Armachiana Vol 1 by Armagh City Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council

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

ARMAGH MISCELLANEA VOL .I

The Armagh Registers and the Archbishops of t he period

1-30

Presentment of Jury for the Survey of County Armagh , 1608

31-5 5

Old County Customs , Crafts and Industries

56- 69

Some County Armagh Outlaws of the 17th and 18th centuries

70- 90

The Orchards of County Armagh

91-109

The Ancient Schools of Armagh

110-1 21

City Charters and Corporation Records

122- 134

Charters , Fairs and Markets

135- 156

Railways in County Armagh

157-174

City Antiquities

175-194

The Armagh Observatory

195-209

Local Astronomical Links

210- 220 z 221-)'43

Dunsink- Armagh .

Affinities and Contrasts

THE ARMAGH REGISTERS AND THE ARCHBISHOPS OF THE PERIOD The subject fo r discussion this evening is the sequence of ancient Registers relating to the Ecclesiastical Province of Armagh , studied from the local point of view rather than from their links with Ireland as a whole In the time at my disposal I can only very briefly notice a few entries in the Primacies of the individual Archbishops.

I cannot attempt the brilliant survey made

by Professor Sayles some twelve months ago in .hich we were shown the value of such Registers to the hi storian and given an illuminating exposition on their worth for comparative purposes with similar documentary material elsewhere. My examination must be much less comprehensive and consequently less widely informative - I must confine myself to the local aspect and leave the wider and perhaps even more interesting issues for some future occasion.

It is gene r ally agreed that the most important manuscripts in the archives of the Archbishop of Armagh are the surviving Registers, a series of documents unique among Irish medieval records.

With some slight gaps

they cover the pe ri od 1350-1550 and a re the chief source we now have illustrating the ecclesiastical activities of Pre-Reformation days in the Province of Armagh but we must

remember that although they throw much light on the histo ry of the See in those two centuries , they are not the only sources available for that purpose .

Irish

Annals supplement the Registers and indeed carry the story back to Pre-Christian times.

Written in diary

fashion and from Patrick ' s coming onwards, dealing principally with obituaries of abbots, kings, bishops, archbishops, scribes, saints and scholars, they embody a detailed narrative of people and events linked with our city.

They also tell us of the frequent destruction

that Armagh suffered by fire and otherwise, of tragic t ribal warfare, the arrival of the Vikings, the coming of the Anglo-Normans and so down the years. Before passing on to the Regis ters we shall, however, devote a few minutes to other manuscrip ts connected with Armagh .

The Book of Armagh compiled in our city in the

year 807 is the only manuscript of early origin that can with absolute certainty be dated - and it is but a copy of an earlier work that probably perished in a Viking raid. Another notable script associated with Armagh and of almost equal antiquity is now, alas , in England - it is the product of an Abbot of Armagh who di ed in 927,

The scribes or

compilers of such works appear early in the Annals and in so far as Armagh is concerned the re are notices dating back to the year 720,

J. The wealth of manuscripts once housed in Armagh will never be kno1m.

In the many burnings of the town the

books of the local scribes were often lost, or carried off by attacking parties in the many conflicts that came our way .

For instance, the Book of Druim Saileach, an

old manuscript derivin g its name from the ridge of sallows, or hill on whi ch the old cathedral now stands is completely lost, though its existence is well established by references in surviving material .

seems to have been a composition of genealogical interest, the early inhabitants of this country being much concerned with battles and pedigrees - two subjects orally preserved by the poets or bards of the septs and in Christian times reduced to writing .

One celebrated manuscript completed

in Armagh in 1138 - less than half a century before the first Anglo - Norman reached Ireland - found a home in Paris, from which i t was later stolen, next turning up in Holland and much more recently finding a refuge in the British Museum .

An ancient Book of Hymns of the llth- 12th century,

formerly part of the Archbishop Ussher Collection is now, with the Antipbonary of Armagh, in Trinity College Library, the l at ter a Hymnary that from internal evidence seems to have been in use in the Cathedral before the year 1549, and the r efor e well within the compass of our study .

passing I would , however, like to remind you that we have

a secondary guide to affairs in Armagh in the period of the Registers .

The "State Papers of Ireland" in the

English Public Record Office begin in 1176 and we have excellent printed Calendars running to many volumes , in one of which in 1226 we find King Henry III requesting a site for a castle in Armagh , presumably the edifice completed in 1236 that gave name to Castle Street, the street that in its outline preserves the inner ring of the hill- top settlement of pre- Patrican times. Calendars of State Papers cover very fully

The

the centuries

from then onwards but our immediate concern is the "Registers".

They may be briefly catalogued as follows : -

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5')

(6)

(7)

(8)

The inclusive dating of 1350-1550 is based on the period of the Ar chbishops whose names and actions are all ied with the particul ar Registers .

In real ity ,

5. howeve r, leaves from similar but earlier documents have been inserted , often without regard to sequence of date. Swayne ' s Register, the third i n poi nt of antiquity, carries an ent r y that may be dated between 1218 and 1220 and therefore belonging to the archbishopric of Luke Net terville who be came Primate in 1 216 and died 1227 . Other stray ent r ies relate to Acts of Archbi shop 0 Sc anlon who, i n 1264, built the Franciscan Fri ar y and in 1 268 a new cathedral whose walls still remain. Other notabl e archbishops represented inc l ude John Colton, who at a Provincial Synod held be tween 1383 and 1389 fo rbade the game of Gar baldy believed to have been a fo rm of hu rling , because of mort al sins and homi ci des ensuin g there f r om .

The pen alty for disobedience was

excommunic ation but t here the story ends .

We are left

in doubt as to ;mether the f aithful fo r sook th e rep r ehensible game .

Another pr oclama ti on renewed a

statute enfor ced by Colton's predecessors , Archbi shop s Fitzralph and O'Hiraghty, against mimes, jugglers, po ets, harpers, and drummers. All are ori ginals with t he exception of the Dowdall Register which is a copy of on e now lost.

Transcrip ts

of three of the volumes, those of Swayne, Prene and Cromer, were made 'by a good scribe in the 18th century. The task of completing the transcripts was carried out

6. by Dean Reeves whilst Librarian of the Public Library of Armagh .

His copies of Volumes I, IV,

and VII

are very superior i n accuracy and as specimens of

caligraphy.

Reeves first made rough copie s - they are

now in Trinity College Library - and from those the beautifully written copies in Armagh were completed in conjunction with the individual registers . The earliest Register though, known as the Register of Archbishop Sweteman contains certain Acts relating to two earlier Archbishops which seem to be fragments from a volume or volumes now lost.

Sweteman I s Register is,

however , but a small portion of the records of his Primacy and there is no doubt but that many leaves are missing - indeed the wonder is that the Registers should have survived the Reformation, the Civil War of 1641-42 and the Revolution of 1690. The complete set of Registers are now being micro filmed for eventual publication and the task has unfortunately received unnecessary and indeed unpleasant publicity.

For instance, the Sunday "Irish Press" of

7th January

(last) featured a story about them having been

found behind a veil of cobwebs in the Armagh Episcopal Library .

Needless to say there is not the slightest

truth in that assertion and, of course, there is no such institution in Armagh as the. Episcopal Library.

We do

7. possess, however, an old established and well - known Public Library in ;mich cobwebs are conspicuous by thei r absence, and there the Registers are on loan from the Archbishop's archives .

A similar tale was carried

by an English Sunday paper some months earlier and the story was revived in the weekly bulletin of the Eire Department of External Affairs of 4th February, 1952 . There we were informed that "secr ets hidden behind a curtain of cobwebs for four to six hundred years are being revealed to three men in a room in Queen's University , Belfast", and again the Episcopal Library enshrouded in cobwebs appears and the absurd statement that "the discovery of these Registers in Armagh was the most historic find in Ireland fo r centuries" .

We are

also told that the Registers are written in Latin shorthand - medieval Latin in abbreviated court hand or with contractions would be more accurate - and it is utterly ridiculous to write of finding Registers that were never lost .

They form part of the Archbishop's muniments,

are at present on loan to the Public Library and are by his courtesy being microfilmed. indeed.

They are well known

They were used by Archbishop Ussher in the

early 17th century;

by Sir James Ware in the first half

of the succeeding century;

in the 19th century by Stuar t

in his "Memoir of Armagh ";

by King when writing his

8. "History of t he Primacy";

by th a t eminent scholar, Dr.

Willi am Reeves - a former De an of Armagh and Keepe r of the Armagh Publi c Li brary;

and in the present century

De an La wlor published his Calen dars of the Regist ers of Sweteman an d Fleming, Dr , Chart a Calenda r of the Register of Swayne , the Rev , L. P. Murray Cal endar s of Crom er and Dowdall Registers, and the Rev . Aubrey Gwynne, his "Medieval Province of Armagh" based chiefly on the Registers. I t is a pity that the Pr es s should so disto rt facts and an even gr eater pity that the person who is credited with having made the statements in interviews, should not have felt it necessary to repudiate what were in fa ct slanderous untruths. Apart from their ecclesiastical i mport ance the Registers contain much data on social and economi c p roblems in the centuries th ey cover ,

They also provi de

us with old forms of place - nam es i n certain districts and parishes for which we of ten have no earlier source - in Ulster gene rally we have no townland index until 1609, It may be of i nterest to discuss in a general sor t of way certain personalities appearing in the Registers who are of local significance.

We have already mentioned

Archbishop O Hiraghty, a former Dean of Armagh, who became Primate in 1334 and Âˇdied in 1346.

During his term of

9. office the old quarrel between Dublin and Armagh was revived, but the king intervened and commanded the Archbishop of Dublin and the Corporation of that city to refrain in future from molesting His Grace of Armagh. The disagreement, a form of jealousy or inferiority complex on the part of Dublin, was even then of some standing and was to occur again from time to time . One of O Hiraghty's Metropolitan Visitations survives also, with a certificate belonging to his successor, the famous Richard Fitzralph, one of the most celebrated Archbishops of Armagh.

He is said to have been a na tive

of Dundalk and was buried there, his tomb being long a place of pilgrimage .

He was an author of repute on

theological and other subjects and certain of his wor ks, early specimens of continental printing, but published long after his death are in the Public Library .

They

include his "Defence of the Clergy" publish ed in Rouen 1461, believed to be the earliest printed book by an Irish writer that has specific reference to Ireland. was translated to Armagh in 1347 and died 1360.

His

successor was Milo Sweteman who became Archbishop in 1361, a year in which Ireland was afflicted by a pestilence that swept away multitudes of men but very few women.

With

him begin the Registers named as we know them to-day. His tenure of the archbishopric was both interesting and

10. eventful, and it had by then become the custom of the archbishops to reside in County Louth, usually at Dr omiskin or Termonfeckin, where they had palaces or castles and at Drogheda where they had a small mansion. At that time Louth was commonly known as the "English Armagh " and Armagh and those parts of Tyrone that were incorporated in the See were spoken of as "Irish Armagh" . Sweteman did, however, reside occasionally in Armagh in his Manor

beside the lake" - possibly the Abbey of

Mullynure, later called Bishop' s Court , of which there are now no remains.

Like his predecessors and successors

in the Primacy he was much worried by the conduct of the 0 Hanlons and O Neills .

In 1374, for instance, Niallan

0 Neill t hreatened t o strip the archbishop and his clerks of all their possessions excepting the Cathedral Church but some sort of temporary settlement seems to have been reached for two years later the Archbishop appointed 0 O'Neill his arch-seneschal. Archbishop Sweteman died in 1380 and was succeeded by John Colton in 1381, who in 1397 made a Visitation of the Diocese of Derry that gives much information on the parishes of that See.

The original Roll was part of the Archie-

piscopal Collection here until the middle of the last century when, owing to an accident following its preparation for publication, it was not replaced in the Archbishop's

ll. Muniment Room, by 1ohich mischance it passed into private hands, was later sold, and is now in the British Museum . In Coltonâ&#x20AC;˘s time a house of entertainment and support for the learned men of Ireland was founded and erected at Emain Macha in 1387 by Nial O' Neill, King of Ulster, the site of which is still traditionally known as the "King's House".

Archbishop Colton died in 1404 and was followed by Nicholas Fleming whose register like its predecessor in the sequence is equally instructive.

We, however, are

chiefly interested in it from the local aspect.

During

his Primacy the Cathedral was destroyed by accidental fire at some date previous to September 1405.

Whether

it was repaired again immediately seems doubtful as a further reference occurs in 1414 when alms were being collected throughout the Province fo r the repair of the Metropolitan Church which we are informed was maliciously burnt.

In 1406 an item of particular local inte rest is

recorded - the gr ant of three pa rts of the vault or crypt of the Cathedral to the citizens of the town, during the Archbishop's life for ke eping goods in, on condition of their being obedient, pleasing and faithful to him and his church - the fourth part being reserved for church property . He died in 1416. and later date.

His Register contains matter of earlier

12. Following the death of Archbishop Fleming the See of Armagh was vacant for almost two years.

John Swayne

was consecrated in 1418 but resi gned in 1439.

His

Register is one of the most interesting of the group and incorporates Acts relating to earlier archbishops besides entries after a-~d subsequent to his resignation and death . In his Primacy the Cathedral was burnt by chance fire in 1428.

In the same year we find a re ference to the tolls

of the city, an item suggestive of a town charter then in being. Archbishop Swayne's visits to Armagh were very infrequent and like his predecessors he was involved in the upholding of Armagh's supremacy.

He refused indeed

to attend Parliaments when held in Dublin rather than submit to the Archbishop of Dublin's restrictions.

his Primacy there were the usual troubles with the 0 1 Hanlon's and the 0 1 Neill 1 s and a letter written by the Primate to the then O'Neill reads as follows:Archbishop of Armagh to his beloved son in Christ

John

Greetings.

We have perceived by the relation of trustworthy persons that God has visited you, while he impressed upon both armpits of your body, two rather severe and as it were mortal ulcers, but happily as , we presume, at the prayers of some holy man, the said ulcers being broken and thereafter flowing away, you have been restored as it were from

13. death to li fe by the favour of God.

We counsel you fo r

the future to exhibit gratitude to God , Bl essed Mary, St . Patrick , our Church at Armagh and ourselves ".

The

pit y is that we know nothing of 0 Neill ' s reacti ons to 1

the Primate ' s conce r n fo r his welfare .

We are aware ,

however, that interdicts and excommunication were sometimes necessary when dealing wi t h the 0 1 Hanlons and O' Neills but of that later. A rather curious effusion exists in his Registe r it fol l ows an entry of 14th August , 1431 , and i s in the nature of a complaint as regards women ' s attire, espe cially the t all cone- shaped head-dres ses of the period .

bewai ls the fact : "That fleshly lusts and feast s And furs of divers manner of beasts, The devil of hell them first found . Hole clothes cut in shreds And the pride of women ' s heads Hath been destroyed in thi s land. God that beareth the crown of thorns For his dear passion And never let her long tails That be t he devil of hell his flails Be the cause of our confusion". I n that century Âˇexcess and exaggeration governed every new style.

The craze began after the marriage of Anne of

Bohemia t o Rich a rd III in 1383 .

Revolutionary fashions

were introduced by the new Queen, and it would seem f rom the ver ses in question that some of t h em had actually reached Armagh.

Before Anne's arrival in England, all

14.

head- dresses had been designed as a covering for t he hair or as a means of enhancing its beauty but afterwards the one consuming idea was to cover all traces of the fact that a woman had any hair on her head at all !

was fo r almos t a century an age of fantastic head-gear and the woman who devised a fresh met hod of adorning her head , be it with horns, boxes, or pads, was immedi atel y fashionable.

Dresses were equally elaborate.

Width of

shoulders was emphasized, there was great var iety in sleeves and a rather silly elongation of the toes of shoes that r eached the height of absurdity about 1420, >men the toes became so l ong tha t they had t o be attache d to the lrne es with chains t o prevent them tri ppi ng the wearer.

A few years later a law was enfo rce d prohibi t i ng

people >mo were not in re ceip t of an income of ÂŁ40 per year from wearing shoes with points longer than two fee t. One fin1 it di ffi cult to believe that the Armagh of five centuries ago was a pl ace where women's modes were so extreme as t o meri t the displ easur e of th e chur ch but, of course, we all remember t he recent attempts t o ban stockin gless, sleeveless, neckless and hatless maidens from her services, a t h reat that merely resulted in them taking refuge in trousers and substituting coloured handkerchiefs for hats.

15. Swayne was succeeded in 1439 by John Prene (a former Archdeacon of Armagh) whose Register has also come down . Archbishop Prene was an energetic Primate and like earlier archbishops had many worries with local chieftains.

kept up the old customs and on his journeys to Arm agh and parish es in t he vicinity, his tenants on the See Lands were bound at their own expense to provide him with men, ho rses, and entertainment whilst en gaged in those duties. If they failed to do so th e threat of expulsion from the church was hurled at them - we have an instance with regard to Clonfeacle in 1441. was no idle threat.

Such a drastic measure

Prene's denunciation of Felemy

0 Hanlon, and hi s followers must have struck terror to the less hardened adherents of the Clan O Hanlon.

"May

they fall in battle and be wiped out of the book of living.

With sound of terr or let their memory perish .

Be fi re and brimstone the por ti on of their cup and in one generation blot out their name fo r ever.

And as this

candle falls extinguished from our hand so fall their souls f rom the sight of Almighty God and the company of Heaven unless they take thought and return to the fostering embrace of the church". persons he was equally direct.

With less important When a widow was r obbed

in 1461 he excommunicated the persons implicated, not only by Bell, Book and Candle, but also cursed them

16. standing, sitting, walking, riding , lying , sleepi ng , waking, eating , drinking, in bread, liquor, f lesh , fish , butter, leeks, onions , garlic and in all ot her occupations whatsoever from the sole of the foo t to the crown of the head".

Sometimes a complete par i sh was

placed under an interdict - during which all chur ch rites with few exceptions were suspended ,

No mass, marri age

or other service was celebrated - the church closed agains t the living and the churchy ard agains t the dead. It was p erhaps the most terrible weapon of all. Archbishop Prene died in 1443 was appointed in his place. has come down to us also.

and in 1444 John Mey

Ar chbishop Mey s Register He was Prima te un til 1456

and during his time as Archbishop the English settlers were prohibited f rom wearing beards after the Irish fashion and ordered to shave them once a fo rtnight. The Act of Parliament enforcing it was passed in 1447. In his Primacy , in 1441, the custody of St. Patrick's Bell passed f r om the O'Mellans to the O'Mullhollands. May' s successor was John Bole. Archbishop fr om 1457 until 1470.

He se rved as During his Primacy

he had a confirmation of a Market Charter and other privileges from Edward IV in the year 1467 - the first record we have of any such grant to the city,

He took

an active interest in the diocese and was not content to

17 . govern it from Termonfeckin as was t h en the rule.

had, however, plenty of troubles to contend with here. For instance, in 1466 when on a visit to the city two of his horses were stolen by members of the Clan O Mellan, the local sept that had previously been Keepers of St. Patrick's Bell, the family indeed from whom Lurgyvallen in the vicinity of the city derives its name.

The

Primate took measures for their recovery and we may assume that he received them eventually - in the meantime, however, he was compelled to hire transport to take him home again to Drogheda.

Similar accounts occur in

earlier Registers - in Sweteman's Register for example, there is a letter from the Archbishop written in 1367 to the Chaplain of Castrum O O'Hanlon(Loughgilly) commanding him to admonish Malachy O Hanloyn , King of Erthyr (Orior) to compel certain of his subjects to restore goods taken from the Archbishop's messenger by violence (all set out in detail and including coats, hoods, belts, new shoes, linen and other breeches, gloves, cloaks, pocket knives, corn, salt, silver, etc.) one of the persons concerned being O'Hanlonâ&#x20AC;˘s younger son, Donald. But to return to Bole 's Register.

Under June 1458

it records the fact that a certain Arthur MacKearney of Armagh for the salvation of his soul and that he might avoid imminent danger had intended to build a wooden

18. bridge over the Kilcrewe river and a chapel at the plac e, but having begun the work and prepared much timber found hi mself unable to complete i t at his own expense.

many of the entries in the Registers it fails to tell us what happened , other than that the Ar chbishop had gr ant ed fo rty days indulgence out of the treasures of the church t o all charitable Christians who should contribute to the finishin g of the work . In 1471 , th e year after Bole's death, J ohn Foxall was conse crated and remained Archbishop for four years without onc e puttin g a foot within t he city.

He was

followed by Edward Connesburgh in 1475 who, because of inability to cope with diocesan finances, re signed in 1480, whereupon 0ctavian del Pal atio became Archbishop rulin g the See unt il his death in 1513 .

He was a man

of sound learning and great political sagacity .

His

regis ter containing "Memoranda" of Archbishop Bole and Kite has come safely down to us - it covers t he period 1460- 1520 .

During his Primacy he remitted certain dues

in 1509 so that the accumulated sum could be made use of for the fabric of the Cathedral and its adornment. During Archbishop del Palatio 's time as Primate, Lambert Symnel, Pretender to the t hrone of En gland, was crowned in Christ Church, Dublin, but the Archbishop not alone tried to persuade the Lord Deputy to prevent the

19.

Coronation but finally withdrew from the Council and refused to take any pa rt in the crowning ceremonies. In 1486 a tempest of wind accompanied by torrents of rain swept the Province of Ulster, uprooting trees and destroying houses and churches, and in 1491 the summer and harvest seasons were so wet it was impossible to save the corn and famine ensued.

In the same year a blazing star,

possibly a comet was the precursor of a pestilence known as the English Sweat - a terrible fever that carried away the young and middle-aged men, but was less fatal to women, children, and old men.

In the following summer most of

the rivers dried up and cattle perished everywhere from thirst.

Another comet visible for two months and further

fever added to the confusion and terror.

In 1498 Armagh

lost one of its greatest literary ornaments by the death of Charles Maguire, the eminent annalist.

Such were some

of the events of Archbishop del Palatio' s Primacy.

Stuart

tells us that in the Archbishop's time Armagh was reduced from its former splendour to a state of insignificance and quotes a Latin rhyme attributed to that period .

It reads:

"Armagh - 'tis a pity Is now a vain city deprived of all common morality, The women go nude The meat's taken crude, and poverty there has locality", but in reality it was written almost three centuries earlier

2 0.

by a ce r tain Hugh Tyrell who had assisted in the capture of the city in the days of the comin g of the Anglo - Normans . According to Irish Annals he deprived the church of Armagh of a magnificent cauldron, a theft that we are told brought him many misfortunes.

That Tyrell should have found su ch

a state of affairs in the city at that particular time was , of course, due to the continued ravages of war, a condition that reduced the inhabitants to pove rty and want .

A much

later and more popular version informs us that: "So fa r from the town of Armagh being witty, It is an extremely cocked-up and ridiculous city , Man , woman and lad thei r mann ers are bad The ladies I wish were a little more prude For I blush to narrate they are awfully nude, And if you dine with a gent, the meat ' s underdone And your host some poo r pa.upe r ly son of a. gun". In the same year that del Pal atio died John Kite was promoted to the Primacy.

Some of his Act s, strangely

enou gh, a.re incorporated in the Register of his pr edecessor. Archbishop Kite in cro ssi ng f r om England to his diocese of Armagh had an adventure that might have resulted in him never reaching Ireland .

His vessel was attacked by two

Bre t on pir ates and would have been captured only that two Spani sh ships were quickly manned by the ci tizens of Drogheda who hastened t o his assis t ance, rescuing him and bringing in one of the Breton boats a.s a prize.

He was a man of

action and remons trated wi th O Neill for having no thought but for his belly and pleasure.

A friend of Archbishop

21.

Wolsey, he was present at that prelate ' s institution as Cardinal in 1515, and at the christening of Princess Mary in 1516, and in 1520 accompanied Henry VIII to the Field of the Cloth of Gold . Archbishop Kite resigned in 1521 and George Cromer "a learned, grave and courteous man " was enthroned in the following year.

His Register has been very fully

calendared i n the Louth Archaeological Jour nal by the Rev . L. P. Murray .

Three blazing st ars, which appeared

in the heavens in the years 1531 and 1532 astonished and terr ified the people of Armagh and of Ireland as a whole ;,,ho viewed .them as indications of approaching calamities . Two years later the shock of an earthquake was fel t i n Ir eland.

In 1533 a Par l iament was held in Dublin a t

which the controversy betwixt t he Archbishop of Armagh and the Archbish op of Dublin as to precedency in Dublin wa s renewed and de cid ed in favour of Armagh .

In the

next year Archbishop Cromer was present in Dublin when Lord Thomas Fitzgerald went into rebellion agains t the King and vainly appealed to that unfortunate noble not to plunge the Gerald.ines in war and possible extinction, but to rely upon the wisdom and justice of his Sove rei gn advice t hat unfortunately was not taken . Cromer's Register instances t he case of a citizen doing public penance in the Cathedral Church of Armagh

22 .

clothed in white as a penitent and offering a pound of wax in honour of St . Patrick on Sundays until the Primate was satisfied.

He had a residence at Armagh

and during the winter of 1534- 35 incursions were made on his l and s in the neighbourhood of Arma gh and a direct attack carried out upon his Palace at Dromarge on the outskirts of the city . His Regi ster incorporates some reco r ds of his predecesso r Archbishop Kite, and also deals with ecclesiastical discipline, matrimonial disputes, testamentary affai rs , slanders, and church matters of the Province generally and like the other Regis ters is a useful source fo r names of the pre - Reformation clergy of the diocese. Following Ar chbishop Cromer' s death in 1542 a shor t vacancy ensued but in the following year George Dowdall was chosen Primate .

Hi s Regis t er of which we have only

a copy includes the closing yea r s of Cromer and the firs t year s of his own term - th e period 1540-1546.,

but f r om

t hen on is an incomplete collection of scatte r ed wri tings. The do ctr in es of Luther had then made much prog r ess on th e Cont inen t of Europ e and t hough th e beliefs of the refo rm ers had achieved a con sider abl e i mpression i n En gl an d it was very different her e .

Th e Refor mation

in Britain wa s, however, acceler a ted by the i ntermarriage

23. of Henry VIII with Anne Boleyn and that monarcHs quarrel wi th the Pope, resulting in a separation of himself and his subjects from the Papal See.

Having secured the

reluctant support of the English clergy he determined that the Irish Church should likewise break with Rome and acknowledge him a supreme head .

He was successful with

George Brown , Archbishop of Dublin, but Archbishop Cromer opposed the new regime.

Archbishop Dowdall was appo inted

Cromerâ&#x20AC;˘s successor by the King but the Pope declined to confirm the appointment .

Dowdall did not, however,

approve of the English liturgy and in the end refused to use it.

Pressure was brought to bear upon him and a

threat was made to make Armagh subordinate to Dublin. In 1551 the King and Council deprived him of the Primacy and in 1552 selected Hugh Goodacre - the first Protestant prelate of the See of Armagh .

He died, however, in the

following year, and in 1553 Edward VI was succeeded by Mary, daughter of Henry VIII, a Queen strongly attached to the Roman Catholic religion who recalled Archbishop Dowdall and re- instated him in t he See of Armagh in March 1554 . At the same time Mary caused the Archbishop of Dublin to surrender his patent thus restoring the Primacy to the Archbishop of Armagh.

Archbishop Dowdall's second

occupation o.f the See of Armagh had the approval of the Pope, but the death of Queen Mary in 1558 resulted in

24 . Elizabeth, the only survivin g child of Hen ry VIII corning to th e throne and the appointment of Adam Loftus, one of he r chap l ai ns as Archbish op in 1562.

Archbishop Loftus

was Primate a t the early age of twenty - ei gh t, but the See of Armagh not being financially productive he accepted the Archbishopric of Dublin instead in 1567 , Th e English successful ly hel d Dublin from the 14th century onwards and were able to contro l Armagh t o some extent from Drogheda but in the period covered by the Registers it is clea rly apparen t that although those pa rt s of the Province of Armagh situated in the Pale func tioned fai rly well it was a very di fferent sto ry in the northern counties . In conclusion I should per haps st re ss the fac t that the Armagh Registers deal with Ireland as a whole, but mo re pa rticula rly with the Ecclesi astic al Province of Armagh .

They are, therefore, not confined to the

Diocese only or indeed to Iri sh affairs .

Their interest

and appeal is much more extensive than their title sugges ts. The Province of Armagh in itself embraces the counties of Armagh, Tyrone, Derry, Donegal, Sligo , Mayo, Galway, Cavan, Fermanagh, Lei trim , Longfo rd, Meath, Westmeath, King's County, Roscommon, Mona gh an, Louth, Down and Antrim. In that huge area there are many places of pre-Christian significance such as Emain Macha, Ta ra, Rathcrogan, and

25'. Usneagh and famous monuments like the Boyne and Slieve-na calliagh, prehisto ric burial-places, but far more important still is the fact that our ancient Ecclesiastical Province contains four most renowned associations with St. Patrick Slemish where he spent his captivity, Saul where he is reputed to have built his first church, Slane where he li ghted the famous fire that foretold th e extinction of Paganism in Irel and, and Armagh the centre of his affection, the place he loved most - "his dear t ho rpe and hill" .

1208 - J 1558 ..

Henry III Edwar d I

King 1216- 1272 . "

1274-1 307 .

Edward II

1308 but deposed 1327 .

Edward III

1327-1377.

Richard II

1337 - deposed 1399 .

Henry I V

1399-1413.

Henry V

1413 - 1422.

Henry VI

1429 - deposed 1461.

beginning of the York and Lancaster quarrels Edward IV Edward IV

King 1464-1483. murdered with his brother soon after his accession .

Richar d III

King 1483-1485.

Hen r y VII

1485-1509.

Henry VIII

1509-1547.

Edward VI

1547-1553.

Mary Elizabeth

Queen 1553- 1558. II

1558-1603.

The first of the Tudors .

27 King John died in 1216 . signing of the Magna Charta.

His tyranny led to the He was succeeded by Henry

III whose folly and extravagance called for a demand for the representation of the people in Parliament - f rom which beginning the House of Commons developed . His successor Edward I was crowned in 1272.

his reign Wales was conquered and Scotland partly subdued. Edward II reigned from 1307- 1327, in which year he was deposed, the English people having exercised for the fi rst time their right to depose a weak and worth less Sovereign . Edward III became King in 1327 and was forced to reco gnize the independence of Scotland, but he laid claim to the throne of France, a demand that led. to "the Hundred Years War

His successor Richard II was crowned in 1377.

His reign is chiefly renowned for the Peasants ' Revolt, the translation of the Bible into English by the eccentric John Wilclif, and the famous poet Geoffrey Chaucer. Richard was forced to abdicate in 1399, a measure that brought about the disastrous Wars of the Roses . In 1399 Henry IV became King, but his was an uneasy reign, steeped in opposition and conspiracy .

Things were

indeed difficult when in 1413 Henry V ascended. the throne, but he made friends with the opposing parties and act ually conquered France .

He left a baby son who succeeded him

28. as Henry VI in 1422 .

His was not a successful reign .

Hi s long mi nority made it impossible to hold the French throne and in his reign the Wars of' the Roses began.

was deposed in 1461 and Edward I V became the new king. He was , however, soon compelled to flee the country and thus Henry VI returned to power .

Edward regained the

throne and thus began the rei gn in which printing was introduced in England by Caxton. Richard III ascended the throne in 1483 and is specially remembe red for the murder of the two young princes in the Tower, the elder of whom should indeed have been king . He secured the ki ngdom by usurpation and was not a favourite, so ther e was little grief when he fell at Bosworth Field in the last battle of the Wars of the Roses. The rule of the Tudor Sovereigns then began .

Henry

VII becam e king in 1485 and if he had no t been so miserabl e with regard to money the honour of the discovery of America would have fallen to England instead of Spain .

Though he

failed Columbus he did encourage the Cabots, th e di scoverers of Newfoundland . His successor was the celebrated Henry VIII , a popular and mu ch married king, who came to the th r one in 1509 wi th the avantage full treasury. subdued.

of an unquestioned ri ght and a

The Welsh were content and the Scotch

At his death t h e crown was t o descend t o Edward,

Mary and Elizabeth, in that order.

29 . Edward VI was crowned in 1547.

In his time the

Book of Common Prayer was compiled and the Protestant faith became established.

By his will he bequeathed

the crown to the unfortunate Lady Jane Grey who actually rei gned fo r twelve days and was succeeded by Queen Ma ry . Queen Mary rei gned from 1553 until 1558 . a firm Roman Catholic.

She was

She married Philip of Spain and

shortly afterwards the old laws for burning heretics were revived and enforced.

I n her reign England lost its

las t grip on France .

Through her wish to please her

husband a war was entered that should never have been fought .

Her reign was marked by so many persecutions

that the people at her death in 1558 joyfully proclaimed a Protestant Queen. Elizabeth's tenure of the throne was long and successful.

She was fond of study and conversant with

Latin and Greek .

Philip of Spain sought her as a wife

but the proposal s eems to have been distasteful though she t r eated it with courtesy .

Between the Prote stants

and the Roman Catholics she was indeed between the devil and the deep blue sea .

She did , however, know how to

choose reliable men and there is no doubt but that much of her success was due to her advisors .

She had many

worries, chief amongst them her cousin Mary, Queen of Scotland, executed in 1587.

Her reign saw the defeat

30 of Spain's "Invincible Armada" and England then in truth ruled the sea .

Raleigh sailed to Vir ginia an d Frobrisher

visited Labrado r and Greenland in search of a north west passage to England , literature flourished - Spencer and Shakespeare were p r oducts of her reign. The Queen herself was a complex char acter.

She

enjoyed t ravelling , was well educated and witty but so vain t ha t nobody ever succeeded in prais ing her as sh e thought herself de se rving .

She had a quick temper and

her wo rd was not always reliable .

She did, however ,

love her country and she was a gr eat ruler .

With her

death i n 1603 the throne passed to the House of St uart in the person of James I of England and VI of Scotland, son of Mary, Queen of Scots, in whose reign t he Plantation of Ulster was carried out. His mother was a devout Roman Catholic but he had been brought up very strictly by the Scotch Presbyterians and they we re even more rigid in their ideas than the Puri tans .

To him we owe the Plantation of Ulster by

Scotch and English settlers in the opening years of the 17th centur y.

The Presentment of the Jury for the Survey of the County of Armagh

Taken at the Castle of the Moyrey, 2 August 1608 Qow

Ardmagh

The Presentment of the Jury for the Survey for th e County of Ardmagh t aken at the Castle of Moyrey before His Majest y 's Commi ssi one rs , the second day of August 1608 .

First We find and present that the whole County of Ardmagh is general ly mea red and bounded as follo ws, viz. Between Cla nb r assel and this county and pa rt of Evagh ne ar the town of Killaghy in Clanbrass el afore said, the re is an old caus eway in a bog called Clo ghan near Lough Eaugh, which is a meare between t hi s county and the Coun t y of Down and from thence to the foord of Aghneha in a bog lying bet ween Dromenekeyrn in Clanbra ssel and Ballymagin i n Evagh, and so t hrough the mid st of the bog called lfoonmoreballynickytire and from through the midst of a bog called Moan Rine rt y and so to the ford of Agheveghan, and from thence they refer themselves to the meares of O Hanlon ' s Coun try fo r me rly deliv ered to the Commissioners at Mountnorris ; and from thence t o the fo rd called Bealacloghan lying between t he Fuighes and Do,mgowle in the County of Louth, being the next meara to O Hanlon; and from â&#x20AC;˘ thence to Carriclmeshioge near Dongale and so near to Lissecoonny along by a ditch lying between Li ssecoonny and Bedlowes land in the County of Louth and from thence to the ford of Carrigeterman and from thence to the ford of Belaghmackleynny; and so the ford of Aghknockecladdy; and so from thence to the ford ofÂˇ Belaghreny, and so from thence to Sraghnenealan in the Fuighes and to the ford by the same in the River of Muchna and so up the same river to Loughross and so up the river to the ford of Ballyhinogerly and from thence through the bog Loughesheill, parcel of' the Fiughes and so to the ford of[ land so to the small stream running near Carrawaghroe in Henry Oge's l ands and so through t he bog to Dromh erny, leaving tha same to the County of Ardmagh and from thence to the small stream running between the Poullenagh in the County of Monaghan and Dirrinuse in this county and so to

the small stream running between Ballaghgreen i n the County of Monaghan and Dough skeagh in t he said county and so t o another small bog divi ding bet ween Crossdallagh i n the County of' Ardmagh and Lissdr omgowllaght in the Count y of Monaghan and so from thence t o the small bog l yi ng between the Enowh in the County of' Monaghan and the Knockban in t hi s county and so t hrough a small bog down t o Owencogge ry which is a meare betwixt the County of Monagha n and t hi s county and so up t he s ame river to t he Blackwat er t o Lough Eaugh af'oresaid. And we f'ind further that there is within this county f'ive baronies, viz. Orier, Ardmagh, Fui ghes, Toaghranie and oâ&#x20AC;˘Neilan. And t ouching the me ares of Orier we refer our selves unto the book that was delivered unto the Commi s sione rs at Mountnorris. And that the barony of Ardmagh is mea red viz.- on the north f'rom Bunetallagh and so to Moy - gr avid in the west and so to Aghmagowan in the south and so to Bal lynehowen in the east. And that the barony of Fuighes af'oresaid is meared , viz.- on the south f'rom Shanmullagh and so to Ballynegallagh in the west and so to Ballinegr owbanagh in t he north, and so to Creiggan in the west. And that the barony of Tuoghrany afore sa.1.d is meared, viz. on the north from Anaghlary and so to Carranagh Roe in the south, and so to Ardgonnell in the west and so to Tollglashogowen in the east. And that the barony of' O'Neilan af'oresaid is meared viz. on the south from Shankrekin and so to Ballymg1llmorrow in the west and so to Magherygreeny in the north and so to Killaghy in the east. And that there is in the barony of Ardmagh aforesaid these several lesser countries or precincts of land, viz. Tuoghaghie, Cossvoy, Collowre and the Lord Primate's land Duogh Slutmelaughl1n, Duogh Muntercullen.

And that tl1ere is in Tuoghaghie a foresaid , these several towns or vil l ages or ballieboes ensuing vi z.

l. Bal lydowneronagb. ". n,, r kley als Tiewfadda 3, Tull aghlish. 4 Keduff , Carri ckclogher , o Cros sdanedd , 7. Tullaghnemall oge. 8 . Downelarge 9 , Crossmo re. 10. Lor ge cliegh. 11. Correhugh. 12 . Cav agh . 13 . Laggan . 14. Dir thennell, 15. Dromg rinagh . 16 . Maddane. 17. Farrinnemuyloig. 18. Dr omdeirg . 19 . Knockravan. 20 . Ki llycrew. 21. Moyvollin. 22 . Uskemedy 23 . Roan. «4, Dromhurke . 25 . Kilcriew. 26. Dromcolt er , 27. Drombroughus. 28 . Brottelly. 29 . Lisglyn . 30. Tawlaught. 31. Drommcanvar. 0

?·.

32. Carrickene cloughoge.

Cav angarvan . Dirrecahagh, Balt aeagh. Lissogally als Lissechrin,

37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42 . 43 .

Krewrinn. Gartan. Moichuvony. Canantis. Moiegrawid. Naule. Killolah.

34: 35 30 :

Ballyduff •

45. Corvin. 46. Tullaghg allody. 47. Dromga r. 48. Gooll agh . 49 . Di r reneli egh . di b.b . 51 Bal linegar , 1 cessi ogh. Enaghneancih, 1 cessiogh . And also cert ain othe r t owns , vi l lage s or bal l ieboes out of whi ch t he Lor d Archbi shop of Ardmagh clai ms certain yea r l y r ent t he cert ainty whe r eof we know not , viz .

50. Maghery - Kill eane als Li sdr oma.rd .

51.

Tuwnagh als Aghirfiny .

~: 55 .

Ballycoh ie als Bot ter an. Trewn als Ball yaghy. Li ss edelin als Bally scanill . Tawl aghteboo , half a ballybo.

52. Cullint ragh als Bracktwnagh.

And that ther e i s othe r ce r tai n villiages or ballibo es in the sai d country which do pay a chief r ent to the Abbey of Ar magh viz.

56. 57. 58 . 59.

Grearnnore 6/8 . Corcleigh 6/8. Aghymagowregan 13/1+. Tassagh 13/4. 60. Tirarly als Crew Roe 13/4. And that there is in Coswoy afor esaid , these sever al towns , village s or balliboes out of which the s ai d Lord Archbishop challengeth certain rents, the certainty whereof we know not, viz. l. Navan .

J rolly. 2. [ Tirretrah. Tireskahan. Drombee. The two Ballyvartraws, 2 balliboes, 7, Tullaghnicholl, 8. Cloghfin. ..9. Tullaghgerran â&#x20AC;˘

3 5,

And tha t th ere is in Duogh-slut- ne-Melagh lin th es e sev e ral towns, villages or balliboes out of which the sai d Ar chbishop chal lengeth ce rtain ch ie f r ents the ce rt aint y whe r eof we know no t , vi z .

1, 2, 3.•• Ii 5. i'i

Kno cknecoonny , Tullidonegan , Tal l aghs tah . Dromshiel. Killeloyne. Bealhugh . 7, Annaghan- Rie . 8. Two Creaghans , 2 bal liboos .

And that t here i s in Coswov aforesaid t hese sever al t owns, vill ages or balliboes which pay to he Abbay of Ardmagh to rent, vi z . Grangagh 6/8 . And also in Duogh-Slutm -

Mel agh lin , the se t owns viz.-

Grangagh 6/8. · Cross Kr ien 6/ 8. Mullaghboy 13/4 And tha t there i s in Cowloowr e afore sai d, thes e s everal balliboes ensuing, vi z . 1. Downdavally.

2. 3 •• !i '5 •• i'i 7. 8.

Corr. Ballinbreagh. Aghmylugg , Lyshlosh ty. Mullaghmore. Tirme ckrenan. Chamegow.

whereof Downdavally and Corr are alloted to the town a: Charlemont. And that there is Duogh-Muntercullen aforesaid, these several balliboes ensuing, viz.

~l, ShanmuJ.lagh , 2 , Lisboyfin. 3 •• Laggan . 4 Tiremickbrien, 5 Kilmore . b • Mullaghanar y. 7. Mull agh - eightragh , 8. Dromarr an . wher eof Shanmullagh aforesaid is assigned to the Fort of Charlemont , out of all which l ands the Archbishop of Armagh challengat h a cert ain yearl y . rent, t he certaint y whereof we know not. And tha t there is in this ba r ony the Manor of Ardmagh containing 24 balliboes which l ands ar e reported the Chur ch Lands of Ardmagh, par tly belonging t o the Archbishop of Ardmagh 1 par tly to Religious Houses dissolv ed, part in demai ne and part in ser vices, the cer t ainty wher0of we know no t, And t ha t the r e i s wi t hin this ba rony in the Town of Ardmagh a small Friery of Fr anciscans di ssolved t o which belong eth two t ownlands . And ther e is al so a small Nunner y in the t own of Ardmagh a for esaid. And that all t he Tiethe s within this bar ony do belong t o the Bishop , the Dean, the Pr ior and the Abbay of Ardmagh, but in wha t manne r we know not , And t here bel orige t h to t he Abbay of Ardmagh one cessioe of land, viz. Vicars Chorals of Ardmagh in demaine viz. FuighesFews Barony,

And there i s in t he barony of Fuighes aforesaid these several lesser countries or precincts of land, viz.Clanconnoghy, Fuighes, Clancarny , Ballienemoyre and Ballym Owen That there is is Clanconnoghy aforesaid, these several towns, villages or balliboes ensuing, viz.-

Dirrychor. Brandrim . Leyt ry. Cabbragh . Dromnel ock. Moylurge . Cor necri ew. Maghe rydough er. Magheryloughcowmor Ballin-jrrew. Magherymsrough. Mullaghbra ck . Corr Ardgonnell. Groobanagh. Dromin . Gar vagh. Droma r gin . Kilrodan . Dromanish . Dir rmenagh. Dromenaglogh. Rat a r naght. Dromshewgysh. Dr ewran. Drornnecro ss . Laneleigh. Teydan. Knappagh . Largeboy . Keilfaddy. Bally-Ire. Broghan. Inishlace. Dromchonawle. Vauran. Lattmachallow, Utleckeh. Dromgagh. Kilnegappull. Quillin. Couloon Ballinegalliogh 2 balliboes. Drombeas, 2 ball iboes,

Eddeneveghes 2 balliboes

and also certa in other balli boes viz . Carnemene schar . Cavanagr oogh Out of which the Lord Archbishop clai met h r ent, the certainty and also cert ain other balliboes out of which is pai d certain rents to the Abbay of Ardmagh viz. Dromenty 6/ 8 . Dromnechoy 6/ 8 . Ballinda r r agh 6/ 8. Ba llyma ckally 6/8. Lur gowy 6/ 8 . And t hat there is i n Clancarny afores ai d t hese several balliboes, viz. Crunaght ( 2). Coolmalishes ( 2). Eddenecannowny Carrickleaghan . Kilbrack . Feighboggan . Bra ckl y. Cordomin 1 2 cessioes. Lesnegatt. Dromgem. Lurgyross. Coronagh . Li ssdrumcor . Dromnehunchin. Carrickgallogly. Corromanin .

Lough-bal ly-Ikee. Dromchony. Crewhillagh. two Creggans 2 balliboes. Dirrlattygow y. Glassdromin.

Note. Capt ain Adderton is in possession of these three last towns of the two Creggans, D1rrlattygowly and Glassdromin bf colour of aÂˇ lease made by the Earl of Tyrone for the earl's life and his son Hugh, but no livery or seizen.

And a l so c e rt ain othe r towns villages or balliboes cer t ain rents to the Abbay of Ardmagh ,

ou t of whi ch is paid vi z .-

Ba l lytanmor e 6/ 8. Ballyhyanbeg 6/ 8 , Damwally 6/ 8. Tawnagh 1 sessi ogh 2/3, And that there is in the Fuighes aforesaid, t he seve r al vil lages or balliboes - vi z. Glassdr omin . Lurga coolinboy . Tollyvollin. Nedorsagh . Tollyvalloh. Tullydon ell . Our r eiu. Ca rri clc- mally . Cor menonagh t. Aghihi rr eshelloghan. Cr ei ggan . Cl arinagh , Dr omaghevalla. Drommuck . Trughur. Crossmogglan. Li s s er agh. Cloneli ck. Drombee . Eddenedony. Manigillagh . Lis s awry. Dr omgawgh. Crewekurin. Crinkill Cornelish. Tullynecrossy. Tomerphrigh. Anaghmerah. Kiltebanagh. Reigh. Shitrim. Tullayhslagh â&#x20AC;˘ Cloghehennagh. Cherrin,

Cavanore. Shanmullagh , Dowereggan, Carrignegin. Teynisken Lissdromgeir, Anaghebacky Lyo l gh , And that there is in Ballynemoyre aforesa i d. , these sev e ral towns villages or balliboes out of whi ch the Archbishop of Armagh challenge th certain chief rents the cer t aint y wh e reof we know not, viz. Corri lla , Larkan. Lorginah. Cavan aki lly, Dromgeo rge, Li ssdromar d , Li s sue . Ma ckawe , Aghnecorke, Ballymi ckan, Sycaghan,

And t hat there is in Ballymc Owen aforesaid, the s everal l ands, village s and balliboes out of which the Archbishop chall engeth ce rtain chief rents, the certainty 1,J hereof we know not, viz.Lisnedull, Li sseleigh, Drommoyle, Cavenegroagh, Corren, Ardmaghbreigy, Tonregugh, Tullybrone, And that there is within this barony the Parish Church of Mullaghbrack wherein the Prior of Armagh is parson, and there 1s a vicar endowed to be presented to His Majesty,

And also th e Par ish Church of Kil clonan wherein the Trea surer of Ardmagh is pa rson and vicar. And al so the Chappel of Corleat t which belonge th t o t he Church of Loughg i lly in 0rier . And also the Pa r ish Church of Creiggan , the tythes 1oher eof as well as the pa rs onage and vicarage do belong t o t he Pri or and Vica rs Chorals of Ardmagh . And th at the r e is within the ba r ony of Tuoghrany afore said t he several l esser countries or precincts of land viz. Tuogh - Rany, Clinawl y, Teynan, Derrinowes . And that there i s in Tuogh- Rany afores aid , these several towns vi llage s or balliboes ensuing, viz. l. Ballimetagh - eeght ragh .

2. Ballimetagh - oughtragh.

3. Lisslony . 4. Braghmoy

5. Kiltibored.

6. Mullin . 7. Coolkill . 8. Corfeighnagh .

9. Tullibrick- eightragh .

10. Tulli brick- oughtragh.

11. Tullaghleish . 12. Keillycananan .

13. Cavandowgin .

14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

21. 22.

Nunchoge. Ratrillis. Dromgarn . Shantullagh. Fuighduff. Ardgonnell. Sycoonny. Drumgows. Gortfaddah and Skirry, one balliboe, Rynn. Crann. Crossdallagh-eightragh. cro s sdallagh- oughtragh.

Racomer.

Gl a s sd r omin, Kno ck and Dromnemorih on e balli boe , Dowrah , Banra , Sytrim , Tollygl u sh . Cr enchier in . Ly ss l anoghli gh, Purtenellegan , Dowger r y , Mullaghnary Knocltcr aneskall agh . and al so Ca rr any uhich containeth eight balli boes . towns

And that there is in Cl in awly afo r esaid th es e several villages or bal liboes, viz,Enaghnenanagh , Pawl anagh . Foore. Knockeneigh, Li s snefiddy , Keilnemaddy , Coole carne. Corr. Aghatarragha. t wo Tullymores, 2 balliboes . Tullaghneskin, Eddenedirry, Tullaghmore. Bealamoygoole, Atty shooly. Mullagh-Iloghan Mullagh-eturr two Dromsallons, 2 balliboes, Dirren0ssey. Tawnaghewan. Leynabroagh. Dromharnaght.

all a£ which lands the said Archbishop 0£ Ardmagh claims as part of his demains. And that there is in the said country these other towns or balliboes ensuing, viz . Clontakeran. Agh emoy alt.t •

Turry. Ta nnagh, Cavanballyaghie . Mullagh-I tynne. Knappagh, Down. Li shn eshanrady. Garvaghy . Shanmullagh . Cabbragh , Tulloghoseran and Kielbot r y. Anna ghmoieth, two Anaghlarowes . 2 balliboes, Moiehdowne. ' Muntercar r . Out of which the said Archbishop of Ardmagh claimeth cert ain rents the ce rt ainty whe reof we know not , And tha t there is in Tynan aforesaid, t hese several t owns, villages or balliboes ensuing viz. Quoy and Tynagh, one balliboe, Annaghrappe and Lyleigh, one balliboe . Clont yca rty and Legmego rry, one balliboe. Gortmolieg and Mucklogh one balliboe . Breagha and Dromchonnoroe, one balliboe . Lisseagh , Loynevane and Mullaghbard, one balliboe. Out of all which lands the said Lord Archbishop of Ardmagh claims as part of his demaine . And that there is i n De rrynowes aforesaid, these several towns , villages or balliboes en suing viz.1. Roughan,

2 , Feargort, 3 •• Droma r ge . It Tullyhirrin , 5' •• Tullyfinn. Ii Drombarneh, 7. Tievnecrey. 8. La t tygarran . 9. Crossnemoyle. 10, Bracklin,

~ 4.

11. 12 . 13. 14 . 15. 16.

Dr omcoyle . Dromti er ny . Aghneglogh . Mallyai d . Ballint ampl e . Dirrenowes .

All of which the said Lord Archbishop clai ms a s pa rt of hi s demaine . And th at t he r e i s within this bar ony t he Parish Chur ch of De r renowes , the Tithes whereof a s well of t he Par sonag e as t he Vicar age do belong to t he sai d Pri or and Vi car s Chor al s of Ardmagh.

O'Nealan Barony And that there is within t he Barony of O1 Nealan afor e-

said these several less er countries or pre cinct s of la nd vi z .O'Neilan, Killmoore, Lough Ror kan , Cr anagill , Keyer , Dirribrochus, Clancan and Clanbra s sel, the Grange and Duogh Slut t-Edmond-Oge. And that there is in oâ&#x20AC;˘Nealan af oresaid t he se several towns, villages or ballieboes, ensuing viz .Dromna sweh . Mollaghnasaillagh â&#x20AC;˘ .Cloghan Radromgrene. Dromi seies . Loscaburrin. Mollagheanayn. Raymolcrayne. Aghena. Raye, Lagacorieh. Corrycrivoy. Mollaghelittaragh. Enaghbooagh. Enaghchyny Rakineigha. Kenicon. Faghearte.

Dromi arda. Dromnihonshen. Molaghedroy, Keidy. Cl ondroett. Bayleantaggart. Dayr chiall. Bailenebreagh , Moll aghea leal i sh, Ballenahense. Baileanl ogheain. Aghiori er . Magherloughecows Dromart, Enaghsawry . Cloneru ei ggan. Clonene - Edden. Aghytireloughbragh, Cawsanagh, Nacoroagha. Tirenegriew. Downalaghan, Ballymagieray. Dromehcriffe, Lissa. Lissesfill, Crienagh, Ballyke rovan. Ardrohy. Dromilly, Tirecharry. Mullagh bane. Dromifogher, Killmackhugh, Ballineknock, Boliogasie, Dromard, Belly-ossowen. Leballyneglass. Killemanyn , one cessioe, Teemickmore, hal.f a balliboe, Tulloghmore two cessioes, Dromart one cessioe, Ferromilly half a balliboe,

nd also other towns or balliboes, viz.-

Tir nes coab, Mullaghlowharnagh K1llov11mey . Drumadbegg, Greenan , Ballym ackgillvooragh. Out of all of which the Lord Archbishop of Armagh claimeth certain chief rents, the certainty ,-,hereof we know not. And also the balliboe of Granagh, belonging to the Abbey of Ardmagh in demaine, And that there is in Kilmore aforesaid , these several towns, villages or balliboes ensuing viz.Tireg ar den , Killmabkr aine, Moynymoriertie Kilm keinty keinty. Baile-Ifegan, Baileanmo llay . Baletrea. Rowghan. Dromard. Clonlarge . all of which land the said Archbishop of Armagh claims as part of his demaine. And that there is in Lough Rorkan aforesaid these several towns, villages or balliboes ensuing, viz.Marorkan. two Sancrackans, 2 balliboes. Dromenemeddar. Moiegh. Tawnaghmore, two ce ssioes .

And that there is in Cranagill aforesaid, these several towns, villages or balliboes ensuing viz.Moiegh, Cranagill als Dromard. Brouchus

47.

Annaghmo re, Coppn ey and Di rrych ah r ah , one ballibo e . Ardr i n ske, And that th er e is i n Keir afor esaid thes e sever al t own s , vi ll ag e s or balliboes ensuing , vi;, _ Tol ly r oan . Tires cu llila, Kinne r y . Dirrychagh, And tha t t he r e i s i n Dirrebr ochus afor esaid thes e sever al t owns , vi .l lages or bal l i boes, vi z . Clont ycheagh , Clonemore , Dirrebr ochus, Dirrelaghy. Out of which the s ai d Archbishop of Ardmagh claimeth cert ai.n r ents the ce rt aint y wher eof we know not. And tha t t her e is i n Clan can aforesaid these sever al towns, villages or bal l iboes ensuing, viz .Ballenegoan-owght r agh. Broughus. Raha rragh. Annag oar. Cooshenew. Lisserae. Aghavellan. Tawnaght-Ivinigh. Ballifedryn. Laggana. Corkynegerriff. Corneamucklagh. Annaghkeerah , Drominallagb, Solleshane. Corcullyntraghbegg. Corcullyntraghmore. Cornelekegh. Dromgoos.

48 Ki l lemagawishe , Criegh neskri ney . Corbrackogie, Muckhurey Derr anle, Dromenaugh . Dirrehanmoyle Drommalis . May a ghmore , Mayaghbeg . Dirr echinr in . Dirrel aghard. Dirrenreagh . Clan oer, Droml ellan. Dir reletti ew. Tagmc Ichiell. Farrah. Breagh - owtragh . Dromheriff. Drom chew. Aghene Regell, Cloonmartin , Dirrekarne . Dr omynewyn . Rowaghan . Tyamulkanny, Canonea lle. Canogolagh , Dr omruanmorehie, Clont eliew. Kanaghgolnagh, Bre agh-eightragh, Daghkereaghan . Tagh loaghogie, Cloanameke sh-owghtragh . Dirrekorra.

Dyrreagh, Clonamekeat, Dyrrehynnea. Dyrrelaagh, Cloanekesh-eightragh sh- eigh tragh. Cloonkagh, Dromraekally,

Aghbrackoeg. Mehan

4 9. Cloanagh . Tawnaghmore Dromyn a ssoh . Corralcryn. Eydenaderry . Garvagh i e. Lis sbal l ygowroin. Boyleelum . Killemc murriertagh murriertagh. Mullaghetean . Dromanan . Dirrelosteh . Ballinegoan-eightra . and also the balliboe of Magherygrena bel onging t o the Abbay of Ardmagh in demaine. And th at there is in Clanbrassell afore said t hese several towns, villages and balliboes _ensuing vi z .Killaghy. Clonerolagh. Li sschor an. Tawnaghmore

Lurge . Dough corr. Dromen emore, Clongillewoorriff. Cor rekenigeir. Doimegreagh . Dromenekarne, Tullaghconnelly. Tullaghdagoin. Kynegowe. Dromnecally, Dirryh. Shankill, Aghnecloigh. Tobberhevench. Taghnewan, Killinargitt. Tyremoyry. Boghannel. Knockrawer, Ballinemone Aghacanan.

I I

50 Tawnaghmore . Kinverrigan , Balto- f agh . Tawnagh tne gla ssan. Dr omnegowen . Sygoo- ei ghtragh . Sygoo- owght r agh , Tassan . Carn e , Tawnaghcarbitt Cor r, Dirrinnaragh , Dirrit agh . Dirrytrasney, Dirrinevirr, Nar d , Diraddeh. Dirinakei sh, Knockballybrienboy , Lanedarr ah . Magherna , Knocknemuckley , Ballyyargan. Dromyn, Ball ymickcrannell . Carrick , Dromlishnegrillah. Breagh . Kilbian. Levaghery, Lis senusky, Keyrnan, Loylucke , Bocomerah. Honagh an. Lyssdr ommoynt ry, Clandroll, Cros smuckcahully, Drumgorr, Marevery, Leggecorr, Tullygallih, Moybreck, Lurgemackoin Ballyblagh, Knoclmeshane,

iL Tawnaghmore. Bo sallagh . And t hat there is in the Gr ange afor esa id, th e se seve r al towns vi llages or balli boes ensuing, viz.Lisg renan . Tawnaghmore Dr ombenny. Aghecos s coragh. Ce r owhumog e . Dong en en . Ta wnaghb egg. All of which a r e in the possession of the College of t he Newr y and in possessi on of the heirs of Ni cho la s Bagnall . And that there is in Duogh-Slutt-Edmond-Oge aforesaid these several towns villages or balllboes ensuing, viz.Madd . Br ogheis. Droma r d. Annagh emo re. Ardi a ste . An d that there is within this barony the Pa ri sh Church of Kilmore \olhe rein t he Dean of Ardmagh is pa rson and the Chan cellor is vicar. And also the church of Agh ekilltaran , wherei n the said Dean is pa rson and the vic a r age belon ge t h to the Prior and Vicars Corralls of Ardmagh aforesaid. And also the Pa rish Chur ch of Dr omcrew wherein the said Dean is parson and the Chancellor, vicar. And al so the cha pel of Magh eragrene which belon ge th to the aforesaid Abbay of Ardmagh . And also the Chappell of Tartiraghan \olhi ch belongeth to the aforesaid Abbay of Ardmagh. And also the Parish Church of Sigoo, wherein there is a parson and vicar, the parson has two parts of the tythes and the vicar the third.

fi,:. .

And also the chapel f Shankill. Church of Ki l mulch n ' d O anl<i;1-l belongi ng to th e be l on ge t h to t he church3 ;' ]i! 8 rt of tne t ythes th e r eo f rc,1 0 1 0 Donacloney cloney . d A.ll we furth er fin d t ha t t he sev e r al ba r oni e s of Ardmagh t ~he Fuighes Tuoghrany and O ONeialan a fores aid an 1. a . 8 s evera l _ 1:3 s s er countrie s or 1:-re ci nct s of lands , t~ -1;:~l vill a ge s, bal liboes or pa r cel s of l and s above written ~ is present a.re and at the t ime or ..'.laki ng of the St a tut e 7n t ,1e llt,1 yaa r of the l ate Que en and be for e time out of 1!11nd , ive r e always lying and bei ng wit hin t he Coun t ry o r 0 r r:i.to r y of Tyron e and posses s ed by t he o Nealle s a nd th~ir fo llower s and tha t by fo rc e of the s aid st at ute th e s~i d l at ? Que en ' s Ma jest y was enti tl ed t o all and. singular t ne pr em:i. s;i,s , except s:uc~ par cel s t hereof a s of r i gh t di d belong t o v,19 Lord Archbishop of Ar dmagh or t o any Abbay Pri or y or o t he r Reli gi ous Hous e s . ' 1

And we fur t h er find that aft erwards t h e said Queen ' s Ma je st y about t he 28t h yea r of her reign gran ted un t o Hugh , late Ea r l of Tyrone, by Letters Pat ent , aJ.1 and singul ar t he p remises ( except befo re ex cept ed) , t o have and t o hol d t o the sai d Hugh for life, t he remaind er t o Hugh hi s r e put ed s on and th e hei r s mal e s of his body lawfully bego t te n and for the want of such is sue to Henr y another r eputed son of t he l a t e Ea rl and the heir s mal e s of hi s body lawf ully b ego tten a nd f or want of su ch issue t o Cormock O Ne ale , brother t o the sai d l at e Earl , for lii'e, the r emainde r t o Art Oge, son to t he sai d Cormock and t he hei rs mal es of his body l awf ully begott en, and f or t he want of such i ssue the Reve rsi on to th e sai d l ate Queen's s Majest y he r h eir s and successors for ever. By f orce whereof the said Hugh , lat e Earl, was of all and singula r t he p remises, exce pt t he Manor of Ardmagh af ore s ai d seized for term of hi s li fe, with the r emainder as afor e s~id and being so s eized was a fterwards a ttainted of Hi gh Treason by outlawry, the time and pl a ce and other circumstances of which a tt ainder we refe r t o be set do,m ac cor ding t o the records thereof. By force whereof t he said late Queen â&#x20AC;˘ s Majesty was of all singul ar the premise s ( except the l a ~~ befo r e excepted) seized for t e r m of the li fe of the said Hugh late Earl and th e reof afterwards died seized , on whose a eath the same descended to the King's Majesty that now is.

thereof

force t he reof the said King'ss Majesty sty 1Âˇ1a s also 0 seized, and in the 3rd yea r of His Hi ghn ess 's r e i gn , gr an t ed the s am e by Let t e rs Patent unto the said Hugh late Earl of Tyr one fo r life with the same remainders continued i n the former Letters Patent ( excepting and alwaysreserving out _of the s aid Pa t ent , the coun t rie s of Tuogthrany and the Fuighes aboveme ntioned and th e lands of Ch a r .Lemont . Âˇ And that the said King ' s Ma jesty aft e rwar ds the [ ye a r o f his rei gn granted by Let te r s Patent unto Sir Henry Oge O Neale, Kni ght, dec eased and his heirs fo r ever, the above written coun t ry of Tuoghrany and al l the lands , t enement s and he reditament s there in. And al so in the [ )year of his reign , gr an t ed by Le tt er s Paten t un t o Sir Ti r logh McHenry , Knight and his heirs for eve r all the above writt en country of the Fu ighes and a ll th e lands t enements and hereditaments the re i n. By f orce whereo f the said Sir Henry and Sir Tirlogh we r e and the he irs of the said Si r Henry a re, severally sei zed of the sever al countries l ast above written as the law requi reth . And we f urther find th at th e said Hugh late Earl, and Hugh his son and Art Oge afore sai d and divers others we re a ft e r wards by proce ss of outlawry attainted of High Treason , t he ti me pl ace and other circumst an ce s of which these said attainders we refe r to be s et down acc or ding to the Records thereof. And we find fur t he r that t he said Hugh, l ate Earl of Tyrone was at the time of his sai d attainder seized by force of bis said Letters Patent , for te r m of his life of and in all and singul ar the premises except the Manor of Ardmagh, the countries of Tuoghr any and the Fuighes and the lands of Cha rlemont a f oresaid, And that the several est ates in remainder of the said Hugh supposed son to the sai d Hu gh, l at e Earl of Tyrone and Art og e McCormack were in them at the time of these said attainders by force of the said Lett ers Patent. And that as well the po ss ession as all the said remainders by force of t he said several attainders are come to Hi s Majesty's ha nds,

54 . And touching the claims of the said Lord Archbishop of Ardmagh abo':e mentioned, if he shall befor e All Hallowtide next.? befo r e ~~s Majesty s said .Commissioners produc e any sufficient e':ioe~ce or proof to!. J his said claims therein, then we require His ajesty •s Commi ss ioners to inser t in this. I nquisition all !:is title t herein • otherways t his our ver dict to stand for his Ma jesty in ev ~r y point . And t ouching the barony of' Ori re and all the lands and tenements t hereof and the Kin g 's ti tl e t hereunto , we refer th e same t o be set down in . this I nquisi ti on a ccoruing t o the late Survey taken be fore His Ma j esty • s Surveyor and oth er Commissioners and the Offic e t aken bufore the Eschea tor' s Deputy and other Commissioners in that behalf . And we further find tha t ev er y of' the town l ands or balliboes above written except in Clanbrassil and Clan can do contain in them severally about 100 acr es le piece of arable l and and pasture bes i des bog and wood and are wo rth by the yea r ea ch of' them above all repriza l s 13/4 Irish except i t be foun d the Lord Primate had right t o any rent out of them and then the said land is to be valued ac cordingly if t his rent exceed no t 13/4 Irish. And that the sever al towns or balliboes of Clancan and Clanbrasse l aforesaid, being but small measure contain each of them about 60 acres a rable and pasture and wood and wort h by the year le pi ece ultra reprises , 6/ 8 Irish . All of which we do present t o His Ma jesty ' s Commissioners as our abso lut e verdict and do hereby pr ay and authorize them or any of them a ccor ding t o this commission to draw u p this our verdict into one or more Inquisitions in aue fo r m of l aw and to affix our seals thereunt o and to return t he same for us and in our names into His Majesty's High Court of Ch ancer y . In witness whereof we ha~e hereunt o put our hands t his day and year first above written. M. Whit echurch. Briann McDonell. Donaldus Casaus. Cormock McTirlagh.

Carbry Mccan . Xoffer Fleming. Donagh Murchy.

2i;.

Hugh McGilleduf f . Owen Hughes. Ne a le O Callaghan . Pa trie Mri Ro r y McPatr ick . Patri ck Oge O Cor . Hugh O La ppan. Donell O Neal. To r lagh McTeyre . Nee c e o Quin. Ca lleigh McDonell. Se e Volume E.3 . 13 and No . 582 .

T. C, D. pp .177-196.

All the jurors si gned by mar k excep ting Whitechurch, Casaus , McTey r e, Fl eming, Murchy, a nd Mri.

t..,;··

OLD

Counrty

CUSTOMS,

CRAFTS

AND

Industries In County Armagh many ancient customs survive. Rushes are gathered on St. Brigid I s Eve and woven into Brigid's Crosses, a custom with roots in the dim past. At Eastertide children still trundle hard-boiled eggs that have been gaily coloured by spring time blossoms, On St, Patrick's day sh amrock is worn in honour of our patron saint. May-flowers (marsh marigolds) are even yet collected on May-Eve and strewn around the doors and windows, but May Eve bonfires no longer light our hills on that particular evening.

May Queens, however, still go forth in state

escorted by their maids and pages of honour,

The Queen is

usually the youngest and prettiest of the _party and her crown is always a wreath of blossoms.

In past days the

May Boys made a similar parade, but that form of May Day observance, like the driving of the cattle through the May Eve fires, has quite died out.

Less than half-a-century ago on Mid-Summer Eve bonfires blazed from practically every hill, now the custom

is almost extinct.

At Hallow's Eve nuts are burned and

apples 'ducked' for in tubs of icy water.

Old games are

played and maidens still tr y t he Hallow E'en charms.

It is, and was , an evening of trick s, a night on which ghostly f igures might be about and moveabl e objects like carts and pl ough s stroll abroad without the aid of a horse at all, In the harvest-time in certain areas the Calliagh is still cut but now th at re aping machines have repl a ced the simple sickle, the cere mony is shorn of much of its ritual. "Harvest Bows" and "Knots", however, a re still fashioned to a limited extent in almost every pari sh i n the county and spo rted during harvesting operations. As Christmas approa che s the "Christmas Rhyme rs" make t heir annual appear ance,

They were once very general

through out the county but now, al as , they only appear in a couple of parishes,

They are a survival of various

forms of drama that were pr actised in ea rli er time s at special se a sons,

In South Armagh on the Louth-Armagh

border "Wren Boys" still circulate on St, Stephen I s Day but they no longer operate in other parts of the county. On t he road s around the city the old game of "Long Bullets" is still in being,

It is a form of bowls and

the game goes to the person who covers the agreed number of miles on the least number of throws.

It ha s been

played in the vicinity for centuries but it is a mere baby

in point of age, in comparison with for instance, the cutting of the Calliagh, or t he making of St. Brigid â&#x20AC;˘ s Crosses. One of the most interesting , as we ll as one of the mo st ancient customs surviving in the county , is the pi l gri mage to the summit of Carrickatuke on the last Sunday in July and first Sunday in August of each year. A century ago the re were similar pil grimages elsewhe re in the count y .

On tho se days t here was gr eat festivity

in t he way of dancing , mu si c and game s and much eating of bilberries , f rom whi ch the festi vals derived t he name of Bilberry Sundays to t he gradual effacement of the older name of Garland Sunday.

Now- a-days the dancing , music

and game s have almo s t disappeared , but the pilgrimage continue s in so far as Ca rrickatuke is concerned .

Many

a happy marriage has had its beginning on such a hill on such a day. The ringing of the nightly curfew in t he ancient city of Armagh and elsewhere in t he county wa s a custom that came down to us from medieval times and continued to the beginning of the recent war.

It is to be regretted that

it has not been revived, for it was one of the old

associations that lingered in the minds of our visitors,

long after stories of kings and saints were quite forgotten. Down the long centuries it had pealed forth every evening , though fires were no longer covered or ext ingui shed when it t olled - t ha t pa rt of curf ew observance ended long since. I have not by any mea ns named all our county customs nor h ave I spoken of the exl.sting pil grimages to Hol y Wells. I f I am to deal with old crafts and indus tries I must leave such thing s behind me . Old crafts unfortunately are de caying.

Country carts

are becoming rarities on our ro ad s, wheelwrights

are dis-

app ea r ing, and wheels shod by blacksmiths are no longer to be seen ar ound the forges .

The ol de r slide-cars or carts

have vanished but in the hilly dist rict s of South Armagh creel tran sport may yet occasionally be seen. Handloom weaving and the manufact ur e of such looms is a thing of t h e pa st;

thatching is still, however

a living

art, though mud-wall cot t ages and farm-h ous e s are no longer being e rected.

They were inexpensive to build and when

kept in good repair proved excellent habit ations, cool in summer and warm in winter. throughout the county.

Thousands of t hem yet remain

Many cont ain fe atures of great

interest such as open hearths designed for the burning of turf and a few still remain surmounted by the old-fashioned

canopy-type chimney flue extending over the hearth for

bo.

sever al feet, providing an encl osed space for seats of various kinds ranging from perhaps a settle- bed against the inne r Side of the jamb-wall, to little t hree- legg ed creepy stools for chil dren.

In such houses cooking

methods are much as they have been for centuries.

kit chen-crane of iron - some specimens in wood ye t survive - with a moveable arm that lies against the back of the hearth gives suppo rt to i mplements called crooks from which hang whatever cooking utensils t ha t are in immedi a te use - pot, griddl e or kettle.

If a pot

probabl y something is being boiled th ough that par ticula r vessel may be used for roasting also.

If the latter

form of cookery is in pr og r ess , the lid of the pot will have a covering of lighted turf.

Cakes a re sometimes

baked in the flatter pots commonly called ovens but muoh of the bread used in country districts is still baked on the old-fa shioned griddle and by-the-way County Armagh people are famous for their griddle-baked apple cakes, but alas home baking has largely given way to supplies from bread carts. The older kitchen implements such as rush-light candle-sticks, toasters for hardening oat-cakes, etc. are

now seldom seen and churns and wooden milk-bowls of

bi. va rious t ype s only survive on f ar ms t hat are no t ti ed up wi th cre ame ri es , The ol de r cot tages are now in many instance s being slat ed or cove r ed wi th wha t is locally known a s a "tinroof

â&#x20AC;˘

Straw, unfortunately, has become an expensive

r oof i ng material and requires f airly frequent r enewal. It is, however, a wa rm cove ring, and a well-thatched and nicely kept cottage is a re ally attr active dwelling, The use of straw for such a pur pose dates back to quite early times but reeds and r ushes were also used for roofing purposes and are mentioned in th at conne ction in r e cords of the Early Christi an Period . Half-a-century ago a census report r eve aled the following country occupations in our county - blacksmiths, wheelwr ights, millers, weavers, tinsmiths, carpenters, reed-makers, tailors, s addlers, can dle-make rs , rope-makers, nai l-make rs, sp ade manufacturers, thatche rs, basketmakers, ma sons , l ace-makers, coopers and brogue-makers, In those days the brogue-makers and tailors went from house to house and sometimes if a particular f amily required much work done they spent a week or more in the service of the household.

In those cases the f amilies

concerned provided the cloth, leather and other

-:2.

incidentals, besides bo ard and lodg ing. Of all t he occupati ons that I have me nti oned t he blacksmith's

craft is pr obably the oldest. In a state of society when war wa s re garded a s the mo st nobl e of all professi ons and be fore the invent i on of gun- powder, those who manufactured swords were naturally looked upon as important people .

Forges in past times were considered

the chief centres of their pa rticular districts and smiths occupied a much higher rank in the community than they do to-day.

The forge was then, and still is, a clearing-

house for the gossip or news of the area that it serves. Forge-equipment i s to some extent much a s it was centuries ago .

Th e anvil

bellows , tongs, sledges, etc.

remain and have quite a respectable antiquity behind them. The smith's activi ties now, however, are mostly confined to the repai ring of farm ma chinery and the occasional shoeing of horses.

Gone are the days when they fo r ged

the weapons of war for t he heroes that still live in our county folk-tales, but there wa s a revival of the old art, in the troubles of 1798 and 1840, wh en pikes were made in thousands. or toasters.

They no longer produce rushlight candlesticks Some of these were mo st artistic,

They

yet, however, from time to time, produce well-propo rtioned

63 and nicely de si gned garden gates .

That, however, is a

feature tha t is also pas sing quickly

I ndividuality in

ironwor k ha s been utterly de stroyed by mass- production f rom the foundries but exampl es of gates of local craft smanship may s till be seen in country gar dens and in grille-wor k pillars and lamp standards in Armagh city, where by the way an old fashioned foot oper ated pole-lathe survived until a few years ago - in all probability the last of its type in the north.

On it wooden bowls and

other utensils were manufact ured in the same primitive manne r as they were fashioned centurie s ago and all t he working tools hand-made in t he old traditional way, Fortunat ely t his par ticular lathe and its equipment are being preserved in the Ulst er Folk Museum. In passing from crafts to industries I should like to mention the Crossmaglen lace-making , though it is not an oldish county craft, having been introduced into that area just over a century ago. has still a steady demand.

It is beautiful work and County Armagh people should

see that it is better known and there should be depots for it in the various towns of the county,

It is distinctive

and comparatively inexpensive so should be of great interest to visitors to Armagh.

As r ega r ds old industries I shall discuss three only,

lime-burning , turf-cutting and t he manufact ure of linen.

The burn ing of limestone fo r t he making of mo rt ar and for the white- washing of buildings is one of the ol dest industrie s i n the county .

Th e earliest local r efe rence

to lime-burning occurs in 1145 in which year a huge kiln wi th sides 60 fee t each way wa s built by the t hen Ar chbishop of Armagh to provide lime fo r the repai r of the Cathedr al and ot her buildings in the cit y.

Present day kiln s are

quite small in comp ari son and probabl y fa r more akin to the reallÂĽ early t ypes .

Lime is still in gene r al use through-

out the county fo r whi tewa shing country houses.

It is

al so in use fo r agricultural pur poses, and th ere are still some lime-kilns in wor king order in the i mmedia t e neighbourhood. Ecclesi a stical buildings

were lime- washed i n early

days - the tradition still survives in certain country churches - and there is an old poem ext ant, relating to Armagh Cathedral, written by an Ulster poet who flourished in the perio d 1220-1250, which states that "Well hath its poli shed sides been warmed With lime as white as the plumes of swans ." The cutting of turf is another industry of some antiquity.

The use of peat as a fuel seems to have been

known from the earliest recorded times.

In the 7th

:ta.

65. century there is a reference in Irish Annals to one of our Provincial kings having

exa sperated some men cutting

turf in a bog with the result that they fell upon him and killed him with their spade s.

Such entri e s shows

that peat ha s been a common fuel in Ireland from at least the beginni ng of the hist oric pe riod.

T'n e cutting

of the turf begins in May an d for a couple of months the peat-bogs are scenes of great activity.

The brick-shaped

peat cut by the spade is called a turf.

A small heap of

piled turf is commonly known as a "rickle" whilst larger quantities built into a sort of long stack are called The various operati ons in the cutting, drying

"clamps"

and stacking of turf have ea ch their particul a r name. The great peat district in CounÂˇty Armagh is known as the Montiaghs and natives of that district are jokingly termed "moss-cheepers" while those inhabit ants who come to the towns to sell the fuel itself are spoken of as "turfbummers".

Armagh as a county is plentifully endowed with

such bogs though many have been completely cut out and are now often mere waste-land.

It seems a pity that all such

areas are not converted into meadows or planted with timber

where conditions are favourable. The making of turf figures in an old county folk-tale

handed down from generation to generation. It is said that the "wee people" first told the inhabitants of our county of its usefulness and that originally the common fuel then was wood.

Later when Patrick came to Ireland,

the "wee people" hoped

because of that and other

t hings in the way of kindnes ses shown to his flock,

51::,_,\-

the sa int would intercede on their beh alf so that they might again have God's favour.

Patrick, however, felt

otherwise - and t hat's the end of that story! As to linen - ther e is no doubt but that it has been manufactured in Ireland from earliest historic times though there is little detailed evidence rega rding its actual production until 1185, in which year t he promotion of the industry became a State concern.

It is referred to as a

staple product by a travel ler in Ireland in 1430.

It was

certainly very abundant in the 16th century for at that period the Irish gentry were wearing shirts containing thirteen to f ourteen yards each.

Later an Act of Parliament

was passed limiting this extravagant use of linen to seven yards each for shirts.

Notwithstanding that particular

enactment it is recorded in 1571 that shirts with wide hanging sleeves were still in use and that thirty yards were little enough for one of them!

3:2.

1:,7

In th e late 17th century th

e 1i nen trade of I reland was en couraged at the expe nse of its wool l en busi ne s s, t he l atter becoming by Act of Parli ament the spe cial prero gative of England, to the very gre at har dship of Irel and as a whole.

Early in the next century certain Hugenot fugitives i -;, arr ve d and settled in vari ous parts of the country,

They we r e assisted by the Government

in the development of the linen manufa cture and were successful in establishing it as the maj or industry of Ulster.

It is well, however, to remember that t he linen

f or whi ch Ulster is now so famous is the growth of an ar t whos e history is lost in the mists of I rish antiquity . Time does not permit me to go into the many f actors of the modern history of linen development or deal with t he story of the many emp t y mill s and de serted bleachgreens of our county. I h ave dealt with customs , craf ts and industries in a very general way inde ed and it may seem to you th at my interests lie more in the country si de t han in towns. make no apology f or that.

Personal ly I consider f arming

one of the most essential occupa tions and I feel that the farming community is ver.Y worthy of appreci ation. Though I like old customs and value old crafts, I would

13.

not wish t o see agr i cagriculture ure deprived of me ch anized help, The sickle, fo r instance , as a cutting i mpl emen t is of great antiquity and was once the only method of re aping whea t and corn. we re common .

Wooden ploughs , gr ubbe r s and harrow s Corn and wheat were thrashed in mud- f l oo red

barns by the wooden- flail, a t rul y ancient implement

now

to be f ound i n use only on tiny mount ain-side farm s . Half-a- century ago onl y three tools were needed in the service of haymaking, the scythe, for k and rake .

All

three a re still used t o a limited extent - but the scythe has almost been completely repl aced by the me chani cal reape r and the ol d hand-rake has now developed into a horse or pet rol driven impl ement.

In t hose day s the

fields were scenes of gr eat activity during harvesting ope r ation s.

Meals we r e carried to the f ields and served

pi cnic fashion.

Women were then much in evidence and

were the main source of help in the lift ing and tying of corn.

Earlier still when the sickle was in common use

they shared in t he work of reaping .

They did no t,

however, ever quite master the scythe, but now that they have taken t o trous ers and le arned to drive tractors t hey can give an excellent a ccount of t hemselves in the harvestfields as indeed in work of any kind that captures their interest.

In conclusion I would like to enlist the sympathies of my audience in the aims of the recently founded society for the preservation of Ulster Folk Life and Traditions , a body well wo rthy of support and in the still more recent Ul ster Folk Museum .

Much ma terial

has perished but there is still a mass of information available and volunt ary workers can be of great assistance to both bodies.

lo. SOME COUNTY ARMAGH OUTLAWS OF THE 17th and 18th CENTURIES.

In the days following the Plantation of Ulster, property in County Armagh was very insecure and travel somewhat unsafe . In 1612, fo r instance, there was a complaint by Sir James Douglas and other undertakers of land within the county, that they were discouraged in their plantati ons by robberies committed mpon them by the natives .

The Lord Deputy, in his reply to

their r epr esentation of the matter , excused or rather blamed the state of the county on the fact that its wooded lands offered shelter to such offenders, whom he insinuated "to be mischievous knaves implicated in the l ate rebellion and as yet unpardoned" . Those who had already been acquitted he hoped would r emain honest men.

What t he Deputy and the undertakers seem to have quite

forgotten was that they themselves were occupying l ands that had been but a few years previous possessed by native landowners In a short time, however, law and the new order became fairly well establi shed , with judges go ing upon cir cuit and holding assizes in the different county towns.

A few of the

assize records of those days have been pr ese r ved , but most of them were lost in 1922 in the wanton destruction of t he Four Courts in that year by a small group of "patriots" who failed to realize that the building contained one of the fi nest National collections in Europe,

'\.

The earliest Assize Rolls that I know of relating to Armagh a r e those r egarding prisone r s in gaols throughout the Province of Ulster in the years 1613- 1618 .

The

original Rolls were in the Four Courts and fortunately were copied many year s ago .

An Assize held at Armagh in

1615 shows that most of the then crimes were thefts , and that the steali ng of horse s , cows , oxen, sheep and pi gs wa s very prevalent .

From a social history point of view

such records yi eld much information.

Names a r e given ,

verdicts noted , and par ti cular s recorded as to the value of the stolen chattel s .

Horses wer e then wo rth from 40s.

to 80s.; pigs 3s .; sheep 4s . ; and cows 40 s .

Persons

found guilty of such robberi es were condemned to death by hanging on the Public Gallows , then situate on a hill now partly within the Pal ace Demesne and still well known as Gallows Hill, a spot that r emained the pl ace of publ ic execution s for quite two centuries, and may indeed have been of some antiquity as such in pre -Plantation days.

The

death sentence wa s then not confined to the theft of animals alone .

People sentenced for ~ stealing a firkin

of butter suffered exactly the same penalty. In 1623 the city and county were shocked by the dramatic capture outside the town boundary of Sir Benjamin

7?..

Thornborough, by four of the oâ&#x20AC;˘Neills, who carried him off to the woods where they prevailed upon him to write the Lord Deputy saying that they would execute him unless he secured for them the Deputyâ&#x20AC;˘s protection until such time as they themselves procured pardons for certain offences.

This roused the Deputy to acti on and he

promptly caused the parents and near relatives of the kidnappers to be arrested, made known the fact that they would all die if harm came to Thornborough and that if the Oâ&#x20AC;˘Neills did not deliver him up immediately and with halters round their necks, the consequences would be serious. had the desired effect.

That

The four 0 1 Neills quickly came to

Armagh with halters about their necks, made public submission on their knees and were pardoned on the understanding that they embarked upon foreign service for seven years. Six years later Neale boy Milnatella, a notorious County Armagh robber and outlaw, was killed r esi sting capture near Clady some eight miles _south of the city. Many such instances of lawlessness might be quoted.

Down

to the Civil War of 1641, through the Cromwellian period and the Williamite War, conditions were much the same.

About

the time of the battle of the Boyne the designation became

73.

changed to "rapparee" and the term "outlaw" fell into disuse. The new description crops up in the journals of John Steen and George Story, the former an adherent of King James, the latter one of King William's chaplains.

In County Armagh it

was in use at least as early as 1697, in which year a gentleman in Armagh writing to his friend in Dublin mentioned that "yesterday, about six of the clock in the afternoon, there came into this town a country fellow stripped to his shirt, with an account that Captain Macanally and the re st of the Rapparees that had so long infested this road were in a litt le house within four miles of the place and were there aslee p".

The

letter goes on to say that a Captain Macklin and twelve of his company with some townsmen made haste to capture them, but that Macanally had a guard posted, with the result that he was able to get away with his men before the surprise party actually came ui\,on them.

In the resulting pursuit Macanally and one of

his subordinates, called McShane1 were killed, whereupon their heads were brought into the city and displayed in the customary nanner on the wall of the prison - then situate in Market Street. they were part of a gang of rogues that robbed some fifteen people a few days previously and who had murdered a Captain droves who had been their prisoner for some time.

They had also

:onsumed a quantity of wine that was being conveyed to Armagh

for the use of "Dean Drelincourtâ&#x20AC;˘s visitors". Shortly after that episode it was decided to erect a barrack on Black Bank to keep such gentry in order.

At t he

same time an effort was made to induce families to settle there.

Pa tent s for quarterly fairs were issued and every

effort was made to found a small town around the barrack. The barrack was built in 1700 but was deserted at some date prior to 1733 for a new site in the townland of Camly, a point of equal distance between Armagh and Dundalk. The first refe rence to the new barrack at Camly occurs in Quarters of the Army in the year 1733, when a company of Major General Bissettâ&#x20AC;˘s Regiment was in occupation.

It was,

of course, a larger edifice than its predecessor on Black Bank. A village later grew up around it and was named Johnston's

Fews in honour of John Johnston, one of the Tory hunters of those days.

Harris, writing of the village in 1740, states

it was "in the middle of wild country called the Fews, not many years ago notorious for robbers, but now civilized and free from them".

An account of a journey from Armagh to Dublin

in 1750 gives a somewhat different impression.

It suggests

that the trip from Armagh to Dublin in those days was a hazardous undertaking.

The journey from Armagh to the south

we are told "was a perilous achievement and that when love of gain stimulated any man to so desperate a venture, he first

made his will and piously commended his soul to God, then

having

collected his friends around him, he proceeded under their

protection through the dreaded defiles of Armaghbreague and Black Bank.

Even thus he was alarmed at every breath of wind that

whistled through the heather, and started with terror, when he casually heard the whirring of the grouses ' wings or the bleating of the vagrant snipe, le st the me rcile ss Tories should be upon him.

In this state of trepidation he proceeded unti l he arrived

at the residence of Johnston of the Fews". The Johnston's were conservators who preserved the mountainous districts of the county f rom the incursions of Tories and other robbers.

In the Fews they were said to have

possessed the power and name of sovereigns, and indeed there are almost as many stories of their exploits as t here are tales of notable rapparees or highwaymen.

In the district t hey still

recite an old rhyme, or invocation Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, Protect us from Johnston, King of the Fews". Local folklore links up the famous Tory hunter with the equally renowned Redmond 0 1 Hanlon.

There is another old jingle

still

repeated in that area which says Johnston beyond in the Fues Has wasted eight barrels of powder Upon him and all to no use" but like many other ballads it cannot be entirely relied upon Âˇor Johnston came to Ireland about the year 1700 as agent to his :insfolk, the Graham's

of Ballyheridan, whilst the ill-fated

Redmond perished in 1681. Of the many Tories and Rapparees connected with the county, O'Hanlon is by far the most f amous and best remembered of them a ll. A pamphlet published in Dublin in 1682 informs us that he was the son of Loghlin 0 1 Hanlon and that he was born near Poyntzpass in the year 1640.

That coupled with the fact

that Turlough Grome 0 Hanlon was in 1620 the tenant of the 1

townland of Aghataraghan in the vicinity of the village, strengthened by Âˇthe local tradition of his birth in a house whose site is now occupied by Iveagh Lodge, seems to me conclusive proof of his close association with that neighbourhood.

It has often, of course, been stated that he was born

at the base of Slieve Gullion but no support fo r the assertion has so far been found.

He had, however, many hiding places in

that district including at least one souterrain â&#x20AC;˘ subordinates ..x,i.,. With his gang of ro:bbe.rs he Kept the counties of Armagh, Down, and Tyrone in such subjection that none dare travel except in convoy, or armed with his personal pass.

The

farmers of the countryside were also subject to his exactions. He levied from each and all of them 2/6d. per year but molested

guaranteed that they would not be followers.

by any of his

Petty robbers under him were actually supplied

with lists of all the people in his guardianship with strict orders not to meddle with such persons or their goods.

was a favourite with the very poor and folk memory has been

kind to his memory in that respect,

He had, however, a

keen sense of his own importance and did not greatly care for jokes made at his expense .

On one occasion he

deliberately forwarded a man to Armagh Jail who had robbed a pedlar in his name, a grim sort of return joke on Redmond's part, knowing as he did that following the next assizes the unfortunate man would swing on Gallows Hill and his head . l ater decorate the Sessions House. By 1674 the authorities had become so incensed by his many exploits that they circulated a proclamation for his apprehension,

In 1676 he was again proclaimed and a reward

offered for the bringing in of his body dead or alive . About that date he met his match in a simple lad whom he thought to rob,

He had learned from the boy that he was on

his way to a nearby town to bring home a large sum of money for his master. looked.

The lad, however, was not so foolish as he

Before starting upon the expedition he obtained a

most vicious horse and provided himself with forty shi llings in halfpence which he divided into two parcels and tied in a wallet.

His mount was accustomed to kick and bite by which

the rider was usually able to keep inquisitive strangers at a distance.

When Redmond put in an appearance he demanded

the money he knew to be in the lad's possession.

The boy,

of course, demurred about parting with it and Remond being unable to do much about taking it by force owing to attempted

kicks and bites, at length threatened to shoot him unless he handed it over at once .

The boy then threw the wallet

of halfpennies into a deep and well-briared sheugh and told the bold Redmond that if he wanted his master's money he might follow it .

0 1 Hanlon soon alighted from his horse

and went in search of the wallet.

Whilst he was looking

for it the boy dismounted also and exchanging his wicked steed for Redmond's fine horse speedily rode to safety with the larger sum intact and an excellent horse as well. About that time 0 1 Hanlon appeared in Armagh one morning in the garb of a country gentleman and requested an officer in charge of the militar y then stationed in the city to supply him with an escort through the Fews, his excuse being that he had a large sum of money on his person and was afr aid he might be met by that great villain Redmond 0 1 Hanlon.

The r equest was granted but at

a certain point on the journey Redmond ' s followers who had been apprised of the plot beforehand fell upon the soldiers, deprived them of their arms, money, and most of their clothes, sending them back into the city in an almost naked condition. The stories about Redmond would fill a book.

There

was a certain Cormack O'Murphy who began his career under

Redmond but becoming puffed up with success forsook him

79 -10and st arted a gang of his own.

After the break O'Murphy

plundered three men under the wing of O'Hanlon who immediately compelled O'Murphy to make restitution. rankled in O'Murphy's resist.

That

mind but he was quite powerless to

Later he robbed a David Mulligan of Leggacorry

(now Richhill) who also had a pass from O'Hanlon.

Again

he had to restore the stolen goods. This was followed by a continued quarrel between the two and ultimately terminated with fatal results to O'Murphy. In September 1679 a party of O'Hanlon's murdered Henry St. John estate

followers

the then owner of the Tanderagee

an event that compelled the authorities to set

about his capture in grim earnest.

Not for some years,

however, did they succeed in running the bold Redmond to earth, and even then the deed was only accomplished by the treachery of Arthur O'Hanlon,

his companion and

kinsman, who fired a blunderÂˇb uss into his breast while he lay asleep.

Art then ran off for assistance but before

help arrived

Redmond was dead and his head had been cut

off by his friends to protect it from falling into the hands of the authorities.

The affair took place at

Hilltown, Co. Down, in April 1681.

His head, however,

was discovered some days later and taken to Downpatrick

Prison there to adorn a spike on the wall.

In the mean-

time the body had been brought back to Relicarn, an old

go -l!I.-

graveyard in Ballymore Parish and there laid to rest in the anc estral plot .

So ended the career of one of the most

celebrated of our local r apparees . Redmond's brothe rs, Edmond and Loughlin, were members of his band.

Loughlin was later killed by John Mullin who

got a reward of ÂŁ50, but Edmond acquired a safe conduct. It is not now clear what relation Arthur O'Hanlon was to Redmond.

State documents disc l ose that he received ÂŁ100 for

the betrayal of his chief. in a most lawles s state.

At that period the county was Indeed it was not unusual for the

. head of a decent law-abiding countryman to be sent into Armagh, Dunda lk or Newry, as the head of a Tory so that the substantial award available for apprehending such characters might be claimed.

Strangers passing through

the county in those days did so at much ri sk to their lives. Redmond appealed so strongly to Sir Walter Scott that he intended to introduce him into a historical novel on seventeenth century Irish affairs.

Unfortunately he never

carried his intention into effect and the material collected regarding him by Lady Olivia Sparrow of Tanderagee is now Tradition credits Redmond with a descent from Sir lost. Oghie O'Hanlon, Lord of Orior, but the claim has no confirmation in fact.

~I.

-l:2-

The ei ghteenth century produced a like crop of r apparees or highwaymen .

Some specialized in cattle, sheep

and horses, others in money alone,

At the summer assizes of

1735, Macklin , a famous ho rse-thi ef , suffered the death penalty

for cow- stealing .

At that time it was the custom

for the High Sheriff and a guard of military to accompany the convicted person to the Gallows .

Immense crowds armed

with staves and clubs at tended and as they marched along

r a ttled t heir staves in a most terrific manner .

When

Macklin made his appearance he viewed t he crowd with great satisfaction,

The day before he had sent out noti ces

informing all and sundry that it would be worth their while to come ten miles t o see him upon t he gallows and hear what he had t o say,

If the a cc ount given in the Gentl emen ' s

Magazine of that year is a true r eport of the procee dings, the spectators had good value for any lo ss of time t heir attendance may have entailed,

He began his speech by

assuring them that he had perpetrated every crime excepting murder, that he had received absolution for all of them and was ready to die.

They then questioned him about his many

exploits, and he returned witty answers by the score,

His

poor mother was present and the crowd was so pleased with her son's behaviour that a collection was made for her so

that sh~ might purchase sheets for his burial.

2..

The old prison in which he had spent his last night had just then been renovated following a fire . It was a gruesome place, a series of underground apartments directly under the Sessions House.

A flight of stairs led down to

them, a nd from that arose the old Armagh proverb "they will go down the nine steps" applie d to persons likely to come to "bad endings".

The walls of the building were seven

feet thick and the cells almost devoid of li ght.

Whilst it

was in use, and indeed for some time afterwards , all the hangings or executions took place on Gallows Hill, and, as death was the punishment then for simple crimes like horse and sheep-stealing or the theft of linen, it was not unusual to see several ghastly figures swinging t here after the business of the assizes had been concluded. Macklin had a contemporary named Caraher - better known as Big Charley Caraher.

He began life as the keeper of the

Dorsey found, an enclosure that yet survives just within the northern rampart of the famous Dorsey entrenchment.

Cattle

were in t he habit of disappearing from the Pound without satisfactory explanation whilst the place was in his charge, so he was watched â&#x20AC;˘and finally caught in the act of killing a cow which caused his dismissal from the post .

Later he

became a general robber and progressed from one crime to another until he became a murderer.

He was assisted by a

gang of undesirables each as cruel and relentless as himself. He was at last taken pri soner and brought to Armagh where he was sentenced to be hanged, beheaded and quartered . quarters was gibbeted

One of his

at Ball ' s Mills, the r emaining quarters and

head in other places where he had engaged in murder and crime . Despite the thickness of the walls of the old 17th century jail of Armagh , prisoner s sometimes they were r ecaptur ed.

made their escape .

Ac counts of such episodes appear in the

early files of t he Belfast Newsletter in~eresting r eading .

Usually

from 1739 onwards and make

Stocks were still to the fore in Armagh as

l ate as the early 19th century and a " scol d ' s bridle" used in the city to punish evil- tongued or quarrelsome women has been preserved. The most i nte r e sting local outlaw of the 18th century was a man of old Iri sh family, a Seamus MacMurphy of Creggan Pari sh in South Armagh. ÂˇHi s ancestors were the earliest chieftains of the Fews that

we have any r ecord of.

They had settled originally

near Caledon in the district now known as minterburn from which they were later pushed into the Fews by the 0 1 Neill 1 s a bout the end of the 13th century.

From the Annals we know that the

MacMurphy's were still at Minterburn as late as 1172 when the then chieftain was killed in battle by the Clan Magennis raiding

from the Armagh-Down border.

The MacMurphy's soon became

supreme in the Fews, but as the O'Neill's

grew stronger in

Tyrone, they in turn spread int

County

Armagh and so by the

end of the 15th century the MacMurphy s were supplante d in that area also, becoming vassals of the more powerful O'Neill's. Seamus the outlaw was born at Carnally in 1720 .

He was,

therefore, a young man at the time of the rumour of the Young Pretender's proposed vi si t to Ireland .

He was a poet of no mean

order and one of the handsomest men of his day.

Locally he is

said to have been present at a famous bardic meeting on Slieve Gullion in the summer of 1744, an assembly also said to have been attended by the great Tory hunter, J ohnston of the Fews . It is difficult, however, to reconcile the presence of such opposite parties of that particular gathering . MacMurphy had two besetting sins , drinkings and promiscuous love-making.

He was often to be found in a shebeen at the

Flagstaff, that beautiful view-point of mountain, lake and sea, in the hills of South Armagh.

The keeper of the shebeen was a

certain Paddy Daker, commonly called "Paddy of the Mountain" who found illicit distilling an easy way of making money . was an excellent meeting-place for robbers .

His shebeen

It was difficult to

approach, yet commanded a clear view of the main highways of the district, the roads upon which MacMurphy and his friends made their living by raiding trave llers, or stealing stock from the more well-to-do inhabitants. Tradition records that the shebeenâ&#x20AC;˘s greatest attraction for MacMurphy was the owner's handsome daughter Molly, who

later betrayed him.

It is clear now that she was encouraged

in her infamous conduct by Art Fearon, one of his lieutenants, himself anxious to marry her and who, to further his own cause, told her tales of MacMurphyâ&#x20AC;˘s love affairs in various parts of the county .

At that period there was a price of fifty pounds

on his head, but to give Mollie her due she was less interested in the money than in revenge .

Her father, however, thought

only of the r eward and was able to persuade her to assist in the plans for the capture of her sweetheart on a certain Sunday by conveying a message to the authorities that he would spend the Saturday night in her father's house and take her on pilgrimage t o St. Bl ine â&#x20AC;˘s Well at Killevy on the next morning . Arrangements were made by her father and Art Fearon to make MacMurphy hopelessly drunk and whilst in that state deliver him up for transportation to Armagh.

The plans were carried out

with the full knowledge of Fearon, his trusted friend, a sad commentary on a phase of character whereby nearest friends often proved the most treacherous.

Similar disloyalty cost Redmond

0 1 Hanlon his life also. On the morning of his capture MacMurphy woke from his drunken sleep to find himself under heavy guard.

According to

a poem written whilst awaiting examination in Armagh, he was _apprehended in August.

His trial and execution did not take

place, however, until the following March.

The actual crime

of 'Which he was accused - there were, of course, plenty of

'36,

other offences - was the stealing of those days punishable by death,

. sheep eep, an act in

In his last poem we have a glimpse of the grim interior of the prison,

In it he r ecounted the various

events leading up to his betrayal - "To-day I am imprisoned in Armagh like hundreds before me and my fate will be settled on the Public Gallows, first break of day, guarded on all sides.

I'll

I'll rise to-morrow at the

have to walk through the streets,

Guns will be held high over me without

counting smaller arm~ and death will await me at the end of the road",

On the morning of St, Patrick's Day 1758 came

the execution.

The usual crowd was there armed with staves

and with them mingled many a man of MacMurphy 1 s band, resentful and sorrowing.

The procession was accompanied by

the Sheriff, the officers of law, and the guard.

It quickly

passed out of town via Market, Castle and Irish Streets (Thomas and Ogle Streets had not then been opened) to Gallows Hill, where he met death without fear, for giving all who had _injured him especially his beloved Mollie.

After the body

had swung in the passing breeze for three days it was taken down and waked and keened for two nights in his mother's barn

at carnally.

His burial took place in Creggan, that historic

parish in the Fews, last home of aany another poet as well.

-iiÂŁ-

Though MacMurphy died so courageously he would rather have lived.

His "prison lament" for his native hills is sad reading -

"If I could only exist as a fern leaf in the sunshine on Ardaghy Hill or on the top of Fathom, or be aÂˇblackbird flying through Dunreavy Wood". "Paddy of the Mountain" attended the execution and later revisited Armagh to collect the blood money .

Tradition says that

the authorities were so disgusted with his behaviour that they paid him the fifty pounds in copper coin which they forced him to count and take away with him in a bag.

There were no banks

in the city then so the unfortunate man had to carry the money from Armagh to the Flagstaff, a distance of twenty Irish miles. To avoid being molested he was compelled to travel by night, and hide by day. died.

When, within sight of his home , he collapsed and

Poor Mollie was thus left alone to repent of her share in

her lover's death.

Despite the fact that MacMurphy had forgiven

her the people of the countryside taunted her and at every opportunity forced her to listen to the prison poem. her reason gave way and she drowned herself.

Finally

It was a tragic

ending to a pitifully sad tale. Some people say that nothing in life so well became the handsome MacMurphy as his manner of leaving it, but I have always thought him a much more interesting character than Redmond O'Hanlon The two of them, however, were the stars of their particular centuries and both live still in the oral traditions of the county.

In conclusion I shall content myself with saying that hours could be spent on the smaller fry who specialized in lifting cattle and horses or in relieving coach-passengers of jewellry and cash, In many ways they were just as interesting as the celebrated characters we have so lightly dealt with but their story is one that must wait until you come again and may that be in the very near future,

Abstract f rom Ormonde Manuscript pages 3 -2 Redmona

O'Hanlon -

1674, December 14

First t Series

344

Vol.

II ,

Ulster Outlaws Council Chambe r, Dublin.

•Es sex whereas Redmond O Hanlon of Tonderegeeee in the county of Ar magh , yeoman , Laughlin MacRedmondO'Hanlon of Killenay, yeoman, Daniel MacMurphy Mac Thorlagh Roe o Mur phy ,,eoman; Hugh Turr O' Murphy theysame yeoman Brian Moyle 0 O'Nealeof the same , yeoman; James Roe of Ballinteggar t in the said county, yeoman; J ames Mac Ni chol a s O Mur phy of' the same, yeoman; Hugh Mac Shane of t he same yeoman · Peter Pill of _~he same , yeo an; Thomas Will son of Mullaghglass of t he said county , yeoman; and Thorlagh MacPatrick Goam o O'Hanlon of Aghynecloghmullen i n the sai d county, yeoman; •••••••• • •• have of late committed sever al burgl a ries, robberi es and stealths i n t he said seve ral counties of Armagh •••••• •• and e l sewhe r e within t his Ki ngdom, besides diver s other outrage s, to the t e rror and annoynnce of hi s Majesty s l oyal an~ good Sub j ect s 1 and t o the disturbance of t he peace of t he Kingdom , upon whi ch misdemeanour s and crimes being pur sued by some of his Ma j est y ' s good sub j ects they the said Redmond O Hanlon , Laughli n Mac Redmond O O'Hanlonet c. are fled t o t he woods and mount ains, wher e t hey stand upon t heir keeping , so a s t hey are not answer abl e or amenabl e to law, but wilf ul contemners of t he same . And forasmuch as t he actors of t he se di sor de r s and of fen ces cannot a s yet be appr ehended, ,-,he r eby t hey may be punished by t he ordinary cour se of l aw , whence we mi ght justly be moved, accor ding t o the f ormer usage and cust om in t hi s Kingdom i n cases of like nature to cause them t o be fo rthwith proclaimed rebels and traitors, yet , in mercy to them, we t hink fit he reby to cha r ge and command them upon their duty and allegiance to his Ma j e sty tha t t hey and every of them do bef ore t he fir st day of February next, render their persons to any of his Majesty ' s justice s of the peace , and submit themselves to his Majesty 's justice t o be tried for their offence s according to t he l aws of t he land , wherein if they or any of them do f ail, we do he r eby publish and declare that he or they so failing , a r e from and immediately' after the said fir st day of Februa ry next, to be call ed reputed and taken for notorious rebels and traitors against his Majesty and accordingl y to be pr osecuted by all his Majest y ' s loving and good subj ects in all hostil e manner.

"And we declare furthe r tl t h ~tsoeve r person or pe r son s shal l comfort re lie ' them , they are and sh~l l be ve or 11 e t t hem, or an~ of t raitors in like d . _ r eputed, deemed and adJ udged r e bels t hemsel ves eg r ee ui t h t he forenamed trai ta r s and to l aw â&#x20AC;˘ , and to be pr oceeded against acc ording "And we do i n his_Ma jesty â&#x20AC;˘s name str aitly char ge and command all his Ma j e stie â&#x20AC;˘ s loyal subj ects, upon t hei r duty ~f a lle giance ~o his Ma jestie, not only to forbear to Ie ceive or r e lieve t he pe r sons afore said or any of them but al so to make diligent search and enquire in wha t place or pl a ces the said persons shall from time to time lurk or be r el ieved, and by all means possi bl e to or osecute apprehend and t ake t he bodies of t hem and- them t o bring or cause to be brought under safe custody, unto the Hi gh Sheriffs of the respective counties where any of them shall be a pprehended, to be by such Sheriffs kept in strict and safe custody, till we, upon noti ce t he r eof slia~l give further_ direc tion concerning them, or ' r esist ing or r efusing to be t aken, to ki ll them or any of them. And we do he r eby declare, that whosoever shall after t he said first day of Februa ry next, bring unto any Sheriff the body of the said Redmond O Hanlon , Laughlin Mac Redmond O Hanlon (e t c . ) or any of them ali ve, or kill any of them, and bring his head t o the She r iff of the county whe re he shall be killed, to be by such Sheriff set up in some public pl ace in that county, shall have fo r his reward for each person so brought in, or hi s head, ten pounds, for pay,nent whereof we will give war rant as occasion shall requi r e , "And whosoever of the said procl aimed per sons , or any other, shall after t he said fi r st day of February next, appr ehend and bring unt o the High Sher iff of the county whe r e such person shall be appr ehended, or resisting, shall kill any of the said r ebels and traitors particularly named a s aforesaid eh shall, together wit h his said rewar d, receive his pardon, "And towards t he speedy effecting of t his se rvice, all commanders of horse and foot, and all othe r his Ma jesty 's officers and loving subjects a re to be aiding and a s sisting, as t hey and every of them will answer the contrary a t their perils, "James Armachanus - Michael Dublin, Cane. - Clanbrasill Conway and Kiltta - Massereen Kingston - Carey Dillon John Povey - William Stewart - Theophilus J ones - Charles Meredith,"

91.

THE

ORCHARDS 0 F

C OUNTY

Armagh

In t'.ie "Brehon Laws" t'.1e apple is shown as one of the seven chieftain trees , the other

. b six eing oak , yew

holly,

ash, pine , and hazel.

The date of those ancient regulati ons cannot be definitel" fi"xea' , ., They are believed to have pagan times but been in being in t /:' we re no codified or committed to writing until after the arrival of st . Patrick . T e wo rd "Abhall" ( fem.) is used in ancient manuscripts to denote the apple tree and "Ubhall" (male) its fruit , a distincti on that seems to indicate that apples may have been i mpo rted fo r a time pr evi ous to be coming na tur alized , There is some eviden ce that apples have be en cu ltivated in England from at least the time of the Roman occupa tion , a theory assuming their introduction to I reland about the same period . \le know that the crab - apple in its wild state is wi dely distributed throughout Europe and Western Asia and is actually found in high latitudes in Norway .

It is , however,

a somewhat different type of tr ee to the apple .

Its

branches spring upwards whilst t hose of the apple spread outwards .

One of the old legends relating to the app l e -

tr e e states that i t s shape is due to it having been given long bra nches be cause it bowed with its fruit to the Blessed Vi r gi n . Un fort unatel y there i s li ttle informat ion in old

Irish literature relating ~

first local record

t' the care

of fruit trees .

the

that I know of relates to the planting

an apple tree in the neighbourh ood of Armagh and the st ory dates back to the days of St . Patrick who is credited with having planted it at Ceango ba east of the city.

Later , in the Annals of the Culdees, (t he mona stic or der respo n sible

in early days for the ch oral services at Armagh) we learn that during the great festivals the brethren , though no t permitted to increase the quantity of bread at meals, 1Âˇ1ere allowed certain condimen ts as an indulgence - among them apples.

In those days a pples when plucked were hoarded up

as long as possible and so far as is known were eaten uncooked . The next local reference crop s up in 1155, in which year the head of the ,lacans, later the ruling se pt of O' lleiland, but then still on the other side of the Blackwater, died . His obituary has been preserved and in it he is praised for the st r ong drink made for the use of bis tribe from apples gro wn in bis orchards .

That by the way is the first actual

historical evidence we have for apples in Oneilland

Records

are silent from then down to the days of Elizabeth the First . In the closing yea rs of her reign her contemporary,. Aenghus O Daly, a Cork poet, was induced to write a satire on "The Tribes of Ireland".

In this the MacCann

of Dun Mansion

~appear

and He are told Compare no one t o Donnell the apple tree th 1Âˇ t And all are not tired d blossoms betray him - e o is accomodation

o â&#x20AC;˘Donovan in his annotations to Mangan s translation of the poem in question assume d that the ,-.â&#x20AC;˘ant - of fertility in :the apple tree denoted that MacCann was um1orthy of being chieftain, but elsewhere states that o Daly "had not the stoma ch to satirize MacCann of Clan Breasail be cause he did: not de serve it''.

Daly lost his life in 1617 by the

hand of a Tippera r y O O'Meagher to whom the knife and the sword were e qually famili ar . In the 17th century there are notices in the Ulster Plantation settlement papers regarding "the setting of fruit trees in orchards and gardens ' circa 1611, but such plantings we_r e v er y likely

co nfin ed to the free-holding

tenants of whom there Here a very l i mited number on ea ch estate . Unfortunately we h ave no early rentals for the estates -grant ed by J ames I to undertakers in 0 1 Neiland .

Such

documents would have given particulars a s to properti e s on which the apple - culture was being encouraged.

We do not

know, f o r in stance, wh ether in the destruction caused by the

Civil War of 1641- 42 apple - trees escaped felling when farm -

houses and '.)oHev er,

property

emerges

being

were

dest r oyed . abundance

anc:1 t :1a t :i.s the

:nc fa ct, of apples

s ome

for t y years later . Tl1e earliest coun t y lease s that ue are auare of

compelling

tenants to plant

fruit trees, are preserved in

t he records of the Brownlow est ate . and the largest orchards 12 cherry, and

they

6 pea r tr ees.

setts of white t e- tho r n.

12 plum ,

The lease s covenant ed tl;at

the frui t - trees shoul d be en closed by a ditch

lesser numbe r.

da t e from 1666

c onsis t ed of 20 apple

and quick

S,:caller leaseholdersnlanted a

La t er in the early 18th c entury on the

sam e estate or chard clause s wer e still in being and new tenan t s of the larger farms were being required in some instan c es t o plan t for t y trees . Whether Cr omwell ' s troops samppledth e apples of Oneilland

I kn ow not , but Oliv er ' s Hill and Bat t l e Hill

a r e l andmar k s in t he apple- gr o1Âˇ1i ng parish of Ki lmore. Th e Rev. William Br ooke who wa s r e ct or of Drum cree f r om

1679 u ntil h is dea t h in 1700 , wr ot e an a cc ount of the bar ony in 1682, f r om wh ic h we lear n t hat good cider wa s t h en a vailable in Por t ado wn a t 30/- per hogshead .

Some

p eople were manuf a ctu ring from 20 t o 30 hog sheac' s per s e ason , an d lar ge r quantities mi gh t be expe ct ed wh en their

orchards

new plantations . s came to perfection 1.•'r o:..:1 the sa~e sou~ ce we ga t110r that t~e farmers of tjat district were compelled by their leases t ., .f~ v plant apple trees rroportion at1.·e to t h e quantity of t ~1e·ir land Seven year s later he uas at tainted by James I and

'- ... e s

yea r King William

s cider maker

arr i v ed in Portadown ci de r f or the

, nnd in t'.1 e following

a cert a1· n Paul le Harper

· · h th e necessar y equipment to make

Wl'G

army

Lord Drogheda who commanded a regiment stationed a t Tanderagee , pa rt o f 1J1ich see:,s to !i av e been quarte r ed in Portadown

and its neighbour hood , has re corded that there

was muc h ci der the r e in the spring of 1690 .

I hesitate

t o as crib e the v ict ory at th e Boyne to Portadown

cider or

t he app les of 0 ' Neiland, but those are fa cts ! Th e be gi nni ng of th e 18t h century was rec1arkable fo r t he i ntrodu cti on of l inen weav ing and the consequent neglect of ag ricu ltur e, a fe at ur e of lo cal li fe that did not prop erly righ t itself un til wo re t han a centur y after war d s when t h e major pa rt of th at pa rticul ar industry mov ed from househo l ds to facto r ies .

Le a ses for t h e year 1700

show new tenants on the Cha rlemont estate covenan ting t o enclose a plantat i on acre and plant it with fruit t ·r ees and similar leases were being executed on properties in t he pa rish of Tullylish in County Down at about t he s ame

time .

i. survey

of the See Lands

Armagh ..made in the year account of v apple culture the Ar chbishop ' s tenants

1703 by ThomasusAshe 1-rl t,1provides a detailed on

farms

~~elL. b

Ballygowan forOughtra instanc0 , ( a. townland 路 in Drumcree known as Ballynagowan

t,1cre 路路,路as to ~

the

west

Parishnow of ti1e John

Atkinson's s farm steada good or chard of his own planting and east of the house and stabl e a very pretty young orchard of above one hundred trees planted by him sin ce the late 11ars, and t o the nor t h of t h e house a ver y pret t y young nursery of crab- trees".

His brother, Edwa r d, i n the same

to,mland had two orchards , one old a,1d the ot,1e r young . The reference to the "late wars" is soweuha t puzzling as

trees planted following the Civil War of 1641 - lf2 could not very well b e described as "young" in 1703.

,le must,

therefore, assume that the orchards in question arose after the Revol u tion of 1688- 90.

At that

time and according t o

tbe same au thority there ,rnre orchards attached to farms in "C avan, Ballytrue , Ballyossone, Money Ballyhagan , Roghan

Ballywilly

Killmakente", et c. in Oneilland

Barony

and at various places around Armagh city such as "Drumsallan, Ballyrath, Farmacaffley, Dromard , Ballyre a , Tyra, Cabragh , Tyross , Ballybroll , Drumbee bee , Balli teren, Kno ckacone, Ballyherclan", et c.

The latter townland now commonly called

Ballyheridan

was then h eld by , Âˇ cne Graham family and it is re corded that " there had been a good or chard, near an acre of gr ound , but it -., as destroyed ' n ~ the wars and the tenant , has aga i n planted it wt th nea r one h hundredtrees but they don 't th riv e well though all care i magi nable be taken to preserve them".

That par t i cular reference is of s pe cial

l ocal in t e r es t .

The Graham s were se t t l ed ther e before t he

Civil War of 1641- 42 and their homestead ( since several t ime s r ebuilt ) s t i ll sport s a n orcha rd, w'1i ch de spit e many re - plru1ting s r efu ses t o pro duce an average qua lity or quantit y . It is a pit y tha t t h e survey i n quest lon should only deal with the Archiepiscopal

lands , fo r apa rt f rom i nforma ti on

on orchards it provi des d escrip tions of farm houses besi des certain tradition al mat e rial.

For i n s tance it pin - poi nt s

t he birth - place of t h e cele brated Re dmond O Hanlon . In the beginning of the next century, i n t h e y ea r 1804, Coote publish ed his "Surve y of County Armagh".

I n his

report on the county he suggested t he planting of crab - apple trees .i n fences and the use of t h e fruit for cider.

This

was quite good advice as crabs when mellowed are excellent when used wi t h sweet apples .

We are informed by t he same

authority that "in the centre of the county the houses were remarkably comfortabl e and surrounded with orchards and neat enclosures" .

• Recently whilst working on Place Name Books in Dublin I noted that in 1835 there were 1 r a largeo rchards at Derrycrew Ballytyrone and Li sshef field and that .. ,. , in Kincon every house had five or six · a cres of orchard . Other apple t o1ml and s were Dresoga, Boc ombra, Knock and Ballynaghy .

t_-v I 1.·as not, however t he n maki ng a sea rch agains t or chard s, but su ch a list would no w be interesting for comparative purposes . Tha cke ray , the novelist, visited Armagh in 1843 and drove from t he cit y to Portadown the newly opened railway station.

there t o join a train a t He paints a very

pleasant pi cture of the countr yside and mentions a group under the trees of an orchard which " p retty adjunct to a fa r m wa s very co mon" in t he district through whi ch h e passed .

A few yea rs later Mrs. Hall and he r husband (the

authors of a t h r ee vol ume acc ount of "Ireland, its scenery, char a cter , et c .•~ , when visiting in the same area , found t he farmhouses nea t, cl eanly and comfortable and few of them without orch ards .

Th ey also allude to t h e con ti nual

click-clack of the shuttle as betokening industry and affording humb l e luxuries to those within .

They were

not as observant, however, as other travellers in rega rd t o the neglect of tillage by farmers who with their sons

100

and daughters

made mo ney a1ore easily sitting <·ti· n_" at • _ t h eir l oo'll s .

Ba ssett in h is "County Armagh

published

i n 1888 , s tates

t hat f r uit - g r owing Ha s an· exte ns ive feat ur e in the distri ct s of Portadown

Loughgall

and Ri chhill, and t ha t Scotch

English buy er s c a\ile over every s eason .

and

Th at 1·1a s ju st before

I was born but w'.1 en I 11as a boy I rememberthe great apple markets i n Portadown

wit h linesof c arts on bot h sides of

t he str e et fr om t h e church down almos t t o t he Post Office. The re we re t h e n considera ble quantitie s of ea t ing app les available an d by ·th e a i d of fri ends of my own par t icular vintag e I can supply a list of th e mo r e

1-1orth wh ile" app les

of those days: Widows whelps Cane s Re d Russ etts Ba r n Hi lls White te Ann ett s Sugar Sweet Gillyflower s Beauty of Bath

Strawberry Ch eeks Half- pl um s Honey Comb s Codling s Doclmeys Lily fi ngers Win ter Glori e s Quince

Foxe s whelp s Red Strokes Green Rus setts Golden Pi ppit s Black Ann etts Marygolds Angel s Bites

A f ew apple cust oms li nge red up to about ha l f - a-c entury ago , su ch as drinking a toast to the apple tr ee s, a practice usually carried out under t h e best bea ring tree of the year . It does not seem to have been of native origin and is now quite obsolete .

At Hallow Ene e n, for i n stance, apples are

. n other words you extract an apple from still "dipped " for , ).

I 01.

a tub or crock of water

by the use of

the sa .ne ..1c ti1 od appless suspended

the mouth onl y and by

a st r ing frow the ceiling The hands mu st not be used to seca re .... the apple in eit her case/ . Ano ther apple custom i n u I Oneilland w1 as the i saving of apples for the last night :i.n Janua r y , commonly :rnoi-m as St. Eve, on which

o ccasio n old - fasbioned griddle

part of the feast crosses.

Brigid's

apple cake formed

follo1-r.Lng the fashioni ng of the Brigid's

Apple dumplings

were so,,etimes c2a0.e for t ha t.

festival also but they as a rule appeared on Hallow

Een

en on

uhich ev e ning the man of the house was usually allowed a flavou r ing of whiskey

So:.ietimes the apples we re roa sted,

sweetened wi t h sugar, flavoured with nutmeg, and served wi t h the same beverage in the form of a sauce.

tha t night

apple - peelings were thrown over the shoulder by boys and girls desirous of discovering the initials of tlle person t hey uere likely to marry . There was, and still is , a superstition t o the effect that if at th e time of the pulling of tile apples tilere is a tree bearing fruit and flowers together t'.,ere will be a dea t h in the family before the next gath ering of the fruit, and , of cours e , there is the old belief that a wet St . Swithin' s Day indicated bumper crops of really large apples . For instance a ripe There are various apple cures .

102

apple is part

of an old and well known

treatment .en t for an was gathered... and crusi.1ed ; then mixed Hi th apple juice and u_ -laced 011 Che wound It ..1'.J.S usually most effe ctive, so also \-iere er a b - apple poult ices ulcerated

wound .

Sorrel

for certain injuries . Abhall

or "Ubhal l" now signified Âˇ both an app le nnd

an apple - tree and the uord ent ers l argely into townland names .

In Wicklow there is a pl ace called Aghowle o r th e

field of the apples, in Fermanagh Aghowla - meaning the same t hing . houever,

Aghyowle

and in Leitrim

I n the north generally

Abhall is used in the sens e of orchard anci thus

we have Av elreagh, Count y Monaghan, the grey or chard, Annahavel

County Tyrone , the mar sh of the orchard, and i n

County Armagh, Derryl is nahavil , and Drumnahavil of th e fort apple tree .

the oakwood

of the apples and the ridge of the orchard or The more p roper form of the wo rd for an orchard

is Oulart which al so appears i n County Armagh as a name for a house outside the city. It has been said that the baronies of Oneiland

owe the

introduction of the apple to English plan ters of the reign of James the First, but t h ere is the earlier evidence of Âˇd and also the fact that the apple cultur e links to consi er, undertakers of those lands were not from th e orchard count ies

103_

of England, It is true i n those t路.路m baronies f'

!1owever' that the then settlers d - OlU1 an apple tradition and. a 1 suitable soil. l ~~i s induced 1 , landowners to encourage thei r tenants to plant fruit tree s, nt r 1路 rsr 路 r "' in ences o.nt , t~1en i n t h e s :all plots that ha ve dev eloped into the lar ge orchards of to - day. To i llus trate th e present situation ,-,i th regarG to orchards, acreages, and vari eties of cooking and ea ti ng appl es I append a se ries of tables compiled fro:n da t a made available to me by t h e County Agricultural Executiv e Officer. A survey of the fruit holdings in County Araagh Ha s carried out in 1958/59.

Actual acreage s ,-,ere r eckoned by

t he officer carrying out the survey, but orchards of less than 0. 5 acres were omitted.

The ce n sus showed that the re

are 2,156 holdi ng s 1-;i th a total fruit a creage of 5, 745 . 8. The figure is broken down as follo1-,s: -

RURAL

District CT

Armagh Lurgan Newry N0 . 2 Tandragee County

TOTAL:

Acreage GE

TOTAL Number ORCHARDS

4008 . 9 1536 . 5 29.4 171.0

1353 77 23 103

5745 . 8

2156

Acreage of

Various

RURAL

Fruits

DISTRICT

APPL E S

Armagh LURGAN NEWRY N0 . 2 . TANDRAGEE

3750.6 1454.4 26 .2 157 . 4

COUNTY TOTAL :

5388 .6

Plums

26 .7 3.8

P&RS

Strawgberrys

11 . 5

---

108 . 5 61. 5 3. 2 9,9

30 , 5

11.5

183. 05

Raspberrys

BLACK -

Goosberry

currants

14.4 4. 8

52 . 7 8 . 45

44 . 7 3.4

0. 2

3.1

u.4

19 . 4-

64 . ,6

4C . 5

Bramley Seedling

RURAL DISTRICT A Armagh LURGAN NEWRY No.2 Tandragee

..l>

Und er 10 yr s . 341. 5 126,4

11. 7

ACRES 10- 40 yr s.

Over 40 yrs .

325 , 5 2359. 7 140 . 0 993 , 0 o.8 d .O 28 , 9 88 . 0

Tree Number S Under Over 10- 40 10 yrs . yrs . 40 yrs . 22816 9007 12 624

21055 9799 108 1768

146775 68810 1t198 6137

Totals Acres

trees

3026 . 7 L'59,t1 d .8 1~8.6

190.646 07 ; 616 1 , 613 8 , 529

4l136 . 5

238 ,409

-Â·

TOTAL:

479 . 6

495 . 2 3461. 7

32459

32730

2~3220

Grenadier

ACRES

Rural

DISTRICT

Un der 10 yr s .

tree

10-40 yrs .

Over 40 yrs .

Under 10 yrs .

2. 3

5'7. 1

0.4

2, lt

TANDRAGEE

---

TOTAL:

o.4

4.7

ARMAGH

Lurgan Newry No.2

totals

numbers

10-i• O yrs .

uv er l• O yr s .

Acre s

5'21

3600

35' , 953

59 .4

40, ull1

22 . 7

G33

16 , 51t,

25 . 5

17,36';

121

1.1

---

356

1 , 097

1.1

J, 453

80 . 9

543

4808

53,605

G6 . o

59 , u36

'f r ee s

11;u

Rural DI STRI CT Armagh LURGAN

tree

Acres

Under 10 yrs .

10- 40 yrs .

Ove r

40 yrs .

under

10 yrs .

-:/"..:.."S .

7. 8

1, 073

3967 __ _ J~?l;

-=-69 . 2

59 , 396

32 . 4

295

779

29 155

6. 3

TOTAL :

2.1

21. 0

246.1

1115

845

4. 6 --

. ,_'rcGs

1~,~19

1.4

0. 8

38 .4

3ou4

.;.cres

45,750

747

0. 7

over l;u :, re .

c2u. 6

205. 0

totals

1,1,999 ll,ll;5

15.6

TANDRAGEE

N0. 2

10- 40

----- -- --

2. 4

Newry

numbers.w~n.O

354

Dessert vareties

-RURAL

DISTRICT

TRl>E numbers

acres

Under 7 Cl

··--

10-40 "~o

h~ver

;l];'..s..._

under JQ 1ll'.Q

totals

lO- l1CJ "'1./'Y'C

h~ver ,, r

Acres

.i:rees

190.9 l1l. 6

Laxtons

Superb

Armagh LURGAN Newry N0 . 2 TANDRAGEE

134 . 4 39 . 0

')2 . 5 1.1

4.0 1.?

12. 8

2. 2

TOTALS:

186 . 2

33.6 16 . 5"

')078 l,8') 6 235

2402

168411 4247 2 834

l16

15. 0

24324 5077 8 :!.11 5

5"'5 . 8

5. 5

21927

5804

2793

247.'5

30%4

1.7

1.0

8033 1998

339

340

5"88 89 3

---

10426

680

339

5<' . 8

3t, 5

LORD Lambourne

Armagh LURGAN

NO . 2 Tanderagee

Newry

TOTALS:

-- - -0 r;--

---

----

5"0 .1

1.7

---

1.0

36 . 3 16 . 5

9015 2087 3

3li0

11445

Dessert

Vareties

(Coo t

ACRES

RURAL

DI STRI CT

Under 10 yrs .

10-40 yrs .

numbers Under 10- 40 10 yrs . yr s.

totals.

tree

Over 40 yrs .

Ove r 40 yrs

Acre s

'frees

24 . 8 3. 6

l1420

28 .4

5454

Laxtons

Fortune

Armagh LURGAN Newry N0 . 2 TANDRAGEE

24 . 4 3, 6

TOTALS:

28 . 0

Other "

---

-----

42 8~ 7G 1 208

137 28

o.4

5278

165

0. 4

ARMAGH LURGAN NEWRY N0, 2 TANDRAGEE

67 . 8 36 , 7 o. 5 1. 3

52 . 8 16. 0

TOTALS:

106 . 3

1 208

Dessert , PT Vareties 1.:s,

825

---

.;.

1.0

71 , 3 16 ,7 1, 5 2. 6

14423 4207 14 596

8012 2862 JO 2')3

25154 7013 243 762

191.9 6'.) . 4 2. 0 l1 . 9

147539 ;-I 14032 287 / 1G51

69 . 8

92 ,1

19;:40

11197

33172

268 . 2

/ 63609

Bramley Seedlin g has been t', . · ,.e :nainstay of t he fruit indus tr y s i·s ce apple p r oc1uction be c 3 ·,,e an intregal part of far:n policy in th e coun ty , The a creage/ag e r ela t ionship shown · by t•1n ,. . . ccnsu · s nroves that about 80;.; of the Bramley

acreage is ove r 40 year s old

and a lar ge ])roportion of this r;roup is over 50 years of age and is showing si gn s of de cline in fruit size anc' quality 1-n. t h t he co11s equence of une cononi c r eturns . The c on clusion on e must draw fro1:1 the c ensus f i gure s is t hat unless fruit- growers embark upon an extensive ])lanting pr ogramme in th e next f ew years a ,:ap in pr oduction 1-n.ll r esult .

Such a situat i on would irr e::,arabl:,1 damag e market

links 1-lh ich have been built up during t h e pas t 60 years . There a re 30.5 a cres of plums in Co . Armagh and 11 . 5 acres of pea rs . In t he late 17th. ce ntury cider makingwas the one apple industr y i n the county, but by the beginning of the present cen tury our cider out - put baca:ne neg ligible.

Since

then canning has t ak en its place and is an expanding busine ss . Th e p resent year resulted in the virtual f ailure of the Bramley Seedling crop due to early frosts and the l ater This set a problem for the county c anning continuous r-ains . companies who have 5,000 workers normally engaged in packing

3 nd

processin(:.

close down the

- ath er t 11an let t '.1 e canning i ndust ry ir::is concerned went into conference .

This r esulted in the purchase of mo~e than

z~oo,ooo

uorth

of apples from Northern It aly :rnd now pouring into the

county in successive ship~ents to supple~ent our meag re home supplies.

Ancient Schools of Armagh (Edu

Arma gh was of gr ea t impo rt ance

in Pr e- Chris ti an days

and its tr a dition a l si gni f ic ance no doubt influ en ce d St. Patrick in his choice of it a s t he place of supr em e consequence in his mission .

Havin g s ecured sites f or

churches he immedi a tely began prepar a ti on s fo r t he education of the young p eople of t he district, and so about the year 450 A.D., the first school of the new regime was opened .

Its growth as an education

influence was gradual.

It was, of course, one of the

earliest in foundation of the monastic schools of Ireland, but it was not by any means the most outstanding in the si xth and seventh centuries.

By the end of

the l atter centur y it was, however, becoming better known and we have a pen picture of the City as it was then in Pr in ce Al dfr id ' s "I tinerary of Ireland", a poem attributed t o the year 684, wherein the royal poet states he "found in Ardmagh the splendid, meekness ,

wisdom, circumspection; fasting in obedience t o the Son of God and noble prosperous sages", a tribute sugges tive of a progressive community.

By the succeeding century

it had acquired an enviable position.

Its eventual

Ill.

fame as a scholastic centre has

sometimes been attributed They were undoubtedly an important fact o r in its development but t here were other good reasons for its hi gh repute, the calibre of to its historical associations.

its teachers and the quality of its pupils.

I do not, however, propose to deal in detail with the many famous names associated with Arma gh , masters like Gildas Albanius, the historian of Britain who died in 512

and

pupils such as John Scotus Erigena who went to France in

845

there to prove himself a scholar of the hi ghest

rank. During the ninth and tenth centuries the schools of Armagh suffered greatly through attacks on the City by the Norsemen, whose repeated incursions resulted in the destruction of the scholastic establishments and their books, and so alarmed foreign students that they no longer came to study in the same numbers .

In those

two centuries the town was plundered in 830, 839, 850 867, 890, 893, 919 and 946

The only local manuscript

to survive those tragic days is the so-called Book of Compiled from earlier Armagh, a relic of the year 807 â&#x20AC;˘ sources it is one of the most precious of our Irish manuscripts, the only one indeed of early or igin that

can with abso lutp certainty be dated .

1 I 'l .

Education in the City d ma e st eady progress in the following century and gained a fresh impetus in the twelfth century when an amendment of the Irish Church was inspired by St . Mala chy, an Armachian chi an and a pupil of Armagh .

Born in the City in 1095 h e was Archbishop

f r om 1134 until 1137 and studied as a youth under the famous Imar O' Hagan, head of the School of the Abbey of St. Peter and St . Paul.

No doubt Malachy looked to

Armagh and its schools for priests capable of putting his reforms i nto effect .

In those two centuries Armagh

maintained its supremacy and its schools their national importance.

That they were so considered is apparent

from the fact that they received assistance at various times from the Kings of Provinces other than Ulster, for instance, the King of Munster about the year 907 donated twenty ounces of gold towards their upkeep. Again centuries later, Roderick O'Conno r, the l ast High King of Ireland augmented their income by an annual pension.

That was in 1169 and was the l ast grant made

to the schools by a King of Ireland.

It was not ,

however, the last assistance given by a native prince , for in 1387, Ni al O' Neill, King of Ulster, built a hostel on the outskirts of the City to further learning th many scholars who and provide accommodation f or e

/ t-:,. then found in Armagh a spiritual home ,

The site of the hostel is well - known locally and the spot is still spoken of as "The King , s House", but proximity to Emain Mach a

owing to its

e Assembly Place of the Kings of Ulster of the period 352 B. C. _ A. D. _ 332 local t r adition is no w inc · 1 ined to link it with earlier kings . An ol d topographical poem written by John o •Dugan

(histo r ian and poet to 0 O'Kelly of Hy Many ) who died in 1372 states that "Head of Erin is great Ardmacha, The men of the world have their knowledge there" . About tha t date the Abbey of Mullynure, one of the lar ges t of the schools of Armagh, was destroyed by fire.

It occupied over an acre of ground and was about 320 feet long with a courtyard and cloisters .

In 1830 the ruin

still stood i n its entirety but by 1861 its nine fee t t hick wall s had been completely used up as road metal and bui ldi ng mat eria l. as Bishop's Court.

I t was, of course, also known

A tr adition survives i n Ashe ' s

"Account of th e l ands of the Ar chbishopric " which •shows that its i mpor tance as a school was st i l l fresh i n 1703.

Ashe states t hat an old man t old him "that i _t wa s i n ol d times a famous school and its scholars were so nume r ou s they handed their master's book f r om the school t o t he

! l 'Â°\"". Cathedral Church of Armagh which is a long mile distant , without changing t hei r pla ces". But let us retrace our steps a little . I n 1162 at an ecc l e siastical Synod it was decreed that no person should be permitted to teach or publicly le cture on theology who had not studied at Armagh, a fact that ha s led many writers to a ssume for its sch ools a highly honourable pre - eminence over the other then functioning scholas t ic establishments of Ireland .

It seems

probable, however, that t he de cree had its ori gin in an effo r t to promote un ifo r mity of do ctrine and di scipline throughout the island at l ar ge by means of lecturers who had studied a t Armagh previous to exercising their offices else,-, here .

That was but a f ew years previous

to t he An gl o- Norman conquest of Ireland after which the r eformation of the Church passed into other hands . The monastic school s were at fi r st little di sturbed but the i r useful ness became gr adually impaired, through con flict between English and Ir ish opinion on matters of Th ey di d not suffer actual ext inction, educ ati on. however, unt i l the di s sol uti on of monasteries by Henr y By t hat decr ee Ir eland was left for a VIII in 1537 time without any educ ati on facil ities whatever . Armagh may not have be en so quickly af f ect ed as ot her pl aces

more directly under Eng lish Âˇ i nfluen ce, but just ,m en t he last of t h e City's monastic h sc ools fi na l l y cl osed do,m is not easily ascertainable now. It s eems possibl e t ha t the school att a ched t o t he PriÂˇ ory 1 ands r em ain ed in t he possession of t h e Chu rch and mean s had been t aken t o evade the ope r ation of the Act f or the Supp r e s si on of Reli gious Houses by annexing t he office of Prior to t hat of Dean, thus brin ging the revenues under th e contr ol of the Archbishop. In 1558 Archbishop Dowdall advised Queen Mary of the necessity of a univ ersity and free schools in such places as should be thought meet, and in 1583 a proposal was made , which amongst other designs, laid plans for the

foundation of Universities at Armagh and Limerick.

Both

cities had excellent backgrounds, but Armagh had sp ecial claims.

It was t h en, as now, the ecclesiastical capital

of Ireland.

It had long been a seat of learning, and

li fe and t hough t in many countries had been influenced through the teachings of its students .

Though the

proposition was never per fec ted , it is interesting to note that i f it had been i mplemented, those two cities would have taken precedence of Dublin as Trinity College was not f oun ded until 1592.

In 1599 the Earl of Tyrone propo sed that a university should be erected nwherein the sciences might be taught according to the Catholic Roman Church" but that fell

'?-. through al so .

Elizabeth was then on t'ne throne and exertion was bein g made to establish schools in the

principal shire towns of such Irish diocese - an almost similar scheme had been proposed in t h e rei gn of her father - but so far as Armagh is concern ed there is no evidenc!J that any scho ols were f ounded under those Acts. Armagh was still definitely Irish in mind and outlook and such schools would have been unacceptable to the native populati on who would have strongly resented t he necessity to speak English or study under English masters. A more successful effo rt to found schools on English models took place in Ulst er at the Plantation of that Province .

In 1608 lands were set apa rt for the upkeep

of free schools in the various northern counties affected .

In County Armagh 720 acres were allotted for

the maintenance of a free school to be erected at Armagh. The site chosen for it was the old Collegiate Church of St. Columba , one of the City ' s many ecclesiastical foundations.

Like the other Royal Schools founded at

the same time it must have had a modes t beginning . From its inception i t was probably more English in character than its sister institutions in counties where It was probably badly Scotch settlers predominated . damaged in 1642 in which year its headmaster was murdered. If so, it was quickly

repaired and remained in use unt il

117 . 1708 when a n ew school was bui l t

upon the same site that continued unt i l 1774 ' in whi' ch Yea r it wa s removed t o its pre sent fi ne si t uation. In t he cl osing ye ar s of t ha t centur y the quest i on

of t he foundation of a Universi t y a t Armagh . r'.Ilag was again br ought to publi c no tice by Thomas Orde t he t hen Chief Secret ar y fo r I reland, who on the 12th April, 1787, i ntr odu ced in t o the Ir ish House of Commons a scheme of educa t ion all the proposals of which pas sed t he Hou se with t he excep t ion of the clause relating to t he founding of a second university which wa s blocked by opposi ti on from Trinity College, who no doubt f eared that pa r t of its lar ge estates in Armagh and ot her · Ul ster counties migh t be diver t ed to t h e proposed new uni ver si t y .

Unfortuna t ely a change of Governm ent took

place short ly aft er war ds t ha t r esul ted in Orde ' s retirement so t he ma tt er wa s dr opped fo r the time being .

is cl ear, however, tha t it was intended to raise it again for Archbi shop Robi ns on ' s will contained a bequest of £5,000 t owar d s its e st ablishmen t as also £1 , 000 for a St r ong chapel th at might serve t he propo s ed coll ege . efforts were made to induce t h e Briti sh Gover nm ent to agree to the foundation.

Lord Cornwall is, t he t h en

Lord Lieutenant, was a keen supporter of the movement to

II~.

put the Archbishop's wishes int

. o operation, but the Duke of Portland, the then British Prime Minister refused to commend t he applicatiÂˇon t o the Ki.ng with the result that the lega cy lapsed , The matter, however, was not allowed to drop . In 1826 , a few years after his appointment to the Archbishopric, Lord John George Beresford, approached Henry Goulbourne, Chief Secretary for I reland 1821- 1828 and M.P . for the Borough of Armagh 1826 -1836, who promised to bring the matter before Lord Liver pool the th en Prime Minister.

Liverpool, however, died sho rtly

afterwards so nothing was accomplished then .

As a

matter of fact Goulbourne felt that the question of detriment to Trinity was likely to deprive Armagh of such an institution. Armagh was not again troubled by educational problems until the year 1845.

When the foundation of

Queen's Colleges was proposed the town was once more A meeting of the chief citizens in the limelight. took place on August 7th at which Archbishop Crolly was

present and supported the City's desire for the College.

The Archbishop was a broadminded prelate beloved by all sections of the community and six years earlier had founded St. Patrick' _s seminary, now one of the mo st

important educa t ional institutions St. Patrick 's Day 1840 he l aid the t he New Cat hedral, so to him our

of th e City.

foundation stone of

City owes a debt of

gratitude for a beautiful chur ch

a nd a very go od school . Archbishop Lord John Ge or ge Beres for d was unable to be present at that na Âˇ rticu 1 ar mee t ing but he offered ÂŁ1,000 towards the establishment of a Divinity Chair Like

Archbishop Crolly he was equally popula r and a generous benefactor to the town but neither archbishop foresaw the reli gious difficulties that were so quickly to arise and shatter their hopes for a revival of higher education in Armagh . Later Archbishop Crolly accompanied a local deputation to interview Lord Heytesbury, the then Lord Lieutenant, but that gentleman thought the building of a new college for Ulster in the City of Armagh might offend t he Presbyterians.

In Ulster generally the

matter was one of interest and speculation but the contest

was chiefly between Armagh and Belfast.

Parti zan s in

t ho se towns engaged in a newsp aper correspondence in which hard things were written by both parties.

One

correspondent replying in the "Armagh Guardian" t o a statement in the "Northern Whig" prophesied t hat Armagh would get the college and that the Rev. Dr. P. S. Henry,

1.2. O,

J;;!!,

Minister of First Armagh Congregation would be the first pr esi dent. He was soon pr oved wrong as regards location but he had certainly picked a winner in Dr . Henry, for he wa s offered the presidency by th e 1 ord Lieutenant on November 29, 1845, and thus one of the k eenest supporter s of the effort .to establish the institution in Armagh became the head of the new college in Belfast. Opini on was very much divided as to the usefulness of such colleges.

Some were alarmed by the idea that

young people of t he various faiths mi gh t have to mix with ea ch other.

On the whole, however , the proposed

colleges wer e considered a valuable contribution to Iri sh Educati on , and Queen 's College, Belfast, has certainly vindicated its foundation.

From the beginning

it has pursued a pro gr essive and enli ghtened policy , that clearly justifies its intellectual leadership of the It is now, of course, a university Province of Ulster. and we in Armagh wish it well, t hough we strongly disapprove of the tendency to enrich Belfast at the expens e of the rest of the Province. The more modern Armagh foundations like Drelincour t and other 18th century schools endowed and supported by public subscription or private indivi duals must of

necessity be omitted.

Time is too limited on this

occasion to allow them to be studied, or to discuss their

I 'l I -

12.

re- birth a s Nationa l School s in the early days of the next century, or their later

development as the Public Elementary Schools of the pr esen t century. The schools of the 18th and 19 th cen uries . often taught subjects that are now only available in Secondary Schools.

Such subjects were indeed pa rt of

the curriculum of many of the hedge-schools that were such a feature of Irish education in t hose centuries. Education has made great strides since then and the schola rs of to - day ar e blessed vdth many amenities. I am not sure , however, that they are as appreciative of their good fortune as they migh t be .

Their treatment

of books supplied by the County Library Service, for instance, leaves much to be desired and suggests a carelessness that is equally apparent in their attitude to property in general.

I have no wish to criticise

present day education but I strongly feel, that so long as boys and girls are left in total ignorance of local geography and civic hi st or y , we shall _have chalkdisfi gured public buildings and mutilated trees t o r emind us of our failure to i nspire the children with a patriot i sm alive to the beauty and interest that is their heritage in this most pleasant city of Armagh .

CITY CHARTERS, CORPORATION Records AND INCIDENTAL Matters (George Leyburn, Esq., M.B.E., J .P â&#x20AC;˘, in the chai r ) . Early historical sources are far from i nformative regarding the social history of Arm ag h and the life of the ordinary inhabitants of the town. In those times our population was largely scholastic - augmented, of course, by ecclesiastical dignitaries and learned men, whose labours placed them here.

In such a community there was little

scope for organized industry, and barter or exchange was undoubtedly the method by which necessaries were obtained. In the Middle Ages, however, a new class of town-society began to arise and charters were granted by which the Under those patents merchants

inhabitants were incorporated.

prospered exceedingly in the great trading centres but such prosperity could not have ever been of any consequence in Armagh.

We know practically nothing of the business life of

the city in those days excepting that its proceedings were

often interrupted by strife and tragedy and that such happen-

ings were of frequent occurrence.

Apart from spoilationof

citizensâ&#x20AC;˘ property, town charters were also lost, so that now Yt

possess no local material other than the Archiepiscopal

Registers_ beginning about 1350 - wherein to seek for knowledge on 1uch .subjects.

They unfortunately, are almost

123

entirely devoted to ecclesiastical

affairs, but it is in

one of them that we find the grant

of a charter from Edward the Fourth to Archbishop Bole on 9 th February, 1467 , a

document pre-supposing an earlier patent, being in fact but a confirmation of the Archbishop, s legal rights.

By it

Armagh was g ranted a weekly market and the Archbishop the feudal privileges of the period.

The Ch a rter was attested

and inspected again on 1st June, 1558 .

Whether that market

was held on a Tuesday as at present, we may never discover. In those day s the a ffairs of the city were in the hands of a Seneschal, an officer appointed by the Archbishop and to wom there are many references in the Reg isters.

He was

always a person of some so cial standing and on occasion represented the Archbishop in Parliament. The first actual reference to a Tuesday market occurs in 1587, in which year on the petition of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, a grant was passed to the citizens for a market on that day, and in 1609 an Inquisition was taken in the city at which it wes found that a weekly market had been held in Armagh "time -out of mind". Following the Plantation of Ulster with English and Scotch settlers in the opening years of t~t century, King JIIJlies the First granted the city a further c h a r tby er which

it became ~ Borough in 1613.

The new patent placed the

路路路 th h' a路nds of a Sovereign and twelve government of the "city "in e

I '2.

'-t

Burgesses, assisted by an assembly or By

virtue of that arrangement two

jury of free citizens.

parliamentary representatives

were elected from time to time to

serve in Parliament, a form of representation that continued to the Union of Great Britain with Ireland in 1800, after which one member only was allowed.

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

That

patent vested certain curious powers in the Primate such as causing troublesome women to be placed in trebuchets or

cucking-stools·, confining fraudulent bakers in pillories, and the plunging of brewers who made bad ale into well-filled dung-carts ,

Such was life in those days.

A further patent , was issued for fairs and markets in 1620.

In 1634 a Saturday market was granted to Archbishop

Ussher with an additional fair on St. Peter' s Day and the day following.

In 1753 the Corporation obtained leave to hold

extra fairs on 20th May and 20th November respectively. that brought the total up to -what was then considered a good working average. The 17th centurY fairs and markets were held in the MarketS quare, a space

·then -quite adequata, for the purpose.

'l'b a..•. proce4ur• .continued t1rthe, closing days of• the 18th century about; wllicb"Unl rtbe ·inhabitants of. Market Street

:2 5

successfully petitioned th e Sovereign and Burgesses regarding the removal of the fair to a more convenient site. It was eventually agreed that it should be transferred to the nor t hern end of the Mall. In those days that district was not a residential area and Barrack Hill and Victoria Street did not exist.

The arrangement,

though fairly suitable then, is again becoming a problem for which the only reasonable solution seems to be a properly constructed and enclosed Fair Green. In the early 19th century individual markets like the Flax, Shamble and Linen Hall were built, some of >hich later became devoted to other uses.

The Linen Market,

for instance, became the Egg and Butter Market, but is now derelict owing to the fact that eggs, and such butter as is now farm produced, are collected direct from the farms and brought to town by motor transport. Armagh is somewhat unlucky as regards its Corporation Those Those for the 17th century are missing. records. previous to 1642 were probably lost in the destruction of Whether the the town in the Civil War of that year. Corporation :runctioned fully again before 1657 is doubtful. It was, however, working in 1688, in October of which year King James the Second, excluded the then Sovereign and Burgesses from office; and -appointed a new Sovereign, at the same time increasing the Burgesses to twenty-four

instead of the original twelve.

James again stayed a few

days in the city on his way back f

rom Derry in 1689, and Bo e rough Seal and Re cords. In the following year the Duk O f Schomberg assumed possession e of the town and later fought at the Battle of the Boyne, an when departing took with him th

action that cost the unfortunate James his crown and placed a Dutch prince on the throne. strangely enough despi ta the peace tha.t followed the Williamite Wars, there are no Borough Records available for

the period 1690-1732.

Lists of Sovereigns and Burgesses

of the City are very incomplete for the 17th century, but there is a detailed sequence from 1713.

Rolls of Freemen

are, unfortunately, only available from 1737. records

Surviving

begin in the year 1732 and continue without a break

until 1833 in which year the form of administration was altered and the duties of the Sovereign and Burgesses taken over by a Board of City Commissioners, consisting of Chairman, Treasurer, Clerk and twenty-one members, a form of government that continued until 1872, during which time the City continued to send a representative to the Imperial Parliament. Though it was rather a waste having towns like Armagh ,send representatives to Parliament it iS a fact that the city -

members were nearly always notable political figures, remarkable

for ability and eloquence.

4. The Lists of Freemen of th e city end in 1802 . They are of great local interest but their more general appeal lies in their use as a census f o occupations for the period 1737-1802. Freemen were sworn t 0 ass i st the Sovereign and other officers of the town and "to them be obedient and attendant concerning such things as th ey mg i h t reasonably be required to do".

At the same time they were "to

observe, perform and fulfil all orders and rules made by the Common Council of the town, besides maintaining to the best of their skill, cunning, wit, and power all the liberties, customs, orders and use ages of the Corporation. 11 Tbe Freemen were drawn from all ranks of society but the great majority of them were merchants or tradesmen of the city.

The socially important were shown as "gent s" and the

lesser fry distinguished by their occupation.

Local

tradition states that the famous Dean Swift was complimented with the freedom of the city whilst the guest of Robert Cope of Loughgall through whom he was introduced to a member of the Caulfeild family and made a Freeman of Charlemont 29th September, 1728,

Unfortunately the Armagh Rolls for that

date are missing. The extant Corporation records provide much information as to city affairs.

The lighting of the streets by oil-

lamps was 1n operation as early as 1776.

Tanning was at

that time one of the chief industries of the town and an

Overseer of the Leather Market

appears amongst Corporation

officials of that date.

Twelve Years earlier t he first local newspaper was published, but no copies of it exist to-day. It was printed by William Dickie. He was admitted a Freeman 18th April, 1740 . Lists of Corporation Constables are available from 1777 - they continued down to comparatively recent times. New bye-laws had been drawn up the year before and further bye-laws were printed in 1795 forbidding, amongst other things, the playing of Ball in the Market House, the placing of obstructions in the streets or roadways by which the public might be annoyed.

Publicans were no longer allowed

to permit horses to be fastened to their premises on Market Days.

Pigs were denied the freedom of the streets and

might be shot on sight.

Bull-baiting and cock-fighting

were forbidden within the Corporation, and lewd and disorderly women found in the Borough were. to be promptly placed in the House of Correction to remain there until it pleased the Sovereign to release them. A fire-engine is first mentioned in 1787.

The accounts

of the following year show ~hat it was provided with leather hose pipes 32

feet long.

A new engine was purchased

in 1815 from Hadly and Simpson of London at a cost of ÂŁ142,13,l~.

It w~s beught for the town by private

aub~artption, the individual

sums ranging from 5/- to ÂŁ5.

The first water supply was from of which appear in records.

wells and pumps, both

An actual pipe-water supply

becaine available in 1795, and sections of t he old wooden pipes of those days are still f ound f rom time to time during excavations in the streets. The Corporation Staff was under the control of the High Constable of the city who with the TownSergeants mi ght only wear his livery, great coat, and laced hat when on actual business. The most valuable and most important Corporation relics

are a pair of beautiful seventeenth century silver Maces, and

the extant Corporation Records. Armagh Public Library.

They are prese rved in the

-Other Corporation Relics may be

seen in the County Museum - they include City Watchman's Pike and Crake, Corporation Seal, and Journal of the Pipe Water Commissioners for the period 1795-1863 , an interesting manuscript containing signatures of Sovereigns, Burgesses, and other inhabitants of the city. a Scold's

Another Corporation relic,

Bridle'' may be found in t he Belfast Museum.

was formerly in use in the old Sessions House, and though a rather inhuman sort of implement was really effective in .!

curbing evil tongued women. The extant Corporation Records under date 13th October, 1738, show

presentment for ~a sufficient pair of stocks and

ordered~tbat theY should be joined and fixed in the Pillory.

I .:, LI

They were made of oak , an d less than 5 0 years ago still survived in the basement 0 f the Market House to which place they had been removed when they fell into disuse. I should like tom a k ea few supplementary remarks on Charters.

You all know th a t a b out the year 1171, in the reign of Henry II ' Ireland was annexed by England in which country government by Charter was then in force.

reality such control was a $urvival of the Roman occupation of Britain.

Being a long-established custom it was a

natural sequence that similar Charters should come into existence in Ireland shortly afte.r the arrival of the Anglo-Normans

anq in actual. fact they were soon issued to

the more important towns especially those on navigable rivers or situate on the coast, as well as to new townsin the conquered areas.. 1 , Suc;h Charters gave most of the townsa lik,e fo,rm .of cgovernm.e nt but, of course, in certain ,, places there were . slight variations of form due to local .J requirement and usage.

Such patents or grants conveye~ to

,the citizens the lands ·on ·'ilh:l:ch the townswere built with

some additional property outside the actual townproper, which lands were s~etim.es known as Commons, t :l\or ustaxice, the Mall still

In Armagh,

was a part ot the Commons apd may

11• c01:11-i••~•d. sa, · as that plot 11 :enjoyed· in common

~97-1:be :l.llh&bi,.t.allt..J"' O! t!:!M •e°itJ.

•By those , eti~te~s ~~e :,a

cstt.~zetif 1JW,,ea~¥;~r•.4. cto ;e11,t .abl.U.h .coiµ-,ts ,;}~J2~in~ uL. e1,

officers, levy tolls, collect customs

and control crafts

and trades within the town limits. It was an interesting form of town management but in so far as the smaller t owns were concerned ver y liable to abuse, owing to authority eventually becoming vested in a few influential families rather than in the inhabitants generally. There was also the fact that the chief officials were mo st1Y drawn from the former class and consequently less sympathetic towards reform or improvement excepting where such things were of advantage to themselves personally. That aspect in the end brought the old borough system into disrepute, so in 1835 a Royal Commission was appointed to study conditions in Ireland.

The findings of that body

resulted in the Municipal Corporations Act of 1840 being' passed whereby certain Corporations like Belfast, Dublin, Cork and Limerick were preserved whilst 58 others, including Armagh, were dissolved.

The Act strangely enough reserved

the right to the Crown to re-grant or incorporate boroughs on the petition of the inhabitants of such towns as had populations exceeding 3,000 citizens. Our ancient city And now may I generalize somewhat. It has been sacked by armed has had many misfortunes. bandâ&#x20AC;˘ from the neighbouring provinces, harried by cruel and lerciless Scandinavian warriors, and often pillaged by the "lli.gbty Anglo-Norman

has never been utterly subdued.

132. phoenix-like it has always arisen again , t Hours could bes pen on details relatin g to the towâ&#x20AC;˘s grovth since the mid-fifth century, on its development to University status, and the tale of events connected with it, records of kings, saints and warriors ors _ a tale of centuries and of raids and burnings down the years. I would, however, stress the fact that when the first half-legendary tales began to throw some light on Ireland, Armagh was already in t he forefront.

Many of th e incidents

recorded of Cuchulinn, and other great figures of the Irish Sagas took place at the Royal Seat of Emania, about two miles west of the present town.

Th e heroic exploits of the

champions of those days were accomplished in defence of Ulster in general and against invaders from t he south.

That

there is a historic basis for t hose stories is evident from the existence of travelling earthworks in the county, one near Emania itself, the other on the Armagh-Downborder, constructed

when Emania was lost in 332 A. D. - and its defenders driven into

a district now comprising the counties of Antrim and Down. 1'nat, however, is not the earliest record of local occupation and settlement_ our prehistoric

burial places carry the

story back to about 2,000 B. C~ Âˇ ,, In the Early Christian period Armaghcontinued its pre-

aainence. 11

It is true it hadsbY then lost its proud position

the seat of the Ultonian , kings, but to 1 ts hill-top

~settlement had cometh e greatest figure i history - the saintly Pat _ k n its chequered ric - under whose mission it . _ was later to become the cc1 ecclesiastical capital. I have a pleasant dut Y t o perform before we dine. I -wish to exhibit to you the 17th century Mace of the Sovereign of Armagh.

This I am enabled to do by the

courtesy of the Librarian of the , Public Library, the Very Reverend the Dean of Armagh, who has with characteristic kindness permitted me to have it on loan for this particular occasion. An earlier Mace was lost in 1642.

This beautiful

specimen was made by Nathaniel Stoughton, a well-known Dublin silversmith, in 1657, the actual year in which Cromwell's Commissioners sat in Armagh and drafted an Inquisition for our county that forunately never came The Mace was then devoid of the plate into operation. bearing the Royal Arms of the Stuarts - that was added at the Restoration - otherwise it is in its original condition. We have no information as to how the Mace was hidden

during the visits of King James to the City in 1688 and He managed to secure the Borough Seal and Records

and actually installed a new Sovereign and Burgesses, but the ceremony must have been shorn of much of its dignity by the absence of the Maces.

Following the dissolution of Irish Boroughs this Mace,

l34. with a smaller one of equal age, fell into the custody of William Paton, the last Sovereign of the old order, and in l887 was presented by his daughter to Armagh Library. To-night I propose placing the Mace before your Chairman for the duration of the present meeting .

By virtue of his office he is the successor of the Sovereigns of our town, and by merit a true representative of that long line of

Seneschals and Sovereigns, who in adversity and prosperity, gave of their best to our ancient city.

~Armagh City

Charters Fairs, Markets and Corporation --------- -- Mis eel 1

In Great Britain and Ireland the term city is, strictly speaking, an honorary distinction appli'ed tot owns which, by virtue of some particular pre-eminence, such as being episcopal Sees or great industrial centres, have, by traditional usage or royal ch a rter, acquired t ha t designation. Armagh belongs t o the first group, and its official style of "city" does not necessarily involve the possession of municipal powers greater than those of ordinary boroughs, nor indeed actual corporate possessions.

In other words,

Armagh is a city by piescriptive right and has been so for many more centuries than is necessary to give legal effect to the description. The Medieval Registers of the Archbishops of Armagh begin about the year 1350 and are the first local documentary evidence that we possess for the term "city" in connection With Armagh.

They show references to -

"The Archbishop I s rents of his city of Armagh, The revenues of Armagh city. The tythes of Armagh city.

Visitations of Armagh city and. diocese", etc. State Papers of Ireland, howe.v er, produce earlier entries.

Armagh 1,s so described in a demand of Henry III,

aÂź, January 18, 1226-12 27 , requiring th th make available , e en Archbishop to a site for a c castleproposed to be erected for the better s ecurity of the city, which castle was built in 1236 and gave name to the present Castle Street where a portion of the structure still remains embodied in the basement of a house,

Charters, Fairs and Markets. The first city charter of which we are aware is the grant from Edward IV to Archbishop John Bole.

This appears

to have been a confirmation of privileges then in existence and mentions among other ma tt ers a weekly market at Armagh. It was ratified at Drogheda February 9, 1467, and again formally inspected and attested at Drogheda' June 1, 1558, some few months after the accession of Queen Elizabeth I, and during the Primacy of Archbishop George Dowdall who died on August 15 following. At that date, as had been the custom in previous centuries and down to the beginning of the 17th century, tbe business of the city was managed by a seneschal.

was usually a per son of some social standing and capable of acting as proxY for the Archbishop in Parliament when ecclesiastical matters prevented His Grace's attendance. For instance, Sir Toby Caulfeild, founder of the frunily

fortunes of the Earls and Viscounts Charlemont, filled the

,,.

post in the open1~g- Âˇie.a rsÂˇ of the 17th century and was Member

of Pa rliament for the county of Armagh iÂˇn I incorp orated the city under a

burgesses.

1613when James sovereign and twelve

The cha rt er

was confer red pursuant to Lette r s 1612 d ' , an issued March 26, 161 3 . By it Armagh was created a body corporate to be denominated the Bo rough of Armagh - that, however, did not alter its Patent of Sept ember 26

standing as a city, a subJÂˇect th a t will crop up again i n my remarks. But to return to the question of markets _ Hugh O' Neill, Earl of Tyrone, petitioned the Crown on behalf of the citizens of Armagh for a g r ant of a Tuesday market , a request acceded to by Queen Elizabeth I May 10, 1587;

tha t, by the

way, being the earliest indication of a Tuesday market.

On August 12, 1609, the Commissioners for the Plantation of Ulster, by an Inquisition t aken in the city on that date, found that a weekly marke t had be en h eld in Armagh "time out of mind".

That verdict could not very well refer to the

O'Neill market as it had only been in being twenty years. The 16o9 jury included twenty-t-wo jurors, members of the chief native families of the county , people whom we must assume to have been conversant with Armagh affairs.

It may,

however, be that Tyrone's .application was for an extra market or change of day. In 1611 Archbishop. Christopher c11if with all the ancient J

Hampton surrendered the t

e'state of the See of Armagh, and

had a new patent passed February

25 of that Year confirming him and his successors a Tu Tuesday market and two fairs on March 17 and Augus t 1 respectively, wi th t he Lordship of the city and manor, customs, t olls, etc . Thi s gr ant or charter was con firmed and renewed with further clauses July 3, 1620. In the reign of Charles ar 1es I there was a confirmation or regran t on May 23 , 1634, t o Archbishop James Ushe r by which a Saturday market and a fair on St . Peter's Day were added to t hose already existing Âˇ,

and on October 2, 5 1753 , King

Geo r ge II grant ed t he Corporation a patent for two addit ional fairs on May 20 and Novembe r 20 .

Now we have one per month.

In t he l at e 18th and early 19th centur y individual markets like t h e flax, linen , etc. came i nt o being, some of which were l at er utilized f or other pur po ses.

The linen,

for example, developed into an egg and but ter market that in its turn became redundant. Fairs in the 17th century were hel d in the Market Square, a space then quite adequate for the purpose and so continued to the closing days of the 18th century, about which time the inhabitants of that area successfully pe r suaded the sovereign and burgesses regarding its removal t o a more convenient site. It was eventually agreed that they should be transferred to In those days that district the northern end of the Mall. was not built upon and Barrack Hill and Victoria Street did not exist.

The a.d justment though fairly suitable then is

again becoming a problem, f

or which the only reasonable solution seems to be a properly constructed Fair Green on the outskirts of the city, a planned space that might also be used as an Auction Mart for cattle, t hereby improving the amenities of Victoria Street, Gaol Square and Barrack Street and, more particularly so, those of Edward Street and Cathedral Road.

The Break Up of the Borough In 1 833 two Government Commissions examined the various city charters from the reign of James I onwards . The result of their survey was published in the "Report on Municipal Corporations of 1835" .

In it the two

commissioners responsible entitled their survey "The Report for the City of Armagh" and mentioned therein that the principal town in the county was the "city of Armagh" and that it "was recognized as a city in several statutes", thus emphasizing the fact that the State then accepted Armagh a.s such. The Report coming, as it did, before the dissolution of the Borough is of consequence, and the commissioners' findings as regards corporation levies state that the monie~ obtained were "beneficially and honestly applied", two factors "attested by the appearance of the town".

The Report~~ Belfast of same date shows th at it was then J

,.1

()''

i'tยงb.' ' simply a

Borough, but now it al so

.s 1

a city, Its present rank though is recent an.d derives from industry and population rather than ancient lineage, Its growth and importance to-day is, however, something that t he Province may well be proud of, You may feel that I have was t ed time unduly on Armagh's position as a city. Visitors often ask why city matters are here transacted by an Urban Council which meets in a City Hall. armorial be a rings,

They also enquire as to the city I s There is now no record of matriculati on

of arms in Ulster's Office, but that is likely due to a fire which took place there during James II's campaign in Ireland, in which period he dissolved t he Corporation of Armagh in 1688 and issued a new charter, besides dismissing the then sovereign and burgesses and appointing a new and enlarged corporate body and two new members to represent the city in the Irish House of Commons.

His Acts were, however,

declared null and void an 1690, and the working of the charter of 1613 was resumed. But to return to the coat of arms - the current exemplification has been long enough in use to warrant a confirmation and it is imperative that something should be In the last twenty years we done to remedy the defect, ~ tim:e, heard rumours that the City (alias h ave, from time -uo Urban) Council is about. to attempt the revival of the

''ef. dormant charter of 1613, but whether 1. t

19. will ever take

effective action remains to be seen.

As long ago as 1854 the subject of restoring the charter was considered by the Town Commissioners who were then qUi te satisfied to accept a body composed of Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors.

The

meeting took place in October 1854 and an editorial in the "Armagh Guardian" of October 10 of that year states that the "proposal was being opposed from a political angle".

The

longing for borough status, however, continues and may yet be achieved.

After all the Act dissolving the boroughs in

1840 provided that the inhabit ants of such boroughs as exceeded 3 ,500 inhabitants could, at any time, upon petition of the majority of the residents , be given a fresh gr ant of incorporation â&#x20AC;˘

Under those circumstances there is no reason

.by Armagh should not have its first charter restored.

Corporation Relics In conclusion I shall discuss certain corporation miscellanea. Lists of sovereigns occur in partial form for the 17th century and more fully from the 18th century to the passing of the borough in 1840. Two silver maces, bearing I rish silver marks of 1657, the Armagh Public Li brary - they were made are preserved in war of 1641-42. to replace those destroyed in the Civil roceedings are housed in the Minutes of corporat 1 on P

same building and cover the period from 1738 until the termination of borough status. Earlier municipal documents were destroyed in 1642 and those of the Commonwealth and Restoration era in the war between James II and William III. Corporation miscellanea on exhibition in the County Museum includes 1.

A seal of the borough - late 17th or early 18th century,

City watchman's pike and crake. or early 19th century.

Journal of the Pipe Water Commissioners period 1792-1863.

Printed Corporation Bye Laws 1795.

Valuation of houses in the city and borough 1833-34.

A. complete lis t Of th e Members of Parliament 6l until the Act of for the borough periodtwo representatives Union, ~~rigid IrishpHouse of Commons. From fs~oi~o 1886 the city ]was represented the Imperial parliiament hical particulars of all roll contains d ?gr~ important source of the members an is them information regarding .

7. Maps Of the city, 1602, 1760, etc.

Late 18th

.,..,

~APPENDIX I

Armagh The Corporation Maces The city was incorporated by James I in 1613 and had a sovereign, twelve burgesses and commons, who returned two members to Parliament.

They were empowered to have a seal

and to appoint serjeants-at-mace.

In the year 1799 we

find that John Hill, mace-bearer, received £1 lOs. per annum for the discharge of his office. When the Corporation was suppressed, under the Municipal Corporation Act, in 1832, the two maces fell into the custody of Mr. William Paton , survivor of the old sovereigns.

At his death they were presented by his

daughter, in 1887, for preservation to the Public Library of Armagh, founded by Primate Lord Rokeby, where they are exhibited. They are in length and greatest circumference, respectiv"ely, 21¼ and 11¼ in.;

and 10 and

8¼

in."

They

are almost alike, and much resemble the Carlow maces, one of wich was made in the saiqe year. . They are ;of silver with plain stems, a centraJ. plain knop, and a base, round

the bottom of 'Which is engraved:- . For the Burrough of Ardmagh. ' th are divided into four panels, The heads of bo _ • .,

2-r-.

separated in the large one by Caryatid

figures, and in the

smaller by engraved oak-leaves,

In the panels are the "States arms", viz.' the Cross of St. George for England and the Harp for Ireland, both alternately repeated.

there ever was a cresting round the top it has gone. Each bears on the head three clear Dublin hall-marks, the same on both, viz.:presently);

(1) the date letter T (of which

(2) the harp crowned;

and (3) the mark N. s.,

under a star or mullet, in a quatrefoil.

These initials

I can identify, from my MS lists extracted from the Dublin Goldsmiths' Registers, as those of Nathanael Stoughton. Two of the name appear.

One was in the Charter, 16 37;

the other was admitted in 1647, and entered much plate from 1645 on. On the flat cover of the top are the Royal Arms of the Stuarts (with France and England quarterly in the first and fourth quarters), but as the date-letter, as shown in the case of Carlow, represents 1656-7, the mace must have Perhaps the arms were been made during the interregnum. Certain it is that these added after the Restoration. maces must be Commonwealth "baubles", and not as old as the Corporation of Armagh. ublic Library, Armagh. Preserved in the P i â&#x20AC;˘ of Irish Corporations", (Extract from "Maces and Ins Insignia Arts and Crafts craftsSociety Society of p.6O). Reprint, Journal of the Ireland â&#x20AC;˘ . Vol 1 No.2 o. '1898 (1)

Data as to the of James I

proposed revival - incidental

of Charter matters in 1953 --

The Medieval Registe r s of the Archbishops of Armagh begin about the Year 1350 and are th e earlie st local documentary eviden ce that we possess f or the term "city " in connection with Armagh. They show references to _ "Th e Archbishop's rents of his city of Armagh . The revenues of Armagh city . The tythes of Armagh city . Hos tile entry into Armagh city. Visitations of Armagh city and diocese", etc . State Pap ers of Ireland, however, show earlier entries _ for instance, Armagh is so described in a demand of Henry III,

Jan. 18, 1226-27 , requiring the then Archbishop to make available a site for a castle proposed to be erected fo r t he better security of the city, which castle was built and gave

name to t he present Castle Street where a po rtion of the structure still remains embodied in the basement of a house. Still earlier notices may be found in Irish Annals. The first actual Charter of which we are aware is t he grant from

Edward IV to Archbishop John Bole.

This seems to

have been a confirmation of privileges then in existence and

mentions among other matters a weekly market at Armagh. document waâ&#x20AC;˘ ratified at Drogheda 9th February, 1467. The above Charter was again formally inspected and

The

11+7.

e-.

attested at Drogheda 1st J

une, 1558, some few months after the accession of Queen Elizabeth and during the Primacy of Archbishop George Dowdall who died on 15th August in same year. At that time as had been the custom in earlier centuries and down to the beginning of the 17th century, the affairs of the city were managed by a Seneschal, who was usually a person of some social standing and capable of acting as proxy for the Archbishop in parliament when ecclesiastical matters prevented His Grace's attendance. Later Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, petitioned the Crown on behalf of the citizens of Armagh for the grant of a Tuesday Market, a request acceded to by Queen Elizabeth 10th May, 1587. On 12th August, 1609, the Commissioners for the .Plantation of Ulster, by an Inquisition taken in the city on that date found that a weekly market had been held in Armagh "time out That verdict could not, however, refer to the of mind". O'Neill market has it had only been granted twenty years before_ the jury responsible included twenty-two jurors, members of the chief native families of the county, people whom we must assume to have been conversant with local affairs. It may be that Tyrone's petition change of daY. '

for an extra market or

~King James I by a Charter dated 26th March , 1613 (pursuant to Letters Patent of 26 th September, 1612) created Armagh a body corpora t e to be denominated "The Borough of Ardmagh" .

In the following year Archbishop

Christopher Hampton surrendered all the ancient estate of the See of Armagh includin g the city and had a new patent passed 25th February, 1614, granting him and his successors a Tuesday market and two fairs on 17th March and 1st August respectively with the Lordship of the city and manor, customs, tolls, etc.

This grant or Charter

was confirmed and renewed with furthe r clauses 3rd July,

1620.

Armagh was one of the Corporations dissolved by

King_ James in 1688 and to which new Charters were issued by that monarch, but his Acts of Parliament, etc. were declared null and void in 1690. In the reign of Charles I a confirmation or regrant was issued 23rd May, 1634, to Archbishop James Usher by which a Saturday market and a fair on St. Peter' s Day were added to the existing amenities, and on 25th October, 1753, King George II granted the Corporation two further fairs on 20th May and 20th November. The original Corporation Maces were lost in the Civil War

of 1641-42 but in 1657 during the Commonwealth new

maces were procured good condition.

they are Irish silver and survive in

( See Appendi x I)Âˇ

In passing we may mention that the dates

of the earlier Armagh fairs suggest a descent from the older assemblies. st. Patrick's festival Âˇ is a day t hat heralds the end of winter and the approach of better weather - it is in fac t the day on which, according to 1oca 1 t r adition, "the warm side of the stone turns up". The Lammas Fair held on 1st Augu st was of equal importance from the "folk" point of view.

It marked the

beginning of Autumn and was a holiday whose roots are lost in the mists of antiquity - the annual pilgrimage to Carrickatuke, a hill some miles south of the City, is indeed a direct link with pre-Christian times. The St. Peter' s Day Fair raises similar thoughts,

Its

nearness to the mid-summer festival makes one wonder whether it was not also an inheritance from Pagan Days especially as both celebrations followed the same ritual. The oldest local fair seems to have been the great annual gathering outside the city at Emain Macha, founded to commemorate the memory of Queen Macha who is reputed to have died about 360 B.C.

Appendix

III

The Act of 1840 empowered th e Queen upon pe tition received f r om the inhabitants of any town in Ireland, the population of which at the date of the last census exceeded 3,500 , and signed by a majority of such inhabitants as should be rated t o the relief of the destitute poor, to gran t a Ch arter of Incorpor ation t o such towns, extending t o the inhabitants the reof within the district set forth i n such Charter the powers and provisions in such Act contained. See ''Municipal Gove r nment in Irelan d" by Webb, page 240.

l'!o..t.11:

Only Wexfo r d petit i oned for Re-incorporation

under above Act.

{':i\.

2nd October, 1953, Dear Professor Newark, Re our conversation o f yesterday. I was sorry that I had to leave for the coun t ry without dealing with the subject we were discussing . The Medieval Registers of the Are hbishops of Armagh begin, as you know, about the year 1350 and are the earliest local documentary evidence that we possess for the term "city" in connection with Armagh .

They show references t o -

The Archbishop's Rentals of his city of Armagh . The revenues of Armagh city . The t ythes of Armagh . city . Hos tile entries into Armagh city. Visitations of Armagh city and diocese, etc . State Papers of Ireland, however, show earlier ent rie s - for inst ance , Armagh is so descri bed in a document of Henry III 18th January , 1226-27, requirin g the then Archbishop to make available a site for a castle proposed to be erected for the better security of the city, which castle was built and gave name to t he present Castle Street. Still earlier notices may be found in Irish Annals, The first actual Charter of which I

aJD

aware was in the

nature of a grant from Edward IV to Archbishop John Bole. This seems to have been a _confirmat,ion of privilege_s then in enstence and mentions -~ong other matters a weekly market

at Armagh.

5' Z.

The document was rati fied

February, 1467.

29 . at Drogheda 9th

The above Charter was

again formally inspected and attested at Drogheda 1st June, 1558, some few months after the accession of Qu een E1Âˇizabeth and during the Primacy of Archbishop George Dowdall who died 15th August of same year. Later Hugh O Neill, Earl of Tyrone, petitioned the Crown on behalf of the citizens of Armagh for the grant of a Tuesday market, a request acceded to by Queen Elizabeth 10th May, 1 587 . King James I by a Charter dated 26th March, 161 3 (pursuant to Let ters Patent of 26th September, 1612) created Armagh a .tbody corporate to be denominated the Borough of Armagh.

Archbishop Christopher Hampton had a new patent

passed to him grantin g him and his successors a Tuesday market and two fairs on 17th March and 1st August re spectively with the Lordship of the city and manor, customs, tolls, etc. This grant or charter was confirmed and renewed with furthe r clauses 3rd July, 1620. In the reign of Charles I a confirmation or regrant was issued 23rd May, 1634, to Archbishop Jame s Ussher, by which a Saturday market and a fair on St. Pater's Day were added to the existing aJDenities, and on 25th October, 1753, George II granted the corporation two further fairs on 20th May and 20th November.

;w.

S ;,.

Armagh was one of the corporations dissolved by James II in 1688 and to i,,hich new charters were issued by that monarch but his Acts of Parliament , etc., were declared null and void in 1690 and Armagh returned to its former status. Apart from recent attempts to revive Borough status in Armagh there was a rather determined effort made in 1854 to take advantage of the Act of 1840 empowering the Queen upon petition to grant charters of incorporation to towns which at the date of the previous census had a population of

3,500 people.

At that time Armagh was prepared to accept

a Mayor, Alderman and Councillors .

I do not know very

much as to why the matter then failed but I think it was due to the proposal being blocked from a political angle. Now almost 100 years later it is being revived and I hope that we may have better luck this time. Very kindest regards. Yours sincerely, T. G. F. Paterson. Professor F. H. Newark, 52 Malone P ark, f the word city has it not been turies for the towns in which the custom down the ~ante to be so designated? Bishops' Sees are si ua

P. S â&#x20AC;˘. As regards the use o

APPENmu Jlxtract from "Arthur Quiller Couch ~:'1 F Brittain, MA, pages 70 _71 --

A Biographical Study Cambridge UNiversity

In the autumn they t 00 k part in the festivities that were held when Fowey be came a borough for th e se cond time in

its history.

The town had kep t its ancient charter of

incorporation until the nineteenth century but had ceased to exercise its privileges after the Reform Act of 1832 and had been formally deprived of them in 1883 .

The revival of the

charter was mainly due to the efforts of Q and Char le s Treffry.

Q, as President of the Fowey Me rc antile Association,

drafted a petition asking the Crown to make Fowey a borough again.

A Local Government Board inquiry was held early in

1912 and the petition was granted in the autumn of that year. In October 1913 the Member of Parliament for South-East Cornwall, Sir Reginald Pole-Carew, formally handed over a new charter to Charles Treffry, t he first mayor of the

revived borough. tree at Place;

The ceremony took place under a chestnut and Q made a speech in which he said

"Although our streets are narrow, our minds may be broad enough to keep our sense of proportion, and to remember that our borough is too small to allow of quarrellings, whether religious or political, or to admit any other rivalry save in the service of Fowey". " renewed.

h Guardian" Nov. 5, 1854 Meeting to claim . to have its borough status

I !:iS".

roWEY.

Borough, seaport, market town , and water ing place

of Cornwall.

It is on the west shore of Fowey estuary,

10 miles S. E. of Bodmin on the Great Western Railway and bas a fine ha r bour.

Indus tries - pilcha rd fish ing and t he

pr oduction of china clay. property of the town.

Fowey Wood and headland a re t h e

Market Day Saturday .

(1931) 2,382 .

See Cassell' s "Gazetteer".

Population

I S-C..

APPENDIX YI. The Act of 1840 empowered the Queen upon petition received from the inhabitants of any town in Ireland, the population of which at the date of the last census exceeded 3,500, and signed by a majority of such inhabitants as should be rated to the relief of the destitute poor, to grant a Charter of Incorporation to such towns, extending to the inhabitants thereof within the district set forth in such Charter the powers and provisions in such Act contained. See "Municipal Government in Ireland" by Webb, page 240.

Note:

Only Wexford petitioned for Re-incorporation

under above Act.

Armagh is a city by ll]'escrjptian - that is it has t time to give legal right been so called for suffic i en to the description. City_ a great town. City _ a town having

a royal charter.

City - a cathedral town.

]$.

The earliest Railways t o in provide County Armagh 1841 1957 a railway in County Armagh was :nade in the cl . osin g days of t l1 e 18th century

and the f i rst printed

refe re nce to the

undertaking tha t I hav e so far found an. pears :t.n Âˇ Coote'ss "Statistical Survey of Count y Armagh wherein

\â&#x20AC;˘!e

about but

a wo rk published in 1804

are told that "a n iron road had been talked 110

decision had been made".

This pa rt i cu lar

line was intended to link the por t of Newr y with the city of Armagh No furth e r no tice of the proposed railway crops up until William Edge worth ' s< 2 ) "Rep ort on the proposed Railway from Armagh to Newry" was published in 1828 wi th a map attach ed s howin g that the Survey had been completed two years previously .

The pamphlet in question is

addressed "To William Blacker Esq. "N. Kelly and Son".

and was printed by

From the introductory paragraph it

is clear that the above "Survey and Report" was carried out unde r Mr

(1)

(~)

( 3)

Blacker ' s instructi ons .

p )80 The same authority states that a canal or an iron road from Castlebla yney to Dundalk was also determined . c Longford Son of Richard Lovell Of Edgeworthtown write ; on education and Edgeworth, the ce,, Jan . 179 4 , died 1829 . See B.L. G. inventions , born~ 7 k Co Armagh , born 1776 , died 20 Oct . 1850 . Of Elmpark Pa r , d . Blacker-Douglas of Elm Park . See B.L. G. , un er

On t,1e f'irs t day of March 1948

I addressed t h e

Rotary Club on tile centenary of t h e

coming of t he railway to Armagh , and :n en tion ed that on t hat da y one hundred years earlier there was :nuch excitement and spe cul at ion in the city. Ste a'.11 a s a method of transport was ea g er l y awaited by some of the inhabitants but hea r tily dis appro ved of by others.

The railway had , however, at last re a ched

Armagh and was t h reatening to displa ce the hors e- dra,m stage coaches and lon g dist an ce carriers . has been reversed .

Nou the r ole

The ho rse has practically disappeared

and the roads are a gain crowded with freight and passenge r traffic 1./nilst one by one individual lines of railway are closing do,m .

Such is progress.

A hundred years he nce

I suppose the roads will b e deserted an d pass enge rs and freight will have taken to the air. I little thought that by 1957 the St udy group

would

be discussin g t h e history of an undertaking that served our city long and faithful l y but, alas, is now no more . The earliest railways were fairly primitive, horse operated, and primari 1 Y f or the purpose of conveying coal and minerals from the mines to the ports, an objective not so necessary in Ireland where such industries were an almost negligible quantity .

This feature was some,;hat

of an en c our agement in the development of passenger traffic Âˇ tÂˇion of rail amenities her e . and resu lt e d i n a quicker apprecia

I S-q ln 1 825 in the sa,ne year as t he opening of the firs t railway in England, an Irish company kno,,m as the Leinster and Ulster Rail Company " was prom oted for the establishing of a railway between Dublin and Belfa st, a p roposal that f ailed to then ,na t e rialise . A li ne from Dublin to Kin gsto ,m was , liowcver, opened i n 1834 . . - 'i, ana, i n the fo l lowing year the "Ulster Rail Company " was formed to construct a line from "the town of Belfas t to the city of Armagh ". In 1836 an Act was passed fo r the building of the DublinDrogh eda Rail way , a . work completed in 181.i!.i, and now also part of t he Gre at Northern, like t he "Ulster" with ,-ihich we are more particularly concerned. Construction began on the Ulst e r Railway in 1837 and on t he a ppo i nted day in 1839 the line wa s opened fo r traffic to Lisburn .

In Novembe r 1841 Lurgan was reached

and in January 1842 the rail - head had go t a s far as Sea goe where, owin g to the marshy nature of the ground from there to Port a down , considerable delay was encountered res ulting in the firs t train not re a ching t h at station until September 12th of that year . Th e advent of the Ulster Railway was well received until certain persons in Belfast learned t h at the Company intended to run trains on Sundays .

One clerical g entleman

alarmed his c ongr eg ation by declaring " that every sound of istle was answered by a shout in hell ", the railway St eam wh

lbo at t:1e sac.1e time accusing

the Company of nsending souls ti c ke t - pri ces ". This was soon countered by an assertion fro:u a r . _ a11.way supporte r that "sin aboun ded less amongst traveller s by rail as trains did no t stop at publi c houses" . to the devil at

:.rn e Armagh Extension Act

wa s passed in 1845 . This addition wa s very difficult to construct ana' the bridg e over the Bann proved a sour ce of great worry to the

contractors' who believed stone or iron impossible owi ng t o the bog gy foundation on wi1i ch it had to rest .

The

p robleJJ was e ventually solved by a timber structure i n five spans o f t hirt y- nine feet ea ch , the finished bridg e being de clared " a great orna:uent to the town

its elegant

li ghtness givin g but an in ad equate idea of its solidity and st r eng t h ", a fact well bor n e ou t by its survival until 1879 , in which yea r it was replaced by the present bridge to which alterations and renovations wer e made in 1908 . According to the "Armagh Guardian " a Gove r nment I nspector arrived in the city on Thursday, J anuary 27th , 1848, by rail.

Rumour asserted that a favourable report

would be mad e and the line soon opened to traffic .

February 7th, at half- pa st two o ' clock, a full t rain wi t h fourteen of the Di r ect ors arrived in t he city.

Having

dined at the Beresford Arms they returned by rail to Belfast after h aving arr ange d for the opening to take

place on ? e bruary 28th

Âˇ, or March 1st . I n passing, perhaps I should :,1e n tion tha t fr tl1 D'll e so cial point of view t h e Beresford ord Arms was then the chief hotel in the town and lists of arrivals at that est a blis hm ent in cluded the Marquess and l- ar chiones s of Downshire L ord and Lady Sandys' t he Earl of Enniskillen, Lord and Lady = Erne Lord Caledon, etc. , all

of i:Jhom were set out in the colu:nns of the Guardian

:nuch the sa:ae way a s dist i nguished visito rs to Dublin now appear in t he

I rish Times 11 â&#x20AC;˘

On Febr uary 28 t h the fi r st list of trains and fares between Arma gh and Belfast was published with the information that the line would be opened on March 1 st .

On week- da ys

the r e were six trains up from Belfast and six doi,m from Armagh

and on Sundays three each way , fares 3s 9d

and 2s.ld. according to class .

Js .O d .

It is i ntere sting to no te

t hat desp ite the s peeding - up of trains the time s taken by a j our ney f r om Armagh to Belfast is much the sa:ne as it was in This was, of course, due t o the fa ct that trains then

1848

proceeding to Belfast were spared the waits tha t in the closing day s o f the railway 1<ere so annoying a feature at Portadown

There is also the fact that s tatio ns between

here an d Belfast were less numerous - increased halting places have left us pretty well as we were in the days of the slower trains . Despite the importanc e of the opening ceremony the _

"Gua r di an " t o ok th e :i:a tt e r

b 2.

cal ml y .

long loo l[ ed fo r e vent took

s comment ua s - "The

pla ce on Wednes day las t The first t r ain Âˇ a rri ve d h e r e a t t Âˇ en o , clo ck an d Has welcomed by crowds o f ou r fel l ow citizen s Hh o had con grega t ed to Hitness th e n ovelt y . Th e re gu l ar traffic i s no1â&#x20AC;˘1 op en ed ,,,i t h every

proba bility of r emun era t i on ". At the s ame time this newspaper

ca rrie d advertisments

from the p r op rietors o f th e Ar magh- Mona ghan - Clones Day Coa ch setting out l ink-up s f r om Monaghan and Clon e s with t h e r a il exten sion fro m Armagh to Belfas t.

Th e coa ch le f t th e

Charlemont Arm s daily and t his e sta bli shment h ad an adve rt isement remindin g t he public t h at it was th e n ea r e st hotel to the Ulster Railway St a ti on and t ha t it had pro vided an omnibus to carry pa s senge rs gr a tis t o an d fr om t h e st a ti on . This omnibus, however, failed to i mp ress on e tr a veller who complained that h e came up by the first train from Belfa st a few da y s after the openin g and was put into a veh i cle made in Edinburgh .

That he considered an affront to t he coach -

builders of Arma gh who we re indeed famous fo r ,mrk:nanship and de sign . From th e "Guardian" of March lJth we l earn that on the Sunday followin g the opening the crowds were so great that on the succeedin g Sunday the non - travelling publ ic " we re excluded fro m entering t he station enclosure " a pro ceeding llhich earned t h e approval of the then editor who feared that

tlle \'l'a c t ice had

con t inued acciden t s :lligh t have occurred. The sa:1 e i ssue co nta i ned a let ter f ro:11 a t 路raveller who had t ried tbe new ~e thod of tr avel , f ound it satisfa ctory and plea san t, besides approv i ng of t he o~n ibuses beloneing to t h e di ffe r e n t hotel s . Another :i.. te~ of in'cerest at this pe r iod was a co rr esponde n ce between cert a路1路 n readers of the paper relative to ~he ~ t路 " s ea ion at Ri c hh il l sug ges ting that Stonebridge uould be tt er serve th e area and be a :11ore convenien t stop . Two yea rs later (Ar :nagh Guar dian, J une 1850 Wiltshire

t h en p r oprietor of the Beresford Arms ho t el

( in co- ope r ation wi t h Mr

J ones o f Enniskillen) announj ed

that a f our - horse coach would run betwe en the recently op en ed s ta tion a t Armagh an d Enniskillen , leavi ng Armagh on a r ri val o f th e 9 : 15' a . m. t rain fr om Be l fa st an d rea ch i ng Enn i s killen at 4: 30 p . m. - a simi lar coach leaving Enniskillen killen daily at-9 a . m., enterin g Arma gh at 4 : 5' p .m . and linking up with the afternoon train for Belfast, an amenity resulting in a shortening of the journey from Belfast to Enniskillen by two hours. The construction of the line to Armagh co:11pleted the original scheme of the Ulster Railway Company , but the line was l ater continued to Monaghan in 1858 and to Clones in 1863.

Ti1e trains

t ra ins of to - day . ran on four wheels

t· ho se d ays were ve r y

T' differ ent to the n e earli est Ulst er nd Railway carriage s a were divided into bodies or

·coupa r "wn s, first - class bodies

holcii nrb e ig · ht passengers ~i lst s e cond- class a cco:mnodated t,.-,el vc . I n March of 1840 the company atve rtised that third- cl ass car . -

would be available in April

r 1ages

Th ese 1.-rere si:nply op en

waggon s into wh ich peop le were pa cked standing . The line was t i1en a sin c le track• and as it was built nor t h o f the various towns all its station - ent ra nce s uere on t l1e s outh side of t he railway. platform

Armaghthe first

roof or shelter was a g1 oomy affair li gh ted by

a few sky - ligh ts, and t he first station - master, a l•ir . Mullholland 1-Jho live d in the Charlemon t Arms and was a favourite soci al ly .

At that time there was also a

"goods - master", a well - kno1,m bird fan ci er, famou s for his pen s of phe asants and partridges which he kep t in one end of the goods store . The ticket office was a littl e roun d canist er- like enclosure in t h e mai n hall that in times of stress or excitemen t was liable to overturn , an accident from which t he small boys of the neighbourhood often reaped a profi t, Railway Str ee t had not then been opened or developed - that Banbrook Hill was, of cours e, then in being came later. and was the only entrance to the city from that side .

9. ' I n 1842 the Company dec i ded to , , iÂˇun go ods trucks and tnird - class p assengers on a sep a rate train but i n 1848 owing to i n creased goo ds traffi c ... _. ' third class carriages were ag ain attached t o passenger trains and we re f i tted up \,it h rough seats . 0

About this time th e nÂˇire ct ors were pained to discover tha t Jlany of the p eople \,ho for 11erly travelled fi r st -c lass had dropped down to second.

At this p eriod third- class

carri ages be c aJl e fitted wit h roofs despite some opposi tion on t he pa rt of certain directors and sha r eholders . Si milar condit ions existed in England and indeed the re is a r ecord of one c ompany employing a sweep to f requent third- class carr i age s and rub up agai nst we l l - dressed people travelling therein, t hus r emi nding them of their station i n life and t he ne cessit y of journeying in the ir prope r class .

The se early carria ges had, of course, no

interior ligh ting or heating .

Later oi l lamps were

int ro duc ed and various for ms of hea t ing tried out such as warmi ng - pan s filled \n t h hot water, etc . When the railway first came to Armagh there \,as great It was alleged, consternation in the country district . and indeed widely believed, that 'su ch speedy transit would have a bad effect on health gene rally, that the smoke of the engines would kill all the birds, that cows would cease to give milk, that th

e race of horses would be come extinct,

that fac t ories an d houses d t ha t woul d be set on fire fro'.ll sparks an ev en tually I reland as a 1mole I·IOU ld go Up in Th e f smolce. o r ma tion of the line from Belfas t to Ar:,,agh and from Dublin t o Drogheda , led to an Act be i ng obta i ned the fo llowi ng y ear to establ. h in is the Dubli n and Belfas t Junction Railwa y by whi ch approval wa s given fo r a line from Drogheda top t d This reached Dundal k on or a o1m . Feb rua ry 15th, 1849

t he Dundalk-Ca stleblayney

line bei ng th ay, so at with road transport f r om ' Blayney to Armagh · h t-h our jour ney bet,.;een Dublin .. a gh an eig

opened on the same d

and Belfast became pos sible .

Pr eviously there ha d been

a similar service fro m Drogheda station to Armagh via Ardee and Castle blayney as well as one to Dungannon by Newry and Armagh . The next section opened was that between Dundalk and the Wellington Inn near Newry , which came into use on July 31st, 1 850 , whereupon an omnibus was pressed into service for the conveyance of passengers between that point and Portadown following which most of the Belfast traffic went that way instead of by •Blayney and Armagh. The next portion was a section starting from Portadown which was opened to Mullaghglass near Goraghwood on January 6t h , 1852 .

This left only a short distance of some six

mile s t o be comple~ed , but it included the building of the Bes sbr ook Vi a duct and intensive rock- cutting .

Work was

I b 'iL quiclcly pusned ahead and on

11 .

June 10th, 1852, the gap wa s

closed. At this time passengers passing "through Drogheda had to drive from a st ation south of the river to one on its northern side or t h e other way round if travelling in an opposite direction .

To remedy t his it Has decided to erec t

a bridge to car ry the railway over the Boyne, accordingly a wooden structure Has built and opened to traffic on June 22nd, 1853.

Th is was replaced by an iron bridge in 1855 . 1

and practically rebuilt in 1930- 32. Various efforts were ma de towards uniting the "Dublin and Drogheda Railway" wi t h the "Belfast and Dublin Junction Company " and in 1875 they ceased their separate existences and became the Northern Railway of Ireland.

This brought

about further amalgamations and resulted in the acquisition of the "Irish North Western" and "Ul ster " with their subsidiary lines in 1876 and the regrouping of the four companies under the revised title of "Great Northern Railway of I reland " . In 1879 the new Comp any pur ch ased "The Newry - Armagh Railway", a local line with an interesting history.

was

Newry- Enniskillen Railway to incorpora te d in 1845 as t h e provide a link between those t own s via Armagh and Clones, but the scheme was greatly reta

rded by the Famine events of 1846- 47.

l:z;.

The op en i ng fro m Newry

Gor aghwo od t

Three years later its n a :n e was Ar magh " with

,A1 ich t owo it ua s

o ok Place i n 1854.

chan ged t o t he Newry linked up at th e Uls t er

Railway Station in 1865 .

It was a di f ficu lt li ne to construct a n d included st . eep gradients and two t unnels. This line ' s relations with t h e Newry-War r enpoint Railwa y opened in 1849 wer e at first un friendl y but a uni. on took place in 1861 foll o wing wh ich rails were l aid be t we en t h e two Newry stations and a through service t hu s became available between Armagh an d Warrenpoint . The "Newr y -Ar magh " line is famous in Irish Railway annals as the scene of I reland's worst rail disast er in 1ÂˇJhicl1 eighty people lost their lives and close on two hundred were injured, wh en on the 1 2th June, 1889, an excursi on train came to grief at Killuney, less t han two 4 A detailed account of t he events mil es from the city. ( ) leading up to t his tragic accident would take up too much time , but in passing I should per haps mention that the investi ga tion that followed the disaster produce d the long overdue Act enforcing automatic braking, block signalling and t he interlockin g of all signals . Wnen the construction of the Armagh - Ne.wry line re.ached Drummondmore a t emporary balt or s tation came into being an d was in use whilst- th e Âˇdeep .cutting between that point La ter when the line was and Armagh was excava ted.

(4)

See App endix.

13 . co:ipleted to t :1e city th e train n on t lrn p latfo r m lmo 1,m t 0

ran into t h e presen t station

old inhabitants

terminus I t was ori g inally in t ended

t: 1 e

Warrenpoint

tl1at t ,1 e Armagh - Newry l~ne

should c ont::. nue to Enn iskillen .

Th e cutting of th e tunnels at Loughgilly, however ' cost 11ore th a n ,-â&#x20AC;˘a s ~ esti~ated and as a r esult the c apital subs cri bed was only sufficient to bring the line to Armagh

The Ulster Railway by then had brough t

its line to Clones and the Dundalk and Enniskillen Company was ope rating via Clones as also the line between Enniskillen and Derry . The latest line to reach Armagh was the " Ca stleblayn ey Armagh " , begun in 1903, of i;hi ch the Armagh - Keady se ction was opened i n 1909 .

It reached ' Blayney in 1910 and in the

followi ng year be came vested in the Great No rthern .

partial closure took pla c e in 1924 , and in 1935 the tra ck between Keady and ' Blayn ey was lifted . The Keady - Castleblayney se ction was a c onsiderable time coming i n t o being due to the oppo si tion of the Great Northern who were alarmed by t h e p as si bili t y of alternative travel fa cilities f r om Dubli n to Belfast by Navan, Kin gs cour t and Armagh .

The link-up between Kingscourt and Cast leblayney, The line was unsuccessful

however, never came int o being. t

financially and, owing to gradian s eicpensiva to construct.

and cut tings , mos t

171. The '.llost recent po rtion of the affected is t h e line fr

Du om

14 . Great Northern . ern to oe On Saturday

Dundalk to Clo ne s .

1 9 57 th , , . e last passenger train move d out from Dundalk on its final run . Inny people mad e t h e journey to Cl ones - indeed the train was pa cked . Leaving Dun da lk the noise was terrific . I n the ya rds t h e sirens ni ght, October 12

of t h e eng ines wailed mournfully whilst fog signal s added to the tmmlt . That portion is no t, hollever, yet closed to freight and a si:nila r c on ce ssion is operati ng between Dundalk- Cavan and Dun dalk- Nona ghan via Clones .

It see:ns a pit y tha t a

like arrang e:nent c ould not have been adopted on the EnniskillenPortadown

stretch .

The pa ssi ng o f our rai lways h as mos t certainly evoked regret and :n any peop l e wonder whe t h er th ey could not have been r etained.

P erh aps I am some1iaat sentimen tal but when

I think b ack upon their contribution as pioneers of comfo rt able travellin g conditions I do worr y a littl e over the ,Jho lesale closing doiâ&#x20AC;˘m o f lin es in recent years - and I must confes s that I shall be surpr ised if an omnibus monopoly solves our transport probl ems . on my last ride from Armagh to Portadown a few weeks ago I could not help recalli ng to my mind t h e many oc casions I had trav elled between those two towns.

It se"emed sad to me

that afte r more than a century ' s active service no bett er

72 .

'==5 .

us e fo r a railway could b e foun d, t· ·,1an to leave the tracks . t • de re 1 1 c · ond useless . On t l1 e fi nal ru.11

rro'.!l Ar::1agh the station d \·ra s crm-,<ied ..ie O\m t o say goodbye. De S1.)i te

ty local ::eopla who c.:=r

t he fog signals and the exci ~

occasion .

photographers' _

we cro wded into the trai n .

-1.

. generally it ,,ms a s a d . ts blin ked at us as flashes , 1 igh

The timeca.Je t o

so:ne body pulled t he c om 1un1· c a tion cord bringing i nto a cti on .

off but

'.ilO v e

tile br ake s

Thi s was c arr ied out a second ti:ne but at

last we :nov e d out . The train was :n anned by William

Dudley ( driv er),

W. Moore fireman an d Liam Kilpat rick guard

We soon

reached the Retreat Halt wbe re we found a cro wd awaiting us an d were beld up fo r a considerable tim e .

Ev entua lly

we :uo ved on wa rds in a battery of cheers to Richhill Station wh ere 1-1e found an even lar ger concourse of people ac1ai ting us .

Th e r El we we re given a Royal welcome and agai n to the

accompanimen t of fog signals and :nor e cheers,p roceeded to Portadown

There we found a pra ctic ally empty s tation .

Evidently the inhabitants of the Borough were quite uninterested

i n the fact that no more trains would pas s We emerge d throug h Portadown on their way to Arma'gh .

fro:n the carriages quickly and at the barrier were allowed t o retain our tickets.

Thus ended our farewell journey .

This was no t the f " ~ first railway accident in

ti1e county. I n 1886 a· trag ic accident on the Belfast Dublin ' - as line in Brackagh i-,os s, r esultin g i n · six peop le being ki ll ed and for t y injure d, too k p lace . This was due to the negle ct of

the pe rmanen t way by which th e tra ck gave way and the trai n ran off t h e line . Th e building of the Bessbr ook or Craigmore Viaduct was earlier the· scene of a n a cci d ent wherein Laurence Halfpenny, whilst engage d on the erection of sc affolding, f ell f r om a height of sixt y feet and was kil le d on the s pot. ( 5)

I n the

same year a second accident occurred at the sas1e pla ce resulting in _the death of John Hollywood, ,,ho Has pre cipitated 6 from a height of sixty four feet and died half an hour later. ( ) In the fol lo win g mon th a third accident at the Viaduct deprived a man named Ferrigan of his life _( ? ) ( 5)

Newry Tele graph, Oct.

6, 1851.

(6)

Ibid, No vember 16, 1 851 .

(7)

I bid, December 18, 1 851 .

17 . Portadown Li ke Armagh the firs t rail

tra ck to arrive at that was ti1 e Uls te r Railway on its way to Armagh fro:n Belfa st. It reach ed Seagoe i n J anua r)' 8 ,. 1 1842and arrived at \/atson Str ee t in Septe:nber of t hat year . town

Before co ntinuing to Armag h it beca:ne involved i n t he "battle of the gauges".

The Ulste r u p t o then ha d

been using a "six foot two in ch " and other l i n es their own gauges .

A Boar d o f Tr ade enquiry was eventually held

whi ch resulted in a sta nda rd gauge of "f iv e foot three i nch" . This came i nto being be fore the track rea ched Armagh in March 1848 about which ti:ne the POrtadownSt ation 1Âˇe:noved to Woodhouse Stre et.

There was, of cours e , a level

crossing tl1ere whi ch was a source of :nuch inconvenience . This ,-ms, however, remedied in 1859 when the co,npany was granted per,n is sion to lower the roadway so that traffic mi gh t cross benea th a bridge .

Com:nonly called the "cut ting "

and now better known as the "tunnel" it was opened in 1861. However , by 1863 the Woodhouse Str eet station was in so congested a situation tha side of the river .

t a return was made to the Edenderry

175 Armagh Antiquities

The story of Armagh for most of us

begins with the arrival of St. Patrick, but be fore we deal with its foundation as the ecclesiastical cap_ ital of our

island, let us briefly con si d er the pre -christian history of the district because of its bearing on later events . Chief in importance amon gst the royal sites of the old mythology and le g end of Ireland, stands Emain Macha now known as Navan Rath , an extensive earthwork some two miles west of our city, stated to have received its name from Queen Macha, who is reputed to have caused it to be er ected about the year 352 B. C.

For nearly seven

centuries it was the home of the kin gs of Ulster and in its immediate vicinity were housed the Red Branch Knights, Ulster ' s famous and Erin's most notable order of chivalry, foun ded by Connor MacNessa, one of the most illustrious kings of Ulster â&#x20AC;˘ Situate on a hill not quite three hundred feet area of some twelve high the so - called rath, encloses an ,..,~,_,., -..,, th n a great mound.are now acres but no structures other a Despite this, Visible within its earthen rampartsÂˇ . still survive in the however its bygone glories ' joy to all who traditions of the countryside a nd are a ich the dis t r 1 ct 1s so noted . l ove the folklore for wh

171:,,

Within, or nea r it

somewhere, lies the body of Fer gus Fo gha , t he l ast King of Ulster to be crowned upon its assembly - mound. He was buried there following his disa strous defeat by the "Three Collas " in 332 A. D. , a nd th ere, pr obably >dthin the actual mound, li es t he grea t Queen Macha herself . At Navan Rath was ;dtnessed the tragedy of Deir dr e and the Sons of Usna, and a hundred other tragedie s besides .

There on its grassy slopes Cuchullain

excell ed in manly arts, and the old people of the district still tell the story of how he carried up the hill each day a bull- calf and as the calf grew so his strength increased until at last he carried the fullgr own bull to t he summit .

From there also , we may be

sure, evolved the epics that make t he "Tain" the greatest cycle of I rish story- telling.

Thirty - five

r ulers in succession were crowned upon this old assembly or crownin g place of the kin gs of Ulster ere it fell upon evil days and for close on seven hundred years it and learning for all the was the centre of power, law · nce _ yet when Patrick came he fai r lands of the Prov1 saken and the seat of power found i t deso l ate and for which we are now standing , t ransfe rr ed t o t he hill O n • . .••. been~ .place of importance a hill t hat s eems t o h ave

l '7 7 .

long before the Navan Rath

. came into being t r aditionally derivin g i t s name of Ard Ma ch ' a, not from Macha of Emain Mach a, but f r o:n an earlier Macha who is Said to ha ve led hither a lit tle co 1 ony "some six hundred years after the Flood 11 â&#x20AC;˘ Sh e is said to have been buried. on the hill , wi t hin what

are now the precincts of the Cathedral

gr ound s but the a c tual site of the grave is, of course, unlrnown . It is very probabl e tha.t the Cathedra l Hi ll was a pla ce of P agan worship in the days before Navan Rath wa s raised.

No doubt some fact of that nature, coupled

with it s nearness to Emain Macha, was the deciding infl uence in St . P atrick ' s determin ati on to secure tha t eminence as a site whereon to found the chief church of our land .

The last P agan monumen t on the hili of 1-ihi ch

we have any record was a stone cir cle on its southwester n slope .

It was destroyed in 1830 but as no

scientific examination was made of the site at the time we have now no clue as to its probable date .

We may,

however, assume that it belonged to the late Neolithic or early Bronz e Age and may have dated back to about A ser ies of similar monument s existed around 2,000 B. C. the city but they have all disappeared, with the excep tion of the monumen t near the

Railway Station , of which one

stone only re11ains, locally

called the Lon g St one and giving n ame to Lon gs tone House . Such monuments, however, are fairly com1ion tl 1roughout the county especially in the Slieve Gullion area . Tara, though in the heyday of its Patrick came to Ireland, Emain

cha in po 1路 nt

i mportance when

was considered secondary to

f antiquity 路

:&nain 路,a cha had

fallen but its memory was still v'v'd. ~ ~

The g reatest

tales and figures in Irish folklore had their being there and it had a pla ce in the hear ts of the people , not on l y of Ulster but of Ireland as a whole . We will now leave Paga n relics behind us and continue to St. Patrick's ar ri val in our city and his reception on th i s hill by Daire, the chieftain of the district whose entrenched abode then occupied the summit . From the Book of Armagh we learn that Patrick requested a site for a church on this hill but met with a decided r efusal .

Dai re, however, gave him a place on

the lower g round and there upon . the spot now covered by the Bank of Ireland and its garden in Scotch Street, the Saint , s fi r st church in Armagh was erected within the That church we bounds of an ancient Pagan cemetery 路 It was known as "Na Ferta". shall discuss later. The same Book tells the story of the famous bronze

'.7. cauldron whose adventures t

o and fro between Daire and

Patrick broug h t about the

g reater frien dship t hat r esulted in Daire g rantin g the saint t h e whole ri ght in tha t por t ion of ground that he fi r st desired, following whi ch within Daire' s Ra th, Patri ck ' s second church aros e , destined in later days to be the chief church of All

Ireland . Before pas sin g on let us visualize Daire's Rath. Some authorities as sume that it was treble- ringed but it see,n s !llor e probable that it was double-r in ged and tha t the inner rin g fo llowed t he curve of the gardens at t he ba ck of Vicar's Hill and after l eaving Callan Street crossed Abbey Stree t below t he County I nfirma r y .

}"'rom

ther e it conti nued into Ma rket Str ee t and then ce by Castle Street to our or iginal starting- point .

From the

top of the Cathed ral tower the line of this particular ring is !llost distinct.

Between the first and second

rings there was a space of f r om 60 to 70 fe et â&#x20AC;˘ latter rin g followed fairly closely the curve of

The th e

. ceable bel ow the Methodist inner r ing and is very noti Church in Abb ey Street in the form of a depression acros s at the Technical School . the r oadway and in Mar ket Square confirmed, St. Patrick The g r an t of the hill being . d amongst hiS converts was began t he new f ounda t ion an who fe ll i n love wi t h . Eranait, t h e dau ght er of Daire,

l',! o

Benen, Pat rick ' s favourite d"isciple . but the saint fro,med upon their affecti on and firml y insisted upon her enter ing upon a life of religious devotion . Benen and she loved each othe r deeply but they unselfishly chose to labour for the conversion of thei·r countrymen rather than to live unto the21 selves, so she is still remembered as the foundress of the pa rish of Eglish near by, and he as the saint • s successor in Armagh. Within the rath and its enclosing rings all the edifices were ecclesiastical.

Shortly after its

conversion to religious purposes, pilgrims be gan to arrive, some of whom remained in Armagh or settled in the immediate nei gh bourhood , such as Crumtheris, who took up her abode on a hill above Kildarton Lough and built a cell, the foundations of which yet remain within the little circular graveyard, a field length south of the present modern church . Outside the rath in St. Patrick ' s day there was but In its little one church, that known as "Na Ferta" . aint's sister, Lupita, whose burial ground was laid the S f her brother I s chariot is sad ending under the wheels o There of old Armagh• • one of the many tragic stories th great old saint too ·, his grave unmarke d, lies e him self.

i 'b I.

!t.

Of the two fa:nous personal relics

connected with that daunt l ess :nissionar y b t u one remains, the well - kno,-m Patrick's s Bell no w in the National Collection in Dublin . Beli eved to have b e en used by th

e saint himself, it may therefore be da ted to the 5th century . It had a shrine

made fo r it by co:nmand of Don nel l O'Lochlain, King of I reland, during the Primacy of Donnell McAuley

Archbishop

of Armagh , by whi ch inscription the shrine can be definitely placed as having been made between the years

1091 and 1105 .

It fortunately survives and i s preserved

with the Bell .

The second relic, the equally well- kno1-m

Patrick ' s Staff unfortunately no longer exists .

It was

originally a wooden st aff with an iron spike, but fol lowing Patrick ' s death , it was adorned wit h a precious covering by St . Tassach , f r om whom it is said the delightful li tt le valley of Tassagh outs i de the cit y takes its name.

The staff is f irst ment i oned in an old Irish

poem written in the year 844 and ther e are many sub s equent references to it in the Irish Annals.

It remained in

but was then forcibly safety in Armagh until the year 1179 . Fit Aldem Chief Governo r of carried away by William z ' illaged and burned the city . P Ireland, who at the same time Âˇt remained until the He r emoved it to Dublin where i it was in the year 1538, . Reforma t ion , follo wing which

publicly bur n t with othe r reli gious car e wa s talrnn , howeve r, t o

rel i cs in t ha t city .

re:nove the go l d with whi ch

it was en ca sed and th e :nan"" gems tha t ado r ned i t . It \-/as a r a t h e r s o r ry bus in e ss _ the gr ea t cons ol a t ion t o we Arma chians is tha t it did not hap pen i n St. Patr ick ' s o,m old city . An ot h er g r ea t tr ea sur e of the See of Armagh but of lat er date i s the f amous Book of Armagh one of the most precious of our I rish manuscrip ts , t he on l y one i ndeed , of early ori gin to \•Jh ich we can wi t h abs ol ute c er t ai nt y attach a date .

From internal evi den ce we know t hat it

was completed in the yea r 807.

On e hun dred and t hi r t y

years l ater it was en closed i n a be autiful shr in e by Donough, son o f Fl ann , King of Irel and .

The shr i ne ,

however, is now lost but a leath er sa tchel or ca se in whi ch it wa s carried still survives . Owin g t o its situa t ion outside the r amparts of the ci t y and it s distance fr om t h e t hen more densely populated cent r al p ortion of t he t o,m , Temp lena fe rtagh or Na Ferta ction by the f ires t h at so somet i mes es c aped destru . the ci· ty proper - fo r i nstance, th e f re quen tly ra ged in th t al l Armagh was bu rne d Annal s fo r t he year 1179 re co r d a Afte r the dissol uti on exc epting Na Fer ta and St · Bri gid ' s · hi st or Y becomes somewhat obscure of reli gi ou s hou s e s i t s

l'!S 3 . though , of cours e , t he I nquis it ions of the pa rt i cu l ars a s t o suc c e at ta ched t o it .

Âˇ ssive lay owners

period give

of the land

Sco tch St r eet Âˇ

1.n i.-lii i ch it was situate

1-ias ti1 en known as Templefertagh

St ree t - its presen t

na11e i nde ed on l y da t e s ba ck to the late 17 th c entury . In pr oc e ss of time the to 1-n1 wh i ch nestled ar ound t he hill began t o gr ow .

Chr is ti anity beca:rr e more

attractive s o , as t he c elebrity of Armagh extended , new churche s aros e.

i mmens e quantity of materi al

r el ative to t hose founda t ions occurs in our an cient Annal s , from which su cceeding event s may be compil ed as f r om a di a ry .

Tim e, ho1-1ev er, will onl y per01it :ne to

mention a f ew of t h e entries.

Fr om the,i we learn that

t he town wa s con sumed by acci dental f i re in the years 670 , 678 and 770.

Ten year s later t he Dane s arr iv ed

and pillag ed it t hrice in on e mont h .

I n 839 we read

that t h e Great Church of Armagh was bur ned by th e Danes of Lough Neagh, who again in 890 carri ed off 700 prisoners from the city, destroyin g at th e s ame time part of the church and breaking down its orat ory . For l ong centuries t here was repeated destru ction ~mare commonly by t ho se f i e rce old warriors t O wuo those hundreds of attributed - wrongly so, of course hat still dot our countryside . earthen-ringed forts t

-:!;C.

Ti1ere is' howev er' i n t h e i ,1\Jlediate neighbour hood one tragic a lly aut hen t i c lin k

·th

th o s e st ormy days , the

old cenotaph on the bank of the Callan , jus t out s i de the town, t h at ma r k s the so_. ot in a drowning

_,__ \,u ere Ki ng Ni all pe rished

accident in the year 846 after having

defeated the Danish forces then in occupat i on of t he city. His body was carried into the city and buri ed in t he Regal Plot on the south side of the old Cathedral, a spot where many othe r king s and princes lie interred . The Danes are credited with great crueltie s for whi ch t he r e seems ample foundat ion .

As far as records go I can

only t hink of one local instance of an opposit e nature that was in the year 920 when t hey again sa cked Armagh but " spared the houses of prayer with the Culdees and the sick 11 •

The year 1004 • invaders, fo r

i· t

provides another li nk with those cruel

was then that Brian Boru, High King of

I r eland, paid his memo rable visit to our city a nd before th leaving de pos ited a coll ar of gold upon th e altar of e time re- affirming to Armagh the Great Church , at t he same The entry relating ecclesiastical supremacy of Ireland survives i n the Book of Armagh. to that particular episode Ten years later Brian fell in the hour of victory after sad funeral procession and a t r outing the Danes at Clontarf where the gallant old wended its way northwa rd5 to Armagh

l'i!5 ldng was lai d t o r e st, nea r t h e

t ablet in t he no rth tran s ep t of

spot :na r ked by a memorial t h e Ca Cathedral

In 8 22 and 955, Armagh \â&#x20AC;˘, as burned by "t he

fire of . . grove perishin g , t he latter destru ction being in t he words of the Annalists

God", its houses, bell - towers and

"a complete destr uction such as occurred not before in Erin and will not a gain occur until Doomsday".

La ter in

989 there was a further burning of "church hou s es and steeple so that there was not such a spectacle in Ir eland ". I n 1020 there was yet another burning in which no house was saved but the library. the town

in 1112.

Again ruin enveloped

In 1121 two streets of the to,m were

consumed by fi re and in a great storm the cap was blown off the bell-tower . similar burning.

Forty- five years l a ter there was a Hours could be spent on such details

for from the day s of our town's foundation by St . Patrick , down to the 17th century , our history consists of a series of sieges and burnings unequalled by any to,-m in Irel and . I sha ll now try and deal briefly with the various buildings that arose within the ancient rath and its enclosing ramp a rts. First in importance,

though possibly not in actual

eat Stone Church, an edifice date of erection, was the Gr Unfortunately nals i n the year 789 . first mentioned in the An of that particular church. nothing now exists above ground

Its roof seems

t o have been constructed of timber , t h e l ar ge size of th e chur ch not allowing of a stone r oof as was usua l on most Irish chur che s of that pe r iod 1-A1 ich ue r e, of course, of much smaller di mensi·ons . The timber r oof of this buildin g was pa rtially dest r oyed by fire in

995 an d not renewed until 1125 in which year it was covered by shingles and tiles .

I t was agai n an d again

burned an d repair ed so tha t when Archbishop 0 ' Scanlon succeede d to the Pr i macy in 1261 it was in such a state of decay as t o require rebuil ding.

The archbishop added

transepts and a c han c el and t he shell of his church remains en case d in t he s andstone facin gs of the so - called rest oration of 1834 . In t h e inner rin g of the rath with the Great St one Church stood t he Sahhall or "Barn " a Pat rican ere ction mentioned in the Annals as early as 839 and as late as It was a small oratory and stood on a spo t now Close covered by the no rth transept of the cathedral .

1020 .

by stood the "Church of the Elections" a building that rts· po sition is suffered in the fires of 916 an d 1020 · the cathe dral and until now occupied by the chancel of rectors of Armagh were comparatively recent times the that proje cted f rom inducted within a portion of its walls yet incorporated in the the chancel, pa.rt of which is south-east aisle

wall of th e crypt.

13 .

Li ke othe r old f

oun ations Armagh had its Round Tower to which t he re are references i·n tl19 Annal s - the earliest note being that for~ ne year 995'. We do not know whether it eventually de d caye away or was deliberately pulled do1-m like that of Downpat rick . According to Friar O'Mellan's "Narrative" 1·t was still standing in 1642 but injured, as were all the other buildings in the city in that unhappy period - it stood on the north side of the Great Stone Church . Within the ramp arts also were the Libr ary, the Culde e Priory, the Abbey of St . Peter and St . Paul anc st. Brigid I s Church .

The Library called by the Annalists,

"the House of Writings " was the only building within the rath that escaped destruction i n the fire of 1020 at which date the scholars of the famous school of Armagh lost al l their books in their houses .

This building was

situat e somewhere near the present l i brary and may have been the actual libr ary mentioned by o•Mellan as amongs t the plac es dest r oyed in 1642 n the south east of The Culde e Prio r y was situa t e O series of gar den s in Castle the cat hedr al in wha t is now a Street - so n ame d because of the castle erected in that The earli es t Geral d i n 1236 . street by Maurice Fitzgerald The st ructure reference to the Pri or y occurs in 920 "

waa of con s ider able extent a s

i s appa r ent f r om an

Inquisition of 1625' r elatin g to

It wa s in use at •

times as a resi d ence fo r the Archbishops of Armagh a s may be seen in the Prima tial Registers R under date 1462 . previous to that t he Archbishop , s chief resi dence see~s t . to have been at Bishop I s Court ' o herwi se t he Abb ey of Mullynure, on the outskir ts of t h e c'ty ~ which the before genti oned Registers dis close as th e Archiepiscopal seat as late a s 1373.

They had, however , a still earlier

residence within the Rat h itself th a t cr ops up in th e Annals in 822 . The Abbey of St. Peter and St . Paul was situat e on gr oun d stretchin g from the old Pres byterian Church in Abbey Str eet t o the Arch bishop Alexander Memorial Hall opposite the Armagh Li brary .

Tr aditi onally it is said

to have been the site of the famous school of Armagh of which later , but that is an honour to be sha red with t he Abbey of Mullynure .

As an abbey it owed its erection to

Ivor O' Hegan in 1126 , and the names of many of its abbots It eventually passe d to the survive in the Annals . There is an excellent account of its Charlemont family . Possessions in an I nquisition of 1614 . St . Bri gid ' s Church is said to have been founded by the saint herself .

It occupied a plot of gr ound between

Castle and Thoma s St r ee t s quite close to st . Malachy ' s do es not appear in the Anna l s Chap el. St r an g e to say it

J.-5-, until 1085 but it was an ancient church even then .

has completely d isapp eared but t he site

is well lmo,m . The entrance to all these churches was by a structure

called "the Gate " whi ch appea r s from t< '"e ~~ to time in t he Annals and outside which stood an ancient sculptured stone cross .

It is first mentioned in the year 1121. In pass in g I may mention that Armagh was formerly rich in such crosses .

I n the middle of the 12th century there

were four, and a fifth is reputed to have been brought f rom Raphoe by Bishop Pr ene when he was appointed Archbishop of Armagh in 1439 .

It seems more probable,

however, that the Raphoe Cross was an altar cross . Outside the ramparts there we r e four churches, the Abbey of Mullynure

- already mentioned - the church of

''Na Ferta", St. Pa trick ' s first church - dealt wi th earlier - the Church of St. Columba and the Franciscan Friary . The Church of St . Columba was situate in a space betwe en the Unionist Club and the Pr ovincial Bank at the botto!ll of Abbe y Stre et.

It does not seem to have

ssessed little endownents . attained t o any i mportance a nd po I n the Annals in 1010. It is first mentioned in th e t site was given o t h e newly rei gn of James the First its h until Armagh and occupied as sue f formed Royal School o . t osi tion 1n 1773Âˇt s pr e sen P the school's removal to 1

1'ff. The Franciscan Friary o f wh ich fai 1 . r Y extensive ruins reJJ ain ,ms bm.l t between the " • ears 1264 and 1268 . The Francisc ans r eached Armagh in 1 24 1 but th e site of their first house is unknown It was pro bably in the to,m pr ope r . Tne Fri a r y was amongst t' nose suppressed by Henry the Ei gh th in 1 542. It was orig inally surrounded by a str ong rampa rt and deep trench _ th ·ey are mention ed in the An na ls in 1 266 but there a re no traces of the earthwork now .

The Friary ruins are in the Archbishop ' s

demesne . Also outside the rath there was a hospice or Fort of the Guests which from its position es caped the :nany burnings that were such a feature of the early days of our city .

It is men tioned in the Annal s a number of

times durin g the 11th and 12th centuries but its site is now quite lost. And now may I devote a few minutes to the ancient schools of Armagh .

Education in our city is said to

have had its beginning with St. Patrick but the first in the town, is that of school that we have any record Of 450 which St. Ben en was head about th e year · t · n foundation e of the earlies i Though Armagh was On tian period it was by no of our Irish schools of the chris 6 th and 7th centuries• means the most important in th e

However, by the 8 th century it had acquired th e pr oud h ac i eved p t . ar of its envi able scholastic status from its h . ist orical associations seems eviden t, but after all that was only a secondary feature ~ its great prosperity . The name s of many of t h e heads Position .

That the school

of its famous school or college are kno,m to u s

and from those lists we l e arn the true secret of its gr eatness.

One of its heads was the famous Gildas Albanius, the historian of Britain who died in 512.

As one scans the

list do,m the cen turies other gr eat names arise and so down to the celebrated Ivor O' Hegan, who had amongst his pupils here, Mal achy O'Morgair

who beca,ne Archbishop of

Armagh in 1134 and is now venerated as a saint . From this school many learned men, not only of the Irish nation but of students from every part of Christendom issued fo rth t o instruct their respective countrymen and diffuse knowledge throughout Europe.

Those were the days

\/hen our student population rose to over 7,000, almoS t as many students as we have now citizens. invasions of the 9th and During the Danish and Norse were often expelled and their 10th centuries the scholars lways they arose again schools and books destroyed - bu t a native princes - for those UDder the fostering care of th e _ bard was moved to write Were the days when a visiting

l:8. "H ead of Erin is great The men

Ardmach,

of t h e world have their kn

That the sch ool of Ar:nagh was

owl edge there".

con si dered of national

importance we lmow from t h e f t t ac hat it was so of ten helped by t h e Kin g s of the different Provinces _ fo r instance, by t h e king of Munster

in 709 .

Again long

centuries l a ter we find Ro derick O'Connor the last High King of Ireland augmenting its inco:n e by an annual pension, and that was not the last as sistance given by

a native prince for in 1387, Niall O1 Neill built a house on the outskirts of the city for the entertainment of the learned men of Ireland who i n thos e days found at Armagh a spiri t ual home . I n 1162 , at an ecclesiastical synod, it was decreed that no per son should be permitted to teach or publicly l ectur e on theology who had not studied at Armagh, th us we find the School o r University - as it was juS t as

f requently c alled - Of Armagh holding a high l y honourable r scho l as t ic establishments of pr e- emin ence ove r t h e Othe Ireland.

By 1 513, h owever, Armagh

had become greatly reduced

between the Chur ch by va rious causes, ch i ef ly quar r els The d t i ve chi eftains . and State and t h e Church an na . Queen Eli zabe t h ' s reign, Prospect looked more pr omi sing i n advised Her Majesty to have a when Sydney , the Lord Depu t y

~Universi ty at Armagh and another . at Limerick - but li ke Archbishop Robi n son â&#x20AC;˘ s att alas , emp t to found such an institution here about three t . cen ur1.es later, it came to grief . Many notable people were school.

d e ucated at this an cient Agi l bert, the first Bishop 1.s op of the \fostern

Saxons , was a pupil h e re as also P rince Aldfrid

later

King of the No rthumbrian Saxons , who in a poem written about the y ear 684 states he _ "Found in Ardmach the splendid, Meekness, wisdom and prudence blended" , Willibrod, Archbish op of Utrecht, was another pupil whos e name br ought much honour t o the roll of ol d Armachians but the mo st famous perhaps of all its sons wa s the gre at philosophe r, J ohn Scot us Eri gen a, who went from he re to Fr ance in 845 . Our ancient ci t y lacks the clois ter ed austerity of cathedra l cities like Canterbury and Yor k, but it has a subtle charm a ll its own .

I ts appeal lies not so much

s is in a mystic feeling in what is actually to be Seen a of communion with the pas t . We who love our ancient city like to remember that Armagh was t h e mos t distinguish ed of all Ireland's schools nd QUeen s in its golden of l ear ning , the throne of Kin gs a

a&.

nd t h e r e st ing p lace of warri ors and saints ,,mose age a

na!lles -

" So l on g a s the sea gir de t h our isle, Sh a ll hang i n splendour o 'er i t ".

The Observatory owes its Roke by, Archbishop of Armagh

ori gin to Ri chard, Lord In establishing the

Armagh Li b r ary and Observatory' tbat distin guished and gener ous pr elate had in his 11ind t he hope ~ight again beco:ue a university to,m .

that Ar 11a~h

The Archbishop

was, no doubt, fa11i liar with the pas t history of the town and of t h e efforts :nade in the 16th and 17th centuri e s to revive it as an educational centre . The earliest atte'.llpt was in 1558 by Archbi shop Dowdall, but the times were too unsettled.

I n 1583 a

State propo s al was made that laid plans for universities at Armagh and Limerick which, if effected, would have resulted in those two cities taking precedence of Dublin in Irish scholastic affairs .

In 1599, seven years after

Trinity came into bein g, the subject was raised by the Earl of Tyrone and was again conveniently shelved.

Two

ril, 1787, Thomas Orde, centuries later, on the 1 2th Ap · t the Irish House the then Chief Secretary, introduce d J.n

of Commons a scheme of education, all the proposals of •·n.· th the exception of the clause Which uassed the House • nd university . The • relat ing t o the foundin g of a second came from Trinity who opposition , I a'.ll sor r y to say, large estates in Ar:uagh Po s sibl y f e ared that part of its

9b .

und in c e r ta in other Ulster t o that pur pose .

A change

coun ties m· ht · lg be diverted o

gove r m1ent resulted in

Qrde ' s retire j1 2nt and the

:natter drou_ ped for the time being . It is cl ear that it was intended to renew the propo sal, for Archbishop Robinson in hi· s ,rill left a bequest of £5,000 t owa r ds it , ano a n additional sum of

£1,000 fo r the erection of a College Chap el.

Strong

exertions ,-,ere ,ia de to induce the British Govern'.l! ent to agr ee but t he Duke of Portland , the t hen Prime Minister , refused to co11mend the p ro posi tion to th e king and consequently the lega cy lapsed. The ma tter was raised once :aore in 1836, but there was still a feeling t hat its foundation would be detri:nenta l t o Trinity.

We were not again troubled by

education problems until 184·5 in ,-,b ich year we were defeated by Belfast in the strugg le for a Queen ' s College,

an institution that has since developed into Queen ' s University . Those events may seem to you

t 0 have lit t le to do

With th e hist o ry o f the Observatory .

Tl18 y

however ,

RORobinson to supplement 1

th e fa c tor s that induced Archbishop both were rounded with

th e Li bra r y by an Ob ser vatory a nd to e ob j ec t of making

act 1v1. t y .

Armagh again

a centre of educati onal

TI1e ere ct ion of th

e Observ at ory be3an in 1789 "nd cl1os e Francis " J ohnston as his rt is, as you wi ll so ar chi t ect. ee, a pleasant "l t. three - storeyed house of t he perioo. 1·1i th it t J er e stin g in ter ior details . It wa s co'.llp l eted touards the end of 1789 as :.iay be verified by the v ery rare Mossop medal of that year , bearin g on one si de the h ead of t he founder an d on the the Archbishop

othe r a representation of the south fr on t ,.Jith 'he , very appr opriate motto

- "The Hea vens Declare the Glory of God".

In t he follo1,rlng year James Archi bald Hamilton of Cloyne and P rebenda ry of Mullabrack

in Armagh

Dean an "ol d

boy " of the Ro yal Sc hoo l of Ar:nagh , became the first Di rect or .

He Has a skilled a astronomer and the author of

sever al scientifi c pape r s published in the "Trans a ctions " of t he Ac ade:uy .

Dr . Hamilton

had a private obs ervatory

at Der r y lo ran a s early as 1780 and in pas sing it :nay intere s t you to know that Samuel Molyneux th e 'Kew Observato r y, an

i·

the founde r of

nst1· tut ·_i on l i nked wi tlJ Ar:n agh by

th e gift of c e rt ain ins tru:nents once

the pr operty of King

Geor ge III, i s cr edit ed by t r adition with having had a privat e obse r vatory on the ancestr al estate her e on th e be th at the dome- l i ke I t may well outskirt s of th e city • ago Roubill ac's structure t h at h ou sed about a century t was in fact t hat statue of Sir Thoma s Molyneux Bart. · '

building

Molyneux was the son of William Molyneux uthor of the "C a se of Ireland ' a rel and Stated " and a ~1e:nber of a family 1-1ell kno ,-m in Dublin in t he 16th , 17th and 13th centuries . He ',ias bo r n in 1 689 and died 1728. Dr. Hamilton

the f irst D· directorof the Armagh Observat o ry, died in 1815. His peri od at the Obse rvato r y is covere d fro 11 the social histor y point of view by an interestin g di a r y kep t by Alexander Hamilton Hugh Hamilton

a former

son of

Dean of Ar:nagh, and later Bi shop

of Ossory . At that time Dr . Ha:nilton had an unmarried daughter , Jane, and two wards , Catherine and Juli ana Ti sdale , living with him to who'.ll he allowed the use of th e large dome as a place wherein to entert ain their friends. Out of that fa vour grew the nami ng of that particular dome as "heaven'\ the reason given being that it was a pleasant p lace wherein they only met those ,-,ham t hey loved and wished to me et .

A selfish conception of

heaven perhaps bu t not so ver y diffe rent to what we lllight think ourse l ves

·n similar ci r cumstanc es .

Caulfi eld, son of the first P

Lord

resident of the Royal Irish

t 1· n his attentions to was t h en ve r y con st an ther strin gs to her bow . Jan e Hami l ton - but she had O • occurs in the diary in 1798 . A rathe r amusing incident Academy

'99 Âˇ Lord Caulfield and Alexander Hamil ton had be en up to

the Observ ato r y t o p a ss t he

evening with t he 1 ad1.. es , and on their way home found t' o e lodge ga tes locked with t he r e sul t t ha t they we re fo rced to climb "' t he'.11 . The diary tells us th a t Lord Caulfield from pr actice go t over i:mn ediately but Hamilton found t'ne

first attemp t difficult and in the second tore his breeches . r should like to quote freely f ro:n that pa rticul ar manuscript

but time doe s not per mit us t o study it further t o- ni ght. Hamilton ' s successo r in th e Direct or ship was the Rev. WilliamDavenp ort, D. D., Senior Fell ow of Trinity, who died in 1 823, and was succeeded by the Rev . Thomas Romney Robinson , D. D., a for mer Fellow of Trinity and in many ways t he most versatile of all the Directors.

Un der his

care t he Obser vatory was enlarged in 1827 by the building of some extra rooms and a second dome, a work made pos sible through the generos ity of Archbishop Lord John George Beresford . In 1 851 Dr . Robinson

as Pr esident of the Academy .

the Directorship of the He died in 1 881 after having hel d In his term of office, Obs ervato r y fo r over 58 years . M authoress, ,ras from time to time a MariaEdgeworth , the second wife . the Doctor ' s Drey er , a guest - her step - sister was by Dr . J ohn L. E. Robi n son was succeeded the 1914-1918 who resigned during distingui shed astronomer,

?.oo .

war .

His successor was Dr

H Hardcastle, a very brilliant man and the g reat - grandson 0 1, tl1 e famous Sir Wiliam Herschell. He did good service during the war of 1914 1918 in c onne cti on vrl t h the k' wor ing out of tides at Gallipoli, without which the disembar kment of troops there mi ght never have been accomplished, but he did not â&#x20AC;˘

live to take up duty at Armagh . The next in succession was Canon H. E. A. Ellison whose death in 1936 caused deep sorrow locally.

He was

a well - kn01-m lens - maker and the author of "The Amateur Telescope 11 â&#x20AC;˘

The present Direct or, Dr. E. H. Lindsay, is

the first native of the county to hold the post and under his ca re the Observatory is progressing in no uncertain

manner . I n conclusion I shoul d like to emphasize the fact that th r ee of the establishments on our list were built in the li fetime of one archbishop and that it was his intention to found a museum also - that was actually th Observatory e provided fo r in t h e Act establishing object was not achieved. but unfor tunately that particul ar

2ol .

The tr aditiona l si gnificance of Armagh . ,. o in pre Christian days n o doubt influenced St . Pa tri ck in his choice of it as the pla c e of supreme i mportance in his mission .

Acco rdin g to the Anna ls he r eached Armagh

in the year 444 A.D .

He soon s ecured sites for

church es and i mmediately beg an prepara ti ons fo r the in struction of the young p eople of the area, and so about the yea r 450 t he first school of the new regime was open ed.

Cultural gr owt h was gradual in the sixth

and seventh centuries but by the end of the l atter

century t h e schools of Armagh were widely reco gn ized . The city and its amenities fi gure favourably in a poem written in 684 by Prince Aldfrid, later King of the No rthumbrian Saxons, who is reputed to have been th By e for a p eriod a pup il in one of its schools . bad acquired an enviabl e succeeding cent ury Armagh and tenth centur ies the During t he ninth position. rches suffered greatly u city an d its schools and Ch repeated Norsemen , wh ose through the raids of the . f the scholastic . h destructi on o incursions resulted in t 0 foreign bo oks and so alarmed establishme nts a nd their the same came to study in students that they no longer

lo 2. numbers

In those

cen uri e s Armagh wa s u . Th • lun a ered in 830, · e only local specimen of

667, 890, 919 and 946 penmanship

to survive those tragic day s

is t he so -c alled Book of Ar:na gh ' compiled in one of the monastic houses of the city in the year 807' and one of t h e most our Irish manuscripts, the only one that can with certainty be dated .

precious of

indeed of early origin It is our source for

the story of the c ontacts between Patrick ~

and Daire, the

then Prince of the district, the enclosing ring s of whose entrenched abode are still traceable, a visible re:ninder of Patrick ' s arrival in the mid- fifth century, to 1-, hich period belong s the celebrated P atrick 's Bell, one of two famous personal momentos of the saint, both linked fo r ever with Armagh.

Centuries later the Bell had a shrine

made for it by Donnell O'Lochlan, King of Ireland, during the Primacy of Donnell MacAu ley, Archbishop of Ar:nagh, by which inscription it can be dated as having been fashioned between the years 1091 and 1105.

The second, the

venerated Bachal I sa, unfortuna t e 1Y no

longer exists.

1 · in Ireland It was the most reno,med ecclesiastical re ic . . n Armagh until 1179' in and r emained in safe keeping 1 off to Dublin by a force of llhich yea r it was carried the Reformation An t ined until Anglo Normans th e re to be re a

llhen it was publicl y burned in

1538 "

Lea r ni ng made steady p r ogr es s in the tenth century , In 1020 the Li bra r y of Armagh is '.llen tioned i n the Annals, the first r e f e renc e to such an in sti tut ion in any city in Ireland. Education gained a fresh i mpetus in the 12th century when the a::nend:nen t of the Irish chur ch wa s inspired by St. 1-l alachy, a fa,nous Ar :nachian , the traditional si te

of whose birthplace bears a co:nme:no rative tablet .

was born in 109 5 and died 114 8.

Two other Archbishops

of Armagh, St. Celsus and St. Concord, were also of local

extraction and educated like St . 11alachy in our city schools.

In those centuries the schools of Armagh

maintained their national impor tance and were fostered by the kings of other provinces besides Ulster - for

instance, by the King of Munster in 907 and Roderick O'Connor , High King of Ireland, in 1169, the latter benefaction being the last grant made by a king of Ireland towards education in the city â&#x20AC;˘

It was not, however, the

last assistance given by a local prince for in

1387

Nial

built a hostel on the outskirts O'Neill king of Ulster, y learned men of the city for the accommodation of th e man

llho found in Armagh a spiritual home Âˇ an ecclesiastical Synod In 1162 it was decreed at to teach or publicly th at no person should be pe rrni tted h thus studied at Armag , lecture on theology who had not

confer rin g on the schools of A Armaghpre - e:ninence the ot he r schools of Ireland and over all confirmi ng t he city i n it s claim to uni ver Si ty status . Th at Has but a f An l N e1•1 Years c on quest , by which the Irish before t h e g o - Normans schools were at fir t 1 s· ittle disturbed . Their us efulness , ho wever, b e c ame gradually . i mpaired through conflict between English and Irish opini on on matters of

, 0 nastic •

education .

Such schools did not suffer actual ext i nction

until the di ssolution of :nonasteries in 1537 .

By that

decree I rel and was left for a time without any educational facilities wha t e v er . In 15 58 Dr . Geor g e Dowdall , Archbishop of Armagh, petit ioned Queen Mary as to the nece s sity for a university and schools and i n 1583 a proposal was :n ade to establi sh universities at Armagh and Limerick but Dublin eventually acquired the prize . The Earl of Tyrone made a further effor t in 1599 but During Queen Elizabe th ' s that was likewise unsucces sful. rei. gn efforts were !llade to set up schools in the shire · Armagh been accomplishe d in . tollll s but nothing seems to have In 1608 lands were granted until th e Plantation of Ulster · f free schools the upkeep 0 by K.ing Jame s a nd s et apar t fo r the Royal School 1n counties by which the var ious no r the r n t came i nto establishmen ' ot Armagh, an i mpor t ant educ ational

bt1ng and s till flourishe s ·

'.lo~The closi ng years of th . e ei ght eenth the question of a university ve r ty at , century brought Ar nagh again to . Lord Rokeby the t h A public notice. â&#x20AC;˘ ' en Archbishop,later b a legacy towar a s its foun dation h . equeathed aving durin g his lifetime founded a libr a r y an d observatory d' as a Juncts Th e scheme natl, however, to be dropped b ecause of opposition f rom various sources. An effo rt was made in 1845 t o obtain a Queen ' s Coll eg e fo r t he city, but despite the general favourable opinion towa r ds the proposal for a college at Arnagh it was e rect ed in Belfast whe re it has since become the university of the pro vince, Those even ts may seem to you to have little to do ,ith the histo r y of the Observatory.

They are , however ,

the facto r s that induced Archbishop Robinson to supplement the Libra r y by an Observatory and both were founded wi th the object of making Ar magh again a place of educational importanc e. nd The erection of the Observatory began in 1789 a in that yea r a fine bronze medal was st ruck by William Mossop, edal, examples are rare th e grea t I rish medallist . The m one side the head of the and diffi cu lt to p r ocure, bears on the south front r d a representation of oun er and on the other "The heavens t motto of t he building wi t h the appr opria e declare t he glory o f Go d" Âˇ

In the followin g ye ar James

Archi bal d Hamilton, Dean

(i,_

of Cloy n e an d Preb endary of Mullaghbrack in

Armagh an old School of A Armagh beca:ne the first Di rect or. He was a skill ed astronomer an d t he author of several s cientific p ap ers publish ed i n t he "Transactions" boy'' of the Roy a l

of the Roy al Irish Academy

Dr . Hami l ton had a private observatory at Derry loran as ea rly as 1780 and

in pa ssing

it may intere st you to know that Samuel Molyneux is credited by t r adition with having had a private obs er vat ory on th e an cestra l estate here on the outskirts of the city and it is bel i e v ed that the domelike structure that about a century ago housed Roubillac' s statue of Si r Thomas Molyneux Bart., was in fact that buildin g. Dr. Hamil ton, the first Director of the Armagh Obse r vat ory , died in 1815 .

His p eriod at t he Obs ervatory

is covered from t he s ocial hi sto r y point of view by an interesting diary kept by Alexander Hamil t on , son of Hugh Hamilton, a former De an o f Ar magh, lat er Bishop of Ossory, e Royal Irish Academy . and one of the founders o f th ished in 1758, es tablishe d His work on "Conic Section s", Publ lat er publications on his fame as a mathematician llY well received. astronomical subjects were equa h first Dir ecto r of t is th e Hamilton, To return to Dr . Armagh be . of biS appointment to At the t~e dtw institution . daught er, Jane, an had living with him an unmarried who following the Juliana Ti s dale, wards, Catherine and

:i.07 _ raising of t h e lar ge dome in 1 793 were 11 a owed the use of it at ti~ies 1-1herein to t en er t a in their friends Out of that fa vour g rew the naming f t Âˇ hat pa rticular dome as o "heaven", the reason given be i ng th t . a it was a pleasant Place wherein they ~1 et only th ose whom they loved and wished to mee t. A selfish conception f o heaven perhaps but not so very different to what we might think ourselves in similar circums tances .

Lord Caulfeild was then very

constant in his attentions to Jane Hamilton - but she had other strings to her bow. occurs in the diary of 1798 .

A rather amusing incident

Lord Caulfeild and Alexander

Hamil ton had been up to the Observatory to pass the evening with the ladies and on their way home found the lodge gates locked w:i. th the result that they were forced to The diary tells us that Lord Caulfeild from climb them . practi ce go t over immediately but Hamilton found th e firS t at tempt difficult and in the second tore his breeches Âˇ the Directorship was the Rev. Hami lton 's successor in Senior Fellow of Trinity who William Davenpo rt, D. D., by the Rev . Thomas Romney died in 1823 and was succeeded Tr inity, and in many Robinson, D. D. , a former Fellow of Under bis . 11 the directors â&#x20AC;˘ vays the mo st versat i le of a th building lar ged in 1827 by e care the Observatory was en k made possible d me a war of some extra r ooms and a second o '

t hrough t he g enerosity of Ar chbishop L ord John George Beresford . In 1851 Dr. Robinson

was elected Pre sident of the He di ed in 1881 afte r having held the Direct orship of the Obse r vatory for over 58 years. In his term of office, Maria Edgeworth, the authoress , Royal Irish Ac ademy .

was from time to time a guest - her step - sister was the Doctor's1 s second wife. Robinson was succeeded by Dr . John L. E. Dreyer, a distinguished ast r onomer , who resi gned during the 1914 1918 war .

His successor was Dr . Hardcastle, a very

brilliant man and the great - grandson of t he famous Sir William Her s hcell.

He did good service during the war

of 1914 -1918 in connection with the working out of tides at Gallipoli, without ,Jhich the disembarkm ent of troops there might never have been accomplished, but did not live to take up duty at Armagh . '·•as Canon W. E.A , Ellison whose The next in succession " He was a welldeath in 19 36 caused deep so rrow locally· f "The Amateur Telescope". known lens:nake r and the autho r O Lindsay, is a native of lhe present Dir ec t o r, Dr. E. M. University . He has . the county and a graduate of Queen ' s American and African had practical experience in this observatory directorship observatories· and under his

sin" in no uncertain :nanner . Unfortunately ,r ogres - ., t be with us this afternoon but we are lucky in canno . D,. Opik and Dr . Armstrong to take care of us . nng - â&#x20AC;˘

210 LOC AL

Astronomical

The inve n tion of pr i nt i ng in t h e mi d 15th c en ' ury made literature t h e p ro pe rt y of many peopl e to whom it had pr evio usly

been inacc ee s i ble, t h us bring ing about

inc reased vi gour amongs t stu 111110 of sci e nce, part_icul a rl y in r egar d to a stronoillic a l .,.__.; By the begi nni n g of the 16 t h c entur y the cu ltural

developmen t d u e to t he new method of diffusing knowl edge wa s ,ery appur en t i n Europe

gener ally .

The s i'tuation was, however ,

aomewhat diff erent he r e owin g to t he t h en unsettled stat e o.t· the coun t r y i n t .:1at

and t h e follo wing c entur y ,

Despite those

drawback s, t h e 17th c entury produced two men wl1 oee observat i ons on astronomy a nd k i ndr ed s ubj e c ts link Ar magh with t he gr ea t acientif ic f i g uree , of t he perio d c overed by the Res torati on , the Williamite te wars

t h e more peac efu l days of queen Anne " nd

the fir st t wo G·e o rge o ,

I r efer to t he t wo Molyneux

end Samu e l, son .and g r ands on

William

r esp e ctively of Samuel Molyneux or

Castledillon

Co. Ar magh, ily to come to_ Ireland was The first memb e r of the fam en old French femilY wJ;lo came to Thomas Molyneux d escendant of i ntroducti on of t he first Dublin in 1576, si x years af ter th • Elizabeth 's nominee for the Printing preee in t hat city aTid a s He had with other King at Chancellorship of t he Irish Exchequer, . in 1586 beo arne Ulster Issue an e lder e on, Daniel, \ffl 0 f Iriab fe.milY ool 1eotion o Arms an accurat e antiquarY who se with oth er important college hhistorynow reposes in Tr Trinity

manuscripts

compiled by c e rt a i n

of h is desc endan ts, lie died i n 1632 8Dd was succe eded by h ie third, but eldest Samuel Ch i ef :c'.ngineer surviving s on , of Ir e land , an expert i n ordnanc e , who purchased t he Ca stl e Dillon estate and dying i n 1692 l eft two nrY brilli a nt sons , William and Thomas, Both wer e gr aduat e s

of Dubli n Un i v er ei t y and gr eat grandsons of one of its chi ef benef actors. Acco rding to Alumn i Dublinen s i e , William Trinity Coll ege in 1 6 71 aged fifte en years,

Molyneux entered lie obtained hie

B,A, degree in 1 6 74 and ent ered t h e Middle Templ e where he

studied l aw for three years . estate 10

He ir to a very consi derable

h e had no parti cu l a r lean ings towards legal practice,

devoted most of h i s t,ime t o philosophy and appli ed mathemati c s ,

Hh inter e st in optics and as trono my was s timul ated by a friendship and correspon dence wi th John Flamsteed

t he Astronomer

Royal, an i n tercourse that began in 1681 and continued until • for a nn eacri pt ion of 1692, In 1 682 he collected t h e material He ·was one of t he founders Ireland•, unf ortunately unpublished. · i ety and it• ·uret secretary. of the Dublin Ph ilosophical Soc appointed s ociety, he wa• later ailected a F ellow of the Roya l · Ireland. Chief Engineer o! Surveyor or the Kings buildings and •as ·erected ~nder his romoved 4 IODeiderable part of Dublin Castle of JIIJllee· II be••• aoeessiol'l supervision but after the of 1688 n• .! oroed th• . disturbance trea office and o,;.ing to year be began ,rorl<

to tab refuge in England

;In t l 1e following

..LI

7...

ID Chester on hi s book on Optics

in h w i ch he was assist ed by The work wa_ e published in London Flamsteed ndon i n 1692 , the sheets being revised by h ie fri e nd Halley, d an it was for ·a long time u,a ,tandard work o n that subject,

,After the b a ttle of the Boyne he re turned to Ireland to rlait his fathe r wh o had persisted in r emain i ng in Dublin. Parliament, the f iret, with t h e exception of Tyrconnell

that h a d me t f or 26 years, being s ummoned f or

Convention

October 1692, he was returned as one of the members for Dublin University,

I n 1695 he was again ch osen as repr esentative.

Hie wri tinge a re con s i d erable i n quanti ty and of fine quality,

He tran sla t ed a wo r k of Evangeli sta Torricellio

entitled "The motionof Heavy Bodie s" notable for 1ta ca r efully

dne diagrams, a n d was author of "A new c ontrivance of adapting

• telescope to a h orizont a l dial"• 10

Tl!e di a l never came into use

far n • I know and was disappr oved of by Flamsteed

fe• however• and indeed the one '!'he great event Of hi. li . hi name •as the publ i cation lhioh aanferrad historic int e r e st on. s ' 'The Case of Ir eland Being Bound 98 ot hi • famoue tr eatise in 1 6 , ,, ,.th work of acetateaman • '1 Acts o k Parliament 1n Engl a nd »tated honeet it has none of sua• tve and lat metaphysician Calm, per man of euch A book bY a !be 'bltterne •• of Swift wrttinge, · tU'ic ach i evemente and 11c!en . 41 •tlnot1cm ln moral quali ti•• ht before • 1111111ediatelY broug ~ to attract notio e , '

•a•

It•••

Collllli ttee of t h e English

eh Hous e of C Commons who. r epo rted the book ae dangerous to t h e Crown a nd pe op le of )OlleVed tha t t :1e book hangman

England

was .or de red t o be bur ned by

and t he r e i a a t r ndi. ti on i n

Molyneuxwa s i n consider ab l e dange r

I t i s comr..only the c omt,on

the f amily th at William liam 0

impeachment but owi ng to

tbe exerti on s of h is fr i end , Locke , the philo soph er , he was eared t hat ind i gnity .

He did not t ake much part i n the verba l

and pri nt ed w r t h at fo l owed publi e2tion owing to hie death in the autumr. of the y ear i n whi c' , ti1e wor k was publish ed ,

Bur i ed

at St, Audoen's s i n Dublin , a s ta t ue wa s erected whi c·1 I nte r met with an odd f a te, b e ing r~moved f o r r epai r by his gr and- nephew , Sir Cape l Molyneux

in consequ ence of who s e early death it was

unfortunately lo st . lie wa s succe e ded in the e state by his son, Samuel , a man

or great disti nction, founder of the Kew Observatory, an !n1t1t ution linke d wi t h Ar magh by the gift of certai n ast r onomical ln1truments, onc e t he p rope rt y

Ki ng George III.

graduated B. A, J\ t Dubli n Samuel Molyneux was born in 1 689 ' Af t er leavi ng ' U A in 1710, university i n 1708, and took his . • • t Castle Dillon , o i mprovement• a Trinity he devoted two ye,.rs t h , an observatory t ere. th 1114 tradition c;red 1 ta ht:m ,ri having ng had l a t er housed . ke structure whio1, lt -.y well be th a t the dome like it1 fsCt thi e Molyneux ,ras Roubillac's• statue of s ir Thomas 1,ater be quitted. t be certain 'buildlng, but of that " 8 c~no ,:rord; a11d 0 Cambridge at1d Ireland for a period visiting

21 A-

eftntus llY r e a ohi ng An t werp, I n 1714 he waa Bent on a political ,,i,sion to t ;i e Court of Hanove r by hi s fr i end the Duke of Marlborough and J ater be c ame See r t e ary to t he Pri nce of Wales In 1717 he marri ed Lady E liz abeth Capel • da ughter o_f t l,e t hen

,a11

of Essex

fr om whi ch un i on t he Chri st i an

name

of Capel

came

Into use by later generat i ons or the famiJ.y , Af t er _h is marri age the e tudy of astronomy and opti cs engaged hie atten tion more full y arid he soon made the acquaint ance of

James Bradl ey, a fterwa r de Astronomer Royal

Bridstow i n Heref ord shire. to the Prince of Wales

but t hen Vic ar of

In 1719 , Molyneux

whi1st Secretary

procured for Bradley a better living in

Pembrokeshire, and n o doubt wr.e a lso i nterested i n s ecuring hi s appointrne r, t as astron ome r a t Oxf ord in t h e fo llo 17 i ng year. In 1725

Molyneux and Br adley c ar ried out i r.lJlortant Thie

with a e peci e lly built 2 4½ foot telescope, . Molyneux e r esolve to repeat llllion of forces c ame about thr ough The . nual parallBX, Booke•s attemp t s to determine stellar an observa tory at Kew instrumentswas mounted on Molyneux • private ••• made upon it by him and by Bradley i n the .... the observations lad to the latter'• period December 1725 to December 1727 experiments

4t•o_0Tery or the aberration or ·l ight,

111 setting up Bradley's of the Lords ~r appointment•• one

In August 1727 Molyneux auieted 8

1etor at Wanstead but bY bi •

Ille Admiralty hh

tner duti '3 s, i n c lud ing h i s

r e tu r n to t he frish Pn r 111.meut t.e one of t i10 r apr " s ent ut ivee of the Uni v ersity or Dublin , He di ed 1n t he fo llowi n g Yea r and in 1 73 0 h i s wi dow sold %ew Houue t o , rederick, Pri n c e or I a l e s , f a the r of George III , - -:;:;:;;;- 1,ouae was ' demoli shed i n 1804. A sund i a l er ect e d by Willi am IV now oommemora t e s t h e a stronomic a l observat i ons made ther e but ,,othi ng

is now kn own of t he f a te of t h e ·rolyneux Sector, Accordi ng to his corlter:Ip or ar i e s , Samuel :tolyne ux wae a man of winni ng mc,.nne r ' nd ob li g i ng tel!l,p¥r who unit ed I r i sh wit with social and sci entific a ccomplish ment s of a hi gh order,

His deo.t h

at the early age of 39 y ears was uruch regr et ted in t he worl d of

science where it wus generally as sume d t hat he wo ul d add f ur ther honour to the f aruily n rune .

He died "!itho ut is sue and

was·

succeeded at Cas t le DiJ l on by his uncle, Thoma• -1olynaux, Physician-Genera l to t h e F orces in Ir·eland , who ,vas creat ed a . barone t in 1730, a nd was perhaps tl1e most distingui shed of all His activities, howeve r , did the earlier l!lilmbere of the f amily,

not lnolude a stron omy so his care er

cannot be dea lt with here.

of s ir :.lrnest tha t he wa s the ancestor 1 mention i n p a ssing baronotoy beoame u~o whereupon th • llolYDeux wbo died a few ye11,ra ...,

11\lnct,

bind it \o . in t he o,1&1n• that •---'- 'has many such links Uehor, -i tan••• Henry . tr••• For na llbono111100.l study in other cen Ueh81' kill B11lsn of Helll'Y· . tlat flr • t Director of Dunsink "'a• a her (>.rollbieh•'P I 3) and ef J'ame• U• . -boh\lebop of Armagh 1596•161

:2.\ t.. .

! Arma!!h, 16 25- 165 6 , the g r

ea est schol ar of h is

aaoendant of John UsLer b

age) and dl r ect or n 1646 , died 1730 , Uaster of Chanc ery in Jrel and ( 1698-1 ? 2 1 ) whose \V i f e / li

ce' wa a a daughter of Jan t e l

~oJyneux, Ulster Ki ng- a t - Ar ms by h i s wi f e , ,illialll Usher wh o s e moth e r wne Ts ob e ll -

c;.

J ane ' daugh ter of Sir

aughter of /,dam .Lof t us

(Archbishop of' Armagh 1 562 -156 7 ) l a ter f ir s t Pr ovos t of Tri nity and an Ar ch bishop Vlho pr ef er red t h e f e sh- pote of J ublin to t ae

austerities of Ar t agh .

Bu t to ret urn to nenr y Usher, t he first

Director of Dunsink, he wae born i n 1 74 1 and di ed in 179 0 , t he yaer follo wing the f ounda tio n · of t h e Observatory of Ar n:agh,

should p er h a p s ment ion t h c t Dr, J , L, E, Dr eyer, whose as trono,..ic al

reeearci e s hav e , added lustre t .o t h e annals of Armagh 1bservat ory ,

wa, for a perio d a ss i stunt- a stronomer at Dun sink • whi cll obee?Tatory p re-de.tee An uagh by a few year s onl y , but i e i n poi nt 0!

t aot its juni or, for t h e Ar lllllg h Obser vat ory grew out of t he

. i n 1?80 by { he Very !levd, Dr , J .A, Prlnte_ observa tory found ed Scho ol of Armagh, who in 1790 a..-tlton, , an old boy. of t h e Royal , ineti_tution fo unded in .Aru;agh . bea1111e the first Dir e ctor of t h e , t he provision f a sob.em• for O City 'by Archbi shop Robinson !'8 part . of Ireland , north ern countie• , or I lln1Ters1 ty her e to serve t i,e itli aetronomioal link• • t intere sting l On, or Al'lllagh 1 B mos he Royal .SahoO ofllll9 to t the 0Uta14e w;orld was a small boY who old boy of tllat or ar1d find ini an ~ abo.ut the year 1.BlO • a fri endalliP whiob ,trualc up ltbto1 Dlreotor or the Ob 99 rva.t orY'

)atsr reeuH,ed in him b e coming

elrc l es b oth a t h o me an d abr oad ,

wel l -known f i gure

in us t r oriorJic c.. . l

It i a s a i d t :1at Joshun

cooper derive d h is f i rs t notions

-~dw1;.tr d of a stronomy f rom ',1i s h,other • but it is fr eel y a dmi tt e d t h at he , ., wae cam i rmed i n h i s v oc a t i on bY rep eated v is i t s to f,r 1,,ag,1 Ob serva tory whil.Eft a pupil a t t he Royal Sch ool.

Coop er l at e r l eft Armagh for Eton and from thenc e went to Oxford,

He wu e a g r e a t tr a vell er and wee pos s es sed of suff i ci en t

means to enable him to indulge in as tro nomic a l re search .

In 1830

he suoceeded to the :Jarkree pr opert y i r, Co, Sligo and deci ded to

erect an obeerva t ory t h ere, which by l 8b l had become one of the best known priva te obe r, rvatories and i nci den t ally by f ar t he bes t furnished,

In t h i s he worked diJi gen tl y hi msel f , but f rom 1842

he had us an assi stant a very oapable obs erve r , k, And r ew Gr aham,

J.letrolo g ic a l obs e rva tions were continua lly kept at :Iar kr ee from 1833,

In 1844 -4 5 he made an a stronomical tour t hro llfh. ]>' r anee

Germany and It al y, t a king wi. t h him as luggage t be great :.!ar kree refraotor, .,;ith its wood en stand, with which he and hi.s a solstant In that year Cooper 18 45 • did eome v a luabl e work a t Naples in then in progreeli in Berlin so as decided to extend t he star-maps thirteenth mngnitude, to include stare of the twelf th or reeultins begun in 1848 e,nd the O'oetrTation• for that purp ose were e,cpense in four volume•• G vernmerit •orl,: ••• l at er published at 0 comet in 1835 ,and th• He ob • srved and sketched Halley'• orbit calculated bJ

~ ~.-. observed and it• •h Comet of 1844 ~

bi~ during a vi oi t to Innabruck ,

In 1852 he b PU li sh ed nco1net i c i s notabJ e servicee to aotronomy he r eceived in 1858 t he Cunninghom !edal of the Roye l Iri sh Academy, l!e s a t i n P a rli ani~ nt ao a mel'lber for t he County of S l lgo f rom 1830 to 184) and_ fr om 185 7 to 185 9 and died at lfarkre e on 23r d April, 1863 • . J\rt e r lli s death hio observa t.ory b ~c ame neglected orbits" an

d f

but was restor ed i n 18?4 w~i en

u.v;r.

Doberck .,.,as Rppo inted Director,

and t he great r efractor c ame again into use fo r t l.c s ,udy of double stars, a ccor ding t o Coo per' s origin 1 de si gn , Coop e r was n. con t ributor of papers to ninny con tirk nta.1 soc i eties, ·i n c luding the PErris Ac ;i derny of Science.

So f ar· a s is

known mo s t of his a stronomical mater ial was pr es ented to Car..bri dge Unlverei ty by hi s daughter'B, f ollowing his death,

ID t h e early 19th And n ow for a g roup of loc a l ast ron ome r s , d '!a ter of t he Armagh centurr, Hu gh Breen, a na t1 ve of the Ci ty a n · s figure in the vari ous llechanics Ineti t1:1te, wae a well-known . t was then nota ble, .A cultura ~ societies for which t h e own an aas is tant c.t t h e lathemat1.c i an of n o mean order, be became in ·•here in 18 40 be first appears Roral Obij ervat ory of Gr eenwi ch ~ ! Planets•• a work Observa tions o 00nneotion with t h e " Reduction of eventuallY bringing it to a .he took over fro m :.ir, I, W, Thomas, younger ,on Join•d .bim 1840 bie •uoce• atul cone 1 ue,1 on iJJ 1845 • In • ,.,re not part of t he ReductioD• •t Greenwich, Thes e •p1an e tarY . utigat1on. bUt 8 · 1 peoial 111'1' ro11t1n1 '1'01•k ~ the obeerYaitorY

carried _out on b ehal f of t h e Br t ti eh Aeeoc iat i on of sci ence , fund s be i ng pr ovi de d by for the Adva.ncemen t . . gr a nt a tnade f r om t 1. :nc to t i me , the Lords Comm1 ss1on c r o of t · 1, ue Treasury , G • .1: . Airy, the th en Astronomer - Roya l, b e i ng r esponsible f or the investi gat lon nml staff .

»reen di ed on t he Jst April , 1848 , i n t he

57th year of h ie Hge and

at that t ime was a r egul a r member of ·the Greenwic h s taf f •

lie l ef t t hre~ sor,s keen astro11omers ' a.11 of wholtl were employed

at some time or oth er in Grdemd ch Obs e rvht ory.

The eldest son ,

Hugh , wae f or nearly t we nty year s an e.esietant a t Gr eenwi ch , but owing to po oc health res igned bet'ore h e was pensionnbl e. Havi ng

been born in Ar mag.1-i he decided t o return und in 1860 he mnde plane to est ablish an Ac ademy here, but a ner vo·us breakdown prevent• the plan succ eeding ,

He was t h e au tho r of sever al sci•snt ifi c

1ork1, i n con·s eq uen c e of which , aml of h ie ser v ices to ast r onomy , he 11111 gr a nted a p e n e i on of £50 per annum,

He l nter re t urned t o

London whe re hie wire and fami ly re mai ned, .Jamee Breen' the se c ond son ' was appointed Aseistrm t at jie was a C1111bridge Obs erv at ory in 11)46 a nd re s i gn ed in 1858 , The younge st son, Pel101r of' the Roya l Astronomic a l s ocie t Y• tTr eenwich and was also •ohn i 1111am Breen, · wne an "Observer" at record or (eth er a11d !or a time at Cambri dge, The Bree n f81l1i1Y lb and all born in the s ame town must ' " lone, a l 1 aatron omere • tb• son• or 'such be Ae a rul e Ullique in n etronomioal annals , inherit a lov e ,or Th•Y eeld om Pto,i, ohoae other .,rof e e e ion•• enough ·eolll8 of tbe ,.. though curiouelY "''Ollo.,. from t he ir parent•,

'2.Zo.

-~ bril 1 i G. Dt io•t

st r ono, e rs of t h e Pes t seen.1 to hnv e cau:1ht

infecti on from uncles or othe r relat i ves, ·llet reslde n t

of series",

i n Ar ma gh, comp iled · a "T

Thi 8 wn a p ri nted i n 1 227 b

t he

Hugh Br een, t h • elder , -

reE!.t ise on t )i e Summa tion

y su s cr i ut ion , nnd w:-.a

ilgblY oomrJe nded,

I have not by a ny means exha ust e d . my "li nks" _, but

nan exceede d t he time at my d isp os a l,

In conclusion

fear I oh .ul d

Jlie to me ntion t hat w'.1e n Arch bishop Robin s on , over a. c en t ury ago , 1ppo\nted

a_e first Dir e ctor of t h e /,rmagh 0bservatory , an old boy

of the Royal Sc h ool of Ar magh , his ch oice gave great ple a sure to the inhabitants of

t h i:s city,

They felt t hat being an old boy of

the famous School of Ar magh was t he next b Pat t hing to be ing a oatin of the county,

Th e pd si tion is n ow reversed and we have

11Director for the first time, a native of our county , of whom t IBJ lay wi.thout f l attery, that he has do ~ more for a a ronoll\Y in

l?D8&h than all hie p redecessors _together,

:L'l./.

The stor y o f Dunsink begin s wtth t he deat h i n 1774 of Fran cis Andre ws , Pro vost of Tr ini • 1 - i;y, ·/rlo be quea t hed a sum of £ 3,00 0 to the Uni ver si ty for th e ere at i on and furnishing of an observatory wi t h £250 per year t owa rds the cost of staffin g ,

Like the f ounder of Ar magh

Observatory, the Pr ovost was a wealthy man and sufficiently aware o f his position in li fe to feel t he necessity of a suitable residence, so one of his immediate undertakin g s after assuming office was to build the present P r ovost ' s· House, a mansion still in use for the purpose for which it was constructed, need not remind you that Archbishop Robinson felt exactly the same way about the old archiepiscopal consequence erected domicile in Armagh city and as a the home since then of all the present P alace in 1770 , Both dwellings have , of his successors in office, d to them but on course, had some sli gh t alterations ma e t their original state. the whole t hey r emain in almos Andrews . f Al exander and heir o . he was born 1n Andr ews was the son or County Antrim. Some authoriti es saY

oerrY•

Educ a ted a t the FTee G

rammar Scho ol of that in 1733, aged 15 b ,. A 1740 F 1 ' ecame B A 11 1737, • • • e low 1740 LL B ' . . ' ' . . 1743, LL.D. 174 5 vas called to t he I rish Bar · 4 ' in 17 6 and served as 11 ,p. for Midl et on 17 5'8 . citY , he ent ered Trinity

His eleva ti on to the p

rovostship of Trinity in

1758, whilst still a junior Fello w, was strongly by his seniors in the university ,-no

resented

also disapproved of

the fact that he was a layman, which was contrary to the college statutes, a disability quickly amended by a King ' s Letter exempting him from taking Holy Orders, As a scholar he was chiefly noted for his wide clas sical

knowledge . He sat for Derry in Parliament from 1761 until 1774, in .llich year the representation devolved upon James Alexander, subsequently Earl of Cal edon , 1-hose nephew the Rev. Nathaniel Alexander was Precentor of Armagh . ession Bishop of in succ th Clonfert, of Killaloe, of Down, and finallY of Mea ' rkhill House , Co. Armagh, ancesto r of the Al exander' s of Fo Ar chbishop of Armagh and of William Alexan der, D.D.,

from 1796 unt il 1802, was later

1896-1911, cis Andrews. But to return to Fr an

ProVoat of Trinity up to th0 n wbo

He was tbe only

had managed

4 88 at in the House of Commons and,

incidentallY,

obtain the

first holder of the Provostship councillor ship .

to be advan ced t 0

a Privy

Tradition credits h im Hi th being fashion , fond of goo d company

an d

a man of taste and

' good li Vin g' With a keen appreciation of the arts as well as the fair sex to On e of whom, the famous beauty Dorothy Monroe, l ater Mrs. William Richardson of Richhill, he willed his fine collection of coloured p rints st a ting they were fitter ornaments for he r d ressing room than his library . During his term as Provost the west front of t he college and part of Parliament Square was built, but his greatest monument a r chitecturally is the Provost I s House commenced about 1760 and based on a design by the Earl of Burlington and Cork , the architect being a Dublin man named S:nyt h . Tbe Pr ovost ' s House can best be descr ibed as dignified, a t erm that may also be applied to th e Palace former is, however, much The interior of the Th i s may be partly due to new ceilings having superior. extra storey added been n ece ssar y whe n the P alace h a d an Beresford's tenur e of about 1825 dur ing Lo r d J ohn George . ' h contain t u r ious lY enoug ' he Primacy. Both h ou se s , c Âˇ h (l562-1567) of Armag h Portraits of Adam Lof t us, Archbi S op at Armagh .

.zld Primal Pr ovost o f Trinity .

Despite the dissatisfaction folloWing his appointment popular p rovost that Tr. . He was cert . ever possessed . 1n1 ty a1n1y one of its out .. social succ esses and when he d . d . stanarng le in 1774 there was real regret in Dublin and throughout th _ very e provinces Unfortunately his Will . generallyâ&#x20AC;˘ was disputed with the result t ha t the sum total for t ' ne proposed observatory

drews was perhaps the most

was somewhat reduced;

but the Board of Tr inity College

generously augmented the bequest so in reality the scheme was carried to a satisfactory conclusion . The various lawsuits held up the foundation of the College Observatory considerably and not until late in

1782 was the contract placed with Mr . Graham Myers, the ultimate builder, son of an En glish architect who seems to have come to Ireland about 1782 to carry out work at Trinity under Sir William Chambers' directions. Authorities differ as to the year in which th e work was . t seems to have fini shed, but on the evidence availa bl e 1 been 1785.

At any rate it is clear that it was function observations at Dunsink ing by 17 88 , a s mate ri al based on Vas distributed in that year .

decided observatory was . ble for finding responsi Upon by its founder who was also ThiS was not a director , an architect and appointing I n Armagh t he site for th e

possible in Dunsink owing t circumstances , consequentl

o a different

y the selection

was left to the Rev . Hen r y

and was it s f ir st director .

u ssher

set of of a site

Who chose Dunsink

He belonged to a family . tha t gave a num b er of re ct ors t o parishes in Armagh Diocese in t h e 17th and 18th t . cen uries and was a kinsman of Ma rcu s Ussher, first Sovereign of Armagh

under the Cha rt e r of J ames I in l6l 3 and Member of Parliament for the Borough;

of Henr y Usshe r (Arch-

bishop of Arma gh 1596 - 1613;

and of James Us sher

(Archbishop o f Armagh 1625 - 1656), one of the great est scholars of his age wbo, besides other better !mown literary achievements, published in 1648 an erudite dissertation on the Solar Year, to which an Ephemeris for the wbole year was annexed, s aid to have been the first attempt in the s e countries to frame a true astronomical calendar .

The Usshers had strong links

llith Dublin and the Ar chbishop ' s wife, Ali ce Molyneux, K'ng of Arms , came daughter of Daniel Molyneux , Uls t er 1 also associated wi th of another family in that citY C tle Dillon estate by Armagh through the purchase of as her broth er Samuel who, dying in 1692 ' left two f "The Case for author 0 brilliant so n s, William, the papers, and astronomica 1 Ireland Sta t e d" and various and correspondent of A. f r iend '.rhomas of wh om l a te r,

namsteed, the Astronome r R OYal , he was f ather of Samuel Mol yneux th e f oun d er of Ke u w niversity, who died without issue in 1728, whereupon Castl e Dillon passed to his uncle Thomas ( created a baronet two Years later) ,ihose statue by Roubilliac is one of the finest sculptures in Armagh Cathedr al . So far as we know Ussher himself planned Dunsink and it is of interest that the earli es t paper printed

in the Tr ansactions of the Royal Irish Academy (of i,,hich institution the Volunteer Earl of Ch arlemont was then President) should have been a contribution compiled by him in 1787, embellished by drawings of the proposed building - a main block with wings - the latter were not, howeve r , built.

Ussher was a personal friend of Dr .

Hamilton and di ed in 1790 , the year in which Hamilton began dut ies at Armagh Observatory .

Ussher •s services

wer e much appreciated , but he was never Andrews Professor Those two of Astronomy or Astronomer Royal for IrelaJld. dis t inct ion s we r e not conferred until 1791 when Letters · ·nt title . Patent wer e issued authorizing the Joi Br inkley , a nomi nee of Ussher was suc c eeded by John The custom IIa•kiilyne, t he Engl i s h Ast r onomer Royal · ent with church pr eferm then was to suppl emen t such posts t hus i ncreased his and •o Brinkley took Hol y Orders to nunsink and man -wti an h a came 1nc0111e. He was a y oung

i. the observatory was very short of equipment so he confined himself to ma t hematical research in which he achieved La ter he became valuable results . an authority on gcc1esiastical Law and was mad BÂˇ e lshop of Cloyne in 1826 , at which time he had been Archdeacon of Clogh er from 1808 and a Prebend of Elphin Diocese from ' 1806 which , with other pickin g s, left him comfortably provided for, Clogher indeed seems to have specialized in helping lame astronomers over stiles ;

Robi nson , for instance, was

Precentor of Clo gher and Recto r of Enniskillen in 1823 i1!eD be became astronomer at Armagh,

Two years later he

resigned the P recentorship and Rectorship for the Vicarage of Carrickm ac r os s whi ch he held until his death , 'lith the addition of a canonry of the United Diocese of Armagh and Clo gher , and a corresponding dignity in St, Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. Brinkley was the only Irish Astronomer Royal to acquire a bishopric.

Hamil ton of Armagh was made an

s only a matter of archbishop but that, of course, wa Proxy and for a t erm of some months. celebrated William Brinkley I s successor was the whom the years' upon ~wan Hamilton, then aged twenty-one well- merited degree . Un1vers1ty hastened t o bestow a of bis pre dec essor Ilalllilton had the whole-hear t e d assistance

IJ;.

and of Robinson of Ar:nagh .

As Profes sor of Astronomy be was no t particularly successful especially in the practical part of his dut i es, partly due no d b OU t , to want of pr evious training in instrumental d an technical \/Ork; but he was one of the finest mathematicians that Ireland has ye t produ ced and · t :i. was to that study that he devoted mos t of his time - indeed hi b . s a sorption in the subject on his honeymoon was such a worry to hi s wife that she left him for a period . He did not enter Holy Orders so was obliged to act as a private tutor to augment his income , a method much disapp roved of by the College Board who compromised by raising his salary from £250 to £580 and banning the pupils.

We are told that he disli lrnd observational

wrk and s o entrusted mos t of it to his sisters and

Charles Thompson , a v er y competent understudy .

Dr.

Robinson, you may als o remember, was not averse to female His first wife was a Miss Elizabeth d w H Rambaut, Rambaut, member of a family that produce · · 1850 until 1864 and private as sistant at Armagh from 1864- 1868 - of the same afterwar ds Assist ant Astronomer Andr ews Professor stock as Arthur Alcock Rambaut, sometime of whom mer Royal, in hiS second of Ast ronomy and Irish Astrononomer uallY lucky Robinson was eq d Presently . Dr . the renown• nter of 'life, Lucy J an e Edgewo rth , daug aid at Armagh .

:,.., eaucationali st, Richard Lovell Edgeworth After she settled at Ar:,1agl1 he r stepsiste r th . . , e famous novelist was fro:n time t o time a gues t and later ' st ill her sister Harri ett , widow of Richa r d Bu tler, D ean of Trim , took up her abode at the Observatory . Mrs Robinson and Mrs . Butler were both highly edu cated but the former was less interested in the observatory _ she "loved astronomy only as impers onated in t i1 e a astronomer On the other hand Mrs Butler p roved an effici ent he lp and many duties devolved upon he r when Dr . Robinson ' s sigh t began to fail. Both Robin son an d. Hamilton dabbled in poetry.

was an early craze wi t h Robinson but in Hamilton 's case a mor e mature d evelopm en t.

They were each fond of

literary s o ci et y and Ma r ia Edgeworth among st ot he r such notabilities wa s just as warmly appreciated at Dunsink as at Armagh . Hamilton was the ch ief actor in an astronomical drama ermined to discover the At that t im e it Was det establishments of Dunsink .exact geo graphi cal pos iti on s of th e chronometers were and Armagh and no less th an fifteen i n time between the two required t o measure the difference some months later by The findin gs were v erified Pla ces, observatories and observing rocke ts fired from th e two y He was, of course, ver from positions half- way between, of 1818

,,,fortun ate in a l a t e r i nci dent a t "" Armagh Observatory servatory and ersonallY conc e r ns d in the ac . d P ci ental destruction of a "ost delicate micrometer of ext â&#x20AC;˘ r elle tenuity made f rom platinum wire spe ci a lly treated, a pet invention of Dr . Robinson ' s and po ssibly the only one of its kind that was ever put toge th er . When Hami lton d ied in 1865 t he apparatus a t Dunsink ias somewhat out of date .

He had been i n charge fo r

almost for t y years bu t in that time no new instruments had been procured and little other than repairs had been 1ade t o those o r dered by Us sher .

In other words Hamilton

left the Obse r vatory in much th e same condition as he found it .

Things worked out differently at Armagh where

Robinson had the active support of that most generous prelate, Archbishop Lord John George Beresford, who be tween

1827 and 1862 expended almost ÂŁ2,500 on the provision of a new v.i.ng and necessary astronomical fit tings . Robinson and Hamilton were each third i n sequence of th e di r ect ors of the ir resp ective observatori es a nd that roll, st1angely enough their immedia t e pr edecessors on tb t i k and Armagh, are a i s t he se cond di rectors at Dunsink ghosts but that rtputed to haun t the t wo inst itu t ions as kin se arate studyâ&#x20AC;˘ d of phen om en a must b e l eft for p " . k by Francis Brunnow, Hamilton was s u c c eede d a t Dunsink a t the Ann Arbor Germanwho rec eived hi s train i ng

'2. 3 l. observatory in Michig an, f rom Whence

he even t ua lly ijthdrew to his homeland . He was h . ' , owever , persuaded o accept DunsinK and in t he ninet t een Years he was i n charge he not only installed new instruments but made excellent use of them . He relinquished hi s nos t through ill-health in 1874 at which ti:n e the observatory was 0

definitely well-equip ped for i ts si ze. Br\inow was followed by Rober t Sta well Ball _ the second Dublin- born holder of t h e office - Wi lliam Rowan Hamilton being th e first .

Ball belon ged to a Devon

family and was des cended from a Robert Ball who came to Ireland as an officer in the army of Charles II and established himself at Yougha l, Co . Cork.

He was not,

however, related in any way to the Balls of Ballsmill ,

Co. Armagh, who were of No rfolk extr a ction and descendants of Thomas Ball, a captain in Fleetwods Horse, said to have reached Ireland with the Cromwellian

army , later obtaining

lands in Armagh , Louth and Kilkenny•

nd Ball of Dunsink was mu ch in demand as a lecturer a astronomy but he vai the author of many popular works on '· k · 1 t rainin g . His "'c 8d the advanta g es of professiona ! b based on his work 'PUtation must, therefore, rather e as one of the two a, 1 mathematician, in which he ranked that subject in 0 ' three greatest British exponents of

bi, gtneration,

,rter leaving Trinity he t "' spen two years at Pa rsons tutor to Lord Rosse ' s younger s tollll 8 son, Âˇ Lord Rosse friend of Robinson of Armagh and O vas a died in 1867 , 0

)llereupon his son, Laurence, inherited the title and estates, and in 1869 in a debate in the House of Lords on aclause in the Irish Church Act was one of th e supporters of a motion designed to assist the finances of Armagh

Observatory, to which his father had presented a duplicate ;irror in 1843 for use in the east dome, and in 1850 induced the Royal Society to di vert portion of a Gove rnmen t 1rant towards pri nt in g observations at Ar:nagh .

Ball took over as Andrews Professor of Astronomy and Astronomer Royal in 1874 and during his period of residence Dunsink was a p lac e of much hospitality.

His two elder

sons, Robert St ee le Ball and William Valentine Ball (later

Sir Valentine Ball and author of a biography of his father) were both pupils a t the Royal School of Armagh ,

ibere they had as a schoolfellow, Oliver Murphy, son of

Isaac James Murphy of Armagh, who took up law, be came a bair1ster and married their c ousin Nina Ball , daughter of 811 Bent Ball, Honorary Surgeon to the King and Regius

Professor of Surgery at Trinity, youngest brother of R.S.

!uJ., l9lJ.,

the astronomer.

Sir Bent was created a baronet in

There was a fu r ther Ball alliance

lÂˇli th Cou..rity Armagh t . 1903 when Mary Agnetta Ball the Youn in ' g es daughter of astr onomer, 'llarried J oseph Bar croft ( ft the a erwards Sir one of the :nost brilliant , f Joseph men o hi s day , son of

Henry Barcroft, D. L ., of The Glen , Co . Armagh By

1883 Ball ' s eye s ight was beginning to trouble him .

in 1886 he was knighted in recognition of his services t o science and education .

Six years later he moved to

Cambridge to take over Professorship of Astronomy there, tbus causing the promot i on of his assistant Arthur Alcock Rambaut a very ta lented old boy of the Roya l Sch ool of Armagh who then became the sixth guardian of Dunsink .

His reign, unfo r tunately, was of sho rt duration.

Aft er

holding the pos t fo r five y ear s he transfer re d t o Radcliffe Observatory at Oxford .

Ball di ed in 1913 and Rambaut in

1923 Charles Jaspe r J ol y , a distinguished Fellow of Trinity, took over Dunsink in 1897 and died there in 1906. ~, next occupant was Edmund Taylor Whit taker, one of the

great mathematici ans of the present century who held th e ~st for six yea r s .

Crozier an

His suc c essor in 1912 was Henry

Plumme r, a ver y live personality and much more of

astronomer

than any of his ei gh t predecessor 5 .

He was

lh1 â&#x20AC;˘on of t he s eni or assist an t at Oxford and had been

14 . trained there .

Upon his arrival a t Dunsink

h e t ri ed t o

,btaiP better equipmen t but wa s v ery di s appoin ted by ' f support in h is efforts t owa r d s t ha t end . 11ck o

I n t he

oille years that he re tain ed t h e office he wa s th e author of maPY astronomical p ap ers .

He re si gned i n 1 921 t o

take up a mathematical po s t at Wool wi ch , 1,h ich he gave up in1940 and died at Oxford fo u r years later . At the date of Plum:ner ' s retirement condit ion s were ,.11 unsettled in the south an d the observatory I s i nc om e

,â&#x20AC;˘icb decreased.

The Dire ct orship lap sed but Charles

M artin , the assistant-astronomer, remained and kept certain services going until his d eath in 1936, from which ,ate the observatory yearly grew more derelict . In 1947, twenty-six years after the resi gnation of

Plummer the last Irish Astronomer Royal, Dunsink was landed over to the School of Cosmic Physics of the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies and Dr. H. A. Bruck, an eilnent astronomer, installed . Once in its history Dun sink supplied Armagh with a director, that wa s in 1882 when John Louis Dreyer who had ~en been an assistant there for four years came north to lllcceed Dr, Ro bi n son .

i1gbt years later, i n 1890, he published a biography or Tycho Brahe Obaer

the preface of which was date d from Armagh

Observatory in September of that year .

--Dreyer who was the t hird - son of Lieut . Ge

Jc F. Dreye r of t he Dan ish Ar

nera1 :ny came to I rel" d t th ' an as astronomer o e Earl of Rosse ; n - 1 874, and in 1878 reached Dunsink He took out British natur alization in 1885, whilst resj_ den t at Armagh, Apart from his monograph on Ty cho Brahe he also eng aged i·n other similar Fo r instance, he was a membe r of studies . a committee organized by the Royal Society and the Roy al Astr onomi cal , •

Society to pr e pa re an editi on of the collected wor ks of Sir William Herschel and accepted the tas k of writing a biographical introducti on for 1-.hich pur pose he wa s entrusted by the He rschel family with a grea t mass of autobi ographi cal memoranda .

The Royal Soci ety also

deposited at Armagh Herschel ' s original observation books and other miscellanea connected with them so that Dreyer At the migh t revise He r schel' s recordin gs on nebulae. he for which m anuscripts 5~e time he was busy on Tycho Bra had been sent acro ss. from the Royal Library at Copenhagen A. Har dcas tle, great Ha was suc ceeded at Armagh by Dr . J . of the plan et Uranus . grandson of Her s chel , the di scover er lean t imes btlt Dunsink , li k e Armagh , ha s had its we have . ng steadil Y• fortuna tely bo t h a r e now pr ogressi st ant worTY f the con O st0 the not dealt in detai l with rY we bave tn and requi s ites , each r egar,din g fi nan ce

23 b . d confined our selves t o a sli gh t survey of Dunsink ~stea and dire ct or s , wi t h occasiona l ref e rences t o its rounder lt:agh .

It is a curious fa ct that bo t h obse r vatori es owe weir origin to two very eligible bachelors .

An drews ,

ooiever, did not have t he p leasur e of seein g his observatory built nor had he any pa rt i n the selection ,r alocation, choice of arch i te ct, or director .

Arch -

bishop Robinson had pe r hap s less nece ssity to conserve Ms wealth.

At anyrate he ha d t he satisfaction of

selecting the ar chitect and the site, s ee ing his observatory oipleted and appointing th e primary astr onomer. The first and second direct ors of each observatory ~rein Holy Orders .

Both observatories are cr edited

uth a ghost and in each case the reputed spirit is said to

~ the second astronomer.

Pe rsonally I have not seen the

illagh ghost nor do I know of any person who has had that IUticuJ.ar eXperience .

I f the spirit is s till around when

~â&#x20AC;˘Planetar ium is built it may prove an additional Âˇtti ' action especially i f by mathemati cal calcul a tions i t I;!

be Zad 8

~ lbat

to appear a t stat e d tim es .

Tr adit ion tells

it has always been a quiet kind of ghost - it has

"111 been

known t o clank ch ains, emit blood-curdling

'or carry

its head in its arms - it walks inst ea d in

ober attire gazing a t t h e heavens and

to anybody .

refusing to tal k

Th e Dunsink gh ost, I am told, behaves in a

similar ag r eeable f a shion. The t h ird astronomers at Dunsink and Arm agh were both addicted t o verse but neither were like ly t o have set the world on fire as poet s.

Wordsworth is credited

with persuading Hamilton tha t there was li t tle li keli ho od of hi s making good in p oetry and t here fo re he had better stick t o science.

Ro bins on evidently found that out

for himself for he c eased to write poetic effusions before he entered Trinity. The fou rth directors at ea ch place were of foreign parenta ge _ a German and a Dane - Brunow at Dunsink and Dreyer at Armagh . ·rectors have so far achi eved Non e of Armagh I s dl. ' superint endents had knighthoods, but two of Dunsinkk s Rowan Hamilton in that honour thrust upon them - William l in 1886. 1835 and Robert Stawell Bal f s the continuity 0 Dunsink does not, however, posses is a blank from 1921 to Armagh. It s list of directors hi new governors P· i. • t passed into d d 11947 in which year i Armagh was in ee "" . the roll here. . l.·n Ireland, •11ere is .no such gap in runctiomng observatorY 1n t hose years the onlY well be proud. a distinction of ;ihich we ma.Y

In the one hundred foundation Dunsink h

and sixty-six 66 x years since its O f eleven d" irectors .

as had a total Ar mag h has been in eXistence for

one years and in that period has one hundred and sixty had only seven one of whom died directors shortly after being appointed, Dunsink ' s record for a director is thirty-six 36 years; Armagh's best effort is fifty-nine 59 years . Dun sink ' s first director was a parson and the second holder of the office took Holy Orders immediately after his nomination.

Such cle rical assistance was an

essential in those days, o th erwise . the astronomership would not have furnished the necessaries of life.

The

same conditions prevailed in Armagh and continued longer. At Dunsink the practice was broken by William Rowan Hamilton, but at Armagh the custom remained and its directors were supplied with church livings down until 1882, in which year Dr. Dreyer became Director.

his resignation in 1916 he was replaced by a layman, Dr . J . A. Hardcastle, who died 10th November, 1917, and was

followed in 1918 by the Rev . Willi am Frederick Archdall Ellison, M. A. , B.D., father of Mervyn Archdall Ellison, now Director of Dunsink - the second old boy of Armagh the important post - who I am sure Royal School to hold mical studies in the ancient astrono sometimes re calls hiS father and his wonderful city just a.s we remember

gift for making difficult

abstrusive subjects

interesting .

Mr . Ellison, as all old memb ers of this Society will know, was given Âˇ charge of the Parish of

Kildarton on comin g to Armagh .

Afterwards he was

honoured with a Prebendship of Armagh Cathed ra, 1 a token of regard th at gave great satisfactiÂˇon to his :nany friends, clerical and otherwise . I would like to again digress for a few moments on the subject of the founders of the two observatories. Archbishop Robinson and the Provost of Trinity were contemporaries and must frequently have met on social and official occasions .

We may assume that the Archbishop ' s

plans for the revival of university status in Armagh had by then become kno,m in Trinity circles, as he built and endowed a justly celebrated Library in 1771 , just three rd year s previou s to Andrews' death - the first step towa s the proposed universi t y . I n 1777 the Archbishop was riased to the peerage as the history of the Baron Rokeby of Armagh, fully aware of d 1 acquainted with ci ty as an early seat of learning an a so of Elizabeth the First , the fact tha t in 1583 in the reign , . founda t ion of universities mad e for the p r oposal s ha d been rurther consider ation , Upon t Armagh an d Li merick. a mo r e conveni ent a d t hat Dublin was h owever, it wa s decide

:u+o situation and thus Trin i ty came into

being in 159 2 , Limerick seems t o h ave accepted the de cision but

in Ar:nagh t he subject cropped up again in 1787 when Thoma s Orde (cr eat ed Baron Bolton 1797) , the then Chief Se cre t ar y , brough t an educational scheme before the Irish Hous e of Commons .

All the pro posals passed except-

in g the clause relating to the foundin g of a second univ e rsi ty,

The on l y opposition arose from Trinity

;.hose r epresentative believed that such an institution in Armagh was likely to dep ri ve Dublin of students from Northern c ounties .

Evidently Trini ty had doubts about

whether some of the huge areas of land i n Ulster that had bee n granted in the rei gn of J ames I towards it s upkeep mi ght n ot be diverted to some extent to an establishment within that Province , Armagh al on e supplying some 2 2,000 a cres. A change of Government took place shortly afterwards resulting in Orde 1 s retirement t h e time being .

It is c1 ear,

so the matter dr opped fo r however, that it was

intended to re-raise the matter, for following Lord d that his will Rokeby , s death in 179 4 it was foun towards the project with a embodied a handsome bequest towards a College Chape l. further legacy t in hiS founded t he Observatory orY He had, of course, of the university in the possibility own lifetime, with intentions were warmlY though hiS his mind btit alas,

supported by Lord Cornwallis they were eventually blocked by the Duke of Po rtland, the then British Prime Hinister, who refused to recom'.li end t he plan to the King . The question was afterwards revived in 1826 by Archbishop Lord J ohn George Beresford but again the cry of possible detriment to Trinity arose . in 1845

Subsequently,

when Queen's Colle ge came into being Be lfast

was chosen though Armagh would indeed have been the more ideal situation . Personally I feel sorry that Archbishop Robinson's plans miscarried .

Had they materialized the founder of

Armagh Observatory would have been responsible for a university as well. Âˇ Âˇ th Dun sink is Yet another interesting connec t ion WJ. ev' s mothe r was the sister of the fact that Provos t Andr , andowner , the Very Rev . John an Armagh clergyman and l C Armagh ' 1765-1770, Averell, D.D., Prebendary of Tynan, o . a considerable property in the head of a fami ly holding builder of a very fine th the city and vicinity a nd e . f .Armachians earlier generations o group of houses known to ted the seven Houses now designa as the Seven Sisters but . of brotherly a memoria 1 the nephew of a a ter r ace that remains as the . ding us that t of TrinitY, affection besides remin t d provos eldest of the seven rector of Tynan was a celebra e the son of t he founder of Dunsink and

Averell sisters, each of whom had a home , nere in this ancient city whose lin k s with Ireland generally are so Pleasing a feature of its heriÂˇtage as ecc 1 esiastical capital. I n conclusion I must apologize for these rather gossipy remarks r egardi n g Ireland ' s two observatories . They are the outcome of a talk with Brigadier Pap worth in which we discussed the affinities and contrasts of the two observatories and are certainly not as compre hensive as they might be, but they do illustrate the old assertion that no matter where we travel in Ireland we will find associations with Armagh should be and long may it continue so.

That is as it

DI Directors

1. Rev . Henry Ussher 1785- 1790 .

1. Rev . J.A. Hamil ton 1790-1815 .

2. Rev . John Brinkl ey 1790- 1826 .

2. Rev .

w. Davenpor t

1815-1823 .

3. William R. Ham ilton 1826 - 186 5. 3 . Rev . T.R. Robinson 1823-1 882. 4. Francis Brunow 1865- 187 4. 4 . J . L. E. Dreyer 1882-1916 . 5. Robert S. Ball 1874-1 89 2. 5. J .A. Hardcastle 1917 . 6, A. R. Rambaut 1892- 1897,

6 . Rev . W. F.A. Ellison 1918- 1936 .

7. Cha rles J. Joly 1897- 1906.

7. E.M. Lindsay 1937 ,

8, E.T . Whittaker 1906- 1912 . 9. H. C. Plummer 1912- 1921 . 10 . H.A. Bruck 1947- 1957 .

11. M.A . Ellison 1955 .,.1963. 12. Dr. P. A. Waym an 1963-