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A Deep Defile Called Glynmore in 1798
Danny Dowling has interviewed and recorded the memories of Glenmore people and sometimes long held family secrets were disclosed including secrets concerning events in the days following the Battle of Ross in June 1798. A contemporary work published in 1801 by Sir Richard Musgrave (1757-1818), an MP for Lismore in the Irish Parliament provides a useful background and sheds some light on Glenmore during the 1798 Rebellion. Musgrave’s work has the unusual title Memoirs of the Different Rebellions in Ireland From the Arrival of the English With a Particular Detail of That Which Broke Out on the 23rd of May 1798; The History of the Conspiracy Which Preceded It, and The Characters of the Principal Actors in It.
For a concise biography of Musgrave see, Waterford Museum or Library of Ireland .
The Battle of Ross commenced at sunrise on the 5th of June 1798 (around 4:30 a.m.) and by all accounts it was a bloody affair. Musgrave wrote that had New Ross fallen the rebels were planning to march on to Waterford. He applauded General Johnson who was in charge of the defence of New Ross and noted that during the battle the General had two horses shot out from under him.
About ten in the morning of the 5th of June, Colonel King marched two divisions of the Roscommon regiment from Waterford to reinforce the garrison of Ross which Musgrave noted was ten miles from Waterford. After he set off Colonel King came upon some deserters from Ross, who informed the Colonel that the Ross Garrison had been overpowered by numbers, exhausted by fatigue, defeated and slaughtered. They said that they fled to Thomastown and Ross had been burned. Given that Glenmore is half way between New Ross and Waterford, and Colonel King did not set off until 10 a.m., and Colonel King had not yet reached Glenmore, it seems likely that the deserters, if they had gone to Thomastown first, had fled New Ross soon after the battle commenced.
The Colonel “determined to do his duty” marched on to a high hill over a deep defile, called Glynmore, in a straight line, about 2 ½ miles from Ross. A defile is a military term that describes a pass or gorge where troops can only march in a narrow column. With a “good glass” the Colonel saw smoke coming from Ross, but could not discern any troops in it. He concluded that the deserters had been correct. The Colonel retreated to Waterford. Musgrave noted that rebels had retired to Corbet Hill in Wexford where they saw the Roscommon regiment. Not realizing that the Roscommon regiment retreated back to Waterford, the rebels believed that the soldiers were reinforcements for New Ross and decided not to renew the attack on New Ross that evening. Mulgrave believed that had they renewed their attack New Ross would have fallen.
The following day Colonel King again marched toward Ross. He brought two battalion guns and a piece of flying artillery. He found the people of County Kilkenny in a state of general insurrection. When he approached Glynmore, “a deep valley, with a river which is crossed by a bridge,” he perceived great numbers of people on all the adjacent hills, who fired signal guns. The rebels at Glynmore had made the bridge impassable, by breaking down one of the arches of the bridge. The soldiers made the bridge passable by laying beams and planks on it. Today, Danny Dowling articulated that he believes the Glynmore bridge mentioned is near the current bridge in what is now the Village of Glynmore. The Gaffney Mill was close to the bridge.
Colonel King sent before his main column his grenadier company along with a piece of artillery. (Today, grenadiers might be called assault troops). Musgrove reports that after a few discharges of the artillery piece a large body of rebels posted on the opposite hill dispersed. The day before, the local rebels captured 25 soldiers and Captain Dillon, of the Dublin regiment who had all deserted Ross. At the first discharge of the artillery the rebels “massacred 15 of the soldiers, and Captain Dillon, whose head they converted into a foot-ball.”
According to Danny Dowling, the local leader of the United Irishmen was William* Gaffney, of the Gaffney Mill in what is now the Village of Glenmore. Danny believes that the next quotation from the Musgrave book refers to William* Gaffney. “One Gaffney, the leader of the assassins (of Captain Dillon and 15 soldiers) was taken and hanged next day at Ross. He was a miller in very good circumstances.” Musgrave throughout his work denounces the idea that the rebellion was in anyway connected to the conditions suffered by the rebelling people, thus he made a point of highlighting the “good circumstances” of several rebels. Today, Danny stated that William* Gaffney was captured at Milebush, in Rosbercon, and was hanged from the old Ross bridge. His body was buried in an unmarked grave in Rosbercon. It was uncovered a century later when the Ross-Waterford railway line was being built and his remains were moved to Kilivory Cemetery in Glenmore Parish.
Also throughout his work Musgrave states that it was discovered that the Kilkenny rebels were to co-operate with the Wexford rebels regarding the attack on Ross, but the Kilkenny rebels “mistook” the day for the attack. He noted that this was fortunate as the Kilkenny rebels if present on the 5th would have cut off a great part of the Ross Garrison when they fled over the bridge, overcome with hunger and fatigue. Obviously this does not make a lot of sense given the fact that the Kilkenny rebels captured Captain Dillion and 25 soldiers on the 5th. Perhaps Musgrave meant that they were not present at the bridge itself.
Musgrave in his appendices provides a great deal of information concerning court martial trials that took place later in 1798. In a court martial held in Waterford on the 6th of July Garret Murphy confessed before some magistrates that John Forrestall, publican at New Ross, told him that the rebel army would march through the county of Kilkenny to Waterford, if the King’s troops were beaten at Ross. Two other court martials held on the 14th of June and on the 23rd of July in Waterford proved that Walter Power, Richard Connolly and James Hynes, went to the house of Mr. Valentine Lannagan, of Charlestown (Parish of Kilmacow, Co. Kilkenny) with other rebels on the 7th of June. Lannagan overhead the men state that had it not been for the cannon, they would have cut off the Roscommon regiment, on the 6th of June, as two thousand United Irishmen had assembled in Glanmore (sic) to stop reinforcements reaching Ross.
Danny today noted that several local families reported to him that their ancestors heard the Battle of Ross. Danny recorded in Notebook 13 that a monument tree stood on the bounds of John Grennan and John Cotterell’s farms in Ballycurrin (Rosbercon) and Ballycroney (Glenmore). This tree marks the spot where Captain Dillon of the Roscommon Militia was killed and buried during the 1798 Rebellion. Pat Cody, of Ballycroney, Glenmore, in November 1955 told Danny that Captain Dillon was killed in Harmon (Cody’s) field in Ballycroney. The site of the grave is presently marked by a sycamore tree. Also, there were three British soldiers killed and buried in Hogan’s rath in Weatherstown after the Battle of Ross.
Tommy Cotterell, of Ballycroney, told Danny in 1971 that Old Paddy Mullally of Ballycroney told him that Paddy’s grandmother brought sups of water and buttermilk to the dying soldiers in Ballycroney, at the time of Captain Dillon’s death. It was often repeated that a lot of soldiers were killed in the Ballycroney area at the time of the Battle of Ross.
Bartley Holden, of Clune, Glenmore told Danny in February 1980 that in 1942 or 1943 Walter Holden, whilst ploughing in a field over Tobair a Tsagairt (Priest’s Well), ploughed up the skull of an English soldier. It fell into pieces when it was disturbed. Years before his grandfather had dug up the shin bone of a man. The grave was under a bank against the ditch of the road in a field known as “Soldier’s Field.” Local tradition provides that this soldier was at the Battle of Ross in 1798. He was wounded, and strayed out into the country. The Kneefes, of Ballycroney, took in the soldier and nursed him. One day when he was better he saw a group of English soldiers approaching and he threatened he would get the soliders to burn down the house. As he ran away the Kneefes followed him, and on overtaking him, they killed him with a spade and buried him. In 1980 the field was on Peggie Holden’s farm in Ballycroney, adjacent to the Ballygurin-Ballycurran Road.
Pat Cody, of Ballycroney, in his November 1955 interview revealed a similar account. Kneefe’s owned the farm in Ballycroney now occupied by Hennessy’s and Fitzgeralds. The Kneefe family lived where Lukey Fitz is now. This house was burned in 1798 by a stray British solider after the Battle of Ross. It appears that they gave him lodging and when leaving he set fire to the house. They followed and killed him in the field under Boland’s where he is buried under the headland adjoining the road.
Ballycroney wasn’t the only area of Glenmore where soldiers were killed and buried after the Battle of Ross. Nicholas, Forristal, of the Mill, Graiguenakill, in November 1977 told Danny that there is a British Army Officer buried in the Power corner of Barron’s Field in Graiguenakill, down Kehoe’s Lane. On the evening of the Battle of Ross, or the day after, the officer rode a horse down to Kehoes and asked if he was on the right road to Waterford. The Officer was on his own, and he got down off the horse. He was armed and had a sword. From what Kehoe observed he appeared to be acting suspiciously and asked Kehoe to give him a leg up, which he did. Kehoe got afraid then, and he gave him a shot out over the horse. The officer fell and broke his neck. Kehoe then buried him, and kept the horse.
Perhaps the most unusual local 1798 story recorded by Danny was that of Wattie Power, of Jamestown, in 1956. Wattie’s great-grandfather was an elderly man during the Battle of Ross and lived in the house down the Ling Lane (Poll Guide Lane as it was formerly called). He was bedridden for several years before the Battle. One day two soldiers came down the lane and called into the house. The daughter of the house gave them a meal. After the meal one of them said he wanted to go down to the room, and she refused to let him down to the room. A violent struggle ensued and she bested him. The other soldier then stood up and said you got what you wanted and now you’re not satisfied. So come on now or you will get the contents of this meaning his rifle which he took in his hand. They both then went away. Wattie’s great-grandfather, who was in the bed, got an awful fright. Shortly afterwards when the soldiers were coming again his sons decided they would have to run for it. When they were going into the long bog they looked back and saw their elderly father coming in over the ditch from the road. He wasn’t up out of the bed for years. This reflects how terrified the people were at that period.
Locally, William* Gaffney although hanged was labelled a traitor and William* Gaffney will be the subject of a future blog.
The statue of the pikeman above is located in Wexford Town.
*On 29 February 2020 Danny asked me to correct the first name of the Gaffney man who was the South Kilkenny leader in the 1798 Rebellion. His name was William and he had a son named Nicholas. Apologies for any and all confusion. In the Links page a link is listed to an article Danny wrote in 1983 and published in Decies concerning William Gaffney.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
Murder on the Hill of Glenmore
As highlighted in a previous blog post–on the 8th of March 1833, Joseph Leonard, of Waterford, was stoned to death on the Hill of Glenmore about 3 miles from New Ross in Shanbogh Townland on the old Coach Road.
The Murder: Account I
In 1980 Danny Dowling interviewed Patrick Hennessy, of Hoodsgrove, Rosbercon concerning the murder of the landlord Joseph Leonard in 1833. According to Patrick his mother’s people were the same Malone’s that were involved in the murder. Patrick went on to explain that Master Moore, the National teacher, stated that there was a mill in Kilbrahan townland of Rosbercon. Meany who was executed for the murder of Joseph Leonard, along with the Malones lived on a farm where the mill was situated. According to Patrick Hennessy, Meany was thrown out of the farm before Leonard’s murder.
On the day of the murder, one of the Malone men was home on leave from the British army. He was a veteran of some wars. He said to the mother, Mrs. Malone, who was a Treacy born in Ballymagill, that if Leonard the landlord was living where he had been he would be murdered. Mrs. Malone said in reply, “Why can’t ye do away with him?” She was putting down the spuds for the dinner when her two sons went off to kill the landlord. When they returned she said, “Ye are bad men to take so long to kill him.” Later, she claimed not to have known that they had gone to kill Leonard. The Cashins lived at Shambogh, and a Cashin girl, “gave the game away.” One of the Malone brothers escaped and when he was caught, he was strapped to the wrists and made to walk or dragged between two mounted horse soldiers. In this way he either walked or was dragged to jail. More than likely it was the way he was conveyed to jail when arrested. After the trials the Malone family on their farm in Kilhalan got it tough.
The Murder: Account II
A second oral history of the murder was provided by Ned Fortune and was recorded and can be found in the Folklore Commission. According to this account Joseph Leonard was the landlord of Kilbrahan, a small townland to the north of Shanbogh. Although Joseph Leonard lived in Waterford he was in the habit of traveling to New Ross a few times a week. By all accounts Joseph Leonard was a “good man” and there was “no reason for killing him.”
Leonard was murdered on the 8th March 1833, where the Old Coach Road just enters Shanbogh. A lime-kiln is close to the spot. Leonard was beaten to death, the horse then galloped toward Ross till the body was observed hanging out of the chaise or car. A man named Cassin gave information to the police, and they went to a house in Kilbrahan of a man named Meaney. The police found the whip of the murdered Leonard. This evidence was regarded as conclusive and Meaney was sentenced to be hanged.
The Execution
The scaffold was erected at the scene of the murder. The hanging was witnessed by thousands of people. Mrs Greene recalled her grandmother telling of how she dressed up in her best for the occasion and went off to witness the execution. The place of execution and murder in now known as Leonard’s Corner. A man named Malone was also convicted of the murder. He escaped at the time, but twelve months later was arrested in Tipperary. He was brought to Kilkenny Gaol and later executed outside it. Cassin, the informer, was given money by the government to leave the country, he did, and was never heard from again.
Contempoary Newspaper Accounts
Danny has collected a large number of copies of contemporary newspaper articles that give further and often conflicting information concerning the murder, trial and executions. Similar to what often happens today with the media linking crime to terrorism some contemporary newspaper linked the murder to agrarian eviction violence. The Battle of Carrickshock occurred on the 14th of December 1832 and was fought over the imposition of Tithes for the upkeep of the Church of Ireland on Catholics and other Protestants. The Battle resulted in several of the police being killed. Most of the contemporary newspapers articles did not link the murder of Joseph Leonard to the White Feet, Carrickshock or any other cause.
The Murder
According to the contemporary newspaper accounts, Joseph Leonard left Waterford in high spirits at 11 in the morning for New Ross on the 8th of March 1833. He was on his way to New Ross to arrange to sell some “distrained” cattle belonging to a tenant. The sale was to take place on the 9th of March. It was reported that £125 of rent was overdue and Joseph Leonard offered to settle for the sum of £80, but the tenant refused. Joseph Leonard was described as an inoffensive gentleman. At 2 or 3 in the afternoon Joseph Leonard was walking alongside his horse that was pulling the gig up the hill of Glenmore.
