Clare Castle & Ballyea The Parish Remembers by Eric Shaw Clare Roots Society 2011 Clare Castle & Ballyea The Parish Remembers Clare Roots Society was formed in 2006 to provide a forum for family history and genealogical research in County Clare. The Society has undertaken research in many parts of the County. As a native of Clare Castle and member of the Society, I feel that it is opportune to make the results of research pertaining to the Parish available to the people of Clare Castle and Ballyea. © Eric Shaw 2011 – 2nd Edition I dedicate this publication to my wife Breda who assisted in recording many of the gravestone inscriptions, to our children Anne and Aidan, and our Grandchildren, Stephen, Chloe, Aoife & Seán. The water-colour above of the Semple Bridge and the Castle was painted by Fr. Edward Fitzgerald, C. C. Clare Castle 1950- 1955. It was presented by him on his leaving the Village in 1955 to Margaret & Frank Power of Main Street (courtesy of Francis Power) The back cover features a drawing of the Lyons grave of 1816 in Killow Cemetery by Hilary Gilmore 1 INTRODUCTION This publication provides an invaluable record of parish gravestone inscriptions and complements the digitalising of our parish records, which is now underway. As gravestones deteriorate with the passage of time this record will preserve parish gravestone details for this and future generations. Parishioners at home, our diaspora and the public at large will benefit greatly from the preservation of family gravestone inscriptions. The Parish is indebted to Eric Shaw and the Clare Roots Society for their outstanding contributions in bringing this publication to fruition. Fr Harry Brady PP Clarecastle Ballyea Parish With State records of Births, Deaths and Marriages going back only to 1864, other sources that date to earlier times are of prime importance. Church records play a most important role in helping to supplement State records but these generally only go back a further 30 or 40 years at most. Clare Roots Society realised that gravestone inscriptions could prove to be a vital source of information and with that in mind, has undertaken a programme of recording gravestone inscriptions in many parts of Clare. Clarecastle & Ballyea are fortunate in having four historic cemeteries in the Parish. Some of the gravestones date back to the late 1600s. For the older parts of these cemeteries, Clare Roots Society has recorded the legible inscriptions and has made these freely available online through the wonderful website operated by Clare Library. In the interest of completing the records for the Parish, the gravestones for the two Clare Hill extension cemeteries and the gravestones in Ballyea Churchyard have been added in this publication. The latter inscriptions were recorded by Robert Cullen and I wish to express my gratitude to him for allowing them to be used in this publication. The recording of the gravestone inscriptions in the Parish has revealed stories and history that lie behind the stones. This publication will help to make the inscriptions widely available and will bring some of these stories to the descendants of the people named on the stones. 2 Table of contents Introduction 2 Table of Contents 3 Parish Map 4 The story behind a gravestone 5 List of maps Clare Abbey Cemetery 7 Killone Abbey Cemetery 8 Killow Cemetery 9 Old Clare Hill Cemetery 11 History of Clare Abbey 12 History of Killone Abbey 13 History of Killow 14 History of Old Clare Hill 15 Cillíns in Parish 16 Killone Abbey Cemetery in 1888 19 Priests’ Gravestones in the Parish 20 Graves of British Soldiers in Old Clare Hill 30 A Tale of Old Clare Hill 33 Cholera outbreak of 1832 and 1849 36 Stacpoole of Edenvale 38 Parish Casualties from the Great War 39 St. Mary’s Church, Clarecastle 40 Tommy Kinnane 42 History of Ss. Peter & Paul Church in photographs 46 History of Ballyea Church in photographs 60 Clare Castle & Ballyea Parish Gravestone Inscriptions 65 - 128 Sources 130 3 4 The story behind a gravestone Among the gravestone inscriptions in Killone Abbey cemetery, Clare Roots Society recorded the following: In memory of James Corbitt who departed this life in July 1841 aged 40 years and Mary Corbet who died September the 2nd 1878 aged 73 years R.I.P. Erected by their son Michael Corbet of Massachusetts. U.S.A. Three years later, the Society was contacted by Mr. Tripp Sheehan of Boston, a great-great- great-grandson of James and Mary Corbett. To his delight, he had found the work of Clare Roots Society online. Mr. Sheehan was able to supply the Society with a wonderful photograph: 5 The photograph shows the same gravestone, with Michael Corbett standing behind the stone. It was taken about 1900 when Michael returned from Boston to have the stone erected in memory of his parents and he had the event recorded in this great photograph. The photograph was taken by James Hayes, Jail Street, Ennis. The only other information is written on the back of the photograph stating that the man on the far left was “Uncle”, the lady to his left was “Mary” and the lady on the far right was “ Auntie Corbett”. At the time, there were large trees in the cemetery as can be seen from other photographs such as those taken by Lawrence. The Abbey was shrouded in ivy. The large Darcy vault can be seen to the right and the Casey headstone to the left, close to the Abbey wall. Church records show that the Corbetts lived at Newtown, an undefined subdivision of the townlands of Ballaghafadda East & West. It may have been a proposed development by a landlord which never materialised, to house workers. The records also show that Mary Corbett was nee O’Dea. The couple had a son Martin, born in 1836 who later emigrated to Australia on the “Empire of Peace” in 1861 and a daughter, Mary born in 1840. Michael Corbett was born in Newtown on 29 September 1833. At the age of 18, he emigrated to New York and later to Albany. He moved to Lowell in 1854. In 1860, he established a meat and provision market. Michael married an Irish girl, Margaret Healy from Tipperary in 1855. He was a commander of the Knights of St. Patrick and a charter member of the Knights of Columbus. Michael was elected to the City Council in 1870. In 1888, he was a delegate to the national Democratic convention which gave Governor Cleveland his second nomination for the presidency of the United States. He was Vice-President of the Merrimack River Savings Bank for years. Michael Corbett died in 1926 and was survived by his wife, five daughters, two sons and four grandchildren. He was buried in St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Lowell. I am very grateful to Mr. Tripp Sheehan for the above information. It demonstrates very clearly the importance of the transcription work of the Society in recording the gravestone inscriptions. The natural weathering of the stones will make the reading of the inscriptions more difficult with the passage of time. A photograph, undated, of Michael and Mary Corbett taken in Ennis and sent to their uncle, Michael Corbett, in Boston, implies that other members of the Corbett family lived on in Clare Castle. 6 Clare Abbey Map 7 Ballyea Churchyard 8 Killow Maps 9 10 Old Clare Hill Map 11 Clare Abbey Graveyard Title: Clare Abbey Graveyard Headstone Transcriptions (Complete as of July 2008: all legible headstones included) Dates: 1692 to 2002 Place/s: Drumcliff and Clareabbey Parishes Source: Transcriptions from Headstones Donator: The Clare Roots Society These gravestone transcriptions of Clare Abbey Graveyard were recorded by Eric and Breda Shaw of the Clare Roots Society in July 2008. Many of the gravestones are old, dating from the late 1600s, and have weathered greatly from the time of the last recording, done in the early 1900s by the Association for the Preservation of the Memorials of the Dead. Clare Abbey was founded in 1189 by Donal Mór O'Brien. It was an abbey of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine and was dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. The abbey was the scene of a great slaughter in 1278 between various factions of the O'Briens. Parts of the single-aisled church date from the late twelfth century but most of the buildings are fifteenth-century work. These include a well-preserved east window, the tower and the domestic buildings with their unusual floral window at the south-eastern corner. The church and charter were reconfirmed by Thady, Bishop of Killaloe, in 1461. Henry VIII granted the abbey to the Baron of Ibrickan in 1543 and the Earls of Thomond were confirmed as owners in 1620 and 1661. The Augustinians remained in the abbey until 1650. By 1703 the abbey was a ruin, but there was a good "thatched house, an orchard and 2 or 3 cabins nearby", according to Moland's survey. Clare Abbey 1862 by Rev. John Louis Petit Courtesy of Pat & Kitty Quinn 12 Killone Abbey The Clare Roots Society Clare Roots Society became aware of the work that had been done at Killone Abbey in cleaning up the cemetery there by the Ballyea Community Group in the latter half of 2008. That work had brought to light many gravestones that had been covered over and the Society decided that it was an opportune time to record the inscriptions on the stones. Volunteers to carry out the work were sought and nine people agreed to take on the task. These were: Robert Cullen Stephanie Moloney Larry Brennan Nicky Brennan Michael Falvey Donal Fitzpatrick Patrick Killeen Bernie Ryan Eric Shaw A map showing the approximate location of each grave was drawn up and it showed that there were over 300 graves to be recorded and photographed.