A new perspective on James Malton’s Picturesque 

and Descriptive Views of the City of Dublin

By Dr. Conor Lucey of U.C.D.

19th November 2020

Dr Conor Lucey gave a fantastic talk on the engraver, watercolourist and draughtsman James Malton who is best known for his ‘Picturesque and Descriptive View of the City of Dublin’ – an outstanding series of 25 aquatint engravings initially published between 1792 and 1799.

Believed to have been born in London around 1760, he was the son of the architectural draughtsman Thomas Malton (1726-1801), and moved with his father to Dublin in 1785, where he worked as a draughtsman for the famous architect James Gandon who designed the Customs House (1781-91), the Four Courts (1786-95) and the King’s Inns (1795-1815). His tenure with Gandon was not a happy one, and Malton duly left to pursue his art.

In 1790 he exhibited two topographical landscapes at the Society of Artists in London, while at the same time working on his Dublin views. For each view, he produced a large-scale watercolour painting, followed by a drawing which was then printed using the etching and aquatint method which gives the work the look of a watercolour. Publication began in 1792 and continued until 1799 

Windsor House, Monkstown

By Philip Lecane

15th October 2019

 

Set against the history of the local area, Philip told  the stories of the people who lived in a local “Big House,” from the late 1700s up to today. Among the inhabitants of the house at different times were a brewer, a jeweler, a Quaker family who were actively involved in relief work during the Famine and a vintner family whose son was lost in the First World War. 

The McMahon Family Murders in Belfast 24 March 1922

By Norah Glynn

19th March 2019

Norah who gave this talk, is the grandniece of Owen MacMahon who was a publican in Belfast. At the time of the setting up of the Northern Ireland state certain people had plans to drive all Catholics out of the new state. Some of the leading men behind these plans set up ‘Cromwell Clubs’ to further this activity. Prominent members of the then RIC police force helped carry out the summary murder of innocent Catholics. The Mac Mahon family were singled out on 24 March 1922 after a RIC police officer was killed by the IRA. A group of men, some in police officers uniforms, broke into the Mac Mahons house on Kinnard Street. The men were rounded up into the dining room and the women and girls were locked into a back bedroom. Four of the family and the barman staying in the house were shot dead, two men were wounded, one later died of his wounds, one 11 year old son escaped by hiding under a table. These murders caused outrage at the time but the sectarian murders continued. Four hundred and fifty murders took place in a short period between July 1920 and July 1922, Three hundred and six were Catholics and one hundred and forty four Protestants. Let us hope that peace will prevail in this troubled part of our country and we treat everyone like we would like to be treated ourselves.

Alfie: The Life and Times of Alfie Byrne

By Trevor White

19th March 2019

  This is a rags-to-riches story of a man who was one of the ten most popular people in this country for over 30 years. It’s a life that deserves a movie. Born into poverty on the Northside of Dublin, this short, unassuming man reinvents himself as a dapper gent, a rich businessman, Lord Mayor of Dublin and the darling of Irish housewives. At one point he’s described by the press as a certainty to become the first President of Ireland. And just when the Presidency seems within his grasp, a backroom deal deprives him of the ultimate prize. He was at contemporary of James Joyce, and at one point they were in class together in the O’Connell Schools. He trained as a bicycle mechanic at the bottom of Dawson Street, across the road from Trinity College. He won the 1910 election for the Dublin Corporation, and soon developed a reputation as a champion of the poor and a man who got things done. Like many politicians, he had a habit of spreading good news before it became official, and he was often privy to the dealings of the Corporation. In 1915 he successfully ran for a seat as a Member of Parliament. Byrne opposed the Easter Rising; he spent much of Easter Week trying to stop looting in the shops of Dublin. In 1930 he was elected as the first Lord Mayor of Greater Dublin.  Byrne also retained the title of Lord Mayor – for the next nine years – during which the slums of Dublin were effectively cleared and 10,000 new homes were built. Like Batman, the Lord Mayor was first on the scene of every disaster; visitors to the Mansion House were each given a box of Alfie chocolates; and even when he said the wrong thing, it only added to his legendary reputation. On one occasion he promised to put shoes on the footless. An early case of foot in mouth. Byrne played the press better than any politician of his generation, and was soon known variously as Alfred the Great, King Alfred, the Shaking Hand of Dublin, and, eventually, the Lord Mayor of Ireland. In January 1956, six months after the end of his tenth term, Byrne was diagnosed with cancer; on 13 March, 1956, on the eve of his seventy-fourth birthday, Alderman Alfred Byrne, T.D, died at his home on Rathmines Road. His funeral was the largest seen in the capital for many years. And in death, as in life, he was hailed as the Lord Mayor of Ireland.

Horace Plunkett – his life and work and his Foxrock connection

By Declan Ryan

19th February 2019

Sir Horace Curzon Plunkett (24 October 1854 – 26 March 1932), was an Anglo-Irish agricultural reformer, pioneer of agricultural cooperatives, Unionist MP, supporter of Home Rule, Irish Senator and author.  Plunkett, a younger son of the Baron of Dunsany, was a member of the Congested Districts Board for Ireland for over 27 years, founder of the Recess Committee and the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society (IAOS), Vice-President (operational head) of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction (DATI) for Ireland (predecessor to the Department of Agriculture) from October 1899 to May 1907, MP for South Dublin in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1892 to 1900, and Chairman of the Irish Convention of 1917–18. An adherent of Home Rule, in 1919 he founded the Irish Dominion League, still aiming to keep Ireland united, and in 1922 he became a member of the first formation of Seanad Éireann, the upper chamber in the Parliament of the new Irish Free State. He lived on Westminister Road in Foxrock up to the time his house was burned in the Civil War.  

Richard Bridges Beechey – Naval Officer and Marine Artist 

By Cormac Lowth

19th February 2019

Richard Bridges Beechey (1808 – 14 March 1895) was an Anglo-Irish painter  and admiral in the Royal Navy. Beechey joined the Royal Navy at the age of 14, and eventually rose to the rank of admiral. Like his father and two of his brothers he was a celebrated painter, who illustrated various ports and naval scenes. After the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth, Beechey sailed in HMS Blossom, commanded by his brother Frederick William Beechey, into the Pacific, and then to the Bering Strait to attempt to support the Franklin Expedition. He was promoted lieutenant in 1828. Then he served in the Mediterranean, and in 1835 was seconded to a survey of Ireland. He was made commander in 1846, and then in 1851 was promoted captain. In 1879, long after the end of his active naval career, he was promoted to the rank of vice-admiral on the retired list. After his retirement from the Navy in 1864 he settled in Ireland, living for many years at Monkstown, and later in Pembroke Road, Dublin

THE ARMISTICE OF NOVEMBER 1918

By RONAN MC CREEVY 

20th NOVEMBER 2018

At 5 am on November 11th, 1918,  an armistice was signed between the Allied forces and Germany. The Great War was over.  The first place in the British Isles for want of a better expression which heard about the Armistice was Enniskillen. A radio operator in the town picked up a faint signal from the Eiffel Tower which was then a radio transmitter from Ferdinand Foch allied commander announcing the Armistice.  News of the Armistice spread across the battlefields of Europe. The 16th (Irish) Division, unrecognisable from the overwhelmingly Irish nationalist force it had been and with just one Irish battalion remaining, found itself at 11am on Armistice Day on the exact site of the Battle of Fontenoy where the Irish Brigade had distinguished itself in the services of the French in 1745. In Ireland, as elsewhere, the news was greeted with profound relief. “The feelings that had been pent up for some years were suddenly let loose and the whole city seemed to go mad with joy,” The Irish Times reported of how Dublin greeted the news.  By the afternoon, huge crowds had gathered from Sackville Street (O’Connell Street) to St Stephen’s Green. A group of students commandeered a hearse and put an effigy of the Kaiser in the back wrapped in a “Sinn Féin flag” (presumably a tricolour).Barely had the guns fallen silent though before the Armistice became contested memory. Republicans decided to stage a counter-demonstration in the middle of the reverie and fights broke out with ex-soldiers. There were no reports in other cities in Ireland of clashes.  Knots of people congregated in the streets discussing the welcome tidings which rapidly spread through the city.  It’s hard to look at the Irish media’s coverage of November 11^th and not wonder how in just over a month, the Irish public would turn to Sinn Féin, a party whose success in so many ways was down to Irish participation in the war. Armistice Day would go on being contentious. In 1924, an estimated 50,000 people turned out in College Green for the unveiling of the Guillemont Cross, which now stands outside the little French village captured by the 16th (Irish) Division in September 1916. As the years passed, memories of those who fought and died faded away. It was not until 1991 that an Irish president, in this case Mary Robinson, attended the Armistice Day commemoration service at St Patrick’s Cathedral in an official capacity.  Since then, there have been sincere attempts by successive governments to address what the historian FX Martin identified as the “national amnesia” regarding Ireland’s participation in the first World War. Here we are 100 years on. It seems the constant reminding by so many people has finally persuaded the President of Ireland to postpone his inauguration until the evening of the 11^th of November so people can commemorate the Armistice. We truly have come a long, long way. Ronan has written on this subject and his book is: Wherever the Firing Line Extends: Ireland and the Western Front

THE  ANGLO-NORMANS  AND  THEIR  IMPACT  ON  OUR  AREA

BY BRIAN MAC AONGUSA

16th OCTOBER 2018

In 1166 the banished king of Leinster Diarmait Mac Murchada sought permission from the king of England Henry II to recruit Anglo-Norman lords in South Wales to help him recover his position in Ireland. These lords, led by Richard Fitzgilbert later known as Strongbow, were encouraged by promises of new lands in Ireland. A large force led by Strongbow arrived in the South-East in 1170 and took control of the city of Waterford before marching north to take control of Dublin. Within a year, Henry II arrived in Ireland worried by Strongbow’s rapid ascent to power. While granting the kingdom of Leinster to Strongbow, he held control of the city of Dublin for himself. Much of the land to the south in the Gaelic kingdom of Cuala was retained by Henry II as a royal demense for hunting, extending from Bray to Glencree, Ballycorus and Kilternan. Land in South County Dublin was reserved for the Archbishop of Dublin and the European monastic orders established prior to the arrival of the Anglo-Normans. Unlike previous invaders, the Anglo-Normans quickly changed their emphasis from conquest to economic exploitation. Importing from England their own agricultural system based on the Norman manor and dependent village, they developed a mixture of arable and pastoral techniques. As a result, much of the landscape in our area was transformed. Countrywide woods were cleared, arable cultivation expanded, internal and foreign trade developed. Economic growth and prosperity ensued. Luckily, climatic conditions were in their favour, as a sustained period of warmer weather developed at the end of the 12^th century and during the 13^th century. The Anglo-Normans introduced new structures to the countryside, both domestic and defensive. The first primitive structure, known as a ‘motte-and-bailey’, consisted of a wooden tower built on top of a mound of raised earth surrounded by a fence. These elevated residences protected the small manorial farmsteads from threats by the dispossessed Irish clans living at the outer edges of the good lands taken from them by the invaders. From the 13^th century, the more powerful lords built large manorial houses with villages nearby. Locations of 7 Norman manorial centres have been identified at Rathfarnham, Balally, Kilternan, Cornelscourt, Kill-of-the-Grange, Kilgobbin and Dalkey. The complete reorganisation of Irish life and society by the Anglo-Normans was observed with great resentment by the dispossessed Gaelic clans of O’Byrne and O’Toole, who began to attack and steal their cattle, raid their barns and sometimes destroy their dwellings. To protect themselves from the so-called ‘wild Irish’, the Anglo-Norman lords first began to build stone defensive castles and later in the 14^th and 15^th centuries a series of tower houses extending from the River Doldder to the River Dargle. Remains of Norman stone castles may still be seen at Dundrum, Shankill, Dalkey and Monkstown. The best surviving example of a 15^th century tower house is Kilgobbin Castle near the village of Stepaside. The concept of a geographically-defined limitation of English authority in Ireland began to emerge and in time became known as ‘The Pale’. The frontier had no tangible boundaries in the cultural landscape until 1494, when the Poynings parliament decreed the construction of a pair of ditches with a high bank between them to give some protection to the entire area. Local tradition always maintained that ‘The Pale’ passed through our area, but not until the mid-1970s was there positive identification of this medieval defence. Today, a portion of the Pale ditch is preserved as a landscape feature in the Kilcross housing estate and a 500m stretch of the medieval earthwork may be seen south of the Recycling Centre at Ballyogan

 

 

                                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                     

 

Irish Women’s Involvement in Politics, Nationalism, Revolution and Suffrage in 1918

By Liz Gillis 

16th October 2018 1918 was a momentous year in Irish history. It was a year that saw women over the age of 30 get the vote, a year that saw mass civil disobedience by the Irish people against the British government in their determination to resist the introduction of conscription. It was a year in which the World War finally ended and a year that saw the demise of the Irish Parliamentary Party and the rise of Sinn Féin as the dominant political party in Ireland. All of these events affected the everyday lives of the Irish people, none more so than the women of Ireland, for they were willing participants in many of these pivotal events. For Irish women 1918 was a year when they showed just how valuable and important their contribution to political life was. It began with the introduction of the Representation of People Act, which stated that women over the age of 30 and with other conditions were entitled to vote. This had been a hard fought battle going back many years for both English and Irish Suffragettes and Suffragists. For many it was only the beginning. During the conscription crisis the women of Ireland came out in force and signed the National Pledge which stated that Irish people would resist conscription by any means. They took part in the General Strike that followed. But the women also realised that if Irishmen were conscripted into the British Army, they would have to become the workforce. And here the women of Ireland realised they had real power. They chose 9^th June, St Colmcille’s Day, to have their own anti-conscription protest. Two thirds of the women of Ireland signed their name to their own pledge, a pledge specifically written for them, in which they promised that they would ‘not fill the places of men deprived of their work through refusing enforced military service’. Lá na mBan was a hugely significant event. It brought together women from both sides of the religious divide; from all political persuasions and most importantly it gave a voice to those women who did not get the vote under the Representation of People Act. Despite this, in the years since 1918, Lá na mBan has gotten little mention in the history books. World War I ended on the 11^th November. A General Election was to be held on 14^th December. This election was significant for many reasons but in particular for the first time women would exercise their right to vote. Sinn Féin put forward two women candidates, Countess Markievicz and Winifred Carney, both of whom had been imprisoned for their part in the Easter Rising, Countess Markievicz had originally been sentenced to death. The Countess was the first woman elected to parliament, topping the list of votes cast. But she, like many of her Sinn Féin colleagues was a prisoner at the time in England. On their release from prison the following year, those who had been elected refused to take their seats at Westminster and instead attended the Irish Parliament, Dáil Éireann. 1918 was such a hugely important year, not just for the Irish nation, but for Irish women. By their activism, their determination and their belief in a brighter future, they showed just how important they were to political life. The women of Ireland stood up and demanded to be counted and we can certainly look back on these women with pride and remember what they achieved.  

PEARL AND ALFONSO                                    

By John Porter  

  Tues 18 Sept 2018

Timothy Aloysius Smiddy, from Cork, was involved in the negotiations to end the War of Independence , the Irish Minister of Finance, Michael Collins, asked Timothy Smiddy to be his Economic Adviser.   In 1922, Timothy Smiddy was then asked to become the Irish Free State’s Representative in Washington.   From 1922 until 1929, Timothy Smiddy served as the Irish Free State’s Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States of America. Initially Timothy’s wife Lilian and their family, including Pearl,  had stayed at home in Foxrock, but in March 1926 they sailed to America. The Spanish Ambassador in Washington, gave a meal for several members of the Ministry of State and the diplomatic corps. It was Pearl that represented the Irish Legation. Also present was one comandante Alfonso Reyes. On 14 January 1928, just over a year after they had attended the Spanish Ambassador’s reception, Pearl’s engagement to comandante Alfonso Reyes was announced. Pearl and Alfonso were married in the Roman Catholic Church at Foxrock, in the “tin church”. In October 1928, just nine months after their marriage, Pearl and Alfonso were staying with his father and his brother on the French Riviera. On 15 October, the French security police arrived and arrested the three men. The details of their offence, which was fraud, were censored by the government at the time. After Pearl’s wedding, her mother, Lilian, had become increasingly concerned about her son-in-law. When Lilian learnt of the arrests of Alfonso and his family in October 1928, she travelled to Cap Ferrat to escort her daughter home. In February 1931, some three years after her marriage to Alfonso, Pearl, through her solicitors in Dublin, petitioned the Irish High Court of Justice for the annulment of the marriage.  Alfonso was already married!  At almost exactly the same time, Alfonso’s Spanish wife Adela had started divorce proceedings in Madrid, on the grounds of Alfonso’s bigamy, abandonment, and immoral conduct. Alfonso had an interest in popular entertainment, or at least in one of its stars, who had settled in Barcelona, he courted Elvira López. Alfonso and his new family then went to Mexico and they settled in the city of Guadalajara. On 15 June 1964 his death notice appeared in the local paper in Guadalajara. Pearl had settled in London, she had trained as a physiotherapist, in 1935, at Kensington Register Office; she married Francis Louis, a surgeon. They had two children, a daughter, Róisin, and a son, Charles.  Pearl moved to Combe St. Nicholas, near Chard, in Somerset. In February 2003 she celebrated her 100^th birthday, but sadly she died just a few weeks later. She is buried at Deansgrange Cemetery, Blackrock,

SIR ERNEST SHACKLETON AND THE HEROIC AGE OF ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION

By Neale Webb

15th May 2018

On Tuesday 15^th May 2018 Neale Webb gave a lecture to the Foxrock Local History Society on the subject of SIR ERNEST SHACKLETON AND THE HEROIC AGE OF ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION.  Neale himself had been to the Antarctic on three occasions including a trip in 2006 on a Russian icebreaker.  This voyage out of New Zealand had gone right down into the Mc Murdo Sound and included a visit to the American McMurdo Base as well as to three of the historic expedition huts.  Neale recalled how he had mentioned to some fellow passengers that his grandfather had been a cousin of Sir Ernest Shackleton.  This in turn had caused Neale to be regarded as a minor celebrity on board and had reawakened his interest in the life and career of the great Irish explorer. Ernest Shackleton was born in 1874 at Kilkea House near Athy in South County Kildare.  His family had Quaker roots and Ernest was the fifth generation of Shackletons to be born in Ireland.  The family then moved briefly to Dublin before settling in South London.  At the age of fifteen Ernest went to sea with the merchant marine and in 1901 he was part of the first major expedition to Antarctica.  This DISCOVERY Expedition led by Captain Scott was only a limited success getting less than halfway to the South Pole.  Shackleton then determined to lead his own privately funded expedition and set off in his ship NIMROD in 1907.  By January 1909 his party had reached a point ninety seven miles from the South Pole before wisely turning back and arriving home safely. By 1909 Ernest Shackleton was one of the most famous men in the world.  He embarked on a worldwide lecture tour including two lectures in Dublin.  The South Pole had however not yet been reached leading to Scott trying again in 1911 on the TERRA NOVA Expedition only to arrive at the South Pole to find that the Norwegian Amundsen had beaten him to it.  Scott and his party then tragically froze to death in their tents on the return journey. The South Pole having been reached Shackleton then decided to try and cross Antarctica leaving in 1914 in his ship the ENDURANCE.  However he was to endure getting stuck in the ice in the South Atlantic and his ship was crushed.  Taking to the lifeboats he effected one of the most famous rescues in maritime history.  Sailing along with Tom Crean from County Kerry and Tim McCarthy from County Cork he covered eight hundred miles to the island of South Georgia and then crossed the mountainous island on foot to reach the safety of a whaling station.  He then returned to the rocky outcrop of Elephant Island to rescue all his men. Shackleton however was to get little recognition for his heroic endeavours and indeed he was even criticised for not fighting in the First World War.  When he subsequently returned to South Georgia in 1922 in a small ship called the QUEST he suffered a heart attack and died aged only forty seven.  He is buried on the island of South Georgia in the whalers graveyard at Grytviken.  It then took over fifty years for Shackleton’s exploits to be recognised but today he is universally revered for his powers of leadership.  In Ireland we are proud to claim him as a great Irishman.

REELING IN THE YEARS WITH THE HISTORY CLUB – Forty years of peeling back our hidden heritage of history.

By Liam Clare

21st Nov 2017

A retrospective glance at the stories behind the club’s growth from our first faltering footsteps in 1977 through its launch in 1981, and its forty year voyage of discovery and exploration into our clubs talks, outings and various events and exhibitions that were held in the parish. Our history clubs publications over the years on many local items, people and events. The club is part of the social fabric of the local parish and valuable contributions have been made over the years to ensuring historical items are preserved. A valuable archive has been built up over the years for further study by budding local historians.

The Irish Boundary Commission 1925

By Declan Ryan

17th October 2017

The Irish Boundary Commission was established under Article 12 of the Anglo Irish Treaty of 1921. The Commission was charged to ‘determine in accordance with the wishes of the inhabitants, so far as may be compatible with economic and geographic conditions, the boundaries between Northern Ireland and the rest of Ireland’.  Nationalists had high expectations that large areas of the North would be transferred to the Irish Free State and Unionists in the North regarded it with great trepidation. Early 20^th century Ireland had divided loyalties with Catholics supporting Home Rule and Protestants the continuing union with Great Britain.  In Leinster, Munster and Connacht, Catholics had a 90% majority but in Ulster, Protestants had a 56% majority in the 9 counties and a 65% majority in the 6 counties of Northern Ireland.   The Home Rule crisis of 1912 -14 brought this to a head with the introduction of a Home Rule Bill for Ireland.  Massive opposition in Ulster led to consideration of the exclusion of up to 6 Ulster counties from Home Rule.  The First World War started and home Rule was suspended until after the war.  After the 1916 Rising, unsuccessful attempts were made to agree a Home Rule settlement.  The rise of Sinn Féin, their success in the 1918 election and the Irish War of Independence prompted a fourth Home Rule Bill in 1920 which partitioned the island with the establishment of Northern Ireland.  In 1921 the Anglo Irish Treaty was signed.  This established the Irish Free State with Dominion status. After the treaty, the Irish Free State descended into civil war until May 1923.  In 1923 the Free State established custom posts along the border. The Free State put pressure on the British to set up the Boundary Commission and, after some unsuccessful attempts to negotiate directly on the issue, the British agreed to proceed in June 1924.  After Northern Ireland refused to appoint a commissioner, the British Government appointed one on its behalf.  In Northern Ireland, in the meantime, the 1920 border was secured by the Special Constabulary and RUC.  PR was abolished for local elections in 1922 and ward boundaries adjusted to favour unionists. The result was that all major nationalist councils and Derry City were controlled by unionists by 1924. The Boundary Commission started work in November 1924.  Richard Feetham, a British-born South African Judge was chairman, Eoin Mac Neill, Academic, Gaelic League founder, former Irish Volunteer Chief of Staff and Minister for Education was the Irish Free State Commissioner and Joseph Fisher, barrister and journalist was the Northern Ireland Commissioner. The Commission toured border areas and obtained submissions from the Irish Free State, local authorities, business and trade organisations and individuals. The Commission held oral hearings across the north from March to July 1925. In September 1925, Feetham formulated the principles that the Commission would use in their discussions. These were quite conservative and favoured the status quo.  Nevertheless, the Commission continued its work and agreed a new boundary line in October.  This line gave only meagre gains to the Free State in South Armagh, Fermanagh and Tyrone.  A part of east Donegal adjacent to Derry City was transferred to the North.  The North lost 3.7% of its territory and 1% of its population.  In early November the British Tory paper, the Morning Post, published an accurate map of the proposals.  This caused consternation in the Free State, in particular, at the loss of some territory.  MacNeill resigned from the Commission on November 20^th and the Free State negotiated with the British and Northern Ireland Governments. In December 1925, a tripartite agreement between the North, the Free State and the British Governments was signed.  The Boundary report was suppressed.  The existing 1920 border was left unchanged.  The Free State’s obligation under the treaty to service a portion of the UK National Debt was revoked. The main reason for this outcome was the ambiguity of Article 12.  There was a conflict between the wishes of the people and economic and geographic conditions.  Also the principles and process were not defined so the approach taken by Feetham would determine how the commission came to its decisions.  Feetham took a very conservative view which favoured the Northern position. MacNeill was part- time and not fully engaged.  The customs border established by the Free State supported the economic arguments for no change. The outcome of the whole process leaving the existing border unchanged may have been the most practical and least worst option in the end.  

VIKING INFLUENCES IN OUR AREA

By Brian MacAongusa

17 October 2017

Contemporary evidence and the earliest available illustrations of the Vikings suggest they were pioneer explorers, extortionists and unusually successful merchants, rather than purely pagan people seeking plunder and slaughter. The first Viking attack on the Dublin coast in 798 was followed by a series of hit-and-run forays that culminated in an attack on the Glendalough monastic settlement in 836. But in the next year the first fleet of 60 ships that entered the mouth of the River Liffey led to an important new development—the establishment in 841 of a ‘longphort’, or naval camp, at the mouth of the river. This led to the founding of our capital city. These early settlers who came from south-western Norway were confronted in 849 by a fleet of 120 ships of Danes, which attacked and finally routed them in a 3-day naval battle in Carlingford Lough in 853. The Annals referred to the Danes as ‘Dubgall’, or black foreigner, to distinguish them from the Norse ‘Fingall’, or fair foreigner. They have left their mark with us to this day in the surnames of Doyle, MacDowell and Reynolds, and placenames such as Baldoyle, Fingal, Bulloch, Balally and River Slang. Under a succession of Danish kings, Dublin grew to become a real power in the North Irish Sea, Isle of Man, Scotland and Northern England. Called ‘Rí Fingall agus Dugall’, these kings ruled Dublin, York, Northumbria and the Isle of Man as a mixed Scandinavian kingdom. This greatly enhanced the power and importance of Dublin, which developed as an international trading centre generating prosperity and wealth that extended into its hinterland. Our own area in South County Dublin was strongly influenced by the Vikings and benefitted materially from boat-building, grain growing and milling, as well as from growing food crops and rearing cattle. By the 10^th century Viking Dublin, with a population probably in the thousands, developed closer ties with the indigenous Irish. Evidence from the Annals shows that commercial and cultural contacts, inter-marriage and the spread of Christianity among the Vikings made relations easier with the Irish. But on the negative side, the Annals record continued plundering of Irish monasteries by the Dublin Vikings to an extent that the Irish kings began to resent them and sought to capture their town. This was finally achieved by the high king Maél Seachnaill Mac Domhnaill in the decisive battle of Tara in 980. For the next century and a half, Irish kings preferred to see ‘the foreigners of Dublin’ as a source of wealth and tribute, rather than seeking to eject them from Ireland as claimed in propaganda Annals of the O’Briens. Wealthy Vikings living in our area converted to Chrisianity and encouraged the growth of many church foundations, as well as the construction of several new churches. They also had erected at their graves distinctive headstones that have not been found elsewhere in Ireland. Such stones today are known as ‘Rathdown’ flagstones and may be found in 10 ancient graveyards from Rathmichael to Rathfarnham. Recent excavations at Cherrywood have revealed some exciting finds, including a decorated whalebone plaque typically found in Viking women’s graves in Norway and Scotland. A less savory influence attributed to the Vikings was the growth of slavery and the development of a lucrative slave trade at Dublin, operating through a prison camp on Dalkey Island. By the 10^th century,  the taking of slaves had become common and warring Irish kings often sold their prisoners of war in Viking Dublin’s slave market. The Annals record that Ceallachán of Cashel united with the Waterford Vikings in 938 to plunder the Midlands and Meath. They took many prisoners including the abbots of monasteries. The Annals of the Four Masters for 939 record that the abbot of Cill-Achaidh in Offaly drowned at Dalkey Island while ‘fleeing from the foreigners’, but it is likely that he was attempting to escape from the Viking prison camp there and tried unsuccessfully to swim ashore in a last desperate attempt to regain his freedom.

The Account Roll of The Priory of the Holy Trinity

1337 – 1346

Pádraig Laffan

16 May 2017

Padraig gave a most interesting talk about the Augustinian Order in Ireland in the 14^th century from detailed research of records/copies of records still in existence in the Public Record Office/National Archives, Dublin. He praised the important work done by the Public Records Office and the Royal Society of Antiquaries in preserving the documents/parchments going back almost a thousand years. The Account Roll of the Priory of the Holy Trinity parchments, being very delicate, were copied and translated and are available to researchers. The Account Roll is an eleven foot scroll and gives day-to-day details about how this huge ecclesiastical and secular organisation ran and managed its huge estates/manors in Ireland. The headquarters of the Priory of the Holy Trinity was Christchurch, a site given to them by the Viking King, Sitric, who was a Christian. The church building began during the Viking Age and greatly expanded following the Norman invasion since the Normans and the Augustinians worked closely together in civil as well as religious matters. On his visit to Ireland in 1202, King John granted huge tracts of land to the Augustinians making it an immensely wealthy landowner owning around 10,500 acres throughout the country, most of it in vicinity of Dublin. In Deansgrange, the Augustinian Monastery consisted of  two settlements on opposite sides of the valley through which the Clonkeen Stream flows, one at Barkers Corner called Kill O’ The Grange (church of the manor) and the later Norman settlement, the Manor or Grange (now completely obliterated), which was located half way up Kill Lane, just below Foxrock Church where the secular business of managing the estates took place. The Kill catered for the religious interests and the Grange catered for the business interests of the Priory. In 13^th century the Priory was the wealthiest religious organisation in Ireland. The Account Roll, an eleven-foot scroll, details the running costs of the manor eg wages of various people employed by the monks – thatchers, plough-men etc. The Steward of the manor had to keep detailed accounts of all income and costs incurred. Many pilgrims came to pray and seek relics, another important income-earner for the Priory. The Priory also presided over the Manor Courts to settle local disputes. In addition to paying rent, tenants were expected to provide a few days free labour sometimes supplying horse and plough. Tenants also provided beer but it is thought the beer would have been of poor quality. The Heriot practice also prevailed where upon the death of a tenant, the best beast owned by the deceased had to be given to the Priory. The parchments also dealt with costs of keeping farm animals eg horses were harder to fed than oxes etc and the production of grain. It also details security costs – watchmen in the surrounding mountains were paid to warn against native Irish attack from Wicklow etc. After the Reformation, the Augustinians reached a deal with the new civil authority and preserved their lands, wealth and privileges.    

Georgian Dublin – The Force that Shaped the City

Diarmuid O’Grada

16 May 2017

Diarmuid gave us on fascinating insight into the growth of Dublin during the Georgian era spanning the periods of  George I and finishing with George IV when the city’s population grew rapidly from 60,000 to 180,000 inhabitants. This massive growth was spurred by men, women and children clambering into the city from the countryside seeking work and shelter. Many couldn’t find work and as a result, there was destitution, poverty and public health issues – many women were forced into prostitution to make a living – and the city became dirty and lawless. Parish Watches, armed with a halberd, a lantern and a rattler, were organised to maintain law and order.   At the beginning of the 18^th century Dublin was a medieval city with narrow crocked streets and dark cramped houses. In the mid-1700s, the Irish Parliament at College Green decided to tear down the old houses and rebuild Dublin according to a grid system with uniform buildings along straight paved streets with parks. The Wide Streets Commission were appointed to oversee the new development and they carried out their work with diligence and propriety. Parliament St was built in 1750s – a wide straight paved street with uniform houses on either side – this allowed light and air into the street and thereby improved the health of the inhabitants. Dame St, D’Olier St and Westmoreland St – again straight streets with uniform embellished granite facades – added to the grandeur of the city next to the Irish Parliament. The first big housing scheme outside the city was Merrion Square with uniform houses equipped with cisterns and built around a central green. The houses were typical upstairs-downstairs types – special entrance for servants and tradesmen through the basement. Water was pipped into the city (eg Rutland Fountain) for public use. In 1756, along what is now O’Connell Street, Luke Gardiner, knocked down old houses in the northern half of the street and built uniform red-brick Georgian houses along its length with a wide space between the terraced fronts creating a pedestrian area called Gardiner’s Mall where families could promenade. The street was later continued down to the Liffey. Gardiner also built Mountjoy Square and Gardiner Street. Howcver, as poor country people continued pouring into the city, expansion and fashion moved southwards and eastwards to Merrion Square and St Stephen’s Green. The Wide Streets Commission also oversaw the building of the Liffey quays running from Capel St eastwards to the mouth of the Liffey. In this way, Beresford Terrace and Gandon’s Custom House were built on the reclaimed land between the quays and the North Strand. The Irish Parliament, unlike the British, had a standing army and Barrack St later became a notorious red-light district. The Lock hospital was built to treat syphilis and Charles Manners, Duke of Rutland, died there in 1787, a victim of syphilis. Newgate Prison was built in 1780 and run as a private enterprise meaning that wealthy prisoners were well treated while the poor were undernourished and locked up in dirty overcrowded cells. After the Act of Union, 1801, the city went into decline.

Visit to Pearse Museum, St. Enda’s College, Rathfarnham, 13^th May 2017.

Introductory talk by Eanna De Búrca

I welcome you to Scoil Eanna, to this historic place. Emmet walked here over 200 years ago.  Pearse and his comrades walked here over 100 years ago.  This is a place sacred to the history of Ireland. What right have I to welcome you to this hallowed spot, you might well ask?  My connection with Scoil Eanna is through my father. He, a Kildare man from Carbury on the far side of the county near the Offaly border, came here as a boarder in 1909. Before that year he was boarding in a school down in Carlow and before that he attended the local primary school in Derinturn. As we know Kildare is mainly a football county but the principal of that primary school was from Lusmagh in Co. Offaly, a hurling enclave, and he it was who instilled a love for hurling in that area. When my father arrived in Carlow armed with his hurl they wondered what it was. That was in 1908 and during the summer holidays in 1909 his mother who was visiting her sisters in Dublin, arrived home with a copy of An Macaoimh, a school magazine, edited by a man called Pearse. What inspired her to buy it, God alone knows, but it but it changed my father’s life. There were articles in it written by the staff of the school as well as some pupils, articles in Irish as well as English, giving descriptions of visits to the theatre and walks up the mountains, accounts of hurling and football matches played in the school, my father could not wait to get there. He had little difficulty in persuading his parents in sending him to this new school, a new concept in education for Irish boys, where everything Irish was given pride of place.  And so on the 6^th September 1909 he arrived in Cullenswood House where he met P.H. Pearse for the first time.  The first person he met was Mrs. Pearse, then her sons and Thomas McDonagh.  Con Colbert came later and there were others. He was here for three years until he matriculated in 1912 and then went to the University.  As he could not commute from Carbury on a daily basis he stayed here in St. Enda’s as eight or nine others were doing. He also played for the UCD hurling and football teams and won five Sigerson Cup trophies and four Fitzgibbon cups in the process including three doubles in the one year. While he was attending the University he was sworn into the IRB by Con Colbert, and was present at the formation of the Volunteers on the 25^th November, 1913. From then on he spent his spare time training with the volunteers and making bombs and other was equipment here in the school and getting ready for the Rising. He often talked about the times they would have of the evenings downstairs in the kitchen with the Pearse family, particularly with Willie Pearse, discussing various matters some serious, some not. Pat, he used to say, was often too busy writing articles or preparing speeches to take part but it was a great family gathering. In a letter to his mother dated October 1911, which we still have, Pearse states “He seems to have made up his mind to adopt secondary teaching as his profession. …  If St. Enda’s is in existence when he is qualified he will not want for a position”.  And true to this promise, when he graduated in 1915, Pearse immediately offered him a job as a junior teacher in the school which he gladly accepted. Of course he was involved in the Rising of 1916 in the GPO but after he was released from Frongoch, at Christmas 1916, he resumed teaching again.  That was in Cullenswood House as St. Enda’s was occupied by the British until Easter 1919. He was invited by Mrs. Pearse, to take over as headmaster of the school in 1920, a post he held until the school finally closed in 1935.  He got married in 1923 to my mother whom he first met in Stafford Jail after 1916 and moved into a bungalow specially built for the headmaster here in the grounds. That’s where I was born. He was a member of the local flying column during the War of Independence and he continued to play for Dublin during those troublesome years. He was actually playing on Bloody Sunday, November 1921, and was marking Mick Hogan when Hogan was shot.  How he managed to do all that and teach or manage the school at the same time stretches the imagination.  One little incident which I must relate, happened during this time.  He was involved in some “meeting”, it might have been an ambush in the city, I don’t know, but he had to take the tram home as far as Terenure and walk from there to St. Enda’s.  Coming down the hill from Terenure towards the Dodder he saw that there was an Army check point on the bridge, and he was armed. He was wondering what to do as there seemed to be no escape when a stranger approached on a bicycle and asked him if he had anything on him.  For some reason my father trusted this stranger and said yes, he had a revolver.  “Give it to me and I will get it through the check point” said this stranger, which my father did.  He was searched at the check point and was let through. The stranger was waiting for him outside Rathfarnham village and gave him back the revolver for which my father was grateful.  That stranger turned out to be a member of the local R.I.C.  Years afterwards I was out walking with my father when a man passed by and saluted him.  My father then said “that’s the man who took my gun”. Unfortunately I never got his name. It would appear that Mrs Pearse who had a very strong grá for him, almost “adopted” him as a son after losing her two sons in 1916 and she depended very much on him in the running the school. He was executor of her will when she died in 1932 and, I am very proud to say that he invited her to be my Godmother, so she it was who carried me into the Church for my Baptism.

William Sealy Gosset – The Mystery “Student”

1876 – 1937

Liam Doyle

18 April 2017

William Sealy Gosset was born in Canterbury in 1876, attended Winchester College and afterwards Oxford College where he graduated in Mathematics and Chemistry. In 1906, William married Marjorie Surtess Philpotts, an international hockey player and they had three children.  In Dublin, Cecil Guinness (1^st lord Iveagh) of Guinness’ Brewing Company was endeavouring to operate the production of porter/stout on a scientific basis in order to ensure consistency of the porter/stout and hence expand its markets. They decided to employ scientists from Oxford and Cambridge and William Sealy Gosset was among the successful applicants. William arrived in Ireland in 1913 and lived at Hollyville Park (now St Patrick’s Boys’ National School where there is a plaque to his memory), a large detached house on considerable grounds with a long driveway leading to a fine granite walled and gated entrance off  Newtown park Avenue. A housing estate is now built on the grounds and the grand entrance is the only original feature of the property now remaining – it forms the entrance to Orchard Estate. William met the challenge of his research by using Statistics – a new idea in quality control. The scientific study of the raw materials used in the production of porter (eg hops, barley, water, yeast and hops) involved gathering a series of data using surveys and experiments. The experiments/surveys involved examining the variety and hops, barley, water etc, the grain sizes, where they were grown etc, consulting with professional tasters and then drawing “bell curves” to represent the collected data and this enable the producer to make credible predictions about taste and quality based on scientific evidence provided by the bell curve graphs. Lord Iveagh was obviously pleased with William’s research and allowed him to study for a year in England under Karl Pearson, father of Statistics. Under Pearson’s guidance the research progressed rapidly. William then decided to publish his results but due to commercial sensitive information Guinness refuse to allow him publish his real name. Instead, William published 22 scientific papers under the pseudonym “Student” dealing with moderate quality assurance. He never resented not being allowed use his own name because he never felt the need for academic recognition. William returned to London in 1935 where he died later. ES Beavan wrote his obituary in the London Times revealing the true identity of “Student”. During Q & A, Liam was praised for his in-depth research and wonderful presentation about this largely forgotten statistical genius and scientist who introduced statistics to research in industrial and commercial quality assurance.

“The Stone Bridges of Dublin

History and Heritage”

Revised by Rob Goodbody

18 April 2017

Twenty-five years ago, two retired engineers, Peter O’Keeffe and Tom Simington, published an amazing book called “Irish Stones Bridges, History and Heritage” but copies were quickly sold out and in recent times it became extremely rare. Rob was invited to republish the book and this is how he became involved in the project. Rob began by explaining the different types of bridges – her said most of us are unaware of the bridge type when we cross over – that we need to look underneath. Bridge types depend on the type of arch: Medieval Gothic, Semi-circular, Eliptical, Three-centred and Segmental and which type is used is determined mainly by the span and height. Information regarding age of old bridges can be obtained from old maps such as Rocque’s Map 1760 where bridges such as Ballsbridge, Donnybrook and pack-horse bridge etc are shown. These maps also identify bridges which are no longer used, some partly demolished or overgrown eg King John’s Bridge at the Esker which is now just an abandoned partial arch, Grace Dieu Bridge in North Dublin, a medieval bridge which is now overgrown and Pack-horse Bridge in Milltown which was built in the early 17^th century and is the oldest bridge in South Dublin. Roque’s Map 1760 also shows a fiord at Milltown before the present road bridge was built in 1820. Many original bridges were widened to allow for increased traffic eg Lissenhall Bridge, Swords. Bridges over the Dodder at Ringsend often collapsed due to floods and a muddy estuary. The present bridge at Ringsend, built in the early 18^th century, is a full elliptical arch bridge, half of the arch above the water carrying the traffic and other half built below the water line supporting the bridge. Skew bridges posed engineering problems but road bridges could avoid this by building the bridge perpendicular to the river. However, skew bridges could not be avoided with canal and railway construction and had to be built eg Three Arch Bridge, Grand Canal and this is an unique example because only one arch is visible from below – however the other two arches are hidden one of them forming the inside of an adjacent restaurant. Some bridges do not appear to cross anything eg the hump-back bridge on Hanover Street which has not been used since 1820 – it transpires that this bridge once crossed a rope walk. Other bridges on closer inspection have a series of holes drilled into their bases – these were part of the Defence Line during WW2 and were drilled to hold explosives so that they could be blown up in the event of an invasion. Rob spoke about the nearby Lehaunstown bridge, part of the Harcourt Line, which was blown up during the Civil War, 1922, and rebuilt in concrete and the bridge at Cabinteely House which was built in the 18^th century. The vote of thanks praised Rob for a very interesting and excellently researched talk which give the audience a glimpse of the magnificent and mysterious world of stone arches and stone patterns hidden under our bridges.

“Grand Canal Revival – Royal Canal Restored”

John McKeown

21 March 2017

John McKeown, Eastern Regional Manager of Waterways Ireland, gave a fascinating insight into the two major canal systems in Ireland, the Royal Canal running northwards from the River Liffey linking Dublin to the Shannon at Longford and the Grand Canal running southwards from Dublin connecting with the Shannon near Banagher. The idea of connecting Dublin to the Shannon was proposed by an Act of (Irish) Parliament in 1715. Building the two canals was greatest engineering feat and the most expensive public works ever undertaken in Ireland up to that time. The purpose was to improve freight and passenger transport between the capital city, Dublin, and vast areas of midland and western Ireland (at a time when Irish roads were in a very poor state) and therefore promote the country’s economic activity. Construction of the Grand Canal began in 1756, staring near Dublin and stretching across the country to the Shannon. It proved to be a very expensive project, particularly navigating through the Bog of Allen (the biggest obstacle of all) which at the time people thought impossible but it was achieved albeit at a very high cost. In 1763, Dublin Corporation took over the project because they wanted canal water for the city and put up money to complete the canal into the city. The canal from Sallins to Dublin opened for passenger service in 1779. The circular canal line from Portobello to Grand Canal Docks (biggest dock in Ireland) at Ringsend was started in 1790 and opened in 1796. The Grand Canal (212km) was officially opened in 1804. John Killaly was an Irish engineer employed by the Grand Canal Dock Company and his expert skills were particularly apt when navigating the central bog-lands. His son, Hamilton, emigrated to Canada where he became a well-known canal engineer. A disgruntled director of the Grand Canal Company resigned and started construction of the Royal Canal in 1790.  It ran from Spenser Dock, on the north side of the Liffey, through a series of locks behind the back of Mountjoy Prison, on towards Maynooth and by 1806 the canal had reached Mullingar. In 1817 the Royal Canal, measuring 154km in length, reached the Shannon.   In 1845, the Midland Great Western Railway Company purchased the canals in order to build railways along its tow paths and they became in time a strong competitor of the canals. By the late 1800s and early 1900s the canals began to go into decline. In the 1920s, road transport became a fierce competitor of the railways, especially the motor lorry. There was brief revival in the 1940s when canals were used to transport large quantities of turf by barge to Dublin. After the war the two biggest canal customers were Guinness and the Carlow Sugar Factory. In the 1960s, CIE finally closed the canals and the swing beams operating the lock gates were cut off to ensure locks could not be used again. In 1986, Waterways Ireland began opening the canals and tow paths as a public amenity and for recreational purposes eg barge and boat touring, canoeing, cycling, swimming, walking, running etc Waterways Ireland encountered many obstacles during the restoration such as blocked and overgrown canals and locks, collapsed canals due bog subsidence etc, unfit bridges, rotten lock gates, issues with property holders etc. These obstacles were overcome by careful planning and negotiation, expert engineering, modern construction methods, and most of all a political will and lots of public money. The canal project has proven to be an amazing success both for the Irish public and visitors to this country who love active tourism, Irish landscape and scenery. Well done, Waterways Ireland.

“The Young Ireland (Newtown Park) Fife & Drum Band in the Great War”

Conor Dodd

21 March 2017 

At the turn of the 20^th century, Newtown Park was a small rural village, built by the Byrnes of Cabinteely, half way along what is today Newtownpark Avenue which it is now part of the ever expanding suburds of South County Dublin. Just before WW1 there was a band movement flourishing throughout Ireland and Newtown Park, like many of its neighbouring villages and towns, had its own Fife & Drum Band. The band was formed in 1902 and Conor’s great grandfather, Richard Dodd was a member and this prompted Conor to do this marvellous piece of research. From its formation, the band was supportive of the Home Rule movement in Ireland and in 1910 it won the Junior All-Ireland Championship Prize in a competition to raise funds to erect the Parnell Monument we see today at the top of O’Connell Street. The band actively supported the 3^rd Home Rule Bill and performed at many meetings, organised by the local nationalist MP William Field, in and around Blackrock. Such was its popularity, it led the local St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Blackrock in 1914 and Fr Gleeson, who was based in Blackrock at the time, celebrated mass in Irish in the local church. Fr Gleeson would later become famous for being chaplain to the Royal Munster Fusiliers during WW1 – there is the famous 1915 painting at Rue De Bois, France, of Fr Gleeson on horseback and wearing a British military chaplain uniform granting the Last General Absolution to the Munsters before they went into battle. In 1914, the Great War started and everything changed for the band. Initially the band supported recruitment rallies but soon the band members themselves enlisted and went off to war. Among those who enlisted were Conor’s great grandfather Richard and his brother William Dodd. Two days before the Easter Rising, the Saturday Herald published a veiled recruitment article titled “A band of Heroes” about the heroism and bravery of the Newtown Fife & Drum Band members who had joined the British army and showing individual pictures of the men, some in military uniform.  Richard survived the war but his brother was killed during the Battle of the Somme Offensive, the bloodiest offensive of WW1. William had been home on leave in 1915 and got married. When he returned to duty, his wife was pregnant – unfortunately her heartache did not end with William’s tragic death – their baby son died shortly after, aged six months. Another band victim, Jack Fleming, Royal Dublin Fusiliers, was killed near the end of the Somme Offensive. So proud was Jack of the band, he had brought the band’s mace and banner with him and after his death his brother, who survived the war, brought the mace and banner back home. Another band member and one of the last victims of the war, Private John Mahon, was killed in November 1918 and buried in St Symphorien Military Cemetery, France. However, the majority of the band members who enlisted survived.  One of these, Robert Lesley, served with the Royal Irish Rifles until he got severely wounded in his right arm and was sent home. Once home, Robert was treated and rehabilitated in the Military Hospital Blackrock where he was fitted with an artificial arm. Conor showed a silent film of Robert demonstrating his newly fitted artificial right arm to carry out various carpentry jobs – sawing a plank, hammering a nail etc. This ensured Robert would be able to go back into the workforce after the war. The war had a great impact on the band. After 1918, the impetus and popularity for the Newtown Fife and Drum Band waned and finally it was disbanded. The Newtown Fife and Drum Band’s mace and banner remained in the Fleming family until two weeks ago when the Flemings presented them to the Lord Mayor of Dublin for safe-keeping. The Lord Mayor passed them on to Dublin City Library where there is a collection of paraphernalia and literature associated with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers – so a century after WW1 the memories of the once very popular “Newtown Park Fife and Drum Band” and its heroic deeds are now truly safe for future generations.

“The Nelson Family of Kells, the UK and the Argentine … and their South Co Dublin connections”

Michael Richardson

21 February 2017

Michael began by saying that his interest in the Nelson family began when a large silver cup, discovered in St Werburgh’s Church, Chester, presented by Mr T C Nelson in 1909 (for sports competition between two parishes in Chester) was brought to his attention and he decided to do some research into the Nelson family. The story begins in a local graveyard in Kells, Co Meath where there is a fine memorial to the Nelson family. According to Griffith’s Valuation 1848, John Nelson and his family lived on Canon Street and were wealthy cattle breeders and graziers. Twenty-eight members of the Nelson family are buried among the Great and the Good of early 19^th century Ireland in Glasnevin Cemetery, in vaults facing the base of the round tower where Daniel O’Connell is buried. One of his sons, James (1821 – 1896), emigrated to Liverpool and started importing cattle into the UK. He married Elizabeth McCormack and had 10 children, 4 daughters and 6 sons, all of whom ended up in the business which expanded into a chain of a thousand butcher shops throughout the UK. The UK cattle market could not supply sufficient meat to his shops and so James decided to import meat from Argentina. He bought his first refrigerated ship “Highland Scot” in 1890 and established his own shipping line– The Nelson Line – mostly to import meat but also for carrying passengers. In those days, it took three weeks to sail to Argentina. The business expanded quickly and by 1910/11 ten more refrigerated ships were purchased. In 1913 the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company bought the Nelson Shipping Line and kept the Nelson name. It was a cheaper alternative to the Royal Mail Ship. In 1932 the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company collapsed and during WW2 most of the ships were commandeered by the British War Office. James’ son, (Sir) William Nelson, lived at Acton Park, Wrexham and was created 1^st Baronet Nelson of Acton Park. He was a high-profile race horse owner and left £1m in his will. William’s second son, James married a wealthy American, Isabel Valle but then divorced her in 1919. He subsequently got married again to Cathleen Bryan who was charged with manslaughter in 1932 but later acquitted. Apparently, she knocked down and killed a Civic Guard with her motor car. Lady Cathleen Nelson also learned to fly & became a prominent aviator of her time.  Sir William’s daughter Violet married three times. One of her husbands was the 2^nd Duke of Westminster. She died in 1983. James Nelson returned from Liverpool on retirement and  lived in “Cooldrinagh”, a big house in Leixlip. He was very much involved in the building of the new Lucan Spa Hotel. Samuel Beckett’s mother, May Roe, was born and reared in this house. When May married Bill Beckett, she had their newly built house in Foxrock called after her childhood home in Leixlip. Elizabeth Oswaldina Nelson married Joseph Michael Redmond in 1898 and lived at Gortmore, Dundrum.   She was a founder member of “Women’s National Health Association” – a branch was opened in Cabinteely. Thomas Cormac Nelson married in the Pro-Cathedral but lived in Glasgow. In 1933, his son, Edward Hugh Cormac married Eileen Keane in St Joseph’s Church, Glasthule but Edward was killed in a train crash in 1937. Eileen’s adopted son, Brian Nelson owned the Monte Carlo garage in Dundrum. In 1972, he drove his Ford Anglia van from Dublin to Russia and the following year, 1973, he drove to Timbuktu – quite an achievement at the time! However, taking into consideration the huge successes in business and social climbing achieved by previous generations of Nelsons these two great motoring adventures probably pale into insignificance.

“History of the Development of Traditional Irish Music & Song”

Presented by Siobhan Ni Chonorain, Comhaltas, on Flute Accompanied by: Mary Kelly, on Harp Anne-Marie McGowan, on Fiddle

17 January 2017

There was a full house for this amazing historical evening of Irish Culture, Music and Song. The trio were ably lead by Siobhán Ní Chonoráin who narrated mainly in English to facilitate the entire audience and gave a most interesting, concise and insightful account of the evolution and development of Irish traditional music throughout the centuries. She referred to the role of Ceoltas Ceoltóiri Éireann which is the premier organisation fostering and nurturing Irish Culture, music, song and dance at home and abroad. Siobhán played the flute, the whistle and performed with passion, elegance and style and she explained traditional and folk music and how both were transmitted orally and aurally and like other folk art forms, they were rooted in the communities and the people. Before the 17^th century music was not written down and therefore there are no primary sources. Old songs were handed down orally from composer to collectors and then on to translators and publishers resulting in variations (often regional) in title, lyrics and music to same song. Mary Kelly, a leading harpist and wearing the traditional dress, played the cruit (the Irish Harp) with such accomplishment that even the Sean Nós songs, which are normally in the Irish language and without accompaniment, were enriched and enhanced by her accompaniment. Because it has no peddles, the Irish harp is unique and at the centre of Irish traditional music; hence it is one of the most recognisable emblems of Ireland. In the 13^th and 14^th century centuries the role of the harper consisted of entertaining the Clans in their castles and big country houses. Anne-Marie McGowan, playing the fiddle with great agility and virtuosity, completed the trio. Of course, as explained by Siobhán, in a traditional Irish music context, the violin is always referred to as the fiddle – otherwise the two instruments are the same – whereas with classical music it is referred to as a violin. The trio performed a variety of traditional compositions and before each Siobhán talked about the structure, style, background and historical context: “Miss Hamilton”, “Clan March, March of the King of Laois”, “An Raibh Tú ag an gCarraig” – meaning Were You at the (Mass) Rock. Siobhan went on to talk about the evolution of traditional Irish dance e.g. Sean Nós, Irish Step dancing, Jigs, Céili, and River Dance etc. Dance evolved in the 17^th century when the big country houses employed dance masters to teach the steps. Today, Set dancing is very popular all over the world even among non-Irish communities. The dance itself is very enjoyable and great exercise. The trio performed “The Blackbird”, a traditional Irish set dance, “The Rocky Road to Dublin” a jig made famous in song by the Dubliners, “Wild Geese” an instrumental piece and traditional Irish waltz. The trio performed Irish ballads which tell the stories relevant to the people at the time: “Slán Abhaile” meaning Safe Home – an Irish saying used to bid goodbye to someone travelling home, “The West’s Awake” a ballad composed by Thomas Davis – the song has an unique melodic structure and laments the changing of Ireland’s Celtic Nation especially in the West. Finally, Tom Nolan, accompanied by the trio, sang “Anac Cuan” a haunting song about a boating tragedy in Galway. This concluded a most enjoyable and wonderfully entertaining evening of Irish History, Culture, Music, Song and Dance. To Siobhan, Mary and Anne-Marie – go raibh  míle maith agaibh, Siobhán agus do Cháirde.

“Rev Thomas Goff, 1772 -1844, of Carriglea  Property, Propinquity & Protestantism”

David Doyle

15 November 2016

David Doyle is a staff member of the IADT (Institute of Art, Design and Technology), Dun Laoghaire and he gave a fascinating account of the life and times of the Rev Thomas Goff who lived at Carriglea Park ( IADT) in the late 17^th and early 19^th century. The account is based on the Rev Thomas’ diaries. In 2007, an Englishwoman, Pamela Gooding, gave the diaries to the IADT for safekeeping, transcription and digitalisation. David became interested and decided to use the them as the subject matter of his MA thesis. How diaries survived after the Rev Thomas’ death, 1844, is quite intriguing. First, they passed to his son, William Goff, an Anglo-Irish gentleman and MP for Roscommon. Next they passed to Clarence Edward Goff, educated at Eton and Oxford and whose wedding in London to Lady Cecilia Willowby was reported in the newspapers as a “Society Wedding”. They lived on their large country estate at Carrowroe Park, Co Roscommon. Major Goff fought with the British army in the Boer War and The Great War. In 1920, the Goffs sold all their estates in Ireland and moved to England. Following Major Goff’s death in 1949, his daughter, Elizabeth Moyra Goff, inherited the diaries. Subsequently, Pamela Gooding acquired them and decided to take them back to Ireland. David then outlined how the Goffs accumulated their vast fortune – equally fascinating. One of the Rev Thomas’ grandfathers was a certain Thomas “Guff” in Roscommon, a shop-keeper who employed three “Papist” servants. On the other side of the family, his great, great grandfather was George II of England. King William IV (1765-1837) had no legitimate children, however, he had ten illegitimate children with his mistress, actress Dorothea Bland who also went by the name of Mrs. Jordan. Dorothy’s/Dorothea’s children were very well-off and one of them married “Guff” bringing considerable wealth into the family and around this time David believes the name “Guff” changed to Goff. The content of the diaries varies greatly. In one excerpt, Thomas describes bringing his son the Dentist Grimshaw. In another, 1803, Thomas describes being in Dublin when the Robert Emmet Rebellion broke out. The diaries portray the Rev Thomas as Anti-Catholic and yet he appears relaxed regarding Catholic Emancipation, 1829 – he hated Daniel O’Connell (Napoleon was his other hate figure). The disestablishment of the Church of Ireland was one of his greatest fears and he became “Anti-dis-establishment”. In 1822, he airs his fears as follows: “…one possessing a church without what we can properly call a religion and the other possessing a religion without what we can properly call a church”. The diaries also give an insight into other aspects of Thomas’ life style. Thomas was a prolific traveller, travelling on horseback all over Ireland and frequently sailing to England between the Pigeon House and Holyhead. However, unlike many of his wealthy compatriots, he never travelled to the Continent. His father, Robert, was a very wealthy land owner who apparently had the prime minister, William Pitt, in his pocket. In 1802 alone, Robert spent c. £13,500 on property deals. Like his father, Thomas also did property deals with landlords such as the Beresford’s and the Gardiners’ and owned a town house at 55 (now 59) Eccles Street, Dublin. So, in summary, David described the Rev Thomas Goff was a very wealthy and powerful man who could do and say what he liked – a Church of Ireland minister, land owner and sometimes army chaplain. While living at Carriglea House, Rev Thomas planted an orchard behind the house both of which are still there today and David encouraged everyone to come and see it for themselves.

Frongoch “The University of Revolution”

Eanna DeBurca

18 October 2016

Eanna DeBurca gave a fantastic about his father, Frank Burke who, like many nationalists of the time, later changed his name to “Feargus DeBurca” in the spirit of the Gaelic Revival prevalent in early 19^th Century Ireland. Feargus was born in Carbury, Co Kildare into a middle class rural background and during his childhood was greatly influenced by his mother whose family had connections with the Fenian movement. During his second level education, he was a boarder in St Enda’s, Rathfarnham which was run by the Pearse family and soon came under the influence of Padraig and Willie. After finishing his secondary education he attended UCD but continued as a boarder in St Enda’s. After graduation, he was offered a teaching position in St Enda’s and taught alongside teachers such as Thomas McDonagh. He joined the Irish Volunteers and fought in the GPO during the 1916 Rising. 1,600 Irish Volunteers took part in the Rising but afterwards over 2,500 men around the country, including Feargus DeBurca, were rounded up by the British army and transported to internment camps in England. Feargus was interned in Frangoch, originally a WW1 German POW camp, which was a cold, lonely, isolated place located in a valley in N-E Wales surrounded by a 12 ft perimeter fence. The commandant was Col. Heygate-Lambert who was described as a cranky, critical and fault-finding individual who insisted on things being done his way. The guards were mostly elderly because the younger men were all fighting at the front and even the guards disliked Heygate-Lambert. The men lived in dormitories (South Camp) or huts (North Camp) – the huts were particularly cold in winter and a German POW died from severe cold in one of the huts before the camp was occupied by the Irish. Feargus shared one of the huts with another notable rebel and future iconic political figure, Michael Collins. The day for prisoners began with a roll-call at 5.30am followed by mass and then a reasonable good breakfast at 7.30am. At 11 o’clock there was an inspection of prisoners followed by fatigue duties under their own officers. Dinner at 12.30pm consisting of bully beef, herrings, soapy potatoes which was for the most part inedible. Families and friends sent food parcels to supplement the prison diet but these were frequently contaminated by the time they reached the prisoners. There were 3 forced marches per week through the Welsh countryside which the men apparently enjoyed and often returned to the camp well before their guards who because of their age struggled to keep up, some prisoners apparently even helping their guards’ carry their guns!  Leisure and sports times were allocated and because the prison population included 12 Kerry county players and 8 Louth players the GAA allowed them to play the final of the Wolfe Tone League in the camp It had been cancelled due to the Rising,– Kerry won. The president of the GAA was also interned in Fongoch which may have been the reason why the politically neutral GAA allowed the match to go ahead.  The men had tea at 5.30pm and afterwards the men played games e.g. chess or attended classes. The classes were very important opportunities for prisoners to gain “degrees” in “The University of Revolution” learning guerrilla warfare tactics which were effectively used after their release in their struggle against the British during the War of Independence which succeeded in liberating Ireland. All but 600 prisoners were released when Lloyd George became Prime Minister On 22 December 1916, the 600 prisoners were unexpectedly informed they were going home for Christmas. They were taken by train from Frongoch to Holyhead and then by boat to the North Wall in Dublin – there was great excitement and singing throughout the journey. In Dublin the men attended mass and after breakfast Feargus took the train to Carbury, Co Kildare. The men were in high spirits and there was a great sing-song on the train and as it passed through the countryside where everything looked magical with a candle burning in the window of every household which was the custom on Christmas Eve  – a welcome for the Holy Family. When Feargus finally approached his home late in the evening he could see a candle burning brightly not only in one window according to tradition but in all nine front windows – he must have immediately recognised the symbolism – Failte Abhaile Feargus.

“100 Years of Division in Kingstown, 1816 – 1916”

Tom Conlon

18 October 2016

Tom Conlon’s lecture gives a clear insight into the rigid social class system and divisions therein prevailing in the premier seaside township of Kingstown in the 19^th and early 20^th century. On one hand, there were the privileged classes living their fine Georgian and Victorian mansions and elegant terraces enjoying life to the full and employing large numbers of poorly paid servants to tend all their domestic household duties such as cleaning, cooking, laundry etc and looking after their employers every whim. Many of the female servants were from the country (outside Dublin) because employers felt local girls would be more prone to gossip. On the other hand, there was the “invisible poor” who etched out a miserable existence working long hours in  low paid menial jobs eg labourers on the railway and harbour, charwomen, fishmongers etc and who lived in filthy overcrowded ghettos called courts, in poorly built substandard housing with no sanitation, no running water and consequently causing frequent outbreaks of cholera, typhoid etc among the poor in these areas. Tom began his lecture with a brief history of Kingstown using numerous maps, pictures & drawings pertaining to the period, 1816 – 1916: 1820 -Plan of the harbour which was sanctioned by parliament in 1816; 1856/9 – laying of the railway to the Carlisle pier with the Royal St George Yacht Club in the background; 1859 – Lifeboat Station at the end of the East Pier, Harbour Master’s Office all on its own overlooking the seafront, Kelly’s Royal Hotel, the Congregational Church on Northumberland Ave (now demolished), Victoria Warf (now St Michael’s Warf), East Pier (surface was about 10 ft lower than at present), Gresham Tce (demolished & replaced by the Shopping Centre carpark). Tom also mentioned a daily ferry running between Kingstown and the Dublin to carry workmen – apparently the railway company disapproved of workmen using their trains. A picture c1870 of Upr George’s Str showed the road with tramlines but no overhead wires because in 1870s the trams were horse drawn, the building occupied by Brian S Nolan today and beside it the Office of the Irish Times now the site of the Bank of Ireland and at the corner of Marine Rd there were two shops which were later bought by the church and demolished leaving the open plaza we have today. At the end of the 19^th century, the leases on shops became due for renewal and as a condition of the renewal of leases the ground landlords, Longford and De Vesci, insisted that shop owners must rebuilt the shop fronts in an uniform red-brick style. Hence many shop fronts in Dun Laoghaire today look distinctly Edwardian rather than Victorian/Georgian. Tom also showed a picture of the Pavilion, an exclusive palatial wood and glass building, erected in 1903 for the wealthy citizens of Kingstown to enjoy dinners and concerts and outside there were tennis courts and a band stand where members could enjoy popular live music. However, the ordinary working class citizens of Kingstown were excluded – this venue was the preserve of town’s privileged classes. Thackeray visited Kingstown in 1842 and obviously didn’t like what he saw – he described Kingstown as shabby, shabby and shabby. Even though the wealthy lived in grand houses there was no housing provision for poorer people who couldn’t afford to rent proper accommodation. Owners of shops, especially on Lr George’s Str, Cumberland Str etc took advantage of this the scarcity of affordable housing by building little single storey huts and lean-to’s in the yards and stables behind their shops and renting them out. These cramped poorly built clusters of houses/huts, known as courts, became ghetto developments with no running water or sanitation and fertile grounds for the spread of diseases. The courts were deliberately hidden behind the shops and visitors/holiday makers to the town couldn’t see them from the street – the courts were invisible – and so the high reputation of Kingstown as a tourist destination and one of the most affluent towns in Ireland was protected.  The court owners also commanded high rents but provided little in the way of services and fixity of tenure. The ground landlords, Longford and De Vesci, could have stopped the development of courts but they didn’t – they also gained financially from the situation. Griffith’s Valuation 1849 gives information regarding 49 courts and 11 lanes in Kingstown.  The OSI maps 1867 shows the courts in Kingstown. Tom show the Lr George’s Str at the site of the old Carnegie library. The courts shown on the map: Bradleys, Flynns, Burks etc all have entrances at the side of the front house bordering the street – none have independent entrances. However, some prominent citizens tried to highlight the problem. In 1867, Charles Haliday, a wealthy merchant living in Monkstown, wrote a pamphlet identifying 644 deficient houses. At the time the population was 12,000 and by Tom Conlon’s estimation, about 45% of them lived in courts. Dr John Byrne Power, in 1874, wrote: “the town had the worse features of a town of decaying industry”. In 1900, a civil servant, Dr Thomas Browne, carried out a survey of the town where he identified 1,007 houses of the poorer classes among them 355 tenement houses (family in each room) and Crofton Courts consisting of 12 houses serviced by only one WC and one bin. Tom reminded us that at the time there was no welfare state and poor people were left to fend for themselves. In 1903, the town council developed “The Kingstown Improvement Scheme 1903” under the “Houses of the Working Classes Act” and, from 1903 to 1908, demolished some of the courts and built a series of red-brick houses on Convent Road, Cumberland Str etc. The houses were terraced and consisted of two doors – one entering the ground level house and the other leading to the house above it. The houses were relatively small, about 500 sq ft, but having running water and a wc were a great improvement on the courts. However, the rent of 4 shillings per week was considered high for poorly paid people and therefore some people were forced to continue living in the courts. The council made a profit on two of the streets where the houses were built. In 1915, the “Local Government Investigation” reported people still living in 441 houses in the courts – much done, a lot more to do. At question-time, Padraig Laffan, chairman, reminded everyone that regrettably even today after a century of progress in affordable housing there are still over 1,000 homeless families living in Ireland.

 

SEPTEMBER 17^th 2019

LONG TALK –  The story of Chief O’Neill (of the Chicago Police ) & the saving of Irish Music.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chief O’Neill  (1848 – 1936)

 

During the last quarter of the 19^th century, an ambitious undertaking to collect and publish Irish traditional music in Chicago was masterminded by the city’s General Superintendent of Police, Chief O’Neill.   

       Francis O’Neill left home in Tralibán near Bantry in 1865 to sail the world’s oceans. His adventurous life as a sailor, schoolteacher, shepherd and railroad worker led him to America’s mid-west where he married an Irish emigrant, Anna Rogers from county Clare. He joined the Chicago police force in July 1873 and was posted to one of the city’s toughest beats out of the Harrison Street station. The new recruit was shot by a burglar four weeks after joining the force, he carried the bullet in his spine for the rest of his life. O’Neill’s bravery, organizing ability and unswerving devotion to duty won him steady promotion through the ranks: he was appointed a Desk Sergeant in 1878, promoted to Lieutenant twelve years later and was awarded the rank of Captain in 1894. He reached the pinnacle of his profession in 1901 when appointed Chicago’s General Superintendent  or Chief of Police. Through those turbulent years in Chicago’s history, he witnessed the Haymarket riot, violent labour unrest on the railroads and the Pullman strike of 1894.

            O’Neill is not remembered today for his exploits as a policeman but as one of the nineteenth / twentieth century’s greatest collectors and publishers of Irish traditional music. He had learned to play the concert flute in his home district around Bantry and carried with him a lifelong passion for Irish music. His publications revealed his lifetime study of this absorbing subject, a topic he described as his ‘fascinating hobby’. O’Neill’s many books encompassed hundreds of previously unpublished dance tunes and melodies gathered from all available sources including the repertoires of immigrant musicians whom he also had photographed and later, when the arrival of recording on cylinder became readily available, he recorded them on his Edison phonograph.

            To aid him in his work, O’Neill brought together a group of like-minded music enthusiasts, many of them policemen, whom he named ‘the inquest committee’. Sergeant’s James O’Neill, James Early and patrolman Bernard Delaney were important members of this committee who occupied key positions in unearthing dance tunes, sometimes under strange and unusual circumstances among the city’s Irish immigrants. O’Neill’s personal commitment to the work through his time and financial backing resulted in seven books published between 1903 – 1922. Chief O’Neill’s name will long be remembered for the lasting contribution he made to the documentation and preservation of Irish traditional music.                               

SHORT TALK  – The Shooting of the Murray Brothers at Stillorgan, 1922 

  Harry Bradshaw                                                                                James Scannell

 

October 2019

Due to unforeseen circumstances we were unable to have  our planned talk 

on Malton and his Prints

 Pádraig Laffan who was chairing the meeting  gave a presentation  in the absence of our main speaker 

entitled:

Lord Anglesea’s Scandal

This talk detailed the rise of the Annesley family Through many generations down to brothers Richard and Arthur Annesley culminating in the rightful heir to the family titles James Annesley on the death of his father, being shipped off to Pennsylvania as an indentured servant and the seizure of the family titles and estates by his uncle and on his return after 13 years of servitude, his efforts to regain his rightful estate. The story is said to have given the idea for R.L. Stevenson’s classic novel ‘Kidnapped’.