Martin Forristal (Mount Ida)

Mount Ida is in Rochestown, Glenmore. Co. Kilkenny. The house was built and named, somewhere between 1853 and 1858 by Benjamin Conn who had purchased the Forristal lands from Pierce Edmond Forristal in 1843. Pierce Edmond Forristal died in 1855. He was the last of the Ringville Forristals in Rochestown.

The Forristals who came in with Strongbow around 1170 were granted lands in Glenmore by King Henry II. They owned 1,700 acres in Forristalstown, Jamestown, Carrigcloney, Mullinahone and Kilbride around 1650. They had four castles in Glenmore. When Cromwell arrived in 1658 he took control of all these lands and banished the Forristals to Clare and Connaught. There is no record of the Carrigcloney Forristals going to the west of Ireland. They were related in marriage to the Butlers of Ormond who were a most powerful family in Kilkenny and probably saved by that connection.

Edmond Forristal, whom was known as Edmond Duff Forristal, son of Peter Forristal of Carrigcloney, played a prominent part in the siege of Limerick in 1690 (although only 19 years of age) and was granted Gurteen Castle and land originally owned by  the Fitzgeralds, for his exploits. He was married to Elizabeth Meagh from Ballyhale who was closely related to the Butlers of Ormond. They sold on Gurteen after a couple of years and moved to Rochestown, occupying the townland comprising 1,000 acres. They lived at the Point House (Ringville was not named for another 20 years.) His grandson, Edmond Forristal, built Ringville House in the mid 1700’s and in 1795 had to sell Ringville to Mr. Deveraux a ship owner in Waterford due to financial problems. Edmond Fitzgerald and his family moved to Rochestown House (now owned by John and Joan Aylward), and Pierce Edmond, his son, married Anne Strange from Aylwardstown. The estate of 578 acres was sold to Benjamin Conn from Passage in 1843 for £8,000 which was roughly the debt on Pierce Edmond’s land in Rochestown.

The Conns

The first record of the Conns show William and Mary Conn as parents of two sets of twins: Mary and Susannah, born 7 October 1736; and John and Joseph, born 5 October 1739. All baptised in Kill St. Nicholas, Passage East, Co. Waterford.

John Conn (1739-1811) married Mary Underwood (    -1816) (a niece of William Lambly, Rector of the Church of Ireland in Youghal) about 1762. They had eight in family, Barbara Conn (26 Feb. 1764-1773); Sarah Conn (6 Sept.1766-     ); William Conn (15 Feb. 1769- 9 April 1775); Mary Conn (29 March 1772); Susannah Conn (8 March 1776-13 May 1781); Benjamin Conn (14 Oct. 1778-1862); John Conn (25 Jan. 1781-31 March 1782) and Joseph Conn (14 Aug. 1782-    ).

Benjamin Conn (14 Oct. 1778-1862) married Elizabeth Dalton (    -1838) (daughter of Capt. Peter Dalton of Glenfield, Co. Tipperary) in 1812. Issue of the marriage included: John Lambly Conn (8 Aug. 1812-1893); Marianne Conn. Marianne Conn on 26 April 1853 married Martin Costelloe and had one son, Benjamin Conn Costelloe (15 April 1854). Martin Costelloe was a customs officer in Passage East.

Benjamin Conn held the post of Deputy and then Principal Superintendent of the pilotage of the port of Waterford and lived in Passage for almost all his life. He rented buildings and out offices in various places in Passage and was tenant of 9 acres owned by the Marquis of Waterford. He and his son John Lambly Conn were also into the repair and salvage of boats that ran aground in the estuary. He obviously was a shrewd business man and did not have a high lifestyle. Having purchased the Forristal lands in Rochestown in 1843, he retired from the pilotage in 1851 and spent his later years planning the house called Mount Ida in Rochestown. The house at Mount Ida was not a large residence. On the ground floor there was a dining room, sitting room and kitchen with 4 bedrooms upstairs—not much bigger than many farmhouses of that day. John Lambly Conn moved into the house in 1858 and his father Benjamin Conn resided there for a short time before his death in 1862. It is presumed that Benjamin Conn (14 Oct. 1778-1862) is buried in Passage. His son John Lambly Conn inherited all his father’s estate.

John Lambly Conn (8 Aug. 1812-1893) married Frances Tench (eldest daughter of Highgate Tench of Ballyhealy house in Co. Wexford and granddaughter of Joshua Nunn of St. Margaret’s Wexford) on 26 July1844 and had family: Benjamin Highgate Conn (1846-1862) (never married) and John Nunn Conn (1847-1849).

John Lambly Conn took over his father’s post in Waterford. He made his mark in several directories.

John L. Conn—Waterford, Ballincrea and Kilcolum, Guardian of Poor Law Union Waterford.

John L. Conn—Waterford Gentry and Clergy List, Mount Ida (Slater 1881 p. 281 Waterford).

J. Conn—Subscriber to Agricultural Show Kilkenny Castle Office Kilkenny

John Lambly Conn—Parliamentary Elector, Mount Ida Waterford (Egan 1884)

John Lambly Conn—Waterford, Mount Ida, Rochestown, Waterford Union (Juror) Waterford (Egan 1894).

John Lambly Conn purchased 194 acres of land in Carriganurra (Glenmore) from Francis H. Devereux (late of Ringville House) for £4750 in 1860. The total rents from the tenants were £193, 11 shillings, and 0 pence. Deducting head rent, tithe charge etc. there remained a profit of £180, 19 shillings, and 0 pence. The price paid for the property was approximately 26 and a quarter years times the profit rent. At the time of purchase, Laurence and Andrew Denn were two of the tenants. They had 61 and 41 acres respectively. Thirty years later John Lambly Conn evicted a man called Denn probably one of their sons. He also evicted Kit Raftis, of Rochestown, at the same time and she put a curse on the recipients that they would not have seed or breed. Conn also evicted my great-grandfather’s family the Gahans in 1863 because they were 6 months in arrears with the rent. The Gahans had a holding of 50 acres. Four siblings were evicted 3 boys and one girl, my great-grandmother. The boys John, Tom and Martin immigrated to America and Mary married my great-grandfather. One of the boys is supposed to have said he would rather to California than live under Conn.

Conn brought two tenants to court for trespass of their cattle onto his land and they were fined 3 and 6 shillings respectively. Two local girls wrote threatening letters to him (the subject I do not know). He handed the letter to the R.I.C. and they instituted court proceedings. However as Mr. Conn intimated he would not take the stand as a witness, as it might not put him in a favourable light, the case was dropped. Mr. Conn obviously was not popular in the locality.

Unknown to his wife Frances, in Mount Ida, he married Adelaide Mary Battersby (from Dublin) about 1864 and had family. John Battersby Conn (1865—14 July 1890), William Benjamin Conn (Aug 1867-29 Aug 1893); and Adelaide Ida Georgianna Conn (16 Aug. 1869—12 May 1892). The family first resided at No. 4 Windsor Terrace, Fairview and then at No. 3 Castle Avenue, Clontarf and finally No. 135 Rathgar Road. When Francis found out, she forced him to make a Will leaving the estate to her nephew Highgate Henry Philips, (1841–   ) J.P., M.S., and M.D. Dublin University and formerly Surgeon to the 44^th (East Essex) Regiment.

Highgate Henry Philips was the second son of Major Michael Philips, J.P. of Glenview, Co. Cavan and his wife Mary Anne (daughter of Highgate Tench, of Ballyhealy House, Co. Wexford). Highgate Henry Philips married Fanny Meredith (only daughter of Henry Meredith of Egbaston). Highgate Henry Philips and Fanny Meredith had family: Thomas Henry Meredith Philips (1883-   ) and Mabel Constance Philips. Highgate Henry Philips assumed by Royal Licence on 4 July 1894 the additional name Conn.  He was known locally as Dr.  Philips-Conn.

Michael Forristal my great-granduncle (born in Rochestown in 1848) worked as coachman for the Conns until his death in Glenmore Village in 1883. He was married to Anastatia Grant. He kept the coach in a shed built onto the house by Conn. My grandfather, Martin Forristal, (born in Rochestown in 1873) was coachman for John Lambly Conn for a couple of years until Conn’s death in 1893 and continued on in the same capacity for Dr. Philips-Conn until he sold Mount Ida to Billy and Jimmy Forristal from Ballyverneen, Glenmore in 1917 for £4,000 (147 acres).

John Lambly Conn died in 1893 and is buried in the Abbey in Ferrybank, Waterford. The monument reads:

The son mentioned above was born in Dublin to Adelaid Mary Battersby.

The Dublin family of John Battersby Conn (1865-1890) were interred in Mount Jerome Cemetery. The tombstone has the following inscription:

In Loving memory of John Battersby Conn, L.L.D. of Mount Ida, Rochestown, Co. Kilkenny and of Belleville, Rathgar, who died on Monday 14^th July 1890 aged 25 years. Also of Adelaide Ida, Georgina Conn, his only sister, who died on May 12^th 1892 aged 22 years. Also William Benjamin Conn, brother of the above, who died at Mount Ida, on August 29^th 1893, aged 27 years, interred Abbey Church, Waterford. Also Adelaide Mary Conn, mother of the above, who died October 2^nd 1910.

In the space of three years, John Lambly Conn and his three children with Adelaide Mary Battersby had died and his two children with Frances Tench of Mount Ida had died earlier. It is not known when Frances died but it must have been prior to 1890 as William Benjamin Conn (1867—1893, Adelaide Mary Battersby’s son) was living in Mount Ida when he died in 1893 and also Frances was not mentioned in the John Lambly Conn’s Will. However, Frances’s wishes as to whom the Estate went to, were fulfilled.

John Lambly Conn’s Will

5 October 1893

The Conns claimed that John Conn, who was captain of the Dreadnought in the battle of Trafalgar was born in Ireland. Martin Willcox, a fourth great grand-nephew of Captain John Conn researched this in detail and found that this was incorrect, even though it appeared in Burke’s Peerage and the Trafalgar Roll (The Ships and the Officers, by Colonel Robert Holden McKenzie, Greenhill Books, 1989, a reproduction of the ordinal book published in 1913 by George Allen and Co. Ltd.) My brother Gerard and I were in correspondence with Martin Wilcox around 10 years ago and the Conn detail I have recorded is based on his research.

The Conns employed many locals over the years and it was a welcome income for many families in bad times. Mary Lowery (mother of Larry Kirwan of Scartnamoe) and Julia St. Ledger (who married Matthew O’Brien, of Rathiminey outside of New Ross) were two names I came across. Margaret Jennings, from Mayo, worked for Dr. Philips-Conn and married my grand-uncle Michael Forristal, and they lived in Rochestown. Four families lived in the farm yard in the mid 1850’s. Michael Davitt’s Land League campaign for right of tenure for tenant farmers ended the landlord system and farmers had possession of their land under government legislation.

Mount Ida was a fine double storey house with a large conservatory. The house was restored by Dr. Philips-Conn and he added the conservatory. The entrance gates were ornate and the avenue swept up to the house, with shrubbery and flowers on each side. There was a big out office on the front left hand side with a large metal water tank on top. This tank was supplied with water from the stream at the bottom of Dunster’s Hill a distance of 400 yards or so. The water was pumped under pressure by a hydraulic water ran with only two moving parts—two valves. This type of ram was invented in France in the late 1790’s and was very popular as it only used the power of the water to pump to the house. Only 10% of the water from the stream was pumped up and the rest flowed back into the stream further downstream. I often went with my father in the 1950’s when he helped to reseal the valves to maintain supply.

Mount Ida: 1917 to 2019

Billy and Jimmy Forristal, from Ballyverneen, Glenmore, purchased 147 acres from Dr. Phillips-Conn in 1917 for £4,000. Billy’s son Peter inherited the land after Billy’s death. Peter married Mary Corcoran, from Mooncoin, and farmed the land till his death in 1938. They had one daughter Maureen who married a Gard, Jim Clifford, from Castlecomer. He left the Garda and worked in the coal business. He boxed as an amateur for Ireland.

Mary Forristal (widow of Peter Forristal) sold the farm to the Kehoes, of Rathinure, in 1949 for £4,000. Land was valued on the price of cattle. In 1917 cattle were dear due to the first World War and cattle were cheap in 1949 after the second World War. Mary Forristal died in 1957, and Maureen and her husband went to London. Maureen and my mother corresponded regularly. Maureen was alive in 2017, in her early nineties, when my mother died. My grandfather worked in Mount Ida from 1891 to 1949. In 1941 he would have received a special medal for 50 years working on the same farm to be presented at the Dublin Spring Show, but he did not like to take the day off to receive it.

John Kehoe married Peggy Aylward from Rochestown in 1957. They had a family of sixteen and two of the boys died in a tragic fire in 1975. Mount Ida built in 1855 was completely destroyed by the 1975 fire. John Kehoe, Snr died in 1991. The Kehoe family now farm the land.

The author, Martin Forristal (1941–   ) was born in Rochestown, Glenmore and currently resides in Ballinlammy, Glenmore.