As he walked along Joseph Leonard was attacked in an area where there were several houses nearby. According to Danny the nearby lime kiln became known as the murdering kiln because of the murder. A blunderbuss was fired at Joseph Leonard, but it missed. He was taken by three men who broke his right arm and they put his head on a low adjacent wall and beat his head with stones until he was dead. The killers then cut off his left ear. His corpse was placed in the gig and large stones were placed in front of the wheels to keep the horse from moving. Some accounts provide that the Wexford Car came along and brought the gig and corpse into Ross. Other accounts provide that a “country boy” came along and brought the gig and corpse into Ross. Joseph Leonard’s death is recorded in the Roman Catholic Parish records thus indicating that the newspaper accounts stating that the murdered man was a Catholic landlord were correct.
Arrests
Joseph Leonard’s corpse was returned to Waterford on the 11th of March 1833 and buried according to Danny in the St. Patrick’s cemetery of Ballybricken. A quick hunt through the cemetery on the 7th of February 2020 did not result in his grave being discovered. The newspaper articles record that the Kilkenny magistrate, Henry Alcock, Esq. acting on information received, from what was described as two children named Cashin, arrested four men at the funeral. Other newspaper articles provide that Magistrate Alcock arrested only one man at the funeral, Philip Malone, of Kilbrahon, Rosbercon. Eventually three men and one woman were charged in connection with the murder of Joseph Leonard.
Defendants Philip Malone and his mother
Philip Malone and his mother Mary Malone stood trial in Kilkenny in March 1834 and although Mary Malone was acquitted Philip Malone was convicted. He was sentenced to be executed by hanging in chains. The grand jury petitioned the court to allow the execution to be carried out at the place of the murder. The principal witnesses at the trial were: James Roche, a boy of 14, who witnessed “the transaction,” and James Cashen, aged 18, who gave King’s evidence as an approver. Apparently James Cashen was hired by Malone to kill Joseph Leonard. Another witness named in newspaper articles was Richard Cashen whose age is not revealed.
On the 17th of March 1834 Philip Malone was taken from Kilkenny City and transported to the place of the murder and hanged at 1 o’clock in the afternoon. Newspapers accounts provide that Philip Malone conducted himself in an exemplary manner and acknowledged the justice of his sentence. The execution was well attended and there was little sympathy expressed for the condemned. Philip Malone was described as a “remarkable as a man of great physical prowess.”
Defendant Patrick Meany
Patrick Meany, a neighbour, attended the hanging of Philip Malone and later while drinking in a public house was arrested by Magistrate Esmond of Kilkenny. Patrick Meany believed that because he did not do the actual killing he could not be convicted of a crime. Danny believes that Patrick Meany was originally from Robinstown, in Glenmore. Due to a land dispute he moved to Rosbercon. Patrick Meany stood trial in Kilkenny city for conspiring to murder Joseph Leonard. He too was convicted and sentenced to hang at the place of the murder. According to newspaper accounts an immense number of country people assembled and covered the surrounding hills around the place of the murder to witness the execution.
The condemned man left Kilkenny City on the 7th of August 1834 at 6:30 in the morning in a chaise chair. Just prior to execution he prayed and asked the attending priest to speak for him. The priest said that Patrick Meany asked him to convey that Meany was sorry for the expression he used against the prosecutor when he was convicted and hoped the people would pray to God to pardon him. Patrick Meany was described as being about 45 years of age, 5 feet 8 inches tall and of “Herculean make.” Although he was described as in “comfortable circumstances” he was dressed like a common labourer. The newspaper accounts noted that he was a widower, and left five children orphans. His eldest child was a daughter who was 18 and attended her father’s execution with her father’s sister and his son aged 14 also attended.
Aftermath of Executions
The night after the execution of Patrick Meany, four men attacked and stoned to death a soldier just outside New Ross. All four men were arrested.
The stigma to the families of the convicted murders continued for some time. Danny recorded in a 1974 interview of Nicholas Forristal, of Graiguenakill, Glenmore an incident that occurred near the Glenmore Parish Priest’s house in Robinstown. Father Aylward, the Parish Priest, asked a beggar if he “…was anything to Meany who killed Leonard the Landlord.” The beggar responded by asking Father Aylward, “How near related are you to the Belekums, who killed the girl on the mountain and buried her in a bog?”
The Victim
Very little information is recorded concerning the murdered Mr. Leonard. His age is not recorded and there is no indication that he was married at the time he was murdered.
House of Commons’ Account
In attempting to try to find information concerning the brother of Philip Malone, I came across perhaps the most unusual contemporary account of the murder conspiracy in the Evidence on Drunkeness: Presented to the House of Commons (1834) by James Silk Buckingham. In this account Philip Malone when the guilty verdict was rendered against him pointed to his 80 year old mother who shared the dock with him and said, “Yes, my Lord, I am guilty. She is the cause of it.” It was reported that his mother agreed to the price of the blood to be shed by her two sons. She watched Joseph Leonard approach and handed the pistol to her son. Malone was startled, “How can I murder the poor gentleman?” His mother called him a coward and handed him the remains of a ½ pint of whiskey which he drank and then went and killed his landlord.
Special thanks to Louise Walsh for the photos taken in St. Patrick’s Church Yard, Ballybricken, Waterford City.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
Glenmore and the New Ross to Waterford Railway Line
The Dublin Wicklow and Wexford Railway Company built the Dublin to New Ross line in stages down the coast. Dan Doyle, formerly of Ballyverneen told Danny Dowling in 1977 that the Bagnalstown station opened in 1848 and the railway bridge and tunnel between Ballywilliam and New Ross were built in 1885. The date is on the Kilkenny side of the bridge. It was in 1887 that the first train arrived in New Ross from Dublin.
Danny explained today, that planning for the building of a railway line between New Ross and Waterford commenced about the time the New Ross station opened. Originally the Glenmore station on the line was to have been built in Ballyverneen nearer the Glenmore Village. The landlords, Strange, of Aylwardstown House and Conn, of Mount Ida, lobbied and got the Glenmore station placed in Aylwardstown nearer their estates and further from Glenmore Village. Work began from the New Ross end of the Ross-Waterford line in 1899 and the line was opened in 1904. Although the Ross-Waterford line connected New Ross and Waterford City, the New Ross station was in Rosbercon, Kilkenny and the Waterford City station was in Ferrybank, Kilkenny.
Dan Doyle in his 1977 interview explained his family connections to the building of the railways. His grandfather, Dan Doyle of Ballywilliam, was the first of the family to work on the railway. He was a ganger on the Ballywilliam line and lived in the crossing gate house known as the Red House from the colour of its roof. Dan Doyle’s father, Ned Doyle, used to bring “grub” to Dan’s two elder brothers, Jack and Tom, when they were building the railway bridge between Ballywilliam and Ross. Later, Ned Doyle was responsible for a section of the Ross-Waterford railway line. A length of railway line was 3 ½ miles plus crossings and sidings. Ned Doyle’s section was from the station gates in Rosbercon to the Forristalstown Bridge in Glenmore. He had four men under him: Murt Cashin, of Mudhouse; Willie (Crows) Forristal; Tom Mullally and Bill Fortune, all of Shambogh.
During the building of the Ross-Waterford Railway line there was an influx of strangers into Glenmore and at least one skeleton was discovered. In 1977 Nicholas Forristal, of the Mill, Graiguenakill, Glenmore told Danny that a body was dug up during the building of the railway at Rosbercon. At the time it was said that the corpse was that of Nicholas* Gaffney of Glenmore Village. Nicholas* Gaffney lived in the late 18th century in the house [next to the house]* now occupied by Danny Dowling in Glenmore Village. Nicholas* Gaffney participated in the 1798 Rebellion, was captured, was hanged from the New Ross bridge and it was said that his body was buried in unconsecrated ground near the bridge by the British authorities.
*Corrections–Danny on 29 February 2020 asked that corrections be made. The first name of the man hanged in 1798 was William Gaffney. Nicholas Gaffney was a son of William Gaffney. A link to Danny’s 1983 article concerning William Gaffney may be found on the Link’s page.
Shortly after railway workers dug up the body in Rosbercon, Jim Comerford, of Ballyhale, Kilkenny was killed in the Shambogh cutting. Nicholas Forristal in a 1963 interview revealed that a man named O’Donnel was the ganger in charge of the work crew.
In addition to the obvious impacts on the landscape such as bridges and tracks cutting through fields and dividing farms, there were some subtle impacts. For example, in 1980 Richard Dunphy of Ballyverneen informed Danny that there is a field on Denis Dwyer’s farm in Ballyverneen that still bears the name it acquired during the building of the Ross-Waterford railway line. The 25 acre field comprised of a long, narrow strip of land was called the Magazine because powder and explosives were stored in it. Patrick Forristal, of Graiguenakill in 1980 also told Danny that when the Ross-Waterford railway was built, the line of track cut across the double ditch at Ballyverneen. This double ditch was used for a considerable time as a Mass Path for the people of Forristalstown to walk to mass in Glenmore. At this point of intersection, the railway company provided a wooden footbridge, to link both sides of the double ditch.
With the coming of the railway came the workers and businesses attempted to cash in on their steady incomes. Nicholas Forristal, of the Mill, in 1972 described some of the entertainment that travelled to Glenmore. He identified McCormack’s Show as a stage show that annually came to Glenmore. “A family concern they gave months here at one time during the building of the Ross-Waterford Railway line.” They used to set up at the back of Peggy Gaffney’s house in Glenmore Village.
Nicholas Forristal, of the Mill, in his 1977 interview identified and discussed some of the navies (laborers) who came to Glenmore during the building of the railway. Christy Lennon was a navie. He brought with him his wife, son Paddy and daughter Maryanne who was then about 30 years of age. Fred Bell, also a navie, was a native of Wexford Town. He brought his wife, daughter and son-in-law with him driving an ass and car. They lived for a long time in the wood in Ballyverneen. Bell left and went across the road on to railway property. Bell built a sod hut. All the walls were built of sods, reeds were on the roof, a hole in the wall for a window, the bare earth for a floor and a sod chimney with a railway sleeper holding up the chimney breast. There was a hole in the roof for the chimney. There was a kind of door. They slept on bags of straw and at night they stuffed the window with a bag of straw. Paddy English was Bell’s son-in-law. Another navie on the railway was a man named Coughlan who also built a sod hut in the same area nearer to the marsh. Hamilton Dick was a ganger on the railway and Hamilton Jim worked on the railway. They lived in Glenmore during the building of the railway and later moved to Rosbercon.
In the same interview Nicholas Forristal stated that Peter Kennedy of Rathinure told him that Kennedy and his cousins the Heffernan’s of Aylwardstown got a wagon of 11 tons of coal delivered at Aylwardstown Station shortly after the railway line opened. They paid 11/6 per ton carriage paid from Morrises of Waterford. It was the first wagon of coal delivered at Aylwardstown Station in 1904.
Mernagh has become a well known name in Glenmore. The Glenmore Mernaghs can trace their arrival to John Mernagh who was known as Jack. He was a ganger with the railway and according to the 3 April 1911 Census for Ballyverneen, Glenmore, he and his family arrived in Glenmore in about 1906. Jack Mernagh died in the autumn of 1911. According to his granddaughter Jo Doyle née Mernagh he came home from work, ate his supper and went out to help a neighbour named Forristal with the threshing. He was on the thresher feeding the oats into the machine when he lost his footing and fell into the machine. He was only on the machine for about 10 minutes when he was killed. The 1911 Census reveals that he was 53 years of age and had been married to Mary (aged 42) for 26 years. They were both born in Wexford and were the parents of 16 children, but only 12 of the children were alive in 1911. The ten children living with them in 1911 included: Patrick, aged 23; John, aged 21; James, aged 19; Stephen, aged 17; Bartholomew, aged 13; Thomas, aged 10; Adain, aged 8; Nicholas, aged 6; Mary, aged 5 and Lizzie, aged 3. The eldest three boys were employed as railway miler men and Stephen was employed as an agricultural labourer. All the children except Mary and Lizzie were born in Wexford. The 1911 census records that there were 12 members of this family living in a three room house owned by the Dublin and South East Railway.
On the same page of the Census also living in a three room house owned by the railway is the James Delaney family. James was 26 years of age and was a native of the Queen’s County. He was married for 3 years to his 23 year old wife Kate and the couple had two children. Patrick Delaney, age 2, born in Kilkenny and Mary Delaney, aged 9 months.
In 1919, Dan Doyle first went to work in a temporary capacity in New Ross station. The stationmaster was Daniel O’Brien a native of Bray. He had three clerks on goods side, one clerk on passenger side. There was a herd porter, checker, four porters and generally an extra man. There were also two platform porters, two signalmen and one night watchman.
New Ross in 1919 was a busy station, everything went by rail—people, food, and cattle. On the week before the Fair, 100 wagons were brought to Ross. Each of these had to be cleaned, washed, disinfected and whitewashed. The night before a fair a Dublin Special Train arrived with 30 wagons. The morning of the fair the Wexford Special with 30 wagons arrived and at least two specials from Waterford arrived with each Waterford train having 30 wagons. In May and October, when the big fairs occurred, three special trains would arrive the morning of the fair from Waterford.
The fixed time table of train arrivals and departures 100 years ago was:
6:30 A.M. IN…Goods train from Wexford
8:30 A.M. IN…Night goods train from Dublin.
9:30 A.M. Dep… Night food from Dublin with passengers from Ross de/. for Waterford
8:10 A.M. Passenger train out of Waterford. IN… at 8:30 in Ross.
10:25 A.M. IN…Mail, Passenger from Dublin.
11:05 A.M. Passenger out of Waterford. IN… at 11/30.
2:15 P.M. Passenger from Waterford for Dublin. IN…at 3:40.
3:15 P.M. Mail out of Waterford for Dublin. IN… at 3:40.
6:15 P.M. Mixed train to Waterford. Dep passenger and foods
5:05 P.M. Dep. Waterford food. Arrive Ross at 5:50.
Today, Danny stated that he often travelled by train from Waterford to Glenmore. He recalls that the trip between Waterford and New Ross took about 30 minutes. He believes that passengers trains stopped running in 1963 and freight continued, but all trains ceased in the early 1990’s. Danny has a list of the stationmasters of the Aylwardstown station and as soon as he can locate the list he will share it.
Special thanks to Jacqueline Walsh for the old photos of the Aylwardstown Station and the photo of the steam engine is from the National Library of Ireland.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
Glenmore Gold
As Danny Dowling pointed out in the Story of Glenmore, the exact length of time that man has been in the Glenmore area is difficult to determine. However, the discovery of cist burials containing cremated remains at Haggard, Ballinlammy and Ballygurrim, indicate that the area was inhabited in the Bronze Age which covered the period of time from approximately 2,000 to 500 B.C. After that time various groups have visited and sometimes inhabited the area. It was often believed that these people left valuables hidden in the ground, thus the subject of treasure being unearthed by ploughing was once a favourite subject around the kitchen fires in farmhouses.
In 1980 Danny interviewed John Walsh, of Jamestown, and was informed that in the spring of 1955, whilst ploughing the Glebe Field at Ballygurrim cross, Pat Walsh of Jamestown, uncovered a pottery urn that was buried about eight inches under the surface of the field. When it was first discovered John and Pat Walsh were rather excited as they thought the urn contained gold. The pottery urn was located near the top corner of the field, about 40 yards from the ditch. The plough struck and sliced off what transpired to be the bottom of the pottery urn. The inverted urn was filled with a greyish material resembling ashes tightly packed, and mixed with small pieces of bone, yellowish in colour. The sides of the urn had an overall thickness of a quarter of an inch or slightly less. The urn was decorated with a motif of continuous circles, and it was brown in colour.
There was no stone cist or any type of surround enclosing the urn, only the soil of the field which was tightly packed against it. John Walsh removed the contents of the urn, but found nothing apart from the greyish material containing the yellowish pieces of bone. He did not remove the urn itself owing to its fragility, but filled back the contents, and covered it over with the soil of the field. John Walsh explained to Danny that the burial urn would not have been discovered under normal circumstances. The normal and usual depth for ploughing with a horse was about four inches at that time. On this particular day Pat Walsh was engaged in deep ploughing.
In January 1958, Danny met Laurence Roche, of Haggard, Glenmore on the Quay in Waterford. Larry Roche related to Danny the story of the hidden treasure he found in about 1938 whilst ploughing in the Townland of Parkstown. The field belonged to the Roches of Haggard. The field had a slight rise in it and while ploughing over the rise Larry Roche uncovered a burial cist located about one foot beneath the surface of the field although it is not clear that Larry knew that what he uncovered was a burial cist. “It was constructed of four rough flags—one on each side standing up. There was also a flag on the bottom, and it was covered by another on top. The bottom of the cist was roughly 1 ½ feet square.”
Larry explained that when he lifted off the top flag, there was an earthenware urn in an inverted position in the centre of the cyst. He described it as being about 15 inches high and 7 inches in width at the mouth, and about ½ inch in thickness. There was a black sticky substance at the bottom of the upturned urn. The bottom of the urn, which was upturned, seemed to have been broken. The hole in the bottom of the urn was not big enough to allow a person’s hand to go through it into the urn itself. There were no markings of any description on the urn, and when handled it crumbled into bits of dust. What was left of the cist, Larry placed on top of the nearby ditch.
Per the details provided by Larry, and with Larry’s assistance, Danny sketched the burial cist. The sketch to the right is copied from Danny’s notebook.
Nicholas Forristal, of the Mill, Graiguenakill, Glenmore provided Danny in 1967 with the details of a story involving gold hidden on the Bolger farm in Cappagh, Glenmore. The Bolger family had a farm of 35 Irish acres in Cappagh and were present for a number of generations, long before the Ennetts came.
James Bolger, was the last owner of the farm in Cappagh. Nicky thought that James Bolger died in the early 1880’s. Nicky revealed that it was often said that James Bolger was the strongest man in Glenmore. Once when James Bolger was going to New Ross with three bags of wheat when he got to Main Roche’s Hill the horse sulked and refused to pull the cart and the three bags of wheat up the hill. James Bolger did nothing but unyoked the horse and pulled the cart and the three bags of wheat himself up the hill.
A man from the Co. Carlow dreamt repeatedly that there was a crock of gold in this field, opposite a tree in the orchard ditch, so many yards outside in the field. The man’s vision was so vivid that he was able to trace his way to Cappagh, and when he described the vision James Bolger showed him where the treasure was buried or supposed to be buried. It was said that after meeting James Bolder, and getting the information of the gold’s supposed place of burial, the man from Carlow never bothered about the money. Afterwards, the man from Carlow also had no connection with James Bolger. Danny recorded that “further information and tradition tells us that over a number of years, there were several attempts by local men to find it.” However, in the course of the digging for the crock of gold, the activities were suddenly brought to an end by the appearance of a ghostly man on horseback who “stopped the proceedings.” At his appearance the diggers scattered in all directions by fright of the ghostly man on horseback. After a number of these attempts at digging up the gold, the fear of the appearance of the ghostly man on horseback brought all attempts to recover this gold to an end. This treasure is still remembered, but its recovery has never been proven, and it is now part of the folklore the area.
James Bolger never mentioned the stranger and his dream to anyone except to Dick Duggan who was working in Ennett’s at the time. This Dick Duggan’s nephew, Tom Duggan, had the house in Weatherstown where Nick Mernagh’s daughter Jo Doyle is resident. Jo Doyle is 88 years young, and when I spoke to her today she verified that people in Glenmore often spoke of the gold of Cappah and the hunt for it, but she stated that she never heard that anyone found the Cappah gold.
The earliest notation in Danny’s transcribed notebooks concerning the finding of a treasure while ploughing was provided by Jack Power, of Jamestown, Glenmore. Jack Power told Danny that Pierce Butler, of Moulerstown, Glenmore whilst out ploughing a bog in Moulerstown found a gold dollar coin about 1915. Jack stated that Pierce received £70 for the gold dollar. Danny noted in his notebook that Jack Power provided him with the information in the early afternoon of September, 4th 1955. Jack died suddenly that same night at about 11:30 whilst on his way home from Ballybrahee. Danny expressed surprise at Jack’s sudden passing because Danny noted he thought Jack had at least another 10 years in him.
In August 1956, Matt Aylward, of Ballyfacey, Glenmore, also revealed to Danny that Pierce Purcell, of Moulerstown found gold about 25-30 years ago, or about a decade or two after Jack Power thought it was ploughed up. Matt Aylward said that Pierce Purcell found two gold bangles in a field while harrowing. Matt told Danny that Pierce Purcell took the two gold bangles to Dublin and sold them for £75. Although it is not clear what gold object, or objects, Pierce Purcell found while working in a field in Moulerstown, in the early part of the twentieth century, it was worth approximately £70. Unfortunately it is not known how old the gold object was, but whatever was found represents the only known gold discovered while ploughing in Glenmore.
If anyone has any other Glenmore gold stories please feel free to share the stories or preferably the gold.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
Late 19th Century Glenmore: Population, Industries & Craftsmen
Danny Dowling located and took handwritten notes regarding Glenmore from George Henry Bassett’s, Kilkenny City and County Directory published in 1884. A few weeks ago we posted the extract of farmers and landowners from the Directory on the Glenmore-History webpage. Today, extracts of other categories of information in the 1884 Directory concerning Glenmore will be highlighted and supplemented with information gleaned from Danny’s research as well as interviews he conducted and recorded of local people.
POPULATION
In the 1884 Directory Glenmore is noted as having a population of 106. This population relates solely to the Village and not to the parish. Glenmore is also noted as having good salmon fishing and flanked by “handsome plantations.”
In 2016 Danny began an article on the population of Glenmore. The research conducted by Danny reveals that according to the 1841 census the population of the present area of the Parish of Glenmore was 4482. This was the highest population figure ever recorded for the townlands of the parish in their present size and extent. The Parish of Glenmore, as it is at present, was established in 1846. The population recorded in 1841 was resident in 679 dwelling houses. According to Griffith’s General Valuation of Property in 1850 there were 367 land occupiers in the parish, of these, 284 had holdings under 10 acres, and 288 had holding over 10 acres.
Twenty years after the 1841 census, the 1861 census illustrates that the population dropped to 2658 which represents a decrease of 40.6 per cent. In the same period the number of dwelling houses in the area dropped from 679 to 466. The residents of 231 dwelling houses disappeared within this twenty year period well known for the Great Famine and immigration. The 1901 census provides the population of the parish was 1964 persons residing in 367 dwelling houses, and 202 of the residents of the parish were classified as farmers.
Although the 1884 Directory refers to “handsome plantations” a photo believed to be taken in the early years of the 20th century shows the Village from the vantage point of the road known as the Churns. The hillsides along the road, as depicted in the photo, reveals that every inch of land in and surrounding Glenmore Village was being utilised either under cultivation or being grazed. The circa 1912 post card at the top of the post depicting the Village may be a better representation of the “handsome plantations.”
LANDLORDS OF VILLAGE
The landlords are listed in the 1884 Directory as Lord Bessborough and Mr. George J. Mackessy of Waterford. It is further noted that in 1884 all the houses in the village were slated, and none of the traders in Glenmore were licensed to sell liquors. Although there were a number of landlords outside the Village the excerpt of the 1884 Directory does not refer to any other landlords.
In his 1957 interview Nicholas Forristal, of the Mill, Graiguenakill (1888-1979) told Danny that 13 houses in Glenmore Village, in the townlands of Graiguenakill and Cappagh, were built to replace the dilapidated hovels which then existed. The 13 new houses were built about 1855 by Mackessy, of Waterford, who was the landlord. Nicky Forristal’s father (Patrick Forristal, 1849-1931) remembered seeing them built. Each house cost £30 to build and this amount included both the cost of the labour and the materials. Although 12 houses were planned, a 13th house was built when Kitty Bardin went to Waterford to Mackessy and made a pitiful plea asking for a house to be built from the remaining building materials. After Kitty Bardin’s death the 13th house later was occupied by Kate Ryan.
Thomas and James Malone of Shanbough, known as “the Masons” were the builders of the 13 houses and they were paid 1/6 per day (1 shilling and 6 pence). At that time a work day consisted of working from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The labourers on the job were paid 10d (pence) a day. The thatched hovels which preceded the 13 houses were in a terrible state of disrepair and contemporary eye witness accounts stated that the interiors of the cabins could be seen through the large holes which existed in the thatched roofs.
In 1963 Nicholas Forristal revealed that Mackessy also performed work on the stream in Glenmore. “It goes straight through the marshes towards the mill (Forristal’s) and was known as the canal. It was cut like it is now by Mackessy eight feet across from bank to bank and lined with stones. This work was carried out in James Dunphy’s time.” James Dunphy (c.1858 -1940) died in November 1940 at the age of about 82.
According to Danny, Mackessy lived in Lady Lane in Waterford and his Glenmore coach house still stands. The “Coach House” is located near the stream and at the end of the bridge on the south side of the Cappagh road. This building was built to house Mackessy’s coach when he visited Glenmore. On the other side of the stream on the corner of the bridge near the Glenmore pub was the Stage House built by Mackessy to store grain. For years politicians stood on the “stage” and sought the votes of the local people.
Danny’s notebooks, that have been transcribed, contain very little information regarding the Earl of Bessborough. Danny did record that in 1850, the Earl of Bessborough, owned the following townlands in Parish of Glenmore: Ballinaraha, comprised of 290 acres; Aylwardstown, comprised of 55 acres; Haggard, comprised of 543 acres and Robinstown, comprised of 321 acres. Nicholas Forristal revealed in a 1970 interview that “Nicholas Gaffney was Bessborough’s man,” and all Bessborough’s tenents had to deal in Nicholas Gaffney’s shops and go to his mill. If they did not deal with Gaffney the tenant’s would be in trouble with the landlord. Seven years later Nicholas Forristal told Danny that a man named
Hewetson, who lived in the big house in Bishop’s Hall, was the agent for Bessborough in the 1850’s. The Dominican Church in Bridge Street in Waterford, was built with the stones from the big house of Bishop’s Hall. (The present Dominican Church opened in 1876).
PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS
The 1884 Directory also provides that the Village of Glenmore had a Roman Catholic Church with Rev. Edward Nolan, Parish Priest and Rev. Micheal Corcoran the Curate. St. James was built in 1813. (Please see an earlier post for photos and information concerning the church.)
In 1884 the Village also had a dispensary and James B. Norris is recorded as the Medical Officer. A National School is also present in the Village and in the 1884 Directory John Curran was the Master and Mrs. Curran the Mistress. Danny recorded in his notebook that the National School system was established in 1831 and the Glenmore National School opened in 1835, thus the school was operating for 49 years in 1884.
Robert Fluskey is recorded in the 1884 Directory as the Postmaster. Another institution included in the 1884 Directory is the Royal Irish Constabulary with William Broderick, recorded as Sergeant. The Barracks of 1884 is today an empty building in the Village, but according to Danny the first Barracks was located in the field behind the Glenmore pub. Interestingly, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage lists the Forristal house in Robinstown, (just down the hill from the Church on the same side of the road) as being built in about 1870 and serving as the RIC Barracks in 1903. In October 2019 Danny stated that he was not aware that Forristal’s was ever a Barracks. Danny did state that in 1920 after the present Barracks suffered a fire a temporary Barracks was located in a house in Weatherstown.
Lastly, Michael Morrissey is listed in 1884 Directory as the Civil Bill Officer (today this post holder would generally be known as a process server). Danny in November 2019 explained that the Session’s Loft was at the top of Fluskey’s shop. The Session’s Loft was used as a courthouse and meeting room. It was not until 1898 that County Council’s came into existence and took over some of the work of the Session’s Loft.
CARPENTERS
James Dunne and David Walsh are listed in the 1884 Directory. In a 1973 interview Nicholas Forristal, informed Danny that David “the Carpenter” Walsh worked for Strange who was a landlord who lived in Aylwardstown House. David Walsh was constantly employed by Strange at 12 shillings a week with “no grub.”
Pat Coady, of Ballycroney, Glenmore in 1955 provided Danny with a list of Glenmore tradesmen who practiced their crafts from about the 1860’s to the turn of the 20th century. Carpenters on the Coady list include: Davy Walsh, Graiguenakill; James Dunne, Glenmore; Pat Coady, Ballycroney; Paddy Mullally, Ballycroney; Richard Young, Ballyfacey; and ____ Butler, Ballycroney.
COOPERS
John O’Hanrahan is the sole cooper listed in the 1884 Directory. The Pat Coady list of Glenmore craftsmen includes the following coopers: John Hanrahan, Glenmore; James Ivory, of Kilbride; James Dunphy, of Ballyverneen and Nial Brophy, of Slievecarrig, Tullogher (who died about 1914). In 1969, Paddy Forristal provided the name of Wattie “the Cooper” Grant, of Haggard, as another Glenmore cooper who worked in the late 19th century.
DRESSMAKERS
In the 1884 Directory three dressmakers are named: Margaret Bolger, Mrs. Fluskey and Mary Murphy. Nicholas Forristal, in a 1957 interview, noted that Peg Purcell of Busherstown in the 1870’s was a dressmaker and the first person in the district to get a treadle (foot powered) sewing machine.
GROCERS, FLOUR & PROVISION DEALERS
In the 1884 Directory, Robert Fluskey and Nicholas Gaffney are listed under this category.
MASONS
Edward O’Kill is the only person listed as a mason in the 1884 Directory. The Pat Coady list of Glenmore tradesmen has a much more extensive listing of stone masons including: Mick Moore, of Haggard; Mick Doherty, of Ballyveria (Dancer Doherty); Edward Neill, of Weatherstown; Tom Butler, of Flemingstown and the Malones, of Shanbough.
SMITHS
The 1884 Directory lists Edward Haberlin and Patrick Kelly as smiths. The Pat Coady list of Glenmore tradesmen provides the following men working as blacksmiths in the late 19th century: Edward Haberlin, of Aylwardstown; ________ Bohan, of Ballyhobuck; ______ Larrissey, of Robinstown; Paddy Kelly, of Graiguenakill; Dinny Bergin, of Coolnaleen; Tom Henneberry, of Jamestown; Dinny Merrigan, of Ballycroney; George Tracey, of Ballyfacey and Jack Donovan, of Gaulstown. Nicholas Forristal also named Billy and Tom Purcell, of Busherstown as blacksmiths.
TAILORS
Only 2 tailors are listed in the 1884 Directory, namely: John Condon and Philip Malone. The Pat Coady list of Glenmore craftsmen includes the following tailors: Philip Malone, of Mullinahone; Peter Dunphy, of Glenmore Village; J. Walsh, of Glenmore Village; Martin Roche, of Haggard; John Hogan, of Haggard; and John Condon, of Mullinahone.
BAKERS
Although not included in the 1884 Directory, the Pat Coady list of Glenmore craftsmen provides that Nick Hanrahan, of Glenmore Village was a baker. Nick Hanrahan later migrated to Baltinglass.
SHOEMAKERS
The Pat Coady list of Glenmore craftsmen includes the following shoemakers: John Scanlon, of Knockbrack; Jack Hogan, of Rathinure and John Duggan, of Kilbride; Richard Duggan, of Flemingstown (died 1956 at age of 88); John Cassin, of Glenmore Village; Mick Shanahan, of Glenmore Village and James Scanlan, of Glenmore Village.
THATCHERS
The Pat Coady list of Glenmore craftsmen includes the following thatchers: Pat Haberlin, of Forristalstown; Mick McGrath, of Newtown; Jimmy Power, of Jamestown; Richard Hennessy, of Ballyfacey, Tom Laherty, of Ballyfacey (died in 1892) and Martin Kennedy, of Kilbride.
MILLS
Danny in November 2019 named three mills that were operating in Glenmore Village in the 1850’s namely: the Gaffney Mills of Robinstown; the Grace Mill and the Forristal Mill, of Graiguenakill. In addition to grinding grain Gaffney’s also had what Nickolas Forristal referred to as a tuck mill where linen cloth and sheets were made. Old Jack “the Weaver” Walsh of Glenmore came from the Campile area of Co. Wexford, to work as a weaver in Gaffney’s. In 1959 Nicholas Forristal informed Danny that he had been given a couple of items including a shirt made in the Gaffney Mill and described them as “white and as coarse as a bag.”
BRICK MAKING
Danny wrote an article that was published in the Old Kilkenny Review in 1972 and entitled “Glenmore Brickyards: A Forgotten Industry” detailing the brick making that took place in the parish of Glenmore. Billy Forristal operated the last brick works in the Ballyverneen marshes. This business closed in about 1900. The New Ross-Waterford Railway started in 1902 and was completed in 1906. It crossed the Ballyverneen brick marsh and filled most of the brickholes. Earlier in the 19th century a man named Meany made bricks in a brick marsh nearer the river in Carrigcloney.
We hope that you have enjoyed this snapshot of late 19th Century Glenmore. Special thanks to Jacqueline Walsh for the old photos of Glenmore and Louise Walsh for the 2019 photos of Glenmore.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
Glenmore Verses, Rhymes & Lyrics
Over the years Danny recorded a number of verses, rhymes and song lyrics that were recited or sung by Glenmore people. Today, we are going to focus on the local verses, rhymes and lyrics and reserve the lyrics concerning Carrickshock etc. for another day. On 4 January 2020, Danny described the contributions of verses, rhymes and lyrics that he recorded as the “giving of an account, in verse of various happenings, some complimentary and others most uncomplimentary.” The local people who composed or recited verses, rhymes and lyrics were probably not aware of the fact that verses, rhymes and lyrics are all mnemonic devices, or memory devices, that aid a person’s information retention or retrieval. These mnemonic devices were viewed as a form of entertainment, but are valued today as part of the local oral tradition where information and ideas were orally communicated from one generation to the next.
The Suitor
The jilted suitor, or “wannabe” suitor features in some of the local rhymes and verses. Mick Walsh, of Grogan, Davidstown in Glenmore was interviewed on the 10th December 1969, and stated that “Peg Harte was asked by a man to marry her, but she carted him. He was mad after her especially as she had a £1,000 fortune.” After being rejected the man wrote on a poster outside Mallinarrigle chapel, the following verse:
Eliza Harte of Darbystown,
She is little and nothing,
And no great things,
She made her fortune on eggs and hens.
Similarly, Michael Power, of Busherstown, Glenmore told Danny on St. Stephen’s Day 1969 that Pat “Pand” Sheehan was married to Mary “Purse” Walsh. Mary Purse before she married Sheehan “was doing a line with” Johnnie “Pint” Holden and “she let him down.” After being rejected Johnnie “Pint” Holden composed the following rhyme:
Bad luck to you ’ould lazy Pand,
You took my love away,
To spend her life to be your wife,
On the bogs of Ballinclea.
Father Neary–Hero of the Ballyfacy Evictions
A tribute verse to Father Neary, the parish priest of Mullinavat was recorded by Danny on the 6th of May 1958 during an interview of Wattie Power, of Jamestown, Glenmore. During the interview Wattie stated that during the Ballyfacey evictions, his mother along with Danny’s great-grandmother walked from Jamestown to Ballyfacey to protest the evictions. Father Neary was there and saved the tenants from being evicted and on that account a song was composed in Father Neary’s honour. For further information on Fr. Neary and the Ballyfacey evictions see our post of 8 March 2020. Wattie provided the following verse of the song:
The poor they lost a noble friend,
The rich they lost a guide,
The orphans lost a father,
When Fr. Neary died.
School Boy Rhymes
On the other extreme, Wattie Power also recited a rhyme from his youth that referred to a local hedge school that operated in the early 19th century by a man named Philip Wallace, of Redgap.
Phillips scholars against the wall,
A pint of piss would drown them all.
Wattie Power, in 1955, also told Danny that when Wattie was a chap Danny’s grandfather first recited to Wattie a rhyme connected with the practice of keeping hens in the dwellinghouse. According to Wattie up until about 1880 it was quite a common practice to roost hens on stout sticks called cársnáns inside the front door. In some cases the hens were kept on a roost which stretched right across the kitchen from wall to wall. Wattie and Michael Power saw such a roost in Brian McCabe’s old house in Jamestown. The incident which lead to the rhyme below happened somewhere in Glenmore.
You saucy hen of little wit, How dare you down on Cashen shit, Tis in your arse, I’d drive a peg, The way you’ll never lay another egg.
Bread
In 1955 Danny recorded two verses regarding bread that were commonly recited “100 years ago”. Although both are similar one was contributed by Wattie Power, of Jamestown, and the other came from “Nicky the Miller” Forristal of Graiguenakill, Glenmore.
I. Barley bread ’ld kill a man dead,
Rye bread will do him no harm,
Oaten bread will clean the blood
And wheaten bread will strengthen the arm.
II. Barley bread would starve you dead,
Yellow meal bread would do you no harm,
Oaten bread would strengthen your blood,
And wheaten bread would strengthen your arm.
The First Faction Fight
Wattie Power, in November 1955, also recited to Danny an old verse that he heard from the old people when he was a chap regarding St. Patrick’s Day.
The first faction fight in Old Ireland they say,
Was all on account of St. Patrick’s Day,
Some fought for the eighth,
For the ninth some would die,
And whoever said wrong,
They would blacken his eye,
Until Father Mulcahy, he told them their sin,
He said boys don’t be fighting but sometimes combine,
Don’t be always disputing about 8 and 9,
Combine 8 and 9, 17 is the mark,
And let that be his birthday,
Amen said the Clerk.
Ballad of the Drowninng of Two Donkeys
Nicky the Miller in a 1977 interview provided Danny with the following verses from a ballad composed about the “blackguardly deed” of drowning two donkeys in a late in Rochestown. For our international readers the lates of Rochestown are 10 to 12 foot deep drains in the marshes that flow into the river. A man by the name of Gahan, of Rochestown, Glenmore was suspected as being the culprit and was aided by another man. The donkeys were owned by a poor local man called James the Piper. Old James Whelan, “the Walker,” of Ballyhobuck, Glenmore often sang this ballad.
Ye drifters and ye travellers with me do sympathise,
And I hope this lamentation will draw tears down from your eyes,
Concerning this cruel murder that happened here of late,
And to piper’s pair of donkeys they were drowned in the late.
The night was cold and stormy and the north wind it blew harsh,
And for to get some shelter, they strayed into the Marsh.
At 11 or 12 o’clock, their enemy came that way,
And they shoved the pair of donkey down into the dark and dismal late.
And as for his wife Catherine, ‘tis she will feel the smart,
For she was at her liberty, when she had her ass and cart.
The Loss of My Coat
Nicky “the Miller” also provided Danny with the following which are a few verses from another ballad also sung by James Whelan.
The Loss of My Coat T’was beg’n in the month of December, I remember the day of the week, I was cuttin’ furze, earnin’ my wages, The I wasn’t inclined for to sleep, I woke with the blooming of róró, When I arrived at my business, I threw my good coat on the ground, Expecting to do my endeavours, My faggots to lie them right sound. Then I was called to my dinner, Away sure I whistled and bowled, When I returned to my business again, My coat was devoured by a cow, She instantly ran away among numbers, I couldn’t convict her on oath, I sat down in deep contemplation, Bewailing the loss of my coat. I think I will go across the Atlantic, If I can get a ship or boat, And I’ll sail into some warm climate, where I won’t want ‘era coat.
The Wall Families of Treanaree
Sometimes religion or religious practices are credited with being the inspiration, or the alleged inspiration of rhymes and verses. For example, Nicky Walsh, of Grogan, Davidstown, Glenmore, told Danny that there were 3 families of Wall in Treanaree, Slieverue, each with small farms. In the past to ensure that all parishioners contributed to the Church the names and amounts paid by parishioners were read out during Mass. It was said that the Slieverue priest when reading out the list of contributors to the collection unwittingly made a rhyme of the Treanaree Wall families that stuck.
Long Tom, Tom and Tommy,
Big Nick, Dick and Foxy Paddy.
Catechism
In 1958 in the Glenmore National School, Gerald Hines, of Ballybrahee, helped other young scholars with the spelling of Catechism both forward and backwards (although it is not clear the benefit of spelling the word backwards we have included it.)
Forward:
Catty Atty Told Elly Connolly How I Stole Money = CATECHISM
Backwards:
Master Sits In His Chair Each Time At Catechism =MSIHCETAC
Mrs. Deady’s Trimmings
Our final local verse today was said to have been a prayer said by Mrs. Deady, of Upper Ballyfacey, Glenmore as part of “the trimmings” after the praying of the rosary. In Glenmore the rosary after supper each evening was recited. Allegedly a passer-by overheard Mrs. Deady one evening. According to Tom Mullins, late of Flemingstown and Dublin, this verse was attributed to the Paddy O’Connor family of Ballyfacey. Mariah Deady, who is mentioned in the verse, taught some of the Paddy O’Connor brothers when they were at school.
God bless me and my man Pat,
Make Mariah and Mikey fat,
Us four, no more,
Amen.
Update—We will be posting on the webpage a guest article from Martin Forristal concerning Mount Ida in the next week. If you have a guest article concerning Glenmore, that you would like to have posted on the webpage please forward it for consideration to our email glenmore.history@gmail.com.
If you are not aware, material added to the webpage over the past couple of weeks includes: family updates, a list from 1884 of Glenmore farmers, and more useful links.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh