‘The collective wisdom of past generations of Churchtown people has become part of the land itself.’ Mary McAleese President of Ireland ‘When my great grandfather left Churchtown in 1849 for the bright lights of Charleville, little did he or his contemporaries consider that all these years later they would feature in this wonderful book which gives us the heart of a whole community.’ Maeve Binchy Writer ‘Publication of The Annals of Churchtown is a most worthy undertaking with a lot of co-operation from an awful lot of people.’ Gay Byrne Broadcaster ‘Oh, fortunate natives of Churchtown at home and abroad! You will be immeasurably enriched by this lively, lovely, homely and comprehensive chronicle of your past.’ John A. Murphy Emeritus Professor of Irish History University College Cork The Annalof s Churchtown Compiled by Denis J. Hickey First published in 2005 by Churchtown Village Renewal Trust Republished in PDF format in 2019 by Churchtown Heritage Society, Booney House, 5 Kerry Lane, Churchtown, Mallow, Co Cork P51 TCC6 E-mail: [email protected] www.churchtown.net Copyright © 2005, 2019 Churchtown Heritage Society, Denis J. Hickey and the various authors All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. ISBN 978-0-9524931-3-6 This publication was made possible with financial support from Churchtown Village Renewal Trust. The Trust became Churchtown Heritage Society in 2018 and is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to preserving the history and heritage of Churchtown. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy within the publication, it must be appreciated that a volume of this nature and scale can only be as accurate as the sources consulted. The opinions or comment expressed by individual contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher or other contributors. The original 1737 watercolour entitled ‘A view of part of the Honour of Burton in Ireland’ is reproduced by permission of the British Library under reference ‘Earl of Egmont 47009A pg 27’. A Community Entertainment (Part 3.2) and John 'Boss' Murphy, 1875-1955 (Part 4.2) are copyright of Dr Colette Moloney and were originally published in The Boss Murphy Musical Legacy (ISBN 0-9524931-2-8). Maps, where relevant, are copyright of Ordnance Survey Ireland and Government of Ireland and reproduced under Permit Number MP007605. Main contributors Denis J. Hickey, Caroline Hennessy, Colette Moloney, Jim McCarthy, Noel Linehan, Albert Daly, Gerry Murphy, Bill O’Flynn, Anne Murphy, Brigid (Manning) O’Sullivan and Denis Pat Costelloe. Front cover: The Market House (left) was built in 1845. The Community Centre (right) operated as Churchtown National School from 1846 to 1947. Back cover: The Equine Sculpture located in the centre of the village was erected in 2001. The map shown on the cover and endpapers dates from 1720. Text set in 10pt Sabon Roman The paper used in this book is made from wood pulp of managed forests and for every tree felled, at least one tree is planted, thereby renewing natural resources. Cover and book design by Martin Keaney Editorial and proofing by Carole C. Devaney Printed by GraphyCems Contents Foreword 1 Acknowledgements 7 The townlands of Churchtown 12 Part 1: Chronology, Dictionary and Tables 13 1.1 A Chronology of Churchtown compiled by Denis J. Hickey 14 1.2 A Dictionary of Churchtown compiled by Denis J. Hickey 27 1.3 Tithe Applotment and Census by townland compiled by Denis J. Hickey 275 1.4 Griffith’s Valuation 1851 by townland compiled by Denis J. Hickey 309 Part 2: Physical Heritage 345 2.1 Archaeological inventory of Churchtown extracted by Niamh Murphy 346 2.1.1 Map of listed monuments in Churchtown 347 2.1.2 Summary 348 2.1.3 Inventory of listed monuments 349 2.1.4 Glossary 378 2.1.5 Select Bibliography 383 2.2 An introduction to the ecology of Churchtown by Aisling O’Sullivan and Jane Hennessy 385 2.3 The Churchtown Trails by Gerry Murphy 391 Part 3: Language and Music 397 3.1 Lingua Bruhenny: A Dictionary of Churchtown words and expressions compiled by Denis J. Hickey and Gerry Murphy 398 3.2 A Community Entertainment by Colette Moloney 411 Part 4: Essays of Historical Interest 415 4.1 Three centuries of Churchtown History by Caroline Hennessy 416 4.2 John ‘Boss’ Murphy, 1875-1955 by Colette Moloney 444 4.3 The Cillín by Noel Linehan 447 4.4 Bruhenny in a Golden Light by Albert Daly 448 The Annals of Churchtown 4.5 Walshestown and the Conron family by Jim McCarthy 452 4.6 Biddy’s Tree and Máire Ní Ruairí by Ruairí Ó Hicí 455 4.7 The Boss Murphy Story, 1997 to 2003 from www.boss-murphys.com 456 4.8 Cider-making in Churchtown by Noel Linehan 461 4.9 The Rebuilding of Churchtown village by Jim McCarthy 463 4.10 Churchtown’s Horse Racing Heritage by Jack Murphy 464 4.11 A Village Renewal by Vincent Wall 466 4.12 The Millennium Visit of the President from www.churchtown.net 471 Part 5: Irish Folklore Commission, Scéim na Scoile 1937 479 5.1 Athleticism, strength and endurance 480 5.2 Birds 482 5.3 Butter-making 482 5.4 Cures 483 5.5 Candle-making 483 5.6 Childrens’ games 484 5.7 Childrens’ verse for games 485 5.8 Clothes 488 5.9 Education 488 5.10 The Fair 488 5.11 Fire 489 5.12 Flour-making 489 5.13 Food 490 5.14 Footwear 491 5.15 Fool’s Day, 1st of April 491 5.16 Games: Scoubeen 491 5.17 Ghostly tales 492 5.18 Graveyards 495 5.19 Halloween 496 5.20 Home-made toys 496 5.21 Legend of the New Barn 497 5.22 Light 498 5.23 Marriage 498 5.24 Musician James O’Callaghan 498 5.25 Owen Roe O’Sullivan in Churchtown 499 5.26 Proverbs 500 5.27 Riddles 501 5.28 St Bridget’s Well 503 Contents 5.29 St John’s Eve 503 5.30 Stepdancers 504 5.31 Superstitions 504 5.32 Topographical matters 508 5.33 Travelling folk 510 5.34 Weather extremes 511 5.35 Signs of bad weather 512 5.36 Weather lore 513 5.37 Wren Boys 513 Part 6: Images of Churchtown 515 Parish scenes 516 Bridges 530 Buildings 532 Burton House 536 Church and graveyard – St Nicholas’ 537 Church and graveyard – Bruhenny and Maryfield 539 Community Centre 540 Creamery 541 Haymaking and threshing 542 GAA 543 Historical material 548 Kilgrogan graveyard 552 Horses 553 Muintir na Tíre 555 Boss Murphy’s 556 Paintings and people 559 People and events 560 Renewal and construction, 1996-2005 570 School 572 Presidential Visit 574 Part 7: Memories 577 7.1 Churchtown School in the 1920s by Bill O’Flynn 578 7.2 The Titanic tragedy and the loss of our Aunt Bridget by Densy Egan 580 7.3 Teenage years in the Churchtown of the 1930s and ’40s by Mick Howard 582 7.4 St Brigid's Well and the Moanroe by Jim McCarthy 584 7.5 Memories of a stud farm by Densy Egan 586 7.6 Looking back in time by Mick ‘Hassett’ Egan 588 The Annals of Churchtown 7.7 The townland of Ballynamuck by Paddy McMahon 589 7.8 Memories of Churchtown, 1924-1953 by Brigid (Manning) O’Sullivan 590 7.9 Summer at lovely Annagh Bridge in the 1950s by Anne Murphy 610 7.10 Memories of Churchtown in the 1950s by Anne Murphy 611 7.11 Schooldays in the 1940s and ’50s by Denis J. Hickey 618 7.12 The homecoming of 'Cottage Rake' by John Browne 623 7.13 My memories of Churchtown by Patricia Lancaster 625 7.14 My holidays in Churchtown by Margaret Toppin 627 7.15 Recollections by Bridie Hawe 629 7.16 Churchtown Creamery by Bill O’Flynn 630 7.17 Holding back the years by Denis Pat Costelloe 632 7.18 Reflections by Denis O’Leary 651 7.19 We were happy with what we had by Denny Egan 653 7.20 A day’s shooting and other recollections by Paddy Fitzpatrick 655 7.21 The townland of Clashelane by Frank Guiney 657 7.22 The Imogane Road by Mary Twomey 659 7.23 The late Jimmy O’Sullivan by Mary O’Sullivan 661 7.24 Looking back by Paddy Lane 662 7.25 Life as I saw it by John Coghlan 663 7.26 Working in Ballybeg Quarry by John Quinn 664 7.27 My hinterland by John Thompson 666 7.28 The Crab Stock by Kitty Fitzgerald 667 7.29 Carrigeen in bygone days by Mary Corkery 668 7.30 Times past by Eddie Galligan 670 7.31 A stone to mark the spot by Edward Flannery 671 7.32 My schooldays by Myra Aherne 672 7.33 Days of yore by Ned O’Sullivan 673 7.34 My sister Nora and the fiddle by Mollie Collins 675 7.35 Recollections by Mary O’Connor 676 7.36 The old days by Matt O’Callaghan 677 7.37 A glimpse into the past by Peg O’Sullivan 678 7.38 Days that are gone by Sheila Fitzpatrick 680 7.39 Looking back through the years by Margaret McAuliffe 681 7.40 Recollections by Maurice Daly 683 Contents 7.41 Recollections and a truly unforgettable experience by Willie Joe Condon 684 7.42 Denny ‘Booney’ O'Sullivan and Paddy Flaherty by Denis J.