Boula Church — Clonfert Diocesan Archives © Newsletter No 11 Autumn 2012 Lectures - Autumn/Winter 2012 THE CONNAUGHT JOURNAL Galway, Monday, March 8, 1824 Tuesday October 30th. Lecture by Jim Madden MA, entitled; John Fahy: TO BE LET, Orchard in full bearing; the Ground is in good heart, with some Radical Republican and Agrarian Activist. In Do- Winter Graze. Application to be made (if by letter, post paid) nie O’Mearas, Portumna at 8.30pm. to George May O'Malley, Esq. Prospect-House, Eyrecourt; or to Charles O'Malley, Esq. Hawthorne Lodge, Castlebar. Jim will share with us a critical insight into the life From the first of November last, or the 25th of March and times of this rather colourful priest. The story instant, the HOUSE, OFFICES and WELL WOODED DE- MESNE of PROSPECT HOUSE, Situate in a Sporting Coun- of Fr Fahy is treated of in a fuller and well written try, within half a mile of the Shannon, distant from Eyrecourt account in Jim’s recently published book Fr John one mile; Banagher, five; and Portumna, six; - the Offices are Fahy: Radical Republican & Agrarian Activist in good repair, and all slated. Attached to the House is an ex- (1893-1969), published by the Columba Press (see cellent Garden and an extensive ar. The Furniture and Stock to book review by Declan Kelly in this newsletter). be Sold by Auction, if not taken by the Tenant at a valuation. James Scully will offer congratulations on behalf March 8, 1824. of the society in celebration of Jim’s work. Copies Lawrence Arms at Meelick of the book will be available for purchase on the Shown here are the arms depicted on the tomb of Anthony night. Larkin and his wife Elisabeth McDermott at Meelick abbey, the ancestral burial place of the Larkin clan. The particular Coat of Arms used are those of the Lawrence family of nearby Tuesday November 27th. Lawrencetown. The Larkin and Lecture by Michael John Kilgannon (Retired NT), Lawrence families were con- entitled; The Sinking of the Titanic; One Hundred nected through marriage. NB: The next Larkin clan gath- Years on. In Donie O’Mearas, Portumna at ering will take place in July 8.30pm. 2014. www.larkinclan.eu Michael John will discuss in depth how the sinking Rubbing courtesy of Patrick Larkin of the Titanic in April 1912 on her maiden voyage New Members: If you know someone that might like to be- affected the lives of several Galway families. As come a member of SEGAHS, or is visiting the area and may wish to attend our events, please invite them along. part of his story Michael John will share with us a Membership Fee: The annual society membership fee is €20. This can be paid to the society treasurer Michael Ward or as- very personal account of his own uncle who was sistant treasurer Philip Treacy. tragically lost on that fateful night. He will also Articles: If you have a short article, note, or query of heritage interest that you would like to share with members of the soci- deal with a number of popular beliefs and miscon- ety, we will be happy to publish it here in our newsletter. If ceptions that have survived down to the present you wish to have your article included you can do so by emailing it to the editor [email protected] AN EVOCATIVE MURAL PLAQUE AT PORTUMNA PRIORY By Patrick Larkin The foundation of Portumna Priory was recorded somewhat curtly in a list of the Dominican Houses in 16471 as Conventus Portumnensis fundatus a Domino Ó Madin et partim a Comite de Clanrickard [Burke] et donatus: founded by the O’Mad- den with the assistance and endowment of the Earl of Clanricard. Accurate as this may be, it ignores several centuries of the monuments earlier history, since it was originally a Cistercian chapel attached to the monastery of Dunbrody, Co. Wexford. The initial phase of the building comprising of the choir was built c.1254 as a Cistercian house by William de Cogan. How- ever this foundation clearly did not prosper, and following some decades of disuse, it was taken over by the Dominicans very early in the fifteenth century when a papal indulgence was granted for its completion. The Priory was suppressed during the Reformation and came into the ownership of the Earl of Clanricarde around 1582.2 It was abandoned by the Friars c.1712 when they moved to Boula. The following two extracts from Clonfert in the Papal Registers3 are the very first notes on the Dominican establishment in the Papal records, and make it clear that the foundation was already in existence by 1414. - Lateran Regesta, Vol. CLXXV 5 John XXIII De Diversis Formis 1414. 10 Kal. Dec. Constance. (f. 176.) Relaxation as above, f. 172, omitting the feasts of the Invention and Exaltation of Holy Cross, for the Friars Preachers’ church of the Annunciation of St. Mary, Portomna, in the diocese of Clonfert. Universis etc. Licet is etc. - Lateran Regesta, Vol. CCLXXIV (fn. 1) 10 Martin V (cont.) De Diversis Formis 1427. 5 Kal. Feb. SS. Apostoli, Rome. (f. 279.) Richard Gower, Friar Preacher of the house of Portumna (de Portompna) in the diocese of Clonfert. Mural plaques within churches, abbeys and priories are something of a feature from the seventeenth century, which generally consist of rectangular limestone slabs. These can be either framed by an ornate moulding or simply plain. They bear an in- scription more usually in Latin carved in raised or relief lettering. They are high status monuments which often bear some very interesting genealogical material which usually refers to local Gaelic families. One such mural plaque is located in the small chapel north of the main church structures in the priory. It is a classic example of the high quality achieved in the art of stone lettering by East Galway masons in the 17th century, and is pictured below: The well-defined inscription in Latin lettering reads as follows: Orate pro Patribus Christopher O'Wealsh, Ambrose O'Madden, Petr O'Lurcan et Thadae O'Lurcan Ord. Praed. qui hunc lapidem erigifecerunt in memoriam suae sepulturae et aliorum fratrum, anno dni 1670 May. Thus translates into current English as follows: Pray for Fathers Christopher Walsh, Ambrose Madden, Peter Larkin and Timothy Larkin, Dominicans, who had this stone erected in memory of their burial place and those of their brothers, 1670 A.D. These four mentioned priests clearly fulfilled their duties at Portumna through some difficult times, in the af- termath of the Reformation and the increasingly strict Penal Laws which followed. They were quite long- serving too, since three of them were recorded in a list of priests in Ireland in 1657.4 This list was complied by William Burke, O.P., provincial of the order, for Mario Alberizzi, secretary of Propaganda Fide, in Louvain on 15th September 1657. The three recorded were Frs. Ambrose Madden, Peter Larkin and Timothy Larkin. This indicates that these three were already serving priests by 1657, and as the history of the times indicates, the Ireland of 1657 was no good place for any priest to be. Fr. Walsh is not on this list, so he may have been younger than the other three or joined the Portumna community later on. These four priests numbered amongst only 74 Dominican priests in all of Ireland at the time; down from the 400 recorded twelve years earlier for 1645. The record lists: Nomina fratrum Hybernorum ordinis praedicatorum qui praesenti anno 1657 degunt in Hybernia: Names of the Irish Dominican brothers active in Ireland in 1657: 47. R.P. fr. Petrus Lorcan. 48. R.P. fr. Ambrosius Maddin. 49. R.P. fr. Thadaeus Lorcan. In reading through various lists of Irish Dominicans in a variety of locations in the 17th century,5 a footnote to the presence of the O’Maddens prior emerged. This man also appeared on the 1657 list as follows: Sequentes sunt missionarii a Sacra Congregatione de Propaganda Fide nominate The following are nominated as missionaries of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith: 67. R.P. fr. Ricardus Maddin sacrae theologiae professor. Although probably not a reference to the same man despite being a prior at Portumna in the same year as Ambrose Madden above, the location and the circumstances in the latter years of the priory make compelling reading: O'Maddin, Richard, STM. Also Madden. Born 1620ca; a son of Portumna who studied at Avila but could not return to Ireland because of the Cromwellian wars; came instead to Belgium and taught at Utrecht. Left Lou- vain via London for Ireland where prior of Portumna by 1654. (Hib. Dom., 437; 'Miscellaneous documents IIP, p. 35). Listed as 's. theol. professor' among those on the mission, 1657. O'Heyne said he was the best preacher of any nation he had ever heard. Thought worthy of the episcopate 166l; 'a lecturer in theology, of the diocese of Clonfert.' (Collect. Hib., xli (1999), p. 21). Signed the Dominican remonstrance of Oct. 1662 in connection with Peter Walsh. Applied from Ireland for faculties, 1669. (Collect. Hib., vi and vii (1963-64), p.104). De- scribed in 1675 as STP and prior of Portumna. Spicil Ossor., ii, 217. Named STM by the general chapter, 1677. Prior of Limerick, Roscommon, Lorrha, Dublin and Portumna. Being close to Aughrim at the time of the bat- tle, he hid for two weeks in a bog, dying of exposure soon after in his 70th year, Aug. 1691 (O'Heyne, p. 211). Footnote 1 Hugh Fenning ‘Founders of Irish Friaries: An unpublished List c.1647’, Collectanea Hibernica, No 44/45 (2002/2003), pp 56-62.