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8IM0HAAI  VOUNO  UWJV^gfBt 

PWOVO.  UTAH 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2011  with  funding  from 
Brigham  Young  University 


http://www.archive.org/details/historyofsligotoOOoror 


\ 


^9^1/^ 


\) 


THE 


HISTORY  OF  SLIGO: 


^, 


'M 


TOWN  AND  COUNTY. 


BY 


T.    O'RORKE,  D.D.,   M.R.I.A., 

AUTHOR     OF 
"ballysadare    and    KILVARNET." 


VOL.  IL 


DUBLIN: 

JAMES   DUFFY  AND   CO.,   Limited, 
14  &  15  Wellington  Quay. 


[All  rights  reserved.'] 


THE  LIBRARY 

jihiu...  OUIMG  UNIVERSITY 

PROVOi  JLLTAIA 


<i^. 


CONTENTS,    VOL.    II. 


CHAPTER  XX. 
COOLDRUMAN  AND  LISSADELL. 


Battle  of  Cooldruman  . 
Causes  of  the  battle 
Saint  Columba 
Present  at  the  conflict  . 
Grave  error  of  O'Donovan    . 
Writer's  view  borne  out 
Existence  of    Druidism    at   that 

time  improbable 
St.  Columba  quits  Ireland     . 
Error  as  to  the  name  of  Carny  vil 

lage  corrected    . 
Lissadell,  situation  of  . 
Lissadell  house 
Lissadell  Glen 
Taste  of  the  Gore  Booths  for  ad 

venturous  sports 
The  Gore  Booth  family 
Distinguished  names  in  the  pedi 

gree 


Page 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 


7 
8 

9 
10 
11 
12 

13 
14 

15 


Page 
Modern  representatives  of  family; 

Sir  Robert  .         .         .         .     IG 

Sir  Henry  and  Lady  Gore  Booth  17 
A  contrast  and  its  consequence  .  18 
Sir  Robert  and  Ballygilgan  ,     19 

Johnsport 20 

Bally  council  and  Ardtermon  old 

castle  .  ...     21 

2,000     acres     round     Knocklane 

covered  with  drifted  sand  .     22 

Succession  of  Parish    Priests   in 

Drumcliffe  .         .         .         .23 

Sites  of  old  churches  .  .  .24 
Father  Pat  Moraghan  .  .  .25 
Education,  progress  of  .        .     26 

Protestant  incumbents  .         .     27 

Protestant      church    of      Drum- 

clifife 28 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
PARISH  OF  AHAMLISH. 


Scenery  and  soil  of  .  .  .29 
Thomas  Carlyle  on  the  subject  .  30 
The  coast  a  favourite  resort  of  the 

whale 31 

The  Palmerston  estate  .  .  .32 
Lord  Palmerston's  improvements  33 
His  harbour  at  MuUaghmore  .  34 
Makes  MuUaghmore  a  watering 

place 35 

His  Lordship  and  the  priests  .  36 
Treats  priest  and  parson  alike  .  37 
Inismurray  Island  .  .  .38 
Description  of  .  .  .  .39 
Cashel  of  Inismurray  .  .  .40 
Buildings  in  the  cashel  .         .     41 

Molaise's    House    and    supposed 

statue 42 


What  fanatics  say  of  the  statue    .    43 
The  founder    of   Inismurray   re- 
ligious house      .         .        .        .44 
Writer's  opinion    .         .         .         ,45 
Muredach  and  Molaise  .        ,     46 

Ahamlish  gets   its  religion  from 

Inismurray  .  .  .  .47 
Claims  of  island  to  our  veneration  48 
Effects  of  a  trip  across  the  sound  49 
A  chef  cVoRUvre  of  the  culinary  art  50 
Owners  of  Ahamlish  .  .  .51 
Grange  and  Thomas  Soden  .  .  52 
Succession  of  Parish  Priests  .    53 

Father  Malachi  Brennau       .         .     54 
Protestant  incumbents  .         .     55 

Ballintrillick         .        .        .        .56 


VI 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

BARONY  OF  LEYNEY. 

PARISHES  OF  KILLORAN  AND  KILVARNET. 


Page 
Area  of  Leyney  larger  of  old  than 

at  present 57 

Parish  of  Killoran  .  .  .  58 
Village  of  Coolany  .  .  .59 
Name  of  Killoran  .  .  .60 
Graveyard  of  .  .  .  .61 
Succession  of  Parish  Priests  .  62 
Protestant  church  of  Rathbarron  .  63 
Curious  statement  of  Dean  Town- 
send  CA 

Parish  of  Kilvarnet,  Annaghmore  65 
Castle  of  Ardcree  identified  .  .  66 
Annaghmore  House  .  .  .67 
O'Hara  family  .  .  .  .68 
Demesne  of  Templehouse  .  .  69 
Perceval  family  .  .  .  .70 
The  late  Alexander  Perceval  .  71 
His  manliness  of  character  .  .  72 
His  death  and  burial  .  .  .73 
Templehouse  castle  not  a  work  of 
the  Templars     .         .         .        .7-4 


Page 
Old  castle  of  Ath  Angaile  built  by 

Mac  William  Burke  .  .  .75 
Answers  to  objections  .  .  .76 
Latin  letter  of  Rinuccini      ,         .    77 

Translation 78 

Miler    ^lagrath,    Archbishop    of 

Cashel 79 

Pope  Nicholas'  Taxation       .         .     SO 
Templehouse  Castle  in  1641          .     81 
Commission    for    taking    deposi- 
tions   82 

Miss  Hickson's  Massacres  of  1641  83 
Depositions  of  Christian  Oliphant 

and  Jane  Boswell  .  .  .84 
Of   Anne,    Loftus,  and   William 

Walsh 85 

John  Crean  clears  himself  .  .  8(5 
Transactions  in  Sligo  in  1G41  .  87 
Depositions  unworthy  of  credence  88 
Deposition  of  Owen  O'Rorke  .  89 
Exaggeration  of  claims  for  losses  90 
Hearsay  the  staple  of  depositions      91 


CHAPTER  XXIir. 
PARISH  OF  ACHONRY. 


Scenery  and  area  of  the  parish 

Achonry  a  diocese 

Not  mentioned  by  the  Synod  of 

Rathbressil        .... 
Modification  of  extent  . 
Succession  of  the  bishops  of 
Cathedral  of  Achonry  . 
Bishop  O'Meehan  excommunicates 

plunderers  of  his  churches 
Succession  of  bishops  continued    . 
Bishops  McDonogh  and  O'Hara    . 
Succession  continued  . 
,,  continued  . 

,,  continued  . 

Eugene  O'Hart 
His  great  learning  and  zeal 
Louis  Dillon  of  the  Costello-Gal- 

len  family        .... 
Letter  of  Dr.  O'Queely 
Succession  continued  . 


92 

Succession  continued  . 

110 

93 

Patrick  McNicholas    . 

111 

Patrick  Durcan  .... 

112 

94 

Qualities  of  Achonry  bishops 

113 

9o 

Father  James  Fallon,  Vicar  Apos- 

96 

tolic  of  Achonry 

114 

97 

Dwells  in  a  hut  .... 
Phelim  O'Hara,  Hilary   Conroy, 

115 

98 

and  Maurice  Durcan 

116 

99 

Achonry  the  largest  parish  in  the 

101 

county 

117 

102 

Mulnabreena       .... 

118 

103 

The  "  four  quarters  of  Achonry" 

119 

104 

Battle  of  Cunghill 

120 

105 

Court  Abbey        .         .         .         . 

121 

106 

Possessors  of        ...         . 

122 

Parish  Priests  of  Mulnabreena     . 

123 

107 

Mural      tablet     over    their    re- 

108 

mains         

124 

109 

New  church  of  Mulnabreena 

125 

CONTENTS. 


Vll 


Page 
Cloonacool,  au  old  ecclesiastical 

denomiaation  ....  126 
Tubbercurry  .  .  .  .127 
Naper  and  Meredith  families  .  128 
TulDbercurry,  a  progressive  town  129 

Kilcummiii 130 

Old  Charter .  .  .  .  .  131 
Succession  of  Cloonacool  Parish 

Priests 132 


Page 
Catholic  church  of  Tubbercurry  .  133 
Curry  ;  description  of  the  district  134 
Depended  on  Kilcreunat  abbey  .  135 
Grant  in  it  to  Lord  Collooney  .  136 
Succession  of  Curry  Parish  Priests  137 
The  Filan  family .  .  .  .138 
Father  James  Filan  .  .  .  139 
A  preacher,  as  well  as  an  educa- 
tionist and  scholar    .        .         .140 


PARISH  OF 

Origin  of  name 

.  141 

Description  of  land 
Roads  and  houses 

.  142 
.  143 

Sensational  events  in 

.  144 

Revolting  transaction 

.  145 

The  Jones  family          .        .         .  146 
Devote  themselves  to  the  religious 
state 147 

The  Gap 

.  148 

CHAPTER   XXIV. 


KILMACTEIGE. 


Old  castles  and  churches  of  par 

ish     .... 
Banada 

The  Jones  vault   . 
Old  church  of  the  Gap 
Chapel  of      .         .         . 
Fathers  Pius  Devine  and  P.  A. 

O'Rorke 


149 
150 

151 
152 
153 

154 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


BARONY  OF  CORRAN. 
PARISHES  OF  EMLAGHFAD  AND  KILMORGAN. 


Corran  of  old  larger  than  now  .  155 
Battles  of  Corran .  .  .  .156 
Name  of  Corran    ....  157 

Ballymote 158 

Castle  of  Ballymote  .  .  .  159 
Sir  Richard  Bingham  takes  the 

castle 160 

The  castle  the  head-quarters   of 

the  Corran  McDonoghs     .         .161 
Castle    passed    to    Sir    William 

Taaflfe 162 

Surrendered  to  Sir  Charles  Coote  163 
Articles  of  surrender  .  .  .164 
Francis   Earl   of    Carlingford   at 

the  Relief  of  Vienna  .  .165 
Francis  and  William  the  Third  .  166 
Count  Edward  Taaffe  Prime  Min- 
ister of  Austria  .  .  .167 
The  Fitzmaurices  obtain  Bally- 
mote in  1753  .  .  .  .168 
Sir  Robert  Gore  Booth  purchases 

the  estate  ....  169 

Inhabitants  of  the  town  in  1603  .  170 


Improvement  of  Ballymote  under 

the  Gore  Booths 
Catholic  and   Protestant    parish 

churches    . 
James  White 
Book  of  Ballymote 
Monastery  of  Ballymote 
Dr.  Ledwich's  bungling 
Messrs .  Beranger  and  Bigari's  visit 
Mrs.  Motherwell . 
Major  Bridgham  . 
Mrs.  Motherwell's  person 
Her  ambition 
Jack  Taaffe  . 
Curious  story  about 
Jemmy  Taaffe's  devotedness 
Succession   of   Parish   Priests  of 

Emlaghfad  and  of   Protestant 

incumbents 
Parish  of  Kilmorgan    . 
Newpark  and  its  owner 
Tighe's  Town 
McDonogh  vault  . 


171 

172 
173 
174 
175 
176 
177 
178 
179 
180 
181 
182 
183 
184 


185 
186 

187 
1S8 
189 


Vlll 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   XXYI. 


UNION  OF  BUNINADDEN. 


The  old  village  of  Buninaclden 
Old  owners  of       . 
Cloonoghill  ;  Saint  Aidan     . 
Cloonymeaglian    .         .         .         . 

Kilshalvey 

Kilturra ;  the  Phillips  of  Cloon- 
more 


Page 
.  190 
.  191 
.  192 
.  193 
.  194 


195 


Page 
Mr.   John    Ormsby    Cooke   pur- 
chases the  estate       .        .        .196 
Parish  Priests  of  the  Union  .  197 

Father  Rush  and  his  dog  Bunty  .  198 
Canon  Henry  .  .  ,  .199 
Canon  James  McDermot     .        .  2G0 


CHAPTER  XXVn. 


UNION  OF  KEASH. 


Drumrat 201 

Richard   Fibbs,   ancestor  of  the 

Phibbs  family  .  .  .  .202 
The  Phibbs  as  landlords  .  .  203 
Hill  of  Keash  .  .  .  .204 
Its  name  and  chief  cave  .  .  205 
Battle  of  Ceis  Corainu  .         .  206 

Interment  of  the  slain  chiefs  .  207 
A  fact  or  two  in  the  life  of  Saint 

Kevin  cleared  up      .        .        .  208 


Bishop  Luidhigh  or  Lupid  .  .  209 
Former  social  state  of  Toomour  .  210 
Origin  of  the  name  Tcomour  .  211 
Grave  of  the  fallen  chiefs  .  .212 
Description  of  .  .  .  .213 
Identiticatiou    of    the     burying- 

place  of  the  chiefs  .  .  .  214 
Tem})levanny  ....  215 
Succession  of  Parish  Priests  .216 
Church  land  of  Union  .        .        .217 


CHAPTER  XXVIir. 


BARONY  OF  TIRERRILL. 
THE  MAC  DONOGHS. 


Shape  of  Tirerrill .        .        .        .218 
Union  Wood  as  a  timber  habitat    219 
Dr,  Petrie  on  the  scenery  of  dis- 
trict   220 

Martial  spirit  of  the  McDonoghs : 

Cormac  McDonogh  .        .         .  221 
Brian  McDonogh  of  Collooney     .  222 

Heroism  of 223 

Extolled  even  by  Sir  Frederick 

Hamilton 224 

A  MacDonogh  at  Fonteno}'  .  225 

Counsellor  Terence  McDonogh  .  226 
The  first  man  at  the  bar  .  .  227 
The  Counsellor  in  private  life      .  228 


His  open-handedness    .         .         .  229 
His  grave  and  monument  in  Bal- 

lindoon  abbey   ....  230 
Died  shie  prole     .        .        .        .231 

His  will 232 

His  wife's  will      ....  233 
The  McDonoghs  and  the  Church  .  234 
Castles  of  the  McDonoghs    .         .  235 
Occupy  still  a  good  social  posi- 
tion   236 

McDonogh  in  the  United  States 

and  Canada       ....  237 
Mayor  McDonogh  and  David  Bat- 
tle of  Thorold,  Ontario     .        .  238 


CONTENTS. 


IX 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 
UNION  OF  RIVERSTOWN, 


Page 
.  239 
.  240 


Interesting  antiquities  of  . 
Ardnasbrack  and  Caronagh 
Monuments     of,     resemble     the 

Druids'  Altar  of  Deerpark  .  241 
Conjectures  as  to  origin  of  .  .  242 
Aenach  TireoiUlla  .  ,  .  243 
Identified  .  .  .  .  .244 
O'Donovan's  mistake  about  John 

Conmidhe  ....  245 
Very  Rev.  J.  S.  Conmee  .  .  246 
Kilross:Kilellin.  .  .  .247 
Ballysummaghan         .         .         .  248 


Page 

Ballynakil 249 

Drumcolumb  ....  250 
Kilmacallan         ....  251 

Taunagh 252 

Name  of  Riverstown  .  .  .  253 
Cooper  Hill  .         .         .         .  254 

Existing  churches  of  the  Union  .  255 
Succession  of  Parish  Priests  ,  256 
Interesting  story  .         .         .  257 

Mass  in  the  days  of  persecution  .  258 
Recent     rectors     of     Ballysum- 
maghan   .....  259 


CHAPTER  XXX. 
UNION  OF  GEEVAGH. 


Movtura 260 

Battle-field  of       .         .         .         .261 
Pillars,  Rocking  Stone,  and  Gi- 
ants' grave        ....  262 

The  Cashels 263 

Belligerents  according  to  Tradi- 
tion   264 

Analysis  of  Historic  Tale  .  .  265 
Its  extravagances  .         .         .  266 

Tradition  not  trustworthy  in  the 

matter 267 

Sir  James  Ferguson  and  the  bat- 
tle-field      268 

Etymology  of  Moytura  .  .  269 
Kilmactrany  and  Killadoon  .  270 
Convent  of  Ballindoon  .        .271 


Owners  of  the  Convent  .  .  272 
Interment  of  Dr.  McDonogh         .  273 

Shancoe 274 

Succession   of   Parish  Priests  in 

the  union  of  Geevagh  .  .  275 
Monsignor  M'Manus  of  Baltimore, 

U.S.A 277 

Very  Rev.  H.  F.  Parke,  Wheeling, 

West  Va.,  U.S.A.  .  .  .278 
His     life -long     friend,      Bishop 

Whelan 279 

Stirring      incidents     in      Father 

Parke's  career  ....  280 
His   "Sketches  of  the  Apostolic 

Life  of  Richard  Vincent  Whelan"  281 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 
PARISH  OF  AGHANAGH. 


The  Curlew  Mountain  .  .  .  282 
Battle  of  the  Curlews  in  1497  .  283 
The  famous  battle  of  1599  .  .  284 
Sir  Richard  Bingham  .  .  .  285 
Hugh    Roe    O'Donnell     invades 

Connaught  .  .  .  .286 
Stirring  occurrences  in  Sligo  .  287 
Bingham  fails  to  take  the  castle 

of  Sligo 288 

O'Donnell  demolishes  the  castle  .  289 
The  castle  a  solid  and  formidable 

building     .  ...  290 


Annals  of  the  castle      .        .        .  291 

,,  ,,  continued      .  292 

,,  ,,  continued      .  293 

Sir  Conyers  Clifford  and  the  battle  294 

The  Four  Masters  on  the  engage- 

.  295 
.  296 
.  297 
.  298 
.  299 
.  300 
.  301 


ment 
Description  of  the  conflict 
Sir  Conyers  Clifford  slain 
O'Korke  and  the  battle 
Bellaghboy    . 
This  road  still  traceable 
English  writers  on  the  battle 


CONTENTS. 


Page 
Conduct  of  the  English  troops  .  302 
Letter  of  MacDermot  .         .  303 

Result  of  the  battle      .         .        .304 

Ballinafad 305 

Castle  of 306 

MuinterHely— theO'Heal}^  family  307 

Hollybrook 308 

Curious  legend  about  Aghanagh 

Church 309 

Valley  between    Ballinafad   and 

Keash 310 


Page 
Corradoey  and  the  Annotations  of 

Tirechau 311 

The  Senella  cella  dumiche  .  .312 
Colgan  locates  it  in  Tirerrill  .  313 

Argument  against  locating  it  in 

Shankhill,  Elphin  .  .  .314 
Parish  Priests  of  Aghanagh  .315 

Curious  inscription   on  an  altar 

stone 316 

Church  lands  of  Aghanaj^h  .317 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 


HALF-PARISH  OF  KILLERRY. 


Killerry  picturesquely  situated     . 
Old  church  and  graveyard    . 
Curious   custom   connected   with 

the  cemetery      .... 
Discovery    of    human    remains ; 

Cashelore  .... 

Ballintosher 


318 
319 

320 

321 
322 


The  English  take  possession  of  it 

early 323 

A  bellicose  parson  .  .  .  324 
Parish  Priests  of  Killerry  .  .  325 
Anecdote  of  Father  George  Gearty  326 
Protestant  Incumbents  .  .  327 
Ballintogher  Protestant  Church  .  328 


CHAPTER  XXXni. 


PARISH  OF  BALL  YS  AD  ARE. 


Ballysadare  has  a  varied  history  .  329 
Mills  in  it  from  time  immemorial  330 
Mr.  Culbertson  ;  Messrs.  Middle- 
ton  and  PoUexfen  .  .  .  331 
Cholera  visitation  of  1832  .  .  332 
Tourists  should  visit  the  place  .  333 
Has  the  "finest  rapid  in  Ireland"  334 
A  siogular  and  thrilling  occurrence  335 
The  salmon  fishery  .  .  .  336 
Kil-Easpuig-Rodain      .         .         .  337 

Ballydrehid 338 

The  great  blot  on  the  village  .  339 
The  pretty  village  of  CoUooney  .  340 
Its  castle  of  1225  .         .         .  341 

Church  of  the  Assumption  .  .  342 
Spire  of  the  church  .  .  .  343 
Old  churches  of  Collooney  .  .  344 
Protestant  church  of  Collooney    .  345 


The    Independents  at  Collooney 

under  the  Commonwealth  .  346 
Magnificent  mills  of      .         .         .  347 

Markrea 348 

Markrea  Castle  ....  319 
The  Cooper  family  .  .  .  350 
Edward  Synge  Cooper  .  .351 
His  impartial  treatoaent  of  Catho- 
lics and  Protestants  .  .  .  352 
Markrea  Observatory  .  .  .  352 
Rainfall  as  registered  in  Observa- 
tory   353 

An  inch  and  a  half  of  rainfall  in 

fifteen  minutes  .  .  .  354 
An  astronomer  of  promise  .  .,  355 
Cloonamahon         .         .         .  355 

The  Meredith  family    .         .         *  356 
Carrickbanagher  ;      the     Farrell 
family 357 


CONTEkTS. 


XI 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

HALF-BARONY  OF  COOLAVIN. 
UNION  OF  GURTEEN. 


Page 
Coolavin,  anciently  Greagraighe  .  358 
The  O'Garas,  Lords  of  Coolavin  .  359 
Colonel  Oliver  O'Gara  .  .  360 
The  MacDermot  family  .  .361 
Hugh  MacDermot  .  .  .  362 
Charles  MacDermot  ;  The  Mac- 
Dermot       363 

Kilfree  ;  Knockmore  .  .  .  364 
Moygara  Castle  ....  365 
Killaraght ;   the   Church   of   At- 

tracta 366 

Traditions  about  the  Saint  .  .  357 
She  is  referred  to  in  the  Book  of 

Armagh 368 

Her  family  and  birthplace  .  .  369 
Her  characteristic  virtue      .        .  370 


Page 
.  371 
.  372 
.  373 


Establishes  a  religious  hospital 
Helps  the  people  of  Leyney 
Helps  them  a  second  time     . 
Her  life  in  Colgan  of   no  great 

value  .....  37i 

Her  festival  re-established  .  .  375 
Father  Daniel  Jones  and  the  Saint  376 
The  Proper  Lessons  of  her  Office  377 
Curious  tradition  ....  378 
Succession     of     Gurteen     Parish 

Priests       .         .         .         .         .379 
Monasteredan       ....  380 

Tragedy  at 381 

Well  of  Saint  Attracta  .         .  382 

Monasteredan  new  church  .  .  383 
Monasteredan  cemetery        .         .  384 


CHAPTER  XXXY. 

BARONY  OF  TIRERAGH. 
UNION  OF  SKREEN  AND  DROMARD. 


Tireragh    the    territory    of    the 

O'Dowds 385 

The  O'Dowds  addicted  to  a  mari- 
time life 386 

The  family  devoted  to  religion  .  387 
The  Sweenys  or  MacSweenys  .  388 
The  MacDonnells  .         .         .389 

The  Insurrection  of  1641  fatal  to 

these  families  .         .         .  390 

Tituladoes  and  Grantees       .         .391 

Tanrago  in  parish  of  Dromard       .  392 

John  Crofton  founder  of  the  Crof- 

ton  family  .        .         .         .393 


Longford  Castle  ....  394 
Lady  Morijan  and  Longford  .  395 

Her    "Patriotic  Sketches"    and 

"  Metrical  Fragments  "  .396 

Buninna  formerly  a  place  of  note,  397 
Ballinley  or  Balliuleg  .  .  .398 
Parish  of  Skreen  ;  The  Joneses  .  399 
The  church  of  Skreen  .  .  .400 
Mistakes  of  Thomas  O'Connor  and 

Father  Walsh  .  .  .  .401 
Parish    Priests    of    Skreen    and 

Dromard 402 


CHAPTER  XXXYL 

PARISHES  OF  TEMPLEBOY,  KILMACSHALGAN, 
AND  EASKY. 


Templeboy  parish  .  .  .  403 
Grangemore;  Grangebeg;  Rathur- 

lish 404 

Aughris   Priory    and    castellated 

church      .....  405 


Thady  Connellan  .         .         .406 

Lady  Morgan  on  Thady  and  his 

"  fine  seminary "       .  .         .  407 

The  seminary  fails  in  a  cardinal 

point         .....  408 


xu 


CONTENTS. 


Page 
Thady  and  Michael  Fenton  .  4U9 

Kilmacshalgan  parish  .  .  .  410 
William  Fenton  of  Kilmacshalgan  411 
Easky  ;   origin  of  the  name  .  412 

The  Vat  or  Keeve  of  St.  Faraunan  413 


Controversial  Discussion  at  Easky  414 
Succession  of  Parish  Priests  .  415 

Father  Flannelly .         .         .         .  416 
Right  Rev.  Dr.  O'Finan       .         .  417 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 


PARISHES  OF  KILGLASS  AND  CASTLECOXOR 

Kilglass  parish — castles  of   .         .418 
Etymology  of  Kilglass  .         .  419 

Castleconor  ;  Skormore        .         .  420 
Bequest  of  Rev.  Thomas  Valentine  421 


Kilmoremoy,  parish  of  ;  Ardnaree  422 
Parish    Priests   of    Kilglass    and 
Castleconor       ....  423 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 
CONCLUSION. 


Recapitulation  and  Supplement    .  424 

BELIGION. 

Saints  Patrick,  Finian  of  Clouard, 

aud  Columba  *  .  .  .  425 
Monasteries    of   Boyle,    Aughris, 

and  Loch  Ce  .  .  .  .  42G 
The  Mendicant  Orders  .         .  427 

English  and  Scotch  immigrants  .  428 
Catholics  build  places  of  worship  429 
Means  of  support  for  religion  .  430 
Sligo  churches  appropriated  to  the 

great  monasteries  .  .  .431 
Advantages  and  disadvantages  of 

the  appropriation  .  .  .432 
Religious  offerings  of  the  produce 

of  the  land  ....  433 

Catholics  plundered  by  ministers 

of  the  State  Church  .  .  .434 
A  Synod  of  Tuam  sanctions  a  scale 

of  maintenance  of  the  clergy  .  435 
Clerical     income     regulated     in 

synods 430 

EDUCATION. 

Erasmus  Smith  ....  437 
Sligo  Charter  scho(d  .  .  .  43S 
Ke[)ort  on  Sligo  Charter  school  .  439 
Private  benefactors  of  education  440 
London  Hibernian  Society  ;  Kil- 

dare  Place  Society  .  .  .441 
Kildare  Place  Society's  Schools  of 

the  county  in  1826  .  .  .  442 
Improvement  of  education  under 

the  National  Board  .         .        .     443 


National  teachers  and  the  teachers 

of  the  past  ....  444 

Relations  of  National  teachers  and 

ministers  of  religion  .         .         .445 
Sligo  Board  of  Guardians  and  Na- 
tional teachers  ....  446 
Proselytizing         ....  447 
Suggestive  instance  of  .         .  448 

The  Priest's  horse  at  grass  .         .  449 
Protestant    masters    of    classical 

schools 450 

Catholic  teachers  ....  451 
Convents   of   Mercy  and  of    the 

L^rsulines  .....  452 
Establishments  of  secondary  edu- 
cation          453 

Incorporated  Society  for  promot- 
ing English  Protestant  schools    454 
Primrose  Grange  School      .         .     455 

HABITATIONS  OF   THE   PEOPLE. 

Constructed  of  wattles  .         .  456 

Raths  or  forts  ....  457 
The  Celt  and  his  mantle  .  .  458 
The  caves  of  raths  .  .  .  459 
Fewness  of  stone  houses  .  .  400 
House  building  arrested  .  .  461 
Most  of  Sligo  built  within  present 
century       .....  4G2 

TILLAGE. 

Tillage  of  modern  date  .         .  4G3 

Partnership  tenure        .         .         .  464 
Agriculture   retrograding    in   the 
last  few  years    ....  465 


CONTENTS. 


XIU 


Page 
Improvement  of  stock  .  .  .  466 
Cattle      Shows    and    Ploughing 

Matches 467 

Landlord  and  Tenant  relations  .  468 
"  Cosher,"  nature  of  .  .  .  469 
Forcible  refection  .        .        .  470 

MORALS. 

"  Common  honesty"  .  .  .471 
Dishonest  acts       ....  472 

Torying 473 

How  bands  of  Tories  were  broken 

up 474 

Gallagher's  Gang  .        .        .  475 

Violence  common  in  the  past  .  476 
Sensational  case  .  .  .  .477 
Other  cases  ....  478 

Escape  from  gaol  ....  479 
Faction  fights  .  .  .  .480 
Sligo  county  formerly  free  from 

illegal  associations  .  .  .481 
Crime  according  to  the  Clerk  of 

the  Crown's  books  .  .  .  482 
Numbers  hanged  for  robbery  .  483 
Extraordinary  occurrence  at  an 

execution 484 

The  Upper  Ten  .  .  .  .485 
Disused  punishments  .  .  .  486 
Father  Kerins  ....  487 
Parson  Scott  and  his  "  Curate"  488 
Illicit  distillation  ....  489 

"  THE   BUCKS." 

Orgies  of 490 

Instances    of    their  outrageous 

conduct 491 

They  "  catch  a  Tartar  "  .  .  492 
The  Ballysadare  "  Bucks"  .  .493 
Rev.  John  Wesley's  experience  of 

the  Sligo  "  Bucks"  .  .  .494 
Arthur  Young's  experience  .         .  495 

DUELLING. 

*'  Law"  of 496 

Arms  employed     ....  497 
Duel  of  Messrs.  Fenton  and  Hillas  498 
Trial  of  Thomas  and  John  Fenton  499 
Captain  Farrell,  Jack  Taaffe,  and 
Loftus  Jones      ....  500 

Duels 501 

Duels,  continued  ....  502 
Duels,  continued  ....  503 

WORTHIES   OR  MEN   OF   MARK. 

Sligo  has  not  much  to  boast  of  in 
the  matter  ....  504 


Page 
The  O'Higgins  family  prolific  of 

them 505 

Names  of  some  of  them  .  .  506 
The  Mac  Firbises  .         .         .507 

Duald  Mac  Firbis's  works  .  .  508 
Very  Rev.  Ambrose  O'Connor  .  509 
Rev.  Andrew  Donlevy  .         .  510 

Charles  Phillips  .  .  .  .511 
His  defence  of  Courvoisier  .  .  512 
Rencontre  with  Widow  Wilkins  513 
Speech  in  Sligo  ....  514 
Curran  and  Phillips  .  .  .  515 
Phillip's  publications  .  .  .516 
His  extravagant  style  .  .  .517 
Sir  James  Macintosh  and  Chris- 
topher North  on  .  .  .518 
People  of  Sligo  proud  of  Phillips  519 
His  death  and  place  of  interment  520 
Obituary  in  the  Times  .         .  521 

Bob     Lyons,    the    MuUaghmore 

attorney  ...  .  522 
Curran  and  Lyons  .  .  .  523 
Attempt  on  Curran's  life  in  Sligo  524 
Abraham  Martin  ....  525 
The  leading  merchant  of  Sligo  .  526 
Returns  his  son  for  the  borough  .  527 
John  Patrick  Somers  .  .  .  528 
Edward  Joshua  Cooper  .  .  529 
Markrea  Observatory  .  .  .  530 
Sir  John  Benson  ....  531 
Michael  Corcoran,  Brigadier  Gene- 
ral       532 

Martin  Milmore,  eminent  sculptor  533 
Alderman  Farrell,  Doctor  Benson, 

John  Foster  ....  534 
Patrick  Qiiinn,  Thomas  Quian  .  535 
Doctor  Sweeney  of  New  York  .  536 
Bourke  Corkran  ....  537 
Don  Patricio  Milmo  .  .  .  538 
His  brother,  Daniel  Milmo  .  .  539 
Three  of  the  ablest  professors  of 
Maynooth  College     .        .        .  540 


SLIGO   NEWSPAPERS. 

Local  Journals  in  Sligo  for  more 

than  a  century  ....  541 
"■  The  Sligo  Journal"  .  .  .542 
Curious  advertisements  .         .  543 

"  The  Western  Luminary"  .  .544 
"  The  Champion,  or  Sligo  News"  545 
"The  Cryptic"  .  .  .  .546 
"  Sligo    Guardian"    and    "  Sligo 

Chronicle"  ....  547 

"  Sligo  Independent"   .         .        .  548 


XIV 


CONTENTS. 


Page 
Sligo  papers  disclaim  personalities  549 
A  duel  in  ribaldry         .        .        .  550 


ROADS  . 


.  551 


Sligo  roads  of  modern  construc- 
tion    552 

Fearsats  or  strand  passes  .  .  553 
Standalone  or  Stone- Alone  Point  554 
Chief  roads  built  within  the  last 

hundred  years   ....  555 
Beggars  and   "Backaghs"   infest 

the  roads 556 

Bridges  of  the  county  .  .  .  557 
Sligo  railways  and  tourists  .  .  558 
Attractions  for  tourists  .  .  559 
Description  of  a  Cake-dance  .  560 
Carolan's  songs  in  praise  of  Sligo 
people 561 

HOLY   WELLS.  561 

Lady  Morgan's  account  of  one  .  561 
How  wells  came  to  be  frequented   562 


WAKES. 

Often  scenes  of  great  disorders 
Striking  instance  . 
Majority  of  them  orderly 


SPORTS. 


Popular  sports 


THE   SEANACHIE. 

His  functions 

Supplanted  by  the  penny  paper 

CONTRASTS. 

Improvements,    material    and 
.    moral         .... 


563 

563 

.  564 

.  565 

.  566 


567 

5GS 


569 


Ecclesiastical  influence 
Superstitions          .         .         .         . 
Tuam  Synod  ofl  660     . 
Its  acts         

RETROSPECT. 

Crime 

Cardinal  Newman  on  co-existence 
of  enlightenment  and  ignorance 

Froude,  mistaken  notion  of 

1641  ;  a  new  epoch  of  evil     . 

Religion,  Education,  and  Material 
well-being  have  prevailed 

Activity  of  the  clergy  . 

Rectors  of  the  late  Established 
Church 

Modern  rectors     .... 

Bazaars,  Lectures,  Entertain- 
ments          

Dangers  of  certain  lectures  . 

Might  hinder  union  of  Irishmen  . 

Far-reaching  efifects  of  sectarian- 
ism   ...... 

Education  :  material  well-being  . 

Contrasts       ..... 

Progress  in  the  past 

Next  shift  of  the  Kaleidoscope     . 

Arms  of  the  O'Connors  Sligo,  the 
0' Haras,  O'Rorkes,  O'Healys, 
OTowds,  and  S weeny s 

Arms  of  the  McDonoghs 


Page 
.  570 
.  571 
.  572 
.  573 


574 

575 
576 

577 

578 
579 

580 
581 

582 
583 

584 

585 

586 

587 
588 
589 


590 
591 


Appendix  I.     Suffering  Loyalists  593 
Appendix  II.     Cromwellian  Cen- 


sus of  1659 
Index  . 


600 
613 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Inismurray  with  its  Cashel 

Molaise's  House  and  supposed  Statue 

Mr.  C.  W.  O'Hara's  Eesidence  . 

O'Hara's  Castle,  Meemlogh 

Templehouse  Castle 

Old  Church  of  Kilvarnet 

Ballinacarrow  Chapel    . 

Noah's  Ark  according  to  the  Book  of  Ballymote 

Grave  of  Princes  who  fell  in  the  Battle  of  Keash 

Old  Church  of  Ballysadare 

Tower  of  Ballysadare  Abbey     . 

Ballysadare  River  and  Mills    . 

Kildalough 

CoLLooNEY  Village  and  Rapids  . 

Collooney  Waterfall 

Church  of  the  Assumption 

Old  Church  of  Collooney 

St.  Paul's  Church 

Markrea  Castle    . 

Well  of  St.  Attracta 

Cathedral  of  Sligo 

Arms  of  the  O'Connors  Sligo,  O'Haras,  O'Rorkes,  0 

O'DOWDS,  AND  SwEENYS 

Arms  of  the  MacDonoghs 


Vol.  II. 


'Healys, 


Page 

38 

42 

67 

68 

69 

88 

89 

176 

212 

332 

333 

334 

337 

340 

341 

342 

344 

345 

348 

382 

579 

590 
591 


MAP  OF  the  County  Sligo 


Front. 


HISTORY    OF    SLIGO: 

TOW^  AND  COUNTY. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

PARISH   OF   DEUMCLIFF. 
COOLDRUMAN   AND   LISSADELL. 

On  the  neighbouring  height  of  Cooldruman  a  battle,  one  of 
the  most  remarkable,  under  some  respects,  ever  fought  in 
Ireland,  took  place  in  the  year  555,  according  to  the  Four 
Masters,  but,  in  the  year  561,  according  to  the  more  correct 
computation  of  the  Annals  of  Ulster,  and  other  trustworthy 
authorities.*  Though  there  was  evidence  in  Colgan,t  and  in 
the  Martyrology  of  Donegal,  |  that  the  battlefield  lay  in  Car- 
bury,  its  exact  position  was  only  recently  discovered.  When  the 
letter  writers  of  the  Ordnance  Survey  began  their  labours  in  the 
county  Sligo,  O'Donovan  directed  one  of  them,  Mr.  O'Connor,  to 
try  to  find  out  the  scene  of  this  famous  battle ;  but  he  had  left  his 
correspondent  little  time  for  making  the  inquiry,  when,  in  a 
second  letter,  he  stated  that  he  had  just  come,  by  accident,  on 
the  desired  information.  Had  O'Donovan  possessed  a  personal 
acquaintance  with  Carbury,  and  known  it  to  contain  a  district 
called  Cooldruman,  he  must,   at  once,  have  concluded  this  to 

*  Annals  of  Tighernagh  and  Cbronicon  Scotorum — Sub  an.  ;  Usher  De 
Brittanicarum  Ecclesiarum  Primordiis,  page  694 ;  Lanigan,  Vol.  II.,  p.  147  ; 
Adamnan's  Life  of  Columba, — By  Dr.  Reeves,  p.  31. 

t"Est  locus  hie  in  regione  Carbrioe  in  Connacia,  non  procul  a  Sligoensi  oppido 
versus  aquilonem  situs." — Trias  Thaum.,  p.  452. 

J  June  11.  The  Martyrology,  however,  errs  in  placing  the  battlefield 
"  between  Drumcliff  and  Sligo,"  as  it  lies  to  the  north  of  Drumcliff,  and  not  to 
the  south,  where  the  Martyrology  locates  it. 

VOL.  IL  A 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


be  a  modernized  name  of  the  Cule  Drebene  of  Adamnan,  *  the 
Cal  Dreimbne  of  the  Four  Masters,t  and  the  Culdremhnense  of 
Colgan.  J  It  is  nowhere  stated  why  the  place  was  so  called,  but 
it  would  appear,  from  its  physical  features,  being  the  high 
ground  that  runs  away  towards  Magherow  from  the  heel  of 
Benbulben,  that  it  received  the  name  from  this  circumstance  of 
its  elevation,  Cooldruman  being,  or  signifying,  the  angle  of 
the  ridge. 

The  belligerents  on  this  occasion  were,  on  the  one  side,  the 
southern  Hy  Neills,  and,  on  the  other,  the  northern  branch  of 
that  family :  the  former  being  represented  by  Diarmaid,  the 
reigning  monarch  of  Ireland,  and  the  latter,  by  Fergus  and 
Domhnal,  on  the  part  of  the  Kinel  Owen,  and  by  Ainmire  and 
Ainnidh,  or  Ninnidh,  on  the  part  of  the  Kinel  Conel.  The 
northerners  were  aided  by  Hugh,  son  of  Eoghy  Tirmcharna,  King 
of  Connaught. 

If  we  can  rely  on  accounts  which  would  seem  somewhat 
improbable  in  themselves,  but  which  have  been  regularly  handed 
down  from  the  earliest  times,  the  causes  of  the  battle  were  the 
two  following : — In  the  first  place.  King  Diarmaid  had  seized, 
by  force,  and  put  to  death,  a  prince  of  Connaught,  named 
Curnan,  who,  after  commiting  murder  in  a  quarrel  or  brawl, 
at  the  feast  of  Tara,  had  fled  for  sanctuary  to  St.  Columbkille, 
and  was  by  him  received  into  protection.  In  the  second  place, 
the  saint  took  mortal  offence  at  a  decision  pronounced  by  the 
monarch  in  a  case  submitted  to  him  for  judgment  by  the  saint 
himself  and  St.  Finian  of  Maghbile. 

Columbkille  being  on  a  visit  with  Finian,  who  possessed  a  beau- 
tiful MS.  of  the  Psalms,  or  the  Gospels,  took  occasion  to  make  a 
copy  of  it  without  the  leave,  and,  as  afterwards  appeared,  against 
the  will,  of  the  owner.  When  Finian  learned  what  Columbkille 
had  done,  he  demanded  the  copy  as  his  right,  but  the  latter  refused 
to  part  with  what  he  maintained  to  be  now  his  personal  property, 


*  Keeves'  Adamnan,  pp.  31  and  9. 

t  Sub  anno,  555. 

t  Trias  Thaumaturga,  p.  452, 


HISTORY   OF   SLTGO. 


as  the  fruit  of  his  labour.  In  this  extremity  the  dispute  was 
carried  before  King  Diarmaid,  who  decided  in  favour  of  Finian, 
grounding  the  decision  on  this  false  analogy,  As  the  calf  goes 
with  the  cow,  so  the  copy  goes  with  the  original,* — a  wrong 
application  of  the  principle,  Partus  sequitur  ventrem. 

Disturbed  and  excited  by  this  award,  Columbkille,  after 
threatening  the  King  with  the  hostility  of  the  northern 
Hy  Neills,  retired  secretly,  according  to  one  account,  from  the 
royal  presence ;  dashed  off  openly  on  horseback,  according  to 
another;  betook  himself,  before  lie  could  be  stopped,  to  his 
kindred,  the  Cinel  Owen  and  CinelConnell;  and  called  on  them 
to  rise  and  avenge  him  for  the  indignities  and  injustice  inflicted 
on  him  by  Diarmaid: — first,  in  violating  his  right  of  sanctuary  and 
guarantee  in  the  case  of  the  Connaught  prince,  and,  next,  in 
pronouncing  an  outrageous  judgment  in  the  dispute  between 
him  and  Finian.  At  his  word  the  whole  clanna  Neill  of 
the  North  flew  to  arms  in  such  numbers  that,  including  the 
Connaught  contingent,  a  force  of  2,300  men — horse,  foot,  and 
charioteers — took  up  position  at  Cooldruman,  and  there  awaited 
the  onset  of  the  royal  army,  who  were  already  approaching  to 
attack  them. 

The  field  was  well  chosen  by  the  northern  leaders;  for,  while 
they  had  the  river  of  Drumcliff  in  front,  and  were  protected,  on 
one  flank,  by  Benbulben,  and  on  the  other,  by  the  sea,  they 
stood  themselves  on  high  ground,  from  which  they  could  bear 
down  irresistibly  on  the  enemy,  while  struggling  up  the  hill. 
The  two  saints,  Columbkille,  and  Finian  of  Moville,  accompanied 
their  respective  friends,  and,  on   the  morning   of  the   battle, 

*Keating's  account  of  the  dispute  is,  "The  Black  Book  of  Molaga  assigns 
another  cause  why  the  battle  of  Cul  Dreimhue  was  fought,  viz,,  in  consequence 
of  the  false  judgment  which  Diarmuid  gave  against  Columcille,  when  he  wrote 
the  gospel  of  the  book  of  Finnian  without  his  knowledge.  Finnian  said  that 
it  was  to  himself  belonged  the  son-book,  which  was  written  from  his  book,  and 
they  both  selected  Diarmuid  as  judge  between  them.  This  is  the  decision  that 
Diarmuid  made :  *  That  to  every  book  belongs  its  son-book,  as  to  every  cow 
belongs  her  calf.'  "  Quoted  in  Reeves'  Adamnan,  249.  The  phrase  in  Irish  is, 
Le  gach  boin  a  boinin,  acus  le  gach  leabhar  leabhran. 


4  HISTORV   OF    SLIGO. 


Columbkille  harangued  the  northern  troops  in  words  well  fitted 
to  stir  their  hearts,  and  fill  them  with  courage  in  the  conflict. 
"  As  God,  my  friends,"  said  he,  "  was  with  Moses  in  the  Red  Sea, 
so  will  He  be  with  you  to-day.  Let  me  assure  you  that  the  Lord 
is  so  angry  with  this  haughty  king,  that,  if  only  one  man  of  you 
attacked  his  army,  that  man,  single-handed,  would  scatter  the 
whole  army  in  flight."  Like  Moses,  on  the  top  of  the  hill  during 
the  battle  against  the  Amalecites,  the  two  saints  passed  the 
time  of  the  conflict  in  prayer,  each  invoking  victory  on  his  own 
side.  The  prayer  of  Columbkille — the  legend  says — was  the 
more  powerful,  so  that  the  northern  army,  aided  by  an  angel, 
in  the  guise  of  an  all-conquering  knight,  gained  a  great  victory, 
leaving  8,000  of  the  enemy  dead  upon  the  field,  and  losing 
themselves,  only  one  man,  who,  having  disobeyed  orders,  in 
going  beyond  the  limits  prescribed  by  Columbkille  and  the  leaders, 
was  left,  by  the  saint,  to  suffer  the  penalty  of  his  disobedience  at 
the  hands  of  the  southerners.  The  name  of  this  unfortunate 
man  was  Mag  Lainne ;  *  and  the  writer  takes  occasion,  in  pass- 
ing, to  mention  his  conjecture  and  decided  opinion,  that  it  was 
from  this  man  the  river  of  Drumclifi"  got  the  name  of  Lainne,  by 
w^hich  it  was  formerly  known.  The  river  was,  most  probably, 
the  limit  beyond  which  the  northern  troops  were  ordered  not  to 
move,  and  Mag  Lainne,  in  crossing  it,  was  either  drowned  or 
slain,  thus  leaving  his  name  to  the  stream,  as  a  memorial  of  the 
event,  as  Hugh  Roe  left  his  name  to  Assaroe,  under  somewhat 
similar  circumstances. 

We  thus  find  the  true  origin  of  Inis-na-Lainne,  the  Irish 
name  given  to  the  eastern  crannoge  of  Drumcliff  river.  In 
a  foot-note,  under  the  year  1029,  in  his  Four  Masters, 
O'Donovan  translates  Inis-na-Lainne  Sword  Island,  but 
quotes  no  authority  for  the  translation,  which  shows  the  etymo- 
logy to  be  only  a  guess.  Inis-na-Lainne  is  then  the  Island  of 
Lainne,  or,  as  he  is  called  in  the  Annals  of  Tighernach,  of  Lana  ; 
and  so  the  epithet  na  lann,  that  qualifies  Calry  Laithim  in  the 

*  Clironicon  Scotorum,     Sub  anno  561. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


line  already  quoted: — "  Callraidi  Laithim.  na  lann,'^  comes, 
no  doubt,  also,  from  the  same  Lainne  or  Lana,  and  not  from 
imaginary  swords. 

The  account  of  this  battle,  as  preserved  in  the  old  annals  of 
the  country,  seems  to  have  been  misunderstood,  in  one  or  two 
most  important  respects,  by  O'Donovan.  The  version  of  the  Four 
Masters  is  thus  given,  under  the  year  555  : — *'  The  battle  of  Cul 
Dreimhne  was  gained  against  Diarmaid,  son  of  Cearbhall,  by 
Fearghus  and  Domhnall,  the  two  sons  of  Muircheartach,  son  of 
Earca,  by  Ainmire,  son  of  Sedna ;  and  by  Annidh,  son  of  Duach  ; 
and  by  Aedh,  son  of  Eochaidh  Tirmcharna,  King  of  Connaught. 
It  was  in  revenge  of  the  killing  of  Curnan,  son  of  Aedh,  son  of 
Eochaidh  Tirmcharna,  while  under  the  protection  of  Colum  Cille , 
the  Clanna  Neill  of  the  North  and  the  Connaughtmen  gave  this 
battle  of  Cul  Dreimhne  to  King  Diarmaid  ;  and,  also,  on  account 
of  the  false  sentence  which  Diarmaid  passed  against  Colum  Cille 
about  a  book  of  Finnian,  when  they  left  it  to  the  award  of  Diar- 
maid, who  pronounced  the  celebrated  decision,  '^  To  every  cow 
belongs  its  calf,"  etc.,  Colum  Cille  said: — 

"  0  G  od,  wilt  thou  not  drive  ojff  the  fog,  which  envelopes  our  number, 
The  host  which  has  deprived  us  of  our  livelihood, 
The  host  which  proceeds  around  the  Cams  ! 
He  is  a  son  of  a  storm  who  betrays  us. 
My  Druid— he  will  not  refuse  me— is  the  Son  of  God,  and  may  he  side 

with  me  ; 
How  grandly  he  bears  his  course,  the  steed  of  Baedan  before  the  host  ; 
Power  by  Baedan  of  the  yellow  hair  will  be  borne  from  Ireland  on  him 
(the  steed)." 

One  of  those  lines — "  The  host  which  proceeds  around  the 
earns  " — O'Donovan  regards  as  a  suggestion,  "  that  the  monarch's 
people  were  Pagans  ;"  but  there  is  no  ground,  in  the  quotation, 
for  this  startling  statement,  which  is  at  variance  with  all  that  is 
known  of  religion  in  Ireland  at  the  time.  If  the  King  of 
Ireland's  army  was  Pagan  in  the  year  561,  about  seventy  years 
after  the  death  of  the  national  apostle,  all  that  has  been  written 
of  the  completeness  of  St.  Patrick's  mission,  and  of  the  flourish- 
ing condition  of  religion  in  the  sixth  century,  would  be  the  very 
reverse  of  the  truth.     The  line,  however,  when  rightly  under- 


6  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


stood,  lends  itself  to  no  such  conclusion  ;  for  it  merely  expresses 
the  trouble  and  regret  of  Columba,  while  standing  on  the  ridge 
of  Cooldruman,  and  looking  across  Sligo  bay  at  the  enemy,  as 
they  wound  round  the  earn  of  Knocknarea,  along  the  then  high- 
road, to  the  scene  of  the  conflict,  that  a  fog  or  mist,  which 
prevailed  at  the  moment,  prevented  him  from  descrying  fully 
their  movements  and  numbers,  which,  in  clear  weather,  would 
be  perfectly  visible  from  his  point  of  view. 

Had  O'Donovan  visited  the  battlefield,  and  looked  from  it 
at  the  still  existing  earn  of  Knocknarea,  he  would  have 
recognized  the  great  historic  value  of  the  line  in  question,  and 
realized  the  annoyance  of  Columba  at  not  being  able  to  recon- 
noitre the  enemy,  owing  to  the  mist  that  magnified  or  obscured 
their  numbers,  and  thus  gave  them  an  advantage  much  coveted 
in  w^ar — the  advantage  which  Malcolm  aimed  at  in  the  order : — 

"  Let  every  soldier  hew  him  down  a  bough, 
And  bear't  before  him  ;  thereby  shall  we  shadow 
The  numbers  of  our  host,  and  make  discovery 
Err  in  report  of  us." 

The  writer's  opinion  is  borne  out  by  Mr.  Hennessy's  translation 

of  the  Irish  lines,  which  reads  thus : — 

"OGod  ! 
Why  dost  thou  not  ward  off  the  mist 
That  we  might  reckon  the  number 
Of  the  host  which  has  taken  judgment  from  us. 
A  host  that  marches  around  a  Cairn, 
And  a  son  of  storm  that  betrays  us  ; 
My  druid — he  will  not  refuse  me—  is 
The  Son  of  God  ;  with  us  He  will  act. 
How  grandly  he  bears  his  course — 
Baedan's  steed — before  the  host ; 
Good  for  Baedan  of  the  yellow  hair 
He  will  win  his  renown  on  him." 

— Chronicon  Scotorum,  a.d.  561. 

The  Erbhe  Druadh  which  the  Annalists  mention  in  connexion 
with  the  battle,  and  from  which  O'Donovan  infers  "  the  exist- 
ence of  Druidism  in  Ireland  so  long  after  the  arrival  of  St. 
Patrick,""^  as  he  had  already  inferred  the  existence  of  Paganism 

*  O'Donovan's  Four  Masters,  a.d.  555. — Note. 


HISTORY   OF    SLIGO. 


from  the  innocent  phrase  describing  the  enemy's  line  of  march, 
will,  no  doubt,  be  found,  some  day,  to  admit  an  equally  satis- 
factory explanation  ;  though  the  writer  regrets  that,  from  his 
very  imperfect  acquaintance  with  the  Irish  language,  he  is 
little  able  to  contribute  anything  towards  the  removal  of  what- 
ever difficulty  may  be  in  the  way. 

That  Druidism,  as  a  specific  organised  religion,  if  it  ever 
existed  in  Ireland,  which  may  well  be  doubted,*  had 
existence  there  in  561,  there  is  no  good  ground  for  thinking. 
No  doubt,  persons  called  simply  Druids  may  have  been 
met  with,  about  this  time,  in  Ireland  as  in  other  countries, 
but  it  will  be  found,  on  examination,  that  they  were 
Christians,  and  that  they  had  the  name  of  Druids,  not  from  any 
religious  tenets  or  practices,  but  from  their  peculiar  knowledge, 

*  A  powerful  article  in  241st  number  of  the  Edinburgh  Review,  throws  great 
light  on  this  subject.  It  is  supposed  to  be  from  the  pen  of  John  Hill  Burton, 
the  latest,  and  perhaps  the  best  historian  of  Scotland,  and  in  the  article,  the 
reviewer  examines  with  searching  criticism  those  passages  of  Csesar  (De  Bell. 
Gall,  vi.,  12,  13.)  ;  Pliny  (Nat.  Hist,  xvi.,  95)  ;  Tacitus  (Ann.  xiv.,  c.  30.)  ;  and 
more  recent  writers,  on  which  the  whole  system  of  Druidism  has  been  built  up, 
and  goes  far,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  to  show  that  they  rest  on  no  solid  historical 
basis,  but  are  rather  the  outcome  of  rumour,  assumption,  and  idle  fancy.  Irish 
writers,  who  treat  of  the  subject,  seem  equally  unable  to  adduce  tangible  proof 
for  the  existence  of  this  religious  system,  as  may  be  seen,  by  reading  over  care- 
fully what  Moore  has  on  it  in  his  History  (Vol.  I.,  cap.  3,  4). 

The    name    Druid,    instead    of  signifying    a    priest    of    any  kind,  would 
seem  to  designate   a  wise  man,  or  counsellor  ;    and    it    may    be    mentioned 
in    confirmation  of  this  conjecture,    that    the    words    in   the  Gospel  of  St. 
Matthew:    "Behold    wise    men    came    from    the     East,"    are    rendered    in 
the    Irish  version,    by    the    equivalent,     "  Behold   Druids    came   from    the 
East."    (Moore,    Vol.    I.,    p.    53.)     And    Druid   appears   to    have  the  same 
meaning  in  the  earliest  Irish  writings,  as,  e.g.,  in  the  Battle  of  Magh  Rath, 
where  Dubhaiadh,   the   Druid,    always  figures  as   wise   man  and   counsellor 
(Battle  of  Magh  Rath,  an  Ancient  Historical  Tale,  &c.,  by  John  O'Donovan, 
pp.  47,  51,  61,  etc.).     At  page  63,  this  supposed  idolater  speaks  thus  : — 
"  0  host  of  many  a  youth  and  steed  ! 
The  son  of  Aedh,  son  of  Ainmire, 
Through  the  truth  of  his  judgment — no  falsehood — 
So  protected  by  Christ,"  \ 

So  late  as  the  close  of  the  11th  century,  "  the  Druid,  Ma  Carthaigh,  was  chief 
poet  of  Connaught,"  (Annals  of  Four  Masters,  1098),  and  few  will  be  bold 
enough  to  set  down  this  Druid  as  an  idolatrous  priest. 


8  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


or  wisdom,  or  office.  Indeed,  one  of  the  above  lines,  that 
in  which  Columba  says  that  his  Druid  is  the  Son  of  God, 
goes  far  to  prove  this. 

It  may  be  idle  to  conjecture ;  hut  may  not  the  Druid  of  Cool- 
druman  be  the  person  who  arranged  the  plan  of  the  battle,  and 
the  limits  of  the  battlefield?  The  conjecture  derives  great 
probability  from  the  statement  of  the  Four  Masters  that  Mag 
Lainne  lost  his  life  for  "  passing  beyond  the  Erbe  Druadh,"  i.e. 
the  appointed  limits.  This  opinion  is  infinitely  more  likely  than 
O'Donovan's,  which  would  fill  Ireland  with  heathens,  at  a  time 
when,  if  any  reliance  is  to  be  placed  on  history,  the  state  of 
the  true  religion  was  more  flourishing  than  at  any  period 
before  or  since.  Or,  may  not  the  Druid,  in  the  circumstances, 
have  resembled  somewhat  the  herald  of  olden  and  mediaeval  wars, 
and  been  employed  to  go  through  some  form  or  ceremony  to 
proclaim  the  war  just  on  the  part  of  the  king,  and,  perhaps 
to  commend  it  to  the  God  of  battles  ? 

Two  years  after  this  battle,  in  which  Columba  took  so  promi- 
nent a  part,  he  quitted  Ireland  to  devote  himself  to  the  con- 
version of  the  Picts,  The  exact  circumstances,  under  which  the 
saint  left,  are  not  well  known.  According  to  the  Rev.  Alban 
Butler,  Columba  left  because  he  had  brouc^ht  on  himself  the  hosti- 
lity  of  Xing  Diarmaid  "  by  his  zeal  in  reproving  public  crimes  ;  " 
but,  according  to  a  much  more  common  opinion,  whether  more 
or  less  probable,  his  departure  was  owing  to  the  part  he  had 
taken  in  the  sanguinary  conflict  of  Cooldruman. 

Those  who  hold  this  latter  view,  are  still  divided  among  them- 
selves; for  some  will  have  it  that  he  was  urged,  if  not  ordered,  by  a 
synod  of  ecclesiastics,  or  by  his  confessor,  to  expatriate  himself; 
while  others  maintain,  that  the  resolution  of  labouriiDg  among  the 
Picts  was  the  free  and  spontaneous  dictate  of  his  own  conscience, 
prompting  him  to  the  sacrifice  in  atonement  for  the  share  he 
had,  probably  from  the  best  motives,  in  the  shedding  of  so  much 
blood.  Under  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  which  it  would 
be  out  of  place  to  give  here  in  detail,  the  inhabitants  of  Cool- 
druman   may   fairly   claim   for    it    the   distinction    of    being 


HISTORY   6f   SLIGO. 


associated  with  the  conversion  of  the  Picts,  and  the  spread  of 
religion  through  the  whole  north  and  north-west  of  Scotland. 

In  passing  on  to  LissADELL,  through  the  village  of  Carny, 
we  may  pause  a  moment  to  correct  a  common  error  regarding 
the  name  of  this  village.  The  people  of  the  neighbourhood  take 
the  name  to  come  from  some  sepulchral  earn,  which  they 
suppose  to  have  existed  there  in  the  olden  time,  but  which,  they 
say,has  long  since  disappeared ;  and  a  recent  writer  or  two,deceived 
by  the  local  opinion,  have  adopted  the  error,  and  given  it  the 
dignity  of  print.  The  denomination,  however,  is  more  common- 
place, being  merely  the  name  of  a  family  called  Carny,  who 
owned  the  land  in  the  past. 

This  is  quite  clear  from  old  maps  and  official  documents. 
In  Potty's  printed  maps,  the  place  is  called  Farrencarny, 
which  signifies  the  land  of  Carny,  as  Farrenduany,  near 
Sligo,  signifies  the  land  of  Duany,  or  Devanny,  and  Far- 
renimaly,  the  land  of  Maly,  or  O'Maly ;  it  has  the  same 
name  in  the  depositions  regarding  non-juring  priests,  taken 
before  Sligo  magistrates,  in  1711,  when  two  witnesses, 
Hugh  Gallagher,  of  Farrencarny — ancestor  probably  of  John 
Gallagher,  relieving  officer— and  Thomas  Ward,  of  Farrencarny, 
were  deponents  ;  and  in  the  Grand  Jury  books  of  the  county, 
where  we  find  a  presentment  passed  at  the  Lent  Assizes,  of  1813, 
to  Sir  G.  Booth,  Bart.,  and  John  Jones,  Esq.,  "  To  build  two 
battlements  at  the  north  and  south  sides  of  the  bridge  of 
Farrencarny."  The  earn  then  must  be  given  up,  and  we  can 
afford  to  part  with  it,  as  there  are  more  cams  still  remaining  in 
the  county  Sligo,  than  in  any  other  county  of  Ireland. 

LissADELL,  the  seat  of  the  Gore  Booth  family,  stands  about 
midway  between  Benbulben  and  the  northern  entrance  of  Sligo 
bay.  It  has  the  name — in  Irish  Lis-an-doillf  fort  of  the  blind 
man — from  some  blind  man  who  formerly  occupied  it,  whose 
name,  however,  has  not  come  down  to  us.  We  find  mention  of 
the  place  in  the  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  under  the  years 
1213  and  1397.  At  the  former  date,  Lissadell  was  occupied  by 
a  poet,  Murray  O'Daly,  who,  if  we  are  to  rely  on  the  Annals, 


10  HISTORY   OF   SI.IGO. 


occasioned  no  small  stir  in  the  country ;  for,  being  asked  for  his 
quota  of  the  tribute,  which  Carbury  used  then  to  pay  to  the 
Tirconnell   chiefs,    he,    with    the   characteristic    heat    of  the 
"  irritable  genus,"  flying  into  a  passion,  snatched  up  a  battle- 
axe,  and  slew,  on  the  spot,  the  collector  who  made  the  demand. 
Fearing  the  vengeance  of  Donnell  More  O'Donnell,  the  then 
chief  of  Tirconnell,  O'Daly  flew  for  protection  to  Eichard  De 
Burgo,   the   "great    Lord    of    Connaught;"   but    De    Burgo, 
unwilling  to  offend  O'Donnell,  who  was  already  in  pursuit  of 
the  culprit,  sent  away  the  trembling  poet  to  O'Brien,  Lord  of 
Thomond,  who,  in   turn,  passed  on   the  frightened  fugitive  to 
Dublin.     But  the  northern  chief  would  not  be  thus  baulked  ; 
and  going  home  and  collecting  additional  forces,  he  marched  on 
Dublin,  and  compelled  its  inhabitants  to  banish  O'Daly.     The 
Dubliners  shipped  him  off  to  Scotland,  whither,  no  doubt,  the 
relentless  O'Donnellwould  have  gone  in  pursuit,  had  not  the  bard, 
finding  all  his  powerful  friends  fail  him,  fallen  back  on  his  own 
resources,  and  composed  a  glowing  panegyric  on  Donnell  More, 
which  so  mollified  and  gratified  the  chieftain,  that,  to  use  the 
w^ords  of  the  Annalists,  "  he  received  the  poet  into  his  friend- 
ship, and  gave  him  lands  and  possessions,  as  was  pleasing  to 
him."* 

In  1397,  Lissadell  was  again  the  scene  of  startling  occurrences. 
The  O'Donnell  of  the  day — Turlough — and  his  allies,  the  sons 
of  Cathal  Og  O'Connor,  having  gained,  as  they  thought,  a 
victory  over  the  Murtough  Baccagh  branch  of  the  O'Connors, 
proceeded  to  divide  among  themselves  the  lands  of  Lissadell  and 
the  neighbourhood,  as  the  spoils  of  the  victory ;  but,  while  the 
allies  were  thus  engaged,  assisted  by  O'Donnell,  the  Murtough 
Baccagh  O'Connors  took  up  position  unobserved  at  "  the  foot  of 
Bunbrenoige,"  apparently  the  portion  of  the  Oyster  Bed,  which 
lies  to  the  west  of  the  Glen  or  Bunbrenoige  stream.  While  they 
were  here,  a  mounted  party,  despatched  by  the  sons  of  Cathel 

*  The  narrative  of  the  Four    Masters  is  very    animated,  and  will  repay 
perusal. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  11 


Og,  and  comiDg  from  the  direction  of  Sligo,  tried  to  surround 
them,  but  were  foiled  in  the  attempt — the  tide,  which  was  full 
in,  hindering  an  attack  on  the  sea  side,  and  Bunbrenoige,  which 
was  impracticable  to  horses,  preventing  an  attack  on  the  land 
side.  Murtough  Baccagh,  seeing  the  discomfiture  of  his 
enemies,  dashed  upon  them,  drove  them  from  Lissadell,  and 
chased  them  before  him  through  Lower  Carbury,  and  across  the 
Erne.* 

It  was  only  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  the 
Gores  began  to  reside  at  Lissadell,  and  only  in  1837,  1838,  and 
1839,  their  present  residence  was  built.  With  a  fine  southern 
aspect,  with  a  rich  soil  and  gently  sloping  surface  down  to  the 
sea,  and  with  magnificent  views  and  surroundings,  Lissadell  is  a 
most  eligible  site  for  a  first-class  mansion  and  demesne. 

The  best  view  of  the  ground  may  he  had  from  the  strand,  on 
the  Bosses'  side  of  the  Drumcliff  channel.  When  you  look  at 
Lissadell  from  this  point,  and  see  the  protended  curve  of  the 
side  that  overhangs  the  channel,  the  pointed,  or  apparently 
pointed,  termination  of  the  Ballinful  side,  and  the  vale  or  hollow 
to  the  west,  on  the  Dunfore,  and  to  the  east,  on  the  Bally gilgan 
side,  you  can't  help  finding  a  resemblance  between  the  shape  of 
the  place,  and  that  of  the  shells  of  the  Cardium  genus,  which  lie 
at  your  feet,  with  this  difference,  that  the  ground  is  flatter  and 
less  rounded  at  the  sides  than  the  shell. 

About  the  centre  of  the  area,  stands  Lissadell  House,  or,  as 
it  is  commonly  called  in  the  neighbourhood,  Lissadell  Court — 
a  name  which  the  stately  pile  well  deserves  for  the  magnitude 
of  its  proportions,  the  beauty  and  finish  of  its  building  material, 
which  is  Ballysadare  limestone,  and  the  simple  but  classic 
elegance  of  its  design.  Look  at  it  from  what  side  you  will,  and 
you  are  struck  with  the  solemn  and  almost  conscious  dignity 
with  which  it  reposes,  and  presides  over  the  scene.  Without 
turret  or  pinnacle,  without  pier  or  buttress,  without  crocket, 

*  O'Donovan  remarks,  that  "  the  original  text  is  here  made  obscure  and  im- 
perfect by  the  Four  Masters  ;"  but  the  meaning  of  the  passage  must  be  that 
given  above,  whatever  may  be  said  of  their  text. 


12  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


niche,  or  canopy,  without  any  of  those  semi-detached  appendages, 
which  architects  sometimes  tack  on  to  their  work  to  arrest 
attention,  this  pile,  with  its  regular  fa9ades,  its  horizontal 
lines,  and  its  uniform  opes,  is  more  effective  than  if  it  were 
buttressed,  niched,  crocketed,  and  canopied  all  round. 

In  looking  from  the  E/Osses  strand  at  the  demesne,  it  seems  to 
be  all  covered  with  timber,  without  any  of  those  lawns  or  verdant 
scopes  which  add  such  beauty  to  woodland  scenery;  but  on  visit- 
ing the  place,  it  is  found  to  contain  a  goodly  proportion  of  open 
spaces,  glades,  and  vistas.  The  plantations  are  numerous  and 
thick  for  the  purposes  of  shelter,  which  is  greatly  needed,  as  the 
winds  tell  with  exceptional  effect  on  the  spot,  owing  to  the 
exposed  situation  and  the  proximity  to  the  Atlantic. 

It  w^as  only  by  great  skill  and  management  these  disadvantages 
could  be  overcome.  But  by  planting  the  hardier  species  of  trees 
over  the  sea,  along  the  west  border  of  the  demesne,  and  on  the 
higher  knolls,  and  by  planting  them  thick,  a  barrier  was  raised, 
on  which  the  storm  spends  much  of  its  force  before  it  reaches  the 
more  low  lying  stretches,  where,  therefore,  softer  and  more 
ornamental  timber  is  made  to  flourish.  Still  a  contest  goes 
always  on  between  art  and  nature  ;  and  if  the  sickly  hue  of 
leaf,  and  shrivelled  appearance  of  stem  or  trunk,  which  one 
observes,  here  and  there,  reminds  one  of  the  great  principle, 
"  Naturam  repelles  furca,  tamen  usque  recurrit,"  on  the  other 
hand  the  flourishing  state  of  most  of  the  trees  through  the 
grounds,  and  in  the  plantations,  the  soft  bloom  of  the  flowers  in 
the  gardens,  and  the  vivid  green  of  the  grass  in  the  lawns, 
supply  ample  proof — that  art,  and  outlay,  and  energy,  can 
always  go  a  good  way  in  counteracting  and  neutralizing  the 
most  adverse  condition  of  things. 

And  this  observation  applies  to  the  Glen  even  more  than  to 
other  parts  of  the  demesne.  The  Glen  is  formed  by  a  stream 
which  runs  down  from  Benbulben,  and  works  its  way  on  to  the 
sea  through  Lissadell.  In  old  times  the  stream  was  in  bad 
odour,  and  received,  in  consequence,  the  name  of  Brenoige,  or 
stinking  runlet ;  but  by  cleansing  it  and  altering  somewhat  its 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  13: 


channel ;  by  turning  into  it  an  additional  supply  of  water ;  by 
making  several  small  cascades  where  the  levels  admitted  them ; 
and  by  planting  its  banks  with  fragrant  shrubs  and  flowers;  the 
Gore  Booths  have  so  altered  its  character,  that  it  is  now  the 
gem  of  the  demesne,  and  deserves  the  name  of  the  Sparkling 
Sweet-scented  Streamlet.  Owing  to  the  shelter  and  warmth 
of  the  deep  glen,  and  to  the  running  water,  delicate  exotics  that 
would  hardly  live  a  day  in  most  other  parts  of  the  neighbour- 
hood, thrive  here  the  whole  year  round,  as  in  their  native 
habitat. 

A  fine  view  is  had  from  the  Court  of  the  mountains  of 
Donegal,  Fermanagh,  Leitrim,  Mayo,  and  more  especially  Sligo. 
As  the  Sligo  ranges  all  stretch  out  and  dip  towards  the  South, 
they  are  comparatively  tame  when  looked  at  in  that  direction, 
but  the  northern  sides  being  bold,  precipitous,  and  soaring, 
awaken  in  the  spectator  ideas  and  sensations  of  the  sublime  ; 
"  for  in  no  district  of  the  Britis'h  Isles,"  writes  Professor  Hull, 
in  his  Geology  of  Ireland,  p.  32,  "  are  there  grander  escarpments 
and  terraces  than  in  that  which  lies  between  Sligo  Bay  and 
Lough  Erne,  overlooking  the  southern  shores  of  Donegal  Bay." 

It  is  this  view  the  inmates  of  the  Court  have  always  under 
the  eye ;  and  as  natural  scenery  contributes  largely  to  the  for- 
mation of  character,  it  may  be  very  much  owing  to  the  huge 
perpendicular  "  Heels "  of  Benbulben  and  Benweeskin,  the 
towering  sides  of  Slish,  Slieve-da-En,  and  Slieve  Gamh,  and  the 
roaring  waves,  which  are  always  breaking  on  the  wild  coast  of 
Carbury,  that  the  family  have  got  their  marked  taste  for 
adventurous  sports;  that  Sir  Henry,  leaving  the  timid  hare,  and 
the  half  domesticated  pheasant  to  less  manly  sportsmen,  now 
and  again,  betakes  himself  to  high  latitudes,  where  his  quarry 
on  land  is  the  polar  bear,  and  on  sea,  the  Arctic  whale  ;*  and, 
that  even  the  ladies  of  the  family  share,  in  large  measure,  this 
daring  spirit,  though  duly  restrained  and  refined  by  feminine 
delicacy  and  grace. 

*  See  in  Sligo  Independent^  October  25th,    1884,   au  interesting  article  on 
•'  Sir  Henry  Gore  Booth's  Arctic  Expedition." 


14  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


This  propensity  must  have  developed  itself  early,  judging  by 
a  Lady  Gore,  who,  according  to  the  folk  lore  of  the  neighbour- 
hood, forced  her  coachman  to  drive  her  round  the  edge  of  Derk, 
at  Knocklane,  a  semi-circular  chasm  of  seething,  roaring  waters, 
more  frightful  to  look  at,  than  the  crater  of  a  volcano  in  full 
operation.  The  coachman,  as  was  natural,  demurred  at  first  to 
the  order  ;  hut  Lady  Gore  drawing  forth  a  pistol,  and  giving  him 
the  alternative  of  its  contents,  or  compliance  with  her  wish, 
poor  Jehu,  thinking  it  as  w^ell  to  have  his  quietus  from  water 
as  from  fire,  screwed  his  courage  to  the  sticking  point,  and 
whipped  up  the  horses.  "  Fortune  favours  the  brave  ; "  and 
the  resolute  lady  accomplished,  with  flying  colours,  the  perilous 
feat  on  which  she  had  set  her  heart,  and  thus  gained  for  herself 
local  fame,  which  is  likely  to  last  as  long  as  the  hill  of  Knock- 
lane  itself.  If  this  heroine  lived  now,  she  would  still,  no  doubt, 
have  the  fantastic  feat  of  Derk  all  to  herself,  but,  if  she  tried  a 
contest,  in  managing  with  grace  and  skill  a  four-in-hand,  or  in 
crossing,  with  nerve  and  dash,  a  high-fenced  country,  after  the 
hounds,  she  would  probably  find  more  than  a  match  in  the 
young  ladies  of  her  own  family,  in  the  fourth  quarter  of  the 
nineteenth  century. 

The  Gore  Booth  family  rank  among  the  highest  in  the 
country.  Sir  Paul  Gore,  or  Goore,  was  the  first  of  them  that 
settled  in  Ireland.  Coming  over  from  England,  in  1598,  as 
commander  of  a  troop  of  horse,  he  served  under  Mountjoy,  and 
soon  gained  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  that  able  man.  Being 
charged  by  him  to  escort  to  Athlone,  Rory  0*Donnell,  and 
probably.  Sir  Donough  O'Connor,  who  were  the  last  of  the  Irish 
chiefs  to  submit  to  Elizabeth,  he  acquitted  himself  so  well  of 
this  delicate  commission,  that  he  w^as  rewarded,  first,  with  a 
grant  of  lands  from  the  Queen,  and,  secondly,  after  her  death, 
with  another  from  James. 

While  Sir  Paul's  eldest  son,  Ealph,  is  the  ancestor  of  the 
Earls  of  Ross;  and  Arthur,  his  second  son,  ancestor  of  the  Earls 
of  Arran ;  Francis,  the  fourth  son,  is  the  founder  of  the  Gore 
Booth  family.     Sir  Francis  w^as  equally  fortunate  in    politics 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  15 


and  matrimony.  By  his  marriage  with  Miss  Parke,  daughter 
and  heiress  of  Captain  Robert  Parke,  he  secured  not  only  an 
influential  alliance  in  the  county,  hut  also  a  considerable  acces- 
sion of  property.*  In  politics,  while  taking  an  active  part  with 
the  Usurpers,  he  managed  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the 
Eoyalists  so  much,  that  he  obtained  at  the  Restoration,  a  large 
grant  of  lands.  His  refusal,  as  Commissioner  of  the  High 
Court  of  Justice,  in  1652,  to  concur  in  the  sentence,  that  con- 
demned Lord  Mayo  to  death,  gained  him  the  good  opinion  of 
all  moderate  men.f 

The  pleasant  and  profitable  proceeding  of  marrying  an  heiress, 
was  repeated  in  the  Gore  Booth  family,  in  1711,  when 
Nathan ael  Gore,  of  Ardtermon,  Sir  Francis'  grandson,  married 
Letitia,  only  daughter  and  heiress  of  Humphrey  Booth.  Captain 
Humphrey  Booth  was  one  of  the  Tituladoes  of  Sligo  town 
under  the  Cromwellian  regime;  and  contriving  to  run  with  the 
hare  as  well  as  to  hunt  with  the  hounds,  he  continued,  in  1687, 
in  possession  of  various  houses  and  lands  in  and  around  Sligo, 
including  the  Custom  House,  Oyster  Island,  a  park  in  Knappagh 
More,  Oakfield,  and  Rathbroghan,  with  its  mills.j 

In  the  Gore  Booth  pedigree,  occur  the  names  of  some  men  of 
distinguished  ability.  Sir  Paul  himself,  from  the  manner  in 
which  he  demeaned  himself,  as  servitor ;  as  undertaker ;  in  war 
and  in  politics ;  under  Elizabeth  and  under  James  ;  must  have 
been  a  man  of  vigorous  and  versatile  talents,  though  the  part 
he  is  supposed  to  have  had  in  the  massacre  of  Island  Magee, 
now  Tory  Island,  has  left  a  dark  spot  on  his  character.! 

A  far  greater  man,  a  man  second  to  no  one  of  his  time,  was 

*  See  page  462,    Vol.  I. 

t  The  Commissioners  who  acted  as  judges  at  the  trial  of  Lord  Mayo,  which 
lasted  from  the  30th  December,  to  the  12th  January,  were  Sir  Charles  Coote, 
Peter  Stubbers,  Humphrey  Hurd,  Francis  Gore,  John  Desborough,  Thomas 
Davis,  Robert  Ormsby,  Robert  Clerk,  Charles  Holcroft,  John  Eyre,  and 
Alexander  Staples.  Lord  Mayo  was  condemned  and  shot ;  but  Gore,  Davis, 
Clerk,  and  Holcroft,  were  for  acquittal Cox,  Hihernia  Anglicana. 

X  Tripartite  Deed  of  Partition  of  the  county  Sligo  estate, 

§  The  Irish  Monthly,  for  October,  1881,  in  a  paper  of  great  value,  being 


16  HISTORY    OF   SLTGO. 


Thomas  Wentworth,  Earl  of  Strafford,  whom  Sir  Paul,  by 
marrying  the  Earl's  niece,  has  connected  with  the  Gore  family. 
And  Sir  Oliver  Lambert,  Governor  of  Connaught,  who  became  a 
link  in  the  lineage,  by  the  marriage  of  Emilia  Newcomen  and 
Sir  Robert  Gore  Booth,  distinguished  himself  in  the  Low 
Countries,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  as  a  statesman  and  soldier  in 
the  reigns  of  Elizabeth  and  James;  though  common  honesty  was 
not  among  his  virtues,  as  he  was  always  trying  to  aggrandize 
himself  with  what  belonged  to  others — a  failing  which  brought 
on  him  more  than  once  the  reprehension  of  his  superiors,  in- 
cluding Lord  Mountjoy  himself. 

The  more  modern  representatives  of  the  family  have  taken 
no  great  part  in  public  life.  Though  the  late  Sir  Robert  Gore 
Booth  loved  a  seat  in  Parliament,  and  held  one  up  to  his  death, 
his  ambition  went  no  further,  and  he  left  to  others  place  and 
office,  for  which,  perhaps,  he  felt  himself  but  indifferently  fitted. 
His  tastes  were  for  a  private  station,  the  duties  of  which  no  one 
knew  better  how  to  discharge.  His  time  was  divided  betvveen 
London  and  Lissadell.  While  in  London  he  was  much  in  society, 
both  as  a  generous,  hospitable  host,  and  as  a  favourite  and  honoured 
guest;  and  at  Lissadell  he  passed  the  time  in  patronizing  local 
sports,  helping  local  charities,  at  least  those  of  his  own 
co-religionists,  and  making  things  pleasant  for  his  servants, 
dependents,  neighbours,  and  all  round.  As  a  landlord  Sir 
Robert  must  be  classed  with  the  best ;  for  he  let  his  lands  at 
their  value,  and  never  pressed  for  rent,  as  is  sometimes  done  by 

written  by  Very  Rev.  Dr.  Russell,  the  late  learned,  accomplished,  and  amiable 
president  of  Maynooth  College. 

This  massacre  is  said  to  have  occasioned  the  outrages,  of  which  the  Irish 
were  guilty.  "Soon  after  this,"  writes  Colonel  Henry  O'Neill,  "the  Scotts, 
in  the  North,  began  their  bloody  massacres  in  the  counties  of  Downe  and 
Antrim,  at  Island  Magee,  Ballydavey,  Clonleek,  Cumber,  Gallagh,  and 
Magheravorn,  500  poor  souls  destroyed  without  regard  to  age  or  sex,  and  that 
before  one  drop  of  blood  was  spilt  by  any  Roman  Catholick  ;  though,  afterwards 
when  these  unparalleled  murthers  were  known,  some  of  the  loosest  of  the  Irish 
rabble,  being  exasperated  thereat,  did,  by  ivay  of  retaliation,  muither  some 
British  at  Portadown,  Clancant,  Curbridge,  and  Belturbet."— Gilbert's 
History  of  Affairs  in  Ireland,  1641,  1652  ;  Part  III.,  p.  197. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  33 


the  wretched  tenant.  "  These  people,"  says  Lord  Palmerston, 
"  taking  a  certain  quantity  of  ground,  they  reserve  to  themselves 
a  small  portion,  and  let  out  the  rest  to  under  tenants.  They 
make  these  unfortunate  devils  pay  the  rent  of  the  landlord,  and 
an  excess,  which  they  keep  to  themselves,  and  call  a  profit  rent ; 
while  they  live  upon  the  part  they  reserve  without  paying  any 
rent  for  it."  *  Of  those  bloodsuckers  his  lordship  resolved  to 
get  rid,  by  degrees,  conforming  in  this  to  the  desire  of  his 
tenants  and  to  the  advice  of  Arthur  Young,  who  conjures  land- 
lords, "  as  friends  to  themselves,  to  their  posterity,  and  to  their 
country,  to  let  their  estates  to  none  but  the  occupying  tenantry."! 
Other  landlords,  if  the  case  was  theirs,  would  soon  make  short 
work  of  the  four  or  five  acre  cotters ;  but  Lord  Palmerston, 
instead  of  throwing  them  out  on  the  high  road,  as  others,  in  his 
place,  would  certainly  have  done,  felt  it  a  duty  to  leave  them 
where  they  were,  and  to  better  their  condition  by  freeing  them 
from  the  incubus  of  the  middleman  or  petty  landlord,  by 
enlarging  their  holdings,  as  the  reclamation  of  his  bogs  enabled 
him,  and  by  providing  them,  in  the  meantime,  with  remunera- 
tive employment. 

His  measures  against  the  blowing  sand  were  entirely  efficacious. 
Knowing,  no  doubt,  that  bent  (Agrostis)  was  successfully 
employed  in  parts  of  the  Continent  for  the  purpose,  he  planted 
this  grass  round  the  edges  of  the  exposed  tracts,  and  soon  stopped 
the  ravages  of  the  sand.  In  this  he  not  only  benefited  himself 
and  his  tenants,  but  proved  himself  a  public  benefactor ;  for  Sir 
Eobert  Gore  Booth,  Mr.  Gethin,  and  other  landlords,  whose 
lands  by  the  sea-shore  had  suffered,  and  were  suffering  like  his, 
followed  his  example  in  planting  bent,  so  that  thousands  of  acres, 
lying  between  his  property  and  Sligo,  were  saved  from 
threatened  inundation,  and  thousands,  even  after  a  little, 
restored  to  tillage  and  pasturage. 


*  Letter  from  Lord  Palmerston,  dated  ClifiPoney,  September  12th,  1808. 

t  '*  A  Tour  in  Ireland."  By  Arthur  Young,  Esq.,  F.R.S.  Vol.  II.  Appendix, 
page  21.  As  to  the  wishes  of  the  tenants,  Lord  Palmerston  writes: — "Their 
universal  cry  was,  give  us  roads,  but  no  petty  landlords." 

VOL.  II.  C 


34  HISTORY   OF   SLTGO. 


His  stretch  of  bog  he  treated  with  the  same  satisfactory- 
results.  Associating  with  himself  Mr.  Nimmo,  the  distingushed 
engineer,  they  studied  on  the  spot  all  the  conditions  of  the 
task,  and  applied  to  its  execution  first-rate  skill  and  unstinted 
capital.  At  first  they  were  thinking  of  constructing  an  iron 
railroad  six  miles  long,  by  which  shelly  sand  could  be  brought 
from  the  beach  to  the  bog,  and  in  return,  peat  brought  down 
from  the  bog  to  the  shore ;  but  on  second  thought  they 
abandoned  this  project  as  less  suited  to  their  purpose,  and  made, 
instead  of  the  railway,  macadamized  roads.  Such  was  the 
vigour  with  which  they  proceeded,  that,  in  the  October  of  1826, 
the  first  year  of  the  works,  they  had  thirty  acres  of  the  "  worst 
bog  and  most  troublesome  to  cultivate,"  producing  potatoes, 
turnips,  and  rape  ;  though  in  the  previous  March,  the  land 
''was  wet  unwalkable  bog,"  as  Lord  Palmerston  writes.  The 
modus  agendi  was,  first,  "  to  drain  the  ground  slightly,  which 
was  begun  in  April ;  then  to  dig  up  the  surface,  and  pile  it  in 
heaps,  and  burn  it ;  then  to  level  the  ground,  and  form  it  into 
ridges,  and  plant  it  with  potatoes,  or  sow  it  with  turnips  and 
rape,  throwing  the  ashes  on  as  manure,  and  adding  a  top- 
dressing  of  sea  sand  and  clay."  Proceeding  with  the  recla- 
mation at  the  rate  of  sixty  acres  a  year,  his  Lordship  soon  had 
it  in  his  power  to  enlarge  the  small  holdings  of  his  tenants. 

A  much  weightier  and  more  expensive  work  was  the  harbour, 
which  he  constructed  at  Mullaghmore.  Eight  hundred  feet 
long;  three  hundred  feet  wide;  fourteen  feet  deep  at  spring 
tide ;  with  a  massive  well  built  quay  running  all  round  ;  a  sub- 
stantial solid  jetty,  projecting  beyond  the  entrance  of  the  port 
several  hundred  feet  into  the  sea,  so  as  to  protect  vessels  from 
the  west  wind  while  entering  the  harbour  in  a  storm ;  and  an 
excellent  anchorage  in  front,  where  vessels  might  ride  secure 
while  waiting  the  rise  of  the  tide,  to  enable  them  to  enter ;  this 
great  undertaking,  which  would  reflect  credit  on  the  govern- 
ment of  the  country,  if  executed  by  advances  from  the  public 
treasury,  was  begun,  carried  on,  and  finished  at  Lord  Palmer- 
ston's  sole  expense.     This  harbour,  which,  during  construction 


HISTORY    OF   SLIGO.  35 


had  to  be  enlarged  beyond  the  original  design,  and  otherwise 
remodelled,  cost  him  much  more  time  and  money  than  he  had 
reckoned  on.  To  bring  it  business,  he  relied  not  only  on  the 
fishery,  of  which  it  was  to  be  the  head-quarters,  but  also  on  a 
manufacturing  village  he  was  establishing  in  the  centre  of  the 
estate ;  on  a  linen  market  he  had  started ;  on  an  export  of  turf 
to  Sligo  and  the  coast  beyond,  which  he  anticipated  ;  and  on  a 
railway  between  Mullaghmore  and  Lough  Erne,  which  he  hoped 
to  see  constructed.  These  expectations  have  not  been  fulfilled. 
Though  his  main  purpose,  that  of  developing  the  fishery,  has 
been  in  considerable  measure  accomplished,  there  is  little  sign  as 
yet  of  the  commerce  he  expected  to  spring  up ;  but  there  is  a  good 
time  coming ;  and  when  the  Sligo  and  B  undo  ran  Tramway  is 
completed,  and  connects  the  northern  and  western  railway 
systems  with  Mullaghmore,  it  is  likely  enough  that  Lord 
Palmerston's  previsions  will  be  realized. 

And  he  took  steps  to  make  Mullaghmore  a  watering  place 
also,  or  sea-side  resort,  but  one,  apparently,  of  too  exclusive  a 
kind ;  for  while  he  put  up  for  the  rich  a  terrace  of  fine  houses, 
to  let  at  ten  or  twenty  pounds  a  month,  he  made  no  provision 
for  the  lodging  of  persons  belonging  to  the  humble  classes.  As 
the  rich  have  already  so  many  of  the  good  things  of  Ireland,  it 
was  hardly  fair  of  him  to  create  for  them  a  monopoly  of  the 
finest  sea  bathing  on  the  western  coast.  Whatever  may  have 
been  his  motive  in  this,  we  may  be  sure,  that  it  was  acted  on  in 
the  interest  of  his  tenants,  for  every  line  of  his  letters  from 
Cliffoney,  and  every  act  of  his  there,  show  that  this  was  the 
paramount  consideration  with  him  in  the  management  of  his 
Sligo  estates. 

The  present  owner  of  the  Palmerston  estate,  the  Honourable 
Evelyn  Ashley,  resides  a  good  part  of  the  year  at  Mullagh- 
more ;  and  the  writer,  having  taken  occasion  of  a  recent  visit  to 
Mullaghmore,  to  find  out  the  opinions  the  inhabitants  entertain 
of  that  gentleman,  is  glad  to  be  able  to  report,  that  they  all 
speak  in  terms  of  admiration  and  gratitude  of  the  neighbourly 
kindness  and  attentions  of  himself  and  his  family. 


36  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


While  tlius  earnest  in  labouring  for  the  material  well-being 
of  his  tenants,  Lord  Palmerston  was  not  less  zealous  in  pro- 
moting their  mental  and  moral  improvement.  From  the  very 
beginning  he  had  this  duty  at  heart ;  and  in  the  first  letter  he 
wrote  from  Clififoney,  after  examining  the  estate,  he  reckons  as 
the  "  first  objects  he  must  set  about,  to  put  the  parish  church  in 
repair,  and  to  make  it  fit  for  service,  and  to  establish  schools." 
At  this  time  he  seems  to  have  taken  no  thought  about  the 
ministers  of  the  Catholic  church,  as  if  they  were  to  count  for 
nothing  in  his  proceedings  regarding  their  flocks ;  and  even 
after  he  opened  the  schools  for  his  tenantry,  he  was  so  clear  and 
decided  on  this  point,  that  he  writes : — *'  I  have  just  got  two 
schools  on  foot,  but  am  at  war  with  my  priest,  who,  as  usual, 
forbids  the  people  to  send  their  children.  I  know  that  if  I  was 
resident,  I  should  beat  him  in  a  moment,  and  I  hope  to  do  so 
even  though  an  absentee." 

Softly,  my  good  Lord  !  Take  a  friend  and  admirer's  advice, 
and  let  the  priests  alone.  If  you  must  be  "  at  war,"  choose 
some  other  adversary.  With  your  commanding  talents,  your 
fearless  spirit,  your  mastery  of  party  strategy,  you  can  hold 
your  own  against  Metternich  and  Talleyrand ;  you  can  take  a 
fallout  of  Lord  John  Russell;  you  can  grapple  with,  and  get 
the  better  of,  Nicholas  of  Russia;  but,  for  all  that,  you  may 
meet  more  than  your  match  in  "  my  priest."  Without  the 
diplomacy  of  Metternich  and  Talleyrand ;  without  the  backing  of 
Lord  John  Russell;  without  the  power  of  Nicholas;  he  may 
still,  as  an  antagonist  in  his  own  sphere,  prove  more  formidable 
than  any  or  all  of  these.  Clothed  in  the  authority  of  his  world- 
wide church  ;  fixed  immoveably  in  the  afiections  of  his  people; 
armed  at  all  points  with  the  '^ Non  possumus  "  of  the  Apostles  ; 
he  is  impervious  to  all  your  arms  of  the  flesh.  Even  if  he  should 
die  before  the  contest  is  decided,  a  younger,  and  probably  an 
abler  man  would  rise  to  confront  you ;  and  if  this  man  too 
should  succumb,  or  be  called  to  a  different  sphere  of  duty, 
another,  and  another,  and  another  would  start  up  and  force  you 
at  last  to  cry,  "  Hold !  enough." 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  37 


Lord  Palmerston  seems  to  have  turned  over  some  sucli  thouglits 
as  these  in  his  mind,  for  in  his  next  letter  on  the  subject,  he 
writes : — "  I  made  a  concordat  with  my  bishop  about  my  schools, 
and  by  agreeing  to  all  he  asked — which,  after  all,  was  not  very 
unreasonable — I  have  got  him  to  assist  me ;  and  have  heard 
since  my  return,  that  my  girls'  school  has  increased  from  five 
scholars  to  one  hundred.  The  boys'  school  has  not  yet  got  a 
master  ;  but  when  I  get  one,  it  will  be  equally  thriving,  I  have 
no  doubt." 

It  was  fortunate  that  the  parties  to  this  controversy  were  both 
such  sensible  and  well-meaning  persons.  If  Lord  Palmerston 
were  a  narrow-minded  and  punctilious  man  ;  if  he  were  a  stupid 
or  a  malignant  bigot,  like  many  another  landlord  ;  and  if  Right 
Reverend  Doctor  Burke,  instead  of  being  the  rock  of  sense  and 
virtue  he  is  known  to  have  been,  were  a  self-opinionated,  a  self- 
willed,  and  a  self-asserting  man,  the  dispute  would  have  been 
embittered  and  perpetuated ;  the  material,  as  well  as  moral, 
improvement  of  the  district  would,  probably,  have  been  stopped; 
and  the  pall  of  ignorance  might  still  rest  on  the  minds,  and  the 
pall  of  sand  on  the  lands  of  the  inhabitants. 

After  this  there  was  no  further  unpleasantness  between  Lord 
Palmerston  and  the  priests.  Seeing  that  the  stand  they  had 
made,  was  made  merely  with  the  object  of  safeguarding  the 
faith  of  their  flocks,  he  seems  to  have  thought  only  the  more  of 
them  for  their  fidelity  to  duty.  The  incident,  too,  opened  his 
eyes  to  the  true  position  and  claims  of  the  priests  and  their 
flocks,  and  ever  after  he  treated  Catholics  and  Protestants  with 
the  most  perfect  impartiality.  As  the  rector  of  the  parish 
enjoyed  an  endowment,  his  lordship  made  over  a  glebe  to  the 
Parish  Priest,  to  put  him  on  a  level  with  the  Parson.  As  he 
spent  money  on  the  Protestant  parish  church,  to  fit  it  for  service, 
he  showed  equal  liberality  in  improving  the  places  of  worship  of 
the  Catholics;  and,  as  to  popular  education,  he  built  several 
good  school-houses,  put  into  them  first-class  teachers,  and  made 
such  arrangements  as  to  their  management,  as  satisfied  priests 
and  bishop.     The  principle  of  even   dealing  he  carried  into 


38 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


domestic  life,  making  the  priests  as  welcome,  and  as  honoured 
guests  at  his  table,  as  the  parsons.  After  a  little,  he  and  Lady 
Palmerston  could  hardly  [digest  their  dinner  if  they  had  not 
Father  Malachii  with  them  to  help  them  to  eat  it ;  and  few 
things  supplied  them  in  after  life  with  such  pleasant  remi- 
niscences as  the  racy  anecdotes  and  the  sparkling  wit  of  the 
genial  P.P.  of  Palmerston  Glebe.  If  more  of  the  gentle  folk  of 
the  county  followed  the  example  of  Lord  Palmerston  it  might 
improve  their  digestion,  and  serve  them  in  some  still  more 
important  respects  as  well. 

The  island  of  Inismurvay  is  part  of  the  parish  of  Ahamlish, 
and,  by  its  associations,  is  by  far  the  most  interesting  spot  in 
the  parish.     On  the  Ordnance  map  it   resembles  a  bay  leaf, 

N 

A 


1 


KlNOVALLV^* 


^RUE  POINT 


INISMURKAY   WITH  ITS    ECCLESIASTICAL  CASHEL.  * 

Rue  Point  corresponding  to  the  point  of  the  leaf,  and  Kinavally 
to  the  petiole  or  foot  stalk  ;  and  if  you  look  at  the  island 
itself  through  twilight  or  a  thick  mist,  it  will  remind  you  of  the 
long,  low,  rakish-looking  craft,  in  which  pirates  are  in  the  habit 
of  plying  their  lawless  trade,  and  in  which  Danish  marauders 
once  infested  these  very  waters.  In  itself,  Inismurray  is  a 
bare,  barren,  dreary  island,  two  hundred  and  nine  statute  acres 
in  extent,  three  or  four  times  as  long  as  it  is  broad,  and  running 
from  north  to  south,  in  a  direction  parallel  to  the  neighbouring 

*  Drawn  by  Mr.  Wakeman,  and  engraved  by  Mrs.  Millard. 


HISTORY   ^F   SLIGO.  39 


shore,  from  the  nearest  point  of  which,  at  Streedagh,  it  is  divided 
by  about  ^ve  miles  of  sea.  If  one  may  apply  the  word  to  so 
small  an  area,  it  is  a  table  land,  level  from  end  to  end,  and 
standing  about  forty  feet  above  the  sea,  the  western  side,  which 
is  worn  steep  by  the  wild  Atlantic  waves,  rising  still  higher. 

The  geological  formation  is  sandstone,  covered  with  four  or 
five  inches  of  yellowish  earth,  which  produces  naturally  nothing 
but  a  short  grass,  scant  in  quantity,  as  well  as  hard  and  insipid 
in  quality.  There  is  neither  tree  nor  shrub,  neither  river  nor 
streamlet,  neither  lake  nor  pond,  on  the  island  ;  though,  still, 
Nature  has,  perhaps,  sufficiently  provided  its  one  hundred  and  nine 
inhabitants,  fifty-eight  males,  and  fifty-one  females,  with  the  mere 
necessaries  of  life — meat,  drink,  fuel,  and  clothing : — meat  in 
abundance  of  wholesome  fish  ;  drink  in  two  excellent  wells,  that 
never  run  dry ;  fuel  in  a  stretch  of  bog,  which,  though  long  drawn 
on,  is  still  far  from  exhausted  ;  and  woollen  clothing — the  only 
clothing  the  islanders  wear — in  the  wool  of  the  hardy  sheep  ; 
which,  with  a  good  stock  of  black  cattle,  and  a  number  of  asses, 
constitute  all  the  flocks  and  herds  of  Inismurray.  The  separate 
dwellings  are  fifteen  in  number,  one  story  high  plain  houses, 
rudely  built  of  flags  or  slabs  of  sandstone,  and  roofed  with  straw, 
as  strongly  and  elaborately  tied  down  with  ropes  as  though  the 
owners  feared  that,  if  the  ligatures  were  slackened,  their  resi- 
dences would  be  carried  up  like  balloons  into  the  air.  Down  to 
the  year  1836,  when  police  were  stationed  in  the  island,  the 
inhabitants  were  much  given  to  the  making  of  poteen  for  the 
mainland,  but  now,  that  this  "  profitable  occupation  is  gone," 
they  devote  most  of  their  time  to  fishing,  in  which  they  are 
diligent  and  expert,  dividing  the  remainder  between  the  Dolce 
far  niente,  which  they  love  as  dearly  as  any  fisherman  of 
Naples,  and  the  managing  of  their  little  holdings,  which  they 
take  to  only  en  pis  aller,  and  in  which  they  seem  nearly  as  much 
out  of  their  element  as  a  fish  out  of  water.  Fishing,  then,  is 
the  only  occupation  for  which  they  have  any  heart,  or  from 
which  they  derive  any  profit;  and  as  profitable  fishing  is 
impossible  the  greater  part  of  the  year  in  the  wild  sea  that 


40  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


surrounds    the    island,  it    is    clear   that    the  islanders  have  a 
hard  time  of  it  while  that  season  lasts. 

But  creature  comforts  were  the  last  thing  thought  of  hy 
those  who  first  settled  on  Inismurray.  Those  who  valued 
such  things  would  studiously  avoid  a  place  where  they  were 
conspicuously  absent;  nor  could  anything  but  those  aspirations 
after  a  higher  life,  which  beget  a  disregard  for  ease  and 
enjoyment,  reconcile  one  to  the  privations  and  hardships  which 
must  be  always  encountered  in  a  barren,  desolate,  tempestuous, 
and  generally  inaccessible  island. 

Most  probably  then  the  place  remained  unoccupied,  till  some 
of  the  fervent  souls  that  Ireland  produced  in  the  sixth  and 
seventh  centuries,  passed  over  to  it  from  the  mainland,  and 
erected  for  their  habitation  the  religious  establishment,  the 
ruins  of  which  now  form  the  great  object  of  interest  in  Inis- 
murray. O'Donovan  holds  the  casbel  or  stone  wall  that 
surrounds  the  ruins,  to  be  of  Pagan  origin,  which  would  imply 
Pagan  inhabitants  on  the  island ;  but  there  is  little  or  no 
probability  in  the  opinion.  He  gives  nothing  but  his  ipse  dixit 
for  it;  and  what  is  asserted  without  a  reason,  may  be  denied 
without  a  reason,  according  to  Logic. 

But  while  nothing  solid  can  be  alleged  in  favour  of  O'Dono- 
van*s  assertion,  there  are  convincing  reasons  against  it.  The 
cashel  is  built  of  sandstone  flags,  is,  on  an  average,  about  eight 
feet  thick,  encloses  an  area  of  half  an  acre  or  so,  and,  though 
much  dilapidated  in  parts,  is  fifteen  feet  at  the  highest  points, 
which  would  go  far  to  show  this  to  have  been  the  original 
height  of  the  entire  structure;  and  the  very  fact,  that  so  re- 
markable a  building  is  not  mentioned  in  our  early  annals,  as  a 
relic  of  pre-Christian  times,  is  a  good  proof  that  it  had  no 
existence  in  these  times ;  for  had  it  existed,  it  must  have  been 
often  seen  from  the  well  frequented  shore  near  which  it  lay, 
and,  having  been  seen,  could  hardly  fail  to  receive  some  notice 
in  primitive  Irish  writings. 

Again,  its  composition  disproves  the  pre-historic  character; 
for  instead  of  being  "  composed  of  unhewn  masses  rudely  built 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  41 


up,  with  no  further  adjustment  than  the  insertion  of  small 
blocks  in  the  interstices,"  like  the  cyclopean  work  of  these  rude 
times,  it  is  built  of  quarried  and  split  flags,  similar  to  those  in  the 
structures  it  encloses,  thus  showing,  that  both  were  practically 
contemporaneous.  And  the  most  conclusive  evidence  of  all  is 
found  in  the  form  of  the  cashel ;  for  the  wall  does  not  trace  a 
circle,  or  an  ellipse,  or  any  other  regular  figure,  but  exhibits, 
here  and  there,  deviations  of  direction,  caused  plainly  by  the 
desire  of  the  builders  to  take  in  pre-existing  structures.  "  There 
are  certain  irregularities  in  the  form  of  the  wall,"  says  Mr. 
Wakeman,  in  his  admirable  Guide  to  Ireland,  "as  it  follows  the 
outline  of  the  space  occupied  by  the  buildings  it  was.  required 
to  enclose ;  and  the  same  peculiarity  is  noticed  by  Miss  Stokes, 
and  by  a  lively  and  graphic  writer  in  the  Irish  Monthly,  for 
November  1883,  who  observes:  '^Most  decidedly  one  of  the 
beehives  is  built  into  the  wall,  which  means,  that  the  wall- 
builders  found  it  a  little  in  their  way,  and  built  round  it,  thus 
incorporating  it  in  their  defensive  masonry."  And  the  Right 
Reverend  Dr.  Healy,  whose  opinion,  on  any  subject  he  treats, 
must  carry  great  weight,  and  whose  opinion  on  all  that  concerns 
Inismurray,  which  he  knows  better  than  any  other  man,  from 
his  long  ministerial  connexion  with  it,  may  be  regarded  as  de- 
cisive, goes  even  further  than  the  writers  quoted,  and  states, 
"The  cells  were  constructed  in  the  wall;  seven  of  them  yet 
remain."  We  may  then  set  down  O'Donovan's  view  as  opposed 
alike  to  reason  and  authority. 

The  buildings  within  the  cashel,  and  the  cashel  itself,  taking 
them  together,  afford  the  best  example,  perhaps  the  only  perfect 
example  extant,  of  a  primitive  Irish  monastic  establishment ; 
the  examples  which  must  have  existed  in  large  numbers  through 
Ireland,  having  disappeared  under  the  changes  and  demolitions 
which  are  constantly  taking  place  on  the  mainland.  The 
antiquities  here  are  various  weird,  old  world  structures,  distri- 
buted rather  irregularly  over  the  area: — 1st,  three  small 
quadrangular  churches  of  different  sizes,  the  largest,  called 
Tempul-na-fear,  twenty-four  feet  long,  by  about  twelve  wide  ; 


42 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


the  next  in  size,  Tempul-na-teined,  seventeen  feet  long,  by 
twelve  wide ;  and  the  smallest,  Tempul  Molaisse,  twelve  feet 
long,  eight  wide,  and  ten  high  ;  the  two  former  being  now  and 
long  roofless,  while  Tempul  Molaisse  is  still  covered  with  its 
roof  of  stones,  corbelled  inwards  till  they  meet  at  top  ;  2nd,  three 


r^ 


■'■y-i.wy 


h 


'/^m   ■ 


molaise's  house,  or  church,  and  supposed  statue.* 

cloghauns  or  beehive  shaped  cells,  each  about  fifteen  feet  high, 
and  still  covered  with  their  corbelled  stoDe  roofs;  3rd,  four 
rough  flat-topped  tables  or  pillars  of  stones,  three  feet  high, 
which,  with  three  similar  erections  outside  the  cashel,  form. 


Drawn  by  Mr.  Wakeman,  and  engraved  by  Mrs.  Millard. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  43 


like  stations  of  the  cross  in  our  churches,  pausing  places  at 
which  those  going  through  the  station,  rest  to  recite  certain 
prayers  before  passing  on ;  and  4th,  to  omit  other  objects,  an 
underground  passage  to  the  sea,  a  perfect  cyclopean  doorway,  of 
"which  O'Donovan  has  left  a  pen  and  ink  sketch,  and  a  number 
of  headstones — Lord  Dunraven  counted  seventeen  in  186G ; 
several  of  them  bearing  incised  crosses,  "  curious  and  often 
beautiful  in  design,"  says  Mr.  Wakeman,  three  of  which  may 
be  seen  in  Miss  Stokes'  Christian  Inscriptions,  and  the  whole 
in  Colonel  Cooper's  Portfolio  of  Drawings,  and  in  Mr.  Wake- 
man's  inestimable  Monograph  on  Inismurray,  as  published  in 
the  number  for  October,  1885,  of  the  Journal  of  the  E-oyal 
Historical  and  Archaeological  Association  of  Ireland. 

In  Tempul  Molaise  is  preserved,  to  use  the  words  of  O'Dono- 
van, "an  oaken  figure  about  the  height  of  a  man,  with  a  long 
emaciated  face,  the  hands,  which  the  natives  say,  were  placed  in 
the  position  of  thanksgiving,  having  been  taken  off." 

This  statue  has  given  rise  to  much  diversity  of  opinion,  as  to 
its  origin  and  character  ;  the  natives  maintaining  it  to  be  a 
statue  of  St,  Molaisse,  which  has  been  in  the  island  since  the 
sixth  century,  but  which  was  mutilated  about  one  hundred 
years  ago,  by  some  ill-conditioned  person  or  persons  from  the 
mainland ;  others  taking  it  to  be  a  figure-head  detached  from 
the  prow  of  one  of  the  wrecked  Armada  ships,  and  wafted  by 
the  tide  to  Inismurray ;  while  certain  fanatics  or  hypocrites 
allege,  that  it  is  an  idol  of  wood,  and  charge  the  islanders  with 
having  paid  it  divine  honours.*  It  was  this  horrid  imputation 
that  stirred  up  the  ire  of  O'Donovan — a  man  as  free  from  the 
odium  theologicum  as  anyone   that    ever  existed — and  drew 


*  **  Some  of  the  churches  on  the  west  coast  of  Ireland,  had  life-size  wooden 
figures  of  saints,  which  were  placed  beside  the  altar.  One  of  these  in  the 
island  of  Inismurray,  though  obviously  early  Christian,  was  taken  about  thirty 
years  ago  by  a  Protestant  missionary  for  a  Pagan  idol.  Accordingly,  he  took 
it  out  to  sea  and  threw  it  overboard.  Fortunately,  however,  in  this  case,  as  I 
am  informed,  the  attempt  failed."  These  lines  are  from  an  article  in  the 
Nineteenth  Century,  of  April  1877,  written  by  Sir  John  Lubbock. 


44  HISTORY    OF   SLIGO. 


from  him  a  scathing  denunciation  of  the  "  canting  scoundrels," 
as  he  calls  them,  who  spread  abroad  the  slander.* 

Outside  the  cashel  are  various  antiquities  and  curiosities,  as 
Tempul  Muire — Church  of  Mary — or  Tempul  n-mbhan — church 
of  the  women — a  building,  which,  though  not  so  old  as  the 
structures  within  the  inclosure,  must  date  from  a  time,  when 
monks  were  still  in  the  island,  and  women  were  forbidden  to 
pass  the  cloister  ;  fifteen  objects  ranged  round  the  margin  of  the 
island,  and  described  by  O'Donovan,  as  "crosses,  stations,  and 
earns;"  St.  Molaise's  well,  which  is  to  Inismurray,  what  the 
Kilsellagh  stream  is  to  Sligo,  serving  as  an  unfailing  and  abun- 
dant supply  of  water  the  whole  year  round  ;  and  "some  small 
heads  of  rock,  advancing  on  the  sea,  through  which  the  fury  of 
the  waves  have  perforated  large  holes,  not  unlike  ancient 
arches,  where  the  sea  roars  horridly  in  tempestuous  weather/'f 

As  nothing  certain  is  known  of  the  founder  of  this  establish- 
ment, it  is  to  be  regretted  that  those  who  write  about  Inismurray 
avoid  investigating  the  point.  Without  giving  any  reasons  for 
their  opinions,  some  of  these  waiters  take  the  foundation  to  be 
the  w^ork  of  Molaise  and  Columba,  some  of  Molaise  alone,  and 
others,  of  Muredach  alone — the  person  after  whom  the  island  is 
called. 

As  to  Columba,  there  is  not  an  atom  of  evidence  in  any  of 
the  lives  of  the  saint,  published  by  Colgan,  to  show  that  he  had 
anything   to  do  with  the  work ;  nor  is  Inismurray  as  much  as 


*  When  O'Donovan  was  blamed  by  Sir  Thomas  Larcom,  for  his  remarks  on 
this  subject,  he  replied  :— "  Why  should  lies  of  any  man  be  allowed  to  pass  as 
truth  through  Christendom,  upon  a  very  curious  and  important  point  of  human 
knowledge  ?  ...  Mr.  Smyth,  of  College  Green,  will  send  you  a  pamphlet, 
in  which  a  drawing  of  the  God  Molaise  is  given,  and  an  account  of  the  divine 
honours  paid  it  by  the  islanders.  Read  this,  and  then  read  my  remarks." 
Ordnance  Survey  Letter  Book  of  County  Sligo. 

t  Tour  through  Connaught,  in  1779,  under  the  direction  of  the  Right  Hon. 
William  Burton,  by  Gabriel  Beranger  ;  a  manuscript  quoted  by  Sir  William 
Wilde,  in  an  interesting  article,  published  in  the  Kilkenny  Archceological 
Journal,  of  1870,  and  headed,  "Memoir  of  Gabriel  Beranger,  and  his  labours  in 
the  cause  of  Irish  Art,  Literature,  and  Antiquities,  from  1760  to  1780,  with 
illustrations." 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  45 


mentioned  in  the  lists  of  Columba's  foundations  given  by  Colgan, 
or  by  Dr.  Reeves,  in  his  learned  edition  of  Adamnan's  "  Life  of 
Saint  Columba."  Apparently  this  opinion  dates  only  from 
1779,  when  Beranger  and  Bigari  heard  it,  with  several  other 
groundless  statements,  from  the  islanders,  and  recorded  it  in 
their  note-book,  from  which  Archdall  and  some  later  writers 
have  copied  it.* 

Those  who  attribute  the  foundation  to  Molaise  alone  are 
divided  among  themselves  as  to  which  of  the  saints  of  that 
name  the  honour  belongs : — Molaise  of  Devenish,  Molaise  the 
son  of  Declan,  or  Molaise  of  Leighlin.  And  there  is  similar 
diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the  identity  of  Muredach.  In  this 
uncertainty  one  is  forced  to  try  a  new  solution  of  the  problem  • 
and  as  a  Muredach  certainly  left  his  name  to  the  island,  and  as 
a  Molaise  is  associated  with  all  its  traditions  and  remains,  no 
solution  will  satisfy  that  shall  not  square  with  these  two  facts. 

While  keeping  this  requirement  in  mind,  the  writer  is  led  to 
believe,  first,  that  Muredach  of  Inismurray  is  Muredach  of 
Killala,  a  belief  which  is  confirmed  by  the  tradition  throughout 
the  diocese  of  Killala,  that  the  patron  of  the  diocese  was  buried 
in  Inismurray,  and  thus  gave  the  island  its  name  ;  f  and, 
second,  that  Molaise  of  Inismurray,  is  no  other  than  Molaise,  the 
founder  of  Aughris,  a  fact  which  seems  to  follow  clearly  from 
the  dependence  of  the  island  on  Aughris. 

It  is  strange  that  this  dependence,  which  is  the  key  to  the 
history  of  Inismurray,  has  not  been  noticed  before,  though  the 
proofs  of  it  are  abundant  in  official  documents.  In  an  Exchequer 
inquisition,  sped  at  Sligo  in  1584,  under  Sir  John  Crofton,  the 


*  Beranger  writes,  *'  There  is  an  abbey,  as  it  is  called,  very  rude,  a  church, 
and  some  other  old  buildings,  said  to  have  been  erected  by  Saints  Molast  and 
Columbkill."  And  Archdall,  in  his  Monasticon  Hibernicum,  p.  635,  says  *'  The 
abbey  was  erected  conjointly  by  Saint  Molasse  and  St.  Columb."  Archdall 
plainly  borrows  most  of  what  he  says  about  Inismurray  from  Beranger. 

t  This  tradition  is  attested  by  Rev.  Thomas  Walsh,  a  native  and  missionary 
priest  of  Killala,  who  writes,  in  his  "Ecclesiastical  History  of  Ireland,"  p.  648, 
'*  According  to  tradition,  St.  Muredach,  the  patron  of  Killala,  has  been  buried 
in  the  island  of  Inismurray." 


46  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


jury  find  that  "  the  priory  of  Acheras,  alias  Kylraaltin,  in  the 
barony  of  Tireragh,  is  the  property  of  the  Queen,  and  that  the 
vicarage  of  the  church  of  Ahamlish  (Aghumlys),  in  the  barony 
of  Carbury,  with  one  quarter  of  glebe  land,  and  one  small  island 
situate  in  the  high  sea,  belong  to  the  aforesaid  priory."* 

In  the  Indenture  of  Composition  between  Sir  John  Perrot 
and  the  Sligo  chiefs,  it  is  stated  that  there  is  in  the  barony  of 
Carbury    a   quantity  of  land  called   the  "  Benan,   4   quarters, 
belonging  to  her  Msiiesty  in  right  of  the  abbey  of  Aghrosse;" 
and  in  several  public  instruments  of  a  later  date,  as  in  King 
Charles  the  Second's  grant  in  1666  to  Lord  William  Strafiford 
and  Thomas  Radcliffe ;  and  in  the  Tripartite  Indenture  between 
Lord   Strafford,  Joshua  Wilson,  and    Dr.  Leslie,  the  rectories 
of  Aughris  and  Ahamlish  are  always  conjoined  and  disposed  of 
together.     From  what  has  been  said,  then,  it  appears  sufficiently 
certain   that  the  Muredach   and   Molaise  of  Inismurray  came 
from  Tireragh,  and  not,  as  some  would  have  it,  from  Devenish  ; 
and  now,  to  go  a  step  further,  it  is  probable  that  these  two  names 
belong  to  one  and  the  same  person — Muredach  having  the  second 
name  of  Molaise,  as  Fechin  had  the  second  name  of  Moecca  ;  as 
Carthagus  had  the  second  name  of  Mochuda;  and  as  other  old  Irish 
saints  had  similar  second  names.     The  incidence,  in  the  Martyr- 
ologies,  of  the  festival  of  Muredach  and  that  of  Molaise  on  one 
and  the  same  day,  the  12th  of  August,  goes  far  to  establish  this 
probability  ;  and  the  identity  of  the  saints  would  explain  a  fact, 
otherwise  rather  unaccountable,   namely,  the  neglect    by   the 
islanders,  of  Muredach,  of  whom  they  never  think  or  speak, 
though,  apparently,  the  founder  of  their  monastic  establishment, 
and  therefore  their  natural  patron,  while  they  are  always  talking 
of,  and  magnifying,  Molaise,  who  can  have  no  such  claims  on 
their  remembrance,  unless  he  is  Muredach,  honoured  by  them 
under  the   name  of  Molaise.     Whether,  however,  they  are  two 


*  Exchequer  inquisition  taken  at  Sligo  by  John  Crofton,  on  the  17th  March, 
1584.  The  words  of  the  inquisition  are,  "  quod  vicaria  de  ecclesia  de  Aghuralya 
in  barronia  de  CarbriaB  cum  1  qur  terroe  ut  gleba  diet  vicariae  ac  1  parva  insula 
ibi  in  alto  mare  spectant  ad  dictum  prioratum  de  Acheras." 


HISTORY   oF   SLIGO.  47 


different  persons,  or  only  one,  it  is  certain  that  the  two  or  the 
one,  whichever  it  be,  came  from  Tireragh. 

From  all  this,  it  appears  that  Ahamlish  is  indebted  for  its 
religion  to  Inismurray,  and  that  the  island,  after  receiving  itself 
the  Gospel  from  Aughris,  evangelized  this  district,  just  as  lona 
evangelized  the  north  of  Scotland.  As  soon  as  Muredach  or 
Molaise  had  settled  the  insular  establishment,  his  zeal  carried 
him  to  the  neighbouring  shore,  where  he  set  up  the  cross  of 
which  Columba's  hymn  speaks.  About  the  same  time  he 
founded  a  church  there,  and,  as  an  endowment,  secured  the 
tract  of  land,  called  by  the  inquisitions,  the  Benan,  from, 
apparently,  the  little  hill  at  present  called  Dunan;  for  we  find 
a  similar  little  hill  named,  in  the  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters, 
Benan  Breachmagh,  go  now  by  the  name  of  Dunan  Breaffy. 
At  that  time  it  was  easy  for  the  Tireragh  saint  to  obtain  the 
endowment,  for  the  entire  seaboard,  from  the  Stags  of  Broad- 
haven  to  the  river  Erne,  belonged  to  Tireragh  chiefs,  as  it 
belonged  also  to  the  diocese  of  Killala,  the  boundaries  of 
ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  following,  and  fluctuating  with,  the 
boundaries  of  civil  or  secular  rule. 

Such  being  the  antecedents  of  Inismurray,  it  is  no  great 
wonder  that  the  inhabitants  should  have  high  notions  of  their 
island ;  but  their  credulity,  on  this  head,  exceeds  all  bounds ; 
for  they  will  tell  you  that  a  handful  of  its  earth  would  banish  or 
destroy  all  the  rats  and  mice  in  Ireland  ;  that  the  water  of  a 
well  at  the  north  end  of  the  island,  when  teemed  into  the  sea 
in  a  storm,  would  calm  the  waves  ;  that,  in  case  the  fires  of  the 
island  were  extinguished,  a  bit  of  turf,  laid  on  a  flag  in  one  of 
the  ruined  churches,  would  at  once  ignite,  so  as  to  supply  the 
means  of  relighting  the  fires ;  that  if  an  urgent  case  of  sickness 
called  for  the  presence  of  a  priest  from  the  mainland  during  a 
tempest,  the  waves  would  settle  the  moment  the  boat  of  the 
messenger  touched  the  water,  and  would  continue  settled  till 
the  priest  had  arrived,  performed  his  ministry,  and  returned 
home ;  and,  there  being  separate  cemeteries  for  men  and  women, 
that  if  a  male  were  buried  in  the  cemetery  of  the  females,  or  a 


48  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 

female  in  the  cemetery  of  the  males,  the  intruded  corpse  would 
be  supernaturally  ejected  by  the  desecrated  grave,  and  projected 
to  its  own  place  in  its  proper  cemetery. 

But  these  extravagances  cannot  affect  the  genuine  claims  of 
the  island  to  our  respect  and  veneration ;  and  the  reverent 
visitor  to  the  area  within  the  cashel,  who  ponders  on  the  history 
of  that  sacred  spot ;  who  thinks  of  the  many  holy  souls,  that, 
with  a  fervour  equal  to  that  of  John  the  Baptist,  fled  the  world, 
betook  themselves  to  this  desolate  place,  and  shut  themselves  up 
in  those  cold,  solitary,  and  sombre  cells,  that  they  might  com- 
mune alone  with  God,  and  pray,  uninterruptedly,  for  themselves 
and  their  fellow  men  ;  who  feels  that  the  earth  on  which  he 
treads,  consists,  for  the  most  part,  of  the  remains  of  these  devoted 
men  ;  and  who  looks  back  to  the  time  when  that  fire  of  faith, 
which  Christ  came  to  cast  upon  the  earth,  was  carried  from  this 
enclosure,  as  from  a  furnace,  to  the  mainland,  and  there  spread 
around  so  effectively,  that  it  lasts  in  undiminished  heat  and 
brightness,  to  the  present  day,  must  have  his  soul  moved  to  its 
lowest  depths  by  the  associations  of  the  spot,  and  must  feel  as 
if  he  heard,  directed  to  himself,  the  words  formerly  addressed 
by  God  to  Moses,  ''  Put  the  shoes  from  off  thy  feet,  for  the  place 
whereon  thou  standest  is  holy  ground." 

When  the  monks  quitted  Inismurray  is  nowhere  stated. 
Very  probably  they  abandoned  it  about  the  beginning  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  the  O'Connors  having,  by  that  time,  fully 
established  their  rule  over  Carbury.  As  the  monks  had  come 
at  first  to  the  island  in  the  wake  of  the  Tireragh  chiefs,  and 
had  lived  there  under  their  protection,  it  was  natural  enough 
that  they  should  quit  the  place  when  these  chiefs  were  driven 
definitively  out  of  the  territory. 

And  it  was  all  the  more  natural,  as  the  Cistercians  of  Boyle 
acquired,  at  the  same  time,  possessions  in  the  neighbourhood  ; 
the  O'Connors,  who  were  attached  to  Boyle,  as  the  burying 
place  of  their  family,  having  bestowed  the  district  of  Grange  on 
that  monastery.  It  is  true  that,  so  late  as  the  beginning  of 
the    seventeenth   century,  Maeleoin   O'Daly    was    buried    in 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  \  17 


others,  at  a  moment  when  poor  people  are  obliged  to  part  with 
their  stock  or  farm  produce  at  a  loss,  always  allowing  his  tenants 
plenty  of  time  to  wait  for,  and  sell  in,  the  best  market. 

Sir  Henry  has  inherited  the  virtues  of  his  father,  and  added 
to  them  many  of  his  own.  Large-hearted  aod  genial  like  Sir 
Eobert ;  a  thorough  sportsman  like  him ;  a  kind  and  indulgent 
landlord  like  him  ;  he  takes,  besides  being  more  frequently  at 
home,  greater  practical  interest  in  the  poor  of  the  neighbour- 
hood, and  evinces,  on  all  occasions,  that  genuine  Good  Samaritan 
charity  which  knows  no  distinction  of  creed  in  those  that 
need  relief.  When  sickness  and  destitution  covered  the  face  of 
the  country  in  1879,  the  conversion,  so  to  speak,  of  Lissadell 
Court  into  a  provision  store,  where  Lady  Gore  and  Sir  Henry 
dealt  out  with  their  own  hands,  from  morning  till  night,  food  to 
the  needy,  was  an  event  unique  of  its  kind,  at  the  time,  in 
Ireland, 

And  when  a  thunder-storm,  in  1882,  wrecked  the  roof  of 
Magherow  chapel  during  Mass,  inflicted  a  fatal  injury  on  one  of 
the  congregation,  and  injured  several  others.  Lady  Gore  and  Sir 
Henry  flew,  on  the  moment,  to  the  scene  of  the  calamity,  and 
then,  and  for  many  months  afterwards,  seemed  to  have  nothing 
on  hand,  or  at  heart,  but  to  help  and  console  the  afflicted,  and 
to  repair  the  damage  done  to  the  place  of  worship.  These  noble 
acts,  and  the  same  impartial  aid  to  Catholic  charities,  which 
they  extend  to  the  charities  of  other  denominations,  have 
endeared  the  present  Lissadell  family  to  Catholics,  and  should 
endear  them  to  all,  inasmuch  as  the  precedent,  thus  set,  is 
calculated  to  remove  those  obstacles  to  intercourse  which  bigotry, 
and  cunning,  and  selfishness,  have  raised  up  between  the 
different  classes  of  society  in  Ireland. 

The  attitude  of  the  Gore  Booth  family  towards  the  school 
children  round  Lissadell  furnishes  a  new  proof  of  their  impartial 
regard  for  all  their  neighbours.  Lady  Gore  Booth  and  her 
daughters  are  always  anxious  to  promote  the  intellectual  and 
moral,  as  well  as  the  material,  well-being  of  the  young  people 
on  the  Lissadell  estate.  Unlike  too  many  of  their  class,  both  in 
VOL.  11.^  B 


18  HISTORY   OF   8LIG0. 


the  county  and  out  of  it,  who  affect  great  interest  for  the  educa- 
tion of  the  humbler  classes,  bat  who  confine  the  practical 
manifestation  of  that  interest  to  their  own  co-religionists,  the 
Gore  Booth  family  make  no  distinction  between  Roman 
Catholics  and  Protestants,  between  the  children  that  attend  the 
National  schools,  managed  by  priests,  and  those  that  frequent 
the  Church  Education  Society,  or  other  such  schools  under  the 
management  of  parsons.  To  both  they  give  similar  marks  of 
encouragement  and  approval,  and  for  both  alike  are  their  school 
feasts  prepared. 

We  hear,  sometimes,  of  school  feasts  in  other  places,  but  we 
generally  hear,  at  the  same  time,  that  none  but  the  professors  of 
a  favoured  creed  are  admitted  to  them,  a  state  of  things  which 
proves  that  your  Lord  or  Lady  Bountiful  is  not  concerned  so  much 
for  the  education  of  the  little  ones,  as  for  some  advantage  of  party 
or  sect.  Horace  tells  that  good-natured  teachers  in  his  day  used 
to  give  sweets  to  children  to  coax  them  to  learn  their  lessons ; 
but  they  gave  to  all  alike;  and  if  our  '* charitable  Christian 
ladies "  think  well  to  borrow  this  laudable  principle  from 
benevolent  Pagans,  they  should  not  show  themselves  too  partial 
and  one-sided  in  its  application.  One  thing,  however,  we  may  he 
sure  of,  and  that  is,  that  if  ladies  and  gentlemen  make  distinctions 
in  conferring  favours  on  the  children  around  them,  the  children 
themselves  will  thus  learn  to  make  distinctions  too ;  and  while, 
as  it  is  to  be  expected  and  hoped,  they  will  know  how  to  requite 
the  kindness  of  Lady  Gore  and  other  benefactors  with  gratitude, 
and  with  such  services  as  may  be  in  their  power,  they  will,  it  is  to 
be  feared,  think  themselves  warranted  in  making  a  very  different 
return,  both  in  feeling  and  act,  to  those  by  whom  they  shall 
remember  themselves  to  have  been  so  differently  treated.  "Better 
late  than  never ; "  and  even  now,  at  the  eleventh  hour,  if  members 
of  leading  families  were  to  entertain,  occasionally,  the  school 
children  of  their  estates,  irrespective  of  the  religion  of  these 
children,  or  of  the  schools  they  attend,  they  would  do  a  gracious 
thing,  and  one  they  might  find,  in  the  end,  to  be  of  no  little 
benefit  to  themselves. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  19 


It  is  a  pity  that  Sir  Robert  did  not  content  himself  with  tiie 
extensive  stretch  of  land,  which  lies  between  Ballygilgan  on  the 
east,  and  Dunfore  on  the  west,  and  which,  down  to  his  time, 
had  formed  the  demesne  of  Lissadell.  Had  he  done  so,  he 
would  have  avoided  the  odium,  which  the  annexing  of  Bally- 
gilgan attached  to  his  name  while  he  was  living,  and  still 
attaches  to  it  now  that  he  is  dead. 

Ballygilgan  was  locally  known  as  the  Seven  Cartrons,  and 
contained  about  800  statute  acres.  It  was  church  land,  belong- 
ing, first,  to  the  monastery  of  Drumcliff,  and  next  to  the  bishop 
ofElphin;  and,  like  most  of  the  church  land  of  the  county, 
was  granted  at  the  dissolution  to  John  King,  ancestor  of  the 
Kings  of  Bockingham,  in  whose  family  it  remained,  till  it 
passed  to  the  Gore  Booths.  In  1834,  a  lease  of  it,  held  by  Mr. 
Martin,  a  middleman,  having  fallen  in,  Sir  Robert  arranged 
with  him  and  Lord  Lorton  to  take  the  tract,  there  being, 
apparently,  some  understanding,  that  Martin  should  get 
possession  from  the  tenants  in  occupation,  who  were  numerous, 
and  who,  for  the  most  part,  were  fishermen  as  well  as  small 
land-holders. 

In  Sir  Robert's  evidence  before  the  Devon  Commission,  he 
states,  that  all  the  tenants,  except  two  or  three,  gave  possession 
to  Martin,  and  that  to  those  who  acted  thus,  land  was  offered 
elsewhere ;  but  he  does  not  tell  where  the  land  lay  that  was 
offered,  or  how  much  was  offered,  or  whether  the  offer  was 
accepted  in  any  cases.  It  would  appear,  that  the  alternative 
was  given  these  people  of  having  their  passages  to  America 
paid,  and  that  they  elected  the  alternative,  which  would  go  to 
show,  that  the  offer  of  land  was  not  such  as  it  was  worth  their 
while  to  accept. 

All  the  compensation  for  disturbance  which  those  unfortunate 
ereatures  received  was  the  passage  money,  which  was  at  the 
rate  of  £2  a  head ;  while  the  compensation  for  improvements 
was  confined  to  £4  an  acre  for  their  patches  of  potato  track  ; 
and  though  these  terms  were  not  so  hard  as  those  of  certain 
heartless  landlords  of  the  day,  who  turned  their  tenants  out  on 


20  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


the  roadside,  and  left  them  there  without  aid  or  compensation 
of  any  kind ;  still,  £2  a  head  for  disturbance,  and  £4  an  acre  for 
potato  track,  was  a  mere  bagatelle  in  comparison  of  what 
evictions  would  cost  at  present.  The  great  object,  no  doubt, 
was  to  be  rid  of  those  disagreeable  neighbours,  and  to  be  rid  of 
them  at  as  little  cost  as  might  be.  Much  of  the  blame  of  these 
proceedings  was  laid  on  Mr.  Dodwell,  who  was  Sir  Robert's 
agent,  and  who  passed  with  the  people  as  the  very  worst 
specimen  of  the  agent  kind.  But,  allowing  Dodwell  his  full 
share  of  the  blame.  Sir  Robert,  w^ho  employed  him  and  backed 
him  up,  must  bear  his  part;  and  humane  as  he  is  acknowledged 
to  have  been  in  his  general  relations  with  others,  it  must  be 
admitted,  that  his  treatment  of  the  unfortunate  occupants  of 
Bally gilgan  has  left  a  dark  spot  on  his  name,  in  the  estimation 
of  many. 

After  passing  Johnsport,  or,  rather,  Johnes-port,  so  called 
from  a  family  of  the  name  of  Johnes,  or  Jones,  that  resided 
there,  the  scene  suddenly  changes.  Except  Knocklane — Broad 
Hill — which  is  a  bright  looking  and  regularly  proportioned 
conical  elevation,  the  tract  before  and  around  the  traveller 
is  as  dreary  a  one  as  could  easily  be  found.  Devoid  of  every 
element  of  beauty,  either  in  contour  or  in  colour,  as  w^ell  as 
treeless  and  shrubless,  it  is  about  the  coldest  and  bleakest  bit  of 
landscape  in  the  county.  The  effect  is  all  the  more  felt  after 
coming  through  Lissadell,  with  its  verdant  undulating  grass 
lands,  its  rich  symmetrical  tillage  fields,  its  stone  and  mortar 
fences,  and  its  numerous  plantations,  all  this  being  in  striking 
contrast  with  what  appears  in  Ballyconnell — scraggy  patches  of 
sickly  oats,  potatoes,  and  cabbage  ;  scraps  of  yellow  withered 
grass  ;  open  ditches  half  filled  with  putrid  w^ater ;  and  a  string, 
along  the  road,  of  low  thatched  cabins,  each  of  which  is  covered 
with  a  net-work  of  straw  ropes,  fastened  to  iron  or  wooden 
spikes,  stuck  in  the  gables  and  side- walls:  all  this  elaborate 
defence  against  storms,  suggesting  to  the  spectator  the  violence 
with  which  the  Atlantic  gales  sweep  often  over  this  bare  and 
exposed  region — violence  so  terrible,  that  a  facetious  jarvey, 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  '  21 

who  sometimes  encountered  it,  describes  it  as  "  fit  to  blow  away 
the  legs  from  under  the  horses." 

The  houses  do  not  form  groups  or  villages,  but  range,  detached, 
in  single  file  by  the  roadside ;  being  so  numerous,  that  you 
wonder,  at  first,  how  the  inhabitants  can  manage  to  subsist  in  so 
barren  a  district,  till  you  learn,  that  they  take  most  of  their 
livelihood  out  of  the  neighbouring  sea  as  fishermen.  The  men 
are  usually  clad  in  coarse,  home-made,  flannel,  which,  in  general, 
looks  much  in  need  of  soap  and  water,  and  the  women  in 
drugget — both  men  and  women  being  often  without  shoes  and 
stockings.  Numbers  of  the  women  pass  their  time  in  gathering 
corrigeen-moss  for  the  Sligo  market. 

The  land  seems  to  be  in  great  part  peat-bog,  from  which  as 
much  of  the  peat  as  could  be  conveniently  reached  by  the  spade 
has  been  cut  away,  while  what  remains,  here  and  there,  is 
worked  by  the  hands  and  feet  into  hand-turf.  In  passing 
through  Ballyconnell  during  the  Summer  months,  you  are  sure 
to  see  men  and  women  at  work  in  the  bog,  mixing  the  mud,  or 
forming  it  when  mixed  into  turves,  or  ranging  the  turves,  thus 
formed,  into  rows  to  be  dried  by  the  sun  and  wind;  and — a 
circumstance  that  cannot  fail  to  interest — while  the  parents  are 
thus  engaged,  the  young  children  are  generally  sprawling  about 
on  the  banks,  it  being  deemed  safer  to  have  them  there,  than  to 
leave  them  at  home  without  anyone  to  mind  them.  Bally- 
connell has  its  name  from  a  family  named  O'Connell.  The 
Survey  of  1633  says  of  it,  "  Ballyconnell,  the  inheritance  of  my 
Lord  Bishop,  who  setts  it  to  under-tenants  for  £4  'per  annum, 
but  they  ought  to  have  it  by  right — their  names  are,  Gilledoney 
O'Connell,  Brian  O'Connell,  and  Donnell  O'Connell." 

The  most  striking  artificial  object  about  this  place,  is  the 
conspicuous  roofless  structure,  called  Ardtermon  Castle,  Ardter- 
mon,  signifying  the  height  of  the  termon  or  church  lands,  which 
belonged  in  the  past  to  the  religious  of  Drumcliff.  It  is 
generally  taken  to  be  an  erection  of  the  Gores,  but  it  appears 
that  it  was  built  by  the  O'Harts,  the  old  owners  of  Ardtermon ; 
for  the  Survey  of  1633,  in  describing  the  place,  states,  "A  good 


22  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


castle  is  built  upon  it."  Later,  the  Gores  occupied  it  before 
they  went  to  reside  at  Lissadell.  The  Survey  notices  thus  the 
neighbouring  townland  of  Dunfore,  "  A  kind  of  ould  building  is 
upon  it."  Dunfore  appears  to  signify  the  dun  or  fortress  of  the 
fountain,  or  spring,  in  allusion,  no  doubt,  to  some  well  of  ex- 
ceptionally good  water  in  the  neighbourhood.  Mr.  Frank  Barber, 
in  his  evidence  before  the  Devon  Commissiou,  stated,  that  at  that 
date,  2,000  acres  of  land  in  the  district  of  Knocklane,  was  covered 
with  the  drifting  sand,  and  that  700  of  those  acres  were  covered 
in  his  own  time.  The  suffering  caused  by  this  invasion  was 
great,  numbers  being  obliged  to  abandon  house  and  home,  and 
some,  who  held  on  to  their  habitations,  having  to  go  in  and  out 
through  the  roof,  as  the  doors  and  windows  were  blocked  up. 
This  formidable  evil  was  stopped  by  the  bent  which  Lord 
Palmerston  set  the  example  of  planting,  only  for  which  the  whole 
of  Magherow  would  be  converted,  by  this  time,  into  a  Sahara. 

As  to  the  succession  of  Parish  Priests  in  Drum  cliff,  the  first 
we  meet  with  is  Rev.  Cormack  Feeny,  who  was  ordained  in  1697, 
and  held  the  parish  in  1704*,  at  the  registration  of  the  county 
Sligo  "  Popish  Priests,''  as  he  still  held  it  in  1711,  when 
depositions  respectiiDg  these  priests  were  taken  by  the  county 
magistrates.     See  Yol.  I.,  page  234. 

The  next  Parish  Priest,  of  whom   there  is  record,  is  Eev. 

Philip  Costello,  whose  occupation  lasted  from  1760   to   1767. 

He  is  buried  in  Drumcliff  graveyard,  and  his  tombstone  bears 

the  inscription : — 

**  Here  lieth  the  body  of  the  Reverend  Philip  Costello, 

Who  departed  this  life  December  19th,  1767. 

Aged  33  years." 

To  Father  Costello  succeeded  Rev.  Brian  O'Beime,  who  went 
to  his  reward  in  1814,  in  the  79th  year  of  his  age,  as  the  follow- 
ing epitaph  testifies ; — 

*'  Orate  pro  Anima  Rdi.  Bernardi  O'Beirne,  Canonici  Elphinensis, 

Et  per  annos  48,  pastoris  vigil autissimi  hujus  paroeciae  Drumcliff, 

Qui  tandem  laboribus  attritus  caeloque  maturus  Gregi  fideli 

verbo  et  exempio, 

Mortem  usque  prselucens  e  vivis  excessit  die  24  febii,  a.d.  1814. 

iEtatis  vero  79." 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  23 


It  would  appear  that,  owing  to  the  ill  health,  or  some  other 
canonical  cause,  this  good  priest  was  aided  in  the  administration 
of  the  parish  by  Reverend  Thomas  O'Flynn.  who  is  buried  in 
the  same  grave,  as  the  tombstone  tells  us : — 

"  Sub  hoc  lapide  sepulchrali  jacet. 
Rev^s.  Thomas  O'Flynn, 
Hnjus  paroecise  de  Drumcliff,  annos  20,  coadjutor  Deo  et  hominibus  charus. 

Obiit  Sepis-  7^'  1810. 
R.I.P." 

Father  O'Beirne's  successor  was  Father  Roger  Burns,  who, 
too,  is  buried  in  Drumcliff.     On  his  memorial  stone  we  read : — 

' '  In  memoria  eeterna  sit 
R.  R.  Burns,  Pastor  et  Archidiaconus, 
Qui  traducta  40  circiter  annos  vita  in  militia  clericali  maximo  cum  fructu. 
Tum  in  Ahamlish,  tum  in  Drumcliff. 
Cursum  pie  consummavit,  22Nov^^-'  a.d.  1832. 
^tatis  vero  70." 

Reverend  Michael  O'Callaghan  succeeded,  and  was  Parish 
Priest  from  1832,  to  his  death  in  1842.  Rev.  Patrick  O'Gara 
came  next,  and  held  the  parish  to  his  decease  in  1860.  The 
remains  of  both  these  priests  rest  in  Rathcormac  church  in 
uninscribed  graves. 

Father  Pat  Kelly  became  Parish  Priest  of  Drumcliff  in  1860, 
but  was  transferred  to  Strokestown  in  1866,  when  he  was 
succeeded  by  the  actual  incumbent.  Father  Andrew  Moraghan. 

Before  passing  away  from  the  Parish  Priests  interred  in 
Drumcliff,  and  from  the  thousand  religious  committed  to  its 
consecrated  earth,  between  the  days  of  St.  ColuQiba  and  the 
Reformation,  we  must  take  note  of  Father  Owen  O'Connor's 
grave.  Father  Owen  was  a  native  of  the  parish,  being  born  at 
Castlegal,  and  belonged  to  a  family  which  could  trace  its  descent 
back  to  a  branch  of  the  O'Connors,  who  were,  for  centuries. 
Lords  of  Carbury  and  Sligo.  After  his  ordination  he  served  for 
some  time  as  curate  in  Magherow,  and,  next,  in  KiDglass,  where 
he  became  so  ill,  that  he  had  to  quit  the  mission  and  return  to 
Castlegal.     Though  young  in  years  when  he  died,  he  was  ripe 


24  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 

for  heaven — Consummatus  in  brevi  implevit  tempora  multa. 
The  stone  that  covers  his  grave  is  inscribed  with  the  words : — 

"  Ora  pro  anima  Eugenii  O'Connor, 
Qui  obiit  die  9^  Aprilis,  1850, 
Anno    setatis    suae    31. 
Sacerdos  erat  doctrina  Theologica  morumque  sanctitate  praelucens. 

Eequiescat  in  pace." 

As  might  be  expected  of  a  parish  where  there  was  sucli  an 
extent  of  church  land,  there  have  been  many  churches  in  it. 
To  say  nothing  of  Drumcliff  monastery,  the  sites  of  various 
places  of  worship  are  still  pointed  out  in  other  districts — one  at 
Keelty,  on  the  side  of  Benbulben ;  one  in  Ballynagalliagh  ;  one 
at  Kilcregan,  on  the  road  to  Rosses  Point ;  two  in  the  Rosses ; 
one  at  Kilmacanon,  which,  with  its  cemetery,  has  been  wiped 
out  by  the  blowing  sand;  one  at  Ballintemple,  recte,  Ballin- 
templebeolan,  which  was  so  called  from  the  ecclesiastical  family 
named  Beolan,  modernized,  in  some  places,  into  Boylan  ;  and  in 
others,  as  Tireragh,  into  Boland ;  and  one  in  Lissadell,  which, 
according  to  John  O'Donovan,  stood  near  the  sea,  just  on  the 
site  of  the  old  stables. 

The  present  churches  of  Magherow  and  Rathcormac  are  not 
the  first  that  rose  on  their  respective  sites.  About  a  hundred 
years  ago  a  nice  chapel  was  erected  at  Magherow,  which  was 
repaired  and  much  improved,  in  1845,  by  Father  O'Gara.  An 
idea,  however,  had  got  abroad,  that  it  was  shaky ;  and  a  cry, 
"  The  chapel  is  falling,"  having  been  raised,  on  Christmas  Day, 
1856,  when  the  floor  and  galleries  were  filled  to  overflowing, 
numbers  had  bones  broken,  or  received  other  severe  injuries,  in 
a  wild  attempt  to  get  clear  of  the  building.  Father  Moraghan, 
who  was  then  curate  in  the  parish,  acted  towards  the  injured 
the  parts,  at  once,  of  surgeon,  physician,  and  priest,  resembling, 
in  this,  not  a  little,  the  great  and  good  Archbishop  Fenelon, 
who,  after  the  battle  of  Malplaquet,  moved  about  among  the 
wounded  soldiers,  ministering  surgical  and  medical,  as  well  as 
spiritual  aid — a  scene  immortalized  in  a  noble  painting  by  a 
great  French  Artist. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  25 


It  was  in  the  fine  Gothic  church,  built  in  1862  by  Father 
Kelly,  on  the  site  of  the  old  chapel,  the  lightning  accident, 
already  referred  to,  occurred  on  the  12th  November,  1882. 
While  Father  Christopher  O'Conor  was  preaching  after 
Mass,  a  vivid  flash  of  lightning,  accompanied  by  a  loud 
peal  of  thunder,  struck  the  belfry,  and  shot  about  its  stones, 
some  into  the  yard,  and  some  acres  away  into  the  neighbouring 
fields,  while  several  fell  down  through  the  roof  into  the  body 
of  the  house.  The  casualties  were  far  fewer  than  might  be 
expected.  They  were: — A  little  boy,  who  was  outside  the 
church,  near  the  door,  was  laid  up  for  a  few  days,  though 
sulFering  from  no  visible  hurt ;  a  girl,  who  was  also  outside, 
escaped  personal  harm,  though  the  soles  of  her  boots  were  cut 
clean  off  as  with  a  knife ;  and  one  man  of  the  congregation,  who 
got  injured  in  the  spine — it  is  not  known  whether  by  the 
electric  current  or  by  a  stone  that  fell  beside  him — after  linger- 
ing on  in  great  suffering,  for  nine  weeks,  died. 

As  in  Magherow,  so,  also,  at  Rathcormac,  an  old  place  of 
worship  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  church,  which  was 
built  in  1833  by  Father  O'Callaghan.  This  house  was  greatly 
improved  by  Father  0*Gara;  and  Father  Moraghan,  along 
with  adding  a  sacristy,  has  widened  the  sanctuary,  seated  the 
whole  of  the  ground  floor,  and  erected  a  beautiful  altar  of 
marble  and  Caen  stone. 

In  this  church  rests  all  that  is  mortal  of  the  gentle  and 
amiable  Father  Pat  Moraghan.  Resigning,  in  1871,  his  parish 
of  Aughrim,  on  account  of  ill  health,  he  withdrew  to  the  friendly 
home  of  his  good  brother.  Father  Andrew,  who,  after  caring 
him  tenderly  for  the  eight  years  he  still  lived,  surrounding  his 
death-bed  with  all  the  helps  and  consolations  of  religion,  and 
celebrating  his  obsequies  with  edifying  solemnity,  provided  for 
the  preservation  of  his  memory :  first,  by  raising  over  his  remains 
a  cut  stone  monument,  with  the  following  simple,  but  tasteful 
inscription  : — 


26  HISTORY    OF   SLTGO. 


"  Hic  jacet  Reverendus  Patkitius  Morahan, 
Natus  1815  ; 
Obiit  iii.  idus  Jiinias,  1879. 
*  Vir  fidelis  multum  laudabitur.' — Prov.  c.  28.,  v.  20. ;  " 

and,  next,  by  putting  up  on  the  Gospel  side  of  the  high  altar, 
a  beautiful  stained  glass  window,  which  is,  at  once,  a  striking 
ornament  to  the  church,  and  a  perpetual  call  to  the  congregation 
to  pray  for  the  soul  of  the  dear  departed. 

It  may  be  permitted  to  mention  that  Father  Moraghan,  by 
w^ay  of  companion  picture,  has  placed,  on  the  Epistle  side  of  the 
altar,  another  stained  glass  window,  which,  though  mainly 
intended  by  him  as  a  contribution  to  the  "  beauty  of  God's 
house,"  is  also  designed  to  serve  one  day — a  day  which  every 
friend  of  religion  and  admirer  of  personal  worth  will  wish  may 
be  a  far  distant  one — as  a  request  for  a  prayer  for  his  own  de- 
parted soul. 

Education  is  in  as  flourishing  a  state,  in  the  parish  of  Drum- 
cliff,  as  religion.  In  1860  there  was  only  one  National  school 
in  the  parish,  and  that  in  a  wretched  thatched  cabin,  whereas, 
at  present,  there  are  eleven  fine  schools,  all  in  connexion  with 
the  National  Board,  the  Parish  Priest  being,  in  every  case,  both 
patron  and  manager.  At  first  there  was  great  difficulty  in 
getting  sites  for  the  houses,  but,  by  degrees,  the  difficulty 
diminished,  and  has  now  nearly  disappeared.  It  is  only  fair,  to 
Lady  Gore  Booth  and  Sir  Henry,  to  state  that  this  better  state 
of  things  is  owing  very  much  to  their  action  and  example.  In 
1878  Sir  Henry  gave  a  site,  at  a  nominal  rent,  for  a  school-house 
at  Ballyweelen,  and,  in  1882,  when  he  was  yachting  in  the 
Arctic  Ocean,  Lady  Gore  Booth,  by  his  authority,  signed,  with 
her  own  hand,  a  lease  for  a  site  of  two  schools  in  Carney,  and 
performed  her  delegated  function  with  such  singular  good-will 
and  graciousness,  that  her  co-operation  enhanced,  infinitely,  in 
the  estimation  of  all  concerned,  the  value  of  her  husband's  kind 
and  generous  act. 

The  following  is,  as  far  as  could  be  ascertained,  the  succession 
in  the  parish,  of  the  clergymen  of  the  late  Established  church  : — 

Hev.  Hugo  Hohy  is  the  first  we  meet  with.     He  is  mentioned 


HISTORY    OF   SLTGO.  27 


in  the  Visitation  book  of  1615.  Rev.  William  Ry croft  was 
appointed  in  1622.  Rev.  Robert  Brown  is  supposed,  by  Cotton, 
in  his  "  Fasti,"  to  have  followed  in  1661.  Rev.  Eubule  Ormsby 
was  Yicar  in  1733 ;  Rev.  Edward  Munns,  in  1755 ;  Rev. 
Richard  Doherty,  in  1759.  Rev.  Michael  Obins,  Vicar  of  the 
parish,  died  in  1783.    A  mural  tablet  in  the  vestry  wall  contains 

this  epitaph : — 

"M.S. 

MiCHAELis  Obins,  hujus  parochise  Vicarii. 

Viri   probe   pii  omnibus  bonis  flebilis  obiit. 

Anno  Salutis  MDCCLXXXIII. 

^tatis  su^  LXXV." 

Rev.  Richard  Wynne  was  the  next  Vicar.  He  was  trans- 
ferred from  the  County  Roscommon,  where  he  was  Rector  of 
Shankhill,  Killmacumsey,  Killcorkey,  Killcoola,  and  Creeva.  A 
stone  in  the  tower  of  the  church  bears  the  words ; — 

"  Rev.  Richard  Wynne,  1811  :'* 

which  was  the  year  of  his  death. 

Rev.  John  Yeates  succeeded  in  1811.  This  parson's  name  is 
still  popular,  as  that  of  a  straightforward,  high-principled  man. 
It  is  told  of  him,  that,  when  he,  with  Sir  Robert  Gore  Booth's 
agent,  Mr.  Dodwell,  and  a  bailiff  named  Barber,  went  among 
Sir  Robert's  tenants,  asking  them  to  send  their  children  to  the 
Milltown  Protestant  school,  and  was  told,  by  a  man  named  James 
O'Hara,  that  a  child  of  his  would  never  darken  the  door  of  that 
school-house,  Mr.  Yeates  commended  him  Tor  his  spirit,  and 
observed,  that  he  was  the  honestest  man  they  had  come  across 
that  day. 

Rev.  Mr.  Crawford  succeeded  Mr.  Yeates,  died  in  1871,  and 
is  buried  in  Drumcliff,  under  a  stone  which  bears  the  inscrip- 
tion : — 

"  In  memory  of  Revd.  Thomas  Crawford, 

For  24  years  Vicar  of  Drumcliff, 

He  died  July  2oth,  a.d.  1871. 

Aged  83." 

After  Mr.  Crawford  came  Mr.  Finerty,  either  as  curate  or 
vicar,  who,  after  a  few  years  resigned  the  living.     His  successor 


28  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


was  Rev.  Mr.  Griffith,  a  somewhat  bellicose  gentleman,  who 
figured  in  Petty  Sessions  courts  oftener,  perhaps,  than  was 
desirable.  He  removed  to  Tipperary,  where,  no  doubt,  he  met 
his  match.  And  this  brings  us  to  the  actual  Rector,  Very  Rev. 
Canon  French,  who,  it  is  pleasant  to  be  able  to  record,  is 
admitted  by  all,  Catholics  as  well  as  Protestants,  to  be  a  zealous 
clergyman,  as  well  as  a  ripe  scholar,  and  an  accomplished 
archaeologist. 

The  Protestant  church  of  Drumcliff  was  built  in  1809,  though 
the  tower  was  not  finished  till  1811.  According  to  Sergeant 
Shee's  book  on  the  Irish  Church,  the  revenue  of  Drumcliff 
parish,  under  the  Establishment,  was  £350,  the  glebe  lands  G4 
acres,  the  ascertained  cost  of  glebe  house,  in  1836,  £369,  the 
ascertained  cost  of  church,  £738,  the  number  of  persons  for 
whom  accommodation  was  provided  in  the  church  300,  and  the 
number  of  members  of  Established  Church  in  benefice  2,290. 
As  compared  with  the  number  of  Catholics  in  the  benefice, 
which  is  set  down  as  11,648  in  1835,  the  proportion  of  Protest- 
ants to  Catholics  is  unusually  large. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

PARISH     OF    AHAMLISH. 

Ahamlish  is  the  most  northern  district  of  the  county  Sligo 
and  the  most  northern  parish  of  the  diocese  of  Elphin.  It  is 
often  called  Eathamlish,  and  is  even  so  called  in  the  Sligo 
Survey  of  1633,  but  this  is  certainly  an  error;  for  there  is  no 
room  for  doubting  that  the  first  syllable  of  the  name  is  Ath,  as 
it  is  invariably  so  written  in  all  our  authorities,  including  a  very 
old  poem  ascribed  to  St.  Columba,*  and  in  Irish  maps,  ancient 
and  modern.f  The  ath^  or  ford,  which  has  given  the  name^ 
cannot  now  be  identified,  owing  to  changes  in  the  surface  of  the 
soil,  effected  by  draining  and  cultivation,  but  it  must  have  been 
somewhere  near  the  present  Protestant  church  of  the  parish. 

In  point  of  scenery  or  fertility,  Ahamlish  bears  no  comparison 
with  DrumcliflP.  With  the  exception  of  the  mountain  ranges 
from  Benbulben  Heel  to  Kinlough,  the  Donegal  mountains, 
and  the  sea,  which  serve  or  seem  to  serve,  for  the  frame  of  the 
picture,  the  whole  stretch  within  view  is  monotonous  and  un- 
interesting. When  the  traveller,  on  the  way  from  Sligo,  reaches 
Cooldruman  rising  ground,  and  looks  northward,  he  is  chilled  by 
the  change  of  scene,  finding  before  him  a  bleak,  bare,  cheerless 
country,  instead  of  the  rich  smiling  landscape  through  which 
he  has  been  passing  ;  so  that  it  was  not  altogether  the  spleen 
that  occasioned  Carlyle's  exclamation  at    Cooldruman,  "  Lord 

*  *'  Were  it  not  for  Molaisi's  words, 
At  the  cross  of  Ath-Imlaisi, 
I  should  not  now  permit 
Disease  or  distemper  in  Ireland." 

— Adamnan's  Life  of  St.  Columba.    By  William 
Eeeves,  D.D.,  M.R.I.  A.,  p.  287. 
t  Down  Survey  Map.  Ordnance  Maps  of  County  Sligo.  Census  of  Ireland,  etc. 


30  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


Palmerstoa's  country — a  dingy,  desolate  looking  country. 
Would  we  were  well  out  of  it  all !  "  Bits  of  good  green  land 
may  be  seen  at  Grange,  Cliffoney,  Moneygould,  and  some  other 
spots,  but  the  run  of  the  parish  is  a  low  moory  expanse,  without 
any  elevation  to  speak  of,  without  hill  or  dale,  without  visible 
lake^or  river,  without  trees  or  other  timber,  except  the  white- 
thorn hedges  along  the  sides  of  the  highway,  and  some  planta- 
tions at  Mullaghmore,  Cliffoney,  and  along  the  road  to  Bunduff. 
The  sea  shore  too  is  for  the  most  part  rugged,  and  lined  with  a 
brown  drift  sand,  still  more  sombre  in  hue  than  the  moor  of 
the  inland. 

From  what  has  been  said,  it  is  clear  that  the  soil  in  general  is 
far  from  rich.  No  doubt,  there  are  patches  in  the  parish  which 
can  fatten  a  bullock,  and  yield  cereal  or  root  crops,  as  well  as 
the  better  lands  of  other  districts,  but  such  places  are  much 
fewer  than  in  the  neighbouring  parishes.  A  considerable  area 
of  the  surface  is  still  bog,  and  a  much  greater  area  reclaimed 
bog ;  the  subsoil  being,  in  both  cases,  freestone  gravel,  except 
towards  the  south,  where  the  limestone  region  of  Benbulben 
begins. 

Even  the  sea,  that  washes  the  shore,  shares,  or  seems  to  share, 
the  dark  and  cheerless  look  of  the  land.  And  the  impression 
one  derives  from  the  appearance  is  deepened  by  the  bodeful 
names  applied  to  spots  up  and  down  along  the  coast,  names 
derived,  for  the  most  part,  from  rocks  and  holes.  Carricknaneana, 
Carricknaspania,  Carrickfadda,  Carricknacarta,  Pollnaleam,  Poll- 
brean,  are  all  names  ominous  or  unsavoury,  each,  probably, 
if  the  past  were  known,  with  its  own  sad  record,  but  none  of 
them  with  so  enormous  a  bill  of  mortality  as  Carricknaspania 
(the  rock  of  the  Spaniards) ;  for  this  rock  has  its  name  from  the 
havoc  it  wrought  among  the  ill-starred  ships  of  the  Armada  that 
wandered  along  the  Connaught  coast  in  1588,  when  Carrickna- 
spania shattered  three  of  the  ships,  strewed  the  sea  for  leagues 
round  with  fragments  of  the  wreck,  and  sent  to  the  bottom 
crews  and  troops  in  such  numbers  that  the  tides  kept,  for  weeks, 
casting  up  dead  bodies  on  the  adjoining  shore,  where  the  official 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  31 


count  reckoned,  at  one  time,  eleven  hundred  corpses.*  Accord- 
ing to  a  return,  signed  by  Geoffry  Fenton,  the  three  ships 
contained  1,500  men ;  f  but  the  greater  number  of  such  as  may 
have  escaped  the  sea,  by  swimming,  were,  no  doubt,  either 
executed  by  the  authorities,  or  knocked  on  the  head  by  ungrate- 
ful and  unnatural  natives,  as  happened  the  luckless  Spaniards 
in  other  places,  t 

Owing,  probably,  to  their  roughness  and  wildness,  these  coasts 
have  always  been  a  favourite  resort  of  the  whale.  In  his 
Discourse,  concerning  the  Danish  Mounts,  Forts,  and  Tow^ers, 
in  Ireland,  §  Sir  Thomas  Molyneux,  mentions  the  capture,  not 
far  from  Ballyshannon,  of  a  whale  seventy-one  feet  long,  which 
yielded  a  large  quantity  of  the  true  spermaceti ;  in  1740  was 
killed,  about  the  same  spot,  another  fish  of  the  same  species, 
measuring  fifty  feet  in  length,  and  forty -four  in  girth,  and  yield- 
ing ^ve  and  a  half  hogsheads  of  oil ;  ||  in  1779,  Messrs.  Beranger 
and  Bigari,  during  their  tour  in  Connaught,  being  in  the 
neighbourhood,  saw  one  of  these  monsters  in  the  offing ;  ^  and, 
what  shows  that  the  numerous  steamers  now  plying  between 
Sligo  and  Liverpool  and  Glasgow,  have  not  frightened  this 
fish  away,  the  writer  of  an  article  in  the  Irish  MontJily  of 
November,  1883,  saw,  that  year,  in  these  waters,  "a  whale,  a 

*  Letter  of  Sir  Geoffry  Fenton  to  Burleigh. 

t  Spanish  Ships  and  men  sunk,  drowned,  and  taken  prisoners,  upon  the  coast 
of  Ireland  in  September,  1588. — At  Sligo  ;  ships,  3  ;  men  1,500. — Carew  MSS. 
1575-1578. 

+  In  a  letter  of  Sir  George  Carew  to  Sir  Francis  Walsingham,  in  the  Calendar 
of  the  Carew  MSS.,  Vol.  1575-88,  p.  471,  the  writer  says,  "  Of  the  Spaniards  that 
came  to  land  by  swimming,  or  were  enforced  thereto  by  famine,  very  near  3,000 
were  slain  .  .  .  Before  the  defeat  of  the  Spanish  Fleet,  the  English  nations, 
as  well  as  the  Irishry,  stood  agaze  how  the  game  would  be  played,  but,  after  the 
news  had  arrived,  they  not  only  put  to  the  sword  them  that  arrived,  but  the 
gentlemen  are  now  ready  to  attend." 

In  a  Commission  of  Lord  Deputy  Fitz  Williams,  to  Sir  Thomas  Norris  and 
others,  he  orders  them  "  to  apprehend  and  execute  all  Spaniards  found,  of  what 
quality  soever," — adding,  "Torture  may  be  used  in  prosecuting  the  inquiry.'' 
Idem,  p.  491. 

§  Page  146. 

II  Ware's  "  Antiquities  of  Ireland."— Vol.  II.,  p.  173. 

IF  Kilkenny  Archceological  Journal. — Vol.  XL,  p.  133. 


32  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


mighty  whale,  at  least  forty  feet  long."  And  additional  proof 
of  the  frequent  presence  of  whales  in  the  bay  is  furnished  by 
the  ambergris  which  has  been,  sometimes,  found  on  these 
shores,  *  and  which,  whatever  opinions  may  have  been  formerly 
entertained  respecting  its  origin,  is  now  generally  admitted  to 
be  the  morbid  secretion  of  the  spermaceti  or  cachalot  whale. 

The  Palmerston  estate,  giving  it  the  name  it  should  always 
go  by,  is  a  stretch  of  land,  six  miles  long,  by  two  or  more  wide, 
running  between  the  Benbulben  range  of  hills  on  the  east,  and 
the  sea  on  the  west.  When  it  came  into  the  hands  of  Lord 
Palmerston  it  was  very  much  in  the  state  in  which  Nature 
formed  it :  without  houses  worthy  of  the  name,  without  culti- 
vated land  to  speak  of — a  mere  patch  here  and  there,  for 
potatoes,  barley,  or  oats — and  with  two  thousand  Irish  acres  of 
bog,  abandoned,  in  the  less  sunken  spots,  to  ground  game,  and, 
in  the  swamps,  to  the  snipe,  the  curlew,  and  the  long-legged 
crane.  The  fine  green  land,  that  stretches  along  the  shore,  was 
fast  disappearing  under  the  drifted  sand  which,  being  blown 
inland  by  the  Atlantic  breezes,  swallowed  up,  as  swarms  of 
locusts  do  in  the  East,  every  green,  and  every  growing  thing, 
and  wrapped  the  earth  in  a  covering  of  sand,  which  gave  the 
appearance  of  a  beach  to  the  whole  seaboard.  In  presence  of 
this  visitation,  which  had  already  destroyed  six  hundred  acres,  f 
the  people  felt  themselves  powerless,  and  resigned  themselves 
to  the  loss,  as  to  the  inevitable. 

Another  untoward  circumstance  of  the  estate  was  the  extreme 
populousness  of  its  inhabited  portions,  the  tenants  holding  only 
four  or  five  acres  apiece  ;  and  a  still  greater  bar  to  improvement 
was  the  middlemen,  from  whom,  and  not  from  the  landlord, 
many  of  the  occupants  held.  Those  middlemen  were  no  "  fools 
in  the  middle,"  but  rather  knaves  in  the  middle ;  living  much  at 
the  expense  of  the  landlord,  but   mainly  at  the   expense   of 

*  Ware,  Vol.  II.,  p.  173,  speaks  of  a  parcel  of  this  substance  which  was  found 
**  near  Sligoe,"  and  which  weighed  52  ounces. 

t  Letter  of  Lord  Palmerston,  dated  Londonderry,  October  21st,  1826.  In 
Honourable  Evelyn  Ashley's  "Life  and  Correspondence  of  Viscount  Palmerston." 


HISTORY  Ot  SLIGO.  49 


iDismurray,  but  this  only  shows  that  the  place  was  used  as  a 
graveyard,  by  people  of  the  neighbourhood,  long  after  the 
religious  had  left,  a  circumstance  common  to  nearly  all  the 
burying  places  of  the  country  with  Inismurray. 

The  trip  across  the  sound  appears  to  act  as  a  powerful  stimu- 
lant to  the  appetite,  judging  by  the  racy  record  which  visitors 
to  Inismurray    have    left    us    of   their    performances  on  the 
island  in  eating  and  drinking.     Omitting  the  accounts  of  others, 
Beranger's  reminiscences  deserve  special  mention.     Artist  and 
all   as    he  was,    "  the  lobsters    and    broiled    whiting    caught 
before  their  eyes,"  on  which  he  and  his  party  breakfasted,  made 
a  deeper  impression  on  his  susceptible  nature  than  the  antiqui- 
ties and  curiosities  in  which  the  island  abounded.     Above  all, 
an  "  olio,"  on  which  they  dined,  and  which  he  describes  with  a 
gusto  that  savours  of  the  steam  of  the  ragout,  left  him  supremely 
happy.     As  the  dish  is  not  found  in  Dr.  Lister's  ApiciuSf  nor 
in  Brillat  Savarin's  Physiologie  du  Gout,  nor  in    the  Cours 
Gastronomique ;  and  as  it  is  not  the  invention  of  Oareme  or 
Soyer,  but  of  a  county  Sligo  country  gentleman,  Lewis  Irwin, 
Esq.,  of  Tanrego,   who  maintained  it  to  be  "  the  best  olio  ever 
tasted,"  it  has  a  claim  to  a  place  in  these  pages,  as  well  for  the 
honour  of  the  inventor,  as  for  the  benefit  of  future  visitors  to 
the  island ;  and  lest  any  of  the  virtues  or  essences  of  the  ingredi- 
ents should  be  spoiled  by  the  unskilful  handling  of  the  writer, 
he  feels  it  a  duty  to  give  the  recipe  in  the   very  words  of 
Beranger,  which   are: — *'Mr.   Irwin   ordered    our    rabbits,   a 
turkey,  some  fowl,  and  ducks  to  be  cut  up  with  a  leg  of  mutton, 
to  which  he  added  some  greens,  turnips,  and  carrots,  and  a  piece 
of  a  hare,  which,  being  put  in  a  large  tosspan,  he  had  brought 
with  him,  and  having  seasoned  it  properly,  put  it  down  on  a 
slow  fire :  the  olio  to  be  served  up  in  the  tosspan,  to  have  it 
hot."     The  following  gushing  testimonial  accorded  to  this  Olla 
Podridaj  and  accorded,  as  will  be  seen,  after  a  very  practical 
acquaintance  with  it,  by  this   cultivated  Frenchman   of   the 
eighteenth  century,  when  gastronomy  had  reached,  in  France, 
the  dignity  of  a  science,  proves  Mr.  Irwin's  invention  to  be  a 

VOL.  II.  D 


50  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


very  chef-d'oeuvre  of  the  culinary  art,  having  the  property, 
so  much  desired  by  the  epicure,  of  whetting  the  appetite,  while 
satisfying  it  to  the  full : — "  Never  did  I  taste  of  a  better  dish, 
nor  never  did  I  eat  so  much  ;  notwithstanding,  when  our  desert 
of  fine  lobsters  appeared,  we  fell  to  again,  so  that  we  were 
obliged  to  drink  a  glass  extra  to  wash  it  down."  While  Inis- 
murray,  then,  has"  always  its  great  attractions  for  the  pilgrim 
and  the  antiquarian,  it  may,  thanks  to  Lewis  Irwin,  be  made  to 
minister  to  the  tastes,  even  of  the  gourmancL* 

*  To  give  a  fuller  idea  of  Inismurray,  the  Account  written  in  1779,  by 
Messrs.  Beranger  and  Bigari,  of  the  island,  its  inhabitants,  and  their  social 
conditions,  is  here  reproduced  : — 

"  Inismurray  is  a  rock  rising  out  of  the  sea,  which  goes  sloping  gently  and 
like  steps  to  the  edge  of  the  water  on  the  east  side  towards  the  main  shore,  but 
on  the  west  is  high,  craggy,  and  all  precipice,  with  some  small  heads  advancing 
on  the  sea,  through  which  the  fury  of  the  waves  have  perforated  large  holes, 
not  unlike  ancient  arches,  where  the  sea  roars  horridly  in  tempestuous  weather. 
About  130  acres  are  covered  with  a  thin  soil  of  about  5  or  6  inches  deep,  which 
produces  grass  to  feed  about  4  or  5  cows,  as  many  horses,  and  30  sheep  ;  there 
is  also  some  arable  land  that  produces  about  20  barrels  of  corn,  besides  some 
garden  stuflf;  the  houses  are  5  in  number,  and  as  many  barns  j  and  the  inhabit- 
ants 45  or  46,  including  children.  They  are  all  fishermen,  and  sell  their 
cargoes  on  the  mainland.  They  have  inhabited  this  island,  from  father  to  son, 
for  upwards  of  600  years,  and  when  crowded  send  the  supernumerary  to  seek  their 
fortune  on  shore ;  they  only  speak  Irish,  except  one  man  and  an  old  woman ; 
they  are  very  hospitable  to  strangers,  will  treat  and  lodge  them  without 
reward  ;  they  love  Colonel  Irwin  (by  whose  means  they  have  been  exempted  from 
some  county  charges),  and  who,  every  year,  pays  them  a  visit,  by  which  they 
never  lose.  There  is  an  abbey,  as  it  is  called,  very  rude,  a  church,  and  some 
other  old  buildings,  said  to  have  been  erected  by  St.  Molash  and  Columbkill ; 
the  figure,  or  statue,  in  wood,  of  the  first,  they  have  there  in  a  cell,  and  have 
daubed  him  all  over  with  red  paint  to  make  him  look  handsome.  Mr.  Bigarry 
described  his  holiness  upon  the  spot.  They  have  many  traditions,  which  were 
all  gathered  in  Irish  by  our  interpreter,  and  filled  some  pages  of  paper. 

"  In  the  winter  months  they  subsist  on  what  provision  they  have  gathered, 
as  potatoes,  dry  fish,  milk,  and  now  and  then,  on  mutton.  The  inhabitants 
are  all  Roman  Catholicks  ;  seem  very  innocent,  good-natured,  and  devout,  but 
at  the  same  time,  very  superstitious  and  credulous.  They  told  us,  as  a  most 
undoubted  fact,  that  during  the  most  horrid  tempests  of  winter,  when  a  case 
happens  where  a  priest  is  required,  such  as  to  give  the  extreme  unction  to  a 
dying  person,  etc.,  they  go  to  the  seaside,  launch  one  of  their  little  vessel?, 
and  as  soon  as  it  touches  the  water,  a  ])erfect  calm  succeeds,  which  continues 
until  they  have  brought  the   priest  to  the  island,  that  he  has  performed  the 


HISTORY    OF   SLIGO.  51 


The  O'Connors  owned  all  Ahamlisb,  including  Inismurray, 
as  they  did  the  rest  of  Carbury,  down  to  1641.  In  1633,  the 
whole  parish,  except  three  quarters  and  three  cartrons  belonging 
to  Mr.  Hidge,  son-in-law  of  Sir  Eoger  Jones ;  and  Grange,  which 
had  passed,  some  years  before,  into  the  hands  of  Andrew 
French,  was  the  inheritance  of  O'Connor  Sligo  ;  though  every 
foot  of  it  was  either  mortgaged  or  incumbered  ;  the  mortgagees 
being  the  Frenches,  the  Creans,  and  the  representatives  of  Sir 
Francis  Blundel ;  and  the  incumbrancers,  the  Countess  of 
Desmond,  as  widow  of  Sir  Donogh  O'Connor,  and  her  daughter 
Lady  Cressy  as  relict  of  Sir  Donogh's  brother  and  heir,  Daniel, 
or  Donal  O'Connor.  At  the  Kestoration,  the  whole  was  granted 
to  the  Earl  of  Strafford,  except  the  town  and  castle  of  Grange, 
and  about  three  hundred  acres  in  the  neighbourhood,  which 
was  passed  to  Thomas  Soden. 


rites  of  the  Church,  that  they  have  carried  him  back,  and  that  the  boat 
is  returned  to  the  island  and  hauled  on  shore,  when  the  tempest  will  again 
begin,  and  continue  for  weeks  together.  On  asking  them  how  often  this 
miracle  happened,  and  to  which  of  them  the  care  of  the  priest  had  been  com- 
mitted, they  were  veracious  enough  to  confess,  it  never  happened  in  their  days, 
though  the  fact  was  true.  There  are  thirteen  places  of  devotion  on  the  island, 
called  stations,  which  the  Roman  Catholicks  visit,  and  where  prayers  are  said, 
their  names  are  : — 

1.  Monument  of  the  Trinity,  said  to  be  built  by  St.  Molash, 

2.  Do.        of  St.  Columb  Kill.  . 

3.  Do.        of  St.  Patrick. 

4.  Laughty  Roory. 

5.  Tubberpatrick. 

6.  Tranew. 

7.  Clushmore. 

8.  Altbuy. 

9.  Classahmore. 

10.  Parcel  of  small  Laughties  (Cloughauns). 

11.  Relick  oran. 

12.  Temple  Murray — a  small  old  church, 

13.  The  Abbey. 

**  The  first  eleven  stations  consist  in,  or  are  squares  of  ten  or  tw  elve  feet, 
with  a  wall  of  dry  stones,  breast  high,  and  a  cross,  altar,  or  pillar,  in  their 
centre  (like  the  Aharleas  of  Aran),  and  might  have  been  made  by  any  one  as 
well  as  the  saints  they  are  said  to  be  made  by.  'j 


52  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


Grange  was  always  a  place  of  some  importance,  as  it  stood 
right  in  the  thoroughfare  between  Donegal  and  Sligo.  It  was 
the  most  populous  spot  in  the  district,  except  Bradcullen,  at  the 
taking  of  the  census  of  1659.  As  has  been  stated,  Grange  be- 
longed, according  to  law,  to  the  abbey  of  Boyle,  down  to  the 
dissolution  of  monasteries ;  though  long  before  that  time  the 
O'Harts,  as  assigns  of  the  O'Connors,  had  got  into  possession  of 
it,  and  thus  obtained  for  it  the  name  of  Grange  Muinter  Hart. 
The  place  throve  under  the  O'Harts,  for  we  read  in  the  inquisi- 
tion of  1604,  that  "  a  new  castle  and  seven  cottages  were  built 
by  Hugh  O'Hart,  in  the  town  of  Grange,  in  O'Connor  Sligo's 
country."  This  was  the  castle  referred  to  in  the  survey  of 
1633,  where,  in  describing  Grange,  it  is  said,  "  There  is  an 
old  castle  built  upon  it ;"  for  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  the 
place  ever  had  any  other  castle,  except  that  for  which  it  was 
indebted  to  Hugh  O'Hart.  It  is  a  pleasure  to  add,  that  the 
O'Harts,  or  as  they  now  call  themselves,  the  Harts,  are  still 
numerous  in  and  near  Grange,  and,  if  they  are  no  longer  the 
lords  and  rulers  of  the  district,  that  they  occupy  highly  respec- 
table positions  in  it,  both  as  shopkeepers  and  farmers. 

The  Thomas  Soden  who  obtained  Grange,  being  a  persona 
grata  to  the  Usurpers,  was  the  Titulado  of  the  district,  under 
the  Commonw^ealth.  Having  thus  got  possession,  he  kept  so 
firm  a  grip  of  the  property,  that  the  shock  of  the  Restoration 
was  not  able  to  relax  the  hold,  so  that  he  transmitted  Grange 
as  well  as  the  island  of  Dernish  (dair-inis,  oak  island,)  to  his 
descendants,  who,  as  thorough-^Daced  Cromwellians,  have  since 
occupied  a  prominent  position  in  the  county,  and  have 
had  a  share  of  the  good  things  going,  some  of  them  being 
magistrates,  some  high  sheriffs,  and  one  (Thomas  Soden)  provost 
of  Sligo  for  several  years. 

The  present  representative  of  the  Soden  family,  is  Captain  G.  M. 
Eccles,  J.P.,  a  young  gentleman,  who  is  favourably  spoken  of  by 
those  who  know  him  best. 

In  the  list  of  the  Popish  Parish  Priests  of  1704,  Bryan  Heart 
is  named  as  the  then  Parish  Priest  of  Aughamlish.     Rev.  Dr. 


HISTORY   OF  SLIGO.  53 

O'Connor  was  Parish  Priest  in  the  second  half  of  the  last 
century,  and,  resigning  the  parish,  removed  to  Elphin  to  con- 
duct a  classical  school  there. 

Father  Hart  was  the  next  Parish  Priest,  but  after  a  few  years 
was  transferred  to  Frenchpark.  Father  Hart  was  succeeded  in 
1796,  by  Father  Koger  Burns,  who  vacated  the  parish  in  1814?, 
being  transferred  that  year  to  Drumcliff. 

Father  Stephen  Fallon  succeeded  in  1814. 

Father  John  Hanly  was  the  next  incumbent,  having  succeeded 
Father  Fallon  in  1818; 

Father  John  McHugh  succeeded  Father  Hanly  in  1826. 
Father  McHugh  had  been  for  some  time  on  the  English  mission ; 
and  it  is  told  of  him,  that  he  was  the  first  to  introduce,  among 
the  priests  of  this  part  of  Ireland,  the  fashion  of  wearing 
trowsers  in  place  of  the  knee  breeches  and  leggings,  which  up 
to  that  time,  formed  a  distinctive  part  of  clerical  costume. 

Father  Malachi  Brennan  succeeded  Father  McHugh  in  1836, 
and  continued  Parish  Priest  for  the  fifty-two  following  years. 
This  worthy  priest  died  on  the  12th  March,  1888,  and  was 
buried  in  Cliffoney  church,  on  the  15th  of  that  month,  in  pre- 
sence of  an  immense  congregation,  including  a  goodly  number 
of  Protestants,  who  attended  to  testify  their  respect  for  the 
deceased.  Born  on  the  6th  January,  1797,  Father  Malachi  was 
in  his  92nd  year  at  the  time  of  his  decease.  Throughout  his 
long  clerical  career,  he  was  one  of  the  most  admired  priests  in 
Ireland,  being  a  special  favourite  in  the  dioceses  of  Elphin, 
Kilmore,  and  Achonry — in  Elphin  as  a  priest  of  the  diocese  ;  in 
Kilmore,  as  a  near  neighbour,  living  almost  as  much  with  the 
Kilmore  clergy,  as  with  his  own ;  and  in  Achonry,  as  sprung  on 
the  mother's  side  from  that  diocese,  and  regarded,  in  con- 
sequence, by  Achonry  priests  as  one  of  themselves. 

Numerous  as  were  the  friends  he  acquired  through  life,  he 
never  lost  one,  except  by  death  or  some  other  cause,  that  he 
could  not  control ;  for  the  amiable  and  sterling  qualities  which 
first  attracted  people,  showing  themselves  daily  more  and 
more     on     nearer     acquaintance,    constantly     increased    the 


54  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


esteem  and  love  in  which  his  friends  held  him.  And  this  effect 
was  manifested  in  persons  of  very  different  conditions — in  the 
simple  fishermen  of  Mullaghmore  and  Inismurray,  who  were 
daily  discovering  new  perfections  in  their  beloved  pastor,  as 
well  as  in  Lord  and  Lady  Palmerston,  who,  after  showing  him 
from  the  beginning  great  attention  and  consideration,  came  in 
the  end,  when  they  knew  him  well,  to  treat  him  with  unreserved 
affection. 

It  would  be  hard  to  tell  which  of  Father  Malachi's  many 
fascinating  talents  counted  for  most  in  bis  rare  popularity. 
Even  apart  from  his  characteristics  as  a  priest — which  were  zeal 
for  religion  and  love  for  his  people — his  social  qualities  were 
singularly  engaging  and  entertaining,  more  especially  his  wit 
and  quiet  humour,  which  lightened  the  hearts  and  brightened 
the  faces  of  all  who  came  near  him,  without  ever  hurting 
anyone;  his  unfailing  store  of  interesting  anecdote  and 
inimitable  tact  in  drawing  on  it ;  and  above  all,  that  hoiihomraie, 
that  "  simplicity  and  gaiety  of  childhood,"  which,  according  to 
an  able  obituary  notice  in  the  Champion,  he  retained  to  the 
end,  and  which,  more  perhaps  than  anything  else,  helped  to 
gain  him  all  hearts. 

The  Protestant  church  of  Ahamlish  was  built  in  1811,  during 
the  incumbency  of  Kev.  Mr.  West,  and  according  to  Sergeant 
Shoe  (p.  112),  the  ascertained  cost  of  the  building  in  1848  was 
£830 ;  the  annual  revenue  £102  ;  the  number  of  persons  for 
whom  accommodation  was  provided  100  ;  the  nunaber  of  mem- 
bers of  Established  Church  in  benefice  in  1835,  73 ;  and  the 
number  of  Catholics  at  the  same  date,  7,789. 

As  to  the  Protestant  incumbents  of  Ahamlish ;  Kev.  Eubule 
Ormsby  was  Yicar  in  1769,  and  was  succeeded  that  year  by 
Reverend  Andrew  Knox.  Eev.  William  Wade  was  Yicar  in 
1773,  and  Eev.  Matthew  Browne  in  1776.  After  Mr.  Browne 
came  Rev.  Charles  West,  towards  the  close  of  177C.  Like  so 
many  others  of  his  order,  Mr.  West  was  a  Justice  of  the  Peace, 
as  well  as  a  land  agent.  He  took  an  active  part  in  the  civil 
affairs  of  the  country,  and  was  one  of  the  magistrates  named  by 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  55 


the  Government  in  1708,  to  adjudicate  on  the  claims  of  the  so- 
called  Suffering  Loyalists.  The  names  of  succeeding  Vicars  or 
Eectors  are,  Rev.  John  E.  Green,  Rev.  Isaac  Coulter,  Rev.  J. 
Todd,  and  Rev.  John  McCormack. 

To  the  east  of  the  parish  of  Ahamlish  there  is  a  strip  of  the 
county  Sligo,  four  miles  long,  and  about  three  and  a  half  wide, 
which  belongs  to  the  parish  of  Rossinver,  the  remainder,  which 
is  the  larger  part  of  that  parish,  lying  in  the  barony  of  Ross- 
clogher,  and  county  of  Leitrim.  The  intrusion  of  Rossinver 
parish  into  Carbury,  dates  from  the  time  when  the  O'Rorkes 
extended  their  rule  into  that  part  of  Sligo ;  and  Sir  Frederick 
Hamilton,  who  succeeded  the  O'Rorkes,  was  not  a-  man  to 
surrender  an  inch  of  land,  either  for  the  sake  of  symmetry,  or  for 
the  convenience  of  the  public.  As  the  greater  part  of  the  parish 
lies  in  Leitrim,  and  as  the  priests  live  there,  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Sligo  portion  have  more  in  common  with  the  county 
Leitrim  than  with  their  own  county. 

This  strip  consists,  for  the  most  part,  of  rough  upland,  though 
it  contains  some  good  soil  along  the  banks  of  the  Ballintrillick 
rivulet,  which  flows  into  the  river  Duff.  Sir  Henry  Gore  Booth 
is  the  landlord  ;  and  the  houses  and  farms  of  the  tenants  show 
the  comfort  which  appears  everywhere  on  that  gentleman's 
property. 

Ballintrillick  signifies  the  town  of  the  Three  Stones,  and 
must  have  been  so  called  from  three  memorial  stones  which  once 
existed  in  the  place,  though  they  have  not  been  there  within 
living  memory. 

From  the  names  Trillick — The  Three  Stones — and  Ballin- 
trillick— Town  of  the  Three  Stones — as  well  as  from  what  we 
read  in  the  Yita  Tripartita,*  we  may  infer,  that  such  memorials 


*  '*  At  a  beautiful  spot,  commanding  a  very  extensive  view,  St.  Patrick,  with 
some  bishops  that  accompanied  him,  made  a  halt  near  three  pillars  or  lofty- 
stones,  which  the  Pagans  had  erected  there  in  memory  of  some  events  or  Pagan 
rites ;  and  on  these  stones  the  Saint  caused  to  be  inscribed  in  three  languages 
the  name  of  Christ,  the  corner  stone — on  one  Jesus,  on  another  Soter,  and  on 
the  third  Salvator." — Vita  Tripartita;  Pars.  11.,  c.  Hi. 


56  HISTORY    OF   SLIGO. 


were  not  uncommon.  The  Three  Stones  to  which  the  passage 
of  the  Vita  Tripartita  refers,  were  put  up  to  commemorate  some 
Pagan  events  or  rites ;  and  St.  Patrick,  to  make  them  subserve 
Christian  purposes,  marked  them  with  the  name  of  the 
Redeemer,  inscribing  it  on  one  in  Hebrew,  on  another  in 
Greek,  and  on  the  third  in  Latin. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

BARONY   OF   LEYNEY. 
PARISHES  OF   KILLORAN  AND   KILVARNET. 

The  barony  of  Leyney  contains  the  five  parishes  of  Achonry, 
Kilmacteige,  Ballysadare,  Kilvarnet,  and  Killoran.  In  the  past, 
Leyney  was  a  much  more  extensive  district  than  at  present,  for 
Luighne,  or  Leyney,  was  an  alias  name  of  Coranna,  which 
comprehended  : — in  Mayo :  Slieve  Lugha,  in  the  barony  of 
Costello,  as  well  as  the  whole  of  the  present  barony  of  Gallon  ; 
and  in  Sligo,  the  areas  belonging  to  the  baronies  of  Leyney  and 
Corran.*  History,  or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  certain  historical 
writers  tell  us,  that  these  territories  were  inhabited  by  the 
Firbolgs  down  to  about  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  when 
King  Cormac  granted  them  to  Cormac  Gaileng  and  his  son 
Luigh  ;  the  new  inhabitants  being  sometimes  called  Galengs,  or 
Galengans,  from  Cormac  Gaileng ;  sometimes  Lugnians  from 
Luigh ;  and  sometimes  Corco  Firtrians,  from  Lugny  Firtri,  the 
step-father  of  King  Cormac. f  In  the  progress  of  time,  the  more 
southern  portion  of  the  district  came  to  be  called  Gailenga,  and 
the  more  northern  Luighne,  while  a  tract,  not  identified  by  any 
of  our  writers,  got  the  name  of  Corco  Firtri — a  tract,'  which  in 
the  writer's  opinion,  lay  on,  and  near,  the  northern  end  of  the 


*  OTlaherty's  Ogygia.— Hely's  Translation  ;  Vol.  II.,  p.  236. 

t  We  read  that  these  places  were  inhabited  by  Damnonians  and  Galenians — 
Ibidem.  It  was  this  circumstance  that  led  to  the  imposition  of  a  heavy 
tribute  on  the  new  inhabitants,  for  we  read  in  the  Book  of  Rights  : — 

*'  Although  the  Luighne  bring  hither 

Their  tribute  for  their  territory,  X^ 

It  is  not  the  tribes  here  are  ignoble, 

But  the  grass  and  the  land." — Book  of  Rights,  p.  105. 


58  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


Ox  mountains,  for  it  comprehended  the  present  Coillte  Luighne, 
which  was  sometimes  called  Coillte  Lugna  Mac  Firtri.* 

From  the  dispossession  of  the  Attacots  or  Firbolgs  down  to 
the  seventeenth  century,  most  of  Leyney  belonged  to  the 
O'Haras,  O'Garas,  and  O'h-Uathmharains ;  f  though  the 
O'Higgins  had  acquired  several  thousand  acres  of  it,  and  con- 
siderable scopes  had  passed  in  mortgage  to  others,  before  the 
close  of  the  sixteenth  century.  At  the  Eestoration,  the  O'Haras 
(with  the  exception  of  Kean  O'Hara),  the  O'Garas,  and  the 
O'Higgins  disappeared,  while  Lord  Collooney,  Edward  Cooper, 
Sir  Theophilus  Jones,  Jeremy  Jones,  Philip  Ormsby,  Robert 
Parke,  Sir  Arthur  Gore,  Sir  Francis  Gore,  John  Boswell,  Francis 
King,  William  Webb,  Francis  Weaver,  and  some  others,  got 
their  lands.  Many  of  these  lands  have  passed  away  from  the 
families  of  the  Eestoration  grantees,  but  Colonel  Cooper  still 
owns  not  only  the  lands  of  his  ancestor,  Edward  Cooper,  but 
also  those  of  Lord  Collooney,  purchased  from  his  Lordship  by 
the  Coopers,  and  entailed  in  the  male  Hue  of  that  family ;  Lord 
Harlech  possesses  the  lands  of  Phillip  Ormsby;  Sir  Charles 
Gore,  most  of  the  lands  of  Sir  Arthur  Gore;  and  the  Knoxes, 
other  lands  of  the  same  grantee. 

XiLLOEAN  parish  lies  in  the  north-west  of  Leyney,  and  is  a 
secluded  district,  being  bounded  both  on  the  north  and  the  west 
by  the  Ox  mountains,  which  rise  here  to  about  nine  hundred  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  land  is  of  various  qualities, 
some  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Coolany  and  in  the  townland  of 
Killoran  being  rich,  some  in  other  places  of  medium  quality, 
and  the  residue  either  reclaimed  bog  or  wild  mountain,  still 
in  a  state  of  nature. 

Great  improvement  has  taken  place  in  the  parish  since  the 
beginning  of  the  century,  owing  partly  to  the  industry  of  the 

*  Tribes  and  Customs  of  Hy  Fiachrach,  p.  418. 

t  in  the  Topogra])liical  Poems  of  JoLn  O'Dugan,  etc.,  O'Donovan  remarks, 
that  the  name,  *'  Ch-Uathomharain  "  is  obsolete,  but  this  is  a  mistake,  for 
O  Haran,  or  Haran,  the  present  form  of  the  name,  is  still  common  in  Leyney, 
more  especially  at  the  foot  of  the  Ox  mountains. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  59 


people,  who  have  been  constantly  carrying  tillage  higher  and 
higher  up  the  slopes  of  the  mountain,  and  partly  to  the  exertions 
of  the  late  Major  O'Hara,  who  was  all  through  life  one  of  the 
most  improving  landlords  in  Ireland ;  for  while  he  incited 
tenants  to  improve  their  holdings  by  compensating  them  for 
every  improvement  effected,  he  had  always  in  his  immediate 
employment  a  large  staff  of  labourers,  under  the  directions  of  his 
land  steward,  who  moved  here  and  there  over  the  estate  where 
their  services  were  needed,  and  were  constantly  engaged  in 
draining,  levelling,  stubbing,  fencing,  planting,  or  road  making. 
In  this  way  stretches,  which  were  in  great  part  wild  wastes  of 
heath  and  morass,  wear  now  an  air  of  superior  cultivation,  with 
symmetrical  fields,  white-thorn  hedge  rows,  macadamized  roads, 
and  clumps  of  planting,  so  judiciously  distributed,  as  to  be  useful 
for  the  shelter  they  afford,  and  ornamental  for  the  variety  and 
richness  they  impart  to  the  appearance  of  the  country. 

From  time  immemorial  the  district  of  Killoran  belonged  to 
the  O'Haras,  as  it  belongs  to  them  at  present,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  two  or  three  inconsiderable  patches. 

The  chief  place  of  Killoran  is  the  little  town  or  village  of 
Coolany,  which  is  so  called  from  standing  on  the  bank  of  the 
river,  Coolany  being  a  corruption  of  Cuil-abhan,  the  quarter  of 
the  river.  Down  to  the  seventeenth  century  it  contained  a 
castle  of  the  O'Haras  Boy,  one  family  of  whom  occupied  it, 
while  O'Hara  Boy,  "  chief  of  his  name,"  lived  at  Templehouse.* 
Some  remains  of  the  castle  might  be  seen  till  very  recently  at 
the  west  end  of  the  village,  in  a  garden  that  lies  between  the 
Carrownacleigha  road  and  the  river.  In  its  present  state,  the 
village  consists  of  one  long  and  broad  street,  flanked  on  each  side 
by  a  row  of  substantial  houses,  nearly  all  slated  and  two-storied. 

Like  the  rest  of  the  parish,  Coolany  was  greatly  benefited  by 
the  weaving  and  bleaching  operations  of  the  early  part  of  the  cen- 


*  In  the  General  Pardon  granted  by  James  I.  on  his  accession,  to  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  county  Sligo,  we  find  mention  of  '*  Owen  O'Hari,  of  Cowllany, 
gent.  ;  Brien  O'Hari,  of  the  same,  gent.  ;  Mortagh  Duffe  O'Hari,  of  the  same, 
gent.,  and  Rorie  O'Hari,  of  the  same,  gent." 


60  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


tury.  To  encourage  these  industries,  Mr.  Cliarles  O'Hara,  then 
one  of  the  members  of  parliament  for  the  county,  brought  a 
number  of  weavers  and  bleachers  from  the  north,  located  them  in 
and  around  Coolany,  and  at  the  same  time  erected,  for  a  bleach 
mill,  the  house  now  owned  by  Mr.  Conboy,  and  called  still 
Greenville,  from  the  bleach  green  that  formerly  surrounded  it. 
The  first  manager  of  the  bleach  mill  was  a  Mr.  Armstrong,  of 
whom  nothing  particular  is  handed  down;  but  after  him  came  a 
Mr.  Adam  Blest,  who  was  much  better  known  in  his  day  as  a 
super-zealous  Baptist,  than  as  a  successful  bleacher.  It  is  said 
that  much  of  his  time  was  passed  in  efforts  to  proselytize  both  the 
Protestants  and  the  Catholics  around  him ;  an  occupation  which 
after  a  while  affected  adversely  his  business,  without,  it  appears, 
benefiting  much  his  religion  or  sect.  The  noted  Thady  Conlon 
was  one  of  Mr.  Blest's  jproteges.  The  country  people  point  out  the 
part  of  the  river  in  which  Blest  used  to  "dip"  his  proselytes. 

Though  Major  "Wood  Martin  *  and  one  of  the  Ordnance 
Survey  Letter  Writers,  take  Killoran  to  signify  Oran's  church, 
this  is  not  the  true  signification ;  for  the  word  comes  from  a 
female  saint  named  Luathrenna,  or  Luathren,  and  not  from 
St.  Oran.  This  is  clear  from  a  note  which  Colgan  appends  to 
his  life  of  St.  Cormac,f  and  in  which  he  gives  the  genealogy  of 
Luathren  as  a  daughter  of  Colman,  who  was  a  descendant  of 
Kien,  the  ancestor  of  the  O'Hara  family.  In  the  same  note 
Colgan  states  that  her  festival  falls  on  the  8th  June,  and  that 
she  is  honoured  on  that  day  "  in  the  church  of  Kilueren  and 
district  of  Corran,"  meaning  by  Corran,  the  present  Leyney,  as 
Leyney  was  anciently  so  called.  In  an  inquisition  taken  before 
Richard  Boyle,  at  Bally  mote,  in  1593,  the  place  is  given  as 

*  History  of  Sligo,  p.  108. 

t  Sancta  Luathrenna  Virgo  filia  Colmani,  filia  Falbei,  filia  Fennflathse,  filia 
Dalei,  filia  Dronei,  filia  Sualii,  filia  Fideni,  filia  Fidchurii,  filia  Artchorbi,  filia 
Fidcliorbi,  filia  Niacorbi,  filia  Lugse  (a  quo  Lugnia  dicta),  filia  Corbmaci 
Galengii,  filia  Tadgei,  filia  Kieni,  filia  Alilili  Glum. — Acta  Sanctorum,  p.  756. 

The  "  Martyrology  of  Donegal  "  has  the  following  regarding  this  saint : — 
*'Luaithrem— (^da  Sanctorum,  p.  756) — Virgin,  of  Cill  Luaithrenn,  in  Corann, 
in  Connacht.  She  is  of  the  race  of  Corbmac  Gaileng,  son  of  Tadgh,  son  of 
Clan,  son  of  OlioU  Ollum.     Pas:e  149. 


HISTORY  OF  SLIGO.  61 


Killouren,  a  form  which  renders,  fairly  enough,  the  Irish  pro- 
nunciation. Considerable  ruins  of  the  church,  including  the 
whole  eastern  gable  and  most  of  the  south  side-wall  still  remain. 
The  graveyard  adjoining  it  is  the  burying  place  of  the  parish, 
and  contains  some  handsome  monuments,  with  inscriptions,  the 
prevailing  names  on  which  are  Coleman,  Higgins,  Gorman, 
McCarrick,  Haran,  Battelle,  McManuSj  Cunningham,  Hunt, 
Treaner,  and  Morrow.  A  handsome  monument,  inscribed  with 
the  last  mentioned  name,  was  erected  over  his  parents  by  the 
filial  piety  of  Mr.  Patrick  J.  Morrow,  of  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  during 
his  recent  visit  to  this  country.  No  doubt,  it  is  from  the  same 
saint  we  have  the  surname  Killoran,  which  is  a  corruption  of 
Gilloran,  that  is,  Gilla  Luathren,  the  servant  ^  or  client  of 
Luathren  or  Loran. 

In  the  large  townland  of  Gortakeeran,  there  are  some 
megalithic  remains  of  the  kind  usually  named  Giants'  Graves. 
One  of  them  stands  about  midway  between  Cabragh  cash  el  and 
Coolany  river,  and,  judging  by  present  appearances,  was  about 
twelve  yards  long,  and  nine  or  ten  feet  wide.  On  the  west  end 
there  is  still  in  sitVj  a  covering  flag  eight  feet  long,  five  broad, 
and  near  two  thick.  No  doubt,  other  flags  covered  the  east  end 
of  the  structure,  but  they  have  disappeared,  and  have  left  no 
tradition  of  their  fate  after  them. 

Two  or  three  hundred  yards  lower  down  the  slope,  and 
nearer  to  the  river,  is  another  Giant's  Grave,  but  in  a  very  ruined 
state. 

The  covering  flags  which  still  remain,  but  off  their  supports, 
are  among  the  largest  of  the  kind  in  the  county — one  being 

11  feet  by  6,  and  another  12  feet  by  8,  the  thickness  of  each, 

12  inches  or  so. 

In  the  same  townland  is  a  little  enclosed  space  called  Killeen, 
in  which  unbaptized  children  used  to  be  buried.  Though  local 
seanachies  would  connect  Killeen  with  Ossian  and  his  contem- 
poraries, it  is  clearly  the  site  of  a  primitive  church,  as  would 
appear,  even  from  the  curious  tradition,  that  some  stones,  which 
were  set  up  there  to  mark  the  bounds  of  an  intended  church. 


02  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


were  removed  miraculously  by  night  to  Killoran,  where,  in 
consequence,  the  sacred  edifice  was  built :  the  legend  only  show- 
ing that  the  church  of  Killoran  came  after  that  of  Killeen. 

It  is  probable  that  Gortakeeran — the  garden  or  field  of  Keeran 
or  Ciaran — has  its  name  from  St.  Ciaran  of  Clonmacnoise,  that 
monastery,  as  we  shall  see  later  on,  having,  in  early  times, 
several  appropriate  churches  and  lands  in  Leyney.  Killeen 
appears  to  have  been  one  of  these  churches. 

Not  far  from  Gortakeeran,  but  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river, 
and  in  the  townland  of  Knockadoo,  men  engaged,  about  fifteen 
years  ago,  in  removing  a  field  fence,  came  on  a  find  of  English 
silver  coins,  one  man  getting  about  1  lb.  weight  of  them,  and 
another  close  on  two  pounds.  They  were  small  coins  of  the 
early  Edwards  and  Henrys. 

The  first  Parish  Priest  of  Killoran,  met  with  since  the  Reform- 
ation, was  Richard  Cloane  or  Coleman,  who  was  registered  as 
the  "  Popish  Priest "  of  the  parish  in  1704.  He  lived  in  Carrow- 
cloonine,  and  had  for  sureties  of  his  good  behaviour,  Francis 
King,  junior,  and  Thomas  Jones  of  Rathmore,  son  of  Sir  Roger 
Jones,  Sligo.  In  the  latter  half  of  the  last  century  Fathers 
O'Gara  and  Dillon  were  successively  Parish  Priests  of  Killoran, 
but  the  exact  time  that  each  held  the  parish  is  not  known. 

Reverend  Anthony  MacDonogh  succeeded  Mr.  Dillon  in  1790. 
He  resided  in  Meemlough,  where,  in  olden  time,  there  was  a 
prebendal  church.  This  good  priest  was  evicted  from  his  little 
holding  by  a  rich  grazier  named  Owen  Haran,  who,  soon  after, 
came  by  his  death  in  a  very  tragic  manner ;  for,  as  he  was 
passing  along  the  public  road  on  horseback,  a  large  stone,  which 
had  just  been  blasted  in  a  neighbouring  field,  fell  upon  him  and 
killed  him  on  the  spot — a  fate  which  the  neighbours  took  to  be 
a  judgment  on  him  for  his  treatment  of  Father  Anthony. 

Father  Daniel  O'Connor  came  next  after  Father  MacDonogh, 
taking  charge  in  1808.  On  Rev.  Mr.  O'Connor's  resignation, 
in  1825,  Father  Matthew  Healy  succeeded.  To  Father  Healy 
succeeded,  about  1836,  Rev.  Paul  Henery,  who  died  in  1847. 
His  successor  wasRev.  Patrick  Hurst,  who,  dying  in  1861,  was 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  63 


followed  in  the  parish  by  Rev.  Luke  Hannan.  Father  Hannan 
being  transferred  in  1870  to  Achonry,  Father  Patrick  Lowry 
became  the  next  Parish  Priest  of  Killoran.  On  Father  Hannan's 
death,  in  1878,  Father  Lowry  was  appointed  to  Achonry,  when 
the  actual  incumbent,  Eeverend  P.  J.  McDonald,  was  instituted 
Parish  Priest  of  Killoran. 

After  the  church  of  Killoran  was  taken  from  the  Catholics, 
they  had  to  worship,  like  their  co-religionists  of  other  places,  in 
the  mountain  or  the  morass.  About  the  middle  of  the  last 
century  they  built  a  small  thatched  chapel  in  Carrownacleigha, 
on  the  O'Hara  estate;  and  in  1827  the  existing  church  was 
erected  on  the  site  of  the  old  chapel — the  cost  of  erection  being 
defrayed  partly  by  the  subscriptions  of  the  parishioners,  and 
partly  by  a  donation  of  £100,  given,  with  other  valuable  aid,  by 
the  late  Major^O'Hara. 

The  names  of  recent  Protestant  incumbents  of  Killoran  and 
Kilvarnet  are  Rev.  Josiah  Hern,  instituted  in  1772,  and  the 
Venerable  Archdeacon  Verschoyle,  instituted  in  1818.  The 
actual  incumbent  is  Very  Rev.  Dean  Townsend. 

The  Protestant  church  of  Killoran,  at  Rathbarron,  was  built 
at  a  cost,  according  to  Sergeant  Shee,  of  £921,  and  was  intended 
to  accommodate  450  worshippers.  The  glebe  house  of  Killoran 
was  built  in  1811,  at  a  cost  of  £942.  The  union  of  the  two 
parishes  of  Killoran  and  Kilvarnet  was  effected  in  1819  by  Act 
of  Council. 

This  church  of  Rathbarron  or  Raverren  was  built  in  1767-8 
on  an  acre  of  ground  granted,  in  a  lease  for  ever,  by  Charles 
O'Hara  to  the  then  churchwardens,  Philip  Percival,  and  Thomas 
Armstrong,  and  their  successors,  the  witnesses  of  the  instrument 
being  Peter  McCormick  and  Thomas  Church.  The  lease  was 
executed  on  the  5th  of  March,  1767,  conveying,  as  the  lessor 
states,  "  an  acre  of  ground,  plantation  measure,  for,  and  in  con- 
sideration of,  the  promotion  of  religion  and  the  service  of  God, 
and  in  consideration  of  his  good  will  towards  the  inhabitants  of 
the  said  parish."  On  the  28th  of  November  of  the  same  year 
the  Lord  Lieutenant  and  Council  sanctions  the  change  of  site 


64  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


"  from  Killoran  to  E-averren  ;"  from  which  we  may  infer  that 
Protestant  service  was  sometimes  held  in  the  old  church  of 
Killoran  after  the  place  had  been  taken  from  the  Catholics. 

Speaking  at  a  public  meeting  held  in  Sligo,  on  the  11th 
March,  1886,  Dean  Townsend  informed  his  audience  how  "  an 
old  document  in  his  parish  told "  that  Mr.  C.  W.  O'Hara's 
grandfather  gave  an  Irish  acre  as  a  site  of  a  church  "  for  the 
glory  of  God,  THE  GOOD  OF  Protestantism,  and  the  benefit  of 
his  tenantry.'*  It  is  certain  that  this  "  old  document  "  can  be 
no  other  than  the  original,  or  a  copy,  of  the  lease,  of  which  the 
exact  terms  are  quoted  above ;  and  the  twist  given  to  the  words 
in  the  speech,  must  be  a  slip,  as  it  is  hardly  in  keeping  with 
the  fairness  and  truth — ahsit  injuria  verho — which  one  would 
expect  from  the  Dean.  No  one  would  resent  the  altered,  not 
to  say  perverted,  version  more  than  Mr.  Charles  O'Hara  himself, 
who,  in  his  day,  was  as  ready  to  give  a  site  for  a  Catholic  place 
of  worship  as  for  a  Protestant  one,  and  would  feel  himself  acting 
in  one  case  as  in  the  other,  "  in  consideration  of  the  promo- 
tion of  religion  and  the  service  of  God,  and  in  consideration  of 
his  good  will  towards  the  inhabitants  of  the  parish."  The  man 
who  received  with  open  arms  the  poor  fugitive  Catholics  and 
settled  them  comfortably  on  his  estate,  after  they  were  driven 
away  from  the  North,  like  wild  beasts,  towards  the  close  of  the 
last  century,  by  the  Peep  o'  Day  Boys  or  Orangemen,  was  the 
last  man  in  the  county  who  would  act  the  bigot  or  proselytizer 
that  the  Dean  would  make  him  out. 

The  parish  of  Kilvarnet  lies  to  the  south  of  Killoran,  but  is 
a  richer,  more  cultivated,  and  more  picturesque  tract.  It  con- 
tains the  entire,  or  nearly  the  entire,  of  the  two  fine  demesnes 
of  Anaghmore  and  Templehouse,  which,  from  their  advantages 
of  soil  and  situation,  and  from  the  great  care  bestowed  on 
keeping  them,  are  equal  in  beauty  to  anything  of  the  kind  in 
the  country  ;  while  the  fine  mountain  ranges  of  Slieve  Gamh 
and  Slieve-da-En  to  the  north,  and  the  curiously  outlined  hills 
of  Keash,  Knocknashee,  and  Mucklety  to  the  south,  add  that 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  65 


element  of  the  wild  and  romantic  whicb  serves  to  complete  and 
perfect  landscapes  of  the  highest  order. 

The  river  which  runs  through  the  demesne  of  Annaghmore 
contributes  largely  both  to  its  appearance  and  fertility.  From 
scenting  the  water,  the  trees  and  shrubs,  which  are  in  every 
case  the  best  of  their  kind,  have  a  particularly  healthy  and  rich 
look.  The  late  Major  O'Hara  must  have  taken  rare  pains,  first, 
in  the  selection,  and,  next,  in  the  after  treatment  of  his  plants, 
for  the  trees  into  which  they  have  grown,  are  all  singularly 
sound  and  beautiful.  The  lines  of  Scotch  firs  ranged  along  the 
southern  avenue  at  regular  intervals,  look,  as  you  pass  them,  so 
like  in  height,  in  form,  in  grace  of  proportion,  and  in  richness 
of  colour,  that  each  one  seems  the  exact  counterpart  of  the 
other;  the  whole  leaving  on  the  mind  an  impression  of  order 
and  harmony  which  it  would  be^hard  to  efface. 

Through  the  demesne  are  some  noble  secular  ashes  and  oaks; 
and  an  arcade,  formed  by  two  rows  of  magnificent  beeches,  in- 
tertwined at  top,  is  full  of  interest,  not  only  for  the  sesthete, 
Tvho  is  reminded  by  the  picture  before  him  of  the  groined  aisle 
of  some  old  Gothic  church,  but  also  for  the  politician,  who 
happens  to  know  the  fact,  that  the  arguments  for  and  against 
the  Union  were  discussed,  near  a  hundred  years  ago,  by  members 
of  the  Irish  Parliament,  as  they  paced  slowly  up  and  down  this 
historic  walk. 

There  are  a  few  fine  horse-chestnuts  to  the  north-east  of  the 
house,  and  not  far  from  the  new  stables ;  and  to  the  saunterer 
through  Annaghmore,  in  the  month  of  May,  few  objects  are  so 
striking  as  those  chestnuts,  then  in  full  bloom,  with  their  tall, 
showy,  pyramidal  flowers,  looking  for  all  the  world  like  so  many 
Chinese  lamps,  lighting  up  the  regularly  graduated  heights, 
of  these  symmetrical  and  towering  trees. 

There  is  no  spot  in  the  demesne  which  grows  timber  so  luxuri- 
antly as  that  around  Ardcree  lodge.  The  exuberant  growth  of 
the  trees  here  on  the  banks  of  the  Owenmore,  affords  a  fine 
illustration  of  what  the  Psalmist  and  the  prophet  Jeremias  say 
of  the  tree  "  planted  by  the  water."    It  is  this  fruitfulness  which 

VOL.   II.  E 


66  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


has  given  the  place  its  name,  for  Ardcree*  signifies  the  height 
of  the  rich  leafy  spot. 

And  this  hrings  us  to  a  castls  which  is  mentioned  in  all  our 
old  annals,  but  which  has  hitherto  eluded  identification.  The 
Four  Masters,  under  the  year  1265,  record,  that  Hugh  O'Connor 
and  O'Donnell  burned  and  destroyed  the  castle  of  Rath-Ard- 
creeve,  of  which  place  O'Donovan  says  in  a  note  to  the  entry, 
"  This  name  is  now  obsolete ;"  and  Major  Wood  Martin,  instead 
of  merely  repeating,  as  he  usually  does,  the  opinions  of  others, 
ventures  this  time  on  a  suggestion  of  his  own,  but  only  to 
discover  a  "mare's  nest."  "Rath  and  Creeve,"  says  he,f  '^is 
probably  Ardclare,  in  the  parish  of  Kilmacteigue,  and  barony  of 
Leyney,"  whereas,  the  fact  is,  that  there  is  no  Ardclare  either 
in  the  parish  indicated,  or  in  any  other  in  the  county  ;  Aclare 
(the  ford  of  the  plain),  the  name  of  the  well-known  village  in 
Kilmacteigue,  being  quite  a  different  word  from  Ardclare  (the 
height  of  the  plain),  though  the  Major  manifestly  considers  them 
the  same. 

Rath-ard-creeve,  which,  in  English,  is  Ardcree-fort,  still 
exists,  and  under  its  old  name  in  the  demesne  of  Annaghmore, 
in  the  townland  of  Ardcree,  and  within  a  thousand  yards,  or  so,  of 
Ardcree  bridge.  The  rath,  or  fort,  is  surrounded  by  a  deep 
fosse,  and  measures,  including  the  fosse,  forty-seven  yards 
in  diameter,  or,  excluding  the  fosse,  thirty-three  yards.  It 
is  remarkable  how  the  name  has  adhered  to  it  since 
1265,  for  while  other  raths  or  forts  in  the  same  townland 
have  no  distinctive  name,  this  one  is  still  known  by  the 
people  of  the  neighbourhood  as  "  Ardcree  Fort,"  so  that  there 
can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  identification.  The  castle  erected  on 
Rath-ard-creeve,  was,  like  most  Irish  castles  of  the  time,  con- 
structed of  wood,  which  accounts  for  there  being  no  remains  of 
the  structure  visible  at  present.     We  shall  be  the  less  surprised 


*  In  James  the  First's  grant  to  Teigue  O'Hara,  the  place  is  given  as  *'  Carrow- 
ardcrioughteragh  and  Carrowardcriweightragh, " 
t  History  of  Sligo,  p.  201. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


67 


at  this  absence  of  remains  at  Ardcree,  as  we  learn  from 
O'Donovan,*  that  no  ruins  of  the  castle  of  the  King  of  Con- 
naught,  at  Ard-an-Choillin,  are  now  to  be  seen,  "except  three 
earthen  forts/' 

The  house  of  Annaghmore  is  worthy  of  the  fine  demesne.  It  is 
quite  a  modern  structure,  being  built  only  about  a  dozen  years  ago 
by  Mr.  O'Hara,  and  it  is  just  what  a  modern  residence  ought  to 
be.  The  time  for  castles  and  castellated  mansions,  like  the  time 
for  round  towers,  is  gone,  and  these  structures  would  be  as 
much  out  of  place  in  our  peaceful  days,  as  the  fighting  chiefs 


MR.  C.  W.  o'hARA's  RESIDENCE,   ANNAGHMORE.  f 

who  once  occupied  them.  In  the  present  condition  of  society, 
when  there  is  no  need  for  a  residence  that  can  stand  a  siege, 
strength  is  not,  as  of  old,  the  great  desideratum  in  a  building, 
but  beauty  of  form  and  suitableness  of  accommodation.  And 
all  this  is  found  in  the  house  of  Annaghmore.  Three  stories 
high — one  a  basement,  and  the  other  two  over-ground ;  ex- 
tended like  a  Roman   villa,  partly  in    curved,  and  partly  in 


*  Note  under  tlie  year  1368,  in  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters. 

t  Drawn  by  Mr.  Wakeman,  from  a  photograph  by  Mr.  Edward  Smith. 


68 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


straight  lines  over  a  large  area ;  studded  with  numerous 
windows,  all  admirably  proportioned  and  suited  to  their  respec- 
tive positions ;  and  standing  on  a  gentle,  pleasant  eminence, 
which  overlooks  a  vast  extent  of  picturesque  country,  it  ensures 
all  the  advantages  to  be  looked  for  in  a  modern  mansion — air, 
light,  charming  views,  and  apartments  at  once  spacious,  com- 
fortable, and  elegant. 

The  family  of  O'Hara  is  one  of  the  most  distinguished  in  the 


o'uara's  castle,  meemlagh.  * 

country.  Considering  the  character  of  its  alliances,  it  may  be 
called  a  composite  family.  Before  the  Reformation,  the 
O'Haras  intermarried  with  the  O'Conors,  the  O'Rorkes,  and 
such  genuine  Celts ;  but  since  Kean  O'Hara,  towards  the  middle 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  abandoned  the  religion  of  his 
ancestors,  the  connexions  have  been  all  English  or  Anglo-Irish, 
so  that  English  and  Irish,  Protestants  and  Catholics,  Catholic 
Saints  and  Queen  Elizabeth's  pet  prelate,  Adam  Loftus,have  alike 

*  Drawn  on  the  wood  by  "W.  F.  Wakeman,  Esq.,  F.R.H.A.A.I.,  from  a 
photograph  by  Mr.  Edward  Smith. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


69 


a  place  in  the  O'Hara  genealogy.  Notwithstanding  this  hetero- 
geneousness  of  composition,  similar  tastes  always  prevailed  in 
the  members  of  the  family  ;  for,  however  they  may  have  differed 
in  other  respects,  they  all  exhibited  a  passionate  love  of  horses 
and  hounds — a  passion  as  marked  in  Mr.  Charles  Kean  0*Hara 
as  in  any  of  his  ancestors.  Since  the  fourteenth  century,  the 
family  is  divided  into  two  branches,  the  O'Haras  Buidhe,  and 
the  O'Haras  Eivagh ;  the  former  residing  at  Templehouse, 
Tullyhugh,  Coolany,  Meemlough,  and  Annaghmore ;  and  the 
latter  at  Balliara,  Belclare,  now  Aclare,  Cashel  Garagh,  and  the 
island  of  Lough  Mac  Farry.* 

The  demesne  of  Templehouse  is  equal  in  fertility  and  beauty 


TEMPLEHOUSE  CASTLE. 

to  that  of  Annaghmore.  If  the  river,  which  flows  through  the 
latter  place,  adds  much  to  its  appearance,  Templehouse  shares 
that  advantage,  being  traversed  by  the  same  river,  and  possesses, 
besides,  a  beautiful  lake,  about  two  miles  long,  and  one  broad ; 


*  For  a  detailed  memoir  of  the  O'Haras,  ancient  and  modern,  see  History  of 
Ballysadare  and  Kilvarnet,  pp.  363-469. 


70  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 

as  cliarming  a  sheet  of  water,  for  the  size  of  it,  as  it  reposes 
tranquilly  within  its  green  sloping  banks,  as  one  could  meet 
with  in  any  part  of  the  country.  The  mansion,  which  was  built 
for  the  most  part  by  the  late  Mr.  PercevaFs  father,  is,  with  its 
two  stately  fronts,  its  imposing  size,  and  its  masonry  of  chiselled 
and  polished  limestone,  a  splendid  house ;  while  the  terraces 
and  pleasure  grounds,  which  surround  it,  are  appendages  that 
surpass  everything  of  the  kind  in  the  county.  The  venerable 
ruins  of  the  old  castle,  standing  out  in  such  marked  contrast  to 
the  bright,  gay  scenes  around,  form  a  striking,  and,  to  thinking 
minds,  a  suggestive  feature  in  the  landscape. 

As  at  Annaghmore,  and,  no  doubt,  from  the  same  cause, 
proximity  to  the  water,  the  trees  are  very  flourishing.  Two 
ashes  near  the  old  castle,  cannot  fail  to  arrest  attention  by  their 
exceptional  size,  their  strength  of  boughs  and  branches,  and 
their  richness  of  foliage.  While  strolling  through  the  extensive, 
well  kept  grounds,  the  connoisseur  will  admire  many  rare 
exotics,  including  some  fine  specimens  of  the  cedar  of  Libanus, 
and  of  the  Wellingtonia  of  California,  but  will  still  feel  bound 
to  award  the  palm  of  beauty  to  an  indigenous  tree,  the  long- 
lived  yew,  four  specimens  of  which  stand  on  a  small  quadrangle 
of  the  garden  lawn,  one  at  each  angle,  and  all  four  so  stately,  so 
graceful,  so  exquisitely  proportioned,  that  they  throw  everything 
about  them  into  the  shade. 

Not  to  go  back  beyond  Anglo-Norman  times,  the  antiquity 
of  the  Perceval  family  is  sufficiently  seen  in  the  fact  that  they 
descend  from  Ascelin  Goval  de  Perceval,  who  accompanied 
William  the  Conqueror  to  England,  The  first  of  the  family  that 
settled  in  Ireland  was  Richard  Perceval,  who  became  a  special 
favourite  with  Queen  Elizabeth  by  an  important  and  interesting 
service  which  he  rendered  to  the  state  in  connexion  with  the 
Spanish  Armada,  and  which  is  described  in  Sir  Bernard  Burke's 
"  Peerage  and  Baronetage,"  under  the  article  "  Egmont." 

Ralph's  son,  Sir  Philip,  took  a  leading  part  in  the  transactions 
of  1641,  and  after  acquiring  large  estates  in  these  revolutionary 
days,  lost,  eventually,  more  than  he  had  gained.     It  was  his 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  71 


son  George  that  married  Mary,  daughter  and  heiress  of  William 
Crofton,  and  thus  acquired  the  Templehouse  estate. 

The  modern  Percevals  have  lived  generally  at  Templehouse, 
and  have  shown  themselves  liberal-minded  and  kind-hearted. 
No  doubt,  Colonel  Perceval  said  some  ill-sounding  things  of  Catho- 
lics in  the  House  of  Commons  and  elsewhere,  but  the  Colonel's 
bark  was  worse  than  his  bite,  as  Bishop  Burke,  of  Elphiu,  once 
said  of  him  and  to  him  ;  and  after  complying  with  the  exigen- 
cies of  party,  by  echoin  g  some  of  its  catchwords,  he  satisfied  the 
promptings  of  his  own  heart,  on  returning  to  Templehouse,  by 
providing,  without  reference  to  sect  or  party,  for  the  widows 
and  the  orphans  of  the  estate. 

The  Colonel's  son,  Mr.  Alexander  Perceval,*  from  the  day  he 
took  possession  of  the  property,  to  the  day  of  his  death,  on  the 
8th  of  May,  1866,  practised  the  virtues  of  his  father,  with  others 
of  his  own,  so  that  those  who  knew  him  best,  and  saw  how  he 
took  to  heart  the  welfare  of  his  tenants  and  labourers,  could 
have  only  one  wish,  namely,  that  all  other  country  gentlemen 
would  go  and  do  likewise.  Mrs.  Perceval  was  a  wife  worthy  of 
such  a  husband,  and  seconded  zealously  his  efforts  to  make  the 
people  about  them  happy.  She  not  only  fed  the  hungry  and 
clothed  the  naked,  but,  by  her  charity  to  the  sick,  which  she 
often  carried  to  the  leogth  of  feeing  doctors  to  attend  them,  she 
benefited  numbers,  more  than  one  of  whom  survives  to  thank 
her  under  God  for  the  blessings  of  life  and  health. 

No  member  of  the  family  excited  a  heartier  regard  than  the 
late  Mr.  Alexander  Perceval.  Had  his  lot  been  cast  in  happier 
times  he  would  have  been  the  idol  of  the  people  ;  and  even  as 
it  was,  though  diversity  of  interests  brought  himself  and  his 
tenants  into  legal  conflict,  the  trouble  passed  off  without  diminu- 
tion of  friendliness  on  either  side.  As  a  country  gentleman 
there  was  hardly  anything  wanting  to  him,  being  attentive  to 
his  public  and  private  duties,  fond  of  field  sports,  frank  and 
genial  with  his  equals,  kind  and  sympathetic  towards  inferiors, 

*  See  Bally sadare  and  Kilvarnet,  p.  355,  for  a  short  memoir  of  this  gentleman . 


72  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


and   freer  from  bigotry  and  one-sidedness   than  county  Sligo 
gentlemen  commonly  have  been  or  are. 

What,  perhaps,  struck  you  most  in  him,  was  his  singular 
manliness  of  character,  a  quality  which  came  out  well  in  his 
prosecution  of  field  sports ;  for,  though  lamed  by  an  accident 
when  a  child,  to  such  an  extent,  that  others,  similarly  circum- 
stanced, would  feel  such  sports  beyond  their  reach,  and 
impossible,  Mr.  Perceval,  like  N'apoleon,  would  hear  of  no  such 
word  as  impossible,  but  took  to  them  so  passionately,  and 
pursued  them  so  vigorously  that,  while  borne  over  mountain 
and  morass  by  the  energy  of  his  mind,  even  more  than  by  the 
crutch  or  staff  he  was  always  obliged  to  use,  he  soon  gained  the 
reputation  of  being  about  the  keenest  sportsman  and  best  shot 
in  the  county.  That  his  intellect,  too,  was  much  above  the 
average  he  prov^ed  on  several  occasions  when  taking  part  in 
public  meetings,  and,  notably,  in  a  lecture,  which  he  delivered 
shortly  before  his  death,  and  in  which  he  exhibited  a  rare  faculty 
of  observation,  as  well  as  superior  powers  of  expression,  while 
describing  a  tour  round  the  world  which  he  had  made  some 
years  before. 

Of  what  has  been  stated  of  Mr.  Perceval's  freedom  from 
bigotry,  it  would  be  easy,  if  this  were  the  place,  to  adduce  many 
proofs,  but  it  will  be  enough  to  observe  here,  that  he,  like  his 
father,  evinced  a  lively  interest  to  see  Ballinacarrow  chapel 
a  neat  and  commodious  place  of  worship,  and  that  one  of  his 
last  acts  was  to  grant  the  writer  of  these  lines  a  most  eligible 
school  site,  on  a  long  lease,  and  at  a  nominal  rent.  To  the 
Parish  Priest,  then,  and  the  parishioners  of  Kilvarnet,  this  was 
a  special  reason  why  they  should  feel  deeply  the  death  of  Mr, 
Perceval,  even  apart  from  the  general  reasons  which  moved  the 
rest  of  the  community,  and  in  which  they  shared  to  the  full. 

For  instance,  it  was  well-known  that  Mr.  Perceval  was  the 
fondest  of  fathers,  and  the  most  attached  of  husbands,  and  every- 
one was  saddened  at  finding  him  taken  away  so  early  from  his 
infant  and  only  child,  and  from  his  young  and  devoted  wife. 
Indeed,  this  premature  and  melancholy  separation  of  Mr.  and 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  73^ 


Mrs.  Perceval,  was  nothing  short  of  a  public  loss,  for,  from  the 
first  day  of  their  wedded  life,  they  were  models  of  conjugal 
union  and  affection  to  all  the  country,  as  well  as  rivals  of  one 
another  in  diffusino:  benefits  around  them.  Mr.  Perceval  died 
on  the  22nd  July,  1887,  and  is  buried  in  the  family  vault,  Eath- 
barron:  the  monument  erected  over  his  remains  bearing  the 
inscription : — 

lYERY. 

Alexander   Perceval, 

0¥  templehouse, 

eldest  son  of  alexander  and  annie  perceval, 

BORN   OCTOBER   13th,    1859  ; 

DIED  JULY  27th,   1887. 

AGED    27. 

When  drawing  up  his  memoir  of  Ball5'sadare  and  Kilvarnet, 
the  writer  took  it  to  be  settled,  that  Templehouse  Castle  is  a 
foundation  of  the  Templars;  and  while,  even  then,  he  had 
doubts  about  the  correctness  of  this  conclusion,  and  expressed 
them  more  or  less  strongly,  he  felt  constrained,  by  the  authority 
of  Ware  and  others,  by  some  legal  documents,  and  by  a  kind  of 
local  tradition,  to  put  aside  his  doubts  and  acquiesce  in  the 
common  opinion.  The  reasons  which  led  to  this  acquiescence 
may  have  still  some  force ;  but  the  arguments  tending  to 
disprove  connection  between  the  Templars  and  Templehouse 
Castle  seem  now  much  stronger. 

Instead,  then,  of  the  so-called  castle  of  Teaghtempul  being  a 
work  of  the  Templars,  as  Ware,*  Harris,!  Archdall,|  AUemande,  § 
and  others  maintain,  the  writer  contends  that  it  is  the  castle 
erected  by  Mac  William  Burke,  in  1263,  at  Ath-angaile,  in 

*De  Hibernia  et  Antiquitatibus  ejus— in  Thorn's  "Tracts  and  Treasures," 
Vol.  I.,  p.  342. 

t  Harris'  "  Ware's  Works,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  271. 

Ij:  "  Monasticon  Hibernicum,"  p.  639, 

§"Histoire  Monastique  du  Royaume  d'Irlande,"  p.  129,  where  the  author 
writes: — "A  Teach-Temple  (dans  le  comte  de  Slego)  c'est  a  dire  Maison  du 
Temple ;  il  y  a  eu  une  Commanderie  de  Templiers.  Je  n'en  sais  pas  autre 
chose,  car  il  est  inutile  de  dire,  qu'  elle  f  ut  donnee  avec  toutes  les  autres  de  cet- 
Ordre  aux  Chevaliers  de  Saint  Jean  de  Jerusalem." 


74  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


Corran,  which  has  been  hitherto  unidentified,  notwithstanding 
the  studies  and  inquiries  of  John  O'Donovan,  who  in  one  of  the 
Ordnance  Survey  Letters  to  Mr.  O'Keefe,  then  at  Boyle,  states, 
that  he  has  been  "  five  years  on  the  look  out-for  the  place." 

And,  first,  if  the  Templars  built  a  castle  in  the  thirteenth 
century  at  Templehouse,  it  is  inconceivable  that  our  annals 
should  not  have  an  express  record  of  the  fact,  as  they  have  of 
similar  facts  that  occurred  in  the  neighbourhood  about  the  same 
time.  We  are  told  by  them  who  built  the  castle  of  Sligo,*  who 
built  the  castle  of  Ballymote,  f  who  the  castle  of  Collooney,  J 
who  the  castle  of  Ballindoon,  §  and  will  anyone  believe  that  all 
our  annalists,  Irish,  and  Anglo-Irish,  could  fail  to  notice  the 
most  remarkable  foundation  of  all,  as  Templehouse  certainly 
would  be,  if  it  had  the  Templars  for  its  founders  ? 

This,  though  a  negative  argument,  is  a  very  strong  one. 
Auother  negative  argument  of  great  weight  is  the  following, 
that  in  a  state  inventory  of  the  possessions  of  the  Irish  Templars, 
drawn  up  in  1307,  the  first  year  of  Edward  II.,  the  year  of  their 
suppression,  while  the  property  of  the  Knights  in  the  other 
counties  of  Ireland  is  detailed  with  great  accuracy,  there  is  not 
a  word  of  Templehouse  Castle,  or  the  county  Sligo  property,  an 
omission  which  seems  to  prove,  that  those  religious  had  nothing 
to  do  with  the  property.  This  important  paper  is  in  the 
British  Museum,||  and  may  be  seen  in  print  in  the  Kilkenny 
Archceological  Journal.^ 

But  we  are  not  confined  to  negative  arguments,  for  the  old 
name  of  Templehouse  lake  establishes  positively  the  writer's 
contention.  The  name  of  the  lake  in  the  patent  granting  the 
property  to  William  Crofton,^'*  is  Lough  Elly — manifestly  an 


*  Foui-  Masters,  1245. 

tidem,  1300. 

t  Idem,  1408. 

§  Idem. 

tl  6165.  Pint.,  clxxix.,  D,  p.  373. 

H  Vol.  XII.,  1872-3,  p.  331. 

**  Dated  IGth  July,  1618. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  75 


attempt  by  Englishmen  to  write  the  words  Lough  Awnelly — 
but  Elly  is  only  part  of  the  Irish  name ;  for  two  or  three  inhabi- 
tants, whose  ancestors  have  been  connected  for  about  two 
hundred  years  with  the  district,  state,  that  in  their  young  days, 
they  always  heard  it  called  by  old  people  Lough  Awneely,  or 
Lough  Awnally — Awnally  being  the  modern  form  and  pro- 
nunciation of  AtJi-angaile — a  fact  which  is  decisive  in  the 
matter.  The  Perceval  family  themselves  bear  witness  to  the 
tradition i  for  on  a  charming  little  grot  erected  by  them  some 
years  ago  on  the  banks  of  the  lake,  they  inscribed  the  words, 
Lough  Awnally  View. 

In  a  foot-note  to  the  year  12G3,  of  his  Four  Masters, 
O'Donovan  translates  Ath  Angaile,  "Annally's,  or  Henelly*s 
Ford,"  but  this  is  clearly  a  guess ;  and  that  it  is  a  mistaken 
guess,  seems  to  follow  from  the  fact,  that  Aunally,  or  Henelly? 
is  not  at  present,  and  never  has  been,  a  county  Sligo  name. 

A  much  more  probable  explanation  of  the  words  is,  that  Ath 
Angaile  stands  for  Ath-eanaigh-gheala  (pronounced,  according 
to  Joyce's  Irish  Names  of  Places,  p.  19 ;  First  Series,  Ath 
Annayalla),  Ford  of  the  white  marshes — a  most  appropriate 
name  for  Templehouse  river,  where  it  issues  from  the  lake  ; 
for  there  both  its  banks  are,  in  the  season,  vast  sheets  of  white, 
owing  to  the  white  hog  flo%uers  that  cover  them. 

Nor  does  it  affect  the  identification,  here  contended  for,  that 
Templehouse  is  now  in  Leyney,  and  not  in  Corran,  where  the 
castle  of  Ath-angaile  is  said  to  have  been  erected  ;  for,  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  Leyney,  as  well  as  the  present  Corran, 
went  by  the  name  of  Corran,  so  that  even  Cunghill  and  Killoran, 
both  now  in  the  heart  of  Leyney,  were  then  spoken  of  as  parts 
of  Corran. 

Passing  over  minor  difficulties,  which  admit  an  easy  solution, 
a  more  formidable  objection  is  found  in  state  documents — the 
lease,  in  1578,  to  Thomas  Chester  and  George  Goodman ;  the 
inquisition  sped  before  Eichard  Boyle,  at  Ballymote,  in  1593  ; 
and  the  grant,  or  re-grant,  to  William  Crofton,  on  the  14th 
July,  1618 ;  Templehouse   being  described  in  all  three,  as  at 


76  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


first,  a  commandery  of  the  Templars,  and  subsequently,  a 
possession  of  the  Hospitallers. 

The  only  answer  that  can  be  given  to  these  documents  is, 
that  they  are  the  outcome  either  of  fraud  or  of  error.  The 
mistake  might  easily  arise  from  the  alias  name  of  the  adjoining 
townland  Rabane,  ^Yhich  was  Cloon  Tempul,  that  is  the  cloon 
or  meadow  of  the  old  church  of  "Kil ;"  so  that  this  very  ancient 
church  of  "Xil,"  or  Tempul,  and  not  any  structure  of  the 
Templars,  would  be  the  Temple  from  which  Templehouse 
derived  its  name.  A  similar  mistake  actually  exists  in  the 
minds  of  some,  in  regard  to  Killinabree,  or  Tempulnabree,  in 
Coolerra,  for  some  inhabitants  of  the  district  will  tell  you,  that 
it  has  the  latter  name  from  having  been  an  establishment  of  the 
Templars,  who  took  up  position  there,  to  guard  the  pass  across 
the  Strand,  between  Leyney  and  Carbury,  though  it  is  notorious 
that  the  Templars  had  never  anything  to  do  with  the  spot. 

It  is  just  as  probable,  however,  that  the  documents  referred  to 
were  the  outcome  of  fraud,  and  that  those  engaged  in  drawing 
them  up,  twisted  adroitly  the  term  Cloon-Tempul  to  their  pur- 
poses, in  order  to  be  able  to  rob  the  0' Haras  of  this  property,  by 
making  it  appear,  that  it  had  all  belonged  to  a  religious  order, 
and  was  therefore  an  escheat  to  the  Crow^n,  which  might  be 
granted  to  a  favourite.  This  was  the  view  of  the  O'Haras 
themselves,  as  we  learn  from  the  following  rescript  of  Rinuccini, 
in  reply  to  a  petition  addressed  to  him  by  Errill  O'Hara  on  the 
subject : — 

"  Joannes  Baptista  Rinucinus,  Dei  et  Apostolicse  Sedis  gratia 
Archiepiscopus  et  Princeps  firmanus  ac  in  regno  Hiberniae, 
Nuncius  Apostolicus  Extraordinarius. 

"Dilecto  nobis  in  Christo  filio  Domino  Urieli  O'Hara, Capitanea 
Diocesis  Achadecsis  Salutem.  Accepimus  per  dilectum  patrem 
fratrem  Bonaventuram  Mihanum  Minoritam,  tuas  supplicationes 
quibus  exponebas  quod  tui  proavi  ab  immemorabili  tempore 
fuerint  in  possessione  pacifica  Castelli  Teachteampla,  cum 
sexdecim  quarteriis  terrse  ipsi  adjacentibus  in  Diocesi  Achadensi 
quae  June  hereditario  in  tuam    possessionem    translata    etiam- 


HISTORY   OF   SLTGO.  77 


pacifice  possedisti  donee  per  quemdam  pseudo-episcopum 
haereticum  predicta  possessione  pacifica  ante  circiter  40  annos, 
deturbatus  fueris  pretextu  quod  dictum  castellum  spectaverit 
olim  ad  Templarios  sive  equites  Melitenses  prout  ex  sono  vocis 
videbatur  inferre ;  quare  veritus  ne  per  episcopos  subsequentes 
utpote  recenti  hsereticorum  registo  in  haretico  Dominio  Castellum 
cum  terris  adjacentibus  tanquam  bona  ecclesiastica  inseri 
debeant  (sic)  ac  proinde  a  tua  legitima  possessione  expelli 
cogaris  nomine  tuo  humillime  coram  nobis  supplicavit  quotenus 
super  hujusmodi  pretensionibus  juris  ecclesiae  et  liberare  at 
absolvare  ac  super  predictis  Castello  et  terris  adjacentibus  opus 
fuerit  dispensare  dignaremur.  Nos  igitur  consulentes  tuis 
commoditatibus  propter  merita  tua  et  propter  calamitates  et 
incommoda  plurima  quae  ob  fidei  Catholicse  incolumitatem  et 
ejusdem  ecclesiae  splendorem  et  nuper  passus  fuisti  prout  fide 
digno  testimonio  commendaris,  etc.,  in  primis  auctoritate  Apos- 
tolica  a  quibusvis  excommunicationis  et  interdicti  vinculis 
aliisque  ecclesiasticis  sententiis  et  poenis  si  quibus  quomodolibet 
innodatus  es  ad  presentium  duntaxat  assecutionem  absolventes 
et  absolutum  fore  consentientes  in  hac  parte  tuis  supplicationibus 
inclinati  super  predicto  pretento  jure  eadem  auctoritate  libera- 
mus  et  absolvimus  ;  nee  non  super  predicto  castello  et  sexdecim 
terrae  quarteriis  adjacentibus  quatenus  opus  sit  dicta  auctoritate 
Apostolica  dispensamus  ita  ut  tuta  conscientia  uti  ac  frui  pre- 
dicto castello  et  bonis  adjacentibus  tarn  tu  quam  tui  descendentes 
valeatis  et  in  foro  externo  etiam  non  obstante  supradieto  recenti 
hasreticorum  registro  nemo  quacunque  dignitate  praefulgens 
turbare  aut  molestare  audeat  soluta  tamen  per  te  et  descendentes 
tuos  respective  congrua  sustentatione  Parocbi  si  noveris  duetu 
temporis  dicta  bona  spectare  ad  eeclesiam,  et  Parocbum  ex  eorum 
redditibus  substentari  consuevisse  vel  si  non  eleemosyna  aliqua 
arbitrio  confessarii  et  non  alitor  nee  alias  aut  alio  modo.  In 
quorum  fidem  presentes  manu  nostra  firmavimus  et  sigillo 
muniri  feeimus.  Daluili  ex  nostra  residentia,  die  xvi.  Januarii, 
1648,  stylo  veteri. 

"  Jo.  B.  Archiepiscopus  Firmanus  Nuncius  Apostolicus." 


78  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 

'*  John  Baptiste  Rinuccini,  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  the 
favour  of  the  Apostolic  See,  Archbishop  and  Prince  of  Fermo, 
and  Nuncio  Apostolic  in  the  kingdom  of  Ireland,  to  our  beloved 
son  in  Christ,  the  Chieftain  Errill  O'Hara,  of  the  diocese  of 
Achonry,  health. 

"  We  have  received  through  our  beloved  father,  Brother  Bona- 
venture  Mihan,  Minorite,  your  petition,  in  which  you  state  that 
your  forefathers,  from  time  immemorial,  enjoyed  peaceable 
possession  of  the  Castle  of  Templehouse,  with  sixteen  quarters 
of  land  adjoining  in  the  diocese  of  Achonry  ;  that  you  too  held 
peaceful  possession  of  this  property,  which  had  descended  to 
you  by  hereditary  right,  till  you  were  disturbed  in  the  possession 
about  forty  years  ago,  by  an  heretical  pseudo-bishop,  on  the 
pretext,  that  the  said  castle  belonged  formerly  to  the  Templars 
or  Knights  of  Malta,  which  he  seems  to  have  inferred  from  the 
word  Temple  (ex  sono  vocis).  Fearing,  therefore,  that  the 
castle  and  adjoining  lands  should  be  counted  by  future  bishops 
ecclesiastical  property,  having  been  set  down  as  such  in  the 
recent  register  of  the  heretics,  and  that  you  should  in  this  way 
be  deprived  of  your  lawful  possession,  he  has  humbly  begged  of 
us  to  secure  you  from  such  ecclesiastical  pretensions,  and,  as  far 
as  may  be  necessary,  to  dispense  you  in  regard  to  the  aforesaid 
castle  and  lands.  Wherefore,  consulting  for  your  interests,  and 
mindful  of  your  merits,  and  the  many  sufferings  and  losses  you 
have  endured  for  the  safety  of  the  Catholic  faith,  and  for  the 
exaltation  of  the  Catholic  Church,  as  we  have  learned  from 
trustworthy  witnesses,  we  do  hereby,  in  virtue  of  our  Apostolic 
authority,  first  of  all  absolve  you  from  all  excommunications, 
interdicts,  and  other  ecclesiastical  sentences  and  penalties 
(should  you  in  any  w^ay  have  incurred  such),  so  far  only  as  may 
be  necessary  to  qualify  you  from  receiving  the  present  favour  ^ 
and,  in  the  next  place,  in  compliance  with  your  petition,  we,  in 
virtue  of  the  same  Apostolic  authority,  absolve  you  from  all 
obligation  in  reference  to  the  alleged  right  of  the  Church,  and 
also,  so  far  as  may  be  necessary,  dispense  you,  to  the  end  that 
you  and  your  descendants  may,  notwithstanding  the  aforesaid 


HISTORY  OF   SLIGO.  79^ 


recent  register  of  the  heretics,  use  and  enjoy  with  a  safe  con- 
science the  aforesaid  castle  and  lands,  even  in  the  foruTti 
externum^  and  that  no  one,  whatever  may  be  his  dignity,  shall 
presume  to  disturb  or  molest  you  ;  provided,  however,  that  you 
and  your  descendants  respectively  accord  congruous  support  to 
the  Parish  Priest ;  if  you  should  learn,  in  the  course  of  time, 
that  the  said  property  belonged  to  the  Church,  and,  that  the 
Parish  Priest  used  to  derive  maintenance  from  it ;  and  if  not, 
that  you  give  such  alms  as  your  confessor  shall  enjoin,  but  not 
otherwise,  nor  at  any  other  time,  nor  in  any  other  manner.  In 
attestation  of  which  we  have  set  our  hand  to  this  letter,  and 
had  it  confirmed  by  our  Seal.  Given  from  our  residence  at 
Killaloe,  the  Sixteenth  of  January,  1648,  old  style. 

"  Jo.  B.,  Archbishop  of  Fermo,  and  Apostolic  Nuncio." 

The  "  heretical  pseudo-bishop  "  referred  to  in  the  preceding 
document,  must  be  the  notorious  apostate,  Milar  Magrath,  who 
received  Achonry,  in  commendamy  about  the  time  indicated  by 
Errill  O'Hara,  that  is,  about  forty  years  prior  to  the  date  of 
Rinuccini's  letter  ;*  and  the  connexion  with  the  Templar  theory 
of  this  unprincipled  man,  who  is  as  untrustworthy  in  the  eyes 
of  Protestants,  as  in  those  of  Catholics,  would  of  itself  suffice  to 
taint  that  theory,  and  to  render  it  unacceptable,  except  on 
irrefragable  independent  testimony.  Considering  then  the 
strong  positive  reasons,  which  show  the  castle  of  Templehouse 
to  be  the  work  partly  of  "Walter  Burke,  and  partly  of  the 
O'Haras,!  and  the  strong  negative  reasons,  which  go  to  disprove 

*  Grant  (17  Feb.,  5th  Jac.  I.)  to  Milar,  Archbishop  of  Cashel,  of  the  custody 
of  the  bishopricks  of  Killalagh  and  Aghaconry,  and  of  their  temporalities  and 
spiritualities— also  Castleconnor  and  Skreen  rectories,  in  Killallagh  diocese  ; 
and  Kilmacallan  vicarage,  in  Elphin  diocese ;  the  prebend  of  Doughorne,  in 
Aghaconry  diocese — Inter  Duos  Pontes  rectory  in  Elphin  diocese  ;  and  the 
prebend  and  rectory  of  Killoshin  (Killorin  ?),  in  Aghaconry  diocese  ;  to  the  use 
of  the  said  Archbishop,  without  accompt  or  payment  of  first  fruits,  or  twentieth 
parts,  to  hold  the  same  for  life,  in  union  with  the  Archbishoprick  of  Cashel,  in 
like  manner,  as  the  bishopricks  of  Lismore  and  Waterford  are  granted  by 
other  letters  patent  of  Queen  'Elizaheth.— Patent  Polly  James  I.,  p.  106. 
t  Ballysadare  and  Kilvarnet,  p.  314. 


^0  HISTOKY   OF   SLIGO. 


all  connexion  of  the  Templars  with  the  structure,  we  are  well 
warranted  in  holding  the  Templar  origin  of  the  castle  to  be  not 
only  unproved,  but  improbable. 

The  preceding  account  of  Templehouse  was  already  written 
when  Pope  Nicolas'  Taxation  of  1307  came  under  the  writer's 
notice.  Had  the  document  come  earlier  to  hand,  some  of  the 
foregoing  remarks  would  have  been  omitted,  or  modified  in 
terms,  but  now  that  they  are  written,  they  are  left  as  they  were 
penned ;  the  chief  contention  contained  in  them,  namely,  that 
Templehouse  Castle  is  not  a  vjorh  of  the  Templars,  being 
untouched. 

No  doubt,  we  find  on  the  Taxation  Roll  the  entry,  "  Kellecath, 
whose  rectors  are  Templars  ; "  and  it  is  certain  that  Kellecath 
stands  for  what  is  now  called  "Kil,"  the  old  word,  in  losing  the 
suiBx,  cath,  faring,  like   many  other  Irish    compound   words, 
which  have  dropped,  through  time,  part  of  the  compound. 

There  is  nothing,  however,  in  the  entry,  regarding  Temple- 
house  castle,  or  any  temporal  possession,  the  rectory  of  Kellecath 
or  Kil — a  spiritiiality — being  the  only  thing  mentioned, 

We  are  not  told  how  the  Templars  came  by  the  rectory,  but 
we  may  take  it,  that  Walter  Burke  first  endowed  it,  and  then 
conferred  it  on  the  Temple,  in  the  same  way  as  some  Anglo- 
Norman  chief  of  Sligo,  very  probably  the  Red  Earl,  bestowed 
the  rectory,  Inter  duos  pontes,  on  the  Priory  of  Saint  John, 
outside  of  Newgate.  A  rectory,  which  was  merely  an  ecclesi- 
astical living,  given  by  way  of  endowment,  was  a  very  different 
thing  from  a  Commandery  or  Preceptory,  which  would  be  an 
establishment  occupied  by  the  Templars,  and  ruled  by  a 
superior,  termed  a  commander ;  but  English  lawyers,  finding 
the  Templars  having  a  claim  on  a  rectory  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Templehouse  Castle  and  lands,  adroitly  extended  and 
manipulated  the  claim,  so  as  to  make  it  cover  the  castle  and 
lands,  and  thus  secure  for  the  king,  as  an  escheat  of  the  Crown, 
this  valuable  property. 

In  the  Insurrection  of  1641  the  castle  of  Templehouse  was 
besieged   and   captured   by  the  Irish.     Failing  to  take  it  by 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  81 


surprise,  about  eight  hundred  men,  belonging  chiefly  to 
Leyney,  Tirerrill,  and  Carbury,  sat  down  before  it  towards 
the  middle  of  December,  and  continued  the  investment  to 
about  the  middle  of  February,  when  Mr.  William  Crofton, 
the  owner  and  occupier,  surrendered  it  on  articles.  The 
losses  during  the  siege  are  not  recorded,  from  which,  probably, 
we  are  warranted  in  inferring  that  they  were  not  much  ;  but 
some  loss  of  life  occurred  after  the  surrender,  which  calls  for 
a  remark  or  two. 

The  conditions  of  giving  up  the  castle  were :  first,  that  Mr. 
Crofton  and  his  party  should  be  free  to  remain  in  it  for 
nine  days;  second,  that  in  quitting  it,  they  were  to,  depart 
with  bag  and  baggage ;  and  third,  that  they  should  have  a 
safe  convoy,  on  the  occasion,  to  Boyle.  Unfortunately  there 
arose  conflict  of  opinions  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  article 
authorizing  the  stay  of  nine  days — Mr.  Crofton  and  his  friends 
holding,  that  under  it,  they  should  have  exclusive  possession 
during  these  days,  and  the  Irish,  on  the  other  hand,  maintain- 
ing that  the  stipulation  gave  them  a  right  to  be  joint 
possessors  of  the  place  for  the  time.  Irritation  was  the 
consequence  of  this  misunderstanding ;  Mr.  Crofton  and  those 
with  him  attempted  to  eject  the  Irish  in  possession;  and  a 
quarrel  ensued,  the  outcome  of  which  was  that  Mr.  Oliphant, 
"  a  preacher  of  God's  word,"  and  two  others,  Marriot  Care- 
less and  wife,  were  taken  out  and  hanged.  Later,  when  the 
party  were  starting  for  Boyle,  a  wrangle  occurred  between  a 
Mr.  Wray,  "another  preacher  of  God's  word,"  and  some  of 
the  Irish,  when  he  received  a  wound,  from  which,  after  a 
few  days,  he  died. 

These  are  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  certain  casualties,  however 
rumour  may  have  magnified  the  number;  and,  considering 
that  the  siege  lasted  more  than  two  months,  that  such  numbers 
were  engaged,  and  that^  feelings  were  so  embittered  on  each 
side,  the  list,  even  if  we  add  to  it  a  couple  of  stragglers 
from  the  county  Mayo,  who  may  have  been  regarded  as 
spies,  is  far  from  formidable,  and  would  soon  have  been  little 

VOL.  II.  F 


82  HISTORY   OF   SLTGO. 


talked  of,  if  efforts  did  not  then  begin  to  be  made,  under 
pretext  of  punishing  crimes,  to  rob  the  Irish  gentry  of  their 
estates. 

In  pursuance  of  this  spoliation  project,  Commissioners  were 
appointed  for  examining  witnesses,  and  taking  depositions  regard- 
ing the  events  of  1641.  To  understand  the  character  of  the 
proceedings  which  ensued,  we  should  bear  in  mind  that  the 
Commissioners  themselves  coveted  the  lands  of  the  accused ; 
and  that  the  witnesses,  if  not  formally  suborned,  as  it  is 
highly  probable  many  of  them  were,  had  a  direct  interest  in 
criminating  the  Irish,  and  magnifying  their  own  sufferings 
and  losses,  and  the  sufferings  and  losses  of  their  friends  and 
patrons,  in  order  to  secure  proportionable  compensation.  If 
claims  for  compensation  for  malicious  injuries,  or  alleged 
malicious  injuries,  are  notoriously  exaggerated,  to  an  enor- 
mous extent,  even  at  present,  when  claims  are  preferred  in 
open  court,  under  the  check  of  public  opinion,  and  before 
judges,  who,  for  the  most  part,  have  no  bias,  it  is  not  hard  to 
conceive  how  extravagant  such  claims  must  have  been  when 
put  forward  in  some  hole  or  corner,  before  one  or  two  Com- 
missioners, who  were,  perhaps,  the  only  persons  present,  and 
who  had  nothing  so  much  at  heart  as  to  gain  credit  for  the  story 
which  the  deponents  were  telling.  Naturally  the  proceedings 
were  all  the  more  reckless,  as  they  took  place  behind  the  back 
of  the  accused,  who,  it  was  commonly  thought,  could  never  show 
their  faces  again,  or  be  in  a  condition  to  give  any  trouble ;  so 
that  from  whatever  point  the  notorious  Depositions  are  viewed, 
they  are  worthless  as  evidence,  according  to  all  received  notions 
on  the  subject  of  human  testimony. 

All  that  has  been  said  by  writers  against  the  Depositions, 
that,  and  a  great  deal  more,  may  be  charged  against  Miss 
Hickson's  selections  from  them ;  for  while  the  bantling  inherits 
all  the  original  sins  of  the  parent,  it  has  added  enormous  actual 
sins  of  its  own. 

History,  for  the  last  three  centuries,  according  to  Joseph 
De  Maistre,  has  been    a   conspiracy  against  truth,    and   the 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  83 


collaboration  of  Mr.  Froude  and  Miss  Hickson  affords  a  good 
illustration  of  the  saying';  for  the  efforts  of  both  have,  apparently, 
no  other  object  than  to  palm  off  on  the  public  for  historic  truth, 
the  most  monstrous  collection  of  lies  and  perjuries,  of  which 
there  is  any  record  in  the  annals  of  the  world,  not  even  excepting 
those  of  the  Popish  Plot,  when  Scroggs  was  judge;  when  Jeffries 
was  Crown  lawyer  ;  when  Gates  and  Bedloe,  and  hundreds  like 
them,  were  witnesses ;  and  when  scenes  were  enacted  in  the 
courts  against  Catholics,  which,  to  borrow  the  language  of  the 
Protestant  Quarterly  Review  (Vol.  36,  p.  531),  "  make  the  heart 
sink  with  shame,  and  thrill  with  abhorrence." 

Leaving  at  present  out  of  the  account  Mr.  Froude,.  who  has 
been  dealt  with  so  effectively  by  Mr.  Prendergast,  Father  Tom 
Burke,  and  others,  a  word  or  two  may,  with  propriety,  be  said 
of  Miss  Hickson's  share  in  the  *'  Massacres  of  1641."  It  would 
be  out  of  place  to  speak  now  of  how  she  deals  with  the  general 
subject,  as  it  is  contained  in  the  thirty- two  folio  volumes  in 
Trinity  College,  but  her  treatment  of  such  of  the  papers  as 
regard  the  county  Sligo,  call  for  some  notice  here,  and  may, 
besides,  be  taken  as  a  fair  specimen  of  her  principles  and  her 
modus  agendi. 

The  number  of  Depositions  taken  in  connexion  with  the 
county  Sligo,  as  it  includes  both  the  town  of  Sligo  and  Temple- 
house,  is  forty-two,  out  of  which  this  lady  selects  three  or  four, 
and  publishes  them  in  full  as  a  sample  of  all.  If  the  selection 
were  a  fair  one,  no  one  could  reasonably  object,  as  the  publi- 
cation of  the  entire,  considering  the  enormous  mass,  was  out  of 
the  question.  Far,  however,  from  acting  in  this  way,  she  picks 
out  the  three  or  four  which  contain  the  most  atrocious  charges, 
leaving  it  to  be  understood,  that  they  are  of  a  piece  with  the 
rest,  while  she  carefully  keeps  out  of  view  those  of  them  which 
would  prove  the  charges  to  be  false  and  calumnious ;  acting 
all  through  the  transaction  like  a  fraudulent  dealer,  who  while 
professing  to  sell  according  to  sample,  and  after  exhibiting  an 
average  specimen  of  his  goods,  his  coffee  or  his  butter,  would 


84  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


deliver  to  the  buyer  chicory  instead  of  coffee,  or  butterine 
instead  of  butter. 

Let  us  see  whether  this  is  so.  Of  the  forty-two  witnesses, 
who,  between  1641  and  1654,  made  depositions  regarding  the 
doings  of  1641  in  the  county  Sligo,  she  selects  Christian 
Oliphant,  Jane  Boswell,  Anne  Loftus,  Jane  Brown,  and  William 
Walsh,  whose  allegations,  if  sustained,  would  be  more  damaging 
to  the  Irish,  than  those  of  all  the  other  deponents  taken  together, 
as  may  be  seen  in  the  following  extracts  from  the  manuscript 
depositions : — 

"  Christian  Oliphant,  relict  of  William  Oliphant,  clerk,  being 
sworn  upon  the  Holy  Evangelists,  doth  affirm,  that  John  Crean, 
being  of  the  chief  command  at  Templehouse ;  her  husband  and 
herself  being  in  the  lower  parlour,  in  the  presence  of  the  said 
Crean,  were  brought  forth  by  the  souldiers  of  the  said  Crean 
and  the  G'Haras  unto  the  place  of  execution ;  notwithstanding 
this  deponent's  earnestly  pressing  the  said  Crean  to  delay  her 
and  her  husband's  going  out  there,  until  she  had  spoken  with 
Mr.  Crofton  and  his  wife.  The  said  Crean  would  afford  her  no 
answer,  but  suffered  his  souldiers  to  bring  them  forth,  to  wit, 
herself,  her  husband,  Henry  Norwell,  an  elderly  man,  and  one 
ancient  woman,  at  which  time  her  husband  and  these  were 
executed." 

Jane  Boswell  deposes — "  The  next  day  the  said  Irish  took 
out  the  said  Mr.  Oliphant,  and  another  Scottish  man,  called 
Henry  Begg,  and  their  wives ;  and  one  Margaret  Branagb,  a 
Welsh  woman,  and  her  husband ;  one  Duffe,  an  Irishman,  and 
their  five  children  ;  and  this  examinant  and  her  three  children, 
she  being  then  great  with  her  4th  child  ;  all  which  persons  the 
said  Irish  led  to  the  midst  of  the  town,  where  was  about  four 
ash  trees,  the  said  John  Crean,  Brian  O'Hara,  Hugh  McDonogh 
being  principal  actors ;  and  on  the  said  trees  they  hanged  the 
said  Mr.  Oliphant,  having  first  stripped  him  stark  naked,  and 
after  he  was  dead,  they  dragged  him  at  a  garron's  tail,  through 
the  mire  to  a  ditch,  where  they  buried  him  ;  and  further  saitb, 
that  at  the  same  time  they  hanged  the  said  Henry  Begge  and 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  85 


Margaret  Branagh  in  this  examinant's  presence,  who  expected 
nothing  but  death  all  the  while;  and  they  stripped  Mrs.  Oliphant 
and  her  children  most  barbarously  to  the  skin,  this  examinant 
being  first  stripped  herself  to  the  skin  by  the  said  CreaUj  after 
which  herself  and  the  rest  were  all  brought  back  to  the  town." 

Anne  Loftus  deposes,  that  '*  John  Crean  was  in  said  chamber 
all  the  time  "  the  preparations  were  making  for  Mr.  Oliphant^s 
execution.  Jane  Brown — "  This  deponent  saith,  'that  Captain 
Luke  Taaffe,  Captain  Francis  Taaffe,  Teige  O'Connor  Sligo, 
Cormac  Oge  O'Hara,  Esq.,  James  French,  and  his  son  Jeffrey 
French,  Robert  0* Crean,  and  many  others  of  the  Irish  gentry 
of  the  said  county  Sligo,  were  at  the  seige  of  Templehouse,  and 
did  questionless  encourage  the  said  rebels  and  their  confederacy 
to  besiege  the  said  castle,  and  to  rob,  kill,  and  despoil  the  Pro- 
testants then  in  the  said  castle.  ,  .  .  This  deponent  and  her 
children  did  beg  up  and  down  the  county  for  a  quarter  of  a 
year,  and  had  been  killed  for  not  going  to  mass,  had  not  Farrell 
O'Gara  charitably  prevented  and  relieved  them." 

William  Walsh's  testimony  regards  the  town  of  Sligo  ;  and  he 
deposes,  among  otber  things,  that  "  the  said  Luke  Taaffe  and 
Brian  McDonogh,  and  divers  of  the  afore  mentioned  captains, 
accompanied  with  great  numbers  of  armed  men,  did  upon  Easter 
last,  1643,  march  towards  Manorhamilton  on  purpose  to  kill 
and  destroy  the  British  Protestants  there,  and  to  despoil  them 
of  their  goods  and  cbattels.  .  ,  .  Teige  O'Connor  Sligo, 
the  reputed  general  for  the  Irish  in  the  said  county.  .  .  The 
same  British  were,  by  consent  of  O'Connor  Sligo,  put  into  the 
gaol,  about  38  of  them.  .  ,  ,  And  this  deponent  knoweth 
Colonel  Owen  O'Rourke,  Brian  Ballagh  O'Rourke,  his  brother ; 
Charles  and  Hugh  O'Connor,  brothers  to  O'Connor  Sligo,  as 
before  mentioned  ;  Teige  Buy  O'Connor,  of  Clonderara  ;  Phelim 
O'Connor,  and  divers  others  of  the  before-mentioned  rebels, 
were,  for  some  four  or  five  hours  before  the  said  British  were 
murdered,  consulting  in  Lady  Jones'  late  house  in  Sligo,  about 
the  said  murder,  and  how  it  should  be  done.  This  deponent's 
cause  of  knowledge  is  for  that  he  was  brought  into  the  said 


86  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


house  by  Owen  Mac  Kory  O'Connor,  and  stood  behind  the 
door  in  the  next  room  in  the  said  house,  and  heard  their  dis- 
course of  what  he  hath  here  deposed." 

The  foregoing  is  an  awful  indictment  against  the  gentry  of 
the  county  Sligo,  in  1641,  and  if  accepted,  as  Miss  Hickson 
presents  it,  and  wishes  it  to  be  accepted,  would  cover  for  ever 
all  concerned  with  deserved  infamy.  While  all  would  be  guilty, 
John  Crean  would  be  a  baser  and  blacker  criminal  than  the 
rest,  as  being  the  ringleader  in  the  hanging,  stripping,  and  other 
outrages.  John  Crean  at  this  time  was  a  man  of  high  station 
and  great  estate  in  the  county,  being  the  son  and  heir  of  Andrew 
Crean,  of  Annagh,  or  Hazelwood,  and  the  son-in-law  of  Lord 
Taaffe ;  and  it  was  important  to  compromise  him,  in  order  that 
the  estate  should  be  confiscated,  and  thus  become  available  for 
some  pet  of  the  faction  then  at  the  head  of  affairs;  and  witnesses 
had  the  less  difficulty  in  effecting  this  object,  as  they  testified 
behind  his  back,  nor  had  any  reason  to  believe,  that  he  would 
ever  even  hear  of  their  allegations,  and,  though  he  heard  of 
them,  that  he  would  come  forward  to  contradict  them,  at  a 
time  when  every  Irish  Catholic,  who  wished  to  retain  his  head 
on  his  shoulders,  would  he  keeping  out  of  the  way. 

They  calculated  amiss  ;  for  managing  to  survive  the  terrible 
times  that  passed  between  1641  and  1653,  his  first  care,  in  the 
lull  which  ensued  in  the  latter  year,  was  to  confront  his  enemies, 
and  clear  himself  of  their  charges.  His  deposition  was  made 
before  Eichard  Coote  (afterwards  Lord  Collooney),  and  Captain 
Kobert  Parke,  on  the  14th  of  May,  1653  ;  and  from  it  he  shows 
that  he  "  protected  Mr.  Crofton  and  his  wife,  with  all  the 
English,  from  the  enraged  soldiers  and  countrymen  who 
were  furiously  acting  their  pleasures  about  the  house ;  "  that 
he  "  kneio  nothing  of  the  murder  of  Mr,  Oliphant,  and  the 
attendant  strippings,  nor  did  he  hear  that  Mr.  Oliphant  was 
executed  till  after  the  same  luas  done  by  persons  over  whom  he 
had  no  poiver;'*  and  that  during  the  time  he  was  said  to  be 
engaged  in  committing,  in  Templehouse,  some  of  the  crimes 
alleged  against  him,  he  was  not  in  Templehouse  at  all,  being 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  87 


then  on  a  visit  with  his  relative,  Lord  TaafFe,  who  lay  danger- 
ously ill  in  the  castle  of  Ballymote,  and  died  shortly  after.  Nor, 
let  anyone  say  that  these  statements  may  have  been  false,  as 
Mr.  Crean,  even  if  he  were  capable  of  lying,  would  never  thiak 
of  doing  so  in  the  circumstances ;  for,  being  then  under  the 
full  swing  of  the  Cromwellian  regime,  in  the  presence  of  hostile 
judges,  and  in  the  midst  of  hostile  witnesses,  the  falsehood 
would  have  received  a  hundred^contradictions  before  it  was  well 
out  of  his  lips. 

Another  charge,  brought  by  some  of  the  witnesses,  against 
John  Crean  was,  that  he  had  a  share  in  "  the  stabbing  of  Mr. 
Wray,  a  preacher  of  God's  word  ; "  and,  in  regard  to  this 
stabbing,  which  took  place  on  the  day  the  convoy  was  proceed- 
ing to  Ballymote,  and  took  place  in  some  scufEe  at  the  head  of 
the  procession,  while  Crean  was  engaged  at  the  rear,  he  deposes 
that,  so  far  from  being  a  party  to  the  outrage,  he  had  taken 
particular  care  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wray,  "  who  were  his  own 
tenants,"  had  procured  horses  for  them  to  carry  them  to  Bally- 
mote, in  order  to  save  them  from  the  fatigue  of  a  journey  on 
foot,  and,  on  hearing  that  Wray  was  wounded,  "  had  employed 
chirurgeons  to  dress  his  wounds ; "  thus,  in  fact,  acting  the  part 
of  the  Good  Samaritan,  instead  of  the  wicked  and  brutal  part 
imputed. 

Transactions  in  the  town  of  Sligo  were  magnified  and  falsified 
like  those  of  Templehouse.  The  falseness  of  William  Walsh's 
evidence,  who  is  the  only  witness  Miss  Hickson  produces 
regarding  Sligo,  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that.  Sir  Lucas 
TaafFe,  whom  Walsh  makes  the  head  and  front  of  the  party 
that  attacked  Sir  Frederick  Hamilton,  or,  rather,  that  accepted 
Sir  Frederick's  challenge  of  battle,  was  not  in  the  party  at  all, 
being  engaged,  at  the  time,  in  the  service  of  the  Kilkenny 
Confederation,  in  another  part  of  the  country,  as  appears  from 
a  letter  of  his  found  in  the  pocket  of  Brian  McDonogh, 
after  being  slain,  and  printed  in  Sir  Frederick  Hamilton's 
"  Relation."  The  witness's  account  of  the  way  he  was  able  to 
report  the  proceedings  of  the    Irish   chiefs   in   their  alleged 


88 


HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


meeting  in  Lady  Jones'  house,  namely,  "  that  he  was  brought 
into  the  house  by  Owen  MacEory  O'Connor,  and  stood  behind 
the  door  in  the  next  room  in  the  said  house,  and  heard  their 
discourse  of  what  he  hath  here  deposed,"  is  so  preposterous  as  to 
destroy  his  credibility  in  the  mind  of  any  man  of  common  sense, 
who  must  see  that  such  a  thing  was  impossible  in  the  midst  of 
the  guards  or  sentries.  Even  Miss  Hickson  makes  little  of  her 
own  witness,  for,  in  a  note  on  his  deposition,  she  observes, 
"  The  number  of  those  murdered  in  the  gaol  seems  to  have 


OLD   CHURCH   OF   KILVARNET.* 


been  much  exaggerated  by  this  witness,  only  about  a  dozen 
perished  there."  Without  going  further  into  the  subject, 
which  would  be  out  of  place  here,  even  what  has  been  said 
shows  how  little  reliance  should  be  placed  on  the  notorious 
Depositions,  and  how  much  less  on  the  sample  of  them  published 
by  Miss  Hickson,  who,  while  adroitly  parading  in  her  pages 
such  of  them  as  contain  the  most  odious  charges  against  the 
Sligo  gentry  of  1641,   studiously  keeps  out   of    view,  others, 

*  Drawn  on  the  wood  by  W.  F.  Wakeman,  Esq.,  F.R.H.A.A.I.,  from  a 
Photograph  by  Mr.  Edward  Smith. 


\ 

HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


89 


which,  like  that  of  Mr.  Crean,  serve  to  weaken  or  invalidate 
those  charges. 

Apart  even  from  Miss  Hickson's  adulterated  sample,  the 
Depositions  in  themselves  are  nearly  valueless  as  evidence,  with 
the  exception  of  those  executed  by  Colonel  Owen  O^Rorke, 
Captain  Bryan  Ballagh  O'Rorke,  Captain  John  O'Crean,  and 
Captain  Francis  Taaffe,  who,  as  belonging  to  the  vanquished 
party,  would  have  been  overwhelmed    with  contradictions,  if 


BALLINACARROW   CHAPEL.* 

their  statements  were  open  to  contradiction.  The  other 
deponents,  in  general,  had  a  two-fold  object  in  view :  first,  to 
establish  claims  to  compensation  for  alleged  enormous  losses;  and, 
second,  to  swear  away  the  lives  and  estates  of  the  Irish  gentry ; 
and  this  they  accomplished  by  evidence,  which  at  present  would 
hardly  help  a  presentment  for  the  loss  of  a  dead  dog,  or  have 
any  appreciable  weight  in  a  trial  for  petty  larceny. 

If  we  were  to  judge  the  condition  of  the  county  by  the  state- 


*  Drawn  from  the  wood  by  W.  F.  Wakeman,  Esq.,  F.R.H.A.A.I.,  from  a 
Photograph  by  Mr.  E.  Smith. 


90  HISTORY   OF   SLTGO. 


ments  contained  in  the  "  claims,"  we  should  conclude,  that  the 
county  Sligo,  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  was 
overflowing  with  wealth  and  luxury.  William  Brown,  of  Kil- 
varnet's  flocks  and  herds,  his  "  English  sheep,  English  milch 
cows,  draught  oxen,  dry  cows,  steeres,  bulls,  heifers,  yearlings, 
saddle  horses,  geldings,  mares,  plough-garrans,  and  studd," 
would  do  honour  to  a  great  Australian  flock  master ;  while  his 
inventory  "  of  all  manner  of  household  stuff,  as  brass,  pewter, 
plate,  gold  rings,  divers  suits  of  linen,  of  diaper,  of  damask, 
holland  and  flaxen  curtains,  carpets,  cushions,  broad  carsy,  red 
broad-cloatb,  red  sbagg,  bruss  .  .  .  books  of  divinity, 
history,  and  all  sorts  of  books,  etc.,"  would  prove  that  this 
Registrar  of  the  Bishop  of  Killalla  and  Achonry,  which  was 
Brown's  office,  was  better  provided,  in  those  comparatively  rude 
times,  than  half  the  bench  of  bishops  of  the  present  day,  with 
household  resources,  conveniences,  comforts,  luxuries,  and 
elegancies  of  all  kinds. 

The  same  style  of  exaggeration  runs  through  the  Depositions 
of  all  the  claimants.  Take  the  case  of  another  churchman, 
Eeverend  Henry  Dodwell,  the  ancestor  of  the  late  Mr.  George 
Dodwell,  and  of  the  present  Mrs.  Popham.  This  gentleman's 
"little  bill,"  amounted  to  £2,420  12s.,  for  alleged  losses  "in  fee- 
simple  estate,  leased  farms,  tithes,  mortgages,  chattels,  and 
cattle,"  iocluding  under  this  last  mentioned  head,  "four  score 
cowes,  oxen,  and  young  cattell ;  three-score  and  eighteen  mares, 
coults,  riding  horses,  and  garrans ;  and  two  thousand  five  hun- 
dred English  sheep."  Witnesses  who  went  in  for  those 
enormous  sums,  would  need  strong  corroboration  to  place  their 
stories  above  suspicion — corroboration  which  they  have  never 
received. 

If  other  witnesses  did  not  play  for  such  high  stakes  as  Messrs. 
Browne  and  Dodwell,  they  all  had  a  good  deal  to  gain  if  they 
convicted  the  old  Irish  of  the  alleged  outrages,  so  that  on  this 
head  their  evidence  must  lie  under  the  gravest  suspicion. 

And  the  very  nature  of  the  evidence  shows  still  better  its 
■worthlessness,  for  it  is  all,  or  nearly  all,  second-hand.     Instead  of 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  91 


telling  what  they  saw  themselves,  the  witnesses  depose  only  to 
'*  what  they  heard,"  "  what  they  were  told,"  "  what  they  were 
credibly  informed  of,"  so  that  hearsay  is  the  beginning,  the 
middle,  and  the  end  of  their  tragic  stories.  Such  is  the  weak 
and  rotten  foundation  on  which  Froude  and  Miss  Hickson  would 
raise  their  colossal  indictment. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

PARISH  OF  ACHONRY. 

The  parish  of  Achonry  divides  the  south  of  Le3mey  with  the 
parish  of  Kilmacteige,  and  stretches,  on  the  south,  to  Bellaghy, 
and  on  the  north,  to  Tireragh.     The  scenery  of  the  parish,  though 
inferior  to  that  in  the  lower  part  of  the  county,  has  some  striking 
features  of  its  own.     The  great  plain  to  the  east  of  Tubbercurry, 
level  as  a  sheet  of  water,  and  stretching  away  to  the  horizon,  is 
not  without  an  element  of  the  grand  ;  the  two  hills  of  Mucklety 
and  Knocknashee,  more  especially  the  latter,  are  hardly  inferior 
to  any  elevation  of  the  county  for  picturesqueness  of  outline  and 
richness  of  colouring ;  while  the  finely  curved  valley  between 
Knocknashee  and  the  Ox  mountains  strikes  the    eye   by  its 
beauty,  and  impresses  the  imagination  as  the  parent  and  nurse 
of  the  Moy,  protecting  the  tiny  infant,  while  he  is  getting  strength 
to  face  the  open,  where  he  soon  acquires  those  imposing  pro- 
portions in  which  he  moves  irresistibly  along  through  Leyney, 
Gallen,  and  Tyrawley  to  his  rendezvous,  with  the  sea  at  Killalla. 
The  area  of  the  parish  consists  of  two  pretty  equal  divisions 
— one  moor  and  mountain,  and  the  other  pasture  and  arable 
land ;  the  latter,  however,  daily  gaining  on  the  former,  thanks  to 
the  industry  of  the  people,  and  a  fine  limestone  sub-soil,  which 
facilitates  and  aids  the  work  of  reclamation.     The  result  is, 
that  in  several  places,  where,  some  fifty  years  ago,  there  was 
little  but  primeval  heath  and  jungle,  with,  here  and  there,  a 
mud,  or  a  wattle    hut,   which  served,  no  one  knows  how,  for 
family  habitation,  there    are  now  considerable  scopes  of  good 
grass  and  corn  land,    with  some  solid  stone  and  slated  houses, 
built  in  great  part  quite  recently,  and  with  money  borrowed 


HISTORY  OF   SLIGO.  9^ 


from  the  Treasury,  through  the  Board  of  Works,  and  containing 
all  the  conveniences  and  accommodation  for  which  the  Board 
stipulates  in  its  contracts.  It  is  a  pity  that  the  inhabitants  of 
the  county  have  not  availed  themselves  more  generally  of  these 
Government  loans. 

Achonry  gave  name  to  a  diocese  long  before  it  came  to  be  the 
designation  of  a  parish.  Our  writers  suppose  the  see  of  Achonry 
to  have  been  founded  by  St.  Finian,  of  Clonard,  on  the  occasion 
of  a  visit  which  he  paid  to  Connaught.  Harris's  Ware  takes  the 
date  of  the  foundation  to  be  about  530,  bat,  as  it  would  appear 
to  be  one  of  the  latest  transactions  of  the  saint's  life,  it  might, 
more  probably,  be  referred  to,  perhaps,  twenty  years  later,  if,  as  is 
commonly  maintained,  Finian  lived  to,  at  least,  the  year  552. 

The  evidence  derived  from  St.  Finian's  life,  in  proof  of  the 
erection,  in  the  sixth  century,  of  a  bishop's  see  at  Achonry,  is 
far  from  conclusive.  Giving  it  its  full  value,  it  seems  to  show 
no  more,  than  that  the  saint  established  a  religious  house  in  the 
place,  and  set  Nathy  over  the  establishment ;  and  as  Nathy,  in 
the  paragraph  which  contains  the  account  of  the  foundation,  is 
twice  called  *'  priest "  or  "  presbyter,"  it  would  look  as  if  he  was 
only  a  priest  at  the  time  the  church  was  founded.  No  doubt 
he  may  have  become  a  bishop  later  on ;  and  the  cuUus  of 
confessor-pontiff,  with  which  he  is  honoured  by  the  Church,  as 
well  as  the  title  of  "  antistes  Achadensis  " — prelate  of  Achonry 
— given  to  him  in  the  life  of  St.  Fechin,  incline  one  to  think  so ; 
but  these  proofs  are  not  decisive,  so  that  it  is  doubtful,  after  all, 
whether  the  holy  man  was  ever  a  bishop.* 


*  The  paragraph,  in  St.  Finian's  life,  that  refers  to  Achonry,  runs  thus  : — 
"  Posthsec  perrexit  homo  Dei  ad  quemdam  locum  ubi  homo  Dei  Nathi  nomine, 
officio  presbyter,  manebat.  In  eodem  loco  apparuit  ei  Angelus  Domini  et  dixit 
ei.  Ubicumque  homo  Dei  de  familia  dixerit  ;  amsenus  est  locus  ad  habitandum, 
ibi  fundabis  ecclesiam.  In  eodem  autem  loco  ad  quem  perrexerunt,  venit  ad 
eos  rex  terrse  illius  scilicet  Lugnensium,  cui  nomen  erat  Caput  lupi,  qui  ferali 
intentione  virum  Dei  de  finibus  suis  cupiebat  expellere.  Volens  vero  vir  Dei 
hominem  in  malitia  induratum,  per  signorum  evidentiam  ad  fidem  inflectere, 
quandam  rupem  magnam  signo  crucis  consignavit,  et  statim  in  tres  partes 
devisa  est.    Hoc  signum  admirans  rex  crudelis,  de  lupo  factus  est  agnus,  genua^ 


94  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


There  must  have  been  between  the  time  of  Saint  Nathy 
and  the  time  of  Mehuan  O'Ruadhan  (1151),  bishops  in  the 
diocese,  to  confirm,  ordain,  and  perform  the  other  functions  of 
the  episcopal  office,  though  there  is  nothing  known  of  the 
circumstances  under  which  they  lived  and  laboured.  Some  of 
them  may  have  resided  at  Achonry,  while  others,  no  doubt, 
resided  in  other  places ;  and  one  of  them,  very  probably,  was 
the  ''  Muiredach,  a  distinguished  bishop,"  who  was  suffocated 
by  O'Rorke  in  a  cave  of  Gailenga  of  Connaught,*  this  district 
forming,  always,  a  portion  of  the  diocese  of  Achonry.  O'Donovan 
conjectures  this  to  be  one  of  the  Keash  caves,  but  there  is  no 
probability  in  the  supposition,  as  Keash  never  belonged  to 
Gailenga,  which  is  represented  by  the  modern  barony  of  Gallon. 
Nor  could  anyone  be  "  suffocated "  in  the  caves  of  Keash, 
which  are  generally  as  windy  as  the  caverns  of  Eolus.  The 
cave  in  question  was,  no  doubt,  one  of  those  constantly  found 
in  the  raths,  and  used  sometimes  for  sleeping  purposes. 

Achonry  is  not  found  among  the  five  dioceses  assigned  by  the 
Synod  of  Rathbreasil  in  1118  to  the  province  of  Connaught, 
these  dioceses  being  Clonfert,  Tuam,  Cong,  Killalla,  and  Ard- 
carne.  Nor  does  its  area  appear  to  be  comprehended  in  any  of 
these    dioceses,    unlike    Elphin,  which,  though    omitted  as   a 


flexit  et  locum  miraculi  dedit  Finiano,  qui  locus  vocatur  Acadh-chonaire  in 
Hibernico  ;  in  quo  vir  Dei  reliquit  prsefatum  presbyterum  nomine  Nathii." 
*'  After  this  the  man  of  God  proceeded  to  a  place,  in  which  dwelled  a  man  of 
God,  by  name  Nathi,  and  by  office  a  priest.  Here  an  angel  of  the  Lord 
appeared,  and  said  to  him,  '  You  shall  found  a  church  on  the  spot  at  which 
your  holy  companion  shall  say  : — This  would  be  a  beautiful  spot  to  dwell  in.' 
Having  reached  the  spot,  Wolfhead  ( Caenfahola),  the  king  of  that  territory, 
which  belonged  to  the  Lugnians,  approached  them  in  a  rage  for  the  purpose  of 
driving  them  away  ;  but  the  man  of  God,  with  the  view  of  converting  this 
hardened  sinner  by  a  miracle,  made  the  sign  of  the  cross  on  a  large  rock,  which, 
forthwith,  was  broken  into  three  parts.  The  prodigy  astonished  and  softened 
the  savage  prince  ;  and  being  now  changed  from  a  wolf  into  a  lamb,  he  humbly 
made  over  the  scene  of  the  miracle  to  Finian.  The  place  is  called  in  Irish 
Aeadh'chonaire  ;  and  in  it  the  man  of  God  left  the  forementioned  priest,  by 
name  Nathi." — Colgan.    Acta  Sanctorum,  p.  306. 

*Four  Masters  1007.      "Muiredach,  a  distinguished   bishop,  son  of    the 
brother  of  Ainmire  Bocht,  was  suffocated  in  a  cave  in  Gailenga  of  Corann." 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  95 


separate  diocese,  is  found,  partly  in  Tuam,  and  partly  in  Ard- 
carne.  The  two  dioceses  which  bordered  on  Achonry  were : — 
first,  Ardcarne,  stretching  "  from  Ardcarne  to  Slieve-an-iern,  and 
from  Ceis  Corainn  to  Huircuilten,"  apparently  Cul-na-bragher, 
in  the  parish  of  Ballysadare ;  and  secondly,  Killalla,  extending 
from  "  Nephin  to  Assaroe,  and  from  Cill  Ard  Bille  to  Srath  an 
Fearainn,"no  doubt,  Srahmore,  adjoining  Cul-na-bragher.* 

In  the  Synod  of  Kells,  held  in  1157,  the  diocese  of  Leyney, 
Connaught,  was  represented  by  its  bishop  ;  f  and,  from  that 
time  to  the  present,  it  has  had  its  place  in  our  ecclesiastical 
organisation,  at  first,  as  the  diocese  of  Leyney,  and  later,  under 
the  name  of  Achonry. 

The  diocese  of  Achonry  has  undergone  some  modification  of 
area,  in  the  course  of  time,  just  as  Killalla  and  Elphin,  which 
divide  with  it  the  county  Sligo,  have  undergone  still  greater 
modifications.  In  the  past  Achonry,  Elphin,  and  Killalla  might 
have  been  respectively  called  the  O'Hara,  the  O'Connor,  and 
the  O'Dowd  diocese ;  and  as  the  civil  chief  lost  or  gained 
territory,  so  also  did  the  diocese  shrink  or  expand. 

In  early  times,  when  the  O'Dowds,  or, rather,  the  family  that  sub- 
sequently took  that  name,  ruled  northward,  as  far  as  Assaroe,  the 
diocese  of  Killalla  reached  the  same  limit.  Later,  when  the  O'Con- 
nors possessed  themselves  of  Carbury,  they  secured  for  Elphin  the 
ecclesiastical  control  of  that  territory.  And  it  must  have  been 
about  the  same  time  that  the  O'Haras,  having  passed  across  the 
Ox  Mountains,  gained,  for  the  diocese  of  Leyney,  the  stretch  of 
land  which  lies  between  Dromard  and  Ballvsadare,  and  which 
forms  now  part  of  the  Barony  of  Leyney  and  part  of  the  parish  of 
Ballysadare.  For  the  north-west  corner  of  Tirerrill,  which  is  at 
present  in  the  diocese  of  Achonry,  and  which  was  formerly 
called  the  parish  of  Ennagh,t  the  diocese  is  indebted  to  the 

*  The  identification  of  these  places  will  be  shown  later  on. 
t  Named  by  Keating  Huaruadhanic,  or  O'Ruadan,  bishop  of  Lugnia. — Ware 
(Ant.  Hib.)  describes  him  thus: — O^Euadan  Episcopus  Lugnice  (i.e.),  Acha- 

DENSIS. 

X  It  is  so  called  in  the  Sligo  Survey  of  1633,  etc. 


96  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


monastery  of  Ballysadare,  as  it  is  indebted  to  the  hospital  of 
Killaraght,  for  the  half  parish  of  Killaraght,  which,  of  old, 
belonged  to  the  territory  of  Moylurg,  but  never  to  that  of  Leyney. 
And,  while  speaking  of  these  modifications,  it  may  be  noticed 
that  Coolcarney — comprising  the  two  parishes  of  Attymas  and 
Kilgarvan,  in  the  diocese  of  Achonry,  were  originally  a  portion 
of  the  diocese  of  Killalla. 

The  following  list  of  the  bishops  of  Achonry,  though  beginning 
only  with  Melruan  O'Ruadhan,  in  the  12th  century,  and 
lacking,  no  doubt,  more  than  one  name  after  his  time,  will  be 
found  more  perfect  than  any  that  has  been  given  to  the  public 
up  to  this : — 

Melruan  O'Ruadan. — He  ruled  the  diocese  for  eighteen 
years,  and  died  in  1169.  He  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  most 
learned  and  holy  bishops  that  took  part  in  the  Synod  of  Kells 
in  1152.  The  Four  Masters,  under  the  year  1170,  speak  of  him 
as  "  a  paragon  of  wisdom  and  piety;"  and  Archdeacon  Lynch, 
in  Camhrensis  JEversus,  calls  him  a  "  celebrated  old  man,  and 
of  the  highest  repute  for  prudence  and  piety."* 

GiLLANANAEY,  OR  Gelasius,  O'Ruadan. — He  died  in  1213, 
The  O'E-uadans  were  an  ecclesiastical  family  of  great  distinction 
about  this  time,  for  in  addition  to  the  two  bishops  they  gave  to 
Achonry,  they  gave  one  to  Killalla  in  1177,  one  to  Kilmacduagh 
in  1178,  and  another  to  Tuam  in  1201.  Their  social  standing 
was  of  the  highest,  for  Felix  O'Ruadhan,  Archbishop  of  Tuam, 
is  said  to  have  been  uncle  to  King  Roderick  O'Conor.f 

Clement  O'Sniadaigh. — Harris's  "  Ware "  says  of  this 
bishop,  that  he  succeeded  O'Ruadhan,  and  died  in  1219,  "in 

*Dr.    Kelly's    edition    of    **Cambrensis    Eversus,"    Vol.    IIT.,    p.    427 

"Maelruan  O'Ruadaln,  bishop  of  Luighne  (Leyney),  or  Acliaidh-Chronaire 
(Achonry),  in  Connacht,  a  celebrated  old  man,  and  of  the  highest  repute  for 
prudence  and  piety,  died  in  the  year  1169." 

t Harris's  "Ware,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  605.—"  Felix  O'Ruadan,  a  Cistercian  monk, 
(and  uncle  to^Roderic  O'Conor,  King  of  Connaught),  succeeded  and  sat  in  this 
see  until  the  year  1235." 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  97 

the  50th  year  of  his  consecration  ;"  but  this  cannot  be  true,  as 
we  learn  from  the  Annals  of  Loch  Ce,  that  he  was  a  bishop  in 
1208.  Yery  probably,  Gillananaev  O'Euadhan,  from  ill  health 
or  some  other  cause,  had  retired  from  the  administration  of  the 
diocese  long  before  his  death,  and  thus  created  a  vacancy  for 
Clement  O'Sniadaigh. 

CoRMAC  O'Tarpy. — The  Four  Masters  call  him  Connmagh, 
and  others  Carus  O'Tarpy.  He  was  Abbot  of  Mellifont  when 
he  became  bishop  of  Leyney ;  and,  as  he  died  in  that  abbey,  and 
was  buried  there  in  1226,  it  is  likely  he  held  the  abbacy  with 
the  bishoprick. 

GiLLA  IsA  O'Clery. — This  prelate  is  called  in  the  Annals  of 
Boyle  (D' Alton's  edition,  Vol.  II.,  p.  371),  Gelasius  O'Derig.  He 
died  in  1230. 

Thomas  O'Euadhan. — He  succeeded  in  1231,  and  died, 
according  to  the  Four  Masters,  the  Annals  of  Loch  Ce,  and 
Harris's  Ware,  in  1237,  and  according  to  the  Annals  of  Boyle 
(Vol.  II.,  p.  407),  in  1238.  Harris  says,  "he  was  buried  in  his 
own  cathedral,"  which  must  have  been  at  Achonry. 

Aengus  O'Clumain. — The  name  of  this  bishop  is  now  made 
Coleman.  He  was  consecrated  in  1238,  resigned  his  see  in 
1250,  and  died  in  the  abbey  of  Boyle  in^l264,  "  worn  out  with 
age  and  infirmities."  The  bishop  came  of  a  poetic  family,  long 
settled  in  Lower  Leyney.  In  the  Four  Masters,  under  the  year 
1143,  we  read  of  Gilla  Aengus  O'Clumhain  Ollamh  of  Con- 
naught  in  poetry  ;  under  the  year  1170,  of  Andileas  O'Clumhain, 
poet;  and,  under  the  year  1438,  of  O'Clumhain,  chief  poet  to 
O'Hara. 

Thomas  CMeehak—Ho  succeeded  in  1251,  on  the  resigna- 
tion of  Aengus  O'Clumhain,  and  died  in  1265,  The  authority  of 
England  being  well  established  in  Lower  Connaught  at  this  time, 

VOL,   II.  G 


98  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


Thomas  O'Meehan's  election  received  the  King  of  England's 
assent  and  confirmation.  Things  were  in  a  very  disturbed  state, 
however,  in  the  diocese,  during  his  episcopate,  owing  to  warfare 
between  the  O'Conors  and  the  O'Rorkes  on  the  one  side,  and 
the  O'Keillys  and  Burkes  on  the  other.  To  assist  the  O'Reillys, 
the  Burkes,  or  Foreigners,  as  they  are  called  by  the  Annalists, 
mustered  a  large  army,  which  encamped  for  near  a  week  at 
Ceis  Corainn,  and  **  plundered  all  the  churches  of  the  Corann;" 
and  to  punish  this  sacrilege,  the  bishop  excommunicated  the 
evil  doers  with  all  the  awe-inspiring  ceremonies  of  the  time,  as 
indicated  in  this  account  of  the  transaction,  given  in  the  Annals 
of  Loch  Ce,  under  the  year  1256  : — "  The  Foreigners  returned 
home  after  this,  and  the  Bishop  O'Maicin  was  *  drowning  their 
candles '  about  nones,  when  it  was  equally  dark  in  field  and 
wood."  * 

Denis  O'Meehan. — This  bishop,  who  is  erroneously  called 
Thomas,  by  the  Four  Masters,  was  elected  in  1266,  died  in  12S5, 
and  was  buried,  says  Harris's  Ware,  "  in  his  own  church."  It 
appears  that  the  Dean  and  Chapter,  on  Thomas  O'Meehan's 
death,  applied  to  Henry  III.  for  a  conge  cVelirey  while  Hugh 
O'Conor,  King  of  Connaught,  applied,  at  the  same  time,  to  the 
king  for  leave  to  nominate.  Licence  was  given  to  the  Deaa 
and  Chapter. 

Benedict. — This  Benedict  was  elected  by  the  Dean  and 
Chapter,  in  1286,  in  pursuance  of  a  royal  licence.  There  is 
little  or  no  room  for  doubt  that  his  surname  was  O'Bracain,  and 
that  he  was  one  and  the  same  person  with  Benedict  O'Bracain, 
of  whom  the  Annals  of  Loch  Ce,  under  the  year  1312,  record. 


*  "  As  regards  the  Foreigners,  moreover,  they  assembled  a  very  great  host, 
and  proceeded  to  Ceis-Corainn,  where  they  encamped,  and  where  they  remained 
the  greater  part  of  a  week  ;  and  they  plundered  all  the  churches  of  the  Corann 
.  .  .  .  The  Foreigners  returned  home  after  this,  and  the  Bishop  O'Maicia 
was  *  drowning  their  candles '  about  nones,  when  it  was  equally  dark  in  field 
and  wood." 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  99 

*'  Benedict  O'Eracaia,  Bishop  of  Leyney,  quievit."  Harris  gives 
the  name  of  Henry  McOireachty  as  the  immediate  successor  of 
Benedict;  but  it  seems  now  admitted  that  this  Henry  was 
never  bishop  of  Achonry  or  Leyney.  On  this  point  O'Donovan 
writes,  in  a  note  of  his  Four  Masters,  under  the  year  1297 : — 
"  The  fact  would  appear  to  be  that  Henry  McOreghty  was  bishop 
of  Derry  only  .  .  .  We  know  from  the  public  records  that 
he  was  really  bishop  of  Derry,  for  he  received  the  royal  assent 
on  the  3rd  March,  1294  ;  but  there  seems  to  be  no  authority 
for  making  him  bishop  of  Achonry  except  the  old  translation  of 
the  Annals  of  Ulster,  where  there  are  mistakes  of  transcribers." 

David  of  Kilheny. — Cotton  (Fasti  Ecclesise  Hibernicse— the 
Province  of  Connaught,  p.  100),  says,  this  David  held  a  benefice 
in  the  diocese  of  Kilmacduagh  in  130G.     The  writ  for  restoring 
his  temporalities  bears  date  August  1, 1312.     It  is  extremely 
likely  that  this  David  of  Kilheny  is  one  and  the  same  with  the 
David,  bishop  of  Achonry,  who  died  in  1348,  though  Ware  and 
others  make  them  two  different  persons.     Some  say  David  of 
Kilheny  died  in  1344,  an  opinion  which  derives  some  probability 
from  the  entry  in  the  Four  Masters,  under  the  year  1344,  "  The 
Bishop  of  Leyney  died ; "  but,  taking  this  entry  and  the  next 
succeeding    one,    "  Murrough    O'Hara,   Abbot  of  Boyle,   and 
intended  bishop  of  Leyney,  died,"  to  refer  to  the  same  man, 
which  is  a  very  likely  view  of  the  case,  as  the  Four  Masters 
picked  up  the  items  in  different  quarters,  then  the  David  of 
Kilheny  would  be  he  that  died  in  1348. 

Nicholas  O'Hedran. — In  his  edition  of  the  Annals  of  Boyle 
(Vol.  II.,  p.  309),  D'Alton  gives  the  name  as  O'Hedian.  He 
succeeded  by  provision  of  the  Pope,  was  restored  to  the  tempo- 
ralities of  the  see  by  the  King,  ruled  the  diocese  for  about 
twenty-five  years,  and  died  in  1373.  Before  his  appointment 
he  was  abbot  of  the  Cistercian  monastery  of  Assaroe.  -^ 

William  Andrew. — An  English  Dominican  friar,  a  Doctor 


100  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


of  Divinity,  and  a  man  of  great  learning.  William  Andrew 
succeeded  Bishop  O'Hedian,  by  provision  of  the  Pope,  in  1374, 
was  translated  to  Meath  in  13S0  by  Urban  the  Sixth,  and  died 
in  1385.  Harris's  Ware  says  of  him,  *' he  was  a  prelate  of 
great  wisdom  and  learning ;  yet,  after  the  manner  of  Socrates, 
he  would  never  publish  any  of  his  writings,  although  great 
matters  were  expected  of  him."  We  are  not  told  that  he 
composed  any  writings. 

Simon. — Archdeacon  Cotton  (Fasti — Province  of  Connaught, 
p.  100)  writes,  "Simon,  a  regular,  appears  to  have  succeeded," 
and  the  Archdeacon  goes  on  to  quote  a  letter  of  Thomas 
Arundel,  Bishop  of  Ely,  in  which  the  Bishop  speaks  of  "  Simon 
Dei  gratia  Achadensis  episcopus."  The  letter  is  dated  Decem- 
ber 15th,  1387,  and  is  taken  from  Cole  by  Cotton.* 

Bishop  O'Haea. — The  first  entry  in  the  Four  Masters,  under 
the  year  1396,  is  "Bishop  O'Hara  died."  Though  the  bishop's  see 
is  not  mentioned,  Archdeacon  Cotton  and  O'Donovan  rightly  take 
it  to  be  Achonry,  '*  a  diocese,"  says  O'Donovan,  "  which  includes 
all  O'Hara's  and  O'Gara's  territories."  The  conjecture  is  con- 
firmed by  a  statement  of  Mac  Firbis,  which  is  given  in  a  Latin 
note  of  O'Donovan's  Four  Masters  (sub  anno,  139G),  and  which 
shows,  that  this  bellicose  bishop  very  probably  owed  his  death 
to  a  wound  received  in  one  of  the  forays  of  that  lawless  time. 
"Et  Episcopus  O'Hara,"  says  Mac  Firbis,  "  Dominum  Mac 
William  comitatus  a  filiis  Joannis  Dexeter,  caeso  equo  vulnera- 
tur."  "  And  Bishop  O'Hara,  having  accompanied  Mac  William 
had  his  horse  slain  under  him,  and  himself  wounded  by  John 
Dexeter."  (Jordan.)  The  wound  seems  to  have  cost  him  his 
life,  as  he  died  so  soon  after  receiving  it. 


*  ''On  December  15th,  1387,  Thomas  Arundel,  Bishop  of  Ely,  gave  leave 
for  the  venerable  father,  brother  Simon  Dei  gratia  Achadensis  Episcopus,  to 
reconcile  the  church  of  Gamlingay,  in  Cambridgeshire,  which  had  been  i)olluted 
by  the  effusion  of  blood." 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  101 


Thomas  McDonogh. — By  the  Four  Masters  this  bishop  is 
called  Thomas  Mac  Morrissy ;  and  by  the  Annals  of  Loch  Ce, 
Thomas,  son  of  Maurice  McDonogh.  And  he  is  styled  by  both 
Bishop  of  Achonry,  which  is  the  first  mention  of  the  diocese 
under  that  name,  being  called  Leyney  in  all  previous  entries. 
Bishop  McDonogh  died  in  1398.  The  MacDonoghs  at  this 
time  occupied  a  leadiug  position  in  the  diocese. 

Brian  O'Hara. — The  first  entry  of  the  Four  Masters,  under 
the  year  1409,  is  *'  Brian,  the  son  of  John  O'Hara,  Bishop  of 
Achonry,  died  after  the  victory  of  Unction  and  Penance.'' 
Very  probably  this  Bishop  O'Hara  is  the  "Bernard,"  with 
whom  Dr.  Maziere  Brady,  in  his  Episcopal  Succession,  opens 
the  list  of  the  Bishops  of  Achonry. 

Magon  Chradran. — Chradran  is  some  Irish  name  mutilated, 
as  Irish  names  generally  are  on  the  Continent,  so  that  their 
own  bearers  would  not  know  them.  Magon,  stands  for 
Magonius,  the  Latin  for  Manus.  Before  becoming  bishop,  this 
prelate  was  a  Canon  of  Achonry.  His  provision  to  the  diocese 
is  dated  the  14th  April,  1410  (Brady's  Episcopal  Succession, 
Vol.  IL,  p.  183).* 

Laurence  Peter  Jacobini. — Burke  (Hibernia  Dominicana, 
p.  470)  and  Harris  write  the  name  with  a  p,  Jacopini.  He  was 
appointed  to  the  see  by  John  XXIII.,  on  the  6th  July,  1414. 

DoNATUS. — Donatus  is  the  Latin  name  of  Donogh.  All  that 
is  known  of  this  bishop  is,  that  he  was  the  immediate  predecessor 
of  Richard  Belmer,  who  succeeded  "per  obitum  Donati."t 

*  **  Die  14  April,  1410.  S.  D,  N.  providit  ecclesise  Achaden.  in  Hibernia, 
vacanti  per  mortem,  etc.,  {sic)  ultimi  Episcopi,  de  persona  Venerabilis  Magoni 
Chradrani,  Canonici  dictsa  ecclesiae  et  electi." 

t  "  In  the  Bullarium  Ordinis  Prsedicatorum,  Richard  Belmer  is  said  to  have 
succeeded  to  Achaden.,  vac.  per  obitum  bonae  memorise  Donati."—  Brady  Ep. 
Sue,  Vol.  II.,  p.  183. 


102  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


Rkjhaed  Belmer. — He  was  appointed  by  Pope  Martin,  on 
tlie  12th  April.  1424.  The  Apostolic  letter  appointing  him  is 
given  by  Burke  in  Hibernia  Dominica,  p.  472 ;  and  it  is  from 
this  letter  we  learn  that  he  succeeded  Donatus.  He  appears  to 
have  been  in  Rome  at  the  time  of  his  appointment,  as  we  read 
in  Brady  (Vol.  II.,  p.  183),  "On  the  29th  of  May,  1424, 
Bicwerdus  Belmer,  Electus  Akaden,  appeared  in  person  for 
payment  of  his  tax  on  promotion,  SSJ  florins." 

Red  Bishop  O'Hara. — The  first  entry  of  the  Four  Masters, 
tinder  the  year  1435,  is,  "  The  Red  Bishop  O'Hara,  Bishop  of 
Achonry,  died."  There  is  no  mention  of  him  in  Dr.  Brady's 
Episcopal  Succession,  Cotton  names  him  on  the  authority  of 
the  Four  Masters. 

Nicholas  O'Daly. — Eugenius  IV.  appointed  Nicholas 
O'Daly,  a  Dominican,  Bishop  of  Achonry,  on  the  3rd  September, 
1436,  and  calls  him  a  "  man  distinguished  for  many  virtues" — 
"  Yir  multiplicium  virtutum  meritis  insignitus." — Hibernia 
Dominicana,  p.  472. 

Thady. — This  bishop,  whose  surname  is  unknown,  intervened 
between  Nicholas  O'Daly  and  James  Blakedon ;  and  the  Bel- 
guini  Bomiinicanuin,  p.  422,  states,  "  that  another  bishop, 
Cornelius,  abbot  of  Boyle,  also  intervened." 

James  Blakedon. — His  provision  to  the  see  by  Eugenius  IV., 
is  dated  the  15th  October,  1442.  In  the  Bulls  of  appointment 
(Hibernia  Dominicana,  p.  473)  we  learn,  that  he  succeeded 
"  boncB  memoricG  Thadceo.''  This  bishop  was  translated  to  Bangor, 
Wales,  in  1452,  and  died  in  1464.  It  appears  that  he  held  till 
death  the  appointment  of  Master  of  St.  Catherine's  Hospital, 
near  Bristol  (Cotton  Fasti).  Dr.  Brady  suggests  that  Blakedon 
may  have  resigned  Achonry  in  1448,  as  another  provision  to 
the  see  is  recorded  under  that  year. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  103 


CoRisELius  O'MoCHAi^,  abbot  of  Boyle,  was  appointed  on  the 
10th  November,  1448,  and  held  the  see  to  1472,  in  which  year 
he  died.  He  belonged,  no  doubt,  to  the  family  of  that  name 
connected  with  Killaraght. 

Egbert  Wellys,  a  Franciscan  Friar,  succeeded  Cornelius  in 
1473.  He  was  consecrated  at  Rome,  in  the  church  of  the 
Hospital  of  the  English  (''  ecclesia  Hospitalis  Anglorum  "),  by 
the  Archbishop  of  Malta.  The  date  of  Dr.  Wellys*  death  is  not 
known. 

Bernard. — All  that  is  known  of  this  bishop  is,  that  he  died 
in  1488  or  1489. 

John  de  Buclamant  succeeded  Bernard,  on  the  23rd  Sep- 
tember, 1489.  He  was  a  Spanish  monk ;  and  it  is  doubtful 
whether  he  ever  visited  his  see  ;  an  observation,  indeed,  which 
applies  to  other  bishops  in  the  succession* 

Richard  or  Thomas  Fitz  Richard  succeeded,  about  1490, 
and  died,  according  to  Harris's  Ware,  in  1492. 

Thomas  Ford,  an  Augustinian  Canon,  of  the  abbey  of  Saint 
Mary  and  Saint  Petroc,  in  the  diocese  of  Exeter,  and  Master  of 
Arts,  succeeded  by  the  Pope's  provision,  on  the  13th  October, 
1492.     The  time  of  his  death  is  not  handed  down. 

Thomas  O'Congholan.  Though  this  prelate  is  not  mentioned 
by  Dr.  Brady,  we  learn  from  Dr.  Moran's  learned  article  on 
Achonry,  in  the  Ecclesiastical  Record  (February  1865),  that  he 
came  next  after  Thomas  Ford,  and  went  to  his  reward  in 
1508. 

Eugene  O'Flanagan. — By  provision  of  Julius  II.,  dated 
22nd  January,  1508,  Eugene  O'Flanagan,  of  the  Dominican  Order, 
was  appointed  to  the  vacant  see.     Four  Bulls  concerning  him 


104  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


are  given  in  the  Hibernia  Dominicana  (pp.  480,  481,  482).  He 
was  consecrated  at  Kome,  and  when  setting  out  for  his  diocese, 
was  furnished  by  the  Pope  with  commendatory  letters  to  King 
Henry  YIII.,  which  are  given  in  De  Burgo,  uhi  sitpra,  and  in 
Cardinal  Moran's  Article  (p.  210). 

CoRMAC  was  bishop  in  1523,  for  in  the  Miscellany  of  the 
ArchaBological  Society,  Vol.  I,  p.  75,  we  find  him  signing  his 
name,  in  a  synod  held  that  year,  as  "  Cormacus  Episcopus 
Akadensis  manu  propria."  He  died  about  1529,  his  incum- 
bency lasting  for  about  twelve  years. 

Owen,  or  Eugene,  a  Dominican  Father,  was  Cormac's  im- 
mediate successor.  "  Dr.  Cormac,"  says  Dr.  Moran  in  the  valuable 
article  already  referred  to,  "  was  succeeded  by  a  Dominican 
Father,  named  Owen,  or  Eugene,  who,  as  is  mentioned  in  a 
manuscript  catalogue  of  Dominican  bishops,  held  this  see  in 
1530,  and  by  his  death,  in  1546,  left  it  vacant  for  Dr.  Thomas 
O'Fihely  of  the  order  of  St.  Augustine." 

Thomas  O'Fihil,  abbot  of  the  monastery  of  St.  Augustine  of 

Mayo,  was  appointed  to  Achonry,  on  the  15th  June,  1547.     As 

the    Consistorial    record,    cited    by     Dr.    Brady — "Episcopal 

Succession,    Achonry " — makes    his     immediate     predecessor, 

Eugene  O'Flanagan — "  ho.    Tfiem.    Eugenii    O'Flanagan  " — it 

would  appear  that  the    surname    of  Dr.    Moran's  "Owen,  or 

Eugene,"    was    O'Flanagan.     He    held,    by    dispensation,    the 

abbacy  of  Mayo,  with  his  bishoprick.     After  sitting  in  Achonry 

for  eight  years,  he  was  translated  to  Leighlin  in  1555.     Dying 

in  15G7,  he  was  buried  in  the  cathedral  of  Old  Leighlin,  where 

his  tomb  still  bears  this  inscription  : — 

THOS.  FILAY, 
Eps.  Leghlen,  ob.  1567.* 

*  Thomas  Filay,  Bishop  of  Leighlin,  died  1567.  Proceedings  of  the  Royal 
Irish  Academy,  January  1886,  p.  426.  Thady  Dowling,  who  was  Chancellor  of 
Leighlin,  thus  records  O'Fighil's  translation  to  Leighlin  :  "  Thomas  Fylay, 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  105 


CoRMAC  0*COYN,  succeeded  in  1556,  and  died  in  1561. 
According  to  Dr.  Moran,  and  a  letter  of  Father  David  Wolf, 
whicli  he  quotes — "  Ecclesiastical  Record,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  212 — 
O'Coyn  was  a  Franciscan,  though  he  is  said  to  have  been  a 
Dominican  in  Dr.  Brady's  "Episcopal  Succession,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  136. 
Dr.  John  Lynch,  in  his  manuscript,  "  De  Presulibus  Hibernise," 
calls  this  bishop  Cormack  O'Quinn,  which,  very  probably,  is  the 
correct  name,  as  Archdeacon  Lynch  is  a  much  better  authority 
on  Irish  names  than  Father  Wolf. 

Eugene  O'Hart,  who,  according  to  Dr.  Lynch,  was  a 
nephew  of  Cormac  O'Quinn,  was  promoted  to  the  vacant  see  on 
the  28th  January,  1562.  In  the  entire  roll  of  the  bishops  of 
Achonry,  no  more  honoured  name  occurs  than  this  of  Eugene 
O'Hart.  The  O'Harts  of  Carbury,  to  which  he  belonged,  were 
the  most  distinguished  family  of  that  district  after  the 
O'Connors.  Entering  Holy  Cross  Convent,  Sligo,  when  quite 
young,  Eugene  went  through  the  noviciate  there,  after  which  he 
was  sent  by  his  superiors  to  Paris,  where,  for  eight  years,  he 
prosecuted  his  studies  under  the  renowned  masters  of  that  city. 

On  his  return  to  Sligo  he  became  Prior  of  Holy  Cross,  and 
was  already  Provincial  of  the  Irish  Dominicans,  when  he  was 


alias  Fighill,  minorum  f rater,  auctoritate  apostolica  episcopus  Leighlen." — Clyn 
and  Dowling,  Annals. — Irish  Archaeological  Society's  edition,  p.  40. 

As  to  OTihil's  alleged  defection  from  the  faith,  see  Reverend  M.  Comer- 
ford's  Collections  relating  to  the  Dioceses  of  Kildare  and  Leighlin,  Vol.  I.  p.  57. 

Of  this  ecclesiastic,  John  Ribton  Garstin,  F.S.A.,  M.R.I. A.,  writes  in  a 
paper,  read  before  the  Royal  Irish  Academy,  on  December  8th,  1884,  and 
printed  in  its  Proceedings,  January  1886,  p.  426,  "  Bishop  Filay,  who,  accord- 
ing to  Ware,  was  a  native  of  Cork,  was  a  professed  member  of  the  order  of  St. 
Augustine,  Rector  of  Delgany,  diocese  of  Dublin,  and  Abbot  ''Monasterii  Sti. 
Augustini,  Mageonen,"  when,  15th  Jan.,  1547,  the  Pope  appointed  him  to  the 
see  of  Achonry — a  fact  not  known  to  Ware,  Harris,  or  Cotton,  but  which  Dr. 
Brady's  researches  brought  to  light.  He  was  allowed  to  retain  his  monastery 
of  Mageo — which,  as  neither  Brady  nor  Comerford  identifies  it,  I  may  note,  on 
the  authority  of  the  Rev.  Denis  Murphy,  S.J.,  M.R.I. A.,  was  Mayo  of  the 
Saxons,  near  Claremorris,  and  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  Cistercian  foun- 
dation *'de  Magio,"  or  Monaster-Xenagh,  Co.  Limerick." 


106  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 

deputed  by  them  to  represent  the  Irish  province  in  the  re-opened 
Council  of  Trent.  The  see  of  Achonry  being  then  vacant,  and 
Dr.  O'Hart  being  strongly  recommended  by  the  Papal  Delegate, 
Father  David  Wolf,  then  in  Ireland,  as  ''  a  great  preacher,  of 
exemplary  life,  full  of  zeal  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  a  person 
well  suited  for  a  bishoprick,"  *  he  was  promoted  by  the  Pope 
on  the  28th  January,  15G2,  to  the  vacant  see,  and,  having  been 
consecrated,  took  part,  as  Bishop  of  Achonry,  in  the  Council  of 
Trent,  at  which  he  soon  became  a  leading  figure,  so  that,  to  use 
the  words  of  Dr.  Moran,  "  Dr.  O'Hart's  votes  and  arguments  are 
especially  commemorated  in  the  acts  of  the  subsequent  sessions 
of  the  Council."  f 

It  may  have  been  the  great  learning  and  zeal  which  he 
exhibited  at  Trent  that  gained  him,  in  after  life,  the  many 
marks  of  confidence  shown  him  by  the  Holy  See.  While  the 
Primate,  Dr.  Creagh,  was  in  prison  in  1568,  Cardinal  Morone, 
then  Protector  of  Ireland,  recommended  Dr.  O'Hart  for  the 
administration  ol  Armagh  ;  on  the  same  occasion  the  Cardinal 
suggested  that  our  bishop  should  be  chosen  to  give  testimonial 
letters  to  such  of  the  clergy  of  Connaught  and  Ulster  as  should 
come  to  Rome  ;  and  in  1575,  special  faculties  were  sent  to  Dr. 
O'Hart  by  the  Pope,  not  only  for  the  diocese  of  Achonry,  but 
for  the  whole  province  of  Tuam.  We  learn,  from  the  Hecords 
of  the  Synod  of  Drogheda,  held  in  1614,  that  Eugenius  O'Hart 
joined  the  bishops  of  Derry,  Raphoe,  Down  and  Connor,  Ardagb, 
Kilmore,  and  Clogher,  when  they  assembled  in  1587,  in  the  last 
named  diocese,  to  promulgate  the  decrees  of  Trent  for  Ulster 
(Renehan  Collections,  Vol.  I,  p.  435).  Dr.  O'Hart  was  arrested 
and  thrown  into  prison  in  1585,  but  his  incarceration  was  of 
short  duration,  for  we  find  him,  on  the  5th  of  September  of  that 
year,  signing  the  Indenture  of  Composition  which  Sir  John 
Perrot  made  with  the  magnates  of  Sligo.  After  a  long  life  of 
one  hundred  years,  he  died  in  1603,  and  was  buried,  says  Ware, 

*  *'  Gran  Predicatore  ed  uomo  di  buona  vita  e  zeloso  del'  onore  di  Dio." 
t  The  see    of  Achonry  in    the    16th    century. — "Ecclesiastical    Record," 
Pebruary,  1865,  p.  213. 


HISTORY  OF   SLTGO.  107 


"in  the  church  of  Achonry,  on  the  Gospel  side  of  the  high 
altar," — a  statement  from  which  we  may  infer  that  he  succeeded 
in  restoring  this  church  to  public  worship,  which  was  one  of  the 
benefits  expected  from  his  appointment,  according  to  Father 
Wolf's  letter  : — "  The  church  of  Accadensis  is  held  by  force,  and 
is  in  the  hands  of  the  laity,  and  not  one  trace  of  religion  is  left 
there,  but,  by  the  influence  of  Eugenius  and  the  power  of  his 
friends,  the  church  might  be  recovered."  * 

Louis  Dillon. — The  see  was  without  an  occupant  from 
1603  to  1641,  when  Louis  Dillon,  son  of  Theobald,  the  first 
Viscount  Costello-Gallen,  and  uncle  to  Thomas,  the  fourth 
Viscount  t  of  that  name,  succeeded.     The  Archbishop  of  Tuam 

*  The  passage  of  Father  Wolf's  letter  that  concerns  Doctor  O'Hart  runs 
thus  : — "  Va  ancora  col  detto  Andrea  (O'Crean),  un  compagno  per  nome  Owen 
ovvero  Eugenius  O'Harty,  frate  del  detto  ordine,  gran  predicatore  ed  uomo  di 
buona  vita  e  zeloso  dell'  onore  di  Dio,  il  quale  e  stato  otto  anni  o  incirca  in 
Parigi  ed  io  giudico  (abbenche  non  va  per  tal  effetto  ne  anche  pensa  niente)  che 
lui  fusse  buono  per  esser  vescovo.  Ed  in  caso  che  il'  detto  Andrea  (essendo  le 
morte  ad  ognuno,  commune)  fusse  morto,  quel  Padre  Eugenius  saria  buono  in 
suo  luogo  non  obstante  che  la  resignazione  non  fosse  fatta  in  suo  nome.  Ed 
ancor  che  la  volonte  di  Dio  fusse  che  il  detto  Andrea  viveria  et  fusse  Vescovo 
Elphinen  anchora  potria  esser  Vescovo  Accaden,  il  quale  vescovato  vaca  per  la 
morte  della  buona  memoria  di  Cormaco  O'Coyn  del  detto  ordine  di  S. 
Francesco.  Quella  chiesa  Accadense  e  adesso  per  fortezza  in  mani  di  gentil' 
uomini  e  non  vi  sia  vestigio  di  Religione  e  credo  che  el  detto  Eugenis  con  li 
suoi  esempi  e  buona  vita  insieme  con  1'  ajuto  delli  suoi  amici  potria  pigliar 
quella  chiesa  dalle  mani  dei,  gentil'  uomini  e  far  in  quella  come  ha  fatto 
Cristoforo  Tuamense." 

In  the  records  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  Dr.  O'Hart  is  described  as  a  "Pro- 
fessor of  Sacred  Theology,  learned,  a  distinguished  ecclesiastic,  and  illustrious 
for  his  Apostolic  zeal." 

+  This  Viscount,  though  bred  a  Catholic,  and  belonging  to  a  Catholic  and 
religious  family,  which  was  never  without  priests  and  nuns  among  its  members, 
declared  himself  a  Protestant  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years ;  but  he  made  a  public 
recantation  in  1646,  and  "was  reconciled,  by  the  Xuncio,  to  the  Church  of 
Kome,  according  to  the  Roman  Pontifical  in  St.  Mary's  Church,  Kilkenny, 
before  a  vast  concourse  of  people." — Archdall's  "  Lodge,"  Vol.  IV.,  p.  187. 

"The  letters  of  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam  and  the  Bishop  of  Elphin,  recom- 
mending Dillon,  were  dated  September  27th,  1638,  and  mention  that  Dillon  had 
served  the  office  of  *  Definitor  of  this  Province,'  and  other  offices  of  his  Order, 
at  home  and  abroad,  and  that  his  appointment  would  be  most  popular  and 


108  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


and  the  Bishop  of  Elphin  had  written  to  Eome,  in  1638, 
recommending  Father  Dillon,  then  a  Franciscan  friar,  but 
nothing  came,  at  that  time,  of  their  recommendation.  Later, 
however,  they  wrote  again  pressing  the  application,  and  assuring 
the  Roman  authorities  that  Father  Dillon's  appointment  was 
greatly  desired  by  the  priests  and  people  of  the  diocese,  and 
that  his  relatives,  who  were  the  leading  noblemen  and  gentlemen 
of  the  district,  would  not  only  protect  him,  but  enable  him  to 
support  the  charges  and  calls  of  the  station.  He  was  nominated 
in  a  Congregation  of  the  Propaganda,  on  the  14th  March,  16^1, 
and,  on  the  same  occasion,  four  other  Irish  bishops  were 
nominated. 


useful,  as  he  was  counected  by  blood  with  all  the  great  families  in  the  diocese, 
and  his  brothers  had  large  estates  in  Achonry.  Another  letter  to  the  Propa- 
ganda, from  the  same  prelates,  urging  the  appointment  of  Dillon,  was  written 
December  9th,  1639."— Brady's  "Episcopal  Succession,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  190. 

That  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam  and  the  Bishop  of   Elphin  were  extremely 
desirous  of  having  Father  Dillon   appointed  bishop  of  Achonry  is  clear  from 
the  many  communications  they  sent  on  the  subject  to  Rome.     The  letter  of 
December  9,  1639,  is  couched  in  these  urgent  terms  : — 
"Enna.  Dne. 

"Pro  munere  nostro  promorendi  in  Dom.  Commune  bonum  Ecclesiae 
hujus  afflictse  patriae  et  provincias  ubi  omnia  sunt  sub  funiculo  distributionis  et 
incolne  antiquis  sedibus  et  possessionibus  pelluutur,  ad  instantiam  et  ardentia 
desideria  Nobilium  et  populi  Achadensis  nostrce  proviuciie  Conacia?,  ssepissime 
scripsimus  ab  octo  circiter  annis,  idque  singulis  fere  annis  ad  vestram  Etnam. 
Domnem.  quatenus  in  Epum.  illius  Dioecesis  Achadensis  jam  fere  ab  initio 
schismatis  Pastoris  solatio  destitutse  promovendum  curaret  si  suae  Sanctitati  et 
Vrure.  Eminentise  placeret,  Revnm.  adm.  Patrem  P.  Ludovicum  Dillon, 
O.S.F.,  strict  observ.  qui  varia  jam  munia  in  suo  ordine  cum  laude  obierat  et 
proxima  cognatione  vel  afSnitate  attingit  universam  fere  nobilitatem  provinciae 
et  istius  maxime  Dioecesis  quae  maxima  ex  parte  possidetur  a  suis  fratribus, 
nepotibus  et  proximis  cognatis,  vel  affinibus  qui  omnes  nihil  habent  propius 
aut  antiquius  ejus  assumptione  ut  praemittitur.  De  'hujus  religiosi  Patris  meritis 
et  sufficientia  quotannis  fere  plurima  testimonia  onmi  exceptione  majora  cum 
votis  cleri  et  populi  transmisimus,  sed  adhuc  sine  omni  eflfectu.  Quare 
humillime  et  omni  animi  demissione  supplicamus  et  adhuc  petimus  quatenus  pro 
sua  singulari  prudentia  promovere  velit  dictum  Rev.  Patrem  ad  Solatium 
bonorum,  etc. 

"  Malachias,  Archpus.  Tuamensis. 
*'  Boetius  Elphinensis  Epus. 

*♦  Datum  Galvise,  9th  Decemb.,  1693." 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  109 


Hugh  MacDermott. — On  Dr.  Dillon's  death  in  1645, 
another  long  vacancy  occurred  in  the  see,  there  being  no 
appointment  till  1707,  when  Hugh  Mac  Dermott  succeeded. 
Three  other  Connaught  bishops  were  appointed  at  the  same 
time: — Ambrose  MacDermott  to  Elphin,  Thadeus  O'Rorke  to 
Killalla,  and  Ambrose  Madden  to  Kilmacduach.  Hugh  Mac- 
Dermott died  in  or  about  1725. 

DOMINICK  O'Daly,  a  Dominican  and  a  Master  in  Theology, 
was  the  next  bishop,  being  consecrated  on  November  30,  1725, 
He  died  in  1735,  and  was  buried  at  Athenry. 

John  O'Harte.— His  Brief  is  dated  September  30,  1735. 
After  an  eventful  life,  he  died  at  Annaghbeg,  in  the  parish  of 
Ballysadare,  before  May,  1739.  See  an  account  of  Dr.  O'Harte 
in  Ballysadare  and  Kilvarnet,  p.  199. 

Walter  Blake. — Became  bishop  of  Achonry  in  1739,  and 
died  in  1758. 

Patrick  Robert  Kirw an.— Succeeded  Dr.  Blake  in  1758. 
He  belonged  to  a  highly  respectable  Mayo  family,  and  was  the 
grand-nephew  of  Bishop  Francis  Kirwan,  the  subject  of  Arch- 
deacon Lynch's  appreciative  biography,  entitled,  "  Pii  Antistitis 
Icon ;  Sive  de  Yita  et  Morte  Rev.  D.  Fr.  Kirovani  Aladensis." 
Before  he  became  bishop  he  was  Dean  and  Vicar-General  of 
Tuam. 

Philip  Phillips,  was  of  the  family  of  Clonmore,  in  county 
Mayo.  He  was  appointed  to  Killalla  in  1760,  translated  to 
Achonry  in  1776,  and  promoted  to  Tuam  in  1785.  He  died  in 
1787.  In  Clement  the  Thirteenth's  Brief  we  are  expressly  told 
that  this  provision  to  Killalla  was  made  on  the  nomination  of 
"  James  III.  (the  Pretender)  King  of  Great  Britain."  * 

*  The  Brief  is  given  in  "Episcopal  Succession,"  Vol.  XL,  p.  180.    The  Pope 
excuses  himself  for  not  making  express  mention  of  the  Pretender's  nomination  : 


110  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


BoETiUS  Egan  became  bishop  in  1785,  and,  like  his  pre- 
decessor, was  translated  to  Tuam.  The  translation  took  place 
in  1788,  and  Dr.  Egan's  death  occurred  before  January  25th, 
1798.  In  one  of  his  tirades,  Columbanus  (Rev.  Dr.  O'Conor) 
alleges,  that  "  Doctor  Egan  was  appointed,  first,  to  Achonry,  and 
afterwards  to  Tuam,  through  the  recommendation  of  Mr. 
Caddell  of  Herbertstown,  and  the  influence  of  Charles  O'Conor, 
with  Charles  O'Kelly  of  the  Minerva  in  Rome,  assisted  by  the 
good  wishes  of  many  of  the  Diocesan  Clergy."* 

Thomas  O'Connor  was  appointed  in  January  1788,  and 
died  on  the  18th  February,  1803.  He  belonged,  according  to 
Mr.  D'Alton  (King  James'  Irish  Army  List,  Vol.  II.,  p.  537),  to 
a  junior  branch  of  the  O'Connors  Sligo,  which  had  settled  at 
Kilcluany,  in  the  county  Gal  way. 

Charles  Lynah,  a  distinguished  alumnus  of  the  Irish 
College,  Rome,  was  Dr.  O'Connor's  successor,  and  was  consecra- 
ted in  1804.  He  was  Parish  Priest  of  Westport,  and  Vicar- 
General  of  Tuam  when  promoted.  After  his  consecration  he 
continued  to  reside  at  Westport,  from  which  he  rode  over  a 
couple  of  times  a  year  to  his  diocese,  to  perform  episcopal 
functions. 

John  O'Flynne. — On  Dr.  Lynah's  death,  John  O'Flynne, 
Parish  Priest  of  Sligo,  and  Yicar-General  of  Elphin,  succeeded 
to  his  place  in  1809.     We  find  him  with  other  bishops  signing 


"  Verum  cum  in  Uteris  hujusmodi  nuUam  nominationis  a  Te  factsB  at  ad  Te 
pertinentis  mentionem  fieri  censuerimus  iis  ita  suadentibus  rationibus,  quas  pro 
spectata  prudentia  tiia  Te  facile  assequuturum  non  ambigimus,  idque  Tibi  nullo 
modo  oflBcere  summopere  cupiamus ;  idcirco  per  prsesentes  expresse  declaramus, 
meutem  nostram  f  iiisse  et  esse,  ut  ex  hac  preteritione,  quam  praesentis  temporis 
conditio  postulabat,  nuUam  Tibi,  Tuisque  juribus  nominandi  detrimentum 
illatum  fuerit,  vel  erit,  sed  ea  omnia  ita  sal va,  illaesa,  ac  preservata  intellijantur, 
perinde  ac  si  in  eisdem  literis,  expressa  tuse  nominationes  hujusmodi  mentio 
facta  fuisset. 
*  Columbanus,  third  letter,  p.  15. 


HISTORY   OF    SLIGO.  Ill 


the  coudemDation  of  Abbe  Blanchard,  on  3rd  July,  1809,  as 
"John  Flyn,  D.D.,  Elect,  Achonry."  He  died  July  17th,  1817, 
and  is  buried  in  the  eastern  cloister  of  Sligo  Abbey,  where  an 
uninscribed  tomb  stands  over  his  remains.* 

Patrick  McNicholas  succeeded  to  Dr.  O'Flynne  in  1818. 
Appointed  second  Professor  of  Greek  and  Latin  in  Maynooth 
College,  on  the  24th  June,  1806,  he  was  professor  and  superior 
of  the  Lay  College  there  at  the  time  of  his  promotion.  Dr. 
McNicholas  died  in  1852,  having  been  in  indifferent  health  for 
some   years   previous.     He   was  buried    in   the  old  chapel    of 


*  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  it  was  Mr.  Peter  O'Connor  that  had  this 
tomb  erected  over  the  remains  of  the  good  bishop. 

The  following  notices  connected  with  Dr.  O'Flynn's  appointment  appeared 
in  the  local  newspapers  : — 

"  Yesterday  in  the  Parish  Chapel,  the  Rev.  Dr.  O'Flynn  was  consecrated 
Roman  Catholic  Bishop  of  Achonry,  in  the  room  of  the  late  Right  Rev.  Doctor 
Lynah." — Connaught  Journal,  November  13th,  1809. 

"  The  collation  of  the  Rev.  Dean  Flynn  to  the  Bishopric  of  Aconry,  as  stated 
in  our  last,  becomes  a  subject  of  gratification  to  all  who  are  acquainted  with 
the  character  of  that  exemplary  Divine.  We  think  the  sacerdotal  dignity  con- 
ferred in  this  instance,  becomes  an  undeniable  proof  of  the  approbation  with 
which  the  superiors  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  behold  the  conduct  of  those 
labourers  of  the  spiritual  vineyard  who  adopt  and  inculcate  the  principles  of 
universal  charity  and  benevolence  to  mankind ;  and  in  no  case,  we  believe, 
have  the  exertions  of  an  individual  been  more  zealously  exerted  in  the  pursuit 
than  those  of  the  Reverend  Gentleman  alluded  to. 

"The  new  dignity  conferred  on  Dr.  Flynn,  imposes,  if  possible,  a  more  arduous 
duty  than  that  so  long  and  so  faithfully  discharged  by  him  heretofore ;  the 
supervision  and  discipline  of  a  diocese  is  now  committed  to  his  care  ;  and  while 
he  endeavours  to  improve  the  minds  of  the  more  extended  range  of  laity 
entrusted  to  his  pastoral  ministration,  he  possesses,  within  himself,  the  elements 
of  an  example  calculated  to  excite  that  veneration  and  esteem,  without  which 
all  attempts  at  the  advancement  of  religion  or  morality  are  vague  and  in- 
effectual. 

*'  In  rendering  this  tribute  of  approbation  to  the  merits  of  Bishop  Flynn,  we 
trust,  as  strangers,  the  sincerity  of  the  motive  is  admitted ;  but,  however 
personally  unacquainted  the  writer  of  this  article  may  be,  he  should  feel  a 
disregard  to  the  public  satisfaction  expressed  at  the  elevation  of  Dr.  Flynn,  not 
only  as  a  gross  dereliction  of  duty,  but  inconsistent  with  the  liberality  of  opinion 
which  should  always  form  the  paramount  object  of  a  public  Journal. — The 
Sligo  Journal,  Nov.  24th,  1809." 


112  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


Ballaghadereen,  from  which  his  remaias  were  removed  some 
years  ago,  to  the  new  cathedral,  and  there  re-interred  in  the 
chapel  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  where  this  Latin  epitaph  is  in- 
scribed upon  his  monument : — 

"  Orate  Pro  Anima 

Rev.issimi  in  Christo  Patris  Patricii  McNicliolas, 

Episcopi  Achadensis. 

Qui  triginta  annos  banc  rexit  Ecclesiam. 

E.  Vita  discessit  Die  XI.  Fevruarii,  a.d.  MDCCCLIl., 

Aetatis  vero  suae  LXXII. 

Cujus  animce  propitietur  Deus.* 

Patrick  Durcan  was  elected  on  the  28th  September,  1852, 
to  succeed  Dr.  McNicholas,  and  was  consecrated  in  the  Church 
of  the  Assumption,  Collooney,  on  the  30th  November  in  that 
year.  Born  at  Cloonacool,  in  the  parish  of  Achonry,  he  made 
his  early  classical  studies  first,  at  Swineford,  and  next  in  the 
diocesan  school  of  Ballaghadereen,  whence  he  passed,  in  1812, 
to  Maynooth  College,  where  he  was  ordained  priest  in  1820, 
after  a  distinguished  college  career  of  eight  years.  Administra- 
tor of  the  mensal  parish  of  Ballaghaderreen  (Castlemore  and 
Kilcoleman),  from  1820  to  1823 ;  Parish  Priest  of  Ballymote 
(Emlaghfad  and  Kilmorgan),  from  1823  to  1832 ;  Parish  Priest 
of  Collooney  (Ballysadare  and  Kilvarnet),  and  Vicar-General 
af  the  diocese  from  1832  to  1852  ;  he  was  a  missionary  priest  of 
thirty  years  standing  when  consecrated.  This  best  of  bishops 
died  on  the  1st  May,  1875,  and  was  buried  on  the  4th  of  that 
month,  in  the  same  tomb,  with  his  friend  Dr.  McNicholas.  The 
mural  tablet  over  his  remains  bears  the  following  inscrip- 
tion:— 


*  Pray  for  the  soul  of  the  Right  Reverend  Father  in  Christ,  Patrick 
McNicholas,  Bishop  of  Achonry,  who  governed  this  church  for  thirty  years. 
He  departed  this  life  on  the  eleventh  day  of  February,  a.d.  1852.  God  rest 
his  soul. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  113 


"  Ora  pro  anima 
Rev.issimi,  D.D.  Patricii  Durcan,  Epi.  Achadensis 
Qui  banc  ecclesiam  cathed  a  Fundamentis  sedificandam  Curavit  raultaque 

alia  pi  a  Opera  perfecit. 

Vir  singulari  morum  suavitatelnsigni  Dei  rerumque 

Divinarum  zelo  incensus 

Eximia  pauperum  caritate 

Annos  Ixxxvi.  natus 

Diem  obiit  supremum 

Kal  Mali  anno  Rep.  Sal. 

MDCCCLXXV 
Req  in  Pace.     Amen." 

"  Pray  for  the  soul  of  the  Right  Reverend  Patrick  ^Durcan,  Lord  Bishop  of 
Achonry,  who  erected  this  church,  and  executed  many  other  pious  works.  He 
was  a  man  of  singular  gentleness,  of  wonderful  zeal  for  God  and  religion,  and 
of  exceeding  charity  towards  the  poor.  He  departed  this  life  in  the  86th  year 
of  his  age,  on  the  1st  May,  1875.     May  he  rest  in  Peace.     Amen." 

If  this  were  the  place  to  draw  out  in  detail  the  personal 
qualities  of  the  Achonry  bishops,  it  would  be  seen  that  the 
diocese  has  good  reason  to  be  proud  of  its  prelates.  While  they 
were,  without  exception,  a  "  pattern  of  the  flock  from  the  heart," 
they  were  all  singularly  free  from  that  desire  for  ^"  lording  it 
over  the  clergy,"  against  which  St.  Peter  found  it  expedient  to 
caution  the  ''ancients"  of  his  own  time.  Thank  Heaven,  this 
bad  quality  has  hardly  ever  shown  itself  in  Ireland.  O'Connell, 
in  his  famous  evidence  before  the  House  of  Lords,*  could  name 

*  "  Are  not  references  frequently  made  to  the  Pope,  in  questions  which  arise 
between  the  clergy  and  the  bishops  ? — Yes  ;  in  cases  purely  ecclesiastical,  and 
spiritual,  the  Pope  is  the  supreme  head  of  the  Catholic  Church,  to  whom  the 
appeal  in  those  cases  lies,  in  all  questions  of  controversy  ^between  the  priests 
and  the  bishops  ;  when  a  bishop  cen.sures  a  priest,  if  the  priest  conceives  that 
censure  unfounded,  he  has  an  appeal  to  the  immediate  superior,  to  the  arch- 
bishop, and  if  he  does  not  get  relief  from  the  archbishop,  he  has  an  appeal  to 
Rome,  and  they  do  appeal ;  and  I  have  known  instances  where  a  priest  has  thus 
appealed  with  success ;  if  the  bishop  alters  the  parish,  or  takes  away  any  right 
the  priest  may  conceive  himself  entitled  to,  he  has  that  appeal. 

**  Have  you  known  it  occur  where  the  boundary  of  the  parish  has  been  altered  ? 
— Yes,  I  have  ;  a  bishop  of  Kerry  thought  it  right  to  alter  the  parishes  by  sub- 
dividing them  ;  and  a  Mr.  Moriarty,  a  priest  in  Kerry,  a  very  near  relation  of 
mine,  appealed  to  Rome,  and  appealed  successfully,  and  he  compares  his  bishop 
to  Bonaparte;  he  said  he  wanted  to  Bonaparte  his  diocese." — The  evidence 
taken  before  the  Select  Committees  of  Lords  and  Commons,  in  1824  and  182^, 
on  the  State  of  Ireland,  pages  274,  275. 

VOL.  II.  H 


114  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 

only  one  instance  of  a  bishop  who  tried  to  lord  it  over  his  clergy. 
This  rara  avis  was  a  Kerry  prelate,  who  had  developed  a  mania 
for  perpetually  meddling  with  Parish  Priests  and  their  parishes,  as 
well  as  with  Curates  and  their  missions — changing,  exchanging, 
interchanging,  and  re-changing  ecclesiastical  persons  and  land- 
marks, as  if  he  had  taken  for  his  motto  the  words  of  Horace, — 
"  Diruit,  cedificat,  omitat  quadrata  rotundis."  It  was  by 
eschewing  such  autocratic  caprices,  and  acting,  instead,  on  the 
sound  old  maxim  of  Pope  Saint  Stephen,  "  Nil  innovetur  nisi 
quod  traditum,"  that  the  bishops  of  Achonry,  from  St.  Nathy 
to  Dr.  Durcan,  ruled  their  diocese,  and  thus  left  it,  as  regards 
both  priests  and  people,  a  model  of  union  and  zeal,  without 
either  open  trouble  or  latent  discontent. 

Few  bishops  in  the  episcopal  succession  of  Achonry  have 
stronger  claims  to  the  grateful  remembrance  of  the  diocese,  than 
Father  James  Fallon,  though  only  a  priest.  The  first  time  we 
meet  with  this  distinguished  ecclesiastic  is  in  1630,  when  he 
was  Procurator  in^  Rome  for  the  province  of  Connaught,  and 
agent  of  the  Connaught  bishops.  We  next  find  his  name  as  a 
signature  to  a  letter  of  the  Prelates  of  the  province  of  Con- 
naught, addressed  to  the  Cardinal  Protector  of  Ireland,  soliciting 
his  Eminence  to  use  his  good  offices  in  having  John  De  Biirgo 
appointed  to  the  bishoprick  of  Clonfert.  On  this  occasion,  which 
was  in  1640,  he  signs  after  Malachy  Queely,  Archbishop  of  Tuam, 
and  Boetius  Egan,  Bishop  of  Elphin,  as  "  Jacobus  Fallonus, 
Vic.  Aps.  Achaden." 

Being  in  Ireland  in  the  stormy  days  of  the  Kilkenny  Con- 
federation he  always  sided  with  Rinuccini,  and  approved  his 
fidelity  and  ability  so  signally,  that  the  Nuncio,  on  leaving  the 
country,  gave  him  faculties  for  absolving  priests  and  bishops 
from  the  censures  which  had  been  fulminated  against  them. 

Under  the  Cromwellian  regime,  Father  Fallon  endured 
extraordinary  privations  and  sufferings,  living,  through  the  bogs 
and  mountains,  in  wretched  huts,  which,  we  are  told,  he  was 
obliged,  from  time  to  time,  to  quit  for  other  shelter,  when  wild 
goats  had  eaten  away  the  weeds  or  shrubs,  which  served  for  a 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  115 


roof.  Like  so  many  other  priests  of  the  time,  Father  Fallon  was 
transported  to  the  islands  of  Arran,  where  he  was  kept  a  prisoner 
till  the  Restoration.  After  having  been  for  more  than  thirty 
years  Vicar  Apostolic  of  Achonry,  he  died  on  the  16th  of  April, 
1G62,  after  exhibiting,  throughout  his  life,  the  heroic  virtues 
of  the  confessor  and  the  martyr. 

Father  Fallon  was  a  relation  of  Right  Rev.  Francis  Kir  wan, 
the  famous  bishop  of  Killalla ;  and  Archdeacon  Lynch,  in  his 
Pii  Antistitis  Icon*  thus  draws  the  portrait  of  the  bishop's 
kinsman  : — "  Nor  was  he  (Doctor  Kirwan)  satisfied  with  looking 
after  his  own  church,  for  he  sedulously  watched  over  the  well- 
being  of  the  conterminous  diocese.  The  see  of  Achonry  was 
then  in  charge  of  James  Fallou,  Vicar  Apostolic,  and  a  most 
distinguished  Doctor  of  Theology.  This  ecclesiastic,  the  fellow 
citizen  and  kinsman  of  our  bishop,  was  naturally  much  loved  by 
him,  and  he  did  not  hesitate  to  send  to  him  from  France,  at 
considerable  expense,  books  and  other  necessaries  pertaining  to 
religious  service.  James  Fallon,  although  occupied  with  the 
care  of  his  own  diocese  and  the  Collegiate  Church  of  Saint 
Nicholas,  assisted  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  when  the  latter  was 
made  prisoner,  and  subsequently  when  in  exile.  James  Fallon 
was  arrested  in  lar  Connaught,  and  so  did  the  heretics  plunder 
him  of  books,  that  they  did  not  leave  him  even  a  Breviary. 
Before  he  was  made  prisoner,  he  dwelt  night  and  day  in  a  hut 
at  the  base  of  a  rock.  This  hut  was  covered  with  leaves  and 
osiers,  but  even  from  this  refuge  he  was  obliged  to  fly  as  soon  as 
the  goats  had  eaten  the  foliage.  Nor  would  he  take  up  his 
abode  in  the  houses  of  Catholics,  for  he  feared  to  be  instru- 
mental in  compromising  their  lives  and  fortunes. 

From  trials  such  as  these  he  was  destined  to  pass  to  still 
greater,  for  he  was  finally  driven  from  his  hiding  place,  captured 


*  The  Portrait  of  a  Pious  Bishop  ;  or,  The  Life  and  Death  of  the  Most  Rer. 
Francis  Kirwan,  Bishop  of  Killalla.  Translated  from  the  Latin,  by  John 
Lynch,  Archdeacon  of  Tuam.  With  Introduction  and  Notes,  by  C.  P.  Meehan, 
€.C.,  p.  242.    Edition  of  1884  ;  Dublin  :  James  Duffy  &  Co.,  Ltd. 


116  HISTORY    OF   SLTGO. 


by  the  enemy,  and  cast  into  prison.  After^various  sufferings  in 
Galway,  Inisbcfin,  and  the  islands  of  Arran,  where  he  remained 
some  years  a  prisoner,  he  was  restored  to  liberty,  together  with 
other  captive  priests,  long  after  the  restoration  of  Charles  II. 
The  condition  on  which  he  regained  his  freedom  was,  that  he 
would  at  all  times  be  ready  to  present  himself  in  court  when 
summoned;  and  some  of  his  friends  pledged  themselves  for  his 
appearance,  failing  which,  they  were  liable  to  be  most  heavily 
mulcted.  Once  more  at  large,  subject  to  the  aforesaid  restric- 
tions, although  a  most  elegant  and  eloquent  preacher — one  in 
fact  who  could  ascend  the  pulpit  without  preparation — yet  owing 
to  the  loss  of  his  library,  he  could  not  discharge  his  sacred  duties 
as  he  would  have  wished.  But,  alas !  the  people  were  not  to 
have  the  benefit  of  his  pious  labours  for  any  considerable  time ; 
for,  being  seized  with  a  serious  malady,  the  consequence  of 
multiplied  hardships,  he  died  on  the  14th  of  August,  a.d.  1G62, 
after  having  toiled  more  than  forty  years  in  the  "  Lord's  vine- 
yard." 

From  1662  to  1677  Achonry  was  governed  by  Phelim 
O'Hara  and  Hilary  Conry,  or  Convey,  as  Vicars-General.  In 
the  synod  of  Tuam,  held  in  1660 — "in  quodam  refugii  loco" — 
Fathers  Phelim  O'Hara,  Hilary  Convey,  and  Thady  O'Donocher 
represented  Dr.  Fallon,  who  was  then  in  prison,  as  is  thus 
recorded  in  the  acts  of  the  Council  : — "  Dominus  Phelimus 
O'Hara,  et  Dominus  Thadeus  O'Donocher,  et  Dominus  Hilarius 
Convey,  vicemgerentes  Eeverendi  adraodum  Domini  Jacobi 
Fallon,  Vicarii  Generalis  Apostolici  Accadensis,  jam  incar- 
cerati." 

Maurice  Durcan,  erroneously  written  "  Carcan  "  by  Doctor 
Maziere  Brady  (Episcopal  Succession,  Vol.  11.,  p.  190),  was 
made  Vicar- Apostolic  of  Achonry,  in  1677.  He  had  been  pre- 
viously Vicar-General  of  the  diocese,  for  we  find  him  in  1674 
(Cardinal  Moran's  Memoir  of  Oliver  Plunket,  p.  201),  signing 
himself  Mauritius  DorkanuSy  Vic.  Gen.  Acaden. ;  and  in  a 
letter  of  the  Primate  to  Monsignor  Baldeschi,  Secretary  of 
Propaganda,  dated   10th  March,   1673   (styl.   vet.),   the  writer 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  117 


observes  : — "  I  had  also  in  my  company  for  ten  days,  Maurice 
Durcan,  the  Vicar-General  of  Achonry,  who  is  Doctor  in 
Theology,  and  a  grave  man." 

Maurice  Donelane,  who  appears  to  have  been  a  priest  of  the 
diocese  of  Tuam,  was  Vicar- General,  or  Vicar-Apostolic  of 
Achonry,  in  1683 ;  and  later  in  the  same  year,  Hugh 
MacDermott  received  the  appointment. 

In  1707  Hugh  MacDermott  became  bishop  of  the  see,  there 
being  no  bishop  of  Achonry  for  the  10 i  years  that  elapsed  from 
the  death  of 'Eugene  O'Hart,  in  1603  to  1707,  except  Louis 
Dillon,  who  held  the  see  from  1641  to  1645. 

The  bishops  of  the  province,  as  well  as  the  clergy  and  laity 
of  the  diocese,  often  deplored  the  vacancy  in  the  see,  and  made 
repeated  efforts  to  have  it  filled,  but  the  Holy  See  could  not  be 
induced  to  accede  to  the  applications  and  petitions  addressed  to 
it ;  the  Popes  being,  on  the  one  hand,  well  pleased  with  the 
administration  of  Dr.  Fallon  and  the  other  temporary  rulers  of 
the  diocese,  and  fearing,  on  the  other  hand,  if  they  appointed  a 
bishop,  they  would,  in  the  circumstances  of  the  country,  only 
excite  fresh  persecution,  and  doom  the  person  appointed  either 
to  starvation  or  martyrdom. 

Achonry  is  the  largest  parish  in  the  county,  both  in  regard  to 
area  and  to  population.  Alone  it  is  greater  in  extent,  and  the 
number  of  inhabitants,  than  all  the  other  parishes  of  Leyney 
put  together,  as  appears  by  the  following  figures  taken  from  the 
Census  of  1881  :— 


Acres. 

Pop.                                                       Acres. 

Pop. 

60,717 

12,415     Ballysadare  (Leyney  part)       7,560 

1,892 

Killoran            13,999 

2,092 

Kilmacteige      ...             ...     32,362 

6,043 

Kilvarnet          ...             ...       6,593 

1,185 

Achonry 


60,514  11,212 

The  parish  being  so  unwieldy  from  its  exceptional  size,  it  has 
been  long  divided,  for  the  convenience  of  ecclesiastical  adminis- 
tration, into  the  districts  or  quasi-parishes  of  Mulnabreena, 
Cloonacool,  and  Curry. 


118  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


MULNABEEENA  IS  an  equivalent,  in  older  Irish,  of  Knock-na- 
sLee,  and  signifies  the  Hill  of  the  Fairy  mansion  or  palace,  a& 
Bohernabreena,  in  the  county  Dublin,  means  the  Road  of  the 
Pairy  mansion  or  palace,*  so  that  it  is  the  hill  which  gives 
this  district,  or  parish,  of  Achonry  its  popular  name. 

Knocknashee  is  a  very  striking  feature  in  the  landscape,  and 
with  its  bold  elevation,  its  picturesque  outline,  and  the  fine 
prospect  it  commands,  richly  deserves  the  high  honour  which 
the  "Good  People"  have  paid  it,  by  making  it  their  head- 
quarters in  Lower  Connaught.  It  is  of  limestone  formation, 
and  yields  stone  of  excellent  quality,  as  may  be  seen  in  the 
parochial  house,  and  the  new  parish  church,  where  it  is  the 
material  employed. 

The  soil  of  the  parish  is,  in  general,  of  medium  quality ;  while 
much  of  what  lies  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  old 
church  of  Achonry,  has  the  reputation  of  being  equal  in  fertility 
to  the  best  land  in  the  country.  The  inhabitants  tell  you,  sa 
luxuriant  is  the  growth  of  grass  there,  that  what  is  cropped  by  the 
cattle  during  the  day,  is  more  than  restored  by  the  rest  and 
moisture  of  the  night,  like  that  of  which  Virgil  speaks  : — 

*'  Et  quantum  longis  carpent  armenta  diebus 
Exigua  tantum  gelidus  ros  nocte  reponet."+ 

And  in  confirmation  of  their  statement  they  affirm,  that  if  a  hay 
fork,  or  rake,  or  other  such  implement,  be  dropped  on  the  bare 
field  overnight,  it  will  be  so  covered  with  grass  in  the  morning, 
as  not  to  be  easily  found.  No  doubt  this  is  exaggeration,  but  it 
shows,  all  the  same,  the  popular  belief  in  the  extraordinary 
richness  of  the  soil. 


*  O'Hanlon's  Lives  of  the  Irish  Saints,  May  9th ;  Joyce's  Irish  Names  of 
Flacesy  Vol.  L,  p.  167.  "  The  Irish,"  says  O'Flaherty  in  Ogygia,  p.  200,  "  called 
aerial  spirits,  or  phantoms,  Side,  pronounced  Shee,  because  they  are  seen  to  come 
out  of  pleasant  hills,  where  the  common  people  imagine  they  reside,  which 
fictitious  habitations  are  called  by  us,  side,  or  sioda." 

t  Virgil— Georgics,  II.,  lines  201-2. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  119 


Achonry  was  church-land,  and  in  1755  we  fiad  the  "  four 
quarters  "  of  Achonry,  leased  to  Robert  Fleming,  for  the  yearly 
rent  of  £50,  by  Richard,  bishop  of  Killalla  and  Achonry.  From 
the  Flemings  the  property  passed  to  the  Somers. 

The  present  owner  of  this  part  of  Achonry,  is  Captain  James 
Wood  Armstrong,  D.L.,  of  Chaffpool,  son  of  John  Armstrong,  Esq., 
and  Catherine  Somers,  the  daughter  and  heiress  of  Thomas 
Soraers,  Esq.,  of  Chaffpool.  In  the  first  decade  or  two  of  the 
current  century,  the  name  of  "Catharine  Somers,  a  minor," 
occurs  frequently  in  the  Sligo  Journal  in  advertisements,  about 
the  letting  of  lands  on  the  Chaffpool  estate  during  her  minority. 

Somers  is  the  English  form  of  the  Irish  name  Summaghan, 
or  O'Summaghan,  a  family  whose  head-quarters  lay  in  the 
barony  of  Tirerrill,  where  they  held  considerable  stretches  of 
land,  and  left  their  name  to  the  parish  of  Ballysummaghan. 
Catherine  Somers,  being  heiress  to  a  fair  estate,  could  boast  of 
several  suitors  for  her  hand,  but  Mr.  Armstrong,  who  had  many 
friends  in  the  county,  secured  the  prize. 

Mr.  Armstrong,  as  member  of  a  Cromwellian  famil}'-,  might 
feel  sufficiently  at  home  in  the  county  Sligo,  where  the  descen- 
dants of  his  ancestor's  brethren  in  arms  were  heads  of  the 
leading  county  families.  This  ancestor,  Richard  Armstrong, 
who  belonged  to  Sir  Charles  Coote's  regiment  of  dragoons,  and 
to  Major  King's  troop  of  that  regiment,  had  an  order  for  the 
satisfaction  of  his  claims  in  the  "county  Limerick  or  Kerry." 
(Commonwealth  Books  A..) 

In  his  day,  the  late  Mr.  John  Armstrong  was  one  of  the  most 
active  magistrates  and  country  gentlemen  of  the  county,  as  well 
as  one  of  the  most  intelligent.  It  is  said,  that  he  had  formed 
an  ingenious  plan  for  connecting  the  more  southern  parts  of 
the  county  with  the  town  of  Sligo,  by  means  of  a  canal,  which 
was  to  run  through  the  lakes  of  Cloonacleigha  and  Templehouse, 
but  this,  like  so  many  other  projects  of  the  kind,  ventilated  in 
pre-railway  days,  was  disposed  of  by  the  formation  of  rail- 
roads. 

A  little  beyond  Templehouse,  and  on  the  right  as  you  go  to 


120  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


Tubbercurry,  lies  the  townland  of  Cunghill,  which  deserves 
notice  as  the  scene  of  a  famous  battle,  that  came  off,  according 
to  the  Chronicon  Scotorum,  in  1083,  between  the  O'Rorkes 
and  the  O'Conors,  who  at  this  time  were  contending  against  each 
other  for  the  sovereignty  of  Connaught.  All  our  annalists 
mention  this  conflict,  on  which  the  entry  of  the  Four  Masters 
runs  thus  : — ''  A  battle  was  fought  between  Rory  O'Conor,  King 
of  Connaught,  and  Hugh,  the  son  of  Art  O'Rorke,  Lord  of 
Conmaicne  and  Breifne,  at  Conachail,  in  Corann,  where  O'Rorke 
was  defeated  and  killed.  There  were  also  slain  in  this  battle  of 
Corann,  by  Rory,  Muireadhach  Mac  Duibh,  chief  of  Muintir- 
Eolais,  the  son  of  Godfrey  Ua  Siridein  (Sheridan) ;  the  son  of 
Cusleibhe  OTerrall ;  and  distinguished  men  of  the  Conmaichni, 
both  noble  and  plebeian." 

The  Annals  of  Loch  Ce,*  and  the  Annals  of  Boyle,t  record 
the  occurrence  in  much  the  same  words  ;  but  the  Chronicon 
Scotorum,  after  Tighernach,  adds  a  circumstance,  which  throws 
interesting  light  on  the  times  ;  for  it  informs  us,  that  one  of  the 
high  ecclesiastics  of  O'Conor's  country  took  a  very  prominent 
part  in  the  encounter,  a  part  similar  to  that  taken  by  Saint 
Columba  on  one  side,  and  Saint  Finian  on  the  other,  in  the 
famous  battle  of  Cooldroman.J  The  words  of  the  Chronicon 
Scotorum  are : — "  The  battle  of  Conachail,  i.e.,  in  Corann,  was 
fought  by  Rory  O'Conor ;  and  Cormac  Ua  Cillin,  chief  vice- 
abbot  of  the  Sil-Muiredhaio[h,  havinoj  the  staff  of  Ciaran  in  his 
hand,  stood  in  front  of  the  battle,  whilst  it  was  fought  between 
the  Connaughtmen  and  the  Conmaicne ;  and  the  Conmaicne 
were  defeated  ;  on  which  occasion,  Hugh,  son  of  Art  O'Rorke, 
King  of  Conmaicne,  and  Muiredhach  Ua  Eolais,  and  Sitric,  son 
of  Cusleilhe  O'Ferrall,  and  the  son  of  Godfrey  O'Sheridan,  and 
others,  were  slain. "§     Though  Cormac  Ua  Cillin  placed  himself 


*  Sub  anno  1087. 

t  D'Alton's  Annols  of  Boyle,  p.  188. 

X  See  ante  ;  Chap.,  Cooldruman  and  Lissadell. 

§  Sul  anno  1083. 


HISTORY    OF   SLIGO.  121 


thus  in  the  van  of  the  Connaught  army,  it  would  appear  that  he 
relied  more  on  spiritual  than  on  material  arms,  for  it  was  not  a 
sword,  but  the  staff  or  crozier  of  Saint  Ciaran  of  Clonmacnoise, 
he  had  in  his  hand  during  the  engagement.  There  are  still,  in 
the  townland  of  Cunghill,  t^o  strong  forts  with  deep  surrounding 
fosses,  which  may  have  been  set  up  as  entrenchments  by  one  of 
the  armies  when  awaiting  the  onset ;  but  there  is  no  other  monu- 
ment of  any  kind  on  the  ground,  that  can  be  connected  with  the 
important  battle  of  Cunghill,  which  seems  to  have  decided 
in  favour  of  the  O'Conors,  the  rivalry  with  the  O'Rorkes,  for 
the  supreme  place  in  the  government  of  Connaught. 

The  hill  of  Mucklety,  though  of  irregular  outline,  has  a 
picturesqueness  of  its  own,  from  standing  in  a  vast  plain,  which 
stretches  away  from  it  to  a  great  distance  on  all  sides.  Very 
probably  the  O'Haras  had  one  of  their  fortresses  at  this  hill,  as 
we  read  of  their  bringing  a  prey  of  cattle  to  the  place  : — "par- 
tem praedae  ad  MucoU  in  Lugnia  retulerunt.*  This,  however, 
may  mean  Tully,  or  Tully  Hugh,  which  is  near  to  Mucklety, 
and  which,  as  we  learn  from  the  Sligo  Inquisitions,  belonged,  in 
1588,  to  Teige  O'Hara,  though  he  must  have  lost  it  soon  after 
that  time  ;  for  an  Exchequer  inquisition  of  1593  records,  that 
William  Clifford  was  possessed  that  year  of  "  the  stone  castle, 
called  Tully,  with  a  quarter  of  land  ;  that  he  died  on  the  20th 
of  June  ;  that  he  held  from  the  Queen  by  military  service ;  and 
that  Francis  Clifford  was  his  son  and  heir,  and  about  eight  years 
old  at  the  time  of  the  inquisitions."  This  same  Francis  received 
in  the  year  1618,  a  new  grant  from  James  I.,  of  the  castle, 
townland,  and  quarter  of  Tullyhugb. 

Court  Abbey,  the  ruins  of  which  still  remain  in  a  well  pre- 
served condition,  belongs  to  Mulnabreena,  and  must  have  been 
in  its  prime  a  truly  imposing  structure.  It  consists  of  a  nave 
one  hundred  feet  long,  and  twenty-four  wide ;  a  southern 
transept  thirty-six  feet  long,  and  twenty-three  wide,  and  called, 
nobody  can  tell  why,  O'Brien's  chapel ;  and  a  central  tower  of 

*  Mac  Firbis,  quoted  in  0' Donovan's  Four  Master s^  sub  anno  1368. 


122  HISTORY   OF   SLTGO. 


about  ninety  feet  high,  which,  as  the  church  stands  on  a  rising 

ground  in  the  midst  of  a  great  plain,  is  visible  for  a  great  way 

round.     Court,  as  well  in,  as  outside,  the  building,  serves  for  a 

burying- place,  and  has  a  goodly  number  of  monuments,  on  which 

the  prevailing  names  are,  O'Hara,  Brett,  Gilmartin,  McVanry, 

Gorman,  Madden,   Henry,  and  O'Connor.     Being  a  foundation 

of  the  O'Haras,    the    sanctuary,    as  usually   happens    in  old 

churches,  is  reserved  for  the  interment  of  the  founder's  family; 

and  the  O'Haras  Boy  continued  to  be  buried  there  till  some  of 

them  changed  their  religion,  and  arranged  for  their  interment 

elsewhere. 

The  remains  of  Oliver  O'Hara  of  Meemlough  were  deposited 

in  the  tomb  of  his  ancestors  in  1725,  and  the  stone  bears  the 

epitaph : — 

"  Clare  Olivere  jaceshic  O'Hara, 
Kate  Rogeii,  cum  proavis,  tumulo  quern  tua  cura  novat. 
^tat  78 ; 
Crux  Christi  Domini  portus  et  ara  seni  17*25."* 

His  will  is  dated  6th  September,  1725,  and,  it  is  worth  noting, 
that  among  his  bequests  is  one  of  an  in-calf  cow  to  Reverend 
Tobias  Caulfield,  Rector  of  Ballysadare,  probably  as  the  mor- 
tuary which  Protestant  ministers  exacted  about  this  time. 

From  an  Exchequer  inquisition  taken  at  Sligo,  in  1587, 
before  John  Crofton,  w^e  learn  that  Court  was  a  monastery  of 
the  Third  Order  of  St.  Francis,  and  that  two'quarters  of  land 
belonged  to  it — one  called  Carrow-ardoiver,  and  the  other 
Carroicen-taiuny.  These  lands  have  not  been  identified  ;  but 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  Carroiv-ar dower ^  that  is,  the 
quarter  of  the  grey  height,  includes  Knocknashee,  and  that 
CarrcweTi-taivny  includes  the  adjoining  townland  of  Carrowen- 
tavy,  on  which  the  new  Catholic  church  stands.  The  inquisition 
lidds  that,  at  the  time  it  was  taken,  these  possessions  were  "  in 
the  occupation  of  the  priest,  Roger  Ballagh  O'Hara,"  a  circum- 
stance which  it  is  important  to  keep  in  mind,  as  it  will  enable 
us,  sometimes,  to  distinguish  between  Court  in  the  parish  of 

*  This  tomb  is  on  the  Gospel  side  of  the  high  altar,  but  adjoining  the  central 
tower. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  123 


DrumclifF,  and  the  Court  now  under  consideration,  in  the  parish 
of  Achonry. 

These  two  places  are  frequently  mentioned  in  old  documents 
simply  as  Court,  but,  occasionally,  that  of  Achonry,  appears  as 
Court-Rori-Ballagh,  the  name  being  derived  from  the  priest 
who  held  the  place  in  1587.  The  date  of  this  foundation  is  not 
known  ;  but,  judging  by  the  style,  and  the  fresh  appearance  of 
the  work,  it  may,  perhaps,  be  referred  to  the  fifteenth  century. 
It  is  not  recorded  when  the  Franciscans  quitted  Court.  In 
James  the  First's  General  Pardon  to  Donnogh  O'Connor  Sligo, 
and  other  inhabitants  of  the  county,  there  is  mention  of  "  Hugh 
O'Derige,  of  Cowrteroriballagh,  priest,  and  Arte  McManes  of 
the  same,  priest ; "  but  there  is  nothing  to  show  whether  these 
ecclesiastics  were  Franciscan  friars  or  secular  priests. 

Francis  Edgworth,  Esq.,  received,  in  the  15th  year  of  James  I., 
a  royal  grant  of  "  the  monastery  of  Court,  containing  a  church, 
a  cemetery,  a  dortry,  two  small  cabins,  and  two  quarters  of 
land  adjoining,  called  Kearoweardmore  (sic),  and  Kearowen- 
tawny,  eighty  acres  ; "  but,  in  the  Eental  of  1692,  the  Earl  of 
Corke  is  set  down  as  "  tenant  of  Court  Abbey,  2  quarters." 
Lord  Harlech  is  the  actual  owner. 

The  first  Parish  Priest  of  Mulnabreena  we  meet  with,  is  Kev. 
Charles  Hara  (he  had  dropped  the  0).  He  was  ordained  in 
the  county  Galway  in  1684,  lived  in  Tullyhugh,  and  had 
Thomas  Corcoran,  Sligo,  and  Patrick  Duany,  Sligo,  as  sureties 
for  his  compliance  with  the  requirements  of  the  Eegistration 
Act. 

The  next  Parish  Priest  of  the  district,  whose  name  is 
preserved,  is  Rev.  Owen  Duffy.  Like  his  predecessor,  he  lived 
in  Tullyhugh.  Father  Dufiy,  who  is  supposed  to  have  been 
born  in  the  parish  of  Gurteen,  died  in  1814,  and  was  buried  in 
Achonry  graveyard. 

Father  Dominick  O'Hara  succeeded.  He  was  born  in  Kil- 
macteige,  and  died  there  in  1834,  having  retired  on  pension,  in 
failing  health,  from  the  mission,  some  years  previously.  He  is 
buried  in  Kilmacteige. 


124f  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


Reverend  James  Gallagher  succeeded  Father  O'Hara  as  Parish 
Priest,  and  continued  in  the  office  till  his  death  in  1849.  To 
Father  Gallagher  succeeded,  in  1849,  Rev.  Pat  Spelman,  who 
died  in  1864. 

Reverend  Pat  Roddy  was  the  next  Parish  Priest  of  Mulna- 
breena.  His  incurabency  lasted  only  about  one  year,  being 
terminated  by  an  accident  which  startled  and  saddened  the 
whole  county.  After  going  to  bed  in  his  usual  excellent  health 
and  spirits,  he  was  found  the  next  morniog  a  corpse,  having 
been  suffocated  during  the  night  by  gas  that  issued  from  a 
burning  sofa,  stuffed  with  sea-weed,  which  must  have  been 
ignited  by  the  lighted  wick  of  a  candle,  or  a  spark  from  the  fire 
falling  upon  it.  Everyone  had  a  good  word  for  poor  Father 
Roddy  ;  and  the  writer,  his  old  school-mate,  college  class-fellow, 
and  life-long  friend,  who  knew  him  better,  perhaps,  than  any- 
body else  did,  may  be  allowed  to  add  his  testimony,  that  one 
would  search  all  Ireland  in  vain  for  a  more  perfect  priest  or 
more  genial  man. 

Upon  the  demise  of  Father  Roddy,  Canon  John  MacDermot 
was  appointed  to  the  parish,  but  vacating  it  on  his  transfer  to 
Tubbercurry,  he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Luke  Hannon,  who 
continued  Parish  Priest  down  to  his  lamented  death,  on  the  30th 
March,  1878. 

Fathers  Gallagher,  Spelman,  Roddy,  and  Hannon,  were  buried 
in  the  old  parish  chapel ;  and,  as  the  new  church  stands  on  the 
site  of  the  old  building,  their  remains  have  undergone  no 
disturbance,  while  their  memory  is  preserved  by  a  mural  tablet, 
which  Father  Lowry,  with  a  considerateness  that  others  would 
do  well  to  imitate,  put  over  their  graves.  It  bears  the  inscrip- 
tion : — 

"  pray    for    the    souls    of    the 
Rev.  James  Gallagher, 
Rev.   Pat  Spelman, 
Rev.   Pat  Roddy, 

and 
Rev.   Luke  Hannon, 
whose  bodies  lie  here." 


HISTORY   OF   SLTGO.  125 


When  Father  Duffy  got  charge  of  the  parish,  it  contained  but 
one  chapel,  a  thatched  one,  which,  after  a  little,  he  slated.  This 
chapel  stood  at  Mulnabreena,  that  place  having  come  to  be 
regarded  as  the  head-quarters  of  the  parish ;  and  to  accommodate 
the  people  living  about  Achonry,  the  priest  used  to  give  them 
Mass,  on  Sundays  and  holidays,  in  Mr.  John  Rice's  dwelling- 
house. 

Father  'Dominick  O'Connor  built  a  small  chapel  at  Achonry, 
roofing  it  with  slates,  and  made,  besides,  an  addition  to  Mulna- 
breena chapel ;  but,  notwithstanding  this  and  other  improve- 
ments, this  structure  had  become  so  unsuitable,  through  time, 
that  Father  Lowry,  Father  Hannon's  successor,  found  it 
necessary  to  erect  a  new  church.  The  work  was  begun  in 
1883,  and  was  pushed  on  so  vigorously  by  Father  Lowry,  who 
was  its  architect,  builder,  and  clerk  of  works,  all  in.  one,  that  it 
was  opened  for  worship  on  the  9th  November,  1884.  It  is  a 
fine  Gothic  church,  consisting  of  nave,  chancel,  and  transepts, 
lighted  by  windows  of  stained  glass  manufactured  at  Bruges, 
Belgium  ;  and  furnished  with  a  beautiful  high  altar  of  marble 
and  Caen  stone.  The  wonder  is  how  such  a  house  could  be 
built  and  furnished  for  £1,272,  the  sum  it  cost. 

The  Protestant  church  of  Achonry  was  built  in  1822,  with 
sitting  accommodation  for  250  persons,  the  ascertained  cost  of 
the  structure,  in  1848,  being  £1,476. 

Under  the  late  Established  Church,  the  Protestant  Dean  of 
Achonry  was  the  incumbent  of  the  parish,  which  formed  the 
cor^js  of  the  deanery. 

The  Deans,  according  to  Cotton's  *'  Fasti  " — Province  of 
Connaught,  are: — 1582,  Oweil  O'Connor;  1615,  William 
Flanagan ;  1G28-29,  William  Buchanan  ;  1661,  Eandal  Hol- 
lingworth ;  1662,  James  Yaughan  ;  1683,  William  Lloyd ; 
1691,  Samuel  Foley;  1694-5,  John  Yeard ;  1733,  Sutton 
Symes  ;  1752,  Richard  Handcock ;  1792,  James  Langrishe  ; 
1806,  James  Hastings  ;  1812,  Anthony  Henry  Kearney ;  1821, 
William  Greene;  1824,  Theophilus  Blakely  ;  1839,  Edward 
Newenham  Hoare,  who  was  succeeded  by  Lord  Mountmorres. 


126  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


Very  Rev.  Canon  Heather  is  the  actual  incumbent  of 
Achonry. 

The  quasi-parish  of  CloonACOOL  seems  to  be  a  very  old 
ecclesiastical  denomination,  as,  most  probably,  it  is  the  "  Cloono- 
chuUi "  of  the  Taxation  of  1309.  It  is  possible,  however,  though 
not  very  likely,  that  the  name  in  the  Taxation  may  stand  for 
Cloonoghill,  so  that  its  identity  with  Cloonacool  is  not  absolutely 
certain.  Cloonacool  lies,  in  part,  between  the  Ox  Mountain 
and  Knocknashee,  where  it  forms  the  valley  through  which  the 
young  Moy  starts  on  his  journey  to  Killalla  bay.  The  tract  is 
void  of  timber,  except  a  bush  here  and  there  near  the  sites  of 
houses  which  have  disappeared,  a  few  trees  at  Carnaloch  and 
Branchfield,  and  a  thriving  plantation  at  Lavagh,  where  Mr. 
O'Hara  has  a  shooting  lodge.  The  tract  is,  for  the  most  part, 
in  tillage,  which  the  hard-working  inhabitants  are  carrying 
gradually  up  the  mountain  slopes. 

The  most  interesting  spot  in  the  parish  of  Cloonacool  is  the 
rising  town  of  Tubbercurry.  Tubbercurry  is  modern  when 
compared  with  Ballysadare,  Collooney,  or  Ballymote.  The  first 
time  it  comes  under  notice  is  in  1397,  when  the  O'Conor  Don 
of  the  day  having,  with  the  aid  of  the  Anglo-Irish,  gained  a 
victory  over  the  O'Connors  Sligo,  MacDonoghs,  and  O'Dowds, 
erected  a  fortress  at  Toher-an-chohr. ;  "  facto''  says  Mac  Firbis, 
''  apwd  Tober  an  choire  in  Liiignia  propugnaculo.''* 

The  next  mention  of  it  occurs  in  the  so-called  Survey  of  1633, 
where  it  is  written  Tobercorne,  and  described  as  the  "  Inheritance 
of  Sir  Roger  Jones,  who  took  it  in  mortgage  from  Hugh  O'Hara 
or  Teige  Keagh  O'Hara,  and  sets  it  to  under-tenants  for  £8  per 
annum  ;  it  is  some  part  good  arable  land,  and  hath  much  heath 
upon  it ;  some  good  turfe,  four  days'  mowing,  will  grase  forty 
cows,  and  is  worth  £10."  From  that  date  it  continued  in  the 
possession  of  the  Jones  family,  down  to  the  year  when  it  was 
sold  by  them  to  Mr.  Peter  O'Connor  ;  and  if  the  tenants  then 
lost  landlords  who  had  been  always  nursing  fathers  to  them,  it 
was  fortunate  that  the  change  of  ownership  was,  in  their  regard, 
merely  a   change    of  persons,  and  not  of  management  or  treat- 


r 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  127 


inent,  for  the  successor  of  the  Joneses  has  always  shown  himself 
a  man  after  their  own  heart — as  just,  as  humane,  and  as  charit- 
able. Here,  as  in  the  other  places  in  which  Mr.  O'Connor  has 
landed  estate,  he  consulted  the  interests  of  the  tenants  as  much 
as  his  own  ;  and  finding,  recently,  that  the  Tubbercurry>tenants, 
J  ike  so  many  of  their  class  in  other  parts  of  Ireland,  desired  to 
become  occupying  proprietors  of  their  holdings,  he  generously 
met  their  wishes,  and  has  just  sold  them  their  farms  on  terms 
with  which  all  are  satisfied. 

The  town  of  Tubbercurry,  like  greater  places,  has  its  east 
and  its  west  end — the  latter  containing  the  bank,  the  police 
barrack,  the  presbytery,  the  doctor's  residence,  and  a  stately 
shop-house,  which  would  be  a  credit  to  the  county  town,  if  set 
down  in  its  chief  business  quarter.  The  east  end,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  shabby  and  grotesque  almost  beyond  anything  of  the 
kind  in  the  county  ;  the  residences  being  small,  half- thatched 
hovels,  and  so  crowded  with^^inmates,  that  the  juveniles  of  the 
household,  apparently  from  want  of  room  inside,  pass  most  of 
the  time  on  the  streets,  capering  and  tumbling  about  like  acro- 
bats. It  would  need  a  livelier  pen,  and  more  room  than  is  now 
available,  to  describe  the  scene  here  on  a  fine  summer  evening, 
between  seven  and  eight  o'clock,  when  everybody,  big  and  little, 
is  out  of  doors — the  bigger  people  stretched  at  full  length  on  the 
sideway,  enjoying  their  dolce  far  niente  with  all  the  zeal  of 
Neapolitan  fishermen;  the  little  urchins,  with  an  exuberance 
of  animal  spirits,  which  compensates  them  for  a  hundred  and 
one  privations  and  other  hard  conditions  of  life,  kicking  up  their 
heels  and  gambolling  like  young  calves  turned  for  the  first  time 
out  of  the  byre  into  an  open  field  ;  and,  not  unfrequently,  a 
donkey  or  a  pig,  or  both,  half  in  and  half  out  of  the  doorways 
of  the  shanties  (which  they  occupy  conjointly  with  the  folk 
in  the  streets)  looking  on,  and,  to  all  appearance,  admiring  the 
antics  and  horse-play  of  their  fellow  lodgers  outside. 

This  curious  region  goes  by  the  name  of  Piper  Hill;    no 
doubt,  because  one,  or  more  than  one,  performer  on  the  bagpipe^ 
may  always  be  found  among  its  miscellaneous  visitors  of — 


128  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


**  Ambubiarum  collegia,  pharmacopolae, 
Mendici,  mimse,  balatrones,  hoc  genus  omne. " 

The  foregoing  remarks  apply  to  merely  one  side  of  the  stre^  t, 
for,  though  there  is  only  the  width  of  the  roadway  between  that 
and  the  opposite  side,  there  is  the  difference  of  a  hundred  years 
between  the  qualities  of  the  houses  on  either  side,  as  well  as 
between  the  manners  of  their  inhabitants.  While  the  east  side 
is  the  tumble-down  hurly-burly  we  have  been  describing,  the 
west  is  a  contrast  in  every  respect,  thanks  to  Mr.  O'Connor,  who, 
soon  after  purchasing  that  part  of  Tubbercurry,  removed  the 
squalid  cabins,  and  put  up  in  their  room  a  good  row  of  two- 
story  houses,  equally  suited  for  business  places  or  for  private 
residences. 

A  family  variously  named  Naper,  Neper,  Niper,  of  good  social 
standing,  lived  in  Tubbercurry  in  the  latter  half  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  and  during  a  considerable  part  of  the  eighteenth. 
They  were  Cromwellians  ;  and  Archy  Naper,  the  head  of  the 
family  in  this  country,  was  Titulado  of  Cnockroe,  in  the  parish 
of  Ballysummaghan,  under  the  Commonwealth.  He  had  also 
obtained  308  acres  in  the  Curry  portion  of  the  parish  of  Achonry 
as  a  debenture,  the  fee-simple  of  which  he  seems  to  have  sold 
to  Cornet  Cooper,  retaining,  apparently,  a  leasehold  or  other 
substantial  interest  in  the  property. 

The  James  Niper,  gent.,  of  the  county  Sligo,  that  figures  on 
the  list  of  the  persons  attainted  by  James  the  Second's  Parlia- 
ment of  1689,  was,  no  doubt,  a  son  of  Archy.  In  his  will,  which 
is  dated  1st  June,  1721,  he  signs  himself  James  Neper,  of 
Tobercory,  and  by  it  he  nominates  his  nephew,  Henry  Meredith^ 
of  Sessucomon;  James  Neper,  of  Tobercory;  and  Charles 
Meredith,  of  Mollane,  his  executors;  and  Joshua  Cooper,  oi 
Marcrue  (Markree),  as  "  overseer  of  his  will  and  testament." 

From  this  will  w^e  learn  that  he  either  owned,  or  had  some 
other  beneficial  interest  in  the  townlands  of  Carrowkeele  and 
Castlewillen,  and  in  16  acres  of  Kathscanlon,  near  Tubbercurry. 

The  Henry  Meredith  mentioned  in  the  will  was  a  member  of 
the   respected  Meredith   family  of  Cloonamahon.     He  was  the 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  129 


eldest  son  of  Francis  Meredith  of  Sessucomon,  in  the  parish  of 
Cloonacool,  who  was  himself,  no  doubt,  the  son  of  Eichard 
Meredith,  Titulado  of  Ballyonaghan,  in  Corran,  under  Crom- 
well's rule.  The  will  of  Francis  Meredith,  of  Sessucomon,  is 
dated  10th  of  May,  1719,  and  by  it  he  leaves  the  bulk  of  his 
property  to  Henry  Meredith,  his  eldest  son,  making  provision, 
out  of  the  residue,  for  his  wife,  his  second  son,  George,  and  his 
daughter,  Margaret. 

The  property  has  remained  in  the  possession  of  the  Meredith 
family  down  to  our  own  time ;  and  it  is  only  the  other  day  that 
Mr.  Herbert  Meredith,  the  owner,  responding  to  the  call  or 
exigency  of  the  times,  and,  acting  as  his  family  have  always 
done,  in  the  interest  of  those  depending  on  them,  sold  the  estate, 
under  Lord  Ashbourne's  Act,  to  the  occupiers ;  the  sale  being 
greatly  forwarded,  as  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Peter  O'Connor's  property, 
by  the  rare  tact,  talent,  and  savoir  faire  of  Canon  Staunton, 
who  so  adjusted  and  reconciled  conflicting  interests,  as  to  please 
both  parties  to  the  ^contract. 

While  most  other  places  in  the  county  have  retrograded, 
Tubbercurry  has  been  steadily  improving  for  the  last  half 
century  both  in  population  and  wealth,  the  number  of  houses 
in  1881  being  176,  or  twenty-seven  more  than  in  1841,  though 
the  population  of  Ireland  in  the  latter  year  was  nearly  double 
what  it  is  at  present.  And  the  houses  in  the  body  of  the  town 
have  improved  still  more  in  quality  than  in  number,  several  fine 
new  ones  having  been  erected,  and  many  of  the  old  ones  having 
been  enlarged  and  modernized. 

The  place  is  well  situated  for  markets  and  fairs,  as  fine  roads, 
running  through  populous  and  extensive  districts,  pass  through 
it,  with  the  result  that  the  market,  which  is  held  on  Monday,  is 
always  crowded,  while  the  fairs  are  attracting  constantly 
increasing  numbers  of  buyers  and  sellers  from  all  quarters. 
When,  besides,  it  is  taken  into  account,  that  Tubbercurry 
possesses  a  Catholic  church,  a  Protestant  church,  a  bank,  a 
workhouse,  and  a  dispensary;  that  it  is  a  centre  of  Special 
sessions  and  Petty   sessions,   as  well  as    head-quarters  of   a 

VOL.  II.  I 


130  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO, 


Constabulary  district ;  that  it  gives  plenty  to  do  to  two  efficient 
and  highly  respectable  doctors  ;  and  that  it  is  the  place  where 
the  county  Sligo  portion  of  the  Achonry  clergy  assemble  for 
ecclesiastical  conference  and  other  corporate  proceedings,  it  will 
be  seen  that  it  occupies  a  leading  position  in  the  localities  of 
the  county.  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  almost  everything  which 
gives  importance  to  the  town  dates  from  the  present  century. 
The  Catholic  church  was  erected  about  1832,  Mass  being 
previously  said  in  private  houses  on  Sundays  and  holidays; 
the  Protestant  church  was  built  in  1830,  by  means  of  a  gift 
from  the  Board  of  First  Fruits  of  £900,  and  was  designed  to 
provide  for  the  accommodation  of  180  persons  ;  while  the  other 
improvements  mentioned — the  Sessions  courts,  the  Constabulary 
station,  the  workhouse,  the  dispensary,  and  the  ecclesiastical 
conferences — all  come  later. 

Kilcummin,  the  chief  burial  ground  of  Cloonacool,  contains 
an  area  of  about  120  feet  square — enclosed  by  a  good  stone  and 
mortar  wall — and  lies  in  the  valley  of  the  Moy,  at  the  foot  of 
the  Ox  mountain,  in  a  townland  of  the  same  name.  The  grave- 
yard is  crowded,  and  has  a  fair  number  of  tombstones,  on  which 
the  prevailing  names  are,  Gray,  Henry,  Brennan,  Hibbert, 
McHugh,  and  McGloin.  At  present  there  are  no  remains  of  a 
church,  though  people  say,  that  ten  or  twenty  years  ago,  there 
existed  considerable  fragments  of  one,  the  stones  of  which  have 
been  recently  removed  from  their  places  to  form  headstones  of 
graves ;  a  most  objectionable  practice,  which  has  had  a  great 
deal  to  do  with  the  disappearance  of  our  old  church  structures. 

Kilcummin  signifies  the  church  of  Cummin,  but  who  this 
Cummin  was,  there  is  nothing,  apparently,  in  books  or  tradition 
to  determine.  From  the  diverse  ways  in  which  the  word  is 
pronounced,  the  person  from  whom  the  name  is  derived,  may 
have  been  Cummin,  Cummian,  Coman,  Caeman,  Coemgen, 
which  appear  to  be  all  different  forms  of  the  same  name. 
Colgan  throws  no  light  on  the  subject,  though  he  gives  a  list  of 
twenty  Cummins  in  his  Acta  Sanctorum  (p.  59),  as  well  as  a 
list  of  several  Caemans  in  the  Trias  Thaumaturga  (p.  177), 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  131 

mentioning  the  little  that  is  known  about  them  all — but  stating 
nothing  to  identify  the  patron  of  Kilcummin. 

There  are  two  saints  of  the  name,  one  or  other  of  whom,  it 
would  appear  to  the  writer,  may  with  great  probability  be  fixed 
on  as  the  founder  of  Kilcummin.  The  first  is  Caeman  of  Ard 
Caeman,  who  is  stated  in  the  Life  of  Saint  Attracta,  to  be  a 
brother  of  that  saint ;  and  as  Attracta  had  her  religious  estab- 
lishment in  Killaraght,  the  fact  would  incline  one  to  the  belief, 
that  her  brother  built  a  church  in  her  neighbourhood.  The 
second  would  be  Saint  Coemgen  of  Glendalough,  who,  for 
reasons  which  shall  be  given  later  on,*  may  be  taken  to  have 
passed  some  time  in  this  district,  and  to  have  founded  there  a 
religious  house. 

This  may  be  the  most  suitable  place  to  give  a  very  old  and 
interesting  document,  which  is  found  among  the  Irish  charters  in 
the  Book  of  Kells.  It  is  a  Charter  whereby  two  townlands  of 
Leyney  are  devoted  to  the  support  of  pilgrims.  The  docu- 
ment is  introduced  by  a  head-line  in  Latin,  but  is  written  in 
Irish.     The  following  is  O'Donovan's  translation  of  the  Irish  : — 

"  Carta  de  Balli  Uidrin  cum  molendino  et  de  Balle  Comgain 

cum  molendino.f 
"  The  family  of  Kells  have  granted  for  the  support  of  pilgrims 
Ardcamma,  i.e.,  Baile  Ui  Uidhrin  with  its  mill,  and  with  all  its 
land,  and  Baile  Ui  Chomhgain,  with  all  its  land,  and  with  its  mill, 
to  God  and  to  Columbkiile,  and  to  the  Bishop  O'Oellaigh,  the 
senior  of  all  the  men  of  Meath,  and  to  Maelmaine  O'Uobhartaigh, 
head  of  the  Disert,  on  the  third  of  the  Ides  of  November,  the 
feast  of  Martin,  in  the  year  when  the  kine  and  swine  perished 
by  a  pestilence.  Here  are  the  chiefs  who  made  this  grant, 
namely,  Muredhach  O'Clucain,  abbot  of  Kells ;  Conaing 
O'Breslen,  the  priest ;  Guaire  O'Clucain,  the  lector  ;  Aedh,  the 
son  of  Mac  Rachtogan,  the  vice-erenagh.  In  the  presence  of 
many  distinguished  laymen,  i.e.,  in  the   presence  of  Tiernan 

*  See  under  Union  of  Keash. 

t  This  charter  is  given  in  the  Irish  Archaeological  Miscellany,  Vol.  I.,  p.  129. 


132  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 

O'Eourke,  King  of  the  men  of  all  Breifny ;  Godfrey  O'Reilly, 
King  of  Machaire  Gaileng,  and  Ade  O'Hara ;  and  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  sons  of  O'Rourke,  Donnchadh,  and  Sitric,  these  two 
townlands,  in  Luighne,  of  Connaught,  were  granted. 

"  The  Disert  of  Kells  [is  granted]  to  pious  pilgrims  for  ever. 
Whatever  layman  or  clergyman  shall  oppose  this  grant,  he  shall 
be  accursed  of  Columbkille  and  Finan,  and  the  clergy  of  Ireland, 
and  of  the  Christian  Church  in  general." 

The  two  townlands  of  Leyney  referred  to  in  this  venerable 
muniment,  which,  according  to  O'Donovan,*  dates  from  before 
the  year  1140,  or  thereabouts,  lie,  in  all  likelihood,  in  the  dis- 
trict of  Mulnabreena,  or  the  district  of  Cloonacool.  The 
denomination  of  Ardcamna  may  be  the  same  as  Ardower,  which 
belonged  to  Court  Abbey;  and  the  sub-denominations  of  Baile 
Ui  Uidhrin  and  Baile  Ui  Chomgain,  would  then  be  situated 
near  the  abbey,  though  one  of  them  may  in  remote  times,  have 
been  large  enough  to  reach  and  comprise  Kilcummin.  It  is 
very  likely  then  that  Baile  Ui  Chomgain  is  a  form  of  Bailekomin, 
or  Bailekummin,  and  that  it  refers  to  the  place  now  called 
Kilcummin  ;  for,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  Kilcummin  belonged  at 
one  time  to  the  abbey  of  Court,  as  we  find  James  I.,  in  the 
sixteenth  year  of  his  reign,  granting  to  "William  Crowe,  of  Dub- 
lin, *'  Carrow-Killcomin,  and  a  stone  house,  parcel  of  the  estate 
of  the  monastery  of  Gourte."  (Patent  Roll,  16  James  I.,  p.  365.) 
The  peculiar  spelling,  in  the  charter  of  one  of  the  townlands — 
Baile  Ui  Chomgain — would  go  far  to  show  that  it  was  so  called 
after  Saint  Kevin,  of  Glendalough,  whose  name  is  given  in  his 
old  biographies  as  Coemgen. 

The  Cloonacool  Parish  Priests,  of  whom  there  is  any  record, 
are : — 

1.  Rev.  Patrick  Henry,  who  was  ordained  in  1697,  and  had 
for  sureties,  under  the  Registration  Act  of  1704,  James  Rahmine, 
Ederneen,  and  John  Gallagher,  Shessuegaruff. 

*  Irish  Archseological  Miscellany,  Vol.  I.,  p.  152. 


HISTORY   OF    SLIGO.  133 

2.  Rev.  Patrick  Henry,  Parish  Priest  from  1806  to  1815. 
He  is  buried  in  Kilcummin  graveyard. 

3.  Eev.  John  McNulty,  a  native  of  Killasser,  and  P.P.  of 
Cloonacool  from  1815  to  1830.  In  this  latter  year  he  was 
transferred  to  Killasser  as  Parish  Priest.  He  died  about  1850, 
and  is  buried  in  Killasser. 

4.  Rev.  James  McHugh  was  Parish  Priest  from  1830  to 
1859. 

5.  Rev.  John  Brennan  was  incumbent  from  1859  to  18G9. 
Father  Brennan  was  a  native  of  the  parish  of  Achonry,  and  is 
buried  in  the  church  of  Tubbercurry. 

6.  Very  Rev.  Canon  MacDermot  was  Parish  Priest  from  1869 
to  1877,  when  he  was  transferred  to  Kilmovee. 

7.  Very  Rev.  Canon  Staunton,  the  actual  incumbent,  was 
collated  to  the  living  in   1877. 

A  mural  slab  in  the  church  bears  the  following  inscription  : — 

**  In  memoriam 
delectissimorum  pastorum  nostrorum  qui  nunc  dormiunt  in  somno 

pacis. 
Jacobi  MacHugh. 
joannis  bourk. 
JoANNis  Brennan. 
Requiescant  in  Pace. 

The  Catholic  church  of  Tubbercurry  was  built  about  1832, 
and  is  a  neat  and  commodious  structure.  Under  the  late 
Established  Church,  Tubbercurry  was  a  Perpetual  Curacy,  the 
patron  being  the  Protestant  Dean  of  Achonry.  According  to 
Sergeant  Shee,  the  ascertained  cost  in  184^8  of  the  Protestant 
church  was  £900,  and  the  number  of  persons  for  whom  accom- 
modation was  provided  in  it,  180. 

The  third  district  or  quasi-parish  into  which  Achonry  is  divided 
is  that  of  Curry,  so  called  from  the  village  of  Curry,  which  lies 
about  three  miles  to  the  south-west  of  Tubbercurry.  This 
district  is  probably  the  least  interesting  of  the  county  in  point 
of  picturesqueness.  The  prime  feature  of  the  region  is  its 
interminable  flatness,  stretching  away  on  all  sides  in  a  dead 


134  HISTORY    OF   SLIGO. 

level  to  the  horizon ;  the  second  is  the  evident  poverty,  not  to 
say  barrenness,  of  the  soil ;  and  the  third  characteristic,  which  is 
a  consequence  of  the  preceding,  is  scanty  crops.  There  is  little 
meadow;  and  even  where  Italian  grass  seed  or  other  grass 
seeds  are  sown,  the  return  is  so  miserable  that  one  can  almost 
count  the  blades  of  the  growing  crop.  There  are  hardly  any 
trees  in  view,  and,  in  general,  you  look  in  vain  for  bushes  or 
hedges.  In  most  other  parts  of  the  county  whitethorn  hedges 
line  the  road-sides,  but  in  the  district  of  Curry  open  dykes  or 
bare  banks  of  earth  fence  the  highways.  Potatoes  are  the  only 
root  crops  ;  for,  as  to  turnips,  mangolds,  parsnips,  or  carrots,  you 
might  as  well  look  for  a  vineyard  or  orange  grove  in  that  cold, 
bleak,  spongy  soil.  The  neighbourhood  of  the  village  of  Curry, 
with  its  fenced  and  tilled  fields,  has  an  improved  appearance, 
but  this  is  evidently  due  to  superior  cultivation,  the  land  itself 
being  of  the  same  inferior  quality  as  is  to  be  found  throughout 
the  parish. 

The  family  of  O'Higgins  held  the  district,  in  pre-Reformation 
times,  from  the  nunnery  of  Kilcreunat  in  Gal  way,  which  was 
founded  about  the  year  1200  by  Cathal  Croderg  O'Conor,  and 
richly  endowed  by  him  ;  Curry  and  other  tracts  of  Leyney  being 
among  the  endowments.  The  chief  residence  of  the  O'Higgins  Avas 
at  Doughorne,  a  name  which  is  now  obsolete,  but  we  see  in  Potty's 
Printed  Maps  that  the  place  lay  between  Carrowreagh  and  Leitrim. 
A  Chancery  inquisition  taken  at  Sligo  by  John  Crofton,  on  the 
27th  July,  1590,  tells,  that  Matheus  O'Higin  died  9th  January, 
1585,  "  seised  in  fee  of  the  town,  village,  or  hamlet  of  Doughorne, 
in  barony  of  Leyney,  and  four  quarters  of  land ;  and  also  two 
other  quarters  called  Leghbally  Meylogh,  which  six  quarters 
are  subject  to  the  charges  of  the  country ;  that  he  held  the 
aforesaid  from  the  Queen,  but  by  what  services  they  know  not ; 
that  Thady,  commonly  called  Teagdall  O'Higgin,  is  the  next 
heir  of  aforesaid,  who  is  now  forty  years  of  age,  and  married." 

Two  or  three  years  after  the  date  of  this  inquisition,  Teige 
Dal  met  a  cruel  death.  Having  composed  a  stinging  satire  on 
the  O'Haras  of  Cash  el  Carragh,  in  Kilmacteige,  six  members  of 


HISTORY  OF   SLIGO.  135 


that  family  proceeded  to  his  house,  threw  him  on  the  ground, 
cut  out  his  tongue,  and  treated  him  in  other  respects  so 
inhumanly,  that  he  died  of  the  outrage.  All  the  O'Higgins  of 
Doughorne  were,  at  this  time,  professed  poets  or  rhymers ; 
for,  in  James  the  First's  General  Pardon  to  Donough  O'Connor 
Sligo,  and  the  other  inhabitants  of  the  county,  the  family  are 
described  as  '^  Will  O'Higgin,  of  Dwacharny  (Doughorne),  rymer, 
Twoboll  O'Higgin,  of  the  same,  rymer,  Cormuck  O'Higgin,  of  the 
same,  rymer,  Gillenewf  O'Higgin,  of  the  same,  rymer,  and  Teige 
Oge  Mac  Teige  Dal  O'Higgin,  of  the  same,  rymer."*  At  that  time 
verse-making,  like  tailoring  or  shoemaking,  was  regarded  as  a 
trade,  which  everyone  might  manage  after  some  little  apprentice- 
ship and  practice. 

The  dependence  of  the  district  on  the  religious  house  of  Kil- 
creunat  appears  from  an  inquisition  taken  at  Sligo,  in  1610,  by 
Geoffry  Osbaldston,  William  Maye,  and  Nicbolas  Brady,  to 
inquire  into  the  possessions  of  the  Earl  of  Clanrickard.  In  their 
finding  they  say,  "We  have  heard  that  the  six  quarters  of 
Dowchorn  and  the  quarter  of  Drumentemple,  in  the  barony  of 
Leyney,  with  their  appurtenances,  anciently  belonged  to  the 
nunnery  aforesaid.  We  also  say  that  there  was  a  certain 
writing,  concerning  the  nunnery,  burned  by  one  Tomoltagh  Oge 
O'Higgin,  and  we  also  say  that  we  have  heard  that  the  half 
quarter  of  Ballenafennogy  (Ballyiara),  wherein  the  castle 
standeth,  tbe  4  qurs.  of  Kinnilovin,  the  quarter  of  Killeyallagb, 
the  quarter  of  Sessu  McEUirhy,  and  the  2  qurs.  of  Monyne 
Cranagh,  with  appurtenances,  in  said  county  Sligo,  did  anciently 
belong  to  the  said  nunnery  of  Kilcreunat.''  It  is  a  pity  that 
the  writing  burned  by  Tomoltagh  Oge  O'Higgin  is  lost,  as  it 
would  throw  valuable  light  on  the  state  of  things  that  prevailed 
in  Upper  Leyney  in  the  olden  time. 

Very  probably  Tomoltagh  Oge  made  away  with  the  document 
for  the  purpose  of  destroying  legal  evidence  which  might  be 
adduced  against  him  by  the  nuns  of  Kilcreunat.     The  O'Higgins' 

*  Patent  Roll  of  James  I. 


136  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


family  do  not  seem  to  have  been  over  scrupulous  as  to  the  means 
by  which  they  held  on  to  the  possessions  which  they  had  got  hold 
of;  for,  we  are  told,  in  the  Survey  of  1633,  etc.,  where  it  treats 
of  Kilcollummuinterclery  and  Cloonbarry,  in  the  parish  of  Kil- 
macteige,  that  "  Teige  Oge  O'Higgins,  Esq.,  keeps  one  Dwaltogh 
O'Clery  in  gaole  at  Sligo  these  5  years  paste,  who  ought  to 
inherit  the  said  Clunbary  of  right,  for  feare  to  sue  him  for  the 
said  lande." 

At  the  Restoration  most  of  Curry  district  was  granted  to 
Lord  Collooney,  who  received  five  or  six  thousand  statute  acres, 
including  Doughorne,  and  to  Jeremy  Jones.  Lord  Collooney's 
portion  is  now  owned  by  Colonel  Cooper,  whose  ancestor  bought 
it  in  1727,  from  the  Cootes;  and  Jeremy  Jones*  share  is  in  the 
hands  of  the  Knox  family. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  priests  of  Curry  have  been  exerting 
themselves  to  improve  the  village  and  neighbourhood.  The 
new  church,  which  was  built  a  few  years  ago,  is  a  handsome 
Gothic  structure ;  the  male  and  female  schoolhouses  are  build- 
ings at  once  so  spacious,  commodious,  and  ornate,  that  they  would 
be  a  credit  to  any  town  in  the  province ;  and  the  presbytery, 
with,  till  recently  (when  they  were  burned  down),  its  fine 
offices,  its  neat  lawn  sloping  down  to  the  river,  and  its  trim 
plantations,  reflects  honour  on  Canon  O'Donoghue,  who  built  it, 
and  on  Father  Conlon,  who  had  a  good  deal  to  do  in  finishing  it 
off.  The  example  thus  set  by  the  priests  has  a  beneficial  effect 
on  their  neighbours,  by  inducing  them  to  improve  their  own 
residences.  As  a  result,  there  are  better  houses  in  and  around 
the  village  now  than  formerly,  though  Curry  was  more  prosperous 
in  the  early  years  of  the  century,  when  it  did  much  of  the 
business  now  done  by  Tubbercurry,  and  maintained  a  butcher 
or  two  in  flourishing  trade  in  catering  to  the  villagers. 

As  to  the  succession  of  Parish  Priests  : — 

Reverend  John  Murtagh  was  Parish  Priest  of  Curry  in  1704. 
The  names  of  his  successors  through  all  the  eighteenth  century 
are  lost ;  and  the  first  Parish  Priest,  in  the  nineteenth  century, 
we  meet  with,  was  Father  Mc^N'amara,  a  native  of  the  diocese 


HISTORY   OF  SLIGO.  137 


of'Tuam,  who  was  affiliated  to  Achonry,  circa  1802,  by  Right 
Rev.  Dr.  Lynah,  the  then  bishop  of  Achonry,  himself  a  priest  of 
Tuam,  before  his  appointment  as  bishop. 

Father  McNamara's  successor  was  Rev.  James  Filan,  who 
died  in  1830,  and  is  buried  at  Drumahillan.  Of  this  distin- 
guished priest  we  shall  have  more  to  say  by  and  by. 

The  next  incumbent  was  Rev.  John  O'Flynne,  who  died  in 
1856. 

Father  O'Flynne  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  John  Howley,  who 
acted  for  some  time  as  Administrator  of  the  parish,  and  who, 
dying  in  1868,  was  buried  in  the  parish  church.  Few  ecclesias- 
tics of  his  time  were  so  admired  as  this  pious  and,  prudent 
priest. 

Father  Howley's  successor  was  Canon  O'Donohue,  who  was 
transferred  to  Gurteen  in  1880,  on  the  death  of  Canon  Roger 
Brennan,  being  succeeded  in  Carry  by  the  actual  incumbent, 
Rev.  Thomas  Conlon. 

The  ablest  man  on  the  list  of  Curry  Parish  Priests,  and  one 
of  the  ablest  in  Ireland  in  his  day,  was  Reverend  James  Filan. 
He  belonged  to  an  ecclesiastical  family,  which  has  given  several 
distinguished  priests  to  the  church,  as  well  in  their  native 
diocese  of  Achonry,  as  in  America  and  Australia.  James  and 
Michael  Filan  were  Parish  Priests  in  Achonry  at  the  same  time; 
and  while  Father  Michael  was,  according  to  all,  a  man  of  much 
prudence,  and  at  least  average  ability,  his  younger  brother, 
James,  was  inferior,  in  talent,  and  learning,  and  accomplish- 
ments, to  no  priest  or  bishop  of  the  province  at  the  time. 

Father  James  Filan's  elder  brother,  Michael,  was  Parish  Priest 
of  Kilbeagh,  where  he  died  in  1828,  and  was  buried  in  the  grave- 
yard near  Charlestown,  the  monumental  stone  under  which  he 
lies,  bearing  the  inscription  : — 

*'  Gloria  in  Excelsis  Deo. 

Here  lies  the  remains  of 

the  Heyerend  Michael  Filan, 

who  departed  this  life,  January  7th,  1828, 

aged  42  years. 

As  he  often  preached  for  his  flock,  so  may  they  often  pray  for  his  soul. 

Requiescat  in  Pace." 


138  HISTORY    OF  SLIGO. 


To  this  family  belonged  Reverend  Michael  Filan,  the  late 
deeply  lamented  Pastor  of  the  Church  of  the  Annunciation, 
Philadelphia,  U.S.A.,  who,  born  in  Killasser,  educated  in 
Ballaghaderreen,  and  ordained  in  Americja,  died  in  his  pastorate, 
on  the  16th  November,  1887. 

Another  member  of  it  is  Reverend  A.  D.  Filan,  the  highly 
esteemed  Pastor  of  the  Church  of  the  Assumption,  Philadelphia, 
who,  like  his  brother,  was  born  in  the  parish  of  Killasser, 
educated  in  Ballaghaderreen,  and  ordained  in  America. 

And  a  third,  is  the  Reverend  Michael  Filan,  the  amiable 
young  priest  who  has  lately  entered,  under  the  most  promising 
auspices,  on  his  missionary  career  in  the  diocese  of  Mobile, 
U.S.A. 

It  is  pleasant  to  be  able  to  add,  that  while  the  Filan  family 
are  so  well  represented  on  foreign  missions  by  the  priests  just 
mentioned,  and  by  several  others  who  might  be  named,  the 
succession  in  their  native  diocese  of  Achonry  is  always  kept  up, 
the  Reverend  P.  A.  Filan,  the  zealous,  learned,  and  patriotic 
curate  of  Gurteen,  being  the  actual  and  latest  link  in  this 
interesting  ecclesiastical  chain. 

Comiug  back  to  James  Filan,  he  was  among  the  first  students 
that  entered  the  college  of  Maynooth,  after  its  erection  in  1795, 
where  he  made  his  studies  with  such  distinction,  that,  at  the 
close  of  his  college  course,  he  was  appointed  professor  in  the 
lay  school,  or  academy,  then  attached  to  the  college,  and  per- 
formed the  duties  of  his  new  office  with  singular  efficiency  and 
brilliancy. 

At  this  time  the  Catholics  of  Sligo  were  a  respectable  and 
wealthy  body.  While  no  way  inferior  in  business  ability  and 
energy  to  their  Protestant  fellow-townsmen,  they  were  placed 
at  a  great  disadvantage  in  regard  to  education.  In  this  respect 
the  Protestants  were  particularly  well  off,  having  in  St.  John  s 
school  a  very  flourishing  establishment,  which  had  been  raised 
to  a  high  state  of  efficiency  by  its  late  head-master.  Rev.  James 
Armstrong,  the  friend  of  Charles  Phillips,  and  its  actual  head- 
master. Rev.  W.  C.  Armstrong. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  189 

To  supply  the  want  of  the  Catholics,  Father  Filan  resolved  to 
relinquish  his  position  at  Maynooth,  and  to  open  in  Sligo  a 
school,  in  which  the  classics  and  the  other  branches  of  a  polite 
education  should  be  taught.  This  establishment  was  opened  in 
1807,  the  neighbourhood  having  been  well  prepared  for  the  new 
departure  by  advertisements  in  the  Sligo  Journal,  one  of  which, 
as  an  interesting  souvenir  of  Sligo,  eighty  years  ago,  is  subjoined 
in  a  note  *  The  school  was  a  great  success,  attracting  pupils 
not  only  from  all  parts  of  the  county,  but  from  other  parts  of 
Ireland,  and,  it  is  said,  from  other  countries. 

A  fter,  however,  a  few  years,  Father  Filan  was  called  back  to 
his  own  ^diocese,  and  was  appointed  Parish  Priest  of  Curry, 
receiving  at  the  same  time,  in  commendam^  the  administration 
of  the  parish  of  Kilmacteige. 

Soon  after  this  the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  Right  Reverend 
Dr.  O'Flynne,  dying,  a  considerable  body  of  the  Achonry  priests 


*  ''  Rev.  J.  Filan,  lately  first  Professor  of  Humanity  (for  three  years),  in  the 
Lay  College  of  Maynooth,  begs  leave  to  inform  his  Friends  and  the  Public, 
that  he  is  determined  to  devote  his  attention,  for  some  time,  to  the  Education 
of  Youth  in  Sligo.  By  the  help  of  good  Assistants  (for  none  other  shall  be 
employed),  he  trusts  he  shall  be  able  to  fit  out  boys  for  business,  or  for 
entrance  into  the  Colleges  of  Maynooth  or  Dublin. 

"  At  a  period  when  the  effects  of  ignorance  and  torpid  inactivity  are  deeply 
felt,  when  more  than  the  dawn  of  Science  and  Liberality  has  generally  gleamed 
upon  us,  could  he  contribute  his  mite  to  the  diffusion  of  either,  he  should  feel 
it  a  pleasing  task.  In  endeavouring  *  to  teach  the  young  idea  how  to  shoot,' 
his  object  shall  be  to  blend  the  pleasing  with  the  useful,  to  enlarge  the  ideas 
and  improve  the  heart.  His  unremitting  attention  to  the  Health  and  Morals, 
as  well  as  to  the  Literary  Acquirements  of  those  who  may  be  committed 
to  his  care,  shall  merit,  he  trusts,  more  than  any  professions  he  can  make  at 
present,  the  approbation  and  patronage  of  the  public. 

"  The  plan  of  Education  comprises,  the  Latin,  Greek,  French,  and 
English  Languages  ;  History,  both  Sacred  and  Profane;  Geography,  the 
use  of  the  Globes,  Arithmetic,  Book  Keeping  and  Mathematics. 

"  Terms  : — For  Boarders,  £30  a  year,  to  be  paid  half  yearly  in  advance  ; 
three  Guineas  entrance,  and  three  Guineas  washing  and  repairing.  For  Day 
Boys,  one  Guinea  entrance,  and  one  Guinea  a  Quarter.  French,  Dancing, 
and  the  use  of  the  Globes  to  be  extra  charges. 

"  X.B. — A  Quarter  once  entered  upon  to  be  charged,  and  no  allowance  for 
occasional  absence. 

May  15ih,  1807." 


140  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


desired  to  have  Father  Filan  for  bishop,  but  Dr.  McNicholas 
was  supported  by  another  body  of  the  clergy,  and  was  ultimately 
chosen  to  fill  the  vacant  see.  Unfortunately  considerable  heat 
was  imported  into  discussions  on  the  relative  merits  of  the 
favourites,  and  led  to  no  little  unpleasantness  between  the 
favourites  themselves,  as  well  as  between  their  respective  sup- 
porters. There  is  no  need  to  refer  here  to  some  regrettable 
incidents  of  the  controversy ;  and  it  is  more  pleasant  to  note, 
that  the  trouble  soon  ceased  and  was  forgotten. 

Along  with  being  an  educationist  and  scholar,  Father  Filan 
was  a  ready  writer  and  eloquent  preacher ;  and  his  contem- 
poraries loved  to  dilate  on  his  many  merits  in  these  respects. 

Father  Filan's  fame  in  Sligo  as  a  preacher,  did  not  cease  with 
his  departure  from  the  town,  nor  with  his  departure  from  life ; 
for  long  after  he  was  gone  to  his  reward ;  long  after  the  "  silver 
cord  was  broken,  and  the  golden  fillet  shrank  back,"  a  leading 
topic  of  conversation  in  Sligo  continued  to  be  the  silvery  tones 
and  the  golden  thoughts  of  the  great  Achonry  preacher.  In 
the  minds  of  all  he  ranked  as  a  perfect  model  of  the  pulpit 
orator;  and  when,  in  the  second  decade  of  the  century,  an 
eloquent  Dominican,  Father  Prendergast,  attracted  by  his 
sermons  most  of  the  townspeople  to  the  convent,  and  left  the 
parish  chapel  nearly  empty,  the  highest  praise  bestowed  on  him 
by  local  critics  was,  that  he  approached  nearer  to^Father  Filan 
than  anybody  else  had  ever  done  in  Sligo. 

This  distinguished  Achonry  priest  died  in  1830,  and  was 
buried,  as  has  been  stated  above,  in  Drumahillan  graveyard, 
where  the  following  inscription  appears  on  his  tombstone: — 

*'  Lord  have  mercy  on  the  soul  of 

the  Revd.  James  Filan, 

who  departed  this  life  on  the  1.3th  of  March,  1830, 

aged  55  years. 

He  discharged  the  functions  of  the  priesthood  during  23  years 

with  fervour,  matchless  in  talent,  unrivalled  in  erudition, 

parent  to  the  orphan,  and  a  helper  to  the  distressed, 

and  a  solace  to  the  afflicted. 

R.I.  P. 

This  stone  was  erected  by  James  Maxwell,  Michael,  and  John  Filan." 


CHAPTER  XXIY. 

PARISH   OF   KILMACTEIGE. 

The  parish  of  Kilmacteige,  which  has  an  area  of  32,533  acres, 
and  a  population  of  6,403  souls,  is  so  called  from  the  old  ruined 
church  of  Kilmacteige,  which  signifies  the  church  of  the  son  of 
Teige,  who  must  have  been  its  founder  or  patron.  "Who  this 
Teige  was  is  not  known,  though  it  is  pretty  certain  that  he 
belonged  to  the  O'Hara  family,  the  toparchs  of  the  district.  In 
the  Four  Masters  we  read,  under  the  year  1489,  "  The  son  of 
O'Hara  of  the  Plain,  i.e.,  Cormac,  son  of  Teige,  died ;  "  and  it  is 
not  unlikely  that  this  Cormac, "  son  of  Teige/'  was  the  founder  of 
the  church  in  question  :  a  supposition  which  gains  some  counten- 
ance from  the  fact  that  Kilmacteige  is  not  mentioned  in  the 
Taxation  of  1309.  In  old  documents  *  the  church  is  mentioned 
as  *'  Kilmacteige,  alias.  Inter  duos  fluvios  "  (Between  the  two 
Rivers),  the  alias  name  coming  from  the  situation  of  the  build- 
ing between  the  two  streams,  Abhan  Leenane  and  the  Belclare 
river.  The  structure  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  Protestant 
church,  where  some  ruins  may  still  be  seen.  Some  say  it  was 
an  ecclesiastical  college,  but  there  is  nothing  to  bear  out  that 
opinion  in  old  documents,  which  always  describe  it  as  a  rectory 
and  a  vicarage,  and  never  as  a  place  of  education. 

A  considerable  part,  perhaps  half  the  area  of  the  parish,  consists 
of  mountain  and  bog.  The  Ox  Mountains  run  through  the  west 
and  south-west  of  it,  while  most  of  the  lowlan  d  is  bog — much  of 
which  is  now  reclaimed,  with,  however,  large  stretches  still 
untouched.  At  this  part  of  the  range  the  Ox  Mountain  descends 
in  gentle  slopes,  which  are  now  broken   up  into   tillage   and 

*  For  instance,  the  inquisition  taken  at  Achonry  on  the  18th  August,  1585, 
before  Daniel,  Bishop  of  Kildare. 


142  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


pasture  farms ;  and  while  the  well-fenced  fields  of  cereal  and 
green  crops  add  much  to  the  picturesqueness  of  the  scene,  they 
also  give  a  high  idea  of  the  industry  and  intelligence  of  the 
people,  who  know  how  to  conquer  all  obstacles,  and  to  carry 
cultivation  up  the  mountain  almost  to  the  top.  The  unsightly 
morasses  of  the  lowland  are  rapidly  disappearing  before  the 
spade  and  the  plough,  so  that  stretches,  which,  till  recently,  grew 
nothing  but  aquatic  plants,  are  now  yielding  fine  oats  and  root 
crops — with  the  very  important  additional  result  that  the  drain- 
ing and  other  processes  of  cultivation  have  almost  banished  the 
malignant  fevers  which  appear  to  have  been  long  endemic  in 
and  around  these  swamps.*  It  is  due  to  the  Messrs.  Robinson 
to  say  that  they  may  justly  claim  credit  for  much  of  this 
improvement,  as  their  example  in  transforming  what  was,  not 
very  long  ago,  a  bleak  and  barren  hill-side,  into  the  fertile, 
flourishing,  and  picturesque  grounds  which  now  surround  their 
neat  lodge,  had  the  effect  of  opening  the  eyes  of  neighbouring 
farmers  and  cottiers  to  what  each  could  do  on  his  own  holding. 
Some  small  collection  of  trees,  in  various  stages  of  growth, 
have  sprung  up  here  and  there  through  the  parish.  Instead  of 
the  naked  surface  of  the  land  which  met  the  eye  in  1816,  when 
the  facetious  Parson  Nelligan  observed  of  Mr.  Jones  of  Banada, 
*'  He  can  boast  of  an  inheritance  which  no  gentleman  within 
twenty  miles  of  him  can  exhibit,  viz.,  as  many  grown  trees  as 
constitute  a  rookery,"  t  there  are  now  clumps  of  trees  or  promis- 
ing plantations  to  be  seen  in  several  places,  as  at  the  late  Mr. 
John  McCarrick*s,  in  Cloonbarry,  Mr.  Robinson's,  in  Sessu, 
Lord  Harlech's,  in  Aclare,  Mr.  N.  Irwin's,  in  Clooncagh,  and 

*  "  Although  the  people  are  tolerably  healthy,  yet  there  is  a  tract  of  ground, 
which  runs  along  the  side  of  the  mountain,  which,  for  some  years  back,  has 
not  been  free  from  a  dangerous  malignant  fever,  mostly  of  the  typhus  kind, 
which  carries  off  the  people.  The  existence  of  this  disease  may  be  attributed, 
principally,  to  the  situation  of  the  inhabitants,  rather  than  to  any  other  cause. 
.  .  .  .  In  this  tract  of  the  country  the  ground  is  very  wet  and  of  a  cold 
quality." — **  Statistical  Account  of  Kilmacteige."  By  Rev.  James  Nelligan, 
Rector  and  Vicar. 

t  Ibid. 


HISTORY   OF    SLIGO.  143 


in  other  places ;  while  the  trees,  to  which  Mr.  Nelligan  makes 
such  pleasant  reference,  have  so  increased  and  multiplied  since 
his  day,  owing,  partly,  to  the  nursing,  care,  and  taste  of  Mr. 
Jones  and  his  cultivated  family,  and,  partly,  to  the  exuberant 
nourishment  supplied  by  the  Moy  in  its  windings,  that  few 
English  parks  are  better  stocked,  at  the  present  moment,  with 
fine  timber  than  the  demesne  of  Banada. 

The  parish  is  traversed  by  excellent  and  commodious  roads. 
The  two  leading  respectively  towards  Foxford  and  Ballina  from 
Tubbercurry  are  all  that  can  be  desired  for  width,  and  sole,  and 
level;  the  same  may  be  said  of  that  which  runs  by  Sessu 
towards  Sligo ;  and  a  cross  road  lately  made  through  Cloon- 
reusk  and  Kilvernin  townlands,  and  passing  the  Kilvernin 
stream  or  river  by  a  fine  metal  bridge,  the  only  public  bridge  of 
that  material  in  the  county,  reflects  credit  on  all  who  had  a 
hand  in  its  construction.  Even  the  two  mountain  roads,  one 
through  the  Gap,  and  the  other  at  right  angles  from  it,  running 
to  Lough  Esk,  are  better  than  mountain  roads  generally  are 
elsewhere,  and,  what  deserves  special  notice,  they  are  the  works 
of  two  private  individuals :  the  first  being  made  by  a  Captain 
O'Dowd  in  the  closing  years  of  the  last  century,*  and  the  other, 
about  sixteen  years  later,  by  the  eccentric  Jack  TaafFe,  who  had 
purchased  more  ^than  7,000  acres  of  the  mountain,  which  go 
still  by  the  name  of  '*  Taafife's  Mountain." 

The  run  of  houses  in  the  parish  are  of  the  same  class  as  in 
the  rest  of  the  county.     In  the  first  year  of  this  century  there 


*  A  valuable  improvement  was  made  in  this  place  about  twenty  years  ago, 
through  the  exertions  of  a  Captain  O'Dowdd,  who  possessed  an  estate  of  many 
thousand  acres  of  these  mountains,  which  were  without  inhabitants  except 
those  "Ferae  naturae,"  and  which  were  nearly  impassable  to  the  active  and 
bare-footed  natives.  The  immense  rocks,  steep  hills,  and  deep  caverns,  which 
everywhere  presented  themselves,  formed  as  many  insuperable  difficulties,  as 
the  passage  of  the  Alps  did  in  former  days  ;  but,  this  Hannibal,  by  labour 
and  perseverance,  overcame  [them  all,  and  has  formed  a  road,  where  a  coach 
passes  six  times  a  week,  conveying  'passengers  to  and  from  Ballina  and 
Castlerea,  and  has  shortened  the  line  from  Ballina  to  Banada  from  twenty 
to  twelve  miles."—"  Statistical  Account  of  Kilmacteige." 


144  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


was  only  one  slated  Louse  in  the  parish;  in  1816  there  were 
three,*  and,  at  present,  there  cannot  be  less  than  30  or  40,  though 
the  slates  employed  came  from  Sligo  and  Ballina,  and  not  from 
Mr.  Taaffe's  "  slate  quarry,"  from  which  Mr.  Nelligan  expected 
so  much,  t  hut  which,  like  the  famous  petroleum  of  Geevagh, 
which  proved,  on  examination,  to  be  no  petroleum,  has  turned 
out  to  be  no  slate  quarry  at  all. 

There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  parish  of  Kilmacteige 
was  the  scene  of  some  stirring  events  mentioned  in  the  Four 
Masters,  though  not  referred  hitherto  by  any  writer  to  that 
locality.  In  describing,  under  the  year  1225,  hostilities  between 
the  sons  of  Roderic  O'Conor,  and  Hugh,  the  son  of  Cathal 
Croderg,  the  Annals  say  that  the  sons  of  Eoderic  were  stationed 
near  Lough  Mac  Farry,  in  Glean  na  Mochart.  In  a  note  to  this 
entry,  O'Donovan  gives  it,  as  his  opinion,  that  Lough  Mac  Farry 
is  the  old  name  of  Templehouse  lake  ;  but  this  opinion  is  devoid 
of  all  probability ;  first,  because  the  lake  of  Templehouse  is 
situated  in  the  centre  of  a  great  plain  and  not  in  a  glen  of 
any  kind ;  second,  because  the  old  name  of  Templehouse  lake 
was,  as  we  have  seen.  Lough  Awnally ;  and,  third,  because  it 
lies  several  leagues  away  from  the  places  which  are  said  to 
have  been  occupied  by  the  forces  in  quest  of  the  sons  of 
Roderic.  These  places  are  Meelick,  Kilkelly,  and  Coolcarny, 
all  three  in  the  county  Mayo,  and  not  far  from  Lough  Talt 
and  Glan  na  Voagh,  which  would  appear  to  be  the  lake  and 
the  glen  of  the  Four  Masters — Lough  Talt  being  the  modern 
alias  of  Lough  Mac  Farry,  and  Glan  na  Yoagh  a  corruption  of 
Glean  na  Mochart.  After  changing  the  M  of  Mochart  into  V, 
a  change  frequent  in  Irish  words,  and  softening  the  sound  of  rt 
in  the  end  of  Mochart,  the  pronunciation  of  both  words  becomes 
the  same,  or  almost  the  same. 

*  "Statistical  Account  of  Kilmacteige." — By  Rev.  James  Nelligan,  Rector 
and  Vicar. 

t  '*  Mr.  John  Taaffe  has  lately,  by  accident,  discovered  a  slate  quarry,  which, 
from  the  description  he  has  given  of  it,  promises  to  be  a  source  of  great  emolu- 
ment to  himself,  and  of  equal  utility  to  the  surrounding  country." — Ibid. 


HISTORY   OF   SLTGO.  145 


Ad  other  transaction,  and  one  of  a  revolting  character,  which 
took  place  in  Leyney  in  1315,  must  he  referred  to  this  parish. 
It  occurred  during  the  troubles  between  Felim  O'Conor  and 
Mulrony  MacDermot  on  the  one  side,  and  Eory  O'Conor  and 
Teige  O'Kelly  on  the  other,  and  is  thus  described  in  the  Annals 
of  Loch  Oe: — "  Rory  O'Conor  and  Teige  O'Kelly  went  both  in 
pursuit  of  Felim  and  MacDermot,  and  the  tribes  that  were  with 
them,  to  Letir  Leyney  and  the  slopes  of  Sliabh-Gamh,  and  to 
Glenn-Fathroimh  in  particular,  where  they  killed  many  thousand 
cows,  and  sheep,  and  horses  ;  and  they  stripped  gentlewomen, 
and  destroyed  small  children  and  little  ones  on  this  journey; 
and  never,  during  the  memory  of  the  people,  was  so  much  cattle 
uselessly  destroyed  in  one  spot."*  The  Four  Masters  omit  this 
massacre,  but  it  is  recorded  in  the  Annals  of  Clonmacnoise,  as 
translated  by  Mageoghegan,  and  almost  in  the  same  Tvords  as 
those  used  in  the  Annals  of  Loch  Ce.f 

Glenn-Fathroimh,  or,  as  it  is  written  in  the  translation  of  the 
Annals  of  Clonmacnoise,  Glean  Fahrowe,  is  the  glen  through 
which  the  Beul  an  Easa  river,  and  the  Beul  an  Easa  road  now 
run,  and  which  is  popularly  known  at  present,  as  Glen  Darragh; 
and  the  memory  of  the  transaction  is  preserved  to  this  day  in 
the  local  name  of  a  ford  on  this  river,  which  is  called  by  the 
country  people,  Beul  an  ath  graugh,  that  is,  Mouth  of  the  ford 
of  the  slaughter. 

In  Kilmacteige,  as  through  most  of  the  county,  the  year  1641 
led  to  a  thorough  change  in  the  ownership  of  the  land.     Before 

*  Annals  of  Loch  Ce,  edited  with  a  translation  by  William  M.  Hennessy, 
M.R.I.A.,  A.D.  1315. 

t  "  Being  joined  together,  they  pursued  Felim  and  Mulrony  to  Letter  Long 
(Leiter  Luighue,  Annals  of  Connaught),  and  to  the  borders  of  the  mount  of 
Sliewgawe,  and  also  to  the  valley  of  Gleanfahrowe,  where  infinite  numbers  of 
cowes,  gerans,  and  sheep,  were  killed  by  them.  They  strip'd  gentlemen  {mna 
uaisle,  i.e.,  gentlewomen,  Ann.  Conn.)  that  could  make  no  resistance  of  their 
cloaths  to  their  naked  skinns  ;  destroyed  and  killed  without  remorse,  children 
and  little  ones  of  that  journey.  There  was  not  seen  so  much  hurt  done  in 
those  parts  before  in  any  man's  memory,  without  profit  to  the  doers  of  the 
harm."— Annals  of  Clonmacnoise,  in  a  note  of  O'Donovau's  Four  Masters,  sub 
anno  1315. 

VOL.  n.  K 


146  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


the  insurrection  of  that  fatal  year,  the  parish  was  nearly  all  in 
the  hands  of  the  O'Haras,  the  O'Higgins,  the  O'Creans,  and  the 
MacSwynes,  and  the  heirs  of  Sir  Eoger  Jones ;  but  under  the 
Cromwellian  Settlement,  the  O'Haras,  the  O'Higgins,  the 
O'Creans,  and  the  MacSwynes  disappear,  and  in  their  room  we 
find  Sir  Arthur  Gore,  Sir  Francis  Gore,  Lord  Collooney,  Cornet 
Edward  Cooper,  Sir  Theophilus  Jones,  Lewis  Wingfield,  and  a 
few  others. 

The  heirs  of  Sir  Eoger  Jones  retained  merely  the  lands  which 
Sir  Roger  had  purchased,  and  were  not  indebted  for  a  single 
acre  to  the  confiscations  of  the  times ;  but  by  residing  generally 
at  Banada,  and  taking  a  warm  interest  in  everything  around 
them,  the  Jones  family  have  done  more  for  the  parish,  than  all 
the  grantees  of  the  Restoration  put  together.  The  bridge 
across  the  Moy,  which  led  the  way  to  many  other  improvements 
in  the  neighbourhood,  was  in  great  measure  the  work  of  Sir 
Roger  Jones  ;  and  his  descendants,  following  in  his  footsteps, 
have  always  borne  the  chief  part  in  every  undertaking,  material 
or  moral,  which  had  for  object  to  benefit  their  neighbours. 

Even  before  their  change  of  religion,  they  were  in  strong 
sympathy  with  the  people,  but  since  their  conversion  to  the 
Catholic  faith,  the  Jones  have  been  always  nursing  fathers  and 
nursing  mothers  to  them ;  and  if  the  parish  of  Kilmacteige  is 
one  of  the  most  religious  in  Ireland ;  and  if  the  religion  of  the 
inhabitants  is  as  enlightened  as  it  is  fervent,  as  those,  who  know 
that  parish  best,  concur  in  bearing  witness,  it  is  owing  very 
much  to  the  example,  the  advice,  and  the  pecuniary  sacrifices 
of  the  Jones  family.  The  ladies  who  became  the  wives  of  the 
Jones,  have  shared  fully  the  virtues  of  the  husbands.  One  of 
these  ladies,  who  lived  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago,  is  still 
known  in  the  neighbourhood  as  the  "  good  Eleanor  Kelly,"  while 
the  late  Mrs.  Jones,  nee  MacDonnell,  is  often  styled  the  "  Mother 
of  the  Machabees  "  for  her  own  spirit  of  sacrifice,  and  for  the 
spirit  of  sacrifice,  with  which  she  filled  the  minds  and  the  hearts 
of  her  children ;  a  spirit  rising  in  1862  to  the  height  of  the 
sublime,  when  mother  and  children  'joined  in  resigning  the 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  147 


ancestral   estate,   and  devoting   it  for   ever   to   the  service   of 
religion. 

This  was  a  great  sacrifice,  but  a  sacrifice  still  greater  and 
more  precious  accompanied  it,  tbe  devoting  of  themselves  to  the 
religious  state — where  the  eldest  brother,  Daniel,  after  having 
served  for  a  time  in  the  world  as  a  type  of  the  finished  Christian 
gentleman,  lived,  in  the  Society  of  Jesus,  the  model  and  the 
light  of  his  great  Order,  and  died  the  death  of  a  saint ;  where 
the  second  brother,  James,  under  whatever  aspect  we  consider 
him  in  his  still  brilliant  career — as  a  missionary  in  the  West 
Indies  in  difficult  and  dangerous  times,  as  a  professor  of  Theology 
and  Sacred  Scripture  in  the  houses  of  the  Order,  as  a  learned 
writer  on  ecclesiastical  subjects,  and  one  well  able  to  hold  his 
own  even  against  such  men  as  the  able  and  all  accomplished 
Archbishop  of  Dublin,  and  the  most  gifted  contributors  to  the 
Saturday  Revieiu  andj  the  Athencewm,  or  as  a  prudent  and 
successful  administrator  of  the  important  Jesuit  province  of 
England,  of  which  he  has  been  mora  than  once  Provincial — has,  in 
each  and  all  of  these  capacities,  not  only  sustained,  but  enhanced 
the  fame  of  his  illustrious  Society;  and  where  the  three  sisters, 
two  of  them  as  Sisters  of  Charity — one  in  Dublin,  in  the  hospital 
of  Saint  Vincent,  and  the  other  in  Galway — and  the  third  as  a 
Sister  of  Mercy,  and  Founder  and  Superioress  of  several  con- 
vents in  the  diocese  of  Elphin,  have  done  more  for  the  poor,  the 
sick,  and  the  ignorant  of  the  country,  and  indirectly  for  all 
classes,  than  any  other  three  sisters  in  Ireland.  It  would  not  be 
easy  to  find  in  the  range  of  ecclesiastical  history,  a  family  with 
so  good  a  right  as  the  Jones  to  use  the  words  of  Saint  Peter, 
"  Behold,  we  have  left  all  things  and  have  followed  thee." 

If  there  are  still  people,  who,  mindful  of  all  the  good  the 
Jones  family  did  while  residing  at  Banada,  regret  their  depar- 
ture and  the  transfer  of  the  property,  such  persons  would  do 
well  to  call  to  mind  the  much  greater  good  the  family  are 
now  doing  elsewhere,  as  well  as  the  permanent  good  which  the 
holy  nuns  they  left  after  them  are  accomplishing,  and  must 
continue  to  accomplish,  in  and   around  Kilmacteige,  by  the 


148  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


education  they  give  in  the  convent  schools,  by  the  visits  they 
make  the  sick,  in  the  workhouse  of  Tubbercurry,  and  in  private 
houses  for  miles  round,  and  by  their  management  of  the 
Industrial  school,  opened  in  1882,  where  about  sixty  little  girls, 
either  quite  uneducated  or  miseducated  when  received,  are 
moulded  by  the  plastic  hands  of  the  Sisters,  into  useful  members 
of  society,  and  edifying  members  of  the  church. 

The  wild  glen  called  The  Gap,  is  under  many  respects  as 
interesting  a  spot  as  there  is  in  the  parish.     The  whole  valley 
is  commonly  called  The  Gap,  but  the  name  applies   more  par- 
ticularly to  a  short  stretch  between  two  spurs  of  the  mountain, 
which  rise  vis-a-vis  at  the  coniines  of  the  two   counties,  and 
contain  between  them  the  public  highway.     The  road  through 
the  Glen  is  winding,  and  at  every  turn  the  traveller  comes  upon 
new  and  magnificent  combinations  of  the  picturesque,  formed 
chiefly  by  the  ever  varying  aspects  of  the  mountain  elevations — 
some,  naked  rock,  some,  clothed  with  rich  heath,  and  one,  the 
towering  Crwmmits,  green  and  grassy  for  the  entire  height  of 
the  1,300  feet  to  which  it  rises.     About  midway  in  the  passage 
across  the  range.  Lough  Talt  comes  suddenly  in  view,  and  with 
the  exception  of  two  tiny  islets,  forms  an   unbroken  sheet  of 
water  of  about  a  mile  long,   and  half  a  mile   wide,  one  end 
looking  sombre,  owing  to  the  shadow  thrown  on  it  by  Crummus, 
the  "  alt "  that  gives  the  lake  its  name,  while  the  other  end, 
which  is   out   of  the   shadow,   scintillates  in  brightness ;   this 
difference  telling,  it  is  said,  on  the  trout  with  which  the  lake 
teems;  those  that  frequent  the  region  of  the   shadow,   being 
unsightly  to  the  eye  and  insipid  to  the  taste,  while  the  form 
and  flavour  of  the  others  are  all  that  an  epicure  could  desire. 

Though  there  are  no  groves  or  continuous  plantations  in  the 
Gap,  there  are  growing  in  all  directions  a  good  number  of  single 
or  isolated  trees,  planted,  it  is  said,   by  the   Robinsons  ;*  and 

*  "  Mr.  Robinson  has  a  large  number  of  tenants  and  cottiers,  and  in  the 
gardens  of  each  of  these  he  has  planted  a  convenient  number  of  timber  trees, 
■which  they  are  obliged  to  take  care  of  and  protect." — Statistical  Account  of 
Kilmacteige,  p.  357. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  149 


inhabitants  of  the  place  tell,  that  those  who  know  how  to 
appreciate  delightful  sights  and  sounds,  cannot  enjoy  a  richer 
treat  than  is  afforded  by  a  stroll  through  the  Glen  in  an  early 
morning  of  Spring,  when  the  eastern  sun  draws  out  and  lights 
up  a  thousand  beauties  of  outline  and  colour,  unobserved  at 
other  times,  and  when  all  the  trees  swarm  with  singing  birds, 
which  seem  to  vie  with  one  another  in  the  loudness  and  joyous- 
ness  of  their  notes,  to  which  the  peculiar  acoustic  properties  of 
the  valley,  impart  preternatural  clearness  and  melody. 

We  read  of  three  castles  as  belonging  to  this  parish.  One  of 
them,  which  was  a  timber  structure,  was  erected  by  the  Eaglish 
at  Banada,  about  1237,  soon  after  they  came  to  Connaught,  and 
was  burned  down  by  Hugh  O'Conor  and  O'Donnell,  in  1265,* 
the  year  in  which  they  burned  the  castle  of  Rxth  Ard  Creeve. 
Another,  but  of  stone,  owned  by  the  O'Haras,  and  called  gener- 
ally Castle  Carragh,  but  sometimes  Castle  Rock,  stood  on  the 
slope  of  the  mountain,  not  far  from  Beul  an  Easa  river  and  pass, 
where  a  small  fragment  of  it  may  still  be  seen.  The  third 
castle,  that  of  Belclare,  of  which  there  are  still  imposing  reraains, 
which  add  considerably  to  the  picturesqueness  of  the  landscape, 
was  built,  it  is  said,  by  the  O'Haras,  but  fell  in  the  course  of 
time  into  the  hands  of  the  Burkes,  between  whom  and 
O'Donnell  there  was  a  spirited  contest  for  its  possession  ia 
1512.t 

We  have  also  an  account  of  three  old  churches — those  of 
Kilmacteige,  Banada,  and  Glenavoagh.  Whatever  is  known  of 
Kilmacteige  has  been  stated  above.  The  Augustinian  church 
of  Banada  was  founded,  according  to  Herrera,  in  the  Alpha- 
betum  Augustinianum,J  in  the  year  1423,  in  accordance  with  a 
Rescript  of  Martin  V.,  who,  in  another  Rescript,  issued  in  1430, 
conferred  great  privileges  on  the  new  establishment.  This 
house   belonged   to   the   Eremites    of  Saint   Augustine.     The 


*  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  sub  anno. 

t  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  1512.     The  passage  is  worth  reading. 

X  AUemande  Histoire  Moaastique  du  Royaume  d'  Irlande,  p.  327. 


150  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 

founder,  accordicg  to  the  same  authority,  was  a  father  of  that 
Order  named  Charles  ;  and  though  Charles'  family  is  not  given, 
it  is  pretty  certain  he  was  an  O'Hara,  as  well,  because  Charles, 
or  Cormac,  was  a  favourite  name  with  the  O'Haras,  as  also, 
because  the  whole  of  Leyney  belonged  to  them,  so  that  nothing 
could  be  built  in  it  without  their  concurrence.  Another 
O'Hara,  Donough  Duv,  Lord  of  Leyney  Reagh,  resigned  the 
lordship  in  1439,  and  became  a  religieux  in  the  monastery  of 
Banada,  though,  fifty  years  later,  members  of  the  same  family, 
evincing  very  different  dispositions  from  those  of  Donough 
Duv,  committed  murder  and  sacrilege  in  the  holy  place.  The 
conventual  buildings  have  all  disappeared,  and  most  of  the  church, 
little  else  now  remaining  except  the  tower,  which,  though  stand- 
ing still  in  its  original  height  of  70  feet,  is  so  shaken,  and 
has  so  many  stones  displaced  or  cracked,  that  it  is  liable  to 
topple  down  at  any  moment.  It  would  be  well  for  persons 
attending  the  funerals  of  an  O'Hara  to  have  their  eyes  about 
them,  and  to  he  on  the  alert  while  in  the  graveyard,  for  there  is 
an  old  tradition  in  the  parish,  that  the  steeple  will  fall  on  the 
occasion  of  an  O'Hara  interment,  no  doubt  to  avenge  the  sacri- 
lege committed,  in  1488,  by  members  of  that  family. 

Banada  is  the  chief  burying  place  of  the  parish,  and  contains 
a  goodly  number  of  tombstones,  the  prevailing  names  in  the 
inscriptions  being  O'Donnell,  Gallaher,*  McCarrick,  McManus, 
Mullarky,  McGinn. 

*  A  tombstone  over  a  member  of  the  Gallagher  family  bears  this  inscrip- 
tion : — 

**  Sacred  to  the  memory  of 

Mr.  Patt  Gallagher,  of  Barratoher, 

who   departed   this   life   in    the   year    1827. 

This  tomb  has  been  ordered  to  be  erected  by  his  son  John,  a  resident 

in  Lima,  Peru,  in  token  of  his  respect  and  admiration 

for  the  memory  of  the  best  of  fathers." 

The  John  Gallagher  who  paid  this  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  his 

father,  had  reached  a  good  social  position  in  Lima,  and  ordered  the  monument 

during  a  visit  he  made  to  Ireland  and  his  father's  grave  ;  and  it  is  suggestive 

of  the  state  of  society  in  South  America,  that  this  pious  son  was  not  long  back 

in  Lima,  when  he  was  assassinated  in  cold  blood  at  his  own  door. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  151 


The  plot  in  which  are  interred  Mr.  Jones,  the  last  lay  owner 
of  Banada,  and  his  noble  wife,  is  walled  off  from  the  rest  of  the 
cemetery,  and  is  surmounted  by  a  finely  carved  Celtic  limestone 
cross,  bearing  three  separate  epitaphs,  as  follows  : — 

"  Of  your  charity, 

Pray  for  the  soul  of  Daniel  Jones,  Esq.,  of  Benada  Abbey, 

Who  died,  fortified  by  the  sacraments  of  the 

Holy  Catholic  Church, 

On  the  26th  March,  1845. 

Aged  GO  years. 

His  dying  wish,  that  this  place  should  be  consecrated  to  God,  was  accom- 
plished on  the  8th  October,  18G2,  when  the  convent  of  the  Religious  Sisters  of 
Charity  was  dedicated,  under  the  title  of  Our  Lady  of  Benada,  by  the  Right 
Rev.  Dr.  Durcan,  bishop  of  the  diocese." 


*'  Of  your  charity. 

Pray  for  the  soul  of  Fkederick  Jones,  Esq., 

Second  son  of  Daniel  Jones,  Esq.,  of  Benada  Abbey, 

Who  died,  fortified  by  the  sacraments  of  the 

Holy  Catholic  Church, 

On  the   1st   March,    1853, 

Aged  30  years." 


"  Her  children  rose  up  and  blessed  her ;  her  husband,  and  he  praised  her  ; 
the  woman  who  feareth  the  Lord,  she  shall  bs  praised." — Prov.  31. 

"  Pray  for  the  soul  of 

Maria  Louisa  Jones,  nee  McDonnell, 

Widow  of  the  late  Daniel  Jones,  Esq.,  of  Benada  Abbey. 

She  crowned  a  life  of  self  sacrifice,  by  devoting  her  last  years  to  the 

establishment  of  the  Convent  of  Our  Lady  of  Benada, 

where  she  died,  fortified  by  the  sacraments 

of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church, 

On  the  6th  April,  1865, 

Aged  71  years." 

Of  the  church  of  the  Gap  there  is  neither  material  remains  nor 
oral  tradition,  though  the  record  of  its  erection  is  clear  and 
express;  for  in  Colgan's  Life  of  St.  Attracta,  the  author,  after  speak- 
ing of  Glenavoagh,  the  scene  of  a  miracle  of  the  saint,  adds  the 
remark,  "  In  quo  loco  Virginis  honore  fabricata  est  Basilica,"  in 
which  place  a  basilica  was  constructed  in  honour  of  the  Virgin. 


152  HISTORY   OF   SLTG3. 

While  there  is  now  no  trace  of  this  church,  either  in  Glenavoagh 
or  in  the  traditions  of  the  people,  the  folk  lore  of  the  parish  is 
full  of  the  miracle,  in  memory  of  which  the  church  was  erected. 
The  miracle,  or  alleged  miracle,  consisted  in  the  destruction  of  a 
monster,  which  ravaged  the  neighbourhood,  and  filled  the  minds 
of  the  inhabitants  with  terror,  young  and  old  pointing  out  to 
this  day,  near  Attracta's  Well,  the  haunts  of  the  monster,  which 
they  know  by  the  name  of  Lug  oia  2^cciste,  the  Hollow  of  the 
Beast.  The  church,  most  probably,  stood  near  the  saint's  well, 
which,  from  time  immemorial,  has  been  one  of  the  most  famous 
wells  of  the  country.  Even  now  considerable  numbers  assemble 
at  the  well  on  the  11th  August,  the  Saint's  day  ;  but  in  the  past 
crowds  flocked  from  all  quarters,  and  from  great  distances  to  it, 
and  remained  round  it,  not  only  for  the  festival  day,  but,  in 
many  cases,  for  the  day  before  and  the  day  after  as  well,  engaged 
for  most  of  the  time  in  practices  of  devotion.  Things,  it  is  said, 
usually  passed  with  great  decorum  on  these  occasions,  the 
people  religiously  avoiding  all  excesses,  while  counting  the 
festival  one  of  joy ;  and  so  dear  is  this  saint's  day  to  the 
parishioners,  even  now,  that  emigrants  from  Kilmacteige,  not 
unfrequently,  send  remittances  from  America  to  young  folks  at 
home,  to  make  things  pleasant  for  them  on  the  Patron's  day. 

Kilmacteige,  it  appears,  was  famous  for  its  Holy  Wells. 
Within  a  few  yards  of  Tubber  Araght,  there  is  a  well  called  St. 
Barbara's  Well,  which  is  supposed  to  have  got  the  name  from 
some  companion  of  Attracta's. 

Near  the  chapel  of  Kilmacteige,  there  is  a  well  called  Tubber 
KeerauD,  which,  if  we  can  rely  on  what  old  inhabitants  of  the 
place  report,  was  visited,  about  a  century  ago,  by  people  from 
all  parts  of  Ireland.  The  origin  of  the  name  is  not  known. 
Tubber  Keeraun  may  signify  the  well  of  the  quicken  tree,  or 
mountain  ash  {caerthain,  pronounced  caraun,  being  the  Irish 
name  of  that  tree),  a  sufficiently  probable  opinion,  as  the  moun- 
tain ash  grows  largely  in  the  neighbourhood.  But  it  is  much 
more  probable,  that  Tubber  Keeraun  is  a  corruption  of  Tubber 
Ciaran,  that  is,  the  well  of  Ciaran,  the  founder  of  Clonmacnoise; 


HISTORY    OF   SLIGO.  153 


for  it  will  be  seeu  hereafter,  that  there   was  special   connexioa 
between  Kilmacteige  and  Clonraacnoise,  St.  Ciaran's  church. 

The  parish  church  at  Tourlistrane,  a  solid  and  spacious  one, 
was  built  in  1844,  as  we  learn  from  the  inscription  on  a  stone 
in  the  eastern  gable: — "This  church  was  erected  AD.  1844,  by 
Kev.  D.  MuUarkey,  P.P."  It  is  dedicated  to  Saint  Attracta. 
The  church  which  preceded  this  structure  stood  on  the  adjoining 
townland  of  Baratoher,  and  was  in  process  of  erection  in  1817, 
when  Parson  Neligan  published  his  account  of  the  parish  of 
Kilmacteige.     Statistical  Account  of  Kilmactige,  p.  377. 

The  chapel  in  the  Gap  was  built  in  1845.  At  that  time  Jack 
Taaffe  was  the  head  landlord  of  what  has  since  been  called  the 
Taaffe  Mountain,  but  it  was  let  by  him  to  the  Irish  Waste  Land 
Company,  who  prosecuted  agricultural  improvements  very  ener- 
getically on  the  estate.  There  were  on  it  forty-seven  tenants, 
and  these  were  encouraged  to  improve  their  holdings  by  prizes 
for  drainage,  green  crops,  cheese,  stock,  cottages  and  other 
houses.  The  steward,  a  Mr.  Larmont,  made  very  fair  cheese, 
and  so  did  some  of  the  tenants,  but  the  manufacture  was 
abandoned  after  a  little.  Mr.  Taaffe  showed  a  desire  all  through 
to  have  a  chapel  on  the  property,  giving,  first,  £10  towards  the 
erection  of  one ;  and,  failing  to  receive  the  co-operation  he 
expected,  he  took  the  whole  matter  on  himself,  and  accomplished 
the  work  almost  single-handed. 

Kilmacteige,  being  a  mensal  parish  of  the  bishop;  has  no 
Parish  Priests  to  name.  Rev.  J.  Gunning  is  the  Actual  Admin- 
istrator. 

It  is  not  known  when  the  Protestant  church  was  built.  Even 
Mr.  Neligan  is  silent  on  the  subject.  The  glebe  house  and 
offices  were  erected  by  Mr.  Neligan  at  a  cost  of  £1,300,  of  which 
£800  was  received  from  the  Board  of  First  Fruits — £500  as  a 
loan,  and  £300  as  a  gift. 

The  succession  of  Protestant  incumbents  is: — 1615,  Thomas 
McConmy;  1635,  Richard  Boylan ;  1721,  Robert  Fausset ; 
1760,  James  Hutchinson  ;  1770,  Thomas  Manningham  ;  1777, 
Edward  Synge;  1781,  Mark  Main  wright ;  1802,  James  Neligan  ; 


154  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


next.  Rev.  Messrs.  Huston,  Foley,  Costello,  and  Symons,  the 
last  named,  the  present  incumbent. 

A  bare  list  of  the  many  secular  priests,  religieux,  and 
religieiiseSf  born  in  this  parish,  would  extend  to  such  a  length, 
that  it  must  be  omitted  here.  Some  of  these  persons  are  referred 
to  in  other  parts  of  the  book  ;  but  it  would  be  an  injustice  to  the 
parish  not  to  mention,  besides,  Father  Pius  Devine,  so  well- 
known  in  all  parts  of  Ireland  as  a  preacher  of  the  highest  merit, 
as  well  as  an  erudite,  copious,  and  versatile  writer.* 


*  The  late  Rev.  Patrick  A.  O'Korke,  of  Scranton,  United  States,  was  a 
native  of  Kilmacteige  or  Cloonacool,  and  his  numerous  friends  and  admirers  in 
these  parishes  will  be  glad  to  have  here  the  following  obituary  notice  of  that 
distinguished   priest,   which  appeared  in  the  Scranton    Truth  of  July   30th, 

1884  :— 

"Death  of  Father  O'Rorke.— Rev.  P.  A.  O'Rorke,  the  popular  and 
well-beloved  pastor  of  St.  Patrick's  Church,  01yj)hant,  breathed  his  last 
yesterday  afternoon.  His  death  caused  a  profound  sensation,  and  produced 
the  most  poignant  sorrow  among  the  members  of  his  congregation.  Although 
his  health  had  been  poor  for  some  time,  none  expected  that  the  end  was  so 
near,  and  the  startling  news  fell  like  a  shock  upon  his  numerous  friends. 
Father  O'Rorke  was  born  in  the  county  Sligo,  Ireland,  in  1846,  and  spent  seven 
years  in  Mayuooth  College,  Dublin.  After  coming  to  this  country  he  graduated 
at  Seton  Hall  College,  N.J.,  with  the  degrees  of  A.B.  and  A.M.  He  was 
professor  at  Seton  Hall,  two  years,  and  was  ordained  priest  by  Bishop  O'Hara, 
July  12th,  1872.  He  was  pastor  of  the  Olyphant  church  for  nine  years,  during 
which  time  he  endeared  himself  not  only  to  the  people  of  his  own  faith,  but  to 
men  of  all  denominations.  The  immediate  cause  of  his  death  was  congestion  of 
the  brain.  Father  O'Rorke  was  a  man  of  fine  culture,  liberal  views,  and  had  an 
intense  love  for  his  native  land.  He  was  a  great  lover  of  the  literature  and 
music  of  Ireland,  and  those  who  knew  him  best,  and  appreciated  his  true  worth, 
will  say  with  his  favourite  poet,  Tom  Moore  : — 

*  It  is  not  the  tear  at  this  moment  shed, 

When  the  cold  turf  has  just  been  laid  o'er  him, 
That  can  tell  how  beloved  was  the  friend  that's  fled, 

Or  how  deep  in  our  hearts  we  deplore  him.' 
*'  The  funeral  will  be  on  Friday  morning.     There  will  be  a  solemn  High  Mass 
of  Requiem  at  the  Olyphant  church,  after  which  intermeut  will  take  place  in 
the  Hyde  Park  Cemetery. " 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

BARONY  OF  CORRAN. 
PARISHES  OF  EMLAGHFAD  AND   KILMORGAN. 

While  Corran  is  now  the  smallest  of  the  baronies  of  the  county, 
the  district  anciently  so  called  was  much  larger  than  the  present 
barony  ;  for,  to  say  nothing  of  the  portion  of  it  which  lay  in  the 
county  Mayo,  it  contained,  in  the  county  Sligo,  the  long  stretch 
from  Kilcoleman,  in  the  south,  to  the  Coillte  Leyney  mountain 
in  the  north — Tullaghan  Well,  which  lies  on  that  mountain, 
being  placed  in  Corran  by  our  oldest  writers,  as,  for  instance, 
the  Irish  Nennius,*  who  describes  this  wonder  of  Ireland 
as  "  A  well  of  sweet  water  in  the  side  of  the  Corann  ; 
the  property  of  which  well  is,  it  fills  and  ebbs  like  the  sea, 
though  it  is  far  from  the  sea  too."  As  one  would  expect,  judg- 
ing by  the  size  and  situation  of  the  district,  it  was  the  theatre 
of  many  remarkable  historical  events,  notably  of  great  battles. 

According  to  the  Four  Masters,  Dithorba,  King  of  Ireland, 
was  slain  in  Corran  a.m.  4532.  The  same  Annalists  record, 
under  the  year  a.d.  601,  "  the  battle  of  Corran,  wherein  were 
slain  Colga,  son  of  Blathmac,  and  Fearghus,  son  of  Maelduin, 
chief  of  Cinel  Cairbre ;  "  and  under  701,  a  battle  of  still  greater 
proportions,  as  thus  described  by  the  Four  Masters;  "After 
Loingseach,  son  of  Aenghus,  son  of  Domhnall,  had  been  eight 
years  in  the  sovereignty  of  Ireland,  he  was  slain  in  the  battle  of 
Corann,  by  Ceallach   of  Loch  Cime   (now    Lough    Hackett), 


*  The  Irish  version  of  **  The  Historia  Britonum  "  of  Nennius.  Edited,  with 
a  Translation  and  Notes,  by  James  Henthorn  Todd,  D.D.,  M.R.I.  A.,  Fellow 
of  Trinity  College,  Dublin.  The  Introduction  and  Additional  Notes,  by  the 
Hon.  Algernon  Herbert,  p.  197. 


156  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


the    son   of   Ragballach,    as    Ceallach    himself  testifies  in  this 
quatrain  : — 

"For  his  deeds  of  ambition,  on  the  morning  he  was  slain  at  Glas-Chuilg; 
I  wounded  Loingseach  there  with  a  sword,  the  monarch  of  [all]  Ireland 
round." 

There  were  slain  also  his  three  sons  along  with  him,  Artghal, 
Connachtach,  and  Flann  Gearg.  There  were  also  slain  there 
the  two  sons  of  Colcen  and  Dubhdibhearg,  son  of  Dunghal,  and 
Fearghus  Forcraith,  and  Conall  Gabhra,  and  other  noblemen 
besides  them." 

The  cause  of  the  battle  bore  little  proportion  to  the  enormous 
slaughter,  for  it  was  only  a  satirical  verse,  as  we  are  thus  told : 
"  Conall  Mean,  son  of  Cairbre,  composed  these  quatrains,  and 
that  was  the  cause  of  the  battle  : — 

"If  Loingseach  should  come  to  the  Banna,  with  his  thirty  hundred  about 

him, 
To  him  would  submit,  though  large  his  measure,  Ceallach,  the  Grey,  of 

Loch  Cime. 
Ceallach  of  the  round  stones  was  well  trained ;  a  paling  of  spears  was 

leaped  over 
By  the  red-handed  King  of  Loch  Cime." 

In  A.D.  971  was  fought  another  battle,  which  must  receive 
detailed  notice  hereafter,  and  which,  for  the  present,  may  be 
disposed  of  in  the  words  of  the  Four  Masters  : — "The  battle  of 
Ceis-Corainn,  between  Murchadh  Ua  Flaithbheartach,  i.e.,  Glun 
Illar,  King  of  Aileach,  and  Cathal,  son  of  Tadgh,  King  of  Con- 
naught,  wherein  fell  Cathal  himself,  and  Geibheannach,  son  of 
Aedh,  Lord  of  Ui  Uaiue  ;  Tadgh,  son  of  Muircheartach,  chief  of 
Ui  Diarmada ;  Murchadh,  son  of  Flann,  son  of  Glethneachan, 
chief  of  Clann-Murchadha  ;  and  Seirridh  Ua  Flaithbheartach, 
with  a  countless  number  along  with  them:  and  Murchadh 
totally  plundered  Connaught  afterwards." 

We  have  here  a  sufficient  specimen  of  those  sanguinary  con- 
flicts which  were  of  such  frequent  occurrence  in  the  past,  and 
which  have  left  traces  of  themselves  in  the  names  of  many  a  spot 


HISTORY    OF   SLIGO.  157 

through  ancient  Corran,  as  Clooncath  (Battlefield),  in  Tumour ; 
Clooncagh,  between  the  hill  of  Keash,  and  the  Bricklieve  range ; 
Cloonca,  in  Kilmacteige;  and  sundry  other  places.  So  nume- 
rous were  these  engagements,  and  so  reckless  were  those 
engaged  in  them,  that  we  find  even  churches  associated  with 
battles,  as  in  the  instance  of  the  old  church  that  stood  in  the  place 
now  called  Kil,  in  the  townland  of  Rathbane,  and  parish  of  Kil- 
varnet,  which,  in  the  taxation  of  1309,  has  the  name  of  Kellecath, 
that  is,  the  Church  of  the  Battle — so  called,  from  some  battle 
which  once  raged  round,  and,  no  doubt,  within  its  sacred  walls. 

Nor  were  these  ghastly  doings  confined  to  the  Corran  portion 
of  the  present  county.  Carbury  seems  to  have  been,  at  least, 
equally  afHicted ;  for  it  is  called,  in  old  writers,  Cairhre  na  Oath, 
that  is,  Carbury  of  the  battles.  It  was  a  very  unenviable 
distinction,  and  if  that  tract  had  stronger  claims  than  Corran  to 
the  "bad  pre-eminence  "  implied  in  the  epithet,  it  must  have 
been  a  veritable  Haceldama  {ager  sanguinis),  or  shambles. 

As  to  the  origin  of  the  name  Corran,  some  think  it  comes 
from  the  word  corran,  a  reaping  hook,  because,  they  say,  the 
district  resembles  a  sickle  in  shape ;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
there  is  nothing  whatever  in  the  appearance  of  either  the 
ancient  or  the  modern  Corran  to  remind  one  of  that  implement. 

Others  maintain  that  Corran  is  cognate  with  the  Irish 
word  cor  J  a  round  hill,  and  signifies  that  the  tract  is  hilly. 

The  "  Dinnseanchus,"  as  usual,  connects  the  matter  with 
a  silly  legend,  and  tells  that  the  designation  is  derived  from 
the  name  of  a  famous  harper,  called  Corann,  who  obtained 
the  territory  from  its  owner,  Diancecht,  as  a  reward  for 
incomparable  skill  in  music.  The  legend  adds,  that  this 
Corann  dwelt  in  the  great  cave  of  Keash,  and  dispensed  his 
music  and  hospitalities  from  that  romantic  residence  to  all  who 
desired  to  partake  of  them.  Dr.  Petrie  has  an  article  on  this 
subject  in  \hQ  Irish  Penny  Journal,  where  he  quotes  as  follows 
from  the  "  Dinnseanchus  : " — '*  Here  used  to  dwell  the  gentle 
Corann,  whose  hand  was  skilled  in  playing  on  the  harp  ;  Corann 
was  the  only  ollave  of  Diancecht  (with  whom  he  lived)  in  free 


158  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


and  peaceable  security.  To  Corann  of  the  soft  music  the 
Tuatha  De  Danaan  gave,  with  great  honor,  a  free  territory  for 
his  skilful  playing,  his  knowledge,  and  his  astrology.  Here  was 
he,  this  generous  man,  not  without  literature,  or  in  a  churlish 
fortress,  but  in  a  place  where  the  stranger  was  at  liberty  to  a 
free  sojournment  with  him,  this  liberal,  prosperous  man." 

There  is  no  probability  in  the  first  or  third  opinion  as  to  the 
origin  of  the  name,  Corann ;  while  any  sensible  observer,  that 
takes  his  stand  in  the  centre  of  the  district,  near  Baninadden, 
and  lookino"  about  him,  sees  himself  surrounded  on  all  sides 
by  little  round  hills,  which  form  the  characteristic  feature  of 
the  landscape,  will  not  fail  to  recognise  the  second  opinion 
as  the  true  one. 

Ballymote,  the  chief  town  of  Corran,  occupies  no  mean  place 
in  the  history  of  the  county  Sligo.  Considering  its  situation, 
as  the  leading  pass  of  the  district,  and  the  exceeding  richness 
of  the  surrounding  lands,  it  must  have  been  always  a  place  of 
some  importance,  though  the  first  mention  we  find  of  it,  in  the 
annals  of  the  county,  occurs  so  late  as  the  year  1300,  when  it  is 
recorded  by  the  Four  Masters,  that  the  castle  of  Ath-cliath-an 
Chorainn,  that  is,  Ballymote,  was  commenced  by  the  Red  Earl. 

It  was  called  Ath-cliath-an  Chorainn,  the  hurdle  ford  of 
Corran,  from  the  hurdles  thrown  over  the  low  lying  portions  of 
the  place,  then  covered  with  water,  but  long  since  dried,  partly 
by  underground  drainage,  and  partly  by  the  diversion  of  the 
streams,  which  overflowed  them.  The  meaning  of  the  modern 
name,  Ballymote,  is  not  agreed  on  ;  for,  as  the  simple  English 
word,  moat,  little  altered  in  its  Irish  form,  viota  or  motajh, 
sio"nifies  both  a  mound  and  a  dyke,  the  compound  word  may  mean 
either  the  Town  of  the  mound,  or  the  Town  of  the  dyke.  Those 
who  maintain  the  former  meaning,  refer,  in  confirmation  of  their 
view,  to  the  mound,  or  hillock,  of  Carrownanty,  the  townland 
on  which  the  castle  is  built ;  while  those,  who  prefer  the  latter, 
rely  on  the  deep  and  broad  trench,  which  surrounded  the  castle 
down  to  the  close  of  the   17th  century.     On  the  whole,  the 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  159 


balance  of  local  opinion  is  on  the  side  of  this  second  explan- 
ation. 

No  description  of  the  original  structure  has  come  down  to  us, 
but  the  existing  remains,  as  well  as  the  character  of  the  Red 
Earl,  are  proof  enough,  that  the  building  was  at  least  equal  to 
any  other  of  the  period  in  Ireland.  The  courtyard,  or  area 
within  the  walls,  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  square ;  and  the 
walls  themselves — which  are  about  ten  feet  thick,  and  flanked 
with  six  noble  towers — look  still  so  massive  and  solid,  notwith- 
standing the  588  years  which  have  passed  over  them,  as  almost 
to  lead  one  to  fancy  that  they  were  meant  to  defy  the  powers 
of  the  heaviest  modern  ordnance.  It  is  only  by  examining 
them  minutely,  and  comparing  them  with  the  walls  of  other 
castles  of  the  neighbourhood,  such  as  Ballyara,  in  Leyney ; 
Moygara,  in  Coolavin ;  and  Ballintubber,  in  Roscommon,  that 
one  comes  to  realise  the  great  superiority  of  the  Red  Earl's 
work.  Passages  of  about  three  feet  wide  ran  through  the  centre 
of  the  walls  all  round,  and  were  so  constructed,  as  to  give  access 
to  the  towers  and  intervening  curtains  at  different  heights,  to 
meet  the  exigencies  of  attack  or  defence ;  and,  as  these  passages 
opened  in  certain  places  to  much  more  than  their  normal 
width,  they  afforded  room  to  some  of  the  ward  to  take  their 
meals  and  sleep ;  but  this  accommodation  was  supplied  to  the 
principal  inmates  of  the  castle,  in  the  imposing  range  of  domestic 
buildings  which  formed  the  northern  side  of  the  square,  and 
which,  judging  by  the  dimensions  of  the  inner  side  wall  that 
still  remains,  must  have  contained  several  spacious  apartments. 
In  the  so-called  Survey  of  1633,  this  imposing  and  massive 
structure  is  called  The  Court, 

Under  the  year  1317,  the  Four  Masters  state,  that  the  castle 
of  Ath-cliath-an  Chorainn  was  "  demolished  ;"  while  the  Annals 
of  Loch  Ce,  in  relating  the  same  event,  use  the  phrase,  "  The 
castle  of  Ath-cliath  in  Chorainn  was  broken  down ;"  but  both, 
no  doubt,  mean  that  the  castle  was  dismantled,  not  destroyed ; 
for  a  few  years  later,  in  1340,  we  find  it  serving  as  an  effective 
fortress,  when  Turlough  O'Connor,   King   of  Connaught,  was 


160  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


driven  into  it  by  MacDermot,  where,  after  a  little,  they  ratified 
terms  of  peace  ;  while,  in  1346,  it  was  "  restored  and  repaired  " 
by  John  de  Karrevv,  who  left  a  guard  in  the  place.* 

The  castle  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Sligo  O'Connors  soon 
after  the  Burkes  had  to  abandon  it,  for  we  find  it  called,  in 
1348,  "  the  fortress  of  Rory  O'Connor,"  who  was  then  the  head 
of  that  family.  By  the  O'Connors  it  was  committed  to  the 
keeping  of  the  MacDonoghs,  in  whose  hands,  in  spite  of  some 
efforts  of  the  Burkes  to  recover  possession,  it  continued  down  to 
1577,  when  it  "  was  taken  by  Saxons  in  treachery,"t  but  recap- 
tured by  the  MacDonoghs  before  the  end  of  the  year.J 

One  of  Sir  Richard  Bingham's  first  acts,  on  coming  to  Ireland, 
in  1584,  as  Governor  of  Connaught,  was  to  take  the  castle  of 
Ballymote,  over  which  he  set  his  brother,  George,  as  constable 
at  the  head  of  seven  warders.  Bent,  like  Sir  Richard,  on  the 
ruin  of  the  old  Irish,  this  George  acted  towards  the  O'Rorkes  of 
Breffney  in  a  very  high  handed  manner ;  and  Brian  Oge 
O'Rorke,  failing  to  obtain  other  redress,  proceeded  at  the  head 
of  a  considerable  force,  collected  in  Tyrone,  Tyrconnel,  Fer- 
managh, and  Breffny,  to  take  vengeance  for  the  outrage,  and 
burned  the  town  of  Ballymote  with  thirteen  of  the  neighbouring 
villages,  which  were  under  the  care  of  Bingham. §  Between 
these  ravages  and  others  committed  by  the  McDermots,  in 
1551,  1559,  1561,  and  1564,  Ballymote  and  neighbourhood 
were,  in  great  part,  waste  towards  the  close  of  the  16th  century, 
when  the  castle  was  sold  by  the  McDonoghs  to  Red  Hugh 
O'Donnell,  in  1598,  for  £400  and  300  cows.  From  1598  to 
1601  O'Donnell  possessed,  and  generally  occupied  the  castle ; 
and  it  was  from  it,  in  the  latter  year,   he  set  out  on   his  ill 


*  Friar  Clyn's  Annals  of  Ireland,  p.  32,  Trisli  Archceological  Society's 
edition.  From  this  authority  we  learn,  that  Ballymote  was  called  also 
Clerevoyse — "Quod  alio  nomine  de  Clerevoyse  dicebatur." 

t  Annals  of  Loch  Ce,  sub  anno. 

t  Ibidem. 

§  Four  Masters,  1593. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  161 


omened  march  to  the  battle  of  Kinsale,  from  which  he  was 
destined  never  to  return. 

After  the  MacDonoghs  had  got  possession  of  the  castle  of 
Ballymote,  the  chief  of  the  family  always  occupied  the  place  as 
the  head-quarters  of  the  Corran  McDonoghs,  and  the  source 
and  centre  of  all  authority  in  their  territory.  Ample  provision 
was  made  for  the  maintenance  of  the  stronghold  and  its  chief; 
for  an  Exchequer  inquisition,  sped  at  Sligoin  1584,  before  John 
Crofton,  informs  us  that  16  quarters  of  the  best  land  about 
Ballymote  were  set  apart  for  this  service  exclusively,  and 
exempted  from  all  other  imposts,  while  the  chief  received  an 
annual  rent  from  the  34  remaining  quarters  of  Corran,  as  well 
as  from  13  quarters  of  Tirerrill,  which  13  quarters  were  ex- 
changed for  Corran  lands  by  the  Clan  Donogh  of  Tirerrill,  the 
exchange  being  made  by  the  two  septs  for  mutual  convenience. 
The  lands  are  set  out  as  follows  in  the  grant  of  the  Ballymote 
property,  made  in  1608  by  James  I.  to  Sir  James  Fullerton : — 

The  castle,  manor,  and  town  of  Ballymott,  otherwise  Bally- 
cleigh,  and  22^  quarters,  free  from  the  King's  compositions  and 
other  country  burdens  ;  being  parcels  of  the  demesnes  of  the 
said  manor,  viz.: — Eathdowne,  otherwise  Rathdowney,4  quarters; 
Leighballienanty,  otherwise  Ballinanty,  2  quarters;  Carrhobber, 
otherwise  Corhubber,  or  Cloghubber,  1  quarter ;  Rosslyan, 
otherwise  Rosslean,  1  quarter;  Kinaghan,  1  quarter;  Ballinmore, 
otherwise  Loughermore  or  Knockglasse,  4  quarters  ;  Ballidooroe, 
2J  quarters;  Clonyne,  or  Clonin,  J  quarter;  Gobbedell,  other- 
wise Gobbedill  or  Gobodaghe,  -|  quarter;  Ardconnell,  J  quarter; 
Ardneglasse,  8  quarters ;  Ballibranan,  2  quarters ;  and  the  other 
half  of  Ardconnell,  J  quarter  ; — certain  chief  rents  issuing  out  of 
divers  lands  in  the  country  of  Corran,  parcel  of  the  said  manor, 
viz.,  out  of  Ballinespurr,  4  quarters,  6s.  English  ;  Roscribbe, 
1  quarter,  10s. ;  Ardenglasse,  2  quarters,  10s. ;  Lisnanagh, 
1  quarter,  3s.  4d. ;  Kinagher,  1  quarter,  3s.  4d. ;  Rahinekilgie, 
1  quarter,  3s.  4d. ;  Imleynaghten,  1  quarter,  6s.  8d. ;  Carrow- 
reogh,  1  quarter,  6s.  8(1. ;  Knocke,  1  quarter,  3s.  4d. ;  Correnrie, 
parcel  of  Portinchy,  1  quarter,  10s. ;  out  of  three  other  quarters 
VOL.  II.  L 


IQ2  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


of  Portinchy,  13s.  4d. ;  Rathmullen.  Ballionagher,  and  Loghir- 
vanagh,  or  Balligolan,  4  quarters  each,  13s.  4d. ;  Shancargen, 
parcel  of  Ballineclogh,  1  quarter,  6s.  8d. ;  Knockmiercher,  parcel 
of  said  town,  1  quarter,  6s.  8d.  ;— out  of  the  following  towns, 
parcel  of  the  said  manor,  in  the  country  of  Tyrerellin,  viz.,  out 
of  Knockyhremagh,  ISs.  4d.;  Downealla  (Dunally),  10s.; 
Clonyne,  Knockonen,  Kilvoyer,  Knockvane,  and  Clecver,  6s.  8d. 
each;  Carrowhely,  10s.;  Trynecarrigg,  Trynecowlebegg,  and 
Trynetawnaghmore,  in  all  4  quarters,  16s.  8d.;  and  out  of  Behe, 
4  quarters,  6s.  8d. 

On  the  removal  of  the  MacDonoghs  from  Bally  mote,  George 
Goodman  was  made  constable  of  the  castle,  and  we  find 
him  signing  as  such  Perrot's  Composition  with  the  Sligo 
chiefs  in  1588.  The  castle,  with  its  property  in  Corran  and 
Tirerrill,  was  granted  by  King  James,  in  the  first  year  of  his 
reign,  to  Sir  James  Fullerton,  who  came  to  Ireland  under  cir- 
cumstances which  entitled  him  to  any  favour  the  King  could 
confer. 

Towards  the  endjof  Elizabeth's  reign.  James,  apprehending 
some  opposition  in  Ireland  to  his  accession  to  the  English 
throne,  despatched  James  Fullerton  and  James  Hamilton  as 
secret  agents  to  Dublin  ;  and  these  gentlemen,  to  conceal  their 
mission  the  better,  opened  a  public  school  in  the  city,  which, 
being  men  of  rare  ability  and  learning,  they  conducted  with 
distinguished  success,  one  acting  as  principal,  and  the  other  as 
usher.  On  Fullerton's  vacating  the  castle  of  Ballymote,  when 
called  to  England  to  take  charge  as  tutor  of  Duke  Charles, 
afterwards  Charles  I.,  it  was  passed  with  its  lands^to  Sir  William 
Taaffe. 

Sir  William  had  greatly  distinguished  himself  in  the  service 
of  the  Queen,  during  the  course  of  the  war  with  Tyrone,  but, 
more  especially  at  Kinsale,  where  he  got  knighted  for  his 
gallantry  in  the  field.  While  in  that  neighbourhood,  after  the 
defeat  of  the  Spaniards,  he  reduced  the  district  to  obedience,  by 
harrying  the  country,  by  destroying  the  cattle  which  formed 
the  people's  only  subsistence,  by  striking  down  ruthlessly  all 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  163 


who  would  not  submit,  and  above  all,  by  capturing  and  hanging 
Doctor  MacEgan,  the  bishop  of  Ross,  who,  ultimus  Romanorum, 
still  held  out,  and  induced  all  he  could  to  hold  out,  to  the  bitter 
end.*  In  reward  for  these  services,  Taaffe  received  from  Eliza- 
beth and  James,  large  grants  of  lands  in  the  counties  of  Louth, 
Cork,  Waterford,  Longford,  Meath,  Westmeath,  Kildare,  Mayo, 
Tipperary,  Queen's  County,  and  Sligo,  including  the  property  of 
Ballymote  and  the  abbeyand  abbey  lands  of  Sligo.  John,his  eldest 
son,  was  created  Baron  of  Ballymote  and  Viscount  of  Corran,  on 
the  1st  August,  1621,  and  dying  on  the  9th  January,  164)2,  was 
buried  in  the  abbey  of  Ballymote.  John's  eldest  son,  Theobald 
Viscount  Taaffe,  was,  all  through  from  164^1  to  1660,  in  the 
whirl  of  the  revolution,  and,  unlike  so  many  others  who  lost  life 
and  property  in  the  contest,  came  out  of  it  on  his  feet,  and  with 
increased  honours  and  possessions,  as  Earl  of  Carlingford.  He 
died  in  1677,  and  was  buried  in  Ballymote. 

During  the  military  movements  consequent  on  the  iasurrec- 
tion  of  1641,  the  castle  remained  exempt  from  actual  attack  ; 
but,  at  the  close  of  the  war  in  1652,  it  was  surrendered,  on 
articles,  by  Major-General  Lucas  Taaffe  to  Sir  Charles  Coote, 
the  Lord  President  of  Connaught.  The  following  are  the 
*' Articles  of  Agreement  between  the  Lord  President  of  Con- 
naught,  on  the  one  part,  and  Major-General  Luke  Taaffe,  on 
the  other  part  i  concluded  June  24th,  1652 : — 

"  That  the  Garrison  of  Balimote  with  all  the  armes  and  stores 
of  ammunition  and  provisions  be  surrendered  by  seven  of  the 
clock  to-morrow  morning  to  the  Lord  President  or  such  as  he 
may  appoynt  (except  hereafter  excepted). 

*'  That  Major-General  Taaffe,  the  officers,  and  soldiers,  and 


*  TaflQ-us  militum  ductor  Eugenium  MacCarty,  et  Donatum  Keagh,  ia 
Carberia  exagitavifc,  Eugenio  O'Hegano,  Episcopo,  qui  inter  medios  rebelles 
cum  Breviario  altera  manu  et  gladio  altera  pugnavit  interfecto.  Camdeni 
Annales,  MDCII.  (Captain  Taffe  hotly  pursued  Eugenius  MacCarty  and  Donat 
Keagh  in  Carbery,  and  slew  Eugenius  O'Hegan,  the  bishop,  as  he  was  fighting 
in  the  midst  of  the  rebels,  with  a  breviary  in  one  hand  and  a  sword  in  the 
other. ) 


164  HISTORY   OF    SLIGO. 


all  others  now  in  Baliraote  shall  march  forth  with  their  arms, 
bag,  and  baggage,  to  such  place  as  they  shall  desire. 

"That  the  goods  belonging  to  any  in  protection,  or  shall 
desire  the  same,  be  preserved  for  the  use  of  the  respective 
owners,  and  that  twenty  days  be  allowed  for  the  removal  of 
such  goods,  and  that,  in  the  meantime,  a  convenient  place 
within  the  said  castle  be  allowed  for  the  preserving  them 
from  embezzlement,  and  that  Major-General  TaafFe,  with  his 
family,  not  exceeding  12  persons  in  number,  be  admitted  to 
continue  in  Balimote  during  that  time. 

"  That  Major-General  Taaffe,  and  such  others  as  are  in 
Ballimote,  shall  have  a  safe  conduct  to  continue  within  the 
quarters  during  the  space  of  three  months,  and,  at  the 
expiration  thereof,  be  received  into  the  protection  of  the 
Parliament  if  they  desire  the  same. 

"That  Major-General  Taaffe  and  the  tennants  and  others 
in  Balimote  shall  enjoy  their  corne  in  ground  paying  contri- 
bution as  others  doe. 

"That  the  Lady  Taaffe  shall  have  liberty,  with  her  family, 
to  reside  at  Balimote  in  the  protection  of  the  State  of 
England,  and  that  the  said  castle,  if  necessity  doth  not 
otherwise  require,  shall  be  left  free  to  her  use,  after  the 
expiration  of  two  months  from  the  date  hereof,  she  giving, 
or  procuring,  sufficient  security  that  it  shall  not  be  possessed 
by  any  party  in  arms  against  the  State  of  England,  or  become 
otherwise  prejudicial  to  their  affairs,  and  that  the  castle  of  Bali- 
mote shall,  at  all  times,  be  free  to  give  shelter  to  any  party  of 
the  parliamentary  forces,  and  delivered  on  demand,  to  the  use 
of  the  Parliament,  and  shall  not  be  garrisoned  afterwards  but 
upon  apparent  necessity. 

"  That  Major-General  Taaffe  shall  have  liberty  to  transport 
1,000  men  beyond  seas  if  he  can  make  his  agreement  with  the 
Spanish  agent,  or  any  other  in  amity  with  the  Commonwealth 
of  England. 

"  That  Major-General  Taaffe  and  his  wife,  in  his  absence, 
shall  enjoy  their  estates  as  others  of  their  qualification. 


H [STORY   OF   SLIGO.  165 

"  That  hostages  be  immediately  sent  forth  for  the  perform- 
ance of  these  articles." 

In  the  contest  between  James  and  William  the  Irish  took 
possession  again  of  the  castle,  Counsellor  Terence  McDonogh 
(not  Terence  McDermot,  as  D'Alton  says),  throwing  himself  into 
it  at  the  head  of  a  few  men  ;  and  when  he  left  on  an  expedition 
to  Ulster,  one  of  the  O'Connors  took  his  place  at  Ballymote,  and 
held  the  castle  in  1691,  when  Lord  Granard  was  marching  on 
the  town  of  Sligo.  To  secure  Ballymote  in  his  rear,  Granard 
detached,  from  Boyle,  the  notorious  Baldearg  O'Donnell  with  a 
force  of  1,200  men,  and  several  pieces  of  artillery  ;  but  there 
was  no  need  of  proceeding  to  extremities,  for  O'Connor,  seeing 
the  impossibility  of  saving  a  place  lying  in  a  hollow,  and 
completely  at  the  mercy  of  cannon  set  on  any  of  the  adjoining 
hills,  surrendered  the  fortress  upon  conditions  of  carrying  his 
men,  with  bag  and  baggage,  to  Sligo. 

Among  the  children  of  the  first  Earl  of  Carlingford,  were  two 
sons,  Nicholas  and  Francis,  each  of  whom  became,  in  time,  Earl 
of  Carlingford.  Nicholas  lost  his  life  at  the  Boyne  fighting  for 
James  ;  and  Francis,  the  next  earl,  was  one  of  the  most  famous 
men  of  Europe  in  his  day.  Born  at  Ballymote,  in  1639  ; 
receiving  his  early  education  at  Olmutz,  in  Germany ;  after 
quitting  Olmutz,  serving  as  page  to  the  Emperor  of  Garmany; 
tutor  for  several  years  to  the  Duke  of  Lorrain's  eldest  son, 
Prince  Leopold;  and  passing  all  his  after  life  in  war,  he 
displayed,  on  a  score  of  battlefields,  as  captain,  as  colonel,  as 
field-marshal,  a  mastery  of  the  art  of  war  and  an  exuberance 
of  natural  bravery  which  were  the  admiration  of  friends  and 
foes. 

At  the  Relief  of  Vienna,  in  1683,  he  commanded  the  left  wing 
of  the  Christian  army,  which  was  the  great  object  of  the  enemy's 
attack,  and  cut  his  way  through  several  regiments  of  Turks 
and  Tartars,  on  to  the  head-quarters  of  the  Grand  Vizier, 
Cara-Mustapha,  where  he  gained  the  trophy  of  which  the 
London  Neivs-Letter,  of  the  date,  says : — ^'  In  the  garden  of 
Somerset  House  was  set  up,  for  his  Majesty's  use,  one  of  the 


166  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


Grand  Vizier's  tents  taken  at  the  relief  of  Vienna,  which, 
with  a  Janissary,  were  sent  by  Count  Taafife  to  the  Earl  of 
Carlingford,  and,  by  him,  presented  to  his  Majesty.'* 

Everyone  admired  the  Count's  heroic  actions,  and  no  one 
admired  them  more  than  William  III.,  as  an  interesting  inci- 
dent, thus  recorded  by  the  historian,  Rapin,  shows  : — *'  Last 
year,  when  the  King  was  at  Loo,  an  old  gentleman  of  stately 
presence  was  ushered  into  his  chamber,  who  kneeled 
before  the  King,  and  begged  his  Majesty's  hand  to  kiss. 
The  King  inquired  the  stranger's  name,  and  he  answered, 
saying, '  Sire,  I  am  Count  Taaffe,  and,  if  your  Majesty  wills  it, 
Earl  of  Carlingford/  On  this  the  King  graciously  raised  him 
up,  and  said,  '  I  have  long  admired  you  under  the  name  of 
TaaJSe,  and  shall  be  happy  to  know  you^henceforward  under 
the  name  of  Carlingford.'" 

The  King  was  as  good  as  his  word,  and,  by  his  intervention, 
Taaffe  recovered  both  title  and  possessions.  The  Count  died 
in  1704,  and  his  death  elicited  marks  of  respect  on  all  sides, 
but,  more  especially  in  the  country  of  his  adoption,  where  ''  the 
Cathedral  church  of  Nancy  was  hung  with  black  and  his  corpse 
lied  (lay),  for  the  space  of  a  month  attended  by  the  Duke's 
guards."  *     Ballymote  may  well  be  proud  of  such  a  son. 

Theobald,  the  fifth  Viscount  of  Corran,  and  fourth  Earl  of 
Carlingford,  died,  without  issue,  in  Belgium,  and  was  buried  in 
Lisle.  Nicholas,  the  sixth  Viscount  of  Corran,  was  born  in  Crean's 
castle,  Sligo,  and  educated  in  Germany;  but  Robert  Sutton,  a 
member  in  the  female  line  of  the  Taaffe  family,  laid  claim,  as  a 
Protestant  relation,  to  the  family  estates.  Litigation  and  negotia- 
tion ensued,  the  outcome  of  which  was  that  the  courts  ordered  the 
estates  te  be  sold,  and  the  proceeds  to  be  divided  between  Lord 
Taaffe  and  Sutton,  in  the  proportions  of  one-third  to  the  former, 
and  two-thirds  to  Sutton.  At  the  sale  the  Hon.  William  Fitz- 
maurice,  afterv/ards  Lord  Shelburne,  made  a  private  arrange- 
ment with  Viscount  Taaffe  to  the  effect  that  the  Viscount  or 

*  Memoirs  of  The  Family  of  Taaffe,  p.  25.     Not  published. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  167 


his  descendants  should  receive  back  the  estates,  for  the  price  paid 
for  them,  if,  at  any  time,  the  laws  of  the  land  allowed  Catholics 
to  hold  such  property.  This  arrangement,  however,  Lady  Shel- 
burne,  as  guardian  of  her  children,  after  'the  death  of  her 
husband,  refused  to  ratify.* 

As  is  generally  known.  Count  Edward  Taaffe,  the  Prime 
Minister  of  Austria,  is  the  present  representative  of  the  Bally- 
mote  Taaffes.  Count  Edward  is  hardly  more  distinguished  for 
his  office  of  Prime  Minister  of  this  great  empire,  than  for  being, 
as  he  admittedly  is,  first  favourite  with  the  Emperor  and  the 
Imperial  family. 

*  "  Nicholas,  therefore,  on  the  death  of  Theobald,  last  Earl  of  Carlingford, 
took  possession  of  the  family  estates  in  Ireland  and  Germany,  not  presuming 
that  a  Protestant  relation  of  his  would  ever  dispute  them  by  relying  on  the 
cruel  Act  of  Parliament  which  prevented  a  Papist  from  inheriting  land  when- 
ever it  was  claimed  by  a  Protestant  relation  of  the  Testator.  However,  Robert 
Sutton,  lineally  descended  from  the  only  sister  of  Francis,  Earl  of  Carlingford, 
claimed  the  said  lands  and  premises.  The  law  proceedings  that  ensued  were 
ended  by  an  agreement  that  the  estate  should  be  sold,  and  that  one-third  of  the 
produce  should  go  to  Viscount  Taaffe,  and  two- thirds  to  Robert  Sutton.  The 
agreement  was  rendered  effectual  by  an  Act  of  Parliament  (15  George  II.  49), 
and  in  1753,  pursuant  to  the  said  Act,  the  said  estates  were  sold  and  conveyed 
to  John  Petty  Fitzmaurice  (afterwards  Earl  of  Shelburne),  and  £25,000  was 
secured  by  bond  to  Lord  Taaffe  in  satisfaction  of  his  claims.  He  still  enter- 
tained the  hope  of  getting  the  permission  to  hold  land  at  some  future  period, 
and  Lord  Fitzmaurice  promised  to  give  back  the  estates  at  the  same  price 
whenever  Lord  Taaffe  would  be  allowed  to  hold  them.  The  Earl  of  Shelburne, 
to  Lord  Taaffe's  misfortune,  died  in  1761,  and  he  was  acquainted  by  Lady 
Shelburne,  that  she,  the  guardian  of  her  children's  proi)erty,  did  not  consider 
herself  bound  by  whatever  private  promise  her  late  lord  had  made,  but  con- 
sidered her  son  William  to  be  the  rightful  owner  of  Lord  Taaffe's  estates  in 
Ireland." — Memoirs  of  the  Family  oj  Taaffe.  By  Lord  Lewis  Taaffe. — Lord 
Lewis  was  the  father  of  the  present  Prime  Minister  of  Austria. 

To  understand  still  better  why  the  Taaffes  left  the  country,  the  following 
passage  from  the  Memoirs  (page  32),  should  be  read  : — "  Nicholas,  Lord  Taaffe, 
a  short  time  before  his  death,  wrote  a  petition  to  the  Empress,  the  substance 
of  which  is  as  follows  : — He  was  the  only  peer  of  the  realm  who  had  left  his 
country  without  having  been  outlawed.  He  had  left  it  because  he  was  afraid 
that  his  descendants,  pressed  by  Penal  Laws,  would  not  resist  the  temptation 
of  becoming  Protestants.  He,  therefore  took  refuge  in  a  Catholic  country, 
where  his  ancestors  were  well  known  by  the  military  services  they  had  rendered 
at  different  intervals  to  the  House  of  Austria.  He  thereforehumbly  requests 
her  Imperial  Majesty  to  confirm  his  deceased  son's  will,  etc." 


168  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO 


A  short  time  ago  when  he  and  his  Countess  were  celebrating 
the  silver  wedding  of  their  marriage,  the  Emperor,  Empress, 
and  all  the  Archdukes  and  Archduchesses  in  Vienna,  not  only 
visited  them,  but  evinced  as  warm  an  interest  in  the  celebra- 
tion, as  if  it  was  an  event  in  the  Imperial  family.  The  intimacy 
between  the  Emperor  and  the  Count,  which  dates  from  their 
young  days,  when  TaafFe  was  assigned  as  a  companion  to  the 
then  Archduke,  has  lost  nothing  of  its  warmth  in  the  lapse  of 
time,  so  that  the  Count  is  still  the  dearest,  as  he  is  the  earliest, 
of  the  Emperor's  private  friends. 

Unlike  other  Irish  notabilities,  as,  for  instance,  the  O'Donnells 
of  Spain,  and  the  O'Rorkes  of  Russia,  who  laid  aside  or  lost 
their  Irish  dignities  with  their  Irish  possessions,  the  Taaffes  still 
enjoy,  and  glory  in,  the  titles  of  honour  by  which  they  were 
"known  in  the  United  Kingdom.  It  is  said  that  Count  Edward 
is  about  to  be  raised  to  the  rank  of  Prince ;  and  it  must  be 
gratifying  to  the  people  of  Ballymote  to  know,  that  he  will  not 
feel  greater  pride  in  being  an  Austrian  prince,  than  in  being 
still  Viscount  of  Corran  and  Baron  of  Ballymote. 

The  Fitzmaurices  came  into  possession  in  1653  ;  and  setting 
at  once  about  establishing  a  great  linen  factory  in  the  place, 
they  draughted,  Arthur  Young  tells  us,  "Protestant  weavers" 
from  the  north,  erected  a  bleach  mill  81  feet  long,  and  28  broad, 
and  17  high,  "  much  superior  in  many  respects  to  any  other  in 
Ireland,"  and,  to  supply  it  with  water,  formed,  at  great  expense, 
a  basin  of  34  acres  in  superficial  area. 

Lord  Shelburne  paid  well  for  his  Protestant  weavers ;  for 
"falling  into  the  hands  of  rascals,"  says  Arthur  Young,  "he 
lost  £5,000  by  the  business,  with  only  17  Protestant  families, 
and  26  or  27  looms  established  for  it."  His  Lordship's  suc- 
cessor, the  Hon.  Thomas  Fitzmaurice,  prosecuted  the  project 
with  still  greater  energy,  but  with  apparently  as  little  success. 
He  continued  to  import  the  weavers  from  the  north  ;  built 
slated  cottages  for  them  as  fast  as  they  came ;  procured  a  patent 
for  a  market ;  set  about  erecting  a  handsome  inn  ;  a  large  house 
for  a  master  weaver :  and  a  mansion-house  for  himself  in  the 


HISTORY   OF    SLIGO.  169 


stjle  of  a  castle,  and,  to  interest  the  farmers  of  the  county  in  his 
undertaking,  he  took  his  rents,  amounting  to  £7,000  a  year,  in 
linen. 

Still  his  labours  bore  little  fruit ;  for  though  90  looms  were  in 
the  orthodox  hands  of  as  many  "  Protestant  weavers  from  the 
north,"  at  the  date  of  Arthur  Young's  visit  to  Ballymote,  in 
1778,  that  honest  writer  winds  up  his  account  of  Mr.  Fitz- 
maurice's  doings  with  the  suggestive  words  : — '*  After  all  I  see 
every  reason  to  assert,  that  a  gentleman,  for  a  shilling  he  will 
ever  make  by  manufactory,  will  profit  a  guinea  by  the  improve- 
ment of  land ;  have  rascals  to  deal  with  in  one  line,  and  honest 
men  in  the  other. 

After  this  the  business  declined,  and  it  was  nearly 
extinct  in  1833,  when  the  property  passed  by  sale  from  Lord 
Orkney,  to  Sir  Robert  Gore  Booth,  the  bargain,  it  is  said,  being 
struck  over  the  dinner  table  at  Annaghmore,  where  the  host, 
Major  O'Hara,  played  the  part  of  the  mutual  friend  at  the  fair, 
and  "  split  the  difference  "  between  the  earl  and  the  baronet. 

The  population  of  Ballymote  and  its  outskirts  is  pretty  mixed 
at  present  in  regard  both  to  race  and  creed.  Up  to  the  be- 
ginning of  the  seventeenth  century  it  was  almost  exclusively 
Celtic;  and  with  the  exception  of  George  Goodman,  Queen 
Elizabeth's  constable  of  the  castle,  and  perhaps  a  retainer  or 
two,  who  may  have  come  over  with  him,  the  following  list 
of  inhabitants  of  Ballymote,  to  whom  James  I.  granted  a 
general  pardon,  in  1603,  may  be  taken  practically  for  a  list  of 
all  the  adult  male  inhabitants  of  the  place: — Hugh  Boy 
O'Connor,  gent.;Thadeas  Boy  McDonnell  Chrone,  gent.;  Cormac 
Mergach  McDonnell  Chrome,  horseman;  Gilleduffe  McRory, 
horseman;  Conogher  Grany,  kerne;  Donnell  Oge  McDonnell 
Chrome,  kerne ;  Rory  McHugh  Boy,  gent. ;  Gillepatrick  Cam 
McEward,  rymer;  Donald  McEward,  rymer;  Geolfry  McEward, 
rymer ;  Moilmoy  McEward,  rymer ;  Conogher  McDonnough 
Reogh,  labourer ;  Donald  Cam  O'Coman,  labourer ;  Mark 
McDonnell,  student ;  Donatus  McSheaffne  Morrey,  kerne ; 
Thadeus   Oge   McRory,   kerne ;   Brian   Buy   O'Clabby,  pyper ; 


170  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


Carbrie  O'Brien,  labourer;  Conogher  Oge  O'Brien,  galloglas; 
Phelim  O'Birne,  galloglas;  Thadeus  O'Birne,  shot;  Brian 
O'Birne,  galloglas;  Shane  O'Birne,  shot;  Moraisse  O'Birne, 
shot ;  Thadeus  McDonnough,  kerne ;  Tirlagh  McEparson, 
student;  Shane  O'Cahane,  messenger;  Bory  O'Gillegan, 
labourer;  William  Culkeen,  labourer;  Ed.  McCulkeen,  labourer; 
GilledufFe  McEvrehune,  horse-keeper;  Gillegroma  McGvvorine, 
kerne ;  Gillepatrick  McGworine,  kerne ;  Thadeus  McGworine, 
kerne;  Conillagh  McGworine,  kerne;  Brian  McBory  McGowane, 
priest;  Connor McDermot  O'Harte, husbandman;  Will  MeShane 
McDermot  O'Harte,  kerne ;  Gillepatrick  McConnor  O'Hart, 
labourer;  Farrell  McGlojne,  kerne;  Shane  McDermot  O'Conillan, 
labourer ;  Will  O'Hart,  labourer;  Brian  Oge  McHugh,  labourer; 
Oyne  McDonnough,  labourer;  Conor  Reogh  O'Lauderne, 
labourer ;  Hugh  Ballagh  McConbany,  tucker ;  Gillepatrick 
Reogh  O'Callilea,  labourer;  Owen  O'Mowrigan,  harper;  Shane 
Boe  O'Clably,  husbandman  ;  Moellony  O'Daly,  harper ;  Rory 
McGloyne,  shot ;  Donatus  Cwaghane,  shot;  Brian  O'Clwaine, 
labourer;  Hubert  McPhillip,  labourer;  Rorie  Duff  McEnily, 
labourer ;  Shane  O'Lavine,  labourer ;  Shane  McMoriertagh 
Reogh,  labourer;  Thadeus  O'Creavoyne,  labourer;  Thomas 
Bentfield,  serving  man  ;  Tomoltagh  McGolrick,  kerne ;  Gille- 
patrick O'Birne,  labourer  ;  Dermot  McHugh  O'Hart,  labourer ; 
Donald  O'Helly,  keard  ;  Owen  O'Helly,  labourer;  Owen  Duff 
McTomoltagh,  husbandman  ;  Thadeus  Boy  McTomoltagh,  hus- 
bandman;  Donald  McTomoltagh,  husbandman;  Phelim  Reogh 
McTeige  Boy,  husbandman  ;  Hugh  O'Coane,  husbandman ; 
Tomoltagh  McCormack,  kerne. 

With  the  arrival  of  Sir  William  Taaffe  in  the  town,  there  set 
in  an  influx  of  immigrants  from  England  and  Scotland,  so  that 
in  a  few  years,  a  goodly  number  of  the  townspeople  were 
English  and  Scotch.  Unlike  some  modern  landlords.  Sir 
William,  though  a  devoted  Catholic,  made  no  distinction  on  the 
score  of  creed,  when  choosing  his  tenants.  At  the  date  of  King 
James'  grant  of  Ballymote  to  Sir  James  FuUerton  (1603),  the 
lands  in  and  round  the  town  were  thus  held  : — "  the  town  of 


HISTORY   OF    SLIGO.  171 


Rathdowny,  containing  four  quarters,  in  the  possession  of 
Eugene  O'Scanlon  ;  Bally n an ty  (now  Carrownanty),  two  quar- 
ters, in  the  possession  of  Barradinus  Garran ;  Corhubber,  one 
quarter,  in  the  possession  of  Alexander  McSwyne;  Rosslean, 
four  quarters,  in  the  possession  of  William  O'Dumar  ;  Carrow- 
rala,  half  a  quarter,  in  the  possession  of  George  Goodman; 
Rathnekilgie,  one  quarter,  in  the  possession  of  George  Good- 
man ;  Clonyne,  half  a  quarter,  in  the  possession  of  Thadeus 
O'Skanlon ;  Durrawne  (Derroon)  in  the  possession  of  the 
daughter  of  Skahideus;  Gobbedill,  half  quarter,  in  the  possession 
of  Eugene  McTeige  Carragh ;  Ardconnell,  half  quarter,  in  the 
possession  of  Eugene  Tullagh ;  the  town  of  Ballimore  or 
Loghervore,  or  Knock glasse,  four  quarters,  and  the  third  of  a 
quarter  in  the  possession  of  McDonnough,  chief  of  his  name ; 
all  belonging  to  the  castle,  and  containing  sixteen  one-third 
quarters.  Thirty  years  later,  when  the  so-called  Survey  of  the 
county  was  compiled,  Caincas  was  let  to  James  Smith  and 
Fargy  (Ferguson),  merchants  ;  Corhubber  to  Mr.  Fargy,  Pro- 
testant minister ;  Derroon  to  Andrew  Fargy,  brother,  probably 
of  the  minister ;  and  Carrownesaggart,  the  quarter  on  which  the 
ruins  of  the  Abbey  stand,  to  Wilson  Taylor.  These  were  all 
new-comers. 

Bally  mote  bas  improved  greatly  in  appearance,  as  well  as  in 
reality,  under  the  Gore  Booths.  Sir  Robert  is  known  to  have 
been  a  humane  and  liberal  landlord,  and  it  is  admitted,  that  in 
these  respects  Sir  Henry  is  following  in  the  father's  footsteps. 
The  fine  shop  houses  which  have  been  built,  and  are  still  being 
built  by  the  inhabitants,  are  a  proof  of  the  facility  and  liberality 
with  which  buildiug  ground  and  leases  are  granted  on  the 
estate,  and  of  the  encouragement  thus  given  to  tenants  to  im- 
prove. 

Nor  are  these  structures  less  creditable  to  the  tenant,  as  they 
show  him  eager,  when  he  has  good  landlords  to  deal  with,  to 
meet  them  half-way.  And  the  private  houses  recently  erected 
in  and  round  Ballymote,  are  of  a  piece  with  the  places  of  busi- 
ness.   The  neat    presbytery   of    the    late    Canon   Tighe,    the 


172  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


substantial  residence  of  Doctor  McMunn,  the  medical  officer, 
and  the  pleasant,  lightsome  manse  of  Rev.  Mr.  Monahan,  the 
Presbyterian  minister,  are  handsome  buildings  in  themselves, 
and  serve  to  furnish  out  and  finish  the  picture  of  the  town. 
The  only  existing  structure  of  any  note  that  preceded  the  pur- 
chase of  the  place  by  Sir  Robert,  is  the  bridewell  or  court-house, 
which  was  built  in  1813  on  a  presentment  of  £600,  taken  out 
by  James  Bridgham,  Richard  Gethen,  and  A.  Motherwell. 

The  Catholic  and  Protestant  parish  churches  are  imposing 
edifices.  The  latter  was  built  in  1818,  and  is  returned  by 
Sergeant  Shee,  in  his  book  on  the  Irish  Church,  as  having  cost, 
up  to  1848,  the  sum  of  £2,500.  The  spire  is  considered  delicate 
and  well  proportioned.  In  the  same  place  the  learned  Sergeant 
credits  the  incumbent  of  the  Emlaghfad  union,  under  the 
Establishment,  with  an  annual  income  of  £558,  and  sets  down 
at  £1,580  the  ascertained  cost,  up  to  the  year  1836,  of  the 
glebe  house — the  glebe  comprising  32  acres  of  the  richest  land. 

The  fine  Gothic  building,  which  forms  the  Catholic  parish 
church,  dates  from  1857,  and  was  built  by  the  late  lamented 
Canon  Tighe,  who  quested  himself,  through  England,  Scotland, 
and  Ireland,  most  of  the  money  which  it  cost.  It  needed  all 
the  Canon's  well-known  zeal  and  energy  to  undertake  so  weighty 
a  work  at  that  time,  when  everybody  else  was  dejected  by  the 
gloomy  prospect  before  the  country;  but  being  one  of  those 
men,  who  once  they  put  the  hand  to  the  plough,  never  look 
back,  he  kept  his  eye  steadily  fixed  upon  the  goal,  and  pushing 
on  without  pause  or  respite,  had  the  happiness  of  seeing  what 
may,  with  almost  literal  propriety,  be  termed  the  exclusive  work 
of  his  own  hands,  substantially  finished  and  devoted  by  consecra- 
tion to  its  sublime  functions,  thus  enabling  him  to  say,  with 
Solomon,  "  Building,  I  have  built  a  house  for  thy  dwelling,  to 
be  thy  most  firm  throne  for  ever."  The  Canon's  brothers,  the 
late  Alderman  James  Tighe,  of  Sligo,  and  Mr.  Edward  Tighe,  of 
Mullaghcor,  have  put  up,  in  the  church,  a  handsome  memorial 
altar  in  his  honour ;  but,  while  this  altar  is  an  appropriate  and 
touching  fraternal  tribute  to  a   beloved   brother,   the   church 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  173^ 


itself,  in  all  its  noble  proportions,  and  beautiful  workmanship, 
is  the  monument  that  shall  best  perpetuate  the  memory  of 
Canon  Tighe's  rare  virtues  and  merits. 

It  is  but  just  to  note  that  a  large  part  of  the  interior  decora- 
tions was  effected  by  the  late  highly-esteemed  Canon  James 
McDermot,  who  also  provided  the  stations  of  the  cross  which 
the  church  contains,  and  put  up  the  tower  bell,  one  of  the  finest 
in  the  country,  the  sound  of  which  must,  therefore,  often  awaken 
among  the  people  of  Ballymote,  kind  remembrances  of  their 
friend  and  benefactor. 

A  Ballymote  man,  named  James  White,  is  spoken  of  by  the 
Venerable  Charles  O'Conor  (Dublin  Chronicle,  Vol.  1.,  p.  227), 
as  endowed  with  such  a  rare  talent  for  comedy,  that  "  had  he 
been  bred  in  the  school  of  Moliere,  he  would  have  been  one  of 
the  most  celebrated  comic  poets  of  the  age."  The  adventures 
of  Cruighuire  Cai  O'Gallagher,  an  Irish  soldier  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary period,  which  he  wove  into  a  burlesque  poem  of  the 
Hudibras  kind,  is  described  as  a  masterpiece  of  humour.  The 
extravagances  of  an  entertainment  at  Templehouse,  in  the  time 
of  Shane  Harlow,  was  a  subject  well  suited  to  his  pen,  and  he  is 
said  to  have  handled  it  in  a  way  to  "  excite  and  continue  the 
loudest  peals  of  laughter."  It  is  a  pity  that  these  productions, 
which  must  have  been  interesting  for  their  wit  and  as  a  picture 
of  the  times,  appear  to  be  lost.  The  pleasures  of  the  people  in 
the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  were,  notwithstanding 
the  political  and  social  oppression  of  the  times,  more  lively  and 
genial  than  at  present ;  and  judging  by  the  compositions  of 
James  White,  and  by  the  number  of  rymers,  pipers,  and  harpers, 
found  in  the  population  of  Ballymote,  the  inhabitants  of  that 
town  would  appear  to  have  been  rather  in  advance  of,  than 
behind,  others  in  respect  of  such  enjoyments. 

The  Book  of  Ballymote  has  more  to  do  with  the  frequent 
mention  of  Ballymote  which  we  find  in  Irish  historical  and 
archaeological  works,  than  any  other  circumstance  connected 
with  the  place,  not  excepting  the  magnificence  of  its  castle,  and 
the    distinction    of  its    successive    owners :    the   Burkes,  the 


174  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 

O'Connors  Sligo,  the  McDonoghs,  the  TaafFes,  the  Fitzniaurices, 
and  the  Gore  Booths. 

This  book  is,  like  most  other  old  Irish  books,  a  compilation  of 
very  miscellaneous  contents — beginning  with  the  Leabhar 
Gabhala  or  Book  of  Invasions  of  Erin,  and  containing,  besides, 
chronological,  historical,  and  genealogical  tracts — viz.,  the  Pedi- 
grees of  Irish  Saints ;  the  Pedigrees  of  all  the  great  Milesian 
families ;  tracts  on  the  Mothers  of  Irish  Saints  and  other 
distinguished  women  ;  the  History  of  the  Britons  by  Nennius ; 
the  Book  of  Rights ;  the  Dinnseanchus ;  and  sundry  other 
pieces,  partly  historical,  partly  mythological,  and  partly  classical 
— the  only  thing  absent,  though  the  chief  thing  wanted,  being 
local  history.  Materially  the  book  consists  of  502  pages  of  the 
largest  folio  vellum,  and  would  fill  2,500  pages  if  printed  in  the 
form  of  O'Donovan's  Four  Masters. 

The  chief  compilers  of  this  great  work  were  Solomon  O'Droma, 
or  Drum,  as  the  name  is  now  written,  and  Manus  O'Duigenan, 
of  Shancoe  or  Kilronan ;  the  place  in  which  it  was  put  together, 
is  the  castle  of  Ballymote,  whence  it  has  its  name  ;  and  the 
time,  the  year  1391,  according  to  the  Venerable  Charles 
O'Conor,  whose  opinion  Eugene  O'Curry  adopts  in  his  "  Manu- 
script Materials  of  Ancient  Irish  History,"  from  which  the 
particulars  here  given  are  in  great  part  borrowed. 

This  important  volume  is  at  present  in  the  library  of  the 
Royal  Irish  Academy,  where  it  is  shown  to  visitors  as  one  of 
the  most  valued  curiosities  of  that  famous  repository.  The 
Book  of  Ballymote  has  been  recently  photographed,  but  the 
copies  have  all  a  blurred  look,  which  detracts  not  a  little  from 
their  appearance  and  value.  And  of  the  money  value  of  this 
literary  treasure  one  may  get  an  idea  from  the  fact,  that,  when 
Dermod  O'Conor,  the  translator  of  Keating's  History  of  Ireland, 
was  getting  the  loan  of  it  from  Trinity  College,  a  friend  of  his. 
Dr.  Raymond,  had  to  secure  its  safe  return  by  a  bond  of  one 
thousand  pounds.  A  memorandum  in  the  book  itself,  at  folio 
180,  tells  that  Hugh  Duff  O'Donnell  bought  it  in  the  year 
1522  from  McDonogh  of  Corran  for  140  milch  cows.    It  may 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  175 


be  added,  that,  while  O'Curry's  account  of  this  "  magnificent 
volume,"  as  he  calls  it,  is  sufficiently  full  and  satisfactory,  those 
who  wish  for  more  precise  details  will  find  them  in  O'Reilly's 
"Irish  Writers"  (pages  civ.-cx.) 

Some  people  are  under  the  impression  that  the  Book  of  Bally- 
mote  was  compiled  in ^  the  Franciscan  monastery  of  Ballymote; 
but  this  is  a  mistake ;  for  the  following  entry,  at  folio  62,  proves 
it  was  written  in  the  castle  : — "And  it  is  that  Torlogh  og,  son 
of  Hugh,  that  is  King  of  Connaught,  at  writing  this  part  of  the 
book,  in  the  house  of  Tomaltagh  (a  tig  Thomaltaig),  son  of 
Teig,  son  of  Tomaltagh,  son  of  Muirgheasa,  son  of  Donogh,  son 
of  Tomaltagh,  son  of  Conor,  son  of  Dermod." 

The  monastery  hardly  existed  in  1391  ;  and  of  this  the 
absence  of  all  preference  to  it  in  the  Book  of  Ballymote  is  a 
strong  proof  The  style,  too,  would  point  to  the  fifteenth 
century  as  the  period  of  its  erection.  The  Pope's  bust  and  tiara 
sculptured  over  the  door  of  the  western  gable,  may  have  con- 
tained the  date,  but,  if  so,  it  is  now  illegible.  The  writer 
searched  the  Wadding  MSS.  in  the  house  of  the  Franciscans,  on 
Merchant's  Quay,  Dublin,  but  found  they  contain  no  reference 
whatever  to  Ballymote. 

In  the  second  volume  of  Grose's  "  Antiquities  of  Ireland " 
(page  76),  the  once  famous  Dr.  Ledwich,  who  supplied  the 
letterpress  of  the  book,  attempts  an  account  of  this  church.* 
The  readers  of  Dr.  Lanigan  will  remember  how  mercilessly  the 
famous  author  of  "  The  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Ireland " 
animadverts  on  the  "  ignorance,  errors,  and  malevolence "  of 
Ledwich,  or,  as  he  calls  him,  Lead- wig ;  and  the  latter's  remarks 
on  Ballymote  would  alone  warrant  many  of  these  animadversions. 

After  statiog,  for  instance,  that  there  were  two  branches  of 
the  McDonogh  family,  the  Corran  branch,  and  that  of  Tirerrill, 


*  The  abbey  church  of  Ballymote  was  a  ruin  in  the  beginning  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  and,  very  probably,  much  earlier,  for,  in  the  grant  of  the  abbey 
to  Robert  Leycester,  in  1604,  it  is  spoken  of  as  *'  the  site,  etc.,  of  the  late 
Franciscan  friary  of  Ballimot;  a  church  in  ruins,  a  church-yard,  and  a  quarter 
of  land  adjoining." 


176 


HISTORY    OF   SLIGO. 


Ledwich  goes  on  to  say: — "A  sister  of  Viscount  Tafe  was 
married  to  Brian  Mac  Donogh,  of  Ballymote,  and  by  whom  that 
property  came  into  the  Tafe  family."  People  will  get  a  fair 
idea  of  Dr.  Ledwich's  historical  trustworthiness  when  they  are 


noah's  akk  according  to  book  of  ballymote.* 
told   that   Brian  Mac  Donogh  did  not  belong  to  the  Corran,  but 

*  Sir  William  Wilde  in  his  Memoir  of  Gabriel  Beranger  and  his  Labours  in  the 
Cause  of  Irish  Art,  etc.,  observes,  regarding  this  illustration,  "The  drawing 
intended  to  represent  Noah  and  his  family  in  the  ark  on  the  fly-leaf  in  the  Book 
of  Ballymote,  and  which  I  described  in  the  '  Catalogue  of  the  Museum,  Royal 
Irish  Academy,'  Part  II.,  p.  301,  is  interesting  as  showing  the  artist's  idea  of 
early  Irish  costume,  when  the  book  was  written  or  transcribed." 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  177 


to  the  Tirerrill^  Mac  Donoghs  ;  that  he  was  not  "  of  Ballymote," 
but  of  ^Collooney  ;  and  that,  so  far  from  his  carrying  the  Bally- 
mote property  into  the  Taaffe  family,  Sir  William  Taaffe  had 
received  the  property ^by  royal  grant  from  James  I.  long  before 
Brian  Mac  Donogh  was  born,  while  Brian  himself  never  owned 
a  foot  of  that  great  estate. 

Messrs.  Beranger  and  Bigari  visited  Ballymote  in  their 
famous  Tour,  in  1779,  and  have  left  on  record  the  following 
remarks  on  the  place : — "  Ballymote,  a  small  village,  inhabited 
mostly  by  weavers.  Drew  the  castle  and  abbey,  and  dined 
there,  and  went  to  lodge  for  the  night  at  the  village  of  Tubber- 
corry,  in  which  poor  place  Mr.  Bigari  and  I  were  surprised  to 
find  an  elegant  supper  served  up  by  the  care  of  Colonel  Irwin." 

In  a  note  he  adds  : — "  Here  was  wrote  a  large  manuscript 
folio,  containing  annals  of  the  kingdom,  Brehon  laws,  poems,  etc. ; 
also  all  the  different  alphabets  of  the  ancient  Ogham  used  by 
the  Druids  ;  it  was  wrote  about  300  years  ago ;  is  called  *  The 
Book  of  Ballymote,'  and  contains  a  paragraph  which  says  that 
it  belonged  to  the  Mac  Donoghes,  and  had  cost  140  milch  cows. 
It  is  wrote  on  parchment,  each  leaf  fifteen  and  a  quarter  inches 
high,  by  ten  broad,  and  contains  250  pages,  including  a  rough 
drawing  with  pen  and  ink  on  the  first  leaf,  representing  a  ship 
(Noah's  ark),  with  four  men  and  four  women  (Noah's  family), 
one  mast  and  some  ropes. 

"  This  Book  is  at  present  in  the  possession  of  the  Chevalier 
O'Gorman,  of  Auxerre,  in  Burgundy,  who  lent  it  to  me  to  copy 
the  various  Oghams,  the  explanation  of  which  was  wrote  by  Mr. 
Gorman,  teacher  of  the  Irish  language," 

One  of  the  most  notable,  at  least  one  of  the  most  singular, 
inhabitants  of  Ballymote  in  recent  years  was  Mrs.  Motherwell. 
A  native,  as  far  as  appears,  of  Sligo,  where  her  father,  Mr. 
Abraham  Fenton,  who  was  coroner  of  the  county,  lived,  she 
kept  very  quiet  till  she  got  married,  when  she  asserted  herself 
so  conspicuously  as  to  efface  her  husband,  Mr.  John  Motherwell, 
in  the  eyes  of  the  people.  Though  John  Motherwell  was  sub- 
sheriff  of  the  county  for  fourteen  years,  high  constable   of 

VOL.  II.  M 


178  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


CorraD,  and  receiver,  or  agent,  on  various  estates,  no  one  spoke 
of  him  as  sheriff,  or  constable,  or  agent,  but  always  of  Mrs. 
Motherwell  as  such. 

In  this,  as  in  many  other  matters,  Mrs.  Motherwell  resembled 
Grania  Maile,  or  Grace  O'Malley,  of  whom  Sir  Henry  Sydney 
wrote  to  Elizabeth,  in  1576,  "  There  came  to  me  a  most  famous 
feminine  sea  captain,  called  Grany  I-Mallye,  and  offered  her 
service  unto  me  whenever  I  would  command  her,  with  three 
galleys  and  two  hundred  fighting  men,  either  in  Ireland  or  Scot- 
land. She  brought  to  me  her  husband,  for  she  was,  as  well  by 
sea  as  by  land,  more  than  master's  mate  with  him." 

Much  in  the  same  way  Mrs.  Motherwell  carried  occasionally 
about  with  her  John  Motherwell,  who,  far  from  trying  to 
exercise  authority  in  regard  to  her,  was  always  the  most  ductile 
of  beings  in  her  hands.  One,  and  only  one  desire  John  had,  that 
of  getting  a  good  dinner,  and  this,  to  do  her  justice,  Mrs. 
Motherwell  took  special  care  to  supply.  To  use  the  words  of 
her  neighbours,  "  She  fed  him  like  a  game  cock." 

In  the  execution  of  her  various  offices  she  would  brook  no 
opposition  or  contradiction,  as  instances  innumerable  attest,  of 
which,  by  way  of  specimen,  may  be  mentioned  that  of  James 
O'Hara,  of  Cultibar,  whom  she  drove  from  house  and  home  into 
the  workhouse  for  taking  legal  defence  against  her  proceedings; 
and  of  James  Henry  of  Templevanny,  a  leading  grazier  of  the 
county,  whom,  after  robbing  him  of  his  flocks  and  herds,  she 
sent  begging  shoeless  and  stockingless  from  door  to  door, 
because  he  too,  in  self  defence,  had  recourse  to  the  law.  In 
working  out  her  will  she  flinched  from  no  one,  and  had  more 
than  one  encounter  with  another  remarkable  inhabitant  of 
Ballymote,  Major  Bridgham,  whose  temper,  like  her  own,  was 
despotic,  and  whose  position  as  agent  of  the  Ballymote  estate 
rendered  him  a  formidable  antagonist,  more  especially  to  a 
tenant  of  the  estate.* 


*  There  was  hardly  a  more  influential  man  in  the  county  in  his  day  than 
Major  Bridgeham,  as  will  sufficiently  appear  from  the  following  addresses  and 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  179 


Mrs.  Motherwell,  cast  her  lot  where  or  whea  you  like,  would 
have    achieved   distinctioo.     Favoured   by  nature   with   great 


I'eplies  which  are  given  here,  not  so  much  because  they  show  the  estimation  in 
which  Bridgeham  was  held,  as,  because  they  throw  great  light  on  the  state  of 
things  in  the  county  Sligo  in  the  first  years  of  the  century.  The  first  address 
is  from  the  officers  in  command  of  the  county  Sligo  Yeomanry  ;  the  second  from 
the  non-commissioned  officers  and  privates  of  the  Ballymote  Infantry  ;  and  the 
third  from  the  non-commissioned  officers  and  privates  of  the  Carbury 
Cavalry : — 

"  To  James  Bridgeham,  Esq.,  Brigade  Major  of  the  Yeoman  Corps  of  the 

County  of  Sligo. 

"  Sir, — It  is  now  six  years  since  the  Yeoman  Corps  of  the  County  of  SUgo 
have  been  under  j'^our  inspection  and  management,  and  they  think  it  full  time 
to  express  their  high  approbation  of  your  conduct  as  their  Brigade-Major. 

*'  They  very  much  approve  of  your  exertions  for  the  instruction  of  the  Corps 
in  military  discipline  ;  of  your  bringing  the  infantry  together,  in  order  to  pre- 
pare them  to  act  in  line,  should  it  be  necessary  ;  and  of  the  judicious  means  by 
which  you  have  so  entirely  obtained  their  confidence  and  esteem,  that  the 
whole  duty  is  performed  with  pleasure  and  alacrity. 

**  Accept  then  from  the  Officers  commanding  those  corps  this  testimony  of 
their  esteem  and  high  approbation,  as  due  from  them,  and  no  more  than  your 
conduct  deserves. 

0.  "Wynne,  Captain  Carbery  Cavalry. 
Chas.  O'Hara,  Corran  and  Liney  Cavalry. 
Thos.  Ormsby,  Captain  S.  L.  Infantry. 

1.  Everard,  Captain  3rd  Company  Sligo  Volunteers. 
Sam.  Bulteel,  Captain  Sligo  Revenue  Infantry. 

T.  Soden,  Captain  Drumcliff  Infantry. 

John  Wood,  Captain  Templeboy  Infantry 

Chas.  Jones,  Captain  S.  T.  Infantry. 

James  Morton,  Ardnaree  Infantry. 

I.  Irwin,  Captain  1st  Company  E.  T.  Supplementaries. 

Chas.  Martin,  Captain  Sligo  Union  Infantry. 

Abm.  Martin,  Captain  1st  Company  Sligo  Volunteers. 

J.  Johnston,  Captain  Ballintogher  Supplementaries. 

John  Workman,  Captain  Tireril  Cavalry. 

James  Crofton,  Captain  County  Sligo  Infantry. 

Richard  Gethin,  Captain  Ballimote  Infantry. 

R.  Wood,  Captain  Tireragh  Infantry. 

Alex.  Hume,  Captain  2nd  Company  Loyal  Sligo  Volunteers. 

"  Jan.  25th,  1805." 


180  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


gifts  both  of  person  and  mind — with  a  figure  that  might  serve 
the  statuary  for  a  model,  with  features  in  harmony  with   her 

*'  To  the  Captains  of  Yeomanry  and  Volunteers  of  the  County  of  Sligo. 

*'  Gentlemen, — That  my  conduct  during  the  period  of  six  years  that  I  have 
had  the  honour  of  being  attached  to  you,  should  have  met  your  approbation,  I 
shall  ever  consider  as  one  of  the  most  flattering  circumstances  of  my  life,  and 
the  very  handsome  manner  in  which  that  approbation  is  conveyed,  will  be  ever 
held  by  me  in  grateful  remembrance. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  Gentlemen, 

*'  With  great  respect, 

*'  Your  obliged  humble  Servant, 

"  J.  BRIDGEHAM, 

"  Major  of  B.  I.  Y. 
*'  Jan.  25th,  1805." 


"  To  James  Bridgeham,  Esq.,  Brigade-Major  of  Yeomanry  for  the  County  of 

Sligo, 

**  Sir, — The  non-commissioned  OflScers  and  Privates  of  the  Ballymote 
Infantry,  highly  sensible  of  your  military  talents,  and  of  your  public  spirit  and 
exertions  as  a  Magistrate  in  suppressing  treason  and  rebellion,  and  grateful,  aa 
well  for  the  many  favours  you  have  conferred  on  them,  as  for  your  unremitting 
attention  to  their  discipline ;  request  your  acceptance  of  a  Silver  Cup,  as  a 
small  but  sincere  testimony  of  their  regard. 

*'  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  Sir, 

*'  Your  obliged  humble  servant, 

"  THOMAS  TAYLOR, 
"  Permanent  Serjeant,  Ballymote  Y^'eoman  Infantry. 

"  Ballymote,  March  5th,  1805." 


"  To  the  N on- Commissioned  Officers  and  Privates  of  the  Ballymote  Corps  of 

Infantry. 

*'  Brotuer  Soldiers, — From  the  commencement  of  the  Yeomanry  establish- 
ment, the  Ballymote  Corps  of  Infantry,  have  ever  been  highly  distinguished 
for  discipline,  loyalty,  and  zealous  attachment  to  the  constitution  ;  and  to  your 
spirited  conduct  must  it  be  in  a  great  degree  ascribed,  that  the  seeds  of 
rebellion  could  never  flourish  in  your  vicinity,  conscious  of  not  meriting  the 
flattering  encomiums  your  partiality  has  bestowed  upon  me,  I  feel  that  I  must 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  181 


figure,  with  a  queenly  presence,  with  aspiring  ideas,  with 
courage  which  nothing  could  daunt,  had  she  lived  in  Britain  in 
the  first  century,  she  could  have  played  the  part  of  Boadicea, 


redouble  my  exertions  to  endeavour  to  deserve  them,  and  I  also  feel  strongly 
that  your  kindness  can  never  be  effaced  from  the  memory  of 

* '  Brother  Soldiers, 

"  Yom"  sincere  friend  and 

"  Humble  servant, 

''  J.  BRIDGEHAM, 
"  Major  of  B.  Infantry  Yeomen. 
'*  6th,  1805." 


*'  James  Bridgeham,  Esq.,  Yeomanry  Brigade  Major ,  Sligo. 

"  SiTi, — The  non-commissioned  Officers  and  Privates  of  the  Carbery  Cavalry, 
anxious  to  testify  the  high  sense  they  entertain,  as  well  of  your  public  spirit 
and  soldier-like  conduct,  as  your  politeness  and  attention  to  them  as  a  gentle- 
man, have  deputed  me  to  request  your  acceptance  of  a  sword  as  a  small  token 
of  their  esteem. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be.  Sir, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  THOS.  REED, 
"  Permanent  Sergt.  Carbery  Cavalry. 

"  Sligo,  13th  February,  1805." 


"  Fermanent  Sergeant  REED, 

Sir, — I  request  you  will  do  me  the  honour  of  assuring  the  non-commissioned 
Officers  and  Privates  of  the  Carbery  Cavalry,  that  my  feelings  both  as  an 
Officer  and  a  Man,  could  not  be  more  highly  gratified,  than  by  this  public  mark 
of  the  attention  of  so  respectable,  zealous,  and  well  conducted  a  corps. 

"  I  accept  with  pleasure  so  durable  a  testimony  of  their  partiality,  for  which 
I  beg  to  return  my  most  sincere  acknowledgements. 

'•  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  sir, 

"  Your  very  obliged 

*'  Humble  servant, 

"  J.  BRIDGEHAM, 
"  Major  of  Brigade,  I.  Y. 
''  Sligo,  14th  February,  1805." 


182  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


the  "warrier  queen  of  the  BritoDS."  The  newspapers  of  the 
United  States  recount  from  time  to  time,  as  extraordinary 
news,  the  number  of  women  that  occupy  leading  positions  in 
the  professions  and  in  public  life,  some  as  lawyers,  several  as 
doctors,  one  in  Missouri  as  United  States  marshal,  and  another 
in  Kansas  as  mayor ;  but  were  Mrs.  Motherwell  living  in 
America  now,  she  would,  with  her  proud  motto,  Aut  Ccusar 
aut  oiidlus,  be  satisfied  with  nothing  short  of  the  presidency  of 
the  republic. 

Still  her  career  supplies  a  new  illustration  of  the  proverb, 
"  Honesty  is  the  best  policy."  People,  they  say,  never  thrive 
on  ill-gotten  goods,  and  Mrs.  Motherwell  was  no  exception  to 
the  rule  ;  for  after  evicting  James  O'Hara  from  his  fine  farm  of 
Cultibar,  and  erecting  on  it  an  imposing  mansion  for  herself, 
she  met  with  so  many  losses,  and  sank  so  low  in  the  world,  that, 
seeing  no  prospect  of  retrieving  her  fortune  except  by  emigra- 
tion, she  left,  bag  and  baggage,  for  Australia,  where,  according 
to  report,  she  died  some  time  ago  as  poor  as  her  victims  James 
O'Hara  and  James  Henry. 

It  says  little  for  the  administration  of  the  law  in  the  first 
half  of  the  century,  that  it  was  by  abuse  of  legal  forms  Mrs. 
Motherw^ell  w^orked  out  most  of  her  iujustices.  Her  office  as 
barony  constable,  as  land  agent,  as  receiver  under  the  courts, 
enabled  her  with  some  show  of  legality,  but  without  the  sub- 
stance, to  impound  people's  cattle,  and  auction  them  for  little  or 
nothing  to  creatures  and  tools  of  her  own  ;  but  w^hile  complying 
ostensibly  with  the  requirements  of  the  law,  her  proceedings  were 
all  sham,  and  were  rightly  described  by  one  who  knew  them  well 
as  "  sham  claims,  sham  auctions,  sham  sales,  sham  everything." 

Mr.  John  Taaffe,  commonly  called  Jack  Taaffe,  another  in- 
habitant of  Ballymote,  or  the  neighbourhood,  may  serve  as  a 
companion  portrait  for  Mrs.  Motherwell.  Like  her,  he  acknow- 
ledged no  rule  but  his  own  w^ill,  which,  he  was  always  ready  to 
enforce  with  the  pistol,  so  that  his  principle  of  action  seemed  to 
be,  "  Jura  negat  sibi  nata,  nihil  non  arrogat  armis."  It  is  said 
that  he  fought  several  duels,  and  gave  scores  of  challenges. 


HISTORY  OF  SLTGO.  183 


though  the  only  affaire  which  the  people  speak  of  in  particular, 
was  one  with  Major  Bridgham,  which  came  off  at  Boyle,  and 
without  casualty  on  either  side. 

In  connexion  with  his  duelling  proclivities  a  curious  story 
was  common  round  Ballymote  some  time  ago.  The  gentleman 
who  always  acted  as  Jack's  friend,  or  second,  being  on  death- 
bed, set  so  little  store  by  the  parson's  ministrations,  that  the 
reverend  gentleman,  despairing  of  bringing  him  to  a  christian 
frame  of  mind,  saw  nothing  for  it  but  to  leave  him  to  his  fate. 
The  matter  was  told  to  Jack  Taaffe,  who  hastened  to  the  bed- 
side of  the  sick  man,  to  serve,  as  Taaffe  himself  expressed  it,  as 
his  friend's  "second  "  in  the  formidable  encounter  with  death; 
and  while  the  unfortunate  gentleman  was  djing.  Jack  kept 
calling  on  him  to  "  prove  himself  a  man,"  and  to  "  despise  the 
devil,"  as  he  (Jack  himself)  would,  if  in  the  sick  man's  place  ; 
confirming,  every  now  and  then,  what  he  said  with  a  horrid 
oath  in  Irish  (which  had  better  be  left  unrecorded),  that  "Jack 
Taaffe  feared  nothing  or  nobody  either  in  this  world  or  the 
next." 

It  was  the  opinion  of  Jack  Taaffe's  contemporaries,  a  few  of 
whom  survive,  that  he  was  always  on  the  look-out  for  somebody 
to  challenge ;  and  it  is  said,  that  with  this  object,  he  docked 
the  manes  and  tails  of  his  horses  in  a  grotesque  fashion,  in 
order  that  if  any  gentleman  laughed  at  them,  he  would  have 
the  opportunity  of  calling  him  out. 

He  was  as  odd  and  autocratic  in  his  domestic  as  in  his  social 
doings.  Once,  as  he  was  leaving  home  for  a  couple  of  days,  he 
directed  his  steward  to  have  the  winter's  turf  brought  from  the 
bog  to  the  farm-yard,  and  stacked  on  a  particular  spot.  In 
compliance  with  the  order  the  steward  collected  a  number  of 
carts,  which  conveyed  the  turf  home,  but,  finding  the  place 
pointed  out  by  his  master  for  the  stack  somewhat  unsuitable, 
he  constructed  it  on  another  hard  by.  This  anybody  else  would 
regard  as  a  reasonable  proceeding,  but  the  moment  Taaffe 
returned  home  and  saw  that  his  orders  were  not  carried  out  to 
the  letter,  he  commanded  the  steward  to  have  the  turf  carted 


184  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


back  again  to  the  bog,  clamped  there,  and  then  recarted  to  the 
spot  originally  fixed  for  the  rick.  Extravagances  like  this  were 
common  with  him. 

As  might  be  expected,  Jack  Taaffe  was  a  prime  favourite 
with  the  people,  as  *' characters"  usually  are,  but  a  bete  Tioire 
with  some  of  the  gentry,  who  probably  feared  him,  though  they 
would  not  acknowledge  so  much.  Kingsfort  House,  in  which  he 
had  lived,  and  out  of  which  he  had  been  evicted,  having  been 
burned  down  at  night,  the  gentry,  it  is  said,  had  him  prosecuted 
for  arson,  hoping  to  rid  themselves  in  this  way  of  so  trouble- 
some a  neighbour ;  but  the  prosecution  failed,  and  in  a  way,  as 
will  be  seen  later  on,  that  only  increased  his  popularity. 

In  proof  of  Jack's  hold  on  the  hearts  of  the  people,  a  hold 
which  lasted  long  after  his  death,  the  strange  doings  of  a 
wheel-wright  named  Jemmy  Taaffe  may  be  mentioned.  It 
appears  that  this  man  took,  occasionally,  more  drink  than  was 
good  for  him,  but  the  peculiarity  of  his  case  was,  that  when  he 
did  so,  no  matter  where  he  w^as,  he  immediately^  started  off  to 
Emlaghfad  graveyard  to  pray  over  the  grave  of  poor  Jack.  It 
was  in  vain  people  told  him  that  the  deceased,  as  a  Protestant, 
would  not  care  for  such  prayers;  for  Jemmy  always  answered 
that  that  was  no  longer  the  case,  as  Jack  had  changed  his  mind, 
in  the  other  world,  on  the  subject  of  prayers  for  the  dead. 
Hundreds  of  others,  as  well  as  the  wheel-wright,  cherished  the 
memory  of  Jack  Taaffe,  though  their  feelings  did  not  show 
themselves  as  sensationally  as  his  did. 

The  old  parish  church  of  Ballymote  stood  on  the  hill  of 
Emlaghfad,  called  anciently  Tulach  Segra,  where  Saint  Coluraba 
founded  a  religious  house  over  which  he  placed  his  disciple 
Enna,  son  of  Nuadhain,  whose  festival  falls  on  the  18th 
September.  Like  other  parish  churches,  Emlaghfad  was  taken 
by  the  State  from  the  Catholics  and  given  to  the  professors  of 
the  State  religion. 

The  graveyard  of  Emlaghfad  is  crowded,  being  the  chief 
burying  place  of  the  Protestants  of  Corran.  Several  tombstones 
are  inscribed  with  the  name  of  Phibbs,  the  bearers  of  the  name 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  185 


being  generally  long-lived;  as,  for  instance,  John  Phibbs,  of 
Lisconny,  who  lived  to  the  age  of  84,  and  William  Phibbs,  of 
Rockbrook,  who  reached  to  80  years.  William  Phibbs'  wife, 
Mary  Harlo,  was  75  years  at  her  decease ;  and  it  is  recorded  on 
the  tombstone,  of  her  and  her  husband,  that  they  were  married 
53  years,  and  had  issue  21  children. 

The  succession  of  the  Parish  Priests  of  Emlaghfad  is  not  well 
preserved ;  those  whose  names  are  known,  are  Rev.  Peter  Nelly, 
registered  in  Sligo  in  1704  ;  Reverend  P.  O'Grady,  collated  in 
the  closing  years  of  the  last  century ;  Reverend  Patrick  Poland, 
who  vacated  the  parish  about  1823;  Right  Reverend  Doctor 
Durcan,  who  resigned  in  1832,  on  his  transfer  to  Collooney; 
Reverend  Brian  O'Kane,  Doctor  Durcan's  successor,  in  1832  ;  * 
and  Very  Rev.  Canon  Tighe,*!"  who  went  to  his  reward  in  1876. 

As  to  the  succession  of  Protestant  incumbents :  Terence 
Conolly,  or  O'ConnoUy,  was  Yicar  of  Emlaghfad  and  Toomour  in 
1615  ;  Nathanael  Johnson  was  Vicar  in  1622;  John  Fergus,  or 
Ferguson,  in  1633 ;  John  Walls,  in  1746,  in  which  year  he 
nominated  Rev.  George  Weir  curate  of  the  Union  of  Emlaghfad ; 
Charles  Maturin,  in  1756,  for,  in  that  year,  lie  received  from 
Richard,  bishop  of  Killalla,  *^  a  glebe  of  twenty  acres,  set  off  in 
the  land  of  Emlyfadda,  commonly  called  Tibwee,  nearest  to  the 
lands  of  Ballymote,  in  the  barony  of  Corran,  bounded  on  the 
one  part  by  the  rivulet,  the  said  lands  of  Ballymote,  and  those 


*  Father  O'Kane  was  a  distingaished  alumnus  of  Maynooth,  and  had  the 
reputation  of  being  a  sound  theologian.  In  1876  his  remains  were  removed 
from  the  old  chapel,  and  reinterred  in  the  new  church. 

fOn  the  foot  of  the  memorial  altar  erected  by  Canon  Tighe's  brothers. 
Alderman  Tighe,  of  Sligo,  and  Mr.  Edward  Tighe,  of  Mullaghcorra,  we  find 
the  inscription : — 

Pray  for  the  soul  of 

Very  Rev.  Canon  Tighe,  P.P.,  Ballymote, 

By  whose  zealous  exertions  this  church  was  built,  and  to  whose 

respected  memory  this  altar  has  been  erected,  by  his 

devoted  brothers,  Edward  and  James  Tighe. 

Died  20th  December,  1876. 

May   his   soul  rest  in  peace. 


186  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


of  Maghrevelavaddy,  and  on  the  other,  by  the  remaining  part  of 
Emlyfadda,  called  Tibwee,  parcel  of  the  two  quarters  of  Emly- 
fadda." 

In  1765,  this  Mr.  Maturin  mortgaged  to  John  Keogh,  of 
Dublin,  "all  the  tithes,  rents,  and  issues,  that  should  arise  out  of 
the  several  parishes  of  Emlaghfad,  Toomour,  Kilraorgan,  Drum- 
rat,  and  Kilturrough,  with  the  glebe  lands  of  Emlaghfad,"  as 
said  Charles  Maturin  held  same  as  Vicar. 

James  Garret  and  John  Garret,  father  and  son,  seem  to  have 
been  the  next  vicars,  John  being  inducted  in  1806.  The  stone 
which  covers  Eev.  John  Garret's  grave  in  Emlaghfad  church- 
yard, bears  the  inscription  : — 

"  This  tomb  is  sacred  to  the  memory  of 

Rev.  Johx  Gakret,  A.M., 

Who  departed  this  life  March  17th,  1855,  in  his  78th  year. 

Having  succeeded  his  father  as  Vicar  of  Emlaghfad. 

The  united  period  of  their  labours  was  101  years." 

Very  Rev.  Dean  Moore  succeeded  Mr.  Garret,  in  1855,  as 
Vicar  of  the  Union  of  Emlaghfad  ;  and  the  writer,  who  had  the 
pleasure  of  making  the  Dean's  acquaintance  on  the  Duchess  of 
Marlborough's  Relief  Committee,  in  1879,  gladly  avails  him- 
self of  this  occasion  to  bear  witness  to  his  large-hearted  humanity, 
and  his  genuine  Christian  charity  and  solicitude  for  the  poor. 

Rev.  Mr.  Walker  is  the  actual  incumbent  of  Emlaghfad. 

The  parish  of  Kilmorgan,  or  Kilmurrough,  lies  in  the  north- 
east of  Corran,  comprises  an  area  of  5,768  acres  1  rood  and  21 
perches,  and  consists,  for  the  most  part,  of  hilly  ground,  with 
some  stretches  of  low-lying  land,  chiefly  bog,  on  its  eastern 
margin.  In  1881  the  parish  contained  215  houses,  the  lowest 
number  reached  till  then  in  the  decennial  census,  there  being 
406  in  1841,  315  in  1851,  2G8  in  18G1,  and  235  in  1871.  The 
population  in  1881  was  1149,  which  is  less  than  half  the 
population  of  1841,  when  there  were  2,343  persons  in  the 
parish. 

The  subsoil  all  through  is  limestone,  and  is  covered  with 
earth,  which  varies  much  in  depth  at  different  places,  and  pro- 


HISTORY    OF   SLIGO.  •  187 


duces  grass  more  or  less  rich  in  proportion  to  this  depth.  There 
is  little  tillage,  so  little  that  it  is  hardly  noticed  beside  the  great 
scopes  of  grazing  land  which  meet  the  eye  wherever  it  turns. 
There  are  some  spots  that  wear  an  old  world  look — Doo  Hill, 
topped  with  a  grass-covered  earn,  30  feet  high,  and  120  feet  in 
circumference  at  the  base  ;  Knockminagh  circular  rath,  bearing 
on  its  eastern  edge  a  mysterious  standing  stone,  of  a  triangular 
form,  six  feet  wide  at  the  base,  and  six  feet  high  from  base  to 
apex  ;  and  an  area  of  several  acres,  near  Kilmorgan  old  church, 
covered  with  limestone  boulders,  strewn  as^  thick  as  grains  of 
pepper  thrown  out  of  a  castor.  All  the  higher  parts  of  the 
parish  are  bleak,  there  being  no  trees,  and  the  fences  being 
generally  stone  walls,  or  banks  of  dry  earth,  without  those 
hawthorn  hedges,  which,  of  themselves,  give^an  air  of  cultivation 
wherever  they  are  found. 

The  demesne  of  Newpark  is  on  a  lower  level  than  the  rest  of 
the  parish,  and  produces  good  timber,  and  in  considerable 
abundance.  It  is  well  walled,  with  a  good  belt  of  trees  running 
all  round  inside  the  wall,  as  well  as  clumps  and  single  trees 
through  the  grounds.  The  house,  which  is  a  square  four-story 
structure,  rises  on  a  gentle  knoll,  and  commands  a  good  view  of 
the  Sligo  mountains,  and  of  the  whole  barony  of  Tirerrill ;  and, 
though  built  about  one  hundred  years  ago,  it  looks  now  particu- 
larly bright  and  fresh,  from  its  having  been  lately  re-roofed  and, 
in  many  other  respects,  restored  and  embellished.  The  present 
owner  is  Mr.  Robert  Duke,  who  is  highly  esteemed  for  many 
amiable  and  many  valuable  qualities. 

Dominick  Martin,  Owen  Hurrochy  (now  Haraghy),  Lord 
TaafFe,  William  Dowdall,  the  bishop  of  Achonry,  and  four 
members  of  the  MacDonogh  sept,  were  owners  of  Kilmurrough 
in  1632,  but  the  four  McDonoghs  and  the  other  Papists,  except 
Lord  Taaffe,  disappeared  at  the  Restoration,  while  Lord 
CoUooney,  John  Clifford,  John  Boswell,  and  Francis  King, 
took  their  place  as  proprietors.  Under  the  Commonwealth 
John  Duke,  Robert  Duke,  John  Geale,  Donnell  Conellan,  John 
Clifford,  Edward  Hill,  Henry  Bierast,  and  John  Houlder,  were 


188  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


Tituladoes  in  the  parish,  but  not  one  of  these  Cromwellians, 
except  the  Dukes,  has  now  a  descendant  in  Kilmorgan. 

The  parish  of  Kilmorgan  is  thinly  inhabited,  without  town  or 
even  village  worthy  of  the  name.  Half  a  mile  or  so  to  the 
north-east  of  Kilmorgan  old  church  stand  two  or  three  houses, 
known  popularly  as  Tighe's  Town,  which  may  be  mentioned  as 
the  birth-place  of  several  respectable  persons  of  the  name  of 
Tighe,  including  four  brothers,  each  of  whom  might  serve  as  a 
model  in  his  particular  line  of  life :  Very  Rev.  Canon  Tighe,  the 
zealous  and  genial  Parish  Priest  of  Ballymote,  who  died  in 
1876  full  of  years  and  honours  ;  the  late  Alderman  James 
Tighe  of  Sligo,  remarkable  through  life  for  enterprise  and 
integrity  as  a  merchant,  and  ability  and  honesty  as  a  local 
politician  ;  Mr.  Thomas  Tighe,  who  may  be  stated  in  passing, 
was  the  father  of  Rev.  Denis  Tighe  of  Chicago,  and  who,  though 
he  lived  and  died  in  his  native  place,  was  not  less  noted  for 
manly  worth  and  christian  virtues  than  the  priest  and  alder- 
man ;  and  Mr.  Edward  Tighe  of  Mullaghcorra,  who  still  survives, 
and  still  illustrates  in  his  own  person  all  the  high  qualities, 
intellectual,  moral,  and  social,  of  his  worthy  brothers. 

The  walls  of  the  church,  which  has  given  name  to  the  parish, 
still  exist,  and  in  fair  preservation,  the  western  gable  being  the 
only  part  that  has  disappeared.  The  structure  measures  about 
sixty  feet  in  length,  and  twenty-four  in  breadth,  exterior 
measurement,  and  contains  only  two  windows,  one  a  lancet  in 
the  eastern  gable,  and  the  other  a  small  two  light  open  near  the 
east  end  of  the  south  sidewall. 

The  graveyard  attached  to  the  ruin  is  used  in  common  by 
Catholics  and  Protestants.  The  oldest  tombstone  is  that  of 
Cornet  Edward  Hill,  who  died  in  1716,  having  been  drowned 
while  crossing  a  rivulet  as  he  was  riding  home  from  a  dinner 
party.  A  range  of  substantial,  well  sculptured,  stones  cover  the 
remains  of  several  members  of  the  Duke  family. 

The  most  curious  monument  in  the  place  is  that  of  Morgan 
McDonogh,  and  is  constructed  in  the  form  of  a  little  cottage,  the 
dimensions  being  twelve  feet  wide,  eighteen  long,  and  eight 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  189 


high.  The  arms  and  crest  of  the  McDonoghs  are  particularly 
well  executed  on  a  limestone  flag,  which  is  inserted  in  the 
west  gable,  and  which  also  bears  the  following  inscription : — 

*'  This  monument  was  erected 

By  Morgan  McDonogh  of  Sligo,  Merchant, 

to  the  memory  of  his  most  beloved  son,  James  McDonogh, 

who  departed  this  life  the  31st  day  of  December,  1822, 

aged  19  years. 

And  likewise  devoted  to  the  memory  of  his  beloved  wife, 

Catharine  Tonry,  alias  McDonogh, 

aged  56  years, 

who  departed  this  life  on  the  25th  day  of  September,  1825. 

May  the  Almighty  God  be  merciful  to  Morgan   McDonogh, 

who  departed  this  life  on  the  14th  day  of  June,  1832, 

aged  66  years." 

Francis  McDonogh,  the  Queen's  Counsel,  was  also  a  son  of 
this  Morgan  McDonogh,  bat  as  he  abandoned  the  faith  of  the 
family,  he  forfeited  his  right  to  a  place  in  the  family  vault,  and 
had  to  be  buried  elsewhere.  Kate  McDonogh,  Morgan's 
daughter,  and  Francis's  sister,  took  to  the  stage,  and  it  is  not 
known  where  her  remains  lie. 

This  parish  has  been  united  to  that  of  Emlaghfad  for  more 
than  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  and  administered  all  that  time 
by  the  Parish  Priest  of  Emlaghfad.  The  last  incumbent  of 
Kilmorgan,  as  a  separate  living,  was  Edmund  Conane,  who  is 
stated  in  the  list  of  the  clergy  registered  in  1704^,  to  be  then 
thirty  years  of  age,  and  to  reside  at  Dunmeegan.  Miles  Philips, 
Ballindune,  and  Morgan  McDonnagh  of  Roscrib,  were  the 
sureties  that  entered  into  recognizances  for  his  good  behaviour, 
as  required  by  the  Eegistration  Act  of  1704. 


CHAPTEH  XXYI. 

UNION  OF   BUNINADDEN. 

Adjoining  the  parish  of  Emlaghfad  on  the  south,  lies  the 
Roman  Catholic  union  of  Cloonoghill,  Kilshalvy,  and  Kilturra, 
popularly  known  as  the  parish  of  Buninadden.  Buninadden — 
Bun-an-fedhain  in  Irish — the  mouth  or  end  of  the  stream,  is  so- 
called  from  a  stream  which  flows  down  from  a  lakelet,  named 
Pulincha,  and  supposed  by  the  people  to  be  all  pure  spring,  and 
bottomless.  The  old  village  stood  some  hundreds  of  yards  to 
the  south  of  the  present  one,  where  may  still  be  seen  remains  of 
the  old  chapel,  the  pound,  some  houses,  and  a  fragment  forty- 
two  feet  long  and  twenty  broad  of  Buninadden  castle.  This 
castle,  which  is  mentioned  several  times  in  the  old  annals  of 
the  country,  belonged  to  the  MacDonoghs  of  Corran  ;  and  after 
they  lost  it,  it  was  granted  to  Sir  William  Taaffe,  and  served 
him  for  a  residence  on  his  first  coming  to  the  county  Sligo  at 
the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century ;  for,  in  a  commission  of  1596, 
he  is  spoken  of  as  "  William  Taaffe  of  Buninadden." 

In  James  the  First's  General  Pardon  to  Donnogh  O'Connor 
Sligo,  of  Sligo  Co.,  Esq.,  the  amnesty  is  extended  to  the  follow- 
ing persons  belonging  to  Buninadden,  who,  no  doubt,  comprised 
all,  or  nearly  all,  the  inhabitants  of  the  place : — Shane  Glas 
McDonnogh,  of  Bonanydanie,  gent. ;  Hugh  Bane  McDonnogh, 
of  the  same,  gent. ;  Connor  McDonnogh,  of  the  same,  gent. ; 
Feriell  Oge  McDonnogh,  of  the  same,  gent. ;  Shane  Geare 
McDonnogh,  of  the  same,  gent. ;  Thadeus  Carragh  McCarbrie, 
of  the  same,  gent. ;  Melaghlin  Duffe  O'Byrne,  of  the  same, 
labourer;  Brian  O'Birne,  of  the  same,  labourer;  Brian  O'Hayvare 
(Hevar),  of  the  same,  labourer  ;  Donald  G'Heyvare,  of  the  same, 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  191 


labourer ;  Cahell  McGeannayne,  of  the  same,  labourer  ;  Feariell 
McGeannayne  (Gannon),  of  the  same,  labourer;  Brian  O'Caiglie 
(Quigley),  of  the  same,  mason ;  Connoghor  McGilligariffe 
(Kilgarrif),  of  the  same,  keard  ;  Owen  McElea,  of  the  same^ 
surgeon  ;  Connoghor  McElea,  of  the  same,  surgeon  ;  Edward 
Keogh  McElea,  of  the  same,  surgeon  ;  Thadeus  McElea,  of  the 
same,  surgeon ;  Owen  Duffe  McEdward,  of  the  same,  galloglas  • 
Tirrelagh  ^McCahell,  of  the  same,  horseman;  Dermot  Oge 
O'Brenaine,  of  the  same,  smith ;  Dermot  Glasse  O'Mullvihilly, 
of  the  same,  priest ;  Shane  O'Mochane,  of  the  same,  priest ; 
Shane  O'Fearie  (Farry),  of  the  same,  kerne;  Edward  Oge 
O'Fearie,  of  the  same,  kerne. 

It  is  to  be  hoped,  however  liable  the  good  people  of  Bunin- 
adden  were  to  broken  bones,  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries,  owing  to  the  violence  of  those  troubled  times,  that  the 
demand  for  "  surgeons ''  was  not  equal  to  the  supply. 

Like  the  rest  of  Sligo,  Buninadden  belonged  in  the  past  to 
O'Connor  Sligo,  and  in  1545  *  we  find  MacCostello  attacking  it 
as  his  possession,  but  O'Connor  and  the  MacSweenys  hastened 
to  its  relief;  and  as  MacCostello  retreated  on  their  approach, 
they  pursued  him,  and  coming  up  with  him  they  slew  himself 
and  his  son,  and  put  his  party  to  flight  at  Rooskey,  or  Euscaidh- 
na-gaitJie,  "  the  rough  pasture  of  the  wind,"  the  well  known 
spot  so-called  from  its  bleak  and  shelterless  situation.  While 
the  O'Connors  were  the  lords  paramount,  the  MacDonoghs  of 
Corran  occupied  the  castle  ;  and  the  Annals  of  Loch  Ce,  under 
the  year  1564,  state  that  Brian  MacDermot,  in  the  month  of 
March  of  that  year,  "  went  against  MacDonough  of  the  Corann 
to  Bun-an-fedhain,  and  the  place  was  burned  to  the  door  by 
him  ;  and  he  brought  two  hundred  cows  out  of  it,  and  committed 
homicides  there."  In  1581  several  Scotch  mercenaries  were 
slain  in  and  around  Buninadden,  under  the  strange  eircum- 
stances  which  have  been  already  described. 


*  Annals  of  Loch  Ce,  1545. 


192  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


Cloonoghill  is  the  most  interesting  of  the  three  parishes 
which  form  the  union  under  consideration.  The  Gazetteer  of 
Ireland  confounds  Cloonoghill  and  Cloonacoole,  taking  one  name 
to  be  merely  an  alias  of  the  other,  whereas  the  two  places  are 
quite  different,  one  being  in  Corran,  and  the  other  in  Leyney. 

The  district  of  Cloonoghill  must  of  old  have  been  covered 
with  yew  trees,  as  the  name  signifies  the  recess  of  the  yew  tree 
wood.  In  Colgan's  life  of  St.  Cormac,*  it  is  stated  that  St. 
Aidan  of  Tireragh  had  a  religious  house  in  Corran ;  and 
McFirbis's  Tribes  and  Customs  of  Hy  Fiachrach,t  adds  the 
circumstance,  that  Cloonoghill  was  the  spot  where  the  establish- 
ment existed. 

This  Aidan  was  descended  from  Eochy  Breac  through 
Cuboirne,  and  had  for  mother  Fearamhla,^  who  was  also  the 
mother  of  five  other  saints.§  He  is,  no  doubt,  identical  with 
the  "  Saint  Aidan  of  Loch  Uamach,"  of  whom  there  is  mention 
in  the  Tripartite  Life  of  Saint  Patrick  ;  ||  and  though  Colgan 
takes  Loch  Uamach  to  be  some  lake  "near  the  river  Bonet,  in 
Breffny,"  there  is  good  reason  to  think  that  it  is  Cloonacleigha 
lake,  which  joins  Cloonoghill,  and  which,  like  Lough  Gara  and 
so  many  other  Irish  lakes,  has  changed  its  name  in  the  course  of 
time.  Yery  probably  it  had  its  old  name  of  Loch  Uamha,  or 
Cave  lake,  from  a  large  and  remarkable  cave  in  a  little  hill  to 


*  Acta  Sanctorum,  26  Martii,  p.  753. 

t  Fearamhla  was  the  mother  of  Aodhan,  of  Cluain  Eochaille,  in  Corran, — 
O'Donovan's  Tribes  and  Customs  of  Hy  Fiachrach,  p.  37. 

X  Tribes  and  Customs_of  Hy  Fiachrach,  p.  37. 

§  Ibidem. 

II  Preedixit  (S.  Patricius)  tunc  magnam  illius  regionis  partem  olim  ad  jus 
suarum  ecclesiarum  devolvendam ;  quod  impletum  est  in  Aidano  de  Loch 
Uamach.  Item  in  episcopo  Manio  discipulo  Patricii,  et  Gemthenno  de  Each- 
ainech  in  regione  de  Tiroillella Trias  Thaum.,  p.  143. 

On  this  passage  Colgan  observes  in  a  note,  * '  Floruit  hoc  tempore  S.  Aidanus 
de  Cluain- eocMuUe  de  stirpe  Hifiachriorum,  et  colitur  1  Jan.,  veL  9  Octob.  in 
regione  Connacise  Corann  dicta,  per  quam  tunc  transibat  S.  Patricius,  et  decessit 
anno  557,  juxta  Quatuor  Magistros  in  Annal.  de  quo  proinde  verosimiliter  hie 
habetur  sermo.  Lacus  autem  Loch-Uamach  hie  appellatus  est  in  regione 
Breffhise,  prope  Buannadiam  fluvium  versus  austrum." 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  193 


the  west  of  the  old  church  of  Cloonoghill ;  and  it  is  equally  pro- 
bable that  the  actual  name  of  Cloonacleigha,  or  recess  of  the 
stones,  comes  from  the  great  flags  with  which  the  cave  was 
covered. 

While  the  Gazetteer  of  Ireland  confounds  Cloonoghill  with 
Cloonacoole,  Lewis'  Topographical  Dictionary  is  equally  at  fault 
in  supposing  it  identical  with  Cloonymeaghan,*  though  one  was 
a  parish  church,  and  the  other  a  Dominican  convent. 

The  convent  of  Cloonymeaghan  was  founded  in  1488,  in 
virtue  of  faculties  granted  that  year  by  Innocent  VIII.,  to  erect 
three  new  Dominican  houses  in  Ireland — one  in  Kildare,  another 
in  Meath,  and  the  third  in  Cloonymeaghan,  in  the  diocese  of 
Achonry.f  The  site  was  granted  by  Owen  MacDonogh,  called, 
in  the  Constitution  of  the  Pope,  Eugenius  Macdonchard.  Some 
say  that  Cloonymeaghan  was  a  cell  to  the  convent  of  Sligo,  but 
De  Burgo  J  maintains,  and  seems  right  in  his  contention,  that 
it  was  an  independent  house,  though,  owing  to  the  fewness  of 
conventuals  of  its  own,  it  was  ruled  for  some  time  by  fathers  of 
the  Sligo  community. 

After  the  suppression  Cloonymeaghan  was  granted  to  the 
Taafifes,  from  whom,  with  the  rest  of  their  property,  it  passed  to 
the  Earl  of  Shelburne,  except  about  two  acres  under  and  around 
the  ruins,  which  belonged  to  the  Dodwells,  and  was  transmitted 
by  them  to  their  relative,  Mr.  Creighton,  the  present  owner. 
The  remains,  both  of  the  church  and  the  conventual  buildings,  are 
in  good  preservation.  The  plan  was  much  the  same  as  that  of 
Sligo,  with  the  conventual  buildings  to  the  north ;  but  all  the 
parts  were  smaller  and  less  ornate,  and  without  any  of  the 
elaborate  and  artistic  carving,  which  forms  so  conspicuous  a 
feature  in  the  famous  cloisters  of  Sligo. 

Cloonymeaghan  is  the   chief  burying    place  of  the   united 


*  Lewis'  Topographical  Dictionary  of  Ireland— article,  Cloonoghill,  where 
we  read—  "  This  place  was  formerly  called  Clonymeaghan,  and  was  the  seat  of 
a  Dominican  monastery,"  etc, 

t  Hibernia  Dominicana,  Cap.  VII.,  Num.  YIE.,  p.  75. 

t  Idem,  p.  327. 

VOL.  II.  N 


194  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO, 


parishes  of  Cloonoghill,  Kilshalvey,  and  Kilturra.  Ballinaglogg 
is  another  townland  of  some  note  in  the  parish.  It  is  mentioned 
in  the  Annals  of  Loch  Ce,  under  the  year  1559,  where  it  is 
stated,  that  it  was  plundered  by  Brian  MacDermot  of  Moylurg. 
Later  it  became  one  of  the  residences  of  the  Taaffes ;  and  we 
find  Christopher  TaafFe  of  Ballinaglogg,  as  a  juror  of  an  inquisi- 
tion sped  at  Ballinafad  in  1627. 

Kilshalvey  parish  has  little  to  interest  the  antiquarian  or  the 
lover  of  the  picturesque.     O'Donovan  states  that  the  parish  has 
its  name  from  a  Saint  Selbach,*  Kilshalvey  being  a  form  of 
Kilsealbach,  and  signifying  the   church   of  Sealbach,    bat   he 
quotes  no  authority  for  his  opinion.    There  is  no  Saint  Sealbach 
mentioned  in  the  Martyrologies,  or  in  the  works  of  Colgan,  the 
name   Sealbach   occurring   but   once    in    the  Martyrology    of 
Donegaljf  and  once  in  Colgan,  and  designating  in  each  case 
Sealbach,  who  was  secretary  to  Cormac  O'Cuillenain  and  who 
had  nothing  to  do  with  this  part  of  Ireland.     This  parish  is  not 
given  in   the  taxation   of  1307,  unless   it   is  represented  by 
Kilsenyg,  the  name  in  the  Taxation  which  most  resembles  it. 
Kilsenyg  would  be  the  Church  of  Senic,  and  there  are  several 
Irish  saints  of  that  name  in  the  martyrologies.     In  the  inquisi- 
tion held  at  Achonry,  in  1585,  by  the  bishop  of  Kildare,  the 
name  is  written  Killosalven,  and,  in  a  Royal  Visitation  Book  of 
1633,  Killosalnie,  either  of  which  is  not  very  unlike  Kilsallaghan, 
or  Kil-tsaileachain,  the  church  of  the^^sallows ;  so  that,  as  the 
inhabitants    of    the   district    showed   themselves   so    fond    of 
associating    their  churches   with    particular  trees    or    plants, 
designating  one  (Cloonoghill)  from  the  yew  tree,  and  another 
(Killavil)  from  the  apple  tree,  they  may  have  borrowed  the  name 
of  Kilshalvey,  Killoshalaway,  or  Killosalvan,  from  the  sallows 
which  abound  in  the  place.     The  grantees  at  the  Bestoratioa 
of  this  parish  were,  Earl  of  Carlingford,  Lord  Collooney,  Edward 
Cooper,  Christopher  Fagan,  and  Thomas  Harte. 

*  "  The  church  of  Saint  Sealbach,  now  Kilshalvey,  a  parish  in  the  barony  of 
Corran,  in  the  county  of  Sligo." — Tribes  and  Customs  of  Hy  Fiachrach,  p.  486, 


t  Page  249. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  195 


Passing  to  Kilturra  :  the  name  of  this  parish  is  just  as  great 
a  puzzle  as  that  of  Kilshalvey,  so  that  there  is  ample  room  for 
conjecture.  As  turagh  as  well  as  eochail  is  a  name  of  the  yew 
tree,  Kilturra,  or,  as  it  is  written  in  the  Royal  Visitation  Book  of 
1833,  Kilturrogh,  may  signify  the  church  of  the  yew.*  In  the 
Taxation  of  1307  this  church  is  not  given,  at  least  under  any 
recognizable  designation,  and  in  the  bishop  of  Kildare's  inquisi- 
tion of  1585,  as  far  as  can  be  made  out,  it  is  written  Kiltowry. 

In  the  past,  at  least  in  post-Reformation  times,  the  Arch- 
deacon of  Achonry  was  Vicar  of  Kilturra,  and  owner  of  the 
townland  of  Kilturra,  so  that  the  vicarage  of  the  parish  and  the 
townland  seem  to  have  formed  the  corps  of  the  archdeaconry. 
It  is  likely  this  arrangement  was  of  long  standing,  though  this 
is  not  certain.  In  the  inquisition  of  1585  the  Archdeacon  of 
Achonry  is  said  to  be  Vicar  of  Kiltowry,  which  would  go  to 
show  that  even  then,  and,  if  then,  prior,  probably,  to  the 
Reformation,  the  vicarage  of  the  parish  and  the  townland,  con- 
stituted the  corps  of  the  dignity;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  in  the 
county  Sligo  Survey  of  1633,  etc.,  Lord  Taaffe,  and  not  the  arch- 
deacon, is  given  as  owner  of  Kilturra  townland,  the  entry  run- 
ning thus  : — "  Kiltorrow  townland.  The  inheritance  of  my  Lord 
Taaffe,  who  sets  it  to  Kedagh  O'Banaghan  for  £12,  of  which  he 
pays  Mr.  Sharp  (the  Protestant  minister),  £6.  It  is  some  part 
good  arable  land,  it  hath  good  turfif,  4  days'  mowing ;  it  will 
graze  40  cows,  and  is  worth  £12  6s.  per  annum.^'  In  the 
Book  of  Distributions,  however,  of  the  Down  Survey,  the  Arch- 
deacon of  Achonry  reappears,  and  is  set  down  among  the 
owners  of  the  parish  in  1641. 

The  Phillips  of  Cloonmore  commonly  held  Kilturra  by  lease 
from  the  archdeacon  for  the  time  being.  Mr.  Simon  Phillips 
built  a  house  on  the  farm  in  1745,  and  came  to  reside  in  it. 
The  Right  Reverend  Phillip  Phillips,  Bishop  of  Achonry,  built 
a,  new  residence,  which  is  the  thatched  house  now  attached  to 
Mr.  John  Ormsby  Cooke's  pretty  cottage ;  and,  on  his  transla- 

*  Joyce's  Irish  Names  of  Places. — First  series. — p.  28. 


196  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 

tioD,  as  archbishop,  to  Tuam,  in  1785,  the  prelate  made  over  his 
right  as  tenant  to  his  niece,  Miss  Julia  Martin,  who,  shortly 
after,  married  Mr.  Timothy  MacDermot,  of  Boyle,  thus  making 
that  gentleman  owner  of  her  interest  in  Kilturra,  where  he  and 
she  continued,  after  the  marriage,  to  reside. 

The  estate  being  offered  for  sale,  in  1873,  by  the  Church 
Temporalities  Commissioners,  it  was  purchased,  to  the  great 
gratification  of  the  tenants  and  neighbours,  by  Mr.  John  Ormsby 
Cooke,  who  has  been  always  a  favourite  with  high  and  low,  as  a 
grand  juror,  as  a  county  magistrate,  as  a  benevolent  landlord,  and 
as  a  country  gentleman  of  rare  culture  and  endowments,  acquired, 
in  large  part,  early  in  life,  by  education  and  travel  on  the  Conti- 
nent. 

The  old  church,  whicb  was  of  little  size,  is  now  a  mere 
heap  of  rubbish.  Some  think  the  structure  was  a  Franciscan 
monastery,  but  there  is  no  ground  whatever  for  such  an 
opinion.  The  adjoining  graveyard  is  a  small  one,  and  little 
used  of  late.  The  oldest  epitaph  in  the  place  is  inscribed 
on  a  headstone  erected,  in  1771,  by  Doctor  Thomas  Irwin, 
over  his  father,  who  died  in  1761.  The  next  oldest  headstone 
bears  an  inscription,  which  would  be  the  better  of  some 
development  or  explanation — it  being  uncertain,  with  the 
actual  words,  over  whom  the  stone  is  erected.* 

Near  Mr.  Cooke's  cottage  is  a  well  dedicated  to  Saint 
Attracta,  which  is  popularly  called,  like  her  other  wells, 
Toberaraght.  On  the  edge  are  two  crosses — one  a  good  sized 
Latin  cross,  inscribed  in  relief,  on  a  limestone  flag,  and  the 
other  a  Celtic  cross,  incised  on  a  curious  block  of  red  sand- 
stone. As  one  would  expect,  from  Mr.  Cooke's  artistic  and 
archaeological  tastes,  both  the  well  and  the  crosses  are  singularly 
well  cared. 


*  The  words  are  : — 

"  Erected  by- 
Rev.  Patrick  Hen 
ry  datd.  Sep.  9, 
1806." 


HISTORY   OF   SLTGO.  197 


It  would  appear  that  Cloonoghill,  Kilshalvey,  and  Kilturra 
were  separate  parishes  in  1704,  as  we  find  three  different 
Parish  Priests  registered  for  them  at  the  General  Quarter 
Sessions  of  the  Peace  held  at  Sligo  on  the  11th  June,  1704. 
The  Parish  Priest  of  Cloonoghill,  at  that  date,  was  Teige 
Brenane,  who  was  then  56  years  of  age,  lived  at  Ballinrea, 
had  been  ordained  at  Creigin,  county  Gal  way,  in  1672,  by 
Teige  Keogh,  or  Keoghy,  Titular  Bishop  of  Clonfert,  and  had 
for  sureties  of  his  good  behaviour,  Thomas  Corcoran,  Sligo, 
and  Patrick  Duany  (Devany),  also  of  Sligo. 

The  Parish  Priest  of  Kilshalvy,  at  the  same  date,  was  Teige 
Davey,  who  was  33  years  of  age,  lived  'at  Coolany,  had  been 
ordained  by  Dr.  Donellan,  Titular  Bishop  of  Clonfert,  in  1697, 
and  had  for  sureties  of  good  behaviour,  George  Enerist,  Bally- 
mote,  and  Bryan  McDonogh,  Carrowhobid. 

And  the  then  Parish  Priest  of  Kilturra,  called,  in  the  Kecord, 
Kiltoruffe,  was  Teige  McDonnagh,  who  was  52  years  of  age, 
resided  at  Knockrany,  had  been  ordained  in  1768,  at  Clonfert, 
by  Teige  Keoghy,  Titular  Bishop  of  Clonfert,  and  had  for  his 
sureties  Miles  Philips,  Ballindune,  and  Morgan  McDonogh, 
Boscrib. 

The  next  Parish  Priest  we  meet  with  is  Kev.  Mark  Rush, 
who  was  a  clergyman  of  note  in  his  day,  and  is  said  to  have  been 
Dean  and  Vicar-General  of  Achonry  diocese,  as  well  as  incum- 
bent of  the  three  parishes,  Cloonoghill,  Kilshalvy,  and  Kilturra, 
which  formed  then,  as  they  form  now,  the  Union  of  Buninadden. 

Father  Push  was  born  at  Kilturra,  in  1740,  of  highly-respect- 
able parents,  received  his  classical  education  in  Buninadden,  and 
passed  through  his  ecclesiastical  studies  in  Tours  in  France, 
where,  too,  he  was  ordained  priest  in  1765.  A  vacancy  in  the 
incumbency  of  Buninadden  Union  occurring  soon  after  the  young 
priest's  return  from  France,  he  was  appointed  Parish  Priest,  and 
held  the  living  down  to  his  decease  on  the  1st  April,  1817,  in  the 
77th  year  of  his  age,  and  the  50th  of  his  sacred  ministry.  This 
good  man  was  buried  in  Kilturra ;  and  his  friends  love  to  tell 
how  his  coffin  was  carried  to  the  grave  by  eight  pall  bearers  of 


198  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 

social  standing — the  five  McDermots  of  Kilturra,  Joseph  McDon- 
Dell  of  Doocastle,  and  Daniel  O'Connor  and  Charles  O'Connor, 
father  and  son,  both  of  Eoadstown; 

Like  other  priests  of  the  period,  the  pastor  of  Buninadden, 
had  much  trouble  with  the  Thrashers  ;  labouring,  first,  to  keep 
his  parishioners  away  from  these  misguided  men,  and,  next,  to 
save  from  the  penal  consequences  of  their  acts,  such  of  them  as, 
deaf  to  his  advice,  entangled  themselves  in  the  meshes  of  the  law. 

An  anecdote  is  told  of  Father  Rush,  which  throws  a  strong 
side  light  on  the  kind  of  people  he,  and,  no  doubt,  other  priests 
of  those  rude  times,  had  sometimes  to  deal  with : — 

As  he  was  making  a  pastoral  round  through  the  parish,  attended 
by  his  dog,  "  Bunty,"  a  companion  that  he  had  generally  with 
him  in  his  walks,  the  dog  playfully  leaped  into  a  "clutch," 
or  brood  of  young  ducks,  injuring  one  of  them;  and,  next 
minute,  the  priest  felt  himself  seized,  as  in  a  vice,  in  the  arms  of 
a  coarse  hulk  of  a  fellow,  who  called  on  him  to  stand,  and  pay 
for  the  damage  done — the  brutal  proceeding  reminding  one  of 
the  unjust  steward  in  the  Gospel,  who,  "  laying  hold  of  his  debtor, 
throttled  him,  saying,  Pay  what  thou  owest." 

Father  Rush  did  not  know  his  assailant,  but,  on  being  told 
that  he  was  a  parishioner,  who  knew  nothing  and  cared  nothing 
about  religion,  the  good  priest  turned  to  the  dog,  and  said, 
"  Blessing  on  you,  Bunty,  as  you  have  made  me  acquainted  with 
this  unfortunate  being,  whom  I  must  now  try  to  make  both  a 
man  and  a  Christian."  Such  incidents  bring  home  to  us  the 
immense  social  progress  that  has  been  made  within  a  century 
or  so. 

Reverend  John  Coleman,  afterwards  Parish  Priest  of  Swineford 
and  Archdeacon  of  the  diocese,  was  Parish  Priest  of  Buninadden, 
about  the  beginning  of  the  century.  Father  Coleman  was  a 
native  of  the  parish  of  Ballysadare,  and  member  of  a  family 
which  has  lived  in  the  neighbourhood  for  more  than  seven 
hundred  years. 

This  excellent  priest  was  succeeded  by  Father  John  Doddy, 
who  got  into  conflict,  first,  with  the  civil  authorities,  by  officiat- 


HISTORY  OF  SLIGO.  199 


ing  at  a  prohibited  marriage,  and,  next,  with  the  ecclesiastical 
authorities,  by  disregarding  and  resisting  their  inj  unctions.  This 
resistance  to  his  superiors,  occasioned  deplorable  tumults  in  the 
parish,  and  involved  his  abettors  and  followers,  who  were  nume- 
rous, in  the  guilt  of  disobedience  and  schism.  It  is  pleasant  to 
be  able  to  add  that,  after  a  time,  he  and  his  partizans  had  the 
grace  of  returning  to  their  duty. 

Reverend  Bernard  O'Kane,  so  well  remembered  for  his  learn- 
ing and  accomplishments,  was  the  next  incumbent.  Though 
his  pastorate  was  troubled  by  the  agitation  kept  up  in  the 
parish  in  connexion  with  Father  Doddy,  he  found  time  and 
means  to  build  the  handsome  and  commodious  parish  church  of 
Buninadden  previously  to  his  promotion  to  the  parish  of 
Emlaghfad  or  Bally  mote,  where  he  succeeded  Dr.  Durcan,  in  1832. 

The  Rev.  John  Corley  was  the  next  Parish  Priest  of  Bunin- 
adden. 

To  Father  Corley  succeeded  Rev.  James  Henry ;  and,  on 
Father  Henry's  quitting  the  parish,  from  ill  health,  in  1852, 
Reverend  John  Browne  was  appointed  to  his  place. 

Father  Henry's  health  having  been  re-established,  he  resumed 
the  incumbency  of  Buninadden,  on  Mr.  Browne's  death,  in  1858, 
and  administered  this  charge  up  to  1876,  when  he  died  after  a 
short  illness,  full  of  years  and  virtues — he  and  his  uncle,  Yery 
Rev.  James  Henry,  Parish  Priest  of  Ballysadare  and  Kilvarnet ; 
and  his  grand-uncle,  Rev.  Walter  Henry,  Parish  Priest,  also,  of 
Ballysadare  and  Kilvarnet;  being  three  priests  of  whom  the 
diocese  of  Achonry  has  good  reason  to  be  proud. 

Very  Rev.  James  MacDermot  was  the  next  Parish  Priest 
of  the  union,  having  taken  charge  in  1877.  It  is  a  loss  to 
religion  that  Canon  Mac  Dermot's  health  began  to  give  way 
soon  after  his  settling  in  Buninadden,  for,  with  his  talents,  learn- 
ing, and  virtues,  he  was  sure  to  exercise  an  influence  which 
would  be  felt  far  beyond  the  limits  of  his  parish,  and  even  of  his 
diocese.  It  is  well  known  to  his  friends,  that  he  was  engaged, 
during  the  last  years  of  his  life,  in  preparing  a  theologico-canoni- 
cal  dissertation,  on  a  subject  of  great  concernment  to  the  Irish 


200  HISTORY    OF   SLIGO. 


church,  and  more  especially,  to  the  portion  of  it  that  lies  in 
Lower  Connaught. 

This  amiable  and  accomplished  ecclesiastic  died  in  1881,  and 
is  buried  outside  the  rails  of  the  high  altar  in  the  parish  church 
of  Buninadden,  by  the  side  of  his  predecessors,  Canon  Henry 
and  Father  Browne.  It  is  matter  of  regret  to  have  to  add,  that 
all  three  lie  in  uninscribed  graves,  and  that  there  is  no  memo- 
rial of  any  kind,  within  or  without  the  church,  to  preserve  the 
memory  of  men  who  deserved  very  different  treatment. 

Very  Reverend  Canon  Owen  Stenson  succeeded  Canon 
MacDermot,  in  1881,  as  Parish  Priest  of  Buninadden,  and  is 
the  actual  incumbent. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

UNION   OF  KEASH. 

To  the  east  of  Buninadden  Union,  and  divided  from  it  by  the 
Ovvenmore  river,  stretches  the  parochial  union  of  Drumrat  and 
Toomour,  popularly  called  the  Parish  of  Keash.     We  meet  with 
Drumrat  in  the  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters  at  the  years  788, 
946, 1015,  lOlG,  1237,  but  we  must  not  assume  that  the  Drumrat 
of  these  entries  is  always  that  of  Corran.     In  a  note  on  Drum- 
rat, under  the  year  788,  O'Donovan  observes,  in  his  edition  of  the 
Four  Masters,  "  Colgan  says  this  is  a  church  in  Leyney,  in  the  pro- 
vince of  Connaught;  "  but  Colgan  says  nothing  of  the  kind  ;  for, 
in  the  place  referred  to — the  Index  Topographicus  of  the  Acta 
Sanctorum,  p.  876 — he  merely  states  that  there  are  two  Drumrats? 
one  in  Meath  and  the  other  in  Leyney,  but  gives  no  opinion  as 
to  which  of  the  two  the  entry  of  788  concerns.     The  entry  of  946 
records,  that  '*  an  army  was  led  by  the  Foreigners  over  Drumrat, 
and  they  burned  the  oratory  and  seven-score  and  ten  persons  in 
it,"  an  occurrence  which  we  may  refer  to  the  Meath  Drumrat ; 
for,  had  it  taken  place  in  Sligo,  there  would  be  some  tradition 
of  the  tragedy  in  the  neighbourhood,  of  which  there  is  not  a 
trace.     On  the  other  hand,  it  is  certain  that  the  event  recorded 
under  the  year  1237,  "  They  went  northward,  across  the  Curlews 
until  they  arrived  at  Drumrat,"  had  to  do  with  the  Sligo  Drum- 
rat, as  the  mention  of  the  Curlews  clearly  shows.     Where,  then, 
Drumrat  is  mentioned  in  old  documents,  one  must  think  twice 
before  fixing  the  locality. 

The  owners  of  Drumrat,  in  1641,  were  Lord  TaafFe,  Owen 
Horroghy,  John  Boswell,  Sir  Eobert  King,  and  William  Dod- 
well ;  and  the  chief  grantees,  under  the  Acts  of  Settlement  and 


202  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


Explanation,  were  the  Earl  of  Carlingford,  John  Boswell,  and 
Lord  Collooney. 

Another  grantee,  though  of  a  small  grant,  should  not  he 
passed  over.  It  is  Richard  Fibbs,  the  ancestor  of  the  prosperous 
and  numerous  Phibbs  family.  One  of  the  Reports  of  the 
Schedules  and  Petitions  of  Cromwellian  officers  and  soldiers  * 
records,  that  Richard  Fibbs  claimed,  as  a  soldier  of  Colonel 
Richard  Coote's  regiment,  and  Captain  Francis  King's  troop  ; 
that  the  amount  of  arrears  he  claimed  for  was  £62  2s.  Od. ;  and 
that,  in  satisfaction  of  this  claim,  82  acres  1  rood  0  perches, 
subsequently  reduced  to  54  acres  3  roods  13  perches,  were 
assigned  him  in  the  townlands  of  Sniggeen  and  Knockgrany,  in 
the  parish  of  Drumrat,  which,  at  10s.  an  acre,  came  to 
£41  2s.  6d.  for  the  82  acres  1  rood  0  perches,  and  to  £27  15s.  Od. 
for  the  54  acres  3  roods  13  perches,  thus  leaving  in  his  favour 
a  balance  of  claim,  in  one  case,  of  £20  19s.  6d.,  and  in  the  other 
of  £34  I7s.  Od.,  or  thereabouts. 

It  was  from  this  small  beginning  the  Phibbs  family  started  on 
the  career  of  aggrandisement,  which  they  have  since  so  steadily 
and  successfully  pursued,  being  now  owners,  between  them,  of 
near  20,500  acres  of  the  most  fertile  land  in  the  county-^for  the 
most  part  church  lands.     A  short  time  before  the  Phibbs  family 

*  The  Report  runs  thus  : — 

"  To  the  Honourable  his  Majesty* s  Commissioners  for  putting  in  execution  the 
Act  of  Settlement  and  the  Explanatory  Act  of  the  same. 
**  May  it  please  your  Honors — 

,  *'  Pursuant  to  your  Honors'  instructions  we  have  compared  and  examined 
the  petition  and  schedule  of  Richard  Fibbs  who  claymes  as  a  souldier,  and  doo 
report  the  state  thereof  to  be  as  follows  : — 

Cotn.  Sligoe.  Bar.  of  Corran. 

Colonel  Richd.  Coote's  Regt. 
Capt.  Francis  King's  Troop. 

Sums  of  Money.      Old  Troprietor^s      Denominations  of  Land.      Quantity  of  Land. 
Names.  A.     R.    P. 

£26    2    0        Owen  Horroghy.     Sniggeen  &  Knockgrany.        82     1     0 
To  be  deducted  as  granted  to  the  Earl  of  Carlingford  in  fee     27     1  27 

54    3  13 
Commonwealth  Books  ;  at  present  in  the  Public  Record  Office,  Dublin. 


HISTORY  OF  SLIGO.  203 


got  possession  of  these  church  lands,  they  were  held  on  lease  from 
the  Bishop  of  Killalla  and  Achonry,  by  Lord  Kingsborough,  whose 
interest,  it  would  appear,  the  Phibbs  acquired  by  purchase  or 
otherwise. 

"While  it  must  be  admitted  that  more  than  one  of  the  Phibbs 
family  have  always  acted  justly  and  humanely  by  their  tenants, 
it  is  certaiD,  on  the  other  hand,  that  some  of  them  have  been 
among  the  most  objectionable  landlords  in  the  county.  The 
leading  principle  of  action  with  the  late  Mr.  William  Phibbs  of 
Seafield,  as  a  landlord,  seems  to  have  been  the  substitution 
everywhere  of  cattle  and  sheep  for  human  beings;  and  the  miles 
upon  miles  of  "  cleared  "  grass  land,  left  by  him  in  the  parishes 
of  Ballysadare,  Killaspugbrone,  and  Drumrat,  are  there  to  show 
how  effectually  he  carried  this  inhuman  principle  into  practice. 

Wherever  he  had  the  power,  houses  and  cabins  disappeared, 
and  interminable  field  walls,  built  in  great]'part  with  the  stones 
of  demolished  houses,  rose  up  in  their  place. 

A  late  member  of  the  Phibbs  family,  whom  we  shall  call  A.  B., 
was,  perhaps,  as  good-for-nothing  and  as  rack-renting  a  land- 
lord as  could  be  found  in  Ireland.  He  was  a  good-for-nothing 
landlord ;  for  while  he  owned  499  acres  0  roods  34  perches  ofi 
for  the  most  part,  prime  land,  in  the  parish  of  Ballysadare,  he 
never  employed  a  labourer,  if  we  except  a  few  days  in  the 
hurried  season  of  hay-making,  when  he  paid  those  employed 
a  shilling  or  ten  pence  a  day  without  meat  or  drink,  just  half  of 
what  they  could  receive  from  others,  taking  care  too  that  they 
must  not  charge  for  a  half  or  a  broken  day ;  and  when  he  called 
on  such  tenants,  as  had  horses  and  carts,  to  give  him  a  hand^ 
instead  of  entertaining  and  regaling  them  generously,  as  others 
always  do  in  similar  circumstances,  he  never  provided  the  usual 
^'  entertainment  for  man  and  horse,"  but  sent  'the  carmen  home 
at  meal  times  to  recruit,  at  their  private  expense,  their  own  and 
their  horses'  strength,  with  directions,  not  to  lose  a  moment 
when  the  meal  was  over,  in  hastening  back  to  their  work. 

That  A.B.  was  a  rack-renter,  will  appear  from  the  ratio  of 


204  HISTORY  OF  SLTGO. 


rent  to  valuation  on  his   property,  as   seen  in  the  following 
•cases : 


Tenants. 

Kent. 

Valuation. 

£    s.    d. 

£    s.   d. 

Pat.  McK. 

8    5    0 

3  10    0 

James  McK. 

9    5    0 

5    0    0 

Mrs.  Q. 

...       13    0    0 

5  15    0 

Pat.  Q. 

4    0    0 

2    0    0 

Nor  let  any  one  say  that  these  may  be  exceptional  cases,  for 
a  like  proportion  is  observable  in  the  instances  of  nearly  all  the 
tenants  who  had  to  do  with  this  unfeeling  taskmaster. 

And  what  aggravated  enormously  the  injustice  of  these  rents, 
is,  that  the  land  was  all  reclaimed  by  the  tenants  themselves  or 
their  predecessors  in  title.  When  the  parents  of  Pat  and  James 
McK.  came  into  possession,  there  was  not  a  perch  of  arable  land 
in  their  holdings,  all  being  wet,  unwalkable  bog,  still  in  its 
primeval  state.  Day  after  day,  and  year  after  year,  these 
miserable  men  and  their  children,  delved,  and  drained,  and 
manured,  up  to  the  knee  in  water  or  sludge,  the  desolate 
ungrateful  waste,  continually  realising  infinitely  more  than  their 
proportionate  share  of  the  hard  lot  assigned  to  the  children  of 
Adam,  of  "eating  their  bread  in  the  sweat  of  their  face."  And 
to  crown  their  misery,  a  patch  of  land  was  no  sooner  made  ready 
to  give  crops,  than  the  landlord  stepped  in  and  set  on  it  a  rack- 
rent;  thus,  as  it  were,  inflicting  a  penalty  on  the  tenant,  instead 
of  dealing  out  a  reward  to  him  for  reclamation  and  improve- 
ments. 

It  is  with  great  reluctance,  and  only  from  an  imperious  sense 
of  duty  these  references  to  particular  persons  and  cases  are 
made ;  but  history,  to  be  useful,  must  notice  the  good  and  the 
bad  of  men  and  things. 

The  most  remarkable  object  in  the  adjoining  parish  of  Too- 
mour  is  the  famous  hill  of  Keash.  The  part  this  hill  has  had  in 
the  legends  and  folk  lore  of  the  people,  may  be  inferred  from 
the  fact,  that  it  forms  the  subject  of  one  of  the  Fenian  Tales, 
under  the  name  of  Britghean  Cheise  Corainn,  the  enchanted 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  205 


fort  of  Ceis  Corann,*  and  that  it  figures  largely  in  another  of 
these  tales,  which  is  given  in  the  third  volume  of  the  Ossianic 
Society    publications,    as    The    Pursuit    of   Diarmuid    and 
Grainne.1[    Antiquaries  differ  as  to  the  origin  of  the  name  of 
Keash ;  some  maintaining  that  the  hill  is  so-called  from  the 
Irish  word  Ceis,  signifying  Harp  strings,  because  the  entrances 
to  the  "  Caves"  on  the  west  side  shorten  in  a  graduated  scale 
like  the  strings  of  a  harp  ;X  some,  that  the  name  comes  from  a 
lady  called  Ceis,  who,  after  being  transformed  into  a  pig,  was 
killed  there  ;§  others  derive  it  from  the  Irish  word  cuas,  cave,  in 
reference  to  the  famous  caves  of  the  hill ;  others  again,  including 
Very  Eev  Canon  Judge,  of  Killasser,  a  native  of  Keash,  and  a  first- 
rate  Irish  scholar,  trace  the  *'  style  and  title  "  to  the  resemblance 
real  or  imagined,  which  the  hill,  with  its  entourage  of  little 
hills,  offers  to  a  sow  and  her  litter.     The  third   opinion  is  the 
more  likely  one. 

Sheanachies  tell  droll  stories  of  the  formation  of  the  chief 
cave,  and  of  its  vast  extent,  the  most  moderate  of  these 
raconteurs  stretching  this  cave  to  Rathcroghan,  in  Roscommon  ;|| 


*  Transactions  of  the  Ossianic  Society,  Vol.  III.,  p.  20. 

t  Idem,  pages  170-171. 

t  What  is  said  in  the  Dinnseanchus  of  the  cave  seems  to  point  to  this 
etymology  : — "Here  used  to  dwell  the  gentle  Corann,  whose  hand  was  skilful 
in  playing  on  the  harp  .  .  .  Here  was  he,  this  generous  man ,  not  without 
literature,  or  in  a  churlish  fortress,  but  in  a  place  where  the  stranger  was  at 
liberty  to  sojourn  with  him." — The  Irish  Penny  Journal,  p.  9. 

§  Ibidem.  In  his  article  on  the  Caves  of  Kish-Corran,  in  the  Irish  Penny 
Journal,  p.  9,  Dr.  Petrie  observes  : — "  The  same  authority,  the  Dinnseanchus, 
accounts  for  the  prefix,  Ceis,  or,  as  it  is  pronounced,  Kish,  which  is  applied  to 
the  mountain  by  a  very  singular  legend,  according  to  which  it  would  appear 
that  it  was  originally  the  name  of  a  lady,  who,  with  five  others,  were  by  a 
charm  compounded  with  the  nut-fruit,  metamorphosed  into  pigs,  the  unhappy 
Ceis  herself  being  here  subsequently  slain.  However  this  may  be,  there  is 
nothing  improbable  in  the  supposition,  that  the  caves  of  Kish-Corran  were  in 
former  times  the  favourite  dens  of  the  wild  boar,  the  wolf,  and  many  other 
animals  now  extinct ;  they  furnish  a  secure  retreat  to  the  fox  and  many  other 
wild  animals  at  the  present  day. 

II  In  proof  they  quote  the  adventure  of  a  woman,  who,  while  driving  a  calf 
at  Eathcroghan;  seeing  it  enter  a  cave  there,  caught  hold  of  it  by  the  tail  to 


206  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


but  geologists  will,  no  doubt,  maintain  that  all  the  caves  were 
formed  by  water  falling  into  the  fissures  on  the  summit,  and, 
after  penetrating  into  the  interior,  forcing  its  way  out  through 
the  side,  and  carrying  with  it  in  its  flow  the  decomposed  lime- 
stone— thus  enlarging  by  degrees  the  orifices  of  the  outlets. 

This  solution  will  appear  the  more  probable  if  we  hold  with 
Professor  Hull,*  that  "  the  cleft  which  traverses  the  summit  of 
this  limestone  hill "  is  a  dried  up  river  valley.  It  is  a  pity  that 
these  caves,  or  "  coves,"  as  they  are  locally  called,  have  never 
been  scientifically  explored.  Dr.  Doberk,  late  of  the  Markree 
Observatory,  tried  once  to  do  so,  but  complained  that, 
owing  to  the  crowd  of  young  fellows  that  gathered  in  upon  him, 
he  was  unable  to  proceed.  Had  he  been  allowed  to  continue 
his  operations,  he  would,  very  probably,  have  made  some  in- 
teresting discoveries,  which  are  now  reserved  for  other  explorers. 

A  very  important  battle,  called  the  battle  of  Ceis  Corainn,  was 
fought  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  in  971,  between  the  Northerns  and 
Connaughtmen,  in  which  the  latter  were  defeated  with  great 
loss,  Cathal,  son  of  Teige,  King  of  Connaught,  being  among  the 
slain.f  The  Book  of  Ballymote  contains  an  interesting  state- 
ment in  reference  to  this  battle,  which  is  translated  as  follows, 
in  the  Ordnance  Survey  volume  of  extracts  relating  to  the 
county  Sligo  : — "  In  the  rage  of  the  battle  of  Ceis  Corainn,  fell 
Searrach  O'Flaverty,  King  of  the  Kenelowen,  and  Donough  the 
son  of  Donnell  Roydamna  of  the  Kenelowen.  Also  Teige,  the 
son  of  Mortagh,  the  father  of  Concannon ;  and  Cathal,  the  son  of 
Teige,  King  of  Connaught,  and  all  these  chiefs,  both  northern 
and  southern,  were  interred  in  Cill  Easpaig  Luidhigh,  between 
Mael-an-Chinn — Sein-Slebhi — and  CorrsliabhSeghsa  (Curlews)." 

Our  Annalists  call  the  battle,  in  which  the  kings  fell,  the 


pull  it  back,  but  being  instead  pulled  forward  herself,  and  keeping  "a  firm 
grip  of  her  holding,"  found  herself  at  last,  after  a  wearisome  journey,  and  a 
thousand  ups  and  downs,  issuing  into  light  through  the  great  Cave  of  Keash. 

*  Physical  Geography  of  Ireland,  p.  182, 

t  Chronicon  Scotorum,  a.d.  971. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  207 


Battle  of  Keash,  without  supplying  any  further  indications  of 
the  precise  locality  ;  but,  as  we  learn  from  an  inquisition  sped 
atBallymote,  on  22nd  May,  1611,  before  Nicholas  Brady,  that  a 
denomination  of  land,  then  called  the  Tryne  of  Cloncagh,  that  is, 
the  Tryne  of  the  Battle-field,  lay  between  Toomour  and  the  crest 
of  Bricklieve,  we  are  sufficiently  warranted  in  pitching  upon 
this  place  as  the  exact  scene  of  the  conflict.  This  spot  being 
fenced,  on  the  west,  by  the  Hill  of  Keash,  and,  on  the  north,  by 
Bricklieve  mountain,  escape  or  flight,  in  these  directions,  was 
next  to  impossible,  which  may  account,  somewhat,  for  the 
exceptional  slaughter  of  the  battle. 

The  exact  situation  of  the  interment  of  the  chiefs  who  lost 
their  lives  in  the  engagement  has  remained  unknown  hitherto, 
though  there  can  hardly  be  a  doubt  that  it  is  the  churchyard 
of  the  old  church  of  Toomour,  of  which  the  ruin  still  stands,  in 
fair  preservation,  in  the  townland  of  Toomour.  The  extract 
from  the  Book  of  Ballymote  informs  us  that  the  slain  chiefs 
were  interred  in  the  church  of  "  Bishop  Luidhigh,"  so  that  to 
identify  this  church  is  to  identify  the  burying  place  of  the  chiefs 
who  fell  in  the  great  battle  of  Keash. 

From  the  words  "  Cill  Easpaig  Luidhigh  between  Mael-an- 
chinn,  Sein  Slebhi,  and  Corsliabh-Seghsa,"  coupled  with  the 
fact  that  the  battle  was  fought  at  Keash,  it  follows  that  the 
church  lay  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Keash  aad  the  Curlews. 
Of  the  three  points  given,  Corsliabh-Seghsa  is  certainly  the 
Curlews;  and,  though  the  other  two  points,  Sein  Slebhi  and 
Mael-an-Chinn,  are  not  known  now  by  these  names,  there  may 
be  little  hesitation  in  affirming  that  Sein  Slebhi,  in  English, 
the  Old  Mountain,  is  the  famous  hill  of  Keash,  and  that  Mael- 
an-chinn  is  some  point  or  pinnacle  of  the  adjoining  Bricklieve 
mountain — "  mael,"  according  to  Dr.  Joyce,  "  being  applied  to 
hills  and  promontories  "  (Names  of  Places — First  series,  p.  360). 
The  position  of  Toomour  old  church  is  within  the  triangle  formed 
by  these  three  points,  so  that  there  can  hardly  be  any  doubt  as 
to  the  identity  of  this  spot  with  Cill  Espaig  Luidhigh. 

But  there  is  additional  evidence,  which,  if  possible,  is  still 


208  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


more  decisive  on  the  subject ;  for,  the  Marty rology  of  Donegal, 
under  the  date  of  the  6th  of  October  {'pridie  nonas  Octobris), 
gives,  in  express  words,  *'Lughaidh,  as  Bishop  of  Tuaim-fobhair 
(Toomour),  in  Leyney ; "  *  and  as  it  is  certain  that  Leyney  was 
the  old  name  of  the  diocese  of  Achonry,  as  well  as  an  alternative 
name,  for  a  long  time,  of  Corann  or  Coranna,  the  statement  of 
the  Martyrology  is  in  effect  the  same  as  if  it  were  this  other, 
"  Lughaidh  Bishop  of  Toomour,  in  barony  of  Corran,  and  diocese 
of  Leyney,"  It  is  seldom  the  identification  of  old  Irish  churches 
is  so  satisfactory. 

The  facts  mentioned  enable  us  to  clear  up  a  point  or  two  in 
the  life  of  the  famous  St.  Kevin  of  Glendalough,  which,  in  spite 
of  the  efforts  of  all  the  saint's  biographers,  foreign  and  domestic, 
still  continue  obscure  and  unsettled — namely,  the  identification 
of  the  bishop  who  ordained  him,  and  of  the  place  in  which  the 
orders  were  conferred. 

The  many  writers,  who  have  treated  the  life  of  this  saint, 
agree  that  he  lived,  for  some^time,  in  the  monastery  of  "  Bishop  " 
Lugidus  or  Lugid,  and  that  he  received  the  order  of  priesthood 
at  that  bishop's  hands  ;  but  they  all  fail  to  identify  the  bishop,  or 
the  place  to  which  his  religious  house  belonged.  Colgan  makes 
no  mention  of  any  "Bishop"  Lugid  or  "Saint"  Lugid,  either  in  the 
Acta  Sanctorum,  or  the  Trias  Thaumaturga ;  Dr.  Lanigan 
states,t  that  he  knows  no  "bishop"  Lugidus  by  whom  Saint  Kevin 
could  have  been  ordained,  except  St.  Lugidus,  bishop  of  Connor, 
whom  he  cannot  regard  as  the  person  in  question  ;  Baert,  J  the 

*  "  Luhaidh,  sou  of  Luchfc,  son  of  Anrodhan,  son  of  Maeltuile,  son  of  Aith- 
cleach,  son  of  Ferb  ;  and  Medhbh,  daughter  of  Garbhan,  sou  of  Brocan,  son  of 
Garbhan,  son  of  Dubchertan,  of  the  Ui-Saithghil  of  Ciarraighe,  Luachra  was 
his  mother.  He  was  bishop  of  Cuil-Beannachair,  on  the  brink  of  Loch  Erne, 
and  of  Rath  Muighe-tuaiscirt  in  Ciarraighe  Luachra  ;  or  of  Cuil  Beannachair 
in  Ui  Failghe,  and  of  Tuaim-fobhair  in  LuighneJ' 

t  "  I  know  of  no  bishop  Lugidus,  by  whom  he  could  have  been  ordained, 
when  arrived  at  the  proper  age  for  priesthood,  except  Lugadius  (same  name,  I 
dare  say,  as  Lugidus),  bishop  of  Connor.  But  how  account  for  Coemgen's 
going  so  far  away  from  his  own  country  as  the  diocese  of  Connor  ?  " — Ecclesi' 
astical  History  of  Ireland,  Vol.  II.,  p.  43. 

Baert  remarks,  that  he  could  find  no  saint,  named  Lugid  or  Lugidius  in 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  209 


editor  of  the  Bollaadist  "  Life  of  St.  Kevia,"  professes  himself 
equally  unable  to  discover  this  Bishop  Lugid  ;  while  the  learned 
and  painstaking  Father  O'Hanlon,  the  latest  of  Saint  Kevin's 
biographers,  has  also  searched  in  vain  for  the  missing  informa- 
tion. 

After  all  the  troublesome  and  bootless  inquiries  of  these 
distinguished  men,  it  would  be  gratifying  to  think  that  we  had 
at  last  fallen  in  with  the  object  of  their  search  ;  and  there  is  the 
best  reason  for  believing  that  the  extract  from  the  Book  of 
Ballymote,  when  correctly  understood,  acquaints  us  with  that 
object.  Without  affirming  dogmatically  that  the  Luidhigh  of 
cm  Easpaig  Luidhigh  is  the  ordainer  of  Saint  Kevin,  there 
is  no  ground  for  doubting  the  fact. 

It  is  true  the  names  Luidhigh  and  Lugid  are  slightly  different, 
as  the  first  part  of  Lugid  has  a  g,  which  is  not  fouad  in  the  other  ; 
but  such  a  difference  of  orthography  is  not  uncommon  in  Irish 
words,  even  while  the  names  are  still  the  same,  as  Coeman  and 
Kevin  without  a  g  are  the  same  word  as  Coemgen  with  it,  and 
tigheama  with  a  g  the  same  as  tierna  without  it. 

Anyhow,  it  is  quite  clear  from  the  Martyrology  of  Donegal, 
that  Luidhigh,  Lugid,  and  Lughaidh  are,  all  three,  different  forms 
of  the  same  name,  as  the  Martyrology  applies  the  name  of 
Lughaidh  to  the  person  whom  the  Book  of  Ballymote  calls 
Luidhigh,  and  the  biographies  of  Saint  Kevin,  Lugid.  It  is 
important  to  note  that  as  Luidhigh  is  styled  in  the  Book  of 
Ballymote,  "  Bishop,"  or  Easpaig  Luidhigh,  so  also  Lugid  is 
styled  in  the  lives  of  Saint  Kevin  "Bishop"  Lugid,  as  if  Bishop 
was  a  proenomen  in  each  case,  or,  so  to  speak,  the  popular  style 
and  title  of  the  person  spoken  of;  a  fact,  which,  of  itself,  and 
independently  of  the  conclusive  proofs  already  offered,  would 
serve  to  show  the  identity  of  "  Bishop  "  Luidhigh  and  "  Bishop  " 
Lugid. 

In  regard  to  this  valley  of  Toomour,  it  may  be  remarked  that, 

Colgaa  ;    but  he  finds  many  named  Lugaid,  Lugbee,  and  Lugnes.     He   con- 
fesses himself  at  a  loss  to  discover,  if  any  of  them  could  be  identified  with  the 
present  Lugid." — I^ote  in  O'Hanlon's  "  Lives  of  the  Irish  Saints,"  Part  61,  p.  41. 
VOL.  IL  O 


210  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


judging  from  what  appears  in  the  "  Life  of  Saint  Kevin/'  the 
place  was  far  from  being  the  paradise  one  might  expect,  in  the 
time  of  the  saint,  that  is,  in  the  sixth  century.  It  was  probably 
about  the  middle  of  that  century  Kevin  was  ordained  in  the 
church  of  "Bishop"  Luidhigh,  seeing  that  he  died  in  the  year  618, 
at  an  extreme  old  age,  and  that  he  was  probably  thirty  years, 
or  thereabouts  at  the  time  of  his  ordination,  which  would  fix  that 
event  at,  or  close  on,  560.  There  are  proofs  that,  even  during 
the  stay  of  the  saint  in  the  valley,  crimes  of  such  magnitude  as 
robbery,  perjury,  and  murder,  were  not  unknown,  or,  apparently, 
uncommon  there. 

It  is  told,  for  instance,  that  robbers  stole  some  animal  belong- 
ing to  the  flock  of  Bishop  Luidhigh's  establishment.  The  robber, 
on  being  charged  with  the  act,  added  perjury  to  dishonesty,  and 
swore,  on  some  sacred  objects — "  Signa  sacra,'^  (no  doubt  the 
rounded  stones  of  The  Altar),  that  he  was  innocent  of  the  alleged 
crime  ;  but  it  is  satisfactory  to  be  able  to  add  that,  on  being 
reproved  by  Saint  Kevin  for  the  perjury,  he  repented,  and 
passed  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  doing  penance  for  his  sins. 

Murder,  too,  stained  the  neighbourhood  of  Bishop  Luidhigh's 
monastery ;  for,  Saint  Kevin,  in  one  of  his  rounds,  found,  it  is 
said,  lying  in  his  path,  the  dead  bodies  of  two  murdered  females, 
and,  on  inquiry,  ascertained  that  the  murder,  like  many  other 
Irish  crimes,  was  the  prompting  of  revenge;  the  murderers 
having  acted  in  retaliation  for  some  injuries,  real  or  imaginary, 
which  they  had  received  from  relatives  of  the  murdered 
persons. 

The  church  of  "Bishop  Lugid"  being  ascertained,  a  question 
now  arises,  whether  it  should  not  be  identified  with  the  church, 
that  Saint  Patrick  founded  at  Diimecha  nepotum  Ailello*  In 
what  is  stated,  in  another  page,  under  the  head  of  the  Parish 
of  Aghanagh,  may  be  seen  a  conjecture,  that  this  foundation  of 
our  national  apostle  was  a  church  which  stood  on  the  site  of 
what  is  now  called  the  Nunnery,   at  Carricknahorna,  in  that 

*  Documenta  de  S.  Patricio,  E.  Hogan,  S.J.,  p.  70. 


HISTORY  OF   SLIGO.  211 


parish ;  and  while  this  opinion  derives  some  probability  from  the 
fact,  that  the  Nunnery  lies  in  Tirerrill,  where  St.  Patrick's 
church  is  located  by  Tirechan,  a  strong  argument  on  the  other 
hand  for  identifying  that  church  with  Toomour,  though  in  the 
present  Corran,  will  be  found  in  the  Taxation  Roll  of  1307. 

In  that  roll,  among  the  churches  of  Achonry,  there  is  mention 
of  one  named  Kellasennig,  probably  a  misprint  for  Kellasenis, 
which  is  an  equivalent  of  ecclesia  senis,  the 'very  name  that 
this  church  of  St.  Patrick  receives  at  one  place  in  the  Book  of 
Armagh.*  As  Toomour  is  not  given,  under  that  name,  in  the 
Taxation  roll,  and  as  so  old  and  renowned  a^church  could  hardly 
be  omitted,  it  is  likely  that  Kellasenig,  or  Kellasenis,  stands  for  it, 
and  the  more  so,  as  Kellasenig  belonged  certainly  to  the  same 
district,  being  placed  on  the  roll  between  Kekelcurn  and 
Emlaghfad,  the  exact  situation  of  Toomour. 

It  can  be  objected  that  Toomour  is  not  in  Tirerrill,  where  St. 
Patrick's  foundation  certainly  was,  but  there  is  little  force  in  the 
objection,  as  Toomour  is  on  the  border  of  Tirerrill,  and  was 
probably  within  the  border  in  remote  times,  similar  small  chano-es 
in  the  extent  of  territories  being  of  frequent  occurrence.  And 
supposing  the  church  of  Toomour  to  have  been  built  by 
Saint  Patrick,  it  might,  in  the  course  of  time,  have  got  the  name 
cm  Easpuig  Luidhigh  from  St.  Lugid,  who  may  have  rebuilt 
or  restored  it,  and  who,  in  any  case,  as  appears  from  St.  Kevin's 
putting  himself  under  his  rule,  was  a  most  distinguished  bishop 
in  his  day. 

No  one  can  give  any  information  as  to  the  origin  of  the  name 
Toomour,  but,  it  may  be  taken  as  certain,  that  it  comes  frooi 
the  holy  well  near  the  church;  for  Toomour,  that  is  Tuaim 
Fobhair,  signifies  the  Hollow  of  the  Spring,  the  F  being 
aspirated,  and  in  consequence,  losing  its  sound.  (Joyce's  Irish 
Names  of  Places ;  First  Series,  p.  20.) 

And  the  present  English  name  of  the  spring — Kings-town 
Well — is  as  great  a  puzzle  as  the  Irish  one ;  but  a  little  reflection 


*  Documenta  de  S.  Patricio,  p.  60. 


212 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


will  satisfy  us,  that  it  comes  from  the  "  Kings  "  buried  in  St. 
Lugid's  church,  from  whom  the  place  got  the  name  of  the 
King's  Toivn,  in  Irish  Baile-na-Righ* 

A  B 


GRAVE    OF   THE   KINGS    WHO    FELL   IN  THE    BATTLE    OF    KEASH-CORRAN.  f 

*  We  may  take  occasion  of  what  is  here  said  of  the  King's  Town,  to  point 
out  what  appears  to  be  the  correct  meaning  and  application  of  a  line  in  the 
Book  of  Fenagh,  which  seems  to  have  been  misapplied.  The  line  occurs  at 
pape  279  of  the  book,  and  runs  thus  : — 

"  The  Battle  of  the  Kings  in  Cairbre." 
On  this  line  Mr.  D.  H.  Kelly  observes  in  a  note,  "It  is  uncertain  which  of  the 
conflicts  that  took  place  in  Carbury,  between  the  O'Rorkes  and  O'Donnells,  is 
here  referred  to." 

Instead  of  referring  to  any  conflict  between  the  O'Rorkes  and  O'Donnells,  the 
line  must  relate  to  the  famous  battle  between  the  O'Conors  of  Connaught  and 
Flaherty  O'Muldory,  Lord  of  Tirconnell,  in  1181;  for,  first,  this  battle  is 
expressly  called,  in  the  Four  Masters  and  in  all  our  annals,  Cath  Crt'che  Cairbre^ 
th1l,t  is,  the  battle  of  the  territory  of  Carbury;  second,  it  is  the  most  famous  of 
the  battles  fought  in  the  district,  and  was  the  most  momentous,  so  that  it  de- 
served to  be  specially  associated  with  Carbury ;  third,  those  engaged  in  the  contest 
are  styled  the  "  sous  of  Kings,"  just  as  those  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Keash 
Corran  are  similarly  styled  ;  and  lastly,  the  author  of  the  Book  of  Fenagh,  in 
the  passage  (pages  278-279),  is  speaking  not  of  the  O'llorkes  or  O'Donnells,  but 
of  King  Turlough  0' Conor  and  his  descendants. 

t  Drawn  on  the  wood  by  Mr.  Wakeman,  from  a  sketch  by  Mr.  Coleman  of 
Ballaghaderrecn, 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  213 


The  exact  place  ia  which  the  Kings  are  buried,  is  not  the 

existing  ruin  of  Toomour  church,  but  a  spot  about  60  feet  to 

the  west  of  it,  which  measures  fifteen  feet  by  nine,  and  which, 

as  appears  from  existing  foundations,  was  formerly  enclosed  on 

all  the  four  sides,  though  at  present  the  only  parts  of  the  walls 

standing,  are  three  feet  high  of  the  east  wall,  with  two  feet 

seven  inches  long  of  the  south  wall  attached,  and  ^ve  feet  eight 

inches  of  the  north  one.     On  the  west  wall  there  is  laid  a  range 

of  seventeen  rounded  sea  stones,  varying  in  diameter  from  nine 

to  three  inches,  and  a  four  sided  flag,  A,  marked  with  several 

incised  lines,  and  measuring  lengthwise  one  foot  six  inches,  and 

in  breadth  one  foot.     This  flag  the  country    people  call  the 

Altar-table,  and  under  it  a  stone  stands  bearing  an  incised 

cross,   one   foot   four   inches   high,   and    one   foot   wide.     Six 

similarly  incised  crosses,  one  apiece  for  the  kings,  appear  on  the 

rude  circular  flag  B,  that  covers  the  grave,  each  being  five  inches 

by  five.     In  this  covering  flag  are  too  small  round  depressions, 

which,  the   people  tell  you,  were  made  by  the  knees   of  the 

saint  of  the  place  in  his  constant  prayers  at  the  Altar. 

It  may  he  doubted  whether  this  little  structure  was  the 
original  church  of  "  Bishop "  Lugid,  though,  considering  the 
small  dimensions  of  primitive  churches,  Teach  Molaise,  in  Inis- 
murray,  for  instance,  measuring  internally  but  eight  feet  ten 
inches  in  length,  by  seven  feet  ten  inches  in  breadth,  it  is 
probable  that  it  was;  the  larger  church,  of  which  the  ruin 
remains,  measuring  fifty-three  feet  long  and  twenty-three  broad, 
exterior  measurement,  being  a  later  erection, 

The  sepulchral  enclosure  is  always  spoken  of  by  the  people  as 
The  Altar,  and  no  one  had  any  notion  of  its  mortuary  character 
when  the  writer,  after  visiting  the  place,  and  putting  together 
various  scraps  of  information,  picked  up  here  and  there,  con- 
ceived the  idea  that  it  must  he  the  burying-place  of  the  Kings 
who  fell  in  the  battle  of  Keash.  To  test  the  conjecture.  Father 
Pat  McDermott,  the  obliging  and  accomplished  curate  of  Keash, 
was  asked  to  explore  the  spot,  who,  having  kindly  complied 


214  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


with  the  request,  described  thus  in  a  letter  the  result  of  the 
examiDation  : — "  As  you  coDJectured,  the  little  structure  is  a 
grave,  I  removed  the  flag  a  few  days  since,  and  dug  down 
three  feet  deep.  On  removing  the  flag,  just  on  the  surface  I 
found  a  number  of  bones  very  large.  Having  removed  some  of 
the  earth  I  found  more  bones  laid  on  stones.  Under  the  stones 
there  seemed  to  be  a  vacuum,  as  I  could  have  put  the  bar  of 
iron  a  foot  beneath  the  stones  without  interruption.  On 
removing  them,  however,  I  found  more  earth,  and  again  more 
stones  with  a  number  of  human  bones.  I  have  kept  two  small 
bones  that  you  may  see  them.  They  seem  to  have  been  there 
for  ages." 

Now  that  the  facts  in  connexion  with  Toomour  are  known,  it 
will  be  admitted,  that  the  spot  yields  to  no  other  in  the  county, 
either  in  religious  or  in  secular  interest.  From  the  religious 
stand-point  we  see,  first,  Saint  Patrick  and  his  disciples  founding 
what  was  probably  their  first  church  in  the  district  of  Sligo; 
and,  secondly,  in  the  establishment  of  "Bishop"  Lugid,  we 
meet  with  one  of  those  religious  houses  which  continued  and 
extended,  in  the  sixth  century,  the  great  work  of  St.  Patrick  ; 
while  the  case  of  St.  Kevin,  coming  all  the  way  from  Wicklow 
to  Toomour,  illustrates  for  us  a  practice,  not  uncommon  in  these 
days,  of  fervent  souls  travelling  to  distant  monasteries  and 
distant  religious  teachers  in  quest  of  greater  perfection. 

From  the  secular  point  of  view,  we  are  brought  face  to  face 
with  one  of  the  most  momentous  battles  recorded  in  the  annals 
of  the  country — one  in  which  all  Connaught  was  engaged 
against  all  Ulster,  and  in  which,  **with  a  countless  number  of 
others,"  the  most  exalted  princes  of  both  provinces  were  slain. 
And,  what  is  remarkable  at  this  early  period,  we  find  the  bodies 
of  the  princes,  instead  of  being  buried  on  the  battle  field,  carried 
religiously  to  the  next  cburch,  and  there  deposited  in  one  and 
the  same  grave,  where,  their  enmities  ended,  they  have  lain  to- 
gether at  rest  for  917  years.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  any 
other  single  grave,  containing  so  many  kings  or  princes,  can 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  215 


be  pointed  out  in  Ireland.  Anyhow,  there  is  nothing  else  of 
the  kind  in  the  county  Sligo,  so  that  in  this  respect  the  church 
of  Toomour,  like  the  church  of  St.  Denis,  near  Paris,  enjoys  a 
great  distinction,  and  may,  like  it,  be  styled  a  "  Royal  Mauso- 
leum." 

The  churchyard  of  Toomour  is  nearly  deserted  as  a  burying 
place,  there  being  now  only  one  or  two  families  in  the  parish 
which  continue  to  bury  in  it.  Templevanny,  though  a  much 
later  foundation — being  a  work  of  the  monks  of  Boyle — is  at 
present  the  chief  cemetery  of  the  district. 

At  the  date  of  James  the  First's  pardon  to  Donnogh  O'Connor 
and  others,  Templevanny  was  the  most  populous  spot  in  the 
parish  of  Toomour,  the  following  inhabitants  receiving  then  the 
royal  pardon ; — "  Owen  Grany  McMoylronie  finn,  of  Temple- 
vanny, gent ;  Keodagh  McMoyleronie  Fin,  of  the  same,  kerne  ; 
Brian  Boy  McMoyleronie  Fin  of  the  same,  kerne ;  Rory  Oge 
McMoyleronie  Fin  of  the  same,  kerne ;  Arte  McGilly worin,  of 
the  same,  labourer ;  GilledufFe  McBrian  Buy,  of  the  same, 
labourer ;  Will  Boy  O'Gibbalaine,  of  the  same,  kerne ;  Donald 
McGilly  worn  e,  of  the  same,  kerne  ;  Moriasse  McGilly  woraine,  of 
the  same,'labourer  ;  Edward  McGilly  woraine,  of  the  same,  kerne ; 
Moriertagh  Glas  McMoilrony  Finn,  of  the  same,  labourer ;  Cahall 
Duffe  McDwalty,  of  the  same,  labourer  ;  Dermot  O'Lapane,  of 
the  same,  labourer." 

Toomour  and  Drumrat  are  entered  as  separate  parishes  on 
the  List  of  the  Popish  Parish  Priests  of  1704,  James  Mullrussin 
of  Templeavanny  being  the  then  Parish  Priest  of  Toomour,  and 
John  McDonnagh,  of  Taunagh,  the  Parish  Priest  of  Drumrat. 

The  following  is  the  succession  of  recent  Parish  Priests  : — 
Rev.  O'Connor,  Rev.  James  McDonnagh,  Rev.  Owen  Banagher,* 


*  Father  Banagher  is  buried  in  Knockbrack  graveyard.    His  tombstone  bears 
the  inscription  : — 

"  Pray  for  the  soul  of  Owen  Banagher, 

who  died  April  3rd,  1800, 

aged  68  years. " 


216  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


Rev.  Rickard  ritzmaurice,t  Rev.  James  0*Hara,J  Rev.  C. 
Cosgrave,  and  Rev.  Mark  Cooke.  The  actual  incumbent  is  Rev. 
Patrick  Skully. 

There  was  no  priest  of  the  county  more  esteemed  in  his  day 
than  Father  Rickard  Fitzmaurice.  His  devotedness  to  duty 
through  life  would,  of  itself,  gain  him  general  respect ;  but  an 
event  occurred  a  'little  before  he  left  France,  where  he  was 
educated,  for  Ireland,  which  rendered  him  an  object  of 
exceptional  interest  to  everybody.  It  was  in  the  worst  period 
of  the  Revolution;  andsome  rabid  revolutionists,  learning  that 
there  were  priests  in  a  neighbouring  house,  hastened  to  the 
place  to  lake  their  lives.  As  these  miscreants  were  breaking 
in,  Father  Fitzmaurice  hid  himself  in  the  spacious  chimney  of 
the  apartment,  and  was  there  while  his  companions  were 
butchered.  From  his  concealment  he  heard  everything  that 
went  on  ;  and  the  scene  acted  so  powerfully  on  the  nerves  and 
the  imagination,  that  he  was  then  and  there  seized  with  a 
tremor,  which  lasted  him  all  his  life,  and  which,  while  keeping 

t  Father  Fitzmaurice  is  also  interred  in  Knockbrack,  and  his  monument  is 
inscribed  with  the  words  : — 

**  Pray  for  the  soul  of  Richard  Fitzmaurice, 

who    departed    this    life,    April    the    7th,    1831, 

P.P.  of  Keash, 

35  years." 

This  good  priest  presented  a  chalice  to  the  parish  of  Toomour,  as  we  learn 

from  the  inscription  : — 

"  Pro  Parochia  Toomover,  Rickardus  Fitzmaurice, 
me  fieri  fecit  1802." 
t  The  inscription  on  the  tombstone  over  Father  O'Hara's  grave  in  the  same 
cemetery  runs  thus  : — 

*'  Jacobus  O'Hara  vixit  LIX  annos. 

Obiit  die  xxviii  Jan.  Anno  Dom.  MDCCCLI. 

R.I.P." 

Father  Constantino  Cosgrave  and  Father  Mark  Cooke  are  buried  in  the 
Parish  Church  of  Keash,  and  it  is  matter  of  regret  that  there  is  no  memorial  of 
any  kind  over  their  graves.  At  a  time  when  people  in  other  parts  of  Ireland 
are  erecting  costly  marble  monuments  over  the  remains  of  their  priests,  it  might 
be  expected  that  the  parishioners  of  county  Sligo  parishes  would  put  up  at  least 
simple  slabs  to  record  the  names  of  their  pastors. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  217 


alive  in  the  minds  of  those  who  saw  him  the  memory  of  the 
tragedy,  caused  them  to  respect  him  as  a  sufferer  for  the  faith. 

Anterior  to  the  Eeformation,  the  church  and  the  poor  were 
well  provided  for  in  this  district,  there  being  2,114  acres  of 
church  land  in  Toomour,  and  551  acres  in  Drumrat. 

Under  the  Established  Church,  Toomour  and  Drumrat  be- 
longed to  the  union  of  Emlaghfad,  so  that  the  Vicars  of  Emlaghfad 
were  Vicars  also  of  Toomour  and  Drumrat. 


CHAPTER  XXYIII. 

BARONY  OF  TIRERRILL. 

THE  MACDONOGHS. 

TiRERRiLL,  rede  Tirollioll,  so-called  from  OUioll,  son  of  Eochy 
Moyvane,  occupies  the  south-east  of  the  county  Sligo.  The 
district,  as  seen  from  one  of  the  neighbouring  eminences, 
resembles,  not  a  little,  a  framed  picture  or  map,  more  or  less 
circular ;  the  elevations  of  Union  Rock,  Slieve  da  En,  Branlieve, 
the  Curlews,  Drumfin,  and  Carrickbanagher,  forming  the  frame. 
The  enclosed  plain,  which  maintains  all  through  much  the  same 
level,  is  tumulated ;  the  tumuli,  or  hillocks,  gaining  somewhat 
in  size  as  one  moves  towards  the  south,  Ardleymore  being  larger 
than  Ardleybeg,  Gaddan  than  Ardleymore.  Sooey  than  Gaddan, 
and  so  on  till  the  southern  boundary  is  reached  at  Moytura  and 
the  Curlews. 

The  north-west  and  west  portion  of  the  barony  is  well 
timbered,  containing,  as  it  does.  Union  "Wood,  CloonmucdufF, 
Markree  demesne,  Cloonamahon,  and  a  considerable  part  of 
Annaghmore.  Some  of  these  places  produce  trees  of  great  size 
and  the  finest  quality.  The  beeches  of  Annaghmore,  the  limes 
and  elms  of  Markree,  and  the  ashes,  oaks,  and  firs  of  Union 
Wood,  are  equal  to  anything  of  the  kind  in  the  country. 

The  younger  timber  too  is  flourishing.  The  late  Markree 
forester,  Mr.  J.  Robertson,  who  boasted  that  he  took  all  the 
seedlings  out  of  the  nursery,  and  put  them  down  in  thousands 
through  Ballygawley,  CloonmucdufF,  and  Markree  demesne, 
might  be  proud  of  the  square  miles  of  beautiful  and  luxuriant 
plantations,  which  now  bear  witness  to  his  skill  and  success. 

Some  of  those  young  trees,  if  spared  by  the  woodman,  bid 
fair  to  have  as  long  and  prosperous  a  life  as  the  famous  Plunket 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  21^ 


limes  of  Markree,  which  were  so-called  from  being  planted  by 
Patrick  Plunket,  the  owner  of  Markree  in  1641,  and  which  sur- 
vived down  to  our  own  day,  enjoying  a  green  old  age,  furnished 
with  boughs  as  thick  as  the  trunks  of  most  other  trees,  and 
capable  of  supplying,  with  their  wide  spreading  branches  and 
foliage,  sbade  and  shelter  for  half  the  flocks  and  herds  of  the 
county. 

The  best  timber  habitat  in  the  county  is  Union  Wood,  which 
has  been  marked  in  all  our  old  maps  and  surveys  as  a  natural 
forest.  The  trees  are  still  very  abundant,  though  four  or  five 
carts  have  been  daily  drawing  them  for  several  years  to  the 
Chemical  Works  of  Collooney,  and  to  the  Messrs.  McNeile's 
factory,  Sligo :  to  say  nothing  of  the  sales  constantly  made  to 
customers  on  the  spot. 

Like^  the  other  tracts  of  ^the  county ,"Union  Wood  suffered 
severely  in  the  great  storm  of  1884,  the  ravages  of  which  are 
still  visible  in  the  fallen  timber  lying  in  all  directions  about» 
Uprooted  trees  were  to  be  met  with  everywhere,  but  more 
especially  at  a  spot  called  Castle  Yiew,  on  the  south-eastern 
side  near  the  top  of  the  ridge.  If  the  whole  wood  looked  like 
a  Titanic  battlefield,  strewn  with  dead  bodies,  the  spot,  referred 
to,  resembled  the  camp  or  citadel  where  the  last  great  struggle 
came  off,  the  place  being  filled  with  corpses  of,  huge  firs,  oaks, 
and  beeches  ;  many  lying  flat  on  the  ground  ;  some  in  collision, 
like  two  gladiators  locked  in  deadly  embrace,  but  each  unable  to 
bring  the  adversary  under ;  some  decapitated,  some  with  arms 
torn  quite  off,  or  hanging  by  the  side ;  and  some  with  whole 
perches  of  soil  and  rock,  like  gigantic  shields  firmly  clutched  by 
the  roots,  and  still  held  up  in  defence  or  protection  over  the 
prostrate  body.* 


*  In  poring  over  the  annals  of  the  country  we  meet  occasionally  accounts  of 
similar  storms,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  year  1178,  when,  to  use  the  words  of  the 
Annals  of  Loch  Ce,  "  Very  great  wind  came  in  this  year,  which  prostrated 
large  tracts  of  woods  and  forests,  and  huge  trees  ;  and  it  moreover  prostrated 
six  score  large  trees,  vel  paulo  plus,  in  Doire-Cholum-Chille." 


220  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


The  groves  round  Ballygawley  lake,  owiag  to  the  sheltered 
situation,  weathered  the  storm  of  1884  with  comparative  im- 
punity, and  form  as  thriving  and  picturesque  plantations  as  can 
be  found  in  the  country.  Even  when  they  were  much  fewer 
and  thinner  than  they  are  now,  they  struck  the  artist'eye  of  Dr. 
Petrie,  who,  after  seeing  them  from  the  Sligo  and  Ballyfarnon 
road,  records  his  impressions  in  these  strong  words  : — "  I  was  in 
raptures  with  the  scenery  along  the  shore  of  Lough  Gill,  and 
the  sweet  little  wood-embosomed  lake  of  Ballygawley,  and,  if  I 
had  been  in  better  spirits,  and  less  absorbed  by  the  spirit  of 
antiquarian  research,  I  should  have  felt  great  delight  in  trans- 
ferring some  of  their  beauties  to  my  portfolio."* 

A  ramble  through  the  place  increases  one's  admiration,  as  it 

brings  under  immediate  view  rare  specimens  of  fine  young  trees, 

including  the  oaks  which  skirt  the  Slieve  da  En  side  of  the 

lake,  and  which,  judging  by  their  vigorous  branches  and  broad 

sappy  leaf,  bid  fair  to  eqaal  one  day  the  noble  oaks  for  which 

Ireland  was  once  so  famous  ;  the  various  walks  leading  to  points 

of  interest,  and  opening  up  charming  views  at  every  turn  ;  the 

miles  of  rhododendrons  which  line  the  lake  walk,  and  in  June, 

form  with  their  corymbs  a  long  streak  of  beauty,  brilliant  as  one 

of  the  colours  of  the  rainbow ;   and  the  sweet  secluded  tranquil 

lake,  referred  to  by  Dr.  Petrie,  far  away  from  the  haunts  of  men, 

unseen  and  unappreciated,  like  the  theme  of  Gray's  lines  : — 

*'  Full  many  a  flower  is  born  to  blush  unseen, 
And  waste  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air." 

The  stretch  from  Ballygawley  to  Lough  Dergan,  was  planted 
about  sixty  years  ago  by  the  late  John  Ormsby,  but  owing  to 
the  want  of  protection,  most  of  the  trees  perished,  and  those  that 
survived,  and  still  grow,  have  a  scraggy  look,  except  near  Lough 
Dergan  house,  where  they  are  doing  fairly  well.  At  Bloomfield 
there  are  flourishing  groves  ;  and  at  Castle  Neynoe  there  is  good 
soft  timber,  though  this  and  other  places  of  the  barony  suffered 
severely  in  the  destructive  storm  of  1884. 

*  The  Life  of  George  Petrie,  LL.D.,  M.R.I. A.    By  William  Stokes,  M.D., 
D.C.L.  Oxon,  p.  258. 


HISTORY  OF   SLIGO.  221 


Tbe  Mac  Donoghs  of  the  county  Sligo  are  a  branch  of  the 
Mac  Dermots  of  Moylurg,  being  descended  from  Donogh,  who 
was  a  son  of  Tomultach  McDermot,  and  who  died  in  1232. 
Mulrony  More,  who  died  in  1077,  being  their  ancestor,  as  well 
as  the  ancestor  of  the  Mac  Dermots,  both  families  got  the  name 
of  Clan  Mulrony ;  the  Mac  Donoghs  heing  known  as  the  Clan 
Mulrony  Lower,  and  the  Mac  Dermots  as  Clan  Mulrony  Upper. 
On  taking  the  new  name  the  Mac  Donoghs  possessed  them- 
selves of  Tirerrill,  some  settling  at  Collooney,  some  at  Ballindoon^ 
and  others  in  various  spots  through  the  district,  the  chief  being 
taken  now  from  one  of  these  places,  and  again  from  another, 
in  accordance  with  the  qualifications  of  individuals  for  the  office. 
From  the  beginning  they  played  an  active  and  influential 
part  in  the  affairs  of  Lower  Connaught,  engaging  in  all  the 
transactions  that  occurred  there  in  the  fourteenth,  fifteenth, 
sixteenth,  and  seventeenth  centuries.  They  displayed  on  all 
occasions  a  high  and  martial  spirit,  of  which  the  deaths  of  the 
first  and  the  last  of  the  Collooney  chiefs  may  afford  a  good 
illustration. 

Cormac  Mac  Donogh,  Tanist  of  Tirerrill,  or,  as  he  is  called 
in  the  Annals  of  Loch  Ce,  Lord  of  Tirerrill,  is  the  first  of  the 
Collooney  chiefs  of  whom  we  have  any  account.  His  death 
occurred  in  1388 ;  and  the  following  simple  narrative  of  the 
event  shows  well  the  lofty  courage  of  the  man  : — "  Cormac 
Mac  Donogh,  royal  champion  of  Tirerrill,*  and  its  Tanist,  went 
by  night  on  a  predatory  excursion  into  Moylurg,  and  made 
great  preys.  O'Conor  Roe,  the  grandson  of  Felim,  the  sons  of 
Cathal  Oge  O'Conor,  and  the  sons  of  Hugh  Mac  Dermot,  namely 
Cathal  and  Cormac,  with  their  forces,  followed  him  in  pursuit 
of  the  preys.  Cormac  Mac  Donogh  betook  himself  to  the  rear 
of  his  own  people,  where  some  of  O'Conor's  party  first  made 
towards  him,  and  unsparingly  attacked  him  ;  but  O'Conor  him- 
self came  up  with  them,  and  commanded  his  people  not  to  kill 
him,  if  they  could  take  him  prisoner  ;  but  Mac  Donogh  did  not 

*  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  1388. 


222  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


consent  to  protection  or  quarter,  so  that  they  were  at  last 
obliged  to  kill  him.  There  was  not  of  his  tribe,  up  to  that  time, 
his  peer  for  hospitality  and  prowess." 

Brian  MacDonogh,  who  represented  the  county  Sligo  in  the 
eventful  Parliament  of  1G13,  and  was  the  last  of  the  MacDonoghs 
that  inhabited  Collooney  castle,  possessed,  in  the  highest  degree, 
the  characteristic  courage  of  the  family.  His  lot  falling  in  the 
dark  days  of  1641,  he  took  side  with  his  countrymen,  and 
bore  a  chief  part  in  the  capture  of  Sligo,  and  the  transactions 
which  followed  upon  the  taking  of  the  town.  Smarting,  like 
all  around  him,  from  the  wrongs  which  had  goaded  the  country 
into  insurrection,  he  felt,  more  than  many  others,  the  need  of 
caution  and  system  in  the  contest  on  which  they  had  entered, 
and  set  his  face  against  desultory  and  tumultuary  action,  as  sure 
to  lead  to  no  permanent  result.  With  such  sentiments  he  was 
averse  to  a  precipitate  attack  on  Sir  Frederick  Hamilton's  posi- 
tion at  Manorhamilton,  deeming  it  wiser  to  wait  till  some  turn 
in  events  offered  a  better  prospect  of  dealing  an  effectual  blow 
to  so  dexterous,  unscrupulous,  and,  withal,  so  formidable,  an 
adversary.  But,  as  often  happens  in  times  of  revolution,  the 
hot-headed  prevailed  over  the  long-headed  in  the  Confederate 
council  of  the  county  Sligo,  and  it  was  decided  to  beard,  without 
delay,  the  lion  in  his  den,  to  grapple  with  the  griffin  of  Manor- 
hamilton— whether  within  or  without  his  well-fortified  castle. 

In  the  absence  of  ^Maj  or- General  Lucas  Taaffe,  who  was 
engaged  elsewhere,  the  task  of  carrying  out  this  resolution 
was  committed  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  Brian  Mac  Donogh, 
who  was  next  in  military  command  to  Taaffe  in  the  county. 
This  commission  MacDonogh  accepted,  not  only  without  objec- 
tion, but,  with  particular  satisfaction,  resolved,  whatever  might 
be  thought  of  the  prudence  of  the  undertaking,  the  responsi- 
bility of  which  he  left  to  others,  to  do  all  that  one  man  could  to 
make  the  forlorn  hope  a  triumph. 

On  the  1st  April,  1643,  which  was  Easter  Saturday,  he  set  out 
from  Creevelea,  near  Dromahair,  the  camp  of  the  Irish,  his 
command  proceeding  in  three  divisions — the  first  division  com- 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  22 


o 


manded  immediately  by  himself,  Captain  Francis  Taaflfe,  and 
Captain  Cormac  O'Hara ;  the  second  by  Sergeant  Major  Teige 
O'Dowde,  Captain  Daniel  O'Dowde,  and  Captain  Brian  O'Hara ; 
and  tlie  third  by  Captain  William  Tyrrell,  Captain  Brian 
McSweeny,  and  Captain  Roger  O'Connor.  They  met  no  enemy 
till  they  reached  Manorhamilton,  where  Sir  Frederick's  troops 
were  skilfully  posted  '  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  so  as  to  command 
the  narrow  bridge  which  spanned  the  Bonet  and  afforded  the 
only  passage  across  the  river. 

Nothing  daunted  by  the  almost  certain  death  which  faced 
him,  if  he  advanced,  he  held  on  his  way  without  pause  or 
hesitation,  stepping  lightly  over  the  bridge,  and  calling  on  his 
men  to  follow,  who,  fired  by  the  intrepidity  of  their  gallant  leader, 
dashed  through,  regardless  of  the  murderous  fire  that  assailed 
them.  To  draw  them  into  an  ambuscade,  the  enemy  retired  a 
little,  as  if  in  retreat,  when  the  incautious  Irish,  on  darting 
forward  in  pursuit,  received,  from  the  men  in  concealment  and 
under  cover,  volley  upon  volley  of  bullets,  bringing  them  in 
hundreds  to  the  ground. 

Among  the  fallen  was  MacDonogh  himself,  wounded  in 
several  places,  but  still,  by  word  and  gesture,  animating  his 
followers  to  the  fight.  At  this  decisive  moment  the  Manor- 
hamilton troops  rushed,  with  pike  and  sword,  in  great  numbers, 
from  their  ambush  upon  the  Irish,  striking  down  those  that  still 
fought,  and  knocking  on  the  head  the  prostrate  wounded.  The 
Lieutenant-Colonel  they  would  gladly  take  alive,  to  reserve  him 
for  the  ignominy  of  the  gallows,  but  as  he  still  fought  furiously, 
moving  about  on  his  knees,  after  the  lower  limbs  were  broken 
with  the  pikes,  his  assailants,  tired  of  the  contest,  despatched 
him  with  the  cold  steel. 

Such  was  the  end  of  Brian  Mac  Donogh,  the  last  Chief  of 
CoUooney  ;  and  if  William  III.  is  praised  for  having  remained  on 
the  field  of  the  Boyne  after  receiving  a  wound,  which  was  hardly 
skin  deep  ;  and  if  Napoleon  is  extolled  to  the  skies  for  crossing 
the  bridge  of  Lodi  in  face  of  the  Austrian  artillery,  the  man 
who  was  foremost  in  passing  the  bridge  of  Manorhamilton  amid 


224  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 

a  shower  of  bullets,  all  levelled  at  himself,  and  who,  ia  order  to 
avoid  the  disgrace  of  coming  under  the  power  of  his  own  and 
his  country*s  enemies,  did,  even  while  his  whole  person  v^as  a 
mass  of  wounds  and  broken  bones,  still  ply  the  sword,  from 
which  nothing  could  part  him,  with  such  spirit  as  to  prevent 
his  assailants  from  capturing  him  alive,  and  to  force  them,  in 
their  fear  and  fury,  to  kill  him,  is  surely  entitled  to  no  mean 
place  on  the  roll  of  fame*  Their  leader  having  fallen,  the 
Irish  retired  from  the  contest,  and  suffered  enormously  in  retreat. 
The  passion  of  the  Mac  Donoghs  for  a  military  life  did  not 
cease  with  the  death  of  the  gallant  Brian  ;  for,  to  say  nothing 
of  others,  forty-two  members  of  the  family  served  in  France,  as 
captains  or  lieutenants,  in  the  single  regiment  of  Dillon,  from 
1690  to  1770  ;t    while  we  find,  in  the  Act  of  Settlement,  among 

*  Mac  Donogh's  heroism  extorted  the  admiration  even  of  Sir  Frederick 
Hamilton,  who  had  nothing  but  contempt  for  other  Irishmen.  Of  Brian 
Mac  Donogh,  the  Relation  says: — "Their  Lieutenant-Colonel  led  on  most 
furiously  along  a  bridge  over  a  river  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  where  our  men  were 
drawn  up.  As  they  marched  in  a  loose  body  and  gave  fire  on  us,  we  seemed  a 
little  to  retreat,  when  we  got  the  benefit  of  a  ditch  for  our  musketeers  to  fire 
out  of — whereupon  the  Rogues,  thinking  we  retreated,  did,  with  great  shouts, 
cry  out,  as  if  they  had  already  beaten  us  ;  but  our  musketeers  did  from  that 
ditch  so  pepper  them,  that  it  is  not  to  be  believed  what  a  sudden  alteration  our 
handful  made  among  their  multitude.  Thus  having  killed  their  Lieutenant- 
Oolonelf  who  fought  most  desperately  as  ever  man  did,  being  divers  times  with 
shot  and  pike  beaten  to  the  ground,  yet  did  he  fight  upon  his  knees — pity  so  great 
courage  should  have  been  in  so  arch  a  traitor,  who  was  thought  to  have  been  one 
of  the  greatest  firebrands  in  Connaught  in  this  rebellion.  .  ,  .  We  put  the 
Rogues,  after  killing  their  Lieutenant- Colonel,  to  such  a  disorderly  and  con- 
fused retreat  over  the  river,  where  numbers  of  them  threw  one  another  into  it, 
so  as  it  is  almost  incredible  to  speak  or  write  what  number  of  proper  personable 
raen»  as  any  Ireland  affords,  were  killed  that  day  by  our  weak  handful,  to  God 
alone  be  the  glory." 

t  O'Callaghan's  "  History  of  the  Irish  Brigade  in  the  Service  of  France,"  p.  95. 

The  writer  regrets  that  he  has  not  fallen  in  with  a  pamphlet  which  throws 
much  light  on  the  history  of  the  Mac  Donoghs,  and  which  was  composed  and 
published  by  a  member  of  the  family  in  1792.  It  is  entitled — *'  Memoir  of  M. 
Mac  Donogh,  Native  of  Ireland,  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  60th  Regiment  of 
Infantry,  Chevalier  of  the  Royal  and  Military  Order  of  St.  Louis,  shut  up 
during  twelve  years  and  six  months,  in  a  dungeon  in  the  Isles  of  St.  Margaret, 
by  virtue  of  a  Lettre  de   Cachet,   granted  by   M.   de   Montbarrey,   formerly 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  225 

those  "who  served  beyond  seas  under  the  king's  ensigns," 
*' Lieutenant  Brian  MacDonogh,  of  Sligo,  Lieutenant  Turlough 
(Terence)  McDonogh,  of  the  county  Sligo,  Ensign  Christopher 
Mac  Donogh,  of  same,  Lieutenant  John  McDonogh,  of  Cusca, 
in  the  county  Sligo,  and  Lieutenant  Michael  McDonogb,  of 
Colloony,  in  the  county  Sligo." 

And  it  should  not  be  forgotten,  that  at  the  battle  of  Fontenoy, 
so  glorious  for  the  Irisb,  a  Mac  Donogh  particularly  distinguished 
himself,  for  he  advanced  in  front  of  his  countrymen  to  the 
famous  charge,  and  having  been  singled  out  for  attack  by  a 
brave  British  officer,  he  closed  with  the  officer,  disabled  him, 
and  made  him  prisoner  in  the  sight  of  the  two  armies,  the 
episode,  according  to  the  historians  of  the  battle,  being  taken  as 
an  omen  of  ill  luck  for  the  English,  and  as  an  earnest  of  victory 
for  the  Irish  brigade  and  the  French  army.* 


Minister  of  War. — Printed  at  Lyons  by  Louis  Cutty  ;  and  to  be  had  in  Paris 
at  Desene's,  Bookseller,  Palais  Royal ;  in  Rochelle  at  Roy's  and  Company, 
1792." 

On  this  publication  John  Cornelius  O'Callaghan  observes  in  his  ''History  of 
the  Irish  Brigades  in  the  Service  of  France,"  p.  96  : — "This  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Andr^j  or  Andrew,  Macdonagh — who  supports  his  assertions  by  an  appendix  of 
"justificatory  pieces,"  which,  exclusive  of  those  in  notes  to  the  text  of  his 
narrative,  occupies  from  page  111  to  page  157  of  the  pamphlet — belonged  to 
the  ancient  sept  of  the  Macdonaghs,  or  Mac  Donoghs  of  Sligo  ;  and  first  served 
in  the  regiment  of  Dillon,  in  which  he  shows,  by  a  due  certificate,  that,  from 
1690  to  1770,  so  many  as  42  of  the  family  of  Macdonagh  had  been  Captains  or 
Lieutenants.  The  substance  of  the  writer's  case  is,  that  he,  having  been  the 
nearest  or  presumptive  heir  of  old  Count  Charles  O'Gara  (son  of  Colonel  Oliver 
O'Gara  already  described),  was  intrigued  out  of  this  inheritance  by  a  Randal 
Plunkett,  styled  Lord  Dunsany,  General  Plunkett,  Governor  of  Antwerp,  and 
Rose  Plunkett,  to  whom  he,  the  writer,  was  married." 

*  Mr.  O'Callaghan,  in  his  History,  page  357,  thus  describes  this  incident: — 
'f  As  the  Irish  approached  the  British,  an  officer  of  the  Brigade,  Anthony 
McDonough,  younger  brother  of  Nicholas  MacDonough,  Esq.,  of  Birchfield,  in 
the  county  of  Clare  (an  offshoot  from  the  old  sept  of  the  MacDonoughs  of  Sligo), 
being  in  advance  of  his  men,  was  singled  out  and  attacked,  by  a  British  officer. 
But  the  spirit  of  the  gallant  Briton  was  above  his  strength.  MacDonough,  as 
the  fresher  man,  soon  disabled  his  adversary  in  the  sword-arm,  and,  making 
him  prisoner,  sent  him  to  the  rear ;  fortunately  for  him,  as  he  was  so  fatigued, 
that,  in  all  human  probability,  he  must  have  fallen  in  the  charge  or  the  retreat ; 
and,  it  is  pleasing  to  add,  that  these  gentlemen  afterwards  became  great  friends, 
VOL.  II.  P 


226  HISTORY   OF    SLIGO. 

The  MacDonogh  family  produced  some  men  as  eminent  in 
the  arts  of  peace,  as  those  just  referred  to  were  in  the  art  of 
war.  Of  Cormac  Ballagh,  who  died  in  1463,  the  Four  Masters 
write,  *'  Cormac  Ballagh  McDonogh,  the  son  of  Conor  McDonogh, 
and  son  of  a  chieftain  the  most  illustrious  for  hospitality  and 
prowess,  and  the  most  profoundly  skilled  in  every  science  of  all 
the  Irish  of  Lower  Connaught,  died  after  the  victory  of  Unction 
and  Penance." 

Counsellor  Terence  McDonogh,  sometimes  called  Tarlough 
Caech,  or,  Terence  the  Blind,  or  the  one-eyed,  was  the  most 
distinguished  Catholic  of  his  time  in  the  county.  He  came  of  a 
branch  of  the  McDonoghs  that  flourished  at  Creevagh,  in  the 
parish  of  Kilmactrany,  and  that  managed  to  retain  a  good  part 
of  their  possessions,  in  spite  of  those  confiscations  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  which  robbed  all  others  of  the  name.  The 
Counsellor  was  member  for  the  borough  of  Sligo  in  King 
James'  Parliament,  and  was  probably  the  most  able  man  that 
ever  represented  the  borough. 

Though  a  lawyer,  and  in  large  practice,  he  took  up  the  sword, 
and  continued  to  use  it  while  the  conflict  between  James  and 
AVilliam  lasted  ;  and  we  find  him  in  Ballymote  Castle  at  the 
head  of  a  small  garrison  in  1689,  and  later  in  the  same  year,  in 
command  of  some  Connaught  men  who  made  an  irruption  into 
the  north — a  movement  which  savoured  more  of  courage  than 
of  prudence.  On  this  occasion  the  Counsellor  was  made 
prisoner  in  Fish  Island  in  the  Erne,*  but  soon  after  he  and 


This  rencontre  in  the  presence  of  both  forces  occasioned  a  momentary  pause, 
followed  by  a  tremendous  shout  from  the  Brigade  at  the  success  of  their  own 
officer,  the  effect  of  which  could  only  be  felt  by  a  spectator  ;  and  at  such  a 
critical  juncture,  that  startling  shout,  and  the  event  of  ill  omen  to  the  British 
with  which  it  was  connected,  were  remarked  to  have  had  a  proportionable 
influence  upon  them." 

*  In  reference  to  this  attempt  of  the  Connaught  men,  Hamilton  writes,  in 
bis  Actions  of  the  Enniskilliners  : — "All  their  foot  fled  away  towards  Sligo,  or 
got  off  safe,  except  some  few  that  were  taken  in  the  Fish  Island  near  the  town, 
with  their  Captain,  one  MacDonough,  a  Counsellor-at-law,  commonly  known 
by  the  name  of  "  blind  MacDonough." 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  227 

others  were  exchanged  for  Williamites.  His  forte  hardly  lay  ia 
war ;  for,  though  endowed  with  the  characteristic  courage  of  the 
McDonoghs,  he  performed  no  exploit  which  calls  for  notice. 

After  the  Treaty  of  Limerick  he  resumed  the  practice  of  his 
profession,  and  soon  came  to  be  the  first  man  at  the  bar.  We 
are  told  that  he  was  the  only  "Catholic  counsel  that  was 
admitted  to  the  Irish  Bar  after  the  violation  of  the  Conditions 
of  Limerick,  and  that  he  was  traditionally  called  in  the  country, 
the  Great  Counsellor  McDonough,'^^  but  it  is  not  stated  whether 
this  admission  to  the  bar  was  a  mere  personal  favour,  or 
accorded  in  virtue  of  the  second  of  the  Civil  Articles  of 
Limerick,  which  stipulates,  that  "all  the  inhabitants  of 
Limerick,  and  in  the  several  counties  of  Limerick,  Clare,  Cork, 
Kerry,  Sligoe,  and  Mayo,  shall  enjoy  ...  all  the  rights, 
titles,  and  interests,  etc.,  which  they  enjoyed  ia  the  reign  of 
King  Charles  11." 

However  this  may  be,  the  extraordinary  popularity  which  he 
acquired,  may  be  inferred  from  the  reference  to  him  contained 
in  the  following  observation  of  Rev.  Dr.  O'Conor,  regarding  the 
Venerable  Charles  O'Conor  : — "  He  (Charles)  attained  to  such 
a  degree  of  popularity  among  the  Irish  as  no  one  person  ex- 
perienced since  the  days  of  Counsellor  McDonogb,  and  no  one 

*  In  his  edition  of  the  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  sub  anno  1598,  O'Donovan 
writes  in  a  note,  *'  The  family  of  MacDonough,  who  are  an  offset  of  the 
MacDermots  of  Moylurg,  retained  some  property  in  the  county  Sligo  till  very 
recently."  (The  writer  is  happy  to  add  that  they  still  retain  it.)  *' In  1688 
Terence  MacDonough,  Esq.,  of  Creevagh,  was  M.  P.  for  the  town  of  Sligo  ;  he 
died  in  1713.  He  was  the  only  Catholic  Counsel  that  was  admitted  to  the 
Irish  bar  after  the  violation  of  the  conditions  of  Limerick.  This  Terence,  who 
is  traditionally  called  in  the  country  *  the  great  Counsellor  MacDonogh,' 
was  the  lawyer  who  saved  to  Donough  Liath  O'Conor  of  Belanagare,  a  small 
tract  of  property  from  confiscation.  A  bill  of  discovery  had  been  filed  against 
this  Donough,  by  Mr.  French,  of  French-park,  under  the  statute,  I.  Anne, 
chap.  32,  but  MacDonough  managed  to  reply  so  ably,  and  being  supported  by 
the  interests  of  Lord  Kingsland  and  Lord  Taaffe,  finally  succeeded  in  restoring 
Donough  O'Conor  to  about  seven  hundred  acres  of  land,  which  descended  to 
his  son,  Charles  O'Conor,  of  Belanagare,  the  historian.  The  family  of 
MacDonough  have  now  scarcely  any  property  remainiug,  and  the  race  have 
latterly  fallen  into  obscurity." 


-'<i 


228  HISTOKY    OF   SLIGO. 

person  has  any  prospect  of  ever  attaining  again."*  His 
favourite  clients  were  ecclesiastics  and  the  old  Irish  gentry  ; 
and  we  learn  from  Father  McDonogh's  JS^arrative,  that  the 
Counsellor  undertook  a  suit  for  the  friars  of  Sligo ;  and  from  the 
Memoirs  of  the  Life  and  Writings  of  Charles  0' Conor,  that  it 
was  he  who  saved  from  confiscation  the  remnant  of  the 
O'Conor  Don  estate,  a  service  for  which  Denis  O'Conor,  the 
father  of  Charles,  was  so  grateful,  that  "  his  first  care,  on  getting 
possession  of  his  property,  was  to  erect  a  monument  to  the 
memory  of  his  benefactor." 

In  private  life  the  Counsellor  was  the  most  genial  of  men. 
His  "facetiousness"  is  chronicled  in  hundreds  of  anecdotes,  and 
is  commemorated  even  in  his  epitaph.  One  of  the  anecdotes 
goes  to  show,  that  clever  as  the  Counsellor  was,  he  could  some- 
times meet  his  match.  As  the  story  runs,  his  man,  who  was  a 
shrewd,  sharp  young  fellow,  applied  to  him  one  day  for  legal 
advice,  saying  he  desired  to  carry  away  a  female  friend  un- 
known to  her  guardians,  and  to  marry  her,  but  that  he  was 
afraid  of  the  law,  which  made  it  a  capital  felony  to  "  run  away  " 
with  a  girl  in  such  circumstances.  Having  stated  the  case,  he 
asked  what  had  best  be  done,  when  McDonogh  replied  at 
once,  "  Let  the  girl,  you  blockhead,  run  away  with  you,  and 
you  can  snap  your  fingers  at  the  law." 

The  man,  much  relieved  in  mind,  thanked  his  master  for 
the  opinion,  and  lost  no  time  in  carrying  it  out ;  for,  the  next 
day  a  horse  was  seen  on  the  high  road  galloping  at  a  furious 
pace,  with  a  man  and  girl  on  its  hack  ;  the  girl  in  front,  and 
whipping  up  the  horse,  and  the  man  behind,  bawling  at  the  top 
of  his  voice,  that  he  was  being  run  away  with,  and  calling  on 
all  good  Christians  to  stop  the  abduction.  The  Counsellor, 
remembering  the  interview  of  the  day  before,  at  first  enjoyed 
the  joke  even  more  than  others,  but  when  the  horse  neared 


*  Memoirs  of  the  Life  and  Writings  of  the  late  Charles  0' Conor j  of  Belauagarey 
Esq.,  M.R.I.A.  By  the  Rev.  Charles  O'Conor,  D.D,,  Member  of  the  Academy 
of  Cortona.  This  is  a  particularly  rare  book;  the  writer's  copy  being,  no  doubt, 
the  only  one  in  the  county. 


HISTORY    OF   SLIGO.  229 


him,  and  he  recognised  in  the  pair  of  equestrians  his  own  niece, 
who  lived  in  his  house,  and  his  serving  man,  the  whole  situation 
flashed  upon  him,  and  he  felt  that  he  was  undone  by  his  own 
legal  opinion,  and  "  hoist  with  his  own  petard,"  Se  non  e  vero 
e  ben  trovato, 

MacDonogh  was  noted  for  open-handedness,  almost  as  much 
as  for  rare  abilities  ;  and  the  large  sums  he  received  in  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession,  were  employed  in  relieving  the  distress  of 
his  neighbours,  as  well  priests  as  people.  Nor  were  his 
benefactions  confined  to  the  county  Sligo  ;  for  we  learn  from  the 
Preface  to  Holy's  translation  of  O'Fiaherty's  Ogygia  (p.  xi.), 
that  "  Counsellor  Terence  McDonogh,  of  Creevagh,  was  the  *  best 
patron  and  best  friend '  of  Roderick  O'Flaherty,  at  a  time  when 
that  learned  man  was  shamefully  neglected  by  the  rest  of  his 
countrymen." 

The  "  Great  Counsellor/'  as  he  was  commonly  called,  died  in 
1713,  and  was  buried  under  the  tower  in  Ballindoon  Abbey, 
where  a  monument,  four  feet  eight  inches  high,  and  two  feet 
ten  inches  wide,  stands  over  his  grave,  and  bears  the  following 
inscription  : — 

"  Terence  McDonogh  lyes  within  this  grave, 
That  says  enogh  for  all  that's  generous,  brave, 
Fasecious,  friendly,  witty,  just,  and  good. 
In  this  loved  name  is  fully  understood — 
For  it  includes  whate'er  we  virtue  call. 
And  is  the  Hieroglyphic  of  them  all." 

*'  Pray  for  ye  soul  of  Ellnk.  O'Roirke,  his  wife,  who  caused  ye  monument 
to  be  erected  in  ye  year  1737." 

October  1819,  this  monument  was  removed  from  Ballinagar,  and  erected  here 
by  Andrew  McDonogh,  of  Derna,  Esq. 

From  this  inscription  it  appears  that  it  was  Elleanor  O'Rourke, 
and  Andrew  McDonogh,  that  had  the  monument  erected  in  his 
honour,  though  Eev.  Dr.  O'Conor  gives  the  credit  of  the  erection 
to  Denis  O'Conor.  The  only  part  the  O'Conors  had  in  the  matter 
w^as  to  compose  an  epitaph — the  work,  apparently,  of  Rev,  Dr. 
O'Conor — which  they  meant  to  substitute  for  the  lines  previously 


230  HISTORY   OF    SLIGO. 


inscribed  upon  the  stone,  an  intention  which  was  never  carried 
out.  Even  the  removal  of  the  stone  from  Bellanagare,  and  its 
erection  at  Ballindoon,  were  at  the  expense  of  the  McDonoghs 
themselves.     This  is  the  intended  epitaph  : — 

TO    THE    MEMORY    OF 

TERENCE  McDONOGH,   of  Creevagh,  Esq., 

COUKSELLOR  AT   LAW,    AND    M.P.    FOR   THE    TOWN    OF    SLIGO 

IN    1688. 

HIS    FORTUNES  HURRIED    HIM   INTO  PUBLIC  LIFE 
IN    THE    ANGRY    DAYS    OF  JAMES   II., 

WHEN,    EVEN    IN    PRIVATE    LIFE, 

THE    SOURCES    OF    SOCIAL    HAPPINESS 

WERE  POISONED  BY  CIVIL  DISCORD 

AND    A    FEROCIOUSNESS    OF    MANNERS 

THAT   WAS    STYLED    RELIGIOUS. 

YET, 

through  a  long  life,  chequered  with  crosses, 

he  had  no   enemy  but  those 

of  his  king, 

and  those  whom  he  considered 

the  enemies  of  his  country  ; 

proud  to  own 

that  to  this  exalted  character 

they   are  in   a   great  degree  indebted 

for  what  has  been  saved  from  the  wreck 

of  their  ancient  property 

The   O'Conors,   of  Belanagare 

HAVE, 

NEAR    ONE    HUNDRED    YEARS 

AFTER    HIS    DEATH 

INSCRIBED    THIS    EPITAPH. 

READER,    RKMEMBER    THAT 
VIRTUE    FINDS    A    MORE    LASTING    MONUMENT 
THAN    BRASS    OR.  MARBLE 
ON   THE   HEARTS 
OF 

a  grateful  posterity. 

Obiit  A.D.  1713. 
Tax  vivis.     Hequieum  defunciis. 

It  is  just  as  well  that  this  long  and  laboured  composition  has 
not  found  a  place  on  the  monument,  for,  whatever  its  author 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  231 


may  have  thought  ahout  it,  it  would  hardly  attract  as  many 
readers,  or  keep  the  memory  of  Terence  McDonogh  as  fresh  as 
the  curious  "  Hieroglyphic "  lines  actually  inscribed  upon  the 
stone. 

It  was  admitted,  on  all  hands,  till  very  recently,  that 
Counsellor  McDonogh  and  his  wife  had  no  children.  Of  late, 
however,  it  has  been  asserted,  even  in  print,  that  they  had  a 
family  of  sons  and  daughters,  who  survived  their  parents,  and 
whose  descendants  are  still  living.  For  this  assertion  no  proof 
is  adduced,  nor,  in  all  probability,  is  any  adducible,  as  every- 
thing goes  to  show  that  they  died  sine  prole. 

In  the  first  place.  Father  Filan,  the  Parish  Priest  of  Geevagh, 
the  parish  in  which  the  Counsellor  lived  and  died,  after  collecting 
all  the  evidence  to  be  had  on  the  subject,  has  concluded  that 
there  were  no  children  of  the  marriage  ;  and  when  a  man  of 
Father  Filan's  ability  to  sift  and  weigh  evidence  arrives  at  such 
a  conclusion,  with  all  the  facts  of  the  case  before  him,  it  would 
be  great  presumption  in  others  to  try  to  set  up  a  contrary 
opinion. 

Second. — An  old  man,  of  more  than  eighty  years,  named 
Riley,  living  still  on,  or  near,  the  Mac  Donogh  property,  whose 
ancestors  were  in  the  domestic  service  of  the  Counsellor,  testifies 
that  he  always  heard  from  those  who  lived  before  him,  that 
Counsellor  McDonogh  and  his  wife  died  childless. 

Third. — The  descent  of  the  Geevagh  property  in  the  collateral 
line  of  the  family,  proves  the  same  thing ;  for,  had  the  Counsellor 
sons  of  his  own,  it  is  inconceivable  that  he  would  deprive  them 
of  the  estate  and  bestow  it  on  a  nephew. 

Fourth. — the  anecdote  told  above  of  his  niece  points  in  the 
same  direction. 

Lastly. — Passing  over  other  proofs^,  the  wills  of  Terence 
McDonogh,  and  his  wife,  Elinor  O'Horke,  seem  to  demonstrate 
the  fact,  for  in  neither  of  these  instruments  is  there  any  refer- 
ence, direct  or  indirect,  to  children.  The  writer  has  been 
fortunate  enough  to  procure  copies  of  both  these  wills,  and 
subjoins  them  here,  to  enable  the  reader  to  judge  for  himself. 


232  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


The  first  is  the  Counsellor's ;  and,  independently  of  the 
immediate  object  for  which  it  is  here  quoted,  the  document 
in  itself  is  full  of  interest,  as  the  production  of  the  most 
famous  man  of  the  county  in  his  day : — 

S  Terence  McDonogh,  of  Dublin,  Esq.,  being  in  perfect 
health  (God  be  praised)  and  now  at  Libertye  to  make  any  other 
settlement  doe  make  my  last  will  and  testament  in  manner  and 
form  following  hereby  revoking  all  former  wills  and  testaments 
that  is  to  say  I  leave  ^and  bequeath  all  my  reall  and  personal 
estates  to  my  dearly  beloved  wife  Elinor  McDonogh  als  O'Rourke 
for  and  during  her  naturall  life  from  and  after  my  death  and  I 
doe  hereby  constitute  and  appoint  her  sole  and  only  Executrix  of 
this  my  last  will  and  testament  and  doe  recommend  to  her  to  pay 
all  my  just  debts  and  after  that  to  be  as  kind  to  my  relations  as 
her  circumstances  will  allow  in  wittnesse  whereof  and  in  declara- 
ration  and  manifestation  of  this  my  last  will  and  testament  I 
have  hereunto  put  my  hand  and  seale  this  fourth  day  of  March 
One  thousand  six  hundred  ninety  and  four. 

"TERENCE  McDONOGH  (^i^^ 

Vbio^illi.^ 


'O' 


"  Sealed  and  published  in  presence  of  us 

his 

"James    X    Gaffert;  Bryan  O'Rourke 

mark. 

"  Christi  Dunlevy." 


The  following  is  the  wife's  will,  which  has  also  its  intrinsic 
interest,  as  coming  from  one  of  the  most  noble-hearted  women 
of  the  time — one,  too,  descended  from  a  long  line  of  renowned 
ancestors : — 

(4)  IS"  the  name  of  God.  Amen.  I,  Elinor  McDonogh, 
widow  and  relict  of  Terence  McDonogh  Esq.  now  residing  in 
Belanagare  these  nine  years  past  in  my  nephew  Denis  O'Connor's 
house  being  sound  and  in  perfect  mind  and  memory  (praise  be 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  233 


to  God)  doe  make  this  my  last  will  and  testament  revoking  and 
annulling  all  former  wills  by  me  made.     First,  I  recommend  my 
soul  to  God  Almighty  that  created  it  hoping  thro'  his  passion  to 
obtain  pardon  and  full  remission  of  all  the  sins  I  have  committed 
and  do  firmly  hope  to  partake  of  the  meritts  and  passion  of  my 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  I  doe  commit  my  body  to  the  Earth  from 
whence  it  came  and  to  be   interred  where   my  best   beloved 
husband  aforesaid  is  buryed.     2ndly  I  leave  my  nephew  Michael 
O'Hourke  and  his  two  sons  ten   pounds   ster.   to   be   equally 
divided  amongst  them  and  also  to  my  nephew  Thady  C'Rourke 
Fit.  Thady  McOwen  oge  five  shillings  ster.     Srdly  I  leave  to 
my  nephew    Denis   O'Conor,   and   his   wife   my   niece   Mary 
O'Rourke  first  having  paid  and  discharged  all  my  debts  Legacies 
and  funeral  expenses  which  I  desire  and  charge  the  said  O'Conor 
and  his  wife  to  pay  and  discharge  in  twenty  dais  after  my  being 
interred  all  rents  and  arrears  of  rents  all  bills  and  bonds  judg- 
ments notes  and  all  other  promisary  engagements  due  now  to 
me  or  which  will  be  due  to  me  at  the  time  of  my  death  as  also 
all  personal  effects  of  what  kind  or  nature  soever  and  do  nomi- 
nate and  appoint  the  said  Denis  and  Mary  O'Conor  Execs  of 
this  my  last  will  and  testament.     4thly  I  leave  my  cous^i  Onora 
Bartan  cdias  O'Hara  six  pounds  ster.    5thly  I  leave  and  bequeath 
over  unto  my  niece   Elinor  O'Conor  daughter  of  the  aforesaid 
Denis  and  Mary  O'Conor  the  bond  passed  to  me  by  the  co-heirs 
of  my  deceased  husband  Terence  McDonogh,  Esq.,  payable  in 
three  calendar  months  after  my  decease.     Signed  and  sealed 
and  published  as  my  last  will  and  testament  this  twenty-third 
day  of  Jany.  in  presence  of  us 

"  Owen  Durkan  Jas.  Almond  Cormick  Parlan." 

The  silence  of  these  instruments  in  itself  appears  to  be  quite 
conclusive  on  the  subject  in  hand ;  for  it  is  inconceivable  that  a 
father  and  mother  would  have  nothing  to  say,  on  so  solemn  an 
occasion,  regarding  their  children,  if  such  children  existed ;  but 
the  silence,  taken  in  connexion  with  the  other  evidence  noticed 


234  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


above,  supplies  proof  so  peremptory  that  no  one  in  his  senses  can 
question  it.  Anyone  then  pretending,  in  the  face  of  such  evidence, 
to  be  the  lineal  descendant  of  the  great  Counsellor,  must  be 
prepared  to  be  counted  either  a  simpleton  or  an  impostor. 

TheMcDonoghs  have  deserved  as  well  of  the  church  as  of  the 
country.  To  them  religion  is  indebted  for  the  convents  of 
Ballindoon,  Ballymote,  Cloonymeghan,  and  Sligo — this  last, 
though  not  originally  built  by  them,  being,  when  burned  down 
in  1410,  rebuilt  and  restored  by  Dermot  McDonogh.  These 
convents,  as  well  as  the  abbey  of  Ballysadare,  were  rarely,  if 
ever,  without  McDonoghs  among  their  inmates ;  while  the 
secular  clergy  was  recruited  largely  from  members  of  the  family, 
including  Thomas  MacMorrissy  McDonogh,  who  died  bishop  of 
Achonry  in  1398,  and,  very  probably,  Michael  McDonogh,  bishop 
of  Kilmore,  who  died,  and  was  buried  at  Lisbon  in  1746,  and 
several  Parish  Priests  and  Curates  of  the  dioceses  of  Achonry 
and  Elphin. 

While  speaking  of  the  eminent  ecclesiastics  of  the  McDonogh 
family,  we  must  not  forget  Manus  McDonogh,  of  whom  the 
Annals  of  Loch  Ce,  under  the  year  1504,  contains  this  very 
laudatory  obituary  notice:  "  Manus,  son  of  Brian  McDonogh, 
i.e. J  abbot  of  the  monastery  of  the  Trinity  on  Loch  Ce,  a  man 
who  was  the  preserving  shrine  and  casket  of  the  bounty  and 
prowess  of  Erinn,  and  the  man,  who  of  all  that  had  come  down 
from  Tomaltach-na-Cairge,  had  given  and  presented  most  to 
poets  and  musicians,  and  to  men  of  every  craft,  died  at  Cill 
Diubhdhuin  (Killadoon),  et  sepultus  est  in  Trinity  Island  on 
Loch  Ce;  and  this  death  of  McDonogh 's  son  is  a  decapitating 
blow  to  the  learned  of  Erinn." 

And  they  built  more,  and  stronger,  castles  than  any  other 
family  of  the  county  Sligo. 

1.  The  castle  of  CoUooney  was  erected  in  1408,*  by  Murrough, 
son  of  the  famous  Cormac  McDonogh,  who  lost  his  life  so 
heroically  in  1388.     As  far  as  can  be  judged  by  existing  re- 


*  Four  Masters,  1408. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  235 


mains,  which  are  much  covered  by  rubbish,  this  was  a  strong 
and  spacious  structure,  with  lateral  towers  like  those  in  the 
castle  of  Ballymote. 

2.  In  the  same  year  the  castle  of  Ballindoon  was  built  by 
Conor,  the  son  of  Teige  McDonogh. 

3.  In  1422,*  the  castle  of  Lough  Deargan  was  built  by  Conor 
McDonough,  Lord  of  Tirerrill  on  the  site  of  a  primitive  cashel, 
some  of  which  still  remains  in  situ.  The  new  fortress  was  the 
occasion  of  great  disunion  among  the  McDonoghs,  the  nephews 
of  the  builder  regarding  it  as  an  encroachment  on  their  own 
rights  and  possessions,  to  vindicate  which,  they  invoked  the  aid 
of  the  O'Donnells,  O'Neils,  and  othe  chieftains  of  Ulster,  who 
invaded  Connaught,  and  "  burned  and  destroyed  Tireragh, 
Tirerrill,  and  Corran.'^f  A  considerable  portion  of  the  structure 
still  remains,  and  shows  the  whole  to  have  been  of  exceptional 
strength.  The  grouting  employed  was  so  tenacious,  that  frag- 
ments of  the  wall,  which  dropped  into  the  adjoining  lake,  near 
a  hundred  years  ago,  are  still  as  cemented  and  solid  as  when 
they  first  fell  down. 

4.  The  castle  of  Coolea,  near  Ballinakille,  was  a  work  of  the 
McDonoghs;  and  according  to  an  Exchequer  inquisition  of 
Elizabeth,  sped  in  1593,  it  was  forfeited  by  Ferdoragh 
McDonogh,  chief  of  his  name,  who  was  attainted  of  high  treason. 
A  good  part  of  the  eastern  gable  and  of  the  sidewalls  still 
stands. 

5.  The  castle  of  Bricklieve,  lying  between  Lough  na  Leihy 
and  Keash,  belonged  to  the  McDonoghs,t  and  passed  from  them 
to  Gilbert  Green,  by  whom  it  was  occupied  in  1593.  A  small 
fragment  remains. 

6.  The  castle  of  Knockmullen,  in  the  parish  of  Ballysadare, 
was  a  McDonogh  castle,  and  according  to  an  inquisition  of 
James  I.,  held  in  1606,  was  then  occupied  by  Rory  Ballagh 
McCarbery  McDonough. 

*  Four  Masters.  1422. 

t  Idem, 

X  Four  Masters,  1350  and  1512. 


236  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 

All  the  houses  of  Cartron,  near  Tubberscanavin,  were  built 
with  stones  taken  from  this  building,  many  of  them  having  been 
tastefully  hammered  and  chiselled,  as  may  still  be  seen.  Sir 
Richard  Bingham  occupied  Knockmullen  castle  in  1586,  while  on 
the  look  out  for  the  Scots  whom  he  put  to  the  sword  at  Ardnarea. 

7.  Doonamurray,  in  the  parish  of  Kilross,  called  in  the  deed 
of  Partition  of  the  O'Connor  Sligo  estate,  Downamoney,  alias 
Downamony,  contained  a  castle  of  the  family,  which  was  cap- 
tured by  O'Donnell  in  1516.  No  remains  of  this  structure  are 
now  visible.  It  may  be  the  building  now  called  Drumcondra 
Castle. 

8.  Behy  Edenmore,  in  the  parish  of  Kilmacallan,  another  of 
their  castles,  was  occupied  in  1616  by  Shane  Oge  McDonough. 
The  walls  are  in  large  part  still  standing.  Sir  Gilbert  King  is 
landlord.  There  were  other  McDonough  castles  through  the 
baronies  of  Tirerrill  and  Corran,  but  there  is  no  need  to  describe 
them  here  in  detail.  In  a  note  to  his  Four  Masters,  already 
quoted,  O'Donovan  remarks,  "  The  family  of  MacDonoughs  have 
now  scarcely  any  property  remaining,  and  the  race  have  latterly 
fallen  into  obscurity." 

It  is  true  the  McDonoghs  are  no  longer  Irish  chieftains,  and 
no  longer  own  whole  baronies  as  their  inheritance,  but  many  of 
them  still  occupy  good  social  position  in  Ireland  and  in  other 
countries.  O'Donovan  should  have  known  that  Doctor  W.  F, 
MacDonogh,  Cromwell  Lodge,  Twickenham,  England,  is  still 
the  proprietor  of  the  estate  in  Geevagh  of  his  ancestor,  Coun- 
sellor MacDonogh,  which  has  never  left  the  possession  of  the 
family,  and  there  are  many  other  McDonoghs  living  in  different 
parts  of  Great  Britain,  well  able  to  hold  their  own  in  the  classes 
to  which  they  belong — the  professional  men  and  the  merchants 
of  that  country. 

On  the  Continent,  notably  in  France,  may  be  found  members 
of  the  family,  descendants  of  the  officers  of  the  Irish  Brigade, 
still  holding  high  rank  in  the  French  army. 

And  in  America,  as  well  in  the  United  States  as  in  the 
British  possessions,  the  McDonoghs  know  how  to  make  their 


HISTORY  OF  SLIGO.  237 


mark — a  McDonogh  being  one  of  the  leading  names  associated 
with  the  triumph  of  the  young  American  Navy  in  the  war  of 
Independence,  as  may  be  seen  in  D'Arcy  McGee's  Irish  Settlers 
in  Amei'ica*  as  well  as  in  the  popular  American  ballads  even 
of  the  present  day,  where  one  often  meets  with  such  references 
as  the  following,  in  a  ballad  of  Mr.  Morrow's,  Pittsburgh  : — 

"  If  England  will  not  profit 

By  the  lessons  of  the  past, 
She  may  learn  to  her  sorrow 

That  we  have  learn'd  fast ; 
Let  her  boast  the  while  we  ponder, 

Of  her  wars,  her  bloody  scenes, 
Of  young  Barry  and  McDonough, 

And  the  chief  of  New  Orleans." 

In  the  British  possessions  too,  the  McDonoghs  come  often  to 
the  front,  in  public  as  well  as  in  private  life,  and  in  the  past,  as 
well  as  in  the  present,  when  we  meet  with  such  men  as  John 
McDonogh,  of  Thorold,  Ontario. 

This  gentleman  was  Mayor  of  Thorold  for  four  different  terms, 
and  might  still  enjoy  the  position,  but  that  he  declined  the 
proffered  honour.  And  what  perhaps  shows  still  better  the 
respect  in  which  he  is  held  in  the  country  of  his  adoption,  is  the 
office  that  he  fills,  of  President  of  the  Liberal-Conservative 
Association  of  the  county  Welland.  And  in  further  proof  of 
his  popularity  and  social  standing,  it  may  be  mentioned,  that 
he  occupied  the  chair  at  the  great  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Welland  and  contiguous  counties  on  the  occasion  of  Sir  John 

*  In  the  quarrel  between  America  and  France,  or  rather  the  Directory,  one 
of  the  severest  actions  fought  was  that  of  the  Constellationj  commanded  by 
Commodore  Truxton,  with  the  French  frigate  Ulnsurgente.  In  this  action, 
midshipmen  Porter  and  James  McDonough  distinguished  themselves.  The 
former  was  of  Irish  descent,  the  latter  of  Irish  birth.  Mr.  McDonough  had  his 
foot  shot  off,  and  was  obliged  to  retire  from  the  navy  ;  but  his  younger  brother, 
Thomas,  who  entered  the  same  year,  more  than  justified  the  expectations  of 
the  friends  of  that  family.  Their  father,  Major  McDonough,  had  settled  at 
Newcastle,  Delaware,  shortly  before  the  birth  of  Thomas,  who  used  to  say  of 
himself,  that  "  his  keel  was  laid  in  Ireland,  but  he  was  launched  in  America." 
Major  McDonough  died  in  1796. — A  History  of  the  Irish  Settlers  in  America 
from  the  Earliest  Feriod.    By  Thomas  D'Arcy  McGee,  p.  68. 


238  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


MacDoaald,  the  Premier  of  the  Dominioii  of  Canada's  visit  to 
that  portion  of  the  Dominion,  on  the  13th  December,  1886. 

The  mention  of  Thorold  affords  an  opportunity  of  saying  here 
a  word  of  a  leading  merchant  of  that  town,  another  county  Sligo 
man,  Mr.  David  Battle,  who  is  still  well  remembered  and  deeply 
respected  in  his  native  county  of  Sligo.  In  any  case  Mr.  Battle 
would  be  remembered  in  the  neighbourhood,  owing  to  the  re- 
spectability and  popularity  of  the  family  connexions  he  left  after 
him,  but  a  striking  incident  of  his  incipient  boyhood  created  a 
great  sensation  at  the  time  of  its  occurrence,  and  still  keeps  his 
memory  fresh  in  the  minds  both  of  old  and  young. 

Standing  one  day  on  the  bank  of  Ardcree  river,  while  fisher- 
men were  making  ready  to  lift  their  net  from  the  sluice 
or  gap  of  the  weir,  the  lad  missed  his  footing,  fell  into  the  water, 
and  was  swept  away  by  the  flood  to  the  consternation  of  all 
present,  who  gave  him  up  for  lost;  but  Providence  was  watching 
over  the  boy ;  for  he  was  moved  along  by  the  volume  and  rush 
of  waters  into  the  gap,  so  that  the  fishermen  were  thus  enabled 
to  take  him  in  their  net,  and  bring  him  safe  to  land,  where,  on 
being  examined,  he  w^as  found  to  be  little  the  worse  for  his 
startling  sub-aqueous  experiences. 

It  is  gratifying  to  county  Sligo  men  to  find  their  county 
having  such  representatives  in  the  important  town  of  Thorold 
as  Mayor  McDonogh  and  Mr.  Battle. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

UNION   OF   RIVERSTOWN. 

The  Tirerrill  or  southern  side  of  Slieve  da  En  contains  many- 
interesting  antiquities.  On  the  peak,  at  the  west  end  of  the 
range  is  a  rock  chamber,  called  by  the  people  Calliagh  a  Vera's 
House,  which  is  ten  feet  long,  three  feet  three  inches  wide,  and 
more  than  four  feet  deep  ;  the  roof  being  formed  by  rude  gneiss 
flags,  an  average  one  of  which  is  five  feet  three  inches  long, 
four  feet  eight  inches  wide,  and  twenty  inches  thick.  Though 
the  chamber  is  now  exposed  to  view  and  open,  it  is  clear  from 
the  heaps  of  small  stones  lying  thick  round  it,  that  it  was  once 
covered  with  a  earn  formed  of  these  stones. 

A  thousand  yards  or  so  to  the  east  of  Calliagh  a  Vera's 
House,  there  is,  on  a  still  higher  peak  of  the  mountain,  another 
earn,  or  rather  remains  of  a  cam,  presenting  nothing  at  present 
to  the  eye  but  a  congeries  of  small  stones  ;  but  there  can  be  little 
doubt,  if  the  stones  were  removed  and  a  search  made,  that  a 
chamber  like  that  in  connexion  with  the  west-end  peak  would 
be  found. 

Some  two  or  three  thousand  yards  down  the  slope  there  is  a 
still  more  remarkable  piece  of  antiquity,  which  the  people  call 
Clogh  a  gadaide,  or  the  Thief's  stone.  It  consists  of  three 
stones,  one  about  six  feet  high,  set  on  end,  and  two  more  laid  on 
edge,  both  of  triangular  shape,  one  three  feet  and  a  half  to  the 
south  of  pillar  stone,  and  the  other  seven  feet  and  a  half  to  the 
north  of  it.  The  inhabitants  of  the  district  tell  you  that  these 
three  stones  are  the  respective  remains  of  a  father,  his  son,  and 
a  cow,  which  they  were  stealing,  when  met  by  a  necromancer, 
who,  in  punishment  of  the  theft,  turned  the  whole  three  into 
stone ;  but  they  are,  no  doubt,  an  example,  probably  the  only 


240  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


example  in  the  county,  of  the  triliag  (three  stone)  monuments, 
to  which  the  author  of  the  Vita  Tripartita  refers,  when  he 
says  : — "  Moram  contraxit  inter  tres  colossos  sive  edita  saxa, 
quae  gentilitas  ibi  in  memoriam  aliquorum  facinorum,  vel 
gentilitiorum  rituum  possuit."  (He  made  a  short  stay  at  three 
colossuses  or  lofty  stones,  which  the  Gentiles  had  set  up  in 
memory  of  some  Gentile  events  or  rites.) 

In  the  townland  of  Ardnasbrack,  and  the  adjoining  townland 
of  Caronagh,  are  two  so-called  Giant's  graves,  which  are  some- 
what diflPerent  in  plan  from  the  structures  commonly  so  named. 
The  ordinary  Giant's  grave  or  Cromlech  is  a  sloping  stone,  or 
often  a  horizontal  stone,  resting  on  two  or  more  other  stones 
serving  as  a  support,  and  enclosing  between  them  a  few  feet 
square  of  ground ;  but  the  Ardnasbrack  and  Caronagh  struc- 
tures are  oblong  in  shape,  running  from  east  to  west,  and 
consistiog  each  of  three  compartments,  which  communicate 
with  one  another  by  means  of  rude  doors  or  opes  of  about  two 
feet  wide.  The  original  dimensions  of  the  Ardnasbrack  monu- 
ment cannot  now  be  fixed  with  certainty,  owing  to  the  removal 
of  some  of  the  stones,  but  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that 
it  was  something  more  than  fifty  feet  long,  exterior  measure- 
ment, with  an  average ^width  of  about  eleven  feet.  There  are 
twenty  stones  still  in  sitUy  all  goeiss  boulders  from  the 
neighbouring  mountain,  some  of  them  six  feet  long,  nearly  as 
many  wide,  and  a  couple  of  feet  thick. 

The  size  of  the  Caronagh  inclosure  is  more  easily  ascertained. 
As  it  appears  now.  its  length  is  twenty-eight  feet  ten  inches, 
and  its  general  width  eight  feet  six  inches,  the  eastern  compart- 
ment being  near  two  feet  wider.  There  are  seventeen  stones 
in  situ ;  one,  seven  feet  three  inches  by  six  feet  seven  inches ; 
another  five  feet  eight  inches  by  three  feet  four  inches,  and  a 
third,  four  feet  ten  by  four  feet. 

The  folk  lore  of  the  neighbourhood  throws  no  light  on  these 
objects,  with  the  exception  of  what  has  been  stated  in  regard  to 
Clogh  a  gadaide.  The  annals  of  the  county  however  record, 
as  occurring  in  this  neighbourhood,  two  events,  with  which,  it  is 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  241 


likely,  the  earns  and  Clogh  a  gadaide  are  connected.  The 
Four  Masters  tell  us  under  the  year  1196,  that  **  Congalach 
O'Rourke  was  slain  by  the  men  of  Leyney  on  Slieve  da  En," 
and,  under  the  year  1308,  that  "  the  sons  of  Donnell  O'Connor 
proceeded  to  Slieve  da  En,"  that  "  the  English  of  Tireragh  and 
Leyney  pursued  them  to  the  summit  of  the  mountain,"  and 
that  "  the  sons  of  Donnell  turned  on  them,  and  a  battle  ensued, 
in  which  the  English  were  routed  and  pursued  as  far  as  Leac- 
Easa-Dara,  Thomas  MacWalter,  Constable  of  Bunfinna,  his 
brother,  and  many  others  being  slain."  There  is  then  good 
reason  to  think  that  the  earns  and  the  triliag  are  memorials  of 
the  death  of  O'Kourke,  and  of  the  bloody  battle  between  the 
O'Connors  and  the  English. 

Little  as  the  people  know  about  Clogh  a  gadaide,  they  know 
still  less  of  the  Giants'  graves.  Men  who  were  born  and  had 
lived  all  their  lives  beside  them,  seemed  unaware  of  their  exist- 
ence, having  regarded  them,  apparently,  with  about  the  same 
amount  of  intelligence  and  curiosity  that  cows  and  horses  did. 

Anyone  that  has  seen  the  Druids'  Altar  in  Mr.  Wynne's  Deer 
Park,  Calry,  will  hardly  fail  to  notice  a  marked  resemblance  be- 
tween that  monument  and  those  of  Ardnasbrack  and  Caronagh, 
the  chief  difference  being  the  much  greater  size  and  the  more 
complicated  plan  of  the  former.  With  this  difference,  there  is 
much  similarity  between  the  Calry  and  Tirerrill  structures ; 
for  both  are  oblong ;  both  consist  substantially  of  three  com- 
partments ;  both  have  opes  or  doors  between  the  compartments ; 
and  both  are  outlined  and  bounded  alike  by  unhewn  boulder 
stones,  set  on  end  or  laid  on  edge. 

There  is  nothing  known  of  the  nature  or  purpose  of  these  struc- 
tures; nor,  in  the  absence  of  sufficient  data,  such  as  might  be  had  in 
excavations,  is  there  much  ground  for  a  decided  opinion  whether 
they  were  habitations  of  the  living,  or  sepulchres  of  the  dead, 
or  fixtures  for  games ;  though  one  might  be  inclined  to  infer, 
from  the  ope  or  doorway,  that  they  were  habitations  of  anchorets 
or  other  religious.  Such  enclosures,  even  when  covered  in,  as, 
of  course,  they  would  be,  with  boughs  of  trees,  strips  of  turf, 

VOL.   II.  Q 


242  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 

skins  of  beasts,  and  other  such  primitive  appliances,  ill  accord 
with  the  notions  men  have  at  present  of  human  residences,  but 
it  would  not  be  so  if  we  realized  the  state  of  things  in  the  past, 
in  those  times,  for  such  there  were,  when  there  was  hardly  a 
single  house,  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word,  throughout  all 
Connaught ;  when  residences  of  men  were  sheds  or  shanties,  run 
up  in  woods  round  the  trunks  of  trees  ;  and  when,  perhaps,  plenty 
of  people  never  put  the  head  under  a  roof  of  any  kind,  but  lived 
all  their  lives  in  the  open  air,  very  much  like  the  beasts  of  the 
field  or  the  fowls  of  the  air. 

"  Cabin'd,  cribb'd,  confin'd,"  as  anchorets  must  be  in  such 
narrow  cells,  they  would  still  be  more  at  ease  there  than  St. 
Coemgen  or  Kevin,  of  Glendalough,  cooped  up  in  the  hollow  of 
a  tree ;  than  Saint  Pacomius,  on  his  ledge  of  rock ;  than  Saint 
Simon  Stylites  on  his  pillar  ;  than  Saint  Macarius  in  his  morass  : 
than  St.  Benedict  in  the  cave  of  Subiaco;  and  than  thousands  of 
other  solitaries  in  Egypt  and  Gaul,  who  were  sometimes  mistaken, 
amid  rocks  and  jungles,  for  wild  animals. 

However,  it  is  much  more  likely  that  the  structures  of  Ard- 
nasbrack  and  Caronagh  are  sepulchres,  though,  if  so,  there  is 
nothing  to  show,  at  least  conclusively,  whose  graves  they  are. 
In  treating  of  megalithic  remains  of  this  class,  Irish  archasolo- 
gists  commonly  take  them  to  be  pre-historic,  an  opinion  for 
which  no  proof  is  adduced,  and  which  seems  a  mere  guess.  One 
is  then  free  to  hold,  as  the  writer  does,  that  such  monuments 
date  from  historic  times,  and  some  of  them  even  from  a  time 
sufficiently  modern  ;  and  with  regard  to  the  two  under  considera- 
tion, there  is  considerable  ground  for  thinking  that  they  come 
from  the  year  1389,  and  stand  over  the  remains  of  members  of 
the  O'Healy  family,  a  powerful  family  of  the  district,  who  were 
slain  on  the  spot  by  the  O'Rorkes  and  O'Connors,  as  is  thus 
recorded  in  the  Four  Masters  sub  anno  : — "  Owen  O'Rorke,  and 
the  sons  of  Cathal  Oge  (O'Connor),  went  to  Caislen-an-Uabhair 
(Castleore),  where  they  were  met  by  the  cavalry  of  Muinter 
Healy.    These  were  defeated,  and  Manus  O'Healy  and  others 


HISTORY    OF   SLIGO.  243 


were  there  killed.     They  afterwards  plundered  Muinter  Healy 
and  killed  Murtough  O'Healy." 

In  truth  the  purpose  of  such  stractures  is  not  yet  settled,  and 
if  there  is  reason  for  taking  them  to  be  cells  of  religious,  and 
some  for  regarding  them  as  sepulchres,  there  is  some  too  for 
counting  them  fixtures  for  games  or  sports.    See  Vol.  I.,  p.  473. 

Separate  and  independent  parishes  were  more  numerous 
formerly  in  Tirerrill  than  at  present.  In  the  county  Sligo 
Survey  of  1633,  eleven  of  them  are  enumerated — Enagh,  Drum- 
doney,  Killrass,  Ballinakill,  Kilmacallan,  Drumcolum,  Tawnagh, 
Kilvickduan,  Shancough,  Kilmactrany,  Ahanagh,  and  Killerry — 
whereas,  at  present,  there  are  only  five,  including  unions. 

The  old  parish  of  Enagh  forms  now  the  Tirerrill  portion  of 
the  parish  of  Ballysadare.  And,  having  mentioned  Eaagh,  this 
may  be  the  best  place  to  correct  another,  and  not  the  least 
important,  of  the  numerous  errors  into  which  O'Donovan  has 
fallen  in  regard  to  the  topography  of  the  county  Sligo. 

Referring,  in  a  note,  to  the  words  *' Aenach  Tireoilellaj'^ 
mentioned  by  the  Four  Masters  at  the  year  1397,  he  observes, 
*'  This  was,  most  probably,  the  village  of  Carn-Oilella,  now  in 
ruins,  on  the  west  side  of  Lough  Arrow,  in  tbe  barony  of 
Tirerrill,  and  county  of  Sligo  ;  '*  but  if  he  had  devoted  to  this 
entry  the  serious  study,  which  he  gave  to  other  subjects,  he 
could  have  easily  found  that  the  aenach,  or,  rather,  the  annagh 
of  Heapstown,  has  been  always  called  Annagh  Ivenaghan, 
sometimes,  in  more  modern  documents,  with  the  alias  of  Kings- 
borough.*  To  give  an  instance':  the  famous  inquisition  about 
the  lands  of  the  county  Sligo,  sped  at  Roslee,  in  1615,  states, 
**  Carbry  McDonogh,  of  Annagh  Ivenaghan,  is  seised  as  of  fee  of 
Annagh  Ivenaghan  and  the  ^parcel  of  land  called  Annagh 
Ivenaghan,^'    In  the  same  inquisition,  Heapstown  is  called  simply 

*  In  D' Alton's  Memoir  of  the  family  of  King  (Annals  of  Boyle,  Vol.  I.,  p.  53), 
the  author  says,  "  Francis  King,  the  eldest  son,  married,  in  1698,  Dorcas,  eldest 
daughter  of  William  Ormsby,  of  Annagh,  County  Sligo,  aod,  dying  in  1708, 
left  issue  by  her  two  sons  and  one  daughter,  viz.  : — William  of  Annagh- 
Ihanagher,  otherwise  Kingsboroughy  in  the  county  of  Sligo."  See  also  Lodge's 
Peerage  and  Baronetage,  Vol.  Ill,,  p.  223.    Article,  Earl  of  Kingston. 


244  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


"  Carney'  as  it  is  called  by  the  Irish-speaking  people  of  the 
place  Ballycarne,  thus  clearly  contradistiDguishing  it  from  the 
neighbouring  townland  of  Annagh. 

Aenach  Tireoilella  is  certainly  the  spot  now  called  Cut  na 
Braher,  near  Ballysadare,  but  known,  less  than  forty  years  ago, 
as  The  Aenach,*  where,  according  to  local  tradition,  a  great  fair 
was  formerly  held.  On  this  spot  the  religious  of  Ballysadare 
built  a  cell  or  church,  which  is  shown  on  the  Down  Survey  map, 
and  of  which  the  foundations  still  remain ;  and  it  was  from  this 
church  the  old,  and  now  forgotten,  parish  of  Enach,  or  Aenach^ 
of  Tirerrill,  stretching  from  Beladrehid  to  Carrickbanagher, 
took  its  name  ;  the  name  of  the  barony  (Tirerrill),  being  added 
to  that  of  the  parish  (Aenach),  to  distinguish  it  from  the  aenach 
of  Carbury,  now  called  Hazelwood,  and  the  annagh  of  Leyney, 
now  represented  by  Annaghmore,  the  seat  of  the  O'Hara  family. 
Aenach  Tireoilella  appears  in  English  official  documents  as 
"  Enaghe  in  Tirrerell ; "  and  we  find  it  under  this  form  in  the 
grant  of  James  I.  to  Edward  Crofton  of  the  possessions  of  Bally- 
sadare abbey.  In  the  old  Survey  of  1633,  etc.,  it  is  given  as 
the  parish  of  "  Enagh  Tirerrill ; ''  thus  clearly  identifying  it 
with  the  "  Aenach  Tireoilella "  of  the  Four  Masters,  which 
O'Donovan  mistook  and  misplaced. 

This  rectification  is  the  more  useful,  as  it  leads  to  the  identifi- 
cation of  the  place  called  Srath-an-fherain  (literally,  the  Srath 
of  the  land,  or  the  great  Srath),  which  the  Synod  of  Rathbreasil 
fixed  as  one  of  the  boundaries  of  the  diocese  of  Killala,  and 
which  has  not  been  correctly  identified ;  for,  as  we  learn  from 
the  Four  Masters,  at  the  year  1291,  that  the  Aenach  Tiroilella 
and  Srath-an-fherain  are  adjoining  districts,!  we  are  warranted 
in  concluding  that  the  latter  is  the  place  now  called  Shramore 
(the  great  Shrath),  which,  in  fact,  adjoins,  on  the  south,  Cut  na 
hraher,  or,  the  ancient  Aenach. 

*  The  family  of  the  tenant  who  rented  the  spot  at  the  time  refered  to,  still 
call  it  The  Aenach, 

t "  Manus  O'Conor  came  up  with  the  preys  at  Srath-an-fherain  and  at 
Aenach.^' 


HISTORY  OF   SLIGO.  245 


If  it  be  objected  that  the  spot  called  Srath-an-fherain  in 
Eoderick  O'Connor's  translation  of  Keating's  History,  is  given 
as  Srahantearmainn  in  Archdeacon  Lynches  Latin  rendering  of 
the  same  work,  it  may  be  answered  that  Srahantearmainn  is 
an  alias  of  Srath-an-fherainn,  the  sraih  being  a  part  of  the 
termon  of  Ballysadare  abbey.  From  all  this,  then,  it  follows 
that  both  Aenach  Tireoilella  and  Srath-an-fherain  lie  in  the 
present  parish  of  Ballysadare,  which  includes  the  old  parochial 
district  of  Enagh  in  Tirerrill,  as  well  as  the  parochial  district  of 
Easdara  in  Leyney. 

In  the  same  note,  under  the  year  1397,  O'Donovan  asserts 
that  the  cairn  of  Heapstown  was  raised  over  OilioU,  from  whom 
Tirerrill  has  its  name,  and,  in  proof  of  his  assertion,  refers  to 
Part  III.,  chap.  79,  of  O'Flaherty's  Ogygia.  In  turning,  how- 
ever, to  the  passage  indicated,  the  reader  will  look  in  vain  for 
the  expected  proof,  as  O'Flaherty  says  nothing  on  the  subject. 
Nor  does  there  appear  to  be  any  proof  forthcoming.  What 
probably  induced  some  persons  to  connect  the  cairn  with  Oilioll, 
if  others  besides  O'Donovan  have  done  so,  was  its  old  name, 
Oillthrialla;  but  though  there  is  some  resemblance  in  the  first 
part  of  this  name  with  Oilioll,  the  addition  of  Thrialla  would  go 
to  show  that  the  full  name  refers  to  a  different  person. 

And,  while  on  this  subject,  it  may  be  opportune  to  notice  are- 
mark  of  O'Donovan's,  quoted  by  Mr.  Hennessy  in  his  learned  pre- 
face to  the  Annals  of  Loch  Ce;  Finding  in  an  inserted  leaf  in  the 
manuscript  Annals  of  Loch  Ge  the  followiug  memorandum  : — *'  I 
am  this  day  at  Baile-an-chairn  Oillthrialla,  the  10th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1698 — John  Conmidhe,"  O'Donovan  takes  up  the  parable, 
and  observes,  "  John  Conmidhe,  or  (as  the  name  is  now  written 
and  pronounced)  Mac  Namee,  was  probably  a  travelling  bard  or 
scholar,  who,  in  a  visit  to  the  MacDermot's  country,  was  able  to 
read  and  transcribe  the  page  which  had  become  effaced  in  con- 
sequence of  the  book  being  kept  without  a  cover." 

Here  too,  as  in  so  many  more  of  his  conjectures,  John 
O'Donovan  is  at  fault,  for  the  Conmees  (not  Mac  Namees)  were 


246  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


at  this  time  a  local  family  of  Heapstown,  and  of  such  social 
standing,  that,  when  one  of  them — prohably  this  very  John — 
died  in  1712,  two  bishops — Doctors  O'Korke  and  Mac  Dermot — 
and  a  good  many  priests  of  the  counties  of  Sligo,  Leitrim,  and 
Koscommon,  came  from  their  hiding  places,  and  from  great  dis- 
tances, at  the  risk  of  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  priest-catchers, 
to  attend  the  obsequies  and  mark  their  respect  for  the  deceased. 
These  interesting  facts  we  learn  from  depositions  which  were 
taken  on  the  4th  November,  1712,  by  three  Sligo  magistrates, 
Percy  Gethin,  W.  Ormsby,  and  Robert  Lindsay,  and  which  the 
reader  will  find  quoted  in  extenso  in  a  preceding  page ;  Vol.  I., 
p.  229.  The  Conmee  vault  may  still  be  seen  in  Kilmactrany 
graveyard. 

We  may  add,  that  the  Very  Eeverend  J.  S.  Conmee,  the 
learned  and  able  president  of  Clongowes  Wood  College,  is  a 
member  of  this  family,  and,  no  doubt,  a  lineal  descendant  of 
John  Conmidhe  the  antiquarian,  a  circumstance  that  greatly 
enhances  the  satisfaction  which  the  writer  feels  in  correcting  the 
depreciating,  but  utterly  groundless,  assertion  or  conjecture  of 
O'Donovan, 

The  parochial  union  of  Riveestown,  of  which  Father  Quinn 
is  Parish  Priest,  comprises  the  six  old  parishes  of  Kilross,  Bally- 
summaghan,  Ballynakill,  Drumcolumb,  Kilmacallan,  and 
Taunagh.  Excepting  Cooper  Hill,  the  portion  of  Markree 
demesne  belonging  to  the  union,  and  a  few  small  plantations 
here  and  there,  the  district  is  bare  and  bleak,  the  fences  of 
the  northern  parts  being  low  stone  walls,  and  those  of  the 
southern,  sod  banks,  sometimes,  but  rather  rarely,  topped  with 
scraggy  whitethorns.  The  land  is  for  the  most  part  in  pasture, 
with  about  the  same  average  proportion  in  tillage  as  we  find  in 
the  rest  of  the  county.  The  surface  of  the  union  is  monotonous, 
being  a  rolling  or  tumulated  plain,  with  little  narrow  valleys 
running  here  and  there,  between  or  around  small  elevations. 
The  presence  everywhere  of  rushes — on  the  summit  of  the 
hillocks,  down  the  slopes,  and  through  the  valleys,  shows  the 
cold,  wet  nature  of  the  soil,  and  the  need  of  cultivation. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  247 


The  church  of  Kilross — church  of  the  wood — from  which  the 
parish  has  its  name,  was  founded  in  1233  by  Clarus  MacMailin,* 
the  famous  Prior  of  Trinity  Abbey  in  Loch  Ce,  and  belonged  to 
the  Premonstratensians,  as  did  several  other  churches  in  this 
and  the  neighbouring  counties,  founded  by  the  same  zealous  and 
able  man.  A  good  part  of  the  ruins  still  remain ;  and  it  is  clear 
from  an  inspection  of  the  western  end,  that  this  portion  of  the 
structure  served  as  a  residence  for  the  clergy,  while  the  rest  of 
the  building  formed  the  church — an  arrangement  common 
enough  in  Irish  churches  in  past  times.f  Kilross  is  not  only 
the  chief  burying  place  of  the  parish,  but  is  much  used  for 
interments  of  people  belonging  to  other  parishes — Protestants 
as  well  as  Catholics  are  interred  in  it — and  the  Ormsbys,  late  of 
Castledargan,  has  a  vault  there.  The  church  was  well  endowed 
with  lands  which  lay  round  it ;  and  Cottage  Island,  in  Lough 
Gill,  was  one  of  its  possessions. 

The  place  called  Kilellin  at  Ballygawley,  in  the  same  parish, 
contained  a  church,  which  preceded  in  time  that  of  Kilross,  and 
which  also  had  a  cemetery  attached,  where  a  pillar  stone,  popu- 
larly known  as  clogh  an  easpuig,  marks  the  last  resting-place  of 
some  primitive  bishop,  whose  name  has  not  come  down  to  us. 
Within  a  few  yards  of  this  cemetery,  and  under  the  shade  of 
some  fine  ash  trees,  there  is  a  holy  well,  which,  till  recently,  was 
frequented  by  crowds  from  all  quarters,  including  the  Town  of 
Sligo.  Country  people  tell  you  that  there  are  Ogham  lines,  on 
the  part  of  clogh  an  easpuigy  that  is  sunk  in  the  ground. 

To  this  parish  belong  the  remarkable  antiquities  already  de- 
scribed J — Calliagh  a  Vera's  House  on  the  summit  of  Slieve-da^ 
en,  the  Triliag  on  the  slope  of  that  mountain,  the  remarkable 
monuments  in  the  townlands  of  Caronagh  and  Ardnasbrack,  and 

*  Clarus  Mac  Mailin  ...    in  Dei  omnipotentis  honore  ecclesiam   Sanctae 
Trinitatis  apud  Gill  Rais  sedificaDt." — Annals  of  Loch  Ce,  Vol.  I.,  p.  397. 

t  **We  know,"  says  DuNoyer,  in  the  Kilkenny  Archceological  Journal,  Vol. 
VIII.,  p.  36,  "that  Geoffrey  Keating  and  Camden  allude  to  the  fact  that  the 
parish  churches  of  Ireland  were  used  as   dwellings  before    and   after  the 
Reformation." 
i  See  pp.  239-240. 


248  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


the  cashel  as  well  as  the  castle  on  the  hrink  of  Lough  Dergan. 
The  Survey  of  1633  says  of  Ardnasbrack  :  "  It  claims  the  ould 
castle  called  Castle  Lough  Dergan,  and  hath  part  of  a  pretty 
lough  where  are  excellent  trouts."  It  is  said  that  the  "  trouts  '* 
have  disappeared,  having  probably  been  made  away  with  by  the 
enormous  pikes,  which  seem  to  have  evicted  tbem  and  taken 
most  of  the  lake  to  themselves. 

On  the  18th  July,  1618,  William  Crofton,  of  Templehouse, 
received  from  James  I.  a  grant  of  the  "  site  of  the  chapel  or  cell 
of  Killrosse,  and  2  quarters  of  land  adjoining  the  island  Inish- 
killeghan  (called  now  commonly  Gallagher's  Island,  sometimes 
Cottage  Island, and, occasionally,  Bullock  Island),  in  Lochgill,  near 
the  town  of  Sligo,  and  certain  other  small  islands  there."*  These, 
with  the  other  possessions  of  William  Crofton,  passed  to  the 
Perceval  family  by  the  marriage  of  George  Perceval,  youngest  son 
of  Sir  Phillip  Perceval,  to  Mary,  daughter  and  heiress  of  William 
Crofton,  The  owners  of  the  parish  in  1633  were  William 
Crofton,  Sir  Thomas  Wenman,  the  McDonoghs,  Rev.  Mr.  Dod- 
well,  and  Donogh  O'Connor. 

The  adjoining  parish  on  the  south  is  Ballysummaghan,  which 
is  called  Drumdoney  in  the  Survey  of  1633,  and  is  mentioned 
in  an  Exchequer  inquisition  of  the  15th  of  James  I.  with  the 
alias  of  Dromdrayne — the  ridge  of  the  blackthorn.  The  present 
name  comes  from  persons  of  the  name  of  O'Summaghan,  angli- 
cised Somers,  who  were  formerly  very  numerous  in  the  district. 
Several  of  them  are  named  in  James  the  First's  Pardon  of  Sir 
Donogh  O'Connor  and  the  other  inhabitants  of  the  county  Sligo ; 
and  in  the  Survey  of  1633,  Knocknagee,  in  this  parish,  is  set 
down  as  "  the  inheritance  of  Donogh  O'Connor,  Esq.,  mortgaged 
to  Andrew  Crean,  Esq.  He  leases  it  to  his  son  John,  who  sets 
it  to  Thomas  O'Summaghan  and  John  Darragh  O'Laghna, 
fosterers."  Dunally,  Bloomfield,  and  Castle  Neynoe  are  in  this 
parish ;  the  last  named  place  contains  an  imposing  castellated 
house. 

Some  ruins  of   an  old  parish    church   are    at    Kiltycloghan, 


Patent  Roll  of  James  I.,  p.  391. 


HISTORY  OF   SLIGO.  249 


where  also  there  is  a  graveyard  which  is  little  used  for  burials 
at  present,  but  which  contains  an  imposing  cut  stone  monument 
set  over  the  vault  of  the  Neynoes.  Ballysummaghan  is  not  given 
in  the  Taxation  of  1307  ;  but  we  have  it  as  Druradowan  in  the 
record  of  the  inquisition  held  in  1584,  by  the  bishop  of  Kildare,  at 
Achonry. 

Ballynakill  parish  is  not  mentioned  in  the  Taxation  of 
1307;  nor  does  it  occur  under  this  name  in  the  inquisition  of  the 
bishop  of  Kildare,  though,  no  doubt,  it  is  represented  in  the 
latter  by  Coolea,  or  Cooleha,  the  vicarage  of  which  is  rated  by 
the  bishop  so  low  as  eight  pence.  And  from  another  inquisition 
held  the  same  year  at  Sligo,  before  John  Crofton,  we  find  that 
the  Rectory  of  Culea  belonged  to  the  Priory  of  Inchvickryney. 

The  eastern  gable  of  Ballynakill  old  church  remains,  and 
resembles  that  of  Kilmacowen  with  a  like  lancet  window.  The 
graveyard  of  the  place  is  crowded,  an  enclosed  square  at  the 
western  end  being  reserved  for  the  Cogan  family.  About  a 
thousand  yards  to  the  west  of  the  church  are  the  remains  of 
Coolea  castle,  the  fragments  now  standing  being  a  portion  of 
the  eastern  gable,  seventeen  yards  wide,  four  feet  thick,  and 
sixteen  high,  with  about  sixteen  feet  long  of  the  southern  side- 
wall,  and  as  many  of  the  northern.  Grout  was  employed  in  the 
building  of  both  church  and  castle.  The  owners  of  Ballynakill 
parish  in  1632  were  Lord  Taaffe,  William  Crofton,  the 
McDonoghs,  John  Ridge,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Dodwell. 

We  have  Drumcolumb  in  the  bishop  of  Kildare's  inquisition  as 
Drumcollon  ;  and  it  is,  probably,  the  Drumduliand  of  the  Tax- 
ation of  1307.  As  the  name  implies,  it  is  a  foundation  of  Saint 
Columba.  In  his  Life  of  Saint  Columba,  O'Donnell  tells  that  the 
saint,  after  founding  the  church  of  Emlaghfad,  near  Ballymote, 
passed  to  Tirerrill,  and  receiving  from  the  inhabitants  of  that 
district,  who  were  his  own  relations,  a  tract  of  land,  called  then 
Druimnamac,  but  later  Drum  Colum  Oille,  built  thereon  a 
church,  set  over  it  his  disciple  St.  Finbar,  presented  it,  in  token 
of  his  affection,  with  a  bell  called  Glassan,  and  erected  on  the 
south  side  of  it  a  tall  cross  ;  foretelling  at  the  same  time,  that 


250  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


all  would  go  well  with  the  church,  so  long  as  the  bell  and  cross 
remained* 

Drumcolumb  is  a  fragmentary  parish,  consisting  of  three 
different  parts,  separated  widely  from  each  other.  There  are 
some  small  remains  of  the  church,  with  a  little  used,  if  not  a 
disused,  graveyard  attached.  Lisconny  belongs  to  the  more 
western  part  of  Drumcolumb,  and  illustrates  the  changeableness 
of  tenancy  often  met  with  in  this  part  of  Ireland.  From  the 
time  the  McDonoghs  lost  it  by  their  attainder,  towards  the  close 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  to  the  Cromwellian  Settlement,  it  was 
granted  successively  to  four  or  five  different  grantees.  Under 
the  Commonwealth,  William  Mortimer  was  the  Titulado  of 
Lisconny,  and  passed  it  on  to  his  family,  one  of  whom,  John 
Mortimer,  sold  it  in  the  last  century  to  Jack  Phibbs. 

This  Mr.  Phibbs  was  a  self-made  man,  having  raised  himself 
by  industry,  thrift,  and  successful  dealing,  from  the  position  of  a 
day  labourer,  to  that  of  one  of  the  chief  graziers  of  the  county, 
as  well  as  the  owner  in  fee  of  Lisconny.  He  seems  to  have  been 
of  a  somewhat  eccentric  turn  of  mind  ;  for  on  reaching  near  the 
end  of  his  career,  nothing  troubled  him  except  a  desire  to  have 
a  good  wake  and  a  large  funeral ;  and  to  secure  this,  his  great 
desideratum,  he  ordered,  a  day  or  two  before  his  death,  all  the 
women  about  the  house  to  take  to  the  making  of  oaten  bread, 
and  enjoined  his  executors  to  afford  every  man,  woman,  and 
child,  that  attended  his  wake,  or  accompanied  the  funeral  to 
Emlaghfad,  plenty  of  bread  and  butter,  with  as  much  whiskey 
as  they  could  drink ;  carrying  his  solicitude  so  far  as  to  require 

*  Porro  illinc  digressus,  in  regionem  de  Tiroiliolla  penetravit,  ibique  inter 
siios  cognatos  et  posteros,  Olillii  filii  Eochadii  Mugmedonii  verbum  saliitis 
dissemiuans  :  muitos  Christo  lucrifecit,  donatus  interea  a  loci  incolis  eo  fundo 
qui  tunc  quidem  Druimnamac^  hodie  vero  Dniim  Colum  Cille  appellatur  :  ubi 
extructa  ecclesia  alumnum  suum  S.  Finbarrium  pro  rectore,  nolem  suam  vulgo 
Glassan  vocatam  pro  monumento,  et  proceram  crucem,  quam  pone  sacram 
oedem  ad  Australem  plagam  erexerat  pro  prsesidio  reliquit,  prsedicens  illam  fore 
deinceps  semper  celebram,  et  taradiu  bonis  successibus  usuram,  quamdiu 
memorata  crux,  et  tintinnabulum  in  ea  perseverarent. —  Trias  Thaum.,  pa.ges 
406-7. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  251 


that  a  cartload  of  the  solids  and  liquids  should  he  conveyed  into 
the  churchyard  to  regale  all  who  should  be  present  at  the  inter- 
ment, including  even  casual  bystanders. 

Jack  Phibbs  had  no  son ;  and  his  daughter  and  heiress  was 
taken  away,  with  her  own  consent,  from  Lisconny  by  a  gentle- 
man named  Brabazon  of  the  county  Mayo,  and  brought  before 
Father  John  Fiizmaurice,  the  then  Parish  Priest  of  Collooney, 
who  forthwith  married  them ;  having,  no  doubt,  good  and 
sufficient  reasons  for  officiating.  The  issue  of  the  marriage  was 
an  only  daughter,  who  in  due  time,  was  married  to  a  son  of  Lord 
Norbury,  and  carried  the  Lisconny  and  Doorla  estate  into  the 
Toler  family,  where  it  still  remains. 

Another  Mr.  Phibbs,  whom  the  people,  with  the  peculiar 
politeness  of  the  times,  commonly  called  Blind  Billy  Phibbs^ 
succeeded  Jack  in  the  occupancy,  but  not  in  the  ownership  of 
Lisconny.  Arthur  Irwin,  a  famous  horse  racer,  generally  styled 
Commodore  Irwin,  was  the  next  tenant ;  and  local  seanachies 
love  to  recall  how,  when  he  exercised  his  horses  in  the  Black- 
field  at  Doorla,  he  had  a  pet  deer  so  trained,  that  it  ran  before 
them  and  showed  them  the  course.  From  Blind  Billy,  Lisconny 
passed  to  Counsellor  Baker  ;  from  the  counsellor  to  Mr.  Waldron; 
and  from  him  in  turn  to  Mr.  Bryan  Cogan,  the  father  of  the 
late  Mr.  Bernard  Owen  Cogan,  J.P.,  and  the  grandfather  of  Mr. 
Bernard  Cogan,  the  last  occupying  tenant^of  Lisconny  House  and 
lands. 

The  owners  of  Drumcolumb  in  1632  were  the  Bishop  of 
Elphin,  O'Connor  Sligo,  Patrick  Plunket  of  Markree,  the 
McDonoghs,  and  Lord  TaafFe. 

We  find  Kilmacallan  both  in  the  Taxation  of  1807,  and  the 
bishop  of  Kildare's  inquisition — in  the  former  as  Kilmactalum, 
but  in  the  latter  exactly  as  it  is  now  spelled.  Who  this  Macallan, 
or  son  of  Allan,  was,  no  one  has  told,  or  whether  he  was  the 
founder  of  the  church,  or  its  patron  saint,  or  both.  It  is  likely, 
and  seems  certain,  he  was  the  Saint  Mansen  whom  we  find 
mentioned  in  Elizabeth's  grant  to  Eugene  O'Connor,  where  with 
other  possessions  bestowed,  we  read  of  "  St.  Mansen's,  otherwise 


252  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


Killinicallen,  a  rectory  in  Elphin  diocese."*  The  rectory  of 
Kilmacallan  was  appropriate  to  the  Priory  of  Inchmacnerin  in 
Loch  Ce.  The  old  church  of  Kilmacallan  goes  by  the  name  of 
Templemore ;  its  walls  still  stand,  and  in  good  preservation.  It 
is  one  of  the  most  frequented  burying  places  of  the  county. 

Tawnagh  is  the  oldest  church  in  the  union,  and,  probably, 
in  Tirerrill.  It  is  a  foundation  of  Saint  Patrick  himself,  and  is 
given  as  such  in  Tirechan's  Annotations  in  the  Book  of 
Armagh,  where  we  read.  "Et  exiit  trans  montem  filiorum 
Ailello,  et  fundavit  ecclesiam  ibi,  id  est,  Tamnach."  (And  he 
went  out  across  the  mountain  of  Tirerrill,  and  founded  a  church 
there,  that  is  Tawnagh.) -f- 

The  Tripartite  is  more  detailed  in  its  account: — "Peragravit 
Sanctus  Patricius  regionem  de  Hua  noilella,  et  construxit  insig- 
nem  ecclesiam  de  Tamnacha ;  quae  Dei  et  hominum  singulari 
patrocinio  et  tutela  custoditur.  Ecclesise  Tamnacensi  prefecit 
Episcopum  Carellum,  quem  juxta  Ecclesias  consuetudinem  in 
Episcopum  ordinarunt  Patricius,  Bronus,  et  Bitaeus."J  (Saint 
Patrick  travelled  through  the  district  of  Tirerrill,  and  erected 
the  great  church  of  Tawnagh,  which  is  under  the  special  pro- 
tection and  care  of  both  God  and  men.  Over  the  church  of 
Tawnagh  he  set  Bishop  Carellus,  whom,  in  accordance  with  the 
usage  of  the  church,  Patrick  Bronus,  and  Bitseus  consecrated  a 
bishop.) 

The  only  town,  big  or  little,  in  the  union,  is  Riverstown,  which 
stands  partly  in  the  parish  of  Drumcolumb,  but  chiefly  in  that 
of  Kilmacallan.  The  approaches  by  Ardcummer  and  Cooper  Hill 
show  it  to  be  a  place  of  some  consequence,  as  the  roads  are  lined 
on  either  side  with  rows  of  fine  old  trees.  The  village  is  well 
situated  for  business,  being  surrounded  by  an  extensive,  thickly 
inhabited,  and  rather  prosperous  rural  district,  which  has  no  other 
place  for  selling  or  buying  within  convenient  reach. 

*  Patent  Roll  of  James  I.,  p.  84. 

t  Documenta     .      ,      ,    ex  Libre  Armacliano."~Edidit    E.  Hogan,    S.  J., 
p.  85. 

X  Trias  Thaumaturga,  p.  135. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  253 


The  name  Riverstown  is  a  very  appropriate  one,  for  the  village 
of  that  name  appears  to  have  more  water  around  it,  than  any 
other  of  the  county,  more  especially  in  winter,  when  the  rivers 
overflow  their  banks  and  submerge  much  of  the  adjoining  land. 
Kiverstown  is  called,  in  Irish,  Ballyederdaowen — the  town 
between  the  two  rivers — from  its  situation  between  the  Uncion 
and  the  Douglas,  where  most  of  its  houses,  including  all  the 
shops,  still  stand.  The  houses  are,  in  general,  good,  and  several 
of  them  new ;  and  the  shops,  for  a  country  village,  are  showy 
and  well  appointed,  more  particularly  that  of  Mr.  Judge,  which, 
by  its  appearance  and  arrangement,  bespeaks  no  ordinary  tact 
and  energy  in  its  owner,  who  is  also  its  manager.  The  other 
chief  shops  of  the  place  are  those  of  Messrs.  Gethin,  Flynn, 
Irwin  and  Barlow. 

The  Parish  Priest  and  Protestant  Rector  are  well  housed,  one 
on  the  right,  and  the  other  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Uncion, 
within  easy  reach,  and  almost  whispering  distance  of  each  other. 
The  Presbytery  was  built  according  to  the  plan,  and  under  the 
immediate  supervision,  of  Father  Quinn,  and  exhibits,  both  in 
the  residence  and  the  offices,  his  fine  judgment  and  cultivated 
taste.  The  Doctor's  new  house  stands  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Douglas,  and  is  a  neat,  commodious,  and  graceful  structure. 

Adjoining  Riverstown,  and  in  the  same  parish  of  Kilmacallan^ 
is  Cooper  Hill,  a  name,  no  doubt,  suggested  to  Mr.  Arthur 
Brooke  Cooper,  who  imposed  it,  by  Cooper  Hill,  near  London. 
Cooper  Hill  house  is  in  the  form  of  a  square  and  rises  B.Ye 
storeys  high,  one  of  the  storeys  being  the  basement ;  and  when 
the  first  course  of  the  cyclopean  masonry  appeared  at  the  sur- 
face, everything  looked  so  gigantesque  that,  if  a  visitor  that  had 
seen  the  pyramids  of  Egypt,  had  come  across  it,  he  could  hardly 
have  failed  to  think  that  Mr.  Cooper  was  about  to  copy,  on 
Cooper  Hill,  the  wonderful  work  of  Cheops.  Even  to-day,  a 
person  looking  at  the  structure  must  get  the  idea  that  Mr. 
Cooper  meant  it,  as  their  builders  meant  the  pyramids,  to  last 
for  ever,  it  is  so  substantial  and  huge. 


254  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO, 


It  is  not  known  how  much  this  building  cost.  It  is  believed  that 
Louis  the  Fourteenth,  after  finishing  the  palace  of  Versailles  with 
the  trianons,  destroyed  the  accounts  to  avoid  the  odium,  which 
knowledge  of  such  lavish  expenditure  was  sure  to  create  among 
his  subjects.  Whether  Mr.  Cooper  imitated  the  Grand  Monarqwe 
in  this  particular  is  a  secret ;  but,  anyhow,  local  gossip  or  tradi- 
tion compensates  somewhat  for  the  absence  of  documents ;  for 
the  people  of  the  neighbourhood  assure  you  that  Mr.  Cooper, 
before  engaging  in  the  undertaking,  had  provided  for  the  cost  a 
"  tub  of  gold  guineas,"  but  that  the  last  guinea  was  paid  away 
before  the  building  showed  above  the  surface  of  the  ground. 

In  this  extremity  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  sell  portions 
of  his  estate,  which  he  accordingly  did,  disposing  "of  Cloghfin  to 
the  Coopers  of  Markrea,  and  of  Teesan  and  parts  of  Magherow, 
in  the  barony  of  Carbury,  to  the  Gethins  of  Ballindoon.  The 
single  item  of  providing  the  stones  must  have  been  a  formidable 
sum,  for  it  took  eight  years  to  quarry  them  and  to  draw  them 
from  the  quarry  on  Doon  Hill  to  Cooper  Hill,  a  distance  of 
about  six  miles,  the  conveyance  being  effected  by  sleighs,  or 
sleds. 

Even  apart  from  questions  of  cost,  no  gentleman  would  think 
now  of  building  such  a  monster  mansion.  Better  taste  in  art 
prevails;  and  architects,  instead  of  drawing  their  inspiration 
from  Egypt  and  India,  where  bigness  was  everything,  recur  for 
models  to  Greece  and  Italy  where  mere  massiveness  was  never 
counted  majesty,  nor  bulk  beauty,  and  where  elegance  and 
commodiousness  were  always  the  paramount  considerations  in 
regard  to  domestic  architecture. 

A  solid,  as  well  as  ornamental,  cut  stone  bridge  spans  the 
river  Arrow  or  Uncion,  near  the  mansion.  This  structure,  con- 
sidering its  finished  material,  and  the  extraordinary  difficulties 
of  erection  offered  by  the  nature  of  the  site,  involved  enormous 
outlay,  though  it  could  hardly  be  as  expensive  as  the  people  of 
the  neighbourhood  say ;  for  they  tell,  that  it  cost  as  much  as 
Cooper  Hill  House  itself. 

Though  there  seems  to  be  no  documentary  proof,  there  can 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  255 


hardly  be  any  doubt  that  the  Coopers,  of  Cooper  Hill,  and  the 
Coopers  of  Markrea  are  of  one  and  the  same  stock.  The  identity 
appears  sufficiently  from  their  having  the  same  arms,  as  also 
from  their  estates  being  contiguous,  which  would  point  to  a 
friendly  family  arrangement.  Sir  Bernard  Burke,  in  the 
"  Landed  Gentry  of  Ireland,"  article  O'Hara,  counts  them  the 
same  family. 

In  this  ecclesiastical  'union  there  are  four  churches — two 
Catholic  and  two  Protestant — in  use  at  present  for  public 
worship.  Of  the  Catholic  churches,  one  stands  in  Riverstown, 
and  the  other  in  Sooey.  The  Eiverstown  building  dates  from 
the  year  1801,  when  the  Reverend  Bryan  Kelly  raised  the 
existing  slated  structure  round  an  old  thatched  chapel,  which 
occupied  the  same  site.  The  Sooey  church  is  more  modern, 
being  built  in  1837  by  Reverend  Luke  Cullinan,  who  preferred 
the  present  situation,  as  adjoining  the  high  road,  to  the  hill  of 
Sooey,  where  the  old  chapel  was,  and  where  some  remains  of  it 
may  still  be  seen.  Father  Cullinan  died  in  1850,  and  was 
buried  in  Sooey  chapel.  The  preceding  Parish  Priest  of  Sooey, 
Father  Patrick  DujBfy,  was  buried  in  Kilty cloghan.* 

Except  Father  Owen  Feeny,  P.P.,  who  died  in  1876,  and  was 
buried  in  Riverstown  church,  the  incumbents  of  the  Riverstown 
union  were  interred  in  Templemore.  Father  Bryan  Kelly's 
pastorate  lasted  from  1782  to  1803.  The  stone  that  covers  his 
grave  in  Templemore  bears  the  inscription : — 

"  The  Revd.  Bryan  O'Kelly,  P.P., 

in  Union  since  1782,  laid  the  first  stone  in  this  chapel  1801. 

May  he  and  his  subscribers  meet  in  Heaven." 

*  Father  Duffy's  tombstone  in  Kiltycloghan  bears  this  inscription  : — 

"  Ora  pro  anima 

Reverendi  Patricii  Duffy, 

per  annos  vigenti  tres  hujus  curae  pastoris,  charitate  erga 

Deum  et  proximum  insignis,  spiritum  Deo  reddidit 

die  29  Octobris  anno  Domini  1831, 

setatis  vero  suae  85. 

Requiescat  in  pace." 


256  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


It  is  to  be  remarked  that  this  stone  was  originally  built  in  the 
wall  of  Riverstown  church,*  but  was  taken  out  and  placed  over 
Pather  Kelly's  grave  in  Templemore. 

Father  Kelly's  immediate  predecessor,  Revd.  Darby  Brennan, 
was  buried  in  the  same  graveyard,  where  his  resting  place  is 
under  a  tombstone  with  this  inscription  : — 

"  This  stone  is  erected  over  the  body  of  Kevd.  Darby  Brennan, 

27  years  Pastor  of  this  parish, 

Where  he  zealously  taught  his  flock  both 

by  word  and  example. 

He  departed  this  life,  sincerely  regretted,  30th  July,  1782. 

R.  I.  P." 

And  Father  Kelly's  immediate  successor,  Very  E-ev.  Canon 
James  Hester,  awaits  his  resurrection  in  the  same  place.  The 
following  Latin  words  are  inscribed  on  his  tombstone  : — 

"  Ora  pro  anima 

Jacobi  Hester,  Canonici  Elphinensis 

et  per  annos  33  pastoris  hujusce  curae  de  Tawnagh, 

Kil  McAllan,  et  Kil  Colurab, 

qui  tandem  laboribus  attritus,  coeloque  maturus,  gregi  fideli 

verbo  et  exemplo  ad  mortem  usque  Prelucens  Deo 

spectabilis  suisque  venerabilis  e  vivis 

excessit  anno  Salutis  1836, 

die  vero  Februarii  22, 
Nonaginta  annos  natus." 

The  ruin,  within  which  the  remains  of  these  good  priests  lie, 

*  On  Christmas  day,  1841,  the  gallery  of  Riverstown  chapel  fell  during  the 
Parochial  Mass,  and  injured  several  persons  in  the  congregation.  A  paragraph 
in  the  Sligo  Journal  of  December  31st,  1841,  thus  describes  the  occurrence : — 
"  Frightful  Accident. — On  Christmas  morning  at  early  mass,  an  awful  circum- 
stance occurred  in  Riverstown  chapel.  While  the  service  was  going  on,  the 
gallery,  at  which  some  repairs  had  been  making,  fell,  and  above  forty  persons  were 
seriously  injured.  Several  had  their  legs  and  arms  broken,  and  one  woman's 
skull  was  fractured.  We  are  glad  to  hear  that  none  have  been  killed,  but 
several  of  those  injured  are  still  in  imminent  danger.  They  have  been  removed 
to  the  County  Infirmary. " 


HISTORY   OF  SLIGO.  257 


is  extensive,  and  proves  the  church  to  have  deserved  its  popular 
name  of  Templemore,  or  big  church,  while  its  position  on  the 
summit  of  a  hill,  visible  for  a  great  distance  all  round,  must 
have  added  much  to  its  impressiveness.  Hard  by  the  walls  is 
the  foundation  of  an  old  building,  which  the  people  name 
Teach  na  GalliagJia  dhu,  House  of  the  Nuns,  which  would  go 
to  show  that  there  was  formerly  a  nunnery  on  the  spot.  Within 
a  hundred  yards  or  so  of  the  graveyard  is  a  holy  well,  known  as 
Tober  Muneen — words  which, according  to  the  neighbours,  signify 
Monica's  well.  These  several  indications  point  to  a  primitive 
establishment,  that  followed  the  rule  of  St.  Augustine,  which 
Templemore  may  have  been  before  it  became  a  parish  church. 
It  is  said  that  a  smaller  and  older  church  was  erected  in  the 
adjoining  townland  of  Drumdoney.  The  etymology  of  Drum- 
doney — Dorsum  dominicce,  or  Ridge  of  the  church — would  bear 
out  the  tradition. 

It  would  hardly  be  right  to  leave  unnoticed  a  transaction 
which  has  formed  for  a  long  time  the  chief  subject  of  gossip  in 
the  neighbourhood.     The  story  is,  that  a  couple  of  priests  rented 
some  of  the  land  of  Templemore  from  the  landlord  Mr.  Dodd, 
and  lived  on  the  farm,  when  the  landlord's  son,  happening  to 
come  the  way,   they  entertained   him  at  dinner  on   a  leg  of 
mutton.     Upon  returning  home  the  young  man  told  his  father 
and  mother  that  he  had  dined  with  the  priests,  and  eaten  the 
sweetest  mutton  he  had  ever   tasted.     "  And  where,"  it  was 
asked,  "  did  this  wonderful  mutton  come  from  ?"     "  From  their 
own  farm,"  replied  the  son.     Whether  young  Mr.  Dodd  wished 
it  or  not,  the  information  brought  ruin  on  the  priests,  for  his 
parents    forthwith    had    them    evicted,     with    the    view    of 
turning  in  their  own  sheep  on  it,  and  securing  the  toothsome 
mutton  for  themselves.    The  covetous  couple,  however,  lost  much 
more  than  they  gained  by  the  selfish  proceeding,  as  the  priests,  it 
is  said,  on  quitting,  left  their  curse  to  the  place,  with  the  result, 
that  Dodd's  sheep  died  of  some  mysterious  disease  as  fast  as 
they  came  on  the  land.     For  this  the  country  people  called  the 
VOL.  II.  R 


258  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


field  Pare  na  mallaghtj  the  field  of  the  curse — a  name  hy  which 
it  is  still  known. 

Near  each  of  the  churches  of  Ballynakill,  Tawnagh,  and 
Drumcolumb,  there  is  a  holy  well ;  and  close  by  the  site  of 
Drumcolumb  building,  there  is  a  ravine  with  precipitous  sides, 
within  which  Mass  used  to  be  said  in  the  Penal  times ;  and  it  is 
told  that,  when  a  shower  came  on,  the  men  present,  in  order 
to  keep  the  rain  ofi"  the  altar,  stuck  their  walking  sticks  on  the 
overhanging  bank,  and  taking  off  their  coats,  fixed  them  on  the 
sticks,  themselves  being,  in  consequence,  obliged  to  worship  in 
their  shirt  sleeves. 

The  existing  Protestant  church  of  Kilmacallane,  at  Kivers- 
town,  was  built  in  1817  on  a  gift  of  £900,  and  a  loan  of  £500. 
Previously  to  the  erection  of  this  edifice,  the  old  Catholic  church 
of  Tawnagh  was  used  for  Protestant  worship,  the  interior  being 
plaistered  so  as  to  hide  away  all  memorials  of  its  original 
destination.  It  was  only  a  few  years  ago,  on  some  of  the  plaster 
falling  off,  a  holy  water  stoup  was  found  in  situ.  The  addition 
of  a  porch  and  vestry  was  made  to  the  building  in  1768,  when, 
as  an  inscribed  slab  inserted  in  the  western  gable  informs  us, 
John  Dodd  and  William  Cooper  were  churchwardens. 

Kilmacallane  was  a  prebendal  church  under  the  establish- 
ment, and  the  succession  of  prebendaries,  according  to  Cotton's 
Fasti  (Vol.  IV.,  p.  149),  was  as  follows  : — 1634,  Milo  Summer; 
1666,  Edmund  Rowlatt;  1722,  Thomas  Walls,  D.D.  ;  1750, 
James  Blair ;  1755,  Eichard  Doherty ;  1760,  Robert  Curtis, 
M.A. ;  1799,  Thomas  Hackett,  B.A.  Rev.  Thomas  Hackett 
held  the  prebend  for  42  years,  and  is  given  in  Erc's  Register  as 
incumbent  of  the  extensive  union  of  Boyle,  Tawnagh,  Kilma- 
callane, DrumcoUum,  Kilross,  Aghanagh,  Ballynakill,  and 
Ballysummaghan.  In  Sergeant  Shoe's  book  on  the  Irish 
Church,  the  ascertained  cost  of  Ballysummaghan  Protestant 
church  is  set  down  at  £1,223.  There  have  been  recent  im- 
provements which  must  have  cost  a  good  sum. 


HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


259 


The  names  of  the  recent  Rectors  of  Bally  sum  maghan  parish 
are : — 


FFOLLTOTT,  F. 
HACKET,  T.,  JuNR. 
LUCAS,  E.  A. 
MONYFENNY,  A. 
KNOTT,  THOS. 
BRADSHAW,  M. 


1828  to  1830. 
1830  to  1832. 
1832  to  1861. 
1861  to  1866. 
1866  to  1874. 
1874  to  1885. 


The  Eeverend  Mr.  Moulsdale,  who  is  the  present  Rector,  was 
instituted  in  1886. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

UNION  OF  GEEVAGH. 

To  the  east  of  tlie  Eiverstown  parocliial  union  is  tbat  of 
Geevagh,  consisting  of  the  three  parishes  of  Kilmactrany, 
Killadoon,  and  Shancoe.  In  Kilmactrany — Kil  Mac  Treana, 
the  church  of  the  son  of  Treana — lies  the  famous  battle-field  of 
the  northern  Moytura. 

Few  subjects  have  exercised  our  Irish  antiquaries  more  than 
the  battles  of  the  two  Moyturas.  For  that  there  were  two 
Moytura  battle-fields,  one  near  Cong  in  county  Mayo,  called  the 
southern  Moytura,  and  the  other  in  the  parish  of  Kilmactrany 
in  the  county  Sligo,  called  the  northern  Moytura,*  seems  to  have 
been  commonly  admitted  until  Mr.  W.  M.  Hennessy,  in  the 
preface  to  his  edition  of  the  Annals  of  Loch  Ce,  published  in 
1871,  called  in  question  the  existence  of  the  southern  battle- 
field. As,  however,  the  Mayo  Moytura  does  not  come  within 
the  scope  of  these  pages,  the  writer  has  nothing  to  say  to  the 
difference  between  Mr.  Hennessy  and  his  brother  antiquaries, 
which  may  one  day  develop  into  a  new  battle  of  Moytura,  in 
which,  as  in  the  old  one,  giants  are  sure  to  be  engaged. 

The  northern  Moytura,  which  lies  in  the  parish  of  Kilmac- 
trany, is  a  small  table  land  of  about  a  mile  square,  insulated,  on 

*  The  Venerable  Charles  O'Conor  writes  thus  in  reference  to  this  subject  : — 
*'  The  Fomorians  invited  back  the  Belgians  to  their  assistance,  and  their  con- 
junction produced  the  second  battle  of  Moy-turey,  near  the  lake  of  Arrow 
(Lough  Arrow),  but  distant  from  the  former  Moy-turey  about  fifty  miles,  and, 
by  way  of  distinction,  called  Moyturey  of  the  Fomorian!3.  This  place,  sur- 
rounded by  high  hills,  great  rocks,  and  narrow  defiles,  was  pitched  upon, 
probably,  by  the  weaker  side,  but  which  made  the  attack  is  not  recorded."— 
Dissertations  on  the  History  of  Ireland,  p.  167,  Dublin,  1753. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  261 


three  sides,  from  the  surrounding  country  by  low  lying  valleys, 
and,  on  the  fourth,  by  the  waters  of  Lough  Arrow.  Ascending 
from  Ballindoon  by  the  steep  old  road  that  leads  to  Moytura, 
you  are  struck,  as  you  go  on,  by  the  vast  quantity  of  stones, 
varying  in  size  from  a  foot  to  three  or  four  feet  in  height,  which 
lie  in  all  directions  about.  How  they  got  there,  whether  by 
human  agency  or  some  convulsion  of  nature,  you  are  at  a  loss 
to  discover ;  and,  at  first,  on  seeing  to  your  right,  about  half-way 
up  the  slope,  a  dilapidated  cromlech,  or  dolmen,  and  finding  on 
the  left,  in  the  townland  of  Carrickglass,  another  cromlech  of 
immense  proportions,  and  in  excellent  preservation,  you  feel 
inclined  to  think,  that  all  the  stones  about,  as  well  as  those  in 
the  cromlechs,  had  undergone  artificial  arrangement ;  but  on 
thinking  better  of  the  matter,  and  finding  tens  of  thousands  of 
these  stones  huddled  together  in  groups  of  all  shapes  and  sizes, 
you  find  yourself  forced  to  give  up  this  view,  and  to  ascribe  the 
scene  to  the  action  of  the  elements. 

And  this  idea  is  confirmed  by  the  appearance  of  things  pre- 
sented on  reaching  the  plateau,  for  there,  too,  considerable 
stretches  are  covered  with  similar  stones,  and  with  others  of 
still  greater  size,  among  which  half  a  dozen  or  so,  towering  like 
pillars,  or  obelisks,  above  everything  around,  are  sure  to  arrest 
your  attention.  One  of  these,  called  by  the  inhabitants  Aiglone, 
is  seventeen  feet  high,  twelve  feet  three  inches  broad,  and  seven 
feet  two  inches  thick,  and  though,  perhaps,  a  little  larger  than 
the  others,  will  afford  a  fair  idea  of  the  size  of  all.  They  stand 
for  the  most  part  in  a  line,  running  from  east  to  west,  near,  and 
parallel  to  the  south  margin  of  Moytura  plateau,  so  that  they 
look  like  beacons,  set  up  at  more  or  less  regular  intervals,  to 
indicate  the  way.  Among  them,  it  should  be  mentioned,  is  a 
so-called  "  rocking-stone,"  which  is  daily  becoming  harder  to 
move  or  rock,  a  full-grown  man,  with  all  his  force,  being  now 
unable  to  stir  it  as  much  as  a  child  with  his  finger  could  some 
years  ago. 

If  it  be  hard  to  account  for  the  presence  of  the  boulders 
"which  are  strewn  in  such  numbers  on  the  ground,  those  immense 


262  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


vertical  blocks  are  a  much  greater  puzzle ;  and  as  it  is  almost 
inconceivable  that  mere  human  agency,  especially  in  rude 
times,  could  poise  and  fix  firmly  on  end  these  masses,  it  is 
necessary  to  refer  their  presence  and  position  to  geological 
changes.  Even  in  this  hypothesis  it  would  still  be  somewhat 
doubtful,  whether  they  were  carried  and  deposited  by  glaciers, 
or,  rather,  the  surrounding  earth  being  cleared  away  by  the 
weather  and  floods,  were  left  as  they  are  by  denudation.  The 
latter  opinion  is  the  more  probable;  and  it  is  the  more 
acceptable,  as  it  would  also  account  for  the  boulders  lying  in 
clusters  in  !  the  same  line  with  the  pillars,  both  boulders  and 
pillars  being  thus  tossed  together  by  the  torrents  which  washed 
away  the  earth  from  about  the  latter. 

Within  a  few  yards  of  Aiglone  is  what  the  inhabitants  call  a 
Giant's  grave,  its  area  being  forty-four  feet  long,  and  nine  wide 
(exterior  measurement),  fenced  by  large  stones  laid  for  the  most 
part  on  edge.  Of  these  stones  twenty-one  are  still  in  situ,  one 
of  them  being  nine  feet  long,  and  another  five  feet  ten  inches, 
while  the  others  are  much  smaller.  Lengthwise  the  grave, 
which  runs  from  north  to  south,  is  divided  by  cross  stones  into 
two  parts,  the  southern  part  being  ten  feet  eight  inches  long, 
and  the  northern  thirty-three  feet. 

The  north  end  is  unfenced,  with  the  exception  of  one  stone  laid 
on  edge,  running  in  the  direction  of  the  length  of  the  area,  and 
thus,  apparently,  having  for  object,  to  form  two  passages  into  the 
interior.  A  peculiarity  of  this  Giant's  grave  is  a  line  of  stones 
curving  outwards  at  each  side  of  the  northern  end.  Only  three 
or  four  of  these  stones  are  in  position,  so  that  there  is  no  means 
now  of  judging  how  far  the  curves  originally  extended,  or  what 
was  their  use. 

The  pillars,  rocking  stone,  and  this  Giant's  grave  are  in 
Moytura  Conlon,  while,  at  some  little  distance  north-west,  in 
Moytura  MacDonogh,  are  the  other  antiquarian  remains  of  the 
field  :  first,  a  second  Giant's  grave,  which  is  twenty-one  feet  long 
and  seven  feet  wide,  internal  measurement,  and  which  is  said  to 
be  the  grave  of  Nuadh  the  Silver-handed  ;  second,  a  cashel,  one 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  263 


hundred  and  twenty- five  feet  in  diameter,  and  hardly  two  feet 
over  the  surface  of  the  surrounding  land ;  third,  another  cashel, 
one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  diameter,  but  low,  like  the 
preceding  one ;  and  fourth,  quite  close  to  this  cashel,  a  cairn, 
called  popularly  Carn  Dun,  about  twenty  feet  high,  the  summit 
being  flat,  and  thirty-three  feet  in  diameter. 

Carn  Dun  was  explored  by  Lady  Louisa  ^Tennison  without 
yielding  any  find ;  and  the  alleged  grave  of  Nuadh  the  Silver- 
handed,  was  excavated  and  examined  recently  by  an  inhabitant 
of  the  district,  who  is  said  to  have  found  some  bones  in  it,  but 
whether,  if  found  there,  they  were  bones  of  man  or  of  animals,  is 
not  sufficiently  ascertained. 

The  so-called  cashels  are  so  little  remarkable,  that  a  man 
might  pass  them  by  without  notice,  if  his  attention  was  not 
called  to  them ;  and  it  is  passing  strange  how  Dr.  Petrie  could 
write  of  those  very  poor  examples  of  the  cashel,  in  the  following 
terms : — "  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  discover  the  remains  of  the 
great  towers — cashels,  or  cahirs,  from  which  the  place  derived 
its  name."*  The  appellation  Moytura — said  to  mean  Plain  of 
the  Towers — could  hardly  be  derived  from  these  cashels  at  all, 
and,  if  it  refers  really  to  towers,  must  have  come  from  the 
standing  stones,  such  objects  in  other  places,  as  at  Tory  island, 
sometimes  receiving  the  name  of  Tors,  or  Towers,  in  conse- 
quence of  their  rising  conspicuously  above  surrounding  objects. 
Tower-Hill,  near  Dunaveragh,  has  its  name  from  the  Tor  or 
pinnacle  that  rises  at  the  east  end  of  the  Bricklieve  moun- 
tain, a  little  to  the  south  of  Mr.  Gardiner's  residence. 


*  Letter  to  John  O'Donovan — iu  the  Life  of  George  Petrie,  by  Dr.  Stokes, 
page  259.  In  the  same  letter  the  writer  adds,  "It  is  no  wonder  that  in  both 
instances  (Moytura  north,  and  Moytura  south),  these  towers  should  have  been 
deemed  worthy  of  such  celebrity,  for  their  magnitude  was  extraordinary,  and 
their  construction  truly  cyclopean." 

When  he  mentions,  further  on,  the  information  he  received,  "  that  these  were 
the  only  stone  forts  or  cashels  in  the  barony,"  he  seems  to  have  forgotten  the 
noble  cashel,  called  Cashelore,  so  admirably  described  by  himself  in  a  previous 
letter  (written  from  Rathcarrick,  August  16th,  1837). 


264  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 

The  battle  of  which  this  place  is  said  to  be  the  field  is  called 
the  battle  of  Moytura  of  the  Fomorians,  and  is  supposed 
to  have  been  fought  twenty-seven  years  after  the  battle 
of  Moytura  of  Cong.  The  contending  forces  were  the  Fo- 
morians and  Firbolgs,  on  the  one  side,  and  the  Tuatha  de 
Danaans  on  the  other,  the  expected  prize  of  the  victors  being 
supreme  authority  in  the  county.  The  Tuatha  de  Danaans  were 
already  in  possession  of  power  when  the  enemy  effected  a  land- 
ing to  oppose  them,  and  took  up  position  at  Moytura  in  such 
numbers  that  the  ships,  which  carried  them  over  sea,  are  said  to 
have  formed  a  continuous  line  from  the  Hebrides  to  Ireland.* 
This  battle,  like  that  of  the  southern  Moytura,  resulted  in  victory 
for  the  Tuatha  de  Danaans. 

The  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters  barely  mention  this  battle, 
and  only  incidentally,  under  the  year  3330 ;  but,  en  ravanchef 
an  Historic  Tale,  quoted  by  0'Carry,t  is  as  particular  and  pre- 
cise as  the  military  correspondent  of  a  London  newspaper  could 
be  in  naming  the  leading  combatants  and  achievements  in  a 
great  modern  battle. 

According  to  this  authority  some  rather  remarkable  person- 
ages figured  in  the  fray.  There  was,  first  of  all,  the  General  in 
chief  of  the  Fomorians,  Balor  of  the  Stiff  Blows,  with  one  eye, 
d  la  Polyphemus,  in  the  centre  of  his  forehead,  and,  in  the  back 
of  the  head,  another,  which  had  the  property  of  petrifying  every- 
body and  everything  it  fell  on ;  there  was  Kathleen,  his  Ama- 
zonian wife,  who  could  deal  blows  little  less  damaging  than 
those  of  her  husband  ;  there  was  Nuadh  the  Silverhanded,  the 
King  of  the  Tuatha  de  Danaans,  with  the  silver  hand  so  nicely 
adjusted  and  tempered  as  to  be  instinct  with  motion  and  even 
feeling;  there  was  Looee  of  the  Long  Hands,  which  nobody  or 
nothing  could  escape;  there  was  the  Daghda  Mor,  with  his 
colossal  proportions  and  superhuman  strength ;  and,  strangest 

*  Professor  O'Curry's  Lectures  on  the  Manuscript  Materials  of  Ancient  Irish 
History,  page  249. 
t  Idem,  page  248. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  265 

article  of  all,  there  was  Diancecht,  the  Physician,  with  his  medi- 
cated bath,  which  made  the  wounded  whole,  the  moment  they 
touched  it,  and  sent  them  back  to  the  fight  stronger  and  more 
formidable  than  ever.* 

*  The  best  way  to  acquaint  the  reader  with  the  ideas  transmitted  by  Tradi- 
tion on  the  battle  is  to  set  under  his  eye  O'Curry's  analysis  of  the  Historic 
Tale  in  question.  Passing  over  some  of  O'Curry's  observations  on  the  subject, 
the  following  is  the  substance  of  what  he  says  : — 

"  The  tract  opens  with  an  account  of  the  lineage  of  Breas,  and  how  it  was 
that  he  became  King.  We  have  seen  that  the  warrior  regent  resigned  the 
sovereignty  at  the  end  of  seven  years  to  Nuada  the  King  ;  but  it  was  more  by 
compulsion  than  good  will  that  he  did  so,  for  his  rule  was  so  marked  by  inhos- 
pitality,  and  by  entire  neglect  of  the  wants  and  wishes  of  his  people,  that  loud 
murmurs  of  discontent  assailed  him  from  all  quarters  long  before  his  regency 
was  terminated.  In  short,  as  the  chronicler  says,  the  knives  of  his  people 
were  not  greased  at  his  table,  nor  did  their  breath  smell  of  ale  at  the  banquet. 
Neither  their  poets,  nor  their  bards,  nor  their  satirists,  nor  their  harpers,  nor 
their  pipers,  nor  their  trumpeters,  nor  their  jugglers,  nor  their  buffoons  were 
ever  seen  engaged  in  amusing  them  at  the  assemblies  of  his  court.  It  is,  in  fine, 
added,  that  he  had  even  succeeded  in  reducing  many  of  the  best  and  bravest  of 
the  Tuatha  de  Danaan  warriors  to  a  state  of  absolute  servitude  and  vassalage  to 
himself  ;  and  his  design  seems  to  have  been  to  substitute  an  absolute  rule  for 
the  circumscribed  power  of  a  chief  king  under  the  national  law  of  the  clans, 

"  At  the  time  that  the  discontent  was  at  its  height,  a  certain  poet  and  satirist 
named  Cairbre,  the  son  of  the  poetess  Etan,  visited  the  king's  court ;  but,  in 
place  of  being  received  with  the  accustomed  respect,  the  poet  was  sent,  it 
appears,  to  a  small  dark  chamber,  without  fire,  furniture,  or  bed,  where  he  was 
served  with  three  small  cakes  of  dry  bread  only,  on  a  very  small  and  mean 
table.  This  treatment  was  in  gross  violation  of  public  law,  and  could  not  fail 
to  excite  the  strongest  feeling.  The  poet  accordingly  arose  on  the  next  morning, 
full  of  discontent  and  bitterness,  and  left  the  court  not  only  without  the  usual 
professional  compliments,  but  even  pronouncing  a  bitter  and  withering  satire 
on  his  host. 

*'This  was  the  first  satire  ever,  it  is  said,  written  in  Erinn ;  and  although 
such  an  insult  to  a  poet,  and  the  public  expression  of  his  indignation  in  conse- 
quence, would  fall  very  far  short  of  penetrating  the  quick  feelings  of  the 
nobility  or  royalty  of  these  times  (so  different  are  the  customs  of  ancient  and 
modern  honour),  still  it  was  sufficient  in  those  early  days  to  excite  the  sympathy 
of  the  whole  body  of  the  Tuatha  de  Danaan,  chiefs  and  people  ;  and,  occurring 
as  it  did  after  so  many  just  causes  of  popular  complaint,  they  determined  with- 
out more  ado  to  call  upon  Breas  to  resign  his  power  forthwith.  To  this  call  the 
regent  reluctantly  acceded ;  and  having  held  counsel  with  his  mother,  they 
both  determined  to  retire  to  the  court  of  his  father,  Elatha,  at  this  time  the  great 


266  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


These  extravagances  show  that,  if  there  is  any  fact  in  this 
account  of  the  battle  of  Moytura,  its  proportion  to  fable  is  even 
less  than  that  of  Falstaff's  halfpenny  worth  of  bread  to  the 
intolerable  deal  of  sack. 


chief  of  the  Fomorian  pirates,  or  sea-kings,  who  then  swarmed  through  all  the 
German  Ocean,  and  ruled  over  the  Shetland  Islands  and  the  Hebrides. 

**  Though  Elatha  received  his  son  coldly,  and  seemed  to  think  that  his  dis- 
grace was  deserved,  still  he  acceded  to  his  request  to  furnish  him  with  a  fleet 
and  army  with  which  to  return  and  conquer  Erinn  for  himself,  if  he  could, 
from  his  maternal  relations,  the  Tuatha  de  Danaan.  Breas  was  therefore 
recommended  by  his  father  to  the  favour  of  the  great  Fomorian  chiefs,  Balor 
*  of  the  Evil  Eye,'  king  of  the  Islands,  and  Indech,  son  of  De  Domnand ;  and 
these  two  leaders  collected  all  the  men  and  ships  lying  from  Scandinavia  west- 
wards, for  the  intended  invasion,  so  that  they  are  said  to  have  formed  an 
unbroken  bridge  of  ships  and  boats  from  the  Hebrides  to  the  north-west  coast 
of  Erinn.  Having  landed  there,  they  marched  to  a  plain  in  the  present  barony 
of  Tirerril,  in  the  county  of  Sligo, — a  spot  surrounded  by  high  hills,  rocks,  and 
narrow  defiles  ; — and,  having  thus  pitched  their  camp  in  the  enemy's  country, 
they  awaited  the  determination  of  the  Tuatha  de  Danaan,  to*surrender  or  give 
them  battle.  The  latter  were  not  slow  in  preparing  to  resist  the  invaders,  and 
the  recorded  account  of  their  preparations  is  in  full  accordance  with  their  tra- 
ditional character  as  skilful  artizans  and  profound  necromancers. 

"  Besides  the  king,  Nuada  *  of  the  Silver  Hand,'  the  chief  men  of  the 
Tuatha  de  Danaan  at  this  time  were,  the  great  Daghda;  Lug,  the  son  of 
Cian,  the  son  of  Diancecht,  their  great  Esculapius  ;  Ogma  Grian-Aineach  (*  of 
the  sun-like  face  '),  and  others ;  but  the  Daghda  and  Lug,  were  the  prime 
counsellors  and  arrangers  of  the  battle.  The  tract  proceeds  to  state  how  these 
two  called  to  their  presence:— their  smiths  ;  their  cerds,  or  silver  and  brass 
workers;  their  carpenters  ;  their  surgeons  ;  their  sorcerers ;  their  cup-bearers  ; 
their  druids  ;  their  poets  ;  their  witches  ;  and  their  chief  leaders.  And  there  is 
not,  perhaps,  in  the  whole  range  of  our  ancient  literature  a  more  curious  chap- 
ter than  that  which  describes  the  questions  which  Lug  put  to  these  several 
classes,  as  to  the  nature  of  the  service  which  each  was  prepared  to  render  in 
the  battle,  and  the  characteristic  professional  answer  which  he  received  from 
each  of  them. 

**  The  battle  (which  took  place  on  the  last  day  of  October),  is  eloquently 
described,  with  all  the  brave  achievements,  and  all  the  deeds  of  art  and  necro- 
mancy by  which  it  was  distinguished.  The  Fomorians  were  defeated,  and 
their  chief  men  killed.  King  Nuada  of  the  Silver  Hand  was  indeed  killed  by 
Balor  of  the  Evil  Eye,  but  Balor  himself  fell  soon  after,  by  a  stone  flung  at  him 
by  Lug  (his  grandson  by  his  daughter  Eithlenn),  which  struck  him  (we  are  told) 
in  the  *evil  eye,'  and  with  so  much  force,  that  it  carried  it  out  through  the  back 
of  his  head. 

*'  The  magical  skill,  as  it  was  called — in  reality  of  course,  the  scientific  supe- 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  267 


Considering  that  the  date  of  the  conflict  is  laid  in  3330,  near 
two  thousand  years  hefore  the  Christian  era,  and  six  or  seven 
hundred  years  before  the  siege  of  Troy,  the  writer  of  the  Historic 
Tale  could,  humanly  speaking,  know  nothing  in  particular  of  it, 
even  if  it  had  actually  happened,  so  that  all  he  tells  about 
it,  must  he  the  outcome  of  fiction  or  illusion.  Tradition  at 
most  might  show  that  a  battle  was  once  fought  at  Moytura,  a 
conclusion  more  or  less  confirmed  by  the  monuments  on  the 
spot ;  but  the  exact  date  of  the  conflict,  the  parties  engaged  on 
one  side  and  the  other,  the  movements  of  the  field,  the  feats  of 
individuals,  and  the  significance  of  existing  monuments,  would 
be  all  matters  still  undecided,  and  as  open  as  ever  to  inquiry 
and  conjecture. 


riority  of  the  Tuatha  deDanaan, — stood  them  well  in  this  battle;  for  Diancechfc, 
their  chief  physician,  with  his  daughter  Ochtriuil,  and  his  two  sons,  Airmedh 
and  Mioch,  are  stated  to  have  previously  prepared  a  healing  bath  or  fountain 
with  the  essences  of  the  principal  healing  herbs  and  plants  of  Erinn,  gathered 
chiefly  in  Lus-Mhagh,  or  the  Plain  of  Herbs  (a  district  comprised  in  the  present 
King's  County) ;  and  on  this  bath  they  continued  to  pronounce  incantations 
during  the  battle.  Such  of  their  men  as  happened  to  be  wounded  in  the  fight 
were  immediately  brought  to  the  bath  and  plunged  in,  and  they  are  said  to 
have  been  instantly  refreshed  and  made  whole,  so  that  they  were  able  to  return 
and  fight  against  the  enemy  again  and  again. 

"  The  situation  of  the  plain  on  which  this  battle  was  fought  is  minutely  laid 
down  in  the  story,  and  has  been  ever  since  called  Magh  Tuireadh  na 
bh-Fomoragh,  or,  '  The  Plain  of  the  Towers  (or  pillars)  of  the  Fomorians,'  to 
distinguish  it  from  the  Southern  Moytura,  from  which  it  is  distant  about 
fifty  miles. 

"  The  story  does  not  enter  into  any  account  of  the  setting  up  of  any  tombs, 
towers,  or  pillars,  though  many  ancient  Cyclopean  graves  and  monuments 
remain  to  this  day  on  the  plain  ;  but  as  it  appears  to  be  imperfect  at  the  end,  it 
is  possible  that  the  tract  in  its  complete  form  contained  some  details  of  this 
nature. 

*'  Cormac  Mac  CuUinan,  in  his  celebrated  Glossary,  quotes  this  tract  in  illus- 
tration of  the  word  ^es ;  so  that  so  early  as  the  ninth  century  it  was  looked 
upon  by  him  as  a  very  ancient  historic  composition  of  authority. 

"  I  have  only  to  add,  that  the  only  ancient  copy  of  this  tract  that  I  am 
acquainted  with,  or  that,  perhaps,  now  exists,  is  one  in  the  British  Museum, 
finely  written  on  vellum,  by  Gilla-Eeabhach  O'Clery,  about  the  year  1460.  Of 
this  I  had  a  perfect  transcript  made  by  my  son  Eugene,  under  my  own  inspection 
and  correction,  in  London,  in  the  summer  of  last  year  (1855)  ;  so  that  the  safety 
of  the  tract  does  not  any  longer  depend  on  the  existence  of  a  single  copy." 


268  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 

As  there  is  record  of  a  conflict  in  Moytura  in  1398,*  and  no 
record  of  any  other  there  in  historic  times,  one  may  hold,  till 
the  contrary  is  proved,  that  the  proceedings  of  the  fourteenth 
century  were  the  source  of  all  the  high  sounding  traditions 
connected  with  the  place.  The  recent  date  will,  no  doubt, 
militate  against  this  view  in  minds  accustomed  to  refer  the 
events  of  Irish  history  to  preposterously  remote  times ;  but  as 
modern  antiquarians  are  re-casting  Irish  chronology  and  cur- 
tailing greatly  periods  which  older  authorities  extended  ad 
libitum,  and  almost  ad  infinitum^  the  modern  date  may  meet 
less  objection  now  than  it  would  have  met  in  the  days  of 
General  Vallancey  and  his  school. 

If  an  earlier  battle  were  reported  authentically  by  our 
annalists  as  occurring  in  the  place,  it  would,  no  doubt,  square 
better  with  the  folk-lore  about  the  Battle  of  Moytura  of  the 
Fomorians  ;  and  it  is  only  in  the  absence  of  such  a  record  that 
the  conflict  of  1398  is  ofi'ered  as  an  hypothesis,  and  for  what  it 
is  worth.  A  strong  objection  to  this  hypothesis  would  be  the 
references  to  the  Battle  of  Moytura,  contained  in  documents 
supposed  to  be  older  than  1398,  but,  there  being  good  ground 
for  doubting  the  alleged  age  of  these  documents  in  their  present 
form,  the  objection  drawn  from  them  could  hardly  prove  fatal 
— more  especially  as  Tighernach,  who  lived  towards  the  close  of 
the  eleventh  century,  and  who  is  the  most  trustworthy  of  all  our 
annalists,  has  not  a  word  about  such  a  battle. 

People  acquainted  with  the  literature  of  the  Bittle  of  Moy- 
tura may  be  disappointed  at  not  fi ading  here  some  reference  to 
what  Sir  James  Fergusson  has  written  on  the  subject  in  his 
esteemed  work  on  Rude  Stone  Monuments.  No  one  has  a 
better  right  than  Sir  James  to  be  heard  on  such  a  subject,  and 

*  "O'ConorRoe  and  MacDermot  marched  with  a  great  army  against  the 
Clann-Donough  of  Tirerrill,  until  they  arrived  at  Magh-Tiiireadh,  where  they 
committed  great  depredations.  Ttie  Clanu-Donough  and  Murtough,  son  of 
Donnell  O'Conor,  with  all  his  forces  assembled,  came  up  with  them,  and  a 
battle  was  fought  between  them,  in  which  O'Conor  Roe  was  defeated,  and 
Sorley  B.iy  MacDonnell  and  his  people  were  killed." — Four  Ma  iters,  sub  anno. 


HISTORY  OF  SLIGO.  269 


the  writer  turned  to  his  chapter  on  "  Moytura"  with  a  confident 
expectation  of  finding  light  in  it,  hut  was  surprised  to  discover 
that  the  twelve  pages  and  four  illustrations,  which  Sir  James 
thought  he  was  devoting  to  the  northern  Moytura,  were, 
every  word  and  every  line,  given  to  Carrowmore  in  Coolerra,  a 
place  near  twenty  miles  distant. 

It  is  a  great  loss  that,  by  the  intervention  of  a  putative 
Moytura,  we  are  left  in  the  dark  as  to  the  views  of  this  sober, 
experienced,  and  able  antiquary  in  regard  to  the  real  Moytura. 
However  the  extraordinary  mistake  may  have  occurred,  it 
supplies  one  of  the  most  striking  instances,  to  be  met  with,  of 
leaving  Hamlet  out  of  the  play. 

In  appearance  the  plateau  of  Moytura  is  one  of  the  most  un- 
attractive in  Ireland — sombre,  weird,  and  barren.  Dull,  how- 
ever, as  it  looks,  it  commands  a  varied  and  picturesque  prospect : 
all  round,  the  mountains  of  Leitrim  and  Sligo ;  to  the  south, 
the  rich  and  cultivated  tract  of  Tir  Tuathal ;  at  various  points, 
the  lakes  of  Lough  Bo,  Lough  na  Suil,  Lough  Skean,  Lough 
Ce,  and  Lough  Arrow;  and  on  the  west,  the  sunny,  smilin^* 
slopes  of  HoUybrook,  backed  up  by  the  historic  Dunaveeragh. 

The  etymology  of  Moytura  is  not  agreed  on.  The  meaning 
more  commonly  attached  to  the  word  is  the  Plain  of  the 
Towers ;  others  say  that  Moytura  is  equivalent  to  Moigh-na- 
teere,  which,  they  tell  us,  signifies  the  best  part  of  the  earth,  an 
opinion  as  devoid  of  foundation  in  the  Irish  language,  as  in  the 
quality  of  the  land;  and  others  again  that  the  word  is  the  name 
of  a  great  giant,  called  Motore  Mor,  who  took  a  leading  part  in 
the  great  battle.  O'Donovan  writes,*  "  he  never  believed  that 
Moytura  means  the  Plain  of  the  Towers ;"  and  the  two  other 
opinions  are  so  silly  as  to  need  no  notice. 

In  these  circumstances  one  is  free  to  search  out  a  new 
solution,  which  may,  perhaps,  be  found  in  a  conjunction  of  the 
word  Magh,  a  plain,  with  the  adjective  oughteragJi,  upper,  or 
eigJitragh,  lower.     This  is  little  more  than  a  conjecture,  but  a 

*  Ordnance  Survey  Letters  relating  to  the  County  Sligo. 


270  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


conjecture  which  has  much  iu  its  favour:  first,  the  popular  pro- 
nunciation, which  is  always  Meethragh,  a  fair  speaking 
contraction  of  Magh  eightragh,  or  Magh  oughteragh',  and 
secondly,  the  frequent  application  in  that  neighbourhood  of 
eighteragh  and  ougliteragli  to  denominations  of  land,  as  Coill 
oiighteragh  to  the  site  of  High  Wood  chapel  on  the  very  plateau 
of  Moytura,  Kil- eighteragh  to  Kilmactrany  old  church,  on  the 
south-west  of  the  plateau,  and  Gartroneightra,3ili2iS  Cartronigh- 
tragh  to  the  west  of  Moytura.* 

KiLMACTKANY  is  a  very  old  church,  as  it  is  named  by  the 
Four  Masters,  under  the  year  1236,  in  the  following  entry : 
"  Magrath  Mac  Mailin,  Priest  of  Kilmactrany,  died."  We  have 
it  in  the  Taxation  of  1307  as  Kilmactrena,  and  in  the  Bishop  of 
Kildare's  inquisition  as  Kilm^fcrena.  The  Taxation  adds,  that 
in  1307  this  "  church  was  waste." 

The  parish  of  Killadoon  has  its  name  from  the  old  church 
of  Cill-Duibhdhuin — the  church  of  Doyne,  or  probably,  Devine 
—mentioned  in  the  following  entry  of  the  Four  Masters  at  the 
year  1504 : — "  Manus,  the  son  of  Brian  MacDonough,  abbot  of 
the  monastery  of  the  Blessed  Trinity  on  Lough  Key,  repertory 
and  repository  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  Connaught, 
died  at  Cill-Duibhdhuin,  and  was  buried  in  the  monastery  of  the 
Blessed  Trinity  on  Lough  Key." 

This  church  was  appropriate  to  the  monastery  of  the  Blessed 
Trinity  in  Lough  Key,  and,  in  the  grant  of  James  L  to  William 
Crofton  of  the  possessions  of  that  monastery,  is  mentioned  as 
"  the  site,  ambit,  and  precinct  of  the  cell,  or  chapel,  of  Kilve- 
goone  {sic)^  in  the  said  barony  of  Tirerrill,  with  one  half  quarter 
of  land  and  the  tithes ;  the  rectory  of  Kilvegoone,  with  the 
tithes,  parcel  of  the  possessions  of  the  said  monastery/'f  The 
church  of  Kilvegoone,  or  Killadoon,  must  be  distinguished  from 
the  abbey,  or  convent,  of  Ballindoon,  with  which  it  is  often  con- 
founded. 


*  Patent  Koll  of  James  I.,  page  571. — Grant  to  Sir  Robert  King. 
t  Patent  Roil  of  James  I.,  page  435. 


HISTORY  OF  SLIGO.  271 


De  Burgo  seems  to  be  in  error  in  dating  this  convent  from 
1427.*  According  to  this  writer,  the  Dominican  fathers  of  the 
great  convent  of  Athenry,  obtained  an  Apostolic  Letter  from 
Pope  Martin  V.,  authorising  them  to  erect  two  new  Dominican 
convents  in  Ireland ;  and  these,  though  with  some  misgivings, 
De  Burgo  takes  to  be  the  Dominican  houses  of  Ballindoon  in 
the  county  Sligo,  and  Tombeola  in  the  county  Galway.  The 
author  of  Hibernia  Dominicana  is  generally  the  surest  of  guides, 
being  well  informed,  and  most  painstaking,  founding  too  his 
statements,  in  most  cases,  on  authentic  documents ;  but  in  this 
case  he  relies  on  traditions ;  and  it  is  very  suggestive  of  the 
danger  of  trusting  to  traditions,  that  we  find  them  leading  so 
cautious  and  learned  a  man  into  mistakes. 

That  he  is  in  error  on  this  occasion,  not  only  in  regard  to  the 
date,  but  in  regard,  too,  to  other  leading  circumstances  of  the 
Ballindoon  foundation,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  as  the  Annals  of 
Loch  Ce,  compiled  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood,  expressly 
record,  that  "the  monastery  of  Baile-an-duin,  was  begun  by 
Thomas  O'Fergheul,  in  1507,"t  probably  "  the  young  Prior 
Thomas  O'Ferghail,"  whose  tragic  death  is  mentioned  in  the 
same  record  under  the  year  1527. J  The  style,  too,  of  the  fabric, 
of  which  the  engravings  in  Grose's  Antiquities  of  Ireland  §  give 
a  very  good  idea,  confirms  the  recent  date. 

De  Burgo  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century  admired  the  size 
and  state  of  preservation  {amplitudinem  cum  integritate)  of 
this  convent,  but  as  the  building  has  undergone  little  change 
since  he  visited  it  in  1775,  and  hardly  any  at  all  since  Captain 
Grose  drew  it  in  1798,  there  is  good  reason  for  pronouncing  the 
words  amplitudinem,  etc.,  to  contain  somewhat  of  an  amplijU 

*  Hibernia  Dominicana,  page  310. 

t  Annals  of  Loch  Ce,  sub  anno  1507. 

X  The  young  Prior  O'Ferghail,  i.e.,  Thomas,  the  son  of  Edmond,  son  of  Rossa, 
Lord  of  Calidh-na-h'Anghaile,  and  the  fifth  best  companion  that  was  of  the 
Clanna-Rughraidhe,  was  slain  by  the  sons  of  Edmond  O'Cellaigh,  and  by  the 
sons  of  Felim,  son  of  Gilla-na-naemh  O'Ferghail,  and  his  three  sons  along  with 
him,  per  dolum. 

§  Two  plates  ;  Vol.  L,  page  56. 


272  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 

cation  or  exaggeration,  for   the  structure  is  only  84  feet  long 
and  23  feet  wide,  interior  measurement. 

De  Burgo  states  that  the  precincts  of  the  abhey  were  granted 
at  the  Dissolution  to  Francis  Crofton,*  but  this  is  an  error,  as 
it  was  to  Francis  Gofton,  "  one  of  the  auditors  of  the  imprests," 
they  were  granted  by  Patent,  on  the  31st  January,  the  sixth 
year  of  James  the  First.f  As  to  Ballindoon,  a  Chancery  inqui- 
sition informs  us  that  Melaghlin  Oge  M'Donough  died  in  1588, 
and  that  the  lands  of  Ballindoon  were  granted  to  Uny  Ny 
Rourke,  his  wife. 

The  Survey  of  1633  states  in  regard  to  this  place :  "  Andrew 
Crean  has  Moore  (the  townland  on  which  the  convent  stands), 
both  abbey  and  land ;  it  is  worth  £7  per  annum,  by  reason  of 
the  burialls  in  the  abbey  and  the  mill."  At  the  Restoration  it 
was  granted  to  the  Kings,  who  changed  the  name  of  Annagh 
Iveanaghan  to  Kingsborough,  and  from  whom  it  passed  to  the 
Gethins,  the  present  owners.  The  interior  is  still  a  burying 
place,  but  kept  by  Catholics  for  their  exclusive  use ;  and,  some 
time  ago,  when  a  son  of  the  late  Mr.  John  Gethin  was  drowned 
in  Lough  Arrow,  and  his  family  tried  to  bury  him  within  the 
walls  of  the  church,  the  people  of  the  neighbourhood  assembled 
in  great  numbers,  and  resisted  the  efforts  of  the  family,  so  that 
the  deceased  had  to  be  interred  outside  the  walls,  where  the 
monument  to  his  memory  now  stands.  It  is  the  chief  burying 
place  of  the  M'Donoughs  of  Terrerrill,  whose  names  appear  on 
the  greater  number  of  the  tombstones.  The  other  leading 
names  commemorated  being  CMullany,  M'Tiernan,  Conellan, 
and  Davey. 

Miss  Eliza  M'Donough,  the  last  of  the  family  that  inhabited 
Coolmeen,  died  in  1883,  and  was  buried  in  Ballindoon.     She 

*  Hibernia  Domintcana,  page  311.  Both  Harris  and  Archdall  fall  into  the 
same  mistake. 

t  "  The  chapel  or  cell  of  Ballendowne,  containing  a  church,  a  churchyard, 
and  half-quarter  of  land,  of  small  measure,  with  the  tithes  ;  parcel  of  the  late 
Friary  of  Mendicants  of  St.  Dominick's  Order  near  Ballindowne."  —Patent 
Boll  of  James  /.,  page  128. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  278 

inherited  all  the  noble  virtues  of  her  race,  and,  more  especially, 
their  super- abounding  charity,  so  that,  in  the  end,  she  was  as 
much  wept  by  "  widows"  and  others,  and  was  as  "  full  of  good 
works  and  alms-deeds  '*  as  Dorcas,  or  the  other  saints  we  read 
of  in  Scripture  and  ecclesiastical  history, 

A  most  interesting  recent  interment  was  that  of  Doctor 
M'Donough  in  January,  1886.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Great 
Counsellor's  family,  and  resided  in  London  for  the  sixty  years 
preceding  his  decease.  Like  Jacob,  he  longed  to  have  his  bones 
laid  in  the  grave  of  his  fathers  ;  and  a  good  son,  another  Joseph, 
the  present  Dr.  M'Donough,  of  Cromwell  Lodge,  Twickenham, 
England,  brought  the  remains  with  him  to  Ireland,  and  in- 
terred them  in  the  sanctuary  of  the  abbey,  where  not  only  the 
decaying  bones,  but  almost  every  atom  of  the  earth,  formed 
once  a  living  portion  of  some  member  of  the  great  Clann 
Donough  of  Tirerrill.  Father  Filan,  the  esteemed  Parish  Priest 
of  Geevagh,  officiated  at  the  grave,  and  was  also  celebrant  of 
the  solemn  Mass,  which  the  good  son,  with  the  traditional 
piety  of  the  family,  caused  to  be  celebrated  for  the  repose  of  his 
father's  soul — JRequiescat 

Before  quitting  the  parish  of  Killadoon,  it  is  well  to  note  that, 
as  we  must  not,  as  has  been  already  said,  confound  the  church 
of  Killadoon  and  the  convent  of  Ballindoon,  so  we  must  not 
regard  the  two  old  fortresses  of  the  parish  as  identical ;  for  one 
of  them,  that  demolished  by  Hugh  O'Connor  in  1352,  was  a 
primitive  structure  in  the  style  of  a  cashel,  while  the  other 
was  a  comparatively  modern  castle,  being  erected  in  1408  by 
Conor  M'Donough.* 

Shancoe  is  the  third  parish  of  the  union,  and  is,  perhaps, 
from  the  circumstances  of  its  origin,  the  most  interesting  of  the 
three.  It  is  mentioned  both  in  the  Book  of  Armagh,  and  in 
the  Tripartite  Life  of  St.  Patrick,  It  was  at  Shancoe  took 
place  the  curious  occurrence  narrated  in  the  following  passage 

*  The    castle    of    Ballindown  was    erected  by   Conor,  the  son  of   Teige 
M'Donough — Four  Masters,  1408. 

VOL.  II.  S 


274  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 

of  the  Tripartite : — "  Having  crossed  the  Shannon,  St.  Patrick 
with  his  companions  came  to  the  place  called  Dmnha-graidh, 
and  ordained  there  the  excellent  priest  Ailbeus.  He  it  is  who 
is  in  the  church  of  Senchua  in  Tirerrill,  where,  when  the  things 
necessary  for  the  divine  ministry,  and  the  sacred  vessels,  were 
wanting,  the  holy  prelate,  divinely  inspired,  informed  the  priest 
that  there  was,  in  a  certain  stone  cave  of  wonderful  workman- 
ship under  the  earth,  an  altar  bearing  on  its  four  corners  four 
glass  chalices.  He  directed  them  to  be  cautious  in  digging  in 
order  to  avoid  injuring  the  glass,  saying,  '  Take  care  that  the 
edges  of  the  cave  be  not  broken.'"* 

It  is  highly  probable  that  the  name  of  the  church,  Senchua, 
which  seems  to  be  a  combination  of  the  two  Irish  words,  sen  or 
sean,  old,  and  cuach,  a  cup  or  vessel,  comes  from  the  circum- 
stances mentioned  ;  and  it  is  equally  likely  that  the  cave, 
which  may  still  be  seen  under  the  walls  of  the  old  church,  is 
the  identical  one  that  contained  the  altar  with  the  four  chalices. 
No  doubt  Saint  Ailbe.  or  those  who  came  after  him,  erected 
the  church  to  commemorate  the  miraculous  discovery  of  the 
chalices,  just  as  the  empress  St.  Helena  constructed  a  church 
on  the  spot  where  she  found  the  cross  of  Our  Lord, 

It  is  commonly  inferred  from  the  finding  of  the  sacred  vessels 
that  there  were  Christians  in  Tirerrill  before  the  time  of  Saint 
Patrick.  Even  in  Jocelin's  day  this  opinion  was  entertained, 
for  after  mentioning,  in  his  life  of  St.  Patrick,  the  circumstance 
of  the  chalices,  he  adds  the  words :  "  By  whom  this  altar  was 
made,   and   set   up  with  its  chalices,  is  still  unknown  to  us. 


*  Trajecto  igitur  Sinanno,  venit  Patricius  cum  sociis  ad  locum,  Dumha-graidh 
appellatum  ;  ibique  eximium  Presbyterum  Ailbeum  ordinavit ;  et  ipse  est  qui 
est  in  ecclesia  de  Senchua,  in  regione  nepotum  Olildse  ;  ubi  cum  deficerent  ne- 
cessaria  ad  divinum  ministerium,  sacraque  utensilia,  sanctus  Proesul  divinitus 
instructus  indicavit  prcesbytero,  subtus  terram  altare  in  quodam  specu  lapideo, 
esse  mirandi  operis,  in  quatuor  angulis  habens  quatuor  calices  vitreos  ;  et 
monuit  ratione  vitrorum  cautius  esse  fodicndum,  dicens  :  Cavendum  ne  fran- 
gentur  ore  fossurse.  Interne  potes  enim  Olildae  fuit,  et  baptizavit  Maneum 
sanctum  quem  ordinavit  Episcopus  Bronus  filius  ignis  (Icnei),  qui  est  in 
Caissel-irra,  servus  Dei,  socius  Sancti  Patricii. — Acta  Sanct.,  p.  134, 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  275 


Some  are  of  opinion  that  they  belonged  to  Bishop  Palladius  or 
to  his  companions,  and  that  they  were  left  there  after  his  de- 
parture."^ Others  might  refer  them  to  the  supposed  mission  of 
Aristobulus  and  his  twelve  companions,  to  which  Ussher  alludes 
in  the  Primordia  (page  744).t 

The  chief  owners  of  the  parish  in  1632  were  the  M'Donoughs, 
and  among  them  Turlough  M'Donough  of  Orivagh,  the  father 
of  the  '*  Great  Counsellor,"  Terence  M^Donough.  Rents  were 
paid  partly  in  money  and  partly  in  kind,  as  in  the  following 
instance,  extracted  from  the  Survey  of  1633  : — "  Garvoge — The 
inheritance  of  Turlogh  M'Donough  of  Crivagh,  who  sets  it  to 
under  tenants  for  £5  per  annum,  5  medders  of  butter,  10 
medders  of  meale,  a  barrell  of  beere,  4  fatt  muttons,  20  work- 
men, and  I  of  a  beafe.  It  hath  good  turfe,  and  good  shelter; 
it  is  good  arable  land ;  it  is  good  for  sheepe  ;  it  will  graze  40 
cows,  and  is  worth  £40  per  annumJ^ 

A  dilapidated  cairn  of  stones,  called  on  the  Ordnance  Survey 
maps  *'  O'Conor's  Monument,"  and  situated  in  the  parish  of 
Shancoe,  close  to  the  parish  of  Killerry,  claims  a  word  of  notice. 
The  origin  of  this  structure  no  one  at  present  seems  to  know 
anything  about ;  but  there  is  some  reason  to  identify  it  with 
Bruidne  Da  Derga,  named  in  old  writings  Arx  Gonarii,  the 
fortress  of  Conaire,  which,  with  Conaire  himself,  is  said  to  have 
been  burned  to  ashes  by  malefactors,  whom  that  good  king  had 
banished  the  kingdom,  and  who,  returning  unawares,  took  this 

*  In  illo  loco  ubi  a  Magls  inductas  tenebras  S.  Patricius  orando  dimovit, 
extructa  est  ecclesia ;  in  qua  quemdam  de  suis  clericis  Ailveum  dictum,  ad 
gradum  sacerdotalem,quatenus  inibi  miiiistraret,promovit.  Ordinatus  presbyter 
conquestus  est  S.  Patricio,  quod  slbi  deessent  necessaria  sacerdotali  ministerio. 
Sauctus  divinitus  instructus  indicavit  presbytero  quoddam  altare  mirandi 
operis,  habeus  in  quatuor  angulis  quatuor  calices  vitreos,  in  specu  subterraneo, 
et  ne  forte  frangerentur,  prsecepit  ei,  cautius  effodere,  humumque  agerere. 
Fecit  Praesbyter  sieut  Prteaul  prcecepit,  et  omnia  sicut  dixit  reperit.  A  quibus 
autem  personis  illud  altare  factum  fuerat,  aut  cum  calicibus  ibi  repositum, 
nobis  adliuc  extat  ineognitum.  Quidem  vero  opinantur,  omnia  ilia  fuisse 
Palladii  Episcopi  sive  sociorum  ejus,  quse  relicta  sunt  ibi  post  discessum  ejus. 

t  Eundemque  Aristobulum  cum  sociis  duodecim  in  Hibernia  Evangelium 
annuntiasse,  refert  Toletanus  ille  archipresbyter  Julianus. 


276  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


way  to  reveDge  themselves.     Though  others  would  locate  this 
palace  elsewhere — O'Donovao,  in  a  note,  under  the  year  1560, 
in  his  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  and  Dr.  Joyce,  in  his  Irish 
Names  of  Places,  First  Series,  p.  267,  placing  it  on  the  River 
Dodder  in  the  County  Dublin — Roderick  O'Flaherty  and  Rev. 
Dr.  O'Conor  maintain  that  it  stood  in  the  County  Sligo,  and  in 
the  locality  under  consideration ;  for  the  latter,  in  the  Prolego- 
mena to  his  Rerum  Hibernicarum  Scriptores,  p.  lix.,  writes : — 
"  Arx  Conarii  I.,  Bruidne  da  derga,  in  agro  Sliguntino  prope 
Magh   tuiremh    (campum   turris)    non    longe   a   flumine   isto 
(Sligech)  sita  erat  ut  patet  ex   nota   marginali  in  exemplar! 
Stowense  Ogygioe,  p.  273."    (The  fortress  of  Conaire  I.,  Bruidne 
da  derga,  was  situated   in  the   County   Sligo   near  Moytura, 
and    not    far    from    the    River     Sligo,    as    appears    from    a 
marginal  note   in  the  Stow   copy    of  the   Ogygia,  page  273.) 
The  destruction  of  this  castle  and   the^death  of  Conaire  the 
First  are  referred  by  our  writers  to  the  time  of  the  infancy  of 
our  Lord. 
As  to  the  succession  of  the  Parish  Priests  of  Geevagh  : 
Denis  Dermot  was  Parish  Priest   in    1704,  and   was  sixty 
years  of  age  at  that  time.     His  sureties,  under  the  Registration 
Act,    were    Captain    Francis    King,     Ballindune,   and    Bryan 
McDonogh,  of  Farnadaragh. 

Father  Dermot 's  immediate  successor  was  Rev.  Peter 
Feighney,  who  officiated  often  in  the  town  of  Sligo  in 
1712-13.     See  Depositions  ;  Yol.  I,  p.  226,  etc. 

Coming  down  to  the  nineteenth  century,  Rev.  John  Harte 
"was  incumbent  of  Geevagh  in  the  opening  years  of  the  cen- 
tury.    The  exact  date  of  his  death  is  not  known. 

Father  Harte  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Bernard  McManus, 
who  died  in  1842. 

Father  M.  Spelman,  who  had  been  Father  McManus's  curate, 
succeeded  him  as  Parish  Priest,  and   died  on  the  24th  May, 

1847. 

Father  Hughes  succeeded  Rev.  M.  Spelman,  but  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  parish  of  Elphin  in  1850. 


HISTORY    OF   SLIGO.  277 


Kev.  Dominick  Noone  became  incumbent  in  1850,  and  died 
on  the  lOfch  February,  1871.  He  is  buried  in  the  parish 
church,  where  there  is  a  marble  slab  to  his  memory.* 

Father  Noone  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  John  Morris,  who  was 
transferred  to  Castlerea  in  1876,  when  Rev.  Peter  Filan,  the 
actual  incumbent,  succeeded. 

The  mention,  in  the  foregoing  list,  of  Reverend  Bernard 
McManus  brings  to  mind  his  nephew,  the  late  Monsignor 
McManus  of  Baltimore,  who  died  in  that  city  on  the  2Sth  of 
February,  1888,  being  then  in  the  sixty-ninth  year  of  his  age. 
Though  a  native  of  Roscommon,  he  lived  so  long  in  the  county 
Sligo,  first,  in  Geevagh  with  his  uncle,  and  next,  in  the  town  of 
Sligo,  as  pupil  in  Mr.  Charles  O'Connor's  school,  that  the  county 
has  a  claim  to  a  portion  of  the  honour  which  the  life  of  this 
worthy  priest  reflects  on  every  place  with  which  he  was  ever 
connected. 

It  is  not  going  a  hair's-breadth  too  far  to  say,  that  no  priest 
of  America,  either  in  the  present,  or  in  any  past  generation, 
was  more  admired  and  loved  through  life,  or  more  lamented  at 
death,  than  Monsignor  McManus.  Not  to  mind  now  other 
evidence,  what  occurred  at  his  death  supplies  abundant  proof  of 

*  The  inscription  on  the  stone  runs  thus  : — 

**  Beati  mortui  qui  in  Domino  moriuntur." 


*'  Of  your  charity. 

Pray  for  the  repose  of  the  soul  of  the 

Very  Rev.  Dominick  Noone,  P.P.,  Geevagh, 

who  died  on  10th  February,  1871, 

aged  64  years. 

This  tablet  is  erected  by  his  bereaved  parishioners  in  the 

district  of  Geevagh,  as  a  slight  testimony  of  their 

reverence  and  respect  to  his  memory. 

R.LP." 

This  care  for  the  memory  of  Father  Noone  is  quite  in  keeping  with  the 

character  of  the  good  people  of  Geevagh,  who  have  always  been  remarkable  for 

attachment  to  their  priests. 


278  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


this ;  for  the  two  or  three  columns  which  the  newspapers  of 
Baltimore  and  New  York  devoted  to  the  description  of  his 
solemn  ohsequies  show  well  the  place  he  occupied  in  the  thoughts 
and  feelings  of  Americans. 

In  reading  the  account  of  these  functions,  one  would  think 
there  was  question  of  some  great  prince  of  the  church,  some 
leading  member  of  the  college  of  cardinals.  In  one  thing,  at  all 
events,  the  obsequies  would  bear  comparison  with  those  of 
prelate,  prince,  or  Pope ;  and  that  was  the  sincerity  and  depth  of 
the  sorrow  that  accompanied  them — sorrow  felt  alike  by  all  who 
thronged  the  church,  from  the  school  child  to  the  Cardinal. 

So  great  was  the  desire  of  the  people  to  honour  one  whom 
each  regarded  as  a  friend  and  father,  that  thousands  after  the 
church  was  filled  to  its  utmost  capacity,  had  to  turn  away  and 
remain  outside  till  the  funeral  procession,  at  the  close  of  the 
ceremonies,  started  for  the  cemetery.  Not  only  the  priests  of 
Maryland,  but  others  from  distant  States  attended  to  show  their 
respect  for  a  brother,  whom  all  looked  up  to  as  a  model.  And 
it  was  no  secret,  that  in  the  vast  congregation,  which  surged 
round  the  catafalque.,  no  one  felt  more  tenderly  than  the 
Cardinal  Archbishop,  whose  own  elevation  of  character  enabled 
him,  better  than  others,  to  appreciate  the  noble  qualities  of  the 
deceased.  It  was  even  noticed,  while  the  eloquent  preacher — 
Very  Rev.  Dr.  Foley — was  enlarging  on  the  virtues  of  Mon- 
signor,  that  the  Cardinal's  tears  betrayed  his  affection,  so  that 
the  exclamation  of  the  Jews,  on  seeing  our  Lord  weep  for  his 
friend  Lazarus,  came  to  the  lips  of  many,  "  Behold,  how  he 
loved  him." 

Cast  Father  McManus's  lot  where  you  would,  and  he  was 
sure  to  be  dear  to  all  round  him.  It  was  so  with  him  from  the 
beginning ;  and  those  who,  like  the  writer,  knew  him  at  school, 
cannot  forget  how  entirely  that  pale  faced,  fair  haired,  delicate, 
gentle  lad,  as  he  then  looked,  was  first  favourite  with  all  the 
boys.  Had  he  lived  and  died  in  Ireland  he  would  have  been 
the  sogarih  aroon  of  his  diocese,  and  would  have  gone  to  his 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  279 


Irish  grave  as  loved  and  lamented,  as  he  went  to  his  American 
resting  place.  Feelings  in  each  case  would  have  been  similar, 
though  outward  circumstances  must  have  been  different ;  for  one 
could  not  expect  to  find  in  an  Irish  parish — whether  rural  or 
urban — the  teeming  thousands  of  laymen,  the  hundreds  of  priests, 
the  four  or  five  bishops,  the  Cardinal  Primate  of  a  great  national 
church,  and  all  the  other  dignified  and  solemn  surroundings 
that  encompassed  Monsignor  McManus's  honoured  remains  in 
the  ecclesiastical  metropolis  of  the  United  States. 

In  looking  over  the  long  list  of  the  [clergy  who  assembled 
from  all  sides  on  the  occasion,  county  Sligo  men  were  proud  to 
find,  in  the  notice  of  the  pall  bearers,  the  respected  name  of 
Very  Eev.  H.  F.  Parke  of  Wheeling,  a  native  of  Sligo,  and  an 
ecclesiastic  conspicuous,  like  Monsignor  McManus  himself,  for  all 
the  virtues  and  rare  qualities  which  make  up  and  adorn  the 
very  highest  type  of  the  clerical  character. 

Father  Parke  was  born  in  the  town  of  Sligo  of  religious  and 
highly  respectable  parents.  After  receiving  his  earlier  educa- 
tion in  the  town,  he  emigrated  to  America ;  and  having  made 
his  ecclesiastical  studies  in  St.  Mary's  Seminary  and  University, 
Baltimore,  he  was  ordained  for  the  diocese  of  Wheeling,  in 
West  Virginia.  Here  he  has  passed  his  life,  being  regarded 
all  through  his  edifying  and  brilliant  career  as  the  leading 
priest  of  the  diocese.  The  estimation  in  which  he  is  held  by 
the  bishops  and  priests  of  the  States,  may  be  inferred  from  the 
fact,  that  on  the  death,  some  years  ago,  of  the  Bishop  of 
Wheeling,  Father  Parke  was  entrusted  with  the  administration 
of  the  diocese  sede  vacante.  Though  this  distinguished  man's 
health  has  not  been  always  as  robust  as  one  would  wish,  his 
Sligo  friends  will  be  happy  to  know  that  he  was  hardly  ever  better 
than  on  the  8th  of  May,  of  the  year  just  passed,  the  sixty- 
third  anniversary  of  his  baptism  in  the  old  chapel  in  Sligo. 

Much  as  this  warm-hearted  minister  of  religion  is  devoted  to 
the  country  of  his  adoption,  the  land  of  his  birth  has  never  lost 
its  due  place  in  his  thoughts  and  affections.  The  ^'friend  in  need 
is  the  friend  indeed ;"  and  in  the  seasons  of  distress  or  pressure 


280  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 

through  which  the  country  has  recently  passed,  few  in  America 
have  made  such  personal  sacrifices  in  sending  over  relief  as 
Father  Parke,  though  more  than  others  he  takes  pains  to  observe 
the  Gospel  precept,  of  not  letting  the  left  hand  know  what  the 
right  hand  doeth.  Father  Parke  then  reflects  great  honour  on 
his  native  town  and  diocese. 

When  the  proper  time  for  writing  Father  Parke's  life  arrives 
— and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  day  will  be  a  distant  one — his 
biographer  will  have  many  interesting,  as  well  as  many  stirring, 
actions  to  describe,  more  especially  in  connexion :  first,  with  the 
good  Father's  services  in  the  war  between  the  North  and  the 
South,  when  he  followed  his  people  into  the  field  as  chaplain, 
and  shared  all  their  hardships  and  dangers  ;  and  next,  with  his 
attachment  to  the  poor  slaves  of  the  South,  to  whom  he  has 
been  at  all  times  specially  devoted,  as  was  proved  on  many 
memorable  occasions,  notably  in  the  case  of  an  untutored  and 
unbaptized  negro,  known  by  the  name  of  George,  who  was 
guilty  of  some  offence  against  the  law,  which  not  only  brought 
on  him  sentence  of  death  by  the  proper  tribunal,  but  roused 
such  fierce  indignation  against  him  in  the  mob,  that  they  would, 
if  they  could,  have  taken  the  law  into  their  own  hands  and 
inflicted  on  him  summary  punishment. 

Nothing  daunted  by  threats  levelled  against  George's  friends, 
almost  as  much  as  against  himself,  the  zealous  and  courageous 
Father  faced  the  storm,  took  in  hand  the  hated  convict's  in- 
terests, advocated  them  by  tongue  and  pen,  and,  though  he  could 
not  save  the  life  of  the  wretched  man,  had  the  happiness  under 
God  of  saving  his  soul,  by  grounding  him  in  the  principles 
of  the  Christian  religion,  baptizing  him,  reconciling  him  to  his 
fate,  and,  in  various  other  ways,  helping  him  to  die  a  death 
which  eye-witnesses  report  to  have  been  as  edifying  as  that  of 
the  good  thief  on  the  cross. 

Although,  as  one  might  expect  from  so  perfect  a  priest. 
Father  Parke  would  be  a  model  of  obedience  and  deference 
towards  any  prelate  set  over  him,  he  still  seems  to  have  reserved 
for  his  first,  and  best,  and  life-long  friend,  as  he  loves  to  call 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  281 


Bishop  Whelao,  a  special  place  in  his  heart,  which  nobody  else, 
be  he  bishop,  priest,  or  layman,  need  expect  to  share.  In  his 
love  and  loyalty  he  misses  no  occasion  of  proclaiming  the  merits 
of  this  venerated  friend ;  and  in  his  just  published  "Sketches 
illustrative  of  the  Apostolic  Life  of  Richard  Vincent  Whelan, 
Bishop  of  the  two  Virginias,"  he  has  done  so  in  a  way  that 
must  be  most  agreeable  to  him,  as  it  is  sure  to  send  the  Prelate's 
name  and  his  own  together  to  posterity — the  Prelate's  for  the 
Apostolic  virtues  recorded,  and  his  own  for  the  kindred  virtues 
as  well  as  the  rare  talents  which  the  Sketches  exhibit  in  every 
page. 


CHAPTEE  XXXI. 

PARISH   OF   AGHANAGH. 

The  parish  of  Agbanagh  occupies  the  south-west  corner  of 
Tirerrill,  lying  between  Lough  Arrow  and  Keash,  and  stretching 
lengthwise  from  the  parishes  of  Drumcolunib  and  Tawnagh  to 
the  Curlews.  The  Curlew  mountains  are  a  range  which  runs 
from  east  to  west,  rises  to  a  height  of  863  feet,  and  lies  partly 
in  Sligo  and  partly  in  Roscommon,  a  line  passing  longitudinally 
along  the  summit,  forming  the  mutual  boundary  of  the  two 
counties.  This  mountain  is  a  noted  topographical  limit  of 
Lower  Connaught,  being  always  meant  by  our  annalists  in  the 
phrases  " from  the  mountain  downwards/'  ''from  the  mountain 
upwards."  The  summit  is  a  table  land,  and  water-shed  of  a  mile 
or  more  wide,  sending  part  of  its  rainfall  into  Ballysadare  bay, 
through  the  rivers  Arrow  and  Owen  more,  and  part  into  the 
Shannon  through  the  Boyle  river  and  Loch  Ce. 

So  late  as  the  fifteenth  century  the  crest  and  slopes  were  all 
wood  and  jungle,  but  the  land  being  now  reclaimed,  the  surface 
is  covered  with  moderate  tillage  crops  and  coarse  grass,  there 
being  some  plantations  in  the  occupation  of  the  landlord. 
Colonel  King  Harman.  There  are  a  few  houses  on  the  plateau 
while  the  white-washed  cottages,  scattered  picturesquely  over 
the  long  southern  slope,  shine  out  and  scintillate  from  the  dark 
background  so  brightly,  as  to  form  one  of  the  most  striking 
sights  which  the  traveller,  by  train,  meets  with  in  the  run  from 
Dublin  to  Sligo, 

The  views  from  the  crest  are  very  fine — to  the  south,  the 
famous  far-stretching  plains  of  Roscommon,  the  noble  demesne 
of  Rockingham,  and  the  fine  sheets  of  water  of  Lough  Gara, 
Lough  Ce,  Lough  Skean,  and  Lough  Meelagh — and  to  the  north 
the  sweet,  well  sheltered  Lough  Arrow,  the  wooded  demesne  of 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  28S 


Hollybrook,  and  the  serrated  crest  of  Bricklieve,  with  the 
ranges  of  Slieve  Gamh,  Slieve  da  En,  and  Benbulben  in  the 
distance. 

As  might  be  expected  from  their  situation,  lying  between 
North  and  South  Connaught,  the  Curlews  have  been  the  scene 
of  many  battles  and  other  military  operations,  one  or  two  of  which 
cannot  be  passed  over  without  notice,  though  it  would  take  too 
much  space  to  describe  them  all.  In  1497  a  great  battle  took 
place,  the  contending  forces  being  Teige  MacDermot,  Lord  of 
Moylurg,  the  O'Conor  Don,  and  O'Conor  Eoe  on  the  one  side, 
and  on  the  other,  Con  O'Donnell,  Lord  of  Tyrconnell,  Felim 
O'Connor,  Lord  of  Carbury,  and  some  of  the  O'Rorkes.  Mac 
Dermot  gained  a  crushing  victory,  slaying  great  numbers,  taking 
many  prisoners,  including  Felim  O'Connor,  and,  what  gives  its 
special  interest  to  this  battle,  obtaining  the  famous  O'Donnell 
relic  called  the  Cathach. 

The  Cathach  is  a  small  brass  box,  nine  and  a  half  inches  long, 
eight  broad,  and  two  thick,  with  silver  plates  attached  to  the 
top  and  bottom,  the  top  plate  being  richly  gilt,  chased,  and 
ornamented  with  representations  of  scriptural  and  ecclesiastical 
subjects.  Until  recently  the  nature  of  the  contents  was  un- 
known, the  prevalent  opinion  being,  that  it  contained  some  of 
the  bones  of  Columbkille,*  but  the  box  being  opened  about  1826 
by  Sir  William  Betham,  Ulster  King  of  Arms,  was  found  to 
contain  a  manuscript  copy  on  vellum  of  the  Psalms.  It  was  the 
legend  connected  with  this  relic  that  rendered  it  so  precious  in 
the  eyes  of  the  O'Donnells ;  for  the  tradition  was,  that  if  carried 
three  times,  with  due  reverence,  round  the  army  of  Tyrconnell 
before  a  battle,  it  would  give  that  army  victory  over  the  enemy. 
It  was  from  being  thus  supposed  to  fight  for  the  O'Donnells  it 
got  the  name  of  Cathach,t  that  is,  the  Fighter.     The  care  of 


*  Irish  Antiquarian  Researches,  Part  I.,  page  110. 

t  Liber  autem  prseliator,  id  est,  Cathach  vulgo  appellatur  ;  fert  que  traditio 
quod  si  circa  illius  patriae  exercitum,  antequam  hostem  adoriantur  tertio  cum 
debita  reverentia  circumducatur,  eveniet  ut  victoriam  reportet. — Colgan,  Trias 
Thaumaturga,  p.  409. 


284  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


the  casket  was  committed  to  a  family  named  Magroarty,  a 
member  of  the  family  always  accompanying  it  to  the  battle- 
field ;  and  it  speaks  well  for  the  fidelity  with  which  the  trust 
was  discharged,  that  the  Magroarty  in  charge  on  the  Curlews 
clung  to  it  to  the  last,  and  relinquished  it  only  with  his  life, 
being  slain  in  the  efi'ort  to  preserve  it.  Two  years  later  Hugh 
Roe  0*Donnell  invaded  Moylurg,  recovered  the  Cathach,  and 
exacted  tribute  from  MacDermot.* 

In  1599  another  battle  took  place  on  the  Curlews,  and, 
unlike  previous  engagements,  which  were  fought  by  Irish  against 
Irish,  this  conflict  had  the  Irish  on  one  side,  and  the  English  on 
the  other,  under  the  command  of  Sir  Conyers  Clifford,  the 
Governor  of  Connaught.  And  this  brings  us  to  some  startling 
events  which  occurred  in  Sligo  in  1595,  which  it  will  be  con- 
venient to  mention  here,  as  they  led  to  the  appearance  of  Sir 
Conyers  Clifford  on  the  scene. 

In  the  opening  month  of  that  year  the  whole  county  seemed 
more  completely  in  the  power  of  the  English,  than,  perhaps,  it 
had  ever  been  before ;  for  George  Oge  Bingham,  brother  of  Sir 
Richard,  commanded  the  castle  and  town  of  Sligo ;  a  second 
George  Bingham,  called,  by  O'Sullivan,  Georgius  major,  held  the 
castle  of  Ballymote ;  strong  English  garrisons  occupied  the 
castles  of  Collooney,  RathmuUen,  Ballinafad,  and  a  new  fortress, 
erected  by  Sir  Richard  Bingham  in  1593,  on  the  strip  of  land 
that  separates  Lough  Arrow  from  Lough  Ce,  to  stop  the  trouble- 
some visits  of  the  O'Rorkes  and  O'Donnells  ;  while  Sir  Richard 

*  "O'Donnell,  i.e.,  Hugh  Roe,  marched  with  an  army  against  MacDermot,  i.e., 
Cormac,  the  son  of  Rory,  and  never  halted  until  he  reached  the  Curlieu 
mountains.  MacDermot,  having  received  intelligence  of  this,  assembled  the 
forces  of  Moylurg,  and  of  the  Tuathas  of  Connaught,  to  defend  the  pass  of  the 
Curlieus  against  O'Donnell.  O'Donnell,  perceiving  this,  marched  round 
Muintir  Eolais,  crossed  the  Shannon  near  the  castle  of  Leitrim,  and  thus 
entered  Moylurg.  He  seized  upon  many  preys  and  spoils,  and  commenced 
ravaging  the  country.  When  MacDermot  heard  of  this,  he  repaired  to 
O'Donuell,  and  concluded  a  perpetual  peace  with  him,  and  humbly  paid  him  hia 
tribute.  He  also  returned  to  him  the  Cathach,  and  the  prisoners  who  had 
remained  in  Moylurg  from  the  time  of  the  defeat  of  Bealach-Buidhe  to  that 
time."_Annal3  of  the  Four  Masters,  sub  anno  1499. 


HISTOEY  OF  SLIGO.  285 


himself,  at  the  head  of  considerable  forces,  kept  his  head-quar- 
ters at  Roscommon,  ready  at  a  moment's  notice  to  pounce  on 
any  part  of  the  county  Sligo  that  showed  signs  of  disaffection. 

Nor  was  Sir  Richard  a  man  to  be  provoked  with  impunity. 
Coming  to  Ireland,  as  Governor  of  Connaught,  in  1584,  after 
having  acquired  in  the  wars  of  the  Continent  a  character  for 
cruelty,  all  his  proceedings  as  Governor  served  to  add  to  the 
terrors  of  his  name.*  At  the  first  Assizes  he  held  in  Galway 
he  hanged  seventy  persons,  some  of  the  victims  belonging  to  the 
first  families  of  the  province,  and  several  of  them  being  women ; 
about  the  same  time  he  put  to  the  sword,  at  Ardnaree,  2,000 
Scots,  whom  he  had  fallen  on  when  they  least  expected  him  ;  as 
far  as  he  could,  he  exterminated  the  great  Anglo  Irish  sept  of 
the  Northern  Burkes,  hunting  them  through  lakes  and  moun- 
tains, pulling  down  their  castles  and  residences,  swinging  them 
from  the  gallows,  or  knocking  them  on  the  head  as  they  fell  in 


*  Over  the  grave  of  Sir  Richard  Bingham,  in  Westminster  Abbey,  there  is  a 
tablet  with  the  following  inscription : — 

'*  To  the  glory  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts.'" 

**  Hereunder  resteth  Sir  Richard  Bingham,  Knight, 
of  the  ancient  family  of  the 
Binghams  of  Bingham-Melcombe,  in  the 
county  of  Dorset, 
who,  from  his  youth,  was  trained  up  in 
military  affairs,  and  served  in  the  time  of  Queen 
Mary,  at  St.  Quintin's,  in  the  western  islands  of  Scotland, 
and  in  Britain,  in  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  at  Leith,  in  Scot- 
land ;  in  the  Isle  of  Candy,  under  the  Venetians ;  at  Cabo  Chrio ;  at 
the  famous  battle  of  Lepanto  against  the  Turks ;  in  the  civil 
wars  of  France;  in  the  Netherlands ;  and  at  Smerwick, 
where  the  Romans  and  Irish  were  vanquished. 
After  he  was  made  Governor  of  Connaught,  where  he  overthrew  the  Irish 
Scots,  expelled  the  traitorous  O'Rorkes,  suppressed  divers  rebellions,  and  that 
with  small  charges  to  Her  Majesty,  maintaining  that  province  in  a  flourishing 
state  by  the  space  of  thirteen  years ;  finally,  for  his  good  service,  was  made 
Marshal  of  Ireland  and  General  of  Leinster,  where,  at  Dublin,  in  an  assured 
faith  in  Christ,  he  ended  this  transitory  life,  the  19th  of  January,  1598,- 
set.  70." 


286  HISTORY   OF   SLTGO. 

his  way ;  at  a  Sessions  in  Sligo,  under  the  presidency  of  his 
brother  George,  he  hanged,  with  several  others,  two  of  the 
O'Harts  of  Grange  ;  while  he  swept  Breffny,  the  principality  of 
the  O'Rorkes,  clear  of  man  and  beast,  by  letting  loose  on  it  two 
ravaging  armies  from  opposite  directions,  starting  one  from  near 
Longford,  and  the  other  from  Sligo,  with  orders  to  proceed  till 
they  met  in  the  heart  of  the  territory,  and  to  destroy  in  their 
passage  everything  they  encountered  with  fire  and  sword. 

Undeterred  by  the  acts  and  character  of  this  ruthless  adver- 
sary,  the  dashing  Hugh  Roe   O'Donnell  invaded   Connaught 
twice,  within  a  few  weeks,  in  the  beginning  of  1595,  and  carried 
away  great  preys  of  cattle  in  spite  of  Sir  Richard's  efforts  to 
prevent  him.     The  Binghams  felt  deeply  the  indignity  thus  put 
upon  them ;  and  to  avenge  it,  George  Bingham  equipped  two 
ships  in  the  harbour  of  Sligo,  and  sailing  with  them  along  the 
coast  of  Carbury,    and   round  Teelin  Head,   put  into   Lough 
Swilly,    where  he    disembarked,   and   ravaged    the   Carmelite 
monastery  of  Rathmullen,  carrying  away  from  it  the  sacred 
vessels  and  ornaments  of  the  altar,  the  vestments  of  the  priests, 
and  every  other  article  of  value  they  could  find.     Passing  thence 
to  Tory  island,  they  rifled  in  the  same  way  the  chief  church 
there,    which   was   dedicated    to    Saint    Columba,   the    great 
patron  saint  of  the  O'Donnells ;  and  having  thus  taken  their 
revenge  on  Hugh  Roe,  by  outraging  at  once  his  religion  and 
his  territory,  they  returned  to  Sligo  well  pleased  with  what  they 
had  done.     But  their  triumph  did  not  last  long.     For  Lieuten- 
ant Ulick  Burke,  who  was  second  in  command  at  Sligo,  hating 
the  Binghams  for  their  treatment  of  himself,  and  their  whole- 
sale massacre  of  his  relations,  organised  a  conspiracy  against  the 
life  of  George  Bingham.     Having  brought  over  to  his  design  a 
sufficient  number  of  the  garrison,  he  and  his  associates  fell  on 
Bingham  in  the  castle,  butchered  and  despatched  him,  and  put 
to  the  sword,  or  removed  from  the  castle,  all  who  took  his  part* 
There  is  nothing  to  show  that  O'Donnell  was  privy  to  the  plot? 
though  it  was  certainly  he  who  derived  the  greatest  benefit 
from  it ;  for  Burke  had  no  sooner  become  master  of  the  place, 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  287 


than  he  sent  off  messengers  with  an  offer  of  it  to  Hugh  Roe, 
who  hastened  at  the  head  of  an  army  to  Sligo  to  accept  and 
secure  the  valuable  prize.  Having  received  the  keys  of  the 
place,  O'Donnell  handed  them  hack  to  Ulick,  thus  constituting 
him  Governor  of  the  castle ;  and  the  office  could  not  be  better 
filled ;  for  after  the  desperate  deed  in  which  he  had  been  the 
chief  actor,  the  new  governor  had  a  deeper  interest  than  even 
O'Donnell  himself  in  the  success  of  the  Irish  cause. 

As  long  as  O'Donnell  remained  at  Sligo,  the  place  was  a  con- 
tinual scene  of  joy  and  exultation.  The  tragedy  of  the  castle, 
while  paralysing  for  a  time  the  action  of  the  English,  awakened 
new  life  and  hope  among  the  Irish  of  the  province,  so  that  crowds 
of  them  flocked  to  Sligo  to  congratulate  O'Donnell  on  the  altered 
aspect  of  affairs,  and  to  concert  with  him  the  plan  of  future 
operations.  Among  those  who  visited  him  the  Four  Masters 
make  special  mention  of  the  Burkes  of  Mayo,  the  O'Horkes  of 
Breffney,  the  Mac  Dermots  of  Moylurg,  the  Mac  Donoghs  of 
Tirerrill  and  Corran,  and  some  of  the  O'Connors  Sligo,  but  not 
Sir  Donogh,  who  was  then  in  England,  and  who,  if  he  had  been 
in  Ireland,  would  hardly  have  joined  the  muster.  The  numbers 
that  came  to  Sligo  on  the  occasion,  or  that  otherwise  notified 
their  adhesion  to  Hugh  Eoe,  were  so  great  that,  to  use  the  words 
of  the  Four  Masters,  "  In  the  course  of  one  month  the  greater 
part  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  district,  from  the  western  point  of 
Erris  and  TJmhall  to  the  Drowes,  had  unanimously  confederated 
with  O'Donnell ;  and  there  were  not  many  castles  or  fortresses 
in  those  places,  whether  injured  or  perfect,  that  were  not  under 
his  control." 

The  plan  of  operations  being  arranged,  the  Connaught  chiefs 
retired  to  their  respective  territories,  while  O'Donnell  returned 
to  Donegal  to  organize  a  new  expedition  to  Connaught.  The 
foray  came  off  in  August ;  and  instead  of  following  the  route 
through  the  county  Leitrim,  which  he  had  been  obliged  to  take 
on  the  last  two  occasions,  he  passed  this  time  straight  through 
the  county  Sligo,  and  a  part  of  the  barony  of  Costello  in  Mayo, 
where  he  stopped  to  take  from  the  English  the  fortress  of  Cas- 


288  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


tlemore-Costello ;  after  the  capture  of  which  he  marched  on  to 
the  county  Galway,  ravaged  the  countries  of  the  Birminghams 
and  Lord  Clanrickarde,  and  carried  with  him  immense  preys  of 
cattle,  which  he  brought  safe  home  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of 
Sir  Richard  Bingham  to  intercept  and  recapture  them. 

Boused  by  these  proceedings  of  O'Donnell,  and  by  the  formid- 
able combination  of  the  Connaught  chiefs,  Sir  Richard  tried  to 
deal  a  deadly  blow  to  his  enemies,  by  retaking,  if  possible,  the 
castle  of  Sligo,  which  constituted  their  chief  strength.  With 
this  design  he  followed  O'Donnell;  and  when  the  latter  en- 
camped at  Glencar,  Bingham  took  up  his  quarters  in  the  abbey 
of  Sligo,  a  position  admirably  suited  to  his  purpose,  as  it  afforded 
ample  shelter  to  his  troops,  and  stood  quite  close  to  the  castle 
which  he  meant  to  attack.  While  here,  some  skirmishing  took 
place  between  parties  of  his  troops  and  those  of  Red  Hugh, 
the  only  casualty  resulting  being  the  death  of  a  nephew  of  Sir 
Richard,  a  high-spirited,  dashing,  youth,  named  Martin,  who  was 
slain  while  closing,  in  the  heat  of  pursuit,  on  one  of  O'DonnelFs 
meu,  as  brave  as  himself,  though  then  retreating  in  obedience 
to  orders  with  the  object  of  drawing  the  English  into  an  am- 
buscade. 

As  there  was  no  chance  of  carrying  on  a  siege  successfully 
with  O'Donnell  within  a  couple  of  miles  of  the  town,  Sir  Richard 
thought  to  take  the  castle  by  means  of  a  well-known  military 
engine,  called  at  the  time,  the  Sow,  and  resembling  the  appli- 
ance named  by  the  Romans  testudo,  the  main  purpose  of  both 
being  to  cover  and  protect  men  while  engaged  under  it  in 
sapping  and  mining  operations. 

The  indispensable  quality  of  the  structure  is  strength,  to 
enable  it  to  resist  the  missiles  of  the  enemy ;  and,  to  get  suitable 
materials,  Bingham  ransacked  the  whole  convent,  gutted  the 
dormitories  of  the  friars,  and  pulled  down  in  the  chapel  the  holy 
rood,  called,  by  the  Four  Masters,  cranncaingel.  Having 
covered  the  sloping  roof  with  raw,  wet  hides,  to  save  it  from 
fire,  and  having  set  low,  strong,  wheels  under  the  machine,  the 
capacious    train,  with  its  formidable  freight  of  sappers  and 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  289 


miners,  was  rolled  to  the  wall  of  the  castle,  which  was  hardly  a 
hundred  feet  distant  from  the  abbey. 

It  is  clear  that  Ulick  Burke  was  prepared  for  the  attack,  for 
he  not  only  made  sallies,  but  as  soon  as  the  engine  was  drawn 
alongside  the  castle  wall,  volley  upon  volley  of  large  stones  was 
hurled  down  upon  it ;  an  immense  beam  of  timber,  attached  by 
ropes  to  rude  pulleys,  was  let  fall  again  and  again  upon  the 
structure,  striking  it  with  great  momentum  at  each  descent ;  and 
to  complete  the  discomfiture  of  the  assailants,  a  murderous  hail 
of  shot  was  discharged  upon  them  by  musketeers  from  the  castle 
windov/s,  the  loopholes,  the  embrasures,  and  the  other  points  of 
vantage  which  the  castle  afforded,  so  that  the  survivors  of  the 
party  had  to  run  for  their  lives  to  the  shelter  of  the  convent 
walls,  leaving  behind  them  the  crushed  and  broken  Sow :  a  not 
unapt  emblem,  in  its  shattered  state,  of  Bingham's  altered  for- 
tunes, as  he  now  moved  away  his  troops  from  Sligo  in  a  retreat, 
which  looked  very  like  a  flight.     In  all  his  after  life,  Sligo  must 
have  been  associated  in  Sir  Richard's  mind  with  bitter  memo- 
ries: with  his  mortifying  repulse  from  the  castle;   with  the 
humiliating  retreat  to  Roscommon  while  his  enemies  were  at  his 
heels ;  with  the  tragic  death  of  a  brother  and  a  gallant  nephew, 
to  both  of  whom  he  was  warmly  attached  ;  and  with  the  collapse 
of  his  power,  which  up  to  the  loss  of  Sligo  Castle  nothing  could 
withstand  in  any  part  of  his  command,  but  which,  after  that 
event,  became  so  weak   and   contemptible   that   Elizabeth,  to 
retrieve  her  authority,  deprived  him  of  the  Governorship,  and 
sent  over  Sir  Conyers  Clifford  to  take  his  place. 

To  make  sure  that  the  castle  should  not  fall  again  into  the 
hands  of  the  English,  O'Donnell  took  the  extraordinary  step  of 
dismantling  it,  and  pulling  it  down.  For  the  same  reason  he 
acted  in  like  manner  in  regard  to  other  castles  which  he  cap- 
tured about  this  time ;  and  the  Four  Masters,  A.D.  1595,  relate, 
that  in  a  single  expedition  through  Connaught,  "  thirteen  of  its 
castles  were  broken  down  by  O'Donnell.'* 

It  is  a  pity  that  no  plan  or  other  illustration  of  the  castle  has 
come  down  to  us,  so  that  we  are  left  very  much  to  mere  infer- 
VOL.  II.  T 


290  HISTORY    OF   SLTGO. 


ence  for  an  idea  of  the  features  and  qualities  of  a  building  which 
had  so  prominent  a  place  in  connexion  with  the  leading  events  of 
the  province  for  close  on  four  hundred  years.  We  learn  from 
the  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters  that  it  had  towers  and  battle- 
ments, but  we  are  left  in  the  dark  as  to  the  size  of  the  structure, 
the  area  it  covered,  and  its  other  characteristics.  That,  however, 
it  was  a  solid  and  imposing  building,  we  may  infer,  with  great 
probability,  from  the  circumstances  of  those  who  had  to  do  with 
its  erection,  and  with  its  restoration.  As  Maurice  Fitzgerald, 
the  original  founder,  had  abundant  resources,  both  as  a  private 
man  and  as  Lord  Deputy,  and  knew  besides  the  great  import- 
ance of  the  situation,  he  would  be  sure  to  erect  a  fortress  worthy 
of  himself  and  of  the  place  ;  while — to  pass  over  other  restorers — 
the  Red  Earl,  who  restored  or  re-erected  the  building  in  1310, 
was  second  to  no  Englishman  that  ever  set  foot  in  Ireland  for 
the  magnitude  and  magnificence  of  his  undertakings  and  works, 
as  may  be  seen  even  to-day  in  the  noble  remains  of  two  of  his 
castles,  one  at  Inishowen  in  Donegal,  and  the  other  at  Bally- 
mote  in  our  own  county. 

The  difficulty,  always  found  in  taking  the  castle  by  force,  sup- 
plies another  proof  of  its  great  strength.  The  place  must  have 
been  exceptionally  strong  which  withstood  successfully  several 
sieges,  and  which  bafEed,  for  a  good  part  of  two  years,  all  the 
efforts  of  Hugh  Oge  O'Donnell,  and  was  captured  in  the  end  by 
that  able,  accomplished,  and  powerful  chief,  only  by  means  of 
great  cannon  sent  to  him  from  France  for  the  special  purpose  of 
attacking  it;  there  being  no  ordnance  in  Ireland  capable  of 
breaching  it  or  battering  it  down. 

Though  this  fortress  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  first 
volume,  where  its  various  vicissitudes  of  fortune  are  described 
at  some  length,  it  will  not  be  amiss  to  summarize  here  the 
references  to  it  contained  in  the  Four  Masters  and  other  old 
authorities,  in  order  that  the  reader  may  have  its  entire  history 
under  the  eye  at  a  single  glance  : — 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  291 


1.  The  castle  of  Sligo  was  erected  by  Maurice  Fitzgerald  and 

the  Sil-Murray. — (Four  Masters,  1245.) 

2.  Maurice  Fitzg^erald   leaves    the    hostaojes    of  Tircounell    in 

castle  of  Sliofo.  Melasfhlin  O'Doanell  and  the  chiefs  of 
Tirconnell  came  on  All-Saints  day  to  Sligo,  burned  the 
bawn,  but  were  unable  to  make  their  way  into  the  castle, 
—(Four  Masters,  1246.) 

3.  The  castle  of  Sligo  was  demolished  by  Hugh  O'Conor  and 

O'Donnell.—- (Four  Masters,  1265.) 

4.  The  castle  of  Sligo  was  rebuilt  by  the  son  of  Maurice  Fitz- 

gerald, after  it  had  been  demolished  by  Hugh  O'Conor 
and  O'Donnell.— (Four  Masters,  1269.) 

5.  The   castle   of  Teach  Temple,  the  castle  of  Sligo,  and  the 

castle  of  Athleague  were  demolished  by  Hugh  O'Donnell. 
—(Four  Masters,  1271.) 

6.  The  castle  of  Sligo  was  given  to  John  FLtzTaomas,  and  John 

himself  went  to  England. — (Four  Masters,  1293.) 

7.  The  castle  of  Sligo  was  razed  by  Hugh,  son  of  Owen  O'Conor. 

—(Four  Masters,  1294.) 

8.  The  castle  of  Sligo  was  erected  by  the  Red  Earl — (Four 

Masters,  1310.) 

9.  The  castle  of  Sligo  was  taken  and  fallen  down  by  O'Donnell 

— (Annals  of  Clonmacnoise,  1315.) 

10.  Teige  Oge,  the  son  of  Manus  O'Conor,  was  treacherously 

killed  in  the  castle  of  Sligo  by  Donnell,  son  of  Murtough 
O'Conor.— (Four  Masters,  1371.) 

11.  Donnell,  the  son  of  Murtough  O'Conor,  Lord  of  Carbury  and 

Sligo  ....  died  in  the  castle  of  Sligo. — (Four  Masters, 
1395.) 

12.  Murtough  Bacagh  O'Conor,  Lord  of  Lower  Connaught,  died 

in  the  castle  of  Sligo. — (Four  Masters,  1403.) 

13.  Donough,  the  son  of  Murtough  O'Conor,  died  of  a  fall  in  the 

doorway  of  the  castle  of  Sligo. — (Four  Masters,  1419.) 

14.  The  castle  of  Sligo  was  taken  by  O'Donnell  from  Donnell, 

son  of  Owen  O'Conor,  after  having  been  besieged  for  a 
long  time. — (Four  Masters,  1470.) 


292  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


15.  A  great  army  was  led  by  Mac  William  Burke  into  Lower  Con- 

naught,  and  they  attacked  the  castle  of  Sligo.  Donnell, 
son  of  Owen,  went  into  the  castle,  but  Mac  William 
Burke  broke  down  the  tower  of  the  gate,  and  they  made 
peace. — (Four  Masters,  1471.) 

16.  The  castle  of  Sligo  was  taken  by  Mac  William  Burke  from 

O'Donnell's  warders,  and  given  up  to  the  son  of  Brian 
O'Conor.— (Four  Masters,  1478.) 

17.  The  descendants  of  Owen,  son  of  Donnell,  son  of  Murtough 

O'Conor,  went  into  the  castle  of  Sligo. — (Four  Masters, 
1494.) 

18.  Mac  William  of  Clanrickard  proceeded  with  an  army  to 

drive  O'Donnell  from  the  castle  of  Sligo,  and  O'Donnell 
left  the  castle — and  Mac  William  plundered  all  who 
adhered  to  O'Donnell  in  Lower  Connaught. — (Annals  of 
Ulster,  1495.) 

19.  O'Donnell  made  peace  among  the  people  of  Carbury — Felim 

O'Conor  to  possess  the  lordship,  but  the  castle  of  Sligo 
to  belong  to  Calvach  Caech  O'Conor. — (Four  Masters, 
149G.) 

20.  The  castle  of  Sligo  was  taken  by  means  of  ladders  ;  and  the 

sons  of  Eory,  son  of  Turlough  Carragh  O'Conor,  and  the 
sons  of  Felim,  made  their  way  into  it  from  the  top. — 
(Four  Masters,  1501.) 

21.  O'Donnell  laid  siege  to  the  castle  of  Sligo,  and  destroyed  all 

the  country  of  the  descendants  of  Brian  O'Conor,  but  did 
not  succeed  in  taking  the  town  on  that  occasion. — (Four 
Masters,  1512.)  -      . 

22.  O'Donnell  formed  a  camp  around  Sligo,  and  remained  there 

from  the  festival  of  St.  Bridget  to  Whitsuntide  ;  he  did 
not,  however,  take  the  castle  in  all  that  time. — (Four 
Masters,  1513.) 

23.  The  castle  of  Sligo  was  taken  by  O'Donnell,  after  it  had  been 

a  long  time  out  of  his  possession. — (Four  Masters,  1616.) 
See  p.  286,  ante. 

24.  The  Connacian  army  lays  siege  to  town  and  castle  of  Sligo — 

and  O'Donnell  raises  the  siege. — (Four  Masters,  1522.) 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  293 


25.  The  castle  of  Sligo  was  taken  by  Teige  Oge,  the  warders 

having  betrayed  it. — (Four  Masters,  1533.) 

26.  O'Conor  Sligo's  troops   carry  away  the  variegated  door  of 

the  castle  of  Turraic  to  place  it  in  the  castle  of  Sligo. — 
(Four  Masters,  1533.) 

27.  An  army  was  led  by  Manus  O'Donnell  into  Lower  Con- 

nanght,and  he  triumphantly  took  the  castle  of  Sligo,  which 
was  well  defended  by  warders  and  cannon,  after  it  had 
been  for  some  time  out  of  his  possession,  having  been 
powerfully  defended  against  his  father,  and  it  could  not 
be  taken  until  then.- — (Four  Masters,  1538.) 

28.  The  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  Ireland  proceeded  across  the  Erne 

to  lay  siege  to  the  castle  of  Sligo,  and  finding  O'Donnell's 
flag  flying  from  the  battlements  of  the  tower,  he  delivered 
the  keys  of  the  tower  to  Calvagh  O'Donnell. — (Four 
Masters,  1561.) 

29.  The  Scots  came  boldly  to  the  hard  walls  of  Sligo  Castle,  for 

which  they  paid  well. — (Letter  of  Thomas  Woodhous  to 
Captain  Anthony  Brabazon — written  from  Sligo,  July  7, 
1582.) 

SO.  Sir  Richard  Bingham  and  his  people  try  to  take  the  castle  of 
Sligo,  but  finding  themselves  unable  to  effect  anything 
against  the  castle,  they  are  glad  to  escape  with  their  lives 
— and  O'Donnell  demolished  the  castle  lest  the  Eaoflish 
should  inhabit  it. — (Four  Masters,  1595.) 

31.  Calebeg  (Killybegs),  from  whence  the  remains  of  Sligoh 
Castle  are  still  visible. — (Camden's  Britannia  [Gibson's 
ed.],  Vol.  IL,  p.  1411.) 

O'SuUivan  Bearre  thus  describes  the  attack  of  Binsfham : — 
"  Cum  signis  militaribus  viginti  quatuor  Sligacham,  obsidione 
vallatam  oppugnat — Ulligus  Burkus  cum  propugnatoribus 
egressusacriter  dimicat.  Tandem  oboppugnatorum  multitudinem 
in  arcem  compulsus  ex  turribus,  pinnis,  fenestris,  et  reliquis 
munitionibus  missilia  jaculando  hostes  arcet.  Regii  muchum, 
bellicum  machinamentum  militibus  subter  ao^entibus  arcis  muro 


294  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


admovent,  murumque  forare  et  subruere  incipiunt — Ulligus 
inagnse  molis  trabe  funibus  ligata  ex  arcis  fastigio  nunc  dimissa 
nunc  in  alta  sublata,  muchum  et  milites  qui  sub  eo  latebant, 
content.  O'Donnellus  obsessis  auxilio  veniens  appropinquat 
— Binghamus  fugit — Arcem  vero,  quod  erat  tarn  laboriosum 
defendere  O'Donnellus  demolitur." — Historice  Catholicce  Iber^ 
nice  Compendium. — Dr.  Kelly's  edition,  p.  175. 

Coining  back  now  to  Sir  Conyers  Clifford  and  tbe  famous 
battle  of  the  Curlews,  the  occasion  of  the  conflict  was  the  siege 
laid  by  Eed  Hugh  O'Donnell  and  Brian  Oge  O'Rorke  to  the 
castle  of  Collooney,  with  the  object  of  capturing  Sir  Donogh 
O'Connor  Sligo,  who,  on  returning  from  England  after  a  long 
visit,  threw  himself  into  this  castle,  which  was  then  the  only 
one  in  his  territory  open  to  him. 

On  learning  the  state  of  things  at  Collooney,  the  Lord 
Lieutenant  Essex,  and  the  Governor  of  Connaught,  Sir  Conyers 
Clifford,  made  great  preparations  to  raise  the  siege,  as  Sir 
Donogh  was  then  their  friend  and  ally.  While  collecting  an 
army  to  proceed  by  land  to  Collooney,  under  [the  command  of 
Sir  Conyers,  they  despatched  by  sea  to  Sligo  troops  intended  to 
co-operate  with  this  army.  To  meet  Sir  Conyers,  O'Donnell 
and  O'Rorke,  after  stationing  parties  in  and  near  Sligo  to  watch 
the  English  coming  by  sea,  and  leaving,  round  the  castle  of 
Collooney,  men  enough  to  carry  on  the  siege,  proceeded  them- 
selves with  the  main  body  of  their  forces  to  the  Curlews,  where 
O'Donnell  encamped  near  Ballinafad,  on  the  north  side  of  the 
mountain,  while  O'Rorke  took  up  position  near  Corrigeen  Roe, 
at  the  east  end  of  the  range. 

It  was  about  4  o'clock  p.m.,  on  the  15th  August,  which  fell 
that  year  on  a  Sunday,  the  English  reached  Boyle,  and  Sir 
Conyers,  thinking  the  pass  of  Ballaghboy  clear,  resolved,  thea 
and  there,  without  halting,  to  cross  the  mountain,  though,  in 
this  he  acted  against  the  advice  and  remonstrance  of  his  officers, 
and  against  the  wishes  of  his  men,  who,  after  a  long  march  of 
two  days,  felt  that  they  needed  refreshments  and  some  rest. 

The  Irish  on  their  side  were  far  from  being  as  negligent   as 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  295 


Clifford  supposed.  On  the  contrary,  being  well  aware  of  all  the 
movements  of  the  English,  O'Donnell  made  elaborate  pre- 
parations to  receive  them,  and,  after  addressing  his  men  in  one 
of  the  most  soul  stirring  speeches  on  record,  in  which  he 
wrought  upon  their  strongest  feelings  as  Catholics  and  as  Irish- 
men, and  after  placing  parties  in  concealment  along  the  woods 
and  bogs  through  which  the  enemy  must  pass,  he  moved  forward 
his  army  in  two  divisions,  the  first  composed  of  musqueteers, 
bow-men,  and  javelin-men,  and  the  second,  consisting  of  heavy 
armed  troops,  equipped  with  swords,  large-headed  lances,  and 
battle  axes.  "  In  one  division,"  says  the  narrative  of  the  Four 
Masters,  "  O'Donnell  placed  his  swift  and  energetic  youths,  and 
his  nimble  and  athletic  men,  and  his  shooting  parties,  with  their 
high  sounding,  straight-shooting  guns,  with  their  strong  smooth 
surfaced  bows,  and  with  their  bloody  venomous  javelins,  and 
other  missile  weapons.  Over  these  soldiers  he  appointed  a 
fight-directing  leader,  and  a  battle  sustaining  champion,  with 
command  to  press,  urge,  and  close  them  to  the  battle,  and  to 
hew  down  and  wound  after  them,  when  they  should  have  their 
missile  weapons  ready.  In  the  second  division  he  placed  his 
nobles,  chiefs,  and  veteran  soldiers,  with  strong  keen-edged 
swords,  with  polished  thin- edged  battle  axes,  and  with  large 
headed  lances,  to  maintain  the  fight  and  battle.  He  then  con- 
verted his  cavalry  into  pedestrians  among  his  infantry,  in 
consequence  of  the  difficulty  of  the  way  that  lay  before  them. 
When  O'Donnell  had  thus  arranged  his  people,  he  commanded 
his  shooting  party  to  advance  before  the  other  division  to  meet 
and  engage  the  foreign  army  before  they  should  pass  the 
difficult  part  of  the  mountain,  and  [he  told  them]  that  he  him- 
self and  the  other  division  would  come  in  contact  with  them  at 
a  place  where  he  was  sure  of  vanquishing  them,  for  [he  knew] 
that  they  could  be  more  easily  defeated  in  the  end,  should  they 
be  first  wounded  by  them  [his  first  division]." 

In  these  circumstances,  the  battle  that  ensued  was  of  short 
duration,  and  seems  to  have  been  decided  before  O'DonnelFs 
heavy  armed  division  came  up ;  for  the  English,  on  mounting 


296  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


the  brow  of  the  hill,  instead  of  finding  the  way  clear  as  Sir 
Conyers  expected,  seeing  it  not  only  guarded  by  men,  but 
impeded  by  barricades  of  felled  timber,  which  O'Donnell  had 
skilfully  thrown  up,  were  hindered,  on  the  one  hand,  from 
advancing,  by  these  obstacles,  and  the  efforts  necessary  to 
remove  them,  and  were  prevented,  on  the  other,  from  taking  to 
the  right  or  left,  by  the  nature  of  the  ground,  and  the  murderous 
fire  falling  on  them  from  these  directions* 

The  Four  Masters  thus  narrate  what  followed,  in  the  rather 
inflated  style  usual  with  them  when  engaged  in  description  : — 
"  The  Irish  discharged  at  them  terrible  showers  of  beautiful 
ash-handled  javelins,  and  swarms  of  sharp  arrows,  from  long 
and  strong  elastic  bows,  and  volleys  of  red-flashing  flames,  and 
of  hot  leaden  balls,  from  perfectly  straight  and  straight-shoot- 
ing guns.  These  volleys  were  responded  to  by  the  soldiers  of 
England,  so  that  their  reports,  responses,  and  thundering  noise 
were  heard  throughout  the  woods,  the  forests,  the  castles,  and 
the  stone  buildings  of  the  neighbouring  territories.  It  was  a 
great  wonder  that  the  timid  and  the  servants  did  not  run  panic- 
stricken  and  mad  by  listening  to  the  blasts  of  the  martial  music, 
the  loud  report  of  the  mighty  firing,  and  the  responses  of  the 
echoes.  Champions  were  wounded,  and  heroes  were  hacked 
between  them  on  the  one  side  and  the  other.  Their  battle- 
leaders  and  captains  commanded  O'Donnell's  people  not  to 
stand  fronting  the  foreigners,  but  to  surround  and  encircle  them 
round  about.  Upon  which  they  closed  around  them  on  every 
side  as  they  were  commanded,  and  they  proceeded  to  fire 
on  them  vehemently,  rapidly,  and  unsparingly,  so  that  they 
drove  the  wings  of  their  army  into  their  centre  by  the  pressure 
and  vehemence  of  the  conflict.  Howbeit,  the  English  at  last 
turned  their  backs  to  the  mighty  men  of  the  north,  and  the  few 
routed  the  many." 

When  the  English  advance  was  checked  by  the  formidable 
barricade,  and  their  men  were  thrown  into  confusion  by  the 
onslaught  of  the  force  posted  behind  and  round  it,  the  Irish,  led 
on  by  Brian  Oge  O'Rorke,  closed  in  upon  them,  and  completed 


HrSTORY   OF   SLIGO.  297 


their  discomfiture,  so  that  they  turned  panic-stricken  and  fled. 
It  was  in  vain  most  of  their  officers  tried  to  effect  a  rally,  all 
except  a  Captain  Cosby — a  name  associated  with  the  horrid 
massacre  of  Mullaghmast — who  was  charged  at  the  time  by  his 
superior  officer,  Sir  Alexander  Eatcliff,  with  setting  the  example 
of  flight  * 

And  it  was  in  vain  Sir  Conyers  Clifford  himself  did  all  a 
brave  man  could  do  by  word  and  example  to  retrieve  the 
disaster  and  animate  his  followers.  Nothing  could  arrest  the 
rout ;  and  Sir  Conyers,  maddened  by  his  sense  of  the  disgrace, 
tore  himself  in  fury  away  from  the  officers,  who,  after  failing 
to  persuade  him  to  come  away  with  them,  were  trying  to  re- 
move him  by  actual  force  off  the  ground,  *'  and  turning  head 
alone,  alone  made  head  to  the  whole  troops  of  persewers,  in 
the  midst  of  whome,  after  he  was  stroake  through  the  body 
with  a  pyke,  he  dyed  fighting,  consecrating  by  an  admirable 
resolution,  the  memory  of  his  name  to  immortalytie,  and 
bearing  the  example  of  his  vertu  to  be  intytuled  by  all 
honorable  posterities."-|* 

It  is  to  be  feared  that  the  Four  Masters,  with  their  inveterate 
habit  of  giving  the  lion's  share  of  all  the  merit  going  to  the 
O'Donnells,  are  not  as  just  as  they  ought  to  be,  to  Brian  Oge 
O'Rorke.  No  doubt  they  bring  him  on  the  scene  towards  the 
close  of  the  engagement ;  but  his  part  in  their  account  is  very 
small  in  comparison  of  the  part  he  is  made  to  play  by  other 
writers,  who   are   more   impartial   and  apparently  better   in- 


*  **  Perceivynge  him  slack,  Sir  Alexander  Ratcliff  said,  'Well,  Coysby, 
I  see  I  must  leave  thee  to  thy  baseness,  yet  it  were  much  better  for  thee  to  die 
in  my  company  than  at  my  return  to  perish  by  my  sword ;'  but  Cosby,  which  is 
the  general  disposition  of  all  true  cowards,  yielding  to  have  the  term  of  his 
life  awhile  deferred,  stood  firm,  with  at  least  a  third  part  of  the  vanguard, 
until  he  see  the  adversity  of  this  noble  knight,  when,  by  example  of  his  turn- 
inge  head,  the  vanguard  fled  in  such  rout,"  etc. — A  Brief  Relation  of  the  Defeat 
in  the  Corleus,  by  John  Dymmock. 

t  Ibid. 


298  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 

formed*  with  regard  to  the  battle  of  the  Curlews  than  the 
Four  Masters,  in  whose  account,  those  who  have  studied  the 
subject,  will  not  fail  to  notice  more  than  one  serious  blot. 

In  what  he  writes  on  this  battle,  Morysonf  names  only 
O'Rorke  of  all  the  Irish  ;  in  John  Dymmock's  account,  which 
O'Donovan  describes  as  "  the  most  minute  and  satisfactory 
English  account  of  the  battle  written,"  it  is  stated  that  "  the 
defeat  was  given  by  O'Rurke  and  MacDermon ''  (MacDermot), 
and  that  "  ODonnell  came  not  to  fight ;"  and  as  these  writers 
are  followed  in  this  matter  by  Cox,J  and  all  other  historians 
that  treat  the  subject,  the  fact  seems  to  be,  as  far  as  the  battle 
of  the  Curlews  is  concerned,  that  O'Donnell  did  the  speeching, 
and  that  O'Eorke  did  the  fiofhtingr.S 


*  In  what  the  Four  Masters  say  of  the  Governor,  while  at  the  Abbey  of 
Boyle,  "  daili/  menacing  and  threatening,"  reviling  and  reproaching  the 
Northerns,  and  promising  that  he  would  pass  northwards  across  the  mountain 
in  despite  of  them,  and  on  this  day  (15th  August)  he  undertook  to  perform  what 
he  had  promised  they  are  in  error,  as  it  is  clear  from  Dymmock  and  Sir  John 
Harrington  {Nugce  Antiquce,  Vol.  II.,  p.  11,)  that  Sir  Conyers  made  no  delay 
at  Boyle. 

+  Vol.  I.,  p.  37. 

X  Hibernia  Anglicana,  Vol.  I.,  p.  421. 

§  The  speech,  as  given  in  Rev.  Dr.  O'Conor's  Memoirs  of  Charles  O'Conor 
(p.  115),  is  very  stirring.  The  Doctor  prof  esses  to  translate  from  the  Irish,  but 
it  is  likely  he  touched  up  his  original  a  bit.  A  sentence  or  two  may  be  given 
as  a  specimen  : — "  God  has  already  doomed  to  destruction  those  assassins  who 
have  butchered  our  wives  and  our  children,  plundered  us  of  our  properties,  set 
iire  to  our  habitations,  demolished  our  churches  and  monasteries,  and  changed 
the  face  of  Ireland  into  a  wild  uncultivated  district.  On  this  day  (15th  Aug.) — 
more  particularly  I  trust  to  heaven  for  protection — a  day  dedicated  to  the 
greatest  of  all  saints,  whome  these  enemies  to  all  religion  endeavour  to  vilify. 
But  what  !  I  see  you  have  not  patience  to  hear  a  word  more.  Brave  Irishmen  ! 
you  burn  for  revenge.  Scorning  the  advantage  of  this  impregnable  situation, 
let  us  rush  down  and  show  the  world  that,  guided  by  the  Lord  of  life  and 
death,  we  exterminated  those  oppressors  of  the  human  race ;  he  who  falls  will 
fall  gloriously  fighting  for  justice,  for  liberty,  and  for  his  country;  his  name 
will  be  remembered  while  there  is  an  Irishman  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  he 
who  survives  will  be  pointed  at  as  the  companion  of  O'Donnell,  and  the  de- 
fender of  his  country.  The  congregations  shall  make  way  for  him  at  the  altar, 
saying,  '  that  hero  fought  at  the  battle  of  Dunaveeragh.'  " 

Of   O'Rorke  Dr.  O'Oouor    writes:    *'The  impetuosity  of  young  O'Rorke, 
■who  breathed  revenge  for  his  father's  death,  threw  the  English  army  into 


HISTORY   OF  SLIGO.  299 


The  most  famous  stretch  of  tlie  Curlews  is  Bellaghboy,  or  the 
Yellow  Pass,  so  called  from  its  light  or  yellow  colour,  as  con- 


irreparable  confusion.    Their  flight  was  precipitate,  the  pursuit  relentless,  the 
carnage  frightful." 

Dymmock's  account  of  this  battle,  which 0 'Donovan  extols  so  highly,  maybe 
seen  in  the  latter's  Four  Masters  under  the  year  1599,  and  is  therefore  so 
accessible  to  those  who  may  wish  to  read  it,  that  there  is  no  need  to  reproduce 
it  here  ;  but  as  Sir  John  Harrington's  account,  which  is  at  least  equally  in- 
teresting, the  writer  being  so  gifted  a  man,  and  still  more  trustworthy,  himself 
being  engaged  in  the  battle,  is  found  only  in  the  Nugoe.  Antiquce,  a  rather  rare 
book,  it  is  appended.  Sir  John's  narrative,  which  is  in  the  form  of  a  letter, 
dated  Athlone,  in  Ireland,  1599,  and  addressed  to  Sir  Anthony  Standen,  runs 
thus  :— 

"I  dowt  not  but  many  pens  and  tongues  utter,  after  many  fashions,  the 
report  of  our^late  unfortunate  journey,  but  yet  I  thought  it  not  amiss  to  write 
you  this  brief  narration  of  it,  of  which  I  may  say,  Qucequce  ipse  miserrima  vidi, 
et  quorum  pars  una  fui. 

"  On  Sunday  last  the  Governor  marched  with  one  and  twenty  companies  or 

colours  (for  indeed  some  of  them  were  but  mere  colours  of  companies,  having 

sixty  for  a  hundred  and  fifty)  from  Tulske,  eight^miles  beyond  Roscommon,  to 

the  Abbey  of  Boyly,  some  fourteen  miles  ;  and  hearing  belike  that  the  enemy 

was  but  weak  in  the  Curlews,  and  that  they  expected  not  his  coming  (because 

Captain  Cosby  the  very  day  before  came  from  Boyly  towards  Roscommon)  ; 

on  this  account  the  Governor,  God  bless  him,  resolved  to  possess  the  Pare  that 

nyght,  being  two  miles  from  the  Abbey.     This  was  against  the  minds  of  most 

of  the  Captains ;  the  soldiers  being  weary  and  fasting,  insomuch  that  they 

spake  for  meat  ere  they  went  up,  but  the  Governor  promist  them  they  should 

have  beef  enough  at  nyght,  and  so  drew  them  on  ;  but  many,  God  wot,  lost 

their  stomachs  before  supper. 

"The  order  was  this,  Captain  Lyster  led  the  forlorn  hope ;  Sir  Alexander  Rat- 
cliff  and  his  regiment  had  the  vaunt-guard  ;  my  Lord  of  Dublin  led  the  battle ; 
Sir  Arthur  Savage  the  rear;  the  horse  were  appointed  to  stand  in  a  little 
pasture  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  to  the  intent  that,  when  the  Pare  had  been 
cleared,  they  might  have  come  up. 

*' After  our  men  had  gone  up  the  hill  and  entered  part  of  the  Pare,  the 
rebels  begun  to  play  upon  them  from  a  barracado  that  they  had  made,  but  our 
men  soon  beat  them  from  it,  and,  so  mounting  high.  Sir  Alexander  Ratcliff  very 
bravely  beat  them  out  of  a  thin  wood  into  a  bog  on  the  left  side  of  the  Pare  ; 
and  we  who  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  might  see  them,  and  all  men  thought 
that  the  Pare  had  been  ours.  But  after  the  skirmish  had  lasted  an  hour  and  a 
half  very  hot,  and  our  shot  had  expended  all  our  powder,  the  vauntguard  fell 
into  the  battayle ;  and  in  conclusion  all  fell  in  rout,  and  no  man  could  stay 
them. 

"  The  Governor  himself  labouring  to  turn  them,  lost  his  breath,  his  voice,  his 
strength,  and  last  of  all  his  life ;  or,  which  is  worse,  in  the  rebels'  hands,  and 


300  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


trasted  with  the  dark  woods  and  bogs,  which  formerly  lined  it 
on  either  side.  It  is  often  called  the  Bothair-an-Iarla-Ruad, 
the  Road  of  the  Red  Earl,  who  is  supposed  to  have  laid  out  and 
formed  all  the  roads  of  Connaught,  though  there  is  no  good 
proof  that  he  had  anything  to  do  with  Bellaghboy.  Like  the 
Curlews  themselves,  it  lies  partly  in  Sligo  and  partly  in 
Roscommon,  passing  through  the  townlands  of  Dunaveeragh, 
Mountgafney,  Ballinafad,  Cartron,  Bellaghboy  townland,  Garroo, 
and  Spafield,  in  which  townlands  the  Yellow  Pass  is  still  trace- 
able, and,  in  some  places,  passable. 


none  could  force  him  off.  How  it  can  be  answered  at  home  by  such  as  it  con- 
cerned most  I  know  not,  but  so  vile  and  base  a  part  I  think  was  never  played 
among  so  many  men,  that  have  been  thought  of  some  desert. 

"  But  now  the  horse  standing  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and  seeing  through  the 
woods  and  glades  some  disorder,  though  not  suspecting  so  ill  as  it  was,  charged 
up  the  hill  another  way  that  lay  on  the  left ;  if  it  may  be  called  a  way  that 
had  stones  in  it  six  or  seven  feet  broad,  lying  above  ground,  and  plashes  of 
bogs  between  them.  But  with  this  charge  we  made  the  enemy  retire,  where- 
by all  the  foot  and  colours  came  off ;  but  we  bought  this  small  reputation  (if  so 
it  will  be  taken)  very  dearly,  for  our  Commander  of  the  horse  had  his  arm 
broken  ^ith  a  shot,  and  had  another  shot  through  his  clothes,  and  some  seven 
or  eight  horse  more  killed,  and  several  proper  men.  Captain  Jephson  was  next 
to  Sir  Griffith  Markham  in  the  head  of  Lord  Southampton's  troops,  and  charged 
very  gallantly. 

'*  I  would  not  for  all  the  land  I  have,  but  I  had  been  well  horsed.  I  verily 
think  the  idle  faith  which  possesses  the  Irishry  concerning  magic  and  witch- 
craft seized  our  meu  and  lost  the  victory.  For  when  my  cozen,  Sir  H. 
Harrington,  in  a  treacherous  parley  with  Rorie  Ogie,  a  notable  Rebel,  was 
taken  and  conveyed  to  his  habitation  a  prisoner ;  his  friends  not  complying 
with  the  terms  offered  for  his  ransom,  sent  a  large  band  to  his  rescue,  which 
the  Rebel  seeing  to  surround  his  house,  rose  in  his  shirt,  and  gave  Sir  Henry 
fourteen  grievous  wounds,  then  made  his  way  through  the  whole  band  and 
escaped,  notwithstanding  his  walls  were  only  of  mud.  Such  was  their  panick, 
as  verily  thinking  he  effected  all  by  dint  of  witchery,  and  had  by  magic  com- 
pelled them  not  to  touch  him.  And  this  belief  doth  much  daunt  our  soldiers 
■when  they  come  to  deal  with  the  Irishry,  as  I  can  well  perceive  from  the  dis- 
course.    You  will  hear  more  from  other  Captains  of  further  advances. 

*'  So  I  reste,  to  all  comniande, 

"  John  Harrington.-' 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  301 


Owing  to  the  morasses  and  woods  through  which  the  line 
passed,  and  the  steep  gradients  met  with,  it  was  next  to  im- 
possible to  make  the  way  practicable  for  horses ;  and,  thoucrh 
some  able  Irish  chiefs  and  generals  laboured  at  it;  though  Manus 
O'Donnell,  encamping  for  the  purpose  on  the  Curlews  in  1540, 
set  his  forces  to  work  in  levelling  it  off;  and  Owen  Roe  0*]N"eill 
in  1648,  while  he  remained  near  Boyle,  employed  his  army  in 
preparing  it  for  his  intended  march  to  Sligo,*  still,  after  all  these 
efforts,  it  continued  so  soft  and  rugged,  that  in  1691,  when  Lord 
Granard  was  bearing  down  on  Sligo,  the  horses  failed  to  draw 
the  cannon,  and  the  soldiers  were  themselves  obliged  to  get  into 
harness  to  do  the  horses'  work.j 

Though  English  writers  try  to  minimise  the  gravity  of  this 
battle,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  was  one  of  a  very  serious 
character  both  in  itself  and  in  its  results.  The  number  of  troops 
engaged  on  the  English  side  could  hardly  be  less  than  three 
thousand,  and,  including  some  squadrons  of  horse,  must  have 
been  considerably  more,  all  commanded  by  the  Governor  of  the 
province  in  person,  and  officered  by  men  of  the  first  families,  as 
well  as  of  the  highest  rank  in  the  army.  And  it  was  to  all 
intents  and  purposes  a  pitched  battle ;  for  both  sides  anticipated 
the  encounter  and  prepared  for  it,  so  that  the  victory  could  not 
be  set  down  to  surprise.  The  only  surprise  attempted  was  on 
the  side  of  the  Governor,  who,  on  arriving  in  Boyle,  hastened  to 
cross  the  mountain,  in  the  conviction  that  he  would  thus  steal  a 
march  on  the  Irish. 

The  result  could  not  well  be  more  disastrous  to  the  English. 
To  say  nothing  here  of  the  wounded,  the  Governor,  some  of  his 
best  officers,  and  about  fourteen  hundred  of  the  rank  and  file, 
were  slain ;  while  both  the  wounded  and  slain,  on  the  side  of  the 


*  Aphorismical  Discovery. 

t  "  Lord  Granard  was  hard  distressed  in  his  march  over  the  Curlieu  moun- 
tains ;  for  the  draught  horses  being  weak,  the  men  themselves,  with  great 
cheerfulness,  submitted  to  be  put  into  the  harness,  and  draw  the  cannon  several 
miles." — The  History  of  the  Life  and  Reign  of  William  III.  By  Walter  Harris,, 
p.  332. 


302  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


Irish,  hardly  reached  one  hundred  and  forty.*  The  spoils  of  the 
victors,  too,  were  great  and  valuable,  consisting  of  arms,  colours, 
tents,  drums,  money,  and  large  quantities  of  military  and  other 
clothing. 

What  was  a  still  greater  calamity  than  the  defeat  was  the 
conduct  of  the  English  troops  in  the  field.  The  pains  which 
English  writers  take  to  explain  it  away  show  how  much  they 
feel  it.  Fynes  Moryson  relates  that  he  heard  the  defeat  of  the 
Curlews  ascribed  to  a  '*  turning  of  the  van  "  on  an  order,  the 
purport  of  which  was  misunderstood  ;  Sir  Conyers  Clifford  him- 
self, however,  charged  it  upon  the  vileness  and  baseness  of  his 
troops — vileness  and  baseness  which  he  continued  to  his  last 
breath  to  proclaim  and  denounce ;  and  Sir  John  Harrington,  in 
one  place,  sets  it  down  to  a  notion,  the  soldiers  had  got,  that  they 
were  bewitched  by  the  Irish  ;  but  in  another,  where  he  is  more 
serious  and  frank,  to  their  cowardice,  calling  them  '' rascal 
soldiers,  who,  so  their  commanders  were  saved,  had  been 
worthy  to  be  half  hanged  for  their  rascal  cowardliness." 

Nor  can  there  be  a  doubt  that  Sir  Conyers  Clifford  and  Sir 
John  Harrington  have  hit  the  nail  on  the  head  ;  though  it  is 
passing  strange,  how  British  troops,  the  steadiest  in  the  world, 
could  become  thus  panic-stricken. 

In  their  hurry  to  escape,  the  English  made  no  effort  to  recover 
the  body  of  their  unfortunate  commander,  which  the  Irish,  to 
their  credit,  treated  with  great  respect.  After  separating  the 
head  from  the  trunk,  by  order  of  O'Horke,  who,  it  appears,  was 
the  first  to  recognise  the  Governor,  Mac  Dermot  sent  on  the 
latter  to  the  monastery  of  the  Holy  Trinity  in  the  island  of  Loch 
Ce,  of  which  place  he  was  the  owner,  to  be  buried  there, 
sending  with  it,  to  the  Constable  of  Boyle,  the  following  Latin 


*  Perierunt  ex  regiis  cum  Cliffordo  prsefecto,  et  Henrico  Ratcliffo  alio 
nobili  Anglo,  mille  et  quadringenti,  qui  fere  Angli,  et  Midhienses  Angloiberni 
erant ;  nam  Connachti  propter  locorum  peritiam  facilius  sunt  elapsi.  Ex 
Catholicis  centum  quadraginta  fuerunt  vulnerati  et  desiderati.  Capta  sunt 
regiorum  omnia  fere  arma,  signa,  et  tympana  militaria,  impedimenta,  et  multse 
vestes,  etc. — JlisL  Cathol.  Iber.  Compend.  Tom.  3,  Lib.  5,  cap.  x. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  803 

letter,  wMch  Sir  John  Harrington,  a  most  competent  judge, 
pronounced  to  be  '*'  barbarous  for  the  Latyn  but  cyvil  for  the 
sence": — 

*'  Constabulario  de  Boyle  salutem  : 

"Scias  quod  ego  traduxi  corpus  Gubernatoris  ad  monas- 
terium  Sanctse  Trinitatis  propter  ejus  dilectionem  et  alia  de 
causa  ;  si  velitis  mihi  redire  captivos  ex  predicto  corpore,  quod 
paratus  sum  ad  conferendum  vobis  ipsum,  alias  sepultus  erit 
honeste  in  predicto  Monasterio,  et  sic  vale. 

"Scriptum  apud  Gaywash  (Garroo?),  15th  August,  1599. 
"  Interim  pone  bonum  linteamen  ad  prsedictum  corpus,  et  si 
velitis  seplire  omnes  alios  nobiles  non  impediam  vos  erga  eos. 

"  Mac  Dermod." 

"  To  the  Constable  of  Boyle  health : 

"Be  it  kuown  to  you  that  I  have  sent  the  body  of  the 
Governor  to  the  monastery  of  the  Holy  Trinity  out  of  my  regard 
for  him,  as  well  as  for  other  reasons.  If  you  are  willing  to 
exchange  some  of  our  people  for  the  aforesaid  body,  I  shall  be 
glad  to  treat  with  you  on  the  subject.  In  any  case  the  body 
will  be  buried  honourably  in  the  aforesaid  monastery ;  and  so 
farewell. 

"Written at  Gaywash,  15th  August,  1599. 

"  Take  care,  however,  to  wrap   the  body  in  a  good   linen 

winding-sheet ;  and  should  you  wish  to  bury  all  the  other  nobles 

that  have  fallen,  I  will  not  prevent  you  from  rendering  them 

that  service. 

"  Mac  Dermod." 

Whoever  succeeded  the  Governor  in  command  allowed 
neither  pause  nor  stay  till  he  had  the  shattered  remnant  of  Sir 
Conyers'  army  back  again  in  Athlone ;  the  horse  bringing  up  the 
rear  and  reassuring  the  fugitives,  who  thought  of  nothing  in 
their  demoralized  state  except  getting  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
victorious  Irish — whom  they  imagined  to  be  still  in  pursuit. 
After  the  Roman-like   end    of  the  Governor,  the  only  other 


304  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


redeeming  feature  in  the  English  defeat  was  that  magnificent 
charge  of  the  horse  over  boulders  and  bog  holes,  and  through 
pikes  and  bullets,  which  alone  saved  the  cowed  and  demoralized 
infantry  from  utter  annihilation. 

The  apologists  of  the  defeat  dwell  on  the  invaluable  service 
of  the  cavalry.  In  addition  to  what  Sir  John  Harrington  says 
of  it  in  the  letter  to  Sir  Anthony  Standen,  he  writes  thus  on  the 
subject  in  a  communication  to  Mr.  Combe  :* — "  Some  of  our  horse 
gave  a  desperate  charge  upon  the  hill,  among  rocks  and  bogs, 
where  never  horse  was  seen  to  charge  before ;  it  is  verily  thought 
they  had  all  been  cut  in  pieces,  at  least  lost  all  their  colours ;  so 
that,  if  reputation  were  to  be  challenged  when  so  great  loss 
accompanied  it,  we  might  take  upon  us  to  have  won  some 
honour ;  having,  as  Sir  Henry  Davers  did  pleasantly  write  to 
Sir  Griffin  Markham,  not  Roman  citizens  but  rascal  soldiers  . .  . 
Beside  the  loss  of  two  or  three  good  horse,  and  better  men,  Sir 
Griffin  Markham  was  shot  through  the  arm  with  a  musket,  and 
though  he  bore  the  hurt  admirably  well,  for  a  day  or  two,  yet 
ever  since  he  hath  kept  his  bed  of  it ;  and  hath  been  in  danger 
of  his  arm  by  the  hurt,  and  of  his  life  by  an  ague  ;  but  now  he 
is,  I  hope,  out  of  danger  of  both,  and  safe  in  Dublin." 

The  result  of  the  battle  of  the  Curlews  was  a  heavy  blow 
to  English  authority  and  interests  throughout  the  province 
of  Connaught.  Sir  Conyers  Clifford's  head  was  now  brought 
to  Collooney  Castle  to  convince  Sir  Donogh  O'Connor  of  the 
English  defeat,  this  being  the  object  for  which  the  head  was 
severed  from  the  body,  and  not,  as  some  might  think,  that 
of  offering  an  indignity  to  the  remains.  So  far  from  bearing 
the  Governor  any  ill-will,  the  Irish  loved  him  and  lamented 
his  fate  more  than  his  own  countrymen.  "The  death," 
says  the  Four  Masters,  "of  the  person  here  slain  was  much 
lamented.  It  was  grievous  that  he  came  to  this  tragic 
end.  The  Irish  of  the  province  of  Meave  [Connaught]  were 
not  pleased  at  his  death ;  for  he  had  been  a  bestower  of  jewels 
and  riches  upon  them  ;  and  he  had  never  told  them  a  falsehood." 

*  NuG.E  Antique.    By  Sir  John  Harrington;  Vol  II.,  pp.  11-12. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  305 

Oa  Sir  Donogh  O'Connor  seeing  the  head  of  his  friend,  and 
learning  from  it  that  the  Irish  were  victorious,  he  cast  in  his  lot 
•with  O'Donnell  and  O'Korke,  and  was  followed  hy  all  under  his 
jurisdiction  in  the  district;  while  Collooney  Castle,  the  only 
stronghold  in  the  county  that  was  open  to  the  English,  passed 
into  the  hands  of  their  enemies;  so  that  from  the  Curlews  to  the 
Erne  they  had  not  a  single  adherent  either  in  the  field  or  in 
garrison; 

The  fleet  that  had  come  to  Sligo,  under  the  command  of 
Theobald  na  Long,  with  war  material  and  provisions  for  the 
Governor's  troops,  sailed  back  again  to  Gal  way,  while  Theobald 
himself,  who  was  brother-in-law  of  Sir  Donogh  O'Connor, 
hastened  to  join  the  party  of  his  relative. 

Elizabeth  was  struck  by  this  sudden  and  grave  alteration  of 
affairs  in  the  province  of  Connaught,  and,  judging  that  Sir 
Richard  Bingham  and  his  ways  were  what  was  wanted,  she 
called  on  him  again,  created  him  Marshal  of  Ireland  and  General 
of  Leinster,  and  directed  him  to  reduce  the  country  to  subjec- 
tion. It  is  just  as  likely  that  his  methods  would  only  aggravate 
the  evils  of  the  situation;  but,  whether  or  not,  there  was  no  time 
for  the  experiment,  as  he  died  in  Dublin  just  after  crossing  the 
channel — leaving  the  pacification  of  the  country  to  a  compara- 
tively moderate  and  still  abler  man.  Lord  Mountjoy.  "  Verum 
statim  atque  appulit  Duhlinice  diem  ohiit"  says  Camden,  in 
his  account  of  Sir  Eichard,  under  the  year  1598. 

At  the  base  of  the  Curlews,  on  the  Sligo  side,  lies  the  hamlet 
of  Ballinafad  with  its  half  a  dozen  habitations,  its  parish  church, 
its  presbytery,  its  National  School,  and  the  ruins  of  its  old 
castle.  Ballinafad — recte,  Bel-an-atha-fada — means  the  mouth 
or  entrance  of  the  long  ford,*  though  local  linguists  maintain 
that  it  signifies  the  *'  mouth  of  the  ford  of  the  whistle,"  from, 
according  to  some  of  them,  a  communication  despatched,  with 
the  aid  of  that  small  wind  instrument,  in  ancient  times  by  a 

*  Four  Masters,  1586 ;  O'Donovan's  note. 
VOL.  II.  U 


306  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


person  crossing  the  ford  to  a  friend  on  the  top  of  the  Curlews  ; 
or,  according  to  others,  from  a  concerted  signal  executed  on  the 
same  instrument  during  the  famous  battle  of  the  Curlews.* 

The  author  of  the  letter-press  in  Grose's  Antiquities  of 
Ireland,  who  was  Dr.  Ledwich  (the  notorious  "Lead wig"  of 
Dr.  Lanigan),  and  others  after  him,  state  that  the  castle  of 
Ballinafad  was  erected  by  the  McDonoghs,  but  the  structure 
has  much  too  modern  a  look  for  that,  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
it  was  built  by  Captain  John  Simbarbe,  or  St.  Barbe,t  who 
received  repeated  and  extensive  grants  of  land  from  James  I. 
in  Eoscommon  and  Sligo  (including  the  temporalities  and 
spiritualities  of  the  abbey  of  BoyleJ),  and  who,  dying  in  1628, 
in  the  castle,  of  which  he  was  then  constable,  was  buried  in  the 
neighbouring  graveyard  of  Aghanagh. 

In  the  constableship  he  was  succeeded  the  same  year  by 
Henry  Fletcher,  who  had  ten  warders  under  him  for  the  guard 
of  the  castle.  Ballinafad  castle  changed  masters  in  the  proceed- 
ings, which  followed  upon  the  Insurrection  of  1641,  being  sur- 
rendered in  1642  to  the  Irish,  for, it  is  said,  want  of  water;  and 
it  was  in  1652  in  the  hands  of  Colonel  William  TaafFe,  who, 
as  was  stipulated  in  the  articles  for  the  surrender  of  Drumrusk 
to  the  victorious  Cromwellians,  was  '*  with  his  company  to  be 
admitted  to  the  benefit  of  said  articles  on  the  surrender  of 
Ballinafad."§ 

The  castle,  being  a  recent  erection,  continued  habitable  after 
the  other  old  castles  of  the  county — except  that  of  Ballymote, 
which  was  in  private  hands — had  fall-en  into  ruins,  so  that  all 
the  county  Sligo  Chancery  inquisitions  of  Charles  I.  were  held 
either  in  this  castle  or  in  the  abbey  of  Sligo,  the  number  held 
in  each  of  these  places  being  about  equal.  We  learn  from  the 
Cromwellian  Census  of  1659,  that  in  that  year  Henry  Hughes, 
gent.,  was  the  Titulado  of  Ballinafad,  that  the  population  of  the 


*  Ordnance  Survey  Letter  Book  of  county  Sligo. 

t  John  D'Alton  ;  and  Gazetteer  of  Ireland,  art.  Ballinafad. 

X  Patent  Roll  of  James  I.,  p.  16. 

§  Articles  for  the  Surrender  of  Drumrusk,  April  8th,  1652. 


HISTORY    OF   SLIGO.  307 


village  was  thirty-two  (nine  English,  and  twenty-three  Irish), 
and  that  the  number  of  soldiers  and  soldiers'  wives  in  the  castle 
was  twenty-four  (eleven  English,  and  thirteen  Irish). 

Muinter  Healy — the  Hely  or  O'Hely  family — possessed 
formerly  the  Curlews,  Ballinafad,  and  the  district  lying  along 
the  western  shore  of  Lough  Arrow,  their  chief  residence  being 
in  the  present  demesne  of  Hollybrook,  which  was  then  called 
Ballyhely.  Though  not  reputed  "  chiefs  "  of  Tirerrill,  they  held 
high  rank  in  the  territory,  being  styled  by  the  Four  Masters, 
"  princely  brughaidhs,"*  so  that  they  found  themselves  strong 
enough  to  engage  in  conflict  with  the  MacDermots  in  1344,t 
and  with  the  O'Rorkes  in  1389.J  They  maintained  their  status 
down  to  the  17th  century,  for  we  find  Dermot  O'Hely  of 
Cashel  Lough  Dergan — Castledargan — serving  with  the  leading 
gentry  of  the  county  as  juror  at  an  Exchequer  inquisition  in 
1585,  and  Carbury  O'Hely  as  proprietor  in  1641,  under  a  grant 
of  James  I.,  of  Comyn  near  Sligo,  which  passed  by  the  Acts  of 
Settlement  and  Explanation  to  Anthony  Ormsby,  in  whose 
family  it  still  remains. 

A  notable  fact  in  their  history  is  that  Diivesa  O'Hely,  who 
died  in  1328,  "  daughter  of  O'Hely,"  was  the  wife  of  Donnell 
O'Connor  Sligo,  and  mother  of  the  most  distinguished  and 
dashing  chieftains  which  that  great  family  ever  produced.  And 
it  is  well  to  add,  that  Eight  Rev.  John  Healy,  the  able,  learned, 
and  respected  coadjutor  bishop  of  Clonfert,  is  a  scion  of  the 
famous  muinter  Healy  of  Ballyhely. 

With  its  change  of  name,  Ballyhely  underwent  a  great 
change  of  condition.  From  being  a  wild,  unfenced,  uncultivated 
tract,  producing  nothing  but  grass,  with  here  and  there,  a 
white-thorn,  or_one  of  those  holly  bushes,  from  which  it  got  its 
modern  name,  it  has  become,  as  Hollybrook,  a  fine  demesne 
extending  about  a  mile  along  the  high-road,  stretching  from  the 


*  Four  Masters,  1309. 

t  Four  Masters,  sub  anno. 

X  Idem, 


808  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


road  to  Lough  Arrow,  and  yielding  timber  of  all  kinds,  and  of 
the  best  quality. 

The  region  round  Hollybrook  is  at  once  highly  picturesque 
and  historical.  The  smooth,  still  lake,  with  its  sparkling 
islands  of  the  freshest  green  ;  the  rich  cultivated  tracts  at  each 
end  of  the  sheet  of  water;  and  the  range  after  range  of  mountains 
in  the  distance  are  scenic  features,  such  as  it  would  be  next  to 
impossible  to  find  in  any  other  county  of  Ireland ;  while  the 
well  informed  student  of  Irish  history  will  find  an  epitome  of 
the  ancient,  the  medieval,  and  the  modern  history  of  Ireland 
written  on  the  tract — of  the  ancient  history,  in  the  sombre 
plain  of  Moytura  with  its  weird  monuments ;  of  the  medieval, 
in  the  ecclesiastical  remains  on  the  islands  of  the  lake,  at 
Ballindoon,  at  Killadoon,  and  at  a  score  of  other  places  ;  and  of 
the  modern  history,  in  the  demesne  and  court  of  Rockingham ; 
in  the  demesne  and  house  of  Kingsborough;  and  in  the  demesne 
and  house  of  Hollybrook  itself,  all  three  memorials  of  the 
extirpation  of  the  Irish,  and  the  settlement  of  the  English  in 
their  stead.  It  is  due  to  the  humane  and  cultivated  owner  of 
Hollybrook,  Colonel  Folliott,  the  descendant  of  Sir  Henry 
Folliott,  who  was  created  Baron  Folliott,  of  Ballyshannon,  in 
1619,  to  record  that  the  grounds,  which  command  these  views 
are  open,  up  to  the  very  walls  of  the  beautiful  mansion,  to  the 
general  public,  and  that  no  one  is  hindered  from  even  driving 
his  vehicle  in  through  one  gate,  traversing  the  whole  length  of 
the  demesne,  and  issuing  out  by  another  gate  on  the  high 
road. 

The  church  of  Aghanagh,  or  Echenach,*  was  one  of  the  first 
erected  in  the  county,  being  founded,  according  to  the  Annota- 
tions of  Tirechan,t  by  Saint  Patrick.  Over  it  the  saint  placed 
Bishop  Maneus  and  Gentene.J  There  is  a  tradition  in  the 
parish   and   neighbourhood,   that   while    Bishop    Maneus    was 


*  Equorum  locus  vel  pastus. — Act.  Sanct.^  p.  399. 
t  Bocumenta  ex  libro  Armachano,  p.  85. 


X  Trias  Thanm.,  p.  143.     According  to  Colgan,  Gentennus,  Priest  (presbyter), 
is  honoured,  on  the  2nd  September,  at  Tirgaire.^  Trias  Thaim.i  p.  160. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  309 


building  the  church,  under  the  superintendence  of  St.  Patrick, 
the  O'Rorke  of  the  day,  or  the  head  of  the  family,  which,  later, 
took  the  name  of  O'Rorke,  having  heard  of  the  work,  was  coming 
in  a  great  rage  to  stop  it,*  when  Maneus  prayed  that  the  angry 
chief  would  not  be  able  to  pass  the  ford  himself,  and  that  any 
one  of  his  name  or  family  that  ever  passed  it,  would  meet  soon 
with  a  sudden  death.  The  tradition  does  not  tell  what  befel 
O'Rorke  on  the  occasion,  but  the  story  has  such  formidable  force 
even  still,  that  when  persons  of  the  name  of  O'Rorke  attend  a 
funeral,  bound  for  Aghanagh,  instead  of  crossing  the  Rubicon 
like  Caesar,  on  arriving  at  the  ford,  they  invariably  turn  back  to 
keep  out  of  the  way  of  the  saint's  curse. 

There  is  a  curious  addition  to  the  legend.  It  is  handed  down, 
that  while  the  enraged  chief  was  approaching,  the  bell  of  the 
place  took  of  itself  to  ringing,  in  order  to  sound  an  alarm,  but 
on  the  man  in  charge  turning  to  it  in  anger,  and  telling  it  to 
cease  its  cackle  lest  its  noise  should  spoil  the  whole  business, 
and  attract  O'Rorke  to  the  spot,  it  took  the  reproof  in  serious 
part,  and  became  itself  so  frightened  at  the  common  danger, 
that  it  got  immediately  tongue-tied,  and  never  after  uttered 
another  note.  A  striking  proof  of  the  long  continued  power  of 
the  O'Rorkes  in  this  district  may  be  found  in  the  legend 
mentioned,  when  coupled  with  the  historical  fact,  that  Sir 
Richard  Bingham,  near  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century,  built 
his  great  fort  between  Lough  Arrow  and  Lough  Ce,  to  stop  the 
irruptions  of  the  O'Rorkes.f 

The  valley  between  the  Curlews  and  Bricklieve  mountains, 
lying  partly  in  the  parish  of  Aghanagh,  and  partly  in  the  parish 
of  Toomour,    deserves  more    attention   than  it    has    hitherto 

*  "Eo  tempore  venit  homo  Dei  ad  oppidum  regum  terrse,  ubi  invenit  senem 
Manen,  qui  a  Patricio  baptizatus  est,  conflictum  contra  Tuahalum  regem  terrse 
habentem,  qui  prohibuit  eum  ecclesiam  sedificare  in  loco  qui  dicitur  Each 
Eaagh,  hoc  est,  equoram  locus  vel  pastus." — Colgan's  Act.  Sand.,  p.  396.  This 
extract,  no  doubt,  contains  the  nucleus  of  the  legend,  which  received  in  due 
course  such  amplification. 

X  In  1590  "Sir  Richard  Bingham  erected  a  great  fort  between  Loch  Ce  and 
Loch  Arbhach  to  check  the  0'Ruairkes."--Ce^^Jc  Sochty  Miscellany,  p.  221. 


310  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


received.  It  is  four  or  five  miles  long,  and  about  one  mile 
wide  at  the  bottom  of  its  sloping  sides,  being  boimded  on  the 
east  by  Lough  Arrow,  on  the  west  by  the  hill  of  Keash,  on  the 
south  by  the  mountain  of  the  Curlews,  and  on  the  north  by  that 
of  Bricklieve — a  name,  however,  never  applied  by  the  people  to 
the  range  when  speaking  of  the  south  side  of  the  mountain,  though 
given  to  it  commonly  by  them  when  talking  of  the  north  side. 
The  south  side  of  Bricklieve  is  green  to  the  top,  and  resembles  not 
a  little  a  series  of  hills,  standing  out  in  considerable  relief  from 
the  body  of  the  range,  with  conical  summits  in  some  places, 
notably  near  the  hill  of  Keash.  On  four  or  five  of  these  sum- 
mits are  mounds  or  cairns,  conspicuous  enough  from  the  north, 
hut  not  visible  from  the  south. 

The  valley  is  traversed  longitudinally  by  two  roads.  One  of 
these,  the  northern,  which  is  called  the  Green-road,  from  its 
beicg  grass  grown,  winds  along  the  mountain,  about  half-way 
■up  the  slope,  and  is  hardly  ever  used,  at  present,  even  by  foot- 
men, being  quite  impassable  for  vehicles.  The  other  to  the 
south,  a  modern  one,  runs  by  the  foot  of  the  Curlews  on  to 
Keash  through  Ballinafad,  Corradoo,  and  Toomour,  the  ground 
being  rather  uneven,  lying  low  at  Ballinafad,  rising  at  Carradoo, 
and  sinking  again  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Toomour.  Excepting 
the  part  of  Corradoo  where  Mr.  Owen  Phibbs'  pleasant  villa 
stands  in  the  midst  of  young  and  thriving  plantations,  the  whole 
of  the  road  passes  through  rough,  and  in  great  part,  boggy  land. 
Though  the  valley  deserves  a  visit  for  the  view  of  its  physical 
features,  more  especially  the  curiously  outlined  surface  of  the 
northern  side,  with  its  crest  of  shining  green  grassy  cones,  the 
place  does  not  derive  its  chief  interest  from  physical  peculiari- 
ties, but  from  religious  associations. 

There  is  little  known  of  the  townland,  or  townlands,  of 
Corradoo,  though  they  seem  to  have  an  interesting  history, 
which  has  been  missed  hitherto.  Corradoo  is  pronounced  by  the 
inhabitants  Corradooey,  and  signifies  the  Hill  of  the  mounds, 
which  is  an  appropriate  name,  considering  the  mounds,  or  cairns, 
which  exist  still  on  the  hills  there,  and  which,  very  probably, 


HISTORY    OF   SLIGO.  311 


existed  in  still  greater  number  in  olden  times.  .This  may  be 
taken  to  be  the  meaning  of  the  name,  unless  it  be  maintained 
that  the  "  doos  ''  in  question  are  the  mountain  cones  them- 
selves, and  not  the  cairns  built  upon  them — an  interpretation 
on  which  the  writer's  comparative  ignorance  of  Irish  disqualifies 
him  from  forming  an  opinion. 

Whatever  may  be  the  signification  of  the  word,  it  is  pretty 
certain  that  the  place  indicated  is  no  other  than  the  one  referred 
to  in  the  following  passage  of  Tirechan's  Annotations  in  the 
Book  of  Armagh : — "  Patricius  vero  venit  de  fonte  Alofind  ad 
Dumecham  nepotum  Ailello,  et  fundavit  in  illo  loco  ecclesiam 
quae  sic  vocatur  Senella  cella  dumiche  usque  hunc  diem.  In 
quo  reliquit  viros  sanctos  Macet  et  Cetgen  et  Rodanum  pres- 
piterum  ;"^  and  in  this  corresponding  passage  of  Colgan's 
Tripartite : — "  Ailfinnia  modo  jam  dicto  provisa  et  disposita, 
venit  Patricius  ad  regionem  Hua-ISTolella,  ibique  in  loco, 
Domhacha,  nominato,  erexit  Ecclesiam  quae  Sencheall  Dum- 
haighe  vocatur."-(-  (Patrick  came  from  the  fountain  of  Elphin  to 
Dumecha  of  the  grandsons  of  Ailell,  and  founded  in  that  place 
a  church,  which  is  thus  called  to  this  day  Senella  cella  dumiche 
[the  old  church  of  the  mounds].  In  this  place  he  left  the  holy 
men  Macet,  and  Cetgen,  and  Rodanus  the  priest. — Elphin  being 
provided  for  and  disposed  of  in  the  way  already  mentioned, 
Patrick  came  to  the  district  of  the  grandsons  of  Ailell,  and  there 
in  the  place  named  Domhacha,  erected  the  church  which  is 
called  Sencheall,  Dumhaighe,  the  old  church  of  the  mounds.) 

The  passage  just  quoted  from  the  Annotations  of  Tirechan, 
is  followed  immediately  by  this  paragraph  : — "Et  venit  apud  se 
filia  felix  in  peregrinationem,  nomine  Mathona,  soror  Benigni 
successoris  Patricii,  quae  tenuit  pallium  apud  Patricium  et 
Rodanura,  monacha  fuit  illis.  Et  exiit  per  montem  filiorum 
Ailello,  et  plantavit  ecclesiam  liberam  hi  Tavmuch,  et  honorata 
fuerat  a  Deo  et  hominibus,  et  ipsa  fecit  amicitiam  ad  reliquias 

*  Documenta  de  S.  Patricio,  Hibernorum  Apostolo,  ex  Libro  Armachano, 
By  E.  Hogan,  S.J.,  p.  70. 

t  Colgan,  Trias  Thamnaturga,  p.  135. 


812  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO, 


Sancti  Rodani,  efc  successores  illius  epulabantur  ad  invicem." 
(And  there  came  with  him  on  his  rounds  a  happy  daughter,  by- 
name Mathona,  sister  of  Benignus  the  successor  of  Patrick,  who 
received  the  veil  from  Patrick  and  Rodanus  ;  she  was  religious 
servitor  to  them.  And  she  went  out  through  the  mountain  of 
the  sons  of  Ailell,  and  planted  the  free  church  of  hi  Tamnuchf 
and  she  was  honoured  by  God  and  men,  and  she  had  "  vener- 
ation for  the  reliques  of  Saint  Rodanus  "  [Sir  W.  Betham's 
translation],  and  his  successors  practised  mutual  festivities.) 

The  sequel,  or  continuation,  of  the  extract  from  Colgan  given 
above,  is,  "  In  qua  (ecclesia)  plures  e  discipulis  reliquit ;  ut 
Macetum  Cetchenum  nobilemque  presbyterum  Rodanum  reli- 
quit etiam  ibi  Matonam  Benigni  sororem  a  S.  Patricio  ante 
cooperante  S.  Rodano  sacro  velo  donatam ;  quam  proinde 
Rodani  curaa  commisit."  (In  which  church  he  left  several 
disciples  :  as  Macet,  Cetchen,  and  the  noble  priest  Rodanus  ;  he 
left  there  too  Matona,  Benignus'  sister,  who  had  received  the 
sacred  veil  from  Saint  Patrick,  assisted  by  Saint  Rodanus ;  it 
was  for  this  reason  he  committed  her  to  the  care  of  Rodanus.) 

Father  Hogan,  the  learned  editor  of  the  Doctimenta  de  S. 
PatriciOf  takes  the  Senella  cella  dumiche  to  be  the  church  of 
Shankill,  near  Elphin.  The  annotator  of  Hennessy's  Tripartite 
shares  this  view,  and  expresses  himself  thus  in  a  note  (p.  403) 
on  the  subject: — '' Senchell-Dwiuaighe. — This  is  the  church  of 
Shankill,  barony  and  county  of  Roscommon,  immediately  south 
of  Elphin.  Colgan  was  wrong  in  his  Index  in  placing  the 
church  in  Xierrag-Arnensi,  which  was  in  the  barony  of  Costello, 
county  Mayo,  instead  of  Ciarraidhe-Aei,  which  was  in  the  west 
of  Roscommon,  having  in  it  the  parish  of  Kilkeevan,  near 
Castlerea."  Here  the  writer  of  the  note  quotes  the  Book  of 
Rights  (page  101),  and  proceeds  : — "  What  probably  led  him 
(Colgan)  astray,  is  that  Machet,  whom  St.  Patrick  placed  here, 
being  grandson  of  Ailell  [Ui  Ailella],  he  took  it  for  Tir- Ailell, 
confounding  the  descendants  with  their  country." 

There  is  more  than  one  error  in  this  note  ;  but  it  is  enough  to 
state  here,  that  the  writer  is  himself  "wrong"  in  what  he  reports 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  313 


I 


of  Colgan,  who,  in  the  place  referred  to,  or  any  other  place,  holds 
no  such  opinion  as  that  ascribed  to  him,  but  on  the  contrary, 
states  expressly  in  the  very  words  of  the  Index,  on  which  the 
author  of  the  note  relies,  that  the  church  in  question  was  in 
Tirerrill,  the  words  being,  "  Sencheal  Ecclesia  in  Tirolella  SS. 
Macetus,  Cetchenus,  Rodanus,  et  Matona  Y."  These  words  are 
so  clear,  they  could  hardly  be  misinterpreted  ;  and  it  seems 
certain,  that  the  annotator,  when  commenting  on  Colgan,  was 
not  thinking  of  them,  but  of  the  immediately  preceding  entry  of 
the  Index,  to  which  he  allowed  unconsciously  his  eye  to  stray, 
and  which  is  thus  worded,  "  Sencheal  ecclesia  in  Kierragia 
Arnensi."  This  entry  is  followed  immediately  by  the  other, 
"  Sencheal  ecclesia  in  Tirolella,  etc/' 

It  is  clear  then  that  Colgan  locates  the  Sencheal  Dumaighe 
in  Tirerrill;  but  independently  of  his  authority,  which  is  so 
decisive  on  questions  of  Irish  topography,  the  text  of  both  the 
"  Documenta  "  and  the  Vita  Tripartita,  leaves  no  room  for  doubt 
in  the  matter,  as  the  "  Dumacha  nepotum  Ailello "  of  the 
former,  and  the  "  regionem  Hua  Nolella  "  of  the  latter,  admit 
of  no  other  meaning.  The  Shankill  then  of  Elphin  being  far 
away  from  the  "  regionem  Hua  Nolella"  the  territory  of  the 
sons  of  Ollioll,  or  Tirerrill,  it  follows  that  it  is  not  the  sjDot  to 
which  Saint  Patrick  proceeded  from  Elphin  ;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  as  Corradoo,  or  Corradooey,  is  in  Tirerrill,  and  the  only 
place  in  Tirerrill  which  always  retained,  and  still  retains,  in  the 
syllable  doo,  [traces  of  the  dumiche  of  Tirechan,  and  the 
dumacJia  of  the  Tripartite,  the  consequence  is  patent,  that  it  is 
the  spot  in  question. 

It  may  be  objected  that  the  house  occupied  by  Macetus, 
Cetchenus,  and  Hodanus,  should  be  called  a  monastery  of 
monks  rather  than  a  nunnery,  which  is  the  name  always  given 
by  the  people  to  the  religious  house  which  existed  in  Corradoo, 
and  of  which  some  small  fragments  still  remain  in  the  town- 
land,  that  goes  now  by  the  name  of  Carricknahorna.  To  this 
objection  there  are  two  answers — one,  that  the  house  may  have 
been  a  mixed  establishment,  having,  in  different  quarters,  monks 


314  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


and  nuns,  and,  being  so,  might  with  propriety,  in  view  of  the 
nuns'  quarter,  be  called  a  nunnery.  And  another  answer  is, 
that  though  a  monastery  of  men  in  the  beginning,  it  may,  when 
the  monks  died  out,  or  left  it,  have  become  a  nunnery ;  but,, 
however  this  point  may  be  explained,  the  arguments  which 
connect  Senella  cella  dumiche  with  Corradoo,  or  Corradooey, 
remain  unshaken. 

Though  the  statements  quoted  from  the  Book  of  Armagh 
and  the  Tripartite  establish  sufficiently  the  writer's  contention, 
it  may  be  still  further  confirmed.  An  argument  which  makes 
conclusively  against  the  Shankill  of  Elphin  theory,  and  quite  as 
strongly  for  the  view  here  maintained,  is  the  propinquity  of 
Tawnagh  to  Corradoo,  a  propinquity  clearly  implied  in  the 
words  of  Tirechan,  which  tells  us,  that  Mathona  reached 
Tawnagh  by  passing  over  the  mountain  (Bricklieve),  and  that 
the  religious  of  these  two  places  shared  in  each  other's  festivities, 
and  cultivated  friendly  relations  mutually.  This  juxtaposition 
alone  puts  the  Magh-Aei  or  Elphin  church  out  of  court ;  for  the 
monks  of  Tawnagh  must  have  had  as  little  to  do  with  the 
E/Oscommon  Shankill,  which  was  about  thirty  miles  distant  from 
them,  as  with  the  notorious  Shankill  of  Belfast,  or  the  score  of 
other  Shankills,  scattered  up  and  down  the  country  ;  while  the 
parish  of  Tawnagh  and  the  parish  of  Aghanagh,  to  which  Cor- 
radoo belongs,  being  adjoining  parishes,  one  on  the  north  and  the 
other  on  the  south  of  Bricklieve,  the  inmates  of  the  two  religious 
houses  lived,  as  a  matter  of  course,  in  frequent  intercourse,  and 
partook  of  each  other's  hospitalities,  thus  realizing  to  the  letter 
the  words  of  Tirechan,  "  Ipsa  fecit  amicitiam  ad  reliquias  sancti 
Rodani,  et  successores  illius  epulabantur  ad  invicem." 

The  western  end  of  the  valJey,  we  are  treating  of,  has  a  very 
interesting  history  of  its  own,  for  which  the  reader  is  referred  to 
what  is  said  elsewhere  of  the  parish  of  Toomour,  in  the  barony 
of  Corran,  and  diocese  of  Achonry.  Before  quitting  the  parish 
of  Aghanagh,  one  additional  remark  may  be  made.  While  the 
writer  has  no  doubt  that  the  valley  between  Lough  Arrow  and 
Keash    is   the  Dwnacha  nepotum  Ailello,   of  the   Book   of 


HISTORY   OF   SLTGO.  815 


Armagh,  he  is  hy  no  means  equally  satisfied  as  to  the  identifi- 
cation of  Saint  Rodan's  church  and  the  so-called  Nunnery. 
That  the  valley  and  the  Dumecha  are  one  and  the  same  place 
rests  on  what  appears  to  be  proof ;  but  that  the  church  and  the 
ruin  now  called  the  Nunnery  were  the  same  building,  is  rather  a 
matter  of  conjecture.  The  church  may  have  stood  in  a  different 
part  of  the  valley — in  the  part  that  lies  in  the  parish  of 
Toomour.  On  this  point  the  reader  is  referred  to  what  is  said 
on  the  subject  under  the  head  of  the  Union  of  Keash. 

Owen  Conmy,  alias  Knuohan,  is  entered  on  the  List  of 
Popish  Priests  of  1704  as  the  Parish  Priest  of  Aghanagh ;  and 
it  would  appear  that  from  that  time  down  to  the  close  of  the 
last  century  the  P.P.  of  Boyle  was  always  the  P.P.  of  Aghanagh 
also,  Rev.  Dr.  Brannally  being  the  last  of  these  incumbents. 
After  Dr.  Brannally 's  death  the  parish  was  divided,  Ballinafad 
and  Cairgin  Roe  being  detached  from  Boyle  and  given  in  charge 
to  Rev.  Terence  Sweeny  as  Parish  Priest.  On  Father  Sweeny's 
removal  in  1843  Father  Egan  followed  as  Parish  Priest  of 
Aghanagh,  and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Dominick  Noone. 

Father  Egan  is  interred  in  Aghanagh  graveyard.  It  was  in- 
tended to  bury  him  in  the  old  thatched  chapel  of  Ballinafad,  and 
with  that  object  a  new  grave  was  dug  in  it;  but  the  grave,  owing 
to  the  low  lying  situation  of  the  chapel  filling  at  once  with  the 
water,  which  drained  into  it  from  the  higher  ground  around,  it 
was  resolved,  at  the  last  moment,  to  deposit  the  remains  in 
Aghanagh  churchyard.  There  being  no  time,  in  the  hurry,  for 
searching  out  a  more  suitable  spot,  the  coffin  was  lowered  into 
the  grave  of  John  St.  Barbe,  King  James'  and  King  Charles' 
Constable  of  the  Castle  of  Ballinafad.  It  is  said  an  opinion 
prevailed  that  this  was  the  tomb  of  an  ecclesiastic,  and  that  the 
interment  took  place  in  consequence  of  the  erroneous  impres- 
sion. Anyhow,  the  Parish  Priest  and  the  Constable  lie  since  in 
the  same  grave. 

In  January  1851  Father  Noone  passed  as  P.P.  to  Geevagh^ 
and  Father  Henry  succeeded  to  the  vacant  place  in  Ballinafad* 


316  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


Kev.  Mr.  Henry  falling  into  ill  health,  Rev.  Andrew  Qainn  was 
appointed  Administrator  of  Aghanagh  in  1860,  where  he  re- 
mained till  1876,  when  he  was  transferred  to  Riverstown,  on  the 
demise  of  Father  Owen  Feeney.  Wliile  in  Aghanagh  Father 
Quinn  built  the  substantial  and  commodious  church  of  Ballina- 
fad,  which  cost  about  £1,600,  and  must  have  cost  a  good  deal 
more  only  that  the  parishioners  had  provided,  free  of  charge, 
stones,  lime,  and  sand. 

Before  the  erection  of  this  church  the  place  of  public  worship 
was  the  old  thatched  chapel,  built  in  1760  by  Father  Michael 
Reynolds  of  Ballindoon,  as  the  following  curious  inscription  on 
a  slab  which  formed  the  altar  stone  of  the  chapel,  and  which 
still  exists,  informs  us  : — "  This  house  was  built  in  the  year 
1760  by  Father  Michael  Reynolds  of  Ballindoon  at  his  own 
expense,  for  his  own  abode,  and  shelter  of  the  faithful." 
If  not  the  first,  this  old  building  was  one  of  the  first,  chapels 
put  up  in  the  county  since  the  Penal  days ;  and  the  words 
of  the  inscription,  "  for  his  own  abode,"  would  imply  that  the 
priest  resided  in  it,  which  he  did,  no  doubt,  for  the  purpose 
of  evading  the  persecuting  laws  still  in  force,  on  the  old  principle 
that  "  a  man's  house  is  his  castle." 

Father  Quinn's  successor  in  Ballinafad  is  Father  Geraghty, 
who  has  erected  the  fine  parochial  house  which  stands  near  the 
church.  It  is  a  pity  that  a  site  a  little  further  east  was  not 
selected,  as  the  windows  would  thus  command  one  of  the  best 
views  in  the  county. 

Under  the  Established  Church  the  parish  of  Aghanagh 
belonged  to  the  union  of  Boyle. 

In  pre-Reformation  times  the  valley  between  Lough  Arrow 
and  Keash  abounded  in  Church  land,  there  being  934  acres  in 
the  parish  of  Aghanagh.  In  the  Rental  of  1692  the  Archbishop 
of  Tuam  is  entered  as  tenant  of  the  four  quarters  of  Aghanagh. 
The  Church  land  of  the  parish  is  now  owned  by  the  Phibbs' 
family,  who,  succeeding  the  Kings  of  Boyle  in  its  possession, 
became,  under  "  that  hideous  blot  upon  the  Statute  Book  of  the 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  317 


United  Kingdom,  that  Magna  Charta  of  Church  spoliation  for 
the  benefit  of  Church  tenants,  Church  architects,  and  Church 
builders — the  3  &  4  Wm.  4,  c.  37,"*  and  other  Acts,  owners  in 
fee  of  the  property. 

*  The  Irish  Church :  Its  History  and  Statistics.   By  WiUiam  Shee,  Sergeant- 
at-Law,    Page  xix. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

HALF  PARISH   OF  KILLERRY. 

The  parish,  or,  as  it  is  locally  called,  the  Half-parisli  of  Killerry, 
lies  to  the  north  of  Killross  and  Ballysummaghan,  and,  with 
Killenumery  in  the  county  Leitrim,  with  which  we  have  nothing 
to  do  here,  forms  a  parochial  union,  which  belongs  to  the 
diocese  of  Ardagh,  and  is  under  the  gentle  rule  of  one  of  the 
most  apostolic  of  modern  bishops,  Dr.  Woodlock — as  perfect  a 
combination  of  "  sweetness  and  light "  in  real  life,  as  the  late 
Mr.  Matthew  Arnold  himself  could  conceive  in  his  ideal  model 
man. 

Killerry  is  picturesquely  situated,  stretching  along  the  brink 
of  Lough  Gill,  and  forming  the  most  striking  portion  of  the 
southern  shore  of  that  lake.  The  district  was  formerly  a  natural 
forest,  as  is  still  the  portion  of  it  called  Slish  Wood,  with  its 
hardy  oaks,  all  of  nature's  planting,  rising  from  the  water's  edge 
and  clothing  the  precipitous  northern  side  of  Slieve-da-En 
mountain  up  to  the  crest  of  the  range.  Not  only  Slish,  but 
most  of  the  parish  was  covered,  three  hundred  years  ago,  with 
timber,  which,  as  we  learn  from  the  Survey  of  1633,  "was  daily 
wasted  by  sale  to  Sligo,"just  as  the  peatbogs  of  the  place  are 
now  being  exhausted  by  sales  of  turf  in  the  same  quarter. 

The  old  church  of  Killerry,  which  was  sixty-six  feet  long,  and 
iwenty-four  wide,  was  very  solidly  built.  The  eastern  gable 
and  two  sidewalls  are  still  standing.  At  about  thirty-six  feet 
from  the  eastern  gable,  a  wall  runs  from  sidewall  to  sidewall ; 
and  it  is  clear  that  the  western  portion  of  the  building,  from 
this  cross  wall  to  the  end,  was  used  as  a  residence  by  the  clergy 
of  the   church — an   arrangement   not   unusual    in   other    old 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  319 


churches  of  the  couaty.  It  must  have  beea  an  establishment  of 
some  importance,  as  we  find  three  of  its  erenaghs  mentioned  at 
different  times  by  the  Four  Masters,  one  under  the  year  1333, 
another  at  1363,  and  the  third  at  1416.  The  name  in  each  case 
is  MacOglaigh,  so  that  it  would  appear  that  the  office  of  erenagh 
had  become  hereditary  in  this  family  in  the  thirteenth  century. 
The  entry  of  the  Annals,  at  the  last  mentioned  date,  which  is 
complimentary  to  the  individual  mentioned,  of  whom  it  speaks 
so  highly,  and  to  the  house  to  which  he  belonged,  runs  thus : 
"  Thomas  Mac-an-Oglaigb,  Erenagh  of  Cill-Oiridh,  and  chief 
Professor  of  Law  in  Connaught,  died  after  the  victory  of 
penance." 

As  not  unfrequently  happened  to  other  churches,  the  church 
of  Killerry  was  once  the  scene  of  a  sacrilegious  outrage.  In  a 
conflict  which  took  place  in  1346  between  Ualgarg  O'Rorke 
and  Rory  O'Connor,  the  former,  having  been  worsted,  fled  for 
sanctuary  to  Killerry  church,  but  his  pursuers,  the  O'Connors 
and  McDonoughs,  set  fire  to  the  building,  and  slew  him  as  he 
rushed  out  through  the  door  to  escape  the  fire.  Unfortunately 
this  was  not  an  isolated  sacrilege  of  the  kind,  for  we  read  often 
in  the  Annals  accounts  of  similar  occurrences,  the  onodus  agendi 
being  always  the  same :  first,  to  fire  the  church,  and  then  to  slay 
the  enemy  when  he  tried  to  get  away  from  the  burning  build- 
ing. 

To  this  church  is  attached  a  graveyard  which  is  much  used. 
It  contains  a  good  number  of  tombstones  with  inscriptions,  the 
prevailing  names  commemorated  being  Kelly,  Jackson,  Gil- 
martin  McGarry,  Wynne,  Donegan,  McLoghlen,  McTernan, 
Cross,  and  Harrison. 

It  may  be  well  to  refer  to  a  practice  connected  with  the 
cemetery  of  Killerry,  which  seems  at  first  view  to  savour  some- 
what of  superstition.  At  about  the  centre  of  the  burying-place 
there  is  laid  on  the  ground  a  horizontal  stone  slab,  three  feet 
long,  two  feet  wide,  and  about  two  inches  thick,  on  which  are 
placed  seven  rounded  stones — apparently  sea-shore  stones — of  a 
few  inches  diameter.     Just  outside  the  slab,  but  touching  its  edge. 


320  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


a  stone,  fourteen  or  fifteen  inches  long,  four  inches  wide,  and  two 
thick,  is  sunk  endwise  in  the  earth  to  within  about  four  inches 
or  so  of  the  top,  and  to  this  exposed  part  is  always  attached  a 
yard  or  two  of  thread  or  string.  The  thread  goes  by  the  name 
of  ''Straining  Thread;"  and  it  is  so-called  because  plenty  of 
people  believe  that,  if  removed  in  due  form  from  the  stone,  it 
will  cure  of  sprain,  the  injured  member  or  part  to  which  it  is 
applied.  The  "  due  form,"  or  ritual,  to  be  observed  by  the 
messenger  coming  [^for  the  thread  is,  first,  to  say  on  the  spot 
certain  stated  prayers  in  honour  of  God,  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
and  the  saint  of  Killerry  church  ;*  second,  to  take  the  thread 
off  the  stone ;  and  third,  to  leave  another  in  its  place  for  the 
next  comer.  The  proceeding,  no  doubt,  has  a  suspicious  look, 
but  those  who  know  it  best  clear  it  of  superstition,  on  the 
principle,  that  the  people  place  all  their  hope  of  a  cure  in  the 
prayer^;  and  a  still  more  convincing  proof  of  its  harmlessness  is 
its  toleration  by  the  parish  clergy,  for  it  is  certain  that  en- 
lightened and  zealous  Parish  priests,  like  Canon  Thomas  Cahill, 
the  present  incumbent  of  the  parish,  the  late  Canon  Broder, 
and  Father  George  Gearty,  the  Canon's  immediate  predecessor, 
would  have  denounced  it  and  put  a  stop  to  it,  if  it  were  any  way 
wrong. 

In  1824  the  body  of  a  man  clad  in  woollen  garments  was 
found  in  a  bog  of  this  parish,  six  feet  under  the  surface  of  the 
peat.  The  remains  were  so  well  preserved,  that  a  magistrate 
was  called  to  hold  an  inquest.     The  clothes  were  in  still  better 


*  This  saint  is  not  identified,  but  it  is  very  likely  that  he  is  the  St.  Aireid, 
Priest,  whose  feast,  according  to  the  Martyrology  of  Donegal,  falls  on  the  26th 
August.  The  church  goes,  in  the  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  at  the  year 
1833  and  1496,  by  the  name  Cill  Oiridh,  and  at  the  year  1362  by  that  of  Gill 
Airidh. 

It  is  possible  that  the  name  has  a  dijBferent  origin.  Oorid  signifies  cold 
land,  and  Killerry — Cill  Oirid — might  mean  the  church  of  the  cold,  wet  land, 
— See  Joyce's  Irish  Names  of  Places;  Second  Series,  p.  15. 

This  origin  would  correspond  well  with  the  quality  of  the  surrounding  land, 
which  is  cold  and  stiff. 


HISTORY   OF    SLIGO.  321 


preservation  than  the  body,  seeming  little  the  worse  for  their 
time  in  the  bog.  In  Sir  William  Wilde's  Catalogue  of  the 
Royal  Irish  Academy  Museum,  may  be  seen  a  woodcut  of  them 
as  they  appeared  on  a  person  who  put  them  on,  that  they  might 
be  the  better  photographed.  They  consisted  of  a  mantle  or 
cloak,  an  inner  coat  or  tunic,  and  a  tight  fitting  trowse,  or 
trousers.  There  was  a  profusion  of  buttons,  all  made  of  the 
same  material  as  the  tunic.  Sir  William  Wilde  referred  the 
interment  to  the  fifteenth  century.  It  may  be  added  that  the 
woodcut  of  the  Catalogue  is  reproduced,  manifestly  from 
the  same  block,  in  the  Kilkenny  Archceological  Journal 
(Vol.  6,  p.  225),  and  in  Miss  Cusack's  History  of  Ireland 
(p.  255). 

In  the  month  of  May  of  the  current  year  (1888),  a  human 
body  was  found  in  the  bog  of  Annaghmore,  in  the  parish  of 
Kilvarnet,  clad  too  in  woollen  garments  of  antique  fashion  ;  but 
it  is  matter  of  regret  that  the  remains,  the  clothes,  and  a  small 
wooden  vessel;  found  alougside  them,  were  all  huddled  into  a 
box,  removed  to  a  disused  graveyard  in  the  neighbourhood,  and 
re-interred,  before  any  one  qualified  to  give  an  intelligent 
opinion  on  the  antiquarian  aspects  of  the  case  could  see  the 
objects.  Comparing  what  is  told  of  the  Kilvarnet  find  by  those 
who  saw  it,  with  what  is  written  by  Sir  William  Wilde  and 
others  of  that  of  Killerry,  the  material  of  the  dress  in  both 
cases  was  similar,  being  "  woollen  cloth,  with  a  diagonal  twill  or 
diaper."  Of  the  coat  Sir  William  writes,  "  In  make  it  is  a  sort 
of  frock  or  tunic.  It  is  single-breasted,  and  has  fourteen 
circular  buttons  ingeniously  formed  of  the  same  material  as  the 
coat  itself."  "  The  sleeve,"  he  adds,  "  consists  of  two  portions 
joined  at  an  angle  across  the  elbow,  below  which  it  is  open  like 
that  of  the  modern  Greek  or  Albanian  jacket,  and  has  twelve 
small  buttons  extending  along  the  outer  flap."  Those  who  saw 
the  Annaghmore  skeleton,  state  that  this  description  applies  to 
it  as  much  as  to  that  of  Killerry. 

It  is  at  Cashelore  in  this  parish  we  find  one  of  the  finest 

VOL.  II.  X 


322  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


examples  of  the  cashel  in  Ireland.     Of  this  structure  Dr.  Petrie, 
in  a  letter  written  from  Eathcarrick,  and  dated  August  16tb, 
1837,  writes    in    the  following   high   terms: — "I   have    also 
visited    some   remarkable    cyclopean    forts,    particularly    one 
called   Cashel-Oir,   or,   the  Golden   Cashel,   in  the   parish   of 
Killerry,   about  five   miles  from   Sligo ;   a  finer   specimen   of 
cyclopean  work  I  have  never  seen,  of  the  earliest  style^  some  of 
the  stones  twelve  feet  long.     It  is  ascribed  by  tradition  to  the 
Firbolgs,  or  Belgse,  and  there  was  a  similar  fort  in  each  of  the 
baronies  of  Sligo,  of  which  I  got  a  list  with  their  names ;  these 
names  should,  I  think,  be  inscribed  on  the  map.     The  thickness 
of  the  wall  in  Cashel-Oir  is  ten  feet,  the  interior  diameter  is 
seventy,  and  it  is  in  some  places  nearly  twelve  feet  high  still, 
though  its  stones  have  been  used  to  build  a  gentleman's  house 
and  offices,  and  a  neighbouring  village  ;  I  should  suppose  that 
the  original  height  of  the  wall  could  not  have  been  less  than 
twenty  feet."    The  fort  is  still  in  the  state  in  which  Dr.  Petrie 
saw  it,  and  standing,  as  it  does,  on  an  eminence,  is  a  very  com- 
manding object.     The  Doctor  is  mistaken  as  to  the  meaning  of 
Cashel-Oir,  when  he  says  it  is  "  the  Golden  Cashel,"  though 
many  inhabitants  of  Killerry  share  the  mistake  with  him  ;  but 
it  is  clear  from  the  Four  Masters,  that  there  is  no  allusion  to 
gold  in  the  name,  for  they  write  it  Caislan-an-Uabhair,  which 
signifies  the  castle  of  pride — a  name  probably  given  to  it  for 
its  exceptional  magnitude,  strength,  and  beauty. 

Ballintogher — the  town  of  the  causeway — lies  in  the  parish 
of  Killerry,  and  is,  on  the  whole,  about  as  historic  a  spot  as  any 
other  in  Tirerrill.  Its  situation  near  the  gap  of  Slieve  da  En, 
which  is  the  chief  pass  between  Tirerrill  and  Carbury,  gives  it 
importance ;  and  it  was  to  guard  this  pass,  that  Cashaloer  fort, 
in  the  remote  past,  and  Ballintogher  castle,  or  Rathmaree,  in 
later  times,  were  constructed.  Ballintogher  was  one  of  the  first 
places  occupied  by  the  English  on  their  coming  to  Connaught, 
and  was  formed  by  them  into,  a  *' borough,"  which  seems  to 
have  been  a  "specially  organized  form  of  the  township;''  for 


HISTORY   OF  SLIGO.  323 


we  learn  from  the  Four  Masters,  under  the  year  1266,  that  the 
*'  borough  of  Bal  an  tachair  was  burned  that  year  by  Flann  Roe 
OTlynn,  and  many  of  the  English  of  the  town  were  slain  by 
him."  On  the  expulsion  of  the  English  in  the  fourteenth 
century,  the  O'Rorkes  took  possession  of  the  place,  and  held  it 
down  to  the  time  of  Elizabeth,  who,  in  a  letter,  dated  26th 
Jan.  1567,  directed  the  Lords  Justices  of  Ireland  to  examine 
the  complaint  made  by  Sir  Donnell  O'Connor  against  O'Wrarch 
(O'Rorke)  for  "  deteyning  from  him  the  Castell  of  Bayleinto- 
chair."  This  letter  produced  no  effect  at  the  time,  for  it  was 
ten  years  later,  that  is,  in  1577,  that  O'Connor  Sligo,  with  Sir 
Nicholas  Malby  and  an  army  of  both  English  and  Irish  took 
the  place.  Falling  next  into  the  hands  of  the  MacDonoghs,  it 
escheated  soon  to  the  Queen  by  their  dying  without  heirs, 
general  or  special.  In  1617  the  town  of  Ballintogher  with 
various  adjoining  lands  was  granted  to  Sir  William  Taaffe ;  and 
in  a  new  patent,  passed  by  that  sagacious  man  in  1620,  the 
lands  conveyed  by  the  grant  were  created  the  Manor  of  Ballin- 
togher. About  1630  they  were  purchased  by  Sir  Thomas 
Wenman ;  and  the  Survey  of  1633  describes  them  as  the 
*'  inheritance  of  Sir  Thomas  Wenman,  Knight,  lately  purchased 
from  the  Lord  Viscount  Taaffe,  whose  father  obtained  letters 
patent  from  King  James  for  the  whole  Lordship  of  Ballintogher, 
containing  nineteen  quarters,  all  which  Sir  Thomas  Wenman 
had  bought  two  years  past.  It  pays  the  King  £15  sterling  per 
annum,  and  ten  groats  homage."  The  denominations  of  the 
quarters  are  Gortlaunan,  Tobbernany,  Altbellada,  Crossbeoy, 
Drommore,  Casheloer,  Tirtooicke,  Raghian,  Levalley,  Rathnaree, 
Drumconrie,  Corney,  Kiltecranan,  Ravelvoine,  Lishcrossan, 
Carrownadallar,  Aghrish,  Dromcalrey,  and  Carownagh. 

As  a  part  of  the  O'Connor  Sligo  estate  this  property  was 
granted  in  1687  by  Charles  II.  to  the  Earl  of  Strafford  and  Sir 
Thomas  Radcliffe,  and  passed,  from  their  representatives,  by 
purchase,  to  Rev.  Doctor  John  Leslie,  one  of  those  bellicose 
ecclesiastics  that  we  sometimes  find  coming  to  the  front  in 


824  HISTOKY    OF   SLIGO. 


times  of  violence  and  change.  Of  Scotch  descent,  of  temper 
resembling  that  of  John  Knox,  and  with  as  rabid  a  hatred  of 
"  Papistry,"  he  threw  himself  body  and  soul,  like  that  firebrand, 
into  the  contests  of  the  day,  the  only  difference  between  them 
being  that  Leslie  wielded  exclusively  the  arms  of  the  flesh, 
while  Knox  flourished  besides  the  sword  of  the  Spirit. 

With  the  income  of  a  rich  rectory  which  he  held  in  the 
diocese  of  Derry,  and  the  rent  of  a  good  estate,  he  raised  a 
company  of  foot  and  a  troop  of  horse,  and  fought  at  their  head 
for  the  Prince  of  Orange.  At  the  battle  of  Aughrim,  while  the 
father  kept  garrison  at  Ballintogher,  his  son  commanded  this 
force,  and  lost  his  life  in  the  battle.  The  Doctor  set  enormous 
value  on  these  services  and  losses,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war 
pressed  energetically  for  compensation  and  reward.  The 
Government  showed  themselves  as  liberal  as  he  was  exacting, 
and  decreed  him,  in  the  counties  of  Sligo,  Leitrim,  and  Donegal, 
16,077  acres  "  in  consideration  of  his  early  services  in  the  war 
of  Ireland,  his  great  expense  in  raising  and  arming  considerable 
numbers  of  men,  and  fighting  at  the  head  of  them  in  several 
engagements."  The  concluding  words  of  the  royal  grant  are, 
"  The  lands  in  the  county  of  Sligo  together  with  the  lands  of 
Drumdeffy  are  erected  into  the  manor  of  Ballintogher,  with  a 
power  to  appoint  seneschalls  ;  with  a  jurisdiction  in  all  actions 
for  debt,  trespass,  and  covenant  to  the  extent  of  48s. ;  with  all 
privileges  in  as  large  and  as  ample  a  manner  as  were  enjoyed 
by  Sir  William  Taaffe  by  virtue  of  Letters  Patent  dated  18th 
of  James  the  First." 

This  fighting  parson  has  left  no  descendants  in  the  county. 
His  daughter,  after  abduction  by  Mitcheburne  Knox  of  Sligo, 
was  married  to  that  worthy,  but  the  marriage  proved  unfor- 
tunate, and  both  died  in  great  poverty. 

It  would  appear  that  the  parishes  of  Killenumery  and 
Killerry,  which  are  now  united,  were  separate  in  1704,  when 
the  Parish  Priests  of  Ireland  were  registered,  for  while  Eev. 
Laurence  Kion  (Keen,  or  Kean)  was  pastor  of  Killenumery  that 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  325 


year,  the  record  tells,  that  Teige  McQuin  was  P.P.  of  Killerry, 
that  he  resided  at  Ballintogher,  that  he  was  then  seventy-seven 
years  of  age,  and  that  he  had  heen  ordained  in  1650  by  Doctor 
Cullinane,  Titular  Bishop  of  Raphoe.  The  names  of  Father 
McQuin's  sureties  are,  Henry  McCarrick,  Sligo,  and  William 
Bourke,  Doonamurray. 

Coming  down  to  the  present  century,  Eev.  Charles  Brady 
was  Parish  Priest  of  the  united  parishes  of  Killenumery  and 
Killerry  in  1800,  and  died  on  the  4fch  September,  1813. 

Father  Brady  was  succeeded  in  1813  by  Rev.  Edward 
Reynolds,  who  died  in  1816.  After  Father  Reynolds  came 
Rev.  Charles  Gilchrist,  who  was  removed  to  another  parish  in 
1826  ;  Reverend  Peter  McGovern,  who  was  Father  Gilchrist's 
successor,  died  on  the  26  th  December,  1837,  and  is  buried  in 
Creevalea  abbey.  This  good  priest  had  such  a  reputation  for 
sanctity  through  life,  that  the  country  people  take  away  clay 
from  his  grave,  and  employ  it  in  some  way  as  a  cure  for  the 
diseases  of  men  and  cattle,  thinking  there  must  be  some  special 
virtue  in  the  relics  of  so  holy  a  man. 

Reverend  Daniel  Magill  was  the  next  Parish  Priest ;  he  died, 
after  an  incumbency  of  eleven  years,  in  1848. 

Father  Magill's  successor  was  Reverend  George  Gearty, 
transferred  from  the  parish  of  Annaduff  to  the  union  of  Killenu- 
mery and  Killerry.  Father  George,  as  he  was  called  by  every- 
body, was  as  fine  a  specimen  of  humanity,  in  face  and  figure, 
as  one  could  find,  being  six  feet  three  or  four  inches  high,  formed 
in  proportion,  and  a  model  of  manly  grace  and  vigour  in  all  his 
movements.  He  was  so  successful  as  a  church  builder,  that 
somebody,  in  speaking  of  him  on  his  appointment  to  Killerry, 
said  playfully,  that  his  new  churches  along  the  coach  road,  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Annaduff,  were  as  numerous  as  the  milestones. 

It  was  Father  George  who  built  the  fine  church  of  Ballinagar; 
and  an  incident,  that  occurred  soon  after  the  foundation  was 
laid,  throws  so  much  light  on  bis  character,  that  it  would  be  a 
pity  to  omit  it. 

The  parishioners  were  frightened  at  the  magnitude  of  the 


326  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


undertaking,  and  tried  to  get  him  to  put  up  one  of  the  old- 
fashioned,  barn-like  chapels,  common  in  the  country,  instead  of 
the  Gothic  structure  he  designed.  Even  after  the  foundation 
was  laid,  and  the  work  was  in  progress,  they  did  what  they 
could  to  make  him  desist,  so  that  a  large  deputation,  led  on  by 
two  intermeddling,  worthless,  busybodies,  who  were  at  the 
bottom  of  all  the  mischief,  waited  on  him,  while  superintending 
the  work,  as  was  his  wont,  to  remonstrate  with  him  on  the  under- 
taking. Having  reasoned  quietly  with  these  people,  and  having 
failed  to  make  any  impression  on  them,  owing  chiefly  to  the 
clap-trap  of  the  two  leaders  referred  to,  Father  George  stepped 
over  to  the  pair  and,  putting  one  of  them  under  each  arm, 
dropped  both  into  a  little  river  that  flowed  hard  by.  The  crowd 
enjoyed  the  proceeding,  and  the  two  spouters  were  so  sobered  by 
their  ducking,  that  they  gave  no  further  trouble,  nor  did  any  one 
else. 

Father  George  died  in  1872,  and  is  buried  in  Ballinagar 
Church,  where  Canon  Cahill  has  erected  over  his  remains  a 
handsome  limestone  monument,  with  the  inscription  : — 

"  0  Lord  have  mercy  on  the  soul 

of  the  late 

Eev.  George  Gearty, 

who  erected  this  Church." 

After  Father  Gearty  came  Very  Kev.  Canon  Broder,  who  died 
in  1881,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  actual  pastor,  Yery  Rev. 
Canon  Cahill, 

As  to  the  succession  of  incumbents  of  the  late  Established 

Church,  it  is  said  that  more  than  one  Vicar  of  the  name  of  Dodd 

held  the  living  in  the  last  century, — and  in  or  about  the  year 

1799,  Rev.  Christopher  Robinson  became  Yicar  of  Killenumery 

and  Killerry. 

Mr.  Robinson  was  succeeded  in  1817  by  Rev.  Michael  Boland, 
whose  incumbency  lasted  for  near  half  a  century. 


HISTORY  OF  SLIGO.  327 


To  Mr.  Boland  succeeded,  in  1861,  Rev.  Edward  Lucas, 
who  died  in  1885,  and  is  buried  in  the  family  vault  at  Kille- 
numery.* 

After  Mr.  Lucas  came  in  succession  Reverend  Messrs.  Moore, 
Hamilton,  and  Rigg,  the  last  named  being  the  present  incum- 
bent. 

As  is  said  above,  it  was  Father  George  Gearty  that  built  the 
parish  church  of  Ballinagar.  Though  a  large  house,  it  was  too 
small  for  the  immense  congregation  that  flocked  to  it ;  and  to 
meet  the  requirements  of  the  case,  Canon  Cahill  has  erected  a 
fine  chapel  of  ease  up  the  mountain,  which,  along  with  putting 
a  stop  to  the  inconvenient  crowding  in  the  parish  church,  is 
«  great  accommodation  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  mountain  dis- 
trict, by  saving  them  the  long  journey  to  Ballinagar.  The 
zealous  Canon  has  also  erected  two  fine  parochial  houses,  one  at 
Ballinagar  and  the  other  at   Ballintogher, — Father  Hourican 


*  We  read  on  the  front  of  the  vault  this  inscription  : — 

The  Family  Vault  of 

OF 

The  Rev.  Edmund  A.  Lucas, 

54  years  a  minister  of  the  Gospel, 

And  22  years  Rector  of  this  Parish, 

Who  died  22nd  April,  1885, 

Aged  78  years. 

This  Vault  also  contains 

The  remains  of  his  daughter, 

Frances  Lucas, 

Who  died  5th  January,  1864, 

Aged  9  years. 

And  of  his  sons, 

Edmund  A.  Lucas,  M.D., 

Royal  Navy, 
Who  died  20th  July,  1863, 

Aged  34  years  ; 
And  Thomas  H.  Lucas, 
Who  died  30th  August,  1885, 
Aged  42  years. 


328  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 

giving  him  very  effective  co-operation  in  the  erection  of  the 
latter. 

Father  T.  Boylan,  the  actual  CO.,  Ballintogher,  has  greatly 
improved  the  Curate's  residence. 

The  Protestant  church  of  Killenumery  was  built  in  1818, 
and,  according  to  Sergeant  Shoe's  book  on  the  Irish  Church,  the 
ascertained  cost  of  the  building  in  1848  was  £923,  and  the 
number  of  persons  for  whom  accommodation  was  provided  is 
200.  The  ascertained  cost  in  1836  of  glebe  house,  erected  in 
1812,  was  £738.  The  Sergeant  was  unable  to  give  any  infor- 
mation as  to  the  cost  of  the  Killerry  or  Ballintogher  Protestant 
church — which  provides  accommodation  for  90  persons. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

PARISH   OF   BALLYSADARE. 

Few  spots  in  the  county  have  so  varied  and  interesting  a  history 
as  Ballysadare.  While  the  place  comes  early  into  notice,  it 
has  since  continued  to  be  the  scene  of  considerable  civil,  ecclesi- 
astical, commercial,  and  social  events,  having  generally  more 
than  an  average  share  in  the  vicissitudes  through  which  the 
country  has  passed;  but  as  the  different  phases  of  its  course 
have  been  described  elsewhere*  in  detail,  it  is  not  necessary,  nor 
in  keeping  with  the  scope  of  this  narrative,  to  go  over  them 
again.  It  will  then  be  enough  for  the  present  to  supplement 
a  little  the  information  already  given. 

The  present  parish  of  Ballysadare  comprehends  two  old 
parishes — the  parish  of  Enagh  and  that  of  Ballysadare  proper. 
The  district  of  Enagh  lies  in  Tirerrill,  and  belonged  at  one 
time,  like  nearly  all  the  rest  of  that  barony,  to  the  diocese  of 
Elphin. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  events  that  have  occurred  in 
Ballysadare  was  the  great  meeting  which  took  place  in  the  year 
585,  and  which  was  attended  by  many  of  the  "  saints  of  Ireland," 
who  had  come  from  all  parts  of  the  country  to  pay  their  duty  to 
ColumbkilJe,  as  he  was  returning  from  the  famous  convention 
of  Drumceat.  In  narrating  this  occurrence  in  the  History  of 
Ballysadare  and  Kilvarnet  the  names  of  the  saints  present  on 
the  occasion  were  not  given ;  and  as  a  reviewer,  who  has  a 
right  to  speak  with  authority,  noticed  and  regretted  the  omis- 
sion, it  is  supplied  here,  as  likely  to  prove  of  interest  to  many 
readers. 

*  History  of  Ballysadare  and  Kilvarnet,  pp.  1-44. 


330  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


The  names,  as  they  are  given  in  Colgan,  are,  "  Saint  Moninnia, 
of  Mount  Culin,  or  Slieve  Culin;  two  sons  of  Conall,  of  Killchora 
Manias,  bishop  of  Tirerrill ;  Muredach,  of  Killala,  in  Tirawley 
Renins,  bishop  of  Kilronius  ;  Caimin,  of  Inisceltra ;  Regulus,  of 
Mucinis,  in  the  country  of  the  Dalgeis  ;  Senanus  of  Iniscathy 
Senanus,  of  Larabrine,  near  Maynooth  ;   Erninus,  of  Cluain- 
reilgeach,  in   Meath ;   the  seven  bishops  of  Cluain  Hemain 
Libana  and  Fortchern,  of  Odhba  Keara,  in  Partry  ;  Grellan,  of 
Creeve,  to  the  eastern  side  of  Moylurg ;  Skyria,  of  Kil-Skyria 
Corcaria  Keann  and  Corcaria  Caoin,  two  daughters  of  Eoghan 
and   a    daughter   of  Cathald    of  Kill-Comlach,    of  Moylurg 
Loman,  of  Lough  Gill,  between  Carbury  and  Breffny ;  Mifrisius 
son  of  Fachtna,  of  Sligeach ;  Inella,  a  devout  virgin ;  Osnata 
of  Glendallan,  in  Carbury,  and  Geghia,  of  Inis  Geghe  ;  Derbilia 
of  Irrus  ;  the  seven  nuns  of  Tireragh  Aidne  ;  Mugania,  of  Rath 
Aradh  and  Brochlacha,  in  Carbury." 

This  is  not  the  place  or  time  to  attempt  the  identification  of 
these  holy  persons.  The  curious  in  the  matter  may  consult 
Colgan  (Vita  S.  Farannani)  and  Father  O'Hanlon  (Life  of  Saint 
Farannan,  February  15),  who  have  undertaken  the  task. 

There  have  been  oatmeal  mills  at  Ballysadare  from  time 
immemorial.  It  is  pretty  certain  that  St.  Fechin  had  a  water 
mill  here  long  before  he  constructed  the  famous  one  at  Fore,  of 
which  Giraldus  Cambrensis,  Colgan,  and  all  the  saint's  bio- 
graphers make  special  mention.  In  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries,  and  the  earlier  years  of  the  nineteenth, 
many  Ballysadare  people  made  a  living  by  making  and  selling 
meal,  and  a  very  good  living  they  made  of  it.  About  the  year 
1816  Mr.  McDonald  came  from  Dublin,  where  he  had  been  in 
business,  to  Ballysadare,  put  up  a  bleach  mill,  and  worked  it 
vigorously  till  he  died,  in  the  year  1832,  of  the  cholera,  which 
raged,  that  year,  with  exceptional  violence  in  the^little  town,* 
where,  no  doubt,  he  contracted  the  disease,  though  he  died, 
while  flying  from  it,  in  Ballinamore,  county  Leitrim. 

*  History  of  Ballysadare  and  Kilvarnet,  p.  37. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  331 


It  was  in  the  year  1833  Mr.  Robert  Culbertson  erected,  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  river,  the  great  oatmeal  mill  which  threw 
everything  that  preceded  it  into  the  shade,  and  is  still  at  work, 
though  on  a  greatly  reduced  scale.  Later  he  put  up,  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  river,  the  famous  flour  mill  which,  though  now 
wholly  idle,  supplied  for  several  years  after  its  erection  all  the 
shopkeepers  and  bakers  of  the  county,  as  well  as  many  in  the 
counties  of  Mayo,  Roscommon,  and  Leitrim.  Unfortunately  a 
fearful  and  fatal  explosion  occurred  here  in  1856  which  shot 
away  the  roof  of  the  structure,  destroyed  vast  stores  of  flour  and 
wheat,  injured  much  of  the  machinery,  maimed  several  of  the 
workmen,  and  either  killed  on  the  spot,  or  inflicted  a  lingering 
death,  on  nine  others. 

One  of  the  most  deplorable  results  of  the  calamity  was  that 
the  shock  of  the  occurrence  ruined  the  health  of  Mr.  Culbertson; 
for  though  he  lived  for  some  time  after,  it  was  noticed  that  he 
was  constantly  sinking,  so  that  when  he  died,  everyone  laid  his 
death  on  the  disastrous  explosion.  And  it  is  due  to  the  memory 
of  this  large-hearted  and  tender-hearted  man  to  state  that  those 
who  knew  him  well,  the  writer  of  these  lines  among  the  number, 
were  aware  that  it  was  not  so  much  his  own  losses  and  troubles 
that  preyed  upon  his  mind  and  ruined  his  health,  as  the  loss  of 
life  or  limb,  that  had  befallen  so  many  of  his  neighbours. 

The  Messrs.  Middleton  and  PoUexfen,  who  succeeded  Mr. 
Culbertson  in  Ballysadare,  worked  these  extensive  concerns 
energetically  and  successfully  for  many  years ;  and  while  the 
great  wheels  of  their  mills  were  at  work,  the  wheel  of  fortune,  as 
if  it  were  part  of  the  machinery,  moved  prosperously  for  Bally- 
sadare and  the  neighbourhood.  Owing  to  the  great  contraction, 
almost  the  stoppage,  of  the  business  in  recent  years,  there  are 
scarce  half  a  dozen  men  employed  where  there  were  formerly 
sometimes  five  or  six  score;  and  as  the  yards  of  Mr.  Joseph 
Clarence  and  Mr.  James  M'Donogh,  the  well  known  builders, 
are  proportionally  slack  in  work,  the  village  of  Ballysadare  has 
become  deserted,  most  of  its  tradesmen  and  labourers  having 
gone  to  America  or  across  the  Channel. 


332 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


Though  Ballysadare,  considering  its  situation  and  the  fine 
rapid  river  that  flows  through  it,  should  be  a  healthy  spot,  it 
has  suffered  more  than  most  other  places  from  epidemic  disease. 
No  place,  large  or  small,  in  the  kingdom  lost  more  of  its 
inhabitants,  in  proportion  to  population,  by  the  cholera  visitation 
of  1832.  The  mortality  was  so  frightful,  that  the  living  hardly 
sufficed  to  bury  the  dead ;  but  to  the  honour  of  the  place  it 
must  be  mentioned,  that,  even  then,  volunteers  were  not  wanting 
for  this  dangerous  and  repulsive  office ;  and,  to  say  nothing  here 


OLD   CHURCH   OF  BALLYSADARE.' 


of  others,  it  is  due  to  William  McDonald,  still  living,  and  after 
all  his  risks,  enjoying  good  health  in  his  94th  year,  to  state,  as 
an  instance  of  his  heroism,  that  on  one  day  he  buried  eight 
cholera  corpses  with  his  own  hands,  and  rose  from  his  bed  at 
night  to  bury  the  ninth,  which  was  laid  at  his  door  by  persons 
who  were  themselves  panic  stricken,  in  expectation  of  this 
courageous  service  at  his  hands. 

Fever,  too,  has  been  always  exceptionally  fatal  at  Ballysadare, 

*  Brawn  on  the  wood  by  W.  F.  Wakeman,  F.R.H.A.,A.I.,  from  a  Photo- 
graph. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


83S 


as  well  as  the  cholera.  On  a  couple  of  occasions,  within  recent 
years,  when  it  showed  itself  as  an  epidemic  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, it  struck  down  more  victims  in  the  village,  than  in  any 
other  place  of  equal  population.  Various  theories  have  been 
started  to  account  for  the  insalubrity,  the  most  probable  being, 
that  Jt  comes  from  the  pestiferous  exhalations  which  the 
overcrowded  and  festering  graveyard  sends  into  the  little  town. 
The  graveyard  is  now  being  enlarged  and  re-arranged,  and  it  is 
hoped  that  the  change  will  have  a  most  beneficial  effect  on  the 
health  of  Ballysadare. 


TOWER  OF  ABBEY  OF  BALLYSADARE. 

Tourists  would  find  it  worth  their  while  to  give  part  of  a 
day  to  this  historic  spot,  with  its  far  famed  mills — corn  mills, 
flour  mills,  shood  mills ;  its  silver  and  lead  mine ;  its  interesting 
churches — one  a  thirteenth  or  fourteenth  century  abbey  church, 
and  another,  which  was  first  a  monastic  church,  and  next  a 
parish  church,  and  which  is  still  the  solidest  piece  of  old 
masonry  in  the  county,  though  most  of  it  a  ninth  or  tenth  century 
work — its  wonderful  water  power,  abundant  enough  to  work 


834  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 

all  the  macliinery  in  Ireland ;  its  singularly  picturesque  sur- 
roundings, which  have  elicited  the  warm  admiration  of  all 
visitors  of  taste,  including  Arthur  Young  and  Lady  Morgan  • 
its  noble  cataract,  which  the  Down  Survey  marks  as  "  A  Great 
Fall ;  "  and  the  incomparable  rapid,  of  a  thousand  yards  or  so, 
which  leads  to  the  fall,  and  which  Mr.  Frazer,  in  his  Handbook 
of  Ireland,  styles  '*  decidedly  the  finest  rapid  in  the  kingdom." 
Page  445. 


BALLYSADARE  RIVER  AND  MILLS. 


The  writer  should,  perhaps,  apologise  for  reproducing  here 
his  own  imperfect  description  of  this,  the  most  beautiful  scenic 
feature  of  Ballysadare  : — "  After  all,  the  gem  of  the  collection  of 
objects  before  you,  is  the  Owenmore  from  the  bridge  to  the  bay. 
You  have  not  here,  to  be  sure,  the  volume  of  water  which  the 
Shannon  rolls  from  Athlone  to  the  sea,  nor  the  wooded  banks 
that  impart  such  ornament  to  the  Black  water,  between  Cappo- 
quin  and  Youghal ;  but,  notwithstanding  those  advantages  in 


*  Drawn  on  the  wood  by  W.  F.  Wakeman,  Esq.,  F.R.H.A.jA.L,  from  a 
Photograph  by  Mr.  Slater. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  835 


their  favour,  you  will  look  in  vain  to  either  of  these  rivers 
for  as  many  beauties,  in  the  same  length,  as  this  part  of  the 
Owenmore  discloses.  A  score  of  cascades,  rising  in  nearly 
measured  gradation  to  the  topmost ;  the  diversified  movements 
of  the  waters,  now  floating  smoothly  on  the  horizontal  plane 
of  some  spacious  ledge,  and  anon,  whirling  playfully  in  the 
numerous  eddies  of  the  current;  here  rushing  noisily  and 
precipitately  through  gaps  in  the  rocks,  and  there  falling  softly 
over  sloping  and  smoothened  laminae,  like  a  covering  of  lace  ; 
the  ascending  vapour  glittering  in  the  sun,  and  reflecting  all 
the  tints  of  the  rainbow  ;  the  thousand  sounds,  proceeding  from 
the  varied  action  of  the  waters,  combining  with  the  great  bass 
of  the  waterfall,  and  making  a  natural  symphony ;  all  those 
sights  and  sounds  together  form  a  picture  and  a  scene  which 
are  eminently  "  a  thing  of  beauty  "  and  "  a  joy  for  ever." 

The  mention  of  the  rapid  reminds  one  of  a  singular  and 
thrilling  occurrence  which  happened  in  it  four  or  five  years 
ago.  Joseph  McDonogh,  a  fine  child,  three  years  old,  standing 
by  himself  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  not  far  from  the  bridge, 
dropped  into  the  current  unseen  by  any  one,  and  having  been 
swept  along  under  the  water  for  several  hundred  yards — 
through  the  gaps,  over  the  ledges,  round  the  eddies,  down  the 
cascades — was  already  nearing  closely  the  "  Great  Fall,"  when 
somebody  observing,  from  the  road,  the  bulky  object  rolling 
along,  and  not  knowing  what  to  make  of  it,  waded  courageously 
through  the  surging  waters,  and  found  what  he  thought,  at  the 
moment,  to  be  the  lifeless  body  of  a  child.  Carrying  it  to  the 
bank,  efforts  were  made  to  restore  animation,  though  all  present 
deemed  the  endeavour  utterly  hopeless  ;  but  after  a  time,  signs 
of  life  showed  themselves,  which  were  soon  followed  by  con- 
sciousness, and  ultimately,  by  a  perfect  recovery,  leaving  the 
fine  boy  nothing  the  worse,  either  in  mind  or  body,  for  the 
frightful  ordeal  he  had  passed  through.  Being  gifted  with  no 
common  share  of  wit  and  humour,  he  often  entertains  his 
juvenile  companions  with  his  experiences  and  enjoyments  while 
among  the  fishes. 


S86  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


The  Ballysadare  Salmon  Fishery  continues  to  thrive  under 
the  intelligent  and  energetic  management  of  Mr.  Scott  and  his 
son.  The  Messrs.  Scott  have  been  now  about  nine  years  in 
charge,  and  during  all  that  time  there  has  been  no  accident,  or 
hitch,  or  trouble  of  any  kind  in  connexion  with  the  concern — a 
state  of  things,  in  times  like  the  present,  very  creditable  to  the 
managers  themselves,  to  the  men  working  under  them,  and  to 
the  neighbourhood.  And  it  appears  from  the  following  list  of 
the  fish  taken  since  1880,  that  the  Fishery  is  becoming  more 
productive  with  time,  a  greater  number  being  captured  in  1888 
than  in  any  year,  with  one  exception,  of  the  last  nine : — 


Year. 

Number  of  Salmon  taken. 

1880 

6,568 

1881 

6,296 

1882 

3,597 

1883 

9,212 

1884 

4,272 

1885 

7,665 

1886 

6,674 

1887 

7,400 

1888 

8,223 

The  draw-back  on  the  value  of  this  fishery  is,  that  it  is  so 
late,  for  while  they  take  salmon  in  Sligo  river  in  January  and 
February,  when  prices  are  high,  there  is  little  or  nothing 
captured  at  Ballysadare  before  the  close  of  April  or  the  be- 
ginning of  May.  To  remedy  this  defect  efforts  are  being  made, 
which  must  prove  successful  in  the  long  run,  unless  there  are 
insuperable  natural  obstacles  in  the  way. 

The  largest  salmon  taken  in  the  nine  years  quoted,  weighed 
twenty-seven  and  a  quarter  lbs,  and  the  greatest  number  at  a 
single  draught  was  497. 

In  the  History  of  Ballysadare  and  Kilvarnet  (p.  278),  some 
conjectures  were  offered  respecting  the  origin  of  the  old  church 
of  Kildalough,  in  the  townland  of  Streamstown,  near  Ballysadare. 
It  was  there  stated  that  an  old  man  of  the  place  said,  he  had 
heard  it  called  Kil-edspuig-O'Daly ;  but  after  examining  the 
subject,  it  would  appear  that  this  name  must  be  an  error  for 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


337 


Kil-easpuig-Rodain,  a   church  which  has  been  hitherto   un- 
identified.    The  grounds  of  this  opinion  are : — 

First. — Kil-easpuig  Rodain  is  said,  in  O'Clery's  Calendar,  to 
be  in  Muirisc,  which  is  the  sea-shore  of  Tireragh,  stretching 
northward  to  Sligo,  thus  containing  Killaspughrone  old  church. 
In  this  stretch  stands  the  ruin  of  Kildalough,  which,  consequently, 
is  in  the  district  known  anciently  as  Muirisc. 


KILDALOUGH.* 

I  Second. — The  country  people  always  refer  the  origin  of  the 
two  churches  of  Kildalough  and  Killaspughrone  to  the  same 
early  period — an  opinion  they  express  by  saying  that  Kilda- 
lough and  Killaspugbrone  are  the  two  churches  first  prayed  for 
in  Rome. 

Third. — It  is  not  hard  to  understand  how  Kil-easpuig-Rodain 
came  to  be  called  Kil-easpuig-0'Daly. 

Slurring  over  the  R  in  Rodain,  the  name  would  sound 
Kil-easpuig-Odain,  which  countrymen,  knowing  nothing  of  the 


*  Drawn  on  the  wood  by  Mr.  Wakeman,  from  a  Photograph. 
VOL.  II.  Y 


338  HISTORY   OF    SLIGO. 


name  Rodain,  and  familiar  with  that  of  O'Daly,  would  soon 
confound  with  Kil-easpuig-0'Daly.  To  say  nothing  here  of 
other  arguments,  the  above  reasons  seem  to  prove  that 
Kildalough  is  the  long  forgotten  church,  Kil-easpuig-Rodain,  of 
which  Bishop  Rodain,  St.  Patrick's  armentarius,  or  herd,  is  the 
Patron. 

Poor  old  Ballydrehid — rede,  Beul-an-droiched,  the  mouth 
of  the  bridge — must  not  be  passed  over  without  a  word  or  two 
of  notice,  though  it  has  lost  much  of  what  made  it  interesting 
and  important  in  the  olden  time.  In  the  past  it  was  a  place  of 
great  strength  from  a  military  point  of  view,  and  contained  a 
castle  to  guard  the  passage  of  the  river  which  flows  through  it 
to  Ballysadare  bay.  This  fortress,  environed  by  woods,  by  natural 
escarpments,  and  by  an  impassable  morass,  was  deemed  im- 
pregnable, so  that  the  O'Connors  Sligo  retired  occasionally  to  it 
as  a  place  of  greater  security  than  the  castle  of  Sligo. 

Ballydrehid  was  the  scene  of  many  battles — some  of  as  san- 
guinary a  character  as  any  that  have  taken  place  in  the  county. 
One  of  them  was  fought  in  the  seventh  century,  and  gave  the 
place  the  name  of  Drehid  Martra — the  bridge  of  slaughter — an 
appellation  by  which  it  is  often  spoken  of  in  old  writings  ;  and 
several  formidable  engagements  took  place  here  between  the 
O'Connors  Sligo  and  the  O'Donnells,  of  one  of  which  the  Four 
Masters  say  at  the  year  1495  : — ''  The  Connacian  army  left 
great  spoils  of  horses,  arms,  and  armour  to  the  Kinel-Connell 
on  that  occasion  ;  and  from  the  time  that  Hugh  Eoe,  the  son  of 
Nial  Garv,  had  gained  the  battle  of  Ceideach-droighneach 
over  the  Connacians,  where  many  of  them  were  slain,  the 
Kinel-Connell  had  not  given  a  defeat  to  the  Connacians,  which 
redounded  more  to  their  triumph,  or  by  which  they  obtained 
more  spoils,  than  this  defeat  of  Bal-an-droichet."  The  Four 
Masters  give  the  names  of  several  Sligo  chiefs  that  fell  on  this 
occasion. 

Since  that  time  Ballydrehid  has  undergone  changes  which 
have  taken  from  it  its  formidable  character.  The  castle  is 
gone,  and  has  not  left  a  stone  behind,  though  its  site  is  still 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  339 


known  by  the  name  of  the  Castle-field ;  the  woods  have  dis- 
appeared root  and  branch ;  and  it  is  pleasant  to  be  able  to 
report  that  the  "impassable  morass"  of  the  Curragh  is  now 
traversed  from  end  to  end  by  one  of  the  finest  roads  in  the 
province. 

And  another  improvement,  which  time  has  brought  with  it, 
is  the  two  railway  bridges — one  of  stone,  and  of  colossal  dimen- 
sions, crossing  the  high-road  to  Sligo ;  and  the  other  of  iron, 
spanning  the  Ballydrehid  stream  at  a  height  of  some  fifty  feet 
above  the  archaic  stone  bridge,  which  gave  the  place  its  name, 
and  which  still  remains  in  situ,  being  probably  the  oldest 
bridge  in  the  province. 

The  great  blot  on  the  village  is  found  in  some  of  its  houses, 
if  one  can  dignify  with  that  name  the  hovels  which  strike  the 
eye  of  the  traveller  by  rail,  and  which  are  perhaps  the  sorriest 
makeshifts  for  human  habitations  that  he  will  meet  with  on  the 
whole  length  of  the  railway  from  Sligo  to  Dublin.  These  cabins 
are  a  relic  of  the  middleman  system  of  rural  economy,  in  which 
the  landlord  used  to  let  a  tract  of  his  estate  to  some  favourite, 
who  sublet  it  to  occupying  tenants,  and  w^ho  had  only  one 
thought  in  connexion  with  the  transaction,  that  is,  to  extract 
from  the  land,  and  the  serfs  that  laboured  it,  all  the  profit  he 
could,  while  his  tenure  lasted.  Such  was  the  condition  of 
Ball3?drehid  for  near  a  century,  but  now  that  the  property  has 
come  again  into  the  hands  of  the  landlord,  the  tumble-down 
shanties  must  disappear.  Remove  this  eyesore,  and  the  great 
natural  advantages  of  the  place  will  show  themselves.  With 
its  cincture  of  pleasant  little  hills,  with  the  sea  waves  breaking 
under  its  doorsteps  and  sweetening  the  air  with  their  ozone, 
and  with  the  finest  views  of  Ballysadare  bay  and  of  the  charm- 
ing hill  of  Knocknarea  always  under  the  eye,  Ballydrehid  would 
compare  favourably  with  many  other  districts  of  the  county, 
both  for  salubriousness  and  for  beauty. 

The  pretty  village  of  Collooney,  as  Mr.  Inglis  calls  it, 
takes  the  form  of  a  crescent,  as  it  runs  along  the  crest  and 
down  the  slopes  of  the  hill  on  which  it  stands,  the  Church  of 


340 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


the  Assumption  being  the  point  of  one  horn  of  the  crescent, 
and  the  Protestant  Church  that  of  the  other.  While  forming 
itself  an  interesting  feature  in  the  landscape,  it  is  surrounded 
on  all  sides  by  first-class  scenery — mountains  and  hills,  wood 
and  water,  rich  tillage  fields,  the  greenest  of  pasture  lands,  and 
the  finest  portions  of  the  Owenmore,  the  most  beautiful  river  of 
the  county. 

The  village  has  been  much  improved   of  late  years.     The 
street  leading  from  the  bridge  has  been  opened  up ;  the  market 


VILLAGE  AND   EAPIDS   OF   COLLOONEY. 


house  has  been  restored  ;  a  fine  police  barrack  has  been  built ; 
and  a  number  of  solid  slated  houses  have  been  substituted  in 
the  room  of  shaky  thatched  structures. 

The  superior  salubrity  of  the  place  is  admitted  by  first-rate 
judges,  including  some  of  the  most  skilful  doctors  that  have 
ever  lived  in  the  county.  Even  without  such  authority,  this 
healthfulness  would  appear  from  the  natural  conditions  of  the 
spot — a  high  situation,  a  limestone  subsoil,  the  absence  of  bogs 
and  marshes,  and  the  lively,  rapid  river  constantly  freshening 
and  purifying  the   atmosphere.     And  experience    proves   the 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


341 


efficaciousQess]^of  these  conditions ;  for  contagious  disease  can- 
not effect  a  lodgment  in  Collooney;  and  though  cholera  and 
typhus  have  more  than  once  ravaged  the  neighbourhood  on  all 
sides,  this  clean  and  airy  village  has  never  been  infected. 

The  history  of  Collooney  is  more  than  ordinarily  interesting. 
It  is  the  spot  of  Lower  Connaught  in  which  a  stone  and  mortar 


COLLOONEY   WATERFALL.' 


castle  was  first  built ;  for  the  erection,  according  to  the  Four 
Masters,  took  place  in  1225,  more  than  forty  years  before  the 
arrival  of  the  English,  who  generally  get  the  credit  of  being  the 
first  to  put  up  those  strong  places  in  Ireland. 

As  might  be  expected  from  the  position  of  Collooney,  lying  in 
the  pass  between  Connaught  and  the  North,  it  has  been  the  scene 


*  Drawn  on  the  wood  by  W.  F.  Wakeman,  F.R.H.A.,  A.I.,  from  a  Photograph 
by  Mr.  Slater. 


342 


HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


of  several  military  movements,  as  well  before  as  since  the  English 
invasion — in  1291  when  a  sanguinary  engagement  took  place 
between  Manns  O'Conor,  King  of  Connaught,  and  his  rival, 
Cathal  O'Conor;  in  1584  when  Sir  Richard  Bingham  attacked 
2,000  Scotch  mercenaries  with  their  Irish  adherents ;  in  1599 
when  Sir  Conyers  Clifford  lay  in  wait  for  the  people  of  Red 


CHURCH   OF   THE   ASSUMPTION. 


Hugh  O'Donnell ;  in  1691  when  troops  from  the  garrison  of 
Sligo,  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Edward  Scott,  put  to  the 
sword  Sir  Albert  Conyngham  with  his  famous  dragoons ;  and 
in  1798  when  Colonel  Vereker  encountered  the  French  with 
a  spirit  and  courage  that  gained  him  a  peerage,  though  not  the 
victory. — See  History  of  Bally sadare  and  Kilvarnet 

The   MacDonoghs  settled   at   Collooney   in   the   fourteenth 
century,  and  the  place  was  held  by  them  down  to  1643,  when 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  343 


Brian  M'Donogh,  its  last  owner,  was  slain  at  Manorhamilton. 
From  the  MacDonoghs  it  passed  to  the  Cootes ;  and  Richard, 
the  second  son  of  old  Sir  Charles,  took  his  title  from  it  when 
raised  to  the  peerage  at  the  Restoration,  In  1727  the  Cootes 
sold  Collooney  with  various  other  lands  in  the  county  to  Joshua 
Cooper  for  £16,945,  5s.  6d.,  and  it  has  remained  since  in  the 
possession  of  the  Markrea  family. 

Having  traced  a  detailed  account  of  Collooney  in  the  History 
of  Ballysadare  and  Kilvarnet,  a  few  additional  observations  must 
suffice  here.  The  Church  of  the  Assumption  is  the  finest  parish 
church  in  the  province  of  Connaught.  The  spire  is  admitted 
on  all  hands  to  be  second  to  no  spire  in  the  kingdom  for  beauty 
of  proportion  and  effectiveness.  The  great  object  of  this  crown- 
ing feature  of  a  church  is  to  raise  the  thoughts  to  heaven  ;  and 
this  the  Collooney  spire  accomplishes  as  effectually  as  if  it  were 
an  animated  and  intelligent  preacher.  Uolike,  on  the  one  side, 
those  tower  finials  which  drop  down  upon  the  tower  like  extin- 
guishers, and  smother  the  flame  they  ought  to  nourish  ;  and 
unlike,  on  the  other  side,  those  nondescript,  pyramidal  excres- 
cences which,  without  either  grace  of  form  or  significance  of 
symbol,  resemble  nothing  in  nature  or  art  so  much  as  an  inverted 
teetotum,  the  spire  of  the  Church  of  the  Assumption,  shooting 
up  like  a  thing  of  life  to  the  skies,  acts  on  the  spirit  as  a  magnet 
acts  on  matter,  and,  by  a  sweet  attraction,  draws  the  mind  with 
it  in  its  heavenward  direction. 

In  the  remaining  external  features,  the  church,  which  is  of 
the  early  English  style,  is  of  a  piece  in  all  its  parts  with  the  spire  ; 
while  the  interior  of  the  building,  with  its  lofty  vaulted  roof,  its 
artistic  groins,  its  symmetrical  arches,  its  light,  graceful  columns, 
its  rich  high  and  side  altars,  its  admirably  designed  pulpit, 
its  beautiful  stations  and  paintings,  are  in  perfect  keeping  with 
the  exterior  in  all  the  attributes  that  become  the  House  of  God. 
The  result  of  all  this  is  singularly  impressive ;  and  the  effect  is 
the  more  admirable  as  it  is  brought  about  by  the  juxtaposition 
and  harmony  of  parts,  and  not,  as  sometimes  happens,  by  tinsel 


844 


HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


decorations  more  suited  to  a  theatre  or  a  drinking  saloon  than  to 
the  House  of  God. 

The  Collooney  Catholic  churches,  which  preceded  in  the  order 
of  time  the  Church  of  the  Assumption,  were,  first,  the  church  of 
Shrah  Padruig,  or  Patrick's  Pasture,  which,  after  being  long 
forgotten,  the  writer  identified  in  the  History  of  Ballysadare  and 


OLD   CHURCH   OF   COLLOONEY.' 


Kilvarnet  (pp.  93-97)  ;  second,  the  church  of  Cloonmucduff,  near 
the  old  castle,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Uncion  and  Owenmore; 
and,  third,  the  church  in  the  burying-place  at  Mr.  Sim's,  which, 
in  pre-Reformation  times,  served  as  a  chapel  of  ease  to  the  parish 
church  of  Ballysadare,  and  which,  after  the  E-eformation,  the 
Protestants  of  the  village  and  neighbourhood  made  use  of  for 
their  place  of  worship. 


Drawn  on  the  wood  by  Mr.  Wakeman,  from  a  sketch  by  Mrs.  Moore. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


345 


The  Protestant  church  of  St.  Paul's  was  built  in  1720,  and 
was  a  plain  oblong  structure,  with  a  tower  to  the  west  end,  till 
it  was  committed  for  restoration  in  1837  to  Sir  John  Benson, 
who  added  transepts,  re-roofed  the  building,  and  furnished  the 
interior  with  a  tastefully  designed  groined  ceiling.  Saint  Paul's 
contains  a  beautiful  group  of  statuary,  executed  by  Gibson,  as  a 


PEOTESTANT   CHURCH  OF   COLLOONEY.* 

memorial  for  the  late  Mr.  Cooper's  first  wife;  as  also  a  fine 
stained  glass  window,  erected  by  the  Misses  Cooper  in  honour 
and  memory  of  their  worthy  parents,  who  are  themselves  buried 
in  the  cemetery  of  the^  little  Protestant  church  at  Bally- 
sadare. 

The  Methodist  chapel  or  meeting-house,  which  is  a  substantial 
structure  forty-six  feet  long  aad  twenty-six  wide,  was  built  in 


*  Drawn  by  Mr.  Wakeman,  from  a  Photograph  by  Mr.  Slater. 


846  HISTORY   OF    SLIGO. 

1861,  on  a  site  purchased  in  1858,  from  the  State,  by  the  late 
Alderman  Williams  of  Sligo,  for  his  co-religionists. 

Within  the  last  few  years  a  small  religious  body,  called  The 
Plymouth  Brethren,  or,  sometimes,  simply,  The  Brethren,  has 
arisen  in  CoUooney,  and  the  members  have  their  meeting  or 
service  in  a  private  house  at  Rathrippon,  near  CoUooney. 

Under  the  Cromwellian  regime  there  was  hardly  a  single  Cath- 
olic in  CoUooney,  judging  by  the  names  of  the  inhabitants  which 
have  come  down  to  us ;  and  as  prelacy  was  about  as  great  an 
abomination  as  popery  to  the  authorities  of  the  period,  Episcopal 
Protestants  were  probably  as  few  in  the  neighbourhood  as 
Catholics.  The  Independents  appear  to  have  had  the  district 
entirely  to  themselves;  and  the  supreme  Council  of  the  Com- 
monwealth took  so  special  an  interest  in  CoUooney,  that  we  find 
it  doing  for  the  little  town  what  it  did  for  few  other  places  in 
Ireland,  that  is,  appointing  to  it  a  minister,  and  endowing  him 
very  liberally.  The  following  is  the  Order  in  Council,  as  it  was 
discovered  by  the  v^^riter  in  the  Eecord  Office,  Dublin,  among 
the  manuscript  minutes  of  the  Council : — 

"  Upon  reading  the  petition  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  parish 
of  Cooloony,  in  the  County  of  Sligo,  praying  that  Mr.  John 
Thomson  be  settled  minister  of  the  Gospel  to  exercise  his  gifts 
among  them  for  the  improvement  of  their  knowledge  in  the 
mysteries  of  salvation,  to  the  comfort  of  their  soules,  having 
already  had  sufficient  experience  of  his  abilities,  gifts,  and  fitness 
in  the  work  of  the  ministry,  as  also  of  his  pious  life  and  exem- 
plary conversation,  in  his  upright  walking  suitable  to  his  calling. 
And  upon  consideration  had  thereof,  and  of  the  report  of 
Doctor  Edward  Worth  and  Mr.  Stephen  Channock  thereupon, 
to  whom  amongst  others  it  was  referred,  whereby  it  appears 
that  the  said  Mr.  Thomson  is  very  well  fitted  for  the  work  of  the 
ministry,  and  may  prove  more  than  ordinary  serviceable  in  that 
work — it  is  therefore  ordered  that  the  said  Mr.  John  Thomson 
be  and  he  is  hereby  appointed  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  347 


parishioners  of  Cooloony,  and  for  his  pains  and  care  therein  to 
receive  the  yearly  sallary  of  one  hundred  pounds,  to  commence 
from  the  25th  of  March  last,  and  to  continue  until  further  order. 
Whereof  the  Clerk  of  the  Councill  is  to  take  notice,  and  to  insert 
his  name  in  the  civil  list  to  the  end  that  the  same  may  be  paid 
him  quarterly  in  course.  And  for  so  doing  this  shall  be  a  war- 
rant.    Dated  at  Dublin  Castle,  the  20th  May,  1656. 

**  Thomas  Herbert, 

"  Clerh  of  the  Councill'^ 

If  there  was  nothing  else  to  give  interest  and  importance  to 
Collooney,  its  magnificent  mills,  now  in  the  possession  of  Madam 
Iccardi  and  her  sister,  Mrs.  Sim,  would  alone  suffice  to  do  so.  It 
is  hardly  going  too  far  to  say  that  there  is  nothing  of  the  kind 
in  Europe  to  surpass  them  in  size,  solidity,  and  excellence  of 
machinery.  A  gentleman  of  great  ability  and  exceptional 
experience  in  mills  and  factories  of  various  kinds,  having  recently 
travelled  through  the  countries  of  the  Continent  and  examined 
their  industrial  and  manufacturing  establishments,  declared,  in 
passing  through  the  county  Sligo,  that  he  had  seen  nothing  in 
his  travels  which  came  up  to  the  noble  concerns  of  Collooney. 
The  first  of  these  structures  was  erected  about  1838,  by  the  late 
William  Kelly,  at  a  cost  of  £8000,  and  was  then  regarded  as 
the  largest  and  best  mill  in  Ireland ;  and  from  this  fact  people 
will  get  an  idea  of  the  imposing  character  of  the  Collooney  mills 
at  present,  when  the  mill  in  question  is  only  one  of  a  group  of 
equally  stately  structures.  So  perfect  and  extensive  is  this 
establishment  that  it  is  capable  of  grinding  as  much  meal  and 
flour  as  would  suffice  for  the  consumption  of  several  counties, 
and  so  spacious  that  it  might  serve,  if  need  were,  as  a  granary 
for  the  whole  province  of  Connaught. 

Recently  Madam  Iccardi  and  Mrs.  Sim  have  leased  the  left 
bank  of  the  river  from  Mr.  Madden,  and  have  erected  there  a 
woollen  factory,  which,  it  is  hoped,  will  prove  a  financial  success 
to  the  enterprising  owners,  and  a  centre  of  large  employment  to 


348 


HISTORY   OF   SLTGO. 


the  neighbourhood,  which  at  present  stands  much  in  need  of 
such  a  benefit.  The  concerns  on  both  sides  of  the  river  are 
under  the  management  of  Mr.  Alexander  Sim, — which  in  itself 
is  a  pledge  and  guarantee  of  success  ;  for  this  young  gentleman 
has  inherited  all  the  energy,  enterprise,  and  tact  of  his  able 
uncle,  and  possesses  in  addition  considerable  engineering  talents, 
which  make  him  quite  at  home  in  the  midst  of  machinery,  and 
have  enabled  him  already  to  introduce  ingenious  and  valuable 
mechanical  contrivances,  of  his  own  invention,  for  economizing 
manual  labour. 


MARKREA   CASTLE.* 


Markeea  demesne  may  be  set  down  as  the  finest  in  the 
county.     If  we  include  Clonamucduff,  the  Deerpark,  and  Union, 
it  must  be  three  or  four  times  as  large  as  any  of  the  others. 
The  demesne  proper,  which  is  all  rich  land  with  an  undulating 
surface,   is   well   sheltered   by   a   rim  of   high  ground    which 


*  Drawn  ou  the  wood  by  Mr.  Wakeman,  from  a  Photograph  by  Mr.  Slater. 


HISTOEY   OF   SLIGO.  349 


encircles  it,  and  well  watered  by  the  Uncion  river,  which  flows 
through  it,  and  contributes  not  a  little  to  its  appearance  and 
fertility. 

The  tract  is  well  timbered ;  a  deep  belt  of  trees  running  all 
round  it;  groves  and  clumps  scattered  through  it;  and  oaks, 
ashes,  beeches,  limes,  elms,  chestnuts,  sycamores,  and  some 
whitethorns  of  unusual  size  and  beauty,  dotting  it  here  and 
there,  more  especially  near  the  garden,  where  there  is  also  an 
arboretum  well  stocked  with  a  collection  of  rare  trees  and 
shrubs.  Colonel  Cooper  exhibits  great  taste  and  judgment  as 
well  as  energy  in  planting.  Within  the  last  three  years  his  forester 
has  been  planting  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
thousand  trees  a  year ;  and  in  the  ten  previous  years  or  so, 
he  put  down  a  million  and  a  half  in  his  various  estates. 

Markrea  castle  lends  as  much  ornament  to  the  demesne  as  it 
borrows  from  it.  It  is  the  oldest  inhabited  castle,  or,  indeed, 
residence  of  any  kind  in  the  county,  having  been  founded  by 
Cornet  Cooper,  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  so 
that  it  appears  as  a  castle  on  the  Down  Survey  maps.  While 
the  other  mansions  of  that  period  have  disappeared  altogether, 
or  are  a  mere  heap  of  ruins,  Markrea  castle,  after  undergoing  a 
dozen  additions,  restorations,  and  transformations,  is  to-day 
incomparably  more  stately  and  commodious  than  it  was  when  it 
first  came  from  the  builder's  hands. 

And  as  if  it  renewed  its  youth  like  the  eagle,  it  looks  fresher 
and  more  ornate  than  ever  it  did  before,  throwing  all  the  new 
houses  of  the  province  into  the  shade,  and  well  able  to  hold  its 
own  in  comparison  with  any  structure  in  the  other  provinces. 
Though  the  site  was  manifestly  selected  at  first  for  strategic 
reasons,  it  commands  some  good  prospects,  more  especially  on 
the  north  side,  where  the  views,  from  the  upper  windows,  of  the 
valley  of  the  Uncion,  of  Union  Rock,  of  Knocknarea  and  the 
more  distant  mountains  are  particularly  striking. 

The  occupants  of  the  castle,  the  Cooper  family,  like  the 
castle  itself,  give  one  the  idea  of  dignity  and  repose.  Except 
Joshua   Cooper,   who  incurred    much   odium    by   ordering    a 


550  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


Catholic  soldier  to  be  flogged  for  refusing  to  attend  Protestant 
service,  after  the  soldier  had  received  orders  to  do  so,  the  heads 
of  the  family  managed  generally  to  pass  through  life  without 
running  counter  to  popular  sentiments  or  ideas.  While  they 
were,  all  through.  Conservatives  in  politics,  they  exliibited  little 
or  no  aggressiveness  towards  those  who  held  different  views. 
Hardly  ever  extremists,  moderation  and  regard  for  the  feelings 
and  opinions  of  others,  seem  to  have  been  the  guiding  principle 
of  their  public  conduct ;  and  whoever  sets  himself  to  study  the 
sectarian  movements  of  the  earlier  years  of  the  present  century, 
and  the  later  years  of  the  preceding  one,  will  find  the  Coopers 
"  conspicuous  by  their  absence  "  from  such  movements. 

The  greatest  favourite  with  the  poor,  especially  tbe  poor 
Catholics  of  the  neighbourhood,  that  the  family  has  produced, 
was  Edward  Synge  Cooper,  the  grandfather  of  the  present 
owner  of  Markrea.  Without,  perhaps,  the  wealth  of  some  other 
members  of  the  family,  or  the  talents  of  his  own  distinguished 
son,  the  late  Edward  Joshua  Cooper,  he  touched  the  hearts  of 
the  people  more  than  any  other  man  of  the  county  that  bore 
the  name  of  Cooper,  or  indeed  any  other  name.  This  is  not  the 
less  true,  though  he  never  inspired  the  general  public  with  the 
interest  and  admiration  felt  for  Edward  Joshua,  of  whom  a 
short,  and,  it  is  hoped,  an  appreciative  memoir,  may  be  found 
in  the  History  of  Ballysadare  and  Kilvarnet  (pp.  167-180),  and 
of  whom  something  more  will  be  said  when  we  come  to  speak 
of  the  ''  worthies  "  that  the  county  has  produced. 

Several  other  members  of  the  Anglo  Irish  gentry  of  the 
county,  as  well  as  of  the  Cooper  family,  have  borne  themselves 
in  a  way  to  gain  the  goodwill  of  their  neighbours,  but  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  any  one  of  them  all  ever  secured  the  heart- 
felt love  and  confidence  of  the  people,  among  whom  he  lived,  to 
the  same  extent  as  the  gentleman  we  speak  of;  and  while 
others  may  have  owed  much  of  such  popularity  as  they  enjoyed 
to  winning  manners  and  soft  words,  it  was  not  Mr.  Edward 
Synge  Cooper's  manners  or  words,  but  his  solid  benevolent  acts 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  351 


that  drew  all  hearts  to  him.     His  predominant  passion  was  to 
do  good  to  all  luithout  distinction  of  sect  or  iiarty. 

Under  the   impulse  of  this   noble  feeling,   he  set  his  face 
against  those  sectarian  societies,  whether  secret  or  open,  which 
more,  perhaps,    than  anything   else,  have  served   to  estrange 
Irishmen  from  one  another ;  and  while  others  of  his  class  often 
use  two  weights  and  two  measures  in  their  conduct,  censuring 
such  societies,  if  formed  by  those  who  differ  from  themselves, 
but  excusing  and  patronising  them  if  organised  by  their  friends, 
this  honest  man  condemned  all  secret  confederacies  alike,  and 
held  in  the  same  abhorrence  the  Orangeman  and  the  Ribbon- 
man.     In  small  things,  as  well  as  in  great,  his  benevolence 
showed  itself — in  the  sixpences  and  shillings  he  was  in  the  habit 
of  distributing,  with  his  own  hand,  a  couple  of  times  a  week,  to 
scores  of  poor  pensioners  of  his  in  CoUooney,  Tubberscanavin, 
and  Ballysadare,  as  well  as  in  the  erection,  at  his  exclusive,  or 
nearly  exclusive,  cost  (Vol.  I.,  p.  402,)*  of  the  Fever  Hospital  of 
Sligo,  which  is  a  more  honourable  memorial  of  him,  than  would 
be  a  mausoleum  as  gorgeous  as  that  of  the  Kiog  of  Caria. 

While  he  relieved  ordinary  distress  with  his  small  pieces  of 
silver,  rendered  always  doubly  valuable  by  the  smile  and  kind 
word  that  accompanied  the  gift,  he  was  ready  to  make  any  and 
every  pecuniary  sacrifice  a  crisis  might  call  for  ;  and  in  the 
terrible  famine  of  1822,  when  people  were  perishing  on  all 
sides  of  starvation  and  fever,  he  expended  £150  a  week  on 
employment,  remitted  £200  in  cash  to  the  Sligo  Kelief  Com- 
mittee, paid  out  £100  in  the  purchase  of  seed  potatoes,  and 
distributed  a  weekly  sum,  which  must  have  been  considerable, 
in  the  parish  of  Ballysadare.  (Vol.  I.,  p.  404.) 

More  than  half  a  century  before  the  cathedral  and  town-hall 
clocks  were  erected,  he  had  a  magnificent  town  clock  manufac- 
tured for  Sligo;  and  it  was  only  when  the  local  authorities  failed 
to  agree  among  themselves,  as  to  the  place  in  which  it 
should  be  put  up,  and  got  embroiled  in  contention  over  the 


See  on  this  subject,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  402,  403,  404. 


352  HISTOKY   OF   SLIGO. 

matter,  he  changed  its  destination,  and  had  it  set  up  in  the 
tower  of  St.  Paul's  church,  Collooney,  where  it  has  been  since 
beneficially  employed  in  regulating  the  daily  duties  of  two 
generations  of  labourers  and  mechanics  in  that  great  business 
centre. 

We  must  not  omit  to  mention,  in  illustration  of  his  principle 
of  the  "  even  keel ''  in  dealing  with  Catholics  and  Protestants, 
that  upon  the  vestry  of  Collooney  having  some  repairs  done  in 
the  Protestant  church  of  the  place,  which,  as  was  customary  at 
the  time,  were  effected  largely  at  the  expense  of  Catholics, 
Mr.  Cooper,  at  his  own  cost,  put  up  an  expensive  entrance  gate 
before  the  Catholic  chapel;  and  when  the  vestry  on  another 
occasion  decided  on  paying  the  sexton  of  the  Protestant  church 
a  substantial  annual  salary,  he  engaged  to  pay,  and  did  pay 
while  he  lived,  to  the  clerk  or  sexton  of  the  Catholic  chapel  an 
annuity  of  like  amount  out  of  his  own  pocket.  Such  acts 
account  for  the  place  which  Mr.  Edward  Synge  Cooper  has 
always  held  in  the  hearts  of  his  Catholic  neighbours. 

The  Markrea  Observatory,  founded  by  the  late  Mr.  Edward 
Cooper  in  1832,  and  described  in  the  History  of  Ballysadare 
and  Kilvarnet  (pages  170-1-2),  is  still  in  active  and  successful 
operation,  under  the  liberal  patronage  of  Colonel  Cooper,  its 
owner.  To  the  distinguished  astronomers  formerly  in  charge — 
first,  Mr.  Graham,  now  Assistant  Astronomer  in  the  Observatory 
of  Cambridge  University,  and,  next,  Dr.  Doberck,  Director  at 
present  of  the  great  Government  Observatory  of  Hong-Kong — 
has  succeeded  Mr.  Albert  Marth,  F.R.A.S.,  an  astronomer  and 
meteorologist  of  the  highest  character,  who,  like  his  predeces- 
sors, is  indefatigable  in  observing,  calculating,  recording,  and 
interchanging  communications  with  the  leading  scientific  insti- 
tutions of  the  world.  Mr.  Marth's  papers  hold  a  place  second  to 
none  in  the  publications  of  the  Eoyal  Astronomical  Society. 

Great  attention  is  paid  to  the  meteorological  department  of 
the  Markrea  Observatory,  which  is  worked  in  accordance  with 
Government  and  international  regulations.  Observations  are 
regularly  forwarded  to  the  Meteorological  Office,  London,  and 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  353 


to  the  Registrar- General,  Dublin.  It  is  pleasant  to  find  Markrea 
Observatory  thus  maintaioing  the  high  character  it  bore  in  the 
past,  when  Sir  William  Wilde  quoted  it  constantly  as  one  of 
his  chief  authorities  in  his  invaluable  Table  of  Cosmical 
Phenomena,  Epizootics,  and  Pestilences  in  Ireland,  published  in 
the  Census  of  Ireland  for  the  year  1851. 

As  he  proceeds  in  the  work,  he  gives  under  each  separate 
year  the  rainfall  of  Sligo  as  recorded  by  the  Markrea  Observa- 
tory. He  begins  the  record  of  1833  with  the  remark,  "  The 
only  rain  registry  we  possess  for  the  year  1833  is  obtained  from 
Mr.  Cooper's  Observatory  at  Markrea  ;"  and  between  1833  and 
1851  he  gives  under  the  successive  years  the  information 
brought  together  in  the  following  list : — 


Number  of 

Years. 

Inches. 

days  that  it 
rained  iu 
the  Year. 

1833 

44-50 

243 

1834 

36-50 

241 

1835 

37-40 

268 

1836 

41-39 

283 

1837 

40-29 

265 

1838 

30-99 

250 

1839 

35-93 

261 

1840 

30-77 

242 

1841 

35-54 

235 

1842 

33-24 

235 

1843 

35-96 

1844 

33-63 

232 

1845 

40-37 

246 

1846 

37-55 

268 

1847 

37-17 

278 

1848 

41-22 

287 

1849 

37-63 

289 

1850 

37-12 

274 

1851 

40-25 

289 

(exclusive  of  January,  not  recorded) 


Under  this  year  of  18-51  Sir  William  thus  describes  a  pheno- 
menal shower  that  fell  at  Markrea  : — "  A  very  remarkable 
thunder  shower  was  observed  at  Markrea  Castle,  county  of 
Sligo,  on  the  30  th  of  June  this  year.  After  the  first  flash  of 
lightning  a  strong  breeze  arose,  followed  almost  immediately 

VOL.  II.  z 


354  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


and  instantaneously  by  a  most  extraordinary  shower  of  rain 
with  hail.  In  five  minutes  the  road  was  a  sheet  of  water. 
The  quantity  was  so  great  that  it  penetrated  through  the 
ceilings  of  two  stories  of  the  house. 

The  shower  lasted  for  fifteen  minutes,  and  during  this  time 
there  fell  one  and  a  half  inch  depth  of  rain  !  !  This  singular 
phenomenon  moved  in  a  direction  nearly  at  right  angles  to  the 
magnetic  meridian  from  south-west  towards  north-east.  This 
sudden  fall  of  rain  was  at  the  rate  of  twelve  feet  per  diem !  "  I 
think  that  this  shower,"  observes  Mr.  Cooper,  "  may  have  en- 
abled us  to  form  some  idea  of  the  deluge,  for  had  it  lasted  40 
days  and  nights  !  the  depth  of  water  would  have  been  480  feet  I 
"without  the  breaking  up  of  the  waters  of  the  great  deep  ! 
'  "  The  heaviest  fall  of  rain  ever  observed  by  Dr.  Hobinson  in 
Armagh — a  part  of  Ireland  almost  in  the  same  latitude  as 
Markrea — was  eight-tenths  of  an  inch  in  forty-five  minutes. 
The  observatory  of  Mr.  Cooper  was  situated  in  the  rainiest  part 
of  Ireland,  which  received  currents  from  the  Atlantic  charged 
with  moisture,  and  was  surrounded  with  hills.  The  annual 
average  fall  of  rain  at  Markrea  was  42  inches,  while  at  Armagh, 
a  distance  of  seventy  miles  eastward,  it  was  only  23  inches. 
The  ranges  of  mountains  intervening  between  these  places 
accounted  for  the  difference." 

The  following  Table  shows  in  inches  the  average  monthly 

rainfall  at  Markrea— 1833  to  1852  :— 

Total 
Jan.   Feb.   Mar.  April  May  June  July  Aug.    Sep.    Oct.   Nov.    Dec.     Year. 

3-37    3-22     2-18     2-43    1-89    2-97    3'28     3*51    3-22    4-06    4-01    3-42      37'56 

The  average  mean  monthly  Temperature  at  Markrea  from 
1842  to  1855  was  as  follows  : — 

Total 
Jan.  Feb.  Mar.  April  May  June  July  Aug.  Sep.  Oct.  Nov.  Dec.  Year. 
39-0    396     41-9    46*6     51-4    B6'S    54-9    57-9    54.2    47*6    42-4    40G      47*8 

The  mean  Temperature  for  each  month  of  the  year  1851 

was : — 

Total 
Jan.  Feb.  Mar.  April  May  June  July  Aug.  Sep.  Oct.  Nov.  Dec.  Year. 
39-4    412     42-3     45-3     oO'l     557    56*6    58-7    55-1     49-8     41-8    42-2      48*2 


HISTORY    OF    SLIGO.  355 


It  is  gratifying  to  be  able  to  credit  the  county  Sligo  with  the 
distinction  of  possessing  another  astronomer  of  high  promise, 
and,  indeed,  of  high  performance.  This  is  Mr.  E.  Gore,  M.R.I.A., 
F.R.A.S.,  Honorary  Associate  and  Vice-President  of  the  Liver- 
pool Astronomical  Society.  While  cultivating  diligently  the 
other  departments  of  Astronomy,  Mr.  Gore  devotes  special 
attention  to  the  Variable  Stars,  of  which  he  has  published  two 
catalogues : — 

1.  A  Catalogue  of  Suspected  Variable  Stars. 

2.  A  Revised  Catalogue  of  Variable  Stars,  with  Notes  and 
Observations. 

Of  those  stars  Mr.  Gore  has  himself  discovered  a  goodly 
number  j  and  his  success  is  the  more  notable  and  creditable, 
his  only  instrument  and  appliance  being,  as  he  tells  us,  a 
binocular  field  glass. 

The  fertile  district  of  Cloonamahon,  as  part  of  Tirerrill,  was 
under  the  sway  of  the  MacDonoghs  down  to  the  break-up  of 
Celtic  rule  in  the  sixteenth  century.  Morish  Caech  McDonogh, 
who  resided  in  Cloonamahon,  was  named  chief  of  Tirerrill  in 
1595,  by  O'Donnell,  and  exercised  authority  as  such  till  1598, 
when  he  was  slain  at  Ballinode,  near  Sligo,  as  he  was  carrying 
off  a  prey  of  cattle  from  Breffney  O'Rorke,  or  Leitrim.  With 
Cloonamahon,  Morish  Caech  owned  Markree,  Ardcurly,  Tubber- 
scanavan,  or  Mullaghbrine  Lisconny,  Cartronreagh,  Achulback 
(Coolbock),  Knockroe,  Knockenarrow,  Kinaghan,  and  Rathgran, 
in  Tirerrill,  as  well  as  some  lands  in  Corran,  all  which  were 
passed  by  royal  grant,  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  James  the 
First,  to  Francis  Annesley,  knight  and  baronet,  being  then  in 
the  gift  of  the  King,  as  "  parcel  of  the  lands  of  Morish  Keagh 
McDonogh  McTeige  Trouse,  slain  in  rebellion." 

O'Connor  Sligo  was  absent,  and  in  alliance  with  the  English 
when  O'Donnell,  in  1595,  took  on  himself  to  appoint  chiefs 
through  the  county,  but  on  Sir  Donogh's  return  home,  he  gave 
the  lands  of  Cloonamahon  to  a  relative  of  Right  Rev.  Eugene 
O'Hart,  the  famous  bishop  of  Achonry,  in  whose  family  they 
still  remained  in  1687,  when  they  are  recited,  in  the  Partition 


356  HISTORiT   OF    SLIGO. 

Deed  of  Lord  William  Strafford,  Reverend  John  Leslie,  and 
Thomas  Wilson,  as  "  the  trine  of  Clonemaghanbeg  and  Clone- 
in  aghanmore,  alias  Clonemaghen,  now,  or  late,  in  the  possession 
of  Charles  Hart,  paying  thereout  to  His  Majesty  10s.  per 
annum."  Charles  Hart  possessed  at  the  same  time  the  quarter 
of  Cloonecurra  in  the  same  parish. 

Of  this  property  another  Charles  Hart  and  his  brother, 
Eight  Reverend  John  Hart,  Bishop  of  Achonry  from  1735  to 
1739,  were  deprived  by  a  wretched  man  named  Laurence 
Bettridge,  whose  iniquitous  proceeding  the  reader  will  find 
detailed  in  Ballysadave  and  Kilvarnet.  The  bishop's  memory 
is  still  kept  alive  and  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  people  by  a 
majestic  ash  tree,  which  he  is  said  to  have  planted  near  his 
residence,  and  which  was  never  more  flourishing  than  at  the 
present  moment.  Bettridge  finding  the  neighbourhood  too  hot 
for  him,  on  account  of  his  robbery  of  the  bishop  and  other  un- 
savoury proceedings,  sold  the  estate  to  Mr.  Thomas  Rutledge, 
who  gave  Cloonamahon,  as  a  marriage  portion,  with  his 
daughter,  to  Mr.  Meredith,  the  ancestor  of  the  actual  owner. 

Having  recorded  elsewhere  the  popular  estimate  of  the 
Meredith  family,  and  of  their  services  to  the  neighbourhood  of 
Cloonemahon,  there  is  no  occasion  to  enlarge  on  the  subject 
here.  It  will  be  enough  to  observe,  that  while  the  members  of 
this  family  have  always  performed  with  singular  efficiency  the 
duties  of  charity  and  humanity  falling  on  them  in  an  exception- 
ally poor  neighbourhood,  they,  at  the  same  time,  invariably 
performed  them  with  a  friendliness  of  feeling  and  of  proceeding 
peculiar  to  themselves.  For  this  the  people  are  duly  grateful, 
so  that  at  a  time  when,  unfortunately,  Irishmen  in  some  other 
parts  of  Ireland  are  only  too  glad  to  be  rid  of  their  gentle-folk, 
and  to  speed  their  parting  with  a  "  Bon  voyage,^'  the  good 
people  in  and  round  Cloonamahon,  desire  nothing  so  much  as 
to  see  the  Merediths  back  again,  well  and  happy,  in  their 
beautiful  Elizabethan  mansion,  which  with  all  its  beauties, 
has  little  attraction  for  the  neighbours  while  its  owners  are 
away. 


HISTORY    OF   SLTGO.  357 


Carrickbanagher,  or  Carrickbanaghan — the  rock  of  the 
peaks,  or  the  rock  of  the  O'Banaghans — is  so-called  either  from 
the  two  peaks  of  Carane  and  Doonfin,  prominent  features  in  the 
townland,  or  from  the  family  of  the  O'Banaghans  who  formerly 
occupied  the  tract.  In  Celtic  times  the  place  belonged  to  the 
McDonoghs.  Under  the  Cromwellian  regime,  Morgan  Farrell 
became  its  Titulado;  and  with  the  tenacity  which  formed  the 
leading  characteristic  of  the  Usurpers,  he  held  to  it  in  spite  of 
all  the  efforts  made  under  Charles  11.  to  dislodge  him,  and 
passed  on  his  interest  in  it  to  his  descendants.  It  was  only  in 
1854  they  parted  with  the  property,  selling  it  that  year  to  the 
then  Lord  Mayor  of  Dublin,  Fergus  Farrell,  one  of  the  old 
Annaly  or  Longford  stock  like  themselves,  but  of  a  different 
branch; 

Under  the  fostering  care  of  the  Lord  Mayor  and  his  worthy 
son,  Mr.  Edward  Farrell,  B.L.,  Carrickbanagher  and  its 
inhabitants  have  greatly  prospered.  In  1878  the  writer  was 
able  to  praise,  in  Ballysadare  and  Kilvarnet,  the  landlord  and 
tenants  of  Carrickbanaghan,  as  second  in  the  performance  of 
their  respective  duties  to  the  landlord  and  tenants  of  no  other 
estate  in  the  county ;  and  it  is  a  striking  fact,  that  the  same 
praise  is  still  due  to  one  and  the  other,  after  the  lapse  of  ten 
of  the  most  eventful  years  through  which  the  country  has 
passed,  more  especially  in  regard  to  the  owners  and  occupiers  of 
land. 

What  is  known  of  the  Parish  Priests  and  Protestant  Rectors 
of  this  parish  will  be  found,  in  considerable  detail,  in  the  History 
of  Ballysadare  and  Kilvarnet. 


CHAPTER  XXXiy. 

HALF  BARONY  OF   COOLAVIN. 

UNION   OF   GURTEEN. 

COOLAVIN,  tbough  inferior  in  extent  and  value  to  the  other 
baronial  divisions  of  Sligo,  enjoys  the  distinction  of  being  the 
first  spot  in  the  county  to  which  reference  is  made  in  the  old 
annals  of  the  country,  as  tbe  Four  Masters,  under  the  year  A.M. 
2,532,  among  their  earliest  entries,  record  what  tbey  call  the 
**  eruption  of  Loch  Techet,"  now  Lough  Gara,  a  lake  that  forms 
the  most  remarkable  feature  of  the  district.  Coolaviu,  in 
ancient  times,  was  called  Greagraighe,  though  Greagraighe  was 
more  comprehensive,  as  it  took  in  a  considerable  stretch  of  the 
county  Roscommon.*  Doctor  Joyce!  agrees  with  O'Donovan  J 
in  holding  Coolavin — in  Irish,  Cuil  O'bh  Finn — to  mean  the 
angle,  or  corner,  of  the  Finns,  who  were  in  the  past,  as  they 
are  at  present,  numerous  and  respectable  in  the  locality. 

When  the  O'Haras  and  O'Garas,  who  were  originally  one 
family,  separated  from  one  another,  they  divided  between  them 
their  patrimony,  which  was  co-extensive  with  the  diocese  of 
Achonry;  the  O'Haras  taking  the  northern  division,  now  known 
as  the  barony  of  Leyney,  in  Sligo,  and  the  O'Garas  the 
southern,  which  comprised  the  barony  of  Gallon  and  the  lower 
half  barony  of  Costello,  in   Mayo.     The   O'Garas   were   then 


*  Greagraighe,  a  territory  comprising  the  present  barony  of  Coolavin,  in  the 
county  of  Sligo,  and  a  considerable  portion  of  the  north  of  the  present  county 
of  Roscommon. — O'Donovan  in  Four  Masters,  under  the  year  811, 

t  Irish  Names  of  Places  ;  First  Series,  p.  118. 

t  Four  Masters,  under  year  1436. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  359 


commonly  styled  Lords  of  Slieve  Lugha,*  as  ruling  over  that 
mountainous  territory,  but  being  dispossessed  by  the  Jordans, 
the  Berminghams,  the  Cuisins,  and  more  especially  the 
Costellos,  and  driven  into  Coolavin,  they  became  known,  in  later 
times,  as  Lords  of  Coolavin  ^f  while  the  Costellos,  who  had 
themselves  been  ejected  by  the  English  authorities  from  Meath, 
where  they  were  called  De  Nangle,  usurped  the  O'Gara  lands, 
and  took,  soon  after,  the  name  of  MacCostello. 

From  964,  when  Toichlech  O'Gara  was  Lord  of  South  Ley ney, 
down  to  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  the  family  held  a 
prominent  place  in  Lower  Connaught,  its  last  leading  members 
being,  Most  Reverend  Brian  O'Gara,  who  died  Archbishop  of 
Tuam  in  1740,  and  most  Reverend  Michael  O'Gara,  who 
occupied  the  same  see  at  his  death  in  1748.  Omitting  many 
other  clerical  members  of  the  family,  it  may  be  well  to  mention 
Rev.  Fergal  O'Gara,  who,  in  1656,  compiled  in  the  Netherlands 
a  collection  of  Irish  poems,  relating,  for  the  most  part,  to  sub- 
jects connected  with  Sligo.  The  collection  still  exists,  and  is  in 
private  hands  in  Dublin.f 

Irriel  O'Gara,  "chief  of  his  name,"  is  on  the  list  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Sligo,  to  whom  James  I.  granted  a  "general 
pardon"  in  the  first  year  of  his  reign.  This  Irriel's  successor  in 
Coolavin  was  his  grandson  Fergal  O'Gara,  to  whose  patronage 
of  the  Four  Masters  the  world  is  indebted  for  their  invaluable 
Annals.  John  O'Donovan  is  hard  on  the  Four  Masters  for  their 
praise  of  "the  Trinity  College  educated  Farrel  O'Gara,"  bub 
adduces  nothing  to  justify  his  censure,  except  the  Trinity 
College  education  for  which  O'Gara  may  have  been  little 
accountable,  having  been  left  without  a  guide,  or  guardian,  by 


*  Four  Masters,  1227,  1256,  1257. 

t  Four  Masters,  1461,  1469,  1537. 

X  This  collection  still  exists,  and  some  Sligo  man  should  have  a  copy  made 
•with,  if  possible,  translations,  and  have  it  deposited  in  the  Town  Hall  of  Sligo. 
Among  the  poems  are,  "  A  genealogical  poem  on  the  O'Haras,"  by  Teige  Dal 
O'Higgins ;  another  poem  by  the  same  author,  consisting  of  152  verses,  and 
addressed  to  Cathal  Oge  O'Connor ;  and  many  more  of  local  interest. 


360  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 

his  grandfather's  death,  his  father,  Teige  O'Gara,  heing  pre- 
viously dead.  In  these  circumstances  the  King  granted  the  ward- 
ship of  the  minor  to  Sir  Theobald  Dillon,  who  soon  sent  him  to 
Trinity  College,  in  which  establishment  all  minors  were  brought 
up  Protestants.  Had  Farrel  O'Gara  been  himself  to  blame  in 
this,  or,  if  to  blame,  had  he  not  redeemed  his  fault,  the  zealous 
lay  brother  Michael  O'Clery,  who  was  quite  as  good  a  Catholic 
as  O'Donovan,  would  never  have  said  to  O'Gara,  as  he  does  in 
the  Dedication  of  the  Four  Masters,  "  I,  Michael  O'Clery,  was 
well  acquainted  with  your  zeal  for  the  glory  of  God."  Accord- 
ing to  the  Survey  of  1633,  etc.,  Farrel  O'Gara  in  his  day 
possessed  all  Coolavin  except  Coillemore,  which  belonged  to 
Mr.  Dodwell,  and  Knocknaskeagh,  which  was  the  "  inheritance 
of  O'Connor  Sligo  ;"  and  if  he  did  not  pass  on  this  fine  estate 
to  his  descendants,  it  was  precisely  because,  when  the  occasion 
called  for  it,  he  sacrificed  all  to  his  religion  and  country — a 
sacrifice  which  should  have  saved  him  from  the  sneer  of 
O'Donovan. 

The  next  O'Gara  calling  for  notice  is  Colonel  Oliver,  who 
took  an  active  and  influential  part  on  the  side  of  King  James 
in  the  conflict  between  that  monarch  and  the  Prince  of  Orange, 
and  fought  with  great  distinction  at  Sligo,  at  the  Boyne,  at 
Athlone,  at  Aughrim,  and  at  Limerick.  Story's  History  states 
that  Colonel  Oliver  O'Gara  fell  at  Athlone ;  but  this  is  an 
error,  for  he  not  only  survived  the  unfortunate  affair  of 
Athlone,  but,  after  having  been  in  the  thick  of  all  the  sub- 
sequent transactions,  diplomatic  and  military,  of  the  campaign, 
he  passed  with  his  regiment  when  all  was  over  in  Ireland  to 
France,  where  he  lived  and  died  universall}'  respected.  The 
year  of  his  death  is  not  known,  but  we  find  him  in  1706  acting 
as  military  governor  of  Montesa  in  Spain.*  Colonel  O'Gara 
had  four  sons,  all  of  whom  were  well  provided  for  on  the 
Continent,  the  fourth  being  born  in  France,  and  baptized  at 


*  O'Callaghan's  History   of  the  Irish  Brigades  in  the  Service  of   France, 
page  242. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  861 


St,  Germains  under  the  name  of  Charles,  on  which  occasion 
James  II.  served  as  sponsor,  and  signed  the  baptismal  registrar 
as  "Jacques  Roi."*  This  Charles  died  in  1776  full  of  riches 
and  honours  as  well  as  of  years,  after  having  been,  under  the 
Emperor  of  Germany, Imperial  Counsellor  of  State  and  Chamber- 
lain, Grand  Master  of  the  Household  to  the  Princess,  the 
Emperor's  sister,  and  Knight  of  the  Golden  Fleece.f 

Under  the  Acts  of  Settlement  and  Explanation  nearly  all 
Coolavin  was  granted  to  John  Lord  Kingston  and  Bryan 
Magrath.  Between  the  Eestoration  and  the  Revolution  Colonel 
Irriel  O'Farrel  possessed  large  scopes  of  land  in  Coolavin  as  a 
lessee,  apparently,  of  Magrath;  but  whatever  interest  the 
O'Farrells  had  was  forfeited  by  the  part  Irriel  took  on  the  side 
of  James  II.J 

Though  the  distinguished  family  of  the  MacDermots  have 
resided,  for  the  most  part,  at  Coolavin  since  the  confiscation  of 
their  hereditary  possessions  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  had 
a  small  estate  in  fee  there  in  1616,  as  is  stated  in  an  inquisition 
taken  that  year  at  Rosslee,  their  history,  as  Connaught  chiefs, 
belongs  to  the  county  Roscommon.  From  Dermot,  who  died 
in  1159,  to  Charles  MacDermot,  who  died  about  the  middle  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  they  ruled  in  that  county  over  a 
territory  so  extensive  that  the  names  of  the  townlands  in  the 


*  Ibid.,  p.  88. 

t  Ibid. 

X  To  Lord  Kingston  was  granted  Clonecunny,  Lnmclonne,  Tonemucklagh, 
Carrowreagh,  Fallin,  Monasteredan,  Cappenagh,  Annaghnarrow,  Carrowlassan, 
Moygarrow,  Liscornagh,  or  Killscornagh  ;  Cloonesallagb,  Coylestrackland, 
Clonehalasse  alias  Gortnegory  ;  Molloroe,  Clontecarne,  Meagbana,  and  tbe 
woods  of  Cullagbbeg,  Caliagbmore,  Carrowbrackane,  Skehane  Rey,  or  Key  ; 
and  Doneorerance.  To  Bryan  Magratb  were  granted  part  of  Monasteredan, 
part  of  Tonemucklagh,  Rosmader,  Clopnaleaghin,  Kuocknasbamer,  Knockae- 
how,  Carrowbill,  Annagbmore,  Downe,  Carrownetoler,  Carrownea,  Sbeeroghin, 
or  Sbeepbin.— Abstract  of  Grants  under  Acts  of  Settlement  and  Explanation 
in  Public  Records  Reports. 

O'Ferral  possessed  Annagbmore,  Annagbbeg,  Carrowkill,  Carrowmore, 
Carrowtubber,  Clunlugber,  Dromakillfree,  Knocknahow,  Knockneshamer, 
Monasteredan,  and  Ratbmadder. 


362  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


patent  of  the  re-grant  by  James  I.  in  1618  to  Brian  Mac- 
Dermot  covers,  as  John  D'Alton  states,  sixteen  skins  of  parch- 
ment;* while  during  all  this  time  they  occupied  a  position, 
as  chiefs  of  Moylurg,  second  to  none  in  the  province — making 
often  and  unmaking  kings  of  Connaught  at  their  pleasure,t 
exercising  always  a  powerful  and,  generally,  a  decisive  in- 
fluence on  the  deliberations  and  the  acts  of  neighbouring 
chiefs,  and  furnishing  the  Church  with  so  many  bishops  and 
priests  that  they  have  an  incontestable  right  to  be  counted  the 
leading  ecclesiastical  family  of  Connaught.  Though  they  have 
courted  privacy  since  they  settled  in  Coolavin,  such  of  them  as 
came  before  the  public  have  exhibited  the  high  moral,  in- 
tellectual, and  patriotic  qualities  of  their  ancestors.  Myles 
M'Dermott,  who  died  in  1793,  was  respected  throughout  Ireland 
for  his  own  sake  and  the  sake  of  his  family.  Of  him  the 
Anthologia  Hibernica,  in  its  number  for  January,  1793,  says : — 
"  Died  on  the  7th  January,  at  Coolavin,  Co.  Sligo,  Myles  Mac- 
Dermott,  Esq.,  commonly  called  the  Prince  of  Coolavin,  a 
gentleman  whose  extensive  information,  easy  manners,  and 
hospitable  turn  of  mind  proved  his  noble  descent,  and  endeared 
him  to  a  numerous  and  respectable  acquaintance,  who  now 
sincerely  deplore  his  loss." 

His  son,  Dr.  Hugh  M'Dermott,  was  universally  respected, 
and  was  described  by  those  who  knew  him  best  as  an  "  inflex- 
ible patriot,"  and  ''the  source  of  liberality  and  knowledge.''^ 
Much  against  his  will  he  was  mixed  up  in  the  controversy 
that  took  place  between  Rev.  Dr.  O'Conor  and  the  historian, 
Mr.  Francis  Plowden  ;  and  in  letters  of  his  on  this  occasion 
written  in  1801  and  1802,  some  from  Coolavin  and  some  from 
Booterstown,  he  proves  himself  a  man  of  talent  and  culture  as 
v/ell  as  of  conscience  and  honour.     At  the  great  Catholic  Con- 


*  King  James'  Army  List. 
+  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters. 


t  An  Historical    Letter    to    Rev.   Charles    O'Conor,   D.D.,   from    Francis 
Plowden,  Esq.,  p.  10. 


HISTORY    OF    SLIGO.  863 


vention  of  1792-1793,  Dr,  Hugh  MacDermot  was  the  first  of 
the  six  delegates  elected  to  represent  the  county  Sligo,  the 
others  being  J.  Everard,  Patrick  Mullarky,  John  MacDonogh, 
Charles  O'Connor,  and  James  Aylward.  John  Dunn  was 
delegate  for  the  town  of  81igo. 

Dr.  MacDermot's  son,  the  late  Mr.  Charles  MacDermot  of 
Coolavin,  confined  himself  in  general  to  the  quiet  duties  of  a 
country  gentleman,  though  possessing  talents  that  fitted  him  for 
public  life,  more  especially  a  natural  eloquence  which  elicited 
more  than  once  high  eulogium  from  O'Connell.  On  the 
occasion  of  Lord  Mulgrave's  famous  Tour  in  1836,  Mr.  Mac 
Dermot  took  a  prominent  part  in  honouring  his  lordship,  and 
composed  some  of  the  addresses  presented  to  him  in  this 
neighbourhood;  and  in  1843  he  occupied  the  chair  at  the  com- 
plimentary dinner  given  to  O'Connell  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
county,  when  he  divided  with  the  Liberator  himself  the 
admiration  and  respect  of  the  people. 

The  present  head  of  the  family.  The  MacDermot,  is,  as  every 
one  knows,  conspicuous  among  the  foremost  members  of  the 
bar  for  ability  and  integrity.  Ex- Solicitor-General,  and  the 
first  figure  in  the  various  causes  celebres  of  the  day,  he  has 
already  passed  through  all  the  high  positions  hitherto  open  to 
him,  and  passed  through  them  with  equal  advantage  to  the 
people  and  the  State  ;  and  one  need  be  no  prophet  to  tell  that 
he  is  sure,  before  long,  to  reach  the  highest  place  in  his  great 
profession,  and,  having  reached  it,  to  fill  it  with  his  accustomed 
exceptional  efiiciency  and  dignity. 

Coolavin  comprises  the  two  parishes  of  Killfree  and  Killaraght, 
which  now  form  the  parochial  union  of  Gurteen.  Killfree  is  the 
head  of  the  union,  and  in  old  official  documents,  is  sometimes 
given  with  the  aliases  of  Ardfrie  and  Coolavin,  as,  for  instance, 
in  the  Patent  Roll  of  James  I.  (page  564),  where  we  read : — 
''Presentation  of  the  Reverend  Erasmus  Matthews  to  the 
Rectory  of  Ardfrie,  alias  Killfree,  alias  Collevin,  diocese  of 
Ardconry,  now  vacant,  and  in  the  King's  gift."  In  the  Survey 
of  1633,  the  parish  has  the  alias  of  Clonahiglish,  while  the  spot 


364  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


on  which  the  church  stands,  is  described  as  "  Killfree,  alias 
Carrowentemple,  one  quarter;  where  old  church  of  Killfroy 
standeth,  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  acres,  and  a  great  part  of 
greasable  mount  belonging  to  same,  four  hundred  acres  un- 
profitable, and  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  profitable."  The 
church  of  Killfree  is  entered  in  the  Taxation  of  1307  as  Kelna- 
frych,  that  is,  the  Church  of  the  Heath,  being  so-called  from  the 
heathery  site  on  which  it  was  erected.  Some  remains  of  the 
church  are  still  standing,  and  near  them  a  well  called  Toher-na- 
neeve — Well  of  the  Saints — which  is  supposed  to  be  the  source 
of  the  Owenmore  river.  E/Ound  the  ruin  is  a  graveyard,  which 
is  much  used,  and  contains  the  graves  of  the  Costellos. 

Knockmore,  in  the  townland  of  Mount  Irwin,  contains  the 
ruins  of  a  church,  which  belonged  to  a  Carmelite  monastery,  as 
appears  from  an  inquisition  held  before  Richard  Boyle,  at 
Ballymote,  on  the  12th  January,  1793,  where  it  is  styled — 
"  Cella  dissoluta  fratrum  nigrorum  vocat  Carmelyte  Fryars,"  a 
dissolved  cell  of  the  Black  Brothers,  called  Carmelyte  Friars. 
After  a  time  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  Richard  Boyle  himself, 
who,  even  in  official  dealings,  was  notorious  for  minding  num- 
ber one,  and  who,  by  this  means,  blossomed  in  due  time  into 
the  Great  Earl  of  Cork,  probably  the  wealthiest  and  most 
powerful  man  in  Ireland  in  his  day.  In  the  Crown  Rental  of 
1692,  ''  Earl  Corke  "  is  entered  as  tenant  of  the  "  College,  or 
Friars'  House  of  Knockmore." 

In  the  Survey  of  1632,  all  the  townlands  of  Killfree  are  given 
as  the  inheritance  of  Farrell  O'Gara,  the  son  of  Thady,  and  the 
grandson  of  Irriell  O'Gara,  except  Collemore,  the  inheritance  of 
Rev.  Mr.  Dodwell ;  and  Knocknaskeagh,  the  inheritance  of 
O'Connor  Sligo,  and  part  of  Lady  Cressy's  dowry.  Under  the 
Acts  of  Settlement  and  Explanation,  John,  Lord  Kingston,  was 
granted,  on  the  9th  of  January,  1667,  nearly  all  Coolavin,  a 
good  part  of  which  was  passed  by  him,  soon  after,  to  Dominick 
French,  the  ancestor  of  Lord  de  Freyne,  as  assignee. 

The  castle  of  Moygara,  in  which  the  head  of  the  O'Gara 
family  resided,  was  a  spacious  and  strong  structure  of  185  feet 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  365 


square,  though  not,  perhaps,  as  solidly  built  as  the  neighbouring 
castle  of  Ballymote.     The  remains  are  still  in  fair  preservation, 
and  show  six  square  battlemented  towers,  one  at  each  angle  of 
the  square,  with  one  in  the  centre  of  the  west  wall,  twenty-five 
feet  square,  and  forty  feet  high,  and  another  in  the  centre  of  the 
east.     The  curtains,  which  are  recessed  eleven  feet  from  the 
face  of  the  towers,  stand  fifteen  feet  high,  and  four  thick,  and 
are  loopholed  all  through  for  the  use  of  fire-arms.     It  was,  no 
doubt,  through  one  of  those  opens  the  shot  was  fired  which 
killed   Nial   Garve,   the   son    of  Manus   O'Donnell,    in   1538. 
Having    taken   the    castle    of    Sligo,   and   ravaged    Moylurg 
Manus  took  the  castle  of  Moygara  as  he  was  returning  home, 
but  the  capture  cost  him  dear,  for,  as  his  people  were  approach- 
ing the  walls  of  the  fortress,  a  ball  from  the  interior  laid  his  son 
dead  at  his  feet.     The  occurrence  exasperated  his  followers,  who 
clamoured  for  the  life  of  the  man  that  had  fired  the  fatal  shot, 
but   Manus,    with    a   generosity    quite   in    keeping   with   his 
chivalrous   character,   took   this   obnoxious    person   under    his 
special  protection,  and  saved  him  from  the  fate  that  threatened 
him.*     In  1581    the  castle  was   the    scene   of  a   still  greater 
tragedy,  for  in  that  year  a  body  of  mercenary  Scots,  in  the 
service  and  pay  of  Captain   Malby,  Governor   of  Connaught^ 
burned  the  building,  so  that,  to  use  the  words  of  the  Annals  of 
Loch  Ce,  *'  Diarmaid  Og,  son  of  Cian  O'Gara,  was  put  to  death 
there,  and  Teige,  the  son  of  Rory,  et  alii  multi.'f 

This  fine  ruin  is  not  cared  as  it  should  be,  and  is,  con- 
sequently, crumbling  away  fast.  Portions  of  the  bold  central 
tower  of  the  west  wall  have  been  pulled  down,  obviously  for 
stones  to  block  up  the  chief  entrance,  and  thus  to  secure  the 
court-yard  for  cattle ;  and  it  is  little  to  the  credit  of  people, 
living  on  the  spot,  to  find,  in  piles  of  rubbish,  fragments  of 
elaborately  carved  stones,  which  bore  the  arms  and  motto  of  the 

*  The  persoD,  however,  who  had  doue  this  act,  was  pardoned  by  O'Donnell, 
who  sent  him  away  under  his  protection. — Four  Masters,  a.d.  1358. 
t  Annals  of  Loch  Ce,  a.d.  1581. 


S66  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


O'Garas,  but  which  were  broken  into  pieces  by  the  rough 
handling  they  received  when  hurled  down  on  the  ground  from 
their  place  in  the  tower. 

It  may  be  mentioned,  that  in  the  south-eastern  tower  is  a 
sycamore  tree,  which  the  country  people  tell,  is  the  shoot  of 
another  on  which  the  O'Garas  used  to  hang  malefactors.  The 
north-western  tower  is  popularly  known  in  the  neighbourhood 
as  Teach  na  calliagh  dhu — the  house  of  the  nun — probably 
from  some  religieuse  of  the  family  inhabiting  it  when  her  con- 
vent elsewhere  was  broken  up. 

The  saint  from  whom  the  parish  of  Killaraght  has  its 
name,  is  generally  called  Attracta,  though  she  sometimes 
appears  as  Taracta  in  foreign  martyrologies. 

Except  the  Annotations  of  Tirechan,  and  Colgan's  Vita 
Tripartita  of  Saint  Patrick,  which  inform  us,  that  our  national 
Apostle  erected  a  church  for  the  saint,  and  gave  her  the  veil, 
the  only  authority  we  have  on  her  life  and  acts,  is  Augustine 
Magraidin,  an  Angus tinian  canon  of  the  Island  of  Saints  in  the 
river  Shannon,  who  wrote  the  imperfect  life  which  Colgan 
publishes  in  the  Acta  Sanctorum,  under  the  9th  of  February. 
Magraidin  died  as  late  as  the  year  1405,  so  that  the  saint's 
biography  must  date  from  the  opening  years  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  or  the  closing  years  of  the  fourteenth,  and  cannot, 
therefore,  be  accepted  as  perfectly  trustworthy  on  the  subject. 
Living  so  long  after  the  time  of  the  saint,  he  had  to  rely  on 
the  stories  that  were  current  about  him  at  the  time,  some  of 
which  were  probably  "  pious  opinions,"  others  exaggerations  or 
distortions  of  actual  facts,  and  not  a  few,  it  is  to  be  feared, 
inventions  pure  and  simple.  Any  historian,  confined  to  such 
sources  of  information,  would  fall  into  mistakes,  but  Augustine 
Magraidin  w^as  particularly  liable  to  blunder,  being  one  of  the 
most  uncritical  and  credulous  of  writers.  One  of  his  statements 
Colgan  characterises  in  the  margin  as  "insulsa  narratio" — an 
absurd  story — and  one  could  hardly  be  called  uncharitable  for 
applying  the  same  description  to  various  other  passages  of  his 
writings. 


HISTORY    OF    SLIGO.  367 


Few  Irish  saints  have  left  after  them  such  vivid  traditions,  and 
so  many  lasting  memorials  as  Attracta;  for  to  this  day  her  life 
forms  much  of  the  folk-lore  of  the  people  of  Coolavin ;  while 
the  names  of  places,  and  other  objects,  such  as  Killaraght  (the 
church  of  Attracta)  in  Coolavin  ;  Kiilaraght  in  the  parish  of 
Kilmacteige ;  *  Killaraght,  near  Bal,  in  the  diocese  of  Tuam  ;  f 
Toberaraght  (the  well  of  Attracta),  in  the  parish  of  Killaraght; 
Toberaraght,   in   the   parish   of    Kilturra ;   Toberaraght,    near 
Tubbercurry,  in  the  parish  of  Achonry ;  Toberaraght,  in  the 
parish  of  Drumrat ;  Toberaraght,  in  the  parish  of  Kilbeagh ; 
Cloghan  Araght,  in  Lough  Gara ;  and  the  Christian  name  of 
Attracta,   or   Atty,   so   prevalent    throughout    the   diocese   of 
Achonry,  are  memorials  which  will  transmit  the  name  to  future 
times,  as  they  have  preserved  it  undimmed  up  to  the  present. 

With  her  mark  thus  clearly  and  extensively  impressed  on  the 
face  of  the  country,  it  is  not  a  little  disappointing  that  we 
know  not  for  certain  the  exact  time  at  which  she  lived,  nor  the 
family  or  part  of  the  country  to  which  she  belonged  originally. 
If  we  could  put  faith  in  a  statement  of  the  old  life  given  by 
Colgan,J  we  should  find  little  difficulty  in  fixing  the  date,  as 
the  author  of  that  composition  asserts,  that  she  was  a  con- 
temporary of  Saint  Patrick,§  and  that  she  received  the  veil  of 
religion  from  his  hands ;  but  as  the  same  writer  makes  her 
contemporary  with  Saint  Nathy,  who  lived  in  the  sixth  century, 
and  with  Keannfaelaid,  King  of  Connaught,  who  reigned  in  the 
seventh  century;  it  is  clear  we  cannot  trust,  on  a  point  of 
chronology,  an  author  who  falls  into  such  errors  and  contradic- 
tions in  the  dates  of  important  events.     In  the  absence  of  other 


*  In  quo  loco  Virginis  honore  fabricata  eat  ecclesia.—  Acta  Sanctorum,  page 
279. 

t  Est  qusedam  capella  hujus  nuncupationis  in  parochia  de  Balla  diocesis 
Tuamensis. — Idem,  page  281. 

t  Colgan  himself  has  little  faith  in  the  author  of  this  life,  whom  he  describes 
as  '*  Nee  stylo  nee  fide  in  rebus  gestis  sincere  referendis  multum  commendan- 
dus." — Idem. 


Acta  Sanct.,  page  279. 


868  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


proof,  some  would  incline  to  the  opinion  of  the  learned  Dr. 
Lanigan,  that  the  saint  lived  late  in  the  sixth,  and  during  some 
part  of  the  seventh  century  * 

A  passage,  however,  in  the  Annotations  of  Tirechan,  in  the 
Book  of  Armagh,  supplies  a  strong,  if  not  a  conclusive,  proof  in 
support  of  the  earlier  date,  which  is  also  sanctioned  by  the 
proper  lessons  of  her  office.  Dr.  Lanigan  and  those  who  think 
with  him,  never  saw  the  passage  of  Tirechan.  It  is  not  found 
in  the  extracts  from  the  Book  of  Armagh,  published  by  Usher 
in  the  De  Brittanicaruvi  Ecclesiarum  Frionordiisy  or  in  Sir 
James  Ware's  Opuscula  S.  Patricio  adscripta,  or  in  Sir 
William  Betham's  Irish  Antiquarian  Researches,  or  in  any 
other  publication  that  had  seen  the  light  in  the  Doctor's  day. 
The  two  folios  of  the  Book  of  Armagh  to  which  the  passage 
belong  are  so  faded  and  blurred,  that  no  one  could  make  any- 
thing of  them,  till  they  were  taken  in  hand  by  our  Irish 
Bollandist,  Father  Hogan,  S.J.,  who,  by  dint  of  labour  and 
superior  skill,  has  succeeded  in  deciphering  most  of  their  con- 
tents, the  following  lines,  which  concern  Saint  Attracta,  being 
satisfactorily  made  out : — 

"  Et  perrexit  ad  tra 
ctum  Gregirgi,  et  fundavit  aeclesiam  in  Drum- 
\rii\ae,  et  fontem  fodivit  in  eo  [loco  et  aqua  non]  exflu 
[it]  in  se  et  de  se,  [sed]  plenus  semper  et  perennis 
est.    Et  aeclessiam  posuit  in  cella  AdrocJUae 
[filiae  Taljain,  et  ipsa  accepit  pallium  de  ma 
nu  Patricii." — Documenta  de  S.  Patricio,  p.  7C. 

This  passage  is  clear  as  to  Adrochta,  or  Attracta,  receiving 
the  veil  from  St  Patrick  ;  and  bearing  in  mind  that  the  Book  of 
Armagh  contains  the  oldest  account  of  Saint  Patrick  that  we 
possess,  and  that,  according  to  Dr.  Petrie  and  other  weighty 
authorities,  the  seven  Lives  of  Colgan  are,  substantially,  only  so 
many  expansions  and  variations  of  that  account,  we  are  bound 
to  admit,  as  literal  fact,  those  relations  of  Saint  Patrick  with 


*  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Ireland  ;  Vol.  III.,  page  39. 


HISTORY   OF  SLIGO.  369 


Saint  Attracta,   wbich   the    Book   of  Armagh    unequivocally 
reports. 

There  is  a  similar  uncertainty  as  to  her  family  and  birth- 
place, the  more  common  opinion  being,  that  she  was  of  Ulster 
birth  and  parentage,  and  of  the  line  of  Ir,  though  statements  ou 
^  this  head  are  so  contradictory,  as  to  be  worth  nothing.     Those 
who  hold  this  opinion  give  out  that,  when  grown  up,  she  fled 
from  Ulster  to  Oonnaught,  in  order  to  devote  herself  to  the 
religious  life,  which  she  could  not  do,  had  she  remained  in  her 
own  country,  as  her  parents  were  bent  on  giving  her  away  in 
marriage.     If  we  are  to  rely  on  the  account  contained  in  the 
life  already  referred  to,  she  made  this  journey  in  the  company 
of  two  attendants,  a  maid  named  Mitain,  and  a  man-servant 
called  Mochain  f"  but  circumstantial  as  this  statement  is,  it  does 
not  appear  to  rest  on  any  old  authority,  so  that  it  need  not 
hinder  one  from  having  a  doubt  of  her  Ulster  origin ;  and  the 
doubt    becomes   the   more   reasonable,    when   we   learn    from 
McFirbis's  Hy  Fiachrach,t  that  Mochain,  her  alleged  companion 
from  the  north,  belonged  to  a  Tireragh,  and  not  to  an  Ulster 
family.     This  fact  would  point  to  the  diocese  of  Killala,  or  the 
part  of  Achonry  that  adjoins  it,  as  her  birth-place;  and  a  phrase 
in  Colgan's  Life — "  de  Boreis  partibus  " — relied  on  as  a  proof  of 
her  northern  origin,   would    still    have   a    good   meaning,   as 
Tireragh  and  the  adjoining  tract  of  Achonry  are  considerably  to 
the  north  of  Killaraght,  and  are  included  in  what  was  formerly 
known  as   North   Connaught,t  and   sometimes  simply   as  the 
North.     And   this   conjecture,  as   to   the   place   of  her   birth, 
derives  some  strength  from  the  fact,  that  she  always  evinced 
exceptional  interest  in  the  affairs  and  the  inhabitants  of  Leyney 


*  Fines  advenit  Connaciae,  duorum  tantum  comifcatu,  anciUse  videlicet 
nomine  Mitain,  et  serventis  videlicet  Mochain. — Acta  Sanct.,  page  278. 

+  "  From  Cuboirne,  son  of  Eochy  Breac,  are  descended  Muinter  Mochain  or 
Gill  Atharacht,  i.e.,  the  Keepers  of  the  Cross  of  Cill  Atteracht.'' — Tribes  of  Hy- 
Fiachrach,  p.  41. 

t  In  the  Annals  of  Lecan,  under  the  year  983,  Aodh  O'Dowda  is  mentioned 

as  King  of  North  Connaught Ibid.,  p.  301, 

VOL.  II.  2  A 


370  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


and  Killala,  and  presided  on  one  occasion  at  a  meeting  which 
had  for  object  to  perpetuate  friendship  and  alliance  between  the 
descendants  of  Awley — the  people  of  Tireragh,  and  the 
descendants  of  Kien — the  people  of  Leyney* 

Whatever  room  for  doubt  there  may  be  with  regard  to  her 
parentage  and  native  place  there  can  he  none  as  to  her  charac- 
teristic virtue.     It  was  that  love  of  the  neighbour  which  is  the 
fulfilment  of  the  law ;  and  the  moment  she  reached  a  place  of 
safety,  and  was  free  to  act,  she  devoted  herself  to  the  practice  of 
this  beneficent  virtue.     Soon  after  her  arrival  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Boyle,  she  desired  to  fix  herself  near  Drumconnel — now 
commonly  called  Drum — where,  it  is  said,  her  uterine  brother, 
Conal,  had  a  church ;  but  Conal  regarding  this  intended  settle- 
ment as  a  kind  of  encroachment  on  his  own  religious  house,  got 
St.  Dachonna,  of  Eas  Dachonna,  now  Assylin,  to  dissuade  At- 
tracta  from  the  project,  which  that  saint  succeeded  in  doing,  but 
not  before  she  told  him  that  his  church  and  that  of  Conal  would 
soon  suffer  great  loss  of  revenue  from  the  erection  of  a  new 
monastery   between   them.     Colgan  erroneously   places   those 
churches  of  Dachonna  and  Conal,  as  well  as  the  new  monastery, 
in  the  county  Galway,  and  tries  hard  to  make  good  his  conten- 
tion ;  but  had  he  better  knowledge  of  the  county  Roscommon 
ho  would  have  seen  that  St.  Conal's  church  was  the  church  of 
Drumconnel,  to  the  south  of  Boyle ;  St.  Dachonna's  church,  that 
of  the  place  now  called  Assylin,  to  the  north  of  Boyle,  anciently 
called  Eas  Dachonna ;  and  the  new  monastery,  the  Cistercian 
abbey  of  Boyle,  whose  site  lies  exactly  between  these  two  churches. 
It  was  after  this,  Attracta  chose  for  her  abode  Greagraighe, 
for  so  Coolavin  was  then  called,  the  name  still  surviving  some- 
what in  the  denominations  of  Greggans  and  Gregaduf.     The 
spot  which  she  selected  was  a  great  thoroughfare  at  the  time, 
and   she   selected  it  precisely  because  it  afforded  most  scope 
for  her  comprehensive  charity.f     In  the  times  she  lived,  travel- 


*  Acta  Sanctorum,  p.  753  in  Vita  S.  Cormaci. 

t  This,  the  author  of  her  Life  expresses,  by  saying  she  would  not  place  her 
establishment  anywhere  except  where  seven  roads  met. 


HISTORY  OF  SLIGO.  871 


ling  was  daQgerous  and  painful  beyond  anything  we  can  now 
conceive.  There  being  no  roads  in  the  present  sense  of  the 
word,  no  inns  or  other  places  of  entertainment,  no  way  in 
general  of  moving  from  one  point  to  another  except  on  foot,  and 
that  through  places  often  beset  by  robbers  and  rabid  wild  boars 
and  wolves,  the  greatest  boon  that  could  be  conferred  on  such 
society  as  existed,  was  to  provide  retreats  in  which  the  weary 
and  hungry  traveller  might  have  lodging  and  refreshment,  both, 
too,  given  without  charge,  and  purely  from  the  love  of  God. 
Such  hospitality,  or  philoxeniaj  as  the  Greeks  called  it,  has 
been  always  and  everywhere  held  in  the  highest  honour, 
and  is  inculcated  almost  as  strongly  in  Homer*  as  in  St. 
Paul.t 

In  the  interests  of  this  work  of  mercy  the  Catholic  Church 
has  organized  hundreds  of  religious  Orders,  such  as  the  Freres 
Hospitaliers  and  the  Soeurs  Hospitalieres ;  and  it  is  greatly  to 
the  honour  of  St.  Attracta  that  she  seems  to  have  been  the  first 
in  this  country,  and  one  of  the  first  in  the  universal  Church,!  to 
organize  an  institution  for  the  practice  of  this  great  religious 
and  social  virtue ;  for  such  was  the  nature  of  the  so-called 
Hospital  which  she  established  at  Killaraght,  and  which  existed, 
apparently,  in  operation  down  to  the  Reformation,  when  it  was 
suppressed,  and  its  possessions  granted  to  Sir  John  King,  whose 
descendant,  Lord  Kingston,  is  entered  in  the  Quit  and  Crown 
Rents  Book  of  1692,  as  "Tenant  of  the  Hospital,  or  Religious 
House  called  Termon  Killeraght." 

Without  going  into  detail  it  will  be  well  to  notice  some  occur- 
rences, or  alleged  occurrences,  in  the  life  of  Saint  Attracta,  while 
dwelling  at  Killaraght.  At  the  time  her  fame  first  spread  abroad, 
it  happened  that  the  portion  of  Leyney  adjoining  The  Gap,  in  the 
parish  of  Kilmacteige,  was  preyed  on  by  a  wild  beast,  the 
circumstance  creating  a  panic  among  the  inhabitants.     To  tran- 

*  Pros  gar  Dios  eisin  apantes  xeinoi  te  ptokoi  te. — Odyssey,  xiv.,  57-58. 

t  "  And  hospitality  do  not  forget,  for  by  this  some,  being  not  aware  of  it, 
have  entertained  angels." — Hebrews  xiii.  2. 

X  St.  Jerome  and  St.  Paula,  about  the  beginning  of  the  5th  century,  estab- 
lished a  similar  hospital  in  Bethlehem  for  pilgrims  to  the  Holy  Land. 


872  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


quillize  his  people,  the  chief  of  Leyney,  who  was,  probably,  as 
ignorant  and  as  full  of  fear  as  themselves,  requested  the  help  of 
the  saint,  who,  if  we  are  to  trust  the  Life  in  Colgan,  repaired  to 
the  spot,  and  killed  the  beast  with  her  own  hand — the  truth, 
perhaps,  being  that  she  re-assured  the  panic-stricken,  and 
inspired  them  with  courage  to  attack  and  destroy  their  myste- 
rious enemy,  which,  instead  of  being  the  nondescript  monster, 
half  dragon  and  half  bear,  which  their  imagination  pictured, 
was  only  one  or  more  of  the  wild  boars  or  wolves  that  then 
infested  the  country. 

If  we  find  it  hard  to  understand  how  the  writer  of  the  Life, 
who  seems  to  have  been  Augustine  Magraidin,  of  the  Island  of 
All  Saints  in  Loughree,  could  believe  in  the  existence  of  such  a 
monster,  we  should  call  to  mind  that  Caesar,  the  most  cool- 
headed  of  men,  tells  us*  that  there  was,  in  the  Hercynian  forest, 
a  stag  with  a  single  horn  in  its  front,  which  after  a  time 
branches  out  like  a  palm  tree  ;  and  that  Pliny,  in  his  Natural 
History ,t  edifies  us  with  accounts  of  dragons,  basilisks,  and  the 
serpent's  egg. 

They  must  have  had  an  idea  in  England  that  those  bestice 
were  rather  common  in  Ireland ;  for  we  find  Geoffry  of  Mon- 
mouth, in  his  Hidoria  Britonunfij  narrating  that  one  of  them, 
appearing  on  the  British  coasts,  swallowed  up  a  number  of 
Britons,  including  Morvidus  their  king: — "  Advenerat  nam  que 
ex  partihus  Hibernici  maris  inauditse  feritatis  bellua,  quce 
incolas  mari times  sine  inter missione  devorabat.  Cumque  fama 
aures  regis  Morvidi  attigisset,  accessit  ipse  ad  illam,  et  solus 
cum  sola  congressus  est.  At  cum  omnia  tela  sua  in  illam  in 
vanum  consumpsisset  acceleravit  monstruni  illud,  et  apertis 
faucibus  ipsum  velut  pisciculum  devoravit." — Hist.  Brit, 
pag.  51. 

Soon  after  this  she  conferred  a  still  greater  benefit  on  her 

*  Commentaries -De  Bell.  Gall.,  vi.  16. 
t  Nat.  Hist.,  xvi.  95. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  373 


beloved  Leyney.  The  King  of  Connaught,  in  one  of  the  raids 
common  at  the  time,  carried  away  hostages  from  this  territory, 
and  lodged  them  in  one  of  his  strong  places.  To  rescue  them 
the  Chief  of  Leyney  despatched  some  forces,  who  broke  open 
the  prison  and  liberated  their  friends ;  but  the  King  of  Con- 
naught,  assembling  suddenly  his  troops,  and  coming  up  with 
the  Leyney  men  at  Killaraght,  surrounded  them  on  the  land 
side,  so  that  there  was  no  room  for  escape  except  by  the  lake, 
which  seemed  impassable.  In  this  extremity  they  had  recourse 
to  Saint  Attracta,  who  lived  on  the  margin  of  the  lake ;  and 
the  saint  extricated  them  from  their  dangerous  situation  by 
opening  for  them — as  some  think — a  passage  through  the 
waters  of  Lough  Gara,  like  that  opened  by  Moses  for  the  Israel- 
ites through  the  Eed  Sea,  but,  more  probably,  by  pointing  out 
some  shallow  or  ford,  with  which  her  local  knowledge  made 
her  acquainted,  and  over  which  they  made  their  way  to  the 
northern  side  of  this  great  sheet  of  water.* 

The  writer  in  Colgan  mentions  another  remarkable  transac- 
tion in  which  she  was  engaged,  and  which  throws  light  on  her 
times,  or  rather  on  the  time  in  which  the  Life  was  written. 
Desiring  to  outshine  contemporary  chiefs,  Keanfaelaid,  the 
Prince  of  the  territory,  engaged  in  the  erection  of  a  sumptuous 
palace,  and  ordered  his  subjects,  both  lay  and  religious,  to  bring 
in  their  quota  of  timber  for  the  work.  To  this  unjust  order 
Attracta  demurred,  claiming  exemption  in  virtue  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  ecclesiastical  immunity ;  but  the  savage  chief,  caring 
little  for  immunities  or  rights,  insisted  on  compliance  with  his 
order.  There  being  no  alternative  the  saint  repaired  to  the 
neighbouring  forest  in  company,  the  Life  says,  with  St.  Nathy, 
of  Achonry,  and  had  the  timber  felled;  but  at  a  time  when  there 
were  no  carts  or  similar  conveyances,  it  was  one  thing  to  cut 
down  the  timber,  and  quite  another  to  remove  it  from  the  forest 
to  where  it  was  wanted ;  and  so  formidable  did  this  part  of  the 

*  Between  the  upper  and  lower  portions  of  the  lake  there  is  a  neck  of  land 
over  which  they  may  have  passed. 


374  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO, 


task  laid  on  her  appear  to  her  biographer,  that,  deeming  it  too 
difficult  to  be  effected  by  human  means,  he  represents  the  saint 
as  recurring  to  miracles,  and  most  extraordinary  miracles  too,  for 
its  accomplishment.* 

This  constant  recourse  to  miracle  deprives  the  Life  of  much 
of  its  historical  value.  Instead  of  relating  the  facts  of  the 
saint's  career ;  instead  of  setting  her  before  us  as  she  lived  and 
laboured,  the  writer  at  every  turn  introduces  prodigies,  so  that 
miracles  are  the  beginning,  the  middle,  and  the  end  of  what 
he  tells  us  about  her.  But  this  extravagance  should  not  alter 
our  estimate  of  the  saint,  or  affect  that  admiration  of,  and 
reverence  for,  her  character,  which  everybody  must  feel  that 
ponders  on  her  life  of  self-sacrifice  and  single-minded  devotion 
to  the  welfare,  temporal  and  spiritual,  of  the  neighbour.  It 
was  this  life  that  sanctified  her,  long  before  Augustine  Ma- 
graidin  put  pen  to  paper,  and  sanctified  her  not  only  in  the  eyes 
of  the  people  of  Achonry,  but  of  the  rest  of  the  country  as  well. 
Of  the  respect  in  which  she  was  held  in  places  distant  from  her 
hospital,  we  have  a  proof  in  the  Life  of  St.  Berach.  We  are 
there  told  that  this  saint  had  a  dispute  with  a  "  magus  "  about 
a  piece  of  land — generally  at  the  bottom  of  all  Irish  disputes — 
and  that  the  dispute,  after  having  been  left  to  the  decision  of  a 
King  of  Scotland,  was  referred  by  him  to  the  arbitration  of  two 
Irish  chiefs,  Hugh,  Chief  of  Breffny,  and  Hugh,  Chief  of 
Annaly,  in  Longford ;  but  the  arbitrators,  knowing  that  the 
case  to  be  decided  had  already  stirred  up  wide-spread  ill- 
feeling,  refused  to  pronounce  their  decision  till  it  had  received 
the  concurrence  of  St.  Attracta,  feeling  that  her  approval 
would  justify  it  in  the  eyes  of  every  one,  as  in  the  event  it 
did. 

It  will  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  mention  that  a  relic,  called 
the  Cross  of  St.  Attracta,  was  formerly  well  known  in  the 
diocese  of  Achrony.     Its  legendary  origin  is  given  in  Colgan  ;t 


*  Acta  Sanct.,  p.  280,  cap.  xiii. 
t  Acta  Sanct.,  p.  279. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  375 


and  we  learn  from  MTirbis's  Hy-Fiachrach*  that  the  O'Mochains 
were  its  keepers.  It  is  likely  that  this  object  was  carried  by 
members  of  that  family,  on  set  occasions,  to  certain  centres  of 
devotion  to  the  saint,  such  as  her  well  at  Clogher,  and  her  well 
at  Glenawo,  near  the  Gap ;  and  the  writer  cannot  help  thinking 
that  the  place  called  Cross  in  the  townland  of  Clogher,  and  the 
place  in  the  parish  of  Kilmacteige  called  Cross,  with  the  prefix 
in  modern  times  of  Mullany's,  making  the  full  name  now 
Mullany's-Cross,  derive  those  names  which  have  hitherto 
puzzled  inquirers  into  their  origin,  not,  as  some  think,  from 
the  cross-roads  that  lie  at  present  near  these  spots,  but  from 
association  with  the  Cross  of  St.  Attracta. 

Owing  to  the  calamities  of  the  times,  the  festival  of  Saint 
Attracta  was  uncelebrated  from  the  Reformation  down  to  the 
year  1864,  when  the  Pope,  after  satisfying  himself  of  her  claims 
to  a  place  in  the  calendar  of  saints,  authorised,  by  an  Indult  of 
the  28th  July  of  that  year,  her  Mass  and  Office  to  be  again 
celebrated  in  Ireland.  For  this  renewal  of  ecclesiastical  honours 
to  the  saint,  religion  is  chiefly  indebted  to  the  late  Right  Rev. 
Dr.  Durcan  and  the  late  Very  Rev.  Daniel  Jones,  who  intro- 
duced and  pressed  the  case  at  Rome — both  those  saintly  men 
having  grown  up  in  sentiments  of  the  tenderest  devotion  to 
Attracta,  being,  one  and  the  other,  inhabitants  of  Kilmacteige, 
where  wells  and  ruins,  and  half  the  traditions  of  the  parish  are 
associated  with  her  name  and  history.  And  Father  Jones  had, 
besides,  a  weighty  reason  of  his  own  for  his  zealous  interven- 
tion, for  he  ascribed  to  the  prayers  of  the  saint  the  conversion, 
some  generations  back,  of  an  ancestor,  and,  through  that  ancestor, 
of  the  Jones  family  to  Catholicity  under,  to  say  the  least,  very 
extraordinary  circumstances.! 


*  From  Cuboirne  are  descended  Muinter  Mochain,  of  Cill  Athracht,  i.e., 
the  Keepers  of  the  Cross  of  St.  Athracht. — Page  41.  O'Donovan  adds  in  a 
note  that  ' '  he  has  not  been  able  to  determine  whether  Attracta's  Cross  is  still 
in  existence." 

+  They  are  detailed  in  the  admirable  Life  of  Mary  Aikenhead  by  T.  A, 
Page  417. 


376  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


The  ancestor,  referred  to,  hearing  that  the  priest  of  the  parish 
intended  to  denounce  on  a  certain  Sunday  a  scandal-giver  who 
lived  on  the  Banada  estate,  threatened  publicly  to  attend  the 
chapel  on  the  day  in  question,  and  to  horsewhip  the  priest  on 
the  altar  in  case  the  denunciation  occurred.  Nothing  daunted 
by  the  presence  of  the  owner  of  Banada,  who,  in  accomplishment 
of  his  threat,  came  to  the  chapel  and  took  up  a  conspicuous 
position  near  the  altar,  the  priest  warned  his  flock  solemnly  against 
the  evil  example,  and  the  evil  doer,  in  their  midst ;  and  next 
moment  Mr.  Jones,  white  with  rage,  rushed  up  to  the  altar,  and, 
amid  the  cries  of  the  excited  congregation  to  St.  Attracta  for 
help,  had  already  raised  his  arm  to  strike,  when  suddenly  the 
whip  dropped  from  his  hand,  and  the  hand  itself  fell  paralysed 
down  his  side.  The  whole  transaction,  but  more  especially  the 
startling  paralysis  of  Mr.  Jones,  filled  those  present  with  awe, 
and  above  all  Mr.  Jones  himself,  who,  regarding  the  protection 
of  the  priest  and  his  own  affliction  as  the  work  of  God,  and  as  a 
witness  in  favour  of  the  Catholic  religion,  became,  after  some 
days'  fervent  preparation  for  the  change,  a  member  of  the 
Catholic  Church.* 

If  Father  Daniel  Jones  felt  grateful  to  St.  Attracta  for  the 
part  he  believed  her  to  have  had  in  bringing  about  this  im- 
portant result,  the  good  father,  with  the  gratitude  which  is  a 
characteristic  virtue  of  every  member  of  his  family,  never  rested 
till  he  had  requited  the  favour  by  his  zealous  and  effective  co- 
operation in  restoring  to  her  the  honours  of  the  Liturgy.     And 


*  One  would  think  that  Longfellow  had  this  occurrence  before  his  mind 
when  he  described  in  his  Miracle  Play,  and  its  Stage  Directions,  the  words  and 
acts  of  the  Rabbi  Ben  Israel,  who  would  strike  the  Infant  Redeemer  in  the 
village  school : — 

*'  Come  hither,  boy,  to  me. 
As  surely  as  the  letter  Jod 
Once  cried  aloud,  and  spake  to  God, 
So  surely  shalt  thou  feel  this  rod 
And  punished  shalt  thou  be  ! 

"Here  Rabbi  Ben  Israel  shall  lift  up  his  rod  to  strike  Jesus,  and  his  right  arm 
shall  be  paralysed." 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  377 


there  were  few  thino^s  in  his  career  which  afforded  him  so  much 
gratification  in  after  life  as  the  share  he  had  in  this  good 
work.  It  was  the  same  with  Dr.  Durcan  ;  for  full  as  was  his 
episcopate  of  great  and  holy  undertakings  happily  accomplished, 
there  was  none  of  them  all  he  loved  so  much  to  think  on  as  the 
re-establishment  of  the  feast  of  St.  Attracta.* 


*  The  following  are  the  Prayer  and  proper  Lessons  of  the  Oflfice  for  the  feast 
of  Saint  Attracta.  They  were  drawn  up  by  Cardinal  Moran  ;  and  Achonry 
men  will  feel  the  greater  interest  in  his  Eminence  for  his  part  in  honouring  an 
Achonry  saint : — 

PRAYER. 

Deus  humilium  fortitudo,  qui  ad  promovendam  inter  Paganos  fidem,  beatam 
Attractam  Virginem  tuam  verbis  et  miraculis  potentem  effecisti,  praesta  ut 
cujus  patrocinio  juvamur  in  terris,  ejus  societatem  consequamur  in  coelis.  Per 
Dominum,  etc. 

FIRST  LESSON   OF  SECOND   NOCTURN. 

Hibernia,  Sanctorum  insula  divina  virtute  fecundata,  vix  orto  fidei  sole, 
innumera  germina  sanctitatis  protulit.  Imprimis  vero  castitatis  liliis  exornata 
est,  unde  et  illustre  Apostoli  sui  elogium  promeruit.  Quomodo,  inquit,  tota 
insula  plebs  Domini  effecta  est,  et  filii  ejus  et  filiae  Monachi  et  virgines  Christi 
esse  videntur,  et  jam  recenseri  vix  potest  eorum  numerus,  quae  improperia 
parentum  ac  persecutiones  hilari  animo  sustinentes  totas  se  religioni  et  Christo 
voverunt.  Inter  quas  Patritii  alumnas  se  Virginuni  chore  adjunxit  Sancta 
Attracta,  quae  in  Ultonia  nobili  genere  nata  est  sed  a  prima  aetate  pompas  ac 
divitias  respuens  saeculo  renuntiavit,  et  vanitates  hujus  mundi  nihil  esse  duxit 
ut  Christi  sponsa  esse  mereretur. 

SECOND   LESSON   OF    SECOND   NOCTURN. 

Nondum  adulta  nobile  certamen  adversus  Satanam  ejusque  illecebras  iuivit 
et  votum  castitatis  emisit.  Ut  autem  diviuis  rebus  liberius  vacaret  natale 
solum  deserens  fines  Connaciae  petiit,  ibique  orationibus  et  jejuniis  vacans  tota 
in  pietatis  exercitia  et  virtutis  stadium  incubuit.  Hospitalitatis  quoque  gratia 
enituit  et  seipum  suasque  opes  in  sublevandis  indigentium  miseriis  alacriter  im- 
pendit.  Pauperes  et  agrotos  undequaque  accedentes  Christi  charitate  amplexa 
est  et  eosdem  tum  terrena  ope  sublevavit  tum  verae  fidei  thesauris  divites 
effecit.  Plures  quoque  ab  iniquitatis  semitis  ad  justitiae  legem  convertit,  et  a 
servitute  idolorum  adduxit  ad  colendum  Dominum  ac  Deum  Jesum  Christum. 
Immo,  miraculorum  gloria  illustris  ejus  sanctitatis  fama  longe  lateque  per 
totam  insulam  pervulgata  est. 

THIRD   LESSON  OF   SECOND   NOCTURN. 

Inter  innumera  vero,  quae  a  Sancta  Attracta  mira  patrata  narrantur,  insigne 
imprimis  miraculum  est  quo  territorium  Lugniae  in  provincia  Connaciae  ab 
horrendo  monstro  libera vit.     Tota  siquidem  ilia  regie  belluae  hujus  feritate 


S78  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


There  is  a  tradition  in  the  neighbourhood  that  Attracta  was 
remarkable  for  her  faculty  of  curing  the  sick.  It  is  told,for  instance, 
that  she  restored  to  health  a  woman  who  had  tried  in  vain 
every  other  means  of  cure.  Hearing  of  this  person,  the  saint 
visited  her,  and  learning  from  her  that  all  the  doctors,  or  such 
as  passed  for  doctors  in  those  days,  had  given  her  up,  she  under- 
took and  effected  her  recovery.  It  does  not  appear  from  the 
tradition  whether  this  faculty  of  the  saint  was  counted  a  super- 
natural gift  or  a  natural  talent,  for  some  of  the  country  people 
believe  that  the  cure  was  brought  about  by  means  of  certain 
herbs,  of  which  the  saint  alone  knew  the  efficacy  ;  but  this  view 
plainly  savours  of  modern  times,  and  is,  no  doubt,  an  addition 
to  the  primitive  conviction  that  the  saint's  proceedings  were 
miraculous.  However  this  may  be,  it  is  true  to-day,  as  it  has 
been  continuously  for  the  last  twelve  hundred  years,  that  every 
man,  woman,  and  child  of  Coolavin  and  the  adjoining  districts 
regards  and  reveres  Attracta  as  one  of  the  most  favoured  and 
privileged  of  all  the  saints  and  servants  of  God. 

With  respect  to  the  succession  of  Parish  Priests: — In  the 
Register  of  1704  David  Henery  is  given  as  Parish  Priest ;  and  it 
is  there  stated  that  he  was  then  fifty  years  of  age,  that  he  was 
ordained  at  Cregan,  county  Gal  way,  in  1697,  by  Teige  Keohy, 
Bishop  of  Clonfert,  and  that  he  had  for  sureties  of  his  good 
behaviour,  as  required  by  the  Registration  Act,  Doctor  Francis 
McLea,  Kilteenane,  and  Phelim  Gara,  of  the  same  place. 

Owing  to  the  absence  of  records,  a  century  elapses  before  we 
fall  in  with  the  name  of  any  of  his  successors,  when,  in  1804,  we 


devastata  est,  et  incolsB  adeo  terrore  perculsi  sunt,  ut  a  terribili  ejus  aspectu 
ad  montes  et  cavernas  confugerent.  Attractam  tandem  supplices  rogarunt  ut 
in  tanta  afflictione  opem  sibi  et  auxilium  ferre  dignaretur.  Respondit  inclyta 
Virgo :  potens  est  Deus,  qui  mundum  ex  nihilo  creavit,  et  hominem  de  limo 
terrse  ad  suam  imaginem  plasmavit,  etiam  regionem  istam  de  tanta  peste 
omnino  liberare.  Tunc  genua  flectens  omni  fiducia  Deum  precabatur :  Ante- 
quam  vero  suis  precibus  finem  opposuit,  jam  exauditse  sunt  apud  Dominum, 
et  sseva  bellua  rugitus  emittens  et  torvo  collo  in  ipsam  Sanctam  irruens  divina 
virtute  interiit. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  379 


meet  with  that  of  Father  Frank  Cunnane,  who  resided  in  the 
town] and  of  Kilfree. 

Father  Roger  McDermot,  of  the  Coolavin  family,  was  Parish 
Priest  in  1825,  but  it  is  not  known  whether  he  was  the  imme- 
diate successor  of  Rev.  Frank  Cunnane  or  not. 

The  latest  two  Parish  Priests  were  the  two  brothers,  Yery 
Eev.  Canon  Peter  Brennan  and  Yery  Eev.  Canon  Roger  Brennan, 
the  latter  of  whom  died  on  the  3rd  of  December,  1880. 

The  joint  incumbencies  of  the  two  in  the  union  covered  some- 
thing more  than  half  a  century ;  and,  as  might  be  expected  in 
the  case  of  such  men,  under  such  circumstances,  they  are  held 
in  loving  remembrance,  not  only  by  the  people  of  the  parish 
whom  they  ministered  to,  for  so  many  years,  but  also  by  the 
priests  of  the  diocese,  with  whom  they  associated  so  long  and  so 
fraternally. 

Both  were  persons  of  sterling  worth  and  virtue.  Canon  Peter, 
the  elder  of  the  two,  was  a  sound  thinker,  an  effective  speaker, 
and  a  skilful  organizer,  and  being  besides  a  man  of  insight  and 
discretion,  his  fellow  priests,  if  a  question  of  taking  part  in  a 
public  movement  arose,  which  seldom  happened  in  their  time, 
were  much  inclined  to  be  guided  by  his  example  or  advice. 
Father  Peter  lived  respected  and  died  regretted  by  both  priests 
and  people. 

Canon  Roger  Brennan  had  little  desire  of  figuring  in  public, 
and  was  always  more  inclined  to  efface,  than  to  assert,  himself,  as 
if  his  principle  of  action  was  that  of  Des  Cartes'  motto.  Bene  vixit 
qui  bene  latuit.  Content  and  happy  in  the  sanctuary,  he  must 
have  often  said  to  himself.  Hie  hahitaho  quoniam  elegi  earn. 
For  the  rest,  he  was  an  accomplished  ecclesiastic,  being  an 
instructive  preacher,  a  solid  rather  than  a  showy  theologian,  and 
a  proficient  in  all  the  branches  of  ecclesiastical  science. 

In  dispositions,  behaviour,  and  manners,  he  was  all  meekness, 
gentleness,  and  humility,  and  it  was  these  virtues  more  espe-  f 

cially  which  led  those,  who  knew  him  best,  to  always  think  of 
him,  and  speak  of  him,  as  the  model  priest  of  the  diocese.  I 

To  this  good  Canon  the  parish  of  Kilfree  is  indebted  for  its 


380 


HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


beautiful  Gothic  church,  the  foundation  stone  of  which  was  laid 
on  Monday,  the  21st  May,  1866,  by  Eight  Reverend  Doctor 
Durcan,  in  presence  of  many  of  the  clergy,  and  great  numbers 
of  the  laity,  of  the  county.  In  this  church  the  two  brothers  lie 
together  in  the  same  grave,  and  in  memory  of  them  stand  two 
beautiful  terra  cotta  statues,  one  of  the  Redeemer,  and  the 
other  of  the  Blessed  Virgin — the  former  on  the  Gospel  side, 
and  the  latter  on  the  Epistle  side,  of  the  high  altar,  bearing 
respectively  the  inscriptions  : — 


In  Memory  of  Very  Rev. 
Peter  Canon  Brennan,  P.P. 
May  he  rest  in  peace. 
Amen. 


In  Memory  of  Very  Rev. 

Roger  Canon  Brennan,  P.P. 

May  he  rest  in  peace. 

Amen. 


The  Very  Rev.  Canon  O'Donoghue  succeeded  Canon  Roger 
Brennan  as  Parish  Priest  of  the  Gurteen  union  in  1881,  and  is 
the  present  Parish  Priest. 

The  townland  of  Monasteredan  has  its  name  from  a  religious 
house  founded  by  St.  Aedhan  or  Aidan.  There  are  twenty- 
two  saints  of  this  name  in  the  martyrology  of  Tallaght,  and 
twenty-three  in  O'Clery's,  or,  the  martyrology  of  Donegal,  so 
that  one  must  think  a  little  before  fixing  on  the  Aidan  to  whom 
we  are  indebted  for  the  Coolavin  establishment.  Some  take 
him  to  be  the  Aedhan,  otherwise  Mogue,  of  Ferns ;  but  this  saint 
is  not  the  founder,  for  though  he  was  a  native  of  the  neighbour- 
ing district  of  Breffney,  he  passed  early  to  Leinster,  and  seems  to 
have  never  returned  to  Connaught  except  on  one  occasion,  when 
he  came  no  further  north  than  Kilmacduagh. 

The  founder  of  Monasteredan  is,  in  the  opinion  of  the  writer, 
he  of  whom  the  Four  Masters  thus  record  the  death  under  the 
year  557,  "Saint  Aedhan  O'Fiachrach  died."  The  Annals  of 
Ulster  have  his  obit  in  569  in  these  words  :  "  Aedan  Ua  Fiach- 
rach  obiit ;  and,  Dr.  Lanigan*  says  of  him,  "  To  the  year  558  is 
affixed  the  death  of  St.  Aidan,  of  Hua  Fiachra,  of  whom  I 


Ecclesiastical  History,  Vol  II.,  p.  104. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  3S1 


cannot  discover  any  further  account."  Saint  Aidan  is  said  to  be 
of  Hy  Fiachrach  (Tireragh),  as  being  a  native  of  that  district. 

When  grown  up  Aidan  settled  in  the  diocese  of  Achonry.  In 
the  Tribes  and  Customs  of  Hy  Fiachrach  *  he  is  described  as 
"  of  Cloonoghill  in  Corran,"  and  in  Colgan's  Life  of  St.  Cormac,t 
we  find  him  remonstrating^  somewhat  authoritatively  with  that 
saint  for  coming  at  all  into  the  diocese.  It  is  clearly  then  to  this 
Aidan,  thus  connected  with  Achonry,  that  the  diocese  is  indebted 
for  Monasteredan,  which  is  within  a  few  miles  of  Cloonoghill ; 
for  Killedan,  which  is  in  the  county  Mayo,  but  in  the  diocese  of 
Achonry;  and,  no  doubt,  for  the  first  church  of  Cloonoghill, 
which  may,  in  the  beginning,  have  been  called  after  him,  though 
losing  the  name  through  time,  in  consequence  of  the  saint 
removing  from  the  place. 

Within  a  few  yards  of  Monasteredan  new  church,  took  place, 
on  the  22nd  March,  1880,  the  tragedy  in  which  two  countrymen, 
named  Corcoran  and  Flannery,  on  the  one  side,  and  Sergeant 
Armstrong,  on  the  other,  lost  their  lives  in  mutual  conflict. 
Corcoran  and  Flannery  were  shot  dead,  by  the  police  party,  in 
the  fields  on  the  edge  of  the  roadway,  where  two  cairns,  six  or 
seven  feet  high,  and  eight  feet  from  one  another,  mark  now  the 
fatal  spot.  Constable  Hayes,  one  of  the  police  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  sergeant,  was  saved  partly  by  his  own  presence  of 
mind,  and  partly  by  the  heroism  of  a  country  girl  named  Mary 
Bermingham. 

After  he  had  fallen,  grievously  wounded,  to  the  earth,  and 
the  enraged  countrymen  had  already  the  stones  lifted  to  despatch 


*  The  Genealogies,  Tribes,  and  Customs  of  Hy  Fiachracli ;  with  a  translation 
and  notes,  by  John  O'Donovan,  p.  37. 

t  Acta  Sanct.,  26  Martii. 

X  Acta  Sanctorum — Vita  S.  Corbmaci,  Abbatis — 26  Martii,  p.  751.  Colgan 
refers  us  to  the  Life  of  St.  Fidmaine  for  further  information  regarding  Aidan, 
but  Fidmaine's  life  has  not  been  published. 

We  learn  from  the  Tribes  and  Customs  of  Hy  Fiachrach  (p.  37),  that  Fid- 
maine was  the  son  of  Fiodhbhadach,  and  that  Fearamhla  was  his  mother. 
"She  was  also,"  says  this  authority,  "the  mother  of  Aodhan  of  Cluain 
Eochaille,  in  Corann," — so  that  Fidmaine  and  Aedan  were  brothers. 


382 


HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


him,  he  cried  oat,  showing  his  scapular,  "  Kill  me  if  you  will, 
but  bring  me  the  priest  first."  The  sight  of  the  scapular 
arrested  for  a  moment  the  uplifted  arms,  and  moved  the  pious 
and  heroic  girl  so  strongly,  that  she  threw  herself  on  Hayes  as 
he  lay  helpless  on  the  ground,  and  covering,  with  her  person, 
his  head  and  chest,  protested,  *'  that  they  should  have  to  kill 
her  before  they  could  harm  him."  Such  devotedness,  combined 
with  the  sight  of  the  scapular,  touched  all  hearts,  and  the  life 
of  the  poor  constable  was  saved.  The  reader  will  not  be  sorry 
to  learn,  that  Hayes,  on  recovering  from  the  illness  resulting 
from  his  wounds,  offered  Mary  Bermingham  his  hand,  and  that 
she  is  now  his  wife. 


WELL  OF   ST.    ATTRACTA.* 


In  the  townland  of  Clogher,  in  this  parish,  is  one  of  the  most 
famous  of  the  many  wells  dedicated  to  Saint  Attracta.  It  is 
enclosed  on  three  sides  by  walls,  in  the  centre  one  of  which  is 
sculptured,  on  a  limestone  flag,  the  figure  of  Christ  as  he  hung 


*  Drawn  on  the  wood  by  VV.  F.   Wakeman,  F.R.H.A.,A.I.,  from  a  Sketch 
by  Mr.  Coleman,  Ballaghaderreen. 


HISTORY   OF  SLIGO.  383 


on  the  cross,  with  the  instruments  of  the  Passion  carved  on 
either  side  of  him — a  piece  of  work  which  does  honour  to  some 
local  artist  of  the  sixteenth,  or  the  earlier  years,  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  On  the  top  of  this  wall  is  a  row  of  those 
mysterious  rounded  stones,  which  one  meets  with  in  so  many 
other  places  of  the  county,  as  Toomour,  Inismurray,  and 
Killerry.  Till  within  the  last  few  years  great  crowds  gathered 
here  on  the  Saint's  festival,  the  11th  August ;  and  it  is  said,  that 
things  passed  off  at  this  well  more  decorously  than  in  several 
other  places,  where  serious  abuses  not  unfrequently  occurred. 
Even  still  a  score  or  two  of  pious  people  may  be  seen  on  the 
11th  August,  going  through  the  exercises  of  the  station. 

In  the  same  townland,  and  within  the  MacDermot*s  demesne, 
stands  a  fine  example  of  the  cashel,  which  may  be  the  Rath- 
Clochair  mentioned  by  the  Four  Masters,  a.m.  4328.  It  has  a 
diameter  of  ninety  feet  interior  measurement,  is  constructed  of 
the  stone  of  the  district — sandstone  for  the  most  part — and 
contains  in  the  thickness  of  the  wall  a  spacious  cave,  which 
runs  a  good  way  round,  if  not  the  whole  way.  At  present  the 
structure  is  much  dilapidated,  but  one  may  judge  from  some 
parts  of  it,  that  the  original  height  was  about  twelve  feet.  The 
planting,  in  and  round  this  interesting  piece  of  antiquity,  mars 
not  a  little  its  appearance  and  effect. 

Monasteredan  new  church  is  one  of  the  prettiest  and  best 
finished  in  the  county.  It  consists  of  a  nave  and  chancel,  with 
a  handsome  sacristy  and  beautiful  belfry.  The  high  altar  is  a 
presentation  of  the  late  Mr.  Thomas  MacDermot.  The  church 
was  erected  by  Very  Reverend  Denis  O'Hara,  and  will  rest  a 
memorial  of  his  taste  and  zeal.  Mr.  James  MacDonogh  of 
Ballysadare,  who  was  the  contractor  and  builder,  executed  his 
office  in  a  way  that  does  him  the  highest  credit. 

Within  a  few  yards  of  the  church  is  the  remains  of  Saint 
Aidan's  monastery.  Like  other  primitive  ecclesiastical  establish- 
ments it  stood  within  a  rath,  or  fort,  which,  as  generally  happens 
in  such  structures,  contains  a  cave — the  souterrain,  if  country 
gossip  could  be  relied  on,  extending  forty  yards,  which,  however. 


384  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


must  in  the  circumstances,  be  an  exaggeration.  The  covering 
stones  are  still  in  situ,  and  are  large,  one  exposed  to  view 
measuring  five  feet  six  in  length,  two  feet  in  width,  and  one 
foot  in  thickness.  The  place  is  now  a  neat  burying  ground, 
being  surrounded  by  a  good  wall,  with  a  fine  gate,  over  which 
extends  a  cut  stone  lintel,  surmounted  by  an  Irish  cross.  On 
the  lintel  is  the  inscription  : — 

"1883. 

IT   IS  A   HOLY 

AND 

WHOLESOME  THOUGHT 

TO   PRAY   FOR   THE   DEAD. 

2  MacJi.  xii.,  46. 

MAY   THEY  REST  IN  PEACE.      AMEN." 

Clogher  contains  a  Presbyterian  manse,  church,  and  school. 
The  manse  was  erected  in  1850,  and  the  church  in  1851,  the 
school  coming  somewhat  later.  Eeverend  Mr.  Smith  is  the 
minister. 


CHAPTER  XXXY. 

BARONY   OF  TIRERAGH. 
UNION   OF  SKREEN   AND   DROMARD. 

TiRERAGii,  of  which  the  limits  have  been  already  described, 
belonged  to  the  sept  of  the  O'Dowdas,  or  O'Dowds,  so  long  as 
the  Irish  bore  rule  in  the  territory.  If  the  power  of  this  family 
began  to  wane  earlier  than  that  of  neighbouring  chiefs,  it  is  not 
so  remarkable,  as  the  O'Dowds  came  to  the  front  in  Lower 
Connaught  sooner  than  others.  Long  before  the  O'Conors  left 
the  regions  of  Roscommon  ;  several  centuries  before  the  Mac 
Donoghs  took  that  name,  the  O'Dowds  were  rulers  of  Lower 
Connaught,  that  is,  of  the  district  extending,  at  first,  from  the 
Curlews  to  the  Erne,  and  later,  from  the  Curlews  to  Drum- 
cliff. 

The  family  descends  from  Eochy  Moyvane  through  his  son 
Fiachra  Foltsnathach,  or,  Fiachra  of  the  flowing  hair ;  Dathi, 
son  of  this  Fiachra;  Fiachra  Ealgach,  son  of  Dathi;  Maoldubh, 
son  of  Fiachra  Ealgach  ;  Tiobraide,  son  of  Maoldubh ;  Donogh 
Muirisc,  son  of  Tiobraide,  slain  in  681 ;  Ollioll,  son  of  Donogh 
Muirisc;  Cathal,  son  of  Ollioll;  Donogh,  son  of  Cathal; 
Cosnamhach,  father  of  Dubhda ;  and  Dubhda,  who  died  about 
876,  and  who  left  his  name  to  his  descendants,  as  Ui  Dubhda, 
or  O'Dowdas,  that  is,  descendants  of  Dubhda. 

In  the  time  of  Dubhda's  father,  Cosnamhach,  the  government 
of  Connaught  passed  from  that  branch  of  the  Hy  Fiachra :  first, 
to  the  family  of  Guaire  Aidhne,  and,  soon  after,  to  the  O'Conors, 
the  descendants  of  Brian,  the  eldest  son  of  Eochy  Moyvane, 
and  the  ancestor  of  all  the  Hy  Bruin  tribes  ;  but  the  family  of 
Dubhda  continued  to  rule  Lower  Connaught  as  O'Dowds,  his 
grandson  Hugh  O'Dowd,  who  died,  according  to  the  Four 
VOL.   II.  2  B 


886  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


Masters,  in  981,  being  styled,  in  the  Annals  of  Lecan,  "  King  of 
North  Connaught,"  and  his  great-grandson,  Mulrony  O'Dowd, 
who  died  in  1005,  having  the  style  and  title  of  *'  Lord  of  Hy 
Fiachra  Muirisc/'  or  Tireragh. 

From  the  coming  of  the  English  into  Connaught,  about  1237, 
they  kept  possession  of  Tireragh  for  more  than  a  century,  the 
Berminghams  being  the  chief  English  family  of  the  district ; 
after  which  time  the  O'Dowds  dislodged  them  in  great  part, 
and  divided  the  territory  among  themselves.  Sen  Brian,  who 
died  in  1354,  recovered  much  of  the  country.  He  was  succeeded 
in  the  chieftaincy  by  his  son  Donnell,  who  was  a  warlike  man, 
and  who,  in  1371,  drove  the  English  out  of  his  territory,  and 
divided  it  among  his  kinsmen  and  followers.  DonnelFs  son 
and  successor  was  Eory  O'Dowd,  of  whom  McFirbis  gives  this 
flattering  obituary,  "  Roderick  O'Dowd,  a  magnificent,  wealthy, 
prudent,  and  brave  man ;  he  defended  his  territory  against 
English  and  Irish ;  he  demolished  the  walls  and  castles  of  his 
enemies,  contributed  liberally  to  the  erection  of  churches  and 
monasteries,  and  was  a  munificent  benefactor  of  the  clergy  and 
literary  men." 

As  might  be  expected,  considering  the  extensive  sea-board  of 
Tireragh,  the  O'Dowds  addicted  themselves  largely  to  a 
maritime  life,  having  provided  themselves  with  a  considerable 
fleet  of  such  vessels  as  were  in  use  in  their  time.  With  this 
fleet  Donnell  Finn  O'Dowd  bore  down  on  Tirconnell  in  1126, 
and  ravaged  it,  but  was  drowned  while  returning  with  his  prey. 
Another  O'Dowd,  Donogh  More,  sailed,  in  1213,  with  fifty-six 
ships  to  the  Owles  in  Gal  way,  and  compelled  Cathal  Crovderg 
O'Conor  to  exempt  from  rent  Tireragh,  which  had  previously  to 
pay  tribute  to  the  King  of  Connaught.  A  still  greater  naval 
exploit,  was  a  victory  which  Cosnamach  O'Dowd,  at  the  head  of 
the  Irish  navy,  gained  in  1154,  near  Inishoweu,  over  the  com- 
bined navies  of  Scotland,  the  Hebrides,  and  the  Isle  of  Man, 
though  this  victory,  like  that  of  Nelson  at  Trafalgar,  cost  the 
victor  his  life.     The  battle  is  well  described  by  the  Four  Masters. 

Though  Sen  Brian   and  the   other  O'Dowds,  who   rescued 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  387 


Tireragh  from  tlie  English,  divided  it  among  themselves  instead 
of  restoring  it  to  the  descendants  of  the  old  occupiers,  still  the 
family  does  not  seem  to  have  ever  again  reached  the  position  of 
power  and  dignity  which  they  held  before  the  English  irruption 
into  their  territory.  With  the  O'Connors  Sligo  on  the  one 
side,  and  the  Burkes  and  Berminghams  on  the  other,  they  were 
always  on  the  defensive  ;  for  while  the  O'Connors  Sligo 
exercised  a  chiefry  over  all  Tireragh,  and  held  Buninna  and 
other  places  in  their  own  hands,  the  Burkes  and  Berminghams 
laboured  to  drive  the  O'Dowds  entirely  out  of  the  district. 

It  is  clear  from  our  old  annals,  that  the  O'Dowds  were  de- 
voted to  the  interests  of  religion.  It  was  while  on  a  pilgrimage 
to  the  abbey  of  Boyle,  in  1242,  that  Brian  Dearg  lost  his  life  ; 
Donnell,  after  expelling  the  English  in  1380,  occupied  himself 
with  the  erection  of  churches  and  monasteries  ;  E-ory,  who  died 
in  1417,  was  not  only  a  church  builder,  but  remarkable  for  his 
works  of  charity  and  mercy  ;  and  Teige  Riavach,  Donnell's  son, 
founded  the  abbey  of  Ardnarea,  and  was  a  great  benefactor  of 
the  abbey  of  Boyle,  as  may  be  inferred  from  the  lines  addressed 
to  him  by  Giolla  losa  More  MacFirbis : — 

*'  Oft  is  carried  from  thy  palace 
In  the  company  of  poets  and  saints, 
Cattle  from  the  fort  near  Leamhach, 
By  the  fraternity  of  arborous  Buill." 

The  struggle  of  the  O'Dowds  to  possess  the  castle  of  Ardnarea 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  illustrates  their  falling,  or  fallen  con- 
dition at  the  time.  After  Donnell  took  it  from  the  English  in 
1371,  his  descendants  retained  possession  for  near  two  hundred 
years.  The  Burkes  captured  it  about  1530,  and  the  O'Dowds 
recovering  it  in  1532,  the  Burkes  recaptured  the  place  in 
1533;  and  though  the  O'Dowds  lived  still  in  hope,  and  were 
always  on  the  watch  for  an  occasion  to  retake  it,  their  prospects 
became  soon  so  hopeless,  that  the  phrase,  Hell  get  it  when  the 
O'Dowds  get  Ardnarea ^  came  to  be  applied  as  a  proverb,  in  the 
neighbourhood  to  any  one  supposed  to  be  on  the  look-out  for  the 


388  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


impossible.  Notwithstanding  their  many  reverses,  the  O'Dowds 
continued  to  maintain  a  good  social  position  ;  and  on  the  list  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  county  Sligo,  to  whom  James  I.  granted 
pardon  in  1603,  are  the  names  of  Donald  O'Dowd  of  Kilglass, 
gent.,  and  four  other  O'Dowds  of  the  same ;  of  Donogh  McBrian 
O'Dowd  of  Eskerowen  (Iniscrone),  gent.,  and  five  more  of  the 
same  ;  of  Fariagh  O'Dowd,  of  Castletown,  gent.,  and  seven  more 
O'Dowds  of  the  same  ;  of  William  Keogh  O'Dowd,  of  Ballicas- 
lane,  gent. ;  and  of  Kory  O'Dowd,  of  Buninna,  gent. 

Two  other  Tireragh  families,  the  MacS weeny s  and  the  Mac- 
Donnells,  call  for  some  notice.  Spenser  derives  the  Mac- 
Sweenys  from  the  De  Yeres  of  England ;  others  refer  them  to 
a  Danish  origin,  Sweyne  being  a  Christian  name  in  Sweden  and 
Denmark  ;  but  it  seems  now  to  be  the  general  opinion  that  they 
are  a  branch  of  the  great  Celtic  family  of  O'Neil,  and  that  they 
descend  from  Suibhne,  son  of  Ronan,  son  of  Flattely  O'Neil, 
King  of  Oilech,  who  died  in  1036. 

Suibhne's  descendants  got  the  name  of  MacSuibhne,  or  Mac- 
Sweeny,  and,  being  of  a  martial  character,  took  to  the  profession 
of  arms,  and  served  princes  and  chiefs  as  constables  or  leaders 
of  galloglasses,  much  in  the  same  way  as  the  Swiss,  till  recently, 
took  service  in  the  armies  of  France  and  other  countries.  Their 
chief  place  of  residence  was  Tyrconnell,  or  Donegal,  where  the 
sept  branched  out  into  the  MacSweenys  of  Fanad,  the  Mac- 
Sweenys  of  Banagh,  and  the  MacSweenys  of  the  Territories,  or, 
Na  d  Tuadh  ;  but  they  soon  spread  to  Leinster,  Munster,  and 
Connaught ;  the  Connaught  MacSweenys  being  styled  Clann- 
Sweeny  of  Upper  and  Lower  Connaught. 

The  exact  time  at  which  they  came  to  Lower  Connaught  is 
not  stated,  but  it  must  have  been  in  or  before  the  fourteenth 
century,  as  Dowell  MacS  weeny  was  slain  in  1356  by  Donnell 
O'Connor;  as  two  MacSweenys  were  left  among  the  dead  on 
the  Strand  (Traigh  Eothaile)  in  the  battle  between  the  same 
Donnell  and  his  rival  Manus  O'Connor  in  1357  ;  and  as  Mac- 
Sweeny,  "  High  Constable  of  Connaught  from  the  mountain 
downwards,"  or,  as  he  is  styled  in  Mageoghegan's  translation  of 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  389 


the  AQnals  of  Clonmacnoise,  **MacSvvyney,  head  of  the  Gallow- 
glasses  of  Ighter  Connacht,"  was  slain  in  1397  with  his  two 
brothers  in  the  famous  battle  of  Kinnitty  (Cinn  Eitigh).  As  it 
fared  with  members  of  the  family  in  other  places,  so  the  Sligo 
MacSweenys,  though  connected  by  marriage  with  the  royal 
family  of  Connaught,  possessed,  at  first,  no  land  in  the  province, 
living  on  bonaght,  or  military  pay.  This  appears  from  the 
Topographical  poem  of  Giolla  losa  More  M'Firbis,  which  ac- 
quaints us  with  all  the  landowners  of  Tireragh  when  the  poem 
was  composed,  but  makes  no  mention  throughout  of  the  Mac- 
Sweenys. 

They  became,  however,  rooted  in  the  soil  in  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth,  or  perhaps  earlier,  as  we  find  them  in  the  beginning 
of  James  the  First's  reign,  scattered  over  the  district,  having 
extensive  possessions  in  Dunneil,  Dunnycofify,  Ardnaglass, 
Longford,  Altenelvick,  Carrowcashel,  and  Tanrego,  and  occupy- 
ing high  social  standing,  being  generally  classed  as  gentlemen 
in  the  General  Pardon  of  that  monarch  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  county  Sligo. 

The  MacDonnells,  like  the  MacSweenys,  were  constables  of 
galloglasses,  and  came  from  Scotland,  where  the  family  were 
Lords  of  the  Hebrides.  As  they  are  not  mentioned  in  the 
Topographical  poem  of  Giolla  losa  More  M'Firbis,  or  in  Dudley 
M'Firbis's  Genealogy  of  the  Hy-Fiachrach,  it  is  safe  to  infer 
that  they  had  no  lands  in  Tireragh  up  to  the  fifteenth  century ; 
but  about  that  time  they  fixed  themselves  at  Kathlee  and 
Eosslee,  in  the  parish  of  Easky,  where  they  had  castles  and 
considerable  landed  possessions,  and  where  we  find  their 
descendants  in  1603  under  the  names  of  Albanagh  and  Mac- 
Donnel],  described,  in  James  the  First's  General  Pardon,  as 
Henry  Albanagh,  of  Kathlee,  Gent. ;  Edward  Oge  Albanagh, 
of  the  same,  Knight ;  and  Pbillippo  Albanagh,  of  the  same, 
Knight ;  and  Moelmory  McDonnell,  of  Rosslee,  Gent. ;  Dowell 
M'Donnell,  of  the  same,  Knight;  and  Randal  McDonnell  of  the 
same.  Knight.  From  a  Chancery  Inquisition  taken  at  Sligo, 
20th  April,  1617,  it  appears  that  Hubert  Albinagh  and  Allen 


S90  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 

Albinagh,  late  of  Eathlee,  were  slain  in  rebellion  at  the  termou 
of  Ballassadara,"  or  Ballysadare. 

The  MacS weeny s  and  the  MacDonnells  were,  in  the  fifteenth 
and  sixteenth  centuries,  the  two  chief  families  of  Tireragh  after 
the  O'Dowds ;  but  long  before  these  centuries,  as  well  as  during 
them,  some  native  families  held  high  position  in  the  district, 
more  especially  those  of  O'Flannelly,  M'Kevaine  (Cavanagh), 
M'Firbis,  Conway,  Conmee,  O'Beolan  (Boland),  O'Finnegau, 
M'Nemy,  M'Gillemartin,  O'Dwdigan  (Dowdican),  O'Kelly, 
O'Downigan  (Dunnigan),  O'Meany,  O'Cosgrave,  O'Dunaghy, 
O'Muirghease,  O'Higgin,  O'Maely,  and  M'Gilliboy.  Of  twenty- 
six  Irish  names  distributed  through  Tireragh  at  the  taking  of 
the  Cromwellian  Census  of  1659,  the  highest  in  persons  were 
Dowd,  borne  by  17  persons;  Dowda,  by  7;  Burke,  by  15; 
Kelly,  by  15  ;  Boelan,  M'Donnell,  and  O'Gara,  by  14  each, 
Connellan,  by  18  ;  and  Ferbishy,  by  10.  It  will  be  seen  by 
this  list  that  the  Tireragh  Irish  had  dropped  the  0  and  Mac 
when  the  Census  was  taken. 

The  year  1641,  so  fatal  to  the  Irish,  led  to  the  ruin  of  the 
O'Dowds,  the  MacSweenys,  the  MacDonnells,  and  all  the  other 
old  Irish  who  had  estate  or  beneficial  interest  in  the  lands  of 
Tireragh.  With  the  exception  of  David  O'Dowd,  who  was 
transplanted  to  a  small  estate  in  Coolcarny  by  a  decree  of  the 
Loughrea  Commissioners,  dated  4th  August,  1656,  all  the 
Irish  of  the  district  were  deprived  of  their  patrimonial  pos- 
sessions, and  thrown  houseless  and  penniless  on  the  world — 
many  of  them  having  to  beg  for  the  means  of  subsistence  from 
door  to  door  over  the  lands  which  shortly  before  they  owned  or 
occupied.  Their  places  were  given  by  the  Commou  wealth 
authorities  to  Cromwell's  soldiers  and  officers,  several  of  whom 
were  constituted  local  proprietors,  or,  to  use  the  term  of  the 
time,  Tituladoes, 

These  Tituladoes  had  scopes  of  land  in  each  of  the  parishes 

into  which  Tireragh  is  divided.     In  the  parish  of  Castleconor 

John  Nicholls,  Gent,  had  Castleconor  and  Newtown,  and  Lewis 

"Wirgfield,  Scurmore;  in  the  parish  of  Easky,  William  Ormsby, 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  391 


Gent.,  had  Rathlee,  William  Boswell,  Gent,  Finidy,  James 
Ormsby,  Gent.,  Eosslee,  and  George  Ormsby,  Gent.,  Killyn  ;  in 
Kilmacsbalgan,  John  Bourke,  Gent.,  had  Dunneil,  Robert  Hillas, 
Gent.,  Dunmeakin,  William  Edwards,  Gent.,  Carrowrush,  and 
John  Irwin,  Gent.,  Carrowmalina  ;  in  Killglasse,  Thomas  Wood, 
Gent.,  had  Lacken  M'Ferbisy,  and  John  Moore,  PoUicheeny  ;  in 
Templeboy,  Christopher  Armstrong,  Gent,  and  Nicholas  Rut- 
ledge,  Gent.,  had  Dunecohy  ;  in  Skreen,  Lewis  Jones,  and 
Jeremy  Jones,  Gent,  had  Ardnaglasse  ;  and  in  Dromard,  Henry 
Craston  (Crofton?)  had  Longford,  Drumard,  Cloonagh,  and 
Carrowmacarrick ;  John  Irwin,  Tonregoe ;  and  Edward  Irwin, 
Lugbane. 

Notwithstanding  the  great  change  that  took  place  at  the 
Restoration,  many  of  these  Tituladoes,  with  the  characteristic 
tenacity  of  Cromwellians,  held  to  their  debentures,  and  figure 
among  the  grantees  of  the  Act  of  Settlement.  Those  who 
received  grants  under  that  act  in  Tireragh  are  the  following : — 
Robert  Choppyne,  and  Mary  his  wife,  relict  of  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Henry  Gore,  and  Frances  Gore,  daughter  of  the  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  ;  Sir  Arthur  Gore ;  Captain  Robert  Morgan ;  John 
Thornton ;  Captain  Charles  Collis ;  Captain  William  Ormsby, 
Cornet  George  Ormsby,  Nicholas  Rutledge,  and  James  Ormsby  ; 
Cornet  Thomas  Wood  ;  Lieutenant  John  Bourke ;  John  Nichol- 
son; Thomas  Lovelace;  George  Dodwell;  Jeremiah  Jones; 
Lord  Collooney  ;  Sir  Theophilus  Jones ;  John  Vaughan ;  Fitz- 
gerald Aylmer  ;  Captain  Lewis  Wingfield,  and  a  few  others. 

Dromard. — High  Ridge — which  is  the  most  eastern  parish 
of  the  barony  of  Tireragh,  and  diocese  of  Killalla,  has  its  name 
from  the  elevated  situation  of  its  old  church  on  the  slopes  of  the 
Ox  Mountain,  the  remainder  of  its  area  being  a  lowland  stretch 
along  the  left  bank  of  the  Ballysadare  estuary.  The  land  near 
the  sea  is  rich,  and  the  soil  higher  up,  though  light,  is  suited  for 
tillage  and  sheep  pasture.  Tanrego,  the  seat  of  Mr.  Yerschoyle, 
and  Longford,  the  seat  of  Sir  Malby  Crofton,  are  well  timbered 
and  picturesquely  situated,  and  have  each  interesting  historical 
associations. 


392  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


An  old  castle  and  bawn,  in  fair  preservation,  stand  on  the 
townland  of  Tanrego,  or,  as  it  used  to  be  called,  Tonrego,  the 
latter  being  the  more  correct  rendering  of  the  Irish  name. 
Whether  it  was  the  Irish  or  English  that  built  the  castle  is  not 
now  known;  but,  whoever  built  it,  the  MacSweenys  owned  it  in 
the  sixteenth  century ;  and  a  Chancery  inquisition  of  James  I., 
taken  at  Ballymote  before  Nicholas  Brady,  on  the  6th  July, 
1610,  finds  that  Bryan  Mac  Sweeny,  who  died  in  1608,  had 
eight  quarters  of  land  in  and  around  Tanrego,  and  that  Mael- 
murry  Mac  Sweeny  was  his  son,  and  was  of  full  age  at  the 
father's  death.  Lewis's  Topographical  Dictionary  of  Ireland, 
article,  Dromard,  states  that  "  Cromwell  took  the  place  and  burnt 
the  old  bawn  of  Tanrego,"  a  statement  without  a  particle  of  foun- 
dation, as  Oliver  never  set  foot  in  the  county  Sligo,  or  in  any 
other  county  of  Connaught. 

Before  the  time  of  the  Mac  Sweenys  the  family  of  the 
O'h-Aodha,  anglicised  Hayes  or  Hughes,  owned  Tanrego  ;  and 
after  the  Mac  Sweenys  lost  it,  the  place  was  given  to  John 
Irwin  as  Titulado  under  the  Cromwellian  regime.  Under  the 
Acts  of  Settlement  and  Explanation  the  castle,  bawn,  and  lands 
of  Tanrego  were  granted  to  John  Yaughan ;  but  John  Irwin, 
like  so  many  of  his  brother  Cromwellians,  could  not  be  dislodged, 
and  he  not  only  kept  the  place  himself,  but  passed  it  on  to  his 
descendants,  who  held  it  down  to  about  1850,  when  it  was  sold  to 
Captain  Olpherts,  relative  of  Wyby  More  Olpherts,  whom 
O'Donovan  represents  as  taking  a  very  creditable  interest  in  the 
local  antiquities  of  his  neighbourhood.  The  Captain  in  turn 
sold  Tanrego  and  his  other  lands  in  Dromard  to  Mr.  Yerschoyle, 
the  present  owner. 

Longford  was  one  of  the  chief  seats  of  the  O'Dowds,  and  is 
often  called  in  old  documents,  Longford  O'Dowd.  The  word 
Longford — Hihernice  Longphort — signifies  a  bawn,  a  castle,  a 
fortress ;  and  we  learn  from  the  Genealogical  MS.  of  Duald 
Mac  Firbis  that  the  English  erected  "all  the  bawn  of  Longford, 
except  Leaba  an  eich  hhuidhe,"  i.e.,  the  Bed  of  the  Yellow 
steed.     Nothing  certain  is  now   known  of  this  Leaba.     Lady 


HISTORY  OF  SLIGO.  393 


Morgan,  in  her  Patriotic  Sketches,  has  some  idle  tittle-tattle 
about  it;  but  the  plain  inference  from  the  Irish  words  is  that 
the  structure  was  the  stable  or  stall  of  some  favourite  horse  of 
the  O'Dowds. 

The  founder  of  the  Crofton  family  in  Ireland  was  John  Crofton, 
not  "  Edward  Crofton,  Escheator-General,"  as  Lady  Morgan  sup- 
poses. It  is  said  by  the  same  writer,  and  by  a  much  weightier 
authority  in  such  a  matter,  Sir  Bernard  Burke,  that  the  first 
Crofton  that  settled  in  Ireland  came  over  with  Essex ;  but  this, 
if  possible,  is  very  unlikely,  as  we  find  John  Crofton  already  in 
office  as  Clerk  of  the  Provincial  Council  of  Connaught  in  1572, 
the  year  previous  to  that  in  which  Essex  landed  in  this  country 
on  his  ill-fated  mission.*     That  John  Crofton  was  not  Escheator- 


*  The  following  letter  from  John  Crofton  to  the  Lord  Deputy,  written  on 
the  16th  July,  1572,  is  interesting  in  several  respects  :— "  I  cannot,  my  good 
Lord,  without  great  grief  of  mind,  write  the  lamentable  and  most  miserable 
estate  of  this  unhappy  town  (Athlone).  To  which  this  morning,  about  eight 
of  the  clock,  approached  on  the  east  side,  allongst  the  bog,  to  the  number,  as  I 
judged  them,  of  800  Scotts,  gallowglasses,  and  kyrnes,  who  very  boldly,  not- 
withstanding the  shot  of  the  castle,  entered  the  backside  of  the  town  and  fired 
the  same,  to  which  the  wind  so  served  them,  as  that  in  a  moment  all  the  town 
was  burnt,  so  as  not  any  one  house  is  standing.  Daring  the  whole  time  of  the 
fier  they  slipt  allongst  behind  the  town  to  the  Abbey,  and  on  the  north  side,  out 
of  the  danger  of  the  castle,  with  masons  broke  into  the  cloister,  and  so  fired  the 
loft  where  ray  malt  lay,  which,  once  set  on  fire,  kindled  the  roof  of  the  body  of 
the  church  where  the  rest  of  my  malt,  biscuit,  and  beer  was,  and  all  my  brewing 
and  baking  vessels,  which  are  all  consumed  with  fier,  saving  about  a  ton  and  a 
half  of  beer,  which  with  much  ado  is  saved  ;  and  as  God  would  have  it,  the 
most  part  of  the  wheat,  and  the  rest  was  laid  in  a  loft  which  was  shingled  and 
stood  on  a  vault,  to  which  for  fear  of  the  steeple,  the  enemies  durst  not 
approach,  is  saved  so  as,  God  be  thanked,  I  have  yet  unburnt,  very  near  cc. 
pecks  of  wheat  and  meal ;  as  for  malt  I  have  not  past  30  pecks  of  beer  malt, 
and  10  or  12  pecks  of  oat  malt,  whereof  part  was  in  the  loft  with  the  wheat, 
and  part  in  my  own  tower  where  I  dwell.  The  tun,  &c.,  of  beer,  and  xvi<=-  of 
biscuit,  which  by  chance  I  brought  home  to  my  own  house,  two  days  past,  for 
want  of  good  stowage.  This  is  the  sum  of  those  provisions  I  have  left,  both 
ready  and  unready,  neither  know  I  how  to  prepare  any  more,  having  neither 
place  nor  meet  vessels  to  do  it,  with  both  the  town  and  all  the  country  abouts 
being  utterly  destroyed,  whereupon  your  honour  is  there  to  provide  for  such 
soldiers  as  your  honour  mindeth  to  send  hither  which,  would  God  had  been 
here,  or  a  100  of  them,  for  if  they  had  been  here,  I  am  of  opinion  all  this  had 
not  happened."    This  letter  in  the  State  Papers  is  headed  "  John  Crofton  to 


394  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


General  at  his  arrival  in  Ireland  appears  from  a  letter  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  addressed  to  Sir  William  Drury,  Lord  Justice,  and 
dated  February  22nd,  1579,  directing  the  appointment  of  "  John 
Crofton  to  the  office  of  Escheator  and  Feodary,  with  a  salary  of 
£5  a  year ;  to  be  held  by  himself  or  sufficient  deputy  during 
good  behaviour."* 

Edward  Crofton,  John's  son,  was  as  great  a  favourite  with 
James  I.  as  his  father  had  been  with  Elizabeth,  and  accordingly 
we  find  the  King,  in  the  first  year  of  his  reign,  writing  to  the 
Lord  Lieutenant,  and  directing  him  to  grant  to  Edward  Crofton, 
son  of  John  Crofton,  of  Connaught,  in  Ireland,  for  good  services 
done  to  Queen  Elizabeth  and  the  Crown  by  him  and  his  father, 
and  for  their  great  losses  sustained  in  the  late  wars  of  Ireland, 
the  reversion  of  all  such  lands  as  the  said  John  Crofton  holds  of 
the  King  by  any  leases  for  years  yet  unexpired. 

Though  the  O'Dowds  continued  to  be  chiefs  of  Longford,  the 
McSweenys  possessed  it  in  the  sixteenth  century  and  the  early 
years  of  the  seventeenth — 1st,  as  sub-chiefs  of  the  O'Dowds;  and, 
2nd,  as  grantees  of  the  monarchs  of  England  ;  and  it  was  from 
them  the  place  passed,  it  is  not  well  known  how,  to  the  Croftons. 
In  the  conflict  between  James  and  William  in  1689,  Longford 
castle  was  on  the  side  of  James,  the  owner  of  that  day  being 
Henry  Crofton,  who  was  an  ardent  Catholic,  as  well  as  a  loyal 
adherent  of  James.  Under  this  gentleman  the  castle  becoming 
a  thorn  in  the  side  of  the  Williamites  of  Tireragh,  Lord 
Kingston,  who  held  Sligo  for  William  at  the  head  of  a  consider- 
able force,  despatched,  under  the  command  of  Captains  William 
Ormsby  and  Francis  Gore,  a  large  party  of  picked  men,  who,  on 
their  arrival,  set  fire  to  the  castle,  "  smoaked  out  the  enemy,"  as 


the  Lord  Deputy — 1572— July  16  ;"  and  under  the  heading  is  the  Memorandum: 
*'  A  copy  of  John  Crofton,  his  letter  ;  he  is  Clerk  of  the  Council  there,  and  at 
my  request  took  upon  him  to  bake  and  brew  for  the  garrison."  On  the  margin 
of  letter  the  words,  "For  the  Lord  Burghley." — Kilkenny  Archceological 
Journal,  Vol.  V.,  p.  345. 
*  Morrin's  Patent  and  Close  Rolls  of  Elizabeth,  p.  26. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  395 


Harris  has  it,  and  thus  captured  the  place  with  large  stores  of 
arms  and  provisions. 

The  country  is  indebted  to  Longford  for  awakening  the  genius 
of  Lady  Morgan.  It  was  to  proclaim  the  admiration  she  felt  for 
the  place  and  its  inhabitants  that  she  ventured  first  into  print. 
With  that  object  she  composed,  in  1805,  her  first  novel — The 
Wild  Irish  Girl — giving  her  heroine  the  very  un-Irish  name  of 
Gloriana,  but  endowing  her,  en  revanche,  with  all  the  character- 
istic Irish  virtues  and  accomplishments.  It  was  at  Longford, 
too,  she  wrote  her  Patriotic  Sketches,  an  appropriate  title,  as 
they  breathe  in  every  page  the  purest  patriotism.  With  equal 
propriety  might  they  be  called  Sympathetic  Sketches,  as  the 
writer,  all  through,  is  in  the  most  thorough  sympathy  with  the 
persons  and  things  which  she  describes.  These  sketches  should 
be  oftener  in  our  hands,  not  merely  for  the  sake  of  their  patriot- 
ism, but  still  more  for  the  graphic  account  they  contain  of  the 
manners  and  habits  which  prevailed  through  the  county  Sligo 
at  the  close  of  the  last  century.  It  would  be  hardly  going  too 
far  to  say  that,  in  this  little  work,  Lady  Morgan  has  done,  in 
considerable  measure  for  the  west,  what  the  Banims  have  done 
for  the  south,  and  Carleton  has  done  for  the  north. 

And  it  was  in  the  same  place  she  wrote  her  Irish  Melodies  or 
Metrical  Fragments,  published  in  1807,  under  the  title  :  "  The 
Lay  of  an  Ancient  Irish  Harp,  or,  Metrical  Fragments,  by 
Miss  Owenson."  In  almost  every  one  of  the  Fragments,  no 
matter  what  the  subject,  it  is  easy  to  detect  the  genius  loci, 
while  three  of  them  are  expressly  connected  with  local  persons 
or  scenery. 

Fragment  V.,  entitled  The  Drawing  Koom,  is  addressed  to 
Lady  C-ft-n  (Crofton),  and  consists  of  ten  stanzas,  of  which  the 
two  following  are  interesting  for  their  personal  allusions  : — 


**  Thou  know'st  me  playful,  sportive,  wild, 
Simple,  ardent,  tender,  glowing  ; 
A  glance  can  chill  my  bosom's  spring, 
A  glance  can  set  it  warmly  flowing. 


396  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


' '  Thou'st  seen  me  midst  the  charming  group 
That  forms  thine  own  domestic  heaven, 
By  youthful  spirits  (wildly  gay) 
To  many  a  childish  folly  driven." 

Fragment  XVI.  is  inscribed  "  To  Signor  Alphonso  Pilligrini, 
LL.D.,  Professor  of  Italian  and  Spanish,  Trinity  College, 
Dublin — (Written  on  the  north-west  coast  of  Connaught,  at  the 
seat  of  Sir  M.  C — n,  [Crofton]  Bart.)."  It  is  occupied  with  a 
description  of  Longford  and  the  neighbourhood,  and  contains 
XIII.  stanzas,  of  which  three  or  four  may  be  quoted,  not  for 
their  poetry,  which  is  mediocre,  but  for  their  local  references : — 

"  The  castle  lies  low,  whose  towers  frowned  so  high, 
And  the  landscape  is  awful  and  bold  ; 
The  mountains  around  lift  their  heads  to  the  sky, 
And  the  woods  many  ages  have  told. 

* '  And  the  world's  greatest  ocean  still  dashes  its  wave 
'Gainst  the  coast  that  is  savagely  wild  : 
'Midst  the  castle's  grey  ruins  there  still  yawns  a  cave 
Where  the  sun's  cheering  light  never  smil'd. 

**  And  steep  is  the  precipice,  horrid  to  view, 
That  rears  o'er  the  ocean  its  crest ; 
They  say  that  no  bird  to  its  summit  e'er  flew, 
And  its  base  'neath  the  wave  seems  to  rest. 

"  And  many  a  pilgrim  has  pillow'd  his  head 
In  that  CELL  that  now  moulders  away. 
And  many  a  brave  chief  and  warrior  has  bled 
Near  these  walls  that  now  fall  to  decay." 

Fragment  XL.,  entitled  The  Tomb,  Miss  Owenson  tells  us, 
was  "  scribbled  on  a  tablet  amidst  the  sombre  but  interesting 
ruins  of  Sligo  Abbey."  In  this  impromptu  the  poetess  merely 
moralizes ;  and,  as  there  is  no  personal  or  local  allusion,  there  is 
no  occasion  to  quote,  particularly  as  her  moralizings  are  far  from 
novel. 

The  ''castle  "  mentioned  is  the  old  castle  of  the  O'Dowds ;  the 
**  cave  "  is  one  of  those  souterrains  commonly  found  in  raths  or 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  397 


cashels;  and  the  *' precipice  horrid  to  view  "is  Aughris  Head, 
called  in  Irish  Alt-Bo.  In  saying  that  "  no  bird  to  its  summit 
e'er  flew/'  she  uses  rather  large  poetic  licence,  as  Alt-Bo  is  hardly 
two  hundred  feet  high  ;  but  it  must  be  admitted,  that  the  dark, 
perpendicular  face  of  the  Alt,  the  loud-sounding  breakers  at  its 
base,  and  the  thousands  of  gulls  and  other  sea  fowl  that  are 
always  whirling  and  screaming  before  it,  invest  it  with  a  terror 
out  of  ail  proportion  to  its  height. 

The  "  CELL,"  Miss  Owenson  tells  us,  is  "a  small  chapel,  whose 
almost  unimpaired  walls  are  hung  with  a  crucifix,  and  the 
richly  carved  heads  of  many  of  the  saints."  This  cell  was,  no 
doubt,  an  oratory  erected  by  some  of  the  Catholic  Croftons, 
probably  by  Henry,  who  owned  the  place  in  1689. 

The  Croftons  came  to  Ireland  in  pre-Cromwellian  times,  and, 
unlike  some  of  their  neighbours — the  Joneses,  the  Woods,  the 
Irwins,  and  others,  who  accompanied  Oliver — they  have  been, 
as  a  rule,  free  from  that  hostility  to  Celts  and  Catholics,  which 
forms  the  distinguishing  attribute  of  the  genus  Cromwellianum, 
Sir  James  Crofton,  who  died  in  1849,  was  a  special  favourite  of 
the  Catholics  of  the  county  in  his  day. 

Buninna — Hibernice  Bunfinne — that  is,  the  mouth  of  the 
Finn  stream,  was  formerly  a  place  of  some  note.  The  English, 
soon  after  their  arrival  in  Cennaught,  erected  a  castle  there ; 
and  in  1308,  Thomas  McWalter,  the  constable  of  the  castle,  his 
brother,  and  many  other  English  were  slain  on  Slieve-da-Fn  by 
the  sons  of  Donnell  O'Connor.  Two  years  later  the  castle  was 
burned  and  plundered  by  a  party  of  the  O'Connors. 

After  the  expulsion  of  the  English,  the  O'Connors  took 
possession  of  the  place,  and  in  1494,  Donnell  O'Connor,  the  son 
of  Owen,  was  barbarously  slain  there  by  his  cousins,  in  order  to 
get  the  chieftainship  for  their  own  father,  which  they  effected. 
That  the  castle  of  Buninna  was  a  timber  structure,  we  may  infer 
from  the  burning  mentioned,  and  from  the  absence  of  all  trace 
of  stone.  Buninna  is  remarkable,  too,  as  having  been  for  some 
time  the  residence  of  the  Cistercians,  who  were  sent  out,  in  the 
12th  century,  from  Mellifont,  to  establish  a  new  abbey.     Before 


398  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


settling  definitively  at  Boyle,  they  remained  for  some  time  at 
Grellach-dinach  (perhaps  Kinnigrelly  in  the  parish  of  Bally- 
sad  are),  for  a  time  at  Drumconaind  (apparently  Assylin,  to  the 
north-east  of  Boyle),  and  for  two  years  and  six  months  at 
Buninna,  under  the  abbacy  of  Maurice  O'Duffy,  who,  in  1161, 
removed  his  charge  to  Boyle,  and  fixed  them  on  the  spot  where 
the  ruins  of  their  noble  abbey  still  stand. 

"Saint  Patrick  passed  through  Dromard  on  his  way  from  the 
Moy  to  Killaspugbrone,  and  there  is  some  tradition  that  he 
established  a  church  in  the  place.  The  well  called  Tuberpatrick, 
near  the  graveyard,  goes  to  countenance  this  tradition.  In  the 
graveyard  there  is  a  small  fragment  of  an  old  church,  but 
whether  it  was  dedicated  to  Saint  Patrick  or  not,  no  one  can 
tell.  The  cemetery  is  crowded,  and  contains  the  vault  of  the 
Cr  often  s. 

Archdall,  quoting  Bishop  Pococke's  Journal,  is  of  opinion  that 
there  was  an  abbey  at  Ballinley,  now  Ballinleg,  and  adds,  "  We 
know  nothing  further  of  it."  Nor  does  anybody  else ;  unless, 
what  is  very  likely,  that  it  was  at  Ballinley,  which  is  near 
Buninna,  the  Cistercians  resided  before  passing  to  Boyle,  and 
that  they  thus  gave  rise  to  the  tradition  of  an  abbey  being  once 
in  the  place.  Father  Walsh,  however,  is  of  opinion  that  the 
Ballinley,  of  Archdall,  is  the  place  now  called  Rosslea,  in  the 
parish  of  Easkey,  but  he  gives  no  authority  for  the  opinion,  nor 
could  he  give  any,  the  opinion  being  quite  untenable. 

Adjoining  Dromard,  on  the  west,  is  the  parish  of  Skreen, 
which  stretches  from  the  summit  of  the  Ox  Mountains — 17*78 
feet  high  at  this  point — down  to  the  sea.  This  parish  enjoys 
the  distinction  of  having  in  it  the  youngest  lake  in  Ireland,  that 
of  Lough  Achree,  the  lake  on  the  side  of  Slieve  Gamh,  formed 
by  an  earthquake,  which  occurred  so  late  as  1490.  luanote  on 
the  entry  of  the  Four  Masters,  O'Donovan  locates  this  lake  in 
Meemlough,  in  the  parish  of  Killoran.  He  was  led  astray  by 
supposing  the  Irish  name  of  Meemlough  to  be  madm-loc, 
erupted  lake ;  whereas  it  is  Magh-imleach,  the  marshy  plain, 
and  is  so  written  by  the  Four  Masters  under  the  year  1535. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  399 


There  is  no  lake  or  vestige  of  a  lake  at  Meemlough.  The  tra- 
dition of  the  eruption  of  Lough  Achree  was  vivid  in  Tireragh, 
eighty  or  ninety  years  ago,  as  Mr.  Feenaghty,  of  Portavade,  a 
good  Irish  scholar  and  antiquary,  once  informed  the  writer. 

Skreen  parish  contains  the  old  castle  of  Ardnaglass,  which, 
judging  by  the  ruins,  and  by  what  O'Donovan  says  of  it,  must 
have  been  an  imposing  structure.  The  townland  of  Ardnaglass, 
— the  Height  of  the  Fetters — is  sometimes  called  Ardabrone, 
and  sometimes  written  Ardglass.  Near  the  old  castle  is  the 
well  known  "  stand-house,"  the  scene  of  many  a  carouse,  not  to 
say  orgie,  in  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  and  through 
the  most  of  the  last.  This  was  the  case  more  especially  in  the 
summer  months,  when  the  buckeens  of  the  county  came  here, 
professedly  for  sea-bathing,  but  in  reality  to  glut  themselves 
with  oysters  during  the  day,  and  to  surfeit  themselves  with 
poteen  whiskey  at  night,  as  Arthur  Young  informs  us. 

Under  the  Commonwealth,  Lewis  Jones  and  Jeremy  Jones 
were  Tituladoes  of  Ardnaglass,  and  resided  in  the  castle ;  and  at 
the  Restoration,  the  place,  with  the  greater  part  of  the  parish, 
was  granted  to  the  same  persons.  The  Reverend  Mr.  Hill,  the 
talented  author  of  the  Plantation  in  Ulster ^  talks  of  the 
*^  numerous  and  hungry  swarm  of  adventurers,  bearing  the 
name  of  Jones,  that  invaded  Ireland  from  Wales  in  the  seven- 
teenth century."  Leaving  to  Mr.  Hill  his  responsibility  for  the 
adjective  '*  hungry,"  it  is  certain  that  immigrants  of  the  name 
were  particularly  '*  numerous,"  and  that  a  goodly  proportion  of 
them  were  quartered  in  the  county  Sligo.  To  say  nothing  of 
Sir  Roger  Jones,  who  came  to  the  county  before  the  troubles  of 
the  seventeenth  century  began,  large  debentures  were  granted 
to  Sir  Theophilus  Jones,  brother  of  the  bishop  of  Meath,  the 
notorious  scout-master  general  of  Oliver  Cromwell ;  to  another 
brother,  Oliver  Jones;  to  Jeremy  Jones;  to  his  son,  Lewis 
Jones ;  and  to  the  troopers  Corporal  John  Jones,  Christopher 
Jones,  and  Richard  Jones.  Jeremy  Jones  and  his  son  Lewis 
intermarried  both  with  the  Loftuses,  Lewis  being  married  to  his 


400  HISTORY   OF    SLIGO. 


own  first  cousin,  Anne  Loftus,  and  their  descendants  occupied, 
till  recently,  tlie  chief  places  in  Tireragh. 

The  church  of  Skreen  was  founded  in  the  seventh  century  by 
St.  Adamnan,  who  died  in  704,  and  got  its  name  from  the  Latin 
word  Scriniuni,  a  shrine,  because  in  it  was  deposited  Adamnan's 
shrine.  Two  shrines  of  Adamnan  are  mentioned  in  old  writings 
— one  inclosing  the  bones  of  Adamnan  himself,  and  the  other 
containing  various  relics  of  saints  collected  by  him,  and 
deposited  in  this  church  of  Skreen,*  which  seems  to  have  been 
erected  to  receive  and  preserve  them,  as  the  Sainte  Chaioelle  in 
Paris  was  erected  by  Saint  Louis  for  the  relics  brought  from  the 
east. 

The  church  was  built  on  a  site  previously  granted  to  Saint 
Columba.  The  Life  of  St.  Farannan  (Act.  Sanctorum,  p.  337,) 
relates  that,  when  Columba  visited  Tireragh,  after  the  conven- 
tion of  Drumceat,  Tipraid,  the  chief  of  Tireragh,  granted  him 
three  pleasant  (amcena)  places,  one  called,  in  later  times, 
Killchuana,  another  Altfarannan,  and  the  third  Cnoc-na-maoile ; 
the  last  name,  after  the  erection  of  a  church  on  the  spot,  being 
changed  into  Serin- Adamnan,  now  Skreen. 

Adamnan  left  his  name  to  other  objects  of  the  neighbourhood 
besides  the  church.  Over  the  Dunmoran  stream  there  is  a  flag, 
nine  feet  long  and  nine  inches  broad,  which  is  called  Droiched- 
Awnan,  the  Bridge  of  Awnan  or  Adamnan,  and  which,  no 
doubt,  is  the  Leo  Adamnan  of  the  Book  of  Fenagh  ;  and  near 
the  church,  but  on  the  north  side  of  the  road,  is  a  well  called 
Tubber  Awnan,  over  which  there  is  a  stone  monument,  which 


*  Dr.  Reeves,  in  his  scholarly  edition  of  Adamnan's  Life  of  Saint  Columba, 
writes  : — "  The  contents  of  the  shrine  were  various  relics  which  Adamnan 
himself  had  collected.  The  record  of  the  contents  of  the  shrine  is  contained 
in  a  Brussels  manuscript,  which  enumerates  26  articles  consisting  of  manu- 
scripts of  the  Gospels,  hymns,  and  poems  ;  articles  of  apparel  belonging  to  the 
saints  of  Ireland ;  and  a  few  relics  of  St.  Paul  and  the  Virgin  Mary ;  the 
aggregate  of  which  must  have  filled  a  large  box,  and  been  a  rather  heavy  load 
to  carry  about."— Memoir  of  St.  Adamnan,  in  Preface,  page  Ixiii. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  401 


the  Annals  of  Loch  Ce  call  "  a  tomb  of  hewn  stones,"  the 
curious  entry  regarding  it  occurring  at  the  year  1599,  and 
running  thus:  "  Benmumhan  Og  Ni  Duibhgennain,  daughter 
of  Maelechlainn,  son  of  Dubhthach  Og,  son  of  Dubhtach  Mor, 
erected  the  tomb  of  hewn  stones  which  is  over  the  edge  of  the 
great  well  of  the  Serin,  for  the  soul  of  her  husband,  i.e.,  the 
Vicar  Mac  Domhnaill ;  and  Eoghan  Mac  Domhnaill  was  his 
name." 

The  following  additional  facts  regarding  Skreen  are  recorded 
by  the  Four  Masters : — 
A.D.  1022.  Maelcoba  O'Gallagher,  coarb  of  Serin  Adamnan, 

died. 
1030.  Donougb,  Lord  of  Carbury,  was  killed  by  the  Hy 

Fiachrach  Muirisce,  in  the  doorway  of  the  house  of 

Serin  Adamnan. 
1395.  O'Flannelly,  Vicar  of  Skreen  Adamnan,  died. 
Thomas  O'Connor,  in  the  Ordnance  Survey  Letters  of  the 
county  Sligo,  reports :  "  Tradition  says  there  were  at  Skreen  24 
sacred  edifices  built  by  the  O'Dowds ;"  but  deeming,  apparently, 
this  statement  extravagant,  he  adds  :  "  It  is  said  for  truth  there 
were  seven  churches  in  Skreen.  The  people  can  point  out 
where  five  of  the  churches  stood."  However  this  may  be,  the 
Visitation  Book  of  1615  notices  only  one  church,  and  observes 
that  Henry  Perse,  Esq.,  was  E-ector  of  Skreen,  and  that  "  the 
church  and  chancel  were  thatched."  Father  Walsh,  too, 
witnesses  for  seven  churches  at  Skreen,  and  adds :  "  Of  the 
seven  churches  of  Skreene,  only  one  has  been  spared  by  the 
devastators.  The  others,  which  were  situated  under  the  road, 
or  present  cemetery,  have  altogether  disappeared,  as  they  were 
unseemly  spectacles  before  the  windows  of  the  modern  glebe 
house.  They  have  been  demolished,  and  their  ancient  site  is 
at  present  a  lawn  or  playground  for  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  the  reverend  rector."  It  would  be  hard  to  reconcile  this 
statement  with  the  official  account  in  the  Visitation  Book 
of  1615.  It  is  matter  of  regret  that  Father  Walsh  rarely,  if 
ever,  goes  to  the  sources  for  information. 

VOL.  II.  2  c 


402  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 

The  parishes  of  Skreen  and  Dromard  have  been  sometimes 
united,  and  sometimes  separate.  At  the  E;egistration  in  1704 
they  were  united,  the  Parish  Priest  being  Rev.  Conor  Conmy, 
who  resided  at  Longford,  was  ordained  at  Oranmore,  county 
Gal  way,  in  1G75,  by  Dr.  James  Lynch,  Archbishop  of  Tuam, 
and  had  for  sureties  of  good  behaviour  Edward  Crofton,  Long- 
ford, and  John  Malley,  Sligo. 

The  succession,  in  more  recent  times,  of  pastors  in  Dromard 
is  Rev.  Hugh  Deane,  Rev.  John  Kelly,  Rev.  P.  Dowdican,  Right 
Rev.  Dr.  Conway,  Rev.  M.  A.  Conway,  and  Rev.  Patrick  M'Nulty, 
the  present  incumbent.  Father  Deane  held  the  parish  in  the  last 
quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Father  John  Kelly  succeeded 
him,  and  died  in  1816.  According  to  Father  M*Nulty,  who  has 
the  history  of  Tireragh,  and,  more  especially,  its  ecclesiastical 
history,  at  his  fingers'  ends,  this  Father  John  Kelly  is  buried 
in  the  graveyard  of  Dromard,  by  the  side  of  five  other  priests 
of  his  name  and  lineage — Fathers  Bryan,  Thadeus,  John  (2), 
and  William — who  had  served  in  different  missions  of  the 
diocese,  but  were  all  conveyed  for  interment  to  Dromard,  the 
head-quarters  of  the  Kelly  family. 

Rev.  Peter  Dowdican  followed  Father  Kelly  in  1816,  and, 
after  an  incumbency  of  thirty-three  years,  died  on  the  21st 
June,  1848.  To  him  the  parish  is  indebted  for  the  parish 
church,  which  he  erected  on  a  fine  site  granted  by  the  Jones  of 
Banada,  and  which  was  dedicated  by  Dr.  MacHale  in  1828. 

Right  Rev.  Dr.  Conway,  the  present  respected  and  popular 
bishop  of  Killalla,  became  Parish  Priest  of  Dromard  in  1848, 
and,  shortly  after,  of  Skreen,  which  was  then  united  with 
Dromard,  and  has  remained  so  united  since. 

The  incumbency  of  Rev.  Michael  A.  Conway  fell  in  difficult 
times,  but  he  Was  well  equal  to  the  occasion. 

Father  Patrick  M'Nulty  is  the  present  pastor  of  the  union. 

The  Parish  Priests  of  Skreen,  before  its  recent  union  with 
Dromard,  were,  as  far  as  they  are  known,  Rev.  William  Kelly, 
who  held  the  living  for  fifty  years  ;  Rev.  Thomas  Rowan,  Yery 
Rev.  Dr.  Costello,  and  Rev.  John  Hopkins. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

PARISHES  OF  TEMPLEBOY,  KILMAC3HALGAN,  AND  EASKY. 

Templeboy  parish  lies  alongside  that  of  Skreen,  and  stretches  in 
the  form  of  a  triangle  from  the  sea  to  the  summit  of  the  Ox 
Mountains,  the  base  of  the  figure  resting  on  the  sea,  and  the 
apex  on  the  mountain.  The  top  region  of  the  area  is,  for  the 
most  part,  naked  rock,  and  the  central,  wild  upland,  while  the 
stretch  along  the  shore  is  good  land,  equally  fit  for  tillage  or 
pasture.  In  the  north-west  angle  of  the  parish  is  Donaghin- 
traine,  where  there  formerly  stood  a  great  dun  or  fortress,  which 
in  1249  was  the  scene  of  some  vigorous  proceedings  between 
Felim  O'Conor  and  the  Berminghams,  in  which  Felim  came  off 
the  victor.  Doaaghintraine — the  present  name  of  the  place — 
is  a  corrupt  form  of  Dun  Contreathain,  or  Dun  Cintreathain, 
the  name  being  written  both  ways,  and  signifying,  according  to 
the  former  spelling,  the  Fort  of  the  Hero  of  the  Sea,  and 
according  to  the  latter,  the  Fort  of  the  Head  of  the  Sea. 

In  the  townland  of  Grangemore  there  was  a  small  stone 
castle,  twenty-four  feet  square,  considerable  ruins  of  which  still 
remain,  showing,  in  one  of  the  sides,  a  triangular-headed  door- 
way and  a  triangular-headed  window,  and,  in  the  interior,  a 
spiral  stone  stairway  leading  to  a  floor  resting  on  a  stone 
vault.  Though  it  is  nowhere  stated,  there  can  be  hardly  any 
doubt  that  this  building  was  the  grange,  which  served  both  as 
a  residence  and  a  store-house  to  the  religious  who  owned  the 
place.* 


*  Father  Walsh,  in  his  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Ireland,  page  649,  writes, 
*'Near  the  church  of  Grangemore  many  religious  were  slaughtered  by  the 
persecutors."  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  he  gives  no  authority  for  the  state- 
ment, nor  particulars. 


404  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


In  Grangebeg  there  is  a  kistraen,  or  "giant's grave,"  bounded 
by  large  stones,  and  measuring  twenty-one  feet  by  ten,  interior 
measurement.  There  is  no  local  tradition  concerning  the  age 
or  object  of  this  structure.  As  often  happens  in  similar  mega- 
lithic  remains,  there  is  in  one  end  of  the  enclosure  a  rude  door 
formed  by  two  large  stones,  set  up  as  jambs  on  each  side  of  an 
open  about  two  feet  wide.  0' Donovan  states,  that  in  an  old 
map  in  the  State  Paper  Office  a  castle  or  large  house  is  shown 
on  this  townland,  the  structure,  no  doubt,  having  the  same 
destination  as  that  in  Grangemore.  The  remains  of  Grangebeg 
old  church  are  said  to  have  been  greatly  dilapidated  by  the  late 
Captain  King,  who  used  the  materials  for  fencing. 

Near  Donaghintraine  are  Ballykillcaish  and  Dunnycoffie,  or 
Dunycoy,  the  former  having  its  name  from  a  family  named  Mac- 
Gillichais,  that  once  owned  it ;  and  Dunnycoffie,  from  old 
occupants  named  O'Coffey.  In  1G17  James  I.  granted  to  Owen 
M' James  M'Sweeny,  of  Dunnycoffie,  half  of  the  "  castle,  town, 
and  lands"  of  Dunnycoffie;  half  of  the  "town,  lands,  and  quarter" 
of  Ballymacgillicais ;  and  half  of  the  "  castle,  town,  and  lands  " 
of  Donaghintraine;  and  to  three  other  MacSweenys  the  re- 
maining halves  of  these  various  possessions. 

Rathurlish,  the  well-known  fort  of  the  name,  claims,  in  passing, 
a  word  of  notice  for  its  old  as  well  as  for  its  new  associations. 
As  to  the  past,  it  is  connected  in  the  Tribes  and  Customs  of 
By  Fiachrach  with  the  kings  of  the  territory,  and  as  to  its 
recent  history,  it  has  been,  within  the  last  few  years,  the 
theatre  of  two  great  political  meetings,  which  were  attended  by 
the  priests  and  people  of  Tireragh,  and  at  which  Mr.  Sexton 
treated  the  assembled  thousands  to  some  choice  morceaux  of 
genuine  eloquence. 

Templeboy  might  signify  the  Yellow  Church,  but  it  is  be- 
lieved to  have  its  name  from  a  patron  saint  named  Baithin. 
It  is  very  likely  that  he  is  the  Baithin  who  was  one  of  the 
deputation  of  five  sent  to  lona  to  invite  St.  Columba  to  the 
convention  of  Drumceat,  the  other  delegates  being  Saints 
Cuanus,  Garvan,  Colman,  and  Farannan ;  and  the  conjecture 


HISTORY    OF   SLIGO.  405 


is  the  more  likely,  as  two  other  members  of  the  deputation — 
Ouanus  and  Farannan — are  honoured  in  the  neighbourhood : 
Cuanus  in  the  parish  of  Skreen,  and  Farannan  in  that  of 
Easky. 

The  church  was  a  good  sized  fabric,  being  sixty-two  feet  long, 
and  twenty-four  wide,  exterior  measurement.  The  interior  is 
occasionally  used  as  a  place  of  burial.  There  are  some  tomb- 
stones with  inscriptions,  which  are  nearly  illegible,  the  dates 
1733,  1741,  1761,  and  1765  being  almost  the  only  portions 
decipherable.  A  well  dedicated  to  St.  Molaisse  is  near  the 
church. 

The  priory  of  Aughris,  or  Eachros,  stood  on  the  summit  of 
the  singularly  bold  headland  or  bluff  of  Aughris,  where,  how- 
ever, there  is  now  no  trace  of  the  structure.  Harris,  AUemande, 
and  Father  Walsh  make  St.  Molaisse  the  founder,  and  in  this 
are  supported  by  the  tradition  of  Tireragh,  which  is  clear  and 
positive  on  the  point.  O'Donovan,  in  a  note  to  his  Four 
Masters,  under  the  year  1380,  thinks  it  probable  that  Donnell 
O'Dowd,  who  died  that  year,  was  the  founder  of  the  priory ; 
but  there  is  no  ground  for  this  opinion,  if  there  be  question  of 
the  original  foundation  ;  though  it  may  be  true,  and  is  likely 
enough,  that  Donnell  repaired  or  re-edified  the  establishment. 
From  Aughris  St.  Molaisse  spread  religion  over  the  greater 
part  of  Tireragh,  notably  over  the  parishes  of  Templeboy, 
Killglasse,  Kilmacshalgan,  and  Dromard ;  and  from  it,  too,  he 
carried  the  faith  and  ordinances  of  the  Gospal  to  the  island  of 
Innismurray,  and  thence  to  the  mainland  on  the  coast  of 
Carbury.* 

Some  affirm  and  some  deny  that  there  was  a  castle  at 
Aughris;  opinions  which  an  Exchequer  Inquisition  of  158i, 
taken  at  Sligo  before  John  Crofton,  enables  us  to  reconcile,  as 
it  states  that  the  belfry  of  the  church  had  a  castellated  finish,! 
which   caused  it  to  appear  as  a  castle  to  an  observer  at  a 


*  See  Chapter — Parish  of  Aiiamlish. 
t  Campanile  in  forma  castri  cedificatum. 


40G  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


distance.  Castellated  churches  were  constructed  in  other  parts 
of  Ireland,  a  fact  which  goes  to  show  the  disturbed  state  of  the 
times,  when  even  the  house  of  the  Prince  of  Peace  had  some- 
times to  serve  the  purposes  of  war.  In  a  very  interesting 
article  on  *'  Some  Peculiarities  in  Ancient  and  Mediaeval  Irish 
Ecclesiastical  Architecture,"  which  is  published  in  Volume 
YIII.  of  the  Kilkenny  Archa3ological  Journal,  the  writer, 
George  Yictor  Du  Noyer,  mentions  the  castle-church  of  Clon- 
mines,  in  the  county  Wexford,  as  a  unique  example  of  the 
fortified  church  "  in  Ireland,  if  not  in  Britain ;"  but  were  he 
aware  of  the  architectural  peculiarities  of  the  old  priory  of 
Aughris,  he  would  have  admitted  the  existence  of  at  least  a 
second  example  of  the  fortified  or  castellated  church  in 
Ireland ;  nor  is  it  unlikely  that  other  instances  might  be  dis- 
covered if  a  diligent  search  were  made  for  them  through  the 
country. 

The  noted  Thady  Connellan  was  born  at  Corkhill  in  this 
parish,  and,  though  devoid  of  claim  to  notice  in  other  respects, 
he  may  be  mentioned  as  a  somewhat  characteristic  product  of 
the  times  in  which  he  lived.  With  some  talent,  little  or  no 
principle,  consummate  cunning,  and  infinite  ambition,  he  sought 
to  raise  himself  in  the  world,  no  way  scrupulous  as  to  the 
means.  To  learn  Greek  and  Latin,  he  and  some  companions 
journeyed  to  Clare,  to  a  well-known  pedagogue  of  the  day,  from 
whom  they  expected  to  get  education  gratis,  as  they  expected 
to  get  board  and  lodging  from  the  farmers  of  the  place  on  the 
same  terms.  In  the  latter  expectation  they  were  disappointed  ; 
for  flocks  and  herds  having  been  substituted  in  the  neighbour- 
hood about  that  time  for  human  beings,  and  large  scopes  of 
land  having  in  consequence  been  thrown  out  of  cultivation, 
there  were  few  or  no  farmers  left  to  entertain  the  Connaught 
boys.  Thady,  however,  and  his  congenial  companions  would 
not  have  their  journey  for  nothing ;  and  seizing,  vi  et  armis, 
on  the  teacher,  they  carried  him  with  them,  and  never  loosed 
hold  till  they  set  him  down  in  a  populous  district  on  the 
Connaught  side  of  the  Shannon,  where  he  opened  school  in  a 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  407 


chapel,  aad  where  Thady  acquired  that  smatteriag  of  the 
Classics,  for  which  in  after  life  he  cunningly  posed  as  master  of 
all  the  learning  of  Greece  and  Eome,  "  and  was  looked  up  to 
by  his  less  intelligent  neighbours,"  says  Lady  Morgan,  "  as  a 
prodigy  of  learning,  erudition,  and  genius." 

Having  returned  to  Tireragh,  Thady  opened  what  he  called  a 
''fine  seminary" — the  curious  boutique  which  Lady  Morgan 
visited,  and  describes  in  her  Patriotic  Sketches — a  wretched 
thatched  cabin,  with  a  damp  earthen  floor;  with  no  furniture 
but  an  old  deal  table,  littered  with  scraps  of  paper  and  frag- 
ments of  slate;  and  with  bits  of  board  laid  on  stones  to  serve  for 
seats ;  the  philomath  himself  standing  up,  encased  in  a  cota- 
morey  which  was  kept  together  on  his  squat,  ungainly  person 
by  a  skewer  ;  while  round  him  were  ranged  or,  rather,  huddled 
bis  disciples,  who  were  big,  grown-up,  bare-footed  boys  or  men, 
"  clad  in  a  drapery  light  and  frugal  as  Philosophy  herself  could 
dictate,"  and  so  ill  equipped  with  text  books  and  books  of 
reference,  that  a  class  of  seven  had  to  read  together  out  of  the 
one  copy  of  Homer,  which  was  all  the  Corkhill  lyceum  con- 
tained. The  poor  fellows  themselves  felt  so  much  the  want  of 
class-books  that,  as  Lady  Morgan's  party  were  driving  away,  one 
of  the  "  pupils,"  "  a  tall,  well-looking  young  man,  with  a  satchel 
on  his  back,"  kept,  for  a  considerable  distance,  running  bare- 
footed and  bareheaded  alongside  the  vehicle,  begging  for  an 
"  old  Cicero :"  an  incident  which  must  remind  quondam 
travellers  by  Bianconi's  cars  of  the  urchins  that  used  to  run  for 
miles  after  the  vehicles,  clamouring  for  a  copper  from  the 
passengers.  But  an  apology  is  due  to  the  ''  tall,  well-looking 
young  man  with  the  satchel  on  his  back  "  for  this  comparison, 
his  object  being  so  ennobling.  *'  We  asked  him,"  says  Lady 
Morgan,  '*  what  profession  he  was  intended  for ;  he  said  he  had 
been  studying  for  Apothecaries'  Hall,  but  that  of  late  he  had 
taken  to  Philosophy  1" 

Nor  did  Thady  confine  his  invaluable  services  to  his  interest- 
ting  garcons.  His  philanthropy  comprehended  both  the  sexes ; 
and  we  learn  from  a  statement  of  his  to  Lady  Morgan,  that 


408  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


he  had  organized  a  class  of,  no  doubt,  equally  interesting 
demoiselles :  "  I  have  five  female  eleves,"  says  he,  "  to  whom  I 
am  teaching  philosophy,  the  humanities,  and  mathematics,  to 
give  them  a  genteel  idea  of  becoming  tutoresses  in  gentlemen's 
families." 

Nothwithstanding  its  many  advantages  and  attractions,  the 
Corkhill  seminary  failed  in  a  cardinal  point — it  did  not  pay. 
With  all  his  philosophy  Thady  felt  so  sore  on  this  head,  that, 
turning  his  back  on  his  garcons  and  demoiselles^  he  offered  his 
services  to  Mr.  Albert  Blest  of  Coolany,  the  well-known  Baptist 
proselytizer,  who  paid  his  employes  well,  as  he  bargained  for  the 
soul  as  well  as  the  body.  Blest  was  just  the  man  for  Thady, 
as  he  had  the  patronage  of  all  the  Hibernian  Society's  schools 
of  the  country,  one  of  which  the  Tireragh  sage  desired  to  get 
charge  of,  while  waiting  for  something  better.  Accordingly  he 
was  set  over  a  school  on  the  Green  Road,  near  Coolany ;  but 
the  new  teacher,  whatever  his  literary  and  philosophical  abilities 
might  be,  must  have  been  a  bad  or  a  careless  disciplinarian,  for 
it  is  handed  down  that  half-burned  and  lighted  turves  were 
constantly  flying  about  through  the  school  house,  and  that,  on 
the  occasion  of  a  religious  inspection,  the  inspector  had  his  jaw 
nearly  broken  by  one  of  the  missiles. 

Thady's  knowledge  of  Irish,  however,  stood  him  in  good 
stead.  At  that  time  proselytizers  got  it  into  their  heads  that 
they  had  at  last  discovered  the  specific  for  the  conversion  of 
Irishmen,  which  they  had  been  so  long  searching  for  in  vain. 
They  came  to  believe  that  a  few  verses  of  Scripture  translated 
into  Irish,  and  put  into  people's  hands,  would  work  the  miracle. 
Seeing,  in  the  new  project,  a  fine  opening  for  himself  as  an  Irish 
scholar,  Thady  promoted  it,  in  every  way  he  could,  invented  the 
name  of  "  Elementaries"  for  the  translated  Scripture  passages, 
and  kept  constantly  dinning  into  the  ears  of  Blest  and  his  other 
patrons  that  the  "  Elementaries  would  do  the  work" — as  his 
phrase  was.  After  having  been  employed  for  some  time  in 
preparing  and  floating  the  Elementaries,  and  after  developing 
exceptional  ability  and  zeal  in  the  operation,  he  was  sent  to 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  409 


Eogland  to  solicit  contributions  for  the  undertaking,  and  was 
furnished  with  influential  letters  of  introduction  to  people  of 
means  and  station,  including  bishops,  peers,  and,  it  is  said, 
George  lY.  himself. 

The  mission  was  a  great  pecuniary  success.  Thady  received 
large  sums  for  the  work  of  the  Elementaries,  and  got  besides 
a  considerable  amount  for  emigration  purposes.  With  the 
emigration  fund  he  despatched  several  young  fellows  of 
Tireragh  to  America  by  Mr.  O'Connor's  vessel,  the  Cadmus ;  and 
it  was  suspected  at  the  time  that  he  was  anxious  to  have  them 
out  of  the  country,  as,  perhaps,  they  knew  more  than  he  wished 
of  his  relations  with  the  Thrashers,  some  years  before,  when, 
for  lack  of  other  employment,  he  used  to  hawk  felt  hats  at  fairs 
and  markets.  It  was  probably  in  sly  allusion  to  the  general 
suspicions  that  Mr.  Michael  Fenton,  of  Eask}^,  who  had  the 
name  of  being  himself  no  great  friend  of  the  "  boys,"  meeting 
Thady  in  company  with  some  neighbours,  said  to  him  :  "  So, 
Thady,  you  are  transporting  the  boys?"  "Yes,  sir,"  rejoined 
the  imperturbable  Thady,  "just  to  save  you  the  trouble  of 
hanging  them." 

Self-denial  was  not  Connellan's  characteristic  virtue,  if  he  had 
any  such,  and  it  is  well  known  that  he  made  a  good  thing  of 
his  connexion  with  the  Hibernian  Society ;  but,  in  an  evil  hour, 
he  was  tempted,  by  the  prospect  of  high  interest,  to  bank  most 
of  his  savings  with  Mr.  Baron  Foster,  who,  about  as  pious  a 
man  as  Thady  himself,  was  in  some  respects  more  than  a  match 
for  him,  and  closed  on  the  money,  with  perhaps  the  less  com- 
punction, as  he  must  have  suspected  that  the  ex-E,omanist  had 
got  much  of  it  together  by  false  pretences.  Somehow  those 
who  knew  Thady  gave  him  no  credit  for  sincerity,  but  rather 
regarded  him  as  a  charlatan  and  a  sham.  Young  as  Lady  Morgan 
was  when  she  met  *'  Mr.  Thady  O'Conolan,"  as  she  calls  him, 
she  guaged  correctly  his  assurance,  his  cunning,  his  affectad 
dignity,  his  rich  brogue,  "that  beggared  all  description,"  his 
simulated  learning,  and  paints  him  as  a  "finished  character;"  and 
John  O'Donovan,  who  had  special  opportunities  of  studying 


410  HISTORY   OF    SLIGO. 


him,  shows  his  estimate  in  a  letter  from  lanismurray,  where  he 
met  a  schoolmaster  for  whom  he  had  great  contempt,  and  whom 
he  thus  describes : — *'  He  resembles  Thady  Connellan  in  the 
rotundity  of  his  body,  and  in  that  very  agreeable  tranquillity  of 
disposition,  and  soft  roundness  of  Connaught  bias,  which  renders 
Thady  so  acceptable  to  the  English  Bullocks." 

In  1704  the  Parish  Priest  of  Templeboy  and  Kilmacshalgan 
was  John  Hely,  who  was  ordained  in  1683  by  Bishop  Whelan 
of  Ossory,  and  had  for  sureties  Edward  Braxton,  Ballysadare, 
and  Eobert  Hilloe  (Hillas  ?),  Dunehohy. 

The  latest  Parish  Priests  of  Templeboy  are  Rev.  Dominick 
M'Namara,  Rev.  John  Burns,  Rev.  Michael  M'Dermot,  and  Rev. 
"William  Cosgrave.  To  Father  Cosgrave  the  parish  is  indebted 
for  its  beautiful  parish  church. 

The  parish  of  Kilmacshalgan  lies  between  the  parishes  of 
Templeboy  and  Easky,  and  is  of  much  larger  area  than  either, 
though  without  a  proportionate  population,  the  respective  areas 
of  Kilmacshalgan,  Templeboy,  and  Easky,  being  25,984  acres, 
9,112  acres,  13,285  acres ;  and  their  respective  populations 
2,873, 1,816,  and  3,583  souls.  Kilmacshalgan  stretches  from  the 
summit  of  the  Ox  Mountains  to  the  sea,  its  seaboard  being  a  very 
short  strip  lying  between  the  points  of  Lackavarna  and  Donagh. 
Like  that  of  Templeboy,  the  area  has  a  triangular  shape,  but 
with  the  difference,  that  the  base  rests  on  the  mountain  and  the 
apex  on  the  shore — the  converse  of  Templeboy.  Something 
more  than  four-sixths  of  the  parish  is  mountain  or  wild  upland, 
the  remainder  being  fairly  fertile  land. 

The  castle  of  Dunneil,  in  this  parish,  like  the  other  castles  of 
Tireragh,  belonged  to  the  O'Dowds,  and  got  its  name  from 
Niall,  a  chief  of  that  family.  Later,  it  was  possessed  by  the 
McSweenys;  and  an  inquisition  of  James  L  relates  that 
"  James  McSwyne,  of  Downeale,  having  the  castle  of  Downeale 
and  various  lands,  was  deprived  of  all,  vi  et  armis,  et  main 
fortBy  by  Cahall  Oge  O'Connor,  and  himself  imprisoned."  The 
most  interesting  historical  association  connected  with  Dunneill 


HISTORY  OF   SLIGO.  411 


castle  is,  that  it  was  within  its  walls   Hugh  Roe  O'Donnell 
spent  the  last  Christmas  he  passed  in  Ireland. 

In  the  Cromwellian  regime  John  Bourke,  Robert  Hillas, 
William  Edwards,  and  John  Irwin  were  Tituladoes  in  the  parish ; 
and,  at  the  Restoration,  the  chief  grantees  were  Lord  Strafford, 
Thomas  Radcliffe,  John  Bourke,  and  Lord  Collooney,  the  lands 
of  the  last  named  being  now  owned  by  Colonel  Cooper. 

Dromore  West,  in  this  parish,  is  the  head-quarters  of  one  of 
the  Poor  Law  unions  of  the  county — the  area  of  the  union  being 
96,985  acres,  the  number  of  houses  3,129,  and  the  population 
17,849. 

There  is  nothing  recorded  of  MacShalgan,  or  the  Son  of 
Sealgan,  after  whom  the  parish  is  called ;  nor  is  it  known 
whether  he  was  the  founder  of  the  church,  or  the  saint  to  whom 
it  was  dedicated.  The  old  church,  which  was  sixty-six  feet 
long  by  twenty-eight  wide — exterior  measurement — is  in  good 
preservation,  with  side  walls  and  gables  still  standing,  and  owes 
its  comparative  safety,  first,  to  its  having  been  "repaired"  about 
1615,  and  secondly,  to  its  use  as  a  place  of  Protestant  worship 
down  to  1812,  when  the  present  Protestant  church  was  erected. 
A  small  graveyard  surrounds  the  old  building,  and  almost  all 
the  graves  are  marked  with  rough  slabs  of  stone. 

Kilmacshalgan  must  be  an  old  foundation,  as  it  is  given  in 
the  Taxation  of  1307,  where  it  is  joined  to  Corkagh,  and  spelled 
Kilmacshalhan. 

Jt  is  not  known  whether  there  are  at  present  in  the  parishes 
of  Kilmacshalgan  and  Templeboy  any  descendants  of  the 
William  Fenton  who  joined  the  Protestant  Church  in  1737,  as 
we  learn  from  the  followiog  certificate  of  the  then  Protestant 
bishop  : — "  Mordecai,  by  Divine  Providence  Lord  Bishop  of 
Killalla  and  Achonry,  greeting — We  do  hereby  certifie  that 
William  Fenton,  now  an  inhabitant  of  the  parish  of  Kilmac- 
shalgan and  Templeboy,  hath  renounced  the  errors  of  the 
church  of  Rome,  and  that  he  was  by  our  order  received  into  the 
communion  of  the  church  on  Suoday,  the  24th  day  of  April 
last,  and  that  the  said  William  Fenton  is  a  Protestant,  and  doth 


412  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


conform  to  the  Church  of  Ireland  as  by  law  established.  In 
witness  whereof  we  have  hereunto  affixed  our  manual  seal  this 
4th  day  of  May,  1737 — Mordecai,  Killalla  and  Achonry."  Nor  is 
it  known  whether  this  William  Fenton  is  the  ancestor  of  the 
Fenton  family  of  Easky. 

Easky  has  its  name  from  the  little  river  lascach,  which  rises 
in  Lough  Esk,  flows  through  the  parishes  of  Kilmacshalgan  and 
Easky,  and  falls  into  the  sea  a  little  to  the  north  of  Easky 
village.  The  parish  has  a  long  stretch  of  seaboard,  from  which 
the  bays  of  Killalla  and  Sligo  are  equally  accessible.  The  mouth 
of  the  river  is  a  genial  habitat  for  salmon ;  and  the  fishery,  after 
passing  from  the  O'Dowds,  was  granted  in  1617  by  the  King  to 
his  famous  Attorney-General,  Sir  John  Davys,  as  "  the  entire 
fishings  of  the  river  Easkagh,  and  the  rock  within  the  mearings 
of  Carricknemrontaine  bog."  At  the  Restoration  one  of  the 
Ormsbys  obtained  the  fishery  with  the  adjoining  land ;  and  his 
representatives  sold  it,  in  1756,  to  Henry  King.  This  gentleman 
left  it  to  his  family,  three  daughters,  who,  after  marrying  in 
Sligo,  sold  their  interest  to  the  Fenton  family,  the  present 
owners. 

On  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  as  it  enters  the  sea,  stood  the 
castle  of  Rosslee,  occupied,  in  the  first  years  of  James  I.,  by  the 
McDonnells.  As  is  said  of  several  other  places — Ballysadare, 
Moyne,  &c., — it  is  told  of  E-osslee  castle,  that  it  had  a  fishing 
contrivance  in  the  river,  so  arranged,  that  a  fish,  on  touching  it, 
set  bells  agoing,  and  thus  obligingly  informed  the  cook  that  it 
was  at  her  disposal.  Whether  the  McDonnells  continued  to  hold 
the  castle  in  1618  or  not,  the  King,  on  the  2Qd  July  of  that 
year,  granted  to  Daniel  O'Dowd,  with  various  other  possessions, 
**  two  castles,  a  kitchen,  and  a  bakehouse  within  the  bawn  of 
Kosslee."  The  remains  of  the  castle,  which  are  considerable, 
were  drawn  by  Bigari  in  1779,  and  a  good  engraving  of  the 
drawing  may  be  seen  in  the  first  volume  of  Grose's  Antiquities 
of  Ireland. 

On  the  left  bank  of  the  lascach  is  Castletown,  formerly  called 
Imleach  Isell,  where  there  are  still  some  remains  of  a  castle. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  413 


Castletown  is  now  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Fenton.  In  the  poem 
of  MacFirbis,  Imleach  Isell  is  given  as  the  patrimony  of 
O'Mailduin. 

Kathlee  lies  on  the  western  side  of  the  parish,  went  in  the 
past  by  the  name  of  Ichter  Rath,  and,  sometimes,  of  Mullach 
Rath,  and  was  one  of  the  chief  seats  of  the  O'Dowds.  There 
are  still  in  the  place  some  small  remains  of  a  castle,  which  was 
occupied,  in  the  early  years  of  the  seventeenth  century,  by  the 
Albanaghs  or  McDonnells.  At  the  Restoration,  Rathlee  was 
granted  to  Captain  William  Ormsby,  and  is  now  owned  by  his 
heirs  or  assigns.  Besides  Rosslee,  Rathlee,  and  Castletown,  Easky 
parish  contained,  at  one  time,  three  other  castles,  one  in 
Carocloonegleragh,  another  at  Carroinroda,  and  the  third  at 
Carrowinwallin,  where  there  was  also  a  church. 

In  the  parish  of  Easky,  at  its  junction  with  Templeboy,  is  the 
pool,  Dahhach  Fharannain, — the  vat  or  keeve  of  Farannan — 
so  called  from  Saint  Farannao,  who  lived  close  to  it,  and  is  said 
to  have  used  its  waters  in  the  administration  of  baptism,  as  well 
as  for  personal  mortification.  His  cell  is  on  the  face  of  the  high 
adjoining  cliff,  and  would  remind  one  of  St.  Kevin's  Bed  at 
Glendalough,  Farannan's  cell  being  also  called,  by  some, 
Farannan's  Bed.*  Here  the  saint  practised  extraordinary 
mortifications,  which  are  described  in  Colgan,  and  which 
include  constant  vigils,  frequent  standings  in  cold  water  while 
praying,  and  lying  in  his  open  cell  on  the  hard,  naked  rock, 
with  only  a  stone  for  his  pillow. 

The  fame  of  Farannan's  sanctity  spread  far  and  wide,  and 
brought  crowds  of  pilgrims  from  all  sides.  Judging  by  what  is 
said  of  it  in  the  Life  published  by  Colgan,  Altferannan  was  as 
famous  a  resort,  in  its  day,  as  Knock  is  at  present,  and  had,  in 
comparison  with  Knock,  the  additional  attraction,  that  beasts 
were  believed  to  be  cured  at  it  as  well  as  men  and  women.  Sa 
sacred,  we  are  told,  did  it  become  in  the  eyes  of  the  people,  and 


*  Augustus  sed  aptus  fcenitentice  career,   quern  lecti  S.   Farannan  nomine 
appeUitant.—Co\ga.ii'»  AciaSaiict,  page  337. 


414  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


witli  such  reverence  was  everything  connected  with  it  regarded, 
that  it  came  to  be  counted  a  sort  of  sacrilege  to  injure  even  a 
twig  in  the  wood  which  adjoined  and  sheltered  it.  This  state  of 
things  lasted  several  hundred  years ;  for  Colgan,  in  the  middle 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  writes  of  it :  "  Even  at  present, 
Altferannan  is  devoutly  visited  by  crowds  of  people,  on  account 
of  the  numerous  cures,  both  of  men  and  beasts,  effected 
there." 

Altferannan  is  sometimes  written  Alternan,  as  in  the  grant  of 
Boyle  abbey  and  its  possessions  to  King  and  Bingley,  where  it 
is  given  as  "  Altifeyrinan  alias  Alternan ;"  and  in  this  way  the 
mistake  originated  of  naming  the  patron  saint  of  the  place 
Ernan,  instead  of  Farannan.  Father  Walsh,  from  whom,  as  a 
native  of  Tireragh,  one  would  expect  better,  confounds  Farannan 
with  Airendan  and  Aileran,  though  these  three  names  designate 
three  different  saints  with  three  different  feast  days  ;  Faran nan's 
day  falling  on  the  15th  February,  Aileran's  on  29th  December, 
and  Airendan's  on  10th  February.  It  is  clear  that  Father 
Walsh  never  read  Colgan's  valuable  Life  of  St.  Farannan,  which 
throws  so  much  light  on  the  history  of  the  county,  and  more 
especially  on  the  history  of  Tireragh. 

The  old  parish  church  of  Easky  stood  at  Castletown,  or 
Imleach  Isell,  and  is  called  in  the  Taxation  of  1307,  the  church 
of  Imelachiskel.  Under  the  year  1439,  the  Four  Masters  record 
the  death,  by  the  plague,  of  the  Yicar  of  Imleach  Iseal.  In  the 
Visitation  Book  of  1615,  it  is  given  as  "  Imlaghishell  als 
leskeagh.'^ 

A  somewhat  notable  occurrence  took  place  in  Easky  in  1824. 
It  was  a  controversial  discussion  between  three  Catholic  clergy- 
men and  four  Protestant  ministers,  which  came  about  in  this 
way.  Father  Devins,  the  Parish  Priest  of  Easky,  passing  one 
day  through  the  little  town,  and  observing  a  knot  of  persons 
gathered  around  a  gentleman  who  was  addressing  them 
vigorously,  inquired  what  was  the  matter ;  and  learning  that 
the  speaker  was  an  "  evangelical  minister "  come  to  Easky  to 
expound,  and,  as  far  as  he  could,  enforce  his  peculiar  views  of 


HISTORY  OF   SLIGO.  415 


religion,  the  Parish  Priest  invited  him  by  message  to  a  dis- 
cussion on  the  moot  points  between  them.  The  challenge  was 
accepted ;  but,  after  some  negotiations,  the  original  arrangement 
was  modified,  and  three  priests — Fathers  Devins,  Lyons,  and 
Hughes — agreed  to  meet  four  ministers — Messrs.  Jordan, 
Murray,  McKeague,  and  Urwick — the  "  question  to  be  discussed 
being  the  propriety  of  the  indiscriminate  reading  of  the  Bible, 
and  the  right  of  private  judgment  in  its  interpretation,  and 
making  it  the  sole  rule  of  faith." 

The  discussion  was  held  in  the  Catholic  chapel  of  Easky,  on 
the  23rd  and  24th  November,  under  the  chairmanship  of 
Michael  Fenton,  Esq.,  of  Castletown,  and  in  the  presence  of 
more  than  six  hundred  persons ;  and  the  proceedings  were 
conducted  with  great  order,  impartiality,  and  firmness  by  the 
chairman,  and  with  conspicuous  ability  by  the  disputants, 
though  probably  with  the  result,  not  unusual  in  such  cases,  of 
doing  more  ill  than  good  both  to  speakers  and  listeners. 

It  is  creditable  to  the  diocese  of  Killalla  that  the  first  three 
priests  there  met  with  were  a  match  and,  as  many  thought,  more 
than  a  match, in  the  arena, for  the  picked  and  trained  controversial 
athletes  opposed  to  them,  including  Dr.  William  Urwick,  who  en- 
joyed the  reputation  in  his  day  of  being  one  of  the  most  eloquent 
men  in  Ireland.  As  this  gentleman's  name  has  occurred  here,  and 
as  he  was  long  connected  with  Sligo,  it  may  be  well  to  add  that 
he  was  ordained  for  the  Sligo  ministry,  on  the  19th  June,  1816 
that  he  was  called  by  his  co-religionists  to  York-street  Chapel, 
Dublin,  in  1826,  that  he  died  there  on  the  16th  July,  1868,  and 
that  he  is  buried  in  Mount  Jerome  Cemetery. 

With  regard  to  the  succession  of  Parish  Priests  in  Easky :  In 
1704,  the  Parish  Priest  was  Father  Eobert  Scott,  who  was 
ordained  in  1675  by  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  and  had  for 
sureties  of  good  behaviour  Bryan  Shesknane,  Carrowross,  and 
Roger  McSwyne,  Dunaltah.  His  successors  are  unknown  till 
we  come  to  Father  Dan  McNamara,  who  held  the  cure  in  the 
first  quarter  of  this  century,  and  was  succeeded  by  Father 
Devins,  who  died  in  1831.     To  Father  Devins  succeeded  Rev. 


416  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


Patrick  Flannelly,  as  we  learn  from  his  own  memorandum  in 
the  Parochial  Register :  "  July  24,  being  the  ninth  Sunday  after 
Pentecost,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1831,  I  have  been  inducted 
into  the  parish  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gildea,  who  was  my  predecessor. 
Rev.  Mr.  Gildea  was  temporary  administrator  of  the  parish  since 
the  lamented  death  of  the  celebrated  Divin,  who  departed  this 
life  on  the  19th  January,  1831." 

Father  Flannelly  came  on  the  mission  after  acquiring  a  repu- 
tation for  great  and  brilliant  talents  in  Maynooth  College,  where 
he  took  rank  with  the  late  Dr.  O'Hanlon,  Prefect  of  the 
Dunboyne  Establishment,  and  the  late  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Delany, 
Bishop  of  Cork,  both  giants  in  their  day.  Even  on  the  mission, 
it  was  admitted,  that  he  retained  his  great  powers  of  mind, 
though  he  put  them  forth  less  frequently  than  he  might. 

Father  Flannelly  had  a  large  part  in  the  remarkable  proceed- 
ings which  took  place  inKillalla  on  the  occasion  of  Dr.  G'Finan's 
taking  possession  of  that  See  in  1835.  The  bishop  had  hardly 
arrived,  when  regrettable  differences  arose  between  him  and 
the  majority  of  his  priests,  which  soon  filled  the  diocese  with 
troubles.  During  the  excitement,  a  letter  over  the  signature  of 
Aladensis,  appeared  in  the  Castlebar  Telegraph,  and  gave  such 
offence  to  Dr.  G'Finan  that,  after  failing  to  get  the  name  of  the 
writer  from  Mr.  Cavendish,  the  proprietor  and  editor  of  the 
paper,  he  took  an  action  against  that  gentleman,  and  gained  a 
verdict  with  damages  to  the  amount  of  £500. 

The  case  was  tried  at  the  Sligo  Assizes  of  March,  1837,  and 
is  memorable  not  only  for  the  matter  sub  judicej  but  much 
more  for  the  eminence  of  the  counsel  engaged,  the  rank  of 
the  witnesses  examined,  and  not  a  few  of  the  incidents  that 
came  up  during  the  proceedings. 

The  Bishop  cared  nothing  for  the  damages,  and,  the  moment 
a  proper  apology  was  made  him  by  Mr.  Cavendish,  remitted 
them,  in  a  long  letter  written  from  Rome  of  which  this  opening 
sentence  may  be  quoted : — "  I  hasten  to  assure  you.  Sir,  that  I 
cannot  think  for  a  moment,  after  the  step  which  you  have 
taken,  certainly  without  any  solicitation  from  me,  and,  I  trust, 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  417 


solely  upon  the  conviction  of  what  justice  to  your  own  feelings 
no  less  than  to  my  character  required  of  you,  of  receiving  from 
you  a  single  farthing  of  the  damages  awarded  to  me  by  the  jury 
at  Siigo,  and  by  the  Dublin  Courts  upon  the  appeal ;  and  to 
this  deliberate  and  unalterable  intention,  I  beg  to  add  the 
expression  of  my  deep  and  sincere  regret,  that  you  should  have 
been  so  long  subjected  to  the  restraint  of  remaining  a  prisoner 
in  your  own  house  for  twelve  months/* 

Eev.  P.  O'Keane  succeeded  Father  Flannelly,  and  is  the 
present  Parish  Priest  of  Easky. 


VOL.   II.  2  D 


CHAPTER  XXXVir. 

PARISHES   OF  KILGLASS  AND   CASTLECONOR. 

The  parish  of  Kilglass,  like  most  of  the  other  districts  of 
Tireragh,  had  its  quota  of  castles,  of  which  three  are  marked 
on  the  Ordnance  Survey  map — one  at  Iniscrone,  one  at  Poli- 
cheeny,  and  the  third  at  Lecan.  There  are  considerable  remains 
of  the  first-named  fortress  in  the  townland  of  Iniscrone,  the 
fashionable  and  salubrious  seaside  resort,  so  frequented  by 
the  traders  and  shopkeepers  of  Ballina,  and  the  better-off 
people  of  upper  Sligo.  Iniscrone  castle  was  the  chief  seat 
of  Caomhain's  descendants,  who  are  called  by  old  English 
writers  O'Keevaines,  by  John  O'Donovan  O'Keevans,  and  by 
themselves,  in  recent  times,  Kavanaghs.  From  the  descendants 
of  Caomhain  the  castle  was  taken  by  the  Burkes  of  Lower 
Connaught,  from  whom,  after  a  spirited  contest,  which  is  well 
described  in  the  Four  Masters,  at  the  year  1512,  it  was  re- 
covered by  O'Donnell,  who  forthwith  demolished  it  lest  it  should 
fall  again  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies. 

The  castle  of  Policheeny  has  left  after  it  very  little  remains. 
Of  this  place  the  Survey  of  1633-6  says,  "  Policheeny  hath  an 
ould  castle  and  good  stone  house  upon  it." 

In  this  parish  there  are  three  townlands,  into  the  names  of 
which  the  word  Lecan  enters,  namely,  Lecancahill,  Lecan tlieve, 
and  Lecan  simply,  sometimes  called  Lecan  M'Firbis.  Of  the 
last-named  the  Survey  of  1633-6  says,  "There  is  a  kind  of  ould 
castle  upon  it."  From  a  statement  of  Duald  M'Firbis,  given  in 
O'Donovan's  Tribes  and  Customs  of  Hy  Fiachrach,  page  168, 
it  would  appear  that  the  M'Firbises  were  the  founders  of  this 
castle  in  the  year  1560.     If  so,  it  must  have  been  a  very  slight 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  419 


structure,  considering  its  state  of  ruin  in  1633,  that  is,  in  less 
than  a  century  after  its  supposed  erection.  Very  likely  it  was 
a  plain  stone  house,  for  such  houses  in  those  times  were  digni- 
fied with  the  name  of  castles — and  the  humble  position  of 
the  Lecan  M'Firbises  in  1604,  when,  of  the  eight  persons  of 
the  name  who  lived  there,  seven  are  described  as  "  kerne,"  and 
one  entered  as  "  husbandman,"  would  go  far  to  confirm  this 
conjecture. 

There  is  doubt  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  word  Kilglass.  It 
might  signify  the  Church  of  the  Stream,  the  Church  of  the 
Green  Spot,  or  the  Green  Church,  but  it  is  extremely  probable, 
if  not  certain,  that  it  means  the  Church  of  St.  Molaisse.  la  a 
letter  written  by  Thomas  O'Connor  to  Thomas  A.  Larcom,  and 
given  in  the  Ordnance  Survey  Letter  Book  of  the  county  Slig3, 
the  writer  observes  :  "  Kilglass  is  a  corruption,  the  people  say, 
of  Kil  Molaisse;"  and  what  would  show  the  people  to  have 
been  right  is,  that  in  the  Commonwealth  Rental  of  Bishop 
Lands  (April  14th,  1656),  Kilglass  appears  with  the  alias  of 
Kilmolasse.  The  church  must  have  been  a  comparatively  rich 
one  in  early  times,  for  while  Dromard,  Skreen,  Templeboy,  and 
Easky  are  valued  respectively  in  the  Taxation  of  1307,  for  2 
marks,  4  marks,  4J  marks,  and  5  marks,  the  value  of  '*  Killo- 
glassa"  is  100  shillings. 

The  parish  of  Castleconor,  which  is  divided  from  Kilglass 
by  the  Belawaddy  river,  stretches  along  the  east  side  of  the  bay 
of  Killalla,  till  it  joins  Kilmoremoy  on  the  south.  It  has  its 
name  from  the  castle,  sometimes  called  Caisleu  mic  Conor,  and 
sometimes  Dun  mic  Conor — the  castle  or  the  dun  of  the  son  of 
Conor ;  and  it  is  important  to  recollect  the  meaning  of  the 
name,  for  want  of  attention  to  it  led  even  O'Donovan  and 
Hennessy  to  confound  the  Castleconor  of  Tireragh  with  the 
Castleconor  of  Carbury.* 

Castleconor  was  always  a  chief  seat  of  the  O'Dowds,  and  was 
occupied  either  by  the  chief  himself  or  by  the  tanist,  as  at  the 


See  ante,  Vol.  I,,  p.  506. 


420  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


time  of  the  Composition  of  Sir  John  Perrott  with  the  Sligo 
chiefs,  when  Edmund  O'Dowd  of  Kilglass  was  chief,  and 
David  O'Dowd  of  Castleconor,  tanist  or  heir  apparent.  The 
English,  who  had  occupied  this  and  other  castles  of  Tireragh  for 
more  than  a  century,  were  driven  from  it  in  1371  by  Donnell 
O'Dowd,  who  took  it  to  himself,  and  disposed  of  its  lands  to  his 
family  and  followers.  Under  the  Cromwellian  regime  John 
Nicholson  was  Titulado  of  Castleconor  and  Newtown,  and  Lewis 
Wingfield  of  Scormore ;  and  at  the  Eestoration  these  Tituladoes, 
with  Robert  Morgan,  Lord  Collooney  and  Lewis  Wingfield, 
received  grants  of  most  of  the  parish — Wingfield  getting  the 
castle  of  Castleconor,  and  Robert  Morgan  that  of  Ballicottle, 
which  was  built  by  Donnell  O'Dowd,  chief  of  his  name,  in  the 
year  1417. 

The  original  church  was  at  Castleconor,  and  is  entered  in  the 
Taxation  of  1307  as  Castroconor,  and  valued  at  eight  marks,  a 
higher  valuation  even  than  that  of  Kilglass.  Killanley — called 
from  a  patron  saint  or  founder  named  Ainle,  or  Fainle — is  the  site 
of  another  old  church,  and  serves  at  present  for  a  place  of  burial. 

At  Scormore  there  was  formerly  an  Augustinian  convent, 
which  was  dedicated  to  the  Holy  Trinity,  and  of  which  we  learn 
from  the  Annals  of  Dudley  Firbis  the  following  interesting 
particulars :  First,  that  it  was  originally  built  without  the 
authorization  of  the  Holy  See,  which  was  necessary  on  occasions 
of  new  religious  foundations ;  second,  that  the  heads  of  the 
establishment  petitioned  Pope  Nicholas  V.  for  absolution,  in 
regard  to  this  irregular  proceeding,  as  also  for  leave  to  fish ;  and 
third,  that  the  Pope  granted  the  desired  absolution,  and  also 
authorized  the  community  to  have  a  boat,  and  to  fish  the  Moy, 
with  additional  powers  to  salt  and  store  the  fish,  as  well  for  sale 
as  for  the  use  of  the  religious.* 

*  "  Scor-mor  sub  advocatione  Sanctissimce  Trinitatis  habetur  in  Registro 
Vaticano.  Bulla  Nicolai  5.,  data  Romse  pridie  Idus  Decembris  anno  8.  Pon- 
titicatua  atque  adeo  145i,  in  qua  Pontifex  narrativam  supplicationem  prsemisit. 
Hi  erant  fratres,  frater  Eugenius  O'Cormyn,  et  frater  Thadaeus  MacFerbisii, 
Eremitise  ordinis  S.  Augustini,  qui  terram  quendam  nuncupatam  Scormore  a 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  421 


Eev.  Thomas  Valentine,  who,  after  having  been  Sacrist  ia 
the  diocese  of  Clonfert  from  1707,  became  Yicar  of  the  union 
of  Castleconor  and  Kilglass  in  1711,  provided  for  the  endow- 
ment of  a  school  in  that  union  by  the  following  words  of  his 
•will :  "  I  give  and  bequeath  the  sum  of  £4jOO  sterling  towards 
the  institution  of  a  Protestant  charity  school,  and  for  the 
putting  out  a  few  of  the  Protestant  apprentices  to  trades ; 
which  school  I  order  to  be  erected  within  the  union  of  Frank- 
fort." 

This  sum  has  increased,  in  some  way  not  sufB.ciently  ex- 
plained, to  £2,495,  Os.  lOd.,  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Charitable 
Bequests  Board,  and  produces  a  yearly  income  of  £74,  17s.  Od. 

The  Kilglass  school,  under  Mr.  Minchin,  receives  at  present 
half  of  this  £74,  17s.  Od.,  and  the  other  half  goes  to  the  parish 
of  Castleconor — a  school  at  Castleconor,  and  another  at  Skur- 
more,  both  under  female  teachers,  getting  out  of  it  capitation 
allowances.  The  fund  may  be,  and  no  doubt  is,  properly  ad- 
ministered at  present,  but  as  much  can  hardly  be  said  of  it  in  the 
past ;  for  whoever  reads  attentively  the  evidence  given  before  the 
Endowed  Schools,  Ireland,  Commission  in  1855,  by  Bev.  Samuel 
Stock,  the  then  Vicar  of  the  union,  and  Mr.  Henry  Campbell, 
the  then  schoolmaster  of  the  Valentine  school,  cannot  fail  to  be 
struck  by  the  inefficient,  slip-shod  way — to  say  no  more — in 
which  things  were  then  managed. 

The  parish  of  Kilmoremoy  joins  that  of  Castleconor  on  the 
south.  As  the  primitive  church  of  Kilmoremoy  stood  in  the 
county  Mayo,  the  history  of  the  parish  belongs  to  that  county, 
so  that  all  that  is  allowable  here  is  a  few  words  regarding  the 


nobili  viro  Thadaeo  O'Dowda  Domino  Dioecesis  Aladensis  donatam  ad  erigen- 
dum  conventum  sub  titulo  Sanctissimse  Trinitatis  absque  licencia  Apostolicaa 
sedis  acceptaverunt  ;  eos  absolutionem  reatus  eommisit,  et  confirmationeni 
donationis  petentes  Nicolaus  exaudivit,  et  praeposito  ecclesise  Aladensis  execu- 
tionem  remisit,  in  nomine  Domini  concedens  fratribus,  ut  naviculam  habere 
possent  pro  piscibus  ex  quodam  flumine  prope  ipsum  locum  cursum  faciente 
capiendis  et  salsandis  per  venditionem  et  ponendis  ad  usum  et  utilitatem  fra- 
trum  eorumdem.  Ita  habetur  in  nostris  annalibus  (inquit  f rater  Gualemu8 
O'Meahayn)."— Note  in  O'D  one  van's  Four  Masters,  p.  992. 


422  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


portion  of  it  whicli  stretches  over  the  right  bank  of  the  Moy. 
This  district  covers  an  area  of  7,992  acres,  contains  a  population 
of  3,806  persons,  and  comprises  the  handsome  residences  of 
Belleek  Abbey  and  Belleek  Castle,  the  neat  villages  of  Bunree 
and  Crocketstown,  as  well  as  the  whole  of  the  Ardnaree  division 
of  the  Ballina  township,  including  the  fine  cathedral  of  the 
diocese. 

Ardnaree,  according  to  O'Donovan*  and  Dr.  Joyce, "f"  signifies 
the  Hill  of  the  Executions,  the  persons  executed  being  said  to  be 
the  murderers  of  Bishop  Cellach.  Both  the  distinguished 
writers  cite  M'Firbis  as  their  authority ;  but,  on  examination,  it 
will  be  found  that  M'Firbis  does  not  speak  absolutely,  and  that 
he  brings  forward  the  Execution  theory  only  as  an  alternative 
explanation  of  the  manner  in  which  the  murderers  came  by 
their  death ;  for,  his  words,  as  translated  by  O'Donovan,  are  : 
"  Cuchongelt  Mac  Eoghan  was  he  who  slew  the  foster-brothers 
of  Ceallach  in  revenge  for  their  fratricide;  they  were  Maol- 
croin,  Maolseanaigb,  Maoldalua,  and  Mac  (or  Maol)  Deoraidh. 
Or,  according  to  others,  these  were  hanged  at  the  river  of  Sal 
Srotha  Derg,  which  is  called  the  Muaidh,  and  it  was  from  them 
the  hill  over  the  Muaidh  was  called  Ard  na  riogh  ;  and  Ard  na 
Maol  is  the  name  of  the  hill  on  the  other  side  of  the  stream, 
where  they  were  interred."]: 

When  MacFirbis  is  so  undecided,  it  can  hardly  be  assumed 
as  proven  that  Ardnaree  has  its  name  from  the  alleged  execu- 
tions ;  though,  on  the  other  hand,  the  unhesitating  language  of 
so  sober,  judicious,  and  learned  a  writer  as  Dr.  Joyce,  even 
apart  from  other  authorities,  gives  the  opinion  no  slight  pro- 
bability. One  other  observation  must  take  the  form  of  a  query, 
to  he  answered  by  persons  having  more  local  knowledge  than 
the  writer  pretends  to :  As  the  Glenree  of  the  neighbourhood, 
and  the  Bunree,  signify  respectively  the  Glen  of  the  Bee,  and 


*  Tribes  and  Customs  of  Hy  Fiachrach,  p.  34. 

t  Names  of  Places.    First  Series,  p.  96. 

X  Tribes  and  Customs  of  Hy  Fiachrach,  p.  34. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  423 


the  Bun,  or  mouth  of  the  Kee,  may  it  not  be  that  Ardnaree 
similarly  means  the  Height  of  the  Ree,  or  the  Height  over  the 
Ree? 

The  castle  of  Ardnaree  was  built  by  the  English,*  and 
stood,  no  doubt,  on  the  eminence  now  known  as  Castle  Hill. 
O'Douovan  states,t  that  Ardnaree  abbey  wasfounded  in  1427, 
and  cites  De  Burgo's  Hihernia  Dominicana  and  ArchdalFs 
Monasticon  Hibernicum  as  his  authorities.  As  to  the 
Hihernia  Dominicana  it  has  not  a  word  at  all  on  Ardnaree ; 
while  Archdall  refers  to  AUemande,  who  quotes  Pere  Torelli 
and  Pere  Lubin  as  basing  the  date  on  the  registers  of  their 
order.:]:  This  looks  rather  conclusive,  but  still  it  will  be  found 
hard  to  reconcile  the  date  of  1427  with  this  entry  of  both  the 
Four  Masters  and  the  Annals  of  Lough  Ce  under  the  year 
1402  :  "  Murtough,  the  son  of  Donough  O'Dowda,  a  man  uni- 
versally distinguished  for  his  nobleness  and  hospitality,  died, 
and  was  interred  at  Ardnarea." 

In  the  first  year  of  James  I.  the  abbey  of  Ardnaree  was 
granted  to  Sir  Richard  Boyle,  in  these  terms : — "  The  site  and 
house  of  the  late  friary  of  Ardnary,  containing  J^»  in  which  is  a 
church,  cloister,  dormitory,  and  other  buildings ;  1  qr.  of  land, 
containing  60  acres  with  the  tithes  thereof,  now  in  the  Crown 
and  waste." 

The  Parish  Priest  of  Kilglass,  at  the  Registration  of  the 
clergy  in  1704,  was  Rev.  Manus  Beolan,  or  Boland;  and  the 
latest  Parish  Priests  are  Rev.  Edward  Lavelle  and  Rev. 
Patrick  Irwin, 

The  Parish  Priest  of  Castleconor,  in  1704,  was  Rev.  Daniel 
Culkin  ;  the  latest  Parish  Priests  being  Fathers  Patrick  Duffy, 
John  Barins,  and  John  M.  O'Hara. 


*  Tribes  and  Customs  of  Hy  Fiachrach,  p.  125. 

t  Ibid.,  p.  359. 

X  Histoire  Monastique  d'Irlande,  p.  327. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

CONCLUSION. 

It  will  not  be  amiss,  before  closing,  to  add  a  few  pages  which 
may  serve  partly  as  a  recapitulation  of  what  has  been  said,  and 
partly  as  a  supplement,  and  in  which  some  topics  of  more  than 
ordinary  interest  may  be  noticed  or  re-noticed.     To  begin  with 

RELIGION  : 

Though  it  may  be  fairly  inferred  from  what  is  stated  in 
Colgan's  Vita  Tripartita  about  the  "  stone  altar  and  glass 
chalices,"*  which  might  be  found  in  the  mountains  of  Tirerrill, 
that  there  were  Christians  in  the  county  prior  to  the  time  of 
St.  Patrick,  still  they  would  be,  according  to  all,  so  few,  that  we 
are  warranted  in  not  taking  them  into  account,  and  in  dating 
the  conversion  of  the  district  from  the  days  of  the  Saint. 

According  to  common  opinion  in  the  neighbourhood,  the 
honour  of  being  the  part  of  the  county,  that  first  received  the 
faith  from  St.  Patrick,  belongs  to  Tireragh,  as  it  was  there  the 
Apostle  began  his  labours  after  crossing  the  Moy  from  Tyrawley. 
Those  who  hold  this  opinion  add,  that  the  Saint  moved  next  to 
Carbury,  and  erected  there,  on  that  occasion,   the  church  of 

*  "In  regione  nepotum  Olidae;  ubi  cum  deficerent  necessaria  ad  divinum 
ministerium  sacraque  utensilia,  sanctus  Prsesul  divinitus  instructus,  indicavit 
presbytero,  subtus  terram  altare  in  quodam  specu  lapideo  esse  mirandi  operis 
in  quatuor  angulis  habens  quatuor  calices  vitreos." — Pars  11.     Cap.  xxxii. 

"And  Patrick  instructed  Ailbhe  regarding  a  stone  altar  in  the  mountain  of 
Ui-Ailella  underground,  and  four  glass  chalices  at  the  four  corners." — Hennessy's 
Translation  of  the  Vita  Tripartita  in  Miss  Cusack's  Life  of  Saint  Patrick, 
page  401. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  425 


Killaspugbrone  ;*  and  that  ft'om  Carbury  he  passed  to  Tirerrill, 
and  founded  the  religious  houses  of  Tawnagh,t  Aghanach, 
Shancoe,  and  Cloonmucduff — all  well-known  places — as  well  as 
that  of  Cill-Angli,  which  has  not  been  identified,  but  which, 
very  probably,  is  the  church  of  Killanly  in  the  parish  of  Cloon- 
oghill.  Killaraght,  in  the  half  barony  of  Coolavin,  is  another  of 
the  Saint's  foundations. 

The  reader  will  find,  by  referring  back  to  the  chapter  on 
the  Parish  of  Aghanagh,  that  the  writer  does  not  agree  with 
this  account  of  the  order  in  which  the  Apostle's  foundations 
succeeded  one  another,  his  opinion  being  that  the  house,  which 
was  established  in  the  valley  between  Lough  Arrow  and  Keash, 
preceded  not  only  the  other  churches  of  the  county  Sligo,  but 
also  those  of  Tyrawley. 

Saint  Columba  next  made  a  journey  through  the  district, 
and  founded  while  on  his  way,  or  a  little  later,  the  churches  of 
Emlaghfad  in  Corran,  Drumcolurab  in  Tirerrill,  and  Drumcliff 
in  Carbury.J 

Shortly  after  this  the  famous  Saint  Finian  of  Clonard  visited 
Connaught,  and,  in  conjunction  with  Saint  Nathy,  established 
the  church  and  monastery  of  Achonry.§ 

While  most  of  the  present  county  was  thus  converted  to 
Christianity,  considerable  tracts  still  [continued  heathen,  and 
the  religious  houses  now  took  up  the  missionary  work.  The 
monastery  of  Achonry  achieved  large  results,  not  only  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood,  but  in  distant  places,  through  Saint 
Fechin,  who  was  a  member  of  that  establishment,  and  who, 
after  quitting  it,  founded  first  "  the  great  church  "  of  Ballysa- 
dare,  II  and,  later  on,  the  churches    of  Billa,  Kilnemonogh,  and 


*  "Et  fundavit  ecclesiam  juxta  fossam  Rigbairt." — Book  of  Armagh.  Sir 
William  Betham's  Edition,  p.  xxxii. 

t  "  Et  exiit  trans  montem  filioriim  Ailello  et  fundavit  ecclesiam  ibi  Tamnach 
€t  Ehenach,  et  Cell  Angli  et  Cell  Senchuse." — Idem. 

:t:  O'Donnell's  Life  of  Saint  Columba  in  Trias  Thaum.,  p.  406. 

§  Colgan's  Acta  Sanctorum,  p.  396. 

II  Ibid.,  p.  134. 


426  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


Ellasser,  in  the  same  parish  ;  the  church  of  Drumrat,  in  Corran ; 
the  churches  of  Kilgarvan,  of  Cong,  and  of  High-Island,  in 
Mayo  ;  and  the  great  house  of  Fore,  in  Westmeath. 

Saint  Molaise's  monastery  of  Aughris  was  hardly  less  success- 
ful in  extending  the  bounds  of  religion ;  for,  after  evangelizing 
in  Tireragh  the  present  parishes  of  Templeboy,  Kilmacshalgan, 
and  Dromard,  Molaise  himself,  or  some  of  his  community, 
founded  the  great  establishment  of  Inismurray  in  the  island 
of  that  name,  and  carried  next  the  truths  and  ordinances  of 
religion  from  the  island  to  the  parish  of  Ahamlish  on  the  main- 
land. 

It  was  the  primitive  saints  and  the  religious  houses,  which 
they  founded,  that  accomplished  these  results,  but  the  work  was 
taken  up  later  by  the  new  orders  which  established  themselves 
in  the  neighbourhood:  the  Cistercians  of  Boyle,  the  Premonstra- 
tensians  of  Trinity  Island,  in  Lough  Ce,  and  the  Canons  Eegular 
of  Inchmacnerin,  in  the  same  lake.  These  religious,  where  they 
got  footing,  diffused  or  revived  religion  by  establishing  chapel- 
ries,  and,  in  some  instances,  as  at  Knocknarea,  nunneries,  or,  as 
at  Kilh'oss,  structures  which  were  at  once  monasteries  of  men 
and  parish  churches.  In  requital  for  the  services  they  rendered, 
landed  possessions  were  bestowed  upon  them.  The  abbey  of 
Boyle  received  in  Corran  two  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  lying  in  the 
parish  of  Emlaghfad,  as  well  as  the  trine  of  Cloncagh,  in  the 
parish  of  Toomour  ;  in  Carbury  two  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in 
the  parish  of  Kilmacowen,  and  seventy  in  that  of  Ahamlish  ; 
and  in  Tireragh,  two  hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  Grangemore 
and  Grangebeg,  in  the  parish  of  Templeboy.  These  lands  were 
all  called  Granges.* 

Trinity  Abbey  obtained  still  larger  possessions  : — in  Tirerrill, 
the  four  quarters  of  Bricklieve,  locally  called  the  Three  Trynes 

*  "  The  Granges,"  says  Mr.  Collins,  in  the  Preface  to  his  translation  of  the 
Lives  and  Legends  of  the  Cistercian  Fathers,  "  were  farms  at  some  little 
distance  from  the  Abbey.  Only  Convert  Brothers  were  allowed  to  sleep 
there." 


HISTORY  OF    SLIGO.  42T 


— Trynetemple,  Trynemaddere,  and  Trynemoylegreghe ; — 
Tullamoyle,  now  known  as  Tullabeg,  in  tbe  parish  of  Killross; 
the  church  of  Kilross,  with  its  appendant  island  in  Lough  Gill, 
formerly  nanaed  O'Gillegan's  Island,  but  at  present  O'Gallagher's 
Island,  or  Cottage  Island,  and  the  churches  of  Killadoon  and 
Shancoe ;  in  Carbury,  the  tryne  of  Rosbirne,  in  Kilmacowen ; 
and  the  rectories  of  the  eight  parishes  of  Emlaghfad,  Kilmorgan,. 
Cloonoghill,  Toomour,  Drumrat,  Kilturra,  Kilshalvey,  and 
Enagh,  all  in  Corran  except  Enagh,  which  is  at  present  the 
Tirerrill  portion  of  the  parochial  union  of  Ballysadare  and  Kil- 
varnet,  but  which  in  the  past  was  a  separate  parish. 

The  Canons  Regular  of  Inchmacnerin  obtained  four  quarters 
of  land  in  Killerry,  half  a  townland  in  Kilmacroy,  and  the 
rectories  of  Aghanagh,  Kilmacallan,  and  Culea. 

In  this  way  religion  was  carried  over  all  the  districts  com- 
prised in  the  area  of  the  present  county,  and  churches  were 
erected  not  only  in^the  lowlands,  but  high  up  on  the  slopes  of 
the  mountains,  as  at  Bricklieve,  and  in  the  islands  of  the  three 
chief  lakes — Lough  Arrow,  Lough  Gara,  and  Lough  Gill. 

We  must  not  omit  to  mention  that  the  Mendicant  Orders,  after 
their  introduction,  co-operated  zealously  in  this  movement:  their 
houses — those  of  the  Dominicans  at  Sligo,  Ballindoon,  and 
Cloonymeaghan ;  of  the  Franciscans,  at  Ballymote  and  Court ; 
of  the  Augustinians,  at  Banada;  and  of  the  Carmelites,  at 
Knockmore,  in  Coolavin — serving  constantly  as  so  many  centres 
of  spiritual  life  in  their  respective  localities. 

This  state  of  things  continued  till  the  Reformation  ;  nor  was 
there  much  practical  change  under  Henry  YIII. ;  while  Eliza- 
oeth,  in  the  early  part  of  her  reign,  showed  herself  disposed  to 
wink  at  the  private  practice  of  the  Catholic  religion,  and 
accordingly  allowed  Sir  Donnell  O'Connor  to  maintain  priests^ 
in  the  Abbey,  provided  only  they  were  secular  priests,  a  con- 
dition probably  added,  in  this  and  some  other  cas.es,*  merely 
to  save  appearances. 

*  The  friary  of  Carrickfergus  was  granted  under  similar  conditions  to  Hugh 


428  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


Persecution,  more  or  less  severe,  of  Irish  Catholics,  existed  ia 
the  reigns  of  Henry  YIII,  Edward  VI.,  Elizabeth,  James  I., 
Charles  I,  Charles  II.,  but  the  evil  culminated,  first,  under 
Cromwell,  who  boasted  that  the  Mass  would  not  be  allowed 
wherever  the  authority  of  England  extended;  and,  second,  under 
Anne,  who  lent  all  her  power  "  to  prevent  the  growth  of  popery ;" 
and  it  was  more  especially  in  these  times  that  the  Catholics  of 
the  county  had  to  hide  themselves  from  the  public  authorities, 
and,  that  they  might  be  able  to  practise  the  ordinances  of 
their  religion,  had  to  betake  themselves  to  the  mountains  of 
Slieve  Gamh,  Braulieve,  and  Bricklieve,  where,  to  this  day,  local 
tradition  points  out  the  spots  in  which  Mass  used  to  be  cele- 
brated. 

Under  the  Commonwealth,  floods  of  English  and  Scotch 
immigrants  inundated  the  county,  lying  deep  on  the  most 
valuable  and  desirable  spots,  and  more  especially  in  and  around 
the  town  of  Sligo,  and  the  village  of  Collooney,  in  which  place, 
judging  by  the  names  of  the  then  inhabitants,  the  householders 
must  have  been  Protestants  almost  to  a  man  ;  and  we  shall 
leave  it  to  others  to  solve  the  problem,  how  this  population, 
owning  all  the  land  of  the  county,  not  merely  protected,  but 
nursed,  by  the  government,  reared  like  delicate  exotics  in  the 
hothouse,  while  Catholics  were  driven  into  the  "  windy  gap/' 
monopolizing  all  offices,  public  and  private, of  trust,  of  emolument, 
and  of  power,  and  often  recruited  by  large  accessions  of  co-religion- 
ists from  England,  Scotland,  and  the  north  of  Ireland,  have  been 
constantly  losing  ground  and  falling  off  in  numbers,  in  wealth, 


Mac  Neil  Oge  by  "  Edward  the  Sixth,  defender  of  the  faith,"  according  to  the 
following  Sta^e^Paper:—^' Whereas  the  said  Hugh  hath  humblie  submitted 
himself  to  the  King's  Majestic  his  clemencie  ....  begging  pardon  for  all 
offences,  promising  to  continue  during  life  a  faithful  subject,  he  requests  to 
have  a  leas  of  certain  late  monasteries  with  the  landes  thereunto  belonging, 
and  the  late  frier  house  in  Knockfergus  granted  unto  him,  that  therein  he  may 
erect  two  secular  priests  for  ministration  of  divine  service,  alleging  that  his 
ancestors  were  buried  there,  and  that  in  all  his  countrie,  there  is  no  place  so 

meet  a  place  for  burial  as  that  is."    The  petition  was  granted Ulster  Journal 

of  Archaeology,  Vol.  VIZ.,  p.  4. 


HISTOKY   OF  SLIGO.  429 


and  in  power — a  decadence  which  still  goes  on,  and  in  some 
places  with  constantly  accelerating  velocity. 

As  soon  as  the  pressure  of  the  Penal  Laws  was  somewhat 
relaxed,  in  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  county 
Sligo  Catholics  took  to  building  places  of  worship,  which  at  first 
were  mud- wall,  or  rude  stone-wall,  thatched,  cabins,  but  which 
improved  as  time  went  on,  till  they  have  developed  into  the 
handsome  Gothic  churches  of  Ballymote,  Gurteen,  Curry,, 
Monasteredan,  Mulnabreena,  and  Collooney,  this  last,  though 
coming  first  in  time,  still  continuing,  and  likely  to  continue 
long,  first  in  beauty. 

In  recent  years  houses  of  a  religious  character  have  been 
erected  through  the  county  by  the  different  denominations  of 
Protestants : — by  the  members  of  the  late  Established  Church 
the  neat  little  Gothic  church  and  parsonage  of  Strandhill,  the 
chapels  of  ease  of  Ballysadare,  Rosses  Point,  and  Ballinafad ;  by 
the  Methodists,  the  chapel,  minister's  residence,  and  schools  of 
Sligo,  and  the  chapel  of  Collooney ;  by  the  Presbyterians,  the 
fine  manse  of  Garden  Hill,  the  manse  and  church  of  Drum 
near  Ballymote,  and  the  manse  and  church  at  Clogher ;  and  by 
the  Independents,  the  imposing  church,  minister's  residence, 
and  schools  of  Stephen- street. 

An  account  of  the  means  of  support  for  themselves  and  the 
service  of  religion  which  Irish  bishops  and  priests  enjoyed  in  the 
past,  would  be  an  appropriate  addition  to  the  foregoing  facts,  but 
there  is  little  known  on  the  subject.  Saint  Patrick  and  his 
fellow -labourers  were  greatly  helped  by  the  grants  of  land  which 
they  received  from  or  through  their  converts,  some  of  whom,  if 
not  chiefs  themselves,  belonged  to  the  families  of  chiefs — as^ 
Maneus,  bishop  of  Tirerrill,  who  was  great-great  grandson  of 
Ollioll,  king  of  Tirerrill  ;*  and  Bronus,  of  Killaspugbrone,  who' 
was  son  of  Icneus,  chief  of  his  territory.  In  receiving  land& 
they  also,  no  doubt,  received  the  live  stock  that  were  on  them  ; 

*  Trias  Thaum.,  pag.  176. — **Sanctus  Maneus  episcopus,  filius  Coechani, 
filii  Erci,  filii  Rossii,  filii  Olild^." 


430  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


and  what  shows  that  Saint  Patrick's  cattle  were  numerous,  we 
find  among  his  companions  a  bishop  Rodanus,  who  is  styled 
his  arTYientariuSf  or  herd,  and  whose  special  duty  it  was  to  tend 
the  Saint's  cattle.  These  cattle  formed  the  chief  possessions, 
and  their  milk  the  chief  sustenance,  of  our  primitive  ecclesi- 
astics.    Kildalough,  near  Ballysadare/is  a  church  of  this  Rodan. 

Besides  the  cattle  kept  on  their  own  lands,  they  had  some  on 
the  lands  of  others,  where  they  were  depastured  free,  as  in  the 
instance  of  Assicus,  patron  and  first  bishop  of  Elphin,  of  whom 
it  is  said  in  the  Tripartite  Life  of  St.  Patrick  :  "  And  the  king 
of  Rath  Cunga,  in  Seirthe,  gave  to  Assicus,  and  to  his  monks 
after  his  death,  the  pasture  of  one  hundred  cows  with  their 
calves,  and  twenty  oxen,  as  a  perpetual  offering"* — an  example, 
which  may  have  given  rise  to  an  usage,  formerly  prevalent  in 
the  Roscommon  portion  of  Elphin  diocese,  and,  probably,  not 
quite  unknown  there  still,  of  priests  sending  out  to  the  demesnes 
or  farms  of  leading  parishioners,  calves  or  foals,  which  remained 
at  grass  till  they  returned  to  their  owners,  after  the  lapse  of 
three  or  four  years,  full  grown  cows  or  horses. 

This  mode  of  supporting  religion  continued  and  increased 
with  the  increase  of  the  church.  Laymen  of  station  not  only 
contributed  to  the  church  of  their  neighbourhood,  but  sometimes 
sent  contributions  to  a  distance,  out  of  devotion  to  a  particular 
saint.  Thus  the  head  of  the  O'Hara  family  bound  himself  and 
his  descendants  after  him,  to  make,  every  year,  an  offering  of 
three  cows  to  the  successors  of  St.  Cormac  on  the  banks  of 
the  Moy.t  Affiliated  or  appropriated  churches,  chapels,  or 
cells,  in  the  same  way  made  annual  offerings,  or  rather  pay- 
ments, to  the  parent  house,  which,  as  we  learn  from  various 
•sources,  and  notably  from  the  Registry  of  Clonmacnoise,  were, 
in  early  times,  always  paid  in  kind,  in  beeves  and  hogs  for  the 


*  "  Rex Rethcung93 — consecravit  Assico,  ejiisque  jam  mortui  monachis,  agrost 
et  paschua  pro  centum  vaccis  cum  suis  vitulis  et  viginti  bobus  pascendis." — 
Trias  Thaum.,  pag.  135.    The  Book  of  Armagh  mentions  the  same  fact. 

t  "  Se  et  posteros  divinctos  reddidit,  ad  tres  boves  ipsi  et  successoribus  quo- 
tannis  solvendos." — Colgan's-icia/Sawd.,  pag.  753. 


HISTORY    OF   SLIGO.  431 


most  part,  which  were  either  forwarded  to  the  head  establish- 
ment,  or  delivered   to   some   steward   sent   to   receive   them. 
*'  Three  beeves  and  three  hoggs  at  every  St.  Martin,"  for  a  lead- 
ing church,  and  "  two  beeves  and  a  hogg"  for  minor  churches  or 
chapels,  seem  to  have  been  the  "  rents  "  usually  paid  to  Clon- 
macnoise,  and,  no  doubt,  to  other  great  establishments  of  the 
same  age,*  by  their  dependent  churches,  chapels,  and  cells.     It 
was,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  same  kind  of  goods  that  bequests 
and  funeral  offerings  to  religious  houses  were  made,  as  appears 
from  the  case  of  Donnell  O'Connor  already  mentioned,!  and  that 
of  Turlough  O'Connor,  who  died  in  1156,J  "after  the  sixty-eighth 
year  of  his  age,  and  was  interred  at  Cluan-mic-Nois,  beside  the 
altar  of  Ciaran,  after  having  made  his  will,  and  distributed  gold 
and  silver,  cows  and  horses,  among  the  clergy  and  churches  of 
Ireland  in  general." 

By  degrees  the  great  monasteries  got  hold  of  the  majority  of 
the  county  Sligo  churches  with  their  "  dues  and  pertinents." 
To  Clonmacnoise  were  appropriated  Tawnagh,  Kilmurihy 
{Kilmorgan),  and  Kilmacteige  ;§  to  Boyle,  the  churches  of 
Grange  near  Knocknarea,  Grange  in  Ahamlish,  Grange  in 
Emlaghfad,  Grangemore  and  Grangeley  in  Tireragh  and  Clon- 
cagh  in  Corran ;  to  Trinity  Abbey,  in  Lough  Ce,  the  churches  of 
Killross,  Tullamoylebeg  (now  TuUabeg),  Bricklieve,  Killadoon, 
and  Shancoe,  with  the  rectories  of  Emlaghfad,  Kilmorgan, 
Cloonoghill,  Tumour,  Drumrat,  Kilturra,  Kilshalvey,  and  Enagh; 
to  the  house  of  the  Canons  Regular  of  Inchmacnerin,  Killerry, 
Kilmacroy,  and  the  rectories  of  Aghanagh,  Kilmacallan,  and 
Coolea;  and  to  the  Priory  of  Saint  John  the  Baptist,  extra 
novam  portarriy  Dublin,  the  rectory  of  St.  John's,  Sligo, 
commonly  called  in  old  documents  the  Eectory  Between  the 
Two  Bridges,  Redoria  inter  duos  pontes. 


*  Kilkenny  Archaeological  Journal,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  4i8. 

t  See  Vol.  I.,  p.  86. 

X  Four  Masters,  1 156. 

§  Kilkenny  Journal,  uhi  supra. 


432  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


If  some  advantage  resulted  from  the  connexion  of  these 
churches  and  rectories  with  the  great  monasteries,  it  was 
accompanied  with  a  weighty  drawback,  inasmuch  as  the 
monastic  establishments  took  to  themselves  so  much  of  the 
revenues,  which  should  have  been  left  for  local  purposes,  that, 
when  troubles  came,  the  secular  clergy  were  unable  to  cope 
with  them.  A  similar  state  of  things  existed  elsewhere,  as  in 
Scotland,  and  with  a  similar  result.  "In  one  reign,  that  of 
William  the  Lion,"  says  Cosmo  Innes,*  "  thirty- three  parish 
churches  were  bestowed  upon  the  new  monastery  of  Arbroath. 
The  consequences  of  such  a  system  were  little  thought  of,  and 
yet  might  have  been  foreseen.  The  tithes  and  property  which 
the  Church  had  with  much  difficulty  obtained  for  the  support  of 
a  resident  parochial  clergy  were  in  a  great  measure  swallowed 
up  by  the  monks.  The  monasteries  became  indeed,  and  con- 
tinued for  some  ages,  the  centres  and  sources  of  religion  and 
letters,  the  schools  of  civil  life  in  a  rough  time,  the  teachers  of 
industry  and  the  arts  of  peace  among  men  whose  sloth  used  to 
be  roused  only  by  the  sound  of  arms.  But  even  the  advantages 
conferred  by  them  were  of  small  account  in  contrast  with  the 
mischief  of  humbling  the  parish  clergy.  When  the  storm  came, 
the  secular  clergy  were  degraded  and  powerless." 

The  lesson  conveyed  in  these  words  may  have  its  use  even 
to-day,  as  it  serves  to  show  that  everything  tending  to  belittle 
the  "  resident  parochial  clergy,"  by  lowering  their  status,  by 
curtailing  their  rights  and  privileges,  or  by  withdrawing  from 
local  objects  too  large  a  share  of  local  resources,  is  likely  in  the 
long  run,  even  amid  the  conditions  of  modern  society,  to  produce 
the  ill-consequences  which  Cosmo  Innes  describes  and  deplores. 

The  lands  granted  in  early  times  for  the  erection  and  endow- 
ment of  churches  were  generally  of  good  extent.  Those  bestowed 
on  Clonmacnoise  in  county  Sligo,  as  well  as  in  other  parts  of 
Ireland,  were  in  almost  all  cases  of  *'  48  dayes,"  that  is,  says 


*  Sketches  of  Early  Scotch  History,  pp.  18-19. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  433 


Dudley  McFirbis,*  "  of  48  dayes  plowing,  or  as  much  as  might 
be  plowed  of  land  for  48  dayes ;"  the  stretch  from  the  bridge  of 
Ballydrehid  all  round  to  Culleenamore,  was  given  to  St.  Diarmit 
for  the  church  of  Kilmacowen  ;f  the  fertile  and  extensive  region 
bounded  to  the  east  and  west,  respectively,  by  Ballysadare  river 
and  Drumard,  and  to  the  north  and  south  by  the  sea  and  the 
Ox  Mountain,  was  made  over  to  St.  Fechin  for  his  church  of 
Easdara  or  Ballysadare,J  and  formed,  in  later  times,  the  Termon 
of  that  church  ;  and  still  larger  districts  were  granted  in  other 
places  to  the  founders  of  churches.  The  holy  men  guarded 
jealously  what  they  thus  got,  resisting  firmly  every  encroachment, 
come  from  quarter  it  might.  Saint  Aidan,  of  Cloonoghill,  as  is 
stated  in  another  page,  addressed  strong  remonstrances  and  re- 
proaches to  St.  Cormac,  who,  he  thought,  intended  to  settle  too 
near  him  ;  §  and  St.  Conal,  the  uterine  brother  of  St.  Attracta, 
prevented  her,  much  against  her  will,  from  erecting  her  monastery 
or  hospital  in  his  neighbourhood.  1| 

Tillage  on  Church  or  other  lands  was  very  rare  in  the  time  of 
St.  Patrick,  and  for  some  centuries  after ;  though  the  instance  of 
Bishop  Etchen,  who  was  engaged  in  ploughing  when  Saint 
Columba  came  to  him  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  episcopal 
ordination,  shows  that  tillage  was  practised  to  some  extent  even 
in  those  primitive  times. 

As  soon  as  it  became  more  general,  offerings  ceased  to  be 
given  exclusively  in  animals,  and  began  to  be  made  in  part  from 
the  produce  of  the  tilled  land,  so  that  the  ricks  and  baskets  of 
corn  mentioned  in  the  Four  Masters,  under  the  year  1236,  as 
stored  up  in  churches  and  churchyards,  were,  no  doubt,  the  out- 
come of  those  oblations.  So  late  as  the  year  1516  the  revenues 
of  Tuam  cathedral,  and,  consequently,  other  revenues  of  the 
province,  "  were  paid  in  corn  and  barley." 

*  Kilkenny  Archceological  Journal^  Vol.  IV.,  p.  451. 
t  Acta  Sanct.,  pag.  751. 
ij:  Ibid.,  p.  134. 
§  Ibid.,  p.  753. 
II  Ibid.,  p.  277. 
VOL.  II.  2  E 


434  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO, 


From  the  infancy  of  the  Irish  Church  there  were,  from  time 
to  time,  gifts  in  gold  and  silver  to  supplement  offerings  in  kind ; 
and  in  modern  times,  when  money  contributions  had  come  to 
form  the  greater  part  of  clerical  income,  others  in  kind  were 
added,  so  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  clergy  continued  down  to 
sixty  or  seventy  years  ago  to  receive  a  good  portion  of  their  dues 
in  oats,  barley,  butter,  or  yarn.  In  the  collapse  of  ecclesiastical 
organization  caused  by  the  penal  laws,  the  clergy  had  no  fixed 
places  of  abode,  but  their  ever-faithful  people  searched  them 
out  in  the  mountain  and  morass,  and  supplied  them  with  food 
and  clothing,  in  defiance  of  the  unholy  laws  which  made  such 
an  act  of  humanity  a  capital  crime. 

About  this  time  the  people  were  plundered  by  the  ministers 
of  the  State  Church.  To  say  nothing  here  of  charges  for 
marrying,  for  churching,  and  for  other  functions — functions 
which  they  never  performed — they  began  to  claim  and  exact,  in 
addition  to  ordinary  tithes,  a  "  tithe  milk,"  as  it  was  called, 
which  was  a  species  of  tithe  never  before  claimed  or  even  heard 
of  in  Ireland,  or  in  any  other  country  of  Christendom.  So 
monstrous  was  this  claim,  and  so  outrageous  the  crime  of  en- 
forcing it  with  the  certain  result  of  starving  numbers  of  poor 
persons  who  had  nothing  but  the  milk  of  their  cows  to  live  on, 
that  the  Lord  Deputy  Chichester,  anti-Irish  and  anti-Catholic 
as  he  was,  set  his  face  against  the  inhuman  innovation,  and 
justified  his  conduct  to  the  Privy  Council  by  assuring  them 
that  this  "  milk  was  the  daily  food  and  blood  of  the  people." 
The  ministers,  however,  made  a  hard  fight  for  their  pound  of 
flesh ;  "  for  one  minister,"  writes  Chichester  to  the  Council, 
"  was  pitifully  murdered  with  forty-four  wounds  about  him  for 
that  cause,  and  another  lay  person  was  slain  in  defence  of  a 
minister  his  master." 

Owing  to  the  confusion  that  resulted  from  these  ill-omened 
times,  there  was  no  longer  any  regular  assured  means  of  support 
for  the  clergy  of  the  people  ;  and  to  remedy  this  defect,  a 
Provincial  Synod,  which  met  at  Tuam  in  1631,  under  the 
presidency  of  Most  Rev.  Malachy  Queely,  sanctioned  a  scale  of 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  435 


maintenance,  which,  however  inadequate  it  might  be,  was  all 
that  the  impoverished  Catholics  of  the  day  could  be  asked  to 
provide.  According  to  this  scale  two  shillings  were  to  be  given 
the  Parish  Priest  on  the  occasion  of  marriage,  one  at  baptism, 
and  four  "  testilia"  for  yearly  dues.  It  is  not  certain  whether 
the  "testilia''  meant  testoons  or  what  were  popularly  called 
"testers."  If  the  former,  the  testilia  varied  in  value,  as  in 
Italy  and  Portugal — the  countries  on  the  Continent  in  which 
the  coin  circulated — being  equal  in  the  former  country  to  about 
seventeen  pence,  and  in  the  latter  to  seven  pence.  If  testilia 
stood  for  testers,  which  is  most  likely,  the  four  testilia  would  be 
equal  at  that  time  to  four  sixpences,  or  two  shillings ;  but  it 
should  be  remembered  that  shillings  and  sixpences  were  more 
valuable  then  than  now. 

In  a  Provincial  Synod  held  in  Tuam  in  1817,  under  the  Most 
Eev.  Oliver  Kelly,  clerical  income  was  fixed  at  one  guinea 
(£1,  2s.  9d.)  for  marriage,  two  shillings  for  yearly  dues,  five 
shillings  for  a  marriage  certificate,  and  two  shillings  as  lionor- 
arium  for  Mass.  The  Council  makes  no  mention  of  a  baptismal 
fee,  and  observes,  regarding  the  scale  laid  down,  that  it  is 
meant  for  the  poorest  class  (infima  plebs),  and  that  better-off 
people  (locupletiores)  are  bound  to  be  more  liberal. 

According  to  Rev.  James  Nelligan,  in  his  Statistical  Account 
of  Kilmacteige  (p.  379),  the  fees  in  that  parish  were,  in  the  year 
1817 — for  marriage,  £1,  23.  9d. ;  baptism,  2s.  6d. ;  yearly  dues. 
2s.  2d. ;  mortuary,  8s.  01. ;  marriage  certificate,  5s. ;  Bishop's 
licence,  5s.  Od. ;  while  servants  and  young  persons  were  in  the 
habit  of  giving  sixpence  each  on  occasion  of  their  half-yearly 
confession.  And,  in  addition,  a  collection  was  taken  up  on 
Christmas  Day,  and  another  on  Easter  Sunday.  The  parson 
observes  that  this  list  may,  "  with  some  variation,  serve  as  a 
standard  for  all  the  other  parishes  of  the  diocese."  He  omits, 
however,  to  mention  that,  at  this  time,  a  stop  was  put,  by  the 
Provincial  Synod  of  Tuam,  to  the  off'erings  of  young  people  and 
females  on  the  occasion  of  confession  : — "  Oblationes  vero  qu£e 


436  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


die  Confessionis  fieri  solebant  a  junioribus  et  fseminis,  in  pos- 
terum  nullatenus  sunt  exigendse." 

It   should   be   mentioned    that,  in    addition  to  the  regular 

offerings,  local  custom  sometimes  sanctioned  exceptional  ones, 

as  the  "wedding-cake  contributions"  of  some  southern  dioceses, 

and  the  '' funeral  offerings  "  still  paid  in  the  Carbury  portion 

of  the  diocese  of  Elphin. 

It  will  be  seen  by  these  instances  that  clerical  income  is 
usually  dealt  with  in  synods,  provincial  or  diocesan,  where  those 
affected  by  any  change  are  present  in  person,  or  are  duly  repre- 
sented. This  is  only  in  keeping  with  the  constant  practice  of 
the  Church,  which  takes  special  care  that,  on  such  occasions, 
everything  be  done  without  prejudice  to  incumbents  or  others 
interested — a  principle  so  consonant  to  natural  justice,  that  it 
is  carefully  observed  in  civil  as  well  as  ecclesiastical  transactions. 
In  this  country  the  income  of  bishops  and  priests  is  regulated 
in  great  part  by  custom,  and  ecclesiastical  authority  seldom 
interferes  except  to  stop  abuses. 

Whatever  some  people  outside  the  Church  may  say  of  the 
arbitrariness  of  churchmen,  no  individual  prelate  would  take 
on  himself  to  make  a  radical  change  in  the  clerical  income  of 
his  diocese  without  at  least  consultation  with  his  priests,  and 
rarely,  if  at  all,  without  their  concurrence  or  consent.  If  nothing 
else,  the  practice  of  the  Church  would  prevent  such  autocracy. 
To  hear  certain  outsiders  speak,  one  would  be  led  to  imagine 
that  there  was  nothing  to  hinder  a  Catholic  bishop  from  revolu- 
tionizing his  diocese  in  this  respect  at  any  moment  he  liked,  so 
that  his  diocesans  might  all  go  to  bed  at  night  under  one  system 
of  maintenance,  and  might  find  themselves  placed,  on  rising  in 
the  morning,  under  quite  a  different  system  without  action  or 
acquiescence  on  their  part ;  as  if  a  bishop,  without  alleging  text 
of  Scripture,  canon  of  council,  ordinance  of  Pope  or  congrega- 
tion, or  any  of  the  other  reasons  which  underlie  and  justify 
ecclesiastical  action,  might,  by  a  stroke  of  his  pen,  sweep  away 
vested  rights,  pious  customs  {''laudahiles  consuetudines")^  and 


HISTORY   OF   SLTGO.  437 


a  time-out-of-mind  state  of  things,  and  act  as  if  people  lived  in 
partibus  injidelium,  where  everything  is  a  tabula  rasa  ready 
to  receive  any  impressions  communicated. 

The  persons  who  hold  such  views  know  little  either  of  the 
divine  constitution  of  the  Church,  or  of  the  tender  solicitude 
with  which  she  safeguards  the  rights  and  interests  of  all  her 
children.  Ecclesiastical  superiors  pursue  always  the  **  golden 
mean  " — remote,  on  one  side,  from  absolutism,  of  which  a  great 
Church  authority  avers,  "  Le  pouvoir  absolu  est  complete- 
ment  etranger  a  I'esprit  de  I'Eglise  ;"  and  remote,  on  the  other 
side,  from  the  ridiculous  inaction  to  which  both  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  rulers  would  be  reduced  by  a  modern  school  of 
thinkers,  who  are  well  represented  by  the  famous  Dr.  Arnold 
when  he  writes : — "  Irresponsible  persons,  irremoveable,  and 
acting  without  responsible  advisers,  are  such  a  solecism  in 
government,  that  they  can  only  be  suffered  to  exist  so  long  as 
they  do  nothing." 

Sligo  has  not  much  to  boast  of  as  to  the  state  of 
EDUCATION 

in  the  times  that  are  passed.  For  this  Catholics  are  little  to 
blame,  as  till  recently  they  were  forbidden  by  law  to  educate 
others,  or  to  receive  education  themselves  from  their  fellow- 
Catholics.  It  was  only  in  1781  was  passed  an  Act  "to  allow 
persons  professing  the  Popish  religion  to  teach  school "  (22  & 
23  George  III,  cap.  62). 

Erasmus  Smith  seems  to  have  been  the  first  Protestant  to 
give  a  helping  hand  to  education  in  the  county.  Of  the  13,000 
acres  which  that  lucky  adventurer  devoted  to  the  endowment  of 
schools  in  Ireland,  2,199  acres,  3  roods,  and  2G  perches,  lay  in 
the  county  Sligo,  in  the  parishes  of  St.  John,  Calry,  and  Drum- 
cliff— Lisnahelly  in  Drumcliff,  Tawnaphuble  in  St.  John's,  and 
Cloonsaor  and  Farrinmacardy  in  Calry,  being  portions  of  his 
great  estate.  It  would  have  been  well  for  the  county  had  it 
received  from  the  Erasmus  Smith  Board  aid  in  proportion  to 


438  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 

the  extent  and  value  of  these  lands,  but  instead  of  that,  the 
support,  for  a  short  time,  of  the  late  Mr.  Ward's  school  near  the 
Lungy  was,  as  we  learn  from  the  proceedings  of  the  Com- 
missioners on  Endowed  Schools  which  sat  in  Sligo  in  1855,* 
almost  the  only  return  made  to  the  town  or  county. 

The  next  Protestant  foundation  was  the  Charter  School, 
which  was  opened  in  1755.  In  1730  Primate  Boulter,  on  the 
part  of  the  Government,  established  the  Charter  Schools  as 
conversion  traps  for  Catholics,  "  out  of  concern,"  as  he  said, 
"for  the  salvation  of  these  poor  creatures."  Parliamentary  grants, 
amounting  to  millions,  were  lavished  on  these  establishments, 
but  they  failed  so  utterly  and  disgracefully,  that  John  Howard, 
w^ho  visited  them  in  1788,  describes  them  as  "  a  disgrace  to 
Protestants,  and  an  encouragement  of  Popery,  the  children 
being  sickly,  naked,  and  half-starved." 

Assuming  the  Sligo  Charter  School  to  be  a  fair  specimen  of 
all,  we  must  pronounce  Howard  to  be  sufficiently  moderate  in 
his  judgment.  According  to  a  Report  on  the  State  of  the 
Protestant  Chartered  Schools  issued  by  a  Parliamentary  Com- 
mission in  1788,  Sligo  school,  on  the  26th  July,  1787,  "contained 
twenty-five  boys  and  seventeen  girls,  all  barefooted,  for  the 
most  part  ragged  and  illiterate.  There  were  eleven  beds  in  the 
room  in  which  the  boys  slept,  which  were  all  filthy,  and  had 
but  three  tickens,  and  very  few  bolsters.  The  sheets  in  general 
were  very  foul.  The  girls'  sleeping  room  was  equally  filthy, 
and  had  no  tickens,  and  but  two  bolsters  on  eight  beds.  The 
master  had  three  apprentices,  who  were  working  barefooted  at 
a  dunghill,  viz. :  William  Kavanagh,  aged  17  years,  was  bound 
to  him  in  July,  1785  ;   James  Henley  and  William  Connell, 


*  Mr.  Hughes,  one  of  the  Commissioners,  having  asked  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Shone,  one  of  the  witnesses,  ' '  Is  the  result  this,  that  for  Sligo,  out  of  the 
estates  held  by  the  Governors,  all  they  contribute  is  the  salary  of  the  master  ?" 
the  witness  answered,  "  The  result  is,  that  is  all  they  give  as  regards  education 
in  the  town  of  Sligo."— Evidence  taken  before  the  Commissioners,  etc.  Question 
6681. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  439 


each  19  years  old,  iadented  in  December,  1783.  Kavanagh  and 
Connell  read  very  badly,  could  scarcely  write  their  names,  and 
did  not  know  a  single  figure  ;  Henley  could  not  even  spell ;  yet 
two  of  them  had  been  twelve  years  in  this  school.  Mary  Mac- 
kenzie, aged  14  years,  indented  in  July,  1785,  was  totally 
illiterate,  though  in  the  school  since  1780.  Several  of  the 
pupils  have  eruptions."'^  Mr.  M.  Hart,  who  was  the  teacher  at 
this  time,  notwithstanding  his  neglect  of  the  pupils,  knew  how 
to  take  care  of  Number  One,  for  the  Eeport  adds,  "  Young 
Master  and  Miss  Hart  occupy  two  rooms  on  the  middle  floor, 
which  are  well  lighted,  and  measure  each  twenty- eight  feet  by 
eighteen  feet !" 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  in  1787,  and  matters  can  hardly 
be  said  to  have  mended  up  to  1825,  when  a  parliamentary 
paper  (First  Report  on  Education,  1825),  gives  this  account  of 
the  Sligo  school :  "  The  Master  was  a  man  of  violent  and 
ungoverned  passions,  and  the  boys  were  most  severely  and 
cruelly  punished,  not  only  by  him,  but  also  by  his  son,  and  by  a 
foreman  in  the  weaving  department;  and  these  punishments 
were  inflicted  for  very  slight  faults.  The  habitual  practice  of 
the  master  was  to  seize  the  boys  by  the  throat,  and  press  them 
almost  to  suffocation,  and  to  strike  them  with  a  whip  or  his 
fist  upon  the  head  and  face  during  the  time  his  passion  lasted. 
The  anger  of  the  master  was  chiefly  excited  by  the  boys  per- 
forming less  work  than  he  expected  in  the  weaving  shop  (of 
which  the  master  had  the  profit),  or  by  their  not  weaving  well." 

When  the  Charter  schools  were  broken  up,  the  Sligo  house, 
which  was  described  in  1787  as  "  three  stories  high,  spacious, 
well  built,  and  situated  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  town,'* 
became  the  property  of  Mr.  Wynne,  and  is  now  the  premises  of 
the  Elphin  Diocesan  school.  This  school,  which  dates  from 
1571,  was  transferred  to  Sligo  by  warrant  dated  5th  November, 


*  An  Inquiry  into  the  Abuses  of  the  Chartered  Schools  in  Ireland,  p.  103. 
According  to  Rev.  J.  Wesley's  Journal  (May,  1785),  there  were  in  Ballinrobe 
Chartered  School,  only  3  beds  for  15  boys,  and  5  for  19  girls. 


440  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 

1862,  and  has  now  for  Head  Master,  W.  C.  Eades,  Esq.,  M.A., 
Ex  Sell,  and  Sen.  CI.  Mod.  T.C.D.,  who  is  admitted  to  be  an 
able  and  successful  educationist. 

As  to  private  benefactors  in  the  cause  of  education: — Mr. 
William  Draper  left  a  bequest  of  £18  a  year,  but  whether  it 
was  for  education  or  other  purposes  did  not  clearly  appear  to  the 
Commissioners  on  Endowed  Schools ;  Kev.  Samuel  Shone,  one 
of  the  witnesses,  stating  that  the  money  was  "  paid  regularly  to 
three  Protestant  servants,  but  altogether  irrespective  of  educa- 
tion"* 

Mr.  Adam  Ormsby  left  a  rent-charge  of  £32,  6s.  2d.  on  his 
estate.  In  this  case,  too,  uncertainty  existed  as  to  the  exact  nature 
of  the  benefaction.  Eev.  Mr.  Gully,  a  witness,  understood  it  was 
for  the  support  of  the  "  charity  boys  of  Sligo,"  but  added,  that  it 
had  been  transferred  to  the  Incorporated  Society  for  promoting 
English  Protestant  Schools  in  Ireland,  and  was  by  them 
expended  on  Primrose  Grange  School.t 

A  Mr.  Nicholson  bequeathed  rent-charges  on  his  estate, 
expected  to  yield  £120  per  annuTYi,  for  a  school  at  Knocknarea. 

Eev.  Mr.  Valentine,  who  was  rector  of  the  united  parishes  of 
Castleconor  and  Kilglass,  and  who  died  in  1760,  left  by  will 
*'  £400  towards  the  institution  of  a  Protestant  charity  school  at 
Frankfort  in  that  union,  and  for  the  puttiDg  out  a  few  of  the 
Protestant  apprentices  to  trades."  This  sum  was  placed  at 
interest,  and  reached  five  times  the  amount  before  the  school 
was  established.J 

As  has  been  said.  Primate  Boulter,  when  establishing  the 
Charter  Schools,  made  no  secret  of  his  design  to  use  them 
for  proselytizing  purposes ;  but  other  educational  organizations 


*  Evidence  on  Inquiry  into  the  State  of  the  Endowed  Schools  in  Ireland, 
Vol.  I.,  p.  320,  query  6073. 

t  Evidence,  etc.,  query  6685. 

J  Detailed  evidence,  which  will  repay  perusal,  was  given  to  the  Commis- 
sioners regarding  this  school.  It  is  contained  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Inquiry, 
etc.,  from  pages  307  to  314. 


HISTORY  OF  SLIGO.  441 


were  intended  to  accomplish  covertly  what  the  Charter  School 
system  was  employed  to  do  openly.  The  London  Hibernian 
Society,  dating  from  1806,  while  professing  to  "interfere  with 
no  particular  creed,"  made  scriptural  instruction  its  chief  aim, 
obliging  the  pupils,  who  frequented  its  schools,  to  devote  most 
of  their  time  to  reading  the  Scriptures,  and  committing  them  to 
memory.  The  well-known  Albert  Blest,  of  Coolany,  was  the 
head  agent  of  the  Society  in  this  district,  as  well  as  chief 
manager  of  its  schools,  of  which  he  established  about  a  hundred 
in  Sligo  and  the  adjoining  counties.  In  the  Statistical  Account 
of  Kilmactigue,  Keverend  James  Nelligan  bestows  strong  praise 
on  Mr.  Blest ;  and  the  qualities  which  earned  the  writer's  eulogy 
as  well  as  the  real  character  of  the  Hibernian  Society  schools, 
may  be  gathered  from  a  single  sentence  of  the  Account: — 
"  Since  the  commencement  of  this  institution  (the  Hibernian 
Society),  which  has  been  about  four  years  established,  several  of 
the  teachers,  as  well  as  of  the  scholars,  who  were  educated 
Roman  Catholics,  have,  by  Mr.  Blest's  conversation  and  instruc- 
tion, together  with  the  free  use  of  the  Scriptures,  become 
Protestants,  and  useful  and  exemplary  members  of  society."  It 
is  in  this  way  the  London  Hibernian  Society  fulfilled  its  promise 
and  profession  "  to  interfere  with  no  particular  creed." 

The  Kildare  Place  Society,  instituted  in  1811,  for  the  purpose 
of "  promoting  the  education  of  the  poor  of  Ireland,"  after 
starting  with  the  most  plausible  professions,  and  disclaiming  all 
desires  or  intention  of  meddling  with  any  one's  belief,  developed 
through  time  a  passion  for  tampering  with  the  faith  of  Catholics, 
and  lost,  in  consequence,  its  parliamentary  grants.  The  Society 
in  1826  had  36  schools  in  the  county  Sligo,  of  which  the  follow- 
ing list,  containing  the  name  of  each  school,  name  of  teacher, 
name  of  patron,  and  number  of  scholars,  must  throw  curious 
light  on  the  state  of  things  in  the  county  "  Sixty  years  ago  :" — 


442 


HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


Number 

School. 

Teacher. 

Patron. 

of 
Scholars. 

Bally  mote,  Male 

Jackson  Hawksby 

Rev.  John  Garrett 

74 

Ballymote,  Female 

(  Aune  Hawksby     > 
\  Jane  Ellis,  Assist. ) 

Rev.  John  Garrett 

90 

Killerry 

William  Banks 

Rev.  Michl.  Boland 

48 

Sligo  Prison,  Male 

George  Sherman 

Rev.  Wm.  Armstrong 

73 

Sligo  Prison,  Female 

Mary  M'Mullen 

Rev.  Wm.  Armstrong- 

9 

Mount  Temple 

Teacher  not  named 

Lord  Palmerston  and 

Mrs.  Soden 

20 

Ardagh 

Thomas  Finan 

James  Loyd,  Esq. 

52 

Sligo,  Male 

W.  P.  Blair 

Rev.  Chas.  Hamilton 

98 

Sligo,  Female 

Margaret  Christian 

Rev.  Chas.  Hamilton 

114 

Templevanny 

Teacher  not  named 

Earl  of  Kingston  and 

Rev.  P.Fitzmaurice 

95 

Templehouse 

Ellen  Waterstone 

Mrs.  Percival 

67 

Calry,  Female 

Catherine  Blair 

Mrs.  Irwin 

107 

Thornhill 

Margaret  Beirne 

Rev.  John  Stack 

52 

Breafy 

Teacher  not  named 

Rev.  J.  P.  Lyons' 

129 

Tubberscanavin 

Bart.  Brennan 

Rev.  Wm.  Handcock 

86 

Gortlaunan 

Ferral  O'Rourke 

And.  Johnston,  Esq. 

82 

Seaview 

Kobert  Hillas 

Thomas  Hillas,  Esq. 

180 

Killinduff 

James  TaafFe 

Colonel  Irwin 

103 

Branchtield 

Teacher  not  named 

Robert  Duke,  Esq. 

143 

Easky 

Thomas  Barry 

Rev.  George  Truelock 

115 

Carrowmacarrick 

Teacher  not  named 

Rev.  John  Stack 

116 

Kilmactranny 

Teacher  not  named 

Mrs.  Shaw 

22 

Corronla 

Teacher  not  named 

Rev.  J.  P.  Lyons 

40 

Kilmore  Moy 

Noble  Paget 

Rev.  J.  P.  Lyons 

172 

Kilmactige 

William  Evans 

Rev.  James  Nelligan 

60 

Ballinful 

James  McKeon 

Rev.  Charles  Dunne 

67 

Gurteen 

Michael  Clarke 

W.  T.  Sherlock,  Esq. 

131 

Ballysadare 

Teacher  not  named 

Rev.  Wm.  Handcock 

66 

Ardnasbrack 

Ed.  Keating 

Nic.  0.  Fury,  Esq. 

75 

Carha 

Teacher  not  named 

Meredith  Thompson, 

Esq. 

58 

Thirlebeg 

Teacher  not  named 

Abraham  Martin,  Esq. 

Number 
not  given 

Knockadoo 

Teacher  not  named 

Robt.  Elwood 

60 

Seafort 

Teacher  not  named 

Mrs.  Wood 

50 

Cliffony 

Teacher  not  named 

Lord  Palmerston  and 

G.  C.  Swan,  Esq. 

350 

Carney 

James  M'Neice 

Patron  not  named 

88 

St.  John's 

Humphry  Gilmor 

Patron  not  named 

78 

HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  443 


"What  has  been  said  of  the  London  Hibernian,  and  the 
Kildare  Place  Society,  taken  with  the  foregoing  list,  which  is 
extracted  from  the  "  Fourteenth  Report  of  the  Society  for  pro- 
moting the  education  of  the  Poor  in  Ireland,"  will  enable  us  to 
realize  somewhat  the  wonderful  improvement  effected  in  the 
popular  education  of  the  county  by  the  establishment  of  the 
National  system — improvement  in  the  qualities  of  the  education, 
that  of  the  National  Board  being  a  first-class  English  education, 
as  against  the  smattering  of  reading,  writing,  and  cyphering  of 
the  other  Societies ;  improvement  in  the  numbers  receiving 
instruction,  there  being  nearly  as  many  pupils  at  present  in  a 
single  parish,  as  there  were  formerly  in  the  whole  county ;  and, 
above  all,  improvement  as  to  the  persons  administering  and 
imparting  education,  the  managers  of  the  schools  being  now,  in 
general,  the  pastors  of  the  children  and  of  their  parents,  instead 
of  proselytizing  clergymen  and  laymen;  while  the  National 
teachers  are  men  of  integrity,  ability,  and  knowledge,  as  against 
teachers  who,  admitting  some  of  them  to  have  been  well 
disposed  and  well  behaved  persons,  were,  in  too  many  cases, 
only  waifs  and  strays  in  society,  and  weathercocks  in  religion. 
Except  Rev.  Alexander  McEwen,  one  of  the  Inspectors,  who 
was  a  well  meaning  and  charitable  man,  all  the  officials  of  the 
Hibernian  Society  in  the  county  Sligo,  might  be  set  down  as 
either  fanatics  or  hypocrites. 

And  the  National  teachers  have  a  still  more  marked 
superiority  over  the  so-called  Hedge  schoolmasters  of  the  past. 
Indeed  there  is  nothing  that  shows  so  well  the  extraordinary 
advance  of  primary  education  in  Ireland  as  the  enormous 
difference,  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral,  that  there  is  be- 
tween the  National  teachers  of  the  present  time  and  the  Hedge 
schoolmaster  of  the  last  century.  If  the  teacher  is  the  school, 
as  all  sound  educationists  maintain,  there  is  no  room  for  com- 
parison between  the  primary  schools  of  to-day,  and  the  Hedge 
schools  of  the  past. 

In  the  first  place  the  schoolmasters  of  one  hundred  years  ago 
sufifered  commonly  from  some  weighty  physical  defect — they  being 


444  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


in  many  cases  hunchbacks,  cripples,  or  victims  of  some  such 
bodily  affliction.  As  a  rule,  it  was  only  persons  whom  physical 
disability  prevented  from  earning  a  livelihood  by  manual  labour 
that  would  devote  themselves  to  the  drudgery  and  dangers  of 
teaching  at  a  time  when  the  school  was  a  roadside  ditch,  or  a 
roofless  ruin  ;  \vhen  the  only  remuneration  they  received  for 
their  services  was  the  two  or  three  coarse  meals  a  day  they 
shared  in  the  peasants'  houses  in  which  they  were  successively 
quartered ;  and  when  their  occupation,  being  a  legal  felony, 
exposed  them  constantly  to  the  terrors  and  penalties  of  the 
law. 

Intellectually  they  were  in  general  on  as  low  a  level  as 
physically.  If  they  could  read  and  write,  and  had  some 
smattering  of  arithmetic,  they  considered  themselves,  and  were 
considered  by  many  others,  sufficiently  equipped  for  their  office, 
even  while  their  grotesque  "jaw-breaking"  utterances  made 
them  the  laughing-stock  of  every  man  of  sense. 

Nor,  morally,  was  there  much  to  boast  of,  if  we  are  to  rely  on 
what  is  handed  down  about  them.  There  is  good  ground  for 
believing  that  too  many  of  them  were  addicted  to  drinking,  that 
a  large  number  were  mixed  up  in  the  low  intrigues  of  their 
neighbourhoods,  and  that  several  of  them  were  connected  with 
the  secret  societies  that  sprang  up  around  them.  If  they  did 
not  in  general  compromise  themselves  in  these  societies  as 
deeply  as  Mat  Kavanagh,  whom  Carleton,  in  *'  The  Hedge 
School,"  makes  to  expiate  his  guilt  on  the  gallows,  it  is  to  be 
feared  that  a  few  committed  themselves  too  far  for  their  own 
good  or  the  good  of  the  pupils  who  were  influenced  so  much  by 
their  example. 

Our  National  teachers  are  markedly  the  opposite  of  all  this. 
Physically,  they  are  a  particularly  well-favoured  class,  as  one 
would  expect  from  the  circumstances  of  their  selection.  Most 
of  them  have  been  monitors ;  and  as  it  is  the  healthiest,  and 
likeliest,  as  well  as  the  brightest,  lads  of  the  school  that  are 
made  monitors,  it  is  a  matter  of  course  that  these,  when  they 
grow  up  and  become  teachers,  should  develop  a  fine  physique. 


HISTORY  OF   SLIGO.  445 


Intellectually,  many  of  them  will  bear  comparison  with  the 
members  of  any  other  class  of  the  community.  More  than  one 
clergyman,  or  lawyer,  or  physician,  would  run  some  risk  of 
being  plucked,  if,  before  entering  office,  he  had  to  pass  the 
examination  which  must  qualify  teachers  for  the  first,  or  even 
the  second,  division  of  first  class.  While  it  is  generally  ad- 
mitted that  National  teachers  are  strong  in  science,  it  is  some- 
times insinuated  that  they  are  but  indifferent  hands  at  English 
composition ;  but  this  opinion  is  not  fair  to  the  body ;  for  there 
are  plenty  of  them  who,  unlike  the  silly  sesquipedalians  of  the 
past,  can  turn  out  folios  of  pure,  idiomatic,  and  even  elegant 
English,  which  might  pass  for  so  many  pages  of  Addison  or 
Goldsmith. 

It  is,  however,  in  their  moral  aspect  National  teachers  appear 
to  the  best  advantage.  As  becomes  persons  entrusted  with  the 
almost  divine  function  of  forming  the  minds  and  moulding  the 
hearts  of  the  young  and  innocent,  they  are  themselves  the  most 
perfect  models  of  propriety  of  conduct  and  behaviour  that  can 
be  presented  for  the  imitation  of  their  precious  charge.  And 
this  good  example  they  set  not  only  in  the  school,  but  in  their 
domestic  and  social  relations,  and  still  more  in  the  church, 
where  they  are  the  able  and  zealous  auxiliaries  of  the  clergy- 
man in  catechizing  the  young  of  his  flock  in  the  doctrines  and 
practical  principles  of  religion.  These  edifying  relations  be- 
tween the  clergy  and  the  National  teachers  are  one  of  the  most 
hopeful  signs  of  the  times,  and  form  a  gratifying  contrast  to  the 
deplorable  state  of  things  to  be  seen  on  the  Continent — notably 
in  France  and  Germany,  where  the  State  paid  schoolmaster  is 
generally  the  bitterest  enemy  of  religion  and  its  ministers, 
whether  Catholic  or  Protestant.  To  perpetuate  this  most 
desirable  harmony  of  views  and  action  between  the  minister 
of  religion  and  the  National  teacher,  it  is  only  necessary  that 
the  latter  should  continue  loyally  to  show  the  clergyman  the 
deference  and  obedience  that  are  his  due,  and  that  the  clergy- 
man in  turn  should  entertain  himself,  and  impress  on  others 
the  duty  of  entertaining,  for  the  teacher,  the  esteem  and  respect 


446  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


to  which  his  office  and  personal  qualities  give  him  the  justest 
claims. 

While  National  teachers  are  such  benefactors  of  the  people 
and  of  religion,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  clergyman  to  do  what  he 
can  in  reason  to  sustain  them,  and  improve  their  condition. 
Nor  is  it  the  duty  of  the  clergyman  alone ;  the  obligation  lies 
equally  on  the  gentry  of  the  country,  who  have  so  much  to  gain 
from  a  well-behaved  and  enlightened  population. 

One  of  the  most  discouraging  indications  of  the  time  is  the 
recent  refusal  of  the  Sligo  Board  of  Guardians  to  make  the 
Union  contributory  to  the  payment  of  the  National  teachers. 
Gloss  it  over  as  one  may,  the  people  think  and  feel  that  these 
refusals  come  from  that  antipathy  to  their  religion,  which, 
though  eliminated  from  the  laws  of  the  land,  still  lurks  in  the 
minds,  and  betrays  itself  in  the  acts,  of  some  of  our  gentry 
And  one  can  hardly  blame  the  people  for  taking  this  view,  when 
one  calls  to  mind  that  several  of  the  guardians  concerned  in  the 
proceeding  in  question,  have  been  long  making,  and  are  still 
making,  considerable  pecuniary  sacrifices  in  supporting  schools 
for  the  benefit  of  their  own  co-religionists,  who,  being  generally 
substantial  farmers  or  persons  in  good  remunerative  employ- 
ment, are  in  incomparably  less  need  of  such  aid  than  the  penni- 
less herds  and  labourers  who  send  their  children  to  the 
National  schools.    *' Diverse  weights  and  diverse  measures"  this ! 

There  might  have  been  some  ground  for  the  conduct  of  the 
ex-officio  guardians — for  the  act  was  theirs — so  long  as  the 
humbler  ratepayers  objected  to  the  charge;  but  when  the  desire 
of  these  persons  is  to  make  the  Union  contributory,  a  fact 
proved  by  the  votes  of  their  elected  representatives,  the 
ground  is  cut  from  under  the  feet  of  the  ex-officios,  and  they 
are  left  without  justification  or  excuse.  The  refusal,  more- 
over, might  have  escaped  censure  or  notice  some  time  ago,  even 
a  very  short  time  ago,  but  ideas  move  fast  in  our  day,  notably 
in  regard  to  the  claims  of  the  poor ;  and  when  The  Times  is 
constantly  reminding  landlords  of  the  "  unwritten  law  of  social 
obligation ;"  when  one  of  the  weightiest  charges  against  even 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  447 


Lord  Clanrickarde  is  neglect  of  the  duty  of  "supporting  schools;" 
and  when  an  English  statesman,  who  held  high  office  in  the 
Government  of  the  country,  proclaims  that  "  the  first  charge 
upon  land  is  the  education  of  the  people  who  live  upon  it,"  ex- 
officio  guardians  who  stand  between  the  poor  and  this  great 
boon,  must  be  prepared — to  put  the  thing  mildly — to  lie  under 
the  reproach  of  being  out  of  harmony  with  the  times,  as  well  as 
out  of  sympathy  with  the  poor. 

"While  taking  exception  to  this  act  of  the  ex-offtcios^  it  must 
be  admitted  that  the  Sligo  gentry  of  the  present  time  are  com- 
paratively free  from  the  passion  for  proselytizing  so  prevalent  in 
the  past. 

It  was  the  fashion  formerly  for  individuals  as  well  as  societies 
to  occupy  themselves  a  good  deal  in  making  proselytes,  and  this 
by  other  means  as  w^ell  as  by  schools,  and  sometimes  not  so  much 
from  motives  of  religion  as  to  comply  with  the  fashion.  Nor 
did  some  of  the  proselytizers  seem  to  care  much  whether  the 
proselyte  was  a  real  or  only  a  sham  convert.  Take  the  case  of 
Captain  Ormsby  of  Castledargan,  uncle  to  the  late  John  Ormsby 
of  the  same  place.  The  Captain,  who  was  certainly  much  more 
of  a  wag  than  of  a  zealot,  had  about  him  a  confidential  man  of  all 
work,  named  Simon,  who,  on  the  principle  of  "  Like  master  like 
man,"  came  to  be  less  earnest  in  the  matter  of  religion  than  he 
ought,  though  he  went  occasionally  to  chapel  on  Sundays.  On 
this  promising  subject  Captain  Ormsby  tried  his  missionary 
hand,  saying  to  him  one  day,  "  Simon,  you  have  been  long 
enough  with  these  beggarly  Papists,  and  you  must  now  join 
our  respectable  and  rich  religion,  or  quit  for  ever  my  service." 
ft  Very  well,  Captain,"  said  unfortunate  Simon,  who  had  little 
of  the  martyr  or  confessor  about  him,  "  but  to  qualify  me 
for  my  new  company  you  must  get  me  a  suit  or  two  of  nice 
clothes."  The  Captain  gave  the  clothes,  and  Simon  appeared  a 
Sunday  or  two  in  church  with  the  "  quality." 

Notwithstanding  this  ready  compliance,  Captain  Ormsby 
knew  well  that  it  was  all  make-believe,  and  calling  one  day  to 
inquire  for  Simon,  who  was  stated  to  be  seriously  ill,  and  being 


448  HISTORY    OF   SLIGO. 


told  that  the  patient  was  very  bad,  and  had  even  called  in  the 
parson,  Ormsby  only  shook  his  head  and  observed  drily,  "Simon 
will  get  over  it."  The  convert  falling  ill  a  second  time,  and  the 
patron  coming  again  to  inquire,  was  told,  as  before,  that  the 
poor  man,  expecting  immediate  death,  had  requested  and  re- 
ceived a  fresh  visit  from  the  parson ;  but  the  Captain  inferring 
somehow  from  the  parson's  visit  that  there  was  no  danger, 
merely  remarked,  "  Simon  won't  die  this  time."  A  third  time, 
however,  Simon  grew  sick,  and  this  time  he  called,  not  for  the 
parson,  but  for  the  priest.  The  Captain  heard  of  the  illness, 
but  of  no  more ;  and  having  come  to  make  friendly  inquiries, 
and  being  told  that  the  sick  man  had  sent  for  the  priest,  and 
that  the  priest  had  visited,  he  cried  out,  with  an  oath,  on 
the  instant,  "  By  this  and  by  that,  it's  all  over  with  Simon." 
It  is  manifest  he  knew  throughout  that  the  man  was  shamming, 
but  having  started  the  unfortunate  serf  on  his  hypocritical 
career,  he  took  care  to  keep  him  in  it  to  the  end. 

Captain  Ormsby's  name  having  been  mentioned,  it  may  be 
allowed  to  record  a  humorous  anecdote  regarding  him,  though 
some  people  may  vote  it  too  trivial  for  mention  in  history.  The 
Captain  had  for  neighbour  Mr.  Tom  Phibbs  of  Doonamurray, 
who  was  an  extensive  grazier,  and  who,  like  some  others  of 
his  class,  set  an  extravagant  value  on  his  grass,  and  would  as 
lief  part  with  a  fibre  of  his  muscles  as  with  a  blade  of  it.  This 
gentleman  having  gone  to  a  fair,  and  having  sold  a  lot  of 
bullocks,  for  which  he  received  in  payment  a  purse  of  guineas, 
was  on  his  way  home,  when  the  Captain  met  him,  and  insisted 
on  his  calling  in  to  Castledargan  and  having  dinner  there. 
Mr.  Phibbs  yielded  to  the  friendly  pressure,  and  not  only  dined, 
but,  in  accordance  with  a  habit  too  common  at  the  time,  re- 
mained a  good  part  of  the  night  with  his  hospitable  friend, 
swilling  whiskey  punch.  On  the  w^ay  home  half  a  dozen 
hangers-on  of  Castledargan,  whom  the  Captain  told  off  for  the 
practical  joke,  pounced  on  poor  Phibbs,  who  was  not  then  in  a 
condition  to  either  resist  or  recognize  his  assailants,  and  took 
away  the  purse  of  guineas. 


HISTORY  OF  SLIGO.  449 


The  ''robbery"  getting  bruited  next  day  through  the  country, 
Captain  Ormsby  paid  a  visit  of  sympathy  to  his  friend,  and 
suggested  confidentially  a  sure  way  of  recovering  the  money. 
It  was  to  engage  privately  the  services  of  the  priest  in  the  case. 
"  Allow  me,"  says  the  Captain,  "  to  promise  him  a  month's 
grass  for  his  horse  on  your  land,  and  the  thing  is  done."  Mr. 
Phibbs  consenting  to  the  condition,  the  purse  was  soon  returned 
to  its  owner,  and  the  priest's  horse  was  turned  out  on  the  best 
field  in  Doonamurray ;  and  while  the  animal  remained  on  the 
farm,  Captain  Ormsby  had  no  better  sport  than  bringing  his 
friends  and  acquaintances  over  to  Doonamurray,  and  showing 
them  the  priest's  horse  eating  Tom  Phibbs'  grass. 

Coming  back  to  Education  : — Within  the  last  hundred  years 
or  so,  the  Protestant  masters  of  classical  schools  in  Sligo  were  : — 
1st,  Eev.  James  Armstrong,  Curate  of  St.  John's  parish,  to  whom 
Charles  Phillips  pays  a  warm  tribute  in  his  Emerald  Isle  ;* 

*  ''Oh  here,  in  filial  fondness,  let  me  bend 

Before  thy  resting-place,  my  earliest  friend  ! 

Thou  !  whose  pure  culture  waked  my  infant  thought, 

While  thy  life  proved  what  all  thy  precepts  taught. 

He  was  a  man  to  friendship's  memory  dear, 

Skilled  in  each  art  the  social  soul  to  cheer, 

One  who,  despising  all  the  grave  grimace 

Of  those  who  wear  their  worship  in  their  face, 

Beamed  round  the  circle  of  domestic  love 

The  ray  serene  he  borrowed  from  above. 

For  many  an  hour,  from  manhood  up  to  age. 

Conscience  alone  his  wealth  and  patronage, 

He  stood  sublime,  like  Israel's  sainted  rock, 

A  desert  fountain  to  his  fainting  tiock. 

Shedding  around  the  diamond  dews  of  even — 

Himself  unsheltered  from  the  winds  of  heaven. " 

— The  Emerald  Isle.    A  Poem  by  Charles  Phillips,  Esq. 
Sixth  edition,  p.  115. 

To  this  tribute  Phillips  adds,  in  a  note—"  My  earliest  friend,  the  Rev.  James 
Armstrong,  for  many  and  many  a  year  Curate  of  St.  John's,  Sligo  ;  a  man  of 
most  extensive  acquirements,  great  piety,  and  a  cheerfulness  of  manner,  which 
made  every  circle  in  which  he  associated  happy. 

**  *  His  saltern  aceumulem  donis  et  fungar 
Inani  munere.' " 
VOL.   II.  2  F 


450  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


2 ad,  Rev.  W.  C.  Armstrong,  in  whose  school  a  few  well  known 
Catholics :  the  late  William  Kelly,  of  Sligo,  the  late  Andrew  Kelly, 
of  Camphill,  and  the  late  Bernard  Owen  Cogan,  of  Lisconny, 
received  their  early  education  ;  3rd,  Parson  O'Connor,  who  also 
had  some  Catholics  among  his  pupils,  including  the  late  Mr, 
Matthew  Walsh,  of  Breeogue,  and  his  brother,  the  late  governor 
of  Sligo  gaol,  Mr.  Edward  Walsh. 

4th,  Mr,  Elliott. 

5th,  Mr.  Maurice  Quill,  who,  on  finding  the  attendance  falling 
off,  emigrated  to  America. 

The  Armstrong  family,  to  which  the  Rev.  James  Armstrong, 
and  the  Rev.  W.  C.  Armstrong  of  the  foregoing  list  belonged,  is 
one  of  the  most  talented  that  Sligo  has  produced  in  modern 
times.  Of  Rev.  James  Armstrong's  abilities  we  have  sufficient 
voucher  in  what  is  written  of  him  by  Charles  Phillips,  who,  as 
his  pupil  and  his  townsman,  had  the  best  opportunities  of 
knowing  him ;  and  as  to  the  Rev.  W.  C.  Armstrong,  there  are 
persons  still  living  who  knew  him  well,  and  who  speak  of  his 
talents  and  learning  in  terms  of  great  praise.  Another  clerical 
member  of  the  family  was  Rev.  W.  Armstrong,  rector  of  Calry, 
a  man,  too,  of  considerable  abilities. 

The  family  has  given  distinguished  members  to  the  medical 
profession  as  well  as  to  the  clerical.  In  the  early  years  of  the 
current  century,  Doctor  Archibald  Armstrong  was  a  man  of  high 
standing  in  his  profession  ;  and  his  three  sons.  Archibald,  Tom, 
and  William,  were  similarly  distinguished — Archibald  in  Sligo, 
and  Tom  and  William  in  Collooney,  where  they  occupied  suc- 
cessively the  position  of  Medical  Officer  of  the  district,  William 
succeeding  to  the  post  on  the  death  of  Tom.  Doctor  William,  of 
Collooney,  left  after  him  two  sons  and  a  daughter,  who  have 
given  abundant  proof  of  possessing  even  more  than  the  family 
talent.  William,  the  elder  of  the  two  brothers,  who,  like  his 
father  and  uncle,  was  Medical  Officer  of  the  Collooney  Dispen- 
sary district,  was  cut  off  in  1875,  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  in  the 
opening  of  what  promised  to  be  a  brilliant  career,  by  a  malignant 


HISTORY   OF  SLIGO.  451 


fever,  caught  while  attending  at  the  bedside  of  a  patient.* 
James,  the  younger  brother,  is  now  the  able  and  accomplished 
rector  of  Castlerock,  in  the  diocese  of  Derry,  while  Miss 
Armstrong,  who  is  cultivating  literature,  has  already  made  her 
mark  as  a  poet  and  prose  writer  of  merit. 

The  Catholic  teachers  within  the  same  period  were  :  1st,  Rev. 
James  Filan,  a  priest  of  the  diocese  of  Achonry,  who  was 
the  first  to  start  a  high  Catholic  school  in  Sligo,  and  who  taught 
there  with  great  distinction  and  success,  being  admitted  by  all 
to  have  been  a  man  of  commanding  talents  and  great  learning. 
After  a  couple  of  years  he  returned  to  Achonry,  where  he 
became  Parish  Priest  of  Carry,  and  sustained  well  on  the 
mission  the  reputation  he  had  acquired  in  the  academy.  Far- 
ther information  respecting  this  distinguished  man  will  be  found 
under  the  head  of  Kilmacteige  parish.  Sacceeding  Catholic 
teachers  were  Mr.  Supple,  Mr.  McEiroy,  Mr.  Dake,  Mr.  Charles 
O'Connor,  and  Mr.  Pat  McNiff. 

In  regard  to  female  schools:  the  Misses  McOann,  in  the 
beginning  of  the  century,  taught  a  school  frequented  by  Cj-tho- 
lic  and  Protestant  pupils.  Later,  Miss  Hart  conducted  a  similar 
establishment.  The  good  Bishop  Burke  and  Dean  Donlevy, 
feeling  the  want  of  an  exclusively  Catholic  Ladies*  school, 
opened  one  on  the  Mail  Coach  Road,  and  put  it  under  the 
superintendence  of  Mrs.  Doctor  Coyne  and  the  late  Mrs. 
M'Dermot,  then  Miss  Madden.  Mrs.  Coyne,  who  was  a  convert, 
and  who,  it  appears,  had  more  zeal  than  discretion  wishing  to 
have  everything  in  the  school  just  as  she  liked,  and  finding  the 
Dean,  who  had  some  will  of  his  own,  would  not  agree  to  that, 
retired  after  a  little  in  high  dudgeon  from  her  position  ;  and,  to 


*  Doctor  William  Armstrong  is  buried  in  the  graveyard  attached  to  tha 
Protestant  church  of  Collooney,  and  the  following  epitaph  is  inscribed  on  his 
tomb  : — "William  Armstrong,  Medical  Officer  of  the  Collooney  Dispensary 
District,  died  on  Friday,  April  16th,  1875,  of  fever,  taken  in  the  faithful  and 
fearless  discharge  of  his  duty,  aged  36  years.  This  monument  is  erected  to  his 
beloved  memory  by  many  friends,  who  knew  him  and  loved  him  well." 


452  HISTORY   OF    SLIGO. 


add  to  the  embroglio,  Miss  Madden  soon  married,  and  left  for 
the  neighbourhood  of  Boyle,  where  her  husband  resided.  By 
this  time  the  Bishop  and  Dean  had  quite  enough  of  the  Ladies' 
school,  and  its  "  lady  superintendents,"  which  was  all  the  better 
for  Siigo ;  for  they  resolved,  at  whatever  sacrifice,  to  procure  for 
the  town  the  greatest  boon  and  blessing  it  has  ever  received — the 
presence  and  services  of  its  incomparable  nuns.  Bishop  Burke 
and  Dean  Donlevy  would  have  been  happy  to  be  themselves  the 
means  of  conferring  this  priceless  benefit  on  the  town,  but  both 
having  been  called  to  a  better  life  before  they  could  carry  out 
their  intentions,  the  good  work  fell  into  the  able  and  willing 
hands  of  their  respective  successors,  Doctor  Browne  and  Father 
Owen  Feeny.  Once  instituted  Parish  Priest  of  Sligo,  Father 
Owen  Feeny  set  about  building  the  Convent  of  Mercy ;  and 
having  received  liberal  aid  from  the  proverbially  open-handed 
inhabitants  of  the  town,  and  a  munificent  donation  from  Mr. 
Peter  O'Connor,  who  was  then  as  now  the  Guaire  Aidhne 
of  both  town  and  county,  had  soon  the  happiness  of  seeing  the 
building  completed  and  the  Sisters  in  occupation. 

The  Convent  of  Saint  Joseph  was  established  about  forty 
years  ago.  Doctor  Browne,  having  been  translated  to  Elphin 
in  1844,  lost  no  time  in  inviting  to  Sligo  the  famous 
daughters  of  St.  Ursula,  of  whose  peculiar  talent  for  the  training 
of  pupils  of  the  higher  class  he  had  such  proofs  while  in  Galway ; 
and  these  fervent  religieuses,  attracted  by  the  odour  of  the 
bishop's  virtues,  and  filled,  like  others,  and  even  more  than 
others,  with  admiration  and  reverence  for  those  sweet  and 
saintly  qualities,  which  had  gained  him  the  name  of  the  Dove 
of  Galway,  responded  to  the  invitation  in  the  spirit,  if  not  in  the 
language,  of  the  holy  soul  in  the  Canticle  of  Canticles,  "  We 
will  run  after  thee  to  the  odour  of  thy  ointments,"  and  settled 
in  Finisklin,  as  commodious,  picturesque,  and  salubrious  a  site 
for  a  great  boarding-school  as  any  in  all  Ireland.  In  these  two 
institutions  the  children  of  the  humbler  and  of  the  higher  class 
have  a  suitable  education  provided  for  them — the  former  in  the 
convent  of  Saint  Patrick,  and  the  others  in  that  of  Saint  Joseph ; 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  453 


while  those  who  frequent  either  establishment  enjoy  alike  the 
inestimable  advantage  of  having  always  under  the  eye,  in  their 
accomplished  teachers,  models  of  piety,  gentleness,  and  refine- 
ment, whose  example,  better  than  any  amount  of  precept, 
inculcates  elevation  of  character,  goodness  of  heart,  and  grace 
of  manner. 

The  establishments  of  secondary  education  for  males,  in  or 
belonging  to  Sligo,  at  present  are  : — the  College  of  the  Imma- 
culate Conception,  Quay  Street,  under  the  presidency  of  Yery 
Kev.  John  Corcoran  ;  the  Diocesan  School,  on  or  near  the  Mall, 
of  which  Mr.  William  C.  Eades  is  the  Principal;  and  the 
Incorporated  Society's  School,  in  Primrose  Grange,  the  Head 
Master  of  which  is  Mr.  W.  A.  Sheckleton — all  three  very 
efficient  institutions,  as  is  proved  by  the  high  place  their  pupils 
reach  at  the  Intermediate  and  other  competitive  examinations. 

It  appears  from  the  evidence  taken  before  the  Endowed 
Schools,  Ireland,  Commission,  that  the  Sligo  estate  of  Erasmus 
Smith  is  2,199  acres,  8  roods,  and  26  perches,  the  gross  rental 
amounting  to  £627,  4s.  9d.  Of  this  large  rental  the  only  sum 
expended  in  the  county  at  the  date  of  the  Commission  (1855) 
was  £70,  the  annual  salary  of  Mr.  Ward,  who  taught  the  Lungy 
school  for  the  Governors  of  the  Erasmus  Smith  Board  ;  and  the 
surprise  of  the  Commissioners  at  this  state  of  things  may  be 
inferred  from  a  question  put  by  them  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Shone, 
which,  with  the  reverend  gentleman's  answer,  is  thus  reported  in 
the  Minutes  of  Evidence :  "  Is  the  result  this,  that  for  Sligo, 
out  of  the  estates  held  by  the  Governors,  all  the  contribution 
is  the  salary  of  the  Master  ? — The  result  is,  that  is  all  they  give 
as  regards  education  in  the  town  of  Sligo."  If  the  Com- 
missioners were  so  struck  by  this  extraordinary  disproportion 
between  the  Sligo  income  and  expenditure,  they  would  be  still 
more  surprised,  if  they  lived  now,  to  find  that,  while  the  large 
income  continues  the  same,  the  expenditure  has  ceased  al- 
together, not  one  farthing  of  the  sums  received  being  given 
back  in  any  shape  to  the  county. 


454  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 

The  lands,  which  form  the  Sligo  estate  of  Erasmus  Smith, 
were,  first,  set  aside  for  "Pious  Uses,"  and  subsequently  granted 
to  Smith  in  payment  of  the  money  he  had  advanced  as  Adven- 
turer in  1641.  They  lie  in  the  parishes  of  Drumcliff,  Calry, 
and  St.  John's — in  Drumcliff,  Lisnahelly,  now  in  the  occupation 
of  Sir  Henry  Gore  Booth ;  in  Calry,  Loughaneltin,  Clounshoure^ 
Farrincardy,  and  some  other  spots,  the  tenants  of  which  lands 
are  Mr.  "Wynne  Hazelwood,  Mr,  Harpur  Campbell,  and  Mr. 
William  Clarke ;  and  in  St.  John's,  Tawnaphubble,  of  which  the 
present  tenant  is  Mrs.  Edward  Walsh. 

The  Primrose  Grange  School  belongs  to  the  Incorporated 
Society  for  promoting  English  Protestant  Schools  in  Ireland, 
established  in  1731.  This  society  may  perhaps  have  made 
somewhat  more  use  of  its  immense  endowments  than  the 
Charter  School  authorities,  but  still  the  result  bears  a  very 
small  proportion  to  the  vast  sums  at  its  disposal,  upwards  of 
£110,000  of  the  public  money  having  been  voted  to  it  at 
different  times.  And  in  addition  to  these  munificent  grants, 
the  Association  received,  from  time  to  time,  large  sums  from 
private  persons,  of  which  we  have  some  illustration  in  the  case 
of  Primrose  Grange  School,  to  which,  according  to  the  evidence 
of  Rev.  Mr.  Gully,  before  the  Endowed  Schools  Commission,  is 
now  appropriated  "a  rent-charge  on  the  estate  of  Adam 
Ormsby  in  the  county  of  Sligo,"  left  "  for  the  support  of  the 
charity  boys  of  Sligo." 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  Incorporated  Society  got 
hold,  too,  of  the  £120  a  year,  which  a  Mr.  Nicholson  left  "  for  a 
School  at  Knocknarea,"  as  there  seems  to  be  no  other  school  in 
that  neighbourhood  to  which  the  money  could  go.  And,  very 
likely,  the  Society  had  a  free  grant  also  of  the  land  on  which 
the  Primrose  Grange  School  stands,  as  it  lay  on  the  Nicholson 
estate. 

With  such  resources  at  the  disposal  of  the  Incorporated 
Society,  one  would  expect  to  find  all  the  boys  of  Primrose 
Grange  supported  on  the   foundation,  whereas  most  of  them 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  455 


pay  for  their  education,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  followiDg  table 
furnished  by  Mr.  Sheckletoa  to  the  Educational  Eudowmeuts 
Commissioners  at  their  recent  visit  to  Sligo  : — 

Year.  Foundationers.  Paid  Boarders.    Day  Boarders.  Total. 


1878 

13 

10 

2 

25 

1879 

12 

13 

1 

2G 

1880 

13 

12 

1 

26 

1881 

12 

14 

1 

27 

1882 

12 

15 

1 

28 

1883 

12 

15 

2 

29 

1884 

12 

15 

1 

28 

1885 

13 

17 

1 

31 

1886 

13 

15 

0 

28 

1887 

12 

18 

0 

30 

1888 

12 

18 

0 

30 

On  the  same  occasion  the  proportion  of  boys  sent  up  annually 
by  different  localities  was  given  thus : — Sligo,  11  ;  Dromore 
West,  8  ;  Ballysadare,  7 ;  Collooney,  7  ;  Inniscrone,  7  ;  Kilglass, 
4  ;  Rae  School,  3  ;  Killalla,  3  ;  Ballymote,  2 ;  Dublin,  2  ;  Mohill, 
2  ;  Coolany,  Riverstown,  Balliuamore,  Strabane,  Mountcharles, 
and  Lissadell,  1  each. 

There  are  two  classes  of  Boarders  in  Primrose  Grange,  Hall 
Boarders  and  Parlour  Boarders ;  the  terms  for  the  former  being 
twenty  guineas  jper  annum  with  extras,  and  for  the  latter 
thirty  guineas  per  annum  with  extras. 


Little  defiuite  is  known  of  the  primitive 
DWELLINGS 

of  the  county.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  they  were  con- 
structed of  wattles,  osiers,  or  some  such  flimsy  material,  with  long 
grass  for  thatch.*  As  the  people  led  long  a  wandering,  pastoral 
life,  they  had  no  permanent  habitations,  but  put  up  their  booths 
on  some  sheltered  spot  of  the  range  on  which  their  cattle  fed 

*  Harris's  Ware,  Vol.  I.,  p.  181. 


456  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


for  the  time,  and  transferred  them  to  other  places,  when  the 
animals,  having  consumed  the  herbage  of  the  tract,  were  moved 
on  to  "pastures  new/'  At  first  these  huts  were  raised  in  forests, 
where  they  were  sheltered  and  protected  by  the  trees.  Later, 
when  erected  in  the  open,  they  were  surrounded,  with  a  view  to 
security,  by  a  rampart  of  earth  and  a  fosse,  forming  thus  the 
raths  or  forts  with  which  the  county  is  still  studded,  and  which, 
till  recently,  were  supposed  to  be  the  work  of  the  Danes.  With- 
out such  protection  there  would  be  little  security  in  the  lawless 
society  of  the  time  for  any  structure,  whether  ecclesiastical  or 
lay ;  and  accordingly  these  circa mvallations  were  run  round 
not  only  private  residences,  such  as  most  of  the  raths  contained, 
but  also  monasteries  or  churches,  as  at  Innismurray,  where  the 
enclosing  wall  still  remains ;  and  at  Ballysadare,  Cloonmacduff, 
and  a  hundred  other  sites  of  early  ecclesiastical  establishments, 
where  the  defences,  though  for  the  most  part  dilapidated,  may 
still  be  traced.  It  was  the  same  in  other  places,  and  even  at  the 
head-quarters  of  religion,  in  Armagh,  where  the  Primate,  after 
establishing  the  Friars  Minors,  "  cut  a  broad  and  deep  trench 
round  their  church." — Four  Masters,  1266. 

Some  antiquaries  would  judge  the  age  of  these  forts  by  the 
material  of  which  they  consist,  assigning  for  those  of  stone  a 
different  period  from  that  which  they  would  fix  on  for  those  of 
earth — though,  as  far  as  the  county  Sligo  is  concerned,  the 
material  seems  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  their  age,  but  to 
depend  solely  on  their  respective  localities,  stone  being  em- 
ployed where  stone  alone  was  to  hand,  as  at  Larkhill  and 
Largan,  in  the  parish  of  Ballysadare ;  Cappagh,  in  Killoran  ; 
the  northern  shore  of  Lough  Gara,  in  Killaraght ;  the  island  of 
Innismurray,  in  Ahamlish ;  and  Cashelore,  in  Killerry — earth 
being  used  in  those  places  where  the  soil  is  deep,  as  through  the 
most  of  Leyney — and  stone  and  earth  mixed  where  these 
materials  were  found  together  on  the  site,  as  in  a  hundred 
different  places  up  and  down  the  county. 

Though  all  those  raths  enclosed  residences  of  some  kind,  they 
varied  greatly  in  size.     The  largest,  perhaps,  in  the  county  was 


HISTORY   OF   SLTGO.  457 


that  of  Shannon  (Sean  Dun),  in  the  parish  of  Calry,  the  dia- 
meter of  which  must  be  more  than  four  hundred  feet.  Another 
exceptionally  large  rath  is  that  of  Eathcarrick,  in  the  parish  of 
Killaspugbrone,  which  Mr.  AValker  has  converted  into  a  lawn 
tennis  ground. 

The  word  ''gran,"  or  "  grania,"  enters  into  the  names  of  a 
few  county  Sligo  forts,  as  Rathgran,  in  the  townland  of  Rathgran, 
and  parish  of  Killoran  ;  Kathgran,  in  Markrea  demesne,  and 
parish  of  Ballysadare  ;  and  Ballygrania,  in  the  townland  of  the 
same  name,  in  the  same  parish. 

Rathgran  and  Ballygrania  are  so  called,  it  is  thought,  from 
their  sunny  situation,  "grian"  being  the  Irish  word  for  the  sun 
(Joyce's  Irish  Names  of  Places,  First  Series,  p.  308),  but  as 
they  possess  no  extraordinary  superiority  in  this  respect,  over 
some  other  forts,  the  circumstance  of  situation  can  hardly  be 
the  whole  and  sole  cause  of  the  name  ;  and  as  they  are 
exceptionally  lofty,  elaborate,  ornate,  and  picturesque,  it  is 
pretty  certain  that  they  owe  their  distinctive  name  to  their 
elegance  of  construction  as  well  as  to  their  advantages  of 
location. 

The  raths  of  Ballygrania  and  Rathgran,  in  the  parish  of 
Ballysadare,  are  singularly  strong  as  well  as  beautiful,  having 
not  only  fosses  and  ramparts,  like  most  other  forts,  but, 
between  the  fosse  and  rampart,  level  platforms,  spacious 
enough  to  hold  some  hundreds  of  men,  so  that,  from  a 
military  point  of  view,  they  must  have  been  very  formid- 
able defence  works.  With  their  circles  of  palisades,  their 
platforms,  their  fosses,  and  their  ramparts  rising  to  a  height  of 
thirty  feet  above  the  bottom  of  the  surrounding  trench,  these 
structures,  resting,  too,  on  natural  elevations  of  sharp  inclines, 
were  places  of  vantage  in  which  a  few  resolute  men  in  occupa- 
tion could  keep  at  bay  any  number  of  invaders. 

"Within  these  inclosures  the  inhabitants  were  sufficiently 
secure,  though  far  from  comfortable  according  to  modern 
notions  of  physical  comfort ;  but  the  men  and  women  of  those 
days  were  so  inured  to  hardships  from  their  childhood,  and  thus 


458  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


SO  tempered  to  their  surroundings,  as  to  be  almost  impervious 
to  the  injuries  of  the  weather.* 

Plenty  of  people,  no  doubt,  rarely  if  ever  put  the  head  under 
a  roof  of  any  kind,  like  those  Gauls  who,  as  Caesar  tells,t  had 
not  entered  a  house  for  fourteen  years.  Rolled  up  in  the 
"mantle"  which  Spenser  so  graphically  describes  as  **a  fit  house 
for  an  outlaw,  a  meet  bed  for  a  rebel,  and  an  apt  cloak  for  a 
thief,"J  these  wild  Irish  passed  day  and  night  under  the  bare 
canopy  of  heaven,  like  Sir  Thopas,  of  whom  Chaucer  writes  : 

**  He  nolde  slepen  in  noon  hous, 
But  liggen  in  his  hood." 

In  nearly  all  the  forts  there  was  a  cave — in  some  two,  and  in 
others,  as  at  Rathrippon,  near  CoUooney,  as  many  as  three — 
used  generally  as  receptacles  of  provisions,  but  in  some  instances 
for  human  habitations,  like  those  mentioned  in  Virgil  as  in- 
habited by  the  Scythians,§  whom  Spenser  and  others  take  to 
be  the  ancestors  of  the  Irish  ||     There  is  good  reason  to  believe 


*  We  may  infer  from  the  following  notification  that  the  coming  Paris  Exhi- 
bition will  throw  great  light  on  the  history  of  human  dwellings  : — 

"  An  interesting  feature  of  the  Paris  Exhibition  will  be  a  group  of  forty- nine 
structures  intending  to  give  a  history  of  the  human  dwelling.  The  different 
types  of  dwellings  represented  will  include  those  of  the  pre-historic  period — 
under  rocks,  in  caves,  on  water,  and  on  land  ;  and  in  later  times — those  of  early 
historic  civilization,  of  Aryan  civilization,  of  JRoman  civilization  in  the  East  and 
in  the  "West,  and  of  rude  civilization  disconnected  from  the  general  progress  of 
humanity — such  as  the  Chinese,  Japanese,  Esquimaux,  African,  Aztec,  etc. 
The  interiors  and  surroundings  will  be  those  of  the  different  epochs  studied, 
and  it  is  intended  to  people  the  dwellings  with  figures  in  representative 
costumes." 

t  Commentaries,  Chapter  37. 

t  View  of  the  State  of  Ireland.  Vol.  1.,  page  473,  of  Thorn's  Tracts  and 
Treatises,  Dublin,  MDCCCLX. 

§  "  Ipsi  in  defossis  specubus,  secura  sub  alta  Otia  agunt  terra." — Georgics, 
Book  III.,  Lines  376-7.  Tacitus  (De  Moribus  Germanorum,  cap.  xvi.)  writes  : 
"Solent  et  subterraneos  specus  aperire,..suffugium  hiemi  et  receptaculum  fru- 
gibus  ;  quia,  rigorem  frigorum  ejus  modi  locis  moUiunt,  et  si  quando  hostis 
advenit,  aperta  populatur,  abdita  autem  et  defossa  aut  ignorantur  aut  eo  ipsa 
fallunt,  quod  quaerenda  sunt." 

II  View  of  the  State  of  Ireland,  p.  354. 


HISTORY   OF    SLIGO.  459 


that  the  majority  of  the  natives  in  remote  times,  and  down 
apparently  to  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century,  went  shoeless 
and  bareheaded,  more  especially  in  the  west  of  Ireland.  In  a 
Report  made  to  the  Pope  in  1517,  on  the  occasion  of  an  elec- 
tion of  a  bishop  of  Ardagh,  we  read,  ''That  part  of  Ireland 
which  is  nearest  England  is  most  civilized.  The  other  part  is 
brutal,  The  inhabitants  live  in  wooden  huts  covered  with 
straw.  A  large  part  of  them  herd  with  their  cattle  in  the 
fields  and  in  caves.  Almost  all  are  shoeless."*  That  the  men 
wore  no  head-covering  we  may  infer  from  what  is  stated  of 
young  Gerald  Fitzgerald,  who  escaped  in  disguise  from  Ireland 
in  1540,  and  of  whom,  it  is  told  that  he  was  •'*  bare-headed  like 
one  of  the  wild  Irish."t  The  same  appears  in  Camden's  account 
of  the  retinue  which  attended  Shane  O'Neil  in  1562  to  the 
court  of  Elizabeth,  "  He  appeared  at  court  with  his  guards  of 
galloglasses,  bare-headed,  armed  with  hatchets,  their  hair  flowing 
in  locks  on  their  shoulders,  on  which  were  yellow  shirts,  dyed 
with  saffron,  with  long  sleeves,  short  coats,  and  trum  jackets,  at 
which  strange  syght  the  Londoners  wondered  much/'t  Of  their 
living  in  caves  and  woods,  Froissart,  too,  is  a  witness  in  the 
well-known  passage,  "Ireland  is  closely,  strongly,  and  widely 
covered  with  forests  and  great  waters,  and  marshes,  and  places 
inhabytable,  it  is  hard  to  enter  them  to  do  any  of  the  country 
damage ;  now  you  shall  find  no  town  nor  person  to  speak 
withal ;  for  the  men  draw  to  the  woods  and  dwell  in  caves  ; 
and  small  cotages  under  trees,  and  among  bushes  and  hedges, 
like  wild  beasts."^ 


*  Brewer's  Introduction  to  the  Calendar  of  the  Carew  Manuscripts,  where 
lie  quotes  Theiner,  p.  518.  Things  had  not  improved  much  in  the  time  of 
Dean  Swift,  who  writes  (Roscoe's  Swift's  Works,  Vol.  II.,  p.  81)  :  "The 
families  of  farmers  who  pay  great  rents,  living  in  filth  and  nastiness  upon 
buttermilk  and  potatoe.9,  without  a  shoe  or  stocking  to  their  feet,  or  a  house  so 
convenient  as  an  English  hogsty  to  receive  them." — See  also  Arthur  Young 
and  Dr.  MacParlan. 

+  The  Earls  of  Kildare.     By  the  Marquis  of  Kildare,  p.  184. 
t  Quoted  in  Walker's  Irish  Bards,  Vol.  II.,  p.  75. 
§  Note  in  O'Donovan's  Four  Masters,  sub  anno  1395. 


460  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 

All  this  time  there  was  hardly  a  stone  house  in  the  county 
except  some  churches,  which  served  not  only  for  places  of  wor- 
ship, but  sometimes  for  ecclesiastical  residences  *  sometimes  for 
prisons  or  fortresses,t  and  often  for  storehouses  of  provisions.J 
The  first  castle  of  stone  and  mortar  in  the  county  was  built  at 
Collooney,§  no  doubt,  by  Turlough  O'Conor,  who  was  then 
King  of  Connaught ;  and  no  other,  in  all  likelihood,  was  erected 
till  after  the  arrival  of  the  Anglo-Normans.  The  Annals  of 
the  Four  Masters  record  that  the  Barons  of  Erin  came  to 
Connaught  in  1237  and  "commenced  erecting  castles  there."  || 
In  1245  Maurice  Fitzgerald  built  the  castle  of  Sligoj^f  in  1263 
Walter  Burke  erected  the  castle  of  Templehouse  or  Ath 
Angaile;**  and  about  the  same  time  he  and  other  English 
constructed  timber  castles  in  Leyney  and  Tireragh,  at  Rath 
Ard  creeve,  Banada,  Buninna,  and  other  places ;  took  forcible 
possession  of  these  districts ;  and  expelled  the  O'Haras,  O'Dowds, 
and  other  hereditary  chiefs. 

While  these  structures  were  building,  no  improvement  could 
be  made  in  the  residences  of  the  people,  as  the  country  was  in  a 
state  of  constant  war.  Nor  is  there  any  reason  to  think  that 
such  houses  as  existed  in  the  town  of  Sligo,  between  the  four- 
teenth and  the  seventeenth  century,  came  near,  either  in 
appearance  or  value,  to  those  which  were  burned  down  in  1396, 
and    which    the    Four    Masters    extol    so    highly    for    their 


*  Both  Keatioge  and  Camden  tell  that  parish  churches  were  used  for  dwell- 
ings.— Kilkenny  Archaeological  Journal,  VIII.,  p.  36. 

t  Four  Masters,  1199. 

t  "  Cardinal  Vivian,"  says  Lanigan  (Vol.  IV.,  p.  233),  "  allowed  the  foreigners 
liberty  to  take  whatever  victuals  they  might  want  out  of  the  churches,  to 
which,  as  sanctuaries,  the  Irish  used  to  remove  them." — See  Annals  of  Loch 
Ce,  1236. 

§  Four  Masters,  1124:. 

II  See  also  Annals  of  Lough  Ce,  sub  anno. 

IT  Four  Masters,  anno  1215.' 

**  Ibid.,  sub  anno  1263. 


HISTORY   OF  SLIGO.  461 


"  splendour."*  The  example  of  Sir  Eoger  Jones  and  Andrew 
Crean,  who  erected  so-called  castles  for  themselves,  might  have 
led  others  to  build,  but  the  troubles  of  1641  and  1689,  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  and  the  Penal  Laws  in  the  eighteenth, 
arrested  all  improvement,  so  that  contemporary  records  concur 
in  picturiug  Sligo  town  and  county  as  a  scene  of  desolation  and 
ruin.  On  this  point  the  letters  of  Lord  Taaffe  and  General 
Preston,  given  in  a  preceding  page,  supply  strong  proof ;  and  to 
them  may  be  added  the  following  communication  of  a  high 
official,  Robert  Echlin,  to  the  public  authorities,  which  is  dated, 
"Sligo,  16th  September,  1691,"  and  which  concerns  Sir  Albert 
Cunningham's  dragoons,  of  which  Echlin  was  then  in  command  : 
"  I  design  to  marcb  to  Ballyshannon,  to  prevent  the  utter  ruin 
of  the  rest  of  the  dragoons,  for  there  is  neither  cover  nor  provi- 
sions  in  all  this  county.'''  Shortly  before  this.  Father  Qain,  a 
Jesuit  missionary,  had  reported  thus  to  his  superiors  :  ^'  The 
province  of  Connaught  is  one  scene  of  desolation,  and  has  been 
reduced  to  a  desert  by  the  ravages  of  war  ;"  and  the  same  state 
of  things  may  be  inferred  from  Dr.  Boate's  Natural  History  of 
Ireland  ;  for,  in  the  first  chapter  of  the  work,  where  he  gives  a 
brief  account  of  the  cities  and  chief  towns  of  the  country,  after 
mentioning,  in  the  order  of  importance,  Dublin,  Galway,  Cork, 
Londonderry,  Drogheda,  Kilkenny,  and  Bandonbridge,  etc.,  he 
says  of  Sligo  and  Athlone,  in  Connaught,  and  some  other  places 
in  the  other  provinces,  "  they  are  scarce  worth  the  mentioning, 
because  there  are  few  Market  towns  in  England,  even  of  the 
meanesty  which  are  not  as  good  or  better,  than  the  best  of  them 
all" 

If  we  except,  then,  the  structures  enumerated  before,  the  last 
half  century  or  so  has  witnessed  the  rise  of  all  the  buildings  of 
any  note  in  the  town — the  imposing  shop  houses  of  our  leading 
streets ;  the  striking  private  residences  of  the  Mall,  of  Wine 
Street,  of  Lyons'  Terrace,  of  Councillor  Colleary's  new  row  in 


*  Vol.  I.,  p.  103. 


462  HISTOKY   OF   SLIGO. 


John  Street ;  the  Ulster  Bank  ;  the  Provincial  Bank  ;  Middletoa 
and  Pollexfen's  fine  Office;  the  Town  Hall;  the  Courthouse; 
Beligious  edifices — the  Cathedral;  Holy  Cross  Convent  Church; 
the  Convents  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  and  the  XJrsulines ;  the 
Protestant  Church  of  Calry ;  and  the  neat  and  commodious 
Churches  or  Chapels  of  the  Independents,  in  Stephen  Street;  of 
the  Methodists  in  Wine  Street ;  and  the  Presbyterians,  near  the 
Lungy. 

In  the  past  the  coast  and  inland  islands  of  the  county  were  all 
inhabited  by  chiefs  or  religious.  Habitations  in  islands  seem  to 
have  prevailed  from  the  beginning,  and  down  to  the  close  of  the 
sixteenth  century.*  Partholan,  the  alleged  first  colonizer  of 
Ireland  after  the  Flood,  is  said  by  O'Fiaherty  to  have  fixed  his 
residence  in  Inis  Saimer,  now  Fish  Island,  in  the  river  Erne  ;t 
King  Aldus  Slaine  lived  on  an  island  of  Loch  Lene;i  King  Eoghan 
Bel  on  an  island  of  Lough  Mask;§  and  Flaherty  O'Muldorry  on 
Inis  Saimer.ll  The  islands  of  the  county  Sligo  were  turned  to 
the  like  account;  and  we  find  the  O'Horkes  residing  in  the 
island  of  Glencar  lake  ;^  the  O'Haras  in  the  island  of  Lough 
Mac  Ferry,  or  (at  present),  Lough  Talt;**  the  Cistercians  in 
Church  island,  in  Lough  Gill ;  the  Premonstratensians  in 
Cottage  island  of  the  same  lake;  and  other  religious  in  the 
islands  of  Lough  Arrow  and  Lough  Gara,  where  remains  of  their 
establishments  may  still  be  seen. 

*  In  his  Four  Masters,  O'Donovan  writes  in  a  note  under  the  year  1478, 
•'  By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  dwellings  of  the  Irish  chieftains  were,  at  this 
period,  constructed  of  wood,  and  placed  on  islands  in  lakes.*' 

See  also  account  of  the  Territory  or  Dominion  of  Farney,  by  E.  P.  Shirley, 
Esq.,  M.P.,  pp.  98,  94,  where  that  well-informed  writer  states,  that  the 
residences  *  *  of  the  petty  chiefs  of  Monaghan  were,  in  all  cases,  surrounded  by 
water." 

t  Moore's  History  of  Ireland,  Vol.  I.,  p.  75. 

J  Colgan— -4c^a  Sanct.^  Vita  S.  Fechini,  p.  135. 

§  Colgan— Ibid.,  p.  537. 

11  Four  Masters,  anno  1197. 

H  Four  Masters,  1029. 

*♦  Four  Masters,  1183. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  463 


TILLAGE 


On  any  extended  scale  is  of  comparatively  modern  date  in  the 
county  Sligo.  About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  there 
was  little  of  it,  the  baronies  of  Corran  and  Tireragh,  being  then 
"  continued  sheepwalks."*  It  was  in  1748  the  great  improve- 
ment began,  and  it  proceeded  so  rapidly  that  in  1776  rents  were, 
when  compared  with  those  of  the  former  period,  as  fifteen  to 
six  ;f  and  though  it  is  likely  that  these  rents  were  exorbitant, 
they  still  prove,  after  making  due  allowance,  that  the  rate  of 
progress  was  great  at  the  time.  In  1776,  all  Corran  was  giving 
potatoes  and  barley,  and  much  of  Tireragh  was  broken  up  and 
in  tillage.! 

The  tillage  farms  were  generally  held  in  partnership,  or,  as 
the  people  expressed  it,  "  in  means,"  half  a  dozen  persons  or  so 
taking  a  farm  of  a  hundred  or  two  hundred  acres,  and  then 
subdividing  it  among  themselves,  so  that  each  had  only  a  small 
quantity,  rarely  exceeding  ten  acres  Irish.  This  system  showed 
itself  in  and  round  Sligo,  as  also  in  a  portion  of  Tireragh,  near  a 
hundred  years  before  the  time  mentioned  by  Arthur  Young; 
for  in  the  Tripartite  Indenture  between  Strafford,  Radcliffe,  and 
Doctor  Leslie,  there  is  mention  of  several  such  partnerships ;  as, 
for  instance,  those  *'  of  Dermot  McHenry  and  partners,"  in 
Carrick,  now"  called  Carrick  Henry,  from  this  Dermot  McHenry  ; 
of  "Edward  Gilgan  and  partners/'  in  Inismulclohy,  alias  the 
Coney  island  ;  and  of  *'  Rowland  James  and  partners,"  in  the 
quarter  of  Aughris,  in  Tireragh. 

Under  this  tenure  the  whole  farm  was  cut  up  into  three  or 
four  large  fields  or  stretches,  one  for  tillage,  another  for  milch 
cows,  and  a  third,  and  sometimes  a  fourth,  for  horses,  asses,  and 
young  stock.  Each  of  the  fields  was  held  and  used  in  common 
by  all  the  partners,  so  that  all  grazed  their  cows  in  one  field,  all 


*  Arthur  Young's  Tour  in  Ireland,  Yol,  I.,  p.  332. 
t  Ibid.,  p.  338. 
t  Ibid.,  p.  332. 


464  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


had  their  young  stock  and  "garans  "  in  another,  and  all  carried 
on  their  tillage  in  the  remainder.  The  tillage  field  again  was 
cut  up  into  strips,  separated  by  a  balk  of  green  sods  ;  and  each 
of  the  partners  had  two  or  three  of  these  strips,  in  different 
parts  of  the  field,  in  order,  as  they  used  to  say  themselves,  that 
all  might  have  their  share  of  the  good  and  the  bad  alike.  This 
complicated  system,  borrowed  apparently  from  England,*  though 
operating  as  a  bar  to  agricultural  improvement,  and  attended 
with  other  weighty  inconveniences,  was  still  sufficiently  general 
in  1802,  when  Doctor  MacParlan  wrote,-]-  lasted,  in  some  parts 
of  the  county,  a  good  way  into  the  present  century,  prevailed  in 
1812,  when  Wakefield  compiled  his  Account  of  Ireland,:}:  and 
was  only  beginning  to  break  up  in  1815,  when  Rev.  Mr. 
Nelligan§  represents  it  as  a  cause  of  endless  disputes  and 
quarrels.  II 

Soon  after  Arthur  Young's  visit  to  the  county  Sligo,  and,  very 
probably,  in  consequence  of  it,  the  gentry  took  to  tilling  their 
demesnes  ;  and  Doctor  MacParlan,  in  his  Survey  of  Sligo,  repre- 
sents that  tillage  was  carried  on  extensively,  about  the  year  1800, 
at  Hazelwood,  Markrea,  Annaghmore,  and  other  places.  Mr. 
Owen  Wynne  distinguished  himself  in  farming.  He  had  "an  open 
piece  of  ground  within  his  demesne  as  an  experimental  farm," 
on  which  he  grew  peas,  beans,  vetches,  and  almost  every  variety 
of  green  and  white  crops,  viz. :  Norfolk  and  Swedish  turnips, 

*  See  a  learned  and  interesting  Lecture  of  Lord  Herries  on  Everingham  in 
the  Olden  Time,  where  his  Lordship,  from  family  documents,  shows  how  the 
system  worked  on  the  manors  of  his  ancestors.  This  Lecture  was  delivered 
for  the  benefit  of  the  Market  Weighton  Kef ormatory  School,  and  was  published 
in  1866. 

t  Survey  of  Sligo,  p.  33. 


+  a 
+ 


A  large  portion  of  the  county  appears  to  be  let  to  partnership  tenants." 
—Vol.  I.,  p.  275. 

§  "  It  is  said  that  the  tenants  in  common  have  been  of  late  coming  into  the 
habit  of  dividing  their  several  proportions,  casting  lots  on  the  divisions,  and 
inclosing  them ;  which  must  tend  very  much  to  make  them  more  comfortable, 
and  better  able  to  support  their  families." — Statistical  Account  of  Ireland, 
Yol.  II.,  p.  385. 

11  Ibid.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  392. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  465 


carrots,  potatoes,  cabbages,  rape,  borecole,  etc.,  all  drilled  ;*  and 
the  scale  on  which  he  farmed  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact 
that,  while  cultivating  so  extensive  a  range  of  crops,  he  usually 
had  twenty-five  acres  under  potatoes  alone.f  Of  what  Doctor 
MacParlan  saw  on  a  visit  to  Hazelwood  he  writes :  "  I  have  this 
day  seen  at  Hazelwood,  in  full  work,  six  ploughs  ;  one  double 
plough,  drawn  by  three  horses  ;  four  drawn  each  by  two  oxen ; 
and  one  by  one  horse ;  besides  a  proportionable  number  of 
harrovvs."J  In  this  way  Mr.  Wynne  was  a  public  benefactor,  as 
well  by  the  large  employment  he  gave,  as  by  the  good  example 
he  set  to  high  and  low. 

For  the  last  twenty  years  or  so  the  agriculture  of  the  county 
has  been  either  at  a  stand,  or,  more  frequently,  retrograding. 
To  the  disuse  of  local  Agricultural  and  Cattle  Shows  may  be  set 
down  much  of  this  evil.  While  the  shows  lasted,  they  furnished 
the  farmer  with  a  powerful  motive  to  excel  in  tillage  and  the 
quality  of  his  cattle,  by  the  prizes  they  offered,  and,  still  more, 
perhaps,  by  the  occasion  they  afforded  of  gaining  some  distinc- 
tion in  the  eyes  of  his  landlord  and  of  his  neighbours.  No  doubt, 
tenants  do  not  trouble  themselves  overmuch  just  now  about  the 
good  or  the  bad  opinion  of  their  landlord ;  but  for  this  the  land- 
lord has  to  blame,  in  great  part,  his  own  increased  and  still 
increasing  indifference  to  the  well-being  of  his  tenants,  and  not 
a  little,  perhaps,  his  indifference  to  their  interests  and  wishes  in 
this  very  matter  of  agricultural  shows.  Nothing  is  more  com- 
mon nowadays  than  to  hear  the  landlord  blame  his  tenants  for 
being  so  different  from  the  tenants  of  the  past,  though  he 
complacently  forgets  that  he  is  himself  still  more  different  from 
the  kind,  humane,  and  sympathizing  landlords  that  preceded 
him.  It  is  a  case  for  the  old  reproof,  "  Cast  out  first  the  beam 
out  of  thy  own  eye,  and  then  shalt  thou  see  to  cast  the  mote  out 
of  thy  brother's  eye." 

*  Survey  of  Sligo,  p.  14. 
tibid.,  p.  14. 
t  Ibid.,  p.  22. 

VOL.  11.  2  G 


466  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


Another  important  interest  of  tenants  which  is  treated  at 
present  with  great  indifference  by  the  landlord,  is  the  improve- 
ment of  their  live  stock  by  the  importation  of  a  better  class  of 
animals.  Formerly  the  landlord  considered  this  one  of  his  chief 
duties,  and  spared  no  effort  or  expense  to  introduce  on  his  estate 
stock  of  the  best  blood  and  quality.  This  is  not  the  place  to 
enter  into  particulars  on  such  a  subject;  but,  whoever  reads 
what  Doctor  MacParlan  writes  about  it,  and  compares  the 
state  of  things  which  he  describes*  with  that  which  now  sur- 
rounds us,  must  admit  that  existing  landlords  fall  very  far  short 
in  this  respect  of  those  who  went  before  them.  And  still,  there 
never  was  a  time  when  tenants  needed  so  much  such  a  service ; 
for,  it  is  the  cry  of  every  one,  that  cattle  and  sheep,  of  bad  or 
inferior  quality,  are  now  almost  unsaleable  at  any  price. 

The  owner  of  a  great  estate  then  who  is  not  prepared,  even 
at  considerable  sacrifice,  to  aid  his  tenants  in  such  a  crisis,  may 
not,  perhaps,  for  this  alone,  deserve  to  be  cast  into  the  lowest 
limbo  of  those  reprobate  landlords,  who,  according  to  the  good 
Bishop  Berkley,  have  the  "entrails  of  vultures,"  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  by  his  selfishness  and  insensibility  to  the  sufferings  of 
those  depending  on  him,  he  forfeits  all  claim  to  be  classed  with 
the  kind  and  considerate  landlords  of  the  past  or  the  present ; 
and  if  he  fail  to  get  his  rent,  if  his  tenants  detest  him,  or  if  any 
other  ill  fortune  overtake  him,  everyone  will  say  that  he  only 
met  with  what  he  merited.f 


*  ' '  There  are  some  very  large  and  very  handsome  heifers  and  oxen  at 
Markrea." — Survey  of  Sligo,  p.  24. 

"Mr.  Wynne  and  Mr.  Richard  Wynne  have,  at  a  very  great  expense, 
imported  a  bull  and  above  thirty  cows  of  the  improved  long-horned  Leicester- 
shire breed Mr.  Wynne  has  a  x^rodigious  fine  flock  of  new  Leicester 

ewes Both  Mr.  Wynnes  have  a  very  fine  breed  of  hogs." — Survey  of 

Sligo,  pp.  25,  26. 

t  In  an  able  and  suggestive  article  on  Irish  affairs  the  Nineteenth  Century  of 
November,  1881,  p.  649,  observes  : — "  The  landlords  have  brought  all  this  trouble 
on  themselves,  and  they  deserve  all  that  they  have  got.  They  have  taken  the 
lead  in  no  schemes  for  railways,  for  fisheries,  for  manufactures."    The  writer 


H  [STORY   OF   SLIGO.  467 


The  County  Cattle  Shows  and  the  County  Ploughing  Matches, 
which  have  taken  place  annually  for  the  last  three  or  four  years, 
make  up  somewhat  for  the  want  of  those  Estate  Shows  which 
have  been  discontinued.  Whatever  deterioration  either  in  the 
quality  of  farm  stock,  or  in  the  processes  of  cultivation,  may 
have  happened  quite  recently,  here  and  there,  hardly  affect  the 
enormous  contrast  that  exists  between  such  things  as  they  were 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  and  as  they  are  at  present.  In 
the  former  period  the  cattle  were  in  general  so  small  and  light, 
that  one  might  almost  take  them  up  under  the  arm  ;  the  run  of 
horses  or,  as  they  were  called,  ^arari^,  looked  fitter  to  be  carried 
by  man  than  to  carry  him ;  and  the  ploughing  done  by  these 
garans,  tackled  by  straw  ropes  to  a  rude,  rickety,  wooden  plough, 
was  a  scratching  rather  than  a  turning  up  of  the  ground. 

In  1812,  when  Wakefield  wrote  his  Account  of  Ireland,  the 
mode  of  ploughing  was  "  Four  horses  abreast,  and,  to  hasten 
their  progress,  a  man  walking  backward  before  them,  and  con- 
tinually beating  them  on  the  head."*  One  will  be  able  to  get 
a  good  idea  of  the  enormous  improvement  in  husbandry  within 
the  last  hundred  years,  by  comparing  this  clumsy,  lumbering 
contrivance  with,  for  instance,  Mr.  O'Hara's  highly- equipped 
plough  team,  which,  in  the  hands  of  the  champion  ploughman 
of  the  county,  Martin  Haran,  glides  through  the  tillage  field  as 
easily  and  gracefully  as  a  circus  car,  cuts  the  soil  with  the 
cleanness  of  a  surgical  instrument,  lays  it  over  as  regularly  as 
the  loom  produces  some  ribbed  pattern,  and  adjusts  each 
successive  slice,  to  those  turned  down  before,  so  nicely,  as  to 


of  the  article,  however,  makes  an  exception,  and  adds  :  "It  is  true  that  there 
have  been  a  few  energetic  men  who  have  tried  to  do  for  Ireland  what  Turgot 
did  for  the  Limousin;  who  have  lived  on  their  property,  have  studied  farming, 
have  built  cottages,  made  roads  and  bridges,  drained  hundreds  of  acres  of  bog, 
and  planted  hundreds  of  acres  of  waste,  have  introduced  bulls,  rams,  and 
stallions  of  better  breed,  and  been  apothecary,  adviser,  and  general  providence 
of  whole  districts." 

It  is  for  our  local  landlords  to  examine  themselves  and  find  to  which  of  these 
two  classes  they  belong. 

*  Wakefield's  Account  of  Ireland,  Vol.  I.,  p.  380. 


4G8  •  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


give  the  "land"  the  exact  outline  and  dip  prescribed  by  the 
scientific  agriculturist. 

It  took  a  good  while  to  bring  the  relations  between  landlord 
and  tenant  to  the  state,  in  which  the  tenant  discharges  his 
liabilities,  as  he  does  at  present,  by  a  definite  money  payment, 
every  six  months,  or  every  twelve  months.  In  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  through  much  of  the  eighteenth,  there  were,  in 
addition  to  the  annual  money  payments,  payments  in  kind, 
with  various  stipulated  services  and  duties.  In  the  general  run 
of  tenancies  there  was  an  obligation,  on  the  part  of  the  tenant, 
to  give  the  chief  or  landlord  labour  for  a  given  number  of  days 
in  the  year,  some  measures  or  madders  of  butter,  meal,  and 
malt,  and,  generally,  a  sheep  or  a  cow.  These  payments  in  kind 
varied  a  good  deal  with  the  peculiar  produce  of  the  farm,  as 
also  with  the  requirements  or  wishes  of  the  landlord.  Thus 
there  was  no  wheat  given  where  the  land,  as  often  happened, 
did  not  grow  wheat ;  and  horses,  or  the  labour  of  horses,  were 
supplied  where  the  landlord  needed  them.  As  illustrating  this 
variety,  take  a  townland  on  the  estate  of  Lord  Taafife,  and 
another  of  about  the  same  size  on  another  property. 

Of  Knockadalteen,  a  townland  of  245  acres  near  Ballymote, 
on  Lord  Taaffe's  property,  we  read  in  the  Survey  of  1633,  &c.: — 
"  He  setts  it  to  undertenants  for  £15  per  annum  and  country 
charges,  5  fatt  muttons,  40  workmen,  1  fatt  beefe,  40  quarts  of 
butter,  1 J  barrell  of  wheate,  4  barrells  of  malte,  20  hennes,  with 
a  number  of  eggs,  and  40  horses  for  carriadge."  Landlords 
who  did  not  use  a  carriage,  and  had  no  gout  for  puddings  or 
such  table  delicacies,  dispensed  with  the  horses  and  eggs,  but 
took  care  to  have  an  equivalent  in  some  other  form.  Thus 
Brian  M'Teige  O'Hart  set  Maghereconrosse  (now  Magheranrush), 
a  townland  of  270  acres,  in  Carbury,  "for  £16  per  annum,  and 
4  barrells  of  malt,  16  medders  of  butter,  24  medders  of  meale, 
the  tbird  part  to  be  wheat,  a  fat  mutton  upon  every  tenant,  and 
a  chosher  at  Christmas,  and  40  workmen."  Here  there  is  no 
mention  of  carriage  horses  or  of  hens  and  eggs,  but  there  is, 
instead,  the  "cosher"  at  Christmas,  a  condition  which  we  find 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  469 


in  a  good  many  of  the  tenancy  contracts  of  the  period.  Lord 
Taaffe,  as  might  be  expected  from  a  person  of  his  station  and 
culture,  had  nothing  to  say  to  the  cosher  at  Christmas. 

As  many  may  not  understand  the  word  "  cosher "  it  is  well 
to  explain  it.  The  "  cosher  at  Christmas "  means  that  the 
landlord  or  chief  and  his  party,  that  is,  as  many  of  his  family, 
friends,  and  followers  as  he  thought  well  to  take  with  him, 
would  proceed  to  the  houses  of  his  tenants,  and  remain  there 
during  the  season  of  Christmas,  eating,  drinking,  feasting,  and 
carousing,  at  the  expense  of  the  tenants.  It  would  be  im- 
possible to  conceive  a  more  demoralizing  proceeding  in  regard 
to  the  landlord,  or  a  more  impoverishing  and  degrading  one  in 
respect  to  the  tenant,  so  that  it  is  little  wonder  that  English 
writers  never  tire  of  enlarging  on  the  evils  of  the  custom.  The 
chief  lord,  says  Dr.  Holland  in  his  additions  to  Camden's 
Britannia,  "  had  his  cosheries  upon  his  tenants,  that  is,  he  and 
his  would  lie  upon  them  until  they  had  eat  up  all  their  pro- 
visions. He  would  likewise  employ  upon  them  his  horsemen, 
his  kernes,  his  horse-boys,  his  dog-boys,  and  the  like,  to  be  fed 
and  maintained  by  them,  which  kept  the  poor  people  in  con- 
tinual slavery  and  beggary." 

With  this  and  other  like  customs  to  struggle  against,  it  is 
clear  that  the  lower  classes  had  much  to  complain  of  in  regard 
to  the  chief;  nor  is  it  very  surprising  that  they  sometimes  tried 
to  defend  themselves  by  attacking  their  taskmasters,  after  the 
manner  of  the  Attacotti,  who  were  goaded  by  the  exactions  of 
their  rulers  into  rebellion,  and  who  committed  during  the 
revolt  the  most  frightful  excesses  on  those  who  had  oppressed 
them.  It  is  well  to  remember  what  O'Donovan  says  in  a  note 
to  the  Book  of  Rights  (p.  104),  that  these  Attacotti  inhabited 
Leyney  and  Gailenga,  that  is,  the  districts  comprised,  for  the 
most  part,  in  the  present  counties  of  Sligo  and  Mayo. 

The  cosher,  though  commonly  supposed  to  be  an  exclusively 
Irish  custom,  was  not  altogether  unknown  in  England,  at  least 
in  the  time  of  Edward  III.  That  monarch  had  a  fancy  for 
quartering  himself  and  his  followers  occasionally  on  his  well-to- 


470  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


do  subjects,  who  came  to  regard  the  proceeding  as  a  heavy 
visitation.  To  save  them,  as  far  as  he  could,  from  this  oppres- 
sion, Archbishop  Islip  had  the  courage  of  writing  to  the  King 
an  indignant  letter  of  remonstrance,  telling  him,  among  other 
things  :  "  When  men  hear  of  your  coming,  everybody  at  once, 
for  sheer  fear,  sets  about  hiding,  or  eating,  or  getting  rid  of  their 
geese  and  chickens  or  other  possessions,  that  they  may  not 
utterly  lose  them  through  your  arrival." 

It  was,  probably,  this  coshering  that  gave  rise  to  the  abuse  of 
''forcible  refexion,"  which  we  often  meet  with  in  reading  the 
annals  of  the  country.  Chiefs,  to  have  revenge  of  other  chiefs, 
sometimes  invaded  their  houses,  and  regaled  themselves  on  the 
good  things  they  found  before  them,  without  asking  anybody's 
leave.  It  was  conduct  of  this  kind  which  led  to  the  tragic  death 
of  the  poet,  Teige  Dal  O'Higgin,  of  Doughorne,  near  Tubbercurry. 
His  neighbours,  the  O'Haras  of  Castle  Carragh,  in  the  parish  of 
Kilmacteige,  invited  themselves  to  his  house,  and  ate  and  drank 
there  at  his  expense,  and  against  his  will ;  and  when  the  poet 
retaliated  with  a  stinging  lampoon,  the  only  weapon  with  which 
he  was  a  match  for  them,  the  savages  paid  him  a  second  visit, 
cut  out  his  tongue,  and  treated  him  otherwise  so  brutally,  that 
he  died  of  the  injuries  received  on  the  occasion.  For  this 
they  forfeited  their  lives,  being  tried  for  the  offence,  and  hanged ; 
while  their  lands  were  confiscated,  and  granted,  at  the  Kestora- 
tion,  to  Cornet  Thomas  Wood. 

In  this  matter  of  forcible  refexion,  the  object  was  not  to 
satiate  appetite,  but  to  show  contempt,  and  to  gratify  revenge, 
which  could  hardly  be  done  more  insultingly  than  by  entering  a 
man's  house  against  his  will,  and  consuming  and  wasting  in  his 
presence  what  was  under  his  ownership  and  guardianship.  The 
chief  aim  on  these  occasions  being  to  humiliate  and  give  offence, 
the  most  highly  prized  object  of  the  obnoxious  person  was 
selected  for  outrage,  that  the  owner  of  it  might  feel  the  injury 
all  the  more.  It  was  from  this  motive  that,  in  1059,  Hugh 
O'Conor,  King  of  Connaught,  having  invaded  Munster,  the 
territory  of  the  O'Briens ;  having  burned  their  town  of  Killaloe  ; 


HISTORY  OF  SLIGO.  471 


and  bavinof  demolished  their  chief  fortress  of  Kincora,  "ate  the 
two  salmon  that  were  in  the  well  of  Kincora,"  this  being  the 
deadliest  and  most  exasperating  outrage  he  could  inflict,  as  the 
fish  were  regarded  by  all  Munstermen  both  with  provincial 
pride  and  with  superstitious  reverence.  By  remembering  this 
principle  we  shall  understand  the  vast  importance  and  signifi- 
cance of  sundry  acts  mentioned  in  the  old  annals  of  Ireland, 
such  as  the  cutting  down  of  the  tree  of  Moyre  (Chronicon 
Scotorum,  980) ;  the  forcing,  by  Malachy,  from  the  Danes  of 
Dublin,  of  the  ring  of  Tomar,  and  the  sword  of  Carlus  (Ibid., 
993),  and  the  carrying  away  "the  variegated  door  of  the  castle 
of  Tarrock,  to  place  it  as  a  door  to  the  castle^of  Sligo."  (Four 
Masters,  1536.) 

There  is  reason  to  fear  that  "  in  the  good  old  times  "  numbers 
•were  as  backward  in 

MORALS, 

as  in  the  minor  matter  of  agriculture.  "  Common  honesty  "  was 
not  then  "  so  common  "  a  virtue  as  is  sometimes  supposed.  Nor 
will  this  be  matter  of  great  surprise,  if  we  call  to  mind  the 
demoralizing  nature  of  local  warfare,  consisting  for  the  most 
part  in  raids  on  neighbouring  districts,  and  carrying  off  every- 
thing of  value  that  fell  in  the  way — proceedings  which  could 
hardly  fail  to  weaken,  if  not  to  destroy,  in  the  minds  of  all,  the 
very  notion  of  private  property.  The  chief  who  distinguished 
himself  most  in  this  way  was  pronounced  "  a  choice  gentleman 
in  captainship  and  depredation."* 

And  the  dearth  of  provisions  which  prevailed  frequently,  if 
not  habitually,  multiplied  temptations  to  take  what  did  not 
belong  to  one.  Of  this  result  of  scarcity  we  have  a  startling 
example  in  the  Four  Masters  so  far  back  as  the  year  1050, 
where  we  read,  "  Much  inclement  weather  happened  in  the  land 
of  Ireland,  which  carried  away  corn,  milk,  fruit,  and  fish,  from 
the  people,  so  that  there  grew  up  dishonesty  among  all,  that  no 


*  Annals  of  Loch  Ce,  sicb  anno  1566. 


472  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


protection  was  extended  to  cliurcli  or  fortress,  gossipred  or 
mutual  oath,  until  the  clergy  and  laity  of  Munster  assembled 
with  their  chieftains  under  Donchadh,  son  of  Brien,  at  Cill 
Dalua,  where  they  enacted  a  law  and  a  restraint  upon  every 
injustice,  from  small  to  great." 

Though  the  Church  stopped  dishonest  practices  on  this  occa- 
sion, and  kept  them  always  in  check,  she  could  not  extirpate 
them,  and  many  still  regarded  theft  as  deserving  of  praise  and 
reward,  "  if  the  stealth  were  brought  into  the  country  ;"*  so 
that  Giraldus  Cambrensis  speaks  of  the  Irish  nation  as  swarming 
with  robbers  ;t  and  a  report  addressed  to  the  Pope  in  1517, 
states,  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  west  of  Ireland  were  almost 


all  "given  to  thieving."J 

Unfortunately  there  are  facts  in  abundance  to  show  that  these 
charges  are  not  altogether  without  foundation,  and  that  some  of 
our  countrymen  were  addicted  to  this  low  vice.  The  people  of 
Tirerrill  stole  the  horses  of  St.  Patrick  ;§  inhabitants  of  Clare 
made  away  with  the  horses,  and  mules,  and  asses  of  Cardinal 
Vivian,  the  Pope's  legate,  and  thus,  according  to  the  Aphor- 
ismical  Discovery,  brought  on,  in  penalty,  the  Wednesday's  fast, 
which  formerly  prevailed  in  the  country,  and,  according  to  the 
Leabhar  Breac,||  made  this  country  tributary  to  England; 
some  wretches,  on  the  night  after  the  battle  of  Carricknagat, 
carried  off  the  "  gallant  grey  "  on  which  Bartholomew  Teeling 
so  distinguished  himself  at  the  battle ;  and  the  people  of  Leyney, 
if  we  are  to  rely  on  the  character  given  of  them  one  hundred 
years  ago,  in  Arthur  Young's  Tour,  were  so  vicious  and  expert 


*  Sir  Jolin  Davis— quoted  in  Gibson's  edition  of  Camden's  Britannia,  Vol.  II., 
note  to  page  1417. 

t  "  Gens  Hibernica  pr^edonibus  abimdans." — Topog.  Hib.  Dist.  II.,  cap.  55. 

X  Theiner,  p.  518. 

§  Trias  Tliaum.,  pars  II.,  cap.  LV.,  p,  137. 

II  "It  was  on  that  account  the  successor  of  Peter  sold  the  rent  and  tribute  of 
Erin  to  the  Saxons.  And  that  is  the  right  and  title  that  the  Saxons  follow  on 
the  Gaedhil  at  this  day,  because  it  was  to  the  successor  of  Peter,  to  Rome, 
used  to  go  the  rent  and  tribute  of  Erin  until  then." — See  the  whole  passage  in 
a  note  of  the  learned  Dr.  Reeves  to  Primate  Colton's  Visitation,  p.  17. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  473 


in  this  respect,  that  they  would  steal  the  shoes  ojff  the  horses' 
feet.* 

These  injustices  were  commonly  the  work  of  individuals,  but 
bands  of  men  were  sometimes  organized  under  a  leader  for  the 
purposes  of  depredation.  This  happened  during  and  after  the 
confiscations  of  Elizabeth  and  James  I.,  the  Insurrection  of 
1641, f  and  the  conflict  between  James  II.  and  William ;  and 
the  members  of  those  bands,  who  were  commonly  called  Tories, 
and  sometimes  rebels,  were  generally  persons  of  good  family, 
who,  having  been  deprived  of  their  estates  in  those  revolutionary 
times,  thought  they  had  a  right  to  take  back,  with  the  strong 
hand,  as  much  as  they  could  of  what  they  still  held  to  belong 
to  themselves,  though  in  the  possession  of  others. 

Such  were  the  bands  of  the  Brennans  in  Leinster,  of  Redmond 
O'Hanlon  in  Ulster,  and  of  Dudley  Costello  in  Connaught,J 
who  maintained  themselves  for  years  at  the  expense  of  those 
who  occupied  their  lands,  and  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  and 
forces  of  the  Government.  So  far  from  regarding  himself  or 
his  party  as  vulgar  robbers,  Costello  would  not  admit  into  his 
service  a  man  guilty  of  dishonesty,  in  the  common  acceptation 
of  the  term,  as  appears  in  a  letter  of  Lord  Kingston,  President 
of  Connaught,  to  Ormond,  dated  Boyle,  Oct.  6th,  1666,  and 
telling  that,  "A  footman  of  my  Lord  Carlingford  having  the 
other  day  committed  a  robbery  near  Ballymote  fled  to  Costello, 
but  could  not  be  admitted  into  his  party,  which  has  gained 
Costello  a  great  repute  in  the  country."§  His  Lordship  in  the 
same  letter  reports  that  Costello's  party  never  exceeded  fifteen, 
and  is  seldom  more  than  four  or  ^ve,  and  though  everything 
was  done  to  capture  them,  it  was  all  in  vain,  for,  says  he,  "I 


*  "  The  common  people  are  so  amazingly  addicted  to  thieving  everything 
they  can  lay  their  hands  on,  that  they  will  unshoe  the  horses  in  the  field  in  the 
barony  of  Leyney." 

t  "Christopher  Reyley   was   Captain   of  Tories    in  the   county   Sligo." 

Aphorismical  Discovery,  Vol.  I.,  p.  39. 

X  The  Tory  War  in  Ulster.    By  John  P.  Prendergast,  Barrister,  &c.    Page  4. 

§  Carte  Collection. 


474  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 

find  it  more  difficult  than  I  beleeved  to  make  one  Irishman 
betray  another."  His  Lordship  had  private  as  well  as  public 
reasons  to  stimulate  him  ;  for  his  relative,  Captain  King's  house, 
near  Ballymote,  had  j  ust  then  been  broken  into,  and  pillaged  by 
Costello  and  his  men.* 

Difficult  as  the  Government  found  it  to  break  up  those 
bands,  and  dispose  of  their  leaders,  they  always  succeeded  in 
the  long  run.  The  means  invariably  employed  was  to  bribe 
one  band  to  act  against  another,  or  a  member  of  a  band  to 
make  away  with  his  chief.  As  an  instance  of  the  former 
method  of  proceeding,  Donough  Dowd  and  his  brother  Taltagh, 
who  had  been  pardoned  themselves  for  their  ''Torying"  by  Lord 
Kingston,  were  then  set  upon  other  Tories,  against  whom  they 
did  such  execution,  that  Lord  Dillon  provides  for  their  reward 
in  this  Proclamation,  dated  Oct.  12th,  1667  :  *'  Whereas  I  am 
informed  by  Sir  Francis  Gore,  Knight,  that  the  Dowds  since 
their  submission  to  the  President  of  Connaught  have  been  very 
active  in  pursuit  of  the  Rebels,  and  have  already  done  consider- 
able service  upon  them,  I  consent  that  they  receive  Is.  per 
quarter  of  the  tilled  land  in  the  Baronies  of  Costello  and 
Gallon  ;  provided  that  Roger  Jordan  and  his  brother  Edward 
may  have  their  proportion  of  same  for  their  good  service  in 
apprehending  one  Gallagher,  a  notorious  rebel." 

The  second  method  was  the  one  most  frequently  employed, 
as  it  was  found  to  be  the  most  effectual.  If  few  cared  to  meet, 
in  the  open,  the  brave  and  desperate  men  that  were  on  their 
keeping  as  a  party  of  Tories  or  Rebels,  an  ill-affected  associate, 
aware  of  the  many  opportunities  he  had  of  acting  without 
much  risk  to  himself,  was  sometimes  found  willing  to  betray 
and  murder  his  chief,  and  was  accordingly  engaged  by  the 
Government  to  do  the  deed.  The  secret  on  such  occasions  was 
so  well  kept  by  all  concerned,  that  it  was  only  in  1868  the 
names  of  those  who  despatched  Tory  chiefs  near  two  centuries 
before  became  known  for  the  first  time. 

*  Letter  of  Philip  Ormsby  to  Lord  Dillon  in  the  Carte  Collection. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  475 


Parties  of  Tories  appeared  iri  the  country  occasionally  since 
the  days  of  Costello  and  O'Hanlon.  We  find,  for  instance,  a 
deponent  named  James  Gibson  swearing  informations  before 
Joshua  Cooper  of  Markrea  against  such  a  party ;  and  in  this 
case  we  have  among  the  " Presentments,  AffidavitSjExaminations, 
Informations,  &;c.,  regarding  the  State  of  the  County  Sligo  from 
1711  to  1797,"  the  following  presentment : — "  At  a  Gaol  Assizes 
and  General  Gaol  Delivery  held  at  Sligo  in  and  for  the  county 
on  the  5th  April,  1736,  we,  the  Grand  Jury,  present  that  James 
O'Hara,  Michael  O'Hara,  Bryan  O'Hara,  Charles  O'Hara,  and 
others,  are  Tories,  Kobbers,  and  Eapparees,  out  in  arms,  and 
upon  their  keeping."     (Signed)  Richard  Gethins,  cuin  sociis. 

Even  so  late  as  the  earlier  years  of  the  present  century  persons 
so  called  were  to  be  found,  though  they  resembled  rather 
common  highwaymen  than  the  Tories  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  could  not  allege  in  justification  or  extenuation  of 
their  doings  the  excuse  or  apology  of  these  Tories,  such  as  it 
was.  The  last  of  those  bands  went  by  the  name  of  "Gallagher's 
Gang,"  haunted  the  Gap  in  the  parish  of  Kilmacteige,  and 
levied  contributions  on  both  sides  of  the  Ox  Mountains. 
Travellers  by  the  Gap  took  care  in  consequence  to  prepare 
for  the  journey  by  arming  to  the  teeth,  and  by  beating  up  as 
many  companions  of  the  road  as  they  could.  Still  robberies 
were  frequent  both  on  the  highway  and  all  round,  so  that  tlie 
name  of  Gallagher  carried  terror  far  and  near.  The  authorities 
made  many  efforts  to  capture  the  brigand,  but  in  vain  ;  for  he 
was  so  well  served  by  his  accomplices  and  sympathisers,  and 
was  so  full  of  resources  himself,  that  he  easily  baffled  pursuit. 
The  neighbouring  gentry,  including  Mr.  Jones  of  Banada,  fearing 
there  was  collusion  between  him  and  the  Barony  constables, 
volunteered  themselves  to  join  in  hunting  him  down;  but 
though  they  got  so  near  him  on  one  occasion  that  they  formed 
themselves  into  a  cordon  close  round  the  house  in  which  he 
lay  in  bed,  still  he,  on  learning  his  danger,  sprang  through  the 
door  of  the  cabin,  and  bounded  past  the  gentlemen  with  such 
agility  and  dash,  that  he  was  already  beyond  their  reach,  and 


476  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


telling  them  "they  might  kiss  the  hare's  foot,"  before  they 
could  discharge  the  pistols  with  which  they  were  armed.  He 
then  snatched  Mr.  Jones's  horse  from  the  man  having  it  in 
charge,  and  mounting  it  thus  made  good  his  escape.  Treachery, 
however,  effected  in  the  end  what  the  law  and  the  gentry  could 
not  do ;  for  a  large  reward  having  been  offered  for  his  arrest, 
the  persons  in  whose  house  he  stopped  at  the  time,  though 
near  relatives  of  his  own,  after  setting  him  drunk,  putting  him 
into  bed  in  that  state,  removing  from  under  the  pillow  the  pistols 
and  dagger  he  always  kept  there,  and  even  binding  him  while 
unconscious  with  a  net-work  of  rope  to  the  bed,  introduced  the 
officers  of  the  law,  and  delivered  him  up  for  the  sacrifice. 

Deeds  of  violence  were  much  more  numerous  and  enormous 
in  the  remote  past  than  in  recent  times,  or  the  times  in  which 
we  live.  Judging  by  the  raids  and  expeditions  constantly  going 
on,  it  is  likely  that  very  few  men  escaped  hostile  violence  at  one 
time  or  other  of  their  lives,  and  that  a  large  proportion  of  them 
came  by  violent  deaths.  So  far  back  as  the  year  1151,  the  Four 
Masters  record  as  a  singular  fact,  that '' Conor  Ciabhach  O'Hara, 
Tanist  of  Leyney,  died  on  his  bed ;"  adding  that  "  no  Lord  of 
the  Lords  of  Leyney  who  had  preceded  him  died  on  his  bed." 
The  disorganization  of  the  times  may  be  inferred,  too,  from 
such  significant  entries  in  the  annals  of  the  country,  as  the  fol- 
lowing: "All  the  province  of  Connaught  laid  waste  from  the 
Drowes  to  the  Shannon."  "  Great  war  in  Ireland,  so  that 
Ireland  was  a  trembling  sod."  Not  only  were  our  local  chiefs 
at  war  with  their  neighbours,  but  members  of  each  chief's 
family  were  usually  the  deadliest  enemies  of  one  another ;  so 
that  the  murderous  proceedings  of  Donnell  and  Teige  O'Connor, 
in  1368;  of  Mulrony  McDonogh's  sons  and  their  cousins,  in 
1425  ;  of  Conor  Cam  O'Gara  and  the  O'Gara,  in  1436  ;  of 
Mulrony  O'Dowda  and  his  brother  in  1443 ;  of  Hugh  O'Hara, 
King  of  Leyney,  and  Duarcan  O'Hara,  in  1234 — transactions 
detailed  in  the  Four  Masters  under  their  respective  years — 
may  be  taken  as  a  pretty  fair  specimen  of  the  fratricidal 
quarrels  of  our  Sligo  chiefs. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  477 


Infractions  of  the  law  were  rather  common  through  the 
county  in  the  eighteenth  century,  and  they  took  the  form,  for 
the  most  part,  of  houghing  cattle,  robbing,  taking  forcible  pos- 
session, carrying  arms,  being  Papists,  or  enlisting  for  foreign 
service.  The  grave  offences  of  abduction  and  murder,  we  are 
told  by  Mr.  Burke,  in  his  Anecdotes  of  the  Connaught  Bar,  were 
of  rather  frequent  occurrence  among  the  lower  classes.  Nor  was 
the  imputation  at  least,  whatever  may  be  said  of  the  guilt, 
confined  to  the  lower  classes,  for  we  find  one  of  the  Upper  Ten, 
William  Ormsby,  son  to  a  gentleman  of  station  in  the  county, 
put  on  his  trial  at  Sligo,  in  1731,  on  a  charge  of  murder. 

The  case,  which  was  of  a  highly  sensational  character,  kept 
the  county  in  a  state  of  excitement  for  several  years.  Ormsby 
becoming  enamoured  of  a  Catholic  girl,  named  Catherine 
Conaghan,  of  humble  parentage  and  position,  married  her 
privately  according  to  the  rites  of  the  Catholic  Church.  After 
some  time,  however,  had  elapsed,  and  a  child  was  born  to  them, 
he  regretted  what  he  had  done,  and  set  about  dissolvino*  the 
marriage ;  but  before  he  had  made  any  progress  in  this  direction, 
his  poor  wife  was  found  dead  in  Sligo  abbey,  at  the  foot  of  the 
tower.  Some  gave  out  that  she  had  thrown  herself  down  from 
the  tower,  but  "  the  corpse  presenting  all  the  appearance  of  a 
struggle,"  says  Mr.  Burke,  and  a  coroner's  jury  finding  a  verdict 
of  wilful  murder  against  William  Ormsby,  the  authorities  went 
in  search  of  him,  but  searched  long  in  vain,  as  he  had  disap- 
peared from  the  neighbourhood,  and  kept  out  of  the  way. 

Meantime  the  terrible  tragedy  engrossed  the  thoughts  of 
everybody,  and  little  was  talked  of  except  the  m_ore  character- 
istic features  of  the  case — the  incomparable  beauty  of  the 
deceased,  which  had  attracted  and  fixed  the  affections  of  one  so 
much  above  her  in  station  ;  her  virtues  which,  by  common  con- 
sent, were  as  rare  as  her  beauty ;  and,  above  all,  the  unnatural 
scene  of  the  occurrence,  consecrated  by  the  continual  ministra- 
tions of  religion,  as  well  as  by  the  reverential  ideas  and  feelings 
of  the  people,  and  guarded,  as  it  were,  by  the  thousands  of  good 
men  who  were  awaiting  there  their  resurrection. 


478  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


It  was  about  three  years  after  his  flight  from  justice,  and 
when,  no  doubt,  he  and  his  friends  had  provided  for  his  deliver- 
ance from  the  meshes  of  the  law,  that  Ormsby  showed  himself 
again  in  Sligo,  and  was  arrested.  The  Grand  Jury  found  a  true 
bill,  and  lie  was  put  on  trial  in  1731,  before  Baron  St.  Leger, 
when  the  Jury,  of  course  well  packed,  brought  in  a  verdict  of 
Not  guilty — but  only  after  having  been  locked  in  for  the  night 
(see  p.  461,  Yol.  I.) ;  a  circumstance  which  would  indicate  that 
one  or  more  of  the  twelve  were  for  conviction.  The  result, 
however,  of  the  trial,  caused  no  alteration  in  the  opinions  of  the 
people,  who  after,  as  before,  the  verdict,  firmly  held  William 
Ormsby  to  be  the  m^urderer  of  the  ill-fated  Catherine  Conaghan. 

Another  suit,  in  which  another  of  the  highest  names  of  the 
county  figures,  occurred  in  1745.  It  was  the  case  of  Susanna 
Wynne,  by  her  next  friend,  Kobert  Sandford,  plaintiff,  versus 
James  Wynne  and  others,  defendants  ;  and  the  cross  case  of 
James  Wynne,  plaintiff,  versus  Susanna  Wynne  and  others,  de- 
fendants. The  nature  of  the  transaction  mav  be  learned  from  an 
affidavit  made  on  the  occasion  by  Mr.  Owen  Wynne,  in  which 
he  deposed  that  he  and  Susanna  Wynne  were  travelling  to 
Dublin  in  their  coach,  when  James  Wynne  and  others  came  up 
to  the  coach  at  Dromod,  in  Leitrim,  cocked  pistols  at  deponent 
and  the  coachman,  and  forced  Susanna  Wynne  away,  notwith- 
standing all  her  efforts  and  those  of  said  Owen  Wynne.  Owen 
Wynne  further  deposed  that  he  believed  the  said  Susanna 
Wynne's  life  to  be  in  great  danger.  As  Owen  Wynne  had  a 
son  named  James,  who  married  Susanna  Shaen,  daughter  of 
Sir  James  Shaen,  it  would  appear  that  this  James  and  his  wife 
are  the  parties  concerned. 

On  the  3rd  of  May,  1780,  a  still  more  startling  outrage  took 
place  in  the  town  of  Sligo.  At  that  date,  two  men  named 
Kobert  Brunton  and  Michael  Rorke  were  in  the  gaol  under 
sentence  of  death,  but  before  the  day  of  execution  arrived  some 
persons  attacked  the  building,  broke  open  the  doors  with 
sledges,  and  took  away  Brunton  and  Rorke.  On  examination, 
William  Tims,  assistant  gaoler,  charged  Thomas  Hudson  of 


HISTORY   OF    SLIGO.  479 


Magheraboy,  George  Shaw,  and  others,  with  this  weighty 
offence.  It  is  not  unlikely,  whoever  the  attacking  party  were, 
that  they  were  in  collusion  with  officials  inside ;  for  it  is  known 
that,  about  the  same  time,  prisoners  were  occasionally  let  out  at 
night  for  the  purpose  of  committing  robberies  in  the  town  and 
neighbourhood,  on  condition  that  at  their  return  they  should 
share  the  proceeds  of  the  night  with  the  obliging  officials ! 
Ferguson  was  the  name  of  the  jailer  who  imposed  this  new  kind 
of  "  hard  labour"  on  his  charge,  and  the  men,  told  off  for  the 
work,  were  convict  soldiers,  whom  he  preferred,  as  likely,  from 
their  training,  to  be  more  amenable  than  others  to  his  orders. 

Even  in  the  early  years  of  the  present  century  the  walls  and 
doors  of  Sligo  gaol  were  not  so  impassable,  as  they  have  since 
become  ;  for,  in  the  Sligo  Journal  of  September  29,  1809,  and 
in  several  other  issues,  we  find  Alexander  Percival,  High 
Sheriff,  offering  a  reward  of  £100  for  the  apprehension  of 
William  Irwin,  charged  with  murder  and  other  offences,  who 
made  his  escape  from  the  gaol  of  Sligo  on  the  20th  March, 
1809.     The  advertisement  ran  thus  : — 

WHEREAS 

County  of  Sligo,"^  "^YILLIAM  IRWIN,  charged  with  Murder 
to  wit.  \.         axid  other  Offences,  did  on  the  Afternoon 

^  of  Yesterday,   the    20th    Instant,  make   his 

escape  from  the  Jail  of  Sligo^  1  hereby  offer  a  reward  of  ONE 
HUNDRED  POUNDS  for  his  apprehension. 

Said  Irwin  is  about  five  feet  six  inches  high,  dark  hair,  grey 
eyes,  and  sallow  complexion,  his  cheeks  much  drawn  in,  and  is 
about  24  years  of  age. 

Alexander  Percival, 

High  Sheriff,  County  Sligo. 
21st  March,  1809. 

The  faction  fights,  which  were  so  common  towards  the  close  of 
the  last  century  and  in  the  first  half  of  the  present,  at  fairs  and 
other  meetings,  supply  another  proof  of  the  violence  of  these  times. 


480  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


The  fairs  of  the  county  had  their  respective  characteristics 
Carny,  for  instance,  was  famous  for  its  sheep  ;  Tubberscanavan 
for  springers ;  Ballyniote,  Castlebaldwin,  Ballintogher,  for  general 
stock;  Carricknagat  for  horse  jumping  and  match  making;  but 
the  staple  attraction  at  several  of  the  county  fairs  was  the 
faction  fight  of  the  evening. 

About  sixty  years  ago,  the  late  Collector  Wynne  seeing  one 
of  those  fights  in  progress  at  Carricknagat,  rode  in  among  the 
combatants  with  the  object  of  separating  them,  but,  both  sides 
resenting  his  interference,  turned  on  him  and  beat  him  most 
savagely,  for  which  twenty  of  them  received  their  deserts  in 
Sligo  jail ;  about  one  half  of  them  being  sentenced  to  two 
years'  imprisonment  and  hard  labour,  and  the  other  half  to  one 
year's  confinement  with  hard  labour. 

These  fights  occurred  sometimes  at  v;akes  and  funerals.  The 
funeral,  in  1805,  of  Keverend  Walter  Henry,  Parish  Priest  of 
Ballysadare  and  Kilvarnet,  is  still  known  in  the  neighbourhood 
as  the  ''Funeral  of  the  Sticks,"  from  the  circumstance  that 
a  crowd  from  Killoran,  the  native  parish  of  deceased,  came  to 
Collooney,  armed  with  bludgeons,  to  take  away  the  corpse  by 
force,  and  to  bury  it  in  Killoran  graveyard  ;  but  finding  the 
Collooney  people  assembled  in  great  numbers,  ready  and 
resolved  to  punish  any  attempt  to  carry  out  of  the  parish  the 
remains  of  their  beloved  pastor,  the  invaders  abandoned  their 
project,  and  returned  crestfallen  home. 

Things,  however,  did  not  always  end  so  quietly,  as  another 
instance  shows.  It  is  the  case  of  a  Mrs.  M'Nulty,  of  Meemlagh, 
in  the  parish  of  Killoran.  As  soon  as  the  remains  were  taken 
out  of  the  house  in  which  she  died,  her  relations,  on  one  side^ 
and  her  marriage  connexions,  on  the  other,  claimed  each  the 
right  of  burying  her  in  their  own  burying-place ;  and  as  the 
conflicting  claims  could  not  be  amicably  settled,  and  both  parties 
agreeing  to  fight  for  it,,  and  laying  down  the  coffin  under  the  walls 
of  Meemlagh  castle,  they  set  deliberately  to  work,  and  fought 
for  a  full  hour  till  victory  declared  for  the  Magraths,  when  the 


HISTOEY   OF   SLIGO.  481 


victors  carried  away  the  corpse  in  triumph  over  the  prostrate 
M'NuItys,  and  buried  it  in  the  Magrath  graveyard. 

Down  to  the  first  years  of  this  century  Sligo  was  as  free  as 
any  county  in  Ireland  from  organized  illegal  associations. 
While  the  Whiteboys  and  Rightboys  of  the  South,  and  the 
Oakboys  and  Steelboys  of  the  North,  were  worrying  their 
respective  regions,  the  Catholics  and  Protestants  of  Sligo, 
proof  against  the  bad  example,  remained  peaceful  and  united. 
It  was  in  1806  the  first  tumultuous  rising  since  the  Kevolution 
occurred  in  the  county.  Their  authors  were  called  Threshers  ; 
their  chief  objects,  to  do  away  with  tithe  and  curtail  priests' 
dues ;  and  the  means  employed,  nocturnal  meetings,  breaking 
into  dwelliog-houses,  swearing  the  inmates  to  promote  the 
objects  of  the  confederacy,  and  carding  the  naked  backs  of  such 
as  refused  to  do  their  bidding.  They  committed  outrages  in 
various  parts  of  the  county — in  Cartron  Watts,  or  Newtown 
Holmes,  near  Sligo ;  in  Lugnadeiffa,  in  the  parish  of  Ballysa- 
dare  ;  in  Ballylass,  near  Tubbercurry ;  and  in  some  other 
places ;  and  the  evil  became  so  serious  in  this  and  other 
counties,  that  a  Special  Commission  under  the  Great  Seal  of 
Ireland  was  directed  to  Lord  Chief  Justice  Downes  and  Baron 
George  to  try  certain  offenders  in  the  counties  of  Sligo,  Mayo, 
Leitrim,  Longford,  and  Cavan.  The  judges  opened  the  Com- 
mission on  the  4th  Dec.  1806,  and  sat  for  several  days,  the 
result  being  that  two  Threshers  were  sentenced  to  be  publicly 
flogged,  six  to  be  transported,  and  one  to  be  hanged,  after 
which  little  more  was  heard  of  those  deluded  men. 

There  was  nothing  sectarian  about  the  Threshers,  and  they 
treated  priest  and  parson  with  the  same  impartial  severity;  but 
the  Orange  and  Hibbon  societies,  which  soon  followed,  were  at 
once  sectarian  and  secret  societies.  The  Orange  society  is  said 
to  be  an  affiliation  of  the  Steelboys,  who  wrecked  the  houses  of 
Catholics  in  the  county  Armagh  in  1795,  and  banished  the 
houseless  wanderers  to  Connaught,  while  the  Ribbonmen  claim 
to  be  the  succession  of  the  Defenders  who  banded  together  at 
VOL.  II.  2  H 


482  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


the  same  time  in  the  North  to  defend  themselves  and  their  co- 
religionists against  the  attacks  of  the  Steelboys. 

Whether  this  is  so  or  not,  it  is  certain  that  the  great  plea  of 
justification,  put  forward  in  behalf  of  Eibbonmen,  is  the  alleged 
necessity  of  humble  Catholics  being  thus  united  in  order  to 
be  the  better  able  to  make  head  against  the  violence  of  Orange 
enemies.  The  writer's  personal  experience  leads  him  to  rely 
on  the  bona  fides  of  this  statement ;  for  having,  about  twenty 
years  ago,  on  occasion  of  a  startling  outrage  which  took  place 
in  his  parish,  and  which  had  its  cause  in  secret  societies, 
preached  against  such  societies  in  each  of  his  three  chapels, 
and  pledged  before  the  altar  on  their  knees  every  man,  woman, 
and  young  person  in  the  congregations  to  renounce  and  dis- 
courage, in  every  way  open  to  them,  those  secret  confederacies, 
he  was  often  remonstrated  with  by  well-meaning  but  simple 
persons  for  advising  a  proceeding  which  would,  it  was  alleged, 
leave  poor  Catholics  at  the  mercy  of  their  worst  enemies ;  and 
if  Ribbonism  should  have  since  in  any  way  revived  in  the 
district,  of  which  the  writer  knows  nothing,  the  revival  would 
certainly  be  due  to  the  provocation  offered  by  the  Orange 
meetings  constantly  held  in  Sligo,  Collooney,  Kiverstown, 
Ballymote,  and  other  places,  under,  it  would  appear,  the 
patronage  of  the  local  gentry. 

To  obtain  a  clearer  idea  of  the  state  of  the  county  in  regard 
to  crime,  in  the  earlier  years  of  this  century,  it  will  be  well  to 
refer  for  a  moment  to  the  cases  commonly  coming  at  the  time 
before  the  judge  of  assize,  as  they  are  recorded  in  the  books  of 
the  Clerk  of  the  Crown.  We  learn  from  this  official  authority, 
that  these  were  : — First,  breaking  forcibly  into  private  houses 
and  taking  out  of  them  the  property  of  the  owners — money, 
meal,  butter,  potatoes,  linen,  flax,  wearing  apparel,  and  other 
personal  and  household  goods — and  we  shall  be  within  the 
mark  if  we  say  that  between  eighty  and  ninety  per  cent,  of  all 
the  grave  cases  brought  before  the  judges  consisted  in  such 
offences;  secondly,  demanding  money  on  the  high-road  and 
taking  it  forcibly  from  the  person ;  thirdly,  administering  un- 


HISTORY    OF   SLIGO.  483 

lawful  oaths ;  fourthly,  assembling  riotously  and  tumultuously  ; 
and  fifthly,  violating  excise  laws,  and  resisting  officers  of  the 
revenue. 

Robbery  was  then  punished  with  great  severity.  For  instance, 
at  the  Summer  Assizes  of  1817  eight  men — Hugh  Coggin, 
Thomas  Dermott,  James  Guinty,  Bryan  Keane,  James  Kil- 
reaghal,  Hugh  Kilreaghal,  Martin  Callaghan,  and  Henry 
M'Kee — were  sentenced  to  be  hanged  for  this  offence :  Hugh 
Coggin  and  Thomas  Dermott  for  forcibly  entering  the  dwelling- 
house  of  Bridget  Finnegan  at  Lugdoon,  and  taking  out  of  it 
seven  guineas  and  one  hundred  weight  of  oatmeal ;  James 
Guinty  for  entering  the  dwelling-house  of  Mary  Bridges,  at 
Dromore,  and  taking  out  of  it  Bank  of  Ireland  tokens  value 
10s.,  six  pounds  weight  of  hackled  flax  value  8s.,  and  one  pair 
of  shoes  ;  Bryan  Keane  for  forcibly  entering  the  dwelling-house 
of  Bartholomew  Keane,  and  taking  away  two  hundredweight 
of  bacon  value  £4 ;  James  Kilreaghal  and  Hugh  Kilreaghal 
for  breaking  into  the  dwelling-house  of  Andrew  Finan,  of 
Carrownalisky,  and  carrying  away  43  yards  of  linen  value 
£2,  3s.,  eight  yards  of  frieze  value  IGs.,  twenty  Bank  of  Ireland 
tokens  value  6s.  each,  twenty-four  Bank  of  Ireland  tokens 
value  2s.  6d.  each,  sixty  Bank  of  Ireland  tokens  value  lOd. 
each,  and  thirty-four  Bank  of  Ireland  tokens  value  5d.  each  ; 
and  Martin  Callaghan  and  Henry  M'Kee  for  breaking  into  the 
house  of  Michael  M'Dermott  Roe,  at  Drumluster,  "  with  intent 
feloniously  to  take  his  money,  goods,  and  chattels." 

These  eight  men  suffered  the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law  at 
the  old  gaol,  Albert  Street,  where  public  executions  usually 
took  place,  though  on  some  occasions  men  were  executed  at  the 
scene  of  their  crime,  as  happened  in  the  case  of  John  Tunny 
and  Patrick  Looby,  convicted  at  the  Lent  Assizes  of  1817  of 
entering  forcibly  the  dwelling-house  of  Henry  Smith,  at  Tone- 
lena,  and  taking  thereout  thirty  tenpennies,  four  pairs  of  sheets, 
two  gowns,  three  shirts,  and  one  pair  of  stockings.  Both  were 
sentenced  to  be  hanged  on  the  25  th  March  (Lady  Day)  at 
Terenure,  or  St.  James'  Well,  where  they  were  executed  in  the 


484  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


presence  of  immense  crowds.  It  is  said  they  were  innocent, 
and  that  a  man  who  was  subsequently  convicted  of  robbery, 
and  executed  at  Carrick-on- Shannon,  declared  himself  to  be 
the  perpetrator  of  the  crime  for  which  they  suffered.  The  holi- 
day was  selected  for  the  work  of  the  gallows  in  order  to  secure 
the  greater  concourse  of  spectators  ;  and  for  the  same  reason 
Saturday,  the  market  day,  was  always  fixed  for  executions  in 
Sligo,  so  that  the  hangman  would  be  sure  to  have  plenty  of 
people  to  witness  what  had  unfortunately  become  in  the  long 
run  a  rather  commonplace  performance. 

One  of  these  deplorable  exhibitions  was  attended  with  cir- 
cumstances w^hich  created  a  profound  impression  through  the 
town  and  county.  It  was  the  case  of  a  man  named  Sweeny,  for 
"whom  great  sympathy  was  felt,  as  he  was  believed  by  the 
public,  as  well  before  as  after  his  conviction,  to  be  innocent  of 
the  crime  laid  to  his  charge.  On  the  day  fixed  for  the  execu- 
tion considerable  numbers  assembled  round  the  gallows  in  front 
of  the  old  gaol,  which  stood  immediately  to  the  north  of 
Messrs.  Taylor  and  Grevat's  establishment,  just  on  the  site  of 
the  ofiice  portion  of  the  county  court-house. 

Poor  Sweeny,  who  exhibited  great  firmness,  felt  but  one 
regret,  that  he  could  not  receive  Extreme  Unction,  which  is 
administered  only  to  persons  dangerously  ill.  As  he  appeared 
on  the  narrow^,  unfenced  platform,  five  feet  long  and  three  wide, 
which  led  from  the  gaol  to  the  gallows,  most  of  the  people 
present  fell  on  their  knees  in  prayer ;  and  when  the  rope  was 
adjusted,  the  black  cap  pulled  down,  and  the  wretched  man 
turned  off,  the  rope  snapped  under  the  sudden  strain,  and  he 
fell  on  his  feet,  receiving  great  injuries  in  the  fall.  His  first 
words  on  recovering  presence  of  mind  were,  "  Thank  God,  my 
life  is  my  own,"  to  which,  on  the  instant,  the  Sub-Sheriff,  Mr. 
Abraham  Fenton,  replied,  ''  Not  so,  if  a  rope  can  be  found  in 
Sligo  strong  enough  to  hang  you."  The  Sheriff  was  as  good  as 
his  word,  and  soon  procured  the  rope,  while  poor  Sweeny,  being 
now  grievously  ill  in  body,  received  the  one  thing  his  heart  was 
set  on,  Extreme  Unction,  after  which  he  met  his  fate  like  a 


HISTORY  op:^  sligo.  485 


Christian  hero,  so  that  there  was  hardly  a  Catholic  present, 
or  in  the  county,  who  did  not  regard  the  accident  of  the  rope 
as  an  interposition  of  Heaven  in  answer  to  an  innocent  man's 
fervent  prayer  for  the  last  sacrament. 

Though  capital  convictions,  from  their  frequency,  resulted  in 
making  people  rather  indifferent  about  them,  one  or  two 
occurred  in  those  times,  which  awakened  exceptional  and  sensa- 
tional interest.  Such  was  the  conviction  in  the  Geale  case. 
Elizabeth  Geale  and  her  daughter,  Catherine,  kept  a.small  soft- 
goods  shop  at  Templehouse  or  Eathbane,  and  six  men — 
Antony  Morrisroe,  Thomas  Morrisroe,  Terence  Cummisky, 
James  Coan,  Thomas  Coan,  and  Patrick  Dyar — broke  into  it  at 
night,  and  took  away  much  of  the  goods  which  it  contained. 
Bad  as  this  was,  it  were  well  if  the  transaction  ended  here,  but 
the  wretches,  in  addition  to  the  robbery,  were  guilty  of  personal 
outrage  towards  Catherine  Geale,  and  brought  thus  on  them- 
selves the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law.  All  six  were  executed 
on  the  6th  of  April,  IcSlS,  and  there  was  hardly  a  man  in  the 
county  that  pitied  them. 

Such,  too,  was  the  case  of  Jack  Taaffe  and  his  fidus  Achates, 
Jemmy  Jordan,  of  which  the  particulars  are  given  elsewhere. 
Poor  Jack  escaped  the  gallows  by  the  skin  of  his  teeth. 

And  such,  also,  was  the  case  of  Patrick  O'Rorke,  convicted,  at 
the  Summer  Assizes  of  1820,  of  aiding  in  the  abduction  of 
Eleanor  Conlon,  of  Douro,with  the  object  of  having  her  married 
to  his  brother,  Con  O'Rorke.  Con  himself,  who  was  an  especial 
favourite  with  the  people  of  Leitrim,  managed,  with  their 
assistance,  to  evade  capture.  It  being  well  known  that  Patrick 
O'Rorke  joined  the  abducting  party  merely  with  the  view  of 
preventing,  as  far  as  he  could,  personal  outrage,  everyone  had 
sympathy  for  him ;  and  so  practical  and  powerful  was  this 
feeling,  that  four  women  and  one  man  conspired,  at  the  risk  of 
their  own  lives,  to  convey  him,  in  woman's  apparel,  out  of  Sligo 
gaol,  where  he  was  confined,  and  did  actually  convey  him 
outside  the  gate  of  the  prison,  though  his  departure  became 
known,   and  he  was  re-captured    before  he  could  make  good 


486  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


his  escape.  He  and  three  other  men  were  executed  for  the 
abduction,  on  the  15th  August,  1820. 

While  burglary  and  abduction  thus  cost  those  concerned  in 
them  their  lives,  other  crimes  met  with  fitting  punishment. 
Manslaughter  was  generally  punished  with  two  years'  imprison- 
ment and  burning  in  the  hand ;  perjury  with  the  pillory,  and 
either  long  confinement  in  gaol,  or  transportation  for  seven  years, 
as  in  the  instance  of  Richard  "Walton,  sentenced  at  the  Summer 
Assizes  of  1817  "  to  be  pilloried  in  Sligo  for  one  hour,  and  after- 
wards transported  for  seven  years;"  "carding"  the  naked  back, 
with  long  imprisonment  and  one  or  two  "  whippings "  in  the 
neighbourhood  where  the  carding  took  place  ;  and  notable  fraud 
in  buying  or  selling,  with  the  pillory  and  six  months'  imprison- 
ment— a  punishment  inflicted  in  1817,  on  Edward  Hart,  for 
passing  on  David  Culbertson  as  "  good,  sound,  and  merchantable 
butter,"  four  casks  of  "gravel  and  other  rubbish,"  each  cask 
being  covered  on  the  top  with  a  thin  layer  of  butter.  The 
augur  does  not  appear  to  have  been  in  use  at  this  early  period 
of  the  Sligo  butter  market.  It  may  be  here  stated  that  a  pillory 
was  preserved  in  the  Provost's  court  down  to  the  year  1848, 
when  it  disappeared  and,  probably,  was  destroyed. 

Though  the  Threshers'  association  received  its  death-blow 
from  the  Special  Commission  that  sat  in  1806,  it  lingered  on  for 
a  few  years  more,  and,  even  in  its  moribund  state,  gave  proof  of 
life  in  a  carding  or  two,  which  received  their  merited  retribution. 
The  Threshers  had  no  sooner  retired  finally  from  the  scene,  than 
the  Ribbonmen  appeared,  and  took  the  vacant  place  ;  and,  it  is 
well  to  know  that,  as  far  as  appears,  the  Ribbon  association 
figured  for  the  first  time  before  the  Judges  in  the  county  Sligo, 
at  the  Summer  Assizes  of  1819,  when  Peter  Leydeu,  John  Dyer, 
and  Patrick  Gormly,  who  had  been  committed  by  Reverend 
John  Garrett  and  Major  Bridgham,  were  convicted  '*  of  rising 
and  appearing  armed  by  night  to  the  terror  of  his  Majesty's 
subjects,  against  peace  and  statute,"  of  "assuming  the  name  and 
denomination  of    Ribbon   men,   the  same  not  being  usually 


HISTORY    OF   SLIGO.  487 


assumed  by  his  Majesty's  subjects  on  their  lawful  occasions," 
and  of  "  feloniously  administering  and  causing  to  be  administered, 
at  Culthatigue,  to  one  John  Coyle,  an  unlawful  oath  upon  a  book, 
importing  to  bind  him  not  to  inform  or  give  evidence  against 
associates  of,  or  belonging  to,  an  association  styled  Ribbonmen, 
formed  to  disturb  the  peace,  against  peace  and  statute."  It  is 
noteworthy  that  Ribbonism,  even  in  its  infancy,  manifested 
that  passion  for  dealing  in  unlawful  oaths,  which,  all  through 
its  career,  has  given  special  trouble  to  both  the  Church  and  the 
State. 

In  looking  through  the  Clerk  of  the  Crown's  books,  Parson 
Garrett  is  seen  to  be  one  of  the  most  active  and  inquisitorial 
magistrates  in  the  county.  The  wonder  is  how  he  could  find 
time  to  attend  to  the  spiritual  interests  of  his  vast  ecclesiastical 
union  of  Emlaghfad,  Kilmorgan,  Kilturra,  Tumour,  and  Drum- 
rat,  being  so  much  engaged  in  ferretting  out  everyone  that  he 
suspected  of  acting  "  against  peace  and  statute." 

Among  those  he  wished  to  dispose  of,  was  Rev.  Bartholomew 
Kerins,  whom  he  committed  on  the  double  charge  *'  that  he 
being  a  Popish  Priest,  did  take  upon  himself  to  celebrate  a 
marriage,    and    did     celebrate    a    marriage,     in    Ballymote, 

between  Thomas  Tigue,  a  reputed  Protestant,  and Davis, 

a  reputed  Protestant ;"  and  "  did,  in  like  manner,  at  Bally- 
mote, celebrate  a  marriage  between  Robert  Poe  and  Mary 
Charlton,  reputed  Protestants."  Father  Kerins  was  tried, 
at  the  Summer  Assizes  of  1818,  on  the  first  of  these  charges 
and  acquitted.  On  the  second  there  was  no  trial,  as  the 
Grand  Jury  found  no  true  bill. 

About  this  time,  Parson  Scott,  of  Carrowroe,  near  Sligo, 
acquired  no  little  notoriety  in  connexion  with  clandestine  mar- 
riages, or  attempted  marriages.  If  Father  Kerins  gave  trouble 
sometimes,  the  Parson  was  a  more  reckless  and  frequent  offender  ; 
for,  while  the  former  could  never  be  induced  to  put  his  hand  to 
a  marriage  while  sober,  and  very  rarely  under  any  circumstances, 
Mr.  Scott,  whether  sober  or  otherwise,  was  generally  ready  and 


488  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


willing  to  act,  as  often  as  he  was  called  on,  and  had  received  his 
usual  fee,  which  was  five  shillings  and  a  bottle  of  whiskey. 

In  this  way,  the  Parson's  house  at  Carrowroe,  came  to  be 
regarded  as  the  Gretna  Green  of  Lower  Connaught,  and 
attracted  candidates  for  matrimony  from  far  and  near,  who  were 
all  attended  to  by  himself  or  his  "  Curate,"  as  the  neighbours 
facetiously  styled  his  old  housekeeper,  Susy.  Whether  true  or 
false,  it  was  believed  that  Susy  officiated  more  than  once  in  her 
master's  stead,  after  first  enveloping  herself  in  his  cota^iuore^  the 
better  to  personate  him — the  personation  being  the  less  difficult, 
as  the  whole  ceremony,  such  as  it  was,  came  off  in  the  dark,  in 
order  to  baffle  would-be  informers.  But  these  and  other  pre- 
cautions failed  of  their  object ;  and  the  Parson  had  to  pay  once 
or  twice,  in  Sligo  gaol,  the  penalty  of  his  own  or  the  "  Curate's  " 
transgression  of  the  law. 

Not  the  least  of  the  evils  arising  from  Parson  Scott's  proceed- 
ings was  the  increase  of  mixed  marriages,  which  are  so  strongly 
condemned  by  religion.  Without  him  they  would  have  been  far 
fewer  in  the  neighbourhood — the  Catholic  clergy  being  prohib- 
ited by  the  laws  of  the  land  and  the  laws  of  the  Church  from 
assisting  at  them ;  and  the  Protestant  clergy,  as  a  rule,  not 
caring  to  have  anything  to  say  to  them,  more  especially  after  a 
tragedy  which  occurred  near  Sligo  in  1848,  and  which  was  the 
result  of  one  of  these  ill-assorted  unions. 

A  Catholic  lady,  named  McTernan,  married  a  Protestant 
gentleman  named  Armstrong,  under,  it  is  said,  an  agreement 
that  she  should  be  free  to  bring  up  the  children  in  her  own 
religion.  The  husband  made  no  objection  to  the  arrangement  till 
some  time  after  a  third  child  was  born  to  them,  when,  either  of 
his  own  volition  or  at  the  instigation  of  others,  he  insisted  on  the 
little  ones  being  educated  Protestants.  The  urgency  of  Arm- 
strong threw  his  wife's  mind  off  its  balance ;  and  all  Sligo  was 
shocked,  one  day,  when  the  news  came  from  Ballincar,  that  Mrs. 
Armstrong,  going  out  that  morning  to  the  sea-side,  and  bringing 
the  three  children  with  her,  had,  after  strapping  two  of  them  on 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  489 


her  back  and  taking  the  third  in  her  arms,  walked  deliberately 
into  the  tide,  and  drowned  both  them  and  herself. 

Illicit  distillation  gave  the  Judges,  who  went  the  Connaught 
Circuit,  no  little  trouble  in  the  first   decades   of  the  current 
century,  hardly  an  assizes  passing  over  without  numerous  con- 
victions.    Potteen  was  made,  now  and  then,  in  all  parts  of  the 
county,  but  the  manufacture  was  so  common  and  so  constant  in 
Drumcliffe  and  Ahamlish,  that  nine-tenths  of  the  Still  Cases,  as 
they  were   called,  came  from  those  parishes.     The  penalty,  in 
ordinary  cases,  such  as  "  having  a  still,"  "  using  a  still,"  "  making 
pot  ale,'*  ''  having  singlings,"  "  malting  grain,"  etc.,  was  impri- 
sonment for  a  week,  with  a  fine  of  £10,  the  parties  to  be  kept  in 
gaol  for  six  months,  if  the  fioe  was  not  paid;  the  great^object 
apparently  of  the  authorities,  being  to  secure  the  money  paid 
as  fine.     Resistance  to  the  revenue  officers,  or  rescue  of  objects 
seized,  entailed  much  heavier  punishment,  varying  according  to 
the  circumstances  of  the  case. 

It  would  be  out  of  place  to  dwell  further  here  on  the  past 
condition  of  the  county  in  regard  to  crime;  nor  is  it  necessary, 
as  one  can  gather,  from  the  authentic  details  already  given,  a 
good  notion  of  the  criminal  offences  more  frequently  occurring, 
as  also  of  the  marked  contrast  there  happily  is  between  the  law 
and  order  of  the  present  time,  and  the  lawlessness  and  barbarism 
of  the  past. 


Another  nuisance  and'  scandal  of  by-gone    days   were    the 
so-called 

BUCKS 

who  infested  the  town  of  Slio:o  and  the  neiofhbourhood  in  the 
closing  years  of  the  last  century  and  the  early  years  of  the 
present.  These  bravoes  were  the  degenerate  descendants  of 
Cromwell's  officers  and  soldiers,  and  many  of  them  still  retained 
possession  of  the  Commonwealth  debentures,  though  burdened 
with  debt.  In  accordance  with  the  habits  of  the  period,  when 
men  passed  much  less  of  their  time  in  the  domestic  circle  than 


490  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO, 


they  do  now,  the  Bucks  commonly  spent  the  evening  and  a 
good  part  of  the  night  in  some  of  their  chabhouses,  of  which 
they  had  at  least  three,  one,  the  shop  house  of  the  late  Mr. 
Charles  Anderson  in  Bridge  Street,  then  called  the  Green 
House  from  the  ivy  with  which  it  was  covered ;  another,  the 
house  of  which  the  striking  remains  still  stand  over  the  Curragh, 
in  the  townland  of  Oarrowgobadagh ;  and  the  third,  that  still 
popularly  called  the  Club-House  at  Ardnaglass,  in  Tireragh.* 

Acting  on  the  maxim,  "  Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow 
we  shall  die,"  they  assembled  in  one  or  other  of  these  haunts 
every  night,  and  passed  the  time  in  gambling,  swilling 
"  scalteen,"  talking  ribaldry,  and  bellowing  snatches  of  profane 
songs.  The  orgies  lasted  till  long  past  midnight ;  and  woe 
betide  the  man  that  fell  in  the  way  of  those  "  sons  of  Belial, 
flown  with  insolence  and  wine,"  as  they  wandered  forth,  and 
rolled  through  the  streets  to  their  residences.  It  is  told  that 
they  once,  in  a  mid-winter  night,  stripped  a  man  they  met 
with  of  his  clothes,  tossed  the  clothes  into  the  river,  and  left 
the  shivering  wretch  to  his  fate  in  the  midst  of  frost  and  snow. 
On  another  occasion  they  forced  a  passer-by  into  a  coffin,  and 
placed  it,  after  nailing  down  the  lid,  on  the  battlement  of  the 
bridge,  in  such  a  way,  that  any  effort  to  extricate  himself  from 
his  horrid  position  would  only  precipitate  him  into  the  river ; 
and  if  they  did  not  signalise  their  passage  by  these  enormities, 
they  always  made  night  hideous  by  their  yells  and  imprecations 
as  they  staggered  along. 


*  Some  of  the  entertainments  were  advertised.    The  following  notice  appears 
in  the  Sligo  Journal  of  September  4th,  1807  : — 

FANDANGO. 

'JHERE  will  be  a  Public  Ball  and  Supper  at  the  Club 

House  of  Ard7iaglasSj  on  the  Evening  of  Monday 

the  7th  Inst. 

RoBT.  Wm.  Hillas,  and  >  o^^„.. ^ 

James  Fleming,  Esqrs.,  I  Stewards. 

Mrs.  Jones,    >■  Stewardess. 
4th  September,  1807. 


HISTORY   OF  SLIGO.  491 


A  story  is  handed  down,  that  on  one  occasion  they  dragged 
into  their  den  a  young  girl  who  had  been  sent  with  a  sick  call 
to  a  priest,  and  whom  they  found  in  the  street  on  her  errand. 
It  is  probable  they  did  this  with  the  view  of  creating  a  ferment 
through  the  town  rather  than,  as  the  people  thought,  for 
licentious  purposes ;  but  when  some  one,  who  witnessed  the 
abduction,  ran  with  the  news  to  Father  John  Flynn,  Parish 
Priest  at  the  time  of  Sligo,  he  at  once  called  round  him  a  body 
of  brave  men,  chiefly  butchers,  and,  proceeding  with  them  to 
the  Green  House,  soon  liberated  the  poor  creature  from  the 
lions'  den. 

For  this  as  well  as  for  other  reasons  Father  John  was  par- 
ticularly obnoxious  to  the  Bucks,  so  that  they  were  constantly 
in  search  of  opportunities  to  have  their  revenge.  On  pretence 
of  carrying  a  sick  call  to  him,  three  of  them  were  once  admitted 
by  the  servant  into  his  sitting  room ;  and  when  they  were 
proceeding  to  lay  hands  on  him,  the  priest,  who  was  one  of  the 
strongest  men  in  the  county,  seeing  his  danger,  laid  round  him 
so  vigorously  in  self-defence,  that  in  a  very  few  minutes  he  had 
bundled  the  whole  three  of  them  down-stairs  one  upon  the 
other,  in  a  frame  of  body  and  mind  which  cured  them  for  ever 
of  the  fancy  of  again  bearing  a  sick  call  to  his  Reverence  ;  and 
though  others  of  the  fraternity  vowed  to  have  vengeance  for 
this  mauling  of  their  worthy  brothers,  and  tried  more  than  once 
to  carry  out  their  designs,  they  were  always  foiled  in  their 
attempts  by  the  butchers,  who  had  formed  themselves  into  a 
vigilance  committee  for  the  priest,  and  proved  more  than  a 
match  for  the  Bucks,  so  that  Father  John  at  last  was  left  in 
peace. 

This  result  was  not  accomplished  in  a  day,  nor  without  sundry 
collisions,  in  which  the  knights  of  the  Green  House  always  had 
the  worst  of  it ;  and  at  last  John  Street,  in  which  Father  Flynn 
then  lived,  was  made  so  hot  for  them  that  they  dared  not  show 
the  face  in  it  by  night  or  by  day,  either  individually  or  in  a 
body.  If  an  individual  of  them  appeared  in  the  street  he  was 
put  quietly  back,  and  if  a  body  of  them,  as  happened  on  one  or 


492  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


two  occasions,  essayed  to  pass,  the  butchers  straightway  formed 
themselves  into  a  cordon  across  the  street,  with  their  bulldogs, 
and  soon  convincing  the  trespassers  that  discretion  is  the  better 
part  of  valour,  caused  them  to  beat  an  ignominious  retreat. 
Such  were  the  doiogs  of  the  Bucks  and  the  butchers  of  Sligo  so 
late  as  the  early  years  of  the  present  century. 

Even  in  the  Green  House  the  Bucks  had  it  not  always  their 
own  way,  as  at  least  one  memorable  instance  shows.  A  stranger 
having  dropped  into  the  house,  which  was  a  kind  of  inn  as  well 
as  the  rendezvous  of  a  club,  and  having  asked  what  he  might 
have  for  dinner,  was  told  there  was  nothing  but  cold  meat;  but 
finding  a  number  of  fine  grouse  already  dished,  and  about  to 
be  served  up,  he  pointed  out  one,  and  said  he  should  dine  on  it. 
The  waiter  told  him  he  must  not  think  of  such  a  thing,  as  the 
game  belonged  to  the  gentlemen  up-stairs,  who  would  soon 
make  a  spatch-cock  of  him  if  he  laid  a  finger  on  it.  The 
stranger,  however,  insisted  that  he  would  have  the  grouse,  let 
the  gentlemen  up-stairs  do  as  they  would;  and  when  the 
waiter  mentioned  the  incident  to  his  company,  they  resolved  to 
punish  the  new-comer  for  his  audacity,  and  by  way  of  showing 
that  the}^  regarded  him  as  an  ignoramus,  directed  the  waiter  to 
take  one  of  their  watches  with  compliments  to  the  gentleman 
and  ask  him  what  o'clock  it  was  ? 

The  stranger  took  the  rude  joke  very  quietly,  put  the  watch 
in  his  pocket,  and  sent  in  his  card  as  his  receipt  for  the  watch 
and  his  reply  to  the  message.     The  card  troubled  them  almost 
as  much  as  a  bomb  could  if  it  fell  in  their  midst,  for  it  bore  the 
name  of  the  most  noted  fire-eater  in  the  province,  a  Mr.  Martin 
of  Galway.     Having  finished  his  dinner,  Mr.  Martin  stepped  in 
among  the  Bucks,  and  asked  for  the  owner  of  the  watch  ;  and 
when  no  one  claimed  the  object,  he  handed  it  to  the  waiter 
with  directions  to  keep  it  as  a  present  from  him.     He  next 
insisted  on  the  Bucks  choosing  one  of  their  party  to  give  him 
"  satisfaction  "  for  the  insult  they  had  offered.     Taere  beinj  no 
other  way  of  adjusting  the  matter,''  they  cast  lots  to  decide 
which  of  them  should  give  the  desired  satisfaction,  when  the 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  493 


lot  fell  on  a  Mr.  Barrett.  The  duel  came  off  forthwith  by  torch- 
light in  the  yard  of  the  Greea  House  ;  and  Martin,  at  the  first 
fire,  lodged  a  pistol  ball  in  the  shoulder  of  his  antagonist,  to 
serve  him  ever  after  as  a  souvenir  of  the  occasion. 

The  occupation  of  the  Bucks  during  the  day  was  often  as 
wild  and  reckless  as  that  of  the  night.     Take  the  instance  of 

L J ,  who  was  a  pretty  fair  specimen  of  the  lot.     One 

day  he  goes  to  Inismurray,  and  from  pure  wantonness  profanes 
the  most  venerated  object  in  the  island  in  a  way  that  will  not 
bear  to  be  written.  At  another  time,  on  finding  two  of  his 
labourers  boxing,  he  insisted  on  their  fighting  it  out  with  pistols; 
but  the  catastrophe  had  more  of  farce  than  of  tragedy  about  it, 
for  having  taken  the  precaution  of  loading,  himself,  the  pistols 
behind  the  back  of  the  duellists,  one  of  the  parties,  who  was 
bit,  and  called  out  that  his  blood  was  streaming  down  his  face, 
was  greeted  with  a  loud  laugh  from  all  present,  who  saw  that 
it  was  not  blood  that  was  flowing,  but  the  soft  stirabout  with 
which  Mr.  J had  whimsically  charged. 

A  writ  for  debt  having  been  served  on  this  farceur  at  the 
suit  of  Thady  Kelly,  a  wine  merchant,  of  Market  Street,  he 
hastened  to  Thady's  shop,  and  horsewhipped  the  unfortunate 
man  within  an  inch  of  his  life  for  his  audacity  in  *'  suing  a 
gentleman."  It  is  difficult  to  believe  in  such  extravagances,  but 
they  are  quite  in  keeping  with  all  that  is  known  of  the  Bucks 
of  Sligo. 

The  Ballysadare  Bucks  went  further,  at  least  on  one 
occasion,  than  their  confreres  of  Sligo  ;  for  a  Catholic  named 
Bryan  Drum  having  built  a  house  in  the  village,  and  slated  it, 
the  Bucks  of  the  place,  indignant  at  his  presumption  in  thinking 
to  have  a  slated  house,  while  they  were  living  in  thatched  ones, 
assembled  in  broad  daylight,  tore  off  the  roof,  and  cast  it  into 
the  river.  Drum  was  absent  at  the  moment;  and  when  he 
returned  and,  seeing  what  was  done,  threatened  law  proceedings, 
the  wreckers  beat  him  so  unmercifully  that  he  died  in  a  few 
days  of  the  barbarous  treatment. 

It  will  appear  strange  how  the  austere  Roundheads  developed 


494  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


into  these  lawless  and  demoralised  Bucks.  Nemo  repente  fit 
turpissimus ;  so  that  we  may  take  it  that  the  metamorphosis 
was  gradual.  The  deterioration,  however,  was  the  natural 
result  of  their  situation  ;  for  once  they  got  their  enemies  under 
their  feet,  and  had  the  county  all  to  themselves,  and  were  so 
prosperous  that  they  began  to  take  no  heed  of  the  morrow, 
they  gave  themselves  up  to  enjoyment,  and  thus  started  on 
their  downward  course;  and  that  they  had  fallen  very  low, 
even  before  acquiring  the  name  of  Bucks,  w^e  have  strong 
evidence  in  the  Journal  of  Rev.  John  Wesley.* 

Wesley  visited  Sligo  about  a  dozen  times  between  1758  and 
1789,  those  years  inclusive,  and  has  left  in  the  Journal  an 
interesting  record  of  the  moral  condition  of  the  inhabitants  he 
preached  to,  or  met,  who  must  have  been  almost  exclusively 
the  descendants  of  the  Usurpers.  It  would  occupy  too  much 
space  to  note  here  all  he  says  of  Sligo,  and  one  will  get  idea 
enough  of  what  he  thought  on  the  subject  from  the  following 
entries,  in  which  he  speaks  of  Sligo  in  much  the  same  language 
as  that  our  Lord  employs  in  speaking  of  reprobate  Jerusalem, 
or  of  Corozain  and  Bethsaida.  Under  date  of  May  28th,  1765, 
he  writes : — 

"  In  the  evening  I  took  my  usual  stand  in  the  market  house, 
but  how  was  the  scene  changed.  I  have  seen  nothing  like  this 
since  my  first  entrance  into  the  kingdom.  Such  a  total  want 
of  good  sense,  of  good  manners,  yea,  of  common  decency,  was 
shown  by  not  a  few  of  the  hearers."! 

Under  the  dates  of  May  19bh,20th,  1773,  he  says:  *^  At  Sligo 
I  expected  little  comfort,  as  having  little  expectation  of  doing 
any  good,  and  the  less  as  some  strollers  were  acting  a  play  over 
the  market  house  where  I  was  to  preach.  At  seven  I  began  in 
our  own  room.  Many  of  the  soldiers,  with  some  officers,  were 
present;  and  the  whole  congregation,  rich  and  poor,  were  so 


*  The  Journal  of  the  Rev.  John  Wesley,  A.M.,  &c.     London :  Wesley  an 
Conference  Office,  1864. 
t  Ibid.,  Vol.  III.,  p.  211. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  495 


remarkably  serious,  that  I  had  a  faint  hope  we  shall  see  some 
fruit,  even  in  cold,  barren  Sligo... Surely  God  is  giving  yet 
another  call  to  the  poor,  stupid  sinners  of  Sligo."* 

His  hope  of  seeing  fruit  was  little  realized,  for  he  writes 
under  May  23rd,  1785  :  "After  a  long  day's  journey,  I  preached 
in  the  new  court-house  at  Sligo,  to  far  the  worst  congregation 
that  I  have  seen  since  I  came  into  the  kingdom.  Some  (mis- 
called gentry)  laughed  and  talked  without  fear  or  shame,  till  I 
openly  reproved  them ;  and  the  rabble  were  equally  rude  near 
the  door."-!* 

On  the  occasion  of  his  last  visit  to  Sligo,  which  occurred  on 
the  20th  May,  1789,  he  makes  this  entry,  which  shows  him 
somewhat  less  dissatisfied  than  on  previous  occasions  :  "  We  set 
out  from  Castlehar  between  three  and  four,  and  in  just  twelve 
hours  reached  Sligo.  There  I  met  S.  Pennington  once  more, 
with  her  lovely  daughter  and  son-in-law.  I  never  before  saw 
such  a  congregation  in  Sligo,  so  numerous  and  so  serious.  Does 
there  yet  another  day  of  visitation  appear  even  for  this 
desolate  place  V'X 

About  the  time  that  Eev.  John  Wesley  was  making  some  of 
these  entries,  Arthur  Young,  another  very  observant  traveller, 
visited  the  county  Sligo,  and  formed  much  the  same  estimate 
of  our  Cromwellian  gentry.  Writing  at  Tanrego  iu  August, 
1776,  he  tells  us :  "  Upon  the  sea-shore  are  immense  beds  of 
oyster  shells,  which  are  burnt  into  lime  for  building  and 
plastering,  as  they  take  much  less  fuel ;  these  hills  received  no 
little  increase  from  all  the  gentry  of  the  interior  country  coming 
to  the  sea-coast  to  eat  oysters,  where,  having  filled  themselves 
sufficiently  in  the  mornings,  they  got  drunk  in  the  evenings ; 
this  was  in  the  UTicivilized  times.  Most  of  the  gentlemen  of 
this  county  were  Cromwell's  soldiers,  and  many  Welsh  families, 
Jones's,  Morgan's,  Wynn's,  &c."§ 


■'  The  Journal,  &c.     Vol.  III.,  p.  467. 

t  Ibid.,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  296. 

%  Ibid.,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  438. 

§  A  Tour  in  Ireland,  &c.     Vol.  I.,  pp.  310-341. 


496  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


Things  are  very  different  now  in  the  town  of  Sligo  from  what 
they  were  when  John  Wesley  spoke  of  the  inhabitants  as  little 
less  than  reprobate.  Taking  them  all  in  all,  there  is  not  per- 
haps a  more  religiously  disposed  people  in  Ireland  than  those 
of  Sligo.  This  praise,  too,  belongs  to  all  the  denominations  ; 
and,  certainly,  not  least  so  to  the  orderly,  energetic,  united, 
law-abiding  society  which  that  zealous  and  indefatigable 
reformer  bequeathed  to  the  town. 


Another  evil  that  disgraced  the  town  and  county  of  Sligo 
about  the  time  of  the  Bucks,  and  somewhat  later,  was  the 
practice  of 

DUELLING. 

Sligo  has  been  always  too  noted  for  this  relic  of  barbarism. 
Five  counties  of  Ireland — Tipperary,  Gal  way.  Mayo,  Sligo,  and 
Koscommon — being  particularly  interested  in  the  practice,  sent 
delegates  to  Clonmel,  in  1775,  to  draw  up  a  code  of  laws  for 
the  regulation  of  affairs  of  honour,  which,  being  duly  enacted, 
were  addressed  to  all  the  fire-eaters  of  Ireland  as  "  The  Practice 
of  Duelling  and  Points  of  Honour  settled  at  Clonmel  Summer 
Assizes,  1775,  by  the  Gentlemen  Delegates  of  Tipperary, 
Galway,  Mayo,  Sligo,  and  Roscommon,  and  prescribed  for 
general  adoption  throughout  Ireland."  To  make  sure  that  no 
one  could  plead  ignorance  of  these  laws,  it  was  ordered  that  a 
copy  of  them  should  be  always  kept  in  gentlemen's  pistol 
cases. 

This  "  law "  gave  dignity  and  a  species  of  legality  to  the 
proceedings  of  duellists,  to  which  the  example  of  the  first 
lawyers  and  statesmen  of  the  kingdom  lent  additional  sanction. 
Attorney-General  Fitzgibbon  fought  Curran  ;  Scott,  Chief 
Justice  of  the  King's  Bench,  fought  Lord  Tyrawley;  Egan, 
Judge  of  the  County  Dublin,  fought  half  a  dozen  people,  in- 
cluding Curran  ;  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  Isaac  Corry, 
fought  Henry  Grattan  3  Lord  Norbury  was  so  practised  at  the 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  497 


pistol,  using  it  against  every  one  who  came  in  his  way,  that  he 
was  said  in  his  day  to  have  shot  up  to  the  bench  ;  and,  in 
short,  there  was  hardly  a  single  high  official  connected  with  the 
bench,  the  bar,  or  the  castle,  at  this  time,  who  had  not  to 
reckon  affairs  of  honour  as  regular  incidents  or  rather  duties  of 
his  office. 

While  Galway  gentlemen  preferred  the  sword  in  these  affairs, 
the  pistol  was  the  usual  weapon  in  Sligo,  at  least  in  the  en- 
counters which  took  place  within  the  last  hundred  years  or  so. 
Passing  over  the  '^  hostile  meetings "  which  occurred  in  the 
county  before  that  period,  when  they  were  more  frequent  than 
later  on,*  the  following  is  a  list,  though  not  a  complete  one,  of 
the  county  Sligo  duels  of  more  recent  times,  and  of  those  who 
fought  them : — 

*  "About  the  year  1777  fire-eating  was  in  great  repute  in  Ireland.  No 
young  fellow  could  finish  his  education  till  he  exchanged  shots  with  some  of 
his  friends  or  acquaintance.  The  first  questions  asked  as  to  a  young  man's 
respectability  and  qualifications,  particularly  when  he  proposed  to  a  wife, 
were,  '  What  family  is  he  of  ?  Did  he  ever  blaze  V  His  fortune  was  the  last 
inquiry,  because  the  reply  was  seldom  satisfactory.  Tipperary  and  Galway 
were  the  ablest  schools  of  the  duelling  science.  Roscommon  and  Sligo  had 
many  professors,  and  a  high  reputation  in  the  leaden  branch.  There  was  an 
association  in  the  year  1782,  a  volunteer  corps,  called  the  *  Independent  Light 
Horse.'  They  were  not  confined  to  one  district,  but  none  could  be  admitted 
but  the  younger  brothers  of  the  most  respectable  families.  They  were  all 
'  hilt  and  muzzle '  adepts.  And  that  no  member  might  set  himself  up  as 
greater  than  the  other,  every  member  of  the  corps  was  obliged,  on  entering,  to 
give  his  honour  that  he  'covered  his  fortune  with  the  crown  of  his  hat,'  and 
had  exchanged  shot  or  thrust  before  he  was  balloted  for.  Most  counties  could 
then  boast  their  regular  point  of  honour  men,  to  whom  delicate  cases  were 
constantly  referred.  Lord  Norbury  was  supposed  to  understand  the  thing  as 
well  as  any  gentleman  in  Ireland,  and  was  frequently  referred  to  by  the  high 
circles." — Blackwood's  Edinburgh  Magazine,  Vol.  XXXIV.,  pp.  588-9. 

There  was  such  an  epidemic  of  duelling  in  France  in  the  time  of  Henry  IV, 
that  in  the  space  of  sixteen  years  (1590-1606)  *'  no  less  than  4000  lives  were 
sacrificed  in  duels." — Essays  of  an  Octogenarian, Yol.I.,  p.  384,  where  authorities 
are  quoted. 

Thirty-five  years  ago,  any  one  who  wished  to  see  a  duel,  had  only  to  visit 
the  fosse  of  the  Paris  fortifications  in  the  early  morning,  when  he  was  pretty 
sure  to  witness  more  than  one  affaire,  the  parties  engaged  belonging  generally 
to  the  army,  as  commissioned  officers,  non-commissioned  officers,  or  privates, 
who,  all  three  alike,  took  this  way  of  settling  their  disputes. 

VOL.  IL  2  I 


498  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


1.  Philip  Caech  Percival  and  Hyacinth  O'Rorke.  The  affair 
arose  from  informations  which  Mr.  Percival,  as  magistrate,  took 
against  O'Eorke,  who  resented  the  proceeding.  They  fought  at 
Kilcat,  near  Chaffpool,  in  the  parish  of  Achonry,  and  O'E-orke 
was  shot  dead  on  the  spot.  A  small  earn  of  stones  was  raised, 
and  still  stands,  where  he  fell. 

2.  The  most  famous  duel  whicli  has  taken  place  in  the  county, 
is  that  between  Messrs.  Fenton  and  Hillas.  In  its  origin,  its 
attendant  circumstances,  and  its  result,  it  attracted  exceptional 
notice  ;  and  still,  vivid  as  the  traditions  about  it  have  always 
been,  they  are  in  great  part  apocryphal,  thus  supplying  a  new 
proof  of  the  utter  untrustworthiness  of  mere  oral  tradition  in 
reo^ard  to  the  details  of  remote  transactions. 

It  is  commonly  thought,  and  Mr.  Oliver  Burke,  in  his  Anec- 
dotes of  the  Connaught  Bar,  shares  the  opinion,  that  the  dispute 
arose  about  a  question  of  barrister's  fees,  Mr.  Hillas  being 
supposed  to  be  a  counsellor,  as  Mr.  Fenton  was  an  attorney, 
whereas,  the  fact  is,  that  the  unfortunate  affair  was  connected 
with  a  wreck  which  took  place  on  the  Tireragh  coast,  quite  close 
to  the  residence  of  Mr.  Hillas,  who  was  a  military  man,  a  Major 
in  some  force,  and  not  a  lawyer  at  all.  A  report  having  been 
sent  by  a  Father  Burke  to  the  Major  about  a  vessel  in  distress, 
the  latter  hastened  to  the  shore,  went  on  board  the  ship,  and 
exerted  himself  so  humanely  and  effectively,  that  the  magis- 
trates who  sat  to  investigate  the  salvage  claims — Mr.  Wynne 
and  Colonel  Irwin — attributed  "  chiefly  to  his  humane  and 
spirited  conduct  the  saving  of  the  crew  and  the  vessel " — the 
captain  being  already  drowned. 

While  Major  Hillas  was  thus  engaged,  Mr.  John  Fenton  came 
on  board,  and  an  altercation  soon  occurred  between  them,  of  so 
warm  a  nature,  that  Fenton  threatened  to  throw  Hillas  into  the 
sea.  The  matter  even  proceeded  so  far  that  Mr.  Fenton  sent 
the  Major  a  challenge,  but  no  hostile  meeting  followed  on  this 
occasion.  It  was  two  days  after  this  when  Mr.  Thomas  Fenton, 
accompanied  by  the  Castletown  yeomanry,  arrived,  and,  in  spite 
of  all  opposition,  took  charge  of  the  wreck — a  proceeding  which 


>,.  ^ 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  499 

annoyed  and  irritated  Major  Hillas  so  much  that,  in  speaking  of 
it  afterwards  in  the  salvage  court,  he  made  use  of  the  offensive 
language  which  brought  him  the  challenge  from  Thomas 
Fenton. 

The  hostile  meeting  came  off  in  Kilmacowen,  John  Fenton 
acting  as  second  to  his  cousin,  while  Major  Hillas  was  attended 
by  Captain  Ferrall,  a  noted  duellist,  assisted  by  Loftus  Jones, 
and  Jack  Taaffe.     Ferrall,  however,  being  old,  between  seventy 
and  eighty  years  of  age,  as  well  as  lame,  Loftus  Jones  took  on 
himself  most  of  the  second's  duties  or  functions.     John  Fenton, 
who  acted,  all  through,  aecuyidum  artem^  and  with  consummate 
skill  and  coolness,  placed   his  cousin  on  the  ground,  put  the 
pistol  into  his  hand,  *'  squared  "  him,  as  the  phrase  is,  and 
moved  his  arm  so  as  to  protect  his  own  person  and  to  cover  that 
of  his  adversary ;  while  Hillas,  all  this  time,  was  left  very  much 
to  shift  for  himself,  the  multitude  of  seconds  being  unlike  the 
multitude  of  counsellors   in  ensuring  safety — and  rather  illus- 
trating the   old   adage,  that   what  is  everybody's  business  is 
nobody's  business.     Fenton  was  the  first  to  fire,  Hillas  firing 
nearly  at  the  same  moment,  after  which  he  dropped  down  dead. 
Messrs.  Thomas  and  John  Fenton  were  indicted  on  the  21st 
March  1816,  in  the  Crown  Court  of  Sligo,  before  Judge  Fletcher, 
for  the  murder  of  John  Hillas,  the  court,  as  might  be  expected, 
being  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity.     The  witnesses  examined 
were  James  Moffatt,  Loftus  Jones,  Doctor  Armstrong,  Robert 
Ormsby,  Mr.  Wynne,  and  Doctor  Carter,  and  the  proceedings 
were  dull  and  languid,  as  the  conclusion  was  a  foregone  one.    In 
his  charge  to  the  Jury,  Judge  Fletcher  was  so  one-sided,  and  so 
hard  on    poor  Hillas,  as  to  feel  the    need    of  making    some 
apology,  and  added  that  "  he  had,  perhaps,  entangled  himself,  on 
the  subject  more  than  he  ought."     The  jury  having  retired  from 
the  box,  just  after  the  Judge  had  pronounced  the  duel  to  be  "as 
fair  a  one  as  ever  was  fought,"*  came  back  in  a  minute  or  two 


*  Some  others  do  not  appear  to  hive  been  as  satisfied  as  Judge  Fletcher  of 
tho  fairness  of  the  diisl.     We  read  in  Hamilton's  Only  Approved  Guide,  con- 


500  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


with  a  verdict  of  acquittal.  It  is  right  to  state  that  in  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  trial,  the  duel  was  admitted  on  all  hands  to  be  a 
/air  one ;  while  great  commiseration  was  expressed  and  felt  for 
the  unfortunate  deceased,  whose  "friends"  were  much  to  blame 
for  his  tragic  end.  In  addressing  the  crowd  assembled  to 
witness  the  duel,  Mr.  Hillas  observed,  "I  am  sorry  the 
mistaken  laws  of  honour  oblige  me  to  come  here  to  defend 
myself,  and  I  declare  to  God  I  have  no  animosity  to  any  man  or 
w^oman  on  the  face  of  the  earth." 

What  an  opening  here  for  a  peacemaker,  if  a  peacemaker 
could  be  found  in  such  a  godless  gathering,  to  make  up  the 
quarrel ;  but  poor  Hillas's  "  friends  " — Captain  Farrell,  who  was 
mixed  up,  all  through  his  long  and  discreditable  life,  with  these 
cursed  affaires ;  Jack  TaafFe,  who  was  following  so  constantly 
in  the  Captain's  courses ;  and  Loftus  Jones,  who  was  never 
known  to  have  a  hand  in  peace-making,  or  in  anything  else  that 
was  good,  instead  of  desiring  a  reconciliation,  wished  rather  for 
an  encounter,  just  as  the  demoralized  Roman  populace  longed 


taining  the  Eoyal  Code  of  Honour,  p.  119,  the  remark,  "  Mr.  Thomas  FentoD, 
when  acting  as  the  second  of  his  relative,  John  Fenton,  was  accused  of  having 
unfairly  stood  too  long  conversing  with  his  principal ;  because,  while  standing 
between  the  parties,  he  enabled  John  Fenton  to  look  over  his  shoulder,  and 
take  deliberate  aim  at  Major  Ellis  (Hillas),  who  fell  at  the  first  shot." 

At  page  239  of  the  Only  Approved  Guide,  the  author  makes  the  following 
additional  remarks  on  this  duel  :  ''  Messrs.  O'Ferrall  and  Fenton,  who  acted 
as  seconds  in  the  case  of  Major  Hillas  and  Mr.  John  Fenton,  squared  the 
principals,  in  order  to  present  the  smallest  possible  objects.  Major  Hillas 
threw  off  his  coat  upon  the  ground,  and  appeared  with  light  black  sleeves 
attached  to  his  waistcoat,  evidently  with  a  view  to  present  the  less  conspicuous 
object  to  his  adversary. 

"The  reason  Major  Hillas  had  black  sleeves  attached  to  his  waistcoat,  was  to 
make  his  bulk  appear  the  smaller.  There  is  another  mode  of  lessening  the 
object  to  be  fired  at,  which  is  thus  described  by  a  military  officer  who  has 
written  on  the  present  subject :  '  By  advancing  the  foot  and  inclining  in  the 
act  of  presenting,  the  body  will  be  lowered  some  inches,  and  many  is  the  good 
or  the  bad  head  that  has  been  saved  by  it.' 

''  In  the  case  of  Major  Hillas  and  Mr.  Fenton,  spud  stones  were  placed  to 
mark  the  distance,  and  prevent  the  parties  from  advancing  toward  each 
other." 


HISTORY  OF  SLTGO.  501 


for  the  bloody  scenes  of  the  amphitheatre.  This  precious  trio 
were  more  guilty  than  John  Fenton  of  the  murder  of  their 
friend.  In  connection  with  duels,  more  than  under  any  other 
circumstances,  one  has  reason  to  say,  Save  me  from  my  friends, 

3.  Eev.  Mr.  Gethin  and  Harloe  Phibbs  had  a  hostile  meeting 
at  Magheraboy,  near  Sligo. 

4.  Rev.  Mr.  Duke  and  Mr.  Holmes. — They  exchanged  shots  in 
Doorla,  near  Lackagh,  in  the  parish  of  Kilmorgan.  Mr.  Duke 
was  near  having  a  meeting  with  a  Mr.  Fenton  too,  but  friends 
interfered  and  prevented  matters  from  going  to  extremity. 

5.  Doctor  Coyne  and  Doctor  Carter. — They  met  at  the  Five 
Mile  Bourne,  when  Coyne  was  wounded  in  the  knee, 

6.  James  Gilmor  and  Captain  Irwin. — The  meeting  took  place 
in  the  garden  of  the  house  in  which  Mrs.  St.  Leger  now  resides 
on  the  Mall.  Both  were  hit — Irwin  in  the  body,  the  ball 
passing  through,  and  Gilmor  in  the  hip ;  and  both  lived  to  a 
very  advanced  age,  Gilmor  being  86  at  his  death,  and  Captain 
Irwin  80. 

7.  Messrs.  Phibbs  and  Cross  fought  at  the  Cartron  Hill. 

8.  Messrs.  Flanagan  and  MacDermott  had  a  meeting  at 
Rosses  Point. 

9.  Jack  Taafife  and  Major  Bridgham. — They  fought  in  the 
yard  of  the  chief  hotel  in  Boyle.  Taaffe  was  a  great  favourite 
with  the  humbler  classes,  and  a  hete  noir  with  the  gentry, 
who,  it  is  said,  egged  on  Major  Bridgham  to  provoke  him, 
and,  when  he  escaped  the  Major's  pistol,  had  him  indicted 
and  tried  at  the  Summer  assizes  of  1818,  in  Slisro,  for 
arson,  at  that  time  a  capital  offence.  Before  the  trial,  they 
thought  to  commit  him  to  gaol,  but  Robert  King  Duke  and 
Gowan  Gilmor,  Esqrs.,  bailed  him  in  £1000  to  appear  at  the 
assizes.  They  strained  every  point  to  secure  a  conviction, 
going,  it  is  said,  the  length  of  suborning  false  witnesses  for  the 
purpose.  Suborned  or  not,  the  witnesses  certainly  swore  false, 
as  eventually  appeared.  There  were  two  trials.  In  one  of 
them.  Jemmy  Jordan,  a  confidential  man  of  Jack's,  and  an 
alleged  accomplice,  was  indicted  for  conspiring  to  burn  Kingsfort 


502  HISTOKY   OF   SLIGO. 


House.  The  uDfortiinate  man  was  convicted,  and  sentenced  to 
be  flogged  through  Ballymote — a  punishment  which  he  under- 
went, and  underwent  without  flinching,  throwing  up  his  hat  at 
the  close  of  it,  and  cheering  for  Jack  Taaffe  under  the  nose  of 
Bridgham,  who  was  present,  and  was  taunting  Jordan  for  his 
connexion  with  Jack. 

The  people  always  admired  Taaffe :  first,  because  he  was 
eccentric,  and  they  generally  love  eccentricity  and  originality  ; 
and,  secondly,  because  he  was  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  their 
enemies,  the  Bucks  and  Buckeens  of  the  county,  with  his  well- 
known  maxim,  which  he  kept  always  dinning  into  everyone's 
ears,  ''Jack Taaffe  cares  for  no  man;"  but  after  his  acquittal  he 
was  a  greater  popular  idol  than  ever. 

Taafi'e's  enemies,  it  is  said,  took  their  measures  so  cleverly, 
that  they  were  confident  of  a  conviction  ;  but  they  were  out  in 
their  reckoning ;  for,  when  the  trial  came  on,  it  was  clearly 
proved  that  the  witnesses  perjured  themselves,  so  that  the  pro- 
secution forthwith  collapsed  ignominiously — to  the  great  morti- 
fication of  the  wire-pullers  and  to  the  unbounded  delight  of  the 
people.  And  to  make  his  vindication  more  triumphant,  the 
witnesses  who  had  sworn  against  him,  came  forward  in  the 
chapel  of  Ballymote  on  the  occasion  of  a  jubilee,  and  confessed 
before  the  assembled  congregation  that  they  had  perjured 
themselves. 

10.  Messrs.  Kelly  and  Plunket  of  Koscommon. — They  fought 
in  the  Black  Field  of  Doorla,  in  the  parish  of  Kilmorgan. 
Hunted  by  the  authorities  from  other  places,  and  having  got 
out  of  their  reach  at  the  Black  Field,  they  turned  in,  measured 
ten  paces,  and  exchanged  shots,  Kelly  receiving  a  wound  in  the 
shoulder.  It  is  told  of  Plunket,  who  was  a  Catholic,  that 
before  going  to  the  ground,  he  got  some  holy  water  in  a  road- 
side cabin,  when  he  said  to  his  friends,  '*  I  now  defy  Kelly  and 
the  devil."  The  poor  fellow  showed  his  faith  even  while 
violating  a  formidable  ordinance  of  his  Church. 

11.  Counsellors  Casserly  and  Baker. — The  duel  came  off  at  the 
Five  Mile  Bourne,  where  they  were  arrested  after  one  exchange 


HISTORY    OF   SLIGU.  503 


of  shots.  They  were  brought  before  Mr.  Gowan  Gilmor,  a 
magistrate,  to  give  securities  for  keeping  the  peace  ;  and  when 
he,  at  a  loss  for  a  word,  as  he  was  taking  the  informations  of 
the  police,  asked  playfully  some  one  near  him,  "  What  shall  I 
say?  Shall  I  say  'for  stealing  a  sheep?'"  "No,"  says 
Casserly,  "  but  '  for  firing  at  a  sheep.'  " 

12.  Counsellors  Walker  and  E-amsay. — Both  being  engaged 
in  court  on  opposite  sides,  Walker  took  offence  at  an  observa- 
tion of  Kamsay's,  and  then  and  there  wrote  something  on  a  bit 
of  paper,  which  he  slipped  quietly  across  the  court  to  the 
Counsellor.  The  incident  would  hardly  have  been  noticed 
only  that  Mr.  Walker,  after  despatching  the  paper,  fell  off  in  a 
swoon.  The  weakness  proceeded  from  exhaustion,  and  not 
from  lack  of  courage,  for  on  the  following  morning,  when  the 
duel  came  off,  Mr.  Walker  exhibited  great  coolness  and  nerve. 

13.  John  Patrick  Somers  and  Captain  Fawcet. — They  fought 
on  Camphill  bleach  green  in  presence  of  considerable  numbers. 
Tbe  reckless  Somers  was  ill  able  to  keep  his  feet  on  coming  to 
the  ground,  having  been  up  all  the  preceding  night,  gambling, 
it  is  said,  and  drinking.  Though  hit  at  the  first  shot,  he  cried 
out,  "  Another  pistol ;"  but  Captain  Fawcet's  friend  would  not 
hear  of  it,  and  took  away  the  Captain,  saying,  "  We  must  not 
fight  a  wounded  man."  There  was  near  being  bad  work  after 
the  duel,  for  the  friends  of  the  respective  parties  could  hardly 
be  prevented  by  the  police  from  attacking  each  other. 

14.  Henry  Griffith  and  Mr.  Kelly  of  Gal  way. — They  fixed 
on  Doocastle  for  the  meeting,  but  as  a  large  crowd  had 
assembled  there,  they  agreed  to  move  off  to  a  spot  near 
Tubbercurry.  Here,  too,  there  was  a  mob,  so  that  the  prin- 
cipals and  their  seconds  drove  away  to  Streamstown,  in  the 
parish  of  Achonry,  where  the  duel  took  place,  and  without 
casualty  of  any  kind. 

15.  Attorney  Moffett  and  Mr.  Murphy,  editor  of  the  Sligo 
Journal,  the  occasion  of  quarrel  being  some  remark  of  the 
Journal,  which  Moffett  supposed  to  be  personal  and  disparaging. 

16.  Counsellor  James  Wynne,  a  member  of  the  Hazelwood 


504  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


family,  and  Mr.  John  Martin.  They  fought  at  Cleveragh. 
Within  a  few  minutes  of  the  appointed  time,  Collector  Wynne, 
who  was  on  the  ground,  complained  that  Mr.  Martin,  who  had 

not  yet  arrived,  was  keeping  them  waiting,  when    Mr.  

Wood,  father  of  the  late  Mr.  Tom  Wood,  quietly  rejoined,  after 
looking  at  his  watch,  "Never  mind,  he  has  yet  four  minutes, 
and  if  he  be  not  up  to  time,  I  will  take  his  place,  and 
Counsellor  Wynne  will  not  be  disappointed." 

17.  Messrs.  Charles  Sedley  and  Edward  Howard  Verdon  fought 
at  Magheraboy.  Mr.  Sedley's  second  on  the  occasion  was  his 
brother,  Mr.  James  W.  Sedley. 


Sligo,  either  town  or  county,  has  not  much  to  boast  of,  in 
more  modern  times,  as  to  producing 

MEN   OF   MARK 

in  any  of  the  great  walks  of  life.  This  is  so  true  since  the  date 
of  the  Cromwellian  Settlement,  that  it  must  be  matter  of 
wonder,  to  those  who  reflect,  how  the  descendants  of  Cromwell's 
officers  and  soldiers,  with  all  the  lands  and  wealth  of  the  county 
in  their  hands,  with  their  educational  opportunities,  with  all 
the  offices  of  the  State  open  to  them,  with  the  Professions 
eager  to  receive  and  honour  them,  have  not,  with  an  exception 
or  two,  produced  any  men  that  have  left  a  name  behind  them. 
Leaving  it  to  others  to  enlarge  on  this  fact,  the  writer  thinks 
he  will  employ  the  time  better  in  directing  attention  to  some 
natives  of  the  district  who  deserve  special  mention  for  their 
talents  or  their  actions. 

A  few  of  these,  and  not  the  least  distinguished,  have  been 
mentioned  already,  such  as  Cathal  O'Connor,  of  Castletown,  and 
Cathal  Oge  O'Connor,  of  Sligo,  both  brilliant  military  leaders ; 
Sir  Donnell  O'Conor,  a  statesman  of  rare  tact  and  prudence; 
Bryan  M'Donough,  of  Collooney,  chevalier  sans  peur  et  sans 
reproche ;    Terence  M'Donough,   the  "Great  Counsellor,"  the 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  505 


first  man  of  the  county  in  his  time ;  and  the  great  Ballymote 
family  of  the  Taaffes,  more  especially  the  illustrious  Count 
Taafe  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire. 

In  referring  to  other  distinguished  county  men,  the  exigencies 
of  space  will  cause  the  references  to  be  very  brief.  To  the 
O'Higgins  or  Higgios  family  the  county  is  indebted  for  many 
men  of  note.  Their  head-quarters  was  at  Dooghorne,  in  the 
parish  of  Achonry,  the  four  quarters  of  which  had  belonged  to 
the  nunnery  of  Kilcreunat,  in  the  county  Galway,  from  which 
establishment  the  O'Higgins  received  their  interest  in  these  four 
quarters.  The  family  had  large  possessions  in  the  parish  of 
Kilmacteige  also,  but  though  their  joint  possessions  in  Achonry 
and  Kilmacteige  amounted  to  several  thousand  acres,  they  owe 
their  celebrity  not  to  those  lands,  but  to  their  poetic  perform- 
ances. Like  the  O'Dalys,  the  Wards,  and  others,  they 
inherited  poetry  as  a  birthright,  so  that  in  one  sense  at  least 
they  verified  Horace's  maxim,  Poeta  nascitur  non  fit ;  for  all 
the  O'Higgins  of  the  fourteenth,  fifteenth,  sixteenth,  seventeenth, 
and  eighteenth  centuries  regarded  themselves  as  born  poets. 

Passing  over  several  of  the  name,  and  beginning  with 
DoNNELL  O'Higgins,  we  learn  from  the  Four  Masters  that  he 
was  "  chief  preceptor  of  the  schools  of  Ireland  in  poetry,"  and 
that  he  died  in  1501,  soon  after  a  pilgrimage  he  had  made  to 
the  famous  church  of  St.  James,  at  Oompostella,  in  Spain.  He 
was  author  of  a  poem  of  132  verses,  in  honour  of  John,  son  of 
Alexander  McDonnell. 

Teige  Dall  O'Higgins  lost  his  life  in  1595  in  consequence  of 
a  satire  he  had  composed  against  the  O'Haras  of  Cashel  Oarragh, 
in  the  parish  of  Kilmacteige.  His  death  is  referred  to  1610  by 
O'Reilly  ;  but  an  inquisition  held  at  Ballymote  in  1610  before 
Nicholas  Brady  expressly  states  that  "Thaddeus  Caecus  O'Higgin 
ut  vocatur,  died  on  the  8th  June,  1595,  seized  of  15  quarters  of 
land  in  the  county  Sligo,  that  Teige  Oge  is  his  son,  and  was 
twelve  years  old  at  the  father's  death,  and  that  he  entered  into 
possession." 


506  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


Smarting  under  the  infliction  of  his  satire,  the  O'Haras  went 
by  night  to  his  house,  cut  out  his  tongue,  and  otherwise  bar- 
barously injured  himself,  his  wife  and  child,  so  that  all  three 
died  of  the  injuries.  O'Eeilly  enumerates  nineteen  poems  of 
this  writer,  including  a  Genealogical  poem  on  the  O'Haras  of 
320  verses,  a  poem  of  152  verses  on  the  exploits  of  Cathal  Oge 
O'Connor  Sligo,  and  a  poem  of  280  verses  calling  on  the  Irish 
to  take  up  arms  against  the  English,  and  place  themselves 
under  the  leadership  of  Brian,  the  son  of  Brian,  the  son  of 
Owen  O'E-ourke,  the  most  popular  chief  of  Ulster  and  Con- 
naught. 

Most  Rev.  Maolmury  O'Higgins,  Archbishop  of  Tuam. 
He  was  brother  of  Teige  Dall,  and  composed  several  pieces, 
four  of  which  are  mentioned  by  O'Reilly,  one  of  them  being  a 
poem  in  praise  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  another  in  praise 
of  Ireland — themes  becoming  a  prelate  and  a  patriot. 

Bryan  Higgins,  a  physician  and  chemist,  was  born  about 
1737  in  the  county  Sligo,  but  practised  his  profession  in 
London,  where  he  also  presided  in  a  school  opened  by  himself 
for  instruction  in  chemistry.  His  reputation  as  a  chemist  stood 
high,  and  gained  him  the  patronage  of  the  Empress  Catherine 
of  Russia,  at  whose  court  he  passed  some  years.  He  died  in 
Staffordshire,  England,  in  1820,  aged  83. 

William  Higgins,  nephew  of  Bryan,  and,  like  him,  a  native 
of  the  county  Sligo,  graduated  at  Oxford,  became  in  1791 
Chemist  to  the  Apothecaries  Company  of  Ireland,  and  in  1795 
Chemist  and  Librarian  to  the  Royal  Dublin  Society,  where  he 
expounded  his  views  and  discoveries  in  chemistry  in  lectures 
delivered  before  the  Society.  The  distinguished  chemist  of  our 
own  day.  Professor  Sullivan,  bestows  great  praise  on  William 
Higgins,  as  well  as  on  Bryan. 

GiLLA  IsA  MoR  MacFirbis. — The  MacFirbises  of  Lecan 
were  as  famous  for  historical,  as  the  O'Higgins  were  for  poetical, 
compositions  ;  and  two  of  the  family  call  for  special  mention — 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  507 


Gilla  Isa  Mor  and  Duald.  Gilla  Isa  Mor  MacFirbis  was  the 
priDcipal  compiler  of  the  Book  of  Lecan,  which,  with  the  aid  of 
two  or  three  other  antiquaries,  he  put  together  in  the  year 
1418,  according  to  O'Eeilly  ;  but  in  1416,  according  to  O'Curry 
in  the  Manuscript  Materials  of  Irish  History. 

The  Book  of  Lecan,  which  is  written  on  vellum,  consisted 
originally  of  624  pages,  contains  a  great  variety  of  matter, 
original  or  selected,  and  is  one  of  the  chief  sources  of  Irish 
history  and  antiquities.  This  book  is  now  in  the  library  of 
the  Royal  Irisli  Academy. 

Duald  MacFirbis,  the  last  of  the  famous  antiquaries  of 
Lecan,  was  stabbed  to  death  in  1670,  at  Dunflin,  in  Tireragh, 
being  over  eighty  years  of  age  at  the  time.  The  banned  religion 
of  poor  MacFirbis,  and  the  privileged  religion  and  rank  of  his 
murderer,  who  was  a  Protestant  gentleman  of  the  neighbour- 
hood, secured  to  the  latter  impunity  for  his  crime.  The  name 
and  family  of  the  homicide  are  well  known,  and  are  mentioned 
by  O'Curry  and  Hennessy ;  but  as  the  Venerable  Charles 
O'Conor,  of  Belanagare,  who  wrote  on  the  subject,  and  Dr. 
Petrie,  who  read  a  paper  upon  Duald  MacFirbis  before  the 
Eoyal  Irish  Academy,  withhold  the  name  of  the  murderer  out 
of  consideration  for  his  descendants,  it  is  as  well  to  follow  here 
their  charitable  example.  Charles  O'Conor  thus  estimates  the 
effect  of  the  tragedy:  "Duald  MacFirbis  closed  the  line  of  the 
hereditary  antiquaries  of  Lecan,  in  Tirfiacra  of  the  Moy;  a 
family  whose  law  reports  and  historical  collections  (many 
of  which  lie  now  dispersed  in  England  and  France)  have 
derived  great  credit  to  their  country.  This  last  of  the  Firbises 
was  unfortunately  murdered  at  Dunflin,  in  the  county  of  Sligo, 
A.D.  1670 ;  and  by  his  death  our  antiquities  received  an  irrepar- 
able blow." 

While  "  the  compilations  of  MacFirbis  are  numerous  and  of 
the  most  varied  nature,  including  works  on  Biography,  Gene- 
alogy, Hagiology,  History,  Law,  and  Philology,"  his  chief  work 
is  that  which  is  popularly  called  the  Book  of  Pedigrees,  but 


508  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


which  is  entitled  by  the  author,  "  The  Branches  of  Relationship, 
and  the  Genealogical  Ramifications  of  every  Colony,  that  took 
possession  of  Ireland,  etc. ;  together  with  a  Sanctilogium,  and  a 
Catalogue  of  the  Monarchs  of  Ireland,  etc.;  compiled  by 
Dubhaltach  MacFirbisigh,  of  Lecan,  1G50."  The  original  of 
this  important  work  is  in  the  possession  of  Lord  Roden,  but  a 
fac-simile  copy,  made  by  Eugene  O'Curry,  in  1836,  is  in  the 
library  of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy. 

It  is  commonly  supposed  that  Sir  James  Ware  is  largely 
indebted  for  his  fame  as  an  historian  and  antiquary  to  Duald 
MacFirbis,  who  acted  as  his  amanuensis,  and  who  was  on  his 
way  to  Dublin  to  resume  the  functions  of  this  office,  when 
struck  down,  as  mentioned,  at  Dunflin.  In  the  masterly  intro- 
duction to  the  Chronicon  Scotorum,  the  learned  editor,  Mr. 
Hennessy,  supplies  an  exhaustive  memoir  of  Duald  MacFirbis, 
and  thus  fixes  his  place  among  Celtic  Scholars:  "  Of  the  history 
of  Dubhaltach  MacFirbisigh,  generally  written  Duald  MacFirbis 
(or  Dudley  Firbisse,  as  he  has  himself  anglicised  the  name),  but 
few  particulars  can  now  be  ascertained.  Eaough  is  known,  however, 
to  show  that  he  was  a  man  of  no  ordinary  talent  and  character. 
Although  his  name  is  not  even  once  mentioned  by  Ware,  who 
was  indebted  to  him  for  much  of  the  information,  which  enabled 
him  to  acquire  his  distinguished  reputation  as  an  Irish  anti- 
quary, nor  included  in  the  catalogue  of  native  authors  published 
by  Bishop  Nicholson  and  Edward  O'Reilly,  his  contributions  to 
Irish  history,  genealogy,  and  literature,  entitle  him  to  a  place  in 
the  foremost  rank  of  Celtic  scholars." 

With  the  great  Genealogical  Work,  the  other  works  of  Duald 
MacFirbis  known  to  exist  are,  according  to  Mr.  Hennessy : — 

1.  An  Abridgment  of  the  Genealogical  Work. 

2.  A  Treatise  on  Irish  Authors  drawn  up  in  1656. 

3.  A  Catalogue  of  extinct  Irish  Bishoprics,  together  with  a 
list  of  dignitaries,  anciently  accounted  Bishops,  but  not  so  in  the 
author's  time. 

4.  A  List  of  Bishops  arranged  for  Sir  James  Ware,  which  is 
probably  a  copy  or  abstract  of  the  foregoing  catalogue. 


HISTORY    OF   SLIGO.  509- 


5.  A  Collection  of  Glossaries,  including  original  compositions 
and  entries  from  more  ancient  ones. 

6.  A  Martyrology,  or,  Litany  of  the  Saints,  in  verse. 

7.  A  transcript,  or  collection,  from  a  volume  of  Annals 
belonging  to  Nehemias  MacEgan,  "  chief  professor  of  the  old 
Irish,  or  Brehon  Laws." 

VC  Eey.  Ambrose  O'Connor,  O.P.,  has  good  claim  to  a  place 
in  this  collection,  as  he  is  ranked  by  De  Burgo,  after  Echard,* 
among  the  writers  of  the  Dominican  Order.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  O'Connor  Sligo  family,  and  an  alumnus  of  Holy  Cross 
convent  in  the  town.  Having  joined  the  Order  in  Sligo  he 
proceeded  to  Spain  for  study  and  training,  where  he  evinced 
such  talents  for  business  that,  upon  his  ordination,  he  was 
appointed  Procurator-General  of  the  Irish  Dominicans  to  the 
court  of  Madrid,  an  office  which  he  held  for  thirty  years,  and  in 
which  he  gained  great  distinction  for  himself  and  great  benefits 
for  Ireland.  With  this  office  he  held,  for  nine  years,  that  of 
Provincial  of  the  Irish  province ;  and  in  discharging  the  duties 
of  the  position  he  risked  a  visit  to  Ireland,  where,  in  spite  of 
the  continuous  efforts  of  the  civil  and  military  authorities  to 
arrest  him,  he  remained  several  years,  directing  the  ninety 
Fathers,  or  thereabouts,  who  were  then  scattered  up  and  down 
the  country  ;  animating  those  who  were  in  prison  to  bear  up 


*  Echard  writes  of  Father  O'Connor  :  "  F.  Ambrosius  O'Connor,  Hibernus, 
Sligoce,  vernacule  Sligeach,  ex  illustri  Dominorum  O'Connor,  Comitatus 
Sligoensis  Dynistarum,  Stirpe  ortus,  ibidem  ordinem  amplexatus  est,  et  post 
exacta  in  Hispania  studia,  Procurator  Generalis  Provincioe  Hibernice  nostrse  in 
Aula  regia  Matritensi  positus,  hoc  munus  morum  gravitate,  agendorumque  peritia 
strenue  tutatus  est  per  annos  triginta.  Hinc  a  Magistro  ordinis  Prior  Provin- 
cialis  semel  et  iterum  institutus,  in  Hiberniam  se  contulit,  sodales  visitaturus, 
quos  nonaginta  circiter  per  regaum  hinc  inde  dispersos  invenit,  cum  ingenti 
fructu  occulte  evangelizantes,  et  quinque  a  quatuor  annis  in  diversis  partibus 
carceribus  detentos,  omnique  ope  destitutos  :  Quos  omnes  ad  quaecunque 
aspera  pro  religione  sustinenda  inflammavit  Verbo  et  Exemplo,  cum  Missionariua 
utriusque  Cleri  ipsa  Catholicis  in  fide  Romana  fovendis  fortiter,  et  impigre 
laborans,  dum  ab  Hereticis  interim  solicitius  qusereretur,  et  ejus  vestigiis 
sseoissime  instaretur." 


510  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


and  persevere ;  and  co-operating  as  well  with  his  own  brethren 
as  with  the  secular  clergy  in  preaching  and  ministering  to  the 
people.  Keturning  to  Spain  in  1804  he  published  an  account 
of  the  state  of  Ireland  under  the  title  :  De  prcesenti  Hihernice 
sub  Acatholico  jugo  statu  Anno  1704,  in  quo  tria  prcesertim 
exponuntuT :  Prhno,  Ficlem  et  Pacta  Limericensia  violari  : 
Secundo,  Orthodoxam  extirpari  Religionem :  Tertio,  S.  Sedis 
Venerationem  in  JSHhilum  redigi.  (Of  the  present  state  of 
Ireland  under  the  heretical  yoke,  wherein  three  things  are 
shown  :  first,  that  the  Treaty  and  Articles  of  Limerick  are 
being  violated  ;  second,  that  the  Orthodox  Religion  is  being 
extirpated  ;  and  third,  that  veneration  for  the  Holy  See  is 
being  brought  to  nought.)  This  work  was  addressed  to  Pope 
Clement  XI. 

Father  O'Connor  composed  also  a  "  Memorial "  on  Irish 
affairs  for  Queen  Mary  Beatrice,  widow  of  James  11.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  either  of  these  publications  is  now  extant  in 
the  original  form  ;  but  as  De  Burgo*  states  that  the  "Memorial" 
was  reprinted  by  Colonel  Hooke  in  a  work  entitled,  "  De  Scoticis 
Negotiationihus"  and  published  in  1760,  it  may  still  be  seen 
in  that  book,  which,  no  doubt,  may  be  had  at  the  British 
Museum,  or  perhaps,  in  other  public  libraries.  This  dis- 
tin<yuished  Dominican  died  in  London  about  the  year  1710, 
being  bishop  designate  of  Ardagh  at  the  time. 

Eev.  Andrew  Donlevy,  LL.D.,  must  be  counted  with  our 
Sligo  men  of  note  for  his  famous  Catechism  or  Christian 
Doctrine  in  Irish  and  English.  This  production  must  not  be 
confounded  with  the  tiny  epitomes  of  religious  knowledge  pre- 
pared for  children  and  called  Catechisms ;  for  Dr.  Donlevy^s 
work,  as  published  by  him  at  Paris  in  1742,  is  a  goodly  octavo 
volume  of  512  pages,  and  may  be  regarded  as  a  pretty  full 
theological  treatise  on  both  Dogma  and  Morals.  The  book  has 
passed  through  several  editions,  and  has  always  been  held  in  the 
highest  esteem  by  competent  judges,  including  Doctors  of  the 
Sorbonne,  heads  of  ecclesiastical  seminaries,  and  Irish  bishops 


*  Hibernia  Dominica,  page  546. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  511 


and  archbishops.  It  was  well  suited  to  the  period  in  which  it 
appeared,  when  the  Irish  language  was  still  rather  generally 
understood  and  spoken,  and  the  use  of  the  English  language 
was  fast  spreading. 

Dr.  Donlevy  was  born  in  or  about  the  year  1694,  and  received 
his  early  education  in  Ballyrnote.  About  1710  he  succeeded, 
in  spite  of  the  vigilance  of  the  English  authorities,  in  makino* 
his  way  to  Paris,  where  he  completed  his  studies  and  prepara- 
tion for  the  priesthood.  On  his  ordination  he  was  appointed 
Prefect  of  the  Irish  College,  or,  as  it  was  then  called,  the  Irish 
Community^  in  Paris,  an  office  which  he  seems  to  have  held 
till  his  death,  which  occurred  some  time  after  1761,  the  precise 
date  being  unknown.  The  exact  spot  of  the  county  in  which 
he  was  born  has  not  been  ascertained,  but  most  probably  it  was 
either  Ballygawley,  in  the  parish  of  Killross,  where  there  lived 
long,  and  until  very  recently,  a  respectable  family  of  the  name 
Donlevy,  to  which,  too,  the  late  Dean  Donlevy  of  Sligo  belonged, 
or  Templehouse,  in  the  parish  of  Kilvarnet,  where  more  than 
one  family  of  the  name  still  resides.  While  Prefect  of  the  Irish 
Community,  Dr.  Donlevy  was  a  valued  correspondent  of  Walter 
Harris,  who  acknowledges  weighty  obligations  to  him  "  for 
many  favours  received  from  him,  particularly  in  his  trans- 
mitting, from  time  to  time,  several  useful  collections  out  of  the 
King's  and  other  libraries  in  Parish." 

Charles  Phillips  being  the  most  distinguished  man  the 
town  of  Sligo  has  produced  in  modern  times,  it  is  well  to  give 
the  facts  of  his  life  in  some  little  detail.  He  was  born  near  the 
close  of  the  last  century  in  the  house  now  occupied  by  Mr. 
Josiah  Cochrane  Davis.  His  father,  who  was  a  Charles  too, 
was  a  native  of  Sligo  as  well  as  member,  for  several  years,  of 
the  Town  Council,  and  died  in  the  year  1800.  His  mother  was 
a  lady  named  Johnstone,  from  Fermanagh,  who  had  a  sister 
married  to  Attorney  Walker  of  Rathcarrick,  father  of  the  late 
Counsellor  Roger  Walker,  and  grandfather  of  Mr.  J.  F.  Walker. 

Charles  Phillips  received  his  early  education  in  the  town  of 
Sligo  in  a  school  kept  by  the  Rev.  James  Armstrong,  Curate  of 


512  HISTORY    OF   SLIGO. 


St.  John's  parish,  whom  Phillips  styles  his  *•  earliest  friend," 
and  to  whom  in  the  "  Emerald  Isle"  the  grateful  pupil  pays  the 
warm  tribute  of  respect  and  affection  quoted  in  a  preceding- 
page.  From  this  school  he  passed  to  Trinity  College,  where 
he  matriculated  in  1802,  where  he  obtained  in  1807  the  medal 
for  oratory  of  the  College  Historical  Society ;  and  having 
entered  the  Middle  Temple,  London,  in  1807,  he  was  called  to 
the  Irish  Bar  in  1811,  and  to  the  English  in  1821.  Belonging 
thus  both  to  the  Irish  and  the  English  Bar,  he  pleaded  in  both 
countries,  and  acquired  on  either  side  of  St.  George's  Channel 
the  reputation  of  a  brilliant  and  successful  advocate.  After  a 
time  he  became  the  acknowledged  leader  of^the  Old  Bailey. 

Defending  Courvoisier  in  1840,  when  on  trial  for  the  murder 
of  Lord  William  Russell,  he  took  occasion  to  declare  his  private 
belief  in  his  client's  innocence,  and  even  by  insinuation  cast 
suspicion  on  others,  though  he  knew  at  the  time,  from  the 
criminal's  own  confession,  that  Courvoisier  was  the  assassin. 
Tliis  proceeding  gave  rise  to  considerable  controversy  in  the 
newspapers,  and  more  especially  in  the  Times,  Examiner, 
and  Annual  Register,  some  maintaining  that  Phillips  had 
acted  within  his  right  and  duty  as  an  advocate  in  what  he  had 
said,  while  others,  and  they  the  greater  number,  condemned 
his  conduct  as  at  once  immoral  and  [unprofessional.  There  is 
reason  to  think  that  the  public  shared  the  latter  opinion,  and 
that  Phillips  was  lowered  by  the  transaction  in  the  considera- 
tion of  society. 

The  trials  in  which  Phillips  figured  in  Ireland  were  generally 
of  a  sensational  character,  such  as  breach  of  promise  and  kindred 
cases.  In  these  he  was  very  successful,  as  might  be  expected 
from  their  depending  so  much  on  the  sentiments  of  jurors, 
whom  the  torrent  of  his  fervid  and  rushing  eloquence  carried 
wherever  he  wished.  In  his  advocacy  he  was  so  severe,  one 
might  say  so  savage,  on  his  opponents,  and  so  unmeasured  in 
the  language  he  applied  to  them,  that  it  is  matter  of  surprise, 
considering  the  character  of  the  times,  how  he  escaped  duels, 
the  usual  consequence  of  such  onslaughts. 


HISTORY  OF   SLIGO.  513 


The  only  person  he  seems  to  have  come  in  conflict  with  on 

these  occasions  was  a  client  of  his  own,  a  Mrs.  Wilkins.     This 

lady,  having  been  made  defendant,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five,  in  a 

Breach  of  Promise  case,  by  a  Lieutenant  Blake,  chose  Charles 

Phillips  for  her  counsel,  hoping,  of  course,  he  would  cover  with 

the  obloquy,  of  which  he  was  so  great  a  master,  the  hated 

gentleman  that  had  dragged  her  into  court.      But  Phillips  took 

a  novel  line  of  defence ;  for,  instead  of  turning  on  the  plaintiff, 

as   everyone   expected,   he   concentrated   all  his  eloquence  in 

ridiculing  his  own  client,  enlarging  usque  ad  nauseam  on  her 

sixty-five  years,  her  bodily  ailments,  her  mental  infirmities,  her 

fits  of  temper,  and  the  hundred  other  undesirable  qualities  and 

drawbacks  comprised  in  Juvenal's  dictum,  "  Multa  incommoda 

circumveniunt  senerii.^'     However  all  this  might  serve  to  avert 

or  diminish  damages,  which  was  the  great  object  of  the  advocate, 

the  Fhillipic  grated   so   terribly   on   the   feelings  of  Widow 

Wilkins,  that  she  resolved  to  have  her  revenge ;  and  the  moment 

Phillips  got  out  of  the  court-house  into  the  street,  she  set  upon 

him  and  belaboured  his  shoulders  with  a  cudgel  in  so  vigorous  a 

style,  as  belied  very  effectually  all  his  asseverations  of  her  invalid 

and  almost  moribund  condition.     Only  that  he  took  to  his  heels, 

and  fled  in  a  very  undignified  plight,  through  the  streets  of 

Galway,  for  shelter  to  a  friend's  house,  he  would  have  had  still 

greater  cause  to  remember  his  client  of  sixty-five. 

Charles  Phillips  was  a  politician  as  well  as  a  lawyer,  and 
delivered  stirring  speeches,  chiefly  in  favour  of  Catholic  Eman- 
cipation, at  Sligo,  at  Dublin,  at  Cork,  at  Liverpool,  and  on  Dinas 
Island  in  the  Lake  of  Killarney,  where  his  health  was  proposed 
in  association  with  that  of  the  noted  Tom  Payne,  who  accom- 
panied him.     His  speech  at  Sligo  was  the  first  of  his  platform 
utterances  ;  and  the  reader  will  find  in  the  following  sentences 
the  peculiar  feelings  under  which  the  orator  spoke  in  his  native 
town,  as  well  as  the  hindrances — some  of  a  public,  some  of  a 
family  nature — which  stood  in  his  way  when  espousing  the 
popular  cause  : — "  The  exaggerated  estimate  which  other  coun- 
ties have  made  of  the  few  services  so  young  a  man  could  render, 
VOL.  II.  2  K 


514  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


has,  I  hope,  inspired  me  with  the  sentiments  it  ought ;  hut  herCy 
I  do  confess  to  you,  I  feel  no  ordinary  sensation — here,  where 
every  object  springs  some  new  association,  and  the  loveliest 
objects,  mellowed  as  they  are  by  time,  rise  painted  on  the  eye  of 
memory — here,  where  the  light  of  heaven  first  blessed  my  infant 
view,  and  nature  breathed  into  my  infant  heart  that  ardour  for 
my  country  which  nothing  but  death  can  chill — here,  where  the 
scenes  of  my  childhood  remind  me,  how  innocent  I  was,  and  the 
grave  of  my  fathers  admonish  me,  how  pure  I  should  continue 
— here,  standing  as  I  do  amongst  my  fairest,  fondest,  earliest 
sympathies, — such  a  welcome,  operating,  not  merely  as  an  affec- 
tionate tribute,  but  as  a  moral  testimony,  does  indeed  quite 
oppress  and  overwhelm  me.  Oh !  believe  me,  warm  is  the  heart 
that  feels,  and  willing  is  the  tongue  that  speaks ;  and  still,  I 
cannot,  by  shaping  it  to  my  rudely  inexpressive  phrase,  shock 
the  sensibility  of  a  gratitude  too  full  to  be  expressed,  and  yet 

(how  far !)  too  eloquent  for  language Indeed,  Gentlemen, 

you  can  have  little  idea  of  what  he  has^to  endure,  who,  in  these 
times,  advocates  your  cause.  Every  calumny  which  the  venal, 
and  the  vulgar,  and  the  vile,  are  lavishing  upon  you  is  visited 
with  exaggeration  upon  us.  We  are  called  traitors,  because  we 
would  rally  round  the  crown  an  unanimous  people.  We  are 
called  apostates,  because  we  will  not  persecute  Christianity. 
We  are  branded  as  separatists,  because  of  our  endeavours  to 
annihilate  the  fetters  that,  instead  of  binding,  clog  the  connec- 
tion. To  these  may  be  added  the  frowns  of  power,  the  envy  of 
dulness,  the  mean  malice  of  exposed  self-interest,  and,  it  may 
he,  in  despite  of  all  natural  affection^  even  the  discountenance 
of  kindred..    Well,  be  it  so, — 

*'  For  thee,  fair  freedom,  welcome  all  the  past, 
For  thee,  my  country,  welcome  even  the  last !" 

It  is  greatly  to  the  honour  of  Charles  Phillips  that  he  was 
one  of  the  most  intimate,  as  he  was  one  of  the  most  devoted 
friends  of  Curran.  From  the  time  they  became  acquainted, 
Curran  liked  Phillips  so  much,  as  to  treat  him  as  a  member  of  his 


HISTORY   OF  SLIGO.  515 


family,  making  him  welcome  at  all  times,  formal  and  informal, 
to  his  house,  and  even  pressing  him  to  take  up  permanent 
abode  there ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  Phillips,  fascinated 
by  his  illustrious  friend,  was  near  him  as  often  as  possible, 
behaved  towards  him  with  the  affectionate  solicitude  of  a  child, 
was  among  the  few  who  committed  his  remains  to  the  grave  in 
one  of  the  vaults  of  Paddington  church,  London,*  and  has 
since,  by  the  "  EecoUections  of  Curran  "  and  other  publications 
done  more  than  any  other  man  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  the 
great  orator's  genius  and  virtues. 

Phillips'  talents  and  his  position  at  the  Bar  gave  him  claims  to 
high  office,  which  in  due  course  he  obtained.     Having  declined 


*  "When  I  was  called  to  the  Bar,"  says  Phillips,  in  his  "Recollections  of 
Curran  and  Some  of  his  Contemporaries,"  "  Curran  was  on  the  Bench  ;  and  not 
only  bagless  but  briefless,  I  was  one  day  with  many  an  associate  taking  the  idle 
round  of  the  Four  Courts,  when  a  common  friend  told  me  he  was  commissioned 
by  the  Master  of  the  Rolls  to  invite  me  to  dinner  that  day  at  the  Priory,  a 
little  country  villa  about  four  miles  from  Dublin.  Those  who  recollect  their 
first  introduction  to  a  really  great  man,  may  easily  comprehend  my  delight  and 

my  consternation The  moment,  however,  he  perceived  me,  he  took  me  by  the 

hand,  said  he  would  not  have  anyone  introduce  me,  and,  with  a  manner  which 
I  often  thought  was  charmed^  at  once  banished  every  apprehension,  and  com- 
pletely familiarized  me  at  the  Priory.  T  had  often  seen  Curran — often  heard  of 
him— often  read  of  him — but  no  man  ever  knew  anything  about  him  who  did  not 
see  him  at  his  own  table  with  the  few  whom  he  selected.  .  .  .  From  that  day  till 
the  day  of  his  death  I  was  his  intimate  and  his  associate.  He  had  no  party  to 
which  I  was  not  invited  ;  and,  party  or  no  party,  I  was  always  welcome.  He 
even  went  so  far  as  to  ask  me  to  become  his  inmate,  and  offered  me  apartments 
in  his  town  residence.  Often  and  often  he  ran  over  his  life  to  me  to  the 
minutest  anecdote — described  his  prospects — his  disappointments  and  his 
successes — characterized  at  once  his  friends  and  his  enemies  ;  and  in  the  com- 
municative candour  of  a  six  years'  intercourse,  repeated  the  most  secret 
occurrences  of  his  history.  Such  is  the  claim,  which  I  have  to  be  his 
biographer." 

In  the  "  Life  of  Curran,"  by  his  son,  William  Henry  Curran,  the  author 
mentions  in  a  note  the  names  of  those  who  were  present  at  the  interment. 
"  The  persons  who  attended  the  funeral  were  (besides  the  members  of  his  own 
family),  Mr.  Tegart,  Messrs.  Lyne  and  Phillips,  of  the  Irish  Bar;  Mr.  Finnerty, 
the  late  Mr.  James  Thompson,  Rev.  George  Croly,  Mr.  Thomas  Moore,  and  Mr. 
Godwin.  Mr.  O'Connell's  professional  engagements  had  obliged  him  reluctantly 
to  depart  for  Ireland  before  the  day  of  Mr.  Curran's  interment." — Vol.  II 
p.  385.  '      '' 


516  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 

the  offer  of  a  silk  gown  and  a  judgeship  in  Calcutta,  during  the 
Chancellorship  of  Lord  Brougham,  he  was  appointed  by  Lord 
Lyndhurst,  first,  a  Commissioner  of  Bankruptcy,  at  Liverpool, 
and,  later,  in  1846,  a  Commissioner  of  the  Court  of  Insolvent 
Debtors,  London,  at  £1,500  a  year,  an  office  which  he  held  till 
his  death. 

Charles  Phillips  was  the  author  of  several  publications,  some 
of  them  pamphlets  on  current  topics  :  "  The  Emerald  Isle,  a 
Poem  :"  (an  expansion  of  the  "  Consolations  of  Erin") ;  "  Kecol- 
lections  of  Curran  and  Some  of  his  Contemporaries ;"  "  The 
Speeches  of  Charles  Phillips,  Esq.,  delivered  at  the  Bar  and  on 
Various  Public  Occasions  in  Ireland  and  England  ;"  "  Specimens 
of  Irish  Eloquence;"  ^* Historical  Sketches  of  Arthur  Duke  of 
Wellington;"  *' Napoleon  III.;"  and  "Vacation  Thoughts  on 
Capital  Punishment." 

"  The  Emerald  Isle,"  though  the  first,  is  probably  the  best  of 
Phillips'  productions.  It  passes  in  review  all  the  great  men 
that  Ireland  has  produced,  and  paints  their  characteristic  traits 
in  clear  and  striking  colours.  The  author  sketches  here  and 
there  very  happily  the  natural  beauties  of  the  country,  dwelling 
through  several  pages  on  the  scenery  and  surroundings  of 
Killarney.  It  is  strange  that  he  fails  to  notice  Lough  Gill 
and  the  other  charming  environs  of  his  native  town,  which  might 
furnish  him  with  more  than  one  subject  for  a  pendant  not 
unworthy  of  his  picture  of  Killarney. 

"  Recollections  of  Curran  and  some  of  his  Contemporaries,"  is 
a  work  of  considerable  merit.  The  late  Dr.  Madden,  in  his 
"  United  Irishmen,"*  goes  so  far  as  to  say,  "  Curran  and  his 
Contemporaries"  "is  the  best  book  yet  written  of  the  best  of 
Irishmen." 

Charles  Phillips'  style,  more  especially  in  his  speeches,  is 
generally  and  justly  condemned.  While  the  Edinburgh  Review 
and  the  Quarterly f  differ  widely  in  their  respective  estimates  of 


*  Vol.  II.,  p.  586. 

t  Edinburgh  Eeview,   Vol.  XXIX.,   p.  52;  Quarterly  Review,  Vol.  XVI.; 
p.  28. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  517 


Phillips  as  a  politician — the  former  regarding  him  as  a  man  of 
honour  and  independence,  and  the  Quarterly  as  little  better  than 
a  hypocrite  and  an  apostate — they  are  quite  at  one,  as  they 
could  hardly  help  being,  in  condemning  and  ridiculing  his  style. 
Indeed,  it  is  almost  inconceivable  how  a  man  of  Phillips'  abili- 
ties and  education  could  be  led  into  the  faults,  with  which  his 
speeches  abound — sesquipedalian  diction,  broken  metaphors, 
mixed  metaphors,  endless  alliteration,  jingling  antitheses, bombast, 
and  a  hundred  other  deformities  or  blemishes,  which  people  with 
a  tenth  of  his  talent  manage  generally  to  avoid. 

The  Edinburgh  Review,  in  its  29th  volume,  quotes,  in  illus- 
tration of  these  defects,  scores  of  paragraphs,  one  of  which  is  the 
folio  wiog  : — "  Only  just  admire  this  far-famed  Security  Bill — this 
motley  compound  of  oaths  and  penalties,  which,  under  the  name 
of  emancipation,  would  drag  your  prelates  with  an  halter  about 
their  necks  to  the  vulgar  scrutiny  of  every  village  tyrant,  in 
order  to  enrich  a  few  political  traders,  and  distil  through  some 
state  alembic  the  miserable  rinsings  of  an  ignorant,  a  decaying, 
and  a  degenerate  aristocracy  !  Only  just  admire  it!  Originally 
engendered  by  our  friends,  the  Opposition,  with  a  cuckoo 
insidiousness,  they  swindled  it  into  the  nest  of  the  Treasury 
ravens,  and  when  it  had  been  fairly  hatched  with  the  beak 
of  one,  and  the  nakedness  of  the  other,  they  sent  it  for  its 
feathers  to  Monseigneur  Quarantotti,  who  has  obligingly 
transmitted  it  with  the  hunger  of  its  parent,  the  rapacity  of  its 
nurse,  and  the  coxcombry  of  its  plumassier,  to  be  baptized  by 
the  bishops,  and  received  cequo  gratoqucanimo  by  the  people 
of  Ireland  ! !  Oh !  thou  sublimely  ridiculous  Quarantotti !  Oh, 
thou  superlative  coxcomb  of  the  Conclave  !  what  an  estimate 
hast  thou  formed  of  the  Mind  of  Ireland  ?  Yet  why  should  I 
blame  this  wretched  scribe  of  the  Propaganda  !" 

Poor  Quarantotti's  ill-starred  letter  on  the  Yeto  occasioned 
hundreds  of  attacks  upon  him,  but  if  they  were  all  as  fantastic 
as  the  foregoing,  he  could  hardly  help  laughing  at  them 
himself. 

The  Quarterly  Review,  in  its  article,  quotes  largely  like  the 


518  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


Edinburgh,  and  is  still  more  caustic  and  censorious.  The 
extracts  it  gives  are  much  of  a  piece  with  the  paragraph  about 
Monsignor  Quarantotti,  so  that  there  is  no  need  to  copy  them 
here.  The  reader  will  get  better  insight  into  the  opinions  of  the 
reviewer  by  reading  the  following  opening  sentences  of  the 
article,  at  the  head  of  which  a  list  of  Phillips'  publications  is 
given : — "  We  have  really  been  at  a  loss  in  what  light  to 
consider  the  series  of  works  before  us  ;  they  are  planned  and 
constructed  on  a  scale  of  such  ridiculous  exaggeration,  there  is 
so  little  law  in  the  pleadings,  so  little  poetry  in  the  poems,  and 
so  little  common  sense  in  the  prose,  that  we  almost  suspected 
that  they  were  intended  to  ridicule  that  inflated  and  jargonish 
style  which  has  of  late  prevailed  among  a  certain  class  of 
authors  and  orators  in  the  sister  kingdom.  But,  in  opposition 
to  this  internal  evidence,  there  are  so  many  circumstances  of 
external  testimony,  that  we  have  been  reluctantly  driven  to 
conclude  that  Mr.  Charles  Phillips  is  not  a  censor,  but  a 
professor  of  the  new  school ;  and  that  having  lost  his  own  wits, 
he  really  imagines  that  the  rest  of  the  world  may  be  brought  to 
admire  such  fustian  in  verse,  and  such  fustian  in  prose  as 
cannot,  perhaps,  be  equalled  except  in  Chrononhotonthologus,  or 
Bombastes  Furioso." 

The  wits  of  Great  Britain  made  merry  over  Phillips'  perfor- 
mances, and  nicknamed  him  "  Orator  O'Garnish."  Even  the 
philosophic  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  about  the  highest  authority 
of  the  day  in  such  matters,  not  only  employs  the  souhriquety  but 
goes  so  far  as  to  proclaim,  "  O'Garnish's  style  is  pitiful  to  the 
last  degree.  He  ought  by  common  consent  to  be  driven  from 
the  Bar." 

On  the  other  hand,  able  and  impartial  critics,  who  looked 
beyond  the  diction  to  the  thoughts,  recognized  and  proclaimed 
Phillips'  gifts ;  and  the  renowned  Chistopher  North  only  ex- 
pressed the  estimate  of  many  when  he  wrote :  "Charles  Phillips 
was  worth  a  gross  of  Sheils.  There  were  frequent  flashes  of 
fine  imagination,  and  strains  of  genuine  feeling  in  his  speeches, 
that  showed  nature  intended  him  for  an  orator.     In  the  midst 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  519 


of  his  most  tedious  and  tasteless  exaggerations,  you  still  feel 
that  Charles  Phillips  had  a  heart." 

A    more  able    man    than    even    Christopher   North,   Lord 
Brougham,  formed  a  still  higher  estimate  of  the  distinguished 
Sligo  man,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  following  apology  of  his  Lord- 
ship for  not  including  Curran  in  the   Historical  Sketches  of 
Statesmen  who  flourished  in  the  time  of  George  III. : — "  It 
may  seem  an  omission  in  a  work  professing  to  give  the  orators 
as  well  as  the  statesmen  of  the  last  age  that  Curran  should  not 
appear   among   them — the   greatest  orator  after  Grattan  and 
Plunket  that  Ireland  has  produced,  and  in  every  respect  worthy 
of  being  placed  on  a  line  with  the  great  masters  of  speech. 
But  there  is  really  an  insuperable  difficulty  in  attempting  a 
task  which  has  been  so   inimitably   performed   already,    and 
within  only  a  few  years.     Mr.  C.  Phillips'  sketch  of  his  friend 
is  certainly  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  pieces  of  biography 
ever  produced.     Nothing  can  be  more  lively  and  picturesque 
than  its  representation  of  the  famous  original.     The  reader  of 
it  can  hardly  be  said  not  to  have  personally  known  Curran  and 
Curran's    contemporaries.     It   has    been   justly    said    of   this 
admirable  work  that  it  is  Boswell  minus  Bozzy.     No  library 
should  be  without  such  a  piece;    and  instead   of  hopelessly 
attempting  any  addition  to  it,  there  will  be  more  use  in  copying 
over  one  of  the  numerous  characteristic  descriptions  in  which  it 
abounds." 

Whatever  others  might  think  of  Phillips,  the  people  of  Sligo 
were  proud  of  their  townsman,  both  as  a  politician  and  as  a 
literary  man.  Whenever  he  came  among  them,  as  on  the 
occasion  of  the  banquet  to  Mr.  Finlay,  they  gave  him  an  ovation 
which  equalled  any  given  later  to  Daniel  O'Connell.  Nor  did 
they  show  their  appreciation  by  plaudits  alone,  for  what  was 
quite  unusual  at  that  early  period,  they  started  a  subscription 
with  the  object  of  presenting  him  with  a  testimonial  for  his 
services  in  the  cause  of  Catholic  Emancipation,  and  contributed 
so  liberally  themselves,  and  procured  such  and  so  many  contri- 
butions from  other  parts  of  Ireland,  that  the  proceeds  not  only 


520  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


enabled  them  to  purchase  for  him  a  massive  and  richly  wrought 
service  of  plate  of  great  value,  but  left  a  balance  large  enough 
to  build  the  fine  residence  which  is  now  occupied  by  Major 
Campbell,  and  which,  in  allusion  to  the  circumstances  under 
which  it  was  built,  was  popularly  known  for  a  long  time  as 
Emancipation  Hall. 

Charles  Phillips  died  on  the  1st  February,  1859,  in  Golden 
Square,  London,  his  death  being  sudden.  He  presided,  as 
usual,  in  his  court  on  the  day  previous ;  and  it  w^as  only  after 
he  had  finished  his  business  there,  and  returned  to  his  private 
chamber,  he  was  struck  down  insensible  by  a  combined  attack 
of  apoplexy  and  paralysis,  from  which  he  died  on  the  following 
evening.  The  funeral  took  place  on  the  7th  of  February,  on 
which  day,  to  do  honour  to  his  memory,  the  courts  did  not  sit 
till  one  o'clock. 

He  is  buried  in  Highgate  cemetery,  opposite  the  entrance  to 
the  catacombs,  where  the  monument  which  marks  the  grave  bears 
the  inscription : — "  Sacred  to  the  Memory  of  Charles  Phillips, 
Esq.,  B.A.,  one  of  Her  Majesty's  Commissioners  in  the  Courts 
of  Bankruptcy  and  Insolvency,  who  died  1st  February,  1859. 

"  Dearly  beloved  and  sincerely  lamented."* 

On  the  same  stone  are  recorded  the  deaths  of  his  wife,  Ann 
Phillips,  in  1869  ;  his  son,  Barry  Brougham  Phillips,  in  1845 ; 
and  his  eldest  son,  Captain  William  Henry  Phillips,  in  1873. 

The  Times  of  the  3rd  February,  1859,  contains,  under  the 
heading,  "  Death  of  Mr.  Commissioner  Phillips,"  the  following 
obituary  notice : — "  Our  readers  will  not  be  unprepared  for  the 
announcement  that  Mr.  Phillips,  the  once  celebrated  criminal 
lawyer,  and  for  the  last  twelve  years  a  commissioner  of  this 
court,  died  on  Tuesday  evening  at  his  house  in  Gordon  Square, 


*  It  was  very  difficult  to  discover  the  cemetery  in  which  Mr.  Phillips  was 
interred.  The  writer,  having  tried  long  in  vain,  had  given  up  the  search, 
when  it  was  kindly  taken  in  hand  by  Mr.  John  Bree,  of  the  National  Debt 
Office,  who,  after  much  correspondence  with  the  officials  of  the  London 
cemeteries,  and  numberless  inquiries  in  other  quarters,  ascertained  Highgate 
Cemetery  to  be  the  last  resting  place  of  the  distinguished  Sligo  man. 


HISTORY    OF    SLIGO.  521 


never  having  been  restored  to  consciousness  since  the  moment 
of  his  attack  on  the  previous  day.     The  learned  gentleman  was, 
we  believe,  74  years  of  age.     He  was  called  to  the  Irish  Bar  in 
1809,  and  admitted  to  the  English  Bar  in  1821.     His  success- 
ful   career  as  a  criminal   lawyer  is  well   known,   and  it  was 
brought  to  a  close  in  1842  by  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Phillips 
as  a  District  Commissioner  of  Bankruptcy  at  Liverpool.     That 
office  he  continued  to  fill  until  1846,  when  upon  the  occasion  of 
Mr.  David  Pollock  being  appointed  Chief  Justice  of  Bombay, 
Mr.   Phillips   resigned    his   provincial   post   and   accepted    the 
vacant  commissionership  of  the  Insolvent  Debtors'  Court.     The 
late  commissioner  was  not  unknown  in  the  ranks  of  literature, 
his  life  of  Curran  being  perhaps  his  best  known  work.     He  was 
also  the  author  of  various  pamphlets,  one  of  which  upon  the 
question  of  capital  punishment  was  considered  by  the  Society 
of  Friends  so  cogent  in  its  reasoning,  and  so  decisive  in  its 
facts,  that  it  has  been  republished  by  them  as  an  authority  in 
favour  of  the  views  which  they  entertain  upon  this  important 
subject." 

Like  the  Times,  the  other  newspapers  of  the  day  contained 
memoirs  of  the  deceased.  Periodicals,  too,  of  a  less  ephemeral 
character  devoted  considerable  portions  of  their  valuable  space 
to  accounts  of  his  life  and  labours;  and,  for  instance,  the  Annual 
Register  of  1859  has  a  pretty  long  notice  of  Charles  Phillips. 
All  this  makes  it  clear  that  he  occupied  a  large  place  in  the 
thoughts  of  the  public  long  after  he  had  retired  from  the  Old 
Bailey,  and  had  abandoned  the  political  platform.  And  it 
suggests,  too,  that  the  name  of  so  distinguished  an  inhabitant 
should  he  always  held  in  honoured  remembrance  in  his  native 
town. 

An  attorney  named  Lyons — Bob  Lyons,  as  he  was  commonly 
called — who  lived  at  Mullaghmore  for  the  greater  part  of  the 
last  century,  deserves  a  word  of  notice.  He  was  so  busily 
employed  in  his  day,  both  as  a  lawyer  and  a  host,  that  when 
Charles  Phillips  became  acquainted  with  him  in  the  second 


522  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 

decade  of  the  current  century,  Lyons  had  "  alternately  sued 
and  entertained  two-thirds  of  the  province  of  Connaught,"  thus 
combining  two  characters,  which  are  not  always  found  together 
in  modern  attorneys.  Of  this  remarkable  man  Phillips  has 
left  us  a  pen  and  ink  sketch,  which  is  as  characteristic  of  the 
artist's  style  as  it  is  photographic  of  his  original : — "  Plausible 
in  his  manners  and  hospitable  in  his  habits,  those  who  feared 
him  for  his  undoubted  skill  as  a  practitioner,  esteemed  him  for 
his  convivial  qualities  as  a  companion.  Nor  had  even  his 
industry  the  ill  favour  of  selfishness.  If  he  gained  all  he  could, 
still  he  spent  all  he  gained,  and  those  who  marvelled  at  the 
poverty  of  his  neighbourhood,  could  easily  have  counted  his 
personal  acquisitions.  No  matter  who  might  be  the  poorer  for 
him,  he  was  the  richer  for  no  man — in  short,  it  seemed  to  be 
the  office  of  his  left  hand  lavishly  to  expend  what  his  right 
hand  assiduously  accumulated.  He  had  all  the  pleasantry  of 
youth  in  his  address,  and  art  struggled  hard  to  set  off  the 
lingering  graces  of  his  exterior.  His  clothes  were  always 
adjusted  to  a  nicety — a  perennial  Brutus  rendered  either  baldness 
or  greyness  invisible,  and  the  jet  black  liquid  that  made  his 
boot  a  mirror,  renovated  the  almost  traceless  semicircle  of  his 
eyebrow." 

To  Lyons  Ireland  is  indebted  for  starting  Curran  on  the 
great  career,  which,  without  his  aid,  he  might  have  never 
traversed.  For  years  after  Carran  was  called  to  the  Bar  he 
got  no  briefs,  if  we  are  to  rely  on  Phillips'  statement ;  and  as 
he  had  no  other  income,  while  a  wife  and  family  depended  on 
him  for  support,  he  was  thrown  into  a  state  of  melancholy  by 
the  prospect  before  him,  which  was  the  more  easily  done,  as  he 
was  of  a  hypochondriac  temperament.  When  things  were  at  the 
worst,  and  ruin  seemed  on  the  point  of  falling  on  him  and  his, 
a  visit  to  his  lodgings  from  the  MuUaghmore  attorney  effected  a 
transformation  of  the  situation,  which  Curran  must  be  allowed 
to  tell  in  his  own  graphic  words : — *'  I  then  lived,"  said  he, 
"  upon  Hog  Hill ;  my  wdfe  and  children  were  the  chief  furniture 
of  my  apartments  ;  and  as  to  my  rent,  it  stood  pretty  much  the 


HISTORY   OF    SLIGO.  523 


same  chance  of  its  liquidation  with  the  National  Debt.  Mrs. 
Curran,  however,  was  a  barrister's  lady,  and  what  she  wanted 
in  wealth,  she  was  well  determined,  should  be  supplied  by 
dignity.  The  landlady,  on  the  other  hand,  had  no  idea  of  any 
gradation  except  that  of  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence.  I  walked 
out  one  morning  to  avoid  the  perpetual  altercations  on  the 
subject  with  my  mind,  you  may  imagine,  in  no  very  enviable 
temperament.  I  fell  into  the  gloom  to  which,  from  my  infancy, 
I  had  been  occasionally  subject.  I  had  a  family,  for  whom  I 
had  no  dinner,  and  a  landlady,  for  whom  I  had  no  rent.  I  had 
gone  abroad  in  despondence — I  returned  home  almost  in  des- 
peration. When  I  opened  the  door  of  my  study,  where 
Lavater  alone  could  have  found  a  library,  the  first  object  which 
presented  itself  was  an  immense  folio  of  a  brief,  twenty  golden 
guineas  wrapped  up  beside  it,  and  the  name  of  Old  Bob  Lyons 
marked  upon  the  back  of  it.  I  paid  my  landlady,  bought  a 
good  dinner,  gave  Bob  Lyons  a  share  of  it,  and  that  dinner  was 
the  date  of  my  prosperity." 

Ever  after  Curran  and  Lyons  were  the   most   attached   of 

friends,  each  doing  all  he  could  to  promote  the  interests  and 

happiness  of  the  other ;  and  if  the  great  advocate's  house  was 

always  open  to  his  early  benefactor  when  in  Dublin,  Curran,  in 

turn,  passed  many  a  vacation  at  Mullaghmore.     And  his  visits 

there  must  have  been  protracted  as  well  as  frequent ;  for  he 

came  to  be  regarded  by  the  inhabitants  as  one  of  themselves, 

took  a  prominent  part  in  all  their  meetings,  joined  in  their 

sports,   was  present  at  their  wakes,  attended  their  funerals, 

mixed   with   them,   in  a  word,   on  all  occasions,   public   and 

private,   and   thus    acquired   that   insight   into    the   peasants' 

character,  manners,  and  habits,  which  contributed  largely  to 

his  recognized  pre-eminence  as  a  cross-examiner.     For  all  this 

he  was  indebted  primarily  to  Old  Bob  Lyons,  as  well  as  for 

eleven  hundred  pounds,  which  the  Mullaghmore  attorney,  from 

time  to  time,  paid  the  great  advocate  as  professional  fees ;  facts 

which  of  themselves  would  prove  Bob  Lyons  to  have  been  a 


524  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


remarkable  man,  and  entitled,  even  on  his  own  account,  and 
without  reference  to  his  distinguished  friends,  Curran  and 
Phillips,  to  the  place  among  the  Worthies  of  Sligo  which  is  here 
given  him. 

One  of  his  visits  to  Mullaghmore  was  near  costing  Curran 
his  life.  Having  stopped  for  a  night  in  Sligo,  at  the  Market 
Street  hotel,  as  he  was  going  to,  or  coming  from,  Bob]^Lyons' 
place,  a  blunderbuss  was  discharged  at  him  in  his  bedroom, 
while  engaged  in  packing  his  portmanteau  for  the  journey. 

Though  not  hit  himself,  the  glass  of  the  window  over  him 
was  broken,  and  the  slugs,  which  formed  the  charge  of  the 
gun,  after  passing  through  the  window,  lodged  in  a  board  close 
to  the  head  of  a  brogue  maker,  who  was  plying  his  trade  in  a 
stall  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  and  who,  as  was  natural 
enough,   supposing   the   missiles   to   be  intended  for  himself, 
called  for  vengeance  on  the  miscreant  in  the  room  opposite,  who 
had  attempted  his  life.     Curran,  on  turning  round  to  see  who 
was  his  assailant,  found  there  was  nobody  in  the  room,  though 
on  the  floor  lay  the  blunderbuss,  hot  from  its  recent  discharge, 
but  with  nothing  in  the  world  to  show  how  it  went  off,  whether 
by  some  unaccountable  accident  or  by  deliberate  human  agency. 
The  mystery  lasted  for  months,  though  in  the  meantime  nothing 
was  left  undone  to  get  to  the  bottom  of  it ;  and  when  people 
had  almost  ceased  to  speak  or  think  of  the  occurrence,  a  little 
urchin,  hardly  ten  years  old,  let  out  the  secret,  that  it  was  he 
who  had  made  the  horrid  attempt,  and  had  made  it  in  revenge 
for  a  cuff,  given  him  a  little  before  by  Curran,  probably  in  play. 
To  compass  his  object  he  hid  himself  behind  the  curtain  of  the 
bed  in  the  room,  and  waited  his  opportunity,  which  occurred 
when  Curran,  having  come  into  the  apartment,  took  to  arranging 
his   valise ;    and  having  fired,  the  would-be  assassin   slipped 
unobserved  through  the  half  open  door  out  of  the  place,  amid 
the  smoke  and  confusion  caused  by  tie  discharge.    Poor  Curran 
stood  fire  on  several  occasions  in  duels,  but  it  is  likely  that 
none  of  his  antagonists — Sellinger,  Lord  Clare,  *' Bully"  Egan, 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  525 


or  others — went  so  near  taking  away  his  valuable  life  as  this 
preternaturally  vicious  imp  of  Sligo.* 

The  late  Mr.  Abraham  Martin,  who  was  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  men  that  Sligo  has  produced  in  more  recent  times, 
may  claim  a  place  here,  if  not  for  intellectual  culture,  for  other  valu- 
able qualities.  With  all  due  deference  to  Sir  Bernard  Burke,  who 
states  it  as  certain  that  the  Sligo  Martins  are  English  in  origin ,t 
it  is  perhaps  just  as  likely  that  the  family  is  Celtic,  and  that  the 
name  is  only  a  modification  of  Gilmartin,  the  prefix,  in  all  like- 
lihood, being  dropped  when  the  head  of  the  family  changed  his 
religion.  At  all  events,  there  seems  to  be  no  decisive  evidence  to 
the  contrary,  while  it  is  certain  that  the  Martins  have  lived  in 
the  town  of  Sligo  since  1641,  when  their  ancestor,  Arthur  Martin, 
perished  in  the  massacre  of  the  gaol.  Owing  very  much  to  their 
sufferings  on  this  occasion,  they  have  been  generally  favourites 
with  the  disposers  of  patronage  in  Sligo ;  and  partly  in  virtue  of 
this  favour,  but  still  more  by  their  own  exertions,  they  have 
been  always  rising  in  wealth  and  station. 

In  1738,  Arthur  Martin  was  created  a  freeman  of  the 
borough  ;  in  1754  Edward  Martin  was  admitted  a  burgess  ;  in 
1759  the  same  Edward  Martin  was  elected  provost  in  succession 
to  William  Yernon,  while  Charles  Martin  succeeded  the  same 
person  as  Ballast  Master;  in  1785  John  Martin,  popularly 
known  as  Jack  Martin,  resigned  the  office  of  burgess,  in  which 
he  was  succeeded  by  Charles  Phillips,  father  of  the  celebrated 
Charles ;+  while  Abraham  Martin,  though  occupying  always 
only  a  private  station,  except  when  he  served  as  High  Sheriff, 
stood,  perhaps,  higher  socially  than  any  of  the  family  who  had 
preceded  him. 

Abraham  Martin  was  a  well-marked  individuality.  Even  in 
his  exterior  there  was  nothing  commonplace.  Something  under 
the  medium  height;  of  stout  build,  and  inclining  to  embonpoint; 

*  Recollections  of  Curran  and  Some  of  his  Contemporaries,  pp.  46,  47. 

t  Sir  Bernard  Burke's  Landed  Gentry — article  Martin  of  Bloomfield. 

t  These  facts  and  dates  are  taken  from  the  Records  of  the  Sligo  Corporation. 


526  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


with  large,  clear-cut  features,  spacious  chest,  broad,  square 
shoulders,  and  robust  limbs  ;  wearing  habitually  an  easy-fitting, 
wide  skirted  body-coat,  with  breeches,  waistcoat,  and  leggings, 
of  the  same  material  and  colour,  and  a  low,  broad-leafed  hat,  he 
moved  along  with  a  firmness  of  tread,  a  swing  of  arm,  and  an  air 
of  independence,  which  proclaimed  to  the  world  that  he  was  as 
much  at  home  in  the  streets  of  Sligo  as  the  owner  of  the  borough, 
Owen  Wynne,  with  whom  he  was  often  in  conflict  and  at  law. 

Mr.  Abraham  Martin  v/as  a  man  of  business,  but  facile 
princeps  among  the  business  men  of  Sligo  in  his  day.  He 
owned  a  distillery,  a  flour  mill,  and  a  bakery,  and  worked  all 
three  to  the  utmost  of  their  capacity.  His  whiskey  manufacture 
was  so  great  a  success  that  the  distillery  was  a  kind  of  mint  to 
him.  This  was  particularly  so  after  the  visit  of  George  TV.  to 
Ireland  in  1821 ;  for  samples  of  Martin's  cru  having  been 
presented  on  that  occasion  to  the  King  and  his  entourage,  his 
Majesty,  who  was  an  experienced  and  first-rate  judge  of  strong 
drinks,  commended  the  beverage  so  warmly,  that  his  lieges 
made  it  a  point  of  loyalty  to  take  to  deep  potations — the  result 
being  that  the  Sligo  distillery  was  hardly  able  to  supply  the 
demand  which  arose  in  Dublin — though  the  high-road  between 
Sligo  and  the  capital  was  constantly  covered  with  drays  laden 
with  ''  Martin's  Whiskey,"  which  had  then  much  the  same  repu- 
tation that  John  Jameson's  has  now.  The  last  words  spoken  by 
the  royal  toper,  when  quitting  Ireland,  served  as  an  advertise- 
ment for  Mr.  Martin  : — "  Go,"  says  this  edifying  monarch  to  the 
shouting  mob,  "  and  do  by  me  as  I  shall  do  by  you.  Drink  my 
health  in  a  bumper.  I  shall  drink  all  yours  in  a  bumper  of 
good  Irish  whiskey."* 

*  A  firm  trading  as  Alex.  Stewart  and  Co.,  had  a  distillery  in  Sligo  before 
Mr.  Martin  erected  his  establishment.  The  following  advertisement  of  the 
firm  appears  in  the  Sligo  Journal  of  January  18,  1805  ; — 

"Sligo  Distillery. 
"  Alex.  Stewart  and  Co.  beg  leave  to  acquaint  the  Public,  that  they  have 
commenced  Distilling,  and  will  have  their  Stores  in  Castle  Street  open  for  the 
Sale  of  Spirits  on  Wednesday,  the  9th  inst. 

January  8th,  1805." 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  527 


The  flour  mill  must  have  been  as  busy  as  the  distillery,  for  it 
turned  out  nearly  all  the  flour  used  in  the  province,  a  feat 
which,  till  recently,  not  only  kept  the  great  milling  concerns  of 
Collooney  and  Ballysadare  in  constant  movement,  but  gave 
besides  considerable  employment  to  several  mills  in  America, 
Spain,  and  France  in  executing  the  weighty  orders  of  Mr.  Tighe, 
the  Messrs.  Pollexfen,  and  others. 

And  it  was  his  bakery  that  furnished  most  of  the  breakfast 
tables  of  Sligo.  Considering  the  large  consumption,  this  branch 
of  business  could  hardly  fail  to  bring  profit,  though  some  of 
Mr.  Martin's  friends  used  to  say,  that  he  kept  the  ovens  going 
merely  to  secure  his  fellow-townsmen  good  value  for  their 
money — a  view  of  the  case  which  derives  some  probability, 
from  the  fact,  that,  when  the  provision  market  ran  high,  Mr. 
Martiu,  in  order  to  keep  prices  at  a  moderate  level,  sent  round 
messengers  to  warn  the  forestallers  that  they  should  not,  in 
selling,  rise  above  a  given  figure,  and,  in  any  case,  that  the 
public  would  get  in  his  place,  what  they  wanted  at  that  figure. 

"With  his  distillery,  his  flour  mill,  his  bakery,  and  the  Sligo 
fishery  which  he  owned,  Abraham  Martin  throve  apace.  In  his 
case,  as  in  others,  prosperity  begat  ambition,  and  he  resolved  to 
run  his  son  in  the  election  of  1837  for  the  parliamentary  seat 
of  the  borough  of  Sligo ;  though  antipathy  to  the  Wynnes  had 

probably  as  much  to  do  with  the  resolution  as  mere  ambition 

the  candidate   he   sought   to   defeat  being  Mr.  John  Wynne 
afterwards  the  Eight  Hon.  John  Wynne. 

It  was  no  ordinary  enterprise  to  wrest  Sligo  from  the  Wynnes, 
who,  either  by  themselves  or  by  their  nominees,  had  represented 
the  borough  for  one  hundred  and  thirty  years ;  but  by  professino- 
Liberal  principles,  and  by  securing  the  aid  of  Dean  Donlevy 
(the  Parish  Priest),  Mr.  Martin  had  the  great  gratification  of 
seeing  his  son  triumph  over  the  son  of  Owen  Wynne,  and 
become  the  representative  in  parliament  of  his  native  town. 

Once  in  the  House  of  Commons  Mr.  John  Martin  soon 
forgot  his  Liberal  principles  and  his  promises  to  Dean  Donlevy ; 
but  the  Dean,  who  was  one  of  the  most  determined  and  hic^h- 


528  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


minded  men  in  Ireland,  was  not  to  be  befooled  in  this  way  with 
impunity.  To  punish  the  backslider  he  brought  down  John 
Patrick  Somers  as  an  opposition  candidate  at  the  next  election, 
and  spared  no  lawful  effort  to  secure  the  return  of  his 
protege.  Being  beloved,  adored,  by  his  parishioners,  who  were 
proud  of  him  for  his  sterling  qualities  of  both  head  and  heart, 
and  being  besides  second,  perhaps,  to  no  man  in  all  Ireland,  as 
an  electioneering  orator,  he  carried  everything  before  him 
during  the  canvass,  so  that  the  poll  sent  Mr.  John  Martin  back 
to  private  life,  and  sent  him  back,  not  only  branded  with  the 
stigma  of  tergiversator,  which  Dean  Donlevy  attached  to  him, 
but  loaded  also  with  the  coarse  obloquy  which  Somers  and  half  a 
dozen  congenial  confreres,  in  a  hundred  speeches,  had  piled 
insultingly  and  mercilessly  upon  him. 

Abraham  Martin  died  in  1853,  at  the  age  of  82,  and  is  buried 
in  the  graveyard  of  St.  John's  church,  in  the  same  vault  with 
his  father,  John  Martin,  and  his  grandfather,  Abraham  Martin. 
His  wife  survived  him  ten  years,  dying  in  1863,  at  the  age  of 
81.  They  were  married  in  1804,  as  this  notice,  which  appears 
in  the  Sligo  Journal  of  December  7th,  1804,  tells  us :  "  Married. 
On  the  29th  ult.,  Abraham  Martin,  Esq.,  to  Miss  Alicia  Cuff,  of 
Creagh,  county  Mayo."* 

The  late  Edward  Joshua  Cooper  of  Markrea  Castle 
deserves  a  high  place  among  the  Worthies  of  Sligo.  Though 
he  was  in  his  day  the  head  of  the  Cooper  family ;  though  he 
owned  a  vast  estate,  a  noble  demesne,  and  a  magnificent  castle; 
it  is  not  for  his  family,  or  his  possessions,  that  he  is  classed  here 
with  the  Sligo  notables,  but  for  his  noble  intellect,  and  his 


*  The  members  of  another  branch  of  the  sime  family  are  buried  quite  close 
to  Mr.  Abraham  Martin's  vault.  The  stone  that  covers  their  grave  bears  the 
inscription : — 

"  Here  lyeth  ye  body  of  Charles  Martin  who  died  ye  17  October,  1734,  aged 
72  years.  Also  Mary  his  wif 3,  M'ho  died  26th  June,  1760,  aged  84  years.  And 
also  Charles,  who  died  February  ye  11th,  aged  55  years.  He  was  son  to  yc 
above  named  Charles,  grandson  to  John  Martin,  and  great-grandson  to  Arthur 
Martin,  all  of  ye  town  of  Sligoe.    He  died  in  ye  yr.  1768." 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  529 


assiduous  cultivation  of  it.  The  physical  sciences  had  special 
attraction  for  him,  the  instructions  of  his  talented  mother,  who 
had  a  predilection  for  astronomy  herself,  strengthening  the 
native  bent  of  his  mind.  Having  passed  from  his  mother's 
lessons  to  those  of  the  Diocesan  School  of  Armagh,  he  often 
visited,  while  at  school,  the  observatory  of  that  city  and  the 
astronomers  in  charge,  and  thus  had  the  direction  of  his 
studies  finally  fixed,  so  that  not  only  there,  but  at  Eton  next, 
and  in  Oxford  afterwards,  he  gave  himself  up  to  the  study  of 
Astronomy. 

After  quitting  the  university  he  spent  some  time  in  travel 
through  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa,  occupying  himself  on  the 
way  in  determining  anew  the  latitudes  and  longitudes  of  the 
places  through  which  he  passed.  On  this  occasion  he  visited 
the  temple  of  Isis  in  Denderah,  Upper  Egypt,  the  most  magni- 
ficent and  the  best  preserved  of  all  the  Egyptian  antiquities. 
The  main  object  of  his  visit  was  to  examine  and  study  on  the 
spot  the  so-called  zodiac,  which  was  figured  on  the  ceiling  of  one 
of  the  apartments,  and  was  then  in  situ,  but  which  was  conveyed 
in  1822  to  France,  and  deposited  in  the  great  Paris  Museum.  To 
do  the  work  thoroughly  he  employed  an  Italian  artist  at  great 
expense,  and  brought  him  to  the  temple  to  draw  and  measure 
the  zodiac,  or  planisphere,  as  it  is  sometimes  called  ;  and  from 
the  observations  made  during  this  visit,  and  the  drawings 
and  measurements  of  the  artist,  he  confuted  the  wild  inferences, 
in  regard  to  the  astronomy  of  the  ancients,  which  Sir  William 
Drummond  had  drawn  from  the  zodiac. 

On  settling  down  at  Markrea,  Mr.  Cooper's  first  care  was  to 
erect  the  now  famous  observatory  of  that  place,  and  to  furnish 
it,  regardless  of  expense,  with  the  best  instruments  to  be  had 
at  home  or  abroad ;  the  result  being  that  this  establishment, 
first  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Cooper  himself  and  his  assistant, 
Mr.  Graham,  who  has  proved  himself  one  of  the  first  astronomers 
of  the  age,  and,  next,  in  the  energetic  and  able  hands  of  Dr. 
Doberck,  the  present  distinguished  Astronomer-Eoyal  of  Hong- 
VOL.  II.  2  L 


530  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


Kong,  has  rendered  services  to  science  which  are  spoken  of 
with  respect  in  all  the  observatories  of  the  world — services,  too, 
which  are  still  continued,  with  undiminished  efficiency,  under 
the  astronomer  now  in  charge,  Mr.  Marth. 

While  scrupulously  exact  in  performing  all  the  duties 
incumbent  on  him  as  landlord  and  country  gentleman,  Mr. 
Cooper  was  still  able  to  pass  much  of  his  time  in  the 
observatory  ;  observing,  recording,  and  calculating.  Learned 
papers  of  his  appeared  from  time  to  time  in  the  Transactions 
of  the  Eoyal  Irish  Academy,  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal 
Society,  and  the  Astronomische  Nachricliten;  piles  of  his 
unpublished  manuscripts  rest  still  on  the  shelves  of  the  library 
room  of  the  MarJcrea  Observatory;  but  the  most  enduring 
monument,  as  well  of  his  industry  as  of  his  learning,  is  his 
great  work,  the  Marhrea  Catalogue  of  Ecliptic  Stars,  which 
was  so  esteemed  by  the  savans  of  the  Royal  Society  that  they 
published  it  at  the  expense  of  the  Society;  and  his  Cometic 
Catalogue,  a  work  also  of  recognized  merit,  which  he  dedicated, 
in  a  few  graceful  words,  "  To  Miss  Catherine  Herschell,  as  a 
Tribute  to  her  many  virtues,  her  remarkable  talents,  and 
persevering  industry." 

His  indefatigable  labour  would  be  creditable  even  to  a  drudge 
toiling  for  his  daily  bread,  but  is  honourable  in  the  extreme  to 
Mr.  Cooper,  who,  born  to  a  great  fortune,  loved  science  purely 
for  its  own  sake,  and  who,  to  gratify  this  ennobling  passion, 
had  to  forego,  which  he  did  cheerfully,  many  of  those  social  and 
domestic  enjoyments  in  which  less  finely  attempered  natures 
place  all  their  happiness.  Mr.  Cooper's  death  occurred  on  the 
28rd  April,  1863.  He  is  buried  at  Ballysadare,  in  the  same 
grave  with  his  wife,  who  died  on  the  29th  Dec.  1862.* 

Sir  John  Benson,  a  native  like  Mr.  Cooper  of  the  parish  of 
Ballysadare,  is  not  unworthy  of  a  place  near  him  in  this  series. 


*  For  a  comprehensive  and  detailed  memoir  of    this  distinguished    and 
amiable  man  see  "  Ballysadare  and  Kilvarnet,"  pp.  168-196. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  531 


Sir  John  was  born  in  CoUooney  about  1810,  and  had 
reached  the  age  of  twenty  or  twenty-one  with  little  education 
except  what  he  had  received  in  the  village  school,  or  had 
acquired  in  desultory  reading,  to  which  he  was  much  addicted, 
when  Mr.  Cooper  meeting  him,  and  discovering  in  him  talents 
of  a  high  order,  sent  him  to  Dublin  to  a  technical  school,  to  be 
trained  for  the  profession  of  architect,  to  which  his  own  artistic 
tastes  strongly  attracted  him.  Sir  John  remained  in  Dublin  only 
one  year.  On  his  return  he  was  employed  by  Mr.  Cooper  to 
superintend  some  important  works  then  in  progress  at  Markrea 
Castle,  and  executed  the  commission  so  as  to  elicit  the  admira- 
tion of  everyone  capable  of  judging  such  things.  About  the 
same  time  he  took  in  hand,  in  the  neighbourhood,  several  costly 
and  weighty  works — the  Victoria  Bridge,  Sligo;  Mr.  Sim's 
magnificent  flour  and  corn  mills ;  the  Protestant  Church  of 
Strandhill ;  and  his  cluf  d'oeuvre,  the  Church  of  the  Assumption, 
Collooney  ;  and  thus  left  in  his  native  county  enduring  monu- 
ments of  his  brilliant  and  versatile  talents. 

The  organizers  of  the  great  Dablin  Exhibition  of  1851  having 
invited  designs  for  the  Exhibition  Building  from  the  architects 
of  the  Three  Kingdoms,  and  having  offered  a  valuable  prize 
for  the  best  design,  hundreds  of  architects  competed  ;  and 
though  there  were  among  the  competitors  men  of  the  highest 
standing,  Sir  John  Benson,  or,  as  he  was  then,  Mr.  John  Benson, 
out-distanced  them  all,  and  not  only  gained  easily  the  offered 
prize,  but  received  in  addition  the  dignity  of  knighthood  from 
the  Queen,  on  the  day  Her  Majesty  and  Prince  Albert  opened 
the  Exhibition. 

For  the  last  twenty  years  of  his  life  Sir  John  Benson  resided 
in  Cork,  where  he  filled  successively  the  offices  of  County 
Surveyor  and  City  Engineer ;  designed  for  churches  and  several 
other  important  buildings ;  and  became  such  a  favourite  with 
high  and  low,  that  the  Corporation  of  the  city  gave  the  name 
of  Benson  Bridge  to  the  new  bridge  which  he  built  across  the 
Lee.  Sir  John  died  in  London  in  1874,  and  was  buried  in  the 
cemetery  of  Brompton,  greatly  to  the  regret  of  the  people 


532  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


of  CoUooney,  who  expected  to  have  his  honoured  remains  among 
them  in  the  family  vault. 

Michael  Corcoran,  the  late  distinguished  Irish  Brigadier- 
General  of  the  American  army,  was  born  in  September,  1827, 
at  Carrowkeel,  in  the  parish  of  Emlaghfad,  which  was  then 
the  property  of  the  MacDonogh  family,  to  which,  on  the 
mother's  side,  he  belonged.  Emigrating  to  the  United  States 
in  1849,  after  serving  for  a  short  time  in  the  Irish  Revenue 
Police,  he  soon  became  very  popular  with  the  Irish  of  New 
York,  where  he  held  a  Government  situation,  and  was  elected 
colonel  of  the  69th  New  York  Militia]  regiment,  composed 
altogether  of  Irishmen.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war 
in  1861  he  joined  the  Northern  army  at  the  head  of  the  69th, 
and  served  with  great  distinction  on  all  occasions,  but  more 
especially  in  the  unfortunate  battle  of  Bull's  Run,  where, 
instead  of  imitating  the  bad  example  which  earned  for  the 
battle  its  unenviable  soubriquet j  he  fought  on  like  a  lion  till  he 
was  wounded,  disabled,  and  captured. 

General  Corcoran  was  now  confined  in  several  prisons  of  the 
South,  being  removed  from  one  to  another  owing  to  the  move- 
ments of  the  Federal  troops.  It  was  well  for  him  that  the 
Federal  authorities  did  not  carry  out  their  threat  of  hanging 
the  crews  of  the  Confederate  ships  which  they  had  captured,  for 
in  that  event  he  would  have  been  executed  in  retaliation,  as  he 
was  one  of  the  officers  selected  by  the  Confederates  for  the 
purpose.  Better  counsels,  however,  prevailed,  and  led  to  an 
exchange  of  prisoners,  including  Colonel  Corcoran,  who,  on  his 
exchange,  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  Brigadier-General.  Once 
free,  he  organized  an  Irish  legion,  and,  taking  the  field  at  the 
head  of  it,  fought  in  several  engagements,  in  which  he  and 
his  legionaries  nobly  sustained  and  even  enhanced  the  reputa- 
tion for  valour  of  their  countrymen.  It  was  at  this  point,  when 
his  prospects  seemed  brightest,  his  career  was  brought  to  a  sad 
and  abrupt  close  by  a  fall  from  his  horse,  in  which  he  sustained 
such  injuries  that  he  sank  under  them  in  a  few  days.     As  it  is. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  533 


his  name  is  a  familiar  and  honoured  one  in  the  country  of  his 
adoption,  as  well  as  in  that  of  his  birth ;  but  had  he  lived  a  few 
years  longer,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that,  with  his  personal 
dash,  his  military  talents,  and  the  devotion  with  which  he  knew 
how  to  inspire  all  under  his  command,  he  would  have  risen  to 
a  level  with  the  most  distinguished  generals  on  either  side  in 
that  war  of  giants. 

It  would  be  an  injury  to  the  town  to  pass  over  in  silence 
the  name  of  Martin  Milmore,  though  there  are  no  materials 
to  hand  which  would  enable  one  to  put  together  even  a  passable 
summary  of  the  facts  of  his  life.  Excepting  one  of  those  pithy 
biograms,  which  we  find  in  Father  Russell's  admirable  Irish 
Monthly,  nothing  at  all  concerning  him  has  fallen  under  the 
notice  of  the  writer. 

According  to  this  respectable  authority,  Martin  Milmore  was 
born  in  Sligo  on  the  14th  September,  1844,  emigrated  with  his 
poor,  widowed  mother  to  America  in  1850,  and  settled  in  the 
city  or  neighbourhood  of  Boston.  While  the  mother  was 
earning  her  daily  bread  in  an  humble  employment,  she  kept 
the  child  to  an  infant  school,  managed  by  nuns,  who  were  the 
first  to  discover  the  artistic  bent  of  his  mind. 

The  discovery  once  made,  the  little  boy's  friends  were  con- 
stantly on  the  look-out  for  the  means  of  turning  to  account 
the  gifts  he  had  received  from  nature,  and  they  succeeded 
ultimately  in  gaining  admission  for  him  into  the  studio  of 
Thomas  Ball,  the  eminent  sculptor  of  Boston.  Here  Martin 
Milmore's  talent  soon  asserted  itself;  and  after  a  time  he  came 
to  be  acknowledged  as  one  of  the  leading  artists  of  the  country. 
Orders  flowed  in  on  him  from  all  sides  for  monuments,  groups, 
and  figures ;  Longfellow,  "Wendell  Phillips,  and  Ticknor  being 
among  the  distinguished  men  of  whom  he  executed  statues. 
Martin  Milmore  died  on  the  21st  July,  1883,  when,  considering 
the  circumstances  of  his  boyhood  and  youth,  he  had  hardly 
reached  the  full  measure  of  his  powers.  Milmoe,  not  Milmore, 
was  the  original  name,  and  the  chaage  took  place  while  he  was 


534  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


a  little  lad  at  school,  upon  the  recommendations  of  his  teachers, 
■who  knew  nothing  of  the  name  Milmoe,  but  were  familiar  with 
that  of  Milmore,  which  is  pretty  common  in  America. 

It  would  he  out  of  order  on  an  occasion  like  this,  devoted  to 
an  account  of  our  deceased  Worthies,  to  dwell  on  the  name  of 
Mr.  W.  B.  Yeats,  who  is  not  only  living,  but  who  is  little  more 
than  entered  on  a  career  which  promises  to  be  a  brilliant  one. 
Though  still  quite  a  youth,  he  has  already  made  a  name  for 
himself,  both  in  England  and  Ireland,  by  publications  in  verse 
and  publications  in  prose.  Those  who  are  acquainted  with 
Mr.  Yeats'  ardent  patriotism  need  not  be  told  that  his  themes 
and  his  treatment  of  them  are  alike  "  racy  of  the  soil." 

It  would  carry  us  too  far  to  notice  the  many  other  remarkable 
men  belonging  by  birth  to  the  town  or  the  different  parishes  of 
the  county;  and  some  reference  to  a  few  of  those  connected 
with  the  parish  of  Ballysadare  may  suffice,  as  they  may  be 
taken  as  a  fair  specimen  of  the  rest.  To  begin  with  the  late 
Alderman  Farrell: — 

Born  and  educated  in  Collooney,  he  continued  to  live  there 
till  he  had  arrived  at  the  age  of  manhood,  when  he  left  for 
Dublin,  opened  there  the  famous  seed  shop  of  Fergus  Farrell 
and  Co.,  and  rose  to  be  Lord  Mayor  of  the  city  at  a  time  when 
that  high  office  was  the  reward  of  personal  worth  and  social 
standing,  and  not,  as  it  sometimes  became  since,  the  outcome  of 
intrigue  and  of  the  manipulation  of  wire-pullers. 

John  Foster,  another  native  of  Collooney,  died  in  Toronto  in 
1887,  being,  as  was  said  in  the  newspapers,  "the  oldest  and  most 
esteemed  magistrate"  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada  at  the  time  of 
bis  death.  The  name  of  his  father  will  be  found  on  the  list, 
given  in  the  Appendix,  of  the  Suffering  Loyalists  of  1798. 

Dr.  Charles  Benson,  of  the  talented  Collooney  family  of  that 
name,  made  his  medical  studies  in  Dublin,  where  also  he 
practised  his  profession,  and  attained  such  eminence,  that  he 
was   elected   President  of  the   College   of    Surgeons,  as  also 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  535 


President  of  the  College  of  Physicians.  His  sons,  who  are 
members  of  the  learned  professions,  have  settled  in  Dublin,' 
one  of  them  being  the  distinguished  oculist  of  St.  Mark's 
Ophthalmic  Hospital. 

Mr.  Patrick  Quinn,  born  in  Cloonmucduff,  a  townland  ad- 
joining Collooney,  was  already  married,  and  had  his  first  child, 
when  he  emigrated  to  the  United  States.  Having  received  an 
excellent  education,  and  being  besides  a  man  of  ability,  he 
opened  a  school  on  his  arrival  in  America ;  but,  soon  finding  a 
better  open  for  his  talents,  he  devoted  himself  to  engineering 
and  building,  pursuits  in  which  he  acquired  a  considerable 
fortune.  Soon  after  reaching  America,  he  settled  in  the  city  of 
Rochester,  New  York,  where  he  was  always  regarded  as  one  of 
its  leading  citizens,  his  fellow-citizens  showering  on  him  all  the 
honours,  private  and  official,  that  they  could.  Nothing,  however, 
was  nearer  to  his  heart,  all  through,  than  his  native  parish,  of 
which  his  many  benefactions  through  life  and  at  his  death 
afford  unmistakeable  evidence.  Two  of  Mr.  Quinn's  daughters 
are  nuns,  one  being  the  superioress  of  her  convent ;  and 
though  they  were  both  born  in  America  they  feel,  one  and 
the  other,  the  same  loving  solicitude  for  the  spiritual  and 
temporal  well-being  of  the  inhabitants  of  Collooney  that  their 
father  felt,  of  which  friendly  feeling  they  have  given  many 
touching  proofs. 

Like  Mr.  Patrick  Quinn,  his  namesake,  Mr.  Thomas  Quinn, 
of  Brooklyn,  is  at  once  a  good  Irishman  and  a  good  American. 
Though  they  took  different  sides  in  American  politics,  both 
were  equally  loyal  to  their  adopted  country,  as  both  were 
always  shoulder  to  shoulder  in  every  movement  that  had  for 
object  to  benefit  the  country  of  their  birth.  On  first  landing  in 
the  States,  Mr.  Thomas  Quinn  took  up  his  residence  in  New 
York,  and  has  since  remained  either  there  or  in  Brooklyn,  to 
the  great  advantage  of  emigrants  from  the  county  Sligo,  whom 
he  was  always  ready  and  able  to  befriend  on  their  arrival,  when 
they  often  needed  his  help  or  advice.  In  proof  of  his  attachment 
to  his  native  place,  it  may  be  mentioned  that,  on  hearing,  some 


536  HISTORY  OF  SLTGO. 


years  ago,  that  we  were  putting  up  the  spire  of  the  Church  of 
the  Assumption,  he  forwarded  a  large  contribution,  including  a 
generous  subscription  from  the  redoubtable  O'Donovan  Rossa. 
Mr.  Quinn  is  the  father  of  Rev.  Thomas  Quinn  of  New  York,  and 
brother  of  the  Rev.  Patrick  Quinn,  one  of  the  oldest,  as  he  is 
one  of  the  most  respected  members,  of  the  new  religious  Order 
of  St.  Patrick. 

The  late  Dr.  Sweeny,  another  native  of  the  parish  of  Bally- 
sadare,  left  CoUooney  for  the  United  States  about  1828.  As 
he  had  taken  out  his  diplomas  before  emigrating,  he  engaged 
at  once  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  on  reaching  New  York, 
and  soon  acquired  both  fame  and  fortune.  It  was  characteristic 
of  him  that  though  his  time,  owihg  to  his  large  practice,  was 
very  valuable,  he  devoted  much  of  it  to  the  gratuitous  service 
of  the  poor,  and  more  especially  of  the  poor  coming  from  the 
county  Sligo.  Like  the  Messrs.  Quinn  the  Doctor  took  a  warm 
interest  in  the  Church  of  the  Assumption,  of  which,  like  them, 
he  was  a  liberal  benefactor.  His  son,  a  doctor,  too,  is  at  present 
a  distinguished  practitioner  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

A  word  or  two  will  suffice  regarding  another  native  of  the 
parish,  who  is  already  a  famous  lawyer  in  America,  and  who  is  sure 
one  day  to  need  a  goodly  volume  to  do  justice  to  his  biography. 
This  is  Mr.  William  Bourke  Corkran,  son  of  Martin  Corkran 
and  Harriet  White,  late  of  Claragh,  near  Ballinacarrow.  On 
the  mother's  side  Mr.  Corkran  is  connected  with  the  south  of 
Ireland,  as  she  belonged  by  birth  and  family  to  Munster, 
being  the  daughter  of  a  leading  magistrate  of  that  province. 

Mr.  Bourke  Corkran's  father's  family  is  a  local  one,  his 
grandfather  being  Tom  Corkran,  who  kept  a  large  business 
establishment  in  Ballinacarrow,  and  who  in  his  day  was 
popularly  called  the  "Mayor  of  Ballinacarrow,"  from  his  influence 
being  paramount  in  the  village  and  neighbourhood.  In  Tom 
Corkran's  early  days  there  was  no  Catholic  chapel  in  Ballina- 
carrow, and  he  placed  a  room  of  his  house  at  the  disposal  of 
the  priest  and   the   flock  on   Sundays   and    holidays,   where 


HISTORY    OF   SLTGO.  537 


accordingly  Mass  was  celebrated  in  those  days  and  the  other 
ordinances  of  religion  administered. 

The  lawyer's  father,  Martin  Corkran,  received  a  classical  edu- 
cation with  a  view  to  his  joining  one  of  the  learned  professions, 
but  his  fondness  for  rural  life  and  field  sports  prevailing  over 
his  taste  for  books,  he  settled  down  on  the  fine  farm  of  Claragh, 
which  he  soon  supplemented  with  a  fee-simple  estate,  that  he 
purchased  shortly  after  his  marriage.  Through  life  Martin 
Corkran  had  a  great  passion  for  the  saddle,  and  was  admitted 
to  be  as  bold  a  rider  as  ever  followed  the  hounds  across  the 
hills  of  Claragh,  or  faced  the  formidable  stone  fences,  put  up 
for  the  special  purpose  of  testing  the  mettle  of  both  horses  and 
horsemen,  at  the  fair  of  Carrignagat. 

On  the  death  of  her  husband,  Mrs.  Corkran  removed  to 
Dublin,  in  the  interest  of  the  education  of  her  children,  and,  on 
the  advice  of  the  writer  and  other  friends,  soon  sent  her  son, 
William,  to  France  to  school,  where,  from  the  post,  he  gave 
unmistakeable  proofs  of  superior  talents.  It  was,  however, 
considerably  later,  and  after  his  return  to  Dublin,  it  became 
known  to  his  friends  and,  probably,  to  himself,  that  he  had 
received  from  nature  the  rare  and  precious  gift  of  genuine 
eloquence.  The  fact  was  established  to  the  satisfaction  and 
admiration  of  everybody  through  a  debating  society,  which  he 
attended  with  many  of  the  most  talented  young  men  of  the  city, 
and  at  which,  though  the  youngest  member  of  the  society,  he 
carried  away  the  palm  from  all,  and  was  admitted  by  everybody 
to  be  first,  without  an}"  second  near  him — his  speeches  having 
all  the  attributes  of  finished  as  well  as  of  natural  eloquence — 
spontaneousness,  fulness,  force,  argument,  and  ornament. 

There  being  no  such  open  then  in  Ireland  as  there  is  at 
present  for  young  men  of  talent,  this  gifted  youth  cast  his  lot 
in  the  United  States,  and  qualified  himself  for  the  American 
Bar.  From  the  first  Mr. Corkran  made  his  mark  in  the  courts,  his 
mastery  of  law  being  on  a  par  with  his  gifts  of  speech,  so  that, 
as  a  consequence,  we  find  him  engaged  in  the  weightiest  suits 


538  HISTORY    OF    SLIGO. 


of  the  time.  Political  and  private  friends,  to  find  scope  for  his 
great  powers,  induced  him  to  enter  Congress,  where,  though  he 
is  not  yet  twelve  months  a  member,  he  is  already  regarded  as 
the  first  orator  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  to  which  he 
belongs.  There  can  be  no  doubt  then  that  our  young  Claragh 
friend  has  a  great  future  before  him ;  and  it  need  hardly  be 
added  that  none  will  follow  the  incidents  of  his  career  with 
livelier  and  more  sympathetic  interest  than  his  father's,  and  his 
own,  old  friends  of  the  county  Sligo. 

Mr.  Patrick  Milmo,  better  known  now  through  North  and 
South  America  as  Don  Patricio  Milmo,  is  one  of  the  most 
prosperous  and  distinguished  men  that  the  parish  of  Ballysa- 
dare  or  the  county  of  Sligo  has  ever  produced.  After  serving 
an  apprenticeship  in  the  fine  business  house  of  Mr.  M.  J.  Madden 
Camphill,  he  emigrated  to  Mexico,  where  his  cousins,  the  Messrs. 
Hale,  had  long  preceded  him,  and  had  formed  a  commercial  firm 
second  to  none  in  that  country.  On  his  arrival,  Mr.  Milmo 
joined  the  firm,  and  his  remarkable  ability  and  energy  developed 
and  greatly  extended  the  business. 

As  it  is  so  long  since  this  gentleman  left  Ireland,  some  may  not 
be  aware  that  he  is  the  son  of  the  late  Mr.  Darby  Milmo,  who 
lived  in  Lisaneena,  and  owned  the  large  farm  now  held  by 
Mr.  Robert  Gregg.  The  memory  of  Darby  Milmo  is  still 
cherished  by  the  neighbours,  who  will  not  easily  forget  how  he 
granted  a  fine  site  for  a  school-house  to  the  then  Parish  Priest, 
Dean  Durcan,  after  the  Dean  had  been  searching  for  years  in 
vain  elsewhere  for  the  accommodation.  On  the  mother's  side 
Don  Patricio  belongs  to  the  great  family  of  O'Dowd  of  Tireragh, 
who,  under  Celtic  rule,  gave  local  chiefs  to  the  district  for  more 
than  a  thousand  years. 

At  present  Mr.  Milmo  is  sole  proprietor  of  the  bank  of 
Monterey,  and  is  commonly  reckoned  one  of  the  wealthiest  men 
in  Mexico.  There  is  another  bank  in  Lerido,  Texas,  which  is 
called  the  Milmo  National  Bank,  in  the  ownership  and  manage- 
ment of  which  he  is  associated  with  his  son-in-law's  father, 
Mr.  Eugene  Kelly,  the  well-known  banker  of  New  York,  and 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  539 

with  his  own  brother,  Mr.  Daniel  Milmo,  who,  as  every  one  that 
knows  him  would  expect,  is  as  great  a  favourite  almost  in  his 
adopted  country  as  he  is  in  his  native  Sligo,  where  he  is  so 
much  esteemed  and  respected.  And  this  regard  he  well 
deserves,  for  he  never  misses  an  opportunity  of  doing  a  good 
turn  to  Sligo  men,  be  they  rich  or  poor ;  and,  as  an  instance, 
when  the  report  of  local  distress  reached  him,  a  few  years  ago, 
he  lost  no  time  in  sending  large  remittances  to  CoUooney  and 
Ballymote,  the  two  parishes  with  which  his  family  was  more 
immediately  connected. 

As  many  Sligo  people  are  already  aware,  Don  Patricio  is  the 
son-in-law  of  the  late  famous  Mexican  General  Vidauri,  who, 
under  the  republic,  was  Governor  of  Nuevo  Leon  and  Coahuila, 
and,  under  Maximilian's  short-lived  empire,  was  President  of  his 
Council  of  Ministers.  About  three  weeks  after  the  execution  of 
Maximilian,  this  distinguished  general  was  shot  by  orders  of  the 
revolutionist,  Diaz,  on  the  8th  July,  1867. 

One  would  think  that  after  such  a  shock  to  his  feelings,  and 
such  a  blow  to  his  interests,  Mr.  Milmo  would  shake  the  dust  off 
his  feet  and  hurry  away  from  such  a  cruel  land,  where  too, 
owing  to  his  relation  with  the  deceased  general,  he  was  sure  to 
be  an  object  of  suspicion  to  the  new  government;  but  Don 
Patricio,  brave  and  able  man  as  he  is,  resolved  to  remain  at  his 
post,  to  go  on,  as  if  nothing  extraordinary  had  happened,  with 
his  commercial  transactions,  and  to  leave  the  rest  to  Providence 
— a  course  which  the  result  has  well  justified.  For  his  success 
in  life  is  as  great  as  it  could  be  if  his  father-in-law  and  the 
Empire  still  survived,  so  great  indeed,  that  travellers  from 
England  or  the  United  States,  who  publish  their  travels  in 
Mexico,  devote  no  small  portion  of  their  space  to  an  account  of 
the  affairs  of  Don  Patricio  Milmo  and  his  brother.  Of  these 
accounts,  the  subjoined  remarks  from  an  article  that  appeared 
on  the  1st  March,  1888,  in  the  famous  New  York  review,  the 
Catholic  World,  may  serve  as  a  sample  :  "  Not  far  distant  is  a 
really  handsome  two-story  building  with  massive  bronze  railings 


540  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


and  medallions,  and  charmingly  refreshiog  court  in  the  centre ; 
this  is  the  bank  of  the  magnate  of  the  frontier,  Senor  Don 
Patricio  Milmo.  He  is  a  fine  white-headed  man  of  sixty,  with 
•clear-cut  regular  features,  keen  judgment,  accurate  discrimina- 
tion, and  a  great  appreciation  of  the  value  of  his  word.  His 
brother  Daniel  is  cashier  of  the  Milmo  National  Bank  of  Lerido, 
Texas,  of  which  Mr.  Kelly,  of  New  York,  a  connexion  of  the 
family,  is  president.  No  more  cultivated  gentleman  or  courteous 
friend  than  Mr.  Daniel  Milmo  is  to  be  met  in  either  republic,  as 
all  those  will  testify  who  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  his  acquaint- 
ance." Sligo  men  may  well  be  proud  at  finding  natives  of  the 
county  held  in  such  esteem  and  honour. 

It  is  pleasant  to  be  able  to  add  that  the  parish  of  Ballysadare 
shows  no  signs  of  failing  to  produce  men  of  note ;  and  though  it 
is  a  maxim,  that  a  man  had  better  not  prophesy  unless  he  knows, 
one  may  venture,  without  much  risk,  to  predict,  that  several 
youths  of  the  parish,  who  lately  left  it  to  fill  public  positions, 
after  proving  the  possession  of  superior  abilities  by  brilliant 
CJivil  Service  examinations  or  equally  satisfactory  tests,  are  sure 
one  day  to  give  a  good  account  of  themselves.  Such  young 
men  are,  to  name  a  few,  Mr.  James  F.  McGetrick,  of  the 
Valuation  Ofiice,  Dublin ;  Mr.  Michael  M.  Hart,  of  the  Educa- 
tion Office,  Marlborough  Street ;  Mr.  John  Bree,  National  Debt 
Office,  London  ;  Mr.  Patrick  J.  McManus,  of  the  Excise ;  Mr. 
-John  Gunning,  of  the  Customs ;  Mr.  Hugh  Stephen  Hart,  a 
talented  pressman ;  Mr.  Michael  J.  McManus,  of  the  Excise  ; 
Mr.  Patrick  Quin,  of  the  Customs;  Mr.  George  Denison,  Head 
Master  of  a  High  School,  in  Derby,  England ;  Mr.  Joseph 
McKim,  author  of  an  interesting  collection  of  poems,  published 
in  1888  ;  and  several  others. 

We  cannot  more  appropriately  close  these  references  to  county 
Sligo  Worthies  than  by  recording  the  striking  fact  that  the 
county  has,  within  the  last  year  or  two,  furnished  our  great 
national  College  of  Maynooth  with  three  of  its  ablest  professors 
— Rev.  Thomas  Gilmartin,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History ; 


HISTORY    OF   SLIGO.  541 


Eev.  John  Clancy,  Professor  of  English  Literature;  and  Kev.. 
Thomas  Judge,  Professor  of  Logic  and  Philosophy. 


There  have  been  local 

NEWSPAPERS  IN  SLIGO 


for  more  than  a  hundred  years.  The  Sligo  Morning  Herald 
or  Connaught  Advertiser y  and  the  8ligo  Journal  or  General 
Advertiser  were  the  first  papers  started,  and  the  first  named 
would  appear  to  have  been  the  earliest  in  the  field.  Three  early 
numbers  of  the  Sligo  Journal — 116,  157,  and  281 — and  one 
number  of  the  Sligo  Morning  Herald — 184 — have  fallen  under 
the  writer's  notice  ;  and  as  the  number  of  the  Journal  issued 
on  the  20th  December,  1793^  is  116,  while  the  number  of  the 
Herald  issued  on  the  same  day  is  184,  it  would  follow,  taking 
both  to  have  been  weekly  papers  all  through,  that  the  first 
number  of  the  Morning  Herald  preceded  the  first  issue  of 
the  Sligo  Journal  by  more  than  a  year.  Both,  however,  were 
bi-weekly  occasionally. 

The  name,  motto,  and  price  of  Morning  Herald  are  thus 
given  in  Number  184  : — 

"No.  184.  Vox  POPULI.  Price  2d. 

The  Sligo  /A  Print  of  Fame\      MoRNiNG  Herald 

OR  Connaught      V  here,  )  Advertiser. 

SLIGO  MORNING  HERALD. 
Friday  MorniDg.  December  20th,  1793. 

Sligo  :  Printed  and  Published  by  O'Connor,  Market  Street,  where 
Advertisements  and  Articles  of  Intelligence  are  received." 

In  his  History  of  Irish  Periodical  Literature,  Dr.  Madden 
mentions  a  paper  called  The  Sligo  Morning  Herald,  "  printed 
by  J.  O'Connor,  Limerick  ;"  but  it  is  pretty  certain  that 
"  J.  O'Connor,  Limerick,"  is  a  mistake  of  the  Doctor  for 
O'Connor,  Market  Street. 


542 


HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


The  Sligo  Journal  of  December   20tli — No.  116 — is  thus 
headed  and  illustrated  : — 


•'Printed  by 

The   Sligo 
AND  General 


John  Gray. 

Journal 
Advertiser. 


Price  2d. 


Friday,  December  20th,  1793. 


No.  116." 


The  contents  of  the  papers  consist  for  the  most  part  of 
Government  Proclamations  or  other  official  documents,  foreign 
news,  more  especially  news  connected  with  the  wars  then  in 
progress,  and  business  advertisements  ;  editorials,  long  or  short, 
being  conspicuous  by  their  absence. 

Some  of  the  advertisements  of  the  time  are  curious.  In  one 
Mr.  Owen  Wynne,  Hazel  wood,  offers  "a  reward  of  10  guineas 
for  the  conviction  of  the  person  or  persons  who  shot  near 
Hazelwood  an  old  swan,  and  destroyed  four  young  ones,  and 
robbed  two  nests  within  these  months ;  and  he  hopes  for  the 
assistance  of  the  neighbours  in  detecting  the  villains  who  thus 
wantonly  and  malevolently  destroyed  one  of  the  principal 
ornaments  of  the  lake." 

2.  Charles  Kelly,  surgeon  and  apothecary,  "invites  the  custom, 
of  his  friends  and  the  public," 

3.  Rev.  James  Armstrong  wants  "  An  assistant  in  the  school 
of  Sligo  capable  of  teaching  the  senior  classes ;  to  a  gentleman 
in  Holy  Orders,  and  who  has  been  in  habits  of  instruction,  a 
salary  of  forty  pounds  per  annnrrij  together  with  board  and 
lodging,  will  be  given." 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  543 


4.  "  The  Secret  Committee  formed  in  consequence  of  the 
County  Meeting,  held  the  30th  April,  1795,  O.  Wynne,  Esq.^ 
in  the  chair,  resolved  that  a  deposit  of  5  per  cent,  of  the  money 
subscribed  be  paid  into  the  hands  of  John  Martin,  Esq.,  the 
Treasurer  appointed  for  that  purpose.  It  is  requested  that  all 
who  have  not  paid  may  comply. — John  Martin." 

5.  "Notice.  A  meeting  of  the  gentlemen  and  inhabitants  of 
the  Barony  of  Tirerrill  is  requested  at  Balladeravin  (Riverstown) 
on  Tuesday  the  13th  inst.,  for  the  purpose  of  considering  some 
matters  of  importance.     Signed  by  order. — Boger  Dodd." 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  last  two  advertisements 
are  of  a  party  and  sectarian  character.  About  that  time  society 
was  in  a  ferment,  and  wherever  there  were  good  numbers  of 
Protestants  and  Catholics  together  in  a  neighbourhood,  as  in 
the  north  of  Ireland,  they  were  living  in  constant  expectation 
of  mutual  attack — a  state  of  things  which,  here  and  there,  led 
to  actual  conflict,  as  happened  at  Lurgan,  according  to  the 
following  communication  from  that  place,  which  is  found  in  the 
Sligo  Journal  of  October  2nd,  1795  : — ''On  Monday,  the  28th, 
the  Protestant  farmers  and  decent  manufacturers  turned  out 
well  armed,  and  in  a  few  hours  came  to  close  quarters  with  the 
Roman  Catholics,  killing  sixty,  and  wounding  above  one 
hundred  of  the  Defenders." 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  of  these  advertisements  is  the 

following  invitation  to  saint  worship  from  a  quarter  the  last  in 

the   world   where   one   would   expect    encouragement   of    the 

practice : — 

6.  "Knights  Templars 

And  Royal  Orange  Lodge. 

No.  626. 

The  Brothers  of  said  Number  are  desired  to  attend 
the  Lodge  Room  on  Friday  the  27th  inst.,  in  order  to 
celebrate  the  Festival  of  their  Patron  Saint. 
Dinner  on  the  table  at  5  o'clock. 

Signed  by  order, 
Sligo,  Dec.  19th,  1793.  J.  Henderson,  Sec." 


544  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


It  is  commonly  supposed  tbat  the  Orange  organization  dates 
from  1795,  and  tbat  it  was  started  immediately  after  the  battle 
of  the  Diamond,*  which  happened  on  the  21st  September  that 
year,  but  we  learn  from  the  foregoing  advertisement  that  there 
were  Orangemen  and  an  Orange  Lodge  in  Sligo  as  early  as  1793. 

At  John  Gray's  death  the  Sligo  Journal  passed  into  the 
possession  of  Alexander  Bolton,  in  whose  hands  we  find  it  in 
1814,  when  it  had  become  a  bi-weekly,  issued  on  Wednesdays 
and  Saturdays,  price  5d. 

The  next  Sligo  newspaper  we  have  met  with  is  the  Western 

Luminary,    the    number    of    March    18,    1824,    being    thus 

headed : — 

''WESTERN  LUMINARY, 

Vol.  XL  OR,  No.  n. 

SLIGO  IMPARTIAL  REPORTER. 

Sligo  :  Printed  by  the  Proprietor,  Robt.  Hunter,  and  Published 
every  Friday  morning  at  the  General  Printing  Office,  Knox's 
Street,  where  Orders,  Advertisements,  &c.,  are  received,  and 
Printing  Work  of  every  description  elegantly  executed. 
Price  5d." 

This  paper  was  of  Liberal  politics,  and  was  very  much  in  the 
interest  of  Mr.  Abraham  Martin,  who  had  a  quarrel  at  the  time 
with  the  Commissioners.  They  wished  to  convert  the  Fish 
Quay  into  a  dry  dock,  a  project  which  Mr.  Martin  opposed.  A 
case  on  the  subject  was  submitted  to  Mr.  Saurin,  who  replied: — 
''  The  right  Mr.  Martin  has  to  the  salmon  fishery  of  Sligo  was 
in  its  inception  no  more  than  a  right  to  the  Wear  on  the  river, 
and  to  the  exclusive  right  of  taking  fish  by  means  of  it,  and  not 
a  separate  and  exclusive  fishery  in  that  part  of  the  river  or  arm 
of  the  sea  in  which  the  tide  ebbs  and  flows."  The  Luminary 
maintained  Mr.  Martin's  claims,  relying  a  good  deal  on  the  fact 
that  John  Martin,  Abraham's  father,  had  exercised  proprietorial 

*  We  read  in  Haydn's  Dictionary  of  Dates  :—'' Diamond,  a  hamlet, 
Armagh,  N.,  Ireland,  where  was  fought  the  '  Battle  of  the  Diamond,'  20th 
September,  1795,  between  the  '  Peep-o'-day  Boys'  and  the  'Defenders,'  and 
many  of  the  latter  were  killed.  To  commemorate  this  conflict  the  first  Orange 
Lodge  was  formed  immediately  after J^ 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  545 


rights  in  1789,  when  he  built  the  great  arch  abutting  on  the 
quay. 

The  Observer,  another  Sligo  newspaper,  appears  to  have 
come  after  the  Western  Luminary,  but  the  writer  regrets  he 
has  not  come  across  any  number  of  this  journal,  and  cannot, 
therefore,  give  particulars  of  it. 

The  Sligo  Champion  dates  from  1836.  The  first  number 
appeared  on  the  4th  of  June  that  year,  with  the  heading  :  — 

''The  champion,  or  SLIGO  NEWS. 
No.  1.  Sligo,  Saturday,  June  4,  1836.    yearw/Jl,  IQs. 

Printed  and  Published  for  the  Proprietors  at  the  Office,  Stephen 

Street." 

The  motto  over  the  leading  article  is  "  Truth  Conquers." 
Interesting  items  of  news  in  this  issue  are : — 

1.  Collooney  Meeting — Disapprobation  of  Lord  Lyndhurst's 
Municipal  Eeform  Bill.  On  this  head  the  Editor  remarks: 
"We  have  been  informed  that  the  speeches  delivered  by 
Mr.  William  Kelly  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Durkan  were  distinguished 
for  their  independent  and  patriotic  tone.  Resolutions,  four  in 
number,  were  moved  and  seconded  by — (1)  Rev.  Mr.  Durkan, 
Mr.  Henry  Meredith  ;  (2)  William  Kelly,  Esq.,  Mr.  John  Hart ; 
(3)  Mr.  Patrick  Qainn,  Mr.  Patrick  Milmore;  (4)  Mr.  Michael 
McDonnell,  Mr.  John  Gillooly." 

2.  Sligo  Municipal  Reform  Meeting,  held  in  Chapel  Field. 
Martin  Madden,  Esq.,  in  chair;  Mr.  Charles  O'Connor,  Sec. 

A  sentence  or  two  from  the  Editor's  Address  to  his  readers 
may  be  reproduced  : 

"  We  come  forward  in  a  country  where  the  voice  of  liberty 
has  been  stifled,  and  where  the  sacred  rights  and  privileges  of 
the  subject  have  been  violated,  to  advocate  the  cause  of  a  long 
oppressed  people,  to  be  the  fruitful,  the  unflinching,  and,  we 
trust,  the  invincible  Champion  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.   .  . 

"  As  the  spirit  of  liberality  was  spreading  through  other  parts 
of  Ireland,  tyranny  and  bigotry  increased  fearfully  and  shame- 
VOL.  II.  2  M 


546  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


fully  in  Sligo — instead  of  advancing  the  county  has  retro- 
graded,     ... 

"  It  is  for  the  purpose  of  checking,  or  at  least  exposing,  this 
corruption  and  wickedness  that  the  Champion  enters  the 
political  arena.  It  comes  forward  to  put  down  Grand  Jury 
jobbing — to  open  the  county — smile  not,  reader  !  we  reiterate, 
To  Open  the  County;  and  we  assure  you  that  is  not  only 
possible,  but  probable — to  expose  magisterial  injustice,  to  right 
the  oppressed,  to  hold  up  to  public  scorn  the  petty  tyrant,  and 
to  be  the  friend  of  the  people. 

"But  we  beg  not  to  be  misunderstood.  Let  no  one  think  the 
Champion  will  be  a  vehicle  of  slander — we  are  determined 
never  to  sully  our  pages  with  personalities." 

A  small  quarto  sheet  of  two  leaves,  called  The  CryptiCy  made 
its  appearance  in  1844,  and  had  a  short-lived  and  disreputable 
career  of  about  twelve  mouths.  In  the  forty-fifth  number, 
which  is  the  only  one  we  have  seen,  the  title  motto,  date,  and 
terms,  are  thus  given  : — 

(A  grotesque  bust  here.) 
"  THE  CEYPTIC. 

*  Prend  moi  tel  que  je  suis.'' 


No.  45.  Saturday,  March  29th,  1845.  [2d. 

Sligo :  Printed  for  the  Proprietors^  and  may  be  had  at  No.  5 
Thomas  Street,  where  communications  will  be  received. 

TERMS  : 

Yearly  8s.        Half-Yearly  4s.        Quarterly  2s. 
To  he  paid  in  advanced 

This  vile  rag,  which  traded  in  buffoonery  and  personalities, 
was  suppressed  by  law  at  the  suit  of  an  injured  party  ;  but  not 
before  it  had  held  up  to  ridicule  and  contempt  many  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town.  It  is  a  pity  that  some  one  had  not 
the  courage  of  sweeping  away  the  nuisance  earlier. 


HISTORY  OF  SLIGO.  547 


A  paper  called  the  Sligo  Guardian  was  started  in  1849, 
and  existed  for  about  fifteen  months,  when  the  Messrs.  Sedley 
purchased  the  plant,  and  began  to  publish  the  Sligo 
Chronicle.  David  Erskine  was  the  editor  of  the  Guardian, 
and  after  its  discontinuance  became  the  editor  of  the  Chronicle. 
The  number  of  this  paper  that  appeared  on  the  23rd  Nov.  1850, 
is  the  last  that  bears  Erskine's  name,  for  which  was  substituted, 
in  the  issue  of  the  30th  November,  that  of  Hugh  M'Donald 
Soden.  The  name  of  Mr.  J.  W.  Sedley  appears  for  the  first 
time  in  the  number  for  December  Tth,  1850,  and  has  continued 
since  connected  with  the  paper. 

The  style  and  title  of  the  first  number  of  the  Chronicle  ran 
thus  : — 

«'THE  SLIGO  CHRONICLE. 

No.  1.  April  17th,  1850.  ^  .  i^'%Tlf  [1  v^^'s    ,n 

^  '  Yearly,  £1;  Halt- Yearly,  lOs. 

Printed  and  Published  by  David  Erskine  for  the  Proprietors, 
6  Correction  Street." 

Over  the  leading  article  is  tbe  motto,  "  Liberty  without 
Licentiousness,  and  Law  without  Despotism." 

In  the  leader  we  read  : — "  As  we  have  nothing  to  conceal,  we 
are  anxious  to  be  generally  understood,  and  so  we  commence 
by   stating  that  the    Chronicle    shall   advocate   moderately 

Conservative  views We  do   not   mean   by   the   word 

*  Conservative '  a  conservation  of  barbarity  and  oppression, 
with  cupidity  for  their  origin,  and  antiquity  for  their  plea. 
We  do  not  mean  to  be  the  conservators  either  of  unchristian 
exclusiveness  in  politics' or  religion.  While  we  deprecate  the 
lawless  pretext  which  would  make  out  property  a  robbery,  we 
cannot  respect  the  discretionary  sovereignty  which,  in  the  name 
of  the  rights  of  landlordism,  robs  the  tenant  of  his  due — a 
sovereignty  which,  in  an  atmosphere  of  light  peculiar  to  the 
progressive  character  of  our  age,  appears  too  odious  to  be 
respected  by  enlightened  landlords  themselves." 


548  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 

The  Sligo  Independent  came  after  the  Champion  and  the 
Chronicle,  its  first  number  appearing  on  the  29th  September, 
1855,  headed  as  follows  : 

"THE  SLIGO  INDEPENDENT. 

No.  1.  Sligo,  Saturday,  September  29,  1855.         stlm^'ed'ld 

Terms :  Unstamped  Edition,  Single  Paper  3d.,  per  annum  £1,  5s. 
Stamped  „  „         „       4d.,  „       £1,  13s. 

in  all  cases  payable  in  advance. 

Printed  and  Published  by  the  Proprietors  (Gilmor  Bros.), 
4  Ratcliffe-street,  Parish  of  Sfc.  John,  Sligo." 

The  principal  items  of  news  in  the  first  number  are  : — 

1.  Hazlewood  Agricultural  Society  Show — 5  columns. 

2.  Sligo  Butter  Market,  (Firsts)  101s.  6d. ;  (2nds)  99s. ; 
(3rds)  95s. ;   (4ths)  88s. 

8.  A  Sligo  bero  at  storming  of  the  Eedan,  Lieut.  Charles  B. 
Wynne,  90th  Regiment,  son  of  Owen  Wynne,  Esq. 

4.  Sebastopol,  account  of  fall  of. 

5.  A  subscription  of  £5  from  Captain  Meredith,  Cloonamahon, 
to  Protestant  Orphan  Society,  to  be  an  annual  gift  so  long  as 
Dissenters  are  not  admitted  to  benefits  of  said  society. 

6.  Mazzini's  address. 

The  paper  opens  thus: — "Prospectus  of  a  new  Commercial 
and  Conservative  Journal,  this  day  published  in  the  Town  of 
Sligo,  entitled  the  Sligo  Independent^  to  be  published  on  each 
successive  Wednesday  and  Saturday. 

"  The  daily  increasing  commercial  prosperity  of  the  town  and 
county  of  Sligo,  coupled  with  the  earnest  request  of  a  large  and 
influential  body  of  the  inhabitants,  has  induced  the  Proprietors 
to  undertake  the  bringing  out  of  the  above  Journal. 

"The  first  and  great  object  of  the  Independent  will  be  to 
attain  the  character  of  rank  amongst  the  first  commercial  organs 
of  the  country.  In  this  department  nothing  sball  be  left 
unnoticed  from  that  which  concerns  the  interest  of  the  banker 
down  to  the  smallest  trader.      .     .     . 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  549 


"  la  Politics  the  Independent  will  be  Conservative,  but,  we 
trust,  not  that  Conservatism  which  would  induce  us  to  close  our 
columns  against  our  fellow-man  solely  because  he  differs  from  us 
ia  religious  opinions.  No — our  columns  shall  be  always  open 
to  advocate  the  cause  of  the  v/ronged  and  the  oppressed,  from 
the  peasant  to  the  peer,  and,  in  this,  our  first  intimation  to  the 
public,  we  beg  leave  to  state  that  never,  under  any  circum- 
stances, shall  we  be  induced  to  indulge  in  low  personal  scurrility, 
but  shall  always  endeavour  to  support  the  character  to  which 
the  Press  is  entitled  upon  the  honest  foundation  of  Truth 
and  Justice.     .     .     . 

"  These  are  briefly  the  principles  on  which  the  Independent 
seeks  the  support  of  all  right-thinking  men,  and  which  it  is 
determined  shall  characterize  its  every  act  as  truly  as  its  name 
signifies.     .     .     . 

"The  war  in  which  the  country  is  engaged  is  the  chief  reason 
which  has  induced  the  Proprietors  to  undertake  publication 
twice  a  week,  &c.,  &c."     .     .     . 

It  is  edifying  to  find  Sligo  newspapers,  both  the  Conservative 
and  the  Liberal,  disclaiming  "personalities,"  though  a  new  proof 
of  the  frailty  of  good  intentions  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that, 
in  spite  of  their  professions,  we  find  some  of  them  laden  occa- 
sionally with  the  obnoxious  matter.  We  learn  from  the  Sligo 
Journal  of  December  29,  1887,  that  the  Sligo  G/iampion,  in 
its  Christmas  number,  had  presented  the  Conservatives  with  a 
"  Christmas  Box,"  consisting  of  caustic  quotations  from  Shake- 
speare, applied  by  the  editor  to  leaders  and  some  other 
members  of  the  Conservative  party.  The  Journal  would  not 
be  outdone  in  this  species  of  generosity,  and  returned  the 
compliment  in  a  "  New  Year's  Gift,"  in  which  Shakespeare  and 
other  poets  are  laid  under  contribution  for  unsavoury  extracts 
with  which  to  ticket  local  Liberals. 

To  show  how  indiscriminate  and  unsparing  the  editor  of  the 
Journal  was  in  his  attentions,  the  names  of  the  persons  aimed 
at  are  here  reproduced  without,  of  course,  the  defamitory 
references.     The  names  are  given  j-ast  as  they  lie  ia  the  piper, 


550  HISTORY   OF    SLIGO. 


with  their  contractions,  or  other  modifications,  but  anyone, 
whose  memory  reaches  forty  or  fifty  years  back,  will  have  little 
difficulty  in  identifying  individuals  through  the  thin  disguise  : — 
"  Sir  William  ;  Sir  James  ;  Daniel  J — s,  senior  ;  Gomville  B — D  ; 
The  Two  Bishops;  T.  S— Y,  P.P. ;  Andrew  E— N,  P.P. ;  Luke 
C— N,  P.P. ;  Malachy  B— N,  P.P. ;  Daniel  M— Y,  P.P. ;  Michael 
0'C_N,P.P. ;  Two  Friars;  Counsellor  R— Y;  Counsellor  C— Y  ; 
Mr.  Valentine  J—N;  Martin  D.  M— G  ;  John  N— Y;  Martin 
M— N  ;  Mr.  Tom  (Dory)  K— Y  ;  Stephen  M.  C— Y  ;  Edward 
(Griskin)  K— Y ;  Thomas  R.  Durkan,  M.D. ;  Alexander  H— Y, 
M.D.;  T.  M.  McHugh,  M.D.,  Ballymote;  Francis  M'G— ; 
Thomas  B—;  Henry  O'C—R;  John  T— K— R  ;  P.  M~Y; 
Dominick  H— Y ;  Michael  C— Y  ;  Michael  G— L— N  ;  Thomas 
M'G— W— N,  Grocer ;  Denis  Q'C— N— R,  (Big  Jug)  ;  J.  G.—  ; 
J.  G— ;  A.  K— ;  A.  "W— ;  J.  J.  O'D— N  ;  Henry  D.  H— R— Y  ; 
The  Editor  of  the  Champion ;  The  Liberal  Club.'' 

This  duel  in  ribaldry  was  disgraceful  to  both  the  people  and 
the  papers.  The  late  Matthew  Arnold  used  to  say,  "Tell  me  the 
character  of  their  newspapers,  and  I  will  tell  you  the  character 
of  the  people ;"  and  if  that  gentleman  fell  in  with  the  Sligo 
Journal  and  the  Sligo  Champion,  of  Christmas,  1837,  he  would, 
it  is  to  be  feared,  pronounce  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  and 
county  of  those  days  sadly  deficient  at  once  in  charity  and 
culture. 

It  is  matter  for  congratulation  that  things  have  altered  so 
much  for  the  better  on  all  sides  since  that  time. 


The  broad,  smooth,  macadamized,  and  well-fenced 

EOADS, 

which  now  traverse  the  county  Sligo  in  all  directions,  are, 
many  of  them,  of  modern  construction,  while  such  of  them  as 
come  down  from  more  remote  times  have  been  widened,  re- 
modelled, or  otherwise  changed  within  a  hundred  years  or  so. 
Anyone  who  looks  into  the  Grand  Jury  books,  preserved  in 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  551 


Mr.  Yernons  office,  will  see  that  a  large  proportion  of  the 
presentments  passed  in  the  earlier  years  of  this  century  are 
concerned  with  the  roads  of  the  county — with  the  cutting  down 
of  hills  on  them,  the  filling  up  of  sloughs  and  other  hollows, 
and  the  construction  of  small  bridges  or  arches  over  streams 
and  gullies. 

In  Arthur  Young's  "Tour  in  Ireland,"  the  writer  praises 
strongly  (Appendix,  p.  56)  the  number  and  condition  of  the 
public  roads  of  this  country,  setting  them  far  before  the  roads 
of  England.  "  For  a  country,"  says  he,  "  so  far  behind  us  as 
Ireland,  to  have  got  suddenly  so  much  the  start  of  us  in  the 
article  of  roads,  is  a  spectacle  that  cannot  fail  to  strike  the 
English  traveller  exceedingly."  Newenham,  in  his  valuable 
"Yiew  of  Ireland"  (published  in  1809),  is  equally  laudatory 
(p.  31);  and  Wakefield,  who  wrote  in  1812,  endorses  the  estimates 
of  both  his  predecessors,  and,  indeed,  embodies  in  his  narrative 
most  of  what  Newenham  writes  on  the  subject.  Though 
public  roads  were  in  so  satisfactory  a  state  in  the  times  referred 
to,  it  is  known  that,  on  the  other  hand,  they  were  in  a  wretched 
condition  in  the  early  years  of  the  eighteenth  century — which 
was  almost  a  matter  of  course,  as  no  Road  Act  was  passed  in  the 
reign  of  William  III,  only  two  in  that  of  Anne,  and  none  at  all 
under  George  I. ;  these  monarchs  being  apparently  so  busy 
persecuting  Catholics,  that  they  had  no  time  to  devote  to  works 
of  public  utility. 

Notwithstanding,  however,  what  Arthur  Young  writes,  there 
is  proof  enough  that  all  the  roads  of  the  county  Sligo  were  not 
in  the  condition  he  describes,  for  we  learn  from  Reverend 
John  Wesley's  Journal  (Yol.  lY.,  p.  117)  that  when  travelling 
in  1778  through  the  parish  of  Curry,  on  the  way  from 
Castlebar  to  Sligo,  he  encountered  three  "  sloughs "  on  the 
road  near  Ballincurry;  and  though  he  made  a  shift  to  get 
through  two  of  them  without  help,  he  had  himself  to  be  carried 
over  the  third  on  the  shoulders  of  a  countryman,  who  did  the 
plus  ^neas  on  the  occasion,  while  his  chaise  was  forced 
through  with  great  difficulty  by  horses  and  men — the  horses 


552  HISTORY   OF   SLTGO. 


"tugging"  at  ropes  fastened  to  the  vehicle  after  the  traces  were 
broken,  and  the  men  "  thrusting  '*  with  all  their  strength  from 
behind.  The  whole  scene  would  form  the  subject  of  a  suggestive 
historical  picture,  illustrating  not  merely  the  state  of  the  roads, 
but  still  more  the  humanity  and  charity  of  the  Popish  peasants 
who  had  left  their  work  to  help  the  apostle  of  Methodism  out 
of  his  untoward  predicament. 

As  might  be  expected,  the  further  we  go  back  the  worse  we 
find  the  public  roads  of  the  county.  At  first  they  were  mere 
frequented  tracks  rather  than  roads  in  the  modern  sense.  In 
remote  times  the  three  strands  of  Drumcliff,  Sligo,  and  Bally- 
sadare,  were  the  common  passes  for  their  respective  neighbour- 
hoods; On  Drumcliff  strand  there  were  two  passes — the  long 
and  the  short  one:  the  former  running  from  Finidto  Doonierin, 
and  the  latter  from  Drumcliff  Church  to  Doonierin ;  near  the 
town  of  Sligo  the  fearsat  or  pass  crossed  from  Standalone 
Point  to  Finiskin  and  Gibraltar ;  on  the  Ballysadare  strand 
there  were  three  tracks — one  from  Carrowcrin  or  Kellystown  to 
Streamstown,  another  from  Carrowcrin  to  Larkhill,  and  the 
third  from  the  same  point  to  Beltra. 

We  learn  from  the  Book  of  Armagh,  the  oldest  Irish  record 
we  possess,  and  from  Colgan's  Trias  Thaumaturga,  that  Saint 
Patrick  and  his  companions  made  use  of  these  strands  in  their 
journeys ;  and  the  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  under  the  year 
1536,  in  tracing  the  march  of  Hugh  Dubh  O'Donnell  and  his 
troops,  brings  them  from  Fined  across  the  Drumcliff  strand 
to  Fearsat-Reanna-an-Liagain,  now  Standalone  Point ;  from 
Fearsat- Reanna-an-Liagain  across  the  Sligo  strand  to  Coolerra; 
and  from  Coolerra  through  the  Ballysadare  strand  to  Tireragh. 
All  these  routes  were  much  used  till  recently ;  and  the  short 
strand  at  Drumcliff  is  still  traversed  by  pedestrians  and  vehicles 
of  all  kinds. 

As  has  been  stated,  the  present  Standalone  Point  is  given,  in 
the  Four  Masters  and  the  Annals  of  Loch  Ce,  as  Fearsat- 
Reanna-an-LiagaiUf  a  name  which  the  Four  Masters  them- 
selves, and  the  compilers  of  the  Annals  of  Loch  Ce,  would 


HISTORY    OF   SLIGO,  553 


derive  from  a  Fomorian  chief  named  Liagain,  who,  they  allege, 
was  slain  there  by  Luigh  the  Longhaaded ;  but  both  O'Donovan 
and  Hennessy  pronounce  this  derivation  fanciful,  and  render 
the  Irish  phrase  into  the  English  words,  the  "  pass  of  the  point 
or  promontory  of  the  pillar  stone."  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
this  is  the  correct  interpretation  of  the  phrase;  and  if  any 
doubt  remained  it  would  be  removed  by  the  local  rendering  of 
the  Irish  into  the  English  words  Standalone  or  Stone-alone- 
Point.  Stone-alone-Point  expresses  with  sufficient  exactness 
the  idea  of  the  Irish  term  liagain,  that  is,  pillar  stone,  or  a 
stone  standing  up  by  itself  and  detached  from  others. 

The  reader  will  observe  that  the  writer  identifies  Reanna-an- 
Liagain  with  Stone-alone-Point,  which  has  not  been  done 
before.  O'Donovan  thought,  at  first,  that  this  Point  was  on  the 
Drumcliff  river,  and,  later,  that  it  lay  on  the  Sligo  river,  but 
without  being  able  to  indicate  the  exact  spot  The  writer  rests 
his  identification  on  the  facts : — first,  that  the  Fear  sat- Reanna- 
an- Liagain  is  certainly  on  the  Sligo  river,  as  it  leads  from 
Drumcliff  to  Coolerra  (Four  Masters,  1536) ;  secondly,  that  this 
fearsat  or  ford  was  the  only  one  ever  used  on  that  river ;  and 
thirdly,  that  Stone-alone-Point  is  the  manifest  translation  of 
Reanna-an-Liagain. 

The  celebrated  Red  Earl  of  Ulster,  Richard  de  Bargo,  is 
credited  by  tradition  with  having  constructed  the  oldest  roads 
of  the  county  Sligo,  as  well  as  of  the  rest  of  Connaught ;  and  to 
this  day  the  name  Boher  Earla  Ruadh  is  applied  by  the 
country  people  to  the  disused  road  of  Ballaghboy  across  the 
Curlews ;  to  that  from  Ardcotton  to  Ballysadare  across  Slieve 
Gamh,  or  the  Ox  Mountains  ;  to  the  road  from  Ballygawley  to 
Carrownamoddow  over  Slieve-daen;  and  to  several  others. 
Most  probably  tradition  is  right  in  this  case,  as  such  works  are 
in  harmony  with  the  magnificence  of  this  earl  who  built  (in 
1300)  the  noble  castle  of  Ballymote,  and  (in  1305)  the  still 
nobler  castle  of  Inishowen.  Being  at  once  Earl  of  Ulster  and 
Lord  of  Connaught,  and  thus  master  of  all  the  resources  of  the 


554  HISTORY    OF   SLIGO. 


two  provinces,  he  had  ample  means  for  the  accomplishment  of 
great  public  undertakings. 

The  chief  existing  roads  of  the  county  have  been  made 
within  the  last  hundred  years  or  thereabouts.  That  from  Sligo 
to  Boyle  was  begun  in  the  last  years  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  finished  in  the  opening  years  of  the  nineteenth.  The 
stretch  of  it  which  runs  through  the  Ballydrehid  curragh 
was  regarded  in  its  day  as  a  great  feat  of  engineering  skill; 
and  there  is  a  tradition  that,  when  Mr.  Owen  Wynne  brought 
the  subject  for  the  first  time  before  the  Grand  Jury,  the  project 
was  regarded  as  Utopian,  and  received  with  merriment,  the 
curragh  being  then  covered  with  water,  and  looking  like  a 
lake. 

The  road  from  Sligo  to  Ballyfarnon  was  constructed  about  the 
same  date  as  that  to  Boyle,  the  one  to  Tubbercurry  a  little 
later,  and  the  road  to  Ballina  about  the  same  time.  Of  the 
three  main  roads  through  Carbury  to  Sligo,  that  on  the  sea 
coast  from  Bunduff  to  Breaffy  is  much  the  oldest,  the  one 
passing  through  Carney  coming  later,  and  the  road  by  Cool- 
druman  latest.  The  cross  roads  through  the  parish  of  Ahamlish 
were  constructed  by  Nimmo  for  Lord  Palmerston,  and  many 
others  through  the  county  date  from  1846,  the  "Famine  Year." 

What  was  known  formerly  to  the  inhabitants  of  Sligo  as  the 
"Circular  Road,"  part  only  of  which  now  exists,  was  made  in 
1822-3  with  the  aid  of  money  received  for  the  relief  of  distress 
from  the  London  City  Committee ;  and  for  several  years  after 
its  formation,  posts  stood  upon  it  bearing  the  inscription : — 
"This  road  was  made  in  token  of  British  benevolence." 

When  the  time  for  repairing  it  was  come,  the  cesspayers 
refused  to  pass  a  presentment  for  the  work,  upon  which  Mr. 
Abraham  Martin  enclosed  and  appropriated  the  portion  of  it 
which  ran  through  his  property  of  Cleveragh.  Others  did 
likewise  in  regard  to  other  portions,  with  the  result,  that  the 
people  of  Sligo  lost  a  promenade,  which  was  at  the  same 
time  one  of  the  healthiest  and  one  of  the  most  picturesque  in 
Ireland. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  555 


Till  late  in  the  last  century  the  roads  were  narrow,  there 
being  no  cars  or  carts ;  and  when  those  conveyances  were  first 
introduced  they  necessitated  no  change,  as  they  were  so  slight 
and  narrow  that  two  hundred  weight  was  considered  a  good 
load  for  them.  In  the  "  Earls  of  Kildare"  (p.  371)  we  are  told 
that  the  Duke  of  Leinster  was  the  first  to  introduce  four- 
wheeled  waggons  in  Ireland,  the  introduction  taking  place  in 
1755;  and  it  took  some  time  before  they  reached  Sligo.  Before 
the  mail  coach  road  between  Sligo  and  Boyle  was  made,  the 
post  was  carried  by  "  diligence "  to  Florence  Court,  and  sent 
on  from  that  to  Dublin.  It  was  in  1808  the  first  mail  coach 
ran  from  Sligo  to  Dublin,*  via  Boyle. 

Down  to  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago,  beggars  and  *'  backaghs  " — 
persons  who  suffered  or  shammed  lameness,  or  some  other 
corporal  infirmity — infested  the  public  roads,  seating  themselves 
at  the  most  frequented  points,  and  remaining  there  for  years, 
till  they  became  as  familiar  to  travellers  as  the  physical  features 
of  the  place,  so  that  mendicants  who  died  more  than  a  hundred 
years  ago  are  still  associated  with  particular  spots.  A  blind 
beggarman,  who  had  his  quarters  on  the  bridge  of  Ballysadare, 
distinguished  himself  so  much  by  the  blessing  bestowed  in 
return  for  alms,  that  it  became  famous  as  the  "  Beggar's 
Benison,"  and  is  thus  referred  to  by  the  artists  employed  by 

*  In  the  Sligo  Journal  of  June,  1805,  we  find  the  advertisement,  **The 
Mail  Coach  diligence,  accompanied  by  a  well-armed  guard,  runs  from  Sligo  to 
Dublin,  meeting  at  Cavan  the  Mail  Coach,  where  two  seats  are  reserved." 

The  Sligo  Journal  of  July  17th,  1807,  in  an  advertisement  about  the  "  Sligo, 
Enniskillen,  and  DubHn  Royal  Mail,"  states  that  **  the  distance  from  Sligo  to 
Dublin  via  Enniskillen  is  104  miles,  the  time  taken  26  hours,  and  the  fare 
£2,  12s." 

The  first  Mail  Coach  from  Sligo  to  Dublin,  via  Boyle  and  Longford,  was 
started  by  Mr.  Bourne.  The  Royal  Canal  Company  opposed  it  vigorously,  and 
lowered  its  own  rates  to  prevent  travellers  from  going  by  the  coach  ;  but  the 
people  of  Sligo  stood  by  Bourne  and  his  new  conveyance,  and,  at  a  public 
meeting  which  was  held  in  September,  1809,  and  at  which  Mr.  Abraham 
Martin  occupied  the  chair,  bound  themselves  by  resolution  to  support  the 
coach. 


556  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


the  Right  Hon.  Colonel  Burton  Conyngham  : — "  On  the  bridge 
we  were  shown  a  stone  on  which  a  beggar  used  to  sit  constantly, 
who,  on  receiving  alms,  used  to  bestow  on  the  giver  a  blessing, 
which  is  become  a  famous  toast,  under  the  name  of  the 
Beggars  Benison.''  It  is  a  pity  the  terms  of  this  famous 
benediction  are  not  preserved. 

The  oldest  bridges  of  the  county  are  those  of  Sligo  (1188), 
Ballysadare  (1361),  and  CoUooney  (about  1400) ;  but  these  are 
not  the  structures  that  now  exist  in  those  places.  The  bridge 
of  Ardcree  across  the  Owenmore,  of  Ballygrania  across  the 
Uncion,  and  of  Drumcliffe  across  the  Codnach,  date  from 
the  last  century.  The  fine  bridge  of  Templehouse  was  built  in 
1812;  the  bridge  of  Easky  in  1818,  on  a  Presentment  of 
£398,  7s.  passed  in  the  Lent  Assizes  of  that  year,  "  To  Colonel 
John  Irwin  to  build  a  bridge  of  three  arches  over  the  river 
Easky ;"  and  the  latest  as  well  as  one  of  the  best  bridges  which 
the  county  can  boast  of,  that  of  Billa,  designed  by  our  talented 
county  surveyor,  and  promoted,  with  his  accustomed  liberality, 
by  Mr.  O'Hara,  is  only  just  finished.  An  inscription  on  a 
finely-chiselled  stone  in  the  structure  records  the  following 
particulars  of  the  erection  : — 

Built  by  the  Cesspayers  of  Leyney, 

Assisted  by 

C.  W.  O'Hara,  Esq.,  D.L., 

Annaghmore. 


C.  B.  Jones,  M.  Inst.  C.E., 

Co.  Surveyor. 

A.D.  1887. 

MacDonogh,  Builder,  Baliisodare. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  657 

While  these  roads  are  so  beneficial  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
county  by  opening  up  communications,  they  are  hardly  less 
serviceable  to  the  tourist,  now  that  they  are  in  connexion  with 
all  parts  of  Ireland  through  the  Midland  Great  Western 
Railway  opened  to  Sligo  on  the  3rd  December,  1862,  and  the 
Sligo,  Leitrim,  and  Northern  Counties  Railway,  opened  on  the 
7th  November,  1882.  The  latter  line  carries  passengers  to  Sligo 
from  the  North,  while  the  Midland  G  reat  Western  takes  them, 
mediately  or  immediately,  from  the  three  other  provinces. 

In  their  arrangements  the  chairman  and  directors  of  the 
Midland  company  never  lose  sight  of  the  interests  and  comforts 
of  tourists.  If  the  stations  of  their  line  were  intended  for  the 
special  convenience  of  this  important  class  of  passengers,  they 
could  not  be  more  favourably  situated  than  they  are  at  present, 
standing,  as  they  do,  close  to  the  most  interesting  scenes  and 
sights  of  the  county. 

From  Boyle  station  the  tourist  can  visit,  at  his  ease,  in  a 
few  hours,  the  far-famed  battlefield  of  Moytura,  the  historical 
Curlews,  and  the  sacred  valley  of  Corradooey,  still  fragrant  with 
the  odours  of  St.  Patrick's  virtues  and  labours. 

At  Ballymote  the  train  drops  the  tourist  under  the  shadow 
of  as  fine  a  ruin  as  there  is  in  Ireland,  the  castle  of  the  renowned 
Red  Earl  of  Ulster,  and  brings  him  within  a  couple  of  miles,  on 
one  side,  of  the  mysterious  coves  of  Keash,  and,  on  the  other,  of 
the  much-admired  Templehouse,  so  striking  for  its  antiquities 
and  for  its  natural  beauties. 

At  Collooney  and  Ballysadare  the  visitor  will  be  at  a  loss  which 
most  to  admire,  the  castle  and  church  ruins  of  the  district,  its 
corn  and  flour  mills — the  largest  in  Europe — or  the  beautiful 
river  Owen  more,  as  admired  by  the  utilitarian  as  by  the  lover 
of  the  picturesque — by  the  former  for  its  wonderful  water 
power,  capable  of  working  all  the  machinery  in  Ireland,  and  by 
the  latter  for  what  Frazer,  in  his  "  Handbook  for  Ireland," 
styles  "  the  finest  rapid  in  the  kingdom." 

And  in  the  town  of  Sligo  tourists  will  find  themselves  in  the 
centre  of  a  region  literally  teeming  with  scenes  of  surpassing 


558  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


interest  and  beauty — the  majestic  range  of  Benbulben,  the 
beautifully  outlined  Hill  of  Knocknarea,  the  incomparable 
Lough  Gill,  the  Eden-like  valley  of  Glencar,  the  noble  demesnes 
of  Hazelwood  and  Lissadell,  the  world-renowned  antiquities  of 
Carrowmore  and  Deerpark,  and  not  a  few  others,  all  within 
easy  reach  of  the  town. 

With  such  attractions  and  such  facilities  for  enjoying  them, 
Sligo  is  sure  to  become  the  favourite  resort  of  tourists.  It  is  little 
wonder  that  this  class  of  travellers  kept  away  from  the  place  in 
the  past  when  it  took  twentj^-six  hours  to  get  from  Dublin  to 
Sligo,  when  the  country  was  so  disturbed  that  people  had  to 
travel  in  the  company  of  "  a  well  armed  guard,"  and  when  the 
mode  of  conveyance  was  a  lumbering,  jolting  vehicle,  in  which 
passengers  were  exposed  to  rain,  wind,  and  the  other  severities 
of  the  weather ;  but  now,  that  all  this  is  changed,  that  the 
district  is  as  peaceful  as  it  is  picturesque,  that  the  Limited 
Mail  glides,  in  four  hours,  from  Dublin  to  Sligo,  and  that  its 
carriages  are  as  cozy  as  boudoirs,  it  is  a  law  of  travel,  as  sure  as 
the  law  of  gravitation,  that  the  main  tourist  stream  of  Ireland 
must  in  future  flow  into  Sligo. 


MUSIC  AND   DANCING. 


Great  as  is  the  change  which  has  taken  place,  within  a 
century  or  so,  in  the  appearance  of  the  town  and  county,  it  is 
not  more  remarkable  than  that  which  has  occurred,  within  the 
same  time,  in  the  ideas,  the  manners,  and  the  habits  of  the 
people.  If  Lady  Morgan  and  the  artists  of  the  Hon.  Mr. 
Conyngham,  who  have  left  interesting  accounts  of  the  state  of 
things  in  their  day,  could  now  revisit  the  scenes  they  described, 
they  would,  probably,  be  more  struck  by  the  moral,  than  by  the 
material,  change  that  has  supervened. 

Both  dwell  on  the  free  and  friendly  relations  which  then 
existed  between  the  gentry  and  the  lower  classes.  In  a  graphic 
description,  by  Beranger,  of  a  Cake-dance  at  Glencar — that  is,  a 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  559 


dance  ia  which  a  cake,  set  up  in  a  conspicuous  position  before 
the  meeting,  was  to  be  the  reward  of  the  best  dancer — he  tells, 
that  gentlemen  and  ladies,  on  horseback  and  on  foot,  mingled 
with  the  country  people,  and  formed  a  considerable  part  of  the 
triple  ring  of  spectators,  that  surrounded  the  dancers,  while 
contending  for  a  prize,  which  they  valued  hardly  less  highly 
than  those  who  contended  in  the  Greek  and  Roman  games 
valued  the  laurel  crown. 

Lady  Morgan  mentions  several  instances  of  similar  friendly 
intercourse  between  the  Croftons  of  Longford,  with  whom  she 
was  staying,  and  the  people  of  the  neighbourhood ;  from  which 
we  may  infer  that  a  like  state  of  things  existed  in  other  parts  of 
the  county.  When  writing,  Beranger  and  her  Ladyship  had 
little  thought  that  those  pleasant  scenes  would  be  soon  followed 
by  the  estrangement,  not  to  say  hostility,  which  at  present  pre- 
vails between  the  classes,  and  which  renders  social  life  in  the 
county  so  different  from  what  it  used  to  be  sixty  or  seventy 
years  ago.  If  a  gentleman  showed  himself  now  at  popular 
sports,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  he  would  be  regarded  as  a  spy ; 
and  if  a  young  peasant,  as  was  usual  in  the  past,  went  to  the 
**  big  house,"  to  pass  an  hour  or  two  of  the  evening,  there  are 
ten  chances  to  one  that  he  would  be  treated  as  a  moonliorhter. 

Since  the  begioning  of  this  century  the  love  of  amusement, 
for  amusement  sake,  has  greatly  declined.  Cake-dances  were 
not  confined  to  Glencar,  being  common  enough  in  other  places ; 
but,  with  or  without  the  cake,  dancing  was  practised  in,  perhaps, 
every  village  of  the  county.  Country  boys  and  girls  were  profi- 
cients in  the  art,  having  nearly  all  undergone  a  regular  course 
of  training  in  the  dancing  school,  which  was  generally  kept  at 
night,  for  the  double  purpose  of  not  interfering  with  the  hedge- 
school,  and  of  giving  grown  boys  and  girls,  who  were  commonly 
engaged  during  the  day,  an  opportunity  of  attending.  The 
dancing-master  was  in  such  demand  that  persons  of  other 
occupations  found  it  worth  their  while  to  combine  the  business 
with  their  own.  Lady  Morgan,  in  Patriotic  Sketches,  instances 
this  combination  iu  the  case  of  a  carman  who,  having  been  sent 


560  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 

for  to  do  some  cart  work,  excused  himself  by  saying  that  "he 
was  a  dancing-master  by  trade,  as  well  as  a  carman,  and  that 
his  pupils  had  become  so  numerous,  he  could  not  possibly  absent 
himself  from  them."  It  will  be  well  to  dwell  somewhat  on  those 
Sketches  J  as  nothing  can  bring  home  to  us  better  the  great  social 
changes  which  have  taken  place  in  the  county. 

Like  Beranger,  Lady  Morgan  paints  the  Cake-dance  and 
marks  its  peculiarities — the  large  cake  exhibited  conspicuously 
on  a  distaff  or  pole,  fixed  in  the  earth  ;  the  piper  seated  on  the 
ground  with  a  hole  dug  in  it  near  him  for  the  contributions  of 
the  dancers ;  the  spectators  made  up  of  the  young  and  the  old 
of  both  sexes,  who  had  come  for  miles  round  to  witness  the 
performance;  and  the  performers  themselves  in  the  centre  of" the 
ring,  exerting  themselves  with  as  much  earnestness  and  vigour 
as  if  life  and  death  hung  in  the  balaoce.  Lady  Morgan  loved 
to  attend  those  exhibitions,  and  it  was  while  witnessing  and 
studying  them  she  realized  what  she  calls  "  the  inordinate 
passion  of  the  Irish  for  dancing." 

Music  was  more  cultivated  in  those  days  in  the  county  Sligo 
than  since.  The  dance  itself  implied  some  acquaiotance  with 
the  strains  which  were  to  regulate  its  movements.  Several 
villages  included  among  its  inhabitants  a  fiddler,  or  a  piper, 
or  both ;  and  so  many  were  able  to  perform  on  the  flute  and  the 
fife,  that  if  a  professional,  at  a  merry  meeting,  got  tired,  and 
wished  for  a  little  rest,  he  could  find  plenty  of  young  fellows 
around  him  to  manage  the  instrument  till  he  was  able  to  resume. 
A  harper,  male  or  female,  might  still  be  seen  from  time  to  time, 
in  Lady  Morgan's  day,  about  the  county,  though  the  passion  for 
music  had  even  then  greatly  declined  from  what  it  was  fifty 
years  previous,  when  O'Neil,  the  famous  harper,  having  come 
to  the  house  of  Mr.  Irwin,  found  assembled  there  thirty-seven 
musicians,  professional  and  private  : — "  I  made,"  says  O'lsTeil,  as 
quoted  in  Fatriotic  Sketches,  "the  thirty-eighth;  and  before  we 
concluded  the  evening,  a  piper  claimed  admittance,  and 
according  to  the  good  old  Irish  custom  was  received,  and 
accommodated  with  a  good  supper  and  bed." 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  561 


As  might  be  expected  in  a  county  so  noted  for  its  patronage 
of  musicians,  Carolan  was  always  a  welcome  guest,  and,  in 
return  for  the  hospitality  received,  he  devoted  many  of  his  songs 
to  its  inhabitants,  as  '' O'Connor  Sligo,"  "  Edward  Corcoran," 
"Peggy  Corcoran,"  '* Nancy  Cooper,"  "Charles  Coote,"  "Sir 
Edward  Crofton,"  "  Mr.  James  Crofton,"  "  Mrs.  Crofton,"  "Miss 
Crofton,"  "  Edward  Dodwell,"  "  Maud  O'Dowd,"  ''  Mrs.  Fleming," 
"  Doctor  Harte,"  "  Colonel  Irwin,"  "  Loftus  Jones,"  "  Planxty 
Jones,"  "  Abigail  Judge,"  "  James  Plunket,"  and  "  Kian  O'Hara," 
(Hardiman's  Irish  Minstrelsy,  Yol.  I.,  p.  Iviii.)  Of  these  com- 
positions we  have  in  the  Irish  Minstrelsy,  "  Edward  O'Corco- 
ran,"  "  Doctor  Harte,"  "Madam  Crofton/'  "  Peggy  Corcoran," 
"Nancy  Cooper,"  and  the  "  Cup  of  O'Hara,"  both  originals  and 
translations,  the  famous  Thomas  Furlong  being  the  translator. 
Notwithstanding  the  fame  of  Sligo  for  music  and  song  in  the 
past,  popular  as  well  as  refined  music  was  at  a  rather  low  ebb 
in  the  county,  when  both  received  an  impulse,  the  former  from 
the  Fife  and  Drum  Bands,  and  the  Brass  Bands,  of  the  Land 
League,  and  the  latter  from  the  lessons  and  concerts  of  Messrs. 
Delany  and  Froggart. 


In  her  interesting  survey  of  county  Sligo  persons  and  things 
Lady  Morgan  does  not  forget  the 

HOLY   WELLS 

of  the  district.  While  out  of  an  evening  for  a  ramble  wi  th  some  of 
the  Crofton?,  she  came  across  the  well  of  Dromard,  near  Longford, 
and  has  left  a  good  account  of  its  appearance  and  the  observances 
connected  with  it.  The  well  itself  lay  in  a  little  circular 
spot  shaded  with  trees,  was  approached  through  a  rude  arch, 
and  was  covered  with  a  broad,  flat  stone,  no  doubt  to  preserve  it 
from  contamination  by  fowl  or  cattle.  Round  it  was  traced  the 
circle,  which  its  visitors  used  to  traverse  in  their  devotions,  stop- 
ping at  certain  stages  to  say  the  prayers  appropriate  to  them. 
Near  it  "  stood  a  simple  altar  enriched  with  stones,"  and  over 
the  altar  rose  an  oak  tree,  from  the  trunk  of  which  ^vas 
VOL.  n.  2  N 


562  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


suspended  a  wooden  crucifix,  and  to  the  branches  of  which  were 
fastened  small  bits  of  linen  or  other  cloth  as  souvenirs  of  the 
pilgrims'  visits.  At  the  close  of  his  visit  the  votary  drank  some 
of  the  water  out  of  a  vessel,  secured  for  the  purpose  by  a  chain 
to  an  adjoining  stone. 

The  foregoing  may  be  accepted  as  a  sufficiently  close  descrip- 
tion of  all  the  holy  wells  of  the  county,  and  of  the  ritual 
observed  at  them.  The  enclosed  and  protected  spring;  the 
circle  round  which  the  votary  moved  in  pious  meditation  and 
prayer ;  the  little  altar  with  its  mysterious,  rounded,  sea  stones, 
at  which  he  finished  his  pious  exercise ;  the  vessel  which 
supplied  the  draught  of  cold  water  ;  the  votive  offering  which 
recorded  the  gratitude  and  good  resolves  of  the  pilgrim ;  and 
the  crucifix  in  wood,  as  here  at  Dromard,  or  in  stone,  as  at 
Killaraght  (see  p.  S82)  and  some  other  places,  which  showed 
that  the  visit,  as  well  as  everything  done  during  it,  was  referred 
to  Him  who  was  thus  represented ;  are  all  duplicates  of  what 
might  be  found  at  Kilmacteige,  at  Achonry,  and  at  all  the  holy 
wells  of  the  country. 

It  is  not  well  known  when  pilgrimages  to  wells  began.  No 
doubt  the  springs  from  which  Saint  Patrick  and  the  primitive 
saints  took  the  water  with  which  they  baptized  their  converts 
were  held  in  veneration  from  the  beginning,  as  memorials  of 
the  national  apostle  and  his  associates  ;  but  though  individuals 
or  small  numbers  may,  on  this  account,  have  visited  them  in 
pre-Reformation  times,  it  is  likely  that  it  was  only  under  the 
pressure  of  the  persecution  and  Penal  Laws  which  followed  the 
Beformation,  the  popular  frequentation  set  in. 

When  Catholics  had  no  houses  of  worship  they  assembled 
round  those  venerated  wells  for  the  performance  of  the 
ordinances  of  religion ;  and  the  small  altar  would  go  to  show 
that  they  not  only  went  through  their  private  devotions  in  those 
places,  but  that  they  also  assisted  at  Mass  there.  At  first 
everything  passed  off  decorously  and  edifyingly,  but  in  the 
course  of  time  abuses  sprang  up  of  so  serious  a  character,  that 
both  the  ministers  of  religion  and  the  authorities  of  the  state 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  563 


felt  called  oa  alike  to  stop  them.  The  first  Act  to  Prevent  the 
further  growth  of  Popery  eo acted  that  all  *'resortings  of  pilgrims 
to  pretended  sanctuaries,  Patrick's  Well,  &c.,  should  be  deemed 
riots  and  unlawful  assemblies  ;"  while  ecclesiastical  synods 
condemned  some  of  those  "  patrons  "  as  "  scenes  of  drunkenness 
and  quarrelling,  and  of  other  most  abominable  vices,  by  which 
Eeligion  herself  is  brought  into  disrepute,  nay,  mocked,  and 
ridiculed ;  intemperance  and  immorality  are  encouraged ;  the 
tranquillity  of  the  country  is  disturbed,  and  the  seeds  of 
perpetual  animosities  and  dissensions  are  sown." 


Lady  Morgan  has  only  one  allusion  to 

WAKES. 

It  is  where  she  mentions  meeting  a  young  man  who  was  going 
to  siog  the  songs  of  Ossian  at  a  wake  which  was  held  in  a  place 
seven  miles  distant  from  where  she  met  him.  Though  the 
songs  of  Ossian  were  little  suited  to  such  an  occasion,  it  were 
well  if  no  greater  irregularity  occurred. 

It  is  well  known  that  Irish  wakes  were  often  scenes  of  great 
disorder — coarse,  not  to  say  indecent,  songs,  and  disgusting  as 
well  as  criminal  "  tricks,"  being  rather  common  incidents  of 
the  vigil.  The  songs  were  generally  composed  for  the  occasion 
by  some  village  poetaster,  and  were  little  else  than  lampoons 
on  people  present.  The  "  tricks  "  were  still  more  incongruous 
and  reprehensible,  and,  with  their  other  faults,  were  made  to 
serve  for  offensive  caricatures  of  obnoxious  persons. 

The  principle  of  making  those  tricks  the  means  of  gratifying 
personal  spite  and  revenge  was  carried  so  far,  that  one  of  them, 
called  "  The  Hen,"  seemed  invented  for  that  special  purpose. 
It  consisted  in  some  young  fellow  muffling  himself  up  in  a 
white  sheet,  so  that  he  could  not  be  recognized,  and  carrying  in 
his  hands  a  piece  of  iron  fashioned  and  sharpened  like  an  awl, 
with  which  he  pecked  after  the  manner  of  a  hen,  and  punctured 
in  a  barbarous  manner  the  skin  and  flesh  of  somebody  against 
whom  he  or  his  friends  had  a  grudge.     If  the  injured  party 


564  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


was  higli-spirited,  and,  particularly,  if  he  had  friends  present, 
this  cruelty  would  be  resented,  with  the  result,  that  a  free  fight 
took  place  in  the  wakehouse,  turning  everything  upside  down, 
extinguishing  the  lights,  and,  perhaps,  throwing  the  corpse  out 
of  its  resting  place,  as  sometimes  happened. 

It  was  not  often  the  evil  proceeded  so  far,  though  on  one 
occasion  at  least  it  proceeded  further,  even  to  the  length  of 
murder.  This  happened  about  forty  years  ago  in  a  wake  at 
Carrickbanagher.  The  wretch,  acting  "The  Hen,"  agreed  with 
confederates  that  they  would  station  themselves  outside  the 
door  of  the  wakehouse,  and  when  he,  by  pecking  and  puncturing. 
Lad  forced  a  certain  young  man  to  quit  the  house,  that  they 
would  fall  on  him  with  bludgeons,  when  seeking  escape.  The 
plot  was  carried  out ;  and  the  unfortunate  young  man,  who  was 
the  son,  and  the  only  son,  of  a  widow,  was  stretched  dead  on 
the  spot  the  moment  he  appeared  outside.  Providence  draws 
good  out  of  evil;  and  it  may  be  owing  a  good  deal  to  this 
enormity  that  the  parish  of  Ballysadare,  to  which  Carrick- 
banagher belongs,  has  been  long,  as  it  is  at  present,  more  free 
from  disorder  or  irregularity  at  wakes  than  any  other  in  the 
county. 

Other  evils  hardly  less  criminal  sometimes  took  place  in  the 
wakehouse,  which  there  is  no  need  to  describe  here,  but  of 
which  the  reader  will  get  a  good  idea  by  perusing  attentively 
the  following  extract  (Renehan's  Collections,  p.  144)  from  an 
ecclesiastical  ordinance  on  the  subject: — "Similiter  et  pro  defectu 
quem  alibi  in  exequiis  obrepere  conquerantur  pise  et  timoratas 
conscientiae,  ut  per  quorumdam  nebulonum  et  joculatorum 
nequitiam,  quae  nee  in  dome  convivii  ferenda,  inhonestae  can- 
tationes,  lascivae  gesticulationes,  quandoquidem  etiam  cum 
tenebris  opera  tenebrarum  turpiora  exerceantur,  et  cum  extinc- 
tione  luminis  pariter  extinguitur  timer  mortis  cujus  ut  imago 
in  cadavere  est  exposita  oculis,  ita  memoriae  mentis,  debet 
occurrere." 

Apart  from  such  iniquities,  which  were  exceptional,  country 
wakes  were  much  oftener  scenes  of  revelry  than  of  sorrow  or 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  565 


evea  seriousness.  While  the  house  iu  which  the  corpse  lay 
was  full  of  commotion,  and  the  voices  of  the  singers  were 
drowned  in  the  uproarious  noises  that  prevailed,  there  were 
sometimes  several  fires  lighted  in  different  places  round  the 
house,  each  with  its  own  company,  each  probably  with  a  singer, 
a  seanachie,  and  a  farceur  of  its  own.  Without  the  house  as 
well  as  within,  whiskey  circulated  freely,  the  consequence  being 
that  the  night  seldom  failed  to  bring  with  it  altercations  or  un- 
pleasantness of  some  kind.  It  was  a  common  remark  that  no 
wake  was  so  extravagant  in  outlay  on  whiskey  and  lights  as 
that  of  a  miser,  like  Jack  Phibbs,  thus  verifying  the  lines  : — • 

"  When  Hopkins  dies  a  thousand  lights  attend 
The  wretch  who,  living,  saved  a  candle's  end." 

It  must  not  be  inferred  from  what  has  been  said  that  all 
wakes  were  orgies  like  those  described.  This  would  be  at 
variance  with  the  fact,  as  the  majority  of  them  were  grave, 
sober  and  edifying  meetings  of  the  friends  of  the  decease  1.  In 
general,  the  relatives  of  the  deceased  were  opposed  to 
scenes  of  disorder ;  and  if  some  of  them  offered  no  active 
opposition,  it  was  because  they  were  unable  to  make  head 
against  the  torrent  of  custom,  and  afraid  to  make  enemies  for 
themselves  of  the  singers,  rhymers,  trick-mongers,  and  other 
ill-conditioned  persons  (the  "nebulones"  and  "  joculatores  "  of 
the  ecclesiastical  ordinance),  who  were  for  ever  on  the  look-out 
for  a  wake,  that  they  might  have  a  night's  carouse.  The 
families,  however,  who  were  powerful  enough  of  themselves,  or 
with  the  aid  of  friends,  to  defy  the  '^  shulers,"  took  care  to  keep 
them  at  a  distance,  and  thus  prevent  the  house  of  mournino* 
from  being  turned  into  a  house  of  riot,  though  refreshments 
were  usually  provided  in  it  for  all  the  decent  people  that 
attended.  Such  entertainments  were  spread  even  in  the  houses 
of  the  gentry,  who  hal  not  as  yet  adopted  the  present  unsocial 
practice  of  locking  up,  immediately  after  death,  the  corpse  of 
the  deceased  in  some  remote  room,  and  leaving  it  there,  without 
light   or   attendant,    till   the   day  of  the  funeral.     When  Mr. 


566  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 

Charles  O'Hara  died  in  1822,  the  neighbours  all  crowded  to 
the  wake,  and  were  received  with  welcome,  and  regaled  with 
the  customary  hospitalities. 


The  popular 

SPORTS 


of  the  county  have  undergone  much  the  same  sort  of  change 

as  its  popular  music.     Lady  Morgan,  in  one  of  the  Patriotic 

Sketches  (Sketch  XYI.),  acquaints  us  with  the  manly  exercises 

in  which  the  young  men  of  the  country  were  in  the  habit  of 

passing  the  afternoon  of  Sundays  and  holidays,   in  the  early 

years  of  the  century.     According  to  her  it  was  the  custom, 

after  returning  from  Mass,  to  move  to  a  secluded  field,  and  to 

engage,  some  in  a  hurling  match,  some  in  throwing  the  stone, 

and  some  in  running  and  jumping,  most  of  whom,  later  in  the 

day,  betook  themselves  to  the  Cake-dance,  either  as  spectators 

or  performers.     The  stone  throwing,  or  catlni  clogh,  as  it  was 

called  in  Irish,  she  thus  describes  with  the  accuracy  of  an 

accomplished  athlete : — "  The  candidate  who  pants  for  the  fame 

of  those 

'  Virtues  that  are  placed  in  nerve  and  bone,' 

takes  a  stone  of  immense  weight  in  his  right  hand,  inclines  his 
body  a  little  forward,  advances  one  leg,  poises  his  arm,  and 
after  two  or  three  balancing  motions,  flings  it  from  him  to  a 
considerable  distance."  The  exercise  here  described  she  iden- 
tifies with  the  pastime  of  the  discus  among  the  ancient  Greeks, 
though  in  this  she  is  in  error,  as  it  is  clear  from  the  famous 
statue  of  "Discobolus  throwing  the  Discus,"  that  the  Greek 
game  resembled  rather  the  modern  game  of  quoits. 

This  way  of  passing  the  afternoon  of  festivals  came  down 

from  remote  times,  and  left  marks  of  its  existence  in  the  names 

of  several  places,  as,  for  instance,  Tawnaphuhhle — Field  of  the 

Congregation — near  Cairn's  Hill,  which  must  have   got   that 

appellation  from  the  corgregation,  after  heaiirg  Mass  in  the 


HISTOKY   OF   SLIGO.  567 


Abbey,  retiring  to  it  for  relaxation  and  amusement.  Like  tbe 
national  music,  these  sports  have  been  revived  within  the  last 
few  years ;  and  if  they  are  now  less  spontaneous  and  hearty 
than  in  the  olden  time,  they  are  better  organized  and  regulated, 
and  more  dignified  than  ever  they  were  before.  And  what  is 
still  more  to  the  credit  of  the  revival,  the  games  of  the  present 
day  are  free  from  those  exhibitions  of  ill  temper  and  rude 
manners  which  too  often  in  the  past  led  to  a  general  quarrel, 
and  made  it  the  finale  of  the  exercises  of  the  day, 


Another  product  of  remote  times,  the 

SEANACHIE, 

or  Storyteller,  was  disappearing  in  the  days  of  Lady  Morgan,  and 
seems  now  entirely  gone.  His  self-imposed  functions  were,  firstly, 
to  serve  as  the  depository  and  exponent  of  all  local  traditions; 
and,  secondly,  to  sing  or  recite  at  wakes  and  other  popular 
gatherings  old  Irish  songs  and  poems,  particularly  those  of 
Ossian.  So  familiar  was  he  with  his  Ossian,  that  on  being 
asked  for  a  given  passage,  he  would  proceed  without  hesitation 
to  repeat  or  deliver  it,  like  the  young  man  of  whom  Lady 
Morgan  speaks  (Sketch  XIII),  who,  at  her  instance,  repeated 
"in  a  species  of  recitative,*'  and  "with  some  degree  of  epic 
fire,"  the  account  of  FingaFs  combat  with  the  Danish  monarch. 
If  asked  to  continue,  he  would  run  on  as  long  as  one  liked,  like 
Kory  M'Alpine  in  Scott's  *'  Antiquary,"  who  could  repeat  the 
whole  book  from  one  end  to  the  other ;  at  least,  "  if  he  was 
allowed  whiskey  enough,  could  repeat  as  long  as  anybody  would 
hearken  to  him." 

If  such  performances  were  more  ornamental  than  useful,  and 
served  for  little  else  than  to  prove  a  phenomenal  memory, 
which  might  perhaps  be  better  employed,  the  seanacJiies  other 
function  of  local  annalist  was  of  real  use  in  preserving  a  know- 
ledge of  interesting  facts,  which  must  otherwise  have  been  lost. 
John  O'Donovan,  when  preparing  his  **  Tribes  and  Customs  of 


568  HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


Hy-Fiachrach  "  for  the  press,  got  valuable  help  from  the  late 
Shane  Ban  Tempany,  of  Tireragh,  whom  he  describes  as  a 
living  library  of  local  traditions.  Though  every  one  could  not 
be  a  Shane  Ban  Tempany,  there  were  plenty  of  others  in 
Tireragh  and  elsewhere  who  possessed  a  good  knowledge  of  the 
folk  lore  of  the  country,  acquired,  for  the  most  part,  on  the 
long  winter  nights,  when  the  elders  and  youngsters  of  the 
village  gathered  round  some  fireside,  and  passed  the  time  in 
telling  of  the  days  that  were  gone,  and  the  remarkable  deeds 
that  were  done  in  those  days.  In  this  way  the  young  learned 
from  the  old,  and  handed  on  what  they  learned  to  those  who 
came  after  them,  so  that  the  tradition  was  kept  up  con- 
tinuously. 

After  a  life  nearly  as  long  as  Mathusalem*s,  the  Irish 
seanachie  is  dead  and  gone,  killed  by  the  penny  newspaper, 
which  is  now  the  chief  informant  and  teacher  of  Ireland,  as  of 
the  rest  of  the  world.  Under  the  new  order  of  things  no  one 
talks  or  thinks  of  the  olden  time,  all  being  absorbed  in  the  passing 
present.  The  "  news  of  the  day  "  has  taken  the  place  of  the 
lore  of  the  past;  Balfour  and  his  captives,  of  Niall  and  the 
Nine  Hostages;  Gladstone's  Church  and  Land  legislation,  of  the 
enactments  of  Felim  the  Lawgiver  and  Oormack  O'Quinn;  the 
Royal  Irish,  of  the  Fenian  militia;  the  raids  of  the  moon- 
lighters, of  the  Pursuit  of  Diarmaid  and  Graine ;  and  the 
multifarious  communications  of  "our  own  correspondent,"  of  the 
legends  of  the  saints,  and  the  myths  of  the  "good  people." 
Patriotic  proprietors  and  editors  of  newspapers  are  not  in- 
sensible of  the  duties  devolving  on  them  in  the  situation  thus 
created,  and,  accordingly,  by  devoting  much  of  their  space  to 
Irish  history  and  archaeology  in  editorials,  in  reviews  of  publi- 
cations on  these  subjects,  and  in  reports  of  transactions  con- 
nected with  them,  make  ample  amends  for  the  extinction  of  the 
race  of  our  Shane  Ban  Tempanys. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  569 


CONTRASTS. 

In  Sketch  XII.  Lady  Morgan  draws  a  graphic  picture  of  the 
interior  of  a  Tireragh  cabin,  as  it  appeared  on  the  occasion  of  an 
evening  visit  paid  to  it  by  herself  and  her  friends — an  itinerant 
*'  musical "  tailor  seated  in  the  centre  of  the  earthen  floor, 
plying  the  needle  by  the  light  of  a  rush  candle,  and  singing 
aloud  as  he  stitched  ;  the  younger  children  squatted  round  him, 
engrossed  alike  with  the  song,  and  with  the  little  frieze  jackets 
he  was  making  for  them ;  the  eldest  brother  stretched  on  some 
straw  near  them,  with  the  head  of  a  calf  resting  on  his  arm, 
and  "  the  parent  cow  slumbering  at  his  feet ;"  and  the  smoke, 
which  had  no  means  of  escape  but  the  door,  so  thick  that, 
though  it  had  no  effect  on  the  inmates,  it  obliged  the  visitors 
to  hurry  away.  All  this  is  so  altered  that  you  would  now 
search  Tireragh  in  vain  for  the  counterpart  of  the  scene. 

Petroleum  oil,  struck  for  the  first  time  in  1859,  has  not  only 
banished  the  rush  candle,  and  the  tallow  dip,  that  succeeded  it, 
but  has  furnished  the  humblest  houses  in  the  county  with  a 
lamp,  which  in  the  past  was  an  illuminant  confined  to  the 
mansions  of  the  rich;  the  ready-made  department  of  our  woollen 
warehouses  has  spoiled  the  trade  of  itinerant  tailors, "musical"  and 
other ;  the  sanitary  laws,  which  require  that  steadings  for  cattle 
shall  stand  apart  from  dwelling  houses,  have  largely  modified 
the  tender  relations  so  often  existing  between  cattle  and  their 
owners ;  and  if  more  smoke  than  is  good  for  the  eyes  may  still 
be  found  in  a  peasant's  or  herd's  residence  here  and  there,  this 
nuisance,  too,  is  greatly  abated,  and  will  soon  be  put  an  end  to, 
by  the  modern  practice  of  supplying  all  new  houses,  big  and 
little,  with  a  suitable  chimney. 

A  corresponding  improvement  has  taken  place  in  the  other 
matters  referred  to  in  the  "Patriotic  Setches."  The  scandals,  so 
often  witnessed  near  holy  wells,  have  entirely  ceased,  and,  with 
the  exception  of  an  occasional  devotee  who  still  finds  aids  to 
piety  in  the  associations  of  the  place,  the  crowds  that  thronged 
them  in  times  past  have  abandoned  them,  and  betake  themselves 


570  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


now  for  their  devotions  to  the  fine  churches  and  chapels  which 
have  been  recently  erected.  The  wake-house,  far  from  being  the 
resort  of  the  idle  and  dissolute,  by  whom  it  used  to  be  frequented, 
is  shunned  by  such  persons,  since  wakes  have  become  what  they 
now  are  :  orderly  and  solemn  meetings  of  aged  and  staid  people, 
who  pass  the  night  commonly  in  alternate  prayer  and  becoming 
conversation.  And  with  the  rough  and  disorderly  element,  which 
too  often  showed  itself  formerly,  eliminated,  athletic  sports,  as 
they  are  now  carried  on  under  the  rules  of  the  Gaelic  Athletic 
Association,  are  not  only  a  manly  and  bracing  exercise  for 
those  engaged  in  them,  but  also  a  school  of  good  manners  for 
both  the  athletes  themselves  and  the  spectators.  The  chief 
drawback,  in  connexion  with  them,  is  that  the  field  is  confined 
practically  to  persons  of  one  religious  denomination,  instead  of 
being  open,  as  every  lover  of  his  country  and  of  all  his  country- 
men should  wish,  to  every  young  man  of  the  neighbourhood 
irrespective  of  party  or  sectarian  consideration.  All  round, 
as  well  as  in  the  points  noticed,  the  present  state  of  things 
compares  favourably  with  the  past,  and  not  alone  in  Tireragh, 
to  which  Lady  Morgan  limits  her  remarks,  but  throughout  the 
whole  of  the  county. 

All  who  are  acquainted  with  the  facts  will  admit  that  the 
improvement  which  has  taken  place  in  regard  to  wells,  wakes, 
and  other  objects,  is  due  mainly  to  the  action  and  influence  of 
the  Catholic  Church.  Wells  were  an  occasion  of  great  religious 
error  previously  to  the  arrival  of  Saint  Patrick  ;  and  the  Vita 
Tripartita  gives  an  instance  of  this  in  one,  called  "  Tobar 
Finmaighe,"  which  the  people  honoured  as  a  god. 

Trees,  too,  and  stones  were  sources  of  superstition  among 
our  ancestors,  as  well  as  on  the  Continent,  where  they  often 
engaged  the  solicitude  of  ecclesiastical  councils  (Baluze,  Con- 
ciliorum  Nova  Collectio ;  Eichard,  Analyze  des  Conciles ; 
Labbe,  Collection  des  Conciles). 

It  is  a  pity  that  no  description  is  handed  down  of  the  stones 
thus  condemned,  though  they  would  seem  to  have  been  of 
different  kinds,  as  they  are  sometimes  styled  saxa,  sometimes 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  571 


petrce,  and  again  lapides.  The  rounded  or  oval  sea  stones 
found  at  Saint  Attracta's  well  in  Killaraght,  in  the  graveyard 
of  Inismurray,  in  the  burying-place  of  Killerry,  on  the  so-called 
"altar"  in  Toomour,  and  in  several  other  places  through  the 
county,  are  no  doubt  relics  of  this  widely-extended  superstition. 

The  exact  nature  of  the  practices  connected  with  these 
stones  is  not  known,  but  judging  from  what  is  told  of  the 
"  Malediction  Stones "  of  Inismurray,  it  would  appear  that 
the  stones  were  manipulated  for  the  purpose  either  of  clearing 
oneself  of  a  charge,  or  of  fixing  one  on  others,  and  invoking 
vengeance  for  it.  It  is  only  a  year  or  two  ago  that  an  angry 
islander  of  Inismurray,  who  fancied  himself  wronged  by  a 
person  with  whom  he  had  some  dealing,  went  to  the  priests  of 
the  parish,  and  asked  them  for  leave  to  "  turn  the  stones"  on 
the  supposed  wrong-doer.  In  the  Bollandist  life  of  St.  Kevin 
of  Glendalough  (See  O'Hanlon,  Part  61,  p.  41,)  there  is  an 
account  of  a  man  who  stole  an  animal  belonging  to  St.  Lugid,^ 
and  of  whom  it  is  said,  '*  Accessit  ad  signa  sacra  ut  juraret;" 
and  the  writer  cannot  help  thinking  that  the  signa  sacra  in 
question  are  no  other  than  the  seventeen  sea  stones  which,  after 
the  multitudinous  accidents  of  fourteen  or  fifteen  hundred 
years,  may  be  still  seen,  safe  and  undisturbed,  on  the  "altar" 
of  Toomour,  the  superstitious  veneration  of  the  people  serving 
as  their  safeguard  all  this  time. 

These  barbarous  and  sinful  customs,  whenever  they  were 
introduced,  became  enormously  aggravated  about  the  close  of 
the  sixteenth  and  the  earlier  years  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
when  the  Catholic  Church  was  under  the  ban  of  the  Govern- 
ment, its  action  paralysed,  and  its  priests  in  banishment. 
Other  evil  practices  —  drunkenness,  magical  incantations, 
keening  at  wakes  and  funerals  (ulalatus) — extended  widely  at 
the  same  time ;  and,  in  the  absence  of  regular  religious 
ministrations,  the  country  was  filled  with  impostors  of  all  kinds 
— fortune  tellers,  soothsayers,  "  wise  men,"  herb  curers,  and, 
godless  wretches,  who,  though  laymen,  carried  about  to  wells, 
and   fairs,  and  other  scenes  of  public  resort,  crosiers,  crosses, 


572  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


bells,  and  pretended  relics  ;  blessed  wells ;  imposed  hands  ;  and 
parodied  other  ecclesiastical  functions  and  ceremonies — these 
disorders  illustrating  well  the  evils  of  interfering  with  the  free 
action  of  the  Church. 

Such  sacrilegious  abuses  afflicted  the  ecclesiastical  authorities, 
who,  though  unable  to  appear  in  public  on  account  of  the  per- 
secution, managed  to  hold  a  Provincial  Synod,  for  the  province  of 
Tuam,  in  some  unknown  hiding  place  (in  quodam  refugii  loco) 
on  the  8th,  9th,  10th,  and  11th  January,  1660,  denounced  those 
fearful  scandals,  and  concerted  measures  for  their  suppression. 
The  blow  thus  dealt  was  followed  up  in  other  synods,  diocesan 
and  provincial,  with  the  result  that  most  of  the  province  of 
Connaught  is  now  entirely  free  from  the  evils  in  question ;  and 
so  it  is  right  to  remembar  that,  if  the  drunken  revels  and  other 
indecencies  formerly  prevalent  at  wakes  and  funerals  have 
nearly  ceased ;  if  the  superstitions  connected  with  wells,  trees, 
and  stones  have  practically  disappeared  ;  if  fortune-tellers  and 
other  professors  of  the  "  black  art "  are  no  longer  heard  of;  we 
are  mainly  indebted  for  these  blessings  to  that  Synod  of  1660, 
held  with  such  risk  to  all  who  took  part  in  it,  "  in  qwodam 
refugii  loco,"* 


*  The  following  are  some  of  the  acts  of  the  Council : — 

*'  Cum  ebrietas  sit  radix  multorum  malorum,  monentur  omnes  prsedicatores 
et  parochi  ut  acriter  invehantur  coatra  potatores,  et  maxime  cogentes  alios  ad 
excessivas  potationes  et  immoderates  propinationes. 

*'Prava  jurandi  consuetude,  blasphemandi,  execrandi  homines,  aut  alias 
creaturas  Daemonibus  devovendi ;  item  maleficia,  venelicia,  incantationes, 
pacta  Dsemonica,  consultationes  cum  Pythonyssis,  Sagis  et  similibus  suspectis 
persouis,  item  omue  genus  superstitionis,  quales  sunt  Cruces,  Imaginum  aut 
lapidum  coUectiones,  orationes  superstitiosa3,  herbaram  curationes,  insuffla- 
tiones,  mensurationes,  coUectiones  superstitiosse  herbarum  et  curationes,  cum 
similibus  e  medio  tollantur  ;  transgressores  vero  et  eorum  participes  severe 
puniantur. 

"  Prohibentur  tripudia,  tibicines,  symphonite,  comissationes  et  alii  abusus  in 
visitatione  fontium  et  aliorun  Sacrorum  locorum,  maxime  tempore  indulgen- 
tiarum. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  573 


"  Ob  temporum  injuriam  et  confusionem  irrepsit  prava  consuetudo  inter  nos 
ut  quidam  laici  intuitu  lucri  soleant  circumire  cum  crucibus,  baculis,  cam- 
panulis,  lapillis  in  reliquariis,  imponentes  manus  plebi,  et  benedictionem 
impertientes  quasi  more  clericorum,  aquam  benedicentes,  &c. ;  statuit  heec 
Synodus  ut  hie  abusus  aboleatur,  et  ut  minime  liceat  circumferre  incertas 
reliquias. 

*'  Moneantur  omnes  ut  in  Exequiis  Catholicorum  abstineant  ab  immoderatis 
potatiouibus,  commissationibus,  tripudiis,  lusis  et  similibus  profanis  cor- 
ruptelis  injuria  temporum  introductis,  atque  item  incondito  mulierum  ululatu  ; 
transgressores  vero  inducantur  ut  excessivos  hujusmodi  sumptus  seu  notabilem 
eorum  partem  in  Eleemosynam  et  pro  Missis  faciendis  impendant  animabus 
defunctorum. 

"  Cohibeantur  in  quantum  fieri  potest  frequentationes  nundinarum  et  mer- 
caturarum  absque  gravi  necessitate  diebus  festivis  relicto  sacro,  et  rixantes  in 
eisdem  puniantur  severe  ab  Ordinariis." 

Ireland  is  less  disgraced  at  present  by  superstitions  than  England,  where 
"  Pills  made  of  spiders'  webs  are  prescribed  as  a  remedy  for  ague  ;  warts  are 
charmed  away  by  pronouncing  a  magic  formula  ;  evil  spirits  are  exorcized  ; 
horse  shoes  are  nailed  over  doors  to  avert  witches  ;  a  belief  in  fairies,  or,  as 
they  are  called,  Pharisees,  has  not  died  out ;  and  circular  growths  of  fungus 
are  attributed  to  them." — Article  On  Sussex  in  Nineteenth  Century,  Aug.  1851. 


574  HISTORY   OF    SLIGO. 


RETROSPECT. 

Whoever  studies  the  history  of  the  county  Sligo,  even  in  the 
imperfect  version  contained  in  the  preceding  pages,  will  see 
that  society  in  the  county  has  been  always  progressive,  at  least 
since  the  time  of  St.  Patrick.  There  is  little  known  of  the 
state  of  things  which  prevailed  here,  or  in  other  parts  of  Ireland 
before  the  arrival  of  the  saint,  though  there  is  good  ground  for 
thinking  that,  in  the  absence  of  religion,  of  letters,  and  of  inter- 
course with  the  rest  of  the  world,  barbarism  and  crime  must 
have  been  general,  and  that  society,  if  anything  worthy  of  the 
name  existed,  must  have  been  in  a  very  archaic  state. 

And,  coming  to  times  subsequent  to  St.  Patrick,  it  is  not  easy 
to  reconcile  the  common  opinion,  that  Ireland  was  a  kind  of 
Paradise  for  three  centuries  after  its  conversion,  with  the  facts 
recorded  in  the  national  annals  for  that  period,  where  entries  of 
battles,  murder,  "jugulatio,"  burnings,  &c.,  form  the  staple  of 
the  compilation.  No  doubt  there  were  eminent  saints  and 
servants  of  God  in  the  county  in  those  days — Saint  Molaisse, 
of  Aughris  and  Innismurray;  Saint  Nathy,  of  Achonry  ;  Saint 
Fechin,  of  Bille ;  Saint  Aidan,  of  Cloonoghill  and  Monasteredan  ; 
Saint  Attracta,  of  Killaraght ;  Saints  Osnata,  Maadhnata,  and 
Talulla,  of  Carbury,  and  several  others ;  but  it  does  not  follow 
from  those  isolated  cases  that  the  county  in  general  was  in  so 
very  perfect  a  condition  in  regard  to  religion  and  morality.  The 
primitive  Church  of  Ireland  was  remarkable  for  its  monastic 
character,  and  it  would  appear  that  most  of  the  fervent  souls  of 
the  time  betook  themselves  to  religious  houses,  while  outside 
those  abodes  of  piety,  the  spirit  of  the  world  ruled  not  a  little  as 
before,  so  that  crime  may  not  have  been  as  much  checked  and 
diminished  among  the  mass  of  the  population  as  is  commonly 
supposed. 

Bishop  Lugid's  monastery  at  Toomour  may  serve  as  an  illus- 
tration of  this,  for  while  the  greatest  piety  was  practised  within 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  575 


the  establishment,  we  find  enormities  of  all  kinds,  wholesale 
murder,  robbery, and  sacrilege, taking  place  in  the  neighbourhood. 
(See  p.  210.)  Cardinal  Newman,  on  this  principle,  explains  the 
co-existence  in  Ireland,  at  a  later  period,  of  great  enlightenment 
and  great  ignorance,  the  enlightenment  existing  in  particular 
centres,  and  the  ignorance  outside.  He  adds,  that  this  state 
of  things  was  no  disparagement  of  the  Irish  monasteries,  as, 
"it  is  not  of  the  nature  of  colleges  and  cloisters  to  radiate 
knowledge  and  manners  through  a  population." 

A  somewhat  similar  condition  of  society  to  what  is  here 
supposed  may  be  found  in  the  county,  as  in  most  of  Ireland, 
through  all  the  middle  ages.  The  two  antagonistic  principles 
of  anarchy  and  culture  were  constantly  and  vigorously  at  work ; 
the  former  showing  itself  in  petty  wars,  raids,  and  family 
quarrels ;  and  the  latter,  chiefly  in  the  multiplication  of  religious 
houses  and  the  extension  of  their  influence.  It  is  admitted  that 
the  invasions  of  the  Danes  and  Anglo-Normans  introduced  new 
elements  of  mischief,  but  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  set  down 
their  influence  as  all  evil.  Excepting  the  attack  on  Innismurray, 
which  did  not  extend  to  the  mainland,  there  is  nothing  to  show 
that  the  Danes  had  anything  to  do  with  the  county,  good  or  bad  ; 
and  as  to  the  Anglo-Normans,  if  they  wrested  the  county  from 
the  native  chiefs  and  held  it  for  a  hundred  years,  it  must  not 
be  forgotten  that  they  founded  great  religious  establishments, 
like  the  Dominican  convent  of  Sligo ;  -while  the  castle  of 
Sligo,  which  Maurice  FitzGerald  erected,  and  the  other  castles 
erected  by  the  Bourkes  through  the  county,  if  they  helped  the 
invaders  to  terrorize  the  inhabitants,  served  also  to  diffuse 
enlarged  ideas  of  architecture  and  other  arts  among  the  natives, 
and  even  to  bring  home  to  them  the  necessity  of  providing 
some  such  places  for  themselves. 

We  read  of  many  heinous  crimes  of  a  private  kind  that 
happened  in  these  times,  such  as  the  assassination  of  Teige 
O'Connor  in  the  castle  of  Sligo  by  Donnell  O'Connor,  with  his 
own  hand  (see  Vol.  L,  p.  100),  and  the  sacrilegious  murder  and 
robbery  in  the  abbey  of  Drumcliff  (seeYol.I.,p.501),but  the  crying 


576  HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


evil  of  the  period  was  the  reckless  wars  which  were  constantly 
on  foot,  in  which  neither  age  nor  sex  was  spared,  in  which 
churches  were  destroyed  with  as  little  scruple  as  private  houses, 
and  in  which  enormities  like  those  that  occurred  in  Glean 
Fathroimhe  (see  Vol,  II.,  p.  145),  were  often  perpetrated.  Cathal 
Oge  O'Connor  of  Sligo  was  counted  the  most  chivalrous  and 
enlightened  chief  of  his  period,  and  yet,  our  annalists  record  of 
him  that  he  harried  both  church  and  territory,  and  that  a  couple 
of  months  before  his  death,  he  not  only  devastated  Meath,  but 
"  burned  fourteen  churches."  (Vol.  I.,  p.  94.)  Still,  under  his  rule, 
there  was  great  material  progress  in  and  around  Sligo  ;  for  he 
built  a  stone  and  mortar  bridge — one  of  the  first  in  Ireland — 
over  the  river  of  Ballysadare,  and  erected  houses  in  stone  and 
wood,  which  have  elicited  the  warm  admiration  of  all  our 
annalists, 

Froude,  in  his  English  in  Ireland  (Vol.  I.,  p.  15),  writes  : — 
''There  has  been  always  a  difficulty  in  understanding  how, 
among  a  lawless  people,  the  churches  and  monasteries  escaped 
destruction."  It  is  hard  to  tell  where  or  how  this  historian 
acquired  his  notions  of  the  conduct  of  the  Irish  in  regard  to 
their  churches.  It  was  not,  certainly,  in  the  authentic  annals  of 
the  country,  which  witness  in  every  page  to  the  wholesale 
destruction  of  those  sacred  structures  by  our  ancestors.  The 
real  difficulty  in  connexion  with  this  matter  is  to  understand 
how  Christians  could  burn  a  church,  as  they  constantly  did, 
with  as  little  scruple  as  they  would  burn  a  barn. 

A  much  better  authority  on  Irish  history  than  Mr.  Froude, 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Brewer,  thus  discourses  on  this  subject  in  his 
Introduction  to  the  second  volume  of  the  Calendar  of  the  Carew 
Manuscripts :  "  As  for  the  Irish  chiefs,  they  scrupled  not  to  burn 
churches  and  cathedrals  dedicated  to  the  service  of  the  old 
religion,  with  as  little  compunction  as  they  would  have  destroyed 
a  Protestant  barn  or  a  Protestant  sanctuary.  An  O'Neil  in 
Armagh  or  a  Fitzgerald  in  Kildare,  would  have  been  as  little 
withheld  by  religious  considerations  from  sparing  churches  or 
cathedrals,  had  it  suited  his  purpose,  as  Bale  of  Ossory,  or  George 


HISTOHY   OF   SLIGO.  577 


Brown  of  Dublin,  would  have  been  tender  of  a  friar's  house  or 
the  shrine  of  our  Lady  at  Trim." 

The  Insurrection  of  1641  opened  a  new  epoch  of  evil  on  the 
country.  The  ten  years  or  so  between  the  beginning  of  this 
insurrection,  in  the  last  months  of  1641,  and  its  close,  in  1652, 
stand  out  as  the  most  destructive  decade  through  which  the 
country  has  passed.  This  seventeenth  century,  with  its  mon- 
sters of  blood  and  iron,  like  Sir  Frederick  Hamilton,  and  its 
hypocritical  scoundrels  of  the  Titus  Oates  type,  like  Jeremiah 
Jones  and  Jeremiah  Fury,  weighed  heavier  on  the  county  than 
all  the  preceding  centuries.  Sir  William  Petty,  the  most  clear- 
headed of  political  arithmeticians,  sets  down  the  loss  of  life, 
during  the  decade  mentioned,  at  the  startling  figure  of  600,000 
souls.  Though  the  eighteenth  century  was  more  free  from  wars 
than  any  that  had  preceded,  it  had  its  share  of  the  curse  in 
1798,  when  the  French  invasion  led  to  considerable  loss  of  life 
and  property.  Competent  authorities  state  that  the  insurrection 
of  this  year  was  crushed  only  by  an  army  of  100,000  men,  and 
at  an  expense  of  60,000  lives.  A  good  many  men  of  the  county 
Sligo  fell  during  the  campaign  started  by  the  French,  who 
landed  at  Killalla ;  and  the  money  paid,  under  the  name  of 
compensation,  to  so  called  '"  suffering  loyalists,"  alone  amounted 
to  £3,881,  5s.  3d.,  a  sum  equal  to  twice  that  amount  at 
present. — See  Appendix. 

This  epoch,  which  opened  in  1641,  and  which  may  be  called 
the  Cromwellian  Epoch,  lasted  down  to  our  own  time ;  the  aim 
of  the  State,  during  the  period,  being  to  aggrandize  the  few — 
the  descendants  of  Cromwell's  settlers — at  the  cost  of  the 
many — the  mass  of  the  people  ; — and  the  means  employed  for 
the  accomplishment  of  this  gigantic  injustice  being,  first,  the 
sword,  and,  after  the  disuse  of  the  sword,  the  law,  and  the 
tyranny  practised  under  the  law,  by  Cromwellian  landlords, 
magistrates,  and  country  gentlemen.  It  is  strange  that  all  this 
should  result,  as  it  has  resulted,  in  the  loss  of  the  petted  minions 
of  the  State,  and  the  gain  of  the  robbed  and  persecuted  body  of 
the  people. 

VOL.  II.  2  o 


578  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


Society  then  in  the  county  has  been  always  progressing,  if 
with  varying  velocities.  The  tide  was  ever  on  the  flow,  though 
circumstances  made  it  sometimes  look  as  if  it  were  receding. 
The  advancement  was  never  so  marked  as  within  the  present 
century.  The  sword,  used  so  unsparingly  and  so  long,  has 
been  returned,  it  is  hoped  finally,  to  the  scabbard  ;  the  law  is 
no  longer  the  chief  instrument  of  injustice ;  and  the  tyranny 
practised  by  individuals  is  greatly  restricted,  if  not  yet  quite 
abolished.  On  the  other  hand  the  principal  elements  or  factors 
of  progress — religion,  education,  and  material  well-being 
— have  prevailed  all  round  and  hold  the  field. 

Eeligion — taking  the  word  in  a  wide  sense,  so  as  to  include 
the  systems  of  faith  and  worship  of  the  different  local  denomi- 
nations of  Christians — was  never  so  prosperous  in  the  county 
as  at  the  present  time.  Instead  of  being  degraded  or  per- 
secuted, as  it  was  about  a  hundred  years  ago,  when  the 
Presbyterians  used  to  be  turned  out  of  the  Market  House 
of  Sligo  to  make  room  for  strolling  players ;  and  when  the 
Catholics,  after  surviving  the  sword  of  Cromwell,  and  the  laws 
of  Anne,  had  to  celebrate  their  rites  with  fear  and  trembling  in 
secluded  fields  or  other  out-of-the-way  places,  as  if  they  were 
felons  ;  the  religion  of  the  one  and  of  the  other  is  now  not  only 
free  and  flourishing,  but  honoured  and  respected  by  all. 

Of  the  many  signs  and  proofs  of  social  progress  that  surround 
us,  there  is  none  so  striking  as  the  activity  and  energy  with 
which  the  members  of  the  different  religious  denominations  of 
the  county  support  their  respective  churches.  There  is  no 
occasion  to  say  anything  here  of  the  Catholic  Church,  as  the 
position,  which  it  occupies  in  the  town  and  county,  is  known 
and  acknowledged.  Without  being  able  to  compete  with  it  in 
numbers,  in  houses  of  worship  like  the  stately  cathedral  and 
some  other  churches,  or  in  splendour  and  solemnity  of  cere- 
monial, the  other  denominations  exhibit  at  least  equal  zeal  in 
maintaining  their  different  forms  of  belief  and  worship. 

And  this  is  proved  not  only,  nor  so  much,  by  the  edifices 
consecrated  by  each  to  the  service  of  its  religion,  as  by  the 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


579 


personal  efforts  and  sacrifices  daily  made  for  it.  Read  the 
Sligo  newspapers  and  you  will  find  there  abundant  proofs  of 
what  is  here  stated.  There  you  see  the  clergy  of  the  different 
sects  trying  to  satisfy  and  edify  their  flocks  by  supplementing, 
from  time   to  time,  their   ordinary  service  with  new   special 


THE  CATHEDRAL  OF  SLIGO.'' 


services — "choir  services,"  in  which  as  many  as  ten  choirs, 
containing  hundreds  of  well-trained  voices,  take  part;  "  mission 
services,"  in  which  Protestant  clergymen,  like  the  members  of 
religious  orders  in  the  Catholic  Church,  give  "  missions  "  to  the 


*  Drawn  from  a  photograph  by  "W.  F.  Wakeman  for  the  Rev.  Dr.  O'Rorke, 
Parish  Priest,  CoUooney. 


580  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


people ;  "  revival  services,"  with  which  they  try  to  stir  up  the 
cold  and  the  tepid,  and  to  fill  them  with  fervour ;  "  harvest 
home  services,"  in  which,  while  the  places  of  worship  are 
suitably  decorated  and  furnished  with  specimens  of  the  fruits 
of  the  earth,  they  praise  and  thank  God  "for  giving  the 
increase;"  "midnight  or  watchnight  services"  on  the  31st  of 
December,  the  last  night  of  the  year,  in  which,  beginning  about 
ten  o'clock  and  lasting  till  twelve,  all  present  have  the  happiness 
of  joining  in  thanksgiving  for  past,  and  petitions  for  future^ 
blessings,  and  of  singing  "  out  the  old  and  singing  in  the  new 
year ;"  and  various  other  services,  as  for  confirmation,  for  ordina- 
tion, and  such  like  ordinances,  rites,  or  functions. 

The  contrast  between  the  actual  rectors  of  the  late  Established 
Church  and  their  predecessors  of  eighty  or  ninety  years  ago, 
evidences  a  great  religious  advance.  Like  Martha  in  the 
Gospel,  the  rectors  of  the  early  years  of  the  century  were 
"  troubled  about  many  things."  Most  of  them  were  magistrates, 
and  thus  implicated  constantly  in  secular  business;  others,  as 
E-ev.  William  Grove,  of  Kilmacshalgan  and  Templeboy,*  Rev. 
James  Nelligan,  of  Kilmacteige,  and  Rev.  Charles  West,  of 
Ahamlish,  were  land  agents — an  office,  then  as  now,  little  con- 
ducive to  a  religious  frame  of  mind  ;  while  some,  like  the 
Rev.  Carn  Cross  Cullen,  held  high  rank  in  military  corps — 
a  position,  one  would  think,  still  more  incompatible  than  that 
of  magistrate  or  land  agent  with  the  ministry  of  the  Prince  of 
peace.f 


*  The  Sligo  Journal  of  December  21st,  1804,  contains  the  following  advertise- 
ment:— 

"NOTICE. 

Rev.  Wm.  Grove  will  be  at  M 'Bride's  Hotel  on  the  4th  January 
next,  to  receive  the  rents  of  the  Sligo  estate  of  Chas.  Tottenham,  Esq., 
when  he  hopes  to  meet  the  tenants,  and  requests  they  will  bring  with 
them  their  last  receipts.     Dec.  2l8t,  1804." 

t  The  following  Address  and  Reply  appeared    in    the    Sligo  Journal   of 
August  23rd,  1805  :— 


HISTORY   OF  SLIGO.  581 

Our  modern  rectors,  on  the  other  hand,  leaving  civil 
magistracies,  land  agencies,  and  military  captaincies  to  laymen, 
have,  with  Mary,  chosen  the  "  best  part,"  and  regard  devotion 
to  clerical  duty  as  the  "  one  thing  necessary." 

The  laity  on  their  side  exert  themselves  with  corresponding 
zeal.  So  diligent  are  they  in  the  cause,  that  it  would  appear 
as  if  they  were  constantly  engaged  in  raising  funds  for 
*'building,"  "enlarging,"  "restoring,"  "re-modelling,"  "repairing," 
or  "  decorating  "  "  churches"  and  "  schools."  In  furtherance  of 
such  undertakings,  young  ladies  of  the  first  county  families 
figure  before  the  public  in  amateur  theatricals,  in  which,  by 
the  way,  they  acquit  themselves  in  a  style  that  would  do  credit 


"  To  the  Rev.  CARN  CROSS  CULLEN,  Captain  of  the  Manorhamilton 
Corps  of  Cavalry, 

*'  TITE,  the  Officers,  Non-commissioned  Officers,  and  Privates  of  the 
Manorhamilton  Corps  of  Cavalry,  beg  you  to  be  assured  how 
very  sincerely  we  participate  with  you  on  the  loss  of  our  much  valued 
and  respected  Captain. — We,  at  the  same  time,  are  anxious  to  express 
how  highly  gratified  we  are  at  your  succeeding  him,  and  as  a  Token 
of  our  Esteem  and  Approbation,  beg  your  Acceptance  of  a  Sword. 

"  (Signed  by  Order), 

*' PATRICK  GREGG,  Pt.  Sergt. 
''August  11th,  1805." 

"  To   the  Officers,  Non-commissioned  Officers  and  Privates  of  the  Manor- 
hamilton Corps  of  Yeomen  Cavalry. 

Gentlemen, 
"  rpHE  approbation  you  are  pleased  to  express  at  my  being  appointed 
to  the  Honour  of  commanding  you,  is  highly  gratifying  to  me.  I 
request  you  to  be  assured  of  my  Inclination  to  promote,  to  the  utmost 
of  my  power,  the  welfare  of  the  Manorhamilton  Corps,  as  that  Con- 
sideration alone  induced  me  to  accept  the  Command  of  it. — The  sword 
you  are  pleased  to  honour  me  with,  I  accept  with  the  greatest 
Pleasure,  as  an  additional  Pledge  of  the  Regard  you  entertain  for 

me. 

"  I  have  the  Honour  to  be,  Gentlemen, 

"  Your  faithful  and  assured  humble  Servant, 

"CARN  CROSS  CULLEN, 

"  Capt.  Manorhamilton  Cavalry, 
^'Skreeny,  July  12th,  1805." 


582  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


to  trained  professionals.  Young  men  help  the  work  with 
concerts,  lectures,  debates,  recitations,  entertainments,  and 
soirees  of  a  hundred  other  kinds. 

Bazaars,  it  need  hardly  be  added,  are  in  frequent  requisition. 
In  addition  to  the  two  great  annual  bazaars  held  in  Sligo — one 
for  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  and  the  other  for  the  County  Sligo 
Protestant  Orphan  Society — there  is  hardly  a  village  in  the 
county  that  has  not  its  local  bazaar.  So  potent  are  the 
influences  at  work,  that  professional  men  and  public  officers, 
carried  away  by  the  fashion  of  the  time,  and  the  exuberance  of 
their  own  zeal,  in  the  midst  of  all  their  urgent  engagements 
and  avocations,  manage  to  get  up  little  lotteries  or  bazaars  of 
their  own. 

Collection  cards  are  so  common  that  you  meet  them  every- 
where— on  the  road,  in  shops,  at  fairs  and  markets,  in  the 
houses  of  friends,  and  in  your  own  house,  where  "  pushing  " 
little  boys  and  girls,  like  drivers  of  bread  vans,  bring  you  the 
article,  just  to  save  you  the  trouble  of  looking  for  it  elsewhere. 
In  a  word,  available  agencies  of  all  kinds  are  set  in  motion, 
with  the  result  that  everybody,  to  use  an  Americanism,  is 
"  utilized,"  and  made  to  contribute  one  thing  or  another — the 
rich,  money;  rich  and  poor,  objects  for  bazaars;  the  musical, 
the  eloquent,  the  facetious,  their  respective  gifts  in  concerts, 
lectures,  and  entertainments ;  paterfamilias,  his  advice  and 
experience  as  an  organizer ;  and  his  pretty  and  precocious 
little  folks,  their  incomparable  services  as  ticket  touters. 

There  is  one  great  evil  that  might  result  from  the  entertain- 
ments referred  to,  and  more  especially  from  these  lectures  and 
debates,  if  they  were  not  carefully  and  charitably  managed.  It 
is  the  stirring  up  of  sectarian  feeling.  The  subjects  which  are 
more  commonly  chosen,  as  St.  Patrick,  the  Armada,  the  Inqui- 
sition, Cromwell,  Luther,  the  Heformation,  may,  no  doubt,  be 
handled  so  as  to  do  good,  without  causing  harm  to  anyone,  but 
it  is  only  by  avoiding  the  traditional  treatment  they  receive  at 
the  hands  of  platform  spouters,  that  this  can  be  accomplished. 

At  present  the  outside  public  have  not  the  means  of  judging 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  583 


the  real  character  of  these  lectures  from  the  summaries  of  them 
that  are  sometimes  published ;  for  the  abstracts  may  be  so 
manipulated  as  to  leave  out  the  obnoxious  parts,  perhaps  the 
very  passages  which  were  most  energetically  enforced  in  the 
delivery.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  most  lecturers  would  be 
incapable  of  this  double  dealing,  and  that  they  would  leave 
these  esoteric  and  exoteric  manoeuvres  to  the  Pagan  philosophers 
who  invented  and  practised  them  ;  but  if  some  unprincipled 
man,  in  order  to  inoculate  his  juvenile  hearers  with  the  anti- 
Roman  rabies,  should  make  use  of  the  denunciation  of  "  Pope 
and  Popery,"  which  is  the  usual  contrivance  employed  for  the 
communication  of  the  virus,  he  would  be  sure  to  keep  his  most 
offensive  utterances  out  of  the  newspapers.  All  that  need  be 
said  here  of  such  a  man  is,  that  it  might  be  well  for  him  to 
reflect  on  what  is  said  in  Proverbs  of  "  him  that  soweth  discord 
among  brethren."  The  speaker  in  question  might  gain  from 
some  silly  people  the  reputation  of  a  "sound  Protestant,"  but  it 
is  likely  he  would  be  regarded  by  men  of  sense  as  a  rather 
equivocal  Christian. 

If  let  alone  and  unprovoked,  the  people  of  Sligo,  without 
distinction  of  creed,  are  inclined  to  live  on  friendly  terms  with 
one  another.  In  this  respect  Sligo  compares  favourably  with 
many  other  districts.  When  several  districts  were  disturbed  by 
the  doings  of  the  Whiteboys  in  the  latter  years  of  the  last 
century,  of  the  Molly  Maguires  in  1845,  and  of  the  Fenians  in 
1867,  Sligo  was  as  tranquil  as  if  nothing  unusual  were  hap- 
pening elsewhere.  The  attitude  of  the  people  during  the  last 
seven  or  eight  eventful  years  is  highly  creditable  to  them,  for 
though  they  may  have  wished  well,  like  others,  to  the  political 
and  economic  movements  in  progress,  they  took  care  to  avoid 
the  outrages  which  brought  discredit  on  other  places.  Except 
the  deplorable  tragedy  of  Monasteredan,  and  the  disagreeable 
doings  in  the  chapel  of  Gurteen,  and  one  or  two  other  regrettable 
occurrences,  there  was  no  serious  crime  in  the  neighbourhood. 
This,  no  doubt,  may  be  due,  in  some  measure,  to  the  modera- 
tion  of  those   who   had   control  of  the  police,  and,  in  large 


584  HISTORY   OF   SLIOO. 


measure,  to  the  prudence  and  humanity  of  the  Sheriff,  in  the 
discharge  of  his  vexatious  duties,  but  it  is  mainly  referrible 
to  the  intelligence  and  morality  of  the  people  themselves,  who 
shrank  from  crime  as  a  means  even  for  the  vindication  of  rights 
or  the  removal  of  grievances.  The  man  has  much  to  answer 
for  who  throws  the  apple  of  discord  among  such  a  people,  be 
he  priest,  parson,  landlord,  or  merchant. 

And  whatever  excuse  may  be  alleged,  or  pretended,  for  the 
priest  or  the  parson,  who  is  under  official  obligation  to  the 
section  of  the  population  that  forms  his  flock,  there  can  be  none 
for  the  landlord  or  merchant  who,  receiving  like  rents  or 
commodities  from  Catholic  and  Protestant,  owes  a  like  return  to 
both.  There  is  as  little  room  for  partiality  and  "respect  for 
persons  "  in  landlord  and  tenant  relations  as  in  religion,  so  that 
the  landlord  who  takes  the  tenants  of  his  own  religion  to  his 
bosom,  and  keeps  the  others  at  an  arm's  length,  violates  one  of 
the  most  elementary  of  his  duties. 

This  is  bad  enough,  but  the  persons  in  question  are  open  to  a 
still  weightier  charge,  that  of  hindering  and  preventing  the 
union  of  Irishmen.  To  this,  considering  the  place  they  occupy 
in  their  respective  districts,  their  example  necessarily  leads. 
Regis  ad  exemplum  totus  componitur  orhis ;  and  when  those 
connected  with  him,  or  depending  in  any  way  on  him,  see  the 
local  magnate  systematically  excluding  Catholics  from  friendly 
relations,  they  conclude  that  the  surest  way  to  gain  his  favour  is 
to  imitate  his  exclusiveness.  Accordingly  their  convivialities  are 
tabooed  to  Catholics.  One  can  understand  why  meetings  for 
religious  purposes  should  be,  and  meetings  for  political  purposes 
may  be,  exclusive,  but  the  line  should  be  drawn  here,  and  should 
not  be  extended  so  as  to  include  gatherings  for  social  pleasures, 
such  as  a  tea  or  a  dance,  which,  though  coming  off  in  public 
places,  and  with  admission  by  priced  ticket,  are  becoming  in  some 
quarters  as  exclusive  as  a  select  vestry,  or  an  Orange  lodge. 

While  such  one-sidedness  is  practised,  the  country  can  never 
prosper.  Under  this  system,  Protestants  and  Catholics  would 
live  together  just  as  the  Danes  and  Irish  formerl}'  did,  side  by 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  585 


side,  it  is  true,  but  without  ever  amalgamating.  Whoever  then 
aids  in  perpetuating  this  system,  be  he  landlord,  landlord's  agent, 
merchant,  or,  as  sometimes  happens,  public  official,  incurs  no  com- 
mon responsibility  ;  for  though  the  man  whom  the  shoe  pinches 
may  think  rack-renting  a  greater  evil,  those  who  take  a  more 
comprehensive  and  disinterested  view,  will  set  down  this  fostering 
of  divisions  among  the  people  as  the  greatest  of  social  crimes. 

The  example  thus  set  by  men  of  position  is  more  far-reaching 
than  they  would  wish.  In  the  interdependence  that  exists 
between  the  different  sections  of  the  people,  the  influence  which 
affects  one  section,  is  sure,  sooner  or  later,  directly  or  indirectly, 
to  affect  the  rest,  though,  perhaps,  in  a  different  manner.  Thus 
the  scandalous  partiality  of  a  landlord  for  his  co-religionists  tells 
on  others  in  a  way  that  may  prove  inconvenient  to  him  and  the 
country ;  for  it  drives  many,  either  in  self-defence  or  in  retalia- 
tion, into  combinations  which  too  often  are  formed  on  the 
principle  of  "  an  eye  for  an  eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth.'*  For 
this  there  is  perhaps  no  justification,  if  there  is  some  palliation  ; 
but  if  the  peasant,  the  mill  operative,  the  farm  labourer,  the 
hodman,  is  blameworthy  for  such  proceedings,  how  much  more 
inexcusable  is  the  landlord,  or  other  gentleman  of  position,  who 
sets  the  bad  example,  and  to  whom  his  education,  position,  and 
the  charities  of  civilization  should  have  taught  better  things. 

Every  one  who  feels  the  laudable  ambition  of  serving  his 
country,  in  however  humble  a  way,  should  exert  himself  to  put 
an  end  to  the  estrangement  of  our  countrymen  from  one  another, 
and  to  substitute  the  fusion  and  mutual  friendship  of  all  Irish- 
men, whether  they  be  Protestants  or  Catholics,  of  Saxon  or  of 
Celtic  descent.  Let  people  be  as  fervent  as  they  may  in  the 
profession  and  practice  of  their  respective  religions — and  the 
more  fervent  they  are,  the  better  for  the  country  as  well  as  for 
themselves ; — but  let  them  never  forget  that  patriotism  is  a 
religions  as  well  as  a  natural  virtue,  and  that  it  binds  one  to  love 
and  help  all  one's  countrymen  without  distinction  of  creed,  class, 
or  race.  Fair  play  to  all,  partiality  to  none,  should  be  the  motto 
of  every  genuine  patriot. 


586  HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 

There  are  some  silly  people  who  think,  if  our  English  and 
Scotch  settlers  took  themselves  away  to-morrow,  hag  and 
baggage,  the  country  would  be  well  rid  of  them.  This  is  not 
the  opinion  of  those  whose  opinion  carries  weight.  There  is 
room  enough  among  us  for  them  all.  Sensible  people  would 
count  the  day  a  bad  one  for  Ireland  on  which  it  lost  the  English 
and  Scotch  elements  of  the  population. 

Let  us  by  all  means  retain  and  cherish  the  genuine  "  old 
stock" — our  O'Connors,  O'Haras,  McDonoghs,  and  the  rest, 
but  let  us  welcome,  rather  than  reject,  an  infusion  of  new  blood. 
What  is  wanted  is  an  amalgamation  of  existing  elements,  and 
not  an  elimiuation  of  any  of  them ;  and  if  the  assimilation  could 
be  effected,  the  more  numerous  the  constituents  the  better,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  great  English  nation,  which,  to  use  the  words 
of  Cardinal  Newman,  is  "  the  composite  of  a  hundred  stocks." 

Education,  though  it  has  not  made  as  much  progress  as 
religion,  nor  perhaps  as  much  as  it  ought,  is  in  a  fairly  satis- 
factory condition.  As  to  primary  education,  every  parish  in 
the  county  is  well  supplied  with  National  schools,  and  in  the 
matter  of  secondary,  St.  John's  College,  Sligo,  Mr.  Eades' 
School,  Sligo,  and  Primrose  Grange  School,  Knocknarea,  leave 
little  to  be  desired.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  there  is  no 
technical  or  art  education  to  be  had  in  the  county,  and  this 
want  may  explain  how  it  is  that  Sligo  men  do  not  come  to  the 
front  in  the  battle  of  life  as  often  as  the  inhabitants  of  other 
Irish  towns  of  similar  size  and  population. 

The  MATERIAL  WELL-BEING  of  the  county  is  in  a  much  more 
advanced  state  than  it  ever  was  before.  The  mass  of  the  people 
are  now  very  differently  housed,  fed,  and  clothed  from  what 
they  used  to  be  in  times  past.  Mud  cabins,  so  common 
formerly  in  the  county,  and  not  uncommon  even  in  the  town, 
have  nearly  disappeared ;  and  stone  houses,  consisting  of  one 
apartment  for  the  family  and  the  cattle  of  the  family,  are 
hardly  to  be  found — animals  being  now  kept  in  some  kind  of 
separate  steading. 
A  like  change  for  the  better  has  taken  place  in  the  people's 


HISTORY  OF  SLIGO.  587 


food.  No  one  would  put  up  in  these  days  with  the  potatoes 
and  salt,  which  not  unfrequently  formed  the  poor  man's  meal 
in  the  first  years  of  the  current  century  ;  nor  with  the  potatoes 
and  salt  herring,  or  potatoes  and  buttermilk,  which,  more 
commonly,  served  about  the  same  time  for  the  dinner  and  the 
breakfast  of  labourers  and  their  families.  You  might  travel 
now  through  the  whole  county  without  meeting  an  instance  of 
the  "  poor  man's  meal,"  as  described  by  Arthur  Young  some- 
thing more  than  a  century  ago  : — "  The  potato  basket  placed 
on  the  floor,  the  whole  family  upon  their  hams  around  it, 
devouring  a  quantity  almost  incredible,  the  beggar  seating 
himself  to  it  with  a  hearty  welcome,  the  pig  taking  his  share 
as  readily  as  the  wife,  the  cocks,  hens,  turkeys,  geese,  the  cur, 
the  cat,  and  perhaps  the  cow — and  all  partaking  of  the  same 
dish." 

With  this  picture  under  the  eye  one  can  appreciate  the 
progress  that  has  been  made  as  well  in  regard  to  the  meal 
itself  as  to  the  serving-up  of  it.  If  the  potato  forms  still  the 
chief  article,  the  piece  de  resistance,  of  the  poor  man's  dinner, 
the  sweet  milk,  the  bit  of  butter,  the  occasional  egg,  or  the  slice 
of  American  bacon  which  accompanies  it,  gives  it  a  palatable- 
ness  and  nutritiousness  which  it  lacked  in  the  past ;  while  the 
breakfast  of  bread,  butter,  and  tea,  and  the  supper  of  stirabout, 
or  of  bread  and  milk,  give  the  diet  of  the  day  the  variety  so 
conducive  to  health  and  enjoyment. 

The  table  and  the 'table  things — appointments  is  too  big  a 
word  for  the  occasion — indicate  still  better  than  the  fare  the 
progress  made.  The  humblest  cabin  in  the  county  contains  in 
these  days  a  small  table  of  some  kind,  on  which  a  coarse  delf  dish 
and  a  couple  of  plates  do  duty  for  the  basket  of  Arthur  Young's 
time.  Though  the  beggar  is  still  welcome  to  a  share  of  what 
is  going  at  meal  hours,  the  pig  and  the  cow,  the  dog  and  the 
cat,  and  the  rest  of  them,  do  not  take  their  places  now  as 
commensals  with  the  members  of  the  family,  who  no  longer 
push  the  kindness  they  still  feel  for  their  cattle  to  the  revolu- 
tionary  length  of  equality  and  fraternity.     It  is  pleasant  ta 


588  HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 

foe  able  to  report,  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  sssthetic,  that  the 
ungraceful  fashion  of  ''resting  on  the  hams"  is,  except  at  the 
pic-nics  of  the  gentry,  gone  out  quite  as  much  as  the  recumbent 
posture  of  the  old  Romans  at  their  meals. 

Improvement  in  the  wearing  apparel  of  the  lower  classes  is 
as  marked  as  the  changes  for  the  better  in  their  houses  and 
their  food.  Instead  of  the  "  concrete  of  glutinous  rags,"  which, 
according  to  John  Hill  Burton  in  his  History  of  Scotland, 
formed  the  "  national  costume  of  the  Irish  peasant "  in  the 
beginning  of  the  century,  the  humblest  countrymen  are  now 
clad  in  fair  suits  of  frieze  or  tweed. 

In  looking  back  then  on  the  march  of  events  in  the  county, 
there  is  no  great  reason  to  complain,  as  it  has  been,  on  the 
whole,  and,  generally,  in  a  forward  direction.  While  the  town, 
with  the  adjoining  district,  has  passed,  as  we  have  seen,  through 
several  phases,  each  new  phase  has  proved  in  the  long  run,  if 
not  at  first,  an  advance.  To  say  nothing  of  the  state  of  things 
which  existed  anterior  to  the  arrival  of  the  English  in  the 
district,  Sligo  in  the  time  of  the  Fitzgeralds  was  a  mere  camp 
for  the  foreigners  employed  in  fighting  against  the  local  Irish 
chiefs.  Under  the  O'Connors  it  was  a  Celtic  chieftainship  like 
those  that  flourished  at  the  same  time  in  Scotland.  In  the 
days  of  Cromwell  and  the  Commonwealth  it  was  a  garrison  for 
keeping  hold  of  the  country ;  and  it  is  this  garrison  which 
developed  through  time  into  the  oligarchy  of  Cromwelliau 
landlords,  who  have  been  the  virtual  rulers  of  the  county  for 
more  than  two  hundred  years,  doing  with  its  inhabitants  pretty 
much  as  they  liked  in  the  meantime. 

There  is  no  occasion  to  be  a  seer  to  be  able  to  tell  that  this 
latest  social  phase  is  fast  passing  away,  and  is,  at  the  moment, 
only  a  simulacre  or  ghost  of  what  it  once  was.  Undermined 
by  Mr.  Gladstone's  Church  and  land  legislation  ;  discredited 
by  revelations  in  the  law  courts,  as  in  the  case  of  Lord  Clan-, 
rickarde ;  and  looked  on  with  aversion  by  both  legislature  and 
the  public,  "Cromwellian  landlordism"  is  just  now  in  the  con- 
■dition  of  the  barren  fig-tree,  and  the  order,  which  is  already 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO.  589 


on  the  lip,  must  soon  go  forth,  "  Cut  it  down,  why  cumbereth 
it  the  ground  ?"  Statesmen  and  politicians  lie  under  weighty 
responsibilities  in  connexion  with  this  new  social  change  ;  and 
it  is  the  duty  of  those  who  are  neither  statesmen  nor  politicians, 
but  who  wish  well  to  all  their  fellow  countrymen,  to  hope  and 
pray  that  the  revolution  in  progress,  for  revolution  it  is,  will  be 
carried  out  in  peace,  and  in  conformity  with  both  divine  and 
human  law. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  forecast  the  combinations  and  figures 
which  the  next  shift  of  the  political  kaleidoscope  will  bring  to 
view  in  the  county.  There  is  good  reason,  however,  for  thinking 
that  the  coming  phase  of  society  will  be  a  great  advance  on 
those  that  preceded,  especially  as  far  as  the  body  of  the  people 
is  concerned.  Judging  by  what  we  read  in  the  leading  organs 
of  public  opinion,  the  great  object  of  everybody  at  present 
appears  to  be  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  masses.  As  it 
is  with  this  aim,  and  in  this  spirit,  political  problems  are  now 
studied,  large  modifications  of  local  government  advocated,  and 
sweeping  measures  in  regard  to  the  tenure  and  ownership  of 
land  recommended,  a  vast  improvement  in  both  the  civic  and 
the  rural  economy  of  Sligo,  as  of  other  counties,  seems  certain. 
In  these  circumstances,  though  we  cannot  tell  the  specific 
changes  that  shall  be  accomplished,  we  know  their  direction  and 
tendencies,  and,  knowing  this,  we  are  sufficiently  warranted  in 
believing  that,  on  the  one  hand,  they  will  be  free  from  the 
dominant  evils  of  the  past — the  SWORD,  UNJUST  laws,  and  the 
TYRANNY  OF  INDIVIDUALS,  OR  OF  A  CLASS ;  and  that,  on  the 
other,  they  will  foster  and  safeguard  the  priceless  blessings  of 
RELIGION,  EDUCATION,  and  the   MATERIAL  WELL-BEING   OF  THE 

SUFFERING  CLASSES — quod  honum,  felix,  faustumque  sit 


590 


HISTORY   OF    SLIGO. 


ARMORIAL  BEARINGS  OF  SLIGO  CHIEFS. 


O  CONNOR   SLIGO. 


OHARA. 


0  RORKE. 


OHEALY. 


O  DOWD. 


MC.  SWEENY. 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


591 


I 


MC.DOKOGH. 


APPENDIX. 


I. 

(See  Vol  I.,  pp.  376-7.) 

This  List  of  Suffering  Loyalists  contains  the  names  of  the 
County  Sligo  claimants  for  compensation  in  1798,  with  the  sums 
awarded,  and  the  Minutes  of  the  Court  in  cases  where  no 
compensation  was  allowed. 


1  William  White,  Woodfield        .  .  .        . 

2  James  Dualevy,  of  Ballj^gawley.     After  examining 

him  and  his  son,  Morgan  Dunlevy,  on  oath — claim 
rejected,  "  himself  being  a  disaffected  person, — 
and  not  having  proved  his  claim" — 

3  John  Armstrong,  of  Tullymore — claim  postponed 

4  Eobert  E,eed,  of  Ardnasbrack 

5  Martin  Brennan,  of  Knocktubber 

6  John  McDonogh,   of    Collooney — "  his    claim    not 

within  our  cognizance" — 

7  Wm.  Evans,  Cunghill 

8  Wm.  Fenton,  Dromore — claim  postponed 

9  Wm.  Conboy,  Ballintogher — claim  postponed 

10  Mary  Farrell,  Collooney 

11  James  Armstrong,  Kathosay 

12  Michael  Haran,  Glan — ^'  his  claim  should  be  rejected, 

having  no  certificate  of  his  loyalty,  nor  satisfactory 
proofs"     . 

13  Charles  Maguire,  Ballintubber 

1 4  John  Armstrong,  Kathosay   . 

15  Abraham  Fenton,  Tyreragh  . 

16  George  Stokes,  Coolnacur     . 

17  Eobert  Kivleghan,  Collooney — claim  postponed 

VOL.  II. 


£ 
30 


s. 
0 


d. 
0 


Rejected. 
Postponed. 

5  3     0 

6  16     6 

Rejected 

7  19  3 
Postponed. 
Postponed. 

18     0     9 
7  11     4 


Rejected. 

1  10     0 

6     0     3 

63  15     8 

12     3     9 

Postponed. 
2  P 


594 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


18  David    Rutledge,    Carrowmore — "  not    within    our 

jurisdiction." 

19  Daniel  McKim,  Ballykilcash  .  , 

20  John  Thompson,  Killoran      .... 

21  Patrick  Tiernan,  Shancough — "informal,  there  not 

being  any  Certificate  from  the  resident  clergy- 
man." 

22  James  Armstrong,  Dunnahentra 

23  Michael  Hayle,  Easky — "  claim  to  be  rejected,  he 

having  prevaricated  in  his  evidence,  and  over- 
charged "  , 

24  Patrick  Phibbs,  Leitrim 

25  John  Craven,  Woodfield 

26  Ingram  Williams,  Altitalure  . 

27  Robert  Broder,  Cloonsallagh . 

28  Robert  M'Kim,  Collooney     . 

29  John  Low,  Collooney 

30  Adam  Powel,  Loughborough 

31  Thomas  Atkinson,  Lacken — postponed 

31  Thomas  Martin,  Dunmoran — postponed 

32  Thomas  Church,  Coolany 

33  John  Armstrong's  claim  resumed 

34  Thomas  Atkinson's  claim  resumed     . 

35  Roger  Dodwell,  Esq.  , 

36  Robert  Kivleghan 

37  Wm.  Hamilton 

38  Charles  Wood,  Esq. — claim  postponed 

39  Robert  Leach — claim  postponed 

40  James  Simpson,  Tullaghan    . 

41  Joseph  Kivleghan,  Frenchford 

42  William  Harrison,  Frenchford 

43  Patrick  Kivleghan,  Frenchford 

44  John  Grayhan,    Rathmoney — "  are  of  opinion  that 

from  the  known  bad  character  of  himself  and 
his  witness,  not  entitled  to  any  compensation 
whatever,  and  reject  his  claim  " 

45  Elizabeth  Ormsby,  Coolany  .  .  .  . 


£    s.   d. 


3  12     0 
7     5     0 


3     0     0 


Rejected. 
9     0     0 

10  4     9 
6  16     6 

12  10  3 
72  19  10 
31  12  0 
20     0     0 

Postponed. 

Postponed. 
22  10  3 
17  1  3 
9  9  0 
79  10  0 
4  10 
85  16     8 

Postponed. 

Postponed. 
28     0     0 

6  0     0 

7  18     0 

11  16     6 


Rejected. 
62     8     8 


APPENDIX   NO.   I. 


595 


£    s. 

d. 

158  12 

0 

122  12 

0 

9  16 

4 

20  0 

0 

57  15 

0 

7  8 

4 

16  8 

3 

13  1 

4 

9  4 

0 

3  8 

3 

8  18 

6 

3  8 

3 

17  0 

0 

80  0 

0 

16  0 

0 

46  Charles  Wood,  Esq.,  Chapelfield 

47  Thomas  Martin's  claim  resumed 

48  Eev.  Isaac  Dodd,  Kingsfort  . 

49  James  Conelly,  Collooney 

50  Wm.  Scott,  Carrowdurneen   . 

51  Wm.  Fenton's  claim  resumed 

52  Jacob  Martin,  Keighroe 

53  John  Scott,  jun.,  Carrowdurneen 

54  Thomas  Scott,  Ardnaglass     . 

55  Francis  Hill,  Carrownapull    . 

56  James  Scott,  Carrowdurneen 

57  Robert  Rutledge,  Knockahullen 

58  Henry  Meredith,  Tubbercurry 

59  Patrick  Moore,  Corkhill 

60  Wm.  Burroughs,  Carrowcashell 

61  George  Routledge,  Killeens — '*  from  the  prevarication 

of  his  witnesses,  and  from  the  whole  of  the  busi- 
ness, not  entitled  to  any  compensation  what- 
ever"      ...... 

62  Thomas  Clarke,  Ardabrone    .  .  .  . 

63  Wm.  Higgins,  Carrowdurneen 

64  Charles  Ormsby,  Ardnaree    .  .  .  . 

65  Mary  Dunbar,  Dooneane — "  has  proved  her  claim, 

but  we  recommend  security  to  be  had  that  the 
children  of  her  late  husband  be  secured  in  the 
above  claim,  as  she  now  lives  with  a  noted 
rebel "  . 
6Q  Frances  Armstrong,  widow,  of  Bochane 

67  James  McKim,  Grangemor    . 

68  Charles  Beatty,  Lugdoon 

69  Edward  Simpson,  Ballisodare 

70  Patrick  Coulter,  Ballinfull     . 

71  Peter  Rutledge,  Knockahullen 

72  John  Smith,  Qaiguboy 

73  Thomas  Fawcet,  Finnid  . 

74  John  Scott,  Ballyholan 

75  Margaret  Joint,  Ballyglass     . 

76  George  Smith,  Carrowhubbuck 


Rejected. 
3  16  5 
5     0     0 

77  10     4 


14  10 

0 

17  13 

3 

11  11 

9 

9  0 

3 

14  15 

9 

10  16 

IJ 

9  2 

0 

48  5 

7i 

92  0 

0 

127  3 

7i 

89  11 

0 

46  3 

0 

596 


HISTOEY   OF  SLIGO. 


77  Robert  Walton,  Cuignashee 

78  James  To wnley 

79  John  Fa  wee  t,  Quiguboy     . 

80  Henry  Fawcet,  Park 

81  Robert  Atkinson,  Easky    . 

82  Robert  Smyth,  Park 

83  Richard  Smyth,  Park 

84  Margaret  Bourns,  Dooneen 

85  Thomas  Strong,  Ardaboley 

86  Margaret  Mallon,  Killeenduff 

87  John  Strain,  Quiguboy 

88  Nathaniel  Walton,  Iceford 

89  Arthur  Lewis,  Easky 

90  Sarah  Bourns,  Scormore    . 

91  Henry  Atkinson,  Cabragh. 

92  John  Fawcet,  Park 

93  Wm.  Nicholson,  Ardnaree 

94  AVm.  Atkinson,  Cabragh    . 

95  Anthony  Bell,  Ardvalley — "Upon  the  whole  of  the 

claim  we  are  of  opinion  that  his  claim  should  be 
rejected,  for  if  he  done  his  duty  as  a  loyal  man, 
he  would  not  have  suffered  any  loss. 

96  George  Reed,  Ardnaree     . 

97  Edward  Wallace,  Easky     . 

98  John  Atkinson,  Cabragh   . 

99  Rodger  Smyth,  Sligo 

100  Anne  Rutledge,  otherwise  Ormsby,  Killeens 

101  John  To  wnley,  Parke 

102  John  Moore,  Ardnaree 

103  Wm.  Patton,  Belville 

104  George  Wright,  Dooneen  . 

105  Wm.  Burnes,  Park 

106  Robert  Armstrong,  Oughal 

107  James  Fawcet,  Donahantra 

108  Bart.  Kean,  Ardnaree 

109  James  Smyth,  Lachencahill 

110  John  Armstrong,  Bally meay 


£  s. 

d. 

49  11 

10^ 

4  10 

5 

6  7 

1 

18  13 

5 

102  12 

4 

34  19 

4 

8  13 

10 

7  2 

4 

17  12 

8 

18  4 

0 

10  12 

0 

25  0 

0 

9  0 

0 

9  17 

6 

9  16 

H 

4  13 

1 

5  2 

H 

22  12 

4 

.  Rejected. 

.  46  19  5 

.  27  0  0 

.   9  0  0 

.  96  17  9 

.  93  14  101 

.  10  0  0 

.   4  19  9 

.   5  14  3 

.   7  11  2 

.   3  17  2 

.  36  5  11 

.  17  0  0 

.  13  8  3 

.  84  18  4 

.   9  0  0 

APPENDIX  NO.   I. 


597 


£ 

s. 

d. 

13 

2 

9 

72 

5 

6 

12 

4 

0 

12 

16 

7 

7 

0 

6 

11 

11 

8 

111  James  Wallace,  Ballymeeny 

112  Henry  Kearen,  Frankford 

113  Wm.  Magee,  Ballyglass     . 

114  John  Brown,  Finnid 

115  John  Atkinson,  Dooneen  , 

116  Patrick  Glochane,  Rawmeel 

117  Charles  Cavanagh,  Rawmeel — "Upon  the  whole 

of  the  claim  of  Charles  Cavanagh,  we  are  of 
opinion  that  his  claim  should  be  rejected,  not 
believing  him  a  loyalist " 

118  Michael  Scott,  Doonowla 

119  James  Shannon,  Carrowparden 

120  Matthew  Shannon,  Carrowparden 

121  James  Earlis,  Gaddenstown — "  His  claim  should  be 

rejected,  not  thinking  him  a  loyal  person  " 

122  James  Greer,  Dooneen 

123  Adam  Wilson,  Carrowreagh 

124  Joseph  Wilson,  Carrowreagh 

125  John  Dempsey,  Rathdonnell 

126  George  Morrison,  Carrowreagh 

127  John  Connelly,  Ballymeeny 

128  Wm.  Mayle,  Arduaree 

129  Antony  Keary,  Stokane     . 

130  Patrick  McKeal,  jun.,  Newtown 

131  Thomas  Gilgan,  Portland  . 

132  Patrick  McKeal,  Newtown 

133  Robt.  Atkinson,  Ballybeg 

134  Thos.  Rutledge,  Knockacullen 

135  Thos.  Robinson,  Cloonageen 

136  Robt.  Leech — claim  resumed — "Having  consider- 

ably overcharged,  is  entitled  to  no  compensation 
whatever,  and  therefore  we  reject  his  claim" 

137  Oliver  Dodd,  of  Kingsfort — claim  postponed 

138  Owen  Keary,  Teretick 

139  James  Hart,  Ballygrahan  • 

140  John  Grove,  Carrowcar     • 

141  Francis  Morgan,  Corranrush 

142  James  Ferguson,  Rathurlish 


Rejected. 
5  18     3 
1  19     41 
5  10     0 


Rejected. 
5  12     7 

3  14     7 
1  15     7 

4  11     0 


3  7  0 
11  13  2 
17  0  0 
17  17  6 
8  6  10 
5  13  9 
17  19  2J 
48  18  10 
16  3  8 
45  10     0 


Rejected. 

Postponed. 
4     0     0 
3     0     0 

19     4     9 

8  15     9 

9  3     4 


598 


HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


143  James  Shaw,  Grangemor,  , 

144  James  Walker,  Cartron     , 

145  Matthew  White,  Larkhill 

146  Matthew  Giblin,  Carrowdurneen 

147  John  Mulveagh      . 

148  John  Connelly,  Collooney 

149  James  Morton,  Pullaheeny 

150  John  Scott,  jun.,  Carrowdurneen 

151  David  Bourke,  CuUeens 

152  William  Hopps,  Collooney 

153  Michael  William,  Coray    . 

154  Wm.  McCleery      . 

155  James  Wood,  Esq.,  Leekfield 

156  Bridget  Knox,  Ardnaree    . 

157  Henry  Morton,  Ardnaree  . 

158  Wm.  Dunbar,  Rathbane    . 

159  Richd.  Walsh,  Scormore   . 

160  Samuel  Fitzpatrick,  Iceford 

161  Eobt.  Greer,  Dooneen 

162  Andrew  Bourns,  Scormore 

163  Late  Rev.  Oliver  Dodd      . 

164  Bridget  Greer 

165  Matthew  Bourns,  Scormore 

166  John  Murray,  Ardnaree    . 

167  Winifred  Dogherty,  Collooney 

168  Wm.  Foster,  Collooney     . 

169  Wm.  Wood,  Sligo 

170  John  Ormsby,  Ballymeeny 

171  Wm.  Flannelly,  Killrusheighler 

172  Wm.  McKinly,  Carrowhubbuck 

173  Mary  Ormsby,  Ballymeeny 

174  John  Caffry,  Leffony 

175  James  Ginly,  Tourneens    . 

176  John  Dunken,  Pollabracca 

177  Wm.  Conboy,  Ballintigh   . 

178  Michl.  McDonnell,  Easky — "  His  claim  should  be 

rejected,  as  we  don't  believe  he  suffered  for  his 
loyalty "  ..... 


£  s. 

d. 

.  17  1 

0 

19  11 

li 

9  1 

H 

1  15 

0 

2  0 

0 

7  7 

6 

135  17 

5 

1  0 

0 

22  15 

0 

30  0 

0 

27  10 

3 

4  18 

4 

26  19 

7 

16  0 

0 

.  36  0 

0 

.  12  6 

3 

.   4  11 

2 

5  17 

9 

.   9  7 

2 

.   7  11 

2 

.  27  15 

H 

.  15  0 

0 

.   9  0 

0 

.  20  0 

0 

.   3  19 

ll 

.  37  0 

0 

.  92  11 

1 

.   4  0 

0 

.   6  0 

0 

.  14  0 

0 

.   2  0 

0 

.  22  0 

0 

.   4  12 

8 

.   3  3 

3 

.  17  0 

0 

Rejected. 


APPENDIX   NO.   I. 


599 


I 


179  Thomas  Sheridan,  Carranagap — '*  Don't  believe  he 

suffered  on  account  of  his  loyalty  " 

180  Wm.  Power,  Ardnaree 

181  Francis  Long,  Ballynagraugh 

182  Patrick  Mullarkey,  Ballynagraugh 

183  James  Quinn,  Ballynagraugh 

184  John  Naney,  Ballynagraugh 

184  (sic)  Thomas  Shannon,  Rinroe 

185  Arthur  Steen,  Scurmore    • 

186  Thos.  McCarrick,  Coolany 

187  John  Shannon,  Forgetown 

188  Elizabeth  Tully,  Ardnaree 

189  Thomas  Carroll,  Ardnaree 

190  James  Martin, 

191  Francis  Beolan,  Tully 

192  Charles  Magarahan,  Mullafin — rejected — *'  he  hav 

ing  considerably  overcharged 

193  Elinor  Lynn,  Finid 

194  Francis  Kirkwood,  Killalla 

195  Andrew  Ferguson,  Leafony 

196  Thomas  Keary,  Knockowen 

197  John  Finan,  Ardnaree 

Total 


£   s.    d. 


Rejected. 

.       4 

6 

101 

.       3 

8 

3 

.       6 

0 

0 

.       4 

11 

0 

.       4 

0 

0 

.       3 

8 

3 

.     11 

0 

0 

.      3 

0 

0 

.       2 

8 

0 

.       5 

0 

0 

.     59 

0 

0 

.       6 

8 

4 

.       6 

10 

0 

7- 

Rejected. 

.       2 

16 

101 

.     41 

17 

0 

.       2 

16 

10 

.       9 

7 

6 

£3881 

5 

H 

APPENDIX  No.  II. 

{See  Vol  I,  ^j?.  178-9.) 

The  following  Census  (printed  now  for  the  first  time),  giving 
the  number  of  inhabitants,  English  and  Irish,  in  the  townlands, 
parishes,  and  baronies  of  the  county,  together  with  the  names  of 
the  Tituladoes,  shows  the  desperate  state  to  which  the  popula- 
tion of  Sligo,  town  and  county,  was  reduced  in  1659,  near  the 
close  of  the  Cromwellian  regime. 

COUNTY  OF  SLIGOE. 
BARONY   OF    CARBURY. 


No. 

Parishes. 

Townlands. 

of 
People, 

Tituladoes'   Names. 

English 

Irish 

SligoeTowne 

488 

Humphrey  Booth,  gent. 
Rowland  Thomas,  gent. 

130 

358 

Aghamlish 

Henry  Craflford,  gent. 

Ballyconnell 

8 

2 

6 

Lislarry 

3 

3 

Shrehidagh 

13 

13 

Grange 

27 

Thomas  Soden,  gent. 

2 

25 

Monidualt 

2 

2 

Carne 

7 

2 

5 

Cliflfney 

9 

9 

Cryickeele 

16 

16 

Creenimore 

9 

9 

Mullaghmore 

6 

6 

Bunduflf 

24 

24 

Mardneglasse 

7 

7 

Killsard 

21 

21 

Derilehan 

16 

16 

Cloonergo 

4 

4 

Inismores 

3 

Philip  Sulevane,  gent. 

3 

Drumcliffe 

Dunawna 

17 

17 

Ballyconnell 

8 

8 

Ballyknocke 

10 

10 

Dunfuard 

10 

4 

6 

Ballynagallagh 

9 

9 

The  Rosses 

28 

2 

26 

APPENDIX  NO.   II. 


601 


Barony  of  Carbury — continued. 

No. 

Parishes. 

Townlands. 

of 
People. 

Tituladoes'  Names. 

English 

Irish. 

Drumcliffe— 

con. 

Ballytemple 

10 

10 

Ardtermon         \ 
Ballymolury      j 

23 

23 

Cloandelrar 

31 

Charles  Colles,  Esq. 

6 

25 

Coille  Ruala 

8 

8 

Rahaberny 

18 

18 

Dunally 

20 

20 

Gortnagrelly 

7 

7 

Glan 

13 

13 

Cloonin 

6 

6 

Court  and  Finid 

17 

Roger  Parke,  gent. 

2 

15 

DrumcliflFe 

17 

4 

13 

Bally  gilgan 

13 

13 

Culadruman 

6 

6 

Castle  Garan 

8 

8 

Monananeen 

12 

12 

Lisnanorus 

6 

6 

Aghagan 

3 

3 

Bradcolline 

55 

4 

51 

Ballencarthy 

24 

Thomas  Griffith,  gent. 

2 

22 

Kantoglier 

9 

9 

Maghergillernew 

6 

2 

4 

Lishadoill 

23 

23 

Cargin 

20 

Anthony  Ormsby,  gent. 

2 

18 

Ballinternan 

11 

2 

9 

Lismarkie 

16 

6 

10 

Calgagh 

12 

2 

10 

Faght  qur. 

12 

12 

Shanoonoghter 

5 

2 

3 

Shanoone  legher 

6 

Thomas  Osborne,  gent. 

2 

4 

Maghercarncass 

16 

7 

9 

Anagh 

214 

William  Tod,  gent. 
Henry  Nicholson,  gent. 
Thomas  Ormsby,  gent. 
Manus  Lenaghan,gent. 

26 

188 

Principal  Irish  Nam 

es  and 

their  Numher  in  Carh 

try. 

Bryan          .        .          ■; 

McGwyre    .        , 

4 

0' Conor       .        .        i: 

Gallagher     ,        . 

8 

Canughan     .         .          t 

McGara 

4 

McDonogh  .        .          ( 

Gilconnell    . 

6 

Finy     ...         11 

O'Hart 

34 

Gillgan         .        .          ( 

O'Higgin      .         , 

5 

Gillin  and  Gillan            { 

Kelly  . 

10 

McGu 

an       .        .        1] 

Martin 

7 

In  Barony  of  Carbry,  211  English,  1,187  Irish— Totall,  1,398. 


602 


HISTORY  OF   SLIGO. 


BARONY  OF  LEYNE. 

No. 

Parishes. 

Townlands. 

of 
People. 

Tituladoes'  Names. 

English 

Irish. 

Achonry 

Belary 

62 

6 

56 

Moineagh 

16 

CaptainEdmondWood, 

4 

12 

Coillcaner 

8 

gent. 

8 

Cloonleaucoill 

19 

19 

Carryunnane 

8 

8 

Rahmagorra 

19 

19 

Rahscanlane 

18 

18 

Ballencurry 

11 

11 

Curry  &  Garrywane 

26 

26 

Cashall 

35 

35 

Dougharne 

37 

37 

Maclagha 

22 

22 

Magherauoir 

17 

Edward  Poole,  gent. 

2 

15 

Ougham 

19 

3 

16 

Aghonry 

14 

14 

Muckalta 

28 

28 

Carrowcarragh 

25 

25 

Tully  Hugh 

18 

Thomas  Rosevill,  gent. 

4 

14 

Cungall 

14 

14 

Coorte  Abbey 

19 

19 

Cashall 

8 

8 

Carrownedin 

10 

1 

9 

Cloonderar 

7 

7 

Cloonacrivy 

16 

16 

Carrowcallue 

6 

6 

Cloonbanue 

14 

14 

Leatrim 

12 

12 

Dromore 

10 

10 

Carrowneagh 

26 

26 

Molane 

28 

28 

Tullyvaly 

13 

13 

Sessucomane 

14 

14 

Sessugarry 

19 

19 

Sessumaa 

62 

4 

58 

KillMcTeige 

Benana 

22 

22 

Colrecoile 

12 

12 

Binagh 

11 

11 

TuUanagglog 

12 

12 

Gorterslin 

13 

13 

Knockbreak 

16 

16 

Cladagh 

20 

20 

Kill  McTeige 

32 

32 

Tullamoy 

4 

4 

Kincolly 

6 

6 

Glenvee 

22 

22 

Carrowneagh 

6 

6 

Cloongaragh 

7 

7 

Castlecaragh 

17 

17 

Drinine 

9 

9 

Rooes 

21 

6 

15 

APPENDIX   NO.   II. 


603 


Baeony 

OF  Leyne — continued. 

No. 

Parishes.          Townlands. 

of 
People. 

Tituladoes'  Names. 

English 

Irish. 

Killvarnett 

Templehouse 

12 

12 

Carrowentawa 

8 

4 

4 

Munuossane 

8 

8 

Claragh 

16 

16 

Munuossar 

9 

2 

7 

Anaghmore 

7 

7 

Edernin 

11 

11 

Finlogh 

4 

2 

2 

Anaghbeg 

9 

9 

Ardcreeochter 

11 

11 

- 

Killvarnett 

8 

8 

Ragraine 

4 

4 

Bally  ossadara 

Keltyliny 

15 

15 

(Half  Parish) 

Karrownegirath 

19 

11 

8 

Coany 

8 

4 

4 

Abytowne 

16 

4 

12 

Killinemonogh 

8 

8 

Cortawnagh 

23 

7 

16 

Killinbridge 

9 

9 

Killinbridge 

5 

5 

again 

Billy 

16 

2 

14 

Lognamakin 

23 

3 

20 

Ballyassadare 

13 

3 

10 

Doomderig 

9 

4 

5 

Principal  Irish  Names  and  their  Numler  in  Leyne, 


O'Brenane    . 

17 

Gallaghur    .        .        40 

Brenagh 

8 

Hara  and  O'Hara        15 

Bourk 

6 

O'Higgin     .        .        11 

Conellan 

6 

McHenry    .        ,          5 

Corkran 

6 

Kelly  ...          8 

Conelly 

6 

McLenany  .        .          9 

McDonell     . 

5 

O'MuUinihally    .          7 

O'Duhy 

5 

McManus    .        ,          6 

McDonogh  . 

4 

McMuray     ,         .          5 

Dogherty     , 

7 

MuUarkey   .        .          5 

McEnchae   . 

8 

Roney  and  Reynay       8 

O'Finagan    . 

5 

McSwyne    .         .           7 

O'Fahy  and  Faril 

ly        6 

McStayne    .        .          8 

McGwyre     . 

6 

McTeire       .        .          5 

Persons  in  Leyn 

e,  76  English, 

and  1,105  Irish.     Totall,  1,181, 

604 


HISTORY  OF  SLIGO. 


BARONY    OF    CORKAK 


No. 

Parishes. 

Townlands. 

of 
People. 

Tituladoes'  Names. 

English 

Irish. 

Imlaghfada 

Lishananymore 

12 

12 

Cloonagaiu 

6 

4 

2 

Emlafada 

4 

4 

Corhuber 

9 

3 

6 

Cargagh 

40 

6 

34 

Ballymote 

]12 

William  Webb,  Esq. 

14 

98 

Dorin 

8 

8 

Ardnaglasse 

13 

13 

Cloonamanagh 

12 

12 

Clonyne 

6 

6 

Carrownaclooda 

24 

24 

Rathdowney 

28 

Francis  King,  Esq. 

5 

23 

Ballybrenan 

24 

24 

Ardconnell 

10 

10 

Portinshy 

15 

15 

Emlaghnaghten 

10 

10 

Kilturrow 

Ballyfay 

18 

18 

Knockaylor 

6 

• 

6 

Rabane 

8 

i 
1 

8 

Kilterrow 

13 

. 

i 

13 

Ogham 

15 

15 

Ballindow 

15 

15 

Cloonoghill 

Bunanadan 

30 

Timothy  Howes,  gent. 

4 

26 

Ballinvally 

19 

19 

Collere 

17 

17 

Clooneoghill 

13 

13 

^ 

Cloonimeehan  ) 
Againa              ) 

8 

8 

6 

4 

2 

Ballinaglogh 

13 

13 

Carewreagh 

7 

7 

Knockanurhar 

14 

14 

Lislea 

2 

2 

Killoshahy 

Ballenspur 

13 

6 

7 

Bally  lonahan 

13 

Richd.  Meredith,  gent. 

6 

7 

Ballintrohan 

13 

13 

Runelaghta 

11 

11 

Killoshalvey 

8 

1 

8 

Clunecumry 

6 

6 

Clunnagh 

6 

6 

Cloonbunagh 

12 

12 

Cluneen 

5 

5 

Thawnaghmore 

3 

3 

Collnahary 

4 

4 

Drumratt 

14 

14 

Rathmolin 

10 

10 

Knockgrane 

9 

9 

Ardlaherly 

3 

3 

Cloonenacladry 

10 

10 

Liscoway 

11 

3 

8 

Clunesalbaly 

20 

20 

Knockbrach 

20 

20 

APPENDIX   NO.   II. 


605 


Barony  of  Corran — continued. 


No. 

Parishes. 

Townlands. 

of 
People. 

Tituladoes'  Names. 

English 

Irish. 

Killmurran 

Kinchurm 

20 

John  Duke,  gent., 
John  Geale,  gent. 

6 

14 

Cnocmonagh 

13 

Donnell  Conellan,gent. 

13 

Cloonlurgo 

8 

John  Clifford,  gent. 

2 

6 

Durley 

16 

Edward  Tibb,  gent. 

2 

14 

Drumfin 

4 

4 

Ardrea 

4 

Henry  Bierast,  gent. 

2 

2 

Lacahaky 

4 

4 

Thomune 

10 

10 

Kilmurrin 

9 

9 

Clunegallell 

14 

Robert  Duke,  gent. 

14 

Dunemigin 

16 

John  Houlder,  gent. 

2 

14 

Tumour 

Levalley 

24 

24 

Ballinascaragh 

13 

2 

11 

Drumnegrangy 

40 

40 

Thumore 

8 

2 

6 

Roscribb 

38 

2 

36 

Cnockloch 

6 

Robert  King,  gent. 

1 

5 

Templevaney 

68 

68 

Carrowreagh 

15 

15 

Cloonecaher 

8 

' 

8 

Lorga 

8 

8 

Thrinemore 

12 

12 

Morhy 

21 

21 

Frincijml  Irish  Names  and  their  Numbers  in  Corran. 


Brenane 

O'Cunane 

Conellan 

Conor     . 

McDonogh 

O'Dacy 

McDier 

O'Fluen 

Gillelorin 

McGilltrick 


12 
5 
5 
5 

30 
5 
5 

10 

7 
8 


O'Gara  . 

O'Heiver 

O'Horchoy 

O'Healy 

O'Kerin 

Mullronifin 

McSwyne 

O'Scanlan 

Trumble 

Tanist    . 


6 
5 
9 

13 
6 

16 
6 

19 
8 
6 


Persons  in  Corran,  76  English,  1,031  Irish.     Totall,  1,107. 


606 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


HALFE  BARONY  OF  CULAVIN. 


No. 

Parishes. 

Townlands. 

of 
People. 

Tituladoes'  Names. 

English  Irish. 

Killaragh 

Rossmoyle 

19 

19 

Lesgalen 

31 

31 

Sexifina 

71 

71 

Killfry 

Killfry 

16 

16 

Cloonlahkeene 

31 

31 

Ratharmon 

15 

15 

Carrownorclare 

5 

5 

Ardsorine 

7 

7 

Killaragh. 

9 

Henry  Tifford,  gent. 

9 

Clogher 

8 

8 

Tawneymucklagh 

23 

23 

Moygara 

38 

38 

MuUaghroe 

34 

U 

Totall,  307 


307 


The  totall  in  Halfe  Barony  of  Culavin,  307  ;  that  is,  3  English,  and  304 
Irish. 


BARONY    OF    TIRERAGH. 


No. 

Parishes. 

Townlands. 

of 
Peo])le. 

Tituladoes'  Names. 

English 

Irish. 

Castleconor 

Castleconor  and 
Newtowne 

76 

John  Nicholson,  gent . 

10 

66 

Killanly 

23 

3 

20 

Carne 

15 

15 

Scormore 

37 

Lewis  Wingfield,  Esq. 

2 

35 

Carrownorlaire 

4 

4 

Carrowcarden 

23 

23 

Ballevoheny 

11 

11 

Ballyfinane 

19 

19 

Ballymonine 

23 

23 

Cottellstowne 

57 

8 

49 

Arnery 

18 

18 

Browhy 

17 

17 

Quigumanger 

4 

4 

Qujgunalerike 

17 

17 

South  Cromley 

14 

14 

North  Cromley 

15 

2 

13 

Quigiinasher 

8 

8 

Templeboy 

Graingebeg 

29 

29 

Ballyarish 

8 

8 

Garraduff 

38 

Christr.  Armstrong,  gent. 

2 

36 

APPENDIX   NO.    II. 


607 


Barony  of  Tireragei — continued. 


No. 

Parishes. 

Townlands. 

of 
People. 

Tituladoes'  Names. 

English 

Irish. 

Templeboy — 

CorragLmore 

22 

22 

contined. 

Graingemore 

14 

NicholasRutledge,gent. 

14 

Donaghentrae 

13 

4 

9 

Donecohy 

56 

13 

43 

Aghres 

12 

5 

7 

Templeboy  Dun- 

18 

18 

anelt 

Dromard 

Longford 

19 

Henry  Croston,  gent. 

19 

Drumard 

28 

28 

Olonagh 

11 

11 

' 

Carrow  McCar- 

17 

17 

rick 

Tonregoe 

34 

John  Irving,  gent. 

4 

30 

Lagbaue 

24 

Edward  Erving 

24 

Bunany 

42 

2 

40 

MuUaree 

12 

12 

Farrea-Iharpy 

22 

22 

Dunflyn 

8 

8 

Larragh 

18 

18 

Skreen 

Ardnaglass 

60 

Lewis  Jones,  Esq., 
Jeremy  Jones,  gent. 

7 

53 

Carrowcasbel 

35 

35 

Carrowenlaghane 

10 

10 

Carrownecalany 

6 

6 

Carrowentehane 

10 

2 

8 

Carrow-Isteryne 

4 

2 

2 

Dunegole 

7 

7 

Skreene 

25 

25 

Killglass 

Eskerowne 

31 

31 

Leackantleavy 

17 

17 

Cloonederavally 

8 

8 

Leackan  M'Fir- 

26 

Thomas  Wood,  gent. 

7 

19 

bisy 

Polikinny 

8 

John  Moore,  gent. 

8 

Cabbragh 

11 

2 

9 

Leffony 

16 

5 

11 

LeahvaleNedyne 

25 

25 

and  Kilglass 

Carrowcaller 

21 

21 

Coyllin 

25 

25 

Kill   McSal- 

Doneile 

38 

John  Burke,  gent. 

38 

San 

Downemychin 

18 

Robert  Hilla,  gent. 

JS 

Dunowla 

8 

8 

Carrowruish 

29 

William  Edwards,  gent. 

2 

27 

Carrowmabline 

19 

John  Irwin,  gent. 

3 

16 

&  Balle  McGil- 

christ 

1)08 


HISTORY   OF  SLIGO. 


Barony  of  Tireragh — continued. 


No. 

Parishes. 

Townlands. 

of 
People. 

Tituladoes'  Names. 

English 

Irish. 

Kill  McSal- 

Leahcarrow 

25 

25 

gan— cow. 

Keanconally 

31 

31 

Eskagh 

Rachly 

43 

William  Ormsby,  gent. 

43 

Fynidy 

3 

William  Boswell,  gent. 

1 

2 

Lissaghan 

10 

10 

Rossly 

17 

James  Ormsby,  gent. 

17 

Killyn 

21 

George  Ormsby,  gent. 

21 

Coogylaghlen 

16 

16 

Castletowne 

31 

31 

Ballyvoney 

15 

15 

Principal  Irish  Names  and  their  Number  in  this  Barony  and 
Half-Barony  of  Culavin, 


Albonagh 

5 

Bourke  . 

15 

Beolan    . 

14 

O'Connor 

7 

Carsey    . 

8 

Conellan 

13 

Clery      . 

6 

Dowde   . 

17 

Dowda   . 

7 

McDonogh     . 

9 

McDermott    . 

5 

Dunegan 

6 

McDonell,  &c. 

14 

Flanagan 
Ferbishy 
McGillaghlen 
Geraghty 
O'Gara,  &c. 
Helly      . 
Hanraghan 
O'Hara  . 
O'Hart  . 
Kelly      . 
Loghlin  . 
McMurey 
Mollany 


9 

10 

6 

6 

14 

6 

6 

6 

9 

15 

6 

6 

6 


In  Barony  of  Tireragh,  86  English,  1,409  Irish.     Totall,  1,495. 


APPENDIX   NO.   ir. 


609 


BAKONY  OF  TIRERIL. 

No. 

Parishes. 

Townlands. 

of 
People. 

Tituladoes'  Names. 

English 

Irish. 

Achanagh 

Belanafada 

32 

Henry  Hughes,  gent. 

9 

23 

Ballymullany 

10 

10 

Mullaghfearna 

4 

4 

Carricknehorna 

22 

22 

% 

Ballyhely 

16 

16 

Drumdony 

4 

4 

Carrowkeel 

4 

4 

Claghog 

18 

18 

Souldiers  and  their 

C\  i 

wives  in  Belanafad 

24 

11 

13 

Drumcolan 

Bricklieve 

45 

Edwd.  Nicholson,  gent. 

9 

36 

Coolskeagh 

7 

7 

KiUMcCulan 

Coillmore 

13 

13 

Coredynce 

6 

6 

Cleavry 

12 

12 

Drumraiue 

13 

13 

Lisbrislean 

6 

6 

Cloonene 

7 

7 

Drumcolam 

Lisconay 

18 

Wm.  Mortimer,  gent. 

2 

16 

&  Killmac- 

Knockanarva 

4 

Ralph  Carter,  gent. 

4 

collanes 

Cloghfia 

8 

John  Ferguson,  gent. 

2 

6 

ClooDinclagh 

9 

9 

Ballyederdaowne 

18 

Charles  Cartwright, 

2 

16 

Carrowsparanagh 

9 

gent. 

9 

Achulback 

11 

11 

Cnockro 

7 

Archy  Naper,  gent. 

2 

5 

Drumleaghio 

9 

9 

Gorily 

14 

14 

Drumvicoill 

4 

4 

Anaghcarny 

10 

10 

Drumcollum 

3 

3 

Ardvarnagh 

16 

16 

Carrowreagh 

22 

22 

Ross 

19 

19 

Coilltelacha 

8 

8 

Drumshehin 

11 

11 

Anagh 

4 

4 

Ballisadara 

CDOckbegg 

25 

5 

20 

Killinbridge 

39 

14 

25 

Coolooney  Castle 

37 

Richard  Coote,  Esq. 

10 

27 

Cloonerciirra 

19 

19 

Ballenboll 

19 

19 

Cnockmolin 

19 

19 

Carrickbeanaghin 

24 

Morgan  Farrell,  gent. 

24 

Lissrunty 

6 

John  Perchy,  gent. 

6 

Cloonmahin 

15 

15 

Tiiberscanamuam 

4 

- 

2 

2 

VOL.  I] 

• 

2q 

010 


HISTORY   OF   SLIGO. 


Barony  of  Tieeril — continued. 


No. 

Parishes. 

Townlands. 

of 
People. 

Tituladoes'  Names. 

English 

Irish. 

Ballisadara — 

Markrea 

17 

Edward  Cooper,  gent. 

3 

14 

continued. 

Rathgrany 

6 

6 

Ballisadara 

23 

23 

Kilmac- 

Gevagh 

27 

Henry  Ellis,  gent. 

27 

trahny 

Sraduff 

10 

10 

Tullanure 

8 

8 

Ballinashia 

9 

9 

Killkeire 

21 

21 

Ballinloy 

12 

12 

Darinclare 

8 

8 

Ballenay 

U 

14 

Drumbeg 

12 

12 

Coolmurly 

6 

6 

KillMcTrany 

14 

14 

Killamoy 

28 

28 

Kilwogoone 

Ballindoone 

U 

11 

Aragh  &  Knock - 

13 

13 

glass 

Kilwogoone 

12 

12 

Ballaghabo 

17 

17 

Shancogh 

Carrownaquillo 

6 

f> 

Darghny 

15 

15 

Uniarero 

10 

10 

Carrowmore 

20 

20 

Shancogh 

9 

9 

Cabragh 

9 

9 

Gorworck 

7 

7 

Bally- 

Gidlane 

10 

10 

somaghan 

Drumnye 

15 

15 

Largan 

13 

13 

Carrownuin 

7 

4 

3 

Knocknagey 

18 

18 

Lehbully 

10 

10 

Drumaigh 

6 

6 

Lowally 

8 

8 

Killrasse 

Castleloghdergan 

104 

Thomas  Croston,  Esq. 

98 

Tobernany 

200 

2 

198 

APPENDIX   NO.   II. 


611 


Principal  Irish  J^ames,  and  their  Numbers  in  Tirerrill. 

McAwly         .        .        10 

O'Higgin,  &c.        .        13 

McBrehuny    . 

15 

O'Hely  . 

14 

O'Bennaghan . 

7 

O'Hart   . 

10 

Conilan  . 

18 

Kelly      . 

11 

Connor   . 

6 

O'Keoyne,  &c. 

9 

McDermott    . 

8 

O'Keron 

5 

McDermottroe 

10 

McLoghlin     . 

15 

McDonogh 

37 

McMulronifin 

5 

Ferall      . 

8 

O'Molleany    . 

12 

O'Feeny 

6 

McMorey 

15 

Flynn     . 

10 

Muligan 

5 

Gauna     . 

9 

O'Scanlane 

5 

Guau  and  Gowen  . 

9 

McTeige 

5 

The  Number  of  Persons  in  the  Barony  of  Tyrerill,  89  English,  1,300  Irish. 

Totall,  1,389. 


Number  of  People  in  the  County  of  Sligoe^  and  in  each  Barony. 


Barony. 

English. 

Irish. 

Total  of 
English  &  Irish. 

Carbery 

Leyne 

Corren 

Culavin  halfe  Barony 

Tireragh 

Tirerill 

Totall, 

211 
76 
76 

86 
89 

1,187 
1,105 
1,031 
307 
1,409 
1,300 

1,398 
1,181 
1,107 
307 
1,495 
1,389 

538 

6,339 

6,877 

At  the  end  of  Census  Mr.  Harding  certifies  as  follows  : — **  I  certify  that  the 
preceding  is  a  true  transcript  of  a  census  return  of  the  County  of  Sligo 
attributed  by  me  to  the  year  1659,  and  placed  in  my  custody  by  direction 
of  the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne. 

"  Landed  Estates  Record  Office, 
"  Custom  House  Buildings, 

"  Dublin,  July  27th,  1865. 

*'W.  H.  Harding." 


*  * 


^*  Want  of  room  necessitates  the  omission  of  other  pieces  intended  for 

the  Appendix. 


ALPHABETICAL   INDEX. 


Abbey,  Ardnarea,  II.  423.  Granted 
to  Sir  Richard  Boyle,  423. 

Abbey,  or,  Convent,  Ballindoon,  II. 
270,  273.  Date  of  foundation,  271. 
Granted  to  Francis  G  of  ton,  272. 
Interments  in,  272. 

Abbey,  Ballymote,  II.  175.  A  ruin  in 
the  beginning  of  17th  century,  175. 

Abbey,  Ballysadare,  II.  333. 

Abbey,  Banada,  II.  149.  Chief  burying 
place  of  parish,  150.  The  Jones 
vault,  151. 

Abbey,  Court,  II.  121.  A  well  pre- 
served ruin,  121.  Not  to  be  con- 
founded with  Court  of  Carbury,  122. 
Granted  to  Francis  Edgworth,  123. 

Abbey,  or.  Convent,  Sligo,  I.  241-297. 
Built  by  Maurice  Fitzgerald,  77. 
Rebuilt  by  Prior  McDonogh  after 
being  burned  down,  242.  Local 
benefactors,  244.  Style  of  struc- 
ture, 245.  Beauty  of  Cloister,  248. 
Dedicated  to  the  Holy  Cross,  252. 
Tombs  and  monuments,  253-257. 
Distinguished  persons  buried  in, 
258.  Alumni  of  the  Convent  who 
became  Provincials,  260-268.  The 
Convent  during  the  Shaftesbury  or 
Popish  Plot,  269.  Priors  of  the 
Convent,  275-287.  Controversy  be- 
tween Seculars  and  Regulars  as  to 
funeral  offerings,  288.  Needs  restor- 
ation, 289.  Advantages  sure  to 
result  from  restoration,  291.  Inter- 
ments in  the  New  Cemetery,  293. 

Achonry,  Parish  of  ;  its  scenery  and 
area,  II.  92.  A  diocese  before  being 
a  parish,  93.  Bishops  of  the  diocese, 
94.  List  of  Achonry  bishops,  96- 
113.  Personal  qualities  of  Achonry 
bishops,  113,  114.  Vicars  Apos- 
tolic, 114-117.  Extent  of  Achonry 
parish,  117.  Divided  into  the  ec- 
clesiastical parishes  or  districts  of 
Mulnabreena,  Cloonacool,  and  Cur- 
ry, 118.    Owners  of  Achonry  town- 


land,  119.  Battle  of  Cunghill,  120. 
Court  abbey  and  lands,  121,  122. 
Parish  Priests,  123, 124.  Protestant 
Incumbents,  125.  Ecclesiastical 
parish  of  Cloonacool,  126.  Tubber- 
curry,  127.  Families  of  Naper  and 
Meredith,  128.  Kilcumrain  grave- 
yard, 130.  Charter  from  the  Book 
of  Kells,  131.  Parisli  Priests  of 
Cloonacool,  132,133.  Ecclesiastical 
Parish  of  Curry,  133.  Look  of 
landscape,  134.  Curry  district  and 
the  monastery  of  Kilcreunat,  135. 
Grantees  at  the  Restoration,  136. 
Parish  Priests  of,  137.  Father 
James  Filan,  138,  139. 

Aclare,  II.  66,  142. 

Adamnan's,  Saint,  Life  of  St.  Columba, 
by  Dr.  Reeves,  1. 29. 

Aenach  Tireoilellay  O'Donovan's  mis- 
take about,  II.  244. 

Aghanagh,  Parish  of,  in  the  north- 
west corner  of  Tirerrill,  II.  282. 
Village  of  Ballinafad,  305.  Old 
church  of  Aghanagh  founded  by 
Saints  Patrick  and  Maneus,  308. 
Curious  tradition  in  connexion  with 
this  church,  309.  Corradoo,  in  this 
parish,  has  an  interesting  history, 
310.  Succession  of  Parish  Priests, 
315. 

Ahamlish,  Parish  of  ;  error  about  the 
name,  II.  29.  Carlyle  on  the  scenery 
and  soil  of,  30.  Lord  Palmerston's 
improvements  in,  3.3,  34,  35.  Inis- 
murray  island,  38,  39,  40,  41. 
Muredach  and  Molaise,  46.  Effects 
of  a  trip  across  the  Sound,  49. 
Grange  and  Thomas  Soden,  52. 
Succession  of  Parish  Priests,  53. 
Of  Protestant  Incumbents,  55.  Bal- 
lintrillick,  56. 

Aidan,  Saint,  of  Cloonoghill  and  Mo- 
nasteredan,  II.  380,  381. 

Ainmire  and  Annidh  in  the  battle  of 
Cooldruman,  II.  5. 


614 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


An  ecdotes  :  Of  eagles,  I.  19.  Of  the 
Nugents  of  Westmeath  and  Sligo, 
240.  Of  Dr.  Goodman,  285.  Of 
Thomas  Galda  Corkran,  332.  Of 
Joe  Adley,  344.  Of  Dr.  Petrie, 
346-7.  Of  Bartholomew  Teeling, 
375.     Of  Barny  McKeon,  392.     Of 

Tom ,  393.     Of  a  Siigo  banker, 

399.  Of  a  cadet  of  the  Ormsby 
family,  459.  Of  Sir  William  Parke, 
463.  Of  elf -shot  cattle,  484.— Of  a 
Lady  Gore,  II,  14.  Of  Lady  Gore 
Booth  and  Sir  Henry,  17.  Of  a 
unique  *'  olio,"  49.  Of  Mrs.  Mother- 
well and  her  husband,  178,  Of 
Jack  Taaffe  and  his  Friend,  183. 
Of  Jack  Taaffe  and  his  admirer, 
Jemmy  Taaffe,  189.  Of  Father 
Rush  and  his  dog,  Bunty,  198.  Of 
Father  Ilickard  Fitzmaurice,  21 G. 
Of  Counsellor  Terence  McDonogh, 
228.  Of  Jack  Phibbs,  250.  Of 
Mr.  Dodd  and  his  clerical  tenants, 

257.  Of  Mass  in  the  Penal  days, 

258.  Of  the  church  of  Aghanagh 
and  O'Rorke,  309.  Of  Father 
George  Gearty,  326.  Of  a  modern 
Tobias,  332.  Of  Joseph  McDonogh, 
335.  Of  an  ancestor  of  the  Banada 
Joneses,  376.  Of  Constable  Hayes 
and  Mary  Bermingham,  381-2.  Of 
Thady  Conellan  and  Lady  Morgan, 
407.  Of  Thady  and  Michael  Fen- 
ton,  409.  Of  Captain  Ormsby  and 
his  ''  convert,"  Simon,  447.  Of  the 
Captain,  Tom  Phibbs,  and  the 
Priest's  horse,  448,  449. 

Antiquities  ;  Carrowmore  Cromlechs 
and  Circles,  I.  48.  The  episemos 
'polls  of  Nagnata,  62.  Castle  of 
Sligo,  69;  II.  291,  292,  293.  Abbey 
of  Sligo,  I.  76,  241.  Cromwellian 
Fort,  188.  Abbey  Cloisters,  249. 
Sir  Donogh  O'Connor's  Monument, 
254.  Church  of  St.  John,  298.  Sir 
Roger  Jones's  Monument,  303. 
Corporation  Seals,  319-323.  In- 
signia of  the  Corporation,  324. 
Cairns  Hill,  426.  Clogher  church 
and  burial  ground,  465.  Deerpark 
Cashel,  466.  Giant's  grave  of  Deer- 
park,  467.  Inis-na-lainne  crannoge, 
496.  Castletown,  504. — Inismurray 
Cashel,  II.  38.  Molaise's  House 
and  supposed  Statue,  42.  Killoran 
church,  60.  Castle  of  Rath-ard- 
creeve,  QQ,     Castle  of  Ath  Angaile, 


75.  Court  Abbey,  121.  Kilcummin, 
ISO.  Banada  Abbey,  149.  Book 
of  Bally  mote,  173.  Noah's  Ark  in 
Bookof  Bally  mote,  176.  Cloonyme- 
aghan,  193.  CillEaspuigLuidhigh, 
207.  Grave  of  Princes  at  Toomour, 
212.  McDonogh  Castles,  234,  235, 
236.  Ardnasbrack!  and  Caronagh, 
240.  Heapstown,243.  Moytura,261. 
Ballinafad  Castle,  306.  Church  of 
Aghanagh,  308.  Dumecha  Nepo- 
cum  A  Hello,  311.  Killerry  Church, 
318.  Bally sadare  old  church  and 
abbey,  332,  333.  Kildalough,  337. 
Moygara  Castle,  368.  Monaster- 
edan,  380.  St.  Attracta's  Well,  382. 
Tanrago  Castle,  392.  Longford,  392. 
Ardnaglass,  399.  Skreen  Church, 
400.  Aughris,  405.  Castle  of  Dun- 
neill,  410.  Kihnacshalgan,  411. 
Dubhach  Fharrannain,  413.  Castle 
and  Abbey  of  Ardnaree,  423. 

Antrim,  Earl  of  ;  his  daughter  married 
to  Donogh  O'Connor,  I.  144. 

Arbutus,  The,  of  Hazelwood,  I.  414, 
445. 

Ardagh,  Diocese  and  Bishop  of,  1. 318. 

Ardcree,  a  fine  timber  habitat,  I.  65. 
Castle  of  Ardcree,  or  Rath  Ard- 
creeve  identified,  66. 

Archdall's  peerage  of  Ireland,  Error 
in,  regarding  Sir  Charles  O'Connor, 
L  143. 

Ardnarea,  Castle  of,  detained  from 
O'Connor  Sligo,  I.  121.  Meaning  of 
name,  II.  422.  Abbey  of,  granted 
to  Sir  Richard  Boyle,  423. 

Arigna  Iron  Works,  I.  13. 

Arms,  of  the  O'Connors  Sligo,  the 
O'Haras,  the  O'Rorkes,  the  O'Healys, 
the  O'Dowds,  and  the  MacSweenys, 
II.  590.    Of  the  MacDonoghs,  591. 

Armstrong,  Family  of,  II.  450.  Tri- 
bute of  Charles  Phillips  to  Rev. 
James  Armstrong,  449.  The  family 
distinguished  for  members  of  the 
medical  profession,  450.  Dr.  Wm. 
Armstrong  of  Collooney,  451. 

Armstrong,  John,  of  Chaffpool,  an 
active  magistrate,  II,  119. 

Ashley,  Hon.  Evelyn,  I.  298.  How 
si)oken  of  at  MuUaghmore,  II.  35. 

Assumption,  Church  of,  Collooney, 
II.  342.  Spire  of,  343,  Sir  John 
Benson,  the  architect  of,  531. 

Asylum,  The  Lunatic  ;  structure  and 
cost,    I.    405.      Resident    Medical 


ALPHABETICAL   INDEX. 


615 


Superintendent  and  Staff,  406.  Dr. 
Petit's  treatment  of  the  insane,  406, 
407. 

Attracta,  Saint,  Traditions  and  me- 
morials of,  II.  367.  Pier  period,  :S68. 
Family  and  birtli-place,  369.  Her 
characteristic  virtue,  370.  Inci- 
dents in  her  Hfe,  371-2-3.  Her 
Cross,  375.  Her  ecclesiastical  hon- 
ours restored,  375.  Doctor  Durcan, 
Father  Jones,  and  Cardinal  Moran 
co-operate  in  the  restoration,  376, 
377-8.  Tubber  Araght  of  Clogher, 
382.  Church  of  Tourlestraue  dedi- 
cated to  the  Saint,  153. 

Aughris,  Priory  of,  founded  by  Saint 
Molaise,  II.  405.  A  castellated 
church,  406. 

"Backaghs,"  infest  the  public  roads, 
IL  555. 

Balldearg  O'Donnell,  I.  220.     II.  165. 

Bailinafad,  Hamlet  of,  II.  305.  Castle 
of,  305. 

Ballindoon,  Abbey,  or  Convent  of,  II. 
270.  De  Burgo  in  error  as  to  date 
of  foundation,  271.  Andrew  Crean, 
owner,  272.     Interments  in,  273. 

Ballyhely,  now  Hollybrook,  II.  307-8. 

Ballymote,  chief  place  of  Corran,  II. 
158.  Castle  of,  195.  Provision  for, 
maintaining  castle,  161.  Sir  Wm. 
Taafie  obtains  Ballymote,  1 63.  Castle 
surrendered  to  Sir  Charles  Coote  on 
Articles,  164.  The  Fitzraau rices 
acquire  Ballymote,  168.  Ballymote 
under  the  Gore  Booths,  171.  The 
Book  of  Ballymote,  173.  Errors  of 
Dr.  Ledwich,  176.  Mrs.  Mother- 
well, Major  Bridgham,  Jack  Taaffe, 
177-185. 

Ballynagalliagh,  I.  495.  Belonged  to 
Kilcreunat  nunnery,  496.  Granted 
to  Lord  Clanrickarde,  496. 

Ballynakil,  II.  249. 

Ballysadare,  Parish  of,  II.  328.  Biver 
of,  334.     Fishery  of,  336. 

Ballysummaghan,  Parish  of,  II.  296. 

Banada,  II.  149.  Bridge  of,  I.  302. 
Castle  of,  II.  149. 

Banks,  Need  of,  at  Sligo,  I.  397. 

Bankers,  Private,  I.  398.  Specimen 
of,  399.  Shareholders  of  National 
Bank,  400. 

Barber,  Frank,  II.  22. 

Barony  constables,  mercenary  and 
crapulous,  I.  392. 


Barrack,  The  Constabulary,  I.  139. 

Battle— of  Aghris,  I.  27  ;  of  Caille 
Taidbig,  now  Cultateige,  32 ;  of 
Sligo,  41  ;  of  the  Rosses,  71  ;  of 
Crich  Carbury,  82  ;  of  Belladrehid, 
113;  Carricknagat,  372;  of  Cool- 
druman,  II.  2;  of  Corran,  155; 
of  Ceis  Corran,  206  ;  of  Moytura, 
260  ;  of  the  Curlews,  283,  284. 

Battle,  Mr.  David,  Thorold,  Canada, 
I  238 

Beli.  of  Sligo  Abbey,  I.  274. 

Belladrehid,  L  111,  113,  114;  IL  338. 
Blot  on  the  village,  339. 

Benbulben,  I.  510,  511,  512.  Beauties 
of,  I.  36.  Botany  of,  I.  513.  Geo- 
logy, 514,  516.     Boar  hunt  on,  515. 

Benson,  Sir  John,  II.  530,  532.  Dr. 
Charles,  534. 

Bingham,  Sir  Richard,  II.  284-5-6-8-9. 

Bingham,  George  Oge,  Governor  of 
Sligo,  II.  284,  286. 

Black,  John,  merchant  and  smuggler, 
I.  379.     Banker,  398. 

Blest,  Albert,  of  Coolany,  II.  141. 

Boate's,  Natural  History  of  Ireland, 
quoted,  I.  15. 

Bodkin,  Christopher,  Archbishop  of 
Tuam,  I.  2. 

Boylan,  Very  Rev.  Thomas,  Prior  of 
Holy  Cross,  I.  284. 

Bobbin,  Factory  of  Messrs.  M'Neill, 
L  415. 

Booth  Gore  family,  1. 510.  Sir  Henry 
and  Lady  Gore  Booth,  IL  17.  Sir 
Robert  purchases  the  Ballymote 
property,  169. 

Bridges,  II.  339,  556. 

Bridgham,  Major,  II.  178,  501. 

Brennan,  Very  Rev.  Canons  Peter  and 
Roger,  IL  379,  380. 

Browne,  Right  Rev.  Doctor,  IL  452. 

Bucks,  The,  II.  489.  Their  haunts 
and  occupations,  490,  493.  Rev. 
John  Wesley  on  those  bravoes,  494, 
495. 

Buninna,  IL  397  ;  I.  238. 

Buninadden,  Union  of,  II.  190.  Cloon- 
oghill  and  St.  Aidan,  192.  Cloony- 
meaghan,  193.  Kilshalvy,  194. 
Kilturra,  195.  Mr.  John  Ormsby 
Cooke,  195,  196.  Parish  Priests, 
197. 

Butchers,  The,  of  Sligo :  their  spirited 
conduct,  I.  336.  The  Butchers,  the 
Bucks,  and  Father  John  Flynn,  II. 
491,  492. 


616 


ALPHABETICAL    INDEX. 


Burke,  Right  Rev.  Doctor ;  his  con- 
duct during  the  cholera  of   3832, 

I.  383. 

Cabin,  Interior  of  a  Tireragh,  II.  567. 
Improvement  of,  584. 

Calry,  Parish  of,  1.441.  Scenery  of, 
442.  Hazelwood,  443.  Views  of 
Lough  Gill,  445.  The  Wynnes, 
450.  The  Ormsbys,  454.  The 
Parkes,  461.  Druid's  Altar,  467. 
Grianan  Calry,  475. 

Campbell,  Mr.  Harper,  I.  330. 

Carbury,  Barony  of,  I.  7,  27.  Chiefs 
of,  28,  29,  30.  Mistake  of  O'Dono- 
van,  31. 

Carlyle  :  his  admiration  of  the  en- 
virons of  Sligo,  I.  38,  39.  His 
opinion  of  **  Palmerston's  country," 

II.  30. 

Carny,  Village  of  ;  origin  of  the  name, 
II.  9. 

Cam's  Hill,  I.  425.  New  view  of 
writer,  427. 

Carolan,  II.  5G1. 

Casey,  Rev.  James,  P.P.,  Athleague  ; 
his  Poems,  I.  296. 

Casserly,  Counsellor,  Duel  of,  II.  502. 

Castles,  The  M'Donogh,  II.  234-5-6. 

Castle,  Sligo  ;  summary  of  its  history, 
II.  291-2-3. 

Castleconor,  Parish  of;  old  name, 
Caislen  Mic  Conor,  II.  419.  Au- 
gustinian  convent  in,  420.  Rev. 
Thomas  Valentine's  educational  en- 
dowment, 421.  Parish  Priests  of, 
423. 

Castletown,  Drumcliff,  an  historical 
spot,  I.  504.  The  cradle  of  the 
O'Connors  Sligo,  505.  Explanation 
of  the  name,  506.  The  Caislen 
Conor  of  the  Annals  of  Loch  Ce, 

507.  Always  a   populous   district, 

508.  Passed    to    the    Gores    and 
Parkes   510 

Cathedral,  The,  Sligo,  I.  388  ;  II.  579. 

Catholics,  Treatment  of,  in  Sligo, 
I.  223.  Registration  of  clergy,  224. 
Letters  of  Sligo  magistrates  to  the 
Castle,  224.  Courts  of  inquiry 
concerning  non-juring  priests,  and 
depositions  of  witnesses,  226. 
Courts  obtain  little  of  the  expected 
information,  230.  Interesting  facts 
gathered  from  the  depositions,  235. 
Laymen  sent  to  Sligo  gaol  for  not 
taking  the  oath  of  abjuration,  237. 


Search  for  priests,  237.  The  dis- 
covery clauses  of  Anne's  Act,  To 
prevent  the  further  growth  of 
Popery,  238.  Jeremiah  Fury  and 
Laurence  Bettridge,  239.  Anec- 
dote, 240.  Father  Felix  O'Connor 
dies  a  confessor  or  martyr  in  Sligo 
gaol,  269.  Catholics  the  helots  of 
Sligo,  337. 

Cemetery,  The  new,  of  Sligo,  I. 
293-7. 

Champion,  The  Sligo,  II.  546  ;  I.  54. 

Cholera,  of  1832,  I.  379,  384.  Of 
1849,  L  405. 

Chronicle,  The  Sligo,  II.  547. 

Church  dues  and  offerings,  II.  429- 
433. 

Clancy,  Rev.  Professor,  Maynooth 
College,  II.  540. 

Clarence,  John,  I.  303.  Clarence, 
Joseph,  388. 

Cloonemahon,  I.  355-6. 

Cloonymeaghan,  11.  193. 

Colleary,  Alderman  ;  his  gift  to  the 
Town  Council,  I.  324-5-6,  410  ;  11. 
461. 

Colleary,  Miss  Mary  Rose  ;  her  name 
associated  with  the  water  supply  of 
Sligo,  I.  410. 

CoUis,  Charles,  of  Castlegal,  I.  187. 

CoUooney,  village,  rapids,  waterfall, 
and  churches,  II.  339-345.  The 
Independents  in,  346.  Battle  of, 
L  372. 

Conmee  family,  O'Donovan's  mistake 
respecting,  II.  245.  Very  Rev.  J. 
S.  Conmee,  President  of  Clongowes 
Wood  College,  246. 

Cooke,  Mr.  John  Ormsby,  II.  195-6. 

Coolavin,  Barony  of,  II.  358.  The 
O'Garas,  359.  The  MacDermots, 
361.  Moygara  Castle,  365.  Saint 
Attracta,  366-382. 

Cooldruman,  Battle  of,  II.  1-8.  O'Don- 
ovan's unfounded  inference,  5. 

Coolerra,  I.  417.  Description  of,  418, 
419.  The  Glen  of,  423.  The  Granges, 
424.  Ecclesiastical  arrangements, 
428.     Curious  church  in,  438. 

Coopers,  The,  of  Markrea,  II.  349. 
Edward  Synge  Cooper,  a  popular 
favourite,  350.  His  benefactions, 
351.  Edward  Joshua  Cooper,  352. 
One  of  Sligo's  Worthies,  II. 
Coopers,  The,  of  Cooper  Hill,  II.  253. 
Of  the  same  stock  as  the  Coopers  of 
Markrea,  254. 


ALPHABETICAL   INDEX. 


617 


Cooper,  Colonel ;  his  portfolio  of  draw- 
ings, IL  43. 

Coote,  Sir  Charles,  President  of  Con- 
naught,  I.  162.     His  character,  187. 

Coote,  Richard,  Lord  Collooney,  I. 
183.  Burns  a  statue  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  187.    Sells  his  Sligo  estates, 

n.  136. 

Corcoran,  Michael,  Brigadier-General, 
II.  532.     His  dash  and  talent,  533. 

Corkran,  Thomas  Gallda  ;  builds  Cork- 
ran 's  Mall  and  Thomas  Street,  I. 
331.  End  of  his  career  in  Sligo,  332. 

Corkran,  Mr.  William  Bourke,  of  New- 
York,  II.  536-7-8. 

Cosher,  Nature  of  a,  II.  4G9. 

Court-house,  I.  389.  Manor  Courts, 
390.     Coroner's  Court,  391. 

Crime  in  the  county  and  its  punish- 
ment, II.  471-489.  Contrast  as  to 
crime  between  the  past  and  the 
present,  II.  489. 

Croftons,  The,  II.  393.  Lady  Morgan 
and  the  family,  396-7.  Sir  James 
Crofton,  397. 

Cromwellian  Settlement,    I.  183-208. 
Character   of    Cromwellians,    186 ; 
IL  577. 
Cryptic,  The,  II.  546. 
Culbertson,  Mr.  Robert,  IL  331.    Cul- 

bertson,  David,  II.  486. 
CuUen,  Rev.  Carn  Cross,  I.  376.     Cap- 
tain of  a  Yeomanry  corps,  II.  581. 
Curlews,  Battles  of,  II.  283-4. 
Curran  employed  in  the  great  election 
case  of  Wynne  and  Ormsbj^  I.  366. 
His  friendship  with  Bob  Lyons  of 
Mullaghmore,  IL  522-3-4.    Attempt 
in  Sligo  on  his  life,  524.     Intimate 
friend  of  Charles  Phillips,  514. 

D'Alton,  John :  error  in  his  "  History 
of  Ireland,  and  Annals  of  Boyle," 
I.  84.  And  in  his  "  King  James' 
Army  List,"  143. 

Dance,  The;  "inordinate  passion  of 
the  Irish  for,"  II.  558.  The  Cake- 
dance,  II.  558. 

Deer,  kept  by  the  gentry,  I.  20. 

Deerpark,  Calry ;  cashel  and  giant's 
grave  of,  I.  466-7.  Writer  would 
connect  the  Grave  with  the  games 
of  the  district,  473.  Clearly  not  a 
tomb,  475.     Of  modern  origin,  475. 

Depositions  as  to  *' non-juring  Popish 
Priests,"  &c.,  I.  226-234. 

VOL.   II. 


Depositions,  regarding  the  outrages 
of  1641,  I.  82.  Miss  Hickson's 
*'  Massacres  of  1641,"  83-91. 
Desmond,  Lady  ;  wife  of  Sir  Donough 
O'Connor,  I.  138.  Children  by  her 
first  husband,  139,  140.  Brought 
little  luck  to  the  O'Connors  Sligo, 
145. 
Diet,  of  the  working  classes,  in  the 

past  and  at  present,  II.  589. 
Dillon,    Louis,    Bishop    of    Achonry, 

L  107. 
Distillation,  Illicit,  and  the  penalties 

it  entailed,  IL  489. 
Doberck,  Doctor,  II.  352,  529. 
Dodd,  Wm.,  IL  257.     Dodd,   John, 

258.     Dodd,  Roger,  543. 
Dodwell,  George,  II.  20.    Rev.  Henry 

Dodwell,  90,  360. 
Donlevy,  Rev.  Andrew,  LL.D.,  author 
of  the    "  Irish-English  Catechism," 
II.  510.    Particulars  of  his  career, 
511. 
Donlevy,  Dean,  II.  527.    An  effective 
electioneering    orator,    528.       The 
Dean  and  Mrs.  Doctor  Coyne,  451, 
452. 
Dress,   of    market    people,   I.   341-2. 

Improvement  in,  II.  590. 
Druidism,   in  Ireland ;    O'Donovan's 

error  on,  II.  5,  6. 
Drum,   Bryan,   and  the   Ballysadare 

Bucks,  II.  493. 
Drumard,  Parish  of,  II.  385.   Meaning 
of  name,  391.    Longford,  392.    Bun- 
inna,  397.  St.  Patrick  and  Drumard, 
398. 
Drumcliff,  Parish  of,  I.  478.    Origin 
of  the  name,  487.    Saints  associated 
with,  495.    A  place  of  importance 
in  the  past,  497.    Drumcliff  monas- 
tery a  foundation  of  St.  Columba, 
498-9.     Annals   of  the   monastery, 
500.     Antiquarian  remains  in,  503. 
Castletown    in    this    parish,    504. 
Lands  at  foot   of  Benbulben,  511. 
Cooldruman,  IL   1.      Lissadell,   9. 
Ballycounell,  20.     Parish  Priests  of 
Drumcliff,  22.    Protestant  Rectors, 
26.     Protestant  church  of,  28. 
Drumcolumb,  Parish  of,   II.  249.     A 
fragmentary  parish,  250.     Mass  in, 
during  the  Penal  days,  258. 
Drumrat,    Parish    of,     II.    201.     A 
grantee    in,    202.      Drumrat    and 
Toomour  separate  parishes  in  1704, 
215.    Parish  Priests  of,  215,  216. 

2r 


618 


ALPHABETICAL    INDEX. 


Duelling,  Code  of,  II.  496.  Duels  of— 
O'Rorke  and  Perceval,  498.  Fenton 
and  Hillas,  499,  500.  Gethin  and 
Phibbs,501.  Duke  and  Holmes, 501. 
Coyne  and  Carter,  501.  Gilmor  and 
Irwin,  501.  Phibbs  and  Cross,  501. 
Flanagan  and  M'Dermot,  501. 
Taaffe  and  Bridgham,  501-2.  Kelly 
and  Plunket,  502.  Casserly  and 
Baker,  502.     Walker  and  Ramsay, 

503.  Somers  and  Fawcet,  503.  Grif- 
tith  and  Kelly,  503.  Moffat  and 
Murphy,  503.     Wynne  and  Martin, 

504.  Sedley  and  Verdon,  504. 
Durcan,  Right  Rev.  Doctor,  II.  112. 

The  best  of  bishops,  1 12.  Tablet  in 
his  memory,  113.  Personal  quali- 
ties, 113.  His  devotion  to  St. 
Attracta,  375,  377. 

Durcan,  Maurice,  Vicar- Apostolic  of 
Achonry,  II.  116. 

Duke,  John  and  Robert,  Tituladoes 
of  Kilmorgan,  under  the  Common- 
wealth, II.  187. 

Dwellings — See  Habitations. 

Eagles,  I.  18,  19. 

Easky,  Parish  of,  II.  412.  Ddbhach 
Fharannam  in,  413,  414.  Castle- 
town, 414.  Controversial  discus- 
sion, 415.  Parish  Priests  of,  416. 
Father  Flannelly  and  Dr.  O'Finan, 
416.     Bridge  of  Easky,  556. 

Eccles,  Captain,  G.M.,  II.  52. 

Edgeworth,  Francis,  granted  the  abbey 
of  Court,  II.  123. 

Education ;  Sligo  has  not  much  to 
boast  of  on  this  head,  1. 437.  Eras- 
mus Smith  gives  it  a  helping  hand, 
437.  Sligo  Charter  School,  438-9. 
Private  benefactors,  440.  Loudon 
Hibernian  Society,  441.  Kildare 
Place  Society's  schools,  442.  Na- 
tional Teachers,  443-4-5.  Prosely- 
tism,  447,  448.  Convents  of  Saints 
Joseph  and  Patrick,  452.  Establish- 
ments for  secondary  education,  453- 
4-5,  583. 

Elections,  L  364.  Leading  gentry 
ambitions  of  seats  in  Parliament, 
365.  Election  case  of  Ormsby  and 
Wynne,  366.     Corrupt  practices  at, 

367.  King  and  Perceval's  election, 

368.  Squibs,  369.  Priests  take  part 
in  election  of  1822,  370.  The  Clear- 
ance Sj'stem  a  result  of  the  abolition 
of  the  Forty  Shilling  vote,  371. 


Elf-stones,  I.  484. 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  connives  at  the 
practice  of  the  Catholic  religion,  II. 
427.  Elizabeth  and  Archbishop 
Miler  Magrath,  I.  305. 

Emlaghfad,  Parish  of,  II.  155.  Bally- 
mote,  157.  Churches  of,  172.  Grave- 
yard of  Emlaghfad,  184.  Parish 
Priests,  185.  Protestant  incum- 
bents, 185-6. 

Epitaphs,  Poetic,  1. 253,  296,  296,  297, 
306. 

Fallon,  James,  Vicar-Apostolic  of 
Achonry,  II.  114,  115.  Fallon,  a 
Protestant  Discoverer,  I.  239. 

Farrell,  Morgan,  Cromwellian  Titu- 
lado  of  Carrickbanagher,  I.  183. 

Farrell,  Alderman,  II.  534. 

Fawcet,  Captain,  Duel  of,  II.  503. 

Fearsats,  or  Strand-passes,  I.  47  ;  II. 
552.  Fear  sat  -  Reanna  -  an  -  Liagain 
identified,  653. 

Feighney,  a  non-jnring  priest,  I.  229. 

Feighney,  a  friar,  I.  229. 

Fenagh,  Book  of,  I.  491. 

Fenton,  Thomas,  Duel  of,  II.  498. 

Fenton,  Michael,  presides  at  the  con- 
troversial discussion  of  Easky,  II. 
415. 

Fenton,  William,  of  Kilmacshalgau, 
and  Templeboy,  received  into  the 
Established  Church,  II.  411. 

Fenton,  Abraham,  Coroner,  I.  391. 

Fever  hospital,  I.  402-3. 

Filans,  The,  an  ecclesiastical  family, 
II.  137.  Father  James  Filan,  emi- 
nent as  a  scholar,  an  educationist, 
and  a  preacher,  140. 

Filan,  Very  Rev.  Peter,  of  Geevagh, 
IL  231. 

Finaghty,  Father,  the  "  wonder- 
working priest ;"  his  extraordinary 
career,  I.  165-169. 

Firbis,  or  M'Firbis,  family,  II.  418-9, 
506,  507. 

Fishery,  Sligo,  of  great  benefit  to  the 
port,  I.  358.  St.  Patrick  and  the 
salmon  fishery,  359.  Herring, 
oysters,  turbot,  and  lobsters,  300. 

Fishery,  The  Baliysadare,  becomes 
daily  more  productive,  II.  336. 

Fitzgerald,  Maurice,  the  true  founder 
of  Sligo,  I.  Q^.  Erects  the  castle, 
69,  70.  Founds  the  abbey,  77. 
Engages  Godfrey  O'Donnell  in 
single  combat  at  the  battle  of  the 


ALPHABETICAL   INDEX. 


619 


Rosses,  71,  72.  Population  of  Sligo 
English  under  the  Fitzgeralds,  79. 
The  town  then  a  garrison,  80,  81. 
Died  at  Youghal  in  the  habit  of  a 
Friar  Minor,  72. 

Fitzmaurices,  The,  of  Ballymote,  II. 
1G8.  On  coming  into  possession  in 
1753,  they  establish  a  linen  factory, 
168.  According  to  Arthur  Young's 
account,  written  in  1778,  the  factory- 
was  not  a  success,  169. 

Fitzmaurice,  Father  Rickard,  II.  216. 

Flannelly,  Rev.  Patrick,  II.  416. 

FJannelly,  Thomas,  a  ^*  conversus  in 
religione,'^  I.  308. 

Fletcher,  Henry,  Constable  of  Ballina- 
fad  castle,  II.  306. 

Ffolliott,  Colonel,  of  HoUybrook,  II. 
308. 

Fort,  The  Green,  of  Sligo,  re-modelled 
by  the  Williamites,  1. 212.  Greatly 
strengthened  by  Sir  Teige  0 'Regan, 
219. 

Fort,  The  New  or  Stone,  built  by  the 
Cromwellians,  I.  188.  Plan  of,  189. 
Lord  Kingston  and  Sir  Albert 
Conyngham  upon,  190. 

Foster,  John,  of  Toronto,  II.  534. 

French,  Very  Rev.  Canon,  11.  28. 

Froude,  James  Anthony ;  mistaken 
notions  of,  II.  576.  His  "  English 
in  Ireland  "  quoted,  I.  225. 

Fullerton,  Sir  James,  receives  a  royal 
grant  of  Ballymote,  I.  138. 

Funerals,  Droves  of  cattle  at,  I.  86. 

Fury,  Jeremiah ;  the  first  Protestant 
Discoverer  in  the  county,  1. 238,  239. 

Games,  or  Sports,  of  Annagh  in  Calry, 
I.  471,  473.  Through  the  county, 
IL  564. 

Gap,  The,  in  parish  of  Kilmacteige,  an 
interesting  spot,  II.  148. 

Garvogue,  The  river;  origin  of  the 
name,  I.  334. 

Geraghty,  Rev.  J.,  Ballinafad,  11.316. 

Gethin,  John,  Ballindoon,  II.  272. 

Gethin,  Percy,  Sligo,  I.  224,  226,  230, 
237,  302,  323. 

Geevagh,  Union  of,  II.  260.  Moy- 
tura,  261-269.  Kilmactrany  and 
Killadoon,  270.  Ballindoon  Abbey, 
271,  273.  Shancoe,  274.  Parish 
Priests  of  Geevagh,  276.  Monsig- 
nor  M'Manus,  277.  Very  Rev.  H. 
F.  Parke,  278. 


Gilbert's  edition  of  "An  Aphorismi- 

cal Discovery,"  &c.,  I.  163  ;  II.  473. 

Gill,   Lough ;    finest  views  of,  I.  445. 

Church  Island  and  Cottage  Island 

of,  44G.     Ecclesiastical  and  secular 

memorials  of,    447.     Dangerous   in 

windy  weather,  448.     Variations  of 

depth,  449. 

Gilmartin,  Rev.  Thomas,  Professor  of 

Ecclesiastical    History,    Maynooth 

College,  II.  540. 

Gilmor,     Brothers,      Proprietors     of 

*'  Sligo  Independent,"  II.  548. 
Glen,  Knocknarea,  II.  422.     A  lusics 

naturce,  424. 
Glencar,   Description  of,  I.  488.     Its 
waterfall,  and  the  mysterious  Sruth- 
an-ail-an-ard^    489.     The   river    of, 
possesses  historical  interest,  490. 
Glenavoagh,  II.  149,  375. 
Glenu-Fathroimh,  I.  145. 
Glynn,  Mr.,  and  the  Chemical  Works 

of  Collooney,  I.  17. 
Goodman,  Very  Rev.  Dr.,  I.  284.  His 
natural  and  acquired  gifts ;  an  in- 
stance of,  285.  His  grave  in  Holy 
Cross  Convent,  287. 
Gore-Booth  family  :  they  come  to  re- 
side at  Lissadell,  II.  11.  The  family 
one  of  the  highest  in  the  country,  14. 
Sir  Paul  Gore,  15.  Sir  Robert  Gore 
Booth,  16.  Sir  Henry  and  Lady 
Gore  Booth's  charity  and  bene- 
volence, 17-18.  Colonel  Henry  and 
Sir  Francis  Gore  friendly  to  the 
royal  cause  in  the  17th  century,  I. 
172.  Propensities  of  the  family — a 
Lady  Gore,  II.  14.  The  Gore  Booths 
and  Ballymote,  171. 
Gore,  Mr.  E.,  M.R.I.A.,  F.R.A.S.,  a 

distinguished  astronomer,  II.  355. 
Graham,  Mr.,  Astronomer  in  Markrea 
Observatory,  II.  529. 

Granard,  Lord,  receives  the  surrender 
of  Sligo,  I.  222. 

Grange,  several  places  of  the  name  in 
the  county,  all  belonging  to  Boyle 
abbey,  I.  424.  Meaning  of  the  name, 
425.  Mistake  of  O'Donovan  and 
others  about  these  Granges,  433, 
434. 

Gray,  Dwyer,   voted  the  freedom  of 

Sligo,  I.  338. 
Griffith,  William,  and  the  Penal  code, 

I.  238.     Griffith,  Henry,  duel  of,  II. 

503. 


620 


ALPHABETICAL   INDEX. 


Grose's  "  Antiquities  of  Ireland ;"  un- 
accountable error  in,  I.  249. 

Guardian,  The  Sligo,  II.  547. 

Guest,  Sir  Lionel,  I.  312. 

Gurteen,  Union  of,  II.  358.  O'Garas, 
359-360.  MacDermots,  361-2-3. 
Kilfree,  363-4-5.  Killaraght  and 
Saint  Attracta,  366.  Life  of  the 
Saint,  366-378.  Succession  of  Parish 
Priests,  379-380. 

Habitations,  of  the  people,  II.  455. 
Placed  formerly  within  raths  or 
forts,  456.  Material  of  these  raths 
no  criterion  of  their  age,  456.  Mean- 
ing of  the  word  "gran"  or  * '  grania," 
457.  Some  Irishmen  may  have  never 
put  a  head  under  a  roof  in  remote 
times,  458.  Condition  of  the  west 
of  Ireland,  as  reported  in  1517,  459. 
Castle  of  Collooney,  the  first  stone 
and  mortar  structure  erected  in  the 
county,  460.  Castles  of  Sligo,  Tem- 
plehouse,  Ardcree,  Banada,  Bunin- 
na,  follow,  460.  Fine  stone  houses 
in  the  town  of  Sligo  in  1396.  The 
troubles  of  1641, 1689,  and  the  Penal 
Laws,  arrest  the  erection  of  good 
houses,  461.  Most  of  the  existing 
houses  built  since  the  beginning  of 
the  century,  462.  The  islands  of 
the  county  formerly  inhabited,  463. 
Improvements,  11.  586.  Houses  of 
the  town  of  Sligo,  towards  the  close 
of  last  century,  I.  330-331. 

Hamilton,  Sir  Frederick,  I.  153.  His 
principles,  154.  His  irruption  into 
Sligo,  155.  Burns  the  town  and 
massacres  the  inhabitants,  156.  Sir 
Frederick,  impervious  to  religious 
feeling,  157.  His  attitude  towards 
Protestants,  158.  His  leading  cha- 
racteristics, 159,  509. 

Harbour,  Sligo,  I.  348.  Intercourse 
between  Sligo  and  Spain,  350.  Quay 
of,  351.  Nature  improving  the  port, 
353.  Harbour  Commissioners  de- 
serving of  praise,  354.  Merchandise 
exported  and  imported,  356.  Mer- 
chants of  Sligo,  355-356. 

Harlech,  Lord,  I.  459.    It.  142. 

Harrington,  Sir  John,  on  the  battle  of 
the  Curlews,  II.  304. 

Haydn's  Dictionary  of  Dates,  Error 
in,  II.  544. 

Hazelwood,  a  charming  spot,  I.  443. 
The    demesne    and    mansion,   444, 


Commands  the  finest  views  of  Lough 
Gill,  445.  Belonged  under  Celtic 
rule  to  the  O'Connors,  449.  Later 
to  the  Creans,  and  Wynnes,  450. 
The  Wynne  family,  451.  Tillage 
in,  11.  464-465. 
Heapstown  ;  error  of  O'Donovan,  II. 
243.  Another  error  of  his  regarding 
the  Conmee  family,  245-6. 
Hely,  or  O'Hely,  family,  owned  large 
stretches  of  Tirerrill,  including 
Hollybrook,  or  Ballyhely,  II.  307. 
See  also,  II.  242.  Bight  Rev.  Dr. 
Healy,  a  member  of  the  family,  307. 
His  Lordship  in  the  pulpit  of  Sligo 
Convent,  I.  308. 
Hickson,  Miss,  and  her  Massacres  of 

1641,  IL  83,  91. 
Higgins,  O',  The  family  of,  has  pro- 
duced many  men  of   note,  II.  505. 
Donnell  O'Higgins,  505.   TeigeDall, 
505.     Maolmury   O'Higgins,  Arch- 
bishop of  Tuam,  506.     Bryan  Hig- 
gins, physician   and   chemist,  506. 
William  Higgins,   a  distinguished 
chemist,  506. 
Hill,  Rev.  George,  mistake  of,  I.  143. 
Hogan,  Rev.  E.,  S.J.,  our  Irish  Bollan- 

dist,  II.  368. 
Hollybrook,  II.  269.    A  fine  demesne, 
307.    Surroundings  picturesque,  308. 
Its  humane  and  cultivated  owner, 
308. 
Holmes,  Collector  of  the  port ;  quar- 
rel between  him  and  the  merchants 
of  Sligo,  I.  377. 
Hotels,  Sligo,  I.  411. 
Houses  of  Sligo. — See  Habitations. 
Hull,  Professor,  on  a  river  valley  at 
Keash,  II.  206.     On  the  geological 
formation  of  Benbulben,  I.  12. 

IccARDi,    Madam,    and    Mrs.    Sim; 

owners  of  the  magnificent  mills  of 

Collooney,  II.  347. 
Identification    of    historical     places, 

hitherto  unidentified: — Ath-Angaile 

castle,  II.  73  ;  castle  of  Rath  Ard 

Creeve,  66  ;  Caislen- Conor,  I.  307  ; 

Tuis-na-lainne,     I.    490;      Grianan 

Cairbre    Calry,    477.      Reanna   an 

Liagain,  553,  etc.,  etc. 
Immigrants,  English  and  Scotch,    I. 

24,  25  ;  II.  428,  586. 
Inchmacnerin,  Possessions  of,  II.  427, 

431. 
Incorporated  Society,  II.  454. 


ALPHABETICAL   INDEX. 


021 


Independent,  The  Sligo,  II.  548.  Its 
political  principles,  549. 

Independents,  The,  inCollooney,  under 
the  Commonwealth,  II.  346. 

Independents,  Church  of,  in  Sligo,  II. 
462. 

Infirmary,  Sligo,  admirably  situated, 
L  401.  Dr.  McDowell  and  his  staff, 
401.  An  institution  to  be  proud  of, 
402. 

Inis-na-lainne,  I.  490. 

Insurrection  of  1641,  reaches  Sligo  in 
December,  I.  148.  Insurgents  cap- 
ture the  castles,  149.  A  foul  blot 
on  the  movement,  150.  Conjecture 
in  explanation  of  the  gaol  tragedy, 
151.  Leaders  had  no  hand  or  part 
in  it,  152.  Sir  Frederick  Hamilton 
comes  on  the  scene,  153-4.  Sir 
Charles  Coote  takes  the  town,  159. 
The  Insurrection  opens  an  epoch  of 
evil,  II.  577. 

Irwin,  Lewis,  inventor  of  the  best 
olio  ever  tasted,  II.  49. 

Irwin,  Colonel  John,  and  the  bridge 
of  Easky,  II.  556. 

Irwin,  Commodore,  and  his  horse 
training,  11.  251. 

Ir  win,  John,  Titulado  of  Tonrego,  1. 391 . 

Islands,  of  the  county,  inhabited  by 
chiefs  or  religious,  II.  462-3. 

Jones,  Sir  Roger,  the  leading  Anglo- 
Norman  of  his  day  in  Sligo,  I.  301. 
Founder  of  St.  John's  church,  301. 
His  monument,  303.  Showed  more 
zeal  for  his  religion  than  its  minis- 
ters did,  304.  Owner  of  Tubber- 
curry,  II.  126.  His  descendants, 
the  Banada  Jones,  not  indebted  for 
a  single  acre  to  confiscation,  146. 
Their  sacrifices  for  religion,  147. 
Their  place  of  interment,  151. 

Jones,  The  Very  Rev.  Daniel,  I.  370  ; 
II.  147,  375,  376. 

Jones,  The  Very  Rev.  James,  II.  147. 
His  sisters^  147.  His  mother,  the 
"  Mother  of  the  Machabees,"  146. 

Jones,  The  Tireragh,  II.  399.  Inter- 
marry with  the  Loftuses,  400.  Jer- 
emy Jones  gets  up  a  Popish  Plot,  I. 
210,  211. 

Jones,  Bishop  of  Meath,  Scout  Master 
General  to  the  Cromwellian  army, 
L  210. 

Jones,  The  troopers.  Corporal  John, 
Christopher,  and  Richard,  II.  399. 


Joneses,  The,  of  the  17th  century,  as 
described  by  Rev.  Mr.  Hill  in 
Plantation  in  Ulster,  11.  399. 

Judge,  Very  Rev.  Canon,  a  first-class 
Irish  scholar,  11.  205. 

Judge,  Rev.  Thomas,  Professor  of 
Logic,  Metaphysics,  and  Ethics, 
Maynooth  College,  I.  56;  II.  541. 

Joyce,  P.  W.,  A.M.,  M.R.I.A.,  I.  54, 
55,  476,  493  ;  II.  422. 

Keash,  Union  of,  II.  201 .  The  Phibbs 
family,  202.  The  Hill  of  Keash, 
204-5.  Battle  of  Ceis  Corainn,  206. 
Grave  of  the  chiefs  who  fell  in  the 
battle,  207.  St.  Kevin  of  Glenda- 
lough  and  Toomour,  208-9.  Reli- 
gious and  secular  interest  of  Too- 
mour. Succession  of  Parish  Priests, 
215.  Anecdote  of  Father  Rickard 
Fitzmaurice,  216. 

Kerins,  Father,  II.  487. 

Kevin,  Saint,  His  ordination,  IT.  208. 

Kilglass,  Parish  of,  II.  419.  Meaning 
of  the  word  Kilglass,  419.  Castles 
of,  418-9. 

Killaspugbrone,  Parish  of,  I.  428. 
Relic  of  Killaspugbrone,  430.  Church 
of,  antedated  by  Petrie,  431. 

Killerry,  Parish  of,  11.318.  Grave- 
yard of,  319.  Cashelore  in  this 
parish,  321.  Ballintogher,  322. 
Parish  Priests,  324.  Protestant  in- 
cumbents, 326. 

Killoran  and  Kilvarnet,  IT.  57.  Cool- 
any,  59.  Error  about  the  name,  60. 
Parish  Priests,  62.  Protestant  in- 
cumbents, 63.  Rathbarron  church, 
63.  Ardcree  fortorRath-ard-creeve, 
66.  The  Percevals,  70.  Temple- 
house  castle,  73.  Ath-Angaile,  73-4-5- 
6.  Templehouse  castle,  not  a  work  of 
the  Templars,  80.  Templehouse  in 
1641.  Miss  Hickson's  "  Massacres 
of  1641,"  83,  91. 

Kilmacallan,  Parish  of,  IT.  251.  A 
prebeudal  church  under  the  Esta- 
blishment, 258. 

Kilmacshalgan,  Parish  of,  II.  410. 
Castle  of  Dunneil,  410.  William 
Fenton  of  Kilmacshalgan,  411. 

Kilmacteige,  Parish  of,  II.  141.  Sur- 
face of  district,  142.  Roads  of,  143. 
Revolting  transaction,  145.  The 
Gap,  148.  Castles  and  churches, 
149.  Banada  Abbey,  150-1.  Holy 
wells,  152.    Taaffe  mountain,  153. 


622 


ALPFIABETICAL  INDEX. 


Kilmoremoy,  Parish  of,  belongs  chiefly 
to  county  Mayo,  II.  421.  Ardnaree, 
422.  Castle  and  abbey  of  Ardnaree, 
423. 

Kilmorgan,  Parish  of,  II.  184.  New- 
park  and  the  Dukes,  187.  Tighe's 
Town,  188. 

Kilturra,  I.  307,  310. 

Kinahan,  C.  Henry,  M.R.T.A. ;  his 
Manual  of  Geology  of  Ireland  quo- 
ted, II.  11. 

Knockbeg,  Collooney,  Sir  Albert 
Conyngham  slain  at,  I.  220. 

Knocklane,  II.  14. 

Knocknarea,  Etymology  of,  according 
to  Venerable  Charles  O'Connor,  and 
John  O'Donovan,  I.  53.  According 
to  the  writer,  54-55-56.  Description 
of,  420.  View  from,  422.  The  Cairn 
of,  472. 

Knockaashee,  II.  118. 

Knott,  James,  of  Battlefield,  I.  462. 

Lakes,  The  minor,  of  the  county,  1. 21. 

Landlords,  and  Acts  of  Parliament,  I. 
186.  Landlords  and  their  duties  in 
regard  to  tenants,  II.  4G5-6.  Land- 
lords' rent,  in  money  and  in  kind, 
468,  469,  470.  Landlord  one-sided- 
ness  and  its  result,  584. 

Larcom,SirThomas,Letter  of  Petrie  to, 
I.  346.    Of  John  O'Donovan,  II.  44. 

Latouche,  Mr.,  Anecdote  of,  I.  14. 

Lecan,  II.  418.  The  McFirbises  of, 
507-8. 

Ledwich,  Doctor,  Bungling  of,  II.  176. 

Leslie,  Rev.  John,  D.D.,  I.  196.  A 
bellicose  churchman,  II.  323. 

Leycester,  Sir  Robert,  receives  a  grant 
of  fcligo,  I.  323. 

Leyney,  Old  extent  of,  I.  4.  Its 
parishes,  57.  Arthur  Young  on  the 
people  of,  II.  472. 

Lineage  of  the  people  of  Sligo,  I.  24- 
25-26. 

Lissadell,  Situation  and  name  of,  II. 
9.  Stirring  occurrences  in,  10.  Glen 
of,  12.  Views  from,  13.  The  Gore 
family,  14. 

Little,  Doctor  ;  his  honourable  death, 
I.  405. 

Loftus,  Adam,  I.  186.  Loftuses  and 
Joneses,  intermarriage  of,  II.  399. 

Loyalists,  Suffering,  I.  376,  and  Ap- 
pendix. 

Luidhigh,  Bishop,  ordainer  of  Saint 
Kevin  of  Glendalough,  II.  207-208. 


Luminary,  The  Sligo,  II.  544. 

Lungy,  Explanation  of  the  name,  I. 
409. 

Lusus  naiurce,  An  interesting,  I.  424. 

Luttrell,  Colonel  Henry ;  his  official 
connexion  with  Sligo,  I.  217.  The 
James  Carey  of  the  period,  217. 
His  tragic  end,  218.  Epigram  on, 
218. 

Lynch,  Bishop  of  Elphin,  I.  278-9. 

Lyons,    Old   Bob,    tbe   Mullaghmore 

"attorney,  II.  521.     Started  Curran 

in   his    career,    522.      Curran    and 

Mullaghmore,     523.      Attempt    in 

Sligo  on  Curran's  life,  524. 

MacDermots,  The,  a  Roscommon 
family,  11.  361.  Grant  of  lands  to 
Brian  MacDermot  in  1618,  362. 
Myles  MacDermot  and  Hugh  Mac- 
Dermot, 362.  Charles  MacDermot, 
363.     The  MacDermots,  363. 

MacDonnells,  The,  II.  389.  Two  of 
them  slain  at  the  termon  of  Balla- 
sadara,  390.  Ruined  by  the  Insur- 
rection of  1641,  390. 

MacDonnell,  William,  his  noble  con- 
duct during  the  cholera,  II.  332. 

MacDonoghs,  The,  11.  221.  Heroism 
of  Brian  MacDonogh,  Collooney, 
222-3.  Passion  of  the  MacDonoghs 
for  a  military  life,  224.  A  Mac- 
Donogh at  Fontenoy,  225.  Coun- 
sellor Terence  MacDonogh,  226,  227. 
The  Counsellor  in  private  life,  228. 
His  death,  burial,  and  epitaph,  229, 
230.  Had  no  children,  231.  His 
own  and  his  wife's  wills,  232,  233. 
The  MacDonoghs  deserve  well  of 
the    Church,    234.     Their    castles, 

235.  MacDonoghs  on  the  Continent, 
in  the  United  States,  and  in  Canada, 

236,  237,  238.    Armorial  bearings 
of  the  family,  591. 

MacDonogh,  Very  Rev.  Patrick,  Prior 

of  Holy  Cross,  Sligo,  I.  270,  282, 

283. 
MacFirbis,  The  family  of,  famous  for 

historical    labours,    II.   506.     Gilla 

losa  and  the  Book  of  Lecan,  509. 

Duald  MacFirbis,  507.    His  works, 

508,  509. 
Macintosh,    Sir  James,    on    Charles 

Phillips,  II.  518. 
MacNicholas,  Right  Rev.  Doctor,  I. 

403  ;  IL  111,  112. 


ALPHABETICAL   INDEX. 


623 


Maddens,  The,  I.  356.  Martin  Mad- 
den, first  Mayor  of  Sligo  in  the 
Reformed  Corporation,  340.  Puts 
up  a  fine  entrance  gate  before  the 
Abbey,  289. 

Markrea  demesne  and  castle,  II.  348. 
Markrea  Observatory,  352.  Its 
rain-fall  registry,  353-354. 

Marth,  Mr.  Albert,  astronomer,  II.  530. 

Marriages,  Mixed,  and  Parson  Scott, 
II.  488.     Sad  result  of  one,  489. 

Martin,  Abraham ;  his  family,  II. 
525.  A  marked  individuality,  526. 
Leading  business  man  of  Sligo  in 
his  day,  526,  527.  His  son  elected 
M.P.  for  Sligo,  but  sent  back  soon 
to  private  life,  528.  Appropriates 
part  of  the  Circular  Road,  555. 

Mass,  A,  under  the  Penal  Laws,  II. 
258. 

Meehan,  Rev.  C.  P. ;  his  books  re- 
markable for  research  and  literary 
finish,  I.  242. 

Merchants,  The,  of  Sligo,  have  gener- 
ally thriven  in  trade,  1. 355.  Butter- 
sellers  dissatisfied  with  market 
arrangements,  357.  The  merchants 
and  Collector  Holmes,  377. 

Merchandise  exported  and  imported, 

I.  356-7. 

Meredith,  Francis,  of  Sessucomon,  II. 
129.     The  Meredith  family,  356. 

Middleton,  William,  I.  378,  384.  The 
late  William  Middleton,  486. 

Midland  Great  Western  Railway  and 
tourists,  II.  557. 

Milmo,  Don  Patricio,  11. 538,  540.  His 
brother  Daniel,  539. 

Milmore,  Martin,  emigrates  to  Ameri- 
ca, and  becomes  an  eminent  artist, 

II.  532-3-4. 

Mitchelburne,  Colonel,  conducts  the 

siege  of  Sligo,  I.  221. 
Molaise,  Saint,  of  Aughris,  II.  405. 
Monasteredan,  II.  380.     Tragedy  at, 

381.     New  church  of,  383-4. 
Moraghan,  The  indefatigable  Father, 

I.  486  ;  II.  24,  25,  26. 

Morals;  II. 471.  Torying,  473.  High- 
waymen, 475.  Sensational  case, 
477.  Faction  fights,  479.  Clerk  of 
the  Crown's  books,  482,  489.  Singu- 
lar case  of  hanging,  484. 

Morgan,  Lady ;  her  Patriotic  Sketches, 

II.  395.     On  the  Cake-dance,  558. 
On  Holy  Wells,  5G1.     On  Wakes, 


563.  On  Sports,  566.  On  Seana- 
chies,  567-8. 

Motherwell,  Mrs.,  II.  177-182. 

Mountains,  Sligo,  L  10-11-12,  35-36. 

Mount  joy,  Lord,  I.  136. 

Moy,  The  river,  holds  the  first  place 
among  Sligo  rivers,  I.  22.    II.  92. 

Moytura,  The  Northern ;  Sir  James 
Ferguson  confounds  it  with  Carrow- 
more,  I.  58.  II.  269.  Scene  of  the 
battle,  260-270. 

Mullaghmore  ;  harbour  and  watering 
place,  II.  34-35.  Curran's  vacations 
at,  523-524. 

Mulnabreena,  II.  118. 

Murphy,  Rev.  Denis,  S.J.,  his  Crom- 
well in  Ireland,  I.  189. 

Music,  Sligo  partial  to,  II.  560. 

Nagnata,  The  episemos  polls  of,  I.  62- 
63. 

Naper,  James,  Tubbercurry ;  will  of, 
II.  128. 

Nathy,  Saint,  II.  93-94. 

Nelligan,  Rev.  James,  I.  403.  His 
Statistical  Account  of  Kilmacteige, 
11.  435,  480. 

Newenham's  View  of  Ireland,  II.  551. 

Newspapers,  Sligo  ;  "  The  Sligo  Morn- 
iug  Herald  or  Connaught  Adver- 
tiser," II.  541.  *<  The  Sligo  Journal 
or  General  Advertiser,"  542.  Curi- 
ous Advertisements  in,  543.  "The 
Western  Luminary  or  Sligo  Impar- 
tial Reporter,"  544.  "The  Sligo 
Observer, "  545.  "  The  Sligo  Cham- 
pion," 545-546.  "  The  Cryptic,"  546. 
"The  Sligo  Guardian,"  547.  "The 
Sligo  Chronicle,"  547.  "The  Sligo 
Independent,"  548-549. 

Newtown,  County  Leitrim,  surrender- 
ed to  Lord  Clanrickarde,  I.  172. 
Belonged  to  the  O'Rorkes,  and,  later, 
to  the  Parkes,  II.  462. 

Noone,  Rev.  Dominick,  II.  315.  Be- 
comes Parish  Priest  of  Geevagh, 
where  he  is  buried,  277. 

Norbury.  Lord ;  his  son  married  to  Miss 
Brabazon,  the  grand-daughter  of 
Jack  Phibbs,  11.  351. 

North,  Christopher,  on  Charles  Phil- 
lips, 11.  518. 

O'Connors  Sltgo,  The,  1. 82-145.  Bat- 
tle of  Crich  Carbury,  or  Magh  Duigh- 
bha,  between  them  and  the  Crich 
Connell,   83.     Donnell    O'Connor's 


624 


ALPHABETICAL   INDEX. 


death  and  burial,  86.    The  family 
re-eoter  public  life  under  favourable 
circumstances,    88.        Commanding 
qualities  of  its  members,  90.    Cathal 
becomes   king  of  Connaught,  92-3. 
Cathal  Oge's  abilities,  exploits,  and 
death,  94-5-C-7-8.     Donnell  murders 
his   cousin,    Teige,    99,    100.     And 
enlarges  the  territory  of  O'Connor 
Sligo,  103.     And  improves  the  town 
of  Sligo,   103.     The  time  at  which 
the   O'Connors  became   masters  of 
the  town,  104.     Donnell  O'Connor's 
sons   and  the  castle  of  Sligo,  ]06- 
111.     Teige  Oge  assumes  the  style 
and    title   of    The   O'Connor,    114. 
Teige,  son  of  Cathal  Oge,  IIG.     The 
English  re-appear  on  the  scene,  116. 
Sir   Donnell   O'Connor  and  Queen 
Elizabeth,    118-121.     Sir  Donnell  a 
match  for  the  Queen  and  her  minis- 
ters, 122-3.     His  character,    124-9. 
Career  of  Owen  O'Connor,  first  Pro- 
testant bishop  of    Killalla,    125-7. 
Status  of  the  O'Connor  Sligo,  129- 
130.     Sir  Donogh,    nephew   of   Sir 
Donnell,  131.     Marries  Lady  Elea- 
nor Butler,  widow  of  Earl  of  Des- 
mond, 138.     Sir  Charles  O'Connor, 
142.     Mistake  of  Lodge  and  Arch- 
dall,  143.     Sligo  reverts  to  Teige, 
uncle  of  Sir  Donogh,  144.     O'Con- 
nor Sligo  estate,    192.     Important 
documents   on     the    subject,    201. 
Name  of  O'Connor  Sligo  drops  out  of 
view,  204.     Mr.  Peter  O'Connor  and 
nephews,  the  genuine   descendants 
of  the  O'Connors  Sligo,  205.     Peter 
O'Connor's  character,  205,  206,  207. 
One  of  his  many  benefactions,  302. 
The  Guaire  Aidhne  of  Lower  Con- 
naught,   II.  452.     His  nephews,   I. 
207-208.     Castletown,  in  the  parish 
of    DrumclifF,    the    cradle    of    the 
O'Connors  Sligo,  505.     Character  of 
the    Castletown    O'Connors,     508. 
Caislen  Conor,  the  original  name  of 
Castletown,   506.     Serious  mistake 
of  O'Donovan  and  others  regarding 
the  O'Connors  Sligo,  433-4-5. 

O'Connor,  Very  Rev.  Ambrose,  Pro- 
vincial of  the  Dominicans,  I.  267  ; 
II.  509. 

O'Connor,  Father  Dominick,  Prior  of 
Holy  Cross,  I.  279. 

O'Connor,  Father  Felix,  Prior  of  Holy 
Cross,  dies  in  Sligo  gaol,  I.  282. 


O'Connor,  Father  Michael,  Prior  of 
Holy  Cross,  I.  283. 

O'Connor,  Rev.  Patrick,  Parish  Priest 
of  Cloontuskert  and  Kilgefen,  I.  208. 

O'Donnells,  The,  I.  68.  Godfrey 
O'Donnell,  71,  95.  IL  149,  160, 
161,  174. 

O'Donovan,  John,  Slips  of,  in  con- 
nexion with  Sligo  history  and 
archaeology.  Vol.  I.  pp.  5,  27,  31, 
32,  53,  55,  56,  128,  139,  433,  434, 
441,  442,  463,  474,  490;  Vol.  II. 
pp.  58,  66,  75,  94,  144,  194,  201, 
243,  245,  246,  397,  419. 

O'Dowds,  The,  Chiefs  of  Tireragh, 
II.  95,  385.  They  dislodge  the 
Berminghams,  386.  Devoted  to 
religion,  387.  The  O'Dowds  and 
Ardnaree,  387.  The  family  under 
James  I.,  388.  Armorial  bearings 
of,  II.  590. 

O'Flynne,  Right  Rev.  John,  IL  110, 
491. 

O'Hanlon,  Very  Rev.  Canon,  I.  495 ; 
IL  209. 

0' Haras,  The,  I.  58,  59,  67,  68,  69, 
76,  77,  78,  84,  85;  II.  150.  Armorial 
bearings  of  the  family,  590. 

O'llarts ;  Charles  and  Right  Rev. 
John,  1 1.  239  ;  Eugene,  Bishop  of 
Achonry,  I.  105. 

O'Higgins,  The — See  Higgins. 

O'Garas,  The,  IL  358,  359,  360,  361. 

O'Neill,  Owen  Roe,  declines  attempt- 
ing recovery  of  Sligo,  I.  171. 

Orangemen,  Strange  advertisement 
of,  II.  543.  In  existence  earlier 
than  is  commonly  thought,  544. 

O'Regan,  Teige,  I.  219,  229. 

Ormonde,  Duke  of,  ridicules  the  Popish 
Plot  witnesses,  I.  211. 

O'Rorkes,  The,  I.  36,  88,  140,  148, 
152,  153  ;  1 1.  498.  Armorial  bear- 
ings of,  II.  590. 

Ossian,  Songs  of,  IT.  563. 

Owenmore,  River  of,  I.  23. 

Owenson,  Miss  (Lady  Morgan),  II. 
395-397,  559-573. 

Palmerston,  Lord;  his  estate,  II.  30. 
His  views  and  improvements,  33, 
34.  And  the  priests,  36,  37.  And 
Father  Malachi  Brennan,  38. 

Parke,  Very  Rev.  H.  F.,  II.  279,  280, 
281 

Parkes,  The,  of  Dunally,  I.  461,  462, 
463. 


ALPHABETICAL   INDEX. 


625 


Patrick,  Saint,  I.  424-425  ;  IL  311. 
Patriotic   Sketches,   Lady   Morgan's, 

II.  395,  559-573. 
Patriot,  The  motto  of  every  genuine, 

II.  585. 
Percevals,  The,  L   192;    II.  70,  71, 

72,  73. 
Petrie,  Doctor  ;  his  opinion  of  Sligo 

people,  I.  347.     On  Cashelore,   II. 

322.     On  Carrowmore  circles  and 

cromlechs,  I.  42. 
Phillips,  Charles,  II.  511.    His  client, 

Widow  Wilkins,  513.     His  literary 

works,  516,  518,  519.     His  obituary 

in  The  Times,  521.  And  Bob  Lyons, 

522. 
Phibbs'  Family,  The,  II.  202,  203,  204. 
Pier    of    Ballast    Quay,    I.   352.     Of 

Oyster  Island,  351. 
Pillory,  Punishment  by,  II.  486. 
Poteen,  II.  489. 

Prendergast,  John  P.,  I.  178-183. 
Presbyterians,  Treatment  of,  II.  578. 
Preston,  General,  I.  170,  171. 
Priests  take  part  for  the  first  time  in 

elections,  I.  370. 
Proselytism,  II.  440,  441.     Specimen 

"Converts"— Bishop  Lynch,  I.  278; 

Archbishop  M'Grath,  305  ;  Thady 
Connellan,  11.407,  408,409;  Simon 

,  447,  448. 

Quay,  of  Sligo,  I.  351,  352. 

Queely,  Most  Rev.  Malachy,  General 
of  the  Confederate  Catholics,  1. 162. 
His  defeat  and  death,  163,  165. 
Place  of  his  death,  169. 

Quinn,  The  late  Mr.  Patrick,  of  Ro- 
chester, New  York,  11.  535. 

Quinn,  Mr.  Tom,  of  Brooklyn,  II.  535. 

Quinn,  Rev.  Andrew,  P.P.,  Rivers- 
town,  I.  436,  439  ;  II.  246,  253,  316. 

Quinn,  Father,  S.J.,  II.  461. 

Rabbits,  profitablestockforfarms,L19* 

Radcliff,  Sir  George,  and  Lord  Thomas 
Strafford,  acquire  the  O'Connor 
Sligo  estate,  I.  192.  Death  of 
Thomas  Radcliff,  195.  His  epitaph, 
196.  Radcliff  Street  called  after 
these  Radcliffs,  387. 

Railways,  Sligo,  and  tourists,  II.  557. 

Raths,  Use  of,  I.  39-40.  Age  of,  not 
to  be  determined  by  their  material, 
II.  456.  Meaning  of  *'gran"  or 
"  grania  "  in  names  of  raths,  457. 

Records  of  the  Sligo  Town  Council,  I. 
321. 

VOL.  II. 


Reeves,  Right  Rev.  Doctor,  I.  496, 
498  ;  II,  29-45,  400. 

Regattas,  I.  448,  449,  474. 

Religion,  Sketch  of  its  propagation 
over  the  county,  II.  424.  Persecu- 
tion, 428.  Means  of  support,  429. 
Offerings,  430,  431,  432,  433.  Peo- 
ple plundered  by  the  State  Church, 
434.  Present  flourishing  state  of 
religion,  496,  578,  579.  Contrast, 
580,  581. 

Renehan,  Very  Rev.  Dr.,  I.  223. 

Retrospect,  II.  574.  Moral  and  reli- 
gious state  of  the  county,  574,  575. 

Ribbonism,  IL  486  ;  figures  for  the 
first  time  in  the  county  Sligo,  486. 

River,  The  SUgeach,  I.  22.  The  part 
above  the  bridge  called  Garvogue, 
and  why,  22,  334.  Improved  by 
Abraham  Martin,  335.  Shallow  in 
the  past,  47. 

River,  The  Moy,  I.  22 ;  IL  126,  143. 

River,  The  Owenmore,  I.  23. 

River,  <The  Uncion  or  Arrow,  I.  23. 

River,  The  Drumcliflf,  I.  187,  489. 

Riverstown,  Ecclesiastical  union  of, 
II.  239.  Antiquities  in,  240.  Six 
old  parishes  in,  246.  Town  or  vil- 
lage of,  252.  Parish  Priests,  255. 
Protestant  incumbents,  258.  Meet- 
ing at,  543. 

Roads,  IL  550, 551 ,  552.  Existing  roads 
of  modern  date,  554.  Circular  road 
of  Sligo,  554.  Bridges,  556.  Rail- 
rocbds   5o7 

Robinsons,  The,  IL  142,  148. 

Rosses,  The,  I.  479.  Rosses  Point 
seaside  resort,  479.  Advantages 
and  attractions  of,  480.  Striping  of, 
485.  Ample  accommodation  of,  486. 

Russell,  Very  Rev.  Doctor,  quoted, 
IL  16. 

Russell,  Father  ;  his  Irish  Monthly, 
IL  533. 

Saint-Worship  Extraordinary,  II. 
543. 

Sarsfield,  Apocryphal  account  of  his 
withdrawal  from  Sligo,  I.  213,  214. 
Retakes  Sligo  after  an  extraordinary 
march,  215,  216. 

Scenery,  I.  10,  18,  23.  Of  environs 
of  Sligo,  35,  36,  37.  Thomas  Car- 
lyle  on,  38.  View  from  the  Abbey, 
78.  From  the  Ballast  Quay  pier, 
352.  Of  Calry,  442,  444,  445,  446, 
478,  479,  480.      Of  Castletown,  504. 

2  s 


626 


ALPHABETICAL    INDEX. 


On  Midland  G.  W.  R.  line,  IT.  557- 
558.  Of  Ballygawley,  IT.  220.  Of 
the  Curlews,  2.S3.  Of  Hollyl)i'ook, 
308.  Of  Ballysadare,  334.  Of  Col- 
looney,  340.  Of  Longford  iu  Dro- 
mard,  396. 

Scott,  Mr.,  of  the  Board  of  Works, 
I.  291,  292. 

Scott,  Parson,  and  his  "  Curate,"  II. 
489. 

Scott,  Colonel  Edward's  sally  from 
Sligo,  L  219. 

Seal  of  the  Corporation,  Mistake  about 
the  device  on,  I.  322. 

Seanachie,  The,  11.  565-6.  Sean  Ban 
Tempany,  566.  Killed  by  the  penny 
newspapers,  567. 

Sectarianism,  Less  of,  in  the  beginning 
of  the  century  than  later,  I.  344. 
More  than  one  side  at  fault,  347. 

Sedley,  the  Messrs.,  II.  547. 

Sexton,  The  Lord  Mayor,  L  338  ;  TL 
404. 

Seymour,  Reverend  Firebrand,  I.  345. 

Shancoe,  Parish  of,  II.  273. 

Sligo,  County  of,  constituted,  I.  p.  I. 
Areas  contained  in,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7. 
Coast  line,  9.  Mountain  system  of, 
10.  Geological  formation,  11.  Ben- 
bulben  group,  12.  Minerals,  13,  14. 
Lineage  of  inhabitants,  25,  26.  The 
Fitzgeralds  and  Sligo,  64.  The 
O'Connors  and  Sligo,  82.  In  the 
seventeenth  century,  146.  Crom- 
wellian  Settlement,  182.  Treat- 
ment of  Catholics  in,  222.  Ward- 
ships of  County  Chiefs,  312.  Parishes 
of,  416-516  ;  Vol.  11.  pp.  1-423. 

Sligo,  Town  of,  comparatively  modern, 
I.  39.  Proofs  and  illustrations,  40. 
Battle  of  Sligo,  42-46.  Fearsats  or 
Strand  passes,  47.  Maurice  Fitz- 
gerald, the  true  founder  of,  68. 
Builds  the  castle  of,  69-70.  And 
the  abbey,  75,  76,  77.  Sligo  a  gar- 
rison rather  than  a  town  under  the 
Fitzgeralds,  80,  81.  Sligo  under 
the  O'Connors,  82-145.  Cathal  Oge 
dies  of  the  Black  Death  in  Sligo, 
97,  98.  The  town  vastly  improved, 
102.  Its  buildings  of  wood  and 
stone  splendid,  103.  The  English 
play  again  an  important  part  in  the 
town,  IIG.  Proceedings  of  the  in- 
surgents of  1641  in  the  town,  149. 
The  town  and  its  inhabitants  burned 
by    Sir   Frederick    Hamilton,    153. 


Sir  Charles  Coote  takes  the  place, 
160.  The  Archbishop  of  Tuam, 
Malachy  Qiieely,  tries  to  recover 
the  town,  but  is  defeated  and  slain, 
163.  Generals  Preston  and  Owen 
Roe  O'Neil  decline  attempting  re- 
covery of  Sligo,  170,  171.  Sur- 
rendered to  the  Parliamentary 
forces,  176.  The  Cromwellians 
erect  a  new  fort,  188.  End  of  the 
O'Connor  regime,  204.  Sarsfield 
takes  the  town,  216.  Lord  Granard 
recovers  it  for  the  Williamites,  220. 
Treatment  of  Sligo  Catholics,  220- 
240.  The  Abbey,  241-297.  The 
Church  of  St.  John,  298-318.  The 
Borough  of  Sligo,  318-347.  The 
Harbour,  Quays,  and  Fishery,  348- 
360.  The  Cholera  of  1832,  379. 
Streets  and  buildings,  383-416. 
Rev.  John  Wesley  on  Sligo  people, 
494.  Charles  Phillips,  511.  Sligo 
newsjmpers,  541,  542,  544,  545,  546, 
547,  548. 

Smith,  Erasmus,  II.  437. 

Soden  Family,  I.  336,  337  ;  II.  51. 

Sports,  II.  566. 

Staunton,  Very  Rev.  Canon ;  his  tact, 
talent,  and  savoir  /aire,  II.  129. 

Stones,  trees,  and  wells  ;  abuses  con- 
nected with,  II.  570. 

StrafTord,  Thomas,  Earl,  I.  192-193; 
William,  Earl,  194. 

Sullivan,  W.  K.,  in  O'Curry's  "  Man- 
ners  and  Customs  of  the  ancient 
Irish,"  I.  471  ;  11.  506. 

Superstitious  practices,  II.  570.  Ag- 
gravated by  the  Penal  Laws,  571  ; 
suppressed  by  the  Church,  572-573. 

Sweeny,  or  MacSweeny,  Family  of, 
II.  388,  389,  390,  392,  394,  404. 
Armorial  bearings  of  the  family,  590. 

Taaffes,  The,  of  Ballymote ;  Sir 
William,  II.  162.  Count  Francis 
and  William  of  Orange,  166.  Count 
Edward,  167,  168. 

Teeling,  Bartholomew,  I.  374,  375  ; 
II.  472. 

Templehouse,  Castle  and  demesne  of, 
II.  69-70.  The  Percevals,  70-73. 
The  Templars  not  the  builders  of 
the  castle,  73-80.  The  castle  in  the 
Insurrection  of  1641,  80-91. 

Templeboy,  Parish  of,  II.  403-404. 
Priory  of  Aughris,  405.  Thady  Con- 
uellan,  406.     Pariah  Priests  of,  410- 


ALPHABETICAL    INDEX. 


627 


Tighes'-town,  II.  188.  Canon  Tighe, 
Alderman  Tighe,  Mr.  Thomas 
Tighe,  and  Mr.  Edward  Tighe,  188. 
Memorial  to  Canon  Tighe,  185. 

Tillage,  II.  463,  464,  465.  Improve- 
ment in,  467. 

Timber  and  planting,  I.  17,  18. 

Tireragh,  Ancient  extent  of,  I.  6,  7. 
Families  of,  II.  386,  388,  389.  Titu- 
ladoes  of,  390. 

Tirerrill,  Ancient  limits  of,  I.  3  ;  II. 
218,  219.  The  MacDonoghs  of,  221. 
Interesting  antiquities,  239.  Old 
parishes  of,  243.  Aenach  Tireoil- 
ella,  245. 

Tituladoes,  I.  183.  Appendix,  II. 

Toomour,  Parish  of,  II.  207.  The 
valley  of,  209.  Meaning  of  the 
name,  211.  Kings-town  well,  211. 
Parish  Priests,  215. 

Torying,  II.  473-4-5, 

Tourists,  and  Sligo  railways,  II.  558. 
Scenes  and  sights  for  {See  Scenery), 
557.  And  Sligo  Hotels,  II.  411. 
Should  visit  Ballysadare,  333. 

Tourlistrane,  Parish  Church  of,  II. 
153. 

Townsend,  Very  Rev.  Dean,  A  state- 
ment of,  II.  64. 

Tragedy  in  Abbey,  I.  4G0  ;  II.  477. 

Tubber  Araght,  Clogher,  II.  382. 
Tubber  Keerain,  152.  Tubber 
Barbara,  152.  Tubber-an-alt  and 
Tubberconnell,  447. 

Tubbercurry^  first  mention  of,  II.  126. 
Owners  of,  126.  Town  of,  127. 
Piper  Hill,  127.  A  progressive  and 
important  place,  129,  130. 

Tucker,  Mr.  John,  I.  359. 

Uncion,  The  river,  I.  23. 

Union  Wood,  I.  17  ;  II.  19. 

Ulster,  The  Red  Earl  of,  builds  Bally- 
mote  castle,  II.  158.  William,  Earl 
of  Ulster,  I.  105.  Red  Earl's  roads, 
II.  553. 

Urwick,  Rev.  Dr.  William,  I.  403; 
IL  415. 

Valentine,  Rev.  Thomas,  leaves 
£400  towards  the  institution  of  a 
Protestant  charity  school,  II.  440. 

Verdon,  Edward  Howard,  Proprietor 
and  Editor  of  "  The  Ctiampion,"  II. 
504,  545. 

Vereker,  Colonel,  I.  374. 

Vernon,  William,  Provost,  I.  329. 


Volunteer  Movement,  The,  I.  361. 
Volunteer  Associations,  302,  363.  A 
counterpart  of  recent  doings,  364. 

"  Waits,"  The,  and  their  curious 
proceedings,  I.  342. 

Wakes,  II.  561.  Tricks  at,  562.  Con- 
demned by  religion,  563.  Improve- 
ments effected,  568. 

Wakeman,  W.  F.,  II.  43. 

Walker,  Counsellor  R.  C,  I.  50 ;  IL 
503. 

Walton,  Alderman,  I.  324. 

Wardship  of  heirs  of  Sligo  chiefs, 
I.  312. 

Wars,  Petty,  the  crying  evil  of  past 
times,  II.  575,  576. 

Water-works,  1. 108.   Account  of,  409. 

Wells,  The,  of  Sligo  town,  I.  409. 

Wells,  Holy,  II.  5G0.  Origin  of,  561. 
Abuses  at,  568. 

Well-being,  Material,  of  the  people, 
IL  583,  584,  585. 

Wesley,  Reverend  John  ;  His  Journal. 
quoted,  II.  551.  In  a  predicament, 
551-52.  His  opinion  of  Sir  Frede- 
rick Hamilton,  I.  156. 

Wesleyans,  The  Sligo,  II.  498. 

Wilkins,  Widow,  cudgels  Charles 
Phillips, 

Willowbrook  House,  seat  of  Philip 
Ormsby 's  descendants,  455.  Burglar- 
iously entered,  456. 

Woodlock,  Right  Rev.  Doctor,  Bishop 
of  Ardagh,  a  perfect  combination  of 
"  sweetness  and  light,"  II.  318. 

Wood-Martin's,  Major,  History  of 
Sligo  ;  errors  of,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  67,  129, 
189,  214,  216,  217,  330,  475,  492. 

Worthies,  or  Men  of  mark,  Sligo,  II. 
504-534. 

Wynnes,  The,  I.  327-330.  The  family 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  in  the 
country,  450.  Different  estimates  of 
the  Wynnes  as  landlords,  451,  452. 
The  ladies  of  the  family,  453.  The 
late  Mrs.  Wynne,  294,  454.  Family 
quarrel,  II.  478.  An  advertisement 
of  Mr.  Wynne  in  the  "  Sligo  Jour- 
nal," 542.  Brigadier-General  Owen 
Wynne,  I.  237. 

Yeats,  Reverend  John,  II.  27. 

Yeats,  W.  B.,  II.  534. 

Young's,  Arthur,  Tour  in  Ireland,  II. 
168-1 69.  On  the  roads  of  Ireland, 
551.  His  opinion  of  the  Crom- 
wellian  gentry,  IL  495. 


LIST  OF  SUBSCRIBERS. 


No.  of 
Copies. 


1 
2 
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1 
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Most  Rev.  Dr.  Lyster,  Bishop  of  Achonry,  Ballaghaderreen. 

Colonel  Cooper,  Lieutenant  of  the  County  Sligo  and  Custos  Rotulorum, 

Markree  Castle. 
Edmund  Leamy,  Esq.,  B.L.;  M.P.  South  Sligo,  21  Upper  Gardiner  Street, 

Dublin. 
The  Mayor  of  Sligo,  High  Street,  Sligo. 


Very  Rev.  Canon  Monahan,  D.D.,  V.G.,  Banagher. 
Rev.  Patrick  Reddy,  P.P.,  Kilronan. 
Very  Rev.  James  Dolan,  P.P.,  V,F.,  Drumkeeran. 
Rev.  Stephen  M'Ternan,  P.P.,  M.R.I.A.,  Killasnet. 
Very  Rev.  J.  S.  Conmee,  S.J.,  President  Clongowes  Wood 

College. 

Very  Rev.  Denis  Murphy,  S.J.,  University  College,  Dublin. 
Rev.  C.  P.  Meehan,  M.R.I.A.,   SS.  Michael  &  John's,  Dublin. 
Very  Rev.  Pius  Devine,  Holy  Cross  Monastery,  Belfast. 
Rev.  William  Newton  Guinness,  M.A.,  The  Rectory,  CoUooney. 
Rev.  James  Armstrong,  Rector,  The  Vicarage,  Castlerock, 

Londonderry. 
Very  Rev.  H.  F.  Parke,  V.G.,  Mt.  de  Chantal,  Wheeling,  U.S.A. 
Rev.  Peter  O'Donnell,  Rector  St.  John's  Church,  Orange  N.  J., 

Newark,  U.S.A. 
Rev.  Martin  Marron,  Rector,  Watsonville,  San  Francisco,  U.S.A. 
Rev.  James  P.  Tahaney,  St.  John  Gualbert's,  Cath.  Church, 

Johnstown,  Pa.,  U.S.A. 
Rev.  Michael  Haran,  Rector,  Qiiarryville,  New  York,  U.S.A. 
Rev.  John  Connolly,  P.P.,  Lucan,  Ontario,  Canada. 
Very  Rev.  Dean  Finn,  D.D.,  V.G.,  Swinford. 
Rev.  M.  J.  Burke,  C.C.,  Swinford. 
Rev.  James  Cullen,  C.C.,  Swinford. 
Rev.  Walter  Henry,  C.C.,  Swinford. 
Very  Rev.  Canon  Staunton,  P.P.,  V.F.,  Tubbercurry. 
Rev.  John  McNicholas,  C.C,  Tubbercurry. 
Rev.  Patrick  Lowry,  P.P.,  Mulnabreena. 
Rev.  Thomas  Doyle,  C.C,  Mulnabreena. 
Rev.  Philip  Mylligan,  P.P.,  Curry. 


Diocese. 

Ardagh. 

Ardagh. 

Kilmore. 

Kilmore. 


Kildare. 


Achonry. 
Achonry. 
Achonry. 
Achonry. 
Achonry. 
Achonry. 
Achonry. 
Achonry. 
Achonry. 


LIST   OF   SUBSCRIBERS. 


^o.  of 

Copies. 


1 
2 
2 
2 

2 
2 
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2 
2 
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2 
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2 
2 
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Diocese. 

Rev.  Edward  Connington,  C.C,  Curry.  Achonry. 

Rev.  Patrick  McDonald,  P.P.,  Killoran.  Achonry. 

Rev.  Patrick  McDermott,  C.C,  Kilmacteige.  Achonry. 

Rev.  Dominick  F.  O'Grady,  Chaplain  Sisters  of  Charity, 

Banada.  Achonry. 

Rev.  P.  R.  Staunton,  CO.,  Ballymote.  Achonry. 

Rev.  Michael  Doyle,  C  C,  Ballymote,  Achonry. 

Very  Rev.  Canon  Stenson,  P.P.,  Buninadden.  Achonry. 

Rev.  John  Morrin,  C.C,  Buninadden.  Achonry. 

Rev.  Patrick  Conlon,  C.C,  Keash.  Achonry. 

Rev.  Michael  Cawly,  Ballysadare  and  Kilvarnet.  Achonry. 

Rev.  Arthur  Devine,  C.C,  Ballysadare  and  Kilvarnet.  Achonry. 

Rev.  Dominick  O'Grady,  C.C,  Ballysadare  and  Kilvarnet.       Achonry. 

Very  Rev.  Canon  O'Donoghue,  P.P.,  Gurtcen.  Achonry. 

Rev.  P.  A.  Filan,  C.C,  Gurteen.  Achonry. 

Rev.  Bartholomew  Quinn,  C.C,  Gurteen.  Achonry. 

Rev.  Michael  Keveny,  Adm.,  Ballaghaderreen.  Achonry. 

Rev.  Patrick  Cunniff,  C.C,  Ballaghaderreen.  Achonry. 

Rev.  James  Daley,  Principal,  Diocesan  Seminary,  Balla- 
ghaderreen. Achonry. 

Very  Rev.  Canon  O'Hara,  P.P.,  Kilmovee.  Achonry. 

Rev.  Martin  Henry,  C.C,  Kilmovee.  Achonry. 

Very  Rev.  Canon  Judge,  P.P.,  Killasser.  Achonry. 

Rev.  John  O'Grady,  P.P.,  Bohola.  Achoury. 

Senor  Don  P.  J.  O'Grady,  Collegio  Superior,  De  los  0.  P. 

Salesianos,  San  Nicholas  de  los  Arroyos.  Buenos  Ay  res. 

Very  Rev.  Denis  O'Hara,  P.P.,  V.F.,  Kiltemagh.  Achonry. 

Rev.  Patrick  Hunt,  P.P.,  Strade.  Achonry. 

Very  Rev.  Richard  McLaughlin,  Adm.,  V.F.,  Sligo.  Elphin. 

Rev.  G.  J.  Coyle,  C.C,  Sligo.  Elphin. 

Rev.  R.  Gearty,  C.C,  Sligo.  Elphin. 

Rev.  B.  Geraghty,  C.C,  Sligo.  Elphin. 

Very  Rev.  Thomas  Boylan,  Prior,  Holy  Cross  Convent,  Sligo,  Elphin. 


Very  Rev.  Andrew  Moraghan,  P.P.,  Drumoliff, 

Rev.  John  Monaghan,  C.C,  Ahamlish, 

Rev.  Andrew  Quinn,  P.P.,  Riverstown. 

Rev.  J.  Corley,  C.C,  Riverstown. 

Rev.  Peter  Filan,  P.P.,  Geevagh. 

Rev.  P.  J.  Lynch,  CC,  Geevagh. 

Rev.  J.  Geraghty,  P.P.,  Aghanagh. 

Rev.  J.  Keane,  CC,  Aghanagh. 

Rev.  James  Casey,  P.P.,  Athleague. 

Rev.  M.  Creighton,  C.C,  Athleague. 

Rev.  John  Nangle,  P.P.,  Croghan. 


Elphin. 
Elphin. 
Elphin. 
Elphin. 
Elphin. 
Elphin. 
Elphin. 
Elphin. 
Elphin. 
Elphin. 
Elphin. 


LIST   OF   SUBSCRIBERS. 


No.  of 
Copies. 

1 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 


Rev.  Thomas  C.  Judge,  P.P.,  Frenchpark. 

Rev.  Wm.  White,  C.C,  Ballintubber. 

Rev.  Eugene  White,  P.P.,  Termonbarry. 

Rev.  Patrick  Donagher,  P.P.,  Ahascragh. 

Rev.  John  Pyne,  C.C,  Roosky,  Elphin. 

Rev.  Patrick  McNulty,  P.P.,  Skreen  and  Drumard. 

Rev.  Peter  P.  O'Keane,  P.P.,  Easky. 


Diocese, 

Elphin. 

Elphin. 

Elphin. 

Elphin. 

Elphin. 

Killalla. 

Killalla. 


2    Mr.  C.  W.  O'Hara,  D.L.,  Annaghmore. 

1  Mr.  C.  K.  O'Hara,  J.P.,  Annaghmore. 

2  Mrs.  Perceval,  Temple  House. 


s/ 


2 

1 
1 

N^2 

1 
1 
2 
4 
4 
2 


y 


SLIGO. 

Mr.  Peter  O'Connor,  J.P.,  Cairnsfort. 

Mr.  F.  M.  Olpherts,  J.P.,  Mountshannon. 

Colonel  Wood  Martin,  J. P.,  Cleveragh. 

Mr.  Simon  Cullen,  J.P.,  Thornhill  House. 

Mr.  Harper  Campbell,  J. P.,  Hermitage. 

Mr.  George  T.  Pollexfen,  J.P.,  Quay  Street. 

Mr.  Randle  Peyton,  Crown  Solicitor,  Rose  Hill. 

Alderman  Tighe,  J. P.,  Merville. 

Alderman  Colleary,  Knox's  Street. 

Alderman  Woods,  J.P,,  Marymount. 

Alderman  Kidd,  J.  P.,  Wine  Street. 

Councillor  McGuire,  Radcliff  Street. 

Councillor  Milmoe,  High  Street. 

Councillor  Foley,  Castle  Street. 

Councillor  Jackson,  Lynn's  Place. 

Dr.  Petit,  Superintendent,  Lunatic  Asylum. 

Dr.  Martyn,  Stephens'  Street. 

Mr.  James  O'Connor,  Ballyglass. 

Mr.  D.  J.  Roantree,  Inspector  of  National  Schools. 

Mr.  Thomas  Scanlan,  Eagle  Lodge,  Carrowkeel. 

Mr.  Thomas  Keating,  Castle  Street. 

Messrs.  E.  McElheny  and  Son,  Castle  Street. 

Mr.  J.  McCarthy,  Solicitor. 

Mr.  H.  B.  Tully,  Solicitor. 

Mr.  Thomas  Scallan,  Temple  Street. 

Mr.  W.  C.  Middleton,  Elsinore. 

Mr.  Roger  Davey,  P.L.G.,  Drumiskibole. 

Mr.  P.  J.  Gunning,  Pound  Street. 

Mr.  Michael  Jordan,  Caltra. 

Mr.  James  Mulligan,  Carny. 


Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sljgo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 

Sligo. 


LIST   OF   SUBSCRIBERS. 


No.  of 
Copies. 

1  Lord  Harlech,  Tetwortb,  Ascot,  Berkshire. 

1  Mr.  E.  0.  MacDevitt,  Chairman  Land  Commission. 

1  Sir  Henry  J.  Gore  Booth,  Bart.,  Lissadell. 

2  Mr.  John  Mulhall,  Private  Secretary  to  Lord  Lieutenant, 

Viceregal  Lodge,  Dublin. 

2  Mr.  M.  J.  Madden,  J.P.,  Bray. 

2  Major  Leech,  J. P.,  The  Lodge,  Wellington  Bridge,  Co.  Wexford. 
1  Captain  Hugh  McTernan,  D.L.,  Heapstown. 

3  Mr.  John  Ormsby  Cooke,  J. P.,  Kilturra  House. 

1  Miss  McGetrick,  Moy lough  House. 

2  Mr.  John  McDonagh,  Ex-Mayor,  Thorold,  Ontario,  Canada. 
2  Mr.  Burton  Irwin,  D.L.,  Fitzwilliam  Square,  Dublin. 

1  Sir  Ralph  S.  Cusack,  D.L.,  Chairman  Midland  G.  W.  Ry., 

Broadstone,  Dublin. 

1  Mr.  Peter  Connellan,  Head  Inspector  of  National  Schools,  Athlone. 

1  Mr.  Timothy  Tiernan,  Jun.,  Athleague  Mills,  Roscommon. 

1  Mr.  Frank  Davey,  City  Editor,  Daily  Statesman,  Salem,  Oregon,  U.S.A. 

1  Mr.  John  McDonogh,  Hey  wood  Bros.  &  Co.,  Baltimore,  U.S.A. 

1  Mr.  James  McDonogh,  Hey  wood  Bros.  &  Co.,  Baltimore,  U.S.A. 

1  Mr.  George  Crofton,  per  Very  Rev.  H.  F.  Parke,  Wheeling,  U.S.A. 

1  Mr.  Ed.  Clarke,  per  Very  Rev.  H.  F.  Parke,  Wheeling,  U.S.A. 

2  Mr.  J.  A.Williams,  Canal  Street,  New  York,  U.S  A. 

1  Mr.  Anthony  T.  Gilfoyle,  J.P.,  Upper  Gardiner  Street,  Dublin. 

2  Mr.  Denis  O'Rourke,  Mount  Allen,  Arigna,  Drumshambo. 

1  Mr.  John  Walsh,  Dublin. 

2  Mr.  James  F.  McGetrick,  Reviser,  Valuation  Office,  Dublin. 
1  Mr.  Wm.  J.  Bastow,  Reviser,  Valuation  Office,  Dublin. 

1  Mr.  Michael  J.  McManus,  Inland  Revenue,  Long  Eaton,  England. 

1  Mr.  John  J.  Bree,  National  Debt  Office,  Old  Jewry,  London. 

1  Mr.  John  Waters,  Head  Constable,  R.I.C.,  Cavan. 

TUBBERCUERY. 

1  Doctor  FJannery.  Tubbercurry. 

1  Mr.  Luke  Armstrong,  Chairman  Board  of  Guardians.  Tubbercurry. 

2  Mr.  Edward  Ormsby  Cooke,  P.L.G.  Tubbercurry. 
1  Mr.  P.  H.  Burke,  Manager  Hibernian  Bank.  Tubbercurry. 
1  Mr.  J.  Hurley,  Solicitor.  Tubbercurry. 
1  Mr.  John  Mullarkey.  Tubbercurry. 
1  Mr.  Patrick  Benson.  Tubbercurry. 
]  Mr.  James  J.  Flanagan.  Tubbercurry. 
1  Mr.  D.  C.  Devine.  Tubbercurry. 
1  Mr.  A.  J.  Staunton.  Swinford. 

1  Mr.  John  Feeny,  Hotel.  Swinford. 

1  Mr.  Joseph  P.  Mannion,  Solicitor.  Swinford. 

1  Mr.  T.  P.  J.  A.  O'Connor.  Swinford. 


LIST   OF   SUBSCRIBERS. 


No.  of 

Copies. 

BALLYMOTE. 

2 

Mr.  R.  A.  Duke,  D.L.,  NeM-park. 

Ballymote. 

2 

Mr.  Edward  Tighe,  Mulla  Cottage. 

Ballymote. 

1 

Mr.  William  Alexander,  Sheriff,  Somerton. 

Ballymote. 

1 

Mr.  R.  Longheed  Morrison. 

Ballymote. 

2 

Miss  Battelle,  Drumfin. 

Ballymote. 

1 

Mr.  Michael  Doyle. 

Ballymote. 

1 

Mr.  Patrick  O'Dowd,  Doocastle. 

Ballymote. 

1 

Mr.  John  Battelle,  Drumfin. 

Ballymote. 

1 

Mr.  Henry  Dwyer,  Ballinacarrow. 

RIVERSTOWN. 

Ballymote. 

1 

Mr.  John  Downes. 

Riverstown. 

1 

Mr.  J.  H.  Judge. 

Riverstown. 

1 

Mr.  James  Feely,  Coolbock. 

Riverstown. 

1 

Mr.  John  Gardiner,  Knockelassa. 

Riverstown. 

1 

Mr.  Roger  McGoldrick,  Kilross. 

Riverstown. 

1 

Mr.  Peter  O'Dowd,  Worcester,  Mass.,  U.S.A.  Per  Mr. 

John 

Downes. 

Riverstown. 

COLLOONEY. 

0 

Mr.  Alexander  Sim,  J.  P. 

Collooney. 

2 

Mr.  William  Heron,  Doonamurray. 

Collooney. 

1 

Mr.  Burke,  Head  Constable. 

Collooney. 

2 

Doctor  Lucas. 

Collooney. 

2 

Mr.  Michael  Rooney. 

Collooney. 

1 

Mr.  James  McKim. 

Collooney. 

1 

Mr.  Denis  Moran. 

Collooney. 

1 

Mr.  Patrick  Hart. 

Collooney. 

2 

Mr.  James  Barrett. 

Collooney. 

2 

Mr.  John  O'Rorke. 

Collooney. 

2 

Mr.  Charles  Gillooley. 

Collooney. 

2 

Mr.  John  Phillips,  P.L.G.,  Camphill. 

Collooney. 

1 

Mr.  John  McGowan,  Tubberscanavan. 

€ollooney. 

1 

Mr.  Charles  McGowan,  Tubberscanavan. 

BALLYSADARE. 

Collooney. 

1 

Mr.  Mark  Burke,  ex-Sub-Inspector  Constabulary, 

Ballysadare. 

1 

Mr.  Cornelius  McNamara. 

Ballysadare. 

1 

Mr.  Joseph  Clarence. 

Ballysadare. 

1 

Mr.  John  Clarence. 

Ballysadare. 

1 

Mr.  Michael  Gunning,  Stonehall. 

Ballj'sadare. 

1 

Mr.  Daniel  Kavanagh. 

Ballysadare. 

1 

Mr.  Andrew  McGhee. 

Ballysadare. 

VOL.  II. 

2  T 

LIST   OF   SUBSCRIBERS. 


Ballysadare. 
Bally  sadare. 
Ballysadare. 


No.  of 
Copies. 

1     Mr.  John  Meehan. 

1     Mr.  James  McDonogh. 

1     Mr.  Michael  O'Rorke. 

Per  Mr.  John  Clarence : — 
1     Very  liev.  Canon  Hutch,  D.D.,  President  St.  Colman's 

College,  Fermoy. 
1     Rev.  Thomas  Phelan,  P.P.,  Borrisokane. 
1     Mr.  James  C.  Daly,  M.D.,  South  Terrace,  Borrisokane. 
1     Mr.  Daniel  J.  Cleary,  Merchant,  Borrisokane. 
1     Mr.  Robert  P.  Gill,  C.E.,  Castle  Street,  Nenagh. 
1     Master  Paul  Gleeson,  Kilcolman,  Nenagh. 


END  OF  VOL.  IL 


Printed  hy  Edmund  Burke  &  Co.,  01  &  02  Great  Strand  Street,  Dublin. 


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