Danny Dowling (1927-2021)
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Danny Dowling’s Appearance in Land & Sea: Talamh an Eisc
Commencing in 1964 the Canadian Broadcasting Co. began producing a television series entitled Land & Sea which went on to become their longest running series. In 1984 two Newfoundland men travelled to England and Ireland to visit their ancestoral lands. In this episode narrated by Dave Quinton, our very own Village Historian, Danny Dowling (1927-2021) appeared. In addition to the fascinating details that are provided regarding the descendents of the Irish in Newfoundland there is also some interesting footage of local scenery, New Ross and Waterford from the early 1980’s.
This episode is now available on you tube and can be accessed by clicking here. Danny appears at approximately 34:03 minutes. In the feature photo Danny is the gentleman on the right.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
Month’s Mind
There is a lovely tradition in Ireland, particularly rural Ireland, called the month’s mind. A month after a person’s death a Requiem Mass is celebrated in memory of the deceased. Generally, the family of the deceased and close friends will attend the mass and will then share a meal or refreshments where the life of the deceased is celebrated. What most people today do not realize is that the month’s mind tradition is of ancient origin. In medieval England, the Venerable Bede (672-735) noted that the “minding days” were of great antiquity at that time and originated from the Norse minne, or ceremonial drinking to the dead.
Ireland is the only country where the month’s mind tradition is still widely practiced although there are still a few locations in England where it is said to survive. Further afield efforts have been undertaken to introduce the month’s mind. For example, in January 2015, Monsignor David Cassato, Chaplain of the New York Police Department at St. Athanasius Church, of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York, offered a Month’s Mind Mass to mark the one-month anniversary of the assassination of two local police officers. Monsignor Cassato explained, “In the Roman Catholic Church, a Month’s Mind Mass is really a big deal because it comes a month after the initial shock and grief of death. It is a time to honor the dead with prayers, a time to hope that their lives and deaths will have a lasting meaning…” (The Tablet, 22 January 2015).
Today, we celebrate and commemorate the life of our local historian, Danny Dowling and commit ourselves to preserve, present and continue his life’s work. For many this might simply involve the oral tradition of the passing down of family information or stories to the next generation, the sharing of local knowledge, or the keeping of local traditions. Pat Dowling shared a number of photos of his father for this pictorial month’s mind. Pat said that there aren’t as many photos of Danny as other family members because Danny was usually the person behind the camera. If readers have any photos or memories of Danny that they would like to share please forward them to glenmore.history@gmail.com.
Further below are photos sent by the East Wall History Group depicting the commemoration ceremony held last Sunday to mark the 100th anniversary of Peter Freyne’s death who was killed in action while attacking the London, North Western Railway Hotel (North Wall) Dublin. I think Danny would have been happy that Peter Freyne’s sacrifice has not been forgotten and was commemorated notwithstanding the scourge of COVID.
Danny Dowling (15 February 1927-17 March 2021)
The Laying of a Wreath in memory of Peter Freyne (1903-1921) by the East Wall History Group on 11 April 2021
Due to COVID the commemoration was small. Four volunteers held a small boat parade. For further information concerning the attack on the L.N.W.R. Hotel on the 11th of April 1921, during the Irish War of Independence, see, https://glenmore-history.com/teenage-volunteers-in-the-war-of-independence-the-freyne-brothers-of-kilcullen-thomastown/.
Please send any corrections or further information to glenmore.history@gmail.com.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
The Sad Farewell
On Friday the 19th of March, a fine spring morning, people began to gather in the Village of Glenmore to bid a final and sad farewell to a man who had called Glenmore his home for 94 years. As friends and neighbours met, absent were the customary hugs and handshakes. The scourge of COVID continues and impacted on the customary Glenmore funeral practices. Undaunted, behind the mandated face masks and imposed distances, the gathered began to remanence and share fond memories of the wonderful, colourful Danny. As the bell of St. James began to toll the hearse carrying the earthly remains of Daniel Dowling (1927-2021) left the house where he was born in the village and slowly climbed the hill to the church followed by his family and a large crowd of mourners on foot. Along the roadway friends and neighbours stood in respect. At the gates of St. James’s, the hearse stopped and the six pallbearers placed the wooden coffin on their shoulders and carried it to the church. With COVID restrictions only ten family members could attend the funeral Mass, but loudspeakers broadcast the service to the mourners outside and the internet allowed family and friends across the globe to hear and see it. I was struck that Danny would have commented upon and written a note or two concerning the restrictions and the resulting blending of the old funeral customs with the new technology.
I had the privlege of meeting Danny and Mollie Dowling thirty years ago this coming October. My first, of what would become hundreds of outings with Danny, was to Kilcolumb ruins and graveyard. As Danny led me to the oldest Kennedy headstone in the parish he said, “None die so well as the poor.” He went on to explain that the poor did not feature in history and did not have headstones etc. There is little doubt that Danny embraced the field of social history as it emerged as an academic field of study in the mid-twentieth century. It was an alternative to conventional history that focused on great civilizations, politics and wars. Although Danny had an interest in history in general, he was far more interested in learning and recording the lives of ordinary local men and women. With absolutely no training, and few examples to follow, Danny went about interviewing and recording information regarding the local areas, events, traditions and people. Ever evolving and learning, Danny in 2018 told me that he thought that family history was the more correct title for his type of work.
Whatever category that may be put on Danny’s work, when Danny began what was to become his life’s work, he started with a simple pen and paper. There were no computers, internet, copiers or mobile phones. Danny never obtained a drivers license and traveled to libraries, archives, institutions and individuals via public transportation. He hand copied records into notebooks. He corresponded with a large number of individuals and institutions within Ireland and abroad. Danny often spent long hours reading old newspapers on micro-film in various libraries in order to find information to a query he received. Danny enjoyed his retirement where he devoted himself full time to pursuing his work armed with his transportation pass. When public transportation wasn’t available Mollie, or others, drove him to his destination. He was also a well known and well liked visitor to bookshops and book fairs across the country where he searched for books for his extensive collection.
Danny often remarked that there is no person that does not have an interest in history. It may not be the history taught in school, but it might be a history of their family, their land, sport, fashion, music or horse racing. He exhibited an uncanny ability to draw information out of people who often did not believe that what they provided was worth recording. Danny “never met a stranger” and never missed an opportunity to gather local information and record it. Some of his interviews were conducted after funerals, on the bus into Waterford, in the pub, in nursing homes or on the street when he encountered an old acquaintance. Danny always carried a small notebook, or sheets of paper, and would jot down notes of what was said. It is fascinating to transcribe Danny’s notebooks and follow his lines of inquiry across the years.
In education the term “life long learner” is a commonly used phrase, but Danny is actually one of the few people I have known who was a life long learner. In 2019 when Danny asked me to help put his work into a book about Glenmore, I suggested a blog. Danny had never seen a blog, didn’t understand how it would work, but liked the idea of a “weekly” history article backed by a website with static pages for family and townland information etc. Although 92 years of age he caught on quickly, and after we went live he soon began to ask how many visitors and “hits” we had and where they originated. He marveled at the ability of people around the world to view his work and to hear that descendents of long gone emigrants were able to research their way back to Glenmore. He expressed delight when he learned something new about Glenmore uncovered this past year in old newspapers now available on-line. Of course none of this would have been possible without the support and care Danny received as his health declined. It was no small task for Danny’s son Pat, and daughter-in-law Orla, to keep Danny well and safe particularly after COVID struck the country, but they succeeded.
Lest anyone who never met Danny is given the impression that he was a stuffy scholar, Danny, in fact, possessed a wicked sense of humour, had an infectious school boy giggle and his smile would light up the room. Like many others I shall miss my old friend, and thank him for asking and allowing me to help bring his life’s work to the world.
Ní beidh a leithéad ann arís. (His like won’t be here again.)
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
Danny Dowling (1927-2021): The End of an Era
A wonderful gentleman, historian, friend and founder of Glenmore-History.com has passed away at the age of 94 years.
Condolences may be left via the following link https://rip.ie/death-notice/danny-dowling-glenmore-kilkenny/453083
Deepest sympathy to Pat, Orla, Aoife, young Danny and all extended family members.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh sé agus. (May he be at God's right hand.) Go neirí on bóthar leis ar neamh. (May the road rise to meet him in heaven.) Kathleen
Glenmore and the Irish Language
Last week issues were raised concerning how much English the executed Glenmore man, Henry “Bounce” Walsh, understood and spoke in 1847 during the investigation, incarceration, and his trial for murder. According to Danny Dowling, the Irish language survived and flourished in Glenmore during and after the dark days of the Penal Laws. In 1844, during the surveying of the railway line that was to link New Ross and Waterford, Thomas Lacey, of Wexford, noted that Irish was spoken in Glenmore and neighbouring parishes along the proposed route.
The Decline of the Language
Glenmore people continued to speak Irish into the 1870’s and 1880’s although most younger people could also read and write in English. In the 1890’s the Irish language was in decline locally, but shops in New Ross continued to have at least one Irish speaker on staff to deal with the elderly farmers of Glenmore, Tullogher and Rosbercon who continued to speak Irish. By the turn of the twentieth century, when the long awaited railway linking New Ross and Waterford was being built, outside of pockets in the west of Ireland, and a few small rural areas, the Irish language was in a terrible state of decline. Although there was no penalty for utilizing Irish there was little support for it in Ireland.
Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language
In 1877, the Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language was founded in Dublin. This society was concerned that the Irish language was dying and issued three small books for the teaching of Irish. By 1897, over 128,521 copies of the books had been sold. Uniquely this Society was comprised by a number of non-Irish scholars from universities in Paris, Copenhagen, Prussia, England and the United States. While the books issued by the Society allowed Irish to be learned it did not enable the speaking of the language. The Society members were very interested in the old Gaelic literature and manuscripts. It was noted by these scholars that “Gaelic speakers were rare, and when found they were too shy or too ignorant to be of much service…and few could read or write in Irish.” (Monaghan, 1899)
The Gaelic League
In 1893, Conradh na Gaelige (the Gaelic League) formed. The League objected to the scholarly approach to the Irish language. The League sought to preserve and advance Irish as the national language. It also supported the study and preservation of the old literature, but importantly supported modern Irish literature. It sought to engage the population and advance the language through classes, plays, songs, recitations, debates and speeches in Irish.
The group that founded the League included Douglas Hyde (1860-1949) who insisted that the League should be free of politics and open to all. Interestingly Hyde, a Protestant, resigned from the League in 1915 because he contended it had become political. Later Hyde was elected the first president of Ireland serving from 1938-1945.
Another founder was Fr. Eugene O’Growney, who at the suggestion of the Archbishop of Dublin began publishing in the Freeman newspaper “Simple Lessons in Irish.” These articles were later published as a popular book. Other newspapers were asked to provide space for news and articles written in Irish.
The Irish Language Under Attack in Glenmore
The first Branch to be established in the Kilkenny was in Kilkenny City in 1897. To advance Irish the League provided small sums to National School Teachers to induce them to teach Irish to their students outside of the regular school classes. Danny Dowling has stated that his mother, Hannie Dowling née Murphy (1903-1989) told her children that when she attended the Glenmore National School students wore a small stick on a cord around their necks. When a student spoke in Irish a notch would be placed on the stick and punishment inflicted when the recorded notches reached a certain number. Ironically a decade after the League was established and flourishing across the country, in Glenmore, where the Irish language had survived, during the Irish language revival, it was under attack.
The Glenmore Branch of the Gaelic League
It was not until 1910 that a Branch of the Gaelic League was established in Glenmore. The Munster Express on Saturday the 16th of February 1910 announced that nation building was being conducted in Glenmore by this “function which will doubtless prove of historic interest.” Mr. Brett, of the Waterford Branch called on Fr. T. Phelan for his consent and blessing. Fr. Phelan, “ever willing to welcome any movement for the moral, social and educational uplifting of his flock…” gave his consent and blessing to the project.
At nine o’clock the Glenmore meeting was called to order by Nicholas Curran, National Teacher of the Glenmore Boy’s School. He proposed that “A Branch of the Gaelic League be established in Glenmore.” Mr. J. Dunphy seconded the resolution which was unanimously passed. The following officers were elected for the coming year—President, Very Rev. T. Phelan, P.P.; Vice-president, Rev. M. Crotty, C.C.; Secretary, N. Curran, N.T.; J.P. O’Donovan; Committee—Messrs. J. Dunphy, P. Hanrahan, M. Murphy, T. Fluskey, T. Heffernan; Delegates to Waterford District Organising Conference— N. Curran and J. Dunphy.
The meeting concluded in a little “sgoraigheact.” Mr. Foley rendered beautifully two Irish songs and Brian O’Higgins’ Irish comic “Caherciveen.” Mr J. Hanrahan sang ” Skibbereen,” his beautiful clear tenor voice making a marked impression on the visitors. It was said to be a most interesting, and, it is to be hoped, historic night in the “Big Glen.”
School Irish vs. Irish Spoken in Glenmore Homes
Eventually, through the work of the League, Irish became a subject studied in National Schools. Jo Doyle née Mernagh (1932-2021) of Weatherstown, Glenmore, noted that when she was a girl attending Glenmore National School in the 1930’s she was not aware initially that her mother “had a lot of Irish.” The Irish being taught in the National School was different than the Irish words she heard at home. See our post of May 2022 for further information on Jo Doyle née Mernagh.
In 1938, the Folklore Commission recorded Patrick Power (c. 1856-1942) of Jamestown, the last known native speaker of South Kilkenny Irish. The National Folklore Collection, is housed at UCD and has the recording of Pádraig de Paor, from Jamestown, Glenmore (archival reference NFC 323: 174-183) who was 85 at the time of the recording. It is available to read online, most of the 9 pages are in Irish. Danny has explained that one of the unique features of the local dialect of Irish was that the “r” was pronounced as a soft “z” or “s”. Thus Maura was pronounced Ma-zsa (like Zsa Zsa Gabor) a boirín was a boo-sín.
While many people remarked that their parents or grandparents would speak Irish when they did not want the children to understand the conversation an unusual story was recorded by Danny in 1975. Danny interviewed Mai Roche (c. 1918-2001) of Scart, Glenmore. Mai stated that the Michilín Kennedy’s of Rathinure, Glenmore had a young workman for a season. There were three brothers in the house at the time, Michilín, Ristardín, and Phaidín. When the workman arrived he was asked if he spoke Irish. He said that he did not. Every evening the three brothers would “cut the backs off” the neighbours in Irish to ensure that the workman did not know what they were saying. When the season ended, and the young workman was taking his leave, he spoke to the three brothers in Irish, to their horror, letting them know he was a fluent Irish speaker.
Irish Inscriptions on Glenmore Headstones
During the recent survey of the Glenmore cemetery adjoining St. James Catholic Church, there were Irish phrases found on some stones, but only the Edmond Aylward (c. 1835-1908) of Ballinclare, stone has an extensive inscription in Irish. We believe this stone reflects the Irish language revival. The earliest inscription at the top of the stone in 1890 is in English. The inscription covering deaths from 1908 to 1922 are in old Irish and the inscription covering deaths from 1956 to 1996 is in English.
Unfortunately my Irish is limited to a few curse words. Please send any corrections etc. to glenmore.history@gmail.com.
Liam Ó Bolguidhir (1992) “The Early Years of the Gaelic League in Kilkenny 1897-1910,” Old Kilkenny Review, p. 1014-1026 [Danny Dowling is acknowledged by the author in footnote 1 of this article].
R.A. Breatnach (1992) “Iargaí de Ghaeilig Chontae Chill Choinnigh,” Éige (1992) vol. 26, p. 21-42.
C. Monaghan (1899) “The Revival of the Gaelic Language,” Proceedings of the Modern Language Association, vol. 14, p. Xxxi-Xxxix. doi:10.2307/456448 available at open access https://www.jstor.org/stable/456448
The featured picture above is the “Symbols of the Evangalists.” The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. (1868). Symbols of the evangelists, 8th-9th cen. library of St. Gall, codex 51.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh