penal times

A visitor to Glenmore might find a concise history of St. James Catholic Church on a stone plaque inserted into the wall over the sacristy door of the church.

Anno Domini  1813 
This chapel was built by the inhabitants of  Glenmore 
Revd. John Fitzpatrick P.P. 
Revd. William Grant Coad.
A.D. 1910 Rebuilt  
Rev. Thomas Phelan P.P.  
Rev. M.A. Crotty C.C.

This concise history does not reflect the struggles the parishioners encountered in practicing their faith and building this church.

St. Patrick & Early Glenmore Celtic Churches

The roots of the parish go right back to St. Patrick. Legend has it that when St. Patrick, whilst on his travels throughout Ireland, in the fifth century, preaching and converting the native to the new Christian religion, he passed through the area which is now Davidstown, that is today in the Parish of Glenmore. The prospect and amenity of the area so pleased him that he decided to build a church there, which decision he later abandoned after some days work on the site.

Whether or not St. Patrick, ever arrived in this place on his visitation through Ossory, is not certain. However, what is certain, is that the Christian Religion was in widespread practice here in early times, as is evidenced by the numerous Celtic Churches which were used as places of Worship. These early edifices were located in Rathaglish, Davidstown, Rochestown, Ballycroney, Ballygurrim, Kilmakevoge, Kilbride, Kilquan and Kilcolumb. Of all these only the ruins of Ballygurrim, Kilmakevoge, and Kilcolumb still survive, and the foundations of what was Kilbride.

Danny Dowling has noted that there has been a strong oral tradition in Glenmore with the passing of historical information from one generation to the next. For example, according to this oral tradition, Ballygurrim was a settlement containing a good number of houses. Wattie Power, late of Jamestown, was interviewed in the 1950’s and noted that when he was a lad he often heard from the older people of the area that there was a large village of houses in the church field which surrounds Ballygurrin graveyard. During a plague most of the inhabitants of the village died and were buried in a large trench in Merrigan’s bog across the road. Wattie Power as a young man was asked to plough the church field. It had not been ploughed in the memory of living people. He ploughed the field, and in the lower half of the field nearest to Glenmore the plough turned up numerous areas of black earth, ash and cinders, besides numerous hearthstones. All these items indicate that a village existed in this field.

Penal Times

In addition to plague, politics impacted on the early Glenmore churches. Most were forced to close during penal times after Cromwell arrived in Ireland in 1649. It is known that Kilivory was in use right up until penal times with some of the priests of Slieverue being buried there. Kilcolumb in the townland of Rathinure was converted to Protestant use. Oral tradition provides that during the troubles associated with the Cromwellian confiscation the sacred vessels of Ballygurrim Church were buried under an ancient sceach in the church field on Dowling’s farm in Jamestown. The ancient sceach, fell around 1950.  It was located about midway between the line of the mass path (which passed through this field from opposite Clune Lane) to the corner of the field adjoining the Ballygurrim to Glenmore Roadway. 

During penal times the people persevered in following their faith often holding mass in secret in houses as was the practice in Forristalstown or open air masses were held. The faithful also continued to bury their dead in the old church yards of Kilivory, Kilcolumb and Ballygurrim. Tradition states that open air masses were held in Kearney Bay and in Bolger’s field in Ballycroney. On one occasion in Bolger’s field the priest was saying mass. As was essential some of the faithful were on watch for soldiers. The scout on this occasion apparently didn’t see the oncoming soldiers until they were very near. He immediately gave word to the priest, who asked the congregation to disperse and go their own way as best they could, and “I’ll go mine.” When the soldiers arrived, the commanding officer said, “The wolf was here but he is gone.” The soldiers passed and didn’t see anyone. It was said that the faithful were rendered invisible by the power of God.

The Church in Hanrahan’s Field

Sometime around 1711 a Catholic church was built in Hanrahan’s field directly across from the Creamery about 1/3 of the distance from the Creamery to the now closed post office. The name of the church has been lost, but the description of the church has been passed down. The church building was made of stone, had a thatched roof, no floor and no furniture. The faithful brought straw with them to kneel on the damp ground. It is believed that this low spot in the valley and the shed like building with no floor or furniture was to conceal its function as a Catholic church during the penal years.

Most of the penal laws were removed by 1793, and shortly thereafter the present parish church, dedicated to St. James, the apostle, was built in 1813. The site of the church is on a hill making the tall structure visible for a considerable distance. No contractor was hired to build the church. Instead the parishioners built their church providing the labour and donating most of the materials. The shell of a Chapel in Glenmore, was built at a cost of £100 in 1813. Old Johnnie Gaule of Busherstown, gave this information to his nephew Mickey (Specks) Power of Busherstown, who used to work with Wattie Power of Jamestown who gave it to Danny. Father Grant was the Curate in charge of St. James. Father Grant was a native of Ballyvarring in the Parish of Slieverue.

Birth of Glenmore Parish

The years 1845 to 1850 are primarily associated with the Great Famine, but in Glenmore the year 1846 is also remembered for the birth of the parish. Prior to 1846 the present parish of Glenmore, was part of the parish of Slieverue. Parish Priest Rev. Edward Walsh, on his becoming Bishop of Ossory, made Glenmore a separate parish from Slieverue. In this form Glenmore has remained although with the shortage of priests there is currently consideration being given to combining parishes.

Since 1813 St. James Church has undergone renovations including the removal of the gallery, but the last major renovation of the church was its rebuilding in 1910 as reflected on the stone plaque over the sacristy door. George Nolan a Builder in Waterford was awarded the contract for the re-build in 1910, and Michael Doran was a monumental sculptor, who worked for George Nolan. Michael Doran, at the age of 86 when interviewed by Danny, recalled that in 1910 he cut the stone for the present belfry. For further information regarding renovations see our post of 2 May 2020.

Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh

This past week we added local Irish words to the website as well as local families, and special thanks to Jacqueline Walsh who sent a number of old photos of Glenmore including those of St. James.