Drawing of Dunsandle tower house from 1791 by aristocrat (and suspected French spy) Charles Etienne Coquebert de Montbret. Newsletter No 13 Autumn 2013 Events - Lectures 2013 Tuesday October 29th. Lecture by Dr Christy Cunniffe, Field Monument Advisor with Galway County Council, entitled; The Funerary Art of East Galway. In The Irish Workhouse Centre, Portumna at 8.30 pm . This lecture will explore the richness of the art found on the gravestones of East Galway. It will demonstrate the variety of the religious and secular iconography employed and explain the religious symbolism behind each of the motifs. The gravestones of East Galway are a rich repository of religious and secular art and once understood each decorated panel can This image of an interesting winged angel head is found b ecome veritable miniature gallery of meaning. on a ledger in Clonfert graveyard. The facial expression Christy Cunniffe has been recording and studying the funer- is very unusual. The eyes appear to be closed perhaps as ary art of East Galway for over twenty years. a reflection on death. Symbols such as these make our Tuesday ovember 28th. graveyards interesting places to visit. If you discover any unusual iconography or have a query about a particular Lecture by Dr Miriam Moffitt, entitled; Clanrickarde’s plant- ers and land agitation in east Galway 1886-1916. In The symbol please contact the editor at [email protected] Irish Workhouse Centre, Portumna at 8.30 pm. Dr Moffitt teaches Church History in St Patrick's College, Drumcondra; St Patrick's College, Maynooth and St Patrick's College, Thurles. Her publications include Clanricarde’s Planters: land agitation in east Galway, 1886-1916 (Dublin: Maynooth Series in Local History, Four Courts Press, 2011); Soupers and Jumpers: the Protestant missions in Connemara, 1848-1937 (Dublin: Nonsuch (Ireland) Ltd, 2008); ‘Protestantism in Mayo in the twentieth century’ in William Nolan and Gerard Moran (eds.), Mayo, History and Society (Dublin: Geography Publications, forthcoming [October 2013]); ‘Protestant tenant farmers and the land league’ in Decorated kerb stone at ewgrange. Carla King and Conor McNamara (eds.), The West of Ire- ew Members: If you know someone that might like to be- land: ew Perspectives on the ineteenth Century (Dublin: come a member of SEGAHS, or is visiting the area and may The History Press, 2011); ‘The conversion of Connemara: the wish to attend our events, please invite them along. Membership Fee: The annual society membership fee is €20. conflict between Paul Cullen and John MacHale’ in Daire This can be paid to the society treasurer Michael Ward or as- Keogh and Albert McDonnell (eds.), Cardinal Paul Cullen sistant treasurer Pat Madden. and his world (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2010). Articles: If you have a short article, note, or query of heritage interest that you would like to share with members of the soci- Miriam Moffitt has studied history at NUI Maynooth, Uni- ety, we will be happy to publish it here in our newsletter. If versity of Wales Lampeter, University of Nottingham and you wish to have your article included you can do so by Queens University Belfast. emailing it to the editor [email protected] The capturing of the Kellymount Gang at Woodford Steve Dolan As documented in our previous issues, the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw, at times, a sense of lawlessness with various out- laws and bandits sporadically committing robberies and sometimes worse crimes, including murder. One of the most famous groups of outlaws in eighteenth century Ireland were a band of highwaymen and robbers known as the Kellymount gang (from Co Kilkenny). Led by Lawrence Brennan, this band of 20-30 outlaws were responsible for countless daring robberies in Kilkenny and its various surround- ing counties in the late 1730’s. Their ‘end’, unsurprisingly, was a bloody one! The gang had been raiding various houses and farms in north Tipperary in August 1740 when they were challenged unexpectedly by a posse of local gentry. In an effort to avoid capture, the gang split-up. The posse were undeterred however, and in an extraordinary chase they were relentlessly pursued into south-east Galway. The following article from the ‘Universal Spectator and Weekly Journal’ captures the drama of the gang’s final stand and capture following a shoot-out in Woodford. ’ Highwaymen’ from http://www.criminals.lt/list.php?c=17english The newspapers celebrated the capture of the men as being the ‘breaking’ of the gang and clearing the way (of Highwaymen) for travel- lers; as well as lamenting the death of Otway. While Brennan’s wounds were initially ‘not thought to be mortal’, one is left to guess at the level of care he received as after being taken to Clonmel prison he soon died from his wounds. Little mercy was shown to the others when captured. For example, when Darcy was captured he was tried and hanged; following which his head was put on display at the courthouse. ‘Zero tolerance’ indeed! References: Universal Spectator and Weekly Journal, 20th September 1740, 624. Madden, R. R. 1867. The History of Irish Periodical Literature from the end of the 17th Century to the middle of the 19th (T C Newby, London). Fr Joseph Corcoran (1850 – 1919) and Fr Dermot Corcoran (1911 – 1979). By Gerard Corcoran Fr Joseph Corcoran was born in 1850 in Cloonshease House and came to Portumna in 1886 having spent the first four months of his priesthood in the parish of Lusmagh. He spent the rest of his life in the parish of Portumna becoming Parish Priest in 1889. He rarely left the Parish except to attend the annual Maynooth reunion, a pilgrimage to Lourdes and a visit to Rome in 1903. On his return from there Dr Healy appointed him vicar general of the Diocese. Fr Joseph Corcoran Extract from the Connacht Tribune In the second half of the nineteenth century the dead of the poor and the destitute of the parish were being buried in Cal- vary Cemetery. There was reluctance on behalf of some of the people of Portumna to have their dead interred there. Fr Corcoran on becoming aware of this, declared that he himself wished to be buried in Calvary and encouraged his parish- ioners to bury their dead there also. This was enough to have the desired effect. In 1907 he was chairman of the national demonstration in Portumna at which John Redmond spoke, to highlight the evictions on the Clanrickarde estate and also chaired another meeting in 1911 at which John Dillon was the guest speaker. It was a great source of joy to Fr. Corcoran to have lived to see the dispossessed tenants reinstated to their hold- ings. He was involved in setting up the Electrical Light System for the town of Portumna but had passed from this life before it became operational. He died on December 3rd 1919 and was laid to rest as requested in Calvary Cemetery where his parishioners erected a carved statue of his patron “St Joseph” in his honour. It is said that he was instrumental in making the match between his brother Stephen in Cloonshease and Bridget Walsh in Ballymacegan. He also helped restore Cloonshease house adding a second story and new entrance. Tribute from the people of Portumna Article extract from the Connacht Tribune Fr Dermot Corcoran Redwood Castle Fr Dermot Corcoran born in Ballymacegan, Lorrha, Co. Tipperary (son of Stephen, nephew of Fr Joseph Corcoran of Portumna) studied for the priesthood at the Carmelite Novitiate in Loughrea and St Kieran’s College Kilkenny on leaving secondary school. He was ordained a priest in 1937 and served his entire ministry in England working in Stoke-on Trent, Tipton, Sellyoak, Stowerbridge and finally as Parish Priest of Stechford in Birmingham. He re- tired in 1977. Despite his many years living away, Fr Dermot never lost his love for Ballymacegan and made trips home at least twice a year. His two great passions, outside of his priestly duties, were hurling and the local history of Ballymacegan and Redwood. He was a generous sponsor of the Lorrha Hurling Club and never missed an All- Ireland Hurling Final. His involvement in local history was well known and he had a particular interest in Red- wood Castle and it’s famous school of Law and Learning. One of it’s pupils was Brother Michael O’Cleary who studied there in 1636 and later became the chief of the Four Masters who compiled the Annals of the History of Ireland. Some years ago, Fr Dermot wrote a Lament of that period and a framed copy of it is displayed in Redwood Castle. *** Gerard Corcoran the author of this article was instrumental in organising a homecoming of twenty members of the Clonfert Corcoran clan and their extended family from Minnesota for “The Gathering”. The Corcoran group were treated to a Week of Welcomes in August from their Irish cousins in the parishes of Rathcabbin, Lorrha, Portumna, Eyrecourt, Clonfert, Meelick and further afield. Bill Corcoran the patriarch of the clan in the US was the focus of a TV documentary filmed for TG4 by ‘Red Pepper Productions’. The documentary is due to be broadcast on TG4 in the late autumn. Bills ancestor Michael Corcoran left Clonfert in 1844 just at the onset of the Famine. The Cor- coran ancestral burial place is in Clonfert graveyard. It is one of the places of special family significance that Bill and his family were taken to. All the Corcoran families involved can trace their common ancestry back to Hugh Corcoran of Clonfert. The inscription on his headstone reads: Erected by Thos Corcoran in memory of his Father Hugh Corcoran who died Novbr 25th 1768 aged 50 yrs.