GREENBOYS

1828 saw considerable unrest in Ireland. Daniel O Connell, member of Parliament for Clare, was at the height of his power and influence. After the Act of Union in 1801, Catholics had expected that Emancipation would soon follow. They had been promised that the last of the Penal Laws, which prevented Catholics from becoming Members of Parliament would be abolished, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that the English Government, particularly the House of Lords, and George III had no intention of yielding to the growing demands for Emancipation and civil and religious liberty.. In 1823, Daniel O' Connell formed the Catholic Association ,which organised great open-air meetings and marches with the aim of forcing the Government to grant Catholic Emancipitation.’ On Sunday, September 21 st. 1828, a huge crowd of men and women from Tipperary, Kilkenny, Laois and parts of Offaly, met and paraded through the town of Roscrea decorated with green hats, sashes and ribbons. Before they dispersed, these “Green Boys” and “Green Girls”, decided that on the following Sunday, they would hold a monster meeting at Shinrone ‘famous for its uncompromising Orange and anti-Catholic feelings (Cooke Page 113) They hoped to demonstrate to the Orangemen there, the resolve of the people of North Tipperary, Offaly and the surrounding counties to secure their legitimate rights and prove what an united determined force could accomplish. ‘In the late 18th. and 19th. centuries relations between Catholics and Protestants in the Killaloe diocese were generally non-contentious , apart from the strong Orange area in the neighbourhood of Shinrone’ (The Diocese of Killaloe in the 18th. Cent Ig. Murphy See Page 228) Shinrone in 1828 ‘was a perfect hotbed of rampant Orangeism.’ As a result of extensive settlements after the Jacobite and Cromwellian wars making it one of the few Protestant towns in the Midlands. In the diocese of Killaloe, Cloughjordan at 38% had the highest percentage of Protestants per head of population, and the second largest was Shinrone at29%. (The Diocese of KiLLaloe in the 18th. Century Page 160) There were a number of Orange Lodges in the town and the Yeomen had a large store of arms and ammunition at their disposal. Each year they triumphantly and provocatively celebrated July 1st.(Boyne) July 12th.(Aughrim) and November 5th.(Gunpowder plot) with marching, flaunting banners, noisy processions and rabble rousing speeches. It was the custom to fly the Orange flag from Cloughmoyle Castle at the southern end of Shinrone to commerate these occasions.. ‘Into this citadel of bigotry the “Greenboys boldly and openly proclaimed their intention to march.’ (Cooke ??) All during the week prior to the 28th., couriers were riding to and fro to organise the marchers who were to converge on Shinrone. It was planned that the people of central Offaly were to march through Birr, and join up with the inhabitants of that town and the surrounding parishes before proceeding to Shinrone. The Co. Galway Green Boys were to advance to Portumna, then join with those from Borrisokane, and later were to merge with the main body before entering Shinrone. Cloughjordan was to be the meeting point for the marchers from Cashel, Thurles, Borrisoleigh and Toomevara. The Green Boys from Co. Kilkenny, Laois and North East Tipperary were to join with the Roscrea men.(Cooks Hist of Birr, P. 197) The Orangemen of Shinrone, were determined that the Greenboys would be met with the strongest resistance possible and they began fortifying their houses by barricading the lower windows and doors, and removing sashes from the upper windows in order to make fuses for their muskets. Additional arms and help obtained from neighbouring Orange Lodges and thousands of bullets were made.(Cooke Page 194) The Catholic Association, feared serious bloodshed would result if the march was to proceed, and called for it to be stopped, as did seven priests from the area who met at Roscrea and begged the people not to meet at Shinrone. The appeals, were ignored, including one from John Spain P.P. of Borrisokane to his parishioners. On Thursday A.R. Blake, the Roman Catholic Commissioner of Education in Dublin Castle, wrote to Fr. Kennedy P.P. of Birr, asking him to use his influence to stop the march on Shinrone and save the village from bloodshed and slaughter. (The diocese of Killaloe Page 87) Fr. Kennedy (1826 - 1835), who was later to become Bishop of Killaloe, realized that no time was to be lost if a blood-bath was to be avoided. On Saturday, 27th, he and Mr. Thomas Lalor Cooke, hurriedly called a meeting at the old chapel in Birr, at which they stressed the terrible consequences that would inevitably follow from a confrontation with the military and entrenched Orangemen in Shinrone. Reluctantly, the people of Birr agreed not to march to Shinrone. and agreed to dissuade the other contingents from surrounding parishes. Leaving Birr that Saturday night the two peacemakers rode to Roscrea and succeeded in persuading the Parish Priest, Very Rev. James O' Shaughnessy, and other prominent people to stop the march. Late though it was the public bell-man was sent through the town to call the people to a meeting at the old chapel , now the Legion of Mary Hall, a silent and sullen crowd listened to the two speakers while they tried to convince them of the danger and futility of marching to Shinrone the next day. Eventually, and very reluctantly, the Roscrea men agreed not to march and to intercept and send home all strangers intent on coming to Shinrone. They also succeeded in stopping 1000 Green Boys, mounted on horses, who had traveled throughout the night, from Galmoy in Co. Kilkenny. At dawn the following morning Fr4. Kennedy and Mr. Cooke rode to Dunkerrin, where they met, and persuaded Fr, Anthony Nolan and his curate, to keep their parishioners at home. They then proceeded to Moneygall, and from there to Grawn, a short distance outside Cloughjordan. Here, about 2,000 from Cashel, Thurles, Borriso;eigh and North Tipprrary had assembled outside the church. They met the old Parish Priest, Fr. Dunne in his thatched cabin beside the church and told him of their mission. The pair entered the church, and pleaded with the crowd from the altar. It was only when they appealed to the women present, to persuade their menfolk to turn back, that they were successful. The women, we are told, tore the emblems from the hats and coats of the men, and tearfully urged them to remain at home. The Borrisokane contingents had been joined by the Portumna Green Boys, in all numbering over 2,500. They had already set out for Shinrone. Fr. Kennedy and Mr. Cooke were driven at breakneck speed in a carriage towards Shinrone where they intercepted the last of the marchers at Kemmy’s Cross about a mile from the town. The marchers were reluctant to halt and listen, especially as they could see the red ensign which floated from Cloughmoyle Castle, and which they mistook for the hated Orange flag. Eventually the angry marchers were persuaded to turn back.. Meanwhile Shinrone was in a state of siege. On Saturday the 27th. the Duke of Wellington, First Lord of the Treasury, (Prime Minister of Britain) and the Marquis of Anglesea, who was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, sent a dispatch to Lord Oxmantown, later Lord Ross, ordering him to take a force of military and police and to resist by force if necessary the march of the Green Boys on Shinrone. Lord Rosse, arrived at the head a large police force, horse and foot-soldiers and two regiments of infantry. One of these regiments entrenched itself in an empty brewery that stood in a large yard enclosed by a high wall near the “Towns River.” This position commanded the bridge.(Cooke Page 203) The military were supported by a force of 200 or 300 infantry police and about 120 police cavalry. The old castle on Oldham’s hill (Cloughmoyle) overlooking the approach roads from Ballingary and Cloughjordan was also occupied by the military. The second regiment of military was stationed on a hill overlooking Sharavogue Bridge, in case they were needed to cover a retreat, or to advance as occasion might require (Tipperary Vindicator Sat. JSN. 18 1845) Dr. Aquilla Smith, whose aunt Pricilla was a daughter of Amos Palmer Doolan of Derry House, was in Shinrone on the Sunday of the attempted invasion says. "The sashes were taken out of large houses, which were occupied by John Smith, and the opposite by Joshua Dancer, and the flag of the Orange Order was suspended from a rope across the street", This same flag bore insulting inscriptions but Lord Oxmantown ,on the advice of his uncle, Colonel Lloyd, insisted on it being lowered otherwise he stated he would leave the inhabitants to whatever fate awaited them. Though marches on Shinrone had come to an end, the drama in the town was not yet over. As Fr. Hourrigan P.P. was saying Mass in the chapel, the tramp of marching feet was heard. As it happened it was a company of soldiers on their way to their positions. Someone in the congregation cried out "The Orangemen are coming to kill us all", and wild panic followed. In the rush for the doors, many were trampled underfoot. People plunged headlong through the windows carrying glass and sashes with them. It took quite a while to restore order, but fortunately nobody was seriously hurt. One can well imagine what would have happened had a single shot been fired , on that fateful morning. On that eventful Sunday of September 28, 1828, the Orangemen of Shinrone remained quietly at home. Never afterwards did the Orangemen of the village celebrate the victories of the Boyne and Aughrim nor the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot. Cooke tells us, that the Earl of Ross was informed by the Duke of Wellington, that the march of the Greenboys and its peaceful ending was one the the chief causes that influenced him in accelerating the passing of Catholic Emancipation which was granted in the following year 1829.(Gleeson Page )Whether this is true or not , there can be no doubt, that due to the heroic efforts of Very Rev. Patrick Kennedy and Thomas Cooke, Shinrone was spared from a bloody confrontation and conflict on the Sunday of January the 21st 1828. (Cooke Page 207)

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