the condition of things was so bad that Mr. Coughlan and some other men in the hotel decided that it was time to seek quarters elsewhere. From a window it was observed that heavy guns were being got into position by the military in Abbey street, preparatory to shelling some houses in the vicinity, of which the rebels had possession. Bullets flew in all directions up and down the street. It was decided that the only alternative to risking death from the rain of bullets in the street was to chance a like fate from fire or the destruction of the hotel by shells. Many of the visitors determined to remain where they were rather than expose themselves to the immediate destruction which they feared would overtake them if they dared to appear on the street. Mr.Coughlan, however, determined to chance an effort to escape from the hotel. Procuring a white tablecloth he hung it from a long brush handle and walked into the street followed by the terrified maids and some of the men. One of their number was struck in passing a bye-street on the march towards the military. Still they kept on their way, the military withholding fire as they marched along under the improvised white flag, and they managed to reach a spot from which the shelling was about to take place in safety.
The situation was explained to the Major in charge of the military, who imagined that the party was a detachment of Sinn Feiners who had come out to surrender.
THE HOTEL ON FIRE
Mr. Coughlan informed the major that there were others in the hotel, which had by this time caught on fire from an adjoining buildings, that had in turn been set alight by a burning barricade fired on by the military. He very pluckily volunteered to return with the white flag in order to in due those who had remained in the hotel to leave it, and the Major ordered the guns not to fire in the meantime. Mr. Coughlan succeeded in getting safely to the hotel and back again to the military with the little band of visitors, whom he had previously told he would return to if he got away safely with the first batch.
For thirty-six hours the party remained at the Custom House with very little in the way of food, though the military shared their supplies with them. Finally, when things became quieter they were given permits to leave the city. Mr. Coughlan was recognised at Amiens street by one of the men who had seen him carrying the white flag two days previously and who was still under the impression that he was a rebel. Despite his possession of a pass he was ordered to return. Things were subsequently set right on meeting the Major and he was allowed to leave, going to Clontarf, where he remained the weekend with some friends.
There can be little doubt that were it not for his pluck and forethought many lives would have been sacrificed, Wynn’s Hotel becoming a complete ruin.

Kildare Observer 5 May 1906

Serious Outbreak of Scarlatina
Thirty cases in Kildare

At the meeting of the Naas No.1 District Council on Wednesday, Mr. J. S. O’Grady (chairman) presiding, the clerk read the following correspondence from Dr. Rowan, dispensary medical officer, Kildare:-

      “Valetta, Kildare,
     April 21st, 1906.
“Dear Sir,-It has been reported to me to-day by the medical officer in charge of the troops at Kildare barracks that seven cases of scarlatina have occurred there since the 17th inst. They have all been, as soon as diagnosed, removed to the isolation hospital in the Curragh Camp. Disinfection of the quarters occupied by the affected persons has been adequately carried out by the medical officer in charge, who is instituting inquiries as to the probable source of the outbreak.”

Writing under date of 29th April, Dr. Rowan stated:- “I regret to have to report to the Naas Guardians the extension of the outbreak of scarlatina which I mentioned in my letter of last week as having first come under observation at the military barracks here. About thirty cases in all have been so far ascertained - twenty of these having occurred in the military quarters. Of the ten among the civil population in the town who were attacked, one, Brother Timothy of the Monastery National School, died this morning after three days’ illness. The military cases have been removed by the authorities to the fever hospital on the Curragh, but unfortunately we have no similar means of facilitating the check of the disease in the town. For those who are very ill, the long journey to Naas is inadmissible, even if they were willing to go there, so that the only steps we can carry out at present by way of isolation are to confine to their homes all the children of the houses in which the disease has appeared, and to close the schools, and this has been done. In my report of the outbreak to the Local Government Board I asked them whether it would not be possible, if the outbreak continued, to make some arrangements with the military authorities, whereby civilians could be admitted to the fever hospital on the Camp. Although it is to be hoped that this particular epidemic has already spent its force, nevertheless it is I think, a question of the gravest importance to the guardians and the public generally whether an isolation hospital, centrally located, should not be provided to receive persons stricken with infectious diseases, and thus confer on the community the only effective safeguard against their general dissemination.
“P.S.-In order to save time, I have this day communicated with the military authorities in reference to suggestion in my letter.”
R.O. Breslin was authorised to provide any assistance he may require for the punctual and efficient disinfection of any infected premises.
The following order was also made:-“That the council consider that the fever hospital at Naas should be as far as possible availed of.”

The Kildare Observer 10 March 1906

A NATONAL HOLIDAY

This day week will be celebrated throughout Ireland, and wherever an Irish community exists, as the National Festival – St. Patrick’s Day. It is a striking fact that the old-time custom of wearing the shamrock on the 17th March has gained enormously in popularity in recent years. This is due in great measure to the late Queen of England, who during the later years of her reign gave her undoubted approval to the wearing of the trefoil by her soldiers who hailed from the Emerald Isle. Up to that time the Irish soldier who sported the shamrock in his cap or helmet stood a fair chance of being brought to book. Now the “chosen leaf of bard and chief” is so popular that even in the streets of London on St. Patrick’s Day hundreds who never set foot on the soil of Ireland sport the plant, whose colour and formation has so much signifiance for all Irishmen. So much for the sentimental observance of the Feast of St. Patrick, and now for the practical side of a question which at the present time is agitated by all classes and creeds in the country, viz., the suppression of over-indulgence in intoxicating liquors on the National Holiday. It is a matter which has caused profound regret that the Irish people at home and in other countries have desecrated St. Patrick’s Day by drinking to excess. In America, Canada, Australia, the day is made one of riot, and up to a comparatively recent period it resembled a Saturnalian revel rather than a Christian festival. Clergymen of all denominations denounced the excesses which arose from the wrong idea of celebrating the anniversary of the patron saint of the Island of Saints and Scholars. Police records showed that the vice of drunkenness was particularly rampant on and about the 17th March, and without exaggeration it may be said that at one time the Irish character sunk very low indeed in the minds of outsiders on account of the orgies which marred the National Festival. We should be devoutly thankful that there has been a considerable change for the better. Wiser counsels have prevailed, and for some years passed there has been a growing reformation in the observance of the national holiday. The Government have made it a Bank holiday in Ireland, and there is a strong tendency to make it thoroughly observed by the closing of houses which retail intoxicants. This movement is one which has enlisted the sympathy of all classes of the community, including the highest church dignitaries of every persuasion. The argument might be advanced by traders that their business would suffer if their premises were closed, but for one day, or even half a day, there cannot be so much money lost by the doors of the public-houses being shut. If St. Patrick’s Day is to be observed properly, not alone should the licensed houses, but all other business concerns, have their shutters up, and public bodies whose day of meeting falls on the next Saturday should suspend business for that day. Thus the object of having a real national holiday – not a mockery –would be achieved. Apart from this, there is another aspect of the question which cannot be overlooked. There are hundreds of shop assistants in all the cities and towns of Ireland who instead of welcoming the coming of St. Patrick’s Day, look forward to it with loathing on account of the extra hardship with which it is accompanied. Why not give these over-worked people the full benefit of the national holiday? Taking every circumstance into consideration, we consider that the aims and objects of these who wish to have St. Patrick’s Day duly observed desire general support pending compulsory legislation on the matter. 

No picture postcard landscape for Kildare detainees in Co. Down camp
by Liam Kenny

The well known balladeer Percy French penned a lyric entitled “Where the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea” which became something of a hit on the music hall circuit. It conjures up an image of the picture-postcard landscape of the south shores of Co Down where Mournes tumble down to meet the ocean. However the coastline of south Down held a less pleasing image for a group of Irishmen who were incarcerated there by the British government during the War of Independence (1919-21).  The location of their place of detention was Ballykinlar which was (and still is) a British army camp at a remote spot exposed to the icy winds slicing in from the north Irish sea.
Ballykinlar may not have the resonance that echoes from other places of detention of Irish nationalists such as the iconic Kilmainham or the internment camp at Frongoch, deep in the Welsh mountains, (used after the 1916 rising). And that is not forgetting the role played by detention camps at Newbridge in the civil war (1922/23) and at the Curragh during times of tension in the modern Irish State.
Now Ballykinlar has been put on the map for a modern readership with the publication by Mercier Press of “Prisoners of War: Ballykinlar Internment Camp 1920-1921” by Liam Ó’Duibhir a Donegal based historian and scholar of human rights.
The author traces the evolution of the camp which was the first mass internment camp established by the British during the war of independence. In December 1920 it opened its gates to receive hundreds of men from all parts of Ireland who were suspected of involvement with the IRA or Sinn Féin. The trigger for the large scale rounding-up of nationalists was Bloody Sunday, 21 November 1920, when an IRA squad acting on intelligence gathered by agents working for Michael Collins assassinated a number of British officers suspected of being involved in gathering information to be used against the nationalists.
The War of Independence which had been simmering since January 1919 was ratcheted up to an intense level of ferocity with the British mounting large scale sweeps to arrest those identified as having any involvement in attempts to bring down the British administration in Ireland.
Rounding up the activists was one thing but where to put them where they could not easily escape or be reached by sympathisers was the next problem for the British. The answer to the detention problem was found in Ballykinlar camp which ticked all the boxes for a place of detention. The very description of the camp by author Liam Ó’Duibhir is enough to provoke shivers even at distant remove. He describes the camp as being “Remote, desolate, surrounded by mountains, the sea, barbed wire and large numbers of British military.”
Soon this windswept place became an involuntary home for hundreds of men from all corners of the country. Men were held for up to a year in the hospitable conditions of Ballykinlar where the author says they were often subjected to “brutal treatment and poor quality food in an attempt to break them physically and mentally.” He asserts that some internees died from diseases picked up in the poor conditions or because of the failure of the camp authorities to transfer them to a proper hospital.
Among those to perish was Sean (John) O’Sullivan, a Tipperary-born Irish Volunteer who had lived at Kill, Co Kildare and who died in Ballykinlar on 5th May 1920.
Liam Ó’Duibhir’s skill at painting pen pictures comes to the fore in his account of how the removal of O’Sullivan’s remains provoked controversy. The British authorities would not send a body back to the home location of the deceased unless the family paid for the transport costs or came to Ballykinlar to claim the corpse. Sean Ó’Sullivan’s family made the wearying and sad journey to the remote camp on the Co Down shoreline. They brought with them a tricolour which was draped over his coffin in the camp mortuary. Later his fellow internees formed a guard of honour as his coffin was carried to the front gate of the camp but they had removed the tricolour before the coffin was taken outdoors. The British soldiers on guard searched the internees for the tricolour but to no avail.
Strange as it may seem in such grim surroundings there were occasional moments of humour and it is to the author’s credit that he can leaven his story of mass incarceration with echoes of a lighter note. In mid November 1920 a delegation of nationalist TDs and of GAA officials travelled to Ballykinlar to bring some moral support to the detainees. They got as far as to speak through the wires to the men in the compound. At one point an internee from Kildare shouted out for news from the GAA fields. Cork man and GAA secretary Liam O’Toole shouted back: “We gave Kildare a fine whacking there a few Sundays ago!”
 The author’s lively text is backed up impressively by a well-researched listing of nationalists who were detained in Ballykinlar.  Detainees in the No. 1 Compound at Ballykinlar included Michael Corry, Naas; Frank Doran, Rathangan; John Fitzgerald, Newbridge; Joe Havlon, Monasterevin; and Sean Kavanagh, Mill Street, Maynooth. The author lists another 21 Kildare men who were interned in Ballykinlar’s No. 2 Compound.
To study the list and to get a gripping picture of one of the bleakest places of detention ever located on Irish soil “Prisoners of War: Ballykinlar 1920-21" by Liam Ó’Duibhir and published by Mercier Press can be highly recommended.

Brian Boru and the Naas princess with three husbands – a look-back to the Battle of Clontarf a thousand years ago
by Liam Kenny

There is much talk about the decade of centenaries which will mark the calendar over the coming years.  The media is full of historians, journalists and public representatives earnestly discussing how to navigate the sensitivities involved in commemorating the centenaries of such formative events in the story of modern Ireland as the Easter Rising of 1916, the First World War and especially the Battle of the Somme also in 1916, and the convening of the first Dáil Eireann in 1919. 
Indeed the first of the major centenaries is already filling the airwaves with programmes and seminars looking back on the 1913 lockout which pitted Dublin’s captains of industry against the workers who were fighting for a basic level of workplace entitlements. The heavy-handed response of the police to the striking workers inspired James Connolly to recruit the Irish Citizen Army to defend the workers on the picket lines. The Citizen Army would form the armed nucleus of the rebel forces that four years later triggered the Easter Rising.
While reflection on all of these events is necessary there is another anniversary coming up which spans a much longer timescale and that is the millennial anniversary of the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 which falls next year. Popular awareness of the Battle of Clontarf centres on the old fables version of how Irish forces overwhelmed the rapacious horn-helmeted Vikings who had been plundering the monasteries and pushed them back into the sea.  The Irish victory was at the cost of the massacre of Brian Boru, the old Irish high king, who was surprised in his tent by a fleeing Viking.
While this is the outline of the story as told down though the generations there are some myths perpetuated by the story-telling and imagery – the first being the horns on the Viking helmets which are the product of an imaginative illustrator in a more modern era and not supported by archaeological finds of Viking battle dress.
Discerning the truth surrounding an event which happened a thousand years ago is always going to be a difficult task not least because there is not the kind of record. which would satisfy the demands of modern history writing where the use of sources created at the same time as the events under study is central to authenticity.
The challenge of trying to reconstruct a credible account of the Battle of Clontarf has now been taken on by historian Darren McGettigan whose book “The Battle of Clontarf – Good Friday 1014” published by Four  Courts Press is well timed to become a resource for millennial commemorations of the great battle.
The author is frank about the difficulty of relying on the folklore for details of the battle. Many of the traditional saga accounts of Clontarf were written centuries after the event. Others were composed with a view to boosting the reputation of one or other of the combatant leaders. Mr. McGettigan highlights the difficulty for historians attempting to explore sources from the centuries prior to the advent of reliable records when he writes of the old sagas: “They may contain accurate pieces of information but it is impossible now to know which are legendary and what is factual.”
However by casting his net of sources wider than the traditional accounts he has discerned some common trends in alternative accounts of the battle. He has identified a chronicle written by an Irish monk living in Germany around 1072 which is much closer in time to 1014 than some of the more popular sagas written centuries afterwards. He has also tracked down references in the writing of a monk living in the lands now known as France before 1034 which again is relatively close to the date in question.
By sifting such evidence and looking for consistent themes the author puts forward a sequence of events for the battle which represents a strong claim to being as near to credibility as a lapse of a thousand years will allow.
Some features of Clontarf discerned by the author may come as a surprise to those reared on the simplistic “Irish versus the foreigner” accounts of Clontarf. The enemy force was not only comprised of Vikings but in true Irish style involved Irish fighting Irish. Alongside the Vikings at Clontarf was a contingent of Leinster men including, according to the author, some drawn from the “north-eastern plains of Kildare.”
Relations between the Leinster men and the Vikings had not always been so comradely. The author recalls how a century earlier a leader of the Dublin Vikings had defeated the Leinster men at a battle fought “at a longphort near Leixlip on the Liffey.” This reference reinforces the status of Leixlip as one of the most prominent Viking inspired place names in the country with the name being derived from the Old Norse for “salmon leap” which was written as “lax lip.”
Perhaps the most interesting character, aside from the battle leaders on either side, in the story of Irish-Norse relationships is that of Gormlaith, daughter of the Leinster king Murchad (died AD972) who most likely lived at Naas, seat of the kings of Leinster.
Gormlaith was clearly a woman of some stamina as she married the king of Dublin and, when he died, married the high-king of Meath whom she appears to have divorced. Undaunted she moved on to a third husband, the celebrated Brian Boru, high king of Ireland but that marriage too ended in divorce. The author quotes a poet who had a wry take on Gormlaith’s marital conquests: “Three leaps did Gormlaith perform which no other woman shall do till Doomsday ….”
While the context and dynamics of the Battle of Clontarf form a gripping centrepiece to the book, such insights into the colourful life and times of the leading figures from the Viking era make the book an accessible overview of the years when Irish and Norse made war and made peace almost a thousand years ago.
Book reviewed: The Battle of Clontarf, Good Friday, 1014’ by Darren McGettigan, and published by Four Courts Press – for more information see www.fourcourtspress.ie.  

“Strangers in the bosom of the brown Irish earth”
Joe Dunne

Whilst listening to a recent discussion on neglected graveyards my mind swung back to what we used to call the Old Soldiers’ Cemetery on the fringe of the Curragh Plains just behind Walshestown. Perhaps its condition today is even more sad than the many poignant scenes it must have witnessed down the years. I doubt if the following little bit will change matters!

 
There is a sad relic of long bygone days in the heartland of County Kildare,

Unknown to descendants of those in its keep and with no one to bother or care.

The few trees are the haunt of magpie and rook, the walls now a shelter for the sheep.

Forgotten and silent yet close by a road that winds o’er the Curragh’s broad sweep

 
That place heard the “Last Post” being sounded, the “Flowers of the Forest” being played,

Saw the draped carriage, the cap and the sword, the mourners in solemn parade

It remembers those children who sleeps in its shade, so many so tender of years

And the flowers that were planted with heartaches, and moistened with anguish and tears

 
The memories it held for someone, somewhere must be faded and long passed away.

Or maybe there are pictures in some distant home of ancestors who rest in its clay.

Soldiers, their families, young sweethearts and friends beneath now weathered tombstones repose.

In that old army graveyard so peaceful, far away from life’s troubles and woes.

 
They lived as a part of colonial rule based far from the land of their birth

And in death were laid there as strangers in the bosom of brown Irish earth.

All their loved ones and comrades departed when this land of ours became free

In the sadness of parting, the farewells wept at graves they would never more see.

Those who rest there today in the dirge of the rain or Winter’s wind lonely refrain

Have a promise once made of a last trumpet call and of all being together again

And of heavenly glory where it will be told how they all shared in somebody’s prayer

In that quiet spot by the side of a hill on the green grassy plains of Kildare

 
-Joe Dunne

The history discovery of the decade … NUI Maynooth’s role in preserving historic find documented in new book

Liam Kenny

A colourful new book from a leading Irish publisher reveals the richness of the discovery of the decade as far as local history is concerned … the Morpeth Roll created in 1841, measuring 420 metres in length and, crucially, documenting the signatures of almost 160,000 people prominent in Irish politics and society.
The book titled “The Morpeth Roll – Ireland identified in 1841” by Christopher Ridgway and published by Four Courts Press highlights the contribution by historians and conservators at NUI Maynooth in interpreting and preserving this document rich in personality which provides a “whos’ who” of Irish life shortly before the years of the Famine which decimated the population. As such the Morpeth Roll which lay forgotten for generations in the basement of the great house of Castle Howard (the ultimate “Downton Abbey”) is a marvellous resource for those tracing family connections or for scholars of Irish life in the mid 18th century.
The book features contributions by eminent scholars associated with NUI Maynooth.
Prominent among them is Professor Emeritus Richard Comerford, a pioneer of local history scholarship in Ireland, who sets the Morpeth Roll within the context of life in Ireland in the early 1840s. He encapsulates both the visual impact and the academic appeal of the document when he writes that “the serried ranks of signatures on those large hand-ruled pages provide much food for thought.”
Another NUI Maynooth scholar, Patrick Cosgrove, who completed a doctoral study on the document, writes a chapter which explains the motivation for the creation of the gigantic Roll. He establishes that the roll of signatures was a testament from Irish society to George Howard, otherwise known as Viscount Morpeth, who was returning to his Yorkshire mansion having served five years as chief secretary in Ireland, effectively the head civil servant for the British government in Ireland. Unusually for a British official, Morpeth had won the respect of leaders of the emerging Irish middle classes for his tolerant approach to Catholic emancipation and his championing of reforms such as proper local government structures for Ireland.
Among his achievements which have left their mark to the present day was legislation reforming the rotten town corporations in the early 19th century and the establishment of the Poor Law administration. Both measures formed the legislative basis to the local government system which prevails – albeit with many modifications – in Ireland to the present day.
Paul Hoary, a Maynooth conservator who engaged with the very fabric of the document conveys the sense of wonder as the Roll, having been transported from Yorkshire, was unrolled for the first time in living memory. He describes how the role of the Russell Library at Maynooth was to “investigate the physical make-up of the object, to prepare it for digital imaging, and to carry out remedial repairs.” The sheer physical properties of the document are staggering, it extends to 420 metres which is seven times the height of Liberty Hall.
As regards its content of almost 160,000 signatures Paul Hoary remarks that given the patriarchal nature of Irish society in the 19th century it is not surprising that there were very few female signatories. However it gives this column some satisfaction to record that the name of a “Mary Kenny” is signed on the roll representing a mark for the female gender in an otherwise male-dominated exercise.
One of the inspirations behind the creation of the roll in 1841 was the hero of Catholic Emancipation, Daniel O’ Connell, Ireland’s most popular politician in the mid 19th century.  O’Connell had mobilised the signatures as a tribute to George Howard, Lord Morpeth, when Morpeth left his post as Chief Secretary – the British Government’s minister in charge of Ireland – in 1841.  Morpeth was the name of the Howard family’s estate town in Yorkshire and it was this title which attached its name to the roll.
O’Connell was joined by Kildare’s most prominent citizen, the Duke of Leinster who lived at Carton, in the nationwide exercise of creating what was in effect a gigantic “Sorry Your Leaving” tribute.  The process involved acquiring tens of thousands of signatures from all parts of Ireland.
For many years the testimonial roll remained forgotten in the basement of the great house and it was only in recent years that it was discovered. A crucial link was made with NUI Maynooth where Dr Terry Dooley of the University’s renowned centre for the study of historic houses and his colleagues recognised its value as a resource for illuminating a whole layer of Irish society from a time when few other records survive.
By looking at signatures on the rolls of such luminaries as O’Connell, Frederick Fitzgerald – 3rd Duke of Leinster, Charles Bianconi – public transport pioneer, and patriots Charles Gavan Duffy and Thomas Davis, one gets a spine-tingling moment of witnessing a personal mark made 170 years ago.
The Four Courts Press have published an appealing overview of the Morpeth Roll with their book which includes a generous array of colour illustrations and political cartoons from the time when the Roll was created. The book serves as an excellent introduction to the local history discovery of the decade. Book reviewed: “The Morpeth Roll – Ireland identified in 1841” by Christopher Ridgway. For more information contact Anthony Tierney at Four Courts Press, Dublin, on 01 453 468.
Series no: 333.

