Aubane : Where In The World Is It? A Microcosm Of Irish History In A Cork Townland Aubane Historical Society Aubane Millstreet Co. Cork, Ireland Other Aubane Publications include— A North Cork Anthology CONTENTS Bowen, Buckley, Burke, Curran, Davis, Dinneen, Eoghan Rua, etc. etc. Edited by Jack Lane and Brendan Clifford 1993. ISBN 0 9521081 1 9 Preface Ned Buckley's Poems 1 ORIGINS 77 Poems by the Celebrated Cork Poet, Why not on the Ordnance Survey map? 8; Early inhabitants 9- With Introduction and Background Notes by Brendan Clifford and Jack Lane Archaeological sites 9; Fr. William Ferris 14; 1997. ISBN 0 952108 2 7 Unknown period 14; The story of Mahon, Mollov and Brian Boru 15 Aubane: Notes On A Townland A Cultural and Historical Review of the Folklore of a Corner of Co. Cork 2 LORD MUSKERRY TAKES OVER 19 By Jack Lane 1996. ISBN 0 9521081 3 5 The Civil Survey 21; The end of the Clans 21; Survival by terror 22; Muskerry or Duhallow 22; First map 23 250 Years Of The Butter Road 1st. May 1748 - 1st. May 1998 3 THE BUTTER ROAD 25 By Jack Lane 1997. ISBN 0 9521081 4 3 Who was John Murphy? 39; Murphy's financial problems 40; Butter on the road 41; Making Millstreet—and Cork city 41 Spotlights On Irish History Travellers and their thoughts on the road 42; 'English From The Confederation Of Kilkenny To The Civil War beetles' 60; O'Connell 60; The Highwaymen 61 By Brendan Clifford 1997. ISBN 0 9521081 5 1 The Cork Free Press In The Context Of The Parnell Split, The Restructuring 4 CARRYING BUTTER TO CORK 64 Of Ireland 1890-1910 Caoinnte of the road 67; The Road to Eden 74; The Future 76 The Grand Jury Map of 1811 77 By Brendan Clifford 1998. ISBN 0 9521081 6 0 5 THE PEOPLE'S ENTERTAINMENT 80 Aubane: Where In The World Is It? by Jack Lane St John's Day 80 ISBN0 9521081 7 8 6 THE TITHES RECORDS OF 1831 83 is published by Aubane Historical Society 7 THE CONTINUING PLANTATIONS 86 Aubane The Sliabh Luachra Factor 86; The Devon Commission Evidence 87; Fr. Fitzpatrick 87; Nash and others 92 Millstreet A Poetic Response 93; Tullig Way' 93; Some notes, thoughts Ireland on the poem 95; Other bits of poetry 96 8 THE FAMINE 97 Famine tragedies in Aubane 98; The Famine and Drishane 99 © Aubane Historical Society 1999 Information on the Famine 101; How many million died? 104 This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, 9 ORDNANCE SURVEY 105 by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it 10 GRIFFITH'S VALUATION 108 is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. 11 THE LAND WAR 113 Police rule in Mushera district 118; The local Police Station 127 PREFACE 12 EDUCATION 132 Hedge Schools 132; Aubane National School 132; The Folklore Project—Nicknames 135; Aubane Social Club 138 I was pleasantly surprised by the reception given to our earlier pamphlets on Aubane and the Butter Road which were published in 1997. As they are 13 OTHER DEVELOPMENTS 139 out of print and in some demand I thought it would be worthwhile having Lime Kilns 139; Labourers' Cottages 140; The Shop, Stage, the contents available in book form along with more information on both etc. 141; Aubane Creamery 142 topics. This publication contains the contents of both pamphlets plus over 100% more material that has been collected recently. 14 THE MOLLIES AND THE O'BRIENITES 143 1910 Elections 144; To North Cork voters 145; 'Vote for Guiney' 145; Millstreet victory celebrations 146; 'Great I have tried in particular to illustrate how the people of the area were meeting in Millstreet' 147; The AOH 150; World War 1 152; involved in the events of their time and where possible I have listed the O'Brienites, the war and 1916 151 people concerned. They were never passive observers of what was happening around them. They played a full part and it has been fascinating to collect 15 THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 153 this information and put it together. However, this is only the tip of an The Mushera Company 153; The 'Big Round-up' 154 Civil War and later 155; The Blueshirts 155 iceberg of information that needs to be put together for this and other areas and I hope that others will do something similar for their own localities. 16 MISSING BITS 157 'What's going to happen yesterday?' 159; Millstreet AIL It would be practically impossible to list all the people who have assisted Contingent 162 me in this and if I tried I would inevitably omit some which would be unfair. 163 ANNEX 1: The Aubane Set I hope all will be satisfied with recognising their own contributions in the ANNEX 2: Some songs, poems and recitations 169 book. I must thank Maura Walshe and all at IRD Duhallow for again helping Bibliography 193 us meet some of the publishing costs. I hope that our publications go some Index 195 way towards meeting the aims of the Leader Programme in helping to ILLUSTRATIONS develop the areaby making available material on its rich history from which Archaeological sites 11 Map of Drishane (1641) 20 lessons might be drawn to meet current challenges. Civil Survey extract (1654) 21 Jack Lane Vallencey map (1785) 24 October 1998 Turnpike Bill (1747) 27-38 Grand Jury Map of Cork (1811) "78-79 Ordnance Survey map (1845) 107 Griffith's Valuation Map (1852) 110-111 Extract from Griffith's Valuation (1852) 112 Mushera Police Station (1893) 127 Millstreet Police Station (1893) 128 Extract from the Lane-O'Neill map 129 Extract from the 'Cyclists Touring Club's Irish Road Book' 130-1 Millstreet Blueshirts, extract from 'United Ireland' 158 Where Aubane should appear on the map 191 Brian Boru 192 "He who cannot draw on three thousand Years of living from hand to mouth" (Goethe) 1. ORIGINS This is really a collection of some notes I have made over the years about Aubane and nearby townlands. Local historians around here have a great problem regarding sources because of the Gaelic tradition of recording things and events orally. This took delightful forms, in song and in story, but was subject to being easily lost when the society was disrupted as has so often occurred since Tudor times. The result is a dearth of recorded information for great periods. In this respect we are part of the To the memory of 'the boys' of the "hidden Ireland" of the past. Mushera Company of the IRA WHAT S IN A NAME? To start with the name. Aubane obviously comes from the Gaelic,AbhaBan, which can have two meanings and both would indicate an essential topographical feature associated with the river. One is white river. The 'ban' also has the meaning of green pasture land so it is likely to also mean the river of, or with, pasture land. The two features are also interconnected in that it was the river in flood (when it is really white) over the millennia which created the pasture land beside it. The white could refer to the whiteness resulting from the shallowness as it is near its source and it is flowing over rocks and stones. But no doubt it would refer mainly to its floods which were a very regular feature and it was this flooding that provided the fertile soil for the valley. There is an inexhaustible supply of this soil to be had from its source in Mushera mountain. Mushera is a sponge of soil that has the unusual feature of having a well near the top of it. The river has had the same effect in its own small way as the Nile which created Egypt. This meandering river has therefore in a real sense created Aubane in that it has created the pasture land of the surrounding area. So the river of the pasture land is the most likely meaning. However, earlier versions of the name clearly indicate that there was an 'Augh' sound at the beginning and this can be the Gaelic for a ford in a river and there is no doubt that there was once a ford where the bridge now stands. The ford could indeed be a very4 white' area of the river and it could also mean the ford of the pasture land. It is understandable that, as the ford disappeared and was forgotten about, the name changed gradually from an emphasis on the Augh to that of Abha while at the same time maintaining an appropriate name for the area no matter which meaning is taken. There is a place in Scotland called Oban probably with a similar origin. There is, I believe, at least another Aubane in Ireland near Killeshandra. And of course the 4 white' river flows into an Abha Dubh, the Avondubh, the blackriver, the Blackwater. This is by contrast properly dark being deep, wide and smooth flowing. It was also known as the Avonmore, the big river, which again is a case of two descriptions Mikie Buckley's farmyard. The Southern side would be just beyond the Kerryman's each very appropriate. Table, but lies on the near side of the road to Ivale, and takes in a piece of Mushera Townlands are a uniquely Irish method of naming areas.