In the 1820’s Alexander Nimmo drew up plans for the construction of 2 bridges at Poulaphouca. The first bridge to be over the River Liffey; the bridge further on over a former bed of the Liffey. The cost of the undertaking was to be £4,074. The Dublin Grand Jury were to contribute £1,947 and Wicklow Grand Jury £1,063 The Lord Lieutenant picked up the rest. At that time the County of Dublin extended to Naas, Ballymore and as far as the Falls. Commissioners for the work included Lord Downshire, The Earl of Milltown, Richard Hornidge of Tulfarris and John Hornidge of Russelstown. It would be a single span bridge, with a decorated arch. It would have four castellated parapets at both ends forming crenellated refuges. It was completed by the year 1827. Up until this time traffic from Blessington to the South-East went through Kilmalum and past the back of Russborough, on to Ballymore Eustace and across the Liffey there. Upstream from Poulaphouca had been the Horse Pass Bridge, but as the name suggests this could cater only for a single horse. Across it went people on foot, horses carrying packs of wool and assorted goods. Single file animals as well. It was eventually swept away by a flood and is now under water.
Of what advantage was this new bridge and the new roads on either side? Well they brought the Falls at Poulaphouca into easy reach. The coach road from Blessington to Baltinglass was more direct and straighter. Grand Juries made great efforts with road improvements. Land owners on the route, people like the Earl of Milltown, would have welcomed the new development and would have had the influence to make it happen. Milltown owned the land on the north side of the Falls and he would create a tourist venue there, building a café and ballroom at the site. From the other side of the river steps were built right down to the bottom of the cascade just beside the Devil’s Cauldron. The spray would cool you off in fine weather. In times of flood the noise and power of the falling water was thrilling. People would have outings to this natural wonder. Still on the South Side facilities for visitors were made, the present Hotel being constructed in the late 1800’s. Very attractive gardens were developed around it. I remember in the 1960’s sometimes calling into the Hotel on my way back from Donard to Blessington. The faded though still beautiful shrubbery, ornamental trees, gazebos and walks were still there. Guests could have afternoon tea there. All very gracious! Joe Burke and his sisters now managed things, but since the damming of the river and the virtual ending of the waterfall, business had come to a sudden halt and the premises had gone slowly into decline. The present owners are making great efforts to reclaim the glamour of the past. Will we ever see the majestic Falls in full flow again. Perhaps the E.S.B. could open the floodgates on a designated few Sundays per year. The problem would be to get some Insurance Company to cover outlandish claims for compensation after some trivial mishap. I remember seeing the water being released for a few hours some years ago – a wonderful sensation. Whenever the Liffey was flash-flooded the experience of witnessing it must have been truly awesome. Visitors to West Wicklow would want to see this wonder of nature in all its mighty grandeur.
In the year 1881 Anna Parnell, President of the Ladies’ Land League visited these romantic Falls. She was first honoured by Patrick Driver at Ballymore Eustace on behalf of the Ballymore branch of the Land League. A triumphal Arch spanned the street where a large crowd had gathered. Her carriage was then drawn by the menfolk as far as Poulaphouca. In the ballroom there she was honoured by members of the Ladies’ Land League from Dunlavin and Hollywood. The arrest of Michael Davitt was condemned. Her brother, of course, was Charles Stewart Parnell Ireland’s Uncrowned King.
The drowning of the Kildare hounds. Well before the bridge was built the Kildare Hunt had one of their outings to West Wicklow. At Troopers’ Field they rose a mountain fox which headed towards Poulaphouca. His den, unfortunately for him, was on the other side of the Falls. The hounds were now very close on his brush. He was cornered and had no alternative but to try jumping across the chasm. He failed and was swept down the fall. He was followed by 12 couple and a half of the leading hounds. (Another example of a contrary imperialistic way of computing. Why not just say 25? ) Soon all were in a melee, fox and hounds in the foaming eddies under the fall. Most were killed, others maimed – a few making their way on land. When Jack Grennan the huntsman saw the debacle he stood statue-like for a few minutes, then burst into tears. He wept long and bitterly.
A Warning to Children
Come children all and list awhile To the tale of a Pooka most terribly vile. He lives at the bottom of a cauldron deep Below Poulaphouca’s steps so steep.
He comes out most at midnight. To give late revellers a fright. On their way home from a friendly inn. Sure to take a few pints it is no sin.
The most spiteful sprite of the underworld. He can stop your hens from laying. He can stop your cows from milking. What a miserable scoundrel he surely is.
His head is somewhat like that of a horse. He has horns just like the devil. His claws are long and sharp and slimy. His teeth like those of the crocodile.
Go not near the Devil’s Cauldron In case he might misread his clock. Then leap from his dungeon in the deep. And appear before you. What a shock!
Before the bridge was constructed. Note the viewing point and ballroom over the cataract. These were on the Russborough side, now inaccessible due to the E.S.B. power station.After 1827. Again note the ballroom on the Milltown side and the people enjoying their day out. The old Ballymore road from Taylor & Skinner 1778. See the Dunbar name beside that of Blessington. The Dunbars were among the previous owners of Blessington House and estate before the Downshires, Wills Hill being made first Marquis of Downshire in the year 1789. Being on the main highway to the south-east Ballymore had been a busy town, but with the building of bridges at Poulaphouca and not long afterwards at Kilcullen it lost most of its passing trade and went into decline. Note the importance placed on Baltiboys House. A factor could have been if old John Smith had purchased a copy of the Taylor & Skinner maps. Blessington is 14 Irish miles from Dame St., Dublin.
John Stuart Verschoyle was born at Tassaggart in the village of Saggart in the year 1854. His father was John James Verschoyle (1805-1891), his mother Catherine Helen Foster (1824 -1901). John Stuart attended Cambridge, was ordained and appointed curate in Marlebone. Later he became a rector in Somerset, where he remained until his death in 1916. He had been very active in his own pursuits in England. He became editor of the Fortnightly Review. He worked on the Evening News with Frank Harris. He was very much involved in “The Scramble for Africa” and was a staunch advocate of British mining rights in South Africa. He knew Cecil Rhodes and wrote a laudatory biography of him. He became involved with the “Victoria Street Society” for the protection of animals from vivisection. We are nowadays appalled at the idea of live animals being cut up without any form of anaesthetic. Those in favour of the barbarity at the time justified it on the grounds that it led to advancement in medical treatment for human beings. John was a serious student of ancient civilisations, editing a book entitled “History of Ancient Civilisations” by Ducondray. In this work he showed that he well understood his subject and added much of himself to the finished article. It was said at his death that he had possessed great talent in poetry and literature but, sadly, had not reached his full potential.
Being the elder son he had inherited the Verschoyle Estate at Saggart on the death of his father John James in 1891. John James had not been born at Saggart, but on his marriage to Catherine Foster his father had bought him the house and estate as a wedding present. (Not too bad! I remember getting a few clocks and sets of cutlery and china.) By this time, however, John Stuart had made a life for himself in England and had no interest in being a landlord in Ireland. It seems, in fact, that he found the system of land usage and tenancy distasteful to his sensitive nature. Besides, tenants were agitating for reductions in rent and in some cases making dire threats against their landlords. The Board of St. Patrick’s Hospital had washed its hands of the tedious and troublesome day to day running of the estate some years previously and had leased it to their former agents the Verschoyles. (Later in 1912 they would sell their interest in the estate to the family.)
An entry in a minute book of the Dublin & Blessington Tramway Company tells us that that Rev John Verschoyle had conveyed the estate to Mrs Verschoyle Campbell, his sister, on May 28th 1894. The Tramway Co. had dealings with the family as the tramline traversed the estate from the Embankment to Crooksling. Water at the Embankment had been leased to the company for 1/- a year, and a small parcel of land was purchased from a Verschoyle tenant, John Hanlon, for £30. Water was also acquired at Crooksling for a tank there.
Before a deal had been struck with Mrs Campbell Rev. John had engaged North Auctioneers to put all up for sale. The prospectus and its maps give us great detail of what was at Tassaggart at the time and the extent of the lands and buildings. There was a total of about 830 acres; the house had 9 bedrooms and 6 servants’ bedrooms, as well as all ancillary rooms you would expect in a commodious gentleman’s residence. Out doors was a brick lined walled garden with walls 16 feet in height, stabling for 14 horses, a dairy, fowl houses etc. etc. etc. The lands were of clay upon limestone with some of the richest fattening pastures in Ireland. They were well watered and timbered with beech, oak, ash, elm and lime. All in all the property would be an excellent and remunerative investment.
Family charges on the estate were:
A jointure for the life of a lady in her 71st. year at £415 per annum. (This lady was Rev. John’s mother Catherine Foster who would live for another 7 years).
A charge of £5,000 at 4% payable to the younger brother and sisters of the vendor. Annual interest was £200.
We have no record of the monetary arrangement made between Rev. John and Mrs Verschoyle Campbell. However we can estimate the estate’s value on the open market from the annual rentals from tenants plus value of house.
If we multiply the annual rental by, say 18 years, we get a starting figure of (£1,300 X 18) £23,400 plus £2,500 for house, making £25,900. Take for the jointure and payments to a brother and sisters, a sum of £8,000. We are now left with £17,900. Non payment by tenants and reductions in rent would further eat into profits. Taxes, maintenance and administration added up to more expenditure. The value of landed estates had been greatly reduced because of the ongoing conflicts between tenants and landlords. Tenants were refusing to pay what they considered were unreasonably high rents. So perhaps an offer in the region of £13,000 would have been a fair one from his sister Mrs Verschoyle-Campbell, more so as it was remaining within the family.
Verschoyle Property (Highlighted)
Crossing The Wicklow Gap
|
When the Ordnance Survey was being carried out in Ireland in the 1830’s a group of historians were given the task of recording the antiquities in the different localities. There were only four of them for all Ireland, so it was to be a great undertaking for so few. They covered a lot of ground in a short time. Their travels were arduous especially in Winter, remembering that the climate was much more extreme in those days, and clothing and footwear were more basic. They wrote letters back to headquarters in the Phoenix Park, letters which are now available to researchers.
This article deals with one such letter written by John O’Donovan on January 7th 1839. He and O’Connor had tried to get a car to take them from Blessington to Glendalough but the Hotel Keeper was charging too much so, next morning, they headed off themselves on foot, a mere 16 (Irish) miles to their destination. All went well until they reached the side of Cross Mountain and I quote from the letter :
Pic 1: John O’Donovan (1806 – 1861), one of the 4 historians, proficient in Irish. Pic 2: Burgage to Baltiboys unless one can walk on water or hire a boat go down N81 and turn off for Valleymount where you will pick up the old road. A mile beyond Valleymount, instead of turning right go straight on. Before the lake Burgage Bridge would have gotten you across the Liffey. Pic 3: Cross Mountain. The title Cross or Crosslands referred to land owned by a Bishop Pic 4: Cross on rock, now much eroded Pic 5: St. Kevins, one of he seven Churches of Glendalough, 1779, by, it is thought, Bigari. Pic 6: Glendalough by George Petrie.
Note : all the letters for co Wicklow are available in a publication entitled “The Ordnance Survey Letters…Wicklow”.
“…before we reached the top of the mountain we found ourselves in the middle of a snow storm. I stopped short and paused to consider what to do. The clouds closed around us and the wind blew in a most furious manner. Here we met a countryman who told us that the distance to Glendalough was 9 miles, that the road for 6 miles was uninhabited, and that the last flood had swept away 2 of the bridges. I got a good deal alarmed at finding ourselves a mile and a half into the mountain and no cessation of the snow storm. I told O’Connor, who was determined to go on, that I would return, that I did not wish to throw away my life to no purpose. I returned (coward!) The whole side of the mountain looked like a sheet of paper horribly beautiful ! but the wind was now directly in our face. We returned 3½ miles and stopped at Charley Clarke’s public house, where we got infernally bad treatment. The next morning I felt feverish from having slept in a damp bed in a horribly cold room, but seeing that the snow began to thaw and it being Sunday I resolved to go on to the Churches. So we set out across the same mountain in which we had been stopped by the snow. I never felt so tired. Sinking thro’ the half dissolved masses of snow and occasionally down to the knees in ruts in the road, which proved exceedingly treacherous as being covered by the snow. One of my shoes gave way and I was afraid that I would be obliged to walk barefooted. We moved on, dipping into the mountain, and when we had travelled about 4 miles we met a curious old man of the name Tom Byrne, who came along with us. We were now within 5 miles of the Glen but a misty rain, truly annoying, dashed constantly in our faces until we arrived at St. Kevin’s Shrine. Horribly beautiful and truly romantic, but not sublime.
Fortunately for us there is now a good, but most unreasonably expensive kind of a hotel in the Glen, and when I entered I procured a pair of woollen stockings and knee breeches, and went at once to look at the churches, which gave me a deal of satisfaction. (I looked like a madman!)
We got a very bad dinner and went to bed at half past twelve. I could not sleep but thinking of what we had to do and dreading a heavy fall of snow which might detain us in the mountain. O’Connor fell asleep at once. At 1 o’clock a most tremendous hurricane commenced which rocked the house beneath us as if it were a ship. Awfully sublime but I was much in dread that the roof would be blown off the house. I attempted to wake O’Connor by shouting to him, but could not. At 2 o’clock the storm became so furious that I jumped up determined to make my way out, but I was no sooner out of bed than the window was dashed in upon the floor and after it a squall mighty as a thunderbolt. I then, fearing that the roof would be blown off at once, pushed out the shutter and closed it as soon as as the direct squall had passed off and placed myself diagonally to prevent the next squall from getting at the roof inside, but the next blast shot me completely out of my position and forced in the shutter. This awoke O’Connor who was kept asleep as if by a halcyon charm. I closed the shutter again despite of the wind, and kept it closed for an hour when I was as cold as ice (being naked all the time!) O’Connor went to alarm the people of the house, but he could find none of them, they being away securing their cattle in the outhouses which were much wrecked by the hurricane. The man of the house at last came up and secured the window by fixing a heavy form against it. I then dressed myself and sat at the kitchen fire till morning. Pity I have not paper to tell the rest. A tree in the Church Yard was prostrated and many cabins in the Glen much injured. The boat of the upper lake was smashed to pieces. The old people assert that this was the greatest storm that raged in the Glen these seventy years.”
Your Obedient Servant,
J. O’Donovan.
Later that night was known as “The Night of the Big Wind.”
St Patrick’s Day Boston 1865
|
Off to the Parade in high good humour on The Shamrock. by Ellen Clapsaddle
The following is the full text of a letter written in Boston 17 March 1865 by Samuel Gray Liscom.
Friday Morn 17th March 1865
To : Lemuel Liscom Hinsdale, New Hampshire
Dear Father,
This is a very rainy morning indeed, or it was when I got up. Then the wind blew and the rain beat against the windows of my room. But now it is very pleasant. The sun shines out beautifully. It is now eleven o’clock. One half hour ago it rained and now it is pleasant. The most of the week has been stormy. Yesterday afternoon the sun came out hot indeed for this time of the year. My health is very good, very good indeed. I am getting fat and lazy. I weigh one hundred and eighty seven lbs. and three quarters of a pound. To day is St. Patrick’s Day four o’clock in the morning. The man what is bigger than the fourth of July ever was. It’s a great day here for the Paddies. They hire Bands of Music to play for them. I have seen two or….bands pass by my window where I now am writing in Uncle Levi’s shop. They, the Paddies, have assembled on the Common in great agony to celebrate the said day. I shall go out after dinner to the Common to see them go at it. When they passed by this morning the rain was pouring down in good shape. They were all dressed the best they could. I could not help laugh to see them slap along through the mud. They come out in good shape after all. That is they were all trimmed with badges. I have been to dinner and while at dinner I saw the Mikes go it. They formed a long procession for there are a great many of them. The bands played and they run along like a flock of sheep Bogtrot style just like a real Paddy.
This is a very pleasant afternoon also. I am still boarding at Mrs Bragdon’s and instead of paying five dollars a week I have to pay five and a half now. I have gone into another room with two other fellows. It is not a very good room for the price I pay with two others. They pay the same. I cannot pay this week’s Board for I have only 10 cents and that I got for three postage stamps. I got rid of the last money I had last week. It has been 10 days since I had any money. This morning I got 10 cents the way I speak of. My pen is so poor that I will try this old one. It is very coarse that I do not write much with it now and wont now. So you can see that I am in need of money. I shall want another twenty five dollars. I have got to do something before long – if I don’t I shall get broken for I must have money to live here so I have travelled around the last or the past week in search of work…a plenty of chances I have found for 3,4,5 dollars per week. I can’t go that. I must pay my way and some besides or Boston will be no place for me. Business is very dull now…gold is falling very fast and that makes business very dull indeed. If business comes up again I shall find a plenty of chances to work…it will be three or four weeks before business will come up again. My school or my time is out in about 2 weeks. By that time I am hoping to have something to do. The news is still good. The rebs must be tired of war. There was an account in the paper that there were 1,200 prisoners that would not be exchanged. They swore that they would not go to the Confederate States again. I feel sorry for Esty poor man… he has had bad luck. I should like to run that good old saw once more. I had pretty good luck sawing only when I bent the saw. Who have you got to run the saw the other half of the time. I must close. Goodbye.
Lucius Gray Liscom.
I shall want the money by next Wednesday… then I shall have to pay eleven dollars for Board… then 5½ more 1 week from that time..that’s the way the money goes. I got a new pipe the other day… the last money I had went for that. It is worth 12 dollars… that is what the man asked for it. I did not want to trade only to know the price of such nice pipes. The bowl is meerchaum, a cherry stem, the mouthpiece is black ivory. The way we traded was like this. I bought a cigar and he saw that I had as he thought considerable money in my wallet. He wanted to trade. I told him I had money. I had quite a number of the School Bank Bills. He saw those. He said I had money. I told him I had none – not enough to buy the pipe and I did not want it. Then he said he would give me the pipe for what money I had. Well I had 145 cents. I hung off, told him I didn’t want it so he then put in a nice stem etc etc. He looked at the money counted it and when he found there was only 145 cents he swore like a pirate. He demanded the pipe. I told him he might as well demand the forts in the harbour. I said good morning to him and left him, so now I have a nice pipe. I have smoked it two or three times but 150 cents per pound of tobacco is too much. I bought 10 cents worth, a piece 2 inches square. I have used ¼ of it. Now goodbye till I write again.
Lucius Gray Liscom.
Lucius (1843 – 1922) was 21 when he wrote this letter to his father.
Despite landlordism, hunger, disease, coffin ships and prejudice the Irish spirit and good humour came to the fore. That they could organise such a parade is impressive. Many of the marchers were probably emigrants who would have left their native land in dire poverty.
Tulach Ferghus (the mound of Fergus), golf fairways now on either side.
A long time since this Fergus built his mound, or perhaps others built it to mark his interment here. It could have been a sacred place where druids danced and carried out their rituals. It could have offered protection or shelter. It was on an elevated site so enemies could be spotted far off. If only we could know. But we hear that a minor dig was carried out on the Tulach some years ago and that bones were found. What else is down there? Perhaps one day the mound will be fully excavated. People through the ages have had a reverence for ancient places and so it has survived, despite the comers and goers, despite wars, rebellions and all sorts of changes in land use and ownership. It was not disturbed during the era of land reclamation, or of the building of Tulfarris Golf Course.
The Hornidge family had lived at Tulfarris for two and a half centuries, yet all that reminds us of their sojourn here is the letter ‘H’ on the gate leading to the original walled garden.
The Hornidge motto was: “Virtutis laus actio” or Virtue praises action.
The house we know today was built or started off about the year 1740 by one of the Richard Hornidges of Tulfarris, the porch being added on in Victorian times perhaps around 1850.
This Photo has the ha-ha out front. It was dug so as to keep animals away without impeding the view. It would not be health-and-safety compliant nowadays with nights of jollification at the Big House.
The year of Rebellion, 1798, was a dreadful time in West Wicklow. Poverty stricken and disgruntled tenants rose up against people like the Hornidges. Many houses were looted and burned: crops, fodder, cattle robbed or destroyed. The gentry and their supporters organised their own defence in conjunction with the Government. Major Richard Hornidge of Tulfarris was in charge of the Lower Talbotstown Cavalry and, we suppose, may have engaged the rebels. At full strength his corps consisted of 34 mounted men and 60 infantry, made up of Protestant farmers and gentry and their sons. Naturally there had been animosity between the new owners of the land and those who had been dispossessed, especially since Cromwell’s time.
Joseph Holt, a leader of the 1798 Rebellion
For a few Summer months General Holt and his rebel troops moved around this area up as far as the Wicklow Gap and down to the Glen of Imaal attacking the enemy and retreating as strategy demanded. From a base at Oakwood, off the Wicklow gap he raided Blessington appropriating, according to his Memoirs, 150 sheep, 32 cows and bullocks, and 10 horses, one a beautiful 3/4 bred mare belonging to parson Benson. The government compensated loyal property owners for damage caused during the rebellion, Richard Hornidge receiving the sum of £2,085-14-9 for the losses he suffered at his residence. These included cattle, furniture, wine and loss of pasture. Settlements were generous. There is no reference in the claim to any burning of the house. After Holt’s surrender, the famous rebel , Michael Dwyer, continued to harass the Govt. forces for many years to come. People like him kept alive the spirit of freedom that, it was hoped, would be won one day. Landowners of doubtful loyalty to the Crown such as the Leesons of Russborough or John Smith of Baltiboys got no compensation. Major Hornidge lived on until the year 1840, aged 76, and his burial is recorded in the Church of Ireland register in Blessington.
West Wicklow was a popular place for fox hunting and was much frequented by the Kildare Hunt Club founded in 1804. Major Hornidge had been an original member. Close by was the renowned fox covert at Baltiboys. Hunting was one of the few activities when landlords and their tenants worked together in chasing the fox. Good horses and good horsemanship were revered by high and low.
Picture of Elizabeth Henry who married Major Hornidge in 1802.
The next Richard Hornidge (son of the Major) was the owner of Tulfarris during the Famine years 1845 to 1850. We know from the diaries of Elizabeth Smith of Baltiboys that Tulfarris looked after its starving dependents as best they could. Even so some people ended up in the Naas Workhouse and the general population would continue to be poor and miserable for many years to come. We may ask why there was such poverty in the country even before the famine. The fact is the whole system of land tenure ensured that the higher echelons of society which included landlords, strong farmers, professionals, both sets of clergy, especially the Protestant clergy with their tithes, and politicians had all the privileges and wealth; there was little left for the over populated lower classes. Even when individual landlords were good, landlordism was not. Those landlords who lived debauched lives, took little interest in estate matters and ran up debts, left a trail of disaster after them. Those who fed their dependants in famine times sometimes went broke.
The Boer War medal, left, was awarded to Richard Joseph. The gold medallion was awarded to Edward in Australia, for being the best shot among the recruits. Note the Kangaroo. The other three are WW1 medals won also by Edward.
When you can identify the recipient of the medal and his abode it increases greatly the interest therein. Such is the case with the Tulfarris medals above. Richard Joseph Hornidge the next owner but one of Tulfarris was born in the year 1863. We have more in the way of records about this man than previous Hornidges. We have, for instance an entry from Ellis Island of him and his family passing through in the year 1893. They were bound for Virginia and their stay would be protracted. Reason for going there was that Mrs Hornidge’s mother lived in Albemarle, Virginia. The members were as follows:
Richard Joseph aged 30, Mrs Hornidge aged 25, Edward aged 32, Robert aged 6 and Phoebe aged 2.
They had travelled on the ‘Furnesia’ out of Glasgow via Moville Co Donegal. The Hornidge family, like most of the gentry travelled a lot in Ireland and on the Continent, often renting out their houses for a year or more.
The Statue of Liberty was in situ at this time. It had been donated by France, the thinking being that it was from the American Revolution that the French got their ideas of Liberty, as advanced soon afterwards in the French Revolution. Ships passed it on their way to Ellis Island to be admitted to the United States.
The year 1900 was a memorable year for Richard Joseph. We see him as captain of Naas Golf Club and also on his way to South Africa, this time a Captain in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, to take part in the Boer War. This war was regarded by many of the hot blooded gentry as more of an adventure, a good hunt. Instead of hunting foxes or pig-sticking they would have fun with those boorish Dutchmen who had dared defy the Empire. They would have to be taught a lesson. It soon became evident that it wasn’t going to be a stroll in the park and the upper class suffered serious casualties down there, more from disease than from actual fighting. The great disappointment was that they couldn’t set up a decent cavalry charge. They had brought their hunters with them as they steamed south only to use them for getting around, as the conflict developed into trench warfare and Boer ambushes. Many horses died from tsetse fly infection. The Walmer Castle departed South Africa for England on August 27th 1902 with Capt. R. J. Hornidge on board. At least two other members of the local gentry had served in South Africa, they being Capt. Thomas Stannus of Baltiboys and Capt. Maude of Tinode.
Picture of Richard Joseph in South Africa.Picture of his Dublin Fusililiers medal.
This medal has a youthful looking Queen Victoria on one side and on the reverse the mythological Britannia encouraging her troops as they trample on the enemy Boers.
In the year 1909 Richard Joseph and family are on their way again to Ellis Island and Virginia to visit Mrs Hornidge’s mother. This time their ship was the Coronia, carrying 1,500 passengers, out of Liverpool. A new regulation stipulated that entrants to the U.S. had to have at least $50 each. Details of their appearances were noted.
Richard J. was over 6’- 4” in height, his complexion was dark, hair brown, eyes blue, born in Blessington; Mrs Hornidge was 5’- 0”, had a fair complexion, fair hair and blue eyes, born in Limerick; Phoebe was 5’-3” tall with fresh complexion, fair hair, blue eyes and born in Blessington.
Richard Joseph died in the year 1911, aged a mere 48 years. His heir was his son Edward Stuart (born 1887) who was at the time in Australia. Edward had attended Cambridge University with sporting distinction in that he had rowed for Cambridge’s first team. Finishing college he signed on to King Edward’s Horse gaining his sergeant’s stripes. We have a gold medallion awarded to him (above) while in Australia for being the best shot of the recruits. On his father’s death he came home to manage the estate. A tall man, Edward was 6’ 5” in height. Unlike previous owners he worked on his land. He was often seen at fairs, he ploughed in springtime, he was good with motor bikes and farm machinery. I have here a quote from Philly Creighton whose father worked for Edward : “He (my father) would be minding the cattle and sheep and looking after the ewes and curing them if they got sick. Captain Hornidge himself was a nice man to work for but the wages of course would be very small at that time. However they were very nice gentry people, very decent people to work for.”
WW1 Tanks. Possibly too tall to fit inside he probably worked on strategy and maintenance.
The Great War broke out in 1914 and Anglo-Irish gentry were expected to do their bit. Edward offered his services to the Motor Transport Unit of the Army Service Corps on June 9th 1915. Eventually he made it to the 1st Tank Brigade.
He was promoted to the rank of Captain, was mentioned in despatches and came away with an O.B.E. He received his discharge in January 1919 as he had been pronounced medically unfit. Four years before he had damaged his ankle when he fell off a horse. The old injury surfaced again when he was playing rugby and this time he broke the ankle. Nonetheless he was glad to be back in Tulfarris to get on with the spring ploughing. He held 1,300 acres including outside farms and ploughed much of it. A letter from Tulfarris dated 14th March ’19 to Mr Bradley is of interest, of which the following is an excerpt: “Most of the hunts have been stopped by Sinn Feiners out of Dublin on bicycles etc. Punchestown and Fairyhouse are off, much to the annoyance of the farmers, who threaten to collect a pack of mongrels to hunt with and club anyone who tries to stop them.”
Edward had one son, Richard Douglas (Dick) Hornidge. Dick was born in 1915 and was in Tulfarris during the Civil War between the Free State soldiers and the I.R.A. In the U.S. and in his late eighties he took to setting down his memories of growing up in Tulfarris and published them in a booklet entitled ‘Tulfarris’. He had attended Cambridge, like his father before him and he had rowed for Cambridge again as his father had done. Further study in America saw him earning a degree in engineering where he remained for the rest of his life. The I.R.A. often passed through the Hornidge estate on their way to their mountain hideout. Katie the cook would ‘blacken the tay’ when she heard the lorry draw into the yard. With their rifles and bandoliers these were romantic figures in Dick’s young mind. Once he took up one of their rifles and pointed it in their direction, causing general consternation. ‘Plunkett’ O’Boyle led this small detachment of IRA men. In their lorry they would drive in the front entrance and out the back way. They had options which road to take when they left Tulfarris. Later they were confronted by Free State troops in a house up the Wicklow Gap and ‘Plunkett’ was shot dead. His body was returned for interment to his native Donegal. ‘Plunkett’ had tried his hand at writing poetry.
From the Wicklow hills the Staters came
To loot and shoot and win great fame.
With their armoured cars and their Thomson guns
To put the wind up Plunkett’s sons.
And they met McMahon in Ballyknockan Street
And said to him:
You’ve been to France and know the way
So you needn’t be afraid of the IRA.
One Christmas party at Tulfarris Dick still remembered. Tenants and their families were invited. After presents had been distributed and the children felt more at ease a young fellow started playing an Irish Jig on his harmonica. Two young girls glided on to the floor and for the next 10 minutes performed a traditional Irish Jig. Backs perfectly straight, arms unbent at their sides, heads looking straight forward, their entire bodies seemed to float, while they stamped vigorously in time with the music. Dick loved their precision and action. It was as if the children were saying, ‘These dances are part of our heritage and we are proud of them’. Not many years before in nearby Baltiboys Ninette de Valois (Edris Stannus) had had a similar experience with her Irish jig. She was so captivated by it that she claimed learning it started her on her great ballet dancing career.
Neil “Plunkett” O’Boyle, who lost his life fighting for what he believed in. Many Republicans were enraged that a Free State had been accepted instead of the Republic they had fought for. The Free State supporters felt that this State was merely a step on the road to full independence. Thus the tragic Civil War. Plunkett’s troop during a lighter moment.
I spoke by telephone to Dick at his home in Andover shortly before his death in 2007. He was ill and confined to bed but talked with animation of his visit here in 1999. He had searched for but had not been able to locate the pet cemetery where his Irish wolfhound Shamus was buried. Shamus’s remains were now, he thought, under a golf green. Dick was the last living Hornidge connection with Tulfarris. He epitomised the dilemma of the Anglo Irish, caught between love of Ireland and loyalty to England. Like many of his family before him he was a great sportsman, proficient in rowing, hockey, skiing, sailing and hiking. Carrying on in the family sporting tradition his son, Richard Jnr, has been a tennis professional.
Dick Hornidge camping with Shamus
Edward sold Tulfarris in the year 1947 to the Hamilton family. The lake had taken a large chunk of his land; the Land Commission divided more of it among deserving tenants. The aforementioned Philly Creighton’s father of Kilmalum was one of those to gain outright possession of the 32 acres he had been renting. With a much reduced farm it was not possible for Edward to make a living as he had known it. He had been divorced from his first wife Evelyn Maude of Tinode for some years and married secondly Thelma Stannus, originally of Baltiboys House and sister of Ninette de Valois. The couple moved to County Dublin.
Edward and Thelma Hornidge. Their families had lived side by side for some hundreds of years.
St. Mary’s Church, Blessington Captain Edward Stuart Hornidge OBE, and Thelma Stannus.
An interesting letter was written when Humphreystown Estate was being sold in the year 1923; the letter refers to an old horse that was ‘out in the Boer War.’ Question is who had the horse down there, and why did it end up in Humphreystown? Unlikely that it would have belonged to Richard Hornidge or Capt. Maude. Perhaps a friend or relation of the Cottons of Humphreystown, or more likely to Thomas Stannus of Baltiboys, whose family left for England in 1905. The owner would have wanted his horse to be well looked after.
The Maps of Corbally Canal on the Newlands Estate were drawn by one William Daly between the years 1815 to 1821. The following are details of leases on the nearby lands held by A. H. Rowan at Stephenstown, Two Mile House, at that time. William Connor’s farm is included because it was from here that the chapel site and graveyard of 2 roods was given to the community.
William Connor
Dec.1819
41 acres
Life of lessee and 31 years
Peter Daly
May 1820
18 acres
Lives, lessee, Will. & John
£16-16-0
.
Peter Daly’s son William, mentioned above, may well be our surveyor. It looks likely that William was the product of a hedge school in the late 18th and/or early 19th Centuries. Rawson in The Kildare Statistical Survey of 1807 states: “So much did the people want education for their children that they often paid more for it than they could afford. The boys paid a half crown or 5/- a quarter. All over the country are numbers of schools where the lower orders have their children instructed in writing, arithmetic and reading; scarcely a peasant who can muster a crown after tithe and priest’s dues (and rent), but is emulous to expend it on his little boy’s education. No Sunday schools, no encouragement of the neighbouring gentry”. Thomas Francis Meagher pays a fine tribute to the character of James Nash, as he records the death of the old schoolmaster: “Like all the poor, honest, gifted men – who thought more of their country than themselves – he died in utter poverty, companionless and nameless” – not much encouragement for the patriot, I’m afraid. Daly may have worked for Sir George Cockburn in some capacity. Could he have been a schoolmaster? We may never know – he has left nothing that I know of but his maps. Did he begin by learning the basic skills in the hedge school at Two Mile House, and later on work with a surveyor? Maps being so important in the regulation of rents and tithes, and the consolidation of mearings, there was always some activity in this area, and before the Ordnance Survey did their work it was up to landlords to have their own maps done. Because Rowan lived for some time at Rathcoffey, near where the Bog Reports and their comprehensive maps were being drawn up, was it possible that he gained some experience there? There was also much surveying with the construction of canals and the many military activities around the county.
While accurate, the maps are not pretentious and are all the more charming for it. Some are done on parchment, not evenly cut, outer margins not square; some done on mere scraps of parchment; others done on paper watermarked “Boldbrook”. The Encyclopaedia Britannica of the year 1902 gives an account of the simple implements used for surveying in the past. They were the chain, rod, cross staff, marking poles and compass. The chain was 66 feet long with 100 links. The rod was 10 links in length and could be easily made by the surveyor. Likewise the cross staff, with which a right angle could be quickly made. For making a more accurate right angle a string with knots at intervals of units of 3, 4 and 5 or multiples thereof could be used. When this string was made taut the right angle at the base was lined up with the apex of the triangle. The most reasonable method was to mark off as large a triangle as possible in the field. Poles would mark the two ends of every chain. The sides of the triangle could then be measured and the area worked out. Alternately the base of the triangle could be measured together with the perpendicular height. Smaller triangles could then be marked out. Eventually the tiny bits left over could be estimated. A tedious business no doubt! But then time wasn’t so urgent two hundred years ago and the surveyor would have plenty willing hands for a little recompense. To put down the information on paper the mapmaker would first decide on his scale, then pinpoint the apices of each triangle on the map. The points would then be joined up and the shape of the field appeared. In many such maps the pin pricks are still visible.
The canal from Naas to Corbally, which is a continuation of the branch from Sallins to Naas, covers a distance of over 5 miles and commenced operations in 1810. The lands needed for the canal itself, the towpaths and any extra ground had been acquired according to law and compensation was paid by the Company to the tenants and landlords in question.
An inquisition as to finding for General Cockburn and his tenants was held on Saturday the 16th day of December 1809 at the Courthouse, Naas, before three commissioners namely: Sir Fenton Aylmer of Donadea Castle, Thomas Burgh of Oldtown, Theobald Barnwall Donnelly of Oakly Park. The twelve jurymen were: Sir Simon Bradstreet (foreman), William Sherlock, Edward Read, Mathew Read, William Mills, George Cooke, John Barker, Joseph Rawlings, William Brownrigg, Henry Hamilton, William Kilbee and Mathew Donnellan.
To be decided were the following : the value per acre of the acquired land, the number of years purchase given (18 years purchase was agreed on), measurements of the acreage in question and the number of years left on the tenants’ leases. A map, not now extant, was annexed to the inquisition. However, William Daly’s maps fit the bill, so to speak, for the Newlands estate. The following are some examples of the compensation paid:
Michael, Catherine and Brian Hart. Years …………….…………….2 Land……………..…………….2 rds 34 pers. Rate per acre………………..£1 to £1-10-0 Total paid…………………….£1-15-3.5 Sir George Cockburn Years……………………………16 Total paid…………….………£14-2-4.5
It is interesting that the descendants of the above tenants are still in possession near Connacht Bridge after 200 years.
Stephen Healy Years……………..…………5 yrs 6mths Land…………………………23 rds Rate per acre………………£1-10-0 Total paid…………………..£5-6-1.5 Sir George Cockburn Years……………………..…..12 yrs 6 mths Total paid……………………£12-1-6 Andrew Maguire Tenant at will Total paid……………………1 Shilling (ex gratia payment).
Bricks were made on the Newlands Estate and could be transported by canal. A notice of bankruptcy proceedings against Bartholomew Peter Fitzpatrick of Newlands, Naas, farmer and brickmaker, and dated 12th September 1879 was circulated to creditors. The petitioner would offer 3/- in the £. Proof of debt ( £10 or more) would be required. His assets were mainly :
Household furniture………£200 Stock of Bricks…………….…£290 Stock & implements………..£979 61 year lease from 1862 valued at………..£4,500
Until recently older residents remembered the ruins of the brickworks in “the brick field.” All traces of it are now gone.
17 fields are measured, recorded and mapped. Daly describes each field as being meadow, arable or pasture. Fields 6 to 14 were marshy. Why this cabin is upside down I have no idea. One window signifies a small cabin.Connaught Bridge. The late Con Costello suggested that this name came about because of all the West of Ireland men who worked here. Large numbers of navvies would have been employed, the work being done by manual labour. These men lived on site in tents or shelters and we can only imagine the conditions of hardship. Presumably they went home for the Winter. It was common in those days for Connacht men to go to Scotland or elsewhere for work at harvest time. The several hump-backed bridges over the canals are well worth preserving. Here we have the signature of William Daly, the year being 1818. You would think that a surveyor would have a more refined writing style as schoolmasters generally placed great importance on penmanship.This is a simple Cartouche in comparison to those of surveyors like the Frizells. Daly made a greater effort with this farm, it being of considerable importance. Here he gives a measurement of the land taken for the canal. A plantation acre was equal to about 1.6 statute acres. Measurement to the quick meant from the middle of one fence or ditch to the middle of another. Blackthorn or whitethorn quicks were sown on top of ditches to keep animals in and provide some shelter. Dredging at Connaught Bridge August ’22.
The Blessington Tramway Crest and First Locomotive Dublin to Kingstown
It was noisy, it was smoky, it was accident prone (the track from Terenure to Blessington was known as “The Longest Graveyard in Ireland), it was often late, it was often derailed, the rate payers along the route were tired subsidising it. Yet people were sorry to see it go and memories about it still linger in the West Wicklow and South County Dublin areas.
West Wicklow lacking rail service
We can see from this map that the east of our county was served well by the Dublin/Wicklow/Wexford Railway. As, indeed, was the western fringe by a railway from Dublin to Sallins, Harristown, Dunlavin and Baltinglass. Until well into the 1800’s we in West Wicklow were relying on an outdated system of horse-drawn coaches. In the spirit of the times the British Parliament, from 1860 onwards, passed laws enabling light railways to be built in Ireland. They would be built on the side of the road. They would be relatively inexpensive; would not need bridges, tunnels, or crossings. Small plots of land would have to be bought where there were sharp bends. They would be appropriate for short distances. Many would be constructed from 1880 onwards for instance the Sutton Line to the Hill of Howth, that from Conyngham Road to Lucan and , of course, the West Clare Railway, made famous by Percy French and his “Are ye right there Michael?” parody.
By order of the Lord Lieutenant (Earl Spencer) and the Privy Council permission was granted to John Alexander Walker and William Elliot O’Donnell to construct and maintain a tramway between Dublin and Blessington. These two Promoters formed a joint Stock Company to raise the necessary funds. The Chairman was to be the Earl of Milltown. The Directors were to be the following : William Owen ( Downshire agent), Fletcher Moore (Manor Kilbride), Thomas H. Guinness, William Domville Handcock and John Alexander Walker.
Shares
Guaranteed Shares of £10 each for £40,000 , Interest of 5% to be guaranteed by Wicklow and Dublin Baronies in the event of closure. The ledger records of the purchasers of these shares make for very interesting reading indeed . Railways were seen as up and coming investments and wealthy people took their chance. The premier addresses of the investors tell their own story. Ordinary Shares at £10 each were to raise £57,000.
Tramway Construction Agreement with Alexander Ward, for £89,000
Later on Poulaphouca Extension £5 shares raised £20,000. Alexander Ward was given the contract to build the Tramway to Blessington. The contract price was £89,400 and was to include all expenses. Ward already had the experience of building the Lucan Tramway. He subcontracted the provision of rolling stock and equipment to Martin Mac Donnell of Dunmore, Co. Galway for the sum of £8,000. The contract with Ward included a schedule of materials to be used and how the work was to be done. Some interesting data from this schedule are detailed, for instance the sleepers were to be 9 feet long by 9 inches by 4 and a half inches, to be creosoted and of native larch or Baltic red wood, and free from bad knots or shakes. The rails were to be not less than 18 feet in length and have marked on them the makers name, year of manufacture, and the initials D & B T (Dublin & Blessington Tramway) . Fortunately we have some old rails, spikes and a sleeper still in existence in Blessington. Earthworks or embankments were needed in some places and one such at the bottom of Crooksling Hill is still so known as “The Embankment.” Later on Alexander Ward, on his own behalf, built the Station House at Poulaphouca which he leased to the Company.
Dublin & Blessington Mail Coach
Everything was eventually ready and the first train the 8.35 a.m. ran from Terenure to Blessington. The tramway connected with horse drawn trams from Nelson’s Pillar. To mark the occasion a special coach was laid on from the Pillar carrying the mail, the Company Directors and other V.I.P’s. The above photograph shows the entourage on their way. The group carried on to Blessington. There was great excitement along the way. The wonder was how this new contraption didn’t fall off those slender rails. (In fact it often did over the years). The tram held a fascination for people as long as it ran. Even afterwards memories of a gallant noisy smoky little engine drawing double deck carriages long after it stayed in people’s minds. The tram’s arrival in Blessington was a sensation with young and old cheering and waving to the rafters. The new service would be a great boon to the whole area. Children and indeed young and old would want a spin in this new wonder amongst them. It was great.
Terenure Terminus. Green shows Blessington Tramway end from Templeogue Rd., side by side with the purple Dublin United Tramways site from Rathfarnam Rd.
What was carried by the Tram? Passengers, livestock (cattle, sheep and yes , rabbits. From Ulster Bank Blessington consignments of rabbits were regularly sent to the Bradford Small Animal Show in England), sand, gravel, stone, mail, newspapers and general merchandise. There was an agreement with Tom Hudson of Crooksling to carry army supplies and equipment to and from Kilbride Camp at Shankill. As his deliveries were done by horse and cart over a hilly area the question arises as to what route he would have taken.
Accidents
A model of Steam Wagon
One of the many accidents, Tram v Wallace’s Steam Wagon 18th July 1930 : The conductor on the day, John Jones, gave his side of the story as follows: “I beg to report that while working the 2.35 p. m. down on Wednesday the 16th inst. , when approaching Lisheen Rd. I had just taken a fare and was about to sit down two seats from the front of the car, when I was violently thrown forward against the front of the car, and sustained factures to my left arm and ribs for which I had to be treated in hospital. I found that a steam wagon the property of Wallace Bros. coal merchants had struck the car and had badly damaged it. The driver of the steam wagon gave his name as Robert Mosley 15 Bath Ave., Sandymount. There were no passengers on the car except a child who had boarded the car at Brittas. The number of the steam wagon was ‘A.W. 7428.’
There were many fatalities on the line. One particularly sad case was the death of Conductor John Jones of Templeogue and father of five, when he was accidently thrown from the tram. This fatality occurred on the night of September 30th 1931. He had not been on duty as a conductor and was not covered by the Tram Company’s insurers, The Ocean Corporation. This put his wife and five children (between 16 and 2) in a most harrowing situation. Adding to the calamity was that his wife was a patient in Harold’s Cross Hospice dying of consumption. When she heard of her husband’s death she left it to be with her children. She passed away not long after that. The children were now orphans. The only income the family had was from the 16 year old eldest daughter who earned a little in Urney’s Chocolate Factory. The next daughter was lodged with the Sisters in Golden Bridge Orphanage. Two children were taken in by relations but one ended up in the Hospice where her poor mother had been. Fr Sheehan P.P. Terenure wrote to the Tram Committee pleading for some help for the destitute family. The reply was that the Company had no responsibility in the matter. But while they did not accept legal commitment they were eventually willing to make an “ex gratia” contribution of £25 in the terrible circumstances. 25 Subscription Cards were printed in which John’s brother Peter Jones of Carlow was involved. Including the £25 from the Tram Company £74- 1-8 was raised for the dependents. Through Fr Sheehan and the St Vincent de Paul Society £70-8-0 was invested for them, the certificates being sent to Peter Jones of Carlow for safekeeping. The amount of £3-13-8 left over was sent to the Superioress of the Harold’s Cross Hospice towards the care of the sick child.
Fr Brown’s Tram trip 1920
Blessington Fair Day
Fr. Maurice Brown took up ministry as curate of Monavalla (nowadays known as Valleymount) on September 8th 1920. He arrived at Terenure terminus for the 7.30 a.m. tram to Blessington and Poulaphouca. He describes his trip as far as Featherbed Lane opposite Russborough House. “Are people still often killed?” Fr Brown queried. The tongue in cheek reply was “No, Father, only once.” While the steam-tram moved slowly into Blessington the jobbers had their faces glued to the windows, looking at the sheep that were grouped at close intervals on the outskirts of the town, each flock controlled by a little black-and-white collie. In the long street there was great bustle; horses trotted up and down under the close scrutiny of dealers; cattle were being vetted; prospective buyers were poking their sticks at the pigs in creels; and bargains were struck on open palms. A stray sheep was being pursued by a long lanky man in a frieze coat as it jumped over car shafts and barrels. Sheep bleated, horses neighed, cattle lowed, pigs squealed, dogs barked. Fr. Brown had seen the New York Grand Central Station in rush-hour but it was only in the half-penny place beside the square in Blessington on a fair day. Andy, the conductor, was proud to observe that a stranger should be so impressed. “Nearly all the sheep men are your parishioners”, he said. Fr. Brown liked the look of the men from the hills.
Extracts from Minute Books.
1893: Osborne & Brady-100 tons of granite to Terenure at 2/- per ton. Drivers given reward for low consumption of coal. Guards report passenger J. Booth refused to pay one penny fare. Summons that man !! Fined 10/- plus costs plus one penny. 1895: Osborne & Brady install granite stone lettered D&B and P&B at Blessington. The cost was £2-5-0. Driver McMahon sent to trial for death of child. Advised by Company to plead guilty to save further litigation. Pay £5 to parents. 1902: Driver Brazil seeks increase in pay. Two pence a week granted. Oxley will not accept anything less than £100, his costs and a wooden leg, by way of compensation. He had been a chauffeur when struck by Tram. M. Ryan applying for pay during absence owing to being crushed between wagons. Half pay granted. For being ‘under the influence’ Mackey was cautioned and advised to take the pledge. Letter from the National Association for Prevention of Tuberculosis, asking that notices against spitting, be put up in cars and floors sprinkled with disinfectant. John Reilly of Baltiboys killed by 8.35 p.m. down near Brittas Ponds. Horse belonging to P. Lawlor of Balrothery killed by Tram. Lawlor prosecuted and fined 10/6 or 2 weeks. Inquest on J. Preston who had been crushed by a wagon at Brittas.
The ‘Cambria’ Locomotive feeling her age.
Thank God for this stop at Embankment The water here’s pristine and clear. A shilling a year and well worth it A good swallow indeed for the mountain.
Me stomach is belching – no wonder. This work it just pulls you asunder. Cheap coal from our Cambrian neighbour Sure its far worse than doin’ hard labour.
Half way up the long hill we get stranded. The ice on the rails means no traction. “Hould her steady”, says Matt the conductor “We’ll get out and we’ll give her a push”.
We make it as far as Tom Hudson’s. With the slope I can now draw me breath. We view the Mill Ponds on our left And soon pull into Dowling’s at Brittas.
I’m left all alone for five minutes While Matt and his pal driver Tom Replenish themselves in the snug-bar And emerge with a smile and a chuckle.
Baile Coimin now hoves into view. A fair day with some wonderful clatter. . Sheep and horses and cattle and pigs …All the shouts slappin’ hands and divarsion.
The faction fights in Ireland . . Were common long ago, . But once again behold two stalwarts brave and true, . . . Throw fists in gay abandon.
More drink for the thirsty pretenders. . . I’ll be luggin’ cattle wagons tonight. . . But now a free wheel to the Falls. I suppose life could be worse after all.
I feel pains comin’ on me auld bones. Its arthritis and a touch of lumbago. I’m goin’ to need care and attention At Templeogue Depot tomorrow.
A bedraggled looking Cambria
They said I was no longer much use – that it was time I retired. Then they hauled me over here to Hammond Lane. First they ripped me apart and bit by bit melted me down in their hell hole of a foundry. Now I’m all over the place – I don’t know where I am. Ochon agus ochon!
In her heyday The Cambria passing by Russborough
(At the Fair deals were sealed by the seller spitting on his hand and slapping the buyer’s outstretched hand. The buyer would then counter slap. The ritual went on with friends on both sides encouraging them to agree a price.)
We don’t have an eyewitness account of the the official dedication of this Church of Our Lady 150 years ago but I have tried to put together a snapshot of what it was like as Mass was about to begin. First, I must acknowledge the great work done by Archdeacon Kevin Lyon in the celebration of the 150th year of the establishment of Crosschapel Church.
The year is 1861. The day is Sunday, the 8th of September. The celebrant is His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Cullen. Several priests are in attendance. The church is packed. Yes, it’s a great day, for the people of Crosschapel, for the people of Blessington, for those from Eadestown-as far away as the Workhouse just this side of Naas. From Manor Kilbride, from the mountains beyond there- from Ballylow, from Ballyward, from Ballinoulta – from all over our parish. From Eadestown in the county of Kildare and Craddockstown. Many have come on foot – four or five miles or more is nothing to them. To be sure it’s a great meeting, a great day indeed.
Fr. Hamilton’s resting place
The Parish Priest, Father Hamilton, up here on the altar, had to get a few men to make room for the Bishop as he arrived in his coach and four, for the whole place was crowded with horses and ponies and donkeys and carts and traps. They’re trying to keep everything quiet out there but its not easy with some of the animals getting a bit restless. The Bishop is our special guest today, but we must remember our eminent P.P. Fr. Hamilton as well. Without him we would not have this elegant house of God. Without his great efforts and his great friends we would still be in the old damp church. God knows it served us well for many a year, and the man who built it is buried beneath us. Fr Hamilton insisted on fixing on the wall here the plaque from our old church commemorating Fr. Miley who built the old thatched church almost a hundred years ago. I can read it from here I think. Yes!
Plaque to Fr. Miley
“Rev. Roger Miley Died 1801 60 years of age 30 years as P.P. of Blessington Interred here.” Maybe today we could say a prayer for the first P.P. of Blessington, who not only built our former church, but built Miley Hall for the priests of the parish. Recently Fr Hamilton showed us a beautiful chalice lined with gold and dated 1776 that was here when he came. The date would make you think that it was got somehow during the time of Father Miley. A great man for reading I heard – sure there were books all over in every corner of his lovely mansion. Ah yes Fr Miley had a way with him as indeed has our present man. Looking down I notice that all the women are on one side, and all the men on the other side. It would take a brave man indeed to venture over to the wrong side. A few years ago a returned Yank did just that. He was the talk of the parish for ages. I see the men have nothing covering their heads but all the women are wearing scarves and hats. Some at the front here are very stylish indeed, a sight to behold.
Plaque to Fr Duffy
About two years ago Fr Duffy explained about the wearing of hats or the non wearing of hats. It was a canon law going back centuries that on coming into the house of God men had to show humility by exposing their bald heads. Women had to show their humility by covering their crowning glory – their long flowing tresses. The men continued as they were, but the women gradually got the better of this canon law enhancing their hair with hats and ribbons and what not. But what harm. Sure they brighten up the place. You can see two doors at the end of the church – the women come in one door and the men the other. This segregation is practiced everywhere in the country.
Naas Workhouse
Our Workhouse Chaplain, Fr John Delaney, who is up here today will tell you that it’s the same in the Workhouse. When the poor people arrive there (many indeed from around here) the women go one way the men another and the poor childer another still. Indeed Fr Delaney is lucky to be alive after the disease he picked up there. Its hard on the poor mothers. Over here on my right is another door. This is the entrance for the well to do of the parish and their friends from Dublin. You wouldn’t dare go in there unless you were well done up. But in fairness to the quality up at the top here without their generous contributions we would never have our new church. We collected our pennies and the odd six pence to pay for the Baptismal Font over there. Well proud we are of its elegant look. The Bishop and the priests have their own door round the side. There is no shortage of doors, and that’s for sure. The man who made the doors sure wasn’t short of work.
There have been such preparations around here for the last few months. Our altar boys are word perfect with their Latin responses. Great young fellows. Indeed I still remember some of the words from my own days: (Many a tearful hour we spent learning them) : ‘Ad deum qui laetivicat juventutem meam. Quia tu es Deus fortitudo mea quare me repulisti, et quare tristis incedo dum affligit me inimicus’. The Mistress, Miss Archer, up there in the gallery has been working hard with the Choir. Her late brother was our previous parish priest. She’s getting on in years now but she’ll keep going I think till she drops as we say. The hymns, especially the Latin ones, add such an air of solemnity to the place. Talking of music the chanting of the litany of the Saints was great. The priests did this after the Bishop and the procession came into the church.
I must mention a few of our worthy participants in todays ceremony. Just here is our renowned architect Mr J.J. McCarthy He came down down here almost every week to see that things were right. We are told the style is Gothic. On the other side is his lady wife. Here we have the builder Mr Robert Farrell of Lombard Street Dublin. He has done a great job and delivered all he had signed up to. On the other side is his good wife.
