June, 2020
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Runaway Vehicles in Glenmore Village
Last week when Danny Dowling was speaking about traveling shows and entertainment that visited Glenmore in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he spoke about a terrible accident that occurred in Glenmore Village involving a circus wagon. He recalled that a man and two horses were killed.
Runaway Circus Wagon
The main road through the village has a very long incline which stretches approximately .5 k from the National School, down past the Church, past the old Garda Barrack’s, down to the gable end of Fluskey’s building. Fluskey’s housed the second Glenmore Post Office as well as a shop, (see blog post “Glenmore Businessman: Robert Fluskey (c. 1843-1925) and the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word” published 8 May 2020.) In cold weather the hill can be very treacherous, but Danny has recorded two serious events involving runaway vehicles on the hill that took place during summer months.
On the 4th of July 1941, a 17-year-old farmer’s son named Richard O’Neill, from Ballinglee, Ballymitty, Co. Wexford was fatally injured when the horse drawn circus wagon he was driving crashed into the gable end of Fluskey’s building. According to Danny the wagon hit with such force it cracked the wall of the gable end, and although the crack was patched and painted over several times, the crack was visible right up to this year when a new owner began renovating the building.
According to an article published in the New Ross Standard on 11 July 1941 the “runaway” horses galloped down the hill and the young driver Richard O’Neill could not control them. Unable to make the turn at the bottom of the hill the wagon crashed into the gable end of Fluskey’s and the driver was thrown between the horses. The driver was taken to the hospital at New Ross and transferred to the County Hospital where he died on the 5th of July. An inquest was held on the 7th before Mr. F. M. O’Connor, LLB, solicitor and Coroner for South Wexford. A brother of the deceased, John O’Neill of Ballinglee, identified his brother’s remains. Other witnesses reported that the deceased was in the employ of Richard McCormack, of the McCormack’s Variety Show, but no information was provided concerning how long he worked for McCormack. Very little is known about the McCormack Variety Show although there are mentions of it in the Leinster Reporter in 1928.
Garda Thomas Griffin, Glenmore, Co. Kilkenny, testified that on Friday, the 4th of July, at 1 p.m. he was on the road in front of the Garda Barracks at Glenmore. He saw a four wheeled van coming down the hill, being drawn by three horses. The deceased, Richard O’Neill, was sitting in the driver’s seat, and was trying to control the horses. The wagon had a load of metal poles, seating accessories, circus tents, etc. The animals were going at a fast pace, galloping down the steep hill and the deceased was doing his best to control them.
The young driver had a tight hold of the reins and was leaning back in an effort to stop them. The galloping horses and wagon passed Garda Griffin and about 80 yards further down the hill the horses and wagon crashed into the gable wall of “a house.” We know that the house was in fact Fluskey’s building that housed a shop, the post office and the telegraph office. Garda Griffin stated that it seemed that the horses could not negotiate the corner round the house. O’Neill was thrown from his seat and landed between the injured horses.
Garda Griffin ran down to the scene, and two men from the Village, Patrick Walsh and Michael Walsh, rushed to assist. The three men removed the deceased from the injured horses. The deceased was badly injured and could not give a coherent account of what occurred. Garda Griffin when asked during the inquest if the vehicle had any braking system could not say because his attention was solely on the deceased. The deceased was removed to New Ross Hospital and he was then transferred to Wexford County Hospital for X-ray treatment.
Dr. J. A. O’Driscoll, the house surgeon, of the Wexford County Hospital, testified that he examined the deceased when he was admitted to the County Hospital at 11 am on Saturday the 5th. His condition was very grave. He complained of great abdominal pain and was deeply shocked. He received treatment and there was an operation. A part of the small intestine was found to be completely severed. He died at 8.15 p.m. on Saturday. In witness’s opinion the cause of death was perforation of the intestine, shock and peritonitis. A verdict in accordance with the medical evidence was returned.
The Runaway Tractor
Early in 2020 Danny when asked about Murphy Motors of Glenmore recalled his childhood friends, brothers Mikey and Richie Murphy, of Robinstown, Glenmore. Their father, Richard “Dick” Murphy, of Robinstown had the first tractor in Glenmore. Danny spoke about Mikey’s love of anything mechanical and how one of his tractors ran away with him and crashed into the village stream. In a 2002 interview Danny was told that Mikey’s runaway tractor had been “converted.” Mikey’s father, Dick Murphy, was so upset after the runaway incident that it was said that he took a sledgehammer to the tractor further converting it by breaking it into pieces.
The Waterford Standard published an article on 13 June 1953 concerning the runaway tractor. Thus, a dozen years after the horse drawn circus wagon crash, Michael Murphy (c. 1930-1974), of Robinstown, Glenmore was taken to the Houghtan Hospital in New Ross with minor injuries. He sustained these injuries when the tractor he was driving ran away 300 yards down “a steep” hill, crashed through a wall, and plunged into the stream near the bridge. The article states that, “Mr. Murphy remained in the driver’s seat and diverted the tractor from crashing into the gable wall of the Glenmore Post Office.” Danny reported that it was no easy job getting the tractor out of the stream.
According to an article that appeared in the New Ross Standard on 4 March 1960, Michael Murphy at a very early age took a keen interest in farm machinery. He began trading as Agricultural Machinery Services and started selling farm machinery in 1950 from the Murphy farm in Robinstown. By 1954 he became an agent of German Allgaier Porche tractor and soon Allgaier tractors were found across the parish on Glenmore farms. His business interests continued to expand and in March 1960 the current premises opened on the main Waterford to New Ross Road (N 25). In 1960 Thomas Clasheen, joined Murphy Motors as a director and general manager.
Twenty-one years after the runaway tractor incident Thomas Clasheen was tragically killed in April 1974 in a tractor accident on a farm he owned in Killenaule, Co. Tipperary. Thomas Clasheen’s obituary can be found in the 26 April 1974 edition of the New Ross Standard. Five months later in September 1974 Michael Murphy was tragically killed at the age of 44 in a two car crash. The New Ross Standard in an article published on Friday the 13th of September 1974 reported that he was killed three miles outside Kilkenny at approximately 12:50 p.m. at Grevine, on the old main Waterford/Kilkenny road. He left a widow, Peggy Murphy née Coady and six young children aged between 10 and 1 years of age. His brother-in-law, Fr. Dan Coady, was the celebrant at his requiem mass. There was a large and very representative attendance at the funeral.
Special thanks to Louise Walsh for the photo of the gable end of Fluskey’s building taken in October 2019.
The horse drawn wagon featured above was published in The Sphere (1954) (c) Illustrated News Group.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
Blog update—a new list of information from 90 memory cards has been added to the lists page. Various obituaries, death notices and short newspaper articles have been added to family pages.
James Aylward (c. 1869 -1909) of Parkstown, Glenmore: Wed and Dead Within a Week
It isn’t often that an event in 1909 resulted in the type of sensationalised headlines that became much more common in the last decades of the twentieth century. However, the tragic death of a Glenmore bridegroom in 1909 resulted in headlines such as “Wed and Dead Within a Week,” “Married and Buried Within a Week” and “Shrovetide Sensation.” Amazingly all the older Glenmore residents that were contacted this week knew the story of the Glenmore man who died on his honeymoon. Much less is known about his widow.
The man behind the headlines was James Aylward, of Parkstown, Glenmore. James was married in the neighbouring parish church in Mullinavat on Monday the 15th of February 1909. His bride was Catherine “Kate” Gaule, of Ballynooney, Mullinavat. James Aylward died in Cork City during their honeymoon on Saturday, the 20th of February 1909 and was buried in Glenmore on Monday the 22nd of February 1909. Danny Dowling preserved the diary of James Aylward, of Ballyhobuck, Glenmore. James Aylward, of Ballyhobuck, recorded in his diary the following: James Aylward, Parkstown and Kate Gaule, Ballynooney married 15 February 1909 and James was buried the following week.
The death cert for James Aylward reveals that James died on the 20th of February 1909 of acute peritonitis and suffered with it for 36 hours. Thus he began becoming unwell on Wednesday only two days after getting married. Peritonitis is often associated with a ruptured appendix.
The following two newspaper accounts provide details concerning the honeymoon as well as how the widow after only five days notified her in-laws concerning James becoming ill and dying.
“Sad Death of Glenmore Bridegroom. MARRIED AND BURIED WITHIN A WEEK. On Monday were laid in graveyard, Glenmore, the mortal remains of Mr. James Aylward, Parkstown. Glenmore, a large farmer, in the prime of life, who was married only that day week. Mr Aylward had most auspicious marriage and went for a most extensive tour on the honeymoon. Himself and his wife went to Cork, via Loughren, County Galway, where a relative of Aylward lives. They reached Cork nearing the weekend. On Friday evening Mr. Wm Aylward, shopkeeper, Waterford, a brother of the bridegroom, was startled by receipt of a telegram from Mrs Aylward that her husband was taken suddenly ill. This wire only prepared for the worst, for shortly afterwards came the sad news that James Aylward was dead. The intelligence was grievously shocking for the deceased’s brother and all the friends, and the misery of the young bride alone in a hotel in Cork with her husband turned to clay can only be faintly imagined. The remains reached Waterford at ten o’clock on Saturday night, whence they were taken home by hearse and a sad cavalcade at a late hour. Interment took place on Monday, and concurrence is regarded as the saddest which visited the parish for a very long time.” (Waterford Mirror and Tramore Visitor of Thursday the 25th of February 1909).
“A SHROVETIDE SENSATION. – The sad sudden death, whilst on his honeymoon, of a young and well-known Glenmore farmer, the sad particulars of which are narrated elsewhere, shocked the neighbourhood and district. Last Monday week James Aylward, the owner of a large farm, and in good circumstances, left his home a happy. bridegroom. Last Monday finds his remains under the green sod in Glenmore graveyard. Death reached him in Cork on Friday evening. The return of the dead bridegroom to his home in Parkstown furnishes one of the saddest episodes that could well be imagined, and certainly the mournful spectacle made the deepest impression on the people. From bright gaiety to blackest tragedy is often but a very short step in this fickle world. The suddenness of the transition here could not well be paralleled except we go to the chronic plague stricken topics, where it is not unusual to meet a person in the best of health in the morning and meet that same person’s funeral in the evening.” (New Ross Standard of Friday the 26th of February 1909).
The bride and groom were both from local farming families from neighbouring parishes.
The Glenmore Groom
It is difficult to determine when James Aylward was born. On the marriage records his age is listed as 40 (c. 1869) and yet less than a week later on his death certificate his age is listed as 42 (c.1867). A review of the 1901 Census provides that James was 30 years of age thus born about 1871). On the marriage records his father is listed as John Aylward, deceased.
The Glenmore Parish records provided several facts concerning the Aylward family of Parkstown. John Aylward, of Parkstown, married Bridget Costello, of Robinstown, on the 7th of March 1859. The witnesses to the wedding were James Walsh and Honora Fitzgerald. Bridget Costello was born the 13th of February 1836. She was the daughter of Thomas Costello and Judy Costello née Aylward.
A baptismal record for James Aylward could not be found for the years 1867 through 1875. However, several other baptisms were recorded for other children born to John Aylward and Bridget Aylward née Costello of Parkstown, Glenmore including: [1] Mary Aylward was born on the 19th of March 1863 and baptized the following day; [2] John Aylward was born on the 1st of September 1865; [3] Patrick Aylward was born on the 26 of May 1868; [4] William Aylward was born on the 10th of November 1870; [5] Bridget Aylward was born on the 25th of October 1875; and [6] Johanna Aylward was born on the 19th of June 1880.
The father, John Aylward, was dead by 1901. The 1901 Census lists the mother Brigid Aylward as 60 years of age and heading up the household that includes: James Aylward (age 30); William Aylward (age 26); Bridget Aylward (age 26) and Hannah Aylward (age 19). The eldest child, Mary Aylward had married Patrick Butler, of Parkstown, on the 26th of February 1895.
As outlined in the newspaper accounts William Aylward by 1909 was a shopkeeper in Waterford City. According to Danny Dowling this week William Aylward’s premises were on O’Connell Street in Waterford. He commenced trading as a grocer and obtained a spirit’s licence. The 1911 Census for Waterford places William Aylward living on O’Connell Street, single, aged 36. He recorded that he was a grocer and publican. Residing with him is his youngest sister Johanna Aylward who was 26 years of age and also single. In 1911 on the Aylward farm in Parkstown the mother Bridget Aylward is 73 and two of her children are residing with her. Patrick Aylward who was not living on the farm in 1901 returned home to take over the farm, was single and listed as 39 years of age while his sister Bridget Aylward’s age is difficult to decipher.
Danny said that Patrick Aylward went on to marry and had a family. A search revealed that Patrick Aylward, of Parkstown, on 1 November 1917 at Rosbercon, married Bridget Doolan, of Shambough. Bridget was the daughter of Dany Doolan a farmer. The witnesses to the wedding were John Aylward and Margaret Doolan. On the 2nd of October 1919 Patrick Aylward and his wife had a daughter Bridget Aylward. Danny identified John Joe Aylward as another child. John Joe Aylward died a couple of years ago (20 February 2018) and his sister Peggy Aylward died about a decade earlier (2009).
The Mullinavat Bride
Catherine “Kate” Gaule was born at Ballynooney, Mullinavat, on the 7th of January 1875, the daughter of Luke Gaule and Margaret Gaule née Corcoran. Luke Gaule, of Ballynooney, Mullinavat, married Margaret Corcoran, of Liserlin, Tullogher on the 13th of June 1872 at Mullinargle (sic). Witnesses to the wedding were Laurence Gaule and Johanna Walsh. Luke’s father was listed as John Gaule, deceased, farmer and Margaret’s father was listed as Edmund Corcoran, deceased, farmer. Kate Gaule had at least two brothers: John Gaule was born 19 April 1873 and William Gaul born on the 23rd of September 1879.
Margaret Gaule née Corcoran died on the 17th of November 1897, aged 60 of heart disease. The 1901 Census provides that Luke was 54 years of age and three of his children were residing with him. John Gaule was 27, Kate Gaule was 25, and William Gaule was 22. John Gaule married Margaret Ryan, of Ballynooney on the 26th of January 1916 at Mullinavat. Margaret was the daughter of Patrick Ryan, a farmer. A William Gaule, of Keatingstown, Thomastown married on the 15th of October 1914, Nora Dalton the daughter of farmer Pat Dalton. William Gaule, of Keatingstown, was a farmer and the son of Luke Gaule.
Kate Gaule married James Aylward in 1909 and became a widow 5 days later. Danny Dowling this week stated that he did not know what happened to James Aylward’s widow. The 1911 Census reveals that she was living with her father and brother, John on the Gaule farm in Ballynooney. In the 1911 Census: Luke Gaule was a widower aged 64; John Gaule was single and aged 36 and Catherine Aylward, a widow was aged 35. It is believed that Luke Gaule died on the 7th of February 1917 at the age of 70. The townland is listed as Ballyvatheen rather than Ballynooney on the death cert, but the person with the deceased was John Gaule the son of the deceased.
While James Aylward’s life was tragically cut short, unfortunately, we don’t know what happened to his widow, Catherine “Kate” Aylward née Gaule. Did she re-marry? Did she live out her life with one her brothers and his family? We hope that a reader has the answer to what happened to the woman from Mullinavat who was widowed 5 days after she was married.
Update: In our blog post of 15 July 2020 we revealed what we learned about the widow.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
The featured image is of an ancient Egyptian funeral.
Creative Boycotting in Late 19th Century Ireland
Long before old newspapers were available on-line, Danny Dowling spent a substantial amount of time visiting libraries in Waterford, Wexford and Kilkenny, pouring over the old newspapers, and making notes or copies of various articles about Glenmore or other subjects or places that took his interest. One area of interest was boycotting. Although protests and the joining of ordinary people to shun, or place economic pressure on another person, in an effort to change behaviour, probably goes back to the beginning of humans living together, and forming societies, the term boycott to describe such a protest only came into popular use in 1880. The verb boycotting came about due to Captain Charles Boycott, a land agent in County Mayo.
Charles Stewart Parnell advocated non-violence and the banding together of tenant farmers and labourers to stop the abuses associated with evictions. In 1880, Boycott, a retired army officer, raised the rent on his tenants and evicted a number of families. The newly formed local Land League pressured local farmers, labourers and tradesmen to refuse to work for or deal with Boycott. What started as a local protest soon garnered international news coverage after Boycott wrote to London newspapers complaining about his treatment. With no workforce willing to bring in his harvest several hundred Protestant farmers from northern Ireland journeyed to Mayo and clashed with local Land League members. By the end of the year Boycott left Ireland and died 123 years ago on the 19th of June.
Within a short time of 1880 Land League Branches were established in parishes across the country and boycotting became a common means of protesting evictions. Not only were landlords and their agents targeted, but people who took up cottages and farms where evictions occurred were identified as “land grabbers.” By placing pressure on prospective tenants not to take up evicted farms this reduced the economic benefit of the landlord to evict existing tenants. In some instances when farms sat idle deals were brokered and evicted tenants were returned to their previous holdings. As reflected in our earlier post on 8 March 2020 “The Glenmore Land League and the Ballyfacey Evictions” the local Parish Land League Branches were formed and influenced by the clergy. Father Cody, born in Glenmore, and the curate of Mullinavat, was arrested and tried for engaging in boycotting against Darby Walsh.
Generally boycotting included not associating with or engaging in any business with the landlord, his agent, and the “land grabber.” Often the “land grabber” was the only local person that people could influence. When the “land grabber” came into the local village or town he was followed around the village or town by a bell ringer to warn local people and businesses that he was present. The Waterford Standard of the 22nd of December 1880 reports that when Darby Walsh arrived in Mullinavat the Railway Bell was rung and he was followed up the street by a large crowd, amid shouts of “boycott him.” The newspaper stated “much excitement prevailed.” As time went on people became creative in how they protested or boycotted. In addition to “land grabbers,” people were also identified and shunned for “grass grabbing.”
Shortly after the Ballyfacey, Glenmore failed evictions in 1885, Father Patrick Neary, the Parish Priest of Mullinavat, attended and spoke at a “monster meeting” at Portlaw, Co. Waterford. The meeting was held to consider the action to be taken against a local farmer and cooper named Michael Hickey. The meeting was chaired by Rev. T. Aherne the Parish Priest of Portlaw and sitting with him on the stage were four other priests including Father Neary. Also present were two MP’s and “a number of minor lights in the National ranks.” Father Neary was introduced to the meeting by the chair as the “unconquered and unconquerable hero of Mulllinavat.”
After speeches a usual resolution of boycotting was unanimously adopted, “[t]hat we, the labourers and farmers of this Branch, resolve to have no dealings with Michael Hickey in the way of labour, lime, milk, or cooperage, and call on the surrounding Branches to take due notice of this resolution particularly.”
What occurred next was reported widely across Ireland and England and resulted in another unanimous resolution. “Miss Margaret Sheehan came forward and said—Reverend Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, it is with no ordinary feeling of gratitude that I present myself here as a lover of my oppressed country, as a sympathiser with her coerced children, and as far as is in my power a vindicator of her rights. To serve Erin has been, and must always be, the cherished wish of my heart, but words of mine are not adequate to express the gratitude I feel for the honour conferred on me by being chosen to propose a resolution to this monster meeting—a meeting whose unanimous voice will condemn any man whose desire is like that of Michael Hickey, to crush the spirit of the poor labourer—the labourer who by the sweat of his brow produces the fruits of the earth. I certainly feel honoured by the warmth of your reception; but by adopting the following resolution you will afford me far more pleasure—”
“That we the young girls of Waterford, Tipperary and Kilkenny resolve and promise this day, before this vast multitude, to treat with scorn and contempt any matrimonial proposals from Michael Hickey, as punishment for his high handed hostility to the poor labourer Burke and his young and helpless family of seven.” (Waterford Standard, 18 September 1885).
Although a large number of evictions and boycotts were reported in the newspapers sometimes evictions did not result in boycotts or other actions by the local Land League Branch. The New Ross Standard of the 17th of June 1893 reported that on the 10th of February 1893 a faction fight took place on the streets of Rosbercon resulting in the arrest of fourteen people including two women. The cause of the faction fight was an eviction in Busherstown, Glenmore in 1891. It does not appear that the Glenmore Land League Branch engaged in boycotting when this eviction took place. However, as illustrated by four other newspaper accounts of assaults and arrests the fighting between the two families continued for some time.
Danny had a mark next to the reference to the following article which provides another example of a creative boycott and the involvement of the clergy in carrying it out. The Kilkenny Moderator of the 2nd of January 1889 reported the following:
“SANGUINARY IN CHAPEL. An extraordinary scene occurred in Dungloe chapel, near Londonderry, before Mass on Sunday last, on two boycotted men named Condy Boyle and Charles Gallagher attempting to take their accustomed seats. At the annual auction of pews on Sunday week the boycotted men had been dispossessed, and their seats given to men who had been imprisoned for refusing to attend the so-called “Star Chamber” inquiry. On the arrival of the opposing factions at the chapel they found the doors locked, and a crowd assembled, which the priest let in through the sacristy until the disputed pews were filled. When the boycotted people entered the gallery they were violently assaulted. Blood flowed freely, eight combatants being injured. The chapel had to be re-consecrated, and the police called in.”
In the twentieth century boycotting was widely used and became an effective means by various groups including civil rights, animals rights, trade unions and environmental groups. Today it continues to be an important means of non-violent protest. However, the more creative 19th century boycotting involving pews and matrimonial proposals appear to be resigned to history alongside pew auctions.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
Glenmore Victualler & General Trader, Michael O’Hanlon (1897-1957)
When Danny Dowling was young his parents moved from Glenmore Village to the Dowling farm in Jamestown, Glenmore. Danny found a number of old receipts that belonged to his grandparents and placed them in a biscuit tin. A few years back Danny’s son Pat found the tin and placed all the receipts in a photo album. The artwork on the receipts is elaborate certainly more interesting than the cash register receipts of today. There are dog licenses, several receipts from New Ross businesses, but perhaps one the most rare has to be the receipt from the M. O’Hanlon, Victualler & General Trader of Glenmore establishment. Danny described the O’Hanlon establishment as a butcher shop that was located in the Village and operated by Michael Hanlon (sic), of Newtown Glenmore. Michael O’Hanlon was generally referred to as “Mick Hanlon” by Glenmore residents.
The shop was a very small one near JK’s (formerly Gaffney’s) and Danny believes that it was not in operation when he was a chap in Glenmore in the 1930’s although his grandmother’s receipt is dated May 1931. Danny said that he believed that Michael Hanlon was a native of New Ross and married into the Delaney farm in Newtown, Glenmore. He learned his trade in New Ross and after marriage he moved to Glenmore and opened the butcher shop in the village. For more information see Glenmore Village in the 1930’s published 9 April 2020.
A quick review of various vital records reveals that Michael John O’Hanlon was born on the 23rd of June 1897. His father was James O’Hanlon (c. 1856), a grocer and his mother was Margaret O’Hanlon née Culleton (c. 1866). The family was living on Mary St. in New Ross. By the 1901 census James O’Hanlon was employed as a publican. The 1911 census reveals that there were ten children in the family: Lizzie O’Hanon (c. 1885); Mary Ann O’Hanlon (c. 1886); Patrick O’Hanlon (c. 1889); Anastatia O’Hanlon (c. 1891); John O’Hanlon (c. 1892); James O’Hanlon (c. 1895); Peter O’Hanlon (c. 1896); Margaret O’Hanlon (c. 1899) and Annie O’Hanlon (c. 1900).
On 26 October 1921 at the Glenmore Parish Church, Michael John O’Hanlon, of New Ross, married Bridget Delany, of Newtown, Glenmore. Bridget Delany was born on the 28th of November 1893. Her parents were Michael Delany (c. 1851) and Kate Delany née Power (c. 1868). The bride’s father was a farmer. The groom’s brother, Peter O’Hanlon, and Julia Ryan were the witnesses to the wedding. At the time of his wedding the groom was employed as a clerk and his father was working as a waiter.
Danny remembers Mick Hanlon as a nice man. Mick Hanlon and his wife had a daughter Kitty who married Jimmy Reddy. A small death notice provides a little more information about the Glenmore butcher. In the New Ross Standard of the 10th of May 1957 the following death notice appeared:
Recent Death—Mr. Michael Hanlon, Glenmore, whose death occurred at the Co. Hospital, Kilkenny, on Friday of last week, was formerly prominently identified with rowing in New Ross. He was also a member of the New Ross Confraternity Band and a prominent singer. He is survived by his wife, daughter, brothers and sisters to whom sympathy is extended. Interment took place in Glenmore. R.l.P
The advertisement for the Hanlon, butcher shop, on Mary St. in New Ross was found in the New Ross Standard of 19 December 1924. It is believed that this James Hanlon was Mick Hanlon’s brother.
________
Blog update
Inscriptions recorded on headstones in the Kilivory and Ballygurrim cemeteries have been posted on the “Lists” page. These inscriptions were recorded by Danny in the 1960’s. A few burials have taken place in these ancient cemeteries after Danny recorded the inscriptions and we updated Kilivory last Sunday.
Several obituaries or death notices have been placed on the family pages.
The pandemic shut down in Ireland is slowly being lifted and we are going back to a weekly blog (Saturday night) to allow more research and to organise the transcription of more of Danny’s notebooks. We hope that during the lockdown that the webpage and blog provided a helpful diversion. This week when I told Danny that the blog exceeded 20,000 hits during the pandemic he shook his head and said, “imagine that.”
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
Forristal’s Mill of Graiguenakill, Glenmore
Danny Dowling interviewed Nicholas Forristal, of the Mill, Graiguenakill concerning the mill twice in 1957 and once in 1979. Danny also interviewed Nicky’s son, Patrick Forristal in 1984. Throughout the greater Glenmore area Nicholas was referred to as Nicky the Miller and his son was known as Paddy the Miller.
The corn mill at Graiguenakill was built in 1813 or 1814 by a man named Murphy. He had £1200 and he spent the entire sum building the mill, farmyard and premises and equipping the mill. When it was completed the landlord raised the rent both on the mill and the farmyard and premises. Unfortunately, Murphy was not doing well and coupled with the raising of the rent Murphey had to leave. Although Paddy the Miller identified Mackessy of Waterford as the landlord, last week Danny stated that he is not certain that Mackessy was the landlord in the early part of the 19th century.
At one time in Glenmore three mills were being run off of the Glenmore Stream. Gaffney’s mill was in operation at the time of the 1798 Rebellion and there was a mill located upstream in Mullinahone. The Graiguenakill mill was the last mill on the stream. At least one other mill was built in the early 19th century in Glenmore Parish. [ Correction 19 July 2020–the mill at Ballyrowrah is not in Glenmore Parish. It is in Slieverue Parish. The Mill is built very close to the border of the two parishes.] It was Donovan’s Mill at Ballyrowragh on the old Waterford to New Ross post road today generally referred to as the High Road. In the 20th century the Creamery also operated a mill that was not dependent on water for milling.
The Graiguenakill mill was built about the same time as St. James Catholic Parish Church was being built in Robinstown’s Townland in the Village of Glenmore. The stones used to build the mill came from a quarry in nearby Ballyverneen. In 1957, Nicky the Miller stated that the stones were quarried in the cliff under Jim Linegar’s cottage in Ballyverneen. He also stated that Bridget Henneberry’s grandfather, Mártín Henneberry remembered when the mill was being built. When Mártín was a youngster he went into the Ballyverneen quarry and took a pick in his hand which he let fall on his foot putting the blade right through his foot. This very man was working in the Ballyverneen Brick Marches during the Famine and on one occasion he worked nine days with nothing to eat but green cabbage.
The man who built the mill race for the Graiguenakill mill was a man named Cleere, who was a native of Kilkenny City or near Kilkenny City. He was a mill race constructor by trade. Cleere contracted to supply water for an overshot wheel. Cleere dug and constructed the mill race from Glenmore Village, to bring the water supply to turn the mill wheel. Although the mill race constructed by Cleere was about a mile long an overshot wheel was not installed. An overshot wheel proved to be impossible because of the lowness of Glenmore. Where the mill was built in Graiguenakill was tidal. To put in an overshot wheel would have required the mill to have been built beneath the level of the stream or pill with the result it would be stopped when the tide rose to that point which would be quite often. In the end a breast shot wheel had to do the work which was incapable of doing the same work as an over shot wheel. Failing to adhere to the terms of his contract Cleere never received any payment for his work. Nicky the Miller, identified Tommy Cleere, of Tinakilly, near New Ross as a descendent of the unpaid builder.
[A helpful reader who is a civil engineer kindly explained that a breastshot wheel is designed where the water enters the wheel usually at the level of the axis of the wheel. Breastshot water wheels were used extensively in England and Germany in the 19th and early 20th centuries. See, Muller, G.U. and Wolter, C. (2004) The breast shot water wheel: design and model tests. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers – Engineering Sustainability, 157 (4), 203-211 where tests in this century showed that breastshot waterwheels are an efficient and eco friendly converter of hydraulic energy with the potential for further development.]
James Cardiff a miller from Wexford came to the Graiguenakill mill. On the 28th of September 1871 his daughter, Margaret Cardiff (c. 1853 -c 1904) married Patrick Forristal (1849-1931), a farmer from Ballyverneen. It is believed that shortly after their marriage James Cardiff and his family moved to New Ross. When his grandson, William Forristal (1881-1899) was born Patrick Forristal and his wife were residing in Graiguenakill and on William’s birth cert Patrick was listed as a farmer. By the time their son Nicholas “Nicky the Miller” Forristal (1888-1979) was born in February 1888, Patrick was listed on the birth cert as a miller and farmer. Thus by 1888 the Graiguenakill mill was being run by Patrick Forristal and the Forristals continued running the Graiguenakill mill until it closed completely in about 1958.
There were three pairs of grinding stones in the Graiguenakill mill. Two of the pairs of mill stones were for oats and a third pair was for grinding wheat and maize. Every mill stone set is made up of a bottom stone called a bedstone and the top stone of the pair is called the runner. Although the bedstone was stationary the runner rotated on a spindle that ran down through the bedstone. This spindle was embedded in a brass cup in an upright position. These stones were dressed about once a month, if working constantly. The shelling stone was a light stone about 6 feet in diameter, and about 5 inches thick. This stone was used for dehulling oats. The oatmeal stone was a grinding stone, about 5 to 6 feet in diameter, and about 6 inches or more in thickness. The above thicknesses referred to the runners.
For grinding raw corn the hard French Birr (sic) stone was used. The French Birr millstone that ended up in Nicky Forristal’s yard in Graiguenakill had an iron plague on it. Danny recorded the inscription on the plague “Millstone Balance, Patent _____, Clarke & Dunham 1859.” Nicky the Miller explained to Danny that the hard French Birr stones were imported as they were deemed the best of stones. Small stones were cut and bound together with iron hoops. According to Penn State University, The Grist Milling Process in Colonial Pennsylvania French buhr stones were very sought after and expensive. The French quarried the stones, shaped them to fit together and bound them with heavy iron bands. (For a concise explanation of how milling was performed see, Penn State, The Grist Milling Process at https://www.engr.psu.edu/mtah/articles/grist_milling_process.htm).
Although the Graiguenakill mill did not have an overshot wheel it did have something that no other mill in Glenmore Parish had; next to the Graiguenakill mill was Barron’s Quay that allowed North American maize to be landed next to the mill. According to Paddy the Miller the grain was imported by R & H Halls, of Ferrybank, who placed about 40 tons of the grain on smaller boats that could come up the pill on high tide to Barron’s Quay. The grain was stored in the mill lofts and ground as required. The ground maize was supplied to Fluskey’s and Hanrahan’s shops in Glenmore and sometimes to Doyle’s shop in Rosbercon. The maize was a great feed for all the farm animals: pigs, calves and poultry. It was boiled by the farmers into a porridge and mixed with bran or pollard.
Paddy the Miller in an article he wrote for Glenmore Times (2000) stated that they worked from October until the end of May everyday except Sunday. His father, Nicky the Miller, told Danny that they often milled during the summer months so long as the stream allowed it. Before the grain could be ground it had to be dried. The mill had a kiln that dried the grain. The fire for the kiln had to be constantly watched from seven in the morning until ten at night when it was damped down for the night. If a farmer brought in 14 stone of oats, to be ground into meal he would bring home about 7 stone of meal because the drying and shelling removed about half of the initial weight of the oats. [For our international readers a stone is a British Imperial weight of 14 pounds.]
In the Glenmore Times (2000) article Paddy the Miller related a near fatality which occurred at the mill. A boatload of corn came to Barron’s quay and there was a rush to unload the boat. The mill was put into motion to work the hoist. When the three lofts were loaded the beams gave way and at least the top loft collapsed. A young man, John Walsh, was looking out the top loft window when the floor under him collapsed. He survived the collapse and emigrated to the US. In about 1930, John Walsh returned as a 70 year old man and visited the mill.
Between the World Wars the charges at the Graiguenakill mill was £3 per barrel for oaten or wheaten meal. During the Second World War the price increased to £5 per barrel. The last time oaten meal was ground at the Graiguenakill mill was in 1950. The mill closed completely about 1958. Nicky the Miller stated that in the last few years the mill was only used to crush oats and barley for animal feed and he ground a bit of yellow corn for Jim Fluskey.
After the mill closed Nicky the Miller and his wife continued residing in their home until their deaths. During the building of the N25, from Waterford to New Ross, in about 1994 (when the main road was removed from going past the Pink Rock) the entire Graiguenakill mill and the Forristal house were removed. Barron’s quay was also removed, but it is not known exactly when this occurred. There are no known photos of the Graiguenakill mill but for Glenmore Times (2000) Paddy the Miller drew a sketch of the Graiguenakill mill buildings. Today, the new Glenmore roundabout in Graiguenakill Townland, that connects the old N25 to the recently opened Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy bridge, is just north of where the Graiguenakill mill stood for about 180 years.
For further information and photos of old Irish mills and millstones etc. see, The Society for the Preservation of the Ancient and Traditional Irish Mills at https://www.millsofireland.org/ .
[Explanations above provided on 7 June 2020 after the post was initially published.]
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
Old Newspaper Clippings
Danny Dowling’s Notebooks are full of references to old newspaper articles. Some directly relate to the Parish of Glenmore and some are more general such as the 1857 article from New York warning prospective emigrants of the economic conditions prevailing in New York.
WATERFORD CHRONICLE, Sat. 7 Nov. 1857
Caution to Emigrant —The editors of Irish journals will well to give as extensive a circulation as possible to the following paragraph, which we copy from the New York Tribune of the 21st; and intending emigrants will do well to lay to heart the lesson it teaches;— “By the first or middle of next December we shall have least one hundred thousand persons out of employment, and nearly out of means, in this city. Already our ship-yards are nearly idle, our foundries are but half working, and our great clothing stores are doing very little. Women have recently come hither from places three hundred miles away in quest of work from those stores, only be turned off with none, and compelled to make their way home again. Hardly since 1837 has so gloomy prospect for winter lowered upon the labouring classes in our city. As yet humbler classes have scarcely felt the pressure; but their turn must come. Places have looked for servant girls for some time past soon servant girls will look earnestly for places, and very glad to find them. Soup houses for hungry labourers who can find no labour will be wanted before January.”
In 1880 the Glenmore Land League was established. (See post, The Glenmore Land League and the Ballyfacey Evictions, 8 March 2020). The people and priests engaged in grass roots actions to challenge evictions and other acts carried out against tenant farmers. While evictions are often well covered lesser events such as the forced sale of animals are not so well covered. The article below reveals some details including the clergy made pointed and unflattering remarks concerning the police who did the bidding of the landlords, and the Land League used bands to disrupt forced auctions.
WEXFORD PEOPLE, Sat. 30 April 1881
THE BATTLE OF BALLYVERNEEN! Father Furlong [of New Ross] said he was sure they had all heard of the affair at Ballyverneen, near Glenmore, on the previous day, where some cattle belonging to Mr. Patrick Forristal were put up for sale at the instance of his landlord by the sheriff (groans). There was quite an army of police present. The course the proceedings took when the first animal was put up and sold, was that Mr. Forristal paid the rent, there being no use in making up fees for the sheriff or auctioneer (hear, hear). What struck him [Father Furlong] was that if the cattle had been in as good condition as the sub-inspector from Thomastown who commanded the police on the occasion, they would have brought a great deal more (laughter). If the heifer put up had been as well fed, and had her hide been as smooth as this active officer, there was no knowing what price she would have brought (great laughter).
Another instance of police impertinence which he had noticed at the sale was a young policeman with a beardless face, who was making himself as officious as possible, who told a person that happened to jostle him accidently that he would ” knock the head off him.” Passing from this, he wished to say a word in praise of the young men of the Fife and Drum Band, who were kind enough to attend the sale, and who rendered good service; and also to the members of the Brass Band. The latter did not hear that the sale was to take place until it was too late to reach the scene, but when they did hear of it, they laid aside their work, and came out to meet the people. Both bands were deserving of the warmest thanks of the members of the League (applause). Mr. John Meehan, P.L.G. [Public Law Guardian], said he would propose that the thanks of the New Ross Land League be tendered to both bands for their patriotic action on this occasion. The motion was seconded by Mr. Cheevers, P.L.G., and unanimously passed.
Just like today newspapers in the 19th century and early 20th century covered crime and in particular murders. Incidents or accidents resulting in fatalities or serious injury were also well covered. The more unusual the circumstances the more likely the death, risk or serious injury would be covered in the newspaper.
NEW ROSS STANDARD–Sat. 26 Nov. 1892
NARROW ESCAPE of A FARMER NEAR NEW ROSS. On Wednesday night a farmer named Kirwan, residing at Ballygurran (sic) in the county Kilkenny, about three miles from New Ross, had a very narrow escape from being drowned in a bog at Carrigcloney or Ballyverneen, near Glenmore. He was going home on foot from New Ross. and whether from an overdose of liquor or the darkness of the night, he walked into the bog off the road at a place within one hundred yards of the cross-roads of Ballyverneen. The tide was coming into the place from the river at the time, and was very dangerous. When the man got in he yelled as loudly as he could for help, and some children hearing him, word was conveyed to the nearest house, when one of the men ran out and rescued the man from what might have proved his grave. The night was intensely dark, and the road near the spot is narrow, and in a dangerous state. The man was when taken out, in a very weak state and exhausted condition, and some time s before he could proceed on his journey home.
While researching the drownings of William Forristal and Patrick Connolly, in 1899, the following article was found concerning Patrick Forristal, of Ballyverneen. No death certificate was located for Patrick Forristal, of Ballyverneen, in 1894. It is assumed that he survived his injuries and was one of the men that found the two drowned men. The 1901 Census provides that only one Patrick Forristal was residing in Ballyverneen in 1901 and he was 42 years of age. From a legal perspective it is interesting that a Resident Magistrate not only took what he considered was a deposition of a dying victim, but the defendant was in attendance at the deposition.
Wexford People, Sat. 31 March 1894
THE SERIOUS ASSAULT NEAR NEW ROSS DYING DEPOSITIONS OF THE INJURED MAN TAKEN. Last week Mr. D. G. Bodkin, RM, attended at Ballyverneen, near Glenmore, for the purpose of taking the dying depositions of the man, Patrick Forrestal, who was so severely injured by the blow of a stone as narrated in the last issue of this journal. The man remained insensible from the time he received the blow until Wednesday, and on recovering consciousness it was decided to have his dying deposition taken. The prisoner was brought out from the New Ross Bridewell by the Glenmore police, and was present while the depositions were being taken. The statement of the injured man was to the effect that he had a dispute with the prisoner, Cooney, and about an our afterwards he was speaking to some boys and girls when he met Cooney who threw the stone at him, striking him in the jaw and breaking the bone. The prisoner was remanded by Mr. Bodkin to Kilkenny jail for eight days.
NEW ROSS STANDARD–Fri. 8 Jan. 1932
GLENMORE WOMAN’S DEATH. TRAGIC AFFAIR AT WATERFORD CITY INFIRMARY. At the County and City Infirmary, Waterford, on Monday, Dr. Denis Kennedy, City Coroner, returned a verdict of death from heart failure, following bronchitis and asthma, at an inquest touching the death of Mrs. Margaret Haberlin, Glenmore, who collapsed at the infirmary and died as she was about to be taken in the lift to a ward.
Dr. J. J. Hogan deposed that deceased was admitted into the County and City Infirmary about 11.45 on Monday morning. He was called urgently about that time by the Sister on duty to the main hall of the infirmary and found the deceased lying on the floor, being supported by two nurses. She was pulseless, and, in his opinion, then dead. He ministered restoratives without any effect. From the history of the case as given to him he had no doubt the cause of death was heart failure, supervening on chronic bronchitis and asthma.
John Haberlin, a blacksmith and farmer, husband of the deceased, said she was aged 44 years. She was suffering fairly constantly from illness for the past three years. Her complaint was lung trouble. About three weeks ago she got very ill, and was confined to bed. She was attended by Dr. Fitzgerald, of New Ross. He was in attendance on the previous morning, when he said her heart was weak and she bad bronchitis and asthma.
of Architectural Heritage (No. 22830209)
Dr. Fitzgerald recommended her removal to the County and City Infirmary, and that morning she was removed in a car, owned by Rev. Father Gibbons, P.P. She was seemingly improved when Father Gibbons arrived to take her to Waterford, and she was able to walk, with help, to the car outside. The nurses took charge of her at the hospital, and he did not go inside. When parting she gave instructions as to things she wanted done. He was called to the infirmary a few minutes later, and when he saw her she was dead. Nurse Elizabeth O’Connor deposed she was a trained nurse in the County and City Infirmary. On that morning at about 11.45 a.m. she was called with another nurse to assist a patient into the hospital. With the assistance of the other nurse the patient walked in. She spoke and said she felt very hot, that the shawl had slipped off her head. They were in the hallway at the lift when she said: “I feel I am going to faint.” At the same time she collapsed between them, they still holding her. The doctor less summoned by Sister Agnes who saw the woman fall. Dr. Hogan came at once, but the woman was dead when he arrived.
Although all of these events took place between 90 to 163 years ago the events if they occurred today they would probably still make the local news.
The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage is available at https://www.buildingsofireland.ie.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh