Halfway House

Today, we are going to feature information that Danny Dowling (1927-2021) recorded regarding the residents of the townland of Aylwardstown, Glenmore, around 1961. The Irish for this townland, according to O’Kelly’s, The Place Names of the County Kilkenny Ireland (1969, p. 115) is Baile Aighleirt, which translates as Aylward’s homestead. The townland is comprised of 557 acres and is found in the Civil Parish of Kilmakevoge.

A Brief History

O’Kelly cites Carrigan as stating that Gleann silin, the cherry glen or valley, may have been the ancient name for the area. Aylwardstown House built in 1609 has the date chiselled on the blue limestone, Roman-arched doorway with Celtic design floreated, and the original timbers in the “offices houses” were still in place in 1969.  Mr. [James] Kelly, the owner in 1969, stated that his grandfather bought the house and lands from the Strange family.

O’Kelly relates that the Half-way House at the cross-roads was a public house until 1836 when the new New Ross/Waterford main road was opened to traffic. [Locally the new portion of the new road was called the “New Line.”] the Half-way House located on the High Road was by-passed. Until 1836 it was a halting place for the stage coaches. For more information concerning the “New Line,” and “High Road” see our post of 14 December 2019. Fields in Aylwardstown include: Cnoc; Cnoc na gcaor, hill of the berries; Garrai; Gort an leachta, field of the monument; Pairc bheag and Pairc mhor.

The last sentence of O’Kelly’s entry for Aylwardstown states that “Leacht Ui Dheaghdha, the monument of O’Dea is by the main roadway.” According to a snippet inserted by Danny Dowling in the Souvenir Programme in 1981 “…the burial place of the legendary Celtic chieftain O’Dea who gave his name to the Barony of Ida…is opposite this half-way house.” The burial mound survived into the 20^th century but no trace of the site now remains. (Glenmore Hurling & Football Club’s, Souvenir Programme (14 May 1981) p. 37 marking the official opening of the club grounds).

Aylwardstown Tenants in 1833

In the 1833 Tithe Applotment Books, the townland of Aylwardstown is found in the civil parish of Kilmacanoge (sic). The townland, along with others, was held by lease by Mr. Strange from the Earl of Bessborough. Laurence Strange was the landlord of the townland although he was not the owner of the land. There are 17 tenants listed in the 1833 Applotment Records including: Laurence Strange Esq., 63 acres; Patrick Murphy, 26 acres; John Heffernan, 26 acres; Edmond Henebry, 26 acres; Pat Delahunty, 13 acres; Dennis Ryan, 19 acres; Thomas Hines, 1 acre; David Kehoe, 2 acres; Thomas Haberlin, 2 acres; Richard Fitzgerald, 25 acres; Pat Fitzgerald, 12 acres; Thomas Kehoe,  9 acres; James Irish, 29 acres; Widow Doherty, 19 acres; James Ryan, 17 acres; and James Morrissey, 26 acres.

Danny’s List

In 1961, Danny recorded 19 families or households in Aylwardstown. Birthdates or birth years are provided for some of the older residents gleaned from available public records. For some time after drafting his notebook, Danny recorded the dates of death or simply recorded that a resident had died or left the townland. The recorded information reveals that in 1961, 96 people resided in Aylwardstown with the population comprised of 50 males and 46 females. The largest family was the Aylward family with 11 in the household. There was 1 household recorded with a person living alone (James Fitzgerald known locally as Jim Bryant). All information under residents of Aylwardstown not in Danny’s original list has been placed in square brackets[ ].

Recorded Residents

Males= 50
Females= 46

Eldest Recorded Resident

The eldest resident recorded in the townland was Alice Harrison née Morrissey (2 April 1874) who was 86 years of age in 1961. Alice died on 16 June 1962 at Aylwardstown, Glenmore, at the age of 87. Alice was a widow and her niece Mrs. Mary Aylward née Morrissey, was present when Alice died. Alice was the daughter of Patrick Morrissey and his wife Mary Kehoe, of Aylwardstown. Alice’s brother Thomas (b. 3 July 1871) was Mary Aylward née Morrissey’s father.  Alice was married first to a man named Kennedy and as a widow married John Harrison on 30 April 1911 in Waterford. At the time of her marriage Alice was a publican in Ballybricken and John was an engineer.

Recorded Work

Farmer= 10                (10 males; 0 females)
Farm Worker= 10      (10 males; 0 females)
Creamery Worker= 1 (1 male; 0 females)
Post Office=1              (1 male; 0 females)
Factory Worker= 1     (1 male; 0 females)
    Clover Meats= 3     (2 males; 1 female)
Railway Employees=3 (1 male; 2 females)
Fisherman= 1               (1 male; 0 females)
Blacksmith (retired)= 1 (1 male; 0 females)
Electrician = 1              (1 male; 0 females)
ESB labourer=1           (1 male; 0 females)
Domestic= 3                (0 males; 3 females)
Shop Assistant= 1       (0 males; 1 female)
Trainer= 1                    (1 male; 0 females)
Lorry Driver= 1            (1 male; 0 females)
Secretary (garage)= 1 (0 males; 1 female)

Aylwardstown Residents

[1] CASHIN  

Cashin, Mary Anne (22 March 1883)       DEAD [no date recorded]
Cashin, Anastatia, daughter
Cashin, Alice, daughter, domestic
Cashin, Maryann “May” [1946-2021] granddaughter

[2] CONNOLLY

Connolly, Thomas (11 Nov. 1907) Fisherman
Connolly, Mary (18 Nov. 1898) wife
Connolly, Martin, son, electrician       married         [moved to New Ross]

[3] HALLIGAN

Halligan, John (6 June 1908) Farm Labourer
Halligan, Mary (14 May 1908) wife
Halligan, Michael, son, creamery worker
Halligan, Mary, daughter, Clover Meats           married [moved to Waterford]
Halligan, John, son, at school

[4] HEFFERNAN

Heffernan, Andrew (23 June 1893) Farmer
Heffernan, Bridget (26 June 1896) wife 
Heffernan, John, son, assisting father
Heffernan, Alice, daughter-in-law

[5] DELAHUNTY

Delahunty, Patrick (12 Nov. 1910) Farmer
Delahunty, Mary, wife
Delahunty, Richard, son
Delahunty, Eileen, daughter
Delahunty, Ellen (10 May 1888) mother
Delahunty, James (c. 1916) brother, assisting relative
Delahunty, Edward, brother, assisting relative
Delahunty, Nora, sister

[6] HANNON

Hannon, Peter (21 Aug. 1907) CIE Ganger             Gone to England, January 1964
Hannon, Margaret (24 Dec. 1909) wife, haltkeeper
Hannon, Ceclia, daughter            

[7] KELLY

Kelly, James G (1 Jan. 1916) Farmer
Kelly, Maura (3 May 1928) wife
Kelly, Nicholas J. (12 June 1954) son
Kelly, Thomas G. (17 Nov. 1955) son
Kelly, Catherine Grace, daughter
Kelly, JoAnn M., daughter

[8] CASS

Cass, Martin, Post Office Worker
Cass, Alice, wife, Haltkeeper CIE

[9] FITZGERALD

Fitzgerald, James (6 June 1897) Farmer

[10] FORAN       

Foran, James (15 May 1905) Farmer              [last of the Glenmore thatchers]
Foran, Anastasia, wife
Foran, John, son
Foran, Thomas, son
Foran, Patrick, son
Hynes, Mary (28 May 1917) sister-in-law 

[11] HABERLIN

Haberlin, John (6 June 1885) Retired Blacksmith
Haberlin, Edmund, son, farm labourer       
Power, Stephen,  Trainer

[12] ROCHE/FITZGERALD

Roche, William (12 Nov. 1913) Farmer
Roche, Margaret, wife
Fitzgerald, Ellen, sister-in-law, Clover Meats
Fitzgerald, Mary (8 Jan. 1913) mother-in-law

[13] POWER

Power, John (6 Feb. 1906) Farmer
Power, Eily (1 April 1908) wife
Power, Kathleen, daughter

[14] KENNEDY

Kennedy, Richard (15 March 1885) Farmer        (died 5 Jan. 1964)
Kennedy, Patrick, son, assisting father
Kennedy, Richard, son, lorry driver             (moved to Carriganurra)
Kennedy, Ellen, daughter                            (gone to England)

[15]] IRISH/PHELAN

Irish, Catherine (26 Oct. 1901) Farmer
Irish, James (10 July 1902) Brother-in-law, assisting relative
Phelan, Mary, daughter
Phelan, James, son-in-law, farm worker
Phelan, (child)                                           [Assumed to be Michael Phelan]

[16] FITZGERALD

Fitzgerald, Michael (23 March 1917) Farmer
Fitzgerald, Catherine, wife
Fitzgerald, Mary, daughter
Fitzgerald, Ann, daughter
Fitzgerald, Carmel, daughter
Fitzgerald, Richard, son
Fitzgerald, John, son
Moore, Joseph, farm labourer [Joe Moore was also listed in Ballinlammy. See our post of 23 Dec. 2020 regarding Joe Moore.

[17] AYLWARD

Aylward, Patrick (17 March 1912) Farmer
Aylward, Mary (5 July 1910) wife
Aylward, Mary, daughter, secretary garage
Aylward, Michael, son, assisting father
Aylward, Ellen, daughter
Aylward, Catherine, daughter, shop assistant
Aylward, Alice, daughter
Aylward, John, son
Aylward, Patrick, son
Aylward, Richard, son
Harrison, Alice (3 April 1882) aunt, retired

[18] DORAN

Doran, Peter (10 June 1910) Factory Worker
Doran, Margaret (10 April 1908) wife
Doran, Kathleen, daughter, domestic
Doran, Margaret, daughter, domestic
Doran, Ann, daughter
Doran, Peter, son
O’Connor, Philip, step-son, Clover Meats

[19] KEHOE/BOYLE

Kehoe, Stephen (2 April 1918) Farm Labourer
Kehoe, Mary (20 Oct. 1919) wife
Kehoe, John, son
Kehoe, Stephen Noel, son
Kehoe, Mary, daughter
Kehoe, Michael, son
Boyle, John, Brother-in-law, Labourer ESB      (moved to Rathinure)
Boyle, Margaret, sister-in-law
Boyle, James, nephew

For further information concerning the Half-Way House see our post of 24 July 2022

For further information on the Aylwardstown, Glenmore railway station see our post of 16 Oct. 2021, and for information on the New Ross to Waterford railway line that ran through Glenmore see our post of 2 Feb. 2020.

 Did you know that the first plane that landed in Glenmore landed in Aylwardstown? See our post of 10 Dec. 2020 that contains old newspapers clippings.

Special thanks to Jackie Walsh for the photo of the Aylwardstown lodge house where her grandfather was reared. Special thanks to John Kirwan for sharing his father’s Glenmore Hurling & Football Club, Souvenire Programme (14 May 1981). Special thanks to Brian Forristal for the photo of Tommy Connolly, of the River.

Please send any corrections or additional information to glenmore.history@gmail.com.

Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh