Armachiana Volume 5

AID1AGH ?-1ISCELLANEA ~

The Tower of the old Cat hed ral as a vie w

poi nt

1-1 4 15- 30

Local dat a Not es for a tal k to gue sts of the Cit y Cou

nci l

31-35

The Dev elopment of the Commons int o a "M all"

36- 48

The Armagh Ton tine

49- 82

The Armagh Ma rke t House

83- 92

The Ber esf ord Arms Ho tel

93- 11 9

The Sev en Hou ses

120- 126

Ca stle dil lon

1 27- 141

An Uls ter Squ ire of the

rei gn of Geo rge III

142- 168

I ntr odu ctio n to Boo ks and Manusc rip ts in Armagh Lib rar y

169-17 6

Edu cat ion al and His tor ica l bac kgr oun d

177 -1 81

Armagh Ch arte rs , Fai rs and oth er Mi sce llan

ea

18 1-1 86

-· ·,#--

Armachiana Volume 5 The contents of this digital resource is openly licensed via Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC 4.0 enabling reusers to copy and distribute the material for noncommercial purposes and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.

If any of the material is reproduced, in any form and in any medium, Armagh County Museum should be acknowledged as the source and the reference below cited.

Armachiana Vol1 (Armagh County Museum ARMCM.28.2014.57)

The cont ents of these volumes l a belled Armachiana

are simply notes for t alks to

local and visiting societies in search of

material relating to it s historical background and ancient monuments .

They a re not of any

great i mportance but may provide a gui de to students seeking da t a on the county g enerally or on their own distri ct s i n particular .

TGF Paterson

NOTES FOR DISCUSSION AT OLD CATHEDRAL. AND YI SIT TO THE TOWER AS A VIEW POINT

r THE OLD CATHEDRAL 1. The hill in pre-Christian days.

The three Mach as.

Stone circle on S.W. slope, possibly a Bronze Age monument, survived until a.bout a century ago.

2. St. Patrick's arrival in 444.

Came in by south crossing the Callan by an old ford by which roads or tracks went south, west and north.

Hill top then occupied by Daire's entrenched abode, the enclosing ramparts of which are still traceable.

Site refused but grotmd given

outside the ra.th where the saint built his first church, known as Templenafertagh.

Afterwards

the burial-place of his sister, St. Lupita, and the reputed resting-place of himself.

Later

Daire and Patrick became more friendly and as a result the saint was granted the hill-top site that be set bis heart upon originally.

Soon a second church arose and a school was fotmded, the settlement eventually becoming a notable scholastic centre.

Of the early town we know little other than we learn from the annals.

Tribal raids of those

days made life very trying for small communities such as Armagh.

2.

J. Buildings within the rath.

The first churches were probably wooden structures.

Three churches were sited within the central ring of the rath and although there is no evidence of sequence as to date of erection it is assumed that the edifice known as the Sabhall was the earliest of the three, as it is said to have been founded by St. Patrick personally on the spot where he came upon the fawn. when inspecting the hill following Daire•s decision to let him have that particular site.

(1) The Sabhall mentioned in the Annals as early

839.

Seems to have been practically destroyed

by fire in 1020.

(2) The Duleek Toga or Stone Church of the Elections.

Suffered also in 1020.

Was in

being at least as early as 916.

(3) The Duleek Mor or Great Stone Church.

So known as early as the year 839, the

first church indeed to be so described in Irish Annals, in which there are many references to it.

Seems to have

served as the principal church until Archbishop o•scanlon's restoration of 1268.

3.

These three churches were probably primitive types.

Carved stones from them still survive.

4. The arrival of the Vikings.

The settlement was first raided by the Vikings in 832 .

Round towers mentioned in the plural in 995, at which time most of the city was destroyed by a fire due to lightning.

One seems to

have been repaired but it was later damaged in 1020, in which year the library was the only building within the rath that escaped destruction.

Other buildings in the city at that time included: (1) The Abbot's House first mentioned in 822 when destroyed by fire. ( 2) The Culdee Priory mentioned in 919 when Armagh was plundered by the Danes.

(3 ) The Churches of St. Columba and St. Brigid, both very ancient foundations though seldom noticed before the 9th century.

(4) The Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul.

A

monastic house of very early origin for which there is much information.

Rebuilt

in 1126 by Ivar 0 1 Hagan, the preceptor and teacher of St. Malachy.

4.

(5) The Abbey of Mullynure, commonly known as Bishop's Court.

(6) Templemurry.

(7) Templenafertagh.

(8) The Hospice of the Guests.

Mentioned in

the 11th and 12th centuries.

(9) The Round Tower mentioned in the plural in 995 at which time there may have been two.

One damaged in 1002.

(10) The Library mentioned in 1020.

(11) The Abbot's house recorded in 822 as being destroyed by fire.

(12) The Hospice or fort of the guests appears in Annals of 11th and 12th centuries, probably outside the rath.

(13) Franciscan Friary built 1264.

5. The Coming of the Anglo-Normans.

At a Synod of the Clergy held at Armagh in 1170 it was concluded that this invasion was due to the Irish custom of purchasing F.nglishmen from pirates as slaves and decreed that all such bondsmen should be freed.

Armagh a bone of contention.

Did not come

fully under English rule until the Plantation of Ulster.

5.

Town raided many times.

In 1180 pillaged by William Fitz Aldelm who destroyed most of the city and robbed the Cathedral of the Bachall Isa also known as St. Patrick's Staff which he carried off to Dublin and presented to Christ Church Cathedral.

Staff remained in Dublin until 1538 in which year it was publicly burned.

In the next century in 1227 the Ca$tle of Armagh was built.

Archbishop O'Scanlon erected

a Franciscan Friary in 1264 and in 1268 built the Cathedral, the shell of which remains. · 6. The O'Scanlon rebuilding of 1268.

Cruciform-shaped churches were then coming into being and as a result of careful planning the three old sites were incorporated in the new structure.

Church has had many alterations since then but the shell of his building survives.

Notice staircase in wall of south transept and slant in chancel.

The crypt also dates to this period, its necessity being due to the slope of the ground at the east end.

Used for storage purposes by

6. the citizens in medieval times and at the present moment utilized as a store by contractors working on the roof.

Contains carved figure

discussed in the Society's Journal by Professor Kingsley Porter, who also published a detailed account of the sculptured cross now preserved in the north aisle of the Cathedral.

7. In 1315 the See of Armagh was wasted by Edward Bruce who reduced the Archbishop to a state of poverty.

Archbishop Jorse present at his defeat on the Armagh-Louth border in 1318.

Cathedral burned in 1404 but repaired.

Garrison by Lord Deputy Sussex in 1561.

Burned by Shane O'Neill in 1566.

Restored by Archbishop Hampton in 1614.

Burned by Sir Phelim O'Neill in 1642 but again restored.

Peal of bells presented by Primate Lindsay in 1721.

Picture of the church as it was about

date in Ware's Ireland.

8. Armagh as a scholastic centre • .Amongst the earliest of the Irish Schools but not outstanding in 6th or 7th century.

Educational growth very gradual.

7.

Gildas Albanius, the historian of Britain, a master here.

Died 512.

Prince Aldfrid a pupil here circa 684.

Schools suffered greatly in 9th and 10th centuries through raids by the Vikings.

This

a set back to expansion causing foreign students to desert the city.

Mound on the Callan a relic of this period, Cenotaph to King Niall who was dro\oliled in the river in 846 after having defeated a Norse army in Armagh.

The most important surviving manuscript of those days is the Book of Armagh.

Copy compiled in

the city in 807 of an older Book now lost.

Enshrined by Flann, King of Ireland 937.

Kings of Ireland and of the Provinces helped the schools and churches - for instance (1) The King of Munster in 907.

(2) Brian Boru in 1004.

(3) In 1162 it was decreed at a Synod that no person might lecture on theology who had not studied at Armagh - by which university status was conferred on the city.

(4) Roderick O'Connor, King of Ireland, in 1169, (5) Niall O'Neill, King of Ulster, in 1387,

8.

A poet writing in 1372 describes the then community 11

Head of Erin is great Ardmach The men of the world have their knowledge there 11 •

Schools suffered in quarrels between rival native chieftains and later through conflict between Irish and English opinion,

Did not suffer actual

extinction until Dissolution of monasteries.

Armagh probably suffered less quickly owing to being less directly under F.llglish influence.

Efforts in 1558 by Archbishop Dowdall) to revive

1583 by Queen Elizabeth 1559 by Earl of Tyrone

)

) university )

) status

Archbishop Robinson's attempt in 1794, Failure to secure a Queen's College in

1845.

9, Cottingham's restoration of 1834-37, Exterior walls encased in red sandstone and interior walling covered with plaster.

Old walls had many carved stones inset, said to have been relics from early churches on the hills.

These were removed by Cottingham and distributed amongst subscribers to the restoration fund.

Statuary.

Military Banners.

The Market Cross.

Four other crosses known as

9. the Cross of St. Bridg et, the Cross of Columbkille , the Cross of St. Owen, and Cross of Sechn all, figure in the Annal s.

Fragm ent of

the shaft of a cross now oppos ite the west door of the cathe dral but forme rly set up on the north side is said to have forme d part of a memo rial to Brian Boru.

10. Brian Boru' s Grave .

Visite d Armagh in 1004.

Kille d at Battl e of Clont arf in 1014 and body broug ht here for buria l.

St. Patric k and the fa'Wll. On being given this site St. Patri ck accom panied by his many conve rts came up the slope from Temp lenafe rtagh to this point to conse crate the hill, where upon a deer and its fawn burst forth from the willow s that then grew in profu sion upon the rampa rts of the rath.

Some

of the party 'Wished to slay the anima ls but the saint refuse d to allow them to be slain and later carrie d the fawn down the north ern slope and ascen ding an emine nce on the north west laid the fawn there in safet y.

That hill is now occup ied

by the new cathe dral and thus in Armagh the old and the new both have their links with St. Patri ck.

10.

Point out Observatory from that point and mention the fact that the first notice of a comet in Irish Annals appears in 41+3 just before St. Patrick's arrival here.

11.

PLACES YI SIBLE FROM TOWER OF THE OLD CATHEDRAL The ascent to the tower is made by an interestin g old 13th century stairway incorporat ed in the west wall of the south transept of the Cathedral.

This leads

direct to the bell-loft, from which level the tower has been rebuilt and its original circular corner staircase replaced by a more modern but less convenient method of ascent - a series of ladders.

On the second floor of the bell-loft, the bells may be seen and examined.

Some of the bells have been in

constant use for over two hundred years.

In that time

they have pealed forth in rejoicing over famous victories and at peace following wa:r, at Royal coronation s and jubilees and have tolled in sorrow for the passing of kings and archbishop s.

Each bell bears an inscriptio n

and a few have had to be recast.

1721.

The oldest are dated

There is one of 1841 and tw of 1885.

The bells of Armagh figure in Irish Annals as early

as the year 994.

They suffered frequent destructio n in

the many raidings and burnings of the City from that period down to the year 1641, when certain old bells with one recast by Archbishop Hampton in 1613 were lost in the destructio n of the church.

Of all the bells associated with Armagh, that know

12.

as St. Patrick's Bell was, and is, the most important.

It was, however, a small hand-bell and belonged to the great saint himself so its history can be traced back to about the year 444.

Fortunately it survives and

with it a beautiful shrine made to encase it between the years 1091 and 1105 by command of Donnel O'Lochlain king of Ireland and during the Primacy of Donnel McAuley, Archbishop of Armagh.

In past times there was a society of bell-ringe rs connected with the Cathedral.

The bells, however,

have now been arranged so that they can be rung by one person.

Up to the outbreak of War in 1939 curfew was

rung each evening at nine o'clock.

Now alas the old

custom has been discontinue d.

From the parapet of the tower there is an astonishing ly wide view.

No place of ancient importance

in Ireland, excepting possibly "Tara of the Kings 11 , commands so fine a prospect.

One thing is very certain,

no other site in Ireland has greater historical relics around it.

Let us examine the town and countrysid e and

see what we can find in the immediate neighbourh ood.

For brevity's sake let us work by numbers 1. Site of stone circle now occupied by Armagh Gas Works.

2. Navan Rath, the assembly place of the kings of Ulster from 350 B.C. to 332 A.D. Cenotaph erected to mark the spot on the river Callan where King Niall was drowned in 846.

3. Niall's Mound.

13.

4. Tullyard Mound. Associated with Deirdre and the Sons of Usna and with a later 7th century St. Cretan.

5. The Druid's Circle. Remains of a pre-historic burial place of about 1500 B.C. 6. Vicar's Cairn. A prehistoric burial-place of about 2000 B.c.

7. Sites of various early religious foundations in the City proper - The churches of St. Brigid and St. Columba, Templemurry, the Culdee Priory, the Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul, Templenafertagh , the site of St. Patrick's first church in the town and Mullynure Abbey destroyed by fire circa 1371, commonly called Bishop's Court because the Archbishops sometimes resided there.

8. The Franciscan Friary erected in 1264.

9. Site of the Castle of Armagh, a building erected in 1227.

10. Site of the 17th century Sessions House, and Gallows Hill.

11. The Royal School. Founded by James I in 1608.

Moved from original site in Abbey Street to present position in 1774.

12. The Observatory. in 1789.

Founded by Archbishop Robinson

13. County Infirmary.

Built 1774.

14. The Deanery.

Built about 1770.

15. The Prison. Built on present site in 1780 to replace an older 17th century gaol.

16. Mound site on Mall opposite Prison.

17. Old Presbyterian Church. Built 1722. Site of still earlier Presbyterian Church in Lower English Street.

18. Military Barracks.

1773,

Moved to present site in

14

19. St. Mark's Church, 1811, 20 . St. Malachy•s Chapel.

Old 1750.

21. The Protestant Hall . .An important Inn in the 17th century. Gave shelter to James II in 1689 and slightly later to King Willialll 1 S famous old General, the Duke of Schomberg.

22. House in Market Street where King James stayed on his way to and fr om Derry .

23. The Court House built in 1809, 24. The Roman Cathol ic Cathedral 1840.

25. The Methodist Church. enlarged.

Built 1786 and since

26. The Market House . Rebuilt in 1815 by Archbishop Stuart on the site of a 17th century Market House.

27. The Public Library.

Robinson in 1771.

Founded by Archbishop

28 . The Churches of Lisnadill (1772)~ Grang e (1776), Killylea (1832), Kildarton (1840), etc.

29. Palace Demesne Obelisk, 1782- 1783 , 30 . The Castledil lon Obelisk, 1782 .

31. The historic town of Dungannon .

32 . The site of the Old Sessions House .

33. Slieve Gullion and the Derry - Tyr one Mountains.

34. Armaghbrague and Carrickatuke.

35. Benbur b.

36, Sessiagb alias Sessiaghmacarrol .

37. Slemish.

Place of Patrick's Bondage .

38. Armaghbrague . Site of St . Pat rick' s reput e d attempt to build a church.

15""

L OC AL

D A T A

/6

RECORDS

Iris h Ann als giv e much info rma tion reg ard ing eve nts in the his tory of the town from the dat e of its are fou nda tion by St. Pat rick in the yea r 444 A.D. and rs sup plem ente d by Sta te Pap ers and the med ieva l reg iste of the Arc hbis hop s of Armagh.

The city is, how ever , somewhat unlu cky as reg ard s Those for the 17t h cen tury are Tho se pre vio us to 164 2 wer e pro bab ly los t in

its Cor por ate rec ord s. mis sing .

the des truc tion of the town in the Civ il War of tha

t

yea r.

Whether the Cor por atio n fun ctio ned ful ly aga in It was, how eve r, wor king in bef ore 1657 is dou btfu l. gn 168 8 when Jam es the Second exc lude d the then Sov erei cho osin g, and Bur ges ses, rep laci ng them with men of his own nge , who were in turn diss olv ed by Wil liam , Prin ce of Ora foll owi ng the bat tle of the Boyne.

Stra nge ly eno ugh , des pite the pea ce tha t foll owe d the Wil liam ite war , the re are no Borough Rec ord s ava ilab le for the per iod 169 7-17 32, and sur viv ing do not beg in unt il 173 3.

rec ord s

The old est Cor por atio n rel ics now sur viv ing are e tho se two bea utif ul silv er Mac es, made in 165 7 to rep lac los t in 164 2.

They are pre serv ed in the Armagh Pub lic

~7.

Libra ry.

Other survi vals, inclu ding a City Watch man's

Pike and Crake , Corpo ration Seal and Journ al of the Corpo ration Pipe Water Comm ission ers, may be seen in the County Museum, and a Scold 's Bridl e from the old Marke t Stree t Sessio ns House is on displa y in the Belfa st Museum.

l '6 .

THE ARMAGH MARKErS Armagh is an ancie nt mark et town but, unfo rtuna tely, It was, the date of its first char ter is unknown. howe ver, a mark et town of some stand ing in the year 1467 when King Edward the Four th grant ed a new Char ter t o the then Arch bisho p.

Whether that was a Tuesd ay

mark et as at prese nt or other wise is not clea r.

In those days the affa irs of the city were unde r the cont rol of a Sene schal , an offic er appo inted by the Arch bisho p and to whom there are many refer ence s in the medi eval regis ters of the Arch bisho pric.

In 1587 a Tuesday mark et was grant ed to the citiz ens on the petit ion of Hugh O'Ne ill, Earl of Acco rding to an Inqu isitio n taken in the city Tyron e. in 1609 it was found that a week ly mark et had been held in the town time out of mind .

Follo wing the Plan tatio n of Ulst er with Engl ish and Scotc h settl ers, King James the Firs t gran ted the city a new char ter.

By that parti cula r paten t Armagh was

creat ed a Borough and the gover nmen t of the city place d in the hand s of a Sove reign and Burg esses who were assis ted by an assem bly of free citiz ens by virtu e of which arran geme nt two parli amen tary repre senta tives were elect ed to serve in Parli amen t, a form of repre sentation that conti nued to the Unio n of Grea t Brit ain and

Ireland in 1800 , following 'Which the city was represented in the Imperial Parliament by one member down until the year 1885.

THE ARMAGH FAIRS A Tuesday market was confirm ed to Archbis hop Hampton and his success ors in 1614 with two fairs to be held on the 17th March and 1st August and the day after each.

A further patent was issued regardi ng

the fairs and market s in 1620.

In 1634 a Saturda y Market was granted to Archbishop Usher with an additio nal fair on St. Pater' s Day, and the day followi ng.

In 1753 the Corpor ation obtaine d leave to hold extra fairs on 20th May and 20th November - this brough t the total of fairs up to what was then consid ered a good averag e.

Later still, the fairs became monthl y events

and so continu e.

The dates of the Annagh fairs are of intere st and sugges t a descen t from older assemb lies.

St. Patric k's

Day is a festiva l that herald s the end of winter and

the approac h of warmer weathe r - in fact we still speak of the warm side of the stone turning up on that day.

The Lammas fair held on the 1st August was of equal importa nce as a festiva l.

It marked the beginn ing of

autumn and was a great holiday whose roots are lost in the mists of antiqu ity.

The annual Bilber ry pilgrim age

to Carrick atuke is a direct link with that festiv al;

now, of course, it is merely a pilgrimage to the hill-

top to gather the berries and gossip, but there was a time when it embraced all the amenities of the ancient fairs and was in fact a kind of parliament for the area.

The St. Pater's Day fair raises similar thoughts.

Its nearness to the mid-summer festivities makes one wonder whether it was not an inheritance from Pagan days, especially as both festivals were celebrated by t he lighting of bonfires, the driving of cattle through the ashes and other ceremonial celebrations.

The oldest local fair seems, however, to have been the great annual gathering at :&Jain Macha outside the city, founded about the year 350 B.c., to commemorate Macha, the Second, the most famous of the three Machas connected with Armagh.

LIME-BURNING Th e burning of limestone for the making of mortar and for the whitewashing of houses and buildings is one of t he oldest occupations in the county.

The earliest

local reference to the industry occurs in 1145, in which year a huge kiln with sides 60 feet each way was built by t he then Archbishop to provide lime for the repair of the Cathedral and other buildings in the city.

Present day lime-kilns, however, are quite small in comparison with that erected by Archbishop Gelasius and probably far more akin to really early types.

Churches were lime-washed in early days - some still are so treated - and there is an old poem extant relating to Armagh, written by an Ulster poet, who flourished in the period 1220-1250, which states that 11

Well bath its polished walls been warmed With lime as white as the plumes of swans 11 •

Lime is in general use throughout the county for painting or lime-washing country houses. in u s e for agricultural purposes.

It is also

There are a number

of lime-kilns quite close to the city to which visits can be arranged.

'.3,,

Pole-lathe Wood-turnip~ Wood-turning by the primitive pole-lathe cannot very well be definitely dated.

Some people are

inclined to assign an almost equal age to that given to the potters wheel, basing their argument on the fact that once the lathe was known, it was sure to have been used for wood also.

There are references to pole-lathe wood-turning in the 13th century records and present equipment seems to have changed but slightly since then.

The pole-lathe in Armagh is probably the only example of its type now in actual use in Northern Ireland.

Unfortunately it is not being worked

continuously.

The tools employed are somewhat primitive

and were chiefly made by earlier generations of the family.

A few, however, have been added in recent years

by the present owner of the 11 plant 11 • Such wood-turning outfits have all been replaced by motor-driven lathes, of which there are several examples in Armagh.

Spoons, egg-cups, platters, bowls, butter-prints, rolling-pins, tool-handles, etc. were manufactured here, with churn-heads and dairy utensils.

Traditional shapes

were observed and really fine work produced.

It is

dou btf ul, how eve r, whe ther thi s tur ner y wil l

eve r be

ful ly worked aga in, Wo od- lath e and fitt ing s are now in the Uls ter Fol k Museum.

Pre sen ted by the Hughes fam ily.

Pho tog raph s in the County Museum.

Turf Cutting The 11 Senchus Mor", a compilation of old Irish records based on earlier traditional sources, mentions the cutting of turf from a bank and the bringing of it home for fuel when dry.

The Annals also mention the

subject and tell of a certain king of Connaught, who flourished in the middle of the 7th century, ha.v ing fallen by the hands of some men who were cutting turf in a bog.

He had exasperated them in some way so

they fell upon him with their spades and when they had finished with him he was a dead man.

The cutting of the turf begins each year in May and for a couple of months the peat-bogs are scenes of great activity.

The various operations have each their

particular name.

The brick-shaped peat cut by a turf-

spade is lmown as a turf and many of the areas specialize in particular types of spades - the spades in themselves are an interesting study and were up until quite recent times manufactured in local spade-mills.

The great peat district of Armagh is known as the Montiaghs and natives of that district are jokingly termed ''Moss Cheepers 11 whilst those who come to the tows to sell the finished fuel are spoken of as "Turf-bummers".

A small heap of turf is commonly called a "rickle".

Larger quantities built into long stacks are known as "Clampsu.

The sequence of turf-cutting operations may

be roughly described as under:I.

Cutting.

II.

Spreading on bank.

III.

Footing.

IV.

Turn-footing.

V.

Clamping.

VI.

Carrying to 11 rampars" and building into stacks.

VII,

Removal home.

LACE-MAKING IN COUNTY ARMAGH The earliest centre of the still existing 19th century Irish laces was near Carrickmacross, where the making of applique was introduced about 1820 by Mrs. Grey Porter, the wife of the rector of Donaghmoyne.

Technically Carrickmacross is not a true lace, since the pattern is cut from a cambric foundation but it is then applied to the machine net with needlepoint stitches and further ornamented with various fillings, etc., also in point stitches.

It is supposed by some to

have originated either in Italy or the East.

In any

case something similar was produced in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries and presumably it was an Italian specimen which Mrs. Grey Porter taught her servant to copy.

Soon the art spread so successfully amongst the

peasant women of the· district that Miss Reid of Rahans had many of the young girls from Culloville coming to her to learn to make lace on the same model.

But the

industry was dependent on private orders and was threatened with extinction from over-production and lack of a market.

However, a revival took place after the

famine of 1846, when Mr. Tristram Kennedy, manager of the Bath Estate and Captain Morant, agent of the Shirley Estate, turned a vacant home into a school - later the

Bath and Shirley Lace School which did so much to keep the Carrickmacross industry alive.

Samples of Brussels

and guipure lace were obtained and soon the better workers were able to make as well some of the finest guipure produced in Ireland.

The guipure is fairly

distinct from the applique - on a cambric foundation a design is traced by a thread and connected with point stitches.

The superfluous parts are cut away and the

pattern is then joined by needlepoint brides and sometimes enriched with loops and picots.

For some twenty-five years the whole indust~y was very successful and then stagnation gradually set in the patterns degenerated and no effort was made to get good designs.

Consequently the standard of the work

went down and the market declined so rapidly that towards the end of the century the industry again threatened to die out.

At present the lace is being produced extensively in the Lace School attached to the St. Louis Convent in Carrickmacross and in County Armagh in the Crossmaglen and Culloville areas.

Tynan was another lace centre in County Armagh but producing Needlepoint Lace, the manufacture of which began in 1849 through the interest of Mrs. MacLean, wife of the then rector.

Selected workers had by 1851

progressed sufficiently to acquire attraction.

For

instance, a lace flounce purchased by Lord John George Beresford, the then Archbishop of Armagh and loaned by him to the London Exhibition of that year brought many orders to Tynan.

Unfortunately its prosperity was

short-lived for after the rector's death in 1865 his family left the district and the craft died out.

It

was, however, revived at Innismacsaint, Co. Fermanagh,

by Miss L.

extent.

MacLean, and is still being made to some

When the Ordnance Survey was made in 1834 each townland In the lapse of ages the had to be defined by name and area. townland s in and around Armagh were lost and11 undefine d and all so were clubbed in one called "Corpora tion, the outer boundar ies I got the location of them all from of which were known. original documen ts which came before me in preparin g the maps at time of "Church Act 11 of the Estate of Lady Helena Robinson , Earl of Dartrey, The Library, Thomas Ogle, Dean Avvill, Mr. Forde, etc. , which conveyed all of them.

Abbey Park

8 a cres only of hill above Moy road.

Clonhugh

The Mall to St. Mark's.

De sart

Altavall en and out to Tullyelm er.

Drummad

Barrack Hill and Clump Hill.

Drumsal lich

Cathedra l and Market St., down to Mall river.

Fabbahah inchin

Side of Seminary Farm next to Moy Road.

Farnamn iileehan

Balance of Semina ry Farm out to Desart Lane,

Gillis

R.C. College grounds and Railway station out to Longston e,

Knockamel

The Pavilion back to Archery Field.

Knockboy

Observa tory Hill and College Farm.

Knockad rane

R.C. Cathedra l Hill and down to old Desart Lane.

Lisanall y

From Banbrook Hill to Pavilion Grounds .

Ramogher

Dawson St., and part of Callan St.

Tullydeg nan

The Deanery, Alms House ground and out to Mullynu re.

Tubbernamuck

Ogle St., Thomas St., Irish St. & Navan St.

Tighmore

ill between Abbey St., and Market Street.

Tullyass any

Convent Farm.

Tighgort

Windmil l Hill and Gas Works Field.

------------------000----------------

)'1~

P' a. t~!< l5

~~ "1- 1W ~ ~ w-wn~ Cy

o- 1.-vvl'\c..h.QA'\"'\ P ~ .

The traditiona l significanc e of Armagh as the seat of the Ulster kings of the period 350 B.C.-332 A.D . , and as the location from which sprang the celebrated saga of Ulster Folic Tales , no doubt influenced St. Patrick in his choice of it as the place of supreme importance in his missi on to Ireland.

According t o our Irish Annals

he reached Armagh in the year 445 A.D.

Having secured

sites for churches he i!llmediately began preparation s for the instruction of the young p eople of the area, and so about the year 450 the first school of the new regime was opened.

Cultural growth was gradual in the

sixth and seventh centuries but by the end of the latter century the schools of Ar:nagh we re widely recognized .

Late r still, in 807, the famous Book of Armagh was compiled in one of the monastic houses of our city the earliest of our actually dateable manuscript s, but in reality only a copy of an earlier Book of Armagh, presu:nably lost in the Viking raids that began on our city in the year 832 .

The story of the ecclesiast ical capital of our country can easily and convenient ly be studied in the Annals of Ireland in which it appears in diary form and sequence.

In the days of St . Patri ck and for long

afterwards its population was largely scholastic and so

:3 r.

re:nained for a considerable space of time .

In such a

co:nmunity the re was little scope for organized industry and barter or exchange was the method by which the ne cessaries of life were obtained .

I n the Middle Ages , however, a new class of town societ y began to arise, and charters were i s sued by which the inhabitants were incorporated .

Under those

patents me rchant s pros pered exceedingly i n the great trading centres, but such pr ospe rity could not have ever been of any cons equence in Ar!llagh .

We lmow practically

nothing of the business life of the city in those days excepting that its pr oceedings were often interrupted by strife and tragedy , and that such happenings were of frequent occurren ce.

Apart from spoilation of citizens '

pr operty , town charters were also lost so that now we po ssess no local mat erial other than the Archiepiscopal Registe rs - beg inning about 1350 - wherein to seek fo r knowledge on such sub jects.

They, unfortunately , are

al!llost entirely devoted t o ecclesiastical affairs but it is in one of t h em that we find the grant of a charter from Edward the Fourth to Archbishop Bole on 9 th February, 1467 , a document presuppo sing an earlier patent, being in fa ct but a confirmation of t he Archbishop ' s legal rights .

By

it Al'!llagh was granted a weekly market and the Archbishop

t he manorial appurtenances of the period .

The Charter

was attested and insp ected again on 1st June, 1558 .

Hhether t hat market was held on a Tuesday as at prese nt, we may never discover.

In those days the

affairs of t he city were in the hands of a Seneschal, an officer appointed by the Archbishop and to whom there are :nany refe rences in the Registers .

He was

always a person of some social standing and on occasi ons represented the Archbishop in Parliament .

The earl i e st allusion to a market in Armagh occurs in 1031, in which year great bargains were available in the city, but the first actual reference to the market day being on Tuesday appears in 1587 when Hugh 0 1 Neill , Earl of Tyrone , petitioned the Cr own and obtained a gr ant for a :narket on that day .

Later, in 1609, an Inquisition

was taken in the city at which it was found that a weekly market had been held in Ar:nagh "time out of mind" .

Following the Plantation of Ulster with English and Scotch settlers in the opening years of that century, King Ja:nes the First conferred a further charter by which it beca:ne a Borough in 1613.

The new patent placed the

government of the city in the hands of a Sovereign and twelve Burgesses, assisted by an assembly or jury of fr ee citizens.

By virtue of that arrangement two parliamentary

representatives were elected from time to time to serve in

Parliament, a form of representati on that last ed to the Union of Great Britain with Ireland in 1800, after which one :nembe r only was allowed , t he latter privilege continuing dovm to the year 1886.

The Tuesday market was confirmed to Archbishop Hampton and his successor in 1614, with two fairs to be held on 17th March and 1st August and the day after each .

A

further patent was bestowed for fairs and mar ke ts in 1620 .

In 1634 a Saturday marke t wa s assigned t o Archbi shop Ussher wit h an additional fair on St . Pater ' s Day and day following .

In 1753 the Corporation obtained leave to

hold extra fairs on 20th May and 20th November respectively .

That br ought the total up to what was then consi dered a good working average .

In the early 19th century individual markets like the Flax, Shamble and Linen Hall were built, some of which later were used for other purposes.

The Linen Marke t,

for instance, became the Egg and Butter Market, but no longer continues owing to the fact that eggs, and such butter as is now farm p r oduced, are collected direct from t he farms and brought to town by motor transport .

Linen

was then an important local industry and Armagh one of the grea t linen centres of the north .

The town had, of

course, other industries l i ke brewing, distilling, flour milling , rope- making, tanni ng, i r on- founding, etc . , and

many minor businesses such as clock- making , cabinet- making, gun- smithing, book- binding , spinning, wheel- making , etc ., but with the coming of railways such works tended to gravitate towards the larger to,ms.

Fortunately that

procedure is in reverse order now and Armagh is coming into its own again, a happy state of affairs due to the efforts of the City Council to provide housing and industries.

Educationally the city is well supplied

with schools - primary and secondary.

It also possesses

a well- equipped observatory and an excellent museum, and from the point of view of amenities and attract iveness is one of the most interesting to\-ms in I reland .

The Development of the Commons 1nto a "Mall", An effort was made in the late 18th century to have the "Old Commons 11 or "Race Course" designated Rokeby Green, as a compliment to Archbishop Robinson through whose influence that particular ground was made available to the citizens as "Public Walks".

The Archbishop was created

Baron Rokeby of Armagh in 1777 and died in 1794, so we may assume the name to have arisen between those two dates.

At anyrate in the beginning of the 19th century the various buildings then growing up on the Commons are shown as situate on Rokeby Green.

For instance all the houses in

what we now know as Beresford Row were once so distinguished, but by the time the Terrace had been completed in 1836 they bore their present appellation.

The second terrace, Charlemont Place, has not, however, been known by any other name - but the Mall School (built in 1818 by Archbishop Stuart and now the Orange Hall) with as 'lill.Ch of St. Mark ' s Place as was finished by 183~ and certain stores and small houses on the west side of the Commons all appear on maps under the general and earlier term of Rokeby Green.

The Ordnance Survey Maps of the

following year show Charlemont Place extending from what 1s

now Beresfor d Row to the Mall School.

From thence to

the Prison end was free of houses and "unchris tened"• Such changes make research into local topograp hy difficu lt.

Anothe r puzzle in connecti on with the locality is the fact that Rocque's Map of 1760 for the same area traces a track or pathway across the 11 Commons 11 roughly where the Whi te Walk" is> whereas the map of 1835 delineat es a crossing at the southern end only and omits all trace of

11

a like amenity at Charlemo nt Place.

\'by the two maps

should disagree is one of those unsolved mysterie s that It is probable , beset the path of local historia ns. however, that there would have been little reason for the so-calle d "White Walk11 to have been in being before the south end of Beresfor d Row and Charlemo nt Place were built as it would have served no useful purpose previous to the opening of Russell Street.

At the t ime of the making ot

the Ordnance Survey the 11 Commons 11 had become "the Mall" but Gosford Place was still unbuilt and /of course \ the Third Presbyte rian Church was not erected until 1837.

Building on the Commons was at first somewhat haphazar d.

The first house in that quarter was that now

known as No.l Beresfor d Row.

It was raised in 1809 in

the same year as the Court House and was probably planned

by Francis Johnston, the architect responsible for that very dignified county institution,

Tradition states

that No.l was l argely the result of mat e r ial l eft on the contractor ' s hands at the concl usion of work on the Court House - the story is probably true for its f irst occupant wa s Arthur Irwin Kelly, Sovereign of the city and Secretary of the County Grand Jury.

In those days

speci al l amps were allotted to the Sove r eign's residence and were set up on st andards or affi xed above the door.

I n this instance a l amp- standard was incorporated in the railing fronting the house and still remains in position.

The house was then, of course, No ,l Rokeby Green and so continued for another e i ghteen years at lea st.

A second

lamp-standard was added when Kelly ' s kinsman and succe ssor, Thomas Kelly Evans, l at er followed him in the office of Sovereign and occupied t he same house .

A manuscript valuation of the city made in 1833-34 and now preserved in the County Museum indicates that Arthur Irwin Kelly was the ground landlord of Beresford Row and t hat by 31st of July of the l atter year his house wi th seven others had been embodied in o t errace, and named Beresford Row in honour of Lord John George Beresford who from his translation to the Archbishopric of Armagh in 1822 had taken a deep interest 1n the city.

During the

~tenure of his Primacy much building took place locally and to that pe riod date most of the houses in Beresford Row, Charlemont Place, and St . Mark's Place, the three most attractive groups of houses in the city as well as the opening-up of a new thoroughfare called Russell Street, and the erection of Melbourne Terrace and Gosford Place.

Prior to the making of Russell Street Jenny's

Row provided the only access to the Mall or Commons from that part of English Street. ,

We are in some doubt as to the year in which the second and third houses were constructed. under the name of Rokeby Green was the home of Michael Magee in 1819,

Three years earlier the Corporation

began the making of a footpath from that point to the Prison end so we may assume that the development of that portion was then under consideration.

Mr. Magee lived

in the house in which Mr. Billy Mann now dwells and was Coroner, Solicitor, etc.

Mr. Magee ' s house was rated higher than its neighbour and was in fact a larger house, having two lock-up yards, offices, barn, coach-house, storehouse and enclosed garden.

No.3 was then (1834) tenanted by Joseph Marshall but had only one lock-up yard.

No.4 was in possession of

John McKinistry and was rated at the same amGunt as No.2

+o . with equal yard faciliti es.

It is now the property of

Dr. H.H.G. Dorman and is a house that can be dated w1 th certaint y.

It bears two date-sto nes, one on the front

in t he arch of the gateway, and the other above the arch at r a re of entrance .

The former bears the initials

"R.B. 1827 11 , and the latter "M. Magee MDCCCXXVII.

John

This brings another local architec t into th e picture who in 1820 designed the two fine but sadly

Quinn feci t 11 •

altered dwelling -houses in English Street now the establish ments of the Ulster Banking Company and of John M. Wilson & Co. - both of which had very handsome doorcases with elegant side panels and fanlight s of a type r ather similar to t he house in Beresfor d Row in which tfi-_;.:,z

the late John Peel lived, and is now occupied by Mrs. Mann.

At some date before 31 July, But to r et urn to No.2.

1840, it was remodell ed and became two houses, its gateway becoming the hall of a second but much smaller dwelling .

By that addition to Beresfor d Row the house now lived in

by Miss Trimble became No.4.

The first t enant of No .4 that we have any record of was Joseph Marshal l who seems t o have been replaced in 1834 by a Miss Heaney who in the next year migrated to Charlemo nt Place where she remained for many years in the

41

hous e unti l rece ntly the Manse of the Firs t Pres byte rian Church and ther e ran a sele ct Boar ding and Day Scho ol.

No.4 (now of cour se No.5) was then leas ed by John McK instr y and stay ed in the hand s of that fami ly unti l purc hase d by Dr. Dorman.

Its valu atio n in 1833 -34 was

the same as that of No.2 .

At that time Bere sfor d Row had not been enti rely Nos. 5 and 6 were then inha bite d by Mrs. Colt hurs t buil t. and Mrs. Carpenda le resp ecti vely - they are at pres ent Ther e was then a owned by Mrs. Barc roft and Mr. Mill s. vaca nt plot betw een the Mil ls' hous e and that occu pied by Mrs. Moore - the then occu pant of the latt er hous e bein g Mrs. Moo re's hous e was of cour se then George Coch ran.

No,7 and Mr. Cochran had as next door neig hbou r in No.8 the well -kno wn Dr. Cuming whose hous e is now held by Dr. Woods.

Acco rding to the valu atio n of 1833 -34 that site was the prop erty of Robe rt Bax ter who by 1836 (as may be veri fied by a keys tone over the gatew ay bear ing bis init ials and the date ) had erec ted the two hous es rece ntly util ized by the Girl s' High Scho ol and the Min istry of That chan ged the numbering once more and resu lted Labo ur. in Nos. 7 and 8 becoming Noa. 9 and 10 - the num bers by

which we know them to-da y.

The Ordnance Surve y of 1835

portr ays the groun d witho ut hous es.

A date stone ,

howe ver, shows that the Baxt er hous es were begu n in the follo wing year .

A print ed valua tion and asses smen t of rates for the perio d endin g the 31st July, 1834 , recor ds Charl emon t Place resid ents as unde r 1. Sir Thomas Molyneux, Bart .

2. Dr. Kidd .

3. Col. Bain bridg e.

4. Col. Napi er.

No.l became empty in August of the same year , prob ably becau se of Sir Thomas Molyneux havin g succe eded his broth er, Sir Cape l (5th baron et) who died 3 December, Evid ently Sir Thomas did not move to Cast ledil lon 1832 .

He died 1841 and was follo wed in the baro netcy by his son, Sir Geor ge, the build er of the prese nt mans ion, at once .

a house that dates to 1845 .

Valu ation lists of 1835 show that rates were paid on No.l from 1 Augu st, 1834 , by Willi am Lodge Kidd , a form er Surgeon of the Armagh Mili tia, and member of an old Armagh fami ly now repre sente d in the city by the County Libr arian .

Evide nce of his occu patio n is illus trate d by an exten sion

43 11 of the back premis es wherein a stone inscrib ed 1 . K. 1835" The same list sugges ts that rates were still surviv es.

payabl e on the fifth house ( b Y J ~ ~ ~ ~ g u-~t 1835} who had previo usly paid on a frontag e and gar den only.

Four other houses intende d to comple te the terrac e were for some reason never begun and so the group consis ts of five instea d of t he nine houses origin ally planne d - the archit ect is believe d t o have been J ohn ston 's nephew, William Murray .

What i s now St. Mark ' s Pla ce seems to have begun its career as a continu a t ion of Cha rlemon t Place and is so portra yed on the Ordnance Survey Maps of 1835, but the Valuat ion lists of the preced ing year show it as Rokeby There were then no houses south of the school From 0 1Hagan 's Map of the f ounded by Archbi shop Stuart .

Green.

city engrav ed in 1852 we learn that St. Mark's Place was still part of Charlem ont Place and that the line betwee n the Stuart School and the Prison end entire ly free of Two years l at er in 1854 the Grand Nation al houses .

Cattle Show was held on the Mall, an event compar able in import ance with the pr e sent fixtur e at Balmo ral - and in

1858 a Russia n Oun was presen ted by Lord Panmur e to the city, the cannon now in positio n on the 'White Walk.

By

that date cricke t had been played on the Mall for at least ten years - but of that later.

-;:t;,

In 1879 a new church was built on the west side of the Mall for the First Presbyterian Congregation of Armagh, an edifice with one of the most graceful spires in Ireland and about 1879 a terrace of houses arose on the east side, south of the old school, and named Hartford Place in honour of Miss Hartford, better remembered by Armaohians of my generation as the wife of Surgeon J.M. Palmer of the County Infirmary, In 1884 the Masonic Hall, one of the oddities of local architecture, was completed, (to the design of J.H. Fullerton) by which time the Mall was much as we lmow it to-day excepti ng of course that certain older structures are now devoted t o other purposes - for instance the old Grain Stores after serving as temporary quarters for the Armagh Militia (and '...r(..\t.,,.w,.._

ciore recently as) a Slipper Factory, and on the other side of the Mall the Mall School has been transformed into an Oranee Hall.

I ii '\\'... I.I. ~

During the war years the Mall was an .assembly place f ur a mlmber of important military inspections and for the first time in its history had on one of those occasions a British Royal Prince take the salute at the march past of a famous Irish Regiment.

Then there was that truly magnificent

final American review just before our Allies left this

coun try - num erica lly the grea test that ever took plac e on t he Mall and hist oric ally of impo rtanc e and inte rest .

The Mal l has inde ed been the scen e of many such gath erin gs.

In 1778 loca l comp anie s of the Iris h Volu ntee rs exer cise d The ther eon and late r ther e were coun ty asse mbli es.

County Milit ia in its infa ncy also dril led on its gree n swar d in 1793 , and thre e year s late r the Yeomanry Corp s of

the city and dist rict x commenced inspe ctio ns on the same grou nd.

The most inte rest ing, howe ver, of all such cere mon ies was the pres enta tion on 18 July , 1856 , of a colo ur to the 75th or Armagh Ligh t Infa ntry , a bann er made by the ladi es of the city and hand ed over to the regim ent on thei r beha lf At no very dist ant date by the then Coun tess of Gosf ord. the Ma1:f had its foun tain - a cool ing sigh t in summer Many peop le./ of my vinta ge,/ yet remember its band -stan d and the mus ical even ings of thos e days .

wea ther.

As a matt er of pass ing inte rest I may be forg iven for Cric ket was bein g play ed ment ioni ng games on the Mall.

The land s were then leas ed to Mr. Wilt shir e the owner of the Bere sfor d Arms Hote l, a ther eon in July 18~5 .

cele brat ed loca l Spor tsma n.

The Armagh Cric ket Club was

not, howe ver, foun ded unti l 1859 .

It is diff icul t to find

a defin ite date for its forma tion.

I have, howev er, a

refere nce t o it playin g Monag han in Caled on Demesne on It proba bly was then sharin g Septem ber 2nd of that year. gr ounds with the Royal Schoo l in the Palac e Demesne.

At seems to have found a h ome on the Mall in 1861.

It

anyra te in Febru ary of that year it was stated that the club had been great ly incon venien ced in the previo us year At the throug h inabi lity to obtai n suita ble ground . s ame time it was sugge sted that the Mall Trust ees shoul d We know be appro ached with a view to accommodation. t hat the Club was actua lly in occup ation early in May. This inform ation deriv es from a l aw suit r egard ing tresp asser s on the pitch - intere sting but too length y to deal with here.

It shoul d, howev er, be a matte r of pride

to the Club that it was found ed in 1859 and that it has now compl eted a centu ry's play on its prese nt groun d.

The Mall has, howev er, a long histo rical conne ction The first local race-c ourse with the field of sport . that we have any recor d of wa s sited there and th ere is good reaso n to suppo se it was in use for that purpo se in the last half of the 17th centu ry.

The earli est

docum entary refere nce to it occur s in the Corpo ration Minut es of 1731 in which year the Sover eign and Burge sses

41 of t he city subscr ibed towards a prize, and fixed prices Eleven years later for stands or booths on the course . the Corpor ation de cided to enclos e that part lying within the bounda ry of the course leaving suffic ient room outsid e the enclos ure for the accommodation of the sport.

Particu lars a s to ditche s, gates, etc., appear in the Borough Minute s under date June 15, 1742.

The result or

t he t hen plannin g is shown on Rocques Map of the city engrav ed in 1760, which portra ys in detail "the Commons" the old name f or the area that we now know as the Mall, The "Starti ng Post" and shows it as the "Horse Course ". and "Winning Post" are carefu lly marked.

The area was

then devoid of houses and simply known as "the Course " or Commons.

Shortly after that date Dr. Richar d Robins on was transla ted from the See of Kildar e to the Archbi shopri c of Armagh .

Whether he found the bull-b aiting , free

fri ghts, gambling, cock-f ighting and drinki ng, that f ollowe d the races for some days, offens ive, is a matt er on which we have little inform ation.

It is believ ed that

he con sidered the conseq uent riots, the gipsy and tinker encampments and other disagr eeable nuisan ce s undign ified adjunc ts to a cathed ral town.

At any r ate in 1773 he

leased the Commons to the Sovereign and Burgesses for the purpose of utili zing the ground as a "public walk" for the inhabitant s of the city.

Thus ended the Commons use

as a racecourse and soon its ol d name was dropped for the

present desi gnation which by then had come to mean a public wal k though original.ly deriving from a ball game pl ayed with a mall.

By the Act whi ch brought about this

change in its status the publi c had only the right t o use the paths or walks - a necessary provis ion but much resented by cer t ain people, who f ound to t heir cost that the Act of Parliament by which the land was conveyed, confi ned pedestrian s to the walks and thus deprived them of the liberty to trespass or commit damage within the enclosed portions.

In concl usion it may be of interest to recall that when the Armagh Cricket Club was leased their present pitch in 1861 they had to agree to the public being debarred from .I:

the pi tch and.promis e t o keep it in a tidy condition, a precaution that might again with advantage be enforced.

At our Octo ber :aeet ing hr . Lde nna spolr n on ·'The c:1~n ging Ar..,agh ", a topi c that arou sed grea t inte rest and -provo'.;:ed a :nost frui tful disc ussi on , both as rega rds the juni or '.';le.~bers and irres pon sibl es of :ny o\-m part icul ar ,-

In the deba te tl1at follo wed 1-ir . Lci(e nna ' s pape r , tne ques tion of the orig in of Tont ines aros e, so I have

vint age .

c~os en the Ar~a gh Tont ine as a subj ect for to- nigh t , '.IlY reas on ueinF the fact that ther e see:ned to be a disp osit ion t0 asse rt tnat Tont ine, and To\om rlall , were actu ally inte rc:1an geab le ter.n s of desc ripti on for tne sa:ne type of irist i tutio '1 - whic h, of cour se, is not so .

Tt1ose of you uho were pres etlt Hill re.ue :nber t ha t I thou g~t that the Iris h Tont ines were chie fly esta bli shmen t s roun ded by subs crip tion s, to prov ide a:;ie nitie s for t he co~: n~ni ties conc erne d, and that I beli ev ed the subs crib ers I also ~ent ione d that I rece ived annu ities in retu rn . unde rstoo d the idea orig inat ed in iran ce but in tha t The S}ste m was firs t part: :. ct.ila r I was not quit e corr ~ct . intro dkce ci in ?'ran ee as a '.Ileans of rais ing Gove r n:nen t loan s, l:.y Lore nzo i'ont i who ca:ne f r om Napl es to Pa r i s abou t th e year 1653 .

So'.Ile auth o r itie s s ay that i t was i n us e in

It~l y ~~rL ler, and that :nay well be so .

1 ro

It wa s, howe v er,

.•'ran ee that it spre ad to .t,;tJgl and and ev entu ally t o

50 e ve be en in ex is te nc e in th ha to s em se it ere wn d, Ir el an th a t su ch pl ac es :ne su as st mu e on e at yr an At 13 th ce nt ur y. th at ce nt ur y as of le dd ~1i e th by re he ,·m ue re i!e ll- mo 17 77 , ma:.{es on e in ed ish bl pu , s ay pl s hi Sh er id an in on e of re n c e to a ra th er rat 1:i sh fe re .t,1 1-.1 y sa rs te ac ar ch of hi s nu iti es as an I ri sh an ny :na as ys pa he at th f ri en d " 1 he ar of ot at io n sh oul d be a ca us e qu at th se ca In 1 . e" tin To , ly ste n to sa y , th a t I am on ha I r te la _e to t n ~e ss e:n ba rra ri sh ro nt in es , so do n ' t I g tin ua of ce en i0 ev as us in g it ou t fo r yo ur se lv es . it k in th st ju , nt ca __ he ask ...,e ,!h at y Ar .... ag h ha d i ts ur nt ce tt1 lo e tn of r te ar I n t :1e la st qu nd of da nc es , ca r d ou r s t i er .nt 1,i ch ea on l it tl e se as a bu ild in g kno1m en t:1 s wa e er Th . c t e , s pa r ti es an d pl ay in us e fro :n at le as t 17 82 s wa t I . s om ao y bl e:n s As as t h e Lo d r aw in g s e Roo::us . tin n To e t,1 by 94 17 n i ed un til re pl ac t1 1r es or ph ot og ra ph s Jic y an \1e ve ha ed de in r no of it ex is t l it wa s no t c e:n ol ish ed un ti gh ou th lf se it ne ti n To e of th s e~.bl y Roo,ns t he Na rk et As he t om r f , er v we ho t, ar Ap 1908 .

Fo r i ns t an ce , se s . po r pu ar l mi si r fo ed us so Hou se wa s al e he ld th er ei n i n ai d of th g in be re we es li mb se as 80 in 17 f un ct io n s to b e so he t , y r :r,a r i nf I y t un Co ed ne wly f ou nd i n e a ch mo nt h , ay sd ur Th e 11 th on e ac pl e k arrang ed as t o ta 11 ad ve r t is e:nen t re la ti n g an o:n fr d an , on :no l ul f ne ar e st t he in be in g ea r l ie r . e r we ey h t at th ow Kn we s to t he se ga th er in g n t in e wa s or ig in al ly a To a es ri na io ct di o t g in Acco rd

SI loan on whic·1 annuities were paid instead of interest, each annuity increasing as the number of subscribers aiminished by deat~ until the surviving subscriber received as c1uc.1 as all of the'.Il.

Those of you who have studied

· ' ·n S..uaar"... ' s Ar.iagh( l) \-llll recall that it is stated ,:;,,erei

t:1at Arcl1oishop Robinson, ti:le founder of the Public Library, 0bservator;y, etc. was the survivor in a French Tontine iro~ ~1ich he derived a considerable fortune .

Curiously

enough the plan for the establishing of a Tontine in Ar.1agh ca~.ie into being so:"e six :nonths previous to the Archbishop ' s deat'1, but t,1ere are no i'acts connecting him with our local Tontine .

The first ,mowledge we have as to its !'or:nation occurs in the files of the Belfast News -Letter<~)under date of l·iarch 9, 1794 .

We are told that '' the Co.i.J.1li ttee appointed

to superintend the building of the new Tontine Asse:ubly ~et on the site chosen, when the foundation stone was laid oy the Sovereign, Ti1omas l•iacan, Esq.

The oui.L<i.ing we are

informed was to co 11sist of Tea, Card and Coffee Roo'.lls of elegant aesign, and that £1,500 had been subscribed but t.1at an additional £<'.,074 was needed. "

The rreasurer was

Rebert Livingstone, Esq. ( 3 ) the then agent of the Charle'.llont

(1)

1,e:noirs of Ar::iagh p . 546 .

(~J

harch 16 , 1794 .

(j;

vied 18~1. l:mried Tassagh .

Joh 1 >'lesley .

He was a great friend of

0state , ,-,ho lived i11 a house at tne bott o:i1 of AbDey Street , since rebuil t for u.se uy t:1e Provin cial .oan.,;:ing Co ...pany , '.1ere a stone bearing his initia ls "H..L. 11 and tl1e date "1774'' is still preserv ed .

~k have no i~form ation as to

w:10 t:1e a rc 1itect 1,as uut it is alsost certain that it Has ."rancis Johnsto .,, a native of A.r ...agh a1.d urJe of the :.1ost disting u~s~ed Je~ber s of his ~rofes sion .

In the Alexan der .!aui~t o

Diar/l i)there are severa l

referen ces to the Ar~acb foatine .

H~ recorc s, for exa~pl e ,

t:1a: 1e uas at an asseJb ly in it on oe:,te. "ucr 10, 1795, that .1e '' dined \·r.i.ti1 ti1e Grand Jury on A~,ri.L .LO, 1'797" and '' a-'terw ards ·,·,ent to a Card Asse.ab ly at the •. ew Roo:.,s, whi cl1 asse-L- lies •.-·ere held every honday evenin g, t.1at tner e uas Tea, ca,rns, dan cing and cards, subscr iptions

5/ 5 Je r qua rt e r " .

Seven cays later he attende d anothe r , and on August 1:2 , 180,::, :-1e lc:arn tha t he visited the Primate < 5) and "found him very pleasin g and conver sable " at wliicll he ,;as greatly surpris ed naving heard that he was formal and reserve d.

Later ne

( 6)

·'cined at the Deanery wnere tnere was a large party i nclud7 the Gosfor d/ ) after which they went to a very pleasa nt ball

(li)

!LS. in Armagh Public Library .

(5)

The Honble . William Stuart , D. D., brothe r of the then Earl of Bute .

(6)

Tnen occupi ed by Lord Liffor d, Dean of Armagh 1796- 1830, and father of the 3rd Viscou nt Liffor d.

(7)

Arthur , 2nd Viscou nt Gosfor d, and his wife and daught ers.

in t.1e Tontine Roo:ns 11 •

I suppose contempora ry newspapers

'.:light fill the gap between chat date and Stuart ' s reference( S) in ldl9, but that -,muld involve too JJuch researcn so I uave ::::ot atte::.pted it .

Stuart describes t 11e Tontine as "a spacious and nandso:ne bui.Ld::. ,g situate in English Stre..;t" and states that it was private rropert~ but occasional ly rendered applicable for public purposes. a

It contained an extensive ball-room with

convenient ar.d well-planne d suite of aparta.ent s.

In one

o.r t,:e::'.! on t,1e ground floor tl1e inhabitant s vf ti1e city had established a News Roo:n which was well supported by a great m.u:.uer of very respectable subscriber s.

rte 1entions also

ti1at t:iere was then no tneatre in Ar:nagh but that 1,1layers visited the to\-m and performed in such houses as they could procure, and that they were given every encourage~ ent and support.

Taat state:i!ent can indeed be co1fir.ned for we

have proof that strolling players were visiting the city fro= tlie :niddle of the 18th century onwards, and that they played in available pre-ises for the period necessary to exhaust their stocic of plays .

The earliest note I have

found regarding the:n records the baptis:n of George, son of Sa:n.:.el Genia, a player , and Annabella his wife January .::8 ,

1151 .

( J)

Tne entry :nay be seen in the Parish Registers .

1.c::oirs of Ar:uagh p . _5..!.i-lf:'

'>fl9

It

5L£·rould s~e~, ho,rever, t~at despite Stuart's assertion ::.·cs,,ecting the want of a Theatre in Ar.Jagh in 1019 t 11at t'.1cre w1s a bu.Llding so called in 17$3, for v1e bavc the iollowing notice in the Belfast 1-.ews-Letter of June 11, of t'.1at ! ea:r - ''l·"arried at tbe Cathedral Church of Ar:Jag,1, 1-,r.

Leslie, to the a~reeable hiss Peterseu, botn beLonging to t:1e t.,l;latre of Ar:nagh".

I nstances of that kind could, of

CJUrse, be :nultiplied but I :nust return to the Tontine.

T,,e :.inute Book of the Tontine for the period 1790 to

18e:: 8 is :nissing so we are deprived of '.J.uch data relating to its history in those years.

';le do mou, however, t.,a t

the

original Lease of ti1e pre:nises was granted about 1/90 by Tho.nas ~lhale/ 9 ) (who held under t:rn Archbishop of Ar:nagh) (10) , i3.ev . • ichard to the .Rev . Hugh Ha.,ilton, Dean of <1.I".nagh,

( 9)

Tho:nas ,{'1ale:,, better ,mown as Buck or Jerusale:n irnaley, son of Richard Chappel Whaley of Ar:aagi1 and W,,alley Held about 17 to,-mlands under Abbey, Co . Wicklow. certain proper ty in the city besides nagh the See of Ar itself, all of wi1ich are set out in a volu:ue of :aaps in t1:1e Public Library, Ar:nagh, prepared by Jacob 1.eville ,I1aley was then a :ninor aged about three in 1769.

Whaley ' s Buildings He died Nove'.Ilber ~, 1800 . years. in Castle Street bearing a stone dated 1773 and sur:iounted by a ""raceful urn were erected by his trustees Had an inco~e of £10,000 per year. curing his minority.

Was a ga'.Ilbler and lost £14 , 000 on one occasion at an Also re'.ne:nbered as "Burn evening session of cards.

Chapel " because of the many chapels burned by his orders , ir. 1798.

(10) Dean .tla:nil ton ca:ne to Ar:;1agh in 1768, built the Deanery .iouse now Dean ' s tlill imu1ediately afterwards, and in Became Bishop 11')5 was consecrated Bishop of Clonfert.

Newto,mh.:milton of 9ssorr in 1799,, and ,died 1805 . derives its na~e ro~ tnat narticular rlamilton 1, ~i~ .

•

Allo tt, (ll) John Burge s , (ld Tt1o:nas ,-,aca n, (l3) i'i10:nas .,, 1aylo r (14) a.1d John ha can (1 5) , at til:l :·e..ir ly rent o f ....:5 . 13 s. 9d. (l6 ) It is a pity that no comp lete list of the origi nal subsc riber s to toe To~ti ne re~ai ns.

By its absen ce we

a~e left in doubt as to its finan cial stab ility .

We do

'.mow t:1at so::ie of ti·1e:n were alive in 1821, 1.:hen it Has decid ed at a gener al ~eati ng in that year, that they shou ld assig n t1e build ing to new trust ees so that it could still serve the citiz ens of Ar:navh.

At that ti:ne the edifi ce is

said to have been in a state of dilap idati on so He '.:lay suppo se it had falle n on evil days.

Rodg ers< 17 )give s the

(11) Rev. Richa rd Allot t was t1en Prece ntor of Ar:nagh but in 1795 resig ned the P recen torsh ip ior tie De~n ery of Tuam . Died 1822 .

(1:::) John Burge s of Ar:nagh . Fathe r of John denry Burg es of ,food P ark and ance stor of the Burge s fa'.ilil y of P arkan aur , Co . Tyron e . Died Sept . 1790. See B. L.L. Sept. 14, 1790 .

(13) Thom as hacan . .t<'ree.i.an of Ar.nag h 1746 . Burg ess 1755 .

1.any ti11es Sove rei gn of the city bet.-re en 1749 -1794 .

Lieu tenan t of a local troop of Drago ons 1'?56 . Capt ain of' same ir. 1760, in vl11ich year he rode Hi th 100 citiz ens to the relie f of Belfa st wnen that city was threa tened vrlth invas ion by t,1e t'renc h. Ca~ tain of ti1e ~nd Conp any Ar·.iag h Gren aaier s in 1780 . Died 1795 .

(14) Tno~ as Taylo r .

(15) John Haca n. Son of Thom as hacan above .

1801, a~ed 72 years .

(16) See Rodr ers Ancie nt City, p . 30 .

(l7J Ibid, pp . 30-31 ,

Died July ;,: ~ ~,

·n (18) _, . •'i .

A f , r~ag o eign Sover , helly .

I A. as ees new trust (,:::1) Lodg e(l9 ), 1eo iard Dobb in, Senio r, (.::O) ./illia .n uc'di lliaw s u

L. Prent ice(~ .::), ~ d John Uaugh (~ 3 ).

rle also infor ~s

us t.1at £500 \1as spe.1t in rn;;:8 in putti ng in a new stair case and in neces sary i:npro ve:11e nts and that about 1841 l'u.rth er alter ation s uere c1ade so thc.t the Ar.:1a;i;h Lusi cal Socie ty ~ight be ~ore adequ ately acco~ '.lloda ted as rc-ar ds conc erts.

To assis t in the latte r schem e, the Pri:u ate renew ed the len se witho ut fines and the Toll Co'.ll.ai ttee ave a su:.1 of £700 .

In the twe~t y years follow l.nf; the: c..ona ted at leas t

anoth er £1,00 0 towar ds its upkee p .

histo

1 A kinut e Book cover ing the secon d terD of the Tont ine s Fro:., .:. t ,.,e learn ry is avail able from 1820 to 1907.

t'.1at the arch itect calle d in to re-pl an t:1e build i,1g was 1,r .

(18) 1-1.rtnur Irwin 1Celly , Sove reign of the Cl. ty lo0:;, - lo06 , lo.::1- 1833, and 1833- 1837 . Died harch 7, 1841 . ( 19) R. R. Lodge . Richa rd Robin son Lodse , son of the Rev . .lilli a·.. Lodc;e , LL . D., first .-:eep er or' ti1e Publ ic Libra ry of A~:n~g~. Bo~n Febru ary 20, 1776 , Capt ain in tl-ie T;;ron e lnlit ia . Died Septe JJber 16, 1840 . (~Oi

(21)

Leon ard Dobb in, Sen . Leon ard Dobb in, D. L . Born Sept . ~9, 1762. h . P . for the Borou gh of Ar:1agh 1033- 1838 .

Died Yebru ary 20, lo4~ .

Willi a:n hcWi llia:n s. Adju tant First Co:.ipany of Ar~a~ h Volu nteer s 1780 . Lieut enan t Ar~ag n vo 1 ~ t eer Yeo:n anry st c.7, l8l16 . Port rai·t 1'19 6 . Capta in 1 8 0'/. Died Auru , ' Count y Luse m .

Henry Lesli e Pren tice D L Son of Ja.nes Pren tice of Tand erage e . ' 1 ..., • . · ' Cal~d on . diorc a time an offic er in the 95th Foot . Agent to'f~ aledo n . or John Waug h.

H. L. Pren tice.

( .::3)

I . .L"arrell and accordint_; to a hinute of February 11, 1826, he gave his services free .

Unfortunat ely I cannot in the

ti~e at my disposaL discuss the minutes in any detail . ':;as

It

pleasant, ~1owever, to find the nGw trustees .cesolving

t.1at all the c:1im1ey-pi eces si1ould be of Ar.nagh .Jarble, and interesti~ s to find that ~Y lb43 tney had i~stalled gas.

( .::4)

I n 1874(<'. 5 )ti-Je trustees acquired a perpetm.. ty lease and tl10 old Hews Roo.a \·ras leased to the ·row11 Co.n~Jission ers as an office at £10 reran.

Their successor the Urba, Council in

1901C.:: 6 )refused to pay a proposed increase of rent, uut in ti1e followinr- yearC 2 7)put out feGlers fo r the acquisitio n of t.1e pre:nises for use as a site for a To\-m Hall.

T!1ere was

also a propositio n for its conversion into a Technical Scaool(.:: 8 ) but that was not looked upon favourably by the Trus t ees who did not object, nowever, ,rovided it was incorl)orat ed in the proposed Tovm rlall wheri built .

I n 1907U9)L essrs . Lonr oe

and Anderson were instructed to take opinion of Couns el with

(24)

January 17, 1843. " The lustre in the large front room to b e replaced by a gas pendant" .

C25)

June 9, 1874 .

(~6)

December 30, 1901.

(27)

July 18, 1902 .

Cc 8)

August 14, 1902 .

(29)

May 15, 1907 .

\

regard to t~e best :net~od of enabling the trustees to ,,;_•ea;. t.1c trust

· rr a ~atter eventually arranged by transre

ing t.:i Lie Urban Council wno thus beca Je the new trustees of t:1e property, and in t:1e following year cle~,olition i'!Or,c began arid t:ms e11ded 1r.Jagh I s Tor ti .e, after .1av::.ng served tile t01m for \-;ell over a century as a c,, tre for social 0

~-d c~ltural activities.

Tlle Armao-h 8avin&s Banlc began

its career w:..t'.1in its wa.Lls.

It was for long the :1O•,ie of

t:1e Ar Ja"(h ..usical Societ) and a place of rcfu[;e .,_'or the A! •• .,g:1 !,utural _Iistory and Philosophical Society in the

cays tei'ore it :1ad a i10:.1e of its own .

I' .e Co..mty Grand

Jury, the h.r.nag:1 A"ri cultural Societ. c1nd t 10 ,·\·i cndly brothers of ~t. Patrick held festivals benea t~ its hospitable roof.

Coicerts, dances, private parties, theatricals (in

,.--·:ich ..iany a notable f:i.e;ure appeared inclt1d.ing the cele~rated Talbot(JO)) and lectures on astrono~y, ~usic, .istory and dozens of other subjects uere 6 i ven in its roo:ns .

The fa:nous Sa:nuel Lover, poet, novelist and dra:..1atist, aatl1or of' Handy Andy and :{cry O ;,,ore, had such a good rec eption in 1841 that he returned again in lu49 .

T~e

renowned General To:n Thu:nb strutted on its stage in 1848 and again ten years later .

Other well- kno,·m entertainers

of past days iigure also in its story, such as Gallaeher,

(JOJ

11r . Talbot to ap.iear at Ar~agh Theatre.

Telegraph h a r ch 14 , 1823 .

~t:ie .;r eat v dntriloqui st, Bartley ti1e ~Ii zard of tne ,;est, 1',rs. Loc:nmod the harpist, A11dersun the 1.orthern Wizard J. ci.

.2;:iny anot'.11:r, a:non-;st t'1e:.. that :;iost c.eli3htful of

all, t'.1e versatile Percy lrench whose haunting songs arc with us still .

I never saw the Tontine Roo~s and all ~y clforts to find a drawing or picture of tne building '.1ave been in vain t:iough it ,ms not de:nolished until 1908, less than half a certury ago .

City !'!.all i1ad already been built - our youn.,.er ..,e:nbers,

I suppose , now look upon it as an ancient Jonu::ient !

Lr. Chair.nan I

a~~

afraid I have exceeded ti1e ti'ne

li:::i t so I .,mst nou conclude ,ii t11 apolo,;ies .i:or having ,,asted so ::.cich of your evening on this rather gc:irbled account of the ArJJagh Ton tine.

,\n tho ny C,1 aun el Ob. 11 Ho ve: ibe r ' :!.69.:'..

=

He ste r, on ly cau ~ ofnd .1."ranc is Arc ,1G r 0.1. Lo on · Ob . 169 0.

R.:.ci1ard c:1a~::i ,el , De put y Au dit or G"' rnr a.L of Ire lan d . ( Ar·.. ,agi1 a~ nta ls 162 0- 166 1)

I

Ric har d Cj aJp el of AI' ~ag h. Ju sti ce of the Pe ace Ar~ aPh 16b 6. ;a1 1 31 Jan uar y 170 5 . ( Ar nag h Ren tal s 167 6 . )

=

C1 ari t y Ch app ell (de nta ls of the See of A. JJag:1) .

·.ri10· 1as C iau pel of ::1ushto•,m ls Co .-,. Ola "'ha n . (Ar'lla 6h i{e nta 167 6) uau . 1·:-lfe of R:, .cb ard .

1f.1 ale y. · xie Di ard ~dH dau . ·.,iJ.'e oi Ca ;;t. .)o l ton . dau . wi fe of

- Bo lto n =

Ma ry Bo lto n=

CT1appel of Ar.nagh .

Do lto n= Joh n Bo lto n.

Do rot hy Bo lto n ' s dau . ~d . - Lo rd and had a son Ed wa rd Lo rd of Du bli n ~1ho le ft a son , Joh n Lo rd.

rd Ci1 app el ap pe ars as a Arch bishop ' s Ren t als sho w: ,hc ha :re 1:Jad ti1 en h in 16<:0 . ten an t on the See Lan ds of Ar:nag T:1e ren tal st hi:n £10 0 . co t tha use ho ne sto r fai a ilt bu had acc mm lat ed JOO ac res in o f 1 6<:4 sho ws tha t by the n he rce l of lan d in Ty r on e in pa a ing uir acq s e sid be h ;.ag Ar: al~ ve in_ 16~ 1 bu t by 163 1. He see'llS to hav e bee n sti l~ to his wid ow Cn ari ty Ch apprel 1 676 i:Jis pro pe rt y had , pa sse d he ld the Ar: uag h pro pe rty he ,:!'lo •,r.i.th he r s on , Ri cna rd, of I ?n is~ ee~ in Co . ho ~a gh an hus ban d ' s lan ds in the han or Ar:. .1agn) pa ssi ng to 11er son (al so he l d u nde r the See of ua sse d t 0 I n 171 3 the Cha pp el. i?t er es tsapp Tho:aa s Ch ap pe l. ell

by Ri cn ard Ch !Uc h ard ~lha ley who wa s suc cee deds 1'ina ley ap pe ars in a Wh al ey in 17:24 and a Rev . Tho::ia r en tal of 172 5. e ren t 1 e di ed before 1213 . WhTh Richard Chappel ~ust l nav a ale y .

Ri cha rd rea ds Hi ch ard Chappe dec eas ed now

~or1et Ric~ard ~haley = a c.iau . of Ricbarc: Cia 1pel i~d ~ntcscate . Ad:non. .Je· Llty A>.lditor Ge:iera. of lG ~ebruary, 1712.

Ir~J.acd and s.stcr aDd co ,rnir of '.L\10:.1as Chapple of :lusnto,-m , Co. Lonaghan. .

1

i·iarc:1, 168lf, at At.1enxy, C . Galway . '.i'ilomas ./haley, Ric:1ard ':i:1a1e-: of = 8'isanna, ... au . of l'i1e Aev . of balway. . [ewford, Co Joh'.1 '::na.,_e.r . Ob. Sy den .

Died in~estate . Ad.:01 . intestate, 9 Lay, 9 ha~, 1731 . (AJnears 1737 , LJ.i za beth ,. 1 _ lcy in Ar ..;a~n See .le;1tals {ic1ard Cope .J . in 1713) . of Syde'1. h.L. d

~ndly L . L. 8 Feb . 1759, at St . l,ary ' s, Dublin . = A:me, d.au . of tne Richard Cha;;pel :lha ... ey, , .. P .

R0v . bernard "J a rd. for Co . U.i.c '.{lo·.r, wl10 :narri ed .:ir stly 17.f.'7), JJay, 4 Catherine Ar:ni tage (lLL. by who:n he had. no issue. (Appe.:::.rs in ArDagh See Rentals l7i4 , and 1 hay, 1737, had a renewal of his lease for 40 years~ I

Thomas, b .1766. d. 2 hov . 1800 . held 17 to,-mlands under the See of Armagh besides some property in the city .

Eldest son according to D. ~ . B. M.P. for Newtownards, Co . Down 1785-1790, and Enniscorthy 1790-1800.

Richard c··1a . -.L. . 31 July, 1790 .

Ob . Ad:i1on .

John .:1d. Lady Anne head (L. L .

G6 Ap rL, 1788) .

Uillia.ll .

Susanna .

Anne who .ud. John Fitzgibbon, .C:arl of Clare .

Sophia.

Tho:iias vfualey, son of Richard Chappel W1aley of Whalley Abbey, Co. Wicklow, known as Buck Wnaley, Jerusalem \·lhaley and Burn Chapel Whaley. Very eccentric. Had an inco~e of £10 000 per year . Lost at cards in one evening £14 , ooo.

Had' a house i n Stephen's Green, Dublin . Left two HS . volU!lles of memoirs that were never published . See D. L . b.

Archbishops Rentals show Richard Whaley in 1713 as lessee of land for:nerly held by Richard Chappell deceased .

3.ic:1ard Whaley ' s lands are set out as under i n 1713: ~O acres Plantation called Grants. '.l'ownsnarve als 'l'yrene cross bruier~arti1 als Tullaghlec~in hcCoddan S:-iarvagi.1 Boy 1,cCoddan i'i1e Desert Laycoyreagh als i<,oy als Cariboy Farir,:ucsetaney als 7arin:nccautley Lonag:1quin als Lonagi1icon Dru~coYJ1.·1ell ballynagally Etragh Ballynure .:.mnislare i·:unnoughipatricl c Tonagh Ballydi~in als Lisadian Ballyscan als Ballyscandle Cullin trough ;.• oylurge Ballybroughan Ballybroug han Tireskaghten ~O acres in or about Ar~agh .

In the 1'o co!ll!llence 1st !s, ovember, 1707, for c::l yea rs. of to1,m the ept exc County of Ar-.;iagh and parish , all i.oylurge 1Jnich J.ies in th e parish of 1-iullatrack.

(Charity c:1 appel and Richard her son tenants in 1676, H_er under a lease :!,ade 1t1 July, 1634, for 60 years. . honagnan .

Co Parish, ~i,1is.rnen in s9n Tho ..;;jS had lands 1076 ae"tal gives variations in spelli ngs for above lands).

'.J?d .

, otcs on c2rtain ,l(;Ll:es occu2:rir..c in hl_~_:J;:.q_nt.iJ& Linute of l8c8-1901 . .r<'::'...,:;..·u:..ry .1.l, lu.::b . 11hr. ii'arrell". hr. Isaac Farrell who 1 _;_: ::.J.::4 ·.-:as cal1.ed in by t,1e .ooard of Govcri1ors of th?

Ccunty I ~J .2ir:nary in re[;ard to alterations a~1d re.>ovations ::n.Jre, cind wi10 about the sa.ne ti.:ic was erectint:; a neH ea stle at 'i'anC::era: ee for Lord and Lady ,.a:icleville, after,.: . .r<,arrell ·-,a~ wards ::)uke and :)uc,1ess of l,anci1ester. u,1cle to J. :1. Farrell, founder of the Portado,-m r:ews 111

1859.

July 9, 1828 . 1°:ajor General Ti1ornton. Sir William Died 1840.

Tho r nton, K.C.B. Lieut. General in the ar:ny.

See B. L . G. under Todd Tbornton of Westbrook, Co. Donegal.

June 4, 183.::. John Waugh deceased.

Churc:H,arde" of Ar::.iash in 18~2.

April 23, 1840. deceased.

A John ,laugh was

Dr . Kidd(l)in place of Capt. Lodge(.::)

February 11, 1841.

Kelly. ( .::)

~-.

Rev . James JonesCl)in ·_.)lace of' I

./

(lJ kRecto r of ~eady 1823- 25 and of Derrynoose 18251~40. 3ector of Kil!llore and Chancellor of Ar~agh Cathedral 1840- 1871. Died 1871 . Burie d Kil!llore.

10. ,~~-·il J'-, ,-.;4, . ,lillia!il Paton(l)in place of Leo'lurd uvb1~ \c 1 Leceased . (_J

L~st Sovereign of tne city of Ar~agh.

D... 0dl.ay, 1871. Buried St. harlc ' s.

born 1797·

cc;~o_~?! -::~ 1$49 . HiLia:n Bar:~er(l)ii. pac..; of \Iillia:1 •. c .1.:..Llia·-. s~ d deceased. ( 1)

Of Abbey tlouse, Ar;nagh, uncle of Sir Willia:u Squire Barker Kaye. He Has a solicitor and died in Lay 1866 . Ar·uagh Guardian Lay 10, 1866 .

(c)

Feoruary c7, 7-~55. Stewart Naxwell ( l) in pla ce of Arthur Kelly Evans ' )resigned. ( 1)

(c)

Tho..1as 1Celly Evans, J .P . second son of Ldward Lvans of Gort~erron House .

A,)ril 7i lo57. John G. Winder Cl ) in place of Stewart Laxwe l deceased.

(1)

Son of Capt. John ·Jinder. Secretar:,: to the Count~ Grand Jury . Died July ~9, 1889, aged 70 years.

1~ebruary 1~2. 1867 . Th?:nas Dobbin in place of late \';illiam Barker . Tho:nas Dobbin J . P . of Armagh . Born 1795 . Died .. 87.L .

See B. L . G.

7L -• · -~ "'3, 1870. i....1..:ceased.

Archibal d l' . Kidd(l)v ice t •• L. Pt>vntice (c:: )

C.)

( c::)

~~€c;r.iary ;:o, lD7c::. c.eceased .

(1)

Andrew Craig(l) vice :tev. Ja ... es Jones

Ca-ot. A21dre,1 Crai-;, T:1e ,'.all, Ar.:.ag:1. Later a La;jor i'' t}:)e Ar..iash ,.ilitia. Borr. 18;:5. Died 1077 . 3uried St. bar:, • s .

.?ebruary c::v, J.07<1..

tlenry Davison ( l)vice lat0 Tho::uas Dobbin .

( 1)

~ay 1, 1878 .

Lieut . Col. Dobbin( l)in roo:n of Lajor Craig .

( 1)

Lay 8 , 1884 . St . John l:llaclcer Douglas (l)in roo:n of A.I, .

Kidd, M. D. , resigned .

(1)

St. John r ho:nas Blacker - Douglass of .1i:l:n P ar:c See B. L . G. born 18~;:. Died

7-1., . .CJ.urus~ 14 , 1394 . l·,r . Thomas Pr enti ce oldest trustee _•ssiNns but resignation not a cc epte d .

-~u._:ust 14, 1894 . ceceased .

H.

.b .

Ar.,str ong Cl)vice J . G. Winder

( 1)

Se,1te~.ber 4 , 1894 .

R. G. L cCru:n appoi nted a new trustee .

. lobert G<-1':llany !.cCrux, D. L. , of Hili'ord .

1886. Born 18G9 . Died 1915 .

. a:y G5, 1901.

Davison .

High S'1eriff

.:'lobert Turner(l) i n place of late .icnry

( 1)

ha y G5 , 1901 . J. C. Boyle(l)in pl a ce of St . J ohn BlacKer Douela s re s igned . ( 1)

!.ay G5, 1901. J ohn Co:nptonCl)in pl a c e o f Tho·2as A. Pren tice resi 7 ne d . ( 1)

73 Allilla..c .tJ; fro:n 11iu~J aoo:c of 1328- 1907.

~~d in A~~p ~J;.i. m:.ar .tl ,.::.r:ute 11 Zcbrua ry, 10<:'.8 . Plans d.ra,,m up by , ,r . j?arr ell app"ov ed . He char?ed no fee Resolv ed that all the cnicrney "'icces be ;f Al'.;1a"l1 ;arble . ,.i::ute 9 July, lo~8 . ?·iajor Genera l Tnornto n one of the propri e tors Hopose s taking dovm the wall between the card and retirin g and ~aking a large r sunner roo~ .

Approve d . ·· Li mte 9 June, 18c:9 .

Salar; £40 .

John .l"agan elect ed caretak er .

Linute 4 June, 183c:.

J ohn ~laugh decease d .

,,iLute c:4 1·'.ay, lb36.

J a.::ies Lat chett, caretak er .

1-:inute 11 Octobe r, 1036 .

Roo:11s be rented at i~ per night.

I:inute c:3 ~~ril , _340.

Lodge de cea sed.

Dr . Kidd elected in place of Cap t.

Hinut e 11 Feunw ry, 1841. .1.ev . J u:aes Jones elected in pl ace of A. I. Kelly . Edward l!Na'1S, ~ sq ., to act as Secret ary . Toll Co:n:ni ttee propose builci.i ng a husic rlall.

Hinute 20 April, 184<:'.. Toll Co.nnit tee given per.aiss ion .

Presen t Lusica l Society :::ientio ned - it to have fr ee us e . .Jinute 17 Januar y, 1 843. The lustre in larger f ront roo'.11 to be replace d by a gas pendan t . ·linute 30 Ap ril, 1844 . Willia:n Paton elected in place of Leonar d Dobbin decease d. ·.inute 2 Octobe r, 1849 . Willia: n Ba rker appoin ted in p lace of Willia '.11 1-,cWill iams decease d . Ja~nes Matche tt ' s sala ry reduced from £20 to £15 . He r esigns . Kingsb ury S:nith appoin ted in his place .

1inute 27 Februa ry, 185 5 . Stewar t Maxwel l in place of Tho'.lla s Kelly ivans resigne d . \~ . Paton Treasu re r i n pl ace of D?'. hidd .

Linute 7 Apri1, lb57 . l,ci.·we~l deceased .

1 •

John G. ',!inder in place of Stuart

i;1ute L:: 1;,ebruciry, 1067 . .l?! . Dar:ter .

-.inute .::3 April, 1670.

Frcntice deceased.

Ti10:nas Dobbin in place of late

Archibald 1,. Kidd vice .1 . L .

;.inu-;:;e .::0 .t"ebruary, lo?.:. Ar,dreu Craig vice Rev . Ja.ies Jones . denry Davisor vice .Late Ti10~1c1s Dobbin. i.inute 9 June, lo74 . Trustees to acquire a l ur,:,etuity lease. '.he Old 1 eus Il.00J1 to be let to To1-m Co:,uissioners as an office £10 ,er year. ;_:_ ,Lite l Lay, lo7b .

Craig.

Lieut. Col. Dotbin in roo.J of Lajor

Linute 3 Ldy, .tc,84. St. Jolin .Slac'.rnr Dou.:;las in roo:: of A. . . 1(idd, .. D. r(.;sic-ned . l.L:ute _4 A..1.,,.ust, .Ld94. Lord L·i .ate ..11d others present at 1:;c:ti -; c.; iderine crn::.a!'ge"-"ent . Apolo-:_;y i'ro:., ,. G• •. cCru.... . '·-' . T,10.,as A. Pre:,tice u~c..est tl''J.Stee resigns uat r"'s::.gnation not accepted. :--i. -'• Ar .. strong to be appoL~ted vice J . G. ~Tinder 6.eceased. l~inute 4 Se_ te •.ber, lo)4. new TrLlstee.

:.:c . R. G. l.cCr1l.il appointed a

l.inute c:5 1.ay, 1901. Robert Turner, J. C. Boyle, John Compton in ,ilace of late Henry Davison.

St. John Blacker Douglas resigned .

ThoJ1as A. Pzentice resigned .

Linute 30 Dece~1ber, 1901. LJrban Council refused to pay increase of rent . 1 otice to quit .

•• inute 18 July, 190c:, and 1 ALlsust, 190c:. Council puts fo!'th r'eelers for acquisition of t.1e bu~lding . I'ontine trustee atire-.:able. Council desires to build a To,·m Hall.

Letter 14 Au ust, 190c:. frastees wbile anxious to pro:note eraction of ro,m .t-Iall i·Jhich ;1ight include apurt:nents for Technical Instruction do not thinK t:1ey \-lould be justified in per~itting the use of the _Tontine f~r th~ purpose of any Technical School unless in connection w1. th the propo:::ed Toi>m Hall when built .

75.

15 hay, 190/. honroe and Anderso n t o be instruc ted to take opinion of Counci l as to the best :iet'10d of d enablin g trustee s to get rid of their trust and procee to carry it out .

Last hinute but unsi1ne d .

Presen t:

R. G • •• cCru:n in cl1air .

J. B . .ooyle .

John Co:aoto!l · ...

Sec rlerber t b. F'u1Ler~ 0 ~: • S. rl . !.o roe, .:iolici tor .

.ccounts begin 11 February, 1828 _ Do. ..,tions received in March- April, 1329 _ l&.::9.

Larc~1 :LO.

c6 :.ay 7 June .::4 Dec. c3

s. d.

6 10 0 100 0 4 12

Allowance fro:n Grand Jury.

10

0

0

10

0

0

10 9

0 4

0 7

50

0

0

3

3

0

0

5

0 0

l

l

0

3

0

0

0

Apr.'..l l 13 cl c4

£

Chas. Brmmlow fon. H. Caulf eild hon. J. Caulfeild Lord Charlemont Tho:nas h. . Ar:Jstrong Col. !\.elly A. 1(. Kelly Tho'.lla s Simpson John \laugh PrL1ate Lady Sparrow

1831.

1 year ' s rent of Savings Bank ' s Office to 1:ove::nber 1830.

Grand Jury ditto .

I:e;.;s Roo:n brought in Toll Co!!l <1i ttee

~ l~ ~

1 12

6

18 19 9 4 10 0 10 0

0 7 0 0

2

~

0 0 3

1039.

Certenary hethodist Meeting April 5, 1839. l\OVe:nber 28 . Three days performance. :C.04O.

January 7. hr . Rube,..,stein 2 weeks bazaar.

January 21. .hr • .burns 5 weeks Lecture. auctions, dances, lectures. l,ay lo .

Ar11agh husical Society 1 night Armagh Commissioners appear ,:: weeks bazaars figure.

21;:.

77 1842 .

£

s . d.

:::

::::

}.r . l"inc.en . Diorana 1 week. . LalL . l night . ~!'- Jen~le :.c.et::.." · :o::: uecaf cino. Du!ao. .. ov(.;;~bcr ~0 . ~atu~al ~istory Societ) . )cc-:::nb€::- c:9. ,"'!enr: c... ..ufeild. l ,::..;nt, a ba:l.

l 1 l 1

1 l.

-; , \.:,. 6.

~

c.

\.;

1

".1.

0

1

J.

C,

,:;

c'.

(J

1

1

0

4

O

0

.':'..l

30.

3J .

4.

! ov.

1..,.,. DL,til' ,:; nic:;hts u;us::.c .

L-r. .l..l eC. da Co·:cert.

L ' Johr:: Vogan Din ,er to Attor"eys. '.1 ....,, • Keir C ni~hts astrono~ical lt;;ctu:·es. ii.3ld in card roo\11 .

0

.1.

0 V

0 0 (;

....,, ' .._ __.."-,'-+.

., ...........,,., C..;,• Ju~e <:::"f .

L.r.

3ZGr or.e concert . c. C,.ildwel:..

C'.10ral Society.

GiJor:_·<:. .u1·inson :Jinnsr to A ::-ic1 ltural Society . c:1 rc'.1 ....;d icatior. Society .

0

~'

l.r.

Lord Fr:..mate Visitatior. di:ner . !'.r. 3raha:n a concert. l.r. A•'derso:n t,1e ~;orthern ~lizard

6 ci.a:,, s.

L:::. Pm:,ha:.: .:1strono:nica ... Lectures.

Ar!'icul.t..i.ra::. D:;,c;ner . .. , ,,st ::.1. L~. 1?razer T':1"'c1trical entertain"'ent .

A ~rivate ~eating of :entlenen .

Cct. j.1. . .. r . braha.J <: concerts.

: __ y l.

1346 . '·"'· 6 .

-01t '1. :'r;i) .

9.

l.r . Henry O Connel1. 1 ni~ht c~trono~ical lecture .

J.. r . SaDJuel Lover. An entertain:ncnt .farraonic Society.

lJ 0

1

1

0

1-.r . G:3:lagner Ventriloquist Tableaus .

.:::

2

0

,. " . . mry Astro.

I- ~::.vJte _;arti-.. s . urs . ,fobcrt Hen esey Exhibition 0 ,r paintings .

1

1

0

-

c::,-,

1848.

: ov. 4 .

1849 .

,.o:-itgo:nery .

To:n Thu:nb .

Feb. 15.

Nay 19.

t Nada:ne Castaglionn ' s C oncer .

Tom Thumb . lAnti Slavery Meeting Rev Dr Edgar . ; 1r · Bart~ey the Wizard of th~ '!lest.

Ars ._ LocKwood. Harp Husic . :nerican Serenaders .

harch c.7 .

Lr. Sa:nuel Lover.

1851.

Si gnor Lorenzo.

1-iagicians.

s. d .

5 5 o

Mysterious Lady

Teetotal Soirees and £e~perance parties .

1853.

S~akesneare readina Ceiling 1:/alker .

0

1855.

Aug .

1858.

hay 3.

.cu59.

Oct. 8 .

•

Col. Caulfeild, and Officers of Ar:nagh Regt. Public Dinner .

To:n Thu~b entertainment . .Friendly Brothers for use of rooms on 20 occasions.

11 11

Ditto 1864. iro::i this date onwards accounts are not so detailed Grd yielded little of interest from my point of view.

O

~.

1<{, APPEi~DIX ,.:' . . Ll.Lia i·1 c.Jillia :ns an origin.: il trustee d. 13 hay, 1846 .

Pr-...scn t lvc::u.¥.: 0,

...,eonor'-- DobbL1 . cl . 19 Fe..,ruu ry 1844.

Presen t 10.::8 :r.:

.!.':-:o_.us l'i.ell-y ~v aus vice John 1fou.gi1 re signed . lu.::o. K

Zenry Leslie Prentic e d.

.iaugi:l :Jr e sent

9 Octobe r, 1849 . Presen t 1~28. :r.:

.I::.11::.an Lodge Kidd vice Capt . Lodge, d . 2 A_,ril, lb51. !lev. ,,illiaJ ' Jones vie e Arthur Kelly . \f.1. P<.,ton vice Dobbin .

,:i1liac1 Barlcer vice l·lci'!ill ia:ns .

Stewar t Haxwel l .

7:10-as A. Prentic e vice H. L . Kidd .

John G. ·,Iinder vice S. 1-iaxwell. .:enry Ar:astro ng . ~. G. hcCrum .

Co~. G. i. . Dobbin .

Blacke r Dougla s St . John. cienry Daviso n .

J.tobert Turner .

Jonn Co:npto n .

J . C. Boyle .

(K above

4 presen t at fi r s t mee t i n g . G. P. )

. · t Book but are not a '.i:hcse na:nes appear in the 1nnu e co:nplc te list of the truS t ees. n of the Tontine , Ar.nagh County ( Sc:e 11lans and elevati o l.useUJJ ) .

'&f, ,:;ro, ROv'l,:s.

TOi:TI!\L ·--

-,- ,·1ov·A""ED TO CIT'

_,.;:;i<.L '

"~ALL 1908

..:\1e archi t~ct wno drew tn' e plans for tn· e renovations · 1 o f Ar.nagh l'echnical He was pri· n cipa 1.ra s John Caffery . sc:1001 at t:1e ti.ne.

He was a re'1!arkable .1an, and was

ah:ays a sc:1olar see:cinf for knowledge . as I can tell, a Belfast ~an.

::ie uas, as far

He served his ti~e in

Eelfost to be a plm1ber and attended the Tec'.mical College in Belfast gaining :nany passes in Building Construction and Drawing, Building Trade HatheJ1atics and Geometry. iie oeca~e a Building Inspector for Belfast Corporation and taught Building Trade subjects in the evenings as a part- ti.ne teacher, in Lisburn and Dungannon Technical Sc~ools, for a number of years.

He became Principal of

Arnagh Techni cal School a bout 1904 or 5, then under the Ar:.agh Urban Council (and was the second Principal appointed). vfnile in Ar:nagh he was still studying and passed the Assistant County Surveyors exam. and about 12 months later passed the County Surveyors exam. - he was, I think, then over 40 years old .

He also :nade the drawings for renovating the Harket

House into the Technical School , extending the building and putting on a story about 1912.

He also made drawings

fer three houses in Rai l way Street (for a Mr . Johnston) and later he made drawings for houses on Cathedral Road i-!Bh red brick fronts ( for the sa:ne Hr. J ohnston) .

Cou nty Su rve yor for Bou t~ Donega l ::e lat er oeca ·1e abo ut t,,e su:n':ler 1914 (bu t not sure ) .

•_e was ,1a rrie d and had t'nr ee or fou r c'.1 ildr en - his d.f e was a Ger :aan .

Ti.1e CJ.e rk of 1·Torks was a p at 1·,cA vinc hey of Or-le Str eet . lJi1o in his '.!:':1e Bui lde r·' was Rob ert Cul len of Por tado,-m ral and the tim e bui lt tne ent ran ce to the H. C. Cathed 11

ool s , Ar:-:i.agh Gat e Loc ize, Aug i1na cloy a. C. Chu r ch and sch His gs.

Tec hni cal Sc1 1oo l, and :nany oth er goo d bui ldin grar :dso n is at pre sen t livi ng in the tow n

of 1-,onaghan a:id

is a bui lde r. was cal led ) l:1e fro nt of the old Ton tine Roo:ns ( as it dar k and col d was bui lt of Ar JJagh :nar bl e, und had a ver y a:,> pear ance . ;o- ciay but

Tt1e win dow ope nin gs wer e :1mci1 as the y a re i n the reno va tion s the pla ste r wor k tha t now

surr oun ds che se win dow s was add ed.

The ent ran ce to the

ran ce to the yarci. , ti1a t now exi sts , was the orig ina l ent l'he par ape t with con cre te ban iste rs and To tin e ya r d . ren ova tion s .

Seal . of Cit y in con cre te wer e add ed in the

bui

and no huc h of the orig i nal bui ldin g sti ll exi sts wid enin g ldin i; uas don e to the fro nt exc ept a lit tle

The a rap et. of t;ne fro nt doo r , and the add ing of the p the roo:n beh ind roo: ns t~a t now con stit ute the libr ary and also the fro nt it are par t of the ori gin al con stru ctio n, nar t of' the Town Cle rk ' s off ice .

It is of inte rest that the stai rs to the fron t and t·:e b3ck stai rs from t~e hall and gall ery, also the in rall er:, 1:ere t'.1 e earl iest re- info rced conc rete ,-mrk t:,::_s dis tric t.

Luc:1 of t:1e old ston e of the old buil ding , also the li:ne uld ~or tar Cwhen ·ut t:1ro ugh a mor tar :nil l and fres h adde d; uere :re-u sed in the cons truc tion of the new hall •.i.:ich is larg er ti1an the old Ton tine :iloo:n .

T~e arti st w~o nade the die for the repl ica of the City seal •,1as a John ny 1-iayes.

He also was Belf ast ~nan .

who tle was a s.ncJll. .:!an , abou t 5' 3", of ,;ood appe aran ce, ,.ore nis 11 :1ai r long " and he alwa ys wore a larg e soft ly blac i hat (car vers and arti sts at t~is peri od gen eral He did ::mch work in Bel fast and wore t:1e ir hair long ). enga ged on carv ings in ston e at the City Hal l ther e

,:as

and on •.;.any othe r buil ding s.

. ( "i.e cei ved fro!ll hr . Henr y HcA vinc hey, 17 Feb ., 195 5)

•

et House i· s unknown . .{, e da te o.r its :ir st La r;c

T'1e

towr.: of so a st: i a.:ng iP th e cit y ·T a, .. owev,:;r, ~ :lldJ.-.,:et ~ rd tlle iou . '-" rth gr an ted a new • 10" ' K1· n 0c- ~~ a

to t·Je ~ 1 cn .~r c,: .,.: .sio p, ~;. urt r fo r La r·, _ts d'1c . .t1'e1irs en a co"'f:i.r-i.Jt::. 01 , of an ·· .· ~·1 se s .:.n de" d to ha ve bJ ted to t.:e cit ize !'l s L. 15 87 a ..\1c sda y ,,ar'.<et .1as :;r an 1

en t .e ace rd as fo t.:..1e

d of .( re e et.:. t.:.0:1 o ...· Eu.;:1 C :. eil ::., ....ar_ the cit y .:.r 1G uJ it i:~ to an I~ q2 isi tio n ta~ en iu

d

~ 1..

t '1 a ,,,eei{ly ,aur;,._ t ;1acl be e .. ;:;le. i

-~ ''" tc~."l

..lt of ..1.: .rd ".

at a l.:i .:1 tat ion of Ul stu r it see :.is t:i ce .;s ity b1..;.t ::.n .?: -ia r ne a n bee ve ha d J.l vo e us .:o i-ll :' ,et 41 ·1 it si .. _ly 16 of rs Ja the of e tiv ::-a ar: ''i, 0 ,.c la n' s at "A r. na ~.. ~ : tne .s ;u ';.3~ un -e r da te La~· 2. 1-;4;,: th d 1!l th its be.1.""s an d or ga us , ea~· _c1:-c1l w::.t'.1 its sto3ep l e(l )an Fo __ ow i. _; t· "

,ca r,t the Round. To we r " ple tee "b van no Do O' to .,..; ." · .. cco:::und ro. !er is st.: .11 known as ~·.,r .:.r.:::t:mce t 11e an tri m Roof t,1 e fin a:: . dis ap pe ara nc e £h e da te ·'- 1e ste e le ".

Its CJ'1:'..cal cap cr>oun. f t 1e A.r.!lag:1 "S tee ple " is ,.rnr- in lL d - see 1 • • m1 al s ,.. 5 ·)lo·.m vf f in a gr ea t sto f ';L e i octr I.a ste rs ".

v;I •<u::.'' ct.:t -•O llSe \/US

:.. t . c:

pro bab l;r bu ilt cir ca l(6 C,.

low inr ; •,.:.vc s i·v::. v~d ur .ti l ir,t o t·1c fol

sc ,:;.ve

c,__ tJ.r y -:..,.t

"1 0th ce; itu ry een S1: >'·, i1g s.i.c;;ris of d::?ca:): .:.n :;

l·, .cJ, .c7l,~, .. udc ·,:c.1bisr109 :far:;l1 .3o ult er w:10 die d Ju a ,-:ur k t:1ac was du ly r"·.,.:.si on i'Jr a new La r :et l:011se, coJ 1pl ete d tnc bi.....'..lcl.i.n 6 c~r ri.. :d uu t by :1i s exe cut ors C< '.\,; ho

as

at a co& t of ~:~c . i.rc i1b ish op :t.: .lli a:J Se ven ty - chre(:: y..:iors lat er in 131 5 rke t :io use , ;:it 5L.1crc JCO l" ed -·;:1~ cit y ·.::.t11.t;1e pre sen t lla . (3) ~ Th at L-u ild ing sti ll sta nd s v. ,uv ..:.3 re 0f t-...;_ ~n exp cnd i tra ns iti on fro m i.a rke t its of t oun acc an end ap_ ! noi I a1d .. c:..vi. c:1ey of E;d·.-mrd ."ry ::e' . !;r '·.y tte i ·,rr l oo sch "'.;o _:ouse o: his .~o wle dge of S"'.;reJt and ·::.ven to ne as a rec o~d e lif e ir. a ,er iod t e ~u: :.id in~ in fif ty y2 ars of act .:.v .11 to the ..'.'ore. ,c?s~ ;:oo...;. ope rat ::.v e ,.:a son s He re st.:

r. G. ? . Pa ter son .

(,::)

See Stu art ' s "A rJ,agl:i" , p . 4.::7.

(2)

Ibi d,

p. 550 .

~ · jl;;

o ..:

,_gTl: at r:0~.sQ _

"'ow ';;h, Techni ~.a-, Sc .0 o1 •

si tc1ate d in ..or:wt St:..0'"t ir. :rc,n t ~.w uld Cat:~-1C:ral, was erect 0d by Bis.,o !, Jtaar t in t:~e

: ~ar lc315.

It ,·.'as a two-s torie d llu::.ld1. -G , bu::.lt of

drEss cd li~c stone iD larze ls~la r bloc~ s, cac~ stone · d ,.

L1C _...,. 1· s J..:_~i~:t - - r.><,t :1.::ving a l" c:1i sel draft aroun d ::. t, t·.,." in v1:rnt .:.s ::!lo,m .:.n t!'le ouild: ;.ng trade as s. ar~'O\f p::.c.c-10.,

foat is, it .:.s finis hed with a puncn , dress ed •:rith a wooc:.e~ nalle t . · '.... ll Sc.Jre y, · tl1e ·ooc~o " ~ .. r ·.c in .:here is so:w fine s-ro,1~ and ::. t was f::.ni shed wi t:i a ;:;raLJd orna~ e.~tal corr.:. ce dress ed in local li:nes tonc wit'.1 stone balus trade s and c:,pin g.

It was sur:n0 untGd or. the front \-:ith a clock :rnich ·:r-~c bottou.1 story was used for the buyi1;r; and selli ng ol' corr., :rain and ;iotat o"s and '.,as fitte d .r.i.t':1 sever al

:CcJrt;0 sc.:;le s for ·:,ei 6hine t!1ese goods , and had so:ne s"" aca :or s.1ort ti:ne stora ge .

1'hc upp,n story was used for publi c .:1eet ings, lectu res , '::'Jn,~ crts, etc. and it was in co.n:non use as a good danci ng '.ri1is was ,,Ll: as .:.t hac a good pitch ~in e floor . :;,..1.p.t';,.,rtcd on sever al

/

itch :9ine bea:ns , about 18" x 18" and /

~ve ~

·~cat sprin g to the floor .

86. to :10ld political It was USGd or. several occ~~i·on.,~ ... · eth . r.'._;s ar.d at election ti·aes as a po 11 booth . __ ing

At

s ' in ~'-~i·, ,· ,.,., ~v ,--~~ t.1e '...ac·-c were Several s.Jall bu·.1." ldi·~··s ... • • · eh di~'ferent il"oods were sold on ~a r ket days .

I re:ncmber my t;randr.i.ott1er telling :.1e t hat work.1er. .iseC:. to asse=l:le h, re eac'1 o1or -:ing "before t .. e bells on '", . ., C t_ .::ur~.t begar, to ring", to offer t·ie selves ..'.'or work to u iyo •c \ho "ould require their services.

f hey turned u., ,-1itl1 t:1eir ovm tools, a spade, a shovel, or per:1a::-s a ',arrou.

If it was the :1arvest ti'Ile, t'.1ey

cgr~ied r~tcl1:o r~s, ra~es, sycles or at a latter date seyt~1es.

:,any woJJen •.-rould turn up al so, to work at

w~theri n~ potatoes , ~iftin: corn, ...iJ...dng and u:..it ter maki1g .

atllerin~ stones off lanu,

·1\10 wages of:e:red were a few

s~il_i nes ,er week.

1:.e Larket :iouse wus contr olled oy a body Known as the :'olls Co~:ni ttee w'.10 also controlled tne 'i'ontir:>e roo~.i.s and :he flax a.:irket, po r ;( 11ari-cet, fowl :i1arket , butter and eggs ar!~-:, ·,,Licl. were situated in a.:.fferent parts of the town,

a. c. 9-:; all of ,-itich they collected tolls .

1~is Co ~ittee continued to exist until the end of the .::ist cen·~ .r~ , vhen shortly after the Local Govern:nent Act :,s . :issed

for Irel 3 nd, the Ar:nagh Urban District Cou.ncil

~~·-into existen ce and they had a Bill moved in the ,l .• , .i.nster tlo..ise of Co-nmons and supported by the then Irish

-~'1. !% ,

t th_e . t:1c Larket ,1ouse "'~nc., m,,,r·cets - • 6 J_vcn o

C inc:l

~r.a

itj the ri~ht to ow1 markets and collect

t o_:'..., " .

T

2

--:.r "'"'t H0use continue d to te used for tnc IJUrpuses

::Jr ·.-,:1icn it ';o.s built up to 1913, u:1en t 1ie Urban Council

a e:. '.-.tio '1eld a schoo::. in one of the hoc1.ses called 11 T':1c

5,--;e·~ ::ouses'' (later tic Labour .;xchange ) i·:s';~·t,ct ed the Pri~ci.a l of the iec~rica l SchoJl to draw plans for the

So ,.:..· . Jo:1'") C:il'l'er, who a cc,.iple of years b-.fore r~cc,~s~r uct2d t~e Toiti e roo~s into the City ~all, beca-e

t... c.rc· •.:.tect of the new l'ec:rnica _ sc·, v- ·

.,r. ::lobe rt

C-.u..:i.en of Portadow n secured the contract - i1e, also , built

.. r. l~rank Donaghy, a .!oson, ·,:as ::ore:ian, and ~i··'-'r'-'- . . c .. ,rinc· cy 1.ms cl<.?r.-: of vor rn.

I

t1.: r-cconstr-c 1.cted wor.{, ti1e botto.1 of the old 1-iarket

sa w:is

,0 t

isturbed -:inc. t'.1.i.s po!'tion was left as it had

..:'i.t:: top storey was tairnn dm·m wit:1 tr1e i1eav:· stone

ccs & .d clock ~ouse .

~-r

7,1e wooc.e,., iloors were taken up

., c. re l e..,c. •..:.t:. re:i.nl'orc ed concrete fL,ors.

~c.

'3

~

ad c,v'-lr the bac,< wall on to a new reinforce d co,...crete

•

Jic.;h cn~r.,;_ed -!;na new walls of t:1e neu school.

~ ~

1_ did jou .

T1is

-....-. }1c Cl'

secnnC: i'.1.oor a u, t .. c rcof -~~e als~ o~ r~info= ccd

crece,

ruof on t· 1 e new ·U~;,.._- ld.~ :; •

T" · s·0,.r · _,dt:u C

c

..

Cl

c::. -

" str· cor

.1...•'\ -~

,

tJe cloc~ s::.~enc ed! £'12

stu c W.Jl' t .Zor ti1e new u Jr'.: uas ,,~,.

o:.c. an.G. W1' -::'1 is the r._·,.

,.

-a.JO uaS

c........

(;

,_ J-.J

l

le · 1::.1

tJ!"e to ::i.1c s.~"JJ.e colou:r .

?1c ::,tcne

0.:'.:sse rs ,,,e7'e t:1e last of fa ..iilics ,-rho had Ccl:'ricd o"' t.1::.s trade :rJ~ rat~er to son ror ~encrat ::.ons.

(Stone -dressi ng

is al~o~t a thin~ of tae past) .

Duri'1£ t'1e b·1__;_1ding of t'1e ·,:alls a dispute arose with the Contra ctor and the Clerk of Works on the constru ction of the r>ew walls .

Specif ied in tae contra ct the walls 11ere to be 14 n-::·:_d with brick work .

11

wide,

The briclts 1-:ere sand and. li:ne r ade

: i ••

J1:ry l.l;i u •• r . .t()cl:oo'1d.

'£he

t,. C.r.s s larg e stJn cs dow1~ to s:.-" ... or 9" os '~c

uinto..1.r.ca i.1C

:i·.J e Cler ic u.L ilor!a:s

c_sr ~tc 1:::.6 to ~o to hrti trat io .

". ress ni;cd · ~ ~ "-::". 0_11 ,,~, Sol.' ..cito r, Pvrt o c,

Vit--

cc.

(.:i

·en

A loca l Gove rn e--it Insp ecto r •1:,s "'_1:,;_·;rator .

.-..:'.'t..,.· "' rrol o:1 ;:;ecl. hcari :--g .:.t was evsr .tual ly s2tt led tion s ~nG~ J-· e C.; ~rac tor 1ras not i~t~ r_ra tit~ ·ae spec ifica r.:. :,t. .:.. ~ resu lt was tnat :1e :1ad to drl.s s 'c'..G st~n<Js to

. take 'l full b:::ic k and inse rt Bond Ston es ,ii.er e requ ired o. .,.. e, .'.'i,,.:.s,,ed, toe old Larh .et .:ous e :1ad been con- 1erte .r..,:.i a t\/::, -sto ricd Luild:'..ng to a t:1re e-st orie d one: k c . ::.:.,·c:;:i:.bly enla rged , wit,1 ·~any clas s roo.n s, wood '!Jloc tr.e .~r-"ag:-: f,_ sO::.'S , ::rnd fulf ille d its })U l'_'.:)0S8 at t:1e ti..,;e as -'tc:, ..:.cnl Sc:1001 and up to tbe pres ent . _ .c lo:~ r iort ion cont inue d to be ~sed as a ;rai n was ar ~et: u. to ;;he time of tlle Seco nd ·:lor ld '.far when it beca·.ne t'1e Loca l J o·, _r clnd clfte r so'lle reco nstr ucti on

i;"~-

--· 9o '.:':1on

-4::;

1e

/u..;1, v-·:·icc was c:0sed t'.1c Technic.:il At orities tc:rn3d

c_assroo:i: '-y c.1a'.{j_r g « c0ncrete s'cair a'; t·1c ground i'loor. ;: ,_ .. 3r·:'"t Jouse 'curncd Tec·1r,ical Sc'lool ~aY soon

1ave to change ~ts ~w-C again, as t~ere S8G~s to be a _ unri.

or a

·uc'.1 larzer and 'llor0 co 1odious building, ::1orc

.:.r. :~e:in:; ·•it:~ ,JOdern r0qi.:.i re:.wnt s :in educatio·1.

It is

~t.:..1 a very 3ound and ~ood builuing and has as lc~iid a

aJ.1c::.e. t cit:;

.,~ a.1. ... :1ops1 that our city fatLcrs '.-Till S(c;C to it, tie ti.:e co:nes, c:1at it ::.s t ....rned to s~.,e use.:'ul

.1~_1ry !-,ct\.vin c'.1 ey.

C,

a •.ar"ct Da: t· e ..:arket p2.ace ,.-,as a ver. c0:.vL,rEul ~.!.::ice.

'icr,do~·s vf ..,_.,_ :;orts t-.i.rned up, iiit::1 ~OOQS · 1.0!'

Sc.: 1

1;;.. •

.:;,N ,n:.s. - ·.:·. t.i ch~:·ns, cnurn staffs, wooden buc'-:et~, t1' s . ..:.. scro ~oulo. be th:·ee or four and there was great rivalr, for s~:..es .

D~- s:~:a~\~!, s ,L.~~9..I.SJ 1

-

.b?den disbes_ for butter :ua:anc, ,'Jrrl wooden • ri11ts for :na.{ing butter into lbs .

S-.J.ne had cows, a:id flowers, etc . and was :rand craftsJJanship.

~J.l.i.kfil:.S. - Broo:ns we:ce :nade fro:n heather . (,.cLahon) Pot scrubbers.

CT'?C-~ t~ .

(:.c..a:10n) . l."sterson ~iL..,; ~ i ;;n ;:e;J;.s..

- 1l:i.ti1 Coalisland Crocks u:;ed for gathering :nil:c :3read bins, wooden lid.

- Second Hand Clothes, a.,d .iad a wonderfi:.l flo,-: of tan. "';fay :'..ie ir ··ed 1rlth a couple of old top coats w,1e!1 you can get a first class blan%et for so little?"

Overcoat. 11 ,ihy go about foundering with the cold wl1en you can get an overcoat '.l1ade by the i.,aster tailor''.

- Bob Baxter.

B.,,,o''"Je l·'.ake; s

c-,,\.,.ac1\

_ Hitchell - long hair and :noustache .

l. 1,CU ci '1 G Charoct_r--~

Jinny Banks - one eye and sharp tongue. ~eighed potatoes.

Bell Ringer . r.cAleavey. t-:ccray. .

Carried grain to be weighed. _ Gibson 1 s Pavmshop . . hiss Cochran I s - fixed u:nbrellas and sol d delph .

Coffee Shop.

:,;, d oi' tllcse culourf ul mar;cets - Council wo·Jld rH;".; :;::.vc

:·ental s .

.::1e r-.ont of the l·,arket House had 4 ::1igh steps ris.i.r.g a:.i, u-:

3 1 4·' with a riath around 3 1 wide whic:: made a ready ::,la t:::oru1 Ior o:sator s of all descrip tions who :nade use of it on ..1an:: occaslo r-s and harangu ed the passer- by on .1any subject s .

THE BERESFORD ARMS HOTEL ARMAGH DIOCESAN LOCAL STUDY GROUf I f ear I sha ll be talk ing long er than usua l toni ght Las t and for t hat I crav e your forg iven ess here and now. time I was with you I trie d in a simp le way to inte rest you in the fact that the stre ets of our city did, in real ity, envi sage past epis odes and pers onag es l inke d with loca l hist ory.

Now, owing to Mr. Harr y McA vinc hey's indi spos ition , I On this occa sion have been invi ted to come befo re you agai n .

I prop ose to deal not with st r eets but with a hous e in My reas on for Eng lish Stre et well -kno wn to all of you. in doing so is due to t he follo wing acco unt of the prem ises this mon th's ''Uls ter Commentary" whe rein , i n an art i cle on age t he "His tori c Ass ocia tion s of Old Inns ", the follo wing pass occu rs : "The Bere sfor d Arms, Armagh, is an hist oric al hous e in to a city stee ped in hist ory, where the Cath edra l date s back the year 445.

On the site of the pres ent hote l stoo d the

in resi den tial hous es of one of the most famous univ ersi ties Here , whi le a stud ent, stay ed Ald frid , the anci ent wor ld. w King of the Nort hum bria n Saxons in 684 and a ston e's thro was away is the plac e where st. Mala chy of the Golden Col lar born ". (l) (1)

Den is o•D. Hanna, Uls ter Commentary, No.1 54, November 1958

.

The para grap h in ques tion shows vivid powers of Let us imag inati on but, alas , no grasp of reali ty! examine the poin ts embodied in that state ment - we shal l take them in sequ ence Patr ick as you are all aware arriv ed in Armagh in the year 444 A.D. and set his hear t upon the hill- top (1)

site, with in the enclo sing ring s of which Dair e, the The sain t's plea Chie ftain of the area , then resid ed. for spac e for a churc h there was refus ed, but he was give n accommodation on lowe r groun d in a smal l rath and ther e We may arose the firs t Chri stian temp le in our city . ascr ibe it to the year of his arriv al, but we have no

clea r evid ence as to the date of the erec tion of his secon d chur ch - it must have been at leas t a decad e late r befo re the plot with in the inne r ring of the grea t earth work was made avai lable .

(2) That the Bere sford Arms stand s upon uthe site of one of the resid enti al hous es of one of the most famous univ ersit ies in' the anci ent worl d" is very doub tful.

Armagh has, of cour se, claim s to univ ersit y statu s, for in 1162 it was decr eed by the bisho ps and clerg y of Irela nd that only thos e who had stud ied theol ogy in Armagh migh t It teach that subj ect elsew here throu ghou t the coun try. is well to remember, however, that at that part icul ar perio d the site of the hote l was with out the oute r defe nce

of the cit y - not wit hin it.

"He re", we are tol d, "w hil st a stu den t" sta yed King Ald frid of the Nor thu mb rian Pri nce Ald frid - to giv e him his the n Saxons in 684. tit le - was in exi le and dur ing hi·s wan d erin gs thro ugh A poem known as his Ire lan d cer tai nly vis ite d Armagh.

11

Itin era ry 11 sta tes tha t -

"In Ardmach the spl end id ce ble nde d He fou nd mee kne ss, wisdom and pru den God Fas ting and obe die nce to the Son of , And nob le pro spe rou s men of lea rni ng" ive and a con dit ion of aff air s sug ges tive of an act You wil l not ice , however, tha t sch ola rly community.

Ber esf ord Arms, Ald frid neg lec ted to men tion his sta y in the sto ne' s thro w a hou se tha t we are info rme d lie s wit hin "a the Golden away 11 from the pla ce where "St . Malachy of Ad mit ted ly the re is not much dis tan ce Co llar was bor n". se tha t occ upi es inv olv ed bet wee n the Ber esf ord and the hou lac e, but the tra dit ion al sit e of St. Ma lac hy' s bir thp "Golden Co llar ". the re is no lin k between the sai nt and the was Arc hbi sho p St, Ma lach y was bor n her e in the yea r 109 5, from 113 4 un til 113 7, and die d in 114 8. an Ma lach y of the Golden Co llar was, however, monly known as Ma lach y Com . age son per ent ire ly dif fer ent a in 978 , and in the Sec ond , he def eat ed the Danes nea r Tar Not Dub lin . the same yea r suc ces sfu lly atta cke d them in r in 989 , at con ten t wit h tho se t riumphs he inv ade d Mu nste

t Pro vin ce. which tim e Bria n Bor u was und ispu ted King of tha tely made Bria n was a sol die r of equ al cal ibr e and imm edia nste r and rep risa ls, whe reup on Malachy aga in plu nde red Mu to Dub lin conquer ed Bri an in bat tle, afte r-w ard s mar chin g he suc ces sive ly and re- att ack ing the Dan es, on which occ asio n flic t two encount ere d and van qui she d in a han d to hand con one and a Danis h cha mpi ons , tak ing a col lar of gol d from Moore in the sword from the oth er, an eve nt commemorated by line s 11

Let Eri n rem ember the day s of old Ere her fait hle ss son s bet ray ed her When Mal ach y wore the col lar of gold Which he won from her pro ud inv ade r".

101 4, Cur iou sly enough, aft er Bria n Bor u's dea th in t abs olu te Malac hy became Hig h King and was ind eed t he las He die d in Armagh in 1022 and was mona rch of Ire lan d. t par t of the bur ied wit h gre at ceremony - pres uma bly in tha nts. cath edr al cem eter y app rop riat ed to reg al inte rme The hot el is, But to retu rn to the Ber esfo rd Arms . you ton igh t. in fac t, the hou se tha t I wish to dis cus s wit h in the city Ther e are , of cou rse, doz ens of oth er bui ldin gs of equ al me rit but the y hav e not yet figu red in Commentary".

''Ul ster

96 THE BERESFORD ARl,18, The Ber esf ord Ar~ s com~emora tes Lor d John George fam ily Ber esfo rd, a prin cel y Arc hbis hop of Armagh , and his for. norl y arms bla zon ed with t hos e of the See of Armagh were Pai nted in true displ aye d on the fro nt of the hot el . between her ald ic col our s they cov ered a larg e spac e of wal l Eve ntua lly the t he cen tre windows of the firs t floo r. or igin al boa rd became dec aye d and was repl ace d by the lier pres ent han ging sign , a rev ersi on to one of the ear The prem ises , however, go bac k f or:n s of ide ntif ica tion . f ar beyond the day s of Lor d Joh n ' s Prim acy . d In the ear ly eig hte ent h cen tury the hou se was occ upie Nat han iel Whaley, M. A., who in 17~~ was col late d He had pre vio usly bee n a cha plai n to A.r.nagh.

by th e Rev .

rec tor of

ous Archbish op Lin dsa y and was much thou ght of by the fam Stu art in Dean Swi ft in whose corr esp ond enc e he figu res . ft bein g his "Memoir s of Armagh" reco unt s an ane cdo te of Swi ien t in t he city in tha t yea r whi lst the wal ls of the anc a qua rry Abbey of St . Pet er and St. Pau l were bein g use d as rch in f or ston es for the bui ldin g of the Pre sby teri an Chu Abbey Str eet . n Wh aley ' s sele ctio n as rec tor was opp osed by the Crow too k vmo clai med the righ t of pre sent men t, but the Prim ate

t '1e !llntter to t he House of Lords and successfully secured t l1e appoi nt iaent of his own no!llinee.

In 1728 and 1729

Sw·l ft was again in County Armagh and made a long stay at Mar lce t hill with Sir Archibald Acheson, ancestor of the F.a rls of Go sford , and we can be sure he frequently called upon his friend in Armagh whose cause he had ably supported by cor r espondence with Lords Oxford, Bolingbroke, etc .

That Swift and he were very intimate is borne out by a letter dated 5th April, 1717, wherein we learn that Mr. Whaley ( with other gentlemen) drank Swift I s health daily a custom assuming a close personal friendship and affection .

Swift was honoured with the Freedom of Armagh in 1728 and i n t he sa:ne year was made a Freeman of t be Borough of Charlemont.

Mr. Whaley died in 1738 and was succeeded in the house, and incidentally in the rectorship of Armagh, by t he Rev. Henry Jenny, D.D., a former Prebendary of Mullabr ack in which parish he became acquainted with Swift during the Dean's visits to the Achesons.

Stuart wr1ting

in 1819 tells us that Dr. Jenny resided in English Street in t he house subsequently owned by George Parks - the f irst o\>mer after it was utilized as an hotel, and that t he syste-~ of bell-pulls used in fashionable houses in Armagh in Sw1ft ' s time were even then to be seen.

At

that time t h e house and two adjac ent mansi ons were still shi ngled .

The Jenny .\ were a notab le cleric al family .

Four

mo~be rs in succe ssion were recto rs of Mulla brack between the years 1666- 1733.

The Rev. Henry, the last of the family to offic iate there , replac ed his fathe r in that parish in 1708, and remain ed there lllltil 1733, in which year he became Archdeacon of Armagh , a digni ty that he Like his resign ed in 1738 for the benef ice of Armagh. prede cesso r he was also a friend of the Dean of St. Patrick ' s and tradit ion states that Switt preach ed for him in Mulla brack Church, and was much appre ciated by the parishioner s, some of ,mom appea r in poems writte n from Jenny himse lf is mentio ned in sever al such eff usion s, includ ing the famil iar "Grand Quest ion Debat ed

Mar kethi ll.

whethe r Hami lton's Bawn be turned into a Barra ck or a Malt- house ", where in we are inform ed that "Swif t waa ao shabby and looke d like a ninny , the Capta in suppo sed he was Later Swift blamed "Jinny " for a rathe r curate to •Jinny ". derog atory reply but the latte r was able to prove hie Like Swift he was innoce nce and the friend ship contin ued.

I

a Freeman of Charle mont, but waa the Dean s senior on the roll by two years .

Local tales state that Swift was sometimes Jenny ' s

/ DO.

11 g, s bodY so late ly embodied , after ward s dinin g at t he 11K1n

Head '' wher e t he y quaf fed many toas ts.

Late r in 1784, the Volun teer Ear l of Char lamo nt, Colo nel of the Armagh Regiment of Volu ntee rs, and Commander -in-Chief of the Irish Volun t eers inspecte d a marc h past of coun ty companies, from a window in the dinin g-ro om, follo wing a revie w on the Four year s earl ier in March 1780 a duel was fough t in the hote l yard between Capt ain Maxwell of the Second Comp any of Armagh Volu ntee rs and a Mr. McClane in

Common s.

which the latt er was kille d.

In 1792 Mr. Char les McReynolds took over from Parks and unde r his care the hotel became lmown as the Molyneux Ar:ns, thus comp lime nting a loca l fami ly that numbered amongst its memb ers Samuel Molyneux, Chie f Engi neer of Ireland, who died in 1692, Will iam Molyneux (1658-1698), 11 the auth or of the 11 Case of Irela nd Stat ed , the Righ t Honble. Samuel Molyneux, t he emin ent math ema ticia n who died in 1727, and Thomas Molyneux 1661-1773, a former Phys ician -Gen eral of Irela nd, crea ted a baro net in 1730, w.1ose statu e by Rou billi ac is one of the fine st memo rial s No doub t McRe ynol ds had thos e fact s in mind but it is prob able that he spec ially wish ed to honour Sir Cape l Molyneux, Bar t., an arde nt Iris h Volu ntee r in Armagh Cath edra l.

'Who late r at the form ation of Yeomanry Corps in 1796 rais ed

~ lol

t he Ca stle dil lon Inf ant ry and is sti ll remember he fou ght in the Pal ace De:nesne in Ap ril 179 7.

ed for a due l He was the n

the fir st aged eig hty yea rs and win ged his opp one nt wit h -roo m The qua rre l is s aid to hav e begun in tha din ing sho t. yar d to the of t he hot el and ~ras tra nsf err ed from the hot el qua lity " d8'll esn e out of con sid era tion for some "la die s of who trie d in vai n to pre ven t the fig ht . r in In 179 3 Cha rles McReynolds was adm itte d a par tne the Armagh the f ir~ of Leo nar d and Kennedy• pro pri eto rs of ux Arms Stage Coach which con vey anc e the n lef t the Molyne hou r of 4 a.m . for Dub lin on thr ee day s eac h weak at the ear ly Coach came In 1795' a fas ter veh icle known as the Armagh Fly mmodation into com:nis sio n lea vin g at the same hou r, its acco s and , as lim ited to six ins ide and fou r out sid e pas sen ger was usu al the n, equ ipp ed wit h a gua rd. acc oun t In Aug ust 179 6 McReynolds die d and we hav e an 11 11 A1e xan der Ham ilto n Dia ry , a manus cri pt the in l era fun the of He was bur ied at Ste wal 'tsto wn in the Pub lic Lib rar y. en in sca rfs "at tended to the gra ve by a gre at body of horsem them all and hat ban ds and a gre at many car riag es, among The same sou rce the Armagh Hackney cha ise and a coa ch" . s 'Nho had giv es the add itio nal info rma tion tha t travel ler pro cur e reac hed Ar:nagh the eve nin g bef o r e were una ble to tran spo rt to oth er tow n• and thu s had to r811lain for two nig hts .

in the oit y

11.

10'2.

The Ar.nagh Fly Coach had then been speeded up by tho provisio n of six sets of horses, but by October of that year there was an adjustme nt of the time-tab le resultin g in the journey to Dublin again taking a day and a half, passengers staying overnigh t in Drogheda on the way south and at Dundalk returnin g north.

In March 1797 McReynold ' s interest , includin g furnitur e, plate, carriage s, etc. was sold with two acres of land outside the city.

The sale bill describe d the

premises as the 11Head Inn 11 but that seems to have been descript ive of its position as the hotel of most importan ce locally.

The new owner seems to have been a John Tobin, but three years later, in March 1800, he resold the hotel and the stock, furnitur e, carriage s, horses, etc.

It was

then advertis ed as the Molyneux Arms.

The purchase r' s name is not now recovera ble but it is probable that it was the Mr. James Reilly who was host in 1808 when Thomas Ensor, an officer of the Armagh Militia, later its Lieut.-C olonel, and Captain Weld met to fight a The field of honour, we are told, duel in the hotel yard. ,,,as rendered bloodles s by the timely arrival of three gentleme n of influenc e brought in by Reilly to stop the fight.

The place by then had become the "King' s Arms" and

ori al bea rin gs of the tho Ro yal arm s had dis pla ced the arm Such cha nge s wore fre qu ent in the Molyneux fam ily • and were due to eig hte en th and nin ete en th ce ntu rie s, pliment a pa rti cu lar variou s rea son s suc h as wi shi ng to com ca l cau se. per sonage or show int ere st in a pol iti ed much ho tel t h en had an assembly-room att ach The

'

oth er so cia l in de~ and for Hunt and Race din ne rs and was fur nis hed wi th ev en ts, and go ssi p aff irm s tha t the bar up the deb ts of the sl ate s in fra me s whereon were cha lke d Each sla te is sai d to hav e young blo od s of the town. all y kep t clo sed , been pro tec ted by a pan el which was usu s pil ote d by and dru nk s we re sen t home in car ria ge tio n soon to pas s po sti lli on s - a ple asa nt form of att en away .

It in cha nge d, By 1824 the name of the ho tel was aga . Wi llia m Ro ger s, the had become the Ro yal Hi ber nia n and Mr eri or com for ts of a the n pro pri eto r, was ad ve rti sin g sup app rov al of the typ e tha t he fe lt would meet wi th the vis ion in tho se day s no bil ity and ge ntr y, a ne ces sar y pro were as co lou rfu l as when lia ta of arr iva ls and de pa rtu res Tr av ell ers from the no rth and sou th a Co urt Ci rcu lar . lac e and the new f ound the town a con ven ien t ha ltin g-p the ir lik ing , jus t as own er of the Ro yal Hi ber nia n much to er ho sts in the day s t he ir pre do ces sor s had fou nd its ea rli en tat ive s to the old when the cit y was sen din g two rep rea

~-

104.

Irish House of Commons, and the hotel was the rendoz vous of reno,-med polit ic al chara cters on their way to and from Dublin , amongst them celeb rated f igure s like Henry Gratta n, ~ember for the adjoin ing Borough of Charlemont from 1775 until 1790.

In 1825 the hotel was the scene of a robbe ry by which a guest was depriv ed of a sum of one hundr ed pounds .

Rogers with a friend pursu ed the thief by coach to Ba111eboro ' , in County Cavan, and from thence on horseb ack to Kells in County Meath where by the aid of a polic e inspe ctor the fugiti ve was arres ted havin g in his posse ssion the amount This cause d stolen , less sixty shilli ngs spent on the way . an even great er sensa tion in the city than the seizur e of th e Ar:nagh Coach in May of the preVio us year for smuggling At that time coach es were leavin g and arriVi ng tobacc o! daily from the four point s of the compass, and by 1840 a fresh route was added to Dubli n by Castle blayn ey, Carri ckmacro ss, Ardee and Slane .

The new serVic e was used by Maria Edgeworth, the distin guish ed nove list, in September 181+4, and a lette r still surVi ves where in she descr ibes how 'When stayin g wit h her steps ister, Mrs. Robin son, at Armagh Obser vatory , she It had been plann ed to Visit her cousi n at Ardee . decide d origi nally that the journe y should be made by chais e

19. lO ~

but the day of dep artu re pro ved so inc lem ent she pos tpo ned e tha t lea vin g for some day s, dis cov erin g in the meantim tly by the she cou ld rea ch her des tin atio n more con ven ien She join ed the coach at fiv e stor m k in the mor nin g at Rog er's Inn , and lof t in a

rec ent ly ope ned rou te. o'c loc

del ay her jus t as vio len t as tha t which had cau sed her to Wh ilst in Armagh she had bee n jou rne y two day s ear lie r. ord , and cal led upo n by Arc hbi sho p Lor d John George Ber esf and his his sis ter s, and had lun che d wit h Lord Caledon eli te of mo ther , and had vis ite d or been vis ited by the the cou nty . en Rogers too k an act ive int ere st in spo rt and oft gs, act ed as Cle rk of the Cou rse at loc al rac e me etin was kee n bes ide s don atin g a Cha llen ge CUp for which the re Dur ing his tim e the hot el pro vid ed com pet itio n ann ual ly. ing each 0rd ina rie s 11 in the eve nin g at six o ' clo ck foll ow gue sts, day ' s rac ing , an ame nity much app rec iate d by the owing t o many of whom wer e bedded out in pri vat e hou ses To the spo rtin g fra ter nit y lac k of room in the hot el. the more the pla ce was alw ays known as Roger ' s Ho tel but 11

Molyneux con ser vat ive loc als sti ll ref err ed to it as the old er name Ar~s, and pub lic opi nio n lat er res ult ed i n the bei ng aga in rev ive d.

.F-I .

LQ )_

was the assembly Du rin g Roger s • ownershi p the ho tel ien dly Br oth ers of st. pl ac e of the Armagh Knot of the Fr ng t he r ein Th e So cie ty he ld its ina ug ura l me eti Pa tri ck , nu tes show tha t the on the 19 th Ju ne , 18 24 , and its mi be rn ian .

Whe the r the ho tel was the n ca lled the Royal Hi fo r the ret ur n to the Fr ien dly Br oth ers were res po ns ibl e do know t hat t he ir ea rli er name is no t cle ar , bu t we in be came t he Ho lyn eu x aga tel ho the at th e los sc di tes nu mi Oc tob er 1844 it ha d Arms be tw een 18 33 and 18 34 , bu t by tha s ha s en du red de sp ite become th e Ber es fo rd Arms, a tit le The nd red ye ars . changes in ownershi p, for ov er a hu Lo rd Joh n George s wa d ure no ho s hu t h nag Ar: of op Archbish la Po er Be res for d, 1s t Be res for d, sec on d son of George de Lord Joh n Be res for d, of cl~ un and , rd rfo ate W of ess rqu Ma 4th Marque ss) , fa th er r te (la k rac lab ul M of r cto re er rm a fo V.C. of Ad!llir al Lo rd Cha rl es Be res for d, Pr im ate of Al l and p ho bis ch Ar s wa e org Ge n oh J rd Lo in th at tim e was a I rel an d f r om 18 22 un til 18 62 , and se, be sid es en co ura gin g lib era l su pp ort er of ev ery good cau ve gro up s of ho us es cti ra att st mo wo t he t of ing ild bu t he Be res for d Row an d in the ci ty , t he te rr ac es knot-in as a He al so ere cte d at hi s own ex pe nse Ch arl em on t Plac e. r t he Bli nd ), was fo m ylu As can Ma he t w (no l ta spi Ho Fe ve r the an cie nt Ca the dra l res po ns ibl e fo r t he re sto ra tio n of

of St. Patr ick, the enla rgem ent of th e Obs erva tory and the Roy al Scho ol with othe r works of pub lic util ity.

Indeed no Arch bish op of Armagh othe r than Lord Rokeby has l eft so pers ona l a mark on the city .

In 1843 Thac kera y whi lst in Armagh made the hote l His acco unt of t he town is somewhat his head quar ters . flat teri ng and inde ed amusing. He depa rted on a Sunday, and in the morn ing had seen ladi es dist ribu ting trac ts in vari ous stre ets so was alarmed in case they shou ld desc end upon him when leav ing as he was cons picu ous with bag and bagg age and migh t have incu rred thei r disa ppro val His guil ty feel ings did by trav ellin g on the Sabb ath. not, how ever , spoi l the plea sure of his driv e to Portadown wh ere he join ed the trai n - t he railw ay havi ng been laid t o th at poin t on its way from Belf ast to Armagh.

About t hat date the Bere sfor d Arms pass ed to Mr. Jame s Wilts hire who in 1845 obta ined a leas e of the cen tre port ion of the Mal l and with cha ract eris tic gen eros ity, made it ava ilab le to the pub lic for cric ket, a game then in its infa ncy in the city , and resu ltin g in the foun dati on l of the Armagh Cric ket Club in 1859 and the use of the Mal Fiel d as the Club Pitc h from 1861 to date .

The railw ay reac hed Armagh in 1848 and on the 7th s Febr uary of that year a spec ial trai n with four teen dire ctor

of the Ulste r Railw ay Company arriv ed in the city. lunch ing at the Bere sford they retur ned to Belfa st.

After At

t he ~eeti ng it was agree d to open the Armagh Secti on and accor dingl y its serV ice opera ted from the first day of the following month and from thenc e until after the coming of the motor -car, tha hote l horse -draw n omnibus met each train daily .

In 1850 Wiltshire joine d force s with Jones of Enni skille n in the runni ng of tvro folll'- horse coach es between The coach left the city on the arrival of t he 9 .15 a . :n . train and was due at Enni skill en at 4.30 p . m., the secon d coach leaVing the latte r town

Armagh and that town.

dail y at 9 a ,m. and reach ing Armagh to make conne ction with This ameni ty t he 4. 5 p . m, train from here to Belfa st. short ened the journ ey from Belfa st to Enni skille n by two A simil ar arran geme nt came into being the previ ous hours . year where by passe ngers from Belfa st to Dubli n used the railway to Armagh, drivi ng from thenc e to Castl eblay ney fro~ whi ch poin t they were able to conti nue by train to Dundalk, Drogheda, and Dubl in, making the trip in eight Earl ier still there had been a like servi ce to Drogheda wh en the railw ay was opened to that town on its

hours .

way from Dubl in to Belf ast.

Follo wing Mr. Wilt shire 's death bis widow carri ed on From that perio d the busin e ss from 1852 unti l about 1878.

Campbel l, onwards the suc ces sio n was C.F . Trante r, William c.H. McCallum, Ber esf ord Arms Lim ited , Herman. In 1921 er of the t he hot el was pur cha sed by Mr. John Bennet t, f ath pre sen t o\m er. ally Of the ear li er hot els of the city we know pra ctic not hin g.

None seem to have sur viv ed the bur nin g of the was reb uil t t own in the CiV il War of 164 2, but at lea st one , was hel d by 1655 as rec ord s show tha t Edmundson, the Quaker hav ing capt ive t her ein in tha t yea r "owing t o the pri son Whether be was con fine d in boen damaged in the l ate war ".

If so it was acc ide nta lly the Spr ead Eag le is not cer tai n .

It was , however, rep aire d by 1703, in bur ned in 168 3.

Nags", "Si gn which yea r the oth er chi ef inn s were "The Three Inn ", the of t he Swan", "King 's Arms", and the old "Head ry in 1689, hos tel ry t hat hou sed James II on his way to Der of Willi am and in t h e same yea r the Duke of Schomberg, one hos ts of of Orange ' s mos t cel ebr ate d gen era ls - but of the though some such est abl ish me nts we hav e lit tle inf ormatio n For wer e ind eed dee ply reg ret ted by the ir pat ron s. the leg al i nst anc e when Mrs . Peggy Str ing er die d in 1746 fra ter nit y ins ert ed an obi tua ry rea din g ing er, "La st week die d at Armagh , Mrs . PeggybyStr the much lam ent ed and dee ply reg retttedwhom she alw ays gen tlem en of the Bar and Cir cui stu die d to ent ert ain agr eea bly ".

~-

110.

That was a mo st pleas ant appre ciatio n but as Peggy was 1nclin ed to t ake more than "a little wine for her stomach 's sake" , tho notic e also carrie d a propo sed epitaph as f'ollow s:11Her e lie s Peggy String er who lo•.red in her soul A toa st, and a lawye r, a bout and a bowl And becau se in the grave there 's no drink to be had, For a belly ful living had drunk herse lf dead" .

Three quart ers of a centu ry later in the year 1821, Judy Griffe n the famous hoste ss of the King' s Arms died, greatl y lamen ted, espec ially by the Armagh Socie ty of Bell Ringe rs, who had made her place a house of call for 30 years .

She was indee d the only innke eper that I am aware of who had mourning peals rung night and morning from death to buria l.

The newspapers of those days are full of such titbit s a North ern paper of somewhat earlie r date conta ined an advor tise~ent as under 11 Tb ese words give notic e that next week Willia m Tier will remove his inn on the roads ide three miles from Armagh, to the Oak Tavern in the town of Armagh where his fathe r previ ously kept an inn, and his fathe r befor e him, his horse s and waggo ns going forth on their usual days, He bath also a hears e and Mondays, Wednes days and Frida ys. all t hings conve nient to carry a corps e to any part of Irelan d 11 • A few weeks later the intim ation to the publi c was replac ed by anoth er message readin g -

~1//.

r dot h no t Th ese wo rds giv e no tic e tha t Wi llia m Tie thr ee mile s from int end to ro~ ove his inn on the roa dsi de oth er time, the re Armagh to the Oak Tav ern now or at any Hi s ho rse s and coa che s bei ne goo d rea son s ag ain st it .

11

and all thi ng s wi ll ply as usual and he hat h a hea rse of Ire lan d, con ve nie nt to car ry a cor pse t o any pa rt idd en is no lon ger in He also giv es no tic e tha t Mary Wh his erapl oy ".

-why Willi am \Je are lef t, howeve r, in ign ora nce a s to thr ee mi les from dP.sire d to lea ve his home on the roa dsi de cit y ,-me r e his f at her and Armagh for the Oak Tav ern in the Pro bab ly Mary gra nd fat her bef ore him had kep t an inn .

Was isi on.

Whidden had somethi ng to do wit h his dec llin g to be lan gle d?

Wi llia m a bac hel or wit h a l oos e leg un wi pr ove rb - "Honest Did he sud denly remember t he ol d Armagh Pe rha ps Mary had men mar ry young, wis e men no t at all ". ing "Th ere ' s no por tio n and he t hou ght of the ol d say all lik e a lit tle mat rim ony and ceremony but the re ' s damn And Mary, was she sw eet sev ent een or one reac"iy mon ey" . was onc e famous, of t hos e "ag ed gir ls" for ·which Armagh I am cheepi ng ". de scr ibe d a s "no chi cke ns for all the ir iam ' s pla ns went afr aid we sha ll nev er know why poor Will ast ray .

I nn s and pub s in Armagh were in tho se day

s spoken of

'J:f. llZ 11 by t he old peop le as hous es of call11 •

The term is an

i ntri guin g one and sugg ests desc ent from the anci ent hous es of hosp itali ty that were a featu re of Irish soci al life in In thos e days cert ain perso ns had the priv ileg e of brew ing by virtu e of thei r duti es as publ ic the earl y ages .

hosp itall ers and were bound to have vats of ale ready for a king , bish op, judg e, poet or ot her pers ons enti tled to such refre shm ent.

It was Ale was then , of cour se, the chie f beve rage . the drin k of all the Northern peop les at that time and for

Old tale s dealing with the doin gs of Cuch ullai n, Cono r Macl lessa and other grea t figu res in

long after ward s.

Ulste r ' s story tell of even ings spen t in quaf fing ale in that renowned old earth work on the west ern side of our city , now refe rred to as Nava n Rat h.

From anci ent Irish liter atur e we gath er that the peool e of that peri od were just as fond of pala tabl e liqu ids We are told that when t he cups as the peop le of toda y.

11 went roun d t hen the company became exhi larat ed and righ t Ther e is some thin g fami liar abou t that pi ctur e. morry 11 • Somet imes t hey dran k too deep ly.

Such t hings stil l occu r.

I n t he Book of Lein ster, for insta nce, ther e is a most amusing t ale of the Ulto nian s indu lging heav ily and whil st In our madly drun ken marc hing south ward s to raid Muns t er. time we have seen distu rban ces aris e exac tly in the same way.

l&.

II 3.

\-,hen Chris tianit y came drunlceness was some,ihat frown ed That,_ howev er, did not preve nt good beer being upon. appre ciated .

st • Brigi d, that most lovab le of our Irish

saints , enter tnine d her guest s with ale of her own brewi ng.

St . Patri ck, too, had his own brewe r, but woe betide the You person ,,iho entere d the Saint ' s presen ce i ntoxic ated. all know t he story of the king who chanced to do so and how Patrick dealt with him .

There was a table of consumption for those days that allowe d a layman six pints at a sittin g, but cleric s had to cont ent t hemse lves 'With three 11 s0 t hat their canon ical houro m:lght not be sot astray upon them".

It is clear that our ances tors toolc an intell igent They drank when they intere st in that partic ular ameni ty. had t birsts so that they might be cured of tha:n and aloo ~1on thirs ty in case such a dange r should overta ke them.

Preve ntion is That, of cours e, was sound common sense.

Of cours e, they always bette r than tryine to effec t cures. had more leisu re in those days.

Work now leave s too little

time for such pleas ures.

I am merel y menti oning these thing s as indic ating a reason able antiq uity for local thirs ts.

Ale was the really

Tho old drink _ both mead and cider were of later date . first refere nce in Iri sh Annal s as to whiskey occur s in 1405,

•• "+· \',')1011

tlle dea t h of a ch ief tai n is rec ord ed as hav ing tak en

tic ula r bev era ge. pla ce thr oug h an ove rdo se of tha t par Simila r a cci dents hav e hap pon ed sin ce. ati ne ove n The stu dy of t he pa st is rat her fas cin pla ce as "Ho use s of when it dea ls wit h sub jec ts as com ,ion g tha t I I "' C..nll ". ...ay per 11ap s b e for giv en for con fes sin ple who suf fer fro m alwa ys fee l tha t tee tot all ers are peo The re is '.llllc h to be sai d thi rst instea d of enj oyi ng it.

It maket h gl ad t he hea rt of man . for win o in moder ati on . dy but if my I hav e nev er won a pri ze for Bi bli cal stu k of one per son r.iemory reg ist ers cor rec tly I c a11 onl y t hin \>rat or and he was in the rei n hav ing asked spe cif ica lly for t o fin d our sel ves . a pla ce tha t non e of us would wan t i nd you tha t in t h e re:n to e lik uld wo I on si clu con In nagh had its "li ttl e day s w,1 en t :1 0 !lo tel came int o bei ng Ar-.: d of gai eti es sea son " eac h win t er - a con st ant r oun t hea tri ca ls, etc . ass o~blie s, ba lls , concer ts, pri va te int ere st you to lmow I n con ne cti on wit h the l utt er it may Ire lan d too k pla ce t hat t he fir st pri vat e t hea tri ca ls in Right Ho nbl e. Wi lliam at Lurgan in 1759 at t he sea t of the ear ly pat ron s of Brownlow, f,l . P., t hat he was one of t he he rn Reg ime nt of the t i1is ho tel lat er Col one l of the Nort ' tlem en of the cou nty Ar-.nagh Vol un t eer s, and one of the gen when be rev iew ed the who at ten ded Lo rd Ch arle mo nt in 1784 in whi ch we din ed .

Volu nte ers fro m a window in the r oom

MI SCEr,LAN.fA INNS

1800

Armagh.

The Molyµeaux Arms, Armagh, To be let immediately (with or without a fine) that commodious, roomy, and long establishod Inn, formorly kept by the late Charles M1 Reynolds, and now by John Tobin.

The Tenant can be accommodated with from Ten to Twenty- two Acres of most excellent and highly manured Land, very near the Town;

there is upwards of an Acre of a Garden walled

in and 1n great forwardness, there will bo a Lease given, renewable for ever, if required, and the Tenant may have Horses, Cows, Carriages, and Furniture, &c., at a Valuation.

Application to be made to John Tobin.

Armagh, 27th Mar ch , 1800, (Belfast Newsletter, Friday, April 4, 1800. )

COACHING

1793 Armagh.

Armagh Stae:e QoaclJ Commences on its new estab lishm ent on Tuesday 18th May inst. and alter s its former days of settin g out, viz:

To leave Armagh every Tuesday, Thursday, and Satur day; and from Dubl in every Monday, Wednesday, and Frida y, at four o' clock in the morning, from each place ;

Fare as usua l.

Leon ard & Kennedy, who were part prop rieto rs in the late Estab lishm ent, beg leave to inform their Frien ds and the Publ ick, that they have taken into the Busin ess and Partn ershi p of said Coach, Mr. Char les Mc.R eynol ds, Innh older of Armagh; and hope from their care and atten tion to rende r this Coach to be the best Also six Chais es condu cted of its kind in the kingdom. and Hors es suffi cien t for said Chais es.

Place s taken at Mr. James Kenn edy's , No. 71, Capl e-str eet, and at said Char les Mc.Reynolds' Inn, Molyneux• s Arma, Armagh.

(Bel fast New slatte rj from Tuesday, June 4, to Frida y, une 7, 1793),

COACHINQ

Armag h Fly Coach with a guard runs in one day from Ar magh to Dubli n from McReynolds , Molyneux Arms, Armagh .

Fares £1 . 8 . G; 20 lbs. lugga ge .

each insid e passe nger allo'l-18d Extra luggage 2d. per lb.

outsi des and chi ldren on laps t o pay 16/3 . Short passe ngers to pay 5?J- per mile. Limited to six insid e and four out side.

Leave s Armagh at 4 a. m.

Belfa st Newsletter .

Oct. 5- 9, 1795.

MI SCELLANFA. Andrew Prentice, successor to Mr . George Parks, Head Inn, English Street, Armagh .

Intends to commence

business 10 Nov. next.

Northern Star, Sept. 15, 1792.

10 April 1813.

King's Arms Inn, Armagh, taken over

by James Rule of Caledon who is fitting it out and hopes to have it ready for the reception of the Public on May 1st.

Newry Telegraph.

.. l/Q

MI SQELLANEA

ARMAGH Ro~er~' Hote l and Po3t1n~ Esta blish men t.

To Be Sola, The Prop rieto r of this pros pero us and vory desi rabl e Conc ern havi ng been urge d by his Med ical Atte ndan ts, in cons eque nce of sudden and extre me ill heal th, to reti re f'rom Pub lic Busi ness , will disp ose of his Inte rest in the above Esta blish men t, which he has cond ucted for the last 19 year s with grea t succ ess, and on which he has expended a con side rabl e sum of money in usef ul and permanent improve-.nc nts - the whole bein g subj ect to the smal l year ly rent of £9~. 6s.2 d.

Seld on an oppo rtun ity like the pres ent offe rs for safe inve st:ue nt of Cap ital, with a cert ain remu nera ting retu rn.

To t l1ose who ai·e acqu ainte d with the City and surro undi ng neighbou rhoo d of Armagh, it is need less to set fort h, in an Adve rtise men t, the patro nage and resp ecta bilit y conn ected with t his com forta ble and thriv ing hote l; but to a stran ger it may be nece ssar y to say that this Esta blish men t i i in eve ry way calc ulat ed to carr y on an exte nsiv e and pros pero us trad e, from its long stan ding and high char acte r, toge ther w"lth the adva ntag es of the Mail and Day Coaches stop ping at this hote l, which ia capa ble of affo rdin g 20 beds , I+ sitti ng

~rooms, com:nor ciol room, bar room, coach office, wait ers ' pantrio s, servan ts • apartm ents, water closets , " c., &c.

The Posting i s ver y conside rable - t he Yard and Office s are exceed ingl y spaciou s and in good order, slated and most conven ient, being attache d, and access ible by two gatewa ys.

The re is St abling for 50 horse s, with hay and straw lofts, suitabl e coach- houses , car penters • and smiths' worksho ps ; also a pump and pipe water.

The Househ old Furnitu re, which is in good preserv ation, to be had at a Valuati on - likewi se, 6 excelle nt post chaises ;

l family coach, runs very light;

l fashion able

drag , l bri t zka, 9 jauntin g cars, and 2 gi gs , all in perfec t order, ,vi th a propor tionate quantit y of harness - 20 post horses , in prime working conditi on - also , about 100 tons very best upland hay, and about 50 tons of straw, or any quantit y require d.

The purcha ser can be accommodated with any quantit y of land, up t o 100 acre s, conven ient, and in prime heart.

I mmedia te Posses sion can be given on, or any time before, t he 1st Nov~~ber next .

For t er ~s and particu lars, apply t o WILLIAM ROGERS,

Propri etor .

A~~agh, June 10, 1843.

120

,SEVEN HOUSES, ARMAGH CITY

Da t a on thei r erection The land on which the Seven Houses stan d was in t he year 1600 in the hand s of the Arch bish op of Armagh, as In the was mos t of the land in and arou nd the city . year 1616 , Capt . Sir Ed. Dod ding ton, of the Manor of Dun give n, Co . Derr y, who had supe rinte nded the buil ding s of the Wal ls of Derr y City for the Hon oura ble the Iris h Soci ety and who was agen t for the Prim ate, leas ed land s in Armagh, Tyro ne, and Derr y from Chri stop her, then The rent roll Arch bish op of Armagh at £65 .6s. year ly. of the Arch bish op of Armagh 1622 cont ains the entr y of lett ing to Sir Edward Dod ding ton -

11

6 towns in the

8 towns in Ball inde rry and Tamlagh 11 To buil d one hous e in Armagh, etc. ,

libe rtie s of Armagh; in Co. Tyro ne.

Thes e land s the year ly rent bein g set out at £62 . 6s.6 d. incl uded that part of Eng lish Stre et on which the Seve n Hou ses now stan d.

Sir Edward Dod ding ton mar ried Anne, daug hter of Tris tram Ber esfo rd, agen t for the Iris h Soc iety and on From his deat h Sir Edw ard's land s pass ed to her. ds .

Tris tram Ber esfo rd are desc ende d all the Iris h Bere sfor Lady Dod ding ton late r mar ried agai n , her seco nd husb and bein g Sir Fran cis Cooke, Cole rain e, who had come over as

a.

121 . an offi cer in Eliz abe th's army and had been gran ted 1,00 acr es in Clar e, Tand rage e, as a serv itor .

0

Amongst the land s held by Dame Anne Cooke were the to,-m land s of Ball yma ckle mur ray, Ball ygas son, Drum cairn e, Tull yard , Cab ra, Lisd own will y and perh aps Lega r Hil l, with t h e site of the Seven Hou ses, which became known as Lady Coo ke's Plan tatio n.

These were , as alre ady

stat ed, inhe rite d from her firs t husb and.

In 1627 Sir Fran cis and his wife agre ed to live apa rt and a deed of sepa ratio n was drawn up by which It is surmi sed he Sir Fran cis was to get £150 year ly . was somewhat of a spen dthr ift and pref erre d gay soci ety t o that of his wife but she would not allo w him to diss ipat e her prop er ty.

About 1637 Lady Cooke surr ende red her leas es in Armagh to the Arch bish op and was gran ted a n ew leas e for 60 year s by which the r ent was incr ease d to £100 annu ally In 1641 a law suit deve lope d betw een Sir Fran cis

.

on the one side and his wife , her fath e r (who was one of her trus tees und er t he deed of sepa ratio n) and her Sir Fran cis tena nts, on the othe r, over the £150 . succ eede d in gett ing the amount made a char ge of his wife 's esta te.

The repl y to Sir Fran cis Coo ke's suit , file d in July 1641 shows t hat Fran cis Grav es, John Dawson and John

Arm itag e, held each a qua rter of t he town land of Drum cairn e (Drumcarne it was call ed then ) for which they paid £5 .5s. a year each and Grav es held anot her qua rter at the same rent by assig nme nt f rom Thos . Bowm an, who held from Bere sfor d, Lady Coo ke's fath er; John Mottram held an eigh th from Grav es at 52 s. 6d. annu ally .

The rent was paid by Grav es, Dawson and Armitage to Lady Cooke.

Sir Fran cis soon died , however, but Lady Cooke live d to a rip e old age and in her will , made on 3rd July 1679, left her leas es t o her nephew, Sir Tris tram Bere sfor d, Sir Tris tram , seco nd son of her brother, Sir Tris tram . the lega tee, had not any chil dren and was 30 year s old when the land came to him; 30 year s late r, in 1714 , the land s appe ar as let to Nich olas Ave rell, of Cole rain e, Anyhow the land s, stil l who marr ied Isab ella Eden. incl udin g Lady Coo ke's Plan tatio n, pass ed to Nich olas • s son John , who ente red Trin ity Coll ege, Dub lin in 1730 and be came preb enda ry of Tynan and Dean of Emly in 1765 , It was by him dyin g in 1771 , when Bish op of Lim erick ~ They were bui lt as that the Seven Houses were bui lt, dowe r for his seve n sist ers f or the curi ous reas on that the Dean neve r wish ed it to be said that his sist ers did It is cert ain that the own. r thei of e hous a have not hous es were not bui lt in 1767 as in that yea r Rob ert Livi ngst one surv eyed the City for the then Prim ate and

sch edu le, made his wel l-known map, wit h its accompanying By this Dean set ting out eac h hou se in the Cit y. fee t on Ave rell is shown as hol din g a fron tag e of 220 k 395 fee t, the eas t sid e of Eng lish Str eet , exte ndi ng bac of and on thi s were bui lt two hou ses and 14 cab ins, Ther efo re , the which 7 fac ed the roa d to Cas tled illo n. tim e and Seven Hou ses mus t hav e been bui lt between thi s 1771 when Bis hop Ave rell die d. che d Wit h ea ch hou se of the sev en Dean Ave rell atta onl y in abo ut 7 acr es in Mu llin ure tow nlan d and it was ara ted . rec ent yea rs tha t the lan ds and hou ses were sep who The fir st of the seve n sis ter s was Eliz abe th, Rig ht mar rie d a Mr. Andrews and the ir son became the , Dub lin.

Hon. Fra nci s Andrews, Pro vos t of Tri nity Col lege She mar rie d sec ond ly George Tom kins , Esq. , Th e sec ond sis ter , Ma rga ret, mar ried the Rev. ed her Ric har d Llo yd , rec tor of Dunluce and pre dec eas From . hus ban d, who wro te a mag nifi cen t eulo gy of her tain the i r mar riag e in dir ect lin e is des cen ded Cap wel lRic har d Av ere ll Llo yd, Tamnamore House , Moy, the of the known Iris h Rugby inte rna tion al, who is six th Dean Av ere ll had a hou se at Tamnamore him self , lin e .

4 chimney which is pro bab ly tha t wit h tha tch ed roo f and t hou se, stac ks on the lef t of the driv e to the pre sen

bui lt abo ut 184 5 by the fou rth Ric har d Llo yd.

The thir d sist er ' Ka th erin e, mar ried Will iam Leck y, who was Mayor of Derr y in 1748 , and thei r son Cap tain Holl and Leck y of the 1st Regim ent of Iris h Hors e (now 4th Iris h Dragoon Gua rds) was adm inis trato r and exec utor to Bish op Ave rell.

Cap tain Holl and mar ried his cous in, Eliz abet h, daughter of the fift h sist er, Susa nna, and the Rev. Thomas Dan iel, her husb and .

The desc enda nts of Susanna and Rev. T. Dan iels now .

11ve in Eng land and stil l own prop erty at Cohannon, Moy Sara h , the four th sist er, mar ried Alex . Knox , member of a very well -kno wn Ulst er fam ily, whil e Ann, the sixt h sist er, mar ried Gar ret Inni s, Esq ., and thei r daug hter was mar ried to one of the Tho rnto ns of Armagh, for which she was actu ally cut off with a sing le shil ling .

Mar y, the seve nth sist er, marr ied Thos . Barl ow of London .

Des pite the cutt ing off with a shil ling , thre e of the hous es came down to the Tho rnto ns, the rema inin g four Thes e four , toge ther with pass ing to the Lecky bran ch. ed thei r gran ts of land were sold in 1856 thro ugh the Land Esta tes Cou rt by Mr . Mar cus Leck y.

In 1856 and inde ed unt il afte r the Gre at War succ essi ve owne rs had no diff icul ty in find ing tena nts, Late r they became many of whom were of loca l inte rest . offi ces .

$.

12.15"

No.l , the most impo rtant hous e in the terra ce, was · occu patio n It was th en in damaged by fire circ a 1955 • of the Min istry of Labo ur and in use as the loca l Labour The fire bega n on the stair case near the No damage to roof and part of the hous e was gutte d.

Exchange .

t he wall s occu rred and the inha bitan ts of the city tried with out avai l to prev ent it bein g demo lishe d.

Pres umab ly the City Coun cil and its Plan ning Offi cer · were unab le to prev ent its dest ruct ion, so it was even tuall y take n down in 1957.

It was alas the most

impo rtant hous e in the terra ce, havin g been buil t by Dean Ave rell for his elde st siste r, Mrs. Andrews, moth er of the Righ t Hon ble. Fran cis Andrews, a famous Prov ost of Trin ity who besi des bein g resp onsi ble for the pres ent west fron t of the univ ersit y, prov ided it with a Prov ost's Hous e of deci ded arch itect ural meri t.

The pres ent cond ition of No.l is, of cour se, an For some curio us reaso n the basement store y eyes ore. rema ins open to the wind and rain , a rece ptac le for litte r, weeds and shru bs!

Sinc e then , the Pavi lion , a charming Regency peri od hous e buil t in its own grou nds by Capt . Wm. Algeo circ a 1805 has been clea red away to prov ide an extre mely poor site for a Tech nica l and I nterm edia te School - with out any spac e for play ing field s and worse stil l, befo re com pleti on foun d to be defi cien t for the number of

pupil s concerned,

A like fate has also overtaken the

Callan Street School, erected by Archbishop Lord John George Beresford in 1828, a building of considerable architectural merit that might well have been retained for an old people's club in t hat particular area espe cially as it was in a part of the city in which many houses have recently been erected and further building is about to take place .

J

CASTLEDILLQH&.

Cast ledil lon deriv es its name from John Dillo n, a nativ e of Staff ords hire, who recei ved a grant of 2,000 acre s of land in County Armagh on the 13th June, 1610.

He came to Irela nd very shor tly after ward s and settl ed on his land s, which were then erect ed into the Manor of Hullab ane, but by a furth er paten t issue d in 1628 they became the Manor of Cast ledil lon and by that name the estat e is stil l known.

The Dillo ns were eithe r unluc ky or impr ovide nt, The prop erty became mortgaged and to add possi bly both . t o the finan cial troub les there were famil y laws uits, w1 th t he resu lt that by 1663 the grea ter part of the estat e had been a cqui red by Samuel.Mo lyneu x, the then chief Engin eer of Irela nd, who later paid off othe r encumbrances and event ually secur ed prac tical ly all the lands of the orig inal gran t.

The Molyne ux fami l y were a very diffe rent type to the They were a famil y of scie ntist s and scho lars .

Dillo ns.

Sa~u el, whom I have ment ioned as the first of the name to resid e at Cast ledil lon, was a learn ed antiq uary and comp iled a valu able colle ction of manu scrip ts now prese rved in He was the son of Dani el Molyneux, Trin ity Colle ge Libr ary.

a fa~o us Ulst er King of Arms, whose man uscr ipts are also hous ed at Trin ity, to Wic h colle ge his fath er, Sir Thomas Molyneux, who died in 1596 , had cont ribu ted a cons idera ble sum at the time of its foun datio n, Samuel Molyneux of Cast ledil lon died in 1692 , leav ing with othe r issu e a son, Will iam, (bor n 1658, died 1698 ), who wrot e the famous hist oric al pamphlet "The Case of Irela nd Stat ed", a work so emba rrass ing to the auth oriti es of thos e days that it was orde red to be burn t in publ ic by the common hangman, Will iam had with othe r child ren an elde st son, the Righ t Hon. Samuel Molyneux, an eminent math emat ician , a foun datio n member of the Dubl in Phil osop hica l Soci ety, renowned for havi ng founded Kew Obse rvato ry and for havi ng help ed Brad ley, the Astronomer Roya l, to desig n the instr ume nts by 11/hich the theo ry of aber ratio n of ligh t He marr ied Lady Diana Cape l, daug hter was disc over ed.

It was, of the 2nd Earl of Esse x, but had no issu e. howe ver, from that allia nce that the Chri stian name of Following his deat h in Cape l came into the fami ly.

1727 , the esta te devo lved upon his uncl e, Thomas Molyneux, 5th son of the firs t Molyneux ot Cast ledi llon .

Thomas Molyneux was born 1n 1661 , and was Physicia nGeneral to the army in Ireland, being created a baronet of that kingdom in 1730. He was a great scholar, a keen natural ist and an archaeo logist of repute. There is an excellen t portrai t of him in the Armagh County Museum.

He died in 1733 and was succeeded by his elder son, Sir Daniel, who died in 1738, whereupon the estate and title devolved upon his younger brother Capel.

According to

traditio n Capel was the first of the family that may be We know that he had a very said to have been eccentr ic. fiery temper, and that he was an ardent Irish Volunte er.

He later raised the Castled illon Yeomanry in October, 1796, and in April of the followin g year, though then aged 80, fought a duel in the Palace Demesne with an officer who had dared to criticis e the bearing of the Castled illon Following his death in August, 1797, Yeomanry on parade. the comnand of the corps passed to his eldest son and heir.

According to the Blacker Manuscr ipts, Sir Capel drove into Armagh every SUnday in a coach and six with three Similar state was kept by Lord Rokeby, the postilli ons. then Archbis hop, the Right Hon. Willialll Brownlow and other worship pers at the Cathedr al, includin g the famous beauty, Mrs. Richard son, of Ricbhil l, better known as Dolly Munro,

who sport ed six greys , three posti llion s and two footmen, ..~ also mounted on greys , and 8 q\4.1.p ped with housings and hols ters.

Sir Cape l was the first baron et of the family to be Befor e passi ng on to the next gene ratio n burie d at Gran ge, I propo se to read you, a few abstr acts from the n&iropean Magazine" of 1782 relat ive to the prope rty of his day.

Though i ncor rect 1n certa in deta ils, we may accep t the artic le as a fairl y accur ate pictu re of the estat e in that year, One of the chief attra ction s in the eye of the write r was the park, .gate and lodge s, said to have cost £2,000 and to have been desig ned by Sir William Chambers.

The re is also an exce llent descr iptio n of the drive from that entra nce and "of the sudden and unexpected view of an exten sive lake cover ed with wild fowl, its water s abso lutel y darkened by the birds - not a gun having been fired withi n heari ng for forty year s." There were then many statu es dispo sed abou t the park, inclu ding a handsome full- lengt h According statu e of Sir Thomas Molyneux, the first baron et. to the write r this cost £300 and had been execu ted by That, of cours e, is an error - the statu e is now in Armagh Cath edral and is the work of the equa lly Rhysbrack.

celeb rated Roub illiac .

The grand old coach- house and office s design ed by the great Thomas Cooley, under whom Franc is Johnst on served his appren ticesh ip , are also noted, as well as the curiou s fact t hat Si r Capel 's horse s stood one above the other in the Fortu nately that deligh tful buildi ng remain s, The house or those days was a pleasant buildi ng of mid-

stable s.

eighte enth centu ry type - there is a painti ng of it in the Museum - and in it were many portr aits, one or which, painte d

by Astley , portra ys Sir Capel and his tour surviv ing childr en by his first wife.

It now hangs in the entran ce hall of the presen t house .

Sir Capel was a Privy Counc illor and a Member of Parliament, but most of his spare time was spent at Castle dillon , where he gave each winte r warm coats to thirty or the l abour ers, beside s doing many other kindne sses to the poorer tenan ts.

Accor ding t o the Magazine accoun t the grovea sul'l'Ounding the house bad been plante d by the Rt. Hon. Samuel Molyneu x, who is also given credit tor having named the villag e of Hockl ey, despi te the fact that it was known by that name at least as early as 161t-1.

Mention is also made

that Sir Capel wu then erecti ng an obelil k to commemorate t he Volun teers of 1782, a monument now ·under the care of the County Counc il,

f'.

I~ \.

"odd" - it His son , the nex t Sir Capel, was dec ide dly d" 7 "cr ack ed" was eve n rumoured tha t ,we was more tha n "od 1 H was immensely proud of the family ped igr ee and d e ind ee • 1ned to wander i nto tha t when spe aki ng in pu bli c was 44 n~1 ~ of He was a cur iou s mi xtu re, a warm sup por ter theme. mi te. He gave Ca tho lic Einan cip ati on and an ard ent Wi llia e eag erl y sou ght . wer ns tio ita inv ich wh for s tie par us llo ma rve ess ion of the House One to cel eb rat e the cen ten ary of the acc nig hts , of Hanover in 181 4 ran for two days and two 'county' was inv ite d commen cin g wi th a ba ll to 'Which the who le cer t, at \tlhich he ins ist ed and on the sec ond nig ht a gra nd con the gre at con ste rnon act ing as lea de r of the orc hes tra , to Somebody, however, managed ati on of the oth er per for me rs. he went thr oug h to soap his bow so tha t when all was ready and main, unaware the var iou s forms of fid dli ng wit h migh t made a sin gle sound. am ids t the no ise tha t he him sel f had no t Sh ort ly aft er the Many sto rie s are tol d about him.

Sir Capei thr ew a arr iva l of Ar chb ish op Stu art as Pri ma te, as sel f-w ille d and t jus was p sho hbi Arc The . him par ty for g arr ive d he dec ide d ecc en tri c as Sir Ca pel , so 'When the evenin lac e fir e ins tea d, to toa st his arc hie pis cop al toe s at the Pa inv ita tio n and tha t the ed ept acc had he t tha t fac the te spi de As a sor t . him et me to d ite inv n bee had y pan a su ita ble com

I ?,1.. .

of apology he had sent his chaplain and with him a huge overgrown turnip th at had been raised on the Palace farm that day.

The peace offering uas quietly accepted by w

Sir Capel but when the guests went in to dinner the turnip was occupying the chair reserved for the Archbishop, and according to report Sir capel paid the turnip all the honours he would have paid the Primate, asking it to drink with him and discussing with it the most delicate clerical and political affairs to the great amusement of the guests and the intense embarrassment of the unfortunate chaplain.

Occasionally his parties got into the papers.

In the

"Belfast Newsletter 11 of August 2, 1825, there is an account of a fate at which 200 persons of rank and fashion were present.

One of the attractions was a sloop and three

boats on the lake.

i;_,....

,

At two o'clock a salute of 18 swivel guns was fired from the sloop as the signal for dancing to begin.

At

four O , clock another salute summoned the company to feasting, after which they all danced to music supplied by the band of the 63rd Regiment of Foot and boated until eight o ' clock .

Sir Capel, s wife was Margaret, eldest daughter of Sir Real O'Donnell, a County Mayo baronet. childless,

80

The marriage was

they adopted Elizabeth Margaret Browne, second

daug hter of Dockwell Browne , of Rahi ns, Co. Mayo,

When

she grew up she marr ied the Hon. Henry Caul feild of Hockley Lodge, broth er of the 2nd Earl of Cbarlemont and fathe r of the t hird and last Earl.

To t his lady we are indeb ted for a most inter estin g accou nt of this Sir Cape l's house hold.

Like his fathe r befor e him he was a bird- lover , and in his time wild duck and other birds came up from the lake to the house to feed, The staff then consi sted of a butle r, valet , two footm en, pantr y-boy , man-cook, kitch en man, coachman, two posti llion s, helpe rs, house keepe r, lady' s maid, tw house maid s, dairy maid , kitch en-m aid, laund ry maid, and scrub woman - in all ninet een indoo r serva nts besid es follo wers of all kind s.

On Sunday eveni ngs Sir Capel read praye rs in the hall He was and gues ts and serva nts were expec ted to atten d. easil y di sturb ed in the readi ng of the praye rs and it was Thus not unus ual for him to expre ss his annoyance aloud , suppo se a solemn voice , "If we keep the day we keep it unto the Lord (damn 1t, 'What makes that door creak ?) and if we keep it not (I say shut that door) , but sleep ing or waking we are the Lord, 5 ( damnation, will no one stop that noise ?)" .

Other wise the servi ce was conducted with prope r decorum.

He att en de d Gr ange Church on Sund ays , a bu ild ing y, and fo r 'Which ole Co s ma Tho of n sig de e th o t ted ec er In tho se 1772 . t he sit e was giv en by hi s fat he r in the co ng reg ati on of en m the r fo ry ma sto cu s wa it s da y oth er.

Whether t o oc cupy on e sid e and the 'WOmen the r or him sel f is not the fa s hi to e du s wa t en m ge ran ar s t hi from the qu ite cle ar .

He al ways dro ve th e sh ort mile nking ho rse s, and hi s house to th e ch urc h be hin d fou r spa r fas hio n. wife was ex pe cte d to tra ve l in sim ila e was in tho se The re nt al of the Ca stl ed il lon es tat co urs e, Si r Capel had days ab ou t £7 ,00 0 pe r ye ar bu t, of had. an allowance eux lyn Mo dy La ll. we as rty pe pro er oth Sle was no t, pe nse s. of £2 ,00 0 pe r annum fo r ho use ho ld ex , which was fo rtu na te lls bi e win e th r fo le sib on sp re r, ve howe nger or se rv an t sse me ery Ev y. av he hat ew som re as the y we ref res hm en t and it was en giv s wa e ag rri ca a th wi d lle ca o wh an ts of ca rri ag es cup oc d an on lli sti po e th r fo l ua us no t un It was we ath er" . to lea ve Ca stl ed ill on we ll "u nd er the nervous gu es ts to send re mo the r fo tom cus n mo com a d oe ind was so be r be for e th ey someone to en qu ire if th ei r coachman wer was - "he iS ste ad y ans the ten Of . rth fo ve ntu red roa d - and the the on hs ug she no ve ha u yo e iv dr enough to e, sometimes th e footman urs co of t, Bu 11 footman is sob er •

was in a like condi tion and qui t e unable to attend to his dutie s.

In June every year Sir Capel and his wife trave lled up to Dubli n, Lady Molyneux in a coach and four, follow ed by anoth er carria ge conta ining the neces sary serva nts, A few days later Sir Capel set forth . silve r, linen , etc.

He alway s proce eded by roundabout ways and never attem pted to reach Dubli n until the town house was in order and well With his coachman on the box sat his valet and insid e with himse lf were his books and pisto ls, with of

aired .

course his belov ed violin .

On the way he diverg ed to

towns and villag es that he liked , and there stayed t he night playin g just as vigoro usly and as badly as at home.

It must have been pretty dread ful for his violin was so often out of tune that people mostl y fled from the sound of it.

In polit ics the second Sir Capel was defin itely antiHe was at one time a Unite d Irishm an and Union ist. contin ued so until that body unwis ely formed itsel f into Following the Union of Irelan d w1 t h a secre t socie ty.

Great Brita in he never again attend ed partie s at Dubli n To show Castl e or was prese nt at Vice-Regal functi ons. his disap prova l of the disso lution of the old Irish

Par liam ent , he even went so far as t o dress h1s serv ants But in gre en and \1/hite ins tea d of the fam ily live ry. a des pite his odd ways he was a man or hig hes t honour and dev oted pat rio t in a per iod of unb lush ing cor rup tion .

He die d in 1832 and was succeeded in the baro netc y and est ate by his bro the r, Thomas, a Lie uten ant- Gen eral Sir Thomas in the army, who thu s became the 5th bar one t.

8, died in 1841 leav ing a son , Sir George, who died in 184 t and was suc cee ded by his son Sir Capel, the 7th and las was bar one t to liv e at Cas tlad illo n. He died in 1879 and John succ eed ed in the bar one tcy by his cou sin, the Rev. Sir Rev .

Wil liam , who died two months. late r, leav ing a son , the netc y Sir Joh n Cha rles , who died in 192 8, l>bereupon the baro , pas sed to his cou sin, Sir Ern est, 10th and las t baro net '<lho die ~ 26t h December, 1940.

In con clus ion I sho uld perh aps say a few words abo ut The firs t tha t we the var iou s resi den ces on the est ate .

Thi s was know any thin g of was the Dil lon bawn or cas tle. in the bui lt by 161 1 and is beli eve d to have been des troy ed in. trou ble s of 164 1 - the date or reb uild ing is u~c erta old pri nt exi sts showing the hou se afte r the pur cha se An

It was the n a long . lily fall x yneu Mol the by ate est of the mansion. low bui ldin g rou ghl y on the same site as the pre sen t

That particular residen ce was replaced about the middle of the 18th century by a ra t her chal'llling edifice with wings that remained until the completion in 1845 of the present dignified but r ather austere house,

It, by a strange coincidence, was planned and built by William

Murray, t he ar chitect liho eventually completed the Armagh District Asylum, The various links between the effort made by Thomas Molyneux in 1699 to found an asylum for the insane and the eventual acquisition of the Molyneux family estate for a similar purpose by the Armagh County Council in 1929 is an intriguing study.

The AI'lllagh County Council

was superseded in ownership and administration in 1948 by the Hospitals Authority.

Now having outlived its

usefulness from the point of view of modern ideas in the treatment of the mentally afflicted Castledillon will in We hope the near future become an agricultural college. that when that happens the new owners will strictly observe the bird sanctuary rules that were strongly enforced from at least the early part of the 18th century, (until the present though perhaps not so carefully carried out of late despite notice boards reading "Bird Sanctuary Ministry of Home Affairs".

Jobn Dillon of Castle Dillon made a settlement of the estate July , 16, 1631.

Will ~4th March, 1636.

High Sheriff, Co . Armagh 1626.

M. P. for Borough 1634-1635.

He died 25th March, 1637.

•

1st wife.

John Dillon the younger.

Robert who wi th hi s wife wa s murder ed in the Ci vi l War of 1641.

Anthony.

Nathaniel.

Erasmus.

Charles. a daughter I-1rs. Rowley. a daughter Mr s. Windsor, who afterwards mar ried Sir Audly Mervyn.

Mr . Dillon married secondl y Alice Thompson by whom he had several cnildren, who died in infancy 1 _and one daughter wo married - Rathburn of Dublin. Mrs. Alice Dillon married secondly Ambrose Plunket.

M S. 15 Dec. 1623.

John Dillon the younger died before his father and previous to the settlement of 1631,

- Mabel Sexton, dau, ot Sir George Sexton. She md. 2ndlY. Michael Doyn before 1031. Her son Robert Doyne became Chief Just i ce of Ireland. S:le was responsible for sav1ng some of the Bri tish tenant s on the e state in the Civil War of 1641.

r - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - ---i-1-7, .

Henry who by his grandfather' s = Elizabet h Ber ry . ate md. 2ndlY settlement of 16t h Jul y, 1631 , Mark Middl eton became heir in tail, He was and died 13th born in 1626. He caJDe of age in 1647. He seems to have been August , 1681. in financial difficu lties and 3ettled in Southamptonshire.

He died in prison where he had been placed by hi s chief cr editor.

A Chancery Bill says he was dead before 20th June, 1661.

John

MarJ

CASTLE DILLON, Hotes on remaining portraits in the house: Composite port rait by Astley ( a fellow pupil of the celebrated Sir Joshua Reynolds) shows 1 . T!1e Right Honble. Sir Capel Molyneux, Bart. wno married firstly, Eli zabeth EastL, daughter of Sir William East, Bart., of Hall Place, Berks, and the f our children of that marriage 1. Sir Capel.

2. George, M.P. for Granard.

3 .• Ann who married Anthony Brabazon.

4 Harriett who married Sir William Arabin.

Two separate portraits of

I

Sir Capel Molyneux, Bart. (7th Bart.). He died ~4th J anuary,

1a63 =

I Mary Emily Frances, daughter of Sir Peter Fitzgerald , Bart., Knight of Kerry .

1879.

Julia = Will iam John Talbot of Mount Talbot, Co. Ro scommon.

( 1)

A lady long celebrated in Ireland for charities, beauty and accomplishm ents.

14-0 .

HARVEST HOME

the seat of Li t At Cas tle Molyneux~oly v , Barone eut• enan t-Ge nera l Sir 1'homas nan, ...........

(Communicated).

---- ---- -- "The harv est trea sure s allstol'lll11.

Ifow gath ered in, beyond the rage of

peri od when From the earl iest ages at the inte rest ing grat itud e in, the the frui ts of the eart h were gath e red by joyous obse rvan ces of the human hea rt has been expr e ssed not poss ible to · A late emin ent writ er has obse rved "Is it so edif ying rest ore, in some good ly form, a custom sohaspure endeavoured to ' Sir Thomas Molyneux and so becoming?"

This exce llen t land lord , sinc e shew that it is pos sibl e. lly resi ded in his acce ssio n to the Baro netc y has prin cipa improvements in his ance stra l man sion ; and, by exte nsiv eaffo rded cons tant his demesne 7 his hous e and offi ces, has On Tuesday, the 7th ins t., he employment to hun dred s. by givi ng cele brat ed the anci ent fest ival of harv est home About thre e er. to his labo rers a good and sub stan tial dinn 's larg e barn o'cl ock 104 pers ons sat down in the Gen eral joyous occa sion . which was mo st tast efu lly deco rate d for theifyi The ng.

To see so many happy face s was high ly grat r mem of this bers hea lths of the worthy Baronet and the othe sinc ere accl ama tmuch-loved fam ily were give n with loud and than Cou nsel lor Grea ves, his son- in-la w, retu rned sitioks. ions . n, indi spo Sir Thomas, him self , in consequence of sevet rehalf -pas t four , Dancing com~enced abou coul d not atte nd. rate unt il and the happy assemblage coul d not fina lly t sepa Abou 250 were pres ent. eigh t o'cl ock on Wednesday morning.

Ulst er As a nati ve of loya l, of mor al, and indu strio us ssed -dre I was much plea sed to see so many modest, well the pres ence and Kind ness and decorum prev aile d, fem ales . othe r gue sts of Hrs. Grea ves and of her love ly chil dren , and of this hos pita ble fam ily, imp arte d add ition al inte rest to the scen e.

Hi gh commenda tio n must be wi llin gly accord ed by eve ry ge ne rou s mind to the worthy Ba ron et. He of a fam ily whose members have dis tin gu ish is the des cen dan t the ir lea rni ng , the ir pa tri oti sm , and the ed the ms elv es by Sh ou ld a cy nic al rea de r qu est ion the jus ir bra ve ry. tic e of the eulogium or the sin ce rit y of the wr ite r, he may ref Ge ne ral Bio gra ph y") 11 Ware' s Annals" "Wooder to "Chalmers' ox on ien sis 0 , 11 Watt I s Bi bli oth eae Br 1tt an nic's 11 Ath ena e Sir Thomas Molyn eu x ha s pro ved tha t he is no a , etc . t ins en sib le to an ce str al rec oll ec tio ns . May the house flo ur ish to ado rn pri va te lif e by its domof Mol yn eux lon g su sta in tha t hig h po sit ion in the Br iti sh estic vir tue s, and its de cea sed members have fil led with suc collllD.unity wnich h dis tin cti on .

Armag h, November 9, 1837.

(Newry Commercial Te leg rap h, November 11 , 18

37 ).

ttp. .

" ,e a;i:e gr nt eful to the aged who, befor e they quit

this

world , ~i l l t ake t h e trouble to tel l ua ho~ it looked when t hey

opened thei r eyes upon it - it appears t o us t hat t h is is a service whi ch women are espec ialJy f itted f or and ca lled on to perfor m.

Soci ety is eo ~uch the ir province t hat it aeema a s if

histori ans of i ta changes. they wer e the na tural and proner ,..

Per ho-ps few of t h e l abours of t he hi stori an would be more va luabl e to t he c ause of human progress; indeed such researches l ead to the he art of the question, \/hat is progress?"

The s e remar ks of :lrs . Austin, in her work on Germany , have l one dwel t in ey mind, a nd they appear to me eminently applicPbl e to the changes which one generation can note in Irel and .

In ·my own c ase, opening my eyes upon it j uat af ter

the Union, and t A.ki ng up my pen more than ha lf A. century af ter that hr l f - cer tury including the intro duction of steam on l and ur.d sea , of gns, and electr i c agency, t he repea l of pena l l a.we, and of fisc a l r e strictions , and the reform of popular representati on in Pf rlh:ment, I should be able to record changes of no mean c'·u rF<cter i n t h e soci a l sta te in which I have lived, ond perhaps Pl ao dive rsify ry r ecollections with amusing accounts of i n~ivi ue l oddity.

To render this easy to myself to write , ea sy

t o ·11hoev er ray r ead these pages, should they ultimately escape h'! f J nrne a, I muet ·rite ae the reco1Jectlona come, ,vithout aXJ.'(

- 2-

attempt Pt order of subject or date beyond stringing them togett.er by the thread of my own life.

Castle Dillon , near Armagh, was the seat of Si r Capel 1ol yneux, whose wife was the eldest daughter of Sir Neal 0 1 Donr.el 1 , my mother being hi s youngest.

Sir Capel was rich and

childl e ss, and he requested of my father, from hi e numerous family and Sma11er means, to give up a child for hie ado ption, in the h ope that such a presence and prattl e might rouse Lady Jo l yneux from the low sp irits she had fallen into on the death of her two e ldest and favo urite brothers .

Thus was r, the second

dauphter of Dodwell Browne, of Rahins , near Castlebar , transported to Castle Dillon, nea r Armagh.

It ·ras a low, straggling house , the centre, n sort of pavili on, containing t h e reception-rooms a.nd of one storey only. were of t wo;

The wings

the eastern had formerly contained the stables, in

the fe sh i on of the period when for protection the various parts of a c ountry residence were as much concentrated ~s possible. Odd stairc1 see and step s within obviated the differences of level. ?ro:. t·1e ro Jth si de t here was a descent of t h ree terraced elopes to th~ 1ake, a pretty pieoe of water of above sixty acres .

Thie

was covered by wild-fowl undisturbed by sportsmen, as Sir ~apel

did not 'l l]o,N a sh ot to be fired within the deme sne wall.

So

c~nftdent ~ere t hey that I have often seen wild duck and other •nter rirds oor,e up in the evenings close to the house, and they

•ere often caught in the tench nets snrend t o dr y on the grass .

~te d as , fa th er , th er e The de m es ne wn e comp le a pa rk by S ir ~n pe l's h th or ns , li n .s of elm -e re st il l he dg e- ro w or e a rd s, and do ub le ex is ti ng h omes te ad s . The l ak e , ly us io ev Pr of e te ei marking th e l dr ai na ge , ha d t hen li tt le sh al lo w mar gi n ra ne ge by ed uc ed r now so sc en di ng ba nk s. The ea st er n Bi de de y kl ic qu he t on and ro se hi gh w hi ch a gr ee nom fr on ti ta an pl h as d oa k an was ad or ne d by a fi ne ed ge . Jio \, we ll 1 's er at w e th to y rl la swar d st re tc he d ir re gu qu il ev en in g, as an tr a of pe ca ds an l · th e re membe r th e be auty of th ei r way th ro ug h d un wo , e ur st pa r ei om th th e cows , re tu rn in g fr ke w at er , th e li rro ir m s it in d oo an d st th e tr e ' s by th e l ak e by it s cr im so n g in en ev of ts n ti ey e gr se tt ing su n warm in g th sc en e I I e eye is st il l th is nd ini ll\Y ai n to li gh t. .st ra nge how pl e no is e of th e th l; ow -f er at w he t un ds of t o my ea r st il l th e so e w at er -g na t th of m hu ry ve e th ke , ev en ~ore d is ta n t co rn -c ra a rs si nc el • • • • and ye t 't ie fi ft y ye came an in m at e be I n he w on ll Di e tl Cas Th e es ta bl is hm en t at tl er , va le t, two Bu . it d or ec r me t ni al . Le th er e was qu it e ba ro g in fd e l and in br o (t n ma n he tc ki man co ok , footmen , pa nt ry -b oy , - el ev en men ; ho ua eer lp he s, on li il et po w at er ) , co ac hm an , two tc he nm ai d, on e da ir yki e on , de ai m ee ou h o tw ke ep er , la d y 's m ai d, ru b - ei gh t. women - in sc l sa er iv un a d an d, lllaid , on e l au nd ry m ai be ei de a •f ol lo w er s• d, fe ly ar ul eg r ts an se rv al l ni ne te en in do or cu rr ic le d it to , t wo o tw , ea rs bo ge ia rr ur ca of T ar io ue ki nd a . Fo O ve r th e at at el y l ee ni po a ar em nn co am ot fo r ou tr ld er a an d a te e fa m il y - and al eo hi d ~n d ar ew st e th t an4 ug ly st ab le dw el

l4~ - ('..

twel ve orph· n s

•ith a sch o ol - ~i strees in ch11r rze , \fho " er e c lothe d ,

f ed • nd ,:iut 0•1t to oerv i. ce by Lr•dy .0 1yne ux.

• ·

t e gt rde1 or

11,a f·mily .

'O r r yen; iu t 1rn h r•) l; 11nd p

In t h e f"Pr de r. u ns

On SundAV evenin~s ~ir C"pel ren d ' 08

t 1· ' "lOsinµ- :-ssern1l r> pe it ~7p 8 ,

; S

ebove thi rty- fnur oe rvru ta Pr~ r e t a iners , add ed to t ~e ~ mbe r s 01

v c onprera t i on . t he f 3•1i ly Hid ·v i s i to r s , ·ede r "ood.l ,..

Tlie r e wa s

a sr al l or prm i r t h e hP ll , a nd 1?ener:· ll y :--,.fter p r ,iyer s t ie or phan girl i- r e :? i red ·1 n, c onc l urled the eveni n1< ' s per .· or !wnc e wi th "hy,-ns ;:, r,rl spi r i t u r l s ongs" - i n trut 11 it was t o fl E"r eRt ,~xt.er, t a ~ i r C; PeJ was no t ,·•hr-.t "'e c a.17 no,.~ A r e li p-i oue •,r,n;

perfo r lllc nce .

he corsiner e d re lipi on ~ ~ho 1e so~e i ns t i t ut ion, e nd e a~eci r>l Jy

r es e cted the Ch urch of :;n,.,11-md.

Hi s rra nner, a l •-m.ys s i n uulr r : nd

s 0 --:e 1 H1t t h ptri c r> J , w·as i:iarticul nrl y so on t h ese Sm1<"lP.y ever i r:g s .

-:he irt0n r>tl ori of h is voice i n r endi rp pr Ryer s •·, ns qui +,e s olerin , r no I nM sure , "'hen h e st e:,>"led fro m the dr aV"inll'.- r oon an i kne lt on r

c·is 1i or · t t

lit t l e t rib l e befor e itP door, vri th h i s "laPVY si 1v-er

car d l ea •ic~ at each s i rl e of ¾is book , h i s Rapec t was r averenti a l

n1~ t .ere - r f' rot'1i n17 but devoti <JnPJ r evf·r ence i n his he r r t .

Yet

he w: n e· a iJ y d Loturbe n {n h is r sad i n~ of the old - f a sh i oned nray e rs , wher, nfter t h e then comnon hRbi t of s-.vearirg 1, roke . out . sup nne a

30

1 8 ,.,r voice - "If we keep t h e day , we ke ep it unto the

T.or rl - ( .J,-.r- n i t , '"ha t Mt - ( I

8

100 i,8 8

t ha t door creak ?) - and if we k eep i t

,-.y a hut t lw t rloor) - but t1 l P, •u i n~ or ·.~aki nr. "'8 are the

10r rl ' e _ (Jerr ri,.t l oi , \"Tll1 no one a t.op i h a t noi s e ?) ."

t 1 i, 8 e

Thus ,

However ,

e r e or i y t h e exo -nti on a to a r e a..,ectfl.'r ) e ano so1 enWservice ,

-~and ot i t s concluslon his bows to ~ is s~rvitors as he the dr awi n p-roon i r o J d Court style were '~on d erful .

•.

b r> c""ed into

Cath olic

ser vPnto i n t h ose doys attended prayers with out h" s i tation perl P "S be c r use p r oselytising was not t he f a shi on .

I do not

r eme~ber a ny ettempts or even talk of c onvertinF others; t h ere ~as n o i nquiry into t h e r e 1 i gion of servants , no difference made

duri ng t he week, e a ch serva,nt we nt where he pleased w l thout reTarY on Sunday.

Th ie referred t o upper as well as lower

servf1n ts: f ro m Col i ,my , the femn Je cook, r nd r.iy Conm? U/1'ht r.ur se , down t o t he scu llion , there was no di fference n;ade .

Hap py ,

happy s y steml '3ir Cf p ••l used to s s.y to his wife, 11 i.y dear •:r r gar et , I supped ir- ? rot '} stantiem with ry 1 other ' s milk, anrl. it is thi:;t cake s · 3 l er ve the consciences of oth e r s free as rry own . " 11

: ut , rny dea r Sir Cape l, you never tast "! d your mother' s milk ,

yon h a d 8. 'tol"le n Cfltholi c nurse who tormented me for mon~y for 1 any rl uy .,fte r

I mar ried . "

"Pe rh~ps _ very true ..ta'am, but you a r e :,] ways too ma.tter- of fre t fo r ,rny one of ~enius, and w1.o knows b u t · i t

' 1'8 .B

b f:' CP-use I d id

not sup ? r o t a sta nt milk that I know h ow t o be just to both J, r+ ·e s . 11 '1'he church which we attend.ed on Sun days was Gr ange - the Pro und EHl rl. nlrl t o the buildinp of which was piven by Sir Capel ' s f: t}

r•

He hi mself 'huilt t h e

S n ire

or steepJe , so effectiv~ in

Urn J un l scr oe at thot side 0f Armi11h .

He also built the galle r y

I ft- 7.

-e:-. t uen e-ci. oting f or hi. a own use; thr

ee s quar e pews , gent l emen on

ore oide , lad ies on the oth~r - the orphans i n their purple i:t.uft's , • hite linen handkerc h i efs and etra·u , bonnets , in t he centre i thoy enrl ., closo of t ( coun ry girls t a u~ht by my govern ess ) ein~in~ t h e hymns anrl psa l ms - but n Jv er the ~anticles .

The go i ng to c lurch wa s quite an h eredit ary nar ade .

Sir c,,peJ ' s

fathe·r g ot over the one mile in the family coa ch dr1-1wn by four blrc~ horsea , and tradition told t hat the Ledy {olyneux of h is day once stole to c hurch wt th a -pair and t he second Pa ir was sent f~fter her .

It ras ati11 a per11de i n my childhood .

The congrf!gP. tion ,

,.... inly co~oosed of' the t enantry, used to wai t for Sir CfjpeJ ' s arri n 1; a nd ·"hen he na s sed through them as they s t ood e t each side from the pate to t he church, they foll owed h i m in .

After

cuurch they we lted in groups to see the f emllv drive off , e nd were noticed i nd ivi dua ll y as Sir Capel hanp ened to observe them.. "'-'ell, Sco tt ,

h'lW

g oes on the f arm?" or " Have y ou hay for sale

now :urray?" - E>nr so on .

'l'h e TJJonthly na r eoe of the Yeomnnry

t;-,r r wrs then he1d i n the churchyard efter service , a strange

custo~ , the rr.en he ving Rppeared in church in uni fo rms , or ~ i.e~imentn la AS w~ e the phra se of th e d a y •

•rer

I rr.i a~. ht say , such as

Proteat.C'nt e Attended, out in tho " e days there were no

Catho lico in Ye ol!lE'nry Corps , and it became understood in time t, ot ·reo•·ian Pnd oran 11emen meant the same .

Nowadays when the

rliattrction of r anks a nd classes le less defined nnd the

-~ relir ious i dea mor e ep irituPl, thi s chu-ch par ade and the mi xture • of the s e cu lar wi th the sacred must appear to have been only pomp and van ity, a nd reli ~ion itself only 13ut n:hen I think f' c eremony.

• d of the b enevolence of this baronet • -h "o rove a short mile to church with four h orse s , of the Perfec t toJera ti on of h is rr.i nd or, :c. 11

subjects, of h i s \'!il]inf"noee to a llow to others t he srune independence of o·,inion '•'1ich he took h i mself , I fee l convi nced t hat ,,hen hie tenantr y stood asi de at t he church ~ate , t he f eelings of goodwill ~ere reciptocal; and t hat whilst Sir Capel.felt he ·~as by posit i or the fri end and protector of these neople, thcylooked to hi m as such in a spirit of independent dependenc e , if I may uf·e so strr nge a term.

The proof is tha t t he few who rer.~in to r emember

him do so ~ i th af fect i on a nd resuect; and h is goodness , hie fairness, bis har~lees odniti ce , have become legendar y tal k upon the estate.

In P ]l he ~as well s upported by hie wife.

Fatura l 1y a woman's

benevoJ~nce is more pe rsonal chairty t han a man ' s .

The ol d women

who every Chr istma s r eceived her bounty in clothe s and n dinner and hr J f - ,· - cro•m

occunrt ion.

to ca rry home , ·vere 'but a ty-oe of her cons tant

She was v erily t he l a nd lord ' a wife i n many ways now

become obsolete by more co~lete social organization.

She knew

the joys and sorrows of every cottage within rea ch .

In s icknes s

or distress, celle.r, store-room, medicine- chest , every thing contributed to their relief and comfort. clube a s well a s Poor Lo.we were unknown;

~,.,~n a t 11.nt r,no heflvy.

Dispensaries and clothingso that the demands were

Indeed, it would be diff icult nowadays to

--Tfexplain how the country world go t on without the co- operating pl<1 ns of mo ,iern t i mes , or no 11 t o realise the way in whi ch then , charity , justice , road- makin g , everything depended on indivi dual exertion ( j obbing a s i t rr~y have been) .

From this statement

of t he nuMber of servants and follo-~ ers at Castle Dillon it mi ~ht be su~ ,osed that Sir Capel ' s fort une was very l ar ge , but it was ~ven with the va lue of the demesne it did not then exceed n?OOO a year Irish1 ; but the habits of life was well a s

not so .

nrices were very different .

"'!'he world" was l ess i n motion.

A

few months in Dublin a nd a t long intervals a visit to Bath or London elone i nterrupted the vie au chateau. days of the century was about 3d. per l b .

Meat in those early

If groceries were high -

black tea 8 s . a pound , and white sugar 18d. or 20d. - they were luxuries unkno•vn downs tairs exce1:>t on hi gh days and ho lidays .

I

know that the iillowance Lady M. rec eived for household expenses was but r 2OOO a year and what she could make of the demesne, which The house was as she ""v-:tnnged. ~he only thing eXc Puted was wine . were ther e state d i nners to h o~pi tvble upstairs as down ; not Only t he r.ei. .hbourinp p:entry very often, but fri nds and connection s 0

fro,'! a d istPnce wer e welcome and there vrere al ways representa t ives This recalls to my of the class of poor r elat ions in the house . been considerab ly the Castle Dillon

150 .

-9'-

~in~ that Si

CFp e l ' s principle s

of toler ation were s ever ely

t ested by h i s cous il1a the .,Ji ss _ ( Purse) b ec 1~i ng Separatlst s .

of long pedi s r ee but short

11e never co uld be r ec onciled to

t enet s vh i ch kept t hem from .joini np: in uar t de , and when i n c ourse of t1.me Lad

his har ml es s prayers and

r 1

o yneux was infe cte,i by t he ir o..., i n ions and declined to app~ar at t he Sunday evening Y

servic 8 , a ma in Pleas ure and pri de of hie life was gone ; and for the fi r st t i n.e to r e was r eaJ ised t he evil of dogmatic reli Fion , wh i ch so often dr ops the substance of Christi~nity i n the f tte~pt to a r a s p so~e illus ory P.ood or unauthorised i nf 111ence .

As to the househo ld habi t ei find expenses of those days, in

t he fi rst n l a ce, ~a~es were very much lower t han now: £ 30 to £35 a ye[ r the wnge s of a butler or va let, footmen £ 12 eo £ 14 ,

upper h ouserne i d £ 8, l a dy's mai d £ 12 to £ 14 , kitchenmaid from £ 4 t o £0 .

s o enrly as 1813 I was cognizant of househ old

ar~c nv.erients , .,...y aunt considering such knowledge a necessary par t of e cuc a ti on .

I therefore know what the mode of feeding

this Ja r Fe est abJiabment was, and am a l so aware th&t the style wa s better t han i n a ny h ouse in the neighbourhood, except the PrJ r c _,f

··,here t he serva nts ann ha.bi ta were naturally English.

nd Primate l . mhe r e ei denoe of the Arohbi~hophoffA ~!f~n~ O • of t h e then Established Churo

I J;; I.

-~ At Unstle Dillon there "ere but thr

ee meals daily in the

servents ' hall.

Breakfast of stirs.bout and milk at eight o'clock, meat dinner at two, and at ei~ht in the evening bread and beer. I ~.ay remark here that I remember the word meat corn.- on]y used in the sense of food; thus , if one said ~ ~ for dinner it wae as distinguished from potato es or

veFetabl e s, which were equally constdered meat or food .

The

upper servants had tea for breakfast and supper by a llowance l lb. to 1 st. sugar per head monthly - four allowances for every fi ve people.

I have no recoll ection in rny very earliest

years of anythi ng but the three meal s a day·even in the housekeeper's room.

A custom urevailed in many houses of giving

what was ce lled breakfast money , about 2s. a week, and supplying only dinner .

~very messenger, every servant who called with a

carriage , was off ered refreshment.

It was necessary always to

h~ve cold meat for these casual consumers.

The market of Ar rmgh

wae t 1en very uncertain, and the oustoro was to kill from the demeone all that was required~

Thus salted meat was the

gener a l consurrption , and salt beef and cabbage the daily dinner three days out of four .

Indeed, I have always found Irish

servants prefer it to what t h ey Cons idered

tasteless fresh meat .

In those days nothinF .was known of house- fed cattle .

At the

end of the grass season at least a couple of bullocks were ' the fattest pieces with killed, nnd cured in various Ways , IIR1 tpetre ,

o.nd hunP' in cabin chi1"1!1eye to dry - a very popul a.r

152_

-~,sY of p reoe rving it - hence ce lled

hunp 1'eef . It is s carcely possibl e to f <n cy any f ood more dry or unpa latable . The beet qual itY of the fat was made into mould ca nd lee, and I think the rami l Y had onl y j ust escaped from th h e orrors of ca ndl e-d i pping .

1 do not r e c olle ct b rewing , and r know t hat the stro nger beers ,ere not p i ven i n t h e h ouse, and even common beer by a llowance.

AnY fur ther indulgence wo.s always whiskey, which was g iven on

Sundays and h oli days in the hall, and glasses of r aw epiri ta given as r efreshment

to mesaengurs or tena nts, a s strong beer would be now

or i n : ngland .

As to the living upsta irs, the hours were very much earlier than now.

I we ll r emem1'er dinner at about five o'clock.

ras no luncheon .

Of course t here

'£ea follo wed i nnne d iately, almost as part of dinner,

and t he n sup"?er a t ten, which was brought in on a tray, or, \7hen the par ty was l a r ge e nough , on a long, narrow table, easily carried through t he d o ors by two servants.

Thie custom lingered long after

the hour of d i nne r b ecame later, and I think so ling ered because

suppers were c ongen ial to the Irish c'1e.racter.

•ere ,.,i th their lively jokes and songs .

How pleasa nt t hey

But as t h e warnings of the

clock wer e of ten not attanded to, they were destructive of household

I do not re!lUJeri ty: a nd how t h e work downstairs was got through are of daily confusion and weekly cleanings 'y r e coll e ctions order and cleanliness which now prevails in up , ancl nothinp: of t h e There decidedly was not the same th '! 8J!1t o cl n ss of house . ~Pr ec l o ti on of cleanlineee as now.

I S3

-1:2--

,cicdlinv , llR<i. in, the hebitude of those tbe journeys as e.'llonn-st t lie mos t remarkable

present .

ttmes , I will Mention

contra sts to the Yearly we went to Dublin in Uovember and returned in

June , directly after t he Ying ' a ntrthday (George III . ) .Tune 4 • li ~he first movement was t h e transit of "'1 t nen , and other 1/ a e , ho•1se:1old ,g:ooas , with the trunks of the w''lole family , under the charge of old .Johnston, a tenant who on these occasions a cted a s carrier .

",non the move was from Castle .Dillon , salted beef ,

butter, a nd every transporta ble thinp: from the farm was added ,

to the extert aomet Lmes of four c nrt loads , nor did the c ar avan end here, for the under servants t r avelled with it - kitchen'llaid , second housemai d , a.nd a sort of general girl seated soldierfash i on or- the baggage .

Nor did this -plan cease until Lady

l olyneux d i scovered t h at the halts at car men ' s inns were not ver y 1-:provin.c: to n ' nners or morals , and t 'iat the board and J odging until the fourth evening c oat nearly as much a s the · stage- coach , no,, thnt there were riva ls on t h e road.

Sir Capel ' of course ' had

his neculiP r "Od e of tra ve 1 1ing, he a l ways went by hirieelf , in h is

o= • u D~rt i cuJar

C ~ riot;

his valet on the oox and the int erior

violin , nnd a ll sorts of thing s • He · n 'Vith books , UiBtOlS , . PCJrf'd never •ent, d ire ct , di verped to towns a nd vi·11 ages and inns that he ltki,d, vhere l1e Aet vn hi a mua i c - stand a n

d scr aped away at Handel

He never joined 'lnt l J Weryt it np was unpacked a nd -ol nced '

aealn in pear .

A capital pl a , n , I thi n~ ,

Lady ·t. and the family

and a l l domestic work f or in gener a l gent l emen

IS 'r

- J.:::a--

are a Most t r o ub l e some e letn) nt in th

e movi ng Pr ocese of o f ami l y . r.adY {o l yneux t r a velled i n th.a l a r ge ba ro uche dr awn by h•3 r own f our horoes {a c ommon n r a cti c e i n those rlflys) .

I t was fo )lowed by serva.nt s . ct.rriage "Ii th the un....,er .noth"r "' ....

m,

111e t i :ne consumed was

two days and a ha lf , inv olving two ni ri:hts at inn s , izenerally a t Duncl.al k ·und Dr ofl'heda.

Th e s er vant s' carri a("e started somewhat

later on the f irst day to ga t her up the forgets , and on the third yer t i n advance to hflve matter s i n readiness fo r La dy I , • s a rriva l .

The line of r oute hA.d many change s i n my ti me .

'J.y earliest

recollect ion i s of a Plac e c a ll ed t h e fo unta in Hous e , by whi ch r oad we avo ided He"TY , p o i np: r ound t he mountai n to Dundal k ,

change wa s by !:~1vtown Hami l ton.

The next

To t h is s ucceeded Newry , and f i na ll:,

up t o the r a i l ,vay p eriod , Ca s t l eblayney .

The s t age or stop'Oing-

place ne~t to Dub ltn a t my ear ii est "Oer lod was c a l 1 ed t h e l an of 'liar, a sing le h ouse , a nd most comfortab l e inn ,

Its s trange name ,

I hear ci , wns ado nted fro m the figure - head of a shi p , whi ch had been

t he wr eck,1d on t h e short a on:e d i stanc3· of f , having been put over gar den i;,at o . aaes and even of s t ageIn those days t h ~ stop page of ca rr i ..... • I c a nnot fo r get our c~ach ea , by hi ghwaymen was by no means r are , t~rror '>n t hat wi n t e r ,to•1rney to Dublin , as we appr oa ch ed Dunleer , t;h "reAbout, e the exploi t s of a ro bber named Col l i er were we ll known ; "nil li.f7a t n

wi t h i n ,.,hi ch t r., , y r San of wall ed itvi the r a we ~aseed we we r e i nstructed rep~rted t o hidethems e lvee .

-~ , !l&t t o do a n d s?y in c a se "f attack.

But ala s ! f or the ~resent nter st of my r e'"i n iscenc e s, ,ve 'Vera n t I ever sopped , and "I have no ~he next great chrnge i n ,:orY to tell" . our jour n~ys was giving 0, the cPrri "' ite h oroas a nd h aving -posters, which d ivi· ded t he journey , r n t h e earlier period the ileepiM e t Dun) eer or Ca st 1 ebeJlin<>ham. ~ •turnso it" f r om the inn yards were b eyond mes.sure ludi c r ous .

:usa

:d ev·orth ' s d e a c ,•i ption in, I think , n-·nnui" was by no means

exaggere ted .

I h Pv e s een the postil1ions or oost- c oy s of ten with

straw roue s r ou n::I. t h eir leg s .

But t h e r Ate of travelling was not

ces:>ic.;ble consi derin P' the we i p,ht of the loaded vehicle nnrl. t h e sta te

o~ t he roa n.a;

r nd orov lded a l ways t hat we were not stopped to tie

t~e hnness tOP'f" ther with t wine or to 11ave a elloe re pl aced at a forge .

Y~t c o-ppri n R the five Irish r.11les an hour , without t hese

lccidenta , ·,1 t h tlie whirl now i n three h ours fro m Dublin to Port adown , it is eaay to believe that h a l f a c entury of time has Passed in the i nterval .

It is worthy of note that the beggo.rs at

the inn do or s , espe cially at Drogheda , were l eg ion •

Two wa.i tere

·lli!d - oft en t o bully a nd buffet them to make a passage fo r ue to the carriage.

They were vociferous beyond be li ef , praying or cursing l itty ae i mper tinent . n th0 most extraordina ry phrases, and often a s w t t be for gotten in The g~r e r n l h e bitune of intoxication mue no n the century, a.nd to this t h e · ..., r ecoll ec tlone of the beginning of bonus of a. dram to a ll comers' •beAn • ce of e tronp beer and the collll'llon cour se t ended. sober servants . tn1 I r unner s " , n a the phrfla8 ~ t' of

1.5 6 ,

-~

,rere sctircely looked for, a nd if they were but quiet in their cups or did not a ll vet drunk at once, th

e infliction wae endured .

I

re ~1ember a certfl in coachman named Bl oomf ield, who "'as condemned and pardoned Bt

least once a quarter for seven long years; yet there

wos no security f or horse , c a rri age or passenger when he went out; to n!' rt vti t h him and get anothe r -:ms more like1 y to prove a change

of hands than of ryrac tice, which , as he was n first-rate coachman "hen sober , wo uld have been a direct lose .

It nas a co!IIT!lon custom

for guests to s end to inquire if their coachman was sober before

they started home .

This was l'(Uite a chance, a s the s81'le hospitality

was soin~ on in the hal 1 as in the -narlour .

I have heard the answer

given , " He is steady enoup;h to drive, and you have no ditches on yo:ir road , " or, Ro·

11

•1e is not very bad, and the foot1ue.n is sober l "

could this "be othe r \7ise whe n the custom of drin'kinp, 'Pea E:S

CO"il..on amon p:st the educ a ted?

It wns the common practice at dinner - ]j)arti es for t he geetlemen to s i t to e~ver. and twelve o 'clock over the i r wine .

Vihen six

o' c loclr vms the very late st dinner- h our this was no triflinv. ti me for li bations as deep a s long.

this way, &nd he was laur,hed at

Sl.·r Capel could not *1ake ~ ine in

for hie early wish to join the

his wine , and when he knew i,owever, he WP S not stingy 0 f d to ask so1,,e famili a r friend he hr,d thirsty souls to s a tisfy he use l cdies .

t o rct fo 11im and c a lJ for wine, and very commonly he had gone to

IJr

eared in the drawing- room, bod before the last of his gues ta app I remember the gentlemen gener a lly th"y ,1pp~nr :<1 at a l l .

1. ·

f

f:.Votd 1n17 t"'le ladies o.l top.ether' ,md go irw f rom the table to their

I !j"1 _

carri n,es , n serv ant discr eet·1 y whisp ering the feet to the wive s . ~otl yet thes e "len woul d disc harg e a serv ant next day l"i thou t a onar acte r if they ".>rov ed tips y on the s ame occa sion!

At t l-ieae dinre r pcrt ies p ort and rr.ade ira., hand ed roun ~, then sher ry , were

tne table wine s; champagn e r a rely .

The ligh ter Rhine ,vine s were

scr-r rely }(-no· -n; · ·ten r ive11 , each flnti every kind w~s ce l led h ock.

Punch , i;.s such , was scer cely known at such a table as Sir Cape l ' a .

I do not r er·em ber ,1ver to have seen it .

A liquo r cl-ies t wt 8 ahvays

on the side - tabl e, ~wd occa sionp .lJy nut on the tabl,e ; and the nativ e then m:- de its ap-pe a.ran c e with cher ry bran dy , shrub , and a mixtu re calle d n ine - appl e rlli'l.

Clar et cras the afte r - dinn er wine , exce pt for the ''old hand s" or hard head s who dran k port by the bott le .

'J.y uncl e Conn ell O1 :)onn e ll and z:;any othe rs, I r e'lleM bor , ~ took

less t ha n a bott le . pr ev ious nirrht

WF 6

The butl er's liot s of ,,ine consu r-,ed the fo r mida ble .

Earl y a ccus to~.ed to "do clerk " for

my aunt , I well reme mber the wine tick e ta; ei r ht ~nd ten bott les of

port not an unus ual entr y afte r a dinn er-p arty. =ut in refe rrin ~ to thes e pota tiona at even so qui et a table

ae thn t of G&.et 1 e Di 11011 we r.;ust not nass over the wit whl:c h acco"1)rni en them , and I can reme mber the f low of anec dote , repa rtee ~ e,n., Quot ntio n whic h even befo re t h e ladie s left t '1e ro om see:?:,,e d to say "seen ed,. boce. use I am refe rring to 1 I c r.!.Ilie in o.t dess ert' o.s well as when th'l 0l'Y" of rrry chi 1d,10 od ..,·_~en • "I crr, 1to sit c..t the tabl e . Sir Cape l was an exce llent cl"as sical &ch'>11Jr a.nd u p reat Uora tian , quot ing hi rn on ever y poss ible occa sion ; enliv en thes e -par ties .

I !:,7ij_

- Y,,..

h f easte . I reme·,1ber , when sue I wee so a1 ..all a. b• i np- thnt Sir Cnpel would "'ush back his chair and ,., put ,e st:mding on his knee, that he once s a id I s hou l d so ~Lve a c o-'"on n toeet to tlie COMpany ( toasts being t'nen ... pr actice) , and wu..

and, of course , these came often a t

holrlinp: i n

Y little ha nd a bumper glass of claret , he nror,pted me

to any , " Love a nd wine on a pretty boy • 8 knee . "

\ nnt •nakea me

remember this so accure.teJy ( and I d o re1·1ember the very frock I wore and t'1e in'ivinuf'ls who ,ver<? op"looite to me) was tha.t lPdy Liffor d , or.e of the <tue stl:' (wife of t h e Dean of A!'ma.gh) , when the lei.dies

witl dr e·., , to l d r-e I had said such a '.'licked thing a nd I ,110.s never to

say it P fHl in •

I do thlnk I tried to remember it the mo re for this,

end that my t..'Ood aunt next do.y lectured her lord in my hear i np about

it , till he ~ot nngry anr went out of t he ro om, ao usual clapni~ the doo!' as a eign of disp leasure.

Ah, there is more wisdom io the

say l nq, "~11.asez, Mai s n'appuyez pas ," than half the worl d think1.:1.

:r111 not such a fuss been made about this little inci dert , &.rising f ro"! a li ttle Hor a ti. a.n after- d inner excitement on Si r Capal ' a part , I ehou l d rot now r eci:11 i t a t the end of near sixty year e .

Soc- i ety seemed to· "lie much merrier then - not coerse me rri ment , fo r Cir <J · pe l was or;e of the most refined -of men; but a sort of hearty enj oy , nt that (I hone I do not exce~d the limits of femi nine Pr onrie ty in sayinll) may hav e a connec ti on with "the bottle" which

h rot ll'iJliri:rly acknowledged ,

Physically .and -physiologically wine

la h etimu l ~nt; and wit eeems to me a very natural result , and

-~I hf•Ve often thourht th~ t now this cty1 ,, of 10r-t,

AOC i ety

h@s so much pasoed r·way ' it mipht not be time

to co l 1 f'Ct the best S"'ecirnens of Dr i nki ng Son(ls ,

I 00 beli eve

there .i.,•ht be found f':lonrrst theu s entir:ents a s ~ . fee lings as • ~ pc th"t1·c 110 uld 5

· c i: a ever stirred th1c hu!:1a n soul . I ·r1· nci-o)..!s r s n'·tr1·ot1 "

n::it dare to \•-rite this -nut that once, wh en less nrudent, I

;,id this in coz:101i ny, -rnd ·,ias supnorted by a clergymo n , who , with a

goJcl

1,emory, was nble to repeat son1<e with the names of the authors,

an-i ,,.ho ,

he vin,? ~o· lc d '<'e of th,, t ,vo gerierat i ons , gave his opini on

ir, fr:.VQUr of the ,,r.-.oter "Uri ty of those who loved wfre for the wit I do think much thnt is inte resting

~le~ "suArkled in the Plass . "

mi f!ht te ir1 cl\1 dcd in a survey of t he convi vic1 li ty of those days when

'"en lin,,.erec. "over their bottle" .

I do no t kno\• ,..-hat has repl aced

it, ~nd I ~o not celieve th~t t~ere could be , as a gener al rule , the sa.tre 1it v ithout the wi ne . quite a nother conre iderl'ltion . n~v?

Whether it - the •1it - coot too dear is Is the world one vrhi t more virtuous

In this and Pll things t he svi:rage i s pret t y much a like .

To return to my recollections .

"llen t h ere TTere no guests ,

Sir CP~e1' being fond of c 11J oren, I wae very often loft \,i th, or I was a very rai;l,er sent to hirr to t he dlning- room after dinner . rleJil"r~e chUd and ::: do bel i eve the hoJf-gl a es of wine ho used to tel1) was of infinite service Rivet~ (•ith due injunctions not to due ,..,.,. defence of ··,ine P.nd wi tl '·~ to t'• h~v 1 th . Perl,PT>O t-0 this i s t aste A.nd of what \vaa then considere lie ,•r·e fl , r,.n of p.r eet )1terary e of authors and paintere a nd m tel' o t 'Tort tr~vela , he used

- W-

•.•. triots o nd the -orlr of ' ind , '1ior ,. the s un ahon ~ i n the Ital y ' p he had pns:;ed nny drys .

--"erd ,e c ertai nly awoke 1· r· r•e o.~- api.r i t '" of tr,qulrY' and I Hm now s ur e he t .1 l ked to i:ie i n the fulness of h is

hear+ , hnvit1E' no one t o eymp; thise VI ith hir11 i n these sub,jects .

For ,

as he ..,_rter wr·rds sai d to Me , ny 0 11r runt i 8 the be at ,vor..an i n the

,orl ~,

.y deer

fo.rf"c ry , but shP does not c ar e for t hese thi.n zs , and

,as br oud1t up in Connau,r:i:ht . "

Thus i t was that I loverl the aunt i e

for -ill that wa s l ovi ng and k i nd, but

r looke ci upon Si r Cap l '" s t o

me , it least , the wi t n ess of a n unknown worl d , where 6 11 was •.us ic snd 11 int inp: e nd -poetr y and .l ee.rninp: ; and I longed to see i.nd to

hear cnn to t hinlr. wl +,h other s .

I could not in rr,y earJ.ier years eati.1,,ate the extre:"le ocl,li ty of Sir CPpcl.

Ht1 wi:: s e· i.n~nt]y 1:1.n eccentri c charact er .

~ro

his birth

•·1rt s011e "eoJJe called c r 1J.cked, b11t thl:lre v,a.s nothinp: lnsr u e abou t · 1.,,

·ie d istingui .s'ltid hi ~se1f

he ', s a fre uent nr i '!:e Man.

et school cmd coJli>p.e , r.t t:,e la.ttar

He was sent nfterwa.r ds to t !1e then

ce 1<::1 r.: t ..v: 1\c~ cle''IV of ':'urtn nnd there his nvtural taste fo r the fi nt::l I us e the ter n , not to say "cu1tiva te1"; cr~n r'r Jw ir to :rn appoti t e . for nnti i fl wouln : ve mnde h i ra a rol)d nua i cian or r> -pe i nter . . ..i s 1

e&r

11

«s l , e rfect rmc1 he c ould not dr ::i1.7 e str t•i.rrht l i ne .

1

ut he

~preclat ed lnth nrts a n d FOt a croneral knowledg e of their best effects .

He J ia rned to -,l ay th!3 vi oHn , hri.d cons i.der;,ble executi on ,

,

dP.,tac t t he absenc e of a ccordanc e

goo~ tirreiot , but nev e r c ou d l the prey of a l l the concertlr • f.O ltid; yet h e vtfa S n fanati c , a n c He va l ued t he n,us i c more t ha n the 'b ~!'8 und r 0 r '3 ip;n rou etcia ns .

16 I

p ,j,r rr:Cl! of it .

Flo fr VO'.l" i

trstru . r,tnl , ·n•.I '.nn i l goven tine,

'i ni-

:H"

'l!' e o H It• Jin. co

oaerr for

,.. 0 ,.. ,, 0 c,., ; 1 llll' T ·I•)11 r ,1 .,,.,.e,.

• ..,_

" l ' ifft t '1a ,

or: the vi 1 : n

,.,, . y ,. tl ,., ,, e,, O

r

our

.11.J,

ie 'Olm.a pntts or t.he l utttar , he

1·

4 1 n.enir, , ,,,) '"''.lUld g t li.~,c :..

rndel ~te ~l-i~e - dee la r~ ho coul d nftt ., ·11.· v -R he:.rd hi her

;iti·t

us ic J cone.}, t i 1ns 1t, heuv,m .

o l ,. ic· J p· ,~ ~l a ,

I :-1c vc 0,1 en hi

i.Jy

'• Sl

11 ,1 es" t.'ic : btrnt1 ce '>f t~1e or?' n :)f

tur,e '11P s

:r ; · t -p:i ... r :.H' tJ t

~.i·· t o

'h ,l, in "a<Jd • l d tf; it, · 1 :1 "

lay the violin f ro·.i tht! hm<llnc - 111, ce of .. l urge atdrcbt'l · , l.e ou d put ,

ch-i r on o. 1,11' 1 ,: ,,n,! or. '"c.· t

for ti·o hour& et•

.i~• ·.,::ick , , 1 l

or.! ·,itl, t: 3 e:r ent,~c· ,\e 1 i pht urd

1:..y f''-'"-Y

t.tl. r l!r er:ti.l:;,jf!

exoc tio11 , but t},c- vi.r,H 1 r:v F ro llt.tcr1y ·1ut of tui.e tl.:~t '!.l.· v ?r \' i, . ~ .

n ~ rcr .. i

f r o• tl1,. sou113 .

cic-~ , frr Lie fctrer , 'l\lbO

.a10

::~rnic~ l -noei o11 C06 t hira

.~,r. ,.t tm· 'v lr,i:;e11ci1)l o t o tile

re for in, , cro 1l f 1: r" ' r,;i. l terl or J 1 1:.tl ~r,rr>r,rol" f , 0,

r -c ~

"'

£

r t.· , ,r,d

sl;e ep fE?.ttcr,crl ':-

at h i o e l d~•t Hor bei L· ~rov~~ad L -

:1 'c' l "'r, ar,d t hor/3 ',7u8 not .:ny dot"t' +. hi.a fc.t :.;;r

·d ~rom , iL f :>r h i s

l ust cn i

nn:: ot °'ler e ccartriciti e e .

t B1> tll, he offe r ed t? · fter . ir t; £pe 1 ' r; :1:,r ri"'ge , •rper, a 1 ioh ro emoue f a ·itz, ~nn~e t _ ,.. nl 1 1.c r oo1 e e.r,-u i r,l\ I: tl: to be Jt)f t t o t he r,udience . Lady • 1 Tl 1 int, • , fo r £ 1 o, the dee ,e on

-~,,1ch sfr r.itd of tbe effect

of ~ 1ie on h ie father t ~4 t

7~,c~~tz £50 to decJlne the c ont est •,1thout ·

. .

P r aeon. g1vlr.q

The st0riee of Sir G•ne l BDct ½it violin uere 9Ddl ese . +:, at · 1hE>n ()bli u")d to 1 eeve town dur;nfl' o is co11rtet1i p ,

r.e r-'rt l1is v 1 0lin to be de".>ol'i.ted iurt n" " his r>bsence in that •rrllr 1Hum of i r>1 oc -,nce, 1iss O' Donnel l' i:, o·m bod- cho!,berl" itl-1 rl 1 1-,_i.s °C"entrlc1 tiee he ,.,:, c; i.r: ,~an:v ros ,:~ctu 'Jf hig:i

EUpe---io rity of c_crDntnr, n r!an r,f thP- h i i:-'1~st honour i·r~ c~1fri ty,

a n:o<>t c--,urtcn•J"' rr~"'tleman (he,rinp.; "the 11r r-ces"

1

she called that

dernterl rA t r i o+ i n a :,erioct of •mb1ushlng corruoti.on .

:re ·ms ·•

fi.ret - r"+e ;,,ttn f'Chol,r •1ith v.rect clcse~ic"J tueto , but he ne v e r

, tt,,ired ... o a res..,ectabJ o "OGLtio1 ii. "laLlie• nti.cr. .

'lhi u '-'Uf:l th9

ore

sci"'rtif ic ttt., im cr tr, ·but to t.i.m dei:;conded th,: ir J ove of luLrninu ,

~

ibertv n r~ ~f country.

Si r Cr~el v ery evrl y rd6pted tne

priisci J es ot r.ivi l P.ntJ. .celir:ious liberty , r-nc therefore sup· ·orted

the Urthol i c cl , i.r,~ .

He 11 rd "been a str ong r. nti-Unionis t, (Ind afte r

1 hi~ r creosi n ir J797 to h io estate . he engaied tn ~ conteste But he weo defeated elect icr, to ai ve h is v o te a(lninst the mee.sure .

b:, Col onf! l

co~,c , ,..ho v!a.e aup-ported by r, 0 vernment inf lucr!ce; and Sir

r. ,n:iaJ h~rl orly +h• t a ntalieinp- satiofactio n

°f Q~ itting i n the House hi h had been ~re sente

' ccorrttnv to Irish c ustom until the -petition v,

c

·

·,

-~ ogd n 6t thv .1•. etur n waa u i. O'P 'i sed of . 1

lie wao a met.1ber of t he bef ore poll ttc 1.l l,ody ',uiown o.c the Un ited I ri shr.:en i t beolime a disaf fu c t e d body to the "" rown nnd when i t includ e d 1.· 11 its ~embers

ouch m..:n

llb

tlie . w n. Ge orge 1:n ox, cto.

'!'he obj ect eeeme to have

beer. to raise Ire land to t he s a r.e 1 ev e 1 ? ol itical l y a s ~ngla.n d.

c.,rtes , Si r Cap el had no r ebelli ous int ent i ons , and I rol!Jem'ter hie t Ll l i ng that o.f te r oever a l meeting s of viol ~nt d iss ension , a wellktio·~n .:1-31.:.:be r c ul 1 ed by t he strong e name of Fapper '. ndy r os e and

decla red it ·ya o ch ild' c; -pl &y s p endi ng night af t e r r.i ght in t1:1.l k , end t hat the timu wo.o co111t! to t hrow away t he scabbar d; "On wllicl1" ,

ijni d Sir Ci,oe l ,

11

I t ilour ht the tin:e was come f or me to looic f or m;y

bat , ;;,.r.d :u1v lng f oun d it I r e tired and n ever a.gain a ttende d a 18.ny of t h e membe rs b ec ume involv ed in the rebell ion

meetin g" .

wlich ooor, f o l lowed , and \7hich undou btedly pr ec ipita ted the Union; und an assoc i a ti on u hlch certai nly began in patri otic effort s for

const i tuti onal ri i:;hta was sca ttered , a n d its membe rs , h owt3ve r loyal i nd iviriu e.1 1y ,

·o'3 0 EL>'DB

ob ject s of ou ep io i on.

Sir t; apel nevt3 r f o•1ght

su:r of t n oae vho s a zeal ha.d carr ied t h em too f a r, ao

80

°"Jany did ;

8 genero us r...ud ,•i,~atcv 1:1c tho r o.nk of the indi vid ua l h o gave them at tho ·risk of )ereon al ·t ~ i.c 1 ) ;l odg l!: .,mt of fo r oer 1 rat ern1 Y even

Tho horro * of the r abolli on were followed b y t he d c ir Cape l was so dlsgus t~d .., n a , Union 00 r r u tion \fili a l, oe cured the

C')

l !'O

lau .

the h ·""i ght of the Un ion 99 ' 1 ncoun 17 tyvArma.gh caused by T~is oJecti on wa s in ~o nt r overe y , to fill the 1 vocantYtt~ e rldom of Ch arlemo nt . ~ r d Cl ulfei ld' e oucce so on 1

°

d, 1 'ho

~-0" i

\'irer era]

·•t v .

iTe Cf'"rien thi o so fnr thnt ·,her. the, .Jul-e of

·ur rnnct , h••· r i.rr; of S ir C:nn,. 1 • ,1 ~

8r Yi0"" to lo I ' \ ' C• . dir.t•er , , c

!'IC 1. t :,

'

~n j

: . ecc,;ii tr1c ni;!'rncabi 1 i ty , b c:, e

l • "vu :r-,., 1 etiquette , inv i t0tl ui•

1vo1·

ref•i sr 1 d i -ec t to the :)uke .

tl,e :1,11-, tc, itv>i<i Ln d y tote Jl y f<J r r-o t

'

'

•

to

"hiu he wrot~ at.

th at he voul ,J no, .rd thus ' e ent r'!P ,.

'1eo 1

t at. l ,, P.1oul_11 :11, ve ·1rlrlrcsP-ecl the .\. :). C. R•

• r o lfl':·1t. 11p ir, a. :1:,i1~~ ,·,> erft Iri sh fee l'in17 'irudo.inftd d, jl1tri0 ti sm · ~·i i· t h e r·1l i n~ u1-1s~hn , rno. r,o soon pfte r

.1ere

;:,c Uni.or. thnt

E.lJ i.ts r itter111rn3 WR!i' sti l l freAh , tt is not to le ;-;ono.e:r.rl t1at I

l tb a ho rrn r 0f

1rre1V up

'pl "0" er , n'i

n,:,-1 i sh r t1 1e F>no. in,jul'tice, ,nirl t. 10•,v,,t

e r: s~nne rs" ·:ere l,P.trryers of the ir c ountry.

lone- , ..,.t·orP. Ce lt i c flY~">it.hi~ e .

t'l1is was

Sir C1-oe l , ·~he n r.e r soJvad 1ot to

fol lo·v tre c.romi to - n,.l•ncl , a.do'!lt ed for his :~otto ·;:,atrioe i nfe li cl firitll l, ,

r11,i

,•r 9 !:'r.erl h i. a serv·•nti:i in ,,.,hit e ann g~ec.?n , inatea.lt of

nily co lour~ nnrl r.tott o .

his f

He &l "llYB suu~orted Catholi c clai ms ,

atter.ied t :~e ~e r1 i est r-1.,:i:gresrn.te meet inp;s , and coroeide r ,~1 t unt t he Cathol i c p- rty \·i3-s 1 urea into support of t be Uni )D by t 11e inf.:i renfb

Protiie-3 of erurnci.pr.ti or .

I .recall rliatlr,ct l y , whe n ,1e used to

att nd EJ.f·t:tr~i ·, ta :nePt i.n,ra f!.nci suer li1re pol itic a l -,n t herir p-o , h e 0

'lrr~io r i r . t i ~ n· i.e 'lf O' Conn e l l u.a a. youni;, b:. rl'is t~r

G11ch 'l.'1'!l the

":Y '.l'J!'T

11; eter

"'~10

gave h i gh

ho\ire nr-d fortune who took me fr om Of t 'ie '

eo·J. rr.1 with ,,hol"l ry rlea tiny \"OS Jn rl y

CF st .

- 2:14--

·r11e 1ntt.er vei rs of •·>i r Cnpel, 8 1ife ·~e,.~ - spent 2rtirely in S o· e i ,ier th t ;Pst J ~ 'Ji 11 on n 1· rl ~t ::,uu1 .tr • 11 ,,

eunt , cn,1 ~1 0 ·e offcrc,. t"r-en a t Genera l ir.c'•1r-e

;_ ~ to

fi fl1Y i ?:

F.f! l ,

'll"-1 iri,

'er i nr. Sq u"r~

1111re • •-,1.th -.y

'o J yneux, c ornbiner to

th,, fnrni. ture , r fl' ove the boolq:, ·~here lie r erten f r orr: Sir

~-

Pn<l settle

'..::.h:w t 1 e 1ouee in

"i.cn h;,d bel onred to the T:>rl s of ,.ntri r, .l

'!'o"'r rt11:1 the c l o~E" of h i1:1 life he ap-oeered litt J e Rbro nd , end after LACY

:.' s de;,tr, re~·A lned in h is two roome-; not f rom illness , but

fro

clio 1 i'\ce to sub, it

vrri.1,io wr,ye .

t_0

the a ss istirnce which age raouire<l in

He (l~ slil<ed mucb f11rnilture, had hio bed in the

r.:idrl le of Pie ro<)!lt , r nd nothinP' c oulrl look to othe rr r are wretchedly

unco r.1o rtrbl0 . rn111: rl ,

Te rle1iR"hted in 1lom,rth ,

hose uri nts "'ere hunp:

U,e on~· ner-rest to h i r b einr- chonred daily .

I often t ho ·rht

hov; Hop.r rth ' .., :1err U . ,·•oulrl hrwe sketched the orl 'ities of t. he ~sn rPd h lP -oo~P .

m~us he cont.inued his various r eadinv : the Dooks he

hnr! 1 een re<Jtli ng tlrn r>veni n{" before the par a lytic seizure which

8 ccr,· ierl h i r off,7~ few rl"YG were a folio Virp:il an<l -;rr srnus ' ~·o 1 1y"; h i s cl r•sslcal tt1ater, fol lo ·11 F: ni.r t o the ver"e nd th irty 1'ow , nenr the close of .,,,y own life, f i.ve f, ot tie f't' !" V,3 .

"?r· i11e ~f

Yer i's · 1 T,er ttte dePth of

"',·,ir Cft,-nel, 2 I l ook bock on him n s the most .,.,

1 . 0'7 3:71 1rnrl 34 'terrion Square , :North .

C"ul fei1d , tne a.utho r of tnis ·r 2 Cir v p~J ri ied i n 18:52 ; ,rs . .. a1ret.ch , i r. 1878.

-~~~.:. ortlir.,_r y 8

. ctlc ' JU~

c 1ar, et ,r I evnr 1Jet.

:fonour, CQHctPi..y , @;tn.crostty ,

I i ..l ,iee-p c11: l' l '.y , '111 ex:istorl , '·th i ucl. le, n1ir;nt·

cor:ai ies·: l, 1 c taste .

' 1 1)r in 1:0 u tr, 1 g u ;,. ut all pu·,, to,.et

dt:, ( 'lr.tl : u i '1 ,tt1 ?111,; to· l)" r i.n e arly 1 tft.l , ti11 i, i.e · !.lG r..oot ecc.:ntric , Yl't ·1lw.-, y s cee ' ,!cted 11nrl l'tlA')ect; bld .

The f, ult of hie

cl,n"ct.,Jr ,rnu , : ;- 1ini-- , ~llr>t he ·.~1,s vin<lic'",i. ve , 1..r1l he c1Jrt· in l y cprricd to t.1w 1 t c t t.:,tl ' ,e,..•()ry of tri.f J ,rn th, 1, ha.' off ..:n l·.ld h i ·n in

"TT" • 1 '" ~-- ..., T ('. .,,J,......, l ,n11':t.'

J..J.ti. \..., u.T\-'

cl ' :1nd s on of JF mes d .lf e 11 , l ,,.

J of t,:b; rltH 01.t , ar, , , Ilonbl e . Henry Cr-u ., o,,. tl1e .i1e \ ·tc,n• 3r d ·,a rl cr,J 5 th i • ~a,.\ll e i. 1 ' , 4th vi_scount a.~d , ,,t:1 ,-,_c nf J· ••riri o ,o1yneux Cnu e '

ir J·r

Vinc riunt .

0

. ·~o IIonblo • .Mt.s ,1 c • • • au1rmld,.

Author uant od of "Th. s..;111.L Far or ' s Gll2.de 11 , etc . o~cCot tago~ ' s.Fr iond11 , and i'ro,1 Authentic Sources by .iat ~llm1 r\.twuno.eh: Far ;irco . Hy copy boar s th ' . ·. ·" eh, Dub.Lin , 103~, lt- LlO . ii + r.:Ju 11 "A . Charle ont , and I have boon t~l~a-~~ of ~ roi:aer 011nor, e aut hor l e s& .( ony,_ous .

lt~;ea.

Ar 1n.r;h.

A,H, T.

(Irish Boole Lover , d--ted J uno 1911, Val.II, no . 11, pp . l 8l-182 ) .

".1ichacl r\.Llv anagh11 (Vol . II, p. 181) w1s one of th( cnnru.,os of Hon • .irs: Caulfeild of iloc•~lcy: Co . Ar 1a ~11. Sh~ ,ras a cloven· wo. an anc.,. a koon oo!i ticlm, the duu, ;htor of Doduoll llro•no, Esq . , and ,n.othor of J tmcs , last Earl ~;f Charl o,.10nt so tl1o i'or1101• o,mcr of t he book i n quest ion uas hor daughtcr-ln lau, Annu, Cotmtcss of Charlemont . Another lit lo uork of her s was II A Hint to S..1all Far..iors , 11 Ar.:iaeh, 18r.:'.9 , undor tho 1H,oudonyu 11er of "Cunnir....• Isaac•! . The l a t e Lit ton Falkincr cO. l!>ilcd fro:., ;.rs. ti-rO ur~lclos which a.p11carcd in "The Monthl y R.,vicw, 11 June unr July, l '.)O3, re51)Gctivcl y , entitled, "Charlc,Jont 1foune !lc..1orics 11 , v1d " An Ul ster Squire in the Beien of Gcorr:c I V. " u id ~r <;atly lntrrcstc (i.c . Sir C )01 l·!Ol ynoux), uhich I underst 11 Lord t.o:::el>cry . "'.i'ho Cottager ' s :F'riend uas orir,:mally ,ubli5hed i, four qun.rtc.rly- purts, ':lricc 9d_. each , 0ctooor , 1831 - J ul y , 183~, pri nted by Fol ds and publi shed by \-I ~~ ~ . " Wakc1mn . Hai nly co1)osed of ext ract s f rom wcll- kno,m m i ter .. , it cont~drw uch ori<;inal uattor f ro;,.1 th~ editor ' s pen, and one article by Gcor ec Ensor of Ardr css , in his day, a vol u~inous paiaphlc t oc r .

A. C. V

Hon . l;rs. CaulfoiL.l (my cr andLlother ) u~s bor~~n,!~r !l 14th, 1801 , and cicd on t he 20th ~ct ~~tlnlg~!;ty nolitics. very clever wo,.ian and t ook a gr eat P d in pr imar y education, ~ d t he \Tolfaro of her She ua::; nuch int crcst~d 1~ f ~rmine 00 nnc. lndoetl in cvcryt h:i.ns tha. l, 11 0 of her t ravels i n S\ritzcr poor, r ncirrhbourn . t.:hc urot~t0 1~ !erc oft en both inter esting ~h t ,.,be ->ublinhcd anyt hi nr.

11....., and uol lnnd 7 and her le ~ ything t i:1t d1c 10ft ,·ould an.a ur.n.wln • Lut I clo not 0 :xco t what ~ ou mo\T of 7 .• or a Elinor M. Str ongc . . t:i.on he :mitaL.1.0 .1.·or )ul>lica

nf{

~~''t

LullybL'Elclr ' Co . Dublin.

'1

-f Tlw IIonble, Mrs. R. ca u1 r~ f~ o ~ th o ar tic ~e s ,,1en~ioned , on e ca tho rs th at Hr s . co.u.1.fcJ.ld wn.s ac qu :n nt ed w:i.th Tom Uo oro Lac1y r-iorgan Plu nk et ( a,d 1i cli cv od . in t'1<? 11 se rp en t" np cec h Emoet) o •C6nn ell and Th os . Dav:i.s . W:i.th Wm . &1 ' 1 Dr ien ith 0 she on torc1s of clo se in ti 1acy . In de ed on e of th e la st le tte rs ur i tte n by l1Ll on th e c vo of hi s mr ilc , ted 11 Rich..:iond Pr iso n Ju ly , 1849 '1 '70 .S to hu r . It co nc ludda 11 ce ase in a di st an t l a.nd to ro ca ll ,-,ies thu s: - I nhall th pl ea su re the re co lle cti on s of a fr ie nd sh ip ,,ih ich ha s las to d mo ro yo urs tha n eit he r of us ca re to rc c1wn . No r ui ll yo u ob jec t th at I sh ou ld ad d the ox1)r o ss io n of ,1y co nv ict io n th at if al l Ir i sh ;1cn uc rc ~i na to d by so nt iu en ts as i.1a tri ot ic as tho se of Mrs. Ca ulf eil d! :i.t \Tould no t n ,1 be .uy lo t to tra fa ith fu lly en de av ou red to se rvve rn c the Ocean fo r ha vin g e Ire lan d. - Ed .

ot

\Ta;

not

(Tl1c Iri r,h Dool,;: Lo ve r, Vol . II

, pa ge s 195- 19 6. ) •

NOTES FOR MEETING OF l'Hi

BIBLIOGRAf>HICAL SOCIETY OF IRELJW2 --

Saturday, May 31, 1928 Introduction to the exhibition of books apa manuscripts ill the Public Library of Armagh.

The traditiona l significanc e of Armagh in preChristian days no doubt influenced st. Patrick in his choice of it as the place of supreme importance in his mission.

According to the Annals he reached Armagh in

the year 444 A.D.

He soon secured sites for churches

and immediatel y began preparation s for the instruction of the young people of the area and so about the year 450 the first school of the new regime was opened.

Cultural

growth was gradual in the sixth and seventh centuries but by the end of the latter century the schools of Armagh were widely recognized .

The city and its amenities figure favourably in a poem attributed to Prince Alfrid, later King of the Northum.bri an Saxons, who about the year 684 is reputed to By the succeeds h ave been a pupil in one of i t s sch ool • ing century Armagh had acquired an enviable position but during the ninth and tenth centuries the city, its schoolS, h the raids of the throug greatly and churches suffered

'

Norsemen, whose repeated incursions resulted in the

~.

170

destruction of the scholastic

establishments and their books, and so alarmed foreign st d t u en s that they no longer came to study in the In those same numbers. centuries Armagh was plundered in 830 ' 867 , 890 , 919 The most important local specimen of penand 946. manship to survive those tragic days is th

e so-called Book of Armagh, compiled in one of the monastic houses of the city in the year 807 and one of the most precious of our Irish manuscripts, tbe only one indeed of early origin that can with certainty be dated.

It is our

source for the story of the contacts between Patrick and Daire, the then Prince of the district, the enclosing rings of whose entrenched abode are still traceable.

They provide visible reminders of Patrick's arrival in the mid-fifth century, to which era belongs the celebrated Patrick's Bell, one of two famous personal momentos linked for ever with hmagh.

Centuries later the Bell

had a shrine made for it by Donnell 0'Locblan, King of Ireland, during the Primacy of Donnell MacAuley, Archbishop of Armagh, by which inscription it can be dated as having been fashioned between the years 1091 and ll05.

The second, the venerated Bachal Isa, unfortunately no longer exists.

It was the most reno-wned ecclesiastical

relic in Ireland and remained in safe keeping in Armagh unt111179, in which year i

t was carried off to Dublin

i.

1

by a force of Anglo-Norman

s, there to be retai n ed untu b . the Refo rmati on when it was pu hcly burned in 1538. . .

Lear ning made stead y pr ogres s in the city in the Educ ation gaine d a fr h eleve nth centu ry. es impet us in the 12th centu ry when the amendment of the Irish church was insp ired by St. Malachy, a famous Armachian the site of whos e birth place bears a commemorative table t.

'

He was born in the city in 1095 and died 1148 ,

Two othe r Arch bisho ps of Armagh, St. Celsu s and st.

Concord, were also of local extra ction and educa ted like St. Mala chy in our city schoo ls.

In those

centu ries the scho ols of Armagh maint ained their natio nal impo rtanc e and were foste red by the kings of other prov inces besid es Ulste r - for insta nce, by the King of Muns ter in 907 and Rode rick O'Connor, High King of Irela nd, in 1169 , the latte r benef actio n being the last gran t made by a king of Irela nd towar ds educa tion It was not, howe ver, the last assis tance in the city. given by a loca l princ e for in 1387 Nial O'Ne ill, king of Ulst er, buil t a hoste l on the outsk irts of the city rned men i,bo found lea many the of for the accom moda tion in Armagh a spiri tual home.

1 siast ical Synod e ecc an at ed decre In 1162 it was tted to teach or publi cly i Perm that no per son shou ld be studi ed at Armagh, thus not lectu re on theol ogy who had

71

conferring on the scho ols of Ar magh pre-eminence over all the other schools of Ireland and confirming the citY in its claim to university status, That was but a few years before the Anglo-Normans conquest, by which the Irish monastic schools were at first little disturbed.

Their usefulness, however, diminished t hrough conflict between English and rr·ish op i nion on matters of education.

Such schools did not suffer

actual extinction until the dissolution of monasteries in 1537.

By that decree Ireland was left for a time

without any educational facilities vlhatever.

In 1558 Dr. George Dowdall, Archbishop of Armagh , petitioned Queen Mary as to the necessity for a university and schools and in 1583 in the reign of Elizabeth I a proposal was made to establish universities at Armagh and Limerick but Dublin eventually acquired the coveted prize.

The F.arl of Tyrone made a further attempt in 1599 but that was likewise unsuccessful.

During Elizabeth's

sovereignty endeavours were made to set up schools in the shire towns but nothing seems to have been he Plantation of Ulster. accomplished in Armagh until t In 1608 lands were granted by King James and set apart th8 various northern for the upkeep of free schools i n counties by ..mich the Royal School of Armagh, an

impor tant educ ation al establ ishme nt

-!:.

173. came into being

and still flour ishes .

The closin g years of th e eighte enth centur y brought tbe quest ion of a unive rsity at Annagh again to public noti ce.

h Lord Rokeb y, the then Archbi sop, bequeathed

a legacy towar ds its found ation having during hi s lif etime endowed a libra ry and observ atory as adjunc ts .

The scheme had, howev er, to be dropped becaus e of oppos ition from vario us sourc es.

An effort was made

in 181+5 to obtai n a Queen I s Colleg e for the city but though the gener al opinio n toward s the propos al was partia l to a colleg e at Armagh it was erecte d in Belfas t where it has s ince become t h e unive rsity of t he provin ce.

Schools and event s such as I have mentioned presume the neces sity of libra ries.

The first mention of such

an insti tutio n at Armagh occur s in the Annals in the year 1020, when the town was devas tated by a fire '«hich consumed the great stone church , the tower and its bells, the stone churc h of the Elect ions, the stone church of th Saval, the chari ot of the Abbot s and the books in e houses of the stude nts, with much gold and silver and excep tion in the genera l Only the other p recio us thing s Just \ihat that librar y y. librar catast rophe being the There is, however, contai ned we shall never know. ample evide nce that long previo us there had existe d at

~

Armagh a series of scribes whose chi f e monastic service seems to have been the multipli cation of b k 00 s.

Entries i and relating to them begin in 720 nc1ude great figures such as the compile r of the Book of Armagh, in itself merely a copy of an older original th a t was probably lost in one of the Norse raids.

The death of a celebrat ed librarian of Armagh is not ed in 1136 and an Armagh manuscri pt written in the following year is still preserve d.

That century,

however, saw the coming of the Anglo-Normans and the renewal of raids on the city almost as disastrou s as those suffered in the days of the Vikings.

Of the

state of the ancient library from that period down to the Reforma tion we have practica lly no knowledge.

There are in the present collectio ns a unique set of archiepis copal register s beginnin g in 1335 but they form part of the archiepi scopal records rather than library archives and cannot therefor e be considere d survivals f rom t he earlier library.

We are aware, of course, that the city was beginning rd th to decline before the Reforma tion and that afterwa s e o•Neills made the town There was still, study· of seat a barracks rather than a entury but we are utterly C 17th howver, a library in the From Friar o•Mellan ' s in the dark as to its contents . wars between the English and the

1

71t

'r.

,7r;,

accou nt of its destru ction on

e WouJ.d assume that it consi sted chief ly of Englis h th 1 eo ogical works - the d actual entry dated 6 May 1642 ' rea s as follow s: , "Armagh was burnt ; the cathe dral With its steepl e and ~ d with its bells , organ s and glass •...... n ows, and the whole city, with the fine librar y, .~th all the learne d ,..,_ books of the Engli sh on Divin ity, logic and philos ophy" .

We canno t even guess as to what perish ed then and not until over 120 years later was there any reviva l of litera ry amen ities in the city.

The libra ry of to-day owes its f ounda tion to Archbishop Robin son who was transl ated from Kildar e to Armagh in 1765.

Six years later, in 1771, he built

and endowed it namin g it the Public Librar y of Armagh and so that the scheme might have permanency obtain ed

by Act of Parlia ment a charte r of incorp oratio n under which it is still gover ned.

The origin al edific e was

design ed by Thomas Coole y, an archit ect not unlmown in It was enlarg ed in 1848 but the altera tions Dublin . harmo nize so well with the older work as to be scarce ly notice able.

The book colle ction is contai ns specim ens of early

an impor tant one and printi ng beside s some the gift of its

rather rare works , most of which were of Gulliv er's ti i on ed first a them st among r, founde

Tr av el s w it h an no ta ti on 'l( l'i tin g.

s in th e au th or 's ow ha

Th e m an us cr ip t co ll ec ti

grea te st tr ea su re of th

e li br ar y.

much m ed ie va l m at er ia l an th e 17 th an d 18 th ce

nd-

on is , however, th e It co ns is ts of

d many in te re st in g ite m s

of

nt ur ie s, some of which yo u w il l

have an op po rt un it y of in

sp ec ti ng la te r by pe rm is

of tb e K ee pe r, th e V er y R ev . th e Dean

of Armagh.

si on

117_ ~DUCATIONAL..._ The traditional signif · icance of Armagh in PreChri stian days no doubt infl uenced St . Patrick in his . choi ce o f it as the place of supreme importance in his Acco rding to the .Ann 1 mission . a s he reached Armagh in · the year l.t-44 A. D.

He soon secured sites for Churches

· t and i mmediately began preparations for thems ruction of the young p eople of the area, and so about the year

l.t-50 the first school of the new regime was opened.

Cultural g r owth was gradual in t he sixth and seventh centuries but by the end of the latter century the schools of Armagh were widely recognized .

The City and its amenities figure favourably in a po em written in 68!.t- by Prince Aldfrid, later King of t he Northumbrian Saxons, who is reputed to have been for a period a pupil in one of its schools .

By the succeeding

century Armagh had acquired an enviable position.

During the ninth and tenth centuries the city and its schools and churches suffered greatly through th e raids ·ncursions resulted in the of the Norsemen whose repeated l. dest ruct ion of the scholastic establishments and their books and

'

so alarmed foreign students that they no

longer came t o study in the same numbers . centuries Armagh was plundered in The only local manuscript

I n t hose

830 867 890 , 919 and

'

'

to survive those tragic days is the so-called Book of Armagh, compiled in one of the monasti c houses of the city in the year

807, and one of the most preciou s of our Irish manuscripts , the only one indeed of early origin t hat can with absolute certainty be dat ed.

It is our source for the story of

t he contacts between Patrick and Daire , the then Prince of the di strict, the enclosing rings of whose entrenched abode are still traceable, a visible reminder of Patrick' s arrival in the mid- fifth century , to which period belongs the celebrated Patrick ' s Bell, one of two famous personal reli cs of the saint linked for ever with Armagh .

Centuries later the Bell had a shrine made for it by Donnell o, Lo chlan , King of Ireland , during the Primacy of Donnell MacAuley, Archbishop of Armagh, by which inscriptio n it can be dated as having been fashioned The second relic, the between th e years 1091 and 1105. n longer exists . venerated Ba chal Isa, unfortunat e1 Y 0 1· in Ireland It was the most reno\-med ecclesiasti ca1 re ic in Armagh until 1179 in . keeping safe in rewained and . doff to Dublin by a force of which y ear it was carrie

Anglo-N ormans, there to be retained unt1·1 when it was publicly burned in 1538 • Learning made steady progress in

th e Reformation

the tenth century.

· In 1020 the Library of illrm l is mentioned in the Annals ag1 the first referenc e to such an·ins t itution in any city '

in Ireland .

Educatio n gained a fresh impetus in the 12th century when the amendment of the I rish church was

inspired by St . Malachy, a famous Armachian, the tradition al site of whose birthpla ce bears a commemorative tablet .

He wa s bor n in 1095 and died 1148.

Two other Archbishops

of Armagh, St . Celsus and St . Concord, were also of local ext r action and educated like St . Malachy in our city schools .

In those centurie s the schools of Armagh

~aintain ed their national importance and were fostered by the kings of other province s besides Ulster - for

instance by the King of Munster in 907 and Roderick latter bene01Conno r, High King o f Ireland l·n 1169, the de by a king of I reland faction being the last grant ma It was not , however ' the towards educatio n in the city . cal prince for in 1387 Nial lo a b Y given e last a ssistanc ilt a hostel on the outskirts 0 1 Heill, king of Ulster , bu any learned th em of the city for the accommodation of men who found in Armagh a spiritua l home .

~iio

I n 1162 it was decreed

t

a an ecclesiasti cal Synod t hat no p erson should be permitted t o teach or publicly l ecture on theology who had not studied at • "'rmagh, thus .

Armagh of schools the on conferring pre- eminence over all t h e oth er schools of Ireland and confirming the city Th i n its claim t o University status . at was but a few :' ears before the Anglo - Norman conquest, by which the I ri sh mona stic schools were at first little disturbed.

The i r usefuln ess, however, became gradually i mpaired through conflict between English and Irish opinion on natters o f e ducation .

Such schools did not suffer actual

extinction until the dissolution of monasteries in 1537 .

By that decree Ireland was left for a time without any educa tional facilities whatever .

In 1558 Dr. George Dowdall, Archbishop of Armagh, petit ioned Queen Mary as to the necessity for a university and s ch ools and in 1583 a proposal was made to est ablish unive rsities at Armagh and Limerick, but Dublin eventually secu red t h e coveted prize .

Ta e Earl of Tyrone ma de a further effort

but that was likewise unsuccessf ul.

in 1599

During queen

to establish schools Elizabeth I s reign efforts were made ·ng seems to have been i n th e sh ire tor.-ms but nothJ.

'~ I

a ccomplished i n Armagh. until

the Plantation of Ulst er .

In 1 60 8 lands were granted by King J am es and set apart for the up- keep of frees h 1 coos in the various northern . h counties by which the Royal School of A rmag, an important educational establishment, came into bei·ng and still flouris h es .

The closing years of the eighteenth century brought t he question of a university at Ar magh again to public notice .

Lord Rokeby , the then Archbishop, later

bequeathed a legacy towards its foundation having during hi s lifetime founded a library and observatory as adjuncts .

Tne p ropo sal h ad, however , to be dropped because of opposition from various sources chiefly Oxford and Cambridg e .

An attempt was made in 1845 to secure a

Queen I s College for the city but despite the general favourable opinion towards the proposal it was eventually erected in Belfast . ~....A.

From th e Annals events in the city ' s history may be compiled in diary fa shion but the entries are so f requent that only a f ew can be noticed. f I reland, was buried .

In 760 Flaghertach, King 0 t 1 hill and in 830 the th e cen ra in tne old graveyard on

citY wa s first plundered b Y the Norsemen.

I n 8lt6 ling t iall p erished in ad rowning a ccident in the River Callan, aft er having driven th v· k. e i i ngs from the city , He too was laid to rest in the regal cemetery.

Tl1ree y ear s later an important royal conference was held in the city.

In 880 Domnall O' Neill, King of Ireland

was laid to rest and exactly a century later Domnald ling of Ireland, was buried in the same cemetery.

'

'

In 1001+ Brian Boru, the most famous of the Irish kings , d eposited an offering of gold on the altar of the gr eat church of Armagh and t en years later following t he battl e of Clont arf his body was brought ba ck there to rest with the great company of saints, kings, philosophers and poets already interred in the sa cred ground round st .

Patri ck ' s church .

In 1022 Malachy MacDomnald, King of

I reland, was buried in the same place but Dervolg, wife of Ti r delvach, who died in 1151 was buried in the 13th century Franciscan Friary .

Five years later Turlough

the Great who founded a professor ship of Divinity in Armagh died . · s of the cit y burning and raids further T'.oere were . 1020 1072 and 1112.

1 , sin schoo and and its churches

I n 1126 th e anci ent Abbey of St , Peter

and St. Paul .

Chu rches and school s - again suffered in 1150 and 1164.

In 1166 Murr-ogh oi Loghlin , K.ing of .

Tyrone , wa s slain in battle south 0 f th e city and his body br ough t in for intermen t.

Four years later

was r ebuilt .

Gel a siu s, the then Archbish op held his celebrate d Armagh Synod at ,mich it was decreed that the Irish should no longer purchas e Englishmen f rom pirates and sell t hem as sl aves and at which it was ordered that all such bondsmen should be set free.

In 1179 Anglo-No rman f orces raided

the c it y and a gain in 1185.

In 1188 Donald, the son of

Hugh O1 Logh lin, King of Tyrone, was ki lled in an affray at Cavanaca w nearby and buried in Armagh .

In the follow-

ing year John de Courcy pillaged the city and in 1206 he was followe d by Hugh de Lacy.

In 1261 P atrick 0 ' Scanlon was appointe d Archbishop .

Tinre e ye a rs la t er h e began the erection

of the Francisca n

Friary of which substan tial ruins remai n.

In 1268 he

rebuilt t h e Great Church of Armagh incor porating within 'ld1·ng the site of three primitive his crucifor m- shaped bul T'n e walls of the present cathedra l are the cnurche s.

In 1315 Edward Bruce, brother . building that of shell

to h.ing Robert Bruce, invaded Ul t s er and wasted the See of Arillagh .

In 1348 th f e amous Richard Fitzralph co:n 1only called St . Richard of Du d ' n alk, became Archbishop .

In the opening years of -I-he n ext century the u cathedral was burned by accidental fire by which there

..

seeJ1 s to :1ave been a furthe r destruction in 144 .

9 ~~~~~

~ o~~~~

~~

~~,IIJ~*•

~~ ~ p-f ~

~~~ ~

~~~~ ,~~~~~: Ar:uagh is a mar ~rnt to,-m of some anti quity but the date of its first charter cannot now be ascertained .

Edward IV granted a charter to Archbishop Bole 9th February , 1467 , a document pre- supposing an earlier charter being , in fact, but a confirmation of the Archbishop ' s l egal right s with regard to a weekly market .

That char ter vas attested and inspected again 1st June, 1558 .

In 1511 t:1e town was again dest royed and in 1586 Sir John Perrott, the then Lord Deputy divided Ulster into ~ Armagh gave name to the county . shires by which the city 0.1. rant was passed on the petition In •; he following year a g viding the city with a Tuesday of the Earl of Tyrone Pro the famous Battle of the ar~et .

Eleven years later

~ellow Fo rd was fought in the immed· t ..

1.a e v1.c1.ni ty .

Ar~agh s uffered repeatedly in the wars between Eli zabeth and the OI Neills .

In 1609, following the f l i gat o f t h e Earls, an Inquis1.·t· - 1.on was taken in the ci t y iJhereby i t Has found that ''a weekly market had been h eld time out of mind 11 •

Four years later King

J ame s I gr anted the city a new charter by which the u1anagement of the tm-m was entrusted to a Sovereign and Bur ges ses and by virtue of that arrangement Armagh sent t wo rep re s entatives to serve in the I rish Parliament up to th e Union with Great Britain in 1800 and one to the I mp erial Pa rliament until 1872 .

The Tuesd ay market was confirmed to Archbishop Hamp t on and his successors in 1611+ with two f airs .

A

furthe r ")atent was issued fo r fairs and markets in 1620 .

In 1634 Archbishop Usher was granted an additional market on Satu r days with another fair , 1.2 the old Round Tower' the In the Civil War Of 16-t and the fine old Library cat ~ edral, its bells and organs ·me the Market House At the same tl. went up in fl ames .

-·f·ce became necessary in ',-1as damar ed so that a new eai 1. .

42 and completely rebuilt This was replaced in 17 1664.

~

l~6 .

i n 133 5.

al S h It is now the Tec hnic C 001 , -

Th e orig ina l Cor uor atio n lfac • es were lost in the • t r oubl e s o f 161+2 and uith them the Toi;-m Recor ds, but in 1557 dur ing the Comhlonwealth Per~...od n ew maces were pr o cure d .

The y surv ive with some volu mes of Corp orat ion

3eco r d s . ~ing James II diss olve d the Cor pora tion in 1688 and appo int ed a n ew Sov erei gn and Burg esse s but follo wing th e co.1 clu sion of h is War with the Prin ce of Orange :n e:nbe rs of t h e dep osed Corp orat ion were rein stat ed .

Du ring t i1e p erio d of the Wil liam ite Wars the City was It was h eld i n turn by the adh eren ts of both part ies . n the b eg i nnin g of the 18th cent ury befo re the city bega , to reco ver from the eve nts of 1641 - 42 and of 1688 - 1690 aced . but fro~ tnen onw ards prog ress may be more easi ly t r