John O'Donovan (1806-1861)

Today, as our sixth excerpt from Carrigan’s, The History and Antiquities of the Diocese of Ossory,( v. 4 p. 97-100 (1906)) we feature Canon Carrigan’s coverage of his correction of acclaimed Irish scholar John O’Donovan. Carrigan’s correction of O’Donovan was based upon two interviews Carrigan conducted in 1900 of a Ballyrahan, Glenmore native Peter Grant (1811-1902). Although we could not find a headstone or obituary for Peter Grant, he is forever immortalised in Canon Carrigan’s work.

John O’Donovan (1806-1861)

In previous posts we covered various aspects of John O’Donovan’s early life. His mother was from Rochestown, now in the Parish of Glenmore. After his father’s death in 1817 John spent a substantial amount of time with his paternal uncle Patrick O’Donovan, of Donovan’s Mill, at  Ballyrowragh, Slieverue on the border of what is now Glenmore Parish. O’Donovan  is said to have started his education in a hedge school and then attended the Hunt Academy in Waterford City. His father, Edmund O’Donovan died in 1817, and a few years later at the age of 17 O’Donovan went to Dublin.

For further information regarding O’Donovan’s early life see our post of 9 Sept. 2023.

Schoolmaster O’Donovan

According to Carrigan, John O’Donovan started a school about 1822 “in his native district.” He gathered a number of pupils some were several years older than himself. “Of the alumni of this modest academy the last survivor was blind old Peter Grant, of Ballyrahan, Glenmore, whom the writer met on two occasions, in the year 1900, and spoke of his old master, ‘poor Johnnie Donovan,’ with the greatest admiration and affection.” (Carrigan, vol. 4, p. 356). If this and other information concerning when he moved to Dublin is correct, O’Donovan was a schoolmaster for about a year. Nothing has been found in any of Danny Dowling’s (1927-2021) transcribed notebooks concerning John O’Donovan being a schoolmaster in Slieverue or Glenmore.

 Although a place was secured for O’Donovan to study at Maynooth he declined to go there because he did not wish to become a priest. O’Donovan’s first job was in the Public Service Office where he translated and transcribed ancient manuscripts (Munster Express, 10 Nov. 2006, p. 13). From 1830 to 1842 O’Donovan was employed on the first Ordinance Survey researching place names. He was sent into the field and travelled across Ireland. From around Ireland, O’Donovan sent letters to his boss containing descriptions of local lore, traditions and antiquities. These letters were placed in 103 volumes and became known as the “O’Donovan Letters.”

O’Donovan’s Incorrect Birthdate

Carrigan pointed out that O’Donovan incorrectly wrote that he was born in 1809 when he was actually born in 1806. In volume 4 Carrigan printed a copy of the Slieverue Parish Register proving that O’Donovan’s baptism occurred in 1806 (Carrigan, vol. 4 p. 356). Certainly, in that time before passports, driving licenses or even the State registered births and deaths many people provided incorrect ages or years of birth.

We all learn our age and birthdate from our parents. Prior to modern times little importance was attached to birthdates. Also, incorrect dates of birth for persons born in the early 19^th century were probably due in large part to the fact that a sizable proportion of the population were unable to read or write. Penal laws were only fading when O’Donovan was a boy.

Notwithstanding Carrigan’s public comment that O’Donovan had utilized an incorrect year of birth, Carrigan failed to check the year of birth of Peter Grant, of Ballyrahan, Glenmore. Carrigan had access to the Parish Records, but did not find that Peter Grant was baptized on 30 June 1811.  In 1900 Grant was not “over 90 years of age” as Carrigan claimed. Peter Grant was 88 or 89 when he was interviewed by Carrigan twice in 1900. Peter Grant (1811-1902) was the late Jimmy Reddy’s (c. 1926-2011) grandfather.

O’Donovan’s Letter of 30 Sept. 1841 

Carrigan reprinted O’Donovan’s entire letter of 30 Sept. 1841 (Carrigan, vol. 4, p. 98-100). There were four sentences that appear to have caused Carrigan concern. After speaking with Peter Grant, Carrigan concluded that O’Donovan was wrong concerning the place where the Leacht Ui Deaghaidh was located.

“In the townland of Scartnamo about a half mile to the north of the Mill of Ballyrowragh and immediately to the left off the old road as you go from Waterford to New Ross, is shown the site of a monument called Leacht Ui Deaghaidh, i.e. the monument of O’Day, whom tradition calls the Ridire O’Day i.e. the Ritter or Knight O’Day. The site of his house is pointed out in a field on the other side of the road not far from the site of his leacht, but in a different townland, viz, in little Gaulestown…(O’Donovan’s Letter, 30 Sept. 1841)

Carrigan’s Location of O’Dea’s House and Leacht

“In the late Peter Grant’s Moon a’ Ridhizha (locally translated, the Baronite’s Bog), low down on the slope of Ballyrahan townland, and close to the old frowning rock of Corriganurra, is shown the site of “the Ridhizha O’Deaw’s house.” Who the Ridhizha O’Deaw, or O’Dea, is not quite clear. If we have to credit tradition, he was lord or owner of the whole Barony of Ida, and gave it the name of the Barony, viz., Ida, Eedeaw, or Ui-Deaghaidh, represents not the name of an individual after the adoption of surnames, but the name of the tribe that occupied it in much earlier times (Carriagan, p. 97).”

“The site of Ridhizha’s house was something more than half an acre in extent, and was covered over with foundations and low mounds, till it was levelled and tilled by the late owner, about 1840. It is now clothed with the greenest grass. The remainder of the field is low lying and boggy, and hence its name, Moon a Ridhizha. There was formerly a well here called Thubber-a-Ridhizha, or the ‘Baronite’s well.’”

“Leachth Ee Deaw, that is O’Dea’s monument bush, or ‘lone bush’ as they call it here, is on the roadside, opposite the Half -Way House in Aylwardstown, one mile and a half north of Moon-a-Rihizha. The bush was formerly surrounded by a little mound or earthen ring, which has been broken down by the trampling of cattle. Here rests ‘Brian O’Deaw,’ sometimes identified by tradition with the Ridhizha O’Deaw, who lived in Moon-a-Ridhizha. The Leachth field commands a view sublime in its extent and variety.”

“O’Donovan incorrectly placed Leachth Ee Deaw on the bounds of Scartnamore and Ballyrahan. There is, no doubt, a leachth, or lone bush on the spot he indicates, but it has never been known as Leachth Ee Deaw. It was planted there a great many years ago by a man named Kierevan, in memory of his deceased mother. The late Peter Grant, of Ballyrahan, when over 90 years of age, assured the present writer that this leachth was never called Leachth Ee Deaw; and that if it had any name at all it should be Leachth Ee Kierevawn or Kierevan’s Leachth, from the man who planted it, and was still living in his own early days.”

Peter Grant (1811-1902) of Ballybrahan, Glenmore

Peter Grant died the 10 August 1902 at Ballyrahan. He was a widower, a farmer, and aged 95, according to the death register. His daughter, Johanna Reddy, was present when he died.

Peter Grant was baptized 30 Jun 1811 at Ballinguile?, Glenmore, the son of John Grant and Bridget Aylward. Sponsors were William Grant and Mary Grant. His sister Anastatia Grant, baptized 10 June 1809, was born at Ballavrahen (sic), Glenmore and his sister Margaret Grant bapt.12 April 1807, the record reflects the address again as Ballinguile. 

Peter Grant’s father is found in The Tithe Applotment Books (1829) for the townland of Ballyrahan. Plot 55 was comprised of 18 statute acres and John Grant was the tenant.  

It is believed that Peter Grant (1811-1902) married Anne Grace of Glenpipe on 12 Sept 1846 at Rosbercon. Johanna Reddy (daughter of Peter Grant per the death register) married James Reddy on 24 Feb. 1881. Her address was recorded as Gaulestown. Their son John Reddy (1882-1961) married Margaret Hennessey (1886-1970) of the Rower. One of her sisters was the mother of May Roche (c. 1918-2001) of Scart, Glenmore. John and Margaret’s son, James Reddy (c. 1926-2011) married Kitty O’Hanlon of Newtown, Glenmore. Kitty died on 18 July 2021. The couple had no children.

Who Was Correct?

Generally, historians rely upon the earliest reliable written record, yet in this case both O’Donovan and Canon Carrigan were relying upon what they were told. O’Donovan was from the area and was an Irish speaker, and did not indicate where or when he obtained his information. Carrigan was not from the area and did not speak Irish. However, Carrigan found an elderly life-long resident who was about the same age as O’Donovan and provided what he had been told about the lone sceach. Relying on living boundaries or monuments is fraught with difficulties as trees fall are cut down etc. Loose stones are also easily moved or trampled by cattle.

It appears that O’Kelly (The Place Names of the County of Kilkenny Ireland (1969, p. 112)) agreed with or followed Carrigan’s view. It seems unlikely that we will ever know definitively who was correct, if either, but O’Donovan and Carrigan were agreed that the local tradition put an O’Dea house and monument in Glenmore.

For a brief outline of Canon Carrigan’s (1860-1924) early life and work see our post of 17 Sept. 2023

For a brief history of O’Donovan’s (1806-1861)  early life see our post of 9 Sept. 2023 and our post of 13 March 2021.

Please send any corrections or further information to glenmore.history@gmail.com. The featured photo above is Donovan’s Mill taken in 2023.

Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh