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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
A Double Drowning at Rochestown Point in 1899
Beginning in earnest in the 1950’s Danny Dowling interviewed and recorded the memories of the elderly residents of Glenmore and nearby areas including New Ross and Waterford. The two people Danny interviewed the most as reflected in the notebooks transcribed to date are his mother, Hannah Dowling née Murphy; and Nicholas Forristal, of the Mill, Graiguenakill, Glenmore. Danny generally refers to Nicholas Forristal as Nicky the Miller, and Danny’s face lit up this week when he recalled his old friend. Having spent a lifetime collecting information concerning the Parish of Glenmore and its people it isn’t often that Danny learns something new particularly concerning Nicky the Miller. The revelation came out of a homework assignment in the 1930’s completed by a boy from Rathinure, Glenmore for the Irish Folklore Commission.
Although Irish folklore was collected prior to 1935, in that year the Irish Folklore Commission was established by the government. A scheme was developed where schoolchildren would be given questions and asked to interview their parents and neighbours. From 1937 to 1939 each week of the academic year teachers across the country would select a heading and read out the questions and the children would copy it down and conduct their interviews. The Commission continued its work until 1971 when it was superseded by the Department of Irish Folklore at the University College Dublin. On our links page we have included links to the transcribed pages of local school Folklore interviews.
Paddy Kennedy (1922 -1997) of Rathinure, Glenmore when a chap attending Ringville School, as part of the Folklore project, interviewed his father Patrick Kennedy, Sr. (c. 1871- ). This is what young Paddy recorded:
In the year 1889 a very tragic boat accident occurred in which two young men were drowned. Their names were William Forristal and Pat Connolly. One Sunday they were visiting their friends in Cheek Point. Their boat came into collision with another boat as they were going to get a tow from her. The news was soon discovered and the river was immediately searched, but to no avail. On the second day their bodies was (sic) discovered. When they were taken ashore they were a pitiful sight. (National Folklore Collection UCD, The School’s Collection (vol. 845. p. 103) Ringville School, Roll 6621.),
A search of local newspapers did not reveal any recorded drownings in 1889 of men named Forristal or Connolly. However, a small article was located in the Waterford Chronical on Wednesday the 2nd of August 1899. It reported that on Sunday afternoon two men drowned in the Barrow river named John Forristal and Michael Connolly, natives of the Glenmore district. Their bodies had not been recovered.
Several other newspapers covered the incident and identified the two drowning victims as Patrick Connolly and William Forristal. The following facts were gleaned from a number of newspaper listed at the end of this post.
About one o’clock Sunday, the 30th of July, Patrick Connolly, William Forristal and two brothers named Kelly left Glenmore in a small boat that was called a “prawng” by the New Ross Standard. They headed down the Barrow River and arrived without incident at the fishing Village of Cheekpoint. Cheekpoint is located at the confluence of the rivers Barrow and Suir on the southern shore. It is downriver from Waterford City which is on the Suir River and also downriver from New Ross which is on the Barrow River. The Glenmore men started upriver for home between five and six p.m. On reaching Rochestown Point on the Barrow River, about six or seven miles south of New Ross, they were overtaken by the Lady Annette tug which was pulling two “Grand Canal lighters” or barges with excursionists up river. There were a couple hundred people from Graiguenamanagh on the barges. It was reported that the excursionists had spent the day in Duncannon, Waterford.
The Lady Annette tug boat was built by Malcomson and launched from the Neptune Iron Works of Waterford City in April 1875. She was described in a newspaper account of her launch as a handsome little steam vessel of 85 feet in length, 13 feet in beam, 7.5 feet in depth, and 30 tons register. (Waterford Mirror and Tramore Visitor, 28 April 1875). The Lady Annette and the two lighters or barges she was towing upriver were owned by the Barrow Navigation Company. See generally, Andrew Doherty, Waterford Harbour Tides and Tales entries including; “The Lighters: Work Boats of the Suir” at https://tidesandtales.ie/the-lighters/.
“Sometimes boating parties effect a tow from passing steamers, and in this case the occupants of the prawng, although only a little more than a mile from their destination, directed their course so as to intercept the excursion party, whose craft were moving at full speed. There are different versions of what happened, but the more generally accepted one is that when the prawng came close to the lighter some of the men in the former tried clamber aboard the Canal boat, and that so a result this proceeding the prawng was engulphed. Anyhow, owing to imprudence on their part, the four young men were instantly swamped, and it is stated that Forrestal and Connolly passed under the lighter and were never seen again. Once the cry was raised the captain of the Canal steamer slowed up in as short a time as possible, and the Kelly’s were saved.” (New Ross Standard, 5 August 1899).
It was reported elsewhere that the two Kelly brothers succeeded in clinging to the bottom of the boat until rescued by a fisherman named Richard Whelan. Whelan rowed to the spot at once and took the brothers into his boat. Forrestal and Connolly were, lost to view immediately and after a search presumed drowned. The newspapers reported that the fate of the young men was greatly deplored the neighbourhood of their residence. It was reported that William Forristal, was the son of Patrick Forrestal, miller and farmer, and Patrick Connolly, was a labourer. None of the newspaper reported the first names of the Kelly brothers.
It was stated that the drowning cast a gloom over Glenmore. The two young drowning victims were described as very respectable young men, and Connolly was the only support of his poor widowed mother. “It is a consolation to think that both were in a state of sobriety when they lost their lives. As a matter of fact Connolly was a teetotaller.”
The search for the bodies continued all day Monday when twenty cots and trawlers were engaged in the search. At eight in the evening, just under Ringville, and near where the drowning occurred, Richard Cahill, of Ballycroney, and Patrick Forristal, of Ballyverneen, recovered the bodies, which were close to each other. The corpses were immediately conveyed to their respective homes in Graiguenakill, where they were waked till the following evening. It is believed that the Patrick Forristal, of Ballyverneen, who discovered the bodies was a nephew of Patrick Forristal, of the Mill, the father of the drowned William Forristal.
On Tuesday morning Dr Hackett, coroner, for the northern district of Kilkenny (in the absence of the South Kilkennv coroner) accompanied by Dr Walsh, of New Ross, arrived at Glenmore and viewed the bodies. Sergeant Stapleton had a jury summoned in anticipation of an inquest, but the coroner without explanation did not hold a regular inquest. He held what the newspaper termed an inquiry, with no jury and took some evidence on oath. Mrs Whelan, Ringville, stated that she witnessed the catastrophe from the shore, but could not tell exactly how it happened. The information which the coroner elicited amounted to there were three boats coming up the river. The three boats were overtaken by the excursion steamer. One of the boats got a tow, and it appeared that its occupants got aboard the canal lighter. The other two boats were then on the outlook for a tow. When the boat containing the four Glenmore men got alongside and caught hold of the lighter their boat suddenly jerked from the lighter and half filled with water. Forristal, it is alleged, believing the boat was about to sink, jumped over its side with the intention of swimming to shore, and in jumping into the river capsized the boat. The Kelly brothers held on to the prawng, and young Connolly held on to one of the Kelly’s legs, but only for a short time. Connolly sank, never to rise alive. Forristal, it is alleged, swam for the shore, but was not able to reach it. Patrick Power, of Robinstown, Glenmore and Richard Phelan, of Rathinure, Glenmore saved the Kelly brothers. A man named Manning exerted himself to save Connolly. Forristal, the newspaper stated if he swam a good distance as is now stated, does not seem to have attracted the attention of any of the rescuers.
Not only did the acting coroner fail to hold an inquest it appears that the deaths were never recorded.
A double funeral took place on Tuesday the 2nd of August at 4 p.m. “The whole country side attended as a mark of sympathy and regret. Both young men were laid to rest in Glenmore graveyard and seldom before had so many mourners been seen at any funeral in the district.”
The Four Glenmore Men
William Forristal, of Graiguenakill, Glenmore was born on the 26th of January 1881. His parents were Patrick Forristal (1849-1931) and Margaret Forristal née Cardiff (c. 1853- 1905). Thus William was the older brother of Nicky the Miller (1888-1979). Nicky was only 11 years old when his brother drowned. Although Nicky was interviewed scores of times by Danny and openly discussed people and events, such as his mother’s death and his youngest brother’s emigration, he never once mentioned to Danny anything about William or his death.
Patrick Connolly, of Graiguenakill, Glenmore was born on the 4th of May 1878. He was the son of Thomas Connolly, of Aylwardstown and Kate Ryan. Thomas Connolly was a coachman for the Strange Family of Aylwardstown House. Thomas Connolly died on 19th of April 1886 of TB. His death cert notes he had the disease for 2.5 years. He was 33 when he died. Bridget Heffernan née Kennedy, of Aylwardstown, was present when he died. The 1901 census reveals that Catherine “Kate” Connolly née Ryan was living in Graiguenakill with her remaining son Michael. Michael was 15 and she was a 44 year old widow. Readers may remember Catherine from the blog “What’s a Shebeen” as she was the woman charged and found not guilty of running a shebeen in 1906. She was arrested for having 3 bottles of stout in her house which she claimed were for her son Michael when he came home from working in Waterford.
The names of the two Kelly brothers were never provided and the account of the event that was held in place of an inquest did not indicate their names or whether the brothers attended and testified. The 1906 shebeen case involved two Kelly brothers, Edward and Thomas Kelly. They were visiting Mrs. Connolly when her house was raided and they were arrested for being in a shebeen. Mrs. Connolly described them as neighbours. The 1901 census reveals that there was one family named Kelly in Graiguenakill headed by James Kelly. Although there is a son named Edward in the house in 1901 (aged 28) there is no Thomas Kelly,
Young Paddy Kennedy, when he interviewed his father, and was given information concerning the drownings of Forristal and Connolly, never revealed the family relationship between his father and the deceased William Forristal. Paddy Kennedy Sr. was a first cousin to William Forristal’s father. It is not known whether the children were instructed by the Folklore Commission not to record relationships. Perhaps it was the case that there was an assumption that the relationship was known because in the tight knit parish everyone knew everyone else’s family relationships often for generations. In any event, the father of Paddy Kennedy, Sr. of Rathinure was Tom Kennedy. Tom Kennedy had a sister Ellen Kennedy who married Paddy Forristal. Their son, Patrick Forristal, married Margaret Cardiff. Patrick and Margaret Forristal were the parents of Nicky the Miller and William Forristal.
These tragic deaths were only brought to light because 90 years ago a boy did his homework. The old copy book photo featured above is from the Irish Folklore Commission, School Project.
Special thanks to Kathleen and Patricia O’Connor for the photo of Paddy Kennedy and his brother Larry Kennedy, of Rathinure, with the Aylward children.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
Waterford Standard of Wednesday the 2nd of August 1899; Waterford Chronical on Wednesday the 2nd of August 1899; New Ross Standard & Enniscorthy Guardian, Sat. 5 Aug. 1899 (same article)
