The Kerry Magazine 2009 98335:Layout 1 12/1/08 10:46 AM Page 1

The Kerry Magazine 2009 98335:Layout 1 12/1/08 10:46 AM Page 1

The year 2008 marked the 850th anniversary of the completionof the “great church” of Aghadoe in 1158. Our magazine thisyear focuses on this event.

Something which is very close to my heart is the promotion ofan interest and awareness of our cultural heritage amongstyoung people. My own life-long interest in the general subjectarea was engendered in my childhood by my late father who hada great love of all things Irish. This year, my colleagues on theeditorial committee and I embarked upon a totally new conceptfor the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society – anoutreach programme aimed at primary school children. It waspiloted in two schools in the greater Killarney area – FossaNational School and Lissivigeen National School. In total fiftysixth-class pupils participated in Aghadoe 850: A CollaborativeLearning Journey. The project is outlined in this generaloverview and some of the children’s work is featured in the“young archaeologist/historian” section of the magazine.

• One of the primary objectives of the Kerry Archaeological andHistorical Society is the promotion and fostering of an interestand awareness in our cultural heritage amongst all ages. • With this objective in mind it was decided to pilot an outreachprogramme targeted at primary schoolchildren.• As 2008 marks the 850th anniversary of the completion of the“great church” at Aghadoe, Killarney, as recorded in theAnnals of Inisfallen for the year 1158, it was decided that thiswould represent an appropriate subject area.• Caitríona Ní Chullota, Director of the Education Centre,Tralee, was approached with regard to the proposed project.• It was decided to pilot the programme in two schools in thegreater Killarney area. When contacted both Fossa andLissivigeen National Schools expressed an interest in par-ticipating.• The primary resource of a society such as the Kerry Archaeo-logical and Historical Society is the store of knowledgepossessed by its members. Three society members volunteeredtheir individual expertise for the purpose of the pilotprogramme. Fr. Tom Looney, P.P, Dingle, Marie O’Sullivan,Archaeologist and Gail McCarthy.• In conjunction with the Director of the Education Centre andthe Principals of the two schools Kieran Coffey (Fossa) andMichael McAuliffe (Lissivigeen), the programme was structured.It was decided to target as many curriculum areas as possible:history, local history, archaeology, spirituality, music, art,maths, mapping, English writing skills, geography and Irish.• On Wednesday April 23, 2008, the sixth-class schoolchildrenof both schools together with their principals were lead on afield trip to Aghadoe by Marie O’Sullivan. On a glorioussummer’s day, the children spent two hours interactivelyengaged with the local history, archaeology and architectureof the site and general area. The outing was recorded onvideo.• This outing was followed on Monday April 28 2008, by aninteractive lecture delivered by Fr. Tom Looney, when thechildren learned of the folklore, spirituality, geography and

music of the greater Killarney area. Music was provided byHelen Kerins and Denis Crowley and the children were taughtand sang a 1000-year-old hymn. This session was recorded onvideo and still photographs were taken by Gail McCarthy • In an effort to add an additional dimension for the children,both schools engaged local artist Dermot McCarthy to workwith the children on the project. Aghadoe was again visited onTuesday 27 May, this time the outing was led by DermotMcCarthy, who instructed the children on the technicalaspects of drawing, subsequent to their having surveyed andmapped the ecclesiastical site.• The final visit to Aghadoe occurred on the June 6th, when thechildren were filmed presenting a selection of their work andsinging some of the songs, which they learned from Fr. Looney.• The two schools worked in conjunction with each other tocreate a project comprising text, artwork and a DVD. • The project was actively supported by the Kerry Library Service.Both schools received one hundred books from Kerry Librarythrough the primary school library service in recognition oftheir involvement in the project. Details of the initiative arefeatured in Irish Library News of August 2008.• The project was launched at Killarney Library on Friday June13, when both principals were presented with plaques andeach child with a certificate of participation. The multi-mediaexhibition ran until Saturday 28 of June. Since then, it hasbeen showcased at the Education Centre, Tralee.

It is always difficult to source articles “as gaelige” but, this yearwe are fortunate to have two - Caomhnú� na hOidhreachta:Splea�chadh ar fhora�s céime sa te�atar tuaithe by Muiris Ó�Laoire, and Bard an Oilea�in Uileog Ó�Ceíriín (1791-1863) byEámonn Ó Braoin. Continuing our policy of reproducingsynopsis of certain lectures, this year we include three: The IrishColleges in 17th - and 18th - Century Paris: A Brief History by Dr.Liam Chambers (lecture delivered in 2007), Elise Sandes ofTralee: the friend of soldiers by Bryan Mac Mahon and TheMusical Life and Times of James Goodman (1828-1896), 19th -Century Collector of Kerry Traditional Music by David Hegarty(both of which formed part of our 2008 series of lectures). Thelatter author hopes to publish a more comprehensive article onJames Goodman in a forthcoming issue of our journal.

I would like to express my gratitude to various individuals, con-tributors, members of the editorial committee in particular,Olive Moriarty, Katie McTigue (secretarial support), GailMcCarthy (photographs of outings and cover photographs),Marita Corcoran (Kerry Publications List), Clodagh Finn (finalproof-reading), staff of Kerry Library, Tralee, and Kerry CountyLibrarian, Tommy O’Connor.

Anyone who wishes to submit an article for consideration by theeditorial committee for publication in next year’s KerryMagazine, should do so early in 2009.

Marie O’Sullivan,The Kerry Magazine, Hon. Editor.

EDITORIAL COMMENT

The Kerry Magazine


The Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society, founded in 1967, has as its objectives the collection, recording, study and preservationof the history and antiquities of Kerry.

Activities include lectures, outings to places of historical interest and the publication annually of both a Journal and a Magazine – eachof which is issued free to members.

Membership Subscription Rates are:Individual €30 US $40Family €40 US $50Student €10 US $15Institution €60 US $80

To join, send the appropriate subscription to:Hon. Treasurer, Telephone: 066 7121200 Fax: 066 7129202Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society, Email: [email protected] County Library, Moyderwell, Website: www.kerrylibrary.ie/kahs.aspTralee, County Kerry, Ireland.(Payment by Banker Order is welcome)

Back Issues of: JOURNAL €20 / $30 MAGAZINE €8 / $12

Editor: Marie O’Sullivan

Editorial Committee: Valerie Bary, Kathleen Browne, Emmett Kennelly, Gail McCarthy, Tommy O’Connor, Patricia O’Hare, OliveMoriarty, .

Secretarial Support: Katie McTigue

Front & Back Cover: Line drawings of the Architecture at Aghadoe.Drawings taken from Dunraven, E., (1877): Notes On Irish Architecture, Vol. 2, London, George Bell and Sons, Hayward, R.,(1970): In the Kingdom of Kerry, Dundalk, Dundalgan Press, Lawrence, W., (nd): Gems of the Killarney Lakes and Glengarriff:Their Scenery and Antiquities, Dublin, The Emerald Isle Album Company, The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries ofIreland, Vol. 2, (1892): Dublin,The University Press, The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Vol. 2, (1922):Dublin, John Falconer, The Journal of the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Vol. 1, (1890): Dublin,Hodges, Figgis, and Co., Transactions of the Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society, Vol. 2, (1853): Dublin,John O’Daly, Kerry Archaeological Magazine, No. 1, (October, 1908): Tralee, J. Quinnell and sons, O’Rourke, K., (nd): Shadesand Echoes of Old Killarney, Cork, Guy and Co. Ltd.

Foilsithe ag: Cumann Seandálaíochta is Staire Chiarraí

Printed by: Walsh Colour Print, Tralee Road, Castleisland, Co. Kerry.

ISSN 0085-2503

THE KERRY ARCHAEOLOGICAL & HISTORICAL SOCIETY

CUMANN SEANDÁLAÍOCHTA IS STAIRE CHIARRAÍ


President’s Address 5

1. 6th class Pupils Fossa & Lissivigeen N.S. Aghadoe 850: A Collaborative Learning Journey 6

2. U.C.D. Communications Office King of Spain Honours Kerryman 9

3. Éamonn Ó Braoin Bard an Oileáin: Uileog O Ceirin (1791-1863) 10

4. Dr. Milo Spillane Queen Victoria in Killarney 13

5. Bryan Mac Mahon Elise Sandes of Tralee: the friend of soldiers 15

6. Fr. Tom Looney Fáilte to a Pilgrim Visit to “the Great Church of Aghadoe” 18

7. George Rice Kerry’s Most Exciting Election 20 – Hard to keep Voters in line in 1872

8. John Knightly Improvements and the Godfrey Estate 1818-1824 23

9. Kate Kennelly Kerry County Council Arts Office 26

10. Fr. Anthony Gaughan The Plaque in Listowel Garda Station 28

11. David Hegarty The Musical Life and Times of James Goodman (1828-1896), 30 19th – Century Collector of Kerry Traditional Music

12. Maggie Prendiville Rock Art in Kerry 32

13. Dr. Muiris Ó Laoire Caomhnu na hOidhreachta: Spleachadh ar 34 fhoras ceime sa teatar tuaithe

14. Valerie Bary The Lost Castle of Currans 36

15. Paul Tempan Tarbert, Co. Kerry, and the element tairbeart in place-names 38

16. Dr. Liam Chambers The Irish Colleges in 17th – and 18th – Century Paris: A Brief History 40

17. John Geary The Red, The Green and The Gold 42

Plaque unveiled in Tralee to commemorate Mercy Convent 44

Obituary 45

Contributors’ List 46

Kerry Publications 2007/2008 47

CONTENTS

The Kerry Magazine

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At the Annual General Meeting of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society in January 2008, I had the honour to be electedPresident. I have had a long association with the Society, acting as secretary for several years. I have witnessed the growth of theSociety from its foundation to a worldwide membership of over 700 people today.

Our membership is such that, in each barony, a network of dedicated members is available to advise, consult and help to promotethe aims of our society - the study and preservation of all matters relating to the History and Antiquities of County Kerry.

The society offers a tremendous programme of activities to its members - outings during the summer months and a series of lecturesin the winter. Our society is unique in producing two high-class publications annually, a journal and this magazine, many thanksare due to both our editors.

As President, I am conscious of the role played by my distinguished predecessors in this office. I will endeavour to continue topromote the interests of the society and its members during my term of office.

Council Members and Officers elected at 2008 Annual General Meeting.

PATRONS: Most Rev. Dr. Bill Murphy, Bishop of Kerry, The Right Rev. Michael Mayes, Lord Bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe.

PRESIDENT: Kathleen Browne

PAST PRESIDENTS: An tAthair Seán McGinnea, Timothy Creedon, Gerry O’Leary, Tadhg Ó Coileain, Emmett Kennelly, Pádraig Ó Conchubhair.

VICE PRESIDENTS COUNCIL MEMBERSCaherciveen Catherine McMullin Valerie McK.Bary, Pádraig de Buis Dingle (Corkaguiny) Sheila Mulcahy Tony Bergin, Conor BrosnanKenmare (Dunkerron South and Gleanerough) Fr. Tom Looney Sheila O’Sullivan, (one vacancy)Killarney (DunkerronNorth and Magunihy) Chris Ní� Nualláin Patricia O’Hare, Miriam McFarlaneListowel (Iraghticonnorand Clanmaurice) Marjorie Long John O’Flaherty, (one vacancy)Tralee (Truchanacmy) Pádraig Ó Murchadha Michael McNamara, Gail McCarthy

Hon. Secretary: Maureen Hanafin, Hon. Treasurer: Liam O’Connor, Assistant Treasurer: Raymond Roche, PRO: Gerry O’Leary,Programme Directors: Gail McCarthy/Miriam McFarlane, Membership Secretary: Eamon Browne, Hon. Editor Journal: IsabelBennett, Hon. Editor Magazine: Marie O’Sullivan, Hon. Auditor: Denis Switzer.

Rath Dé oraibh

Kathleen BrownePresident

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PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS 2008

NOTICEOccasionally lectures are cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. At times there are also additions to the programmeof lectures. Unfortunately if we do not have your contact details we cannot make you aware of these events. To facilitatecommunication we would urge you to forward your e-mail address to us at [email protected]. Many thanks for your co-operation in this matter.


In total, fifty sixth-class children participated in this pilot OutreachProgramme undertaken in 2008 (as outlined in the editorialcomment) by the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society. Un-fortunately it is not possible to publish the resultant material in itsentirety. Therefore, with great difficulty a representative sampleof the work has been selected for publication.

DAY 1AGHADOE1. First, we were introduced to Marie O’Sullivan, an archaeologist,who showed us around the site.

2. We went to the doorway of the Church where she spoke to us about the early Iron Age.

3. We were shown an Ogham Stone with cipher writings engravedinto it. She told us how to read the inscriptions.

4. We learnt all about the first weapons, first farmers and St. Finian, who founded a monastery on Innisfallen Island.

5. Marie told us about the church here in Aghadoe, when it was damaged and extended. We also learned about the Romanesque west doorway, dating from 1100-1200 AD. We went inside the church and looked at the windows.

6. Finally, we walked down the road to examine the round towerboth inside and out.

We really enjoyed our Field Trip to Aghadoe and learnt muchabout the history of the area.

Signed: Peter Falvey (Lissivigeen National School)

HISTORY INDOORSDay Two - 28th April ‘08Today, we went up to Aghadoe graveyard again, only for it to startlashing rain the minute we entered the grounds, so we all had totroop back to school again. It was quite disappointing as we hadbeen looking forward to the trip for a few days now. We did nothave to abandon our plans completely though, as we, along withall of the pupils from Lissivigeen N.S., their principal Mr.McAuliffe, the priest with us Fr. Looney, the photographer Gail,the archaeologist Marie O’Sullivan, and two singers, Helen Kerinsand Denis Crowley all made their way back to our school, FossaN.S. where we all went into the general purpose room and put allof the chairs into a big circle and we all sat down, ready for work.

Firstly, Fr. Looney gave us pink sheets with songs, poems andhistory written on them. He read out a song named ‘Killarney’from the sheet. We listened as he read it through and then wetried to sing it along with him. We weren’t very good, but we joinedin for the chorus every time it came around. The song was a veryold song, written in the 1800s by a man named O’Rourke. Thiswas great fun and we learnt a lot and had a fun time as well.

Afterwards, some Lissivigeen students read about the Kerrycroizer, and Fr. Looney talked to us about it as well. The croizerwas three feet, seven-and-a-half inches high, which is just over ametre. We learnt a lot about it, and looked at some wonderfulpictures as well. Some other children from Lissivigeen N.S. saidreadings about Innisfallen Island and some of the other islandsin Lough Le in, including Ross peninsula. The readings wereinteresting and very pleasant.

AGHADOE 850: A Collaborative Learning Journey

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The Kerry Magazine

Gothic windows in C13 church in Aghadoe - Peter Foley. The Sculpture Fragment - Ciaran MacDomhnaill.


Later on, Helen and Denis sang for us a song named ‘Aghadoe’. Itwas about a women long ago who fed her husband because he wasin hiding as he was a rebel. At the end of the song, her husbandwas executed and she buries him like a king. It is a beautiful songand they sang it wonderfully with beautiful harmony, and Denisplayed the guitar all through the song as well. It was really lovelyand I am glad that my teacher Mr. Coffey has told us that we willbe learning that song, and I am sure that it will be fun.

Next Fr. Looney taught us another song. This song was written inan old form of Irish, and named ‘Deus Meus Adiuva Me!’ Hetaught us what the song was about. It was about God, and givinglove to everyone. The song was written by a monk long ago whosename was Mael Iose O Brolchain and whose death was recordedin the Annals of Innisfallen. We sang it, but found the words hardto understand. It was still fun and enjoyable though.

Later on, Lucy read a reading about Killarney long ago, and Ifollowed by reading a piece on the history of Ireland. My readingwas interesting, but I found some of the words in it hard tounderstand.

When I had finished my reading, Niamh read hers on Lei, themighty giant who was said to have lived in Lough Lein long ago.Her reading told us that the lake had got the name Lough Leinfrom this monster, but Mr. Coffey our teacher does not believethis. He seems to think that this legend grew up because of themonastery, and the large sandbar in the lake, and perhaps Loch

Lein means ‘the lake of learning’.

Next, Jessie read a poem on the monster, and Karen and Eimearalso read a poem together, pretending to be the giant. It was funnyand interesting, and they kept on shouting the word ‘huloloo!’ Itwas great fun and very entertaining. Soon we lit a candle, andsaid prayers. This was enlightening, and fun.

I had a great day and a great time, and hope that the rest of ourproject will be this fun.

Written by Annie Sheehan (Fossa National School)

THE 3RD DAY IN AGHADOE

First we went to Aghadoe grave yard. In the graveyard, there is anold ruin of a church. It is a very nice church with a good exampleof a Romanesque doorway. On top of the south wall is an ancientogham stone bearing the inscription b-r-r-u-a-n-a-n-n, a simplename possibly used as a grave marker. Still the ogham stone addsa bit of historical charm to the church.

After we looked around we got into groups with Fossa school todraw pictures of all the different angles of the church. Mr.McCarthy came around to give us some useful tips. The picturesturned out great and Fossa schools were great to work with.

After, we went on a waterbus around Innisfallen Island. The tourguide told us some very interesting facts about the island. He toldus that princes from all over Europe studied on the tiny Island. Atthis time, the lake was given the name of Lough Leane, whichmeans lake of learning.

Lamb Island, Brown Island, Mouse Island, Rough Island, Friar’sIsland and O’Donoghue’s prison are all islands on Lough Leane.After our waterbus tour, we went down to the copper mines. Therewere very interesting notice boards which told us that miningbegan in the Early Bronze Age (2400-1800BC) making this theearliest copper mine in Ireland or Europe. I loved my day and Iwould recommend it to the locals and tourists of Killarney.

By: Aoife Hickey (Lissivigeen National School)

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Launch at Killarney Library with some of the children’s work displayed in the background.

Art: Making a rubbing of the ogham stone!!


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The Kerry Magazine

The pupils of Fossa and Lissivigeen National Schools photographed with Breda Lyons, Chairperson, The Education Centre, Maria Breen, PrimaryCurriculum Support Programme, Dermot McCarthy, Artist, Caitríona Ní Chullota, Director, The Education Centre, Fr. Tom Looney, P.P. Dingle,

Marie O’Sullivan Archaeologist Hon Editor, The Kerry Magazine, Kieran Coffey, Principal, Fossa National School, Tommy O’Connor, Kerry County Librarian, Michal McAuliffe, Principal, Lissivigeen National School. (Missing from the photograph is Gail McCarthy.)

A DAY IN THE AGHADOE MONASTERY

As I slowly began to open my eyes, I could hear the rattling of therusty bell as, Brother Paul rang the bell around the other cells. Iraised my head from the hard flat stone we had for a pillow, I stoodon the cold wet floor and walked across the other side of the roomto put on my sandals. I went out the door and it wasn’t very bright,I could see the shimmering lights in the distance of the candleBrother Paul had. So I started walking over to the church for ourdaily matins, (they were morning prayers).

On the way to the church it was forbidden to greet anyone, becauseGod is supposed to come before everything. So, I reached the doorof the church, blessed myself with the holy water and opened thedoor. When I entered I remembered what a beautiful church it is topray in. I took my sandals and left them in the shoe rack at the backof the church, and then I went to my seat. Everyone has their ownseats for every day. So, I sat down, silently bowing my head andjoining my hands. Then, one of the brothers rang the bell andAbbott Michael started saying some prayers. I read out a psalm inLatin, we also offered each other a sign of peace. We all said our ownprayers to God. We had finally finished, so I went to the back of thechurch to put on my sandals. I then bowed my head facing the altarand slowly started walking out the door. We were then on our way tothe refectory to eat.

When I arrived near the refectory, I found out it was closed. Mytummy was rumbling, and my stomach was sore. We all waitedpatiently until we could see the door slowly opening. And there wasBrother Thomas the chef on duty today. He told everyone sorry forthe delay, but ye can eat now. So, we entered and got our porridge,bread and cheese. I sat down and had to eat quickly because I hadto go and do my work. So I went to put my dirty dishes up in thepile where the rest of them were. I was saying to myself “the smellis desperate!” So I went to the door and opened it.

So, now, you will find out what my job for the day was, it was onlook-out duty from the round tower. When I reached the roundtower I had to do my special hand movement so the brother at

the top would lower the ladder so I could go up. It was time togive Brother Seolann a rest. He went down and I stayed up to takea look out.

It was an ordinary day with the sun just set over the mountains. Ithen took a look to see what the other monks were up to; I couldsee some brothers picking vegetables from the fields. I knew therewere also some brothers in the school and guest house. In theschool they would teach the apprentices and in the guest housethey would take care of the guests. Others were picking weeds andkeeping the fence in order. There were also people in thescriptorium copying down parts of the gospel and psalms. Also, ofcourse, there were brothers cleaning the dishes and makingdinner. There was not much happening except the monks whostill were building the new church after the great storm a coupleof years ago. So Brother Seolann and I swapped positions. Now hewent on look out. It was time for me to go to the scriptorium andwrite a couple lines of the gospel. So I went straight in and wrotefive lines of the gospel. By that time I was already exhausted.

But I was hungry too so I went to eat. For starters, we had breadand soup. For the main course, we had fish and vegetables. Thatwas me full for a while. So again I went and put my dishes in thecorner where everyone else’s were. I then went out the door.

We all started walking over to the church for our night prayers, allyou could see was the outline of the faces of the brothers and theshimmering lights of the candles at the side of the church. We saidour prayers and psalms and we all went back to our cells.

I was really tired from my hard day but it will be worth it when wewill rise up to heaven, I was thinking to myself when I got in mycell. I thank God for my day, and look forward to another one.Now I am going to sleep.

So that was a normal day for me. I enjoyed it and I hope foranother good day tomorrow.

By: James Butler (Fossa National School)


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KING OF SPAIN HONOURS KERRYMANUniversity College Dublin, Communications Office

At a ceremony in the SpanishAmbassador’s Residence in Dublinon Thursday 22 May, Dr. Declan M.Downey of Tarbert and UniversityCollege Dublin, was presented withthe Insignia of Knighthood in theOrder of Isabel la Católica by HisExcellency the Spanish Ambassadorto Ireland, Don José de Carvajal onbehalf of His Majesty, King JuanCarlos I of Spain.

According to Ambassador deCarvajal, the king conferred thisdistinction, with the title ofComendador (Knight-Commander),on Dr. Downey in recognition of hisacademic research, publications, in-

ternational profile and work concerning the historic ties betweenIreland and Spain and of his valuable contribution to the strengthen-ing of relations between both countries. It is not only a great honourfor Dr. Downey personally, for Tarbert and County Kerry, but it is alsoa splendid tribute for University College Dublin’s School of History& Archives and its reputation for the highest quality research. It is thesecond occasion that Dr. Downey has been honoured so distinc-tively. In October 2003, he was presented with the Knight’s Crossof the Federal Republic of Austria in recognition of his pioneeringwork on Irish-Austrian Historical Relations.

Over the past twenty years, Dr. Downey has researched, publishedand lectured on various aspects of the unique historic relationshipthat developed between Ireland and the old Habsburg Monarchyof Spain, Austria and the Low Countries. Particularly, he hashighlighted the successful integration of Irish émigrés in thesestates and the privileges that they enjoyed as a consequence of theTreaty of Dingle that was signed by James, the eleventh Earl ofDesmond and Don Gonzalo Fernández, envoy of the Holy RomanEmperor and King of Spain, Charles V & I on 28 April 1529.

Over the past eight years, Dr. Downey has co-directed with ProfessorCiarán Brady of Trinity College Dublin a major international col-laborative research project ‘Wild Geese Regiments Database Project– Irish officers and soldiers in the Spanish Service c.1560-1810’. Thisis a joint TCD-UCD research operation that is funded by the IrishHigher Education Authority. The success of this project has led tothe development of a new current one ‘Wild Geese RegimentsDatabase Project – Irish officers and soldiers in the Austrian &Spanish Imperial Naval Services c.1600-1918’. This is also supportedby the HEA.

In Spring 2006, Dr. Downey was academic director & co-organiserwith Dr Aurora Sotelo (Director of Instituto Cervantes - SpanishCultural Institute, Dublin), of the memorable series of five speciallectures entitled: ‘Rekindling an Old Friendship: Five Fresh Per-spectives on the Irish in Spain from 1600 onwards’. The series washeld in the Royal Irish Academy and it was launched by H.E. theSpanish Ambassador to Ireland, Don José de Carvajal .

On 23 June 2008, in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, Peter

Sutherland SC, Chairman of BP and Goldman Sachs Internationaland former EU Commissioner, launched Spanish Irish RelationsThrough The Ages which Dr. Downey co-edited with Dr. JulioCrespo MacLennan (Instituto Ortega y Gasset, Madrid). It ispublished by Four Courts Press. It contains the proceedings of theFirst International Conference on Spanish-Irish Relations that bothscholars had organised in the former Irish College in Salamanca inNovember 2004.

Apart from his manyengagements at nationaland international level,Dr. Downey has alwaysmaintained close ties withhis native county and hasgiven his support to avariety of local initiativesand activities in Tarbertand elsewhere in Kerry.He has been c loselyinvolved with the Tarbert Historical Society and the Kerry Archae-ological and Historical Society, some of whose members have beenbrought by Dr. Downey on tours to places in Spain (March 2006)and Portugal (March 2007), that had historical connections withKerry. In 2006, he was presented with the Society’s AnnualHeritage Award. In April 2008, Dr. Downey gave the Society’s NóraNí Shúilleabháin Memorial Lecture at the National Library ofIreland, in which he spoke about ‘Commanders and Courtiers: TheKerry Presence at the Viennese Court, 1700-1800 ‘.

Dr. Downey has also been supportive as an adviser and guestlecturer to the Dingle Historical and Heritage Society and to theCamino Corca Dhuibhne. In April 2007, on the eve of the revivalof the medieval sea-route pilgrimage in the Jeanie Johnson fromDingle to Santiago de Compostella, Dr. Downey gave a key-noteaddress in Dingle on ‘El Dinguel de Santiago’: Kerry’s SpanishEnclave, c.1200-1600 ‘.

Dr. Downey is the son of Mrs. Myra Downey (née Coolahan) andthe late Mr. John Downey of The Square, Tarbert. He holds a Ph.Din Legal & Diplomatic History from the University of Cambridge(1994), and he has been lecturing in Modern European and AsianDiplomatic History at University College Dublin since 1995.

University College Dublin, Communications Office.

Dr. Declan Dolonley pbeingpresented with the Insigna ofKnighthood in the Order ofIsabel La Católica by HisExcellency the SpanishAmmbassador to Ireland.

Ambassador to Ireland, Don José de Carvajal on behalf of His Majesty, King Jaun Carlos I of Spain.

Dr. Declan Dolonley pictured with hismother Mrs. Myra Downey.


Is é a chuir mé romham san alt seo ná file áitiúil óm cheantardúchais fhéin a thabhairt chun eolais. Is é Uileog Ó Céirín(1791-1863), file tuaithe agus fáidh ina dhúthaigh fhéin, agus achaith an chuid is mó dá shaol in Oileán Chiarraí an té úd atá igceist agam . Is beag eolas atá ar Uileog Ó Céirín timpeall OileánChiarraí ina dhúthaigh fhéin sa lá atá inniu ann. Níl rian denteach ina raibh cónaí air féin is a chlann ann inniu agus an t-aon iarsma atá fagtha ann fós ná tobar dár ainm “Kerin’s Well”,i mbaile fearainn ‘Curraichín’, atá timpeall míle ó ÓileánChiarraí ar an mbealach go Luimneach. Ach sin ráite, d’fhágUileog a rian nach beag ar sheanchas agus ar bhéaloideas naháite, agus tá an-trácht air i bhfóinsí áirithe - Béaloideas na Sgol(Scoileanna) , Cartlann Bhéaloidis na hÉireann, agus Príomhb-hailiúchán Lámhscríbhinní Roinn Bhéaloidis na hÉireann.Deineann Dáithí Ó hÓgáin dhá thagart dó ina shárleabhar AnFile. Is léir go raibh clú agus cáil ar mhuintir Chéirín mar fhilí.Shíolraigh siad ó Pharóiste na Cille ag an nGeata Bán in aice leCaisleán na Mainge i gContae Chiarraí. D’aistrigh Donncha agusa mhac Uileog go dtí Curraichín in aice le Oileán Chiarraí. Bafhíodóir fáin é Uileog agus thaistil sé timpeall iarthar Luimnighagus bhí baint faoi leith aige leis an dúthaigh idir Mainstir naFéile agus Oileán Chiarraí. Tá sé seo le rá ag Diarmaid ÓFoghludha i “Banba” sa bhliain 1901 :

“Figheadóirithe a b’eadh Donnchadh agus a mhac Uiliog, achttheidhdís go minic ‘i leith a sláinte’ síos amach go ContaeLuimnigh. Aimsir grinn agus fhilideachta a b’eadh í, agus sé mothuairim gur b’a é is mo a bheireadh síos na Céirínigh godteangmhó’dís ar fhilíbh Chontae Luimnigh, agus ar leitheidEoghain Ruaidh a bhíodh ag baint na bprátaí agus agracairéacht ann gach aon fhoghmhar” (O� Foghludha, 1901,4).

Tá a shaol agus a shaothar fíorthábhachtach mar ar dtúsd’aistrigh sé ó cheantar Chaisleán na Mainge áit a raibhaitheantas riamh air mar Bhreac-Ghaeltacht go dtí OileánChiarraí, baile a raibh an Béarla go rábach idir lucht gharastúinna Sasanach agus mar theanga riaracháin ag an gCléir. Gandabht bhí an bochtanas go forleathan. Bhí muirear mór air,mhair sé tríd an nGorta Mór ach thar aon rud eile bhí sé sástaan fód a sheashamh i gcoinne cumhacht na cléire agustíorántacht na dtiarnaí talún. Is léir gur duine le pearsantachtghéarchúiseach é, agus go raibh meabhair chinn as an ngnáthagus féith na filíochta go láidir aige:

“Uileog Ó Céirín a man of very good poetic talents, in Irishand in English of the neighbourhood of Castleisland,

Co. Kerry” (de Brún, 1987, 55).

Agus dúirt Muiris Ua Claochlaigh múinteóir scoile agusbailitheoir béaloidis ó Chill Mhuire, ina alt air ins An Lóchran:

“file nótalta a mhair sa gceanntar sa Oileán Chiarraighe satsean-aimsir dob eadh Uilig Ó Céirín” (Ua Caochlaigh,

Lúghnasa 1931, 14).

Tá scéal i mBailiúchan na Sgol a thugann leid cen sórt pear-

sanachta a bhí ag Uileog . Fuair sé scéala go raibh file aitheantaeile ó iarthar Chiarraí chun a bheith ar aonach Oilean Chiarraí.Níor bhuaileadar le chéile riamh agus lá an aonaigh bhainUileog amach an teach tábhairne is mó sa bhaile agus é lán destróinséirí:

“cad a bhí riamh, is beidh go deó” arsa Uileog, agus fuair séfreagra díreach ón bhfile ó iarthar Chiarraí “Bhí an madra riabhach in diaidh na peice riamh, is beidh godeó” arsa Uileog, agus ansin chuir an file ó iarthar Chiarraí ancheist:“cad ná raibh riamh, is ní bheidh go deó” agus d’fhreagairUileog “Ní raibh nead luiche i gcluais an chait riamh, is níbheidh go deó”.(Bailiúchán na Sgol,Tureenard NS,35).

File tuaithe ab ea Uileog, agus bhí sé sásta comhairle a leasa athabhairt do aon dream sa phobal a bhí i dtrioblóid nó igcruachás. Bhí troid agus bruíon go minic idir na Brosnachá-naigh agus na Conchubhraigh agus pé áit a gcasfaí le chéile iadar aonach nó ar fhleá bheadh ‘bruidhean an aonaigh’ eatarthu.Scríobh Uileog an dán cáiliúil seo ag iarraidh an dá bhuíon achur ar bhealach a leasa, i dtreo is nach mbeadh an t-achranncéanna á leanúint níos mó :

Is brónach, dubh- chathasach, danaidh an sgéil éLe sealad de laethibh in aigne bróin,

Cómharsain is caraid in earraid le chéileIs ná feadar an tsaoghal cad é ádhbhar an ghleóidh.

Mo dhóchas má thagaid chun catha lá an aonaighBeidh cuid acu ‘tréith-lag, gan tapaidh ná treoir,Agus an chuid aca mhairidh ar amharc na téide,Go gcaitfidh géilleadh agus go mb’fhearra leó.

Mo chomairle tógaidh agus glacaidh an réidteachAgus an t-achrann céadna ná leanaidh níos mó ,

Tógaidh teagasc ar mhaithe libh féinig,Agus maithidh dhá chéile a bhfuil imthighthe fós.

Do chonnaic-sa gasra cheana ná staonfadh,Agus a théigeadh go dtí an aonac in aigne gleóidh

Gan ‘irleas, gan ghradam, acht go dti an talamh ‘na dhiaidh saA ‘gartha déirce fé anacra mór.

Cuid acu cailleadh gan teagasc na cléire,Ná duine ‘na ndéigh cuireadh Aifrinn leo,

Agus an chuid aca mhairfidh fé anacra an tsaoil seo,Go n-admhuighid féinig go mbfeárr leigeann dóibh.

Cómhrach na cloiche ná stoptar ó éinne,Dá dtigeadh ‘bhúr ndiaidh a bhfuil imhtigthe fós,Is gan feoirling dá shochar ‘na dhorn ag éinne,

Cé deachair libh géilleadh go mb’fhearr leigeann dó.(Bailiúchan na Sgol, Scoil Oileán Chiarraí, 419).

Bailitheoir Tadhg Ó Céin a fuair an dán seo ó ThomásBreathnach(Tomás Reddy), Cill Mhuire,Oileán Chiarraí.

BARD AN OILEÁIN UILEOG Ó CÉIRÍN (1791-1863)Éamonn Ó Braoin

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Bhí naimhdeas riamh idir na filí agus an chléir. Bhí cumhachtmáistreachta ag an gcléir ar an gcosmhuintir agus is beag duinea bhí sásta dúl i gcoimhlint leo. Ar an taobh eile bhí an fileneamhspleách, géarchúiseach agus bhí an-chumhacht aige. Bhían file ábalta aoir a chumadh agus dar leis an údar Dáithí ÓhÓgáin:

“ ba í a gcumhacht aoire an fheidhm ba mhó a bhí ag na filí sasaol sóisialta de réir an bhéaloidis, agus dá bhrí sin ní iontas

gurbh é an t-aoradh is mó a shamhlófaí lena gceird”(Ó hÓgáin, 1982, 116).

Bhí an t-athrú teanga tosaithe in Oileán Chiarraí agus a thim-peallacht magúaird go luath sa 19ú haois. Is léir gurb í anGhaeilge gnáththeanga na ndaoine ach sna cáipéisí breitheagus pósta atá ar fáil i dtigh an tsagairt in Oileán Chiarraí is imBéarla ar fad atá siad. Tá sonraí ann gur baisteadh UlyssesKerin mac don fhile Ulysses Kerin agus Mary Prendiville ar an11/04/1826:

“The Romans used the name Ulixes, from Etruscan Unluxe,for the Greek Odyysseus, which is of certain meaning. InIreland it was used to anglicise Ulick.” (Coghlan, 1985, 69).

Théadh Uileog go dtí an tAifreann in Oileán Chiarraí agusbhíodh iachall ar na daoine ag an am san, pingin nó leaththois-tiúin a thabhairt ag an doras sara ligfí isteach iad chun antAifreann a éisteacht. Bhíodh na daoine saibhre istigh marbhíodh an t-airgead acu, ach bhíodh na daoine bochta - anchosmhuintir amuigh ar an mbóthar ag éisteacht leis anAifreann nuair ná raibh siad ábalta díol as an gcead isteach. Láamháin nuair a bhí an file ag dul ar Aifreann agus nuair atháinig sé go dtí an ngeata, chonaic sé an slua mór de dhaoinebochta amuigh ar an mbóthar, ar a nglúine. D’fhéach Uileogtimpeall ar an ngasra a bhí lasmuigh agus cé a bhí ag teacht inachoinne ach an sagart paróiste - an tAthair Muiris Mac Gearailt,mar bhí an tAifreann á léamh ag an sagart eile. Nuair a tháinigan sagart chuige do stop sé é agus dúirt sé leis:

A’ athair Muiris, do thuigis agus do léighis a lán,Agus chuigh thar tonnaibh fá thuigsint do chéille gnáith,A’bhfuairriamh duine gan scilling ná raol ‘na láimh,

Cead suidhe ná luighte i gcúirt chluthmhair Mhic Dé na ngrást.

Má ‘s airgead ghníos beannuighthe na daoine ar fad,Dadaidh é ní leagaim-sé ná puinn im ‘theach

Tá “Lasarus” chóm-taithneamhnach ag an Rí atá ar neamh,Le “Alexander the Great” doshealbheadh an

ríoghhacht ar fad.

Is díomáach liom bochtáin ar suidhe bóthair,Agus fuachtáin ar a gcruaidh sáil i ndíth bróga,A’ gearáin a gcruadh -chás leis an Rí glórmhar

Agus lucht sparáin ós cionn cách ina suidhe ar stólaibh.(Coimisiún Béaloideasa Éireann 657, 223).

D’oscail an tAthair Muiris na dóirse agus do lig sé na daoine isteach.Bhí an tuiscint ann sa seansaol gur rud mí-ámharach ab ea anfile mná agus bhí an smaoineamh ann nuair a théadh an buasna mná gurb é sin deireadh le féith na fílíochta sa chlannáirithe sin. Bhí an dearcadh ann nach mbriseann an fhilíocht

amach i dtleaghlach go ceann ceithre ghlúin tar éis di briseadhamach i mbean:.

“Níorbh ealaí do na mná, dar leis an lucht léinn, bheith ag curisteach ar phribhleidí na bhfear; dob olc an tuar é, dar ndóigh,ar nós feadaíl mná rua. Bhí a fhios ag an saol go leanfadh féithna rannaíochta don chine ó ghlúin go glúin, acht an túisce abhrisfeadh an fhilíocht amach ar inín fhile, go dtréigfeadh anbua an chine san go deo.

B’in é an cor a bhain d’Uilig Ó Céirín tar éis a shaoil dothabhairt le duanaireacht. Do tharla dhó bheith ina shuidhe óscomhair na tine an mhaidin mhí-ámharach úd a raibh a iníonag beiriú leitean min-choirce don mbricfeast. Bhí an leite agplubairnigh sa chorcán as cionn béilthíoch tine, nuair a thit ráigcipíní anuas ó bharr an tsimné mar a raibh na préacháin agdéanamh nide i gcomhair gnó an earraigh. Do dhoirt an leiteamach ar loirgne bhoicht, gur léim sé ar leathchois ar fuaid nacistineach, agus gach scread tinnis aige. Do gháir an cailín óg lehaiteas, agus ag déanamh suilt den scéal di dúirt sí:

‘A Uilig Uí Chéirín, is beannaithe an duine thú ,Tá éanlaith an aeir ag bailiú na tine chughat!’

Do stad Uilig den bhacóid, agus d’fhéach ar an inín gan focal ará. Bhí a fhíos aige go raibh deireadh le Muintir Chéirin maidirle filíocht. Do chaith an duine bocht an chuid eile den lá mí-ámharach san ag cumadh an dáin deireanaigh úd aige:

‘Seo mo shlán-sa chun ceapadh dánta Anois go brách go n-éagfad............’(Ó hÓgáin, 1982, 153,154).

Tharla sé in Oileán Chiarraí gur lorg fidléir dall cead ón Athair‘Darby O’Leary seinm do mháistir rince a raibh scoil dhamhsaaige. D’hiúltaigh an sagart an t-iarratas, agus bhí mo dhuine an-díomách agus cráite. D’iarr sé ar an bhfile Uileog Ó Céirin nótaa scríobh don sagart, agus mar seo a leanas a bhí an nóta:

“Tá sé féin dall agus a bhean trom agus garlaí eile aige, Maradtúrfair cead seinnte, tá’r ceathrar caillte, is gan cúnamhcoisrichte.” (Coimisiún Béaloideasa Éireann 597, 540).

Fuair sé an cead. Scéal éigin eile a fuaireas. Bhí misean ar siúlin Oileán Chiarraí tráth, Dé Sathairn a bhí ann, lá mór faoistineagus plód daoine ann. Bhí Uileog ann ó mhoch na maidine,díreach nuair a bhí sé ar tí dul isteach sa bhosca faoistinebheartaigh an sagart sos lóin a thógaint, ach mo léan géar níraibh teanga Uileog ina leathphluic aige:

“Your rev sir observe a sinner,Tossed about from post to pillar

Here all day without Breakfast or dinner

And who ever is the loserI ‘m certainley not the winner.”

Agus dúirt an sagart ansin “Come on Poet you’re the next I’ll hear.(Agallamh le Mrs. Mary Curtin, Coom, Cordal, ar an11/08/1998)

Deirtear go raibh dúil sa bhraon ag Uileog. Oíche amháinchuaigh sé ar theachtaireacht dá bhean agus ag filleadh abhaile

11



dó, d’iompaigh sé isteach go tigh tábhairne, áit ar fhan sé gomaidin. In alt sa ‘Kerry Sentinel’ Wed. May 4th 1898 deireannan t-údar E. O’Sullivan –

“Ulick Kearn,( Irish name Éilig Ó Céirín, cousin of MauriceKearn, Castlemaine), of Castleisland expresses in the followingpoem his resolution to no further invoke the muse and to

write no more poetry. Cause: “Mar is minic fhágadh a dtig an táirne am amadán gan

chéil mé” Major cause - To get reconciled to his wife, whom he neglectedon a critical occasion, by indulging in the “drop of drink” it issaid, when he should with all decent despatsch, have provided

a ‘maternity nurse’ for this good woman”.

Seo mo slánsa cum ceapa dánta‘Níos go-bráth go n-eugfad

Mar is minic fhágach d-tig an táirneAm amadán gan cheil mé,

Lá’r na-mhárac bídhim crosta cráiteA’s ní fheadaim nád do dheunabh“Ná ‘ar fhoraidh an t-Árd Mhac,

Ná Rígh na ngrás ort” sin é rád mo chéile.(‘Kerry Sentinel’ Wednesday May 4, 1898).

Bhí gradam faoi leith riamh ag an bhfile agus ní haon eisceachté Uileog Ó Céirín. Bhronn an pobal aitheantas, meas agus ómósair. Is fíor gur scoláire Gaeilge den chéad scoth a bhí ann agustá a ainm luaite san innéacs do fhócloir an Athar Ó Duinnín(Principal Abbreviations and References Explained, - Ua Céirín- an early 19th century Kerry Poet - xxix). Seantréith eile a bhíag Uileog agus baint leis an ósnadúr gan dabht ná an bua nafrancaigh a dhíbirt as áit agus bhí sé ar a chumas ordú a chur arna francaigh agus iad a threorú go dtí teach duine éigin eile:

“He had a charm for sending rats away. My mother saw themleaving a place one time . They went in couples along thefield. There was a grey rat there and he was blind. Two morerats had a kippin in his mouth - one on each side - in front of

all that was in the meadow”.(Coimisiún Béaloideasa Éireann 597, 544).

An píosa filíochta is fearr liom féin atá luaite leis ná cuid denfhreagra a thug Uileog ar Dháith de Barra, ó CharraigThuathail, príomhurlabhraí “Peárlimint na bFigheadóirí”. Bhíaighneas éigin eatarthu agus seo na línte deireanacha:

Mise Uileog mac Donnchadh Uí ChéirínDuine bhíos soilbhhir séis-bhinnIm’aghaidh má ghlacair starrán

Do gheobhair mé i nGleann na gCoránI bhfogus do Bhaile na nIarlaí

Ar a ngairmthear Oileán ChiarraidheIs bíodh do Laoithe mín nó garbh

Do gheobaidh tú freagairt síoch nó searbhAgus san go mear i meabhair ‘s i méir

‘S i dteangain líomhtha gan slipéir.(Banba,1904, 329).

Tá fianaise láidir i véarsaí Uileoig gurb í an Ghaolainngnáthchaint na ndaoine suas go dtí deireadh na 19ú haoise.Bhíleanúnachas ar shaothar Eoghain Rua Uí Shuilleabhain ag baintle filíocht Uileoig agus bhí sé ag coimead beo ceird na filíochta.

Bronnadh gradam agus omós faoi leith ar Uileog Ó Céirin, guthan phobail “ó Bhaile na nIarlaí ar a ngairmthear OileánChiarraidhe”.

Tagairtí

Agallamh le Mrs. Mary Curtin, Coom, Cordal, Castleisland on11/08/1998Bailiúchán na Sgol, Scoil Oileán Chiarraí, Bailitheoir Tadhg ÓCéin, a fuair an dán seo ó Thomás Breathnach (TomásReddy), Cill Mhuire, Oileán Chiarraí.Bailiúchán na Sgol, Tureenard NSCoghlan, R., (1985): Irish First Names, Béal FeirsteCoimisiún Béaloideasa Éireann, 597: 540,544.de Brún, P., (1987): Éigse xxiiKerry Sentinel, Wednesday May 4 1898 Ó Foghluda, D., (Nodlaigh 1901): BanbaÓ hÓgáin, D., (1982): An File, Baile Átha Cliath Ua Claochlaigh, M., (Lúghnasa 1931): An Lóchrann

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Pictured at the launch of Ardfert Cathedral -Summary of Excavationresults (24th January 2008). Left to right: Dr. Fionnbarr Moore,Director of excavation, John Gormley, Minister for Environment,Heritage and local Government, Fr. Tom Looney, P.P. Dingle, Brian Duffy, Chief Archaeologist, National Monuments Service,Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government.


The following are excerptsfrom the journal kept byQueen Victoria during hervisit to Killarney in 1861.They were first publishedin Arthur Helps1 (ed.).Leaves from the journal ofour life in the Highlands,from 1848 to 1861. London, 1868.

Queen Victoria and herentourage disembarked atKingstown on Thursday, 23August 1861. The royalparty arrived in Killarneyon Monday, 26 August;stayed in Killarney Houseon Monday night; movedto Muckross House onTuesday evening, and

stayed there also on Wednesday night. On Thursday morningthe royal party travelled by train direct to Kingstown to embarkfor Holyhead en route to Balmoral to join the younger membersof the family.

Visit to the Lakes of Killarney (as per the Queen’s Journal)

Tuesday, August 27, 1861

At eleven o’clock we all started in our own sociable,2 and anotherof our carriages, and on ponies, for Ross Castle, the old ruinwhich was a celebrated stronghold, and from which the Kenmarefamily take their name. Here there was an immense crowd anda great many boats. We got into a very handsome barge of eightoars – beautifully rowed. Lord Castlerosse3 steering. The fourchildren,4 and Lady Churchill,5 Lady Castlerosse,6 and LordGranville7 were with us.8

We rowed first round Innisfallen Island and some way up theLower Lake. The view was magnificent. We had a slight shower,which alarmed us all, from the mist which overhung themountains; but it suddenly cleared away and became very fineand very hot. At a quarter to one we landed at the foot of thebeautiful hill of Glena, where on a small sloping lawn there is avery pretty cottage. We walked about though it was overpower-ingly hot, to see some of the splendid views. The trees arebeautiful - oak, birch, arbutus, holly, yew - all growing down tothe water’s edge, intermixed with heather. The hills, risingabruptly from the lake, are completely wooded, which givesthem a different character from those in Scotland, though theyoften reminded me of the dear Highlands. We returned to thelittle cottage, where the quantity of midges and the smell ofpeat made us think of Alt-na-Giuthasach.9 Upstairs, from LadyCastlerosse’s little room, the view was towards a part of the LowerLake, the outline of which is rather low. We lunched, andafterwards re-embarked, and then took the most beautiful row

up the rapid, under the Old Weir Bridge, through the channelwhich connects the two lakes, and which is very intricate andnarrow. Close to our right as we were going, we stopped underthe splendid hill of the Eagle’s Nest to hear the echo of a bugle;the sound of which though blown near by, was not heard. Wehad to get out near the Weir Bridge to let the empty boats bepulled up by the men. The sun had come out and lit up thereally magnificent scenery splendidly; but it was most oppres-sively hot. We wound along till we entered the Upper Lake,which opened upon us with all its high hills – the highest, TheReeks, 3,400 feet high – and its islands and points covered withsplendid trees such as arbutus (quite large trees) with yews,making a beautiful foreground. We turned into a small bay orcreek, where we got out and walked a short way in the shade,and up to where a tent was placed, just opposite a waterfallcalled Derricaunihy, a lovely spot, but terribly infested bymidges. In this tent was tea, fruit, ice, cakes, and everything mosttastefully arranged. We just took some tea, which was veryrefreshing in the great heat of this relaxing climate. Thevegetation is quite that of a jungle – ferns of all kinds and shrubsand trees - all springing up luxuriantly. We entered our boatsand went back the same way we came, admiring greatly thebeauty of the scenery; and this time went down the rapids in theboat. No boats, except our own, had followed us beyond therapids. But below them there were a great many, and the scenewas very animated and the people very noisy and enthusiastic.The Irish always give that peculiar shrill shriek – unlike anythingone ever hears anywhere else.

Wednesday, August 28.

At a quarter-past eleven we started on a most beautiful drive, ofwhich I annex the route [not included in Helps’s book]. Wedrove with Mrs. Herbert10 and Bertie11 in our sociable, drivenfrom the box by Wagland;12 and, though the highest mountainswere unfortunately occasionally enveloped in mist, and we hadslight showers, we were enchanted with the extreme beauty ofthe scenery. The peeps of the lake; the splendid woods full ofthe most magnificent arbutus, which in one place form, for a

13


QUEEN VICTORIA IN KILLARNEYDr. Milo Spillane

Queen Victoria

Ladies View received its name when the view was admired by Queen Victoria and her ladies in 1861.


few yards, an avenue under which you drive, with the rocks –which are very peculiar – all made it one of the finest drives wehad ever taken. Turning up by the village and going round, theTorc Mountains reminded us of Scotland - of the woods aboveAbergeldie,13 of Craig Daign and Craig Clunie.14 It was so fine.We got out at the top of the Torc Waterfall and walked down tothe foot of it. We came home at half-past one. At four we startedfor the boats, quite close by. The Muckross Lake is extremelybeautiful; at the beginning of our expedition it looked dark andsevere in the mist and showers which kept going on, just as itdoes in the Highlands. Mr. Herbert steered. Our girls, MrsHerbert, Lady Churchill, and Lord Granville were in the boatwith us. The two boys went in a boat rowed by gentlemen, andthe rest in two other boats. At Mr15 and Mrs Herbert’s request Ichristened one of the points which runs into the lake with abottle of wine, Albert16 holding my arm when we came close by,so that it was most successfully smashed. When we emerged fromunder Brickeen Bridge we had a fine view of the Lower Lakeand of the scenery of yesterday, which rather puzzled me, seeingit from another point de vue. At Benson’s Point we stopped forsome time, merely rowing about backwards and forwards, orremaining stationary, watching for the deer (all this is a deerforest as well as at Glena), which we expected the dogs wouldfind and bring down into the water. But in vain: we waited tillpast six and no deer came. The evening had completely clearedand became quite beautiful; and the effect of the numbers ofboats full of people, many with little flags, rowing about in everydirection and cheering and shouting, lit up by the evening light,was charming. At Darby’s Garden the shore was denselycrowded, and many of the women in their blue cloaks wadedinto the water, holding their clothes up to their knees. We werehome by seven o’clock, having again a slight sprinkling of rain.

References: O’Hare, P., (2005): “The Browne Family, Earls of Kenmare”, in Larner,J., (ed.). Killarney, History and Heritage. Collins Press, Cork McCoole, S., (2005): “The Herberts of Muckross” in Larner, J., (ed.).Killarney, History and Heritage. Collins Press, Cork.

Endnotes: 1 Sir Arthur Helps (1813-1875), public servant and author. On 27October 1836 he married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Capt.Edward Fuller of County Kerry. She died in 1892. After a numberof civil service appointments, including that of private secretary tothe chancellor of the exchequer in Lord Melbourne’s administra-tion, Thomas Spring Rice (later Lord Monteagle), Helps was

named, in 1860, on the recommendation of Earl Granville, as clerkof the privy council, a post he held until his death. This brought himinto close contact with the government and the royal family. In 1862he edited, for publication, the speeches of the late Prince Albert.

2 A four-wheeled open carriage with seats facing. 3 Valentine Augustus Browne (1825-1905), MP for Co. Kerry from1852 to 1871 when he succeeded as 4th earl of Kenmare.

4 Albert Edward, the prince of Wales (1841-1910); Prince Alfred (1844-1900); the Princesses Alice (1843-1878) and Helena (1846-1923).

5 The identity of this lady was not ascertained. Neither contemporaryIrish newspapers nor the journal credit her with a Christian name.

6 Gertrude Harriet, daughter of Lord Charles Thynne, marriedValentine in 1858, died in 1913.

7 George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville (1815-1891). He was acareer politician and frequent government minister. He was lordpresident of the [privy] council, 1859-66. It was in that capacity thathe accompanied the royal family to Ireland.

8 The ‘coming in private’ trip to Ireland of Victoria and Prince Albertin 1861 was purely a private and not a state visit. It was said to haveoriginated as a result of her majesty’s interest in the country and itswarm-hearted people.

9 The location of a shiel or bothie used by Queen Victoria and PrinceAlbert as a retreat while based at Balmoral. It was a remote and inac-cessible spot situated in Glen Muick, close to Loch Muick, southeastof Balmoral. Victoria was in residence there on 16 September 1852when she first learned of the death, two days previously, of the dukeof Wellington.

10 Mary Balfour (1817-93), daughter of James Balfour of Whittinge-hame House, East Lothian, Scotland. She was aunt to Arthur JamesBalfour, chief secretary for Ireland 1887-93; Prime Minister of GreatBritain, 1902-05.

11 The name by which the Prince of Wales, was familiarly referred to inthe family circle. In 1901, on the death of his mother, he succeededto the throne, as King Edward VII. For the first nine months or so of 1861 he served as a junior army officer in the Curragh Camp in CoKildare. An incident which occurred in March of that yearafterwards soured the relationship between himself and his mother.

12 Queen Victoria’s coachman since 1857.13 A hamlet on the banks of the river Dee, east of Crathie. In theAutumn of 1882, when the Kenmares were in some financial diffi-culties, Queen Victoria offered Valentine and Gertrude the use ofAbergeldie Manse as an autumn holiday retreat.

14 Two rocky outcrops or tors close to Balmoral15 Henry Arthur Herbert (1815-66), elected MP for County Kerry in1847; appointed to the privy council in 1856; served briefly as chiefsecretary for Ireland, 1857-8. He took ill on his way from Dublin in February 1866 and sought refuge at Adare Manor, home of Edwin,the third Earl of Dunraven. He died there on 26 February.

16 Albert, Prince Consort of England, son of a German duke, marriedhis cousin, Alexandrina Victoria, in 1840. While in Ireland he was inthe early stages of typhoid from which he died on 14 December 1861, aged 42.

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Muckross House

Kenmare House, the seat of the Earl of Kenmare.


This is the story of a woman with a unique claim to recognitionfor her life’s work, but who has been largely forgotten, a victimof the ‘national amnesia’ which has affected Irish peopleassociated with the British army. Elise Sandes (1851-1934) wasfounder of a soldiers’ welfare movement which still survivestoday. She was an evangelical Christian, and her concern for thewelfare of a young drummer boy in Tralee led her to set up acentre for soldiers’ spiritual well-being and recreation. By 1913,she had established twenty-three soldiers’ homes in Ireland andeight in India.

Elise, daughter of Stephen, was born in Oak Villa, Tralee, in 1851.Oak Villa is now a convent attached to Fatima Nursing Home.Her uncle built the fine mansion of Oak Park (now Collis-SandesHouse), and her brother inherited the ancestral home inSallowglen, Tarbert. In 1869, with her mother’s support, Elisebegan to invite soldiers from Ballymullen barracks to Oak Villafor bible study, prayer, hymn singing and lessons in reading andwriting. As one soldier put it: “To find ladies of social position andrefinement coming to a soldiers’ barrack-room and inviting themen to their own house to spend the evening was like a mightymagnetism to me. Gladly did I accept the invitation to Oak Villa.”Frequent visits from large numbers of young men caused someconsternation in the family, however, and the meetings weremoved to 15 Nelson Street (now Ashe Street). By 1870, at the ageof nineteen, Elise Sandes had found her calling and a public roleas a leader of men.

Expansion

A retired officer donated premises in King Street, Cork, whichopened as the first Soldiers’ Home in June 1877. Describing the

soldier’s life of routine, drill and discipline, Elise understood that“when evening came, his whole being cried out for freedom andchange, and he wandered out of barracks to look for amusementin the streets”. The purpose of the Cork home was to draw youngsoldiers away from the public houses, to offer them an alternativecentre for friendship, entertainment and self-improvement, andto introduce them to the Christian message. Soldiers werefrequently refused lodgings, and stayed on the streets or in pubs,where they often fell victim to “land-sharks”, who would rob them.So, later on, a bigger home with sleeping accommodation openedon Lower Glanmire Road.

Despite ill-health from her exertions, Elise Sandes established hernext home in Belfast in 1891. Much of her effort now went intopromoting her vision, building up teams of helpers (mainlywomen) and securing funding for her movement. Homes atParkgates (Dublin), Ballincollig, Queenstown (Cobh) andDundalk followed, and Miss Sandes’ dream of having a home inevery garrison town in Ireland was taking shape. Lord Wolseley,Commander-in-Chief of the army, supported her in establishinga second home in Dublin. It was known as Wolseley Soldier’sHome, in South Great George’s Street. Lord Lansdowne gave hisname to the Limerick Home.

A magazine called Forward was established to link all the homesand circulate information. It was published monthly, and itincluded stories, personal testimonies, devotional writing,soldiers’ letters, locations of regiments, photographs and newsfrom the homes. Elise wrote regular autobiographical articles. Inspite of her organisational responsibilities, she was still to be seenon the streets and quays of Dublin, encouraging soldiers to takeup the shelter provided by the two homes in the city.

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ELISE SANDES OF TRALEE: THE FRIEND OF SOLDIERS. Bryan Mac Mahon

Cover of “Forwaed”, August 1918


The homes provided a refuge for soldiers, a social outlet, readingfacilities and practical support. The men paid in pennies for coffeeand tea, and £36,542 was received in this way in 1909. Theatmosphere was welcoming and non-judgmental, and althoughthere was a strong evangelical ethos, prayer and hymns werevoluntary. There was only one rule – “welcome.” The Catholicnovelist, Canon Sheehan, supported the work of the homes, andspoke at a fund-raising meeting in Cork. The women in the homes(many only in their twenties) were addressed as Mother by thesoldiers, and it is clear from many individual testimonies that theycreated a home-from-home atmosphere for lonely men. “Here wehave Home Rule and no coercion,” joked the soldiers in Cork.Elise described a typical situation in the Queenstown home:

“As night drew on, soldiers and sailors crowded into the houseuntil it was packed from stem to stern. The floor of my one littlesitting room even was covered with men. At last we were obligedto lock the entrance door. Far on into the night, I stood at mybedroom window and tried to explain to the groups of men whogathered underneath and pleaded for admission, that while myheart was big enough to take them all in, alas! my house was not,and I directed them to archways where they might get someshelter from the driving rain.”

India

Loneliness, alcoholism and boredom were the most acuteproblems encountered by the soldiers. In India, they were alsoexposed to typhoid, dysentery, cholera and venereal diseases.“Barracks are noisy,” wrote one general, “language is coarse,thoughts are wordly, desires are low and vice so easy.” Elisewillingly responded to requests for homes to be established inIndia. She aimed to draw soldiers away from the wet canteens,opium dens and bazaar brothels by providing wholesomerecreation. A donation of £600 arrived in the post expressly toset up a home in Rawal Pindi. This location had a special appealto Elise as her older sister, wife of an officer, had died there. Nextfollowed a base in Murree, a hill-station where soldiers couldspend the hot months. Theodora Schofield and Anna Asheestablished the Homes in India, and a new objective wasundertaken – to have a home in every cantonment in India.Anna Ashe wrote: “I don’t think I shall ever forget going aroundthe three military hospitals on Christmas morning. As I walkedthrough the special ward, the occupant of nearly every bed waseither unconscious or delirious. By New Year’s Day, ten of those

I saw had passed away into eternity – dying alone in India, mostof them wrecked lives, and each one some mother’s son.” Indue course, there were eight homes altogether in India: RawalPindi, Murree, Quetta, Ramikhet, Chakrata, Meerut, Lucknow,and Umballa.

The Great War

Elise Sandes was sixty-three when war broke out in 1914; she hadbeen working on her memoirs and preparing to hand on respon-sibility to younger women. She was in Coolmoney Camp, Glenof Imaal, when news of mobilization was received. “A greathorror seized my heart,” she wrote, “it is just work and pray, prayand work for these men while we have them; they will be gonefrom us all too soon.”

The scale of casualties was appalling to these humanitarians. Theirwork for four years was to prepare men for death. Along withprayers, there were practical supports: parcels sent to the front,with food, clothing, books, magazines and treats. On the homefront, the women went on board troopships before they sailed,handing out postcards and pencils for soldiers to send a lastmessage home. They distributed bibles and prayer-cards, many ofwhich comforted the men in their last hours before battle. Thepages of Forward were filled with letters of appreciation fromsoldiers (“somewhere in France”), and from mothers and wives.

Departure from the Free State

Great changes followed in Ireland after the War of Independenceand the Treaty. In 1922, Elise and her helpers moved out of theIrish Free State along with the army they had served for fifty years.She wrote pragmatically in April 1922: “This month finds us inthe full swing of troops being moved and the homes being closedin the south of Ireland… Today I look back on my fifty three yearsservice amongst them, and I don’t regret one day of it or one bitof the labour spent in establishing these homes… I will not wastetime grieving over the closing of homes which it has cost a life’slabour to establish.”

Elise moved to the new home in Ballykinlar, County Down, wherethe nearby beaches and mountains reminded her of Kerry. Shewas awarded the CBE, and her followers described her as“endynamited by Christ” and dubbed her “the mother of theBritish army”. She died at Ballykinlar in August 1934, and wasburied with full military honours, but without the traditional volley

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Sands Home, Curragh Camp.

Oak Villa.


of shots. She and her successor, Eva Maguire, are thought to bethe only civilian women to have received this distinction. LordCraigavon, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, led the mourners.General Hamilton said that she had exercised “a more powerfuland beneficent influence upon the army during her sixty six yearsof active service than many richly decorated generals”. Herheadstone has a more modest tribute: “For 66 years the friend ofsoldiers.” One veteran’s tribute was heartfelt: “The kings of thisworld have wounded us sore, but she, through God, was for ourhealing.” There is no doubt that she gave a real sense of personal,individual worth to each soldier she encountered. One said thatshe introduced him to a loving, compassionate God, rather thanthe stern, judgmental God he had previously known.

Sandes Home in the Curragh

All but three of the homes in the Free State closed down after in-dependence. These were in Cork, Newbridge, Mullingar,Coolmoney, Athlone, Kilbride, Limerick, Waterford, Ballincollig,Kildare, Cahir and Dundalk. The three which remained open werein the Curragh, at the request of the Irish Army, in Cobh and inParkgates, Dublin. These last two stayed open until the 1930s, and,amazingly, the home in the Curragh survived until 1985, althoughit has since been demolished. It features in the current exhibition“Soldiers and Chiefs” in Collins Barracks Museum.

The Curragh Home was run by Miss Magill, a niece of MissSandes, and later by Miss Carson. The traditional associations withthe camp, and the presence there of the formidable Miss Magill,helped to ensure that the work continued among the young menof the Irish army. Its importance to the morale of the ordinarysoldier was also recognized by the Irish military authorities. TheCommanding Officer in the 1950s acknowledged, without anyserious concern, that Sandes Home was “essentially British”, buthe greatly valued its influence: “The only place where some of the

young recruits that I obtain receive anything approachingmotherly care is in Sandes Home.” Many residents of the Curraghand Kildare town today have vivid and affectionate memories ofSandes Home and of Miss Carson, known familiarly as “MaSandes”. Her Sunday night film shows entertained soldiers andcivilians through several decades.

Sandes today

Throughout the 20th century, Sandes Homes continued to beestablished in places where there were British bases, as far apart asSingapore, Iceland and Borneo. The importance of the homes fortroops’ morale was appreciated by officers, who often requestedthat homes should be set up. All the homes in India were closed in1947, with the granting of independence to India and Pakistan.The departure was sudden and emotional, presenting logistical andpractical problems and considerable danger. As the British empireshrank, so did the need for soldiers’ homes.

In 1974, when a car-bomb exploded outside the home inBallykinlar, two soldiers died, and thirty-two people were injured.The building, with many of the valuable records of themovement, was destroyed. Today the organisation is knownsimply as “Sandes”, and its missionary work among soldierscontinues in Ballykelly, Ballykinlar, and Holywood in NorthernIreland and Pirbright and Harrowgate in England. There are nolonger any international centres. The staff today consists ofeighteen full-time workers and they look forward to marking the140th anniversary of Sandes in 2009. The website is:www.sandes.org.uk.

(For further details, see my article “Sandes Soldiers’ Homes” inThe Irish Sword: Journal of the Military History Society of Ireland,Vol. VVX, No.101, Summer 2007).

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Sandes Home Pakistan


What better way could we mark the 850th anniversary of thecompletion of “the great church of Aghadoe” than by embarkingon a pilgrim visit to this storied site? As one enters the tearmann orsanctuary lands, which possibly date to the days of St.Fionán Cam (squint-eyed), the yew trees from whichAghadoe takes its name are flúirseach within the enclosure.

According to O’Donovan, the placename “Achadh Da Eo�”signifies ‘the field of the two yews’ (O’Donovan et al, 1841, 440).The yew is the traditional tree linked with the ancient druidsand their holy places. It is reputed to enjoy a 3,000-year cycle ofself-generation, growth and decay.

Looking south from Aghadoe, one glimpses Muckross Lake in thedistance and closer is Loch Léin with Innisfallen Island clearly inview. From east to west is a Reeks’ panorama sweeping all the wayfrom the Paps of Danu to Iveragh, tracking volcanic Crohane andthe Horses’ Glen, Stoompa, Mangerton (the mountain of deceit)onwards to Torc which the ancestors named after its wild boarlikeness. Then comes the Eagles’ Nest, Tomies and PurpleMountain with its exceptional native oaklands (the last in Europe)stretching all the way beyond the Gap of Dunloe or BearnaChuimín to the lofty heights of Carrantuohil. The telling phraseof O’Rourke’s Killarney springs to mind “Heaven’s Reflex”, areflection of heaven right enough! Many other sites chosen by theancients from Old Kilcummin to Skelligs reveal their singular eyefor beauty when it came to establishing Teach Dé.

It is possible that the foundation at Aghadoe may date back tothe 7th century as, like Innisfallen, “this monastery has adedication to St. Fionan” (Larner, 2007, 14). The firstdocumentary reference to Aghadoe occurs in the Annals ofInnisfallen for the year 939 when the death of Mael Patric Abbotof Achad Deo� is recorded. This suggests that a monasticfoundation existed here in the 10th century. In the 11th century,a damliac or stone church was erected, as chronicled in theannals for the year 1027 when “Maenig began to build a stonechurch (damliac) in Aghadoe” (ibid, 15). A portion of thischurch was incorporated into the Hiberno-Romanasque churchcompleted in 1158. The magnificent western doorway dates tothis period. The building of this church is chronicled in theAnnals of Innisfallen for the year 1158, where we are told that“the great Church of Aghadoe was finished by Amhlaoibh Mór,son of Aongus O’ Donoghue” (ibid, 273). The interment of hisbody is recorded under the year 1166: “his friends carried hisbody to Aghadoe and he was solemnly interred in the church hehad built in honour of the Holy Trinity, with many masses andhymns” (ibid, 273). One wonders did they chant the solemn bi-lingual masterpiece “Deus meus adjuva me, Tabhair dom doshearc a Mhíc dhíl Dé” composed by Maol Íosa Ó Brolcháin fromthe Armagh community whose own death some 80 years earlieris also recorded. An annalistic entry for the year 1282 notes “thegreat church at Achad Deo� (which had been standingundamaged for six score and four years)” was damaged duringthe course of a “violent windstorm” (Mac Airt, op.cit., 381). Thefinal phase of building on the site occurred in the 13th century,when the eastern portion of the present church was constructed.

Violence was no strangerto Aghadoe. In 1061 “OCathaill, royal heir ofEoghanacht Loch Léin,was taken out of thechurch at Achadh Deoand murdered” (ibid,1977, 219). The unrestgenerated by the Normaninvasion was also felthere. The annals recordfor the year 1177, “Oneof their companies madean expedition to AchadDeó, spent two days andtwo nights in it, and fromthere proceeded againto Corcach (Cork) (ibid,311). The FranciscanAnnals of the Four Masters record the attack on the Earl ofDesmond whilst camping at Aghadoe in 1581: “The Earl ofDesmond was encamped at Achadh-da-eo ……This captainmarched day and night with a party of cavalry to make an attackon the camp of the Earl of Desmond; and it was on Sundaymorning he arrived at the camp …..The captain immediatelyattacked all those whom he found standing in the streets, andslew them without mercy”. Nor did Aghadoe escape the atrocitiesof the Cromwellian era. The Cromwellians transhipped manyIrish priests to the West Indies to work as slaves in the sugarplantations. A chilling line from Seán O Connaill’s contemporaryTuireamh Chiarraí or Dirge for Kerry spells out their ethniccleansing tactic: -

“Transplant, transport go Iamaica.”

Bishop Richard O’Connell, who paid a ransom of £300 to avoidimprisonment, was the only Catholic Kerry Bishop for a century.He died in 1653 and is buried in this complex (Barrington1976: 89).

After the battle of Callan in 1261 (near Kilgarvan CountyKerry), the River Maine became the dividing line between theMcCarthy lands to the south of the river and the Fitzgeraldlands of north Kerry. Ardfert retained its position as theCathedral See until the era of the penal laws, whilst Aghadoeenjoyed ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the southern part of thediocese under the Archdeacon of Aghadoe. It was nevera cathedral church as some mistakenly believe. For thesucceeding three centuries the Archdeacon governed theGaelic areas in the south of the county.

Two other features worthy of note on the site, are the oghamstone which now rests on top of what remains of the southernwall of the church. Its inscription has been deciphered as“Brruanann” but local teacher, Tom Long, argues in the publicationFossa and Aghadoe – Our History and Heritage (2007, 6) that“what was intended may, perhaps, have been Brreanann – St.Brendan”! Whilst the late Fr. Kieran O’Shea’s (O’Shea, 2005,35) research indicates that in our own Celtic tongue the ‘BR’sound always indicates royalty and blue blood.

FÁILTE TO A PILGRIM VISIT TO “THE GREATCHURCH OF AGHADOE”Fr. Tom Looney

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Immediately to the west of the church stands approximately sixmetres of the base of a Round Tower. This was one of three suchtowers which once presided over large ecclesiastical sites inKerry. The other two Round Towers being located at Ardfert andRattoo. It is alleged that the Aghadoe Round Tower originallyreached a height of thirty metres, its diameter being fourteenand a half metres. One can imagine the Aghadoe Tower servingas a beacon of welcome to this centre of hospitality and worship.It would also have served as a place of refuge and storage for thesacred vessels, relics, books and vestments. The late Fr. KieranO’Shea believed that it was a veritable inland lighthouse with afire lit on the top storey to guide pilgrims with the traditionalbelfry which regularly rang out its “Vox Dei” or voice of God.

The 12th century in Ireland marked a period of magnificentgrowth and development in church art, as epitomised by theexquisite Aghadoe Crozier of carved ivory unearthed atAghadoe in 1848. It came into the possession of the NationalMuseum of Sweden in 1922 but left its Stockholm home in abarter-loan deal with the Kestner Museum in Hanover,Germany during the 1990s. The zoomorphic or animal designsresemble some of the Ardagh Chalice motifs. Francoise Henrywrites about its “foliage pattern; when it curves and becomesthe forepart of a monster whose wide open jaws are makingroom for the exit of a small Jonah dressed like an acrobat”.(Henry 1970, 114).

Immediately to the south-west of the ecclesiastical site across“boithiri�n na marbh” is what is locally known as “the pulpit”.This is in fact the ruin of a 13th - century round tower house. Thedesign concept behind such an Anglo-Norman fortress is that itis more difficult to undermine a circular construction, than arectangular one. Only the skeletal remains of its once impressive

multivallate fortifications are visible today. According toBarrington, however, (1976, 194, 202) its defensives did notprevent Zouche’s violent raid of 1581.

The earliest Irish visitors to Rome sought-out the resting placesof Peter and Paul in the Eternal City. Upon return they calledtheir own cemeteries “Ruaim” or little Romes. The vast burialground at Aghadoe spans the millennia. It is our eternal city onearth. It is our sacred reilig holding the relics of the ancestors.Successive generations who prayed and are buried at Aghadoemight well be referred to in a reading from the Book of Ecclesi-asticus (44: 1-15 Siarch 200 B.C.

Their name lives on for all generations..Let us praise illustrious people,

our folk in their successive generations.The Lord gave them great glory

And showed his greatness in them from the beginning.Some rule their kingdoms and were renowned

for their achievements.Others were wise and able to counsel and spoke as prophets.

Others directed the people by their advice,By their understanding of the popular mind

And instructed them with the wise words of their teaching.Some cultivated music and poetry …..

All these were honoured by their contemporariesAnd were the glory of their day.

The names of some lived on and people still praise them today,

While others have left no memory,And disappeared as though they had not existed.

Here is a list of generous peopleWhose good works have not been forgotten.

In their descendents there remains a rich inheritance born of them….

Their offspring will last forever, their glory will not fadeTheir bodies have been buried in peace

And their name lives on for all generations.Peoples will speak of their wisdom or saíochtAnd the assembly will celebrate their praises.

(Ecclus. 44: 1-15)

References:

Barrington, T. J., (1976): Discovering Kerry its History, Heritage andTopography, Dublin: Blackwater Press.

Henry, F., (1970): Irish Art in the Romanesque Period (1020 – 1170A.D.), Dublin: N.M.I.

Long, T., (2007): “Tracing our Faith” in Larner, J., (ed), Fossa andAghadoe - Our History and Heritage, Fossa, Fossa Historical Society.

Long, T., (2007): Fossa & Aghadoe – Our History and Heritage,Fossa: Fossa Historical Society.

Larner, J., (2005): Killarney: History and Heritage, Cork: Collins Press.

O’Donovan, J., et. al., (1841): Ordnance Survey Name Books(unpublished)

O’Shea, K., (2005): The Diocese of Kerry formerly Ardfert – Workingin the Fields of God, Stasbourg: Éditions du Signe.

Mac Airt, S., (1977): The Annals of Inisfallen, Dublin: Dublin Institutefor Advanced Studies.

19



Though all elections may seem important at the time, oneelection campaign in this county stands out as “The KerryElection”, its priority and fame arising from several reasons:

• It was the last election to House of Commons under the Open Voting system.

• In the campaign, a Protestant Home Rule candidate opposeda Catholic Unionist.

• Kerry provided the country’s most extreme example of clerical influence.

• Compared with elections in our own day, we find some similarities, as well as contrasts.

The by-election arose when Valentine Browne M.P., on the deathof his father in December 1871, moved to the Lords onbecoming Earl of Kenmare. The family, with some justification,regarded that Kerry seat in the House of Commons as theirpersonal property. For years, they had appointed one of the twoCounty MPs, in a cosy arrangement that left the other to theHerbert family of Muckross. In Parliament, the Brownes’ mannormally took the Whig (or Liberal) side and the Herbert’snominee supported the Tories (Conservatives).

On this occasion, Lord Kenmare nominated his cousin JamesDease, “a Catholic gentleman from the Midlands”. First, itseemed a no-contest. Who would dare to challenge hisnomination? All the major landlords, Whig and Tory, backedhim. It seemed that the tenantry - who would have to vote openly- would not dare defy them, as it would expose them to rentraises and evictions. Mr.Dease’s list of sponsors reads like WhoWas Who in Kerry. They included

Sir James O’Connell, brother of Daniel O’Connell, Maurice and Daniel O’Connell, Arthur Herbert, the de Moleyns of Ventry, the Knight of Kerry, Major Crosbie, Sir Henry Donovan, the Hon Arthur Walsh, eldest son of Lord Ormathwaithe, Sam Hussey and The O’Donoghue, MP for Tralee, nephew of DanielO’Connell, a former Repealer.

Mr. Dease, arriving in Killarney on January 6, met “a mostencouraging reception” according to the Kerry Evening Post.The paper described some objectors as “a ragged crowd, underthe leadership of the bellman”. It implied that all decent peoplesupported Dease, with only opposition coming from the mob -who had no voting rights anyway in the restricted franchise.

Crosier Canvassing

Since the time of Daniel O’Connell, clerical influence acted asa formidable force in Irish politics. Archbishop John McHale ofTuam and the Bishop of Clonfert supported the newly founded

moderate Home Rule party. Elsewhere, notably in Kerry,prelates opposed it. Making Dease’s prospects even more secure,he could depend on the outright and active support of theCatholic Bishop of the diocese, Dr. David Moriarty. Already,Cardinal Cullen (who disapproved of the Home Rulers as analliance of “Fenians and Protestants”) had written to the Bishopurging him to secure the return of Mr. Dease.

Not that the Bishop needed any urging. As he had condemnedthe Fenians, he now attacked the Home Rule Association as “themost mischievous movement to which you have ever been urgedor excited”. His Letter to the People, published in the TraleeChronicle on January 9, escalated the issue to the national - andinternational - stage. A leading article in The Times (London)on January 11 praised the bishop, describing this Kerry electionas “a struggle which every English statesman must regard asimportant, if not indeed momentous”. The Unionist Kerry pressreprinted the editorial comments.

On the ground, the bishop secured nineteen leading clergy ofthe diocese to add their names and their weight to Dease’s listof sponsors:

Dean Mawe of Tralee, Archdeacon O’Sullivan, Kenmare, Archdeacon O’Connell, Castleisland, and almost all of the parish priests of the diocese.

Faced with that formidable line up, Isaac Butt’s HomeGovernment Association, at first felt reluctant to put forward anycandidate. Founded as a moderate National party only two yearsearlier, Butt himself and two former Young Irelanders, JohnMartin and P.J. Smyth, had won seats, but Kerry seemed firmlyin the hands of Lord Kenmare and the bishop.

Candidate Out of the Blue

To the surprise of all sides, twenty-one year old RowlandPonsonby Blennerhassett from Kells in South Kerry decided tothrow his hat in the ring. Young and almost unknown in the con-stituency, he seemed a weak candidate, though he owned landin Iveragh and had completed his studies in Trinity and inOxford. The Home Rule leadership at first looked on hischallenge as rash and foolhardy, a David and Goliath contest. Then, however, support began to arrive. On January 11, theNorth Kerry Farmers Club adopted him as their candidate. Themeeting, chaired by Protestant clergyman, Reverend GeorgeFitzmaurice (father of the playwright George Fitzmaurice),included six Catholic priests. One of them, Fr. MichaelO’Sullivan of Ballylongford, said that anyone opposing Blenner-hassett was either “a humbug, a bigot or a parasite of somehostile landlord”. That set the tone. He went on to call foramnesty for the Fenian prisoners. It showed the first evidenceof a crack in the clerical ranks. In many parishes, the curatessupported Home Rule, often in open defiance of the bishop.When the O’Donoghue M.P. appeared as a supporter of Dease,

KERRY’S MOST EXCITING ELECTION – HARD TO KEEP VOTERS IN LINE IN 1872George Rice

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a majority of his electors in the Tralee borough (a separate con-stituency) called on him to resign his own seat.

Day by day, support for Blennerhassett began to rise. His cousinThomas Sandes, of Oakpark, Tralee, proved a popular orator.His address in Killarney received enthusiastic applause andcheers. Outside help came from J. F. Maguire M.P., publisher ofThe Cork Examiner. From Dublin, to canvass on his behalf cameMr. Galbraith, F.T.C.D., and the leading Nationalist journalistA.M. Sullivan who wrote a racy account of the campaign in hisbook, New Ireland. They stayed with the Sandes family inOakville, making it their (comfortable) headquarters.

Tide Begins to Turn

In the days after declaration of candidates, Bishop Moriartybegan to feel matters slipping out of control. He accused theHome Rule movement of “Communism”. His long letter urgingsupport for Dease appeared in every edition of the bi-weeklyKerry Evening Post for a month. By January 31 it had movedonto the front page. The bishop forbade his clergy “to canvassin another parish unless by leave or invitation of the parishpriest”. On February 6, he forbade priests to attend the hustings.He probably intended his ban to apply only to supporters ofBlennerhasset. It obviously failed on the ground.

According to A.M. Sullivan, the “appalling Kerry weather”(i.e. “rain”) did not deter local Home Rulers who seemed“amphibious”. Blennerhassett himself caught a chill that kepthim out of a campaign that grew increasingly bitter. WhenDease tried to canvass, accompanied by priests loyal to BishopMoriarty, he met hostile crowds and needed police protection.In Castleisland on January 11, his presence caused a riot and hesustained two broken ribs that kept him, too, out of thecampaign. Archdeacon O’Connell, canvassing with Dease, hadmud thrown at him.

Fr. Andrew Higgins, the only curate vocal in support of theDease and the bishop denounced Blennerhasssett as a “souper”and “Orange spawn”. When he attacked Home Rule from thepulpit almost the entire congregation walked out. His parish-ioners threatened not to pay him dues and, according to Canon

McDonnell, shots were fired at his house. The bishop promotedFr. Higgins to Lixnaw parish. To make way for him, he sent Fr.John O’Connor, a Home Ruler, to Eyries “the Siberia of thediocese”, according to The Cork Herald. Fr. Higgins laterbecame Bishop of Kerry.

Out in Force

The landlords and their agents applied pressure, covert andopen. A letter from Dease’s agent urging them to remind theirtenants to keep in line fell into the hands of the nationalist presswho published it with glee as evidence of landlord pressure.Bailiffs went around advising tenants how they should vote andwarning them of the consequences of voting against theirlandlords. On the Lansdowne estate, the biggest in Kerry, theagent Townsend Trench issued a threat that if anyone“committed to Blennerhasset” there would be consequences as“your name as such must be returned to Lord Lansdowne”.

Dublin Castle, perhaps alarmed at the spectre of Communism,or of loss of landlord control, ordered troops into Kerry: four-hundred and ninety cavalry, one thousand, three hundred andfifteen infantry and one-thousand, one-hundred and thirty extraconstabulary. The gunboat Bruiser arrived in Valentia, at therequest of Sir James O’Connell. Trains brought troops to Traleewhere with bugles blowing, drums tapping and clatter of horses’hooves they paraded to Ballymullen barracks and dispersed toother areas of the County.

The campaign had a sporting side. In Tralee’s County Club,Thomas Collis Sandes issued a one-hundred guinea challengeto the opposition to race his horse “Home Rule” in a two-milesteeplechase with their champion “Deasite”. In a closely contestedrace, “Home Rule” won - regarded as a good omen for theelection.

Nominations took place on Tuesday, February 6, two days beforethe election. The unionist press described how a mob took overthe hall and heckled Sir James O’Connell while he proposedDease. He could not get a hearing, but handed his script to thereporters later. They did not record the speech of Fr. DenisO’Donoghue, P.P. of Ardfert, who proposed Blennerhassett,except to say that he used strong terms. Hearers recalled thathe called the Dease faction “a union of the devils in hell”.

For the polling, horse-drawn cars set out to bring in the voters.In the Killarney area, military escorts, escorted the tenants ofthe Brownes, Herberts and O’Connells to the booths. Tralee hadtwo booths, one in the Courthouse, the other in Princes Streetto cater for West Kerry voters. Sam Hussey ran a special trainfrom Gortatlea bringing in two-hundred and fifty tenants underhis control to support Dease. The Hon. Edward de Moleyns setout from Dingle with cart-loads of voters, tenants of Lords Ventryand Cork, led by a military escort. On their way to Tralee, in amist on top of Conor Pass, most of them jumped off and slippedaway home. The officer refused to chase them or round themup. Out of his starting line-up of one-hundred and eighty, hearrived in Tralee with only twenty seven. At Castlegregory, apriest turned back other tenants on their way to the polls.

Despite the O’Connells’ gunboat, the Valentia voters managedto run the ferry, a steamer chartered for the occasion, onto

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Bishop Moriarty of Kerry 1854-77


some rocks rather than go to Caherciveen to vote for Dease.In the Spa, the agent ordered tenants to line up at thecrossroads at 10am to march into Tralee after him. When hearrived at the appointed hour, he found nobody there. Hewaited impatiently until he found they had left two hoursearlier, in a parade led by Fr. Eugene O’Sullivan, P.P. ofChurchill. He spurred his horse only to arrive after onehundred of them had voted for Blennerhassett.

According to Sullivan, some voters resorted to artful dodging.They pretended to forget their own names, as well as the namesof the candidate, and when prompted by their landlords’ agentshad their votes disallowed. Sir James O’Connell arrived at thepolling station, dragging two reluctant voters by the coat-tailsand calling for police to go and corral others who were slippingaway by the minute. One of his two captives, when asked: “Whoare you voting for?” replied “Sir James O’Connell” and had hisvote disallowed.

Defying the Odds

Though all voters had to give their names and votes aloud,under the scrutiny of people who could reward of punish them,only in the Killarney area, home ground of the Browne family,did Dease secure a majority. That did not suffice to offset thesupport for Blennerhassett in the other four areas of the county,and he took the seat with a majority of eight-hundred andthirty-nine out of a total poll of four-thousand, six-hundred andthirty-five for the county.

Blennerhassett DeaseTralee 643 466Killarney 277 638Kenmare 156 92Listowel 983 142Caherciveen 175 58

Total 2,237 1,398

The Ballot Act, ending the need to vote openly, came into forceonly five months later that year. It helped free voters frompressures to vote as landlords and employers demanded. Thefame of the “Kerry Election” entered into local folklore. Over acentury later, people in many parts of Kerry recalled hearinghow family members had walked miles to vote for Hassett, indefiance of the landlords. In the General Election in 1874 HomeRule candidates won fifty nine seats.

Mr. Blennerhassett’s subsequent career did not live up to thepromise of his election campaign. Historians regard it as “undis-tinguished”, and he left the party when Parnell became leader.He contested a Manchester seat in 1885 this time as a Liberal,opposed by his fellow countrymen, he said, and lost the election.The Kerry Election of 1872 gave him rather more than fifteenminutes of fame.

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The Kerry Magazine

Left to right, front row: Catherine McMullin, Marjorie Long,Kathleen Browne, Isabel Bennett, Miriam McFarlane.

Left to right, back row: Fr. Tom Looney, Gerry O’Leary, Raymond Roche, Liam O’Connor.

Annual Heritage Award 2007Left to right: Dr. Olive Pierse, Padraig Ó Concubhair, Fr. Georoíd Ó Donnchadha (recipient of Heritage Award), Kathleen Browne, Gerry O’Leary, Emmett Kennelly.


During the 18th and early 19th century, the landed gentry ofIreland vigorously pursued what was termed ‘improvement’ inan attempt to restructure the landscape and those that lived init for economic, aesthetic and social ends1. Improvement alsoproclaimed a civilising, modernising and anglicising role,informed as it was by the local environment, the GrandTour and the circulation of letters, journals, pamphlets andbooks2. The Dublin Society, established in 1731, allowed variousenthusiasts to indulge their interest in improvement byencouraging innovations in agriculture, manufacturing, scienceand other ‘useful arts’. Charles Smith in his Ancient and PresentState of Kerry (Dublin, 1756) identifies Sir Maurice Crosbie,Edward Herbert, John Godfrey, John Blennerhassett, RobertFitzgerald and Sir Thomas Denny among others as improvers.Such an accolade was not confined to Protestant landowners;Lord Kenmare, Daniel O’Connell, Daniel Cronin, DanielMahony and the McCarthy Mór were all bestowed with the sameaccolade. This short article sets out to explore the improvementsundertaken on the Godfrey Estate two decades after the Act ofUnion had largely emasculated the Irish landed elite. In onesense, it was an era that denoted the end of the independentgentleman improver.

The Godfrey family owned 7,000 acres in Kerry including thetown of Milltown adjacent to which was the family mansionBushfield (‘the Big House’ in popular folklore). In 1818, SirJohn Godfrey returned to live in Kerry after a grand tour of thecontinent determined to improve his estate by rebuilding thefamily seat, remodelling his demesne, revitalising Milltown andimproving the infrastructure of the area. In undertaking theseimprovements, Sir John sought the talents of the architects,Richard and William Morrison, and the Scottish engineer,Alexander Nimmo.

The building or remodelling of the family mansion in accordancewith the latest fashion was the most obvious expression ofimprovement reflecting as it did the wealth and taste of theowner.3 To remodel Bushfield, Sir John originally sought theservices of the architect James Pain of Limerick but Pain, due toan accident, was unable to attend and therefore Sir John asked

Richard Morrison of Dublin to redesign the house in the GothicRevival. This asymmetrical architectural style with its towers,pointed arches and battlements was then popular as it impartedan illusion of antiquity and harmony in the landscape.4 BothRichard Morrison and his son William were already familiar withKerry having enveloped Ballyheigue Castle in a Tudor revivalcoat, added Elizabethan gables to Crotto House and a castellatedwing to Ballyseedy Castle. For Bushfield, the Morrisonssuggested a Tudor/Elizabethan scheme similar to the one theylater applied to Glenarm in Antrim. Essentially they proposedenlarging the house, adding an entrance porch and cloakingthe entire building in assorted gables and parapets. Fouroctagonal turrets would be built at each corner (fig. 1).5 Finally,an extensive domestic range with Flemish gables and stableswould be built onto the east side of the house. After variousmodifications to the Morrisons plans, work on remodellingBushfield duly commenced in 1819.

Concurrent with remodelling the family seat, Sir John set out toremodel the surrounding demesne, that portion of landreserved for his own exclusive use. Like many demesnes,Bushfield demesne had evolved from an older landscape: in thisinstance, the mensal lands surrounding the twelfth centuryAugustinian Priory of Killagha. By the time Sir John returned toKerry, the demesne, like the house, was in a serious state ofneglect; sections of the perimeter wall had collapsed, thefarmyard was derelict, trees had been cut while livestock haddestroyed the shrubs and ornamental trees. Sir John wasdetermined to remedy this neglect and encompass the entirelandscape surrounding his new Gothic vision into an idealisedparkland landscape where house, farmland, woodland and vistaswere part of a single aesthetic whole.6 In this, Sir John wasadhering to contemporary aesthetic norms, which were inessence of European provenance.7 To accomplish this, Sir Johnsought the advice of the Scottish engineer, Alexander Nimmo(1783-1832) who was then in Kerry surveying part of the ‘RingRoad’ west of Mountain Stage. Nimmo had come to Ireland in1811 and remained in the country until his death. During thistime, he conducted surveys for the Bog Commission and theFishery Board, directed the construction of roads and supervisedthe erection of numerous piers along the west coast.8 He wastherefore no stranger to improvement and his opinions wereoften sought by improving landowners. For Sir John, Nimmo

23


IMPROVEMENTS AND THE GODFREY ESTATE 1818-1824John Knightly

Figure 1: Bushfield.

Figure 2: Painting of Kilcolman Demesne c.1865 by Catherine Scutt.


produced a scheme to enlarge the demesne, construct newdrains, reroute roads and build a new farmyard. Consequentlythree large fields were added to the demesne in 1819 while theold approach road into Milltown from Killorglin was alsoenclosed. Masons were employed to build a new stone wall toenclose this extended space, inside which a new woodland wasplanted with trees sourced from Sir John’s own tree nursery.9

In time, these new plantations created the much-desiredimpression that the demesne was in a world of its own, althoughreflecting a growing appreciation of the picturesque, breakswere made to let in glimpses of the surrounding landscape whiledifferent species were planted to give a varied outline.10 Anotherbelt of trees was planted to divide the interior of the demesne,later called ‘The Ladies’ Walk’. New embankments, drains andsluices were also constructed, all carefully hidden from viewwhile redundant ditches were swept away. The result was openrolling parkland dotted with clumps of trees strategically plantedto soften the view. Inside a bivallate ringfort overlookingCastlemaine bay, a cottage orné embellished with latticework wasbuilt for Sir John’s children. Christened ‘Fort Agnes’ after oneof his daughters, it was smothered in flowering shrubs andthickets of arbutus and Scots pine; inside were miniaturerooms containing a pianoforte and other musical instruments.The picturesque aside, it was Sir John’s intention that thedemesne would serve as a means of introducing new breeds oflivestock and agricultural techniques. He was a trustee of the En-couragement of Industry in Ireland Society and a member ofthe Farming Society of Ireland as indeed were other Kerrylandowners. Such families were instrumental in introducing newbreeds, crops and agricultural practices; the Knight of Kerry, forexample, introduced Southdown sheep to Valentia while LordKenmare, Herbert of Muckross and Lord Headley introducedthe Ayrshire, Herefordshire and Holderness breeds respectively.11

When Sir John returned to Kerry in 1818, he brought with himfive different types of potato, an ‘American’ apple, a yellow roseas well as chicory seeds.12 Demesnes therefore were not simplyadornments but often model farms where agricultural and hor-ticultural experiments were undertaken. To emphasise thisessential agricultural function, Sir John had a large newfarmyard constructed similar in design to the Morrisons’ stables.It included a corn mill reflecting Sir John’s determination torival Sir Rowland Blennerhassett’s successful mill at Blennerville.In time, Sir John’s demesne would convey a subtle charm,evoking a painting of the Italian campagna, yet still part of theKerry landscape (fig. 2). It was of course all contrived, the result

of much careful planning, and designed to represent theideal of a responsible and cultivated proprietor.13 Sir Johncal led on Nimmo in 1818 pr imari ly because he hadcommissioned him in 1812 to recommend improvements forthe Abbeylands, a townland adjacent to the demesne. Here,Nimmo recommended new embankments, numerous drainsand warping which involved fertilizing the land by artificialflooding. These recommendations were duly undertaken andan attempt was also made to impose what were considered signsof civility on this landscape whereby well-constructed slatedhouses, orchards, trees and regular hedges were obligatory. Oneof these houses, the ‘Abbeylands’ built circa 1814, is indicativeof the type of improvement sought by the landowner (fig.3).

Such improvements of course were nothing new. Throughoutthe eighteenth century, improvements relating to enclosingland, planting orchards, buildings houses, spreading lime,digging drains and contributing labour were imposed, primarilythrough leases.

Milltown was also the focus of improvement being not only avisible symbol of the economic and social dominance of thelandlord but also reflecting his aesthetic and moral ideals in theoverall layout, in the architecture and use of public buildings.14

By 1818, Milltown displayed a distinct air of neglect with decayedbuildings, no functioning established church, no school ormodern public buildings.15 It was hardly an endorsement ofan improving landowner. Thus, between 1818 and 1824, con-siderable changes were made. The Killorglin road into the townwas re-routed and the bridge over the stream raised andfurnished with parapets (fig. 4). A new road was constructedleading to the river Maine, with a corresponding roadconstructed on the opposite bank. Here Sir John intended tospan the Maine with an iron bridge as recommended by Nimmo,thus linking Milltown directly with Dingle but in the event, thecost proved prohibitive.16 Sir John also decided to expand thetown by delineating new building lots, which he hoped wouldencourage trade, settlement and enhance his rent roll. He con-sequently hived off part of an adjacent townland to extend whatis now Main Street. On one side, new building lots were laidout, on the other, sites for a new Anglican church, a new glebe,dispensary and a school were identified, the plans for bothchurch and glebe house provided by Richard Morrison. Sir Johnduly obtained a grant of £1,050 for building his new churchfrom the Board of First Fruits (fig.5 and 6). The Board alsodonated £450 towards building the glebe house, a sum matched

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The Kerry Magazine

Figure 3: Abbeylands.

Figure 4: Old Miltown Bridge.


by Sir John. In 1822 SirJohn gave a site for a newCatholic church and asubstantial donationtowards its construction.Both the dispensary builtin 1822 and the desire toestablish a school reflectedthe interests of Sir John’swife, Eleanor Godfrey,who believed in improvingthe condit ion of the‘deserving’ poor througheducation. The school inthe ‘cottage style’ wascompleted in 1824 at acost of £180 of which SirJohn donated £50. SirJohn and his wife saw

these philanthropic improvements as enlightened andprogressive, yet they often carried political and spiritualovertones that were seen to emphasise the perceived superiorqualities of Protestantism over Catholicism. Improvement inthis context often became an ideological battleground, acontest almost between two interpretations of improvement.

Unfortunately for Sir John, all this activity took place againstworsening economic conditions. The period between 1816 and1824 was one of crisis for all sectors of society that ultimatelybrought Sir John’s improvements to a halt. His dream like thatof Bishop Berkeley who imagined an improved landownerenjoying a “handsome seat amidst well-improved lands, fairvillages, and a thriving neighbourhood” was never fullyrealised.17 He had to forego the Morrisons’ grand plans forBushfield despite having spent over £3,000 on the project. Thetwo-storey service range and stables were constructed as plannedbut, in the end, the Morrisons’s design for the main house waslargely abandoned. Sir John had to be satisfied with a namechange as Bushfield was renamed Kilcoleman Abbey, thusevoking the monastic origins of the demesne.18 The final wordmight be left with Inglis who wrote in 1833, “Milltown is a verypoor town, the property of Sir John Godfrey who from all that Icould learn has more the will than the power of benefiting it”.19

Improvements combined philanthropy and public spirit witheconomic calculations to improve income and, in this, the Irishlanded gentry were no different to their European counterparts.20 On another level however, their houses, towns and demesnesexpressed in a variety of ways an appreciation of the aestheticquality of the landscape, an appreciation often sadly missing incontemporary developments. The union between thesemanmade creations and the Irish landscape has been rightlyrecognised as an achievement unique in European art.21

Berkeley’s observations about Muckross could perhaps be takenas an eloquent metaphor for the aesthetic and improving char-acteristics of at least some of the Irish gentry.22

Endnotes1 Daniels, S., Seymour, S., (1990) ‘Landscape Design and the Idea ofImprovement, 1730-1900’ in R. A. Dodgson, R. A. Butlin, (eds) AnHistorical Geography of England and Wales, London, p 487.

2 Busteed, M., (2000) ‘The practice of improvement in the Irishcontext - The Castle Caldwell estate in county Fermanagh in thesecond half of the eighteenth century’ in Irish Geography, Vol. 33,No. 1, p 19.

3 Busteed, M., (2000) ‘Identity and economy on an Anglo-Irishestate: Castle Caldwell, Co. Fermanagh, c. 1750-1793’, in M. Heffernan, D. Robinson, (eds), Journal of HistoricalGeography, Vol. 26. No. 2. p. 180.

4 Proudfoot, L., (2000) ‘Hybrid space? Self and other in narrativesof landownership in nineteenth century Ireland’, in M. Heffernan,D. Robinson, (eds), Journal of Historical Geography, Vol. 26. No.2. p. 206.

5 Irish Architectural Archive, (1989) The Architecture of RichardMorrison and William Vitruvius Morrison, Dublin, p. 123.

6 Turner, R., (1999) Capability Brown and the Eighteenth-CenturyEnglish Landscape (2nd ed.) Chichester, p. 37.

7 Proudfoot, L., J., (1993) ‘Property, Society and Improvement’ inAn Historical Geography of Ireland, (London), p. 248.

8 Villiers-Tuthill, K., (2006) Alexander Nimmo & The WesternDivision, Clifden, p. xiv

9 This woodland survives today – on the right of the Killorglin roadout of Milltown village.

10 Turner, op. cit., 89.11 Anon. (1837) ‘On the Agriculture of the County of Kerry’ in TheQuarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. vii, p. 334, London

12 Godfrey Papers, (11 March 1818) Eleanor Godfrey to Sir JohnGodfrey. It is not clear what species ‘American’ apple was but wasperhaps the ‘American Russet’ introduced about this time to Ireland.

13 Everett, N., (1994) The Tory View of Landscape, London, p. 205.14 Graham, J. B. Proudfoot, L., (1992) ‘Landowners, Planning, andUrban Growth in Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth CenturyIreland’ in Journal of Urban History, Vol. 18, No. 2, p. 325

15 Godfrey Papers (7 September 1813) John Godfrey to The Rev.John Day.

16 Godfrey Papers (18 October 1818) Alexander Nimmo to Eleanor Godfrey.

17 Everett, op. cit, p. 1818 Other Kerry mansions similarly renamed to evoke the pastincluded Ardfert Abbey, Rattoo Abbey, Muckross Abbey (nowMuckross House) and Derrinane Abbey

19 Inglis, H., D., (1834) A Journey throughout Ireland during thespring, summer & autumn of 1834, London, p. 233.

20 Proudfoot, op. cit, p. 251. 21 Malins, E., (1976) The Knight of Glin, Lost Demesnes, IrishLandscape Gardening, 1660-1845, London p. 3.

22 Berkeley, in praise of the Herberts’ improvements at Muckross,declared that “the King of France might build another Versailles,but he could not with all his revenues create another Muckross”

25


Figure 5: Kilcoleman Church.

Figure 6: Kilcoleman Church.


Kerry is a county with a wealthof culture; a rich and diversearts sector. Kerry is renownedinternationally for its literarytradition, wealth of music,traditional arts and visual arts.The unsurpassable sceneryand living traditions in art,have inspired the artisticnature of the people for many

generations. The cultural heritage and vibrant artist’s sectorenhance the creative atmosphere that exists in Kerry – here thearts form an integral part of everyday life.

Kerry County Council was one of two local authorities to appointan Arts Officer in 1985. 1989 saw the first full-time appointment,followed by another Arts Officer in 1990, 1993, and 1995. Thepresent Arts Officer, Kate Kennelly, was appointed in August 1999. “It is my belief that each and every person in Kerry should beable to access the arts as they wish – be that as audience or asparticipants”, states Kate, “I do not believe that the arts shouldbe in any way elitist. Each individual is entitled to engage withthe Arts. The arts, by their creative nature, can enhancepeople’s lives and experiences in Kerry. The Local Authority ArtsOffice is in a position to operate throughout the County, wherepossible, working to promote the importance of the arts in ourlives, working to offer engagement with the arts directly, orindirectly through other organisations, working to raise the artson all agendas”. Kate recognises the need to ensure the arts areseen as being important in their own right, “Participation in thearts, exploring our creativity can be invaluable”, she says. As wellas being of social and cultural value which is part of the LocalAuthority remit, “the value of the arts experience, as well as therole the arts have in social and cultural development will Ibelieve become more central to all future development”.

The role of the Arts Officer was broadly seen to be to ‘promotethe arts in Kerry’, with regard to national legalisation (Arts Act1973, 2003). The Arts Act 2003 provides;‘An act to promote the development of and participation in the arts’“A Local Authority shall…prepare and implement plans for thedevelopment of the arts in its functional area… Stimulatingpublic interest in the arts, promoting knowledge, appreciationand practice of the arts’ and ‘improving standards on the arts”.

The main goal of the Arts Officer, on commencement of herwork in 1999 was to develop greater awareness for the people ofKerry of the wealth of arts in their area. A starting point was tocompile information on the arts sector in Kerry, thus havingfactual evidence of what was happening, where the gaps wereand also who was available to work with the Arts Officer to assistto promote the arts in Kerry.

Prior to the present Arts Officers appointment (August 1999),the County Manager had set up an ‘Arts Steering Group’, (1997,this group became the Arts Advisory Group (2001) following the

setting-up of the Strategic Policy Committees in LocalAuthorities). The Arts Officer consulted with the group and,informed by their experience and suggestions, began to compileinformation on what was needed to develop the arts in Kerry.

One of the first tasks was to develop a county arts database.This entailed circulating over two-thousand-and-five-hundredquestionnaires through the Arts Steering Group and mediaadvertisements. The resulting database is available onwww.kerrycoco.ie/arts and culture/database.

The feedback from the questionnaire, combined with the recom-mendations of the Arts Steering Group, informed the ‘Guide tothe Arts in Kerry’. This book, launched in January 2000, formeda base from which the following years of arts activity flowed. Thepublication showcased the arts, artists and arts organisations inKerry, providing comprehensive information locally andnationally as well as a source of reference and information. Thisresource laid the foundation for comprehensive policydevelopment outlining areas of strength and deficit.

The need for greater awareness of what was happening in Kerry,among both the arts sector and the wider sector, was evident.The Arts Office directs an amount of energy towards thecirculation of information regarding the arts and artsopportunities to the arts sector and the wider community.

The Arts Officer works to deliver on local authority corporateobjectives, guided by national legislation. In addition the ArtsOffice provides policy development, advocacy at local andnational level, information services, advice, mentoring anddirect arts programming. A brief snapshot of the Arts Officer’sdaily work, is as follows:

Advice and information - The Arts Office provides informationand contacts for artists and the wider community. This variesbroadly from information regarding commissions, exhibitions,performances and opportunities to grants and projects.

Support and guidance – to both the arts community and thewider community to assist with arts development.

Financial assistance - The Arts Act Grants are administered andassessed by the Arts Office. Revenue Funding, Individual ArtistBursaries and Awards as well as an ‘Artists in Schools’ Schemeare also allocated.

Promotion - The Arts Office assists with promotion of eventsand activities, via circulation of mail shots (for all arts eventsand activity in the County), a published booklet that carriesinformation on forthcoming arts activity. There are also artsand culture web pages www.kerrycoco.ie ‘arts and culture’ anda website to promote Kerry as a location for filmwww.kerryfilm.ie

Project development and delivery – e.g. arts workshops, artist

KERRY COUNTY COUNCIL ARTS OFFICEKate Kennelly

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The Kerry Magazine


residencies, exhibitions, recitals, events etc. - identifying andresponding to gaps in provision.

Access to temporary arts space - The Arts Office facilitatesindividuals / groups to access space where possible – e.g.libraries for arts activity, workshops, talks, exhibitions etc.

Capital projects – the Local Authority has donated sites (forSiamsa Tíre Theatre & Art Centre, Tralee; Tinteán Theatre,Ballybunion; Kenmare Arts Centre; Caherciveen Arts Centre)for the development of Kerry’s arts infrastructure. Recent ‘onestop shop’ developments have, where appropriate, included anarts space and will continue to do so.

Policy formulation – Ongoing consultation with the StrategicPolicy Committee, the Arts Advisory Group, the Arts Council,the Arts Festivals Working Group, the Traditional Arts Groupand other stakeholders to inform development that responds toreal needs.

Percent for Art – Kerry County Council has been a leader in thisfield, the Percent for Art commissions include sculptural work,paintings, films, plays, dance and music. The Arts Officeadministers the Percent for Art commissions within the LocalAuthority, and works with consultants contracted to administercertain schemes. This is done in partnership with the commis-sioning sections to commission good quality artwork.

Advocacy - the Arts Office works to raise the collective awarenessof the value and impact of the arts throughout the organisationand in the wider community, locally, nationally and interna-tionally.

The arts service is based on the understanding that the right toaccess the arts is as inherent as is the right to roads, housing,water services etc. Access to arts is important for creative, socialand cultural development of both people and the county.(Kerry Arts Plan 2007-2012).

It can be difficult to quantify areas of the Arts Service delivery.The assistance given, the advice to help realise ideas, supportand guidance that can enhance arts events, inspiration for newdirections and opportunities cannot be measured in real terms.Whilst time is given to supporting the arts through advice,assistance, officiating and attending official launches, openingsetc., the main Arts Office work initiates art activity in a way thatis planned to influence arts development in a strategic manner.The project focus is often on artist and audience development,encouraging quality access and participation across art forms tofoster engagement with the arts, sustainable arts practice andcreativity. The Writer, Dancer, Film- maker and Composer inResidence projects have all yielded strong results, as has the‘Scealaíocht’ and ‘Smaointe’ project (a joint initiative betweenthe arts and heritage officers), to name but a few.

In all its work, the Arts Office reflects the overall values of KerryLocal Authorities;

“There are core values that guide how we do our work;leadership, social inclusion and partnership, fairness and

equity are central to all services provided”.(Corporate Plan 2005-2009).

The Arts Office could not function effectively without the supportof the Clerical Officers. Both Nora Marie Murphy and FionaFitzgerald (who are shared between arts, heritage and archaeology)are invaluable in the delivery of the service. The Arts Officer’sability to expand programming, working strategically withpartners and responding to initiatives is enabled by strong ClericalOfficer support. The Clerical Officers look after the day-to-dayrunning of the office, the compilation and delivery of the ‘Arts &Culture Kerry’ booklet, ensuring payments, mail outs and adver-tisements are timely.

The Arts Office can act as a catalyst in the promotion of the arts.This entails promoting access to the arts, participation in thearts as well as promoting the profile of the arts. The office linkswith dynamic partners such as Siamsa Tíre, Samhlaíocht, TheKerry School of Music, Féile na Bealtaine, Listowel Writer’sWeek, St. John’s Theatre & Arts Centre, Caherciveen CelticMusic Festival, the Kerry Film Festival, South Kerry DevelopmentPartnership, Kerry Education Services to name but a few.

The Arts Office offers support through networking opportunities.This has evolved over the years from solely the Arts AdvisoryGroup to include other networks including the Arts FestivalsNetwork and the Traditional Arts Working Group. The ArtsOffice has organised a number of speakers to address networks,including the Arts Council Director (2002), the Minister for ArtsSports and Tourism (2003), Ireland Funds Director (2004),Business2Arts (2004), Ireland Funds (2005), Arts CouncilExecutive (2006), Fáilte Ireland Executive (2006), AOIFE (2007).The basis for these networks is to encourage a sharing of skillsand knowledge, as well as supporting the development ofaudiences, access to the arts and standards of arts practice.

These networks have yielded good results and include thedevelopment of partnership projects such as The SamhlaíochtKerry Film Festival and Artist Information Evenings, St. JohnsTheatre & Arts Centre - Percent for Art Storytelling Evenings,Kerry School of Music - Community Music Weeks, Siamsa TíreTheatre & Arts Centre as a facilitator for the Dialogue throughTradition project, Kerry Education Services Drama Up SkillingSessions, Artist in the Community etc. There have been manyArts Office-initiated projects since 1999, much of which isdelivered in partnership. Each project focuses on a number ofaspects. The artist is an integral part of the project. Manyprojects offer the artist the opportunity to develop their ownwork, their profile and to explore their place in the community.The wider community is directly targeted. Individuals areoffered the opportunity to engage with the arts; be it as audienceor as participants. The focus is on developing opportunities toengage with the arts, developing standards of arts practice, andoffering the opportunity to enhance people’s lives throughengagement with the arts.

For further information contact the Arts Office, Kerry County Council, Rathass, Tralee, Co. Kerry. 066 7183541 [email protected]

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In June 1920 the British authorities directed the Royal Irish Con-stabulary to, in effect, amalgamate with the rest of the crownforces then engaged in attempting to defeat the Sinn Féin in-surrection. Under this new arrangement Lieutenant-ColonelGerald Bryce Ferguson Smyth was appointed Divisional Com-missioner of the military and police in Munster. The policy,given to him to carry out, envisaged the dispersal of membersof the RIC to small police outposts and the concentration oftroops in the larger, urban RIC barracks.

Members of the RIC at Listowel barracks realised that, by the im-plementation of this policy, they would be sucked more fully intothe conflict between the crown forces and the I.R.A. Throughtheir spokesman, Jeremiah Mee, they refused to accept theirtransfers. This prompted a visit from Divisional CommissionerSmyth, accompanied by some of the most senior officers of thearmy and police in Ireland at that time. In an extraordinarilyintemperate address to the assembled constables, Smyth urgedthem to stand side by side with the rest of the crown forces inruthlessly stamping out the forces of Sinn Féin. Jeremiah Mee,on behalf of his colleagues, stepped forward and said: ‘By youraccent I take it you are an Englishman. You seem to forget thatyou are addressing Irishmen!’ Then, taking off his cap and layingit on the table in front of Smyth, he continued: ‘My cap isEnglish. You may have it as a present from me!’ And, taking offhis belt and bayonet and clapping them on the table also, heconcluded: ‘My belt and bayonet are English too. You may havethem and to hell with you, you murderer!’ Mee’s colleaguesrushed him from the barracks to prevent his arrest. The visitorsadjourned to the district inspector’s office. Before they left thebarracks General Henry Hugh Tudor, Police Advisor to theViceroy and with responsibility for the military and police inIreland, asked to meet the constables. He appealed to themin eirenic terms to accept their transfers but they remainedadamant in their refusal.

Most of Munster was then under martial law and so the constablescould have been court-martialled. Realising the danger in which

they found themselves, they vacated the barracks and succeededin having a full statement, signed by the fifteen of them, publishedin the first edition of the Freeman’s Journal of 23 June 1920. Thisthey were able to do with the assistance of Fr. Charles O’Sullivan,a local curate and well-known Sinn Féin supporter.

This meeting in the police barracks in Listowel was a significantevent in the war of independence. As news of it spreadthroughout the RIC and later appeared in the press at homeand abroad the pace of members of the force taking earlyretirement or being dismissed quickened. Eventually, by 1March 1921, 2,570 members had left the force. Their placeswere taken by the hastily recruited Black and Tans. For the mostpart, these were ex-soldiers and they received little, if any, seriouspolice training. Their indiscipline and the outrages for whichthey were responsible alienated the Irish people, many of whomhad no enthusiasm for the policy and actions of Sinn Féin andthe IRA. The result was the crown forces found themselvesoperating in an increasingly hostile environment which castserious doubts on their capacity to successfully pacify thecountry.

After the war of independence, such was the odium attachedto the RIC that this seminal incident at Listowel was largelyerased from the public memory. Memoirs of ConstableJeremiah Mee, RIC, was published in 1975. It was an account ofMee’s life in the RIC and, from a number of sources, describedin considerable detail all the circumstances surrounding theListowel incident, which it brought into focus once again. Thisprompted a new appreciation of the dilemma faced by membersof the RIC in 1920-1 and the significant contribution some ofthem had made in the struggle for independence.

It was decided to honour the courage and patriotism of thosepolicemen in the Listowel RIC barracks. To this end, acommittee was formed with Frank Hanly, the local Garda super-intendent, as chairman. The eldest daughter of Jeremiah Mee,Mrs. Eileen Doyle, on whose initiative the memoirs of her fathervvhad been published, was also a member of the committee.The other members were Mrs. Susan McKenna, Fr. J. Anthony

THE PLAQUE IN LISTOWEL GARDA STATIONFr. Anthony Gaughan

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Gaughan, Bryan MacMahon and John B. Keane. A design forthe plaque was agreed. Tony O’Callaghan, who was thenacquiring a national reputation for producing beautifully craftedartistic plaques in copper, completed the work. It was unveiledby Michael O’Neill, acting chairman of Listowel Urban Council,during Writers’ Week in June 1978. Xavier McAuliffe, founderof Spectra Photo, took the pictures of the event which were tobe sent to the press.

The plaque is on the wall in the alcove just inside the entranceto Listowel Garda station. At the top is the crest of the RIC.Then there is the following list of the fifteen constables:

Byrnes, Francis J.Dolan, LoughlinDonovan, JohnDowney, JosephFitzgerald, MichaelHughes, ThomasKelly, MichaelLillis, MichaelMcNamara, JohnMee, JeremiahO’Neill, PatrickReidy, Thomas P.Robinson, AndrewSinnott, JohnSheeran, Patrick

Underneath is the phrase: ‘The King’s servants but Ireland’sfirst’ which highlights the dilemma confronted by thesepolicemen at that perilous time.

The interest generated by the publication of Memoirs ofConstable Jeremiah Mee, RIC, and the unveiling of the plaqueat Listowel Garda Station prompted a further development.Jeremiah Mee was a native of Knockanes, near Glenamaddy,County Galway. A local committee was formed in 1987 tohonour their native son. Among its members were Senator TomHussey and Superintendent John Mee, nephew of JeremiahMee. On 10 September 1989, a memorial was erected in thecentre of the town. The inscription on it reads:

To the memory ofJeremiah Mee 1899-1953,Knockanes, Glenamaddy,who in Listowel Barrackson 19th June 1920resigned from the R.I.C.,refusing to support the oppressive policy of theBritish Army and theBlack and Tans, choosing insteadTo risk life and libertyIn the struggle for Irish freedom.Ár meas agus moladh are féin agus a chomrádaithe.

The Valuation is arranged by: • county • barony • poor law union • civil parish • townland See map above, the search instructions/options are; the baronyof Magunihy, the union Killarney in the parish of Aghadoe andthe townland of Parkavonear.

In addition to townland address and householder's name, thefollowing details were also recorded:

• name of the person from whom the property was leased (immediate lessor) • description of the property • acreage • valuation

Copies of the Valuation are widely available in major librariesand through the county library network, both on microfiche andin their original published form. During 2008 the valuation wasmade available online via the cultural heritage website: www.askaboutireland.ie orhttp://griffiths.askaboutireland.ie/gv4/gv_start.php

The online product is searchable under both family name andplace name and each result will include all the details of therequired valuation record, bring up icons to see a scan of theoriginal document page and to see the relevant Griffith'sValuation map.

Access is available free of charge at each service point of KerryLibrary with a link also available from the library websitewww.kerrylibrary.ie

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GRIFFITH'S VALUATION AVAILABLE ONLINEGriffith’s Primary Valuation was the first full-scale valuation of property in Ireland. It was overseen by RichardGriffith, a Dublin geologist and published between 1847 and 1864. It is one of the most important surviving 19thcentury genealogical sources.


James Goodman, Canon of theChurch of Ireland, benefactor ofthe poor and needy and TrinityCollege professor stands as a uniquefigure in the history of Kerry’straditional music. The generosityand kindness to the poor which hedemonstrated during his life mightnot be sufficient to have his memoryendure, but his place in history isassured because of his roles, as botha traditional piper and a majorcollector of our heritage of nativemusic. He was born outside Dinglein 1828, the second son of the Rev.

Thomas Chute Goodman, Rector of Dingle. There were fivesons and four daughters in the family.

Members of the Goodman family had lived in Kerry from the17th century and were very well regarded by their neighbours.James Goodman grew up a native Irish speaker and being verymusically inclined, he gradually learned to sing the old songs ofMunster in the traditional style. He also developed a very highstandard of music literacy. It was these qualities and skills whichenabled him to compile a distinctive and comprehensivecollection of Irish music and song from his locality at a time ofgreat social, economic and cultural change in Kerry. Goodman’scollections of tunes and other local melodies as well as therecently re-discovered notebooks of song words and othermaterial are now an invaluable resource for the musician andmusic historian. They are a treasure-house of great old melodieswritten out by a master of his music idiom. In addition, hisoverall wealth of preserved material offers very useful insightsto the social and church historian.

According to Capt. O’Neill, from boyhood James Goodmanwas a fine traditional performer on the concert flute. It isreasonable to believe that Goodman learned to read music athome or from his tutor, Joseph King. His skill in this activity wasvital in his later tasks of systematically collecting the music ofhis locality and beyond. Goodman went to Dublin and studiedat Trinity College commencing in 1846, graduating in 1851 witha BA and was ordained a deacon of the Church of Ireland thatsame year and a priest of that Church in 1853. Somesources indicate that Goodman took up the pipes when athome in Dingle while Capt. O’Neill tells us that Goodman wasover thirty years of age before starting the pipes, having got a setof pipes from one of his fellow curates, one Rev. John Holahan,later Dean of Ross. ( IMM Page 130)

It is conceivable that Goodman may have had some opportuni-ties to play pipes in his youth, even if it was intermittent practiceperhaps on an instrument lent from a friend or neighbour. Ahigh standard of accomplishment on the pipes, arguably themost difficult of instruments, is normally associated with ateenage start and expert tuition.

Apart from his musical interests, as a young man Goodmanbecame involved with the Ossianic Society which functioned inmid-nineteenth century and concerned itself with the preserva-tion and publication of Irish manuscripts, Fenian poems, theirassociated tales and romances and related topics of study. Hisability with scripts and the written Irish indicate a clear familiaritywith Irish text material far beyond the experience of the ordinarynative speaker.

His ministry as a Church of Ireland clergyman was in West Cork,firstly in Creagh outside Skibbereen from 1852 to 1858 and laterin Ardgroom from 1858 to 1866. It was there he worked uponhis extensive collection of Irish music, completed in 1866. Hismanuscripts comprise four volumes which are, to the presentday, archived in Trinity College, Dublin, as well as some othervaluable material recently re-discovered by members of theGoodman family in Britain.

The total of the Goodman material seemingly amounts to sometwo-thousand, three-hundred musical pieces. Other than theKerry music, the remainder was drawn from other sources andpublished collections of his time. Goodman’s most identifiablyKerry material was edited and published in 1998 by the late(recently deceased) Dr. Hugh Shields. This volume, a number

THE MUSICAL LIFE AND TIMES OF JAMES GOODMAN (1828-1896),19TH - CENTURY COLLECTOR OF KERRY TRADITIONAL MUSICDavid Hegarty

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Canon Goodman befriended Dick Stephenson who wasregarded as one of the greatest pipers of his time.


one in an intended series of two is called Tunes of the MunsterPipers. It runs to five-hundred and fifteen items of melody andtechniques. The remaining unpublished manuscripts, held atTrinity College, are regrettably as yet unavailable to the public.Goodman’s five-hundred and fifteen Kerry melodies, includingmany nice and unusual versions identified by the letter K in themanuscripts, were probably all obtained from a Dingle piperThomas Kennedy. Some melodies have the full name ThomasKennedy assigned to them.

Given the comprehensive s cope o f h i s mus ic manuscripts,Goodman himself must have been an excellent piper. Sometunes are music for the masterful player, they are difficult anddemanding, composed or added to by virtuoso players and loversof melody. From his notation and familiarity with their intricacieswe can take it that he must have been very capable. Among thedemanding tunes referred to are Dickey Gossip, a hornpipe,Jacksons’ Pipes another hornpipe, Spencer’s Hornpipe. Nonebut an excellent and tasteful player would pick these up, notatethem on paper and set out the melodic ornamentation so com-prehensively. James Goodman did not confine his pipingactivities to playing and collecting. He was also proficient in thedelicate art of making reeds and guills.

In his preface to volume one, 1861, he mentions how the musicwas “fast becoming extinct”. His words were prophetic, but hislabours have saved much material, which can be worked uponand revitalized by studious and skillful musicians. Among theitems which have recently been re-discovered include two furtherbooks of material, the most significant being his notebook ofsongs. Between complete songs and fragmentary verses there areeighty-five sets of words in addition to Goodman’s other poetry,reflective and theologically controversial material of his time.

Some of the tunes in the notes may have been set down when hecommenced collecting, notating the first four bars of each tune

or song air perhaps to jog his own memory in a systematic way.Another interesting development is the very recent chancediscovery by Director of the Irish Traditional Music Archive,Nicholas Carolan, of more Goodman material in the collectionof John Edward Pigot, (1822-1871) son of the Lord Chief Baronof the Exchequer. This additional material, probably mainlycopies of the Trinity tunes was deposited in the Royal IrishAcademy. Seemingly Goodman wrote out some of his tunes forPigot a young Irelander, barrister, lover of the Irish languageand a native of Kilworth, near Fermoy in Co. Cork.

James Goodman died in 1896 in the Rectory, Skibbereen, agedsixty-seven after several months of failing health. Of the variousobituaries and reports of his death, is one which appeared in theUnited Irishman, Saturday, January 25, 1896, it described how;

He was so well known and universally respected by all creedsand classes of society, a man of splendid physique, and atone period of his life was an athlete of renown, and his finepersonal appearance was only eclipsed by his charmingmanners and many noble traits of character. His unboundedcharity was dispensed weekly, without knowing one creedfrom another, the vast majority of his long list of weeklypensioners being Catholics, and a long line or processionof those were to be seen each Monday morning windingtheir way to or from Glebe House, and were always knownduring the thirty years that he has been rector in Skibbereenas the ‘Canon’s pensioners’

The obituary continues;

He was Irish of the Irish, not alone as a lover of its ancientlanguage, but it was delightful to hear him render some of theold Irish songs and Moore’s Irish Melodies in the vernacular,playing the accompaniments on his beautiful set of Irishbagpipes, of which he was a perfect master.

His fine manly form, genial face, and pleasing and gracefulmanners, will be long missed from many of our socialgatherings whether Protestant or Catholic, and hence it is thathis death is today as much lamented amongst his Catholicfellow-countrymen as by his own sorrow-stricken flock.

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THE MUSICAL LIFE AND TIMES OF JAMES GOODMAN (1828-1896),19TH - CENTURY COLLECTOR OF KERRY TRADITIONAL MUSICDavid Hegarty

Michael Cumba Sullivan (c. 1835-1916) of Castlecove Caherdaniel,another great master of the pipes.Some of his tunes compare with thoseof Goodman’s notations. Two poorquality but enormously valuablerecordings of Cumba have survived.

This family photograph evidently taken at the Rectory in Skibbereenabout 1870, shows Canon Goodman and his wife Charlotte together

with their three sons, from left Godfrey, Francis and James.


The most frequent usage of the word art is understood to denoteany skill or mastery used to produce an aesthetic result. Britannicaonline defines it as “the use of skill and imagination in thecreation of aesthetic objects, environments or experiences thatcan be shared with others” (Britannica online). By thesedefinitions of the word, art can be found in the landscape of thecounty that is almost as old as human activity.

Much early art may be seemingly pointless, especially to usmodern-day spectators struggling to understand past meanings.But prehistoric art may have been used to communicatepolitical, spiritual or philosophical ideas, to explore the natureof perception, to generate emotion or simply for pleasure. Suchroles still dominate modern art work.

Rock art is often dated to the Bronze Age on the basis ofparallels to the art from Northern Iberia. British examples have,however, suggested a Neolithic date as rock art was found to haveoccupied a secondary position in early Bronze Age contexts.This late Neolithic date may also be assigned to the Irishexamples, though it is difficult to ascertain.

The term “Rock Art” is used to describe a specific group ofcarvings with a limited range of dominant motifs. The mostcommon design is the cupmark or circular depression enclosedby one or more concentric circles or rings. In many casesgrooves or radial lines extend from the cupmark through therings or may indeed run between the motifs. Individual stonesmay carry a variation of this basic design in addition to someless common motifs. Such markings are found on naturaloutcrops of rock and boulders. The decoration is carried outby hammering metal or stone points on to the surface to formpickmarks (O’Sullivan, A. & Sheehan, J. 1996, 78). The Archae-ological Survey of South Kerry commenced in 1986 andresulted in the identification of over 100 examples of rock artat 41 locations on the Iveragh peninsula including severalpreviously unknown types of rock art motifs (ibid. 1993a, 147).A unique cruciform type motif occurred at the Keelduff Upperrock art complex, one of the peninsula’s most densely concen-trated areas. This motif style consists of “equi-armed crosses withcupmarked or ringed terminals contained within penannular

rings” (ibid 1993b, 81). Another previously unfamiliar motiffound on the Iveragh Peninsula is the interrupted spiral, thatof a cupmark surrounded by a spiral which is broken bygapping (ibid). These new motifs discovered by the survey teamare composed using the standard rock art forms e.g. cupmarkyet a completely new design is created by deviating from thestandard application.

Rock art has been recorded in various parts of Ireland withexamples occurring in counties Donegal and Louth. The greatestconcentrations occur on the Dingle and Iveragh Peninsulaswhere over 40 and 119 known stones have been found decoratedin this manner (Cuppage, 1986, 56). Similar carvings are foundoutside of Ireland where the closest parallels for this art styleoccur in Scotland, Northern England, Galicia and NorthernPortugal. The term Gallego-Atlantic art is used to identifythe group as a whole because of its distribution along theAtlantic seaboard.

The rock art of the Kerry peninsulas is not located haphazardly.It occurs on lower mountain slopes at the heads of river valleysclose to or just beneath the 600ft contour (O’Sullivan, A. &Sheehan, J. 1996, 78). The terrain itself is usually a peat-coveredslope or ridge characterised by outcrops of rock and boulders.Such sites command views over the river valleys and often thesea can be viewed on the horizon. The distribution of rock arton the Iveragh Peninsula also shows the greatest density ofexamples is located toward the centre of the peninsula. Thispattern differs from the distributions of two well-representedprehistoric monument types in the area, namely the megalithictomb and standing stones and stone rows. Such monuments arespecifically absent from the areas most densely concentratedwith rock art (ibid 1993b, 82). Cuppage also notes that rock arton the Dingle peninsula is not associated with other monumenttypes (1986, 56). Many scholars have recognised that the neigh-bouring Beara Peninsula has large numbers of megalithicmonuments such as boulder burials, wedge tombs, stone circlesand stone rows but only one example of rock art is recordedfrom this peninsula.

The distribution of rock art on the Kerry peninsulas may serve

ROCK ART IN KERRYMaggie Prendiville

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Rock art in Kerry.

Rock art in Kerry.


as a clue to its role and function. Many theories have been theart. One interpretation of an example found at Derrnablahaexamined only individual motifs and identified a human figurein the art and suggested a second motif on the site should beinterpreted as a Bronze Age shield. Such speculative interpreta-tions considering single motifs out of context proved inaccurate.It has been variously suggested that the art functioned as earlymetallurgists’ marks or maps of field systems and settlements,symbols associated with a cult of sun-worship, as fertility or as-tronomical symbols (Morris, 1979, 15-29). More recently it hasbeen interpreted with regard to its placing in the landscape.O’Sullivan and Sheehan suggest that the art of the IveraghPeninsula may indicate a connection with a cult centred onwater sources, where various motifs represent conceptsconcerned with such (1993b, 83). There is no definite answerand the meaning and purpose behind these monuments is stilllargely unknown.

References:

http://www.britannica.com/art

Cuppage, J. et al (1986): Archaeological Survey of the Dingle Peninsula.Ballyferriter, Oidrheacht Chorca Dhuibhne.

Morris, R. W. B. (1979): The Prehistoric Rock Art of Galloway & TheIsle of Man, Poole, Blandford Press.

O’Sullivan, A. and Sheehan, J., (1993 a): Prospection and Outlook:aspects of rock art on the Iveragh peninsula, Co. Kerry. In E. Shee-Twohig & M. Ronayne (eds) Past Perceptions: The PrehistoricArchaeology of South-West Ireland. Cork University Press, Cork.

O’Sullivan, A. and Sheehan, J., (1993 b): The South West Kerry Archae-ological Field Survey In E. Shee Twohig and M. Ronayne (eds) PastPerceptions: The Prehistoric Archaeology of South-West Ireland, CorkUniversity Press, Cork.

O’Sullivan, A. and Sheehan, J., (1996), The Iveragh Peninsula; AnArchaeological Survey of South Kerry. Cork University Press, Cork.

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Lecture: The Ethno - Veterinary Medicine of North Kerry 1850-1950 delivered by John O’Flaherty.Donal O’Connor, Tommy O’Connor, John O’Flarerty, Tony Bergin, Gail McCarthy, Gerry O’Leary.


CúlraBhunaigh an tAthair Pat Ahern Siamsa Tíre i 1974 agus í maraidhm aige stór luachmhar oidhreacht cheoil, damhsa isseanchais na tíre a chaomhnú. Chuige sin, bhain féidearthachtaífaoi leith le meán síorchruthaitheach na hamharclainne inarféidir an cultúr dúchais a athchruthú go healaíonta agus aathmhúnlú go comhaimseartha as ithir agus as fréamhacha antseanchais. Bhí béim faoi leith á cur aige ar ghnéithe suntasachaár n-oidhreachta a bheith á seacadadh anonn chuig na chéadghlúnta eile ag am cinniúnach i stair na tire - tús bhallraíochtÉireann i gComhphobal Eacnamaíochta na hEorpa i 1973 (artháinig an tAontas Eorpach i gcomarbacht air).

Bhí scéala bagartha i mbéal is i mbráid um an dtaca singo gcaillfeadh Éire “seoid” luachmhar an chultúr dhúchais agus ísan Eoraip. Bhíothas imníoch go mbáfaí na “seoid” chultúrtha seofaoi mhórchultúir fhorleitheacha eile na hEorpa, seoid spioradáltaa bhí seachadta chugainn anonn tríd na glúnta a d’imighromhainn trí mheán an tseanchais agus trí mheon uathúil nandaoine. Ba chuid áirithe é seo gan amhras de ghluaiseacht níosleithne; gluaiseacht fhrithchultúrtha dhomhanda a bhí ag bailiúnirt sna seascaidí déanacha agus sna seachtóidí a d’fhéach le béima chur in athuair ar thraidisiúin bheaga ag seasamh an fhóid godaingean in aghaidh na hollchumachta1.

Tá Siamsa Tíre ag dul ó neart go neart ó shin agusanois breis agus tríocha bliain ó thráth a bhunaithe, tá cáildhomhanda agus éileamh forleathan air mar chompántastéatair.2 Bhí sé mar aidhm ag Siama Tíre ó thosach agus tá fósar ndóigh, meas ar an gcultúr dúchais a leathadh ar fud nahÉireann, ar fud na hEorpa agus ar fud an domhain. Tá ag éiríle Siama Tíre an aidhm a chuir sé roimhe thar na blianta a churi gcrích le flosc cruthaitheachta agus díograise trí thaispeántaisden scoth a chur ar stáitse a shoilsíonn gnéithe tábhachtaáirithe d’ár gcuid staire agus féiniúlachta mar phobal - ár gcuidmiotas, ceoil, rince agus seanchais.

Sa chuid eile den alt seo féachfar le cur síos achomaira dhéanamh ar fhorás agus ar thorthaí comhoibrithe idir SiamsaTíre agus an Institiúíd Teicneolaíochta Thrá Lí le céim BA afhorbairt sa téatar tuaithe.

Tábhacht na hoiliúna agus an tseachadtaMar gluaiseacht shuaithinseach phobail, bhí Siamsa Tíre meáiteó thosach ar na scileanna agus oidhreacht an cheoil, an damhsaagus an tseanchais a sheachadadh chuig na chéad ghúnta eileagus i ngeall air sin, bhí áit lárnach ann ag an oiliúint agus agan oideachas. Chomh maith leis an amharclann náisiúnta atásuite i dTrá Lí, tá baint nach beag ag Siamsa leis an gceol, leisan rince agus leis an tsiamsaíocht dhúchais a chaomhnú agus achur chun cinn trí cheardlanna córasacha teagaisc a chur ar bunagus a reáchtáil sna tithe Siamsa atá lonnaithe i dtuaisceart agusi ndeisceart chondae Chiarraí. Tá obair thábhachtach seo antseachadta agus na hoiliúna ag gabháil ar aghaidh go fóill marsin sna tithe Shiamsa atá lonnaithe ar an gCarraig, CorcaDuibhne agus sa bhFionnuig, Lios Tuathail. Dá bharr seo ba dhual don chomhoibriú idir Siamsa Tíre agusAn Coláiste Réigiúnach (An Institiúid Teicneolaíochta faoi maratá sí anois) ag deireadh na n-ochtóidí agus tús na nóchaidíd’fhonn teastas sa téatar tuaithe a chur ar bun. Tar éis an tsaoil,

ba é bunchuspóir na hInstitiúide riamh anall agus fós sa lá atáinniu ann ar ndóigh ná an fhorbairt phobail agus an tion-scalaíocht áitiúil a chothú agus a chur chun cinn.

Ba dheis mhaith don Institiúid, mar sin, forbairt anteastais seo chun tacú le tionscal na hoidhreachta sa dúicheagus ag an am céanna bhí a leithéid de thionscnamh ag teachtgo dlúth le fealsúnacht na hoiliúna agus an tseachadtha a bhíag Siamsa Tíre.

Tráth an ama seo chomh maith bhí borradh nach beagag teacht faoi staidéar na héigse nó na ndaonnachtaí sna coláistíréigiúnacha. Forbraíodh teastais sna daonnachtaí sna coláistíréigiúnacha eile, m.sh., bhí cursaí sa cheol á bhforbairt i gcoláisteréigiúnach Phort Láirge agus ghriog sé sin údaráis an choláistele dúshraith a chur faoi chlár do na daonnachtaí abhus. Is i ngeallair seo ar fad a ceadaíodh cúrsa dioplóma sna daonnachtaí saCholáiste Réigiúnach i gcomhar le Siamsa Tíre i 1995.

An cúrsa dioplómaTháinig an chéad chohórt mac léinn ar an gcúrsa i 1995 tar éisdóibh réamhthriail sa cheol nó sa damhsa a dhéanamh. Cúrsadioplóma trí bliana a bhí i gceist agus bhí an bhéim ar fad aroiliúint scileanna sa cheol, san amharclannaíocht agus sa damhsa.Sa tríú bliain agus roimh chríochnú an chúrsa dóibh, bhí léiriústáitse le heagrú ag na mic léinn. Roghnaíodh ábhair a bhain lescéalta béaloidis, m.sh., “Scéal na Maighdine Mara”, an leaganáitiúil den fhinscéal cáiliúil idirnáisiúnta , scéal “Eoghainín”, scéalbealoidis ó Chondae na Gaillimhe agus an finscéal Rúraíochta,“Clann Uisnigh”. Sna drámaí seo ar fad, chuir na mic léinn rompumar sprioc athleagan ealaíonta den scéal a athinsint ar an stáitse,ag baint úsáid as friotal stílithe Shiamsa Tíre, í. an bhéim ar mhím,ar cheol, chanadh agus ar dhamhsa. Ní amháin go raibh orthuan scéal béaloidis nó an finscéal a chóiriú ar stáitse ach bhíothasag súil uathu go ndéanfaidís an coiriú teicniúil stáitse, anmhargaíocht agus an stiúrthóireacht féin.

D’éirigh go maith leis an gcúrsa díoplóma mar sin margur chothaigh sé suim chíocrach sa chultúr dúchais i measccéimithe a raibh ardscileanna ceoil, damhsa agus amharclan-naíocht acu. Cé nach raibh ach mionlach mac léinn ag gabháildó, mar sin féin, dheimhnigh forbairt oideachais agus oiliúna dáleithéid go raibh an oidhreacht á caomhnú agus á seachadadhchuig an nglúin óg. Thar na blianta éagsúla, bhí rannpháirtíochtmhaith náisiúnta ann ó Co. na Midhe, ó Ghaillimh, ó Mhaigh Eo,ó Bhaile Átha Cliath, ó Chorcaigh, ó Loch Garman, ó Chorcaighagus ó Chiarraí féin. D’éirigh le mac léinn ón nGearmáin fiú andioplóma a bhaint amach chomh maith. Bhunaigh duine dechéad chéimnithe an chúrsa, Feargal Ó Murchú a chompántastéatair féin, Ragús bunaithe ar cheol agus ar shaíocht OileáinÁrann i 1998 ag leathadh rath agus cáil náisiúnta air féin.

Forbairt na céime BACuireadh tús le céim nua i gcomhar le Siamsa Tíre sa téatairtuaithe i dtreo dheireadh na nóchaidí. Faoin am seo, bhí anbhéim san institiúid á cur go sonrach ar fhorbairt chúrsaí céime.Féachadh chuige, dá bhrí sin, ábhair acadúla eile a thairiscintmar chuid de chéim BA. Bhí an bhéim riamh anall ar ábhar arar tugadh “Saíocht na nGael” agus féachadh air mar bhunsraithléinn an chúrsa. Múineadh stair, béaloideas, litríocht agus léinn

CAOMHNÚ NA HOIDHREACHTA: SPLEÁCHADHAR FHORÁS CÉIME SA TÉATAR TUAITHEDr. Muiris Ó Laoire

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an chomhshaoil mar chuid den ábhar seo agus d’fheidhmigh ségo minic mar ábhar agus mar fhoinse ionsparáide don cheol agusdon amharclannaíocht, faoi mar a bhí ar siúl ag compántasgairmiúil Shiamsa Tíre féin a d’ullmhaigh athchóiriú ealaíontade fhinscéalta Fiannaíochta mar Oisín, nó d’ábhar béaloidis, marSan Am Fadó, Samhain, 7rl, le tamall de bhlianta roimhe sin.

Tábhacht na hoidhreachtaCur chuige trasdisciplíneach agus modheolaíocht foghlama faoileith a bhí i gceist. Ó thaobh chúrsa staidéir agus taighde de,tuigeadh go raibh gá le síorthumadh a dhéanamh i dtobar anléinn dúchais le go dtiocfaí ar bhraistintí íogaire ár muintireagus ár sinsir. Bhí fealsúnacht an chúrsa saíochta, mar shamplabunaithe ar an tuiscint go bhféadfaí teacht ar bhunléargais anléinn agus na saoithiúlachta daonna trí staidéar a dhéanamh armhiotais, ar thraidisiúin agus ar mheon an phobail. Ar an ábharsin, dhírigh focheimithe ar stair na saíochta Gaelaí ó thúsaimsire- ó thréimhsí luathstaire na tíre leis an oidhreacht bhéila rianú agus a thuiscint. Is as an staidéar seo ar chúrsaí saíochtaa d’eascair cuid mhaith de na téamaí a ndearnadh saothrú orthusa cheol, sa rince agus san amharchlannaíocht.

Ba í an ghné ba shuaithinsí den siollabas ná ancomhtháthú nádúrtha a deineadh idir na hábhair éagsúla ann.Bhíothas ag súil, dá bhrí an chomhthathaithe seo go mbeadhtuiscint fhorbartha ag céimithe ar an gcaoi ina dtagann nadisciplíní seo le chéile agus ar an sainghaol atá eatharthu laistighde cheird agus de chur chuige ildánach an tsaineolaí sa réimseseo. Ar chríochnú an chúrsa seo dóibh, bhíothas ag súil gombeadh tuiscint ag céimithe ach go háirithe ar thábhacht anchultúir dhúchais agus ar eilimintí dúchais, Eorpacha agusdomhanda an chultúír chéanna.

Cuireadh neart ábhar eile ar fáil sa chéim nua mar : AnLitríocht Chlasaiceach, an Litríocht Angla-Éireannach, Léinnan Chultúir, Teicneolaíocht an Eolais, Polasaí náisiúnta agusEorpach na n-Ealaíon agus Riaracháin na n-Ealaíon. Cuireadhbliain breise leis an gcúrsa agus tugadh deis do mhic léinn taithíoiriúnach oibre a fháil. Thapaigh fochéimithe an deis seo chundul i mbun oibre le compántais téatair eile abhus agus thar sáile.

TaighdeAr aon dul leis an gcúrsa dioplóma ar tháinig an cúrsa céime igcomharbacht air, bhí freastal agus rannpháirtíocht náisiúnta igceist. Ba chonstaic i gcónaí an líon beag mac léinn a chuiristeach air trí mhéan gnáthchórais na Lár Oifig Iontrála (CAO).Pléifear an chonstaic seo amach anseo. Is cuid thábhachtach étaighde de shaol agus de chur chuige institiúide tríu leibhéal arbith agus ní taise don chúrsa seo ar ndóigh.

Tá deis taighde ag mic léinn le linn na ceathrú blianaagus is ábhar inspéise an gort taighde ar shaothraigh mic léinnagus iad ina bhun. Seo a leanas cuid de na tráchtais thaighde arinneadh go dtí seo: cuntas ar shaíocht Rath Chairn, Co. naMidhe, staidéar lóganta ar Chaoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire, anailísar shiombalachas an uisce sa chultúr Éireannach, staidéar ar anlucht sídhe sa lá atá inniu ann, anailís ar na tórraimh thraidisiúntaagus staidéar eitneaghrafach ar chultúr an lucht shiúil.

Ar aon dul le cúrsa an dioplóma, áit a mbíodh ar mhicléinn tabhairt faoi athinsint chruthaitheach stáiste ar scéalbéaloidis, iarrtar ar mhic léinn ceathrú bliain na céime an rudcéanna a thabhairt chun críche. Cumadóireacht chruthaitheachagus ábhair nua is mó atá curtha ar fáil ag na mic léinn sa réimseseo mar thriail taighde; féachaint an bhféadfaí téamaí comhaim-seartha a iniúchadh agus a insint trí mhéan traidisiúnta fhriotalShiamsa Tíre. Cumasc cruthaitheach den sean agus nua abhíonn sna léiriúcháin seo de ghnáth, áit a mbaintear úsáid

ealaíonta as meafair, as siombail agus as téamaí dúchais traidis-iúnta. Baineadh úsáid mhaith as siombal an chrosaire thraidis-iúnta, cuir i gcás i léiriú dar theideal “Amú” (2007) chun téamaan choimhthithe chomhaimseartha agus easpa an chomhluadairthraidiúnta phobail a chur inár láthair.

DúshláinBhí an líon beag iarrthóirí ar an gcúrsacéime agus ar an gcúrsa dioplóma araonag dó na geirbe do lucht riaracháin anchúrsa ó thús. Cé gur scaipeadh an scéalanall is abhus faoi fheabhas an chúrsa,ba cheist fós í an t-íosmhéid mac léinnarbh fhéidir glacadh leis le go bhféadfaían cúrsa a reáchtáil. Bhí spéis ag aninstitiúid riamh agus tá fós ar ndóigh sanfhorbairt áitiúil phobail agus tion-

scalaíochta. Chuige sin thug an cúrsa seo deis thábhachtach doninstitiúid tacú le tionscal na hoidhreachta sa dúiche. I ngeall aran líon beag iarratasóirí a chuir isteach ar an gcúrsa cinneadhgan é a thairiscint idir 2005-2008. Tá sé beartaithe áfach gombeidh céim eile, céim sna healaíona taibhsiúcháin i gcoitinneá tairiscint ag an institiúid go luath. Beidh an bhéim sa chéim seoar ndóigh ar cheol, ar dhrámaíocht agus ar rince agus beidh deisfós ag fochéimithe tabhairt faoin téatar tuaithe mar roghaleanúnach laistigh den chúrsa.

Cad tá romhainn?Chaomhnaigh an cúrsa seo gné thábhachtach den oidhreachtcheoil is seanchais, í. an guth pobail san atá fréamhaithe i stairár gcine ó thosach aimsire. Tá an guth seo fós á chloisteáil sateanga agus sa chaint nádúrtha, sa cheol, agus sa seanchas ar fudan chondae seo cuir i gcás; ach tá sé i mbaol a bhasctha anoisníos mó ná riamh. Is tábhachtaí linn an guth aonair ná guth anphobail anois. Is trua san mar bhí tábhacht ar leithrigh lesainghuth an phobail riamh anall i stair litríocht, saíocht agussaoithiúlacht na Gaeilge. Ba bhunúsaí an guth pobal/poiblí náan guth príobháideach indibhidiúil in oidhreacht litríochta nahÉireann. Inár dtraidisiún scéalaíochta, cuir i gcás, cloistearguth poiblí an laoich ag fógairt na ndualgas poiblí atá air agussan fhilíocht chlasaiceach 1300-1650 cloistear guth poiblí anfhile arís ag comhlíonadh an dualgas atá air i leith chuimhní athreibhe agus a chine. Ní hionann an guth seo agus fórsaídomhanda nua-aimseartha a thachtann an chruthaitheacht armhaithe le pinginí agus le brábus. Tá freagracht ar an oideachasi leith na hoidhreachta seo, ag am cinniúnach i stair ár dtíre aguscúrsaí sóisialta agus cultúir athraithe chomh mór sin agus anbhéim ar ábharchas níos mó ná riamh.

Ní ar mhaithe le pinginí a thumann duine é féin idtobar na saíochta dúchasaí ach chun aithne a chur air féinagus ar an gcine ar de é. Bronnann an tumadh seo féinaitheagus féinmhuinín úr ar an té sin a théann chun tairbhe nasochaí uile. Táthar ag súil go leanfar den tumadh oideachsúilseo faoi scáil thábhachtach Shiamsa Tíre, a mheabhraíonntábhacht na hoidhreachta dúchasaí dúinn i gcónaí - fíorú físeAn t-Athar Pat Ahern.

Tagairtí1 Tráchtann Kiberd (1995:568) mar shampla ar chearta fhorás cheartsibhialta na Gaeltachta mar “global countercultural movementconstructed upon “small is beautiful” principles”. Kiberd, D. (1995)Inventing Ireland, London: Jonathan Cape

2 Feic: (http://www.siamsatire.com/history.html)

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The Parish of Currans is in the Barony of Trughanacmy inCounty Kerry. It is approximately ten miles north ofKillarney. In his noted work, “Ordnance Survey Letters”O’Donovan writes,

“The site of a castle is shown in the North of the townland ofMeanus, near Currans House, but it is doubtful to me that therewas ever a castle there”1

At any sign of an error made by one of his fellow historians,O’Donovan was merciless in withering criticisms, but in thatdeclamation he was hoist with his own petard. There had beena castle at Currans, which a careful study of the State Papers ofIreland would have made clear to him. Once, on bowing to hisprestige, I helped to perpetuate that error2.

In October 1598, Munster rose in rebellion and every settlerfled, either to the walled towns or to England3. Hugh O’Neill,Earl of Tyrone, descended from the north of Ireland to demandobedience from all the southern Munster clans. He camped asfar south as central Cork. As had happened before after victory,O’Neill then returned home where, for eighteen months he andhis captains sat and pondered. His main protagonist from southMunster, was the charismatic Florence MacCarthy, son of thedead Sir Donough MacCarthy Reagh of Carbery and son-in-lawof MacCarthy Mor, Earl of Clancare. For political reasons,MacCarthy Mor had ordered his septs, not to rise in rebellionbut two of his main chieftains, Teige MacDermot MacCormacMacCarthy of Cosh-main and O’Donoghue Mor, dropped theirallegiance to their overlord and joined the Sugaun Earl ofDesmond, who was fighting for O’Neill.

Late one night together, they were surprised by Englishforces under the command of Captain Zouch and killed inbattle at Aghadoe Castle. Consequently, in reprisal, theirlands were attained.

As with O’Neill, Florence could never make a final decision toattack the English – always proclaiming loyalty to the Queen.The English forces at this time were negligible and badlystretched and, it was widely believed, would have been overcomeeasily by the much larger armies of O’Neill and Florence (whocould call on three thousand men from his own sept alone); allthe other septs would have then flocked to the call and Irelandmight have gained independence. Instead, both O’Neill andFlorence waited for the long-promised help from Spain.

By March, 1600, the new Lord President of Munster, Sir GeorgeCarew, arrived in Munster and began an immediate campaign.It is the subsequent letters between Sir Geroge Carew with SirRobert Cecil and the Council of State, as well as those betweenO’Neill and Florence, that tell of the progress and destructionthat then followed. On August 25, 1600, Carew received astrange letter from an unknown Gerot Lyston, a gentleman ofLimerick, who had a tale to tell of Florence. Gerot Lyston wasattached to the rebel Sugaun Earl of Desmond, but it is not

known in what capacity, nor why such an Englishman should beso accepted within the Sugaun Earl’s inner council-of-war. Whyhe should have wished to make mischief for Florence, who wassupposedly their ally, still remains a mystery.

Lyston informed Sir George Carew that he had been with apatrol of the Sugaun Earl’s party when it had made a secretsortie south of the river Maine, of a small village called Bal-lyfinnane. The village was roughly four miles distant from theCastle to the Mayne and four miles as well from Castle Curransto the east. About five weeks earlier, a meeting had beenplanned between the Sugaun Earl and his followers andFlorence (still ostensibly loyal to the Queen), but the Earl hadbeen having trouble in contacting him. On this night, theSugaun Earl of Desmond waited at Ballyfinnane with hislieutenants – McAuliffe, Thomas Oge Moriarty, McSheehy (ofthe gallowglasses) John Ulick and Gerot Lyston. On his arrivalwith a body-guard of one hundred men, Florence apologisedprofusely for not having joined his force in the earlier weeks withthat of the Sugaun Earl. He accepted that he had promisedfaithfully that he was to have met them weeks before, ready toassault Carew and Her Majesty’s men, but he now attempted toplacate them with some lame excuses. He insisted that he hadcome to believe it would be unwise, even for their combinedparties, to attack Carew unless they could be sure of victory. Hethought it would be disastrous for them and their cause, if thewhole nation saw they were unable to overcome the Englishcompletely. To this convoluted excuse, the others listened ingrim and steely silence, but at length they seemed to besomewhat pacified. When Florence insisted, yet again, that hewas sworn to follow O’Neill, Desmond seemed somewhatmollified and happy enough with such a declaration. At this,wrote the official scribe, he gathered his men to him and,leaving Castlemaine four miles behind him, had set out to coverthe further four miles to the Castle of Currans.

Florence then left for Molahiffe, which was nearby. It was thisvisit to Molahiffe (not to the Molahiffe Castle of the Coshmainsept but to the new house built a short distance away by NicholasBrowne) which was the point of Lyston’s letter. He pointed out

THE LOST CASTLE OF CURRANSValerie Bary

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View from the “Plateau” where Currans House stood.


that Florence had stayed the night at Nicholas Browne’s house.Browne, of course, had fled to England with the other settlers,but his wife, Julia O’Sullivan, had remained behind in his home.Her Father, the O’Sullivan Beara, was the leader of O’Neill’srebels in south Munster; Julia, at one time had been betrothedto Florence.

Currans Castle was never mentioned again after that, but we canimage, perhaps what happened to it. Sir George Carew, at hisarrival in Ireland had immediately “quietened” the counties ofWaterford and Limerick and then turned the brunt of his attackon Kerry. Having been given the information from spies thatthe Sugaun Earl of Desmond’s men were in the area of Firies,we know that the English attacked and destroyed ClounmelaneCastle and Molahiffe Castle, only a few miles from CurransCastle. Clounmelane was crushed and left little more than aheap of stones. Molahiffe Castle was attacked and overcome.Firies Castle, which was also in the same area, was untouchedbecause it stood within the demesne lands of MacCarthy Mor;on the other hand, Clounmelane and Molahiffe were locatedon the attainted lands of MacCarthy of Coshmaine.

The English would have had canonry with them, unlike the Irishforces. Sir George Carew had once been Master of Ordnanceand a trained master-gunner and so was certain to have kepthis culverins well-angled. There would have been efficientdestruction of the castle of any of those who were in rebellion.

Sir George had been a plain, dedicated soldier who expectedto carry out rough assignments immediately and with precision.

Nevertheless, he and the Sugaun Earl came to admire eachother and, at the death of Desmond (no longer in the Tower,but in one of the open prisons in London) Carew said of him,“He was more beloved than any man of his day. He was unmeetto be a rebel for he was of a gentler nature and nurture thanwas suited to the times and fortunes forced upon him. He atall times spared life and befriended the English who fell intohis hands.”

Today, a small pile of scattered stones mark the remains ofClounmelane and, until recently, part of a wall stood at the sideof the road at Molahiffe, but no-one remembers Currans. Weknow that about 100 years after the battles, Arthur Herbert (amember of the Castleisland family) built an imposing, 3-storyhome called Currans House on the townland. It is possible thehouse, on its elevated site, was built near the old castle and fromits stones. Perhaps, if this were so, no sign survived to comedown to us.

Currans House, itself, was burned down accidentally more than50 years ago.

Endnotes

1 O’Donovan, J., (1841): Ordnance Survey Letters, 2 Bary, V., (1994): Houses of Kerry, Ballinakella Press, County Clare,p.94

3MacCarthy-Morrogh, M., (1986): The Munster Plantation, ClarendonPress, Oxford, p.136

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Field Outing 8th June 2008Dromultin Monastic Site.

Field Outing 8th June 2008KilsarconLeader Fr. Pat Sugrue P.P.


My aims in this article are to explore some of the issues involvedin interpreting the problematic place-name Tarbert, and also toconsider some of the evidence relevant to this and other Irishplace-names including the element tairbeart. As this representswork in progress, the findings are not conclusive, but a possibleexplanation for Tarbert, County Kerry, is proposed.

Location

Tarbert, a village and townland in the civil parish of Kilnaughtin,situated on the southern shore of the Shannon estuary, lies somethirty-five miles downstream (west) of Limerick City. It is locatedat a point where the Shannon is relatively narrow, making it agood crossing-place, and, indeed, a regular ferry service formotorists and foot passengers has operated from Tarbert toKillimer in County Clare since 1969. This obviates the need fortravellers from North Kerry to West Clare to detour via Limerick,where the lowest bridge crosses the Shannon (a saving ofapprox. eighty-five miles on the journey by road). The quay atTarbert is located just over a mile north of the village at a placecalled Tarbert Island, though this is no longer a true island as itis connected to the mainland by a causeway.

Historical references

There are two references to Tarbert in Edmund Hogan’sOnomasticon Goedelicum. The earlier of these is from ForasFeasa ar Éirinn (c. 1633) by Seathrún Céitinn (GeoffreyKeating), where it appears in the form Tairbiort in a list of placesdefining the boundaries of the diocese of Limerick:

Fairche Luimnigh, an Mhaoilchearn soir, Áth ar Choinne,Lodan is Loch Gair, is an Laitheach Mhór ó Áine siar, is ArdPádraig budh dheas, is Bealach Feabhradh is Tulach Léis, Féilsiar, is Tairbiort, is Cuinche i dTuadhmhumhain, is Crossa iSliabh Uidhe Ríogh, is Dubhabhann.

The See of Luimneach, the Maoilchearn [Mulkear R.] eastward,Áth ar Choinne, Lodan and Loch Gair [L. Gur], and theLaitheach Mhór [Pallas Grean] from Áine [Knockainy]westward and Ard Pádraig [Ardpatrick] to the south andBealach Feabhradh [Ballyhoura] and Tulach Léis, the Féil [R.Feale] westward and Tairbeart [Tarbert] and Cuinche [Quin]in Thomond and Crossa in Sliabh Uidhe Ríogh and theDubhabhann [The Clare Blackwater] (Comyn & Dinneen, 1902-14, vol. iii, 304-5).

Hogan’s second reference is to Lynch’s Cambrensis Eversus(1662), which has a similar list of boundary markers for the Seeof Limerick, in which the name appears under the formTairbearta. The old castle (of which no trace now remains) ismarked as C. Torbet on Speed’s map, The Province of Mounster(sic, 1610). On Petty’s Barony Maps (1655-9) one finds Terbet(East & West) as well as Terbed Iland.

The modern Irish form of the name is Tairbeart (An tSuirb-héireacht Ordanáis, 1989, 163). This is also the form found inJoyce’s Irish Names of Places, vol. iii (1913, 567), where it isinterpreted as ‘isthmus’, i.e. a narrow neck of land between twocoasts. Joyce takes issue with the definition of this word foundin O’Reilly’s Irish-English Dictionary (1817): tairbhert, ‘apeninsula’. Joyce remarks: “but it means rather an isthmus”. Heis right to insist on a more appropriate geographical term.However, at Tarbert on the Shannon there is only a short, stubbypeninsula which has no marked narrowing. Joyce’s preferencefor the meaning ‘isthmus’ is probably based on the occurrenceof the element tairbeart in several Scottish place-names, in whichit is usually anglicised Tarbert, sometimes Tarbet. Since theelement is rather more common in Scotland and has been theobject of more place-name research there, it is worth reviewingbriefly some of the evidence from Scotland.

Scottish place-names in tairbeart and etymology

Tarbert in Harris (Gaelic An Tairbeart) is located on a narrowneck of land, barely over a mile wide, separating East LochTarbert on the sheltered east side from West Loch Tarbert onthe Atlantic side. This isthmus is located some twenty milesnorth-west of Renish Point, the southern tip of Harris, andcrossing the island at this point avoids a sea journey of at leastfifty miles in potentially very rough waters, so the incentive tocarry a boat this short distance is clear. An isthmus location isalso characteristic of Tarbert on Jura, situated about half-wayalong the island’s length. As the Scottish coastline is so deeplyindented, such isthmuses are quite a common feature, especiallyon the peninsulas and islands of the west coast.

However, with the preferred translation ‘isthmus’, we have stillnot arrived at the intrinsic meaning of the element tairbeart. Itsignifies ‘carrying across’ and therefore denotes a portage, i.e. aplace where boats are carried. It is derived by a number ofScottish toponymists from an Old Irish compound of tar, ‘across’,and bert, verbal noun of ber, ‘carry’.1 There is, however, adifficulty with this derivation, as the preposition tar would beexpected to cause lenition, yet the following b is consistentlyunlenited in place-names. This point was obviously noticed byW.J. Watson, who offered a slightly different etymology in hisCeltic Place-Names of Scotland. Although he does not explainhis reasoning, the absence of lenition must surely be the reasonthat he derives tairbeart from Old Irish tairm-bert (Watson, 1926,505), as the presence of a final m in the first element couldaccount for the non-lenition of the following b. Tairm, ‘across’,is a variant form of the preposition tar.

TARBERT, CO. KERRY, AND THE ELEMENTTAIRBEART IN PLACE-NAMESPaul Tempan

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The ferry Shannon Dolphin at Tarbert Pier. (photo: Denise Jacques)


In the case of Tarbert on the Kintyre peninsula (Argyllshire) weare fortunate to have an early record, not merely of the name,but also of the activity that gave rise to the name. It is locatedon a narrow neck of land, some forty miles north of the Mull ofKintyre, and crossing Kintyre at this point saves at least eightymiles by sea. It was here in 1098 that Magnus Barefoot, King ofNorway, “caused his ship to be dragged with himself on the poopholding the tiller” (Watson, 1926, 506). This event is recordedin the Norse text Heimskringla (Sagas of the Kings of Norway).Robert the Bruce repeated this feat over two centuries later toclaim Kintyre back for the Scots (Johnston, 1892, 307).

An isthmus is therefore a typical location for a tairbeart or portageplace, but it is not the only possible one. Tarbet in Dunbartonshireis on a narrow neck of land between Loch Lomond (freshwater)and Loch Long (sea). Tarbet in Sutherland is located on a smallheadland with no appreciable narrowing. The Scottish place-names in tairbeart have been studied in some detail, notably at aconference on portages held in Norway in 2004.2

Tairbeart in Irish place-names

There are three important reasons why the essential meaningof tairbeart in place-names has tended to be overlooked in Irishsources. Firstly, examples are scarce in Ireland – Tarbert inKerry is the only one mentioned by Joyce. Secondly, the Irishnames are less transparent, since they do not conform to theScottish pattern of a typical location on an isthmus. TarbertIsland represents only the smallest of projections into theShannon Estuary and there seems to be little distance to besaved by carrying a boat overland at this point. The townlandof Tarbert in County Laois conforms even less to the Scottishisthmus pattern, being located far inland with no lakes in thevicinity.3 Belturbet, County Cavan, is also rather puzzling:derived from Ir. Béal Tairbirt, which seems to mean ‘approachto the place of portage’, it lies on the River Erne between UpperLough Erne and the complex of lakes near Cavan. It thereforeseems at first sight to be located at a place where waterrepresents an obstacle to travel by land, rather than one whereland forms an obstacle to water travel, as is the case at a portagesite. An island in the River Erne here is known as Tarbert Island.The only Irish example of tairbeart which shows an unmistak-able narrowing of land is Turbot Island, County Galway.Tairbeart (An tSuirbhéireacht Ordanáis, 1989, 163), located offthe coast of Connemara. This island is one mile long and aquarter mile wide, but it narrows to a neck just over onehundred yards wide. Here it is quite believable that small boatscould have been carried from the quay on the north (sheltered)side to a launching site on the south (Atlantic) side.

The third factor is the shortage of evidence in history andoral tradition for the practice of carrying boats acrossisthmuses in Ireland.

Interpreting Tarbert, Co. Kerry

To return to our Kerry Tarbert, one may ask with good reasonwhether this can be explained at all as a portage site, having seenthe difficulties presented by this and other Irish names intairbeart. The element certainly merits further study, and untilsuch research is carried out, any interpretation must remaintentative. However, I offer the suggestion that our Tarbert mayindeed have been a place where small boats were carried,

though probably not in order to save mileage by water. A morelikely reason is the dangerous nature of this stretch of theShannon due to currents and tides. Several boating tragedieshave occurred at Tarbert, at least some of which can definitelybe attributed to currents or the power of the ‘Tarbert Race’(Donovan, 1994, 31-32). Boatmen could have avoided the worstof the tidal race by coming ashore at Tarbert Island, or somepoint to the west, and by carrying their vessels east along theshore. Although there is no direct evidence for this practice, itseems a strong possibility that this is how the name arose.

Acknowledgements

I wish to express my sincere thanks to Prof. Liam Breatnach ofthe Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies for assistance with theetymology of tairbeart and to Dr. Doreen Waugh of theUniversity of Edinburgh for information regarding recentresearch on portages.

The writer can be contacted by email: [email protected]

References:

Barrington, T.J., (1999): Discovering Kerry, (first edition 1976) Cork.

Comyn, D., & Dinneen P. S., (eds.) 1902-14: Foras Feasa ar Éirinn leSeathrún Céitinn, D.D. The History of Ireland by Geoffrey Keating, D.D.London.

Donovan, T., (1994): “The Tarbert boating tragedy of 1893”, The KerryMagazine 5, 31-32.

Gillies, H. C., (1906): The Place-Names of Argyll. London.

Hogan, E., (1910): Onomasticon Goedelicum locorum ettribuum Hiberniae et Scotiae. Dublin.

Johnston, J.B. (1892): The Place Names of Scotland. Edinburgh.

Joyce, P.W. (1869-1913): Irish Names of Places, 3 vols. Dublin.

O’Reilly, E., (1817): Irish-English Dictionary. Dublin.

An tSuirbhéireacht Ordanáis. (1989): Gasaitéar na hÉireann. BaileÁtha Cliath.

Watson, W.J., (1926): The Celtic Place-Names of Scotland. Edinburghand London.

Endnotes:

1 For example, see Johnston, 1892, p. 307, and Gillies, 1906, p. 20. 2Westerdahl, C., (ed.), 2006, The Significance of Portages, Proceedingsof the First International Conference on the Significance of Portages,29th Sept- 2nd Oct 2004, in Lyngdal, Vest-Agder, Norway. Theproceedings include papers from Doreen Waugh on “Place-NameEvidence for Portages in Orkney and Shetland” and from ChristinePhillips on “Portages in Early Medieval Scotland. The Great Glenroute and the Forth-Clyde Isthmus.”

3 The transplantation of rebels from Laois to Tarbert in Kerry by PatrickCrosbie in 1607-9, and the granting of lands to Crosbie in these twocounties have some bearing on this name. See Barrington, 1999, 263.It is possible, therefore, that Tarbert in Co. Laois was named after theKerry Tarbert without regard to the original meaning of the name.

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In July 1704 thirty-six priests from County Kerry registeredbefore a General Sessions of the Peace (or quarter sessions),pursuant to the Act for Registering the Popish Clergy of 1703.Of the thirty-six, twenty-three had been ordained in France, twoin Spain, two in the Low Countries, one in Prague and nine inIreland. Although the figures may not be accurate, theEuropean, and especially the French, influence on the Kerryclergy in the early 18th century is clear. In the course of the 17thand 18th centuries at least fifty-two students from the Diocesesof Aghadoe and Ardfert attended the University of Paris and theactual number was probably much higher.

In the early-modern period, Irish clergy who received a highereducation attended colleges, seminaries and universities at thegreat centres of Catholic learning on continental Europe. Fromthe mid-16th century, the numbers travelling to Europe wereincreasing, and by the 1590s they were sufficiently large in sometowns to warrant the establishment of Irish institutions to caterfor their needs, the earliest opening in Lisbon and Salamancain the 1590s. Between the 1590s and 1690s around thirtycolleges were established on the continent, varying significantlyin size, administrative structures and student intake.

While Irish Colleges sprang upquickly in Spain, the Low Countriesand the Italian peninsula, it provedmuch more difficult to establishviable institutions in France. TheFrench wars of religion in the late-16th century provide an obviousexplanation, and the reluctance ofthe French crown (in sharpcontrast to the Spanish crown)to provide financial supportexacerbated the problem. In Paris,establishing a permanent andsecure Irish College was a slowprocess, which lasted over acentury, from the 1570s to 1670s.John Lee of Waterford, with a small

group of Irish clerical students, set up “the Community of Irishstudents in Paris” at the Collège de Montaigu in 1578.

In 1578 a small group of Irish students led by a priest called JohnLee entered one of the teaching colleges of the University of Paris.Information on this small ‘community’ is very patchy, but itappears to have formed the basis for an Irish College whichemerged in Paris in the early-17th century under the patronageof a wealthy and influential Frenchman, Jean L’Escalopier. Underthe leadership of Thomas Messingham, the college madeimportant advances in the early 1620s: royal recognition in 1623,admission to the University of Paris in 1624, and approval by theArchbishop of Paris in 1626. But by this point, L’Escalopier wasdead, and in the 1630s the college disintegrated and Irish studentsscattered to other colleges within the University of Paris. Thisillustrates the great benefits and the great dangers of individualpatronage. While L’Escalopier secured the future of the collegein the short term, his death left the college weak, so that by themid-17th century there were hundreds of Irish students (clericaland lay) in Paris, but the Irish College existed only in name. Amixture of theological upheaval in France and political turmoilin Ireland in the 1640s and 1650s ensured that little progress wasmade in re-establishing a permanent physical institution.

However, in the 1670s concerted efforts were made to re-establishan Irish College in Paris. In fact, at least three different institutionsemerged, all claiming to be the main Irish College in the city.After years of legal wrangling and disputes, the institution whichemerged as the Irish College was the Collège des Lombards (theCollege of the Lombards), an empty and dilapidated Italianfoundation which had been established in the 14th century toaccommodate students coming to study in Paris. Two Irish priests,Malachy Kelly from Munster and Patrick Maginn from Ulster,were sufficiently well connected to persuade the royal authoritiesto allow the Irish to take over the college, which happenedbetween 1676 and 1681. Initially, the new college was the preserveof a small number of priests from Munster and Ulster, but fromthe 1680s two crucial developments occurred. First, the collegebecame a truly national institution with the admission of Leinsterand Connaught priests (this was in contrast to the other IrishColleges in France, which were strongly provincial in character).Second, and even more significantly, the college admittedyounger non-ordained students. By the early-18th century, thecollege had a complex student population, which encompassedordained priests (since the early-17th century Irish bishops hadevolved an unorthodox practice of ordaining priests before theycommenced their studies abroad to ensure that they had a meansof financial support), clerical students and lay students.

Relations between the older priests and the younger unordainedstudents were frequently strained. As a result, in 1728 a royalorder split the college into two completely distinct communities:the ‘Community of Priests’, administered by four officials, onefrom each Irish province and the ‘Community of Clerics andScholars’, administered by a ‘Prefect’ who was nominated by theArchbishop of Paris. As the administrative structures evolved, sodid the student population. By 1685 there were thirty students atthe college, which increased to one hundred in the early 1730sand to one hundred and sixty five by the mid-1760s. Despite thegrowth, during the early-18th century there were probably moreIrish students outside the college. For example, a 1733 reportsuggested that there were three hundred Irish priests in Paris.

THE IRISH COLLEGES IN 17TH AND 18TH -CENTURY PARIS: A BRIEF HISTORYDr Liam Chambers

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John Lee of Waterford, with asmall group of Irish clericalstudents, set up "the

Community of Irish students in Paris" at the Collège deMontaigu in 1578.


Another indicator of the development of Irish educationalstructures in Paris was the emergence of scholarship foundations,generally made by Irish migrants, for the education of Irish priestsand students in Paris. A typical foundation donated a sum ofmoney for investment, which provided an annuity that was usedto fund scholarships or bursaries for priests or students. Manyfoundations carried detailed prescriptions about the intendedbeneficiaries, specifying particular family, parish, county orprovincial origins. At least six foundations were made for Kerrystudents: Gerald and Richard Malone, canons in Senlis andMontpellier respectively, founded three scholarships in 1738;Eugene Aherne, parish priest of Lixnaw, established three scholar-ships in 1748 and 1753, noting that students should cultivate aknowledge of Irish, which was necessary for ‘missionary’ work;Denis Moriarty, the Bishop of Kerry, founded two scholarships in1753; Thady O’Connell, a doctor, founded six scholarships in 1775;James MacDonogh, a parish priest, founded two scholarships in1780; John Malone, the parish priest of Castleisland, founded anunspecified number of scholarships in 1784.

Why was the Collège des Lombards important in the 18thcentury? First and most obviously, it was a centre for the highereducation of Irish Catholics. However, the institution was not ateaching college and students attended classes (in Arts, Theology,Law and Medicine) elsewhere in the university. The Irish Collegesprovided what could be termed ‘formation’: the discipline of adetailed daily timetable, spiritual exercises, instruction in the Irishlanguage, as well as extra lectures. In a sense, this was one of thegreat strengths of the 18th-century Irish College, students were notisolated; they were fully integrated into university life. A secondimportant function of the Irish College was in the maintenanceand development of what can loosely be termed ‘national’ and‘cultural’ Irish identity. For example, the college undertook thepublication of Irish-language texts and cultivated the Irish-language abilities of the students. More generally, the collegeprovided a centre for the formation of a large section of the IrishCatholic intellectual elite and Irish scholars closely associated withthe college developed a strong intellectual ‘tradition’. Third, thecollege was an important centre for the development of Irishmigrant communities in Paris and beyond. Recent research byNathalie Genet-Rouffiac and Priscilla O’Connor has shown thatthe colleges provided a range of ‘services’ to other Irish migrants,including financial transactions, legal advice, and translation.Fourth, traditional accounts of the continental collegesemphasised their importance in providing a steady stream of well-educated priests for the Irish mission. Certainly the collegesprovided hundreds of priests for the Irish mission, but manypriests and clerical students did not return home. Estimates vary,but recent work suggests that around one third of priests andclerical students returned, leaving two thirds who remained inFrance. Indeed, the historian Laurence Brockliss has suggestedthat when Irish parents sent their children to Paris in the 18thcentury, they wanted them to remain in France for the enhancedcareer opportunities available there.

Finally, the Irish College in Paris also played an important rolein the debates about the reform and renewal of Irish Catholicismin the first half of the 18th century. In the 1730s and 1740s,leading Irish priests in Paris began to argue that the Irish bishopsshould end the practice of ordaining students before ordinationand bring the formation of the Irish clergy into line with orthodoxEuropean practices. While the Irish Bishops resisted at this point,this reforming impulse had an important long-term impact andcontributed to the establishment of a second Irish College in Paris

in the later 18th century. In 1769 Laurence Kelly, the Prefect of‘Community of Clerics and Scholars’ purchased a new site in ruedu Cheval Vert (the street was re-named rue des Irlandais in 1807)where the second college opened in 1775 or 1776. It acceptedonly the younger unordained students, while the older Collègedes Lombards was reserved for the ‘Community of Priests’.

By the early 1780s then, therewere two Irish Colleges in Paris,together catering for around onehundred and eighty students. Avery positive image of the collegesemerges from contemporaryreports. In reality, however, theywere in serious difficulties. Inpart, this reflected a wider seriesof problems facing the entireIrish College network in thesecond half of the 18th century,which saw the closure of IrishColleges in Spain, France andBohemia. For the Irish Collegesin Paris, the main problems werefinancial. By 1787, for example,the Collège des Lombards was in serious debt and spendingmore than double its annual income each year. All this meantthat as the Irish population grew dramatically in the later 18thcentury, the Irish Colleges in Paris were unable to respond to thedemands of the Irish church for more clergy as the clergy-to-people ratio deteriorated.

Even before the French Revolution, leading figures within IrishCatholicism were beginning to think about alternatives. Certainlythe Revolution put the Irish Colleges in Paris and elsewhere in adifficult position, but they managed to negotiate their waythrough the early years relatively well. It was only in 1793 that thetwo Irish Colleges in Paris were closed and the recentlyconstructed college was transformed into a prison. When thecolleges were in a position to re-open from 1794-95 on, they foundthat changes in Britain and Ireland had placed a serious questionmark over their future. Between 1793 and 1795 the Irish Catholicbishops (horrified by the French Revolutionary assault on thechurch) and the British Government (at war with France fromearly 1793) drew closer together. One result was the establishmentof a national Irish Catholic college, with government support, atMaynooth. This meant that even if the Irish Colleges in Paris re-opened, the Irish bishops could not be seen to encourage theirdevelopment by sending students to a country at war with Britain.

The recently constructed Irish College in Paris finally re-openedin 1805, largely catering for the children of Irish and Britishpolitical refugees. In the 1820s, it developed into an Irishseminary. Only after the Famine, as the clergy-to-people ratioimproved in Ireland did the real decline of the Irish College setin. In the late-19th and early-20th centuries, the Irish Collegesurvived a number of serious threats: temporary closure duringthe sieges of Paris in 1870 and 1871, the threat of permanentclosure after the French separation of church and state in 1905and another temporary closure during the First World War.Though it re-opened in the 1920s, the Irish College did notsurvive the Second World War as an educational centre. Afterthe war a group of Polish priests and seminarians took upresidence and the Polish presence remained until 1997. Todaythe college houses the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris.

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As we flew into Manchester Airport on the 7th May, 2008, my wifeand I were on a fact-finding mission to look into the emigrationfrom Ireland to Manchester during the famine years of 1845/47.Little did we know that we were also going to celebrate the birthdayof our leading tour guide: Fr. John Ahern

On Saturday, we visited Cheshire on an open-top bus and enjoyedthe ancient city. Returning to our hotel, we changed into our gladrags for the evening entertainment. Sixteen of us filed into a taxivan and sped across the city to the Church of St. Mary of the Angelsand St. Clare.

It was a lovely evening and on entering the Church, the sight thatmet us was the sun streameing through the stained- glass windowsat the back of the altar, providing a welcoming and friendlyinvitation to the Church. It felt like coming home.

On examining the windows closer, we noticed our Lady was coveredin a soft pink material, an unusual colour for her. St. Claredefended her fortress against the evening with the monstrancelifted on high, while the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, remindedus of our own pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Mass was celebrated by Fr. John and at the offertory there was aprocession of people holding memorabilia of Fr. John’s life.Amongst them was a red jersey of Manchester united, a green andgold scarf of Kerry and a book from his sojourn in Peru.

Children took a leading part in the ceremony singing and playingmusic. Their love of Fr. John was obvious and so also was hisconcern for their welfare. This was highlighter after Mass at thedoor of the Church, when Fr. John was greeted with hugs andkisses. Numerous photographs with people delighted to be partof his celebration.

We entered the nearby Community Hall where the ladies of theparish had spent days preparing a tempting variety of dishes.Sandwiches, apple tarts, cakes and other finger foods were ondisplay and looked appetising. We noticed also, on boards roundthe hall photos of Fr. John with different people in many places inthe world and at different events.

In the main hall, Fr. John received presents, gifts and cards. Wewere pleased to make a presentation from the Kerry Society and togive him a small memento of his native land. Shortly afterwards,music and dancing began.

At eleven o’clock, I saw a man collecting empty glasses off the tables.

As I had noticed him during the night, I remarked on his tirelesswork and was told that like other members of the Parish, that theyhad been busy since 9 O’clock in the morning.

It was the small hours of the morning before we arrived back at ourhotel. Tired but glad, we were able to celebrate the birthday of agood and loving man.

On Saturday, we drove to St. Mary and St. Clare’s for Mass. It wasdelightful to see a group of school children bearing the flags oftheir ancestral countries in procession to the altar. It showed thevariety of people who lived in the Parish. At all times we felt wewere amongst friends and were part of the large congregation ofthe Church.

THE RED, THE GREEN AND THE GOLD(Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society, Trip to Manchester, May 2008)John Geary

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He wears the Red with Pride and Fire

The Green and Gold are his pet desire,

God’s Diving Spirit has set him apart,

To Minister the Good News with all his heart.

K.A.H.S. members examine a trophy at Old Trafford, 12thy May 2008.


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Fr. John Aherne P.P., Fr. Pat Sugrue P.P., Fr. O’Connor P.P. and Fr. Tom Looney P.P.

K.A.H.S. members at Manchester Martyrs Memorial,10th May 2008.

K.A.H.S. membersvisit graves of Irishfamine victims 1847-1855, 10th May 2008.

Fr. John Aherne’sbirthday party at his parish centre, 10th May 2008. Gerry O’Leary makes a presentation fromK.A.H.S. members


Sr. Ursula Quirke, who has been working for five years to ensure that the coming of the Sisters of Mercy to Tralee would be rememberedby future generations, had her dream come true, when a plaque was unveiled to commemorate Tralee’s first Mercy Convent at No. 1 DayPlace, on the May 22, 2008 by the Mayor of Tralee, Councillor Miriam McGillycuddy. On the occasion of the unveiling, Councillor McGilly-cuddy remarked that she was particularly pleased to be involved with the project because it celebrates women.

In May 1854 a community arrived in Tralee from Killarney at the invitation of the people of the town and a convent was founded in thehouse provided by the Jeffers family at Day Place (now home to the Kerry Legal Aid Board). The Tralee community grew with eachpassing year. Over time, the sisters became involved in the educational, medical and social care aspects of Tralee life. Schools were foundedat Balloonagh and Moyderwell, nursing care was provided at St. Catherine’s Hospital. In latter years, convalescent care was provided atBaile Mhuire, whilst the sisters also became involved in the provision of meals and the visitation of the elderly in their homes. The sistershave recently produced a DVD outlining their story since 1854 down to the present day.

Much credit is due to Kathleen Browne, the former Kerry County Librarian and President of the Kerry Archaeological and HistoricalSociety, who has worked tirelessly alongside Sr. Ursula Quirke to bring this project to fruition.

PLAQUE UNVEILED IN TRALEE TOCOMMEMORATE MERCY CONVENT

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Unveiling of Plaque at Day Place

Plaque to commemorate foundation of Mercy Convent


Kit Ahern:Writers Week 2008 has come andgone. This year was not the samewithout the company of my greatfriend, Kit Ahern. I would meet Kiton many occasions in the world ofArts, culture and heritage of Kerry.

Our beloved Kit passed away early in 2008, just short of her 93rdbirthday. My husband John and I were among those who celebratedher 90th birthday in Ballybunion Golf Club with family and friends.

Kit had packed so much into her life, first training as a teacher; shealways had a great love of all things Irish, language and culture. Inthe Irish Countrywomen’s Association, her leadership qualities weresoon recognized and she became National President. In those daysbefore women had travelled so far, Kit crossed the world to Americaand Australia representing all that was best in Irish womanhood andIrish culture, no better Ambassador could this country send forth.

Kit’s qualities led her into local and national politics. Sean Lemassappointed her to the Senate and she later got elected to DáilEireann. She was a great example to women and will be foreverremembered for her tremendous contribution to Irish culture. InListowel and Ballybunion, she was associated with all of the culturalprojects. In Kerry County Council, she always promoted the Irishlanguage and the various cultural communities such as the NationalMonuments Committee and the Library Committee. Kit was a dis-tinguished and popular President of the Kerry Archaeological andHistorical Society.

I often visited Kit at her home in Ballybunion and I enjoyed hoursof her wonderful experiences and good company. Sometimes wewould call to the Golf Club but when in Listowel we always had toadjourn to John B’s.

In 1984 Kit joined our pilgrimage to Rome to celebrate the 1,500thanniversary of the birth of St.Brendan, Kerry’s Patron Saint.

You would never say you were tired in Kit’s company because shehad boundless energy. A road in Ballybunion is named after Kit, anhonour well deserved. Indeed, Kit will be remembered on manyroads with respect and affection.

Kit’s passing has left a void in our lives, but I am honoured to haveknown her as a very dear friend.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dílis.

Kathleen Browne,President Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society

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OBITUARY

Field Outing - 11th June 2008, Tobar na Molt.

Field Outing - 11th June 2008, St. Brendan’s Way.Leader Fr. Gearóid Ó Dounchadha.

Field Outing - 8th June 2008, Dromultin Monastic Site.


Valerie Bary, Member of the Council of the Kerry Archaeo-logical and Historical Society, is author of numerous articles inThe Kerry Magazine and is author of Houses of Kerry.

Éamonn Ó Braoin, teagascóir i gColáiste Mhuire Gan Smál,Luimneach, MA sa Ghaeilge, seo an chéad alt trí mhean naGaolainne atá á fhoilsiú aige. Ta an-suim aige sa bhéaloideasagus i gcultúr na tíre. Chabhraigh na foinsí i gcartlann na leab-harlainne i dTrá Lí go mór leis.

Dr. Liam Chambers is a lecturer in the Department ofHistory at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick. Heis the author of two monographs: Rebellion in Kildare, 1790-1803 (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1998) and Michael Moore, c.1639-1726: Provost of Trinity, Rector of Paris (Dublin: FourCourts Press, 2005). He is currently working on the history ofthe Irish Colleges in Paris, 1578-2000, for which he was awardedan IRCHSS Government of Ireland Research Fellowship in2005-2006.

Rev. Anthony Gaughan P.P., Blackrock County Dublin.Prolific Author – Founder member of Writers’ Week Listowel,respected and frequent lecturer to the Kerry Archaeological andHistorical Society, passionate Kerry G.A.A. supporter andChaplain to Kerry All Ireland Teams. Father Gaughan isChairman of Irish Pen and Chairman of the National Library ofIreland Society.

John Geary is a member of the Kerry Archaeological andHistorical Society.

David Hegarty has been playing the pipes since 1972 and washonoured by being made a patron of Na Piobairi Uilleann, TheSociety of Uilleann Pipers, some years ago for teaching the artof reed-making for the pipes over many years. He currentlyserves on the board of NPU and promotes the learning of thepipes in Kerry, through the Arts Council-funded “pipes on loanscheme”. Since 1980, he has been working as a lecturer inbuilding services and related construction subjects in theInstitute of Technology Tralee.

Kate Kennelly studied fine art in Limerick, followed by ArtTeaching in Cork, whilst working summers in tourism andmarketing. After a number of years teaching art, Kate workedfor almost three years with a semi-state body as a MarketingDirector. Kate began work for Kerry County Council in August1999 and later undertook part-time study, graduating with firstclass honours in an MSc in Tourism Management, the thesisfocused on ‘Arts Tourism in Kerry’. Kate’s mother is a talentedartist, whilst her late father was an engineer.

John Knightly is undertaking a PhD based on the Godfreyestate and family. He has been involved in local history projectsin the Milltown region and is a member of the Kerry Archaeo-logical and Historical Society and the Irish Georgian Society.

Father Tom Looney is Parish Priest of Dingle, Lios Poil andCeann Trá.

Brian Mac Mahon M. Ed. was born in Ballyheigue and worksas a Guidance Counsellor in a Dublin school. He has publishedarticles on Kerry topics and personalities in The Kerry Magazine,the Journal of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society,History Ireland and The Irish Sword. He is author of The Storyof Ballyheigue (1994) and Eccentric Archbishop: RichardWhateley of Redesdale (2005).

Is saineolaí an Dr. Muiris O Laoire ar theagasc na Gaeilgeagus nua-theangacha. Is léachtóir sinsearach é san InstitiúidTeicneolaíochta i dTrá Lí. Leabhair agus ailt foilsithe gohidirnáisiúnta aige ar ghnéithe éagsúla de theangacha aguscultúir. Tá suim faoi leith aige i gcultúir agus teangacha atái mbaol bháis agus taighde ar siúl aige le scoláirí Maoraise saNua-Shéalainn agus leis na “adivasis” in Indiái la�thair na huaire.

Maggie Prendiville holds an MA degree in Archaeology andis employed by the OPW as a tour guide. She is a co-founder ofthe Castleisland and District Culture and Heritage Society.

George Rice is a teacher, writer of articles, reviewer of books(on history, education and psychology) in daily papers or forarticles in local papers.

Dr. Milo Spillane is a retired secondary teacher living inCounty Limerick. On the completion of a retirement project hewas awarded a PhD by the University of Limerick in 2003 for histhesis: The fourth Earl of Dunraven, 1841-1926: a study of hiscontribution to the emerging Ireland at the beginning of the20th century.

Paul Tempan is a postgraduate student in the Department ofIrish and Celtic Studies at Queen’s University Belfast. In January2007 he began a PhD researching topographical elements inIrish place-names. He is also working part-time with theNorthern Ireland Place-Name Project on a scheme funded byForas na Gaeilge to provide Irish forms of postal addresses inNorthern Ireland. He lived in Kerry through the 1990s andregularly returns to his favourite county.

CONTRIBUTORS’ LIST

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The Kerry Magazine


Bergin, J., (2008): Taste of Killarney Cookbook, Author.Bennett, I., (2007): Excavations Bulletin, Wordwell.Breathnach, C., (2007): Framing the West: Images of RuralIreland 1891-1920, Irish Academic Press.Briody, M., (2007): The Irish Folklore Commission 1935-1970:history, ideology, methodology, Finnish Literature Society.Bushe P. & O’Donoghue, B., (2008): To Ring in Silence: Newand Selected Poems, Dedalus Press.Cronin, D., (2008): Around the Cork-Kerry border: Recallingthe rambling house, Aubane Historical Society. Chinnéide, Dairena Ní., (2008): An tEachtrannach/TheStranger / Das Fremde, Púca Press.Delaney, B., (2008): Playright in Residence/Drámadóir, KerryCounty Council, Arts Office.Doyle, T., (2008): Civil War in Kerry: Defending the Republic,Mercier Press.Downey, D. M., Maclennan, J. C., Phillips, J. R., Phillips, J. R.,Kennedy, M., (2008): Spanish- Irish Relations through the Ages:New Historical Perspectives, Four Courts. Fitzgerald, D. & Looney, Fr T. B., (2008): A King in the Kingdomof Kings, Curragh Press.Fitzmaurice, G., (2008): The Essential Gabriel Fitzmaurice,Mercier Press.Fitzsimons, B., O’Leary, A. & Sullivan, A. (2008): MusicalJourneys from Kerry to the Heart of Victorian England,Doghouse.Fleming B., (2008): The Vatican Pimpernel: the wartime exploitsof Monsignor O’Flaherty, Collins.Howley, T. & Landers, S., (2007): Weather Watch: A West KerryBook of Days, Utter Press.Hussey S.M (2007): Reminiscences of an Irish land Agent, Bib-lioBazaar, LLC., USAKAHS, (2008): The Kerry Magazine: No.18, Kerry Archaeologi-cal and Historical Society.Keane, L., (2007): Knocknagoshel Harp: Then and Now: 24thedition, Author.King, William, (2008): Leaving Ardglass, Lilliput Press.Larner, J., (2007): Fossa and Aghadoe - Our History andHeritage, Fossa Historical Society.Lee, J., (2008): The Modernisation of Irish Society 1848-1918,Gill and Macmillan.Listowel Writers Week, (2008): Winners Anthology 2008, WritersWeek Listowel.Looney, Fr T. B., (2008): A King in the Kingdom of Kings,

(includes full text of ‘How to Play Gaelic Football’), CurraghPress.Lucid, A., (2007): A Viking’s Prayer, Author.Lynch, C., (2008): Lost in the Gaeltacht, Salmon poetryLyons, J., (2008): The Joys of Boyhood years, North KerryLiterary TrustMarsh, M., (2008): The Irish Voter: The Nature of ElectoralCompetition in the Republic of Ireland, Manchester UniversityPressMcMorran, R. & O’Keeffe, M., (2008): The old Kerry Journal:Volume 2, June 2008, Maurice O’KeeffeMeaney, S., (2008): Our name is on the cup: The Stories of LiamMacCarthy and Sam Maguire, Cunas Music & PublishingMinahane, J., (2008): The Poetry of Geoffrey O’Donoghue,Aubane Historical SocietyMoore F., (2007): Ardfert Cathedral, DoEHLGMuller, A., (2007): About Colours, Askif PressMulvihill, M., (2007): The Stepping Match, Red HenMurphy, S., (2008): The Murphy’s Ice Cream Book of sweetthings, Mercier PressNí� Mhurchú, M., (2007): Beathaisnéis a Naoi: Forlíonadh agusInnéascsanna, An ClóchomharÓ Sé, M. D., (2007): Séan Óg Máirtín, Baile Átha Cliath,CoisceimÓ Síochán S., (2007): Roger Casement: Imperialist, rebel, revo-lutionary, Lilliput Press.O’Carroll, G., (2007): The Pocket History of Kerry, PolymathPressO’Clery, M., (2008): Dingle Peninsula Bird Report 2005-2007,Corca Dhuibhne, Birdwatch IrelandÓ Clérigh, Gearóid, (2008):Dingle-y-whoosh!: nó Cad a dhéanfamuid feasta, Coiscéim. Ó Dochartaí, B., (2008): Bean i mBiarritz, Cois Life TeoÓ Dubhshláine, M., (2007): Inish Mhic Uibhleain, BréanainnPresentation Listowel, (2007): Presentation Listowel 2007-2008:mapping their future...., Presentation ListowelQuinlan, Seán, (2008): Leabhar Mór Chiarraí: Vol. 2 / TheGreat Book of Kerry, Cló na Ríochta.Roux-Fontaine, (2007): Elvis has left America, TransbordeursSheehan, E., (2008): Down the Sunlit Hall, DoghouseSheehan, M., (2007): Ladder in Limbo of Ireland, 1536-1810,Boglark Press

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KERRY PUBLICATIONS 2007/2008

This List includes publications about Kerry, relating to Kerry and by Kerry authors over the period October 2007 to October 2008.



Documents

The Kerry Magazine 2009 98335:Layout 1 12/1/08 10:46 AM Page 1