Newbridge woman’s secret jail marriage to forgotten rebel

Liam Kenny

A Newbridge woman had a ringside seat to the planning for the 1916 Rising through her relationship with a rebel leader who has been ignored by modern day historians. In a new book published by Mercier Press the role of Cork man Diarmuid Lynch – said to be the last man to leave the blazing GPO at Easter 1916 – is asserted by author Eileen McGough.
Lynch was working for the national cause from his early teens and moved in the same circles as Tom Clarke, a signatory of the Proclamation, Michael Collins and Eamon De Valera. Indeed he was described by one historian as being the most senior IRB leader to have survived the Rising and executions. Yet he has got little of or no mention in the voluminous publications on the period.
He escaped execution in the aftermath of the rising but two years later -- resulting from his actions as Sinn Féin Minister for Food -- was interned by the British in Dundalk Jail in March 1918. In April he was deported to America as he had US citizenship having spent some years working in the States.
On arriving in New York he continued with his passion for Irish independence and became a leading organiser and fund-raiser for the Friends of Irish Freedom – a powerful organisation which mobilised support for the independence movement through the powerful Irish-American network on the east coast.
However he crossed swords with De Valera who came out to America in 1920 to raise funds for the Irish volunteers during the war of independence (1919-21). There was a calamitous split in the Irish support movement in the United States arising largely from De Valera’s intervention and Diarmuid Lynch ended up on the wrong side of that fissure and was promptly written out of the history books when recollections of 1916 were published in the following years in Ireland.
Back to the Newbridge connection and a note in the Kildare Observer newspaper of June 1918 reports that “Mrs Diarmuid Lynch (nee Kathleen Quinn) wife of the Sinn Féin Controller, who has gone to join her husband in America, is a daughter of the late Mr John Quinn, a well-known merchant in Newbridge. Mr Quinn was an active member of the local boards in Kildare County.”
Careful research by author Eileen McGough, which included invaluable access to Lynch family papers, suggests that the Newbridge woman first met Diarmuid Lynch in 1915 by which time he was a senior figure in the Irish Republication Brotherhood and privy to the steps being taken to mount a rebellion against the British.
After the rebellion at Easter 1916 Kathleen Quinn visited Lynch in Kilmainham jail on 18 May 1916, the day he was condemned for treason arising from his being a leader of the Rising. They surely thought it was to be the last they would see of each other given the string of executions of rebel leaders in the preceding days.
However Lynch’s family mobilised appeals for clemency from Irish-America arising out of his US citizenship. Such was the power of the Irish-American lobby in the States that  US President Woodrow Wilson was drawn into the case and he instructed the British Foreign Office to insist that Lynch’s impending execution be deferred until the American government could investigate his case.
In the end Lynch – like De Valera – escaped execution but in common with hundreds of other Irish Volunteers was transferred for internment in English jails where he was to remain until released in June 1917.
He returned to Ireland to a hero’s welcome with over 10,000 people gathered at Cork railway station to greet him as one of the top figures in the Sinn Féin movement. However it was not long before he came to the attention of the British authorities who had him under frequent surveillance. He had been appointed Director of Food in the Sinn Féin shadow government and his aim was to halt the export of food to England when people in Ireland were going short.
In February 1918 Lynch masterminded the seizure of pigs being exported to Britain via the Smithfield Markets in Dublin. His dramatic seizure of the England-bound pigs created a sensation in Irish and English papers and boosted Sinn Féin volunteers throughout the country in their campaign to keep food in Ireland. For his troubles Lynch was again arrested by the British authorities and interned in Dundalk prison. His relationship with Kathleen Quinn had become closer and when news came through that he was about to be deported to the US he and Kathleen arranged to be secretly married in Dundalk jail before his deportation.
Under the guise of a visit to three prisoners Kathleen Quinn, a female friend, and a Capuchin priest managed to get permission to visit the prison. In the visiting room two of the volunteers managed to distract the warder and in a whispered few words the Capuchin married Kathleen Quinn and Diarmuid Lynch. Their marriage took place on 24 April 1918, two years to the day since the outbreak of the 1916 rising.
Shortly after Diarmuid Lynch was deported to the US and Kathleen followed him on 1st June 1918 which returns the story to the report in the Kildare Observer quoted above.
This was far from the end of the story for the Lynch couple and their years involved with the Irish-American movement when they became intimately acquainted to Kildare-born Fenian leader John Devoy are described with great clarity by Eileen McGough.  Diarmuid Lynch became a leading figure on the Irish-American scene and was chief secretary and fund-raiser for the Friends of Irish Freedom.
However the subsequent split in the Irish-American support base was – even by the standards of Irish splits – was vitriolic and was to scar many. Diarmuid Lynch although remaining true to the memory of 1916 was one of the casualties of the split and his star faded to the extent that he is almost unknown to modern scholars of the Irish rebellion.
This new book “Diarmuid Lynch – a forgotten Irish patriot” by Eileen McGough and published by Mercier Press will go a long way to rightly reinstate him as being one of the most influential figures in Irish early 20th century nationalism. And as a footnote it might be remarked that the “Leinster Leader” was no doubt the paper of the week in Kathleen Quinn’s family home in Newbridge. Now a century later a book in which she features is being reviewed in the same newspaper.
Postscript: for readers interested in the book on the Morpeth Roll and NUI Maynooth reviewed last week, more information can be had from Anthony Tierney at Four Courts Press on 01 4534668.
Series no: 334

Kildare Observer 30 June 1906

NEW INDUSTRY IN MONASTEREVAN. THE RATHCOOLEY DISPENSARY RESIDENCE.
 
We understand that very shortly there will be put on the market a new brand of hop bitters, which is being manufactured at Monasterevan. From those in a position to know its is confidently asserted that the new non-intoxicant drink will compare favourably with any other on the market at the present time. If this is so, it is to be hoped that the home-manufactured article will be patronised by the public generally, so as to encourage others to follow the example of the enterprising firm in Monasterevan. 

The Leinster Leader 30 September 1922

Prisoners at the Curragh

Under the above heading the following letter appeared in the “Irish Independent” on 22nd inst.-
 Sir. – As officer in charge of the Republican prisoners in the Curragh Camp I wish to bring to the notice of the following: - There are present in the general hospital here two boys, J. Smith, of Dunlavin, and T. Driver, of Ballymore-Eustace, aged 14 and 16 years respectively. They were arrested by patrols of the Free State troops on the roads near their houses more than ten weeks ago. No reason was given for their arrest, neither of them carried arms, and no charge has since been made against them. They were both kept in close custody in Hare Park prison where they were allowed no visits from their relatives. Both boys adopted the only form of protest available. They had started a hunger strike with the object of gaining unconditional release. After four days the medical officer attending them gave them his word of honour that they would be released if they stopped the hunger strike. They did so and were removed to the General Hospital. During their convalescence they were brought before the senior medical officer, not the doctor who had promised their release and asked if they would sign a form. They refused and claimed unconditional release, according to the promise made to them. This was refused and they immediately recommenced their hunger strike. These facts are in glaring disagreement with the account of the prisoners’ treatment given by a member of the Government in the recent debate. Would the Minster for Home Affairs claim that these two boys have not been treated with cruel vindictiveness which passed in the disgraceful story of English prisons in Ireland during the last six years? I leave it to the public to form their own opinion.
T. Boyle, OC Prisoners Keane Barracks, Curragh.

Note by James Durney: A search of the 1911 Census did not reveal any family named Smith in the DEDs of Dunlavin Town, Lower and Upper. A James Smith, aged six, was located in Newtownsandes, Baltinglass, but it is unsure if this is the J. Smith mentioned above. The T. Driver mentioned is actually Francis Patrick ‘Frank’ Driver, son of Thomas and Monica Driver, Ballymore Eustace. Thomas Driver was a publican in the village.

Leinster Leader 29th October 1955

Passing of Great Kildare Footballer

The Late Mr. Jack Higgins, Naas.

With the death of Mr. Jack Higgins, Gaeldom has lost one of the greatest players of all time. In his particular position as centre half back he had no peer, and this is admitted by his greatest and most generous opponents, the men from the Kingdom of Kerry. As John Joe Sheehy, famous Kerry footballer, remarked at the funeral: “There will never be another Jack Higgins.”
The late Mr. Higgins had been ailing for only a short time, and succumbed following an operation in the Eye and Ear Hospital, Dublin. His first introduction to football was with the Naas Christian Brothers, and he played in the Schools’ League in 1915. He graduated to junior ranks later, and was on the Kildare junior team which contested the Leinster championship in 1924. From that onwards his rise to football fame was meteoric. Whilst in the army he assisted the Dublin senior footballers, and he also played with the noted Cavan Slashers when he was stationed in Virginia; another honour to fall his way was and All-Army championship medal.
Won Many Honours
During the halcyon days of the All Whites, from 1926 to 1935, Jack was the most brilliant in a constellation of football stars, and he won six Leinster championships with Kildare in succession and two All Irelands – 1927 and 1928; he was an automatic selection on the Leinster Railway Cup selection on the Leinster Railway Cup selection from 1926 to 1935, captaining the sides which won the trophy in 1930 and 1932, and also figuring on the successful 1928, 1929 and 1933 combinations. He had the distinction of earning his place on the Ireland teams which opposed America in the 1928 and 1932 Tailteann Games.
His association with the Naas Gaelic Football Club went back as far as 1919, when he was on the victorious team that won the county title. Subsequently he annexed numerous senior championships with Naas, whose team in the late twenties and thirties was practically unbeatable, not infrequently five or six all-Ireland men figuring on the side, which, on one notable occasion, beat the Kerry county team.
Jack continued playing football until the 1935 All – Ireland final against Cavan, when an old leg injury reasserted itself and brought to a close a wonderfully successful football career.
However, he still kept in touch with Gaelic athletic affairs in the council chamber, being chairman of the Naas Club from 1936 onwards, a county selector and Kildare’s representative on the Leinster Council, where he invariably upheld the claims of his native county, speaking his mind freely when occasion demanded it; his opinions were highly regarded in G.A.A. circles – his name, indeed, was a household word in all parts of the country wherever football was the topic and the deeds of those giants of the past discussed at the fireside. For those who recollect his many duels with Kildare’s great rivals, Kerry, and his superb displays in many championship engagements, his renown will always be a source of pride and elation. He came of great football family, for his brother, George, captained the Kildare team in 1925, and he also played on the Kildare team in 1926; his brother, the late Mr. Christopher (Lager) Higgins, was one of the bulwarks of the Naas team for many years, whilst his nephew, Mr. Christopher Higgins, played with Kildare from 1932 to 1939. Another nephew, Tommy, figured on Kildare teams from 1936 to 1940.
A great sportsman and a great Gael, Jack Higgins was universally respected and admired – and, true to form, he was generous and warm-hearted; only his close friends were aware of the many kind gestures he made during his lifetime, and his sincerity and goodwill were characteristics of a truly Christian gentleman. His passing will be deeply mourned not only by his widow, family and relatives, but by every Gael and sportsman in the country.
The Funeral
The remains were removed from Dublin to the Church of Our Lady and St. David, Naas, on Monday evening, the cortege being of huge proportions, many people travelling from the city; on Tuesday the funeral to St. Corban’s Cemetery was stated to be the largest witnessed in living memory, Army personnel, with whom he was so deservedly popular, forming a very large contingent. Every town and hamlet in the country was represented, a party of his old comrades travelling all the way from Kerry. Most of the County G.A.A. Boards in the four provinces sent representatives, and County Kildare clubs were also there in strength. In addition there was an extremely large attendance of the general public, drawn from all sections of the community. Members of the Naas Club carried the remains to the cemetery, and members of the 1926, 1927, 1928 teams formed a Guard of Honour. They consisted of : Mick Buckley, Matt Goff, Gus Fitzpatrick, Jack Hayes, “Squires” Gannon, Joe Curtis, Tom Keogh, Bill Mangan, Paddy Loughlin, Albert O’Neill, Larry Stanley, Bertie Graham, Charlie Graham, Tom Wheeler, Dan Ryan, Paddy Byrne, Jimmy Maguire, “Darkie” Ryan, Peter Waters and “Ginger” Moran. Team mates who predeceased him were; Frank Malone, Joe Loughlin and Paul Doyle.
Mr. Joe Rafferty, of 1903 and 1904 All-Ireland fame, was amongst those present, who included: Mr. G. Sweetman, Minister for Finance; Mr. T. Harris, T.D; Mr. Mark Deering, T.D.; Mr. Padraigh O’Keeffe, Secretary of the Central Council, G.A.A.; Dr. Stuart, Chairman of the Leinster Council; Mr. Martin O’Neill, Secretary of the Leinster Council; Mr. H. Byrne (Wicklow), Vice-Chairman of the Leinster Council; Mr. Peter Whelan; Messrs John J. Sheehy, Con Brosnan, Johnny O’Riordan, F. Sheehy, Bob Stacl, Dr. J. Brosnan, Messrs Paul Russell, Tim O’Donnell, and T. Crowley, Secretary, Kerry County Board; Mr. Edward Timmins, Mr, Tommy Moore (Dublin); Mr, Liam Geraghty, Chairman of the County Kildare G.A.A. Board; Mr. T. Lawler, Vice-Chairman, and Mr. Taidgh O Cleirigh, Secretary; Mr. P. J. Cox, Mr. Wm. O’Neill, Capt. P. Murrihy; Mr. Sean O’Neill, Chairman of the Dublin Junior Board; Messrs. Johnny McDonnell, J. Synnott, Wm. Dowling, John Sherlock, J. Curran, R. Freeman (Dublin); Messrs. Jack Fitzgerald, J. Curran, W. Eggleston, Peter McDermott and Ml. Keogh (Meath); Messrs. Wm. Lawless and Frank Cullen (Wicklow); Messrs. T. Flood, J. Matthews, M. McKeon (Louth); Rev. E. Vaughan, C.C., Sean Robbins and Ll. Spain (Offaly); Messrs. S. Deignan, P. Lynch and “Big Tom” Reilly (Cavan); Messrs. B. Walsh and C. Fagan (Westmeath); Mr. John Dunne (Galway); Mr. P Mockler (Mayo); Messrs. E. Long and M Carpenter (Carlow); Danny Douglas and Tommy Hayes (Curragh); Mr. M. Nolan (Maynooth), representing the Irish Amateur Billiards Association; Mr. Tommy Kelly, Kilcock; Messrs. J. Dunne, P. Brennan and T. O’Callaghan, representing Kildare Brigade, Old I.R.A.; Mr. J.J. Cardiff; Messrs. P. Healy, J. Dunphy and Joe Fox; Mr. F. Brennan, Mr. Ed Merriman, Mr. Hussey Cribbin, Lt. Col. J.T. Daly, Comdt. Pierce Barry, Comdt. J. McGrath, Chief Supt. O’Driscoll, Inspector B. Poole, Sergt. J. Houlihan, Sergt. J. Cronin, Mr. Ml. Molloy, Tallaght; Messrs. D. Finn, N. Moran and T. Hanrahan; Mr. S. O Siotchain. Mr. Joseph McDonald, Rev. P. Lalor, C.C., Kildare; Mr J.J. Mullaney, Secretary of the Kildare County Council.
Rev. L. Newman, C.C., officiated at the graveside, assisted by Very Rev. Dr. Miller, P.P., V.F.., Droichead Nua; Very Rev. Father Bennett, P.P., Caragh; Rev. T. Kennedy, C.C., Rathangan and Rev. Jack Walsh, C.C.
The chief mourners were; Mrs Mary Higgins (widow); Dominick, Frank, Jim and Jerome (sons); Mrs. Anastasia Goulding and Mrs Kathleen Doyle (daughters); Mrs. Annie Hogan (sister); George, Tommy and Michael Higgins (brothers); Mrs Michael Higgins, Mrs Mary Higgins, Mrs Bridget Higgins, Mrs Nellie Higgins (sisters-in-law); Cecil Doyle, Jack Goulding (sons-in-law); Mrs Dominick Higgins (daughter-in-law). Hundreds of telegrams, Mass cards and messages of sympathy were received.

An Appreciation
This week Gaels throughout Ireland were shocked at the announcement of the death of “Jack Higgins of Kildare.”  Whenever and wherever Gaelic football was discussed, his name was bound to arise. He was recognised nationally as the greatest centre-half that ever graced a Gaelic football arena. Much has been written and will be written about his prowess. Sufficient to say that throughout his playing career he was an automatic selection for his county, his province and his country. After Jack “hung up his boots” he was equally capable as a legislator. Year after year he was selected as Kildare’s representative on the Leinster Council, G.A.A. His advice and help was sought and appreciated by individuals, clubs, and counties throughout the country.
Genial Disposition  
He was an exemplary Catholic and played the game of life in true Irish tradition. His unassuming and genial disposition made him assured of a welcome in any company. He was full of Christian charity and generous almost to a fault. A stranger in Naas was never stranded – many a time the question “Where does Jack Higgins live? Was asked; a knock on Jack’s door and relief was assured. The country, the county, and the town of Naas in particular, suffer an immeasurable loss by his regretted demise.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam chrόga.

E.M., Naas.