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The First Bicycles, Motor Cars, Radios etc. in Glenmore
As the first of the New Year approaches we decided to list some of the firsts recorded in Danny Dowling’s notebooks. If you know of any other Glenmore firsts please feel free to share them.
Pat Cody, of Glenmore, in his November 1955 interview with Danny discussed the earliest local and parish men who owned bicycles. The Dooley’s of Hoodsgrove, Rosbercon were the very first in the area to get a Penny Farthing bicycle. James Dooley cycled to Dublin and back on a Penny Farthing. Although Pat Cody did not reveal when this trip to Dublin and back took place, Penny Farthing bicycles were popular in the 1870’s and 1880’s and were replaced by chain driven “safety bicycles” that had similar sized tyres in the early 1890’s.
According to Pat Cody, John Condon was the first man in Glenmore Parish to get a bicycle and it was of the Penny Farthing type. Jack Doherty of Milltown was the first to get the solid type safety bicycle. Mr. Dobbyn of Mullinavat got it for him. Mr. Dobbyn was the son of stationmaster of Mullinvat. Richard Grace of Kilbride was the first in Glenmore to get a pneumatic tyred bicycle shortly followed by Jack Power of Clune who also got a pneumatic tyred model.
In 1968 Danny interviewed Mrs. Alice Power, née Curran, (widow of Walter “Wattie” Power).At the time of her interview Alice Curran Power was 87 years of age and identifiedKatie Ennett of Cappah and Minnie Heffernan of Glenmore, as the first women in Glenmore to own and ride bicycles. She stated that John Condon of Mullinahone, Glenmore had a Penny Farthing a long time before the ladies obtained bicycles. Alice and her sister Maggie Curran were the next girls to get bicycles in Glenmore. They bought Rudge-Whitworth bicycles around 1900. At that time bicycles were not being sold in New Ross. The bicycles had to be purchased in Wexford and cost about £11 or £12 each. Alice noted that a few years afterwards bicycles got very plentiful and that Bridget Gaffney also likely had an early bicycle as she was great friends with Katie Ennett and Minnie Heffernan.
Walter “Wattie”Power, of Jamestown, in 1956 informed Danny that the first man ever to get a motor car in Glenmore was his brother-in-law, Nick Curran N.T. (national teacher) in about 1923. It was a Singer. He also recalled that the first radio in Glenmore was obtained by Fr. Bergin, C.C. and shortly thereafter Nicholas Curran also got a radio. Wattie identified Peg Purcell, of Busherstown, Glenmore as the first person “in the district” to get a treadle (foot powered) sewing machine about 1870. Peg Purcell, was Main Gaul’s mother) and was a dressmaker. Peg Purcell died when Wattie was a small child and he recalled that she wore a white bordered bonnet on her head. The make of the treadle sewing machine is not recorded.
In 1958, Danny identified the earliest motor cars and owners in Glenmore that he recalled as follows:
1. Thomas Aylward, Haggard—blue Model T
2. J.K. Walsh, The Village—two tone Morris
3. James Vereker, Grogan—Armstrong, brown
4. Michael Heffernan, The Village—Armstrong Siddey[?] blue
5. Dick Murphy, Robinstown—red, Model T
6. Dan McCarthy, Ballyfacey—Morris, green
7. Jim Walsh, The Village—black, Model T
8. Jim Donovan, Creamery Manager—black, Overland Whippet
9. Mrs. Henrietta Curran, Robinstown—Singer, red with yellow wheels
10. Julia & Ciss Donovan, Robinstown—black, Austin 7
11. Pat & Jim Hanrahan, Robinstown—grey, Ford Model B
12. Dr. Michael Gibbons, C.C.— two seater
13. Ned Grace, Forristalstown—Morris 8
Danny believes that the first steam thresher in Glenmore belonged to Martin Walsh of Ballybrahee, and Dick Murphy of Robinstown had the first tractor in Glenmore parish. He also believes that the first telephone belonged to Jim Donovan the first creamery manager. According to Danny the first electricity in Glenmore was generated by the creamery and the creamery supplied electricity to the Village during Tom Cudihy’s time. Tom Cudihy was the second Glenmore Creamery Manager and came around 1932. Danny believes that he had the first television in Glenmore and he obtained it when he lived in Jamestown. He recalls that people came all the way from Ross to watch it.
Update (24 Feb. 2021) According to the obituary of James Hannigan published in the Kilkenny People (Fri. 30 Sept. 1960, p. 5) James Hannigan, a native of Glenmore Village was the first person in Glenmore to own a phonograph.
Happy New Year to all of our readers!
Santa and Driving Out the Hunger in Glenmore
Christmas
To date 19 of Danny Dowling’s notebooks have been transcribed. Within the 19 transcribed notebooks there is very little recorded regarding Christmas or New Year’s in Glenmore during earlier times. However, in 1969 Danny Dowling interviewed Nicholas Forristal (1888-1979) of The Mill, Graiguenakill, Glenmore. Nicholas Forristal is usually referred to by Danny as “Nicky the Miller.” Nicky informed Danny that in his childhood there was no Santa Clause. Children before the First World War in Glenmore did not believe in Santa and he “did not come around.”
During Nicky’s youth the emphasis at Christmas was on “plenty of grub, steak and beef.” The grocers with whom people dealt gave big hampers to their customers at Christmas. Nicky recalled that his uncle, Billy Forristal of Ballyverneen, Glenmore, one Christmas received ½ a gallon of whiskey as a Christmas gift from Stevenson’s the Grocer’s in North St., New Ross, where Mace was located in 1969.
New Year’s
In a 1958 interview Nicky the Miller discussed a custom entitled “driving away the hunger,” which was performed on New Year’s Eve. He noted that it was practiced all over the parish of Glenmore during his youth and other parishes in “his father’s time.” Nicky’s father was Patrick Forristal, (1849-1931) of The Mill, Graiguenakill, Glenmore. Nicky’s father was born during the Famine. Paddy Forristal performed this custom each New Year’s Eve during Nicky’s youth.
The procedure for “driving away the hunger” began with a griddle of oaten bread being baked on the fire. The cake when baked was divided into 4 pieces. The head of the house took one portion in his hand, stood up from the table and walked to the front door, and as he struck the back of the door with the bread he recited the following verse three times:
Fógramég, Fógraméy, Gortamac,
Anoct Go Blén Anoct
Agus Anoct Féinye
Ó Faireac Go Deíreac
Igír na Torcac
Na Gort Gan Bolenstóce
[Update 25 November 2023–Thanks to Trish Bradfield for sending a translation for this old Irish verse. “Tell me, tell them, about the Famine tonight, and all year from my heart that no hunger goes untold, from here on in.”]
After each time the verse was recited everyone in the house would stand up and give a shout. After completion of ceremony, all in the house would get bit of the lump of bread used for striking the door. All in the house would then sit down and eat the bread with a jug of milk.
It was said that at driving away the hunger ceremonies in the Rower area the hunger was driven to Woodstock.
On behalf of Glenmore-History.com we wish you all a very Happy Christmas and New Year with plenty of “good grub!”
The drawing of Santa above was done by Thomas Nast in 1881 and entitled “Merry Old Santa Claus.”
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
Glenmore Folk Remedies For Humans & Animals
From the beginning of time people have attempted to treat illnesses with home or folk remedies. Today, many of the remedies that were employed 100 years ago may be unknown to most of us. In 1955, Walter Power of Jamestown, Glenmore was interviewed by Danny Dowling regarding folk remedies that Wattie observed prior to 1900.
Three times over the door or Trí hárd don doras
This was a rite to cure weakness or sudden illness and was observed in the parish of Glenmore down to about 1895. This remedy consisted of kneeling on the doorstep with one knee on each side of the trestle and at the same time picking a wee bit of dust from the outside of the threshold and dropping it into a small drop of water in a cup which was held in one hand. Another pinch of dust was taken from the middle of the top of the threshold and likewise deposited into the water. The third and final pinch was taken from the floor inside the threshold. When this was deposited into the water, the water was given to the sick person to drink three sups of it whilst what was left of it was emptied on the back of the fire in the kitchen. Wattie reported that this remedy never failed to revive a sick person. It used to be given to a person with amackum (bad appearance).
Cure for Rickets
Another cure which was in vogue up to about 1895, was that for rickets. This consisted of getting an ass and bringing him into the kitchen and giving him something to eat. The patient had to creep right under his (the ass’s) belly from one side to the other and back again. Then the patient went round to the ass’s head whence he crawled between the front legs right under it, and out under the hind legs and again back in under the hind and out beneath the front. This was repeated three times and corresponded to making the sign of the cross three times. Wattie Power told Danny that he went through this treatment when young and remembered it vividly.
In 1975, Danny Dowling interviewed his brother-in-law Tom Barron of Ballyconway, Thomastown, regarding some folk remedies that Tom had witnessed people use.
Measles
A cure or treatment for measles was sheep saffron (dung) and white wine mixed together. The mixture was then given to the patient to drink.
Warts
If you happened to find a stone with a hole in it containing water that water could be rubbed on warts to get rid of the warts. It was always a cure so long as the stone was found without looking for it.
Ringworm on Calves
Ringworm on calves was treated with waste oil and black sulphur mixed together and spread on the affected parts.
Worms in Cattle-tails
If a cow had a worm in her tail, a slit would be made in the skin of the tail and a bulb of garlic inserted. According to Tom Barron this was always a success.
Foot Rot in Cattle
To cure foot rot in cattle the farmer would watch where the animal let down the affected foot on the ground. The sod would then be cut in the shape of a half diamond on the spot, and the sod would be turned upside down, and the sod squeezed back into from where it was cut. As the grass withered away, the foot is at the same time curing. According to Tom Walsh of Rathinure this treatment was referred to as treasluach in Glenmore (pronounced tras-loock).
Farcy in Horses
To treat farcy in horses the farmer would get two small pieces of the she dog root, slit the skin of the horse’s forehead, and then insert the two small pieces of the she dog root in the form of a cross. According to Tom Barron this was a great cure.
Sores & Cuts on Cattle or Humans
Nicholas Forristal, of Graiguenakill, Glemore, in 1977 reported to Danny that urine was a common remedy for sores on cattle, but humans also used it. If a man cut his finger the cure was to urinate on it a few times. For sore hands, “got from binding corn,” the old people always used to put urine on their hands. It was a sure cure. Nicholas Forristal believed it was the salt content of the urine that healed the sores and cuts.
Remedy for Rheumatism
Joseph Flynn, late of Busherstown, Glenmore, but then of Grantstown in Co. Waterford, in an undated interview, provided the following remedy for rheumatism.
1 ounce cream of tartar
1 ounce epsom salts
One lemon.
Put the lot into one pint of water, and bring to boil. Then allow it to simmer until the lemon is dissolved. Then strain into a bottle which must be kept corked. A wine glassful of the liquid must be taken each morning before breakfast.
Abuse of Remedies
In 1989, Tom Walsh of Rathinure, Glenmore was interviewed by Danny and provided information concerning the “cunnawee” for the treatment of warts, the headache stone of Kilcolumb, and misadventures that befell individuals who abused the cures.
The “cunnawee” (yellow hound) was said to be served to St. Patrick by the inhabitants of Ballincrea in an effort to poison St. Patrick. Before St. Patrick began to eat he blessed the meal presented whereupon the hound instantly came alive. The hound jumped off the plate and crashed into a stone leaving the imprint of its head in the stone. Water was always supposed to be present in the impression. People with warts went there to put the water on their warts and it would get rid of the warts. Often offerings were left.
A man named Murphy from Davidstown, who was very fond of drink, went to this stone at the “cunnawee” to see if he could find any offerings. He found seven pence and a halfpenny with which he went to the pub and drank it. Sometime afterwards, he got a sore throat that turned out to be cancerous from which he died. The locals used to say it was on account of taking the offering money from St. Patrick’s stone.
Saint Columbcill’s stone is in the field west of the Kilcolumb church ruins in the townland of Rathinure. The stone has three large hallowed out bowls and originally had two small holes in one side of the stone. It is believed that this stone was the holy water font of the church and it was removed from the church during penal times and dumped in the field where it has remained. Local lore has it that any person who can place his head in the centre “bowl” at the same time placing one knee in each of the other two “bowls” will never suffer from headaches. This was a common cure for headaches in the old days. Tom Walsh related that one of the small “holes” where a thumb was able to fit in, by persons desiring to rid themselves of headaches, was knocked off by the swing of the plough striking against it. It appears that the man was ploughing the field and kept so near the stone that the damage was caused. He was dead before the next morning.
Update–New family information was added to the family page over the past week. To date 19 of Danny’s notebooks have been transcribed and only information from three notebooks has been placed on the family page so far.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
Glenmore: Between Waterford and New Ross [Updated]
As touched upon in our previous post regarding the Glenmore Post Office, the main Waterford to New Ross road has always passed through the parish of Glenmore. Today, before the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy bridge opens crossing the River Barrow at the Pink Rock in Glenmore and bypasses the town of New Ross, the distance of the N25 between the Rice Bridge of Waterford and the O’Hanrahan Bridge of New Ross is 13.4 miles.
Danny Dowling has recorded the rich oral tradition of Glenmore and his notebooks contain information regarding ships, railway, roads, and lanes that linked Glenmore to both Waterford and New Ross. Today, on the verge of the opening of the New Ross by-pass Danny wanted to highlight the known changes through Glenmore of the main road from Waterford to New Ross.
Main Road Between Waterford & New Ross
There are several old maps available on line primarily held by Trinity and UCD. Trinity has the Down Survey Maps of 1656-1658 available at http://downsurvey.tcd.ie/down-survey-maps.php. This survey was supervised by the Surgeon General of the British Army, Dr. William Petty. The purpose of the survey was to measure and record the lands owned by Catholic landholders that were forfeited. These forfeited lands were then to be distributed to English soldiers and other Cromwell supporters.
UCD has a collection of old maps available at https://digital.ucd.ie/view/ivrla:426. Maps in this collection include a 1711 map by Charles Price which is entitled “A Correct Map of Ireland, Divided into Provinces, Counties and Baronies and Showing Road…” and a 1762 map by John Rocque with a longer title, “A Map of the Kingdom of Ireland, Divided into Provinces, Counties & Baronies, Showing the Archbishop, Bishops, Cities, Burroughs, Market Towns, Villages, Barracks…Ferries, Passes: Also the Great, the Branch and the by Post Roads.”
From a Glenmore perspective the three maps above are important more from what they do not show than what they do show. Glenmore does not appear as either a market town or village. A ferry is depicted at Ferrybank and at Rosbercon. The road between Waterford and New Ross is depicted as almost a straight line from Ferrybank to Rosbercon, with little detail provided along the length of the depicted road in these eighteenth century maps.
Prior to the old mail coach road local tradition indicates that the path of the oldest known road between Waterford and New Ross commenced in Ferrybank. This road then went to Mile Post into Slieverue Village and onto what is now Glenmore Village via the High Road down through the Churns across the village stream out through Cappagh and onto Ballygurrim to Butterbridge, and onto the ferry at Rosbercon. It is believed that the “main road” made use of existing lanes that linked villages and hamlets. The road that locally became known as “the churns” derived its name from two markers shaped like churns near its intersection with the High Road.
The mail coach road shortened the journey because it was more direct. This is believed to be the road depicted in the 18th century maps. From Ferrybank the mail coach road went to Mile Post, through Slieverue Village and onto Glenmore parish. The road turned at Donovan’s Mill and followed the “High Road” across the townlands of Scartnamore, Rathinure, onto the Halfwayhouse in Aylwardstown, where the horses would be changed. Instead of turning left at the Churns to go down into the Village of Glenmore, the old mail coach road went past Forristal’s Mill in Graiguenakill, onto Forristalstown, Shambough past the old Shambough school, to Butterbridge, to Rosbercon and onto New Ross.
Travel Between Waterford & New Ross in 1829
Update: 16 June 2023–thanks to Andrew Doherty of Waterford Tides and Tales who shared the following 1829 article that describes the road between Waterford and New Ross.
“COMMUNICATION BETWEEN WATERFORD AND ROSS. —That beautiful little steamer the Eclipse arrived the quay at ten o’clock morning from Ross with between twenty and thirty passengers, performing the voyage which is eighteen miles, in two hours. This vessel is quite new and has been brought over from Bristol to see if she can made to answer on our river. We think there is little doubt of the fact. As a mode of conveyance between this and Ross, it will have many advantages.
The present road is quite abominable —rough, and all up and down hill, so much so that the nominal riders per car are very frequently in the predicament of our countryman in the bottomless sedan-chair, who said, if it war’n’t for the honour of the thing, he’d as live walk.’ In fact our travellers on this primitive road, who by the national vehicle, commonly half the way on foot, through sheer necessity; and this pleasant journey of ten miles usually occupies three good hours!” (Waterford Mail – Sat. 16 May 1829, p. 4)
This road was in use as the main road until 1836. Just three years earlier in 1833 the road became notorious when a landlord was attacked and stoned to death in Shanbough “at the Glenmore hill” as he travelled in his gig from Waterford to New Ross. For further details on this murder click here.
The New Line
In 1836 the “New Line” was built through Glenmore parish and shortened the journey between New Ross and Waterford. Instead of turning at Donovan’s Mill and following the High Road the New Line was built to run from Carriganurra to Gaulestown. A Halfwayhouse was built at Ballinaraha, Glenmore and marked the halfway point between Waterford and New Ross. The New Line continued along the top of the Village of Glenmore and at this point it ran parallel to the old mail coach road and intersected the Churns. Thereafter it went toward the river via the Pink Rock went on through Shanbough to Raheen and to the New Ross Bridge. It is believed that after the 1798 Rebellion the military acknowledged the need for a better road system to move troops. Many of the roads improved in the early part of the 19th century were designed by the military. One of the more interesting details concerning the building of the New Line through Glenmore is the fact that several local women and girls worked on its construction.
