Nicholas Forristal (1888-1979)
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Glenmore’s Secret Society of Whitefeet [Updated]
Secret agrarian societies in Ireland date back to the 1760’s when the Whiteboy movement started in Tipperary. Whiteboys were a form of rural vigilantism to fight against tithes or the enclosing of common land. Sometimes they were referred to as Levellers because they levelled fences or ditches enclosing land. (James S. Donnelly (1977-1978) “The Whiteboy Movement, 1761-5.” Irish Historical Studies, p. 21). Between 1760 and the Famine in 1845 there were outbreaks of rural violence in Ireland. Other groups developed including: the Threshers, Carders, Rockites, and Whitefeet. The most common agrarian crime committed by these groups was the anonymous notice or threatening letter (S.R. Gibbons, (1982) Rockites and Whitefeet: Irish Peasant Secret Societies, 1800-1845 (University of Southhampton, Doctoral Thesis)).
Threatening Letters
S. R. Gibbons examined 500 threatening letters and concluded that these groups were concerned with five primary issues.
The first issue concerned land, especially conacre, the availability of tenancies, rents and wages. Conacre was the letting of a small piece of land for the growing of a specific crop. Usually, the crop was potatoes. No relationship developed between the landlord, middleman or grower under conacre.
The second issue concerned efforts to regulate local employment and necessities. Thus, threatening letters were used to maintain employment, to procure the dismissal of “stranger labourers”, to regulate the prices of basic commodities and to prevent the export of food from the immediate locality.
The third issue the secret societies sought to control were the tithe valuations and the elimination of proctors. The tithes were taxes imposed for the support of the Church of Ireland. Eventually, the secret societies sought to abolish the tithe.
The fourth issue concerned the condemnation of Protestants and Orangemen.
The fifth issue the secret societies sought to influence in their threatening letters and notices concerned legal and political issues, including distraint, the police and the obtaining of arms. (Gibbons (1982) Rockites and Whitefeet: Irish Peasant Secret Societies, 1800-1845). Distraint was the legal mechanism where a landlord could have the personal property of his tenant seized for the payment of rent arrears. Animals or crops were often seized and then sold.
Growth and Membership of the Secret Societies
The growth of such societies was fuelled by the end of the Napoleonic Wars when the price of crops plummeted and grazing became more lucrative than tillage. In order to survive many Irish men resisted by joining secret societies and violence often followed. It has been opined that membership of the secret agrarian societies depended on whether disturbances took place during the period of prosperity when the landless revolted or during depressions when substantial farmers joined (James S. Connelly, Jr., (1983) “The Social Composition of Agrarian Rebellions in the Early 19th Century Ireland: The Case of the Carders and Caravats, 1813-1816” in Radical, Rebels & Establishments (Corish ed.) 151-170 Maynooth: Appletree. p. 154-155). Thus, at various times different classes joined the secret societies.
Glenmore Whitefeet Letters & Notices
Below are copies of threatening letters or posters that were placed in or around Glenmore primarily in the 1830’s.
The oldest reference to a secret society operating in Glenmore, then referred to as Glanmore, was published in June 1777. “On the 9th ult. After sunset, upwards of 300 of those lawless miscreants, called White Boys, assembled on the High Road, leading from Ross to Waterford, in Ireland, near the lands of Glanmore, and, without the least provocation, beat and wounded in a cruel and barbarous manner, Mr. W. Innes, of Rathpatrick, in the County of Kilkenny. In consequence of which, the principal neighbouring gentlemen have offered a spirited reward, for apprehending, and prosecuting to conviction, the persons concerned therein” (Northampton Mercury, Mon. 16 June 1777, p. 3).
In December 1831 the Tithe War resulted in the killing of 14 police at the townland of Carrickshock in Co. Kilkenny. [For further details regarding the Tithe, see Stephen McCormack (2005) “The Tithe War: Reports by Church of Ireland Clergy to Dublin Castle,” 4(13) History of Ireland. See our post of 20 Sept. 2020 regarding Glenmore and the Tithe Tax.]
Within a month of Carrickshock notices regarding Whitefeet threats made in or around Glenmore began to appear and were reported widely in newspapers.
1832
The Waterford Mail (Sat. 3 Nov. 1832, p. 3) published copies of two notices posted on the chapel doors of Glanmore.
“Take notice, Mr. Strange of Elwardstown (sic) not sell or bestow the value of one penny to the Police of Glanmore or else if you do, quit this land—Written by the Gentlemen regulators of Ireland. I hope you all will take notice by this, let no person take down this notice.”
“Take notice any person or persons that will sell or bestow to the value of one penny to the Police of Glanmore, or else if you do ye will be condemned to ashes both yourself and your property it is written by the grate (sic) and worthy regulators of Ireland.”
Laurence Strange, Esq., of Aylwardstown, held a lease from the Earl of Bessborough. The 1833 Griffith’s Valuation provides that Strange farmed 63 acres and was landlord to 252 acres. Thus, Laurence Strange was the landlord of the townland although he was not the owner of the land.
[Updated 8 Oct. 2025] In October 1832, “the house of Patrick Fitzgerald, of Weatherstown, near Rosbercon, was attacked on Wednesday night by an armed party of Whitefeet, who broke in his door and robbed him of a gun. They fired several shots into the house” [Dublin Evening Packet & Correspondent, Sat. 13 Oct. 1832, p. 3].
Patrick Fitzgerald of Weatherstown continued to be attacked. The following month, “on Sat. night a cow, the property of Patrick Fitzgerald, of Weatherstown, near Ross, was hanged in consequence, it is supposed, of his taking land about 18 months back (Wexford Conservative, Sat. 17 Nov. 1832, p. 1). Other newspapers stated that the cow was haughed.
“The houses of Laurence Sullivan, of Ballybrahy, and Martin Holden, of Annis, in the above neighbourhood, were visited by parties of Whitefeet on Saturday night who robbed them of fire arms. They fired several shots but did no injury to any of the inmates” (Wexford Conservative, Sat. 17 Nov. 1832, p. 1).
1833
The Chutes Western Herald (Thurs. 7 Feb. 1833, p. 3) published citing “From the Kilkenny Moderator of Saturday—Six armed men entered the house of Patrick Fitzgerald, of Aywardstown in the Barony of Ida, on the night of Sunday last, and threatened him with instant death if he attempted to prosecute James Cleary at the ensuing assizes. Cleary compelled him some time since to pay £5 5s., for which he gave a docket of protection, which he told Fitzgerald would save him from any future attack from the Whitefeet.”
In the 1833 Griffith’s Valuation Pat Fitzgerald, of Aylwardstown, farmed 12 acres. Given the extortion and threats of violence it was surprising to find the following article in the Morning Advertser (Thurs. 14 February 1833, p. 1) where the priests induced the Glenmore parishioners to surrender their arms.
“Surrender of arms by the Peasantry—you will be gratified to learn that the deluded people in the county of Kilkenny are at length delivering up their arms. In the parish of Glanmore in that county, no less than 20 stand of arms have been given up to the Catholic clergy within the last few days. One of those clergymen communicated the fact to J. Esmond, Esq, a Magistrate of the county of Kilkenny, requesting that he should take charge of the arms. Mr. Esmond readily acquiesced, and had them forwarded to Waterford, where they were lodged by his direction on Friday.”
At the beginning of March 1833 the Leinster Express (Sat. 2 March 1833, p. 4) published several notices or threats posted across the region including:
“A Whitefoot Notice was lately posted up in the neighbourhood of Glanmore, ordering the people of the County of Waterford to desist from working at the farm of Glinn of Shambough. If they attempted to go there again the notice stated that they would be shot.”
Later that month, Glenmore was propelled into the news with the murder of a Catholic landlord of Shanbogh, Anthony Joseph Leonard, Esq., on the hill of Glenmore by three of his tenants. See our previous post of 9 Feb. 2020.
The Chutes Western Herald (Mon. 7 Oct. 1833, p. 4) referenced the Kilkenny Moderator as its source for the following threats with multiple men named and threatened.
“The following is the copy of an illegal notice posted on the chapel of Mullinaharrible, in the parish of Listerlin and barony of Ida, on Sunday last: “All such land jobbers as gave up the ground and began to till it again will be sorry; it happen them more than Marum or Joyce. We neither hough cattle or burn houses, to destroy the country as we did before. No sheet iron inside the doors will not prevent us, but we will go and drop them on the spot. Phelan, Philip Malone, Trasey, Forestal, and Kerewan, so prepare, the long nights are coming. Let the parish see we are neither afraid of informers or pointers. Such as will visit you will have no informers or pointers. There is a great deal that we did not mention that will suffer as well as the rest.”
On the night of the 10th of October, “the dairies of Patrick Fitzgerald, James Malone, and Thomas Keeffe, all of Weatherstown, in the Barony of Ida, were feloniously broken open by some evil disposed persons in search of plunder. A quantity of butter in firkins was taken out of Fitzgerald’s dairy, but nothing was found in either of the others worth removing (Kilkenny Moderator, Wed. 16 Oct. 1833, p. 3). Unusually the break-ins and theft were not associated by the newspaper with the local Whitefeet although Patrick Fitzgerald, of Weatherstown, was targeted several times by the Whitefeet.
1834
The Waterford Mirror (13 Jan. 1834) published in its column on Whitefeet activity in Co. Kilkenny the following: “All gates of Bawnjames, a farm belonging to Mr. Magrath of Rosbercon, in the Barony of Ida, was maliciously broken and destroyed on the night of Sunday last.”
Toward the end of the month, the Kilkenny Moderator (Sat. 25 January 1834, p. 2) reported: “A few nights since the windows of Michael Rigby’s dwelling house at Ballyvera, in the parish of Glanmore were maliciously broken and a stone flung into his bedroom. Rigby says he is not aware of having done anything to cause this attack on his house.”
Seven years later Michael Rigby (c. 1791-1841) was murdered by one of his Ballyveria neighbours as the men were walking to attend Stations in the Glenmore Chapel. The murder was committed over two fields. See, our post of 18 July 2021 regarding the murder.
The following notice was published in the Belfast Commercial Chronicle (Sat. 29 March 1834, p. 4). “From the Kilkenny Moderator—on Sunday night last a Rockite Notice was posted upon the chapel of Glanmore, barony of Ida, threatening death to any person who would dare, after that notice, to take possession of the land Graignakilla (sic) in the above neighbourhood.
Describing the conditions in Kilkenny and Cork as approaching a Civil War, Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle (Sun. 23 Nov. 1834, p. 1) published the following article that highlighted Patrick Kennedy of Robinstown, Glenmore.
“The police of the County of Kilkenny have, ever since the unfortunate affair of Carrickshaugh (sic) been marked objects of antipathy to the peasanty, who have never hesitated to manifest their feeling (whenever a safe opportunity occurred) in insult, or even personal outrage. But of late a more systematic proceeding has been observed in the warfare carried on by the peasantry again the unpopular police force. Although the police were feared in the open field, they were not treated with the least appearance of respect by the multitude with whom they come into contact at fairs, markets, races etc.“
“In the Barony of Glanmore the spirit of defiance is progressing in a very marked manner, and the police now think it prudent not to interfere in what are very properly termed its ‘Whiskey fights’ wherein their interposition has generally had the effect of adding fuel to fire. About two months ago it was observed that there was a disinclination to provide the constabulary with country provisions, and instead of any thing like a competition for the supply of the canteen in the neighburhood, there was, on the contrary, a marked ill will towards any who undertook such contracts.”
“One of these, Mr. Patrick Kennedy residing at Robinstown, in the barony of Ida, who was hardy enough to undertake to supply the Glanmore police with milk, found a threatening Whitefoot notice nailed on his door, warning him of the consequence if he persevered in this “disloyal” contract. He did persevere, confiding in the protection of the police; nearly two months elapsed, and he thought himself forgotten by the midnight legislators, but on Monday night last he was reminded of their existence by finding a valuable colt houghed in his stable.”
“In Cork the peasantry have refused to work for landlords who have made themselves ‘marked men’ The Cork papers relate the case of one of these proprietors who for some time past found it impossible to hire labourers.” When it was time to dig potatoes near Dunamanway the landlord was told to dig the potatoes himself or get Orange Protestants to do it for him. A group in Dumanway, “including some respectable shop keepers, arrived and in a few hours of work dug and picked up the potatoes. The group attempted to engage some Catholic labourers to assist, but as soon as the Catholic labourers learned where they were to work, they refused notwithstanding the fact that they were offered double wages for the day. As the Orange group started home they were ‘hissed and hooted…’”
1835
Notwithstanding the efforts of the Glenmore priests in 1833 parishioners continued to have arms. The following article appeared in the Carlow Sentinel (Sat. 23 May 1835, p. 1).
“Six persons were convicted at the Petty Sessions of Rosbercon, on Saturday last, before Colonel Osborne, R.M. and Mr. Keogh, the sitting Magistrates, for having unregistered arms in their possession. The Police found in their houses, in the neighbourhood of Listerlin and of Glanmore—6 guns, 1 pistol, 1 blunderbuss barrel, 1 sword cane, 1 pike, besides 6 powder horns, some bullets and slugs.”
Glenmore Oral Tradition of Whitefeet
Thanks to Danny Dowling (1927-2021) we know the identify of two of the leaders of the local Whitefeet as well as where they met. Danny interviewed Nicky “the Miller” Forristal (1888-1979) in 1955. Nicky identified the leaders of the Whitefeet in the Glenmore area as Captains Starlight and Lusty.
Nicky related that Captain Starlight was a Malone and the family bore the nickname of Spur. They lived in a small cabin which was situated under the road leading to Forristalstown from the Mill Cross Road at a point alongside the path which Tom Walsh used as a shortcut to Forristalstown.
Captain Lusty was a Purcell and lived in a small house in Forristalstown on the bounds of Ballyverneen. Billy Tománsín of Killivory, Glenmore was a descendent of his.
Before their nightly escapades they used drink with their men in a shebeen in Ballygurrum which was kept by one Billy Walsh nicknamed Billy Buíde. According to Nicholas Forristal the Billy Buíde was a grandfather to the present Henry Doolan’s wife of Shanbough.
The following rhymes were written about the two Whitefeet Captains.
Here’s a health to Billy Buíde
And may he long reign.
We’ll call for spring water,
And he’ll bring us brown ale,
To strengthen our bones and
Put speed in our feet,
To make us well able to whale the police.
Are you in bed Captain Lusty?
And he answered us no.
Are you in bed Captain Starlight,
And he answered also.
Billy Buíde’s house at Ballygurrim cross was later occupied by Dick Cahill.
Interview of Wattie Power (c. 1888-1961) of Jamestown, Glenmore
Also in 1955 Danny Dowling interviewed his Jamestown neighbour Wattie Power and recorded the following regarding the Glenmore Whitefeet.
“The following is verse in connection with the Whitefeet which body was active in this area in the first half of the last century, and also in part of the previous century. Four verses is all Wattie could remember.”
“The Whitefeet and Blackfeet were crossing a bog,
As tired and as weary as any mad dog.
Says one to the other if we were at home,
T’would be the best of our play to leave the Whitefeet alone.
Long life to Pol Cahill and long may she reign,
When we called for spring water, she brought us down cream.
To put strength in our body and speed in our feet,
And make us well able to chase the police.”
See our post of 23 Sept 2020 for the Glenmore Version of the Ballad of Carrickshock.
The featured drawing is from sheet music, The Irish Peasant (Ireland 1800-1870) © Trustees Indiana University http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/lilly/starr/LL-SSM-2-136-0014. The drawing of the midnight raiders was drawn by an artist for The Graphic (Sat. 14 Jan. 1882, p. 8) (c) Illustrated London News Group, Courtesy of British Library Board. The owners of the goats related that they evicted a tenant and later their goats were slaughtered in the middle of the night.
Please send any corrections or further information to glenmore.history@gmail.com.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
Glenmore: Limestone Kilns [updated]
Unlike other areas of Ireland where subsistence farming was the norm, the farmers of eastern Leinster engaged in commercial agriculture. In other words, crops were being grown to be sold rather than for subsistence. In 1770, the chief trade was in flour sold to the growing city of Dublin. By the start of the Famine crops were being grown for breweries. This commercialisation of the tillage economy is credited with causing a rapid population increase in the early 19th century. Farm labourers who made up about half the population in the region were given a small cottage and around 0.4 hectares of land. These plots were locally known as haggards and were used for growing potatoes and cereal crops by the farm labourers. After the famine farming moved from tillage to grazing. Between 1851 and 1911 arable land in Ireland halved from 1.8 million hectares to 0.9 million. Grazing with live cattle exports to Britain increased from 200,000 animals in the 1840’s to 400,000 animals in the 1860’s. The last decade of the 19th century saw this increased to 800,000 animals (Kevin Whelan, (1997) “The Modern Landscape from Plantation to Present” in Atlas of the Irish Rural Landscape, p. 67).
Lime Kilns of Glenmore
The landscape of Glenmore still has the ruins of old lime kilns that long ago were used for the production of quicklime or buntlime. One good example is at the crossroads in Ballycroney. Quicklime was produced by heating limestones at high temperatures in a lime kiln. Quickline was used in agriculture to change the PH of the soil and in building projects for mortar. Farm lime kilns were very common in the 18th and early part of the 19th century. They were replaced in the second half of the 19th century, after the Famine, by industrial lime and brick works. There were two types of permanent farm kilns used in the production of quicklime for agricultural purposes, namely: draw kilns and the less common flare kilns. Both kilns were loaded from the top and had their fire boxes at the bottom. Kilns were usually built into the bank of a hillside and enclosed on the other three sides by a stone-built rectangular shaped structure. The draw-hole or stoke hole was located at the front of the kiln base. It provided draft and access to the fire and was where the quicklime was removed. The draw hole was often built large enough to accommodate two men and sometimes a cart. Draw kilns burned limestone in a continuous process (p.19). Because of the need to generate temperatures in the region of 1000 degrees Celsius for long periods, lime kilns required a large amount of fuel. In the late 19th century in Munster, furze was the main fuel source. In other parts of Ireland furze was used to start the fire or was mixed with other fuels (Muiris O’Sullivan & Liam Downey, “Lime Kilns,” (19)2 Archaeology Ireland (Summer 2005) pp. 18-22).
Danny Dowling (1927-2021) interviewed Nicky “the Miller” Forristal (1888-1979) in November 1977 (DD Notebook 5) concerning the burning of lime in Glenmore. Nicky stated that the local farmers brought limestone from the quarries at Dunkitt, in Kilmacow, up river in a gabbard. “After discharge at the local quays the stones were transported in horse and cart to the lime kilns. They were then spalled—that is to say that they were broken to the size of about 2 hands clenched together. The kiln was then packed in the follow order: 1st furze at bottom to light the culm; 2nd on this was placed a layer of culm; and 3rd next a layer of limestone. After this it was every alternate layer of culm and limestone until the kiln was filled to the top. It was then set alight and it burned for 3 or 4 days.” According to a modern dictionary culm was coal dust.
Nicky went on to state that as a chap he saw the kilns at Ballyverneen Quay, and at Ennett’s in Cappagh, burning lime on a few occasions. Lime kilns were situated at the following locations:
(1) A kiln was located on Kiln Hill which was over Glenmore ½ way up on Neddie Connor’s side in Cody’s field, in the townland of Graiguenakill.
(2) Ballyverneen—at Waterford side of Maid’s Quay on other side of road.
(3) Ballyverneen—at Quay opposite Dick Dunphy’s cottage where Dolan’s later lived. It was fed from the roadroad. Although the kiln is gone its outline can still be seen.
(4) Graiguenakill–on Barron’s Quay below Forristal’s Mill. This Quay was public and was an open space years ago. Paddy Forristal in an interview in 1980 referred to it being on a commons and noted the kiln was gone.
(5) Cappah–at top of Ennet’s Marsh. It is gone.
(6) Jamestown–at top of Main Roche’s Hill in Green’s field. It is gone.
(7) Bishopstown–opposite Richie Hennessey’s cottage.
(8) Bishopstown–at Ballybrahee Lane.
(9) Weatherstown–on the commons.
Given the prominence of the kiln at the crossroads in Ballycroney it is surprising it was not mentioned. We did find it recorded on the Orinance Survey Map. If readers are aware of where other lime kilns were or are located in or around Glenmore parish would you please send the information to glenmore.history@gmail.com ?
[Update 6 Sept. 2022, Martin Forristal identified a lime kiln in Rochestown near the river. See Martin’s comment below for further details.]
[Update 6 Sept 2022, Brian Forristal identified and sent the photo to the right of a lime kiln in Kearney Bay. It is located down the rock Road, past Tom Heffernan’s farm. It is about half a mile from there on the right hand side.]
Life & Death
After lime kilns fell out of use at least one family lived in the Graiguenakill lime kiln. Billy Fleming and his sister Jane Fleming made the Graiguenakill kiln their home (Danny Dowling, Notebook 8 (1955)). Unfortunately, no further information was provided by Danny regarding Billy Fleming or his sister Jane or when they resided in the kiln. A quick search of the parish records presented a possible match. There was a William Fleming baptized at Glenmore on 16 March 1826 to Patrick Fleming and his wife Margaret Barden. No similar record could be located for Jane Fleming, but Patrick and Margaret had another son Peter (bapt. 8 July 1824) at Grangekille (sic) Glenmore.
Lastly, while performing a newspaper search (for something else) the following article was found regarding a kiln operated in Carrigcloney, Glenmore in 1827. This article was found in the Drogheda Journal, or Meath & Louth Advertiser (Sat. 19 May 1827) and appears to have been copied from the Waterford Chronicle. It highlights the dangers associated with lime burning.
Melancholy Occurrence. —On Thursday last, a poor limeburner, named Freeman, while working at a kiln, at Carrigcloney, Parish of Glenmore, County Kilkenny, the man below was drawing the lime, many of the stones above, from being overburned, calcined or adhering to the side of the kiln, when the poor fellow walked on the side of the kiln, and with a pole endeavoured to cause the lime to pass, it immediately shifted, and he, poor creature, got fast in the middle of it. The exertions of four stout men pulling him by the arms, were not aide to disengage him, until they procured rope a short distance off, he burning all the time, by fastening it under his arms they brought him up. He died a short time afterwards in great agony.— Waterford Chronicle.
Freeman is not a common Glenmore name, however in the parish records we did find where a Laurence Freeman, in nearby Rathanure (sic) married Margaret Day, of Rathanure, on 14 January 1824 at Glenmore. Witnesses were Nancy Freeman and Mary Grant. The poor man who was burned in the kiln was not Laurence as Laurence and his wife had 2 children born after May 1827. The couple had Bridget Freeman (bapt. 17 March 1828) and Laurence Freeman (bapt. 15 Dec. 1830). Turning to Griffiths Valuation 1829, a John Freeman of Rathinure is listed. What relationship, if any, the Rathinure Freemans may have had to the deceased limeburner is not known.
Please send any corrections and further information to glenmore.history@gmail.com . The photos of the kiln at the Ballycroney cross was taken last week.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
Glenmore Mummers: Supporting Irish Independence
According to Danny Dowling, mumming troupes performed regularly in Wexford and the tradition was imported into Glenmore. In 1957 Danny interviewed Nicholas “Nicky the Miller” Forristal (1888-1979) who was able to name various members of the first known Glenmore mummers group. Nicky indicated that this group formed about 1886.
Today, outside of historians and persons researching folklore etc. there is often confusion regarding mummers because at various times in various locations across Ireland different people used the term in different ways. For example, in the past festivals and celebrations were marked with the making and wearing of straw costumes. There is evidence that the wearing of straw clothing occurred in bad weather particular by the bacach, or beggars. The straw not only provided warmth, but the rain would run off like a thatched roof. A plentiful supply of straw was generally present in most farmyards for the making of a straw overcoat as the bacach travelled the countryside with news and gossip to entertain his hosts (Anne O’Dowd, “Plaited Rush and Straw Work,” in Traditional Crafts of Ireland (2003) p. 128). Later, in some parts of Ireland men would disguise themselves in straw outfits and headgear to crash a wedding feast they had not been invited to attend. Sometime these party crashers performing their disguised antics were called mummers or strawmen (Séamas ó Catháin, “Mummers & Mumming,” in Traditional Crafts of Ireland (2003) p. 130.
Interestingly some rural parts of the country there was an old custom after harvest of saving the last sheaf of corn which was ceremonially brought home from the field and presented to the woman of the house. Keeping the last sheaf in the house brought general good luck and was a safeguard against witches. The straw from the harvest provided for the making of ordinary household items from plaited ropes (súgán) to hens’ nesting baskets (séideog).. (Anne O’Dowd, “Plaited Rush and Straw Work,” in Traditional Crafts of Ireland (2003) p. 128).
The tradition of mumming apparently goes back to the Middle Ages. It is thought to have developed in England and spread. Although mummers can be traced back in Ireland to at least the 1780’s the first systematic attempt to analyse the Irish mummers plays was published in 1946 by E.R.R. Green (“Christmas Rhymers and Mummers,” Ulster Journal of Archaeology (1946) p. 3-21).
In the west of Ireland mumming apparently evolved into people in disguise visiting homes and entertaining with songs and rhymes usually at Christmas time. In Wexford, mummers performed plays generally following chapbooks. A chapbook was a small pamphlet containing ballads, rhymes, or tales sold by peddlers. This “street literature” was cheaply made and often contained crude woodcut illustrations. Often at the end of the play there was a dance fight with the dancers swinging wooden swords or sticks. This battle dance has led to mummers sometimes being confused with another old custom of Morris dancers. Morris dancers are English male folk dancers who generally wear bells on their calves and carry handkerchiefs or fans as they perform their elaborate sets. In 1974, Alan Gailey published an article “Chapbook Influence on Irish Mummer’s Plays” (85(1) Folklore 1 (1974)). Gaily described the usual characters in the known “chapbook” publications including Prince David, St. Patrick, the Grand Signor and the doctor in a comical “cure scene.” By the turn of the 20th century the rhymes and characters of the Wexford mummers’ plays were re-written to “accord with nationalist sentiments” (Gailey, p. 6).
In the 1957 interview Nicky the Miller noted that a dance platform was built at the Ballygurrim cross roads in about 1885. The following year a group of men from Glenmore formed a mummers’ group. They were “trained by coach” from Wexford. In addition to providing the names of the group Nicky stated that the group travelled to Mullinavat where they “gave a big display of their talents” and they had a “keg of beer between them to quench their thirst.”
Nicky the Miller identified ten men as Glenmore Mummers. Information not provided by Nicky the Miller has been placed in brackets [ ]. The captain of the Glenmore Mummers team was Martin Cahill [b. 1854] of Ballycroney, Glenmore. His three brothers were also members, Phil [b. 1865 never married], Dick and Mick Cahill [b. 1863] married and lived in Waterford and worked at Strangman’s brewery.
Other members of the team included:
Jack Merrigan, of Milltown, Glenmore–He was uncle of the present (1957) Dinny Murphy of Milltown. He later emigrated to the USA and died in New York;
Ned Purcell, of Forristaltown and later lived in Weatherstown, Glenmore;
Neddy Walsh, of Milltown, never married and worked at Jack Doherty’ of Milltown;
Dick Walsh, of Bushertsown and Ballalog, was a brother of Neddy Walsh. Dick worked for Dinny Merrigan and married Dinny’s sister. The married couple moved to Waterford. [The Glenmore Parish records reveal that Richard Walsh married Ellen Merrigan in 1895.];
Dan Dowling, [1862-1945] of Jamestown, Glenmore [Danny Dowling’s paternal grandfather] and
Ned Doolan, of Shanbogh.
In attempting to locate more information on the Glenmore mummers a newspaper search revealed that in 1892 the Glenmore Mummers performed and the names of the group are not provided in the newspaper article. However, the article does confirm that the group was performing in the Wexford tradition with a nationalist sentiment including the word “independence” placed on the play’s scenery. The following article is from the front page of the Munster Express of 6 February 1892.
ENTERTAINMENT AT GLENMORE—On Sunday evening last a most successful and highly conducted soiree came off at Glenmore, Co. Kilkenny. The proceedings commenced about 7:30 p.m., and under the able management of the local young men, who are formed into a society called “Mummers,” have composed a part representing twelve powers of Europe, an exhibition of which they gave on the night in question, and which proved high satisfactory and afforded pleasure to the many spectators present. The different parts met with loud applause, and for the first time they gave an exhibition and played their different parts publicly, they deserve all credit for the painstaking manner through which they went through their work. The apartment, which was kindly given for the purpose, was beautifully decorated with evergreens and other ornamental designs, and here and there on the walls could be observed in letters, worked with ivy leaves, the words, “independence,” “welcome” etc. Many songs and dances were gone through until about 8:30, when the “Mummies” entered, dressed beautifully with different coloured dresses and bearing emblems representative of the Nationality which each acts the part of. The representative of the first high personage was the captain of the club, who marched forward and related his exploits in a strong manner. He is met on the way by Prince George, and then St. Patrick enters on the scene and speaks independently to the Prince. Next appears the representatives of Napoleon, Lord Wellington, and Emperor of Russia. The latter meets the Grand Seignior (sic), and both fight in single combat, resulting in the fall of the Grand Seignior. A doctor then enters, and offers to cure the Grand Seignior (sic), but claims high compensation for his medical skill, which seemed rather limited. His prescription for the wounded warrior provoked merriment, but however, he succeeded in restoring to health the Grand Seignour (sic) who, when fully recovered, relates his exploits in the other world, as his imagination led him to believe he saw a glimpse of it. Lord Nelson represented, as also the Poles’ King, and Julius Caesar. Daniel O’Connell, and the representatives of the above great men having fully expressed the ideas and the exploits gone through in by gone days by those heroes, they formed in a circle and to a beautiful selection of music on violins, danced in a semi-circular motion, one rank meeting the other, and both parties slashing swords. The above ended with the rendering of the National Anthem, “God Save Ireland,” in capital style. The party composed of these young people and the part they have selected appears critical; yet with perseverance they reached the standard of perfection, and whenever they next give an exhibition, they should be highly appreciated for their exertions. The rendering of some songs and recitations, speeches and dialogues, brought the proceedings, which were creditably gone through, to a close.
Although we have a general description of the Glenmore play from the newspaper account, thanks to the efforts of N.A. Hudelston the probable lines are available. Hudelston collected a written copy in 1958 of a play containing 290 lines from John Pierce, of Rosslare Harbour. Fifty more lines were obtained in oral interviews of five more men. It was noted that this play was performed until the First World War, but the language and events in the play revealed that the the original play dates back to 1820-1850. (Hudleston, “The Wexford Mummers’ Play,” The Past: The Organ of the Uí Cinsealaight Historical Society (1964) p. 152). The cast of characters in the play includes: The Captain; Prince George; St. Patrick; Dan O’Connell; Napoleon Bonaparte; Lord Wellington; The Czar; The Grand Signor; The Doctor; Lord Nelson; The Polish King; and Julius Caesar. The excerpt below is from the lines of Daniel O’Connell toward the end of the play.
Excerpt
Here I am, the great O’Connell, from a knightly race I came, My royal habitation lies in ancient Derrynane. I am the man they call brave Dan, your friend on each occasion, And the first M.P. that ever sat of the Catholic persuasion. For my country’s wrongs I deeply felt, they tilled me with vexation, And our cruel foes for to oppose, I formed an Association. ‘Tis certain sure, the Church most pure, should persecution bear, But the Penal yoke was lately broke by electing me in Clare; To Parliament straightway I went, in hopes to free our nation, Wellington and Peel, I made them yield and grant Emancipation. That still-born pact, the Stanley Act, supplants the Church’s ambition, Those vexatious tithes I have laid aside, by a total abolition. The Catholic rent I underwent to break and wreck in twain…
By St. Patrick’s sons you have laurels won, and been raised to dignity; Our brothers’ cries you did despise, and our country’s misery. So now your cause, and Penal Laws, I’ll expel by exhortation, Those notorious tithes I’ll lay aside or in blood I’ll steep the nation. Your tyranny won’t frighten me, nor your hellish emigration, Your infernal ends, they stood your friends—if I live, I’ll free the nation. Now, gentles all, I must conclude, I have no more to say…
It isn’t known whether the Glenmore men identified by Nicky the Miller were the same group that performed in 1892. If the Glenmore Mummers followed this play with similar nationalist speeches, scenery advocating independence etc. it may go some way to explaining why the Munster Express did not publish their names.
Please send any corrections or additional information etc. to glenmore.history@gmail.com.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
The Hudleston article is available on Justor, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25519869 . The featured drawing above was drawn by Dudley Terrant at Christmas time 1919 of a performane of an old Christmas mummers’ play of St. George and the Dragon and published in The Sphere (3 January 1920, p. 13). The photo from January 1950 above is of the Andover, Hampshire mummer’s play. For over 300 years the men of New Street in Andover, Hampshire performed this traditional mummers play without script. The words were passed down from father to son.
The Waterford By-Election 1891
On the 23rd of October 1964 Danny Dowling interviewed and recorded several interesting stories provided by Nicholas Forristal (1888-1979) of the Mill, Graiguenakill, Glenmore. After a little research we were able to verify and expand on the information provided almost 60 years ago by Nicky the Miller. It is believed that the story recorded below by Danny in 1964 concerned Sunday the 13th of December in 1891 during the hotly contested Waterford by-election.
“Nicky said that there was a lot of McCarthyites in Ross. On one occasion they travelled down to Waterford to interrupt a Redmondite meeting which was being held there. On arrival there was a melee and the instruments of their band were all thrown over the bridge into the river when they were carted out of the City. Whilst passing the Mill some of them came into the yard and threw a stone through the window into the kitchen. They were attacked over Glenmore by stones and sods, sticks etc. At the Pink Rock the local men and women did the same and also threw [the contents of their chamber pots] into their wagonettes. They got a terrible fright and never ventured again to Waterford.”
Background
To put this into context, the Irish Parliamentary Party was led by Charles Stewart Parnell (1846-1891). When Parnell became embroiled in a divorce scandal in 1890 he refused to step down as leader. This led to the Irish Parliamentary Party splitting. Justin McCarthy (1830-1912) became leader of the anti-Parnellite group or the Irish National Federation until 1896. Interestingly it was reported in the Munster Express on 31 January 1891 (p. 4) that previously McCarthy had stated that he would not give up their leader [Parnell] for “an inferior and less capable man,” and “in a strange irony of fate” McCarthy became the “inferior and less capable man.”
On 6 October 1891, Parnell died and John Redmond (1856-1918), his supporter and an MP from Wexford, gave up his North Wexford seat to contest the Cork by-election for Parnell’s seat. Redmond lost the Cork bi-election and found himself with no seat. On 29 November 1891, the MP for Waterford City, Richard Power (1856-1891) of the Irish Nationalist Party died at the age of 40. Redmond announced that he would run as an independent for the Waterford seat during the late 1891 by-election. It appeared that Redmond might run un-opposed, but Michael Davitt (1846-1906) on Sunday the 13th of December 1891 officially declared his candidacy. In the terminology employed in 1891, Davitt was a McCarthyite and Redmond a Parnellite.
Sunday 13 December 1891
Redmond was already holding meetings and canvassing when Davitt came to Waterford on Sunday the 13th of December 1891. It was alleged that Davitt was present to seek to end the divisions and support Keane as the candidate to oppose Redmond. It was apparently well known by local people that special trains had been hired to bring McCarthyite supporters to Waterford City to alledgely “intimidate” the Waterford city voters (Waterford Standard, Wed. 16 Dec. 1891, p. 3).
The following account was gleaned from the Freeman’s Journal (14 Dec. 1891, p. 5)
Davitt proceeded to the railway station with supporters, and they walked along the quay quietly. No one interfered with them in any way until they got to the Toll Bridge, which crossed the River Suir. The train station was on the Kilkenny side of the bridge and a Redmondite crowd had already gathered on the Waterford side of the bridge. The crowd groaned and hissed as Davitt and his supporters passed over the bridge to the railway station. Davitt stood at the toll gate, smiling at the hostile demonstration as his supporters marched past, and Davitt then proceeded behind them across the bridge. A small crowd of the Redmondites followed, and they did not do more than indulge in some “harmless chaff,” which was treated with good humoured indifference by Davitt and his followers. The Davitt party arrived at the railway stations at one o’clock. The special train from Carrick did not reach the station until half-past one. A couple of hundred men with a band came down from Carrick and Piltown. At the same time some horse drawn cars arrived with a brass band from New Ross. Another couple hundred arrived from Dungarvan and Kilmacthomas…
It was reported that there were 400 police present in Waterford City in anticipation of trouble. Some police were armed with batons and others with rifles. Although the Freeman’s Journal alleged that the police with batons charged and beat McCarthyites, as they sought to march into the city to a meeting, other newspapers concluded that the police did the best they could to stop the opposing supporters from clashing (Waterford Standard, Wed. 16 Dec. 1891, p. 4). A considerable crowd of Waterford residents, armed with bludgeons, assembled on the Waterford quay to repel the so-called “invaders.” Luckily rain was heavily falling and this caused a lot of people to abandon the quay and seek shelter. As the rain continued Davitt supporters at the train station marched to the bridge and the New Ross band struck up the “Boys of Wexford.” It was reported that the Redmondites joined in the singing of this song that commemorates the 1798 Rebellion.
At the toll gate Davitt insisted that the gate should be opened, and “after a sharp tussle” the gates were forced open and the Davitt supporters marched right into the thick of the Redmond supporters. The Redmond supporters initially moved aside. From the bridge to Gladstone Street, a distance of half of a mile, a steady skirmish continued. About a hundred yards from the bridge, a man rushed forward and struck Davitt on the temple with a stick. Davitt’s face was covered with blood. When they finally reached their committee rooms on Gladstone Street, Davitt announced while holding his handkerchief to his head, “This blow has determined me to stand for Waterford.” John Redmond witnessed the scenes from the windows of the Commins’ Hotel, his party’s headquarters, and when he heard that Davitt was injured he called at the Adelphi Hotel to inquire about Davitt’s condition and express his regret at “the outrage.”
Unfortunately, there is no newspaper account of the New Ross Band’s exit from the city and journey back to New Ross through Glenmore. Nicky the Miller was not quite four years old when the kitchen window in his home was broken and local Parnell supporters clashed with the New Ross McCarthyite band members on their return to New Ross. Undoubtedly, Nicky heard the story from his parents and older siblings.
The Election
In the days following that fateful Sunday, Redmond tirelessly campaigned. It was reported that Davitt did not have many workers within Waterford City and the Catholic Clergy performed most of the canvasing on his behalf. In a local speech reported in the Waterford Standard (16 December 1891, p. 3) Redmond called Davitt a liar for saying that he had come to Waterford to support Keane’s candidature, but after being struck he decided to run himself. Redmond “considered that it would be unreasonable to suppose that a candidate would be deposed in that way without being in anyway consulted.” Redmond went on to accuse a man named Quinn “of buying clothes from a hang-me-down shops in New Ross, in order to enable his staunch supporters to come to Waterford with their sticks…” Newspapers accounts are full of accusations from both sides concerning the class, intelligence, and weaponry of the opposing supporters.
An unnamed political correspondent for the Waterford Standard in his column “Political Jottings,” (Wed. 16, December 1891, p. 4) noted that very few people expected Sunday to pass without much noise, but most people hoped that the disturbance would not reach the length of the riot which occurred on the Quay. “The people in the two crowds looked more like demons that human beings.” He stated that the extent of feeling in the city was best gauged by the fact of Mr. Davitt being assaulted. “The fact that he has lost one arm would in itself be enough to make an assault upon him an act of the coarsest brutality, but when this is coupled with what he has undergone on behalf of these people, whether he was right in his views or not, it should have been sufficient protection with men now that he happens to be opposed to them.” Various newspapers also referenced the riots at Castlecomer during the 1890 Kilkenny elections. Parnell while speaking had lime thrown in his face and Davitt was “giving as good as he got” in fighting with Parnell supporters. Politics was a rough businsess.
In London it was reported that “[t]he Parnellites have been greatly cheered and encouraged by the triumph at Waterford of Mr. Redmond over Mr. Michael Davitt, perhaps the strongest candidate whom the anti-Parnellites could have brought forward. Mr. Redmond’s majority was a decisive one, 546 in a constituency of some 4,000” (The Graphic, 2 Jan. 1892, p. 7). In 1892 Redmond again stood in the General Election for the Waterford City constituency. The Munster Express, (Sat. 2 July 1892, p. 5) reported that Father Flynn, P.P., of Ballybricken, publicly vowed that he would get a man to run against John Redmond. It was reported in the 1892 General Election that “Redmon canvassed Waterford City without a bodyguard of police, while Father Furlong and Father Flynn held indoor meetings at the ‘Carty Club under the protection of a force of fifty police.” Redmond went on to win the 1892 General Election beating David Sheehy, the father of Hannah Sheehy Skeffington.
Glenmore Support for Parnell Continued
“Nicky the Miller” during the same interview also told Danny an interesting story that illustrates the passionate support that Parnell enjoyed among some Glenmore residents after his death.
“For the Parnellite commemorative ceremony in Dublin each year people used to go from Glenmore to attend it. Old Johnny Hanrahan of the Village (1843-1921) used go every year. On one occasion Tom Mullins (c. 1873-1936) of Flemingstown, was with him and on the train on their return journey when it stopped, Johnny went to the window of the train and adderssed the multitude on the platform on the greatness of Parnell. He spoke at great length was thunderously cheered and Tom Mullins later said, “It was as good a speech as I ever heard. No doubt the people thought him to be some M.P. or famous personage.”
The conversation then turned to Old Johnny Hanrahan, and Nicky the Miller revealed that old Johnny Hanrahan was a cooper by trade and the son of Denis Hanrahan (b. 1811) of Powerswood, and his wife Bridget Gaffney (b. 1813) of Glenmore Village. The parish records reveal that the couple were married 6 February 1837 at Glenmore, but we will save the details concerning these Glenmore families to future post.
If there are any errors or omissions please contact glenmore.history@gmail. com. The featured photo is of John Redmond in 1917 (The Irish Times). The photo of Michael Davitt is available at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michael_davitt.jpg.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
Previous blog posts that provide further information on local politics of the time include;
“Glenmore and Mr. Parnell,” blog post of 17 March 2020.
“Glenmore Land League Split,” blog post of 29 March 2020.
“Glenmore Redmond Volunteers and the Fife & Drum Band,” blog post of 4 Jan. 2020.
The Phantom Coach of Glenmore: Inspiration for a Kitty the Hare Tale?
Over the years Danny Dowling recorded the sightings of various Glenmore ghosts. Ghosts of soldiers and others, haunted houses, haunted lanes and fields were commonly experienced around the parish, but there were several sightings of a more unusual apparition, a coach drawn by four big black horses, a headless coachman with two gentry ghosts in the coach. This unusual apparition became known as the Phantom Coach. The Phantom Coach was often encountered in the Carrigcloney and Kilivory areas particularly near the old Kilivory grave yard where it was often said to travel through ditches and fields following a road or lane that no longer existed. Locals believed a sighting of the Phantom Coach was a warning of a forthcoming death.
In June 1977, Nicholas Forristal (1888-1979) of the Mill, Graiguenakill, Glenmore related that Nicky Denn and Jamsey Grant “whilst driving cows on a summer evening, both saw the famous phantom coach come thundering down Ballyverneen Lane, across Main Road and cross Pill and marshes and up Carrigcloney Hill.” (Daniel Dowling, Notebook 5, p. 30).
Nicky Forristal went on to state that Nicky Denn died in the Union Hospital in New Ross in 1922/23. Nicky Denn was about 65 years of age when he died. He was born in Mullinahone, Glenmore and his father was Maurice Denn. Nicky Denn worked for about 20 years with Tommy Forristal, of Ballyverneen, Glenmore. The death registry supports that Nicky Forristal had an excellent memory. Nicholas Denn, of Ballyverneen, died on the 7th of March 1923 in the Auxiliary Hospital, New Ross at the age of 65 from pneumonia. It is recorded that he worked as a labourer. Thus Nicky Denn was born around 1858.
In the adjacent parish of Rosbercon, Thomas Victor O’Donovan Power was born in 1860. Power became a well known writer and died a decade after Nicky Denn in 1933. When Danny Dowling was a boy in the 1930’s the old people of Jamestown, Glenmore told Danny that Power would often call to various houses in Jamestown to visit and he sat with the family at their fireside where stories, particularly ghost stories, were shared. For further inspiration Power often prevailed on Jamestown locals, who played instruments, to meet him after dark in the Ballygurrim graveyard or raths. Power would stretch out on the ground and ask his Jamestown companion to play music while he encouraged ghosts or supernatural beings such as pookahs, fairies and banshees, to speak to his imagination.
Power wrote a number of supernatural short stories in serial publications like Ireland’s Own and later Our Boys. Long after his death Power’s short stories were re-printed for new generations of children. Power’s best known character was “Kitty the Hare: The Famous Travelling Woman of Ireland.” According to Stephanie Rains, of Maynooth University, (https://irishmediahistory.com/tag/kitty-the-hare/) Kitty the Hare was introduced in 1914 in Ireland’s Own and later her tales appeared in Our Boys commencing in 1924. Ireland’s Own is still being published today. Our Boys was a publication that was run by the Christian Brothers as an Irish Catholic alternative to the English Boys’ Own publication. The mission of Our Boys in the beginning was to provide acceptable role models for Irish boys to counterbalance the influence of metropolitan and the glamorisation of the British empire. Our Boys “…encapsulate[d] the spirit of pastoral romanticism which permeated the early years of the Free State. This series [Kitty the Hare] went on to become a highlight of the magazine for the next 65 years though Power died in 1929.” (Flanagan, Irish Times, 2014, available at https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/an-irishman-s-diary-on-our-boys-1.1863585 0.).
Although there is confusion concerning when Power died, T. Victor O’Donovan Power is buried in Shanbogh graveyard and his marker records his death as occurring on the 30th of December 1933. Obituaries for Power appeared in the New Ross Standard on the 5th of January 1934 noting that his father was Michael Power, and the Waterford Standard on the 6th provided the following information:
WELL-KNOWN WRITER’S DEATH. The death has occurred of Mr. T. Victor O’Donovan-Power, of Chilcomb [House], New Ross, the well-known Irish writer and play-wright. For the past 50 years he was a frequent contributor to magazines, periodicals, and the weekly Press, and he was the author of a number of books. Amongst his plays were “The Peril of Shelia” and “The Banshee’s Cry.” His writings portrayed Irish rural life in a delightfully true-to-life manner. Mr. Power was a gifted musician. He had been ill only a short time.
We will never know for certain if the Phantom Coach of Glenmore parish influenced Power, but a ghostly coach featured in a Kitty the Hare story he wrote. RTE as part of its Twenty Minute Tales series featured Kitty the Hare telling the story of the headless Aughaderry coach on Halloween in 1974. It has been digitalised, so turn down the lights and enjoy an old fashion short ghost story without special effects told by Kitty the Hare at https://www.rte.ie/archives/2019/1001/1079397-the-headless-coach-of-aughaderry/
The feature photo above are headstones in the Shanbogh graveyard taken in September 2020.
Web page update–Some headstone inscriptions from Shanbogh graveyard may be found by clicking on the Roots button on the home page.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh