Culturaland Social History 2004; 1: 36–64

TheCarrickshock Incident, 1831:Social Memory and an Irish cause ce´le`bre1 Gary Owens Huron University College, University of Western Ontario

This article examines the waysthat aviolent incident in Irish history has been rememberedand interpreted overthe past 170 years.The event occurred on anisolated roadin south Kilkenny in December 1831 when anarmedpolice column clashed with alargecrowd, resulting in the deaths of 17 people. Unlike most incidents of this kind, the majorityof the victims (13) were constables. The uniqueness of the occurrence madeit a cause ce´le`bre at the time and has helped to perpetuate its memoryin the locality eversince. As with larger,more familiar sites of memory,successive generations of local people have rememberedthe incident in variousways since the earlynine- teenth century. Their objects of remembranceand their understanding of the event have alsoshifted dramaticallyover time, suggesting that the process ofcollective memoryat the microlevel can beasvariedand complex ason the national stage. Culturaland Social History 2004; 1: 36–64

Though people would laterdescribe theevent as a ‘battle’, itbore littleresemblance toaset-piecemilitary encounter.Unanticipated and unorganized, itwas notable mainly for itsconfusion, its shapelessness andits stark brutality. ‘Abrief butdesperate deed of blood’was how ajournalist describedit when he visited the scene of theencounter a fewhours afterward. 2 Ithappened in acorner of thebarren townlandknown asCarrick- shock (carriag-seabhac ,‘thehawk’ s rock’) in southKilkenny around

Addressfor correspondence: GaryOwens, HuronUniversity College,University ofWestern Ontario, 1349Western Road, London,Ontario, N6G1H3, Canada. E-mail:[email protected] 1 This isan expandedversion of the ConnellLecture delivered at the 2002meeting of the Economicand SocialHistory Society of Irelandat Mary ImmaculateCollege, University ofLimerick.It, inturn, originatedin apaperthat was part ofthe Celtic StudiesLecture Series at St Michael’s College,University ofToronto, in October 2001.I wishto thank HelenaIrish, JohnGaule and Pat Gaule– natives of Hugginstown, Co.Kilkenny – forsupplying me with importantpieces of local information.Dr Guy Beiner and DrGillian Smith read initial drafts ofthe paperand Iamgrateful for their helpful comments. 2 Kilkenny Journal ,17Dec 1831, as citedin The Times,20Dec 1831.

Ó The SocialHistory Society 2004 10.1191/1478003804cs0004oa TheCarrickshock Incident, 1831 37 mid-dayon Wednesday,14 December 1831, atthe height of thetithe war. Thirty-eight armedconstables were guardinga hiredagent, or processserver, ashedelivered legal summonsesto tithedefaulters: that is, people –mostly Catholics –who hadnot paid the taxes levied upon themto supportthe local Churchof Irelandparson. Called outby the ringing of chapelbells, acrowd of more thana thousandmen, women andchildren surrounded the police asthey moved along aroad between thevillages of Hugginstownand Ballyhale. They wantedthe processserver, alocal mannamed Edmund Butler, whom they intendedto punishby forcing himto hisknees, beating himand mak- ing himeat his summonses. ‘ Give usButler!’they yelled repeatedlyto theconstables, ‘We’ll have Butleror blood!’The manin chargeof the column,Captain James Gibbons, amiddle-agedveteran of theNapo- leonic Wars who hadfought at Waterloo andwas a constabulary ofŽcer of six years’standing, doggedly refused. People andpolice soon foundthemselves squeezed tightly together in anarrow lane, or boreen, thatwas enclosed on both sidesby high stonewalls. The swelling crowd pressedin on theconstables, making movement in any directionimpossible. Suddenly,a young manlunged in among thepolice, grabbed theprocess server by hiscoat and tried topullhim toward the outside. A constable yankedButler back. Then, withoutwarning, someone hurleda Žst-sizedrock thatslammed into Butler’s skull. Hepitchedforward anddropped among thelegs of the constables, hispapers  ying about him. CaptainGibbons, astridehis horse atthe rear of thecolumn, shouted the order to Žre. Ahandful of constablesgot offrounds, but because they were packedtogether sodensely in theconstricted boreen, none couldtake proper aim, let alone reload. Withthat, people began to wrenchheavy rocks from thewalls and heave themdown uponthe constables. ‘The stoneshit each other [in theair] they were so thick’, recalledone who wasthere, ‘ theywere like ashower’. Othersattacked the police withpitchforks, clubs, hur- ling sticksand their bare hands.Minutes later, 13 constables– includ- ing CaptainGibbons –andthe process server EdmundButler lay dead or dying, mostfrom shatteredskulls andappalling stab wounds. Another 14 ofŽcers suffered severe injuries; only 11 of the38 came away unharmedor withminor scrapes.Of thecrowd, threewere killed andan unknown number injured. 3 Although clashesbetween armedauthorities and groups of civilians were depressingly familiar eventsin pre-famineIreland, this brief encounterseems to standapart from mostof theothers. Besidesthe extentof itscarnage – 17 deadand scores badly injuredin thespace of afewminutes – itis remarkable chiey becauseof who itsvictims

3 This descriptionof the incidentis basedmainly upon the depositionsof surviving constablesfound in the NationalArchives of Ireland, Chief Secretary’ s OfŽce, RegisteredPapers (hereafter NAI, CSO,RP), 1831,K-25.

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) 38Gary Owens were. Unlike other encountersof thiskind in whichcrowds usually bore thebrunt of theviolence, mostof thecasualties at Carrickshock were policemen. Whatwas more, theirattackers did not use Ž rearms. Nevertheless, theCarrickshock incidentis nota prominentevent in Irish history. For one thing,it lacked some of thefamiliar prerequisites: contemporaries recordedno actsof uncommonbravery; no stirring words spoken before, during,or afterthe Ž ghting;no participants boasting thatthey had won amemorable victory. Nor didthe incident have momentousconsequences: it did not bring about theabolition of tithesor even changethe way thatthey were collected.It is not surprising, therefore, thatin mostgeneral histories of nineteenth- centuryIreland the affair is literally afootnote, ifit is mentionedat all. Butto people in thelocality ithas always been muchmore thana footnote. Itwas when History witha capital‘ H’cameto theirneigh- bourhood; whensomething extraordinary happenedthat set their communityapart from other places.For more thana centuryand a half,they and others would interpretthe incident through poems, songs, pamphlets,paintings, sculpture, novels, speeches,rumours, pub- lic demonstrations,folk tales,commemorative monumentsand yards uponyards of newsprint.These were themeans by whichpeople tried to makesense of whathappened in thatmuddy laneway on that December morning andto communicateit to others. They were expressions of collective remembering, whathas come to be called ‘social memory’. The ways thatsocieties remember theirpasts have become asubject of intensescholarly interestof late,particularly among historians of France, Britain, Russiaand the United States. 4 The impactof this phenomenonupon Irish historiography canbe gaugedin ahostof recentstudies that have examinedhow latergenerations constructed andutilized some of thecountry’ s more prominentsites of memory – thesiege of Derry, the1798 rebellion, thegreat famine, the 1916 rising chiefamong them.Without exception, they have shown how ‘Big Events’drift in andout of publicconsciousness over timeand are inter- pretedaccording to thechanging needs, preoccupations and percep- tions of successivegenerations. Their researchsuggests, in other words, how some dominantsites of memory have worked in anIrish context. 5 Buthow have less conspicuousevents such as Carrickshock been popularly imaginedand portrayed? How have people in small, some-

4 Oneobserver even suggests that akindof ‘memoryindustry’ now sets the agendafor historicalscholarship. Kerwin Lee Klein, ‘ On the Emergenceof Memory inHistorical Discourse’, Representations ,69(2000) pp. 127–50. 5 Seeespecially Ian McBride(ed.), Historyand Memory inModern Ireland (Cambridge University Press,Cambridge, 2001), and TheSiege of Derry inUlsterProtestant Mythology (FourCourts, Dublin, 1997); KevinWhelan, ‘’98After ’98: ThePolitics of Memory’ inKevinWhelan, TheTree of Liberty: Radicalism, Catholicism and the Construction of Irish Identity,1760– 1830 (CorkUniversity Press,Cork, 1996) pp. 133–75; JamesS. DonnellyJr, TheGreat Irish Potato Famine (Sutton, Gloucester,2001); and Ma ´/r´/n n´/ Dhonnchadhand TheoDorgan (eds), Revisingthe Rising (FieldDay, Derry,1991).

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) TheCarrickshock Incident, 1831 39 timesremote localities depictedand commemorated incidents that theyperceived as notable? How didtheir expressions of remembrance differfrom thoseof people living outsidethe community who rep- resentedwhat might be calledthe hegemonic or nationalinterpret- ationof theevent? How, ifat all, didimages of extraordinary occasions in alocality’s pastchange over time?Such questions are more easily askedthan answered because, despite burgeoning interestin thecon- structionof memory generally, Irish historians have barely begun to examine how theprocess operated at themicro level. 6 The paperthat follows is intendedas a preliminary steptoward that end. It is partof awork in progress thatuses a single eventin asmall community– theCarrickshock incident– toexplore wider issuesof memory, public violence andpolitical culture.

I

Inthe same way thatcertain ideas about themore famoustriumphs anddisasters in Irish history formedthemselves around poetry and song, nationalistcommemorations of Carrickshock began almost immediately withwritten verses. The incidentinspired no fewerthan six contemporary poemsand ballads, all of themcomposed in thedays andweeks immediately following theincident. 7 Oneof them,a lugubrious verse entitled‘ The Moor of Carrig-shock’, appearedin two liberal newspapersduring the Ž rstweeks of 1832 andwas apparently never reprinted. 8 Two others were thework of SeamusO ´ Cathail (d. 1832) of Killamory, alocal hedge-school teacher.Written in Irish, O ´ Cathail’s poemscirculated orally or in handwrittenform prior totheir publicationin thetwentieth century. 9 Three other ballads – CarrickshockVictory (also known as Slieve na Mon and TheDownfall of Tithes ),by anotherhedge-school teacher,Watt

6 Anotableexception is GuyBeiner’ s importantstudy ofthe socialmemory of the 1798rebellion in Connacht: ‘ToSpeak of ’98: TheSocial Memory and Vernacular Historiographyof Bliainna bfFrancach ’,unpublishedPhD thesis, University College, Dublin,2001. 7 Twoadditional ballads concerning Carrickshock are said to date from the 1830s,but Ihave beenunable to verify their existence prior to the twentieth century. They are: ‘YeGallant Sonsof This Irish Nation’, University College,Dublin, Department of Irish Folklore,Irish FolkloreCommission (hereafter IFC), Main collectionMS 1660, p. 109;and ‘AllYou Who LoveHonour and Glory’in E.V. Drea, Carrickshock:A Historyof the Tithe Times (Munster Express,Waterford, 1925;1928) p. 44. 8 Thepoem’ s labouredimagery and melodramatictone are epitomized in its opening lines:‘ LoneCarrig-shock! Thy desolatedeŽ le/ Sorecently be-dew’ d with human blood/That thy rank weedshave rankergrown the while/Sincelife’ s owncrimson tidedid o’ erthee  ood’. The Comet,19Feb 1832; Kilkenny Journal ,22Feb 1832. 9 Seamus O´ Cathail, ‘CarriagSeac’ [Carrickshock], E´igse:A Journalof Irish Studies , 1, 1 (1939) pp. 265–80, and ‘CarriagSeac’ and ‘O ´/chena dTineCna ´mh’(‘ Night ofthe BonŽres’ ) inDa´ithi O´ hO´ ga´in, DuanaireOsra ´/och:cnuasach d’ fhil ´/ochtna ndaoine o´ Cho. ChillChainnigh (An Clo´chomhar,Dublin, 1980) pp. 42–4.

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) 40Gary Owens

Murphyof Mooncoin, 10 andthe anonymous ANewSong Calledthe Battle of Carrickshock 11 and Kean’s Farewellto Ireland 12 –were publishedas pennybroadsheets. Their popularitywas considerable: more thana half-dozencopies of CarrickshockVictory alone are scatteredamong the so-called‘ outragepapers’ in theNational Archives of Ireland,a good indicationthat it was in heavy demand(and that Dublin Castle con- sideredit dangerous). 13 The appealof theseballads wasdue in large measureto theways thatthey mirrored plebeian tastes,conventions andattitudes. In sodoing, theygave initial shapeto thecollective Cath- olic memory of theevent. Oneof thedistinguishing features of thepopular ballads is their earthyimagery andtheir allusions to speciŽc placesand individuals, especially thedead and wounded constables. An entirestanza in O ´ Cathail’s CarriagSeac liststhe villages where thepolicemen were stationed;another describes whathappened to certainof themduring theŽ ghting: Bh´/ Baxter ann s´/nte Prescott agus Eagan, Is fear na citations a tre´igean a tsno´ Budds –ancneamhaire – gur sa´thadh e´ le bayonet – Is le ha´thas sce´il seo b´/midne ag-o´l! (Prostratethere lay [Constables] Baxter, Prescott and Egan, Andthe man of the citations [i.e., EdmundButler, the process server], how changedhis countenance, 14 And[Constable] Budds –thelittle knave –fell ’neatha bayonet – Inthe joy of suchtidings, let us be drinking!) 15 Besidestheir speciŽ city, the broadsheets revel in theviolence andcar- nageof theevent. One ballad describes thedead and wounded police- menas ‘ yellow, greasy’; 1 6 anotherdepicts them ‘ weltering in black

10 NAI, CSO,RP, 1832/1063,1310, 1500, 2267, C/ 1431,L1572; 1844, 27/ 13449.It can alsobe found in GeorgesDenis Zimmermann, Songs ofIrish Rebellion: Irish Political andStreet Ballads and Rebel Songs,1780– 1900 ,2ndedn (Four Courts, Dublin, 2002) pp. 206–8. On Watt Murphy, seeT. Ryan, Mooncoin,1750– 1975 ,part 1(n.p., Mooncoin,1975) pp. 15–16. 11 NAI, CSO,RP, 1832/233; The Times,13March 1832. 12 NAI, CSO,RP, 1832/950.William Keane (Kean orKane) was alocalhedge-school teacherwho was accusedof beinga ringleaderin the incident. 13 Theballad remained popular for decades. Douglas Hyde heard it duringa visit to the United States inthe 1890sand an oralversion was stillin circulationin Ireland around1900. Douglas Hyde, ReligiousSongs ofConnacht (T. FisherUnwin; M.H. Gill, Londonand Dublin,1896) vol. 1, p. 255n.; TheIrish Book Lover ,31(June 1949) pp. 26–7. Seealso NAI, CSO,RP, 1844,27/ 13449; CorkConstitution ,3July1836; Maura Cronin,‘ Memory,Story and Balladry:1798 and its Placein PopularMemory in Pre- FamineIreland’ in Laurence M. Geary(ed.), Rebellionand Remembrance in Modern Ireland (FourCourts, Dublin, 2001) pp. 129–30. 14 Butlersuffered three fractures to his lowerjaw and acrushedskull. Waterford Chronicle,17Dec 1831. 15 O´ Cathail, ‘CarriagSeac’ in O ´ hO´ ga´in, DuanaireOsra ´/och,p. 43, and translation in E´igse,p. 272.Constables William Budds, ThomasEgan and JohnPrescott were killed. Noone named Baxter is listedamong the casualties. NAI, CSO,RP, 1831,K-25. 16 O´ Cathail, ‘CarriagSeac’ , E´igse, p. 271.

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) TheCarrickshock Incident, 1831 41 gore’.17 They also celebrate themutilation of theconstables’ bodies, asin thispassage from thepopular CarrickshockVictory : They hadthe rabble along before them, Like wolves opposing theShepherd’ s ock. ’Till in death’s cold agonies theyleft them groaning, Inthe boreheen of Carrickshock. Who coulddesire to seebetter sporting, To seethem groping among therocks. Their skulls all fracturedand eye-balls broken, Their Žnelong noses andears cut off. ANewSong Calledthe Battle of Carrickshock ,setto thepopular tune St Patrick’s Day ,describes how: Whenthe boys sallied roundas they came to theground, Andfrightened those hounds with their bawling, Buta crackin theCrown soon brought Butlerdown, Andthe process server for deathwas left sprawling. The Captainordered Žre whenhe saw him in themire, The conict became most alarming, Buta blow on thejowl soon brought himdown, Before Patrick’s dayin themorning. Thenthe Peelers didfall, withoutmurmur or bawl, Thentheir guns and their bayonets were shattered, How sadwas their case, when their eyes, nose andface, Whentheir lives andŽ relocks were battered. Verses of thiskind exemplify whatis perhapsthe most conspicuous featureof thecontemporary ballads: theirvengeful and triumphalist tone.All of themrepresent Carrickshock asA Good Thing; acrucial victory for ‘Us’against ‘ Them’, asuresign of theimminent destruction of Protestantismand the restoration of theland to itsrightful owners. WattMurphy’ s ballad CarrickshockVictory recalls thepredictions of Prot- estantannihilation in 1825 thathad been foretold in theso-called ‘Pas- torini prophesies’that swept through the region adecadeearlier. 18 These now becamelinked to theevents at Carrickshock andto the betterdays that would surely follow: We heardthe text of thedivine sages, Thatwhen the date of theyear is gone, Thatone trueCatholic withouta weapon Would banish legions from Slievenamon. %

17 Kean’s Farewellto Ireland ,NAI, CSO,RP, 1832/950. 18 SeeJames S. DonnellyJr, ‘Pastoriniand Captain Rock:Millenarianism and Sectarianismin the RockiteMovement of 1821–4’ in SamuelClark and JamesS. DonnellyJr (eds), IrishPeasants: Violence and Political Unrest, 1780– 1914 (Manchester University Press,Manchester, 1983)pp. 102–39.

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) 42Gary Owens

Whenthis brave victory we consummated Saddespair did the traitors brand We are truesons of brave milesians Andlawful heirs untoPaddy’ s land Ourcries shall pursuethrough the purest region The powers of fatecannot annoy our throng We will shoutfor joys of congratulation Rise alaugh, chreehe geal ,on slieve namon! 19 The triumphalismthat distinguishes the Carrickshock ballads also featuredin various public gatheringsduring 1832 and1833 thatcom- memoratedthe event. The mostspectacular of thesewas a massive assembly in July 1832 nearthe village of Ballyhale –literally within sightand sound of Carrickshock amile anda halfaway. This wasthe largestand most colourful in aseries of massmeetings organized in southKilkenny andparts of Munsterthat summer to protestagainst excessive tithes.Reportedly numbering 200000 people, manyof them having travelled upto 25 miles from fourcounties and ‘ arranged undertheir respective [local] banners’ , itwas unquestionably themost imposing gatheringto be heldin theregion prior to Daniel O’Con- nell’s famous‘ monstermeetings’ of the1840s. 20 Butthe Ballyhale meetingwas not simply about tithes.It was also intendedto commemorate theCarrickshock incidentseven months earlier. This wasevident in thedeliberate choiceof ameetingplace almoston topof thebattle site, as well asin manyof thevisual refer- encesthat were on display. Typical wasa delegation of thousandsfrom thePiltown areawho marchedonto themeeting ground behind an immensebanner thatcaricatured the Revd HansHamilton, the Churchof Irelandminister whose tithedemands had sparked the Car- rickshock encounter.The paintedcanvas, a modiŽcation of acartoon thathad appeared a fewmonths earlier in theanti-tithe publication TheParson’ s Horn-Book ,portrayed himsitting astride a crippledhorse andwhipping an emaciatedfamily who struggledto supporta bloated Churchof Irelandparson on theirshoulders. 21 Some 700 horsemen anda brass bandaccompanied another group of several thousandon foot from parishesnear Waterford who proudly displayeda large cofŽn drapedwith a banner reading:

19 NAI, CSO,RP, 1832/2267.Slievenamon is amountain, roughly15 kilometres from Carrickshock,that dominatesthe landscapeof south-west Kilkennyand south-east Tipperary.It has richassociations in nationalist history and mythology.See, for example,Sea ´nNugent(ed.), Slievenamonin Story andSong: AnAnthology (Sea´n Nugent, Kilsheelan,n.d.). 20 The Times,14July 1832; WaterfordChronicle ,10July 1832; Kilkenny Journal , 11 July 1832. 21 Anon., TheParson’ s Horn-Book (The Comet,Dublin, 1831), illustrationfacing p. 6.

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) TheCarrickshock Incident, 1831 43

tithes The frightfulsource of misery andbloodshed! Diedon theever-memorable 14thof December, 1831 [i.e., at Carrickshock] Requiescatin pace– Amen Those who walked behind thecofŽ n pretendedto be mourners, keen- ing withmock solemnity, wrote The Times’scorrespondentwho wit- nessedthe scene, everyone joining in chorus,‘ “Arra, why didyou die? Wurristru!O Wurristru!”and shouting in triumphantglee!’ 22 Later on, orators madepointed references to thekilling of theconstables, while people in theaudienceinterrupted them from timeto timewith shouts of ‘Carrickshock!’23 The mammothmeeting at Ballyhale also served anotherpurpose directly relatedto theevents at Carrickshock. Itwas obviously timed toinuence the outcome of theimpendingtrial in Kilkenny of 18 men chargedwith the killings andwas but one partof awell-organized and determinedcampaign to sway theopinions of jurors. We cannever know theextent to whichthe members of thejuries were intimidated by theimage of theirtenants and neighbours massingin thetens of thousandsa stone’s throw from Carrickshock on theeve of thetrial. We know only thata fortnightlater they voted to acquitthree of the defendants,before theCrown withdrewits case against them all. 24 News of theirverdict, in turn,touched off jubilant public demon- strationsacross theregion. Onthe evening of theacquittals, HumphreyO’ Sullivan in nearby Callan recordedin hisdiary: There are thousandsof bonŽres on our Irish hills all around,as far asI cansee; namely, on Slievenamon hundredsof Žres on Slieved- ele, on theWalsh Mountain,on Slieveardagh, on thehills of Cran- naghand on every hill andmountain in fourcounties % and on Carrickshock of course. 25 The following evening alarge crowd marchedinto Thomastown behind abandof musicand, as an eyewitness wrote, ‘withbanners  ying % theymarched up opposite the[constabulary] guard-house andgave threecheers for Carrickshock.’In Waterfordharbour, mean- while, shipshoisted their banners andŽ redtheir guns throughout the dayto thecheers of theinhabitants, while in Kilkenny areporter describedhow ‘every elevatedspot within view of thehighest points

22 The Times,14July 1832. 23 Kilkenny Journal ,11July 1832. 24 Thetrial of onedefendant had taken placethe previousMarch. It endedin acquittal and the Crownpostponed the trials ofthe remainingdefendants until July. Transcripts ofbothtrials arein JamesMongan, AReportof the Trials of John Kennedy, JohnRyan and William Vossfor the Murder of Edmund Butler at Carrickshock on the 14 th December,1831 (R. Milliken,Dublin, 1832). 25 HumphreyO’ Sullivan, CinnlaeAmhlaoibh u ´/ Su´ileabha´in:The Diary of Humphrey O’Sullivan,ed.Michael McGrath (Irish Texts Society,Dublin, 1936), vol.3, p. 169.

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) 44Gary Owens of thecity was crowded with bonŽ res so thickly spreadthat they presenteda brilliant resemblance of astar-studdedsky’ . Furtherto the south,the bonŽ res were reportedly so numerousthat ‘ avastline of light ranalong thebanks of theriver Suir from thecountryof Wexford totheCounty of Tipperary’. 2 6 The local poetSeamus O ´ Cathail, caught thepopular mood witha specialverse in Irish, O´/chena dTine cna´mh (‘The Nightof theBonŽ res’ ), thatproclaimed: N´/ mire cu´ arithfeadhar thaobh cnoic, Na´ sneachtagle ´iheal a´ she´ideadhar bha´n, % N´/or rithchomh he ´ascaidhleis natinte cna ´mh! N´/ raibh cnocna ´ coill im’radharc sa re ´im u´d Na´ raibh sop a´ she´ideadhagus re ´abadh ar fa´l Ag tabhairtŽ os feastadon o ´g is aosta Gurbhuaigh OicheFhe ´il’ Se´amais ar O´/che Fhe´il’ Sea´in! (Notthe quickness of ahoundrunning on ahillside, Nor pure-whitesnow being driven on agrassland, %Didrun so freely asthe bonŽ res! There wasneither hill nor forestin my sighton thatoccasion Nor wispof blowing strawand uprooted Ž eld Thatdid not proclaim to young andold for evermore ThatSt James’ s Eve hadtriumphed over StJohn’ s Eve!) 27 O´ Cathail suggestsin thestanza’ s Žnalline thatthe jury’ s verdict,com- ing asitdid on 24 July (StJames’ s Eve), inspiredcountry folk tolight more bonŽres thanthey commonly didon thetraditional ‘ BonŽre Night’of 23 June(St John’ s Eve),a major eventin theIrish rural calendar.28 Nor wasthis the last time that people would build bonŽres to honour thememory of Carrickshock. They appearedagain in a number of Kilkenny villages on thesecond anniversary of thebattle; more ominously, anenormous commemorative Žre blazed away that samenight on thevery siteof thekillings. 29 By thatpoint, the image of Carrickshock hadbecome amemory marker, aconspicuousoutcropping in themental landscape of the communitythat local people frequentlypointed out to visitors. Alexis deTocqueville wastold about itin some detail– hecalledit ‘ aterrible event’– whenhe stoppedin Kilkenny in 1835; 30 ayoung assistantwith theOrdnance Survey received alengthy accountof theincident, sup-

26 WaterfordChronicle ,26July 1832; Kilkenny Journal and Kilkenny Moderator ,28July 1832; The Times,31July 1832. 27 ‘O´/chena dtinte cna´mh’, O´ hO´ ga´in, DuanaireOsra ´/och,p. 44. Iamgrateful to David Livingstone-Lowefor this translation. 28 On midsummerfestivities, seeKevin Danaher, TheYear in Ireland:Irish Calendar Customs,4th edn(Mercier, Cork and Dublin,1972) pp. 134–53. 29 Kilkenny Moderator , LeinsterExpress , WaterfordChronicle , 4 Jan 1834. 30 Alexisde Tocqueville, Alexisde Tocqueville’ s Journeyin Ireland, July– August, 1835 , trans. and ed.Emmet Larkin (Wolfhound, Dublin,1990) p. 76.

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) TheCarrickshock Incident, 1831 45 posedly from aparticipant,when he visitedthe area in 1839; 31 William MakepeaceThackeray hadit described to himin 1842 ashetravelled throughsouth Kilkenny. 32 WhenAugusta, Lady Gregory, compiled snippetsof Irish history from stories thatshe had heard over theyears from ‘beggars, pipers,travelling menand such pleasant company’ , the Žghtat Carrickshock rankedalongside suchtopics as thetithe war, the famine,the 1848 rebellion andother ‘memorable’events of theearly nineteenthcentury. 33 The eventinspired at least one contemporary artist,a MrPowell of Piltown, Co. Kilkenny, toproducea panoramicdepiction of theŽ ght atCarrickshock shortly afterthe event. A writer for theliberal Kilkenny Journal who examinedPowell’ s canvasin May 1832 describedit this way: CaptainGibbons, Butlerthe process-server, several police andone or two of thecountrymen lie deadand a vastnumber of Žgures, representedin assaultingthe police, who are scatteredthrough the crowd withclubs, stonesand pitchforks, give avivid ideaof what themomentary desperatestruggle must have been. Powell, who probably paintedthe elaborate banner (describedabove) thatthe Piltown delegation carriedto theBallyhale anti-tithemeeting, didnot disguise his sympathies. According to the Kilkenny Journal , his canvaslent a heroic dignity to themen and women who attacked the police: The comfortable dressesof thefarmers, the ragged robes of many in thecrowd andthe cool recklessnessof danger,so characteristic of theIrish andvisible even on thecountenancesof femalesassisting theirwounded relatives, are well drawnand render the picture really valuable asacorrectdelineation of theappearance and manners of theIrish peasantry. 34 Itwas almost predictable that Carrickshock would become asym- bolic weaponto be usedagainst policemen in subsequentencounters. ‘Carrickshock! Gibbons! Do your best!We are ready for you! % Now letus have anotherCarrickshock of it!’– so shoutedcountry people atconstableswho postedtithe notices near the village of Mooncoin in October 1832. 35 Four monthsearlier, acontingentof 300 childrenhad paradedthe streets of Kilkenny ‘whistling adeadmarch’ behind abar- row containingthe make-believe corpseof amurderedofŽ cer. Their

31 WallaceClare (ed.), AYoungIrishman’ s Diary,(1836– 1847): Being Extracts from the Early Journalof John Keegan of Moate (n.p., March, 1928)pp. 20–21. Iamgrateful to Dr GillianSmith for alerting me to this reference. 32 W.M. Thackeray, TheIrish Sketchbook, 1842 (Sutton, Gloucester,1990) p. 45. 33 Augusta, LadyGregory, TheKiltartan History Book (Maunsel, Dublin,1909) p. 33. 34 Kilkenny Journal ,2June1832. I have foundno subsequent references to the painting. 35 JohnBurke to Sir John Harvey, 8October1832, NAI, CSO,RP, 1832/1821; The Freeman’s Journal ,10Oct 1832,reported that ‘the policewere in the utmost danger ofbeingCarrickshocked’ .

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) 46Gary Owens public gameof ‘Soldier’s Funeral’– coming asit did within months of theCarrickshock killings andonly daysbefore thestart of theCar- rickshock trials in thecity courthouse – promptedmagistrates to arrest two boys, one of themonly eleven, who ledthe massive procession. 36 Referencesto thekilling of theconstables became part of anon- going repertoire of intimidationthat local crowds routinely employed in confrontationswith policemen. When,in 1867, thousandsin Water- fordsurrounded a partyof constableswho were escorting agroup of Feniansto thecity jail andpelted them with rocks, awoman in the crowd suddenlycried out, ‘ Hurrahfor Carrickshock!’Her shout – at once ajibe anda black-humouredreminder of thestoning to death of more thana dozen policemen nearly fourdecades earlier –was eloquent testimonyto thetenacity of Carrickshock in thelocal imagin- ation.37 So were theexperiences of aHugginstownman who recalled thatwhen he was growing upduring the 1860s and1870s: ‘Ihada terrible fearof Carrickshock. The rust-colouredsediment which oozed theŽ ssuresof itsrocks waslooked on by mychildmatesand myself as thebloodstains of thebattle’ . 3 8 Scores of mythsand rumours surfacedalmost immediately in the wake of thekillings andenlivened popularmemory. Onerelated how apolicemanwho wasbilleted witha local family on thenight before theincident stayed awake praying untildawn. ‘ Before heleft at day- break’, claimeda Hugginstownman years later, ‘hebade good-bye to all thehousehold, telling themthey would never seehim alive again. He,poor fellow, wasfound on themorrow among theslain’ . 3 9 Another story describedhow anelderly man,who hadwitnessed pitch-cappings atthetime of the1798 rebellion, walked among thewounded police- menafter the Ž ghtingand calmly killed thosewho showed signs of life.40 Yetanother told of how CaptainGibbons, thepolice com- mander,had not really been killed in theencounter: the government hadsecretly spiritedhim away to Francewhere hewas supposedly recovering from hiswounds. 41 The uncommonly good weatherthat prevailed on themorning of theencounter (it was the second day of sunshineafter nearly afortnightof heavy rains and ooding) was

36 The Times,30June 1832. 37 The Times,19June 1867. Similarly, a sheriff and apoliceescort encountered an angry crowdwhen they stoppedat LismatigueCross on their way toan evictionin 1881.A womanleaped forward shouting ‘ Comeon boys!We’ ll give them another Carrickshock!’and attacked the sheriff. Drea, Carrickshock , pp. 17–18. 38 Drea, Carrickshock , p. 1. 39 Drea, Carrickshock , p. 22. 40 Drea, Carrickshock ,p. 25. Seealso the testimonyof MichaelCostello, IFC, SchoolsMS 849,p. 144:‘ When the battlewas over,coopers named Coffey came with heavy weaponsand struckthe woundedon the shins. Thosewho showed signs oflife receivedsummary treatment. Thosewho asked for the priestwere spared, but all the restwere killed in amostcruel manner.’ 41 Houseof Commons, Select Committeeof the House of Commons on Tithes: First Report , HC 177(1831– 2), vol.21, p. 84. Fora variationon this story, seeIFC, SchoolsMS 849, p. 145.

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) TheCarrickshock Incident, 1831 47 remembered for decadesas asign of divine favour towardthe crowd in itsŽ ghtwith the constables. 42 The Irish Folklore Commission archives containnumerous tales relating totheincident.They dealwith women killing policemen asthey edthe sceneof thebattle;with local Žghting factionspermanently ending their feuds to takeon acommon foe; withparticipants on therun from authoritiesin theaftermath of the battle;and with the treacheries of landlords andinformants. 43 The exampleswe have examinedthus far – from ballads, to speeches,to angry shouts,to rumours andfolktales –are reminders thatcollective remembering functionslargely throughlanguage; it occursmainly in aworld of words. Butit also takesplace in aworld of thingsand these, in turn,enhance the narratives throughwhich earlier eventsare recalled. 44 As SeamusHeaney remarks, ‘Objects whichhave been seasonedby humancontact possess a kindof moral force; theyinsist upon human solidarity andsuggest obligations toand covenantswith generations who have been silenced’. 4 5 The popular nationalistmemory of Carrickshock wasalso constructedaround arte- factsconnected with the incident, artefacts that helped to evoke vivid conceptionsof theencounter.These included,above all, weaponsused in thebattle. Members of thecrowd carriedaway anumber of police- men’s bayonets andtreasured them for decadesas relics of theskir- mish.Two of theseweapons, along witha pitchforkthat had been used tokill apoliceman, were collectedfrom veteransof thebattle in 1864 andput on publicdisplay as part of aremarkable exhibition of patri- oticIrish artefactsthat American Feniansorganized thatyear in Chicago.46 Another bayonet wasremoved from thebody of adying local manand it remains in thepossession of hisdescendants to this day.47 According to local legend, thissame young mandied with his headresting upon a particularrock in theboreen wall. Whenin 1927 theHugginstown hurling teamawarded medals to itsmembers and announcedthat it was changing its name to the‘ Carrickshock Cham- pions’, ajournalist thoughtit important to record thatthey did so directly in frontof thelegendary rock in thewall. Itwas, he implied, aceremony thatlinked theachievements of theyoung athleteswith anequally young local martyr andwith the best-known eventin the history of theirlocality. 48

42 Kilkenny Journal ,12Dec 1917; O’ Sullivan, Cinnlae,vol.3, pp. 93–5. 43 IFC, SchoolsMS 849,pp. 144,146, 301; Main collectionMS 1240,p. 195. 44 Alan Radley, ‘Artefacts, Memoryand aSenseof the Past’in DavidMiddleton and DerekEdwards (eds), CollectiveRemembering (Sage, London,1990) pp. 57–8. 45 SeamusHeaney, ‘ ASenseof the Past’, HistoryIreland ,1, 4(1993) p. 33. 46 IrishPeople ,5March1864. On the exhibitionitself, seeBrian GrifŽ n, ‘“Scallions, Pikesand BogOak Ornaments” : TheIrish RepublicanBrotherhood and the Chicago Fenian Fair, 1864’, StudiaHibernica ,29(1995/ 97) pp. 85–98. 47 Kilkenny Journal ,12Dec 1917. A photographof this bayonetis reproducedin John Gaule,FSC, ‘TheBattle ofCarrickshock: An Episodefrom the Tithe War, 1831’, unpublishedMS, privatecollection (n.d.), Žnal page. 48 MunsterExpress ,16Dec 1927.

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) 48Gary Owens

Itwas almost inevitable thatthe boreen itselfwould become an object of veneration, asacredspace, a siteof memory in themostliteral senseof theterm. As we shall see, thiswas most evident during the Žrstdecades of thetwentieth century when local people madethe nar- row laneway aplaceof annualpilgrimage. Butperhaps the most elo- quentexpression of itsstatus in popularmemory occurredduring the war of independence.On thenight of 8March1920, nearly 60 armed members of theKilkenny Brigade of theIrish RepublicanArmy staged amajor assaulton Crown forces;their target was the Royal Irish Con- stabulary barracks in Hugginstown.IRA commanderscould have gath- eredtheir raiding partyin any number of spotsaround the village in thehours before theattack, but the assembly pointthey selected was, appropriately enough, theCarrickshock boreen. Almost amile from thebarracks andon thedownward slope of anopenhillside, itoffered no tacticaladvantages whatsoever. Itsvalue lay solely in whatit rep- resentedto themen who assembledthere, not to mentionthe local populationwho would learn of itlater. By commencingtheir assault from thevery spotwhere local people hadtriumphed decisively over policemen nearly acenturyearlier, theywere forging anunambiguous link between thetwo events.The subsequentsuccess of theiroper- ation, whichsaw the constabulary arsenalcaptured and the barracks destroyed,enhanced the symbolic potencyof Carrickshock all the more.49

II

No single group, includinglocal nationalists,could ever monopolize thememory of Carrickshock. People from outsidethe community con- testedit from thestart and, not surprisingly, themost outspoken of thesewere Protestantanti-nationalists. They sawCarrickshock asa metaphorfor papistcruelty, a starkreminder of theinnate barbarity andevil intentionsof theCatholic lower orders. Inlocal tory news- papersthe incident was variously portrayed asanactof ‘cold-blooded villainy’, a‘savage massacre’and the work of ‘blood-thirsty wretches’ who ‘succeededbut too well in leading on theirvictims to slaughter’. 5 0 Loyalist accountsof thekillings bristled withvolatile sectarian images, themost prominent being theway thatthe bells of theCath- olic chapelsin Hugginstownand other villages rang outon themorn- ing of theencounter to gatherthe massive crowd. ‘While thechapel bells summoneda savage, ferocious andpriest-ridden peasantry’ , recountedthe writers of an1836 evangelical tract,the constables and processserver ‘were decoyed,surrounded and barbarously butchered

49 Kilkenny People ,13March 1920; Jim Maher, TheFlying Column:West Kilkenny, 1916– 1921 (Geography,Dublin, 1988) ch. 4. 50 Kilkenny Moderator ,17, 21Dec 1831; LeinsterExpress , 4 Jan 1834.

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) TheCarrickshock Incident, 1831 49 in thenarrow deŽle of Carrickshock’. 5 1 The very notion of chapelbells calling Catholics outto slaughterpolicemen wasrepellent enough to manyProtestants; even worse wasthe suspicion that local priestshad orchestratedthe affair. 52 More than30 years later, theEnglish writer Henry Addison included anentirechapter on Carrickshock in hissemi-Ž ctional memoir of pol- icework in pre-famineIreland that epitomized anti-nationalistsenti- ment.In his judgement, the murder of the13 constablesand process server wasnothing less than‘ themost savage butcherythat ever dis- gracedthe annals of Ireland’. 5 3 Hisbreathtakingly inaccuratedescrip- tion of theŽ ght,though brief, repeatedcertain motifs that other tory writers haddeveloped over theprevious decades.These includedthe assertionthat Gibbons andhis men were luredinto acarefullylaid trap,a claimthat persisted into thelate twentieth century. 54 Addison also elaborated uponthe common loyalist assertionthat the crowd behaved withparticular callousness toward their victims. The corpses of thedead policemen, hewrote, ‘were piercedwith innumerable wounds.The[ir] arms were seized withavidity andthen the murderers % marchedoff glorying in theact and even singing songs of delight’. 5 5 The remainderof Addison’s 1862 narrative (curiously subtitled‘ A PleasantExcursion’ ) is animprobable descriptionof hisadventures in andaround Carrickshock afewdays after the incident, in thecompany of aranking constabulary ofŽcer. Addison tellshow thetwo mensome- how discovered by moonlight asevered Žnger anda pieceof human skull on thesite of thekillings, afterwhich they barely escapedwith theirlives from adrunkenmob who were celebrating theacquittals of themen who murderedthe policemen. Relatedin thelurid style of apenny-dreadfulthriller, theirsupposed escapades underscored the savagery thatCarrickshock hadcome to representin theperceptions of anti-nationalists. 56 Ifloyalists remembered Carrickshock in suchunequivocal terms, mostnationalists from outsidethe locality sawit as a problematic site of memory. Unlike local people who, aswehave seen,took unambigu- ous pridein theincident because it represented the destruction of theirpersecutors, middle-class nationalists from Dublin andelsewhere were decidedlyambivalent. Daniel O’Connell spoke for manywhen he

51 MichaelCrotty, TheCatholic, Not the Roman Catholic, Church, Exhibited in Letters of the ReverendMessieurs Michael and William Crotty,Catholic Priests of Parsonstown (D.R. Bleakley,Dublin, 1836) p. 36. 52 See,for example, DublinEvening Mail ,20Dec 1831. 53 HenryR. Addison, Recollectionsof an Irish Police Magistrate and Other Reminiscences of the Southof Ireland (Ward and Lock,London, 1862) p. 29. 54 See,for example, Edward Garner, Massacreat Rathcormac: Last Battle in the Tithe War (E´igse,Fermoy, 1984) p. 13; R.H. Curtis, TheHistory of the Royal IrishConstabulary (Moffat, Dublin,1869) pp. 31–2. 55 Addison, Recollections , p. 35. 56 On Addison’s viewsof Irelandand the Irish, seeVirginia Crossman, ‘ TheResident Magistrate as ColonialOfŽ cer: Addison, Somerville and Ross’, IrishStudies Review , 8, 1(2000) pp. 23–33.

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) 50Gary Owens condemnedthe killing of both constablesand civilians alike. Heand other nationalistspokesmen distanced themselves from theviolence of theencounter and they ignored loyalist accusationsthat it was pre- meditatedor thatit was rooted in sectarianhatred. 57 Reports in the liberal presssaid little or nothingabout chapelbells summoningthe crowd andthey hurried over detailsof theŽ ghting.In theireyes, Car- rickshock wassimply aterrible accidentwaiting to happen,a deplor- able butpredictable consequence of British misrule andthe iniquitous tithesystem. 58 Nationalisthistorians who wrote about theincident took asimilar approach.Here, for example,is R.Barry O’Brien’s succinctblend of generalizations andinaccuracies: Andthen came the ‘ battle’of Carrickshock. The peasantsmet the police handto handand foot tofoot. There wasa ŽerceŽ ghtwhich lastedfor over anhour. The chiefof thepolice waskilled. The leader of thepeasants – anold ’98 man– waskilled. Butthe police force wascompletely routed,leaving manyof theirmen dead upon the Ž eld.59 Even writers of more advancednationalist views, suchas JohnMitchel andMichael Davitt, considered the event unworthy of extensive analy- sis, thoughthe latter declared that it showed thebeneŽ ts that could arise from theconcerted actions of ordinary Irish people. ‘Adozen repetitionsof Carrigshock in thethree southern provinces in theearly partof 1846’, wrote Davittconcerning thegovernment’ s coercion poli- ciesat the time of thefamine, ‘ % would have largely savedthe situ- ation’.60 Carrickshock featuredprominently in atleasttwo novels of thenine- teenthcentury. The Žrstwas William Carleton’s TheTithe Proctor , which appearedin 1849. Though Carleton wasan outspoken anti-repealer, heportrayed Carrickshock in muchthe same way thatO’ Connellites haddone in theearly 1830s. To him, theevent was an unhappy by- productof gross injusticeand what he called ‘ acorroboration of the disorganized condition of society whichthen existed’ . Not only did Carleton reinforce theimage of Carrickshock thatO’ Connellites had promoted nearly two decadesearlier, buthe gave hispredominantly middle-classreaders the fullest, most detailed and most accurate descriptionof theencounter to appearin book form prior tothetwen- tiethcentury. Drawing uponnewspaper reports andtrial records, he

57 Seethe reportof O’ Connell’s speechat ameetingin the CornExchange, Kilkenny Journal, 4 Jan 1832. 58 Seecoverage of the incidentduring 1831– 32 in The Comet, Kilkenny Journal and WaterfordChronicle . 59 R.BarryO’ Brien, AHundredYears of Irish History (Pitman, London,1911) p. 103. 60 MichaelDavitt, TheFall ofFeudalism in Ireland, or, The Story ofthe Land League Revolution (Harperand Brothers,London and NewYork, 1904) p. 53; JohnMitchel, TheHistory of Ireland from the Treaty of Limerick tothePresent Time (D.J. Sadlier, London,1868), vol.2, p. 174.

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) TheCarrickshock Incident, 1831 51 presenteda vivid narrative of theevents leading upto thebloodshed. Hisaccount, like others from thepens of middle-classnationalists, deli- catelysidestepped a descriptionof theŽghtingitself. It wasalso refresh- ingly freeof thepartisan rhetoric thatcoloured mostother treatments of theincident in thenineteenth century. 61 Alas, thesame could not be saidof anothernovel of theperiod thatdealt with Carrickshock. This wasa melodramatic tour deforce that appearedin serial form in anIrish-American periodical in 1880 entitled‘ Ulick Grace,or, ATale of theTithes’ . Itsauthor was the poet, journalist andFenian, JohnLocke, anativeof thearea. Hisbook tells thestory of adashingyoung manof substancenamed Ulick Grace who helpedto leada popularuprising against tithes that culminated in theŽ ghtat Carrickshock. Predictably, Locke sawthe battle as atesta- mentto theŽ ghtingskill of Irishmen,but as a Fenian heconsidered itto be anisolated occurrence, a one-offvictory thathad little to do withthe ultimate goal of destroying British rule in Ireland.Locke thereforefound it necessary to relatethe incident in some way tothe larger nationalstruggle. Hedid so by insertinga sceneat the con- clusion of theŽ ghtingin whichthe jubilant insurgents declared them- selves eager to continuetheir revolt ‘anddie, ifneed be, astheir fathersdid, in chivalrous Ninety-Eight’. This promptedtheir young leader to deliver acautionaryspeech that calmed his followers and gave, in effect,the authorized Fenian interpretationof Carrickshock: ‘We hadbetter put by our armsfor amore auspiciousday’ , Ulick declares: Andeach one do thebest he can to be ready to answerwhen the nationaltocsin sounds. % The tithesystem will never rise from the bloody grave in whichyou buried itin glorious Carrickshock. God grantwe may one dayŽ nda grave asdeepfor thewhole systemof foreign rule withwhich Ireland is yetcursed. 62

III

Locke offereda way of interpretingCarrickshock thathad not featured prominently before. By situatingit within the framework of Fenian strategy,he removed thememory of theincident from itsmainly par- ochial contextand linked itto wider political issues.This wassome- thingthat later commentators would do withincreasing frequency, especially afterthe turn of thecentury when Carrickshock began to loom larger in popularconsciousness then it ever hadbefore, andthe needto commemorate itseemed particularly urgent.

61 WilliamCarleton, TheTithe Proctor: A Novel. Beinga Taleof the Tithe Rebellion in Ireland (Simmsand McIntyre, London,1849). 62 JohnLocke, ‘ UlickGrace, or, A Taleof the Tithes’, TheCeltic Monthly, An Illustrated IrishAmerican Magazine ,3(1880) p. 549.

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) 52Gary Owens

Justas ‘ bigger’historical eventssuch as wars andrevolutions undergo whathave been called‘ memory spasms’that generate spor- adic urries of commemorative activities,so Carrickshock becamean object of intenseremembrance in theearly 1900s. For nearly three decades,local people publicly honoured theevent on anunpre- cedentedscale and, in theprocess, constructed a masternarrative that eithersubsumed or sweptaside previous nationalistand loyalist interpretations. This newinterest in Carrickshock also representeda major shiftin theforms thatits remembrance took. Here,some observations of the Germanscholar JanAssman might be helpful.Assman draws a distinc- tion between two typesof collective memory, one of whichhe labels ‘communicative’, theother ‘cultural’. By‘communicative’memory he refersto everyday exchangesabout themeaning of apastoccurrence. These are usuallyinformal, theyare transmittedmainly by word of mouthand they are protean,disordered andnon-specialized. They typically occurwithin a restrictedtime span of around80 to100 years andthey receive theirinitial shapefrom contemporaries of theevents. Most of thelocal expressions of memory concerning Carrickshock that wehave examinedthus far fall under this category. These includethe ballads, theartefacts and the folktales, even thoughmost of thelatter were notrecorded until the late 1930s andearly 1940s –justbeyond Assman’s 80- to100-year timespan. Regardless of whenthey appeared in writtenform, however, thestories originated in thenineteenth cen- turyand they circulated among local people long before theywere set down for theIrish Folklore Commission. By contrast,Assman notes, ‘ culturalmemory is characterizedby its distancefrom theeveryday’ . Itis more formalized andconsists of objectiŽed culture; that is, of rituals,written texts, images andmonu- mentsthat are designedto recall fatefulevents in acommunity’s past. 63 Inthecase of Carrickshock, thesekinds of expressions becameincreas- ingly apparentfrom theturn of thecentury onward, thoughthere was anecessaryoverlap between themand expressions of communicative memory. Justas publishedaccounts of thebattle appeared in thenine- teenthcentury, for example,so folklore narratives (albeita fewgener- ationsremoved from theevent) and even contemporary ballads con- tinuedto circulateorally well into thetwentieth. The mostprominent expressions of culturalmemory centredupon theritual staging of colourful annualgatherings at the site of the encounterwhere dignitariesspoke, bandsplayed and crowds in the hundredsmarched, sang and prayed. This developmentsprang from anumber of sources:patriotic fervour, communitypride and a growing conviction among nationaliststhroughout Ireland that stirring historic

63 Jan Assman, ‘CollectiveMemory and CulturalIdentity’ , NewGerman Critique , 65 (1995) p. 129;see also Wulf Kansteiner, ‘FindingMeaning in Memory:A MethodologicalCritique of CollectiveMemory Studies’ , Historyand Theory , 41 (2002) pp. 182–3.

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) TheCarrickshock Incident, 1831 53 events– particularlyviolent ones thatdisplayed the bravery of ordinary Irish menand women –hadto be publicly honoured. As well, by the Žrstdecade of thetwentieth century – almostprecisely the80- to100- year timeframe that Jan Assman ascribes to‘communicativememory’ – therewere few,if any, people still alive who couldactually remember theŽ ghtat Carrickshock. Itwas passing rapidly outof living memory andmany feared it would soon be completely forgottenunless some- thingwere done tofocusattention upon it. What was needed, in other words, wasan ‘ inventedtradition’ that could re-establish continuity witha pastthat seemed to be slippingirretrievably away. Publicanni- versary ceremonies offeredan obvious solution. These yearly gatheringsalso Žttednicely withthe aspirations of an energeticyoung politician from thearea named Nicholas J.Murphy, who becamea principalforce behind theinitial Carrickshock com- memorations. Inthe summer of 1907 thesitting MP for SouthKilk- enny resignedhis seat and, following abitter contest,his party col- leaguesin theUnited Irish Leaguechose Murphy to Žll theposition. Atthe time of hisselection Murphy, from thevillage of Ballyhale, stressedhis ties to theregion, declaringthat, in contrastto his opponentfor theofŽ ce, he came before theparty convention asa local candidate.‘ Iwasborn andreared under the shadow of historic Carrickshock’, heboasted, aspotthat he eulogized as‘theIrish Therm- opylae’. The tiny ‘battleboreen’ , hesaid, was nothing less thanthe blessed spotwhere ‘tyranny andascendancy received theirŽ rstblow in Irelandand it is butŽ ttingthat Carrickshock shouldhave ahumble partin dealingthe last’ . 6 4 Carrickshock helpedto catapultMurphy into ofŽce and, as if in gratitude,he identiŽ ed himself with the incident even more closely duringhis tenure as MP. Largely becauseof him, agroup of local nationalistscame together in lateNovember 1907 todiscusshow they mightstage a public commemoration on theapproaching anniversary of thebattle. Three weeks later, hundredshuddled in lashing winter rain atthe boreen arounda makeshiftplatform from whichMurphy andother local dignitariesdelivered speecheson themeaning of what hadtaken place on thatspot 76 years before. 65 The tonethat prevailed atthisand subsequent commemorations was strikingly differentfrom thatof seven decadesearlier. Gone wasthe rhetoric of thecontemporary ballads andbroadsheets with their jubi- lantreferences to batteredfaces, broken eyeballs, theabolition of tithesand the reclaiming of landfrom Protestantoppressors. Intheir placewere encomiumsto the‘ martyrs’of Carrickshock, by whichwas meantnot the process server andthe 13 murderedofŽ cers, many of

64 Kilkenny Journal ,13July 1907. Likewise, a candidatefor Murphy’ s seat in1909 declaredthat the honourof beingselected ‘ was enhancedwhen it was conferredby anationalist constituencyhallowed by such greattraditions as % the nationalists who fought the battleof Carrickshock’. Kilkenny Journal, 4 Aug 1909. 65 Kilkenny Journal, 30Nov, 21Dec 1907.

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) 54Gary Owens whom were Catholics andnatives of thearea, butthe three members of thecrowd who were killed. Butler,Gibbons andthe constables were all buterased from popularmemory, thrustinto akindof Orwellian memory hole andreplaced by atrio of local heroes. This developmentseems remarkable, considering thatthe volumin- ous constabulary records andthe newspapers of 1831–32 barely men- tionedthe three dead civilians andthen only in themost general way. Only one eyewitnessappears to have referredto any of themby name: thatwas a constable who, afewdays after the incident, recalled bay- oneting amanwhom heidentiŽed simply as‘Trassy’. 6 6 This wasJames Treacy, 20 years old andthe son of aprominentlocal farmer.He and two other members of thecrowd, PatrickPower andThomas Phelan– older menwho also diedof theirwounds – were almostcompletely ignored in writtencontemporary accountsof theincident. Newspapers andtrial records barely mentionedthem; they are notidentiŽ ed in any of thenineteenth-century histories thatreferred to Carrickshock; even thetriumphalist ballads of the1830s, which,as we have seen, took elaborate painsto identifydead and wounded constables, made noreferencesto themwhatsoever. 67 Ifthethree local menfeatured at all in thecollective memory of Carrickshock, theydid so asshadowy Žgureswho presumably existedin unrecordedstories passedamong local residentsover theyears. This changedabruptly withthe resurgence of interestin theevent in theearly twentiethcentury. From 1907 onward, Treacy, Power and Phelanemerged as the focal points of commemorative activities.Wil- liam Keane, anotherŽ gure who survived thebattle, was usually hon- oured separatelyand with less fanfare.He was a local hedge-school teacherwho playeda prominentrole in theevents leading upto the Žghtingand who later edIreland in disguise.Though hisstory had adeŽnite appeal (enhanced by hisappearance on theday of thebattle in aglazed leathermilitary capand a colourful sash),Keane wasnever revered tothesame degree asthethree who died. 68 Speakers, writers, artistsand clergymen laudedthe fallen trio asmartyrsto theCatholic faithand the nationalist cause. As one orator conŽdently predicted in 1925, ‘thenames and the fame of Treacy, Power andPhelan, shall ring down thecorridors of time,till thisworld shall ceaseto be andtime itselfshall have meltedinto eternity’. 6 9 The apotheosisof thethree men, though seemingly sudden,was almostpredictable in aculturesteeped in representationsof heroic sacriŽce. Annual tributes to anothertrio of nationalistheroes –William

66 Depositionof SergeantPeter Harvey, NAI, CSO,RP, 1831,K-25, p. 28. 67 Only the DublinEvening Post ,22Dec 1831, appears to have namedany ofthem, notingthe death ofone‘ Power’. 68 On Keaneand his activitiesfollowing the battle, seeRichard Lahert, ‘An Maor agus anMeirleach (The Mayorand the Outlaw): APostscriptto the CarrickshockAffray’ , Decies,49(1994) pp. 45–54. 69 MunsterExpress ,19June 1925, as citedin Drea, Carrickshock ,appendix2.

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) TheCarrickshock Incident, 1831 55

Allen, MichaelLarkin andMichael O’ Brien (theManchester martyrs who were hangedin 1867) –hadbeen familiar eventsin thecom- munityfor nearly 40 years. 70 Over theprevious decade,nationalists hadimmersed themselves in thecolourful, country-widefestivities con- nectedwith the centenary of the1798 rebellion. These commemor- ationsproduced an outpouring of pamphlets,books, songs andstone monumentsthat celebrated a pantheonof other youthfulmartyrs: Wolfe Tone, Lord EdwardFitzgerald, Robert Emmetand John Kelly, ‘The Boy from Killan’, among them. 71 These Žguresloomed large in nationalistdiscourse, and local people instinctively drew uponthem to frametheir perceptions of Treacy, Power andPhelan. ‘ The three martyrs of Carrickshock’became local versions of familiar nationalist icons, home-grown heroes whose bravery andsacriŽ ces seemed no less impressive thanthe Tones, Emmetsand other notables from Ireland’s past.If anything, their ties to theregion andthe fact that dozens of theirdescendants still lived in thecommunity gave thema presence in popularmemory thatthe more distantŽ guresof nationalremem- brance couldnever possess. This appliedparticularly to themost celebrated member of thetri- umvirate,James Treacy. Hiswas invariably theŽ rstname listed when- ever thethree men were mentionedin speechesand newspaper reports. Journalistsand orators dubbedhim ‘ thehero andorganiser of thatbattle’ , or theyreferred to theinsurgents simply as‘Treacy and hiscomrades’ , or ‘JamesTreacy andhis gallant men’ . The known detailsof hislife accentuatedhis heroic status.He wasyoung, educated andthe son of asubstantialfarmer whose tiesto theregion reportedly stretchedback for centuries. 72 These fewbare factsbecame the framework for elaborate construc- tionsof Treacy’s heroic image thatappeared in popularliterature. One writer, for instance,drew animplausible word portraitthat owed an obvious debtto theauthors of melodramaticŽ ction.It reads in part: JamesTreacy % wasa splendidspecimen of mountainmanhood – tall, straightand supple as a larch.To seehim coming to Masson Sundays % blue clothbody-coat (swallow-tailed);satin, low-cut, double-breasted, owered vest;brown clothknee-breeches, with brass gilt buttonsand drab, narrow ribbon tiedat the knees % his headwas crowned by asilk velvet tallhat. % Isitany wonder moun-

70 It was at alocalManchester martyrs commemorationin 1907 that Murphyand his colleaguesŽ rst consideredthe possibilityof staging aCarrickshockdemonstration. Kilkenny Journal ,30Nov 1907. The Manchester martyrs werepublicly commemorated inHugginstownas recentlyas Nov2002. 71 SeeTimothy J. O’Keefe,‘ “Who Fearsto Speak of ’98?”: TheRhetoric and Rituals of the United IrishmenCentennial, 1898’ , Eire–Ireland ,27, 3(1992) pp. 67–91. 72 RichardLahert, Hurrahfor Carrickshock!: A Balladof the Tithe War Times with ExplanatoryNotes (n.p., Tralee,1986) p. 37; IFC, SchoolsMS 848,p. 111.

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) 56Gary Owens

taingirls settheir caps for him? Yetit was not ordained that he shouldmake any one of themhappy. 73 The new-foundemphasis upon Treacy hadto do withmore than hisbackground andhis alleged physicalattributes. It also helpedthat members of hisfamily were still prominentin thearea in theearly twentiethcentury. One of hisnephews was the Very Reverend Canon PatrickTreacy, parishpriest of Connahy, Co. Kilkenny, who wasthe featuredguest and speaker at numerous Carrickshock commemor- ationceremonies. Canon Treacy also headedthe local memorial com- mittee.Another nephew,John Treacy, lived atthe large family house in Kilkurl throughthe 1920s andserved alongside hisbrother on thecommittee. Despitea scarcityof contemporary evidenceabout JamesTreacy’ s actionsduring the Ž ght,in laternarratives hewas portrayed asthe commander-in-chiefof theinsurgents. According to theofŽ cial his- torian of Carrickshock, alocal mannamed Edmond V. Drea, Treacy wasnothing less than‘ thecentral Ž gure in thatever memorable and victorious combat % thatdauntless hero, thatWalsh MountainLeon- idas % [who]roused and inspired his comrades to achieve thatcrown- ing andcrushing victory for our religion andits rights’ . 7 4 Drea and others portrayed the20-year-old asamasterstrategist, positioning and deploying detachmentsof thecrowd withthe skill andpanache of a seasonedŽ eldofŽ cer. Consequently, whathad actually been amessy andchaotic free-for-all assumedthe appearance of awell- orchestrated battle.Drea, whose locally publishedaccount went through at leasttwo printingsduring the 1920s, also constructeda melodramaticdeath scenefor hisyoung hero in whichCaptain Gibbons himselfsomehow singled Treacy outfrom among theimmense, tightly packedcrowd andbrought himdown: Gibbons % drew hispistol andshot Treacy throughthe breast. Treacy fell and,knowing hiswound fatal, called to hiscomrades while yethis voice wasable, ‘I’mdead,boys; butlet ye Žghtaway.’ Hethen turned on hisside and died. A wild shoutfor vengeance rose from thenow thoroughly excitedcrowd. 75

IV

Carrickshock hadfound its hero, butwhat of theevent itself? How did thegenerations who celebratedit so assiduouslyin theŽ rstdecades of thetwentieth century remember it? Whatmeanings did it hold for

73 Drea, Carrickshock , p. 17. 74 MunsterExpress ,19June 1925, as citedin Drea, Carrickshock ,appendix2. 75 Drea, Carrickshock ,p. 24. Anotherprinting was contemplatedin 1953. MunsterExpress , 23Dec 1953. Drea’ s bookis extremelyrare. I quotefrom what isapparentlythe only publiclyavailable copy in Ireland,that heldby the KilkennyCounty Library.

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) TheCarrickshock Incident, 1831 57 people living in asmall corner of rural Irelandduring a period of rapidchange and national upheaval? The subjectsthat orators focusedupon at theanniversary gatherings provide some clues.Prior to 1914, speakerslinked theanti-tithe cru- sadeof the1830s totheaims of theUnited Irish Leagueand the on- going agrarian struggleagainst graziers andoppressive landlords. 76 In the1920s, theypointed to ‘thewave of irreligion thatwas passing over theworld’ in theform of immoral books, periodicals, Žlms, ‘jungle dances’and jazz music.‘ God forbid thateven aripple of this[wave] shouldtaint the souls of our Irish boys’, thundereda Waterfordpriest in 1924. ‘Ifthat wave shouldcome in thisdirection’ , heassured his listeners, ‘itwould meetthe same sturdy opposition aswas hurled at theCrown forces[at Carrickshock] whenthey came to rob thepeople of theirproperty whenthey had failed to rob themof theirFaith’ . 7 7 By thetime of thecentenary ceremony in December 1931 –amere six monthsbefore themassive 31stInternational Eucharistic Congress convenedin Dublin –alocal priesttold the hundreds gathered that ‘Carrickshock wasa Žghtfor religion, Žrstand before all. This wasthe motive, thereligious motive, thatinspired the people of SouthKil- kenny tomakethis stand’ . 7 8 So importantwas the spiritual theme to theCarrickshock ceremon- ies thatthe organizers of the1931 eventannounced that their me- morial would be entirely of areligious character‘ anddevoid of any- thingsavouring of apolitical nature’. 7 9 Butpolitics were never absent from thecommemorations, andin some years theyloomed larger than in others. Inthetense atmosphere of 1916, theauthorities banned the anniversary observances andstationed nearly 70 constablesin Huggins- town to makesure that none took place.Local residentsoutwitted them,however, gatheringsurreptitiously in theirhundreds at the boreen tohold aquietceremony on thenight before theannounced commemoration. 80 The following year, Hugginstownpeople deŽed anothergovernment ban andmarched with torchlights behind the Sinn Fe´in Žfeanddrum band to theboreen. 81 In1934 thelocal branch of theBlueshirt organization –apolitical movement thataped the trappingsof continentalEuropean fascism – assumedcontrol of the commemoration andlinked thebravery of Treacy, Power andPhelan tothecause of theirallies in theFine Gael party. 82 Adecadeafter that, EamonnCoogan, thelocal Fine Gael representativein Da´il E´ireann, raisedthe spectre of Carrickshock tounderscorethe possibility of viol- encein recentrent agitation in Co. Donegal. ‘Ittook aCarrickshock

76 Kilkenny Journal ,21Dec 1907; MunsterExpress ,26Dec 1908, 13 Dec 1913. 77 Speechof RevdNicholas Walsh, MunsterExpress ,20Dec 1924. 78 Speechof RevdW. Brennan, MunsterExpress ,24Dec 1931. 79 MunsterExpress ,11Dec 1931. 80 MunsterExpress ,16and 23Dec 1916; 20 Dec 1946. 81 Kilkenny Journal ,22Dec 1917. 82 MunsterExpress ,7and 14Dec 1934. On the Blueshirtmovement, see Mike Cronin, TheBlueshirts and Irish Politics (FourCourts, Dublin, 1997).

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) 58Gary Owens in my constituencyto endthe tithe war’ , hedeclared in April 1945, ‘andwe are beginning toŽndsome rumblings of serious trouble brew- ing whichmay come to aheadif the matter of therelationship of landlord andtenant is nottackled in apracticalfashion’ . 8 3 Meanwhile, other orators duringthe late 1940s andearly 1950s viewed withalarm ‘thevarious “isms”which unfortunately were rampantin theworld to- day’and hoped that ‘ theCommunist in uences of Europe would gain noadherentsfor theGodless creedin Carrickshock or thesurrounding historic countryside’. 8 4 Alocal politician in 1954 usedthe commemor- ationceremony toreect on thesubject of Northern Ireland,conclud- ing that‘ therewas only one way of gettingthe six countiesback –and thatwas the same as the men of Carrickshock –by thegun’ . 8 5 As writers andorators usedthe concerns of theirown dayto fashion newimages of Carrickshock, theyalso enlargedits importance. One of themranked it among thethree great turning points in modern Irish history, theother two being the1798 rebellion andthe 1916 ris- ing.86 Another endowedit with nothing less thanglobal signiŽcance, proclaiming thatwhen the people of Hugginstownand Ballyhale crushedthe Crown forcesin 1831, ‘theyturned the tide and marked % notalone anepochin thehistory of thiscountry, but of thatof the civilised world (cheers)’. 8 7

V

From thestart, organizers of thecommemorations expresseda deter- minationto honour theheroes of Carrickshock witha permanent stonemonument on thebattle site. 88 Owinglargely tothedisruptions of 1914–23, ittook more thana decadeto generatesufŽ cient money for theproject. Finally, in July 1925, whatwas probably thelargest crowd ever toassemble in thearea since the mammoth anti-tithe gath- ering of 1832 turnedout at the battle site to watchthe Revd Canon PatrickTreacy dedicateand bless theCarrickshock memorial (Figure 1).89 Like scores of other nationalistmonuments that went up around Irelandin thelate nineteenth and early twentiethcenturies, the one atCarrickshock is in theform of alarge Celtic cross, similar to those foundin cemeteriesaround the country. It is unremarkable asawork of artexcept for animpressive bas-relief on itsbase (Figure 2). 90 This shows agroup of sturdyinsurgents, comfortably cladin knee-breeches,

83 Da´il E´ireannDebates ,18April 1945, vol. 96, p. 2086. 84 MunsterExpress ,19Dec 1947; 1 July1949; 23 Dec 1953. 85 MunsterExpress ,31Dec 1954. 86 Speechof RevdPatrick Treacy, MunsterExpress ,20Dec 1924. 87 Speechof EdwardWalsh, MunsterExpress ,26Dec 1908. 88 Kilkenny Journal ,21Dec 1907. 89 MunsterExpress ,19June 1925, as citedin Drea, Carrickshock ,appendix2. 90 Thebas-relief was the workof the RevdE.A. Foranof New Ross.

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) TheCarrickshock Incident, 1831 59

Figure 1 TheCarrickshock monument. The site of regular commemoration ceremonies sinceits erection in 1925. stockings, brogues and(despite the December weather)light shirts, who are attackingwith sticks, pitchforks and stones from theright fore- ground. Their bodies strainforward, giving thescene a senseof over- powering movement from right to left.Facing them– asif across a spaciousbattleŽ eld rather than the packed, claustrophobic laneway – butrepresented as noticeably smaller Žguresthan the attacking farm- ers, are thearmed and uniformed constables, some of whom are Žring on thecrowd. Centre-left,Captain Gibbons fallsbackward from his rearing horse while theprocess server, EdmundButler, cowers on the ground, hisbag, hatand documents strewn about him. Inthe centre of thesculpture the mortally woundedJames Treacy lies proppedon one elbow urging hiscomrades with his dying breathto Žghton. Above himan insurgent tries to aida woundedcompanion as another pre- paresto hurla rock. The sidesof themonument are engraved with dedicationsin Irish andEnglish to thememory of Treacy, Power and Phelan,while therear panellists the names of all themen who had served on thememorial committeeover thepreceding two decades. Addedbelow them,almost as a postscript,is amis-spelledreference

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) 60Gary Owens

Figure 2 Bas-reliefon the Carrickshock monument by the Revd E.A. Foran. It encapsu- latesthe nationalist master narrative of the event that emerged in the early twentieth century. toWilliam Keane, thehedge-school teacher:‘ Olso [ sic]in memory of William Keane who wasout standing [ sic]in theŽ ght’. Itis signiŽcant thatthe monument makes no mentionwhatsoever of the13 deadcon- stablesand the process server. The arthistorian Albert Boime usesthe term ‘ hollow icons’to sug- gestthat monuments like theone atCarrickshock invariably become Žlled withmultiple meanings. 91 Withits religious symbolism, its eulogies in words andimages toTreacy andhis comrades, and its total obliteration of thememory of theiropponents, the memorial is a reiŽcation of themaster narrative of Carrickshock thatemerged at the turnof thecentury. But it is also anaccolade in stoneto thepeople of thelocality who organized theannual ceremonies over theprevious two decades,especially themen who saton thememorial committee. The monumentbecame as much a visible andlasting tribute to their endeavoursas to thoseof themen who foughtand died in 1831. In lateryears, orators would refer to thedeceased members of theme- morial committeeas ‘saintly’, andthere was a short-lived effortto pay homage tothem,however indirectly, by holding theannual commem- orations on theanniversary of themonument’ s unveiling in mid- summerrather than near the date of thebattle. 92

91 AlbertBoime, Hollow Icons:The Politics of Sculpture in Nineteenth Century France (Kent, Ohioand London,1987). 92 MunsterExpress ,20Dec 1946; 3 Juneand 1July1949. Organizers also hoped that a summerevent would attract largercrowds.

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The dedicationof thememorial in 1925 markeda turningpoint in thehistory of thepublic commemorations. Over thedecade that fol- lowed –adecadeof economic gloom andpolitical disillusionment– attendanceat the anniversary ceremonies dwindledsteadily until, by 1935, thegatherings ceased altogether. As theydid, the monument fell into disrepair, anddeath claimed the last of thelocal menwho led thelong campaignto honour thememory of Carrickshock. 93 There were sporadicefforts to revive theannual commemorations following theSecondWorld War, butit was obvious thattimes and local attitudes hadchanged. Attendance at the gatherings was comparatively meagre duringthe late 1940s andearly 1950s, andthere were fewyounger facesamong thosewho didturn out. 94 Despitedeclining enthusiasm, certain expressions of remembrance persistedinto thepost-war years. Oneof themcontained a faintecho of thecompeting versions of Carrickshock thatŽ rsterupted in the 1830s. In1952 theessayist and historian HubertButler recalled a recentouting that the Kilkenny Archaeological Society madeto the battlesite. When the members assembledat theboreen, Butlernoted, theyarranged themselves along sectarianlines: ‘Most of theProtestants wenthome from thebottom of thehill, butI [hewas a Protestant] wentto thetop’ , where theCatholics hadgathered to heara brief history of ‘thisbitter controversial event’from alocal priest. 95 This meetingwas among thelast of itskind. During theremainder of the1950s, local organizers searchedfor ways to generatelarger, more youthfulturnouts. Possibilities includeda proposal in 1953 to stagea pageantat theboreen ‘on thelines of thecon ict’ that would be partof theill-fated national festival known as An To´stal that the government plannedfor thatyear. Butnothing seemed to work. By 1955 theceremonies were reducedto small night-timeprocessions by torchlightfrom Hugginstownto thebattle site, where apriestled par- ticipantsin therosary. Newspapersrecord no formal battlecommem- orations after1957, thoughthe boreen hassince become thevenue for yearly Manchestermartyrs observances, thereby merging local and nationalobjects of remembrance. The local memory of Carrickshock hastaken on some new, some- whatironic featuresin recentyears. To mark the150th anniversary in 1981, ateamof workers andlocal volunteers re-landscapedthe area aroundthe monument in hopesof attractingtourists. 96 Two decades later, itappeared as if another project might overshadow theirefforts andbring more people closer totheboreen thananyone couldhave imagined.In August 2001 theNational Roads Authority announced

93 MunsterExpress ,20Dec 1946. 94 MunsterExpress ,23Dec 1953. 95 HubertButler, Escapefrom the Anthill (Lilliput,Mullingar, 1985) p. 340.The address towhich Butler refers is: T.J. Clohosey,‘ Carrickshock:The Tithe War’, OldKilkenny Review,5(1952) pp. 10–15. 96 Kilkenny Standard ,11and 18Dec 1981.

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) 62Gary Owens thattheir preferred route for thedual carriageway linking southKil- darewith Waterford (scheduled for completion before theend of the presentdecade) ran within 200 metresof theCarrickshock battlesite. As of thiswriting, therewere no plansto remove themonument, thoughit is clear thatits immediate surroundings will be substan- tially altered. 97 There is also irony in theway thatthe proprietors of alocal guest- housetried to capitalizeon thebattle in thelate 1990s by christening one of theirsuites ‘ The Carrickshock StateRoom’ . Their hotel was none other thanthe former vicarage of theRevd HansHamilton whose tithedemands were thecause of theprotest in 1831; itis also theplace to whichmany of thewounded and dying constables ed following theencounter. ‘ Namedin commemoration of theBattle of Carrickshock’, thehotel owners proudly boastedon theirwebsite, ‘reminiscentof aweekendin Tuscany % We believe thatthis room hasa delightfullyromantic feel to it’. Featuringa Jacuzziand stocked withchampagne and handmade Irish chocolates,it was described as ‘ideal for thatweekend away withspecial friends % Itis theultimate luxurious experience’. 9 8 Withreferences to tourismand romantic weekends in luxurious staterooms, wehave obviously moved along way from earlier construc- tions of Carrickshock andtheir allusions to mutilatedbodies, bloody retribution, papistsavagery andheroic sacriŽce. Such stark imagery hasdominated the social memory of thebattle for nearly two centuries in large partbecause the event itself was so violent. Butit also stems from apersistentbelief on thepart of local nationaliststhat their iden- tity– theirvery senseof who theywere –dependedupon whether or notthey controlled thememory of Carrickshock. This conviction reects Milan Kundera’s famousobservation that‘ thestruggle of man againstpower is thestruggle of memory againstforgetting’ . 9 9 As aresult,a dominantversion of theevent – itsmaster narrative – emergedaround the beginning of thelast century. It has faded con- siderably sinceits heyday in the1920s, butit is still there.It can be foundin theessays that Hugginstown schoolchildren still write every year about Carrickshock, withtheir references to thebravery of James Treacy andhis comrades. It turnsup in featurearticles that local news- paperspublish from timeto time,one of whichappeared in the Mun- sterExpress on theeve of the170th anniversary of theincident in Nov- ember 2001. Relatedby long-time local residentJimmy Heane,the story repeatsfamiliar detailsof themaster narrative, emphasizingthe

97 Forexample, two smaller roads within 50metres of the monumentare to be widened,resurfaced and partiallyextended to complement the motorway.See http://n9-n10kilcullen-waterford.ie/study-area-map.htm ARUP ConsultingEngineers, N9/N10Kilcullen to Waterford – South, LandOwner Sketches/ AerialPhotography, Sheet12. Accessed18 Oct 2002. 98 http://www.knocktopherhall.com.Accessed 12 Aug 2000. 99 MilanKundera, TheBook ofLaughter and Forgetting ,trans. MichaelHeim (A.A. Knopf, NewYork, 1980), part 1, ch. 2.

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) TheCarrickshock Incident, 1831 63 activitiesof thehedge-school teacherWilliam Keane. 100 Similar motifs dominatethe stanzas of aremarkable 1556-line, fully annotated,blood- and-thunderpoem entitled Hurrah for Carrickshock! thata Kilkenny man,Richard Lahert, produced in thelate 1980s. Itstone can be gleanedfrom thisdescription of theŽ ghtingin theboreen, adescrip- tion thatresurrects the spirit of thebroadsheet ballads of 1832: Thenlithe as mountain hare – Andthat is nota vaunt– JamesTreacy grabbed theproctor, Saying: ‘This is theman we want!’ Apeeler grabbed theproctor back, ’Twas buta brief respite, For Butler’s skull wasbroken By rock andmallet smite. % Pitchfork,scythe and hurley Were usedto maimand kill Inthat brief butsavage battle Thatmakes one shudderstill. 101 Inanindirectbut no less importantway, thelocal hurling teamhas come to embody theheroic image of theincident. The Hugginstown branchof theGaelic AthleticAssociation adoptedthe name Carrick- shock in 1927, justas the wave of commemorative fervour crested. Sincethat time, steady press coverage of club matcheshas made ‘Carrickshock’a familiar termin Kilkenny andbeyond. The club identiŽes itself explicitly withthe battle through its banner thatfea- turesat itscentre the Carrickshock monument, ankedon eitherside by crossedhurling sticks– avisible thoughperhaps unintended reminder of theweapons that members of thecrowd usedagainst the constablesin 1831. Carrickshock hurling matchesthemselves have sometimesacted as mnemonicsof thebattle, as theKilkenny artistand sculptorTony O’Malley discovered whenhe attended a local contest: WhenCarrickshock were playing Ionce heardan old manshouting witha tremor in hisvoice, ‘come on themen that bate the tithe proctors.’There wasreal fervour in hisvoice; itwas like theMatt thethrasher scene in [Charles J.Kickham’s novel] Knocknagow. It wasa battlecry, withthe hurleys asthe swords butwith the same intensity.102 Itwould be easy to dismissthe master narrative of Carrickshock – withits melodrama, itsinventions andomissions, itsheroes andits

100 ‘Battle ofCarrickshock & WilliamKeane’ , MunsterExpress ,23Nov 2001. See also Gaule,‘ Battle ofCarrickshock’, whichcontains awealthof usefulinformation. 101 Lahert, Hurrahfor Carrickshock!, p. 8. 102 Tony O’Malley,‘ Inscape: Lifeand Landscapein Callanand CountyKilkenny’ in W. Nolanand K.Whelan (eds), Kilkenny:History and Society (Geography,Dublin, 1990) p. 626.

Culturaland SocialHistory 2004 1 (1) 64Gary Owens villains –asbad history. Butto do somissesthe point. For itis notso much‘ history’we are concernedwith here butmemory; andmemory, asPeter Novick notes,‘ is in crucialsenses ahistorical, even anti- historical: Collective memory simpliŽes; sees events from asingle, committed perspective;is impatientwith ambiguities of any kind;reduces eventsto mythicarchetypes. % [It]has no senseof thepassage of time;it denies the ‘ pastness’of itsobjects andinsists on theircon- tinuingpresence. Typically acollective memory, atleasta signiŽcant collective memory, is understoodto expresssome eternalor essen- tialtruth about thegroup –usuallytragic. A memory, once estab- lished,comes todeŽne thateternal truth and, along withit, an eter- nalidentity, for themembers of thegroup. 103 Novick is referring tothecollective memory of theholocaust of 1939– 45 among JewishAmericans and to whatit can tell usabout how mil- lions of people interprettheir pasts. But his observations applyequally to ways thatsmall communitiesin small countrieshave remembered small eventsthat have seemedno less momentousto them.

103 PeterNovick, TheHolocaust and Collective Memory: TheAmerican Experience (Bloomsbury,London, 1999) pp. 3–4.

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