Update of 4 June 2021–the following was found regarding the building of the new line along the Barrow (Waterford Chronicle Sat. 5 March 1836, p. 7_–Letter to the Editor of the Waterford Chonicle, Ross, February 23d, 1836
“Sir—Permit me through the columns of your independent paper to draw the attention of those persons concerned in the navigation of the river between Cheek Point and New Ross, to what, if permitted to be carried on much longer, will render the navigation of vessels of a large class to the town wholly impeded, and I trust if this letter meet the eye of the contractor of the new line of road to Waterford, via Lucy Rock, he will see the necessity of discontinuing a practice which would eventually be incalculable injury to the trade of Ross.
Whether by order of such contractor, immense quantities of stone rubbish and stuff, dug in making the new road above mention, are thrown over the rock into that part of the river called the West Channel, and at the very narrowest part too, not being more than 45 or 50 feet wide at his point; ‘tis most unwarrantable, this being heretofore the safest and deepest part for vessels of a large draft of water, flowing eight fathoms and a half at low water. But if the practice I have allude to is continued, the flow being so narrow at this point, it would eventually become as shallow as other parts of the river. If such conduct on the part of those road makers be not immediately discontinued, I call on the merchants and shipowners of Ross, in defence of their trade and the navigation of the river, to take immediate steps for its prevention. Your obedient servant, Michael Dunn, pilot”
N25
Today, the N25 through the parish of Glenmore generally follows the New Line except when it was completed in about 1991 the new road bypassed going along the river at the Pink Rock. Also, the portion of the Churns from the High Road crossing the New Line was closed. Today, a large roundabout now sits near the site of Forristal’s Mill in Graiguenakill and the Glenmore Roundabout will allow motorists to bypass New Ross.
The Old Bridges at Waterford & New Ross
The two bridges that connected Glenmore to Waterford and New Ross were very important to our ancestors. A timber bridge has spanned the River Suir at Waterford from 1794 and survived until 1910. The old timber bridge was referred to as “Timbertoes,” and was built by Lemuel Cox of Massachusetts. It remained a toll bridge for a century.
[Update 14 Aug. 2022–The New Ross Standard published on 4 Oct. 1907 (p. 6) that “At midnight on the 31st Dec. next the Toll Bridge at Waterford will be, henceforward thrown open free to the public.”]
The first bridge at New Ross was built in 1799, and it survived until January 1867 when it was destroyed by an ice flow. On 8 December 2019 Danny related that locals often reported that old Jim Culleton (1867-1962) of Kilbride, Glenmore was born the night the New Ross Bridge fell. The mid-wife from Ross was not able to attend his birth because the bridge at New Ross collapsed. A quick check of the parish records revealed that James Colleton (sic) the son of John Colleton (sic) and Brigid Walsh was born at Kilbride on the 22nd of January 1867 and baptized on the 24th. A newspaper article that appeared in the Waterford News reported on Friday the 25th of January 1867 that the bridge at New Ross collapsed the previous Saturday i.e. the 19th of January. This article contains some interesting information concerning the bridge and because it was privately owned it too appears to have been a toll bridge.
Special thanks to Louise Walsh for the photos and Peter Walsh for the representational drawing of the New Line and Old Mail Road.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
Dying, Funerals & Wakes in Glenmore
There is nothing more certain than death, and nothing more uncertain than the time of death. Thomas Payne
Danny Dowling’s notebooks contain several references to the folklore and customs surrounding dying, funerals and wakes in Glenmore prior to the twentieth century. While some of the folklore and customs are similar to those found elsewhere in Ireland some appear to be unique to this area.
Banshee Announces Death
The notebooks contain local examples of the warning of the Banshee announcing death. For example, Nicholas “Nicky the Miller” Forristal (1888-1979) of Graguenakill, Glenmore reported to Danny in June 1957 that the banshee alerted relatives to the death of Peggy Kennedy of Rathinure. The Michilín Kennedy’s had a farm of about 40 Irish acres in Rathinure, Glenmore. There were four siblings including Michilín, Paudín, Risteardín and Peggy. None of the siblings married. The last of the family was Peggy Kennedy who sold the farm to Billy Forristal of Ballyverneen for £400. Billy was a distant cousin to Peggy.
Nicholas Forristal stated that he saw Peggy Kennedy a few times. She was aged between 80 and 90 years of age when she died in about 1877. It was widely reported that the night she died the banshee passed through Billy Forristel’s yard in Ballyvarneen at about 1 o’clock. He was in bed and heard the screeching. Billy said to the wife “gor Peggie must be dead.” He got up saddled a horse and rode to Rathinure. When he arrived he found that Peggy was “just after dying.” Another local example was provided by Alice Mackey, nee Power of Glenmore. Alice told Danny in March 1989 that she was minding Main McCabe in Jamestown. Alice heard the banshee screech once inside the house and then Main died.
The Wake
In Glenmore after a person died the mirror in the house would be covered with a cloth. Sometimes the mirror would be turned into the wall. Clocks were stopped at the time of death. The deceased was laid out on his/her bed and waked for two nights. The body was never left unattended by close family. Friends would call to the house to pay their respects. Pipes, tobacco, snuff and whiskey were provided to those calling to the house.
Wattie Power, of Jamestown in his 1956 interview revealed, that at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, wakes were events for all types of pranks. He said that James Power at big Mary’s wake in Clune lifted her corpse out of the bed for a prank. The farmers’ barns were the usual venue for games, when the wake happened to be in a farmer’s house. Nicholas Forristal, of Graiguenakill, in 1977 recalled that Blind Jack and Blind Man’s Bluff were games played at wakes. Blind Jack consisted of blindfolding one man with a púcín and then asking him to guess who struck him across the jaw, from those in the group.
The Rahawn
The deceased would be placed in a coffin usually on the morning of the third day. The coffin would be placed on four chairs outside the door. After removal of the coffin the chairs were turned upside down until after the deceased was buried. Nicholas Forristal in July 1957 also recalled that at the funeral of his grandfather, James Cardiff, a keener was present. He noted that a rahawn, was the word used to describe the keen or rhyme that was sung concerning the deceased’s good points. A keener or group of keeners would sing at the wake and funeral. The grave for the deceased would be dug by neighbours and friends. The grass on the grave would be carefully skinned off and the skinned grass would be rolled up and placed to one side.
Funeral Procession & Prayers at Crossroads
Before professional undertakers the coffin would be carried by the pall bearers to the churchyard. The old churchyards around Glenmore were in use well into the twentieth century when all burials took place in the churchyard adjacent to St. James Parish Church. According to Nicholas Forristal until the 1880’s the coffin would be left down at certain locations where prayers would be said usually at crosses (crossroads). For a history of St. James see our post of 19 November 2019.
Danny recalls being told that stones were thrown at certain monumental sceachs as the funeral procession passed. This occurred at the crossroads of Jamestown there were two old sceach growing in Greene’s haggard where the shed is now. When a funeral passed this spot on the way to the churchyard, the chief mourners always fired a stone at the sceachs over the ditch from the roadside. Danny never saw a stone being thrown at these sceachs, but he does remember a heap of stones at the bottom of these sceachs. The area was cleared about 70 years ago for the erection of the shed. It is believed that the throwing of the stones was a symbolic gesture of keeping evil away from the deceased.
No Chapel or Priest
The funeral procession would bring the coffin straight to the Glenmore churchyard where it was carried around the churchyard before interment. The chapel was not used for funeral services, and no priest attended the burial. This was not unique to Glenmore. (See, James Mooney, “The Funeral Customs of Ireland,” 25(128) Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society (July-Dec 1888) pp. 243-296, available at https://www.jstor.org/stable/983061). Andy Heffernan, of Aylwardstown, was married to Bridgie Roche of Rathinure. He told Danny that one morning at a funeral in Glenmore churchyard for a deceased of Rathinure they saw the priest ride by on his horse on the way to join the hunt. The priest did not stop, acknowledge the funeral procession, or offer any prayers for the deceased.
Month’s Mind
Danny noted that a month’s mind or requiem mass was held one month after the death if the family could afford it. Before the twentieth century it was held in the house of the deceased. In some areas a year’s mind was sometimes celebrated in the chapel on the first anniversary of the death. After the interment in the Glenmore churchyard the rolled up grass would be unrolled and placed on the new grave. This was referred to as putting the “green quilt” on the grave.
Workhouse Deaths
Circumstances for the poor were very different. Some of the deceased who were poor were buried at night without any wake. If a Glenmore person died in the workhouse in Waterford the deceased would be put into a large bag by the Workhouse. The bagged corpse could be collected by a family member and it was common for the corpse to be transported to Glenmore on the back of the family member who collected it. Today, Danny recalled the often repeated story of the two men who collected a corpse at the Waterford Workhouse. The corpse was carried to Slieverue where it was left outside the pub while the men went in. They collected the corpse and carried it on their backs to Kilcolumb graveyard where they buried it. Today, Danny said that there is a Stranger’s plot in the Glenmore churchyard. It is at the very back of the churchyard in the right hand corner where strangers who died in Glenmore were buried.
Undertakers
According to Danny there was never an undertaker in Glenmore. However, Tom Fitzgerald, a native of Weatherstown, Glenmore, was an undertaker with premises in New Ross in the first half of the twentieth century. He also owned a butcher’s shop. Charlies Linegar when interviewed in 2005 noted that Dead Man Kielthy worked on Tom Fitzgerald’s hearse as a helper. He also had a covered car which held about four persons. If his covered car was utilised for important persons such as the gentry Fitzgerald would place plumes on the horses. Danny believes that Kielthy was from Gaulestown in Glenmore. With the coming of the professional undertaker horse drawn hearses, and later motorised hearses, replaced the walking funeral procession in Glenmore.
It is believed that one of the last funeral processions where a coffin was carried by pall bearers from the deceased’s home to the Glenmore churchyard occurred during the winter of 1947. Bridget Heffernan née Kennedy of Alwardstown died at the age of 93 and the roads were drifted shut with snow. Her coffin was carried by pall bearers across the fields from Alwardstown to Glenmore.
Glenmore Grave Robbing?
In Glenmore after a funeral the chapel door would be left open and the chief mourners would spend a certain number of nights in the chapel to ensure that the new grave would not be robbed. Danny stated today that Nicholas Forristal told him that prior to around 1880 a man who lived at the bottom of the “churns” in Glenmore used to dig up a fresh corpse, place the corpse in a large basket in a horse drawn cart, drive the corpse into Waterford and sell it to a doctor who would use the corpse for training new doctors. The man on his return trip from Waterford was said to fill the basket with bread and bring it back to Glenmore. It is not known if grave robbing actually occurred in Glenmore or if it was fireside story based on grave robbing occurring elsewhere and reported in newspapers.
Wearing the Clothes of the Deceased
Alice Mackey née Power in 1989 described the custom of people wearing the clothes of the deceased. She said that it was a common practice the Glenmore area for generations but was dying out. When Main Gaule, of Busherstown, was dying she gave Alice instructions that Statia Brennan of Shanbough was to wear the clothes, shawl, blouse and skirt for Main’s soul after Main died. Statia Brennan was to bring to Main’s clothes to Main’s house before mass and put them on. After Mass she was to return and take them off before returning to her own home.
This was to be repeated on the two following Sundays. According to Alice, Statia Brennan, didn’t carry out the instructions to the detail as instructed. After wearing them for the first Sunday, she brought them to her own home in Shanbogh. For the purpose a new shawl had to be purchased in Watt Holden’s in Ross. Today, Danny said that as a chap he was told that the wearing of the deceased’s clothes was to ensure that the deceased would not be naked in the hereafter. He recalled that the Holden’s of Clune wore the clothes of a deceased for an entire year.
The Will of Peg Freany
Perhaps one of the most interesting entries in Danny’s notebooks concerns the Will of Peg Freaney of Tory Hill, Mullinavat. Nicholas Forristal, in his June 1957 interview stated that Peg died about 1882 and stipulated in her Will that a gallon of whiskey for every £100 she left should be drank at her wake. Peg left £1300 and her wishes were carried out.
Special thanks to Louise Walsh for the photos of the graveyards.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
The Glenmore Post Office: Its Rise and Demise
Stephen Ferguson, the author of The Post Office in Ireland: An Illustrated History noted that the Irish Post Office was established by an Act of Parliament that separated it from the British Post Office in 1784. At that time there were 145 post towns in Ireland, and by 1814 the number of post towns increased to 379. Ferguson also highlighted the difficulties of transporting the mail. He quoted from the diary of Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin, a hedge-school master from Callan, who wrote in 1829 that the post coach from Dublin to Cork took 21 hours. Ó Súilleabháin found this an improvement because 50 years earlier the post coach from Kilkenny to Dublin took up to 2 days to arrive. However, it would be a further 50 years before Glenmore would obtain its first post office.
Two Post Coach Roads
Although two post coach roads passed through the parish of Glenmore, the Village of Glenmore did not obtain a post office until around 1870. The most prominent post coach road was the Waterford to New Ross road. Part of this route is easily found today if one follows what locals refer to as the “High Road.” The High Road runs through Scartnamore, Rathinure, Aylwaystown to Graiguenakill. The Halfwayhouse in the townland of Aylwardstown still bears the name of the midway point on the Waterford-New Ross post road where coaches stopped to change horses.
In 1989 Danny Dowling interviewed Tom Walsh (1908-1992) of Rathinure, formerly of Davidstown, who noted that the “Mountain Road” was formerly part of the Thomastown-Waterford Post Coach Road. The route was via Mullinarrigle, Ballyfacey, Haggard, Ballinlammy, the Árs Mhor and the Mountain Road to Slieverue where it joined the New Ross to Waterford Road. The cross or connecting road between the Mountain Road and the Main Waterford-New Ross Road at Gaulstown was known as the Grugán.
In 1836, the “New Line” was opened providing a more direct road through the parish from Waterford to New Ross, and today the N25 still follows sections of the “New Line” above the Village of Glenmore. Eventually post coaches were replaced with lighter horse drawn cars and until the post office in Glenmore was established the Waterford and New Ross mail car would stop along the route at points where inhabitants would gather to collect their letters and packages. The speed of delivery was greatly increased with the opening of the Ross-Waterford railway in 1904 with a small station established in Aylwardstown.
In 1977 Danny interviewed Dan Doyle, formerly of Ballyverneen who worked as a ganger on the building of the Ross-Waterford railway. Dan Doyle stated that in 1919 he was working in the New Ross station and the fixed time train table brought 11 trains into New Ross daily. At 10:25 a.m. a train carrying mail from Dublin arrived and at 3:15 p.m. a train carrying mail from Waterford for Dublin arrived in New Ross. Even after the coming of the railway local mail was still collected from and delivered to the railway station in Aylwardstown in horse drawn vehicles or bicycle and delivered to Glenmore inhabitants via bicycle.
The First Glenmore Post Office
The first Glenmore post master was William Powell a retired policeman. He first came to Glenmore as a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary, and was stationed in the Glenmore Barracks. When Powell retired he opened in his dwelling house the first Glenmore post office in about 1870. The first Glenmore post office was situated on the opposite side of the road up the hill from the Barracks. At the time of the first post office the inhabitants of the parish had to collect their mail at the post office. The Powell house no longer exists, but if it did it would be directly opposite Francis O’Brien’s house. William Powell, died on the 1 August 1880, aged 72 and his widow Bridget Powell died in Robinstown on 9 August 1891.
The Second Glenmore Post Office
The second Glenmore post office was located in the shop of Robert Fluskey. While the post office was in Fluskey’s shop the services expanded to include a delivery service and the local telephone exchange was established. Edward “Ned” Kehoe of Aylwardstown was the first man ever appointed to deliver the post in Glenmore. He had a bicycle to travel around and was provided with a whistle to indicate he was in the area. Ned Kehoe would visit various areas of the parish on designated days, stop at a cross roads or group of houses and blow his whistle. The local inhabitants would gather to collect their mail. Ned Kehoe was born about 1875 and was the son of Patrick and Kate Kehoe of Aylwardstown. Ned Kehoe was known as being an industrious fellow. In addition to being a post man he farmed his 10 acre farm and also worked on various projects including the building of the chimney at the Creamery.
The Third Glenmore Post Office
The third Glenmore post office was located in Alice Ryan’s dwelling house which is opposite the pub. It is believed that delivery to each house in the parish on a daily basis began either during the later years of the second post office or at the beginning of the third. Today, many of the older inhabitants recall Foxy Wattie Power and Tommy Power who delivered daily in Glenmore. Each man was responsible for delivering to half of the parish.
The Fourth Glenmore Post Office
The fourth and last post office was Hanrahan’s located opposite and down the hill from the Church. The Glenmore post office closed in November 2018 upon the retirement of Kathleen Hanrahan, thus ending almost 150 years of the Glenmore Post Office. At the time of the closure the range of services provided by the post office was extensive including a variety of savings accounts, social welfare payments and payment of licence fees and utility bills etc.
Today all that remains is the post box outside the Village Shop which is run by Noeleen Fogarty née Hennessey at Hanrahan’s. A post box at the cross roads just above the old Aylwardstown railway station is still visible in the wall. An examination of the old post box reveals that it was made during the reign of Edward the VII (1901-1910) and was later painted green. It was established at the time of opening of the railway station as a convenience for travellers. Today it bears a notice that it is no longer in service.
Special thanks to Jacqueline Walsh for the old photos of the second Glenmore Post Office, and Louise Walsh for the recent photos.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh